Once, back when I played the game—
The story of every playable character always ended in death.
And their deaths were always intertwined with the same beings.
Archenemies.
Beings locked in opposition, consumed by hatred, and wreaking havoc on the lives of the characters.
It was no exaggeration to say that most of the chracters’ deaths were caused by these bastards.
Archenemies hell-bent on killing each other.
…Though, for some reason, only one side kept dying.
It was just like the rule I had mentioned before.
Like the example of the hero and the demon king.
[Every playable character had their own personal archenemy.]
They were mechanisms designed to kill the characters I controlled while playing the game.
Threatening them through countless incidents—
And ultimately, leading them to their inevitable deaths.
No matter how many choices I made, I had never been able to escape that ending.
And now that this world had become reality, nothing had changed.
If I wanted to, I could kill those beings right here and now.
But that wouldn’t solve anything.
Just as a slain demon king would be replaced by another,
The world would create a “new one” defying causality itself to maintain its rules.
And if that happened, that new being, the one I knew nothing about, would bring about unknown disasters and torment them even further.
Rather than improving the situation, it would only make things worse.
…In the end, this was the only option left.
I looked down at the relic in my hands.
It was an old, worn-out book. The very same book that the Sage of the Stars always carried in the game.
The past, the present, the future.
A fragment containing the laws and memories of the world, recording everything that was, is, and will be.
Though it was merely a fragment, was called a fake, and even the power it contained was weak.
Even so, the information inside it, detailing events that must come to pass, was more valuable to me than anything else.
Archenemy. Seven sacrifices. The descent of the demons. The hero’s awakening.
A book that outlined not just what would happen here, but what had to happen.
Everything written in this book had to take place.
Even I could not change that.
But what if I changed the targets?
After agonizing over this book for so long, I had finally found my answer.
Surprisingly, there were many loopholes in these so-called laws.
If fate did not specify who had to play each role, then what if I twisted it?
What if I changed the Archenemy, changed the sacrifices, and changed which demon would be summoned?
Even if the individuals involved were different, fate would still unfold according to its original purpose.
.
.
.
So I changed everything.
I killed the orphanage director who was originally meant to be Ren’s Archenemy.
Instead of the children who were supposed to be sacrificed for the ritual, I used adults who were no better than beasts.
And to prepare for what lay ahead, I modified the magic circle to summon a different demon. One that would help me instead.
“……”
“…A-Ain? What the hell is this…?”
“You’re finally here.”
Ren’s gaze slowly drifted downward.
Lying at my feet was the lifeless body of a friend she had laughed and chatted with just yesterday—
A severed head was all that remained.
…Though, in reality, it was the corpse of that wretched director.
But thanks to the illusion, what Ren and I saw was something entirely different.
“Ain… w-what happened here? That sword… and that body—”
“Ren.”
Ren was a quick-witted and smart girl.
She had just turned ten, a mere child. But even so, she was more than capable of grasping the reality before her.
The only reason she was desperately trying to look away was because the one responsible… was me.
“You don’t have to deny it. I’m the one who killed them.”
“…….”
“They begged for their lives, sobbing and wailing. Pathetic.”
“…Why?”
Ren lowered her head.
What kind of expression was she making?
…There was no way for me to know.
…Haa, stay calm. This is the only way.
Even if hurting her felt no different from playing a game…
At least this time, something had changed.
Silently, I put on my mask.
“Why… Why the hell—”
“Why did I do it? Now that’s a strange question.”
Thud!
I kicked the head of the orphanage director lying at my feet.
It rolled across the floor and bounced a few times before finally stopping at her feet.
Of course, to her eyes, it still bore the form of a child.
“…Ah… Hic—!”
“They were nothing more than sacrifices to me. Why should it matter what happened to them?”
“…W-We were all friends—”
“Friends? Haha…! Hey, Ren. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
Step.
Step.
I slowly walked toward her.
Then I leaned close to her trembling figure and whispered a cruel lie in her ear.
“We were never anything to each other. Did you really think that just because I played along for a while, we were actually friends? Me? With idiots like you?”
“…Stop.”
“I was just enduring it for the sake of this moment. Using you all as sacrifices—”
“Stop it, Ain!!”
Ren covered her ears and refused to accept reality.
But I didn’t stop.
Thud—!!
I kicked her in the stomach with all my strength.
Perhaps because of the faint aura infused in my strike, Ren was sent flying and crashed against the wall beside the door.
“…Haahk?! Kehek! Cough, cough!”
“Hmm, just in case, I had you and Ron prepared as backups, but turns out, seven was enough~?”
“…?! S-Seven…?”
“What else would it mean? Just like the one you saw earlier, I killed the others too.”
“……”
Ren began muttering to herself over and over again—”That’s a lie…”
…At this rate, she might break before I could even force her awakening.
Lilith. You can hear me, right?
[……]
Please inject her with demonic power.
[…You’re truly ruthless. Must it really come to this? You’re still so young; what are you doing all this for?]
A voice filled with sorrow and pity echoed in my head.
She won’t die, so don’t worry.
[What do you mean by that, child? Do you even know what our demonic power does to humans—]
I know. Nothing will happen that you’d disapprove of, Lilith. So please, just do it.
[……]
With a sigh from somewhere in the distance, the mist around us began to swirl violently.
Before long, a mass of deep purple energy formed in my hand.
It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.
…So this is demonic power.
It was my first time handling it myself.
Slowly, I let the foreign energy in my grasp sink in.
Then I looked at Ren.
Now, all that’s left is her awakening.
It was time to take the first step as a hero.
To do that, two things were necessary.
The first… was contact with demonic power.
Crunch!
With my left hand that was now infused with demonic power, I grabbed her by the throat.
“Huuk…! Aaaagh!!”
Ren began to struggle desperately, writhing in pain.
She gasped for breath. Her body began to turn purple as the demonic power seeped into her and consumed her from within.
…It must have been an agony beyond words.
But I couldn’t stop here.
She needs a trigger. Something that will draw out the hero’s power. Something that will make her unleash it all on me.
I resolved myself and spoke.
“…How does it feel? It hurts, doesn’t it? You must be suffering~? But don’t worry. You’ll be joining the others soon enough.”
“Hh…gh…”
“Ron too.”
“……!”
Her trembling ceased.
No. More accurately, everything around us froze.
For the briefest moment, it was as if time itself had stopped.
Fwoooosh—!!
A brilliant burst of light flooded the cathedral.
Scorching heat and divine power erupted from all directions.
The sheer force of it sent me flying backward.
Bringing up family really does the trick.
I groaned and examined my body…. only to see burning pale yellow flames consuming me.
The pain was far worse than I had expected. I bit down hard on my lip.
Step.
Through the flames, someone approached me.
…A familiar figure. Almost exactly as I had seen in the game.
“…Ain. I really liked you. I liked you so, so much. But now…”
A sword was in her hand.
A symbol of the hero with a pure white blade that burned beautifully.
Though still immature, barely the size of a dagger, it was unmistakably a holy sword.
“Ain, I hate you. I hate you for killing all of our friends. I hate you for threatening to kill Ron.”
She pointed the blade at me.
Her hollow, tearless eyes glared at me with killing intent.
“―I hate you enough to want to kill you.”
“……..”
The dagger in her reversed grip was aimed directly at me.
And the moment she brought the holy sword down, a blinding light erupted once more.
…It hurts.
It did.
The holy sword burned through me, sending waves of unbearable pain.
But more than that, what hurt the most was the wound I had inflicted upon her. One that would never fade.
Regret. The same regret I had replayed in my mind countless times gnawed at me.
Could I have done things differently?
What if I had been better prepared from the moment I met them?
No…. what if I had never gotten involved with this pair in the first place?
Dark thoughts began to consume me.
To the point where I wanted to abandon everything. To the point where I wanted to just give up—
.
.
.
[Child, it’s time to wake up from this dream.]
***
I opened my eyes.
At the same time, I lifted my upper body.
“Haa… haa…”
[That was dangerous, child. You almost got swallowed by the dream.]
“…How much time has passed?”
[About four hours.]
…So I had only slept that long.
With a sigh, I lay back down.
Maybe because of the nightmare, but my bed was damp with cold sweat.
[What kind of dream was it? You reacted more intensely than usual.]
“…It was nothing. Just a dream about when I first met Lilith.”
[……child.]
“I’m fine. Really, I’m fine.”
[………]
I muttered these words and ran my hand over my face.
…That was fu*ked up.
It was a really fu*ked-up dream.
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