Everyone moved with a wish of their own.
Some, to save the world.
Some, to bring a god down into this world.
Some, to protect someone precious to them.
Good or evil made no difference.
Everyone moved toward the noble purpose they had chosen for themselves.
But among them was someone else.
Someone who moved for nothing more than his own petty amusement.
Ting— Ting— Ting-
A gold coin flipped over Berith's hand.
The image of a human was engraved on its face.
“I have no interest whatsoever in things like inspiration or heartfelt emotion. They're all stories I've seen somewhere before anyway. After seeing the same story thousands upon thousands of times, it's only natural to get sick of it. Still, I respect that particular taste of yours, Ex.”
No one dared to move rashly.
The viscous, repulsive malice pouring from Berith wrapped around their feet and throats, holding them in place.
Only one person managed to shake off that malice.
“Berith…!”
It was Elia.
Elia knew.
They couldn't let that demon speak.
That demon's mouth would drive everyone into despair.
Berith had come here for no other reason than to enjoy that.
Shweeeek-!!
Elia immediately controlled her scrap-metal sword with Control Blade and launched it straight at Berith.
Milia followed her lead and fired her sword as well, while Count Lemercier unleashed a barrage of magic.
He looked exactly like Ex, but that wasn't Ex.
The thick, clinging malice they could feel just by looking at him.
That alone proved the being before them was a demon.
Just as every attack was about to reach Berith.
Pshuk-!
“Ghk…!”
“Hup…!”
The attacks reversed.
Elia's scrap-metal sword buried itself in Milia's shoulder,
Milia's sword grazed Count Lemercier's forearm, and Count Lemercier's magic came crashing down toward Elia.
“Watch out!”
At just the right moment, Lola deployed Iris's barrier and shielded the two of them. Fortunately, the barrier held.
“What in the world…”
“Is this… a demon's power?”
Everyone instinctively understood from the bizarre phenomenon that had just occurred.
The demon before them couldn't be attacked carelessly.
The moment they attacked at will, their own allies would be the ones to suffer.
Until they uncovered the secret behind it, they had to stop attacking.
And all the while,
Ting— Ting— Ting-
Berith simply continued flipping the same gold coin.
Ex frowned at Elia's shout.
“Berith…?”
It wasn't as though he didn't know the name Berith.
He was a demon who should have disappeared along with the Pallon Episode.
But Ex had no idea why Berith was here.
“Are you wondering why I'm here?”
Berith spoke from atop the arena before anyone even realized he'd moved there.
“I came to tell everyone the truth. Surely you'd all feel better knowing what's really behind everything happening right now?”
“Don't listen to him. Berith is…”
“A corpse should keep its mouth shut.”
Berith drew one finger sideways as though closing a zipper.
In that instant, Elia lost the ability to speak.
It was one of the restrictions imposed the moment she'd made a contract with Berith.
But to everyone else, who knew nothing of the contract, it looked like nothing more than some unknown demonic ability.
Amid everyone's tension and silence, Berith continued.
“Ex, the operation you devised was truly fascinating. From beginning to end, you accounted for everything, even human psychology. Deceiving them, misleading them, twisting them exactly where you wanted them. Truly befitting a Demon of Lies.”
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“All of this happened because of you.”
An absurd lie spilled from his mouth.
“What happened? You mean me stopping the demons' plans?”
“No. I mean everything that has driven the Empire toward ruin.”
“Of course the Demon of Lies would start spewing bullshit…”
“If that's what you believe, then watch.”
Berith pulled something from inside his clothes and tossed it.
It was a magic device capable of displaying a distant location.
The device projected a massive image into the air.
And what appeared within it was horrifying.
“Leon… lost?”
Andras stood there with the five members of the Reincarnated Hero Party, attempting to open the Hellgate.
Ex had been certain they would've stopped it.
But the situation was nothing like what he'd expected.
Everyone except Leon was sprawled helplessly on the ground.
Leon himself was trapped in Andras's Gravity Magic.
The Hellgate radiated a crimson glow, as though it were moments away from opening.
No matter how anyone looked at it, the Hero Party had clearly been defeated.
“Why… Don't tell me it's because this wasn't canon…?”
“Why are you so surprised, Ex?”
The moment everyone saw the scene, Berith spoke.
“You're the one who created that situation. Despite the Imperial Prince's objections, you were the one who sent the Hero Party to the Hellgate. So you could have every last one of them killed.”
“What…?”
A pitch-black lie.
Darius and Milia immediately recognized it for what it was.
They knew full well that Ex had never intended anything of the sort.
But the others didn't.
Doubt and distrust began sprouting among the knights and mages.
“And there's more.”
Berith tossed out another magic device.
Like the first, it displayed an image from another location.
A second enormous projection appeared in midair.
And once again, the sight was horrifying.
— Aaaaaah!! It's a demon!!
— What are the knights doing?!
— No! I don't want to die!!!
Countless people who had been moved into the Grand Hall screamed in terror.
Tentacled monsters rampaged through the crowd.
The creatures were mercilessly slaughtering everyone around them.
The moment everyone saw the scene, Berith spoke.
“You gathered the largest and strongest concentration of troops here, then unleashed the demons you'd hidden in the Grand Hall to massacre everyone left behind. What a devious little trap. At this rate, they'll all be dead before long.”
“What in the…”
Another utterly ridiculous lie.
Darius didn't believe a word of it.
Berith was simply taking the circumstances before them and constructing whatever story suited him.
But the others couldn't see it that way.
The distrustful gazes of the knights and mages began to shift.
Among those gazes were Milia's and Count Lemercier's.
“Do not jump to conclusions!!”
Darius shouted immediately.
“Don't be fooled by some convenient story he's stitched together!! He's a demon!! What do you think will happen if you start trusting the words of a demon…”
“You can't trust me because I'm a demon? An excellent point.”
Berith flipped the gold coin again.
This time, it didn't return to his hand.
It spun through the air and flew toward the center of the arena, stopping directly before Ex.
“Ex, you new Demon of Lies. As a Demon of Lies who has lived several hundred years longer than you, allow me to offer you a piece of advice.”
Berith raised his right hand high.
A gold ring sat on one finger.
The Soul Trap Ring.
“To crush someone and drive them into despair, you don't need ‘Ten Thousand Lies.’ One is more than enough.”
The gold coin flew toward Ex, and Berith raised his fingers to snap them.
“‘One Truth.’”
The instant the gold coin struck the floor,
Berith snapped his fingers.
Snap-!
Something changed with the sound.
The gold coin became a worthless scrap of base metal.
The image of a demon had been engraved into it.
And beyond that useless scrap stood Ex.
“…Huh?”
His white hair had somehow turned an ominous black.
His irises were stained yellow, his pupils split vertically like a beast's.
Thick, viscous malice poured from his body.
“What the hell…”
There was no mistaking what he had become.
It was the form of a being they had encountered so often that hatred for it had become instinct.
There was only one sentence that could define what stood before them.
Ex was a demon.
“…”
“…”
“…”
A suffocating silence spread across the arena.
They couldn't believe it.
Disbelief and suspicion converged on Ex.
And among those gazes was Darius's.
“…Ex. What is that form?”
If Ex was a demon, then everything Berith had said suddenly fit together.
Ex had intended to destroy the Empire from the very beginning.
He had approached the Imperial Prince and pretended to devise a strategy while secretly planting traps throughout it.
He had manipulated the Hero Party into marching toward their deaths, then lured the Empire's nobles into another trap.
The consequences were displayed plainly in the images Berith had shown them.
Ex was a demon.
Ex had deceived them.
Ex had been a traitor from the start.
“Now then, it's time for some entertainment.”
For the first time, Berith smiled as he watched the situation unfold.
“…”
Someone who had reached their own conclusion quietly raised a weapon.
Among them were Milia and Count Lemercier.
“No!!!”
Lola screamed.
She spread both arms wide and stepped in front of Ex as though shielding him with her own body.
“Father, you saw it yourself! Ex can use divine power! He's a demon, but he can still wield the Goddess's miracles!!”
“Lola, move. You're defending something that must never be defended. Have you forgotten what crime it is to defend a demon?”
“Think rationally, Father! Lady Milia! Prince Darius! Ex risked his life to help us!!”
Milia stepped forward.
“Young Lady Lemercier. Say no more.”
“Who cares if Ex is a demon!!! It's still true that he risked his life to protect us!! The proof is that the Goddess chose him and allowed him to wield divine pow…”
Slap-!!!
Count Lemercier struck Lola across the cheek.
He had never once hit his daughter before.
But now, Count Lemercier had no choice but to make a decision.
“…Take Lola into custody.”
It was the only way he could protect his daughter.
“Father…”
“Lola, you defended a demon. That alone is an extremely serious crime. And it appears you already knew that Ex was a demon. There will surely be an inquisition regarding that as well.”
“Father…!”
“What are you soldiers doing!! Take her away at once!!!”
The soldiers reached out to seize Lola.
“No!!!”
Lola deployed Iris's barrier.
To protect Ex, who stood behind her.
It was nothing more than a desperate struggle to protect her friend,
but it was not an act anyone could simply overlook.
“Lola!! Do you have any idea what you're doing right now!!!”
“I'm only protecting my friend!! So please… cough…”
But the barrier didn't last long.
“Ah…”
Mana Sickness was slowly taking hold of her entire body.
As the flow of mana throughout her body twisted out of alignment, her magic collapsed as well.
Because she was a being loved by mana, that very mana was now consuming her.
Count Lemercier saw her condition and screamed in horror.
“No! Soldiers, take Lola out of here immediately!!! Her Mana Sickness cannot be allowed to worsen any further!!!”
“Let go of me…! Ex, do something…! Elia, Ex!! Father, please…!”
And so Lola was forcibly dragged away by the soldiers.
Ex watched in silence.
Then a sword was placed against his throat.
It belonged to Milia.
“…How did it come to this?”
“…”
“…Say something. Anything.”
“…”
Ex couldn't say a word.
He was simply staring at the status window before him, completely overwhelmed by confusion.
『Abnormal behavior has been detected.
Due to Administrator Authority, the race value will be forcibly converted.』
『Temporary measures are being sequentially removed.
Temporary Measure (Race): 1 removed.
Temporary Measure (Talent): 4 removed…』
The status window continued flooding his vision with message after message.
Only after reading through the torrent did Ex finally realize the truth.
‘This body was Berith's body.’
The talents that were now being unsealed proved that conclusion.
‘Did the change begin the day I got drenched in Demonization Accelerator?’
He could even guess when the abnormalities had first begun.
‘The status window started acting strange after I came back from the Ancient Ruins.’
That must have been when Berith made his move.
And there was also that damned woman who had clearly intended for this exact moment to happen.
『Plausibility Penalty acquired: Inevitable exposure of true identity at a later point』
‘…So that's what this meant.’
Ex finally understood.
This was why Elysia had been quiet.
Because Ex's ending had already been decided.
His identity was going to be exposed anyway, so there had been no reason for her to go out of her way to inflict another penalty.
Ex lowered his head weakly.
There, he found Elia looking at him with sorrowful eyes.
“…We look pretty pathetic, don't we?”
“…Yeah.”
“I got played by a goddess…”
“And I got played by a demon…”
Elia wanted to save Ex, but she had no strength left to do anything.
If she'd had even a little mana remaining, she would've teleported Ex somewhere far away.
Unfortunately, there was nothing left.
“…At least we can die together.”
“…Pretty sure I'm the one going to hell, though.”
While they spoke, Darius approached.
His expression was a wreck.
“…Ex. Since when?”
He was asking when Ex had betrayed them.
“Since when have you been a demon?”
No.
That wasn't what he meant.
“Why didn't you tell me…?!”
Even now, Darius still believed in Ex.
“If you'd told me first, then something like this could have been dealt with long ago…!”
“Your Highness, you mustn't. You cannot defend a demon…”
Milia hurriedly stepped in front of Darius.
She was right.
There were far too many eyes here.
Darius couldn't defend Ex in front of everyone.
The instant an Imperial Prince defended a demon, it was over.
His political career would collapse, and his authority would be stripped away.
Even now, Darius's position was already precarious.
He was one of the people who had spoken with Ex more than almost anyone else.
He had also made no secret of his friendship with him.
If it became publicly known that Darius had maintained such a close relationship with Ex, who was now revealed to be a demon, Darius's future as an Imperial Prince would be finished.
And if that happened, so was the Empire.
The Imperial Schism Doomsday Scenario would be complete.
“…Haa.”
Ex had to make a decision.
He closed his eyes and searched for a way forward.
A way for everyone to survive this situation.
There was only one optimal solution.
He steeled himself.
“Your Highness. You need to cut off my head here.”
Darius would execute Ex.
That would prove there had never been any connection between them.
Darius's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
“…What?”
“Your Highness has to cut off my head and prove there was nothing between us. That's the only way to protect your position.”
“You… Do you even hear what you're saying?”
“Your Highness, I'm already done for. You need to cast me aside. Cut off my head as quickly as possible and bring this situation under control. You know what you still have to do. You know who you need to save.”
“How am I supposed to strike down someone who can say something like that…?!”
“Your Highness, don't worry.”
Ex gave him a painfully crooked smile.
“Demons don't die. We just go back to hell.”
“…”
“Though I'm not sure there's a hell for me to go back to.”
Darius's eyes trembled.
Just as he'd always believed, Ex was his friend.
His brother.
Whether Ex was a demon or not didn't matter in the slightest.
“…I am an Imperial Prince. A goddamned Imperial Prince.”
But his position would not allow him to act on those feelings.
“As the First Imperial Prince of the Dritania Empire…”
With a violently trembling hand, he raised his sword.
“I hereby pass judgment upon the demon Ex, who betrayed the Empire and committed treason…”
Everyone watched his hand.
Everyone listened to his declaration.
Even Berith watched from afar with a peculiar smile.
Darius prepared himself to shed tears of blood.
“I sentence you to death.”
Then he brought his sword down toward Ex's neck.
* * *
His vision was dark.
He couldn't see anything.
He couldn't hear anything.
‘…Is this hell?’
Ex slowly opened the eyes he'd squeezed tightly shut.
Even if he knew he wouldn't truly die, pain was still terrifying.
Fortunately, it seemed Darius had severed his head without letting him feel anything.
As his eyes slowly opened, however, something strangely familiar came into view.
“…Elia?”
Elia was leaning against Ex's body, apparently accepting her final moments.
Had Elia died too and followed him all the way to hell?
But something was strange.
“…It's way too quiet.”
He looked around.
The moment he did, he knew for certain that something was wrong.
“Prince Darius, Lady Milia, Count Lemercier…”
Every single one of them had stopped moving.
Darius's sword was frozen just short of Ex's neck.
Milia had turned her head away, unable to bear watching.
Count Lemercier stared toward him with hostility in his eyes.
But none of them moved.
Everything had stopped.
As if time itself had frozen.
“What the hell is…”
「So, this is how things ended up.」
“Gah! Wh-What the… You scared the hell out of me…”
Ex's head snapped toward the voice that had suddenly spoken from empty air.
He tried to move immediately and take a defensive stance, but he couldn't.
Perhaps because time had stopped, he couldn't escape Elia's embrace.
The only part of his body he could move was everything above the neck.
For now, Ex focused on identifying whoever had spoken.
“W-Who are you?”
He looked into the air.
There, beneath a dazzling light, stood a goddess.
Flowing white robes like those worn by the goddess statues in sanctuaries, silken platinum-blonde hair cascading all the way to her waist, golden eyes that inspired instinctive awe in anyone who looked into them, dozens of colossal wings large enough to seemingly cover the entire world, and a woman so beautiful that her Charm had to be something ridiculous like 10.
She was, in the most literal sense of the word, an actual goddess.
For some reason, Ex instinctively knew who she was.
“…No way.”
The goddess smiled as though confirming his suspicion.
「Yes. Exactly who you're thinking.」
Astonishingly, the one who had appeared before Ex after he became a demon was,
「I am ‘Deuslute.’」
the goddess who stood as the absolute opposite of all demons.
The Goddess ‘Deuslute.’
–TL Notes–
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