Chapter 95

PROLOGUE I’m sure your mind was in the right place. I’m sure your conscience was clean. To the vast majority of humankind, your actions are the righteous ones, and ours are the evil ones. We are the devious, the despicable, the deceptive and dishonorable. But so what? So what? SO WHAT SO WHAT SO WHAT SO WHAT?! You may say it’s for the good of the people. You may say it’s for the sake of the world! You may say it’s the right thing to do, or what needs to be done!! You may say that the needs of the many outweigh those of the few… …but that is just tyranny. Blind righteousness in service to no one. If that is your choice, then I’m sure you understand… …that there is no telling what those subjected to that tyranny might do. You said it was only natural to choose what’s right. You said you were only doing what needed to be done. Well, this is only natural for us. This is what we have to do to get back at you. You both understand that, don’t you? If we wish to drag you down with us, into the icy depths of purgatory your tyranny created… …well, we can’t exactly be blamed for that, can we? I swore upon that scarlet sky that when I killed them, it would be with this knife, bequeathed to me by brother, the last demon lord. “You sniveling child! I am ancient! Evil incarnate! I cannot be harmed by a wretched little worm like you!!” “Heh. Let’s see you fly without your wings, you oversize lizard! What’s wrong? This pint-size pip-squeak giving you trouble?” I was feeling on top of the world. The first time, I hadn’t been able to lay so much as a scratch on his hard, impenetrable scales. “What?! How can you—? You! It was you who stole my power!” “I don’t have to answer that. In fact, the less you know, the better. You’re just a lizard who got some power by nibbling on a corpse. How glad I am to be able to deal the finishing blow instead of leaving it to Kaito! I might actually be grateful for the first time in my life!” “Grh… Gaaaaagh!!” Until today, my life had been nothing but suffering. But now, I was finally thankful to have been born. The knife had lost its power, reduced to an empty husk. A burnt pommel on a wooden hilt stained red with my brother’s blood. No matter how much it meant to me, it couldn’t pierce a dragon’s hide. Fortunately, with his power drained, the creature before me was a dragon no longer—just a demon pathetically clinging to life. The scraps that had fallen from his mouth when he’d devoured my brother’s heart were the only part of my family that remained. But now I could carve out those regrets as easily as cutting into overripe fruit. I had transcended time and was able to deliver death to those who deserved it. I had Kaito to thank for that. Because of him, I could finally taste that sweet fruit for myself. “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Can you feel it? The sensation of being reduced to the lowest of the low?!” “You sniveling worm! Ghah?!” “Come up with something more original, moron! Let’s see if we can’t squeeze out some more creative insults!” That fruit was red, so red. Tongue-meltingly sweet. Eye-blindingly sweet. Nose-tinglingly sweet. Earsplittingly sweet. An intoxicating seed. Red enough to stain the hand that touched it and the teeth that chiseled into it. “This is for my brother. No matter how many times this world repeats, I shall always find you. But don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of time left. Plenty of time to make you realize just how pathetic you truly are.” “Grh! Grhhh! No… Nooooo!!” The first time, all I could do was kill. All I could do was squash that delicious fruit underfoot. I’d never known what it tasted like, so when I experienced it for the first time, it possessed me. “Listen well, Leticia. This knife is very important; you must never part with it. Hold on to it, and unless something happens to me, never show it to anyone…even me. Don’t worry. I’ll think of something, just you wait.” I recalled the face of my brother as he’d stroked my head that day, and I remembered the knife he’d bequeathed to me. Then a different memory arrived to take it all away. A recollection of a burning castle. Of my brother’s corpse, his demon heart removed, and of this man standing over him and laughing. I remember drawing that knife in an attempt to avenge my brother, along with the feeling of shock as it was plunged into my own breast. I have longed to put that memory behind me for ages. So. “Cry, weep, howl, and wail! Let the fires of my soul consume you. Let the sorrows of the dead devour you! I will accept nothing else!” “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!” A resounding scream. I felt the power. The might of the demon lord. Each time his flesh, bones, and mind cracked, I knitted them back together. “We’re not through yet,” I say. “I shall drive this knife into you as many times as it takes to shave your soul down to nothing. I shall impale your arms, slice your stomach, cut off your feet, and carve up your face.” “GAAAGGGH! AAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!” Ah, how my blood boiled. How my blood raced. My knife moved faster and faster of its own accord, and my heart cried out for death and vengeance. “I cannot help it. I know I must be patient, but I cannot…” “Stop… Please… GGGGGGGGGGG?!” I needed to be calm. To not get ahead of myself and instead keep my mind focused on the present. “This is precisely why I made mistakes the first time around, and Kaito paid the price.” There was only one thing I need to decide right now, and that was…yes. How should I kill her? The Burning Sword spell my brother taught me would do nicely. “No… Why…? Why did this happen…?” “Ah, still able to speak, are we? Wonderful. That means we still have so much time together. How long will it last, I wonder?” A dark pleasure spread across my lips. Before, I could only kill, but now, my heart yearned so badly… …SOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLYSOBADLY… …for vengeance.