Chapter 172

CHAPTER 104 The Ex–Demon Lord and His Stolen Life of Normalcy Present-day accounts of the Demon Lord Varvatos’s life always painted events in elegant splendor. According to the epics, the path walked by the exalted one was ever that of a champion—without a single setback or anguish. From his first cries as a babe to his last breath, he led an infallible life. The first time I read that sentence, a cynical laugh escaped my lips. Everything about it was wrong. I was not the almighty hero worthy of an epic. In actuality, I spent my whole life with my back against the wall. On the surface, I was undefeated. But the truth was that I never had a single victory. When I was the Demon Lord Varvatos, his shadow haunted me wherever I went. From my first breath, I was already his target. That devil’s target. Mephisto Yuu Phegor’s target. As the stories go, the wars for humanity’s salvation that spread across the ancient world were ultimately a battle against the Evil Gods, with the Demon Lord and a hero at the center. However, all of it was actually a game of solitaire played by Mephisto Yuu Phegor. Clearly, all of us were fools in his eyes. All living beings were puppets, dancing on the palm of his hand. Every decision. Every animosity. Every idea. Every conflict. All were orchestrated by him. Most of the world’s negative incidents were his work. The moment we realized this, we found our true purpose: sever the root of all evil and take the first step toward peace. We each strove for that purpose. Those of us who were at odds temporarily set aside our differences and forgot our mutual hatred. And those of us who were allies tied our bonds tighter. Regardless of labels, human and demon, holy and evil, we formed a united front against him. And we lost. Then there was nothing left. To those of us who lived through that era, the phantom known as Mephisto was a nightmare incarnate. And I was not spared that terror. It’s why I’d turned a blind eye. I couldn’t face reality. Knowing that I still couldn’t kill him, even after making such tremendous sacrifices, was intolerable. Knowing he still lived was intolerable. Reality was so inconvenient, so discomforting, that I intentionally forgot it… Before my eyes, the devil stood. Taunting me to finally face the music. A classroom of the Laville National Academy of Magic, a place I knew well, had become a trap pulling me into the worst hell imaginable. “You bastard… What did you do to them?!” I couldn’t hide my anguish. Were I the sole target of this evil, I could endure it for all eternity. But the evil this monster had wrought made everyone else a target. Glaring at the devil who stood in front of the lectern, I stealthily shifted my attention to one side. There stood Olivia vel Vine, my big sister at heart. Even with our archnemesis in her sights, her expression was mechanical and smug, as if she didn’t have a single worry about the situation. I glanced around the room. Everyone appeared to be in the same state as Olivia. Ginny, Sylphy, Elrado, Ireena, and all my other classmates, too. They were like a hive mind of puppets, mechanical and deathly still. It was as though time had stopped for everyone except for me and Mephisto. A smile formed on the devil’s lips as he weaved the words, “What did I do? To answer your question simply, I used corruption magic. But none of that matters one bit, my dear. The surface-level fact that I turned your friends into dolls is utterly meaningless to me. I want you to see the truth that lies beneath the surface. I want you to know why I did this. I have faith that you, of all people, will understand my true intentions.” His tone was friendly. He wasn’t ridiculing me. The way he spoke was how one might address a companion. Indeed, he didn’t perceive me as his enemy. No matter how much I loathed him or how the murder shone in my eyes, Mephisto saw me as his one and only friend. Nauseated by his incomprehensible thinking, I unconsciously muttered, “How…did it come to this?” None of what Mephisto said earlier registered in my brain. Frustration and lamentation over the unfathomable reality crowded my mind. Despite my anguished mental state, Mephisto kept smiling as he answered, “Let me walk you through it step-by-step. Do forgive me, this will take a little while.” Mephisto twirled, his skirt flowing around him as he turned away from me. Then he approached the blackboard, like a teacher about to give a lesson, and said, “Your side sealed me away during the final battles centuries ago. I was unable to take a step outside my prison. The spell seemed to be unbreakable, and I couldn’t find a way to breach it and meddle with the outside world. Seriously, it was devastating. I’d never known that emotion before. You gave me an important experience, and I thank you for that.” Mephisto rattled on, the chalk gliding over the blackboard as he spoke. “So, we have the final battle centuries ago, the unbreakable seal, and the inability to meddle with the outside world. Your side believed these rules were absolute. So how were they broken? Let’s start our explanation—here.” Mephisto drew an X over The inability to meddle with the outside world. “As you know, I am diligent. I make the impossible possible. I believe that’s the joy of living. And that’s why I put my all into breaking that seal. Fast-forward about, oh, four hundred years? That’s when I was finally able to meddle with the outside world.” Mephisto’s tone was casual, but his words were hell to me. He’d been trapped for centuries, unable to move, let alone think clearly from the intense anguish, and yet none of that seemed to have troubled him in the slightest. A smile formed on his skin-crawlingly beautiful face. “Well, having said that, I was still unable to break the seal. And I owe that to your brilliance, my sweet. You haven’t said anything. It’s okay, hurl curses at me if you wish. Actually, please do so. I feel lonely, doing all the talking.” No way. Mephisto sighed. “Aww, you’re no fun… Well, anyway, I worked my tail off, and I finally gained the ability to interfere with the outside world. But you see, it didn’t thrill me at all. You had to go and reincarnate yourself without a second thought over how I might feel. It’s no fun messing with things without you around. Although, I did screw with the world a little now and then. I was terribly bored waiting for you to return.” Mephisto shot me a playful smirk. The innocent boyishness in his unrivaled beauty was truly adorable, on the surface. However, his smile did nothing but make me want to vomit. “So I killed time for a few centuries. Then you were finally reborn, but I still couldn’t break the seal, try as I did. I gave it my best effort, yet nothing seemed to work.” Mephisto shrugged. There was no sign of falsehood in his words, which left me wondering how exactly the seal broke. Just as this question entered my mind, Mephisto said, “The second reason the seal broke, and the greatest factor of all, if you can believe it… “…I’m not gonna tell youuuu!” Mephisto giggled playfully and stuck out his tongue, and I silently clenched my fists. Finding my reaction comical, the little bastard clutched his stomach and laughed, pointing at me. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You thought I’d tell you? You thought I’d tell you? Toooooo bad! It’s a seeeeecret!” Mephisto cackled, wiping the tears from his eyes and breathing deeply to calm himself. Softly, he added, “If I revealed my secret now, well, it would ruin the fun. I’d be so disappointed if your focus shifted to the seal. I wanna be the center of attention at the start of the game.” His decision not to tell me now likely meant he never would, and I had no hope of forcing an answer from him. And if that was the case…then I’d have to let go of my curiosity about the seal breaking. It wasn’t important at this point anyhow. Mephisto stood before me now. My primary concern should be handling this situation and escaping the struggle to come. That was all that mattered. “Ohhh. Nice move, honey. Your mastery of priorities was always beautiful.” With a satisfied smile, the little bastard hurled a question at me. “Okay, let’s get down to business. Have you pinned down the essence of your predicament?” “…You hurt my friends and turned them into puppets. That’s all I care about.” I glared at him. The “essence of the predicament” could go to hell. Mephisto shook his head and replied, “Remember what I told you earlier? It’s nothing more than a surface-level fact. Either you haven’t realized it, or you’re resisting the truth. The latter, I’ll wager. Oh well, out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll just tell you. The core of it is, this is a refutation of the bonds you and your little friends forged.” He swept his gaze across my classmates. “As you can see, I can control them at will. I can corrupt their personalities and their physical appearances. I can change it all as I please. “…Would it even be proper to classify such beings as intelligent life-forms like you or me? I don’t think so. Beings that change at the whims of their master are no more than machines. That’s why I think of everyone besides you as a tool. You alone are a human being like me—that is why you are the sole person I can have a friendship with. And here’s the thing, my darling, you are no different. You can never be friends with anyone besides me. I’m the only one who won’t bend to your will. And that’s why—” “I’d rather die than be friends with you.” It was just too unsettling, too sickening, and too infuriating. My rage burned my fears and frustrations to ash, leaving behind only the desire to eradicate this devil and save my friends. I didn’t care if it was possible or not. I couldn’t bear to look at that bastard a moment longer. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I know I mentioned this before, sweetie, but your right cheek twitches whenever I hit you with a hard truth. Then you lose it. Aah, it’s these predictable mannerisms of yours that are so truly—” I prepared to hurl an Attack spell to shut his damn mouth, but… “Now, now, calm down. Do you want everyone to die?” My friends moved in unison. They rose from their seats and marched toward Mephisto, forming around him like a shield. Among them were Ireena, Ginny, Sylphy, and even Olivia. “You little bastard!” I gritted my teeth and glared at Mephisto. He shrugged. “As long as you see them as humans, you’ll never beat me. Search your memories of the distant past. Remember the man you once were. The one who had nothing to lose.” The devil spread his arms wide and smirked. It was like he was enticing me. “You were empty—that’s why you were ridiculously powerful. But when you gained so many things and established your humanity, you turned weak. Unless you transcend your afflictions, you will never be capable of defeating me.” His words held deep conviction. Mephisto had determined that the very concept of friendship was an illusion, and he demanded that I accept his belief. I looked at the devil and said, “I was right…you are a pitiful little man, Mephisto Yuu Phegor.” It was subtle, but my quip got to him. His composed smile trembled slightly. “You and I are made of the same essence. I’ll give you that,” I said. “On the surface, we’re both almighty, but we’re hollow. Our strong facades keep everyone from noticing.” The Demon Lord’s military forces symbolized this perfectly. Not one of my soldiers loved who I was on the inside. None of them stood beside me. I had followers, not friends. I’d resigned myself to this, and Mephisto surely had as well. However… “When I met Lydia, my best friend, my perspective changed. She didn’t resign herself to her fate, she kept pushing forward. She was the ideal version of myself.”