✦ ✦ ✦
Klem spread her hands, pulling the particles together, as if trying to hold them close to her heart.
“Edelgard... I won’t let you disappear...”
And then Diablo heard a gentle chime, like a bell.
—What?!
He looked around in shock. There was rubble all around them, making the place look like a ruin. All of this rubble likely came falling down from the castle, but the place they were in was probably originally some kind of wide cavern.
The sunlight didn’t extend to here, making it difficult to discern exactly what kind of place they were in...but at least there were no enemies in sight. He couldn’t hear tentacles slithering or the sound of Magi Guard engines. All he could hear was that gentle, bell-like chiming.
“What is that sound...?”
Klem opened her hands, revealing a small, sleek, azure bell.
“...It’s Edelgard,” she said.
“Huh? You don’t mean... She’s... Really?!”
“It should be her. I’ve never tried doing this before, so I don’t know if it even means anything.”
She turned a Fallen on the verge of death into a...bell? Diablo had never seen that kind of event in Cross Reverie. Could a Demon Lord really do that?
“I leave her in your hands, Diablo,” Klem said, handing the bell over to him. “If this Demon Lord hangs on to it, I might end up breaking it.”
After a moment of wavering, Diablo accepted it. It reminded him of the color of Edelgard’s eyes. He stored it in his back pouch — a magical item that, despite its small size, was spacious enough to store a large number of items.
“So Edelgard wasn’t destroyed?”
“Given enough time, magical energy, and the right place, she could be restored — at least, that’s what this Demon Lord believes...”
“Hm?”
That was vague.
“I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know,” Klem said, grimacing. “Fallen just gather around me, but they’re not of much use... At least, this Demon Lord used to be indifferent to them at the time, so I didn’t care.”
“Really?”
“Remember how Modinaram consumed the other Fallen?”
“Right, he did.”
When the Demon Overlord Modinaram was backed against the wall, it began consuming the rest of the Demon Lord’s Army to replenish his lost magical energy. He only saw them as emergency rations. Apparently, Krebskulm saw the Fallen in the same light in the past.
“I’ve kept her soul earthbound so it won’t disappear,” Klem continued. “It’s the first time I’ve thought to do that with a Fallen.”
“Edelgard is special to you, after all.”
“Yes! She buys this Demon Lord biscuits! Ahaha!” Klem laughed jokingly.
This girl wasn’t the Demon Lord she used to be. She wouldn’t kill the mortal races for no reason, and she treated those around her with kindness and affection. The peaceful days she’d spent living in Faltra had changed her.
†
“Mmmm. There’s something else that I need to try for the first time,” Klem said, scratching her head roughly.
“What is it?”
“At this rate, we won’t beat the Emperor.”
“...So you can tell.”
“I am a Demon Lord, after all,” Klem said as she began walking ahead.
They were surrounded by rubble, and Diablo had no idea where they currently were. Admitting he didn’t know which way to go wouldn’t be very Demon Lord-ly of him, though. Of course, Klem probably knew Diablo’s true identity, so that wasn’t so much of a problem.
But if he didn’t act like a Demon Lord, he couldn’t speak properly. This was a limitation inherent to his personality, and had nothing to do with whether acting that way would improve or worsen his position.
And so, Diablo simply walked beside her, acting as if he obviously knew where she was going.
“Hmph... We’re up against someone who could build that castle, leads an army of Magimatic Sols, and can wipe out a city in the blink of an eye,” Diablo said. “We wouldn’t beat him by just charging in blindly.”
“Noah and her group were careless,” Klem agreed.
“...I just hope she’s still alive,” Diablo muttered. “We still need to ask her how she was going to beat the Emperor.”
“I thought you could beat him if you fought seriously, though,” Klem said.
“Huh?”
That was surprisingly high praise. It was a long while ago, but Diablo did defeat a partially awakened Demon Lord Krebskulm in battle. It was throwing a childish tantrum, which gave Diablo the time he needed to prepare an 《Apocalypse Abyss》 spell. That spell had a wide area of effect, which meant that its efficacy wasn’t as focused. It could work if Diablo knew exactly where the Emperor was, and the Emperor stayed there until he shot the spell, but...
“Emperor Gelmed isn’t a child or a mindless beast. When we entered his castle, he pretended to be overwhelmed so he could lure us in and attack us from all directions at once. The spell I used on you back then wouldn’t be useful against someone that smart.”
“I’m not saying that because I saw you cast that one spell. Besides, in terms of firepower, Noah’s spells are stronger than yours.”
“Mm? Nng... Well, I... No! I am a Demon Lord from another world! If I were to take this battle seriously, I’d be that much stronger! But my power would be too great, and could end up shattering the very fabric of this world!”
“This world...” Klem repeated pensively.
Ugh! Diablo realized a moment too late. Would a Demon Lord worry about destroying the world?!
He could imagine Klem sneering at him and calling him a kind Demon Lord.
“Ah, no!” Diablo denied what he’d just said, flustered. “I don’t actually care if the fabric of this world were to shatter! I am a Demon Lord, after all! And so, erm—”
“We should take any option possible, so long as it destroys the Emperor,” Klem said. “We must destroy that one at all costs.”
“Hm...”
“Because if we don’t, he will cover all worlds with his disgusting flesh,” Klem said clearly, walking through the darkness.
This made Diablo certain of something.
“Klem, what do you know about the Emperor?”
“I once fought someone with the same ability as it.”
“What?!”
Klem sniffled and grimaced.
“Such a horrible stench.”
“Hm?” Diablo tried sniffing the air too, but he didn’t smell anything.
He did recall Klem making a fuss about smell before. When she met Lumachina, she complained that she “smelled like God.”
There was something shining ahead of them. Diablo followed Klem and approached it. He felt something uncomfortable brew in his chest.
“It gives me a bad feeling,” Klem said unpleasantly, her thick tail slamming restlessly against the ground. “I can hardly recognize it now, but I can tell by the smell.”
Ahead of them was a boulder. And on it was a child...or rather, the crucified remains of a child. The child’s chest was gouged with a long lance. It had an impudent face and clown makeup, but its skin was dry and scorched, making it difficult to discern what they looked like before. It lacked its eyeballs, and its lips were cut off, as were some of its fingers and assorted parts of its body.