“Ugh...”
By good or bad luck, the boy had survived. He had no idea how many times monster fangs and claws had torn through his flesh. He’d only managed any form of resistance in the first instant. After that, he’d lost track of what had happened, and before he knew it, he found himself on the ground. He didn’t know what happened to his friends. It’d taken him everything to focus on himself. He was surrounded by monsters. There were no allies in sight.
“Oh? You’re still alive.”
Looking at Kudou Riku approach atop a wolf, the boy staggered to his feet. He grasped his sword with trembling hands.
“Who are you...?”
“So you still wish to fight,” Kudou said, narrowing his eyes. “I see, you’re one of the ones Heaven’s Voice mentioned—one of those loss-stricken souls that Jinguuji leads. You’re a little different from the riffraff I met during the fake savior incidents.”
“What’re you getting at...? And did you just say Heaven’s Voice?”
The boy’s bewilderment was clear. This wasn’t because the name made no sense to him. It was the opposite. Jinguuji Tomoya’s group was a gathering of those who’d suffered from loss and had sworn to stake their lives on getting everyone back home. However, it wasn’t like they’d known about their shared circumstances at first. So how did people who’d been scattered across the world find out about their commonalities and gather together? The answer to that was that they’d had help.
“Go save your pitiful friends, Jinguuji.
“That’s the wish she made as she called out your name in her final, cruel moments, isn’t it?”
Jinguuji Tomoya had received information from Heaven’s Voice. He’d used this information to find his friends. He’d been the only one to interact directly with Heaven’s Voice, but he’d told the others about them.
“Is it strange that Heaven’s Voice provided me, the Demon King, with information about you?” Looking at the boy’s expression, Kudou Riku smiled faintly. “Aah. I’m sure it is strange to you. From your perspective, they were a helper who had nothing to hide. You’ve made it this far thanks to all the information you’ve received from Heaven’s Voice. In truth, they never betrayed your trust once. Am I right?”
There was a reason he could see through the boy so easily. The same thing had happened at Fort Tilia. Back then, Juumonji Tatsuya and Sakagami Gouta had both trusted Heaven’s Voice for bringing them together. It was partly because of how utterly dense the two had been, but Heaven’s Voice’s outwardly sincere behavior had played a large part too.
However, behind the scenes, Heaven’s Voice had made a connection to Kudou Riku and had told Sakagami Gouta a tremendous lie, tricking him into thinking he was a monster tamer. The boys accompanying Jinguuji shared many of that case’s circumstances. They trusted Heaven’s Voice, since they had provided useful information to them. Only Jinguuji Tomoya hadn’t trusted them fully, but thanks to being told the truth surrounding the Dimensional Cornerstones, he’d finally come to the conclusion that Heaven’s Voice wasn’t lying.
Or maybe he’d had no choice but to believe. After all, despite looking for information all over the world, he hadn’t found the slightest clue about how to return to their world. Heaven’s Voice had grasped his weakness and had accumulated trust only to betray him at the worst possible time. The moment he lent them an ear, he was doomed to perish.
“Heaven’s Voice is more like the snake of temptation...the same as always.”
Watching the Demon King mutter to himself, the boy steeled himself to start negotiating.
“You’re...Kudou Riku?” he asked. “You have the power to manipulate so many monsters. You’re the guy they call the Lord of Darkness, yeah?”
“Yes. That’s right. What of it?”
“Thought so!” The boy smiled as if he’d found an oasis in the desert. “I know about it. You wanna destroy the world, right? That’s why you’re here. In that case, you should be able to work with us. We might have different objectives, but we’re doing the same thing.”
A Demon King bent on destroying the world, and those who were prepared to destroy the world just to get back home. Their interests were in alignment, so there was no need to fight. He was right in that sense.
“We might’ve had a bit of a misunderstanding, but it’s not too late. Let’s work together.”
Here in this moment, Jinguuji Tomoya’s group had acquired the possibility of getting a wild card in the form of the Demon King.
“True... I do believe my objective is somewhere inside here.”
Kudou Riku nodded quietly, and the boy smiled back at him.