Ah, yes, now I remember.
When we woke up, we all knew exactly what Taboo truly meant, and then learned the Demon Lord’s true motivations through the “world quest sequence 2” and onward.
It was then that I decided to choose.
To fight.
From there, things unfolded quickly.
I personally went on our fastest horse to the human empire to issue a cease-fire, while Sanatoria stayed behind to recruit volunteers and form a new army.
Where I feared that our proposal of a truce would be met with opposition, I instead found ready agreement, and we were even granted permission to use the empire’s teleport gates.
From the speed of their decision, I could tell that they, too, were past the point of picking and choosing their allies.
“If I wished to call myself a loyal retainer of the Demon Lord, I ought to try and stop you.”
Before I left, Fifth Army Commander Darad said this to me in a low voice.
“…I suppose this means I was not worthy to truly become her loyal retainer, then.”
He gave a lonesome-sounding laugh.
We commanders were never in perfect agreement, of course.
There were some, like Sanatoria, who tried to rebel against the Demon Lord, while others, like Huey, were cowed into submission by her might.
But virtually none of the trueborn demon commanders ever held full loyalty to the Demon Lord deep down.
Not even First Commander Agner, nor myself, had sworn ourselves to serve her out of devoted fealty.
If we did not serve her, demonkind would be doomed.
And so we had no other choice.
Among all of us commanders, Darad was the only trueborn demon who harbored heartfelt loyalty toward the Demon Lord.
Part of this was due to his family’s historically deep commitment to whomever was appointed Demon Lord.
Now, Darad was born into that family during an era when the Demon Lord’s throne was vacant.
So I can only imagine how he felt when, after dreaming for so long of serving a Demon Lord, he was finally given the chance to serve by one’s side as a commander.
All I know is that his loyalty was sincere.
And yet even faithful Darad was not permitted to fight alongside her at the last.
When the Demon Lord left to attack the elf village, she brought only those commanders whom she had personally appointed.
Darad’s loyalty never got through to her.
Then the world quest was announced, the Demon Lord’s true intentions were revealed, and she began to set the stage for the final battle.
“Go on, then. I will take charge of maintaining the peace in our territory.”
Torn between his loyalty to the Demon Lord and his responsibilities as a demon noble, Darad ultimately decided to abstain from the fight entirely.
Just as he said, if he were to see his fealty through to the end, it would no doubt be his duty to stop me now that I’ve chosen to oppose her.
But at the same time, Darad is a noble with vassals of his own.
I am sure he could not bear to deliberately let them die.
Having said that, no doubt he was equally unable to turn his sword against the Demon Lord.
I cannot call his decision half-hearted.
Before I set out ahead of the rest to make contact with the humans, I instructed Sanatoria to recruit only those who were willing to fight for our expedition.
We’re going up against the Demon Lord.
If we fight her, we’re likely to die.
Dragging reluctant soldiers into a battle in which they know they’ll die would only slow us down.
So we will bring only those soldiers who know that they’ll die and are determined to fight anyway.
And the demon army that was thus formed was larger than I expected.
“That’s a lot.”
“It sure is.”
Sanatoria responded to my candid observation with a lazy drawl.
This, too, was an unexpected development: Sanatoria came with them.
“I thought you were going to stay behind.”
“…Yes, well, I’m already starting to wonder why I didn’t.”
Sanatoria sighed, but it didn’t look like she was going to run away.
“I was a world-famous actress, you know.”
“You looked at your reincarnation history?”
“Of course. I take it from your response that you did as well?”
“A little, yes.”
The Taboo menu includes a reincarnation history.
It contains a complete log of all the previous lives one has lived.
I suppose you might say it recalls memories that are embedded in your soul.
When you choose each life, you can actually recall the memories of that time.
I selected the memories of my first life, and that alone brought back an enormous amount of memories.
It was so intense that I thought my mind might implode from the shock of remembering so many things at once.
Fortunately, I only experienced a bit of dizziness, not enough to pass out.
But if that happened from just one round of memories, I imagine recalling all of them would be dangerous.
No doubt my Records skill is the reason I got off relatively lightly.
More importantly, this must be why a non-combat-related skill like this exists in the system at all.
“I starred in quite a few movies, as it happens.”
“That’s impressive.”
“But none of them survived, of course.”
Any kind of recording mediums deteriorate quite quickly within the system.
While books and such can survive by way of transcription, there is no such method for preserving films and the like.
Not a single one of the films starring Sanatoria’s first life as an actress is anywhere to be found in this world.
“My final moments were awfully anticlimactic, too. When I saw those memories, I wound up feeling sad all of a sudden, wondering what the point of my life was. Which made me feel like I’d better not run away from this fight now. Awfully unlike me, isn’t it?”
“…I suppose.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“Well, it’s hardly fair if I tell you all this and you don’t give me a single detail, is it?”
“You’re the one who brought it up.”
“Oh, come on.”
With a sigh, I adjusted the position of my glasses.
“I was royalty in a rather large kingdom.”
“Really? You were a prince?”
“More or less. Still, the government was led by a parliament. I didn’t have any real power.”
Unlike my present life, in which I manage the demon government almost entirely on my own, I had no power whatsoever in my first life.
All I had was my duties as a royal.
It was a strict, stuffy life, nothing more.
“Even so, I loved my motherland, and all of its citizens.”
That land didn’t even exist anymore.
“So this time, I want to do everything I can to protect them.”
Even if it means biting the hands that fed us.
Even if it costs my life.
I gaze out at the swarm of black shadows enshrouding the earth.
Every one of them is a spider monster.
And at their heart is enshrined the strongest of them all: a massive queen taratect.
Though we’re still some distance away, I can already feel fear rising at the terribly imposing sight.
Nearby, I hear someone swallow hard.
Or perhaps the sound came from my own throat.
We of the demon army have issued forth to the field where lies the entrance to the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
The spider army, led by the queen taratect, is positioned directly in front of that entrance.
Far from the demon army, a human army is in position as well.
Given that we are sworn enemies who were trying to kill one another until not long ago, we could hardly set forth to fight side by side.
However, we managed to create a pincer formation around the spider army.
Though we cannot entrust our backs to each other, we still found a way to fight cooperatively.
A fearsome thunderbolt drops toward the queen taratect.
This signals the start of the battle.
The taratect army surges forward, as if the ground itself is moving in waves.
“Prepare the massive magic! Shields, at the ready!”
I shout.
“Not yet! Hold! Wait until they get closer!”
The tide bears down upon us.
A massive swarm that invokes visceral revulsion.
“Fire!”
On my signal, our allied forces unleash massive magic.
The spells mow down the oncoming surge of spiders.
But the next wave of taratects is already close behind.
“Next round! Fire!”
This, too, was within my calculations.
The massive magic spells shoot forth at deliberate intervals.
Even so, the taratects keep coming.
It’s only a matter of time until a wave gets past the massive magic and reaches our front line of shieldsmen.
“Don’t be afraid! Each of them is weak on their own! Remain calm and deal with them one at a time!”
It’s safe to assume the spiders do not fear death.
But the same is true of our side, too.
“We stake our lives for the future of demonkind!”