Waiting for a Hundred Years
After waiting a hundred years.
— Cough—
He vomited up the blood surging from his insides.
Everything was heavy and difficult. Yet he stood firm on his two legs. He had to remember this scene at all costs.
Ah.
Everything that could have been fine was no longer fine. This was a story that applied without distinction between the living and the dead.
Everything was destroyed, everything was dead.
One of the massive islands in the Demon Realm, Ared.
Just three days ago, this island had been fine, but now nothing of life remained.
He looked at the pools of blood covering the floor.
“...Pathetic.”
His two wings were torn to shreds, and even his right arm was gone. One eye was completely missing.
Even standing on two legs, his appearance was pitiful.
However, he had no leisure to rebuke his own pitiful state. He had even less to feel pain.
“Why did you do that?”
He asked the subordinates who had fallen to the ground.
Why did you believe in me until the very end?
There was no answer. They were cooling down, and they gave him no reply.
The crows of the Demon Realm began to peck at their flesh, but he could take no action.
They all died without exception.
They, who had boasted their names while praising the sin of pride, would never return.
As always, the sky of the Demon Realm was red.
Now, the color of the ground and the sky were not so different. He just gazed endlessly at this world soaked in blood.
“Why did you do that?”
Even though he knew there would be no answer, he asked once more.
It was only his own battle.
It was neither particularly noble nor grand.
It was simply a battle to fulfill his mission. The Demon Realm people would belittle and mock their own deaths.
He knew it all along.
Why did you, who knew this fact better than anyone, do this for me until the end?
He slowly turned his head.
He dared to look at the one who had drenched Ared in blood.
The person he had challenged. The ruler of the Demon Realm who held the Seven Deadly Sins under his command. His name was countless, but ultimately there was only one existence.
Demon King Regulus.
This tragic scene was just a small amusement to him. His figure sitting high up on a mountain of corpses was definitely the Demon King of the Demon Realm.
The expression looking down at him with a smile made him feel an emotion he had never experienced before.
The quiet standoff lasted for a while, and finally he walked towards him.
“Jekiel.”
The noble vampire lord. The sin of pride among the Seven Deadly Sins. His name flowed from his mouth.
“It was fun. Really fun. There hasn't been anyone in recent times who made me this happy.”
“......Yes.”
“It is something to be proud of. Why did I keep you alive? Because there aren't many like you who make me this happy. With the name of this Regulus, I acknowledge that you were excellent.”
After that, he looked around.
“What... Don't be too regretful.”
He placed his hand on his shoulder.
“You can make more subordinates, right?”
It was a casual remark, but it hit his ears like lightning.
The embers in his heart became a great fire. Without realizing, he turned his head and glared at him as if to kill.
Then, golden eyes burning like the sun were already staring at him.
“Since you made me happy, it's a reward as promised.”
He said that to him.
“Do you want my power, or do you want to live longer? No, anything is fine. No matter what you say, I will definitely listen.”
“...Anything?”
“Yes, it's possible to change your fiancé's heart to a new one. Just say it.”
How gruesome the battle had been.
To tie it up, he rummaged through his pocket with his remaining left arm. Regulus's golden eyes sparkled as if expecting his answer.
Tap.
He threw a paper envelope onto the floor.
This was all for this.
He had wanted to prevent the end of the world in this world, which was a game background. He had come this far with just that one thought.
He knew it himself.
Having only that thought did not guarantee a happy ending. The process to reach it would be incredibly difficult, and his death might be involved.
Moreover, at the moment of his death, even the last subordinate who would pray for his soul would disappear. It would be a meaningless death in every sense.
He knew this better than anyone. Even though he knew it better than anyone.
I want to try it.
He didn't want to see the bad ending where the world perishes in the Demon King's hand.
If even a happy ending to protect human happiness is not enough, he wanted to see a true ending where the Demon Realm and Human Realm live in harmony.
No, he would see it.
He wished for this world to have a happy ending.
...That was the mindset that had not changed even after a hundred years in the Demon race's body.
Would it have been different?
If he had possessed a human body from the beginning, he wouldn't have had to go through such a process.
It was pointless. He had to think about such worries now.
Just doing his best from now on was what he had to do.
He squeezed out one sentence.
“I will resign now.”
The sin of pride among the Seven Deadly Sins.
Vampire Lord Jekiel.
He was the first Demon race to resign from his position on his own.
Haah.
The Human Realm, visited after a long time, felt quite familiar. Whether it was worry or relief, he let out a deep sigh that probably mixed the two.
When he first possessed this body, he had naturally tried to fulfill the role of Vampire Lord.
There must have been a reason for possessing this body.
Since it had come to this, he had to think of this guy's mission as his own mission to live naturally. He had thought that.
However, it was an impossible story to live like that for a hundred years. The memories of his previous life as a human were still clear.
In the end, he had run around in the Demon Realm for a hundred years to avoid being expelled from the Demon Realm and to resign from his position on his own strength.
If asked if he had to do that much, well, he had to.
He wanted the true ending rather than the bad ending where the whole world perishes. That was it.
The difficulty was, of course, that the true ending was incomparably harder, but wasn't it better to suffer to death to get the true ending rather than casually seeing the bad ending?
This world was based on an academy game.
An academy game with a common story where the protagonist protects the world from the Demon King's invasion.
However, although the story was common, the difficulty was not.
This game, famous for its extreme difficulty, started by immediately killing the protagonist as soon as the main scenario began.
After that, death flags lined up. Kill, kill, kill again... until the end, it killed the protagonist.
It was fine if only the protagonist died, but even the named NPCs and heroines who played crucial roles had quite a few death flags.
It was practically forcing a bad ending.
He himself had only memories of seeing the bad ending while playing beyond the monitor.
However, I will never fail.
His subordinates had believed in his miserable mission, which sounded like nonsense, until the very end.
They fought for him without even asking the reason they would have asked once in a while. What did I say.
Even now, their deaths were meaningless. No one, no one had won.
So, I have to survive and succeed.
By surviving, I will honor their spirits and make this world face the true ending.
The only way to turn their fight into victory and protect this world is that.
The Human Realm that came into view was surprisingly familiar.
Anaity.
Sharp roofs lined up, creating an old-fashioned atmosphere. It seemed to boast that it was a city with the academy no matter who saw it.
Also, the vitality of students walking around wearing the academy's uniform. A few female students passed in front of him, chattering.
“The Rahal Academy entrance ceremony is less than a week away, right?”
“That's right. But today, there was also a long line at the academy entrance, wasn't there?”
“Ah, today they said they're hiring new professors. It's an interview, they said.”
“Ugh! Seeing so many people crowding, I get chills for no reason!”
Was it finally starting?
The main scenario of this world began with the Rahal Academy entrance ceremony.
It had been really long. He had waited a full hundred years just to stand at this starting line.
I will not let the protagonist and heroines die.
In this world that forced bad endings, he would resist as if to show off.
They were flowers that would bloom most beautifully above all else. His small role was to help them endure the winter.
Fortunately, he had always summarized and closely examined the branch points related to the main scenario. He had repeated it countless times so that no small error occurred and prepared thoroughly.
This was no longer a game. It was reality. Once derailed, there was no retry.
So, let's do our best. This is it.
Time to step up soon.
[Interview waiting number 82]
Interview waiting number 82
It was written on the paper he was holding.