The Only Rival
"Demons in this dimension and those in the Demon Realm are on entirely different levels. Even I'm restricted to about a tenth of my power here."
Demons fall into two broad categories: those born in the Demon Realm, and those born in this world. The difference in their strength is stark. If a demon here can wield a fragment of fire's authority, a devil from the Demon Realm is fire itself.
"That's why all the essential concepts are devils. The darkness Sisilia faced, and death itself—they're devils too. ...The world needs time to function, so I exist as one as well."
Sisilia wiped her face with a damp cloth while gazing into the mirror. Freya's reflection wore an expression of utter disbelief.
"No matter how strong you are, it doesn't matter. Once you set foot in the Demon Realm, escaping is impossible—and surviving is even more so."
Freya knew the Demon Realm intimately, being a devil herself. Surviving among devils who each embodied lethal concepts was out of the question.
"How on earth did you return from the Demon Realm alive? And looking so unscathed at that."
"I haven't heard those devils' names yet."
"......Even so, that doesn't add up. You're basically a g—"
Freya's pupils trembled faintly mid-sentence. In a god's world, only another god could return alive.
"No way."
Freya narrowed her eyes. Nah, no way. Too big a leap. Sisilia was human. How could a human become a god?
"That's not what I asked."
Sisilia would normally bask in the praise a bit longer, but she had no time for that now.
"Is there a chance the darkness will come again?"
"......To know that, I need the full context."
Freya lowered her gaze seriously.
"You'll have to tell me everything you know. The darkness appearing means the end of this world is near, and I don't want it to end like this."
Sisilia smiled faintly.
"Agreed."
With that, Sisilia explained her theory on why the darkness had sought her out—the unlock conditions for the Demon God.
"The decisive factor was probably killing the previous Demon King. The odd part is the timing. If slaying the previous Demon King truly met the conditions for the darkness to appear, why now, and not back then?"
The tale, neither long nor short, came to an end.
"I get the gist."
Freya spoke with a reluctant expression.
"I have mountains of questions, but you wouldn't care about them anyway, so straight to the point."
How does a mere human know all this? But seeing Sisilia's slippery face, Freya knew asking would be a waste of time. Wisely, she cut to the chase.
"You're wrong. That's not the condition for the darkness to appear."
"It's not?"
"Killing a Demon King wouldn't summon the darkness."
Freya had been utterly shocked at first to hear the darkness had appeared. The Devil of Darkness was the Demon God's closest retainer. It moved only at the Demon God's command. For a mere human to catch the Demon God's notice was chilling.
But after hearing Sisilia's story, Freya thought, Somehow, it hadn't appeared until now?
"In human terms, the darkness is the knight who serves the Demon God most closely. It stirs for one reason only: the Demon God's interest. You've captured the Demon God's fancy in a human body."
Freya swallowed hard and extended her hand, bowing her head.
"?"
Sisilia tilted her head at the sudden shift.
Freya, the timeless demon of time, was more tense than she'd ever been.
"Come to the Demon Realm with me, Sisilia...! We'll live happily ever after for a thousand, ten thousand years! Since the Demon God has acknowledged you, you'll rise high for sure!"
Sisilia, 17 years old, wondered if the demon had no shame and quietly raised her arm, flicking Freya's forehead hard.
"The age gap is too big."
Freya sniffled.
"You're so mean."
Ignoring her, Sisilia touched her lips.
"Then it'll come looking again."
"...Yeah. Right now, even as we speak, the darkness is searching for you."
Sisilia met Freya's eyes squarely.
"How do we fix it?"
Freya grinned devilishly and clasped her hands behind her back.
"The darkness has no eyes. It finds people by their presence alone. Hide yours, and it won't find you."
She means opening my true name.
But that was strange.
"I haven't used any major power recently."
"But you turned a human with the darkness's blessing into a woman. You sent Liliana to guide his will and used her mana to manifest the blessing. That's blatantly defying the world's order—something only a god would do."
"......"
Sisilia had been surprised at how much mana gender-bending took. Still, she wasn't convinced.
That can't be all. I've used Sword God power plenty of times.
There had probably been one. A cat that took the hand of a blind man and led him. A small cat with silver fur.
Sisilia chuckled inwardly, understanding everything, and stood.
"That helped a lot. Thanks for telling me."
"......My master is Sisilia."
"What about you, Freya?"
"Huh?"
"There's a foolish human here who picked a fight with the Demon God."
At Sisilia's calm words, Freya smiled coldly.
"Is that a contract termination notice?"
"More like a humanitarian contract revision. It's too unfair like this, so I'll give you a chance. A chance to run from me."
It was a bet. Demon God or Sisilia.
Sisilia meant it—if Freya wanted, she'd truly release her as payment for the honest advice.
"Marry me, and I'll hel—"
"Overruled."
"......Dating's fine too."
"No."
Seeing Sisilia's firm stance, Freya felt deeply hurt. Pouting, she said,
"......You know, don't you? A devil in love is hopeless. Humans are the worst. But I don't care."
Freya switched to confident bravado in an instant.
"Time is on my side."
In other words, she'd topple Sisilia someday, no matter how long it took.
23:59.
If 24:00 came too soon, just yank the battery. The second hand would stop forever.
But having spotted the one trying to jam the battery back in, Sisilia felt no relief.
"Blessings are manifestations of imagery."
Knowledge given by others fades easily. Sisilia preferred self-discovery, so she wasn't one to spoon-feed. But the situation left no room for leisure.
She decided to share as many trade secrets as possible with the hero party.
"That's why the unimaginable can't become reality. You can't beat what you believe you can't beat."
The hero party hung on her every word, forgetting to breathe.
"But think of it the other way."
Sisilia hesitated before speaking.
Should I really say this? Won't it make things too easy?
But for her beloved newbies, a veteran must give generously.
Sisilia revealed the world's great secret.
"Make the unimaginable real."
Some might scoff: What nonsense is that? Like saying 'study hard to get into Seoul University'?
Sisilia would reply: If she were your tutor, it becomes reality.
"It'll be hard at first. But with effort, anyone can do it."
And so—
Sisilia launched full-scale hero party training.
The first assignment: "Make the impossible possible."
"......What is this?"
Ian closed his eyes. Reality was too hard to accept.
Sisilia beamed.
The entire hero party stood before mirrors.
"From now on, play rock-paper-scissors with yourself in the mirror—and win."
"......"
Silence gripped the hero party.
Beatrice, who'd followed out of curiosity about Sisilia's diligence, quietly prayed for their souls.
"Hehe."
Then, a creepy laugh made Sisilia turn.
In the darkest corner, Sia was earnestly playing rock-paper-scissors with her reflection.
"Th-this might actually be possible."
Sia was blissfully happy just not being thrown into a dungeon yet.
Thus, the hero party—
spent a full week standing before mirrors, playing rock-paper-scissors. Without eating. Without sleeping. Relentlessly. Without rest.
Sisilia showed no mercy.
"What are they doing?"
"......Newfangled torture?"
As Windsor Knights gawked at the hero party playing rock-paper-scissors before mirrors, Sisilia was in the vice-captain's office, unrolling a map of the Liannen Empire.
"Vice-Captain Sisilia! I heard the most amazing news! Remember Aiden? He succeeded in uniting the eastern forces! They're calling him the 'King of the East' now! I honestly doubted him, but maybe he really has leadership potential like you said!"
Beatrice burst in with what she thought was great news Sisilia would love.
But Sisilia had her hair tied back, utterly focused on the map.
"......What are you doing?"
"Kid hunting."
"Lose someone?"
"Yeah. Lost her."
Sisilia was searching for her clone, Cecil.
For reference, she was more immersed than the newbies at the mirrors.
If her 7-year-old self had become a demon and sided with them—
what would she be doing now?
"That's bad. Lost kids are super hard to find."
"Nah, it's fine. Her next move's obvious."
She knew exactly how to cause maximum trouble, since it was herself—and she'd sent darkness after her.
And Sisilia knew herself just as well.
Right now, her child-self clone was probably—
'Licking the cutest demon around.'
Freya had given her the full rundown on named demons. New Demon King summons were likely with vacancies, but the info was enough.
One was on the list.
A female demon right up Sisilia's alley.
"Lumia of the White Night."
Sisilia's finger pointed to the northern map region.
"She'll get a spanking when I find her."
The hero party's next destination was set.