Rank Zero

"That damned magic again...!"

Circe flung out a spell of resistance, but she was a breath too late. All it managed was to slow the binding by a fraction of a second.

Spatial Binding seized everyone but Gremory once more. There was no means of resisting this magic. Nothing at all.

Elia understood Gremory's intent at last.

"Gremory...!"

"There's still a message left from the Goddess, you know~? I have to kill the human named Lola to finish this job, too~"

"Don't you dare touch her...!"

"Oh, right~ There's one more thing I didn't mention~"

Gremory plucked the Soul Killer from where it had been flung into the corner. She pointed the blade at Elia and smiled.

"Goddess Elysia said that once everything is over, I can do whatever I want with Elia's body~ The Soul Killer only destroys the soul, so the flesh barely takes any damage, you know~"

"...What?"

"Now then, which shall I take care of first?"

On one side, Lola, burning with hatred. On the other, Elia, crumbling into despair. Both were the sort of ugly emotion Gremory adored.

"But still~"

Helpless despair was the flavor she preferred. More than that — Elia might yet break free of the bindings. Even now the chains were creaking, fracturing bit by bit.

"Well then — don't mind if I do~"

She drove the Soul Killer toward Elia.

Once the soul was gone, she would seize the body left without a will. With it, she would surpass the Demon King and the Hero. With that power, she would dominate every living thing and every demon. She would not resurrect the Evil God — she would become the Evil God. She would take Influence, the very core of this world, into her hands. And she would be able to kill that hated "older brother."

If only it hadn't been for that sound.

Snap—!

Greeting the morning in the Deus Theocracy, preparing to attend to affairs of state, Pope Rabb felt an omen of ill.

The true nature of that omen was something Baal — not Rabb — understood better than anyone alive.

"Dalwin. Are you there."

"You called for me."

Dalwin, waiting close at hand, opened the door and appeared. Rabb issued the command with a face more grave than any he had worn in years.

"We go there at once."

"You mean this instant?"

"I will hear no objections."

"Yes."

Rabb hurried to light a candle in the room. The wardrobe slid aside, revealing a hidden chamber. Descending the stairs that led down into darkness, he asked in a rush:

"Are you still monitoring Berith's movements?"

"We are tracking him, but we have no clear information."

"It seems Berith has moved somewhere beyond our knowledge."

"What?"

Dalwin — Agares — was bewildered. Setting aside how Baal even knew that Berith had stirred, he could not fathom why the movements of a mere twenty-eighth-ranked demon would warrant such a commotion.

Sensing the question, Baal opened the door before them and spoke.

"How much do you know of Berith?"

"That he is the twenty-eighth-ranked demon, that his epithet is Falsehood, and that he is an unusual one who used to play at being a family."

"That one was perpetually bored. That is why I entrusted the next task to Gremory, the only one who shared any connection with him."

"That was the reason? I had believed it was to bring Andras — who stands opposed to that demon — to heel..."

"That one is not worth so much."

The chamber beyond the door was a place like an altar, crowded with unholy demonic artifacts. Baal lifted a square stone tablet and went on.

"Berith is an unusual creature. He possesses none of the direct physical power that we do. Barely the strength of a human."

"But I understand he is clearly the twenty-eighth-ranked demon..."

"That is how it is known. Recall his epithet."

"The Demon of Falsehood... Don't tell me...?"

"Yes. His ability to manipulate information is without equal. The creature himself is like a living lie."

When he poured demonic energy into the tablet, an eerie light began to swirl across its face.

"Just once — under the constraint of A Single Truth — I was permitted to hear the truth from him a single time. What I asked was this: 'Will you refrain from interfering with the Grand Design going forward?' And the answer then was..."

The tablet connected to someone's field of vision. It was Gremory's sight, looking upon the interior of some ruins. In that vision, a human lay fallen.

"'I have no such intention at present.' Utterly unbelievable. And yet."

"I still do not understand. Even so, is there truly any need to watch the mood of a demon who is nothing more than a liar?"

Snap—!

CRACKLE—!!!

With the sound of a finger snapping, the tablet's image vanished. An artifact that was anything but easy to obtain had its function snuffed out as if it were nothing at all.

"This is grave. Has he gone and performed an Advent rather than a possession?"

A demon's Advent meant their power had not been throttled by a host. An Advent Demon exercised one hundred percent of their innate abilities.

"...You thought he was nothing more than a liar of a demon?"

"What in the world is this..."

"It is true that in terms of physical force, he is utterly useless. And yet there is a reason I could never bring him to heel."

Baal recalled the past and ground his teeth. No matter how much power he poured out, he had never once landed an effective blow. When he came to his senses, the only things around him were his own subordinates, shattered by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his own strength.

The only way to subjugate that one was with words — and no one could defeat that one's words.

"His 'ability' itself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is the most alien and bizarre among all demons. Before him, falsehood and truth reverse. Yes. If one were to rank him purely by ability..."

Baal narrowed his eyes at the unresponsive tablet.

Gremory knew all too well what that sound was. She knew it so well that thought itself simply stopped.

...No.

A being that should not exist was appearing.

Why are you here...?

The Spatial Binding that had dominated this space had already vanished. In this place where even time held its breath, someone stood up. As if waking from a long sleep, he rolled the stiffness from his shoulders and murmured.

It was X.

No. To be precise—

"...Why is Big Brother Berith here...?!"

The twenty-eighth-ranked demon. The Demon of Falsehood. Berith.

"You didn't even possess a human — why have you descended...?!"

"My little sister Gremory. Still amusing yourself in such tedious ways."

Having already lost interest, Berith looked around. Circe, Lola, and Elia — the three of them were staring into empty air, half-unconscious. Trapped in Berith's Phantasm Prison, each was gazing upon a false world of her own.

"Humans still haven't changed. Always the same."

When he tried to take a step, someone caught hold of him.

It was Lola.

"...Don't... go..."

Even inside the Phantasm Prison, she clung on pitifully, determined not to let go of X's body.

"There are some interesting humans, I suppose."

He carefully pried her hands free and laid her on the ground. She was a human X cherished, so he was gentle about it.

He looked at the ring on his left index finger — the Soul Trap Ring. What it held was X's unconscious soul.

"The damage is severe, but he will not die."

Berith let out a long sigh.

"Yes. He must not die. It was finally getting interesting."

And in that moment of lament—

"DIEEEEEE—!!!"

SHLK—!!

Gremory drove the Soul Killer into Berith's back. As if once were not enough, she kept stabbing, over and over. Berith merely yawned, his eyes bored.

"Having fun, Gremory? I do hope you are."

"Hah... hah... If you hadn't stolen Falsehood from me!! If it hadn't been for that damned family game...!!"

"You should have thought carefully before making a contract. Whom are you blaming?"

"Khuh...!"

Berith caught the throat of the one still stabbing him.

"Th-those eyes... what are those...?"

Gremory saw them. One a hollow black, the other a vacant white. She knew why those eyes were shining.

"Y-you're going to steal from me again? Wh-what more are you going to take from here? This time you're going to take Truth? Th-that's not—"

"Don't worry. I have no intention of stealing truth from one from whom I already took falsehood. What I am curious about is not you, but..."

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE—!!!

With his remaining hand, Berith clenched something in front of Gremory's eyes. It was the System — visible to Gremory alone.

"...This shouldn't be possible."

Berith had seized Gremory's System in his fist.

"Hmm. System, status window, the Goddess's power... They call it by all sorts of strange names. A curse of nothing but lies..."

"N-no... Wh-what are you trying to do...?"

"In that human's words — hmm, what did they call this..."

She had never even heard of interfering with someone else's System. Even for Berith, that should have been impossible. And yet that lie of an event was unfolding before her eyes.

"Ah. Balance. We have to even the scales, don't we? O Goddess called Elysia. It is no fun if one side is too disadvantaged."

And at the same time—

SHATTER—!!!

Berith put force into his hand, and the System broke apart.

In that instant, every force that had been sustaining Gremory vanished.

"Ah, aah... Ah, my... my power... my plan..."

"A demon relying on the power of a goddess whose identity she does not even know... What a boring joke, Gremory."

Berith flung her aside as one throws out garbage. In the sudden helplessness of lost power, Gremory despaired.

"Why, why? Why are you suddenly doing this...? It has nothing to do with you... You said you had no intention of interfering with our Grand Design..."

"I did, then."

"So it's changed now...?"

"I still have no interest in that boring nonsense."

Berith answered while merely paying attention to the Soul Trap Ring.

"I have found something more interesting."

When he summoned the System, a warning flared before his eyes.

"How troublesome..."

When he seized the System floating before his eyes, the messages began to change in a frenzy.

The messages on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the System changed countless times. It tried to defend against Berith's intrusion. In the end, it submitted.

Confirming that, Berith shut the System off. There was something to deal with first.

"Gremory. I shall tell you A Single Truth. I swear upon my existence that I will speak the truth no matter what you ask."

"Y-you're suddenly saying you'll tell me that...? Why...?"

"Is that the truth you wish to know?"

"N-no!"

Gremory trembled and thought furiously. What truth should she obtain in this situation? Unbelievable as it was, he would now speak the truth without fail. There was only one thing she needed to ask.

"Ah — what are you planning to do from now on...?"

"Is that the truth you wish to know?"

"Yes! What are you going to do now...!"

If she at least knew Berith's plans, she could prepare countermeasures in advance. Even a fully descended Berith might be suppressible if they went at him in earnest.

But that was nothing more than a delusion.

"What I shall do from now on."

Berith raised his right hand high. In a posture as if to snap his fingers, he spoke.

Because that seemed like it would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fun.

"...That's a lie."

It was a truth she could not possibly believe.

Snap—!

"...What just happened?"

Circe came to her senses a beat too late. Suddenly she had heard a finger snap, and her consciousness had flown away. Her mind was hazy, as if she had briefly wandered through a daydream.

"What in the world is this..."

When she came to, the situation around her had changed. X's corpse was nowhere to be seen. Elia and the black-haired girl had vanished as well.

She had been too frantic to notice at the time, but now she finally remembered that student's name. A first-year who took the same classes.

I'm certain her name was Hilde...

But in this room there was only herself, and Lola staring blankly into empty air.

X, Elia, and Hilde had vanished as if they had been a lie.