The Weight of Eternity

I stared blankly at the white text floating in the air.

Eight years had passed since I became the Demon King, yet this was the first time a message had appeared before my eyes. What would happen if I chose NO?

I mentally selected NO, and new text emerged.

Eternal… oblivion? The word struck me like death itself. Was there something… some answer I had to find in order to survive?

I chose NO once more. The world went dark, and then—

“Your Majesty, we have finally arrived in Middle Earth. We must swiftly exterminate the humans and establish our foothold here.”

A familiar scene unfolded. The Minotaur, commander of the legions, stood before me with the 1st Legion arrayed behind him. This was… the very first day?

Only then did I realize it. I had regressed.

Gazing at the vast army spread out beyond him, I thought calmly. If things continued like this, the world would be destroyed once again. What should I do? What was I supposed to do?

I stared silently at the legion commander kneeling before me. Should I kill the Hero first? Or topple every human nation? I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, or why I had even come to this place.

“Your Majesty?”

Perhaps my prolonged silence had worried him. The Minotaur looked up with a puzzled expression.

For now… I would stay quiet. Maybe then I would learn something.

I gave the Minotaur an order.

“Postpone the attack on the humans.”

“Y-Your Majesty?”

“What is he saying?”

“The Demon King is forbidding us from attacking the humans?”

I could sense the demons growing agitated. But I was the Demon King. I held absolute command over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all of Kai-rak’s power.

“If you refuse, if my command displeases you, then prove it with force.”

When I spoke infused with magi, every head bowed. No one here could defeat me in combat. I had already surpassed Kai-rak.

Once the demons fell silent, I addressed the still-kneeling Minotaur.

“Do you dislike my command?”

“N-no, Your Majesty… O Demon King.”

After hearing his submission, I scanned the surrounding high-ranking demons. They couldn’t hide their bewilderment; none of them had anticipated this situation.

“I now issue my command to all of you. Until I give further orders, you are forbidden from attacking humans.”

Watching the demons rendered utterly speechless by my overwhelming magi, I allowed a cold smile to form. In moments like these, rule by force had its uses. Absolute dominance through sheer power. Their eyes trembled faintly as they submitted before my overwhelming might.

“Send an envoy to the humans.”

After my command, everything proceeded smoothly. I dispatched an envoy proposing a non-aggression pact. Since humans were weaker than us, they would surely accept non-aggression without issue, right?

But things did not go as I expected. The humans simply could not trust us. We offered to refrain from invasion in exchange for being granted the smallest possible territory, yet they refused to accept it easily. Which was only natural. We were demons, after all. The god they worshipped stood in direct opposition to us. To them, we were not beings with whom coexistence was possible, but the very root of evil that had to be eradicated.

Nevertheless, we refrained from attacking and began interacting with humans. In exchange for not waging war, we shared some of our magical techniques and purchased their goods, gradually closing the distance between our peoples. The demons voiced their dissatisfaction, but I suppressed them by force when necessary and patiently reasoned with the insolent humans. Of course, some crossed the line, but I responded with such humility that it bordered on servility.

All of it was endured for the sake of seeing the game’s ending.

As time passed, exchanges with the human nations sharing our borders grew more active, and their suspicion slowly began to fade. I found this situation pleasing. Within an atmosphere of peaceful coexistence, the humans’ wariness gradually crumbled, and no one had to die. Though I reigned as the Demon King, my true nature was still human. I did not want to watch beings who looked like me perish.

But after eight years had passed…

“Ugh?!”

The magi within my body began to run wild. The sky started turning crimson.

“W-what is this?”

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

“O Demon King?!”

The powerful magi pouring from my body flooded every direction. A fierce agony tore through me as the sky began to collapse.

Everything dissolved into darkness.

“What the hell is this?!”

I hadn’t conquered the world at all! How had this happened?

Staring at the incomprehensible choices, I realized something had gone terribly wrong. What was this? What kind of situation was this?

I glared at the status window. Something was wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong.

I reflected on what had just occurred and tried to pinpoint exactly where things had gone astray. Clearly… the magi inside my body had gone berserk just moments ago. After that, the sky turned red… and I lost consciousness. Come to think of it, the first time I saw that message, my magi had also gone completely out of control. That must have been when everything started to unravel.

Could the answer be suppressing my magi?

With even the smallest hint to follow, I quickly chose YES and returned to the past once more. The 1st Legion stood arrayed before my eyes. I issued the same order not to invade, then began researching ways to suppress my magi.

“Your Majesty has achieved perfect control over your magi.”

At Valarion the lich’s words, I shook my head.

“No. This is not enough.”

For some unknown reason, roughly eight years from now I would lose control of the magi within my body. I was certain that this was the decisive trigger for the world’s destruction. The berserk magi and the reddening sky were clearly omens of the apocalypse.

Valarion, pondering my words, scratched at his skull and asked, “May I inquire why you desire such absolute control?”

“To become stronger. No matter the time or circumstance, perfectly controlling my magi will help me defeat the Hero.”

“If that is your will, then so be it. I shall find a way.”

After that, I trained under Valarion and learned to perfectly control my magi under any conditions. But eight years later…

My magi went berserk, and the world was dyed red.

“Damn it! Why can’t I control my magi?!”

Despite my blood-soaked training, the same result filled me with rage. I chose YES again.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the 1st Legion preparing to march against the human nations.

“Your Majesty, we have finally arrived in Middle Earth. We must swiftly exterminate the humans and establish our foothold here.”

This couldn’t continue. Was there no other way?

That was when I remembered—Axion World featured both a god and an Evil God. Though I couldn’t fight a god… in this place that had become another reality, perhaps ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was possible. At the very least, a god might know how to resolve my situation.

Having reached that conclusion, I pointed at the sky and spoke to the Minotaur.

“No. We will not attack the human realm. We will invade the realm of the gods.”

My words silenced the entire assembly. Seeing both the demon soldiers and high-ranking demons rendered speechless, I rose from my throne.

“Listen well. Our eternal, unchanging enemy is the arrogant god dwelling in the heavens above. I shall slay that god and fulfill the long-cherished wish of our demon race.”

—Clap, clap, clap!

“Ooooh! The Demon King intends to slay the arrogant god in the heavens! We shall offer our lives to Your Majesty!”

“If we can take revenge against the god who imprisoned us in hell, we would gladly face oblivion!”

“Your Majesty! Kai-rak!”

The instant I finished speaking, thunderous applause and cheers erupted. I immediately issued orders.

“All demons capable of flight shall transport the 1st Legion into the sky. Elise?”

When I called the Harpy Queen, she descended from above and knelt on one knee before me.

“Your Majesty. Command me.”

“Lead the flying demons and transport the 1st Legion into the heavens.”

“I shall carry out your will.”

“Valarion!”

When I called for the lich, he appeared before me with a blink and knelt.

“Yes!”

“Use your magic to teleport the larger demons into the sky.”

“I shall carry out your will.”

And so, leading the demon forces, we invaded the heavens. The celestial realm floating high above the clouds.

When we first arrived, the angels fell into complete panic. It seemed they had never imagined we would invade like this. Their confusion quickly turned to terror, but the battle soon reached a stalemate that proved difficult to break. No matter how much stronger I had become, I had not grown powerful enough to overwhelm the heavens.

Thus, eight years would pass, a new cycle would begin, and I would attack the heavens again and again. The one silver lining was that with each regression, I grew even stronger. After countless cycles—too many to count—I finally stood face to face with God.

“Kai-rak… How have you become this strong?”

A figure radiating pure white light, bound by golden chains. The power it possessed was worthy of the title of god. Yet after countless regressions, I had grown strong enough to capture even a deity.

“You don’t need to know that. God, do you know? That this world is repeating itself?”

At my question, God shook its head.

“No. I was not aware.”

God’s answer filled me with despair. It meant I would remain trapped in this eternal regression.

“Truly? You really don’t know?”

“That is correct. I know how to travel backward through time, but… I never imagined something like this was occurring.”

At God’s self-mocking words, I asked, “What do you mean by ‘something like this’?”

Though it had no eyes, I could feel its gaze fixed upon me.

“Are you not speaking of regression? You are currently trapped in an endless cycle where the world is destroyed, you return to the past, and the loop repeats…”

Seeing that God understood my predicament, a spark of hope ignited within me.

“Do not hope. Even I do not know how such a thing is happening… But there is one thing I do know.”

“What is it?”

“As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long as you remain alive, this world will be destroyed, and you will regress to the past once more. That is the cruel fate you must bear.”

Those words made my heart feel as if it had stopped.

“You’re lying… You’re lying to me. Didn’t you create this world?! How can you claim not to know?!”

God shook its head at my outburst.

“It is true that I created the world. And if such a law has been applied, there can be only one reason.”

“What is it?”

“The predetermined end of the world, and regression as a means to prevent it… For reasons unknown, this world is fated to reach a definite apocalypse. At some point, I must have granted the world a new law in order to stop it.”

“Then… how can I prevent that apocalypse?”

God remained silent, simply gazing at me.

“Please, answer me.”

“Kai-rak, only by dying can you escape the yoke of that apocalypse.”

At those words, I froze, forgetting even how to breathe.

“I have to die? Only then can I break free of this cycle?”

“The Demon King is a being created by the Evil God for the purpose of bringing about the world’s destruction… You should already know this. When a new Demon King kills the previous one, it means absorbing the former Demon King.”

I could offer no reply. After all, Kai-rak had slain the previous Demon King and inherited his magi.

“As long as the Demon King lives, it will bring about the world’s destruction… As long as you do not disappear, the destruction of this world is inevitable.”

“God damn it…”

That day, I was forced to confront a truth I had never wanted to face.

After that, I went through several more regressions. Or perhaps dozens? Maybe even hundreds. During that time, I stopped trying to exterminate humanity or invade the heavens. I simply… lived within Axion World. I made friends among the demons, and enemies as well. Eight years would pass, and I would regress again. Each time, I began a new life.

At first, it wasn’t so bad. It meant I could live however I wanted. But as time went on, I began to feel emptiness. Everything I achieved would vanish every eight years. How hollow. How utterly hollow. Like a mirage in the desert, the fact that I could accomplish nothing felt like hell itself. An endless prison of eight-year cycles.

I no longer knew how long I had lived here. My human mind slowly began to crumble. In my desperate attempts to escape this yoke, I tried exterminating the entire demon race, then the human race, and even every living creature in existence. But in the end, I could not avoid confronting it.

Even after countless acts of destruction, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing changed. So I began living in a new way. I traveled to villages I had never visited before, enjoying leisure and spending my time in peaceful idleness. The more I turned away from reality and avoided it… the more I felt something inside me being gnawed away.

After a truly uncountable number of regressions, within that endless repetition of eternity, I was going mad.

Was I human? Was I the Demon King? Or was I simply a sinner trapped in endless regression?

How could I end this cycle?

The more I interacted with humans during my regressions, the more I longed for a human life. Farmers working diligently day after day. Merchants traveling between villages to sell their wares. Craftsmen shaping wood and metal. Women weaving cloth. All of them lived with the hope that, though today was difficult, tomorrow would be better.

Unlike me.

The same day repeating endlessly. Human relationships that vanished every eight years. A regression like an eternal prison where, no matter how much I advanced, I always returned to the starting point. Slowly but surely, I was losing my mind.

If this was how it was going to be… then I might as well die.

I had even reached the point of choosing death at the hands of the Ragged Duke, the first to ever challenge me.