Obsession Begins

The world changed the moment she smiled. That was the only way I could put it.

Black demonic energy began seeping from Rebecca's body—no, from the Demon King Reina. The air grew heavy, thick enough to choke on. A vicious, suffocating miasma.

I hadn't noticed it when I first met her. Was she always this powerful?

Her familiar, easygoing demeanor had fooled me. I'd never recognized what she truly was. But she was the Demon King. The final boss of this game. The power rolling off her was staggering—if she wanted, she could kill me with nothing more than a flick of her wrist.

"Master, what's the matter? Didn't you want to see me?"

Reina tilted her head, looking puzzled. She'd expected me to be happy to see her, not standing there in stunned silence. But I couldn't get a single word out.

Am I shaking?

Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to run. Right now. Reina didn't seem to notice. She started walking toward me.

"Nngh..."

A sword cut across her path. Even under the crushing weight of that demonic energy, Sir Jacqueline gritted through a groan and leveled his blade.

"Young Master!"

Faran came running, having sensed the surge of power. Her face twisted as the miasma pouring from Reina's body hit her.

"What in the world is that?"

The others didn't seem to realize that the Demon King had descended into Rebecca's body. Aside from the front lines, she had never shown ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her face to anyone. She was a being who almost never left her own castle. Most people would find the Demon King herself an unfamiliar concept. They could only guess, from the sheer density of that demonic energy, that this was no ordinary opponent.

Faran took her place at my side and drew the dagger I had given her, settling into a wary stance.

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dare stand in my way?"

That smile, it seemed, had been for me alone. Reina's expression changed in an instant. The look she turned on the people standing between us went past displeasure and into something ice-cold.

Demonic energy gathered in both her hands. She cupped it there and began tracing a magic circle, and a crimson array flared to life at her feet. The circle swelled, then erupted in a blinding flash of light.

Father crumpled.

Sir Jacqueline dropped to one knee and tried to hold himself up on his sword, but he went down too. He had already had a great deal of his mana siphoned away through Mana Drain over a long stretch of time. Even at full ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strength, the Demon King was someone you'd only barely be able to face with a full raid party. Meeting that power alone, even Sir Jacqueline never stood a chance.

"...Young... Master..."

Faran's voice reached me. Even as she crumpled, she refused to close her eyes, staring at me until the last possible moment.

"Please... run..."

But her strength gave out, and Faran's eyes slipped shut.

"We're finally alone."

"Yeah."

The crushing weight on my body began to ease. Reina had drawn the demonic energy back in, out of consideration for me.

"I was searching for you, Master, when I sensed a powerful current of mana. I went to check, and there you were. So I tore Amy out and came myself."

A mutter so quiet I almost missed it. How dare she lay a hand on Master. Chilling. And yet, judging by her expression, she looked like she was waiting for me to tell her she'd done well—like she wanted praise, and she wanted it now.

Reina came closer. Just as she had the first time we met, she took both of my hands in hers.

"Master. Master, Master. Master. Master... ahh... this is wonderful. I searched so hard for you. I missed you so much."

She pulled me into her arms.

"Just being together like this would have been enough for me... and yet I wasn't even allowed that..."

Reina's gaze drifted over the people collapsed around us, one by one, Faran included.

"I'm the one who summoned you to this world..."

"To take my place and stay by your side instead... how blessed they must be."

"I wonder if they even realize that."

Tears welled in her eyes. Seeing her like that made my chest ache.

I didn't know the details, but a demon who wished to descend had to pay a price on their own end as well. And the greater their mana, the steeper that price became. Reina possessed the strongest mana of any demon alive. I couldn't begin to imagine what she had given up to come here.

I wanted her by my side too. But a notification stood in my way—the same one that had been appearing ever since I possessed Alvin Gilbert's body.

It had been ringing nonstop since the moment I met her. As if it were trying to interrupt even this.

My thoughts were still a tangled mess when she spoke again.

"It seems we don't have much time left."

Fine cracks began to spread across Rebecca's body.

"I can't burden you any further, so I should be going soon."

If she wanted, she could have stayed until Rebecca's body crumbled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to dust. But she seemed to think that would harm me, and so she didn't want that.

"Master."

Her lips touched my forehead.

"Be careful of Gregory."

Gregory? He was one of the Four Heavenly Kings—the one who created the Bio-Golems. He was an NPC I had made, too.

Why?

I wanted to ask why I needed to be careful of him, but a pain bloomed from my forehead and my eyes began to close. Reina caught my collapsing body.

"Then... farewell..."

Those were the last words I heard before I lost consciousness.

"Young Master, are you awake?"

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Faran. She must have been nursing me the entire time I was out.

"How are you feeling?"

I rolled my shoulder and stretched. Nothing felt off. If anything, I felt great.

"I think I'm fine."

"I'm glad."

A faint smile bloomed across her face at my words.

"Young Master, do you remember anything?"

Meeting Reina. The kiss she pressed to my forehead. The warning to be careful of Gregory. I remembered all of it.

"Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"That's a relief. Ever since we felt that powerful demonic energy, everyone's memories have been in disarray."

Memories in disarray? Reina must have had a hand in that.

"Which is why you'll need to testify at the trial about what happened there, Young Master."

Traces of the black magic Rebecca had used would still be all over that place. Sir Jacqueline and Father had both confirmed that the person transformed into me was Rebecca, and there were testimonies from the knights who had fought her. On top of that, a search of her belongings was bound to turn up still more evidence.

Until now, suspicion alone hadn't been enough to interrogate the eldest daughter of House Rupert or go through her things. But she was a confirmed suspect now. My testimony would just be additional context to fill in the picture.

"When is it?"

"The trial is scheduled to proceed at the royal palace immediately after tomorrow's Hero Summoning Ritual."

Rebecca standing trial would send shockwaves in every direction. The eldest daughter of House Rupert—one of the six families descended from Heroes—had colluded with demons and destroyed an artifact? There would be no end of talk within the Allied Forces, and there was no telling what would become of House Rupert's future.

In the days before the Hero was summoned and the war reached its end, minions tended to pour out from every direction like a bursting dam. But Rebecca would be the first of those minions to actually stand trial. Her punishment would not be light.

"Alright."

There was nothing else for it. Rebecca had committed a grave crime, and she would have to pay the price.

The other matter I still needed to deal with was Rachel. Can she accept that Rebecca was a minion of the Demon King's army? The shock would be enormous. She had worried about Rebecca more purely than anyone.

I'd need to think more carefully about how to handle it, but first I should see how she reacted. If she couldn't accept it... I might have to use the Stone of Domination.

"Hah... still so much left to do."

I'd thought that once Rebecca was in custody, I could finally focus on the Hero Summoning Ritual.

"Young Master, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps a walk through the streets would help lift your spirits?"

She must have heard me sigh. Faran was making a suggestion she never would have offered before.

"The streets? Ah, you mean the festival?"

The city was in the middle of a festival celebrating tomorrow's Hero Summoning Ritual, and I was scheduled to take part in the parade—the highlight of the whole event. I'd never had much interest in that kind of thing, but Faran, of all people, coming to me with a suggestion like that?

She'd been expressing herself more lately. Faran, who had started voicing her own wishes. When I thought about the Faran I had designed, this change was fascinating—new, in a way that only her creator could really appreciate. Which was why I couldn't bring myself to turn her down.

"Sure. Shall we go, then?"

"Yes! Then I'll go get ready."

Faran left the room to prepare.

Relation Points had been climbing steadily throughout the whole Rebecca incident, and now the level had hit five. Did that mean a new status would be added, the way Sir Jacqueline had gained Respect?

"What just got added?"