Back to the Starting Point
Back to the starting point. Chapter 28. Back to the starting point. I think I've come back too far. To grasp that light, I fought against the pain however I could. I tried to grow close to the Demon King. I became friends with the executives, perhaps the first human friends they had ever known. I grew close enough with the attendants to call them friends. Even through the days when I could hear my comrades' complaints, even in those moments when the light disappeared and I wanted to give up, I worked desperately to catch even a single fleeting ray that had once brushed past my eyes. I built it all up so carefully, only for a single scene to send everything crashing back to zero.
Until the day before, the Demon King and I had seemed to care for each other. Now we were enemies again, blades in hand, each aiming for the other's throat. Jemma, the only one who had ever taken my side, never showed herself again after that. Was it because I had been powerless? Was all of this my fault?
At least at the very beginning. That first moment. The instant Yuda was murdered right in front of me. In that moment, I believed everything was my fault, and I wanted to stake my entire being on killing the Demon King. Yes. The moment Yuda was brutally slain, I realized that none of it had any meaning, and I made my decision. It was time to do what I truly had to do. Communication, dialogue, some idealistic peace—none of it existed, just as the Demon King had said. But I had already known it was impossible. I had known from the start that even facing the Demon King in direct combat was beyond me.
Yet the reason I returned to the starting point, the reason everything circled back, was because—
“Cowardly bastard… trash…”
Yuda had been that precious to me. He was the irreplaceable best archer in our hunting party, the one who always charged ahead with a bright face during the Demon King war, declaring he would open the future. He led the entire support unit alongside Cain and Evan. He loved Jeren more than anyone, cherished her deeply. Just as Yustitia loved this wretched, miserable version of me, he had loved Jeren with everything he had. That was the kind of man he was.
I truly wanted to save him. More than anyone, I wanted to save that man who had survived even that despair and appeared before my eyes once more. He was a survivor of our composite hunting party—the one I had thought everyone dead—and one of my heroes. And the Demon King killed someone like that so easily. So very easily.
Even now, remembering that moment makes my entire body tremble uncontrollably with rage I cannot contain. I begged. I pleaded. The Demon King claimed to love me, yet I desperately begged for Yuda's life. I asked.
“……”
I closed my eyes and looked back on the past. The warm blanket covering me embraced me gently, but the sensation seeping into my bones was nothing but cold. I thought no chill in this world could be more intense than this. Right now, I was more anxious and miserable than I had ever been.
“……”
In the end, I had returned to the starting point. Everything—every event, every relationship, everyone's hearts, my own heart—had come back to zero. What was I supposed to do now? Fight and overcome? Give up and kill myself? I could not understand what I could possibly do while feeling as though the world had cast me aside. But just as a hole appears even when the sky collapses, there was still one hope left beside me.
“…Absolutely…”
I had to succeed, no matter what. It might look pathetic, even grotesque, but this was my last hope, my final front line.
“I can't lose…”
This illness was the single hole through which I could rise beneath the collapsed sky. Even if all of this, even this moment, was part of the Demon King's plan or fate's cruel trick, if I did not cling to this as well, I would truly become an empty shell with nothing left. And even if it was only to spite that person who believed every path was already predetermined, even if it was only because I hated the Demon King, I had to try. Just because the best path was not visible did not mean it did not exist. If I concluded it did not, only the lesser paths of darkness would remain. So I would believe it existed. Even if that path truly did not exist in reality. Even if the moment when nothing could be seen was the true landscape. Even if all of this was the grotesque prank of some unseen colossal being, I would still draw my own best path. If it truly did not exist, I would create it myself. Even if I had long since lost the strength and ability to do so. The act of trying was one of the few free wills granted equally to everyone. And above all, I was nothing more than a pure, unadorned human. That was why I had staked everything on gambles that seemed to have not a single shred of possibility, and I had won time and again. That was what it meant to be human. That was what we were. That was what I was.
Swish——— The time for the decisive battle was slowly approaching. Soon it would be time for the Demon King to return to the room. I timed it perfectly, pulling a small medicine bottle from beneath the pillow and slowly opening the lid.
“……”
A pungent ammonia smell rose strongly. I could not help but frown, but after smelling it, I noticed the liquid inside had a rather peculiar color. Even while worrying about how to handle the aftermath after drinking it, a brilliant idea suddenly came to me—an idea that would make it impossible for anyone to suspect I had drunk this. Without hesitation, I downed the drug in one gulp.
“Ugh——”
The stench was so vile that a physiological revulsion surged up from within, and I nearly spat it all out at once. Still, I somehow managed to swallow it. “……” A gradual heat began to spread through my clitoris. Before it was too late, I refilled the bottle. Yes. If it smelled like ammonia, there was only one thing it could be. Drip——— This was what certain humans called so-called holy water. According to them, it was filled with a woman's sacredness… Ah, enough of that. Preparations were now complete. I had disguised the original medicine using this sexual fluid that felt identical, and when I returned the bottle to its place, it blended naturally with the surroundings as if it had never been moved. Everything was ready.
“Hoo, hoo… Was it always this hot…?”
All that remained was whether the Demon King would fall into my trap. With this, I would overturn everything. Help me, Belberman. And——— Hite Wilhelmman.
***
As expected, the Demon King returned to the room only a few minutes after all preparations were finished. His face looked far more exhausted than before. I waited until he climbed onto the bed, wrapped myself tightly in the blanket, and pretended to be fast asleep.
“Still not awake……”
While muttering that, the Demon King began fiddling with the medicine bottle, making small sounds. “I was looking for where I left it, but it was here.” I realized, unintentionally, that the Demon King had genuinely forgotten about the bottle. My heart began to pound violently, and I nearly stopped pretending to sleep, but I held on. Until he climbed onto the bed and checked on me. Until then. I had to endure until then.
Swish——— Holding my breath and pretending to sleep soundly, the Demon King carefully climbed onto the bed and approached my face. “…… Haa……” With a sigh full of worry, he muttered in a small voice, “I had something I wanted to talk about today……” When I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at his expression, the Demon King flinched for a moment before meeting my gaze. “You're… awake……” Seeing him ask with such a worn-out face, I— “……” I wavered. No, I nearly wavered. Thud——— I kicked the blanket away, sending it flying, and lunged at the Demon King. Caught completely off guard, he was pinned beneath me. “What are you—” Without caring about his circumstances or anything else, I bound both his wrists with one of the chains from the shackles on my own wrists, interlaced our fingers, and smiled. “Now you can't use magic, can you……!” While holding his hands down, I tore open his clothes with my other hand. “You were aiming for this from the very beginning……! Ngh——” For the first time, the Demon King showed a vulnerable expression, his eyes narrowing as he let out a voice dangerously close to a moan. It was certain. This was possible. “I don't know if leaving the bottle behind was intentional or a mistake, but Demon King……” Still holding both his wrists, I tore off his pants and underwear. “Get ready to have your hips broken.” For the first time, I thrust the massive Karia Junior I had regained toward him—to become the first human to ever make the Demon King submit. “Huuu——” “Kgh……” Yuda. You probably never imagined seeing me like this. Neither did I. But I'll become a hero once more. I'll truly become a hero and create the world you always sang about. Please, please…… Be truly happy there. At least until I come to join you……
***
Creak—— “Hnnngh……!” There was one thing I had overlooked. This was the first time I had used the big junior I regained in this body. In this body, everything was a first experience.