Different Time, Changed You.
It was like a ritual. They poured endless amounts of so-called holy water made from the blood and flesh of monsters, transforming the recipient of the blood ritual into one of their own the moment they permitted it. It was a ritual meant to turn me—a human—into the same form as them.
I was trapped in what seemed to be their lair, a prison-like space inside the cave, forced to endure the endless deluge of that repulsive filth alongside the corpse of some monster that had collapsed beside me. Perhaps they were simply waiting for my mental strength to run dry. Every day, at the appointed hour, they would come for me, pinning my body down and securing my head so I could not even turn away, then slowly tilting the bucket to let the filth flow from my face down across my entire body.
“Kellk, kehk——”
No matter how tightly I closed my eyes and pressed my lips shut, the filth eventually forced its way in through my nose, filling my mouth and throat with its sickening, fishy stench. After several days of this torment, they began approaching my increasingly haggard face. They lifted my barely moving eyelids to check my pupils, pried open my mouth to peer down my throat, and turned my head to inspect my ears—clearly bewildered as to why I still had not fallen.
“····”
To be honest, those vile days had dragged on so long that I was in considerable pain. Yet why did I not break? Was it because I had already endured this kind of torture twice before? Or was it simply that, compared to what I had already suffered, this pathetic attempt felt like nothing at all? I sneered at them.
“Haha···· Try harder····”
Though my body had no strength left and I could barely lift my head, I glared at them from the corner of my eye and forced the corners of my mouth upward in something that barely resembled a smile. It seemed to have quite the effect. They grew restless and hurried out of the prison. I realized they were going to fetch more of that filth, and the thought of the agonizing cycle beginning again left me feeling somewhat bleak.
Swish——
They did not look like living creatures, so I had worried whether they could even feel emotion. Fortunately, they took the cheap provocation without question. While they were distracted, I slowly rose, gripping the long finger I had secretly pulled off one of them earlier. Summoning every last ounce of strength I had left, I swung it down.
“Huuuup———!”
Clang———!
The rusted lock on the prison cell shattered. The moment it broke, exhaustion overtook me. I dropped to my knees, clutching the iron bars as my head hung low.
“Hah, hah····!”
The dried blood caked on my body mixed with the beads of sweat dripping from me. I lifted my head sharply.
“Let’s get out of here····!”
I could not afford to collapse yet. There was still far too much I did not know about this place—why it had become like this, and if those grotesque beings truly were demons, why they had been forced to evolve into such a form. I staggered toward the exit on unsteady legs, once again stepping out into the bright light of this world.
“Haa····”
As I left the cave and approached the entrance, the outside scenery gradually came into view. I immediately realized where this cave was located.
“····· This is····”
The place I had been kidnapped from the ruins of the Caspia Border Region and dragged to was none other than the Demon Realm. It was an underground cave tucked away in a corner of a massive, unfamiliar city that had once been the Demon Realm in the world I knew. Even though it was a grand city, I recognized it as the Demon Realm—once nothing but wilderness and castles—because of the architectural style of the buildings and, most of all, the pitch-black castle standing tall at what I assumed was the city’s center.
The Demon King’s Castle. It still existed here as well.
From the shade of the cave entrance where I had successfully escaped, I immediately thought of Tia. If she was here too, she would surely tell me something. But then I recalled one of the hypotheses I had formed when I first arrived in this world and wondered why everything had changed.
“····”
What if the cause of this situation was that Tia had held a grudge against me, killed me, and triggered all of this? If the invasion had succeeded because of that, then the moment she saw me again, she would undoubtedly execute me without mercy. The very suspicions that had surfaced the instant I took in this landscape now rose unbidden in my mind.
I started toward the Demon King’s Castle, then stopped. Staring at that massive, pitch-black fortress, I looked around once more. Even though it appeared intact from a distance, the surroundings were just as desolate and barren as the ruins of the Caspia Border Region. I turned my head in every direction, checking for any of those grotesque beings nearby, then retreated back into the shade of the cave entrance.
“···”
What should I do? What action should I take? I sank deep into thought.
And then, at that very moment—
BOOM———!
A thunderous crash echoed from far away, the sound of two enormous masses colliding. Startled, I looked up toward the direction of the noise, outside the cave.
“What the hell———”
The sound came from the sky. Beyond the clouds, high above in the distant heavens.
“What is that······!”
I finally spotted it: a colossal flying monster the size of a planet clashing with others above the clouds. They tore each other apart in a gruesome spectacle, their remains plummeting toward the ground.
“·····”
Something was wrong. No—everything here was wrong. Those grotesque beings, the ritual meant to corrupt me, the massive structures and monsters moving beyond the clouds in the distant star-sea—none of it made any sense.
“What on earth happened here····”
I watched the unknown colossal structures and the monsters—far too enormous to even be called monsters—shifting in the sky beyond, then lowered my gaze to scan the ground. Once again, I resolved to find any clue about the situation unfolding here, even if it meant risking death. It might truly get me killed, but I would appeal to whatever sentiment remained. I did not know if any still lingered, yet I began searching for an opportunity to make contact with this world’s Tia.
Once more, I gathered my courage and stepped out from the shade of the cave entrance.
“———”
But at that moment, I heard a voice coming from deep within the cave. A familiar voice.
“····”
It was not an attempt to speak or convey intent. It sounded more like an involuntary groan born of excruciating pain. The moment I heard it, every nerve in my body stood on end. I wondered if the grotesque being that had discovered my escape was now luring me back with this voice. Yet something about the sound felt achingly familiar, as though it belonged to someone I knew all too well.
Unconsciously, I followed the voice deeper into the cave.
“······”
The voice was faint and kept breaking off in short bursts, making it difficult to pinpoint its exact location. After wandering for dozens of minutes, I finally found its source.
“Tia····”
The owner of the voice was the Demon King.
“···· Tia!!”
Thud———
It was Tia Belberman, the Demon King, reduced to an impossibly emaciated state. I immediately rushed toward the iron bars of the prison cell where she was trapped.