No Farewell
The Transcendent spoke its final words before releasing me. 【Though you came to me seeking power, I have already given everything to my last descendant. I have nothing left to offer.】
【Yet there is still one thing I can give you…】
Though I had never fully approved of its methods, our conversation across the sea of stars made me realize that its wish was the same as mine. 【It is hope.】
To repay the hope it had placed in me, I slowly reached toward the hand it extended. 【For the hope you witnessed there is now yours.】
【The path you must walk has become clear.】
As my form was drawn through the thin veil into its grasp, the Transcendent itself reversed, just as it had at the beginning. 【So go forth, little life.】
【Bearer of both humanity’s and demonkind’s fate.】
【Shine upon this vast world with untainted hope.】
I drifted farther and farther away, watching the Transcendent’s spirit—sustained only by borrowing the life force of demons—finally exhaust itself and vanish. Its last image was a brilliant golden wave that formed a cross of martyrdom, returning me to my original world.
“……”
With the explosion of golden light, my vision went dark. For a moment I floated freely in the pitch-black void. Though I had overcome countless hardships, I wondered if it was right to entrust such a monumental task to someone who had once been merely human. I wondered if I, who had only coincidentally accepted the demons, was truly worthy of this duty.
But I knew the truth. My comrades had all sacrificed themselves for this. Tia had thrown herself into danger for my sake. Only she had known that while my body was hard to kill, I could still die. I have kept that debt close to my heart. Therefore, I must carry this mission forward. If not me, no one else can accomplish it. Only I—who accepts demons and shows compassion to humanity—can fulfill this role. Not the dead Transcendent, not the Demon King who perished in another world, not even the strongest version of myself that might exist somewhere. This is a mission only I, in this world and this timeline, can achieve.
I felt rays of light begin to pierce the darkness where I floated. Soon I realized the light was a gate leading back to my familiar, longed-for original world. I gazed at it and waited calmly for the light to swallow me, closing my eyes without hesitation or regret. I would no longer collapse or stop. The weak little boy named Hite Wilhelmman who had once crouched helplessly at the bottom had died. What remained here was only Karia, the new king who would usher in a new era.
Swish——
I slowly opened my eyes on the cold floor and looked at the Transcendent’s body I had been touching. It began to glow with golden light, then crumbled into golden dust that rose toward the sky and disappeared. Watching its final moments, I felt that its last desire had been the same as mine. With the resolve to carry both its share and mine to the end, I slowly raised my head.
“……M-Master……”
Jemma, so flustered she forgot to call me “king,” greeted me with her original title. I answered with a faint smile.
“I’m back.”
“……”
She wordlessly pulled me into a tight embrace. I returned the hug of my most loyal subordinate.
“How long was I gone?”
Jemma’s voice trembled as she answered, as if she had believed me dead. “A week and five days……”
I cupped her cheeks and met her eyes. “It’s all right. I’m not going anywhere now.” With a gentle smile, I reassured my worried subordinate. Jemma stared at my face in a daze for a moment. I wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks with my thumbs, then lightly kissed her forehead.
“Let’s go back.”
I rose slowly from the massive stone coffin. By now, Tia should have awakened.
“Tia will be waiting for us.”
In the other timeline, Tia had also regained consciousness around this time and stabilized. So thank you, Jemma, for believing in me. Truly, thank you. But I’m sorry. I feel as though I must go somewhere now. I’m grateful you waited, but I’m also sorry. The time has come.
***
We returned slowly to the castle. As we walked the corridors at a leisurely pace, we saw servants rushing about and subordinates hurrying with medical supplies, sweat flying. In the distance, Cartoria, Kibotos, and Chrislis walked together. Yet my prediction had been at least partly correct—their faces showed no anxiety or fear, only calm. News of Tia’s awakening must have spread throughout the castle.
The three of them, who normally acted separately, moved in perfect unison toward the same destination. Tia had likely just woken and had not yet met even her executives. This perfectly matched timeline confirmed that our world, like the other timeline I had witnessed, had not changed in its broad strokes.
Unlike before, when I would have greeted them with a smile, I quietly followed the executives with Jemma at my side. Step by step, I watched them open a door at the end of the corridor and enter. I approached the door, leaned against the wall, and closed my eyes for a moment.
“……”
“Aren’t you…… going in?” Jemma asked softly beside me. She must have thought I had returned only to say a final farewell to Tia before leaving the castle. That was partly true. I had come back to exchange last words with Tia, to let her hear my final voice, because I knew she would regain consciousness around this time. But I wanted to speak with her alone—no executives present. Just Tia and Karia, Demon King and human.
Perhaps this would be our last conversation.
“……”
I leaned my head against the wall, closed my eyes, and let out a hot sigh. My expression was that of a sorrowful lover about to part from the one they loved most deeply. Had I truly loved Tia that much? While waiting for the executives to emerge, the thought crossed my mind. Yes, I had. I had denied it madly, tried to look away, tried to dredge up old hatred that had long since faded. Yet I had loved her for a very long time—ever since I first set foot in this castle and she first met my ideals. Ever since the woman who always snapped and burned with anger had gently stroked my skin with unprecedented warmth. Ever since the woman who spoke of capturing every human had treated me, a human, with boundless kindness. I had surely fallen in love with her then. She was someone who clung desperately to her mission yet remained honest with her own nature—a contradictory, greedy figure. Perhaps that was why I liked her. Yes, that greedy, cowardly Tia had seemed so very much like me. In truth, I was only a little better than others at stepping forward because I was foolish; at heart I was a coward, a fool, a stubborn blockhead. Even at the final moment in the Demon King’s castle, when everyone else had let their guard down, I alone had stayed alert—yet in the end I had accomplished nothing. And the reason I had thrown myself onto the front lines against the Demon King had been pure greed. If only people were a little more proactive, perhaps we could have pushed through the thorns of this turbulent age. Even though I already possessed something precious and happy, a place I wanted to return to, I had still wanted a little more happiness—for myself and for others. So in that sense, I was no different from the Demon King—a foolish, stubborn fool. And because of that, I could not help but love Tia, who was also riddled with contradictions and flaws. Her flaws, so similar to yet so different from mine, seemed to fill the gaps in my own. That was why I had fallen in love with her even without any special gestures from her. But now, even that was coming to an end.
Step——
The three executives who finally opened the door and stepped out froze for an instant upon seeing me. Then, without a word, they continued on their way, leaving the door slightly ajar. I watched their retreating figures, took a deep breath, and calmed my pounding heart. The sin and fault that would lead to our final parting—turning our backs on each other—was something I had to commit. Even as guilt and sorrow welled up, the thought of staying here instead of leaving flashed through my mind. But at that moment—
“……Karia……?”
Her voice reached me. From afar, the same voice that had called me with difficulty and smiled in that other world. No—clearer and more certain than that. So I clutched my trembling chest, ready to make my decision once more. Because I loved her.
Step——
Drawn by her desperate call, I pushed away from the wall, opened the slightly ajar door, and stepped inside. There she sat on the bed, supported by a servant, bandages wrapped tightly around her abdomen still stained with blood. Sweat beaded on her cheeks, dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her unkempt hair made her already haggard appearance even more pitiful.
“……Where have you been until now……”
She tried not to show it, but her face was filled with relief. The sight of her like this—our final farewell—hurt a little. After all, I was the one who had done this to her. I quietly waited for Jemma at the entrance, then slowly approached.
“……Why do you have that expression……”
Sensing something strange, Tia looked slightly flustered, then her right eye flashed with dark light as she peered at me. Had she truly needed me that much? Or had she faintly sensed I might try to escape during this opportunity? After staring at me for a long while, she spoke in a trembling voice.
“I had a dream……”
“While I slept, you alone reached for your ideals…… and…… and……”
Perhaps the Transcendent had interfered while her consciousness slept.
“You died…… in my arms.”
She had glimpsed a fragment of the world I had seen. As Tia stared blankly into the distance, tormented by the memory, I reached out my hand but stopped.
“……That future is real.”
At my answer, Tia flinched and looked up at me with unfocused eyes.
“……No.”
Her expression was desperately pleading.
“Absolutely not. You can’t.”
Though she still seemed barely able to move, she reached out with a trembling hand and grasped my wrist.
“No. You can’t. Not you…… not you……!!”
The dream must have felt vivid. Tears fell from her eyes.
“I don’t want to let you die like that……!!”
“We made a promise……!”
She was referring to the promise she had made the day I told her about Hayes—that she would never let such a thing happen. But—
“I have to go.”
My resolve had long been firm, extending beyond this world into the sea of stars. I’m sorry, but my promise was not only with you, Tia. I love you, Tia, truly, and I will love you even more from now on. But before that, I made a promise to every version of you across all timelines. It’s selfish, but I can’t help it. I have to keep that promise. You gave your life to pass that ideal on to me, and that ideal has become an extension of my own. So, Tia——
“I’m sorry.”
I gently stroked the back of her hand that held my wrist, then slowly peeled her fingers away.
“But now, the time has come.”
She had always been superior to me in every way. Even if she wasn’t in reality, she was someone who could evolve to surpass me at any moment. Even without me—though it would hurt terribly for a while—she would manage. I believed in you, Tia. This was also a way to buy time. The wound of my departure would leave you unable to do anything for a while, shut away in your room. Haha, I really am selfish, aren’t I? Still, I’m sorry, Tia. I’m just a weak, insignificant human. I couldn’t think of any other way to buy enough time except by hurting you in this despicable manner. I didn’t want to do this either. Seeing you like this now, it feels as if I’m looking directly at those I lost long ago. My chest, my heart, my entire being feels torn to shreds and ready to collapse. I want nothing more than to take back everything I said, lie beside you, and hold you warmly like in the days we shared, listening to your gentle heartbeat for hours. But I have to go now. There’s no time. Seven years is a long time for a human, but for you it’s only about a week. So let me go.
“……”
But I couldn’t say any of that aloud. After all, I was a cowardly, greedy former hero. If I put those words into my mouth, they might really come true. So I kept my lips tightly sealed, shed a single tear, and turned away from her. Then—
“You——!!”
She cried out desperately.
“I can’t see you……!! Your insides are pure white, like clean snow, so I can’t see your heart……! I can’t see your thoughts——!!”
As expected, my current state was difficult even for Clairvoyance to penetrate. That was why she had immediately judged the dream to be a memory she had seen. My state was one where I had set everything down and emptied myself cleanly. I had half-doubted whether the method Jemma taught me would work, but it had succeeded. If my plan had been discovered, Tia would surely have followed me in secret. This was the conclusion Jemma and I had reached after pondering how to block Clairvoyance. But even though everything had gone according to plan, my heart wouldn’t settle. It hurt so much. Still, to steady myself, I ignored her cry and slowly turned my body.
“It was Jemma, wasn’t it? Jemma made you do this……!”
Tia turned her arrow toward Jemma.
“No.”
I shook my head. As always, I could not leave a flaw on my perfect subordinate.
“This time as well, everything was my own arbitrary decision.”
I deliberately left the nuance that I had received her help while also leaving a justification that Tia could not touch her. Even knowing it would be more painful for Tia, the King of Betrayal who had resolved to become worse than trash spoke those words.
“……”
Thus, I tried to leave the speechless her behind and exit the room indifferently. After all, to leave her, to cut her off completely, there had been no other way but this painful farewell. This parting was necessary for what was to come. If I did not cut Tia off like this, I would want to rely on her again and would lose the chance to stand on my own. It was unavoidable. But—
“……I must stand on humanity’s side.”
I stopped walking and spoke to her. After all, I was a coward. Concluding like this and leaving was too difficult. I wanted to exchange even one more word with her, to remain with her a little longer. It was too hard to hide that desire.
“To stand against those beyond the sky who possess overwhelming military power, someone who knows something must go to humanity……”
I told her the reason I had to leave, the reason I had to go there.
“Humanity is still a bunch of fools who know nothing, idiots who can’t tell whether what lies before them is destruction, self-destruction, or salvation——”
As I spoke to her back, feeling no presence from Tia, my chest inexplicably swelled. I cried out clearly and firmly.
“Only now do I finally understand my role. That’s why I have to step forward and tell them.”
In the end—
“Even if I know the end is failure…… I’ve always been a foolish gambler who clung to invisible possibilities.”
At the very end, I might meet the same fate as Hayes, or perhaps the me from that distant world. But upon hearing my choice, Tia—
“……”
Finally, completely speechless—
“You’re…… really leaving me like this……”
When had that been? A little while after Kibotos and Cartoria reconciled. The day a drunken Tia had first shown Jemma my ugly side. That morning, she had asked a question, and now she repeated it as if resigned.
“If humanity obtains the power to kill me and tries to kill me…… Karia.”
I faintly recalled the memory of being unable to answer when Tia had first asked that question.
“In the very end, will you abandon me and leave?”
Until now—until this moment—Tia had kept those words in her heart. I realized it through her small, disappointed voice. In that fleeting instant, I began to regret not having answered her back then. Even then I had loved her; I simply hadn’t been able to express it because of my small fear. Yes, I had criticized Tia for being poor at expressing herself, yet I myself had not changed properly. I had been completely hopeless. But this time was different. This time, absolutely different.
“No. No, that much will absolutely never happen.”
That, without a doubt, would never happen—no matter what. Absolutely. Even if I had to tie her hand, I would never let such a thing occur. The reason I was leaving her now was a parting to meet again, not a farewell to abandon her. I poured out my true feelings, filling my voice with sincerity.
“I will save humanity.”
With my fist clenched tightly, I cried out.
“Right now, I am neither abandoning you nor forsaking humanity.”
So now, I released the resolute will I had obtained.
“I will protect everyone in this vast sea of stars—at least on this planet……!!”
I began to burn my will, which had only grown firmer until the very end.
“This place…… is my homeland, after all.”
Though the Transcendent in life had never cared for such small sentiments, the Demon King—Tia, Tia Belberman—was different from the Transcendent. Tia was human. Human and demon, and therefore the Demon King. So I appealed to her. If it was her, surely her—if it was my Tia—she could move in a direction different from the endings I had witnessed. I believed that. Then Tia tried to say something to my back with a trembling voice, but—
“You……”
In the end, faced with the situation where I would still leave her, had she finally run out of words?
“They…… they will abandon you…… They’ll mistake you for a monster and kill you mercilessly……!!”
She said even that in an attempt to hold me back.
“What can a weakling like you do alone? You’ve never been able to do anything until now——!!”
Her words were harsh and cruel, but Tia truly loved me that much. Even someone as weak as I had been, she had wanted to bear everything for me—that was how much she loved me.
“Even if you become able to change something, even if you become humanity’s savior, in the end you and I will never look in the same direction again and will point blades at each other’s throats……!”
So—
“The moment you stand on humanity’s side, you and I become enemies……!!”
So, though it was pathetic, she tried to hold on until the very end.
“I will truly end up killing you——!!”
She screamed until her voice broke, her tone making it clear she didn’t want to do it at all. Even as she tried one last time to hold me back—
“Then die I shall.”
If that was fate, I had long resolved to accept it. From the moment I decided to leave you, that had already been decided fate.
“Even if it’s not you, when the right time comes I will die anyway. After all, I……”
And besides, even if I died, as long as certain conditions were met, wouldn’t I come back to life? But perhaps that wasn’t really the case.
“Don’t die——!!!”
Tia cried out with all her might, her voice loud enough to bring the castle down. As expected, that wasn’t really the case.
“The only one allowed to kill you is me——!!”
So in the end, as I continued to speak foolishly, Tia cried out with all her sincerity and told me the truth. Yet I still could not fold my heart. There was no reason to fold it. I could not fold it. Rather, because she had told me those things, I felt grateful and knew I had to take that step. Because you were worried about the me who would move forward from now on, you told me not to die recklessly from now on.
“Then come kill me, Tia.”
So I walked to the door one last time, turned my head slightly toward Tia one last time, and left my final words with a gentle smile.
“I’ll be waiting…… anytime.”
Even so, even as I turned my head to give that final farewell, I could not raise my eyes into a smile. Because the moment I looked at her face again, I felt I would stop everything and sit back down here. So I promised a day we would meet again. Though it might not be an ideal reunion. If we could meet again as ideal enemies, if we could face each other again even in an ideal death, then yes, Tia. For you, I would die any number of times. Even if that death ended everything in a single moment, I would gladly disappear pierced by that love. If only we could meet again, even like that, I hoped we would. I opened the door as I was.
“Karia……!!”
Though her pained, moaning voice echoed behind me as she sank into suffering, I still stepped out of the room. Yes, I was like a small falcon chick breaking out of a heavily cracked egg. Though I could barely open my eyes in the bright sunlight, though I could not stop the tears flowing from the overwhelming sensations of the outside world, I began to spread my newly freed wings. Behind the door, the new wings named Karia sprouted and began to unfold.
Click——
And, Tia. You were the best nest for me, the warm place I could return to that had been reborn. But now, the time has come for me to fly in the sky as well. So don’t be too sad. No matter what form we take, no matter what appearance we have, we will meet again. We will laugh as we did in the days we shared, and we will want to indulge in each other’s bodies a little more. We always have. So let us meet again, my Demon King. This is not a farewell; it is a parting to meet again, a farewell for a better tomorrow for us. So, my Demon King, don’t cry like that. Let’s meet again. We will, surely, meet again.