Published at 18th of January 2020 10:50 pm

Volume 5, Chapter 1: The Platinum-haired Maiden Meets the Golden King Once Again

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Beneath a gentle, light-blue sky, a calm, pleasant breeze blew. It was a nice temperature, not too hot, so they had chosen a shop with open, outdoor seating as the place to meet up.

"Sylvia!" Latina said with a smile and a wave, and Sylvia waved back in response.

This cafe was near the temple of Akhdar. It was one of the shops frequented by Akhdar priests, who became so immersed in their work that they sometimes neglected eating and sleeping. Even now, looking about the tables you could see young priests who looked like the living dead gazing off into space and priestesses devouring thick sandwiches like little kids.

I wonder if she's getting enough sleep?

Latina couldn't help but worry every time she came to this part of town and saw this sight, almost like a heap of corpses, but for everyone there it was perfectly normal and not worth paying any attention to.

Sylvia looks like she's her usual energetic self, though.

Her friend had been unusually good at going with the flow ever since they were kids, and that remained true even now.

"Long time no see, Sylvia. Have you been doing well?" "Naturally."

They took their seats in wooden chairs with slightly chipped paint and called over a waiter. After listening to Sylvia's recommendations as a regular, Latina decided on an order. Since Sylvia said the black tea wasn't overly sweet, she ordered it with a small open sandwich to accompany it.

"It feels like there's something different about you, Latina."

"Huh?" Latina couldn't help but jump a bit at Sylvia's statement. She had all sorts of ideas as to how she'd changed compared to how she was just a little while ago.

Just too much had happened lately, and Latina knew that she herself hadn't fully come to grips with all of it yet. Just the fact alone that Dale had proposed to her would have been enough to keep her mind occupied, and then they had spent their "first night" together, which had her maiden heart on the verge of bursting. And then on top of that, she became a demon lord, and furthermore had made Dale into her retainer, which was something she hadn't even imagined doing. It felt safe to say that even in the long life of a devil, such a ridiculous chain of events never occurred.

"Well, he finally made things clear. I guess it's only natural that you seem a little different." Sylvia looked at the engagement bracelet Latina had on with a broad, teasing grin. In Tislow, the fruit and flower design crafted into it traditionally symbolized "marriage." "It's a shame, though, that I haven't gotten to see you as a bride."

"We still haven't made any plans," Latina said with a shy smile, looking at the bracelet on her wrist. She was happy to be able to inform her friend, who had known of her crush since they were little, of her engagement, but on the other hand, it was definitely embarrassing, too.

Sylvia's mission today was to hear all the juicy details about how Dale and Latina had gotten engaged.

Furthermore, the departure date for Sylvia's trip was fast approaching.

"Where are you going first, Sylvia?"

"I'll go somewhere closer to start with, accompanied by my seniors. I'm still not used to traveling, after all." She had trained for years in the temple of Akhdar, and now she was preparing to leave on her first trip as an official priestess. The time she'd been waiting for was so close now, and Sylvia's expression was absolutely radiant.

"I want to say, 'Take care,' but I know you've been working hard for this, so I'll say congratulations instead. Enjoy yourself, alright?"

"Naturally."

For those with Akhdar's divine protection, the ability to fulfill their own desire to visit unknown places and experience unseen things brought them more joy than anything else.

The pair chatted away about such things as their current circumstances and plans. Before she even realized it, Sylvia was down to her last sip of her black tea, which was now completely cool. She looked around for a waiter so she could order a refill.

It was in that instant that she realized a man in foreign clothing and wearing a hat was looking at them. More specifically, at Latina.

At first, Sylvia didn't pay any attention to that fact. Her friend Latina had always been pretty, and lately a womanly beauty had been added on top of that, so passersby would often stop and stare at her. And since it was a man of the opposite sex, it was all the more natural.

Latina just tilted her head a bit, wondering why she was being stared at. But when the man immediately took a knee and bowed down before Latina, the two friends couldn't help but look at one another in surprise.

"Wah?!"

"Huh?! Latina, do you know this guy?!"

"I-I've never seen him before!" Latina replied, but she jumped a bit when she heard his voice.

"Platinum Princess."

Latina almost leapt up out of her chair as she looked at the man's face, and her eyes soon grew wide and face pale. She squeezed out a trembling voice, unwittingly in a nostalgic tone, "You're..."

"So you remember me? I see Guru Smaragdi was successful in protecting you. Where is the guru now?"

"Rag... Smaragdi, he... a long while ago, he..."

"Is... that so... So the prophecy of her lady, the oracle, has come to fruition."

It was her friend's voice that snapped Latina out of her conversation with the man.

"Latina?"

Latina looked taken aback as she looked at her friend's face in response. "Sylvia... Um, you see—" Latina said hesitantly, trying to smooth things over.

"Platinum princess." The foreign-looking man called out to her again. "My master has come to this place."

When she heard that, Latina completely forgot that Sylvia was present.

Looking utterly shocked, she stopped and stared at the man.

"Why?" she whispered in a hoarse voice. "Why is Chrysos..."

Latina staggered forward. Sylvia hurriedly grabbed her shoulder. "Latina?

Should I go call for somebody?" "Sylvia..."

Sylvia looked like she didn't grasp what was going on, and Latina finally realized that she'd been talking in the language of her old home.

At the same time that she remembered Sylvia was there, Latina also looked back at the man, who was now standing back up. When she looked at Sylvia again, she wore a terribly sad expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Sylvia... I have to go..." "Latina?"

"Please, don't tell anyone about what happened today. Or that I went with this man."

Realizing from Latina's emphasis that that included even the man she loved most, Sylvia furrowed her brows and frowned. However, she only hesitated for a second before nodding. "Got it."

"Thank you, Sylvia."

"You'll be alright, won't you?"

"Yeah... I won't be in danger at all." Latina stood up and awkwardly smiled. Having waited for her to do so, the man started walking. Maintaining a firm expression on her face, Latina followed after him.

After seeing Latina leave, walking a step behind the unfamiliar man, Sylvia quietly uttered a single word in question. "Chrysos?"

Then, without making a sound, she stood up from her chair.

†

"Why is Chrysos—the 'Golden King,' here?"

"My master has long been searching for you, who left Vassilios alongside Guru Smaragdi."

The man was heading towards the western district. Latina didn't come there often and wasn't familiar with the area, but she didn't even think to glance around, and her gaze stayed fixed on the man's back.

"And at last, we were able to find you."

Latina jumped a little upon hearing that. She bit firmly on her lip and looked up at the man. "Why?"

"There was no way we could mistake your appearance. We reported to our master immediately upon learning you were in this town, as it was only a matter of time before we found you."

It had been mere coincidence that they had stumbled upon a hint that she was there. The shard of a horn possessed by one of the residents of this

town was imbued with the mana of the "princess" who should have been in Vassilios. If the person they were looking for had had something unfortunate happen to her, or the horn had been stolen, the mana about the horn would not be so gentle and warm. So in that case, even if they didn't know how it had happened, the princess had freely given a shard of her horn to someone else. And despite the long period of time that had passed, the mana still remained pronounced.

At the same time, even though they didn't know the details, there were rumors about this town of a "Platinum Princess." The odds of the person they were looking for being here had been far higher than any of the places they'd been to before.

From the way that she was ghastly pale and faintly trembling, it was apparent that Latina was clearly not happy about this chance encounter. But the man thought that there was no helping that. After all, he knew that this "princess" had no intention of appearing before his master again.

The man was also intimately familiar with Guru Smaragdi, who had guided a great number of people, himself included. The guru would surely have given detailed instructions to this princess, his daughter.

The man's master's wish was to bring this princess back. However, the princess herself and the guru didn't want that. This princess was prophesied to bring about disaster, and she didn't want to harm the nation of Vassilios or its king.

It wasn't as if the man didn't have any fears regarding the precious prophecy of disaster the lady oracle had left behind, but his master's orders took precedence over his own feelings.

His king claimed to not fear the prophecy; therefore, opposing those words would be opposing the very authority of his master—the leader of Vassilios, the Golden King who was like a sun. The king that the whole of the people had anxiously awaited. There was no need to doubt the king's words, which like light itself would shine the way to a bright future.

The man stopped in front of a manor in the western district. As the western district was a high-class residential area, every building had an elegance to it that those of the rougher southern and eastern districts couldn't hope to match. But as Latina was used to the hustle and bustle of the cruder parts of town, the quiet nature of the area only amplified her unease.

From the chilly feel about the manor, like it was completely devoid of flame, Latina guessed that it was a vacant house, that nobody lived there. But at the same time, seeing the man insert a key into the door, she realized they must have been using it with permission. This must have been why she hadn't heard any rumors about devils in the southern district, where travelers tended to gather. Rather than staying at an inn, they were using this manor as a temporary dwelling.

Inside, it was deadly silent.

There was no sense of it being lived in. However, the spaces that were being used had apparently had the dust cleared away. There were no signs of it falling to ruin, either.

Following behind the man, Latina ascended the stairs. He stopped before a stately wooden door at the top, then opened it and let Latina go through. Beyond the wide-open door, a figure stood with their back to the dazzling sunlight coming in through the windows.

Latina stood frozen, so overwhelmed by emotions that she couldn't even speak. There was no way she could mistake the person she was looking at. That face still had marked features she remembered from when they were young. This person looked identical to how they had during their chance encounter in that other place outside of reality.

"Chrysos..." "Platina."

Unbefitting of their young appearance, they solemnly used the name Latina had been called in the past. Amongst her now distant memories of when she was little, she knew it as the name she was called by the adults other than her parents.

Before Latina realized it, she was being hugged so tightly that she couldn't even breathe. She was enveloped in a scent different from her own and those of the people she was close to. With a bewildered look on her face, Latina twisted her body, trying to escape the grasp that was binding her.

"Please let go of me, Chrysos!"

"Why? We have finally met again, my beloved Platina. I shall not let you go again. Now that I have taken the throne, there are no longer any who can give me orders. I shall use all of the power I have to protect you..."

"Chrysos, let me go! I won't return to that country... Never again. I have a different place where I belong now!"

With that response, the arms hugging Latina only grew tighter. As if reflecting their owner's emotions, Chrysos's eyes grew dark and clouded. "Just how long have I awaited this moment?"

"I... I also..."

Latina held back the words "wanted to see you." No matter how much she may have truly felt that way, she couldn't follow this person back to her old home.

"Do you know how much I searched for you?"

Latina understood. As the king of a nation, entrusted with the whole of the country, one couldn't so easily head off to other nations. But that hadn't changed since when they were raised in the depths of the shrine as potential candidates to become king.

Latina had thought that just seeing each other in the space with the thrones was enough. She was satisfied just with having gotten a glimpse at this person who was so precious to her, whom she never thought she'd see again.

But she'd never expected that Chrysos would leave Vassilios and come looking for her in person. That fact made her happy. She couldn't help but feel gratitude that Chrysos still felt the same as back then despite all the time that had passed, and had come for her.

"I... I have someone precious to me now... and I want to live with him... to stay with him forever... So I can't go with you, Chrysos..." And so, Latina clearly told the king that. Because Chrysos was precious to her, Latina didn't want to lie; she wanted to be honest.

"I'm sorry. I can't return to your side anymore, Chrysos..."

The arms around Latina now hugged her so tight that it hurt. The action clearly displayed Chrysos's desire to not let her go or run away, causing Latina's expression to darken more.

"I refuse. I will not accept it."

"Chrysos..." Latina looked like she was about to cry, and Chrysos looked a little embarrassed, too. However, the hug didn't loosen up at all. "I would be able to protect you."

"Chrysos?"

"Your existence overturns the natural order of demon lords. That is the one absolute power of the demon lord numbered zero, or perhaps eight. The other demon lords will naturally take exception."

"My power isn't anything all that amazing, though." Latina wrung out, looking like she was about to break down in tears.

"Your presence shakes the idea that the number of demon lords is established as seven and alters their state as unassailable. Just by existing, you are a threat to the other demon lords. The creation of a demon lord outside the natural is a system of control put in place by the gods for when the other seven are all established."

"Why, Chrysos?" Latina questioned, bewildered as to why Chrysos knew more about her power than she did. The amount of time since each of them had become demon lords differed, but Latina couldn't help but question how Chrysos knew so much more about the world.

"After losing you, I strove my hardest in Vassilios in order to become a proper king. In the midst of that, I surmised that fact from my studies of our history, while investigating the cursed prophecy that you would bring disaster for the king."

"Ah..."

"The Eighth Demon Lord, who is both a demon lord and not, only appears when all seven of the natural ones have appeared throughout the world. It is a different system for controlling demon lords than heroes, and the Eighth Demon Lord is able to wield powers normally reserved for heroes. Though it was hardly mentioned in our records, I considered it as one possibility."

All the while, Chrysos had prayed it wouldn't be the case. Reading that from Chrysos's expression, Latina's eyes grew blurry with tears.

However, Chrysos still declared an intention to protect her. Even though so much time had passed since they parted ways. Even though Latina wasn't able to grant Chrysos's wish to live together.

But even so, Latina couldn't deny her own feelings. Dale was still the person she wanted by her side, more than anyone else.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Chrysos..."

And because she'd come to understand so much, Latina couldn't accept

Chrysos's proposal.

"Chrysos, you need to be the First Demon Lord. The devil race has been waiting so long for the birth of a new king, so..." With her teary eyes, Latina looked straight at Chrysos. "When the time comes, as king, you need to think of protecting your country above everything else. And I'm fine with that. I want you to be that way, Chrysos, so—"

"I don't want to, Platina!"

Seeing Chrysos speak out childishly with a raised voice and a shaking head, which Latina hadn't seen since they were young, Latina's grey eyes wavered despite the firm will behind them. A stream of tears flowed down her cheeks.

"If I, the Eighth Demon Lord, am the enemy of all demon lords... then the First Demon Lord must treat me as one, too. You can't expose Vassilios to the fires of war in order to cover for me," Latina said with a determination that could be called heroic.

Latina was a kind girl, and also one with a strong will. She couldn't weigh herself more highly than an entire nation. And that didn't just apply to the country that had once been her home.

"Saying I'm sorry won't be enough... and I can't ask for forgiveness... But I'm sorry, Dale..." Latina wrung out in a quiet voice, and once more the tears flowed from her closed eyes and down her cheeks. "I want to protect Kreuz and the people precious to me... So if the time comes... I'll..."

She couldn't let all the demon lords run rampant over the places that were precious to her in their search for the being who opposed them. She couldn't let those places become battlefields.

"If the time comes when all of the demon lords are looking for me, then I won't run or hide. I'll handle things on my own. To me, this town... is a second home to me, and I'll protect it. You're the only one I can ask this of, Chrysos, so..." Her voice was full of determination, and though it was quiet, it did not waver. "If that time comes, destroy me."

Above even her desire to stay with him, Latina wanted Dale to be safe. She knew that he was famed for his skill as an adventurer, but even so, her heart always ached when Dale left for work, worrying if he was getting hurt or his life was in danger.

She remembered how she'd once been in that forest, powerless to do anything as she watched her father breathe his last. She knew what it meant to part forever.

Latina was always afraid that somewhere she couldn't see, while she could only pray, he was already in a state where he wouldn't make it back to her.

Now that Dale had become her retainer, a demon, his abilities had improved in all sorts of ways. But despite that, Latina couldn't imagine he'd be able to make all the demon lords his enemies and remain unharmed. Latina couldn't calmly accept the idea of him placing himself in danger for her sake, and there was no way she could ever ask him to head towards his own death for her. Latina was precious to Dale, and though he strongly wished to protect her, she wanted to protect him, too.

Even if he had become her retainer, Latina didn't control Dale at all. She felt truly relieved that he had remained himself. Even if, as his master, she were to disappear from this world, he wouldn't follow after. He may lose the long lifespan he'd gained as a demon, but his natural human lifespan should still remain. He'd just return to his old self.

That was surely what would happen, right? That's what Latina thought, shutting a lid over her grieving heart.

There was no way she would do the same if their positions were reversed. She would struggle with everything she had to protect him, even if it cost her her life. The two of them really were similar at the core, so she knew that he'd do the same. That was exactly why she couldn't leave Dale the option of making that choice.

The only ones that could defeat a demon lord were their antithesis, one with the power to overturn the fate that shielded them. No matter how much of a first-rate warrior and magic user Dale may have been, he couldn't oppose the demon lords because of that fact. She couldn't let Dale take on such a reckless battle for her sake.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Dale..." And then, she apologized to the other person for whom she was making this decision. "I'm sorry, Chrysos..."

If she had just wasted away in that forest, she wouldn't have caused the people precious to her to suffer so. Maybe she really was a being that brought about disaster.

"I'm sorry..."

And yet she had still wished for that happiness; that made her such a sinful being. Latina's shoulders quaked and her tears flowed forth.

"Even so, I..." Chrysos started with a trembling voice and sad expression.

The expression on the king's face clearly showed a refusal to accept what

Latina was saying. And yet, being in charge of a nation, Chrysos was unable

Chrysos's expression was that of one torn between the post of a king and one's personal emotions, but with the clear ring of a glass bell from beyond the door, that expression disappeared.

Keeping a low posture as he entered the room, the man removed his hat, revealing the horns that proved he was a devil. Seeing the golden, jewel- adorned ornamentation hanging from his horns, Latina remembered the customs of her old home and realized the man was Chrysos's retainer, a demon.

And yet, when she saw how Chrysos couldn't completely relax even around trusted subordinates, Latina's expression grew clouded. She realized that Chrysos was still young and had only just taken the throne, and thus needed to hold back a great many things.

Though the king was now hiding all emotion and inner turmoil, the moment before Latina was released from that tight embrace, she saw the pain in the king's eyes. Latina started to reach for those arms, only to realize that she mustn't. As if trying to hide her shaken heart, Latina put her own hands together tightly, as they now had nowhere else to go.

She had sought the one person to whom she had exposed her inner self. Her choice had caused suffering to those precious to her. She'd betrayed her beloved, whom she only wanted to live together with, and she wouldn't be able to grant the wish of one who had kept the promise from when she was young.

"I really do bring about calamity, just like Mov's prediction said..."

That prophecy had been handed down by the highest-ranking priestess even in her old home—an oracle of the sort that only rarely appears. Unable to oppose it, Latina held her clenched hands to her chest and silently wept.

Latina didn't fully remember how she made it back to the southern district after that.

The reunion with Chrysos, who was tied to the few good memories Latina had of her old home, should have made her happy, even if she wouldn't have been able to openly show it. If only the natural demon lords weren't going to come eliminate her in the near future. Put another way... If only they didn't need to part forever.

Even so, thank you for worrying about me, Chrysos... She really was happy to know that there was someone who would weep for her back in her old home, where she should have lost everything.

Latina worried herself sick over the myriad of emotions and facts that felt like they would crush her, sending her spiraling into depression.

In the days after, Latina tried to act the same as always so as to not worry the people around her. She decided that until that quickly approaching time came, she would indulge herself just a bit more with the time that she had left with the people precious to her.

Meanwhile, the people who had watched over her since she was young sensed that Latina was out of sorts.

"She's been acting a bit strange lately, hasn't she?" Even though Rita didn't say who she was referring to, Kenneth knew exactly who she meant. "That's true. It seems like she's trying too hard to make sure we don't

worry about her, but..."

"That girl ends up worrying about things pretty easily... Ever since she was little, she's tormented herself and kept everything bottled up. That still hasn't changed."

"She got engaged to Dale, so things are changing in a big way. It's only natural that she'd be out of sorts, right?"

"I can't deny the possibility, but..."

Kenneth and Rita exchanged worried glances, but they couldn't come up with anything but marriage blues, so they decided to just keep an eye on her.

But that wasn't the case for Dale. He clearly realized that something was off with Latina.

No matter how many times he asked her about it, she brushed him off with harmless and non-committal answers, which only made him all the more worried. He couldn't just turn a blind eye.

That night, Dale asked her again, having no idea how many times he had at this point. With just the two of them in the room and nowhere to run from his questions, he looked straight at her and asked in a stern tone, "Latina, did something happen?"

"Dale..." Ever since she was little, Latina had been awful at lying.

Dale stared at her for a long time, keeping a close eye on her clear expressions and actions. "I'm begging you, please just tell me."

"I'm fine, Dale... Don't worry about it."

"Latina!" Dale said in a firm tone; Latina jerked her shoulders in surprise. Her frightened expression made him feel guilty, but he couldn't back down now.

"I at least get that you're hiding something... so please, tell me. I'm begging you!"

"Dale..." Latina's expression grew strained. The tears flowed from her blurry eyes. "I'm sorry... Dale, I, I..."

"I don't want you to apologize, I just want you to talk to me. So..."

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Even so, Latina remained stubborn and didn't talk about what she was hiding. She just kept apologizing.

Latina bit hard on her lip; she really didn't know what to do. However, she did know that the one thing she couldn't do was open up to Dale. If she did, she'd end up clinging to him and relying on him completely. She'd end up entrusting everything to him as he told her it was alright and he hugged her tight and she felt his warmth.

But she couldn't do that. She didn't want him getting wrapped up in her own destruction. Just the fact that he wanted to live on together with her was enough to satisfy her.

Although she knew it was just her being selfish, she hated the thought of Dale disappearing from this world. And then there were those people and this place which were so precious to her. But above all else, what she wanted most of all was to protect the man she loved, no matter what it took.

And that's why Latina obstinately shut her mouth.

Dale would surely never comply with Latina's request to accept her destruction at the hands of the other demon lords. She knew that, so this was nothing but her own selfishness.

Feeling a presence of destruction right behind her, Latina looked up. She sensed that the time had come: if she didn't say it now, she'd never have the chance.

"Dale... I..."

With tears still streaming from her eyes, she looked up at him. What she really wanted to do was smile, but she wasn't able to do it properly. She wanted to look right at his face, but her vision grew blurry and she couldn't see very well.

"I'm glad I met you, Dale. I really was happy."

Dale felt a chill. Why was she saying that now? Why were her words... in the past tense?

He reflexively reached out, but right before his arms, which were stretching out to hug her, could reach her—

In the corner of her mind, Latina thought, If only he could have hugged me that one last time...

†

The space she awakened in was not the warm place she'd grown so accustomed to. This place shouldn't have been real. It was like she could feel a chill running through her mind and body, but she may have also been just imagining it.

It was a monochrome world composed of all of the colors. In the center of it existed a small, luxurious throne, and seated upon it, the demon lord outside of the natural order trembled slightly. She held the jeweled bracelet that had become her symbol to her chest as if to protect it, as if not wanting to part from it. She felt like she'd be swallowed up if it wasn't there.

There were seven thrones placed around her, and each of them was filled with the presence of a lord. There was clear hostility in the numerous gazes pointed her way, as if they were examining her.

She couldn't clearly make out what the other lords looked like. She could only feel their presences.

She realized that only the lord seated in the first throne was concerned about her; that's why she didn't look in that direction. After all, she mustn't let the other lords realize that they knew one another. She wouldn't let the malice directed at her be pointed at that king as well.

What followed were "voices," but also not. Rather, her mind was recognizing the thoughts of the others as voices, which was an easier concept to understand.

[So this is the one outside the natural order... the Eighth Demon Lord.] [A being prepared by the gods to chip away at the power of we demon lords, despite also being one.]

[No, I don't want to die! I was able to finally escape from death by becoming a demon lord...]

Hearing the numerous overlapping voices, she gripped the bracelet tighter. In her heart, she pondered the fact that, in her weakness, she had as good as deceived and betrayed him for the sake of her own selfishness, and yet she ended up relying on him here at the very end.

She wanted to become a strong, kind adult like he was. She was resolute and determined in that regard, thinking it would be nice if she could come even a bit close to that ideal.

The whirl of malicious "voices" swirling about her wished for her destruction. Exposed to that animosity that almost seemed to have mass, it became painful to even breathe.

[I'll go ahead and kill her personally for all of you. It's not often a chance

like this comes around, after all.]

[Interesting. Perhaps I shall have a bite as well.]

When she heard what the voices were saying, she lifted her face.

[You won't hide? Even though you should run and try to flee as hard as

you can?]

She opened her mouth and raised her own "voice." She loudly proclaimed that she wouldn't do such things and was right here.

She was the only one who needed to be destroyed. She wouldn't let anyone else get tangled up in this. Though she was weak, she was proud of that alone.

If the Demon Lords of Calamity made a move, mountains of corpses would pile up and whole towns would be burned to ashes. The people and places most precious to her would likely be all the more targeted. As incarnations of catastrophe, it was easy for the Demon Lords of Calamity to wipe out towns—even nations. Even a single demon lord wielded such immense power, so if more than one came after her at once, the things and people precious to her would all be stolen away, not a trace left behind.

And so, she'd chosen to offer herself up to them. Rather than struggling,

she accepted the summons to come to this place and be judged. [If you wish for my destruction, then do as you wish.]

She felt numerous presences grimace in response to her resolute "voice."

But then, like a ferocious beast licking its lips, a voice like a sweet poison

[Oh, my. Then in that case, go ahead and die atop that throne. It will be my first murder in this place, so it sounds exciting.]

Her own impending death grew all the more certain. Ignoring her own trembling body, she kept staring straight ahead, not even looking downwards. She gripped her bracelet tight.

[I don't believe that destruction is the best choice.]

The air shifted as this quiet voice resounded through the space. The master of the first throne remained calm as the gazes of the other lords shot their way.

[What do you mean?]

[The Eighth Demon Lord is born when the others have all gathered. Even if we destroy this one here and now, it will not be long before someone next sits atop that throne, yes?]

While hearing that "voice," which never lost its quiet tone, the tears she'd desperately been holding back fell, and something warm blurred her vision. [If we are to deal with the Eighth Demon Lord, then we should use some method other than destruction.]

[There is no guarantee that the next Eighth Demon Lord shall be as docile as this one. Is it not easier to deal with one who can be reined in?]

As other demon lords spoke up in agreement, the consensus in the space started to shift in that direction.

She cried, taking care not to make a sound.

Not wanting her to be destroyed, that person had, without risking their own position, managed to get their own opinion across. It was the greatest possible compromise.

That king had grasped at the slightest chance of saving her, even though she had asked to be destroyed. As one entrusted with an entire nation, it wasn't possible to oppose the Demon Lords of Calamity openly. The king had too much to protect, and thus couldn't live a life governed by personal feelings.

Yet that king had still tried to protect her. [Then by our names, we shall seal her.]

The numerous overlapping voices arrived at that conclusion.

In response to her own "end," which was finally approaching, she closed her grey eyes overflowing with tears. Even though she intended to accept her fate without struggle, her heart grew heavy with fear.

And so...

"I really was happy," she muttered. "Just like Rag wished for at the end... I was happy."

She remembered the words her father had said with a gentle smile in his final moments, not wanting his young daughter to see his despair and sorrow as death closed in on him in that forest. He told her that she didn't need to worry, because he'd be watching over her from the other side of the rainbow, but all the while he had been troubled over how she looked like she'd be crushed by loneliness and the uncertainty of her own future. He said that she would definitely find happiness, because she was born with the gods of the seven colors watching over her.

Until his final breath, he'd prayed for the happiness of the daughter he was leaving behind.

"Every day has been truly happy for me in this country that worships the red god, Ahmar, which took me in when I had nowhere to go. This country in which I've spent more time than the one I came from... this town... is now another hometown to me."

Rag had taught her that if ever she was in trouble, she should count on the temple of Ahmar; but before she could do so, the country of the red god, Laband—where these kind people lived—had offered her protection.

"In the wedding performed before the orange god, Quirmizi, the bride was so beautiful... And I went to see a ton of festivals. The world was overflowing with dazzling things, so many that I couldn't have even imagined it back when I lived in the depths of the temple."

Being brought out of the temple to see a Quirmizi festival was one of her few happy memories from her old home, as well as being together with her precious family. And her memories of seeing the fireworks with her friends, and walking hand-in-hand with the person she adored, were important and happy ones for her, too.

"Getting to spend each day with everyone and study when we went to school at the temple of the yellow god, Asfar, was really fun. And when I went on a trip, I got to see all sorts of things. I learned about a vast, beautiful world I never knew... And I got to hear all sorts of stories from the customers who doted on me as I spent each day in a place with a flag of the green god, Akhdar, which made me really happy... Will they worry about me when I'm gone? I wish I could have said a proper farewell..."

Back when the small, cramped depths of the temple where she lived was her whole world, she'd been taught that the real world was incredibly vast. When she saw it with her own eyes, those words proved true, and it was overflowing with beauty.

"Rag, you said I'd get a job, which the blue god, Azraq, rules over, once I become an adult, but I ended up working earlier than that. Kenneth and Rita were really kind and taught me a lot... I wanted to see Theo and Emma grow up. I hope Vint will watch over them for me..."

With the memories bubbling up in her heart, she remembered each word her father had left for her and responded to them.

She wanted to be like Rag, wishing for the happiness of the people she was leaving behind rather than being crushed by despair.

"I don't regret having broken my horn. When I was hugged tight in the clinic at the temple of Niili, the indigo god, I decided everything. Back then, I'd already chosen to live alongside the humans rather than as a devil."

That decision had helped decide her fate. She would never become the king of the devils, the First Demon Lord. She hadn't chosen the devils, so she couldn't become the leader of her people.

Rather than the race from which demon lords were born, she lived for the sake of a different people. Back then, she had already fulfilled one of the requirements for becoming the Eighth Demon Lord.

"Just like the Mov—oracle of the violet god, Banafsaj—prophesied, I brought about disaster, but... I know that Mov was concerned about me, too." Still holding the bracelet, she brought her hands together in front of her chest. "I really was happy."

So that her heart wouldn't break from fear, she called to mind the people and memories precious to her. And above all else...

"I'm truly glad to have met Dale." The one she brought her hands together in prayer for was that person she loved most of all. Her heart was full of something other than hatred and sorrow, and until the very end, she remained herself—the person he had said he loved.

"I really, truly was happy."

She hoped that he would at least be able to find happiness, even when she was gone. Powerless and small as she was, she prayed that as one seated at the foot of the table of the gods, her wish could be granted.

"And... I'm really... sorry..." she muttered at the very end, as her consciousness sank away in this colorless world.

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