“Your body looks like it’s about to reach its limit. Let’s finish this quickly.”
At the Demon God’s words, Ruvlian examined his body. Since he’d used magic to completely eliminate sensation, he hadn’t felt his skin rotting away. All the exposed skin had turned purple. Even when he tried to move his fingers, they wouldn’t listen.
The Demon God moved his hand. Waving through empty air, he spoke words that couldn’t be understood. Soon, a dark light covered his eyes. At the same time, an unpleasant, filthy sensation of something seeping into his body filled him. Ruvlian frowned.
“If you’re going to make a contract, do it in words I can understand.”
“What I just did was merely bestowing a blessing and protection. I don’t do such contemptible things, so you don’t need to worry.”
When the Demon God flicked his hand, parchment and a quill appeared in the air.
“It’s similar to the mage’s oath you humans make, but since I created it with my power, the effect is much more powerful. Whether I break the contract or you break it. It will properly take effect.”
In human language, the Demon God wrote down the contract. Then he passed the finished parchment and pen to Ruvlian as if telling him to read it.
Receiving the parchment made of unpleasant energy, Ruvlian thoroughly read through the contract. He checked again and again whether there was any intention to commit fraud, whether there was any disadvantageous content anywhere. Though he reread it several times, everything was clear including the target and timing. When he wrote his name in the signature section at the very bottom, the parchment and quill floated up. Soon they disappeared, scattering with light without even leaving dust behind. A massive energy spread out around them all at once.
Ruvlian, who frowned faintly, looked at the demon race who had fallen with a thud. The unique energy of the demon race had thinned compared to before. It seemed the Demon God had released control.
[Now I’m parasitizing you, so that body isn’t needed.]
At that moment, a sinister voice echoed in his head. Because the sound came so suddenly, Ruvlian supported his head with his hand.
Soon, the purple hand that entered his vision regained its original color in an instant. The rotting skin quickly changed like new flesh. It wasn’t a disgusting sight.
[I’ll go back to your house and tell you how to save your Hero. Since I’m parasitizing your body, you can eliminate my energy, but you’re not planning to stay here, right?]
He didn’t want to do anything for a human. However, since this body was as good as his own, he had to care for it. The Demon God spoke as if persuading with such thoughts.
He didn’t like his head constantly ringing, but it was also true that he couldn’t do anything in this place. The Demon God filling his body gave him the feeling of being covered in filth. Swallowing the dirty feeling, Ruvlian Belitent teleported to the private residence he’d separately prepared right after regression.
Upon arriving inside the mansion, Ruvlian, who habitually picked up his pipe filled with medicinal herbs, took a puff, exhaled, then spoke to the Demon God.
“Now tell me that method.”
At the arrogant commanding tone, the Demon God ground his teeth involuntarily. For a mere human to treat a god who should be revered like this. This human had nothing he liked except for having a body close to the celestial race. The Demon God, who didn’t realize that there being even one thing he liked about a human was significant, endured his anger and began explaining.
[It’s simple. There’s someone exactly like your Hero in another world. In your words, it’s called a Parallel World. You just need to swap the world of that human with your Hero’s world. If you do that, their fates will be swapped too, so your Hero won’t die.]
“……That Baek Sihyeon from the Parallel World, isn’t he fated to die?”
More than the suggestion to use the Parallel World’s Baek Sihyeon as a substitute, what caught him was the implication that swapping fates meant survival. It stuck in his ear and wouldn’t come out.
[That’s right. Even if it’s a Parallel World, it’s not exactly the same and differs little by little. The Hero there has the fate of returning to his original world without dying. He also didn’t have a love affair with the you from the Parallel World.]
At the returning answer, Ruvlian Belitent’s expression hardened coldly. Because he clenched his teeth strongly, strength went into his jaw. His somewhat tense fist trembled.
Making one live and one die. Of all people, why must the one who dies be Baek Sihyeon? His antipathy toward God swelled even larger. The body temperature that had continuously died and grown cold, and the heartbeat that had been cut off, were vivid. He wanted to grab the collar of the god who governed fate. No, he wanted to kill him the same way and kill him again, making him feel that desperate feeling.
For a moment, as if seeing an illusion in his vision again, he held the pipe in his mouth then released it. In an instant, the room became hazy with gray smoke.
Because it was parasitizing rather than controlling, the Demon God felt his resentment fully. Even feeling like he was assimilating with the emotions of a lowly human was unwelcome. Was that all? It was even disgusting.
However, because that emotion was directed at the Chief God, he could endure it. Once they were inseparable halves, but now they’d completely turned away. If only that god who annoyingly kept him in check wasn’t there, he could do as he pleased with either the celestial realm or the human realm.
Finishing his sweet imagination, the Demon God spoke to the human still unable to escape from anger, like the serpent in scripture that whispered to Eve to eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil.
[That god who made your Hero’s fate so, if you just follow my will, you can make him suffer. If done well, you might even be able to kill him.]
It was practically the same as saying to follow the orders he gave well. Ruvlian Belitent didn’t like the Demon God, who was trying to secure his private interests at this opportunity, any more than the god who made fate like this. Because it was obvious he’d backstab. However, he cunningly and thoroughly hid his inner thoughts. Since he originally didn’t feel strong emotions, the Demon God couldn’t catch that fact through the transmitted emotions.
“I’ll think about it. But to do that, I’d need to dimension travel—will you help with that?”
[Of course. I’ll help you move to the time you want. Because the magic circle is unstable, you can’t determine the point of return.]
“But if you swap their worlds, desire and power will grow stronger. What are you planning to do about that?”
It was a question intentionally asked to confirm that the Demon God was the one who enlarged desire and created the Demon King. Sitting comfortably on the sofa, he brought the pipe to his mouth again and waited for an answer.
[I just won’t enlarge the desire. There’s no need to worry about becoming the Demon King. As for power, that world doesn’t have mana or Divine Power or anything, so even if he gets stronger it won’t show, but…… Since it seems you plan to keep him in your world, I’ll appropriately cast a blessing and protection so he can’t rebel. If your Hero is in the world where you are, his power will be suppressed.]
If Baek Sihyeon’s power grew stronger in the Parallel World, it would be difficult to keep him captured. That would delay things even more. The Demon God had to achieve his will through Ruvlian, so he decided to personally cast a blessing and protection.
Not knowing that intention, Ruvlian was suspicious of the Demon God doing something good for him, but he nodded at the words that were as expected and heard detailed explanations through conversation with the Demon God.
First, he had to turn back time to before Baek Sihyeon came to this world as a Hero. After that, he had to dimension travel to the worlds of the Parallel World’s Baek Sihyeon and Baek Sihyeon when they were infants and swap the two. [I’ll just leave your Hero alone without enlarging his desire. Instead, you cast a curse on the other one who’s been swapped.]
“Cast a curse?”
In the countless regressions, Ruvlian had learned many things. Baek Sihyeon had died from an epidemic, and had died from a curse. He’d died in various other ways too, so to prevent those deaths, he inevitably mastered herbology of course. And also curses. Curses, like magic, were important for innate talent, so he was just that degree better than average. The limit was clear.
[It’s a curse that perfectly suppresses desire.]
“……”
[If you do that, he won’t want to have anything, won’t want to become close to anyone. He’ll live without any emotion. Later, when he becomes a Hero and defeats the Demon King together with you, release the curse. At the same time, cast emotion amplification magic. Then he’ll realize his situation all at once and be swept away by swelling emotions, showing an opening, and I’ll dig into that opening and make him into the Demon King.]
To Ruvlian who didn’t answer, the Demon God whispered like a tempting devil. His head buzzed. It felt like urging for a quick answer. Ruvlian’s head dropped slowly.
“But I’m going to kill him anyway, so is there a need to make him the Demon King?”
[You’re planning to kill him?]
“If you make him the Demon King, he’ll destroy this world, but I plan to live here with Sihyeon, so killing him is right.”
[Then kill him.]
The Demon God gave a simple answer. Another human might find it regrettable not to be able to use him as a card, but this was the Hero, the human he disliked most. The Hero who killed the Demon King, then transformed into the Demon King and was killed by his companion. He liked how the modifier attached in front was dishonorable.
“I’ll do that. Then since everything’s decided, be quiet for a bit. I’ll cool my head and start right away.”
Ruvlian Belitent continued to repeatedly hold the pipe in his mouth and release it. Fortunately, thanks to the herbs, he wasn’t swayed by illusions. If it were like before, he would have seen them dozens of times a day.
Will you, who met death countless times, resent me? Questions that always arose when thinking of Baek Sihyeon filled his head one by one. Thinking that this time would really be the end made it even more so.
That’s when it happened. Whether the herbs were no longer effective, an illusion appeared again. Since you keep appearing without getting tired, couldn’t I even have the delusion that you miss me? Ruvlian Belitent, who blamed everything on Baek Sihyeon, spoke to the illusion as usual. Though it was herbs, it was similar to drugs. In a state of not being in his right mind, he only realized it was different from the usual illusion after the Demon God opened his mouth.
[You really have gone mad. Look closely. That’s not an illusion.]
He knew he was crazy, but the tone suggested he was even crazier than expected. However, those words didn’t properly enter Ruvlian’s ears.
As if it really wasn’t an illusion, Baek Sihyeon, who looked older than when he’d turned back dozens of times even if not twenty-two, appeared and disappeared. Ruvlian was filled with joy. It felt like glimpsing the future.
“Let’s do it.”
He immediately felt like executing it. Ruvlian turned time to the point he wanted using part of the power of the parasitizing Demon God. Then, after dimension traveling, he quickly carried out the work to disappear before God noticed.
