Chapter 32: To Me, You Were Like the Sun

-No, why… why do you have that?

The Demon King gazed upon the space devoured by the Flame Demon, and upon belatedly realizing its identity, his eyes widened in shock.

This is, I mean…

This won’t do.

Kariel.

It is unfortunate, but your journey ends here.

To encounter such an absurd thing at the very threshold of the beginning.

One can only conclude that you are incredibly unlucky.

-Good grief. This is just preposterous.

Sometimes, those from the Middle Realm have a strange streak.

The world is overflowing with ordinary, mediocre people.

Yet occasionally, strange things pop up.

-He should have just seduced her as a lover and reasoned with her properly.

The Demon King clicked his tongue and shook his head lightly.

The flames raged violently, yet they did not burn, erode, or devour anything.

They simply overflowed.

That thing was, once, fear itself.

The power displayed by the being called omnipotent when he traversed and seized the world.

For it was one of those absolute seven.

====

Right there.

There is a child who wishes to inherit your will.

There is a child who wishes to inherit my will.

“Will the knight come first, or the hero?”

“Then what is an ‘epic hero’?”

“Can you only be one thing?”

Many words are exchanged.

However, this is not merely a hallucination or a delusion created by the mind.

Upon a green meadow.

A girl sitting with her back against a great tree.

A girl sitting demurely.

Asked thus:

“Then, can I not become a hero?”

Then.

A boy handed her the twig he was holding.

And said:

“Then I’ll give you this.”

“……?”

As the blue-eyed girl took it and cast a puzzled look his way.

“Now you’re a hero too!”

…….

….

Wood cannot defeat fire.

This is simply a matter of compatibility.

Then what about rock?

Even rock, when exposed to extreme heat.

Melts without exception.

At that point, even water and wind.

Are nothing more than mere specks of dust.

Everything I have learned is turning into bubbles.

Compared to flames that merely swallow firewood.

How could the cold that freezes lakes and rivers.

Ever be compared to that?

The Heart Formula I had constantly repeated, stored, and planted is meaningless now.

No, that is not it.

It is not that it was meaningless, but that it has become meaningless.

However, who determines that benchmark?

It was only me.

If you throw an egg at a rock, the egg breaks.

It is a self-evident fact.

No matter how many you throw, whether hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands.

The rock will not budge.

Then why not throw millions or tens of millions?

…There is not enough time, will, or opportunity for that.

The world does not provide infinite opportunities.

“No matter what you have gained, that is your limit.”

If you cannot even overcome this.

How could you possibly glimpse the boundary of the world that even I am wary of?

Perhaps you do not yet keep that place in mind.

“But it can happen at any time. When, where, and what unknown malice will try to swallow you like a nightmare.”

Even if a new Demon King invades the continent, I could protect her if I were by her side.

…But if I am not.

Even from the blade of a simple outlaw.

Even from a single Magic Beast, I would not be able to protect or save her.

Even if he manages to overcome that.

What happens when a trial greater than that strikes?

What if malice falls like a shower on a cloudy day to sentence him to death?

What then?

“Thinking of that, I simply cannot let you go.”

The girl who had become the Flame Demon herself.

Yet, without losing the blue flower bud blooming vividly within.

The lonely sentence melts into the flames.

The crimson burning fire eventually turns deep blue.

No, even that disappears.

Now, it is sublimated into a pure white flame.

In an instant, the world was trapped within a wall of white fire.

However, this does not signify the end.

In my clenched hand, the firm, leather-wrapped feel of the unreliable sword sheath was still fully conveyed.

If I had worn thick gloves, the burden on my wrist and the shock that hit every joint of my fingers.

Might have left a smaller lingering effect, allowing for a certain level of preparation.

Right now, even the act of gripping the sword is precarious.

She could crush me from the front, but knowing that my longing and will would not be extinguished by that alone.

She seeks to break the will.

She seeks to extinguish the heart.

Now, look at this.

The wall of the world is this grand and towering.

…Little child.

Do you dare think you can handle this?

“…….”

Step.

And so, I move forward.

The fact that I cannot handle it is no reason to collapse.

Unless I whisper the word ‘surrender’ into my own mind.

No one ever forced it upon me.

It isn’t even a single outcry.

“…Right.”

And.

What I must see with my own eyes right now is not my own wretched state.

Nor is it the miracle-like catastrophe that El has displayed.

But rather, to become like that.

That woman.

The girl.

How much, just how much…

…pain must she have endured?

How much did she have to sacrifice.

How much did she have to devote, tolerate, and withstand.

…To be able to become like that?

I didn’t intend to think about it.

But as I suddenly realized it.

…The barrier before me.

Was not fear, nor dread.

Nor even astonishment.

It is sad.

Infinitely lamentable.

Heartbreaking.

I know because I have experienced it too.

“Just how much… .”

The pain of becoming strong is a realm permitted only to those with the will to fully endure it.

Or, if such will is lacking.

…One has no choice but to pour out time, years, and weight.

But even then, one step is decisively missing.

Or half a step.

With just that, we fall from heaven to the abyss.

I died a hundred times.

And only upon the ninety-ninth.

Did I become truly terrified of death.

To exert one’s sincerity.

To reveal one’s true heart.

Because I still did not understand even a handful of what that meant.

How should I act to be more earnest, more desperate?

Even if I want it desperately, even if I feel it in my bones.

I still do not know what that is.

I just didn’t know.

That is why I was afraid.

And everything I had stepped upon until now, like mere foam, like bubbles.

No, if it had been mere dawn dew.

It wouldn’t have been this regrettable, this unfair…

…….

“Stop.”

El.

She speaks.

The heat intensifies as I approach.

I cannot even breathe.

While the air already settled in my lungs ruthlessly heats the interior.

Now, the heat striking my skin directly makes my whole body burn as if pierced by needles.

Pain is eternal.

Unless you escape, the agony continues.

Because I understood that better than anyone.

I answered.

“By whose authority?”

A dry tone escapes in a wretched form.

But.

Whether I go or not, whether I stop or not.

I decide.

“Did I not tell you to stop?! Does this situation look like a joke to you?! My resolve! Do you intend to mock it?!”

“……Not really.”

Suddenly.

I see the figure of a young, innocent girl standing atop a small hill.

Even though her face was a mix of anger and frustration.

Even though she was weeping miserably.

The girl had severed herself.

From the one-sided conclusion of collapsing.

And so.

[I, I!]

A mere individual.

Who wants to change the world by their own will.

[I declare it here.]

The moment one makes such a decision.

That person must face it.

[I, Elhermina Berg Enzul! I shall vow here, before you. I will make our empire the most powerful nation in the world. A place that is peaceful yet merciful, where everyone can be happy… .]

Under this vast world.

Under this hideous yet sparkling world.

[Only by doing so… can I avoid such a miserable end.]

Just how powerless.

The strength of an individual is.

[A conclusion where someone sacrifices themselves in my stead! I! Will never accept it again!]

Just how miserably weak.

The strength of a single person is.

“You truly! To the ve… ry end!”

As if waking from a reverie.

As if placed at the edge of hell, the given reality is truly narrow.

Above all, she seems angry.

Why can’t you understand?

Why can’t you realize?

When I care for you this much!

…I can feel that heart poignantly.

Which is why it was even more preposterous.

This clumsy girl.

In the end, because she didn’t know the way.

She simply ran desperately in the direction she knew best.

Because she knew the world was frightening.

In order to protect.

But because she had so little leeway.

Still, because she could not collapse.

…She moves forward.

“…….”

Indeed.

Is that not the path of the sun?

I thought she was the sun, but perhaps even that was an underestimation.

“You told me to show you, right? The Divine… what was it called?”

It was something said a moment ago, but perhaps because the expression wasn’t familiar, I hesitated for a moment.

“Kariel. I have long since seen through the identity of that technique. With that, you cannot do anything to my flames.”

“El. Who said that?”

I know.

That these are the flames you personally chose.

In order to face the malice of the world head-on.

I understood that clearly.

Then, with what resolve did I intend to face the world?

To be precise.

The hero of heroes.

Knight of Radiance.

Beloved of the God.

The foremost of all warriors.

Demon Realm Exterminator.

Demon King Slayer.

Continent’s Top Knight.

Continent’s Strongest.

There are many titles.

But in the end.

He is my father.

The greatest benefactor in the world, and to me, the greatest object of resentment.

I no longer intend to deny this feeling.

However, this situation is separate.

“El. Give it your all.”

In the end, what I must show.

Is not some shabby excuse to dilute distrust.

“I’m not sure… but well.”

It’ll work out somehow.

A simple will.

A simple conviction.

That will crush distrust head-on.

Even if that period was incredibly short.

In the end.

All I can show.

Is simply my sincerity.

====

-No… these bastards, all of them together….

Following the deep blue Flame Demon.

And seeing the ascent of the pure white fire.

The Demon King had given up.

-Kariel’s just going to end up as a devoted husband or a henpecked one.

If that thing had been there when I invaded, I would have been in real trouble.

Would it be easier to just ask the princess to defeat her father?

Uh, then what happens to the contract?

While watching with half-interest and half-resignation.

That crazy bastard, of all things.

Walks straight forward.

-Is he begging that woman for mercy?

The point is whether that woman gives up or not.

This wasn’t a situation where Kariel could do this or that.

It wasn’t even a desperate gap.

It was simply impossible.

If an ant with a potent venom bites a human.

They could certainly die.

Especially if allergies are involved.

But there is a limit to that.

Even if a venomous ant kills a human, or makes them suffer.

…Surely it wouldn’t bite a dragon to death.

-You are still underestimating those two.

-Eh?

No.

-Old man, again… No, of all the old men, why is someone like you speaking…?

Even in this state, absurd things keep happening.

What on earth is this magic?

The crowned old man, though a blurry figure, had a clearer form than before.

Even so, the person who would look at that form was currently walking steadily along the path of pure white flames.

He was so slow it was uncomfortable, like a slug wriggling.

Staggering, his whole body not just heated but burning, with the smell of char pouring out.

Probably, even that was being captured and erased by the flames.

Normally.

If exposed to that, not even ashes remain.

Whether that girl is clumsy, or adjusting her power out of consideration for her opponent.

…Well, what does it matter which it is.

-More importantly, underestimating?

To the Demon King’s question, which evoked gold, the blurry figure of the old man responded.

-The capital was a shackle to that child, but also a fence.

Huh?

-The child who stepped outside the fence has just broken the shackles.

Now, look.

-It was possible because you provided the opportunity and the catalyst.

The black-haired boy, who finally reached the princess.

Forcing his eyelids to stay open.

Forcing a breath he had been holding.

Gripped the sword tightly.

And in a truly fleeting moment.

The vivid white embracing the pure white.

And the streak of pitch-black.

Intersected.

…….

……….

The Demon King’s mouth hung wide open at the sight.

-He’s… crossing the line.

No, more than that.

-Elbat isn’t even here, how did that bastard use that?

He wasn’t even taught?

No, it’s not something you can use just because you’re taught, is it?

Through the pure white, a black light so brilliant it was dazzling cleaved the dark night sky and split the world in half.

What resulted was a truly strange coincidence.

As the vertical white sublimated toward the heavens.

Thanks to the horizontal black trajectory, an inverted cross divided by black and white lines brilliantly devoured the darkness of the night sky.

Indeed.

The traversing trajectory of darkness.

Cleaving and swallowing the radiance.

The disloyal Dark Star.

The Arcane Secret of a man who was once a comrade.

And at another time, claimed to be a subject.

I only saw it four times in his entire life.

To think I’d see it after death.

-Seriously, the world has gone completely wrong.

The Middle Realm is indeed the layer favored by God.

Well, since it’s a place constructed as a barrier to protect them, it would be normal to favor it if they weren’t brainless…

-Still, this is terribly wrong. This is why all the Demon Kings get slaughtered.

As expected, my method of invasion was the correct answer.

And it also proves that the Great Demon King was right.

Having become certain of that point.

The Demon King curled the corners of his beautiful lips upward.