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How would you describe a world that’s not any color? 

Is a colorless world something like a white scenery akin to a white canvas? Or is it a pitch-black darkness where you can’t see anything? 

The world is neither of those. If you were to describe it in colors, the world would become that color after all.

But how would you describe something that’s not any color? 

That’s simple. You place something there.

If a single thing with color is there, color will be born. A colorless world would not hamper that color. 

In other words, the world will continue being seen in the same color as that thing.

What’s placed in this world currently is a brown leather sofa. Once this sofa is observed, the world will be filled with brown. 

What’s by the side of that is a white table. Once you observe that table, the world turns white.

The moment you observe something, the colorless world changes color to the color of the thing. 

But if that’s the case, what does the thing you observe look like? It is obviously the same color, so it blends into the world. 

When that happens, you won’t be able to observe the thing. 

A colorless world is a modest world that gets easily dyed in other colors; an oppressive world that hides the existence of things. 

A world where the colors change constantly. If a person with a normal mind were to step into a world like this, they would have their ability to recognize colors hampered. 

And yet, there are several daily-use products of varied colors placed in this colorless world. 

Not only that. There’s even a shower room that has water brought from who knows where and a toilet that sends water to who knows where. 

A half-naked man appeared in that shower room. 

Black hair, black eyes, slightly dark skin, his body having no useless muscles. 

A man living in a colorless world. He had a name, but because the people he could speak his name to were now gone, he is currently calling himself by the name of his post. 

The Colorless Demon Lord; the Demon Lord that lived at the same era when Yugura Nariya -the man who gave birth to the Demon Lords in this world- lived in. 

He is a former human that had his body changed into what would be considered the familiar of the now Demon Lord Yugura: a demon. 

He was living his daily life in this world where colors are messed up as if it were nothing. 

“Fuuh, that was refreshing.” (Colorless)

The world flickered between colors every time he moved his gaze…and yet, he had adapted to it as if that were the norm. 

He recognized the green mug, and the world was dyed in green. 

But he had no issue at all in grabbing the now invisible mug and drinking the coffee inside of it. 

The moment his gaze was poured onto the black coffee, the world dyed black.

“Ugh, if I remember correctly, you have to put in milk?” (Colorless)

The moment he directed his gaze at the silver milk container, the world turned silver. He grabbed that and poured the milk into the coffee. 

His gaze was directed at the coffee, black world; the milk mixed with the coffee, and the world dyed brown. 

“But I don’t want to drink it if it is not sweet…” (Colorless)

He sat on the sofa and sunk deeply into it. The moment he did, the table, mug, and milk container that were by his side until now disappeared.

No, the world arranged itself as if they were not there to begin with. 

The moment he came out from the shower room, the mug with coffee in it on top of the table didn’t exist to begin with, and the milk container was not there at the time when he was drinking the coffee. 

The shower and the toilet have disappeared too. 

Right now the world is the brown of the sofa that he is observing. On the surface, it looks as if he is sitting on nothing inside this brown world.

“Now then, I wonder what the Earthling is doing.” (Colorless)

The Colorless Demon Lord snapped his fingers and the colorless world suddenly changed into the inside of an old cinema. 

His hand had a big wooden bucket and it was filled to the brim with popcorn. 

There should only be him inside this cinema, and yet, the lights in the room turned darker as if someone was operating it, and the screening of the movie began. 

What’s being shown is the scenery of Taizu. It is the residence that the Purple Demon Lord is using as her base.

It is just at the moment when the Earthling and Dyuvuleori are talking. 

But maybe because the footage is being filmed from around 5 meters above, their voices couldn’t be picked properly.

“Get a bit closer. I can’t hear their voices.” (Colorless)

The footage reacted to the heckling of the Colorless Demon Lord and showed a change. 

It approached the two as if zooming in, and their voices could be heard clearly now. 

“I came here to settle things. Please tell her: Let’s have our last match.” 

“Hooh, so you have resolved yourself. As for the ones around…it is these members, huh. Not bad. Or more like, this demi-human is strong.” (Colorless)

He threw popcorn into his mouth and talked to himself as he ate.

There’s already a whole lot of crumbs scattered on the ground, but there’s no one to point that out. 

“This is tasty. Earthlings eat this on the daily?” (Colorless)

What the Colorless Demon Lord is watching is the Earthling man. 

The man that hasn’t even given birth to an organ that creates magic; the man standing on the border of two worlds.

“Physical strength, out of the question; mana capacity, out of the question; on the level of an Earthling… On top of that, his somewhat decent mental strength…is unstable.” (Colorless)

The evaluation the Colorless Demon Lord gave to the Earthling after his analysis was low in general. 

It is an inescapable result when compared to the specs of a Demon Lord.

“A feeble bastard that relies on outside help and wouldn’t have gotten the resolve unless stimulated by his surroundings. His conversation sense…is extremely good. Despite being a summoned one that was pulled by the strings of fate, they don’t resemble each other; the color of the hair and eyes at most, I guess.” (Colorless)

He flips the pages of files in his hand as if they were there from the very beginning. It is not parchment but A4 size paper. 

The files had information about the Earthling written in it. It even has the details of what kind of lifestyle the man had on Earth. 

“What nice quality paper. The size is also uniform and the writing is easy to read. Fumu fumu, I see… Even if their outward appearances are not the same, their environment and actions closely resemble each other. Cause and Effect are working their share here.” (Colorless)

He stretches his hand towards the popcorn again. The bucket that had disappeared once he grabbed the files returned to how it was, and the documents disappeared as if they weren’t there to begin with. 

If someone else were to see this, they would assume a different scene was tied up here. 

“You could say they resemble each other in that sense -aside from the fact that he is so weak it can bring a tear to my eye… That gold girl could get a clue…no, has that fox already noticed? As for Purple…they barely interacted with each other, so it can’t be helped, huh.” (Colorless)

He moved his gaze back to the footage again. They are currently being guided inside the residence by Dyuvuleori.

“Just how much do they resemble each other? That’s something to look forward to in the future, so that’s fine though. Anyways, Sis Black is so unlucky. It is the same in that aspect even when becoming a Demon Lord, huh. Should have pulled a bit more of a suitable person.” (Colorless)

The Colorless Demon Lord closed his eyes and reminisced; he looked at the scenery in front of his eyes and reminisced. 

And then, he quoted the words of someone else in a whisper.

—“Wail, lament, the despair carved into mine soul, the anger that gave birth to our demise must resonate in this wretched world.” 

“…Seriously, she really loved the world…that Sis.” (Colorless)

———

“And so, you came here this late at night to settle matters?” 

Dyuvuleori let us inside the residence, and we face the Purple Demon Lord in the guest room. 

It seems she hasn’t been able to digest this properly -understandably so. 

“You remember the rules of this competition, right?” 

“Yes. If I obtain you without using the power of Enticement, I win; if I rely on the Enticement, I lose, right?” (Purple)

“Yeah. And so, our current state is that you are betting the Great Devils on your side, and I am betting my own self.” 

“That’s right though? Are you planning on changing the rules at this point in time?” (Purple)

“No, I was simply thinking about settling matters within the confines of the rules. I will be the one proposing a game here. I don’t mind if you are the ones choosing the details of it. However, we will specify the details of the bet.” 

The Purple Demon Lord narrowed her eyes slightly after hearing my proposal and then pondered.

“…I see, so that’s how it is? I am just betting Great Devils one by one, so you are trying to make me bet many Great Devils in one go?” (Purple)

“No, I won’t do such a crafty thing. It is a much simpler reason.” 

“…Can you tell me?” (Purple)

“I want to answer your seriousness with my seriousness; that’s all. In the matches until now, I played as if we were on equal grounds, and my objective was to have you expend your pawns and have you give up in the end. But now that I know you are serious, I won’t have a chance for victory at this rate.” 

If the Purple Demon Lord simply wanted me out of curiosity or entertainment, she would have gotten tired of it and used her Enticement. 

If that happened, I would have dealt with it, avoided it, and pushed the defeat on her. 

Even if she were to go against her word, I planned on finishing the encirclement at the time of the match and would have dealt with it in the safest way possible. 

But if the Purple Demon Lord is seriously desiring me, and she tries to protect my worth, there’s no point in this method. 

Even if she were to expend her Great Devils, the Purple Demon Lord has a nigh infinite supply of Great Devils to bet with. 

It may run out eventually, but I would most likely lose before that happens. 

“I see. I am happy with the sentiment, but…if you are trying to end this match here, I can’t just easily accept that.” (Purple)

“Of course, I don’t mind you refusing. However, my proposal for a game will just be this once. I also can only bet on this just this once.” 

“With how you are putting it, it sounds like you are going to be betting quite the valuable thing, but can you provide something with even more worth than yourself?” (Purple)

“There’s no need to choose when we are settling things in one go, right? This is an all-in.” 

“Ool-in?” (Purple)

The word game was translated, but all-in didn’t transmit. 

They may have the concept of games, but it is not like the intricacies are the same after all. 

“—It means I am betting everything. I will bet everything I have.” 

“What’s added to this aside from yourself?” (Purple)

“I am not only betting my body, but my heart too.” 

“What do you mean by that?” (Purple)

“If you win, I will answer your feelings. I will provide you what you wish. If you tell me to love you, I will do my best to love you.” 

“…I see, that’s certainly precious. It is an offer I would like to accept if possible, but…are you telling me to bet all of my Great Devils for that?” (Purple)

“No, you will only be betting one thing too.” 

“What are you telling me to bet?” (Purple)

“What I want is you, Purple Demon Lord.” 

I entrust my body to the heat called resolve and hit her with my real feelings without any masks in between. 

The Purple Demon Lord was rendered speechless with a dumbstruck face. The one who moved instead was Dyuvuleori.

“You bastard, are you trying to put you -a single human- on the same scale as My Lord?!” (Dyuvuleori)

“That’s right. This is a competition on equal grounds. There’s no Demon Lord or human in here. If you want even my heart, I will have you pay an equal price for it.” 

“Price, you say? You are saying you have that much worth?!” (Dyuvuleori)

“Shut up.” (Purple)

The Purple Demon Lord silenced the fuming Dyuvuleori with one command. Dyuvuleori choked on his words and took a step back.

“I want to ask you one thing. Why is it that you only want only my body in contrast to you betting your body and heart?” (Purple)

“I already understand plenty well that your heart is directed at me after all.” 

“…Right. I think that’s not a bad bet. But even if I am fine with that, Dyuvuleori and the other Great Devils won’t agree with it, you know? If you want them to obey you after obtaining me, that would be impossible, you know? Especially Dyuvuleori.” (Purple)

Dyuvuleori snorted as if saying that’s exactly the case. 

The Great Devils have the restrictions of the Pawn Masks, so it might be possible to make them obey, but it is certainly true that Dyuvuleori would be a different story when he is running purely on loyalty. 

Payment is needed in order to shut down this Great Devil that has already escaped from the control of the Purple Demon Lord in the match before. 

“Then, let’s add an extra. The information I am about to speak of now is a set of this. Basically, I just have to add something worth a single Demon Lord, right?” 

“Right. Do you have that though?” (Purple)

“First, the location of the Scarlet Demon Lord.” 

The Purple Demon Lord and Dyuvuleori reacted faintly. 

Knowing the detailed location of a Demon Lord hiding is necessary information in order to stand at the advantage. 

“Oh my, you even knew something like that? But with just that—” (Purple)

“The location of the Colorless Demon Lord and the way to call them.” 

“?!” 

This made everyone behind -aside from Mix- react. The only ones who know this information are Marito, Pope Euparo, and also Mix and Anbu-kun who were there at that time. 

According to what the Gold Demon Lord told us, the Colorless Demon Lord may exist, but he hasn’t shown himself until now. 

It must be the same for the Purple Demon Lord then. 

“Are you saying you know Colorless?” (Purple)

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be saying lies and bluffs here.” 

“…I see. That’s certainly information I am really curious about but—” (Purple)

“Aah, I had information that Demon Lords would want the most. Let’s add that one too.” 

“What is it?” (Purple)

“The current state of the White Demon Lord…Yugura.” 

A clear reaction. The one who made them Demon Lords and eliminated them. 

The reason why they are currently in hiding. 

It is unknown where he is, but now that he has become a Demon Lord, he is someone they just have to believe is somewhere around the world. 

“Ser…why do ya know…” (Gold)

The Gold Demon Lord interjects. I heard about Yugura from her, but she hasn’t told me about him becoming a Demon Lord. 

The reason is not clear, but it was most likely information she intentionally hid. 

“I heard from the Colorless Demon Lord -while at it, also what he is doing right now.” 

“…I see, the fact that you know that information must mean that what you said about Colorless is also true.” (Purple)

“Ah, what is the meaning of this, My Lord?! That Yugura is a Demon Lord…?” (Dyuvuleori)

“That’s right. Demon Lords can recognize other Demon Lords. That’s why all of us know…the fact that Yugura turned into a Demon Lord in order to kill us.” (Purple)

“There’s the possibility of being able to talk to him in the regular meetings, but you have not heard a single thing about him until now, right? There’s no point in getting the information from me if you have the confidence to get it yourself though. So, what will you do? Still want more?” 

“No, that’s enough. I accept your challenge.” (Purple)

“My Lord?! If you decide in such a swift fashion—” (Dyuvuleori)

“Dyuvuleori, you are already aware of the worth in the information he has, right? There might be a variety of information that we might want if we were to try and draw it out from him, but we can get all of that if we obtain his body and heart, you know? Or are you telling me to negotiate a raise in the price like a stingy merchant does with a rich person?” (Purple)

“That’s…” (Dyuvuleori)

“Normally, there would be no need to provide information. This is a competition where me and him are on equal grounds, you know? Also, you tried to pour cold water onto that, yet he proved to you that he has worth. If you are going to struggle in an even more unsightly manner and dirty my competition with him, I am going to drop your head right here and now, okay?” (Purple)

Well, that’s how it is.

If I am going to be offering them my body and heart, it will obviously come with all the information I have.

Showing the societal worth I have is plenty enough. 

If they were to question my worth as a human, that would be rough though.

“And so…it is okay for me to think about the details of the match, right?” (Purple)

“Yeah, and I will be placing the Gold Demon lord as a witness.” 

“I see. So you brought her here for that.” (Purple)

The agreement between the Demon Lords that are immortal and have to live together is that they always have to fulfill their promises. 

If they go against it, they will lose the trust of all the Demon Lords. If the Gold Demon Lord is going to be overseeing this, no matter who wins, they have to keep their promise. 

There’s the need for a referee in order for equal parties to have a fair and square competition; that’s where the Gold Demon Lord comes in. 

“Muh, wait a moment. This one came here because ya told me ya needed me! It didn’t mean ya wanted me to help ya out as an ally?!” (Gold)

“Wouldn’t it be unfair to have a Demon Lord as an ally?” 

“It is true that this one’s beauty, wits, beauty, loveliness, and tail would give ya an overwhelming advantage though.” (Gold)

“I would have no issues at all. It is fine as long as Gold is alive as a witness once the match is over, right? There are games where you would be able to participate, you know? The ones at your back will also be fighting for your sake, right?” (Purple)

Ilias and the others answered that question with their eyes. They were saying: ‘That’s a foolish question’.

The Purple Demon Lord laughed elegantly at this.

“I see… Looks like I will be able to escape being told I have bad taste.” (Purple)

“I do think you all have bad taste though.” 

Every single one of them. 

“Oh my, oh my? You are saying that? Once our match is over, I will have you get a bit more confidence, I guess?” (Purple)

“You think you have won already? By the way, one of the reasons why I challenged you right this instant is in part because Taizu and Mejis are chasing after me. I will be caught tomorrow, so take that into account.” 

“…I see. Right, you are making a proposal like that after all. You have made enemies on all sides, huh?” (Purple)

“Even with that, there are still people who will take my side. It is not all bad.” 

I wanted to do this with friends on all sides, but it can’t be helped now that I can’t bring peace to my heart. 

In that case, might as well just increase the enemies without caring. 

“I have decided on the details of the match. It will take a bit of time to prepare though… Around an hour?” (Purple)

“If it is just that much, there’s no issue. But if you have the time, want to have a little talk before the match?” 

“Oh my, even though I was always the one seeking you. What brought this change of heart?” (Purple)

“Is it that weird to want to know as much information as possible from the opponent you are going to bet your everything against?” 

“Do you think I will be giving you the information you want if I am told that?” (Purple)

“I will pay the price. I will tell you stories of when I lived on Earth. They are honestly irritating stories, so I don’t want to do it, but…well, it can’t be helped.” 

“…Fine, let’s talk.” (Purple)

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