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I don’t understand.

Why am I swinging my sword?

It is not like I don’t understand the meaning of swinging my sword.

The people of this world have been cursed by God. God has put restrictions in our minds on a structural level so that we don’t gain inconvenient knowledge.

That’s why I can relay the truth of this world by taking away that restriction within this battle that draws out my power to the limits.

I thought that this knight might learn of my intention if she understands the truth of this world.

“Black Demon Lord, what’s the reason why you have this much resolve, anger, and sadness?! It is because you loved the time you have been living, the world you live in, right?!” (Ilias)

“—! That’s right! That’s why I am roaring to God in order to stop this perpetual cycle!” (Black)

What I don’t understand is the reason why I am doing this. Why am I trying to break the heart of this knight?

She is strong…but that’s all. She is simply a being that managed to climb to the top with the best method within the structure of this world.

Even though she would just be one of the riff-raff if I had my original power.

I have decided to not be shaken by the words of anyone, so why  am I trying to talk here?

What am I wishing for from this person?

Even if this is a weak body, it doesn’t matter in the face of this demonic sword.

Even if the flesh tears and the bones break, this body will last as long as I have the will.

My sword won’t waver.

I have already told this person the truth of the world and my feelings. And yet, why is my sword being repelled?

“Then, why are you not looking at us?! Are you averting your eyes from the feelings of the ones you loved and this world you lived in?!” (Ilias)

“I am not! You, everyone around you, and your descendants will have your destinies messed up by the whims of God! I am lamenting that future!” (Black)

“You are only looking at our futures!” (Ilias)

I take on the approaching sword and glare at the face of the knight.

It was the same when she was fighting Zahava and Lazarikata.

Her gem-like eyes peculiar to the residents of this world who have mana were looking straight at me.

That’s right. It is those eyes.

A person who lives in this world that I have to free from God. In order to not have the despair I have seen be reflected in those eyes, I…

“!”

I deflect her sword and kick her to create distance.

I felt flustered at my own actions for the first time after distance was made.

I am the one who is pushing her back a bit here. And yet, why did I avoid a clash and take distance?

I held the handle of my sword with strength to the point of tearing my palm, closed the distance, and smashed my sword onto hers with everything I had.

“I have decided to free as many people as possible from the tyranny of God! I wouldn’t spare any sacrifices for the sake of that!” (Black)

Come out to the front, spit out my words, and slap my emotions. I must do that. If I don’t…

“And shouldering the burden alone?!” (Ilias)

“That’s right! I threw away my humanity and became a Demon Lord that has the power to shoulder all sins! Even if all beings hate me, I won’t change my way of being!” (Black)

Eradicating humanity and fighting back against God is not something that a human can achieve.

That’s right. I decided to shoulder all sins.

That’s why I decided to stop being a human…stopped the way of living as a human.

No matter how many sacrifices there are, I pledged that I won’t change my way of being as the being that will free everyone from the hands of God.

“—If you really love the people of this world and wish to protect that future, why don’t you let any of us shoulder anything?!” (Ilias)

“?!”

Even though I was the one striking with my sword, I was receiving her sword by the time I noticed.

Her sword was approaching faster than my sword would reach her.

“The humans you wish to save are such pathetic living beings?! Are we that weak, that pathetic, that you would think disappearing without knowing anything and not shouldering anything is the best move?! That’s not it, right?!” (Ilias)

The sharpness of my techniques is lowering. Considering the reaction of my body, it is not like she is getting stronger or I am getting weaker.

And yet, I feel each and every one of her attacks is heavy. I could feel the memories of a distant past surfacing in me with that sword…with those words…

“You should remember it too! The sensation of your heart shaking and growing elated from the words of people filled with emotions! The pulse of your heart when you do actions with burning intention! The light of life when living to your limits in the present!” (Ilias)

“! I do remember! Along with the despair from having everything taken away!” (Black)

Linking negative emotions to true emotions. I won’t be able to forget my loved ones as long as I feel anger and hatred.

The shine of their lives, the future of the ones who have inherited their blood being used as disposables by God is something that must not happen.

Strength enters my hands holding my sword.

The demonic sword answered this and is trying to give me even more power. And yet, even with that, the weight of this sword…!

“Then, let us shoulder it just like you! Let us face it! Believe that what you can do, we can do so as well!” (Ilias)

“A human heart won’t work on God! That’s exactly why I threw away my humanity and became a Demon Lord from the bottom of my heart!” (Black)

“No, your heart has not become that of a Demon Lord! Your heart’s way of being is that of a human!” (Ilias)

“Wrong! I—” (Black)

My sword was deflected. She is already in a stance to swing her sword and I won’t make it in time to defend.

But not yet. Not yet.

If I can’t block with my sword, I just need to avoid it.

She is simply swinging her sword with brute force. It is to the point that her body would swim if I don’t take it on with my sword.

I take a step back.

With this, I am not within her sword’s range—

“?!”

The distance closed.

There’s no way she would be able to come forward when she is holding a sword—?!

She is not holding a sword.

She let go of her sword the moment she pushed my sword aside.

She grabbed my head with her free hands. My body that was about to move back was stopped in place and her face approached mine.

“You are a human too! You live in the present and are here together with me!” (Ilias)

“—!”

I am still holding my sword and she has thrown away hers.

Then, if I were to shake off those hands of hers, the conversation would end.

And yet, my body won’t move.

Even though her gaze was so dazzling it made me want to close my eyes, I couldn’t look away.

The shine of those way too straight eyes was telling me: Remember what you were in the past…and your way of being.

I could feel something deep in my heart, that I thought couldn’t be shaken, had begun moving.

Aah, I see. This is that man’s…

◇◇

The sound of the trembling floor made me regain consciousness.

It was after the Black Demon Lord had dropped her sword. I could tell that the thing that looked like haze moving away from my body was what formed her fake body.

My attention was directed at the sensation of both hands of Ilias enveloping my face, the feeling of my body I haven’t felt in a while, and its weight.

“—You are a mess, Ilias.”

“…Not as much as you.” (Ilias)

Both of her hands separated from my face and my body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

But Ilias caught me and supported my body faster than I could collapse onto the ground.

Even though there should only be the cold and hard metallic sensation of her armor, I felt gentleness and warmth.

I barely have any grasp on the state of my own body.

I can’t get a grasp.

That Demon Lord… She showed specs beyond that of Ilias as she clashed against her with this frail human body.

It is clear that stuff like my bones and muscles are in a tragic state, but the brain is unable to recognize the way too tragic state correctly.

Thanks, my brain anesthesia. But it is pumping so much that it feels as if I am 3 seconds from losing consciousness here.

“…”

I direct my gaze at Nariya.

He was showing a dumbstruck expression as he looked over here just as I imagined.

That’s natural.

It is not like the Black Demon Lord was cut down by Ilias. The rights of my body would normally not return to me in this fashion.

The reason it ended up like this was because she gave away the rights of the body to me. She basically said she doesn’t need this body anymore, threw away her sword, and chose to give me back my body.

“—What does this mean?” (Yugura)

“…Kuh…”

I tried to speak, but I couldn’t.

Makes sense.

My body is in tatters and I am on the verge of losing consciousness. Even if I want to answer questions, I already don’t even have the consciousness—wait, hm?

My body is suddenly feeling sharper.

The pain in my body stayed calm and I can now stand with my own legs.

There’s no doubt the reason is Nariya.

He healed this body in an instant when it doesn’t have mana and shouldn’t be able to receive the benefits of healing magic.

“Uh… I can only call it a miracle when I actually experience it.”

“Enough of that. Can you explain?” (Yugura)

“There’s nothing to explain. You should be able to grasp it immediately since you can read the minds and memories of others, right?”

He went out of his way to heal me and ask me this question. This is proof that Nariya is shaken from the bottom of his heart.

He must have been brought back to his senses by my words, I could see that strength entered the eyes that were looking at me for an instant.

He must have understood everything with that.

He made a dumbstruck expression again.

“You used a variety of methods for the sake of stopping the Black Demon Lord, right? You tested out everything you could think of…and failed. But there was a preliminary condition for those methods: to make her return by her own will.”

The man called Yugura Nariya loves the Black Demon Lord from the bottom of his heart.

He completed the resurrection magic to get her to live and turned her into a Demon Lord. He gave her Omnipotence through the many abilities that he himself created for the sake of her revenge.

And then, he sealed her in the Black Demon Lord Killer Mountain to stop her and searched for a way to turn her back into a human.

If Yugura Nariya really didn’t choose the means, he would manipulate a part of the Black Demon Lord’s memories or erase them, and that would be it.

The reason why he didn’t do that was because he wanted to avoid bending her will with pure power.

He thought that if she returned to being a human and lost her powers, there’s no doubt she would look back at herself, and stop trying to directly appeal to God. And so, he created several other Demon Lords, experimented, and failed.

Then, he gave up since he couldn’t move her heart no matter what he did, and chose the path of going back to redo things.

From beginning to end, Nariya didn’t take the choice of violating the heart of the Black Demon Lord with his power. No, it would be better to say he couldn’t.

“That’s why I instead decided on taking the method of bringing the Black Demon Lord to her senses by force -by having her use my body and have her face Ilias.”

The Black Demon Lord transferred me to this world with the intention of taking over my body to begin with.

She sneaked a part of her soul in me, and used the shaking of my heart to slowly strengthen her influence in my body.

But that ended up failing.

It is true that the corrosion of the Black Demon Lord advanced. This world was more dangerous compared to Earth. Every time people close to me died and my life was threatened, my heart would shake and her memories would sneak into me, making me see dreams every now and then.

But there was a miscalculation for her.

Even if her personality and essence are similar, I had a weapon that she didn’t: Comprehension.

Disassemble my own emotions, shape up someone else inside of me, and comprehend that person. This process of becoming someone else and tracing their thoughts disassembled the mind of the Black Demon Lord that was growing stronger as well.

I began seeing the memories of the Black Demon Lord in my dreams when I put restrictions on my Comprehension because of a variety of things happening between Ilias and the others.

I stopped seeing dreams a while after the necessity came and the ban was lifted, so I grew certain of it.

I wouldn’t have been seeing those dreams to begin with if there was no restriction, but I managed to pull this move exactly because I learned of that system.

That’s right. It is because I learned that my technique to adjust my way of being showed equal effects on the Black Demon Lord.

At the times when I am way too worked up or I have to be completely heartless, I switch to me. I made it so that I can return to a way of being that’s close to Ilias and the others by looking straight at the eyes of people who live in a straightforward manner in this world.

I was doing this manually at first, but my body has ingrained that action now. It is to the point that just looking at the eyes of Ilias, who has been looking after me countless times, can bring me back even if I don’t want to.

I gave this body, that basically has that muscle memory, to the Black Demon Lord, and had her face Ilias.

And thus, bringing her way of being back to how it was before by force.

Of course, the Black Demon Lord was not aware of this.

If she knew, she would have stopped herself from clashing swords against Ilias.

Grabbing her sword and having a conversation is an impossible action for the Black Demon Lord to begin with.

But I believed in Ilias with heart and body.

That’s exactly why the Black Demon Lord began to be shaken unconsciously from the very moment she faced Ilias. And then, she ended up taking sword in hand to have her sympathize with her own emotions.

“—Of course, you even took into account that I wouldn’t accept that.” (Yugura)

“You could say that. Not just you, no one would accept if told I will be giving away my body to brainwash the woman you love.”

“…To think I would be one-upped by Tedoral.” (Yugura)

It is originally a type of self-suggestion and self-brainwash, but if you are not aware of it, the ‘self’ part is gone and becomes just suggestion and brainwash.

For Nariya who wishes for the Black Demon Lord to return to her senses by her own strength, this method would be a gray that’s really close to black.

There’s no doubt this suggestion would be bounced off if proposed by a stranger.

That’s why I had the Colorless Demon Lord (Tedoral) erase that memory from me after I thought of this method.

I formed this plan after hearing every single detail: all of the circumstances, and the detailed personalities of Nariya and the Black Demon Lord.

And then, I had Tedoral retrieve all those memories from me, and had him explain that same information in an incomplete manner.

To be more specific, I had him omit parts of the explanation, and then meet Nariya soon after, so that I wouldn’t be provided with the time to think.

The result was that I gave up on convincing Nariya and proposed to him: ‘I would like to at least give the people of this world an ending’.

After that, he entrusted the memories of my first plan to the clone, matching the moment Nariya was called.

Then, hurriedly explained things, and rewrote the memories of him being the one that made me meet Nariya.

“He gave me my memories back in the end, but it seems like he completely erased the share of memories that he extracted from me.”

“Right. And so, you regained your memories inside Black and shook her heart moderately to set the groundwork.” (Yugura)

“I was judged harmless already after all. I was sweating bullets internally, but I managed to hide it safely all the way thanks to you not being on guard against me.”

“You showed up in front of me with no plan at all and tried to talk to her with cheap words that wouldn’t do anything, so I didn’t feel like reading your mind repeatedly.” (Yugura)

For Nariya, I was simply a person that he could have a decently fun talk with.

I can’t even use magic and didn’t even have the rights of my body; a completely harmless person.

He may have interest as a compatriot, but that curiosity of his was fulfilled the first time he read my mind.

It can’t be helped that he would think there’s no issue even if I was scheming something in the mind of the Black Demon Lord.

That’s how much of a difference there is between us and Nariya.

“And so, Nariya, you may not be satisfied with this, but what do you plan on doing from here on?”

“—Do you even need to ask?” (Yugura)

Nariya sighed and turned back.

There was a decent chance I would be killed by a mad Nariya.

There’s no difference for him between killing us all before heading to meet the Black Demon Lord or leaving us be.

It was simply a gamble of whether Nariya wanted to talk to the Black Demon Lord as soon as possible over winning against his displeasure towards me.

“I see. Please tell her thanks for the hospitality.”

“You are saying that? …Now that I look back on it, that was a horrible plan. There’s no clear view of what the harm will be, and there was also the possibility that the girl over there wouldn’t be able to reach the place of Black.” (Yugura)

“Do you even need to ask?”

“I see. True.” (Yugura)

Nariya didn’t turn around and just waved his hand and disappeared.

We have done everything we could with this.

Now all that’s left is believing in the outcome between Nariya and the Black Demon Lord.

——

Protagonist: (Also, thanks for healing me. Seriously.)

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