Chapter 100
The twilight passed, and soon the darkness enveloped the entire world.
The night sky was adorned with a yellow moon different from that of the Demon World, and countless stars twinkled, stitching together a dark canvas.
A strikingly beautiful scene. Eri was gazing blankly out the window at the view. Without thoughts, she simply stared at the stars. However, after a moment, there was a memory that severely troubled her heart.
“…Uugh!”
Eri threw herself under the blanket and hid. No matter how hard she tried to forget, no matter how hard she tried not to think about it…
“Ah…”
Eri cursed her previous actions. She scolded herself inwardly. How could she possibly remain silent in that situation? It was as if she had given the answer to Dein.
There was no way the sharp-minded Dein wouldn’t notice that. Eri, at a loss for how she would face Dein in the morning, decided to run away from reality.
Eri picked up the staff that had been placed in the corner of her room.
“Y-Yeah. Let’s just die… if I die, it’ll be easier…”
Her hands trembled, yet she spoke of dying. Just as her eyes were on the brink of losing their color, she heard a knock on the door.
“Gah!?”
Gripping the staff tightly, Eri turned to the door, reassured by the absence of further knocks. It seemed like Dein was merely checking to see if she was asleep or not.
“…I guess I’ll just sleep.”
Resolving not to engage in pointless antics, Eri decided to sleep and think later, returning the staff to its place. But at that moment, the door knocked again.
“Eri, are you still awake?”
“U-Um!?”
“You’re still awake. Can we talk for a moment?”
Eri panicked. She didn’t know what would happen if she talked to Dein right now. Refusing would only confirm what had happened earlier. Eri pondered for a while, unsure of what to do, and finally…
Click.
“W-What’s up?”
She ended up opening the door. As soon as Eri saw Dein, she immediately averted her gaze. She couldn’t bear to make eye contact. It wasn’t a lack of confidence; rather, her emotions were in turmoil.
“Eri.”
“Uh, y-yeah!?”
“I want to make it clear that what you said earlier was a misunderstanding.”
“Ah….”
Eri nodded. She now understood that she had misunderstood Dein.
“And.”
“Yeah?”
“You said earlier that you were hiding your feelings for me.”
“U-Um, yeah, that was true.”
“That… about that…”
Now that she thought about it, hadn’t Dein asked her, “How did you know?” If Dein hadn’t taken another lover, what could that statement possibly mean?
Eri hadn’t reached that point of thought earlier, but reflecting back on it, it made perfect sense. Her eyes widened in realization, and she lifted her gaze to meet Dein’s directly.
‘…Ah.’
Dein’s expression mirrored hers. When Eri gazed into his eyes, he appeared briefly surprised before his gaze grew intense.
“Eri.”
“…Yeah.”
“Your feelings…”
Dein seemed nervous as he chewed on his lips, struggling to find the right words. Eri could somewhat grasp how much courage it took him to say this.
“Can I say that it’s the same as mine?”
Eri couldn’t tear her eyes away from Dein. He usually had a cold demeanor, and while he treated her kindly, she had never seen him make such an expression.
It was evident, even to someone who wasn’t foolish, what his expression signified.
“Ah…”
It was undoubtedly the expression of someone in love. Eri subconsciously covered her mouth with her hand.
Dein understood what Eri’s actions meant. Nevertheless, he waited. He hoped that Eri would speak up herself.
“…Dein.”
“Yeah.”
“I…”
Eri clenched her fist with her other hand. She lowered the hand that had been covering her lips. Her lovely peach-colored lips slowly began to move.
“I feel the same way… for you, Dein.”
At that moment, the time for restraint had come to an end.
Dein lunged forward. His left hand reached around Eri’s back while his right hand wrapped around her waist.
“Ugh…!”
Their lips met softly. Eri willingly accepted Dein’s kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.
During that sweet, deep, and passionate kiss, it felt as if the entire world paused in time.
The moonlight gently illuminated the room, blessing the two.
They took a step beyond friendship, moving into the next phase.
#
Several days had passed since Nahun’s departure. In that time, Seere had been demonstrating to the other Demon Kings exactly what kind of power she had cultivated and what teachings she had received from Nahun.
“What is this…?”
Even Citria, leading the allied forces, was taken aback, unable to form words at the sight of the torn and devastated enemy forces.
The 65th floor, governed by the Demon King Kimaris, was known as the ‘Warrior’ floor. True to its nickname, this layer was populated by warriors—fighters.
Among them, the elite were selected to be part of Kimaris’s army, which was thus considered the only force capable of contending against Belial’s troops in the lower tiers.
Now, that army had been utterly shredded under the control of a young Demon King. It was nothing less than a massacre. Citria had never witnessed such a one-sided slaughter in battles of one against many.
As the young Demon King opened the way, it was curious that the Devata legions only began to move then. Usually, it was the other way around: the army would open the path for the king to step forward. If the king took the field to eliminate the opposing king, the war would effectively end.
“Citria.”
“…Yes?”
“Now, deploy our forces.”
“Ah… right.”
As Citria prepared to deploy the troops, she felt a nagging doubt. Once Citria’s forces joined the fray, Kimaris’s forces, already half-destroyed, had no means to withstand the onslaught.
Kimaris’s army crumbled, and an unimpeded path was opened all the way to the Demon King Castle on the 65th floor. The army entered the castle with barely any losses, successfully toppling Kimaris and completing the conquest of the 65th floor.
Citria was left dumbfounded by how swiftly the conquest war had ended. There had never been an instance of such simplicity when they had been pushing through the 69th and 70th floors.
Staring blankly around, Citria was called by Seere as she entered Kimaris’s castle.
“Citria.”
“…Yes!?”
“Why do you look so surprised?”
“Oh, no. What’s going on?”
“I was wondering if we should split the rewards in half.”
“Ah…”
You’re going to split it in half? No matter how she thought about it, that seemed unreasonable.
Citria felt that her contribution had only been deploying her forces at the end. Ultimately, at least 80% of the efforts—if not 90%—of the conquest had come from Seere’s side.
To take half in such a situation felt extremely unethical, and sensing this, Citria shook her head.
“…Even 80-20 would be acceptable.”
“Hmm, isn’t that too little?”
“Eh?”
“If you feel that way, let’s make it 60-40.”
Seere said this and stepped into the already wide-open main hall of Kimaris. Kimaris had been unceremoniously removed from the throne, by the two mighty commanders of the Devata army, Lin El Lazine and Celestia.
“Your Majesty.”
“Welcome.”
The two formidable women bowed dutifully, their swords poised at Kimaris’s throat, ready to strike if he moved even slightly.
Seere cast a fleeting glance at Kimaris before walking toward the throne. Citria followed behind her and ascended the platform.
“Citria, please take a seat.”
“Me? Ah, no. What have I done…?”
“It’s fine. After all, I intended to give you the castle anyway.”
“N-No…”
Citria felt something off. The last time she had asked about Nahun’s whereabouts, Seere had seemed ready to bite her, yet now she was being overly accommodating.
Regardless, sitting on the throne at Seere’s insistence, Citria wore a sour face while Seere stood beside her and spoke to Kimaris.
“I’ll spare your life.”
“Don’t get cocky, Devata! If you intend to insult me like that, you might as well just kill me!”
“Don’t speak nonsense. I don’t want to keep you alive either. But it’s unavoidable.”
“…What do you mean?”
“There will be a new ranking assigned at the next Demon World assembly, so bear with it and stay quietly in prison until then. While you can regain your forces, you can’t get your life back, can you?”
Seere ordered for Kimaris to be imprisoned in an underground dungeon, and he was dragged away by the legionaries. Citria also expressed her confusion regarding Seere’s decision about Kimaris.
“Why leave him alive? If you don’t want to keep him, what’s the point of letting him live?”
“…The Teacher said so.”
“Eh? Nahun?”
“He said it’s crucial to keep the number of Demon Kings from decreasing in preparation for the upcoming war.”
Citria instantly understood why Nahun had instructed Seere to spare the king. Having once been a top-ranked Demon King herself, she could quickly gauge the reason.
“…Is there a Celestial War brewing?”
“You seem to know well, Citria. The Teacher’s brief absence is also related to that.”
“Ah…”
That made sense. It explained Seere’s unusual decision to spare a Demon King, as well as her tendency to give things away.
“…I see.”
Citria realized that her ally Seere needed to grow stronger in order to survive the impending grand war. However, it didn’t seem to be Seere’s own thought. Citria believed that this was more of Nahun’s idea, and she asked candidly.
“Did Nahun suggest that I should share the spoils of my conquest so that I could grow my forces?”
“Eh? No. The Teacher only said to maintain a good alliance with you, Citria.”
“Eh? Then…”
Seere gave a warm smile.
“This is my decision, based on my own thoughts. You’re an important ally, after all. Gremony doesn’t need anything from the lower tiers, so there’s no need to give it to her…”
“……”
Citria could not understand. What did that earlier reaction when she had asked about Nahun’s whereabouts mean?
“You didn’t dislike me, did you, Seere?”
“Eh? Why would I?”
“You kept glaring at me aggressively every time.”
“Ah, that’s…”
Seere smiled cheerfully.
“That’s just because you kept trying to catch the Teacher’s eye.”
“…!”
The overly cheerful expression on Seere suddenly hardened, and she asked Citria with a hint of unease.
“Ah… do you still have feelings for the Teacher?”
“Ah, no!?”
“That’s right? You have no feelings for him, right?”
“T-That’s correct.”
Seere smiled again. Watching the swift change in expression of this young Demon King, Citria felt a slight chill.
“I like you, Citria. I’m taking good care of the statue you gifted me on the 72nd floor.”
“Ah, haha…”
“So, if you could just ensure that my feelings don’t change… I would appreciate it.”
Citria nodded. She had no choice but to. Denying it here could lead Seere to kill her on the spot.
She already understood that this young Demon King had that kind of power. Without regaining her own abilities, Citria would never gain the upper hand over Seere… she was utterly convinced of that.
Pleased with Citria’s attitude, Seere spoke with a beaming smile.
“I look forward to our future…”
At that moment, a figure entered the audience chamber. It was an unattractive troll. Citria and Seere both recognized who this troll was.
“Doomgrik?”
“Your Majesty, it’s been a while. Citria, I see you’re here too.”
Doomgrik, the blacksmith of the 70th floor.
“Why are you here? What about the forge?”
“Don’t worry. The forge is running smoothly. I’m here on behalf of Nahun.”
“Eh? The Teacher?”
As soon as the word “Teacher” was mentioned, Seere jumped down from the platform and rushed toward Doomgrik. Both Citria and Doomgrik were slightly taken aback by her intense reaction.
“What is it?”
“Ah… the Teacher said to make this for you, Your Majesty.”
Doomgrik cautiously extended a small wooden box. The implication of Nahun creating this for her meant it was a gift intended for Seere.
“For me!?”
Seere’s expression brightened instantly as she swiftly snatched the wooden box from Doomgrik. She promptly opened it.
Inside was a brooch adorned with a pearl-like bead at its center. The shiny white brooch seemed suitable for fixing a cloak or simply pinning to her chest.
“T-This is really a gift from the Teacher for me?”
“Yes, he asked me to deliver it to you as soon as it was complete.”
“Really!?”
Seere took the brooch out of the box and began to jump for joy, identical to a little child receiving a present. Citria smirked at the sight, feeling somewhat disheartened by her previous acknowledgment of Seere as a rival Demon King.
“Citria, look! This is a gift from the Teacher!”
“Ah… yes, it’s pretty. You’re lucky.”
“Hehe.”
Seere seemed eager to show it off, reveling in her excitement as she displayed it to Citria. After delivering the present, Doomgrik bowed his head and departed, while Seere removed the pin securing her cloak and affixed the brooch instead.
Gently stroking the brooch, Seere beamed with a smile. In her always-clear, sparkling blue eyes, dark emotions began to accumulate like sediment, layer by layer.
“Teacher…”
