Chapter 106

Chapter 106

No matter how much I warn and plead, people don’t listen, and they rush toward destruction faster than anyone else.

And if only they were just rushing toward destruction.

Humans can’t let go of their greed, even when the end of the world is right before their eyes.

Even as demonic beasts pour out and the entire country except the capital is devastated, humans busy themselves satisfying their greed, patting their fat bellies dripping with oil. They discard things like the world without hesitation when faced with profit.

So Leilyranda thought at the end of the world.

Standing alone in a vast desert with her body in tatters, she thought.

I’m sorry to you who had to die dozens, no, hundreds of times to save the world, but I’m going to stop now.

I think I loved you once. I confessed many times. I’m sorry for driving you, my love, to your death.

I can’t even remember Cassis’s face anymore, looking down at me apologetically as I confessed.

You weren’t a hero. How could you be a hero when you failed like this?

“…”

“Your Highness?”

“I asked him to take revenge with me many times, but he always refused.”

Rose kept her mouth shut at the princess’s incomprehensible words. She seemed to be breaking out in a cold sweat.

The princess would sometimes speak strange words with half-crazed eyes.

At such times, the safest approach was to remain quiet and make oneself invisible.

“I was fooled by that confident face that seemed like it could do anything.”

I wasted time, yes.

You don’t know anything. You don’t know anything, so you made such easy promises. But what about me? I’m trapped in the same time, suffering like this.

So, Cassis Luwin, don’t try to be a hero.

I’ll give up too.

This world that’s going to break anyway, I’ll just destroy it myself. You live like ordinary people and die without a fuss.

Don’t even dream of being a futile hero.

And so Leilyranda abandoned Cassis.

* * *

This life was the first for everything. Events she had never experienced before erupted everywhere.

The world that had repeated hundreds of times had changed for the first time.

When Leilyranda first opened her eyes, she didn’t care about the state of the world.

She merely lamented her pitiful life, trapped in a crumbling palace that no one visited.

After spending several months like that and finally coming to her senses to look around the world, she couldn’t help but be shocked.

The once-great Luwin was drowning in debt, and Cassis, who had thought himself the best in the world, was struggling.

How absurd it was when she discovered he was living like a mercenary, taking orders from the Emperor, someone he wouldn’t even associate with before.

<That’s good.>

She thought it was rather fortunate.

If a sensible person in the empire has gone mad and can’t function as a proper human being, then there’s no one to stop her.

Originally, she had planned to eliminate him by any means necessary before he became too great.

She had planned to get rid of him in an accident before he became a hero and saved the empire from crisis again, but there was no need for that now.

Rather than becoming a hero, building influence, and standing in her way, it was better for him to live a miserable life, cowering like that forever.

Leilyranda returned to the old palace, where cold winds seeped in and rain leaked through, and thought once more.

<If the world has to be destroyed anyway, it’s better if I destroy it with my own hands.>

Leilyranda forgot her bankrupt former collaborator. She observed when to make her appearance in the world while erasing her presence.

So that no one would remember her.

And she moved secretly.

The first thing she needed was sacred power.

Since demonic beasts were ultimately just slightly different from sacred beasts, the more sacred power, the better.

The most painful moments in her past lives were when Seiren Lemiere, who showed the most talent in battles against demonic beasts, wouldn’t move according to her will.

<Hello, Rose.>

<…Who are you?>

<Someone who needs you.>

Seiren was too arrogant. She was born with extraordinary talents and background.

To get her to fall into her hands, she needed to consume Lemiere first, which was never an easy task.

Seiren always ignored her. No matter how many achievements she made, Seiren acted as if she couldn’t care less.

‘Why me?’ and ‘Your Highness should do it yourself, or ask Duke Luwin’—these were the two phrases she heard most often from Seiren Lemiere.

She often moved with political considerations when they needed to eliminate the demonic beasts right in front of them. She seemed uninterested in saving the world.

<And the one who will make you the Saint.>

So Leilyranda elevated Rose Bistin, a commoner, to the position of Saint.

Although what she’s trying to do now isn’t saving the world, destroying the world shouldn’t be much different.

She got the High Priest in her hands, and she got the Saint in her hands. She also got Marquis Cloi, who was perfect for keeping Cassis in check.

It was easy to blackmail Marquis Cloi using his yet-undisclosed crimes as leverage.

Having Marquis Cloi in her grip allowed her to influence even the Emperor.

Thus, Leilyranda gathered her forces.

Repeatedly researching based on the information she knew about demonic beasts. Contemplating how to hasten the destruction even more.

<Hello, how many ice creams would you like to buy?>

But suddenly Irina Seike appeared.

An unfamiliar thing called “ice cream” became popular, an unfamiliar person emerged, and behind her was Cassis Luwin.

At first, she thought Cassis Luwin was just desperately trying to survive somehow.

When she felt something was wrong was when everyone started talking about ice cream, and when she heard that not just Seiren Lemiere, but the heir to the Lemiere family had invested in the “ice cream” business.

And when she really felt something was terribly wrong was…

<It has sacred power.>

<What?>

<A tiny amount, but it’s definitely there.>

It was when Rose, while eating ice cream, mentioned it had sacred power.

Ice cream was being sold in large quantities at very affordable prices. And according to information obtained through inside sources, Irina Seike and Cassis Luwin’s plan was to sell a lot.

Selling so much food infused with sacred power.

In that situation, a sacred beast appeared. It was said to belong to Irina Seike.

<We need to intervene.>

Leilyranda was anxious.

Cassis should have stayed buried in the north and not come out into the world. Because she remembered how extraordinary he was.

Cassis Luwin is extraordinary. Even when everyone wouldn’t follow, he would somehow eliminate demonic beasts and save the empire from crisis time and time again.

And now he started to emerge into the world.

And what about Irina Seike, a variable she couldn’t understand?

In all her hundreds of repetitions, she had never once heard the name “Irina Seike.”

<I’m anxious.>

<So anxious. Irina? Who on earth is she?>

<Who is she to have gotten Cassis in her grasp?>

The thought that she had to do something consumed Leilyranda.

Thus, Leilyranda was plagued by obsession.

She measured the hundreds of years of time she had lived. And so she decided to awaken the heroes of the past.

They were once the protectors of the world, but eventually were abandoned and reborn with resentment.

Stupidly, humans denounced those who once fought at the forefront on their side as “demonic beasts.” They called them demonic beasts and cut them down without a shred of sympathy.

That’s why the war against demonic beasts becomes harder to win as it progresses. The evolution of demonic beasts accelerates, and more beings are resurrected as demonic beasts.

Leilyranda sought to resurrect an ancient hero as a demonic beast using a method not yet known to the world.

One whom she had always refrained from awakening because the side effects were too great and would exact a heavy price.

“Your Highness.”

“Hello, Leilyranda.”

Sian Terezia appeared in the still old and shabby palace, waving his hand.

Leilyranda swallowed hard. Even she, who was always composed, couldn’t help but feel a bit tense.

The person before her wasn’t a demonic beast she could control at will.

“Sian Terezia,” whom she had originally planned to resurrect as a demonic beast. The last crown prince of the completely forgotten ancient Obedih Holy Empire.

However, he did not respond to Leilyranda’s call. As a test, she summoned several other demonic beasts, and they all responded.

<Why?>

It would be troublesome without Sian Terezia. In life, he was a strong person, and as befitting the crown prince of the Holy Empire and a hero who saved the world, he possessed immense sacred power.

If such a person wouldn’t respond, Leilyranda would have to redesign all her plans from the beginning.

But Sian wasn’t responding.

Surely Sian Terezia would be sleeping in the northern lake. Waiting for someone’s call to come again someday.

Remembering that Luwin and Irina Seike were in the north, Leilyranda anxiously gathered news from the north as much as possible.

In case, someone had resurrected Sian Terezia first. In case someone had gotten him in their hands first.

In case… Cassis had come to remember the past like her.

Unfortunately, the news Leilyranda heard was that a gray-haired man was staying in Luwin, and he claimed to be the last royal member of Obedih.

At the same time, what was fortunate was that Sian Terezia still used sacred power. That meant… he hadn’t become a demonic beast.

Not being a demonic beast meant no one had resurrected him.

And that meant… surprisingly, he was human.

A human using pure sacred power without any trace of demonic aura.

Leilyranda thought that the damned god might be on her side.

<Hello, I’m Leilyranda Jackmüller.>

<…>

That condescending posture, looking down at her with a blank stare. That expressionless face. Considering how aggressive he had been toward the world when resurrected as a demonic beast… he didn’t seem much different now.

So Leilyranda greeted him with all the respect she could muster.

<I stand before Your Highness, Crown Prince of the Holy Empire, Obedih.>