Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 502

502. The Reason for the Choice

It was a moment of utter devastation. No matter how hard I tried to break through, the wall pushing me back wouldn’t budge. Screams and cries erupted from all directions, desperate pleas and wails filled the air. Yet, as if deaf to it all, only one person stood calmly amidst the chaos.

Thick black hair fluttered in the wind. A dazzlingly bright light emanated from the black spear in his hand. Until that light engulfed his entire being, I could do nothing but watch. The face that met my gaze one last time smiled faintly.

“Tell Ellyuen that I was grateful for everything.”

A voice I would probably never forget.

And the reason he made that choice.

My head was filled with a buzzing sound. A constant static crackled in my ears. Karyuan. Why was I hearing that name here? The face smiling so nonchalantly before me made no sense. That thing shouldn’t be alive. I had to kill it.

‘But if I kill him, what happens next…?’

What would happen if Karyuan died here? The insane thought jolted me back to my senses. Had I lost my mind for a moment? A quick glance around revealed that the surroundings were vastly different from what I last remembered. Everywhere was flooded, and wreckage was scattered haphazardly. Karyuan was impaled against the wall, bound by ice tendrils. My hand, gripping his neck, stopped just short of breaking it. Coughing up blood, he made me release him without realizing it.

“Are you done now?”

Wiping his mouth, Karyuan slowly raised his head. His red eyes, undimmed despite his injuries, shone brightly. My silence seemed to be taken as a yes, and a sigh of relief escaped him. Reading his signal, সিকuel [likely a typo and should be Sequel, referring to a companion or summoned being] released his hold and returned to my side. As his body, covered in frost and pure white, returned to its original form, the ice binding Karyuan melted and poured down in torrents.

“Wow, that really hurt.”

Staggering to his feet amidst the half-melted ice debris, Karyuan groaned. A look of disgust touched his eyes as he met my gaze.

“I always wanted to go up against you, but this is really beyond my expectations. What grudge do you have against demons? You’re not showing me any mercy. I’m the one who’s been disguised all this time, so why do you seem like a different person?”

Karyuan making jokes was hardly amusing. Turning my gaze, I saw Simon passed out in the corner. It seemed my complete loss of reason had affected him as well. Fortunately, he had only lost consciousness and didn’t seem to be injured.

“What’s your purpose for being here?”

“I was about to tell you that, but you started attacking me out of nowhere, you know? Calm down. I’m not the enemy.”

“You’re not the enemy?”

A laugh escaped me involuntarily. Look at what happened because of you. How many innocent people died? Why was Ellyuen hurt, and why did Lapis die like that? Why did Kanos… choose to disappear? And you’re saying you’re not the enemy?

It was fortunate that he looked younger than I remembered. If he had been exactly the same, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. Clenching my fist tightly, I noticed Karyuan quickly took a step back and smiled.

“What did you do with the original Neb?”

“That was me from the start.”

“Simon and Della were old friends with Neb, I heard. So when did you start disguising yourself…?”

“Ah, that’s not true from the beginning. I hypnotized them to believe that.”

Come to think of it, Karyuan’s specialty was hypnosis. Unpleasant memories surfaced, and my face involuntarily contorted.

“The timing of the disguise is the same as when you first met them. I didn’t show myself at first because I was watching the situation.”

“So the rift that appeared back then was…?”

“It happened when I crossed over. Ah, it wasn’t intentional back then.”

So the subsequent rifts were intentional. I stared at him in disbelief as Karyuan smiled.

“I didn’t do it to mess with the humans. Well, I mean, it’s not like that’s not part of it, but anyway, that’s not the main purpose.”

“Explain it so I can understand.”

“I’m just protecting something. And I can add a little fun to the process, can’t I?”

The damage caused by the rifts was severe, and he called it fun? It was such a demon-like logic that I couldn’t even get angry. I just felt extremely tired.

“Are you talking about protecting the Demon God followers?”

In response to my question, Karyuan smiled instead of answering. He was an unpredictable guy, but it was clear that it meant yes. I had suspected that someone was deliberately causing the rifts, but to think it was to protect the Demon God followers. I felt so suffocated that I didn’t know where to start pointing out the problems.

“How did you change your eye color? Your race can’t change colors.”

“How did you know that? I didn’t change it directly, but I created a thin film with magic and covered my pupils. Of course, not just anyone can do this. Would you believe me if I said I was using all my magic just to maintain that one thing?”

Whether he was or not, it was none of my business. Rather, I was annoyed that he could use tricks like that. But what bothered me more right now was his tone and attitude. It was so different from what I knew, and his playful expression and deliberately languid way of speaking made me increasingly on edge. Come to think of it, he mentioned a teacher earlier. Who was he talking about? Surely not the one I was thinking of?

“…How old are you?”

“My age? Why do you ask?”

“Shut up and answer. How old are you now?”

“Would you understand if I said I just graduated from Karten [likely a school or academy]? I’m just over a hundred years old now.”

My mind went cold at his leisurely reply. A hundred years old. He looked young, but he was even younger than I thought. For a demon, a hundred years was still a time when they hadn’t accumulated much experience. Unless they were special cases like Asmodel, no matter how strong their innate power was, they needed experience to handle it properly.

“Just a hundred years old…”

“Just? That’s too much. Shouldn’t humans, who can’t even live for a hundred years, be saying that? You shouldn’t underestimate a young demon. I’m going to be the Demon King in the future.”

“…Going to be the Demon King? So you’re not the Demon King now?”

“Wow, do I already look like the Demon King? That’s a misunderstanding I like. But unfortunately, not yet. I’m planning to be one later.”

Karyuan, who wasn’t even the Demon King and was still young. The urge I had been suppressing began to surge again. I didn’t know when he had planned to become an Evil God, but it wasn’t now. Not all the events had happened yet. Innocent children hadn’t been sacrificed, and the Duke ইউকার্টে [likely a name, needs no translation] who would help him hadn’t been born yet. If Karyuan disappeared here, no one would get hurt.

“Another murderous look.”

Karyuan smiled, as if troubled, and took another step back.

“It seems like you don’t believe me when I say I’m not the enemy. I think it’s going to be really dangerous if this goes on, so I’ll say my message and get out of here quickly.”

“Message?”

“My teacher has a message for you.”

“…What?”

“I don’t know if you intended it or not, but you keep getting involved in our affairs. So my teacher has been keeping an eye on you. He told me to deliver this message when you found out my identity, so now is the perfect time.”

Could that teacher’s name be Lukareum? I barely swallowed the words that lingered at the tip of my tongue. I hadn’t expected this situation. No, I didn’t want to expect it.

“…What’s the message?”

“He told you not to interfere recklessly.”

I blinked blankly. The red eyes that met my gaze curved languidly.

“Either way, you’ll definitely regret it.”

The strength slowly drained from my clenched fist.

Regret? Regret what? You here don’t know me. How much do you know? What exactly does he mean by not interfering? Why are you telling me that through Karyuan?

“I’ll give you a warning too.”

Amidst the confusion, a voice rang out. Karyuan, who had been scanning me intently, whispered softly.

“Don’t interfere too much with our affairs. Or you might really become the enemy.”

A groan came from somewhere. Simon was regaining consciousness and trying to get up. I turned blankly, and suddenly felt a sharp energy shooting towards him. Kwajijijik! Kwang! I hurriedly drew my sword to block the energy, and then belatedly felt a sense of despair. I immediately turned around, but Karyuan, who had been there, had already disappeared.

“…”

I took a long, deep breath. I felt so weak that I couldn’t even stand straight. I sat down and repeatedly wiped my dry face. সিকuel [Again, likely Sequel] approached and rubbed his head against me as if to comfort me, but it didn’t make me feel any better. I didn’t know what was going on. Everything felt like a complete mess.

* * *

Simon, who had regained consciousness, was greatly shocked. He realized that he didn’t actually know anything about Neb. Whether it was a hypnosis that broke upon recognition, he quickly admitted that there were no memories of him with Neb in his past. The same was true for Della.

“Wow, I can’t believe this is happening.”

Chris muttered in disbelief as I looked around at the guild members who had gathered for the first time in a while. Simon was still out of it, and Della was busy running her hands through her hair. It must have been shocking to find out that a hometown friend they had been through thick and thin with was actually a demon, and that all their memories had been fabricated. It was a shocking situation that was hard to brush off. Thanks to that, the drinking party continued until late at night. I stayed for a while and then got up after the two of them were completely drunk and passed out. Chris, who was in charge of cleaning up, saw me out.

“You worked so hard today. Get home safe.”

“Yes, but with one person missing, will the guild be okay?”

“Ah, it’s okay. We’ve had some new members lately.”

“Oh, really?”

“It’s all thanks to your recent activities. Rumor has it that you’re close to Ain Idris, so some people are less wary of the Eye of Requiem [likely the name of the guild].”

“I see.”

Fortunately, it seemed that the guild’s operations wouldn’t be disrupted for the time being. I had been worried because I had been neglecting it in many ways due to the long vacation and the special assignment, but the guild was doing well on its own without me. Feeling relieved, Chris quietly looked at me.

“So it’s okay to quit anytime, El.”

“Pardon?”

“You weren’t trying to settle down in the system, were you? I’m saying don’t force yourself to deal with troublesome things because of us. Just run away if you don’t want to. Don’t think about the consequences.”

Chris seemed to have been feeling sorry for me for being forced to stay in the special unit. Thanks to his kind heart, I felt a little better. Then, suddenly, a crazy thought occurred to me, and I focused my mind and slowly looked around. I wondered if the Spirit Kings were nearby again, but fortunately, I didn’t see any watching eyes. Only then did I feel a little brave. I asked as casually as possible, in a tone as if I was just passing by.

“Chris, what would you do if you could go back to the past?”

“Go back to the past? You mean the past?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I’d go. And I’d change everything.”

The answer came readily, as if he had been preparing for it. Looking back, he smiled.

“It’s not really a new concern. I used to think about it several times a day. I want to go back to the past. Then I can change everything. I’ll save my loved ones and prevent all the bad things from happening. If I could do that, I wouldn’t mind giving everything I have.”

“I see.”

“Wouldn’t everyone do that? Everyone has one or two regrets, whether light or heavy. If they could undo them, they would.”

“That’s right. That’s true.”

“Did something you regret happen?”

Chris looked at me with worried eyes.

“It’s nothing. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Well, I’m confused too. Who knew Neb was a demon? And that he was the one causing the rifts. If this gets out, our guild is completely finished. We might become the public enemy. If that happens, I really want to go back to the past.”

Chris shook his head and clicked his tongue. It seemed that what happened today was so shocking to him that he didn’t attach much meaning to what I said.

‘If I could change the past…’

I took a deep breath and looked around. The streets with magic lamps, the magazines and newspapers on the stalls. The station leading to the train station and the carriages lined up in front of it. I looked around at the surroundings, which were similar to the world I lived in but filled with a completely different atmosphere.

I had always wondered. No matter what I did in this era, would the results that would follow be fixed? Or could they change as I influenced them? I had always thought it was the former, but I was still concerned about the possibility of the latter. That’s why I had always worried about Minerva’s work, and that’s why I had put off some of the self-blame.

‘Don’t interfere recklessly.’

Kanos told me that directly. He knew about my existence. Maybe he already knew where I came from. But I still don’t know why the spell isn’t broken.

Of course, the way to find out the answer was right in front of me. I sighed lightly and pressed down on the back of my hand with the inscription. It seemed inevitable that I would go to the Demon God Temple.