I was so astonished that Luna Artorius, who had always been like an impenetrable wall and somehow seemed inhuman, let go of the hand grasping my collar in surprise.
-Thunk
"Ugh... Damn..."
I drew a sharp breath from the intense pain in my shattered wrist.
Eleris, still unable to recover from the shock, laid on the ground and looked at me with difficulty.
Though it wasn't the time for that, Eleris was also flustered by the situation.
Luna Artorius gazed down at me, who had crumpled to the floor.
"Are you telling a pathetic lie just to save your life at this moment?"
"If you want to believe it's a lie, then believe that."
-Swish
I summoned Tiamata and unleashed my divine power.
Rage, the ingredient needed to use Tiamata.
Naturally, there was no reason not to be angry when Ellen's mother threatened to take my life.
The divine power healed my wrist.
I staggered to my feet and put some distance between her and me.
"If you want to kill me and be hated by your daughter for the rest of your life, go ahead."
"..."
At the absurdity of my threat, Luna Artorius stared at me silently.
"Ellen doesn't know you're the Demon King."
"That's right, she doesn't know. I don't want her to know, and she probably wouldn't be able to accept it."
"Even if you truly... love my daughter, the two of you cannot be together..."
"Interfering too much in your child's life isn't good."
Somehow.
It didn't seem like the right time for this conversation.
My life was hanging by a thread, and I couldn't possibly face her, so I just gave up.
I didn't know, but I had to spit out everything I had on my mind before I died, so I wouldn't feel wronged.
"We'll handle our own affairs."
I aimed Tiamata at Luna Artorius.
"So, please step back, mother."
"Wh-what did you call me?"
I wondered how it felt for the Hero's mother to be called 'mother' by the Demon King.
I wasn't sure, but her face looked perplexed, unable to laugh or cry.
However, that was only for a moment, as Luna Artorius's expression turned icy.
"Who said I'm your mother? I never acknowledged you..."
"I'm a person with manners. It's rude to call the mother of the person I love an 'auntie.' I don't know what the future holds. And I can't call you my mother-in-law either. We haven't gotten that far, so I call you 'mother.' What else would I call you?"
"..."
Once again, Luna Artorius's expression became complicated.
Though I couldn't do anything with power or swords, I could sense her mental damage in real-time.
What is this guy saying?
Why do I have to listen to this from the Demon King?
It seemed as if she was thinking that.
How about this?
Is it working?
Can I distract her and retreat somehow?
"Also, I only learned today that Eleris, lying over there, is the ancient Archdemon or whatever. So, if you think about it, Eleris would be like a distant ancestor of mine, right?"
I don't know what that means, but assuming it's true, Eleris would be my ancestor.
"Mother, what should I do if I beat your relatives as if I were beating a dog?"
"Why do I have to listen to such nonsense!"
"No, I'm just answering your question as it is!"
"Th-this... this doesn't make any sense...!"
It seems that just like Ellen, when she gets angry after holding it in, she explodes.
"Mother, you said you're not interested in the matter of good and evil. You're not interested in what I want to do or what I want."
"You said that you're trying to kill me by breaking the law, all because of your daughter."
"I like her. You might not believe me, but that's the truth. What can I do about it?"
"Choose, Mother. Either kill me here and be hated by your daughter for the rest of your life."
"Or back down quietly for now."
Luna Artorius was taken aback by the situation where I, surpassing the hierarchy of power, threatened her instead.
If she tries to kill me, I can't stop her.
The roar of the distant battle seemed close, but if everyone in that place tried to kill me, would that be possible?
I don't know.
But Luna Artorius regained her original expression and stared at me quietly.
She must be seriously considering my words about liking Ellen.
Beyond whether it's true or false, if it is indeed true, she would be pondering what she should do.
In the end, she slowly lowered the hand holding her sword.
A tender emotion rose in her eyes once again.
"Your feelings... it would be better if they were false."
"..."
"If what you say is true, then all I can see... is a future where my daughter becomes... more miserable because of it... Why... do you... love my daughter... There's no need to..."
A deep sadness could be felt in her gaze.
"Wouldn't it be my duty as a mother to end everything here, with you dead and everything still unfinished... before a small misfortune turns into a greater one, before my daughter is broken... Isn't it right to stop all this?"
"I can't accept you either."
"There's no way my daughter, who has been deceived by you until now, can accept you."
The hero and the demon king.
My affection for Ellen can only bring future misfortune to both Ellen and me.
If Ellen and I must fight each other later on, that will surely be the case.
So Luna Artorius asks if it would be better to stop everything here if my love for Ellen is true.
She didn't make that decision.
She's asking for my opinion.
I already felt her intent to kill me has been broken.
Yes.
Now that Ellen's mother knows, let's not postpone the tragedy any longer.
"Whatever, let's tell her."
"...What?"
"Since you already know, Mother, there's no point in hiding it anymore. I don't think Ellen will understand, but... It'll be hard for her to accept, but..."
I'm scared.
Up until now, I had been deceiving her, continuously postponing the ever-growing consequences of my actions. Ellen would, of course, feel betrayed and might not be able to accept me.
"Do you mean you would risk having my daughter killed because you don't want to be killed yourself?"
"Yes."
At my words, her expression hardened once more.
"I suppose it's a relief to be so honest."
"...You're a strange one, aren't you?"
Hearing her words, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Ellen's told me that many times as well."
A strange one.
It was a phrase I had always heard.
She stared at me intently, as if trying to read my mind from my eyes.
"I love my daughter, but I can't understand why I should spare you, who will undoubtedly bring her the greatest misery..."
However, the moonlit sword in her hand vanished.
It seemed as if she had read not my emotions but an ominous fate.
"But... if killing you would make my daughter unhappy... rather than giving her a wound that cannot be erased by a parent's hand... her own choice might be... better, at least..."
She gently touched my cheek with her hand.
"Should I continue to leave my daughter's affairs to her, as I have done so far? To let the world's matters be the world's matters, and my daughter's matters be her own..."
Her hand, which had tried to kill me just moments ago, was now so warm it was heartbreaking.
After a long silence, she pulled her hand away from my cheek and took a few steps back.
As she reached towards the sky, the moon, which had grown immense, returned to its original size.
What kind of power was that?
I didn't know, and I felt that I might never know.
"Archdemon... no, Reinhardt."
"...Yes."
She called me by my name.
"I know it's a meaningless thing to say, but..."
She stared at me.
"Don't make my daughter sad."
Luna Artorius had tried to kill me not because I was a demon king but because I was a threat to her daughter, and in the end, she couldn't kill me because I was connected to her daughter's unhappiness.
"I'll do my best."
"...It seems you know it's impossible as well."
I didn't know if Ellen would accept my confession.
But I had decided to do so.
As she had done so far in battle, she took a single step forward without a word.
-Whoosh
And just as she had done before, she disappeared as if melting into the moonlight, nowhere to be found.
As if she had never been here in the first place.
It felt like I had been manipulated by a mirage until now.
Luna Artorius was gone.
Only then could I focus on what truly needed my attention.
"Eleris!"
"...Your Highness."
Eleris, who had somewhat recovered, struggled to her feet and leaned on me.
"I'm glad you're safe, but... what on earth is going on?"
"Indeed..."
It wasn't a victory from battle, but rather, I had driven away my would-be killer, who happened to be my mother-in-law, with the mere mention of my love for her daughter.
The situation was so absurd that both Eleris and I couldn't help but feel a little dumbfounded.
-Kwakwakwang!
Far away, the explosive sounds of battle were raging.
It was only natural not to notice the anomaly that had occurred here, as a fierce battle was taking place.
And then,
"Reinhardt!"
When I didn't follow, Harriet, who had turned back, called out to me as she ran towards me with the Archduke.
"Suddenly the moon grew larger, and this... uh... who is that person?"
Of course, both Harriet and the Archduke couldn't help but show a puzzled look as they took turns looking at me and Eleris, who I was supporting.
It's because they had been away for a while and came back to find myself supporting a completely different person.
They didn't know who Eleris was.
I wondered if I should explain that she was a wounded person we found nearby when, at that moment.
-Krrrrrrrr
The already dark night sky was shrouded in even deeper darkness, forcing us to naturally look up at the sky.
"What is... this?"
Harriet murmured with a pale face.
Just a while ago, the moon had grown dozens of times larger, casting a cool moonlight all around.
But this time, something different had happened.
It was as if someone had deliberately distorted the middle of the night sky. No, rather than distorted, it was as if someone had forcibly ripped the center of the night sky apart.
There was a huge, dark crack in the torn night sky.
It was a bizarre sight, as if the glass window of the night sky had shattered, revealing the abyss within.
The Archduke, myself, Eleris, and Harriet couldn't help but stare blankly at the sudden second strange weather phenomenon.
The enormous crack that had formed in the night sky was just the beginning.
From that abyss, hundreds of beams of light came pouring down.
We all knew it wasn't a burning beam of light or a flash.
It was the light of falling objects burning as they rubbed against the air, originating from that abyss.
The light of shooting stars.
"A meteor shower...?"
Not just one, but hundreds of meteorites began pouring down towards the ground.
"Magic that only exists in myths... How...?"
The Archduke muttered in a daze.
There was no time to think about whether such magic existed in reality or not.
There was only one person who could use such magic, as if telling everyone to die.
Roswin.
It must be the magic he had cast.
