Oscar walked for some time along a steep mountain path. By the time his leg muscles had stiffened and he was out of breath, he finally met up with Lara. She was on a cliff overlooking the city. After jumping off of the back of a demonic beast the size of a house, Lara asked Oscar.
“What’s with that look on your face?”
“What’s up with it?”
“You look like you chewed on a bug.”
“I see… a bug. Well, Demian is back.”
Oscar said with an unpleasant expression. He confessed that Lampion had brought Demian all the way from the East and that they had been secretly planning to bring him back before they left the border.
“They came back earlier than I thought.”
“You already knew?”
“Of course. Did you think I didn’t know?”
“Well… How did you know?”
“The three of you kept whispering while glancing at me. And the day before we left, Lampion disappeared. He said that something urgent came up, but he didn’t tell me what happened.”
“I can’t believe it was so obvious…”
Oscar ruffled his hair with one hand. Lara looked at him with a smile and asked abruptly.
“How’s Demian doing?”
“Are you curious about him?”
“Of course.”
“He said he ate God.”
Lara slightly downcast her eyes. It was a habit she did when she was deep in thought.
“That’s Demian, but that’s also not Demian at the same time.”
“What? What does that mean?”
Oscar shouted in surprise. For his sake, Lara didn’t beat around the bush and immediately opened her mouth.
“Demian is a fragment of Abraxas taken from his body. And he was destined from birth to punish the demon lord. So, in order to awaken Demian to his original form, I had no choice but to become the demon lord.”
“What?”
Oscar’s legs lost strength, he could not hold out any longer and sat on a nearby rock. He broke out in a sweat despite the frigid environment. Then, he rubbed his hands against his face and asked.
“Wait, wait, so since you’ve turned into the demon lord, Demian is now destined to kill you, the demon lord turned saintess? Is that for real?”
“Yes.”
“You know that and you still wanted to awaken him? You became the demon lord yourself…for that? Is that why you lured Vassago to the ruins after sending Demian to the East? You wanted to awaken him in the meantime and make him a God?”
“Yes.”
Lara was determined. She looked as if she had no regrets.
Demian would have vehemently opposed her decision if he had known it. He was just that kind of guy. He might even turn his back on the world to ease Lara’s burden if she tried to sacrifice herself for someone. That was the reason she turned off the receiver. She did not answer even though she knew he was sorrowfully calling her every night.
Every time a swarm of red lights flashed on the receiver, Lara had to hold it in her arms and pledge countless times.
Let’s not be each other’s enemies, at least in this life. I will let you forsake your destiny, just as I decided to go against mine.
A fragment out of God.
Abraxas spoke as if Demian were his crumbs.
Lara did not think so. Even though he was a fragment, a God was still a God. Moreover, Abraxas was not even a perfect God nor was he emotionless. He was unstable, hurt, and heartbroken.
Demian—a mad God's other-self.
Lara believed that Abraxas could not have been cold and wise at the time of Demian’s creation. After the death of the first saintess, Abraxas was so distraught that he denied his own existence. Perhaps he took out the part that should not be taken out. Such as the essence of what made him a God, or the inner self that he wanted to turn away from.
Lara believed that Demian was the heart of Abraxas.
“We can only get rid of God when Demian awakens.”
A man could not antagonize God. A demon could not defeat God. Only God could eliminate another God. Demian was the only one who could get rid of Abraxas.
“Then, what do you mean…when you said Demian is not Demian.”
Oscar muttered. Lara approached him, and with a touch of guilt, a great sadness, and a firm sense of trust, she said.
“It means that he’s both Demian and Abraxas. His fight is not over yet. Demian will be fighting his strongest opponent since he has realized his power.”
“Saintess.”
“No one knows whether God will define me as a demon lord and defeat me, or whether Demian will defy his destiny and protect me from within God. But be that as it may, I have put everything on Demian. I trust him.”
“Why would you risk all that?”
Lara, who had been firm so far, hesitated a little.
“Because…I love him.”
Her voice flowed into Oscar’s ears, sounding sweet at first glance.
“Because I love him so much that even death can’t separate us.”
All throughout her two lives, she always had love for one person only. Lara loved Demian. She loved him dearly, to the point of madness, even.
“What if Abraxas eats up Demian and becomes an evil God?”
Oscar asked. It was quite possible. Lara had also thought about the possibility.
“Then I will go to hell with him.”
“Saintess!”
“Oscar, go back and defend this land with His Imperial Majesty. The demon worshippers will attack Memoria city at sunset tomorrow. The ones that will take the lead are offensive-type demonic beasts, so dig traps on the ground. The black sorcerers will never step into the front lines so set up a separate troop and flank them.”
“I’d rather protect you here. For Demian’s sake, I will stay with you. We can just say I was captured by the black sorcerers and became the demon lord’s servant!”
“No.”
Lara shook her head.
“The war must end in human victory. Go and leak the information that I have given you. As long as the number of demonic beasts is more than 2,000, the black sorcerers will stay in hiding in the northern hill areas. The demon worshippers are not as strong as trained soldiers, but they are all in a state of madness. Don’t underestimate them.”
The demon worshippers chose the Gorgon mountains range as a rendezvous point for troops of the demon lord. They believed that the demon troops that would lead the world to destruction would ascend there. Lara wanted the Barbarians to defeat them in this war and become heroes.
“After recklessly traversing the battlefield, the demon lord will retreat in fear of the Barbarians’ military glory. Fill the air with proud laughter at the demon lord’s defeat and celebrate your victory.
“Ha… Fine.”
Oscar turned around with hunched shoulders. As he went down the mountain, he turned his head several times and looked at Lara; a slender lady with twilight-red eyes and brown hair fluttering in the wind. The image stuck in his mind, he could not forget it.
Despite being just one person, she looked huge like a mountain. The image of God that appeared only in old murals must have been like that in reality, as seen in books some time ago.
A saintess or a demon lord. None of that mattered. The appearance of Lara engraved on Oscar’s eyes forebode the beginning of a certain myth.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
After sending Oscar back, Lara went to the edge of the cliff and looked down at Memoria city, now shrouded in darkness. Even though it was a deep night, there were countless torches. The glittering lights shook beautifully. It was a sleepless city, and that had made people forget that they were on a battlefield.
“It’s already late.”
“Valac?”
“Master, as long as you’re a human, you should sleep. Only then you can look like a demon lord tomorrow night.”
“Now you even know how to worry about me.”
“I decided not to guess my fate anymore. I only wanted to enjoy myself in the human realm, but then all this happened to me… Back when I started to share my life force with Acerus, I thought that I was just going to share my life with the Crown Prince, nothing more…”
“Don’t die, Valac. Live a long life.”
“Are you saying that because of Acerus? Because if I die, he dies too?”
“No, I said that because I want to hear the story of a changed demon who is now on the side of the humans. The kind of warm and touching stories that grandmothers always tell by the fire, you know?”
“Lame…”
Valac slurred his answer after hearing Lara’s joke. There was a slight bashfulness at the end of his words. Lara wondered about that and turned around.
Valac looked at the battlefield with his cheekbones slightly blushed.
“What’s my role tomorrow?”
“Prince Sidhar, a prince who has been on the demon’s side since he was in Hautean. A scumbag. Unsatisfied with just committing treason, he has betrayed the Tarragon Empire, and after being done a favor by the empire, too. He has enticed the saintess to join the demon lord troops.”
“That’s cool.”
Valac smiled, saying that it was a dramatic supporting role that he could never do again in his boring demon’s life.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Lara spent the night in a log cabin built with the crazy labor of the demon worshippers. In the morning, she moved back to the edge of the cliff overlooking the city. She was going to prepare for the war at night with Vassago, Paimon, and Valac.
“So you want me to start out aggressively so that I don’t look sloppy, but then let them win without harming them.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s going to be difficult, but I will try.”
Vassago nodded seriously. He and Paimon crouched down on the ground, they started to draw with branches and discussed their plans together. Lara had her meal with food that Valac brought.
“Where did you get this delicious food? Are there any chefs among the demon worshippers?”
“Huh? It was just there when I woke up. I thought Vassago put it in advance…”
“It wasn’t me.”
Vassago shook his head, saying that it was not him. Valac looked at Paimon to question him, but Paimon also denied it was him.
“Then who was it?”
According to Valac, on this cliff where they usually talk, there was a clean and very luxurious tray of food wrapped in cloth.
“When I opened it, there was hot soup, bread, meat, a drink, and even dessert. I obviously thought Vassago tormented the worshippers and brought the food for you.”
“A tray of food wrapped in cloth?”
Lara approached Valac. As he said, she saw a tray of food wrapped in cloth on a rock.
“What is this?”
A golden tray glistened in a cloth as red as blood. As if showing that a demon lord’s meal should be taken care of like this, it was a menu that reflected someone’s preference.
