Master, are you okay?

　The convergence of the shadows spelled the end of the robbery.
　Masamune removed the reddish-black shadow that had covered the Toa and returned it to himself as Vel looked on.
　He seemed to have exhausted his strength enough to breathe on his shoulder, but his complexion was not bad.
　That was a sign of the success of the robbery.

'Masamne-kun. The Toa is........
It's a success.

　With those words, Lucius ran to the Toa.
　Masamune sat there and stared at Toa's figure in his arms.

'Lucius-san, there is something I want to ask you first. Do you have a good strategy for this skill?''
No.
....
If I had to say it, as I said earlier, it's about acceptance. You must accept the good and the bad inside you as they are. It's a feeling that you've held within yourself, so it can't be helped...
'Hahaha it's like an abyss, isn't it? So you're saying it's important not to accept yourself?
That's what happens.
"A difficult thing for a master to do.
In fact, I'm not worried. I don't doubt myself anymore. I am open to my thoughts and feelings. I won't be swallowed up by the abyss. That's why I can kill the Demon King. Lucius-san, what do you think of Toa's condition? I'm in control now, and that personality shouldn't come out anymore.
No....

　Lucius was about to say something when Toa woke up.

'....Father.
Toa.


　A tear ran down Toa's cheek.

'Toa, forget it now...'

　Lucius said softly. But Toa didn't answer and stood up, supported by Lucius.

'Masamune, why ... why didn't you stop me?　I'm........

　Toa's face crumbled with tears.
　Masamune looked at Toa in stunned disbelief, as if he hadn't expected such a thing to be said.

''No. No it's not ... that's not what I'm trying to say. That's right, because I killed Cassandra, I killed her. I chose it, didn't I? ... but I'm such a big sister...

　Toa fell to her knees on the spot, then got down on her hands and broke down crying.

'You have to get revenge on Ignotus and for that I have to... no!

　Instantly, Toa's voice stopped.
　And slowly, Toa stared at Masamune.
　Wiping tears with his sleeve, Toa looked at Masamune with moist eyes.

''Masamune. I........what should I do?　Please, help me....

　Masamune's expression gradually changed from a stunned expression to a strong one.
　Then he slowly stood up, walked over to the Toa in front of him and gently hugged him.

''I'm sorry, dear. Everything.........I'm making a mess.......
....
I'm sorry, sir...

　Masamune thought about it desperately.
　He wanted to save Toa, but if he killed the demon race based on his emotions, he would be disobeying the abyss, and he was concerned about that.

''Master, don't lie to the abyss. The moment you think of it, it's a good day. If you want to kill me, take me.''

　The floating great cane said so.

''If you're going to kill me, take me, Master!

　As if sensing something from Masamune, Vel gradually intensified his tone of voice and appealed to Masamune as if to blame him.

''........Toa. I'll kill Ignotus. And those guys like Felsen and Vicious and others. Leave it all to me.

　The Toa didn't try to say anything at those words, but Vel was beside him with a wicked grin.

''Then, master, let's go destroy the demon kingdom. Let's overrun it--''
... yeah. Let's do it.
"Come with me, Masamune," he said. This is the result of my cowardice. I owe it to myself to finish...
I will end all the grief so that Toa will never be sad again.

　Masamune's left eye glowed red, and his right eye glowed weakly red.



o



　--The Magic Kingdom of Lagupalos.
　This is the resting place where Ignotus and others relax - the hall of the throne.
　There were four brave men there, being guided by Felsen and Bishas.

'Hey, hey, hey, you're still brave, guys. Especially you.

　Ignotus pointed at Sonoda with a dumbfounded expression.

'I believe it was Sonoda?　A warlord is a rare profession, and that's not true!　Don't send out a magic circle at once!
But without a magic circle, there is no magic...
Hold it steady!　You'll have the benefit of bravery!
I'm sorry to hear that.
What, no?　If I had the benefit of bravery, I wouldn't need a magic circle. I'm telling you, Nito doesn't use magic most of the time. He's a healer, but he's a hero, just like you. There's no reason why she can do it and you can't. And there's no reason why he can't beat Lucius.

　Ignotus had his head in his hands as he leaned against the throne.

They're useless, brother. It's obvious when they're not even close to my level.

It's a decoy. But ... well ... you're right. I should have brought them all with me...
So that would have been impossible. These people's magic is weak. I had heard that the brave men were the best of the humans, but it seems that they were misguided. Aside from Lucius, it would be better for us to deal with them after luring Nito in. And, I suppose.
We'll take care of Nito first. I'll take care of him first.
Um....

　Then Sonoda interrupted.

'Nito is Hidaka-kun, you said so, didn't you?
What about it?
Well, are you sure?　Hey, it's still hard for us to believe...

　Ignotus looked into the faces of the four brave men at his words.
　Kida looked down, clutching his sword and not knowing what he was thinking about.
　Majima and Kihara seemed to be afraid of the demon race and that was not the case.
　Sonoda was the only one who was still able to keep his temper up enough to talk.

You'll see for yourself. Whether it's this way or not, he's going to be here sooner or later anyway.
....
'I hate to say this, and I hate to admit it, but the three of us have been surviving on Lucius' whims for years. That's all. If he wasn't a coward, we'd be long dead and Ragpallos would be extinct.

　Sonoda was trying to listen and understand. It was also for his own protection.
　He wanted to take in somehow.
　But that explanation didn't understand a bit about the situation in the demon kingdom.

'He'll come here eventually to cure his daughter's illness. Because my presence is a hindrance.
What do you mean by "disturb"?

　Ignotus looked straight into Sonoda's eyes.
　Then he shifted his gaze to Felsen.

''When you came in here, I wonder if you guys didn't question why there wasn't a single guard there.

　Felsen asked.
　But Sonoda and the other three, who had been brought in so abruptly, didn't have time to think about such things and didn't even look at the castle.

''Lucius killed them all,''

　Ignotus said.

'Once, he came to destroy us and our country. But in the end, he got cold feet in front of the three of us and stopped his arm. It's not that he's not interested in people. It's that he only cares about the demons, that's all. There are three races of demons, including us. Shastain, who attacked you humans the other day, and Urszola, Lucius' race. The demon tribe is weak in fertility and few in number. I'm sure they are less than 10% of your human counterparts combined.
But the humans are afraid of you demons. A threat...
It's my fault. It's because I destroyed the Rickman family.
The Rickmans?
'A clan once called the strongest of the human race. They were descended from the blood of Heilkwaite and Fischanatika and used strange magic. But I destroyed them. Perhaps that's why. And before that, humans weren't afraid of the demon race either.
Why would you do that?
It's the same reason we brought you all here. We wanted them to kill Lucius. But they had a bad idea. They turned me into something I didn't want to be asked to do. They killed you because they no longer needed you, that's all.
It's that easy.... so you're going to kill us too?
"Us?　No, we're not killing you. If you're gonna die, it won't be us who kills you, it will be Nito.
Nit.....
You know what I mean. Humans are very simple creatures, you just have to observe them for a while to figure it out. Especially in his case, it was easy to understand. That's not a normal human eye. And when I saw you two, I knew it was real. But you don't know for sure. But what's the point of being sure, it's such a frivolous story, revenge is just that simple.

　At that moment, a large red-black aura suddenly appeared in Ignotus' vision, covering the great doors, walls, ground and ceiling of the hall.
　Ignotus was astonished by the aura that appeared without a sound, but he didn't try to stand up on his throne, and his expression gradually changed to a smile.

''He came........''

　Ignotus muttered somewhat ruefully.

''This magic power........it's Lucius, isn't it?''
Brother, this day has come at last, my dear Poron.
Yeah, I know. But there's another one...

　A red-black aura disappeared from the hall.
　And what appeared was the great door that had disappeared and the ground, walls and ceiling that looked as if it had been scraped away.
　Beyond that, a figure of a person hiding his face with a red-black robe and a mask depicting the shape of a demon was standing there.

''Nito........''

　Lucius and Masamune were there.