Lucius hoped that his daughter would be reborn. But that was impossible, even with the help of the rogue mischievous sorcerer. He deactivated Toa's body, which had been frozen in space by magic, and buried her next to Rosalia's grave.
　Lucius spent the next days stunned in front of the tombstone, living in a state of blankness and nothingness. At some point, the rogue had disappeared from his presence as well. His wife, Electra, has also not been seen in his room.

　One day, when he went to visit his grave as part of his daily routine, he found Masamune in front of the tomb. Lucius was inwardly surprised, but there was no change in his expression.

'It's been a long time since I've seen you. I've already buried the Toa,''

...I see.

　Lucius sympathized with Masamune's lack of speech and tone of voice. He knew immediately from his profile that he was in the same state as himself.

''You're not coming back to life, are you?''

"...that's the natural order of things.

Excuse me.

　The tone of Masamune's voice was noticeably lower than before. But he didn't notice it himself.

'Why do you apologize?'

It's as if I killed her. Sufiria is dead too.

Sufiria's body is buried over there as well. She was of the Artemias family, I believe. I had a rogue look for her family, but it seems the prophetess of the frontier village was killed by a demon.

I don't think Spillman is here.

I left here a long time ago. There's no reason for us to hang out anymore. He's a Spielman, not a rogue.

　Useless conversation ensued. It was a distraction. Neither of them worked their heads off.
　Then they began to make small talk.

"I hear you're the king of the abyss.

But that doesn't mean I can't do anything.

I hear you unleashed a demon.

Don't worry. They don't attack beastmen or demons.

'Oh, I'm not worried about that. I figured you would be.

　Lucius does not appreciate Masamune's human irredentist philosophy. Masamune knows that.
　There is no point in having this conversation.
　It's not what Masamune wanted. He was going to gradually move on to the Toa story.
　The subject of this conversation is Lucius. Masamune understood that Lucius was unwilling to engage in the conversation out of negativity. It had something to do with Lucius's lack of energy to face him himself. There was no content in this conversation.
　Masamune said flatteringly, "It's good to see you after all these years. Then he turned away.

'Don't come here again, please.'

　As he left, Lucius said his true intentions.
　Masamune couldn't look back, nor did he open his mouth.
　He knew it. Perhaps the next time they met, he wouldn't find himself anywhere near the demon kingdom anymore. But as of today, that thought had passed for a moment that I could leave this country without hearing the reason for it.

'I heard you were sealed and imprisoned,' he said. ─ I heard that you were sealed and imprisoned, so I didn't think I would ever see you again. I didn't want to see you. Because I didn't know what horrible things I would say to you if I saw you.

　Masamune says the same thing again, as a warning.

''........I killed Toa.

That's right. You killed my daughter. I know you liked the Toa, and I know the Toa liked and loved you. The two of you communicated in a mutually dependent manner. I understand that. But you killed the Toa.

Yes.

'Since then I've always thought. Since then I've wondered if Toa would still be here today if I hadn't met you, the human you, in spite of your dislike for humans. And if Toa had not met you, a human being, I wonder if Toa would still be in front of me today.

"...maybe so.

That's an easy one to answer.

Because that's what I think.

I suppose so. You like to think of things in a paradoxical way, so it's easy to come up with an answer. That's why it's so easy for you to come up with an answer. As you know, your encounter with Toa began in the world mirror. I don't know why. When I was a child, Toa said your name in front of the mirror that appeared in the garden. The name of a man he could not have known...

'I remember. The Toa in my memory did indeed say my name.

"Then, through the World's Mirror, I crossed over to the human world and met you.

I don't think it was a coincidence.

'It's not a coincidence. This ... means ... the Toa will die for you, and that's what you were born to do.

　It seemed like a leap of faith, but Masamune understood it.
　The thoughts of Lucius and Masamune were close in relation to each other.

'I still don't understand. I want to know, why my daughter had to die. What was the prophecy...''

　Masamune walked away with his back turned.

'We're going to die soon, as far as you're concerned! I heard Lucius spit out. 'You are moving away from the Toa, day by day, tormented by that feeling. And finally, you'll kill yourself again.'

　But Masamune already knows the feeling.
　Masamune left the demon kingdom, refusing to go along with the demon king's final sarcasm. And never returned.







　For the first time in this world, I'm looking for a place to stay. Even when I was banished by Aries, I had never looked for it. Because such a thing was not in me from the concept itself.

'It was here...'

　A vast grassy area. A forest could be seen nearby and the trees were thick.
　The road connecting Greiberg and Radshausen. It was the first place I met Zeke and his friends. It was also the place where I first came to the other world and the beginning of my first feeling of the other world.
　Feeling the wind, I meditated and then opened my eyes and looked around as if to superimpose the scenery in my memory.
　There was still no sign of demons in this area. The further inland we go, the more the world is a den of demons.

　I walked towards Razhuisen and after a few hours, I came to the place where I first met Sierra. I remember the first time I met a monster here.
　Then..........

'That,'

　I wiped my eyes, thinking my vision was suddenly blurry. Tears were flowing from my eyes.
　Wiping and wiping again, tears spilled out of the tear sack as if they were overflowing.

''........Shit.''

　I was getting annoyed. I wiped my eyes wildly with my sleeve. But that didn't stop the tears.

"d*mn it!

　A voice echoed in the forest path.
　I don't know what I am thinking right now.
　I don't even know what the meaning of these tears is. What is so sad about it.....

''--Dono Nito.''

　Suddenly, I heard a voice.
　I looked up and saw Romero in front of me.

''....What are you doing here?''

　He wiped his face down and wiped it with his sleeve, trying not to let them see his tears.

'It's been a long time since I've called you Lord Nito. You're alive and well despite the fact that you're sealed, Your Majesty.

Is this supposed to be sarcastic?

No way.

　Romero said in the same butler's tone as ever. 'Would you like to walk a little?'
　He wants to take a walk on the path I took once. He's a funny guy.







　The entrance to the village of Tanya was crumbling down. The last time I came here, a wooden arch greeted me. The villagers had gone to the trouble of cutting and collecting the trees to make it. It is buried in the earth as if it had been stepped on by something.
　When we entered the village, there were only dead bodies lying around. The corpses of the village chief and a number of other villagers were scattered about. Most of them have been charred and it's impossible to tell who they belong to. However, there were some nostalgic corpses that I could feel reminiscent of.

''It's.......Jack?

　The young man's things were lying around. He was uncertain if it was Jack. He may have been stabbed with a sword, and I could see a wound in his stomach.

'It was your classmate,'

The classmate?

Don't you understand? That's Saeki-dono.

Why is he here?

You're muttering some crazy shit, sir.

　Then Romero laughed. Gradually, his laughter changed from that of a butler to that of a hermit.

'--Hidaka Masamune, you wished that for Saeki, did you not?

　It wasn't Romero already.
　One strange old man was standing there.

''........Who is it?''

My name is Adams.

He was more of a kid, and then I was.

Did you kill him?

　Adams looked fuming.

"I have lived thousands and thousands of years, not some young man who has just discovered magic and is ready to kill me.

　I brought a wooden chair that was lying beside me and sat down.
　Then I looked up at the sky.
　I don't care who this old man is, or even if he's Adams. He's probably in front of me for a purpose, but it's none of my business.

'Are you tired of looking at the sky?

You're not mad at me?

You know better than anyone else that no one's anger will get through to you. It is of little use talking to you. The king of the abyss can do nothing about it now. The demon has been set free. All that remains is for it to perish.

Well then....

'There are a few things you've done wrong,' Adams said abruptly. 'The separation of the body,'

What?

You are in your condition.

You want me to go back to the body?

You were under a spell before the abyss, my Lord.

Are you ignoring me?

'I should never have dabbled in witchcraft that wasn't suited to my stature. You are not clever enough to play the role of a stranger. Using separation, you have separated the pus from yourself. That should have lightened your own heart. But not so with Amadeus. He has become the incarnation of your pus, and he has carried the darkness with him.

What the hell are you talking about? I'm Amadeus.

Well, it's clear that it's you. Amadeus is your pus and the second personality that has grown within you, so to speak.

What?

Moreover, you took over the reign to help the demon princess. From now on, you will have three personalities living inside you. You, Pus and Master.

　The small talk that doesn't get to the point stops me from thinking.
　I mean, he's trying to tell me that I'm like Toa. Multiple personalities, and I'm being pushed around.

"I'm the King of the Abyss.

The king is not an ability, but a result. Don't you see, you've been swallowed up by pus, swallowed up by the abyss.

　Adamus spoke fluently.

He spoke in a flowing voice. Pus operates and grows at will. It can make choices that a normal master would not have made. Conflict and anguish are not normal. After that, they return to the body. But you, the main body, were struggling to control it. It's not a good time to be able to deal with pus. At that moment, you were--

Drinking?

I told you this was because you were meddling with magic that you can't use. You are so lost in the abyss that you are blind to the darkness of the princess of Artemias. Even in the presence of your childhood friend, you still can't help but notice it. That's why the demon princess is dead. It's a foregone conclusion. If you were an excellent magician, you could have prevented the cat girl's death. But you didn't even try to use your healing magic in front of the girl.

　You're not even a sorcerer anymore. Adams said.
　That's true. Why didn't I use healing magic on Nem at that time? It could have been used. I could have saved him if I tried it right away.
　I knew Nem could not be saved. So I didn't do anything.
　Or it was the guidance of control, the will of the abyss that was engulfing me.

''It was ... the separation.

Not the cause, the cause," Adams said. In any case, you had a role to play in ruling. If you hadn't been able to do that, the result would have been the same, even if you hadn't used separation. And the abyssal user must always be true to himself, and his battle with the abyssal forces that seek to engulf him will continue until he ceases to exist.

　Since the Domination will kill Toa anyway, the only way is for me to take over.
　After that, it's up to me to decide if I can overcome the domination. If I can't, it will trigger the abyss to ensnare me. I will be swallowed. It will swallow me to my death.
　This war against the abyss will not end if you defeat it.

　Adams says that I am in the process of disengagement now. That doesn't mean I've overcome the abyss that is trying to swallow me up. Nor is it overcoming it.

'I simply do not have a story to tell from this point forward. The greatest of all your darkness has already been done. It is no longer possible for you to fall into the abyss you seek to engulf as well as for your control.

Is that the only factor?

Amadeus was a problem before the separation. You are not fit for purpose.

The blood of the Beneficent.

　Shouldn't you have been relaxed and not made the bloodline of a benevolent man?

But that would have created another problem. You have freed the slaves and beastmen of the slums in Enuma-san. Without you, they would have been killed later by Zemeckis. Those who escaped may have had a strong desire to kill humans. It is not impossible that it could have killed a demon princess somewhere.

　Then, in the end, I don't know more and more what I did wrong.
　But I did something wrong. We're all dead because I was wrong. That much is certain.

But I believe that everyone has a cause of failure. Everyone has to live with it. For example, in Victoria's case, her sister was despairing. Oliver was angry, Zephyr wished to forget, and Adolf was jealous. This is the cause of defeat and the source of the abyss for each of them. What is the cause of your defeat, O?

I don't know. It's the otherworldly syndrome.

Hmm. What is the otherworldly syndrome then?

...of those who have longed for another world of convenience.

Not.

Do you have the answer?

I don't know. But I think that is not the case. Why did you long for such a thing in the first place? If so, why was it a disease?

Indeed.

　Why did I yearn for another world? If I longed for it, what did I long for in the other world? What did I want? If it's what you're looking for, why are you looking for it? What is the reason? Why did you want another world? Did you really long for another world in the first place?

What is the Otherworld Syndrome, and what is the essence of it, is the reason for your defeat.

You know what you're really doing, don't you?

I don't know. But I just don't think that's very specific. What is it that you feel every day?

....

　I didn't know and couldn't answer.
　I looked at the ground, at the sky, and while I was thinking, Adams was out of sight.

　It's a funny feeling. Was the guy I was talking to earlier now Adams, or Romero, or someone else?
　Was I talking to him in the first place?　I must have been hallucinating. I had such an incomprehensible feeling.

'Well, but what does it matter...'

　It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter anymore.

It doesn't matter...

　...I suddenly realized something.
　I noticed, I had a feeling.