The island’s pier. With Rogerio’s ship waiting behind me, and before my eyes the wind of the Voice seeming to push me away, I put away the crystal orb.
I bent one knee. I placed my hand on the pavement.
“Are you doing it now?”
Al Los asked. Without a word, I injected mana. The mana of existence activated the second process of the grand magic.
Boom—!
A single vibration rang out like the beat of a drum.
That was all.
“It is done.”
“……?”
Al Los tilted her head in puzzlement, but I turned away without another word.
I walked toward the ship where Rogerio and Epherene were waiting.
“…….”
Soon, Al Los followed after me. But before she had gone far, she turned back again.
The Voice. The center of that island.
In that place, close yet far away, mana was gathering.
At the same time, demonic energy was erupting.
A torrent of demonkind seeped into the tip of my nose and made my veins stand on end. A devil’s mist rushed in all directions, staining the sky dark.
But I forcibly endured it and confined myself. Dark desire boiled madly inside my body, but with the 「Mental Fortitude」 that had reached its height through countless swims, I restrained myself.
“Al Los.”
I called to Al Los, who was looking into the island. Dressed in her hood, she turned back to me.
“Let us go. From here on, the rest is Sylvia’s part.”
“…….”
Al Los nodded and trudged past me onto the ship.
* * *
A forest where the trees were dense and the grass swayed.
Sylvia stood at the center of the magic circle. In the nature she and the Voice had created together, she quietly closed her eyes.
Boom──!
Deculein’s mana. The resonance that signaled the activation of the grand magic. The signal she had been waiting for.
Sylvia let her own mana flow deep beneath the ground. She added the “Three Primary Colors” to Deculein’s mana, which had spread throughout the island.
Immediately afterward, a geometric magic circle rose over the entire island. The mana of the two flowed along countless circuits, forming a spell.
……At last.
───.
She felt a certain energy churning inside her body. She became aware of the echoing “Voice.”
“Come out.”
One tiny phrase. Then a strand of mana that rose from the magic circle clung to Sylvia’s chest. It seized something stuck deep within her heart.
And, just like that, pulled it out.
Shrrrkk───!
The core of the Voice that Sylvia had swallowed. That demon was dragged out of her body, and the core scattered demonic energy like ink. In an instant, it covered the sky, the island, and the earth.
Kwaaaaaaa……!
A storm of demonic energy raged. Dark-red sparks scattered violently.
But Sylvia had no intention of indulging its tantrum.
With radiant golden eyes, she stared at the Voice’s demonic energy.
Crack……
The thing that had spun uselessly like a tornado for a long while soon seemed to lose heart and slowly settled down. The Voice’s core condensed again like a small black hole, but then, suddenly, it took on a certain “form.”
In that moment, even Sylvia was greatly startled. She drew in a breath in shock.
—Sylvia.
The demon’s voice calling her. Its face and body. From its neat clothes to the look in its eyes, everything.
It had imitated Deculein.
“……..”
But Sylvia took a deep breath.
Demons always sought their lives in this way. They took the form of the person one loved most, appealing to human emotion.
—Sylvia.
The demon called her name like Deculein. The exact same tone as Deculein, the exact same expression, the exact same face.
However.
“……It’s all right.”
It won’t work on me.
Sylvia drew a dagger from her waist.
A relic Ciel had left behind long, long ago. A small silver blade.
“I can handle this well enough.”
Then Deculein—no, the Voice—slowly approached her. Sylvia felt her heart pounding on its own.
—Sylvia, you are crying.
The Voice brushed the corner of her eye with a finger. It showed her the tears clinging there like dew.
But Sylvia shook her head. She muttered her fierce resolve.
“It won’t work. I’m going to erase you.”
—……I know.
“……What?”
But the Voice’s reaction was unexpected. It merely nodded, as if smiling.
To Sylvia, whose brow twisted in confusion, the Voice added.
—I lived inside your body. I know as well as you do that my current appearance, and my current voice, will not work on the current you.
At that moment, Sylvia tightened her grip on the dagger again. Inwardly, she smiled as if it were laughable.
—It has been nearly ten years, Sylvia. The time we spent together.
This, too, must be part of the demon’s delusion.
The fact that I don’t feel even the slightest pity makes me rather glad.
—It was long enough for mountains and rivers to change, for the island to flourish, and for a demon to gain intellect and emotion.
The Voice looked at such a Sylvia with rather strange eyes.
There was not the slightest negative emotion in them.
—During that time, in order to persuade you, I tried to take on the appearance of Deculein, whom you loved. While seeing the Deculein you drew, and while endlessly imitating the components and qualities of Deculein as he swam without end, I tried to resemble him.
Sring—
She drew the silver blade from its sheath. Brilliant sunlight reflected off the silver edge.
—……However.
Even so, the Voice looked at the dagger without the slightest fear.
—Though I struggled endlessly to become Deculein, and in the end succeeded in resembling Deculein.
The demon laughed.
As if even he found it absurd.
—The one who swallowed me, in truth, was Deculein.
Sylvia simply looked at him in silence.
—I assimilated with Deculein. Deculein’s mental fortitude swallowed me whole.
He murmured in a self-mocking tone.
—The house of Yukline…… is truly the natural enemy of demons, it seems.
A recitation full of regret. But the Voice changed his expression back to composure and looked at his old friend, Sylvia.
—And yet, ironically, because I resembled Deculein.
He raised his hand. A nobleman’s hand, resembling Deculein’s, soft and beautiful like a pianist’s.
—I find this death you are bestowing upon me quite to my liking.
His hand touched Sylvia’s cheek. Then he stroked it tenderly and spoke in a gentle voice.
—……Sylvia. You could live here with me. With me, who has become Deculein.
Sylvia shook her head. A deep smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
—Indeed.
Sylvia clenched her teeth again. She drove the dagger she gripped forward with all her strength.
Thud──!
She buried it in the Voice’s heart.
—…….
He showed no reaction.
He did not spit blood like an actor, or sway as his legs gave out, or wheeze because he could not breathe.
He showed no such shabby sight.
He merely lowered his face slowly toward her, placed his lips by her ear, and……
—If it were Deculein, he would probably say this.
Along with a whisper that seemed to be smiling.
—……I am proud of you.
He leaned against her shoulder and collapsed.
────Kwaaaaaaaaaa!
In that instant, all the darkness and demonic energy on the island convulsed. The Voice’s core was destroyed, and every trace of the demon was sucked into it.
“……Goodbye. My bad friend.”
Its annihilation lasted only an instant, but Sylvia watched the moment with tranquil eyes.
The death of the “Voice” that had been with her for so long.
…….
And so, the island sank into boundless silence.
Sylvia remained alone amid the stillness.
She calmly looked over the surrounding scenery. She looked into her own heart……
Bzzzt— bzzzt—
Deculein’s crystal orb rang noisily.
─It worked! Oh!
A voice flowed out at once, so familiar that hearing it made her laugh in disbelief.
A voice so stupid there was no way she could fail to know who it belonged to……
This one was a stupid friend.
—Professor! Have you arrived? Did you meet Sylvia?
“I’m Sylvia.”
Sylvia said it as if it were no great matter, then tensed for a moment.
It was because that single sentence had consumed a lump of her mana.
—……Huh? What? Why do you have the Professor’s crystal orb?
Epherene asked. More than half her mana had already been used up, but Sylvia still answered.
“Because I took it.”
—What does that…… No, Sylvia. What’s the situation over there?
The stupid voice came back again.
Is her mana all right? She should be much weaker than I am right now.
“…….”
How should I answer?
As Sylvia pondered, a mischievous smile came to her face for no reason.
“I killed Deculein.”
─……What?
As expected, a voice filled with immense shock. She was probably widening her eyes, leaving her mouth hanging open, and wearing that uniquely dog-like stupid expression of hers.
That did not mean it was a lie.
Today, I killed the Deculein in my heart. I killed the one I had clung to, the one who had made me bind myself.
—What do you—
And thus, only after becoming free from him at last.
I came to understand what it meant to truly love.
─Ugh…… kkeuk……!
Epherene let out an even stupider scream and fainted, and the communication was cut off.
Sylvia gave a faint laugh.
“……Sylvia.”
But again, a voice called her from between the bushes.
“Congratulations.”
Idnik.
My teacher.
“You’ve broken your shell.”
She was looking at her. Not with the eyes of a master and disciple anymore, nor of an adult looking at a child, but with the eyes of someone facing an equal mage.
Sylvia shook her head.
“I’ve only stood up on my two feet. Now, it’s time to make the shell again.”
She would make a shell and retrieve the power of the Voice that had spread across the entire continent.
That was the duty remaining to her.
Idnik shrugged.
“……Won’t it be hard alone?”
As the “source” of the Voice, Sylvia would have to remain here alone for quite a long time, until she had gathered all its waves.
“It will be hard. But it’s something only I can do.”
“…….”
Idnik stuck out her lips for no reason.
“Then, now.”
To her, who was worried about her yet unable to say much, Sylvia gave her farewell first.
“Goodbye to you too, Idnik.”
“……Yeah.”
“Oh, right. You took the gift I prepared, didn’t you?”
“Of course. No doubt about it.”
Idnik smiled brightly. Then, with a whoosh of wind, she vanished.
So it had been illusion magic from the start.
“…….”
At last, Sylvia was alone, and she looked again at the scenery of the island. She took this beauty into her eyes.
“Alone.”
Being alone.
Being left by oneself.
Of course it was sad.
It would be hard to endure.
It would be maddeningly sad.
But, as much as it was sad, it was also joyful.
Because now, even if belatedly, she could see this world properly.
……Thanks to you.
“Yes.”
I am so grateful to you, who helped me stand on my own.
I love you so much.
That’s why I want to become someone like you, too.
Rather than being a great mage who is always alone, I want to teach people.
So, even if it takes a little longer, I will keep trying without end.
I will definitely return.
“……Only now.”
Thus, a life begun together once more.
At last, my life that had become “real.”
“I feel like I’m really me.”
* * *
Whooooosh……
The wind wrapped around the island. It was a wind as blue as the sea. Those currents became a round egg and confined themselves.
Into it, the power of the Voice would now slowly be drawn.
[Quest Complete: Voice]
◆ Reward: Shop Currency +10
◆ Bloodline Enhancement: Yukline
◆ Unique-Grade Equipment Catalog x3
The system notification, befitting a troublesome demon, offered good rewards.
But my heart was not particularly at ease.
Was it because, as I accepted my incomplete death, the “weight of the self,” which until now had been extremely concentrated on Deculein, had returned to Kim Woojin to some extent?
“Isn’t being alone a little too harsh? It might take decades.”
At the ship’s railing, Al Los was looking at the same scenery.
She murmured. I nodded slightly and replied.
“……I do not know whether they will be compatible.”
As she said, being alone might be too harsh.
Thus, I had made a small modification to the magic circle. Because of it, I had died several hundred more times, but considering the possibility, it was a price worth paying.
“Compatible? Compatible with what?”
I did not answer Al Los’s question. I merely looked back at her.
“Al Los. Will you come with me?”
“…….”
Al Los gave no answer. She simply leaned against the railing and looked at me with blinking eyes.
I gazed intently into her face, and soon realized.
“……You made a doll in that short time?”
“Ahem. I’ll be off, then. I shall flee from you, so obsessed with the art that is I.”
And so Al Los became a mannequin.
“……Hey. Deculein.”
Jukaken approached next. The bastard held out his hand to me.
“As partners from back in the underworld. How about a handshake?”
The bastard spoke with a grin. And there was his hand.
After pondering for a moment, I shook it.
With my glove on, of course.
“Jukaken, what do you intend to do? Will you return to the underworld?”
“……I suppose I have to. There are plenty of underlings waiting only for me.”
Jukaken puffed out his cheeks in a show of affectation.
It was revolting.
I quickly let go of his hand.
“But it feels a bit empty. Fuck.”
He leaned against the railing and looked up at the sky.
“I’ve gotten so damn old, I wonder if my boyfriend will even recognize me…….”
“…….”
The wrinkles on his face were deep. It was filled with worry and concern.
It was fucking unpleasant.
“That’s what worries me most. He’s not the type to cheat, though.”
“Shut your mouth and get lost.”
“……Okay~”
Jukaken grinned and went inside the ship.
…….
On the opposite side of the railing where Deculein stood.
Al Los, his face tightly wrapped in bandages, glanced at the long-haired man peering down at the sea as if he might fall into it.
“Hey. Don’t you have anything to say?”
Gerek. He turned back to Al Los with innocent eyes, then chuckled and nodded.
“No.”
“Weren’t you going to kill him?”
“Yeah. I was going to. But he remembers death.”
Gerek thumped his own chest.
“The people in my heart said so.”
“……You mean your family?”
“Yeah. My little sibling, my neighbors, the elders, everyone in the village. All of us together—we killed him too many times. So they said they’d forgive him. After killing him endlessly, I came to realize it. Whether this…… was really revenge. Or just venting my anger. Whether anything changes by killing him.”
Anger only calls forth anger. Hatred only calls forth hatred.
Gerek—no, Gerek’s countless personalities—had now decided to let Deculein go.
“Well then, take care, Al Los.”
Having said that, Gerek put both legs up on the railing.
“We’re going to live our own lives now, too.”
Whoosh— Just as he was about to dive, Al Los grabbed him by the ankle.
“Ah, what the hell. Why?”
To Gerek, who dangled from the railing in confusion, Al Los cleared his throat and said,
“……Let’s form an adventure group with me.”
“An adventure group?”
“Yeah. Your talent would be wasted otherwise. And…….”
Phew—
Al Los let out a small sigh. Then he gave a smile that was, in its own way, cheerful.
“We have to kill a god.”
……Ten minutes later.
“Professor!”
Epherene, who had come out onto the deck a little late, called Deculein. He had been leaning against the railing; he glanced back at her and nodded.
Epherene beamed as she spoke.
“Wow. Did you swim all the way there?”
“Wipe your mouth.”
“Huh?”
“Did you eat?”
“……Ah.”
Epherene wiped the bit of meat from the corner of her mouth. Embarrassed for no reason, she cleared her throat.
“Anyway, could you explain to me what happened inside—”
“Epherene.”
The voice calling Epherene was not Deculein’s.
She turned around.
“Oh, Mage Idnik.”
Idnik. For some reason, her wrinkles had deepened, and she strode over to hand Epherene a small box.
“What is this?”
“A gift from Sylvia to you. Oh, and don’t worry about Sylvia. She’ll come back on her own. Everything’s been resolved. But…….”
After explaining that much, she added in a small voice, almost a whisper.
—……Don’t let Deculein find out about this gift. That bastard might try to take it from you.
“…….”
Epherene quietly glanced sideways at Deculein, looked back at Idnik, then swallowed and nodded.
“Good. Hey, Deculein. I have a gift for you, too! It’s from Sylvia…….”
Deculein began conversing with Idnik.
Seizing that gap, Epherene opened the lid of the gift box.
“……What is this?”
She had thought a gift would be something nice, but it was just some mana stone.
Ah, and there was also a note.
[Stupid Epherene. This contains a video. When the Professor is in the greatest danger. But when he’s just standing there like an idiot. Give this to that stupid woman, Julie.]
Epherene read the sentence over carefully, then muttered with a strangely aggrieved feeling.
“……So in the end, it’s not my gift, but Knight Julie’s.”
Anyway.
She didn’t know what it was, but Epherene needlessly watched Deculein’s reaction. Glance—glance—glance—glance—then she closed the lid of the box.
“All right, Deculein. Good work.”
Just then, Idnik and Deculein’s conversation ended.
“Oh, right. Deculein’s disciple, you did well too. But you really are cute every time I see you, aren’t you?”
“Huh? Ah, a-ah, why are you doing this, uwaaa…….”
Idnik left after tousling Epherene’s hair, and Epherene fixed her hairstyle before approaching Deculein’s side.
“……Professor.”
Deculein glanced at her. However, his eyes were still fixed on the island out on the sea.
“When do you think we’ll arrive?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think we can make it by Thursday?”
“…….”
Deculein’s brow furrowed slightly.
Epherene hurried to explain.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just, Loahawk comes in on Thursday. If I miss it, I won’t be able to eat it until next week. It’s insanely popular these days. Word of mouth spread for no reason. I have to eat that for my depressed mood to go away…….”
Pfft—
A small laugh burst out like an auditory hallucination.
“……?”
Epherene looked up at Deculein in confusion. Deculein’s face was cold and expressionless.
Just now, it felt like someone laughed.
“What was that?”
As Epherene looked around like a chicken, Deculein said,
“Let’s go inside now. We might be able to arrive by Thursday.”
“Ooh! That’s a relief!”
Epherene tucked Sylvia’s gift box inside her robe and clenched both fists tightly. Then she shouted loudly.
“Now, back to the Imperial Capital——!”