Rumble
Countless events were taking place on the battlefield, and anomalies continued to occur in the heart of Diane, where the otherworldly dragon had appeared.
However, very few people could witness these anomalies firsthand.
Whoosh
A torrential downpour obscured the scene, and a massive cloud of steam, caused by explosions, also hid it from the people's eyes.
Even without that, it would have been impossible for the alliance forces to focus on that area.
Battles with the remaining monsters were happening, and the frenzied immortals indiscriminately slaughtered both the alliance forces and monsters, causing tremendous chaos.
As a result, no one was watching what was happening deep within Diane.
But suddenly, a swirling white torrent shot up into the sky and then subsided.
Yet, the anomaly happened again.
A massive cloud appeared.
It was a dark, thick cloud with a color similar to that of storm clouds scattering heavy rain.
However, it was too close to the ground to be considered a cloud.
And within that cloud, despairing human faces appeared and disappeared continuously, writhing as if alive.
Very few people knew that it was a collection of souls of those who had died so far.
Still.
Wail
The ominous, strange, and sorrowful wails emitted by the massive cloud whispered into the ears of everyone on the battlefield.
Some people unknowingly shed tears due to the despair embedded in those sounds.
Right below the giant cloud.
Whoosh
There was a man holding a dazed woman in the pouring rain.
"Ah…"
The man gazed up at the sky with a blank, despairing expression as rain fell on his face.
He had done everything he could.
In the end, he managed to regain what he had lost.
But it wasn't a complete success.
The curse he had shouted, hoping for the spirits to vanish, only brought half the success.
The curse disappeared from Ellen Artorius's body.
But it did not vanish from the world.
It still had a physical form and wailed eerily.
It could find another body to dwell in next or bring about the destruction of everything by scattering curses throughout the world.
The Demon King held the girl he had finally regained in his arms, looking up at the sky with a hardened expression.
If he couldn't make it disappear, the calamity it caused would continue.
It could dwell in someone else.
Or return to Ellen Artorius's body.
Or even possess the Demon King's physical body.
Poof!
Suddenly, someone appeared next to the Demon King.
"An extraordinary event has occurred."
It was an old mage.
He was a vampire named Antirianus.
As always, he wore an expression that suggested he was scheming something sinister.
Though they had achieved their first victory, the girl had fainted, and the Demon King had no energy left.
The Demon King, sitting and embracing the precious girl, pointed shakily at the sky.
Even that gesture was weak.
"Will you be alright?"
"…"
"I don't know what will happen next."
"…"
The Demon King raised his head with difficulty and looked at the old vampire, who wore an expression of unbearable delight.
Unable to muster the strength to speak, the Demon King's vision began to blur.
"At last, you succeeded in reclaiming everything. At this moment when you possess it all, I want to relish the exhilaration of twisting your neck without necessarily having to swallow that thing."
"…"
Intense despair.
The old vampire enjoyed such things.
"But even now, if I were to swallow that thing, wouldn't I naturally try to kill you as you are now?"
The Demon King proposed to the old vampire.
When he transferred the spirit to Ellen Artorius, and when he learned that it was Antirianus who had suggested it.
And when he saw the future in which he himself would die.
The Demon King didn't kill the old vampire, but made a proposal instead.
'I'm going to make you an offer that's hard to refuse.'
'Hehe… How intriguing.'
That irresistible offer was a story that even the old vampire could not help but be surprised by.
'So, what is it?'
At the very end.
Wouldn't you like the chance to become my final adversary and destroy everything I have?
If that thing somehow escaped from Ellen's body and couldn't be completely annihilated.
Before it wreaked havoc on the world, how about you try to consume it?
By becoming my final enemy.
Not lurking on the outskirts of the story, but becoming the ultimate evil in the story, what do you think?
If it wandered around without a host, it would become an even bigger problem.
If it can't be annihilated, someone has to bear it.
So, at the moment when it was driven out of Ellen's body.
Next, someone has to bear it.
'If I were to consume it, what would you do?'
'I'll subdue you somehow and annihilate you. If I can't, I'll imprison you.'
'So you cannot do that to Ellen Artorius, but you'll turn me into that?'
'Exactly.'
'Hehehe. How candid of you.'
'If you don't want to, say so.'
Witnessing the final despair.
Or, creating the final despair with his own hands.
Which one did he desire?
The Demon King made such a proposal to the despair-enjoying vampire.
'Originally, this old one enjoys watching everything from behind, not leading in anything.'
The old vampire didn't enjoy excessively decisive behind-the-scenes actions.
He liked twisting stories, but he didn't enjoy cutting off their lifelines.
He might intervene and make suggestions, but determining the end of the story himself wasn't a hobby.
If there was a happy ending, he would enjoy it.
If a story ended in despair, he would enjoy that too.
He preferred stories that flowed naturally and found their fitting conclusions.
He might add a little commentary, but he wasn't one to insist on a story ending in despair or happiness.
He had always had the opportunity to end this story in despair, but he chose not to, as evidence.
But this time, the situation was different.
'However, as a loyal subject, how can I, Antirianus, refuse my lord's command?'
There was a request not to sit idly by, but to become the final despair.
If he lost the final battle, it would still be a great story.
If he won, it would be overwhelming despair.
The old vampire was not one to refuse such opportunities.
And so, in the end.
At the end of an impossible battle, the Demon King reclaimed the hero.
And his thoughts remained unchanged.
As if commanding to carry out the agreed-upon task, the weak gesture pointed towards the massive cloud of vengeful spirits.
The one who swallowed it would no longer be themselves.
Even Antirianus didn't know what would happen next.
No one could predict the events that would unfold.
-Groooowl
Antirianus gazed up at the massive cloud of vengeful spirits that let out a grotesque howl.
In truth, the elderly vampire might have come to this place even without the Demon King's request.
He was a being that reveled in despair.
How immense must the despair contained within that thing be?
To take it into his body and savor it to the limit.
To truly feel the countless tears of countless individuals as if they were his own.
"How…"
"Could this be…"
"So tempting…"
Thus, Antirianus seemed to be driven mad with ecstasy.
He would likely die from consuming it.
Even knowing he would die from eating it, the mad vampire decided to consume it.
There was no reason not to eat it.
Having lived for far too long to live for the sake of living, seeking twisted pleasure had become his purpose in life.
To lose his life in exchange for tasting it seemed almost too cheap a price.
He would pay even more if needed.
The elderly vampire reached into his chest.
Then, a deep crimson gem revealed itself.
He was willing to die from consuming it.
But he wanted to savor it a bit longer.
Therefore, he had been secretly preparing since he received the proposal.
Preparing to properly consume it.
The red gem was not originally Antirianus's.
It belonged to another vampire, older than Antirianus, who no longer existed.
Others believed he pursued the philosopher's stone, but the truth was different.
It was a gem containing a failed wish, created to give a soul to a certain girl.
This was a vessel to contain a soul.
The wish had failed.
It was a simple truth.
A soul could not be created.
What did not exist, did not exist.
Thus, after completing his long research on the failed wish, he left only the gem behind, accepting the truth he had always known and returned to the void.
A vessel to contain a soul.
A great thing, but at the same time, an utterly useless object.
A miraculous stone that could offer no help to those who needed it most.
That, too, was despair.
The elderly vampire never told the Demon King about the existence of the stone.
He couldn't grant a simple resolution, like sealing away the thing or making it vanish from the world, with this stone.
Just as he didn't actively interfere.
He didn't like providing crucial help either.
But now, it was necessary.
To properly seize it.
To become the ultimate despair.
The Demon King had requested it, so he intended to do his best to become the greatest despair.
"Come…lost souls…"
The crimson gem floated in the air above the elderly vampire's right hand.
"I want to feast upon your despair."
-Woooong!
The crimson gem emitted light, and dozens of circles began to appear around it.
A grand-scale soul absorption took place.
It was something the elderly vampire had never attempted before.
It didn't matter if it couldn't withstand the process and shattered.
If that happened, he would simply absorb it with his bare body.
-Groooowl!
The massive cloud of vengeful spirits seemed to react, gradually beginning to move.
No.
Rather than being led, it was more accurate to say:
Keuuuuuuuuuuuuh!
They were being dragged.
As if being forcibly pulled by something, the cloud of resentful souls was drawn into the crimson gem.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
The scream-like wailing clearly showed that the cloud of souls was resisting the pull.
However, the gem that was made to contain souls began to devour the cloud of resentful souls as if swallowing them whole.
Kururururururu!
Despite the souls' raging torrent resisting, the vessel of souls sucked them in violently like the eye of a storm.
As it absorbed them, the crimson gem grew increasingly murky, but it continued to swallow the cloud of souls that enveloped the area, seemingly without limit.
"Oh… Maximilia… How did you create such a magnificent thing!"
The elder vampire cried out the name of the vampire who created this, as the soul stone began to devour all the souls without end.
How much time had passed?
The razor-sharp wind that shattered the ground and tore through the air gradually subsided.
In the middle of it all, an old man holding a red gem stood quietly.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuung!
However, the gem was in turmoil.
Due to containing too many souls, it seemed as if it would shatter at any moment.
It was a magnificent object, but it was only natural that it couldn't withstand the pressure.
The elder vampire simply…
Gulp!
Swallowed the stone.
"Heh."
"Heh heh."
"Hee… Hee hic. Hic…"
"Uhuhuhuhuhuhu! Uhuhuhuhuhu!"
The half-mad vampire burst into laughter.
Tears filled with sadness welled up in Antirianus' eyes.
With a sickeningly joyful smile on his face…
"How… How can there be so many sad things…?"
"How can there be so many in this world…?"
The elder vampire laughed for a long time.
As if his soul had left his body due to the overwhelmingly sweet despair, the vampire's expression soon turned cold and bitter.
"Ah."
"To feed…"
"There was something else I needed to do first…"
With a bizarre voice that overlapped and echoed, the existence of Antirianus, who had swallowed the stone of souls, began to fade away.
However, this time was different.
Until now, it had merely taken the place of the physical host.
But in this case, they would become one.
Antirianus' will and the will of the souls would merge.
The elder vampire would assimilate and dissolve with the souls.
He was both Antirianus and the collective embodiment of the despairing souls.
Antirianus looked at the Demon King, who was still crouching, and the girl in his embrace.
There was no final battle.
The Demon King had fainted.
He had achieved an impossible victory and exhausted all his strength.
So, it was only natural.
The monster, no longer a vampire nor a collection of souls but something else entirely, quietly gazed at the Demon King who, even unconscious, desperately clung to the girl he had saved.
Ssoaaaaaaaaaaaa
In the rain pouring down like despair, the monster quietly spoke towards the unconscious Demon King.
"I assume you didn't wish for something like this."
"Killing you when you can't put up any resistance is no fun. I will return later."
"Maybe you envisioned a scenario where I would appear to kill you when you are fully prepared."
"But… that's not the case."
"I enjoy stories that are so despairing they're great, and stories that are so hopeful they're sacred."
"Of course, I also like stories that are so dreadful they're empty."
The monster slowly approached the fallen Demon King.
There was only one dilemma.
Whether to kill the Demon King first or the hero he loved.
In any case, both would die an empty death at the hands of the monster, having reached the end of everything on this spot.
A miserable and pathetic ending would be bestowed upon them.
To put an end to the story that had gone beyond great despair and great hope and ended so emptily.
Since it was the Demon King's choice, he had to endure it.
Thinking so, a pale resentment arose in the monster's hand when…
"…Hmm."
The monster, about to approach, sensed something and retreated.
Bang!
Then something blocked the space between the Demon King, the hero, and the monster.
A gigantic dark sword pierced the ground between them and disappeared like a mirage.
The monster turned its gaze to where the sword had come from.
There, a single ghost clad in bloodied armor, whose blood had been turned so much that it couldn't be known, stood.
The ghost's right arm burned with a strange darkness.
In the ghost's right hand was the dark sword made of darkness, which had blocked the space between the monster and the Demon King.
The ghost standing before the monster muttered in a trembling voice.
"I still don't know… what the answer is."
"But…"
"I think I know the most definite wrong answer…"
"Here…"
"Here, these two dying…"
"That, at least, seems to be the most definite wrong answer…"
"Since I don't know the answer."
"As much as the definite wrong answers."
"As much as the worst possible endings."
"I have to stop it."
"I don't know who you are."
"I don't know what you are."
"I don't know what you want."
"But step back."
Rumble!
The dark sword in the suddenly appeared ghost's right hand aimed at the monster.
The human-turned-ghost said,
"These two must not die here."
Upon seeing this, the vampire-turned-monster cocked its head.
"Who might you be, suddenly appearing before me?"
Regrettably, the monster didn't know who the ghost was.
He was still too small a person for anyone to remember.
But there was no need for an explanation.
Knowing that his name was too small to be remembered by history,
He no longer mentioned his name.
"You don't need to know."
And he wasn't sad about it.