The Demon Lord’s Castle, Assembly Hall
Bel led me into the room. A magnificent long table, adorned with skull motifs, stood before me, accompanied by equally grand, skull-designed chairs lined up. It felt like a meeting room, or something similar. The thick walls seemed to offer soundproofing, making it an ideal place for secret conversations.
“Feel free to sit anywhere. Water is self-serve,” Bel said.
Several pots and cups, apparently filled with water, were placed on the table. Were they Magic Items, perhaps? I sensed a faint trace of magic. Oh, they were refreshingly cold. And despite their lack of weight, it seemed like they could produce water endlessly. They were likely using a storage function in the pots. What a luxurious use of magic.
“Pour some for me too,” Bel added.
“You said self-serve… Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
After pouring water for Bel, I sat down in a chair opposite her. Now then.
“So, you were going to tell me about the Black Book, right? Something about how the Proxy is using it to revive Elearis?”
“Yes, that’s right. By the way, how much did you know about it?”
“How much, you ask…”
Honestly, I had no idea what the Black Book actually was. I only knew it was an artifact with a history of turning its target into a Demon King, or a magic-collection machine that powered the revival of Elearis. Seeing as Melfina, in her golem form, couldn’t speak, I could infer that it was a taboo subject that shouldn’t be known.
I vaguely explained all these thoughts that came to my mind to Bel.
“Yes. At least, your assumptions are mostly correct. The Black Book periodically appears in different forms and turns powerful individuals into Demon Kings. During Papa’s time, it was found among a pile of treasures seized after conquering an enemy castle. In Zel’s case, it appeared in its book form. According to Ange’s research, Zel was surprisingly well-read, so that makes sense, I suppose.”
That trait of his seemed to have been passed down to Shutra as well. In his mansion’s private room, books were the second most common item after plush toys, and they were all of a level of difficulty that I couldn’t decipher. Could it be that this trait, unlike with Azgrad or Tabula and my other older brothers, was exclusively inherited by Shutra?
“And the term ‘magic-collection machine’ is quite apt. That’s also correct. I don’t know the details of Elearis’s current situation, sealed as she is, though she was the previous Reincarnated Goddess. However, as a god of this world, any amount of magic collected wouldn’t be nearly enough. It’s like how Kelvin, with all his magic-obsessed might, couldn’t summon Melfina’s true body.”
“With that logic, no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to summon Mel…”
“Don’t be so pessimistic. Melfina, who is still energetically acting as a goddess, and Elearis, sealed away and her whereabouts unknown, are both gods, but the magic required to descend them would differ. This is just my intuition, but I believe it will be easier than with Elearis, won’t it?”
“That’s encouraging advice.”
So far, Sera and Bel’s intuitions haven’t been wrong. I have no choice but to believe their words and put in the effort.
“Let’s get back to the topic at hand. To revive a god, the Proxy set their sights on that Black Book. From here on, it’s information that a golem can’t discuss, so don’t blabber about it carelessly. Melfina probably wouldn’t want this to be widely known either.”
“Ah, I understand.”
I never had any intention of telling others anyway, and even less so if Mel would dislike it.
“The ‘Heart of the Evil God’ is where an Evil God, sealed long ago, slumbers. Though the Evil God lost the war against the gods, its power was equal to that of the gods. It sounds like a typical fairy tale from legends, but this apparently really happened. In fact, the Great Cavern outside the Sanctuary was overflowing with distorting magic.”
“It’s non-fiction, huh? I always brushed it off, but what exactly is an Evil God?”
“There are various tales, like they were originally one of the gods, or the progenitor of all demons, or beings that the gods accidentally created. Well, I don’t know what an Evil God truly is either. It’s a story from the time this world’s myths were formed.”
She doesn’t know either? Is that not important?
“In any case, the Evil God was a thorn in the gods’ side. It’s said to have destroyed several worlds during the conflict, and the gods also suffered damage. Furthermore, the gods had no means to completely destroy the Evil God.”
“Worlds collapsing, that’s some serious scale… Even gods couldn’t do it?”
“They apparently couldn’t intervene directly with the Evil God that had fallen to the mortal realm. You know, Melfina can’t come to the mortal realm without her golem form, right? It’s kind of like that, in terms of nuance.”
So the golem rule applies there too. Well, there are many ambiguous tales and myths, so whether it’s true or not is probably irrelevant.
“Therefore, the gods applied the best seal they could at the time on the Evil God. That place became what is called the Heart of the Evil God, the Great Cavern. It was truly a grand seal.”
“A seal, a seal… A seal that creates a Great Cavern, isn’t that practically an attack?”
“…”
“…”
“—The seal was sufficient to contain the Evil God.”
Ah, she ignored that.
“However, the Evil God possessed a unique property. It had the power to absorb negative energy, such as malice and grudges, from the world and make it its own. A seal that couldn’t be broken in an instant could become formidable over decades or centuries. The gods of that time didn’t yet know of this property. It was only after some time had passed since the sealing, when monsters began showing the ill effects, that they finally realized the gravity of the situation. This was when ferocious and vicious monsters began frequently, almost brazenly, attacking human towns. Even then, as mentioned before, the gods couldn’t directly deal with the monsters. It seems they managed to overcome the situation with minor incidents like the birth of the Delamis Shrine Maiden and the Hero from another world. Well, due to their delayed response, it seems half of humanity perished.”
That’s not a minor incident, that’s a major one! So, this is the origin of the Shrine Maiden and the Hero?
“But that was merely a temporary solution. Powerful monsters continued to appear one after another, and negative energy flowed into the Heart of the Evil God incessantly. The gods must have been wracking their brains. And then, they finally came up with—”
“—The Black Book, huh?”
“Oh, you knew?”
“No, from the flow of the conversation, I just had a hunch.”
“Hmm, you’re quite perceptive. The Black Book isn’t an item with a history or a cursed, blasphemous artifact. It’s a divine artifact created by the gods themselves to promote the sealing of the Evil God. The monsters’ ferocity occurred because the negative energy the Evil God siphoned from the world had accumulated. Therefore, if they could concentrate that negative energy, which was meant for the Evil God, onto the holder of the Black Book and invert the energy from negative to positive upon its release, they could solve the problem. The Black Book absorbed the accumulated negative power even from our sealed Evil God, saving the world from crisis. Due to the demonic aura, there were negative side effects on the target, such as the ‘Tenma Hajun,’ but this was resolved by the power of the Hero from another world. The Black Book is set to appear in the mortal realm periodically based on the world’s contamination level, so no matter how long the Evil God waits, the power needed for its revival will never be sufficient.”
“By sacrificing those who become Demon Kings, the world is saved. Is that… what it is?”
“Yes. At least, the Black Book apparently selects those who are prone to accumulating negative energy, meaning those capable of becoming monstrously evil, but I can’t be sure how accurate that is.”
“…”
Melfina mentioned it once long ago. The appearance of a Demon King is an unalterable, natural phenomenon. So, that’s what Melfina was saying then…
“…I should mention this as well. This operation of the world using the Black Book has been ongoing long before Melfina became a goddess. It was the same during Elearis’s time, and even before that. It’s an absolute rule established by the ancient gods, so the current Reincarnated Goddess cannot deviate from it. …So, you don’t need to wear such a troubled expression.”
“Ah, sorry. Was I looking troubled? It’s fine, please continue.”
Even so, he’s my future husband. I will support Melfina. That feeling will never change. However, considering her unspoken feelings behind her carefree demeanor, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.
