Unfamiliar displays appeared before my eyes. System? Proxy Authority? Sacred Spear? All unknown, nonsensical characters. However, some of the words intuitively felt ominous.
“Demon King’s Extermination.” It was written as if commanding me, and I felt an intense aversion. I immediately tried to call out to you. However, it wasn’t my mouth that moved, but my arm holding the spear. What my arm held was not the beloved spear I had brought from White Wing Land, but the Divine Platinum Spear. Its beauty was so captivating that I almost lost myself just by looking at it. Merely touching it, I felt an unfathomable Sacred Power.
…However, I have no recollection of such a thing. I don’t even know when I came to hold it. Behind the awe and exhilaration, I was terrified. And then, I realized that although my will was certainly here, my body was completely unresponsive. No matter how hard I tried to reach out to you, my lips wouldn’t open. I could only repeat the breathing necessary to sustain life, and not a single fingertip obeyed my commands. It was as if I had been taken over by something else… A pale blue light flashed at the edge of my vision. This Flow of Magic Power, without my realizing it, Angel Wings and Halo had manifested, but why? Why now…? I remembered the words “Demon King’s Extermination” once more.
“…”
The tip of the Sacred Spear gradually, slowly, began to direct itself. It was an extremely slow movement. However, the surroundings seemed even more sluggish, as if time had stopped and not a single thing moved. …No, that’s not right. It wasn’t that the surroundings were slow; my body and thoughts were moving at a terrifying speed.
I don’t know if it was the effect of the incomprehensible text displayed earlier or an actual phenomenon. But I couldn’t understand why such a scene was projected into my vision, and why I could understand it so clearly. Why did I have to endure such treatment? I didn’t want to understand. If I had that speed, I could have responded right now. Why was I so careless at a time like this, exposing my back so thoughtlessly? No, no, no. This must be a mistake—
“Guh, ah…”
—The Sacred Spear that pierced your back and your heart was dyed red, red. My body was moving to kill you, to kill the Demon King. A sob welled up from the back of my throat. However, what came out of my mouth was something entirely different.
“Star”
My terrifyingly calm voice issued an order to the Sacred Spear to execute the penalty. The Sacred Spear, accepting the order, began to rotate, and with a fierce rotational sound, it emitted a dazzling pale blue light, wounding, piercing, and—
***
“—And so, I killed you… Furthermore, the black diamond engagement ring that I received from you… as if to announce the death of the Demon King, transformed into the Black Book and disappeared somewhere… As for what happened after that, just as you saw in your dream, the manifested wings became corrupted and black, and I fell… and swore revenge upon the world and the gods…”
Melfina, with a deep sigh, finally finished her long, long story. Unconsciously, I was holding Melfina tightly, trying as much as possible to suppress the tremor in her body.
“Thanks for telling me. You did well.”
“…Yes.”
Mel’s story was a series of surprises. My past life before my current one in Japan, and even further back, I was in this world, met Melfina, and even gave her a ring and became husband and wife. I was completely surpassed.
And then, the problematic last part. In the end, I became the Demon King and was defeated by Mel, who had become a Proxy of the Gods. The engagement ring I cherished, in reality, was the form of the Black Book, and even that was lost… Ah, it couldn’t not be painful. It must have been the worst, the most nauseating feeling. Judging from Melfina’s current condition after her memories returned, it was understandable that her mind would break. The thought of killing the person you love most with your own hands is unthinkable. My arms, holding Mel, unconsciously tightened.
Ah, that’s right. I’m also shocked, to some extent. However, compared to the pain and suffering Mel has endured, it’s truly trivial. Moreover, the story doesn’t end here. There should be a continuation of how Mel became a god and started down the path of revenge.
“Are you okay? Can you talk about CroMel after that? If it’s too much, we can postpone it.”
“…No, I want to talk. Before you wake up from this dream.”
Her trembling lips seemed to have calmed down slightly, and Mel continued her story. In the meantime, I stroked her back. First, about what happened to Mel’s body.
The phenomenon of Angel Wings turning black was apparently a fallen state, a rare phenomenon that occurs to angels who rebel against the gods. In the long history of this world, there are no recorded instances of it actually happening. This is attributed to the fact that angels rarely leave White Wing Land and live their lives without interacting with other races or knowing the outside world. By undergoing this fall, Mel escaped from the constraints imposed by someone.
“This is something I learned after becoming a god… The phenomenon where my body was taken over by something else was one of the many protective systems activated in the unlikely event that the Hero is defeated by the Demon King.”
“System?”
“Yes. The Demon King is destined to be defeated by the Hero, and the Hero has never been defeated by the Demon King. That is the record of battles between Heroes and Demon Kings in Delamis’ history. However, in reality, the Hero was sometimes defeated. Just like when you defeated Maou. This is to prevent that. It is the indirect involvement of the gods. This time, it took the form of defeating the Demon King in place of the Hero, using me, an angel, as a medium.”
“So, it’s like a Divine Pillar placed all over the world… Since you escaped by falling, does that mean the God at that time, Elearis, could no longer interfere with Mel?”
“That’s the result, yes. Angels are divine agents, or candidates to become the next gods. That’s why they have a stronger connection to the gods than other races. I hated the gods and this world, and by falling, I was freed from that connection.”
The reason why the wings in the dream, Mel’s wings holding me within the flames, turned black, and why CroMel’s wings were jet black, was now clear. However, this only led to new questions. Why had Mel, who had fallen, become a god? And why had she split into Melfina and CroMel? I asked Mel these questions.
“It’s natural for you to wonder. Immediately after losing you and despairing of the world, I fled with your body from the country of Lizea. I wanted to protect at least your body… And, at that time, I realized something. The Sacred Spear Luminary, which was transferred to me when I became a divine agent, was still in my hand.”
