Book 10: Chapter 13: (4)

「That in itself would be fun for me, Vermudol. I am extremely interested in seeing how the nations of mankind would split up.」

「Hmph, don’t joke around like that. Avoiding that is what all of my efforts have been about.」

「Vermudol, why are you going so far to do that……」

In response to Luuty who asked that, Vermudol snorted his nose with a “hmph”.

「Now that you mention it, did I not explain it to you?」

「I had heard about your story with Philia-sama but……」

「I see. In that case, I shall tell it to everyone here.」

At the same time he said that, Vermudol looked around at everyone that was at the round table.

At the members of mankind of the Shutaia Continent, and at the members of mankind of a yet unseen continent. Even at the Gods.

Looking around at all of them, Vermudol made his declaration.

「My objective, is world peace. An idiotic heroic tale about the Hero and the Demon King, not a single one will be created while I am alive. I will actualize a world where I can live as I want to live, and die as I want to die. Those that get in the way of that, even if they are a God, I will eliminate them.」

「……Why, would you go that far.」

「It’s because if I don’t, I won’t be able to live in peace. I am amazed that you let the world turn out like this.」

If you don’t do something, the Hero might come to destroy you──From that sort of sense of impending crisis, Vermudol created the Zadark Kingdom in the Dark Continent. Having sought the 「reason」 to destroy the Demon King and the 「countermeasure」 to avoid that in mankind’s territory, he knew about that all too deep laceration.

「Even if I did nothing, I would have the fear of being destroyed, a truly stupid and magnificent structure. In reality, you all created that which became the Demi-Human Argument and got involved in internal strife, but even then, it turned into a plan where a portion of the cause would be shifted onto the Mazoku. Seeing the tone as if to say that root of all evil is the Mazoku, I am truly filled with awe.」

「K, King Vermudol. Is that not the reason why we are talking with each other to try and find a way to deal with it?」

「That is exactly it, Celis-dono. No, should I say next king Celis? There are parts that can be resolved with talking with each other. That is why figuring out a way to do that is the meaning of this conference. But, there are parts that can’t be dealt with by talking with each other, and knowing that, the Demon God came to stick her head in. In other words, she has some sort of proposal. Isn’t that right?」

She was ill-natured enough to proclaim to have committed crimes for fun, but he understood very well that she wouldn’t listen to what she was told even after talking to her for a bit.

In that case, it would be for the best to make use of the parts about her that could be used, that is what Vermudol determined.

After all, she was an existence that surpassed human intellect enough to create Vermudol. There was no telling what kind of solution she had in mind.

「As expected of you, Vermudol, you’re quick on the uptake. That’s right, that’s exactly it. For you all who will keep on going in a worthless direction if I leave you alone, I came here with a very good prospect.」

「Just what are you scheming this time, Demon God……!」

「It’s pretty disreputable to say that I’m scheming something, Philia. The one who made schemes, was always you, right?」

While grinning, the Demon God put both of her hands together in front of her chest, and lightly made them take a shape as if something was expanding.

「Now then. There is a God, that isn’t me, that everyone was made aware of──Well, this only really goes for mankind──but anyway, that God is in this world. Aklia should know about it very well.」

「Wentas (Warped God)……right?」

「That’s right. Wentas (Warped God), who wants to destroy every living thing that exists right now to the point that it finds it irresistible, is currently sealed in the Sea of Farthest Ends……that is what is said.」

That’s right, Wentas (Warped God) is sealed in the Sea of Farthest Ends by Aklia who is the God of Water. It is because she succeeded in that that Aklia had currently come to this place.

「But, what if that wasn’t the case? What if it continued to store its strength, and was waiting for its strength to be stored up to a point where it would be able to break through Aklia’s full powered seal all at once?」

「……Could it be.」

Hearing Aklia’s mutter, the Demon God deepened her smile.

「From the perspective of you all, it’s a relic of the past that could only be defeated, injured, and then sealed away. But, for it, it has a reality that continues on even now. Now then, what will you do? A world crisis has come about, you know?」

Going “I see”, Vermudol silently nodded.

In other words, they had no choice but to go in that sort of direction.

「In the end, it’s that, huh.」

「In the end, it is that, Vermudol. In order to turn the dissatisfaction somewhere else, a 『true enemy』 is necessary. And then, at just the right time, that guy that is sealed in the Sea of Farthest Ends is the real mastermind, the 『true enemy』.」

「What……?」

Latching onto the words “real mastermind”, Vermudol’s brow twitched.

「Did you not notice? Or could it be, were the phenomenons mixed up too much and you were unable to sort out your thoughts?」

While saying that, the Demon God smiled.

「The 『Mazoku』 that appear in the Shutaia Continent……no, that overflow everywhere in the world except the Dark Continent, did you think that they were someone’s instigation?」

「That’s……」

Philia, and the Alva that Philia created. Vermudol thought that they were the cause of everything. But, if that weren’t the case……

「If it were Philia, then things would have had a bit poorer endgame. No matter what, she loves mankind. Now then, in that case……the one managing the 『Mazoku』 that aren’t under your control, where……and who would it be?」

The Demon God quietly muttered “Well, the Alva were unmistakably Philia’s scheme though……”, but Vermudol ignored that and thought about the management of the 『Mazoku』.

Going by the flow of the conversation, it was unmistakably the Wentas (Warped Gods). That was unmistakable, but……according to the story he heard earlier, if he remembered correctly, the one sealed should have been the 「Wentas (Warped God) of Water」.

However, if she was saying that the Mazoku of the Shutaia Continent were being created, that ability should be in the territory of 「Life」. Would the Wentas (Warped God) of Water be able to handle 「Life」?

「Oi, Raidolg. I’m sure you said that the one who remained last and was sealed was the Wentas (Warped God) of Water though.」

「Umu. But, ultimately, it had taken in the magical power of the other Wentas (Warped Gods), and acquired their attributes as well. Therefore, it was unmanageable.」

Hearing Raidolg’s words, Vermudol grandly clicked his tongue.

The things known as Wentas (Warped Gods) that he had only just heard about today, they had classified all of the problems that he had before today as being things to be resolved later, but was a very close and basic crisis in itself.

「……Very well. In that case, this discussion will need to switchover to something completely different.」

「Do you mean to make this a meeting on measures to take against that Wentas (Warped God) or whatever? But in that case, what do we do about the fate between you……plus Ichika, and that Philia over there?」

In response to those words from Ykslaas, Vermudol went silent for only an instant, then turned his gaze towards Ichika.

「Ichika.」

「Yes.」

「While I know the weight of that which you carry, I ask you this……I won’t tell you to throw it away. But, can you live on while carrying it?」

Ichika straightforwardly gazed at Vermudol, and spoke her answer without any hesitation.

「If that would be for Vermudol-sama’s sake. Everything is trivial.」

「I see. I will let you punch her after all of this.」

The conclusion was settled with such a short conversation, and Ichika and Vermudol nodded at each other.

Ichika’s answer, was something he knew from the start. That was just how strong of a relationship of mutual trust there was between Vermudol and Ichika.

For Ichika, whose fate was toyed with by Philia, and Vermudol, who knew about that fact, naturally, they were unable to forgive Philia, but that was nothing more than a personal grudge.

To not take the Zadark Kingdom into consideration, and abandon the world crisis to prioritize a personal grudge, that would make him a failure of a king.

Even if they were to reach a resolution with Philia with some sort of method, it would not be too late to do that after the Wentas (Warped God) problem was resolved.

「Something like our fate, is nothing but a small matter. For the sake of the future, I will create a historical reality where mankind and the Mazoku cooperate. Are there any objections to that?」

Of course, there wouldn’t be.

Naturally, there was pretty much no one among mankind who was able to keep up with the all too huge story that had been divulged.

However, they at least understood that the world would be destroyed if they didn’t do anything about it.

That is why, the first one to stand up was King Sarigan.

「……There is no way that we would. If you are saying that God called Wentas (Warped God) is going to destroy us, then now is the time where we must fight together in unity. We must fight, and defeat it.」

Nodding at Sarigan’s words, Azorto also continued the conversation.

「Same here, I will bring this story back to my nation. Well, the Emperor will probably readily agree but……I’ll more or less have to quickly silence the bunch that attend the Imperial Council. Kami-sama, you’ll come along with me, right?」

「Umu. This is no longer the time to be considering the balance due to our meddling. It cannot be helped.」

Azorto and Atlagus nodded like that, and even Celis secretly clenched her fists.

Among all of them, Kain quietly stood up.

「U, umー. Could it be, am I supposed to persuade the St. Altlis Kingdom?」

「Fumu. It would be fine to call the King here as well but……」

The words that Raidolg was about to say were interrupted by Philia standing up.

「……For the St. Altlis Kingdom, I shall go out and persuade them. I do not agree with all of the Demon God’s story, but I at least understand that doing so is for the best.」

The Demon God grinned while gazing at Philia displaying a bitter expression.

「I see. In that case, I shall rely on you for that……For the adjustment of opinions, we shall continue to use this place. It might be best for everyone to leave behind a permanent resident.」

The representatives of each nation nodded at Raidolg’s words, and they started moving in order to accomplish what they each needed to do.

In order to defeat the common enemy called Wentas (Warped God), the world would become one.

The one that needed to be defeated was not the Demon King, but the 「Wentas (Warped God)」.

However, the plot itself of something having to be destroyed had not changed at all.

This time, he was not on the side to be destroyed, but on the side that would do the destroying……Vermudol inwardly laughed at the irony and ridiculousness of the situation.