The ancient wound in the belly of Destruction was torn open and created a path straight to its heart. The wrecking that unfolded deep within violently shook the power of Destruction.
Vermouth was barely, just barely made conscious as a result. He gasped for air and looked down. He saw his comrades looking up at him with shocked expressions, and... even the Demon King of Incarceration.
Vermouth didn't ponder for long why the Demon King of Incarceration was here. He knew about the deep-seated delusion of the Demon King of Incarceration. The decisions he made as the Hero were to perpetuate the world, and as the Demon King, to conform to destruction. The fact that his comrades were here meant that they had ultimately broken the mistakenly held obsession of the Demon King of Incarceration.
"Destroy it," Vermouth said in a hoarse voice.
That was the heart of Destruction, the throne that birthed the first Demon King. With each end that came, Destruction had killed all living beings. This cycle had been repeated numerous times with the Demon King of Incarceration.
With each transition to the next era, terrible venom and evil accumulated in the Demon King of Incarceration. While he imprisoned all that within his abyss, the Demon King of Destruction could not. The ominous force of the Demon King of Destruction’s power, which could drive everything it encountered mad, was because of this, and the heart was the essence and the venom of the several eras of the world that Destruction had killed time and again.
"Then it ends," Vermouth gasped.
The Demon King of Incarceration shifted his gaze from Vermouth to the heart. If it had been three hundred years ago, if the Demon King of Destruction hadn't fully descended and was still controllable....
But such assumptions were meaningless. After all, the passage of three hundred years didn’t just yield terrible and adverse outcomes. Because of that extra time, Eugene and his comrades had grown strong enough to surpass the Demon King of Incarceration. Having been defeated outright, the Demon King of Incarceration sincerely desired the end of Destruction, and he looked towards the future of the world.
Looking at the heart, the Demon King of Incarceration couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been possible for them to destroy the heart three hundred years ago, even if they had reached this place then. Even at the moment of its own heart's destruction, would the Demon King of Destruction really have remained silent? Would that which had destroyed the world several times truly have accepted that vain end? Could Hamel and his comrades from three hundred years ago have withstood the rampage of the heart? At that moment, would the Demon King of Incarceration... have trusted humans?
‘No,’ the Demon King of Incarceration immediately came to an answer.
There was no need to ponder about such things. At that moment, he would never have trusted the humans. He would have judged that the rampage of Destruction’s heart could ruin what was to come next and corrected the error quickly before it became any more dangerous.
But not now. Not only did he have no capacity to do so, but even if he did have the capacity, he would have refrained from taking any such action.
"It ends?" Eugene broke the short silence. He looked at Vermouth, suspended in the air, and chuckled dryly as he continued, "You mean you will?"
Vermouth involuntarily held his breath. It wasn’t as if Hamel’s response had been unexpected. Instead, he had expected Hamel, or rather, all of them, to have responded in the same way.
Even Sienna, despite the fact that he had almost killed her by piercing a hole through her heart. It didn’t matter that he had not been in his right mind. He had once almost killed her and forcibly taken away a necklace she had cherished all her life.
Even when she knew she was dying, Anise believed in him as the Hero until the very end. He had revealed nothing to her but entrusted her with his funeral. Even after she died and remained as only a soul after death, she stood behind Hamel.
Likewise, he had asked Molon to exterminate unidentified monsters in the snowy mountains without sharing any truths or asking for his understanding.
All of them — were looking at Vermouth with the same expression as Hamel. Just their expressions alone made Vermouth want to burst into tears.
He had never sought their understanding. He had only pursued this moment. Even if he was not the Hero, even if he was just a fragment of the Demon King of Destruction, he believed there was worth in saving the world. He believed that even his life, despite the fact that he should never have been born, would be of value if he could disappear along with the Demon King of Destruction at the end. He believed he could find value in his existence.
"Why...?" Vermouth asked with a trembling voice.
He knew the answer even without asking, but he had no choice but to ask. He had to face their response directly and deny it.
"Why are you trying to save me? I never informed you of anything. I hoped you wouldn't understand me, and I had no intention of justifying my actions. I... I hoped you would hate me instead,” Vermouth said as he choked on his words.
Sienna burst into laughter without trying to suppress it, then turned her head and continued chuckling.
"You all... you know now. I'm not even a human, let alone the Hero. I am no different than what I was three hundred years ago. I am precisely the fragment of the Demon King of Destruction that you so desperately wanted to kill,” continued Vermouth.
This time, Anise was the one to laugh. She quietly slapped Kristina’s shoulder while standing next to her, giggling softly. Vermouth’s shoulders shook as he trembled.
"I... I never asked to be saved. If I had wanted that, I would have told you long ago, wouldn’t I? How many times do you intend to make me say it...! I am a fragment of Destruction, and as long as you do not give up on me, killing the Demon King of Destruction is impossible...."
"Hahahahaha!"
This laughter was louder than that of Sienna or Anise. Molon threw his head back, his booming laughter resonating loudly. Even Vermouth couldn’t help but flush with embarrassment at that raucous laughter.
“Impossible...” Vermouth gasped.
“Fuck, since when have we only done what’s possible? You might have thought it was okay since you were hiding basically everything, but the first time we faced the Demon King of Carnage, everyone, well, everyone except you, thought it was impossible!” Eugene yelled while pointing a finger at Vermouth.
“So fuck it, even if you say it’s impossible, we’re going to save you and kill Destruction. What? You’re a fragment of Destruction? If Destruction dies, you die? That’s just bullshit,” Eugene shouted. “I told you before, you asshole. To us, you’re just Vermouth Lionheart. You don’t have to be a hero. It’s okay if you’re a fragment of Destruction. But—”
Eugene paused his tirade to take a deep breath. Holding back his surging emotions, he gripped his Divine Sword tightly as he continued, “Don’t deny that you are the Vermouth Lionheart we know. After we kill Destruction, we’re going to beat the shit out of you. You have to survive just to get beaten up by us. So don’t even think about dying with Destruction. Just think desperately about surviving.”
Vermouth looked on with his mouth agape.
“It’s the same as three hundred years ago,” Eugene said.
He stared at the heart.
“We’re here to kill the Demon King. We came here to kill the Demon King. Vermouth, you’re with us... in killing the Demon King,” he said.
At those words, something stirred deep within Vermouth’s chest.
Vermouth had lived his entire life knowing he was a fragment of Destruction. He believed it was natural for him to die alongside the Demon King of Destruction. He desired nothing else. He couldn’t wish for anything else.
But those words. The ones he had heard so many times: You are just Vermouth Lionheart. At those words, Vermouth was eventually forced to close his eyes tightly.
“Hamel, Molon, Sienna, Anise,” his voice trembled as he continued, “You are... idiots, morons. No. Imbeciles.”
“Hahaha,” Eugene laughed, his shoulders shaking. “It’s the first time I've heard you use such language.”
“Vermouth swearing!” shrieked Sienna.
“See, Sienna? Even Sir Vermouth is human, isn’t he?” Anise chimed in.
“Imbecile is kind of a low-grade insult,” said Molon.
The four of them giggled together. Hearing their laughter, Vermouth bowed his head to hide his flowing tears.
Thump.
The heart, which had been beating slowly, began to accelerate because Eugene and his comrades had gotten too close. The heart sensed the imminent threat and prepared to resist.
“I don’t wish for this,” Vermouth muttered in a trembling voice.
Whooo....
The colors rose again and began to envelop Vermouth’s body. Seeking to eliminate the intruders in its core, Destruction once again imposed its colors onto Vermouth’s body.
“I, you...” Vermouth stammered.
“I know you don’t want to attack us. I also know that from this point on, it’s not you, Vermouth,” Eugene said with a snort and shake of his head. “What we’re going to beat up from this point, isn’t you, Vermouth. So, you... think about getting beaten up some more while staying alive and fighting back from within. Don’t just be passively controlled. Struggle!”
“Ha....” Vermouth exhaled.
The surging colors swallowed Vermouth. With his focus fading, Vermouth twisted his lips into a horrid smile.
“Stupid brat,” it said.
Destruction charged.