Chapter 487: The Marquis of Discord (7)

Chapter 487: The Marquis of Discord (7)

'It will swarm like a swarm of flies.'

The 10th Corpse 'The Inferior Second Son' Andromalius.

'Boils will be rampant because of disease.'

The 9th Corpse 'The Thousand Faces' Dantalian.

'Livestock and herds will perish.'

The 8th Corpse 'King of the Dead' Seere.

'They will sweep away like a swarm of locusts.'

The 7th Corpse 'Wailing Wall' Decarabia.

'Lice will boil in your body and in your barns.'

The 6th Corpse 'The Worthless One' Belial.

'Take the life of the firstborn that year.'

The 5th Corpse 'The Unicorn of the Abyss' Amdusias.

'A horde of reckless frogs shall rise.'

The 4th Corpse 'The Reckless Knight' Cimeries

'There will be hail.'

The 3rd Corpse 'The Ice Duke' Andrealphus.

'I will turn water into blood.'

The 2nd Corpse 'The Lying Panther' by Flauros.

'Both worlds will become dark.'

... And the 1st Corpse 'The Marquis of Discord' Andras.

The 10 disasters that were cast over the royal family and the ominous beings that caused them.

Now, with them all destroyed, there is only one remaining, the Marquis of Discord, Andras.

And that Andras is inherently a being of two bodies.

The two separate bodies have now come together to face each other.

They were Jack, the reigning heir to the throne, and Piggy, the rumored second in line to the throne.

Vikir stared at Piggy's face as he stood there, his expression stern.

Why had Piggy turned away from the Academy, and from all relationships with others, in the past?

Was it simply a matter of bullying, harassment, and alienation?

...No.

Vikir had suspected this from the beginning.

'Piggy is a much stronger friend than I thought. He's not the type of person who gets lost simply because of bullying or loneliness.'

Perhaps Piggy's reason for leaving before the regression was because he questioned his lineage.

Vikir made his own guess based on what had happened in the past.

'Piggy. Isn't your blood supposed to be black in color?'

'Huh? Aah, it's always been this way, huh? It's been like this since I was a kid, actually! The doctors said it's because I have a lot of iron in my blood... but it seems like it's gotten a little darker since I've been in the Hell Tree?'

It was a guess that was related to the phenomenon in which Piggy's blood distorted the causality law when he was trapped in the Hell Tree.

Piggy died once in a previous fight with a demon.

Three days after his death, the heavy lid of his coffin was lifted and he opened his eyes.

The moment Piggy opened his eyes, this was the first thing he thought of.

'The reason you woke up first is because there was something you had to do first.'

[Open or close the gate, it's time to choose one, don't interfere!]

Even at this moment, Andras was baring his sharp teeth and showering fireballs at Piggy.

Kwakwakwakwakwang! Kurrrrrr!

The entire Imperial Palace began to shake ferociously.

Andras's demeanor was desperate and desperate again.

It was true that he wanted to find his brother and become one.

But the way to become one was through the logic of a game of survival where each must kill the other.

In front of him, Vikir couldn't help but think of the past.

When Grenouille's participation in the war had killed Piggy, Vikir had personally picked up Piggy's body.

Just as he had before the regression.

'...I had also personally carried Piggy's body back then. I was with him on his deathbed.'

Vikir's memory of the exact circumstances is hazy.

But when he recalls the moment, he thinks.

'...He's a good person.'

It's a phrase he's heard over and over again in moments of crisis, and it sticks in his mind.

Since then, Vikir has had some amazing experiences.

Piggy's body hadn't decomposed, even though it had been days since he'd returned from the battlefield.

Piggy's body smelled stronger as time passed.

At the same time, there is also a bad smell.

But it was of a completely different nature from the stench of decomposition.

Awakening.

With his death, Piggy was reborn into something completely different, something not human.

It was due to another Andras self that had been dwelling near his soul all this time.

"...I thought it was somehow similar to Seere."

It was the way of demons hovered around their hosts, waiting to strike when their minds or bodies were at their weakest.

As soon as Vikir smelled the familiar yet unfamiliar odor on Piggy, he held up the Mirror of Truth he had borrowed from Dolores to Piggy's face.

And in the mirror, he saw a surprising reflection.

The First Emperor. The same face he'd seen so many times in portraits.

Piggy's lineage was now revealed to the world.

The soul of another variant of Andras had been lingering around Piggy's body, waiting for the moment of awakening.

"I see now why your blood was able to close the Hell Tree."

Piggy smiled faintly at Vikir's words as he stood in front of him.

Piggy's soul, which hadn't been completely extinguished, was able to remain in his body with the help of Camus.

Andras's ego, which unlike Seere's, had a completely different structure, fused with Piggy's soul, and as a result, Piggy was able to stand here now.

...Also.

An intangible string connected Piggy and Vikir's hearts.

It was the same string that Andras had noted when he occupied the body of the First Crown Prince, a strand of unbreakable bonds from the world before the Regression.

[I remembered, Vikir, how you and I met in the other world, and....]

Piggy opened his mouth in a tone that was somewhat sad, but full of longing and joy.

[Why I brought you back.]