“What do you mean that he is a hypocrite…?” Her voice trembled a bit. She had always thought of Glen Zenard as a hero and she never imagined that he could have another side to him.
“Wait! Then, the time when you asked me if I knew another future for Glen Zenard…”
“I wanted to check if there was a future where Zenard’s hypocritical façade is revealed.”
Lyla gulped. If what Zich said was the truth, that meant the whole world was tricked by a hypocrite in the future.
“If my guesses are right, Glen Zenard is the one who created a bunch of Demon People and brought chaos into this world. Therefore, why should I listen to that guy’s words?”
Lyla couldn’t answer him.
“No, well, that’s fine up to that point. You might not be all right with it, but I have no reason to get upset that another guy is tricking the world. After all, I am someone who became the Demon Lord. What I am concerned about is that there’s a possibility he made the Demon Lord of Strength Zich Moore.” Zich smiled faintly. At his expression, Lyla felt chills down her back.
“I am not kind enough to forgive a bastard who played around with my life.”
Lyla gulped again. The situation was more serious than she expected it to be.
‘Zich never acted on a grudge before,’ she thought. From what she recalled in her memories full of holes, Demon Lord Zich Moore was that kind of person. Of course, like his title suggested, he scattered blood and flesh everywhere in his path, his personality was nasty, and he was cruel to the core. As much as he enjoyed screwing people over, he also never showed mercy to his opponents.
However, Zich Moore’s sole motivation was his search for strength. All his evil deeds or conflicts with individuals or groups had also been the result of his pursuit for power. There were times when he got himself involved in petty squabbles, but they were brief and far from his usual behaviors.
‘If Zich acts out to relieve his grudge…’ Even if she thought optimistically, Lyla could only think of worse scenarios than the time when Zich was Zich Moore. If Zich began to act to accomplish his goal, he didn’t seem like the type to specifically pick out the person he had a grudge against to avoid causing harm to others.
‘I really have to find another reason for Zich to live kindly!” The urgency Lyla felt grew larger.
* * *
An island appeared in view. The island was created by volcanic activity under the ocean and was still active. In the center of the island, a caldera on a mountain top overflowed with crimson lava. When the volcanic activity became rougher, the lava shot up high into the air and scattered its existence elsewhere; every time it did this, volcanic ashes dispersed above and covered the surroundings.
Due to the island’s harsh environment, there were almost no signs of life. The only living beings on the island seemed to be the grass that lightly blanketed the island and the sea birds soaring in the skies. Not even sailors stopped by this island since it was far away from land and had no drinking water. Yet, in such a place, one could detect a human presence.
Halfway up the mountain, there was an entrance where a person could barely fit through that led to a cave. It appeared to be naturally made with its circular structure that slanted downhill. All things considered, it wasn’t a human-friendly cave.
If a person walked deep into the cave and continued downward, they would be surprised to see and smell artificial scents, a smooth passageway, and even stairs. Moreover, if they continued further, they would arrive in front of a large door. The place looked like a base for a secret organization that plotted evil schemes.
Beyond that door, there was a group of people. They were in an area lit by many candles and torches on the floor and walls since sunlight didn’t reach the place. Most of the people in the room were cloaked with robes heavily pressing down upon them.
If Zich had seen this place, he would have been ecstatic. He would have been overjoyed to find one of the robed figures’ hideouts and swung Windur around. Fortunately for the robed figures, Zich wasn’t there. There were also those who did not wear robes. There was also a man who appeared to be the commander of the robed figures. Like he was their king, he sat on a gigantic chair.
The place wasn’t fancy enough to be considered the king’s residence. Instead, it looked dreary and unrefined, and the rand chair looked tasteless as it distorted the balance between its surroundings. However, the man didn’t seem to be concerned about that.
“Did you find out the root cause?” the man asked with dismay. It was clear that he was dissatisfied with something. The robed figures hung their heads low and didn’t answer.
“This is the second time now.” The displeasure in his voice deepened, and the lips of the robed figures with him dropped even lower. The man gritted his teeth, but he didn’t rebuke them anymore. His chilly eyes scanned the robed figures. “…Find the Core at all costs. There could be a hint to that woman’s memories.”
“Yes, sir!” the robed figures answered in union and shot out of the area in an instant. Like everyone else, they didn’t want to linger around their displeased superior. After his subordinates left, the man slouched down on his chair and sighed.
‘Nothing is going my way.’ He pressed his temples with his fingers and pondered for a moment. Then, he got up from the chair. The place he was in was considerably large. There wasn’t a single pillar to support the ceiling so it was incomprehensible as to why it didn’t collapse.
However, what was more surprising than that was the condition of the space. The cave wasn’t naturally made. Its walls and floors were smooth like they had been carefully carved, and there were various ineffable devices. Moreover, strange signs were drawn all over the walls, floors, ceilings with no exception, and they glowed strangely. The man stood up from his seat.
He moved step by step into a corner, and his feet stopped in front of some kind of device. The big, container-like object was big enough for a person. It was surrounded by a transparent wall, so one could see what was inside. Right now, there was a crack in the transparent wall—as if something trapped inside was trying to escape.
The man staring hard at the container began moving his feet again. Even though the Core who escaped was also a problem, there was another thing that hurt his head. Unlike the carefully crafted space, one side of the wall was completely open as if the wall had crumbled down. The man passed through the hole in the wall and stopped after a couple of steps.
As the man entered a new area, he was able to witness an amazing sight. Bright red lava dripped down the walls. The lava collected on the bottom of the floor and made a giant lake of lava. Even from a distance, the blistering heat from the lava clearly indicated how hot it was. However, the most surprising thing about this area was not the lake made out of lava. There was a giant island in the middle of this lake. The lava lake flowed around the island as if it was guarding the island, and one tree stood in the middle.
Even though the tree had rooted itself in a lake made out of lava, other than that, it looked like any other tree with its brown bark and green leaves. The only surprising thing about it was how enormous it was.
The distance between the man and lava lake was, if one exaggerated a bit, about the distance between the top of a mountain and its base. However, the tree rooted in the lake of lava reached all the way to where the man was.
However, if one looked closely, there was something awkward-looking about the tree. The branches that stuck out from its body were not organic. As if someone had cut parts of the tree, there were large gaps in it.
The man looked at the tree, as if he was trying to decipher the tree’s intentions with just his eyes. However, the tree was unable to move or make an expression; it just quietly existed. The man shook his head as he recalled an event that happened a couple of days ago. The quietly existing tree suddenly began shaking. The vibration was so big that it would not have been surprising for the volcanoes on this island to erupt.
However, this didn’t happen as the vibrations did not spread outside the lake of lava. His subordinates that were outside also couldn’t feel any vibrations. When the tree shook for the first time, the man was shocked; but that was not the last time the tree shook. A few days ago, the same vibrations happened once again.
The man ordered his subordinates to find the reason why the tree shook, but he didn’t expect them to find the answer. As expected, his subordinates were unable to find out the reason why the tree kept shaking. In the first place, the man and his subordinates did not know the principles and structure of how the ‘system’ worked. They were just using its powers.
The man looked back at the cracked container again and after letting out a sigh, moved his gaze back to the tree. The man said the tree’s name out loud.
“Windur.”
All he knew about the tree was its name. He and his subordinates had tried to research a bit about the tree, but they were unable to find anything. Moreover, they were worried that they might accidentally damage the ‘system,’ so they were hesitant about thoroughly researching it. However, it was clear that this tree had a large influence on the system. For that reason, the man had reacted hysterically when the tree was in a strange state.
He stared at the tree and slightly murmured, “During my time, something like this never happened.”
* * *
Zich had a dream. While dreaming, Zich knew he was dreaming a lucid dream. However, as soon as he realized the contents of his dream, he was frustrated and immediately wanted to get out of this dream.
“You’ve all worked hard today as well.” A man made a kind smile towards his companions. It was himself.
‘No, it’s not me.’ Zich quickly shook his head. It was him but not really him. That person was Zich Brave. As Lyla said, Zich Brave was the hero in one of Zich’s possible futures. He wanted to immediately wake up, but this dream didn’t stop. He tried to wave his arms around, let out screams, and even kicked around, but his dream relentlessly continued on. In the end, all Zich could do was fold his arms and watch the progression of his dream with a sour expression.
Zich Brave was still kind. Shivers ran through Zich as he watched Zich Brave’s kind and thoughtful actions. Zich’s body trembled and spat out saliva. ‘That damned bastard. Pretending to be kind.’
Even though Zich didn’t care if anyone pretended to be kind, it was different for Brave. While watching Brave who had the same face as him let out horrifyingly caring words, Zich felt a greater bloodlust than he did towards Glen Zenard. Zich felt that nothing would feel more refreshing than to cut off Brave’s neck.
Brave and his companions talked about various topics, and they made small talk. However, after Leona received a message from a bird, the atmosphere completely changed.
The old mage asked Leona, “What is it? What is written on there that you’re making such a serious expression?”
Even though the old mage and Leona constantly fought, they didn’t really hate each other. When Leona’s expression became stiff, he became worried about her.
“…The Demon Lord has started moving again.”
At Leona’s words, all of their faces stiffened.