‘The Demon Lord?’ Zich, who had been listening to Brave and his companion’s conversation with a scowl on his face, looked curious for the first time. ‘Now that I think about it, they said Zich Brave was a hero.’
People wouldn’t call Brave a hero just because he held Estellade and had some skills. Even for Glen Zenard, people only started calling him a hero after he defeated many Demon People and officially declared that he was going after the Demon Lord.
‘That means there was a threatening existence to the humans that allowed him to gain his hero title.’ He wasn’t certain whether or not this dream had any meaning, but since Lyla remembered Zich Brave as a hero, Zich’s guess seemed convincing. ‘Then who is it?”
Since it was a future where the Demon Lord of Strength, Zich Moore became Zich Brave, it was definitely not himself.
‘Are there other Demon Lords?’ If he thought about his pre-regression days, it seemed likely; but he couldn’t reach a conclusion so early. ‘Since it’s a crazy world where I’m called a hero, a completely different future could unfold.’
For all he knew, Saint Aine Lubella could be secretly reigning as the Demon Lord in this world. ‘…But that’s also terrifying in its own way.’ Zich shook his head and craned his ears toward Brave and his companions’ conversation again.
Zich Brave asked, “Where did the Demon Lord go?”
“Shootuol.”
“It’s a big city.”
Then, the huge person asked while drooling, “What did you say happened?”
“The city has fallen under the Demon Lord.”
“…There must have been a lot of damage.”
“It says that the city has been wiped out.” At Leona’s words, everyone closed their mouths simultaneously. The annihilation of a big city—it sounded terrible no matter how Zich interpreted it.
“…How many died—no, how many are alive?” the mage asked. If the Demon Lord had caused the city’s destruction, it would be faster counting those alive rather than those who died.
“The report doesn’t mention it.”
“Barely anyone must be alive or no one at all. There are only those two outcomes.” At the mage’s words, everyone fell silent again.
“…I can’t forgive the Demon Lord!” Lubella shouted. An unfamiliar look of rage appeared on her usually kind and pure face that only sought to help others.
“Shootuol was a very peaceful city! Its citizens were friendly and even the mayor was kind! It was a city that had great faith in our god Karuna too! But it…! It…!” In the end, Lubella couldn’t finish her words and her head hung down. Tears quietly fell down her face and soaked the ground. Leona patted her back.
“Aine is right,” Zich Brave said. All his companions looked at him. Zich’s voice didn’t sound as furious as Lubella’s, but nobody thought he was calm. At times, a quiet rage was scarier than loud ones.
“I’m sure there were also some bad and unforgivable people in the city too. Besides them, I’m also sure that many more people carried on each day, did their best, worked quietly, and lived kind lives!”
Zich Brave pumped his fist and declared, “There was no reason for them to die in this manner!”
‘Wow, is that really me?’ Zich scratched his arm all over. ‘Ah, please! When is this nightmare going to end?’ This dream was more terrifying than anything to Zich. He almost felt like fear was rising below his heart.
Zich Brave looked towards Leona. “Did you say that the Demon Lord is still in Shootuol?”
“No, the report says that she left.”
“Do they know where she went?”
“There’s no information about that.”
Zich pondered for a moment. “Let’s go to Shootuol for now and search places where the Demon Lord could’ve gone. We can try to gather as much information about her as we can.”
Everyone nodded. This was the decision their leader Zich Brave had made and there was no reason for them to disagree with him.
“Then, should we organize everything we know about the Demon Lord so far?” the mage suggested.
However, the huge man complained, “…But we know almost nothing about the Demon Lord.”
“Well, that’s true. No matter how trivial the information is, it’s better if we keep repeating what we know. That way, it will stick in our heads better, and when we find new information related to it, we will be able to connect them easier.”
“That’s true.” The huge man nodded.
“Then, I will go first,” the mage said.
“Like you all know, the Demon Lord has incredible magic abilities. She has an enormous amount of mana, and all her magic skills are astounding. She can perform silent incantation and double incantation with no problem, and even when she casts a silent incantation, the power of the spell is incredible. It goes without saying how powerful her spells can be if she actually says them out loud.”
After the mage, Leona added, “Furthermore, she can control monsters. Her military power is formidable, and the number of soldiers at her disposal is truly overwhelming. Some of the fortresses that were known to be impenetrable have fallen under the Demon Lord.”
Then, the huge man added, “She looks no different from a human. She appears to be a woman, but that’s simply her outer appearance. It’s suspicious whether or not she is a human.”
Finally, Lubella said, “She doesn’t look human but is extremely beautiful. People tell me that I’m beautiful all the time, but the Demon Lord’s beauty surpasses mine.” In a way, it sounded like she was complimenting the Demon Lord’s appearance, but her chilly aura indicated that she was simply describing the Demon Lord’s characteristics.
Zich Brave nodded. This information wasn’t different from anything he already knew.
“You all know well. Please keep this information in mind, and when you find something that seems to align with the information we already have, let’s take a closer look at it.”
Everyone in the group nodded.
“Then, let’s sleep now since we have to wake up early and go to Shootuol.”
At those words, everyone except for the huge man who was on night duty went to bed. Then Zich’s vision became distorted.
* * *
Blink! Zich opened his eyes. He raised his upper body and looked around his surroundings. He saw a neatly organized room, which meant he was in one of the large rooms assigned to him in the castle. Nothing had changed since he last fell asleep. Zich turned his head around and looked out at the window. The darkness had not fully withdrawn, but Zich could see the sunlight’s force gaining strength from behind the mountain.
Thud! Zich laid down on his bed again. Then he began thinking about his dream. ‘…Wish it was some kind of nonsensical dream.’
However, Zich was skeptical that his dreams were just nonsensical. If his dreams were just dreams, he could just spit on the ground and swear, ‘That nightmarish Brave bastard!’ and end this matter. But if his dream showed one of his possible futures, he couldn’t just do that.
‘A Demon Lord.’ Zich thought back to the Demon Lord that Brave and his companions were talking about.
‘First, the Demon Lord that Brave’s companions were talking about is not any of the Demon Lords I know.’ The Demon Lord they were talking about sounded similar to the Demon Lord of Mana, but he was not a woman and he was definitely not beautiful. However, it wasn’t as if no one came to mind—no, there was someone who fit the description too well.
He thought of a very talented magician who could freely use double incantation and silent incantation and bring out significant power from them; and when using standard incantation, someone who could bring out astounding spell power. Moreover, she was a woman and a beauty that could possibly surpass Lubella.
‘That’s Lyla.’ It almost seemed as if they said these statements while looking at Lyla.
‘If Lyla really was the Demon Lord while I was Brave…’ Lines formed on Zich’s forehead. ‘Is she perhaps tricking me?’
However, this seemed to have a low probability. Lyla’s actions were the definition of a country bumpkin with only knowledge and no experience. Moreover, her abilities were not to the extent where she would be called a Demon Lord. Of course, with more time, she would probably reach the level of a Demon Lord like Zich.
‘Or did she lose her memories as a Demon Lord?’ Zich thought of various scenarios but obviously, there was no clear answer. ‘My dream could’ve also just been a nonsensical dream.’
However, it was true that there was something iffy about his dreams. ‘I should pay a bit more attention to Lyla.’
But Zich imagined if she really was a Demon Lord. ‘If she was a Demon Lord…’ Zich recalled her face as she tried her hardest to deter Zich away from being a Demon Lord—how could a person like that be a Demon Lord?
‘First, Hans and Snoc would definitely treat her like their enemy.’ Moreover, they would also feel very hurt, almost to the same extent if Zich became a Demon Lord.
‘I…probably won’t be able to get along with her either.’ If Zich prioritized doing kind acts like before, he would definitely run into a conflict with Lyla. The co-existence of Zich performing kind acts and a Demon Lord was impossible.
‘It would also be the same if I walk the path of a Demon Lord.’ Before he regressed, Zich had never gotten along with the other Demon Lords. Instead, he frequently fought with them. Thinking back to his past, there was a much higher probability that he would’ve fought with Demon Lord Lyla than get along well with her like now.
‘No matter how I look at it, we’ll end up fighting each other.’ Zich’s gaze rested outside the window.
‘…This is really surprising.’ Zich carefully assessed the emotion he was feeling right now. ‘It’s bitterness. It’s definitely bitterness.’
Zich felt bitter while thinking that he might have to fight Lyla. ‘Is it because the situation is different from before?’
If he chose to become a Demon Lord, he would become an enemy of Lyla, Hans, and Snoc; however, this included Zich’s will somewhat. However, if Lyla became a Demon Lord, there was a high possibility that they might become enemies regardless of Zich’s will. Zich thought this was probably the reason why he felt this way. After realizing this, Zich smirked.
‘I thought I was doing only kind acts because of what Glen Zenard said, but it seems like I' also definitely changed.’ Right now, Zich was definitely a different person from the Zich Moore of his past. Zich got up from his bed. ‘Well, fine.’
Zich walked to the window. The light from behind the mountain was getting stronger, and the sun seemed as if it was going to start bursting forth. ‘Whether that’s a real future or not, it doesn’t matter. In the first place, it’s already impossible for us to reach that future.’
So many things had already changed. Even if Zich or Lyla decided to walk the path of becoming a Demon Lord, they would definitely not be the same as they were in the possible futures. ‘No one knows what will happen to me, Lyla, Hans, Snoc, and Glen Zenard.’ Knowing the future was impossible for even the Demon Lord of Strength, Zich Moore.
‘I will choose my own path.’ Whether the end of his journey would be honor or destruction, it was important to Zich that this was the result of his choice.
‘Whether I push away my emotions or become a hero or a Demon Lord, whether I become an enemy of my companions or stay as their companions—what matters is that I chose my own path.’ Like this, Zich’s choice and the choice of others would intertwine and create a new future, and no one knew what this new future would bring.
‘Let’s not pay too much attention to the idea that Lyla might be a Demon Lord. I should pay a bit more attention to Lyla, but nothing more. However, he needed to find more specific information. Not worrying too much and fully letting things go were completely different matters. Before Zich knew it, the sun had passed over the mountain top and scattered its brilliant rays all over the earth. Zich stared at the sun for a bit and then turned his body around.
Creak!
Thud!
The door closed behind Zich, and only the bright light coming through the window was left.