The flames of war were inevitably burning across the continent. People were killing each other for inexplicable reasons, calling it glory. This time, however, the killing was more brutal than ever. Knights, royalty, mages, priests – everyone was adding fuel to this catastrophe. Forces more powerful than the legendary era collided on the battlefield, with spilled blood staining the sky. Rumors of the apocalypse made refugees fleeing the war increasingly anxious.
Later, no one knew what they were fighting for anymore.
Everyone only knew that if they stopped fighting, they would surely die.
The new oracle from Noen Palace declared the future of this land: The gods, angered by humans’ repeated greed, would bring down an irreversible divine punishment. After this war, a new kingdom would rise, but even the wisest king would become foolish, the bravest warriors would grow old, and the new kingdom would self-destruct. The increasingly high pile of treasures would become an abandoned cave, a dwelling for dragons, ghosts, and demons. Future generations would come to dig for treasure and rediscover it, but no one would remember anyone who once owned the treasury. History would leave no trace of the previous people.
The cycle of war and forgetting would continue until the end of the world. Vildea, named after Vild, meaning fate. The land of fate would forever float between greed and destruction.
Clovis III, the overlord of eleven countries, High Priest Lukes, the Grand Sage Licht from the Sage Tower, Chancellor Pepin, and Duchess Ifa – these five figures who could change the war with a mere finger movement finally decided to join forces. They were going to reverse fate and defy the gods’ will.
2 does not solely represent the Demon King; it is a part of a larger scheme.”
Kalsas shook his head, the pain in his spine forgotten for a moment. “If we are to succeed, we need a plan that transcends mere theory. We need to understand the essence of what we’re dealing with.”
“The essence is key,” Lady Ifa agreed, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Without understanding it, we risk repeating the mistakes of our ancestors.”
Nelly felt the weight of their conversation. The implications loomed large, casting shadows over what they must face. “What if we fail again?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
The Demon King, despite his cursed form, seemed to exude a hint of vitality. “Failure is a part of the cycle. But we will not fail this time.”
As the tension hung in the air, the realization that their actions would echo across time settled among them. They were preparing to confront the ghosts of their past.
With a deep breath, Kalsas nodded firmly. “Let’s begin.”
Nelly mustered all her strength to prop up her body crushed by pressure, interrupting, “But he still exists, even connected to the past. He can’t be just a container.”
“Indeed, when we first used Magical Creature No. 2, we discovered that simply killing the Demon King was ineffective. Malevolence cannot be easily eliminated, and the world would still be destroyed. So we returned to the moment of the Demon King’s birth, placing the device’s switch inside him. Calling him the world’s switch is entirely accurate.” The duchess’s fingertips traced the dyed thread, reciting emotionlessly: “Gathering guides and heroes from Vildea and other worlds, embarking on a journey, letting the hero kill the Demon King. When the Demon King’s body dies, the world resets. It’s that simple.”
This meant Kalsas was born solely to die.
Nelly felt she was suffocating, unable to look at Kalsas again. Trembling, she took a deep breath and said with difficulty: “But… this only repeats a short period, which contradicts your goal.”
On the surface, the world returns to its origin immediately after the Demon King’s death. After the Demon King dies and most malevolence theoretically dissipates, we always try to avoid destruction, only activating the device at the last moment, jumping back to the moment of the Demon King’s death.
Ifa lowered her head, speaking coldly and flatly: “Returning to the past, again and again. Failure, failure, failure. Only failure.”
She changed her tone, sneering mockingly: “The most ridiculous part is that the world switch itself developed consciousness in these repetitions.” She stared at Nelly, smiling slightly, “And then, thanks to you, he realized his abnormality and developed desires beyond his purpose of existence. That time, the world was truly on the brink of complete destruction.”
Nelly’s face turned deathly pale, her lips moving twice before squeezing out: “Was it really… my fault?”
“You needn’t blame yourself,” Ifa said indifferently, shaking her head. “Fortunately, we caught it in time. As long as the Demon King dies in this world, regardless of the reason, we can successfully activate the device. Whether he commits suicide for you or you kill him, we don’t care.”
Perhaps due to the overwhelming shock, Nelly felt she had lost all emotional perception.
She mechanically followed the other’s logic, connecting the facts: “So that’s why you reminded me the world would be destroyed, even providing me with suicide tools; why you ignored me when I was imprisoned; why you concealed the fact that the Demon King was not completely corrected last time, even allowing his return, because as long as it leads to the Demon King’s death, nothing else matters.”
Her tone was flat, merely a statement. Ifa looked surprised, raising an eyebrow, then slightly smiling.
Naily narrowed her eyes: “But you still haven’t explained why you gave him the identity of the Demon King, allowing him the ability to destroy this world. Otherwise, if he loses control, wouldn’t it once again interfere with your grand plan?”
“Since he was originally born as a container of malevolence, naturally he must have a corresponding identity. Nothing is more suitable than the King of Demons. Moreover, without the ability to destroy the world, how could he be called a container filled with that curse?” Ifa responded smoothly, even slightly smiling, as if welcoming Naily to throw out her next question.
Biting her lip and suppressing her unease, Naily asked: “According to what you’re saying, killing the Demon King at an earlier time point was necessary.
But why summon heroes and guides from here and other worlds? You could have simply returned to that time point and acted, and could have done it even more cleanly than the heroes.”
Ifa’s smile deepened: “That’s a good question.” She turned sideways, again reaching out to touch the invisible barrier, and softly said: “Actually, what we’re doing is more than just returning to the past. Each time we activate the world switch, we carry this device across the boundaries of time and space, arriving in a new world that is exactly the same.”
“This is like crossing world lines to reach a parallel world…” Naily thought to herself, concentrating to listen to the other continue.
“Jumping back in time within a world, just maintaining the stability of our five souls and the device is extremely difficult, let alone carrying the soul and memories of the guide. After reaching the past of a new world, we still have to carefully protect the device’s main body from harm.” The duchess jokingly tapped the glass-like shield, “Even if we wanted to, we cannot personally end the Demon King and open the reversion switch. So we need the help of heroes and guides.”
Ifa looked at Naily, understanding and smiling: “You want to say that summoning people from another world and maintaining the system interface also requires magic power? Crossing the boundaries of time and space will cause fluctuations, and using this anomaly to summon heroes and guides doesn’t require extra magic power.”
