CH 86

“…Then I don’t have to worry about being brainwashed.”

“That’s right.”

Hugo tapped the book and turned to the next page.

“I still don’t know if high-level black magic is possible, but… All of the evil spirits, including Benimus, that monster, don’t die even if their heads are cut off. When I think about it again, it’s a kind of black magic. Great regenerative ability.”

He pressed the bookshelf firmly and muttered.

“…So they can only be killed if they are crushed like an apple.”

It was kind of scary.

Hugo’s focus shifted slightly, as if imagining killing Benny like that.

As I shrugged my shoulders, he changed the topic.

“For the sake of convenience, I call the god who created the monsters the Demon God.” 

“Demon God…”

I glanced through the book.

The page that Hugo opened contained black and white illustrations, unlike other pages that were full of text.

‘This… A black tree?’

At first glance, it was an illustration that reminded me of the World Tree.

A gigantic tree that supported the land on which the houses and churches were located. Unlike the real World Tree, the tree in the picture was black.

‘Where did I see this?’

Somehow the illustrations were familiar. I tried with all my might to remember, but eventually gave up and asked Hugo.

“What’s this? The World Tree?”

“No, this is…”

Hugo stared at me for a moment and then whispered.

“It’s the Demon King.”

Demon king? The familiar phrase was registered, and an old memory flashed into my mind.

‘I remember now. I saw this picture in a children’s book that Alan read.’

The demon king was a regular villain in fairy tales.

Sometimes it was a horned beast, sometimes it was expressed as a giant octopus.

The picture in front of me was the same as the most interesting illustration I once saw in a fairy tale book.

‘In this fairy tale, the Demon King appeared as a fake World Tree. But I can’t believe there’s the same picture in the black magic research book…’

Could the demon king have anything to do with the demon god? Just by the name, it didn’t seem to have nothing to do with it.

Before I could ask, Hugo spoke up.

“To put it bluntly, the Demon King in the legend is real.”

It was amazing. Hugo acknowledged that the demon king exists.

It was information that I had extracted from the memories of my previous life, but it seemed that he had a solid basis.

“Think about it. If a Demon God created evil spirits like the three God siblings, there must be an evil spirit that was created first.”

Hugo clasped his hands and whispered softly.

The magnificence of the World Tree came to mind.

An overwhelming presence compared to other spirits. She was the first creature created by the Plant God.

The stories were like scattered seeds that were gathered and tied together.

I pouted, and made a guess that was bound to be the answer.

“…The first evil spirit created by the Demon God.” 

“Yes.”

Hugo nodded without hesitation.

“That’s the Demon King.”

I hardened for a while.

The face of a boy, one who was more special than any other evil spirits, passed through my mind.

***

“He’s doing that again today.”

A mansion that stood tall in the corner of the duchy.

In a desolate garden without a single ornamental plant, servants put their heads together and whispered.

Their gaze was on the young owner of the mansion, standing alone in the middle of the garden.

The silver hair of the boy, whose age cannot be easily determined, fluttered brilliantly in the wind.

“He’s not going for a walk, what is he doing?”

“Is it a habit of an evil spirit?”

“Shh!”

Suddenly, Benimus raised his head.

Surprised, the servants ran away and into the mansion.

Benimus stared blankly at them who scattered like sparrows.

He didn’t mean to intimidate them.

He didn’t care whether the servants whom Duke Bauner had hired were playing tricks or not.

“…….”

Benimus turned his gaze and looked up at the huge mansion that the duke had given him.

No matter how much he wiped and polished, this was not his home. It didn’t even feel like home.

What he was interested in was the Duke’s Castle, which rose sharply far away.

It was far away, but he could tell instinctively.

There was ‘her’ in the direction of his gaze.

Whooo, whooo. The cry of the evil spirits was heard from below the ground.

The sad cry did not stop today.

“….Wait for me.”

His ankles, exposed through the hem of his trousers, turned black and then flowed down like mud.

The black figure dug into the ground as if taking root.

Down, down, until he reached the outside of the barrier.

Benimus closed his eyes and opened them.

The landscape in front of him changed. The desolate garden disappeared and black darkness filled his field of vision.

He saw evil spirits gathered in groups under the World Tree. There were so many that they filled the wilderness.

A black figure flowed out of the ground supported by hundreds of millions of branches, creating the figure of a boy.

He stood upright, and his purple eyes, staring at the air, looked down at the evil spirits dryly.

“I think I have told you to wait.”

Benimus quietly scolded them with his back taut.

As soon as he spat out his words, he slowly lowered his arms that were like the evil spirits that had been wriggling around, twisting his elongated head.

Still, the terrifying cry continued.

The light emitted by the World Tree revealed their black and ugly bodies.

Benimus looked up at the brilliant tree that supported the empire.

That tree protected everyone. Without any difference between humans, beasts, and spirits.

However, it did not embrace the evil spirits. The light to the monsters was only a curse.

He remembered the look on her face that he had seen last night.

She said she was happy. But she looked so sad because she had to give up the happiness she barely managed to get.

There was only one way to help her.

“…I don’t need anything but the two of us.”

A land where the sun never rises outside the barrier of the World Tree.

This could be Benimus and her new home.

But he would not run away with her.

If he did that, they would only be chased forever. Because she would only miss looking up at the world she could never return to.

The happiness left in the light would haunt her even when she went outside the barrier.

Therefore, let’s kill all those lights.

Let’s get rid of the happiness that would disappear anyway, along with the unhappiness.

“No fake moon, no land to admire… Even the trees that support the land.”

So that she would no longer suffer. So that only her and him would be left in this world.

“All of it.”

An evil spirit cried at the boy’s feet.

The black monsters were gathering more and more as if they were creating a corps.

All of them would attack the land surrounded by the barriers if he commanded so.

“…….”

Benimus shut his eyes and opened them again. The early summer breeze gently brushed his forehead.

He could see the lush garden, and the workers whispering about Benimus in the distance.

In their eyes, it would appear that the owner of the house was standing there like an old tree doing nothing.

Benimus felt the sensation of his returned body and gently stroked the nape of his neck.

“I will protect you.”

The boy was calm like never before. The things he would do for her happiness felt so natural.

As if bringing an end to this land was the fate he had from his birth.

“…Forever.”

No one heard him talk to himself, and he broke in the wind and disappeared.

***

“He said it’s not brainwashing magic.”

As soon as I climbed the stairs of the black magic lab, I saw Michael leaning against the pillar.

He crossed his arms as if he still didn’t understand what I was saying.

“Really?”

“Do you just live by being deceived?”

“Yes.”

I was speechless for a moment, then walked down the hallway.

“…Anyway, it’s not brainwashing.”

I couldn’t give him more details. Because Hugo asked me not to.

“My hypothesis is a problem that could lead to religious conflict. Please don’t tell anyone else.”

‘I agree with him to refrain from speaking.’

When I first heard Hugo’s hypothesis about the Demon King, Benny naturally came to mind.

But when I thought about it again, I was the same as him, that we were different from other evil spirits.

I had no intention of causing a fuss among others with problems that I could not come to a conclusion even within myself.

“Isn’t he hiding his powers?”

Then Michael, who was following me from behind, grumbled.

“However, to think that Brother Hugo, who’s the Second Prince of House Bauner, didn’t notice the magic of others…”

“It must be a mistake.”

Michael seemed to think that even a human error was unsuitable for the Bauner family.

That’s pretty much a myth.

“…….”

Michael, who was grumbling, looked elsewhere as if he had been stabbed to the point.

If it was like in the past, he would have shoved it like a blowfish, saying, ‘It’s up to me.’

…Compared to when I was young, his attitude was definitely softened.

“…Hey. It’s dangerous.”

Michael suddenly grabbed my hand.

It wasn’t until I was dragged by him that I noticed a pointed ornament sticking out in my path.

I was more speechless than grateful.

‘Why is he doing this?’

Even when Alan returned, Michael seemed intent on continuing to be a good brother.

‘I don’t understand.’

There are two reasons why people are nice to others for no reason.

Either you like that person, or you feel sorry for that person.

‘This brat, by any chance, does he like…? No, it can’t be!’

To think that he likes me after fed me poison, he must be crazy. If that’s the case, then…?

“…Michael. What do you think of me?”

Keuk! 

Michael let out a cough as he swallowed

“Wha, what?”

“What do you think about what you did to me when you were young?”

I brought my feet together and raised myself up on my tiptoes.

“Will you poison me even if we go back to that time?”

“…Damn it. First, get away from me.”

Michael took a step back. For some reason, his ears were slightly red.

“At that time, I…”

He sighed and mumbled slowly.

My heart was pounding.

I didn’t expect Michael to admit his mistakes in the past.

Forgiveness was a separate matter, but doing this was much better than brushing it away vaguely.

…I thought so.

“I’ve done well.”

What an apology. My expectations were terribly wrong.

“…What?”

“If I go back, I will do the same. Although I won’t necessarily poison you.”

I was stunned and asked.

“Are you going to threaten me? To become the real Lily…?”

“Yes.”

Michael raised his chin as if it was natural.

It felt like being hit in the back of the head with a hammer.

I gripped the hem of my dress with both hands.

“What you did to me… don’t you regret it?”

“…….”

Michael stomped with one foot and smirked arrogantly.

“In the end, I think you should be thankful for me.”