CH 178

“Ha.” He lay on the floor, like he didn’t even have the strength to sit up. “I have no one, even if I live,” he said. “So why am I struggling? As long as he’s there, my future will be in the gutter. There’s no point in living…”

He would be in pain for the next few years. He would be in wars as a berserker, and he would find Lilianna in a terrible state and paint the palace with blood in his despair.

The young Ridrian scrunched up his features, his eyes squeezing shut. Seeing him in pain, I began to tear up. I hated that this was merely a dream, and my voice couldn’t reach him.

“Kill all the royals.”

He turned his head, his hair covering his eyes. His wish, filled with despair, left me feeling miserable.

Rian, I tried to say. Please don’t give up. I’m waiting for you. I…I will make you happy. Ignore the original novel and I’ll make you happy. Please live.

This was something I’d really wanted to tell him. But I’d been embarrassed, not to mention I was an extra, so I hadn’t figured I had the right to say it. I couldn’t believe in myself as I was lacking, so I couldn’t say it. But I didn’t care about any of that now. As long as he became happy, I could endure whatever came to me.

Just then, a light shone from the ground. I looked back to see if one of the nocturnes had fallen, and immediately panicked as I realized what the light was. The red glow extended from Ridrian’s arm and formed a line, making a shape.

Wh-what is this?

It was a huge magic circle that filled the entire room. It formed instantly, filled with symbols and letters that I couldn’t read. The circle was about two meters long, big enough for someone to lie in it.

An ominous blood color.

The sound of liquid flowing filled my ears and I turned, suddenly mortified.

It…it’s absorbing blood?

This red, magic circle was absorbing Ridrian’s blood. He was already bleeding excessively, and this magic circle was sucking the blood out of him like a machine. It looked like it was draining both the blood on the floor and that from his arm.

N-no! He’ll really die!

I tried to stop the magic circle, but it was no use. My hand simply went through the floor.

Please. Please, stop!

The magic circle shone for a while after. Then, after a point, it stopped, and immense light filled the room.

Ridrian!

***

The light that blinded me subdued. I lowered my arm and suppressed a gasp. There was someone at the center of the magic circle.

Who is it?

The person who’d randomly appeared in the circle was an old man who looked around 100 years old and wore a light grey robe. His long, white hair fluttered slightly, like there was wind in this closed room.

“Hm?”

He turned towards me, like he’d noticed I was there.

Wh-what? Can he see me?

The old man’s red eyes had pupils that were horizontally crossed. They flashed, like they were the only fresh parts of his body.

I stood back, flustered and his red eyes curved.

“Aha.” Understanding flickered in his eyes. Then he spotted Ridrian, who was lying as though dead, and smiled.

“So this little thing is the first person to summon me in thousands of years,” he said.

He poked Ridrian with his foot like he was nothing.

D-don’t do it!

Obviously, he couldn’t hear me.

“Tsk-tsk, he’s almost dead. There’s no fun. Okay, child. Tell me your wish. What is it that you want?”

“What…what are you?” Ridrian asked weakly.

The old man grinned. “Did you ask what? Hm, you might be young, but you’re still a golden line. Yes, good question. I’m not a human. I’m a demon.”

Rirdian blinked. “Demon?”

“Yes—at least, from your human perspective. My kind was exiled by Theres a long time ago. Back then, we used to lend you our power at a cost.”

Demon! I clamped a hand over my mouth in surprise. I’d known this room felt weird, but it hadn’t occurred to me that it had a magic circle for summoning demons drawn in it!

What kind of crazy person made this in a palace?

Although this was the past, I felt a flicker of anger. But Ridrian seemed to think he’d struck gold.

“Those exiled…by Theres.”

“Hmm.” The old man’s face lit up with interest. The way he looked made me anxious.

Demons were despicable beings. They were sociopaths who would do anything if it benefited them. Positive reactions from them usually meant demise for humans.

“The golden line that denied God. Very good, very good. You will make a great key.”

“A…key?”

“Yes, child. What is your wish?”

What is your wish?

It was a very ominous question. In that moment, I was struggling to figure all of this out like a puzzle—Ridrian who had been wounded by divine power; Ridrian, whose eyes seemed to have aged with anger; Ridrian, who would have power beyond human imagination.

No way…

The boy, who had been through hell and back, opened his mouth. And he begged.

“I…need…power.”

What I’d thought was merely a delusion was unfolding right before my eyes.

“What kind of power? Authority? Magic? Strength?”

“I…I don’t care which. I’m going…to get out here alive, rip that…that bastard crown prince apart and find Lily, kill the Emperor who killed my mother…and get rid of everyone. I’m going to destroy this world.”

In his despair, he wanted the destruction of the world. The more he spoke, the more content the old man seemed.

“Very good,” he said. “Okay—I’ll make your wish come true.”