I was sitting on a rock in the meadow, away from the capital.
I could see the figures of two people in front of me.
They belonged to Logan, the chieftain of elves, and Yuura, the offshoot of a Great Spirit.
I listened carefully to the conversation between them.
“The flow is generally something like this. Do you understand?”
“Processing the content of instruction — proceeding to implementation.”
Yuura nodded and began to operate her magic power.
A tree popped out from the ground.
It quickly grew and reached the height of a fully grown tree.
Her spell is stable. Nicely done.What Yuura used just now was spirit magic.
It was a spell she had just learned from Logan.
Since she was an offshoot of a Great Spirit, she was very compatible with spirit magic.
When it came to aptitude, hers should exceed even elves’.
Therefore, at his suggestion, Logan came to teach her spirit magic.
Yuura herself was also very enthusiastic about it, and decided to learn it immediately.
According to her, she was happy to be capable of new things.
She had been learning various spells like that since morning.
Since she was a serious and capable student, Logan showed great enthusiasm for the lessons himself.
What a peaceful sight…
Three days had passed since the confrontation against the previous Demon Lord.
Due to the efforts of my subordinates, who had been dispatched to various locations, the demonkin and demon beast rampage were incapacitated.
The Demon Lord’s Territory was peaceful once more.
We were currently in the middle of reconstruction work.
When I asked my subordinates about how the situation was, it seemed there were no dangers to be concerned with.
Even Doldar the dullahan, who had a questionable state of mind, put his efforts toward protecting the city and its people.
It was said that he had retained his sanity to an extent during the battle.
However, as soon as he returned, he was back to how he usually was.
Although I didn’t understand how that worked, Doldar was also working hard in his own way.
I looked at the glass in my hand.
It contained a fruit wine with blessing and it was one of the experimental foods made for immortals to enjoy the sensation of eating and drinking.
When it came to beverages, we still hadn’t succeeded just yet.
I was hopeful that this drink could become the first stepping stone for it.
I was about to bring the glass to my mouth.
At that moment, I felt a strange presence appear behind me.
I looked back while maintaining my composure.
There stood a tall woman who wore a one-piece dress.
She had long dark blue hair and gray skin.
A pair of horns protruded out from her forehead, with one of them partially gone, as if it had been cut by something.
In contrast to her youthful appearance, her pair of golden eyes exuded a mature glow.
She was looking at me with interest.
She was the previous Demon Lord.
It wasn’t a hallucination.
The woman I had killed the other day was standing in front of me.
While I was frozen in confusion, the Demon Lord raised her hand in greeting.
“Hello. It’s been three days since we last met.”
“…”
I was in shock and unable to respond.
Before I knew it, the liquid in the glass I held already spilled.
Even as my feet got wet from it, I didn't have the time to mind such a trivial thing.
Logan and Yuura, who noticed that something seemed off, were looking in our direction.
Logan, in particular, had an expression of utter disbelief at what he was seeing.
He silently entered combat mode.
I stopped them from moving with my gaze.
It was dangerous to take any careless actions.
The Demon Lord was focusing her attention on me.
It would be wise not to provoke her.
I questioned the Demon Lord.
“How are you still alive?”
“I am not sure how. I was already revived by the time I realized it.”
The Demon Lord, who also didn’t understand, began to describe what happened up to this point.
She, who'd supposedly died in that battle, awakened in the Old Demonkin Region about half a day earlier.
Her body, which had been reduced to ashes, was perfectly restored, and there didn’t seem to be any loss of memory.
The Demon Lord, who was unable to understand her situation, said that she decided to come to visit me when she detected my presence after wandering around in the uninhabited land.
“You are supposed to be a Sage. Shouldn’t you be able to figure out the cause of my resurrection?”
“Even if you say that…”
I tried to observe the Demon Lord’s state from a magical perspective.
There seemed to be some change compared to three days ago.
She still had her powerful magic, but it was currently being naturally suppressed.
I should have been able to detect the Demon Lord's existence immediately if her power was the same as before.
There was no doubt something changed within her.
“Come on, show me how capable the brain of my nemesis is.”
“I’m doing it without you needing to tell me such.”
Putting aside the Demon Lord, who seemed to be having fun, I continued to think.
Finally, I came to a certain conclusion.
…Don’t tell me. Was it caused by my actions?
I destroyed her horn, which was the catalyst of her resurrection.
It was a necessary action to kill the Demon Lord, since that horn was the lynchpin which kept her existence stable in this world.
The Demon Lord’s body then was in a state of seeking the lost catalyst.
If I were to compare it to something, it was to how those who are drowning keep trying to breathe.
It was against the nature of the body to accept death.
Regardless of the person’s will, the body instinctively searched for a way to survive.
I stabbed the Demon Lord, who was in that state, using the keepsake sword.
As a result, it could only be said that it had been a thoughtless move.
The keepsake sword was a weapon closely related to the Demon Lord.
At the very moment I stabbed her with it, perhaps it had become became a replacement for her lost catalyst.
Even as the Demon Lord died, these circumstances had revived her once again, but only after some time had passed.
“—That would be my reasoning. Are you satisfied with that?”
“Fumu, I don’t really understand difficult magic, but since you said so, it is probably correct.”
The Demon Lord's brow furrowed and she grumbled.
Her expression was clearly saying that she didn’t really understand my explanation.
Now that I think about it, she wasn’t very familiar with magic knowledge.
All the chantless spells she casted were done through her instincts rather than knowledge.
It was completely done from her own talent.
The chains of light and holy sword power she acquired after her revival were also something different from systematic magic.
Rather, since it could be considered a unique ability, the Demon Lord was probably using her power through her instincts as well.
It seemed that someone like her, who only knew how to use spells by her own nature, couldn’t understand my reasoning.
Fumu…
I observed the Demon Lord.
Currently, I couldn’t feel any connection to the keepsake sword from the Demon Lord’s audience room and the Demon Lord.
The catalyst had lost its function.
Her revival this time seemed to be a one-time miracle.
In other words, the Demon Lord was currently maintaining her existence without any catalyst.
I was momentarily concerned that she might end up becoming unstable and self-destruct, but looking at her current flow of magic power, it didn’t seem to be a problem after all.
Originally, her resurrection spell was supposed to be destroyed the moment she was reduced to ashes.
Yet the moment the keepsake sword was used as a catalyst, the inscribed spell was activated once again.
Therefore, the Demon Lord achieved a perfect resurrection which didn’t require any remaining catalyst.
As unbelievable as it sounded, there was no denying the reality in front of me.
It wasn’t something that was deliberately arranged to happen, but rather, a product of a series of coincidences.
Even if we had attempted a similar line of events thousands of times, it was doubtful this result would be replicated.
…Is this also the work of the Will of the World?
It was already something that regularly happened, but I couldn’t help but doubt it this time.
The Demon Lord was revived using ashes of the current generation of Hero and Saint.
They were the Heroes which had been chosen by the Will of the World.
They were those who gained their power through miracles.
At the moment of her death, perhaps such power had worked on the Demon Lord.
She still had regrets when she died.
That might've been what pushed the resurrection to happen.
It wouldn’t be strange if that were the case.
I was convinced this was why the Demon Lord appeared here for the time being.
However, there was something I had to ask her.
I needed to confirm it.
“Since you came to see me like this, do you want to battle to the death again?’
“No way. I was still defeated by you even when I used borrowed power. I’m not persistent enough to keep going after something like that.”
The Demon Lord shook her head.
I was already slightly aware of what her answer would be.
I couldn’t feel any hostility from her, and her words and actions were also very calm.
So much so that it made me doubt whether she was truly that Demon Lord.
“I already retired from being the Demon Lord. I no longer have any intention to fight you or resume any plans to dominate the world again.”
“I see…”
As the Demon Lord affirmed that, I was heartened.
If conflict of that level reignited, things would have become complicated.
There were already many other matters I needed to attend to.
I wanted the chaos that happened to be concluded.
While I was thinking this, the Demon Lord gave me a meaningful smile.
She then pointed at me.
“I am more interested in what future lies in store for you.”
“—What?”
“The junior who has different ambitions than mine, I wonder what kind of path he will walk? I want to witness that.”
The Demon Lord proudly said such a thing.
She didn’t seem to be lying or joking.
She was seriously interested in me.
“I thought I died beautifully, but I somehow came back to life. While I was quite embarrassed about it when it happened, I decided to become defiant. Therefore, I’ll enjoy my second… nay, my third life.”
“…Wait, as expected that’s—”
“I already decided on where I’ll be staying. I’ll use the former territory where I'd once lived. We’ll be neighbors from now on.”
The Demon Lord was already enthusiastic about it.
She blocked my protests and continued speaking casually towards me
To be honest, it was quite annoying, but it seemed she's already made her decision.
Suddenly, the Demon Lord stopped smiling and looked mysteriously toward my widened eyes.
She then spoke with a similar atmosphere as her past self.
“—However, if you go out of control, I will lead the Demon Lord’s Army without hesitation. Do not forget this.”
“Demon Lord, you are…”
I was about to speak out in protest once again.
Before I could, she pushed my lower jaw with her finger.
She blocked my statement by doing so.
“The one who is referred to as the Demon Lord is you now. Just call me Diella. It was the name I'd abandoned a long time ago, but it is just right for the current me who is now a nobody.”
The previous Demon Lord — Diella said this as she moved her finger away and folded her arms.
The corners of her lips lifted and she smiled.
“Well then, current generation of Demon Lord, best regards from now on.
“…Likewise.”
I reluctantly responded.
Unfortunately, it seemed I was unable to beat her in conversation.
Additionally, Diella really didn’t seem to have any intentions to conquer the world again.
In that case, there was no need to go and kill her.
According to what she said, she could be considered a neutral ally.
Although I couldn’t trust her just yet, I could watch her for the time being.
I reconciled with the previous Demon Lord, huh…
I said that in my heart, but I still couldn’t believe it.
However, the scene before me was reality.
In terms of my personal feelings, this conclusion wasn’t bad at all.
We both felt that the score was settled by the battle three days ago.
Of course, it didn’t mean that I accepted Diella’s past evil actions.
While understanding all that, I was trying to accept her as a new neighbor.
I felt like something had progressed in my thoughts.
I was sure it wasn’t a mistake.
It was a strange conclusion, but I was convinced about it.
…The world sure doesn’t move as I expected.
Looking back, that was always the case.
I remembered how I'd always confronted hardships.
Perhaps I was born to carry such an unfortunate fate.
With these thoughts going through my mind, I looked over at Diella and shrugged.1