Disciple (5)
Thump.
“Haa… haa…!”
Secrecus, awakened from sleep, gasped for breath.
He brought his hand to his chest.
The sensation of a sword piercing through his heart.
The fading consciousness and the sensation of death lingered strongly in his mind.
“Ugh…”
Secrecus clutched the bed and vomited.
Months of living as Secrecus in his dreams.
Before he knew it, he had become one with the Secrecus in his dreams.
He thought like him, acted like him.
As if he was reclaiming another part of his memory.
“What was that?”
It wasn’t a dream related to Cladia.
And even more so, it wasn’t a dream related to Sophia or Arthoria.
“They mentioned an empire.”
The imperial knight who killed Secrecus in his dream.
However, the armor and decorations of those knights did not seem to belong to the current empire.
As if…
“Like a different dimension.”
Vissus couldn’t help but think that maybe the dream he had was not something that happened in this dimension.
If that’s the case, then the dream that Sophia or Cladia mentioned might not have been from a previous episode.
It could be that experiencing something that happened in a different dimension as if it were his own dream was just a delusion.
“He was the Demon King…”
As far as Vissus knew, there had never been a being like the Demon King in [Eclipse].
That’s why the story of the previous episode that Sophia mentioned felt even more unfamiliar.
“I thought that having this dream would bring me closer to the truth with new clues.”
Instead, I’ve only fallen deeper into the labyrinth.
“Bel…”
The feelings towards Bel that remained deep in Vissus’s memories.
Due to the fusion with the Vissus in the dream, Vissus suddenly developed affection for Bel, a girl of unknown identity.
“That guy… I hope he’s doing well even if I’m dead. It would be nice if he’s unharmed.”
Even though it was a story in the dream that seemed completely unrelated to his own world, Vissus couldn’t help but worry about it, perhaps because the emotions of the Vissus in the dream had become intertwined with his own.
“But more importantly…”
If this dream is really receiving memories of another me experiencing something in a different dimension, as the hypothesis suggests,
my past life.
Could even the events that happened on Earth be just dreams…?
If I haven’t experienced reincarnation, but simply dreamed of my other memories?
“You’ve never seen yourself so worried, Vissus,” said Lucifer.
“Lucifer…?”
Vissus reacted to Lucifer’s voice coming from the bracelet.
“You always acted as if everything went according to plan. But it seems that even you, as Vissus, can’t always have things your way.”
The bracelet…
Right.
Lucifer inside this bracelet is also the person I encountered in my dream.
It’s strange to think that this bracelet exists in this dimension, considering what happened in another dimension.
“…Hey. Answer me!”
As Vissus silently stared at the bracelet, Lucifer raised his voice.
“Lucifer.”
“That’s right!”
“Have you been lonely?”
“What?”
“The Archdemon seeking the enemy’s attention out of loneliness. The dignity of the Archdemon has fallen to the ground.”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that!”
Lucifer, who was subtly struck by Vissus’s words, let out a startled sound.
“Hmph.”
“Don’t mock me, hey!”
Secretarys chuckled at the unexpectedly cute reaction.
To think that such a great and dangerous demon, capable of leading astronomical numbers of monsters, would be sealed in a place like this and crave a conversation partner out of loneliness.
Secretarys’ sullen heart lightened a bit at this amusing response.
“You always act like that! Were even your mutterings meant to tease me?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“I didn’t have such intentions.”
Did the other me, who was an angel in my dreams, also enjoy teasing this guy?
Seeing this reaction, I can somewhat understand.
Groan.
“I’m going to change my clothes, so just sleep for a bit.”
Secretarys exerted his divine power and tapped his bracelet.
“Hey! You again! H-hey, stop it! Grr!”
A dark energy briefly emanated from the bracelet before subsiding.
Rustle.
Secretarys sat up on the bed.
Could it be that in my dream, where I was Naver’s disciple, I dreamt of raising Bell as a disciple?
Perhaps the trigger for dreaming is encountering something related to that dream.
The dream of Sophia defeating the Demon Army was dreamt on the night she witnessed her power.
The dream of meeting and fighting with Lucifer was dreamt on the night she obtained the sealed bracelet.
So, maybe I can dream a new dream through my actions.
…Then, through a certain action, I might be able to induce a dream?
***
In the dark Student Council room with all the lights turned off,
Diabel sat in his chair lost in thought.
“What is it, kid? Why are you here?”
Their first meeting with the teacher.
It was the one who had discovered him living peacefully in that village.
No, maybe “peacefully” was incorrect.
Bell, who had been kidnapped by the devil worshippers after his mother was murdered when he was just a newborn, didn’t know at that time.
That all the villagers who treated him kindly were nothing more than devil worshippers, raising him as a sacrifice.
The Demon King came to the human world, impregnated a woman he liked, and disappeared or something like that.
She had thought that she would one day kill him, the one who took her away from the perfectly fine villagers, for the sake of the villagers’ revenge.
To the teacher, all of that must have seemed like a cute prank.
“Fine. Try to kill me. If you can.”
Whenever she had the chance, she would swing her weapon at the teacher, but he easily blocked her attacks and just laughed while messing up her hair.
“Do you really think you can kill me with just this?”
He, who was also a strict mentor, taught me many things.
How to survive against someone stronger than myself.
How to effectively use magic.
How to stay alive in battles.
He put in effort to ensure that I could survive without him.
“…Saying that he would die in my hands.”
That day.
The emperor, who had discovered his own identity as the bloodline of the demon king, sent the imperial knights to the mentor’s hut. To create an elixir of immortality using her as the material.
As if to prove that his reputation as a former mercenary was not in vain, her mentor single-handedly defeated the imperial knights and even cornered their captain.
Well, it was practically a victory.
If only I hadn’t interfered, thinking that I would help the mentor.
“You promised me…!”
Now, long after the mentor’s death, I know.
That the mentor was nothing more than someone who saved me from the devil worshippers.
That the mentor taught me everything she had, even though I had no connection to her, and risked her life to protect me.
…The mentor had done nothing wrong, and it was all her own fault.
Thump.
Diavel tightly clenched her hand.
A drop of blood trickled down her hand.
I tried to meet the mentor through death, but I couldn’t meet her.
The oath made by the demon’s blood.
She had promised to survive with her master, so she couldn’t choose death.
Even if she wanted to, her body refused to carry out the task.
Selfish master.
Did she want me to survive, even if I had to do it alone?
She tried every possible means, but in the end, all of them failed.
The “destruction” she reached in the end after countless attempts at death.
Only the destruction of the world could free her from the curse called life.
If the world was destroyed, she could meet her master in the afterlife.
Awakening with the blood of the demon king, she attacked the empire.
If she killed, she would become the emperor who targeted herself in her desire.
To stop the demon king who descended to this world, the people of the continent united to obstruct her.
“Why won’t you die! Please die!”
Kwang, kwaaah
They called themselves heroes, but they were the worst party of heroes who made numerous crimes by making a deal with the royal family.
“Kwaaah!”
“My arm! My arm!”
Crunch
“P-Please, save me!”
Belle, in a battered state, annihilated the forces of the continent, including the hero party.
With a thud,
No one survived on the battlefield, and she, who had exhausted all her strength, also fell.
Gradually fading consciousness.
Is this the end?
I can probably go meet him.
Master…
If I ever get to meet him…
Thump.
And when she opened her eyes again, she had become a newborn baby.
Reincarnated as a noble young lady named Diabel.
I thought I was dead….
Is this how the curse reincarnates me?
I finally thought I could meet my master.
Diabel made up her mind.
Only destruction can free me.
A covenant of life that separates me from my master.
For some reason, her actions to bring about destruction were not restrained at all.
The “organization” she created was also for the sake of the world’s destruction.
Using her human body, Diabel slowly proceeded with her plan.
“There’s not much time left.”
The plan is scheduled to be executed within three years at the latest.
If this world were to perish. If that were to happen, I can go meet him.
“Just wait a little longer.”
If we meet again, I will grab him by the collar.
He made me suffer like this.
That much should be fine.
Perhaps my master might grab my collar.
Did you destroy the world just to meet yourself? Did I teach you like that?
If a man who acts tough but has a warm heart would say such things.
Perish…
If it is executed, I will become the worst slaughterer.
I might not be forgiven for that sin.
But if I can be liberated from this life.
If I can meet him, I don’t care if I have to endure all the punishments of hell.
A man who sacrificed everything for me.
My… love,
If only I can meet V again.