Chapter 241

The Demon King’s Dissolution
Iris lay sprawled on the ground. There was no longer any trace of her former malevolent aura.

“I don’t even feel like resisting anymore... I really didn’t think I’d lose to pudding.”

“Yeah, I never imagined you, Ai, would be defeated by pudding either...”

As Iris sighed, Takuto gave a wry smile.

“I’m sorry... I should’ve thought more about you.”

Takuto apologized. He had always regretted that, at that time, he hadn’t looked after Iris as well. If he had, perhaps that tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

“I doubt it would’ve changed anything. To me, that accident was the collapse of my entire world. That’s why I resolved to get it back no matter what means I had to use.

And I failed, didn’t I? But I couldn’t let go. One half of me gave up and seems to be enjoying a new life, though.”

Iris couldn’t let go. Alicetia had let go.

No matter how hard one tried, it was hard to believe such a goal could be achieved. To collect souls by killing every human in countless worlds, just to find the one soul she sought—at some point, it would inevitably fall apart.

Precisely because Iris hadn’t given up, she hated Alicetia all the more.

“Will you give the Princess back?”

At Alicia’s words, Iris sneered.

“You think I’d give her back? That thing betrayed me. Even though she was the same Iris, she got to taste happiness alone. I’ll at least take her down with me.”

Iris already contained Alicetia’s soul within her. She hadn’t fully absorbed it, but she had no intention of giving the body back. She was just going to perish like this.

And then someday, she’d be reborn. The Demon King always returns. The Iris who became the Demon King would rise again. And that time, she would destroy the world.

“I won’t disappear. I still have a next time. Let’s see how many of you will still be alive when I return... but that’s fine. I will see it through.”

She had already accepted her defeat. This body was useless now. Overrun with cravings for sweets and fluffiness. A body that wouldn’t move as she willed had no value to her.

Even if she died here, there would be time before her next rebirth. She just had to consume Alicetia’s soul by then.

“... Please give the Princess back.”

Alicia murmured in a trembling voice, as if about to cry.

“You don’t understand. How could you? How it feels to be betrayed by your very self and trapped in a world of darkness.”

“Miss Maid, it’s no use. This Ai will never give up.”

Takuto knew it wouldn’t be easy to persuade her. In fact, it would be difficult. The feelings deep within Iris’s heart, those that had tried to twist Alicetia, were themselves warped and tainted by the Demon King’s power.

“Ai, let’s end this already.”

“You’re right. I’ll let it end for now. I still have a next time.”

“There is no next time. This is the end.”

Takuto pulled out the dagger he had received from Eibon.

“I didn’t expect my end to come at your hands, Takuto.”

“This won’t kill you. It will kill the power that distorted you.”

When he drew the dagger from its sheath, there was no blade. Yet Iris could clearly see it—a blade of magical energy.

A chill ran down her spine. More precisely, the Demon King’s power inside her screamed in terror, saying this must not happen. It held the potential to destroy the Demon King.

Iris tried to swing the Gradius still wrapped around her arm, but it was too close—there wasn’t enough room to move it.

“No, I don’t know what that is! That’s not okay!”

“Ai, you haven’t realized it. You’ve been distorted. But you saved people, didn’t you? Someone like that wouldn’t wish for the world’s destruction. That’s why you were reborn. That’s why you tried to suppress your own heart.”

“You’re wrong! I... I—!”

Iris had saved a child. One who didn’t exist in her original world. A person she had once considered indistinct, insignificant. That moment changed her.

Takuto kissed Iris on the lips. The dagger had to pierce her heart. If she thrashed, he might miss the vital spot.

To freeze her even a moment, it had to be wasabi up the nose or a kiss. He didn’t have wasabi, so it was the kiss. Most likely a result of her worldly desires.

At that moment, Iris’s eyes widened and her thoughts stopped. What’s more, with the longed-for kiss, Takuto’s inner virgin soul went wild. Seizing the moment, he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Arrest this man, officers.

Iris had a dream. A happy one. Iris in a suit heading off to work, with Takuto in an apron seeing her off. A kiss on the cheek when leaving, and one on the lips when returning.

Takuto was timid and would never initiate a kiss—at least, that’s what Iris believed. So she figured she’d always take the lead.

Naturally, she was planning to propose too. She would take him to a nice restaurant with a lovely night view and give him the ring.

She’d provide for him as well. Even though Takuto was better at cooking and cleaning, Iris earned magnitudes more. Plus, he was fairly handsome, so she felt it best to make him a househusband before some bad woman snatched him up.

In other words, this was betrayal. As her thoughts halted in shock, Takuto plunged the dagger into her chest.

There was no wound. But he felt it. Iris’s body jerked.

A mass of miasma-like magic gathered in her chest. But the dagger Eibon had made shattered.

Though it had the potential to destroy the Demon King, it wasn’t guaranteed.

However, as the dagger shattered, a black fragment shot out of Iris’s body and flew into the sky.

That fragment was the claw of the evil god who had killed the Spirit King. It twisted and became a shadowy humanoid form. It had no face—only the flickering presence of darkness.

—So in the end, you were just a little girl. I lent you my power because you shared the same wish as I did, but you couldn’t wield it—

“You’re the evil god.”

Takuto questioned it.

—Evil god? My name is...………—

But no name came. Long ago, it had ceased being human. It was broken.

Just like Iris, he had once held the same wish and acted on it. Destroyed countless worlds. Devoured countless souls. His soul had already collapsed by that point, leaving only a machine that moved for its purpose.

“... You can’t even remember your own name, can you? Who was most important to you? Can you recall that person?”

At Takuto’s question, the fragment of the evil god wavered. It couldn’t remember. It had already become nothing more than an entity that brought about the collapse of worlds and stole souls.

Takuto let out a sigh—yet, at the same time, felt relieved. With just a slight misstep, his precious childhood friend could have ended up like this. And he had already heard from the goddess that the evil god had become this sort of existence.

—No matter. I’ll make you my next vessel. This body is no longer of use—what!? —

Just as the fragment of the evil god tried to take over Takuto’s body, a chain extended from the hilt of the Gradius still gripped in Iris’s hand and shot toward the evil god. Caught off guard, the evil god was ensnared by the chain.

—What is the meaning of this, fallen holy sword—

This is the meaning.
As if shouting those very words, Gradius let out a shriek and pierced the evil god at tremendous speed.

However, because the blade of Gradius shared the same magical nature as the evil god, it had no effect. The evil god laughed mockingly.

But then—it happened. Gradius finally shattered, and from within it, a sword radiating golden aura appeared.

—You—!

Gradius had already surpassed its limits. Though it had once been a holy sword, it had fallen into darkness and borne immense hatred. Yet, it had used its powers—meant to manipulate the mind—to suppress Demon King Iris. Even if only briefly, it had interfered down to the soul, the root of consciousness. And now, it had destroyed the very evil power that had corrupted it.

Gradius as a demonic sword was dead.
But as a holy sword, Caliburn was reborn.

And now, the sacred power of the holy sword Caliburn began to erode and destroy the evil god’s fragment.

—Foolishness. Have you forgotten that your predecessor was destroyed by me?—

All weapons bearing the name of “Holy” were born from the remnants of a single weapon—the sword once wielded by the Spirit King: Excalibur. A blade powerful enough to cleave mountains in a single strike, it was used as a shield to protect the people from a beam unleashed by the evil god—and was shattered.

From its remains, the goddess and the Spirit King forged weapons for humanity, all bearing the name of “Holy.”
Thus, holy swords were effective against the evil god, but not overwhelmingly so. Especially in a case where the wielder’s strength was depleted, Caliburn could not exhibit its full potential.

Caliburn was a unique holy sword—the sword of the king.
It drew upon the wielder’s magic power to strengthen their allies. The more allies it empowered, the stronger the wielder became. In other words, it was a sword that could strengthen armies—and the larger the army, the more powerful its master would become.

And any army led by the sword’s wielder would never lose heart, no matter how overwhelmingly powerful their enemy, no matter how dire the situation. Courage would rise within them, and their spirits would never break.

It had one flaw: its power depended on the wielder’s mana reserves.
But if Alicetia used it, it would be an absurdly powerful holy sword.
Though at the moment, she remained completely frozen in place.

The evil god’s fragment gripped Caliburn’s hilt with both hands, trying to draw it. Then it glanced at Takuto, perhaps out of instinct.

But by then, Takuto was already bringing down his Mind Blade.

To Takuto, a being like the evil god, who had lost even a sense of self, wasn’t worth listening to. It just had to be destroyed.

Panicked, the evil god’s fragment let go of Caliburn’s hilt and reached out with both hands to catch the descending Mind Blade—
But the blade vanished just before it could.

“This is the Mind Blade, created for the sole purpose of destroying evil gods!”

The evil god had no knowledge of the Mind Blade.
It had been crafted as the ultimate anti-evil god weapon, but during the Evil God War, no one had appeared worthy of wielding it.
Even more selective than holy swords, the Mind Blade possessed greater destructive power. With a slash capable of slicing through even dimensions, it cleaved the evil god’s fragment in two.

Having cut through the evil god’s fragment, Takuto released the sword and caught the falling Caliburn as it dropped to the ground.

“Just lend me your strength for now.”

At that moment, the hilt of Caliburn felt warm in his hand.
He thought he heard it say, “Just this once.”
Takuto nodded and, with the still-surviving, bisected fragment of the evil god before him, slashed again with both Caliburn and the Mind Blade in a cross—cutting it further apart.

A high-pitched shriek rang out as the evil god’s fragment’s body crumbled and faded.

—A fragment, after all... But you will all be destroyed. Don’t think my true form is this weak—

And with those final words, the evil god’s fragment vanished.

At that instant, Caliburn rejected Takuto’s grip, spun through the air, landed in Alicetia’s hand—and then disappeared. It had returned to its own Treasury.

With the evil god gone, Caliburn had no more use for Takuto. It didn’t like being held by anyone other than its master.
In hindsight, perhaps it also hated being used by monsters earlier.

“Well then... I guess this one’s all that’s left.”

Alicetia lay completely unconscious, sprawled on the ground.
Alicia stood frozen in shock from Takuto’s earlier outrageous act.

Alicetia’s clone was happily rummaging through Alicia’s storage pouch, extracting and devouring pudding. She didn’t seem to plan on saving any for the real Alicetia. She was crying as she ate—apparently, her craving for sweets had reached its limit.

Meanwhile, Takuto began walking toward the man still rolling on the ground.

Around the same time, preparations were complete for the Arland army stationed at the fortress to deploy.

Albert, currently commanding the fortress troops, visited the infirmary where Draconia and Gilbert rested.

“Your Majesty, I must apologize.”

Albert bowed his head. He was about to defy the Acting Sovereign’s edict and mobilize the army.
Even if Draconia and Gilbert regained consciousness, disobeying a direct order in the military was a grave crime.

And so—this was a farewell.

Just as Albert finished bowing and raised his head to leave the room...

“UOOOOOOOOOH ALICETIAAAA! Papa won’t approve of any man!”

“UOOOOOOOOOH ALICEEEEE! Big brother won’t approve of any man!”

The two men who had been lying in bed suddenly shot upright in perfect sync.
The force of it startled the attending medic so much that he slammed his head into the wall and rolled on the floor.

“H-His Majesty and His Highness have awakened! Don’t just lie there—go examine them immediately!”

Albert grabbed the rolling medic with one hand and shook him violently up and down.

“That can wait! We’re departing immediately! Our daughter (sister) is in danger! Bring the horses!”

Draconia and Gilbert crawled out of bed and began dragging themselves across the floor—they didn’t even have the strength to stand.

“P-Please wait, Your Majesties!”

“Why are you here, Albert? What happened to the Imperial Army!?”

“W-Well...”

Albert explained the reason for their current holding pattern. Including that he was about to disobey the proxy edict and lead the army out.

“That Acting Sovereign business again? Digging up such old laws... I’ll take the field. That’ll revoke Alicetia’s proxy authority. That’s an imperial edict. We’re going to save my daughter.”

When a senior royal resumes command in the field, the authority granted by proxy is automatically nullified.

“Still, Your Majesty, can you truly fight...?”

“No problem. I used this exact loophole 100 years ago. As long as I can take command on the battlefield, it counts.”

“Father, my instincts are screaming—pests are closing in on Alice! I must drive them away immediately.

That makes 48.”

Gilbert muttered.

“You... I only knew about 23.”

“Heh, quietly eliminating the pests that swarm near a little sister is a brother’s duty.”

Gilbert, who had made every single one of Alicetia’s marriage candidates withdraw, grinned.

At this point, the story of how all those high-profile candidates mysteriously dropped out—without explanation, looking pale and shaken—had become legend in the royal palace.
Men who would normally cling to the chance to marry into royalty were so devastated they gave up. Clearly, Gilbert had done something.

This man’s sister complex could not be underestimated.

Thus, the two men returned to the battlefield.
Draconia split the forces in two—one unit to pursue the retreating Imperial Army, and the main force led by Draconia and Gilbert moved to rescue Alicetia.

What do you think about this chapter?