Chapter 455

The next person I went to see was Airi.

“Baalier...”

Airi was sitting by the window in the guest room, looking outside.

It seemed everyone couldn’t bear not seeing how the day’s disaster was affecting the city, each in their own way.

When I had first arrived in Rajak, Airi had been staring blankly at a lizard monster running at her with a child in her arms. If Harriet had been even a little late, Airi might have died.

I didn’t know exactly what events had led Airi, who once hated humans, to act that way. But perhaps, in her own way, Airi had come to realize that there was something in life worth protecting, regardless of race.

Just as I had explained to the others, I had already explained everything to Airi—what I had tried to do and what I planned to do moving forward.

“I can’t believe you tried to stop this from happening...”

“I failed, but yeah, I did.”

“How amusing. It’s surprising that you weren’t actually interested in rebuilding the Demon Realm, but you’re now in a situation where you have no choice but to rebuild it.”

Airi quietly looked out the window.

“If rebuilding the Dark Land is going to start again from this place, then the Dark Land we rebuild will include humans, right?” she asked.

“Probably.”

I could dominate demons with my abilities, but I couldn’t dominate humans with my racial abilities alone. I could subdue a castle and rule a small town, but an entire nation, and all the lands beyond the horizon that I couldn’t see... If they were under my rule and they rejected me, what could a king do? By what means, with what logic, was I supposed to rule over humans? I didn’t know.

“It’s... romantic, in a way.”

Airi looked out the window quietly, perhaps imagining a Dark Land that included humans as well, then turned to look at me.

“Do you know, Baalier?”

“Know what?”

“That something is called romantic because it’s not easy.”

“...”

A nation of all demons, that included humans... It would be romantic, but it would be an almost impossibly difficult thing to achieve. That was why the term ‘romantic’ was used, because as beautiful as it was, to realize it would be difficult.

“But then again, I’m a demon with the power of dreams, aren’t I?” Airi said, smiling at me. “Baalier, if that’s your dream...”

“...”

“Since I no longer have the power to give you that dream, I’ll try to make that dream come true in reality.”

A succubus—a demon that was associated with the power over dreams. A demon that absorbed energy by making another person dream... But, in her state, it was impossible for her to make another person dream anymore. Therefore, she would try to make that dream come true in reality.

Her words resonated deeply with me.

Airi quietly looked out the window. Soldiers carrying torches could be seen moving far below the cliff.

“... I really wish I had that power today.”

“... Really?”

The power to make someone dream... Why would that be missed in the current situation?

“Many children must have lost their parents and siblings. They won’t be able to sleep properly, and even if they do, they won’t be able to escape from those nightmares...”

“Ah.”

“Even if I couldn’t alter someone’s reality, I could have at least given them a peaceful dream when they fell asleep. Even if they were faced with hell when they woke up, at least in their moments of sleep... I could have given them a brief moment of happiness...”

She wanted that ability not to absorb energy, but to allow those whom she touched to have peaceful dreams. To allow them to escape from a reality that felt like a terrible nightmare, to find some respite and peace in their dreams, even if the nightmare would return upon waking.

It seemed Airi wanted to use her power not to absorb others’ energies, but to alleviate the suffering of souls.

The power of a succubus to gift dreams—could there be a more demonic power than that? It was a power that could not grant salvation in reality, but could somehow make their dreams unbearably sweet. It was a power that, even if used with the intent to truly save another, could not actually save anyone.

A human receiving a dream from a succubus, and a succubus gifting them a dream... When a succubus used this power not to drain energy, but for the sake of their target’s happiness, it became a truly tragic power.

Neither the demon nor the human could truly give or receive salvation. But for those who had experienced hell, even a brief anesthetic might be necessary. Because of that, Airi longed for her power.

‘Perhaps... Could it be possible?’

I tried to use a function I had never used before: “Add Setting,” to make it so that the horns of a succubus would grow back after being severed.

[This function cannot be used.]

As expected, it wasn’t possible.

[To add this setting, a ‘Change in Common Sense’ must occur.]

[Such a level of setting addition cannot be performed.]

I thought I understood what it meant.

It was common sense that a demon’s severed horns did not grow back. For a setting to be added that allowed such severed horns to regrow, it would require a change in the common belief held by all succubi and Airi that horns did not regrow.

That would be rewriting the logic of the world, not just adding a setting, so it couldn’t be done. But the important thing was that the system hadn’t just said it couldn’t be done; it had added an explanation. Was it saying that it could be done if I tried it in a different way? If so, could I find a way to do it that would not require a change in the common sense of the world?

The goddamn candy vendor always made the system unusable at crucial moments, just like how I wasn’t allowed to overturn certain situations with Revise.

However, it seemed like this outcome could still be possible in this situation. It would have to be applied in a very limited way, not in a broad sense.

The more detailed and restricted it was, the greater the possibility of adding that setting became.

And it had to be something that didn’t require a change in common sense, which meant that there would need to be a sufficient reason attached.

What was a rational reason that could allow horns that shouldn’t regrow to regrow? No, it didn’t even have to be rational; just any plausible basis that could make something that was not supposed to happen, happen.

Was there anything that could serve as a basis for making it happen?

‘Aha!’

I hit upon an idea of what to do.

I activated the “Add Setting” function.

‘I can use the power of Incantation to make the “horns of the succubus race regrow.”’

It was a very limited and specific setting addition. Incantation was something that could make anything possible, but even I didn’t know the extent of its capabilities. Hence, Incantation could serve as the basis for adding such a setting.

[Adding this setting requires 10,000 Achievement Points.]

It would work, but the cost was not small. However, I had over 100,000 Achievement Points, so there was no reason not to use them.

[You have used 10,000 Achievement Points.]

[The setting has been added.]

It was the first time I used this function after a very long time.

I looked at Airi quietly.

“Your horns.”

“H-huh? What about my horns...?”

“They’ll grow back.”

Airi tilted her head, as if wondering what I was talking about. She wouldn’t know what had happened to her.

“Just keep that in mind.”

“Oh... okay.”

Even if I explained it in detail, she wouldn’t understand. Only after her horns regrew would she realize what I meant.

‘I should convey the same message to other succubi—who knows what help the power to make someone dream might provide in the future.’

Reyna, one of the former Four Demon Lords, the former Succubus Queen, and Airi’s mother, had used her demonic powers over dreams to terrify and wither humans. But Airi would use it to save those who were suffering.

“Thanks for those words, Baalier.”

Even after hearing what could have sounded like a cruel joke, Airi smiled brightly.

“Since you said so, it feels like it really will happen... It’s a strange feeling.”

I wondered what expression Airi would have when her horns actually regrew.

It was a small curiosity.

***

Harriet said there would be things we could do. Olivia said we didn’t have to do anything, that we should do nothing.

Airi’s thoughts seemed to have changed a lot from before. I didn’t know what she thought about humanity, but she seemed to have developed a strong affection for the children.

Lruien and Galarsh weren’t in the palace, and Eleris was the last person remaining.

“Ah... Your Majesty.”

She did not call me “Your Highness,” but “Your Majesty.” Perhaps it was because I had become a king.

Could one really become a king in just a single day?

I had become a king not to rebuild the Demon Realm, but to deal with the Gate Incident that had ultimately still occurred. I would not be able to escape the blame of being the main culprit of the Gate Incident.

Had the Gate Incident been bound to happen in some way, no matter what? If I had done nothing, would the Gate Incident still have happened in some form? I didn’t know.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

However, Eleris, the one who had directly caused the Gate Incident, and I, the catalyst for it, were trying to do something about it. Eleris was sitting alone at a table, writing something down on paper.

“What were you doing?” I asked.

“Oh... I was trying to devise a new spell.”

“A spell?”

“There must be many people who have lost their homes,” Eleris continued with a somber expression. “So, I thought of creating a spell that could provide temporary shelter for these refugees...”

“Ah.”

There was an unavoidable misery in Eleris’s expression. It was strange, trying to clean up the disaster she had caused herself.

She might have preferred death.

Her attempt to save others had led to this, and despite the pressure, Eleris had willingly activated Akasha with her own hands to save me.

I heard that once Akasha had been used, it had disappeared. Since Akasha itself was already like a world on its own, strictly speaking, it hadn’t disappeared but had become the Gate Incident itself.

The Gate Incident was not something that could be undone. The guilt in Eleris’s heart had to be overwhelming.

Perhaps it would have been better to let Eleris die. I couldn’t fathom the guilt and misery Eleris had to be experiencing while she tried her best to carry on with what she felt she had to do.

Eleris and I would be considered criminals.

Ellen seemed to think all of it was her fault, but I didn’t see it that way.

I was grateful to the three who believed in me and followed me even in the face of this situation, but I didn’t resent Ellen and Charlotte for not trusting me. After all, there were plenty of reasons for them not to.

Resentment and hatred wouldn’t solve anything. The real enemies I had to face were not Ellen or Charlotte, but the monsters from the Gates. Therefore, the responsibility for all this lay with Eleris and me.

Eleris was trying to devise a spell to provide temporary homes for those who had lost theirs. It would be a small spell, but one that was absolutely necessary in the current situation.

It wouldn’t end there.

If I hadn’t met Eleris, if I hadn’t met the demon spies, the Gate Incident might not have happened. Nevertheless, on the way to Akasha, I had told Eleris that I wouldn’t regret any of this. Even if our meeting could be remembered as something to regret, I had decided not to regret it.

The path we had walked to get to this point had been full of twists and turns, but since I had decided not to regret it, I wouldn’t.

“I don’t regret it,” I said.

“...”

Seeing me repeat those words, Eleris lowered her head with a devastated expression.

“There’s still something we can do. I don’t think the price we have to pay will only bring bad things...” I added.

I placed my hands on Eleris’s shoulders as she lowered her head.

“Let’s try to do whatever we can,” I said.

I couldn’t alleviate Eleris’s guilt.

No matter how much pressure had been applied from the outside, Eleris had made a choice between the world and me.

At that crossroads, Eleris was someone who should have chosen the world. She was undoubtedly such a being. She regretted her past of untold slaughter and wanted to atone for it, even if just a little. Eleris should not have activated Akasha, even if it meant abandoning me.

However, Eleris had abandoned the world and chosen me instead. Everyone else would consider Eleris a sinner for the ages, and the whole world would be unable to forgive Eleris, the direct cause of the Gate Incident. But I could not do that.

No matter how much responsibility she felt, no matter how much pressure had been applied by those around her, Eleris had made her choice, with her own hands. There was no need to ask for reasons.

She must have done it because she loved me enough to exchange the world for me, because that was how much she cherished me.

It was true that she had destroyed the world. But I could not ask her, someone who loved me so much that she couldn’t help it, why she had done so, and why she hadn’t let me die instead. I couldn’t say such things to her.

The whole world, even my people, might come to hate Eleris, the source of the horrors they would have to face. But I could not.

I had to love Eleris. I had to be on Eleris’s side.

“I’m so... so... sorry. I’m sorry, Your Majesty... I ruined everything... I ruined your wish...”

“No, it’s okay.”

It wasn’t okay, but I had to say it was.

I was grateful for Eleris’s heart... For this love she had for me.

“I was... I was so scared of losing Your Majesty... No, I was scared of losing

you

... It was so tragic that everything had to end like this... So dreadful and sad... I...”

Eleris, crying, embraced me. “No matter what, I didn’t want to lose you...”

Eleris held me tightly and cried for a long time.

I embraced Eleris as well, as if I would never let go again.