CHAPTER 66
Why on earth would she go all the way to a parallel world just to kill the version of herself living there?

For a moment, I suspected Sibylius had lost her mind.

Looking at her, she definitely looked like a madwoman. Her hair was a mess...

"Do not look at me with those eyes. I am perfectly sane. I am quite exhausted and agitated, yes, but this is a decision I made with a sound mind."

Sibylius said, looking at me with serious eyes.

"That bastard deserves to die that much!"

"...?"

Dumbfounded, I just stared at Sibylius without saying a word.

But then,

"That's true."

Out of nowhere, Hames agreed.

"The Sibylius of that world truly does deserve to die."

"...If he were right in front of me, I would kill him no matter what it takes."

Even Viol, who had kept her mouth shut even while facing death threats, spoke up for the first time, revealing her murderous intent.

And,

"I was planning to kill you and then kill that bastard too anyway!"

Even Ares, shouting at Sibylius.

Have these women collectively lost their minds? Why are they suddenly blathering about parallel worlds and burning with murderous intent?

Did the parallel world Sibylius do something wrong? Enough for all of them to say he needs to be killed...

...Ah, don't tell me?

"Ceres, do not try to stop me. Because it is me, this is something I must do!"

"...Even if you do, it's meaningless."

"No. You don't understand, Ceres. You don't know why I'm doing this!"

I told you it's meaningless!

"That bastard is already living in a state of self-loathing, and he's probably bawling his eyes out right now after belatedly realizing his Ceres is dead! What's the point of killing him?!"

When I, having grasped the situation, yelled that out, Sibylius gasped and sucked in a sharp breath.

It wasn't just Sibylius. The other women also showed various reactions, their eyes widening in shock and their pupils trembling.

As if they had never imagined I would understand the situation.

"Ce-Ceres..."

Sibylius's voice trembled. She stared at me with trembling eyes for a long time, as if she was too terrified to even ask, before barely managing to continue her words.

"D-Do you know? About what happened in that world..."

"Yeah, I know."

"!!"

Sibylius looked horrified, as if wondering how I could possibly know, but honestly, it was laughable.

I probably know the plot of the original novel way better than you guys do!

To me, who already had knowledge of the original work, this was nothing new. But these women were shocked and even terrified by the fact that I knew about it.

I could feel trembling from Viol's hand, which was still holding mine. She absentmindedly squeezed my hand and looked at me, but when our eyes were about to meet, she flinched in surprise and averted her gaze.

Hames was the same.

Thinking I couldn't have a proper conversation with Viol in her current state, I turned my gaze to Hames, but her complexion had turned pale, and I couldn't tell if she was looking at me or staring into empty space.

The only one who actively spoke to me was Ares.

"Ceres, did you also see the events of the other world that the Heavenly God showed us?!"

Thanks to Ares asking in shock, I was able to understand the detailed circumstances.

I see, so this was the Heavenly God's doing? He said he had a secret weapon to persuade the women, and it was this?

This wasn't helpful at all. It just created more work for me!

"...I did see it."

The one who showed me wasn't the Heavenly God; I had just read the original work as a novel, but still.

"Ceres, then..."

"Ah, hold on a second."

I stopped Ares, who was about to say something with an anxious expression.

"We can talk about that after everything is settled. We still have Sibylius here, and Alios is left too."

If Ares started talking now, the other girls would probably chime in too, and it would take forever.

I wanted to prioritize the most urgent matters first.

"Seeing this, it looks like you also saw everything the male Sibylius did."

"...Yes."

Sibylius replied in a voice so small it was practically crawling back down her throat.

"But Ceres, I absolutely have no such intentions! I have no intention of tormenting you like that bastard did! If only to prove that, I will definitely kill that disgusting wretch!"

Sibylius made desperate excuses, perhaps thinking I was interrogating her, but I had already told her. Even if she did, it was meaningless.

"Can you actually kill him?"

"I will kill him. It doesn't matter if the opponent is myself. Anyone who harms you, no matter who they are!"

"No. I'm not talking about that kind of willpower. I'm asking if you actually have the power to kill a being who is exactly identical to you and possesses equal power, with only a difference in gender."

"...That's."

Faced with such realistic reasons, Sibylius couldn't find the words to say. She probably wanted to declare that she would definitely kill him no matter what, but as a competent mage, she must have just realized that her chances of winning were fifty-fifty at best.

"Plus, your opponent might be completely out of her mind right now, ready to do whatever it takes. Since it's literally you, you'd know better than anyone, right? Imagine yourself capable of doing anything, by any means necessary."

"And if you go there and fail to kill him, you'll end up handing over the existence of parallel worlds and the magic to travel between them on a silver platter. What do you think a lunatic who went crazy over his Ceres's death will do when he gets his hands on that kind of method?"

"...He'd cross over to another parallel world and find another Ceres closest to his own."

"If you know that, then stop. You'd just be a nuisance to all the other Cereses existing in every parallel world."

Only after I pointed out the severe consequences of crossing over to that parallel world did Sibylius finally give up. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked at me pleadingly.

"T-then what should I do? What should I do about this guilt that feels like it's freezing my entire heart?!"

"How should I know, man?"

"Huh?"

"I haven't even fully grasped the situation yet, do you think I'd magically come up with a solution for that? I'll think about it later, so just follow me for now."

"...Understood."

Sibylius looked like she had a lot more she wanted to say, but she forced herself to swallow her words, mindful of my mood, and followed along.

"Niobe, lead the way to where Alios is, the last one."

"My Lord, what does all this mean?"

"I'll explain later, so just lead the way."

I spoke forcefully to Niobe, who looked completely confused and unable to understand what we were talking about. I felt bad, but explaining it would take too long, so it couldn't be helped.

"Yes! Right this way..."

Following a startled Niobe, I headed to where the last one, Alios, was.
But Alios wasn't the only one there.
Red was there too.

Red, the only woman who liked me that Niobe said was acting normally, was with Alios. Naturally, the atmosphere between them was terrible.

"Why is this crazy bitch acting out again?!"

Red shouted, grinding her teeth at Alios. The reason was simple: Alios was wildly swinging an Aura-coated sword at her.
Honestly, if it were just that, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary.
However, there was a crucial difference in Alios's attitude as she swung her sword.

"It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault!"

She kept repeating the exact same words over and over like a madwoman.
Swinging a sword with empty eyes while endlessly muttering that it was someone else's fault—it was a terrifying sight that would freeze any normal person in their tracks.
Even Red seemed to find it hard to endure, dodging the attacks with a thoroughly creeped-out expression.

"Have you really lost your mind? Why are you suddenly like this? What exactly is my fault?!"

Red shouted in frustration. But Alios's response remained exactly the same.

"It's your fault!"

"I'm asking what is?!"

Red beat her chest, looking more frustrated by the endless repetition than the actual attacks.

"What are you guys doing?"

The moment I appeared, both of them reacted instantly.

"Hey, perfect timing. Stop this lunatic!"

Red called out to me, looking genuinely relieved, but—

"C-Ceres!"

Alios recoiled as if she had just seen the Grim Reaper.
Taking advantage of that opening, Red fled behind me. I positioned her at my back and stepped forward instead.

"What exactly is Red's fault?"

When I asked seriously, Alios shouted frantically.

"...E-everything! Ceres, you wouldn't know even if I told you, but I was the root cause of everything! Just like what we went through, because of that thing, you had to use your power, and that was the beginning of everything..."

"Then I suppose it was Red who ruined my feet so I couldn't move?"

I had a rough idea of what Alios was talking about. Seeing her try to shift all the blame for the original novel's events onto Red, I responded sarcastically. She instantly turned deathly pale.

"H-how did you know that?!"

"I know what you saw. But hey? Let's get our facts straight. The one who tormented Ceres in that world wasn't Red, it was Alios, wasn't it?"

"That man isn't me!!!"

Alios screamed in fury.

"That man, the male Alios, and I are different people. If you saw it, Ceres, shouldn't you know? The others had some personality similarities, but that guy and I had completely different personalities!"

That's true. The original Alios and this Alios have surprisingly different personalities.
Therefore...

"Right, the male Alios and you are different people, and you did nothing wrong."

I smoothly agreed, giving her the answer she desperately wanted to hear.

"It wasn't something you did, so there's no need to feel guilty."

"...Stop."

"There's no reason to cause a scene like this either. You're innocent."

"Stop it!"

Even though I was telling her she was innocent, Alios grew angry. She bit her lip, her entire body trembling.
Looking at her, unable to even make any more excuses, I glanced at the others and spoke.

"Alright, now that everyone's gathered, let's talk in more detail."