And truly, the heart of a Demon Lord.
"You don't need companions. What you wanted was the power to fight without relying on companions. Overwhelming combat strength and the magical power to endlessly produce an army that blindly follows you. That's all. That's the Demon Lord. You know? Heroes have companions. They have countless acquaintances who might only be a burden. But the Demon Lord has no companions, no burdens. Heroes will never be alone, but the Demon Lord has no one. You understand, right? It's not that you weren't blessed with companions; it's that your heart wasn't seeking them."
Maris opened her arms and embraced me.
"The Demon Lord waits in the throne room for the hero and their party. All alone."
It seems undeniable.
I am the Demon Lord.
"...What happens to me now? Will I lose my self-consciousness and be controlled by you?"
I sat down in a chair, regaining my composure for a moment.
"The revival of the Demon Lord is supposed to take another three years, right?"
"No? We're already in the final countdown."
"What? That's different from what Holly said."
"Every time you die, you accelerate the demonization, speeding up the revival of the Demon Lord. Well, it's not exactly a revival."
"...Somehow. Has everything Holly done backfired?"
"It can't be helped. That child is a fool."
I've been curious for a while, but it seems Maris knows quite a bit about Holly.
Moreover, judging from her tone, it seems she feels quite fond of the other party.
"If you die even once more, you'll fully transform into the Demon Lord at that point. Even if you act cautiously and avoid death, you'll become the Demon Lord within a month."
"...A month..."
That was essentially the same as being handed a death sentence.
In a month, my self-awareness as the Demon Lord would be gone.
That would be the same as being dead, and even if I were to consider myself alive, I'd be killed by Shion, the hero.
Thinking about it calmly, this is a pretty bad situation.
Of course, I'd rather not die, but now I don't even have the option to die.
Up until now, I had operated under the assumption that even if I died, as long as Shion and Holly were safe, the hero's misshion to defeat the Demon Lord would proceed without issue.
I never intended to treat my own life carelessly, but when push came to shove, I thought it would be enough to protect Shion at all costs.
For that reason, I interacted with the saintly sword wielders, cooperating and conflicting with them.
However, all those thoughts have now crumbled.
If I die for any reason, the Demon Lord will revive at that moment, and the countdown to world destruction will begin.
Even if I manage to survive the next month, I will become the Demon Lord.
Then, I will be killed by Shion and Holly.
By those two, who command the saintly sword wielders I've gathered.
In other words, there's no longer any hope for my survival, and since the Demon Lord intent on destroying humanity shouldn't survive, there's nothing that can be done.
I'm finished.
I can't work towards survival nor can I escape the fear by dying.
I can only silently await the day I become the Demon Lord and then wait to be killed by the hero.
I stared at Maris, who was smirking in front of me.
Having been possessed by Holly numerous times, I know once you give in, you can't resist.
You completely surrender control of your body to the other party.
If what Maris is saying is true, I will be forced into possesshion, and both my mind and body will be entirely dominated.
And assuming Maris, like Holly, cannot lie, it's clear that her statements are an undeniable fact.
"Wait a minute?"
Holly and Maris are the same?
"...What exactly is your relationship with Holly? You're eerily similar."
"...Sisters."
"!"
I just learned a rather shocking fact.
The guiding spirits of the hero and the Demon Lord are sisters?
Does that mean the battle between the hero and the Demon Lord is essentially a sibling rivalry between Holly and Maris?
Wait, if these two are sisters, does that mean the creators of the Sacred Sword and the Dark Sword are the same?
"Could it be... the one who gave birth to the hero and the one who gave birth to the Demon Lord are the same?"
"...Well... that's one way to put it."
Maris answered quite reluctantly.
Just as I thought.
Because she can't lie, she ends up revealing information that shouldn't be disclosed.
And she seems to know more about the hero and the Demon Lord than Holly does.
In that case, can I draw out more information from her and find a way out?
"Who exactly created the hero and the Demon Lord? For what purpose..."
"That's information you don't need to know. You just need to accept that you are the Demon Lord. Enjoy the last month of your life."
"How can I enjoy it!"
I raised my voice in anger, but Maris only laughed.
Then, she suddenly disappeared.
"Maris?"
"The next time we meet, you'll have become the Demon Lord. Until then, goodbye."
"Wait! The conversation isn't over..."
I looked around the room, but Maris was nowhere to be found.
Her voice was gone too.
"Why! Why do I have to be the Demon Lord! There must have been others...!"
More suitable candidates for the Demon Lord surely existed.
I tried to continue, but then I found myself speechless.
If someone else were the Demon Lord, I could have avoided death.
I wished someone else were the Demon Lord.
That was the thought.
The idea of sacrificing someone else to save myself.
Even if I thought it, I didn't want to say it out loud.
"Why...! Why...!"
Yet, I couldn't help but think.
Why do I have to become the Demon Lord?
After years of relationships with Instructor Cattleya, Iris, and Prince Heath.
Saffron and Platanus, whose sides were unclear whether they were enemies or allies.
The terrifying yet somehow fleeting Cineraria, Jasmine, Amaranth.
And Holly and Shion, who told me they loved me.
"Why... do I have to be killed by everyone...!"
At that moment, I literally collapsed to my knees.
There's nothing I can do anymore.
And there shouldn't be anything I can do.
I'm the Demon Lord, someone who shouldn't be saved.
Because if I'm saved, it means the destruction of everything else.
Yet, I can't help but think.
"Why... why me...!" Chapter 6: The Last Day of My Life
What would you do if the world were to end tomorrow?
How would you spend the last moments of your life?
Some people might ask such a question, but the answers to such trivial queries are probably safe ones like,
"Eat my favorite food."
"Spend time with my loved ones."
Or maybe, confessing to someone you love so you have no regrets.
Though you might end up facing your end in the worst mood ever after a rejection.
In my case, having a month left might be somewhat better.
It's certainly better than being told you'll die tomorrow.
Yet, I can no longer sleep or eat.
It might have been the fear of death, or maybe the fear of potentially killing many people.
More than that, I just couldn't accept becoming an enemy to Shion and Holly.
To be with them all the time.
To be their chess opponent until I die.
A modest promise, even a mere mortal like me could make.
Yet, I couldn't keep even that.
In a month, I'll disappear from before those two.
There's nothing left that I can do for them.
Seeing me become increasingly haggard, with dark circles under my eyes, Shion and Holly were worried, but all I could do was brush it off.
"It's just the exhaustion hitting me all at once after being on edge for so long. Now that we've gathered all the saintly swords, I'll leave the rest to you two. I'll take my ease."
That was all I could say to muddle through.
And so, the days passed uneventfully.
Time passes, and I can do nothing.
Prince Heath kept his promise to me and immediately ascended to the throne as the king.
As his close advisor, he appointed Platanus as the chancellor and elevated Instructor Cattleya to the rank of marshal.
He seems to plan to do the same for the other saintly sword wielders, as I had asked.