Chapter 34

“Ahhhhh!” Kade shrieked, holding his head.

“Kade!?” Tila called out in panic, but Kade couldn’t reply. The pain was indescribable. It felt as if a thousand needles stabbed his head. He couldn’t hear anything but sharp noises, like the noise of a heel scraping glass. It was unbearable, but Kade endured. He fought. One-by-one, knowledge about the spell and its limits entered his mind, but it felt too slow. Too long.

Urggghhh!

“Kade? Kade!? Are you alright!?”

The pain didn’t stop. It worsened. As if he wasn’t bleeding enough, someone took a knife and did some indescribable things to his face. Not literally, as the pain wasn’t physical, but he certainly felt that way.

This is not real! Not real pain! For Meline, I’ll endure.

He couldn’t imagine a life without her. Such a scenario would be much more painful than what he felt now. If it means a bright future with her, he’ll do anything.

He endured. He must endure.

I must endure!

He stood up, knocking his head on the carriage’s roof. It should be a slight pain, but it felt as if a spike stabbed right through his skull. It wasn’t clear whether his thoughts had an effect or not, but the pain only turned worse.

I’ll endure, I'll endure, I'll endure!

This is an illusion! This pain is an illusion!

Endure!

After a while, the pain finally subsided. Kade let out heavy breaths, his body full of sweat.

“Kade… What happened?”

“I need to go.”

“Huh? Where? What’s going on?”

The distance covered between teleportation jumps had an effect when it comes to the cost of mana. Luckily, they had traveled through the night, being much closer to the Demon Lands compared to yesterday.

“Tila, I’ll go meet up with Meline. There’s a chance we’ll be exhausted by the time we return. Can you take us back to Nordeux?”

“I mean, I can, but what’s going on? How are you going to get there?”

“It’s too much to explain.”

Tila looked speechless for a moment, then gave him a firm nod. “... Alright then. Good luck.”

“Lorem ipsum!”

•••

The countdown had begun. He only had thirty minutes to help Meline. He teleported straight to where Meline was. It was a ruined city. Moss grew on the stone walls, signaling that this city had been abandoned long before.

Meline must have gone here to avoid casualties.

In front of her, Meline’s body slammed into the walls, knocking a section of the wall down, and dust covered her. She appeared from the cloud of dust and punched herself, then flew straight into a guard tower, knocking the already old structure down.

Kade brought his hand forward. A series of chains appeared around Meline, holding her in place.

I can’t enter her body…

Doing so would turn the body into a house for three different souls. It would likely damage her even more. Still, he needed a way to extract the other soul from her.

Meline’s body fell limp.

… Did that do it?

“... Kh kh kh!” Meline’s body let out a laugh. “Looks like you’re too late, my dear.”

Of course it won’t be that easy!

Kade felt the body move, tugging on his chains. She turned her glare to him. Her crimson red eyes shone a faint red light. The three spears aimed toward him and took off.

Kade formed a shield in front of him. “Wh- What the!?” Despite the spears failing to pierce him, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Even something this simple caused him internal pain.

“Not bad. Looks like she gave you superpowers.”

“Wh- What are you talking about?”

“I knew this would happen!”

The three spears disappeared, appearing behind him. Kade dodged out of the way.

“Kah!” He screamed. One of the spears sliced his left arm, leaving a trail of blood. He used his powers to heal himself, but that too came at a cost.

“Kaaah!”

“I used to be like her,” the soul occupying Meline’s body spoke, feigning ignorance of the pain assaulting Kade’s body. “I thought maybe the conflict between humans and demons could end, but I’m wrong.”

The spears changed path, heading back at Kade. Kade blocked the attack with a shield, but one of the spears flew upward before plunging down at him. He jumped to the side, accidentally disabling the shield in the process.

“GAH!”

He avoided the first spear, but the second one stabbed him right in the chest, piercing through him and going out through his back, bringing a trail of blood with it.

“ACK!” He used magic to restore himself, the pain becoming unbearable. But he needed to hold himself. Or else, Meline would be gone forever.

“Give up. Let the humans be destroyed. That is the only solution to peace.”

“I won’t let you!” Kade gritted his teeth, fighting the pain. “Meline will find a way to peace!”

“This girl?” She lifted Meline’s hand, looking at her palm. “This soul is weak. She doesn’t have the strength needed to obtain peace.”

“She already achieved such a thing!”

“Do you really think throwing money at humans equals peace? It is only a temporary solution.”

“Even then, she’s trying her best to improve the relationship! Every single day, she struggled.”

Meline wouldn’t pick an easy method like wiping out her enemies. She wished she could. It was why she tried inviting the hero to a fight. That didn’t work out.

So, she showed them kindness, softening their hearts. She knew that if they wanted lasting peace, they needed to build understanding with each other. The lack of understanding created conflict, and conflict created violence. Violence couldn’t be solved with violence. It would only start an endless cycle of more violence.

“It may be expensive, but the renovation projects she began eleven years ago really helped!”

Calling it a renovation project sounded hilarious, but it was the truth. Thanks to her ‘invasion’, many humans saw her as a kind demon lord. One who wouldn’t even think of harming a human. One who cared more than their own leaders.

Every village she rebuilt remembered her fondly. It was something Kade saw himself. Even back in his home village, people still spoke about the event, about how she managed to change lives with her help. It may be under the guise of fighting the hero, but people never lost anything when she attacked.

“Humans can change! Once they’ve seen the good in demons, they’ll start-”

“What a load of crap!” She laughed. “Young people always have the most laughable opinions. You think I haven’t tried that?”

The three spears returned to her side. They glowed a pitch black, looking frightening. “Humans don’t remember kindness. They only remember pain. Give them a few more years, and they’ll return to their old self.”

She flashed him a sinister grin, a grin he wasn’t even aware Meline’s body could make. A grin far more evil than anything he had seen before.

“I have tried. I have tried and tried again. Every single time, the humans disappoint me. There is no peace while humans still exist. As someone from another world, you understood this well, didn’t you?”

Kade gasped. “You… knew?”

“I have access to her brains. Of course, I knew. But, even then, I knew more than that. I knew who you were, Kade. My powers extend beyond just flying spears.”

“...”

“Kade, or rather, Tsukasa.”