After a frantic chase, Grom finally cornered Kenny and Lana. He summoned Dorda as well and began to lecture the lot of them. Since the scolding looked like it would be a lengthy affair, I decided to continue my stroll alone. Grom seemed eager for me to depart as well; for some reason, he appeared reluctant to let me witness him disciplining his subordinates.
I walked aimlessly down the corridor. Every subordinate I passed came to a halt and bowed. I acknowledged them with a nod as I climbed the stairs. Before I knew it, I had reached the Private Room Balcony.
The blazing sunlight was warm against my skin. I gazed out at the view from the heights. A prosperous cityscape stretched all the way to the horizon—the culmination of five hundred years of work by the Demon King's Army.
It feels like an eternity has passed, yet also like a mere moment... a strange sensation.
Since the day I annihilated everything with the Undead Horde, no major conflicts had broken out in this land. It had done nothing but flourish. Looking back, I was struck by a profound sense of history.
The path I had walked was by no means one to be praised. I was the World's Worst Demon King, the architect of the Divided World. By now, the majority of humanity remained ignorant of the system's very existence. I had permanently altered the fundamental premise of the world.
It was a supreme sin, one I had chosen to bear for as long as I lived. My resolve to shoulder that infamy had never wavered. If the situation demanded it, I was prepared to descend even further into depravity.
Gazing at the sun-drenched city, I spoke to the empty air.
"As the Demon King, I have built an era like this. I wonder... what would you think of it?"
That person would likely offer a partial affirmation before standing against me anyway. She was never one for total acceptance or absolute rejection; her perspective was too nuanced for such extremes. She and I were each other's greatest understander, yet our ideologies remained fundamentally irreconcilable. Though we both sought peace, our ideals and our faith in humanity were worlds apart.
If she had been the one to emerge victorious that day, I wonder what kind of future would have come to pass.
It was nothing more than a fantasy, but a thought I still entertained on occasion. Would a world without a Demon King or a Hero have recovered from its chaos to find True Peace? More likely, wars would have erupted across the globe as humanity fought over the Interests of the Demon King's Army. New heroes and new demon kings would have risen from the bloodshed, and history would have repeated itself.
She had been willing to accept the world's destruction as a consequence of that conflict. For better or worse, she wanted the world to grow as it was meant to.
I have spent five hundred years contemplating peace. Having committed the reckless act of dividing the world, I continue to explore every possibility it holds. My experiences have softened my outlook somewhat; while I cannot entirely empathize with her claims, I believe I understand them now. At the very least, I can process them more logically than I did back then.
The Optimal Solution for peace has yet to be found. I intended to keep searching for it for the rest of time. That was my atonement—and my destiny.
The Will of the World had rejected the evil of the Demon King. Yet here I remained, having triumphed over that coercive force, reigning with stubborn tenacity. Therefore, I had only to fulfill my duty with solemnity. Personal feelings and doubts were unnecessary. I would become a structure itself, the ultimate mediator.
I looked up at the brilliant sun. Raising one hand, I slowly closed my fingers as if to grasp the light.
"I shall threaten this world eternally, and I shall protect it. I will pursue a peace that surpasses even your ideals."
So vowed the man who was once a Sage. His words, heard by no one, dissolved into the vast blue sky.