In a corner of the Castle of Ice, the Death King, Isis Remnant, quietly turned the pages of her book.
Her expression was steeped in a loneliness so profound it felt physically cold. The only sound within the silent castle was the rustling of paper.
Nearly a thousand years had passed since the signing of the Friendship Treaty between the Demon Realm, the Human Realm, and the God Realm. In that millennium, the world surrounding the Demon Realm had transformed. Most Demons were now accepted as good neighbors by Humankind and the Gods, and their world had expanded significantly.
Yet, the world surrounding Isis remained closed... if anything, her situation had grown worse than it had been a thousand years ago.
Currently, the Demon and Human Realms maintained a very friendly relationship, and the Six Kings who ruled the pinnacle of the Demon Realm each engaged with the Human Realm in their own unique ways.
The Underworld King, thanks to her naturally social and gentle disposition, enjoyed deep trust from Humankind and the Gods alike; she even had a vast number of devotees among the humans.
The World King was worshipped as a deity, particularly by the Elves. In some regions, she was an object of literal faith, and she had gained countless kin across the globe.
The War King possessed a rough temperament, but his straightforward, bold nature and stoic dedication to battle earned him respect. Many adventurers offered prayers to him as a charm for victory before embarking on perilous quests.
The Dragon King provided his subordinate Wyverns as a means of global transportation. Merchants had come to revere him as a god of commerce, carrying dragon-shaped charms for protection and prosperity.
The Phantasm King frequently changed appearances and rarely stepped onto the public stage. Even Isis, a fellow member of the Six Kings, didn't know their location or activities, but rumor had it they commanded the largest network of subordinates among the Kings, supporting global stability from the shadows.
In this manner, the Six Kings had found their places within the expanding world—all of them, that is, except for the one known as the Death King.
To be precise, the Death King’s standing had shifted as well. It had solidified as an object of absolute terror.
She had become known as the most dangerous and horrifying existence among the Six Kings, feared by humans and gods alike as the living embodiment of death.
Initially, Isis had felt resentment and regret that the other Kings were building such positive relationships while she could not. She had tried everything in her power to bridge the gap with Humankind. However, every effort ended in failure, thwarted by the Magic Power of Death she involuntarily emitted.
Humankind, being physically weaker than Demons, was exceptionally sensitive to fear. Just as the World King had once dreaded, Isis was never accepted.
The hope she once held withered into despair, and she wept until her tears ran dry. Eventually, that despair calcified into resignation.
Consequently, she rarely ventured out from her Castle of Ice except for the Hero Festival. She spent her days devouring a massive library of books collected from across the world.
Whether it was a blessing or a curse, her wealth was inexhaustible.
The Land of Death where she resided was rich with rare ores and gemstones. Because so many desired these resources, they paid her astronomical sums for mining permits. Vast amounts of money were delivered to her doorstep without her having to lift a finger.
Early on, when she learned humans wanted these minerals, Isis had tried to offer them for free, but the gesture only terrified them further.
Even regarding the permits, she had intended to let people mine as much as they wanted, wherever they liked. However, the miners never approached the vicinity of her castle, where the highest quality veins were located. Perhaps out of a desperate desire not to provoke her, they stayed at the very fringes of the Land of Death, mining only small amounts once a month.
Isis used the money to buy books in bulk to stave off her isolation. Her castle eventually overflowed with them, but ironically, these books only reinforced her solitude. Reading alone in an empty castle only served to highlight the silence, and the loneliness grew into a deep, dark weight upon her small shoulders over the last thousand years.
Isis floated softly through the mountain range located north of the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Sinfonia.
While she rarely left her castle outside of the Hero Festival, she did visit the Human Realm a few times a year.
Her reasons were twofold: to purchase new books, and to indulge in a modest hobby.
Isis had read tens of thousands of books, but perhaps because she yearned for connection, she was particularly fond of romance novels. She loved stories where men and women of different social classes fell in love, often projecting herself onto the heroines as she read.
When she finished a particularly beloved novel, she would go out to collect an item or a flower mentioned in the story as a memento.
She had come to these mountains today because of a scene in her latest book. The male protagonist had climbed to the summit to pick a phantom blue flower for the woman he loved. Isis wanted that same flower.
In reality, the Blue Crystal Flower was rare but could be found in many places; there was no practical need to come all the way here, nor was there any guarantee it actually grew on this specific peak.
But for Isis, the hobby was about the experience. She wanted to obtain the flower in a setting as close to the novel as possible. Thus, she chose to climb the mountain normally rather than simply flying to the top.
She was used to animals and monsters fleeing at her approach. She paid them no mind as she ascended.
However, a group of Wyverns that had happened to nest directly in her path were met with a sudden calamity.
"...In the way."
With a quiet word, Isis released a pulse of her Magic Power of Death. The Wyverns dropped from the sky like dead flies, their lives extinguished instantly. A mountain of over fifty corpses piled up on the ground.
Isis passed them without a second thought. Upon reaching the summit, she found a single Blue Crystal Flower. She smiled contentedly, picked it, and applied preservation magic before storing it away.
As she began her descent, she encountered a large group of humans standing before the Wyvern corpses. Tilting her head in curiosity, she approached them.
The humans were trembling violently. When they realized Isis was coming toward them, their faces turned ashen. A man who seemed to be their leader bowed his head, his body quaking.
"D-Death King-sama..."
"...What are you doing?"
"W-We... we came to s-subjugate the Wyverns."
"...These?"
"Y-Yes!?"
The man’s voice was thick with terror. To these humans, encountering Death King Isis Remnant outside of the Hero Festival was synonymous with a death sentence. Some of the subjugation force members were in tears; others had already fainted from pure shock.
In the Human and God Realms, she was viewed as a monster who killed on a whim. In truth, while Isis might kill mindless monsters like Wyverns, she had no desire to harm humans who hadn't raised a blade against her.
But her Magic Power of Death forced images of mortality into their minds. They were already experiencing their own deaths over and over in their imagination, their instincts screaming at them to run.
"..."
Irritated that her pleasant mood from finding the flower had been spoiled, a shadow of displeasure crossed Isis's face. Her magic power reacted in kind, growing more oppressive.
"U-Aaah... Uwaaaaaaaa!"
An adventurer broke first, screaming as he bolted. His flight acted as a catalyst, and the rest of the force began to flee at full speed.
Only the knights remained. Bound by their duty to the crown, they stayed rooted to the spot, their armor clattering as they shook, bowing their heads in a desperate show of submission.
Isis looked at them with cold eyes, then walked past the trembling knights without another word.
She knew why they reacted that way, but irrational rejection always stung. Her good mood had souled, and she moved down the path with a dark expression. Suddenly, she paused.
"...This magic... Kuromueina?"
She felt the magic of her fellow King coming from the direction of the Royal Capital. Looking up, she saw a burst of Space Annihilation Magic activate over the city and then vanish.
"..."
Isis considered this. Since the encounter with the knights had left her feeling gloomy, she decided to seek out the cheerful Kuromueina. Talking to her might dispel this hollow feeling.
She changed her course toward the capital, moving slowly. Perhaps because it was a mere whim, she didn't arrive until dusk.
Word of her approach had clearly preceded her. The streets were deserted; the residents had retreated indoors, holding their breath until the symbol of calamity passed.
It was a familiar sight for Isis. But today, one thing was different. A young man was standing in the street directly in her path.
He was staring at her, dazed and clearly frightened. But his fear felt different from that of the knights earlier. Theirs was a fear of the known; his was the bewildered terror of someone encountering the impossible.
"...Strange magic power... Are you... the Hero?"
He flinched.
Because his reaction was so unusual and his magic power felt distinct from those of this world, Isis assumed he was this year’s Hero-role. She no longer entertained the hope that an Otherworlder might accept her—she had tried that with past Heroes, and the result was always the same.
She understood she was a monster even to them. Her question was merely a greeting, devoid of expectation.
"...I repeat... Are you... the Hero?"
When the young man remained silent and trembling, Isis asked again. Her irritation from earlier made her voice sharper, and the accompanying surge of death magic made the young man's shoulders jump. Finally, he spoke, his voice wavering.
"...I am... from another world... but... I'm not... the Hero."
"...I see."
Isis was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected an answer at all. She had assumed he would either stay frozen or run away, ending the interaction.
To face Isis while her magic was this volatile required a significant amount of mental fortitude. The young man didn't look stronger than the knights she’d met earlier, yet he had managed to find his voice. He possessed a remarkably strong heart.
Revising her opinion of him, Isis reached out her hand.
"...I am... Isis... Isis Remnant... Nice to meet you."
He froze.
Isis knew this was a pointless gesture. It was a hollow formality she performed out of habit. No matter how strong a person’s heart was, as long as they were a living creature and lacked the power to nullify her, they could not possibly take her hand.
"..."
The young man’s fear intensified, and he took a step back.
This was the ending she knew by heart. It had happened thousands of times and would happen thousands more. It was the shackle she had worn since birth—her curse.
Isis didn't blame him. She began to withdraw her hand to spare him further terror.
Then, something happened that she had never even imagined.
A sharp, dry sound echoed in the silence, and her hand stopped mid-air.
"...!? (What... are you doing?)"
The young man had suddenly slapped his own cheeks with both hands. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them, staring at her with eyes full of fierce determination.
They were not the eyes of a trembling victim, nor were they the eyes of a peer who could resist her. They were the eyes of a challenger—someone who felt the fear but chose to defy it.
Isis felt a jolt in her soul. This young man was challenging her. With a weak body and minuscule magic power, he was throwing himself against the Magic Power of Death.
Hope, a feeling she thought had died long ago, flickered to life in her chest.
It's impossible. He can't do it.
But despite what her mind told her, she couldn't lower her hand. She felt she mustn't.
As if responding to the tiny prayer in her heart, the young man began to move his hand. It was agonizingly slow, but it was moving. He was clenching his teeth so hard they looked ready to shatter, fighting his own survival instincts to answer her.
It was a miracle born of a thousand coincidences.
If Isis hadn't liked that specific book, she wouldn't have been out. If she hadn't seen Kuro's magic or been annoyed by the knights, she wouldn't have come to the capital. If she hadn't mistaken him for the Hero, she wouldn't have spoken.
And if Kaito Miyama hadn't met Kuromueina first, he never would have tried to stand his ground.
All these factors aligned, and the moment arrived.
After a long, agonizing wait, Kaito's hand reached hers.
Isis had spent thousands of years wishing for this, eventually giving up and wondering why she had even been born. She had wept until her eyes were dry, watching the world change while she remained frozen in isolation. But deep down, she had never stopped waiting.
She had been waiting for someone who, despite lacking the power to resist death, would face it and take her hand anyway.
"...My name is Kaito Miyama. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Isis-san."
"...!?!?!?"
That gentle voice and warm smile shattered the ice around her heart.
In that instant, Isis felt a conviction more powerful than anything she had ever known. She had been born into this world for the sole purpose of meeting this man—Kaito.
"How unusual, Isis. For you to visit me of your own volition..."
"...Liliwood... A souvenir... What do you think... would be good?"
"A souvenir? Are you giving it to someone?"
"...Yes... I made... a friend."
Liliwood, the World King, looked stunned. Isis rarely left her home, and the reason for her visit was even more shocking.
"A friend? Is it a High-ranking Demon? Or an upper-level God?"
"...No... A human."
"...Pardon?"
"...I said... a human."
"What? B-But... is there a human alive with enough power to withstand you?"
Liliwood was visibly flustered, but Isis simply tilted her head.
"...Kaito... isn't strong."
"...Hmm?"
"...He's much weaker... than a knight. His magic power... is tiny."
"And yet, he became your friend?"
"...Yes. Kaito... took my hand. He told me... I could visit anytime. He smiled... at me."
"...Is this human some kind of monster?"
As Isis spoke with blushing cheeks and a radiant expression, Liliwood was left speechless. She couldn't fathom a normal human resisting that aura of death.
"...Kaito... said he's an Otherworlder... but not the Hero."
"An Otherworlder? 'Kaito'... so he's male?"
"...Yes. Kind... and cool."
"...How strange. One of my kin attended a party in the Kingdom of Sinfonia recently. I heard there was a mistake with the Hero Summoning, but they said the Otherworlders present were one male Hero and two women."
Liliwood had a vast network of kin, and she kept a close eye on global events. But the person Isis was describing didn't match any reports.
"...Why... wasn't Kaito... there?"
"I'm not sure. It's hard to imagine he had other business only four days after arriving. Could it be... that he is being mistreated by the kingdom?"
"..."
"Ah, no, that’s just a guess! Pure speculation!"
"...I see."
The atmosphere around Isis shifted instantly, becoming heavy and dark. Liliwood realized she had stepped on a landmine.
"Um, just hypothetically... what if he was being treated unfairly?"
"...The ones who did it... I'll kill them all."
"N-Now, let's stay calm. Are you planning to destroy the country?"
"...A country that bullies Kaito... doesn't need to exist."
"..."
Liliwood saw the look in her eyes. If it turned out to be true, Isis wouldn't hesitate to wipe the Kingdom of Sinfonia off the map.
Smiling wryly, Liliwood quickly sent a mental command to her kin to investigate Kaito's situation immediately.
"B-But wait, if you did that, wouldn't Kaito-san be sad? You said he was kind, didn't you?"
"...Ugh. If Kaito would be sad... I won't destroy it. I'll just... leave them half-dead."
"(My... to think she’d back down that easily. Who on earth is this Kaito person?)"
Stunned by Isis’s newfound flexibility, Liliwood returned to the topic of the souvenir. At first, she had been skeptical of this mystery human, but seeing Isis speak of him with such pure happiness brought a natural smile to the World King’s face.
"(A human who has captured Isis's heart this completely... I'm quite curious. There's an Elven festival coming up soon in Sinfonia. Perhaps I’ll go see for myself.)"
"...Liliwood... are you listening?"
"Oh, yes! Since it's your first visit, a consumable gift would be best. Since he's from another world, perhaps some local food?"
"...I see. Liliwood... Give me... the Fruit of the World Tree."
"I don't mind giving it to you, but surely you don't mean to give him that?"
"...Is it bad?"
"It's not bad, but giving something that valuable would only overwhelm him."
As the most sensible of the Six Kings, Liliwood sighed but stayed by Isis's side to help her choose. She watched the Death King smile—a genuine, happy smile she hadn't seen in centuries—and felt a quiet gratitude toward the man who had finally melted the ice in her friend's heart.