Heat. Intense, searing heat. It felt as if my entire body was being incinerated from the inside out.
Inside my mind, my vision was dyed in flames before fading into an absolute void.
"—Gyahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I’m in, I’m in, I’m in, I’m in, I’m in! I made it in! Gyah! Gyahahaha! Uhyahahaha!"
A crazed laughter echoed through the space.
When my blackened vision suddenly snapped back into focus, I found Jelasis and the Scorching Majin standing before me.
The Scorching Majin elongated its torso like a serpent, coiling itself around Jelasis and speaking with a hideously distorted face.
"Well done, Jelasi—s!"
"…Yeah."
"My cute, cute, cute Jelasis-Jelasis-Jelasis."
This was clearly a separate personality. It wasn't just a Demon-possessed Majin; that entity was the Demon itself.
While doting on Jelasis with manic fervor, the Demon turned its gaze toward me.
"You’ve got a look on your face like, ‘Where am I?’ don't you~?"
"This is a mental world, isn't it?"
We had been in a cave until just a moment ago.
"Anyone who can’t tell they’re in a different space when there’s a glaring light source right in front of them is a fool."
In this world of pure black, there were no craggy, exposed rock surfaces. If I let my guard down, I felt like I would lose my sense of balance entirely.
"Pfft. A ‘light source,’ he says."
"Jelasi—s! That’s cold, isn’t it? Anyway, should we just kill him?"
"He’s going to die soon enough anyway."
"He’s going to die soon anyway, isn't he! Gyahah!"
Jelasis restrained the Demon, whose flames flickered wildly with every emotional fluctuation, and turned back to face me.
"I told you, didn't I? I have the upper hand."
"No, you don't. I crushed your heart."
Having the upper hand implied a favorable situation. There was no advantage to be found in a desperate, suicidal spell.
"The facts won't change; you're the one who's going to die."
"You're strong, but since it's come to this, I win."
The man wasn't listening. Even in a mental world, his conversations were as disjointed as ever.
"I won't die from something like that. But you will. This is your mental world; you'll be turned to ash from the inside by the Fire of Madness fueled by the darkness of your own heart."
"Gyahah! Burn him, burn him! It’s an inferno!"
"Even your specialty barriers are useless here, you know? There's no way you can deploy a barrier within your own mind. You're going to die without ever being able to do anything for Alicia again."
"Gyahah! Go mad, go crazy, and rot away!"
"With this, I’ll finally have Alicia. From the moment I saw her when we were children, I fell in love with those beautiful eyes at first sight. Now, she’s finally mine."
"Hey, let me ask you one thing."
I addressed Jelasis, who was speaking with uncharacteristic volubility.
"Even if I die, there’s no guarantee Alicia will ever love you, is there?"
Jelasis’s expression flattened into a stare.
Killing someone to steal their lover was a common enough trope in muddy romance dramas, but I couldn't recall a single story where that actually led to a happy ending for the thief.
If the woman he loved was being oppressed by her current partner, that would be one thing, but interfering in a situation like this made him nothing more than a villain.
"What do you plan to do once you have her? Keep her in a container or something? Just like your family did to you?"
"Shut up."
Jelasis muttered the words in a quiet, dangerous voice while glaring at me.
Well, considering his upbringing, I suppose it was inevitable he’d turn out like this. In a way, we were similar. Distorted and disjointed.
"If it was love at first sight, I guess it can't be helped. Though I personally love her for who she is on the inside. Besides, we live together under the same roof. I'm on a completely different level than you."
"Gyahah! Jelasi—s, he’s trying to shake you! He’s just rattling you to buy time!"
"It’s the truth. Ask your own heart."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Gyahahahahahaha! That’s right, don’t listen to him, Jelasis! Go mad, go crazy! That is your power! Gyahah!"
The Demon egged on Jelasis, who was shaking his head in a frenzy. I couldn't help but feel that this thing was the root of all his malice.
"What do you know! Someone who grew up normally, loved people normally—a blessed person like you could never understand my feelings!"
"Gyah, only I can understand you, Jelasi—s. We’ve been together since the moment you were born, right? It was painful, wasn't it? It was painful for me too. So come on, hurry up and finish it. He’s in the way, so just kill him."
"Yeah… Yeah."
"We already marked her, didn't we? We claimed her when we burned that eye, didn't we? Next is the other one. It’ll be great; that woman’s eyes are top-tier."
"Yeah. Anyone in the way… I should just… burn them all, right?"
As if guided by the whispering Demon, Jelasis pointed his hand at me. In that instant, my entire body began to ignite again.
"Hey, what did you just say? Was the burn on Alicia’s left eye your fault?"
"Gyahah! I’ll answer for him! That’s right! You’ve got to mark the woman you like!"
I see. So Alicia’s injury was their handiwork all along.
"Hmph!"
I focused my consciousness and suppressed the flames enveloping my body.
"!?"
The Demon and Jelasis both wore looks of utter bewilderment.
I had suspected the duel was rigged, but it was far too suspicious for someone to live so nonchalantly after scarring a high-ranking lady's face. I had assumed it was just the way the "scenario" went, believing that Alicia had accidentally burned herself when her magic backfired.
That explained why Edward didn't seem to feel an overwhelming amount of personal responsibility for it. In a Magic Kingdom, failing a duel you challenged someone to and injuring yourself with your own magic was considered a source of shame.
It also explained why the Academy was so hesitant to teach chantless magic.
"You’ve got strange looks on your faces. You pieces of trash."
"What… how…"
I looked at the faltering Jelasis.
"No matter how much you try to burn me, the fuel is my own magic power. Are you mocking me? The Demon's power doesn't amount to much after all."
What Jelasis was attempting was essentially a forced rampage of my own mana. Once I figured out the trick while we were talking, it was nothing.
They must have used this same power to force Alicia to self-destruct during the duel. They staged a pathetic defeat to inflict maximum mental agony.
"You’ve got quite the mouth! Gyahah, don't underestimate us! I’m going to take all the madness inside you and blow it wide open—"
"—I’ve already got that under control, you moron."
I had gone mad a long time ago.
Jelasis, you called me normal, didn't you?
Is it normal to be forced to fight monsters from the age of three? Is a situation where a neighboring country invades once a year normal? Is it normal to be looked down upon as a "monkey from the Abandoned Land" while the Royal Capital does nothing to help?
Not a single thing about my life has been normal.
This world is fundamentally broken. Even if I’ve grown used to it, even if I’ve accepted it, I will never truly understand or respect it.
"Is that all? Are we done with this pathetic child's play?"
You’re just a Demon—a piece of trash whose only talent is possessing humans. Compared to a dragon, the difference is like heaven and earth.
『—GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!』
Whether it was because my mental image had manifested in this space or not, Onyx’s massive head appeared behind me, letting out a roar that shook the void at Jelasis and the Demon.
"Geh—Onyx…! Jelasis, the odds are against us, let’s withdraw! We can't kill him in this world while he’s under that thing’s influence!"
"Ugh…"
Facing the manifestation of the great dragon, the Demon urged a retreat in a panic.
"If it’s impossible even after going this far, then he’s a monster himself, Jelasis."
"But…!"
"Listen to me, my cute Jelasis. Another chance will come. We can just aim for that, right?"
"…Fine."
"Did you think I’d let you escape?"
"Oh, we're definitely running!"
As I stepped forward, the Demon grabbed Jelasis and leaped back into the darkness.
"In the real world, we’ve already burned out right in front of you. Our ashes are already drifting outside the cave; as long as they exist, Jelasis and I can return. Jelasis and I are one now; I can't let you kill him, can I? Gyah! Let’s meet again in the world above, gyahahahahaha!"
"Even though you're so mad that madness doesn't even work on you… why can you stay with Alicia so normally? It's not right…"
The Demon and Jelasis vanished from the mental realm.
"Aren’t you the real monster here—?"
Those were his parting words.
…A monster, huh?
That’s a bit harsh, considering I’ve spent my whole life just trying to survive.