Neville admired the Hero.

He was the hero of humanity. He stood against injustice and saved the unfortunate.

However, that was all possible because of the god's providence. Clay was a being like a holy grail, created by the god, Elhaen.

"Hoo."

In a desolate, empty space, Neville sat alone.

"Now, the preparations are complete."

He had reverted Clay's body to that of the original Hero. He had removed the impurities and made it Elhaen's again.

'Lord Clay.'

Neville's respect for him was sincere. Even if there was a god's providence, the will he had shown was real.

'I'm sorry things turned out this way.'

Clay's execution was all Elhaen's doing. It was part of his plan to descend into this world through his body.

It meant losing Clay, but on a grander scale, Neville had no choice but to follow Elhaen's will.

'Because humans must continue to rule this world.'

Neville was chosen as a being to help Elhaen. In the process, he learned the truth. That Elhaen had created humans and oppressed the native demons.

Elhaen had sown his seeds and tried to make this world his own.

'We cannot escape this fate.'

Clay and Neville were born as humans. Because their very existence was created by Elhaen, regardless of good or evil, they had to make a set choice to ensure the survival of their species in this world.

That was to follow Elhaen and become his strength.

If Elhaen did not bestow blessings and power upon humans, the demons would once again become the masters of this world.

So this was destiny. A destiny of their species that neither Clay nor Neville could escape.

『You have done well.』

Elhaen's voice was heard in his head.

『The moment the stars align, the time will come when the moon eclipses the sun.』

That was the time to obstruct the gaze of his greatest nemesis who was interfering with him.

『I will then reside in Clay's body.』

Elhaen had confirmed the time of his descent into this world.

『Until then, you just need to continue to uphold my will. I will make the humans prosperous again.』

A whispering voice. Neville nodded without a second thought.

"I understand."

All he had to do was obey.

『Then, I will return at that time.』

The presence in his head disappeared. Neville stood up from his seat.

'Lord Clay must be preparing as well.'

At the point when he was reverted to a human, he must have realized how the situation was unfolding.

He, who knew that Elhaen was coming, would not remain idle either.

'I'm sorry I can't cheer for you.'

If Clay did not remain idle, it was no different from defying a god.

However, even while following Elhaen, Neville had no intention of viewing his actions negatively.

Because he was acting in a very human way. Including that aspect, Neville respected him even more.

'Because I dare not even think of defying a god.'

Krata had represented the will of the god at the center of all humanity. Neville was born into the imperial family of such a Krata and learned to work for Elhaen since he was young.

It was not a choice.

The various blessings he received as soon as he was born were, in fact, not pure blessings but shackles. They were just adjustments to make his body suitable for hearing Elhaen's voice and conveying Elhaen's will.

Of course, thanks to that, he could imitate the power of a god. When Emperor Lutan, who thought he had monopolized the god's love, started to go mad and act strangely, he used that power to ensure his survival.

To protect him, Elhaen had destroyed Lutan's consciousness and turned him into a kind of scarecrow. He did not ask for his opinion. He had just realized what he was doing as a god, through Neville.

'Lord Clay.'

He couldn't be honest with his feelings. Even if he had them, he wouldn't be able to make a single choice for himself under the name of a god's providence.

'Go on, do as you please.'

That was why Neville respected Clay. The hero who, despite being in the same situation, constantly struggled and exploded with emotion.

'Show me how far you can go.'

He would probably collapse before reaching his intended destination, but Neville muttered with a hollow laugh.

"Now, Lord Clay. The time has come to see the end."

***

♧

"A god."

On top of the temple in the capital of Krata.

Sitting on the edge of the roof, looking down at the recovering capital, the great mage Yuru was tilting her head.

"A divine being."

Origin.

She had reached the pinnacle of a mage, and from there, she had achieved another transcendence.

She had become so strong that she had no rival in this world, but she hesitated in front of the god from the outside.

The power that god possessed was of a different kind.

'Is this alone not enough?'

Just having that thought was incredibly unpleasant for her.

'Then it is not enough.'

She wasn't confident that she could unconditionally stop Elhaen when he aimed for Clay.

In other words, she couldn't guarantee victory.

She jumped down from the roof. And she pushed through the numerous people rebuilding the city and headed to where the commander of the demons was.

"Yuru."

Beatrice was there.

"It seems many people come looking for me."

"I have something to ask."

Yuru asked, not caring about Beatrice's reaction.

"Is my brother going to stay cooped up in the Demon King's castle?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I want to know if he's planning to face Elhaen there."

"I wonder."

Beatrice tilted her head.

"I'm not sure what he will do."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If Elhaen comes all the way there, he'll be in Barungenia, but if not, Clay will come back here."

"What?"

Yuru frowned.

"Are you saying he's going to fight Elhaen no matter what?"

"Yes."

Beatrice shrugged her shoulders.

"It seems Clay is completely fed up with the god Elhaen. He knows that just getting through one moment won't solve anything."

"Then..."

"This city is not just being rebuilt either."

Looking around, Beatrice said.

"There are various magic circles in this city that can utilize divine power. We are engraving a way to operate them in the language of the demons so that only Clay can use them."

"My brother is no longer a demon."

"True. But he knows a lot about demons. It's being applied to an extent that Clay can apply it to some degree even without demonic energy."

At that, Yuru spat out as if she didn't like it.

"We have to act before my brother faces Elhaen directly. We have to find that guy named Neville and tear him apart."

"He'll appear before we find him."

Beatrice pointed to the sky.

"Even if I'm not a god, there are some things I can roughly tell."

Like when Elhaen would appear.

"Thinking about the information Clay left, it seems Elhaen will appear when the moon eclipses the sun."

"When the, moon eclipses the sun?"

"Because then, the power of the other outer god who is helping Clay can be weakened a little more."

Beatrice moved closer to Yuru.

"Now that I've told you this much, shouldn't you also do what you can do?"

"What do you mean?"

"That."

Beatrice pointed to the halo floating above Yuru's head.

"It's not just there for nothing."

"......"

"Go into every place you can enter and check. What you can do."

"You can't face Elhaen with what's in this world."

"That can't be."

Beatrice told Yuru something she hadn't thought of.

"It seems a lot of records were lost because of Elhaen. Don't you think there was something that drove Elhaen out of this world in the past?"

It was currently believed that Elhaen had unilaterally crushed the gods of this world in the past and returned to his own domain, but,

"It's my thought that Elhaen wouldn't have been satisfied with just sowing his seeds and leaving. For something like that, he's trying too hard to descend here."

No matter how much the other outer gods were wary of him, that was clearly strange.

"Just taking Clay's body won't be the end of it. There's probably one more 'thing' he has to do after descending into Clay's body."

"!"

"Even if I made this kind of speculation, I don't have the capacity for it right now. I can't even tolerate Clay's body being taken in the first place."

She had no choice but to put all her efforts into the work to prevent that.

And while doing that work, she had no capacity for other things.

"There's too little time. I don't want to ask for help, but even if Clay dislikes it, I have to use what I can use."

As she said that, Beatrice requested of Yuru.

"Just because you've reached the pinnacle of magic, I don't just see it as having an advantage only in destruction. Weren't mages originally outstanding scholars? I've even seen you people occasionally accomplish things that even I, a Dragonoid, cannot do."

"You..."

"So try doing something else you can do again. Origin might mean that you have reached another level even in that domain."

In Beatrice's eyes, there was neither hostility nor favor.

Yuru, who had been looking at Beatrice for a moment, soon burst out into a hollow laugh.

"This is really strange."

Yuru's lips curled up.

"Normally, we're not the kind of people who would ask or be asked for help from each other, but it's turning out like this because of my brother."

"I find it strange too."

Beatrice said softly.

"Clay is a being who has the power to connect everyone."

As an indomitable hero and demon king who, despite despairing and being frustrated, does not hesitate to live.

"The one who lives the most fateful life, yet is the most defiant of fate."

Because he was such a bundle of contradictions, he drew everyone's gaze and, absurdly, was able to gain everyone's empathy.

"If he had made one wrong move, he could have been hated by everyone."

Beatrice also let out a hollow laugh.

"It might be because that guy is honest."

He was not a holy hero. He was neither merciful nor generous. But he was neither cold-hearted nor discriminatory.

He was a changing human.

Struggling to adapt to the situation he was in.

"He reached out his hand even to someone like me in order to live."

That honesty triggered the other's whim and became a hand that held him.

"Well, I don't want to question the reason any further. How it came to be like this, none of us probably know well."

Beatrice was just compromising with the monster-like woman in front of her for the sake of the being she could no longer let go of, no, the being she no longer wanted to let go of.

"How about it? Will you do it? Just like your other friends are doing."

Perhaps, the answer was not needed there.

(End of Chapter)