-Kalroth-
"What the hell was that!?"
I thought that girl was just some naive idiot, too weak-hearted to hurt anyone. She even went as far as to allow me to beat her up, I had never seen something so absurd.
But just now... it was as if she transformed into a completely different person, or rather, a completely different thing. I had never felt such an intense killing intent. And when I looked into her eyes, I saw a bottomless abyss of darkness, it was as if the grim reaper was staring into my soul.
Was that some sort of trick? Some magic to terrify her enemies? Or perhaps it's the other way around, she was acting before, and only now did I see a glimpse of her true nature. After all, there's no way that a kind person would be able to reach the level of power that she has.
Either way, I need to get help. She's too strong for me to beat her by myself, but my minions are not too far away. The guards that happened to be there at the moment were useless, but among my underlings, there are many who were able to obtain the 'demon lord' title on their own. Even if her level is a bit higher than mine I should be able to defeat her with their help.
"Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"
It feels like the temperatures dropped quite a bit and really fast. And not just that... did everything get darker? I look out a window and see that the sky has turned black. Was it not daytime a moment ago? No, this is not just night, I cannot even see the stars...
A drop of cold sweat goes down my neck when I look behind and see... darkness. Everything in the direction I just came from is black, and I can see the shadows moving, trying to get closer to me. In the middle, I can make out a figure that is somehow even darker than the complete darkness surrounding it, except for two glowing violet orbs floating where its eyes should be.
"W-what are you?"
The abomination that stands before me is not something that belongs in this world. Is this the real form of the queen of darkness? Was she only pretending to be an elf all along?
I need to get away from her! As I run, I keep stumbling into walls, the various hallways and rooms are twisted as if space itself has been distorted. Or is it just that I've lost my sense of balance and direction? The oppressive atmosphere that has enveloped the entire castle is making my head hurt. And the guards and servants who couldn't withstand it are laying unconscious here and there.
In the next room, I finally find the four demon lords I was searching for. Their levels range from 270 to 300, the strongest under my command.
"Hey, boss! What's going on? Why do you look so scared?"
I look scared? Who the hell would not look scared after seeing that thing!?
"Get ready to fight! She's about to get here!"
"Who's about to get here? That scary-looking elf?"
Damn it, she already caught up. These idiots are not taking her seriously enough... Wait, why would they even think of her as just an elf in the first place? Are they not seeing the same thing I am?
"Kill her!"
At least they followed my order and attacked her. A massive wave of magma, a hurricane concentrated into a fist-sized sphere, a silver arrow powerful enough to pierce steel without even slowing down, a rain of stone spears, and my own 'ranged strike', all reach her at the same time. Even that monster must have taken some severe damage from such an assault.
The darkness is not letting me see if the attack was successful. However, my subordinates are staring at it with terrified expressions, could it be that they can see? A wave of dark mana rushes at us, almost knocking us down, then I see the dark figure emerge from the shadows, and this time I can see her clearly. Her clothes are torn in a few places but she doesn't seem to be injured at all.
"Get out of my way."
All four of my subordinates hold their necks as if something was strangling them, they collapse after a few seconds. It seems like I'm the only one capable of enduring that monstrous killing intent when it's being projected at me directly... Wait, 'killing intent'...
I just realized something unbelievable. All of the strange things I've been seeing and experiencing were not the result of magic nor were they real. This is all in my head, this is simply the only way my mind can interpret the indescribable fear that I'm experiencing.
After all, an intimidation skill relies on people's sense of danger to scare them, it requires its user to be willing to cause harm for it to work. So how can she intimidate people effectively if she doesn't want to hurt anyone? The answer is that she can't, the terror that she inspires in people is something that happens despite her efforts to the contrary. And what I'm experiencing now, is what happens when she's actually trying to kill someone.
I have put so much effort to try to become the demon king. Becoming stronger, doing everything I could think of to make others fear me... That's how it usually works for anyone who tries to become someone extraordinary. It doesn't matter if it's a hero or a demon lord, they will have to go out of their way to fulfill that role.
But that girl is different. The queen of darkness, the very embodiment of terror, is not some role that she's fulfilling, that is simply what she is. Even if she does not want to.
I didn't realize her true nature until now that it's already too late, and like a fool I made her want to stop holding back. I made her unleash the terror that she had been keeping sealed.
'Shadow lance'
Her spell graces my leg, creating a new wound, but I need to ignore the pain. I have to get to the vault and find that weapon. My mages could identify that it is a powerful tool, but not what it did exactly, and the one who gave it to me was far too suspicious so I never used it before. But now it's the only hope I have left.
She's no longer chasing after me, where did she go? Each time I turn a corner, I feel as if my heart is going to jump out of my chest as I cannot help but imagine running right into her.
At last, I reach the vault. And when I enter, I run right into her, she was already inside.
"H-how did you know where I was headed?"
"I didn't know."
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"Then why are you here!?"
"This castle is too big, I got lost."
...
She got lost? But I took the most direct route and I was running, how did she get here before me?
"Well then, let's get this done already."
"ARGH!!!"
She places her hand on my chest and an excruciating pain fills my entire body for a few seconds until she stops and lets me catch a break.
"So you're not just trying to kill me? You're going to torture me too?"
"This is not torture, I'm trying to get that equipment out of your body."
"Equipment?"
"Yes, the one protecting you from my curses. Taking it out by force when you have it active is going to be really painful for you, and there's a chance that it will even kill you. So I recommend that you unequip it of your own will."
"Wait... so you're trying to curse me? You don't want to kill me?"
"No, but if you are going to kill other people then I'm willing to use harsher methods. After all, it's not as if your life is worth more than anyone else's."
So that was not killing intent? The only thing that changed is that she's now willing to use 'harsher methods'? All the things I felt... that fear that could make my mind snap... That was STILL holding back!?
"Ha. Hahaha! HAHAHAHA!!!"
"What's so funny."
"Nothing, I just thought that this world is truly doomed if something like you is running free."
"What are you talking about? Anyway, are you going to let me do this the easy way or not?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier? I will do anything to win. Even if it means my death. I won't make this easy for you."
"But you were not always like that. You loved that girl you told me about, didn't you? Can't you remember that?"
Did I love her? Maybe that's right, I remember that it was painful when she died...
"No, I did not. Her death taught me that winning is all that matters in this world, that's all she ever meant to me."
Before she can stop me, I grab the dagger I came here for. A strange weapon that looks more like a spike with a handle.
"What is that?"
"This is a magic tool that was given to me by a strange green witch. And it's finally time to use it."
I still remember what she told me. 'You still care about many things other than power. Only when you are truly ready to throw away everything else will you be able to use this.' It made it sound like I would have to sacrifice my life or something even worse.
I wanted to obtain the demon king title because I believed that such an achievement would serve as proof that I had 'won'. But if I can take this abomination down with me, it would be an even greater accomplishment. So I no longer care about anything else, not even my life.
After making my decision, I suddenly receive the knowledge of how to use this tool, and I stab it right into my chest.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? STOP IT!!!" Heh, now she's the one who looks afraid.
I was expecting to either explode or turn into a monster, something like that, but that's not what happened. Instead, I suddenly understood the truth about the world, that nothing in it matters.
I can feel the fire leaving my mana. It is not fire mana anymore, nor does it have any other element. I didn't know that such a thing was possible.
And, of course, I'm not afraid of the queen of darkness anymore. After all, to be able to feel fear one would need to think that life is not completely meaningless, and that would be nothing but madness.
Yes, the fear in me has left, along with everything else. And my now empty mana is slowly starting to unmake everything around me.