Two flashes of light, each a different color, streaked across the corner of the vast Demon Realm, while the surrounding air was filled with a deafening roar.
Just as thousands of tree roots rose like spears piercing the skies, an extremely cold wind blowing down from the skies froze them.
[……!?]
“Kuhh……”
Like a rush of magical power sweeping through a storm, two shadows faced each other in the center of the trembling atmosphere.
[……Lillywood…… Don’t interfere.]
“……I can’t let you go to the Human Realm, Isis.”
The two figures confronting each other were both so well-known in the Demon Realm that no one could claim to be unfamiliar with them. The battle between the Six Kings—Isis Remnant, the Death King, and Lillywood Yggdrasil, the World King—was so fierce that it could only be described as a natural disaster. Everything in the surrounding area, as far as the eye could see, had been reduced to wilderness.
The battle began about half an hour ago, when Lillywood attempted to stop Isis from reaching the gate to the Human Realm, and it had escalated into this fierce confrontation.
[……This doesn’t concern you…… Lillywood.]
“I’m involved in this! Right now, the Demon Realm and the Human Realm have just signed a treaty of friendship, and it’s still very fragile. We can’t afford to destroy the trust we’ve only just begun to build.”
[……So…… Why…… are you…… stopping me?]
“……Do you really want me to say it? I wouldn’t want to if I could avoid it. But the truth is, your existence is dangerous in this situation.”
[……Why……]
“The magic power of death you’re cladin is nothing but a source of fear for all living beings…”
[……You’re wrong.]
“Stop turning a blind eye! You know this yourself… to the humans, you are nothing but an object of fear.”
[……!?!?!?]
The truth was, she didn’t want to say such harsh words. Lillywood wore an expression that seemed to indicate she had bitten into something bitter, but she knew she had to speak the truth. As Isis heard those words, her eyes widened and she froze.
A moment of silence passed… but it was quickly shattered by the growing surge of magic power from Isis.
[……You’re wrong…… You’re wrong…… You’re wrong!!!]
“……………”
In response to her cries and screams, Isis’s magic power erupted, forming an immense magic circle in the sky that shook the very air around them.
Seeing the Maximum Magic, charged with her killing intent and clearly different from the Magic she had used before, Lillywood remained calm. She calmly formed a magic circle of the same size on the ground.
The Six King’s Maximum Magic… It was enough to turn dozens of kilometers into ashes. Rather than attempting to intercept it, Lillywood aimed to offset it with Magic of the same scale, intending to protect the lands of the Demon Realm.
However, before the storm unleashed by Isis could descend from the sky, a jet-black magic circle appeared, superimposed on the bluish-white one, and with a sound like shattering glass, Isis’s magic circle vanished.
[……!?]
“This is……”
Before the two, surprised by the sudden appearance, Kuromueina materializes between them, her coat transformed into black wings, flapping in the air.
[Did I make it in time?]
“Yes, thank you for your help, Kuromueina. As expected, there was only so much I could do to manage the damage to the surrounding area on my own…”
Lillywood lets out a sigh of relief at Kuromueina’s appearance and thanks her, while, in contrast, Isis clenches her teeth in frustration.
[……Kuromueina… You’re also… going to interfere?]
[No, it’s not like I’m trying to interfere or anything… I understand how you feel, Isis… But could you at least wait until the world is a little more stable?]
[……………….]
Hearing Kuromueina’s words, Isis bit her lip, as if still unconvinced, but she didn’t try to force her way through like she had when confronted by Lillywood.
She might have been able to manage if it was just Lillywood, but with Kuromueina involved, the chance of breaking through was practically zero.
After a long silence, Isis clenched her fists and left quietly, her body trembling slightly.
Watching her depart, looking as though she might be crying, Kuromueina let out a deep sigh.
[…It seems like she’s having a rough day. Isis, I mean.]
“I suppose it can’t be helped. The Human Realm and the God Realm have signed a treaty of friendship, and she knows that, but still… no matter what happens, she’s still hoping to find someone who will accept her, whether in the Human Realm or the God Realm.”
[Isis is pretty lonely, after all. Especially since we’ve been so busy lately that we haven’t had the chance to talk to her…]
Thinking about Isis, who had just left, both Kuromueina and Lillywood wore somewhat sad expressions.
Two years after the treaty of friendship was signed, for the sake of peace between the three realms now working together, both Kuromueina and Lillywood had been frequently traveling between the Human and Demon Realms. However, Isis hadn’t visited either the Human Realm or the God Realm since the treaty was signed.
No, it’s more accurate to say that she wanted to visit, but she was stopped. Isis, always clad in the magic power of death, is a figure of fear in both the Human Realm and the God Realm, to the point where even the faint-hearted would faint at the mere sight of her.
So, in this unstable time, they couldn’t let her roam freely.
“Kuromueina, why is Isis so obsessed with the Human Realm and the God Realm to this extent? Aren’t we enough to ease her loneliness?”
[It’s just a guess, but I think it’s because we can’t truly help her with her loneliness. The reason is quite simple. We have great power.]
“Because we have great power?”
[Yes. I think this is what Isis believes. The reason we treat her normally is because we have the power to oppose her… or, to put it another way, if we didn’t have our power, we wouldn’t have accepted her. What she’s seeking is someone who will unconditionally accept her… someone who will still take her hand without fear, even if they’re not strong enough to stand against her. I think that’s why she’s drawn to the less powerful Humans, because she’s looking for someone like that.]
“……I see. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? I can hardly believe there’s a Human who could stand before her magic power of death.”
[……It certainly is difficult. Even Hikari-chan couldn’t do it.]
The being that Isis seeks—a being who would accept her even without the power to oppose her… The chances of such a being appearing are nearly nonexistent.
Even the human with the strongest heart they know, the Hero Hikari, couldn’t face Isis properly. Her body trembled before her, struggling to find her words.
That alone would be enough to show that she had a strong heart, but it paled in comparison to the being Isis was hoping to find.
As Kuromueina and Lillywood recalled the face of Isis, who had almost broken down in tears just moments ago, they both looked down in sadness.
The Land of Death, within the castle of ice.
There, the Death King, Isis Remnant, wept.
[……Uwaaahhh…… Why…… Why……]
She is a being born from the accumulation of magical power left behind by numerous deceased people. In other words, she can be described as an existence that embodies the very concept of death itself.
From the moment she was born, the magic power of death was embedded in her body, and this power exerts an intimidating influence on those around her, regardless of her own intentions.
It doesn’t matter if Isis harbors hostility or if the person she faces is afraid—those things are irrelevant. The instincts of every living being reject her very existence.
Hence, she was lonely.
Isis is seen as an object of fear by most beings in the Demon Realm. She’s a Dead Spirit, and despite her race being similar to the Wights and Liches… even those under the Undead species fear her.
She is one of the Six Kings, named for the threat she represents, and is said to be the most dangerous among them.
However, she has no desire to spread death indiscriminately. She would even try to be as friendly as possible with those who didn’t raise their blades against her, but the magic of death that clings to her body won’t allow it.
The only ones who can face Isis without fear are those whose power rivals her own. Conversely, those who lack such power fear her and keep their distance, without exception.
This reality brings her a profound sense of loneliness, and Isis has spent thousands of years carrying that smoldering feeling.
It might have been better if things had stayed that way. If she had remained consumed by this sense of defeat, perhaps she could have found some semblance of happiness.
Despair… is born from hope.
The moment the three realms—the Demon Realm, the Human Realm, and the God Realm—joined forces, and her world expanded… a faint hope flickered in Isis’s mind.
If the Demon Realm is impossible… but perhaps the Human Realm or the God Realm… If there exists a being who would accept her, even if they held no power to challenge her magic power of death…
The hope she once embraced returned to her as nothing but overwhelming despair.
No one would ever truly accept her for who she is. No one would take her hand with sincerity, from the depths of their heart.
These overflowing emotions turned into tears, and the king draped in death roared alone.
The one she had sought for thousands of years… It wasn’t until nearly a thousand years later that he finally appeared…
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