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The man who called himself Mephisto casually waved his blood-stained hand.
The hand, drenched in blood, became clean as if everything that happened until now was a lie.
"You're not an angel. ...What are you?"
"I'm an angel. See? Beautiful wings, right? Four wings are a symbol of higher rank. Six wings, a symbol of special rank. It's cruel, isn't it? Discrimination based on the number of wings."
Mephisto spread his black wings widely.
They resembled those of a large black raptor, larger than his own body. If all black wings were the same, Helios's wings would be far more elegant and beautiful.
"Don't lie. There's no way someone with such wicked magical power could be an angel. Why did you deceive Aliza... why did you do such cruel things...!"
"I got bored of the gloomy scenery of the other world. So, I thought I'd freshen up my mind in the human world. And then... my master got angry, saying, 'How long are you going to play around?' So I thought, maybe I'll call the forces of the other world and destroy the kingdom. And besides, playing with you seems more fun than with Aliza."
Before I knew it, Mephisto was standing right in front of me.
A large palm touched my cheek, and all I could do was gasp and look up.
His hand was as cold as ice, sending chills where his skin touched mine. Disgusting and nauseating, I tried to push his hand away, but Mephisto effortlessly grabbed my hand with one hand.
His nails dug into my wrist, and a trickle of blood ran down my arm.
"Aliza quickly became infatuated with me and it became boring. Bringing hope to a heart filled with despair is no fun at all. I, Chloe, like pushing those who believe in the goodness of others and struggle down to the depths of hell. Indeed, you're resilient. Even though abandoned by everyone and having lost everything, you still try to protect others. ...You're truly Celestia's child."
"Do you know about my mother?"
"I do. Very well. There was no one more bothersome. But she's dead now. She defied reason by giving birth to you, so she died."
"What do you mean by that...?"
Because of giving birth to me, my mother died?
I look up at Mephisto. He wore an enchanting smile. His purple eyes, framed by long lashes, gazed down at me.
His face drew closer. I can't move. Just as I thought his lips were about to touch mine, a white blade gleamed.
"Don't waste your breath, Chloe! This is a demon. There's no need to listen."
Mephisto released his grip on me to caught Julius's sword with one hand.
The power of purification, staining the blade white, burned Mephisto's hand. A scent like rotten sweet fruit fizzled in the air.
"An annoyance... for a mere human man. ...No, that's not it, is it? You are..."
"Silence. Die."
Julius forcefully pulled the sword from Mephisto's hand. The palm that was slashed horizontally was cut cleanly from the center of the palm.
Fingers rolled and tumbled but there was no sight of blood.
Instead, new flesh sprouted out of the severed palm, reshaping into a hand once again.
"It's pointless. You can't defeat me. You don't have the power to kill me."
"Silence. You've just been cut. If you can be cut, keep chopping, and eventually, you'll die."
A swift strike caught Mephisto's body. With a flutter of his wings, Mephisto tried to leap away.
But Julius was faster, and all Mephisto could do was dodging the rapid succession of sword strikes.
Mephisto's arm transformed into a black blade. The sound of Mephisto taking Julius's sword resounded the whole area. As Mephisto thrust his hand forward, something like the decaying body of a mangled corpse emerged from under Julius's feet, trying to entangle his legs and halt his movements.
I aimed the staff of magical amplification at Julius's feet.
"Divine thunderbolt!"
With the incantation, sharp light descended from the sky. The blades of light, accompanied by white feathers, burned the undead horde at Julius's feet.
Julius didn't seem distracted by the undead at his feet. He believed in me to protect him. I readied the staff once more.
Mephisto's blade slashed shallowly across Julius's chest and abdomen. Julius grabbed Mephisto's arm at the tip of the blade.
With a strong pull and momentum, he leaped up, casually grabbing one of Mephisto's wings, and called out, "Chloe!"
"Light! Pierce the darkness and bring forth dawn!"
I felt magic filling my body. The charged magic seemed to be absorbed by the staff, making my footing unsteady.
The blade of Julius's sword changed shape with the light. Unfamiliar characters were engraved on the dazzlingly radiant white blade.
With that sword, Julius cut off Mephisto's wing.
Black feathers scattered. One piece of the wing, severed, fell to the ground.
"You...!"
"It seems wings cannot regenerate. Let's make you drop all your prideful feathers."
Julius wore a wicked grin. He put his foot on Mephisto's back, grabbed another wing, and raised the sword.
"Oh, this power... this power is..."
Mephisto mutters as he flapped his wings vigorously and leaped into the sky.
With the shock of his flapping, Julius was blown towards me and landed beside me effortlessly, like a cat falling off a fence.
"...I see. This is fine. Chloe, let's meet again. I look forward to seeing your heart shatter with sorrow and despair."
Mephisto said, returning his arm, which had turned into a blade, to its original form.
"Mephisto...!"
"This is good, isn't it? It's very good that you called my name. Remember, Chloe. I am Mephisto... the deceitful clown... the being engraved as a demon."
As Mephisto smiled at me, Julius stepped forward to protect me.
"It's a hassle to be chased by wyverns, so I'll leave you with someone to deal with. ...Until we meet again."
With those words from Mephisto, a large portal to another world appeared in the center of the pedestal.
The gate to the other world opened, and from there emerged a face--- a face I've seen before.
"...Father."
All my strength drained from my hand. The staff fell with a clatter from my grasp.
Mephisto's laughter echoes distantly. I couldn't even move.
What appeared from the gate to the other world was someone who looked like my father, crucified.
I knew it was something else with my father's appearance. But that face belonged to my father.
The head and torso were separated, each bound to a cross with chains.
Underneath the crosses, many skulls rolled into a mound. Beneath them, countless legs sprouted and squirmed, like the underside of a caterpillar.
Something with my father's face calls out my name in a hoarse voice, "Chloe, Chloe."
"Shall I tell you your father's final words?"
Aliza's words resonate in my head.
"Don't touch it Chloe!"
My father was executed with his head severed from his body.
My father had realized that Aliza was being controlled by something inhuman.
So he accepted Aliza as his daughter, treated me harshly to not provoke her, and surely sought a way to seal Mephisto, who nested in Aliza's body, to protect me.
And because he knew that, he was executed. In the Fountain Square, his head was cut off, and the people of the town, glaring at me with expressions of hatred, told me he was the daughter of the dreadful Duke Seigrit.
I neither mourned nor grieved; I simply accepted the fact stoically.
I didn't know how to take it. I thought my father hated me, and that he was a traitor---but that wasn't true.
"...Chloe, don't look."
My eyes teared up. Julius embraced me, shielding the sight of the monster from my view.
"Close your eyes. You shouldn't see that."
"Julius, that's... that might be, might be my father who fell into the other world... we have to help, we have to...!"
"If that's the case, there's only one way to save him... to kill him."
I pressed my face against Julius's chest, shaking my head. It was so painful. I couldn't breathe properly.
"Chloe. It'll be over soon. Don't interfere."
"Painful... it hurts... painful... Chloe..."
The monster, with a voice similar to my father's but hoarse and ragged, repeated those words to me, as if pleading for help.
Julius was right.
The monster is the remnant of the dead who fell into the other world. My father was already dead.
So, bringing him back to life was impossible. I couldn't do anything. Not a single thing.
At least--- I didn't want to look away.
Julius's body moved away from me.
I picked up the staff I dropped, straightened my back as much as possible, and stood upright.
I gazed at my father's face. Through the gaps in the chains wrapped around his face, intelligent eyes looked back at me.
I felt like I heard a voice saying "Chloe" in my head.
It wasn't coming from the monster. It was my father's deeply calm, difficult, and formal voice.
Julius rushed towards the monster.
The sword was still filled with the power of purification. Despite the situation, it was strangely beautiful to see white feathers scattered with each swing of the sword.
Julius cut down countless skulls flying towards him and charged straight at the monster.
Jumping up, he cleaved the monster in half from the top of the cross.
The monster burst from within, its form collapsing.
My father's hand, freed from the broken chains, reached out to me.
"Chloe, I'm sorry."
Clear as day, my father said it.
I wiped away the tears streaming down my face with my sleeve and bit my lip to suppress my sobs.
Crying, screaming, it wouldn't change anything.
Considering Julius's concern for me, it felt wrong to be overwhelmed by sadness here.
As the monster disappeared, the makeshift scaffolding made of the giant hands of the castle, which had turned into an awkward object, began to shake and collapse.
Julius rushed towards me, picking me up, and called out, "Helios!"
Before the scaffolding collapsed completely, we leaped towards Helios, who descended from the sky, swooping with ease.
Aliza's body starts falling towards the ground. From Julius's arms, I tried reaching out to her.
As if sensing my intentions, Helios adeptly caught Aliza's falling body with his feet and soared back into the sky once more.