"Keeheeheeheet! How enjoyable. Truly, so very enjoyable!"
"...This insane demon bastard."
The demon laughed disgustingly, as it always did.
I'd heard it for over a year, but I could never get used to it. I had no intention of getting used to it.
Because this was the end.
I thrust the blade in deep.
"Just die quietly."
"Pff... hahaha. Well now, you certainly put a lot of personal feeling into that stab! The sensation of my guts twisting is so vivid!"
The one dying was the demon bastard. Not me.
But I was the only one with a grim expression.
The demon bastard, for whatever reason it found amusing, was bursting into laughter again.
"My, my. Normally, this should have dragged on for a few more years, but the conditions have changed a bit. It wouldn't be so bad to die now, would it!"
"What kind of bullshit is this? For a demon. Are you trying to say you've been playing with me?"
"Precisely. Eeheeheet!"
The demon never touched anyone.
It only dealt with those who came to exterminate it.
My master lost to this thing and died, and I won.
I succeeded in my revenge.
It should have been a simple story.
"Isn't it strange? That the Papal States openly turned a blind eye to a demon like me?"
"...What does that have to do with anything?"
"Fufufu. You still don't understand. How delightful. So very delightful!"
I pulled the sword out and plunged it back in. This time, I stabbed its chest.
Gush. Blood spurted out.
For a demon, its blood was the same red as a human's.
"The Papal States probably figured they didn't need to worry about you since you weren't causing any harm. Not when you're a demon strong enough to kill an Executor."
"No no no no. Zero points. You've guessed completely wrong. This is quite a shame."
What is it? What is this thing trying to say?
"The truth is, I've never even seen the faces of humans like your master or the priests~?"
"...What?"
"Because they were 'fakes' created out of necessity. They never existed from the start. Puhahaha!"
It's spouting nonsensical bullshit.
This thing is a demon. A demon that deceives people.
It's not worth dealing with.
"You thought I was lying because I'm a demon, didn't you? It's obvious. So obvious!"
"Nonsense."
"In that case, here's a question for you! Ta-da-da-da! What... was your master's name?"
I decided to humor the demon bastard's game for a moment.
It was going to die soon anyway.
Tell him my master's name? That's too easy a question.
My master's name was......
"You don't know, do you? Kkil kkil. Now my words must be gaining some credibility!"
"Shut up. There's no way I don't know my master's name...?"
"You can't put a name on something that doesn't exist!"
I desperately tried to recall the past.
When I first came down from the mountains. My master held out his hand then.
That hand,
Was it rough? Or was it smooth?
I felt the blood rush to my head.
I grabbed the demon by the collar.
The corners of its blood-caked mouth were still turned up in a smile.
"Is this some kind of memory-altering magecraft? A rather crude trick."
"No, no. Why don't you try looking at reality for a change?"
Before I could say anything, the demon bastard cut me off and threw out a second question.
"Now then! You are a warrior skilled enough to kill a demon like me in an instant! So why did it take you a whole year to exterminate me?"
"Because you kept running away every day. Cutting down bridges, hiding between trees...."
"Wrong again. Wrong!"
I threw the thing to the ground.
This was bullshit not worth listening to.
"It's because you thought the time to catch me hadn't come yet!"
It should be just that, so why am I so shaken?
There's a part of me that wants to nod along to its words.
My mind went blank.
I felt my emotions, which I believed had gone numb, coming back to life.
"You're the first human I've met who can't get any answers right! But, I'll give you more chances. Since you are my 'Master'."
"Master? I'm your master?"
"You'll understand everything soon enough. ...My body feels stiff, shall we get up? Hahahat!"
The thing shot to its feet.
That's impossible.
I had severed all the tendons in its legs and left fatal wounds in its abdomen and chest.
It shouldn't be able to move.
"Since my Master keeps supplying me with magical energy, I can stay alive, you see. I've just told you the reason I don't have to attack humans! Ta-da!"
"Magical energy? Master? No. Impossible. There's no way I wouldn't have noticed such a magical arrangement. You're lying."
The demon's form was gradually swelling up.
No, the shadow was the same. Its size was the same.
It was just my imagination making it so.
"This is the last one. What is the true identity of the person named Johanna?"
"...Johanna can't be a fake. My memory of her is still clear. Whatever trick you've pulled, my memories of her are intact."
"Correct. Ding-dong-ding-dong!"
I was sure that would be the wrong answer.
Its affirmation amplified my anxiety.
"The only certain things in this world are you and Johanna. The only two beings with names!"
"Shut up."
My intuition screamed at me to shut that demon's mouth.
But even when I covered its mouth, I could still hear its voice.
"A fake world created by your desire. A dream space gifted by an omnipotent wish-granting device."
I cut off its head with my sword.
Blood spewed out like a fountain. My whole body was drenched in it.
Its voice did not stop.
"This place right here is the world created from the sordid desire to love a human as unfortunate as yourself."
"Shut up! Where are you speaking from! Show yourself!"
"The Holy Grail is inside you. Even a foolish Master should know what must be done to continue the dream, right? Keeheeheeheet!"
When I opened my eyes, I was on a mountain.
The demon was gone.
As if nothing had been there from the start.
The thick clumps of blood that had stained my entire body were also completely gone.
The moon was in the sky, and the chirping of insects could be heard from the bushes.
"This, it can't be a lie."
I clawed at the ground. I found an earthworm in the soil. I ripped it in half and killed it.
A strange liquid splattered on my face. It was cold.
"This is reality. This isn't a dream."
Where is Rome?
I have to go see Johanna.
What the demon meant by 'the time', what that signifies.
I have to find out....
"No need. I don't need to know. That's not important."
This is my reality.
I exterminate the demon, my deeds are recognized, and I become an Executor...?
"What the. What is this memory? I'm already an Executor, aren't I?"
Unidentifiable memories seep in.
As if the fate of this world had been decided from the very beginning.
'If I kick off the ground and leap, I can see the great cathedral of Rome.'
I kicked off the ground and soared into the air, and in the distance, I could see the great cathedral of Rome.
"...Fucking hell."
You can't re-enter a dream you've woken up from.