Although Ariel and the others were all curious about what he and Gulie had talked about, because of the contract he couldn't tell them anything. He only vaguely said they had gotten along well during the conversation and brushed it off.
After making the contract with Gulie, Ash naturally couldn't keep slowly traveling together with the other three.
After carefully checking the map and confirming the destination, he flew straight into the sky.
Like a bolt of lightning, he shot up and crossed the astonishing distance at incredible speed.
All the hardships along the way were skipped entirely. After arriving, he used Spatial Magic to bring the other three directly into demon territory.
This let him temporarily get away from the trouble of taking care of people. He didn't even have to walk anymore. He could stay in demon territory, rely on Ariel, live like a shut-in for a while, and focus entirely on researching magic.
Although it was demon territory, where people would normally expect darkness and monsters everywhere, the demons here didn't have horns or wings, so it was basically no different from human territory.
As long as he could peacefully study magic while eating and drinking for free under the care of a girl, he had nothing to complain about.
Once they arrived, Ash became very free and immediately started studying magic.
Ariel, meanwhile, began preparing the demon army for the future.
Even though the demon population had already dropped to the point where they barely had the strength to fight a war.
Normally, after Ash had already carried everyone across such a huge distance, Sophia shouldn't have needed to keep running under the little spider's training.
But, even after arriving in demon territory, her daily training didn't change. She continued working hard toward becoming the strongest.
The little spider also kept practicing her ability to control others.
Ash stayed inside the Demon Lord's Castle, quietly reading books.
As for the castle's owner, Ariel, the short-haired girl was the laziest out of everyone.
She had been busy preparing for war at first, but now she was lying lazily on the sofa, elegantly holding a glass of red wine.
She had one leg crossed over the other as she gently swirled the wine and slowly tasted it, with a faint smile whose meaning was impossible to tell.
That smile made her look like a sly fox plotting something.
When Ash casually glanced at her, Ariel immediately noticed, as though she had been waiting for it.
She smiled brightly and suddenly said, "I'm getting ready for war."
"..."
Ash pretended he hadn't heard anything and stayed silent.
But Ariel kept staring at him.
Her gaze felt impossible to ignore.
In the end, he quietly closed his book and sighed, "That came out of nowhere... Wait... were you talking to me?"
"Of course. Who else is here?", Ariel replied as though it were obvious.
"Are you sure the demons even have the strength to fight?"
"Throughout history, wars between humans and demons have always gone back and forth. Even now, the overall strength of both sides isn't very different."
After saying that, she casually explained the demons' current situation.
"Of course, demons live a long time, but they have a very low birth rate, so their population can't grow. Even though demons are better than humans in growth speed, lifespan, and many other areas, this single weakness leaves them at an overwhelming disadvantage in numbers. Unless they want both races to wipe each other out, they can't destroy humans, who win through numbers."
"In that case..."
"So what does that have to do with me?"
Ash had barely opened his mouth before Ariel shut him down with one sentence.
'Seriously...'
He rubbed his forehead for a while before asking,
"So what's your goal? Is it to pour a huge amount of energy into the System?"
"That's right."
She stared into her wine glass.
"In other words... I want them all to die."
Hatred flashed through her eyes as she calmly spoke those cruel words.
Ash couldn't help feeling, 'This Ariel is very different from the well-behaved girl Gulie described.'
"You're surprisingly cynical."
"I'm not cynical."
Ariel tilted her head back and finished the wine in one gulp before quietly saying,
"I just hate this world. I hate them. I hate them so much I can't stand it. The people who sacrificed Lady Sariel so they could keep living comfortably... and this world that keeps surviving by making Lady Sariel suffer... I hate all of it. I want to destroy everything right now."
As soon as she finished speaking...
Crack!
She accidentally squeezed too hard and crushed the wine glass in her hand.
Glass fragments scattered across the room, reflecting the light.
Looking at the broken glass, Ash couldn't help asking, "If that's how you feel, you've had the power to wipe out humanity for a long time. Why wait until now?"
"Lady Sariel wouldn't want that to happen."
"So you've endured it until now?"
"What other reason could possibly stop me from slaughtering every human?"
"If I remember correctly... you used to be human too, didn't you?", Ash suddenly asked.
"You know that?"
Ariel froze for a moment before looking at him in surprise.
"Well... I looked through some of the Pope's memories."
Ash smiled faintly.
His thoughts drifted back.
Or more accurately, back to the history buried inside the Pope's memories.
———
During the age of the old civilization, humans had absolutely no reason to provoke dragons.
Dragons were so powerful that humans couldn't possibly stand against them.
Besides, dragons had helped humanity many times.
They generously shared advanced science and technology, protecting humans from disasters and disease.
Although the dragons' goal was to bring humanity under their rule through peaceful means, life under dragon rule was genuinely good.
Dragons didn't oppress other races.
Nor did they demand sacrifices.
They simply believed they stood at the top of all living things.
But because of that, they didn't look down on others.
Instead, True Dragons believed that standing at the top meant they had the responsibility to guide and protect the lives under their care.
Of course, other races would probably see that way of thinking as arrogant.
Even so, there was no denying that dragons treated those under their protection with great kindness.
So under normal circumstances, humans would never do something as ridiculous as kidnapping a dragon child.
The dragons had always helped them, improved their lives despite wanting to rule them, and were far too powerful to provoke.
Yet there were still people reckless enough to believe that, with the Goddess protecting them, crossing the dragons' bottom line wouldn't have serious consequences.
Under Potimas's leadership, several organizations secretly cooperated.
They kidnapped young dragons and obtained parts of their bodies, such as hair and broken scales.
It was impossible to know exactly how many organizations took part.
But there was no doubt that many of them had secretly participated.
Their madness naturally brought revenge from the dragons.
It also resulted in the creation of many human-dragon hybrids.
These beings, whose DNA came from multiple species, became known as Chimeras.
After those Chimeras were rescued from Potimas's laboratory, the Goddess Sariel ignored the wishes of nations and organizations that wanted to continue the research.
For one of the few times in her life, she took a firm stand and brought them all to the orphanage she had founded.
Many children with different appearances lived there.
Ariel was one of them.
Nothing about her appearance immediately stood out, but around half of the children clearly looked different from ordinary humans.
Back then, Ariel could only move around in a wheelchair.
Many of the other children happily ran and played in the yard.
It should have been a warm scene.
But because they had once been experimental subjects, people used that as an excuse to insult them.
There wasn't really any reason.
People simply wanted someone to blame for the disasters they suffered.
If Sariel hadn't protected the orphanage, it probably would have been bombed long ago.
It was also worth mentioning that the dragons of the modern age were actually only some of the Chimeras Potimas created using the bodies of those young True Dragons.
More precisely, they were the survivors and their descendants.
The other children from the orphanage, though hated by people, all gave their lives for this world.
That left Ariel as Sariel's last child.
Looking back, Ariel's past was enough to make anyone sigh.
She had most likely been born directly inside a growth tank as a natural Chimera with both dragon and spider genes.
She had been treated as an experiment since infancy.
Later, Sariel rescued her.
She gave her a name.
She gave her a home.
She brought her to the orphanage.
Yet the discrimination against children like them never disappeared.
———
After carefully recalling Ariel's painful past, Ash quietly closed his book and sat down beside her.
The moment he sat down, Ariel immediately looked at him warily.
Ignoring it, he gently reached over and patted her head.
"Thinking about it carefully, I can probably understand how you feel... It really hasn't been easy for you."
"I hate pity."
Ariel frowned and slapped his hand away.
"And... I especially hate people who only hear about my past from others and then decide to pity me."
"Don't say that. It's not pity. It's affection."
"What's the difference?"
Ariel snorted, looking unconvinced.
"The difference is that I'm actually a pretty kind person."
"I can't see that at all."
"That's because you've been judging me through a crack in the door."
"Then why don't you come out from behind the door?"
"I've been standing right here."
Ash answered without thinking.
Of course, he understood what Ariel really meant.
She wanted him to actually show that kind side of himself.
Scratching his head, he continued, "Fine. I know you want my help. But before that, can you answer something? You already have the power to do everything yourself. Why spend so much effort controlling the demons? Couldn't you just use the spider army to wipe out either the humans or the demons? You wouldn't even need to fight personally."
"Looks like the memories you saw weren't complete."
"I only watched selected parts. There's no way I'd completely merge with someone else's memories. I could fully read them if I wanted to, but it'd take time, and I have no interest in learning every detail of that guy's overly long life."
Ash explained before becoming more direct.
"Besides, aren't you the one asking for help? Why not just tell me what you need?"
"I still have to kill the elves."
"I have to sacrifice all of them too."
"They're that strong? I thought..."
"The elves themselves aren't worth mentioning."
"But that parasite Potimas definitely has some secret weapon."
Even Ariel couldn't be sure what kind of advanced technology the mad scientist Potimas had created using the planet's energy, which could be used for almost anything.
The only thing she knew for certain... was that he definitely had something prepared against her.
At the very least, something capable of taking both of them down together.
He might even have something prepared for Gulie.
Although Gulie was already an adult dragon, most of his power had gone into maintaining the System.
Even so, as a god he was still stronger than Ariel, whose strength had already reached the System's limit.
Compared to before, however, his raw power had become much lower.
So dealing with him wasn't completely impossible... Probably.
Ariel hid none of this.
She explained everything to Ash honestly.
Ash couldn't help being impressed by Potimas's ability.
At the same time, another question appeared in his mind.
Ariel had always been timid... or maybe she still was.
So why would someone like her willingly become the Demon Lord and face such enormous danger?
"That guy has probably built all kinds of weapons specifically for the final battle against us. He stayed hidden all these years because he was making them. He used up all the energy this world should have used to recover just to build weapons against us."
Before Ash could understand why Ariel had acted against her own nature, she looked straight at him and seriously said,
"So... I need more strength."
"I need you."
"Wait," Ash didn't answer immediately.
He asked Ariel to give him a moment while he thought through her reasons.
Only after understanding them could he make his decision.
'Is it because of her love for Sariel?'
'That is certainly possible.'
'But she still doesn't seem completely confident.'
Before meeting him and the little spider, she had already been planning all of this, which was why she chose the demons as extra strength.
But the demons weren't actually very strong either.
Even one Queen Taratect, together with the dozens of S-rank giant spiders under her command and the countless other spiders of every rank, would be enough to wipe out either humans or demons.
That level of support hardly mattered.
Even so... Even if it only increased her chances a little... She still had no intention of giving up.
Even if she couldn't convince herself.
———
After thinking for a long time, Ash quickly reached a conclusion.
Although he found it hard to believe, he still asked directly,
"Are you dying?"
"Ah..."
Ariel, who had been waiting seriously for his answer, stiffened slightly.
Then she smiled in surprise, "How did you figure that out?"
"I guessed."
"You've already run out of time."
"You can't wait for the right opportunity anymore."
"You can't slowly build up your strength either."
"So you're planning to risk everything before you die, aren't you?"
"Not bad," Ariel smiled.
There wasn't the slightest trace of gloom on her face.
Instead, she looked completely at peace, "Lady Sariel saved my life. Before this life ends, of course I have to find a way to repay her."
"If the enemy is as dangerous as you say, and Gulie can't directly fight because of his own limits, then the payment should..."
"What about me?"
Before Ash could finish, Ariel interrupted him.
Smiling, she pointed at herself, "Didn't you say you liked me? How about that as payment?"
"Uh... that was just a joke..."
Ash couldn't help laughing awkwardly when she brought that up again.
"Y-You even play with a girl's feelings so casually? That's awful! You're such a terrible person! I trusted you so much! And this is how it turned out?"
Ariel pretended to wipe away tears that didn't exist, speaking in a childish voice full of blame.
If an outsider saw this scene, they would probably think Ash was some creepy ojisan who toyed with a girl's feelings.
But...
'What is this three-thousand-year-old grandma talking about? She knew from the beginning that it was a joke. And now she's pretending to be an innocent child who got tricked?'
Watching this elderly girl acting young, pretending to have been fooled and pretending her feelings had been played with, Ash's expression became very strange.
Meanwhile, Ariel's smile slowly turned dangerous.
"Mr. Ash... were you just thinking something very rude?"
"Can you read minds?"
"I just know how to read people's expressions."
"And... intuition."
"That's terrifying!"
'Being able to read people that well, plus that strange intuition...'
'That's basically mind reading!'
Ash suddenly felt that he might really have to be more careful when complaining about Ariel in his head.
Ariel, however, smiled slyly, like a cat that had just stolen a fish.
"By the way, under normal circumstances, the way you look at me is pretty dirty."
"Especially just now."
"That was a gentle look."
"So you're not denying that your usual looks are dirty?"
Ariel leaned closer as she pressed him further.
"If I deny every single thing one by one, it'll never end. Besides, wouldn't that just let you lead me around?"
"More importantly... weren't we discussing something serious?"
"This is something serious too."
At that, Ariel put away her teasing smile.
She cleared her throat and looked straight into Ash's eyes with complete seriousness.
"I've always been serious."
"So everything before this was just leading up to it?"
"Yes."
"Because I really couldn't think of anything else that would make suitable payment."
She placed a hand over her chest and calmly said,
"If you help me... then I belong to you."
"Everything I have will be yours."
"Even though you don't have long left to live?"
"Thanks to part of my soul merging with Shiro's, I can live a little longer."
"So?"
"This deal shouldn't be a loss for you, should it?"
Although Ariel said that, a trace of uneasiness could still be seen in her eyes.
She was genuinely worried that even the greatest thing she could offer would still be rejected.
"I feel like if I agree, people will think I'm a creep..."
Ash hesitated.
Ariel quickly added, "I'm actually very old."
"Doesn't that make it an even worse deal?"
Ash laughed helplessly.
"Hmm~ I'll kill you?"
Ariel wore an innocent, adorable smile as she spoke words cold enough to freeze someone's blood.