—Bart's Perspective— "If you truly claim to be His Majesty the Demon King's loyal vassal, then it falls to you to stop us, does it not?"
Before departure, the Fifth Army's commander,
"...So it means I could never become a true loyal vassal to His Majesty."
Darad smiled sadly.
The commanders had not been of one mind.
Some, like Sanathria, had been on the verge of raising the banner of rebellion against the Demon King, while others, like Hyui, had been spiritually broken by the Demon King and had submitted.
However, what all the commanders of pure-blooded Demon race had in common was that almost none of them had sworn heartfelt loyalty to the Demon King.
Not even
If we did not obey, the Demon race would be annihilated.
That was why we had no choice but to obey.
And yet, among all of them, Darad had been the sole commander of pure-blooded Demon race origin who had genuinely pledged his heartfelt loyalty to the Demon King.
Part of it was that Darad's family line was one deeply devoted to the Demon King's worship.
But despite being born into such a clan, Darad had grown up during the era when the throne of the Demon King sat vacant.
He had dreamed of serving the Demon King, and had finally earned the right to stand at the Demon King's side as a commander. I could not even imagine what that must have felt like for him.
But his loyalty had been genuine.
Even so, Darad was not permitted to join the Demon King's ranks.
When the Demon King had marched on the Elven village, he had taken along only those he had personally elevated to commander.
Darad's loyalty had never reached the Demon King's ears.
Now the World Quest had been issued. The Demon King's true intentions and purpose had been made public. And the Demon King was about to set off for the final battle.
"I will take responsibility for maintaining order within the Demon race territories. Go, and do not worry."
And so, caught between his loyalty to the Demon King and his duty as a noble of the Demon race, the conclusion Darad had reached was non-participation.
As he himself had said, if one were to remain a true loyal vassal to the Demon King, then stopping us—those who had chosen to oppose the Demon King—would have been the correct course of action.
But at the same time, Darad was also a noble with subjects under his care.
He could not have simply left them to die.
Nor could he have turned his blade against the Demon King.
I could not condemn Darad's choice as half-hearted.
I had departed ahead of the others to make contact with the Human race first, but when I left the expedition preparations to Sanathria, I had instructed her to summon only those soldiers who had the will to fight.
Our opponent was the Demon King.
If we fought, we would die.
Dragging along soldiers who were reluctant to fight in a battle where death was certain would only make them a hindrance.
Only those who understood they would die yet still had the resolve to fight—that was who I wanted to bring.
And the Demon race army that gathered in this way turned out to be larger than I had expected.
"There are a lot of them."
"Yes, there are."
Sanathria answered my candid observation in a languid tone.
Yes—there had been one other unexpected development. Sanathria's presence here.
"I thought you would be one of the ones staying behind in the Demon race territories."
"...I'm regretting having come here myself, wondering why I did it."
Sanathria sighed, but she showed no intention of fleeing now.
"Apparently I was a world-famous actress."
"Did you check your Reincarnation history?"
"I did. Judging by your reaction, you did too?"
"More or less."
The Taboo of Reincarnation history.
It was a record that revealed what kinds of reincarnations one had undergone up to that point.
Or perhaps I should say it was a matter of recalling the memories etched into one's soul.
If you chose one of those lives, you could remember the memories from that time.
I had selected and recalled the memories of the very first life, and even that alone had been an enormous volume of records.
The impact of recalling that many memories in an instant had been so immense it felt like my brain might burst.
Fortunately, I had only experienced mild dizziness and had not collapsed.
If a single life's memories alone could do that, then recalling all of them would likely be dangerous.
The reason I had gotten off relatively lightly was probably because I possessed the Skill of Record.
Or rather—the reason this Skill, which had virtually no connection to combat, existed within the System was probably for exactly this purpose.
"There were multiple films where I starred as the lead, you know?"
"That's impressive."
"But none of those works remain anywhere now."
Recording media such as books degraded remarkably fast due to the workings of the System.
Books could at least be preserved through copying, but films were another matter entirely.
The films in which the actress from Sanathria's first life had appeared no longer had a single copy remaining in this world.
"My death scene in that life was incredibly anticlimactic too. When I watched that record, I suddenly felt so sad, wondering what my life had even been. That's when I decided I couldn't run away from this fight. Not exactly in character for me."
"...Is that so."
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"It's unfair if I'm sitting here opening up like this while you refuse to say anything."
"You were the one who started talking on your own."
"So what."
With a sigh, I adjusted the position of my glasses with a finger.
"I was royalty in a reasonably prosperous kingdom."
"Huh? You were a prince?"
"More or less. Though in truth, with the parliament handling political matters, I held no real power at all."
Unlike now, when I oversaw the politics of the Demon race, back then I had not possessed a shred of real authority.
All I had were my duties as royalty.
A life of nothing but stiff formality.
"But I loved my homeland, and I loved the people who lived there."
A country that no longer even existed.
"That is why, this time, I will protect them."
Even if it meant returning kindness with betrayal.
Even if it meant dying in the process.
My gaze fell upon the black, writhing shadows that blanketed the ground as far as the eye could see.
Every single one of them was a Taratect monster.
And the colossal monster enthroned at their center—Queen Taratect.
Even though there was still considerable distance between us, her overwhelming majesty drove fear into our hearts.
I heard the sound of someone swallowing hard.
Or perhaps it had been my own.
A thick layer of clouds began to cover the sky above the swarm of Taratects.
And then— Thunder roared.
Violent bolts of lightning crashed down upon Queen Taratect.
That became the signal to commence battle.
As if the ground itself had come alive, the Taratect swarm surged forward in undulating waves.
"Grand magic, ready! Shields, brace yourselves!"
I shouted.
"Not yet! Not yet! Lure them in closer!"
Approaching. A wave.
A grotesque, repulsive horde.
"Fire!"
Following my command, grand magic erupted from every corner of the allied forces.
It mowed down the advancing Taratect swarm.
But from the ranks of the fallen, more Taratects pressed forward.
"Next volley! Fire!"
But this too had been anticipated.
We fired grand magic in staggered intervals.
Yet the Taratect swarm kept coming.
It was only a matter of time before they broke through the grand magic and reached our front-line shield wall.
"Do not falter! Each individual creature is nothing! Stay calm and handle them accordingly!"
They seemed to feel no fear of death.
But the same was true of us.
"For our lives! For the future of the Demon race!"