The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 3 - Chapter 49

CHAPTER 49

The Ex–Demon Lord’s Ultimate Agony

Once you lived for a while, there just wasn’t much that would catch you off guard. And even if things startled you, you would manage to regain your composure quickly.

In theory.

But…my mind and body had frozen in time, and I’d lost all ability to move.

I was aiming to defeat the Demon Lord.

And he was none other than myself…!

In terms of appearances, we were essentially twins…with some slight differences.

First, his hair. It was streaked white, longer than my own, and disheveled. Then, there was his face: sharp, glinting eyes like those of a wild beast…and a diagonal scar running from his forehead to his chin.

There was only one thing that could explain these differences.

“That’s right. There’s no doubt we’re the same person. But we were born in separate worlds, living out our own lives. In broad sweeps, you could say we’re alike. We were both born as Varvatos and reincarnated as Ard Meteor… We gained a lot, only to quickly lose it.”

He grinned, his scarred mouth twisting in self-loathing.

“But you haven’t lost anything yet. Unlike me, you have yet to experience failure. I was no good—entirely worthless. Which was why I got rid of the name Ard Meteor. I’m a complete failure, going by the name of Disaster Rogue. You may call me that, too.” He deepened his jeering smile.

…There was no question he was me. But he was also someone else at the same time. It seemed we had walked down very different paths. I couldn’t help but feel sentimental about that, but I knew that now was not the time to investigate further.

I took off the Ard Meteor mask as he’d suggested earlier. “…How’d you wind up in this era?”

“The exact same way as you. That self-proclaimed god suddenly appeared, I went along with the story…and the next minute, I was in this era. After that, I became the Demon Lord, as you know… It’s ironic. To achieve my own goals, I had to once again take on the name that I loathed more than death itself.” He gave a heavy sigh and shook his head.

I knew where he was coming from. I could empathize so much it almost hurt. However, none of that mattered now.

There was only one thing that had my attention.

“You just said you have your own goals, right? …What the hell are you planning? What do you hope to gain by being the Demon Lord?”

At my question, my other self…Disaster Rogue hung his head. “I want to save Lydia. I want to atone for my sin. That’s all.”

…His answer wasn’t the least bit surprising. In fact, it made perfect sense. He looked into my eyes, which were keen and understanding.

“You feel the same way, right? Aren’t you thinking about how you want to save Lydia?”

“…Of course. We’re on the same page for that alone.”

“In that case, join forces with me. We are united in our goal. There’s no need to fight.”

He did have a point. But a number of questions were brewing inside me, preventing me from accepting his offer of reconciliation.

“Let me ask two things. First, have you told the Varvatos of this era about this?”

“No. I hate myself more than anything else. Especially…in this era.” Disaster Rogue balled his fist, looking angry. “It was our own stupidity that made us lose Lydia…that made us kill her. The onus of her death is on us. Right?”

“…Yes. You’re right.”

“That’s why I especially hate who I was in this era. I’d rather die than cooperate with him. Instead, I…was thinking about killing my past self.”

I could understand these feelings, too, but that deviated from our real objective.

“If you hate me, why are you inviting me to join up with you?”

“…You’re just different enough. We share the same sin, and I imagine we feel the same way. That’s why I thought we might join forces. And above all…I understand myself more than anyone else. You get what I’m trying to say, right?”

I gave the smallest of nods. Our strengths were comparable. In short…we had no chance of winning against the Varvatos of this era. Disaster Rogue had already revealed his immortality in their very first battle, meaning Varvatos had a thorough understanding of him—and Disaster Rogue would be driven to a corner.

But what would happen if we joined forces? …We might become equal to our self of this era.

This speculation made sense.

But I had a question of my own. “I have no clue why you’re doing this in the first place. Why act like you want to fight Varvatos? If you want to save Lydia, making an enemy of him is the worst thing you can do… I’m guessing it’s not just because you hate him?”

“Of course. Even if I was the most disgusted with him, I wouldn’t unleash my supreme wrath upon him.”

“Then why…”

“The answer to this question is related to my answer to the first. I have my reasons and cannot cooperate with that past self under any circumstances. Maybe it would be more accurate to say…that I am destined to fight him.”

I said nothing and urged him on with my eyes. He understood my meaning and quietly answered.

“That god must have mentioned some sort of assignment… I’m guessing it was about subjugating me. Like you, I also received an assignment. That was—”

And this was his answer: “To destroy the world. To work toward that purpose. As long as I continued doing that, this era would cease… That was the task the self-proclaimed god—that being—assigned me.”

I was at a loss for words, but I’d heard enough.

On the other hand, my other self, Disaster Rogue, went on loquaciously.

“That was why I took up the name of Demon Lord. In truth, I can’t say I took it up again when this was the first time I’d ever used the title. In any case, I’ve been working to destroy the world. It’s a necessary means to achieve my goals. I have not doubted myself or wavered since the very beginning.”

“…To fulfill your objective? Isn’t your goal to save Lydia? How is destroying the world in any way related?”

I struggled to get the words out, and Rogue smiled. It was a dark smile full of self-hate.

“I said it before. My aim is to save Lydia…and atone for my sins.”

“…If you’re trying to atone, I can’t tell what you could possibly be thinking. Won’t destroying the world make your sins even greater?”

He dropped his shoulders, and he looked clearly despondent.

Why was he acting this way? He knit his brows together—and in the next instant, he was right in front of me. It was as if he’d moved at lightning speed. He quickly drew near to me—yanking me by the collar and glaring into my eyes.

“Do you remember Lydia’s death?”

“…Of course. I could never forget.”

“Then how can you not understand my feelings? You’re me, aren’t you?”

His expression was mixed with intense frustration. I still didn’t understand and could only remain silent. He, on the other hand, had much to say.

“The curse that wreaked havoc on her mind. All our lost friends. All the things that ate away at her… And that fated day, with the final Outer One, our greatest enemy. Lydia had immediately suggested we quickly try and finish it off, but I didn’t do that.”

“Yeah…defeating it would have been risky. Plus…I would have had to prepare myself to lose Lydia.”

I’d been unable to even stand the thought. At the time, I was at the depths of my loneliness… Lydia was my only reason for living. My only constant friend. That was why…more than anything, more than anyone, I wanted to save Lydia.

“And we stubbornly kept telling her no. Why was that?”

“…Because Lydia was precious to us. We didn’t want her to die. If that was the risk to shoulder, we thought we could leave the Outer One alone.”

“In that case…!” The rage in Rogue’s eyes burned, flaring like fire. “Why didn’t we… Why didn’t we tell her what was on our minds?! If we had just told her! None of this would have happened! Am I wrong?!”

His outburst of anger left me speechless.

…It was what I’d been trying so hard all this time not to think about. My gravest sin.

“It’s all my fault! Lydia running off to fight in enemy territory all alone! Her falling in battle and ending up being hated by the world! Everything was my fault! If I had told her back then about my feelings, none of this would have happened! I wouldn’t have had to kill her because she turned into a monster!” he roared.

This ferocious tone. These weighty sins to bear. How I wished they belonged to someone else.

But this was my past self in its entirety: my own words and my own sin.

“How long had I lived in grief? How much had I suffered? …I couldn’t bear the guilt anymore. That’s why I killed myself. And yet…the world refused to let me sleep. It denied me the chance to run away…” he trailed off, letting go of my collar as if trying to thrust me away. Clutching his white streaks of hair in both hands, he recollected with agonizing sorrow.

“I was reborn as Ard Meteor with my memories intact…and it was just as terrible as before. I continued to lose everything I’d gained—because I was a failure. It was Lydia all over again. I realized that someone like me will always rack up sins. That’s why…I wanted to end it all already. I wanted to atone for what I’d done and end everything. Then, it happened. I met that man who claimed he was a god.”

I could really only lend him an ear by this point.

“‘You can go to the past,’ he had said, and I flew off without hesitation. I thought I could make up for what I’d done. I thought I could save Lydia, then…let her kill me as the world’s enemy. Everyone will see me as a revolting monster, and I can be defeated by the friend who had once turned into a monster because of my own failure. I would atone for my own sins. By following the fate Lydia had once suffered…I will finally come to a close.”

As he concluded his speech, Rogue held out his right hand to me.

“If you feel the sins of that time, if you want to save Lydia and repent, then join me in committing the final sin. Kill monsters and humans. Kill, kill, and keep on killing, until the very end.”

“Dying at the hands of the dear friend who we’ll save…”

Nothing could be more tragic. It would be a fitting end for me. It hadn’t been long ago that I had reunited with Sylphy and my crimes once again. However, that had felt more like an illusion. I hadn’t had to face what I’d done. But with my other self right here in front of me, I finally realized something.

“I…”

In that moment, Ireena and Ginny crossed my mind. My choice would make them despondent. But even then… I went to take the hand of the self facing me.

However, just before I could, something happened.

Don’t do anything stupid.

Lydia’s words from earlier crossed my mind. In that moment, I was uncertain—tense with an inexplicable anxiety, despite the fact that he was my own self. I didn’t know why I couldn’t grab his hand.

…I wasn’t sure if he had sensed something inside me.

“I’ll give you time,” he told me. “Three days from now, I’ll be waiting at noon on the Ruined Earth of the Aralia Plains.” And then, he went to cast transportation magic.

“Don’t forget. Our sins can never be forgiven.”

These parting words weighed heavily on me.

I could do nothing but stare at the empty space for a long, long time—