The landscape unfolding before Agnes’s eyes.
It was akin to a frozen hellscape.
Everything was frozen.
Long ago.
Icebergs rising from the裂like the shattered earth, the corpses of demons strewn about, so many that counting them was impossible, and a massive fortress reduced to ruin.
…Everything was frozen. Ezekiel did that.
“Rise.”
Ezekiel whispered quietly.
His gaze was directed at five corpses.
All were members who had followed Ezekiel.
Lined up like chess pieces, they were covered with cloth, only their toes barely visible, and it looked quite pitiful. Their end was much like the life they had lived.
No names, no faces, no voices, no families… Nothing remained. Even the corpses barely revealed their toes.
“…Rise.”
Ezekiel mumbled once again.
The secret organization of the imperial family he led, Balance.
But there were no members obeying the command. It was only natural. All had already lost their lives.
Except for the leader Ezekiel, everyone was slaughtered.
A result of the operation to close the gates to the Demon Realm.
They had served the imperial family, hiding their identities like shadows, suppressing all curiosity and greed. The result of a lifetime lived like a puppet was nothing but this.
“Oh, hunting dog of the imperial family, how pathetic.”
A voice came from across.
“When the hunt is over, the hunting dog is destined to end up in the cauldron. You should have known this.”
Just that one line made the blood in his veins feel like it was reversing. It was rage that couldn’t be suppressed.
Ezekiel’s whole body trembled. He raised his creaky head and fixed his gaze on the voice’s owner.
The source of the disaster that struck the continent.
Also, the master of the Demon Realm.
Demon Lord, Valetta.
Currently, his state was bizarre beyond belief.
His entire fortress had turned to ruins, countless demons had turned into corpses… Yet, he wore a face that seemed exceedingly comfortable.
Even his body was not intact. One side of his shoulder was entirely ripped away. He held a small child with his remaining arm.
The first to break the silence was Demon Lord Valetta.
“Balance…”
She uttered the name of Ezekiel’s organization.
The name of those who had secretly acted for the imperial family.
“Now that I think about it, it’s quite a splendid name. Since the Demon Realm and the continent temporarily came to a ceasefire, the balance you wished for has roughly been achieved.”
The corners of Valetta’s eyes curved like a crescent moon.
“Is it not? Leader of Balance, Ice Ghost Ezekiel.”
“…Remove those filthy hands from the princess.”
But Valetta only hugged the girl who slept in her arms tighter. That part of the landscape was so blurred that her face was hardly visible.
“How pitiful. So pitiful. You still don’t understand.”
Valetta sneered.
“Ezekiel, I’ll tell you the conditions of the ceasefire first.”
“…Conditions?”
“Firstly, the first princess is to be taken. So there’s absolutely no reason to return her. Quite unfortunate, isn’t it?”
Ezekiel stared blankly at Valetta. It was indeed strange that there had been no reinforcements.
To hand over the first princess to the Demon Lord.
It was a shocking condition of the ceasefire.
“Instead, the emperor spoke of sparing your life. Accept it. There’s nothing you can do about it with your strength.”
Valetta’s sneer turned into maniacal laughter.
“Who would even care about your grievances? A lifetime devoted to the imperial family, but born of lowly origins, living as a puppet was the best you could do.”
“….”
“Also, who will remember you? Your name, Ice Ghost, was renowned in the Demon Realm, but in the end, none will remember that name in the continent. Don’t you still get it?”
“…I told you to release Her Highness.”
“Impossible. Poor little Ice Ghost. You worked so hard to bring about a ceasefire, and I’ll take good care of the first princess. If war breaks out again, it’ll be truly entertaining.”
Valetta kept bursting into laughter.
“The Demon Realm will grow stronger, but meanwhile, the continent will gradually weaken. Humans are endlessly weak. They can never overcome time…”
Thud─!
Ezekiel didn’t listen any longer and stomped the ground. He tore through the ice and rushed forward desperately, but no matter how much he ran, the distance to the Demon Lord never closed.
It was bizarre.
The Demon Lord just stood there, yet he couldn’t reach her.
“Farewell, Ice Ghost.”
With those parting words from Valetta.
“It seems you’ve become a terminally ill being, so we probably won’t meet again.”
Boom─!
Ezekiel was flung out of the Demon Realm.
The dimensional portal swallowed his body, and like sinking deep into water, Ezekiel began to swim through it. The man muttered with his eyes wide open.
“Damn…!”
He was frustrated to not be able to die.
He hadn’t defeated the Demon Lord, so it was a failure, and he hadn’t managed to save his comrades and the princess, so it was a failure again. He was even burdened with the disgrace of being forced to save his own life.
Thud─!
His heart pounded as if it would burst.
This time, he had pushed his chill technique to the limit. The adjustments of his body had been thrown off completely and would never return to normal.
Wssss────!
Inside the dimensional portal, his consciousness began to fade more and more.
Ezekiel closed his eyes and concentrated. Not to survive, but to remember every name and face of his comrades without missing any corner.
“Did I have… a dream?”
A dream of wanting to live a normal life, a dream of wanting to set up an orphanage and live with the children, a dream of wanting to stretch out and sleep. In the end, none had come true.
He wished for his comrades’ wishes to be fulfilled.
…However, the wishes of his comrades would not reach.
Had he ever balanced his own?
He had lived as an adornment of the imperial family like a shadow. No matter how hard he had tried, what was the point?
Leader.
Ezekiel suddenly felt ashamed of that title.
He hadn’t saved his comrades, nor had he protected himself.
Even that precious princess, in the end, he couldn’t save a single one.
“You fools.”
Your leader is so weak that he couldn’t even succeed in blind revenge. If you had known that, perhaps you would have cast away your foolish loyalty. If so, you might have had a better life than Ezekiel.
Cough─!
An absurd amount of blood was coughed up. Without strength to swallow or spit, his breath became labored in the blocked throat.
Ezekiel’s mind began to fade more and more.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Agnes vividly experienced Ezekiel’s past.
Beeeeep─
A ringing began to echo.
Agnes’s vision gradually turned pure white. Perhaps it was because she had been consumed by fear for too long.
Then, before her, whose sight had turned as white as a blank sheet, many scenes began to flash by like a movie reel.
─This is the final mission! What will you do when it’s over?
─But, doesn’t the leader have any dreams?
─I want to raise a hundred cats.
─Speaking of which, I’ve never seen the leader smile even once.
…What is this?
─Teacher, look at this!
─Teacher, where are you going?
─Teacher!
…How on earth, how could this happen?
The truth that the world could never know, at the same time, a truth that Agnes wasn’t sure she had the right to know. The things Ezekiel experienced long ago rushed through her quickly.
Some of Ezekiel’s memories chaotic entered Agnes’s mind and mixed up.
Born in the Palace of Penance, the harsh training that was torturous level, days spent as a teacher for the princesses… Her head was hot, ready to burn.
Blood dripped from Agnes’s nose.
At that moment, when she couldn’t move as if pressed by scissors.
Right at the moment when it truly felt like her head would explode.
“Ugh…!”
A sudden shock jolted Agnes awake. At the same time, she felt the black fog caused by fear dissipate in an instant, but she still felt dizzy.
“…Ness!”
After a while, she sensed a voice and a shaking of her shoulder.
“Lady Agnes! Lady Agnes!”
Only then did her vision brighten.
Tether was shaking Agnes’s shoulder with a face full of worry, and Ezekiel had purified all the black fog.
“Ah, ah, Lady Agnes! Are you alright?”
“Ah…”
Agnes couldn’t respond easily. Her head was still spinning, and it was too difficult to figure out what to say.
Her gaze simply turned to Ezekiel, who was now standing quite well.
“…Why overdo it? Just do it moderately.”
Ezekiel spoke casually while meeting Agnes’s gaze, a piece of candy in his mouth.
“You looked very scared, crying even.”
Agnes looked at her reflection in the ice.
He still had the same expressionless face, but it was ugly. There were tear trails running down his cheeks. He had no idea at all.
“…”
After some time, Agnes calmly nodded.
“…Yes.”
For now, that was all she could say.
“…I was very scared.”
Just as dawn began to break, right before departing to the Black Tower.
