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Outside the barracks, soldiers and knights who had come to ask the Grand Duke to explain the rumors looked pale.
“Y-you guys…”
They must have heard the shouts inside the barracks.
As a young soldier took a step closer, he asked, tears welling up in his eyes.
“What the Grand Duke said… is it true? Her Ladyship won’t come back…”
“T-that’s a lie! It’s a lie! I saw her up close! She was such an angel, there’s no way she’s a demon!”
“Are you saying Cosette is fake? How did that happen?”
“The prophecy… You said you misinterpreted the prophecy, milord! It’s all because of the temple b*stards! There’s nothing wrong with making a mistake, but how could you misinterpret a prophecy and let this happen…!”
There are those who looked for their parents in tears, others who refused to believe in reality, and others who turned their anger toward their loved ones.
Looking at the horrors of the misery, Ludwig thought.
This army is really over now.
We won’t be able to fight under one flag again.
After staying up all night for three days, Ludwig fell asleep for a while. In his dream, he met his son, Zichhardt, who had died in the war.
‘I told you, Father. You must not throw Noonim away.’
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‘…Seeing you use the word Father, this really must be a dream.’
After Keira’s death, Zeke never addressed him as ‘Father.’
The son replied with a smirk.
‘Everyone is going to die anyway, so why can’t I call you Father? I know you’ve always wanted to hear it.’*
Ludwig tried to refute it but stopped himself.
Yes, Zeke was right.
He had no idea of how to approach his children.
He tried to recall how his own father cared for him, but he couldn’t remember.
Such a memory did not exist in the first place, so it was natural.
What had he been living for?
He lived his life thinking being the Grand Duke was more important than being a father.
But what about the outcome?
He failed both as a father and as the Grand Duke Parvis.
As his son said, Ludwig has always…
‘Ah, I have to go now. My sister is waiting for me.’
Zeke’s farewell interrupted his thoughts.
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When he looked up, his son was waving his hand to say goodbye. He had a sad smile on his face.
‘If there’s such a thing as a next life…’
‘…’
‘Let’s not meet again.’
With that, Zicchardt disappeared like smoke.
In the dark space, Ludwig was left alone.
He stood still, staring at the place where his son had been as if waiting for something.
But Keira didn’t show up until the end.
As if she said she didn’t want to see him even in his dreams.
“What would you do if you could turn back time by signing a contract with the devil?
The price is your soul.
After you die, your soul will be taken. No one knows what will happen after a demon takes one’s soul.
But one thing is for sure. It would be a hundred times better future to die and wait for reincarnation.”
When he heard that whispering voice in his sleep, Ludwig mistook it for an extension of his nightmare.
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But he soon noticed how vivid it sounded.
He jumped up.
Beyond the darkness of the barracks, yellow eyes flashed ominously.
Ludwig immediately pulled out the sword he had hidden under his bedside table.
A man with yellow eyes was sitting in the air.
Ludwig: “How did you get here?”
“How, you ask? I killed all the guards blocking the way and came in.”
“…”
Most of the troops were dead, and the morale of the rest was in shambles. It wouldn’t be a challenge for a high-level demon to infiltrate the military camp where the boundaries were loosened.
“I’m not here to fight, so stop staring at me. What do you think of the proposal I just made?”
Ludwig: “Are you talking about the bullsh*t asking me to make a contract with you?”
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“That’s right. Since you’re the commander-in-chief, you know what the situation is right now, right? No matter how much you think about it, it seems that there is no other way than to turn back time and start over. What do you think? You’re such a lucky man. It just so happens that I’m the only one who can turn back time…”
Ludwig: “Go away, demon.”
Ludwig stepped out of bed and pointed his sword at the intruder.
The fate of mankind was nothing but a candle in front of a typhoon.
They only had less than a month left.
After the sun had set thirty times, the seeds of mankind would dry up on the continent, and the few surviving would become slaves of the demons.
In a situation as good as victory, a demon offered to turn back time?
It was 100% a trap.
Ludwig: “Devils don’t do favors with pure intentions.”
“You’re right. It’s not pure. Well, like…”
The devil trailed off, seemingly looking for the right words.
“I hate that old lady.”
It was a vague statement, but Ludwig easily realized who the devil meant by ‘old lady’– the devil wearing the skin of his dead daughter, who led the demon army.
Well, since demons were a race with emotions and intelligence, there’s a chance they’d have bad relationships with their own kind or harbor ill feelings.
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This one might hate the other so much that he’d want to interfere with what the other was doing.
However, the conquest of the human world was too great a cause to put such personal feelings at the forefront.
It’s a race that didn’t easily forget grudges, but this one would ruin their long-cherished desire for his agenda.
“Ah, I think I know what you’re thinking.”
The devil said flatly.
“I’m sorry, but the demons are a very selfish race; it’s impossible to unite under one wish. It’s the same for humans, right? As long as the fate of the entire race is not at stake as it is now, humans always fight and kill each other.”
Yes. A group of many couldn’t become one.
To prevent the enemy’s victory, there were many cases where they interfered with the allies even in the face of a national crisis.
“It’s prejudice to say that all demons are restless because they want to invade the human world, isn’t it? Do you think the situation in the demon world is very complicated? If it can be organized under one’s long-cherished desire, then great. But in reality, that is not the case.”
Ludwig: “…Everyone sacrifices others for their own gain and power.”
“Yes, just like humans. You must have seen a lot of things you couldn’t see when you became the Grand Duke, didn’t you?”
It wasn’t pleasant to be ridiculed by the devil, but it was a fact.
He had nothing to refute.
“Anyway, some demons, including em, do not wish for the destruction of the human world. However, if one of the thirteen Great Demons is to be directly involved in the human world, it is necessary to gain legitimacy through a contract. That’s why I came to you.”
A sly smile formed on the devil’s lips.
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“What do you think? Are you willing to sign a contract with me now?”
Ludwig: “No. Get the h*ll out of here, you miserable b*stard.”
“What? How come? It’s not a lie! Don’t you know that you can’t lie when signing a contract?”
Was he asking because he really didn’t know? Ludwig’s eyes narrowed.
Ludwig: “I don’t think everything you said was a lie, but I don’t think it was the whole truth either. A contract with the devil never ends well.”
Ludwig had basically lived with the demons as his main enemy for decades.
He couldn’t readily accept the idea that demons and humans could coexist with each other for mutual benefit.
In fact, most of those who made pacts with the devil ended miserably.
“When did I say it was going to have a happy ending? I told you before. You must hand over your soul to me in exchange for a contract.”
“…”
What would happen to the soul taken by the devil?
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No one knew because no one could answer.
“Why? Are you afraid?”
Ludwig wasn’t the first human to have received such a proposal.
A famous knight, a priest known for his piety, and even the Imperial family.
The devil approached those on the brink of death and said,
“Why don’t you make a contract with me and turn back time?
If we go back to the past and save the lives of the real elementalist, we will be able to stop the demonic invasion.
You will become the hero who saved mankind.”
In exchange, the soul would suffer forever after death.
So much so that he thought it would have been better to die without signing a contract then…
“You’re right. A contract with the devil never ends well. A soul who cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation will be tormented forever.”
*Not 100% sure about this translation