Chapter 695

The workshop was not long. A total of thirty-five moves. As Ellen pushed back Reinhardt's lament with her half-sword and plunged her entire body into the sand, the fight between the two, who had already become monsters, ended with the blade of the lament at Reinhardt's throat. "You're dead." "Yeah." Reinhardt nodded his head as if he had wanted to hear Ellen's words. Although the workshop was not long, the beach was already in ruins due to the fight between the two monsters. "Do you want to do more?" Ellen asked, holding the lament to Reinhardt's neck. "No." There is something you can tell from the moment the swords clash. Ellen knew that Reinhardt never thought he could win in the first place. Ellen knows that even if she does it a hundred times, she will win. So Reinhardt must have known it too. Ellen stood up from Reinhardt's crushed body and lifted him up. "As expected, you can't beat me." With Ellen's sword, Reinhardt cannot beat Ellen. That remains the same. "Do you have to beat me?" "Actually, I don't really want to win." Reinhardt smiled. "This is just fine." "...." "Winning or losing doesn't matter." Reinhardt looked at the waves that were coming and going. Coming, breaking, going back, coming again, breaking again. That eternal coming and going. He wanted the continuity of these moments, not the victory or defeat. He said he wanted the fact that there was a moment when they could clash swords like this. Ellen doesn't know how Reinhardt subdued her. How did he do it? She still doesn't know how she can subdue and save herself from the time when she was possessed by a stronger demon than she is now. Reinhardt didn't seem to want to tell her either. In the end, Reinhardt confirmed what he wanted to confirm. Who is stronger, Ellen or himself. Ellen is stronger. He confirmed that he could not fill that gap. He wanted to win just once, even if he would lose forever after that. "You probably know, but officially, you're dead." Finally, Reinhardt said what he had been thinking. When she thought he was telling the truth, she became afraid. She couldn't breathe because she didn't know what she was going to hear and was scared. The demon king executed a fake hero. We don't know how the play was staged. All we know is that the hero died. That's how it ended. "I forced the representatives of the human autonomy to come and watch the public execution. They had good expressions," Reinhardt laughs. It's a sadistic hobby. I couldn't help but think that way too. I made the representatives of humanity, who had hoped for salvation, watch their hopes being brutally executed. It's cruel, but the effect will be certain. The one who died was probably something like a doll. It wouldn't be difficult to make something like that. "With this, even the annoying hero-worshipers will be quiet, and the autonomy will slowly disintegrate." "...." "There will be no one projecting useless hope onto you anymore. You won't have to feel burdened by that kind of thing." Those who prayed for Ellen to save humanity from the oppression of the demon king will disappear. Since the hero, the symbol of hope, has died, such actions are now impossible, even with fire and flames. "Now you are a person who doesn't exist in the world, and there is no one who needs you, and no one who demands the impossible from you. The hero has lost to the demon king. And died. That's the end of the story." "...." "People will forget you." Reinhardt looks at Ellen. "So, what excuse will you use to run away now?" "...." "It's not just a situation where you can't run away, but you also want to run away." At those words, Ellen bites her lip and lowers her head. It's all written on her face. Even without saying it, he knows. She is suffering in this moment. In the end, Ellen trembles and can't help but speak. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Whatever the reason, whether it was reasonable or necessary, the fact remains that she left without even talking to Reinhardt, who saved her. Five years have passed since then. That time has changed a lot. "...." "If you're sorry, can you stay with me now?" Ellen couldn't bring herself to speak. Is there still a place for me? Is there any part left to sacrifice for me? She wants to say that, but she can't. It's too shameful. To leave on her own, and then finally try to run away and be caught. To suddenly change her attitude and say they should be together now that everything is resolved. It's too much. It's too selfish. "Can't you do it?" "Huk... ugh..." In the end, Ellen starts to cry with her mouth shut. She can't say either word. She's sorry for saying it's impossible. It's shameful to say she wants to. She made excuses and ran away, and now she's caught, crying. It's too pathetic. It's too hard. It's too lonely. Every day was painful. She wants to say that, but she can't bring herself to. After a two-week break, the two finally have a proper conversation, but it's a tearful one. Ellen feels like she doesn't have the qualifications to be there and can't forgive herself for leaving and running away. Reinhardt tells her that she left because she couldn't allow herself to be there, and that if she had wanted to be there, there were many ways to do so. Ellen couldn't allow herself to be there, and that's why she left. Reinhardt believes that Ellen doesn't have the right to betray him, and Ellen can't forgive herself for her actions. She feels guilty and ashamed, and even though she's caught, she can't say anything. Reinhardt tells her that he knows she's punishing herself and that it's not helping anything. Ellen agrees and says that she can't forgive herself for her actions. She feels like she can't be with Reinhardt because of the vicious cycle they're in, and she doesn't know how to break it. She feels like everything is her fault, and she can't imagine being happy with Reinhardt. "I know that I'm a worthless person... I know that you can't bring back the dead with this... I know that you can't save or undo anything with guilt... But I can't let it go... I just can't..."

"I know that I only hurt you more the more I am like this... I don't know. I feel like I've gone crazy all of a sudden... I can't even think properly... I feel like I'm broken..."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for running away, for betraying you. I'm sorry for not being able to trust you. And I'm sorry for wanting to run away even now, and not being able to say that I'll stay with you... But... But..."

"Stop. I understand how you feel."

Ellen pours out her mixed-up guilt, and Reinhardt holds her. He can't even look her in the eye because of his own guilt, and he speaks to her while she sobs.

"Do you know what this mansion and this deserted island mean?"

"...Yes."

A prison created to make it impossible to escape.

Putting someone in a place where escape is impossible.

"I knew you would be like this. That's why I prepared this place."

If you can't change your mind, then I'll lock you up in a place where you can never escape.

That thought became a reality.

"When I met you again, I had already thought of everything I could do."

"Because I knew you couldn't handle it yourself."

"This is the result. This is what Harriet and I thought."

At the sound of that name, Ellen trembles.

"I'm not even a wizard, how could I have sent you here?"

The strange trap she fell into and the space she couldn't even sense.

Ellen could only know that it was something Harriet had done.

"I knew you would say something like this. You were going to whine and try to run away."

"Because you're that kind of person."

"Cruel, but true."

"If I left you alone, you would be even more cruel to yourself."

"There was no other way."

Whatever the reason.

Harriet had a hunch that Ellen Artois would spend the rest of her life running away, and the Emperor knew it too.

She's still crying now because she knows it's true.

She's just being cruel to herself.

How can she grasp the choice of happiness when she thinks she doesn't deserve it?

The Emperor knew that Ellen would eventually try to run away if her fundamental mindset didn't change.

So he tried to force her.

To confine her.

To tie her up in a place where she couldn't escape, in a direction she couldn't even know.

He thought that confining her in a place where she couldn't run away would be the only way to stop her self-punishment.

All he had to do was provide the necessary materials, and even if she couldn't accept this life right away, she would have to accept it eventually.

Then she would resign herself to it. "The words of Reinhardt, who could clearly see what she was thinking, could not be refuted. For whatever reason, Ellen knew that she would continue to run away, no matter what. 'But then, when I actually tried it...it feels strange. No matter how much I think about it, tying someone up, confining them, and imprisoning them like this...it just can't be right. This will ultimately only hurt you more.' The demon lord releases Ellen's chin. She had been suffering even after being placed in this environment. I can't accept this. I knew I couldn't escape, but I just kept suffering. I was punishing myself again. I was giving myself a cruel lesson that I couldn't be happy. I would eventually resign myself to being trapped, but I would surely become more and more sick. The demon lord watches Ellen crying silently. If she were imprisoned, Ellen could be trapped in this place forever. But Ellen would still be crouching, unable to forgive or accept herself, and she would become sick. This could be a last resort, but it couldn't be a second choice. It was just a story about taking a blue bird and touching it whenever necessary. That's why the demon lord had to come to the conclusion that this wasn't it when he saw the reality that had become his own thoughts. 'After Darkland was destroyed and the previous demon lord died, I couldn't live as a demon anymore. There were limits to disguising myself with magic. It was impossible to live as a demon. To live among humans, I needed to have a human form, and that's the form you know me as, Reinhardt.' So." -Ssoaah Waves crashing on the shore. In the prison called the island, made for only one person. The demon lord carefully takes something out of his left ring finger. Ellen stares blankly at the demon lord, even as she sobs. "This ring, which allowed me to live in the world, can be seen as the most important thing that made all of this possible." A ring. Ellen had no idea that Reinhardt had such a ring. Its shape could even be hidden because it was a disguise ring. Reinhardt, who had returned to his demon lord form, holds Ellen's left hand. "I made a world where I could live as a demon, so I don't need it anymore. As you know, you can't live anywhere as that form. A dead warrior or someone who looks exactly like them shouldn't be wandering around the world. I can live in this form now. But you can't live as yourself anymore. So, I'll give it to you. You'll need it more than I do now." "And I'll send you back."

The demon lord carefully placed the ring on Ellen's left ring finger.

The ring, which seemed a little too small, became the perfect size for Ellen's finger.

Ellen looked at the demon lord in confusion as he suddenly put the ring on her finger and asked, trembling, "What is this?"

"It's something that allowed me to become Reinhardt and a cat."

Dreadfinde's ring.

As the last archdemon, this ring was actually the thing that made everything possible.

But now it's no longer needed.

So, he gives it to someone who can't live in this world without it.

He admits that trying to spend a lifetime in confinement was wrong.

"It's good for me too."

"Someone like you rotting away in a place like this is actually a loss."

"Like when you told me important information. You'll do something else in your own way."

"That's good for both you and me."

"I won't hold you back."

"That's right."

"You're free."

He gives her complete freedom, the opposite of confinement.

He finally decides to let go of the opportunity to keep her imprisoned forever.

"If you use this, people won't know you're Ellen Artois, and you don't have to keep looking for places where there are no people like now. You can just live as an ordinary person, melting into the world as a completely ordinary person."

If she lives as someone else, Ellen will truly disappear from the world.

She can wander around the city, gain a new identity, and live as a completely new person.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Ellen looks at the unknown ring on her hand in confusion.

"If you want to leave here and hide, I can never find you again. If you decide to run away, I will never see you again."

The demon lord who found a hero gives him a means to escape forever.

If Ellen decides to hide, the demon lord can never find the hero again.

"But at the same time, it's something you can always come back to me whenever you want."

It's a thing that can escape forever.

But if used differently, it's also a thing that can be used to meet Reinhardt at any time.

It's impossible to wander around the Hwangdo as Ellen Artois, but with the power of the ring, anything is possible.

Whether to use it as an escape route for eternal escape or as a key to a meeting that can always be held is entirely up to Ellen's heart.

The demon lord carefully holds the end of the hero's left finger, which is frozen in place.

"So, I won't confine you here."

"I won't force anything else on you."

"I'll give you complete freedom to do what you want and go where you want."

"I just have one request."

"Once every few months."

"Once every few years."

"That's good."

"Sometimes."

"Really, sometimes."

"Come see me."

"That's all."

"That's enough... I don't ask for more." Translation:

"You and I don't have to do anything great together."

"Like practicing swordsmanship."

"Or making something to eat."

"Just gathering together and talking about nothing like before."

"Those simple and trivial things are enough."

"We can be together sometimes."

"That's all I'm asking for."

"You know that too."

"You know that you're strange."

"I'll only ask for that much from you."

"You can allow yourself to do that much now too."

"So...."

"Let's stop hurting each other unnecessarily."

At those words, tears that had barely been held back began to flow.

"Ugh...ugh...sob! Huhuhu!"

It's only that much.

I'm not asking for too much.

"This isn't such a difficult request."

The demon lord was biting his lip too.

He was also holding back his sadness and anger.

Facing Ellen, who was crying, they both tried to meet each other's eyes with all their might.

"Will you do that for me?"

After trapping the hero he had found, he releases him.

He gives her a gift to live freely.

He gives her something that she can leave forever.

He asks her not to leave forever.

He's not holding her back, he's letting her go.

He just makes a promise.

It may not be very thick or strong.

Let's keep one unbreakable thread between us.

If it's too hard for you to face me, you don't have to face me all the time.

Let's see each other sometimes.

Can't you allow yourself to do that much?

Isn't it too cruel for both of us not to allow even that?

It's over now.

You can allow yourself to do that much.

That's what the demon lord says.

Knowing that if he hugs her forcibly, she will die in his arms, he creates an environment where she can live fully in the world.

He sends her back to the world.

Live as you have been, doing what only you can do.

Whether it's to repay your sins or for any other reason, you can go wherever you need to be.

But sometimes.

When you're tired or lonely enough to work.

It's okay to come back and rest sometimes.

Allow that much.

If you want to live with eternal punishment, you can, but there won't be a moment when you can repay your sins.

Allow yourself a very small occasional rest.

In front of the demon lord who chose to let go of his obsession and finally let go of what he wanted to have.

There's no more forcing.

With a grateful heart.

She had to answer.

So Ellen tried to make her expression, which had been a mess until now, somehow, somehow.

She tried to make it into a smiling face.

"Uh, uh...yeah....yeah...."

And finally, with tears and laughter mixed together, she ended up with an even more messy expression.

-Shooaaaah On the beach where the waves crash forever.

On the beach where the waves push and break forever.

They promise another eternity.

That's how it is.

The hero.

"Definitely.... definitely...."

And the demon lord.

Thin, but unbreakable.

"I'll do it."

They made a small yet eternal vow.