Chapter 241

he Final Chapter – The Future of HumanityPromise

‘Hand over Claire François . Otherwise, I shall destroy the countries of the world one day at a time . ’

The Demon Queen said something outrageous .

But considering her immense power, I understood that she wasn’t kidding .

However, I wondered how many people would accept it as true .

In the first place, most people in this world don’t even know that there is such a thing as the Demon Queen .

While I was lost in thoughts, the Demon Queen said something even more ridiculous .

“I shall demonstrate my power to convince those who haven’t heard of me . This is a mountain in Bauer’

I saw a video in my mind .

It showed Mount Sassal .

It was said to be over for thousands meters high, and its very sight filled me with awe .

What sort of magic the Demon Queen used to show it to me, I wondered .

‘Watch closely . ’

At that moment, rumbling could be heard from the east .

“… Wha!?”

The image changed, and I saw a blue wave surge from the Imperial Capital Raum .

It flew over the border of the distant Bauer and struck the side of Mount Sassal .

The ground rumbled, shaking the buildings, and the temperature suddenly dropped .

Everybody got down and protected their heads .

The earthquake lasted several minutes .

“Oi oi… What sort of bad joke is this . ”

As soon as the earthquake subsided, I heard Rod-sama’s dumbfounded voice .

His confusion spread to everybody around in no time .

No wonder .

The scene we had seen was just that shocking .

The wave the Demon Queen fired had frozen Mount Sassal .

I understood the theory behind it .

I was sure it was the water-attribute attack magic, Absolute Zero, that I could also use .

It’s a top-grade magic that instantly freezes the target .

But, freezing an entire huge volcano hundreds of kilometers away was completely absurd .

At the very least, it would be an impossible feat for me, no matter how hard I tried .

Although the details were different, I felt like I experienced first hand the quote – “It’s not Kafrizz… It’s Frizz . ” [TLN: An iconic quote from Dragon Quest . The Demon Lord made that remark after the basic version of a spell he used was confused for a much stronger spell due to its power . ]

‘You can see that what I’m saying is not a lie . I repeat . I have the power to destroy humanity . ’

The calm, emotionless voice continued .

‘I shall give you two weeks . Deliver Claire François to the Imperial Capital Raum of the Naa Empire until then . This is what she looks like . ’

The image changed once again, showing Claire-sama’s appearance .

It looked just like a wanted poster .

In fact, that was what it was .

‘I hope for prudent decisions from leaders of each country . ’

With that, the telepathic connection cut off .

The reaction of the top brass gathered here was swift .

“Hilda, prepare to telepathically contact the citizens immediately!”

“I’m on it!”

Philine quickly gave Hilda instructions .

Hilda ran out of the assembly room as if she was on fire .

“Sein, return to Bauer for now . The citizens must’ve seen that scene firsthand . They will panic for sure . ”

“… However, what about the battle with the Demon Queen…”

His Majesty Sein frowned at Rod’s suggestion .

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Sein-niisan, but you haven’t fought for so long that I believe you’d be a liability in the fight against the Demon Queen . ”

“… Ugh . ”

“Can you leave this to Rod-niisan and me?”

When His Majesty Sein hesitated, Yuu-sama urged him to face reality .

“Your Majesty Sein . This is something only Your Majesty can do . The people place a great deal of trust in you . Please calm down Bauer . ”

“… I understand . Yuu, I leave the policy of our country regarding the Demon Queen to you . Dor, come with me . ”

“Certainly . ”

With those words, Sein-sama and Dor-sama briskly left the assembly room .

“Manaria, what will you do?”

His Majesty William posed a question .

“I’m staying . I know it’s singing my own praises, but I’m sure I’ll be needed to fight the Demon Queen . I’m worried about Soussa, but it’s a matter of priorities . ”

“I have no choice but to believe in royalty and nobility back in Soussa,” Manaria-sama further answered .

“Likewise, what will you do?”

“Me? Let’s see . After we decide what to do with the Demon Queen, I’ll return to Appalachia . ”

“I’m hopeless at fighting,” joked His Majesty William .

Even at a time like this he didn’t stop his clownish behavior .

Perhaps, he was trying to loosen the mood .

“The problem is how to respond to the Demon Queen’s request . ”

Misha’s words made everybody fall silent .

I spoke in a fluster .

“We don’t . There’s no way we can respond . ”

Responding to the Demon Queen’s request means handing over Claire-sama .

There was no way we could do that .

“Rei, the situation isn’t so simple . ”

“Claire-sama…”

“Everybody here thinks like you do . However, do you think people around the world will be easily persuaded after seeing that footage?”

I couldn’t say anything to that .

The video shown to us was without a doubt shocking .

Mountains have intrinsic presence .

Just by being there they overwhelm people .

Moreover, Mount Sassal is a large volcano .

And the Demon Queen instantly froze it .

It was a feat beyond human understanding .

Just how many people would have the courage to fight against a being who could do something like that as a threat?

“Then Claire-sama, do you just intend to meekly surrender yourself to the Demon Queen!? You know you’ll be killed!”

Claire-sama becoming a sacrifice? Gimme a break!

In the first place, if Claire-sama was killed, mankind would really perish .

The only reason the Demon Queen hadn’t destroyed humanity yet was because Claire-sama existed in the loop .

“Since it’s come to this, let’s run away! I will serve you forever . ”

“Just where to? That telepathic broadcast probably covered the whole world . There’s no place to escape, is there?”

After saying that, Claire-sama smiled .

I wondered if Claire-sama was demonstrating her self-sacrificing attitude again .

However–

“Don’t make that face, Rei . I have no intention of dying, okay?”

“Eh…?”

Claire-sama’s smiling face had no hint of resignation .

Rather, it looked full of will to fight .

“Rei, I will fulfill my promise to you this time . ”

“Promise…?”

“Remember the oath that I broke during the revolution? I’d promised to never give up, right?”

“Ah…”

It was a promise she’d made with me during our two matches .

Claire-sama was saying that this was the time to fulfill her vow to God to never give up .

“Claire-sama…”

“There must be some way . I won’t die like a dog . ”

“Yes!”

“Hey, Rei! This is not the place… Let! Go! Of! Me!”

I was so happy I clung to Claire-sama .

Claire-sama became flustered .

“Ahaha . I’m relieved . As long as you two don’t break, things will be fine . ”

“Rod-sama…”

“No matter how much I want to help, if you two broke, that would be the end of it . ”

“You will help us?”

“Yeah . I now have a reason to strike the Demon Queen too . ”

“That is?”

I asked him while still hugging Claire-sama .

“She damaged Sassal Volcano . The mountain of my father’s death . I was thinking of going against it in the near future . ”

Rod-sama had a complicated expression on his face as he said that .

It was an usual look for the always cheerful Rod-sama .

“Rod-sama… Hey, how long will you keep clinging to me!?”

“Eeh, just a bit more-”

“Ahaha!”

While Rod-sama laughed, I had my fill of Claire-sama and then let go of her body .

“Jeez… But really, what should we do…? As things stand, it would be difficult to convince people even for people at the top like Onee-sama . ”

“That’s true…”

Even if they weren’t convinced by it, having been shown the origin of everything by TAIM, Manaria-sama and others understood it would be all over if Claire-sama fell into the hands of demons .

But, how could that be explained to ordinary people?

It would be extremely difficult without the virtual reality used by TAIM at least .

While we were worrying…

“Should I lend you a hand?”

I heard a help offer .

“TAIM…”

“It may be possible to persuade people with the authority of the Spirit Church . ”

Possessing Lily-sama like always, TAIM gave such a suggestion .

Indeed, that was certainly a possibility .

The Spirit Church was the largest religious organization in the world with believers all over the world .

Thanks to continuing activities like helping poor people or offering medical care for a long time, it was a moral authority for people .

While the governments were far above the people, the Spirit Church had always tried to live together with the people .

People might listen to their words .

“But, won’t it be difficult? There are only two weeks until the deadline . How can you convince the people around the world until then?”

“We will use telepathic transmission . On a global scale, just like the Demon Queen did . ”

“Our system has enough power for that,” added TAIM .

“Of course, it won’t be particularly persuasive if done by a cardinal like Lily Lilium or Yuu Bauer, who are only known in Bauer . ”

“Certainly…”

“Ah . Then, will you show everybody the virtual reality from before?”

I thought of that possibility .

“I can’t do that . The truth of this world will be difficult for the average person to understand, and some people will have adverse reactions to it . In the worst case, you might be blamed, Rei Taylor . ”

“It’s too dangerous,” remarked TAIM .

Certainly, it wasn’t not easy to understand that this world was looping .

And even then, it was another me who was trying to end that looping for personal reasons .

The situation didn’t allow for me to just take responsibility if demanded either .

“Then, what will you do?”

Claire-sama asked a question to which TAIM answered .

“Let the Pope – Claris Répète III – make the address . She’s another person who knows the truth of this world . ”