SING CRIER CH.1 - Crime Against Humanity The final battle. When I look left, I see me.

When I look right, I see myself staring back.

I give my selves a comforting smile.

I look quite cordial, and cute, I think.

『 Demon King, it's almost ready. 』

『 Demon King, The Hero's party is coming. 』

I say, to the dark armoured knight behind me.

「 I know. Keep channelling, Devil Twins. I will hold them here. 」

His voice is deep and demon-like, voice processors are amazing huh?

『『 Understood. 』』

I reply simultaneously.

I keep my hands pointed at the glowing stone gate.

Channelling the Black Portal burns away my mana pools.

My hands feel as though they're burning.

That's not a problem on its own, rather, I'm more concerned

about the fact that I cannot fight while channelling.

Can the Demon King stop the Hero's party all by himself? While I don't doubt his ability to take on a raid of 24, the Hero's party of 6 are well in a league of their own. And with the Admins granting them blessings from the goddesses, isn't it clear that our fight will be harder than theirs?

Well, I suppose it's that kind of final battle after all.

『 You don't have to defeat them. 』

『 When the portal is ready, run, okay? 』

『『 You are the hope of all demons. 』』

The Demon King laughs at me, but I'm sure he's happy to hear that.

After a moment of peace, an explosive sound strikes from above.

The shockwave splits the dark poisoned clouds and brings down a powerful wind blowing up the surrounding dust. As if opening a gate to heaven, a blue sky appears.

A wonderful stage... for the heroes.

「 They're here. 」

The Demon King slowly shifts into a combat stance where dark mist pours out of the crevices in his armour, enshrouding him.

At the same time, six figures fall through the blue gate.

I hear them crash in unison about a hundred meters behind me,

but the portal and I are impervious to damage so long as the Demon King breathes.

Can the heroes defeat the Demon King

before the Black Portal activates?

I wonder.

「 Huaaa! 」

A womanly war cry.

I hear the clashing of steel against the Demon King's shield.

They didn't even spare a second after landing.

What about the Demon King's speech?

I bet he spent a long time thinking of what to say, you know?

Without giving an inch to retaliate, the party of six launch an all-out assault on the lone king. It was natural since they were on a strict time limit, but I wanted to hear what the Demon King had to say too.

It was a once in a lifetime opportunity squandered.

『『 How shameless. 』』

Well, I'm in no position to say such a thing,

since I'm leaving before the Demon King can breathe his last words.

The portal transforms into a swirling pink mist of clouds.

『 Demon King, the portal will be ready- 』

『 -in ten seconds? 』

I lied, the portal is ready right now, it closes in ten seconds.

「 Acknowledged, Devil Twins! 」

Misplaced hope. I almost feel sorry for him.

I walk my selves to the portal and push one arm from each body through the gate, but before I go in, I look over my shoulders.

There are so many particle effects and lights flaring that I can't see past the Demon King's huge armoured back. It can't be helped... this is the assault after all. The result of months-long toil from the cumulative effort of thousands of talents. A carefully prepared symphonic movement purely for this moment. The Demon King must die in the end... it's his fate.

Ah, but, amongst the hopeless situation, I see a pair of innocent blue eyes staring at me. Somebody spotted me entering the portal?

The Hero?

Hoh.

I give them two twisted smiles.

What an interesting expression you have there Hero.

Why don't you run over here, so I can see more of it?

I push through the swirling clouds and am teleported away.

My vision turns white, before fading to a dark scene.

A system message pops up in my vision.

〖 Location Discovered: The Well of Souls 〗

〖 Location Discovered: The Well of Souls 〗

How edgy!

There's a stone path that seems to head straight through a cemetery.

Although a black fog prevents me from seeing more than a few meters out in any direction, I can see perfectly along the path all the way up to the prize resting atop an archaic stone temple.

The trophy, the reward, the most valued object in this game to date. Perhaps even, the most valuable in-game entity to ever exist?

The Immortal Soul.

Mysterious, glowing, and constantly shifting in form.

They say it promises its owner eternity...

but nobody really knows what it does.

Invincibility? Unrestricted respawns? Infinite Mana?

Something like that? It doesn't matter to me though.

Eh? It's contested by over fifty million people?

Eh? You say it's one of a kind and will never appear again?

Eh? I could even sell it for a fortune in real currency?

Sorry, but I don't really care what it does;

I have my own agenda.

I hold hands with my other body, and start walking along the cobblestone road, up the decrepit steps of the structure, to stand before the object of interest floating within a small wooden shrine.

It was a long road to this point, 4 years in fact.

I started playing during this game's closed beta,

and in the latter 2 years became known as...

The Demon King's Devil Twin Generals,

or just -- The Devil Twins.

The Demon King gave me that title.

I'm quite proud of it, so I'll fight you if you make fun of it.

Ah, I was reminiscing in old memories.

Sorry, sorry.

There's someone who followed me through the portal, so I suppose I should reward them for their achievement? Effort? Perceptiveness?

『『 Hello there, Hero. 』』

The Hero stops abruptly.

Long black hair, perfect pale skin, glowing blue eyes, beautiful yet damaged white armour, a tattered red scarf, and a masterwork holy greatsword as tall as her. A bishoujo! ※¹

...It's a shame her sword has been reduced to a mere walking stick.

Good job Demon King! You put up quite the fight!

But you failed to stop the Hero, so you only get an E for effort.

「 Shut up. 」

I pout at you, miss.

Both mouths, double pout.

「 Traitor. 」

The Hero is something of an "Honorable" type person. I'm sure if the circumstances were different she would have heard out the Demon King's speech. Her battle against the demons is something more political, so I don't believe she has a personal vendetta against the Demon King or anything.

The personal vendetta against me?

Well, I just betrayed the Demon King after all.

I'm sure I'm an insult to what she stands for.

『 Oh? We were thinking about having an evil speech. 』

『 You know? Since the Demon King didn't get to. 』

『 Don't you want to hear our reasons? 』

『 Or maybe... stall for time...? 』

A juicy offer. If the Hero recovers she could even be a threat to me.

I want to see the reactions of the famous righteous Hero,

so this risk is very worth it to me.

Although I say risk, I'm going to be using that stalled time too.

「 ... 」

The Hero hangs her head in thought,

but I'll receive that input as "I want to stall for time."

「 ...Why did you betray him? 」

『『 For fun. 』』

No hesitation.

I can see the Hero grit her teeth at that tasteless declaration.

The Demon King and all the other players that supported him had to sacrifice a lot to open the path to The Immortal Soul; a multi-year effort. Days off were taken, studying hours were lost, savings were spent, tears were shed, I had even heard of a family breaking up, all for The Immortal Soul that I had so heartlessly robbed from everyone.

Hm? You think that sounds too extreme? You think they're fanatics?

It's not ridiculous; if attaining it could pay off your sibling's crippling medical bills, or allow you to retire early, wouldn't you?

「 Then... what are you going to do with it? 」

I notice that the Hero has more or less recovered.

『 Nothing. 』

『 Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say... 』

『『 We're going to destroy it? 』』

The Hero charges to assassinate the evil twins!

But runs into a barrier, I wonder who put that there?

Hey hey, don't hit my barrier while making such an angry face...

I don't want to underestimate the Hero so I just absorb The Immortal Soul with both of my bodies. Did I forget to mention it?

You can share The Immortal Soul.

Of course, I'm not going to be sharing it with anyone.

I'm eating up its physical manifestation so it can't be shared.

「 How?! You're just going to throw away the years of your life you spent? Everyone else's years?! 」

Ah, it broke.

The barrier I mean.

Oh, The Immortal Soul too,

it shrinks away as its essence visibly flows into me.

I feel rejuvenated, it feels pretty good.

The Hero is screaming at me.

I don't think she's silly though.

In fact, I think it's quite wonderful she's so passionate.

Being so close with friends across the world, feeling their struggle as your own struggle, I feel that is nothing short of admirable.

Although I've been relaxed this entire time, it's only because I struggled in order to create this situation where I could be relaxed. So, I know why she's screaming, I can feel her pain too somewhat.

This is the fruit of my labour though, so let me indulge.

The pain feels a bit good, okay?

There's a fire in the Hero's eyes as they fly up the steps.

I move my bodies as close as they can get, and cast as many personal barriers as I can. Of course, there's no way these barriers will save me. I just want to have my last words, for fun.

The holy sword strikes my barriers.

They shatter one by one, like a ticking clock.

I can't help but grunt against the force.

Behind the shrine is a cliff.

I hold my ground.

The Hero hides her eyes from me, I guess she has nothing left to say.

Is this the Hero's lament? I'm not sure what I'm feeling.

...But I'm wearing some very twisted smiles.

『 You know, it's not enough to be the only ones with it. 』

『 So we'll be deleting our accounts too. 』

『 But, there's a sliver of hope for everyone. 』

『 The admins might... might give you... The Immortal Soul! 』

『 The ending would... be too bad... otherwise...! 』

『 Y-You may be the only one... that will know... 』

『『 ...that we won here...! 』』

Ah, the Hero's face is scary.

The Hero breaks through to my last barrier,

my Mana Barrier, purely ceremonial for her finishing blow.

All of my mana burns away in an instant, and I feel withered.

It feels like heat leaving my body on a cold day.

Ah, there goes my health points too.

I'm thrown off the cliff by the shockwave of her strike.

There's a deep pain in my chests, but it's not uncomfortable.

Both of me enter free fall.

Is the Hero crying?

I see the Hero mouthing something with her lips but it's a whisper,

I don't hear it over the air rushing by my ears. Messaging her party members I guess?

Ah, maybe I'll spend the night wondering about it.

That was a nice parting gift.

How dramatic.

Various loose accessories fall away from me and burn up as my speed accelerates. Rings, trinkets, broken jewellery, and little embers surround me as I fall faster.

It's like atmospheric reentry, it looks nice.

Slowly, a black fog clouds my vision, whether it's from the location, or my bodies dying, I can't really tell. The last thing I see are my red & white, and pink & white flower hairpins splitting into embers.

Goodbye Myriad Worlds Online.

Thank you for the memories.

I close my eyes -- and access the menu against the back of my eyelids.

〖 Log Out: Sing 〗

〖 Log Out: Crier 〗

〖 Closing Connection 〗

〖 Closing Connection 〗

〖 Delete Character: Sing? 〗

〖 Delete Character: Crier? 〗

Delete.

〖 Are you sure? 〗

〖 Are you sure? 〗

Yes.

〖 Sing Deleted. 〗

〖 Crier Deleted. 〗

The sound of my ceiling fan slowly returns to me.

It's dark.

It's peaceful...

...and I feel sick.

I pull off the two gaming peripherals attached to my head and throw them off. I hear a crack as they hit the ground, but I don't care if they're broken since I'm not ever going to be playing again.

My hair became a mess too...

Ah... I'll fix it in the morning, before school.

『 School... huh? 』

I mumble regretfully, to my lone self.

...Ah, I'm doing it again. Um... right.

My first name is Streya.

I'm fourteen years old.

I'm a first-year high school girl.

I'm a savant and terminally ill.

Sometime in the next month, I'm scheduled to die,

but tomorrow I'm going to commit suicide.

Don't forget.

Tomorrow, no second thoughts.

Okay?

...Okay.

...Deep breaths.

...Sigh.

I roll onto my side.

My bed feels too warm, but it's soft.

My clock says 12:40 am.

I feel like that dark fog is clouding my vision again but it's just me getting sleepy.

Still, it's a bit scary to think that today as well, I might not make it to the next morning.

...Well, no use getting anxious. If it happens,

there's nothing I could have done about it.

I see the red & white, and pink & white hairpins that I'd bought a long time ago sitting on my desk, fading to black.

I'll wear them tomorrow -- if I make it.

[ END ]