『 Demon King? 』 『 You called? 』 『 ...If you called us here just to pat our heads- 』 『 -we'll seriously quit, you know? 』 『『 We're quitting. 』』 「 Then quit. 」 I recoiled at his dead toned reply. He cut through my light-hearted bluff like butter, without a hint of his usual grandeur. A minute of silence passed before he took a long, deep breath, sighing for what seemed like forever. It was the first time I felt some melancholy from him. I was stricken with pangs of guilt for misreading the mood. 「 ...You two should be ...more honest with your feelings. 」 He then lifted his hands from my heads, leaving me with an icy regret. I didn't know what was on his mind, but I felt indebted, indebted to him for joking around when he had something serious to discuss. Another minute passed in silence. The weight on my shoulders grew heavier. 「 What do you think... of this castle? 」 『 It's... well kept? 』 『 Feels like a home. 』 「 ...and the state of our territory? 」 『 Wild, merciless... 』 『 It's thrilling. 』 「 ...and our guild?」 『 ...Savage. 』 『 But like family. 』 I was expecting him to smile, laugh, or sneer at that, but he just kept looking ahead, over the sundered land. I was getting antsy, and self-conscious, over what was wrong and whether or not I was making things worse. I didn't want him to think of me as unreliable. He waited in dead silence for yet another minute, before speaking slowly and deliberately. 「 ...Are you two content? 」 『『 ...? 』』 「 ...Are you two satisfied with the way things are? 」 『 It's... nice, we think. 』 『 We're content shadowing you. 』 I replied quickly, telling him what I thought he'd want to hear. I just wanted to lighten the guilt weighing down on my shoulders. 「 Liars. 」 But the itch becomes a wound instead. Looking up at the Demon King then and seeing his helmet hung low as if in disappointment, still fills me with a lasting sense of dread, and remorse. He seemed to sense that feeling... because he stayed quiet, slowly returning to gazing aimlessly over the plains once more. I couldn't even find catharsis from being visually reprimanded. As I regarded him as a sort of stand-in older sibling, being detested was a great fear of mine. I lowered my heads; I want to say because I was cutting my losses and accepting consequences, but it was really to hide my faces. If he'd seen me then, I knew he would have taken advantage of my insecurity. I was at least self-conscious of the fact that I was in a compromising position. But in hindsight, I was awfully naive to even think that would help. He had, of course, called me there prepared to take advantage of me. 「 I overheard you two at the atrium, talking to yoursel- 」 『『 Stop! Do not... 『『 say it... like that... 』』 Getting under my skin was a non-issue for him. It was always easy for him to get me out of my shell. 「 ...Was someone else there? 」 『『 Yes... n-no... there wasn't... b- 』』 「 Yourselves then- 」 『『 I wasn't talking to myself! 』』 I looked away, my necks exposed. 『『 "...to each other." 』』 「 ...Do you remember, what I told you when we first met? 」 『『 ... 』』 「 Dream, and conquer. 「 Run, and jump. 「 Live, and die? 」 『『 S-Shut up... 』』 「 That's our guild's motto now, isn't it? 」 『『 Stop! Shut up! Just shut up! 』』 「 But what was it... that you said in the atrium? 「 Something about... "expressions"? 」 『『 A...Ah... 』』 A recording played from his mic. Lines spliced together into an audio collage. "Aren't they amazing?" "To die for..." "Aren't they?" "More expressions..." 「 "Not enough..."

「 "Awful..." 「 "Disgusting..." 『『 S-Stop... 』』 「 ...So you want to see expressions? 」 『『 I can't... no way... it's... 』』 「 It's cute, I say. 」 『『 Ah... 』』 「 Come then, let us come to an agreement. 」 『『 You're terrible... 』』 「 You want to as well, do you not? 」 『『 N-No way... 』』 「 Think of all the expressions you could see with my help. 」 『『 I... I... 』』 「 Twins... if you want something, you must take it for yourself. 「 Die for what you want and be honest with what you want. 「 Complacency is the ultimate disgrace, as a demon, understood? 」 『『 Ah... ha... haha... 』』 『 I...I see... 』『 I understand now...』 『 What an... awful person... 』『 ...you are... 』 He laughed... 「 ...That is what I am. 」 ...and pat my heads. 「 A Demon King. 」 How much time passed then... I don't remember... but I faintly remember being happy after our talk. 「 Taking what you want without abandon... 「 Even if it means throwing away who you are... 「 Even if it means crossing boundaries and losing your humanity... 「 ...That's what it means to be The Devil Twins. 」 He sealed a parchment, and dropped it into Sing's hands. 「 Never forget that. 」 『『 ...What a horrid thing to say to us... 』』 『 Hideous... 』『 Appalling...』 『 Atrocious... 』『 Unpleasant... 』 「 Ha. Dismissed... get out of my sight. 」 「 -and, for the record... 「 You should be an "I," instead of a "We," around me more often. 「 I already know the truth, and it's quite refreshing to see that side of you. 」 『『 ...You're admitting you're a bad person? 』』 「 Hah! You as two never dull either way. I'm only speaking my mind. 」 『『 ... 』』 I bowed my heads and took my leave in silence, squeezing that damning parchment with all my might. To this day, I'm not sure why he encouraged me as much as he did. Morbid curiosity? Strange perversion? Machiavellian Principles? Perhaps all three, or more? I prefer to think it was something nobler. Although it could be said, it's his fault I died in the way I did, I also think that he's also the reason... I'm still alive today. ...So I hope he lives to remember death as I did. [CONTINUE?]