Chapter 22: Chain of Hatred

The Demon God wandered the continent beside the girl.

"Lady Demon God! The water here is so clean!"

"Indeed. You should be safe here."

'Camping alone with my master. It reminds me of the old days.'

Though she had worried the girl would be unstable and dangerous after losing her mother, she was indeed meant to be the next Demon King.

The girl regained her strength through the mission given to her.

"This isn't working..."

"You can do it."

'After all, this method of channeling Demonic Energy was taught to her by my master.'

Under the Demon God's direct tutelage, the girl grew rapidly.

When her innate supreme talent met with the finest teacher, her growth rate was astonishing even to the Demon God.

"Lady Demon God! Isn't it so cute?"

"It's a survival strategy. To evoke sympathy from other animals to stay alive."

"Can't we take it with us?"

"Think carefully. How would it handle such a sudden environmental change if kidnapped? And how long would its family search for their suddenly missing kin?"

"...We shouldn't take it then."

Of course, she still maintained her childlike innocence.

"..."

"Don't worry too much. They are evil ones who enjoy slaughter. Monsters beyond redemption."

"But still...!"

Though she had endured many hardships, she was still a young girl.

Her innate good nature made things difficult for her.

"You will be the one to change this world."

At such times, the Demon God would comfort the girl by her side.

"Lady Demon God. When I become the Demon King... will I be able to change this cruel world?"

"It's possible... if it's you."

The Demon God answered with mixed feelings.

After the death of her master, the previous Demon King, the Demon Race was able to achieve harmony with other races due to their contribution in stopping the Mass Murderer.

Though anger towards demons could have grown since the Mass Murderer was a Demon King from their own race, because the other demons all joined forces with the continent's people to stop him, that united front completely erased their hateful relationship.

'...Could Master have intended that?'

The thought suddenly occurred to her.

'No. That's impossible.'

If that was the plan from the start, there would be no reason for Master not to tell her.

It must have been coincidence.

The wall of [Pride] covering the Demon God's eyes was starting to crack.

Time passed quickly.

Thanks to the fast-forward feature added to prevent Players from getting bored, one could automatically skip less important parts if desired.

But the Demon God didn't skip.

She stayed by the girl's side, watching every step of her growth.

When the story began, she had planned to quickly end this foolish play and resurrect her real master, but for some reason she couldn't skip it.

Even though she knew the girl before her was fake.

The girl and Demon God arrived at another new village.

"Kill the demons!"

"Drive out these cursed creatures!"

"Raaaah!"

As they approached the village entrance, they heard the sounds of humans and demons fighting inside.

"Lady Demon God."

"Go sweep them away."

When the Demon God gave permission, the girl's body melted into pitch-black Demonic Energy.

Swoosh!

A pillar of Demonic Energy rose between the human and demon forces.

The girl who emerged from the pillar stood in the middle of the battle.

[Stop.]

Woong!

The power in her voice pervaded the surrounding space.

When the Demon Language rang out, all the humans who had been charging fiercely at the demons froze in place.

[Kneel.]

Thud!

Following that, every human present fell to their knees.

The humans, composed of battle-hardened mercenaries, were subdued in an instant without being able to resist at all.

Suddenly a small robed figure appears and makes all the humans kneel with just two words.

The demons could only gape in shock at this scene that defied common sense.

"Your skills have become quite stable."

Demon God Havnis smiled with satisfaction, arms crossed.

"Who... are you?"

The village chief, who seemed to be the demons' leader, carefully approached the girl with a fearful expression.

"I'm Reino."

When the girl removed her hood to reveal her young face, the demons were surprised once again.

Soon they confirmed she was a demon and cheered.

"Thank you for saving us!"

"We thought we were done for!"

"I thought the Demon King had descended!"

The girl let out a sigh of relief as the demons came to thank her.

Phew. We weren't too late this time.

Though she had saved many, she had also been late many times.

Fortunately, it seems they arrived at just the right time in this case.

"How did you do that?"

"Big sis, you're amazing!"

While Reino was talking with the villagers...

"W-wait, let's talk about this! Aaaagh!"

A human's scream rang out.

The startled girl turned toward the direction of the scream.

"You evil humans! Die!"

Looking back, she saw demons stabbing the paralyzed humans to death with farming tools.

From strong young men to small children, they all held implements and hacked away at the humans as if venting their accumulated anger.

"W-wait..."

The flustered girl reached out urgently.

But she couldn't find her voice.

...Stop them?

Why?

The humans are already helpless and neutralized...

But from those demons' perspective, isn't this natural since these humans tried to kill them?

But still... even if that's true, there's no need to kill all the humans who can't even resist anymore, right?

The girl was confused.

Madness from hatred spread gradually among the demons.

Seeing the girl's confusion, the village chief approached her.

"It's a sad thing."

"...Chief."

The chief's eyes looked sorrowful.

"That fellow Kelbeck over there lost his beloved to humans. She was 4 months pregnant. And that Disado lost his only daughter to humans. The precious daughter he had in his later years."

"..."

"We have all lost precious ones to humans. It has already become irreversible."

"But still...!"

The girl clenched her fists tightly.

Then soon loosened her grip.

She had no right to stop their revenge.

After all, if the mercenaries who killed her mother were tied up before her, she would act exactly the same as them.

Perhaps even more cruelly.

"Lady Demon God."

"What is it?"

"If it were you, would you leave them be?"

"You mean them."

The Demon God recalled a memory from her childhood.

Her younger days when she would attack any human she saw, filled with rage at those who killed her family.

Each time, her master would stop her.

Perhaps her master saw her young self in me back then.

'I think Master said something like this at the time...'

"I have no right to stop them."

"Then..."

"However, as history has shown well, revenge only breeds new revenge."

"P-please spare me! I have a home to- Aaaagh!"

Another middle-aged man was killed, spraying blood.

His severed head rolled across the ground, and the pendant around his neck came to rest at the girl's feet.

"..."

The girl picked up the pendant.

Opening it revealed a picture of the recently killed man smiling brightly while holding a girl about five years old.

Probably his daughter.

When this child learns her father was killed by demons, won't she also seek revenge against demons?

And the child of the demon she kills will also seek revenge against her.

It repeats endlessly.

'I somewhat understand why Master spoke to me that way back then.'

"One killed in revenge is also precious to someone else. Then we would have no right to stop their new revenge either."

"..."

"Endless revenge and the new revenge it spawns. An eternal vicious cycle."

When she first entered the game, this world was just a false realm of lies to the Demon God.

She had never once considered the lives of the created NPCs.

Even when she first began teaching the girl, her top priority was ensuring she wouldn't develop trauma about killing.

But at some point, this world was no longer just a false dream to her.

"A chain of hatred."

"Indeed."

"...I'll break it."

This eternally repeating cycle of evil.

The girl clenched her small fist with firm resolve.

"I'll become the Demon King and break this cycle."

The girl turned to look at the Demon God.

"Will you help me?"

The girl reaching out her hand with desperate eyes.

"I am always with you. For you alone have that right."

The Demon God reached out and clasped the girl's hand.

Though she was still in soul form and couldn't actually touch her hand, she felt she could almost sense its warmth.