— “Finally, I can have a chat with you.”
A voice, clear and vivid, echoed in his mind.
The moment Lloyd focused on the voice, his vision wavered.
— Bam!
Lloyd fell from his spot.
The sensation at his fingertips was endlessly cold and damp.
The neatly organized room and wooden furniture were gone, replaced by a cold, hard stone floor.
“Where is this place?”
Lloyd looked around.
The dim light made his vision blurry.
Damn it.
He was undoubtedly caught up in something troublesome.
‘Could it be a trap spell?’
The background had shifted from his private room to a dark cave. Lloyd considered the possible scenarios. Soon, he concluded that it didn’t matter what it was.
The fact that his surroundings had changed so silently indicated a powerful and high-level magic, stronger than any he had ever experienced.
— Thud.
He took a step. There was no need for caution. Whatever it was, he was already caught up in it. In such situations, confidence often proved beneficial. He would handle things as they came. Lloyd walked forward boldly.
— Squish.
The further he walked, the damper it became. Was there a river flowing inside the cave? He could hear the faint sound of water trickling. Using that as his guide, Lloyd moved forward.
He was walking like that.
Crunch.
While walking, he heard a crunching sound beneath his feet.
Lloyd looked down.
“Bone?”
A skull with two large holes.
Lloyd examined the area around his feet.
Bones were scattered everywhere, easily numbering in the thousands, if not tens of thousands.
And then.
“…”
Lloyd slowly blinked.
A giant, yet familiar, worm lay dead.
It was Kudoku, the dark grey worm he had swallowed.
It was dried up, curled in on itself.
… As if it died while struggling in fear.
His stomach churned. Everything about the size of Kudoku and this place was alien and yet familiar. Why?
“You have come.”
A chillingly familiar voice came from behind him.
Not from his head, but behind him.
Just the realization of this fact made his hair stand on end.
Swallowing dryly, Lloyd slowly turned his head.
An armchair came into view.
The floor was covered with crimson blood.
Bones piled so high they formed an island, and atop it sat an armchair.
A man was seated there.
Faded golden hair.
Burning red eyes.
A lazy posture, leaning half on the armrest, legs casually crossed.
Despite his lack of decorum, his aura was suffocating—a presence that would look down on all the world.
Eyes that seemed to scorn everything glanced at Lloyd.
“Hmm. You’re different from what I imagined. I thought you’d be a bit more slender.”
The man smirked slightly.
Like a painter’s casual brushstroke, his demeanor was gallant, yet his rolling eyes radiated madness. His fingers, placed carelessly, conveyed utter boredom.
Lloyd managed to move his stiff vocal cords and spoke.
“… Who are you?”
“Oh? Do you sense my grandeur? I thought I had concealed all my presence.”
Only then did Lloyd notice the man’s abnormality.
Instinct warned him of the man’s strength.
But he felt nothing.
Usually, a mage or knight would have some residual mana.
The man had none of that.
He was eerily devoid of anything.
“Even for a human, a Heavenly Martial Body is different. You are worthy of containing my essence.”
“… Heavenly Martial Body?”
“Your body. It is a vessel that can hold anything. Unbreakable. Quite useful for a mere human.”
The man smiled greedily.
Each time he did, the surroundings seemed to be dyed red. The air pulsed as if it had a will of its own.
“Reveal your identity.”
“Identity, you say.”
Tap, tap, tap.
The man drummed his fingers on the armrest before speaking.
“Ortega. That was my name as a human. You might have heard of it. If you studied history diligently.”
Lloyd had indeed heard of it.
The Britannia Empire, which rules over more than half of the continent.
When you look through the long and lengthy imperial succession of the thousand-year-old empire, there is only one empty spot.
The only Emperor deposed by the Empire.
The only blemish in its thousand-year history.
The tyrant, Ortega.
— Thud.
He stood up.
Skulls crumbled beneath his feet.
The fact that the Emperor, the absolute power of the Empire, was overthrown indicated that something monumental had occurred.
[The Rochester Incident]
Ortega’s grand massacre in the imperial capital.
Tens of thousands of commoners died in that massacre.
Ortega, the emperor, by his own hand.
He stretched out his hands.
“Ah, if there is one fact different from history, it is that I was never dethroned.”
At some point, a crown appeared in Ortega’s hand. He casually tossed it behind him.
“I just no longer felt it was worth ruling over humans.”
— Thud.
In an instant, he was standing right next to Lloyd.
A movement impossible for human perception to follow.
He spoke.
“Kid, you and I are in similar circumstances.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking if that body you’re borrowing is decent.”
The man roughly jerked his head.
Just that simple action made the air unbearably heavy. It wasn’t magic. It was as if it were the most natural phenomenon, like breathing underwater, making Lloyd’s lungs feel stifled.
“Don’t avert your eyes. I can see everything. It’s been about a year, hasn’t it? When I was about to take over this body, a stone rolled in.”
A chill ran down his spine.
This man knew that Lloyd was not truly “Lloyd”. Was it two souls entwined in one body? The occasional voice he heard was Ortega’s whispers.
Lloyd met the man’s gaze.
In the drowsy eyes, there was a flicker of rage. The kind of rage that made him want to crush the one who had taken what was his.
Lloyd clenched his fist.
It was a sign of vigilance.
Ortega.
To Lloyd, he was no longer human. He had surpassed the limits of humanity. The worst part was that he seemed devoid of any restraint or self-control.
If he wasn’t pleased, he’d kill you.
That fear rose instinctively.
“Come now, don’t be so tense.”
Ortega’s eyes softened. Then, he dramatically raised both hands.
“I want to seek your cooperation.”
Cooperation? Lloyd maintained his poker face while his mind raced.
Ortega. This man had an infinitely scornful nature.
For him to seek cooperation?
‘He can’t kill me.’
There was a reason he couldn’t kill Lloyd. While Lloyd wanted to understand that reason, knowing this much was enough for now.
“What I want from you is simple. Just occasionally, give me control over the body.”
“… Control?”
“Yes. I must admit, your willpower is extraordinary. Even when your mind wavered, I couldn’t seize control.”
Suddenly, Lloyd recalled something.
The times he heard Ortega’s voice were always when he was in extreme pain from the applause sound.
“So, what do you say? Would you join hands with me?”
He extended his hand with a smile that was almost convincing.
“Then I will, in turn, destroy the world for you.”
Lloyd didn’t budge.
His behavior was suspicious.
He wasn’t someone who would make such requests this way.
Therefore, instead of shaking hands, Lloyd decided to extract more information.
“You.”
Lloyd took a breath before continuing.
“Are you truly that powerful? For instance, stronger than the Demon King?”
Ortega shrugged.
“The Demon King? You mean the ruler of the Demon Realm?”
“Yes.”
“The Demon Realm is just a fragment of Chaos. I came from Chaos, so I am not to be compared to the Demon King. Observe.”
Suddenly.
Ortega’s hand shot out in front of Lloyd’s arm.
It wasn’t magic.
Just a strange and natural movement, as if space itself was distorted.
“How about it? Won’t you take my hand?”
Once again, the hand was extended.
Lloyd gulped.
Then he stared directly into Ortega’s red eyes.
“No.”
“…What?”
“I refuse.”
Simultaneously, he put some distance between himself and Ortega.
It wasn’t to flee.
But he felt certain.
Ortega had an ulterior motive.
If he took that hand, he would undoubtedly relinquish some control over his body.
It was likely akin to a ‘contract,’ similar to a spell.
“Do you think you can escape from me?”
“No. But.”
“But?”
“This place is my mind. More precisely, it’s Lloyd’s mind.”
… Thud.
Ortega, who had been following Lloyd, halted.
“For a human, you’re quite sharp.”
“Your influence is confined to this place. You’ve done nothing but whisper in my mind.”
“Hah.”
“I have no intention of giving my body to you.”
“Don’t you seek revenge?”
“That’s something I’ll handle on my own.”
Ortega’s smile twisted.
Behind it, a malevolent aura flickered.
It was his true nature.
“Kuhuh… Fine.”
Ortega raised both hands.
Lloyd assumed a defensive stance immediately.
No matter what, he would resist.
From the quick mana circulation he did just now, it was clear that his mana circuits were intact here.
But Ortega simply clapped his hands together.
— Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The sound of applause echoed hollowly through the cave.
He smiled broadly.
“Indeed. There’s nothing to gain from harming your body. But your mental shock benefits me. Since you seem to have figured it out, here’s a gift for you.”
“…Stop.”
“Why? Where’s that confident rationality now, trembling like that?”
“…Stop it.”
— Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The continuous sound of applause echoed endlessly.
Lloyd’s rationality frayed.
— Shing.
With a sharp friction sound, the applause stopped.
Ortega looked down, intrigued.
Black blood dripped from his severed hand.
“…Hoo?”
He examined his severed arm with fascination.
“Puhuh. It’s been a long time since I felt this sensation of being cut.”
His lips curled up.
Then, his laughter filled the cave.
“Kahahahahaha… ha… ha!”
Took.
Silence fell abruptly.
Lloyd instinctively stepped back.
“Dare.”
Ortega’s voice pierced Lloyd’s mind.
Simultaneously, everything froze.
Time stopped?
Lloyd stared blankly at the blood droplets suspended in mid-air. He couldn’t move his eyes.
— Thud, thud.
Only the sole ruler of this space took steps.
Lloyd could only listen to the growing sound of footsteps.
It was magic he had never encountered before.
Even the Demon King couldn’t use something like this.
“Die.”
In an instant.
Countless streaks of blood slashed across his vision.
