The third demon king, Space-Time King Chronogate.
That was me, when I was feared in the future as the world’s strongest monster.
My power as demon king is Chronos 《Space-Time Control》. The power to conquer this world’s law of time. A power to interfere with not just the time of specific things, but the world’s absolute time itself.
“…How are…”
“…How dare you how dare you how dare you…”
“…You… Us…”
“…We’ll kill you.”
“…Pluck arms and legs.”
“…Pull out tongue.”
“…Scoop out eyeballs.”
“…Slowly melt entire body…”
“…Let’s play with your screams.”
“…Forever…”
The demon king Ultimelt yells with a hateful childish voice, after having part of its body taken away.
Slime arms then descend from all directions, creating a pale-blue cage.
There’s no way to escape from here, on top of the floating rubble, but…
“It’s no use. You’ve made an enemy out of me 《Time》.”
I willingly jump into the raging ocean of slime.
The moment my feet touch it, everything’s time goes back like a whirlpool.
The slime arms, the swallowed monsters, the glass fragments and rubble all over the floor…
Things float in the air, and like a puzzle being completed, the test site goes back to the way it was.
“Nothing in this world can defy me 《Time》. Even if you are indestructible, everything has a beginning.”
Inside the restored cultivation tanks behind me, monsters visibly shrink, before disappearing one after the other.
Eventually, they all turn into light particles and vanish.
“…Eek!?”
“N-no!”
“No no!”
“Don’t take us!”
With every step I take, Ultimelt disintegrates and vanishes.
I walk towards the core of this demon king, the slime body in the center in the shape of a girl.
The demon king’s voice sounds increasingly less confident.
“…We are not done yet.”
“Dream…”
“Hope…”
“Love…”
“Kindness…”
“Family…”
“Friends…”
“Future…”
“None of them are us!”
“Everyone, everything… Will be us!”
Screams Ultimelt.
It’s like a baby looking for its mother. Like a baby cursed at birth.
The slime starts foaming, takes the form of hundreds of monsters, and attacks.
Flames, venom, sharp fangs, large claws, piercing howls, wind blades, icicles, lightning spheres…
But everything turns to dust before it hits me.
None of its attacks reach the ‘point in time’ when they hit me.
“…I have to destroy the future you’re trying to bring forth.”
I walk towards the core of Ultimelt without stopping.
“I know… The future that awaits you. You eat everything you want, and end up crying alone inside a dark hole.”
“…No way.”
“…Lie.”
“Unbelievable.”
“No matter how much you want to be loved, everything you touch melts. No matter how many humans you eat, you remain alone. In fact, the more you eat, the more alone you get.”
The ultimate life-form. It expands indefinitely, doesn’t age, and doesn’t die.
But a life that’s not imperfect is just a monster. A complete life can never be happy.
No matter how lonely or sad it is, this demon king can’t even die.
If possible… I wish I could’ve prevented its birth.
“L-lie!”
“It’s a lie!”
“It’s a lie!”
“It’s a lie!”
“It’s a lie!”
“It’s a lieeee!!”
Ultimelt closes its ears and shakes its head.
I don’t think anything I say at this point is going to matter.
This demon king is a lonely kid that is crying about being alone.
Even if it knows there’s only destruction ahead, it’s going to keep longing for someone, and melting everything it yearns for.
So, before it happens…
“I will at least end you, demon king Ultimelt.”
I reach the core of this demon king, and face the slime in the shape of a girl.
“End…?”
“End us…?”
“How?”
The slime girl smiles like it’s shuddering.
“…We know.”
“Your magic energy, is over.”
“You used all that magic.”
“Right now…”
“You can’t kill us.”
Yes, I don’t have the magic energy to use big spells anymore, and the magic energy around us is being eaten by Ultimelt.
But…
“No, I do have magic energy.”
“…Eh?”
I’m not drawing from just the magic energy that’s here right now.
I hold the transparent sword in my hand up high.
“Gather.”
The magic circuits in my body bend in strange directions.
My ‘eyes’ can see what’s beyond these twists.
It’s my magic circuits from other ‘me’s’ beside the one of this time.
Past and future ‘me’s’ magic circuits are bent into the fourth dimension, overcoming time and connecting to the present.
Through magic circuits of various times, magic energy from ‘me’ of various times flows into me.
It’s quantity… Is immense.
“…!?”
“…!”
“…Why!?”
“What is this magic energy…!?”
“Where from!?”
“Why!?”
“…Why!?”
“…Why!?”
“Why!?”
“…Why…!?”
The amount of magic energy is enough to make a demon king feel pressured.
Much like how a person drinks a huge amount of water over the course of their lives, the magic energy they hold over a lifetime is immeasurable.
All that magic energy has been drawn through time, and is the reason why future me was the strongest.
But this is also why past me couldn’t use magic…
I know that now, but it’s necessary.
Past me was abandoned because he couldn’t use magic, was ostracized, and cried in the dark while cursing the world around him… But El took him by the hand into the light, he met people that would become important to him, learned kindness and warmth… And lost everything, lived in hell for a hundred years, and became the strongest…
And it all leads here.
Like hands of a clock, endlessly drawing a circle.
To end all demon kings from here.
To save everything from here.
“Chronos 《Space-Time Control》, Twelfth Hand 《Zero》.”
I call out the name of this sword.
It’s the first and last hand. The one that ends the beginning.
Even something immortal has to have a beginning.
With this sword, I roll it back to the source, the beginning.
I stab the chest of the slime girl.
“…Ah…”
Ultimelt murmurs with shock.
The moment it’s stabbed by the sword, many shiny drops rise.
The reversal of time has begun.
Like a river of tears returning to the sky, the drops of light melt into the air.
“…”
“…Wah.”
“…Pretty.”
The slime girl reaches out, like it’s chasing fireflies with its small hands, and what it catches is a drop that landed on my cheek.
“…Why?”
“…How come?”
“…Why are you crying?”
“…We… Don’t understand.”
“…You and us…”
“…Are enemies, aren’t we?”
As the demon king disappears, it tilts its head in confusion.
But none of that matters, It doesn’t matter if it’s an enemy.
Even if it’s the worst demon king, even if I have to kill it, even if this demon king’s tears are false…
A kid is crying in front of me, so I want it to smile.
“…I’m sorry I couldn’t love you.”
I smile kindly at the demon king, trying to make it feel at ease in the end.
“But… Don’t be scared anymore. You’re not alone anymore, so…”
I close my eyes, and say…
“End.”
With that one word, the slime girl’s body turns into particles of light and floats up.
The last hand that remains gently catches my tears.
“…Ah…”
“Warm…”
“…”
It smiles, and vanishes, leaving one small drop behind, like a tear.
This is probably how Ultimelt started.
This drop disappears too, like it’s melting into the air.
“…”
That demon king doesn’t have to shed any more tears.
The demon king that was called the worst the first time around is completely gone from this world.
The second demon king has been slain.
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thanks for the chapter!!!
The way he connected the reason why he couldn’t use magic is lit bruh