Vol 2 Chapter 16 – I Thought I Beat My Nemesis, Then a Third Woman Awakens

The true identity of the mastermind—someone who finally revealed himself, plotted revenge against the Empire, and held an obsession to destroy it no matter what—was the other “me” who split off when I nearly got poisoned to death at six.

Apparently, Earth’s god gave him power and a body, and strengthened him with it, but…

“You think you can win?”

“At the very least, I won’t lose.”

Even so, our side should be overwhelmingly stronger, but for some reason he acted completely confident.

“I don’t really get it, but… for now, it’s fine if he’s Lio’s enemy, right?”

“That’s right.”

He boldly declared himself our enemy right in front of Yumeba.

I don’t know what kind of trump card he has, but even if he’s my other half, we should settle this fast.

Maybe Yumeba felt the same—or maybe she clearly understood how he was different from me—but she closed the distance without hesitation and swung the blade I’d magically modified…

“Ow…!”

The moment she sliced open his left shoulder, a sharp pain shot through my left shoulder too.

“Lio!”

“Ha-ha-ha. Impressive—cutting through this body’s defense so easily. But did you forget that I’m Emilio’s other half?”

His left shoulder was cut and bleeding, but at the same time, my left shoulder was cut too, and blood ran down.

“So if I attack you, that damage gets applied to me too.”

“You and I are the same person. Isn’t that obvious?”

“…Doesn’t feel very fair.”

Blood was dripping from my wound, but his was regenerating even without him doing anything.

It seems the damage is shared equally, but regeneration isn’t.

“It’s simply a difference in physical specs. This body is, after all, a body granted by god. Its defense and regeneration aren’t even comparable to your human body.”

“So your high defense saved me, then.”

If his defense hadn’t been high enough to withstand Yumeba’s no-holds-barred strike—and a hit from a magically modified sword—there’s a good chance I would’ve died instantly.

“Lio. I’m sorry.”

More than anything, Yumeba is shaken by realizing her attack hurt me.

“It’s fine.”

I use healing magic on my own wound.

It’s the first time I’ve used it on myself, but the pain in my shoulder quickly fades.

“That’s not sorcery… is it? That’s magic?”

“Who knows.”

So far, the only thing I’ve learned is this: just like I didn’t know him, he doesn’t seem to know me in detail either.

“Just to confirm… what’s your goal?”

“My original goal—revenge on Yunix—has been achieved. Next, I’ll absorb you and become complete… and then I’ll destroy the Empire.”

“…For what reason?”

“Naturally, for revenge. The Emperor scorned me—his own son—calling me a discarded prince, and he didn’t even protect me when I was poisoned. I have the right to take revenge on the Emperor… and therefore, the Empire.”

“…Sure.”

I neither deny nor affirm his words.

“Then let me ask you this: why don’t you seek revenge? You were poisoned by Yunix too, and you lived being scorned by the Emperor as a discarded prince. So why are you fighting to protect the Empire?”

“Obviously, for my wife.”

The only reason I protect the Empire is because Yumeba—because House Saionji—needs a place in it.

There’s no other reason.

“You’re saying you’ll abandon revenge for the sake of one woman?”

“She’s the first woman I’ve ever gotten in my life. What’s wrong with treasuring her?”

“…Women are a dime a dozen.”

“?”

His words confuse me, and then something clicks.

“Wait—are you the type who doesn’t have your previous-life memories?”

“What?”

“So you don’t remember either—getting approached by women in Japan, and every time you tried to confess, they introduced some other guy as their boyfriend?”

“………….”

The “other me”—the one who used to be—stood there, baffled.

“Ha. No wonder your attachment to women seemed so weak.”

The reason I’m obsessed with Yumeba is my past-life trauma.

That sense of loss—like I’m finally within arm’s reach of getting a woman, but the moment I reach out, she slips away.

I went through that over and over, and the woman I finally got was Yumeba.

Of course I treasure Yumeba. Of course I’m obsessed with her.

Because Yumeba is the first precious, precious woman I’ve ever gotten—past life and present life included.

“Compared to that, your revenge is… meaningless.”

“………….”

“I’ll say it clearly: if you’re clinging to something as boring as revenge and can’t even taste the joy of getting a woman… you’re pathetic.”

“………….”

“And the reason for revenge is tiny. Your little brother poisoned you? Your parent neglected you? Who cares—get angry because your woman got hurt. Take revenge because your woman got insulted.”

“…Is that all you wanted to say?”

His face went blank.

“It seems you and I have already become completely different people. I intended to absorb you and become complete… but now I’ll kill you.”

“…How?”

“I won’t die even if I crush my own heart. But what about you?”

“Lio!”

Unable to attack him, and with no way to stop what he was about to do, Yumeba panicked, but…

“It’s fine.”

I soothe her, like I’m reassuring her.

“Oh? And what, exactly, is fine?”

“I’ve bought enough time.”

“…What?”

The reason I kept talking pointlessly was to buy time to develop a new spell.

And to visit the room of the deep subconscious for the first time in a while—no, to evolve the imprint carved into my left eye.

The new left eye wasn’t an imprint for seeing mana, but an imprint for seeing through god’s power.

That’s why its name is…

God-Slaying Eye: God Through.

“What is that eye? What are you… seeing? What can you see?!”

“I can see it. The divine power lodged inside you. Looks like you’re hosting a pretty high-ranking god… but that’ll be what kills you.”

If I can see it, then from there it’s my—the Demon King’s—territory.

Which means the god-slaying weapon 【Lucifer, King of Pride】 will work.

“So you’re going to attack me with that? You’ll die too!”

“【Lucifer, King of Pride】 only pierces a god’s soul. I’ll kill the god empowering you… and devour it.”

“Wha—!”

“Ah, right. One more thing I forgot to mention…”

I aim the god-slaying weapon 【Lucifer, King of Pride】 at him and speak in a casual tone, like I’m remembering something minor.

“You really had the nerve to hurt my precious woman’s heart. This is my revenge.”

At the same time as I spit out that grudge—making Yumeba hurt me and leaving her with a wound in her heart—I pulled the trigger.

A dry pop! rang out from the muzzle, and the god-killing bullet flew—

Accurate. Precise. Straight into the god lodged inside him.

Gihiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—!

A grating scream tore through the air, and the god separated from his body.

It writhed, suffered, and rolled on the ground.

When I killed that mage before, it was overkill and didn’t even show its true effect—but this is the real power of the god-slaying weapon 【Lucifer, King of Pride】.

A god-killing bullet bites into the god’s body and devours the soul from within.

If you hear “devour,” you’d think that’s gluttony—【Beelzebub, King of Gluttony】—but this is fundamentally different.

I impose my rules on a god, and under my rules—

I judge it.

That arrogant act—humans judging gods—is my true nature.

That’s why my power is fittingly called 【Lucifer, King of Pride】.

The god, writhing as its soul was eaten away, was eventually devoured completely and vanished.

And in the magazine of the god-slaying weapon 【Lucifer, King of Pride】…

“Huh?”

Since it looked like a high-ranking god even by Earth-god standards, I figured I’d secure at least a full magazine of bullets, but I only got two.

And these bullets… their color is different from normal rounds.

“…Well, whatever.”

At least I eliminated the god that had been lodged inside the mastermind, so that should mean this whole incident is over.

“Hey, Lio.”

“Hm?”

That’s what I thought, but for some reason Yumeba speaks up with a gloomy expression.

“What do we do about this?”

“………….”

What she pointed at was—the other me, completely limp, sitting on the ground.

Yeah. The only thing I killed was the god lodged inside him, so the other me was obviously still alive.

Well, the source that gave him power and drove him into revenge is gone, so maybe he doesn’t even have the strength to move on his own—he’s totally drained.

“So… what do we do…?”

I poked him with a needle as a test, but no damage fed back to me, so it seems losing the god’s power also removed the shared-damage effect.

At this point he’s harmless, but…

“Come to think of it, Yunix died, didn’t he?”

Something occurs to me.

Yeah. This guy’s harmless now, and Yunix—who the Emperor told me to protect—ended up dead, and now there’s a twin who looks identical except for hair and eye color.

◇◇◇

“Your performance in this battle is truly splendid.”

“Thank you very much.”

So Yumeba, Yukina-san, and I returned to the Imperial Capital, where the Emperor granted us an audience and praised our achievements in the war.

“The navy’s losses were severe, but the enemy’s losses were even greater. Above all, your ability to protect the Empire through this crisis is truly worthy of the name ‘Guardian of the Empire.’”

After praising us, the Emperor glanced to the side, found Yunix standing there with his head lowered, and let out a small sigh.

“You earned no merit, but you did return alive. I look forward to what you do next.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Yeah. We cleaned up Yunix’s body neatly, cast transformation magic on the other me to give him blond hair and blue eyes, and then had Lio II control him—that’s the fake Yunix now.

That said, it seems his ego is completely blown away, so he doesn’t remember anything about hosting a god and trying to take revenge on the Empire.

He doesn’t even have enough energy to move properly, so he needs Lio II’s assistance just to function.

In other words, he’s still another Emilio—but he’s basically a puppet being controlled by Lio II.

Well, since he’s not a corpse, if I build him some kind of battery to supply support energy, I can free Lio II, and since he’s basically like a baby right now, if he’s educated properly, he should eventually be able to act autonomously.

After that, we finished the audience and left the throne room, but…

“Staaare…”

For some reason, Serina—who was waiting for us—kept staring at the fake Yunix without looking away.

Yumeba and I instinctively avert our eyes.

For the record, Yukina-san already went home.

“Staaare…”

Yumeba and I avert our eyes again.

“So, what exactly is this ‘Lio-sama disguised as Yunix’?”

“Don’t call Lio ‘Lio.’”

“I refuse.”

It’s impressive she immediately saw through fake Yunix’s identity, but more than that, her nerve to pick a fight with Yumeba head-on is insane.

Also, it’s been a while since we’ve even spoken like this, and she’s talking like it’s nothing—that’s crazy too.

For now, we decided to move somewhere else to talk.

“So, this person is another Lio-sama?”

“Don’t call Lio ‘Lio.’”

After the explanation, Serina understood the other me that way.

“I refuse. Then isn’t this perfect? I’ll take this Lio-sama♪ And I won’t even have to break off my engagement to Yunix.”

And then she made a completely insane suggestion.

Is that even allowed?

“Even if you say that, he split off from before we met, so he’s a Lio who never met us. Also, don’t call Lio ‘Lio.’”

“I refuse. If I care for him with all my heart, then he will become Lio-sama in the end. My heart has judged that he is truly Lio-sama.”

“Don’t call Lio ‘Lio.’”

“I refuse.”

These two are throwing sparks at each other—are they close or not?

Well, if Serina wants to take fake Yunix, I guess we can just… give him to her.

I can make a battery in one night, and he won’t need Lio II’s support anymore.

More than anything, Serina’s engagement to Yunix has been like a thorn in Yumeba and my hearts, so this would at least ease us a little.

“I feel kind of complicated.”

“Is it that you’re not feeling possessiveness or jealousy toward this Lio-sama, Yumeba-sama?”

“…I’m not.”

What Yumeba met and chose was me—not the other me.

For Yumeba, I’m complete as “me,” so even if another me appears now, it doesn’t trigger her possessiveness or jealousy.

But since he is still the same person in a sense, it leaves her feeling complicated.

Earth’s god only ever does unnecessary things, but in this case, it’s convenient—so I’ll take advantage of it.

“The question is whether he can actually fill in for Yunix, but…”

“Ah. I spread bad rumors to break off the engagement, so he already has no close aides or servants. There’s no problem.”

“………….”

Is that something you can call “no problem”?

“The only issue would be those two, but…”

“If it’s them, I can just slap some suggestion on them or something.”

“Thank you♪”

The only two cheat reincarnators who survived because they joined Yunix’s camp.

If it’s just two, hypnosis magic can handle them however I want.

“This turned into something weird.”

“Yeah.”

After dealing with everything, Yumeba and I finally end up alone in our room, sitting close together on the sofa.

“Do you think Serina was really okay with that?”

“Who knows?”

Maybe she really is okay with it, or maybe she’s forcing herself.

The only thing I’m sure of is that it’s a problem Yumeba and I can’t really solve.

The other Emilio—split off from me at six, given a body and power by Earth’s god, raised with revenge planted inside him.

With the god removed, the revenge seems to have vanished—but at the same time, so did the ego that god was propping up.

He didn’t have memories of his previous life, and it looks like he couldn’t use magic—let alone sorcery.

Of course, he couldn’t possibly use a god-slaying weapon like 【Lucifer, King of Pride】.

(Which means all the negative energy gathered back on Earth was all with me.)

If you ask which one is the real one, of course I can answer: me.

But if you ask whether he’s “fake,” I can only say I don’t know.

From here, with Serina’s devotion, he’ll probably change into an Emilio for Serina.

Even if he can’t remember his previous life, as long as he’s another me, the Earth trauma should still be there—and if he gets Serina, he’ll obviously treasure Serina.

“Lio, you worry too much.”

“Ugh. I know thinking won’t fix anything, but I still think about it.”

“You’re tired. For now… let’s rest.”

“…Yeah.”

Leaning against Yumeba, I close my eyes.

◇◆◇

“Young Miss, are you truly sure about this?”

Serina’s maid asks Serina, who has obtained the other Emilio.

“…I’m not.”

Of course Serina isn’t satisfied.

“Then…”

“However, it’s also true that this is a chance.”

“What do you mean…?”

“You don’t understand?”

“???”

Serina’s maid can’t understand what Serina means.

“It’s true that this Lio-sama is not my Lio-sama.”

“Yes.”

“But…”

She gently reaches out and takes the sphere floating near fake Yunix’s shoulder—Lio II—and hugs it lovingly.

“This one is unquestionably my Lio-sama.”

“…Huh?”

Serina’s sense—her terrifyingly accurate intuition as a maiden in love—had latched onto a part of Emilio’s consciousness residing inside Lio II, without mistaking its essence.

“Heehee. To give me even one night of time… Yumeba-sama, you’re still far too sweet.”

“Um… Young Miss?”

“Now then. I’ll finish it tonight.”

“W-What exactly…?”

“Heehee.”

Serina doesn’t answer.

But her maid decides to believe that Serina’s happiness lies at the end of this path—and follows her.