I Was Transported to Another World with a Male-to-Female Ratio of 1:3000 and Made into a Breeding Pet for the Demon Lord’s Army - 137

Chapter 137: No Matter What the Cost…

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Five years ago… My sister and I began a certain line of research, in hopes of correcting the distorted male-to-female ratio of this world. It was a forbidden art that applied an ancient magic capable of tearing open holes between dimensions, summoning men from another world. If we made even a single misstep, the entire world could be swallowed by that rift. It was research that trespassed into the very realm of the gods.

“Ceres… Let’s begin.”

“Yes, Onee-sama.”

Even so, we did not stop. The collapse of the gender balance continued unchecked, and with each passing day, the world crept closer to its breaking point. At this rate, the struggle over men would soon transcend even the boundary between demons and humans, and evolve into bloodshed among humans themselves, a future that had become frighteningly realistic. In fact, rumors were already spreading, disturbing whispers that women who had lost the lottery to copulate with men were gathering together, plotting rebellion.

【【【World Collapse】】】

Stopping was not an option.  Under my command, mages gathered from across the city recited their incantations in unison. A massive magic circle appeared in the air, filling with an immense surge of magical power.

Crackkkk!

A sharp fissure split through space, and a tear opened. Within it, a bottomless blackness writhed, like a night sky devoid of a single star.

“It’s a success! Ceres! Now, quickly!”

“Yes… Cursed!”

What remained from there was simple or rather, left to chance. We were to scatter curses across other worlds, and if one of them latched onto a man, the experiment would succeed. While the target remained in a deathlike state, we could reel him in and transfer him to our world.

There were various reasons for forcing the targets into a comatose state, but one of them was to determine whether the other world was one where magic could be used. If that world possessed advanced magical technology, the curse we spread would be dispelled. But if the curse proved impossible to lift, it would mean that the world lacked magical ability, in other words, that world was vulnerable to magic attack.

This curse was designed in anticipation of the worst-case scenario: that conflict might erupt.

“Kh…erena-sama! Ceres-sama! The dimensional rift won’t close!”

But then, trouble struck midway through scattering the curse.

“Onee-sama! Please! Leave the rest to me! Let go of my hand!”

“No! I refuse! I won’t let go of this hand, not even if I die!!”

It was divine retribution, perhaps, for disturbing the world’s balance. The event that took my sister from me, swallowed into another dimension.

Paah…

“Wait! Don’t go! Ceres!!!”

That day, when I lost my sister, despair consumed my heart. Yet even so, I did not stop. I held back my tears and continued my research, believing that if I persisted, I would someday reach her again.

“Ken-chan… The boy was found in the forest.”

And then, one day, a ray of hope shone through the darkness of despair. A single human male had appeared in the demon realm, far beyond human jurisdiction. Witnesses claimed he had fallen from the sky, and rumors spread of an unusual male who showed no fear of demons. I became certain. Ken-chan was a summoned one from another world.

The proof was there: a small, familiar scar etched upon his neck. It was the identifying mark my sister had left on one of her experimental subjects. The shape, the placement, even the faint glimmer. It was unmistakable. She must have foreseen his transfer and engraved the mark beforehand. Even now, enduring loneliness on the other side, she had used the only means she could to tell me she was alive… Then, as her sister, it was my duty to go and save her once I received that message! Even if doing so was a forbidden act!

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“I was the one who guided you into this world. And I was also the one who caused you such long suffering.”

“Then… The illness that’s been torturing me all this time was…”

“Yes. That curse was a fishing hook, a lure to draw you toward this world. Your pain, your suffering… It was all part of the mechanism to bring you here.”

Bang!

“Don’t screw with me…!”

Ken-chan’s fist trembled with anger as he slammed it into the ground. After a dry, cracking sound, blood slowly seeped from his knuckles.

“Do you have any idea how much my mother cried?! How much my father has suffered?!”

His shout carried the full weight of his grief and rage. Grabbing me by the collar, his shaking hand tightened with emotion.

“We tried to stay strong together as a family! We said we’d go out again, the three of us, once I got better, but I never did…”

The gentle smile he once showed was gone without a trace. His expression twisted with fury and sorrow, his eyes burning with desperation.

“I couldn’t even go to school anymore… I just got worse and worse! Mom and Dad were losing hope day by day and you! You did that! YOU!!!”

I could have subdued Ken-chan easily with magic, but I had no right to. I had stolen someone’s life. If taking his blows could calm his heart, then I would accept them all. I had known from the beginning that I stood far from the side of justice.

“Give it back… Give me back my life!”

With a choked voice, Ken-chan collapsed to his knees.

Drop… drop…

Large tears fell from his downcast face, slowly darkening the ground beneath him.

“…I, too, feel deep remorse. The fault lies entirely with me. So no matter how much you curse me, I will accept it.”

I truly did pity him. Those innocent eyes, that pure demeanor untouched by deceit… Surely he had lived peacefully in a gentle world, surrounded by love and protection.

“However, there are circumstances here that we cannot avoid.”

Every day, I sent dear friends to battlefields where death was certain. In this nation, the greatest joy one could attain through copulation was inevitably followed by a meaningless death. To never again hold the one you love… To die wretchedly, treated as little more than a nuisance… This world that forced such a fate upon its people was unbearably cruel. Its very existence was a mistake.

“Please, try to understand. It is all for the salvation of our world.”

That was why, if this absurdity could be erased by a small sacrifice, I would pay the price without hesitation. Even standing before Ken-chan himself, my resolve did not waver.

“I don’t care about your reasons! Even if you apologize, my life won’t come back! The pain won’t go away!”

“…You’re right.”

As Ken-chan said, neither apology nor pity could make amends. The only way I could atone was by ensuring his sacrifice would not be in vain, by seeing the plan through to its end, flawlessly.

Heave…

I told myself this as I lifted Ken-chan in my arms. Holding him despite his resistance, I carried him toward the dimensional rift, what was now called the Gate of Hope.

“I’ve been thinking all this time… Of a way to rescue my sister.”

“…Your sister?”

In truth, I wanted to leap into the gate right then and save her, but I lacked the pass that connected me to that world. Unless fortune favored me, I would never reach Ken-chan’s world. I would only drift endlessly in the void between dimensions.

“Please rest assured. You will be forever remembered in this world as our savior.”

“…………”

And so, Ken-chan was to become the human pillar that would stabilize the gate. If my theory was correct, his sacrifice would allow the two worlds to be safely connected.

“I’m coming now… Ceres.”

“Serena-sama! Trouble!”

As I walked down the corridor, my attendant—who I had ordered to stand by—rushed toward me, her face pale.

“You came at just the right time. We’re about to begin the Gate experiment. Gather the mages at once—”

“T-that’s not it! There’s no time! The demon army… The demon army is advancing upon us!”

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