NOVPUB"The time has come. Can you grant her peace?"
Peace, huh.
If I do it the same way I helped Mary pass on, it should work.
Back then, Ha-rim had discovered the glowing phone booth.
When I looked at Ha-rim, she finally realized that the picture she was holding was glowing.
"The picture is glowing."
Ha-rim took the picture and approached the woman.
The spider woman had collapsed, and the spider creatures that had gathered to protect her did not attack Ha-rim as she approached.
"The spiders aren’t attacking."
"They must be hoping for this as well."
Ha-rim held up the picture before the spider woman’s eyes.
"Charlotte worked really hard on this! She told me to make sure you saw it!"
"Charlotte..."
The spider woman reacted.
To further stir her memories, Ha-rim listed a few more names.
"Charlotte. Emily. Poel. Do any of these names sound familiar to you?"
The woman searched her memory.
"Emily... Her jaw was weak, so I only ever fed her porridge.
But she kept trying to swallow solid food, so I always had to keep an eye on her."
"Poel."
"Poel was missing a leg and an eye, but she was always so strong. I never doubted that she would lead the orphanage children well."
"And Charlotte?"
"Charlotte had only one arm, but she was such a talented artist. She would always draw me and show me her pictures... Just like this one."
I could tell the spider woman’s memories were returning. So, just as I had done with Mary, I conjured a mirror before her.
A legend said that the mirror showed a person’s fated companion.
And that wasn’t limited to lovers.
“...Huh?”
As I created the mirror, something strange happened, and I could only react like an idiot.
The spider creatures were being sucked into the mirror.
The mirror grew larger.
This was clearly beyond the size I had expected.
Beyond the formed mirror, figures appeared—children from the orphanage and people who seemed to be villagers.
The spider woman cried out in alarm.
"Get away from there! I warned you over and over again how dangerous the villagers are!"
A child, missing a leg and an eye, spoke up.
"It’s okay! The people don’t want to kill us anymore. There’s no need to leave this place."
The spider woman looked shaken.
Her voice trembled as she tried to reason with them.
"But... don’t you hate the villagers? Being around those who hurt you is exhausting and painful."
A child with only one arm spoke.
"We forgave them, Mom."
"That’s impossible."
"But you wanted to forgive them too, didn’t you?"
The spider woman fell silent as if she had been struck in the heart.
After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"No."
Her first word was denial.
"I cannot forgive. I refuse to forgive.
I must continue hating those who killed you.
What kind of parent could ever forgive the ones who murdered their children?
Even if you have forgiven them, I cannot."
"But, Mom, you’re suffering. You know how exhausting and lonely it is to keep hating."
"Come with us. Everyone’s waiting."
The woman shook her head.
"I am a sinner. A butcher who killed people.
A woman who, consumed by hatred, made a wicked wish to the Goat.
And I have not even repented.
No, I will not forgive the villagers.
And they will not forgive me.
Someone like me... I cannot go there..."
"Are you stupid?"
I couldn’t listen to this any longer.
Suppressing my frustration, I stepped forward. Piero watched me with amusement.
"Hoo..."
"So what if it’s a little forced? What’s wrong with a happy ending? If everyone’s happy, it’s a win-win. I won’t allow this to end with you just disappearing."
"What are you saying...?"
"I only want my kids to see happy endings. I want to wrap up this journey on a warm note. If you keep acting like this, I’ll force you in there myself. Got it?"
It was a selfish statement. Anyone watching would probably call me a demon. But honestly, I was already being patient. This whole situation was ridiculous.
"..."
"Hahahaha!"
Piero suddenly burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
He actually seemed delighted.
"Well said. Forcing a happy ending... I quite like that idea. In that case, allow me to assist you."
Piero took a deep breath and began to tell a story.
"I learned of your story through a quiz.
Long ago, the villagers, who considered disabled children undesirable, gave you poisoned food ingredients.
The children ate the food and died in agony.
Consumed by hatred, you wished for the villagers, who had treated disabled children like pests, to become just like them.
So you made a contract with something... and turned the villagers’ corpses into spiders as an act of vengeance."
Even if spiders were beneficial creatures, their eerie appearance often evoked fear and disgust.
It was much like how people had shunned disabled children simply for how they looked.
That was why the woman had turned the villagers into spiders.
"And what are you trying to say, Piero?"
The spider woman spoke in a displeased tone.
Piero dismissed it with an indifferent shrug and continued.
"But before the demon could steal what was most precious to you, you, despite faint memories of the past, still came to love the spiders. Do you know why?"
"That’s..."
The spider woman clutched her head. She couldn’t seem to remember.
"Because among the spider corpses... your children’s bodies were there too."
"What?!"
"Unable to tell them apart anymore, you made a decision.
You chose to forgive the villagers... and love all the spiders."
"What the demon stole from you was your love for your children.
That left you with nothing but hatred for the creatures you had created.
That’s why, despite commanding the spiders, you never kept them close.
That’s why the spider creatures became so pitiful."
Wait... if this story was true—
"...Then you had already forgiven the villagers. To love your children."
The spider woman murmured in disbelief.
"I forgave them...?"
"Mom..."
To help her be more honest with herself—to make her acknowledge it—I asked:
"When the villagers gave you those food ingredients, weren’t you happy?"
"..."
That was the decisive blow.
The spider woman was silent for a moment.
Then, she finally spoke the truth.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
"That's right. I was happy... I thought, 'Finally, the villagers are recognizing the children.'
Isn't it strange? I hated them so much, yet a single gift made all that hatred melt away."
The villagers must not have liked the children before.
That was why the spider woman had harbored resentment toward them.
"I thought I no longer needed to hate them, so despite the pain in my legs, I ran all the way to the orphanage.
Like a child receiving praise, I proudly told the children.
That we no longer had to be on guard.
That from now on, we could live happily—together with everyone."
Her hands trembled as she spoke.
"Why couldn’t I have been more honest?
Why couldn’t I have been more selfish?
Even if it was impossible, I should have said that I wanted to see the children again.
And... and..."
In the end, the spider woman admitted it.
"I wanted to see the children playing with the villagers.
Forget hatred—I just wanted everyone to be together..."
Hating others is exhausting and draining.
She had grown tired of it, too.
Tired of hating the villagers.
Her true wish had never been revenge.
She had only wanted the children and the villagers to live together.
That was the true ending she had wished for.
The mirror, the picture Charlotte had drawn—they had all reflected the future she truly desired.
A future where everyone was together.
Inside the mirror, the children spoke to her.
"Hold our hands, Mom. And smile. Let’s all smile together."
"...Alright."
They held hands.
And as a radiant light, they disappeared.
[Chapter 3 Cleared.]
[Acquired: 1 Demon’s Seed (Current Count: 3)]
[MP’s Message: The end is drawing near. The curtain will rise, and she will descend. Are you ready?]
-----
"What are you two doing here?"
"Oh, Piero."
After witnessing the spider woman’s final moments, Ha-rim and I stood there, staring blankly at the sky.
Piero approached us from behind and spoke.
"I'm just sorting out my thoughts. A lot’s on my mind."
"I just wanted to be with Ella."
"I understand Ella's feelings. Strange things have been happening nonstop."
"Really? Ella hasn’t told me anything, so I have no idea."
I shot Piero a glare. He was annoying. That shameless attitude of his was infuriating.
"You seem to know a lot more than you’re letting on."
Piero let out a small chuckle.
"You caught me."
"Huh?"
Ignoring Ha-rim, who was struggling to follow the conversation, I continued.
"First, let’s talk about my mirror ability.
The legend of my mirror ghost story states that the mirror reflects a person's fated companion.
Normally, you can’t even hold or speak with the reflection.
That should have been the limit of my ability."
Answer me, Piero. Why did you—
"And you heard me chuckling in anticipation when you used it?"
"...You’re not even trying to hide it."
Even as I glared at him, Piero remained completely unbothered.
"Fine, I’ll answer your curiosity.
That ability is indeed yours.
Although... it’s not the power of the mirror ghost."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
I was about to demand an explanation.
But Piero briefly glanced at the sky, then looked at me with pity.
One moment, he was talking like some kind of mastermind, and the next, he had a sorrowful expression.
I couldn’t make any sense of him.
"Ella. Do you remember what I told you?
First, that I was looking for a ‘director.’
Second..."
Piero smiled faintly.
"I told you that partings happen suddenly."
RUMBLE—
Suddenly, the world began to shake.
This wasn’t just an earthquake.
Something... something beyond comprehension was beginning to move.
"Ella!"
I shielded Ha-rim as she anxiously clung to me.
Who the hell—
Who could possibly be behind this?
A half-blooded demon?
"Why are you hesitating? All that's left is to go to the department store, place the relic, and it will all be over. Do you think it's unfair to hesitate at the very end?"
"You've been careless. From the beginning, you tried to resolve everything using methods brought in from the outside."
"Look at that giant cocoon of spider silk."
I turned to where Piero's finger was pointing.
A massive cocoon of webbing. Now that I thought about it, something was strange.
Why was the web still there even though Arachne had disappeared?
That cocoon, though larger than usual, was definitely an object that had also existed in the spider woman’s boss stage. But it had no real function.
If the boss had been defeated, it should have vanished.
"You’re wondering why the cocoon remains even though Arachne is gone. It’s simple. That thing was created using Arachne’s power—but it was not made by Arachne herself."
...I started thinking. And one possibility came to mind.
A trap.
A completely different entity, disguised to resemble an object I had ignored because of my knowledge of the game.
As my face turned pale, Piero spoke.
"...Let me tell you a story.
The half-blooded demon was not such an easy opponent.
Back when it first attacked you, I struggled against it as well.
That’s why I hid in places beyond its reach and fought from the shadows.
But suddenly, its attacks weakened."
...
Tick.
The sound of a clock hand echoed in my ears.
"And that’s why I was able to go meet the Radio-Head Demon when it appeared."
"While Mary and Arachne were attacking you, what do you think the half-blooded demon was making?"
Tick. Tick. Tick.
"That thing—'The Cocoon of Time.' A cocoon woven together using anomalies related to time."
"And I estimate that it began constructing that cocoon the moment you brought in outsiders."
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
...
"Do you understand now?"
"Because you brought in a relic—an overwhelmingly dangerous weapon—it was forced to become desperate."
In this game, when it came to things related to time, only one thought came to mind.
A countdown.
The moment the 30th day arrived, one of the conditions for the demon’s birth would be fulfilled.
I had believed that demons couldn’t be born without a proper story and context.
But if this was happening, then in the worst-case scenario, it might be possible for an incomplete birth to occur.
...This wasn’t the outcome I had wanted.
Piero patted my trembling shoulder.
"Well, don’t blame yourself too much. Honestly, at the time, there wasn’t any other way. Even if you had known in advance, there was no way to stop it.
This world was always meant to reach this kind of terribly unfun ending."
...So, are you saying you won’t back down now?
...!
Then, I realized why Piero had withheld this information until now.
Piero hated boring shows.
And he didn’t find despair-filled endings entertaining.
That meant he hadn’t hidden it because he wanted us to despair.
From the beginning, he hadn’t wanted us to give up.
There had to be something.
Something that Piero was expecting from this situation!
I snapped back to my senses and called out to Ha-rim.
"Ha-rim, stay close to me."
"Hurry!"
"My wish has not changed. I am looking for a director—someone who will change this despair.
There is only one thing you can do. Prove yourself.
Director, within Ella—show yourself."
Tick. Time moved forward.
D-7
D-6
D-5
D-4
D-3
D-2
D-1
Tick.
D-Day.
Time had skipped.
And waiting for us ahead—
Was the worst possible opponent.
"It’s been a week, hasn’t it?"
Piero had been completely consumed.
"Are you ready to prove yourself?"
-----
"My, my. The overlap has become visible to the naked eye now. The two worlds have fully merged."
Meph watched as the small city-sized world he had created overlapped with reality.
It had grown so quickly, breaking down the walls and fully materializing.
It was a satisfying sight.
"The time has come."
"You son of a—!"
"How noisy. Director Brian, please."
Meph clicked his tongue at Brian, who was crawling on the floor, wounded.
But Brian, enraged, continued to shout.
"Dammit... I should’ve noticed earlier. There were signs! How the hell did I miss them?! It doesn’t make any sense!"
"It’s not just your fault. If you want to blame someone, blame everyone.
You all became complacent."
"What...?"
"The world I created produces increasingly powerful anomalies over time.
And what ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) fuels those anomalies are the dark thoughts, stories, and fears of the people outside.
The ingredients went in, the results came out, and the ingredients were depleted.
It’s simple, isn’t it?"
Meph patiently explained, as if to a child.
"You were all robbed of your fear about what was coming. You grew complacent.
Of course, after this is over, it’ll all come flooding back."
"I was... just being used?"
As Brian, weakened from his wounds, muttered, Meph chuckled darkly.
"Heh... Comfort yourself however you like.
But it doesn’t change the fact that it was your own complacency that led you to press the nuclear missile button.
Still, don’t worry too much.
I’m not doing all of this for some cliché reason like 'I will stand above the heavens.'"
"Then who... the hell are you?"
"Me? I am part of a power that always desires evil—
And yet, always creates good."
Brian froze.
He knew those words.
The highest-priority target of the organization was always recorded as repeating them.
That man’s name was—
"Mephistopheles..."
Brian whispered as he stared at the missile soaring toward the fully materialized world.
"The final stage has begun."
