Barbatos | 𝗧𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗

42 | Chairman

- ??? -

     "Call me (Name) Draconia... King of Thorns and the husband of Malleus Draconia," the Chairman—a male version of (Name)—introduced himself. "A pleasure to meet you, my sweet past self."

     "... No wonder you knew my weakness because you're me," the demoness remarked and crossed her arms. "The infamous Chairman (Name) of Night Raven College. How funny," she added.

The universe is infinite, so the possibility of having a genderbent is high—the Chairman's "wife" can prove that. Beside the grinning Luke on his lap, a female version of Malleus Draconia is in a bridal gown and a male (Name) is in a groom's attire. Luke and another kid are between them—he has long black hair and eyes similar to Barbatos...

     "You're surprised to see this picture, yes?" He asked, taking the picture frame from the table. "A female version of your Malleus Draconia is my wife...  Her beauty captivated me, but of course, the Lord Diavolo needs me and I put my feelings aside," he uttered.

     "I don't have the care towards your mere feeling mortals call love," the demoness coldly told the male. "What I need are answers, Mr. Draconia. Not your love story—"

     "Oh, dear, how rude. She's one of the reasons why I'm here, Barbatos," he interrupted her sentence. "Stubborn as always, are we Barbatos? Don't worry, I still have an ounce of mercy remaining for you."

     Barbatos (you, reader) has an unpleasant expression plastered, unamused, "What are your motives? I don't understand your reason for kidnapping different versions of us," the demoness said. "What do you want from the other versions?"

     The male (Name) chuckled, "You still don't get it? And I thought you're smart enough to make an assumption. I'm aware you gained access to Eli's memories, thinking you managed to know my true motives," he said. "Why not try to connect my wife and the sucking off the magic from the other versions of us?"

It finally clicked—he's trying to revive the dead or rewrite something that has happened in the past, maybe both? The look on the male (Name)'s face is inhumane, filled with greed and anger. They kept their calm self either way, which now explains why Diavolo was sobbing. His beloved butler is doing all of this because of the greedy wish he desires...

     "It's pointless. You took the other Barbatos for your dead wife—"

     "Not only my wife, my son, and Luke as well," the Chairman remarked and surprised the demoness. "Ironic, isn't it?"

     "What do you mean Luke's dead in your timeline...?"

     The male (Name) hummed, "The world is cruel. There are timelines the angel son of us died in OUR own hands... For example, the Barbatos who married Diavolo killed their Luke due to Overblot and you'll probably experience that berserk state, the blot is both accumulating your magical pen and body," he explained. "My son died because of a deadly disease... I tried my best to heal him, find Doctors from every world, and even sacrificed people's souls. In the end, he still left me."

     "..."

It explains why the unknown sender/the future self who married Diavolo was so worried about Luke before, despite the texts she sent to the demoness being teased and annoying. The unknown sender would make sure Luke of this timeline is alright, to prevent him from dying. They've stuck in a time loop after all...

     "When Luke passed away because I killed him went Overblot, the others tried their best to console me... Even printed his face on this marriage picture," the male (Name) continued. "My wife sacrificed her life in the war, using her body as a shield against an incoming deadly attack. I was too relaxed we'll win the war, but in exchange for her life..."

     The demoness glared at him, "Is that why you stole my ability to see the past and future?" She asked.

     The Chairman smirked, "That's part of it. It has other reasons why I stole it from you," he replied. "I waited for this day for 1000 years, Barbatos. My misery... I tried to conceal it as I find a way to fix what has happened before—to fix my past mistakes."

     "You destroyed the flow of time in every Barbatos's timeline you kidnapped and you still think it's the right thing," the demoness said. "You're being hopeless for using our magic to bring back someone dead. Did Lord Diavolo reject your offer to bring back your family?"

     "Oh, yes... Yes, he did. I begged for him to bring back them and offered myself to serve him again," the male (Name) answered. "He declined it since he couldn't bring back someone dead from another world. I was devastated, to say the least, because he failed my expectations," he laughed forcefully.

The male (Name) isn't the same as the demoness in front of him. Yes, he might've kept being sadistic and caring towards children, but he is consumed by his other feelings—anger, disgust, sorrow, etc.—which made him like this...

     "I almost completed the collection of Barbatos's magic... I just need one," the male (Name) said. "I was gonna use your ability, but it seems you managed to control it when you knew the Barbatos who married Diavolo was kidnapped by me. I was gonna let you off the hook, but I have no other choices," he said and took his magical staff.

     "What are you planning?" She asked.

     The Chairman chuckled, "Simple. I'll have your magic to rewrite what happened to Luke and revive my family, Barbatos." He grinned maniacally. "Just give up and the sucking process won't hurt," he assured as he teleported in front of her.

     The demoness winced when she felt her neck get grabbed, "Your attempt will be in vain..." She grabbed the male's hand around her neck. "... Bringing back someone dead is ridiculous enough to call you a madman. You're sacrificing innocent lives because of your greedy desire," she choked out.

     The male (Name) smirked maliciously, "Call me a madman all you want. Insane even," he told his female version. "Continue acting like a protagonist, Barbatos. We're the villain and the hero of this story after all," he said.

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(バルバトス)