Everything was hazy, covered in a thick fog that could make people lose their way. But soon enough, the fog dissipated and things started to get clearer. There was a quiet laughing sound, it was cold but soft.
Gaius opened his eyes to see the sparkling blue eyes turning into crescents. Those eyes made his heart skip a beat, at the same time, it hurt terribly, as if... he missed something.
At that moment, a sharp pain came onto his head and images started flashing. He remembered.
"Hm... he looks like he's in pain?" Aeson looked back at the squirming Gaius curiously to see the guy sweating profusely.
"Possibly by being the one staying by the Demon's side the longest, he was somehow affected the most, so he's being purified now." The moment Alfred noticed that Gaius was paying attention to his Aeson, he was extra cautious towards a potential love rival. At the same time, there were signs of infection that could only appear by continuous contact with a Demon, making Alfred think that they were in the same boat. But seemingly not when looking at how Gaius did not dare to attack people indiscriminately.
"So I guess it's a... good thing?"
"Who knows?"
Aeson noticed that his lover in this life could act pretty cheeky and friendly towards others, but no one could ever break through some kind of distance that Alfred subconsciously made. Nothing seemed to interest him much besides magic.
There was also a little pity in Aeson's gaze towards Gaius, but nothing more than that, since he, himself, admitted that his feelings were also flawed from traveling through worlds too much.
They, including the exhausted Liliana, stayed in the Duke's estate for a while to investigate any remaining traces of 'Luciel's' demonic presence. Surprisingly, to Aeson at least, 'Luciel' had some contact with the Demon Cult already. It seemed like she had too much freedom as a Duchess to dare to invite some of the Demon Cult's members to be her servants.
"Hey, you really didn't know?" A clanging sound kept reverberating in a dark room.
Alfred knocked on the crystal ball containing 'Luciel's' soul with a metal knife from somewhere. Even though contained, she was still conscious and also got to know what happened from the wizard whom she thought was her fish.
"I-I don't know, I just felt like I needed to hire them!" Her voice shrieked in a high-pitched voice.
"Tell me more details, please." His voice was polite as he grinned. However, in 'Luciel's' eyes, she could see wickedness in that normal smile.
Aeson was next to Alfred on the sofa as he listened to 'Luciel's' recalling her recruitment of the Demon Cult. She felt very biased when she met them, feeling like they would worship her like a god and do whatever she commanded. And it was true, anything she wanted was always delivered, good or... bad things. The only thing they could not do for her yet was to find the original female lead, well, only because it was sabotaged by Aeson.
Then Aeson asked if she knew anything about the Demon King, she nodded eagerly in the crystal ball as she noticed how Alfred seemed to really value this pretty elf's opinion. As she was about to say something, a bloody scream came out of the crystal ball, and suddenly, all became quiet.
"What happened?" Aeson was confused, he scratched his head and looked back at Alfred.
"Hm... She's the daughter of the Demon King. Maybe she was placed a curse by her father without knowing, something along the line of not allowing her to talk about the Demon King. Judging by how she kept spilling out information, it seems like she's not lying. But it also looks like she doesn't know that she is the daughter of that great evil... Well, it is just my speculation, honey."
The crystal ball remained quiet, not a sight of 'Luciel' was seen. Thankfully, Alfred assured Aeson that she was indeed still there, just shrank back into a corner.
After witnessing her scream, Aeson could tell that 'Luciel' did not know that she was the daughter of the Demon King. Even though the plot had been proven to be useless after seeing it go off track so many times, there were still some foundations and basic truths in it. The fact that 'Luciel' crossed over without knowing about her own identity, her worries against Liliana, and the need to seduce all the powerful men around her subconsciously or not.
The elf really wondered about her... or his true purpose in this grand scheme. 'Luciel' was not capable of controlling this world like that previous Demon King. The Demon King seemed to be the type to want to rule over everything rather than destroy the world, a deep-rooted desire to become a god, governing over all the species of this world.
One hypothesis was that 'Luciel' was a sacrifice or some sort, a bridge to help the Demon King achieve that purpose somehow.
But it did not matter anymore, she was caught in a fortified prison made by his talented lover.
Since she seemed to be useless, it was best not to keep her anymore. It might make him sound cruel, but he knew better than keeping a potentially deadly bomb to be by his side.
However, as Aeson, with his 'cold' personality, spent quite some time with Liliana, they had gotten quite close as friends. Even though the main source of danger that threatened her might be gone, the remnants could still find some ways to bring them back.
Aeson did suspect that 'Luciel's' return here was thanks to one of the Demon Cult's methods. They seemed quite knowledgeable about dark knowledge, as seen in that place where he found Liliana.
Therefore, it was best not to keep that dangerous cult around. Didn't they want to find the Demon King?
Aeson turned to Alfred.
Alfred felt like the Demon Cult was none of his business, he was only investigating Luciel because of the dark power source affecting the magic environment. But looking at how concerned Aeson was, he decided to lend a hand to the opposite faction of the Demon Cult, and Duke Angus led that team.
The Demon Cult was dying since the death of the previous Demon King. That was why they tried so hard to find a linkage of the great evil too. In the past, the Demon Cult was not a cult, they were a higher class in the hierarchy of society until revolutionaries and heroes stood up against the abuse and unfairness, and the people worked together to fight back that massive force. Combined with the disappearance of the Demon King, it was reduced to a cult.
It was quite strange to be on the sidelines only in this world. As an elf, Aeson did not have any responsibilities to interfere with the human world, so he stood by and watched Angus using 'Luciel's' soul to lure the remaining force of the Demon Cult.
There was a whole war and everything, but Aeson was only watching from afar with Alfred in a cozy place in the Madra mountain. As promised, Alfred and Aeson built a small cottage by a lake there, the atmosphere was tranquil, as if they were only on vacation and not in one of the most dangerous mountains in the world.
In a world with just two, they rolled around the sheets, enjoyed the landscape, and foraged for their own food, it was as if they were going camping.
Sometimes, Aeson would be worried about Liliana since she volunteered to help with capturing the Demon Cult and helped heal the injured during the war. But it seemed like Angus was doing a good job of taking care of her, her cheeks somehow got plumber and rosier, even her platinum hair shined even brighter than ever before.
Although Aeson despised the thing called 'plot', he could not deny 'fate'. The supposedly original female lead, Liliana, and the male lead, Angus, were quite suited to each other. At least, Angus seemed to care for her a lot. He will need to wait and see how their relationship played out.
As for the other fish... male leads, the Elf King just continued with his duty, providing some support to Angus when needed. He would visit Aeson once in a while in the mountain thanks to Alfred making a portal for easy traveling.
Gaius... that guy disappeared from the dungeon. No one knew how he got out, or what his next move would be. But he did leave a message, which was full of hatred and fury toward 'Luciel', swearing vengeance for separating him from his beloved. Aeson did not know the full details of the message, as Alfred suddenly burned it up and turned it to ashes.
Of course, it would never burn him, but Aeson still looked back at Alfred a little bit bewildered. The only thing that Alfred showed him was an innocent smile like he did no wrong.
The war lasted for five years to completely eradicate the remaining force of the Demon Cult. During that time, 'Luciel' was still completely sealed in the crystal ball. Seemingly regaining some knowledge, Angus informed them that 'Luciel' had been muttering something along the line of her only role was only a sacrifice for the great return of the Demon King.
It turned out that her birth was completely planned by the previous Demon King. Her absorption of the World Tree was to gather enough life energy to somehow revive him from death. A tiny fragment of him hid in 'Luciel's' soul biding for time. She was sent to another world to let people believe that the Demon King actually disappeared, leaving behind a 'prophecy' of his comeback to his believers.
That would easily make 'Luciel' being a victim of his scheme. However, 'Luciel' seemed to be unstable after knowing the truth. Maybe the thought of not being the 'heroine' that she thought she was made her question her whole existence. She kept yelling her name was Zhen Mei Li and demanded to go home.
Unfortunately, Angus was indeed a cold Duke to those who threatened what was important to him. With Zhen Mei Li being the Demon's King daughter as well as containing a part of his soul, she must be destroyed. Thousands of years of being dominated by the Demon King could not be erased by simple sympathy and empathy.
Then, Zhen Mei Li, 'Luciel', was erased, but not because of Angus or Alfred.
It was Gaius who brought upon her death. The crystal ball was thoroughly smashed with no trace of soul left.
But after that, he was nowhere to be seen.
Her death did not cause much grief, or any at all. She was declared dead after her capture in the crystal ball after all.
Unsurprisingly, Angus proposed to Liliana after everything. The time they spent together at war seemed to sway the innocent saintess's heart as she agreed immediately.
Funnily enough, Liliana shared a little secret with Aeson. Which was when a saintess got married, the church could no longer interfere with her life as love was sacred in the scripture of the church. Especially since she would be marrying a powerful Duke who got rid of the Demon Cult.
It seemed like the innocent saintess had a cheeky side.
Aeson and Alfred attended the wedding of the century and blessed the couple with happiness. Then, they continued to live together and travel the world with frequent contact with the Elf King and Liliana.
Both had a long life together due to one being a powerful wizard and the other being an elf with a long life span.
Coincidentally in this life, Aeson aged and died together in this life. However, he knew that Alfred was actually mirroring his life span to be together even in the last moment. So many lives together, and so much time loving each other, Aeson never failed to not feel loved by his lover.
Their bodies lay side by side on the wooden bed in their beloved cottage on the mountain.
His consciousness faded away and then entered the dark space.
"Huh?" He looked at his hands in surprise.
His fingernails, every line and pore were clearly visible. It was no longer just a silhouette.
[Bzz... Baby... How do you feel...?] The mechanical voice sounded again with such a familiar speech pattern.
He was once again baffled. He did not question his lover's identity before entering World #0320 since he thought his lover had his reasons. Also, to think that if the system that had been torturing him for so long turned out to be his lover, he wondered if his spirit could endure such... betrayal.
[Baby...Bzz... I'm not the system.] Knowing what his silence meant, the mechanical voice soothed his anxious state with a confirmation.
"Then, who are you? You didn't answer me before." He was nervous. He believed his lover of course, since they had been together for more than 400 years as long as he remembered. However, his chaotic mind could not rest at all.
[I'm...Bzz... your... boyfriend, no, husband. We met before but you forgot... Bzz... I'm sorry baby... I wish I could share more but I couldn-] The mechanical voice abruptly stopped.
The screen that he had not seen for a long time once again appeared.
[Proceed to 1005th world?]
[Yes/No]
He looked at the screen for a while, not moving a single muscle. Then he sighed and pressed the 'yes' button.
Well, it seemed like he could only converse to his lover's actual consciousness bit by bit after finishing a world. Next time, he would force his lover to spill out all the secrets by all cost!
[Preparing for soul transfer to world #0143. Wishing the host the best performance of the task.]
A/N: I know this is such a rushed ending, but at least there is still an ending, yall. Thanks for waiting!