By Zephyria 
I don’t know how much time has passed since I was forcibly put to sleep. As my consciousness floated to the surface, I slowly opened my eyes and quickly realized that I was now in an ‘unfamiliar place.’
“…….”
The crackling sound of a burning fireplace.
I only moved my eyes and looked around.
This place was made of stone… it looked like a castle.
‘Where is this?’
I frowned, recalling what had happened before I fainted. It was definitely not the Imperial Palace, so it seemed I had been moved to another place in the meantime.
‘Hmm.’
It was definitely a strange situation. But perhaps because of the quiet and peaceful atmosphere, I didn’t feel any sense of crisis, and my body felt weak. Maybe it was because the bed I was lying on was unusually comfortable.
I was spacing out for a moment, listening to the sound of the fireplace steadily crackling and spitting sparks, when.
“You’re awake?”
I heard the sound of the door opening and Ardian’s voice. I opened my eyes wide and raised myself up, turning towards the door. Ardian was coming in with a tray of warm soup and bread.
“Aren’t you cold? Should I make the fireplace warmer?”
“…Where is this?”
I stared at Ardian, who placed the tray on the bedside table next to the bed and headed towards the fireplace. After a brief silence, he continued.
“Niflheim.”
“…What?”
“It’s a castle in the center of Niflheim.”
Niflheim.
I felt a sudden jolt of alertness.
I got out of bed and stuck to the window to check outside. Cold air touched my cheeks. Then, a scenery filled with a thick, hazy fog that blocked my vision greeted me.
“Be careful not to fall.”
“…….”
I frowned at Ardian’s ‘usual’ concern. I slowly turned to look at him. I felt complicated seeing Ardian acting as if nothing was wrong, even though we were in a relationship that could never go back to the way it was, and in a situation that was difficult to accept normally.
“Gilbert.”
As I awkwardly uttered that name, which I thought I would never say again, Ardian responded by quietly turning to me. When I thought about it, I had never had a calm face-to-face conversation with ‘Gilbert.’
I didn’t want to realize this now…
“What’s your scheme? Why did you bring me here?”
“I kidnapped you to keep you by my side. It’s hard to get in here.”
“…….”
Well, I could have guessed that much from the situation, but he was so confident that I was speechless. Who usually talks so brazenly about kidnapping or anything like that?
I somehow lost my sense of tension.
I sighed softly and went back to the bed, sitting down in the direction where he could see me. As if he realized I wanted to talk, Ardian pulled a chair near the fireplace and sat facing me.
“Nothing will change by doing this.”
And I said it to him as if I was shooting at him, but I regretted it a little later. I didn’t want to argue emotionally, but I couldn’t help but be crooked. Nevertheless, Ardian accepted it as usual.
“Yeah. Nothing will change.”
“Then why?”
“Because I still want to keep you by my side.”
“…….”
“I’m already used to being hated by you.”
Ardian smiled gently.
I bit my lip tightly.
If he said that, I couldn’t even scold him.
“…You were definitely my enemy. Weren’t you?”
“Yeah. As long as you were reincarnated as a Demon, that was the only relationship we could have.”
“…….”
“It’s not anyone’s fault. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s the ‘God’ who put you in his grasp and treated you like an object, interfering with you. I’ll kill that bastard someday… with my own hands.”
I pondered Ardian’s words, which he muttered to himself. There seemed to be something more between Ardian and me. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I could understand it by intuition.
“When I touched the Divine Object… I had a brief glimpse of the memories of a man named Sealed Soul.”
“…….”
“That was me? And Old Dragon referred to you as the Avatar of Chaos.”
For a moment, a clear emotion crossed Ardian’s face. It was an emotion close to surprise. His pupils, which had been shaking with agitation, soon regained their composure. Why was it that only a lonely expression remained behind the surprise?
“Yeah. I was surprised.”
“…What are you hiding from me? Tell me what you’re hiding.”
Soon, the emotion that had remained on Ardian’s face concealed its form. A faint smile returned to his shadowed face. But it was just a smile that looked empty.
“You doubt me.”
…That was the crux of the matter.
I still couldn’t shake the suspicion that he had approached me to regain the power he had ‘lost.’
And that was a reasonable suspicion.
He had been accumulating power all along, and when I heard him say things like he was going to kill God, I couldn’t help but suspect him even more. Nevertheless, I couldn’t answer Ardian’s conviction. I felt bad because it seemed like he had a hurt look on his face because of me.
I frowned, feeling somehow choked up.
“The more you hide something from me, the deeper the rift between us will only grow. I’ll have no choice but to keep doubting you and stay stuck like this.”
So it’s natural to doubt, I’m rationalizing.
I knew it. In the end, it was all an excuse.
I didn’t mean to scold him… and yet another crack had formed. A brief silence passed between him and me. Breaking the silence, Ardian spoke first.
“I told you I had no intention of harming you.”
“…….”
“That’s the truth. Believe me.”
I listened to that answer and remained silent for a while longer. And I found myself unable to fully believe him even after hearing those words. I turned my heavy head and looked out the window.
“When are you planning to send me back?”
Ardian naturally continued the conversation.
“Not now. It’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yeah. A war is about to start.”
“……!”
I was flustered. He was talking about something huge so casually. Come to think of it, there had been rumors that he was preparing for war. Suddenly, my precious people came to mind. My family, Zeon, Herman, Tom, and the many relationships I had built as Raymond.
Were they okay?
The one at the head of the Fiends would surely be Ardian. In other words, starting the war was also his will. I swallowed a small sigh and glanced at Ardian.
“Why? Is it necessary?”
“It is. Otherwise, you’ll keep trying to get away from me, and if I tie you down so you can’t get away, the humans will keep interfering so I can’t be with you.”
So he’s getting rid of them because they’re in the way?
“Just for that?”
“It’s not ‘just.'”
“…….”
“Ray, I’ve been waiting for too long. When you were Mephisto, there was an unbreakable wall between us. And it was like that ‘before’ too. But not now. I don’t think so.”
“…….”
“So I can’t do it if it’s not now. I’ve been living for this moment, so if I miss this opportunity… it’ll be hard to bear.”
Then it would be over if I said I wouldn’t run away, would it?
Probably.
But I felt unbearable that I couldn’t deny his words. Until I understood and accepted why he had such a deep and overwhelming desire for me, I would never be able to cross the line I had drawn.
“…My family and the humans I’ve come to cherish are all there. If anything happens to them, I’ll never forgive you for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll leave the things you like alone. But actually… I don’t care. Whether it’s hatred or anger or whatever, as long as you look at me like that, as long as you stay by my side… that’s enough for me.”
Crazy bastard.
Ardian laughed as I frowned in disbelief.
I had felt it little by little when he was Gilbert, and even when I didn’t know his true identity… this guy was subtly crazy. Unlike his seemingly normal exterior, his insides were twisted to the point of being distorted.
But was it natural?
It was a time span of 1500 years. If he had been living since then with his memories intact… it was different from me, who had skipped through time by way of reincarnation.
It was amazing that he had maintained his ego this much without going completely insane. And the reason he had done so until now was because of me… I could tell that much without asking.
-You wouldn’t understand even if I told you now. You don’t have your memories.
Memories.
I began to yearn for what I had lost. I was already curious, but I felt impatient when I thought it was an important key. I shook my head to shake off my anxiety for a moment and said.
“Anyway, stop the war.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll stop you by force.”
I was going back to the Empire’s territory.
I jumped up and left the room. Ardian didn’t bother to stop me. I didn’t know if it was because he thought I couldn’t escape because the distance was too far, or if he had given up.
I would find out the truth a little later.
“Haa… ha. Damn it.”
I went down to the bottom of the castle and tried to use Dimension Traverse Magic right away, but there was no response at all. I wondered if it was because of the distance, so I tried to go as far as possible, but when I came to my senses, the castle appeared again. And after repeating the process of turning my back on the castle and running away two or three times, I realized.
“That bastard, he’s bound the space.”
Cycle Shackling Space Magic.
And he had bound an incredibly wide area into one.