“And so, where is that egg-san?” (Haine)

“At the bottom of this Rudras Metropolis’ base. I made it so it wouldn’t be possible to find it in normal circumstances, but I am an exception. They can’t hide anything from me.” (Shiva)

Well, you are the very God that created them after all.

We continue talking about this situation that would normally be quite troublesome without the God himself guiding.

“…But what should we do about the girls there? Bringing them with us is a bit…” (Haine)

“We can just make a random reason to move on our own. I am the Wind Founder, you know. I am in a position that can order people around.” (Shiva)

That’s true, but after rampaging as much as you wanted, it is a bit hard to swallow that you are actually a Founder, you know.

But even so, we will be going there to cut off the last line that Beelzebub left, the obvious questions that Karen-san and company would ask would be ‘What is that egg?’ ‘How did you find it?’ which are the obvious questions that will come, and trying to answer them would be a pain.

“……Haine-san, Haine-san.” (Karen)

“Yes, this is Haine.” (Haine)

Is what I was thinking when Karen-san spoke to me.

“U-Uhm, what is that egg?” (Karen)

Eh?

From the mouth of Karen-san, the question that would be incredibly troublesome if asked had come out.

Why now?

I thought that she would ask of this when we have moved to a different place though?

“?!!”

I turn at the strangeness of that question, and there really was an egg.

It was floating in the air.

I could tell at one glance that it was giving vibes different from that of a chicken egg. It had a more soft membrane-looking shell; an insect egg.

And as if it had telekinetic powers, it was floating in the air.

Its surface was completely green, like that of an emerald, and a transparency that felt as if it was breed underwater.

And so…

“Oi…could it be that’s the Green Emperor Egg?” (Haine)

“Y-Yeah! But why is it at a place like this?! In order for the Green Emperor Egg to not be caught in the eye of anyone, I hid it at the shadows of the base of Rudras Metropolis. The size as well! It is an egg to give birth to Beelzebub, you know? It should be as big as the tip of the pinky finger!” (Shiva)

But we were able to notice the egg that is floating right now in front of our very eyes immediately, and I can even feel an ominousness that is overwhelming.

This size is enough to hold a whole human inside.

“…Kuromiya Haine! Attack the Green Emperor Egg!! If it’s your dark matter, you should be able to return anything to nothingness!” (Shiva)

“Why me?! You can do it. You know everything about that thing, right?!” (Haine)

“And I have judged that the best way is to use your dark matter! Or more like, I also don’t understand this situation! Like hell I would be able to finish off that disgusting thing with my own hands!” (Shiva)

“This bastard spilled out his real feelings!” (Haine)

In the time Shiva and I were making a ruckus, the situation progressed.

Probably to the worst path.

“…Who are you?”

That voice send shivers down the spine of Shiva, Karen-san, Hyue, and I.

“That voice just now…” (Karen)

“It wasn’t the voice of anyone here, right? Then, just now was—!!” (Haine)

From that egg?

“Right back at you! Just what are you?!”

As if by reflex, someone asked back.

“I… who am I?”

The egg asks once more.

But that question was not directed at anyone; it was a question directed at itself.

“I see… so mother died. That’s why I will be born. I will move towards the fate that has been established for me.”

The egg that was covered in a dark green membrane began to flicker.

Something was about to happen.

“I have been thinking for a long time. Why were we born?”

“What?!”

“For all living beings, there should be a reason for their birth. There should be meaning in their life. I was thinking of that reason. As I thought of this, several thousands to millions of my brethrens died. There was no point in us.”

The flickering sensation of the egg steadily became stronger.

The light itself increased in potency.

“We were born pointlessly, and died pointlessly. I began to wonder, ‘aren’t we pointless from the very beginning?’. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.”

As if displaying the emotions of the owner of that voice, the light became stronger.

…Emotions?

“We are also alive. We are alive, so we have to do something. I have been thinking. I have been thinking all this time. As I continued my thinking, mother gave birth to me.”

A cracking noise resounded.

The sound of something breaking.

At the same time as that happened, a single tear ran through the giant green egg.

“In order to find the answer, just thinking about it won’t make the answer appear. I must take action. In order to take action, I need a body. A body that is the strongest and the mightiest. That is me. I who was given birth by my demonic mother.”

From the crack that ran at the middle of the egg, something was coming out from it.

Wings?

Butterfly wings?!

“I was born for the sake of leading all of the demonic beings. I was born from a demonic mother in order to give meaning to the demonic beings that had pointless flesh and received pointless deaths. My demonic mother poured all of her life into me, and gave birth to me.”

The dark green eggshell broke in several small pieces, and what was inside was revealed.

It was a child.

A child that was small in height.

He looked like a child that had nothing strange at all, but there was a single thing that was abnormal. From his back, he had butterfly wings of erratic design.

And then, the child speaks.

He continues the words he had been speaking of until now.

“After a hundred years, we demons have obtained the ability to think, and seek for meaning. I am the means for that end, the means for that step. In order to lead my brethrens that still hold no soul to what lies further beyond, I have been born to become their Lord. In other words, I am…”

He is…!

“The Demon Lord.”

He continued.

“I am the Wind Demon Lord, Raphael. That is my name, my meaning, and what I have to do.” (Raphael)

• 166: Birth of a Demon

Wind Demon Lord, Raphael.

This mysterious child that suddenly appeared certainly did introduce himself as so.

His look is indeed small and frail, a child with a pure face you could find anywhere, but the butterfly wings that spread from his back were abnormal. Moreover, he came out from the egg that was called Green Emperor Egg.

Originally, that egg should have given birth once again to the Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub, right?

“Are you…a monster?” (Shiva)

The one who asked this of the child the fastest was Shiva.

“…Monster. That is how the humans call us. I -Raphael- if asked if I am a monster or not, I only have one answer… that’s right.” (Raphael)

At that answer, everyone here had their skin shiver.

“I am the one who was born to become the leader of the wind element monsters, Demon Lord Raphael.” (Raphael)

“Impossible!” (Shiva)

Shiva shouts as if in madness.

“A monster has taken the form of a human and can speak?! There’s no way a monster with such intelligence exists! I have not ma—!!!” (Shiva)

Saying until that part, Shiva’s mouth shuts.

There’s Karen-san and Hyue close by. He must have felt that he needed to be careful with his words as the Wind God Quasar.

“…Foolish human. All things face vicissitudes. They don’t stay at one state of being. From that change, they will look at higher heights, and walk the path of evolution. Don’t think that is a privilege of only you humans. That’s nothing but arrogance.” (Raphael)

The Demon Lord that calls himself Raphael says this as if spitting those words out.

“We monsters also evolve and walk forward. And the result is as you see before your eyes. The Demon Lord Raphael. My mother, Beelzebub, lived for close to a hundred years, and after experiencing several thousands to millions to billions of experiences, she obtained the ability to think, she obtained sentience. And so, she began to question what we were, and for what reason we exist.” (Raphael)

“What…did you say?!” (Shiva)

From the looks of Shiva’s shock, I can tell that not even the God himself was expecting this.

“And so, the Mother Monster had reached a temporary conclusion: ‘I can’t reach the answer myself’. That’s why mother gave birth to me. The next generation in order to obtain the answer. The parents ask, and the child answers. That is the basis of evolution for living beings. Therefore, I will be the bearer of a new era for us monsters. I will fulfill that duty.” (Raphael)

“What are you planning on doing?” (Haine)

This time, I ask Raphael.

It was so sudden, moreover, a situation that was so unexpected, my thoughts had still not caught on yet. Even so, I have no choice but to understand it. I have to know what it is that will be occurring from now on.

By the way, Karen-san and Hyue were completely unable to follow and were staring blankly.

“You will become the one who guides monsters, you will create a new era for the monsters; I understand that. But what is it you are going to do exactly in order to reach that objective of yours? Do you have a plan?” (Haine)

“Of course.” (Raphael)   

The Demon Lord Raphael says.

“We exterminate you humans.” (Raphael)

A shock ran through my body.

From the mysterious and unknown existence, hostility was directed at us for the first time.

“In the first place, we monsters have been given that duty by some unknown being. ‘Oppose humans’, ‘Attack humans’. I don’t know from who this order is, but since the moment we were born, it has been edged deep down in our self. We act with that as our base of action.”

“That is—!!” (Shiva)

Shiva wanted to say something, but Raphael ignored it and continued.

“In this surface world, there’s no need for two supreme rulers. That’s why, we will carry out the duty that is edged deeply inside our self for our own sake. We will eradicate the humans, and when the world has become ours completely, the meaning of our existence should be visible.” (Raphael)

The butterfly wings at the back of Raphael spread.

And then, they flap.

With just that simple action, four tornadoes were created from all four sides of Raphael.

“Wa?!”

“Evade it, it is dangerous!” (Haine)

“Kyaaaa!!!”

We were flustered by the rampaging tornadoes, but their target wasn’t us. The tornadoes move as they undulated, and scatter to their respective directions.

“To begin with, let’s destroy the city that is at my feet. Without leaving a single one alive, without leaving a single piece of rubble behind. Turning everything related to humans to ashes, we will use that as the foundation stone for the new era of us monsters!” (Raphael)

“Rudras Metropolis is—!!” (Haine)

This is bad.

All the tornadoes that Raphael released are calamity class. What it swallows, whether it is human or a building, it will mow it down.

Is it exactly because he was born from the Wind Mother Mother, and he himself is calling himself the Wind Demon Lord that he is able to show power in such shape?

But even so, being able to create four tornadoes of such power is abnormal.

Managing such feat in one flutter is not possible for humans or monsters.

His power…is already stepping into the realm of Gods?!

“You bastard!!!” (Shiva)

Shiva kicks the ground, and faces Raphael who is suspended in mid-air with his big wings.

Unsheathing his Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou, he fired air bullets, but they were stopped by an invisible wall.

“A wall of air?! Don’t underestimate me!!” (Shiva)

Being hit multiple times by the wind twin guns, the wall of air was destroyed, and Shiva closed onto Raphael.

“Stop it! Stop it right now!! The ones who ordered you monsters to attack humans were the Gods! But the Gods didn’t wish for humans to be eradicated! What you are trying to do is a deviation of duty!!” (Shiva)

“Gods… The ones you humans call the five Gods of Creation? Idiotic. What about it?” (Raphael)

Raphael’s attitude was cold.

“No matter who was the one who ordered us, we were the ones who decided on destroying the humans. It was our will. Deciding on your own actions is a natural privilege of living beings. Even if your Gods are our creators as well, they can’t violate our privilege!!” (Raphael)

“Guwaaa?!!” (Shiva)

The squall that Raphael caused blew away Shiva.

Right before Shiva hit the floor, I caught him.

“Are you okay?!” (Haine)

Now that it has come to this, there’s no choice but for me to defeat that guy.

Demon Lord, Raphael.

He is a clear threat to humans. If we don’t defeat him here, the harm he will create will spread far!

“Wait, Haine!” (Shiva)

Shiva must have felt my killing intent, he stopped me.

“I will defeat him. As the one responsible for creating him, I will!” (Shiva)

“But…!” (Haine)

Shiva created the wind element monsters as the Wind God Quasar, and it is true that as a result, the Demon Lord Raphael has been born.

That’s why, it is not as if I don’t understand how you feel. But even so, right now you have incarnated as a human, and are in complete tatters because of our fight today.

There’s no way you would have the remaining strength to oppose Raphael who is close to being comparable to a God!

“The tornadoes are…! Beginning to spread!” (Shiva)

Just as Shiva said, the four tornadoes that Raphael released have already destroyed the buildings of the Wind Church, and they are about to step into the urban area of Rudras Metropolis.

Those things that have been created from the divine power of the Demon Lord will surely destroy Rudras Metropolis without losing any strength as it moves.

Not only the buildings of the city, there are also many lives there.

“The only one who can stop those tornadoes is you who controls dark matter. I will take care of things here. That’s why, I leave my people…in your care!!” (Shiva)

“Shiva!” (Haine)

“Please!!” (Shiva)

…

I try to keep my expression from crumbling as I jump away.

First, from the closest tornado.

Even if it’s a natural disaster that is comparable to that of the wrath of a God, in front of me, they are not a problem at all.

I will deal with this as soon as possible and return.

I leave things to you until I return, Guardian of the wind people!!

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