The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 391: Nigh To The Moon

Chapter 391: Nigh To The Moon

Kir stared up as the moon of Heaven fell apart. While individual fragments were hard to determine, a simple magnification spell showed him, and those who had gathered around him, the triangular sections of the former whole, each bearing a world tree on one surface.

He showed everyone this in the war tent with his Generals, Lapins’ first act as Queen being a hurried announcement of the opening of diplomatic talks with "Pride" to help resolve Montmorency’s response to the crisis.

"If Heaven is shattered, we should all be celebrating!" Hazzarn bellowed, the loudest of those who advocated discovering the cause of Heaven’s destruction and, if it was at the hands of a demon, submitting to them.

"You will not be celebrating in two weeks when those shards fall on top of us," Kir slammed his fist on the table he’d gathered everyone around. "By my estimation, each of those pieces are at least three kilom- three great measures on each side. That means it would only take one to devastate everything, everywhere on the surface of Ayther and Hell."

Those who understood Kir’s words blanched. They’d seen the hundreds of shards.

"So prove your worth," Hazzarn scoffed, crossing his arms. "We saw your might through Zazel’s eyes. Defend the corner of this wretched world you have claimed for us." He sneered at Lapins.

"I did not defeat Montmorency to claim it!" Kir snapped. Why couldn’t he make everyone understand? Something had to be done to save the entirety of Ayther and Hell, or the catastrophe wouldn’t be confined. "There is no defending one place from this, don’t you see? The land will shatter. Oceans will wash over every continent. Hell will explode. The skies will be black for centuries. Without life, there will be no mana. Nothing will survive!"

"So fly up there and deal with it! Or find the devil that did it and beg his aid, since you seem so keen on not taking the power you earn!" Hazzarn snapped back.

Kir was on the verge of rage. Even without confirmation, he felt that Maledict had to have been the one behind the sudden destruction of Heaven...

Kordia sent a gentle caress to Kir’s mind. "We are all with you, whatever you decide," she said.

Kir felt acknowledgment from Rena and a less certain acknowledgment from Kassin. He sent back love to Kordia, which made Kassin fidget unable to hide his jealousy.

"Maybe Hazzarn is right... I’m the only one who understands the physical magnitude of what’s coming..." He thought about the fulcrum he’d placed in his storage. Maybe if he could force himself to evolve, he could deal with the threat...

"If you evolve, I’m done for," Kiryu spoke clearly, not even trying to mask the words from Kir’s bonds. "But it will be necessary... if we can make the right plan."

The shock of this revelation straightened Kir’s back with tension, just as it surprised Kordia, Kassin, and Rena.

One thing Kir knew was that he couldn’t deal with Kiryu and his staff at the same time. "So be it, Hazzarn, you useless sack of flesh. Now out! Everybody out except for Queen Lapins and my confidants." The steel in his voice brooked no argument, but even so, Hazzarn smiled, no doubt taking Kir’s outburst as a show of weakness.

Kir didn’t care.

When the last of his generals filed out, Char remained.

"Should I count myself amongst those you trust?" she asked.

"Char, I trust you," Kir said, watching her visibly relax. "That’s why I need you to keep things together out there. If our people split apart now, then that just makes things difficult after... assuming I succeed at stopping Heaven from falling down on us all." Kir approached her, offering a hand in friendship. "Rule in my stead. Given the vast distances involved, it may take some time for me to return. If I return." Amongst Kainur’s artifacts was a signet ring of office. In truth it was a spare, given how thoroughly his body had been destroyed several times in battle. Kir walked to the desk where he kept it and pulled it from its box, handing it to her. "I won’t restrict your decisions, but at least try to keep your nation and Montmorency from fighting an unnecessary war."

"As you command, my Duke," she said. Her eyes were steel, but Kir thought they held a glint of true respect.

Only then did Kir bid her go.

"It’s easy to respect someone you expect to die," Rena said in Kir’s head. Kir felt the memories of old battles watched in the arenas of Hell. Warrior after warrior paying respects to each other before their duels.

"What did Kiryu want with us?" Kassin asked silently.

"I wanted everyone to stay close so we could discuss this together," Kir had mostly wanted Kordia and Rena for the decision-making, and Lapins because she would need to know his plan to bring something back to her people. He’d put a guard up around his feelings because he sensed that if he went out into space, with only the mana he had in his body available, he wouldn’t come back.

Even in a universe of magic, the void was more hostile in its apathy than any dragon in rage.

"Excuse me, but is there a reason we’re all just standing here staring around?" Lapins asked.

"Oh. Right," Kordia snapped out of listening along the bond. "When we were on Mount Morens, Kir accidentally bonded all of us... we’ve been able to communicate in each others’ heads since then."

"And you were going to tell me this when?!" Lapins huffed.

"I think she feels left out," Kiryu sent out a mental roll of the eyes.

"It’s a bit difficult to plan around the end of the world," Kir sighed. "I can invite you into the bond if you like." I think.

Lapins didn’t flinch at the offer. Instead, she raised a hand under her chin. "If it will help us plan better and save the world... I’ll agree on one condition. You bring Mercy into the bond too, as soon as this is over."

"Agreed," Kir said without hesitation. "Hold your mana out towards me."

Once Lapins complied, Kir tried to repeat what he’d done on top of the mountain. To his surprise, the connection snapped into place, Lapins blooming into his mind like a lotus, her thoughts edged with steel and ambition. It was a sharp contrast to Kordia’s desire for love and freedom, Kassin’s jealousy and fear of insignificance. But Lapins’ mind held a lot in common with Rena’s cool wrath and sense of justice.

With everyone in her head, bringing Lapins up to speed on who and what Kir was, and the existence of Kiryu, went much faster than mere words could convey. Out of respect for Kiryu’s wishes, Kir had not revealed to anyone that Kiryu claimed to be a creator of this universe, but he did reveal that Kiryu was from another world.

That last revelation struck Lapins the hardest, disbelief clouding her connection for a long moment before she shut it away to ask a single, pointed question.

"What happened to Kiryu’s world? This... Earth, you speak of?"

"It died," Kiryu replied.

"And we’re supposed to trust you to help us save this world?" Lapins’ voice was acid. "How do we know this isn’t just some plot to get Kir killed so you can go play voyeur through someone else’s body?"

"You think I know how this works, Princess?" Kiryu snapped back. "The only thing I know is that I’m stuck to Kir’s soul like mold on bread. The first time he evolved, I felt I’d still be here. The last time, I felt what would happen. There’s no room for two souls in one body if he gets his magiform. It’ll be him that wins; besides, you don’t want me incharge."

It was one of the longest speeches Kiryu had ever given, but it came laced with threat. There was a crack in Kiryu’s mind opened by those words, and through it, Kir alone saw and understood. It made him feel the weight of the truth that he was hiding from everyone...

That Kiryu had destroyed Earth.

Billions of lives worth of blood were on his hands.

Half-mad or not, understandable or not, Kiryu was a destroyer. If the world would not bend to his will, he would break it.

Just as he’d destroyed the laws of his home universe, and humanity with them, to start anew.

And if he’d already started over once, why would he not do so again with a world he found fault with?

In that instant, Kir felt all this, and he retreated from Kiryu’s thoughts, instinct screaming at him to share them with the others.

As it turned out, he didn’t have to.

Horror had already bloomed along the bond. Kiryu hadn’t just shown Kir the sliver of knowledge, he’d shown everyone something, and amidst all their minds, images of the ruined Earth, the cold grip of the powerful, the decay of what Humanity had become swirled in a rush.

"Gods..." Kordia was the first to speak, "Is this where you see us heading?"

"Yes," Kiryu intoned, the revelation that all the races of the Myriad, Heaven, and Hell were variations of humans, with all their faults, sinking deeply into everyone.

Amarena drew her sword. "I know who you are, spirit! God. Whatever you think yourself to be... I name you, Shin’Gir. You are the Destroyer! If you take Kir’s body, I swear I will strike you down. I will never let this world become what yours did, but neither will I allow you to judge us."

Kiryu’s laugh filled their minds like the winds of a necropolis. "You can try. But like I said, I don’t know how this works. So how about we put aside your delusions of justice and focus on saving your two worlds... while they’re still worth saving."

With more than a little trepidation, the discussion began anew.

And then the decision was made.

On the morrow, Kir would use the fulcrum to evolve.

No one could guess how long it would take, but their only option was to try it and hope that it was soon.

He would then depart for Hell by whatever means he could, and hopefully, hopefully, be able to strike down the shards of Heaven from there using every trick and formula Kiryu promised to share.

It was Kassin who noted with irony as the planning concluded, "The god of destruction shall be our salvation... if this is the truth, then the whole world has been a lie."

"The lies we tell ourselves make us human," Kiryu pointed out, "Without them, there’s only physics. Everything, everywhere, all at once... spiraling quietly towards the end."

"Your words are bleak, and yet comforting," Lapins said. "You sound like Mercy."

"If only he was as quiet as Mercy," Kir blurted without thinking, and suddenly everyone was laughing, even Amarena, who knew nothing of the freakishly strong maid but the impressions in Lapins’ mind.

"Enjoy my silence then," Kiryu said before, like a petulant child, he closed himself off from the bond. As he did so, Kir could sense his anger. His anxiety and the complex sense of duty he felt to the universe he created. To make it better than the one he’d come from, or to end it.

"I guess that leaves us with one last thing to do..." Amarena said, her thoughts laced with warm intent. "Let’s make this a night to remember."