… What is this situation?

Certainly, on an intellectual level, I was perfectly aware of the situation. My confusion, as such, lay more on an emotional level.

I was sat on a sofa—this much anyone could have told you. Then, on my lap was the existence I revered and loved from the bottom of my heart—indeed, Entropy was leaning against me with her full weight, inadvertently forcing me to be conscious of just how soft she really was. We each held a cup of exquisite tea.

With just that, it might have seemed like a paradise.

But that was far from all.

On one side, leaning against me, was a catgirl in a purple sleeprobe, purring up a storm.

On the other side, equally leaning against me, was a sleeping, scaled girl with horns, wings and a tail.

And then, behind the sofa stood another girl, who had taken it upon herself to massage my shoulders.

In order, Cy, Davna and Charlotte.

Indeed, the situation was beyond idiotic, reaching into the realms of the asinine.

After the dwarven king had fainted, we had somehow managed to obtain the spirit steel from a dwarf with equally white hair—she appeared to be a princess, so perhaps she was his daughter or something—so I placed the boxes into my [Storage], left behind a couple of diplomats and took the rest of my army with me. I had also taken the opportunity to do a bit of… tampering with her soul. Nothing major, just the same as I did to the leaders of the elves and the drakonids.

At the same time, I had sent a telepathic message to Charlotte about the place to meet me—that is, at the sage’s tower. In other words, Cy’s home.

Of course, she did as asked. It seemed she was done with her set-up over in the Citadel, so, leaving a few vampires behind, she rushed through the shadows to meet up with us.

By manner of coincidence, we happened to arrive at the same time, which gave my army the opportunity to spot her.

It was worth mentioning that, unlike, say, the lieutenant-generals, my Demon Generals were all appointed to their positions by me. Certainly, I had not picked them based on personal feelings alone, but it could not be helped if such opinions rose. I might have been the type of person to control my army’s actions, but I would not police their thoughts.

Amongst my army, it went without saying that Davna was respected—she made sure to remind any soldier who went out of line why dragons were feared across the continent. Lilith and Tempest, too, garnered a similar amount of respect with their conduct—Lilith did not have any sort of desire to hold back against those who got in her way, and the effects of Tempest’s failed experiments sometimes even reached the ears of the capital, Pandemonium—but the same could not be said for Charlotte.

She was a refined lady, so she would not fall to easy provocations.

She was a loyal vassal, so she would not assault my army.

And even beyond that…

She was a lonely little girl, so she would not do things that would make people hate her—

Well, that last one was just my pet theory, though.

In any case, the fact of the matter was that she did not often show off just how fearsome her incredible speed was, nor did she often manage to convince people her personality was respectable.

This earned her nicknames, particularly amongst the lower ranks of the soldiers.

“The demon king’s loyal hound”.

“The demon king’s rabid dog”.

“The demon king’s pet puppy”.

In general, they all fell in line with one of those three, and this time, too, there was no small amount of whispering the moment she appeared.

And yet, to those insults—

She had stepped before me and, with a perfect curtsy,

“Thy loy’l hound, Charlotte Wright, pr’sents h’rself b’fore thee, Your Highness.”

So she had said, taking pride in her nicknames.

“Aye, Charlotte. It is good to see you.”

“Thy words are too kind.”

And thus, Cy had led the six of us—that is, my Demon Generals and I—inside. I had bid my army to set up camp and wait where they were, and so wait they did.

And then, between Cy leading us to a guest room, some self-introductions and Entropy’s sudden appearance, and that absurd scenario described earlier, there was almost no gap.

As for her sudden appearance, in Cy’s words, the tower “functioned as a D-I-Y Thousand Throne”.

Indeed, it had progressed into that situation very naturally.

Entropy had simply staked her claim on my lap as her natural seat. Then Davna had said she was tired and decided to use my shoulder as her pillow, Cy got envious and curled up to me on the other side, and Charlotte took pity on me and decided to relieve my stress.

Indeed, in a logic-based way, the situation was entirely reasonable… and yet I could not help but feel as if something was strange.

The demon king, surrounded by loving family and friends? It was fundamentally absurd.

My emotions must have shown on my face, because Lilith burst out laughing.

“Oh, I bet I can guess what yer thinkin’ about, Master,” she said, struggling to talk inbetween her giggles. “Somethin’ like, ‘I don’t deserve this kind of happiness,’ right? Y’know, despite how great you are ‘n all that, occasionally, yer thoughts spring in this weird negative direction… ‘n, well, I guess I get where yer comin’ from, what with the stories from your world, where demon kings are the bad guys ‘n all. But remember—we’re all demons here. It’d be weirder if we weren’t… Nah, lemme change that. This is how we should be. You, I… Nah, we all. We’d all collapse if we weren’t like this, don’tcha think? Well, I might be comin’ off as a bit sappy, though…”

From the girl who had once had her family taken from her… I could not help but smile.

“Aye, it is as you say, Lilith,” I said, mussing Entropy’s hair. “We ought to be like this, inbetween the slaughter.”

Even the most inhuman of monstrosities in mind and body required downtime.

If not, we would collapse under our own weight.

A revolution—nay, a counter-revolution could not be led by leaders who were so weighed down by their own powers they could not even move. And even if it could, that would surely send those leaders tumbling into pits of despair, after all was said and done.

For the sake of our goals… and our happiness, these fleeting moments were necessary.

For once, I let a natural smile take over my expression.

***

“Now, then.”

I cleared my throat and gently removed Charlotte’s hands from my shoulders.

“It is of course very pleasant to be with you all, but if you had assumed that was the only goal in coming here, you would be mistaken.”

Cy removed herself from my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, a sly smirk on her face.

“Ah, do you intend to tell them about that thing?”

“Aye, Cy. As the people most involved in this matter, they have a right to know.”

“Then leave the follow-ups to me, in case your explanations get too technical.”

“Aye, I will.”

I shook Davna awake. Sleepily, she looked at me.

“It is time I told you… about the true origins of Lady Luciel. And, about Entropy’s identity.”

Suddenly becoming the topic of the conversation, Entropy’s ear twitched.

In this world… Nay, in existence, there were things called creator gods.

The supreme rulers of all that was and all that would ever be. Although their numbers were, theoretically, finite, for any practical purpose, there may as well have been infinite.

Simply by being awake and conscious of their surroundings, a creator god would create a world around them. In addition, they could not die—any wounds that would prove lethal to any other god would instead send the creator god into a deep slumber, sending their world crumbling into the abyss of nonexistence.

Simply by thinking, they created worlds—a creator god was that absurd an existence.

At one point, there had been a creator god which called itself Entropy.

Even amongst creator gods, its consciousness and will were particularly strong. Thus, the world it dreamed up was overflowing with magic and power.

“... And in other words, that creator god is currently sitting on my lap.”

Finishing the first part of my explanation, I placed my hand on her head.

“The world she created was termed Grand Atlas, split into the realms of Akasha, Atlas and Gehenna… In other words, she is the one who created this world.”

Was the revelation perhaps a bit too shocking? My Demon Generals froze up, perhaps trying to process what I had just told them.

“Then why…”

Tempest, with her inquisitive mindset, was the first to break the silence.

“Why are there more gods in this world? Why do they exist?”

“To put it simply, they are fabricated offshoots. Parts of Entropy that are no longer Entropy.”

In response to my sentence, Davna whined. “Master, that doesn’t make any sense…”

“Ah, leave this to me, Asty.”

From nowhere, Cy produced a deck of playing cards.

“Imagine a creator god is a deck of cards. The more powerful they are, the thicker the deck.”

She set the deck down—in mid-air, mind you—and split off a stack, placing it separately.

“What she did was basically like that. Take a few of the cards and form a hand from them, separate from the main deck. That hand of cards is a separate god, subordinate to the original.”

“In other words,” I said, following up on her explanation, “Entropy is the player, and any hand of cards she creates remains her hand of cards. It can act separately, but still answers to her.”

“And En did that four times.”

She split off another three sets of cards, leading to a main deck and four separate hands.

“And in this metaphor, what I have done is akin to doing this,” I said, taking one card from three of the hands and one from the main deck.

Tempest nodded, coming to an understanding, and formulated another question.

Indeed, she asked the central question. The main topic.

The question to which the answer would decide which side was ‘the rightful ruler’, and which side was ‘the usurper’.

“In that case, just what is Luciel?”

“Speaking from complete honesty, she is an unknown factor.”

“As Asty said, we have no idea.”

“Mhm. Mysterious, with unknown origins.”

It seemed Entropy had decided to participate, as well.

“For some reason even I don’t remember, I split off, another set of cards.”

A fifth hand split off from the main deck.

“But… Before I could take control…”

“Somethin’ or someone took it from under En’s nose.”

“An unknown third party intervened, granting this hand an opposing ego. It could be said this third party introduced a second player to the game.”

“An’ what’s more, not only did they do that, but they can also ‘steal’ the four previous hands.”

“Of course, the elemental goddesses themselves are taking Entropy’s side… But Lady Luciel holds the right to command them, so they absolutely must be kept separated.”

A few more moments of silence, though there did not seem to be any more questions. Thus, this time, it was I who broke the silence.

“Cy… This third party, do you think—”

“What, you’re suspectin’ Mephi? No way, no way, that’s impossible. Listen up, Asty. Mephi always acts towards one of two goals. Entering a world, and eating that world. Nothin’ else it ever thinks about. This is outside of its scope.”

“But then who or what…”

“Like I said, I dunno. An inside actor is a possibility, but it’s equally possible it’s another creator god, or even something more… primal. Some sort of cosmic force.”

“Hmm… And while I am asking questions, Cy, here is another.”

“Hmm? Shoot.”

“Am I correct in assuming everything went exactly as you planned?”

The atmosphere froze, and—

“Heh heh… Hehehehehe… Hahahahaha! Oops, I’ve been found out, haven’t I?”

“The timing of your letter, as well as the implicit threat, was too conspicuous.”

“Heh… Well, it’s not like I was tryin’ to be subtle about it, anyway. Well, that said, even I hadn’t predicted you’d create somethin’ like those Einherjar, y’know? That’s really outside of anyone’s expectations.”

“Hmm…”

We stared each other down for a good five seconds, and then she took my hand and gave me a firm handshake.

“In the end, it’s not like you really oppose this course of action, do ya, Asty?”

“Well, I cannot say I do. The dwarves were fated to listen to me at some point anyway—whether that happens through negotiations or through force is of no relevance to me.”

“Hmm. As heartless as ever, aren’t you… No, I guess I can’t say that. What happened, Asty? You, who used to absolutely refuse to involve innocents…”

“The one who made me what I am now is you, no? Take credit for your handiwork.”

“Ehehehe…”

“Kukukuku…”

The laughter leaking from our mouths was truly fit for the demon king and his sworn friend.

“Speaking of, Asty, while we’re asking questions…”

“Hmm?”

“When are you gonna put this farce of a war to an end?”

The atmosphere froze over once more, this time a thousand times colder than before.

The first to break the silence was Charlotte.

“Doth thou intend t’ insist that His Highness would play at war?!”

Within the blink of an eye, she had risen to her feet, her hand on her sword… But I raised my hand, so as to stop her.

“Your Highness…”

“I appreciate your anger on my behalf, Charlotte, truly. But she is right. Cy, explain.”

“Are ya sure?”

“I will not repeat myself.”

“Right, right… Then let’s go back to the earlier game metaphors… Right, let’s use chess this time.”

A chess game started with both sides, black and white, as equals. The same pieces. The same positions.

Yet how it progressed from there depended on the players.

In our case—

A white pawn had turned black. So had a white bishop. Several pawns had been toppled, a number of the higher white pieces had fallen, and black tendrils even enveloped the white queen and another pawn.

Indeed, white was on the back foot.

Yet even if.

Even if every black piece was toppled.

The knight who would protect her lord with ultimate speed.

The rook who rained destructive fire from afar.

The bishop who threatened with her spells just by existing.

The other rook, who created the grandest of inventions.

The other bishop, who would eat enemies and allies alike without discrimination.

Even if all those pieces were toppled—

Nay, even if all those pieces turned white, black would still win.

For the black king was not merely the black king.

With a snap of her finger, it changed.

From black metal, to glass. Prismatic, reflective glass, as if to display ultimate purity.

The ultimate king who would render all resistance and strategy without purpose.

The king who possessed the ability to, with a single spell—

She flipped the board, toppling all the white pieces at once, turning those that had been made white back to their original colour.

Indeed, before the king who could topple the board and leave the black pieces standing, the entire game was meaningless.

A trifling distraction. A way to pass the time.

A farce.

“Do you see now, Charlotte? She was correct. A single use of something along the lines of Dawn of Purgatory: Advent of the Seventh Heaven would do the trick.”

The ultimate darkness-attribute spell which no one could ever cast. A physical impossibility.

A spell which would, quite literally, end the world.

“Yet at the same time, I do wish you would cease your poor jokes, Cy.”

“Hm? Whatcha mean?”

“Do not play dumb. My goal is not just to defeat the white pieces. You know perfectly well what my aim is.”

“Ah… Well, that’s true, isn’t it.”

Indeed, my purpose was more than just toppling the white king. It was more than just toppling all the white pieces.

My aim was to seize the chess board itself, and present it to the one I loved.

That adorable, perfect creature.

I would put her back on her throne. And I would take my place, beside her.

“Hmm… With that said, Asty, I should give you your gifts, huh.”

“ ‘Gifts’, plural? I thought you only had one for me…”

“Ahh… Well, yeah, I only have the one gift, really… But I also have some info. On the true nature of that castle of yours, which even En seems to have forgotten.”

“Ah, how very interesting…”

“Ah, if I may?” Tempest said, interrupting before I could stand up.

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve been curious for a while, and this seems like a good opportunity to ask something. How do I formulate… well, like this, I suppose.”

She cleared her throat, then looked between me and Cy a few times.

“In the end, just who is Cyci? What is a Grimalkin?”

The question that should not be asked.

Knowledge that should not be learned, lest one become privy to things that only gods should know.

Yet here we were, casually speaking the answers.

“I’m the assistant manager to GAME.”

“She is a failed experiment to lighten the system’s load.”

“She has, the power… To manage and manipulate souls.”

“I can also manipulate reality, if I want. But I’m bound to neutrality.”

“And in addition to all that, she is…”

I paused, looked over at her. She looked up from the glass king, turning only her eyes to me.

“She is perhaps the only creature in the mortal world who could hope to fight me on even ground.”

The arrogant smirk on her face and the malevolent glint in her eyes were truly fit for the aberrant being known as the sworn friend to the demon king.