"Captain, isn't this a little..."
Ai stared at Elias with a strange expression. He had constructed a sack and appeared genuinely intent on abducting Rosemary.
"Ahem. Don't look at me like that, Ai. One-third of what I said was a joke."
"So two-thirds of it was serious?! Captain, just how much do you like Rosemary?"
"A tremendous amount. She's Rita with long hair, after all. Her cooking is delicious, she's beautiful and elegant, and she just accomplished the same grand feat of salvation as I did."
Elias admitted it with complete honesty.
However, although he liked her immensely, it was still only fondness. It had not yet developed into love. Elias simply could not stop himself from projecting his feelings for Rita onto Rosemary.
He knew they were different people.
But Rita and Rosemary were virtually identical in appearance, personality, and skill, so... Sister Rita had tragically been cuckolded.
After all, the two were bubble-world counterparts. Furthermore, having rescued all living beings from the dream, Rosemary was now qualified to inherit Elias' title of savior.
That was why Elias felt a sense of resonance with Rosemary. Still, he currently had control over his own heart, so it was not a problem.
"All right, all right. Don't misunderstand, Ai. Didn't the three of us agree to meet again in reality? I'm merely going to fulfill that promise."
"...Please put down the sack before saying that."
"Uh, fine."
"Ahh~ We certainly should fulfill our promise, but there's a problem. We don't know where Miss Rosemary lives in the real world. How are we supposed to find her?"
"That's easy. Leave it to me."
As Elias spoke, he spread his six wings. The authority of the Herrscher of Corruption was the most efficient means of gathering information, but in an era without even a network, it naturally had little use. Fortunately, he still possessed the authority of the azure winds.
The emerald gemstone began to glow.
Countless currents of wind became Elias' eyes and ears.
However, while the wind could convey everything it touched to Elias, the sheer amount of information would be far too chaotic unless he used some distinctive characteristic to filter out everything unnecessary.
Elias had no intention of forcing his brain to receive that much information at once. It would explode.
(But that's fine~ Rosemary happens to possess a feature that makes her extremely easy to find with the authority of the azure winds. Mm, found her!)
"Approximately ten thousand three hundred meters in the nine o'clock direction. That should be where Rosemary lives. Let's go."
"Huh? How did you find her?"
"Simple. Rosemary~"
As Elias spoke, he opened a portal. Countless currents of wind had carried the fragrance of rosemary flowers to him. It was identical to the scent of Rosemary's flower-shop cottage in the dream world.
Elias immediately determined that she lived there.
"Come to think of it, legend also calls rosemary the lighthouse of the sea. When ships lose their way, lost sailors can use the fragrance of rosemary to locate land."
"That legend does exist, but only someone with a nose—or authority—like yours could possibly smell it from this far away."
"Ehehe. Let's go. We shouldn't keep her waiting."
"Yes~"
Seeing Elias so impatient, Ai did not know whether to laugh or cry, but she immediately followed him through the portal.
Although they had spent only three days together, Ai Hyperion had already come to regard Rosemary as a friend.
...
"Wh-What happened here?"
When Elias and Ai arrived at their destination, they saw a cottage and immediately identified it as Rosemary's home.
However, everything around it was in complete disarray. The interior looked as though it had been ransacked, with every object smashed onto the floor. Even the rosemary flowerbeds outside had been destroyed.
The flowers that should have been blooming vibrantly had been cruelly trampled flat.
"No! Something happened!"
Elias frowned deeply. From the footprints, he could tell that a large group had done this. Combined with the devastation inside, he also found the young woman's battle scythe and extinguished lantern lying on the ground.
There was also the rose hair ornament that should have been resting in Rosemary's hair.
Every piece of evidence indicated that Rosemary had been attacked.
"Move! She should still be nearby!"
"Yes! But who could have done this?"
"..."
Elias' face turned deathly pale. A terrible premonition seized him, and he could not stop himself from praying that it was not what he feared!
The two quickly followed the footprints. Before long, they encountered other dream residents who had awakened, including several people Elias had met while gathering information.
"Hm? Lord Hero, are you also going to watch the execution?"
"Execution? What execution?!"
An elderly man who recognized Elias spoke.
"The witch's execution. Didn't you see what happened? Someone actually destroyed the dream. The culprit has already been captured, and everyone is going to burn that hateful witch to death."
"What did you say?! Rosemary burned the dream to save all of you!"
"Huh? Didn't you already destroy all the [Nightmares]? With Lord Hero here, why did we need that damned witch interfering where she wasn't wanted? Ahh, our perfect world where we could have anything we desired is gone just like that."
The old man clenched his cane tightly as he spoke. As the Herrscher of Good and Evil, Elias clearly sensed the malice surging from his heart.
And it was not only this old man.
The malice throughout the entire bubble world was increasing at terrifying speed. The scales of human nature had completely lost their balance, and this horrifying, immense torrent of malice was rushing toward a single young woman!
"How... How could you do this?!"
Elias accelerated once more. In the blink of an eye, he followed the trail to the plaza of a nearby town.
The sight before him left Elias completely stunned.
The people had built a raised platform for an execution and bound the frail young woman to a cross. Thousands had gathered there, recklessly pouring their malice upon the girl who had only just saved every one of them.
"You damned witch! Face judgment!"
"Give us back the dream world, witch!"
"I don't want this reality where there's nothing!"
"Let me go back! Let me return to the dream!"
"This inconvenient real world isn't beautiful at all!"
"Burn her! Kill her! Make her suffer!"
"You hateful witch who destroyed the world! Repent!"
Countless curses, accusations, and cries of hatred rang out. These people appeared eager to devour her flesh and drink her blood, completely unlike how they had behaved when Elias questioned them earlier. Every one of them now rejected reality.
Only after returning to reality had they discovered that they could accomplish nothing in this world. No matter how fervently they wished, they could no longer conjure magnificent castles or exquisite delicacies.
Their carefree lives had abruptly vanished. Their omnipotent dream had become troublesome reality. They could no longer gain everything without labor or enjoy whatever they desired.
And so...
The people of this bubble world went berserk.
Elias had arrived as quickly as possible, but he was still too late.
"Ahhh... I didn't... I only wanted... to save everyone... Lord Captain... Lord... Captain..."
Flames licked Rosemary's body. The people had bound her to a cross, and the raging fire had burned her skin black. She was being tormented by unimaginable agony. Her beautiful ash-blond hair burned away little by little, and her dark violet dress had been reduced to tatters.
The scorching pain was almost unbearable, but even worse was the sorrow caused by the people's curses.
Her tears evaporated the instant they spilled from her eyes.
The only thing the dying Rosemary could do was call for Elias in a voice so faint that only she herself could hear it.
"Rosemary—!!!"
Elias threw himself through the crowd and charged onto the execution platform.
The authority of the Herrscher of Fire manipulated molecular motion, instantly extinguishing the flames around Rosemary. He then tore apart the iron chains wrapped around the young woman's body and carefully gathered her into his arms.
At the same time, he frantically poured the authority of creation into Rosemary's body.
At the very brink of death, he finally pulled her back.
"Lord... Captain..."
"You're safe now. Everything is all right. I'm here."
Elias held Rosemary tightly. Although the authority of creation had healed the burns covering her body, the young woman's spirit remained incomparably weak. Powerless, she nestled against the white-haired youth.
It was as though she had finally found a harbor where she could shelter from the storm.
"Lord Captain, will you take me away?"
"Yes. I'll take you away. We'll leave together."
Elias slowly rose to his feet. His entire body was trembling. The savior who had crossed countless battlefields and endured innumerable ordeals had never felt his hands and feet grow so cold. His mind, which could remain clear under any circumstances, had become incapable of thought.
Because this was the first time!
The first time someone Elias regarded as important had suffered such grievous injuries before his very eyes, had been harmed to such a horrifying extent!
It had already exceeded what he could endure.
Elias carefully held Rosemary in his arms and walked step by step toward the Hyperion, his expression numb and vacant. His mind, incapable of coherent thought, was filled with questions.
(Why did this happen? Why was she treated this way? What is wrong with this world? How could these people do such a thing? Have they all gone insane?)
(Rosemary saved every last one of you!!)
"Lord Hero, you cannot take that witch away."
At that moment, Elias was a volcano on the verge of erupting, yet someone still walked directly into the path of his wrath.
"Get lost!!!"
The authority of the Herrscher of Earth activated. Repulsive force struck the person blocking Elias' path, instantly launching him backward at supersonic speed. He smashed through an unknown number of walls before dying on the spot.
"I'm taking her away today. Let's see who dares stop me," Elias said as he glared at everyone.
Something pitch-black surged within his heart. This might have been the first time Elias had attacked an ordinary person, but the only thing he felt was rage—an inferno that seemed ready to set his very soul ablaze.
The terrifying pressure forced everyone to retreat again and again.
At that moment, Elias radiated an aura entirely different from before. He resembled a demon preparing to destroy the world.
"H-He and the witch are working together!"
"He killed someone! He killed someone!"
"I knew he wasn't anything good either!"
"We were wrong about you all along!"
"That's right! You're no savior!"
"You're a demon! A hypocritical demon!"
Now the crowd's malice descended upon Elias as well. It was even uglier, more despicable, and filthier than the malice of the Herrscher of Million!
Elias faltered for a moment. No one had ever called him a Demon King before. The title left him startled, yet it also made him want to laugh.
And so, he laughed...
"A demon... A demon, huh? Fine. Since you insist on treating Rosemary as a witch, then... I will become the demon!"
After becoming the Herrscher of Good and Evil, Elias had understood one truth. Goodwill could not oppose malice. One form of malice could only ever be destroyed by another.
(If the malice of this world can only be severed by a villain, then I... will become that villain!!)
The instant this thought was born, his six immaculate white wings abruptly turned a profound black. The youth's long hair, once as pure white as snow, also became black as ink.
It was like the fall of an angel!
And the birth of a demon!
Elias' eyes overflowed with cold, murderous intent.
The people of this bubble world were already beyond salvation. It seemed only destruction could bring them true deliverance. In that case, he would transform into the demon and bestow that salvation upon them!
"Have you prepared yourselves to repent, you despicable bastards who repay kindness with hatred? In that case, come and face the wrath of the demon!"
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