"I'll save you."
She traced the voice that had taught her love and the resolve to die, etching the sound into her mind, over and over.
Was it because she was already dead?
She could finally unearth the sincerity she had been forced to bury.
'A little more... I wanted to do so many things with you. I wanted to see many things, talk, and know everything you hate and everything you like.'
Perhaps this affection had been a survival instinct, a desperate bid to escape a hellish reality. It might not even have been the love between lovers.
'I wanted to confirm it.'
Did she truly love him? Or was she merely mistaken?
She wanted to find the answers to those reflexive questions of first love—together with him.
...She did not want to die.
"Ugh..."
Overwhelmed by the surge, she collapsed. Though she lacked a physical form, the nausea rising from her solar plexus constricted her breath.
She retched, a dry, heaving motion, and then noticed something fall to the floor.
"Ah..."
She fumbled for her cheek, finding a dampness there. Like a creature breaking from its shell, she felt a texture and warmth that had been absent only a moment before.
Her tears were lukewarm; her body was cold.
She hugged her knees, burying her head. Rather than questioning the sudden warmth, she felt a wave of relief that she could finally pour out the emotions that had been forcibly 'stabilized.'
The suppressed despair and sorrow poured out of her.
Unlike in life, her eyes did not redden, nor did her breath hitch, no matter how much she wept. Because of that, the tears flowed endlessly.
Once the tears subsided, she realized a force was artificially stabilizing her emotions. She understood this was the place where she would lay down her final lingering attachments before death.
As she vented her anger and sorrow in this unknown space, devoid of today or tomorrow, a sense of futility and viscous despair constricted her breath once more.
Time in this place, stripped of hope, felt like purgatory. Even so, she repeatedly craved life, craved love, and thought of Rian.
"Haa... ah?"
While letting time drift aimlessly, she snapped to her senses as if doused in cold water.
"Why am I..."
Warm?
It hadn't returned to her original body temperature, but warmth was undeniably there. Without realizing it, she grabbed her throat, holding her breath.
Perhaps, by any chance—...
The hope of feeling a pulse was quickly shattered. Far from a pulse, she couldn't even feel a drop of the Demonic Energy she used to breathe.
Just as hope began to stain into despair again.
"...!"
She shuddered, a jolt like electricity racing through her, and gasped.
"Rian...?"
Her dulled senses expanded, and suddenly, she felt him. His soul, undeniable and vivid, was so close she could almost touch it.
Elencia sprang to her feet, moving toward the source of the sensation.
'There.'
Beyond the white wall where her memories hung like exhibits, Rian's soul was clear. She took a deep breath, her expression hardening.
'...If I leave this place, I might wander until my soul wears away and vanishes.'
Deviating from the path of a destined death was no different from giving up a peaceful end.
She clenched her fist until her nails dug into her palm.
'Even so... I will go to his side.'
Burning affection welled up in her eyes.
BOOM!
She struck the wall without hesitation. A massive resonance spread out.
Boom, boom! Boom, crash!
If once wasn't enough, she would strike twice; if twice failed, she would pound until it shattered. As she struck frantically, hairline cracks began to form on the white wall.
Crack, snap!
The wall, cracking like an old building, could not withstand the force.
RUMBLE!
A portion of it collapsed. Beyond lay a space so pitch-black that floor, ceiling, and walls were indistinguishable.
Elencia crossed the threshold, throwing herself into the darkness.
Thud.
Fortunately, the floor level of the black space matched the snow-white one.
'Where... is this?'
It was as if she were trapped in a void without a single ray of light. Yet, her own body was clearly visible, as if under a bright sun. After a moment of bewilderment, she felt Rian's soul drifting further away and snapped to her senses.
"Rian!"
***
While Elencia frantically searched for him, Rian wandered the endless void, repeatedly wiping his face.
'How am I supposed to look at the girls now? Ugh...'
At the same time Rian's body sat on the throne of a true 'God,' his origin—his 'soul'—had been ejected into this pitch-black darkness.
Unaware of his circumstances, Rian was simply bewildered to wake in such a bizarre place after losing consciousness when his wrist was grabbed by his own body, which had been lying there like a corpse.
No sooner did the question 'Where is this?' arise than memories began to invade his mind.
Memories of his youth, falling in love while under Noah's care, flooded his mind.
Memories of his student days, relying on Jess and nurturing dreams of a 'family.'
Memories of his college days, spending sweet, happy times as a couple with Iris and dreaming of the future.
As these fabricated memories etched themselves into his mind like a sweet dream, his face flushed crimson.
After a long time passed and he finally calmed down, he began to walk aimlessly through the darkness where up, down, front, and back were indistinguishable.
At first, he hurried, worried about the others, but eventually, he began to stroll, lost in thought. His mind was that complicated.
He walked for a long time, methodically organizing the memories, unable to distinguish the real from the false. He felt no fatigue, his feet never aching, and by the time he regained his focus, he realized an indeterminate amount of time had passed.
'Maybe not even an hour has passed... Haha.'
Since the sun didn't rise or set, and the scenery didn't change, the passage of time was merely his personal impression.
Instinctive fear surged as he walked the endless road, but he brushed it aside. He knew fear would not help him here.
Besides, he had experienced far worse; he could shake off the fear without difficulty.
Rian resumed walking, lost in thought.
The chain of memories led him back to the day he had awakened in this dark fantasy world.
'I really lived without a single thought back then.'
Tracing a life defined by 'just getting by,' he realized the true power of the Authority of Comedy.
The memories surfaced slowly, acting as a panoramic review of his life. He looked back, realized facts he hadn't noticed before, and repented for his mistakes.
Because Rian had lived in such a chaotic world, his judgment on 'sin' was lax. A look of longing shimmered on his face like an old man flipping through an album.
'Iris was really cute when she was little. I thought she'd grow up to be beautiful, but... I never imagined she'd become that stunning.'
'Ugh... Even thinking about it now, it was dizzying. I never imagined Noah was a girl. And her drinking habits were something else...'
'I thought Jess would just stay cute even when she grew up. Well, she's a Beastkin, so... heat cycles or pheromones aren't weird, right?'
As the memories intensified, his relaxed expression shifted to that of a child caught doing something bad.
Rian, rolling his eyes with a flushed face, shook his head and tried to think of others.
The children and executives he worked with in the Nest organization, the Duke who was Iris's mother, and the knights of the Duke's household.
He recalled the people he had connections with, one by one. Then, his emotions and thoughts began to organize clearly.
"Ah..."
What had been obscured now came into sharp focus.
'My god...'
Rian stopped, covering his face with both hands.
'That... no matter how you look at it, this is... Haa...'
Embarrassment, shame, and guilt rooted him to the spot.
'I kind of knew, and I expected it, but—...'
Rian wiped his face vigorously and shouted without realizing it.
"No matter how you look at it, you're such a player!"
Noah, Jess, Iris—and even the Demon King Elencia, who showed him endless affection.
Rian finally accepted the truth: he was in love with four women at once.