"Ariel, that's something a villain would say."
"Well, aren't we basically villains?"
"...Fair enough."
"Bals!"
"Ariel, if you chant that, you'll destroy this ship and send it flying off into space."
"It's a spaceship, so maybe that wouldn't be wrong."
"...Fair enough."
Such casual nonsense, rattling off as we enjoy our flight through the sky.
The ship we're riding is one we captured from
It was the escape pod Potimas had prepared at the end — the one even that was blocked by White.
Since it was captured undamaged, we were able to use it ourselves.
All other weapons were destroyed and taken by White.
She left this one intact so she could go through Potimas's research data, and now it's ended up serving as our transportation.
If she had destroyed this one too, we'd be stuck in the
We'd been relying on White's teleportation for travel, so losing her created a serious problem.
Thank goodness this ship survived.
Now, this ship was originally an escape pod Potimas prepared for venturing into space.
And it was built with the premise of wandering through the cosmos for a long, long time.
So Potimas could find a planet where she could settle without issues.
To that end, it had not only living quarters for Potimas and her attendants, but also cultivation areas for food production, livestock grazing spaces, and even relaxation facilities.
In other words, what I'm trying to say is — it's ridiculously spacious.
Not just the Reincarnators, but even the Demon Army and the surviving Imperial Army forces all fit aboard.
We did drop the Imperial Army survivors off at the nearest town to the Elf Village, though.
We also dropped off some of the Reincarnators who requested it.
Five people total: Kagawa
"Whatever choice we make, we can't go around acting together with you people."
That was Kagawa's reasoning.
Those two had their hometowns destroyed by Merazofis.
Following us, given that we harbor Merazofis, was emotionally impossible for them.
As for Kusama, Ogiwara, and Hasebe — they had ties to Shinken-kyo.
Now that we've ended up enemies with Shinken-kyo, traveling together was off the table.
Hasebe looked like her eyes were dead, but I hope she'll be okay.
She was a devout Shinken-kyo follower and saint candidate. She'd been brainwashed by Natsume and made to participate in the attack on the Elf Village alongside the Imperial Army.
That alone must have been a huge mental burden, and now with all this chaos on top of it...
...She might not be okay.
Well, I want her to live on strongly.
The four of them (other than Ogiwara, who had infiltrated the Elf Village) had high combat ability for humans, but dropped off in a town far from the Great Ello Dungeon, near the Elf Village — they'd be completely helpless.
About all they could do would be pray.
Who they pray to is their own choice.
I have nothing to say about that.
After all, they were two people who had been hostile toward us, and three with connections to Shinken-kyo.
As for praying to White... I wouldn't get your hopes up.
Most of the remaining Reincarnators were the kids who'd been confined in the Elf Village.
They'd been living in the Elf Village, so they knew nothing whatsoever of the outside world.
It would be irresponsible to just dump such kids into an unfamiliar place.
Better to shelter them under my care for now, and help them build a foundation somewhere once things settle down.
The question is whether things can ever settle down, though, huh?
The one exception who we're forcing to come along whether they like it or not is Teacher.
Teacher is White's benefactor, and moreover holds a Ruler Skill.
Since the Ruler Skill is the key to preventing the system collapse, we have to keep her under watch.
So she's been made to accompany us.
That makes everyone on this ship Reincarnators and Demon Army affiliates.
Except for two people.
One of those two was here right now.
"So? How's the battle going?"
"Who knows. Unfortunately, I don't know a thing about the main body."
Saying this, the
"Really?"
"Yeah. This body is fundamentally semi-independent from the main body. Normally, as Hyrince, I move around with no connection to Gulié Dystodies whatsoever. Occasionally, the main body syncs with this body, but that can only be initiated from the main body's side. In fact, I cannot appeal to the main body from here."
"I sort of get it, but also sort of don't."
"The main body can perceive everything I see and hear, but I know absolutely nothing about the main body."
"Ohhh."
"Feedback from the main body only occurs during synchronization. I do have the sense of being Gulié Dystodies, of course, but beyond that, my consciousness as Hyrince is far stronger."
"Ahh, I see."
So that was why.
I'd been talking to what I thought was Gulié, but there had been something slightly off — because this man sitting before me was a Hyrince who'd inherited some of Gulié's memories, not Gulié herself.
"...So wait, does that mean Gulié's main body can see everything on this end?"
"...Hard to say."
If Gulié could see everything here, it could affect the fight against White.
I'd been worried about that, but Hyrince's answer was vague.
"What do you mean?"
"Gulié Dystodies has never experienced fighting a god in a pocket dimension either. She might not even be able to maintain her connection with me while in a pocket dimension, and she might not have the bandwidth to be aware of our situation here."
"I see..."
In the end, it's unknown.
Well, whether Gulié is aware of our situation or not, there's nothing we can do about it from this end.
No point worrying about it.
"So? What are you planning to do as Hyrince?"
"What do you mean, 'planning to do'? This body's specs are fairly impressive for a human, but that's about it. Right now, as your prisoner, there's virtually nothing I can do."
"Don't you have some kind of godly power or something?"
"Nope."
No, huh.
I was being a little cautious, but given this, it seems fine.
"Can't you at least pray to Gulié?"
"...Pray to myself?"
"Your consciousness is that of Hyrince, right?"
"That's true, but somehow that feels wrong..."
Hyrince made a thoroughly disgusted face.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
Maybe I'd let my guard down a little.
'World Quest Sequence 3. Arguments of each representative. Demon King Ariel.' "Wha!?"
That's why, when the divine words suddenly rang out, I was so startled I made a weird noise.
Being suddenly called by name was also part of why I was caught off guard.
And that weird noise echoed twice inside my head.
"Huh? What is this?"
Even the mutter that escaped my lips reverberated inside my head at the same time.
"Ariel's voice is in my head."
"Huh? Is it not just me? You can hear this too?"
Lars nodded.
Looking at Hyrince, he was nodding too.
And then I had a very — yes, a very bad feeling.
"Huh? This isn't actually being broadcast live to all of humanity, right? That's impossible, right?"
World Quest Sequences had always affected all of humanity.
Which meant — could this also be heard by everyone?
From that pathetic voice at the very start to all of this!
"Ugh, aaaaaaah!"
Realizing the possibility, I couldn't help but let out a miserable groan.
...Even knowing that this groan itself might be echoing across the entire world.