I swallowed my voice.
I opened my mouth again, lips parting, but the words refused to come out. After one, two, perhaps a dozen times of heaving something like dry heaves, I finally managed to forge a single sentence. It was less a statement than an eruption of emotion.
"Such a way… you tried to destroy me like that…."
"You are a monster of causality, Father."
Perhaps she noticed I hadn't actually asked anything. Instead of answering, Daisy continued with her own words.
"You are caught in a fundamental delusion — a massive ethical one. If you prefer that phrasing, you are nothing less than the incarnation of delusion itself. The day you were born, every demon in the world must have burst into hymns and thrown a festival."
Daisy's lips twisted into a smile. Even in a situation like this. Meanwhile, a part of my mind remained fixed on observing her, detecting the exaggerated theatrical tone in her gestures and mannerisms.
"You are like a god, Father, but an inverted, twisted one. No one has ever built a kingdom of morality through paradox the way you have, and no one ever will. Your crimes, your confessions, your declarations — all of them scream, 'It was me! I did this! I am here! I am the one behind all of this!'"
Daisy lowered her head ever so slightly. It looked like a bow, or perhaps she was tilting the angle of her gaze to mock me from above.
"I pay my respects to your devotion. Forgive my rudeness. I have grown tired of your demonic yet fundamentally romantic sacrifice play. That is why I have prepared a small gift for you, Father."
"A… gift?"
"I declare it here and now."
Daisy raised her greatsword even more upright.
From her smooth lips erupted a roar that seemed to ring across the entire plaza.
"You did not ruin Laura de Farnese. That was your delusion. The one responsible for that collapse was not you — it was I, Daisy von Custos! And therefore, you have neither the right nor the qualification to bear responsibility for it!"
Her cold voice lashed out viciously.
"The notion that you yourself drove Paimon to her death is nothing more than another laughable delusion. The true culprit was me. Your anguish, your sorrow, your wounds — everything about you, every last bit without exception, originated from me. I'm afraid that puts you in a rather unfortunate position, Father."
Daisy's pupils gleamed with elation. The gaze of a victor. Above all, the gaze of a conqueror.
"You can no longer take pride in believing yourself the mastermind behind the downfall of two people. Because I exist! The fantasy of shouldering all sin upon your own shoulders has shattered like glass! Just now — you asked whether I tried to destroy you?"
Daisy curled the corners of her lips upward.
"What a misconception. Quite the opposite — I'm trying to save you from a thoroughly wretched demise. Father now has only two options left. To borrow an expression you're fond of using — yes. Choose one of two."
Daisy regarded me at a half-tilt.
"First. Slowly come to terms with the fact that nothing called 'me' exists in this world. Acknowledge that your posturing has been a precarious balancing act. Of course, this choice would be impossible for you, Father… I know that much. If it were possible, you would have fled long ago. So, if the first simply won't do — then the second."
Daisy spoke.
"Admit that I am the culprit behind everything."
"……."
"It was none other than I who took Paimon, Zepar, Beleth — everything you held dear. You are nothing more than a pitiful marionette and a victim. If you wish to keep this play going, then accept the fact that you are nothing but a tragic supporting character."
Of course, Daisy added.
"—That too would be impossible, of course."
Daisy laughed aloud. Not that she was audibly laughing — laughter she could not conceal rang taut through her voice. Every single word she uttered was tantamount to laughter.
"In the end, Father can choose nothing at all. A rather familiar structure for a dilemma, wouldn't you say? Yes. It's Father's favorite paradox. This is how you dominated your counterparts. And now — it is my turn to have you."
As though the chessboard itself were being violently shaken.
Like a lowly pawn that had been nothing but a servant until the very end finally sprinting forward and transforming into the queen.
Daisy proclaimed.
"From this moment on, Father's pain is entirely mine. Father's nightmares — perhaps even your very breath — belong wholly to me. Your entire life is pledged to me as collateral. If Father wishes to become the demon of this world — then I am the demon that belongs to Father alone."
A faint breeze swept through the square, scattering Daisy's black hair ever so slightly.
I was seized by shock, unable to keep my composure. I merely trembled in the aftershock of Daisy's words. After silence swept through the space between us, I finally opened my mouth.
"There is still one last choice remaining."
I fixed Daisy with a glare brimming with boundless fury.
"I'll kill you, you wretched thing. If I do that, I'll finally be able to take responsibility for everything once more."
Daisy smiled. For some reason, her lips were trembling too. But unlike me, she wasn't trembling from rage — she was trembling from an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, intoxicated with victory.
"So in other words, from this moment on, Father's entire life hinges on whether or not I'm capable of killing you."
"……."
"I knew with certainty that Father would say exactly that. This is precisely what I've been hoping for. At last, I've made it this far. You could say that every last bit of my humiliation and suffering existed for this very moment."
Daisy boldly closed her eyes. She seemed to simply let herself feel it — her entire body rejoicing, savoring the sensation for a brief while.
"It's not Paimon. It's not Consul Elizabet either. It's not Barbatos. Only I have. Only I have earned the right and the qualifications to slay you. What exactly could any of them kill about you……your life? At best, just your lifespan? Ahh, that's not enough. That alone is not enough to kill you."
Daisy opened her eyes.
And with that, she burst into manic laughter. Only then did I realize that mere loud laughter wasn't the same as a true fit of wild mirth. Short, broken — as if deliberately punctuating each sound and letting it spill out, "Aha, haha," Daisy let out a series of brief, staccato laughs.
"They could never kill you! With this, my oath is fulfilled in its entirety! I am the only one in the entire world, across the entirety of history, who can understand you! And therefore, the only one who can annihilate your convictions, your suffering itself, your very personhood — is none other than me alone!"
Daisy raised her left hand.
In that moment, an explosion rang out across the square.
The citizens screamed. I strained to keep Daisy in my sight while glancing sideways toward the square. From a thick cloud of dust, someone was walking toward us. I could do nothing but stare in shock at that silhouette.
A blond boy.
The youth, dressed impeccably in a butler's uniform, was Luke — Daisy's older brother, and my slave.
Luke gripped a massive greatsword in both hands, a blade as tall as he was. Drops of red blood dripped steadily from the sword. He must have been the one behind the attack on the square. Did this mean that not only Daisy but even Luke had broken free of the Slave Brand's shackles……!
"Daisy……!"
"If you'll pardon me."
With the sound of wind splitting apart, Daisy swung Bael's greatsword. The blade carved a vast arc in an instant, slicing through the weapons of the Neutral Faction Demon Lords who had surrounded her. The Aura suffusing the greatsword tore through their chests.
Four Demon Lords clutched their chests and screamed. Blood sprayed in every direction.
One Strike.
In just a single breath, Daisy had incapacitated four Neutral Faction Demon Lords. Even wielding Bael's greatsword, this was nothing short of overwhelming power. And yet Daisy looked at me with a leisurely expression, as though she had merely shooed away a few flies.
"Why that grave look on your face? Has some great tragedy occurred? If anything, I'd say the scene you've dreamed of is unfolding before your eyes. Come now — praise me."
I gritted my teeth.
"I order you! Take your own life, Daisy!"
"Aha."
Daisy let out a soft laugh.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot obey that order, Father. It was I — the lowliest slave, a girl born of the blood of sharecroppers — who prepared everything, all for you. The most powerful among them will come rushing to execute you, every last one."
Daisy swung the greatsword lightly four times.
Beneath her feet, Barbatos — who had been groaning on the ground — let out a blood-curdling scream. The blade had severed his limbs. At the same time, the mana-restraining collars binding his two arms and two legs were cut apart as well.
Why wouldn't my orders work? Daisy was still my slave! Then how could both Daisy and even Luke stand in my way?!
Daisy demurely gripped the hem of her skirt and bowed at the waist.
"You sacrificed everything to satisfy your own petty, selfish fantasies. Now it is time to pay the price."
"What are you planning to do…!"
"Wouldn't anticipating that — and waiting for it — also serve as a delightful spice to adorn your romantic life?"
Daisy smiled.
And then she seized Barbatos by the collar of his clothes and dragged him roughly. Barbatos was bleeding endlessly onto the floor. Having already lost his horns, the wounds were far too severe for him to bear in his current state.
"Until the day we meet again — farewell. I shall take my leave from your side for a time, Father, while I prepare the grandest stage. Drink in moderation, and perhaps try to wean yourself off the drugs as well. I am no trifling thing to be faced with a mindclouded by liquor and narcotics."
Just then, a single blade hurtled toward Daisy.
The timing was perfect.
Daisy was looking at me and chatting merrily, as if her guard was completely down. Yet, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, she raised the greatsword to block the attack. Standing where the attack had come from was Sitri.
Sitri ground her teeth and spoke.
"I don't know what you're talking about… but it means you contributed to our sister's death, doesn't it?"
"Yes. Not just contributed. If it weren't for me, Paimon wouldn't have died like a dog."
Daisy glanced over at Sitri.
"But an outsider should get lost. How dare a puppet interfere without knowing its place."
With a light motion, Daisy twisted her greatsword.
Sitri's concealed swords, which had been coiled around Daisy's blade like a snake, shattered into pieces like glass. The tension that had held Sitri upright vanished, and she instantly lost her balance, falling to one knee. Sitri's wounds from last time had not yet fully healed.
"Normally, it is the Demon Lord's role to abduct the princess."
Daisy hugged Bael at her waist.
"But it's alright if the roles are switched from time to time. I'll be borrowing the woman you love most as a hostage. Don't weep too much from loneliness, Father. It would be embarrassing for your daughter."