“After that…… I really lived the most pathetic days. I prayed to a god whose name I couldn’t even bring myself to say, begged, resented, even got angry. I swept every last negative emotion close to my side. I planned to carry them with me for the rest of my life.”

Though he recounted his past as if it no longer bothered him, even with a hint of laughter, Cadel couldn’t take it lightly. The sheer despair Garuel must have experienced came through vividly.

“I regret those days. If I had known a future like this would come—meeting you, Knight Commander, gaining new comrades, and no longer needing to deny my existence…… I wouldn’t have piled up such a shameful past like a mountain.”

“Even if we knew the future, no one could live without regrets. There’s no such thing as a perfect choice. What matters is that I’m by your side now, and you’re by mine.”

At some point, Garuel had stopped his search and slumped against a pile of rubble. He lifted the corners of his mouth out of habit, but the shadow in his eyes betrayed the lingering echoes of the past. Cadel stepped closer to him and wrapped his darkened hand from the long battle in his own.

“I think you’re a truly amazing man.”

“……That’s a remarkably effective comfort. Makes me want to live up to it and actually become an amazing man.”

He gently stroked the veins bulging on the back of his hand and kneaded his wide palm. Garuel looked down at Cadel, who was squatting in front of him, toying with his hand like it was some kind of toy. Though bloodstains marked his pale cheeks, his face was strangely radiant.

“I mean it. If my life had been like yours, I don’t think I could’ve endured it. No, I probably wouldn’t have even blamed myself. I’d have shamelessly hidden my power and kept on living as the commander of the Twilight Knight Order. It’s a position you fought so hard to get, right? I would’ve thought it was too much of a waste to throw it all away over something that wasn’t even my fault. I would’ve deceived everyone just to hold on.”

“I did deceive everyone to hold on. For a very, very long time. If I hadn’t met you, Knight Commander, I probably would’ve kept lying until the guilt drove me to run off somewhere far away. I actually had plans for that, too.”

“You tend to underestimate yourself.”

“So do you, Knight Commander.”

Cadel let out a small chuckle, and when he lifted his head, he met a warm gaze directed solely at him. He had told Garuel everything—except for one thing. One truth he could never bring himself to reveal.

That once the war ended and the system was removed, he would disappear. When he disappeared, so too would the body of Cadel Lytos. He would no longer be able to remain with them in any form.

That, he could not say. He didn’t want to turn their final moments into a tearful farewell. And if he only said goodbye to Garuel beforehand, the others might come to resent him when they eventually found out. It would be too cruel to leave him with both grief and blame.

“Then we really were made for each other.”

“Fated, even.”

They might never be a couple without secrets, but—

“……Let’s not die.”

“……”

“Let’s not die. Let’s survive to the very end.”

They could be something else: the ones who shared the most secret, intimate love.

Cadel rose lightly and pressed a kiss to Garuel’s lips. The dry texture of his lips lingered. As he pulled away, intending to end the kiss quickly, Garuel wrapped an arm around his waist. As Cadel instinctively clung to his neck to keep from falling, Garuel buried his face in the crook of Cadel’s neck.

“Shin Yeohwan. Even your original name is beautiful.”

“You’re so biased.”

“Whatever you call it. That’s why I won’t let anything you have be lost. Not your name, your soul, or your body. I swear it, on my painful past, this radiant present, and the future I look forward to.”

For Cadel’s sake, he could give up every bit of himself—his flesh and bone, blood and skin. He knew it was more than love—it was blind devotion. He knew it was a cruel, burdensome emotion for the one receiving it.

As he gave Cadel one final, tight embrace, he whispered in a low voice.

“There’s a magic circle nearby. As much as I want to indulge in this moment longer, it’s time to go help the others.”

* * *

“People are dying just like that, one by one. And still, you have no intention of calling out Cadel Lytos?”

His bloodshot eyes trembled subtly, and bulging blue veins appeared on the back of the hand gripping his sword. Lumen swallowed his ragged breath and looked down at the fallen around him. Modeleine, Ector, Van, Yozen, even Lydon. Not only the knights he had acknowledged for their skills but also the comrades he had trusted were thrown out of the room one by one.

Emilia hadn’t touched them, but Lumen, who had attempted to attack her several times, knew. If she wanted to, she could end them all in an instant. And not just them. Sorin and Mamil, who were still fighting, and even himself standing right in front of her. She could wipe them all out.

How could such a powerful being exist? If they had gathered their strength from the start, they might not have met such a futile end. Letting their guard down at the sudden disappearance of the barrier and carelessly climbing the stairs had been their fatal mistake.

“No matter what you do, I won’t call him.”

Would things have been different if it were someone else standing here? If it had been Ector or Sorin, Modeleine or Mamil in his place? They probably would have said they’d summon Cadel before meeting their end. Whether they meant it or not. Calming the Demon King’s fury and saving the others would’ve taken priority.

But Lumen couldn’t do that. The moment he realized this was reality, he couldn’t even pretend to suggest trading Cadel’s life for the others. Even if the human forces were annihilated here, and they ultimately failed to reclaim the Stone of Peace. He would never give Cadel up.

“You’re in quite a desperate kind of love.”

“……Yeah. It’s a damn foolish love. So it was your mistake to leave the choice to me.”

A knight like him shouldn’t exist. How had someone who valued one person’s life over world peace ever earned the title of knight? The thought struck him that humans might suffer for eternity because of him. Innocent people who had lived good lives, those with peaceful routines, and those working hard in hopes of a brighter future—all of them.

He was terribly sorry to them. But sorrow was all he could offer. Like something broken, he simply couldn’t bring himself to say the words to summon Cadel.

Standing firm across from him, Emilia turned her listless gaze away and flicked her hand.

“It wasn’t a mistake. Just a waste of time.”

With a slight gesture, Lumen’s feet, firmly planted on the ground, lifted into the air, and his body was flung backward helplessly. Unable to resist the forceful push, he was thrown into the open room.

The scenery blurred wildly at a speed faster than light. His ears went numb, his vision swirled, and his insides twisted. As nausea surged through him, Lumen shut his eyes tight. A moment later, his body crashed with a dull thud and rolled along the ground.

“Ugh……”

Tensing instinctively, Lumen squinted his eyes open. He quickly scanned his surroundings and realized it was a completely different place from the corridor before.

A vast open field. Unlike the green fields of the Human Realm, this one was covered in dry yellow weeds, and the cracked ground was rough and parched.

A field in the Demon Realm. As he rose to his feet cautiously, a voice echoed from above.

“You said nothing I do would make you call Cadel Lytos. I wonder if that’ll still hold true when you’re facing death. Even if you change your mind then, you’ll have no chance left.”

Snapping his head up, Lumen saw the Demon King floating in the sky. It was clearly one of the clones the others had been fighting.

‘To get out of here, I either die—or kill.’

If those were the only two options, wouldn’t it be better to choose to kill? Drawing a short breath, Lumen reached for his sword.

‘If I was sent here, it means someone else still conscious was dragged out in my place. Sir Sorin and Mr. Mamil…… Whichever one it was, they wouldn’t choose annihilation for Leaderr’s sake.’

So before their choice put Cadel in danger—he had to get out of here.

* * *

“Just a moment ago, a human made the exact same choice. Said he wouldn’t call Cadel Lytos no matter what. Because he’s in love—desperately and foolishly. Isn’t that pathetic? Choosing to destroy the world just to protect a single love.”

“……”

“I trust you won’t make such a ridiculous choice. So hurry it up. I’m running out of patience.”

The man standing before her was Sorin Salamo. Dragged in the middle of a brutal battle, he was far from unscathed—even if he pretended otherwise. It was sheer grit that kept him standing. His relatively fewer injuries compared to the others were the only reason he could even consider putting up resistance.

As he slowly opened his tightly clenched right hand, his massive war hammer dissolved into glittering particles. In front of him lay his fallen commander and the other knights. Beyond the now-open door, he could see Lumen and Mamil battling a clone identical to the one he had faced.

It was effectively already a massacre. Had Lumen Dominic truly refused to summon Cadel Lytos even as things reached this point? How foolish. A senseless, selfish decision—the worst possible kind.

Sorin clenched and unclenched his empty hand, over and over. There was barely any feeling left in his palm. He couldn’t remember when he had started surviving on pure willpower. Meeting Emilia’s gaze as she waited in silence, he spoke in a low, heavy voice.

“I won’t doom the world for the sake of one man’s love.”

“Of course you wouldn’t.”

“But…… if Cadel Lytos is truly a man even the Demon King fears……”

With a trembling hand weakened by exhaustion, he drew his longsword. The unexpected movement cracked Emilia’s expression.

“Then he’s more than just a man. He’s the kind of hero who could save the world beyond the empire. I won’t summon him. Not for love—but for the greater good.”

“……You’re not even funny anymore.”

Sorin stepped over the bodies of his comrades, placing himself between them and Emilia like a final shield. His eyes gleamed fiercely, locked onto hers. And as the demoness wrinkled her nose in irritation, Sorin declared.

“Ask anyone—you’ll get the same answer. So come at me! If I can grab even the hem of your cloak with my life, I’ll march into death’s jaws again and again!”