The Demon is the Greatest Evil!

As Anne stood there, lost in thought, the demon's calm, deep voice drifted into her ears, pulling her back to reality.

"Why have you returned?" The great demon's voice was soft, but carried the weight of his ancient presence. It wasn't so much a question as it was an observation, as though he already knew the answer.

Anne blinked, her mind snapping back into focus. She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she stepped forward, moving with a quiet determination. Without a word, she sat down beside the massive demon, ignoring the oppressive weight of his demonic power that radiated like an invisible heatwave.

The demon didn't react, still staring up at the gray moon, lost in his own world of thought.

Anne, glancing at him from the corner of her eye, finally spoke. "Is that moon really so beautiful?" She tilted her head back, mimicking his posture, trying to see what he saw in the pale celestial body that hung above them.

"I've already told you," the demon replied, his voice unchanging, "I don't like being disturbed." His gaze shifted ever so slightly to look at the bold girl now sitting beside him, though his voice remained flat, devoid of any real emotion.

Anne met his gaze defiantly, her frustration bubbling up. "Then just kill me." Her words came out sharp, almost as if she were daring him. She locked eyes with the demon, her face flushed with a mix of anger and confusion.

She knew she had acted impulsively earlier, and the events of the past month had left her shaken. In that short time, she had seen demons who showed no intention of harming anyone, and humans who disguised themselves as demons to commit atrocities. These contradictions had gnawed at her, unraveling the beliefs she had clung to for so long. Everything she had been taught,what was right, what was wrong,now seemed blurred.

The great demon merely shook his head and returned his gaze to the moon, offering no further explanation.

Anne let out a breath, a mix of relief and frustration. Seeing that he wasn't paying her any more attention, her tension began to fade, and her natural curiosity started to emerge.

A sly grin tugged at her lips as she leaned back on her hands, looking up at the sky with a casual air. "Well," she began, her voice teasing, "aren't you cold, sitting here like that… naked?"

Silence.

The demon didn't even blink. His massive form remained as still as a statue, his mind seemingly elsewhere.

Anne winced at the lack of response, but she wasn't about to give up that easily. Her boldness grew. She stretched out her hand and gently poked the demon's arm with one of her slender fingers, her curiosity piqued by the odd texture of his skin. "You know," she said, inspecting the gray surface, "your skin is really dry."

Still no response. The demon remained completely indifferent, as though she were a mere breeze passing by.

But Anne wasn't deterred. Now she was in full stride. "Okay then," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "do you prefer meat or vegetables?"

Silence.

"Sweet or salty food?" she asked next, her questions becoming more playful by the second.

Again, nothing.

Anne leaned back, staring at the same gray moon that had held the demon's gaze for so long. "Is the moon beautiful?" she mused aloud, this time her tone more contemplative. "Why do you keep looking at it? With your power, I bet you can see every detail up there. So, what's on the moon? Can you tell me?"

Though the demon offered no response, the weight of her words seemed to hang in the air. Anne knew she wasn't going to get answers easily, but something about sitting there, with this ancient being, made her feel as though she was slowly peeling away the layers of a story she didn't yet understand.

There was something about that endless, quiet night,and the unspoken connection between them, that kept her rooted to the spot.

"I've heard rumors that the most beautiful person lives on the moon," Anne teased, her voice playful as she glanced at the demon. "And now I'm starting to believe it. Why else would you keep staring at it like that? Oh! I get it now… You must be spying on her while she's bathing, right?"

She puffed out her cheeks, pretending to be offended, but when the demon didn't react, she huffed in frustration. "You've been ignoring me this whole time!" she shouted, standing up and brushing the dust off her robe. "Fine, I'm leaving!"

Anne stomped away dramatically, her steps exaggerated as she made her way down from the boulder. She cast a glance back, half expecting him to stop her, to say something: anything, but the demon remained in his silent vigil, eyes still locked on the gray moon, as if she weren't even there.

Despite his cold indifference, Anne had spent the entire day at his side, enduring the immense pressure of his demonic power. She'd babbled on about whatever came to mind, filling the silence with her own musings, hoping to provoke a reaction. But the demon stayed unmoved, like a statue carved from the very rock he sat on.

---

Just as she reached the base of the boulder, Anne hesitated. "One last question!" she called out, turning around to face him. "You know someone's pretending to be you, doing horrible things in your name. Why don't you stop them? With your power, it should be easy!"

The demon didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the moon, his silence stretching on so long that Anne almost turned to leave again. But just as she took a step, his deep voice finally broke the stillness.

"Even if I killed the one pretending to be me," he said softly, his tone calm yet heavy, "and revealed the truth to the world, no one would be grateful. They would only see it as a trick, a manipulation. To you humans, a demon can only ever be the ultimate evil, no matter what."

Anne froze, her heart pounding. "That's not true…" she began, but the demon cut her off, his voice tinged with a strange mixture of amusement and sorrow.

"What you want isn't for me to prove my innocence or for me to stop some imposter. What you truly seek is justice, justice that can stand against both demons and the evil in your own world." A faint, bitter smile appeared on the demon's lips, but to Anne, it felt like a sharp, mocking jab. "The real demon isn't out there," he continued, "it's in your hearts. That's why no matter how many demons you vanquish, there will always be more. And it's why even those you call 'righteous' can manipulate and betray you without consequence."

Anne's chest tightened. "That can't be right… There has to be a way."

But the demon's smile faded as he turned his attention back to the moon. "Leave," he said quietly. "Don't come back."

---

Anne wasn't sure how she made her way back out of the rocky hill. Her feet moved on their own, but her mind was swirling, replaying the demon's words over and over.

"The demon is the greatest evil…"

His voice echoed in her head, and for the first time, doubt crept in, settling deep in her heart. Was the world really as simple as she had always believed? Were demons really the only monsters out there? Or had she, like so many others, failed to see the darkness hiding within her own kind?

As she walked away from the rocky hill, the night felt colder, the moon dimmer.