As The War Nears

Once the meeting was over, everyone left, clear in the need for time to sort their thoughts out, except for Rubina and Marcus.

"You aren't going to leave? Go meet your hottie, the meeting's over, lol." Marcus said a smile tugged on his face.

Rubina didn't reply, she simply looked at Marcus and after a while questioned "Everyone is pretty much trying to digest a lot of things not only that they are definitely affected by Luise's confession of betrayal, as for Luise he is simply excited to have found something fun, and they all trust you, after all you are reason they are still alive and have managed to get this far, maybe that's why they don't realize that you aren't telling the whole truth."

"..."

Marcus's silence settled the answer for Rubina.

"You shithead, what the hell are you planning this time" The bored look in her eyes was replaced by one of contempt.

"Woah, chill out a bit, anger's not good for health," Marcus said jokingly, it didn't matter to Marcus how much Rubina hated him, for he knew she wouldn't do anything to harm him, she simply couldn't do it.

After a bit of silence, Marcus began to speak.

"Well, you are not wrong. The thing is, if what I think is Noah is truly planning then we are all dying and nothing could stop it."

"What the..."

"Do you know where Elina went?"

The sudden question came as a surprise for Rubina, as she shook her head.

"I only know what Alan just told us moments prior but what does she have to do with any of this?" Rubina asked skeptical of Marcus.

"Well, she told me where she was going before disappearing, and guess what she told me?" Marcus asked playfully.

"Marcus, I am not in the mood, just get to the point already."

"Fine, fine." Shaking his head Marcus began to speak "Elina said there was one another note that Noah had left her with, it contained the information regarding a dwarf who has been working in secret to find an alternative food source for the demons and the best part is he is close to finding the cure but he lacks the power to look for the ingredients himself, he is pretty old and weak but with Elina's help he might be able to make it soon enough. So, cheers!"

Rubina was left stunned, she couldn't utter a single word.

"Man, I never thought someone would beat me to it but what matters is someone has found a cure. So, that's neat, ain't it?"

"..W-wait, then what's the need for this war? Shouldn't we go and help that dwarf to prepare the cure faster!?" Rubina hurriedly asked.

"Yeah, it would be really good if we could just go help the dwarf, create the cure, and use it to distribute to all demons. If only things could go so peacefully, it wouldn't be so hard" Marcus said as he pulled a chilled beer out of his dimensional ring, opening the can and gulping it down he began to speak.

"First, it's better if people don't know about the dwarf, the fewer people who know about it the better, currently it's Noah himself, Elina, Me and now you who know of it. Well, there might be some other people whom Noah told about it, or maybe none. At any rate, it's better if the amount of people who know about it is as low as possible"

Sensing Rubina's confusion Marcus explained.

"There are people who don't want things to change, people who betrayed their own kind and joined themselves with demons would definitely have had a hard time once the cure comes into existence. I mean, who would accept them? Demons would have very little reason to keep those people on their side. Not only them but some people love this apocalyptic world, vampires cooperate with us not because they want to but because they have no interest in becoming food for demons, but similar to that there exist vampires who work for demons because that's what they find fun. A cure will rid those vampires of their 'fun'. And there are many more who would do everything in their power to stop the cure from coming into fruition."

"Ah.." Rubina unconsciously worded as she understood the implication of Marcus's words.

"As for why there's a need for war? Well, it's pretty simple. Even if you introduce this cure who is going to bother with it? What reason do demons have to stop their actions? This oppression has been going on for centuries, Ruby, they won't change that easily. And let's say they do, what about the people who lost their families, friends, and lovers? What are they supposed to do with their feelings? Let them go just because demons have now found a cure and don't attack us anymore? That won't happen, even if demons stop, no, it's precisely because that demon will stop that a particular group of people will seek out revenge, retribution for the things done to them, and that will just spark another war and this time it will be one that won't be because of the necessary 'survival' problem."

"That is why, a war is needed. In this war, where not Demon Lord won't be present but Demons whom people will fight against, they will bare all their feelings out in the open. Demons aren't weak, even without their beasts they are strong and people need to know that. They need to know and feel the despair, to understand, and make them beg that there would exist another way to resolve all this and demons too need to know and suffer, to know that people won't just take it lying down, that they will stand up for themselves, this time where Demon lord won't be with them they will learn the wrath of the people that they have been oppressing."

"Both sides need to understand things, things that this war will make happen, and then ...and only then, would introducing the cure would be the best time. This war will be the end of this despaired-filled era. Many will die, many will be scared but it's necessary because everyone needs this war, a war so horrifying, mortifying that everyone will call our generation 'Dark age' or something, sounds cool, right?"

"Regardless, this war will have a death toll never seen or heard before, a war which will carve the fruitlessness of war into everyone. A history lesson that future generations will learn about, a lesson about the foolish actions of their ancestors."

Throughout the time, Marcus' voice remained solemn, he by no means believed he would make it out alive. The upcoming war will be their hardest one and he won't even be able to save his friends, hell he is the one sending them to their deaths.

"...Did that kid think this far ahead?" Rubina asked, if that was true then Rubina couldn't help but be curious about him.

"Actually, I don't think he cares all that about the peace. No, I am sure he doesn't give a single shit about it. To him, all this is nothing more than a byproduct of the things that his actions would cause." Marcus said clicking his tongue.

"...Byproduct?"

"As I said, Noah wants war. Let me point it out for you once again, Noah had gone and became the demon lord's disciple. He is learning from her but being a G+ ranker there's only so much that he could learn from her."

That was true, Noah couldn't learn everything from Demon lord, he could learn fundamentals and basics of most things, he could create a solid foundation but that would be it.

"Hey, Ruby, you know in a war it's easy to kill even a higher ranker. Not many notice it in this war-filled world but you know the meaning behind it, right?"

At those words, Rubina's eyes widened, she knew better than anyone what those words implied.

'If ...if he really did all this just for such a reason then... is he even humane?'

Rubina thought as she felt a chill run up her spine.

If Noah had heard her, he most likely would have retorted with 'In a world filled with different species, that sounds racist af, not cool lady.'

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(Noah's Pov)

So anyways, I started conjuring mana.

What's conjuring mana supposed to mean? Well, you see your body replenishes mana on its own or you can use a mana potion to do it.

But there's another method, conjuring.

With this method, you simply absorb the mana present in the atmosphere. You need a proficiency of at least E to be able to do it.

Yes, I am flexing. I have a mana proficiency of E+, as for aura and demonic proficiency, that's somewhere around F+. So, I can't conjure them.

But well, I will be able to once I reach that proficiency.

"Your growth rate is astonishing, is what I would like to say but honestly, it's just creepy." She said, her face scrunched up a little.

"Just say you are jealous of my talents"

"Why would I, someone who rules this world, an SSS+ ranker, be jealous of a measly weakling like you?"

"Lady, you are coping hard"

"...Fuck you"

"Fuck me yourself, coward"

"That counts as sexual harassment, it totally does!" Demon lord said covering her chest with both her hands, her expression wasn't as exaggerated as her actions.

Why did I write the manga I wrote?

That's a question I really want to know the answer to more than even about my transmigration.

"..."

"..."

Neither Demon lord nor I said anything, she was looking directly into my eyes, as a boy in his adolescence I accepted her challenge and stared back!

I ain't losing the staring contest!

I have never lost in a staring contest! Time to taste your first defeat Demon Lord!

"..A friend," Demon lord said bringing the palm of her right hand towards my right cheek.

Hm? Cheating? In such a broad daylight? Not like Demon Continent has much light even in the morning, on a side note it's night right now.

But what does she mean? I swear, she is so random sometimes, it's honestly baffling.

"So, did you just refer to me as your friend" I asked, confused.

"That's right. I thought a lot about it. What's our relationship? Are we simple acquaintances? Are we just master disciples? How do I feel about you? What's the extension of these emotions that I feel towards you? After thinking a lot, I finally arrived at the answer. You are a friend, a very dear friend of mine."

...

"Damn, so is it common for 669 year old and 16 year old to be friends? I thought you would keep thinking of me as a kid, like a newborn and a grandma. Can you call grandma and a newborn friends?"

"Honestly, I do think I would treat a newborn as a newborn, not like a friend but you are different. I just don't think it's justifiable to treat you the same as a newborn, your mental growth is similar to mine so there's that but of course, I have more experience."

Fair enough.

The demon lord remained laid on the bed, wearing a blanket while I remained by her side waiting for her to fall asleep.

Yes, it's time she goes to sleep. She is exhausted. In the novel this didn't happen, well that was simply because unlike in the novel this time for the last 2 months she had been working with me, training me every day, teaching me things, and giving me lessons, all that accumulated in her exhausting herself faster than she was supposed to be.

Demons usually go to sleep for 1-2 days but Demon Lord needs a 3-4 day rest, the reason was rather simple, Demon lord simply stayed awake far longer than others.

I think I understand why the protagonist was able to win against her. She was fucking sleep deprived during her fight in the novel.

"This feels a bit weird" Demon lord complained.

"What does?"

"Going to sleep like this? I mean, every time I go to sleep I am surrounded by beasts and Liza is also on stand guard but this time there's no one here"

Well, that was because you accepted my idea.

And besides, who goes to sleep in such a grandiose manner? Why alert your enemy? Sounds stupid to me.

However, having to face a different sleep schedule is hard to follow at first.

"Should I call Liza, though I will have her leave once you fall asleep?" I said.

I didn't want anyone to know about Demon Lord's sleep timing so we have kept it a secret even from Liza.

We both excused ourselves into this room, telling them to not bother us.

"No, it's fine. It's a bit weird but it also feels relaxing and comforting and it doesn't feel as lonely as it used to. Just stay here." Shaking her head demon lord replied with a smile tugged on her lips.

I don't know why but I decided to poke her cheeks.

"..Hm?" Demon lord let out an incomprehensible sound.

"Damn, your skin is soft, wait, how did it become softer? It wasn't like this before."

How do I know? Well, it's not my first time poking her.

"Ha.." Demon Lord showed a confused expression."I-I removed the demonic energy and mana covering me ...subconsciously"

....The hell?

It might not seem like it but what she said is actually a pretty important thing.

Remember, how I managed to attack Edward, an SS- ranker and poisoned him, well that was only possible because I had attacked his mentality, he was just as confused as me and he knew how many people he had destroyed who would want revenge on him, so when I openly confronted him even though he acted as if he doesn't know anything it must have had affected him which resulted in his mana that shields one's body to waver.

Of course, back then I didn't know that once reaching S- rank in mana proficiency one simply becomes capable of keeping a thin mana layer around their body protecting themselves 24/7 sub-consciously.

In a way, what I managed to do with Edward was just a fluke.

But let's forget about that dummy, the important thing is what the Demon lord said.

If she subconsciously ended up removing her mana and demonic energy layer then... that she has put her complete trust in me.

She looked at me blinking her eyes, repeatedly.

Ha! I won! Told ya, no one can win against me in staring contes- Wait, it's not the time for that!

"Well, well... guess you are okay with me killing you, huh," I said

SSS+ ranker's exp is gonna be a feast, ain't it?

"Ptff! Hahahaha!"

"Don't laugh"

Why the hell is she laughing?

"But it's funny, I am trusting someone who I know doesn't feel an ounce of feeling towards me, someone who could really kill me just because. Don't you think it's absurd?" She said wiping off the tears.

Someone sure laughed hard and yeah, it does sound absurd.

"Well, now it's a problem, I don't want to die. How about this? I promise to give you video tapes of all my techniques and teachings before you leave, that way you can keep learning from them as you grow stronger, in return don't kill me."

"Forget killing you, I will protect you with my life on the line. You got the deal"

A great deal, indeed.

Killing her would give me a great rank boost but a power that I can't efficiently use is just trash.

More importantly.. she said she doesn't want to die, in the novel she wanted to die.

Those words were the proof of how things have changed, that's a good thing.

"Alright, I am going to sleep now. So sing me a lullaby" Demon lord demanded.

I being a gentleman, decided to do so as I also patted her head.

If you wanna be a kid, I will treat you like a kid.

She resisted the pats on the head at first but soon stopped and simply remained laid without moving much.

I sang the lullaby my mother always sings for me.

And soon after, she fell asleep and throughout the night I remained by her side, just like I had told her.

Once the sun rose I stood up.

Everything comes to an end and now we are approaching the end of this story as well.

Well, gotta prepare for the nearing war.

With that thought, I left the castle.