The Marquis of Discord (7)

'It will swarm like a swarm of flies.'

The 10th Corpse 'The Inferior Second Son' Andromalius.

'Boils will be rampant because of disease.'

The 9th Corpse 'The Thousand Faces' Dantalian.

'Livestock and herds will perish.'

The 8th Corpse 'King of the Dead' Seere.

'They will sweep away like a swarm of locusts.'

The 7th Corpse 'Wailing Wall' Decarabia.

'Lice will boil in your body and in your barns.'

The 6th Corpse 'The Worthless One' Belial.

'Take the life of the firstborn that year.'

The 5th Corpse 'The Unicorn of the Abyss' Amdusias.

'A horde of reckless frogs shall rise.'

The 4th Corpse 'The Reckless Knight' Cimeries

'There will be hail.'

The 3rd Corpse 'The Ice Duke' Andrealphus.

'I will turn water into blood.'

The 2nd Corpse 'The Lying Panther' by Flauros.

'Both worlds will become dark.'

... And the 1st Corpse 'The Marquis of Discord' Andras.

The 10 disasters that were cast over the royal family and the ominous beings that caused them.

Now, with them all destroyed, there is only one remaining, the Marquis of Discord, Andras.

And that Andras is inherently a being of two bodies.

The two separate bodies have now come together to face each other.

They were Jack, the reigning heir to the throne, and Piggy, the rumored second in line to the throne.

Vikir stared at Piggy's face as he stood there, his expression stern.

Why had Piggy turned away from the Academy, and from all relationships with others, in the past?

Was it simply a matter of bullying, harassment, and alienation?

...No.

Vikir had suspected this from the beginning.

'Piggy is a much stronger friend than I thought. He's not the type of person who gets lost simply because of bullying or loneliness.'

Perhaps Piggy's reason for leaving before the regression was because he questioned his lineage.

Vikir made his own guess based on what had happened in the past.

'Piggy. Isn't your blood supposed to be black in color?'

'Huh? Aah, it's always been this way, huh? It's been like this since I was a kid, actually! The doctors said it's because I have a lot of iron in my blood... but it seems like it's gotten a little darker since I've been in the Hell Tree?'

It was a guess that was related to the phenomenon in which Piggy's blood distorted the causality law when he was trapped in the Hell Tree.

Piggy died once in a previous fight with a demon.

Three days after his death, the heavy lid of his coffin was lifted and he opened his eyes.

The moment Piggy opened his eyes, this was the first thing he thought of.

'The reason you woke up first is because there was something you had to do first.'

Vikir's words were still ringing in his ears as he exited the Hell Tree.

The weight and warmth on his shoulders.

'Never look back. From now on, you go alone.'

In the cunning and malicious trap within the Hell Tree, where everything was trying to deceive and harm him, the only thing that pushed his back was the rough, scarred palm.

Then, raising his head, Piggy locked eyes with a gaze from beyond the portal.

'...Please go where you are comfortable.'

It was a decapitated head, displayed on a tall pole.

"...What I will do."

Piggy lowered his gaze and looked at his hands.

Black blood trickled down them.

The handle of the sword piercing Andras's heart was clearly visible.

[Yes, you... Didn't Flauros kill him, huh, he was the most suspicious of the candidates, so I told him to be extra careful...]

The 2nd Corpse Flauros used the water source to dig a trap in order to get another form of Andras.

Or to destroy it before it awakens and becomes a threat.

[What the hell did you come here for, to close the 'gate'?]

Andras said through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, Vikir had a point.

It was the information about Andras that Decarabia had told him in the past.

[Ahem! The structure of the body is heterogeneous. Normal living beings tend to divide individuals based on their own bodies, but that doesn't work for him.]

'...What does that mean?'

[In other words, you will divide and define human beings based on you. There is one human being named you, and if there is another human being who meets the same criteria, there is two. And three. Four. Five.... But not once. Two can be one, and one can be two. Since the criterion for separating the 'a' and the 'non' is outside the human concept, it is impossible to cut them according to conventional wisdom.]

'I have no idea what you're talking about. You mean, like you, you have an unusual body structure?'

[Whatever. I don't know much either. He's a very secretive creature. But... I only heard that the roles of 'those who close the door' and 'those who open the door' are separate. This is all I know.]

Decarabia is also an object-type, inanimate-type demon, so it has a very special body shape.

But even Decarabia considered Andras's form to be strange.

One soul split in two. One body.

It naturally led to rumors of the Oracle spreading throughout the world.

An oracle that caused the civil war in the empire, an oracle that turned the Seven Great Houses against each other.

It was said that the first and second crown princes, both descended from the blood of the first founding emperor, possessed the power of prophets, and that 'one of them would destroy the world, and the other would save it'.

The reason for this civil war was to prevent the wrong crown prince from ascending to the throne.

And the truth behind it was spoken by Andras, who took over the body of the first crown prince.

[Fufufu- Yes. I am the one with the power to open the gate, and the other Andras, you have the power to close it. Which of us perishes first will determine the end of this dark cloud.]

Andras grabbed the sword that had pierced his chest and crushed it in his hand.

…Kurrrr!

Flames flew towards Piggy.

But it was blocked by Vikir.

kwakwakwakwang!

Vikir gritted his teeth as Andras's magic burned and melted everything around him.

"Even a crumbling body can unleash this much power."

If Andras hadn't been split in two, if he had killed Piggy and absorbed his soul, if he had even had the magic sword Asmodeus at his disposal, the result would have been unthinkable.

[Open or close the gate, it's time to choose one, don't interfere!]

Even at this moment, Andras was baring his sharp teeth and showering fireballs at Piggy.

Kwakwakwakwakwang! Kurrrrrr!

The entire Imperial Palace began to shake ferociously.

Andras's demeanor was desperate and desperate again.

It was true that he wanted to find his brother and become one.

But the way to become one was through the logic of a game of survival where each must kill the other.

In front of him, Vikir couldn't help but think of the past.

When Grenouille's participation in the war had killed Piggy, Vikir had personally picked up Piggy's body.

Just as he had before the regression.

'...I had also personally carried Piggy's body back then. I was with him on his deathbed.'

Vikir's memory of the exact circumstances is hazy.

But when he recalls the moment, he thinks.

'...He's a good person.'

It's a phrase he's heard over and over again in moments of crisis, and it sticks in his mind.

Since then, Vikir has had some amazing experiences.

Piggy's body hadn't decomposed, even though it had been days since he'd returned from the battlefield.

Piggy's body smelled stronger as time passed.

At the same time, there is also a bad smell.

But it was of a completely different nature from the stench of decomposition.

Awakening.

With his death, Piggy was reborn into something completely different, something not human.

It was due to another Andras self that had been dwelling near his soul all this time.

"...I thought it was somehow similar to Seere."

It was the way of demons hovered around their hosts, waiting to strike when their minds or bodies were at their weakest.

As soon as Vikir smelled the familiar yet unfamiliar odor on Piggy, he held up the Mirror of Truth he had borrowed from Dolores to Piggy's face.

And in the mirror, he saw a surprising reflection.

The First Emperor. The same face he'd seen so many times in portraits.

Piggy's lineage was now revealed to the world.

The soul of another variant of Andras had been lingering around Piggy's body, waiting for the moment of awakening.

"I see now why your blood was able to close the Hell Tree."

Piggy smiled faintly at Vikir's words as he stood in front of him.

Piggy's soul, which hadn't been completely extinguished, was able to remain in his body with the help of Camus.

Andras's ego, which unlike Seere's, had a completely different structure, fused with Piggy's soul, and as a result, Piggy was able to stand here now.

...Also.

An intangible string connected Piggy and Vikir's hearts.

It was the same string that Andras had noted when he occupied the body of the First Crown Prince, a strand of unbreakable bonds from the world before the Regression.

[I remembered, Vikir, how you and I met in the other world, and....]

Piggy opened his mouth in a tone that was somewhat sad, but full of longing and joy.

[Why I brought you back.]