I woke up to the morning sun shining on my eyelids.
I felt like I just had a dream.
A dream of two thousand years ago.
Militia had a younger sister.
I met her and got a letter addressed to Militia from her.
But I couldnât remember a thing about her.
Neither her name nor what we talked about. Even when I dug through the depths of my memory, a dazzling light blinded my eyes.
It was the same with Abernyu.
In order to take possession of her order of destruction, I had defeated her and brought her down to this land.
I turned the Goddess of Destruction into the Demon King Castle Delsgade, and the Sun of Destruction into the Abolisher of Reason, Venuzdonoa.
But was that really the only reason?
Wasnât there any other purpose behind it than to steal her order of destruction?
Why hadnât I destroyed the goddess of Destruction?
I donât think it wouldâve been impossible for me.
I knew that the power of the Goddess of Destruction â that is, the Abolisher of Reason Venuzdonoa â was effective against the gods.
Then was it so I would have more countermeasures against the gods?
Or was she like the Heavenly Father in the sense that the complete destruction of her Order of Destruction couldâve led to the end of the world?
If I couldnât remember both Militiaâs sister and the Goddess of Destruction, then they could possibly be the same person.
In other words, the sister of the Goddess of Creation Militia may be the Goddess of Destruction Abernyu. The power of the Goddess of Creation was the <Moon of Creation>, and that of the Goddess of Destruction was the Sun of Destruction. When the Moon rose, the Sun would set. And vice versa.
If so, then it would explain why Militia couldnât meet her sister.
But there was no proof.
Right now, I had only one clue to confirm it: the Demon King Castle Delsgade.
I would turn that magic tool back into its original form: the Goddess of Destruction Abernyu.
If I talked directly to her, it would get me closer to the truth.
Although, if I could do that, I wouldâve done so long ago.
Manifesting the Goddess of Destruction into this world would mean the complete restoration of her Order of Destruction.
The world would be one step closer to destruction. All living beings would be more susceptible to death, and all the lives that were prolonged thanks to the absence of the Goddess of Destruction would be lost.
There would be no problem if I could talk to her while completely blocking her power, but things couldnât be that convenient.
There was no guarantee that this wasnât part of another godâs scheme.
In other words, it could be that my memories were stolen in order to get me to change Delsgade back into Abernyu.
I donât remember any god ever taking advantage of me like that, but it wasnât impossible.
Maybe it actually happened to me, but I forgot even that.
But now that I had realized one of my memories was missing, I was starting to notice more and more imperfection in my recollection.
No, maybe it all happened back then.
With the Sun of Destruction Surgeldonave destroying some false ideas implanted in my memory. That mustâve made me realize that my reincarnation was incomplete.
Was the Goddess of Destruction on my side?
Or was she just pretending to be on my side?
The least I could be sure of was that someone tried to interfere with my reincarnation.
It was only half-successful, and I was reincarnated in an incomplete state.
Or perhaps this very situation was part of that someoneâs plan.
âHmm. Well, thatâs just a trivial matter.â (Anos)
This was no different from that time with Avos Dilhevia.
If anyone was still plotting something against me, they would eventually show themselves.
As for the restoration of my memory, I could take my time to think about it.
I sat up and drew a magic circle.
To change from my sleepwear to my school uniform.
Then I left my room and went downstairs.
When I reached the first floor, I heard my momâs cheery voice.
ââŠand then, guess what! You know how Anos-chan became the Demon King, right? I thought he would go somewhere far away, but I didnât want to get in his way, so I decided to send him off with a smile.â (Izabella)
The scent of baking bread wafted from the kitchen.
âAnd I asked him to think about his mother once in a while. Then do you know what he said next? Come on, take a guess.â (Izabella)
When I entered the kitchen, I saw mom making breakfast and Misha helping her.
She was wearing an apron over the white uniform of the Demon King Academy.
It seemed that they were pretty much done, so Misha was serving bread, salad, scrambled eggs, and bacon on a plate.
She looked at my mom and answered in an indifferent tone.
âHe said âIâd like mushroom gratin for dinner tonightâ.â (Misha)
âYes! Thatâs exactly what he said!â mom shouted, vigorously swinging down her clenched fist.
âAnos-chan came back to us! Heâs become such a fine man, but heâs still mommyâs little boy! I mean, that makes sense. Anos-chan may be the Demon King now, but heâs still only six months old. He still needs his mother, right?â (Izabella)
If anyoneâs wondering how Misha knew exactly what I said, itâs because mom has told that story multiple times already.
Anyone else wouldâve gotten sick and tired of it, but Misha always went along with her.
âAnos is kind.â (Misha)
âHe is! He truly is! Heâs so kind I worry about him getting tricked by strangers!â (Izabella)
Misha tilted her head to that.
But mom kept talking anyway.
âI knew you would get it, Misha-chan. Anos-chan is so kindhearted and strong. After all, heâs the Demon King! And his speech at the Ceremony of the Second Coming of the Demon King was so cool, right?â (Izabella)
âNh.â Misha turned around as she replied, her long platinum-blonde hair softly swaying behind her.
I felt like she smiled a little when she caught sight of me.
âYou know, I was actually really nervous at that time.â (Izabella)
âWhy?â (Misha)
âI was worried Anos-chan wouldnât be able to speak in front of that many people, or that he would forget what to say! But in the end, he was amazing! He was able to say everything without making any mistakes!â (Izabella)
Misha blinked with a blank expression.
My mom seemed to think of my speech for the Ceremony of the Second Coming of the Demon King as some sort of childrenâs recital. I guess there really was no winning against mothers.
It was as if she was telling me not to rest on my laurels.
That was the first declaration of the Demon King of Tyranny in two thousand years. So no matter what I said, the people of Dilhade wouldâve accepted my words.
But all I did was speak up without fumbling.
The future of Dilhade, the future of peace, depended on what I did from now on.
What mom was saying was that I had to work hard without growing conceited.