Gozine

Boom!

A rough explosive sound is heard.
Apollo’s bombardment unfortunately had no effect on Baal. The blue cannonball, which should have broken through the barrier and flown in, ended up being incinerated by the black fog in the air without even reaching him.

[Good. You were a fellow who could communicate!]

Baal blabbered.
The Demon King smoothly began to become an existence worthy of that name.

The Philosopher’s Stone.
It made Baal become calamity itself.
A dark energy seeped into him and, as he emitted it, it multiplied several times over.

Divine miracle.
Arden’s grace.

There were many nicknames, but the most famous name was the Philosopher’s Stone.

This was not a name given because it made the holder a sage. It was merely that, due to its ability to perform miracles, it made humans appear like sages.

Nox looked at Baal who had now been completed.
The body that had been shattered by Theo’s attack had become smooth, and from the two horns positioned on both sides, a shockingly immense mana naturally flowed out, putting everyone present on edge.
His purple skin had rather become closer to that of a human.

Had he returned to his primordial form?

It was a heterogeneous appearance.

White skin, two horns, eyes that had become inverted pupils, and even white wings. It was difficult to explain exactly what kind of existence this was.

Was this truly a human, or a demon?

If not either, was it an angel with white wings?

[Now, let’s begin again.]

As Baal fluttered his wings, a fierce storm arose.
Theo stood firm even within it, merely observing all these unfolding situations.
His face looked as if he had anticipated everything, even that it would come to this.

On the other hand, Nox, who couldn’t afford to pay attention elsewhere, was now completely battered. His heart was shattered into pieces.

It was the last method.
His sacrifice could have satisfied everything.
In completing the great task of eradicating evil, he would effectively fulfill the request of his angel mother Altende. Even if he was being played, through his sacrifice, Nox would achieve this great undertaking that was nothing short of miraculous.
Was that all?
He could have saved all his companions as well.

Each time Nox turned back time, he had unknowingly built a circle. Inside it, people he cherished and loved naturally filled the space, and this continuously changed the thoughts from within Nox.
It became a lighthouse preventing him from abandoning life, from losing direction.

But now, all of that had collapsed.
The Stone was already complete.
Baal had become the supreme, highest existence.
What about the current Baal?
He would take possession of his body and could become an even greater existence.
From the beginning, that bastard’s goal was to reach Arden’s realm and completely seize the present world into his grasp.

Now, there was truly no way left.

“Why did you do this?”

“What are you talking about.”

Father.
Theo von Reinhaver, whom he had never once called that before.
Nox spoke quietly to the family head

Now, all that was left was truly disappointment.

The desire to pour out his heart also welled up.
How many times does he think I’ve done this, how many times have I done something like this?
This situation, which Nox had repeated to himself over and over again that this was the last time, truly the last time. The fact that he easily overturned it could only be disappointing to Nox, who had set up this board.

“I had a method. To stop him… the only method.”

“You are naive.”

“What do you mean?”

Nox said that flatly, without any inflection.
Now he wanted to know.

Just why did Theo make that choice?

Of course, half of the choice he made was correct.
To truly kill the awakened Baal or other high-ranking demons, doesn’t one have to destroy the soul? Whether sealed in a magic stone or having a physical form, that is the standard method.
But this was only possible when one could slay the resurrected demon.
Now, night would soon come.
Luna could have slain Baal who possesses my body and hadn’t yet revealed his full power.
Then everything would have been over.

But now, no one could slay him.
That was certain.

There was no one here who could defeat Baal.

“I heard you experienced the future. Countless times.”

At that moment, Theo’s words reached Nox’s ears, it made him flinch.
And made him enraged

“That’s right. You… ruined everything. In that obsession that I had to achieve the great task, I started life over again countless times, but I failed. This time, it’s because of you!”

“No. That is not because of me. Listen, Nox. You haven’t failed yet.”

Baal is watching our conversation with amusement.
I, angry, clenched my fists and continued.

“Because you are here? Do you truly think you can defeat that monster! That is a monster. To seal away the likes of Paimon, Sword Emperors and Sages gathered but failed. There is nothing you can do alone!”

“I do not decide the end. For you. I only intend to give that chance to you. Not because you are my son. Because you are the only one who can do it. Killing Baal, and killing me.”

“…What?，，

My brow twitched.
At Nox’s hesitation, Theo resorted to a sudden action.
He slowly stabbed the sword he was holding into the ground, then withdrew his mana.
Next, he lightly placed his hand on Hilt and closed his eyes for a very brief moment.
Theo shouted towards Baal, a complete existence but one still without a body.

“Here is a body suitable for you. I, Theo von Reinhaver, will hand over my body to the Demon King Baal!”

The declaration entered everyone’s ears on the battlefield.

“…What nonsense.”

Nox muttered blankly like that, but the Family Head didn’t reverse his decision.
True to his word, Theo withdrew all the mana from his body without resistance, in order to offer his body to him. He even showed an attitude almost of urging the Demon King.
Why on earth.
Nox was in despair, and his companions shouted.

— What are you talking about!
— Theo, why!
— Patriarch! Are you abandoning us!

The chaos of loud voices tormented Nox.

Unable to make any judgment instantly, blood-red letters appeared around him.
It was one of the magics Theo often used. It used blood, leaving letters to quietly convey intentions to the Black Sword Knights instead of a normal letter when issuing missions.
Only then did Nox seem to regain some of his senses.
He began to quietly read the rising letters to himself.

The floor.
Written in bloodstains were the following words.

{I can only create a very brief opportunity.}
{It is something only you can do.}
{Cut me down.}

Theo spoke with an indifferent expression, and only then did Nox realize. He wasn’t the only one who could become the Demon King Baal’s vessel.

He thought he had to handle everything alone and excluded him from the plan. The assumption that he wouldn’t help was naturally in place, and the thought that his father would never change was also in his head.

Therefore, he didn’t think.

That Theo would choose death by sacrificing himself in his place.
This kind of pathetic conclusion.

*********

Theo von Reinhaver kept thinking even on the way here. The plan his son had recently conveyed to him through others.
His child, the family’s last sword intended to definitely deal with Baal in this final battle.
Also, he realized that for this long-cherished wish, he had regressed several times due to Altende, and that he knew the existence called Baal best.

In this situation, Theo recalled the last meeting.
At the meeting attended by Astrid, Noah, Luna, and others, he had said the same thing as his son. Should he say it was like his son?
Now he knew that such sentimental thoughts were a luxury, but…
When the time to die comes, it can’t be helped that humans become somewhat emotional. The family head of the Reinhaver family, called an impregnable fortress. But now he was just one person, struggling, striving to save his son.

Reinhaver’s future?
It’s important.

For that, it would be best if Baal died and he was freed from the curse. If that could just happen, later, he could just give the family head position to the slightly less talented Allen and Hats twins.

If Nox had his own task, then he too had his own task.

But even knowing this was the most coldly rational judgment, Theo could not do it.
In the end, he could only choose his son.
Of course, Nox would have already noticed the more stable path and decided to sacrifice himself.

‘But, he’s my son.’

He might be a worthless father, but he was his son.
He failed to protect him, caused him to lose his mother, and thus made him suffer.
Of course, he only recently learned that his mother actually existed and was an angel who had deceived even him, but Theo didn’t regret it.
Even if her love for him was fake, his own feelings were real. If he denied even that, what would his life as Family Head until now become?
What would his son Nox become?

He did not want to remain as a nothing.

That was the most rational judgment Theo could make, if it could be called that.

In the end, a huge wave is crashing.
What can control the variables in this situation?
Only his son who knows the future.

Then, what should he do?
His son who took on the role of villain and hated him for over ten years.
For Nox von Reinhaver, what should I do?

Theo had already made a decision.

Let’s sacrifice for my son.
A very brief gap. Preparing for that was enough with his mental strength.
Moreover, as a vessel, Theo, who had lived with the curse for decades, had a much greater advantage.
Probably, he would also choose him, and at that moment, he would explosively release the mana he had been holding back and restrain him. At the final moment, he would give that very instant to his child.

The only variable was Nox not cutting him down, causing a problem.
But even if he didn’t know everything else, he wasn’t worried about this part.

‘He’s a son who must have wanted to kill me tens, hundreds of times more. He must have hated, loathed, wanted to erase me from his memory. So, he will be able to decide easily in this situation.’

Theo thought so, and because he had made the final decision, he now stood before him.
Baal possesses his body and controls it through overwhelming mana. For a while, he has no choice but to go along with this control, and he must make just one moment his own.
But it was possible.

After all, the title of Sword Emperor wasn’t given for nothing, and for once.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to show a fatherly figure to my son.’

That’s what he thought.

Even if it was right before death, Theo’s thoughts remained unchanged.