The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 7 - Chapter 89.5

SIDE STORY

The Failure, Incapable of Resisting Evil

“Maria! Maria! Where are youuuuuuuuuuuuuu?!”

Lizer’s cries bounced off the palace walls.

“Huff… Huff…! Maria…! Maria…!”

Foul memories flooded his mind. This was like the last time. Like the day he’d lost Maria. She was nowhere to be found.

She should have been in the palace! She should have been within his reach. He had made certain she couldn’t run off anywhere, yet…

“Huh? Your Highness? Why do you look so fright—?”

“Move it! Outta my way!” Lizer had shoved away an approaching civil officer—a small child.

After landing on his butt, he started to cry, terrified by the sudden outburst. Lizer ignored him, however. It was like the child didn’t even exist.

He abandoned the weeping boy, continuing his hunt for Maria.

A disgustingly melodious voice was behind him. “That wasn’t very nice, was it? Did he scare you? There, there.”

Lizer froze in his tracks before whipping around.

…The devil was kneeling with a smile on his face, patting the head of the fallen child.

“You don’t look hurt. You’re okay.”

Mephisto could have been mistaken for an angel…but the child must have sensed his true nature. He stood with a fearful expression and backed away as if in search of escape.

“Heh-heh. Seeing all these happy children warms my heart. Don’t you agree, Li—?”

Lizer’s fist collided with Mephisto’s cheek, and his small figure caught air. He slammed into a wall and slid to the ground.

“Ohhh, so scary.” Mephisto cackled as he rubbed his injured cheek. “What’s up with your cognitive dissonance? You claim you live for the kids, but here you are—knocking them over. You assert that you’re a good general, but you’ve resorted to violence. Where’d this come from? Did something bad happen?” Mephisto asked with a tilt of the head and his sick perma-smile.

Lizer approached him in a mad fury and grabbed his collar. “Where is Maria?!”

Most people would cower at an outburst of this magnitude, but Mephisto took this in stride and continued to grin.

“Hey now. You’re acting as if I’m the one responsible for hiding her from you. How could I ever do such a thing? I would never kidnap someone so dear to you—”

Lizer cut him off mid-sentence with another power-packed punch. The impact sent Mephisto to the floor, but his smile didn’t go anywhere. In fact, it grew deeper.

It seemed to imply that he found the old man’s behavior very entertaining.

“You’re exactly who I predicted you were, Lizer. As long as the root of your anger and frustration remains the same, Maria is bound to leave you. After all, she has no real reason to like you. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she hate—”

Once again, Lizer didn’t wait for Mephisto to finish his sentence before kicking his body.

“What do you know about Maria?! She would never betray me! Our love is immortal!”

“Oh yeah?” Mephisto’s grin shifted from derision to contempt—a smile that said he’d just seen straight through Lizer’s deceit and mocked him for it. “I wonder why you won’t reveal the true nature of this transformed world to her. Will you not show her the other side of your little utopia?”

A knot formed in Lizer’s throat. Mephisto’s sneer deepened.

“Lizer. Your heart has been warped through a web of lies and contradictions. You proclaim you cherish children, but you cast them aside with ease. You say you trust the one dearest to you, but at the same time, you don’t trust her at all. You’re blind to your own deception. You believe in a reality that doesn’t exist.”

The devil worked in his ways. He cut to the core of the human heart and played with it.

“You’re convinced that you and little Maria are getting to know each other better and share a mutual connection, but no one else shares that version of reality. Your idea of love is centered all on you. It’s always been one-sided—you only care about yourself. And the fact of the matter is that you don’t understand her at all. You don’t love Maria. You just love loving her—”

Lizer couldn’t bear to hear any more. If Mephisto kept going, he had a feeling something precious inside him would break. And so he punished the Evil God.

“Argh?! Gah-gah-gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

By just raising his hand and willing his orders, Lizer could inflict terrible agony on Mephisto. The devil was his servant. And Mephisto could never disobey his master’s command. That was how things were now. Lizer had total control.

“I have no intention of entertaining you. Bring Maria back here. If you fail me…”

Mephisto’s pain intensified. The devil thrashed around in front of Lizer like a beached fish. “Gah! G-gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Writhing in pain, Mephisto cried out. “I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! P-please forgive me! Pleaaaaase!” he begged through sobs, throwing up sporadically.

Lizer observed his shameful state with dark delight and began to smi—

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Before Lizer could break out in a full grin, he heard crazed laughter behind him.

“Keh-keh, keh-keh-keh…! Ah, sorry. I just couldn’t stop myself! You’re so funny! —Hee-hee-hee-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh—ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Mephisto Yuu Phegor, the devil, was standing behind Lizer, clutching his stomach in laughter.

So who was the one squirming on the floor?

“Heh-heh-heh-heh… Forgive me, Lizer. Your madness is incorrigible. I can’t believe you’d actually destroy the thing you love most.”

Lizer’s heart felt like it was being crushed. Right before him, Mephisto—the one collapsed on the floor—transformed into someone else entirely.

The figure of the young girl who meant the world to him.

“Ma…Mari…Mariaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

He screamed as he ran to her. Falling to his knees, he held her in his arms. Her breaths were faint.

“Hee…hee…hee-hee…”

Maybe the pain had broken her heart. Strained laughter squeaked from her throat.

“A-agh…! Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!” Lizer shrieked, tears pouring down his face.

Then, in front of him…

“ Ahhh, pranked again.”

Maria’s lips twisted in a crescent shape, breaking into a huge smirk. Just like a devil.

“Maria…?”

“Bzzzt! Guess again, Lizer. The answer is—me.”

Mephisto peeled off the girl’s face to reveal his true form…and the two devils began to laugh in unison, cackling.

“Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. You’re so stupid, Lizer.”

“I wouldn’t waste Maria’s life by psychologically breaking her for a scene of this magnitude.”

“Maria is an important cast member. The snapping part comes later.”

“Besides, heh-heh, I’d love to show her that stupid look on your face just now.”

“Let’s do it. I took a picture.”

“Oh, nice one. I’ve got a good head on my shoulders.”

“Heh-heh. I can hardly wait. It’s going to be so fun. When should we show her?”

“Maybe right before dealing the final psychic blow?”

“Oh yeah. We can show Maria just as she’s about to die from despair.”

“I wonder what sort of expression she’ll make?”

“Hmmmmm. Whenever I imagine it—”

““ I can’t stop laughing.””

Hellish smiles twisted on the heavenly faces of the two Mephistos.

In that moment, Lizer abandoned everything.

I have to destroy him. He can’t exist.

Doing so meant losing his greatest weapon, but Lizer didn’t care anymore. He’d use his unhinged rage to eliminate Mephisto from this world.

To do so, he only had to hold his palm out toward his enemy and wish for him to disappear. This simple task would send this nightmare back into eternal darkness.

“Disappear! Mephisto Yuu Phegor!”

Now, this chapter would close—or it should have anyway.

In reality, however, only the Maria look-alike vanished. The other Mephisto remained. He stood there casually and continued to guffaw.

“That can’t be…”

Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear.

Mephisto went nowhere, even though Lizer willed for something to happen.

The nightmare refused to end.

“You planned to keep me under your thumb with the Strange Cube, but I’m afraid you’re mistaken. That piece of trash could never hold me back.”

That was the truth. It was solid fact. Still, Lizer wouldn’t give up. He held his palm out to inflict more pain, and—

“Oh, about that. I was pretending this whole time. Heh-heh. I’m pretty proud of my acting skills. I’ve got a shot at stardom, wouldn’t you say?” Mephisto said as he straightened his back.

Lizer could only stare at him, and Alvarto’s words raced through his mind. His warnings were true.

“The monster must not be resurrected—no matter the circumstance.”

Lizer couldn’t contain this evil. He was now made aware of his own foolishness. His actions had been for the sake of those dearest to him, but in the end, he would destroy everything by his own hand.

“Well then, I think it’s about time that we started getting ready.”

Mephisto approached him, almost floating, feet bouncing.

Lizer no longer had the energy to run away. He knew it’d be pointless.

“Oh, Lizer. The real show is just beginning,” Mephisto stated with an even smile. It was like a black sun. The grin of evil. “As our main star, you’ll have to work twice as hard. Try and hold yourself together until the very end, ’kay?”

Like a small child reaching for a toy, Mephisto Yuu Phegor held his palms out to Lizer. He was proclaiming that the nightmare was about to start.

“We’ll draw a nice, neat path to love—the final destination. And let’s make sure everyone has a good laugh while we’re at it.”