"Ha… damn it, this is the last time I shake hands with someone who threatens me with my past."
Rack clutched his burning throat and collapsed. Fortunately, thanks to mana, an ordinary person could still survive five to seven days without water.
However, his stomach hurt terribly. Being unconscious for many days made his abdomen twist in pain, and his limbs felt exhausted.
"Ha… hold on, it's almost over."
Rack stood up from the stands, but his eyes glanced toward the people lying asleep.
Nothing strange. Many people had died. That made Rack's pupils sink slightly, his eyes moist with tears. He trembled faintly, and only when he heard a sound from outside did he snap back to awareness.
Clap.
The sound like a handclap awakened Rack's senses. It was a figure approaching from afar.
"Who… are you?"
The person came before Rack. Black hair concealed a somewhat worn and gaunt face, yet the height only reached Rack's neck.
"Phelion. You may call me that."
"Phe—!"
Rack shifted into a defensive stance, preparing to run if the person in front of him moved.
"Do not be afraid. Even if you run, it is useless. On the contrary, we are on the same side."
After saying that, Phelion turned and walked away. Rack stood stunned, but his intuition told him he had to follow.
"You find this unexpected too, don't you? Do not worry. It is nothing significant."
"You…"
Rack swallowed despite his burning throat and reluctantly followed him.
…
"Hm? The plan to eliminate Lloyd?"
I asked Emma, who was running beside me through an alley. I was carrying Janeus in my arms, while Emma held a stack of documents.
"And how was Lloyd deceived? In truth, he should have realized your intention long ago."
Emma asked. I only smiled and shook my head.
"In essence, there are three reasons why Lloyd was deceived by something so simple.
First: his carelessness toward me. More precisely, his contempt.
As an ally, why did he not give me the treasure from the beginning, but instead required an examination? And aside from the time he brought us to the café, we discussed nothing further.
That proves he was looking down on us, wanting to test us.
Moreover, he clearly withheld a great deal of information. The only useful information we had was about the four demons and the history from three hundred years ago. Nothing more. Clearly an extreme lack of crucial information.
Second: he did not only have us to scheme around, but many other people. Because in false reality, everyone forgets their memories upon awakening, he needed to take advantage of that.
Therefore, he had to extract as much information from others as possible and exploit everything. In that situation, we were only at the bottom of his priority of concern.
Third: Phelion.
From the very beginning, I had already joined hands with Phelion to destroy Lloyd. Think about it. The Demon Soul possesses false reality, and I layered reality upon it. He would obviously observe and watch everyone.
And while observing, he would choose who would be weakened and who would be strengthened to optimize benefit. Based on being watched, I constantly hinted that I wanted cooperation.
The decisive moment was when the two demons were sealed for several days. That was when Lloyd began to fall into the trap.
In truth, Lloyd needed to subdue the demonic spirit somehow, but he had to weaken them.
Those few days were for him to create a barrier using flesh puppets, but it was an extremely terrible moment.
The reason lies with the Earth Demon. It was originally the land of the city and truly manifested its true body when participating in sacrifice.
As three hundred years ago, the sacrifice in the present had fewer people, yet still an enormous number.
Burning the corpses was to sacrifice the dead bodies. The rest would become ghostified zombies.
If the Heaven Demon is the train connecting Heaven and the human world, then the Earth Demon is the station that contains the power.
Heaven is likely underground or closely tied to the secret beneath it, because Sophia directly seized my soul down there. That had been foretold long ago.
All of that accumulated within the Earth Demon. After two layers of false reality, it became even heavier.
As for the Heaven Demon, it carried Sophia's will, which I had just destroyed.
And when Lloyd forcibly shattered the false reality layer, it would cause a mental war between Sophia, who was seeking a vessel to be reborn, and the Earth Demon, who was reviving within Lloyd.
That was what he did not expect.
But even if he knew, would he not still forcibly break the false reality?
Not only for benefit, but also for his life.
Because the longer he waited until the end to be released, the more the false reality layer would connect with reality.
Lloyd would have to gamble with being imprisoned longer in false reality.
The reason is that the two demons are closely related to false reality. More precisely, they are prisoners.
If Lloyd stubbornly remained too long, his soul could be imprisoned here. If he abandoned the demon, he would face contamination, as the demon could carry away part of his soul.
Originally, he wanted to let everything end normally, meaning the Demon Soul would end the illusion itself. But that was only feasible for his survival if he obtained what he wanted: a tether between reality and false reality.
I had given him poison from the very beginning. It was a drug of clarity. The more one stayed in false reality, the more dependent and imprisoned one became within it. It also granted clarity between transitions of false reality.
Our group possessed Kale's and Julien's gifts to exit.
Promet and Hadelus's group were given the gifts of those two by Janeus.
Which means only Lloyd had no path of escape and could only seize the gifts from those who committed suicide."
…
At the center of Belem City, an earthquake occurred.
Landslides appeared, and from deep underground, something black and enormous emerged, covering part of the city in darkness.
Himel led the red-cloaked guards up from beneath the earth.
At that moment, the Earth Demon began to be destroyed by death mana.
And at that time, it could only be reborn through Lloyd.