Supreme Castle, in front of the main gate.
When Shane returned here, the peerless witch had already come back before him.
"You've worked hard."
Chafne seemed as if nothing had happened, as if she were comforting Shane. She didn't have the indifferent and ruthless demeanor from before, showing only the same playful smile she always wore.
Shane rolled his eyes and stepped forward.
"Is it resolved?"
Shane asked nonchalantly.
"Probably." Chafne seemed equally indifferent, or rather, completely unconcerned about the matter's aftermath, saying, "If someone else dares to have no foresight, I don't mind playing with them a bit."
"Is that so?" Shane said, half-smiling, "If it really comes to that, they might actually be happy."
After all, it's better than being completely ignored, right?
So, surely many would rather Chafne resent them than ignore them.
Of course, even if Chafne understood this, she wouldn't be interested.
"They can do whatever they want, as long as they don't bother me."
As an Enchanting Demon, Chafne's demands were quite laid-back.
Shane naturally said no more.
For both him and Chafne, this matter was just an insignificant episode.
"Let's go back."
"Okay."
The two of them spoke to each other in a very natural tone, then went into the Supreme Castle together, heading in the direction of their respective rooms.
...
Outside the Central City, midway up the hill.
Vaguely, Gray seemed to notice someone approaching him.
He struggled to open his eyes, preventing the blood from flowing into them, and saw the full figure of the visitor.
"..."
Someone stood in front of Gray, looking at him lying in a pool of blood, saying nothing.
But his face was full of sorrow.
"Hart..."
Gray called out the visitor's name hoarsely and with difficulty.
The visitor was indeed Hart.
Hart did not respond, only took out a bottle of the Magic Potion, pulled out the stopper, and poured it on Gray, hoping to heal Gray's wounds.
But unfortunately, the Magic Potion had no effect.
"...It's useless." Gray naturally knew the reason, speaking with an emotionless voice, "These are the wounds that His Highness inflicted on my body and soul using the [Ripple Heart Demon]'s ability. Though they're only superficial, they'll never heal."
This is the horror of the [Ripple Heart Demon]; once the connection is too deep, the user can interfere at will with another's state, including powers, memories, appearance, and even existence itself.
Chafne etched these wounds directly into Gray's body and soul, making them never heal.
In other words, Gray had to endure the pain and state from these wounds forever until the end of his life.
This was the most cruel punishment Chafne gave to Gray.
Hart had actually seen it long ago.
If these wounds could heal easily, then with Gray's capabilities, even if not fully healed, the bleeding should've stopped.
But Gray continued to bleed endlessly, losing all color from his face. If he weren't a top legendary level powerhouse just a step away from the Limit Level, with an extremely vigorous life force, he would've probably died from excessive blood loss already.
But Hart still used the precious Magic Potion on Gray.
"Even if the wounds won't heal, at least the blood can be replenished." Hart said in a suppressed sad tone, "If we're lucky, you can use your abilities to prevent the wounds from bleeding further. That way, at least you won't bleed out anymore."
This was the only thing Hart could do for Gray.
So, Hart poured bottle after bottle of Magic Potion, until some color returned to Gray's face and the wounds stopped bleeding.
After that, Hart took off his coat and draped it over Gray, covering Gray's shocking wounds.
Then Hart helped Gray up, letting one of Gray's arms rest on his shoulder, supporting his body.
Gray looked blankly at all this, and only when his body was supported did he speak.
"Hey, Hart." Gray said softly, "Was I wrong?"
This question, Gray asked without any preface.
As someone who had just arrived there, Hart didn't really understand what had happened.
Gray's question would seem inexplicable to such a Hart.
However, with his understanding of Gray and the entire incident, Hart easily figured it out.
In this situation, Hart remained silent for a long time before responding.
"You weren't wrong."
That's what Hart said.
"...But that person said, I have no right to manage all this, and that Hero also said I was being presumptuous." Gray said painfully, "They're right. I was just someone who cruelly abandoned my country and family, betraying the nurturing and expectations of so many for personal desires. What right did I have to tell them what to do?"
Gray's heart was as scarred as his body was.
It could be said that Shane and Chafne's every word was like the sharpest blade, deeply piercing his heart.
Hart could undoubtedly understand Gray's current pain.
It was no doubt worse than death.
It must be said, Chafne was indeed very ruthless, making a person who admired her so wish for death.
But this admiration was initiated by Gray himself; Chafne never gave him any direct response nor did she do anything against him. It was Gray, driven by jealousy, who sought out Shane, intending to use force to make him back off from Chafne. Given the circumstances, to end up like this wasn't really deserving of sympathy.
Gray held a will to die.
Perhaps until this very moment, he realized how insignificant and unworthy his love was?
Yet, Hart still said this:
"You weren't wrong." Hart said in a trembling voice, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart, "After all, this is the dying struggle people like us must make."
With just one sentence, Gray's heart trembled slightly.
He knew that the small characters Hart mentioned referred not to their status in the eyes of the world, but to their status in the eyes of Chafne.
They had never entered Chafne's field of vision, naturally rendering them the smallest characters imaginable.
And the fate of small characters is either to vanish among the masses or to struggle desperately without considering the consequences.
Whether it was Gray or Hart, both had been the former, but at any moment could turn into the latter.
"Yes, desperate struggle." Gray seemed to have realized something, muttering, "Only then might that Supreme look our way."
In the end, everything was because of jealousy and dissatisfaction.
That's why they had to struggle to do something.
Seeing this, Hart said nothing, picked up Gray, and started flying out of the mountain.
A while later, Gray's voice sounded from behind Hart.
"I kind of miss our past."
Gray's voice was filled with weakness and nostalgia.
Hart's nose tingled.
"Me too."
The tremor in his voice finally brought a sliver of a smile to Gray's face.
Hart then carried Gray, leaving together.
They didn't return to Central City.
They took some time and returned to Enchanting Demon City.
After returning to Enchanting Demon City, Hart did only two things.
One was resigning from the position of Clan Leader of the Bi'an Clan.
The other was disappearing along with Gray.
From that day onwards, the Demon Clan lost a cadre and a human prince who betrayed his country.
Yet, the world gained a mysterious pair of brothers adventuring everywhere, traversing paths and undergoing various adventures across the entirety of Omni Potanssen.
...
Meanwhile, outside the Moon Demon Territory, a great distance away, a light swept across at an amazing speed, finally exploding in midair.
Sera's figure emerged from the light, holding a Crystal Pen, looking like a goddess descending from heaven, exceptionally beautiful.
"Should be here, right?"
Sera glanced around, moments later, her gaze fixed midair.
There, a rainbow-like light was shimmering.
"「Not there yet?」"
In the overlapping voice of disappointment, a true Goddess appeared within the rainbow light, flying weakly.
"Found you."
Sera curved her lips, flashed, blocking the Goddess in front.
"「Ah!」"
The Goddess was startled and let out a delicate cry.
Sera fixedly looked at the other party, gracefully smiling.
"Long time no see, Space-Time Goddess."
Sera greeted as if very familiar.
The Space-Time Goddess then saw clearly the full visage she was facing.
"「You... you are Moon Demon Sela...!?」"
This Goddess couldn't help but cover her small mouth, looking extremely shocked.
Sera felt the other party was somewhat making a fuss, but she also knew the other party had a peculiar way of thinking, making any action unsurprising.
Thinking this, Sera was about to speak, but the other party's words directly stunned her.
"「Aren't you nurturing the tenth fetal rumor? How come you're out running around?」"
The Space-Time Goddess uttered such an earth-shattering statement.
"???"
Sera was taken aback.
Nurturing a fetus?
Nurturing the tenth fetal rumor?
What... What nonsense is this?
"「Ah!」"
At this moment, the Space-Time Goddess seemed to remember something, covered her mouth with both hands.
"「Almost forgot, this is the original timeline.」"
The Goddess appeared to be somewhat disgruntled.
"..."
Sera fell silent.
Reason told her that this peculiarly minded Goddess seemed to know something extremely important to her.
Combining the recent statement of the other party and her Authority, the clever Sera quickly considered one possibility.
But her brain strongly refused to comprehend.
Therefore, Sera instantly decided to seal this memory, as if she had just entered the scene, knowing nothing, and looked at the Space-Time Goddess.
"I have a request, want you to help."
Sera said this.
"「What?」"
The Space-Time Goddess was dumbfounded.
Sera spoke straightforwardly.
"Take me to Divine's Canyon."
This was, after all, the reason Sera personally sought the other party.