Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 361: Еhe King Who Kills Others, The God Who Kills Himself (15)

Clang. The sound of the bell rang out from my hand.

Since ancient times, bells have been used to wake people from sleep. The relic of the Golden Mirror served the same purpose, as its clear tone pulled me from the depths of his mental space into reality. The consciousness that had been deeply submerged began to surface. When I came to my senses, I was back at the moment I rang the Golden Mirror’s bell.

No matter how long time passes within the mental space, it is but a fleeting moment in reality. Even though I had conversed with the Golden Mirror for quite a while, to anyone else, it must have looked like I was just playing some game to ring the bell as quickly as possible.

While my consciousness was preoccupied, my body momentarily halted as it processed what had occurred in that short span of time. Perhaps I’d read too much. I needed to collect myself quickly.

“Demo!”

It was then that Elric came rushing toward me and shoved me aside with all her force. Unable to react since I couldn’t read her thoughts, I tumbled roughly to the ground. A heavy pain coursed through my back and waist.

Pain, after all, is proof of being alive. It brought me to my senses, though not in a way I welcomed.

“You scum! What have you done to Demo?!”

Elric, glaring at me with furious eyes, stopped dead in her tracks. With wide-open eyes, trembling, she turned her gaze toward the Golden Mirror. Her face was filled with shock, fear, and a mysterious terror.

Elric called out the Golden Mirror’s name.

“De...mo?”

The king’s call was met with silence. Instead, the Golden Mirror moved with a clearer purpose. As the small boy took a step forward, a thunderous rumble echoed as though a giant were leveling the ground.

He doesn’t walk toward a path because it exists; a path forms wherever he walks. Rather than following the world as it is, he cuts and reshapes it to create the world he desires. Truly, it would not be an overstatement to call him a demon.

Crash, clatter, crack. The world changed before the Golden Mirror. With each step he took, the earth was crushed into a smooth plane, rocks were carved into neat squares, and the ground was paved over. His creation in an instant seemed to rewind time itself. The Golden Mirror, having fashioned a great road, marched forward with confidence. Behind him, his homunculus soldiers and weapons began their march as well. Even Elric, the overseer of the Golden Palace, followed him.

The Golden Mirror, the relic of the demon Demo, was the last creation of the demon who wished to rebuild the Golden Nation before his death.

It was strange that he had been playing house and living peacefully within the Golden Palace until now. If this had happened sooner, it wouldn’t have been surprising. After all, the Golden Mirror’s wish had never changed.

However, burdened by his guilt, the Golden Mirror had hesitated to create anything that required destruction. So, he had wandered the nations, repeating futile creations.

But now, having awakened to his inner self and freed from his restraints, nothing could stop him.

Things broke and shattered. Materials transformed and emerged into new forms, becoming part of the Golden Nation.

For true creation, the Golden Mirror advanced, causing definitive destruction.

The army that surrounded us moved away. Or rather, it wasn’t the army retreating—the Golden Palace itself was moving, giving the impression that the world itself was advancing.

Hilde watched until it was far enough away, then let out a sigh of relief and turned back toward me. With her usual bright demeanor, she approached.

“As expected of Father! I knew you could do it!”

“Oh my! You actually pulled this off? I thought you were just going to rile him up and make him even angrier!”

Her inner thoughts were completely at odds with her words. Lying in front of me? How bold. As I got to my feet, I replied.

“You knew I could do it? Really?”

“Of course! If I don’t believe in you, who will? After all, no one knows Father better than I do!”

“Oh, please. Stop lying and wipe that spit off your lips.”

“Slurp. Wiped it!”

“Licking your lips just confirms the lie.”

“Ah! You caught me!”

Hilde didn’t completely trust me. It wasn’t that she doubted my abilities, but rather that she had hoped the plan would fail. Yet, despite her doubts, she had followed me and cooperated with the plan. Was she just crazy, or did she have a gambler’s mindset? Or maybe she’d just gotten too caught up in her performance.

Either way, as Hilde said, the mission was a success. The war wouldn’t happen.

The problem, however, lay in the side effects this would bring... How should I explain this? I needed to think carefully.

More than anyone else...

“...What happened? Where is the Golden Mirror going?”

I needed to figure out how to explain it to Peru. This would require serious thought—for the sake of my neck.

For now, I’d give a quick explanation. Maybe laying it out clearly would help.

“Everyone, I have good news and bad news.”

Hilde responded in a theatrical tone.

“Oh, why do I suddenly feel scared~? If even Father thinks it’s ‘bad’ news, does that mean the world is ending tomorrow?”

“No, the world isn’t ending.”

“...?”

“What does that mean? Could it be that something else is ending? No way, right?”

She understood perfectly, so why wasn’t she reacting? Not wanting to miss the golden moment, I quickly spoke up.

“I’ll start with the good news.”

“Do I have a choice? I wanted to hear the bad news first~.”

“Fine. After having a serious conversation with the Golden Mirror, it seems the war with the military nation won’t happen!”

Wait, why was the reaction so lukewarm? That should’ve been good news, but their responses were underwhelming. Hilde grumbled in displeasure.

“For me, that’s not good news at all~. I’d rather we just had the war. If we get rid of the Golden Mirror, the other nations are no big deal~.”

“...And the bad news?”

Peru interrupted Hilde and pressed me for the bad news.

Ugh. I had hoped to soften the blow with the good news, but that failed. Now, delivery was key. Clearing my throat, I adopted a regretful tone as I shared the bad news.

“The Golden Mirror plans to eliminate the nations.”

It was a plain statement, with nothing added or taken away. Perhaps it was too plain. Both Peru and Hilde took a moment to process it, unable to grasp the meaning right away.

Hilde, recovering first, tilted her head curiously.

“Oh? For me, that’s good news.”

What’s good news to one can be a disaster for another. That’s life’s truth, I suppose.

Peru, still disbelieving, asked again.

“...What?”

‘...Wh-what? What could have happened for this to happen? What reason would the Golden Mirror have for such a thing?’

“I’ll keep it brief, Peru. The golden bell is a relic of the Golden Mirror. I tried to take a test to earn the relic’s recognition. But, instead of giving me a test like a proper relic should, it just kept going on about rebuilding the Golden Nation. So, I criticized it, saying, ‘Is this even a country? Something that’ll be torn apart by wolves in two days, leaving no trace behind?’ And then, guess what?”

To be exact, it was the Golden Mirror who put me to the test, but close enough. Let’s just go with this for now. I wet my lips and continued speaking.

“Without me even saying much, it declared it would kill all the wolves to give the Golden Nation lasting permanence!”

“...That’s a lie. No way.”

“I wish it were a lie too. Go check for yourself. I doubt you have much time, though, because the Golden Mirror is already on its way to burn down the wolves’ nest.”

In his final moments in the mental space, the Golden Mirror had thought of a location. I managed to read it before being ejected back into reality.

The semi-nomadic state of the confederated nations was entirely due to the Golden Mirror’s movements. The people of these nations avoided him as he wrought destruction for creation, yet they survived by scavenging the remnants he left behind. No one could establish a permanent settlement and were forced to wander—except for one place.

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There was only one village, nestled at the foot of a mountain, that the Golden Mirror had never visited. It became the only permanent settlement of the confederated nations.

It was governed by the greatest Overseer, the Thunder Overseer, and provided proper food free from the curse of the Golden Mirror while teaching children alchemy.

“Claudia. The only permanent land in the confederated nations, and the city with the largest population.”

Until now, the Golden Mirror had focused solely on creating things to rebuild the Golden Nation. But his approach had shifted.

A ‘Golden Nation’ left without inhabitants would become prey for wolves. In that case, wouldn’t it be ideal to kill the wolves and use them to create homunculi to protect the Golden Nation? That conclusion spurred him to act. He was now moving to hunt down wolves to repurpose them into guardians.

The relic, the Golden Mirror, would pursue this goal rationally and methodically, undoubtedly employing the simplest and most effective means. Morality? That was a concept for the living. The Golden Mirror, who had died a gruesome death, cared nothing for it.

“The Golden Mirror will destroy the place and turn everyone who lives there into homunculi. Homunculi who will protect the Golden Nation forever!”

What’s more, the new homunculi created by the Golden Mirror would be on an entirely different level. Deeply disappointed by humans, the Golden Mirror had never truly ‘designed’ humans seriously—at least not until I freed him from his restraints. I couldn’t help but wonder, with the Golden Mirror’s full dedication, how close to humanity these creations could become. Where would the line between human and homunculus lie?

As the King of Humans, I was curious. But before I could think further, Peru reached out and grabbed me by the collar, yanking me toward her. My back bent involuntarily.

“...What have you done...?”

Peru glared at me with a fury more intense than anything I had seen from her recently, her emotions so great it felt as though she might kill me on the spot.