Ken stared down and muttered softly.
"…There's no doubt."
Despite his emaciated, near-death appearance, it was undoubtedly his human form. There was no way he wouldn't recognize the face he had lived with his entire life. He still maintained the basic features, and he often used this face when disguising himself as a human.
'And these clothes… are the ones I wore as a mercenary. The same outfit I wore right before falling into those black mages' trap.'
As he stared blankly, his head began to itch. And soon, it escalated into a splitting headache. A swirling vortex of questions churned in his mind, accompanied by a sharp, piercing pain. He clutched his head, his expression contorted in pain.
'Wait.'
Suddenly,
A thought flashed through his mind, sending chills down his spine.
'…Come to think of it, what was my unique skill?'
He couldn't remember, no matter how hard he tried. What was even stranger was that he hadn't even questioned it. He had unintentionally become a settler, losing all his abilities as an Awakened. Everything related to the system, including his status and skills. But wasn't it unnatural that he didn't even question it, let alone find it strange that he couldn't remember anything related to it?
'Who… am I?'
His mind spun with confusion about his identity. Ken took a deep breath and stared at his other self, lying as if dead. He seemed to be stuck at the age of twenty, despite his emaciated state.
Gulp
He swallowed and reached out, as if possessed. It was an instinctive action. And the moment his hand touched the other's forehead,
"…"
His body convulsed as if struck by lightning. The memories he had forgotten—and distorted—began to flood his mind, as if waiting for this moment.
"Ugh! Gah!"
Thud!
He stumbled back and collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. After some time, calming his breathing with his eyes closed,
He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, sorting through his jumbled memories. The grand, white temple, and the golden scriptures inscribed everywhere. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had been here before.
Yes, this wasn't his first time here.
"…I see. So that's what happened."
Miyamoto Ken's unique skill was 「Thought Transference」. An ability that could be used for telepathy, transmitting his thoughts, or psychometry, reading the remaining thoughts of a target… Wanting a more combat-oriented ability to survive as a mercenary, he developed it differently. He created and used 'Ego Weapons' by imbuing his thoughts into magic tools, giving each one a will and sharing it with his main body. A magic tool inscribed with a simple defense spell became a treasure that autonomously protected its owner. The same applied to offensive and healing items. An Ego Sword that moved freely along unexpected paths, slaying enemies, and a potion dispenser that injected various potions into his body according to the situation.
Thanks to that, even if Ken, the peak-level mercenary, suffered major injuries and lost consciousness, the magic tools he wore would automatically react and respond.
'And I…'
Ken looked down at his hands and clenched them tightly.
'Am I… a doll implanted with Miyamoto Ken's ego…?'
That was it...
The true identity of Ken, the Count-class demon of the Demon Realm.
***
Deep within the temple, deeper than where Ken was agonizing over the shocking truth,
Something that had been dormant for a long time stirred violently. It was 'it', now completely weakened and unable to do anything on its own, but the situation was different now.
Finally…
Finally, the key to its liberation had appeared!
The faintest threads of consciousness, almost completely eroded, began to awaken from the external stimulus. It immediately stimulated its instincts and urged it to move. If it missed this opportunity, another might never come. Now that the unlikely event had become reality, there was no time to hesitate.
Rumble
The faint tremors emanating from the depths of the temple began to rise. All that remained to move this being were a few fragmented thoughts. To take revenge on the one who deceived and reduced it to this state. To regain its lost power and reclaim its rightful place. That it needed greater power to cut down the heavens.
To achieve these goals, it needed to ascend and obtain the key. To complete its unstable self. To fill the void and be reborn in a more complete form.
[————!]
The form trapped within the black nest cried out.
***
Ken wasn't an Earthling or an Awakened. Just a being that inherited those memories. And he, himself, was a patchwork doll, crudely patched together with missing and distorted information from the transference process.
'Did he gather all his ego and make a final gamble?'
It didn't take long for Miyamoto Ken, forcibly transported to the Demon Realm, to accept that he couldn't escape this place. In this harsh environment, he was just a weakling who couldn't guarantee victory even against a Baron-class demon.
So, to escape the crisis, to find a solution from the outside and resolve the problem, he gathered his thoughts and cast them elsewhere.
'Of course, he wouldn't have dreamed that it would take over twenty years to find him.'
Since that attempt was a gamble for Ken, he couldn't have foreseen the distortion of his missing memories. He had come to 'Dark Nest' on his own, drawn by some unknown force, but he couldn't find this place due to tight security and wasted time wandering around.
"Phew, it's meaningless now."
Ken looked down at his original body with a complicated expression. He would be lying if he said he wasn't shocked, but it wasn't enough to make him agonize over his identity. It was probably because his body, now completely demonic, was influencing his way of thinking.
'It seems it's too late to save him.'
He knew it the moment he saw him. Although he was barely alive due to some ritual, he was practically a corpse. His body and soul were like burnt ashes, and his unique skill showed no signs of activation. The lack of aging was just a residual effect of the sinister ritual; his body had long since become a true settler. It was only natural, as it had been almost thirty years since he came to Auterica.
He glanced to the side, and the bodies on the small altars caught his eye. They must have been Earthlings in the same situation as Ken. He felt a pang of unease, imagining his original body becoming like them.
'The condition of those still alive is also similar. Such a cruel method. What was he trying to do?'
Lost in thought,
"Kahaha!"
"Woof! Woof!"
Accompanied by strange barks, a three-headed dog, the size of a large canine, trotted into the space where he was. With an expression full of satisfaction, despite having a dog's face.
"Davidson? How did you get here so fast?"
Ken's eyes widened as he looked him over. The fact that he was here meant he had dealt with Sodian. To deal with a mage-type opponent who had established her domain in his quarters—a Marquis-class demon, no less—so quickly. And he didn't seem to have suffered any major injuries.
'Did I spend more time here than I thought?'
But even so, it was still impressive. Even against another Marquis, a fight under such conditions would take all day to settle.
'Perhaps he ate Monstrous Duke Syphar's essence and inherited his power.'
As Ken marveled inwardly,
Davidson, who had followed his scent, looked around, busily moving his three heads. The golden inscriptions everywhere, the dozens of sacrifices offered on the small altars, and among them… a man with a face identical to Ken.
"Woof?"
Davidson's eyes narrowed as he looked back and forth between the two. At the same time, a strange aura began to emanate from his small body. Perhaps because their hierarchy had been clearly established? Although he didn't say a word, Ken somehow understood what he wanted.
"Ahem… this is hard to explain. I just found out, but it seems this was my original body. The original had the ability to transfer his consciousness to another place, and I am…"
His rambling explanation, like a report to his superior, suddenly stopped. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak.
And I am… what?
'Why couldn't I remember until now?'
He understood how this happened. The problem was what came next. Where did this body—inhabited by the consciousness of Miyamoto Ken using 「Thought Transference」—come from?
'It's the same as before. It's as important as the truth behind this matter, but I couldn't even question it until now.'
The unprecedented power he felt within him. The magic power of a Count-class demon who had reached the realm of Transcendence boiled like a volcano deep within him. The body he currently occupied wasn't ordinary. Just by rough calculations, he was one of the top hundred strongest in the entire Demon Realm.
And more than anything…
'…I've had this power since the moment my memories as a demon began.'
It was absurd for 「Thought Transference」, which transferred his consciousness like a gamble, to steal the body of a demon with such power. He should have been torn to shreds the moment he came into contact with the other's mind.
'That means… this incredible body was left unattended…'
At the precise moment he attempted his gamble. Coincidentally, a body with a high synchronization rate, almost indistinguishable from his original body. A body capable of reaching such heights, ignoring his lack of enlightenment. And it readily accepted Ken's drifting consciousness? Such a convenient thing couldn't possibly…?
Rumble
Just then, his keen senses detected a faint tremor shaking the entire temple. The tremors grew stronger with time. He soon realized it was caused by something rising from below.
"Was Sodian not the only one guarding this place? Davidson! Can you still fight…? Ugh!"
Ken quickly turned his head to look at Davidson.
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
Munch
One of the heads, staring at him with a meaningful look, suddenly bit his hand.
"Ouch! What are you doing?!"
Ken exclaimed, frowning as he felt a chunk of his energy being ripped away. The wound itself wasn't a problem, as it would regenerate quickly, but he couldn't overlook being attacked without warning by someone he considered an ally.
But his anger was short-lived.
"Ah, as expected."
Because of the deep voice that suddenly echoed.
"…Who's there?!"
Ken, raising his guard, quickly looked around. There was only him, Davidson, and the barely breathing sacrifices. He was already on edge from the unexpected turn of events, and an unidentified voice without any presence startled him.
"Hey! Who is he looking at?"
"Kahaha! I thought he was a bit dimwitted from the beginning!"
"What a shame. It would have been better if he had three heads like us."
Ken's expression turned sour at the following voices. Unlike earlier, when he wasn't sure, he definitely heard them this time. He looked down with a blank stare. A three-headed dog with a sullen expression was staring back at him.
"You, you could talk…?"
"Well, anyway."
Ken's past humiliations flashed through his mind at the indifferent reply. The days he had to sleep on the floor after losing the dominance battle to a dog, and the times he had to beg for meat. He swallowed his words and closed his eyes. He knew when and where to hold his tongue.
"Anyway, that body isn't yours anymore, right?"
"…That's true, but."
Ignoring his still-sullen reply, Davidson nodded, looking around. The prayers inscribed everywhere should have been completely erased from this world, but it didn't matter to him, who was from another world and possessed 「Xenoglossy」.
"Hmm! It seems…"
One of the heads, sniffing the air, licked its lips.
"The owner of that body is coming."
"What?"
"Kahaha! This is interesting! It definitely tasted like a Count, but the approaching scent is far beyond that level!"
His senses, boasting a sense of smell comparable to Diana's when it came to things he had eaten, reacted intensely. A being far exceeding Marquis Sodian, whom he had eaten before coming here, and even Duke Tuma, was approaching.
"Where did he go, I wondered, and he was stuck in a place like this?"
"What are you… Wait, could it be?"
Rumble! Boom!
The intensifying tremors finally reached them. A dark form, visible from afar, rapidly approached.
"Hmm! This is troublesome. I had a hunch, even after smelling it."
"…Ugh, this is demotivating."
But there was one problem.
""There's no meat!""
The being was an incorporeal entity, a natural enemy of Davidson… no, a being made entirely of curses.
[————!]
A hollow scream swept through the area.