The magic cards I made are absolutely flawless!

Dekan could see her face, but not her eyes.

"It was after that that we parted ways, and more than twenty years have passed since then."

Finally, as if he had finished recounting the past, Dekan stopped speaking and looked at Talomatti.

"Twenty-four years."

Talomatti spoke softly, his tone revealing neither more hatred nor more emotion.

It's as if I wanted to tell the other person that I've held a grudge all these years and have never forgotten.

"Yes."

Dekan's heart was in turmoil, but he remained calm and composed as always.

really.

Delois separated from Talomatti in the timeline corresponding to the end of the third shadow world, "The Secret of the Withering of the Holy Ritual".

Everything has been sorted out.

The very beginning of the story.

It was a pair of twin demon siblings who stirred up trouble at the Demon Academy.

Later, upon graduating from the Demon Academy, they chose a practical project that required them to infiltrate the northern part of the Holy Kingdom. The project involved "investigating information about the lost vampires." So, they disguised themselves as humans, left the Demon Realm, came to the Holy Kingdom, and found a desolate mountain covered in blizzards.

After hunting down the vampire lurking in the desolate mountain mansion, they found more clues about the vampires. Always fearless, they could have returned to the Demon Realm to complete their graduation project, but instead, they chose to continue their journey to the southern border of the Holy Kingdom, where they found the city-state where vampires had been acting strangely and the town that sealed away dangerous vampires.

After Delois and Talomatti defeated the vampire Marquis Roderick and Countess Lislina, who they could have defeated, the twin demons, who were originally going to return to the Demon Realm to become the strongest demons, seemed to have encountered a joke from the heavens. On their way back, they encountered a small accident and began to split up and return to the Demon Realm on their own.

However, on his journey back to the Demon Realm alone, an even bigger accident happened for Delois.

He may have started out on a whim, casually rescuing a lord who had been ambushed and was on the verge of death, wanting to study this down-on-his-luck middle-aged man with a desperate yet stubborn look in his eyes.

Unexpectedly, the lord with unique insight saw through his disguise as a demon.

When Delois was about to kill the lord to silence him, the lord surprisingly offered him a contract. The lord promised to teach Delois more about humanity and how to disguise himself more perfectly. In return, Delois would lend him his power. At the end of the contract, the lord also willingly gave his life to Delois.

Perhaps because he found some interesting emotions and traits in this lord—for example, the lord felt that some humans were more evil than demons—Drois readily accepted the contract.

It will only take a little more time; it won't affect his return to the Demon Realm.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly simple contract...

But it locked Dolois away forever.

Because in the lord's territory, Delois met the red-haired girl who would completely change the course of his life.

Even Delois didn't realize that, as the days went by, he had become deeply attracted to this girl.

The more I don't understand her, the more I want to understand her.

Delois, who originally only planned to stay in the territory for a few days, ended up staying for several months, then a year, and by the time he realized the time had passed, he had unknowingly spent three years of peaceful life as a human.

It was from that time that Deloitte completely changed.

Before the girl died, he made an incredible promise to her—to be a good person until he understood the "human heart" he had been searching for.

On the other side...

Talomatti, who returned to the Demon Realm alone, never saw Delois again.

Even if she wanted to find Delois, in the vast Holy Kingdom, she had no way to detect the traces of the master of disguise.

Later... when Talomatti heard news of Delois again.

It was Delois who, in order to help humanity, infiltrated the demon prison and rescued the Dark Saintess.

From that time on, Delois, the calamity, and the great rebel of the demon realm were born.

This is the story of Delois and Talomatti.

The reason why Talomatti truly hated Deloitte was quite simple.

She was just a sister abandoned by the brother she trusted.

"sorry,"

Dekan parted his lips slightly, and finally, as if he had found the answer, he uttered those words.

"Talomati, it was I who abandoned you."

This is an apology that Deloitte owes Talotmatie, an apology he has owed for twenty-four years.

Finally, after hearing the answer, Taromati released the pages of the book in his hand.

"Drois, we are both demons. Can demons truly feel remorse?"

Talomatti stared intently into Dekan's eyes and questioned him.

For demons, a sincere apology is merely a technique used to deceive humans.

Because demons don't truly feel guilt or remorse.

Or perhaps this was a lie told by Doloice to tease her.

Or perhaps Deloitte has become abnormal.

Talomatti could no longer distinguish between what was real and what was fake in Deloitte.

But for some reason, the moment Dolois spoke, she felt that Dolois was no longer Dolois, but had become a real human being.

"..."

Looking directly into Talomatti's deep gaze, Dekan couldn't answer.

Indeed, this apology is reasonable for humans, but it defies common sense for demons.

Words spoken with sincerity sound more false than lies.

But he didn't want to lie to Talomatti.

Because this is what he truly felt at this moment, on behalf of Delois.

It was as if several seconds had passed after confirming Dekan's reaction.

"Indeed, you've become less like a demon."

"I can speak calmly," Talomatti said.

She seemed to have expected this all along.

Delois has indeed changed.

This is also why, even after 24 years, the demon who thought he knew Delois best couldn't recognize him in person.

Why is that?

Talomatti asked again.

This time, it was Dekan's turn to remain silent.

He didn't know if Talomatti would believe him or accept the answer if he told him.

Moreover, he didn't want to mention it.

Until just now, Dekan was unwilling to continue thinking about Cornelia's past life—Claudia.

In the five film worlds so far, he has played the role of Dolohi.

In the first three Shadow Worlds, Cornelia was given the identity of Talomatti.

The Shadow World will assign the most suitable identity to the challenger.

For example, at the Demon Academy, Dekan was directly assigned to Delois because Delois was his previous incarnation.

Cornelia, as Dekan's ever-present companion, filled the void left by Talomatti.

Of course, this only applies to the first three shadow worlds.

In the timelines corresponding to "Tales of the Demon Academy", "Mysterious Shadows in the Snowstorm of the Wilderness", and "The Secret of the Withering of the Holy Ritual", Delois and Talomatti always act together.

The dream of the Holy Kingdom between Delois and Coraldia takes place between the Third and Fourth Shadow Worlds.

Later, Talomatti was no longer by Delois's side.

In the fourth Shadow World, Clodia was no longer by Dolohi's side.

In the world of film that follows.

There are no longer any Holy Kingdom characters suitable for Cornelia.

As for Cornelia's role in [Endless Purgatory]...

Perhaps it was merely something that Delois longed for.

The phantom that accompanied him.

In this Shadow World, the "four epic heroes" mentioned in the story background actually correspond to the "cunning, righteous, wise, and brave" characteristics of the Shadow World, namely Dekan, Morion, Clay, and Chloeux.

But Dekan didn't want to think that way.

Driven by strong personal desires, he wanted to see Cornelia.

After arriving in this world of shadows, he seemed to be able to feel Doloice's loneliness at all times. The more he immersed himself in Doloice's experiences, the more afraid he became of every minute and second without Cornelia by his side.

It was as if all of this was his experience, to let him actually experience Deloitte's long journey.

Dekan closed his eyes and covered his forehead, looking somewhat tired.

Half a year.

He never imagined that a world of shadows could last so long.

He just wanted to end it as soon as possible and return to Cornelia's side in the real world.

Dekan felt he had countless things he wanted to tell Cornelia, things that had been building up in his heart.

And for some reason, he really wanted to make a magic card.

It was as if he could pour his soul into creating those cards, not for any particular reason, but simply out of a sudden impulse. He even had a strong premonition that they might become his most outstanding work to date.

"I want to understand people's hearts."

Dekan, head bowed, wearily but with absolute certainty, uttered those words for Deloitte.

Talomatti looked at Dekan, this was the first time in a month that she had seriously observed him.