The small branch of humanity's guardian tree, Everblack, took root in the spirit realm as soon as it was planted on earth.
Immediately, humanity began to resonate with mana and learned to use magic.
People quickly noticed the change.
But they weren't happy about this fact.
'If it's discovered that we've gained magical powers, we'll be hunted by other races.'
The human race was born as a slave race.
Rather than rejoicing in the suddenly given power, they feared more the repercussions if it was discovered they had this power.
The other races that had enslaved humans wouldn't leave them be. It was obvious they would try to kill off the human race before they could develop their ominous power.
People fell into panic and began to search for the culprit who caused this situation.
And those who could now sense mana naturally found the source of mana - humanity's guardian tree, and also uncovered the identity of the person who planted it.A madwoman living in the lakeside village, who had been a wanderer all her life...
The woman was captured, and after a meeting, people reached an easy conclusion.
They decided to execute her as a representative and beg for leniency.
They were satisfied with their current lives and didn't need the light of magic.
Everything was this woman's sole arbitrary act. They would kill this woman with their own hands, so please forgive them...
And so, now.
"..."
The woman, tied to the execution platform piled with firewood, was watching the people throwing stones at her.
The people of her hometown, whom she tried to save, but who were now trying to kill her instead.
"Look, pitiful woman."
The Demon King murmured.
"Look at those who repay your grace with stoning and arson!"
"..."
"This is the price for stealing the divine flame with a mere mortal body. You've obtained an unbearable result, so your destruction is only natural."
Waaaaaah...!
The angry crowd throwing stones pressed her son.
Her son, with tears in his eyes but a cold face... threw a stone at the woman.
Thud!
The flying stone hit the woman's forehead. Blood flowed from the torn wound.
"..."
Flames approached, flickering under the woman's bowed head. Someone had set the fire.
Along with the terrible heat, voices condemning her poured from all directions.
Thief. Witch. Monster.
Monster.
Monster...
"Don't you resent them?"
The Demon King whispered.
"Those who don't understand the sacrifice you made for them and treat you like a monster. Don't you resent them?"
"..."
"This is the true nature of those you tried to save. This is the ugly bare face of those you tried to protect."
To the silent woman, the Demon King spoke even more fiercely.
"Look at the faces of those who hate you, ungrateful for your grace! Look at the face of your son throwing stones at you!"
"..."
"Now, resent them."
The Demon King's whisper inevitably dug into the woman's heart like spreading flames.
"Be honest with your heart, resent them. Resent those who defile the achievement of your lifetime and trample on your noble intentions. Light the thousand fires of resentment in your heart!"
"...Then."
The woman quietly asked back.
"Then, what will happen?"
"You can do anything and become anything according to your heart."
The Demon King tempted with a voice even more passionate than before.
"I'll let you obtain whatever you wish for, as much as the achievement you've accomplished. You could become a fire demon that burns the world, a snake that swallows the lake, or a baptism of stone hail that beats all life to death."
"..."
"Your achievement is that great. It's not small enough to vanish in vain while being treated like this in a place like this! You should become much greater!"
Crackle!
Whether due to the heat of the flames, or perhaps due to the intervention of some evil power.
The rope that tied the woman to the execution platform came undone on its own. Suddenly freed, the woman staggered off the execution platform.
"Now."
The Demon King's outstretched hand was in front of her.
"Take my hand."
"..."
"Only I know your journey. Only I know your sacrifice. Only I! Know your noble will and grand achievement."
"..."
"I will acknowledge you, mortal. So, come with me!"
The Demon King was floating on the cold and quiet lake.
The woman turned her head to look at the opposite side. She saw the spreading flames, the shower of stones, and the hatred in the eyes of the people glaring at her.
"..."
It was clear what she should choose.
Slowly, the woman pressed her back against the execution platform again. Though the ropes had fallen and the restraints were gone, she hung there of her own will.
"No."
The woman murmured to the bewildered Demon King.
"I will die as a monster."
"What..."
"I understand their hearts. I thought I was sprinkling the light of salvation on my race, but from people's perspective, it's natural that it feels like sparks suddenly flying onto their clothes."
Flames climbed up the woman's body.
"But it's okay. Everyone will understand someday."
"..."
"Even if it's hot now, when they learn to handle that spark... a new era of life will dawn."
Watching the woman turning to ashes in the smoke burning her flesh, the Demon King roared.
"So, you'll die like this?!"
"..."
"Without being understood by anyone, burned at the stake as a witch, stoned as a monster... you're saying you'll die so miserably?!"
"It's okay."
The woman slowly closed her eyes.
"Because it wasn't something I did to be acknowledged by someone."
There was something she decided to accomplish on her own, and she just did it.
She never cared about glory or infamy from the beginning.
That's why the woman could accept death proudly without shame, even with a slightly happy feeling.
Eventually, the woman's body completely crumbled between the rising flames and the shower of stones.
"..."
The Demon King could only quietly watch her final moments.
***
Click.
...Again.
Click. Click. Click.
Mercilessly.
Click, click, click, click, click-
Gray mana rotated, making an inorganic mechanical sound.
***
The woman opened her eyes.
Again, that young summer day. The lakeside hut.
"...Ah?"
The woman looked around with a pale face.
She had regressed. She came back here, to this time, again.
Life doesn't end.
Life... doesn't end.
"Ah, aaaaah."
A meaningless voice flowed weakly between her lips.
"Aaah, aaah, aaah...?"
"Did you think it was over?"
The Demon King, looming like a shadow, was looking down at her with a sneer.
"Did you think this hell would end now that you've achieved your desired goal and even forgiven those ungrateful ones?"
"..."
"No, foolish one. This is not such a peaceful curse."
The Demon King's cold mockery echoed in the woman's ears.
"No matter what you accomplish, no matter how much you fail, it doesn't matter. Your regression will just repeat endlessly. Forever, forever, forever...!"
Only then did the woman truly understand.
Why this is a curse, not a blessing.
That endless time is such a cruel and inorganic violence.
"If you had followed my earlier proposal, you could have escaped the cycle of regression, but since you refused... I'll tell you another way to end this regression. Moreover, this method is very easy."
The Demon King whispered to the woman who was shaking in shock.
"Agree to pass on the sequence of all this tragedy to your child. Then, I'll allow you to end your life on your own."
"...!"
"Your clan's curse is single-person inheritance. Blood succession. It 'pools' in only one person per timeline. In other words, if you transfer it to your child, you can escape."
Only then could the woman understand.
The way her father escaped this curse.
"Did my father... end himself like that too...?"
"That's right. Not just your father, but all your ancestors. They eventually succumbed to infinite time. And agreed to 'push' this curse onto later generations. That's how it continued endlessly."
"..."
"They put forward noble causes, but in the end, unable to overcome their own pain, they transferred the curse to later generations! That is your ancestor, your father, and also human. And you will become the same."
That whatever her life accomplishes is meaningless.
And that her predecessors betrayed and fled from later generations for their own peace.
To the woman trembling as she realized this, the Demon King spoke with feigned kindness.
"Now, here are two choices. Either pass on this curse that will continue forever to future generations. Or become a real monster that covers the world with resentment."
"..."
"The first choice is following in the footsteps of your ancestors, and the second choice is a new ending that has never been before. Whichever you choose, I'll respect you and let you act as you wish."
To escape this infinite and worthless curse of regression, two paths were laid before the woman.
Either kill her child. Or kill others and the world.
"Now, choose!"
The Demon King laughed maniacally with his arms spread wide.
"Will you pour all the curse accumulated by you and your predecessors onto your beloved child, onto all your future generations?"
The woman tightly closed her eyes.
"If you don't like that, will you become the resentment that destroys the world in exchange for your achievement, as per my earlier proposal?"
"..."
"Which is it, come on! Choose!"
A long silence passed.
Slowly, the woman rose to her knees.
And passing by the Demon King waiting for her choice... she walked out of the hut.
The Demon King's face became puzzled.
"...What are you doing?"
"Can't you see?"
Staggering, but not stopping.
The woman was starting her journey again towards the world... outside the village.
"I'm going to light the fire again."
"...?!"
"Once again, I'll create a tree for humanity... once again, I'll retrieve the light."
True bewilderment flashed across the Demon King's face.
"Then what about the choice?"
"I won't make it."
"What?"
"I won't curse my child, nor my world."
Just.
On the repeating world.
Just planting one tree.
The astonished Demon King shouted.
"Don't you understand yet? No matter what achievement you accomplish, no matter what journey you go through, everything is meaningless like that!"
"..."
"You will come back here again. Unless you transfer the curse to later generations, or become a monster yourself! The regression is infinite!"
"No."
The woman turned to look at the Demon King with a bitter smile.
"There's a third way, you know."
"What...?"
"I'll embrace this curse and die with it."
The woman placed her hand on her chest.
"When my soul shatters. Then the curse will end with my generation. Right?"
"You're saying you'll repeat the regression until your soul can't withstand it...?"
The shocked Demon King shook his head.
"Even I don't know how many more lives you'll have to repeat to do that! Truly eons of years lie ahead of you!"
"..."
"Do you really think you can endure it? Hasn't your heart already been broken once! It's meaningless, meaningless, meaningless! Even though you know it well yourself...!"
Ignoring whatever the Demon King was shouting.
The woman silently walked forward.
"Don't do this."
Instead, urgency tinged the Demon King's voice.
"If you give up now, your soul can still go to the afterlife. But if your soul shatters, you will vanish from this universe forever! No reincarnation, no afterlife, nothing!"
"..."
"Can't you hear me? Have you gone deaf now too?"
The Demon King screamed at the woman's receding back.
"There is no salvation ahead of you-!"
--TL Notes--
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