Part 55: The Fake Princess Gets Delevohs

Part 55:
The Fake Princess Gets Delevohs

 

ELISE DREAMT.

In her dream, she returned to the time before she awakened as Elise of the Reflection. Up until then, she had been but a scornful demon aimlessly wandering the human realm.

Trace… Copy… Complete. I’m now Princess Sheila.

Every year, Elise replaced an important figure in the human realm. Her objective was simple: to make light of the humans. That was all.

They’re all so stupid!

She seemed to remember having a different objective in the beginning. During the War of Genocide, the greater demons had ordered the Demon of Reflection (at the time she’d had no name) to replace important individuals. But when the war ended, the greater demons vanished, and her sense of being went with them.

Abandoned, the young demon decided to enjoy the world for all it had to offer. Principally, that took the form of laughing at the humans. Scorn and mockery were the only emotions the Demon of Reflection retained.

“Oh, Lady Sheila, I love you and only you…”

While accepting the clueless prince’s kiss, the demon laughed within her heart. Ah ha ha, this idiot thinks I’m the same Sheila from yesterday! What a fool!

She smiled brightly with the knowledge that everything the prince believed to be true was fake. His true love, his eternal vow, his friendship. All of it, she could easily copy and ape, and that filled her with such joy. All humans were fake, and the meaninglessness of their lives was so pitiful that it made her laugh.

Ah ha ha ha!

Thus did she live, laughing and laughing.

Then something changed. She met a girl—no, an existence.

Having grown tired of playing the role of Princess Sheila, she searched for her next target. She had played a king of the human realm, a demon emperor, a princess, and a hero. Next, she sought to become a saint in the backwoods of a certain holy nation, one who was worshipped by the locals as a prophet.

According to the saint’s retainers, she claimed to be God’s messenger and had a growing list of believers.

The demon took great interest in this falsehood of a girl.

Hee hee, how about I fake the role of a fake God? The demon was certain it’d be a blast.

When she faced the prophet and called the other girl a fake, she was merely making a bit of fun. But in reality, the saint was a genuine fake. She was no prophet. And the moment the demon at last crept up upon the saint and cast her Reflection Eyes upon the girl, she faced a terrible sight.

“Hrm, Demon of Reflection, you still wander the surface?” said the saint.

“?!”

Chills shook every atom of the demon’s being.

“Shall I erase you, then?”

A wave of intense confusion washed over the demon.

Error. Incapable of recreating. Data analysis impossible. Initiating conceptual interference protection. Reverse assembler activated. Reflection system infiltrated.

This was bad. Very bad.

System destruction—

“NOOOOOOOO!!!”

At the last minute, the demon managed to avert her gaze with her remaining power and just barely escaped the saint.

“Oho, you managed to evade the protection program? Not bad at all.” The saint smiled the faintest of smiles.

“Wh-what… Who are you?!”

“Fascinating. It’ll be quite the interesting experiment to keep you alive. Struggle as you must.” The saint giggled happily, her smile familiar to the demon. It was the same sort of smile the demon often wore. A smile of scorn. A smile that looked down upon all before her as base and pitiful. “Good luck, fake who can never become real.”

With those words, the saint vanished.

Left behind, the demon’s mouth hung open as she came to grips with what had happened—and the meaning behind the saint’s final words.

The saint had mocked the demon for being a fake who would never truly know what it felt like to be real.

Me? Laughed at? The being who laughed at all others?

For the first time, a feeling other than the desire to scorn others bubbled up inside her.

“How… How dare you!” the demon screamed tearfully.

The constantly transforming demon had never felt so fierce an emotion. The tears wouldn’t stop rolling down her cheeks, nor would the shakes come to an end. She would never forgive that saint. She’d never forgive that higher being for looking down on her, making fun of her, and laughing at her.

The script had flipped on the demon, and that, well, that was—“Unforgivable! I’ll get you for this, I swear!”

It hurt. But she wouldn’t give in.

A fake who can never become real, she says?

“I’ll show her… I’ll become real. Just you wait and see!”

And so the demon’s objective changed. She would find her way back to being the one who laughed at others. But in order to do that, she had to figure out what exactly the saint was. She researched and researched and researched, using the identity of whoever she could find. The head of the philosopher’s academy, the captain of the Holy Temple Knights, the head historian of a great nation.

Only once she found her way to a meeting with the greater demon Zeleburg in Hell did she finally understand.

“You came into contact with a God-class entity—a Pantheon Master. One who had descended to the surface, no less.”

“What do you mean?”

“You met a monster capable of controlling the world’s laws. Judging by your description, I’d bet it was the Lord of Souls, Elise.”

A creature like that existed in this world? Upon learning this, “Elise” finally regained her laugh. Hee hee, she has a name. She conceptually exists. Which means I can fake her. No matter how complex her being appears to be, how impossible it might seem, if she exists, I can—

“Become you, Elise!”

It was a challenge to the gods themselves—a pledge to challenge the very laws of the world.

Zeleburg gazed upon “Elise” and smiled. He too was a greater demon who sought to join the ranks of those who controlled the world. His meeting with “Elise” could be considered nothing less than a matter of fate.

“All right, Elise. I shall grant you power. The power to overcome a higher existence.”

“Yes—yes…”

“A power granted by Lord Asmodeus. The power to pierce the world’s laws.”

And so Elise received this power from Zeleburg in the form of a shining silver blade with a glowing tip. The beauty of its slender form struck her core, with its graceful adamantine curves polished like a mirror, perfect for a Demon of Reflection, a shovel—

“WAIT—NO—WHAT THE HELL?!”

Around that point, Elise leapt out of her dream as quickly as possible.

“Ah, did you notice, shovel?”

In any case, Princess Lithisia’s attempt at Shovel Mind Control ended in failure.

 

***

 

Calm yourself, Elise. Calm yourself!

Now awake, Elise (still Shovel Tied-Up) waited for her chance while beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. That had been a close call. The princess very obviously wanted to put her under a sort of mind control. In reality, Zeleburg had bequeathed Elise with an artifact called the Devil’s Eye.

“I won’t fall to you! Your brainwashing is nothing! Nothing, I say!”

This of course put Lithisia in a disashoveled state (disappointed.) “Aw, I’ve messhoveled up.”

“Hrm, we didn’t get the info we were looking for. Her Anti-Shovel aptitude must be high,” said Alan.

Poor girl is in for a world of even more trauma… thought Catria.

Three humans stood in front of Elise. She glared furiously at the man standing in the middle. I know who you really are. You’re…you’re the kind of being I will never, ever forgive.

“You’re hiding your true form, aren’t you? Pantheon Master!”

“Preshovelly!”

“Lithisia, quiet,” said Alan. “And I told you, I’m just a miner.”

Elise sucked in a powerful breath. “Do you really expect me to believe that just a miner shot a Wave Motion Blast at me?!”

Catria made a pitying expression that seemed to say “Well, yeah.”

He’s making a fool of me! Elise angrily thought to herself. But since she was wearing Lithisia’s face, she just looked exceptionally cute.

“Fine. I didn’t expect you to own up to it anyway.” Even though she was tied up with Shovel String, her abilities weren’t in any way incapacitated. “Take this!”

“Hrm?”

Shiiing!

Elise’s eyes began to glow. These were her God-class Reflection Eyes, her trump card. With these eyes, she could analyze any target, break it apart at the atomic level, the magical level, and even the conceptual level. She had developed the skill specifically so that she might one day face the Lord of Souls and return the favor of that one fateful day.

For now, she would analyze the miner and copy him!

As the glow in her eyes faded, data flowed directly into Elise’s mind. “You let your guard down, so-called Miner Alan! This is your true form!”

The data she collected floated in midair as she smiled victoriously.

 

NAME: Alan.

OCCUPATION: Miner.

RACE: Half-dwarf, half-human.

AGE: 1,011 years old.

After using his shovel to mine a mountain for one hundred straight years, it began to shoot beams. After three hundred years, those beams evolved into the Wave Motion Shovel Blast. Eventually, he mined his way through four digits of layers, hitting layer 6,666 and facing off with the Great Demon Demogorgon, who he subsequently sealed away with his point-blank Wave Motion Shovel Blast—

 

“Wait, what the hell is this?! This is all BS! This can’t be real!” Elise screamed. “How could a human have lived for a thousand years?!”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Even Alan didn’t understand how that had come to pass.

Elise exploded with rage. “There’s no way you suddenly sprouted the ability to fire a Wave Motion Blast just because you swung your shovel for three hundred years!”

Catria nodded enthusiastically as if to say “I know, right?!”

“You’d be surprised,” said Alan.

“LIKE HELL!” Catria and Elise howled in harmony. The latter was breathing heavily as her thoughts ricocheted through her head.

Man, it’s so nice having a partner for these kinds of moments, Catria thought to herself for the nth time.

“Hrm, an analysis-type, huh? You’re the kind of demon who’s seen many an information battle.”

“In other words, she has Shovel Potential, shovel! Let’s make her our new Shovel Ally, shovel!”

“Princess… You know what? Never mind.” Catria shook her head. It wasn’t even worth it anymore. The princess was no good (in every sense of the term).

“Tsk, as expected of a God-class entity,” Elise growled. “You can resist me with techniques I’ve never heard of.”

“Really, I’m just a miner.”

Catria steeled herself against interjecting with iron-clad resolve.

“But…” Elise had taken down a lower-class God before. While a God-class entity might have an air-tight guard, those who followed them were typically riddled with vulnerabilities—exactly like the girl whose form Elise was borrowing, who now stood next to Alan and spoke some kind of inhuman tongue.

“Princess Lithisia, perhaps you know this man’s secret,” Elise directed her attention toward the princess with a smile.

“Shovel?”

“Ah, wait! Please, anything but that, Elise!” Upon realizing what was about to happen, Catria tried to step in.

It was too late. Elise saw it all. She gazed into Lithisia’s eyes with her Reflection Eyes. Now, if I take your memories—

A single moment later, Elise’s brain shovelsploded.

 

NAME: Shovelthisia.

PERSONALITY: Shovel.

OBJECTIVE: Shovel conquer the world so that she can do the dirty shovel scoopy scoop with Sir Miner. Shovel. Shovel. Shovel dovely Sir Miner. Spread this shovel throughout all the world shovel, shovel—

 

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

“This is bad! The princess’s corruption is taking hold. Alan, do something!”

“I’ll try my best.”

It took a whopping three hours, but Alan somehow managed to purify Elise’s shovel corruption.

“Haaah, haaah… Sh-shovel…shovel… Wait, no…!”

Unfortunately, said corruption ran deep. Tears welled in Elise’s tired eyes as she trembled, but her gaze never once wavered from Alan’s shovel. Whenever she looked at it, her heart raced without stop. She wanted to shovey shovey. What did that even mean? She didn’t know. She didn’t know, but she wanted to do a super good shovey dovey and feel extra goody woody—

“Princess Lithisia!” she gasped. “You tried to brainwash me, didn’t you?!”

“Nope. I just scooped your shovel with my shovel!”

“I don’t get it!”

“Lithisia, please.” Alan directed his shovel at Elise once more. “You need to stop. If you resist any further, it’ll be dangerous (for Elise).”

“Ngh!”

“Now listen, I’m just a miner. You go back and tell Zeleburg that.”

Elise directed her angry, bitter gaze at Alan. She had no doubt, none at all, that this man was, no matter his claims, a Pantheon Master. He was just, for some reason, trying to make it look like he was a human who used a shovel. But in truth he was laughing at her, looking down on her! This cursed God-class entity!

I’ll never forgive him.

“Hee… Hee hee hee…” And so Elise laughed. A God-class entity I can’t hope to defeat in my current state. This man who made a fool of me. What an unbearable creature.

Up until now, Elise’s goal had been to copy the King of Hell, Demogorgon, whose power was said to rival that of the gods of creation, and to therefore become the ultimate reality—in other words, to become a God-class entity in her own right. But the perfect target already stood right in front of her.

“Miner Alan!” Elise abruptly pointed at Alan. She had made her decision. “I will become you, no matter what!”

“…”

Alan took a moment to stare at her. “Enh. Fine. Then continue along the path of the reflection.”

“Huh?”

Alan looked straight into Elise’s eyes, but she saw neither hate nor anger in his expression. Rather, she met the gentle gaze of a teacher regarding his student.

“Wh-what’s with you?!”

“All this means is that you too will travel the path of the miner,” he said.

Catria blinked as if to say “Er, what?”

Elise went silent for a bit, but soon her body began to shake. The look he gave her, so teacherly and kind… In other words, the kind of gaze one might give a person who followed one’s creed.

In Alan’s case, this was exactly right. He was a miner seeking to perfect the way of the shovel just as Elise, the Demon of Reflection, sought to perfect the way of the copy. The two were terribly alike in their pursuit of a singular path.

“YOU DARE INSULT ME?!”

But that wasn’t how Elise saw it. She thought herself seen, known, and pitied. She couldn’t stand for it. To Elise, Alan hid his true form behind the absurdity of the shovel while laughing at those beneath him—he was someone she utterly despised.

“I’ll never forgive you! I’ve decided, Alan. You and you alone, I’ll never forgive!” Elise then threw something—a teleport stone. Her form began to contort and shift, and while it did, she continued to spew vitriol at Alan. He made a fool of me! I’ll never forgive him! I’ll expose him for what he is!

“Alan! Alan! I’ll remember your name! I’ll never forgive you!”

Finally, Elise vanished.

“Hrmph, she got away,” Alan said as he poked his shovel at space. “As expected. She really is a Demon of Reflection. She’s perfected her craft.”

“What happened with your astral pitfalls?” Catria asked. Hadn’t he dug them to prevent her flight?

“She circumvented them. Did you see how she teleported while shoveling insults at me nonstop?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Get it? She shoveled insults at me. Her shovels canceled mine out.”

“That’s completely absurd,” Catria replied, though she was simultaneously impressed by the copycat. Elise had to be quite the demon to be able to escape Alan’s shovel.

“On the other hand…” Catria trailed off. There’s no way she’s not getting an earful when she gets back to her people.

 

***

 

“Oh, Zeleburg, I’ve found someone at last! Someone with the power to rival the Great Demon Demogorgon—nngh!”

Back at the Dark Palace, Zeleburg sat on his throne and closed his eyes whilst listening to Elise’s report. According to her, this God-class entity had fired a Wave Motion Blast from a shovel. The Pantheon Master also appeared to have brainwashed Lithisia.

“Elise, you seem exhausted.”

“Wha?!”

Zeleburg didn’t show any indication of entertaining her claims. “In no world could a shovel fire a Wave Motion Blast.”

It was hard to argue with that.

“I-It was an illusion, though! He was hiding his true identity as a God-class entity!”

“He fooled your eyes? You, the Demon of Reflection? Doubtful.”

“N-no, but…”

Zeleburg refused to listen further.

Elise stormed out of the throne room. She could do nothing but grind her teeth. It was then that she made a vow to herself: “Alan, you can’t fool my eyes!”

She had no doubt that Alan was some kind of “being” who had surpassed the laws of man and God. Her instincts as the Demon of Reflection and the strange experiences she had earlier witnessed told her as much. The existence that was Alan the Miner was the world’s greatest mystery.

In other words, he is my greatest objective.

“I’ll become you no matter what, Alan!”

Elise didn’t yet know that she had taken the first step toward tumbling down a road without end.