NoveLight ™
A plain some distance from the village.
A small orb of water, just large enough to hold a person, floated in midair.
Pop!
“Eek!”
The water orb burst, and the young girl inside tumbled out, landing on her rear with a loud thud.
“Ow, ow…”
Grimacing in pain, the girl rubbed her sore backside.
“You make such a fuss over so little pain.”
The girl looked up at the demon floating beside her.
Adorned in elaborate ornaments and radiating an air of authority, the figure was clearly no ordinary being.
After all, it was this figure who had taught her to manipulate mana essence, allowing her to cast stealth and water magic—abilities she could not have imagined using in such a hostile environment filled with flames.
“Who… are you?”
The Demon God Huffniss looked down at the innocent face of her past mentor, now a child.
The mentor who had always seemed so composed, unshakable, and infallible—reduced to this fragile form.
She’s… adorable.
Wait, what am I thinking?!
Shake.
Huffniss shook her head violently to clear her thoughts.
“I am Huff… No, that won’t do.”
She couldn’t reveal her true name.
After a brief moment of thought, she came up with a suitable alias.
“I am Kallos. A Demon God.”
“...”
“...”
An awkward silence stretched between them.
“Are you really a Demon God? The one who protects us demons?”
“Yes.”
“The one who rules over all demons and commands mana essence?”
“Yes.”
“Then… why didn’t you save us?”
“...”
“If you’re the Demon God, why didn’t you save us?! If you’d come to stop those humans… If you’d saved us, then my mom—my mom wouldn’t have—!”
Suddenly overcome with emotion, the girl broke into sobs.
“If you’d wiped out those horrible humans, my mom wouldn’t have died! Why didn’t you help us?! Why did you just watch?!”
Waaah!
Huffniss silently watched the girl as she wept, her tiny frame trembling with grief.
She clenched and unclenched her spectral hand, staring down at her empty palm. Then, she made a fist.
Never before had she felt such a profound sense of powerlessness.
Since her mentor’s death, she had risen to the rank of Demon King, uniting demons and other races, and ultimately claimed the title of Demon God.
As one of the Five Lords, she was an ultimate existence, untouchable by any lesser being.
There was nothing she couldn’t achieve.
But here, in this world, she was powerless.
She couldn’t even save her mentor’s mother.
She could do nothing but watch as her mentor relived the same tragedy that she herself had experienced as a child.
Even if this was all just part of the play to resurrect her mentor, it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“...I’m sorry.”
Huffniss raised a hand and gently stroked the girl’s back.
Though she was in her spiritual form and her hand didn’t actually make contact, she tried to offer some form of comfort.
I am not omnipotent.
“It’s because… I wasn’t strong enough to save you.”
The Demon God, a being defined by arrogance and pride, admitted her inadequacy—a confession she would have never made in her own world.
In that moment, Huffniss overcame her pride.
***
Night had fallen.
Grrrrgle.
The girl clutched her abdomen, the sound of hunger echoing from her empty stomach.
“I’m so hungry…”
After crying all day, it was no surprise her body craved sustenance.
The Demon God, Huffniss, wanted to provide her with food and a safe place to rest.
Were this the divine realm, she could have created it all with a mere flick of her finger. But this was a dream-crafted, game-like world bound by the power of dreams.
Even for a mighty Demon God, there was little she could do directly.
Ding!
[Possession Unlocked]
An alert from the game system appeared.
Possession?
Come to think of it, wasn’t the goal of this game for her to assist her mentor in fulfilling the history as it was meant to be?
Simply offering advice from the sidelines wouldn’t be enough to guide her mentor.
So, this system existed for moments like these.
Huffniss floated toward the girl.
“Would you lend me your body for a while?”
“...To the Demon God?”
“If you stay like this, you’ll collapse soon. And this world is far from kind to a lone demon child. It’s extremely dangerous. I will ensure you reach a safe place.”
“...Okay. Do as you like.”
The girl passed out almost immediately after giving her consent.
Huffniss entered the girl’s body, cradling her as if absorbing her essence.
She assessed the girl’s condition from within.
“...To endure this much in such a state.”
The girl’s body was on the brink of collapse; even her ability to remain conscious until now was nothing short of a miracle.
Despite her youth, she was still her mentor—unyielding even in the face of insurmountable odds.
[Come to Me.]
Huffniss began gathering mana from the surroundings.
Even as a spirit, her overwhelming presence as a Demon God commanded mana to obey her will.
“It’s not much, but it will suffice.”
Using the mana she had collected, Huffniss began manipulating the girl’s body, weaving a protective barrier and channeling energy to stabilize her.
In the warmth of a soft bed, the girl stirred.
“Mom…?” she mumbled in her sleep.
Then, she opened her eyes.
“...Huh?”
Reality hit her like a tidal wave.
Her mother was gone. No matter how much she wished otherwise, that was the truth.
“...Where am I?”
But the space around her didn’t feel real either.
Had it all been a dream?
“Awake now?”
She turned her head toward the voice and saw Huffniss floating with her arms crossed.
“Demon God…”
So, it wasn’t a dream.
“Did you bring me here?”
“I did. Had you remained where you were, you would’ve become food for beasts or monsters.”
“Thank you…”
The girl glanced around, taking in her surroundings.
“Where is this?”
“A nearby forest. I found an abandoned house and transformed it with mana.”
To transform an abandoned house so seamlessly with mana—truly a feat befitting a Demon God.
But if she could do something like this… why couldn’t she have saved my mom?
Huffniss could tell what the girl was thinking.
If the episode had started just a little earlier, perhaps her mother could have been saved too.
Should she stop the game here and demand the Apostle of Dreams alter the story?
No.
What was she thinking?
This wasn’t her real mentor.
This was merely a replica, a staged performance to facilitate her mentor’s resurrection.
And yet, Huffniss found herself struggling with her emotions.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“The villagers are all dead. My friends have been killed. My only family, my mom, is gone. There’s no one left for me to rely on. What am I supposed to do?”
Huffniss saw her younger self in the girl—lost, despairing, and broken.
Her mentor had been the same.
What had her mentor said to her back then?
Something about her being extraordinary, wasn’t it?
“You are special.”
“...Huh?”
“In this world, you are the only one who can see me. You are the only one capable of receiving my power.”
“...”
“Soon, you will rise above all demons. You will lead them. You will become the savior of your people, their king—a beacon of hope for your oppressed kin.”
Huffniss envisioned her mentor in her radiant prime, uniting the demons under her banner as the Demon King.
“Only you can save the demons.”
“Is… is that true?”
The girl hesitated, her gaze falling to her trembling hands.
“But I can’t do anything. I’m useless. How could someone like me save anyone?”
“You can.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Then there’s no other choice.
Huffniss prepared to enter the girl’s body and show her visions of the Demon King she would become.
It was the only way to inspire her, to reignite her will.
Just as Huffniss was about to act—
“Is there a demon here somewhere?”
“Of course! I can smell it.”
Voices echoed from outside.
Tremble.
The girl immediately fell into a panic, trembling at the sound of demon hunters.
Huffniss peered out the window.
Two mercenaries stood outside, dragging a cage containing three demons—two adults and one child.
Unlike those who killed demons for sport, these hunters seemed to enslave them or harvest their bodies for resources.
“…Wait. That child…”
Huffniss recognized the young demon in the cage. It was a child from the nearby village.
“Is that your friend?”
“...?”
The trembling girl glanced up at Huffniss’s question.
Following Huffniss’s gaze, she spotted the child in the cage.
“Me-Meiru!”
She jumped to her feet.
“Demon God! Meiru is my friend! Please, can you save her?”
Huffniss closed her eyes briefly, then reopened them.
“I can.”
“Demon God!”
The girl’s face lit up.
“But I cannot act directly in this world. My strength can only manifest through you. You must be the one to save her.”
In her current state, the girl was more than capable of taking on the two hunters.
Thanks to Huffniss’s intervention, the girl’s body was now brimming with mana, her potential unlocked to rival that of a grand mage.
“B-But how…?”
“Do not fear. I will be with you. So long as I stand with you, only victory awaits.”
Huffniss whispered into her ear.
“Do not be afraid.”
Bang!
The door to the cabin suddenly flew open.
“Huh? What the—!”
The two hunters, startled, turned toward the sound.
But no one came out.
“Hey! Come out! If you opened the door, you’re in there!”
Frustrated, one of the hunters stepped closer.
“Gack… grrk…”
A choking sound came from behind him.
“…Huh?”
The hunter spun around to find his companion, a black dagger lodged in his throat.
The dying man collapsed to the ground with a guttural noise.
“P-Phello!”
The remaining hunter drew his sword.
This isn’t an ordinary opponent.
What the hell is going on?
Just as he began channeling his magic—
Shunk!
“Urgh!”
A pitch-black blade burst through his chest from behind.
“How…?”
The girl, previously invisible, now stood behind him, breathing heavily as her figure reappeared.
“See? You can do it,” Huffniss said.
She gestured toward the cage, where the three demons stared at the girl in shock.
“You saved them. You saved those who would have faced only despair.”
The girl turned to face her friend, her expression still flushed with adrenaline.
“Do you see now? You are destined to be the savior of the demons.”
“…Really?”
The girl looked at her hands, trembling but now filled with purpose.
Salvation.
It was what she had needed most.
What she had been too late to receive.
“I’ll… I’ll try.”
Perhaps this power wasn’t just for her own survival.
Perhaps it was her mission.
Her destiny.