["You dare throw it? Try me."]
That damn brat Diego Brando really holds grudges... How long ago did I even say that...
After leaving the sanatorium, Serie gazed at the flower crown in her hand in a daze, memories flashing through her eyes one after another.
There was the merciless tossing aside of the gift Flamme gave her, the teaching of every disciple and asking what magic they liked, and also Diego Brando's transformation from "The Hungry One" to "The Resister."
"A flower crown, huh... It's exactly like the one in my memories, almost as if Flamme came back to life, always giving me these boring things."
『Flower Field Magic』...
A flash of golden light—Serie stared expressionlessly at the flower in her palm. In the end, she let out a soft chuckle, inserted the flower into the crown, and carefully preserved it with magic.
Perhaps at this moment, even Serie's heart wavered a little.
"It's truly unbelievable... That boy who had no will to live back then, so lifeless and dead inside, now only exists in my memories."
...
The story between Diego and Serie dates back ninety-three years.
That year, Diego was ten years old. The timeline was after Diego endured a brutal beating from Serie and broke free from Mahoraga's influence over his mind.
—Eight years before Diego's erasure from history, at the border of the southern nations—
His ambition to seize the entire continent had collapsed. After leaving Serie's residence, Diego found himself momentarily lost in the pitch-black wilderness.
He returned to the forest where he had once buried his mother and, using his dinosaur ability, quickly built a small wooden cabin. For three years, he lived there like a walking corpse.
What should I, Dio, do in the future...
Continue climbing to the top of society? But my dinosaur ability has already been exposed. Now, the human nations and the demon race are all on guard against me...
So weak... Even now, I'm still this pathetic...
Perhaps I can no longer stand at the pinnacle of society...
These thoughts flashed by briefly, but Diego never abandoned his pursuit and craving for victory. The real reason he spent his days curled up in this forest was:
[If your heart is lost in confusion, do not move forward. Otherwise, a "brand-new path" will never open for you.]
For some reason, this sentence lingered in Diego's mind, and he inexplicably wanted to believe it. Thus, he sank into this deep, uninhabited forest.
Rustle rustle rustle...
Almost every day, Diego could hear these footsteps. No need to think too hard—the visitor was surely that tiny golden-haired elf, the great being named Serie.
Diego's lips moved, his tone calm: "Does the great mage really have so much free time? I'm not your disciple, and I have no mana. Even if you wanted to teach me magic, it's impossible, you know."
The shadow of the leaves covered Diego's face as he lay on the branch of a towering tree, his eyes devoid of any gleam.
Diego spoke again, using polite language but with zero respect: "Good afternoon, my dear Lady Serie."
"Diego Brando, get down from that tree right now. I brought you food." Serie's voice remained cold and emotionless, an unmistakable command that rang clearly in Diego's ears.
A basket full of food floated beside Serie. She stood under the tree, quietly looking up at the branch where Diego lay.
"Unfortunately, I must decline." Diego poked his head out, forcing an ugly smile and waving lazily. "I, Dio, am very strong. I don't do things I don't want to do. At least today, I don't feel like doing anything."
"Oh? Stronger than me?" Serie was unfazed. In an instant, several dragon-slaying spells condensed in her hand.
"...Tch."
Whoosh...
A massive amount of fallen leaves was swept up by the pressure of the wind. In a mere instant, Diego landed in front of Serie with an annoyed expression, one hand propping up his chin as he squatted down.
"What the hell do you want? Three years ago, I begged you to take me in, and you refused. Now that I'm living alone, you come every day with all sorts of excuses to see me." Diego dropped the ugly smile, his gaze deepening.
Serie ignored him. She lifted the cloth covering the basket, and the rich aroma of grilled beef spread through the entire forest.
She simply explained on her own: "Today's lunch is a specialty from the Warrior Village—a super-sized hamburger steak. It's said to be a gift prepared for warriors who push themselves to the limit."
"…Serie…"
Diego took the basket containing the hamburger steak. He didn't dig in right away. Instead, his half-lidded eyes silently fixed on Serie.
"I'll ask one more time. What are you really here for? Don't do unnecessary things. I told you—I, Dio, no longer need food."
"I don't get hungry. What's the point of bringing this?"
Mahoraga in his body had adapted to the state of hunger. After discovering this fact, Diego—drawing from memories of once devouring demons—never ate again.
"It's just a whim. Eat it already." Serie's calm, indifferent eyes met Diego's gaze.
As always, every day Serie would bring some delicious food and force Diego to eat it.
Contempt...
In that moment of eye contact, rage surged in Diego's heart. Serie's behavior infuriated him—it was clearly a sign that she didn't take him seriously at all.
She just got lucky and beat me, Dio, once. How dare she... look down on me, Dio like this!!
That victory should have been mine!!!
Dinosaur transformation instantly crawled across Diego's face. He immediately lost his temper, grabbed the basket handle, stood up abruptly, and instinctively prepared to smash the hamburger steak Serie brought, ready to lash out.
"Mm…!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The moment he raised his head, a terrifying blue mana beam shone dazzlingly before Diego's eyes.
A regular attack spell, its diameter comparable to the towering tree behind him, locked onto Diego.
"You dare throw it? Try me." Serie's tone was dangerous, carrying the aura of "throw it and you're dead."
"Gulp…" Cold sweat beaded on Diego's forehead. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
In the end, the dinosaur transformation faded. Diego gave in, set the basket down obediently, and sat back.
Seeing Diego behave himself, the regular attack spell in Serie's hand dissipated. She said gravely: "No matter what, satisfying your appetite is never wrong. One of my disciples in the past told me that."
"Look at yourself right now. Do you even look human anymore?"
Serie was right. At this moment, Diego truly didn't look human—he spent his days curled up, and even the most basic survival instinct of eating had vanished.
If left unchecked, sooner or later he would lose the last remnants of his humanity.
Hearing this, Diego silently lowered his eyes. After a long pause, he muttered softly: "Nosy woman…"
Scary Monsters...
Diego's right arm turned into a Tyrannosaurus claw, piercing into the hamburger steak and flipping it upward. The fragrant meat patty spun through the air and landed perfectly in his mouth.
Chew chew... swallow...
After watching Diego devour the hamburger steak ravenously, Serie gave a subtle nod. Using magic, she took the basket Diego had set aside, turned, and left, her steps slightly quicker than when she arrived.
"Serie, don't go yet. I, Dio, have a question that needs an answer from your lips." Seeing this, Diego called out to stop her.
Serie halted, turned back, and stared straight at Diego: "…Speak."
Diego unleashed the question that had built up in his heart for so long in one breath: "You've lived from the mythical era until now. Family, disciples, close friends... Honestly, I can't even imagine how many life-and-death partings you've gone through."
"But there's one thing I don't understand. Even if my body is the first case of zero-mana Heavenly Restriction, how could it possibly help your magic research? It shouldn't be worth it for someone like you—the number one under the Goddess—to go this far for me." Diego extended another finger, pointing at the basket that had carried various delicacies over the past three years.
"It's about time you made your move, right? Why exactly are you approaching me? What do you want from me?"
"I told you the answer to that question a long time ago. It's just a whim of mine." Serie's eyes lowered. "Diego, do you remember our first meeting?"
"Of course. I've never forgotten it for a moment." Diego nodded. Light returned to his eyes, and a rare look of nostalgia appeared.
[Tell me, what magic do you like the most?]
[I, Dio, like NO.1!]
Serie continued: "Yes, I felt regret back then. I thought fate was truly cruel. You had every quality to become a great mage, yet you were held back by your constitution."
"But your growth truly exceeded my expectations. Just a few years later, when we met again, you were stepping on the emperor's head, with all the nations in your grasp. Humanity suffered utter defeat, and you proved Diego Brando's excellence to the entire continent."
"If I had the chance, I actually really wanted to see how far you could go…"
Diego interrupted Serie, asking in confusion: "If you wanted to see that, then why did you stop me?!!"
"But I also knew that in your state back then, you would absolutely die on the path to subjugating the Demon King." Serie gave Diego a faint glance, taking back control of the conversation to explain: "The magic of demons and humans is worlds apart. The one who can kill the Demon King can't be some beast blinded by victory, losing all reason, unable to even distinguish a simple clone spell."
"..." Diego fell silent.
The atmosphere returned to dead stillness. In these three years of quiet life, Diego had already figured out the answer deep down—he just didn't want to believe it.
People always beautify the path they never took, imagining it full of flowers and applause.
What Diego needed was simply to hear that answer from Serie's own mouth.
Rustle rustle...
"I'm sorry, Diego." Serie removed the necklace from her neck. Colorless mana wrapped around it, slowly floating it into Diego's hand.
It was the very necklace that young Diego had once longed for desperately—the one strung with five vibrant green gems full of life energy.
Diego's mind went blank. His eyes widened, his breathing growing ragged. He truly felt what it meant for fate to toy with people.
Something once out of reach had now come to him in such an unexpected way.
Mom is already dead. What use is it to me now?
Serie's expression softened: "You must miss this necklace too. If I had noticed back then, perhaps your mother wouldn't have…"
"Don't say any more!" Diego frowned, his tone suddenly softening. "That has nothing to do with you."
Then he carefully put the necklace away, flopped straight back into the grass behind him, sprawling out in a big "大" shape.
"Serie, what exactly do people move forward for?" Diego's eyes were dim. He raised a hand in front of his face, asking casually, "Is it money? Or power? Or status? Authority might be nice too? But the best is victory, right?"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The wind in the forest grew stronger, making it hard to keep one's eyes open.
"Move forward for whatever you want—just don't die." The wind whipped up Serie's long hair, hiding her expression from Diego.
"Why move forward... I no longer have a reason to…"
"How pathetic, Diego. Without elders to guide you, you can't even move forward?" Serie smiled faintly and gently stroked Diego's golden hair.
Then, playfully, she made a request she didn't think Diego would accept: "Diego, if you're absolutely going to beg me to tell you the answer for moving forward, I can personally give you a reason to move forward."
"The wind's getting stronger…" Leaves kept falling. Feeling the howling wind, Diego's expression softened. He earnestly pleaded, "Then, dear Lady Serie, please tell me the answer."
"…I'm surprised." Serie looked away and fulfilled her promise. "Then how about moving forward 'in search of the Land of Eternal Soul Sleep'?"
"Land of Eternal Soul Sleep? What's that? Heaven?"
"The place where souls rest eternally does exist. My disciple Flamme once reached that land where countless souls gather and spoke with her departed comrades." A complicated emotion flashed in Serie's eyes, but her lips remained curved upward. "Since you don't know why to move forward, then move forward to find the 'Land of Eternal Soul Sleep,' to speak with your 'mother one more time,' to walk your own 'path of light.'"
"To walk my own 'path of light,' huh... Yeah… That's pretty good! What a great idea!!"
The lost brilliance returned to Diego's eyes. Once again, he reclaimed that powerful will to survive, and from then on, that confident smile constantly appeared on his face.
"Thank you, Serie. Oh right, is there more hamburger steak? I suddenly feel a little hungry…"
"Huh…?"
...
—Central Nations, Foll Basin—
In the endless towering forest, a figure darted swiftly through the trees—it was Diego after parting with Serie.
[The specific location of the Land of Eternal Soul Sleep? I don't know. You'd have to ask Flamme about that.]
[Her notebook is in the Foll Basin, inside ruins entwined by a great tree. The perimeter has powerful barrier magic, but for you, that shouldn't be a problem, right?]
"That's right! Serie, of course I can break that powerful barrier. There's nothing I, Dio, can't do!" Diego's excited voice echoed through the jungle.
I, Dio, am no longer lost!
Off to the Land of Eternal Soul Sleep!
Lesson 4: Move forward for the brilliant path that belongs only to you.