From Trash to Demon Lord: I Can Turn Heroines Into Villainesses

Chapter 95: Tyler’s Dream [2]

Tyler remained frozen.

In front of him, Aurelius and Solarian continued moving small pieces across the strange board while calmly arguing with one another.

It was impossible to believe those cities, mountains, and forests represented real places.

And yet...

Something deep inside him insisted they did.

Those men weren’t simulating a war.

They were playing one.

Tyler swallowed.

’...What kind of monsters are they?’

Aurelius laughed again.

"I just took another one of your cities."

Solarian shook his head.

"You’ve only won a single battle. Wars are won one battle at a time."

Yamila sighed once more.

"You’re both impossible."

Tyler blinked, and for a brief instant, the world before him changed.

◇◆◇

When he opened his eyes again, the garden was gone.

Now he stood inside an enormous circular hall.

The ceiling stretched so high it nearly disappeared into the shadows.

White columns surrounded the entire chamber.

At its center stood a massive round table.

Seven people sat around it.

Tyler immediately recognized three of them.

Aurelius, Solarian, and Yamila.

He recognized another as well.

Little Nox was no longer a child.

Now he looked around fifteen or sixteen years old.

His messy black hair remained the same.

The marks on his forehead were far more pronounced.

And he wore the same confident smile as Aurelius.

The other three were complete strangers.

One of them was completely bald, wearing little more than a pair of short cloth pants, his feet bare.

He looked unbelievably relaxed, as though nothing in the universe could ever worry him.

Beside him sat a woman with long green hair dressed in an elegant black suit.

Her arms were crossed as she stared at the board with obvious boredom.

And the last...

Was an enormous man with a thick beard and long hair.

His clothes were old, torn, and covered in dirt.

He looked more like a wandering beggar than a god.

Tyler slowly walked around the table.

No one seemed capable of noticing his presence.

’I’m definitely still inside the memory...’

Then Yamila spoke again.

"You shouldn’t keep doing this."

Everyone barely lifted their heads.

The goddess rested both hands on the table.

"This started as nothing more than a game."

She looked at each of them in turn.

"And now you’ve all become far too competitive."

No one answered.

She continued.

"You’re destroying the very world that worships you."

The bald man let out a yawn.

"Relax."

He scratched the back of his head.

"We can always reset Relictia."

Tyler felt a chill run down his spine.

"..."

The man continued speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"We’ll redistribute the territories."

He shrugged.

"And start a new match."

The green-haired woman chuckled softly.

"Of course."

She slowly shook her head.

"You’d love that."

The bald man raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because you always lose."

Her smile widened.

"You’re terrible at this."

The man made a face.

"I’m not that bad."

She answered immediately.

"Yes, you are."

Then she pointed at the board.

"Amon."

Tyler immediately memorized the name.

’Amon...’

"You always end up losing half your territory."

The bald man crossed his arms.

"That’s not my fault."

"Of course."

She replied.

"It’s never your fault."

Young Nox burst into laughter.

"HAHAHAHA!"

He pointed directly at the bald man.

"Astraea’s right."

Tyler stored away another name.

’Astraea...’

Nox continued laughing.

"You’re awful at this game."

Amon snorted.

"Quit bothering me, kid."

The young demon kept smiling.

"You can’t even keep track of your own cities."

"Because I don’t care."

"That much is obvious."

The bearded man let out a deep laugh.

"Leave him alone."

He looked toward young Nox.

"You shouldn’t be making fun of him either."

The boy turned his head.

"Why?"

"Because you’ve been playing for the shortest amount of time."

The man rested both arms on the table.

"And yet..."

He glanced at the young man’s board.

"...you’re already almost at Aurelius’s level."

The white-haired god smiled proudly.

"He learns quickly."

Nox answered with an even bigger grin.

"I’ve got a good teacher."

Aurelius raised his cup.

"I’ll drink to that."

The two clinked their cups together.

Tyler watched the entire scene in complete bewilderment.

He decided to keep circling the table.

Then he realized something.

Each of them had a different board.

But they were all connected.

The edges fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

They formed one enormous map.

Tyler felt another chill.

’...Relictia.’

Now he could see it clearly.

The frozen mountains.

The volcanoes.

The deserts.

The forests.

The plains.

Everything was there.

Each god seemed to control a different region.

They moved tiny pieces.

Tiny armies.

Tiny cities.

As if they were nothing more than game pieces.

Tyler felt his stomach tighten.

’They’re not playing a game... Relictia IS the board.’

He slowly raised his gaze.

They all continued arguing exactly like ordinary people.

As though discussing the fate of millions of lives was an everyday occurrence.

Yamila spoke once more.

"I don’t want to reset the world again."

Everyone fell silent.

The goddess took a deep breath.

"We’ve already done it too many times."

Aurelius raised an eyebrow.

"And what’s the problem?"

"The problem..."

she replied,

"...is that every reset destroys everything."

The bearded man stroked his beard.

"But that’s how every match works."

Solarian slowly nodded.

"When one war ends..."

He looked at the enormous board.

"...the next one has to begin from the beginning."

Yamila shook her head.

"No."

Her voice became much firmer.

"Relictia isn’t a toy."

Amon let out another yawn.

"I disagree."

Astraea joined the discussion.

"We could simply redraw the territories."

Aurelius immediately shook his head.

"No."

Everyone looked at him.

"I want to keep Frostgard."

Solarian answered calmly.

"I intend to keep my domains as well."

The bearded man gently tapped the table.

"Then let’s vote."

Amon raised a hand.

"I vote to reset."

Astraea shook her head.

"I don’t."

Solarian remained thoughtful.

"We could redistribute only some of the regions."

Aurelius smiled.

"As long as I keep mine."

Young Nox seemed to enjoy every second of the discussion.

He smiled.

He interrupted.

He moved small pieces across his board.

As though he were truly playing a game.

Tyler remained perfectly still.

Watching him.

’...No. This can’t be real.’

He looked back at Yamila.

She was the only one who seemed genuinely uncomfortable.

The only one who wasn’t smiling.

The only one who appeared worried about the people living on that board.

While the others discussed strategies...

She silently watched the map.

As though every city represented something far more important than a single space on a board.

Tyler felt a strange sensation.

’Then... was she really different?’

He didn’t have time to think any further.

Because young Nox had just moved another piece and smiled exactly like Aurelius.

"Heh."

He looked up.

"I think this time... I’m going to conquer all of Relictia."

The others burst into laughter.

And Tyler felt as though he had just witnessed the true origin of the world’s tragedy.

There were no wars fought for ideals.

Nor for justice.

Nor for survival.

There were wars...

Because the gods were bored.