According to the lore of the gods...
In ancient times, there was a magic sword forged by the ancient demons
to destroy the gods.
Come here, Cenetero.
How did those heavenly beasts enter?
They were unlikely to have entered.
The walls are a powerful curse against gods.
Um... What does that mean?
They must have been here before the walls were formed.
Oh, right. The wall was just formed in this age.
Could it be
that that god named Nous Galia
is still in the forest?
Please be at ease.
My liege ordered me to guard you.
I shall remain by you until the danger has passed.
Thank you.
You're stubborn, but you can be very kind.
If you think of it as such, then that is by my liege's grace.
Leno!
-Grandma! -Grandma's going to disappear!
She's going to end!
Let's see her off.
Grandma.
You've returned, Leno.
Oh?
It seems that we have some young visitors today.
What is your name?
Anoshu Polticoal.
I am the Tree of Great Wars, Migueronov.
The spirit which grants humans the knowledge to survive great wars.
Take one of my leaves.
I grant each of you knowledge in order to fight.
It seems that you do not need any.
They said you would end. Has your rumor and legend been lost?
It seems there were things I could teach beyond how to fight.
There is another time when a spirit can end.
That is, when it rebels against its own rumors and legends.
My legend is granting humans knowledge to fight demons.
But I granted knowledge in order for humans and demons to coexist.
Your leaves!
Grandma! I'm so sorry!
All because I asked for so much!
A tree of war will be forgotten when the war ends.
I was destined to end in any case.
Leno, a time will surely come when you will need to choose.
Huh?
To defend your rumor and legend,
or rebel against them to protect that which you love.
All spirits are destined to do so.
When you are uncertain, listen to your heart.
Spirits are not slaves to their legends.
Your heart will always be your own.
Grandma...
Protect that which you wish to protect.
I am satisfied, because soon, peace will finally come.
This is troubling.
I wanted to stop your tears, but I do not know the words to do so.
Hey Shin, did the Demon King tell you to console me?
Don't worry. I don't cry when I'm sad
because my tears become spirits.
When a child is born, I want to cry tears of joy!
It's big.
Is this...
I found a wonderful rumor.
A school from a time of peace.
The teacher, an old man, teaches all sorts of things.
The newest member of our family, the Tree of Education, Aniunien.
All violence is forbidden in this tree,
so there's no need to fear heavenly beasts.
So you can bring spirits into existence as you will?
I'm their mother, but I can't create them whenever I want.
I guess you could say it's when my emotions overflow?
There are spirits that are born without me involved.
-Leena, you must be one of them. -Okay.
Anoshu, are you going to be in Aharthern for long?
We would like to impose on you if you don't mind.
That's fine. We don't get many traveling performers. Everyone will be so happy.
You have my thanks.
Shin, come with me.
Lay, Misha, keep an eye on those two.
There is something I need to see.
-Okay. -Got it.
Only 100 books? Not many yet.
My apologies.
I am not yet prepared to educate.
Well, let's see if we can find it.
Zeshias.
Search for a green book.
The Love Fairy Flan is in it.
This big girl can do it.
Flan? The spirit that gives form to unfulfilled loves and binds them together?
Right. There was a book with a ripped page in this forest.
I thought we could see the page before it was ripped in this age.
I'll look after Zeshias. I'll let you know if we find anything.
You do that.
Shin, what were you going to do after you finished guarding me?
There is no point in living in an age without a master to serve.
I shall follow my liege in reincarnating 2,000 years in the future.
I see.
Then maybe gods hiding in this forest isn't all bad.
Why is that?
Because I can play with you a little longer.
Okay Shin, what are these?
I do not know.
They're called tear lilies. They're flowers that absorbed my tears.
Your tears became a tree earlier.
Right. When tear lilies live to bear seeds,
they turn rumors and legends into spirits.
That's why you need to give them lots of love, so they don't wilt.
Like this.
Okay. And next...
Shin, you try doing it too.
-Here. -Why me?
I think you should interact more with life and living things.
I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.
I have interacted with countless lives.
I don't mean it like that! Just do it! Here!
I suppose I must.
Wait, wait! Not like that Shin!
Love is really important for growing tear lilies!
Love?
Smile! Start with a smile!
Come on! You need to give them love!
Love! Be serious about it!
I do not know love.
That stubborn attitude isn't good!
Don't you love the Demon King Anos?
So you can water them with your love for the Demon King!
The Demon King is a great man who saved me.
I serve him not for love, but for a debt of gratitude.
My body, then and now, is naught but a sword.
-Do you mean... -Ah, found him!
-Found the old man! -Play with us! Play with us!
-Old sword man! -Let's play together!
You saved them earlier, so they like you now. See?
Come on, let's play tag with all the spirits!
Everyone, if you can run away from Shin for a minute,
he'll do anything you want!
Ready, go!
I shall refrain from doing so.
Oh?
So the Demon King Anos's right-hand man doesn't think he can catch a spirit.
-I see. -I cannot allow this to pass.
Shin, you're almost like a spirit.
What do you mean by that?
The spirit of a swordsman who forgot love.
I thought it might be a thing.
And that's one minute.
I believe I caught all of them.
You didn't. There's still one spirit left.
And it's me.
I can make no excuse.
Then what should I have you do?
-Mother Leno, Shin, a visitor has come. -Who is it?
He calls himself the Flaming Death King Erdomaid.
He wishes to speak with you regarding the gods.
Your business?
Now, now, why the scary face?
I have some news for you.
I know where the Heavenly Father God Nous Galia is.
He came to me with a proposal the other day.
His target is...
you, mother Great Spirit.
Nous Galia seeks to create a god child with you as its mother.
In order to destroy the Demon King Anos 2,000 years in the future.
And your answer?
Naturally, I responded with interest...
You truly are the Demon King's right-hand man.
To have a man like you serve him...
The Demon King Anos is truly respectable!
However, you must know that the Demon King has one fatal flaw!
My liege has no flaws.
Yes. Yes, yes! Precisely!
That is precisely his flaw!
The Demon King of Tyranny has no flaws!
He has so few flaws that none can be his enemy!
He needs an enemy!
In order to make him even more powerful! To make him the true Demon King!
I want to see that happen!
What is he talking about?
Erdomaid has always been such a child.
I gave him a light pat once, and he started challenging me at every chance.
With expectations for me which I can't understand.
-What do you think? -Creepy.
Yeah, same.
But he laughs with such joy each time he's defeated.
I can't bring myself to end him.
And that is why I am the Demon King's enemy for all time.
But I am also not allied with the gods.
Will the god child truly become a worthy enemy for him?
No, no, I have doubts. I still have doubts.
That is why I have told you Nous Galia's plot!
You will prevent the god child from being born at all costs!
If the Demon King's right-hand man and the Great Spirit cannot prevent its birth,
then it will surely be an enemy worthy of fighting him!
Until that moment, the Flaming Death King shall be your ally!
Shin, something's wrong with this man.
No need for distress. He is always so.
If the birth of the god child is prevented, he will lose interest.
Oh? I knew you would understand!
Take us to Nous Galia.
-Here? -Yes.
I cannot sense his presence.
Gods act in accordance with laws.
There are conditions for him to appear.
Now, to the center of the spring.
The Heavenly Father God Nous Galia is the law of creating gods.
Thus the condition is this.
The Flaming Death Hourglass.
When the sand finishes falling, the cursed one loses their life.
What is your intent?
The Great Spirit Leno will become the mother of the god child.
He will appear if I attempt to eliminate her.
I doubt he will appear for a farce.
Naturally, I do it with full intent to eliminate her.
If she meets her end, that is all the plot amounted to!
You are the Demon King's retainer!
She will become the mother of the god child!
Do you have a duty to protect her when she will bear a threat to your liege?
The reasoning of the weak.
My liege is not so weak as to require putting her life in danger
to defend himself.
Powerful, grand, magnificent!
This is the Demon King's right-hand man!
It would not be interesting otherwise!
The power of a god?
Precisely!
I lent my body to the wounded Nous Galia.
I predicted that if the body's owner died, he would be forced to surface,
and that is precisely what happened!
This was all calculated?
Yes. The god would appear whether Leno died or you killed me!
There was the chance that I would meet my end,
but such gambles are what men dream of!
Now come, Heavenly Father God Nous Galia!
Show me the power of a god!
If you do not,
the Flaming Death King will take your power for his... own...
God's word is absolute.
Foolish demon, kneel before me.
I only kneel before my liege.
Was your plan foiled by joining with the Flaming Death King?
All occurs in accordance with the gods' law.
Honor the gods... and fear them.
Shin!
What do you intend to do with a borrowed body?
That is disrespect, God-Killing Mad Sword.
So you gained a mind after the Demon King acquired you.
However, the emptiness in your chest will never be filled.
It seems you intend to be reincarnated,
but no matter if you are reincarnated,
no matter how much you wish for it, it is all futile.
In your heart, in your essence, the emotion of love does not exist.
Don't you say that!
Shin might be blunt and stubborn,
but he's far kinder than you'll ever be!
It seems you are unaware, Great Spirit Leno.
You are ignorant, so I grant you the gods' wisdom.
His essence is not one of a demon's.
It is a magic sword's.
The God-Killing Mad Sword, Shinreglia.
Long, long ago, the ancestors of the demons created it to fight the gods.
Provided mana from its wielder, the sword gained a demon's body.
But even if it gains a body and a mind, it will never gain love.
And only naturally.
Love cannot take root in a magic sword born to fight.
No matter how much it seeks and wishes for a heart,
its half-baked heart will forever be ravaged by emptiness.
A magic sword will always be a magic sword.
My body, then and now, is naught but a sword.
But give thanks now, God-Killing Mad Sword.
That which you sought but could never gain...
We who govern over laws can bestow that upon you.
I grant you love.
Raise the god child born of the Great Spirit Leno.
The universal law which destroys the Demon King.
I regret to inform you...
...that I have no need for love.
My body is but a single sword.
God's word is absolute. You cannot escape from the law...
I shall serve my liege for all eternity.
Together with the emptiness in my chest.
So he escaped.
Let us go.
Shin, thank you for protecting me again.
And...
I'm sorry.
What do you refer to?
I told you to get serious about the tear lilies...
I'm sorry.
Please be at ease. I cannot be hurt.
But you said that you were empty!
It is of no consequence...
You said that you were empty! That's of consequence to me!
I'll teach you love Shin.
I see no reason for that.
Because if you didn't protect me, you would've gained love!
You have no need for concern.
As that god stated, love is missing from my essence.
No, I think that you have a heart too.
It's just a little hard for you to find it.
I'll do my best, so stay with me.
Is that...
an order to guard you?
That's fine.
-As long as you'll do as I say. -As you wish.
"The Demon Realm Without the Demon King".