I Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, But Before I Realized, I Became a Capture Target

“Then, if there really is a demon, then what’s written here must be true.”

Luca let his gaze fall on the letter as a crease formed between his brows. Was what was written there that hard to say?

Though we were curious, no one rushed him. Instead, we held our breaths in anticipation.

I, too, waited quietly until Luca raised his head once again.

“Cindy mentioned it before: that Soleil and Lune were lovers. The letter also states that they held a deep affection towards one another. It’s written that they were very close since a long, long time ago.”

A long time ago, in ancient times, before humans existed, strong beings that we’d now call gods roamed the earth. At times, these beings were friends, and at others, they were foes. And, after hundreds of millions of years in which they caused destruction and regeneration, the earth and the sea took on the shapes we know of today.

As various life forms began to evolve on the earth, these strong beings began to look after the weak existences born in their territories.

While at times they did fight, Soleil and Lune remained very close to one another, their territories standing one next to the other. Still interacting with their fellow gods, the two began to make small changes in their territories. Little by little they made it easier for the weak beings to live there.

When humans were first born, the territory of Soleil, who possessed the light attribute, became a land that was comfortable for humans and spirits to live in. Lune’s territory, as she had the dark and holy attributes, changed into the Great Forest and she made it a paradise for monsters and beasts.

As the days went by, the humans who had a high level of intelligence1, began to revere the strong beings. They called them gods and knew that many such gods existed in the world. They also gave the god who protected them a name.

The people of this land called him Soleil — the god of the sun, and approximately five thousand years ago the kingdom of Soleil was founded.

To Soleil’s lover they gave the name Lune — the goddess of the moon.

The sun and the moon. The people of the kingdom recognized the two as a pair and every day they sent them their gratitude, thanking the two for looking after them and allowing them to live a peaceful life.

The trouble began when, as time went by, humans started regarding Lune as a nuisance. They thought that Soleil should be the only god of Soleil kingdom; that Lune’s place was the Great Forest and the Great Forest alone.

That belief in a single god distorted and spread across the kingdom until, at some point, the people began to suspect that Lune was an evil being who planned to snatch away Soleil’s territory.

Then, around a thousand years ago, the royal family and four duke families of the time sent a large number of magic knights to kill the goddess. They claimed that it was for a good cause — to protect their country and their god from the Evil God.

Naturally, seeing as they were trying to kill his beloved, Soleil flew into a fiery rage. He wanted to exterminate the humans inhabiting his territory and to destroy the kingdom that was built. The one who stopped him from doing so was the one the humans tried to kill — the goddess Lune.

Lune liked humans. She liked the humans who had evolved little by little until they gained intelligence. The humans who had given her a name. The humans whose lives, unlike hers, were fleeting and flickered like a flame. Above all, she liked the humans in the kingdom who adored Soleil, whom she loved.

Soleil who wished to kill the humans and Lune who wished to protect them — the fight between the two gods escalated in the blink of an eye.

The spirits born of Soleil’s purifying essence killed the humans and the monsters born of Lune’s demonic essence protected them. Because of this, many a monster and spirit clashed and lost their lives. Of course, many humans did too.

After years of fierce battle, Lune came out on top.

Ironically, Soleil’s anger at the humans and the sadness he felt when his loved one rejected him became a source of power for Lune, who ruled over darkness. The grief and suffering of the creatures and humans who lost those they treasured fueled her as well. The dragons and demons that Lune steadily created, ultimately dealt the crushing blow to the spirits and restrained Soleil. A seal was placed on him. 

However, despite losing to Lune, Soleil did not forgive the humans. Though he was in a weakened state, sealed in a place where the sun couldn’t reach him, he used a tremendous amount of power to erect a barrier around the kingdom, allowing no one to leave its confines. Then, using his deep-seated grudge, he caused the earth to decay and attempted to kill the humans for sport.

In response, Lune hid the moon. She did it in order to strengthen the dark mana used to seal Soleil as much as possible so that the madness-stricken god could not escape. She did it in order to kill her own heart that tried to heal her lover with holy mana. 

The sun was indispensable to humans, but the moon… it didn’t matter if they couldn’t see it.

Lune then transformed Soleil’s hatred into demonic essence and summoned monsters throughout the kingdom to absorb it. By doing so, she stopped the earth from decaying. However, if she turned all of that hatred into demonic essence, the entire Soleil kingdom would have been overrun by monsters. She would exhaust her own power as well. Which was why, at times, she condensed the hatred and it became the Lumiere which she entrusted to the earnestly living humans and the world that was mother to them all.

The world heeded Lune’s ardent prayers and created the star fragments so that the kingdom would not fall into decay. In addition, twelve dungeons appeared throughout the kingdom. These were thought to be a result of the world taking Soleil’s feelings into account — a method to put the humans, the source of his anger, through trials and tribulations in order to hopefully appease some of his fury.

Speaking of the humans, by the time the battle between the two gods had come to an end, they were thoroughly exhausted. Throughout the kingdom, there was an uncountable number of deaths and many of the buildings had collapsed.

The royal family knew that it was their fault that so many people died and the kingdom fell into ruin. They knew it was Soleil who tried to destroy them and Lune who protected them. Still, they told the people that it was Lune’s fault, that she had run wild. They feared that if they told the people, who believed in Soleil as a single absolute being, that their god had tried to destroy them, it would only lead to more despair and more people would end their own lives. They also feared that if news were to spread that the royal family had tried to kill Lune, and in doing so had incited Soleil’s anger, the people may revolt. If that were to happen, the country and the people would become more impoverished and Soleil kingdom would completely fall into ruin. Therefore, there was no choice but to make Lune the bad guy.2

They told the people that Soleil sealed the Evil God and fell into slumber due to his weakened state. That the moon vanishing was evidence that he sealed the Evil God. And that for the sake of Soleil, who would recover one day, they should restore the country.

The humans that remained continued their lives while thanking Soleil and resenting the Evil God. The name Lune became taboo, and all the books that mentioned her were turned into ashes. Furthermore, the Great Forest of Lune, which had once bathed in the beautiful light of the moon, became the Great Forest of Etoille, as it fell into a deep darkness where only stars could sometimes be seen, after losing its master.

The fact that envoys from other countries had stopped coming was also blamed on Lune, and the people were unaware of the barrier Soleil had erected.

Like this, little by little, the kingdom of Soleil was rebuilt.

While the people did not know why the Lumiere suddenly appeared in the royal castle, and were confused as to why the interior of the dungeons had changed, hatred spilled out of the Lumiere, corroding the already half-destroyed castle. The demonic essence that Lune collected truly took on the form of a repulsive Evil God and became violent. Still, the humans desperately utilized their wit and barely managed to surpass their hardships.

Since then, about a thousand years have gone by. The kingdom of Soleil of today had a more developed civilization than before and was more prosperous than a thousand years ago. Fewer people died, and it became a peaceful place to live in.

However, the citizens living today didn’t know.

They didn’t know about the goddess Lune who has continued to protect them for a thousand years. And that even now, Soleil was trying to destroy them.