Chapter: 634
Adri opened the way, but that didn’t mean the path was smooth.
From the perspective of the Sorceress Duke, our existence was something to be avoided up close.
He twisted the royal palace into various shapes to block us at all costs.
So, we smashed everything that got in our way.
“Restoring the royal castle will take decades!?”
“Not collapsing would be a miracle!”
The sorcerers charging at us were suppressed by the First Cry of the Ancestor and Adri’s necromancy. The knights entranced by black magic were subdued by the clergy. And then…
“We can’t go!”
The knight commander, captured with great effort to the point even the Saintess’s purification wouldn’t save him, insisted.
“Why can’t we go? This place will become my castle.”
“Second Prince, I’ve told you countless times to carry yourself properly.”
The Second Prince and Second Queen blocked our way.
“Ahem. I’m sorry, Mother. It’s just unfamiliar.”
“Not ‘Mother,’ but ‘Second Queen.’ You will soon be a king; please.”
“Shut up! Puny!”
“…This human really has no dignity from the start. Good, I’ve wanted to take him down for a while.”
“Mother?”
“Cecil, draw your weapon. We’re going in Bedpur style.”
“Sounds fun!”
As we charged forward, clearing one obstacle after another, I sensed a chilling presence in the distance.
Some might call it death, others despair, some the end of the world, and others an enemy; for me, it was just an annoying obstacle.
Damn Agra.
The moment I felt that presence, I poured all my strength into running forward, smashing the walls and sending the enemy flying beyond.
“The will of Lord Jushin is quite the pain in the ass.”
But to think that scrawny guy would be the King.
“Are you not the Apostle of God? Don’t you think so?”
And to think it was the King who had already completed a contract with the Evil God Agra.
“Are you scared? Where did your usual chattering mouth go?”
The Fairy Queen was sweating profusely. A clear sign that she bore the Authority of the Evil God. Otherwise, that playful aunt wouldn’t be so cautious.
“Ha. You don’t know how torturous it’s been to face you.”
Though his physical body was withered, his physical abilities were probably impressive. More than the average mid-boss level of Rene. It wouldn’t be easy for me to claim victory now.
“I can finally repay you.”
On top of that, according to Duke Kurten, the King, though lacking in physical abilities, had a brilliant mind.
He likely mastered both magic and black magic to compensate for his shortcomings. Enough to face off against considerable strong opponents.
“You’re trembling. How amusing. Do you feel fear as well?”
So then.
“Ah~♡ It’s so hard to hold back my laughter~♡”
“…Huh?”
The opponent in front of me was a boss I had never faced even once, and yet…
“Peanuts are hereditary, huh?♡”
Not an absurd opponent like the God of Darkness, making me feel there was no answer.
“You must’ve had a tough time buttering up a guy like this, huh?♡ The delusional queen♡”
An enemy that had its own strategic interest.
“Ha! Yeah! You were always like this!”
“Trying to act composed when your shaking is so obvious♡ It’s a complex, huh?♡ Hearing laughter every night must leave you with nightmares~♡”
“Good. I’ll get some enjoyment out of repaying the humiliation I suffered for the legendary knight.”
I raised my shield and tightened my grip on the mace. Just then, as if they’d been waiting, fairies slipped out of my hair and surrounded me.
– Did you keep it in your heart?
– So petty.
– You’re pathetic.
– Disqualified as a man.
“Ha! Go ahead and chatter. Even your queen fears me! What can you pitiful creatures do!?”
“If the queen can’t do it, then the king should be able to.”
The one who appeared in the void was Erginius, casually moving next to the queen and putting a hand on her shoulder.
Why is he so natural!?
What the heck?!
You weren’t like this before!
You’re a fake! The real Erginius wouldn’t act like this!
[Right! This makes no sense! How would that sympathy guy do something like this!]
‘Sym… No way!’
Erginius grinned as he looked at me.
Dare I hope it was a victory smile? His hands are trembling like crazy, though!?
“O great Great Wizard and now one with the God of Darkness. If you intervene, this situation will be easily resolved. But is that still alright? The balance between us will surely collapse.”
“You’ve gained knowledge from the Evil God.”
“Because that was the agreement.”
As the king openly laughed, Erginius matched him with a grin.
“Balance can be maintained by either adding more or subtracting.”
“Yes. That’s the nature of subtraction. So, what will you take away?”
“I’ve already lessened it. By the grace of the great Lord Jushin.”
Lord Jushin? Shoddy Lord Jushin? Why is that name coming up?
*
“Karia, you must know. The king fears death.”
“Yeah. Of course, I knew. He’s a man who almost died countless times due to his illness.”
The king was a man who was believed could never become a king.
With a frail body from birth, he attracted numerous diseases, and even though he received all kinds of treatment due to his royal blood, he went through life-and-death crises multiple times.
Though he always smiled on the outside, he was internally plagued by the threat of death.
Karia knew this, but didn’t take it seriously.
Fearing death was a natural human instinct, and fundamentally, the king was a great leader who guided the nation to peace.
“Did I misjudge?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible. I’m certain I can read all the thoughts of my opponent.”
“When one emotion is intense, can’t you also read its branches?”
“Of course.”
“If that intense emotion is passionate love, can you still read it?”
Karia was about to nod in agreement, but then paused and frowned.
Of course, if one focuses, they can discern it too.
However, in my case, the king and queen were not surveillance targets, but those I needed to protect. I didn’t need to scrutinize them that closely.
“Right?”
“I’ll admit it. I made a mistake. So, from the start, the king intended this, right?”
“Think about it. Would I have found a doll like myself, crushed and buried deep, by mere coincidence long ago?”
“…Was it part of a struggle to escape death?”
“Exactly. The king has always sought to evade death by any means necessary.”
His efforts blossomed after he attained understanding of the legacy left by Erginius, by gaining access to the Evil God’s methods.
The power over endings. The strength to end someone or to indefinitely delay someone’s end.
The king approached that power. Planning everything to wield it.
“…Wait. Hey. Crazy girl. If that’s true, then doesn’t the king totally not suit the country?”
“Yes. I would think so. Honestly, I think it’d be best to just kill him for the kingdom’s sake.”
“But why are you following him? You’re literally a crazy girl who doesn’t know anything but the kingdom!”
“Karia, I’m a doll made with no human heart. I was designed to follow only the rules given. I am different from you who were born with emotions and have become dulled.”
Humans are born with emotions.
That’s why they become dulled. Feelings of dislike and feelings of love. The thrill diminishes enormously compared to the beginning. Unbeknownst to them, they forget the very first feeling.
However, the First Queen, the watcher, was not a doll. She still remembered the moment she became aware of the beat of her heart.
“The human heart is indeed a troublesome thing, and precisely because it is troublesome, it is beautiful. So much so that one cannot ignore it or gloss over it.”
Knowing that it was wrong, she still couldn’t block the king.
Moreover, knowing that it was wrong, knowing that his actions would ruin the nation, she thought she had to stop him.
“So, I willingly threw myself away, hoping fate would decide everything.”
“You’re so reckless. You trashy girl.”
“Not so much, right? In the worst case, the leaders of the kingdom are right here.”
At that point, the dukes finally understood that the reason they were trapped in this place was both due to the blockage of power and also for future provisions.
“In the end, all we can do is pray.”
Duke Partlan chuckled lightly and raised a prayer to the darkness, toward the greatest god he knew.
*
Until now, the shoddy Lord Jushin, who hadn’t said a word, was suddenly mentioned, making me tilt my head when friends arrived from behind.
Phoebe, who had been carried by Frey, cautiously landed on the floor, slightly blushing, and stepped forward.
“I thought the warmth of the Lord had weakened at some point; was this the preparation for that?”
Oh! Really!?
So that loud and meddling shoddy attention-seeking God was actually quiet for this reason!
I thought he was crumpled up by that jerk Agra!
“Yes. Saintess of the Lord. However, I am not at the level to defeat that person. If I were, I would have already taken that person’s head off.”
Erginius’s words held not a hint of false bravado. A magician who had opposed a god while in human form had acquired the authority of that god.
If he set his mind to it, a trash mob like the king would disappear in an instant.
“Even so, don’t you dare relax, King. This balance belongs solely to the gods. Your fate is a mere sideshow.”
“…What do you want to say?”
“To put it simply, if you don’t comply with my proposal, you die. No matter how you try to prank around, you die. Even if you try to escape this situation by relying on the Evil God, you die.
I’ll swear by the magic I’ve built up to now. I will ensure your death, no matter what it takes. Even if it means passing on the baton to Agra.”
The withered body of the king trembled. Understanding, thanks to borrowing the authority of a god. He knew he couldn’t escape the fate of death.
“Yet it’s unfair like this. Therefore, I shall take on the role of supervisor.”
“Supervisor? What suddenly?”
“Socially awkward loser. Can you make it understandable?”
“Erginius! The first letter just vanished!”
“…D-Do we need to bring it up?”
“Of course! It’s our achievement!”
“No. Uh… Ahem! To put it simply, everyone present here is to become the representatives of the gods! It’s a duel between the representatives of the Evil God and the True God!”
The Apostle of the Evil God Agra versus the Apostle of the Lord Armadi.
A duel between those representing each deity.
“Hero! Defeat the Demon King to save the world! Demon King! Defeat the Hero to survive!”
As Erginius, wielding the Authority of Darkness, stood between them, neither Agra nor Armadi could move.
If it tilted further towards Armadi, Erginius would end the match; if it tilted toward Agra, the match itself would revert to square one.
“I will not allow anyone to escape this match. Trash.”
“A match, huh? Understood. If that’s the only way, I’ll willingly comply, but there’s a missing part. The category of the contest.”
“If it’s between the hero and the demon king, isn’t there only one?”
The dungeon.
“Go ahead, shape the battlefield as you wish, Demon King.”
Erginius smiled at me.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.