Demon king.
The one who brings chaos.
The one who creates magic.
The one who reaps the darkness abandoned by the gods.
And the final boss of the game ‘Raising a Warrior’ that I possessed.
An entity that I must join forces with, aiming to kill the hero and achieve the destruction ending.
I know it, but
I know it well in my head,
My body won’t move.
I’m suffocating. I can’t even twitch a finger.
It’s not just a degree of being oppressed by energy.
Overwhelmed.
It felt like a huge rock, no, a towering mountain, was pressing down on my body.
How arrogant have I been?
Thinking I could control this demon as I wished.
Everything has gone according to my plan so far, giving me a sense of contentment.
“Kugh…”
I tried to breathe by scraping the dirt floor with my fingernails.
‘I can’t lose consciousness here.’
Nothing is more disgraceful than that.
I looked at the frozen Merdes while sitting there, and then I traced the traces of the demon in his two eyes.
Right now, I am facing the demon.
Thanks to that, I’m not fainting immediately, despite encountering such tremendous magic.
So, I needed to adapt to this energy as quickly as possible.
I discovered and observed the demon lord in Merdes’ eyes. It was somewhat readable due to appearing distorted once.
“Cough!”
Of course, it was straining my body.
But I can’t retreat here.
Otherwise, the demon will lose interest and leave.
I waited three years to encounter the demon.
I can’t let it pass like this.
Despite the blood from the hand gripping the floor, I paid no attention.
That’s when it happened.
[SYSTEM]
Your savior appears!
Suddenly, the system window appeared.
[SYSTEM]
<Function: Defense> Artifact activated! (49/100)
The same light as the system window I’ve seen before enveloped my body. Breathing became easier; it seems this artifact can block magic.
“Haah… Phew…”
After wiping away the blood droplet from my lips with the back of my hand, I slowly raised my gaze.
Then, I turned my head towards the demon lord.
In his purple eyes, the moment I was captured was when life returned to his seemingly dull and empty gaze.
“…..”
As our eyes met, breathing became even more difficult. A sense of terror, as if denying existence itself, was felt. My hands, feet, and body trembled involuntarily.
Am I going to die?
Scenes of my death replayed incessantly in my mind. Dying by sword, magic, strength… I saw myself dying over and over again.
I’m going to die.
I couldn’t even think of closing my mouth and kept my eyes tightly shut.
Right at that moment,
“My Lord!”
As soon as I heard the familiar voice, the oppressive force around my throat weakened.
“Cough! Keuk!”
Thanks to that, I could expel the fear in my mind and hunched over, coughing endlessly.
“No, what on earth are you doing! If you release magic like this, humans… Isn’t that you, Shekina? And Merdes?”
The one who rushed over was Lyat.
“What on earth are you two doing here? No, how did you come out of the demon castle?”
His presence has never been so welcome. Haha, now I can finally breathe.
“This is…”
The demon’s voice echoed, but I couldn’t even raise my head properly.
“Is this what you mentioned, ‘it’?”
“Ah… Yes, that’s correct.”
“Is that so?”
But I could hear it. The subdued laughter hidden in his words.
“Interesting.”
It’s over now.
At least I won’t die.
As soon as I thought that, I lost consciousness.
Ah… When I wake up, I should thank Lyat.
***
During a time when the moon is halfway covered by thin clouds.
Martin stands silently beside the bed, where the moonlight shines on only half.
Shekina lies on the bed. Judging by her irregular breathing, it seems she is still being oppressed by the demon’s magic.
“… Baby.”
He was truly feeling helpless for the first time in a long while.
What if he hadn’t been sleeping?
What if he had been by Sekina’s side?
What if they had gone to the territory together? If they had, this wouldn’t have happened.
Martin is a demon.
A species under the rule of the demon.
That’s why he sincerely serves and believes in the demon.
That’s why, for hundreds of years, Martin, who has been by the demon’s side, has never once opposed the demon’s will. He has never questioned the demon’s intentions. Just obeying and doing as commanded.
But why does he feel so stifled now? Why is he angry? Why does he want to go to the demon?
“Hoo.”
Martin sighed deeply and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. He cautiously reached out his hand toward Sekina. However, his hand didn’t touch Shekina. She was too small compared to him.
A baby this small…!
Martin unknowingly bit down hard on his trembling lips.
That was when.
“Relax a bit, Commander.”
Arthur’s voice echoed. Instead of replying, Martin withdrew the hand that had reached out to Shekina.
“Lady Sekina will be fine.”
Arthur approached and sat on the opposite edge of the bed, saying,
“Lyat told me. The demon king seems to find Lady Shekina interesting.”
Martin slightly furrowed his brow.
Interesting?
When the child is in pain like this, only interesting?
He felt the chill at his fingertips.
“Shekina is just a baby.”
“Yes, she is young.”
“Yet the demon king hasn’t withdrawn his power from her.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Martin slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and rose slowly.
“It’s the first time.”
He clenched the hand resting on his thigh tightly.
“That I’ve been so angry.”
Then, he stood up.
As if he would leave for somewhere, as if he would never come back once he opened that door.
Arthur quickly grabbed his wrist.
“You shouldn’t go.”
“Let me go.”
“The demon king is not in a good mood due to the visit from the priests. If you go, you’ll die.”
“I know.”
“If the commander dies, I will become the commander, but if that happens, the First Legion will be too weakened. I’m on par with other commanders.”
“I told you to let me go.”
“Commander.”
Arthur held onto Martin with an unusually stern expression, and a deep concern marked Martin’s face.
“The baby is in pain. But if I can’t say a single word, it’s powerless.”
This emotion was unprecedented.
What should it be called? Is it anger, or sadness? No words can fully express these emotions. It’s the first time in my life I’ve felt such emotions.
Therefore, Martin couldn’t withdraw further.
For Shekina, who, like a desert, brought forth a drop of emotion to his parched demon heart.
“Let me go.”
“Huh…”
Arthur bowed deeply, shaking his head. Frowning with a groan, he knit his brows.
“Then I’ll go too.”
“You…”
“I’m in a state as angry as the commander. Do you want me to do nothing but die? Let’s die cleanly, shall we.”
At Arthur’s casual response, Martin found himself chuckling involuntarily.
Yes.
They, or rather, he, for the first time considered defying the demon king.
With their lives as a pledge.
“Woo…”
However, there was something holding them back.
It was the sound of Shekina’s whimpering.
“Lady Shekina?”
“Baby?”
Shekina hadn’t fully regained her senses. She blinked her groggy eyes, staring at Arthur and Martin rushing towards her.
“What nonsense are you two blabbering about… Where do you think you can go…”
Shekina, who had overheard their conversation in a half-asleep state, mumbled.
“It’s fine if you want to go. I’m okay with it.”
Pulling at their sleeves, Shekina raised her head.
“Don’t bother the demon king too much… If you do, you won’t see either of us again.”
Before they could respond, Sekina fell into a deep sleep like an extinguished candle.
Martin and Arthur couldn’t say anything.
No, they didn’t even think about saying anything.
It was the first time.
It was the first time the situation where others cared for them, considered them, was happening.
Another emotion welled up.
What could this feeling be? The name of this warm, precious, and irreplaceable emotion.
“…”
Without anyone prompting, they both sat back down on Shekina’s bed.
And for a long time, they gazed at the gradually clearing sky.
Until Shekina fully recovered.
***
I sighed deeply and savored the sensation of waking up. Although my eyes were still closed, I felt more alert.
“Seems like I slept longer than I thought.”
Given the stiffness in my body, it seemed like I had easily slept for two days.
But that was to be expected.
Facing that ‘demon king’ directly was indeed a stroke of luck.
Just being alive was something to be grateful for.
‘Boasting so much in front of the demon king, and now I’ve fallen like this.’
But failures are the stepping stones to success.
Having faced such an incident due to underestimating the demon king, I should be cautious from now on.
‘I can do this!’
Thinking that way, I opened my eyes in a flash.
Immediately, I saw Arthur and Martin.
“Huh?”
“Shekina?”
“Baby?”
Wondering why they were on the same bed, I suddenly recalled what I overheard in my half-asleep state.
– The baby is in pain. But if I can’t say a word, it’s useless.
– I’m as angry as the legion commander. I might as well go and express my anger.
They were talking about going to the demon king with my collapse.
‘Are they crazy?’
I remember barely holding back the urge to swear and stopping them.
Thankfully, seeing them alive meant they hadn’t gone to the demon king.
‘Neither of them is in their right mind.’
Why did they choose to go to the demon king when they knew they would die if they raised their opposition?
I tsk–tsked and raised my gaze to say something to them.
However…
“Uh, uh?”
Unintentionally, I was taken aback and made a strange sound.
There was no other choice.
And at that time I see Arthur,
“Why… are you crying?”
He was crying.
No, why was a demon crying?
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