Chapter 155: Bad Bond (3)

The battle that began at dawn continued until the daybreak began to glow.

However, from the moment the Dregs of the Demon King descended, the world transformed into a night as dark as pitch.

Silence.

The Battlefield was unnervingly quiet, as if the darkness had swallowed even the sound itself.

Everyone stared at the grotesque mass of flesh.

Those who harbored the Light held their breath, while the heretics dropped to their knees and offered worship.

It took only a moment for the overflowing madness to incite the fight.

“Kh, kuhahaha!”

The heretics, their eyes rolled back, clashed with the magic of our allies.

If Faith had not been poured generously into both sides of the castle walls, all our forces would have likely been rendered incapable of combat.

The power of the Demon King, even at less than a fraction of a fraction of its original strength, was so malevolent that I realized belatedly I was stepping backward.

Step.

The creature took a step closer. Its fist-sized pupils repeatedly narrowed and dilated.

“Speak. Please answer. Father. Come with us.”

Whenever the creature opened its mouth, blackened, dead blood poured out in heavy drops.

My brow furrowed involuntarily at the nauseating sight.

“Even if you destroy this world, I will not be with the likes of you.”

Uuuu—

The creature let out a cry.

A bone-crushing sound resonated from the Demon King’s neck as it tilted its head.

“Why? Why? Why is that?”

“Because I cannot.”

I reached out and touched the creature’s face.

The sensation of the squelching blood was repulsive.

Immediately after, smoke rose from my hand.

It was hot.

The skin of my palm and the creature’s face began to sear together.

A relationship that only inflicted wounds upon one another.

That was the reality for me and the Demon Realm.

We were merely an inevitable ‘counter-nature’ to each other, never possessing the quality to coexist.

They surely knew this as well.

Despite knowing, they simply craved it endlessly.

“Go back. Stop this ridiculous joke and rot in the Demon Realm. Leave this world alone now.”

I repeated the warning I had given before.

I knew well enough that by now, it sounded more like a plea.

However, my desperation did not seem to reach the twisted being.

“No. I’m going to kill everyone. I’ll crush half of Father too. I’ll drag you to the Demon Realm. I’ve waited thousands of years. I will take you back.”

And its plea did not reach me either.

In this way, even our hearts merely ran along parallel lines.

We could not understand each other.

To consider their feelings, there was too much resting upon my shoulders.

“Then you’ll have to kill me first. For I will stop you.”

“I don’t want to kill Father. I’ll only crush half. So you can never leave again.”

Uuu—uuuuu…

While loud explosions rang out in the surroundings, only that gloomy voice remained stuck in my ears.

The creature took another step closer.

“Are you going to kill me? Do you want to kill me? I am the first child Father created. Are you going to kill me?”

As if it had already assumed the answer, there was something pitiful about the creature’s question.

I silently raised my Sword.

If I had to answer, I would say no.

“You all must pay the price. The sin of killing countless lives and throwing the world into chaos.”

“Death is too light a price to pay for those sins.”

The Demon King and the beings of the Demon Realm would have to live on, unable to die, in eternal atonement.

And I, too, would have to be punished.

For I was the root of every incident.

The conversation ended there. There was nothing more to say to dregs that weren’t even the main body.

Slice—

I raised the Sword and slashed across.

Blood erupted like a fountain from the split mass of flesh.

“Father.”

I swung the Sword once more.

The neck was severed, and the Star of the Hero was driven into its chest.

“Father.”

The creature did not attack me.

It simply watched its own body being hacked away.

Then, the corners of its mouth suddenly twitched.

It was a clear sneer.

“Is this your full strength? Is this truly the best you can do?”

“You cannot stop us with just this—”

“Just sit still and watch the destruction of the world—”

Words like curses rang incessantly from the creature’s mouth.

However, I had long since closed my ears.

‘It doesn’t feel like I’m cutting it at all.’

The Demon King’s flesh was soft.

Even when I cut through it as if slicing water, it healed instantly.

Sssss—

I channeled my Faith. Smoke rose where the Light touched the creature’s blood and skin.

Woooom—

I combined four versions of the Star of the Hero atop the Bad Bond.

I wove the Aura of Faith into that massive Star.

Then, I layered the Aura once more.

As the tip of the Star pointed toward the sky, a single pillar of light shot up into the pitch-black heavens.

“I wonder if you’ll be able to take this so casually.”

I swung the Star down with all my might.

The Demon King’s body was split in half along the trajectory.

The pillar of light wrapped around the Star completely swallowed the creature.

The aftermath of that single strike swept across the entire Battlefield, causing the fighting heretics to vomit blood and collapse.

“Waaaaah!”

The Wizards of the castle let out a roar, their fighting spirit bolstered.

However, I did not take my eyes off the Demon King.

“Uuu, uu…!”

From its hideous head down to its crotch.

The Demon King, split down a single line, trembled.

Soon, the creature’s body began to regenerate while gradually shrinking.

Was it finally taking some damage?

“Good! This is good! Light! Light!”

“Crazy bastard.”

The Demon King burst into mad laughter.

It reached out with both hands toward the Light that had torn apart the flesh it had manifested in, looking delighted.

Yes. This was another reason why we could not be together.

The Five Creations of the Demon Realm do not consider pain to be pain.

Since they do not know their own pain, they cannot fathom the pain of others.

“More… give me more. It’s the Light I’ve waited thousands of years for. Uuuuu!”

As the creature rolled its eyes toward the sky, something foul flowed from its lower half.

I gritted my teeth and charged.

If you want it that much, I’ll give you plenty.

I can give it to you until your stomach bursts.

Slash—

Dirty blood flowed and flowed, soaking the entire Battlefield.

Every time I swung my Sword, a wave of Light purified the Battlefield.

A repetition of infection and purification.

In that process, the ones who began to tire quickly were neither me nor the Demon King.

It was the Wizards who were engaged in their own battles.

Whether they saw it as Light or Darkness.

The Wizards, who had crossed between heaven and hell countless times, spat out blood.

Even with blood-soaked mouths, they screamed and wove their magic.

Before long, their fight would reach its conclusion.

I only needed to focus on my own battle.

“I missed this. I was so jealous that only Kalgos got to enjoy the Light. I wanted to play too. How did Kalgos die? Did he die buried in the Light?”

The bloated Demon King had transformed to a point where it looked pathetic.

Now, its physical form was slightly smaller than mine.

Nevertheless, those slimy corners of its mouth curved into an arc.

Woooooom—

The Bad Bond reacted to the Demon King’s words.

I intentionally overlaid more Light to hide the Bad Bond.

“Kalgos cried a lot. Yes. He cried so much that a sea of blood was created. The Plagues born from that blood became Kalgos’s subordinates.”

“I was jealous of Kalgos. So I created many living things too. Just as Father created us. I decorated them as best as I could in my own way.”

The creature, which had not counterattacked a single time until now, approached me.

“I wanted to show Father. I wanted to show you that I did Father’s work for you. I wanted to be praised.”

Because the creature was pure evil, it did not commit evil because it wanted to be wicked.

It was exactly like a young child.

“Uhi! Giehee!”

Whatever was so funny, it even covered its mouth and giggled.

“You’ll like it. Instead of this strange world, let’s live together in the place I decorated. Let’s get rid of this place.”

“I believe I’ve already told you.”

“Mhm. You told me. So I’m telling you too. I’m going to destroy this world. I’ll crush Father in half and lock you away.”

Communication was impossible.

Children are bound to throw tantrums.

The reason that is tolerated is that they are children—weak and fragile.

But the Demon King was not like that.

Because it was pure, it was a disaster in itself.

Thrust—

I plunged the Star of the Hero into it.

The Demon King shuddered with joy and grew a bit smaller.

Whirrrr, whirrrr—

The four rings woven from Faith rotated.

A flame brighter than Alan’s Light of Purification flared up.

“Aya! Aya!”

The creature, caught in the flames, let out an exclamation.

As much as the sparks flared brightly before dying out, the creature grew smaller and smaller.

And in the end, it truly became the size of a five-year-old child.

“King…”

Kalgos muttered.

His deeply sunken voice resonated only within the Bad Bond.

His eyes were fixed on the Demon King.

A King who looked that joyful was rare, at least in Kalgos’s memory.

Actually, the most recent time was when they had finally found the Father they thought had disappeared.

Slash!

Richard’s Sword cut the King countless times.

The blood pouring down was far less than the waves of Light erupting from his strike.

Kalgos quietly watched the scene.

That King was, after all, nothing more than a very small fragment broken off from the main body.

‘Are you truly happy?’

‘Even after receiving those cold sword strikes?’

‘Even under the icy gaze of Father?’

‘Is Your Majesty truly alright?’

Kalgos merely harbored questions.

He could not understand the smiling Demon King.

Did it not feel any pain at all?

The pain of the body being ground away by sword and magic, and the cold attitude of Father.

Was all that pain offset just by the fact that it could feel the Light?

Suddenly, Kalgos trembled.

Since when did I start considering such things?

The Demon King and the Grand Army commanders.

Just because they were the Five Creations did not mean there was any bond or friendship between them.

They did not know the emotions of others.

They only asserted their own feelings toward Father.

If they felt pity, it was toward themselves.

If they felt sadness, that too was lamenting their own situation of being abandoned by Father.

That was why they were evil.

Yet, what was this emotion now?

A sense of displeasure filled Kalgos’s eyes.

He thought he had been tainted while staying with the Hero, that he had caught it while merely watching those pathetic humans trapped in the Sword.

He let out his anger that way.

It was then.

Richard picked up the Demon King, who had become as small as a toddler.

“Uu… Father?”

The Demon King laughed.

Smoke rose from Richard’s body as he held the creature.

‘What on earth are you planning to do…’

The Demon King could be defeated very soon.

What was the intention of Richard, who had suddenly stopped his attack?

Kalgos watched him intently.

Then, his eyes widened.

“It is my karma. I will accept it like this. From now on as well.”

The form of the Demon King held in his arms became blurred.

The darkness, which had transformed into smoke, began to flow into his body.