Chapter 158: Do Not Shoot! It’s the Saint! (3)

“Has that Saint fellow finally become a heretic?!”

Alan’s roar rang through the Gate.

No matter how much he tried to cover his hands with gloves, he couldn’t completely block the Demonic Energy that was seeping out bit by bit. It seemed he had been caught by Alan’s sharp senses.

“Richard! Answer me!”

The man growled like a drug-sniffing dog that had picked up a suspicious scent.

Ah.

I hadn’t expected this to happen.

While I was clicking my tongue inwardly, Alan pointed a pale, thin finger at me.

The flickering of the Light of Purification gradually grew violent.

The flames, which normally only felt warm, were exceptionally hot today.

‘Hmm. This might even hurt me.’

My skin was already starting to feel flushed.

Then, at some point, the heat suddenly vanished.

“Did you just dare call the Saint a heretic?”

A broad back blocked my view.

That familiar silhouette belonged to Aaron.

I couldn’t see his face, but it was impossible not to know that he was wearing a deep scowl.

“Get your finger out of here. Before I cut it off.”

Moritz had approached Alan at some point and held a Sacred Dagger against his finger.

A terrifyingly cold warning was added as a bonus.

I turned my head.

Gide was standing right behind me.

The tip of his lance gleamed sharply, as if it had discovered an enemy.

“Saint. Just give the order.”

“What order?”

“The order to bring that arrogant fool to his knees.”

The old Knight’s chilling voice pierced everyone’s ears.

In the midst of the rapidly cooling atmosphere, I rubbed my forehead.

Aaron, Moritz, and Gide were all extremely sensitive right now.

I knew it was because of me, but…

This was truly an absolute mess.

The surrounding Wizards were only rolling their eyes at this sudden confrontation.

“Stop. Everyone, stop.”

“You too, Alan, withdraw your power.”

While I was stopping the knights, Alisa calmed Alan down.

However, Alan didn’t seem to have any intention of quitting so easily.

“Richard! Explain yourself! Why do I feel Demonic Energy coming from you?!”

Whoosh!

The flames, which had briefly died down at Alisa’s intervention, flared up once again.

Despite asking for an explanation, his eyes already seemed to have labeled me a heretic.

Where does that damn guy think he’s pointing the Light of Purification?

I firmly held onto the faith within my body, which served as the fuel for the Light of Purification.

Then, the white flames that had been spreading like a forest fire died down in an instant.

“Hor’s Envoy did not permit the use of the Light of Purification. This should serve as proof of my innocence.”

“This…”

“I have embraced the darkness, but that does not mean I have become a heretic.”

Alan’s distorted face gradually relaxed.

However, the hostility remaining within him stayed sharp and showed no sign of fading.

In fact, it was easy to get out of this situation.

All I had to do was tell a small lie.

‘Hor’s Envoy gave me a revelation. I don’t know the details either; I’m just following it.’

If I said something like that, no one else would dare to comment further.

But I didn’t want to do that.

If I masked my darkening state as the execution of a revelation, my knights might end up resenting Hor.

These fools were closer to following me than they were to following Hor.

“I’ll say it again. I am not a heretic. I merely embraced it out of necessity.”

“Are you saying a Saint who serves the Light needs the darkness?!”

“Things happen in life.”

“Richard…”

As I endured Alan’s icy gaze, I surveyed the 2,000 troops he had brought with him.

As expected of the Heretic Inquisition Unit, there was no small amount of hostility mixed with confusion in their eyes as they looked at me.

‘Hmm, this is fine.’

Though it was a troublesome situation, I was satisfied with the hostility they displayed toward heresy.

The Heretic Inquisition Unit was formed by the Magic Houses of various countries.

In other words, it was the same as numerous nations providing military support to the Laplace Kingdom.

‘It’s about time.’

The war with Markus had been nothing more than an introduction.

It was now time to end it and move on to the main event.

***

The Demon Realm was red and dark.

Even when the Light resided there, it hadn’t changed at all; redness and darkness were the very nature of the Demon Realm.

“…”

The King was sitting in the place where he had been born.

Though he was the King who ruled the Demon Realm, there was no other place for the Demon King’s throne.

He had been born there, and he had become King there.

Thus, that place was the King’s Throne meant for the Demon King.

“Hehe, hehehe…!”

The Demon King laughed under his breath.

Among the thousands of years he had sat on the throne, a greater excitement than ever before tickled the King’s chest.

Every time he laughed with trembling shoulders, Demonic Energy erupted from his hideous body.

The Demonic Energy he exhaled was essentially the foundation that maintained the Demon Realm.

“Father!”

A voice full of joy vibrated through the red sky.

Anger, sadness, hatred, resentment, longing.

It was the first time since the beginning that ‘joy’ had spread through his heart, which had been filled only with all sorts of negative things.

That was why the King was even happier.

“Father accepted me…”

While continuing his ‘entertainment’ by imitating his Father, the Demon King received a gift like no other in the world.

He had planted pieces of himself by squeezing through the cracks of the Human Realm.

He had expected his Father to destroy those pieces.

However, for some reason, his Father had embraced the pieces with his whole body.

How could he not be happy?

Was he finally beginning to understand them now?

Did he intend to embrace them with love?

“Ah! Aaaaaah!”

The King cried.

They were not the tears of blood he had shed countless times, but tears of pure ecstasy.

‘What should I do?’

‘What should I do?’

‘When Father returns, should I accept him as if I’ve been waiting?’

‘Would it be okay to complain just a little bit about why he was so late?’

‘No, what if Father runs away again if I do that?’

The Demon King agonized with all his heart and soul.

The more he thought about it, the more he missed his Father intensely.

He wanted to see him in person, not through some mere fragment.

‘Please return quickly.’

‘No, no. I’ll go.’

‘I’ll destroy that useless world with you.’

‘And we’ll come back here together, holding hands tightly.’

Hehehe, hehe.

Happy imaginations continued endlessly.

Unable to control that feeling of happiness, the Demon King unintentionally bit his own finger.

His body flinched.

It was painful, even if only a little.

This was also an unfamiliar emotion.

The King, who had never considered pain as pain, felt physical pain for the first time in his life.

It was just when the King was poking at his wound out of curiosity.

*Thump. Thump.*

Something massive approached the King’s Throne.

『…..』

The second creation fashioned by Hor.

A pitiful being who had wailed in resentment toward the Father who left, and eventually lost its speech.

It possessed a body that resembled a Dragon.

Ominous Demonic Energy surged from its four wings and eight tails.

The slit pupils of the reptile gazed steadily at the King.

“No.”

“I’m going.”

The Demon King shook his head firmly.

However, the visitor who came for him was not just the second creation.

『 Your Majesty. 』

『 Hey! Not like this. 』

『 Dear first brother. Your beautiful little sister has come to visit you. 』

A woman with wings as black as a crow.

The fourth creation of Hor knelt before the Demon King.

Her coquettish voice was nothing but awkward.

『 I greet the King. 』

Then, a boy who looked to be about 6 years old approached.

He was the fifth creation.

The horns, which were unusually large compared to his small head, bowed toward the ground.

“…”

“Go back.”

Excluding the dead Kalgos, the King and the Grand Army commanders under his command had gathered in one place.

The King grew impatient.

It was because what his siblings wanted was as clear as day.

“I’m going.”

“You all wait here.”

“If you keep being annoying, I’ll want to crush you all too.”

The fragments of the Demon King were rooted in the human family known as Markus.

Having grown sufficiently, they were more than enough to serve as the keys to opening the Rift.

Now, if he waited just a little longer, just a little more, he could create a Rift large enough for the Demon King to pass through.

However, delicious food always attracted many guests.

『….』

The second creation roared impatiently.

『 Brother, haven’t you already met Father several times? 』

『 Your Majesty. Could you not give me and my sister a chance as well? 』

The fourth and fifth creations repeatedly pleaded.

Hostility welled up in the Demon King’s eyes at their persistent attitude.

He had been so envious of Kalgos, who had enjoyed the Light alone.

He was tired of waiting now.

The Demon King intended to go himself, even if it meant killing all the Grand Army commanders.

*Rumble!*

The King unleashed his aura.

The sea of blood created by Kalgos in the distance overflowed greatly.

Even in the face of that terrifying momentum, the Grand Army commanders did not back down.

『 If we fight amongst ourselves, this world will not survive. 』

『 Is this not the world we have cultivated with all our hearts to be with Father? 』

The Demon King narrowed his eyes at the fifth creation’s words.

The second couldn’t speak, and the third had died alone in paradise.

The fourth was incredibly cunning, so the only one the King could actually communicate with was the fifth.

『 Please send me and my sister to the Human Realm. 』

『 We will open a complete Rift in the near future. 』

『 We will not die like our brother Kalgos, who ran wild like an idiot. 』

That was a somewhat tempting proposal.

Fine.

Since he was going to meet Father anyway.

It wouldn’t be bad to see all the siblings greeting their Father together.

“…”

The Demon King waved his hand.

It was a sign of permission.

An ideal future was drawn in his tightly closed eyes.

Because of that, the Demon King did not notice.

The look in his siblings’ eyes as they watched him was as strange as if they were looking at something bizarre.

***

“Oh, God…”

Bafel folded his hands.

The voice of his earnest prayer was directed straight toward the sky.

“Two of my sons have died. Just how cruel and dangerous is the darkness?”

The hatred of a father who had lost his children was contained within.

A massive, red eye was hovering before him.

“Why won’t you grant us permission to battle? I will wipe out those wicked seeds who serve the darkness. I will declare my revenge!”

Bafel had risen to a high position as the Martial Head of the Great Magic Family.

However, he was now nothing more than a puppet.

As his mind broke, his body broke as well.

His hair had turned white, and his body was nothing but skin and bones.

Madness flowed in his eyes, which had once been full of vigor, and his teeth had begun to fall out one by one.

Such a change was not limited to him alone.

All of the retainers of Markus were rotting away.

“…”

To that puppet, the Demon King gave a revelation.

“Fight.”

“Fight and kill, and fight until you die.”

“You will become sacrifices.”