Chapter 226 – [Hero] Demon King
There was nothing stopping us now.
Ertina led us to the Demon Castle, and finally we arrived at the firmly closed door.
“… It really is the last one.”
Arin seemed to be nervous and squeezed her necklace, but she belatedly took her hand away from her necklace with a startle.
She wondered if she was going to pray to the goddess as usual.
But she is not a goddess.
Did it go somewhere else, or did it disappear?
I don’t know, but I can’t expect her to intervene anymore.
Seria silently raised her head and looked at the top of the Demon King’s Castle.
At the top of that castle towering high in the sky, he is probably there.
Yuni and Jeren were looking at the castle gate.
Uni’s eyes were filled with anxiety, and Jeren’s were filled with dissatisfaction.
Be dissatisfied
Is it dissatisfaction with the demon lord in front of me?
Or, dissatisfaction with this bridle itself?
After we stood in front of the door for a while, the door opened by itself with a loud noise.
“Let’s go in.”
“… A moment before that.”
Once inside, there won’t be time for a leisurely conversation until everything is over.
I looked at them at the door and said.
“… Everyone, thank you so far.”
Looking back, it was a long way.
I met them and traveled all over the continent.
In the process, our emotions also changed a lot, but anyway, we succeeded in reaching this point safely without party disbanding or anything extreme like that.
“A lot has happened in the meantime, but still… I think I was lucky to be with you guys.”
They looked at me with eyes filled with complex emotions.
Longing, regret, sorry… It was a mixture of so many different emotions that I couldn’t understand them all.
“It’s not long, but until the end… Let’s do our best.”
At my words, Seria made a sneaky joke as if trying to lighten her mood.
“When you say that, it sounds like you are going to die.”
Maybe die
If I fail, I’ll die, or I’d be better off dead.
“No, I won’t die.”
But I won’t fail
I decided not to think about the uncertain future.
It’s not about whether you can do it, it’s about sure to do it.
Rather than hesitating in case of failure, I will take a step forward at that time.
Seria seemed a little surprised by my answer.
“… Yes, that’s right.”
After that, there was a moment of silence.
Unexpectedly, it was Jeren who broke this locked atmosphere and opened her mouth.
“Then… Now it’s your turn to enter, hero.”
“… Yes.”
I looked at him for a moment, but he didn’t make eye contact with me.
It was like avoiding it.
“Then, I will guide you.”
Ertina, who knew the structure of the castle the best, took the lead again.
So we stepped into the dark castle.
***
I was worried that something might happen as I climbed the stairs, but the castle was empty to the point of feeling empty.
The decorations were splendid, but perhaps because there were no people, the whole castle gave off a somewhat subdued feeling, and even though it didn’t seem to have been managed, the scenery of the castle without a speck of dust was somewhat heterogeneous.
Climbing the stairs one by one, we finally arrived at our destination.
“… Perhaps, he will be right here.”
Tension rose again between us.
Devil.
He is facing us across a door.
“… I will open it.”
“Wait a minute.”
Ertina stopped me from trying to open the door, and she herself put her hand on the door herself.
“… I hope it’s okay. There is nothing.”
“I can’t believe he set a trap just now…”
If it was intended to harm us, what would have been done in the first place?
I wondered if it was an unnecessary concern, but she seemed to think a little differently.
“From now on, things will start to flow according to their destiny. You don’t know what you might have done to reach a certain ending.”
Fate.
According to fate, I can defeat the demon lord, but I cannot defeat the demon lord.
It could not prevent the birth of a new demon king, and only cut down the crumbling corpse of the old demon king.
From now on, everything around me will try to control us.
Yes, from now on.
I opened the door with firm determination.
Awesome…
When I opened this door, which seemed to have been deliberately made to make a sound, the entire room was pitch-black.
“I don’t see anything…”
However, as soon as the words were finished, the lights on the walls were shining brightly, shining brightly into the center of the room.
The lanterns turned on in turn as if guiding us.
At the end of the carpet of fire, he sat.
Devil.
The man who betrayed the former hero and sat in the seat of the demon king.
“… Devil.”
“…”
What he looked like was an ordinary human being.
He looks the same age as me or a little older.
The clothes she was wearing were modest, but the clothes themselves didn’t seem cheap.
However, no matter how expensive the clothes were, I felt that they were not suitable for this position.
More like an aristocrat than a demon king… No, it was plain clothes worn by servants of those nobles.
“… Ertina. It comes back to me in this way.”
“It’s been a while.”
He said that, looking at her to see if her cage hadn’t even cared about her.
“As you wish, I have come to kill you.”
“I must have ordered everyone to leave.”
“When did I hear you?”
“… Yes, it was.”
Then his eyes turned to me.
“Is it you?”
I took out my sword without a word.
“You are impatient.”
“… Conversation is unnecessary.”
“That is also true.”
After he said that, he leaned back in his chair even more.
“What does that mean? The right to choose did not exist for creatures like us from the beginning.”
Deep resignation.
I could see in him the look of a man stricken with despair.
“… Have you given up?”
“Don’t say the word ‘give up’ easily. You do not know the weight of those words.”
His words sounded somewhat bittersweet.
Did he, too, make every effort to get out of the bridle?
Did he give up only when he realized that everything was in vain and that there was no other way?
“In the face of time, everything seemed free. The resolution of my youth and the reason I wanted to become the Demon King… Everything was swept away.”
“How long do I have to listen to you whining?”
Jeren, who thought she would only listen quietly, crossed her arms and asked.
“… Yes, if that’s your opinion, let’s do it.”
As he said that, he put his hand on his armrest and slowly stood up.
“Because it’s none other than the words of you who will become the new demon king.”
Also… He intends to hand over the position of the Demon King to Jeren.
My gaze quickly scanned the two.
He said that he obviously had no intention of becoming the Demon King.
Now? Do you still think so?
“The Demon King… He is the king of demons who rules over all demons.”
He said that and took a step towards us.
You shouldn’t leave it alone.
I held out my sword to him.
“Don’t come closer!”
“That means soon… Countless subordinates who can be operated like limbs… It’s like getting your hands on endless treasures.”
He came to us as if he couldn’t hear me.
I applied strength to the sword and swung it at him.
Cooong!
The force that was fired at him, obviously took a hit, but he was fine nonetheless.
“It’s no use either.”
“Obviously the attack went in…”
The words of Ertina, who seemed to be sorry, and the words of Seria, who were astonished.
The attack was evident.
But… He was unaffected.
It’s not like Luella repaired her injured body or anything like that.
Just… From the start he seemed to have taken no hits.
It seemed that everyone except Jeren was at a loss for words.
“What do you want? What do you desire? This place can fill anything. Endless greed… The demon king is what remains after satisfying all those greed.”
He approached Jeren, not paying attention to us, as if he really didn’t care.
Seria and Arin covered Jeren’s face to stop him, but neither Jeren nor he paid any attention.
By the way… His words sound somewhat empty.
Was it because I had been talking about so much impermanence just a moment ago?
I was obviously tempting him with sweet words, but strangely, I didn’t feel any inspiration.
Is it because I’m not a candidate for the Demon King?
“… It’s the same.”
“What?”
“It’s the same as what the demon king said last time.”
Ertina said so.
It’s the same…
Is he repeating the same thing on purpose?
Perhaps he, who is now speaking his words, may not be of his own will.
After thinking about it, I could feel something strange about his words.
In his words,
It didn’t feel sincere at all.
“Building a tower to the sky with coins… Holding a woman who is more beautiful than any other woman in the world… You can enjoy all of them. We can make that possible.”
In a low-pitched voice, he approached Jeren as if he was calmly reading a pre-determined script and just spilled his words.
“…”
“Take over my everything.”
He was right in front of Jeren before he knew it.
The Demon King held out his hand to him.
In his hand, something very dark, black, and hopeless condensed into a small circle.
Jeren looked at it in silence.
“Lord, Master…”
“Master…”
Seria and Arin looked at him anxiously.
I won’t become a demon king.
He is… Will you accept this?
You shouldn’t let that get it.
I can’t… The body does not move.
It is not something enchanted or cursed.
My body is resisting me, telling me not to move now.
While everyone froze, Jeren finally opened her mouth.
“… What if you don’t like it?”
A look of relief flashed across their faces.
No, you shouldn’t be relieved.
That question… His face is not that of one who sincerely rejects it.
“This is not an invitation.”
The face of the demon king disappeared even more.
“… It’s destiny.”
Kurrrr!
“You showed up.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a strange sound came from above our heads.
We are at the top of the castle.
On top of that, obviously… There can be nothing.
So what is this sound?
Like… What is this sound like a wheel rolling?
Cooong!
As the top of the castle collapsed, something huge landed in front of us.
In front of us, and behind the Demon King.
The thing that landed over the demon king’s back was so huge that I couldn’t see all of it…
“Wheel… ?”
It was a structure like a wagon wheel.
What appeared was a wagon wheel, but there were so many strange things.
First of all… The wheels are not that big.
It appeared after crushing the top of the castle, and we could only capture the tip.
At first I thought it was made of wood, but it was never wood.
It was too sophisticated to be made by humans.
But above all.
Than any other oddities.
The first thing that caught my eye was the old, worn-out look that seemed like it would break if you hit it.
“More than last time… It looks more broken.”
Ertina’s muttered words gave me a strange feeling.
Is that the reality of the bridle?
Anyone can see… Doesn’t it look like everything is broken?
“Ruler… Hold my hand, young demon king.”
Leaving that bondage behind, the demon king reached out to Jeren again.
And he… Stretched out his hand
