Legion of Darkness (12)

“I always believed that one day you would understand me.”

The barbaric father and Bibs. That’s how Bibs defined his relationship with Greta. It was also cursed that such a cruel demon, who tried to solve everything with force and showed not a shred of sensitivity, was of the same blood as himself.

Rather, if Bibs himself had been from a noble family on the frontier, he wouldn’t have had such hatred. He could have harshly criticized them as pathetic seeds with only high status and devoted himself to research in his study.

But Bibs had no right to slander Greta, nor to refuse him. Because Bibs was his child. That fact meant that someday he too would have to bulk up and wear a vicious armor, and dominate others in barbaric ways like Greta. It meant that everything he researched was something he shouldn’t research because it tarnished Greta’s face.

Bibs didn’t understand that he would only have a voice after surpassing Greta. Wasn’t Bibs himself a noble? Why should even those who could cultivate refinement be dominated by the logic of power and divide ranks in such nonsensical ways?

“Father. I thought that someday, I would be able to understand you.”

Bibs said, looking at Greta’s back just before entering the battlefield. Greta, hearing Bibs’s voice, tensed his body and replied:

“Let’s talk about old stories later. Now is the time we must soon plunge into battle.”

Bibs ignored Greta’s suggestion. He was no longer his father now. He was merely a barbaric being who would lose his voice to Bibs on this glorious battlefield and tremble with anger.

“I realized that to assert anything, I must surpass you, Father.”

A satisfied smile spread across Greta’s face. He nodded and looked around. There were still soldiers who hadn’t joined the ranks, so the advance could be delayed.

“Yes. The young children of demons must prove that they can surpass or match their fathers. Our lives have been filled with struggle against our ancestors and proof of ourselves.”

Greta’s limbs were filled with solid muscle. Bibs suddenly felt as if he was facing his arms for the first time. The strong arms that had always suppressed him were particularly marked with numerous injuries and scars today. Bibs ignored those wounds and said:

“I will prove it too, Father. How great I am, what I can do.”

Greta’s hand patted Bibs’s shoulder. A heavy sound resonated through his back, and Bibs thought his hand was quite barbaric. And he could tell that his strength had weakened compared to the hand that used to beat him when he was young.

It was because the fatigue of battle was also eating away at Greta’s body.

“Yes, prove it as you wish. Now that you’ve made up your mind to fight. You can do anything with that sword. But, now. Now just follow behind me. Understand? That hero is very strong, and he’s skilled enough to easily cut down demons who get caught up unfortunately. You must not step in front of me.”

Bibs looked at Greta. Greta was looking at the hero standing in the middle of the battlefield with a serious face. The hero’s face was filled with fighting spirit, and as if to prove his promise to himself, he had tied a blue ribbon to his sword.

Seeing this, Bibs unconsciously smiled, and Greta said:

“Don’t underestimate him because he looks weak. You said humans are weak and don’t know peace, but I don’t think so. In any world, those who have achieved civilization and established power have their own strength. Before that strength becomes a threat to us, we need to trample them and expand our land.”

“On the battlefield, everyone becomes barbaric. If they think there’s no need to fight, anyone will show a peaceful appearance again. That’s what I think.”

“Your stubbornness can’t be broken.”

Greta said so. Bibs felt strange seeing Greta say that. Because Greta wasn’t supposed to be a demon who would say such things. The Greta that Bibs had imagined wasn’t this kind of demon.

“The honor and authority of the family are ultimately determined by how we have lived. I’m getting old too, and someday I might meet my match and die. Yesterday, I almost lost my life to that hero.”

Bibs tried not to waver, but he felt his shoulders stiffen. Greta rubbed Bibs’s shoulders and continued:

“When you nearly die, both demons and humans change. As my life flashed before my eyes, I suddenly thought of you. If I die like this, what kind of being will you become? Will you remain an outcast among the nobles, refusing to communicate with others? Will you live suffering under the stigma of a coward who couldn’t go to the battlefield?”

Bibs steeled his heart. He was, after all, a symbol of barbarism and a charge commander. He had to stop him here and lead the talks himself. No matter how sweetly he tried to persuade, Bibs was confident that he wasn’t wrong.

Because what had troubled him since childhood wasn’t Greta himself, but Greta’s name. Because he had lived constantly suppressed under the great general Greta. Because Greta had never acknowledged his research. When Bibs presented his research to Greta, he would often use the ignorant phrase ‘Those without power have no logic’ and drive Bibs away.

So this was just.

Everything that was about to happen was entirely just.

This was righteous revenge.

“Bibs.”

This was righteous revenge.

Everything that was about to happen was entirely just.

So this was just.

“When this battle is over, let’s have a longer talk. I still can’t understand your theory, but I want you to live a life where you’re recognized.”

What had troubled him since childhood wasn’t Greta himself, but Greta’s name. He had lived constantly suppressed under the great general Greta, and Greta had never acknowledged his research.

So Bibs tried not to waver.

But the moment he heard Greta’s last words, Bibs unknowingly teared up and called out to Greta.

“Father!”

Kiiiiiiing!

Black liquid started swirling all over Greta’s body, and smoke gushed out.

“All troops! Charge! My son is watching! Show them who we are!”

“Father! Wait a moment! Father!”

Bibs’s voice couldn’t be heard amidst the loud mechanical sounds and the soldiers’ shouts. He reached out to grab Greta, but Greta was faster in running away. Greta looked at the hero with bloodshot eyes and shouted loudly:

“Hero! Today! I will kill you!”

“Father! Stop! Wait! Just wait a moment! This isn’t what I meant to do! Father!”

Bibs struggled and tried to run forward. But the adjutant who had received Greta’s orders held Bibs tightly and pulled him back.

“Young Master Bibs! Your spirit is good, but it’s the general’s order to watch the situation from here!”

His dragging feet scratched the ground wildly. Bibs cried and struggled like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Let go! I said let go of this!”

“It’s the general’s order! You came here so gallantly, why are you acting so ugly now! Huh? And where did you leave all the bodyguards you went with and come alone!”

Bibs couldn’t hear the adjutant’s words.

“Father! Don’t go! I’m sorry! Just wait a moment!”

A sense of guilt began to surge. All the moments he had lived with Greta were scattered into dozens of pages, flashing before his eyes. He remembered the smiling face when he first held a sword. When he was weak and other noble children teased him, it was his father who stood by his side.

Although he denied his research, he never once denied that he was his son.

He thought being loved was natural, but it was too much for him.

His mouth was wide open, wailing, but Greta couldn’t hear that voice. Greta, spewing smoke from his entire body, vigorously stretched his arm towards the hero. The adjutant couldn’t understand why Bibs was acting like this, so he just tilted his head and looked at Bibs, while Bibs cried tears and snot, calling out to Greta.

“Father! Please retreat! Father! I’m sorry!”

“Kuhuk…!”

Greta’s body, which had been swinging his arm vigorously, tilted. The black liquid swirling throughout his body stretched stickily and blocked the hoses. Greta flailed his arms and legs in the air and bled profusely from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Kehuk…! Heuk…!”

Bibs, who had been crying, looked at the scene with round eyes. He shook his head, trembling in his arms and legs. What he had put in was a chemical to stop the machine. It shouldn’t have had such an effect.

“Wh-what…! What is this! I didn’t put anything like that in! Let go of me!”

Bibs pushed away the hands of the adjutant holding him. The adjutant, who had been silent for some time, let him go too easily. When the adjutant fell down easily from Bibs’s push, Bibs stopped his steps forward and turned his head.

Now that the entire force had rushed forward, the few troops left at this base were easy prey for the porter’s group.

Lena said, wiping the blood off her face:

“There’s an extremely lethal poisonous herb among the border region plants. If a person eats it, they immediately bleed from their whole body and die, so I was curious what would happen if we put it directly into a demon’s blood vessels.”

“You, you…!”

Bibs trembled, pointing his finger at Lena. The porter stepped in front of Lena and punched Bibs in the face. Bibs fell to the ground, clutching his nose.

“What we want isn’t peace.”

“Ugh…! Urk…!”

The porter said, kicking Bibs in the side:

“It’s pain.”