episode_0030

The magic emanating from him rose above him, taking on a form reminiscent of a demon.

The undulating magic, the long torn eyes and mouth, were like smoke.

Just looking at it brought an overwhelming sense of fear, a pressure never felt before.

[“Greetings, hero. It’s truly amusing to receive you in such a pitiful state, but seeing you once isn’t so bad after all.”]

The figure speaking to me now could be considered less than a mere apparition.

After all, it’s more like a messenger of sorts, meant for delivering messages.

However, feeling the resonance in its words and the waves of magic emanating from them, there is one thing that can be clearly understood.

This being cannot simply be labeled as a demon.

And among demons, there is only one such being.

A being known as the Demon King.

But even so, it didn’t make sense.

The Demon King is currently bound by the law of causality, unable to move properly.

If the Demon King couldn’t move as he does now, this world would have perished from the beginning.

Arien is far from enough to reach the Demon King at this moment.

Moreover, if the being before my eyes is truly the Demon King, it relates to the power mentioned by Ilcheon five years ago.

And about the death of my master, can this even make sense?

It was something that shouldn’t happen, something that shouldn’t exist.

For now.

Even if the outcome deviates from the original plan, the resurrection of the Demon King, which determines the end of the world, was not something that should happen yet.

But as life goes,

it doesn’t always go as intended.

If there is even a slight possibility among numerous possibilities that the resurrection of the Demon King has already occurred,

it’s not an impossible task.

“…Who are you?”

[“You seem to already know. Let me introduce myself again—I am the Demon King. And also a god of darkness.”]

“…God of darkness?”

The Demon King is, to some extent, a mortal being.

Even though he resembles a being whose balance should not be disturbed in the underworld.

He cannot reach the level of a god.

Why would a god be a god?

Because they are closer to perfection than any other being.

Especially when bestowed with a title like a god before the name, it defines their status.

It’s also because of the multitude of followers a god of light, who can be considered the origin of the world, has.

But a god of darkness?

‘Equal to or greater than the goddess of light.’

Yet such a being is just a mere Demon King?

No matter how much I think about it, it was a statement that was hard to understand and accept.

However, for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the statement was false.

The being who introduced himself as the Demon King laughed strangely at my perplexed expression.

[“Seems like you’re confused. Understandable. You might not even know what true truth is yet, right? A fake hero and a possessor from another dimension.”]

“…”

I felt frozen, as if turned into stone by those words.

The fact that I was a fake hero was something that would have been revealed sooner or later.

So, it wasn’t that surprising to be found out, but what was important was the truth the Demon King uttered—the possessor from another dimension.

That truth, which I had no intention of revealing to anyone.

The Demon King knew.

How?

Shivering.

My hands and feet trembled.

The circuits in my body still refused to move due to the mental shock.

[“Seems like you’re more surprised than expected. Is the fact that I know so shocking?”]

I didn’t even respond to the Demon King’s words.

With every thought circuit seemingly halted, my mind was still filled with endless questions, making it impossible to pay attention to someone else’s words.

No one thought they would be caught, so the mental impact was greater than expected.

The current state of mind was so chaotic and filled with distractions that it felt like my head might explode at any moment.

At this rate, I thought my sanity might deteriorate.

-Stay calm. Having too many distractions is akin to forgetting your own goals. You should only focus on one thing: striving to achieve your goal.

Recalling my old master’s words, my mind quickly cleared up.

The halted thoughts began to flow again, accepting reality calmly.

“Sigh…”

Exhaling deeply, I faced the demon lord’s gaze after clearing my mind of distractions.

“Whether you are a demon lord or anything else, whether you know my secret or not, there is only one direction for me to move forward.”

Believe in myself.

Believe in those around me who believe in me.

Believe in the protagonist born with the fate of being the savior of this world.

And the only thing I need to do to help them shine is to assist the protagonist in their growth.

There is nothing else to consider.

In case of any potential threat, I drew my sword in preparation.

The demon lord’s face seemed genuinely pleased by my actions as its mouth stretched into a wide grin.

“As expected, this is amusing. Incredibly amusing.”

A genuine laughter without any deceit.

As if finding the situation truly delightful, the demon lord laughed maniacally.

“It’s so enjoyable. As a reward for entertaining me, I will share valuable information with you.”

“Do you think I will believe that?”

“I merely repaid you for providing entertainment; believing it is your own responsibility. Isn’t that right?”

I couldn’t bring myself to deny it.

It was my freedom to believe the words of the demon lord.

I took a deep breath and gazed at the demon lord’s form.

Understanding my signal to speak quickly, the demon lord let out an unpleasant smile and began to speak.

“This time, what you are about to do has nothing to do with me. All I can do is observe what my subordinates are up to. What should I say… Yes, waiting seems appropriate. I am waiting for a challenger to challenge me. So until a challenger appears, I cannot act. It’s a law that cannot be changed no matter what.”

‘That’s somewhat fortunate.’

The only fortunate thing among misfortunes was that there was no need to worry about the demon lord resurrecting in advance.

If the demon lord had truly already been resurrected, humanity would face extinction.

“Also, it concerns the lineage of the one you follow as a master and his daughter.”

“Lineage?”

“You must be familiar with the Sun Tribe.”

“I have no choice but to be.”

They disappeared hundreds of years ago.

The Sun Tribe referred to beings who wielded the power of the sun.

Their power, the Solar Force, was more deadly to the demon race than sacred, as recorded when the then-demon lord prioritized eliminating them due to the lethal nature of their power.

‘And how powerful and dangerous that power is.’

In terms of the divine energy, it was a force that could suppress the demon entities, uniquely capable of healing someone.

While its utility in battles against non-demonic entities was relatively lower compared to magic, once reaching a certain level like the Paladins, it surpassed magic in effectiveness.

However, the power of the sun was literally a force resembling the sun itself.

Containing the power to incinerate and destroy everything, it also held the light’s power equivalent to the demons, making it more lethal than anything else to the demons.

“When I look at the records, I understand why the Demon Lord of that time was so desperate to eradicate the Sun Tribe.”

The power of the sun illuminates the world.

A formidable being created a small sun, and the impact when that sun exploded could have wiped out half of the current empire.

Considering the size of the empire, it was beyond belief.

“Even if the Demon Lord tried to kill the Sun Tribe.”

It was questionable how they managed to exterminate the Sun Tribe, possessing such power.

“But why bring up that story?”

[The blood of the Sun Tribe from those two. And they are direct descendants.]

“…”

I couldn’t help but doubt my ears for a moment.

The Sun Tribe, believed to have been completely wiped out centuries ago.

Descendants of such a tribe.

Direct descendants, no less, were my mentor and Arina.

It was an unbelievable fact.

“Why on earth? Could it be related to why the mentor died?”

[Hmm… I don’t feel like answering that.]

This guy.

He deliberately says things knowing that I’m pondering.

But it wasn’t my place to question why he wouldn’t tell me to the Demon Lord.

“I will only tell you this much. If you have any specific questions, I will answer one. Be careful in choosing, as I will answer anything. Take your time to think, as we have plenty of it.”

Saying this, the Demon Lord waited for me for a moment.

Just by looking at this, it was confusing whether he was a Demon Lord or an ally helping me, but since he said he would wait, I pondered carefully.

“What should I ask?”

At present, there were many things I was curious about.

How I became the possessor.

If the mentor’s death was related to the lineage of the Sun Tribe.

There were overflowing questions, but the most pressing one was,

“Was it the Goddess who brought me to this world?”

The reason for my presence here.

That was what I wanted to know.

The Demon Lord chuckled at my words and then spoke.

[Interference between dimensions. That is something only a god can do. However, just because it’s a god doesn’t mean they can do it. Attempting to interfere with souls from another dimension is nearly impossible unless it’s a deity of a considerably high caliber due to the differences in essence between dimensions. Does that answer your question?]

“Got it.”

Since the day I possessed someone here, I had carried this question with me.

Who exactly possessed me in this place?

Whether it was a goddess or an unknown deity, I couldn’t be sure all this time, but thanks to the Demon Lord’s answer, I was now convinced that the entity that possessed me here was indeed a goddess.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. It was an enjoyable diversion, Possessor.”

With those words, the figure of the Demon Lord disappeared, concealing his traces.

And I, too, left that place.