episode_0076

“What do you think love is?”

It was an empty question.

Because there was no point to the question, no intention of the person asking the question, and no goal to be achieved through the question.

It was just a mere entertainment to pass the time. No answer would reach his heart, and it wasn’t something he really wanted to hear an answer to.

It was more like advice to just express one’s firm thoughts.

“Love is the greatest pleasure. Because if you have love, you can overcome any adversity or pain. Yes. Love is truly great. Whether it is toward a lover, toward a child, toward a friend. No matter what modifier is attached, love is truly great. No, it may be the source of everything.”

The man, who had begun to state his firm theories about love, looked at the two women who had collapsed in rags and laughed.

The troops they had brought with them had long since been reduced to unrecognizable pieces of meat, or rather, small splatters of blood soaking the floor.

“Then, are those who don’t know love the most unfortunate people in the world?”

Raoul’s mother, Latri Bergé, pursed her lips as she wiped the blood off the sword that had blindly believed in love.

Because the man in front of me was the one who caused the current situation.

Because she was a beast who wanted to tarnish the honor of her beloved husband for her own plans.

“That’s also pitiful, but if you didn’t know from the beginning, there wouldn’t be any pain. No… maybe it’s a blessing. Because compared to the pain of losing love, the boredom of a life without love is nothing.”

However, the king was very displeased with that expression.

So I decided to trample on his face and hide his expression in the dirt.

Because it was an expression that showed selfishness, as if only her own anger was justified. A foolish woman who only thought of her own feelings, that was the Demon King’s assessment of Ratri.

“Then are those who have lost love like us the most unfortunate in the world? No, that is also unfortunate, but the real one is different.”

He returned the sword to its scabbard, making an unknown sound, and turned his gaze towards Logie.

Roji was also burning with hatred no less than Latri. The king did not dislike those eyes, for they were burning with fighting spirit even after such a miserable defeat. Those were the eyes of a warrior.

But I didn’t hate it. I didn’t like it either. That was because it was the eye of a foolish beast that didn’t know how to bow.

“That example is probably the guy you know best.”

Then, Rosie and Ratri took on a completely different expression than before.

They both thought of the same person, were equally cruel to him, and received equally his devotion.

That’s why the reactions of the two people were so similar that it was scary. They avoided eye contact and started to sweat, and the Demon King almost clicked his tongue because he found that disgusting.

“Raoul Bergé. He was your son and your fiancé. I have decided to define him as the most pitiful man in the world. Don’t you want to know why? I think the answer lies in your own actions, but I don’t expect you to have the brains to think of it. Nor the conscience to repent for it.”

Ratri and Roji turned their heads to avoid the Demon King’s gaze full of disgust.

“He also lost love like us. If we only look at it this far, he would be a prisoner of love, no different from us…”

The Demon King took pity on Raoul.

Although he hated all humans, including Raoul, he also had compassion for him.

It wasn’t because he lost his lover. No, that could be one of the prerequisites, but it wasn’t the essence.

“The most pitiful person in this world is the one who loves in a way that can never be repaid. And on top of that, he has also experienced losing love.”

At those words, Ratri replied angrily.

“What do you think you know…”

“At least you know more than the mother. He must have been pitiful at that point. Don’t you even know his physical condition?”

Both Ratri and Roji expressed doubts about the mention of physical condition.

I knew for sure that he wasn’t feeling well. He was feeling a bit cold, he was not eating much, and he was avoiding outdoor activities.

However, to that extent, it could be considered as a change in an individual’s constitution and disposition.

“I don’t know about the fiancée, but isn’t it natural for a mother to be concerned about her child’s changes? Most mothers would have easily noticed that much.”

“… How can I do that if he doesn’t say anything.”

“I’m sick of it. Before you refused to talk… In the first place, if you were a mother, wouldn’t it be right to ask your child if he’s okay when he returns from battle?”

“…!”

“Well, I doubt if this kind of sermon would be meaningful to someone like you.”

At the Demon King’s words, Ratri clenched his fist so hard that blood flowed.

What emotion is contained in that blood? Guilt? Regret? Or perhaps just a belated maternal love? Only she knows the answer, but the Demon King guessed that it was neither of those.

“Let me tell you. His body is like an old tree that is about to fall down. A poor old tree with most of its roots rotting away and losing its leaves and branches… Yes. How pitiful.”

In the Demon King’s eyes, Raoul and other heroes were simply great warriors.

At first, he looked down on them, thinking they were just idiots learning techniques from his disciples. In reality, they were immature and weak.

However, they had a lot of blood on their hands and used all sorts of means, including drugs, to shorten their own lives as they challenged the Demon King.

As a result, they achieved victory. The Demon King thought that they would be treated like heroes. They were brave.

But the Empire betrayed them. And the reasons were trivial: honor, power, obsession, trauma, or just plain boredom.

The Demon King was truly disgusted by such an empire.

“You have lost love just like me, but I don’t feel sorry for you at all. Do you know why?”

“I don’t need your sympathy!”

“… Because you are not worthy of love. With what shame do you, who have rejected love, yearn for love and talk about love? To you, love… is vulgar and vulgar.”

The Demon King treated Ratri and Roji with all kinds of contempt and destroyed their pride.

The family’s elite troops were annihilated in a single blow. It was a disgrace. And he had delivered the blow while sitting on the rock, as if he wasn’t even worth getting up.

“Continuing the story about his body… Because of you, one more root that was left in him today will rot. The tree withering will not be far behind either.”

“What nonsense are you talking about…!”

“Wow, you said you were my fiancee, but you really don’t know anything. You’re not much different from the people you think are pathetic. This is the only joke I can listen to.”

They really didn’t know anything about Raul’s physical condition.

“I’ll tell you fools clearly. That guy’s body is now…!”

At that moment, the Demon King, who was about to say something, turned his head away.

I heard a rustling sound, so I drew my sword and straightened my stance.

Since he had decided to exterminate all the people in the village as a warning, there could be no exceptions. Even if he left Ratri and Roji alive for fun, the others were no exception.

The Demon King was a man who would do whatever it took once he made up his mind. That was why he swung his sword to kill those poor creatures in order to enforce his stance.

Until I confirmed that the poor life was that of a man running away with his pregnant wife on his back.

“…”

The Demon King couldn’t bring himself to swing that sword.

It’s not that he hasn’t killed a pregnant woman. It would be strange if he didn’t kill a pregnant woman among the lives he’d killed. He killed without caring who it was.

But as someone who had just preached about beautiful love, I couldn’t bear to expose my own sadness.

He just stood there doing nothing and watched the couple run away.

“…… You’re so different. Unlike me.”

Just as he was about to ruminate on the sadness that had come to him after a long time, a red-hot sword and a blue-glowing sword came flying at him at the same time.

The Demon King quickly swung his sword to the side, barely able to block the attacks.

It was such a fast and powerful blow that even the Demon King had a hard time blocking it.

“I wanted to savor the sadness, but I still don’t know how to feel.”

“You can just chew on it later? Forever in the afterlife.”

“No matter how much you are the Demon King, this is my territory. It would be embarrassing to touch it like this.”

What appeared was the Emperor, fully armed, and the Empress, who had temporarily regained the strength of her legs through a strengthening agent.

“You must have come at Raoul’s request. While he deals with the Queen of Dragons, you must be planning to deal with me. I originally planned to move more cautiously… but those guys must have ruined it.”

“… You’re surprisingly accurate. If the strategy keeps being read like this, the genius soldier’s name will cry.”

“It’s only natural, isn’t it, since we were the ones who set up this board in the first place? You must be thinking of him who is struggling in his limbs right now. I’m annoyed that you’re thinking of something else in front of me… But you must have been indignant thinking of him who is struggling too, so this is common sense.”

The Demon King drew his sword and laid it horizontally, exhaling a fierce and murderous aura.

“One sword.”

The Demon King swung his sword wrapped in a great energy, and Empress Penelope barely managed to block the attack by drawing her sword.

It was an attack that could be avoided, but if it had been avoided, the lives of Logie and Ratri would have been in danger.

“Empress Jeon…”

“Don’t open your mouth. I’ll probably kill you before the Demon King.”

Even though the attack was blocked, he didn’t lose his smile.

No, rather, he started to smile so creepily that it gave me goosebumps.

“You think of your beloved friend… I think of the rain I love… That’s how we fight.”

“… You crazy bastard.”

“Let’s let our love collide once.”