Ch.13845. Entangled Stubbornness (3)

Naturally.

There were quite a few eyes watching the fierce competition between the two, though it wasn’t quite a competition.

Both inside the royal palace and outside its walls.

Since the regent hadn’t acted alone, there were his collaborators and various people, both major and minor, who had helped or been involved.

And even those who were completely unrelated or had no connection.

While many of them had been detained or killed,

There were still plenty who moved freely within the palace on their own two legs.

When was it ever rare for innocent lives to hang in the balance amid power struggles between those grasping for authority?

Even so, this situation had gone beyond excessive to reach a truly horrific state.

What appeared to be demons had openly appeared, killing and tormenting humans for all to see.

Monsters of hideous form and beasts who enjoyed and savored this untimely festival.

Meanwhile, the presence of that man advancing through the palace with sword in hand was causing them considerable discomfort.

“Gaaack!”

“Where do you think you’re going? Looking to die?”

A dog’s head on a cramped body.

Venus beheaded the small demon with rigid, scaly wings, cutting down all such creatures that clung to him in this manner.

Like a sandcastle swept away by waves, among the many demons, none that caught his eye or irritated him remained intact.

After cutting his way through the palace interior, he reached him.

“How dare you track dirt into this place with your—”

Before the words were finished, the regent was kicked in the shin and tumbled ungracefully to the floor.

He had been about to cast a spell just in case, but his mana scattered the moment the man approached.

Surprised by this, his response came too late.

“!!!”

They say when pain exceeds a certain threshold, screams no longer come out.

The pain was all the more intense because the bone was partially, but not completely, shattered.

“Does it hurt?”

If it were completely shattered, it would still hurt but somehow the shock would be less intense.

So, if you break it but control it so it’s not completely broken, you can conserve energy while maximizing the effect.

When you kick someone’s leg, the leg naturally lifts and automatically softens and absorbs the impact.

But what if you kick with such force that there’s no chance for that, causing the impact to explode internally?

Both damage and pain seep in immediately.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Do you have any idea who I—”

“Why should I care?”

As he was speaking, Venus struck his chin upward, causing him to bite his tongue. Blood trickled from inside and outside the regent’s mouth.

“Gueeeh—”

“Why did that bastard leave this one alone? Was he confident he could catch him whenever he wanted, no matter where he ran?”

Of course, Venus wasn’t ignorant of the reason.

If Kariel dealt with this man, it would complicate matters in various ways.

But the biggest problem with that complication would be the disappearance of someone to take responsibility for this situation.

For instance, if problems arise but there’s no legitimate criminal, perpetrator, or villain to take responsibility or blame… it would lead to unnecessary anger and discord.

Logically, shouldn’t the one who caused the problem in the first place pay for his crimes? No matter how someone else might try to serve justice… that would be neither revenge for the victims, nor retribution, nor proper punishment—just needless interference.

“Hey. Don’t be scared. No matter how reckless I am, I’m not mindless enough to cause trouble in someone else’s country.”

Venus raised his foot and stomped again on the regent’s shattered shin.

Crunch!

“Guuuh—!!”

The regent, bleeding profusely, rolled his eyes and fainted. Wondering if he might be faking, Venus kicked him hard in the abdomen again, but there was no response.

If he had been conscious, the impact would have struck his solar plexus and lungs directly, causing him to cough violently.

No response even to this? He truly was unconscious.

“Where did you leave your vigilance? Precious people like you should always be thorough about such things. You let your guard down in this situation?”

Venus spat and looked down at him with contempt, then surveyed the wrecked room and realized the external noise had quieted.

“Already over?”

Wasn’t he supposed to be some great demon or whatever? No?

“You truly have no restraint.”

At that moment, whether late or intentionally delayed, Kain joined him.

“Don’t touch this bastard. Later, have the idiots of this country deal with him.”

“…Surprisingly, you actually think things through.”

“But, is that pig getting beaten out there what you were expecting? Hey! Sheep head! Is that your master?”

At that, a sheep’s head popped out from Kain’s shadow.

“No, it’s not! Well, it is, but anyway, it’s not!”

“What’s this beast saying? Can’t you speak properly?”

But unlike before, the sheep’s head openly growled.

“With the scary woman gone, you’re just a single mouthful to me! Yet you still act tough? Want to be eaten?!”

“If you want to die, don’t just flap your tongue—come at me. Why is your tongue so long? Is that head just for decoration? Is your brain not working?”

“Eee, eeek! Kiiii—”

Kain quickly pushed the sheep’s head back into his shadow.

“Didn’t you come here to observe that person?”

“That’s right. And while I’m at it, stir things up a bit. Clean up some trash. Spare anyone worth sparing while gathering information, and make a good impression just in case. That way they won’t try anything stupid later with excuses.”

“I see.”

This clearly wasn’t his first time doing this.

And though he didn’t say it, if there were valuables or anything worthwhile, he’d probably pocket them under the pretext of “safekeeping” amid the chaos.

“So did you see him? How is that madman?”

“…What kind of human is that?”

The “madman” Venus referred to couldn’t be the young king possessed by the great demon.

That dark and gloomy one.

Yet containing brilliant light, and above all, harboring the deepest abyss.

No, let me correct myself. Not harboring it.

That is the abyss itself.

…How can a human be like that?

“What else? He’s an extremely annoying piece of trash.”

Though clearly an ally and someone he knew, Venus didn’t seem particularly fond of him.

Yet it wasn’t quite hostility or cursing either.

It was, well…

“Are you jealous?”

“I have the right to be.”

He doesn’t deny it.

He proudly admits it.

“And having seen and learned from him, I’m thinking of following his example.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think I brought you along and saved you just because I was bored?”

“What can you possibly do? What help could you offer me right now?”

“So that’s what this is about.”

The melancholy on Kain’s pale face, the dejection that had been weighing him down unintentionally, dissipated in an instant.

“Yes. If that’s the case, there’s no one better suited than me right here, right now.”

But.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Stop with the pretend concern and wordplay. Let’s each do what we need to do.”

Just in case, Venus stomped on the regent’s broken leg again.

He considered cutting out his tongue in case he had been eavesdropping, which would have been unpleasant, but unfortunately there was no response.

Truly unfortunate.

====

For some, it might have felt like an eternity.

In reality, it wasn’t that long.

“Uh, uh…eh uh, uh….”

Something that had been the Demon King.

For quite some time, it lay there with its eyes rolled back as if it had lost its mind.

Without even the leisure to wipe the drool flowing from its mouth, the grotesque bulk of the great demon and young Demon King.

It began to visibly shrink, as if contracting or folding in on itself.

But separate from that.

“……”

There was one.

It sparkled like the morning star.

Though it appeared ordinary and shabby like a human when seen directly.

That was not its essence.

A short distance away.

What could be seen beneath the shabby hood was merely a vague impression.

He spoke to Kariel.

-If the Lord sent you, it would be proper procedure for me to come and greet you.

“You are…”

-I am another voice crying in the wilderness.

Among countless demons, it was there.

That which exists everywhere yet has never existed anywhere.

Its name and infamy are brilliant, yet no one has actually witnessed it or heard its voice.

Among those who claim to have seen him and heard his voice, none have truly faced him.

It is delusion, misconception, fantasy, and nothing more than a dream.

They merely believed it themselves.

In a situation where encountering even an ordinary demon is impossible, to meet and encounter that?

It’s impossible.

Because.

…For a king’s dignity, it simply wouldn’t make sense. It couldn’t make sense.

That he, who commands tens of millions of legions, or perhaps many times more than that.

…Would reveal himself before worthless bugs, specks, and dust-like nobodies.

Truly.

It would be even more ugly and grotesque mockery, joke, ridicule, and deception.

Than using a dragon-slaying sword to kill a mere chicken.

-Can you guess what I’m about to say?

“…Perhaps.”

-Though it may be cliché, I’ll make the offer anyway.

Kneel before me.

Bow your head to me.

If you prostrate yourself and worship me.

-I will give you everything in this world.

Unparalleled wealth and glory.

Incomparably brilliant beauties.

Even vast territories, and your name will be gloriously etched in the history of this world forever.

Above all, the power to defeat the one you hate.

-I will place righteous power in your hands.

And then, right now.

-You can go to him.

Without suffering as in the past.

Without facing difficult and complicated choices as in the present.

Without fear for the eternal future.

-You will become the greatest king the world and civilization have ever known.

“……”

-Also.

His gaze turned.

He was looking directly at it.

And there.

…She was there.

The golden one.

-This wouldn’t be a bad story for you either, would it, golden child?

The golden girl who received these words directly.

…Responded with a snort.

-If you had come out with that nonsense when I was still innocent, I might have swallowed it a bit.

But what can I do?

-Why would I be swayed by such words now? I don’t want anything. What exactly would you give me?

The girl seemed unrestrained.

-So stop hitting on me and hit on him instead?

She gestured toward Kariel with her eyes.

-It’s his decision whether to listen or not.

Then she turned her head and urged him.

-Hey. So what will you do? For reference, that proposal is all true. That being can fulfill everything. So if you accept the offer wholeheartedly, you can run straight to Lueld and finish that bastard in one stroke. After that, well, you can do whatever you want with this world until the day you die. No one will be able to stand in your way.

The golden one wasn’t lying.

At least not on the surface.

Until the day you die.

Yes.

That’s the biggest trap.

However.

For most people swept up in desire, that alone would be the truth and all that matters.

Isn’t that so?

“……”

Kariel silently walked toward him.

Then stood before him.

The silence, the stillness, cracked slightly.

With parted lips and the voice that bloomed from them.

Everything shattered.

“If I were Him, if I were Irenis,” he said.

A monotone voice.

Without particular emotion or excitement.

But with a faint self-deprecating tone.

He continued.

“I would have answered: ‘The Lord commanded you to worship your God in heaven and serve only Him.'”

-Then what is your answer? Is it different?

Kariel exhaled a long breath.

“Though I may be nothing compared to you, I have just taken my first steps.”

The current me may have become powerful and remarkable in the shortest time of anyone in the world.

But even so, compared to the vast, wide world.

I am still just a speck.

However.

Nevertheless.

“You have not offered what I want.”

-Then tell me directly. I will grant it.

“Can you turn back time to when I want?”

-…

“If that’s possible, I would gladly worship you.”

He was silent.

If he had answered that it was possible.

Kariel truly intended to do so.

Both the golden one and Grandeus.

They had insisted it was impossible.

Even that great demon king said it was impossible, didn’t he?

…But if he could do it, wouldn’t this being be greater than a god?

In that case, there would be nothing to lose.

But indeed.

He maintained a long silence.

Not even a trace of contemplation.

Not even silence for careful consideration.

This was simply being at a loss for words.

“You truly don’t speak falsehoods.”

Unlike someone who might have pushed a delusion of traveling from the future to the past as truth.

Indeed, he was no ordinary being.

To simply deceive and lie to Kariel himself.

This being before him was wrapped in preposterous pride.

It was probably a supreme arrogance that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the world.

Even heaven.

His father who gave birth to him.

The supreme arrogance that only he could replace such a being.

-You know what happened to those who broke my offer. You are more shabby and weak than him. So you will face days more terrible than what he experienced, yet still you stand against me?

“…I have no reason to prove my faith.”

I’m not rejecting your offer to worship the Lord of Heaven.

I am simply.

“Walking my own path.”

If that path were to be swayed by someone’s breath.

My efforts, my earnestness, my desperation.

All would be meaningless, wouldn’t they?

If it were only worth that much.

Why would I have voluntarily endured such suffering throughout my life?

“You cannot walk my path for me. That’s all deception. That’s the only reason I’m rejecting your offer. Does that answer your question?”

-I see.

He acquiesced readily.

-You are not the son of the father. I won’t treat you so harshly.

Nodding calmly like that.

-But rejecting my offer is a sin that cannot be repaid even with death.

You.

-Are you prepared to face my wrath?

“…You have quite a nasty personality.”

-Here he comes.

Here comes?

As Kariel turned his head.

There he was.

“You said you’d give me something? So, what are you going to give me? What great thing were you going to offer that made you call me out?”

Venus.

He was looking back and forth between the being and Kariel, urging them like that.

And suddenly, the golden girl clearly caught Venus’s eye.

“Ah, right. Is that your backer or whatever it was?”

Venus spat and snapped.

“This is why it’s not even a fight. Damn it all.”