Ch.198Chapter 198. Please Restrain Your Anger.

# Mephisto Rage.

Among the Four Heavenly Kings, she was the one whose whereabouts remained particularly mysterious, though I had some idea of where she might be.

Although I never directly confirmed it, when another of the Four Heavenly Kings attacked me, the circumstances led me to suspect her identity.

“Hoho, to set aside hostility and arrange this meeting… How fortunate. It seems the master of this fortress is someone who can be reasoned with.”

What could have happened to her…

What occurred in the past six months that made her appear before me not as Merilyn, but in her demonic form?

“What’s wrong? Since you arranged this meeting, I assumed you were willing to talk with me…”

As I struggled to shake off my uneasiness, Merilyn—no, the demon who should be called Mephisto in this setting—looked at me with indifference.

Her characteristically triumphant attitude created considerable tension just by being in her presence.

Even though she had separated from her group and entered the ark alone, even though everyone gathered in this conference room were key figures of the ark including myself.

She seemed confident that she could easily brush off anything that might happen here.

“My, everyone seems so tense.”

And I suspected others felt the same way.

In that rigid atmosphere, Mephisto smirked and raised her hands to clap demonstratively.

“Being too tense isn’t good to look at, is it? Come now, since we’re face to face, let’s all have a good laugh, shall we?”

-Pang!

A small explosion followed the light applause.

Paper confetti burst out, making a mess around us, but the tense atmosphere remained unchanged.

In fact, someone was ready to draw their weapon, suspecting the explosion might be some kind of trick.

“This is too much. I came alone to dispel your wariness…”

It was understandable. Though she had rarely shown herself, rumors about her suggested she was in a completely different league from other demons.

An incarnation of madness where everyone who entered her presence would fall into insanity, ultimately killing each other until only tragedy remained…

“…Mephisto Rage.”

With the very person standing before us, it was impossible to let our guard down.

Even for me, who had responsibilities.

No matter how much I loved her, I couldn’t help feeling cautious without knowing her true intentions.

“Why have you come to us?”

In this situation, what I needed to know immediately was why someone of her caliber would seek us out when we were merely focused on taking in refugees.

She set aside her playful attitude and answered my question.

“I came because I heard recent rumors that interested me. They say there are people leading a moving fortress, traveling outside human territory…”

“Why did that catch your interest?”

“About that… Yes, let me speak directly without beating around the bush.”

Mephisto tilted her hat upward.

With her half-lidded eyes directed at me, she soon stated her business.

“Hero Hyoseong Woo.”

The confidant of the world’s greatest calamity made a proposal I never expected.

“Would you please take in the demons I lead?”

“…What?”

“I heard you’re gathering refugees here. So I’d like you to take in my demons who are looking for a place to live…”

My breath caught as my thoughts became increasingly tangled.

Her words were incomprehensible to me.

Take them in? What does that mean?

Demons asking humans for help?

Could demons, whose nature drives them to plunder and violate, really ask to be taken in as refugees? Is that even possible?

“What’s wrong? Your expression has hardened.”

“No, it’s just… I don’t quite understand. Are you really asking us to accept demons as refugees?”

“That’s correct.”

“You, the second-in-command of the Demon Lord’s army… You came to me with your group to ask for this?”

“Yes, but I think there’s one thing you’re misunderstanding.”

As the gap between perception and reality widened.

In this incomprehensible situation, she began to explain in a more serious tone.

“As it happens, I’ve already left the Demon Lord’s army. Being one of the Four Heavenly Kings or second-in-command… That’s all in the past now.”

“What…”

“Yes, that’s right. I no longer have any connection to the Demon Lord’s army. Whatever my past was, I’ve now severed all ties and am pursuing an independent life.”

-Murmuring.

The ark members fell into confusion at this shocking confession.

But it was still difficult to accept her words at face value.

There was no way we could fully trust the words of a race born to deceive others.

“And the demons who followed me… If I had to describe them, I’d call them the losers of a power struggle.”

Yet the demon of madness continued her explanation in an earnestly serious voice.

By now, even the smile on her lips had disappeared, leaving only a chilling silence in the conference room.

“…Losers? What do you mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like—they’re the lowest of the low who were cast out from the Demon Lord’s army. In the Demon Lord’s army where power dictates everything, being weak makes you perfect for elimination.”

Cast out because they were weak.

Certainly, the demons she brought were not a small number for refugees, but they were far fewer compared to the forces in our ark.

Moreover, if that many were all weaklings, the risk might be much less than we had thought.

“And I gathered these discarded ones to form a group, and having left the Demon Lord’s army, I’m now looking for the right opportunity.”

But the reason for taking in such weaklings was surely not moral.

Demons are beings faithful to their desires, and everything they do stems from fulfilling those desires.

So there must be a purpose in gathering and leading these outcast demons.

“The right opportunity? That is…?”

She answered me in a resolute voice, confirming my suspicions.

“The opportunity to kill the Demon Lord.”

-Murmuring.

The commotion grew louder again.

Her words were completely unexpected for us.

“Kill the… Demon Lord?”

“What? What does that mean?”

“Why would the Demon Lord’s closest aide want to kill the Demon Lord?”

“What’s really going on here?”

We couldn’t have anticipated this.

Not only did she suddenly appear before us, but her reason was to seek an opportunity to kill the Demon Lord.

Could this really be coming from the woman who was second-in-command of the Demon Lord’s army?

“I’m not lying.”

But her voice was serious, and her gaze fixed on me was sharply honed.

“I sincerely…”

There was a sincerity in her words that I couldn’t dismiss as mere acting.

“I sincerely came looking for a place to entrust our safety while waiting for the opportunity to kill him. It may take time until that moment comes, but I believe when the time arrives, the opportunity will present itself.”

She gathered outcast demons for her purpose and sought a safe place to secure a grace period.

That’s why she came to us—intellectually, I could understand. But only intellectually.

“…Why do you want to kill the Demon Lord?”

But no matter how selfish demons might be, wasn’t he the Demon Lord?

The absolute power who summoned them to this world, their monarch, and a living calamity capable of destroying the world…

How could she so easily speak of killing such a being?

“Because if I don’t kill him, I’ll die too.”

She answered my question in a nonchalant tone.

Despite my persistent doubts, I found myself being persuaded by her words.

“It’s a simple reason that everyone here can understand. Soon, something will happen in this world that will provoke the Demon Lord and determine this world’s destruction.”

“Destruction? What do you mean…”

“I mean exactly what I said. Until now, the Demon Lord has been destroying various dimensions, and he’s repeating that pattern in this world too.”

It wasn’t an implausible claim.

After all, demons, unlike other races, were extraterrestrial invaders who didn’t originally exist in this world.

And the one who orchestrated such an outrageous act was none other than the Demon Lord.

The fact that he had the power to destroy dimensions was proven by the influx of demons into this world.

“And he’s completely insane now. To the point where he feels nothing even after killing his loyal subordinates with his own hands…”

These circumstances, coupled with her seriousness, began to build credibility.

A growing anxiety that if I didn’t carefully consider her words now, I might regret it soon.

“If he, who no longer sees any value in his subordinates, goes berserk, what do you think will happen to demons including myself? It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Yes, if the Demon Lord isn’t killed, not only humanity but even the demons will perish.

Having sensed this, she decided to betray the Demon Lord and now reached out her hand to me.

“Of course, you’re free to interpret this information as you wish… But there’s nothing to lose from your perspective. If you just provide us with safety and time, we’ll lend our strength to develop this fortress, and you’ll gain the possibility of eliminating a threat to yourselves.”

Whether to part ways with them now, or to form an alliance with demons to find an opportunity to eliminate the threat to humanity.

Presenting me with this choice, she opened her outstretched hand, preparing to drive home her point.

“I’ll respect whatever choice you make. Please feel free to express your opinion…”

-Gulp.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry.

Yet the thirst remained, as I was experiencing deep conflict.

If she had been a stranger, I would have decided to part ways immediately, but the energy I felt even now told me that the demon before me was her.

The person I love, the person I want to be with in the future.

Even if her true identity was a demon, I wanted to believe that she hadn’t approached me with malicious intent.

“I…”

I want to grasp this hand.

“No way.”

At that moment, a voice made my hand flinch, and my gaze immediately turned toward the intruder.

It was Cheska.

In her eyes, as she glared at Merilyn, was an emotion that could clearly be called hatred.

“No demons, Master. Other non-human races might be acceptable, but we can’t join hands with demons!”

“…Cheska.”

“Have you forgotten who caused what happened to the people of the sanctuary!? It was demons! One of the Four Heavenly Kings like her!!!”

-Thump, thump.

My heart began to beat violently.

As my mind went blank, I noticed others beginning to side with her.

“Th-that’s right. Demons can’t be trusted.”

“Kill the Demon Lord? Is that even possible, even for the second-in-command?”

“She must be trying to deceive us! She’ll definitely stab us in the back!”

Others distrusted Merilyn just as much.

In this atmosphere, Merilyn pressed down her hat and let out a sigh.

“Come to think of it, Yasmo was the only one left among the Four Heavenly Kings… Ah, I was wondering why I hadn’t seen her lately, so that’s what happened.”

Had she sensed the fate of her kind through these words?

But what came from her mouth wasn’t sympathy or sadness, but something closer to mockery.

“If she had a purpose, she should have stuck to it, but instead she wasted time on unnecessary things and met with misfortune… A fitting end for a foolish whore.”

Pfft, laughter erupted.

Irritated by that mockery, Cheska began to tremble as she glared at Merilyn.

“…Is that all you have to say?”

“All I have to say? What more should I say here?”

Merilyn shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t understand…

No, in the person before me now, I couldn’t find any trace of the woman I loved.

“Your kind… one of the Four Heavenly Kings annihilated the people of the sanctuary. Don’t you feel any guilt about that!?”

“Guilt? Why?”

Even if she knew that someone she knew was the cause of another’s anger, one would expect her to hesitate in her response.

But she seemed to truly feel nothing, answering in a casual tone.

“Why, you ask…”

“The problems committed at this place called the sanctuary weren’t committed by me. To share responsibility for something I didn’t do—do you humans normally assume responsibility for crimes committed by others?”

Perhaps that’s only natural.

For demons who are faithful to their desires, it might be unreasonable to expect any sense of kinship.

No compassion for others, no sympathy… not even empathy for victims. It’s only natural that she would find it ridiculous to emphasize a sense of guilt.

“If sharing guilt is truly a human trait and the right thing to do, then the riots happening in your territory now would also be your responsibility.”

“Th-that’s…”

“Yes, sharing responsibility merely because you belong to the same race is quite a stretch. Just as the riots have nothing to do with you, what Yasmo did has nothing to do with me. Especially since I’ve left the Demon Lord’s army.”

Did she find Cheska’s speechlessness amusing?

A sinister smile began to form on the lips of the demon who glanced sideways at the trembling girl.

“But to barge in and interfere while we’re discussing important matters when you’re not even directly involved…”

“Couldn’t you show a little restraint? Taking out your frustrations in the wrong place.”

Was it mockery directed at someone in pain?

Or was it simply indifference—an inability to empathize with another’s pain, without any real malice?

Either way, this behavior was at odds with the woman I knew.

Yet she had cried for me when I was in pain, and tried to support me…

“…Everyone, leave us.”

Was it wrong to hold onto a glimmer of hope for her current self, based on those memories?

“Hero, what are you saying…”

“I’m going to talk with her alone, so I said leave.”

“Master, that’s…!”

“I’m the one in charge here.”

As my companions, including Cheska, tried to dissuade me, I quietly held up the ring in my hand before them, firmly stating my position.

“If you don’t want to take this ring in my place, then you need to prioritize my orders, don’t you?”

They might think my judgment is wrong.

But until that result is proven, the leader’s words must take priority.

If they understand that a group that doesn’t adhere to this principle will collapse, they can’t refuse my current order.

“…Let’s leave it to brother for now.”

Starting with Garam’s words, my companions began to leave one by one.

Cheska, the last to remain, looked at me with eyes full of betrayal, but I silently endured her resentment as I tried to reassure her.

“Don’t worry, Cheska.”

Boldly rejecting what I cannot embrace, and managing only what I can handle.

“The ark is my top priority right now.”

Endlessly repeating that one principle in my mind.