Ch.26387. Something That Should Never Exist.

“Well, in our era, there wasn’t anything like mana or aura as such. We did call it Pleroma or Aura, but that was a mystery that only apostles of gods, those chosen by gods, or the gods themselves could handle. For ordinary folks like us, all we could do was make do with our physical bodies.”

The Weakest Demon King.

Every anecdote flowing from his lips was beyond imagination, tales from an unfathomably distant past.

At Lyurik and Aristetis’s request to speak comfortably, he too was casually sharing his stories.

“Then what about that swordsmanship you use? Where did you learn it?”

“Septentrions? It’s a sword technique I created once, modeled after the constellation in the northern sky.”

“…What does that mean?”

Aristetis tilted her head, unfamiliar with the term.

“It encompasses many meanings, but in my time, it meant ‘Seven Oxen.'”

This time, Lyurik pressed for the main point.

“So, what is your relationship with Kariel?”

“For now, I suppose I’m temporarily a master? A senior? Somehow, I found his earnest attitude to learn admirable, so I’ve been teaching him various things.”

“If you’re saying you existed thousands of years ago, how can you be here now?”

Perhaps this was what they were most curious about.

“That’s the fascinating part.”

The Weakest Demon King spoke gently, his gaze fixed on the bonfire.

“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems our descendants have such talents.”

He explained with a smile.

“To be able to experience the world after my time, even briefly. Isn’t that special?”

“……”

“Well, while I’m at it, I might as well lend a hand with his work.”

“But why do you call yourself the Weakest Demon King?”

“Hmm? Because I am the Weakest Demon King.”

“…A Demon King who’s the weakest—does that mean you’re actually weak?”

“Our lady seems interested in this story? Then I have no reason not to tell!”

He explained.

Once, among countless beings of the demon realm who wielded abilities and powers, among those with humble talents and innately inferior and powerless lineages, there he was.

A Demon King was a great being who could overturn the earth and split the sky.

But suddenly, the boy thought:

‘Why does such a being lead the world in such an absurd way?’

This is wrong, terribly wrong!

So the boy, at a young age, crawled into the forest.

Years later, the boy challenged the Demon King and won.

The boy, possessing no special abilities or powers, without massive forces or exceptional qualities, amazingly reached the Demon King alone and managed to overthrow him.

While he had never lost in battle, in combat, in any contest to anyone,

He was weak and could do nothing else.

Thus, though no one pledged loyalty to him,

He alone usurped the crown and throne, and was constantly challenged thereafter, yet never defeated until his own death.

His competitors felt shame and humiliation at being unable to defeat him, and while finally acknowledging him, they never ceased their contempt.

Hence, he was given the title “Weakest.”

He was the weakest Demon King.

Because although he never lost, he was incompetent in everything else.

Yet without ever truly winning, he was the epitome of absurdity.

He was indeed a Demon King.

“But how was that possible? Was the swordsmanship you learned that extraordinary?”

“Swordsmanship is merely a tool. More precisely, it’s because I mastered the principles behind using it.”

For instance, heaven and earth.

For instance, cold and heat.

For instance, black and white.

“What we can achieve is nothing more than naturally wielding the power that naturally exists. You could call it the will to power.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s the power inherent in all living beings.”

The nature of the strong to dominate and conquer others.

The nature of the weak to resist, defeat, and overthrow the strong.

“Yes. To borrow my descendant’s words, it’s about building your own world and establishing pillars to strengthen its foundation. Just as my existence now manifests through fragments of my descendant’s armor.”

As he slightly raised his hand, surprisingly, his fair white skin instantly transformed into dark metal.

“……”

They knew he wasn’t human, but to think his true form was like that.

The problem was that it was so intricate that neither Lyurik nor Aristetis could recognize it.

Was it magical harmony, or something even beyond that?

“It’s an example of applying unchanging principles in a world of change. The material world is constructed of endless change, cycles, and repetition.”

“…I don’t understand any of this.”

Aristetis looked dejected.

“Is that so? When the gates of heaven close, eyes and ears are covered, spirituality dies, and senses become dull… you cannot see what you wish to see or know what you wish to know. Still, you two are more open than most who have passed by.”

“Is that related to our talents?”

Lyurik asked, sensing a connection.

“Your innate ability to excel at something is because you’re more open than others. Body and soul. See them as one. If either is missing, it loses its meaning.”

“Hmm…”

For some reason, Lyurik recalled part of what his great master Lansrus had told him.

“So, to get to the point, I’d like to join you in that jousting competition or whatever it is.”

“What about Kariel?”

“He’ll probably participate too.”

However.

“He’ll look quite different from what you know.”

As if he knew Kariel’s circumstances well.

“This place isn’t exactly deadly for my descendant, but it’s not somewhere he can step into comfortably either.”

“…On our way here, we heard strange rumors about a black knight and the ghosts or giants he leads. Is that related?”

“Currently, Kariel is establishing his own base in enemy territory. To fight in this area of strong faith, in their sacred domain, Kariel needs to gather his own spiritual names.”

“……”

More incomprehensible words.

“Don’t you know? Challenging a god is always like that.”

“Why is the conversation… going that far?”

Lyurik sensed that something bigger was unfolding.

How did challenging a god come into this?

Kariel, what exactly are you opposing?

====

The next day.

After finally boarding the stagecoach entering the imperial territory and traveling for quite some time, something suddenly crashed from the sky with a thud, causing the coach to shake and many passengers to anxiously peer around.

“W-what? What’s happening?”

“Did a stone… fall from the sky?”

“Stone? More like lightning struck!”

As they exchanged such words briefly, a massive presence loomed behind the stagecoach.

“Ho ho ho! Indeed! I was right!”

Lyurik and Aristetis, already sensing his identity by his presence alone, reluctantly acknowledged him.

“G-Gazef…”

“Sigh.”

With his distinctive appearance—a beastkin with a massive build and deer-like head—a commotion broke out inside the stagecoach.

“G-Gazef? One of… the Nine Heroes?!”

“Hey! Calling a beastkin a person is an insult!”

“But aren’t beastkin people too?”

“Hahaha! Call me whatever you like. Under the sky, aren’t we all the same living beings?”

Gazef casually accepted their acclaim.

And then.

“Why are you riding this slow thing? Get off! Come on, let’s run!”

“Ughhhh.”

Aristetis groaned.

“Hmm? Who’s that?”

Noticing the Weakest Demon King disembarking from the stagecoach with Lyurik and Aristetis, Gazef asked with curious eyes.

“Me? I somehow ended up joining them!”

The boy replied with a bright, beaming smile.

“U-um?”

His presence was strange.

Though not as tense as Lyurik had been, Gazef also felt that there was something… very peculiar about him.

Anyway, though the stagecoach operation was briefly disrupted, everyone welcomed the opportunity to meet one of the Nine Heroes, seeing it as something to talk about.

“You’re really popular in the Empire.”

“You think I was asked to naturalize for nothing?”

If he had liked urban areas, he might have really naturalized.

But with his pact with dragons, and his dislike for crowded places…

No, that wasn’t really it, but anyway, he had duties to fulfill for his race’s prosperity… it couldn’t be helped.

“You’re also participating in the gladiatorial tournament, right?”

“It’s not gladiatorial combat, but jousting in the Empire, isn’t it?”

“Whatever it is. Are you going to fight on horseback? Of course not.”

“…Does the Empire really have competitions on horseback?”

“That’s the ultimate. Those who’ve seen it think twice about fighting the Empire, it’s that impressive.”

“What about you, Gazef?”

“I don’t care.”

Still with tremendous confidence.

“Knights in the Empire follow a hierarchical system. They’re all fiercely competitive about their ranks, which is also the driving force behind their strength through generations.”

“…Hmm.”

Lyurik seemed internally excited, the corners of his mouth slightly curling up despite his blank expression.

“By the way, boy, what’s your name? Oh, should I introduce myself first? You seemed not to know who I was earlier…”

“One of the continent’s heroes who slew the Demon King of Wisdom. Right?”

“Yes. That’s me.”

“That’s impressive.”

The boy’s praise made only Aristetis and Lyurik feel awkward.

“Call me Korin.”

“Alright.”

Would Gazef know?

That this being existed hundreds of times longer ago than Gazef himself?

“Do you have lodging? Any appointments in the imperial territory?”

“No. Of course not.”

Lyurik replied confidently.

“Then while we have the chance, I’ll show you around the imperial palace.”

“…This really makes it clear how friendly you are with the Empire.”

“Am I only friendly with the Empire?”

Gazef laughed heartily.

“And well… since you’re also acquainted with Kariel, I’d like you to share a few words with those curious about him.”

“I knew it! You had such dark intentions!”

“How is that a dark intention!”

But Gazef doesn’t know.

What topics his old comrades, whom he’s about to join, are currently discussing and pondering.

“I’m probably the first to join.”

Nor does Gazef know.

That he would be the last to arrive at the imperial territory.

====

The scene of everyone except Gazef gathered in the reception room within the imperial palace was an exceptionally rare sight.

Naturally, officials passing through the palace were thrilled, but they couldn’t hear a word of what was being discussed inside the reception room.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”

Rashid, of the small folk, the dwarf race, kept clicking his tongue in disapproval as usual.

“……”

And.

Loroana had somehow obtained the item Kariel was seeking and placed it on the rectangular table.

It was truly something bizarre.

Small enough to fit in a palm with room to spare, semi-transparent yet golden… circular yet composed of countless regular polygons.

Yet what appeared to the eye constantly transformed.

Sometimes it looked like a sphere, other times it took on a polygonal form with too many faces to count.

How could something so alien, unusual, special, strange, chaotic, impure, metaphysical, ominous, and suspicious… have been quietly resting in the imperial treasury?

The heroes who saved the continent.

Those eight individuals were now not only pondering its identity but also breaking into cold sweats, feeling as if they were sinking into an unfathomable swamp due to its alienness—a very ominous sensation.

This was clearly, definitely…

Something that should never exist in this world.