Episode 146 – Demon King (1)

*

Robin squinted, opening only one of his tightly shut eyes.

With a dumbfounded look that betrayed the bewildering emotions swirling between panic and confusion, Robin asked:

“What the hell are you doing right now…?”

It was only natural that he was bewildered.

The thing I held in my hand and pressed against Robin’s head was the Demon King’s horn.

That horn that I had snatched away with a dagger from my hand as I lay dying, betrayed and bleeding out on that day I died.

And Robin shouted as I held the blunt, wide cut end-not the sharp tip-against his head.

“What the hell are you doing, Ed! Keueuk!”

Robin clenched his teeth.

He could feel the demonic energy flowing from the Demon King’s horn seeping into his forehead, causing a searing pain.

I firmly gripped Robin’s hair as he struggled to get the Demon King’s horn off his head, and said:

“Rose.”

Robin looked up at me with an expression that suggested he might have misheard.

“Why are you suddenly bringing up that name…”

Before Robin could finish his sentence, a woman with green hair appeared from behind him, passing through the wall.

A small girl with a green bob cut and perky wolf ears.

A sharp, blade-like tail peeking out from under her hood.

Mena’s daughter and Robin’s illegitimate child, who had appeared at the banquet just a moment ago.

It was Banata.

Robin was startled by her sudden appearance behind him, but soon gritted his teeth and said:

“Rose…? What the hell is going on… Rose, you say?”

I ignored Robin’s question and spoke to Banata, or rather, Rose.

“This moment is why I left you in Banata’s body.”

“…I know.”

Rose nodded slightly, looking down at her father, Robin.

Daniel, whom she loved, was the most like him among Robin’s many sons and daughters.

Perhaps if Daniel had lived and aged normally, he would have looked like this.

Thinking that, Rose stood silently.

I said to Rose:

“You know best how the Demon King’s horn changes a person’s body. Hurry up, or you and Daniel will both be…”

“…I know… but,”

“…But?”

“My father is obviously not related to the Demon King by blood. I can’t guarantee that possession is actually possible.”

“Who said anything about possession?”

“…?”

Even I, who am currently possessed by the Demon King’s soul, was not related to him by blood.

But even so, the Demon King lives in my head.

If it weren’t for Mela’s divine power, my body would have been taken over by that Demon King long ago.

That’s obvious.

Possession is a word used to describe putting a person’s soul into something.

The Demon King’s soul does not leech onto other people’s bodies.

It seizes them.

So, the word “assimilation” would be more fitting than “possession.”

‘Ready?’

[Hmm, I don’t like that unnecessarily pretty face. It lacks dignity.]

‘Is this really the time to be picky?’

[Well, I guess that’s a luxury problem.]

I shared one last banter with Ulgaros in my head.

Of course, Ulgaros wasn’t going to die or disappear.

From now on, he would seize Robin’s body and be resurrected once again.

This was revenge against Robin, and revenge against the world that had been built upon my trampled life.

I was bringing the Demon King down upon this world once again.

[Are you… leaving Ed’s body? Releasing the Demon King…?]

The divine power seemed confused.

It seemed that relief at him disappearing from my body and anxiety about the Demon King being reborn coexisted.

Moreover, although he seemed to be trying his best to hide it, I could clearly feel a slight regret and disappointment beyond the tone of his voice.

Demonic energy and divine power.

Perhaps, just like my and Mela’s fate, those two entities that could never be together had been sharing a room in my head all this time.

Every day, their bickering made my undead body feel like it had chronic headaches.

But in the end, had these two also grown fond of each other?

Ulgaros said with a bittersweet voice:

[Yes, finally escaping from this skinny undead body.]

‘You little shit.’

[Hee hee hee]

[…]

[Goodbye, Mela.]

[…!]

“Answer me, Ed! What the hell are you doing!”

Robin shook his head violently and struggled.

I punched Robin in the jaw with my fist.

“Shut up, Robin.”

“Keu… ugh!”

“If I were you, I’d choose my words carefully from now on.”

“…E, Ed… you bastard…”

“This moment is your last chance to leave behind a great last will.”

“What?”

I gestured for Rose to come closer.

Rose slowly approached me, her eyes gleaming.

Her eyes began to take on a strange pink hue, both murky and clear.

Robin tried to struggle even more violently, but the more he did, the tighter the chains around his body became.

Robin felt that something bad was coming.

Not just death, but something even more terrible.

Robin shook his head violently to prevent the horn from touching his forehead, and said:

“No, stop… Ed! I was wrong!”

“Is that the Hero’s last words? How pathetic.”

“No! No, stop, Ed… I can fix everything. I’ll bring you a better woman than Mela! Then!”

“…Ha, if this vulgarity is your true nature, then this must be your true last words.”

“No!”

Rose grabbed Robin’s face, lifted it up, and forced him to meet her gaze.

Robin looked into the eyes of his two daughters, Banata and Rose, and slowly stopped struggling.

Soon, all the strength drained from Robin’s body, and his head drooped.

Rose slowly took her hands off Robin’s face and said:

“…Goodbye, Dad.”

“Let’s begin.”

*

Central Square of Siorand.

In that place where a huge statue modeled after Ed and Robin stood proudly, Lily was running busily.

Lily forcibly opened the doors of every store and house around the square and went inside one by one.

This was to evacuate the people in this area in advance, as Ellie had predicted that if Ed were to destroy or rampage through a part of the city, that place would definitely be here.

Lily didn’t know how much Ed would rampage, but to prevent any possible casualties, she moved her feet without even wiping the sweat flowing down her face.

Thanks to Lara’s barrage of arrows, which was like a bombing, many people had already evacuated, but there were quite a few citizens who were frightened by the sudden, inexplicable commotion and just wanted to hide in their homes and wait for it to pass.

It seemed that Lara didn’t care if someone was hit and killed by her blind arrows, so Lily ran to save as many people as possible, shouting for them to evacuate from this area as soon as they saw her.

“The carriages prepared by Her Highness the Princess are waiting outside the square! Everyone, please evacuate!”

Even the people who stubbornly insisted on protecting their homes would rush out of their houses in a flurry when they heard that the carriages were prepared by ‘Her Highness the Princess’.

Whether it was because Ellie had such a good reputation among the citizens, or because they thought they would never get another chance to ride a carriage prepared by the Princess, it was truly a magical phrase.

After a long time, Lily, who was so tired that her legs were shaking and she couldn’t run anymore, was finally trying to leave the square with the last of the people who were too weak to evacuate.

At that moment, Lily was startled by a sound caught by her sensitive elven ears, and she raised her head to look at the sky.

Something was flying towards Robin’s statue.

“…Fath…Robin?”

Robin, who had flown in at such a tremendous speed that the sound of the air being cut could be heard, landed lightly on the head of the huge statue made in his likeness.

Lily, Ellie, and the evacuating citizens all found Robin and looked up at him.

It’s the Hero.

The Hero-nim has appeared to protect us!

As such shouts began to spread among the citizens, someone said:

“But, what’s that horn on the Hero-nim’s head?”

“Horn?”

“Hey, how can a horn be on a person’s head?”

“No, but that…”

Robin slowly raised one arm.

Then, after taking a moment to catch his breath, a huge explosion that seemed to tear the eardrums apart echoed through the air.

“Kyaaak!”

“Uwaaak! Everyone, run!”

“Wh, what is that!”

Robin’s statue shattered into pieces with a huge explosion, and the large bronze fragments began to fly towards the surrounding buildings.

The fragments torn from the huge statue were at least the size of a person’s head, no matter how small.

Those pieces of metal flew with the power to easily pierce brick walls, and some buildings even collapsed as if their pillars had been hit.

In an instant, half of the square was turned into ruins, and people fell into a panic.

People screamed and started running away, and those who were frozen in place by the sudden chaos were mixed together, creating a scene of utter chaos.

Some people collapsed, their legs giving way as they imagined what would have happened to them if they had stayed inside their homes.

But the fleeing citizens, the frozen citizens, and the collapsed people all saw it clearly.

Robin’s body remained floating in the same position where the head of the exploded statue had been.

Robin took a look at the street that had been devastated by the explosion, and said with a satisfied smile:

His voice was clearly not loud, and the distance was quite far, but everyone heard the voice as if it were whispering right next to their ears.

“Have you all become so accustomed to peace that you have forgotten,”

Huge wings began to sprout from Robin’s back.

They were black wings that resembled bat wings, with a gaunt frame but a huge size that seemed to be more than twice the height of a person on either side.

“The face of the Demon King.”

.