episode_0154

It was fun. Beyond the anger for her, the joy of being able to mix weapons with someone on equal footing took hold. The determination to fight desperately even though one arm was cut off, the will to desperately block my sword and read the sword path, the arrogance that still won’t give up.

“Good.”

I threw the dagger high, caught it, and corrected it with a counterattack. Then I spun it around on my fingertips and cut off Raoul’s nose.

Have you even read this?

This is so much fun. When was the last time I enjoyed fighting this much? It’s so much fun I can’t stand it.

Yes. It’s a story that deserves the best ending. Not succumbing to illness, not collapsing even after losing an arm, not being discouraged by a strong enemy.

I really like stories like that.

“Ha…”

It felt like it was going to burst out. It felt like this faithful satisfaction was going to show up on my face.

I shouldn’t be revealing that anticipation that I might finally be able to punish you.

I had to punish the Empire. That was the best atonement I could make, and it was my right to do so. I would have the right to kill everyone in the Empire.

But it wasn’t just the Empire that I had to punish. The dull sword that failed in its duty to protect the woman it loved when she was violated. I had to punish that too.

Because there are sinners who, like her, must die a miserable death by the sword of the empire, not in the comfortable way of stabbing themselves.

“Draw out more strength, Raoul Bergé! Even if it takes all your strength! Draw out the strength of your life, or even the strength of your next life, and fight! I can’t be that easy of an opponent, can I? ”

I wanted to see more. I wanted to show more. This would be the last battle that could be called a battle anyway. Whatever the ending, it would be better if there were no regrets.

In this time of enjoying each other’s lives, I hope we can burn away even the slightest regret that may remain.

“I am still alive and well, Raoul Bergé. If you leave me like this, I will destroy your mother and sister, as well as everything you love.”

It shouldn’t be broken already. This guy has to kill the one I hate the most. He has to kill me with a power so great that he can break me who has reached the realm of a god, and he has to kill me more painfully than anything else.

There aren’t many people who can inflict pain on him. The minimum punishment is to kill him with the same hands that killed his dirty enemy.

I will do anything to achieve that.

Even if we go back to before the declaration of war,

I will repeat this war over and over again.

We will hold swords in our hands, kill people like beasts, and shed dirty blood on the dreams of those days when we loved humans together.

Without her, the dream would be meaningless, so the only thing that matters is her meaning.

The meaning of taking her away.

And the implications of not being able to protect her.

I will engrave it.

“You said you could see a way to kill me? Then do it to the best of your ability. I mean, face me without the heavy shell of fairness!”

“… What a pity.”

“Do you pity me? Didn’t you and I live the same life! Born lonely, wandering all my life! Sitting in a place that didn’t fit me, feeling a loneliness that couldn’t be filled! I met someone lovely who saved my life! ”

“… That’s right.”

“And our treasure was trampled while struggling for peace! That tragedy became poison and was embedded in our hearts! Do you know what this tragic poison is called!”

“Longing.”

“No. That is guilt. A deadly poison that traps people in the vain delusion that if only I could protect them! A poison that prevents people from living in reality!”

We were all living addicted to that poison.

“We are trapped in countless ifs. You and I. We are drifters who must wander through them our entire lives.”

That’s why I wanted you to walk the same path as me.

I hoped that together we would bring down the empire and that your hands would condemn my last enemy.

But now I understand.

You are stubborn and will not break no matter what happens. How can I try to break that when I see you who resemble my wife? If we had a son, he would definitely resemble you.

So now I understand that those two wishes are incompatible.

Likewise, even if you are lost and drifting inside, you can live as yourself.

There were people by your side to help you not to break.

but.

I still had nothing left to look straight at this world. There was no one to help me not bend. Even if there were, they were all people who were not concerned about my sorrow, but only worried about a future that had no meaning to me anymore.

You can find meaning in that world and still love it.

So let me say this.

I think this world is a terrible place where only one’s own desires come first, where what one has suffered is more important than what one has done, and where one only pursues interest without any beliefs… Such a terrible shackle…

“Raoul Bergé is so disgusting.”

“… Yes. I still love you, Demon King.”

“Yeah. You must be that kind of person. I think I understand now.”

We have lived similar lives but have come to different conclusions.

Even if we point out each other’s lives and insist that each other’s conclusions are wrong, in the end we will just be running on parallel lines.

If that was the case, there was only one way to prove to each other that they were right and wrong.

“Paegeom (覇劍) – Yeonmoji designation.”

Despite the two-pronged slash, Raoul Bergé was not fazed and raised his staff to block both slashes at the same time.

“…”

This is just killing and eliminating those who say I am wrong while fighting with weapons. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a truly rational and stale method in which only the righteous survive.

I rushed at him and plunged my dagger into his abdomen.

Flashy techniques are good, but even a rotten nail swung carelessly by a child can end a life at any time.

Murder is not a big deal. If you have a knife, even a three-year-old can do it. We are just competing with each other with our meager talents.

I wanted to achieve something different with her because I was ashamed of this worthless talent. Since you broke it, I am wielding this worthless talent like this.

“… I.”

Raoul, who was stabbed in the abdomen with a dagger, did not put down his weapon even though he was vomiting blood.

“I won’t give in just because my stomach is pierced.”

If you fight like this, you’re sure to die.

Even if he tries hard to save the world, it is clear that he will die from illness.

Where does that confidence come from?

If I were to die like her, my desire for peace would also disappear. It would be providence for those who are dead to stop and never see what they have achieved or the end of their dreams.

“Even that great will becomes meaningless when you die, doesn’t it?”

“… You’re the one who’s asking the stupid question while being the one who’s contradicting that story.”

“What…?”

“Even though she is dead, isn’t there someone like you who loved her? The same goes for me. I will do my best to make the continuation after I die eternal. I am a useless, macroscopic human being who calculates after death.”

It felt like I’d been hit hard in the head with a hammer.

“Continued even after death…”

Is that what it was like?

Since we are connected by dreams, does that mean that death cannot separate us? So did I cut the chain of dreams that connected me to her?

I see

I cut it off with my own hands.

I cut it off with my own hands, I sullied it with my own hands, and I even let go of the memory with my own hands.

indeed.

I feel resentful.

My sword that broke that strong chain.

indeed.

I regret it.

That foolish moment when I threw away that memory.

There is no future for me now. All that remains is to punish the sinners. After I have punished all the remaining sinners, I will cry over this regret even at the bottom of hell.

Well, after all the trials are properly concluded, I too will have the right to cry out loud.

Because what the Demon King needs to retire is the Final Judgment.

“… Let’s decide with the last technique, Raoul Bergé.”

After I opened the distance, I placed the Formless Sword over the dagger.

The first thing she gave me as a gift.

An object that taught me that black is not only for killing.

An item given as a gift to cut off the branches blocking the path ahead after cutting off the foolish past with that sword.

A precious item that has been used for purposes other than its original purpose.

I took a stance, holding it.

“.. Argritta.”

I ran towards Raul.

So that we can distinguish between right and wrong. So that we can judge the foolish ones who give in at the end.

Either way, one damn sinner will be gone.

Raoul tried to stop me with his cane, but it wasn’t enough.

Because my sword will reach you before that little staff can reach you.

With that short staff, with those short years, you won’t be able to reach me.”

“Leila.”

Raoul’s ring began to glow red again.

“Let’s go together.”

The ring merged with the staff, and soon a pure white blade appeared on top of the pitch-black staff.

“Indeed.”

It was touched before it could be touched.

“My side was short.”

No weapons, no thoughts, no love.

every.