Hell – 3

To demons, humans were nothing more or less than mere entertainment to relieve boredom, and parts used to strengthen their own power.

The more cruelly they tortured humans dragged into hell, the stronger their power became, and as their power grew, their position in hell naturally rose.

At the end of cruel torture, the physical body died, and the remaining soul was permanently subjugated to the demon, screaming in agony and once again becoming a source of power. Thus, it was natural for demons to regard humans in such a way.

It should have been that way.

That is, until they met two men and women who suddenly stormed into hell and began slaughtering demons.

When they first discovered two humans leisurely strolling through hell, the demons naturally attacked with glee. However, it didn’t take long for them to realize that it was mere bravado.

Hundreds of demon legions were permanently annihilated by the black-haired woman wielding a Holy Sword, and their corpses piled up to form a small hill. The demons couldn’t even touch the hem of the black-haired woman’s clothes.

Even with a Holy Sword, this was hell, the demons’ very stronghold. Therefore, they thought they would naturally win if they exerted their full power, but the reality was the opposite.

The demons, who had piled up a hill of corpses, eventually changed their target. They decided to aim for the black-haired man next to the black-haired woman with the Holy Sword, who seemed relatively easier to deal with.

Compared to the black-haired woman who annihilated every demon she saw, the man merely finished off the demons that occasionally survived and writhed, so it was true that he seemed easier to handle.

The demons who rushed towards the man with such thoughts were likewise permanently annihilated.

The weapon in the man’s hand was clearly not a Holy Sword, but it was exerting divine power strong enough to rival a Holy Sword. By the time the first demon to charge realized that fact, it was already too late.

Although he certainly didn’t exert overwhelming force like the black-haired woman with the Holy Sword, dozens of demons died by divine power, failing to land their attacks by a hair’s breadth.

In any case, it was clear that both of them were terrifying beings that they could not defeat with their own power. The demons fled, leaving the hill of corpses behind, running as fast as their tails could carry them.

To request help from one of the Demon King’s closest confidants, a high-ranking demon who ruled this surrounding area.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the fleeing demons to regret that choice.

“Your Majesty, Emperor, do you know this proverb?”

“What are you speaking of?”

“They say the root of pain is the head. So, if you destroy the head, it means you can make them no longer feel pain.”

“Your words are truly correct. I shall personally commend you.”

Even at my trivial joke, Kaikilia, with a slight commendation, stomped and crushed the head of the demon that had been pierced by the Holy Sword and was letting out a “KIEEEEK!” sound with her foot.

With a *Kwajik* sound, what was inside splattered out. On the parched dirt ground, gooey, dark red blood mixed in.

Despite having cut down countless demons, Kaikilia’s clothes were still clean. Looking closely, perhaps due to the power of the Holy Sword, the demon’s byproducts evaporated into thin air as soon as they touched her body.

I gazed down at my jet-black uniform, stained with dark red blood in various places, and decided that it couldn’t be helped. That Holy Sword was special.

“However, there is one blind spot in your words.”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“What reason would there be to send these wicked beings away without pain?”

The two of us continued forward, exchanging such trivial conversations. In the direction we were walking, there was a gigantic demon that had dueled Kaikilia, been utterly crushed, and then fled.

It was one of the bosses from the ‘Sanctuary of Demons’ DLC, the ‘Four-winged Demon’. As a DLC boss, it was much harder than most main story bosses, and its compatibility with me was terrible.

Kaikilia, who had heard all of its attack patterns from me, didn’t allow a single attack, and utterly crushed it head-on. It was beaten to a pulp, to a pitiful extent.

The Four-winged Demon, beaten almost to death, tried to flee immediately, but was hit by a sword aura-like attack from behind and soon fell to the ground.

That was why we were walking through hell in such a carefree manner.

“……”

And Margarita was watching our carefree demeanor from behind.

Margarita alternately stared with a bewildered expression at the demons fleeing in terror, and at the two of us who seemed utterly unfazed despite committing such a massacre.

Then, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“By any chance… you know. You’re not from the Holy Nation, are you?”

“Does the Holy Nation refer to the Pope by the title of Your Majesty? So much time has passed, so even if you’ve forgotten all knowledge of the human world, I shall specially forgive you.”

“Ah, no! That’s not it…”

Margarita, who had asked me a question and received a chilling glare from Kaikilia, was startled and trembled. It seemed the incident where the Holy Sword was pressed against her throat earlier had left a strong impression on her mind.

Her tone and actions might be like that, but right now, Kaikilia is in a very good mood. She should be able to overlook most things.

“We are people of the Aeternum Empire. As I mentioned earlier, that person is the current Emperor.”

I answered instead of Kaikilia. Margarita glanced cautiously in that direction.

“I know that. Because I heard it too. Even after hearing it, it’s just too hard to believe. The fact that someone from the Empire uses a Holy Sword, and the weapon you’re holding too. Even if I look like this, I was once a Holy Knight, you know. I can tell how much divine power is contained in a weapon.”

The words, “Not anymore, though,” were quietly added.

“Honestly, I never imagined that the Emperor of the Empire would use a Holy Sword. But how-“

“Curiosity kills the cat, Margarita.”

A gaze filled with her characteristic overbearing eyes turned towards Margarita. Although she had only said one word, Margarita, who instantly understood the meaning within it, immediately shut her mouth.

It was perfectly understandable for her to react so sharply. Because she had come to use the Holy Sword to kill her own relatives who had been tainted by demons.

To answer the question, “Why does the Emperor of the Empire use a Holy Sword?” she would inevitably have to recall the memories of that time, so it was natural that she would react sharply.

“Delta. You are the same. If you are a knight, you naturally have the duty to attend to the Emperor’s side. Why are you elsewhere?”

“I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

I had been walking a little distance away from Kaikilia, but upon hearing her words, I moved closer again.

“Closer.”

I moved even closer.

“Closer.”

I moved much, much closer than that.

“Closer.”

I moved close enough that our arms would brush with just a slight movement.

“That is enough.”

Only then did Kaikilia nod with satisfaction. It was a seriously close distance to describe as attending to her side. Our forearms would brush slightly with every step we took.

I felt Margarita’s poking gaze from behind, directed at me. She must have been bewildered, as our actions were far from what one would expect from an Emperor and her knight, despite what we had said.

After that, there was nothing particular to continue the conversation with, and it was quiet because no demons, having lost their nerve, dared to attack us. Thanks to that, the journey was comfortable.

After some time had passed, sitting on the ground, we saw the Four-winged Demon, bleeding profusely from its severed limbs and gasping for breath.

“Um…”

“Do you still have something to say?”

As she was about to approach it, at Margarita’s voice, which came from behind once again, Kaikilia let out a slightly annoyed voice.

Margarita, who flinched reflexively, wore a determined expression, as if she absolutely had to say this.

“Are you two… um, lovers…?”

“……”

It was a completely unexpected question, but Kaikilia offered no refutation.

She merely quietly, with her usual emotionless yet overbearing expression, stared blankly at Margarita, who had posed the question.

Kaikilia, who had stood expressionless for a long time, only opened her mouth with a slightly nuanced expression just before Margarita began to tremble and part her lips.

“For what reason did you think so?”

“Uh… your hair color is similar, your clothes color is similar, and the weapons you use also have similar aspects…? I was wondering if perhaps you matched your outfits.”

Now that I thought about it, it was true. I secretly compared my appearance with Kaikilia’s in my mind.

Both of us had jet-black hair, wore jet-black uniforms, and carried swords that exuded divine power. It was enough to create the illusion that we had matched our outfits.

Furthermore, although nominally we were lord and knight, our actions didn’t feel that way at all.

With an unreadable expression, Kaikilia, who had been staring at Margarita for a while, abruptly turned her head.

“Think as you please. I am not so idle as to respond to every single one of those illusions.”

‘She’s not denying it.’

Given Kaikilia’s personality, I thought she would say something like, “Not lovers, but mine.” It was quite unexpected in many ways.

Her golden pupils turned towards me again. I quickly moved to her side. Kaikilia’s expression remained unchanged. It was an unreadable expression.

We soon arrived at the Four-winged Demon, which was collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. It was desperately struggling to escape from us.

“Did you say you needed this one’s eyes?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. That’s right.”

“It’s good timing, then. It was sickening to death to have my body scanned by such filthy eyes.”

For the device’s operating materials, two drop items obtained from defeating DLC bosses and two items that could be looted from the field were needed. One of those drop items was this one’s eyes.

At first, I thought that if we killed it, its body would melt away and drop items automatically, like when we defeated the Human Butcher in the tutorial area and obtained the blood-stained sword. But just in case, we decided to extract them first.

At the mention of extracting its eyes, the demon desperately flapped its wings, but with over 90% of them already torn, it was impossible to fly with the few remaining wings.

Kaikilia calmly gestured with her chin.

“What are you doing, not starting?”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

Margarita fumbled for a moment, then nodded and approached the Four-winged Demon, drawing her sword. And then, without the slightest hesitation, she plunged her knife deep into its eye socket.

The demon shrieked a high-pitched scream and writhed. In any case, it couldn’t do anything else.

“Delta.”

As I was staring blankly at the back of the bikini-clad beauty diligently extracting the demon’s eyes, I heard a voice calling me from right beside me. It was Kaikilia.

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“What do you think of what that one said?”

“……Huh?”

“Are you going to keep making your servant repeat herself? That is truly a bad habit. I asked you what you thought of what that one said, about us being in a romantic relationship.”