Subjugation of the Demon Race (4)

The road heading north after leaving the Vampire Kingdom was particularly… noisy.

,Lalala~ I’m a real Demon King now too! I even have two subordinates! Haru-nim! Where are we going next? Can we eat something delicious again?

,Demon King-nim, a little more dignity…

It was then that Eliza was about to speak with a sigh.

,Haaahm…

A yawn echoed. Akaoni was staggering along, using her iron club as a cane.

,How long do I have to walk like this… I’m bored to death. And there’s no one to fight…

,Akaoni-nim! Just bear with it a little longer!

Darkness said, fluttering as she ran.

,We’ll be there soon! Then there will be something exciting to do!

,Something exciting, huh…

Akaoni asked, her eyes sparkling.

,Could it be a fight?

Akaoni suddenly overflowing with energy. Eliza watched her with wary eyes.

,As expected, a muscle brain… Whenever fighting is mentioned…

At that moment, there was a shadow creeping up from behind.

,Hero-nim~

Bloodmere quietly stuck to my side like a bat. Hmm… Is calling a vampire a bat perhaps a politically incorrect statement?

,The moon is so bright tonight. They say the taste of blood becomes even sweeter on nights like these…

,Get lost.

,Oh my, don’t be so cold. I’m just making conversation~

I doubted whether this was really the evil Demon King’s army, but anyway, we continued to advance north.

***

How many more days did we head north? The air became noticeably dry, and green began to disappear from the landscape.

And finally, it revealed itself beyond the horizon.

White Fortress.

,Wow…

It looked more like the remains of a creature than a fortress.

On the endlessly 펼쳐진 white land, ivory-colored bone buildings rose grotesquely. The ramparts were made by connecting giant vertebrae, and the spires pierced the sky, woven from sharp ribs.

The entire city looked like the skeleton of a dead giant.

,How tasteless. There’s not a speck of class.

Bloodmere scoffed and covered her nose with her fan.

,What are these bones? They look like they’d break in one hit?

Akaoni said nonchalantly, carrying her iron club on her shoulder.

The closer we got, the stranger the sounds that pierced our ears.

Ttakgak. Ttakgak. Ttakgak. Ttakgak.

The sound of thousands, tens of thousands of bones colliding with each other.

Inside the fortress, countless skeletons were moving non-stop. They were taking pieces from piles of bones and assembling new skeletons.

Eternal labor without eating, sleeping, or resting.

,Euu… Bones… There are too many bones…

Darkness hid behind me, looking disgusted.

,I sense a powerful undead aura. Everyone, do not let your guard down.

The throne room we arrived at was inside a giant skull.

Light faintly entered through the holes pierced like eye sockets, and the walls were decorated with twisted bones.

And in the center of that room, on a throne made by stacking numerous skulls, sat a giant skeleton.

A massive figure that seemed to reach the ceiling. The skull of another creature was decorated on its head like a crown, and the fires of hell burned in its empty eye sockets.

Skeleton King.

He clicked his jawbone and looked down at us. A chilling voice that sounded like bones scraping together echoed.

,The Demon King? This fleshy little kid?

,You bastard! How dare you be so rude in front of the Demon King-hasoseo!

The Skeleton King merely clicked his jawbone again as if scoffing.

,Why should I? Why should I listen to the orders of rotting lumps of flesh?

He slowly rose from the throne. An oppressive aura crushed the entire room.

,Become bones.

,……?

,If you become bones, I will accept you.

His red eyes turned to Darkness.

,Flesh rots, and blood decays, but bones are eternal. Serve me in eternity.

,Hiiiik!

Darkness screamed.

As the Skeleton King gestured, the skeleton guards lined up on both sides simultaneously pointed their spears at us.

,Get lost, lumps of flesh.

In the end, we were pushed out of the fortress by the guards without gaining anything.

*

,Waaaaah! A scary skeleton said he’d turn me into bones! I don’t wannaaaa!

At a makeshift camp on the outskirts of the fortress, Darkness clung to me, sobbing.

,I don’t want to be a bone! I like flesh! I like things that are soft and squishy!

,To dare insult the Demon King-nim! I cannot forgive this!

Eliza was also enraged, ready to draw her sword.

,We must charge in immediately and shatter every bone in that bastard’s body!

,Kuhaha! That’s a great idea!

Akaoni agreed, excited.

I stared at the blazing bonfire and calmly analyzed the situation.

,So that’s how it’s going to be?

Pushing through with force is the last resort. If the entire fortress is the same as that bastard’s body, then a head-on fight is tricky.

,We need a new strategy.

,What kind of strategy are you talking about?

I smiled and turned to Darkness.

,Do you know what a hero is best at?

,What is it…?

,Inciting… no, rallying hope.

I patted Darkness on the shoulder.

,But this is the territory of the demon race, and you’re the Demon King. So this time, you’ll have to do it.

,Hoeh?! Me, what?!

That night, we hid ourselves with stealth magic and infiltrated the White Fortress again.

,Ugh… The smell of bones…

,Be quiet. We’ll get caught.

A city with no distinction between day and night. The skeletons were still assembling bones non-stop.

We carefully approached a workshop.

Ttakgak. Ttakgak. Ttakgak.

The endless sound of bone assembly. A skeleton was mechanically connecting bone fragments.

,Um… Excuse me, can I talk to you for a moment…

Darkness cautiously approached the skeleton.

,……?

The skeleton stopped working and looked at Darkness with its empty eye sockets. And then, startled, it knelt down.

,D-Demon King-nim?! What brings you to a place like this…!

,Shh! Be quiet. I just… I just came because I was curious.

Darkness waved her hand and told it to stand up.

,Curious?

,Yes. How… how are you doing here?

The skeleton seemed momentarily flustered, looked around, and then said in a small voice.

,Rather than living… we just work.

,How many hours a day do you work?

,A day? Is there such a thing as time? We just… keep working.

Darkness’s face gradually hardened.

,What about breaks?

,If we rest… we get disassembled.

,Disassembled?

,The Skeleton King… turns useless bones back into materials.

The skeleton’s jawbone trembled.

,Then… then how long do we have to work?

,Forever. Because we can’t even die…

Haru, who was listening to the conversation, approached another skeleton.

,What were you originally?

,Me? I was… a farmer. Tending the wheat fields, with my wife and children…

The skeleton stopped working for a moment and stared into the air.

,Under the warm sunlight… the smell of bread my wife made… the laughter of my children…

But it shook its head and focused on its work again.

,But now there’s none of that. There’s just… bones.

Darkness asked another skeleton.

,What about you?

,I was a blacksmith. But now… I’m a bone blacksmith. Hammering bones instead of iron, with cold magic instead of fire…

,Are you happy?

,I don’t remember what happiness is. I just… hammer, assemble, and hammer again…

We talked to several skeletons for hours.

Everyone gave similar answers.

No breaks, no rewards, no personal time.

And… no dreams or hope.

,Um… one last question.

Darkness asked in a trembling voice.

,Don’t you… don’t you want to be free?

The skeletons all stopped working at once. Their empty eye sockets turned to Darkness.

,Freedom… what is freedom…?

,Is that even possible?

,Can even boneheads like us… be free?

,Of course!

Darkness shouted, clenching both fists tightly.

,You all have the right to rest! The right to be happy! The right to dream!

A faint light flickered in the skeletons’ eye sockets.

,Really… can we really do that?

,Of course! I’m the Demon King! I can protect you!

The workshop became quiet. All the skeletons were looking at Darkness.

,But… the Skeleton King…

,Don’t be afraid of the Skeleton King!

There was real anger mixed in Darkness’s voice.

,That bastard who’s tormenting you like this… we… we’ll punish him!

When we left the workshop, the skeletons were still working.

,Haru-nim…

Darkness called me in the dark.

,I’m… I’m really angry. I’m so, so angry.

Tears streamed down her face.

,How… how can they torment people… um, skeletons like that? Not letting them rest, not letting them dream…

,That’s why we came.

I patted her on the shoulder.

,Do you understand now? What a Demon King has to do.

Darkness nodded. Her eyes no longer held fear, but a firm resolve.

,Yes. I understand now.

She clenched her small fist tightly.

,Tomorrow… tomorrow I’ll give them back their freedom.

All they needed was a tiny spark. And that spark had already ignited.

***

The next day, the central plaza of the White Fortress.

The skeletons were still continuing their work with mechanical movements.

In front of them, on top of a crudely stacked bone box, Darkness stood, trembling.

,U-um… E-excuse me… Skeleton everyone…

Her voice trembled like a lamb.

,Just follow the script, Darkness.

,Y-yes!

Darkness was startled and cleared her throat. Then she took out a crumpled piece of parchment from her pocket.

,Ahem! Are you listening! Comrades suffering from eternal labor!

At her cry, some skeletons stopped working and raised their heads. The clattering noise gradually subsided.

,You… you have the right to rest!

Darkness’s voice gradually grew louder.

,You weren’t born to work forever! A life where you can’t eat, sleep, or rest! Can you really call that a life!

Silence fell over the plaza. All the skeletons stopped working and were looking at Darkness.

,The Skeleton King says! Bones are eternal! But the reward for labor is only more labor! Is this fair!

,No!

Someone shouted from the crowd.

That cry became a spark.

,You too… you too deserve to be free!

Darkness no longer looked at the parchment.

,You can break free from the Skeleton King’s rule! You have nothing more to lose anyway… After all, all you have left to lose are bone fragments!

She clenched both fists and shouted with all her might.

,But what you will gain is… everything! Skeleton workers, unite!