Episode 183
Shortly after the Pope declared a holy war.
A temporary meeting of legion commanders was held at the Demon King’s Castle.
“The power of the Deusis doctrine is beyond imagination.”
The 5th Corps commander, Ozges, said.
“Certainly. Those fanatics are quite powerful.”
First Corps Commander Dorritugs continued speaking.
The power of the name ‘temple’ was so great that even he, with his arrogant nature, acknowledged it.
The Demon King’s army, which had been gaining the upper hand through sorcery, was pushed back to a disadvantage in an instant.
“In the coming week… we will retreat further than the existing front line…”
Onyx, the commander of the 4th Army Corps, said.
“Hmm, is that it? The enemy’s advance is faster than I thought.”
In the past few months, the Demon King’s forces have taken over quite a bit of territory through all-out attacks combined with necromancy.
The front that had been pushed up like that is now back to square one just a few days after the start of the holy war.
If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before the original front line was retreated further and the Demon Tribe’s territory was invaded.
“We must break the enemy’s momentum before it’s too late. They are currently centered around Gatren, so how about attacking Gatren’s elite?” “It won’t be easy. Their core force consists of three legendaries, and they are not easy to defeat.” “If our legion commanders gather together and go, will those legends be a big deal?” “Hmm, that’s true, but…”
Dorritugs and Ozges exchanged opinions.
“The time has come to really decide on the position of Commander. It cannot be left vacant any longer.”
“yes.”
“I think we should bring in a retired demon to fill the position.” “A retired demon…” “What do you think, Your Majesty?”
At that time, the 1st Corps Commander Doritugs turned his arrows of questioning to the Demon King.
The Demon King, with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, remained silent.
“…”
A moment of silence.
Doritugs asked again.
“I, Doritugs. I would like to hear the Demon King’s opinion.”
The Demon King slowly opened his eyes.
“… What were you talking about?”
An awkward silence flowed again after the Demon King’s words.
Fortunately, Doritugs continued speaking naturally.
“First, we were discussing whether it would be a good idea to attack the elite of the Holy Empire and then to hire a retired demon to fill the vacant position of legion commander.”
“I see.”
Demon King Tegrad nodded, lost in thought.
For a moment, Dorritugs’ eyes flash.
‘What are you thinking, Demon King?’
I was convening a temporary meeting of the legion commanders and was lost in other thoughts.
Could it be that you were sleeping?
Although he thought it couldn’t be true, Dorritugs couldn’t completely shake off his doubts.
“Then…”
At the end of the battle, the Demon King opened his mouth.
“As you wish.” “As you wish?”
“We are raiding the elite of the Holy Empire. All legion commanders together.” “I have something to tell you.”
Ozges raised his hand.
The Demon King nodded as if to say something.
“It may be presumptuous of me to say this, but I think it is a hasty judgment when we do not even know for sure the enemy’s strength.”
“Ozges.”
“yes.”
“We are demons. Aren’t we?”
“you’re right.”
The Demon King chuckled.
“Since when have the Demons fought while considering the consequences? If they do that, they are no different from humans.”
“…”
“The demons fight and die like demons. That is the identity of the demons, their way of living, and their way of surviving.” “I’m sorry. I was short-sighted.”
Ozges bowed his head.
Demon King Tegrad waved his hand as if to say that it was okay.
“And the empty corps commander positions. Were the 2nd and 3rd corps commanders vacant?”
“yes.”
“Each of you, come up with a person you think would be a good fit for the job by the next meeting. We will make the final decision after the meeting here.”
The three legion commanders nodded at the demon king’s words.
“Lastly, I will leave the matter of the raid to you, Doritugs.” “We will definitely destroy the enemy.”
First Corps Commander Dorritugs bowed his head and said.
“Then I’ll leave it at that. I think it’s okay for the legion commanders to discuss the rest.”
Demon King Tegrad stood up from his seat and left the conference room.
bang-!
The door closes.
Silence fell on the conference room where only three people remained.
“…”
How long did the uncomfortable silence last?
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Onyx, the commander of the 4th Corps, stood up first.
“If you have nothing to say… I will go first…”
Even Onyx left the conference room.
Only Dorritugs and Ozges remain.
“Ozges.”
“yes.”
“Why don’t we take a quick walk and chat? There’s no need to be in the conference room when it’s just the two of us.”
Ozges nodded silently.
***
The two left the conference room and went into the Demon King’s Castle garden.
Even though it is a garden, it is a bleak landscape, different from that of humans.
This kind of harshness was familiar to the Demons, so they felt comfortable with it.
“Let me get straight to the point.”
Dorritugs opened his mouth.
“What do you think about the Demon King?” “I don’t know what you mean by that.”
“It was intentional…”
Doritugs, who had been talking for a while, snickered.
“Let’s change the question. Do you think the Demon King is in his right mind right now?”
“…”
Ozges looked back at Dorritugs.
His facial expression remained the same, but his eyes were filled with anger.
Doritugs continued his explanation as if explaining.
“I know you are loyal, but I am speaking realistically.” “I will listen.”
Ozges continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Doritugs also continued to walk and talk.
“A hundred years ago. The Demon King suddenly made a secret pact with humans. Even though all the legion commanders were against it. Now that I think about it, it seems like he wasn’t in his right mind at that time.”
“…”
“After that, he was trapped in the Demon King’s castle and pretended to be dead, but recently he started to commit strange acts.” “What do you mean by strange acts?”
“Hemis is dead. You don’t really believe that, do you?”
At the word Hemis, Ozges’s face showed expression for the first time.
He bit his lips hard.
“As you might have guessed, there are many strange things about Hemis’ death. From what I’ve personally found out… it’s a collaboration between the Demon King and the Pope.” “That. Can you take responsibility for it?” “Well, whether you believe it or not, I leave it up to you. However, this isn’t the only strange thing about the Demon King.”
Dorritugs continued to explain the questions regarding the Demon King.
“The use of forbidden necromancy. With Rotak and Hemis dead and the Demon King’s forces lacking, they attacked Park Hyun-ah and turned her into an enemy. Now that Park Hyun-ah has left, and the Demon King’s forces are at their weakest, the Demon King has launched an all-out attack.”
“…”
“Ozges. Does this seem like a normal accident?”
Ozges could not answer.
Dorritugs was right.
The Demon King’s recent actions are so strange, they’re just too strange.
At first I thought it was simply because of Hemis’s antics, but that was not the case.
The context is wrong.
In the first place, Hemis became more violent because the Demon King had become strange.
Ozges had also been aware of this for some time, but could not bear to accept it.
Then Doritugs asked an unexpected question.
“Ozges. Do you know how long a high-ranking demon lives?” “Um, around 500 years, right?” “That’s right. Even the most powerful demons usually die before they reach 600.”
Hemis was over 1,000 years old and still looked healthy, which is an extremely exceptional case.
Typically, high-ranking demons retire when they reach 400 years of age, as they enter a period of complete decline.
And when they reach 500 to 600 years of age, they die of old age.
“The Demon King was already the Demon King before he came to this land. And he was still an adult.”
“That means…”
“The Demon King’s age is at least 700 years old. It is highly likely that he is over 800 years old.”
“Umm…”
The age of Doritugs here is approximately 350 years old. Ozges is 250 years old.
As a demon, he is in his prime.
If the Demon King was really over 800 years old, he was no different from an old man who could die at any time.
It’s not that we didn’t know that fact until now, but we all thought nothing of it.
Because the older Hemis was so neat.
Naturally, everyone mistakenly assumed that the Demon King would do the same.
“Ozges. Here’s what I think.”
“…”
“The Demon King is too old. He is too old to make proper decisions because he is about to die.”
Ozges was silent.
Dorritugs sensed that the time had come to drive the final wedge.
“Loyalty, honor. They are all good things. They are the virtues that a demon must possess.”
He put his hand on Ozges’ shoulder.
“But even those are things that can only be had if one survives. If all the demons are exterminated from this land, who will seek and remember the honor of the demons?”
Finally, Ozges’ head slowly nods.
“What should I do?” “The future. We sacrifice our generation for the next generation.”
Dorritugs made a solemn expression.
“It is to overturn the rotten foundation of the demon tribe.”
***
Meanwhile, the Demon King left the conference room and headed somewhere alone.
It is deep underground of the Demon King’s Castle.
It was a newly created space about a hundred years ago.
Since the underground space did not exist before, no legion commander knows about this place.
All the workers who were mobilized to build this place also died.
There isn’t even an entrance, so you can only get in using teleportation magic.
In other words, it is a secret space that only the Demon King knows about and that only the Demon King can enter.
When the Demon King arrived there, there was a dark passage in front of him.
Thump, thump-
The Demon King walked down the hallway as if nothing had happened, but his steps were strangely weak.
After walking for a few minutes, we arrived at a door.
The door was guarded by a complex defensive magic circle with double security.
As the Demon King stretched out his hand, the magic circle that recognized the user was temporarily released.
Finally the door opened.
“Are you here?”
As you enter, what you see is a young demon.
Is he 100 years old?
The demon, with his small body and young-looking face, seemed to be still growing.
“Let’s get started.”
“yes.”
The Demon King sat down comfortably on the chair in the center.
The young demon stood before him and closed his eyes.
Woof-
Soon, the magic circle begins to glow and the Demon King’s magic energy flows into the young demon.
At the same time, the Demon King’s appearance began to change rapidly.
The muscular body becomes smaller and the skin shrinks in an instant.
The horns, which had seemed huge and strong, were now rotted, crumbling, and crumbling.
Woof-
Even in the midst of all this, the magic circle continued to pull out the Demon King’s magic energy.
How much time has passed?
“stop.”
The magic circle stopped only when the Demon King’s magic energy was almost depleted.
“Umm…”
Demon King Tegrad groaned softly.
As the magic left my body, I felt a sense of weakness throughout my body.
The young demon closed his eyes and concentrated, perhaps in order to absorb as much of the Demon King’s magic energy as possible.
And so time passed again.
Finally, the young demon opened his eyes.
“Phew…”
“What is the absorption rate?”
“About 0.2 percent.” “That’s not enough. There’s not much time left.”
“yes…”
“Then I will take my leave now.”
The Demon King rose from his seat.
“Are you leaving already?” “The magic has recovered somewhat.”
As if to say that those words were not a lie, the Demon King had returned to his original strong and muscular appearance.
The broken horn also regained its original large and magnificent appearance.
“Ugh, it’s starting to get tiring to maintain this appearance…”
For a moment, the Demon King stumbled.
The young demon urgently helped him up.
“Just a little bit. Let’s rest a little bit more and go.”
“… That’s right.”
The Demon King sat down on his chair again.
The Demon King grows weaker with each passing day.
The young demon knows that it is because it gives him strength.
Of course, it is something that will happen at some point due to aging, but that time is continually being pushed back because of you.
“you…”
At that moment, Demon King Tegrad opened his mouth.
“Stronger than anyone else…”
His eyes gradually close as he speaks.
“Lead the demon tribe…”
After saying those words, the Demon King lowered his head.
The young demon looked at the demon king in surprise.
“…”
Fortunately, the Demon King did not die.
I just fell asleep.
“Phew…”
The young demon nodded while looking at the demon king who lowered his head in silence.
“Leave it to me, Father.”
