Chapter 73

Before I could ask what he intended to do, someone called my name from behind. I couldn’t turn around, but I knew who it was. That voice…

“Hey, you. You’re not one of our guys, and clearly not a villager here.”

“Do you have business with Takumi? Whatever it is, could you step away from him first?”

Gazelle and Felix! 

Whether they noticed my absence or sensed the unsettling atmosphere outside, their arrival was reassuring. I wanted to turn around, but I still couldn’t move a finger.

They must have found it strange that I was still facing the Demon King. With puzzled looks, they asked, 

“Takumi?”

“Takumi, what’s wrong?”

Ah, how to explain this situation…

“Heh, heh. So it’s you two.” Then the Demon King, for some reason, chuckled deep in his throat and distorted his face. “I finally understand. You’ve been stubbornly denying the summoning ritual because you’re protecting those two, aren’t you?”

“What—?”

Then the Demon King’s long arm reached out. His arm wrapped around my waist, and he embraced me from the front.

“Hey, you…!”

“Takumi!?”

Gazelle and Felix raised their voices at the sight. The Demon King glared at them coldly, still holding me.

“You’re manipulating this man, aren’t you?”

“What, Demon King, what are you—!?”

“What!? Wait, the Demon King!?”

“Could it be, that man, the one who was sealed…!?”

Gazelle and Felix raised surprised voices at my words.

…Oh, no! Did I accidentally reveal that he’s the Demon King and that I met the resurrected Demon King? I was supposed to keep that a secret!?

“I don’t care if you’re the Demon King or what, but let go of our Takumi.”

“Yes… And Takumi, can you explain your relationship with that man later? We’d like to hear it in detail.” 

Gazelle and Felix’s voices were colder than I’d ever heard them, mixed with a murderous intent.

‘Speaking of which, I somehow feel like Felix’s murderous intent is directed at me too…’

However, the Demon King, undeterred by the hostility from the two, wore a cruel smile on his face and traced my body slowly with the hand that was wrapped around me.

Thanks to being repositioned to face forward, I can now see Gazelle and Felix, but my body still won’t move. Rather, it seems to make Gazelle and Felix even more furious.

“You bastard!”

“…It seems like you have no intention of talking to us.”

The two of them drew the swords at their hips and aimed the glinting silver tips at the Demon King.

Still, the Demon King maintained his calm demeanor, embracing me with one arm while slowly swinging the other.

Then, centered around the Demon King, a magic circle emitting a red phosphorescent light instantaneously appeared on the ground.

At the same time the gigantic circular magic circle was being deployed, the surroundings soon were enveloped in an eerie silence. The voices of the villagers, the singing of the birds, the sound of the wind – all vanish in an instant.

No, it’s not just the sound.

Looking up, I could also see a small bird that had stopped dead in the sky.

As though – only the Demon King, Gazelle, Felix, and I were  left behind in a world where time had stopped.

“Is this… spatial magic? To think it’s on such a large scale…”

“Seems like the Demon King title really is true.”

Felix, looked around in shock, and Gazelle, glared at the Demon King with a defiant smile.

It seems this mysterious phenomenon was caused by the Demon King.

I tried to turn my face towards the Demon King – at that moment, Gazelle and Felix’s bodies were blown away.

“What!? Ga, Gazelle, Felix…!?”

I attempted to rush over to them in a panic, but my body was still being immobilized by the Demon King’s embrace.

“Ugh!”

“Keugh, huk!”

While looking down at them with cold eyes, the Demon King slowly pointed his free hand at them.

From his fingertips, the same red phosphorescent light that created the magic circle gathered.

“What have you done to them, Demon King?”

“Nothing serious. I simply used space and time-stopping magic to ensure those two couldn’t escape.”

“Escape?”

“I’m about to kill those men. I just took precautions so they couldn’t escape.”

Kill?

He’s going to – kill Gazelle and Felix? The Demon King will… kill the two of them?

“No… That’s not right! I’ll never allow something like that!”

Blood rushed to my head as I shouted at the Demon King.

“Killing them… Why would you do something like that? They haven’t done anything to you, have they?”

“Ha… It’s obvious. Simply for being citizens of the Ritzheim Magical Kingdom, they are guilty,’ the Demon King countered, looking down at them with a sneer.

Gazelle and Felix, who were blown back as far as the inn’s wall, gritted their teeth against the pain as they got up and glared back at the Demon King.

Hoping for some knights to come to our aid, I scanned the surroundings, but aside from us, there’s no presence of anyone, nor any noise from the inn. It appeared this space had been sealed by the Demon King’s magic.

“Guilty…? Just for existing, we are guilty?”

“That’s right. The very act of continuously performing summoning rituals without learning from past history, increasing the number of victims – if that isn’t a sin, what is?”

“…Hey, what the heck is he talking about?”

Gazelle and Felix look at us with puzzled expressions. The Demon King snorts in response.

“Your ignorance is proof of your guilt. How does this country’s people record my history? What do they think I am, where I came from?”

“…That is… The Demon King is a monster with especially strong magical power, who over time accumulated enough power to speak and assume a human form…”

Felix responds to the Demon King’s question with confusion. Gazelle, standing next to him, also looks troubled but doesn’t deny it. It seems Felix’s explanation is the commonly accepted origin story of the “Demon King” in this country.

The Demon King heard Felix’s words and wore a twisted smile.

“That’s incorrect. I was once – summoned to this country by its people, originally just an ordinary human.”

“—Wh…!? Summoned? Su, such nonsense…”

“Yes, I thought it was nonsense too. …One day, I was summoned to this country without any warning. Without any time to say goodbye to my family or friends – suddenly called to this land and forced to fight.'”

“… Takumi. Is what he just said true?”

Felix, whose eyes widened in astonishment, and Gazelle, who frowned, looked at me for an explanation.

I hesitated for a moment, but lying here wouldn’t help. I nodded to them.

“… Yeah, it’s true. What the Demon King is saying is the truth.”

“…!”

At my nod, Gazelle’s frown deepened even further. Then, uncharacteristically for him, he fell silent as if he had lost his words. The same was true for Felix.

Unlike me, Gazelle and Felix are pure citizens of the Ritzheim Magic Kingdom.

They are knights, proud and fighting to protect their country. The strong patriots must have felt a tremendous shock at the revelation that the people of ancient Ritzheim had summoned the “Demon King” and kept the truth hidden.

But the silence was short-lived.

“… So… you’re trying to annihilate us, the people of Ritzheim?”

Quickly lifting his head, Gazelle directed his unyielding golden eyes towards the Demon King. Felix did the same, reigniting the flame in his amethyst-colored eyes.

“Yes. I’m tired of watching you repeat the same folly over and over again.”

“I see… Well, sorry, but we can’t just let you kill us!”

— A loud clashing of metal resounds.

As the Demon King spoke, Gazelle and Felix launched their attack. With blinding speed, they struck, aiming at the Demon King’s leg and arm.

However, their swords were deflected before they could touch him. An invisible shield, like a transparent barrier, immediately formed in front of the Demon King. Their swords inevitably struck the barrier and stopped with a loud crash.

“Kuh, damn it!”

“Admirable skill. And those swords, they have anti-magic enchantments, huh? But to face me, those weapons are somewhat lacking.”

The Demon King smirked, drawing symbols in the air with one hand.

Is that—the same thing that blew away Gazelle and Felix earlier!?

“Demon King, stop! Didn’t I tell you!? I indeed came from another world… Like you, I’m not from this world!”

My words made Gazelle and Felix, who were attacking the barrier, stare at me in astonishment. But now is not the time to worry about that.

“But I wasn’t summoned by the people of this country! Now… The people living in this country are learning from their history, ensuring they don’t repeat the same mistakes! They regret burdening you and the hero, and the summoning ceremony is sealed.”

As I pleaded desperately, tears blurred my vision.

“Please stop… I know that you’re really a kind person.”

“Takumi.”

“You took up the sword because you loved this country’s people and wanted to protect them, right? So…!”

“A kind person, huh.”

The Demon King turned me around and embraced me from the front.

Whether the magic was released or not, my body was able to move again. The Demon King gently wiped away the tears flowing from my eyes, with an unexpectedly gentle touch.

“… I told you before. You calling me a kind person… Only Tanya and you have ever said that to me.”

“… Demon King…?”

“… When I came to this world, I was desperate… But, I met Tanya and loved this country and wanted to protect it… But, she’s not here anymore. —She was killed, right before my eyes!”

Suddenly, the Demon King’s eyes burned with hatred. From his body, a dark black aura erupted. My arm ached from his grip. My bones creaked, and I contorted my face in pain. But the Demon King, now radiating dark energy, failed to see me anymore. His blood-red eyes were already consumed by the flames of hatred.

“… I understand that they’re trying to kill me, who came from a different world, and who has power beyond humans! But why kill her!? Tanya was… a common woman from Ritzheim, without any power!”

“Stop, Demon King!”

Full of hatred and rage, the Demon King tried to unleash the earlier magic on Gazelle and Felix.

I clung to his body desperately. Thanks to that, the magical circle he drew in the air vanished with a faint phosphorescent light.

“Let go of him, Takumi!”

“I will not! … Gazelle, Felix! Please, run away and don’t mind me!”

“You fool! We can’t just leave you behind!”

“Takumi! Damn it, if we could just break this barrier…!”

But my desperate cries were in vain, and the Demon King easily tore me apart from his body. Once again, he pulled me close with one arm.

“Stop, Demon King, let go!”

“Hmph… What’s this, you’d rather see them being slashed to death than being blown away by magic? Very well then.” The Demon King twisted his lips into a sneer, then picked up the sword that I had belted around my waist.

It was the same sword he had used as a cane while descending the stairs earlier, and he had slung it around his waist afterward.

“First, I’ll chop off one arm from each of them. That will surely reveal the true colors of those men. Then you, too, will understand that what I’m saying is right.” He drew the sword from its sheath, and the moment the silver blade was released, the Demon King abruptly stopped speaking. He looked at his arm with a puzzled expression.

However, contrary to his expression, the Demon King’s arm holding the sword moved smoothly.

That’s right—a cursed sword that automatically slashes at the enemy in front of it, ignoring the will of its wielder. The Cursed Collection.

Unknowingly, the Demon King who had snatched the cursed sword from me was now wielding the blade at me without his own intention.

“T-Takumi!”

The Demon King’s cursed sword shimmered with silver light. Gazelle and Felix’s screams sounded distant as the blade came closer. Although it was swiftly swung down, it seemed to move in slow motion before my eyes. Finally, as the blade approached, I collapsed in terror.

I crumbled and sat down hard on the ground.

The cursed sword passed over my head with a whooshing sound.

Ah… that was close!

If I hadn’t collapsed just then, my head would have surely been severed…!

But it’s too early to relax. The cursed sword swung by the Demon King, with its tremendous speed, turned and threatened to slash me again.

“Damn this cursed thing!”

Initially shocked by his own right hand moving on its own, the Demon King’s judgment was quick. Just before slashing me, he opened his palm, releasing the sword, perhaps using some magic since the cursed sword was supposed to continue fighting until the enemy was annihilated.

At any rate, the cursed sword slipped from the Demon King’s hand and clattered to the ground.

“Guh, wha…!?”

But now, the second demerit of the cursed sword was activated against the Demon King.

It was the status abnormality that occurs when the weapon is released after battle. As usual, the Demon King releasing the sword triggered the abnormality, which seemed to paralyze him.

“Guh… this sword, is that man’s…!?”

“Charge!”

Taking advantage of the Demon King’s confusion from the status abnormality, Gazelle and Felix moved.

The barrier disappeared, and the two attacked the Demon King together.

Though the Demon King avoided Felix’s lower thrust, he couldn’t dodge Gazelle’s sharp slash.

“Ah!” Gazelle’s sword hit, and for a moment, the Demon King’s blood-colored eyes met mine. He looked somewhat satisfied and smiled faintly at me.

And then—his upper body was deeply slashed from shoulder to abdomen.

After a brief pause, the Demon King staggered, then collapsed backward.

“Th-The Demon King…!”

I wobbled to my feet and approached him.

Up close, I could see that his wound was deep. Dark red blood oozed out, and his clothing was damp and darkened with his blood.

“…”

I couldn’t find the words.

With a wound like this, the Demon King wouldn’t survive. And this wound… was the result of his hesitation to kill me.

If he had simply cut me down, he wouldn’t have suffered such a wound.

So why, why had he…?

“… Why, you?”

I thought I had voiced my own question. But it wasn’t me.

Kneeling on the ground beside me, Gazelle was also peering down at the Demon King.

“Why did you try to kill Takumi? You seemed to falter in your actions, almost as if you had dispelled the shield magic yourself…”

“Moreover, with your level of magic, you could have blocked my sword even in that situation. Why didn’t you?” Gazelle’s words could only be answered by me, but I couldn’t.

…It was all due to the demerit of this cursed sword that the Demon King tried to cut me down, and then stopped his movements afterward. After using the sword, the Demon King was forcibly put into a “paralysis” state and, therefore, could not avoid Gazelle’s sword. As I was about to open my mouth to explain this, the Demon King quietly raised one hand to restrain me.

And then, he answered, panting heavily.

“Takumi… that sword of yours… that man’s… just like me, summoned to this world, and once sealed me, the fellow countryman… the hero’s magic is… imbued in it, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Eh?”

Gazelle and Felix looked at me with wide eyes. But I was hearing this for the first time too.

“Those summoned from another world receive some unique ability along with their increased abilities… I have the power to create and control magical beasts… that man… had the ability to forcibly inflict status abnormalities on others…”

Eh? So, these weapons from the Cursed Collection series were created by the hero? I looked at the sword lying nearby, filled with disbelief. But of course, there was no answer from the sword, and it just emitted a dull silver light.

The Demon King caught sight of that light and let out a soft smile.

It was a gentle smile, as though something had left him, one I had never seen before.

“…Hmm. So he came to stop foolish me once more? He’s as meddlesome as ever… Cough, cough!”

As the Demon King coughed, fresh blood trickled from his mouth.

I quickly lifted his body. His hand reached out as if searching, and then grabbed mine.

Gazelle and Felix, standing beside us, must have realized that the Demon King was no longer a threat. They watched silently.

“Demon King…”

The Demon King, holding my hand, let his gaze drift to the sky. But his eyes no longer held the color of hatred.

His face was as calm as a windless sea.

“…This is fine, Takumi. The power amplified by hatred is now beyond even my control… As long as I do not die, the rampaging magic will continue to create monsters. Monsters fueled by my emotions will attack humans with hatred.”

“Hatred…”

“But, considering that you spoke of us with so little hatred…”

Then, Gazelle, who was beside me, asked the Demon King as if the thought had just occurred to him. Felix quietly nodded on the opposite side.

“Yes. Rather, you seemed to be testing us. Besides, someone of your skill could have killed us much more easily, without a roundabout fight like before.”

“Ah… I tested you.”

The Demon King answered the two without embarrassment.

“…Since Takumi kept saying that he was not summoned to this world, that you all had done nothing wrong… I wanted to test whether you were worth protecting to such an extent.”

“What would you have done if we hadn’t passed your test?”

“Of course, I would have killed you. If you had shown signs of leaving Takumi and fleeing… I would have thought to kill you right away.”

The Demon King mocked himself at his own words and dimly smiled.

“…Kill you all… and kill all the knights and peasants here… and slaughter all the people of Litzheim. By doing so, I must demonstrate fear, or else, a new summoning ritual will be performed in this world again…”

“So that there would be no more victims like me, the hero… and this man…” The Demon King’s words left me, Gazelle, and Felix speechless. Facing our silence, the Demon King let out a dry laugh.

“Heh, heh… But the fool was me. I never thought I would lose to the hero twice with the same trick. I can’t let you go through the trouble a third time… Cough.”

His tone was as if reminiscing about distant days, full of affection.

That’s when it happened. The Demon King’s palm, which had been holding my hand, emitted a faint light. I hastily asked the Demon King.

“Demon King? What is this…?”

“That is the last of my remaining power… The power within me that is not completely tainted by hatred… my last strength…”

“What? The last power…?”

I tried to hurriedly pull my hand away from the Demon King.

But instead, the Demon King gripped my hand tightly, and I couldn’t break free.

I looked to Gazelle and Felix, each pleading for help with my eyes. What would happen to the Demon King if he gave me his last strength? Would he not die?

“With the magic imbued in the hero’s sword and my magic… there should be enough magic to create a path back to your original world. All you need now is for the people of this country to perform the summoning ritual for you… Cough!”

“Demon King, it’s no good. Your last strength, something like that…!” 

But my desperate plea did not seem to reach the Demon King. 

His eyes, staring at the void with ragged breaths, no longer reflected me. It wasn’t me; he was chasing the shadow of someone else. 

“…I hated the people of Ritzheim, who called me into this world… If only I hadn’t been here… If I hadn’t been summoned as an ordinary man like me… If it had been a better man, Tanya surely wouldn’t have died…” 

“No… That’s not true! It’s because it was you, because you were summoned, that this country was saved…!” 

The strength of the Demon King gripping my hand grew weaker. 

But the light in the Demon King’s palm increased, and something warm began to flow into my body. 

“I protected this country… but I couldn’t protect the one I wanted to protect the most, Tanya… But… That’s why, at least, at least you who come from the same world as me…” 

The moment he finished speaking, or perhaps even before, his hand went limp.