Chapter 148: Cruel Truth, Cruel Fate

The captain had vanished.

Thanks to that, I could briefly escape the battlefield and return urgently, but I wasn’t happy about it at all.

The Killer Knights members huddled together in a corner of the backyard, each sighing deeply.

“Where could he have gone in that state?”

“He wasn’t kidnapped, was he? If… if that’s really the case… do you think his kidnapper is at least providing proper meals?”

“You’re worried about meals at a time like this?”

“It’s important.”

“True enough.”

……

I wonder if our Marquis is getting enough to eat.

“……More importantly, what do we do now? The Marquis isn’t here.”

“Should we go look for him ourselves?”

“I doubt we could find him, and more importantly, we’d get caught quickly. For desertion.”

“Then what do we do?”

Kleter provided the answer.

“……Let’s just follow the Emperor’s orders until the Marquis returns. A hero has disappeared, so he’ll be searching diligently too.”

***

Deon Hart was dying.

The intense stress of the forcibly separated, horrific memories merging back together piled onto his existing stress, causing a breakdown.

His fever spiked uncontrollably, and he vomited blood constantly. Even after being safely transported to the Demon Realm, the situation of teetering between life and death multiple times a day didn’t change.

“Do something!”

Lirinel, the very person who received the signal from the necklace he’d given her and rushed to transport him to the Demon Realm, pressed Ben urgently.

Her voice held back tears that seemed ready to burst.

“This is the realm of the mind. All I can do is… cool his body and replenish his blood…”

“You’re a physician! Lord Demon’s physician, so why!”

She’d been terrified to find him collapsed in the snow and brought him to the Demon Realm. She moved with only one thought: once they reached the Demon King’s castle, everything would be alright.

She wanted to burst into tears right then and there, but knowing that wouldn’t solve anything, Lirinel picked up a handkerchief instead. She examined his unfocused eyes, bloodshot with burst capillaries, trying to see what he was seeing, then gently dabbed at his eyes. Blood stained the handkerchief.

“If nothing else works, try magic, please…”

He didn’t even blink as the handkerchief touched his eyes, looking like a doll whose soul had truly departed, and finally, tears surged forth.

“You’re crying…”

She had just wiped his face, but as if it had never been clean, blood flowed down again, leaving a trail.

She wished it were tears; the red liquid running down his cheeks was so unsettling that she eventually broke down and sobbed like a child.

“……The magic ban hasn’t been lifted yet.”

“Are you serious right now?!”

“And.”

Ben stared down at the Commander of the 11th Corps, whose small hands firmly gripped his neck.

His voice was choked, whether from being strangled or from overwhelming emotion.

“If magic could solve it, I would have used it already.”

Magic or anything else, Lord Demon’s life was the priority. Having already deserted the Demon King’s castle once to go to the Human Realm because of a strong signal, why would he consider the consequences now? If there had been a way, he would have used it already.

In other words, he truly had no solution.

A physician with his patient before him, unable to do anything. The most miserable demon in that place wasn’t anyone but Ben.

“More importantly, Lord Demon’s fever seems to be rising again. Could you please let go of my hand?”

……

“……Thank you.”

Ignoring the arm that fell limply, he approached Lord Demon.

His whole body was burning. The high fever was so severe that Ben wondered if he would really die. He bit his lip until it bled and took out a towel that had been soaking in ice water.

He wiped down the scarred torso, which had been left bare to lower his temperature, muttering as if lamenting.

“Of all times for the Lord Demon King to be out…”

He’d contacted them through the communication stone and said he’d return soon, but why hadn’t he arrived yet?

He’d sent Ed ahead to wait for detailed instructions, but could something have gone wrong?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the Demon King appeared right beside him.

At the same time, the room filled with a strong scent of herbs.

The Demon King, who appeared with Ed, surveyed the stuffy room heated by Deon Hart’s fever and the crying Lirinel, then focused his gaze on Ben.

His voice was cool and composed, the kind that would make Deon ask who it was if he were conscious, and flowed out softly.

“I heard the news and was a little late getting back because I went to the Fairy King for herbs. How is he?”

“…Serious.”

The mouth that should have been reporting the patient’s condition in detail only uttered one word.

Ed, belatedly assessing Deon Hart’s condition, let out a soft groan. The Demon King, unconcerned, glanced at Deon Hart and quietly nodded.

“It seems so. I’ve brought various herbs in haste, but I don’t know if they’ll be effective.”

……

“You’ll know more about what these are. Ben, try to classify them appropriately and use them.”

The fairy race’s herbs were effective, so if used correctly, he might recover. Getting that fever down was the priority.

Ben’s movements became hurried.

Ed took over the role Ben had originally been performing. He wrung out a towel after soaking it in ice water again and wiped Deon’s upper body.

The Demon King, who had been silently watching all of this, took a step forward.

He stopped at Deon’s bedside and reached out a hand. His fingers delicately wiped away the blood flowing from his eyes, and a soft voice followed.

“What on earth did you see to be crying so painfully?”

He casually shook the blood off his hand and looked into the human’s eyes, wide open and gasping for breath as if on the verge of passing out from the high fever.

Whites of his eyes were bloodshot red, and his pupils were even redder, as if he were seeing something.

The answer wasn’t hard to find.

“……You’ve given up.”

On denial and rationalization.

The Demon King paused for a moment, then straightened up as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Ben, holding a small pill, seemingly having prepared medicine, hurriedly approached. The Demon King took the pill from him.

“It’s a fever reducer.”

“Well… I think a sedative or sleeping pill might be a priority.”

Still, trying it might be for the best.

He approached Deon with the medicine he had been examining. His mouth was a mess, as if he had just vomited blood.

He gestured for Ed, who was quickly turning his head to the side and wiping his face again, to step back and called to him.

“Demon. Can you hear me?”

……

“You need to take this medicine. Can you?”

……

“…Of course not.”

There was no way to feed him anything while he was vomiting blood.

The fairy race’s herbs were effective, but this was a problem.

He briefly considered forcibly opening his mouth and pushing the medicine down his throat, but the Demon King cleanly gave up, as that could lead to serious complications.

The small bead containing Ben’s efforts rolled across the floor and disappeared somewhere.

“…It’s not like you’ll die easily, but it would be a problem if you died already.”

It was just starting to get interesting, and he had no intention of losing this rare opportunity so meaninglessly.

“Right, let’s take this chance to see what your fate is. Will you die here, or won’t you?”

“…Lord Demon King.”

Ed urgently called out to the Demon King, realizing what he was about to do. In contrast, Ben remained silent. The Demon King reached out and covered Deon’s eyes.

Every living being on this earth has a predetermined lifespan.

Most humans die before reaching their full lifespan due to unexpected accidents and other problems, so much so that people say ‘they lived out their natural span’ for those who do.

Are you dying now because you’ve reached the end of your lifespan, or is it due to an ‘unexpected accident’?

‘If it’s the former, you’ll die no matter how much I lower your fever, calm you down, or put you to sleep.’

If not, you will live.

Even if it’s the latter, the Demon King’s current actions could be seen as changing a human’s ‘future,’ which is ‘death.’ He’s saving someone who could have died.

Changing a ‘future related to life’ requires a significant price.

‘The price is 90% of my magical power.’

Other demons would experience significant inconvenience in their daily lives, but the Demon King was different. Far from inconvenient, he would probably still have the most magical power among the demons even after doing this.

Their fundamental capacity was different, so how could one compare 90% of the water in a basin to 90% of the water in the ocean?

The only problem would be that the difference in magical power between him and the second strongest demon wouldn’t be as overwhelming as before, only about a bucket’s worth.

‘Ah, it’ll be quite annoying when facing the Hero later.’

Well… let’s think about that when the time comes.

He focused his mind.

“…Get some rest.”

What you need now is mental rest.

Bright light emitted from his hands, filling the room.

***

After leaving the sleeping Deon Hart, who was breathing steadily, the Demon King immediately summoned the legion commanders. More specifically, ‘those who were close to Demon.’

Legion commanders who couldn’t come due to work were connected through the communication stone. With Ed, Ben, and even Hien present, he softly opened his mouth.

“Who here does Demon Hart trust the most?”

……

A heavier silence than ever descended.

He expected them to compete with each other, claiming it was them, but the situation was completely unexpected, and the Demon King raised an eyebrow.

“Why no answer? I’m asking who Demon trusts the most. If you don’t know about trust, even the closest demon is fine.”

They needed a demon who could help Deon Hart recover his broken mind.

If the demon he trusted most or was close to was by his side, he would stabilize quickly.

But…

‘Deon Hart, what on earth have you been doing?’

Those confident individuals were just looking at each other, hesitant to step forward.

The Demon King looked around at the demons who were reluctant to come forward and fixed his gaze on Develania, the information broker, the Commander of the 2nd Corps.

“Develania. Weren’t you all quite respectful and fond of Demon?”

“…Feelings aren’t always mutual. I can confidently say that no one is second to me in liking Lord Demon, but if you ask if Lord Demon trusts me the most, it’s difficult to give a definite answer.”

“He always treated us with an invisible wall between us.”

Asild, the Commander of the 3rd Corps, nodded in agreement.

Silence descended again.

Lost for words by the unexpected situation, the Demon King quietly turned his head to look at Ed, Ben, and Hien. As soon as his gaze landed on them, they shook their heads, as if Deon’s behavior wasn’t an exception for them either.

The Demon King moved his lips a few times but sighed deeply and waved his hand instead of speaking.

“Alright… I understand. You may dismiss yourselves.”

***

The memories that poured out as the wall crumbled had been roughly managed, but that didn’t determine his mental health.

Deon Hart started frantically gathering information as soon as he woke up.

He was even neglecting meals while doing this, so how could his body be healthy?

The bloody tears stopped, and the frequency of coughing up blood decreased to levels closer to before, but the fever that the Demon King had painstakingly lowered spiked again as soon as he regained consciousness.

Drip.

Cold sweat dripped down.

Deon Hart, unconcerned, forced his staggering steps forward and stood before a massive door on one of the floors.

A place he had been to once before. The place where the information gathered by Develania, the Commander of the 2nd Corps, and Idelia, the Commander of the 4th Corps, was stored.

“Open it.”

“Lo…Lord Demon?”

“Now!”

A sound like a beast growling burst from his throat.

What kind of spirit was that from someone who was pale and dripping with cold sweat?

It was completely different from his usual gentle demeanor. Was he on edge because he was in pain? The gatekeepers hurriedly opened the door.