Chapter 254: A Mother’s Farewell

“…Derniban.”

The operation to sneak the baby out was carried out in the early morning of the last day.

Originally, they wanted to handle it faster… but when does life ever go as planned?

Oel watched the baby in the adjutant’s arms with a complicated gaze, satisfied that they had barely managed to keep the baby safe.

“Hey, come to think of it… I haven’t even named the baby yet?”

“……”

“……So, I think it’s really fortunate.”

This would probably be the last time they’d ever see the baby.

If they had their way, they’d want to hold onto the baby. Cancel the plan altogether and secretly raise it somewhere hidden in Demon King’s castle.

……But if they got caught again, neither they nor the baby would be safe. Besides, the baby is human, isn’t it? The Human Realm is naturally a better place than here, crawling with demons.

‘Above all, I am the enemy who killed the baby’s parents.’

As they raised the baby, their mind also seemed to have grown. Increasingly mature thoughts painfully pricked at them.

It would have been better to live without thinking, driven only by curiosity. Such thoughts surfaced, but they didn’t regret picking up the baby itself. Thanks to it, they had learned so much.

They reached out a hand. Trembling fingertips gently touched the baby’s forehead as if giving a blessing. Unlike the trembling hand, a calm voice emerged.

“Because the human who picks up and raises the baby will be able to name it themselves.”

It’s truly fortunate.

Naming it directly tends to make one feel more attached and cherish it. If the human who picks up the baby cherishes and values it, that would be truly fortunate.

‘Baby, I am grateful to you.’

As if pleased by ‘Mom’s’ touch, the baby giggled. Oel smiled bitterly and let their hand slide away. The hand gently stroked the baby’s cheek.

Thank you for letting me experience new things.

‘Mom’ is, teaching me ‘maturity,’ letting me directly experience how painful ‘separation between parents and child’ is, I am truly grateful.

It was enjoyable, even if only for a while. Perhaps it was even happiness.

‘How did it come to this?’

They shouldn’t have picked it up in the first place.

‘……No, if I hadn’t picked it up that day, the baby would have died.’

Then, shouldn’t they have killed the baby’s mother? But it was an order.

Where did it go wrong? The flow of thought went back in time, but couldn’t find a suitable point and just circled around a similar section. Oel deliberately cut off the thought there and withdrew their hand.

Raising their gaze slightly, they met Derniban’s eyes.

“Take care, Derniban.”

“……”

……Since picking up the baby, they seemed to see a lot of new sides of their superior.

Derniban looked at Oel with a renewed gaze and then lightly bowed his head. From earlier on, his beastly instincts had been warning of ominousness, but in the current situation where he couldn’t pinpoint the cause, there was only one thing he could say.

“I’ll be back.”

They needed to get back as quickly as possible.

He bowed his head lightly and disappeared in an instant.

It’s the last time, couldn’t he go a bit slower so they could at least see his back? Even knowing it was unavoidable due to the situation, Oel watched the spot where Derniban disappeared with a sulky face out of disappointment, then suddenly hardened their expression as if sensing something.

“Oh, no.”

“……”

“Are they a step too late?”

They hurriedly turned around. A giant hand, completely different from a human’s, was reaching out.

Oel quickly grabbed their bow, knocked away the hand, and glared at the opponent. As if just trying something, a demon who shouldn’t be there was standing still and looking at them.

“……Trober.”

“I came because it’s the last day, but I didn’t expect you to actually pull something. If I had come just a little faster, I could have caught you in the act, what a shame.”

They could have come in the afternoon, or at least late morning, but to come from this early dawn, it’s as if they’ve been waiting only for this day? Moreover, coming all the way here means they’ve already checked the room.

A disgusted gaze turned towards Trober.

Even though Trober couldn’t possibly not know the gaze that saw him as a demon not worth dealing with, he just shrugged once and chuckled.

“This isn’t the time for that, is it? How about we just go straight to Lord Demon King to report? It hasn’t been long since they departed, so they can be tracked down quickly. Then, wouldn’t both your adjutant and the baby die? Ah, of course, it’s only natural for you to die.”

“……!”

Oel’s body stiffened as if trying to deny it.

Ha, that legion commander who only has the Demon King above them is in this state just because of one human brat. A sneer formed on Trober’s lips.

“If you don’t like that, there’s another way.”

“……Another way?”

“Yes,”

You’ll probably like this one too.

Trober flicked his fingers playfully. A subtle voice fell, carrying the cool morning dew.

“Kill me.”

“……”

“Lord Demon King is old-fashioned, so he openly favors the strong. Especially if it’s already happened and not known to the surroundings, if it can be glossed over appropriately, he’ll side with the winner, that is, the strong one, without hesitation.”

For example, a deathmatch between two legion commanders who changed positions.

Martial prowess comparable to a legion commander is precious. What can be done since the opposing legion commander is already dead? They have to take care of the remaining legion commander at least.

If it’s a manageable matter, he’ll gloss over it, and if necessary, even if it means shifting the blame onto a legion commander who is already dead and useless, he’ll take care of the surviving legion commander.

“Don’t you want to kill me? I didn’t like you either, so how about we take this opportunity to risk our lives and have a fight?”

“……Nonsense.”

Despite looking like their brain is full of muscles, their tongue is like a snake.

Oel, who had been listening quietly, frowned deeply.

“That assumption is based on a situation where ‘Lord Demon King’s order’ isn’t involved, isn’t it?”

How can you give an example of a purely personal conflict between legion commanders? The situation is completely different now.

What nonsense are you spouting? Sarcasm naturally dripped from their tongue.

“To be precise, you’re a guy dispatched according to Lord Demon King’s command. If I succeed in fighting and killing you, as you said, that would mean directly defying Lord Demon King’s order. I’ll definitely die. On the other hand, even if you succeed in killing me, there would be no problem for you.”

Rather, if you say you killed me in reverse because I, who rebelled against Lord Demon King’s order, tried to kill you, wouldn’t that be a sufficient reason?

“……”

“But.”

They fiddled with the bowstring. They were glad they brought the quiver just in case. Oel said with a smile on their face.

“Either way, the current situation is one where I have no choice but to die.”

“……Then,”

“Since I’m going to die anyway, shouldn’t I kill you too before I die?”

Even if they let it pass without conflict, their life would end as soon as Trober reported. In that case, they’d feel better if they could at least take the head of that damned culprit before dying.

They raised the bow. Trober’s face, who belatedly understood the meaning of the words, gradually brightened. Soon, a refreshing laugh burst out.

“Haha! Yes, that’s it! Very good!”

“……”

“Then shall we move locations first? It would be troublesome if we were interrupted midway!”

“……Alright.”

So that no one would notice, outside of Demon King’s castle.

***

They wanted to kill him.

That was the thought that came to mind as soon as they realized Trober had shown the baby to Lord Demon King. Although they didn’t express it outwardly, they were quite angry.

In such a situation, to kindly arrange a place like this, does that guy even know how grateful they are right now, to the point of madness?

Let’s end it this time.

As soon as the battle began, Oel retreated backward to widen the distance and drew the bowstring.

‘……’

Compound eyes, existing instead of pupils and whites, shone between the narrowly opened eyelids.

Calmly aiming at the space between the eyebrows of the guy charging like a starving magical beast, they released their hand. As if one wasn’t enough, three arrows flew fiercely towards the target.

It was a speed qualitatively different from ordinary arrows, but Trober managed to dodge it by bending his head. The guy who rushed in without slowing down swung a hand closer to that of a magical beast than a human’s. There was no ridiculous magic chant he usually shouted.

Boom!!

In an instant, Oel flew into the air.

It wasn’t even a direct hit, nor did they allow an attack. They managed to block it by swinging the bow in response, but……

“……Just mindlessly strong…!”

“Envious?”

As if it was his turn this time, Trober kicked off the ground and leaped, swinging his fist towards Oel who was floating in the air. Whoosh! A chilling sound tore through the air.

When his fist reached its intended destination, Oel was not there.

“……!”

Trober quickly twisted his body. Whether they used magic or not, Oel, who had moved behind him, was stabbing down at the back of his neck with an arrow in hand. Because he was in the air but had dodged to avoid it, her arrow failed to achieve its purpose and only scratched his neck.

“Cowardly magic…!”

“Since I’m going to die anyway, I’m going to use up all my magic power.”

It’s not at the level to be compared to Lord Demon King or the Commander of the 11th Corps, but it can still be seen as overflowing compared to Trober, who has no magic power at all.

“And why is this cowardly? It’s something that every demon has, isn’t it strange not to use it? You can use it too.”

“……”

“You used ‘magic’ a lot usually.”

Crack.

Power entered Trober’s fist. Starting from the hand, which was originally that of a magical beast, black energy rode up the arm and encroached upon the shoulder. The opposite side, which was a normal human hand, also started to darken and enlarge from the hand, and changes occurred up to the shoulder.

The sleeves of the white shirt, which he wore neatly, became so taut that they burst off completely.

Trober tilted his neck from side to side with cracking sounds, then clenched and unclenched his fists.

“……Annoying bastard.”

“That’s what I should be saying. You dog bastard.”

Thinking of today as the last day of their life, and with the resolve to use magic without reservation, Oel grabbed a handful of arrows from the quiver.

Soon, a rain of arrows poured down, darkening the sky.

***

The fight lasted longer than expected.

It might have been because Oel’s main strength was ranged combat and Trober’s was close combat. Both were naturally gifted at creating a distance advantageous to themselves.

One widened the distance, the other narrowed it, and in the cycle of endless repetition, their battle, which was aimed at each other’s lives, showed a fierce and even desperate aspect in the later stages.

When the arrows ran out, Oel created arrows with magic power and shot them. It was an action that even the Commander of the 11th Corps, who is said to have the most magic power among the legion commanders, would be shocked to see.

Trober, who only had a strong body and stamina, was fighting by bringing the level of body transformation beyond his arms to all parts except his head to counter magic. It was something he would never normally do because it put a severe strain on his body.

The fight was now flowing in the form of a chicken game. Unless one side stopped first, both would be in danger. Even if they won this fight, the losses would surely be enormous.

Nevertheless, neither of them had any intention of backing down. Because if they stopped, they would lose. Defeat meant death. They couldn’t possibly stop, even if it meant dying together.

As time passed, the clear arrows became blurry, and cracks started to become noticeable in various parts of the black body.

Victory and defeat were decided.

“Ah.”

The arrow heading towards Trober lost power before reaching its destination and scattered in the air.

The moment Oel, panicking at the unexpected situation, let out a groan, Trober, who had reached right in front of her, grabbing her small head and slamming it into the floor, squeezing out the last of his remaining strength.

Crash!

“……!”

Where did that guy, whose body was falling apart, get his strength from? Oel momentarily lost consciousness due to the unexpectedly strong impact. Because their face was directly pressed down by the giant hand, there was no room for screams or groans to come out.

Bang! Crash!

As if to make sure, the hand that didn’t let go of their head repeatedly slammed the back of their head into the floor.

‘Ah, I’m going to die.’

No longer having the strength to fight, Oel released the bow they had been tightly holding until that moment. The bow, dropped from its owner’s hand, tumbled weakly to the floor.

Only then did the black hand fall away from their face. Cracks were visible even on the receding palm, coming into their sight.

“……”

“Any last words?”