Chapter 336: The End of the Legion Commanders

Perfect. Just the kind of ending Deon Hart would love.

How perfectly everything aligns with that man’s wishes. With a displeased expression, he turned his gaze. The sound of blood dripping from his bare shoulder echoed clearly, yet the shadow stood tall, sword in hand, as if such a thing were no obstacle at all.

Trober let out a snicker, as if wanting to be heard.

“This part is a bit regrettable. I don’t like things going according to that man’s wishes,”

“…….”

“Well… since losers don’t have a choice anyway, there’s nothing I can say about it.”

“…….”

“Then kill me now.”

There was nothing more to say. Fundamentally, as much as there was a desire for life, regret inevitably remained, but understanding the situation clearly, he didn’t bother to chatter unnecessarily.

The opponent had already made up his mind, and his body no longer moved. There was no point in talking anymore, nothing would change.

He simply said.

“We’ve stalled for time long enough.”

“……Right.”

Jaykar swung his sword.

…….

It was over.

Standing before the lifeless body, Jaykar staggered for a moment, then planted his sword into the ground, using it as a cane to lean on and collapse. His body, now free from tension, struggled to maintain balance.

The silence settled for a moment.

“……Then, this time….”

Slowly moving his lips, he pushed away the silence.

Jaykar slowly blinked. His eyes, devoid of any emotion, declared the end even faster than his lips could.

“It’s my turn to die.”

As he had told Trober, he had no intention of living.

Jaykar had nothing he wanted to do, nothing he had to do. Whatever he tried, his severe injuries would only be a hindrance. He cleanly cast aside the regrets that hadn’t even existed from the start.

“It’s better to die than to live and crawl in the depths of the Demon Realm.”

The Demon Realm operates on the logic of power. In such a place, disability would be fatal, and the fall of the once-mighty Commander of the 1st Corps would be excellent prey for all demons. Even if there were other demons in the same situation, he would be trampled on even more.

He had no intention of enduring such a miserable sight, even if it meant death.

“So, Lirinel, don’t worry and relax.”

He spoke to the body of the Commander of the 11th Corps, whose head was separated from her neck.

“Because I definitely intend to die.”

Like Derniban, Jaykar also knew that Deon Hart wanted the death of ‘all’ legion commanders, including himself, yet he didn’t waver. There was no regret.

When Deon Hart asked for the reason for his cooperation, he mentioned his twin who was born from the same womb and became the leader of their race, but that was only secondary. For him, who had come to Demon King’s castle with the thought that he would be satisfied as long as he fought and died, whatever reason he gave was just an excuse to live as he pleased. He struggled to raise one knee to maintain his balance and drew his sword.

“Then, I’ll go first.”

Without hesitation, Jaykar turned the tip of his sword towards himself.

Another eerie sound was added to the silent space.

“…….”

In the deep silence that returned once more, the space around Lirinel’s body began to ripple faintly.

A ripple so small that no one would have noticed it in the chaos of battle. Yet, its range was wide enough to cover the entire battlefield and more. If another demon had seen it, they would have gaped, calling it unbelievable magic.

The very brief ripple, almost instantaneous, ended, and Lirinel, who had been separated into body and head, stood up from her spot, completely unharmed. She calmly brushed off her disheveled clothes and muttered to herself.

“……As expected of the Commander of the 1st Corps, I suppose.”

To notice a hallucination magic, that’s impressive.

Contrary to what others might think, Lirinel was alive. The only ones who might have noticed this would be Commander of the 2nd Corps Develania and Commander of the 1st Corps Jaykar, perhaps.

Develania’s last attack was not unthreatening. On the contrary, it was quite dangerous. If she had thought and moved as usual, she would have surely died.

‘But not this time.’

Because she couldn’t die before perfectly carrying out Sir Deon’s orders, Lirinel made a bold decision and moved in that brief moment.

Because when Develania pulled the thread to cut her head, the recalled mission forced her to live, saying, ‘You must be the last legion commander standing.’ That’s what she thought at that moment.

‘I can’t die fighting Develania.’

But if she were alive, Develania would continue to attack until one of them breathed their last.

So, she cast a large-scale hallucination magic.

She couldn’t cast hallucination magic on each of these many individuals one by one, so she used a wide-area type. She turned the entire space of the battlefield into a stage for a hallucination.

Then, she created a hallucination Lirinel in her place, and she temporarily left her position using magic. As soon as the attack ended, she returned and superimposed herself onto the hallucination. In the process, because she poured in all her magic power, only the basic magic power that made up her body remained, which also enhanced the realism of the hallucination.

……But Develania wasn’t fooled.

[……A Commander of the 11th Corps who can’t use magic is no different from a child in the Human Realm.]

[So, the Commander of the 11th Corps is dead.]

It was unexpected that she turned a blind eye.

As she said, it must be because there wasn’t much she could do since she couldn’t use magic. Commander of the 11th Corps Lirinel had fought using magic, not combat using her body.

“……Still, against a legion commander who is injured and struggling to control their body, an ambush might be successful.”

She could certainly stab with a small weapon. Even without using a weapon, she could attack with tentacles.

After briefly pouting, Lirinel realized that Develania couldn’t have been unaware of this, and that it was just a last consideration for a small legion commander she had once been acquainted with. She sighed faintly and looked around.

There was no time to be sentimental.

‘It’s definitely all over.’

She was the only demon left.

Finally, things had gone according to Sir Deon’s wishes. Not now, but soon it would be so.

It would be good to inform Sir Deon of this fact. If this would give him certainty and allow him to move comfortably, nothing could be better.

“Communication stone….”

Lirinel, who was searching her pockets, paused.

She had lost everything in the chaos. Having fallen in the middle of the battlefield and been trampled here and there, it would have been pulverized long ago. She rolled her eyes.

‘The other legion commanders….’

……It seemed there was no need to search her pockets. Her clothes were already in tatters, pierced and cut here and there, so where could she have kept the communication stone? Moreover, since the legion commanders had even exchanged blows, even if it had remained in her pocket, it would have been crushed.

‘If magic power had remained, she would have contacted them even with magic… but she had no magic power left.’

……No, wait. There was something just right.

Magic power she could use because she, too, had to die anyway.

Without hesitation, Lirinel used the magic power that made up her body to establish one-way communication directly into Deon Hart’s mind.

“Sir Deon, all legion commanders except me are dead.”

Usually, demons cannot easily use the magic power that makes up their bodies, even when their death is certain. Because it gives a primal fear beyond ending their own lives.

A fear as if betting everything of oneself, soul, existence itself.

However, the thought that she couldn’t leave Deon Hart in an anxious state was prioritized over such things, so Lirinel wore a gentle smile on her lips.

“I, too, will die soon. This communication right now is magic using the magic power that makes up my body.”

Everything has gone according to Sir Deon’s wishes.

“So.”

She felt her body slowly crumbling away.

Unfazed, Lirinel smiled brightly in a place where no one was watching, a smile that would never reach anyone.

Her utterly pure voice uttered words that would be utterly cruel to someone.

“Please be happy.”

***

And then.

“…….”

Deon Hart heard that terrible curse.

The blood-water, which seemed to have no more room to rise, rippled and raised its level. The liquid, which had swallowed up to his collarbone, oppressively pressed against his chest.

Pretending to be indifferent, he moved his steps and slowly trod the mountain path he had once entered as if fleeing. The background of fluttering snow was truly dreadful.

Wading through the blood-water, he crossed the border and entered the Demon Realm, walking a path that was cleanly cleared and had nothing to obstruct him. As he walked relentlessly toward his last remaining goal, he thought.

‘The Human Realm has fallen, and the legion commanders are dead.’

With this, the possibility of the Demon Realm swallowing up the Human Realm by taking advantage of its weakened state had significantly decreased. Because the legion commanders who would be the center had disappeared.

‘Someone might question whether it was necessary to kill them all….’

Has there not been anyone in the history of the Human Realm who became the protagonist of a rebellion against their will? There have been those who sat on the throne against their own wishes, by the will of others.

Being a center is something that can happen even if one doesn’t want it. If they were legion commanders, they would surely play the role of a new center even if the Demon King died. Demons would gather around the legion commanders, and they would surely reach out to the Human Realm, which had become easy prey.

‘I absolutely cannot stand to see demons benefit.’

As he had thought before, Deon Hart absolutely could not stand to see those who were born from his enemies benefit.

Destroying the Human Realm was to screw over the world, not for the demons. Therefore, it was necessary to reduce the demons’ power as much as the fallen power of the Human Realm.

‘Of course, other demon bastards might gather around a center, but it would be nothing much.’

There are no tigers or wolves. In such a place, even if a fox acts like a king, it would still be just a fox.

Something gathered around mediocrities would be something that the Human Realm could handle on its own without this side needing to intervene.

……Honestly, if he had taken measures to this extent, shouldn’t they be able to handle at least that much on their own? Deon thought that he had done his last bit of conscience as a human who had attacked the Human Realm, so he cut off his thoughts there and only quickened his pace.

After walking and walking along a clean path without a single magical beast, Demon King’s castle came into view.

***

Once, the Demon King thought.

The Hero is born to kill the Demon King.

The Demon King is born to kill the Hero.

Then, what if the Hero and the Demon King became allies?

***

‘……That can’t be.’

It’s a ridiculous thought. There’s no way the world would do such a foolish thing. The Demon King snickered.

The world had known. That Deon Hart would one day point his sword at the Demon King.

And the Demon King, who well knew that the world was desperate to kill him, and furthermore wanted to break the cycle of Hero and Demon King, was certain the moment Deon Hart became the Hero.

‘One day, he would try to kill me.’

And so now, the Demon King waited.

While sending demon soldiers, with additional magic power injected into their little remaining magic power, to clear up the kingdoms of the Human Realm that had survived by clinging to this side, he only waited for the Hero, who had sharpened his sword keenly, to come and strike his neck.

“……You look like you’re in a good mood.”

“Do I?”

The Fairy King, sitting across the table, narrowed his eyes, seemingly bothered by his calm demeanor.

Regardless, the Demon King leisurely stroked his teacup and lightly scanned the leaders of each race sitting around the table. The faces of these brazen fellows who visited every day for tea time after sending troops for the final battle, their purpose obvious, came into view.

A situation that had never happened before could have been perplexing, but he didn’t waver.

Because he seemed to know their purpose.

“Maybe they find it amusing to come every day and return without any gain.”

“……!”

They must be waiting only for the Hero to come here.

To be precise, they must be waiting for him to come ‘to kill the Demon King’.

‘Cheeky bastards.’

The Demon King curved his eyes into a smirk.