The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 265

The air in the room felt thick and heavy, like a storm was about to break. You could almost taste the tension, bitter on the tongue.

Count Fabius gave a sly smile, and Duke Bamford’s patience snapped. He didn’t bother with polite greetings. He went straight to the point, his voice sharp.

“You know why I asked for this meeting. The rules agreed upon by all the countries on this land, called Continental Law, clearly say you can’t use poisons that kill anyone and everyone during war.”

“It’s the least we can promise each other as humans.”

“So, why did Dimitri use poison? Don’t you understand what your choice will do to this war?”

Bamford spoke of conscience, but Fabius noticed he didn’t mention Chronos’s own mistakes.

From the very first attack, the Chronos Empire acted like they had done nothing wrong.

Fabius thought, *It’s war, isn’t it?* Chronos acts like they are so righteous, but they started this.

Just like Hector attacked Dimitri’s base without warning, breaking the rules first, which has happened many times in the past.

But poison was different.

Even with the Behemoth Magic Tower, they didn’t use poison because it hurts everyone, friends and enemies alike.

Also, regular people mixed in with the soldiers can’t easily escape the killing of anyone and everyone.

Duke Bamford showed his anger.

He was scolding Fabius, as if to say, how dare Dimitri use poison that even Chronos didn’t use.

Count Fabius said.

“I understand what you’re saying, but that’s just a suggestion. We don’t have to follow it no matter what, do we? Just like crossing the border without warning isn’t a problem if you call it ‘war.’ We just thought using poison was part of that.”

“Count Fabius, be careful what you say from now on.”

Duke Bamford’s face hardened, his eyes turning to ice.

Seeing thousands of soldiers die made him very angry.

Chronos.

His country.

In this world ruled by the Emperor, only those who had done the most for the country could become a Duke.

Duke Bamford didn’t try to hide his anger.

“All the rules in the world, including Continental Law, were created for a reason. Count Fabius, why do you think the people of the Salamander Continent banned poison, even during war?”

“Well, there was a famous story from the past, wasn’t there?”

“That’s right. A long time ago, before Chronos became an Empire, there were more kingdoms than there are now. How did they disappear? They used terrible, contagious poisons to take each other’s land. As a result, three of the countries in the war had a terrible disaster where 30 percent of their people died. How many regular people do you think were part of that number? I’m asking you not to repeat the past. If we lose the smallest amount of right and wrong as humans, do you think you can win against Chronos? Our way, which you call cruel, isn’t as cruel as you think.”

Fabius listened to Bamford’s words. *He has a point about poison being terrible,* Fabius thought. *If we were fighting anyone else, maybe I’d agree with him.*

But.

“Yes, yes, I understand. I don’t care about the old days, so what? Are you telling us to just give up and die? To protect that smallest amount of right and wrong as humans? I’m sorry, but I don’t want to hear that from the Chronos Empire, which pushed Dimitri into a corner.”

Fabius’s reaction was truly a sight to behold.

The enemy is Chronos.

A clear powerhouse.

People who had heard rumors about Count Fabius thought that he, who was called a traitor, would try to please Chronos.

Some of it was right.

If the situation was right, he would turn around at any time if he swore loyalty to Chronos, but the person he was following now was Roman Dimitri.

Betray decisively.

But do your best as if you are willing to give your life for your new lord.

It was his motto in life.

To Count Fabius, who had Roman Dimitri in his heart, the Chronos Empire was just one of many enemies.

Count Fabius said.

“The countries where 30 percent of the people disappeared were later taken over by the Chronos Empire and became the base for building the current empire. In the end, you could say it was something that helped Chronos.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“No, I’m just saying the facts. And honestly, the Chronos Empire shouldn’t be pointing out the use of poison, should they? Everyone knows that Chronos uses ‘black magic.’ Especially when my lord was returning to Dimitri, the Chronos Empire openly showed the power of black magic. Black magic is worse than poison. If poison is child’s play, black magic is a power that can destroy the entire human race.”

His attitude was twisted.

From the beginning, he didn’t want a friendly conversation.

“We have only returned what we have suffered. Even if you disagree, we’re not going to apologize.”

“Count Fabius.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“Is there any proof that the Chronos Empire used black magic? Not based on guesses, but real proof. The fact that Roman Dimitri was attacked on his way back isn’t proof that the Chronos Empire was behind it. His Majesty the Emperor had planned to assassinate Roman Dimitri, but that and this incident are separate things.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Fabius grinned.

Chronos was that kind of country.

Even though everyone knew the secret agents belonged to them, they used their power to make everyone ignore the truth.

“Yes, Chronos is perfect. They tried to kill my lord, sent hidden attackers, used black magic, and attacked Dimitri’s base, but in the end, Dimitri, who used poison, is completely at fault. So, what do you want us to do? Aren’t you raising troops to destroy us anyway? Whether it’s humanity or whatever, if we lose the war, it will be hard for us to survive. No matter how Chronos has acted, we have only chosen the way for us to live. So, let’s just move on. Chronos’s black magic, Dimitri’s poison. We can’t talk about each other’s conscience. Let’s not even argue about these things between us, who will rush to kill each other if we turn back on this road.”

“How dare you……!”

“And.”

Count Fabius became serious.

“Duke Bamford, you know that even the Behemoth Magic Tower can’t easily remove the poison my lord has. If we really wanted to kill anyone and everyone, we would have released the poison in the middle of the capital. So, don’t talk nonsense. We are keeping our own rules in our own way. If we want to go to extremes, we can’t promise what will happen from then on.”

It was a clear threat.

Boldly.

Count Fabius spoke angrily to the powerful Chronos Empire.

The mood in the room changed suddenly. A cold silence fell, replacing the earlier anger.

Duke Bamford’s face was red with anger as Count Fabius spoke. But then, his shoulders relaxed, and his voice became smooth, like still water.

“I understand. Let’s agree on what we each need to do and finish this,”

The threat worked.

Fabius had said that he could use poison even in the capital to buy time. Because of this, the Chronos Empire would not be able to move easily.

Not until they found a perfect antidote for at least 32 kinds of poison.

They would have to move more cautiously than before, worrying about the possible use of poison.

However.

Duke Bamford said something unexpected.

“Maybe Dimitri has a good plan for this war, and Roman Dimitri is important to it. I admit, we were surprised. We didn’t expect the attack on Rascal, the killing of ten thousand soldiers, and poisoning a hundred thousand more to distract us.”

He admired it.

Watching Roman Dimitri’s actions, he had once imagined what it would be like if he had been from the Chronos Empire.

It meant a very powerful future.

If Chronos had someone like Roman Dimitri on their side, the ambition to conquer the continent would have been advanced more quickly than expected.

He thought this was too easy.

Duke Bamford hoped there would be hardships in conquering the continent.

“There was a time when I spent a lot of time on the battlefield. That was when I felt alive. After leading every war to victory, I was given the title of ‘Duke.’ In fact, I am still very uncomfortable with the fancy, heavy clothes that nobles wear. The person people call Duke Bamford is more used to life on the battlefield than a comfortable life in the capital. But, do you know why I left the battlefield? Was it because I got old? Because there are fewer wars than before? None of that.”

This conversation was off-topic.

Duke Bamford told the truth to an insignificant person.

“It is because I knew the power of the Chronos Empire. How strong this country is. The reward of victory would have come naturally even if I didn’t struggle. From then on, I lived a life unrelated to war. Roman Dimitri is a great figure. Born in a remote territory, he reached the realm of 6 stars at that young age. His actions so far are so great that similar examples cannot be found even in Chronos. Because of this, I thought that Roman Dimitri might be an even greater figure than we thought. But that’s it. Those who know the power of Chronos do not think that Roman Dimitri will block the ambitions of the Chronos Empire. However, they are just expecting it.”

He laughed.

Remembering where Fabius’s confidence came from, he looked truly ridiculous.

“The stronger Roman Dimitri is, the more he struggles. The more the people of the Salamander Continent will have no choice but to acknowledge that the Chronos Empire is qualified to rule the continent, even if only Dimitri collapses. So, please struggle until the end, so that I can feel alive.”

Lastly.

“I sincerely look forward to your good fight.”

Duke Bamford turned around and returned to his camp.

While Duke Bamford returned to his camp, feeling a strange sense of anticipation, back in Dimitri’s camp, Hans was dealing with the aftermath of the battle.

Hans carefully cleaned the bodies of the patients lying like corpses with a warm, wet towel.

“…When did he grow up so much?”

He looked at Kevin.

Hans had taken off Kevin’s top to wipe his body. Kevin’s body was covered in wounds; there was no place that wasn’t hurt.

There were new wounds from this war, but most of them were from previous wars.

Another wound on top of a wound. The wounds that had built up like that proved Kevin’s hard work.

Indeed.

His feelings were new.

When Hans first met Kevin, he was full of anger and didn’t seem like a swordsman. But now he had suddenly grown up and become a swordsman recognized by the continent.

In particular, Kevin’s contribution was very great in defeating Sven.

If he had not stopped Sven, more people would have been hurt.

Everyone knew.

Kevin sacrificed himself to protect Dimitri.

Everyone hoped that Kevin would wake up safely, with a strong desire to protect Dimitri.

Next to him was Henderson.

Kevin still looked like he had recovered a lot on the outside, but Henderson was practically a living corpse.

He was in such a bad state that he could die at any moment.

Henderson’s family visited every day and cried, but they did not blame Roman Dimitri.

Roman Dimitri did his best for Kevin and Henderson to survive.

Knowing that, they were grateful.

His heart felt heavy.

When taking care of them, tears welled up for no reason.

He got up from his seat.

He wanted to tidy up the surroundings a little so that their families would not be uncomfortable, as he did not know when guests would come.

It was good to work busily when he was sad.

That was the way Hans lived. As he worked hard to clean up, his sad heart felt a little better.

Then.

As he finished cleaning and tried to move, he heard a familiar voice from behind.

“…How much time has passed?”

It was a rough voice, as he had not opened his mouth for a long time.

Hans turned his head sharply.

Then.

“Kevin!”

Kevin, who had raised his body with a struggling face, was looking at Hans.