Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 255

255.

“Any last words?”

“Well, I always thought I’d have something prepared for a moment like this. But now that the moment has arrived, nothing comes to mind.”

“Just say something. Anything, even if it’s just a curse. Just shout it all out before you go. Because if you leave without saying anything, I think I’ll be even angrier.”

A sensation of trembling rippled from the depths of his heart. Dezark initially thought he was the one trembling, but he soon realized that wasn’t the case. The vibration started from the hand touching his heart. Following the hand to its owner, he saw a horribly distorted face. Dezark chuckled as he stared at the sight.

“Weren’t you always looking for a chance to kill me, you brat? Now that the stage is set, you’re being awfully shy.”

“Damn it. What do you take me for? I wanted to take it with my own strength, not receive it like this, thrown at me.”

“Indeed, you never showed interest in fighting the weak. Now that I’ve become weak, killing me isn’t fun anymore?”

“…What are you trying to achieve by provoking me until your dying breath?”

Dezark gave a bitter smile at the fiery gaze filled with anger. He had no intention of accepting death as something solemn. He wanted to pass away as casually as any other ordinary day, but it seemed the young friend before him had no such intention.

Of course, he himself couldn’t say he had no regrets about life. As his gaze lowered, Dezark’s eyes flickered briefly. The golden egg, which he had forcibly placed in Deron’s arms just moments ago, had caught his eye again. Deron read the regret in that gaze. Dezark, realizing he was being watched, immediately wiped the emotion from his face.

“The child’s condition isn’t bad. The growth rate is a bit slow, but that can be resolved by absorbing just a little essence. It’s a relief that at least one survived, but it’s a bit of a shame not to see the form it will take when it’s born. It has a strong destiny, or so Lord Lucarim said, right?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“The Water Spirit King has become its godfather. You won’t have to worry about its life in the future.”

“Of course not.”

“Can I… give it a name?”

At the calm question, Deron closed his eyes. He felt his voice would tremble if he didn’t.

“Isn’t it obvious? Naming the child to be born was your duty and your inherent right. Me, Serpis, even Karian—all the names you gave us. Don’t ask such obvious things.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Dezark nodded gently, then looked at the egg with a warm gaze.

“Asmodel. Let’s call it Asmodel.”

The moment the name was decided was brief. Deron, who had been waiting with a somewhat nervous look, showed a surprised expression at the name.

“…I know who that is. Isn’t that the name of the angel who was said to be in charge of April in the Demon World, one of the twelve archangels who served the Demon God in ancient times?”

“That’s him. He was also a warrior who fought bravely for the Demon World until the very end in the Celestial-Demonic War.”

Dezark nodded slowly as he spoke.

“This breeding season was in April. While looking at the spring flowers blooming in Karten, I thought it would be a good name to give to the first child to be born.”

Whoosh—

The wind blew, and his hair slowly scattered. His faintly smiling face looked precarious, as if he would crumble at any moment. Deron couldn’t help but harden his face again.

Precarious. How unlike Dezark that word was. From the moment he first saw him, he had always been consistently strong. He always felt overwhelmed by the presence and magical power that seemed to suffocate him just by standing still. But now, he felt none of that energy from the man before him. He was like a fallen leaf, dried up and waiting to crumble.

This time, Deron couldn’t deny it either. The moment he had desperately hoped wouldn’t come was approaching clearly enough to recognize.

The time given to him was running out.

“Won’t you start now, Deron? I’m at my limit. At this rate, I think I’ll breathe my last before you can take me.”

Dezark, too, sensed the end. Staring at his face, which had become even paler than before, Deron nodded curtly.

“…Are you ready?”

“I feel like I should be the one asking that.”

Dezark’s hand rested on Deron’s hand, which was placed over his heart. Deron’s face darkened at the body temperature that barely contained any warmth.

“Take care of things.”

“…Yes.”

“Please also convey my disloyal subject’s greetings to Lord Lucarim. I’ve been worried since he sealed Karian. I hope he wasn’t seriously injured…”

“He… will be safe.”

“Yes, he will be.”

A look of longing settled on his bitterly murmuring face. He was ultimately concerned about leaving without confirming his final regards. Seeing this, Deron swallowed his impatience. Dezark clearly still didn’t know Lucarim’s true identity. *Unless he knew the Demon God’s intentions, I couldn’t dare reveal his identity on my own,* Deron muttered several times inwardly. But when he finally began to infuse magic into his heart, he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Zark! Actually, Lord Lucarim’s true identity… was the Demon God!”

The confession that had been circling in his mouth burst out as soon as his lips opened, at the moment when death was seeping in like a wave. Dezark’s eyes widened at the voice ringing clearly in his ears. For a moment, the two men’s eyes met, and a smile spread across Dezark’s lips.

But that time was fleetingly short. The next moment, Dezark’s body, which had slowly closed its eyes, rapidly crumbled. Deron hurriedly reached out with both hands to catch his body as it was about to fall forward. The cold, motionless body fell powerlessly into his arms.

“Zark?”

Knowing that no response would come, Deron called out cautiously. The result did not deviate from his expectations. The man in his arms was still only smiling, and his eyes would never open again.

*Did he hear it? Did he hear the truth before he left?*

*Maybe I should have said it sooner. I want to ask for confirmation before it remains a deep regret, but the lips of the only being who can give the answer will not open now.* Deron did not know how to break the silence that had befallen him. Fortunately, the last moment did not seem so painful. Deron’s face, which had been examining Dezark with flickering eyes, contorted in one particular area. Dezark’s blue hair gradually began to turn black.

“Ah……”

Deron closed his eyes instead. His reddened eyes burned hotly. He couldn’t stop the rising tears from falling helplessly.

Why did this happen? He used to say, as a habit, that he would one day defeat him and take his place. Even as he repeated his vows, he knew it was just bravado and bluster. In fact, he had never imagined a North Duke other than Dezark in his entire life. He had never even imagined his appearance without his dark blue hair.

But now, right before his eyes, that hair was turning as black as darkness—the evidence of the breath that had left his body bidding an eternal farewell in its own way.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

The completely darkened sky, the star clusters that had begun to rise, poured down over Deron’s head. The color reflected whenever light touched them was a bluish light, just like the night sky of the Demon World. It was once the color possessed by the man sleeping before him.

The long history of the Demon World, the end of one of its strands.

It was the night the master of Karten changed.

* * *

Thud—

The steps he took mercilessly trampled the grass that had sprouted on the ground. The man who had just entered Karten was wrapped in a long cloak. Pale skin and cloudy red eyes. Hair as black as the night sky hung limply, devoid of luster. He looked so gloomy that he might as well have come back to life from the grave.

In fact, he had just escaped from a place similar to that. But whatever his appearance, he was able to move his body and walk with his own strength. For now, that alone was enough. Soon, he would gain a freedom that could not be compared to what he had now. When he thought of the joy he would feel then, he could endure any amount of discomfort.

Enjoying the anticipation that filled his entire body, he arrived here with an excited feeling. Until that moment, everything was going smoothly.

When he finally reached the place he wanted, he found someone lying in front of the spring: Dezark Rune, once the Duke of the North and the forest keeper of Karten. With his eyes closed and cold, he was already not breathing.

He had already expected him to die around this time, so he wasn’t particularly surprised.

He felt the anomaly when he checked the spring of magic power. He had already taken it all once, but the spring should have been filled up to some extent by now. Dezark had been bleeding until just before he died, so the Demon God’s essence should have been full inside it as well. But the inside of the spring was empty. Not only the Demon God’s essence, but even the magic power it should have originally contained did not exist. It was as if it had never been a spring from the beginning. Only the completely dried-up dirt floor was exposed.

The phenomenon clearly indicated that someone had the spring. Not only had they recovered all the magic power it had contained, but they had also made it so that it would not produce again until a new order was given. The only being who could issue such an order was the North Duke, who was the forest keeper and manager of the spring. But Dezark was under his control until the moment he died. He should have been.

After recalling that far, he grabbed the woman who was standing next to him like a doll and stroked her hair. It was a dark night, making it difficult to distinguish the surroundings, but it was not difficult for him to distinguish the color of her hair with his eyesight. The woman’s hair was always black. It did not have the blue color that should have passed on to her when the North Duke died.

“…Did someone steal it?”

He clenched his fists as he gnashed his teeth. Could someone have entered Karten in the meantime? There were too many people he could guess, so he couldn’t count them. At the end, Dezark was so weak that even a low-level demon could easily kill him. If someone had accidentally entered the forest, they would not have hesitated to kill him and take the opportunity to become the Duke. However, the fact that the spring was deliberately dried up bothered him. Most of the demons did not know the situation, and there was no reason for them to reap the spring. Rather, they would have been excited about the fact that they had become the North Duke and tried to create more essence.

Besides, he had set up detection magic near the entrance of the forest to prepare for intruders. But he did not feel any traces of anyone entering. That alone significantly reduces the possibility of a third party’s intervention.

In the end, he came to the most reasonable conclusion: that Dezark had miraculously regained consciousness just before he died. If he had squeezed out his last strength to close the spring and chose to kill himself, all of this could be easily explained. The North Duke’s ability disappears as soon as he takes his own life and is not passed on to anyone for a while. Considering the future of the Demon World, it was an extreme choice, but Dezark was the kind of person who would do such a thing. He would have judged that it was better to abandon the future than to hand it over to the enemy.

Anyway, he had not expected this at all. He, Karian, clicked his tongue lowly. He should not have left his seat in such a hurry before Dezark died. Thanks to the Demon God’s essence that he had created in advance, his body had become free, but the seal had not yet been completely released. He was going to use the remaining essence to release the final seal, but that plan had been completely ruined.

“I can’t help it. I have no choice but to try another method.”

Karian smirked and got up. His gaze coldly swept over the dead Dezark’s body. He couldn’t have his way until the very end. This was the same as the god he served.

*‘Okay, let’s see who wins.’*

Dezark made the wrong choice. If he had just died, he would have been treated with a generous heart considering his contribution. He needlessly made his mood worse by making useless struggles until the very end.

He will never forget today’s humiliation. It will just take a little longer, but the seal will eventually be released soon. Once he becomes a god and subjugates all the other dimensions under his feet, he will find his soul and tear it to pieces. He will clearly prove to the world what price is paid for rebelling against him.

“Take a short rest until then, Dezark.”

After snapping at the opponent who couldn’t hear him, Karian shook off his body and stood up. Serpis followed him respectfully. Karian turned away from the forest without regret.

“I’m going to Yukarte.”

* * *

“Unicorn’s Eye?”

Eluen frowned at one passage while reviewing the documents. At his question, which he muttered to himself, the gray-haired man sitting across from him nodded. He was Shannon, the god of the underworld, who had given Eluen the documents a little while ago.

“I am referring to the eyes of the Holy Magic race created by Lusef, the god of justice and discernment. Their eyes become even more special after death. Even if the entire corpse returns to the soil, only the eyes remain in the form of glass beads, which can be used to illuminate spirits or ethereal bodies. It is also said that swallowing them allows one to come into contact with spirits for a while.”

“I know that. So, the Demon King used that?”

“That’s right.”

The document dealt with the process suspected to have been used by the Demon King Karian to infiltrate the underworld. Ultimately, it was also the reason why there was an error in the birth process of the Water Spirit King Elquines. A manager in the department that distributes souls within the underworld made a mistake, and as a result, the Spirit King’s soul was sent to Earth. It’s not impossible, but the problem was that traces of hypnosis were found on him. In other words, someone intentionally induced the mistake.