Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 419

Chapter 419

Kalian’s eyes gleamed red with hatred. I heard Iowen gasp and turned to see him biting his lip, his face pale. Canos, who was facing Kalian’s hatred head-on, simply wore a peculiar expression.

“Well, alright. I didn’t name the kid, but let’s put that aside for now. First, there’s something we need to address.”

“What is it?”

“You’re not Arca.”

I was surprised again by his words. Kalian also flinched, then glared at Canos with blazing eyes.

“You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie about something like this? In the first place, the Fruit [of Wisdom] didn’t show you your past life. It’s forbidden to make kids like you remember their past lives. Even I can’t do that. And I have no intention of doing so.”

“…That’s a lie.”

“No, really. You’re not Arca, so you don’t know what that kid was thinking back then. The memory you have is distorted. Think about it. What was Arca’s end like?”

“I… after As died… I…?”

Kalian couldn’t answer immediately. The more he tried to retrace his thoughts, the more confused he seemed. Canos smiled as if he expected it, seeing his wavering expression.

“You don’t remember, do you? Because you didn’t see Arca’s death.”

“Then what was everything I saw!”

“That’s an illusion. Your own fantasy created by you empathizing with Arca. Maybe you read a book about the Great War.”

Kalian’s eyes wavered again this time. He looked as if he had been hit right on the mark.

“I told you, the Fruit only shows you what you want to see. You really don’t believe me.”

“So, it’s all just my delusion?”

“At least it’s certain that it’s not Arca’s thoughts. Though it’s not close to your real memories either.”

Canos’s expression looked bitter as he answered. I wished it would end with this, but it seemed there was more to the hidden story. Kalian also furrowed his brow as if he felt something strange.

“…My real memories?”

“You were there at that time, too.”

“I…?”

“The real you was trying to protect Arca. In the end, you sacrificed yourself for that kid.”

It wasn’t just a feeling that I had heard this story somewhere before. I didn’t even need to recall my memories, and I gaped blankly. The situation of the one who sacrificed himself for Arca overlapped perfectly with what Kalian had said a little while ago. The angel Asmodel, who took his own life.

“Yes. Asmodel, who died before your eyes. That’s you.”

“…!”

Kalian, who had been watching with distrustful eyes, widened his eyes. I was also surprised and opened my mouth. I hurriedly turned to Iowen, but he had squeezed his eyes shut as if he couldn’t bear to watch any longer. The hand holding the shield was trembling so much that it was pitiful.

“You were cursed for rejecting the Creator and choosing corruption. Originally, you should have been thrown into the flames and burned until you were annihilated, but Iowen wanted to give you another chance. So, you were taken back when only a part of you remained. I was the only one who could handle a fallen soul, so you were sent to me.”

“What are you saying…”

“For the first little while, it seemed to be going smoothly. But as you grew, you began to be consumed by darkness, probably because you couldn’t shake off the influence of the curse. I didn’t have many options: to discard you and throw you back into the flames, or to let you vent your hatred and resolve it.”

I felt like I knew what choice Canos had made there without even asking. Kalian was alive and in front of me right now, so that must be the result.

“Giving you the Fruit of Wisdom was to divert your attention even a little. Whether you tried to kill Lucarém, the agent of the Demon God, or started a war to challenge the gods, I wanted you to have the opportunity to take revenge with your own hands. Then you would feel relieved even if you paid the price. Only then could you be purified.”

However, Kalian chose a path that deviated from expectations this time as well. His revenge was not directed at the gods but at human children. He went deeper into taking their hearts to increase his power.

“…I was wrong from the start. I thought you were trying to get revenge on the gods, but I never thought you wanted to become a god yourself.”

The smile slowly disappeared from Canos’s face as he muttered lowly. His black eyes stared at Kalian with a chilling aura.

“You despise the gods as despicable, but you wanted to enjoy the same power as them?”

Ah, I see.

I gasped as the realization flashed through my mind. Yes, Kalian didn’t want revenge. If he simply wanted to retaliate, it would have been enough to cut ties with the Demon God and rule the Demon Realm as he pleased. Or, as he said, trying to kill Lucarém would have been more reasonable. But he wanted to become a god. To do so, he had to cruelly kill innocent children without hesitation. The grudge he held was just an excuse; at this point, it had to be said that desire and greed took precedence. In fact, he just wanted to become a being like Canos.

“What’s wrong with that!”

Kalian screamed like a cry.

“You don’t understand my heart! You’ve never been miserable! What do you know, you who have never been in a lower position than anyone else!”

“Well. But that goes for you too.”

“What?”

“You were once Asmodel, a high-ranking god, and even after being reborn, you were born as a strong demon and became a demon king smoothly. You may not admit it, but to others, you are also a being who has never been in a low position. If you really knew the hearts of the lowly, you wouldn’t have killed powerless children so casually.”

“That’s not true!”

Kalian, excited, lunged at him. I gasped, but Canos dodged his attack more easily than I thought. Rather, he quickly climbed up and pushed the spear that was stuck in his body even deeper.

“Kuaaaak!”

The guy who tilted his head back screamed in pain. Canos stared at him with indifferent eyes as he writhed, making a choking sound.

“Fortunately, the Judge [a powerful artifact] still seems to be effective.”

“You…!”

“Did you know? The Judge has the property of amplifying itself when it swallows the owner’s blood.”

“What…!”

Canos proved it with action instead of explanation. He cut his palm, drew blood, and grabbed the Judge. Then, as if a fire had been lit on oil, Kalian began to thrash wildly. He said he could convert pain into his own power, but it seemed that the power of the Judge was overwhelming him so much that he didn’t even have the leeway to do so. Canos skillfully subdued the rampaging guy and bound him to the floor. I was relieved that he was leading the situation more easily than I thought. I was in despair when the purification circle failed again, but if things continued like this, it seemed possible to annihilate him right away. Kalian also had an expression that he couldn’t believe he was being helplessly defeated.

“It’s all your fault!”

The guy, lying prostrate, screamed as if in a desperate struggle.

“It doesn’t matter who I am! Nothing will change! If you hadn’t abandoned Arca back then, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Canos’s movements, which had been moving quickly, stopped for a moment at those words. Kalian raised his head as if he saw that gap as an opportunity.

“Why did you leave us alone? You could have saved us!”

“…I had other children to protect, not just you. Instead of getting involved in the war, I protected the future of the Demon Realm. That included demons who didn’t participate in the war and eggs that were about to hatch.”

“Why did you have to agree to such a compromise? You’re a Demon God! Aren’t you the strongest god among the gods! You could have subjugated everyone and made those who followed only you win!”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask!”

“I don’t want only people to follow me.”

Kalian stopped shouting at the sight of him tilting his head as if he genuinely didn’t understand. Canos looked at him as if he couldn’t understand him even more, looking at him as if he was dumbfounded.

“What’s the point if the world moves only in my way? It’s just like I’m alone.”

“So, you turned away from those who followed you!”

“Ah, come to think of it, the premise itself was wrong from the start. Those kids followed me? No, the demons didn’t follow me back then.”

“What are you talking about!”

“I wanted those kids to live happily in the separated Demon Realm in the way they wanted. I never told them to cross over to the God Realm and kill the gods, and I never told them to start a war. Why does the war that kid started because he couldn’t overcome his anger become for me?”

“Because he started it because you insulted him!”

“But behind that is the past when the demons cruelly tormented the gods. Shouldn’t we clarify the situation first? Even if that wasn’t the case, they should have quietly received punishment for breaking the law. It was Arca’s will to start a war and choose the end.”

“So, you weren’t sorry or pitiful for him!”

“Of course, I’m sorry. Of course, I feel sorry for him. So, I let that kid do whatever he wanted and go. If that wasn’t the case, I might have forcibly subjugated the demons back then and made them surrender. Just like the way you said.”

Kalian’s face, which had flinched, was terribly distorted. Canos’s smile deepened as he saw it.

“Why? Does this not seem right again?”

“You are the creator of the demons! Aren’t you their father!”

“So, if you’re a father, do you have to make your child win unconditionally even if they’re on the wrong path? You yearn to become a god so much, but you despise God more than anyone else?”

“What?”

“God is not a doll that follows whatever you tell them to do.”

At that moment, Kalian’s eyes shook greatly as if he had been hit. But that moment didn’t last long, and he distorted his face again as if he was angry.

“Well, I guess it’s hard to accept after coming this far? …Well, it’s not just you who’s doing this to me.”

I quietly swallowed my breath at Canos’s somewhat bitter appearance. He is the creator of the demons, but he is also a god. Of course, the gods would have wanted him to step in and solve it. Just like Kalian wanted the demons to win, they must have wanted their side to win. I felt that Canos had no choice but to choose nothing. Whichever side he chose, even if he didn’t choose, he was the one who lost.

“Anyway, despite that, the fact that you are my children does not change.”

After muttering to himself, Canos sighed lightly. In the meantime, he had completely subdued him and was sitting on Kalian’s body. Even at this moment, the blood flowing from his hand was soaking the Judge.

“I’ll tell you one interesting fact. The real Arca, whom you were so sorry for and cherished, closed his eyes without any resentment.”

“…What?”

“He had many mistakes, so he lived a hard afterlife several times, but he completely shook it off, and recently he regained the life of a demon. He was almost killed by you before he was even born, but he was lucky enough to survive. Now he has grown up wonderfully under the protection of a strong godfather.”

“What…”

“By a twist of fate, the name you once had is now held by that kid.”

What is all this? Before I could accurately grasp the meaning, I reflexively turned to As. He was also gaping blankly.

“That guy is Arca?”

Kalian also immediately understood what he said. His horrified face turned towards As. Canos shrugged his shoulders.

“No, that can’t be.”

Kalian shook his head.

“That can’t be!”

The sound of shouting loudly was closer to the cry of a beast than a person. Then, the whole place began to shake and black currents began to rise as if an earthquake was occurring all around. The evil energy was reacting. Canos clicked his tongue at that and pulled out the spear a little, then plunged it deeper in one breath. “Keuheok!” Kalian, who had been trembling with a rough groan, drooped. He seemed to have lost consciousness for a while.

“He’s really giving me a hard time.”

Perdes was the first to approach Canos, who was sighing and straddling his body. He said with a determined expression.

“I will proceed with annihilation right now.”

“Huh? Ah, wait a minute. I have something to do before that.”

“Yes?”

While Perdes was asking back in doubt, Canos stared straight at As. As was in a state of being so stiff that I was worried about whether he was breathing. Canos smiled and gestured to him.

“As, come here.”

At those words, As moved his steps as if possessed. Canos smiled and stared at him as he finally came right in front of him and stopped.

“You must have been very surprised to learn an unexpected fact.”

“No, it’s not, Canos-nim [respectful title]. I… I…”

As, who was wandering to find something to say, couldn’t even make eye contact with Canos properly. His complicated feelings were revealed intact on his awkwardly distorted face. He was trying to maintain a calm attitude, but he seemed to have been greatly shocked. The fact that the previous life itself was surprising, but the fact that its identity was the first Demon King and that it was also related to the previous life of the Evil God could not be okay.

“Well, it doesn’t matter even if you know, but it’s better to forget what you heard now. You don’t have to be unhappy again when you’ve become happy after a long time.”

“Yes? Ah…”

Canos, who smiled brightly, reached out his free hand and pointed to As’s forehead. At that moment, As’s body seemed to stagger, and he fell down as it was.

“As!”

I rushed over and caught him, and his body, which had lost consciousness, drooped. A calm voice continued to me, who was flustered and looking around.

“It’s okay. I just erased his memory.”

When I raised my head, I met Canos’s eyes, who was looking at me. I didn’t even know when I was at a distance, but he looked a little tired when I saw him up close. Somehow that was a bit shocking. He had been acting calmly all along, but somehow I thought Canos would be fine. He couldn’t be okay because he was still bleeding.

“When he wakes up, he won’t remember anything about the current situation. You should also pretend that you didn’t hear anything. I hope you treat him like before.”

“…I will. But is As really the first Demon King?”

“Yes.”

“Did you perhaps take care of As’s egg separately because of that? It wasn’t simply because the color was pretty or because he was born with a strong destiny, was it?”

Canos just smiled instead of answering. But that was no different from affirming. So that’s what it was. My heart became very stuffy. I couldn’t even guess how many more truths were hidden in that nonchalant face.

“It’s true that that kid was born with the destiny to open a new Demon Realm. I didn’t know it would mean this, though.”

“This meaning?”

“It’s not bad for the first Demon King who came from me to become my last Demon King.”

“Yes?”

At that moment, a strong wind rose and forcibly pushed my body away. It felt like I was being forcibly expelled from that place. When I came to my senses, I was quite far away.

“Canos?!”

A voice filled with bewilderment was heard from the side. It seemed that Perdes, who had been pushed away, was also looking back while collapsed. I had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

I hurriedly got up and ran back to Canos. Then a transparent wall blocked my way. It was a solid wall that wouldn’t break no matter how much I knocked on it. Inside, Canos was smiling peacefully alone.

“Why are you doing this, Canos! What are you doing now?”

“Don’t come, El. This side is dangerous.”

“Dangerous…!”

“The Judge explodes after absorbing enough of the owner’s blood. You know the self-destruct device? Think of it as similar to that.”

“Yes? What…”

“I told you from the beginning. The Judge was originally meant to be used at times like this.”

Only then did I realize that the situation was unusual, and Iowen and Shannon ran over with stiff faces. They also knocked on the wall and hit it with weapons, but the wall did not break either.