Chapter 34
Black Knight Kardin.
The moment he heard from Belcia that the Demon King had been kidnapped, he rushed out at full speed.
The culprit Belcia had mentioned, the Mage Tower Master, lived in the Mage Tower in the Kingdom of Tiranis.
Knowing that, Kardin rode his beloved steed straight toward the kingdom.
But the distance between the Demon King's Castle and Tiranis was absurdly vast.
It was so far that even Kardin's beloved steed—one he could confidently call the fastest horse in the world—would need months to make the journey.
Even so, Kardin crossed that immense distance without stopping.
His body was a skeleton, so he had no need to eat. And even when night fell, thoughts of his kidnapped Demon King kept him from sleeping, so he simply continued to ride.
And so, after riding and riding…
At last, the distant edge of the towering walls that symbolized Tiranis came into view.
Those walls, rising arrogantly into the sky, stirred Kardin's urge to destroy.
Because he had once lived here, back when he was human.
“I'll slaughter every last one of you……”
Kardin had no intention of killing only the Mage Tower Master.
He charged forward, intent on wiping the human kingdom of Tiranis itself off the map for daring to kidnap his Demon King.
In truth, Kardin had the power to make it happen.
Several decades ago, he had already brought a kingdom to ruin with his lance.
All he had to do was unleash that technique once more, this time against his homeland.
Yes, it really was simple.
To bring down a tower built with great care.
To stain hope with despair.
“Just as you did when you kidnapped my liege.”
Just as Kardin resolved to commit a massacre and galloped at full speed down the wide-open road…
Neigh—!
“What is this……”
He had found his kidnapped Demon King.
Beside her was a man with black hair and black eyes—the Hero.
Yes. There was a man who appeared to be the Hero…
And beside him was an elf who had just noticed Kardin's presence.
He even spotted some insignificant beast on the ground.
It was actually fleeing to get out of the way.
“……”
Kardin only confirmed that the Hero, the elf, and the small beast were there. His gaze remained fixed on the Demon King.
Then he noticed.
“H-How dare you……! What an outrageous thing to do!”
The kidnapped Demon King's outfit.
It was just like that of a whore who plied her trade in a brothel.
That damn Hero's party had dressed his beloved Demon King in that, that…! And they were parading her around in public.
Kardin's demonic aura surged violently.
As it poured out of him, the sky gradually darkened.
Then the Hero and the Demon King noticed his presence. The Demon King trembled all over, frightened by her abduction.
Had she been tortured so badly that she couldn't even feel reassured at the sight of me?
The Hero, who deserved to have his head blown off, glared at Kardin and reached for the sword at his waist. But that wasn't important.
The Hero had begun doing the thing that irritated Kardin most.
That hand reaching toward the Demon King.
And those arms spreading wide.
Was he trying to embrace the Demon King now?
How dare he? In front of me?
Pathetic.
He couldn't even laugh.
It looked like the Hero was trying to pick up the Demon King and run, but every one of his movements was slow and clumsy. Simply being near her was an insult!
Dash—
Kardin leapt down from his black horse and immediately brought his lance to the Hero's neck.
Then he knocked out the ungrateful elf who had aimed her bow at him from behind.
It had taken only one second.
“Stop. I did not permit that.”
“Ghk……! What the hell……?”
Kardin had merely leapt forward.
But no one there had even been able to follow the stance he took to launch himself.
As a result, the Hero's party froze in place.
Instinctively, they understood that no matter what they tried, it would be useless against this unknown powerhouse.
Having noticed that, Kardin then spoke in a deep voice.
“There's only one reason I haven't killed you this instant. How dare you lay a hand on our Demon Ki—”
“Aaaah!!”
Hm?
Kardin's words were cut short.
A shrill scream had come from somewhere.
It had dared to interrupt him.
Kardin whipped his head toward the sound.
And what he saw was…
The Demon King?
No, the Demon King would never scream like that.
Was there a mandrake nearby?
Kardin opened his mouth again.
“How dare you do this to our Demon Ki—”
“Aah!! Waaah!! Eeeek!!”
Who could be so insolent……
When Kardin turned his gaze again, he saw…
The Demon King.
His most revered liege was screaming.
“……”
As he took in this impossible reality, Kardin felt as though his nonexistent brain had stopped working.
Then one possibility came to mind.
Had she been hypnotized?
The Mage Tower Master, the woman said to have kidnapped the Demon King.
She would certainly be capable of using such a method.
To have made my Demon King look like this……!
I will…… I will not let her die an easy death.
“……Yubel, are you okay?”
While Kardin trembled with rage, Se-on worriedly asked Yubel, who seemed to be acting strangely.
Did this Dark Knight do something to Yubel?
Damn it, maybe this guy came for Yubel.
Can I protect her properly?
I couldn't even see him move.
Se-on felt frustrated by the difference in their strength.
Even so, he had no intention of giving up.
That was what it meant to be a Hero.
As he made that vow in his heart…
“Who are you talking to?”
A slightly trembling voice struck the back of his head.
Feeling something was off, Se-on turned around.
The Dark Knight had lowered his lance and was staring at him in a daze.
What was going on?
“I asked who you were talking to.”
Kardin had latched onto what Se-on had just said.
Yubel.
It was clearly a name used to address someone.
Yes, a name. It was definitely a name.
But when the Hero before him spoke that name, he had clearly been speaking to the Demon King.
Could it be……
No, that's impossible!
That can't be true.
Kardin was vehemently denying something.
“……”
Se-on said nothing.
Instead, he squeezed Yubel's hand in his.
At the sight, Kardin's lance trembled in his grip like it was caught in an earthquake.
“D-Don't tell me! That can't be! You! Are you certain? You really heard that person's name?!”
“……I don't know what you're getting at, but Yubel is Yubel. That's the name she gave me when we met.”
Step, step.
Kardin began to tremble and stumble backward.
“That name…… Was it the first time you'd heard it……?”
“……?”
Se-on found the situation utterly baffling.
Why did it matter that he had heard Yubel's name for the first time?
He didn't understand why the Dark Knight cared about it.
So Se-on couldn't answer.
But silence could also mean yes.
And Kardin…
“No…… That can't be……”
Kardin clutched his head and groaned in pain.
Then he recalled a conversation he had once shared with the Demon King.
That day.
The memory of that day in the throne room.
Most of the Demon King's Castle was dark and gloomy.
The walls had a monotonous pattern and no windows. Dark crimson stone pillars stood throughout, torches hung in rows along the walls, giving off a faint light, and stone gargoyles silently guarded the throne room door.
It was a darkness entirely unlike the castle in Tiranis where he had lived.
And yet, this throne room, illuminated by a golden chandelier, was bright and radiant.
“……”
No. Let me correct that.
It would surely have been bright even without the chandelier.
For me, the bearing of the one who ruled this castle was a light brighter than any other.
“My Demon King, would you permit me to ask your revered name?”
Kardin knelt and bowed his head as he quietly asked the Demon King, who sat with her chin resting on her hand upon the throne.
“You wish to know my name? Hehe, unfortunately, that is the one thing I cannot tell you.”
“May I…… humbly ask the reason? Would you tell this lowly servant why?”
Kardin bowed his head even lower as he asked.
That was how much he wanted to know the reason.
And how much he wanted to hear her name.
“You know well that I am a demon. The reason I cannot reveal my name is that I am a demon.”
“……I see.”
Kardin didn't really understand what the Demon King meant.
So he planned to leave at once and read a book about demons.
It seemed the answer lay in there.
But he wouldn't need to.
“Hehe, it seems you didn't quite understand.”
“!!!”
“To explain kindly to you, who wish to know my name: when a demon tells someone their name, it is no different from giving that person everything they have. In other words, it is much like a proposal of marriage.”
Kardin's face turned pale as he heard this.
“I-I see…… How could I dare ask for your revered name, my Demon King! I deserve to die!”
Kardin pressed his forehead to the ground.
At the sight, the Demon King reached out to stop him.
“That's enough. I'm not angry. How could I ever be angry with you, who are always so passionate and loyal? If anything, I want to reward you.”
“Your graciousness is beyond measure……”
At his reply, the Demon King smiled faintly.
And what she said next left Kardin confused.
“Hehe, why don't you try to earn the right to hear my name, Kardin?”
“……Pardon?”
Whoosh! Kardin's bowed head snapped up.
But the Demon King had vanished like a mirage, leaving only those words behind.
The empty throne room.
Only Black Knight Kardin remained, all alone.
Thump.
Though he was now a skeleton, for some reason he felt as if he could hear his heart beating in his left chest.
“What is this feeling……?”
It was the day Kardin first felt something called love for the Demon King.
“But you say you heard that name?”
His hand gripped the lance's handle so tightly it was about to snap.
From it, Kardin's demonic aura began to seep out.
That can't be!
This doesn't count!
He must have used some underhanded trick to learn my Demon King's name!
Rumble…
The overwhelming demonic aura made the air around them shriek.
But the air wasn't the only thing screaming.
The ground and lake around them trembled violently, conveying an oppressive force that seemed to distort space itself.
Crushed by that pressure, Se-on couldn't do anything.
There was only one person here who could move.
Step.
“Ghk…… Y-Yubel?”
It was Yubel.
Yubel had stepped between him and the Dark Knight.
Yubel seemed to be talking to the Dark Knight, but perhaps the air was trembling so much that Se-on could barely hear them.
Damn it, if only I were a little stronger……
Meanwhile, Yubel, who had stepped forward, was telling Kardin something very important.
“Attack only the Hero!”
“Pardon?”
“Ahem, I said attack only the Hero! ……But don't kill him.”
Thinking he hadn't understood because of her way of speaking, Yubel repeated the order in the Demon King's manner of speech.
Did that work?
At first, Yubel had been terrified, thinking the Dark Knight had come to kill her.
She'd quit being the Demon King and run away, so she thought he might have come to take revenge on her as his former boss.
But this Dark Knight…
Wasn't his killing intent directed only at the Hero?
So Yubel recalled the conditions for the Dark Knight's appearance.
‘The Hero's a total piece of trash.’
If the Hero raised the heroines' lewdness too aggressively, he earned the title ‘Criminal.’
When he earned that title, Kardin, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, came to kill him.
He'd been pushing Riella so hard, and now this is what I get.
Let him get taught a little lesson.
Still, he couldn't kill him.
I didn't want anyone to die, of course, but the real problem was the message the game showed when the Hero died.
[‘And so, the world was destroyed.’]
That message had bothered me so much.
The world would be destroyed if the Hero died?
What was so special about that horny Hero, anyway?
“……Understood. However, I may not be able to control my strength very well.”
Kardin nodded.
Good. He's still following my orders.
Maybe they haven't chosen a new Demon King yet.
But what did he mean, he might not be able to control his strength?
Don't tell me he was planning to kill him—
Whoooosh—!!!
“Ugh, aaah!”
As Kardin tightened his grip, Yubel, who was nearby, was flung away by the demonic aura.
But Kardin didn't notice.
He had to devote himself completely to following the Demon King's orders right now.
The order to kill the Hero.
After hearing Yubel's command, Kardin concluded that the Hero must have used some trick to threaten his Demon King.
There was no way the Demon King would ask him to spare the Hero.
So, consumed by a terrible rage, Kardin was on the verge of losing his reason.
And Se-on's reaction to seeing Yubel flung away by the enraged Kardin was…
“Yubel!!!! Damn it!!”
Se-on shouted.
He'd stepped forward to sacrifice himself, but that Dark Knight had sent Yubel flying.
As a result, Yubel had crashed into the ground.
“N-No……!”
At the sight of Yubel lying motionless, Se-on cursed his body for being unable to move under the pressure.
Regardless, Kardin was preparing his decisive strike.
「Ruin」
It was the technique Kardin had used long ago to wipe out an entire kingdom.
A thrust that ripped apart everything before him and returned it to nothingness was about to be unleashed by Black Knight Kardin.
Se-on felt his body tremble as he sensed it instinctively.
He's trying to kill Yubel!
Since Yubel had been flung behind Se-on, he thought the lance was aimed at her, not him.
I have to move……!
Ghk…… Huh?
At that moment, Se-on's feet began to move as if by some miracle.
But there was no time to hesitate.
Se-on immediately threw himself toward Yubel without a moment's hesitation.
“Farewell.”
Yes.
This is how it should be.
Fwoooosh—!!!!
“……?”
Before the technique could activate, someone had impaled themselves on the lance.
At the sound of a body being pierced right before him, Kardin came to his senses and looked straight ahead.
“Ah, ah……! Aaaaaah!!!”
Then Kardin fell into despair.
At the tip of the lance…
The figure there was none other than…
“Honestly, this is dreadfully boring.”
The Demon King he loved more than anything in the world.