The Very End

King Heinkel died while seated on the throne.

It seemed that he had been purified by having the church’s holy relics driven into him.

Ferda knew that divine power was meaningless.

He had already seen Ureas survive even after coming into contact with the power of a holy relic.

If he had died like that, it should not have been only the kings who survived; their soldiers should have survived as well.

Yet not a single person had survived.

By the time Ferda arrived, four kings remained, and they were killing one another.

And at last, one remained.

“Ha, haha……. They’re all…… dead.”

Madness gleamed in his eyes.

Despite blood pouring from him and sweat drenching him like rain, a smile lingered on his lips.

That joy was fleeting; the moment he spotted Ferda, his expression twisted.

“You, you!!”

He glared at Ferda with hatred.

He raised his dagger again.

The madness began anew.

“Don’t covet what belongs to me!!”

He charged at Ferda.

He tried to drive the dagger into Ferda’s heart, but there was no chance of it reaching him.

Ferda was a mage, while they were merely humans no different from commoners once their crowns were removed.

He also already knew what happened when someone became excited while bleeding.

Before he could even reach Ferda, he collapsed, stumbling from exhaustion.

Even as his pupils lost their focus, the words he uttered were absurd.

“It’s mine……. Everything…… is mine…….”

Thus, even the last king standing breathed his last.

Ferda quietly looked down at him.

He could read the emotion in those eyes.

It was so distinct that even the blind could see it plainly.

‘Greed.’

What controlled them was the greed rising from within their own hearts.

It was so uncontrollable that it rendered their final moments meaningless.

What had made them this way?

Ferda turned his gaze away.

That was when something caught his eye.

He sensed it instinctively.

‘It’s because of that.’

That black book.

The moment he saw the black book, an image pierced Ferda’s mind like an image conjured by the magic of trauma.

He saw Valdrova.

She extended a hand with a happy expression.

It seemed utterly trivial, but it was not to Ferda.

Ferda could tell what the kings had seen.

If they merely wished for it, silk garments would fill their wardrobes,

delicacies would be piled high,

heroes would bow their heads, and beautiful women would fill their bedchambers.

That book.

If one only possessed that book, everything would be possible.

And only one person could possess the book.

That was why, in the end, they had been unable to overcome their greed and killed one another.

Even then, Valdrova’s form tempted Ferda.

But Ferda was no fool.

The dark ring within him was spinning rapidly.

It told Ferda this:

If he used that magic, he would regret it.

At that moment, the pounding that felt as though his heart were being squeezed gradually subsided.

Valdrova’s form faded, and the book once more lay sprawled across the floor.

Retrieve it.

Once he retrieved it, everything would end.

The moment Ferda made up his mind,

“This kind of temptation doesn’t work on you.”

someone casually walked over and picked up the book.

It was King Heinkel, who had been lying dead with holy relics driven into him.

At some point, he had risen from his place and picked up the book.

‘As expected…….’

Ferda entered a guarded stance.

Despite the deaths of so many humans, his magical power still surpassed Ferda’s.

He bought time by speaking to him.

“Your citizens have died. And even now, they are still dying.”

“I know. Even now…… I can feel it.”

“Was it worth that much to you to exact your revenge?”

He considered the question for a moment before answering.

“I don’t know yet. Isn’t King Hudret still alive?”

Come to think of it, Hudret was nowhere to be seen.

Ferda had thought he would be the first to rush over and seize the book.

“He is extremely thorough. Even now, he is killing the humans inside the castle to reduce my power further.”

“You simply watch their deaths.”

“I have no choice. I made a promise.”

“What promise?”

King Heinkel’s eyes turned toward Ferda.

Ferda did not know what color his eyes had been.

At least, they could not have been the ominous green they were now.

“He asked me to make absolutely sure you died. Even if that meant revenge did not end cleanly…….”

“Was the one who made that request…… Gokma?”

“Yes.”

Ferda had thought the demon had come with the ambition to rule the world.

Could that be the only reason he had helped King Heinkel?

What reason could he have had to go to such lengths just to kill one human?

‘The Demon King.’

The word kept flashing through Ferda’s mind.

It seemed to tell him that his ominous premonition was no longer mere paranoia.

The best course of action was to avoid a fight like this.

“You won’t be able to avoid it.”

King Heinkel had seen through Ferda’s thoughts.

He had already resolved to kill Ferda, and that resolve had led to thorough preparations.

The black book in his hand opened of its own accord, emitting an ominous light as power gathered in King Heinkel’s hand.

“Arise.”

At the same time, the corpses of the knights rose from their places with clattering sounds.

There were more than a hundred corpses, all of them once elite soldiers, knights, or mages.

An undead’s abilities followed those of its original body.

“Bring death to the Regent.”

The knights and mages, having received their orders, charged at Ferda.

Ferda had to fight the very forces King Heinkel had faced.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this sensation.’

It had been the same when Ferda was branded a public enemy and an army was dispatched to kill him.

He had been a fifth-circle mage even then, but he had been a greenhorn, less skilled and less attuned to malice than he was now.

The pressure and despair of being driven into a corner returned to Ferda.

But he did not despair.

The Ferda of then was different from the Ferda of now.

‘And I’m not the one in a hurry. He is.’

The remnants in the outer castle had likely been dealt with to some extent, while the number of people in the inner castle continued to dwindle.

King Hudret had armed the knights with mass slaughter in mind from the beginning.

If he was combing the castle from top to bottom, the number of citizens empowering King Heinkel would soon decrease.

‘I only need to hold out until then.’

And Ferda had another decisive advantage.

-Hgeeeek…….

A ghoul knight swung its sword, making a breathless sound.

As Ferda watched it, its entire body suddenly began to corrode.

It was a reaction that required divine power.

But there was no way Ferda possessed divine power.

‘But the knights do.’

Some of the knights had prepared holy rites for dealing with undead, while the mages carried holy water.

Even as they poured everything they had into facing King Heinkel, they still carried some on their person for prayer to the gods.

Ferda touched the holy relics they carried and brought them into contact with the undead, restoring them to the natural order.

There was a breakthrough, but this was by no means a favorable battle.

Even a graze would be fatal to Ferda.

“Shadows, I see. Is that Barbatos’s magic?”

After about thirty corpses had corroded away, King Heinkel seemed to have figured out how Ferda was fighting.

He was quick to figure it out, for a mage.

“Those shadows are troublesome…… I’ll make sure you can’t use them.”

An undead mage picked up the holy oil from the priest’s body and coated himself with it.

As his entire body corroded, he set himself ablaze.

-Hgehelhel……!

The green flames instantly changed into golden flames and began to burn.

‘Damn it.’

He had realized that the flames of the holy oil prevented the shadows from moving.

The flames were fatal to undead as well, but not nearly as fatal as they were to Ferda.

-Hgehelhel!

One of them suddenly charged toward Ferda.

The shadow that had stretched outward naturally contracted, trying to leap onto Ferda’s body.

If the flames of the holy oil touched him, it was over.

With that thought in mind, Ferda’s movements became increasingly tangled.

The more tangled they became, the closer the ghoul knight drew.

But just as Ferda’s stamina gradually fell, so did his opponent’s.

As time passed, the ghoul knight and mage that had resisted the corrosion noticeably sped up.

It meant that King Hudret’s army had discovered groups of humans and was continuing to eliminate them.

“I cannot let his wish be thwarted.”

King Heinkel finally rose from his place and joined the battle, driving Ferda into a corner.

One sought to buy time, while the other sought to eliminate him as quickly as possible.

The outcome soon became clear.

A spear held by one of the ghoul knights pierced through Ferda’s body.

“Urgh……!”

He clenched his teeth and did not let his focus waver.

Ferda touched a holy relic with a shadowy hand, and the ghoul knight, now the last one standing, scattered.

That was the last of Ferda’s mana.

“You truly are impressive.”

King Heinkel was genuinely impressed.

He knew how strong they were.

Although he had only pretended to be dead, when he had taken the full force of their strength head-on, he had even wondered whether he might die.

And yet, a fifth-circle mage had faced them all at full strength and gotten away with only one injury.

“You are an incredible mage, Regent Ferda.”

Ferda snorted.

“I have no desire to be acknowledged as a mage by you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you are not a mage.”

King Heinkel’s brow twitched.

Ferda provoked him once more.

“Surely you don’t think you’re a mage?”

“I am a mage.”

“No, you don’t know what a mage is.”

Ferda spoke to him as though he were ridiculous.

“A mage’s battle is not like chess or tabula. It is not about doing your best with the pieces you can see. In that regard, you have already lost.”

Crash!

At the same time, the sound of a glass bottle shattering rang out.

While King Heinkel was distracted, Ferda dropped the holy oil at his feet.

“A mage hides his means until the very end.”

He ignited it with a tiny spark.

The golden flames instantly engulfed King Heinkel.

Yet his expression remained impassive.

“What a shallow trick. No matter how sacred the flames are, they cannot bring me down.”

A barrier was already protecting King Heinkel.

Even flames made from holy oil could not overcome Heinkel’s power within his own domain.

“Do you think I wouldn’t know that?”

Ferda said,

“Have you ever studied the principles governing how your barrier works?”

“……?”

“Your barrier appears to be attack-responsive. Since it reacts appropriately to the situation, it is efficient, and its performance is just as impressive.”

Ferda had fought many mages.

The mages who tried to kill him had always been several moves ahead of him.

That was why Ferda had devoted himself to researching ways to oppose them.

And he had always found a breakthrough.

“That reactive function has limits. When something continuously harasses the caster, the barrier cannot block a powerful attack.”

Ferda took out the item he had hidden in his hand.

It was a round, cylindrical cartridge.

It was a magazine for a magitech rifle and, at the same time, a shell for a magitech shotgun.

Ferda gripped the object tightly.

He already knew how it worked.

“That is why you are not a mage, Heinkel.”

A mage conceals his moves until the very end.

Ferda activated the spell on the cylinder.

A shotgun fires instantaneously.

Boom!

King Heinkel’s face was blasted away along with the barrier.

* * *

At the moment the blue mass of mana struck his face, King Heinkel’s consciousness seemed to move elsewhere.

He was seated at a table, with a chessboard laid out before him.

Instead of the thirty-two pieces that should have been there, he saw four broken king pins before him.

King Heinkel instinctively understood.

This was his death.

Yet, astonishingly, not a thought came to him.

Neither joy nor sorrow touched him.

King Heinkel stared down at them blankly.

That was when it happened.

Something began to take shape across from King Heinkel.

Upon seeing it, King Heinkel gave it voice.

“Father…….”

As his consciousness receded, the first thing he sought was his father, with whom he had always been awkwardly distant.

His father was looking down at the chessboard with the sickly face King Heinkel had last seen.

He looked so utterly wretched.

“Father…….”

Hot tears fell from Sigmund Heinkel’s eyes.

“I realized your words…… far too late.”

Sigmund had always thought his father was that way because of his aggressive nature.

But he had finally understood.

That he had to become a good king in order to become one.

That he had to prepare for war in order to achieve peace.

Sigmund had lived clinging to his dream until the end, and he had been foolish.

That was why he was meeting such an end.

He wanted forgiveness.

He wanted to hear his father say, ‘You were my proud son.’

He wanted to find even the slightest bit of comfort in that.

But his father did not answer and simply faded away.

The chessboard and table receded into the distance.

As his consciousness fell away, it felt as though he were sinking into the abyss of the void.

“I…….”

Only then did Sigmund feel himself awaken.

“I don’t want to die.”

His attachment to life flared to life.

“I don’t want to die.”

And then came obsession.

Even knowing he had fallen into an inescapable swamp, he continued to cry out.

And for a desperate human,

-It is truly amusing what you have done, Sigmund Heinkel.

a demon was bound to come calling.

It was a massive skeletal figure draped in a dark purple robe.

-My name is Gamigin, ruler of the Third Hell, master of immortality and legions, and author of the black grimoire you hold.

The bones rattled, producing a strange, percussion-like sound.

-You used the grimoire without entering into a contract with me, so even the punishment of becoming an undying skeleton would not be enough. However,

Gamigin extended his index finger before him.

Even the thickness of his fingertip was far greater than Sigmund’s entire body.

-I’ll give you one chance to make amends.

* * *

A ringing filled Ferda’s ears after the thunderous blast.

His heavy eyelids tried to pull him into the distant beyond, but Ferda resisted to the end.

He forced himself upright, knowing he would lose consciousness if he lay down.

He had no sensation in his right hand.

A passing breeze felt cool and stinging against the stump.

There was nothing where his right hand should have been.

Valdrova’s form flashed into his mind reflexively.

‘If I realize this, I might really faint…….’

He shook his head repeatedly, unwilling even to imagine it.

‘Can it be restored?’

It might be possible somehow if he paid a large donation to the Alte Church, but that would reveal that he was a black mage.

If the Alte Church learned he was a black mage, they would try to kill Ferda regardless of the reason.

No, they would not be able to kill him.

After all, he was the consort of a Red Dragon.

They would covet the wealth of the Far East that they had been eyeing all along.

But this was no time for idle worries.

“Grr…… rrr…….”

King Heinkel’s body twitched.

How tenacious.

His body had been shattered beyond recognition, yet he was still struggling, unable to let go of his lingering attachment.

Ferda approached him.

He had to finish him off.

Before that thing did something.

“Rest now.”

Ready to exhaust his mana, Ferda squeezed out what remained and aimed it at King Heinkel’s head.

At that moment, something snatched Ferda’s hand.

The force was unmistakable; it was too strong to be mere spasms.

‘No way……?’

That was a demon’s grimoire.

As long as someone held a demon’s grimoire, a demon was watching him.

And it would strike when a human was at their weakest.

The body that had been twitching and struggling was not merely thrashing; it was regaining its vitality.

The bones that had become fragments gathered into the shape of a face and reassembled the skull.

At the same time, the blackened flesh melted away like tar, revealing white bones.

Green flames flickered in the skull’s eye sockets, and the smell of sulfur stung Ferda’s nose.

-You insolent wretch who has entered the king’s territory without permission.

Ferda knew who it was the moment he heard that voice.

The strong announced their presence with their voices alone.

This was not Heinkel.

It was one of the Seven Great Demons of Hell, the demon of immortality and legions, Gamigin.

-What shall I do with you?