#078
"I... I have to avenge my mother! Sob sob. I've come all this way with nothing but revenge in my heart. I studied magic so hard, and now that I've finally made it..."
Rather than overdoing the theatrical sobbing, she panted for breath instead. It was wiser to hold back on the acting in moments like this. Chezare's gaze remained as sharp as ever, but the knights' tense atmosphere had softened somewhat.
"Those bastards killed my family! Even though we were dirt poor and starving, my parents and I loved each other..."
Fortunately, the knights seemed to interpret "those bastards" in their own ways. Pity began to flicker in their eyes.
"Damn that Demon King. To fill even a young girl like this with such hatred."
"No different from the boy soldiers who volunteered for the subjugation force. At least this hell is finally over—that's some consolation."
...Demon King?
Unlike the knights clicking their tongues, Chezare's expression stayed ice-cold. Sheathing his sword, he passed by Catherine with a look as if she were a mere insect. As though dealing with her was a waste of time.
Watching him, Catherine felt a surge of indignation deep in her chest.
This really isn't the Chezare I know.
For Chezare of all people to treat her so indifferently! It had been ages since she'd felt this level of injustice.
As Chezare walked past without a word, the knights following him dispersed as if nothing had happened. Only one among them addressed Catherine.
"Follow me. If you want to see the end of that revenge you crave."
It was a woman wearing a white ermine mask that exposed only her mouth and chin. The black robe draped over her suggested she was a mage.
"Today will be a momentous day for everyone. The day the long, grueling war against the Demon King finally ends."
"...Th-thank you. Sniff."
Catherine cautiously rose and followed behind the ermine-masked woman. The place she'd landed was a massive fortress rivaling the Christopher Ducal Residence. No, judging by the towering walls visible through the windows, it might even be larger.
Candle flames embedded in the cold stone walls flickered wildly with the knights' footsteps. A damp chill hung in the air. It was a place thick with gloomy, oppressive atmosphere.
Even trailing behind countless knights, she couldn't shake the strange sense of pressure that kept her on edge.
Six hundred years before the continent's era. Combined with the Demon King subjugation—that sparked a clear historical event in her mind. Catherine belatedly pieced together her situation.
The Subjugation War of the Sixth Demon King.
Demon King. The term for the immensely powerful archmages who plunged humanity into terror. Six had appeared since history's records began, and the era she'd fallen into seemed to be the time of the sixth's downfall.
The year the Sixth Demon King was subjugated was the founding year of the Iterana Empire.
It had taken half a century for the continent to end the war against the Sixth Demon King. A brutally long conflict that toppled countless nations. From the war-ravaged lands rose a new hope for humanity: the Iterana Empire as it stood today.
So that's why Chezare was with the Iterana Empire from the start...
One of the founding fathers, no less. And she never imagined a Great Demon like him would lead the charge against a Demon King.
"You seem like quite the mage."
The ermine mask whispered to her. An assessment that left Catherine flustered.
"Me? Absolutely not."
"A Nephilim, right? You've got an enormous well of mana inside you. Though it seems you haven't realized it yourself yet..."
Was she referring to the Great Demon's power? With her link to Chezare severed, Catherine couldn't be sure what this "enormous mana" meant.
She turned the question back on the woman.
"Are you a Nephilim too?"
"Something like that."
"Earlier, you said the war against the Demon King is over..."
"You'll see for yourself soon enough."
The woman in the ermine mask was polite yet distant, as if deliberately keeping Catherine at arm's length.
Fair enough. Anyone would find me suspicious.
At least her casual attire from mingling with Panya's knights had been a stroke of luck.
Soon, the knights' march halted.
Creeeeak.
Ahead, massive double doors swung open. Stone doors engraved with brutal reliefs of demons hunting humans. The knights' tension spiked palpably.
The ermine mask spoke.
"That's the Demon King's chamber."
"Ah..."
So that's why they dropped me here of all places? Right in front of the Demon King's room—what rotten luck. Chezare showing mercy by not killing me is impressive.
"Those doors look really heavy. The Demon King must have a hard time getting into his own room."
The surrounding knights shot her strange looks. Oh no—my mother's enemy, and I said it too cheerfully?
The ermine mask chuckled in response.
"They must think it's dignified."
Then her expression went blank again. She seemed to find amusement in the oddest things.
They followed the knights into the chamber. Far too vast for a mere "room," it felt like a grand ballroom. Dark and dank like an underground lair, it stirred unease. A tense silence hung over the space, broken only by Catherine's sullen pout.
How am I supposed to eat and sleep for a fortnight? Chase after Chezare with a straight face? The more I think, the more obstacles pile up.
The floor and walls bore an enormous magic circle that could envelop the entire chamber. Up close, it resembled the holy sealing circle the cardinals had used to torment her.
"Lord Mars."
Mars? Had she heard that right?
Catherine pushed through the knights toward the front. The voice belonged to a cardinal in yellow robes.
One, two, three... nine.
Nine cardinals formed a circle, chanting incantations without cease. Iron chains erupted from all sides of the sealing circle, binding a man at the center draped in a jet-black cloak like raven feathers. His head hung low, hiding his face.
The Sixth Demon King.
The figure who terrorized the continent for fifty long years. To confront a being from history books in the flesh...
Studying history like this would make it stick in my head perfectly.
The cardinal shouted at Chezare.
"May the grace of God be with you. Your contributions have been immense! When His Holiness the Pope hears this, he will surely appoint you a holy knight. This is a most honorable occasion. Give thanks to the Lord..."
Tsk.
Chezare clicked his tongue.
"Can't you shut up? Every time I have to listen to your endless drivel, having two ears feels like a curse."
His mockery flushed the cardinal's face.
"How dare you...!"
"Mind your tongue, knight! How can you act so rudely before the God who bestowed his grace upon you?"
"Grace? Then the rude one is you. The one who bestowed that grace is none other than me."
With a sneer, Chezare continued, his face the picture of absurdity.
"One more word, and I'll rip your mouth open. My patience is thinner than that robe you're wearing."
Boredom clung thickly to his voice and features. Chezare spouting such vitriol with that expression felt even stranger than the raw version she'd glimpsed in the Abyss.
The knights mocked the cardinals with exaggerated gestures. The Papal Court seemed a perennial foe, past and present.
"Ha, haha!"
Then it happened. The Demon King, head bowed, suddenly threw his back and burst into booming laughter. The knights' chuckles cut short; the cardinals paled in tension.
The Demon King slowly lowered his chin. Long black hair like a raven's, black eyes gleaming with blue light. A figure perfectly matching the ominous title.
"Why'd you take so long? I didn't want to hear their voices anymore, so I already tore off one ear."
His gaze fixed squarely on Chezare. Eyes empty, as if he'd already let everything go.
The Demon King asked Chezare again, unanswered.
"Did you kill him completely? My Great Demon."
History recorded that the Sixth Demon King was a contractor of a Great Demon. Catherine listened eagerly to their exchange. Far more riveting than any play she'd watched with salon noblewomen— a thousand times over.
The Demon King let out a self-deprecating laugh and sighed.
"As expected... you—or rather, your kind—couldn't manage it."
Chezare seemed deaf to whatever the man said. Like a civil servant eager to wrap up and go home, he spoke his piece in a slow drawl.
"Sixth Demon King. Your head will roll before the eyes of all in one month's time."
"Quite devoted to your hero role. All for the world's balance?"
The Demon King's retort dripped with sarcasm.
"Hero role." He spoke as if aware Chezare's true nature was the Great Demon Leviathan.
Come to think of it, he said he'd come after killing a Great Demon.
Great Demons fought each other to the death sometimes, it seemed.
Chezare replied nonchalantly.
"Demon Kings or cardinals—chattering pests are all the same."
He raised an arm and flicked his right index finger lightly. The gleaming holy sealing circle lost its power and faded. Chains rebound from floor and walls clamped tighter around the Demon King's body.
The cardinals deflated abruptly; the knights murmured quiet admiration.
"Unbelievable, even after all these times."
"Our captain's a heaven-sent hero. The man who felled a Great Demon—no, I'll serve him my whole life."
Chezare commanded the knights nearby.
"Transport the Demon King to Iterana Fortress."
"Yes, Lord Mars! Leave it to us!"
...What?
Chezare is Mars?
Mars the Great. Founding Emperor of the Iterana Empire. Perennial favorite among teens under nineteen. Number one historical figure for great achievements. Number one historical figure you'd love to punch just once. The beloved conqueror king worshipped worldwide was Chezare!
His cold cobalt eyes brushed past Catherine. Devoid of emotion, utterly indifferent and serene. It was the first time he felt so distant.
Here, Chezare—no, Mars—was a hero and a king, a complete stranger to her.
Catherine sighed inwardly.
I'll boil that rat bastard Dantalion into stew later.
Survive this and go find Lilith? Even save her? Her future felt not just dark, but shattered to dust.