Lucid Dream #2 - The Demon King's Challenge
Clang!
“Damn it…!”
Aaron swallowed a groan as he barely parried the controlled knight’s strike. Yuria found the sight of him utterly distasteful. Simply killing the man would have been cleaner and saved everyone time. No matter how deep the bonds of camaraderie ran, his softness was pathetic. To think someone like him held the rank of knight commander… It was almost laughable.
“Shall I assist you?”
Clang!
In reply to Yuria’s irritated question, Aaron slid his blade against the enemy’s and spun into a new position, shouting back.
“No! Go on ahead!”
Exactly the answer she had hoped for. She would have gone first regardless of what he said.
Yuria gave a small nod. “Very well.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she turned her back on him and strode toward the royal chambers. Upon arriving at the king’s residence with blinding speed, she swept her gaze across the scene. Mountains of corpses lay piled high, every one of them slain by clean sword wounds.
This was not the work of the knights controlled by Amon. The men she knew lacked the skill to carve through human bodies with such surgical precision. In that case…
The Four Knights?
The possibility was extremely high. Yet something felt off. The entire residence should have been reduced to ash by the hellfire of the ultra-high-ranking monster Balrog. Why go through the tedious effort of using blades when a simple breath of flame would have sufficed? Or was there something here she didn’t yet understand?
I’ll think about it later. Right now I must find Mother.
The instant Yuria prepared to leap to the second floor—
Riiiiiip!
From the center of the vast first-floor hall, four monstrous maws tore through space and gaped wide. Four knights emerged from within them, each clad in distinctive armor: crimson, white, black, and blue-gold.
They were Tyrat’s personal guards—the Four Knights.
Yuria’s eyes flew wide. “The Four Knights!”
She instantly nocked an arrow and loosed four shots in near-perfect unison. The speed was staggering.
Clang!
Yet the Four Knights deflected every arrow with casual ease. The range had been short, leaving no time for the arrows to reach full power, but the force and velocity should still have been devastating. To block them so effortlessly… They truly deserved their S-class ranking.
As Yuria reached for another arrow, the blue-gold knight rode forward. It was the leader of the Four Knights—the Death Knight.
“Daughter of Glen Elenar, Princess Yuria Elenar. We have been waiting for you.”
Yuria bit down hard on her lip. To be called the daughter of that liar, that opportunist… Had he said “daughter of Margaret Elenar” instead, she might not have been quite so enraged.
“Shut your mouth!”
Whoosh! Clang!
The Death Knight casually swatted aside her furious arrow and gave a low chuckle.
“How impatient. Are you searching for Margaret Elenar?”
The sound of her mother’s name on a monster’s lips made Yuria’s brow twitch.
“You dare…”
“The tragedy you fear has not come to pass. If you wish to see her, follow us.”
A lie. Did they truly believe she would trust the words of monsters? And the arrogant way they ordered her to follow them, as if she were a subordinate, filled her with disgust. Negotiations had failed. It was time to deliver punishment.
Boom!
Yuria shattered the ceiling and hovered high above the residence. The Four Knights summoned their spectral steeds and gave chase. Since they had apparently taken her mother elsewhere, she would kill three and leave one alive. She would make the survivor understand the difference in power, then force him to lead her to her mother.
The moment her killing intent blazed like wildfire, a magnificent pattern etched itself across both ends of her bow.
Seeing the transformation, the corner of Yuria’s mouth curved upward. She nocked an arrow and fired at the War Knight charging at the forefront.
Whoosh!
The Death Knight, his entire suit of armor now half-destroyed, muttered in a hollow voice.
“Th-this is impossible…!”
Watching his reaction, Yuria felt an overwhelming surge of ecstasy.
The evolved bow’s power was absolute. It had slain three knights in the blink of an eye and left their leader on the verge of collapse.
“This cannot be! How could a mere princess possess such strength?! Just moments ago she was—”
“Just moments ago I was easy prey? Being underestimated leaves a rather foul taste.”
“You bitch—!”
The knight’s curse was cut short as Yuria’s boot slammed down on his head, driving his face into the ground. Even a monster bearing the title of knight would find no greater humiliation.
After grinding her heel into his helmet for a long moment, Yuria finally lifted her foot. The Death Knight slowly raised his head.
“……”
He had fallen silent. It seemed he finally understood his place.
Yuria’s lips curved into a smirk. “Have you finally learned some manners? Even a fairly strong monster still has a functioning brain, I see.”
“Kill… me…”
“If you refuse to tell me where my mother is, I’ll grant you an even greater humiliation than what you just experienced.”
“I am His Majesty the Demon King’s loyal servant. I will never—”
“I’ll strip every last piece of your armor and throw you naked outside the castle walls. I wonder what the high-ranking monsters will think when they see that?”
A monster honored with the position of Tyrat’s personal guard, discarded like a piece of trash? The resulting uproar would be the least of his worries; he would likely be devoured alive by the enraged horde.
“You vile—! Have you no honor at all?!”
“A passing dog would laugh at that. As a monster yourself, you should understand better than anyone. To the weak, the word ‘honor’ has no meaning.”
Grind.
The sound of teeth clenching came from inside the helmet. Yuria’s body trembled with delight. The Death Knight was considered a powerhouse even among monsters, yet here he was—unable to offer a single rebuttal, only shake in impotent rage. The feeling was exquisite.
“Now then…”
Just as Yuria prepared to begin the real torture—
A majestic voice, loud enough to shake the entire palace, echoed from the void. Startled, Yuria looked upward. At some point a monster portal had appeared in the sky.
Riiiiiip!
The portal yawned open, manifesting a single being.
It was—
“Your Majesty!”
Tyrat.
The moment Yuria saw his face, confusion flooded her mind. Someone else’s features overlapped with the Demon King’s. The face that came to mind was none other than Jihyeok.
It was impossible. Yet the resemblance was uncanny—the shape of the eyes, the bridge of the nose, the line of the jaw…
What…?
While she struggled with the impossible vision, Tyrat descended from the portal with an indifferent gaze and flicked his hand from afar.
Ssssss…
The Death Knight at Yuria’s feet dissolved into dust and vanished. She couldn’t tell whether he had been killed or simply sent elsewhere.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Tyrat walked slowly toward her.
“Honor does not apply to the weak… I find myself in deep agreement with those words.”
“…!”
Even his voice carried the same timbre as Jihyeok’s. Her mind threatened to slip away, but she clung desperately to reason. This was not Jihyeok. This was Tyrat. If she did nothing, the kingdom would fall and her mother would die.
Shaking her head once to clear it, Yuria shouted, “Tyrat! Where is my mother?!”
“Margaret Elenar is safe. She is currently near my private annex.”
“If even a single hair on her head has been harmed… I will never forgive you!”
“I swear upon the name of the Demon King. Your mother is unharmed. That aside, this is most intriguing. You intend to pass judgment upon me? You dare?”
Yuria sneered inwardly. She knew Tyrat possessed only the empty title of Demon King; his personal combat ability was supposed to be weak. For such a being to speak to her with such arrogance was laughable. Still, the fact that he dared raise his voice suggested he might have some hidden strength. Even so, it would be nothing compared to her current power.
Yuria continued, “If you do not return my mother this instant—”
“Hmm… I wonder. Even if I were to release her, I doubt you would simply leave.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Consider that on your own. Instead, I shall make you one offer.”
“An offer…?”
“Strike at me with all your might. If you can inflict even the smallest wound upon this body, I shall grant any wish you desire.”
Yuria was stunned. What audacity. Yet Tyrat currently held her mother hostage. She could humor him for a short while, retrieve her mother, then kill him. Afterward she would ascend the throne and bring peace to the land.
After thinking it through, Yuria asked, “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Believe or do not believe—it is your choice. What will you do?”
There was no choice but to trust him for now.
She kicked off the ground several times, widening the distance, then leveled her bow at him.
“I’ll make you regret this…!”
“Do as you please. I shall remain exactly where I stand.”
What arrogance. Once her arrow pierced him, his attitude would change. She would make him kneel at her feet and beg for mercy.
With that thought, Yuria focused her mind.
Hummmm—!
Emerald light gathered along the arrow, condensing into terrifying power. First she would sever that detestable arm.
She poured more and more energy into the shot. The moment it was ready, she released the string.
Twang!
The arrow flew faster than the eye could follow, aimed directly at Tyrat’s shoulder. Yuria was certain his shoulder would be obliterated.
But—
Crunch!
Tyrat simply raised his palm and caught the arrow.
It disintegrated into powder with a soft hiss and scattered across the floor.
Yuria’s mouth fell open. “Impossible…!”
She had poured far more power into that shot than when she faced the Four Knights. Yet this worthless trash had stopped it so easily? It made no sense.
“Is that all?”
“You—!”
Gritting her teeth at his mockery, Yuria nocked another arrow. Not bad. He truly was the Demon King. She revised her opinion of him upward.
This time she would use her full strength.
After pouring energy into the arrow for a long moment, she targeted Tyrat’s flank as he watched her with that relaxed expression.
Twang!
The arrow left the string like a comet, trailing a brilliant emerald tail as it streaked toward him.
And then—
Clang!
Tyrat gave a lazy wave of his hand. The arrow was deflected and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Yuria’s heart plummeted.
“How is this possible…!”
She had poured an overwhelming amount of power into that attack—enough, she had believed, to crush even Balrog’s skull. Yet it had been stopped by a casual flick of the wrist?
She had never heard that Tyrat possessed this level of strength. Panic set in; her breathing grew ragged.
“There is no need to see any more.”
Tyrat clicked his tongue and took a single bold step forward.
An overwhelming aura erupted from his body, shaking the very earth.
Rumble…!
The vibration was so intense it felt like the world itself was being remade. Yuria felt an indescribable terror as an invisible force constricted her entire body. Her legs trembled uncontrollably and finally gave out, dropping her ungracefully to the floor.
“Ah… ah…!”
Tyrat approached slowly, radiating power, and smiled with wicked amusement.
“Honor does not exist for the weak. Isn’t that right?”
“Ugh… aaa…”
“You will come with me to the annex. You have no choice in the matter.”
With those words, Tyrat opened a portal. Staring into the dark maw of the monster gate, Yuria screamed at herself to run, yet her body refused to obey. A bottomless despair swallowed her whole.
From somewhere in the distance came a man’s desperate cry. It was Aaron’s voice. Yet Yuria could not even turn her head.
Tyrat gave a low chuckle.
“It seems acceptable to bring that one along as well. If he possesses any courage, he will follow on his own.”
He seized Yuria’s arm in an iron grip and hauled her to her feet.
“Kyaa!”
Even as Tyrat snatched her bow and quiver and crushed them to splinters, Yuria could offer no resistance. She simply hung limp like a broken doll who had abandoned all hope of life.
In the end, she was dragged helplessly into the portal by the Demon King.