Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Fallen Demon (3)
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Back to the present.
The air was chilling. This was a ruin abandoned for at least two hundred years, yet the ventilation was so effective that breathing posed no issue whatsoever. However, the cold emanating from the Undying before him was subtly lowering the temperature.
Azel gazed at the Undying who claimed to be Demon King Berserk, recalling the old tales, and asked,
"If you truly are Berserk, I have a few questions..."
[Feel free to ask as many as you like. I exist here to provide you with answers.]
"A very demonic way of speaking."
[No, that's not what I meant. It's exactly as I said. I was placed here to give you answers. That's the arrangement. Or rather... that's how the arrangement was made.]
"What?"
Azel was startled. Berserk tapped his bony finger against his skull and continued,
[The knowledge now stagnant within me, no longer updated, was sealed here to be passed on to the right person. Ask away. I'll answer everything I can. Though everything stops around three hundred years ago, so I can't offer fresh information.]
Azel frowned. Could this one also be part of Kallos's arrangements? But that didn't fit the pieces together.
'For starters, the time he's been trapped doesn't match. What the hell happened?'
The Guide had mentioned two gifts left behind, which were undoubtedly Kallos's arrangements. But this seemed entirely unrelated to Kallos.
Azel masked his unease and said,
"You're calling yourself a demon, yet your words lack credibility."
[You seem to know demons well, yet you say that? Demons do not lie.]
"They merely twist the truth cleverly to lead to ruin. Still, I find it hard to believe you're even a demon."
[Why?]
"Demons have no physical form. So why are you an Undying?"
[A valid question. Even I thought it impossible before ending up like this. But if you know about me, and about demons... didn't you question the stories about me?]
"How did they slay a formless demon?"
[Exactly.]
"And my friend hypothesizes that even that final act might have been intended."
[Ho. That's intriguing. Care to elaborate?]
"The one who first summoned Berserk sought to etch the existence and danger of demons into the world... or so the interpretation goes. Sounds like utter madness, but those who upend the world are always insane, so it could be.>
[Hahaha. So even Demon King Berserk's disappearance was intentional? A fascinating conspiracy theory. I'd love if it were true, but alas, it's wrong. There's always someone higher than the jumper, and I was caught by one such being, reduced to this state. Someone who knew what demons did not, with the power to make it real. They placed me in a living human vessel, granting me form, and plunged me into the abyss of pain and despair only the embodied can feel...]
"Who was it?"
[That's not something I can reveal. I'd love to tell you, but I'm bound by restraints. I hope you believe this is sincere. Demons love to boast and reveal everything, after all. Not sure if I still qualify as one... Ah, talking to someone is truly wonderful. I'm so happy and delighted that I'd do anything for you, who shares words with me. Could this be...]
Berserk pondered for a moment before saying,
[Love?]
"...No."
[But by the definition of love, what I feel for you seems to fit?]
"Then I'm sorry. I can't accept your love."
Azel frowned. For the Demon King whose name echoed through history to spout such frivolous nonsense.
Yet it was clear he was genuine in his joy. The unfiltered psychic waves emanating from him confirmed that mere conversation brought him happiness.
[How tragic. First loves never come true, they say. Very well. I'll set aside obsession and regret for now. Let's continue the Q&A.]
"If you're as you say, you should harbor resentment toward the one who made you like this. If that same one left you here as an arrangement for me... I can't trust you at all."
[Resentment? Perhaps. But please, I beg you, believe me. I'll tell you anything. I must fulfill my duty.]
"And what do you gain from that?"
[Death.]
"..."
[I can do nothing. I can't leave, can't die, can't even go mad. Hell is right here where I am. All I desire is release. And that comes only when I fulfill the purpose of this arrangement. Want to test it? Try making me lie.]
"Are you Demon King Berserk?"
[No. Everything I said before was a lie. In truth, I...]
In an instant, the light vanished from Berserk's eyes. Azel recoiled in shock.
"What the—?"
As Azel muttered, Berserk's body—or rather, the bone fragments composing it—clattered to the ground all at once. Yuren gasped in astonishment.
"No warning at all... The mana force sustaining the Undying vanished."
An Undying was a dead body with its soul bound by wicked sorcery. When that mana force dissipated, the core—the soul—could no longer linger in the mortal realm.
But this was bizarre. An entity strong enough to become an Undying must have possessed immense grudge or will. Even if its mana force was destroyed, it should persist as a specter for a time... yet it had extinguished like a snuffed ember?
Clatter...
Then it happened. Amid the stunned silence born of shock and awe, the fallen bone fragments began to stir.
It was like time rewinding. The scattered bones reassembled in midair, forming a human skeleton. Once complete, a eerie will-o'-wisp ignited within the skull, and the ominous mana force waves of the Undying surged forth once more.
[Hah...]
A pained sound leaked from the skull's mouth.
[I wish I'd just... died like that. How... much time passed?]
Berserk asked in a trembling voice, as if terror had rendered coherent thought impossible, leaving everyone puzzled. Azel answered,
"Less than a minute."
[Only... that little? The void I endured... to you...]
Berserk hugged his body with both arms, a gesture like one warding off chill, meaningless for an Undying.
It took a long while for him to calm. Berserk spoke,
[...Break the rules that one set, and this happens. I can't utter a single lie. Doing so traps me in a void where I perceive nothing. No senses, not even thought you can trust... You can't imagine the horror...]
"What if I call it a convincing act?"
[Then...]
To Azel's cold question, Berserk replied in a quivering voice,
[No choice then. If you refuse to believe whatever I say, all I can do is plead for you to at least listen.]
"..."
How pathetic. The self-proclaimed Demon King, once bringer of chaos to the world, reduced to begging just to be heard, regardless of belief.
But Azel's eyes remained cold.
If the tale was true, what he'd suffered was horrific—torment so thorough it ravaged the soul's depths, where even torture unto death would be mercy.
Yet consider the chaos and ruin he'd wrought as Demon King Berserk. The immense hatred born from that—if someone sought revenge and achieved this, was it excessive?
'Not for me to judge...'
Azel set aside his thoughts and asked,
"Very well. For now, I'll accept that you're Demon King Berserk, arranged here to tell me something. Whether your knowledge proves useful, I'll decide after hearing it."
[Truly grateful.]
There was no sarcasm in Berserk's tone. The others exchanged confused glances, save Azel.
Azel asked,
"First, then: Are the one who imprisoned you here and the one who made you this arrangement mouthpiece the same person?"
"Eh?"
Yuren's eyes widened in surprise. Azel's question pierced the very confusion plaguing them all. Berserk answered,
[No.]
"As expected. Can you say who made you the arrangement, excluding the imprisoner?"
[No, I cannot.]
"Hm. Neither wanted their identity known? Yet they have you relay vital truths... So the knowledge you can share is public anyway?"
[Yes. Not that it must remain secret—it's simply rare truth known to few even among demons.]
"I see. Makes me increasingly curious who's behind this prank... Ah, one more on that. Was the arranger a human sorcerer?"
[Yes. A sorcerer so extraordinary, you'd scarcely believe him human.]
"Indeed."
Azel's expression grew grave. This was a clue to the Guide's identity.
"Alright. Then..."
Azel thought briefly and asked,
"What is it you intend to tell me?"
If Berserk was the Guide's arrangement, the facts were predetermined. Without knowing the Guide's identity, ask only what's needed.
Yuren interjected in surprise,
"Wait a sec."
"Why?"
"From his nuance, doesn't telling that arranged fact free him?"
"Probably. Berserk, is that right?"
[It is.]
As Berserk affirmed, Yuren looked troubled.
"Then can't we hold off and ask around first? If Demon King Berserk is such a big deal, even as a demon, he's a heavyweight. Three-hundred-year-old knowledge or not, he must hold immense value... Could even give us a breakthrough to boost our forces."
"Hm. From a sorcerer's view, yes."
"From yours too? Demonic knowledge isn't solely useful to sorcerers..."
"True enough, but I'm not staking my life on baseless lore from an unknown source. Still, a demon without peril of ruin is hugely appealing to sorcerers."
Azel glanced over; Laura seemed intrigued too, her expression subtle but her eyes itching to ask.
"Very well, Berserk. Apologies, but we'll delay your release a bit."
[No issue. Just conversing with someone is bliss enough. A diversion before this wretched end—more than I deserve.]
Azel stepped back, letting Yuren and Laura converse with Berserk. He sat in a corner and said,
"Best to meditate. It'll be long and dull. No time limit, could drag on for days."
"Mm."
Kairen and Leticia groaned at that. Indeed, the moment the two high sorcerers engaged Berserk, they spouted jargon sounding like alien tongues to the swordsmen. Even the usually taciturn Laura sparkled with excitement, firing questions—waiting promised agony.
But surprisingly, the wait was short.
Rumble...!
Less than an hour later, an explosion from the surface shook the ruins.