Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: The Demon King and the Hero (2)
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"Ahhh..."
Kairen, whose form was increasingly shifting from human toward that of a demon, staggered to his feet and opened his bleary eyes.
"Kairen, take a deep breath."
"......"
"Kairen!"
The Imperial Princess, supporting him from the side, urgently called out his name.
"Princess... Lia."
"Yes, Kairen."
"Blood..."
Yet Kairen was still drenched in cold sweat, his face twisted in agony.
"I feel like I'm going mad for blood."
He turned eyes redder than ever toward the Imperial Princess and murmured in a low voice.
"I've already drunk so much blood... Why is this happening...?"
"Kairen."
"...Ahhhh."
Even small horns were beginning to sprout from his head, and Kairen's condition was worsening by the moment.
"And for some reason..."
"Huh?"
"...I want to kill them all."
As murderous intent began to fill his eyes, a sinister voice echoed from above.
"Fortunately, it's an incomplete transformation."
"...!"
"Well, a brat like you couldn't possibly wield true power."
At the same time, the Second Prince hurled the golden orb gathered in his hands with full force.
- Pajijijizing...!
"...Ack."
But suddenly, Kairen dashed forward and blocked the orb with his back.
"More than that..."
Coughing up blood from the impact, Kairen looked at the Imperial Princess, who stared at him in a daze, and murmured with difficulty.
"I hate seeing you hurt even more."
The moment his outstretched hand touched her cheek.
"The wounds..."
"So that's the Demon King's true power."
"...Impressive."
Not only the princess's injuries but even Kairen's fatal wounds began healing in an instant.
"As for you, who would hurt such a princess..."
"...!?"
"...I despise you utterly."
At that very moment, Kairen glared at the floating Second Prince and raised his hand again.
- Kwadddududuk...!
"Kuhk!?"
Simultaneously, the Second Prince's wings, wrapped in a red energy eerily similar to Astridje's telekinesis, began to bend slowly.
"...How dare a wielder of the Demon King's power."
However, the Second Prince, who had already lost his human form, was no pushover.
"Do not think you can overcome the Goddess's power."
Golden wings sprouted all over his body, emitting blinding flashes that pushed back Kairen's red energy to some extent. He then turned his gaze toward those standing a bit farther away.
"What are you lot doing...?"
"...!"
"If you have any awareness as descendants of the Hero... shouldn't you deal with the enemy right in front of you?"
He addressed the Third Prince and his siblings, who had been watching the scene in stunned silence.
"...A Demon King who protects and shields others. I've never even heard of such a thing."
In that moment, the Third Prince, who had been silently gritting his teeth, mustered his courage and stepped forward.
"On the other hand, do you truly believe what you're doing is right?"
"If my ideals and greater cause were wrong, would the Goddess's power sustain me?"
But his expression began to twist at the solemn voice from above.
"And now you question it, after so obediently following my orders?"
"That was..."
"Then accept it. My ideals and greater cause will absolve your sins."
Every word from the Second Prince carried a weight of faith or awe, perhaps due to his altered form.
"The only way to cleanse defiled hands is that."
And soon, that sentiment began manifesting in reality.
"Kuhk!"
"Brother!"
"Big brother!"
Golden chains erupted from the ground, binding the Third Prince, forcing him to his knees. His siblings, sweating coldly beside him, reached out desperately.
"Is this the endgame of scheming... reduced to mere pawns on a chessboard?"
But as the Third Prince raised a hand to halt his siblings' approach and bit his lip upon realizing he was losing control of his body—
"Don't bow your head in guilt, Third Imperial Prince."
"...?"
"If you can't lift it, I'll force you to."
Suddenly, the golden chains binding him began falling away one by one, engulfed in red energy.
"Let me ask you one thing."
"..."
"Must defiled hands truly be washed clean?"
Even as the remaining chains held the Third Prince, Astridje approached with a cold smile.
"The Belverks have slaughtered siblings generation after generation, staining their hands with blood."
"...I know that."
"Which means the successive heads of the Belverks have achieved countless feats with those bloodied hands."
The Third Prince, kneeling, directed his gaze toward her.
"I'm no different."
"......"
"...If we'd been obsessed with wiping away the blood, the Belverks—and the Empire—wouldn't have survived to this day."
A pained voice escaped the Third Prince's gritted teeth.
"Are you saying to carry past sins and move forward?"
"It's not that hard."
"But that's... escapism from reality."
Astridje's lip curled higher.
"Well, it might be a bit difficult for greenhouse flowers like you young ones."
"That's..."
"Maybe that's why the Church clings to repentance and atonement, wielding influence over the Empire."
At her words, the Third Prince flinched, eyebrows twitching as he looked up again.
"Listen well, Third Prince. And you fledglings behind him."
"......"
"Unlike the Church's sweet talk, once a sin is committed, no amount of effort can wash it away."
Astridje glanced at the prince's wary siblings and spoke with a cynical smile.
"But..."
Yet the mocking glint had vanished from her eyes.
"...If you stop in your tracks, those sins you've carried will devour you."
As she turned away with those words, her self-deprecating bitter smile made the Third Prince's pupils dilate sharply.
"Remember this. Sin is merely a footprint from the past. Not shackles deciding your next step."
"......"
"...Only those who never stop survive. That's the Belverk way."
At that moment, the golden chains binding the Third Prince began to tremble and crack.
"And perfect timing."
Seeing this, Astridje quietly turned away, offering one final piece of advice in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Isn't the Crown Prince selection unfolding exactly in the Belverk style, by pure coincidence?"
"Huh?"
The Second Prince, clashing energies with Kairen whose eyes burned red, tilted his head in disbelief.
"What are you lot doing...?"
The Third Prince and his siblings had risen, extending their hands forward to push golden energy outward.
"Moving forward."
The Third Prince replied calmly, while the Second Prince's face—now barely recognizable—twisted in rage.
"You ungrateful traitors..."
The final twist began at that very moment.
"...According to myth, the Goddess's agent doesn't appear as the familiar image, but in a fearsome, grotesque form."
The golden aura from the Third Prince's group slowly seeped into the body of the Imperial Princess, who stood firm holding Kairen's hand.
"But when appearing before humans, they take a form familiar to them."
"...!"
"To prevent humans from fearing their true appearance."
At the same time, the Imperial Princess's clear voice rang out as dazzlingly beautiful golden wings unfurled from her back.
"...Though someone who wants everything under their feet wouldn't understand."
Having fully spread her wings, the Imperial Princess now embodied the image everyone knew as the Goddess's agent.
"All... nonsense."
The Second Prince stared at her in a daze for a moment before speaking in obvious fury.
"With such flimsy ideals, you couldn't possibly wield the Goddess's power properly..."
"No different from a child insisting only their words are right."
But before he could finish, the Imperial Princess cut him off with her retort.
"But who's truly wrong?"
At that point, cracks began forming on the Second Prince's wings hovering in the sky.
"You, who twist the Goddess's will into a weapon to force your ideals?"
"......"
"Or us, standing proudly before you now?"
Whether he felt it himself or simply couldn't accept it, the Second Prince's rage intensified at her words.
"Of course, you're the ones in the wrong!"
"......"
"With such empty ideals, a Demon King and Hero could never join forces..."
But he trailed off before finishing.
"...Ah."
The reason was that he belatedly recalled a fact any direct imperial should know all too well.
"Realizing it now?"
"......"
"It's just a reenactment of the Founding War."
Lia and Kairen, hands clasped as they stared him down, were living proof.
"Ah... Haha. Ahahaha..."
After staring blankly at them for a while, the Second Prince let out a twisted laugh, clutching his head.
"...Impossible."
Muttering dazedly, he lost his wings and plummeted to the ground, reverting to his original frail human form.
"Haa, haa..."
Kairen warily watched the Second Prince, slumped on the ground having lost the Goddess's borrowed majesty in an instant, staring blankly at the floor. Then, panting heavily, he spoke.
"Second Prince... you're out."
"......"
"And..."
He glanced toward the distant group with the Third Prince.
"...My siblings and I will forfeit."
"No objections."
"M-Me too."
By now, none among them wished to continue the Crown Prince selection.
"Let's go, Kairen."
"Ah."
"I've only really seen your room and the guest rooms in the Belverk estate so far."
The Imperial Princess, still holding Kairen's hand without letting go, finally smiled and stepped forward.
"Mind showing me around the family hall?"
Yet Kairen hesitated for a moment at her request.
"...In this state, with you like that, is it okay for us to be together?"
"Pfft."
At his characteristically timid question, the Imperial Princess gave an exasperated look before bursting into laughter.
"You haven't seen your own appearance properly yet?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind, it's nothing."
In the midst of everyone being distracted by Kairen's fully demonized form, the Imperial Princess's shoulders shook involuntarily.
"...Whether you're a handsome man or a beast, this one thing won't change."
Mindful of the Belverk sisters watching from afar with peculiar gazes, she decided to make a bit of a show.
"I love you, Kairen."
She kissed him openly for all to see, then flashed a slightly shy smile.