Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Person Behind the Demon King
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The person who brutally murdered my parents and burned down my hometown.
Just thinking of Dullahan made my hands tremble so much my body reacted before my mind.
"Lord Astal…."
Victoria tried to soothe me, placing her hand over my shaking one.
Her soft, warm heat spread, momentarily quelling the rising disgust.
And I remembered something more important than stoking my vengeance right now.
"I have something to tell you all."
"What is it? It's not about marrying Victoria, is it? That's for after we kill the Demon King…."
"No. It seems there's a separate mastermind behind the Demon King."
I shook my head and spoke seriously to Kyle, who was smirking. If we continued like this, we could fall into even greater danger before killing the Demon King.
The reason the gods cannot influence the mortal realm, and the being depicted in the frescoes of the forbidden archive.
"…Otherwise, it doesn't explain why my hometown was attacked by Dullahan. Why would one of the Four Heavenly Kings come just to burn down some tiny rural village?"
"This is something the Heavenly God also attested to. She said the reason they cannot influence the mortal world is because of that being."
Victoria added to my story, showing her trust. Her expression held both solemnity and calm.
Hearing us, the Hero Kyle rested his chin on his hand, making a serious face.
We had struggled so much just to defeat Belamora, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and now a new enemy had appeared.
"…To summarize, you're saying there's a being backing the Demon King from behind? Not something known to the public like a Monster God or a Demon God?"
"In the frescoes Victoria and I saw in the forbidden archive, even the gods of the Demon Realm were fighting an unknown being like shards of glass, so the probability is high."
I spoke while recalling the frescoes in the forbidden archive again. It was a secret place where items classified as heretical by the Holy Kingdom, or things that must not be known to the world, were kept.
The fresco there couldn't be without meaning, and if such a being existed, all the questions would fall into place.
The reason the Demon King targeted me, a mage from a backwater village, instead of Kyle or Victoria's hometowns.
And the reason Belamora said she could never defeat the Demon King, and why all the previous hero parties were completely wiped out.
"So, I should just trust you and Victoria's word and be careful about the mastermind behind the Demon King?"
Kyle said that while looking at me slowly as if seeing through something, then looked at Victoria and me holding hands and raised the corner of his mouth.
"…Judging by your actions, it's not a lie. Well, I had somewhat anticipated this."
Kyle then gave an unexpected answer. As if he had already guessed what we were talking about, he gave a small nod.
"You knew this fact in advance?"
"Well, it's speculation. Otherwise, how could gods who can't even influence the mortal world be worshiped by people, established as a state religion, or choose Heroes and Saints?"
Kyle, chosen as the Hero by the Lord God since childhood, said he had pondered this fact alone, trying to find answers.
Just as Victoria was chosen by the Heavenly God and could use miracles, but couldn't escape the misfortune surrounding her.
"…I was a half-wit in my family who couldn't even hold a sword properly. In the past, I was afraid of people's gazes, so I wore a helmet to avoid them."
Kyle was only chosen as the Hero; the power and abilities granted to him were just a single Holy Sword in the shape of a flame.
"So I worried a lot as a child. What on earth were the gods thinking, why did they choose someone like me as the Hero and plan to kill the Demon King?"
Kyle let out a deep sigh and took out a letter fixed between his cloak and clothes. A worn piece of paper, crumpled and wrinkled, with traces of having been unfolded many times.
"The one who saved me, brooding and resentful of the gods who chose me as the Hero, was my girlfriend back home, Stella."
It was a reply from Stella, Kyle's lover. They kept in touch using magically made messenger birds, but it had been a year since he left the continent.
"In the end, even if most previous Heroes were killed by the Demon King, I hated the thought of the continent where my girlfriend lives falling into his hands even more…."
Kyle showed signs of secretly wiping tears or, when drinking, calling out his girlfriend's name from home, missing her.
"…So I joined this Demon King subjugation. To protect my precious lover, for a world where the person who saved me can live safely."
Kyle swallowed a bitter expression, trying hard to raise the corners of his mouth into a bright smile, but it looked forced and creaking.
"Kyle…."
"I understand that feeling, a hundred times over."
Victoria offered words of comfort to Kyle. She seemed to have sensed from his words and actions how much he cared for his lover.
"If it were me, for Lord Astal's sake, I would have tried to smash the Demon King's skull, whether it was fate ordained by the gods or anything else."
- And then, in the peaceful world, build a small hut and live there, giving birth to children every day through beastly, sticky mating...♡
Victoria spoke, placing a hand on her chest.
Then she glanced sideways, giving a sly wink and lowering her gaze towards my lower body.
"…Victoria. Isn't that thinking too simply? According to legends, the Demon King is said to be a being who can shatter the world with a single gesture."
Looking at Victoria, I pressed my throbbing temples with my fingers. The fact that he hadn't been dealt with despite existing for hundreds of years meant he was a formidable and terrifying enemy.
"What problem could that be? With Lord Astal here, our party is invincible. Didn't we just behead Belamora, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, for the first time?"
Victoria nonchalantly predicted our victory. She seemed more hopeful about an uncertain future than accurately viewing reality.
"That lewd bitch…. No, you're saying you trust the death rattle of Belamora more than the words of your loving partner?"
"No, it's not that…. Shouldn't we be a bit more careful? We both almost died this time."
"It's nice that you're worried. But…. Shouldn't we look at the situation positively, especially at times like this?"
Victoria puffed out her cheeks and, pressing her chest against me again, hugged me from the side.
- I think about eleven children would be good. I was always envious of big families, you see.
- By then, you might not be able to fondle my breasts as much as you want…. Huhu, because a father shouldn't steal his children's share...!
- Should we name our granddaughter Merak and our grandson Sirius? Or should I ask you and discuss it…. Ah, just imagining this makes me so happy.
Victoria's runaway inner thoughts had already finished planning our children and beyond.
Seeing her even humming and muttering the names of grandchildren she'd thought of in advance, I felt a chill.
"…Anyway, pondering this, I had noticed the gods were hiding something. Now it seems a clue has finally been found."
Hero Kyle cleared his throat seeing Victoria trying to kiss me and stick her tongue in my mouth, then tried to lighten the mood and return to the main point.
"But still, I think our next immediate goal is not the mastermind behind the Demon King, but subjugating the Death Knight Dullahan."
Hero Kyle spoke to me again, voicing his thoughts. He moved his finger across the map of the Demon Realm, calculating the war situation.
"See here? Dullahan's territory is the closest from here, and according to stories, it's a strategic point from which troops can continuously be sent."
"Right, I've also heard Dullahan's territory is a place where soldiers never die and are resurrected."
I nodded while looking at the place Kyle pointed to, and he did the same, tapping the map twice with his finger.
"I'll send a letter to His Majesty the Emperor, saying there seems to be a backing force supporting the Demon King. Then something will come of it, right?"
Kyle grinned and told me not to worry, and at times like this, I felt fortunate this guy was the party's leader.
"So don't worry too much. We can kill the Demon King and make the world peaceful. Astal, you trust me, right?"
No matter what anyone said, this guy was the hero who best fit the image of a Hero.
"Yeah, I'm counting on you from now on too."
I shook Kyle's hand, showing trust in his words.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While preparing for the journey, Anima secretly approached Victoria and whispered to her.
"Victoria…. Aren't you getting too close to Astal lately? You used to act like you disliked him…."
Of course, she had thought Astal and Victoria seemed to have grown closer during Belamora's subjugation, but the scene Anima witnessed this morning was something else.
Astal was touching Victoria's breasts while her face was flushed, and she was letting out heated moans and breaths.
"Ah, that? We had a bit of physical dialogue. We became a little more honest with each other through it."
"Physical dialogue, you mean…."
"Last night, Lord Astal kept me awake, called me a lewd female, and sexually tormented me."
"……."
"Well, as I feared, he wasn't impotent. He crushed me with his magnificent staff and firm muscles...♡"
Victoria deliberately told her comrades this fact, establishing it as a fait accompli so Astal couldn't break the contract relationship.
She was gradually preparing to make Astal the father of her children, so that if he tried to break up now, he would become the world's biggest scumbag.