177
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 177
He bit Barre's hand with all his strength, but couldn't even sink his teeth 1cm into it.
Barre used psychometry.
"First question. What's the difference between you and the other duplicates?"
He tried to pretend he hadn't heard Barre's question.
But Barre's hand was already touching him, allowing him to read his past completely.
-From now on, your name is Polius.
-You are different from my duplicates.
-You are a servant who chose to serve me through your own thoughts and judgment.
-Since you chose to serve me wholeheartedly, I will be your very purpose for living.
-I'll gift you a suitable body, so take my sword and follow me.
-Your swordsmanship is improving remarkably.
-Your discipline is exemplary.
-Also master the techniques to handle your new ability.
-Since you've decided to connect with me, understand me.
Barre nodded as if finally understanding.
"...I see. So that's what it was."
"...!"
"All of Elijah's duplicates could awaken as real doppelgangers. And there were three conditions for awakening. Feeling emotions, having a clear purpose in life, and lastly, discovering one's ability."
I couldn't understand how 'Mountain Lord' who attacked Pepe and those Black Lion Knights had telepathic abilities, but to think such a secret existed.
"Then Polius, your ability is... Telepathy. Mountain Lord had telepathy too. Oh, so Elijah only keeps doppelgangers with telepathic abilities. Is there a reason why everyone has similar abilities?"
"Nnnngh!"
"Right. It's because they all awakened by swearing loyalty to Elijah. Doppelgangers who live for someone other than themselves all gain telepathic abilities. It's quite interesting how abilities differ based on life purpose."
As Barre kept reading his mind, he twisted his entire body in resistance.
But Barre held him down to prevent any unnecessary movement.
"Second question, Polius. Were there other doppelgangers who weren't Elijah's duplicates?"
"Uuuuugh!"
"Oh ho. There were doppelgangers who weren't Elijah's duplicates before the Demon Realm War. Then where are they now?"
Polius' memories unfolded before Barre's eyes.
A soldier with a sword in his heart looked into Polius' eyes while bleeding.
-Kuh... Com, comrade. Why did you...
-It's an order.
-Did, did His Majesty the Demon King order you to kill me?
-No.
Polius thrust the sword deeper.
-My lord gave the order.
Barre looked down with murderous eyes at Polius, who could barely bite now with his jaw strength gone.
"You killed all the doppelgangers who weren't Elijah's duplicates or who were loyal to the Demon King."
Caesar wanted to crush and kill him right there.
They infiltrated places with other doppelgangers to assassinate them, or disguised themselves as artillery officers to drop shells and kill doppelgangers.
"Why did you do that? No, that was a stupid question. Elijah wanted to kill all demon people from the start. Of course you'd clean up all the doppelgangers on the Demon King's side."
One strange question comes up here.
Then why did they spare Barre?
Because they couldn't kill Barre?
That doesn't make sense.
Though Barre's body was sturdy then, they could have killed him if they tried.
His body wasn't even as sturdy as now since he was still growing by consuming elixirs.
"Then why did you let me live?"
-Of course we tried at first.
He opened his thoughts, seeming half-resigned.
-But Barre's achievements were remarkably outstanding.
-When you were active as a Sky Knight, you took down about 100 succubi and vampires.
-You earned the title Prince of the Sky, your achievements were incomparable to other Sky Knights.
-His Excellency said to just observe you since your achievements were impossible for someone on the Demon King's side.
Barre was so dumbfounded his head hurt.
From his perspective, he was just desperately trying to survive on the battlefield without raising suspicion from the Allied Forces.
But Elijah was quietly watching, thinking that was actually helping the Allied Forces.
He couldn't tell if this was good or bad.
-And when you switched to Barre's body, His Excellency actively supported you.
-He thought you could lead the Demon Realm War to the Allied Forces' victory as he wished.
-So he prepared precious elixirs for you and secretly assassinated those who suspected you might be a doppelganger to suppress public opinion.
-As a result, you did more than His Excellency expected.
Barre couldn't help but laugh at how absurd it was.
"Right. He didn't expect me to blow the Demon King's head off."
-Yes. That's why we took no action when you left the Demon Realm. He believed you deserved freedom.
Barre removed his hand from Polius' mouth, who had now lost all strength.
Polius looked down at the ground with completely resigned eyes.
"So Barre, you're indebted to His Excellency. We had hundreds of opportunities to kill you. But we didn't because His Excellency had taken a liking to you."
"So you're saying I should be grateful to Elijah?"
"Yes. When you should be showing nothing but loyalty to His Excellency, you follow a new Demon King instead. You're repaying kindness with enmity...!"
"Did I ask for it?"
"...What?"
Barre grabbed his collar.
"Did I ever ask Elijah for help or to save me? And now you talk about loyalty."
Barre growled right in his face.
"You were going to kill me anyway once I became useless. Why should I be grateful to someone who treated me like a chess piece? If anything, he should be grateful to me."
"You ungrateful bastard...!"
"Ungrateful my ass."
Barre grabbed his throat.
"Then let me ask you a few more things. I couldn't read anything Elijah had touched. They say he erased the registry of the Unopened Library, what does that mean?"
"I don't know about that."
His words were true.
Well, not all of Elijah's subordinates know everything.
Still, it's disappointing since this could have been a chance to learn something about psychometry.
"How do you enter the Unopened Library?"
"I don't know that either."
"Then what's the relationship between the previous Demon King and Elijah?"
"...I don't know."
This was a lie.
Barre read deeper into his thoughts.
"Hmm... The previous Demon King was a doppelganger born around the same time as Elijah. Did the Demon King have no idea Elijah was trying to kill him? Ah, it seems he didn't expect it at all. After all, Elijah had been offering humans to vampires and succubi until now. And he didn't actively join the Allied Forces to invade the Demon Realm either."
The Demon King ultimately trusted Elijah and got stabbed in the back.
The Demon King's life was truly pitiful.
Being betrayed and killed by a doppelganger.
...I'm feeling quite sorry now?
Barre looked at Raven.
"Raven, do you have anything to ask?"
Raven stood before the doppelganger.
"Is there a way to distinguish doppelgangers? Doppelganger?"
"...There isn't."
Raven detected through magic waves that his words were true.
"That's just as far as you know, right?"
"...Yes."
"Then I might find out if I examine you."
"What...?"
Raven started casting magic by waving her wand.
"Demons strangely recognize doppelgangers, according to the books. They can tell just by looking."
Raven focused particularly on the fact that they could tell by 'looking'.
"In other words, they can identify your true nature based on visual information, so I need to investigate how this is possible."
Raven began using magic.
"It won't hurt. But it might be a bit boring."
Raven cast 'Sleep' magic on him.
His eyes slowly closed.
Raven looked at Barre and said:
"So you should sleep too, Barre. Let's talk after I discover some secrets about doppelgangers."
Barre became curious about what would happen if Raven really discovered how to distinguish doppelgangers.
No, more than that, what would become of Barre and Raven's relationship?
His mind became complicated since all of this depended entirely on Raven.
***
The train had derailed and collapsed.
Coal was scattered and rolling in puddles, and the overheated engine was cooling down while emitting white steam.
Looters swarmed like ants to the overturned train and began ransacking its contents.
The train had been carrying rations that tasted awful but were incredibly durable, and it was also fully loaded with bullets and shells.
The looters loaded their prepared carriages full of shells, bullets, and rations.
Sith watched the 'Home Town' folks loading earnestly while smoking a cigarette.
"Feels like receiving a birthday present."
Sith looked back at the presence he sensed.
The staff members were looking at the overturned train with expressions that suggested they could die of happiness.
"A birthday present..."
Sith had never received a birthday present in his life.
He didn't even remember when his birthday was, and being born a doppelganger, there was no need to celebrate such romantic days.
So he felt he couldn't empathize with the staff members' feelings.
"Were there no artifacts for siege warfare?"
"We haven't received any reports of finding such things."
"Hmm..."
Although the Demon realm War is in a ceasefire, the war is not over yet, so seeing a train loaded with provisions and ammunition is not such a strange sight.
However, it is rare to obtain vehicles loaded with only provisions and ammunition.
It is not a day or two that trains are being raided by looters.
The quartermaster officers knew that looters could steal the items in this train, so they mixed in things that were difficult for looters to use, like magic stones or coal, instead of ammunition and food.
But this train was full of ammunition and food.
That means.....
'Elijah planned this.'
The provisions are to boost the soldiers' strength, and the ammunition is to keep the gun barrels hot.
What are these provisions and ammunition for?
Is it a plan to pass through the Steel Fortress and disturb the Empire?
Or is it another plan?
While deep in thought, a knight who had sworn allegiance to Sith approached.
"Commander Sith."
"What is it?"
"What should we do with the prisoners?"
Sith looked at the people kneeling with their hands bound.
There were some soldiers, but most were train conductors or crew members.
By principle, they should all be killed.
Taking them as prisoners would only waste food, and if released, they would provide information to the Allied soldiers about who attacked the train and where they went.
"Release them."
"What? Wouldn't it be better to kill them?"
"It would be ungraceful to see the blood of those who brought gifts."
The staff officers and knights nodded at Sith's words.
Sith and the soldiers will head to the Steel Fortress with this food and ammunition.
And they will break through the Steel Fortress and return home.
"Give them some provisions to eat and a water bottle each, then release them. And let them inform the Allied soldiers of our mercy. We are not demons who kill people indiscriminately, but just people who want to return home."
"Yes. Understood."
With those words, Sith mounted the prepared warhorse.
"I'll return to the position first, so clean up and come."
"Yes. Understood."
"Adjutant, follow me."
Sith rode across the rainy plain.
When the smell of burning coal faded away, fresh air filled his lungs.
After clearing his head moderately, Sith opened his mouth.
"So what does Elijah want?"
Sith's sharp question pierced the adjutant.
The adjutant opened his mouth.
"His Majesty Elijah thinks the collapse of the demon realm front line takes priority over the Steel Fortress."
"The collapse of the demon realm front line?"
"Yes. So he ordered the troops to advance to Luxhope and destroy the port."
Sith looked closely at the adjutant's face.
The appearance was completely identical to the adjutant who used to follow Sith around.
From the tear mole in his right eye to the burn mark remaining on the back of his hand.
But Sith knew.
That this guy was a doppelganger.
"What happened to Michael?"
"......Michael? Ah, you mean this body?"
"Yes. What did you do to Michael?"
"Killed him. I buried him deep in the ground, so there's no need to worry about being discovered."
Sith felt his heart tighten.
Sith didn't quite know what this sudden movement of his heart meant.
"Michael has a single mother. Despite this, the reason Michael volunteered for the Demon War was to earn money. His mother has tuberculosis and coughs every day. Even for life-sustaining treatment, you need to get a potion with at least 5% holy water mixed in, but potions aren't easy to obtain. You had to pay more offerings to the Royder Order than expected."
"......Is that so? What does that matter?"
"So what I'm saying is that you didn't just kill Michael alone, but also killed an old single mother who's only waiting for her son to return."
"Sith...... Kuk!"
Sith's sword moved like lightning.
As the head of the horse the doppelganger was riding was cut off, the doppelganger's right arm was also severed.
The doppelganger flew through the air and crashed into the ground.
The pain was so terrible that he couldn't even think about transforming his body.
Sith dismounted and slowly walked toward the doppelganger who was writhing in pain.
"I clearly promised Michael. That I would send you back home and get the potion to cure his mother."
"Sith......!"
As Sith approached him, he seemed to understand the identity of the unprecedented sensation that was squeezing his heart.
Yes.
This is anger.
"And you say to head to Luxhope? That's impossible. I have to go deliver the potion to Michael's mother."
The doppelganger came to his senses and started to transform his body.
But before that, Sith's sword moved.
Slash!
His head flew through the air and fell to the ground.
"I will head to the Steel Fortress. Elijah."
