195
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 195
Agatha's cheeks turned slightly red.
"Hmph! It's quite hot! More importantly, aren't you scared?"
Caesar knew why Agatha was asking him such a question.
Agatha didn't want to lose the current Caesar.
Her only younger sister started treating her coldly, and other friends began keeping their distance from Agatha.
Caesar would be the only demon race who still acted casual around her.
"Not yet. But I can't say your words don't have any impact."
Actually, Caesar's heart fluttered slightly when he saw Agatha today.
Just like when he met the previous Demon King, he felt a desire to unconditionally comply with Agatha's orders and requests.
He was just consciously refusing to accept it.
"When my horns turn completely white, will you change how you treat me?"
"Well... It's hard to make promises about that."
Both Raven and Agatha looked at Caesar with anxious eyes at his words.
However, their reasons were different.
Raven worried that Caesar might betray her and become the Demon King's spy again, while Agatha worried that Caesar might start fearing her like other vampires and succubi.
"...I don't like that."
Of course, Caesar doesn't like it either.
Just thinking about the time when his heart was bound to the Demon King and he worked as a spy makes him shudder.
Though he doesn't think Agatha would control him like that, he still doesn't want his heart to be bound to anyone like shackles.
"I've been looking for a solution recently."
"What kind of solution?"
"I just need to get my hands on an ancient relic that can completely ignore mental attacks."
Raven tilted her head.
"Was there such a thing?"
"Yeah. Don't you know it well?"
"What is it?"
"Flawless. That should do it."
Flawless.
Also known as the 7th sword fragment of Dre.
It refers to one of the fragments of the 'Baptismal Sword,' an ancient relic possessed by the Dre Order.
While the Holy Grail has the ability to heal any external wound in the world, just possessing the Baptismal Sword fragments grants special abilities to people.
Among them, Flawless had the ability to maintain sanity against any mental attack or torture.
Raven spoke as if dumbfounded.
"So you're saying you'll take the sacred artifact that the Dre Order values most in the world? That's practically equivalent to the Order's Holy Grail."
"But it's also the only relic not in the Dre Order's possession. If I can just find it and get my hands on it, I won't be swayed by your words either, Agatha."
Agatha laughed as if incredulous.
"I'm not sure if I should like this or think badly of it."
"Think of it positively. At least you have a friend who can give you painful but good advice, right?"
"Hmm... This is ambiguous."
Raven, having finished her fruit, put down her fork and said.
"If the Dre Order knew Flawless's location, why wouldn't they look for it? They can't find it because they don't know where it is."
"Well, that's probably true. But I think I might be able to find it if I do well."
"How?"
"The devil who stole that Baptismal Sword fragment is right here in this demon realm."
"What? Who is it?"
"Raum, the Heart Magician known as Belial's right hand. If I just hunt him down and take Flawless, that'll do it."
***
When Belial arrived at the pyramid, the first thing he saw was monsters and flocks of eagles devouring corpses.
Belial was unusually speechless at this desolate sight.
"...What exactly happened here?"
Belial had only been away for about a month to evacuate the prophets under his command.
Yet in just that month, 150,000 Orcs had vanished instantly.
It was an unbelievable situation as he stared blankly at his surroundings.
At that moment, a prophet with four horns on his head carefully approached.
"Lord Belial. If you permit, may I investigate in detail what happened here?"
Belial thought deeply.
Someone must have attacked Geotech.
Whether it was another Orcs tribe, Agatha from Eagle valley, or a hero, he couldn't tell.
"Fine. Spread out, assess the situation, and report back. And if you find Geotech who might still be alive, bring him back."
Belial pointed to a prophet with pale skin.
"Especially you, Raum. Release all your dolls to search."
Raum bowed his head.
"Yes, understood."
The 21 prophets following Belial's orders disappeared in an instant.
Belial bent down and touched the bloodstains that hadn't been washed away by the rain.
"Just what...!"
Belial struck the altar forcefully.
The altar split in half and tumbled down beneath the pyramid.
"Where on earth did this idiot disappear to!"
***
When Agatha gestured, the door opened and succubi came in carrying fruit as if they had been waiting.
From how Raven's short legs were swinging like on a swing, she seemed a bit excited.
However, unlike Raven's excited appearance, her words came out calmly.
"Alright. Then how are we going to find this Raum guy?"
"We'll have to think about that from now on."
"What, you were talking like you had everything planned out."
"You think I have everything planned out? For now, since he's here, he must have left some traces. It wouldn't be bad to look for those traces."
"But are you sure that if we get that Flawless, it won't be affected by Agatha's words?"
Caesar stared into Agatha's deep eyes.
The pressure from those white horns and clear eyes was greater than expected.
"...I'm not sure."
Agatha and Caesar locked eyes.
Raven felt the strange magic waves flowing between the two.
The fluffy magic waves flowing from Agatha's body were trying to bind Caesar's body, and Caesar was pushing back against that energy.
But was it just Raven's imagination that the pushback seemed somewhat weak?
Caesar felt increasingly drawn to Agatha.
Raven hastily hit the table and spoke up.
"Wait, I have a question."
Both Agatha and Caesar came to their senses at Raven's words.
Caesar belatedly realized he had almost been drawn in by Agatha.
Agatha cleared her throat to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
"Ahem! What are you curious about?"
"Uh..."
Raven had just thrown out any words to break this strange moment, so she couldn't think well.
After rolling her eyes in thought for a moment, Raven finally came up with a question.
"Then would that guy Elijah also have to follow your orders if he met you, Agatha?"
Caesar, who had regained his senses, answered Raven's question.
"Probably? Maybe that's why he tried to leave the demon realm as quickly as possible. If Agatha told Elijah to die, he would at least pretend to die."
"Or he might know a way to refuse my orders. He's lived for nearly 300 years after all."
"If that was possible, wouldn't he have shown himself at least once during the demon realm war? Elijah never appeared directly on the battlefield during the demon realm war."
"Hmm... It's possible. When I become a complete demon king, I should consider meeting Elijah."
After thinking deeply, Raven opened her mouth.
"Then I have another question."
"What is it?"
"I recently read books in the demon King's castle, and I definitely saw vampires always writing that 'Orcs are a stupid race that doesn't follow the demon king's orders well.' Do Orcs not follow the demon king's orders well? Or do they just not understand them?"
"Orcs are traditionally a race that accepts the demon king's rule but doesn't follow orders."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"It means Orcs can't be controlled by the demon king. They're not a race that follows orders exactly as I give them, unlike other vampires, succubi, doppelgangers, and beast people."
"Why?"
"That's just how it's traditionally been. They somewhat listen because Orcs at least acknowledge the demon king's authority, if they didn't even have respect, either the demon king or the Orcs would have fought to the death until one side remained."
This is a story that even Caesar didn't know.
Until now, everyone thought the Demon King had proper control over the Orcs...
So this must be why the Orcs who were physically far from the Demon King didn't listen well.
"What's the difference between Orcs and your kind?"
"From what I know, there are stories that Orcs aren't Diana's creations."
"...Creations? What's that about?"
When Raven couldn't follow the conversation, Caesar decided to explain briefly.
"Diana refers to the first Demon King, and creations mean the living beings she created. Notable examples include vampires, succubi, beast people, and gargoyles."
"What? So you're saying demon race are beings created by the first Demon King?"
"Yes. Doppelgangers are probably included too. That's probably why I'm affected by the Demon King's orders. Though I don't know exactly how we were created."
Raven couldn't close his mouth from the shocking truth.
"Is there proof? No, how did Diana create you all? Then Agatha, are you also Diana's creation?"
"There's no specific proof. We just heard it that way. And they say Queen Diana created us with a hammer and chisel. The failures became gargoyles, they say. And I'm not a first-generation succubus, so I've never seen Queen Diana."
"Then how did the Orcs come to exist?"
Agatha spoke while putting a raspberry in her mouth.
"Aren't you asking for too much, Magician? Unless you're Caesar, we're technically enemies. Since we haven't formed an alliance."
"...Hmm."
Raven made an expression like she might die of suffocation from the curiosity blocking her throat.
The cruelest way to kill a magician is to make them extremely curious and then not tell them the answer.
Whether Agatha knew this or not was unclear, but she was successfully tormenting Raven.
However, Caesar was also a bit curious about the Orcs related question.
Just how did the Orcs come to exist?
Caesar used psychometry on Agatha.
-...I don't know anything about Orcs.
-There are just rumors that they existed before we were born.
-Even Borden said he doesn't know the exact details.
-It would hurt my pride to admit I don't know, so I'll just pretend I do.
...So she was just pretending to know because of pride.
Since Caesar's curiosity was somewhat satisfied, he decided to move on to the next question.
"Then what do you plan to do with the Orcs? Will you kill them all?"
Agatha thought for a moment before speaking.
"No. It's impossible to control those guys. Instead, I'm thinking of forcefully relocating them."
"Relocate? Where to?"
"Near the Steel Fortress."
Wow... Agatha knows exactly how to get back at Elijah.
"So you're saying you'll properly get revenge on Elijah."
"Yes. I plan to control the Orcs' numbers and simultaneously prevent Elijah from daring to set foot in the demon realm. And when time passes and our succubi and vampire numbers recover, I'll turn the Friedrich borderlands into a sea of fire."
The rage flowing through psychometry from Agatha was beyond imagination.
Plans that once seemed vague were becoming reality one by one.
What should Caesar say in this situation?
"Fine. Do as you please."
Caesar decided to just observe quietly.
This is the flow of time.
It was inevitable from the moment humanity invaded the demon realm, wasn't it?
This is the punishment the Empire receives for leaving things ambiguous instead of completely conquering the demon realm and wiping out demon race.
"What are you planning to do? Will you help me?"
"At least I won't help Elijah."
"Your reaction is more lukewarm than I expected. Don't you want revenge on Elijah too?"
Is this where the saying ‘you only know power once you hold it’ comes from?
Agatha was completely intoxicated with revenge.
Caesar thought he should clearly state his position here.
"I'll help anytime with personal revenge against Elijah. But I don't want to help with touching the Friedrich borderlands."
"Why?"
"I don't want to take revenge by spilling innocent blood."
Agatha's eyebrows twitched.
It seemed Caesar had touched Agatha's sore spot.
"Innocent? Those guys trampled our realm, killed our mothers, raped and tortured my friends. How are they innocent? Honestly, not just the Friedrich borderlands, but humans across the entire continent are guilty towards us."
Agatha's eyes naturally turned to Raven.
The burning rage flowing from Agatha's body ensnared Raven.
"The same goes for you, Raven. You can't say you have no responsibility. No, you might have more responsibility than anyone. You killed our Demon King, and you didn't spare any magic in killing us more than anyone else."