221
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 221
Caesar glanced at Gloria swinging her greatsword at the puppets.
To be honest, Gloria's sword swings were nothing but reckless.
There was no system to it, just downward strikes and horizontal slashes.
If this wasn't a dream but reality, such sloppy movements would have already been read by the puppets and gotten her killed.
But every time Gloria swung her greatsword, the puppets were slaughtered.
'This is proof that we're in a dream.'
Gloria isn't sure whether this is a dream or reality.
According to Flawless, this is the 'inner world', but more specifically, it would be the realm of the unconscious.
Isn't that how it is when everyone dreams?
When unrealistic things happen, you just accept them, and you become stronger than you thought.
With just will and belief, these nightmares are nothing.
So there's only one thing Caesar needs to do for Gloria.
Help Gloria remove the doubt of 'Can I really defeat these puppets?'
The rest is up to imagination.
"Don't look back and swing your greatsword calmly and surely! I've got your back!"
Caesar swung his fist at the puppet charging at him.
Its head completely disappeared as its body crumbled.
To be honest, while Caesar is strong, he's not strong enough to blow away heads like balloons with his fists.
The reason it's possible is simply because Caesar thinks it's possible.
Physical strength doesn't mean much here.
It's just about how much you believe in yourself and how much you desire something.
This was what Caesar wanted to heal in Gloria.
To believe in yourself and move forward no matter what trials come.
And to know that Caesar is always behind her.
Even if Gloria couldn't see him, Caesar hoped she would know that he was always looking out for her and working for her.
Before she knew it, Gloria had taken down one of the puppets blocking her path.
"Master, I made it through...!"
Gloria couldn't close her mouth.
She thought she'd only been focusing on what was ahead...
Behind Gloria were countless corpses of puppets.
The remaining puppets had now been reduced to a countable number.
Caesar wiped the blood off his hands and smiled.
"How about that? Not so tough, right?"
The shadows beneath Caesar's feet began to disappear.
As the shadows vanished, the puppets' corpses also evaporated.
Gloria nodded slightly.
"Yes."
"Then go take care of the rest."
When Caesar pointed his finger, Gloria gave a small nod.
"What about behind..."
"You need me for just those? Gloria."
Gloria grinned.
"No."
"Then go take care of them."
"Yes sir!"
Gloria charged at the few remaining puppets.
Just then, a familiar presence appeared beside Caesar.
"You came?"
It was Flawless.
Flawless's gaze was fixed on Gloria as she dealt with the puppets.
His expression was complex.
"It's hard to believe."
"What is?"
"I didn't think Gloria would break through the nightmare this quickly."
Caesar chuckled.
"You don't have enough faith in Gloria. I thought it was perfectly possible."
Flawless seemed embarrassed and didn't respond.
Caesar found it somewhat strange that Flawless could feel such emotions.
Strictly speaking, Flawless is just a weapon.
So why does he act as if he has a sense of self?
"Flawless, what exactly are you?"
"What do you mean? What are you trying to say?"
"Aren't you just a weapon? How do you have self-awareness?"
Flawless immediately grasped the point of Caesar's question.
"So you're asking about my true identity?"
"Yes."
"I don't know either."
Flawless's answer was so simple that there was nothing to say.
"What do you mean?"
"I only became aware of who I was when Agatha, that woman, began observing me. Before that, I didn't know who I was and couldn't feel emotions."
"What does that mean? You were born when Agatha saw you?"
"Yes. Until then, I only worked to block various brainwashing magic and mental attacks that would harm my master. I was no different from a machine."
It's like Kim Chun-soo's poem.
Isn't it similar to how a flower becomes a flower only when called a flower?
Or maybe it's quantum mechanics.
This world is full of things that are difficult to understand.
"When Gloria defeats those puppets, this world will probably collapse. I'll disappear too."
"You'll disappear?"
"Yes. Since I was born in Gloria's dream. Didn't I tell you that my appearance is yours because you're the person Gloria trusts the most? The body and personality that make up who I am were all created based on you as Gloria saw you. So when Gloria wakes up, I'll disappear."
"Then... Aren't you scared?"
"Think about it. How would you feel if you were in my position?"
Caesar saw Gloria.
Gloria had almost killed all the puppets.
Rather, the puppets had reached the point of fleeing in fear.
The shadows that had filled this training ground disappeared, leaving only green grass.
"It seems satisfying."
"Yes. That's right. I'm proud of Gloria."
Flawless spoke with a small smile.
"Even in pain, she didn't lose herself and trained, feeling like a flower blooming in the middle of the desert. Her beautiful nobility and strong vitality captured my gaze."
"But in one corner of my heart, I hoped Gloria would overcome her nightmare and be freed from this long suffering. Now that it's become reality, I feel both somewhat sad and happy."
Flawless looked straight into Caesar's eyes and spoke.
"Are you satisfied with Gloria now?"
Perhaps because Flawless looked exactly like Caesar?
It felt like asking oneself while looking in a mirror.
Caesar understood Flawless's question.
Though unsure if such a future would exist, Gloria could have wielded the greatsword alone and defeated all the puppets with confidence in her abilities.
But Gloria overcame her nightmare now because Caesar was there.
The belief that Caesar was behind her.
The belief that Caesar would help Gloria whenever danger arose.
Based on that belief, Gloria overcame her nightmare.
However, this belief might transform into an obsession towards Caesar and become a major obstacle in Gloria's reality.
"I don't think Gloria won't change. The nightmare of Raum was that terrible."
"Right. Gloria is likely to become anxious when she can't see you."
"Yes. As you say, she might rely on me more than before. But..."
Caesar saw Gloria rushing recklessly to save him.
Her desperate desire to never lose Caesar again overcame her fear, and that desperation became Gloria's courage and strength, successfully reaching Caesar.
"Gloria saved me. She drove away the nightmare alone without help from me, you, or Agatha. I want to match that possibility."
"That stemmed from an obsession of not wanting to lose you again. She didn't drive away the nightmare by her will alone."
"How can a person be perfect alone and accomplish everything alone? I can handle that."
Gloria cut down the last puppet.
Gloria smiled brightly and waved at Caesar.
"Master!"
Caesar also smiled brightly and waved back.
"I'll also rely somewhat on her who has become stronger."
Caesar looked at where Flawless had been.
Flawless wasn't there.
Only a clean sword was stuck in the ground where he had been.
Caesar pulled out that sword.
***
Belial touched the broken pieces of Raum's heart vessel.
"So the beast people destroyed everything?"
"Based on the traces near the heart vessel, it was definitely the beast people."
"Why?"
"...Pardon?"
Belial crushed the heart vessel piece in his hand.
"The beast people must have had a reason to suddenly target Raum? I'm asking what that reason is."
The prophets hesitated and fumbled with their words.
Belial stared at them with an expressionless face.
"So no one knows."
The prophets were terrified of Belial's expressionless face.
Belial rarely showed any emotion.
Should one say he was closer to a snake with extremely faint emotions?
Therefore, Belial moved according to 'reason' rather than his emotions, but the prophets had no idea how the end of that reason would affect their necks.
So the prophets were scared of Belial's expressionless face that felt like a time bomb, when he should be angry but wasn't.
"Raum had Tatiana. A puppet so strong and enchanting that even Hero Yan struggled. Of course, though he became somewhat stupid in number battles due to being brainwashed, his basic physical abilities were superior, so not just anyone could have killed Raum."
Belial walked slowly like a snake between the prophets.
"Then there would be about four suspicious ones."
The prophets could barely stand as their bodies trembled whenever Belial passed by them.
"First, Hero Yan. But that guy left the Beast Forest, so it's impossible."
"Second, Mitchell. He also left the Beast Forest together, so they couldn't meet."
"Then third, Raven. That woman would be capable. Her capabilities haven't been revealed yet. However..."
Belial stopped in front of a tree after passing through the prophets.
"I don't think Raven would have faced Raum and Tatiana alone. It's likely to be Caesar who is with Raven."
Belial spoke to a bird quietly sitting on a tree watching them.
"Isn't that right? Doppelganger?"
The bird spoke calmly.
"How did you notice?"
"There are rarely any living creatures that come close to me. Most flee when they sense my energy. Especially sensitive creatures like birds."
"I didn't know that at all. I'll keep that in mind."
The bird jumped down to the ground and transformed into a red fox beast person.
"If you just came to spy on us, I'll kill you. Instead, if you give us useful information, I'll let you live."
"For example?"
Belial grabbed his neck.
"Ack!"
"I'm not in the mood for wordplay. Speak quickly. Who killed Raum?"
The doppelganger made space to breathe by moving his neck and barely opened his mouth.
"......Caesar."
"Caesar. It was him again. Or should I say, as expected, it was him?"
Belial put down the doppelganger.
The doppelganger coughed and took a deep breath.
"Has Caesar started targeting us in earnest?"
"I know that Raum had kidnapped Caesar's disciple. So Caesar went to find Raum to get Gloria back. That was three days ago."
"Since Caesar is a doppelganger and currently allied with the beast people and the Demon King, the beast people must have attacked Raum. Raum brought it upon himself."
Belial glared at the prophets and spoke.
"By the way, it's quite amusing that a mere doppelganger is more useful than you all. What should I do with you?"
A prophet hastily spoke up.
"Let's go kill that guy! Shouldn't he pay for attacking us?"
"Yes. A very straightforward answer. Then how?"
"If we attack his troops......"
"So you're saying we should raid a place where 300 battle wizards are always on standby. With the Green-eyed Wizard in charge of protective magic, it would surely be very tricky."
"Uh...... That......"
"So you don't know in the end?"
"So-sorry... Aaaaargh!"
When Belial waved his hand once, the ashes flowing from his fingertips devoured the guy's right arm.
His right arm instantly burned to ashes and disappeared.
"Uwaaaaah!"
He rolled on the ground, writhing in pain.
"Any other opinions?"
The prophets were too afraid to even open their mouths.
"May I make a suggestion?"
Belial turned around and looked at the doppelganger.
"I find it uncomfortable to listen to you. Aren't you just thinking of using us to kill Caesar?"
"In the end, targeting Caesar is the same."
"And you wouldn't care if we perish."
"I won't deny that. But it wouldn't hurt to at least hear what I have to say."
"Choose your words carefully. Before your ill intentions get you killed."
The doppelganger nodded with still emotionless eyes.
"Caesar is trying to escape the demon realm."
"That's not very surprising information. We've all noticed that much."
"But the how is important."
The doppelganger scratched a map of the northern demon realm with his claws.
"Caesar plans to occupy Luxhope soon. He intends to escape the demon realm by boarding the supply ship that comes regularly every month."
"And?"
"Currently, Luxhope is occupied by scavenger bandits that Caesar could wipe out alone. But if you join in, things would be a bit different."
"So you're saying we should attack when Caesar targets Luxhope."
"Yes. The time right after a successful attack is when one tends to be most off guard."
"Quite a decent plan."
Belial looked at the prophets.
"But I can't lose any more of my people just for revenge. Revenge might be sweet, but there's no reason to take it if the results are poor."
"What results do you want?"
"We want the demon realm."
Belial pointed to the east of the map.
There was the Eagle valley.
"Kill Demon Lord Agatha in Eagle valley. And drive out all the beast people. If you agree to surrender the demon realm to us afterward, we'll kill Caesar."
"That seems like too much to ask."
"Then we'll withdraw from the demon realm and return."
"You'd return that easily?"
"There's nothing we can do anyway."
"You're quite cold-blooded."
"That's why the King entrusted me with the demon realm."
At Belial's words, the doppelganger thought for a moment and spoke.
"It's impossible for us to kill Agatha and disband the beast people."
"Then I guess it won't work."
"But we can create a justification to start the Second Demon Realm War again."
"What do you mean?"
The doppelganger grinned and said.
"The current Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces is a doppelganger."