228
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 228
When Agatha came to the garden with Raum's belongings, it was quite a scene.
Caesar was beating Gloria like catching a mouse.
"What's going on there? Borden?"
Borden shrugged and said.
"I don't know. Perhaps some kind of training?"
Caesar delivered a side kick toward Gloria's side.
Gloria barely blocked the kick with the flat of her sword.
But that didn't mean there was no impact.
"Ugh!"
Gloria felt like her legs would buckle under the impact that felt like it would break her shoulder and side.
But she blocked Caesar's ruthless following punch with the pommel part.
However, unable to fully withstand Caesar's power, she had no choice but to roll backward.
Gloria's body was covered in mud, and her glossy hair was tangled and messy.
"Are you giving up here? Owl?"
"No!"
"What kind of answer is that? Are you human? Why are you speaking human language?"
Caesar kicked Gloria who had fallen down as if kicking a soccer ball.
Gloria blocked Caesar's leg with the blade part of the sword rather than the flat side.
But Caesar's legs weren't even cut, let alone bleeding.
In fact, even Caesar cannot block a sword with bare hands.
Especially since Flawless is among the finest of swords.
Blocking a sword that can cut paper just by placing it on top with bare hands is nothing short of suicide.
Then is it because his body's durability increased thanks to eating the millennium ginseng?
No.
Millennium ginseng is effective in increasing the amount of aura and widening magic circuits, but it doesn't have much effect on increasing physical durability.
Nevertheless, the reason Caesar could block Flawless was because he became able to use the original technique 'Extinction' that he learned during his Barre days.
Extinction is a technique that eliminates all impacts penetrating the body using aura.
Should I say it's similar to the Magician's 1st skill 'Magic Guard' in the game 'MaXle Story' that Seohan played when he was young?
In game terms, HP should decrease but MP decreases instead.
To show how amazing this technique is, with this Extinction technique, he could even withstand the 'Sword Force' of the Moon Knights.
Of course, if there's a fatal weakness to such an overpowered ability, it's that because it uses an enormous amount of aura and the amount of aura used at once is very high, the magic circuit needs to be extremely wide...
Clang!
Having achieved the condition by eating millennium ginseng, he could now use it freely.
"The answer must be evil Don't you know?"
"Evil!"
"Listen to the voice!"
"Ahhjh!"
Caesar threw a punch toward Gloria.
Gloria tried to block it somehow with her sword through sheer willpower.
Bang!
When Caesar's solid fist collided with Flawless, the sound of steel clashing was heard.
"Who told you to scream? Answers should be concise and strong! Don't you remember?"
"Evil!!!"
"Good. Going again."
Gloria felt like she was going to lose her mind from Caesar's merciless violence.
Caesar was beating her at a speed and power that Gloria could definitely block.
However, since it would come at an unblockable speed and angle if she let her guard down even slightly, Gloria could only focus on blocking.
Seeing Gloria like this, Agatha recalled what she had said to Caesar.
-I'm a jealous and worried woman. Looking at Gloria, she's so pretty that I'm worried you might fall for her.
"...I didn't want it to go this far."
Agatha started to feel a bit sorry for Gloria.
***
Gloria started digging like crazy.
"You should clean up your own mess. Right?"
"Evil!"
Most of the ground was broken up from Caesar missing his strikes, but Gloria couldn't complain.
She had always been responsible for cleaning up the training grounds before.
"Level it all out neatly. Got it?"
"Ack!"
After dusting off his hands, Caesar attached lefty to his back holster and looked at Agatha and Borden.
Borden was looking at Caesar with an emotionless gaze, but Agatha was watching Gloria with somewhat pitying eyes.
"...You didn't need to go this far, Caesar."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you didn't need to be this harsh on Gloria because of me."
Caesar tilted his head in confusion.
"Harsh?"
Agatha pointed at Gloria who was frantically filling holes and leveling the ground.
"Is this normal then?"
"Ah this is nothing. I've only made her work for 1 hour so far."
"That's exactly the point, you tortured her for a whole hour!"
"Usually it's 12 hours. I stopped early since we have other things to do."
Caesar roughly wiped the mud on his clothes and said:
"More importantly, did you bring it?"
"Yes. Here."
Agatha handed over a box containing Raum's belongings.
Everything was there, from torn clothes to the golden staff Raum had used.
"How did you think to grab this in all that chaos?"
"I brought it to prove my ownership in case the Dre Order people make trouble about Flawless later."
"You think they'll leave it at that? I heard the Flawless is really important to the Dre Order."
"Of course they'll demand it back. But with this staff at least I can argue my case."
"...Well, I'll leave those headaches to you."
Caesar picked up the staff.
As expected of something Raum used, it was emanating an incredibly ominous energy.
"This is a really unpleasant object."
"Agreed."
Caesar closed his eyes and used psychometry.
The subject he was searching for was information related to himself.
Various scenes flashed through Caesar's mind.
-Caesar is the problem.
-To find Caesar's disciple. What a stroke of luck.
-Just need to buy a little more time.
-It would be fun to brainwash Gloria and make her fight him.
-I wonder if Caesar could bring himself to cut down Gloria?
Rage built up in Caesar as Raum's vile plans and emotions flooded in.
Though he wanted to snap the staff in half right then, Caesar maintained patience and dug deeper into the past.
Eventually, Belial appeared before Caesar's eyes.
-Look into what's been happening with Caesar recently and what he's after in detail.
-Are you planning to kill Caesar?
-Of course. He'll be a major hindrance to Niflheim. But we can't let ourselves be used by that doppelganger's master either. So if their master makes a suitable proposal, we'll pretend to go along with hunting Caesar.
'Found it.'
He had wondered why Raum's puppets were wandering around Eagle valley- it seems Belial had ordered Raum to gather information about Caesar.
That must be why Gloria encountered Raum's puppet.
'But doppelganger?'
Caesar wondered why the word doppelganger suddenly came up in Belial's speech.
Caesar focused again on the doppelganger.
-Alright, doppelganger who serves a coward. What did your master tell you to relay to me?
-Caesar.
-...Caesar?
-You must be curious who killed Geotech. The culprit is Caesar.
Caesar opened his eyes.
Seeing Caesar's hardened expression, Agatha carefully asked:
"What's wrong, Caesar?"
"This is going to be tougher than expected."
"What do you mean?"
"Elijah has been in contact with Belial."
"What? That guy went that far? No, I suppose someone like him would stoop to such despicable acts."
Honestly, he hadn't expected Elijah to contact devils at all.
If Elijah had any sense, he should know that getting involved with Niflheim's devils would only bring trouble.
-That means someone ordered you to deliver a message to me, but who could that be?
-You don't need to know. That's not what's important to you anyway.
'No, that's why they didn't reveal their identity.'
They only sent avatars so they could cut ties anytime.
Elijah must also know that getting too deeply involved with devils would be troublesome.
In other words, while Elijah and Belial were communicating to some extent, they were only cooperating out of necessity rather than fully trusting each other.
"Wait, then the devils know you're a doppelganger?"
"Yes. This has become complicated."
Now that his secret was exposed to the devils, they would surely try to exploit this weakness.
At minimum they would spread rumors about Caesar being a doppelganger, and they would deal with him more cautiously thinking he might be Barre.
"It's fortunate Raum acted independently. If Belial had been involved too, we'd be in big trouble."
Caesar stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Looks like we'll need more information. We need to know how deeply Elijah is involved with the devils to formulate a response."
"How will you get that information?"
"If they said doppelgangers and devils are watching my surroundings, that means they must also be nearby."
Caesar looked at his troops beyond Eagle valley.
"There's a high chance doppelgangers have infiltrated the unit."
"What will you do then? Should I send the succubi?"
"No, I'll search for them myself."
"Won't the doppelgangers run away if you search personally?"
"Well, I'll figure something out. I'll discuss it with the unit members and let you know."
Caesar watched the white creature flying across Eagle valley.
"Unfortunately, looks like break time is over."
***
As soon as Whitey landed in the garden, he nuzzled his cheek against Caesar's face.
-My master! You are alive!
Caesar smiled while stroking Whitey's head, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
"It's been a while. This guy seems to have gained some weight since I last saw him?"
"He looks a bit thinner to me?"
Agatha handed a turnip to Whitey.
Whitey crunched on the turnip right away.
Agatha stroked him as if finding it cute.
Meanwhile, Gloria stood in front of Caesar with trembling legs.
"I've filled them all!"
"Good work. Now it's time to head back."
"Finally...!"
Gloria was so happy about being able to return to her unit that she almost had tears in her eyes.
Well, it's understandable from Gloria's perspective.
After all, she's returning after enduring all sorts of hardships for the past ten days.
"Give me Flawless for a moment."
"Ah, yes."
Caesar carefully wrapped the handle part of Flawless with Raum's torn cloak.
"Hmm, this should do. Here, take it."
Gloria touched the wrapped part with confusion.
"Why did you wrap the handle part with a grip?"
"I noticed the Flawless handle was slippery and about to slip. So I wrapped it with a grip."
"When did you notice such a thing?"
"A master knows everything. And no matter what happens, don't unwrap the grip in front of others."
"What? Why?"
"If others notice it's Flawless, the Dre Church people will be annoying. If anyone asks where you got it, say you received it from Agatha."
"Yes. I understand."
At that moment, Agatha approached with a small smile.
"Happy to go back?"
Caesar sensed a subtle unease in Agatha's smile.
"...Hmm?"
"I asked if you're happy to go back."
Gloria blinked and said:
"Isn't that obvious?"
"I gave you a good bed and helped with treatment, but you didn't like it much? I guess humans are most comfortable among their own kind?"
As a strange atmosphere began to flow, Gloria rolled her eyes.
"Well... I was grateful for that..."
"Well, I wasn't asking you, so it's fine."
Agatha smiled brightly and asked Caesar again:
"I've been so good to you until now, but I guess it wasn't as comfortable as expected? Hmm?"
Caesar used psychometry to survive.
-This isn't just me feeling disappointed, right?
-It hasn't even been 3 hours since we agreed to date.
-Couldn't you have stayed at least one more day?
-Plus, it's frustrating that I can't reveal our relationship to Gloria or other humans.
-Should I just reveal it all?
Before Agatha could do anything, Caesar quickly opened his mouth.
"I was very grateful, Agatha."
"Really? Is gratitude all there is?"
"I will personally come back with something to repay you soon."
Agatha's expression brightened, but then she coughed after glancing at Gloria.
"Ahem! You'll come back?"
"Yes."
"Alone?"
"I should probably come alone if possible."
Agatha nodded.
"Indeed, unlike other humans, you know how to repay. That's why I trust you, but still."
Then, Gloria also raised her hand.
"I'll also bring something to repay you. I'm very grateful for everything."
Agatha looked at Gloria with a cold expression.
"No. You don't need to come. No, don't come."
"...Eh?"
Gloria just tilted her head, unable to understand Agatha's ice-cold gaze.
"I'll bring Gloria's gift separately. So please wait a little."
"Good. You must be busy now, so I should let you go."
Having finished the conversation, Caesar mounted Whitey.
Gloria also got on behind Caesar.
Agatha was very slightly very bothered by the sight of Gloria holding Caesar's waist.
"Next time, it would be better if you really came alone. We need to load the gifts in the back, right?"
"...I understand."
I didn't know her jealousy was this serious.
But Caesar could understand, if some man put his hands on Agatha's waist, his blood would probably rush to his face too.
So this level of jealousy should be understood.
'I shouldn't let women ride when Agatha is present.'
"Ahem! Anyway, see you later."
Caesar flew away riding Whitey.
Finally returning to the unit.
Feels somewhat refreshing.
"Would you like some water, Sir Caesar?"
"Yes."
"Please wait a moment."
Gloria found a small letter in the saddle pocket.
"Oh, this seems to be a letter for Master."
"A letter?"
Caesar opened the letter.
[Please return immediately. - Jerry]
"Hmm..."
Thinking about Jerry's nagging that he'll hear when he returns isn't exactly pleasant.