239
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake
Chapter 239
Belial closed his eyes atop the damaged coastal artillery battery. The humid sea breeze brushed past Belial's cheeks and hair.
Rustle
The ends of Belial's thin hair broke off, turning to ash and scattering in the wind. Belial's skin also began to flake away and disappear, like dead skin peeling off. Like rocks slowly being eroded by waves, Belial's hair and skin continued to vanish, and eventually one of his little fingers fell off and disappeared. Yet Belial felt nothing.
No pain.
No sense of loss.
He simply stood quietly like a rock being eroded by the waves. Belial only opened his eyes when he sensed a presence. An eagle had perched on the barrel of the damaged coastal artillery, watching Belial. If it were an ordinary eagle, it would have come closer to check if Belial was dead, but Belial already knew this eagle was no ordinary animal.
"What brings you here, Doppelganger?"
"I should be asking you that. What are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for Caesar."
"Do you think merely waiting will be enough to kill Caesar?"
"He has no choice but to come since I have what he wants."
Belial looked down at Luxhope. It was difficult to find an intact building as everything was broken and burned, devoid of any signs of life. The dock was also full of debris, with wreckage swaying in the waves.
"Of course, it's problematic that my plans reached his ears thanks to your foolish actions."
"That's what I came to discuss."
"Discuss? With you lot?"
Belial waved his hand.
The ash that flowed from his fingers spread widely, attempting to engulf the Doppelganger. The Doppelganger quickly took flight to avoid the ash.
Belial's ash instantly melted steel. The melted steel consumed and burned the surrounding debris.
"You act so high and mighty like you know all the world's secrets, yet you want me to discuss things again with incompetent beings like you who ended up losing to Caesar?"
The eagle moved to perch on a pile of collapsed concrete.
"That is regrettable. However..."
"Regrettable, you say."
Belial's gaze shifted subtly.
"You're different from the other Doppelgangers I've met. That one never showed emotions, let alone empathy."
The Doppelganger could tell that Belial's intuition was sharper than expected. It thought it would be better to say what needed to be said and leave quickly, if only to keep Elijah's secret.
"Erase Luxhope from the map, Belial."
"Why do you want that?"
"When the Empire's regular supply ships see that Luxhope has disappeared, they will definitely retreat. Caesar won't be able to hold out long with his current supplies, and he will self-destruct."
"You seem to have forgotten that he's allied with Agatha. He can survive indefinitely with supplies from the Demon King."
"But that means he'll spend more time in the demon realm. More time there means more opportunities to attack."
"True. Your point has merit."
Belial approached the Doppelganger while leaning on his staff. The Doppelganger prepared to retreat as Belial drew near.
"The question is, why should we let ourselves be used favorably by you?"
"This is a deal. Have you forgotten the promise to move allied forces against Agatha once Caesar is dead?"
"That was before you interfered with our work. You spent all that time monitoring us and then leaked all our information to Caesar."
Belial lightly tapped his staff. A cloth covering tucked in the corner of the artillery was removed, revealing stacks of papers. Belial gestured toward the papers, and one sheet flew to land in front of the Doppelganger.
"So I no longer intend to move according to your wishes."
The Doppelganger flinched upon seeing the words written on the paper before it.
[Commander Baker of the Allied Forces is a Doppelganger.]
"...What are you trying to do?"
"Creating chaos."
Belial struck his staff down. The strings binding the papers instantly burned and broke. The papers rose into the air, caught in the updraft created by the heat from the burning ash. Like a flock of birds, the papers began spreading to various parts of the demon realm on the wind.
"You're not the only ones who enjoy chaos."
"This isn't something to approach emotionally! Belial!"
"Emotions?"
Belial flung ash toward the Doppelganger. The Doppelganger tried to escape again but couldn't find anywhere to flee due to the ash filling the surroundings.
"Arrrrghhhh!"
The Doppelganger's right wing instantly caught fire and broke off. The Doppelganger crashed ungracefully and crawled on the ground.
"As expected, I see you can feel pain."
"Belial...!"
"It's been a long time since I felt pain or emotion. That's why when I met your friend who feels neither fear nor pain, I could sense a connection. Because his heart seemed to be just as empty and hollow as mine."
The ashes gathered together and surrounded the doppelganger like a cage. As it tightened gradually, the doppelganger immediately changed its form. It became a small chickadee. Though the doppelganger tried to quickly fly away as a chickadee, Belial's cage contracted faster. Unable to find an escape route, the doppelganger flew around here and there before landing on the ground. As the doppelganger became smaller, the cage shrank accordingly.
When the cage had become so small that it was difficult to breathe comfortably, Belial slowly extended his hand toward the doppelganger.
"What a fascinating species. Just by changing form, all wounds are healed. And it's remarkable that you possess other special abilities as well."
"What do you want, Belial?"
"Didn't I tell you before? The King gave me only one command: Conquer and present to me the demon realm."
Belial picked up the cage and placed the doppelganger on his palm.
"Therefore, there was only one ultimate reason why I tried to kill Caesar. Because it seemed he would interfere with the King's command."
"As you say, if we leave Caesar alone, he will continue to interfere. Have you forgotten his epithet as the Devil Slayer?"
"Yes, I know that. However, it seems there's no need for me to dirty my hands."
Belial took the doppelganger to another place covered with cloth. When Belial snapped his fingers, the cloth burst into flames, revealing bundles of paper tied together as seen before. Belial picked up the paper and showed it to the doppelganger.
"...!"
The doppelganger's eyes widened in shock.
[Elijah Friedrich is a doppelganger.]
The doppelganger remained silent, unsure how to react.
"Your reaction is quite different. Wouldn't it be better to thrash about as you did earlier? Isn't this the reaction of someone who's been struck right at their core?"
Suddenly, a man wearing a black hood appeared beside Belial. The doppelganger was bewildered, having not sensed any presence at all.
"You're not the only ones observing us. We've been carefully watching you all this time as well."
"...What are you trying to say?"
"The doppelganger observing Caesar was a Steel Lion Knight. The only one who commands the Steel Lion Knights is Elijah Friedrich. So naturally, we reached the conclusion that Elijah Friedrich must also be a doppelganger."
Belial made the cage disappear. The doppelganger was confused, uncertain of Belial's intentions in removing the cage.
"Well, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. If we shake Elijah, the demon realm will become more chaotic, and when it becomes chaotic, it will be better for us to operate."
"You seem to not understand humans well. No human would believe such ridiculous information."
"But we can plant doubt. Caesar could be a doppelganger. The Alliance Commander could be a doppelganger. Elijah could be a doppelganger. They will have to explain this matter to others somehow, and if they can't explain it, even if they're not doppelgangers, they will effectively become doppelgangers."
Belial scattered the propaganda leaflets high into the sky. Much higher than the leaflets scattered earlier. The doppelganger dove between those papers and flew high into the sky. Belial smiled slightly as he watched the escaping doppelganger.
"Go tell Elijah. Tell him we have no intention of moving according to his will."
***
Baker tore the propaganda leaflets to shreds.
"What? I'm a doppelganger?! Huh?!"
The Alliance staff members kept their eyes down, trying to avoid eye contact with the raging Baker. If they caught Baker's attention now, they would receive nothing but verbal abuse. Although Mitchell and Yan weren't intimidated by the angry Baker, they avoided looking in his direction to avoid unnecessary confrontation.
Instead, they exchanged meaningful glances with each other.
'This is peculiar.'
It wasn't that Baker was suspicious or anything like that. The devils' true intention in sending these propaganda leaflets wasn't clear. Mitchell looked down at the propaganda leaflets in his hand.
[Caesar is a doppelganger.]
[If Caesar doesn't reveal the truth, we will attack the Imperial regular supply ships coming to Luxhope.]
[Alliance Commander Baker is a doppelganger.]
[Elijah Friedrich is a doppelganger.]
Mitchell asked the Red Wing Knight standing behind him.
"Where did this come from?"
"It's from Luxhope. It's currently known to be occupied by devils."
"So are you saying all these propaganda leaflets were sent by devils?"
"That possibility is highly likely. The scouts deployed in the Luxhope area have reported this."
'This is difficult to understand.'
Both Mitchell and Yan knew that Elijah was a doppelganger. This was because Raven said she had clearly heard this information from the demon race. Since Raven could clearly distinguish between truth and lies, she would have certainly noticed if the demon race was lying.
However, for some reason the devils knew this information and were announcing to the world that Elijah was a doppelganger.
'The question is why they included Caesar and Baker as well.'
Could Caesar and Baker really be doppelgangers?
Caesar cannot possibly be a doppelganger. If Raven had known that Caesar was lying, she would have reacted immediately. And if Caesar was a doppelganger, he wouldn't have risked his life fighting against Elijah.
Baker also cannot be a doppelganger. Baker shared a secret that only Mitchell knew. And whenever there were doubts, Mitchell occasionally tested Baker, and Baker always answered correctly. When there are no suspicious circumstances or clear evidence against Caesar or Baker, why spread such propaganda leaflets?
'...Or perhaps this is all true.'
Mitchell turned his gaze back and whispered quietly to the Red Wing Knight.
"How are the other soldiers reacting?"
"Most don't believe it, but they are being swayed."
"Does it look like it will spread into a major problem?"
"We are familiar with how to deal with such defamation campaigns because we've experienced battles with succubi. We don't expect it to cause major ripples."
At that moment, Baker stood up abruptly and said:
"Yes, this is the Demon King's plot."
"...Pardon? The Demon King, you say?"
"Yes. The Demon King. The Demon King has colluded with devils to interfere with the unity of the allied forces."
That doesn't make sense. Weren't the beast people nearly driven to extinction because of the devils?
After experiencing such an event, there's no way the Demon King would comfortably form an alliance with devils.
"The Demon King wants the revival of the demon realm. They're using devils to drive us out of the demon realm. They can't stand to see humans uniting to stabilize the demon realm."
The advisors found it difficult to freely express their opinions. Baker had recently sent all those who fell out of his favor to the frontier. Finally, Mitchell spoke up.
"Your Excellency, it is true that the Demon King dreams of reviving the demon realm. Who wouldn't want their glorious past back?"
"I see your thoughts align with mine. Then..."
"However, it's difficult to believe that the Demon King has colluded with devils. The current Demon King seeks friendship with the Imperial province. In such circumstances, forming connections with devils would be equivalent to turning against humanity. That doesn't make logical sense."
"The demon race has always been a bloodthirsty species that prefers war over peace. They just needed some time to regroup."
Baker's eyes were completely crazed. Obsessed with military achievements, he was beyond rational logic. Seeing such incompetent aspects made it difficult for Mitchell to think Baker was a doppelganger.
'I thought Baker would be easy to handle...'
Mitchell and Yan currently had no power. The knight order following them had suffered nearly devastating casualties, and they had no clear command authority from the Emperor. Still, the reason Mitchell thought he could easily handle Baker was because Baker was incompetent.
Baker typically had a personality that would easily follow along if Mitchell slightly stimulated his desires, but perhaps due to the situation, Baker was trying to interpret and judge things according to his own logic and will.
'It would have been better if Baker wasn't here at all.'
Thanks to Baker, they had succeeded in unifying the allied forces, but they couldn't handle the allied forces according to Mitchell's will.
"This is definitely the Demon King's doing. The Demon King has colluded with devils to drive out humans."
"That's right."
An even bigger problem was that the number of advisors and generals following Baker had suddenly increased. Perhaps they realized that they could quickly get promoted if they just followed Baker's will? Instead of capable talent, the surroundings were full of sycophants who only knew how to kiss up to Baker.
"Let's go take the Demon King's head right now."
"Before that, occupying Luxhope should be our priority. The Demon King might try to strike our supply lines coming to Luxhope."
"It's also important to kill all the devils so they can't spread propaganda."
"We currently have about 3 battalions of holy knights who can track devils. Let's send them."
"They alone might not be enough. According to intelligence, there are devils with as many as 6 horns."
"Now is when we need powerful knights."
Baker's eyes naturally turned to Yan.
"Hero. Could you perhaps lead the devil hunt along with Lord Mitchell?"
Yan remained silent. Baker's request was almost blatant.
Currently in this command tent, there were exactly two people who made Baker uncomfortable - Yan and Mitchell. Baker seemed to want to seize this opportunity to remove the two who refused his orders from his sight. Unable to withstand the gaze of Baker and his advisors, Yan finally spoke.
"Give me some time to think."
"I'm afraid I can't give you too long."
Yan looked at Mitchell. It was a signal to go outside and talk. Since Mitchell also wanted to speak with Yan, he immediately went outside.