Chapter 323: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It was a Mistake.
Chapter 323
Smaurne's knees buckled as her heart was pierced through. Blood flowed from Smaurne's mouth and chest, soaking the floor.
"You bastards...!"
Smaurne's weakened hand struck Barre aside.
Barre, having used all his strength, was easily pushed away.
Raven was shocked to see Smaurne still moving despite having her heart pierced.
"Stop...!"
Gloria gave a command with her headband.
Smaurne's hand, which was reaching out to strangle Raven's neck, stopped. Her fingertips trembled and her eyes were filled with more killing intent than any devil's, making one's hair stand on end just by looking at them.
But in a situation where Gloria was controlling Smaurne, there was nothing Smaurne could do.
"It ends so futilely like this...?"
Smaurne looked at the collapsing city of sin with empty eyes. Water was rising up to Smaurne's chest, and water was flowing from the ceiling.
"I just gained freedom, but...?"
Barre, who had been pushed away, couldn't get up. Barre was submerged in water that barely reached his waist, unable to breathe.
"Barre, get up!"
Raven tried to somehow lift Barre's body, but Raven's strength wasn't enough. He had lost consciousness due to his severe injuries. Raven used freezing magic. Barre's body rose onto an ice mattress. Barre coughed up blood and breathed.
"I cannot accept this..."
Smaurne looked at the sky. Water is pouring down, but it's still a murky, gray world.
She had vowed to escape this prison someday and see the blue sky and stars... To think that Smaurne's end would be to be buried with these vermin. What was the point of being imprisoned here for 300 years? Smaurne felt wronged. At that moment, Smaurne's body gained freedom.
"Huh?"
Smaurne looked at Gloria who had been controlling her body. Gloria's headband was no longer with Gloria but in the hands of an unfamiliar man.
"I will serve you, Saint."
The unfamiliar man was Roland. Gloria threw a punch at Roland, but Roland easily dodged it and struck her nape.
"Thud!"
Gloria's consciousness momentarily cut off and she went limp. Roland caught the falling Gloria and said.
"I will pay for the sin of laying hands on the Saint's body later."
Freed, Smaurne pulled out the spear of penetration that was stuck in her heart.
Splurt!
Blood poured from her mouth and chest. Her legs were about to give way and she felt like she would faint, but it was fine.
Smaurne spoke dragon language.
『Heart Recovery』
Smaurne experienced such terrible pain that her vision turned white. The pain was so severe that she almost lost consciousness for a moment.
But the hole in her heart was filled and began to beat again. When her heart had recovered to some extent, Smaurne smiled at Roland.
"You are a knight of those 'priests.'"
Smaurne pointed to the headband in Roland's hand.
"Bring it to me. I will become your king and rule you. You especially will sit at my right hand and command this world."
Roland bowed respectfully toward Smaurne.
"It is truly an honor to meet you like this, Goddess."
Raven was so surprised by Roland's words that her eyes widened.
"...What? Goddess?"
"Blue hair, seductive golden eyes, white skin, and imprisoned in this city of sin, Grezawa. This is the Goddess Royder whom we serve."
"What are you talking about? The incarnation of Smaurne is a goddess?"
"Yes. And she is also the one who handed the Holy Grail to the first twelve cardinals."
The exact details of how the Royder Order obtained the Holy Grail are not precisely known.
Of course, the Royder scripture says that the twelve cardinals received the grail from the goddess, but not a single magician believed it as it was written.
They clearly thought it was discovered in ruins known only to the Royder Order.
"So the Royder Order knew that woman was in the city of sin?"
"Yes. They've known since the day the first Royder Order was established. Of course, this fact is the most confidential information passed down only to cardinals and holy grail knights throughout generations."
Roland raised the Holy Grail. Smaurne's eyes gleamed.
"It is truly remarkable that you possess that relic. And even the sacrifice is nearby."
Smaurne reached out his hand.
"Fill it with that woman's blood and hand it to me immediately."
Roland answered in the ancient language that Smaurne was using.
"Bringing the goddess imprisoned in the earth to the surface has been our lifelong wish."
Roland filled the grail with a little blood flowing from Gloria's forehead. Then the grail shone brightly, and Gloria's blood in the grail turned into fragrant holy water.
Smaurne's expression was filled with joy. With that holy water, Smaurne would immediately recover and tear Barre and that magician to death. Instead of handing the grail to Smaurne, Roland pulled it to his chest and checked the condition of the holy water.
"But we have been blasphemously afraid all along. Whether the goddess is truly the goddess we know. And whether you truly love us."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you turn everyone we sent into gold?"
Smaurne's gaze sharpened.
"Wasn't that because you broke your promise? I said I would destroy this prison if you gave me the Holy Grail and the blue iris flower."
Eventually, Smaurne's body trembled. It was difficult to distinguish whether it was shame, anger, or both.
"I gave you both my wings because I believed your words. I removed both my wings to break the curse of Grezawa placed on that 'Chalice of Blood Drinking' and 'Blue iris Flower'! But you kept asking for more artifacts like children, saying there weren't better ones."
Roland placed his hand on his chest and spoke.
"We are feeble beings without the goddess' help. We have lived our lives preparing only for the day when the goddess comes to earth, the day when all people on the continent praise the goddess."
Roland's eyes turned toward Barre.
"But the power of those wicked groups who cannot accept the goddess like that was too strong. We needed the goddess' help, so we kept asking for your assistance."
"Shut up! I'm not stupid enough not to see through your schemes. You didn't want artifacts. You wanted me to become weak enough to be controlled by you. So you made everyone my subordinates. Servants who sincerely follow me."
Smaurne raised the Spear of Penetration.
"I am not a being who gives whenever you ask! When you give everything that is asked for, it's not called a god but a slave!"
"...How unfortunate."
Roland's expression turned cold.
"The god we want is Mother Goddess Royder who gives us everything we need."
"Damn it all...! My name isn't Royder and I'm not a god! Why do you call me that way!"
Roland poured the holy water into his mouth. Then Gloria's body convulsed.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Gloria struggled in pain and fainted again.
Meanwhile, Roland's wounds and fatigue were completely healed.
"I'm sorry, but goddess, you shall remain here."
"Shut up!"
As Smaurne tried to throw the Spear of Penetration, Roland put on the headband.
Flinch!
Smaurne's body trembled and froze. Blood burst from Roland's nose.
"It seems difficult to keep controlling the goddess with this headband."
Smaurne grabbed the spear in reverse.
"We don't need a goddess who doesn't care for humans."
Stab!
And plunged the spear into her own heart.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Bloody tears flowed from Smaurne's eyes.
"I curse you! I will surely place a curse upon you all!"
A nearby building tilted and collapsed. A huge wave engulfed Raven and Barre. Raven used shield magic to barely maintain balance on the ice fragment without falling. But she couldn't hold on like this for long.
"Barre, please get up, you idiot!"
Splash!
At that moment, a scaled hand rose onto the ice fragment.
It was Smaurne. Raven immediately fired a magic bullet. The bullet hit Smaurne's face directly, but it shattered and disappeared.
Raven trembled while carrying Barre on her back. She couldn't lose Barre like this. If she had to escape, she needed to use teleportation magic. The only place to go was the pillar Roland had entered... Raven calculated the coordinates.
At that moment, Smaurne opened her mouth.
"You, help..."
When Smaurne spoke in the common imperial language instead of the ancient language, Raven immediately stopped casting.
"...What did you say?"
"...Help... Me..."
Raven read the magic waves flowing from Smaurne's body.
Smaurne's magic waves were jumbled with various emotions. The strongest was shame, and the next was desperation. Other negative emotions like killing intent and anger were faintly mixed in, but Raven knew what Smaurne wanted.
"You want us to escape together? Why should I trust you?"
"No. I... Can't."
Smaurne's heart had already been destroyed twice. Smaurne pointed to the white pillar.
"Up there... Kill... Revenge for sure..."
Smaurne used all her strength to pull out the Spear of Penetration.
Gush!
Blood spurted out, soaking the ground. Smaurne pushed the Spear of Penetration toward Raven.
"Promise..."
Raven understood what Smaurne wanted.
To take revenge on the humans who broke their promise to her. How resentful and angry must she be to ask an enemy she had fought to the death just moments ago for revenge? Raven could understand Smaurne's feelings intellectually, but it was difficult to fully comprehend their depth. Raven nodded slightly.
"I understand."
Smaurne nodded slightly and removed the crown from her head, handing it to Raven.
And finally, she recited dragon language.
『Breath, return』
Gush!
Blood spurted from Smaurne's mouth and nose. At the same time, Barre's wounds healed and his eyes snapped open.
Smaurne looked at Barre and Raven with dying eyes and said.
"Definitely... Promise..."
Smaurne sank into the water along with the disappearing ruins.
***
Roland climbed the stairs holding the unconscious Gloria in his arms. The stairs ran along the inner wall of the white pillar.
Boom!
The sound of the city of sin, Grezawa, collapsing could be heard. Some cardinals in the Royder order would be deeply saddened by the collapse of this space, called the cradle and paradise of the goddess.
Of course, they would be more upset about all the artifacts and records being submerged rather than the goddess dying... But Roland had no thoughts about it. It was clear that no matter how precious the artifacts and records sleeping here were, nothing would be as precious as this chalice and the saint.
Roland had finally reached the top of the stairs.
There was a door engraved with a pattern of three curved lines inside a diamond on the ceiling. Roland put down the saint for a moment. Then he turned the manhole-like doorknob and opened it forcefully.
Creaaaak!
As the door opened, the stale smell of underground water rushed over Roland.
Roland clicked his tongue briefly, and as he was about to lift up the saint to send her over the waterway, the saint was nowhere to be seen.
The saint had gotten up and was going down the stairs. What was strange was that the saint's eyes were closed, and her head and arms were drooping while she ran down the stairs.
It felt as if only her two legs had will and were running on their own. Roland immediately jumped down and landed in front of the saint who was running down.
"Where are you trying to go?"
The saint did not answer.
By the looks of it, she really seemed to be unconscious. But her two legs were already in a battle-ready stance. Roland thought he needed to subdue her no matter what.
Roland rushed toward the saint. The saint threatened Roland with a skilled kick. Gloria shook up, down, left, and right, and finally opened her eyes.
"Wha, what...?"
"Saint!"
Seeing Roland pounce on her, Gloria threw a punch. Roland grabbed Gloria's fist and pushed back strongly.
"Stop right now!"
"Where is Sir Caesar? Where is my master?!"
"That evil Caesar is dead."
"Wha, what?! Dead? What are you saying?"
"He was drowned in the City of Sin below. So stop resisting."
"Don't lie! My master couldn't have died so absurdly!"
"If we don't go up right now, everyone will die! First, those who need to live must...!"
Gloria headbutted Roland's nose. Despite this, Roland did not let go of Gloria.
"I have to find my master! Let go of this right now!"
Gloria's legs moved to try to knock Roland down, but Roland instead knocked Gloria down and pinned her against the stairs.
"You must become a saint. If you become a saint, hundreds of millions of people will live."
Roland's eyes, as seen by Gloria, were gripped by madness.
"Think not of your individual self but of the patients waiting for you. Thousands of people die every day because you're not there. If only you...! If only you were there, everything would be solved!"
"I don't want that! Why are you forcing such a thing on me!"
"Why don't you want it?! Weren't you a knight, Saint? Don't you know what it means to wield a sword for the greater good and justice as a knight?"
"I didn't become a knight for the greater good and justice."
Gloria recalled the image of Caesar that flickered before her eyes.
"I became a knight for Caesar. I am Caesar's knight. If Caesar is with me, I don't care if hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of people die."
"What are you saying? How can you be so selfish?!"
"Because Caesar also chose to be hated by the whole world for my sake! So for Caesar's sake, I don't care if this world hates me."
Blood vessels rose in Roland's eyes. And he applied force to strangle Gloria's neck.
"You can't be like that. You...! You must become everyone's idol. Such a selfish person cannot be a saint."
"Don't judge me by your standards...! I'm not that kind of person."
"No! You are not that kind of person!"
At that moment, someone grabbed the back of Roland's neck and pulled him away. There stood a man with red eyes, breathing heavily.
"Why are you making a fuss when my disciple says she doesn't want to? You bastard."
When Roland tried to resist, Raven's stun magic instantly targeted him. Roland's body froze momentarily and couldn't move. Caesar immediately grabbed the back of Roland's neck and threw him down under the pillar.
Splash!
Roland's body fell into the water and disappeared from sight.