Chapter 336: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 336
Raven approached Caesar first through spatial movement.
"Hey, you......"
The price of using Happy Ending is losing everything you've built up.
The reason Giggs could return from a devil to an ordinary human was because Happy Ending took all his magic except the minimum needed for survival.
But Caesar's body was far too intact.
No, beyond intact, twice as much aura flowed through his magic circuits compared to the original Caesar.
Even Caesar's physique seemed to have changed, with his muscles and bones subtly larger.
Gloria ran across the corpses and touched Caesar's body.
"Master! Are you alright?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
Raven re-examined Caesar's body and said.
"What exactly happened to you? Does Happy Ending's side effect not apply to doppelgangers?"
"That's not it."
"Then... wait a minute, could it be......"
Caesar transformed into Barre.
Barre's characteristic tanned skin and tall stature remained the same.
But the aura remaining in Barre's core was hardly different from ordinary people, the once wide-open magic circuits had narrowed, and the tough, firm skin was nothing more than that of an ordinary person.
"Yes. Now Barre is truly gone."
Raven felt dizzy hearing Caesar's words.
"You... why......"
"When you use Happy Ending, all the aura and physical conditioning you've built up disappears, right? So I thought, 'What if I could pay the price with Mill's or Barre's body instead of Caesar's?'
And it actually worked."
"Why was it Barre?"
"At first, I naturally switched to Mill's body to pay the price for Happy Ending. But as expected, the trick didn't work. I had to return more than the amount of magic Happy Ending gave me. So I switched to Barre."
Raven couldn't find the cause of the emptiness piercing her chest.
All traces of Barre that she remembered had been erased.
From the structure of muscles, bones, and magic circuits that Raven had to understand to cast one-man support magic on Barre, to the calluses on his palms... and even Barre's rough way of speaking.
Everything had returned to zero like freshly laundered clothes.
"...Weren't you disappointed?"
"Of course I was disappointed. How could I not be? Do you know how hard I worked to build that body?"
How many elixirs had he consumed, and how many hours had he trained every day? It would be impossible to quantify.
"No, not that."
Raven unconsciously placed her fingertips on Barre's forearm.
Barre had a habit of throwing away his axe, losing it daily during the war. Annoyed by this, Raven had placed a retrieval spell on the axe so it could return from wherever it was... And that spell was still here.
"Were you really not sad about it?"
As all traces of Barre that Raven remembered disappeared, it felt like all memories with Barre had vanished too.
"I really was sad. But I thought it was time to let Barre go."
Until now, Raven had seen Barre through Caesar.
Like placing Raven's bed near Barre.
Or slightly covering Raven's eyes when falling asleep by the campfire. When seeing him eat soup with a spoon twice as large as others', Raven thought Barre was still in there.
But seeing the real Barre gone, all those habits would now feel like Caesar's rather than Barre's.
So... Raven just felt stupidly, frustratingly disappointed.
Barre could fully sympathize with Raven's disappointment.
Life as Barre had been miserable, but it would be a lie to say there were no beautiful memories among it.
How could he not be disappointed when he had essentially shed all traces of those memories? But Barre thought it was time to move on from being Barre.
The reason Seo-han chose Mill was to survive on the battlefield, and the reason Mill chose Barre was also to survive.
Then why did Barre choose Caesar?
Barre chose Caesar to live happily.
The very criteria for choosing Barre versus choosing Caesar were different. And what Seo-han wants now is not survival but happiness.
That's why Seo-han chose Caesar, not Barre. Barre returned to being Caesar.
"I am Caesar, after all."
Happiness has value when it exists in the present and future, not the past. Memories, on the other hand, become beautiful precisely because they cannot be returned to.
Raven fully felt the lightness in the gentle magic waves flowing through Caesar's body.
That lightness was so refreshing and free that even Raven's lingering attachment seemed to fly away.
***
Restoring Shalibi was nearly impossible.
This was because devils had broken through the collapsed palisade and wreaked havoc, completely destroying Giggs' forge and the Shalibi library, which were symbols of Shalibi.
Moreover, administration had completely broken down because the Pope, who had been the core of the Dre Order, had fallen and died without leaving a successor.
"What do we do now?"
"What will happen to the Dre Order?"
"Does the Goddess Dre really exist?"
People broke into tears like birds hatching from eggs.
They were given infinite freedom because nothing bound them anymore, but infinite freedom also demanded infinite responsibility from them, so they were gripped by fear.
"Lord Giggs. What should we do now?"
People all flocked to Giggs as one.
In the midst of unbridled freedom, they desired order.
She found a mother who could protect her.
"……."
Giggs didn't want to be their leader.
Giggs didn't think he was a great enough person to lead their future.
Currently, Giggs had lost all the aura in his dantian to the point where it's difficult to make even a proper sword.
Although he had already declared to people that he would give up the title of the world's finest blacksmith, the blacksmiths and people of Shalibi entrusted their future to Giggs.
At that moment, Giggs saw a special person. In the midst of the ash-filled audience, he was a man with distinctly red hair. The eyes of that red man, not the eyes of a wanderer like Giggs or others, but the eyes of someone who knew a clear answer.
Seeing those clear eyes, Giggs' eyes also began to come alive. It felt like he now knew what he needed to do.
"I am not qualified to lead you."
Giggs' disciples and others became anxious.
"What do you mean? If not you, Master Giggs, who will lead us?"
"I am old. I have no aura and no strength to properly hold a hammer."
"Don't say that! We still think you are the best blacksmith, Master Giggs."
"Yes. Let's say I'm the best blacksmith. Does that mean I can lead you?"
People's eyes were filled with disappointment.
These are people who gathered around Giggs, clinging to a thread-like hope. And now that Giggs has coldly rejected their hope, the depth of their disappointment was as great as their expectations.
"But I know who should lead us."
Giggs pointed to Caesar and said.
"Caesar El Lindger! Savior of Shalibi! Since you saved us, you have a duty to be responsible for our lives!"
Giggs stomped his foot.
"Stand here right now and tell us where we should go!"
People's eyes turned to Caesar. Their gazes crossed between doubt and anxiety. Giggs called for Caesar again.
"Caesar!"
When Giggs stomped his foot again, his disciples followed and stomped their feet as well.
Bang!
"Caesar!"
Bang!!
"Caesar!!"
At the sound of stomping feet, like heavy drums, even those who doubted were swept up in the atmosphere.
All the people gathered in the square began to stomp their feet and call for Caesar.
Bang!!!
"Caesar!!!"
A long path opened between Caesar and the platform.
Bang!!!!
"Caesar!!!!"
Amidst the cries of ten thousand, despair and hope, doubt and conviction intersected.
Caesar was called upon to be the one to remove despair and doubt from among them.
How should he come forward? Caesar looked at Raven and Gloria and said.
"Both of you, follow me."
Caesar walked the path that people had opened for him. Gloria and Raven followed behind Caesar.
Bang!!!!
"Caesar!!!!!"
The crowd's call made one's heart race.
The hair on the back of the neck stood up, and sweat flowed in the hands.
An ordinary person would be crushed by this emotion, but a ruler is elevated by it.
Caesar met the repeated calls with dignity. Caesar climbed onto the platform. When Caesar stood in the center of the platform, people became quiet.
Caesar filled his voice with aura and opened his mouth.
"In a forgotten era, in a time when the word 'king' was lost, I learned that five conditions are necessary to lead people."
Caesar looked at the people.
"First, there must be people who follow the king."
Caesar looked at Giggs.
"Second, one must receive the choice of the wisest person."
Caesar looked at Gloria.
"Third, there must be a knight to protect the king."
Caesar looked at Raven.
"Fourth, one must be bestowed with a sword that symbolizes the king."
Raven took out the Baptism Sword from her spatial bag.
It was an incomplete Baptism Sword without a handle. What followed out of the spatial pocket were Flawless and Happy Ending.
"These four conditions are all given to the king, and the fifth and final condition comes from the king himself."
Raven opened her mouth.
『Baptism Sword. Serve the king.』
Flawless handle and blade separated, and Happy Ending's pommel came off. The handle part of the Baptism Sword and the pommel combined into one and slowly moved toward the Baptism Sword.
….!!!
As the Baptism Sword took its complete form, a holy golden aura flowed out.
That aura had the talent to enchant people, making them feel reverence just by watching it.
"The fifth condition is that the one called by the people decides to become king."
Caesar spoke to the audience surrounding him.
"I have no reason to lead you. You also have no reason to take my orders. I am not blessed by the goddess, nor am I commanded to lead you. In other words, you and I are in a relationship no different from complete strangers."
Caesar took one step closer to the people.
"But if you wish to follow me, I have a reason to be responsible for your future. If you wish to serve me with your lives, I also have a reason to serve you with my life."
Caesar asked.
"So I ask! Will you follow me?!"
People unknowingly knelt on one knee.
"Yes! We will follow you!"
Caesar asked again.
"Will you serve me?!"
"Yes! We will serve you!"
The power flowing from the crowd, not from Caesar's hands and feet, gave a completely different kind of strength.
The consistent will of the crowd toward their leader seeped into Caesar.
Intuition came first, followed belatedly by the confidence to fulfill that responsibility.
Before Giggs, who had unknowingly knelt, a brilliant baptism sword was held.
Giggs trembled. He had sensed what responsibility and duty would be given to him.
"Mr. Giggs. Please give your blessing."
Giggs could not refuse Caesar's words.
Giggs barely managed to stand on his two trembling feet.
Soon he closed his lips and grabbed the baptism sword.
Then Giggs' mouth opened without him realizing it.
"Let him who wishes to be king kneel before me."
Giggs could not understand what he had just said. But everyone, including Giggs, knew what these words meant.
It was a call for Caesar.
Caesar knelt on one knee before Giggs at the sound calling him.
Giggs had no strength to hold the baptism sword, but the sword breathed strength into him.
Giggs placed the baptism sword on Caesar's right shoulder.
"I bestow this baptism"
As Giggs' words began, golden oil started flowing from the guard and jewels of the baptism sword.
"I give you the strength to face the adversary of all people"
"And the stamina to never tire in caring for all people"
"And a body that does not bleed"
"And swift feet to look after all people"
"And the charisma to command all people"
"And the mental strength to not collapse in any adversity"
"And endless aspiration"
Giggs raised the sword and placed it over Caesar's head.
The golden oil flowing along the blade poured onto Caesar.
"You are the rightful king."
As the golden oil poured over Caesar's head, the baptism sword melted away and disappeared.
Caesar's red eyes were dyed with brilliant golden color.
"A true golden eye."
"It's the symbol of a king."
"The birth of a true king."
Caesar felt an endless flow of unprecedented power and simultaneously, responsibility.
Caesar reached out his hand. Then the baptism sword sprang from his hand.
"I will guide us to where we must go. That place is..."
The direction Caesar's fingertip pointed was northeast.
"Homigraph."