Chapter 341: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It was a Mistake.
Chapter 341
Margrave Pruna desperately blocked the devil's jaws with his spear shaft.
"Argghhh!"
Margrave Pruna used every ounce of strength to push the devil aside before stabbing his spear into its heart.
Despite this, the devil grabbed the spear shaft and pulled it, opening its mouth to bite Margrave Pruna's nape.
At that moment, Kelone knights rushed in with spears and simultaneously stabbed the devil's head and body. With spears piercing its entire body, the devil staggered before finally spewing purple blood and meeting its death.
Margrave Pruna placed his foot on the devil's body and painfully pulled out his spear. Then, catching his breath, he surveyed his surroundings. The third defense line was burning. Of the 300 cannons, barely a dozen were still spitting fire, while the rest of the batteries were either completely destroyed or occupied by devils or knights from the Kingdom of Dior.
"Ah..."
Margrave Pruna's eyes were bloodshot. Was the determination to fight to the death not enough to stop Niflheim's vicious ambitions?
"It's nothing."
Margrave Pruna didn't even have time to chew on despair.
From the river emerged 3 four-horned devils along with 20 two-horned devils. They were all devils with webbed feet and gills.
A four-horned devil giggled.
"If it was this easy to defeat, we should have destroyed it earlier."
"It seems even easier than breaking an infant's wrist."
Margrave Pruna and the Kelone knights pointed their spears at the devils surrounding them.
"You vile Kingdom of Dior scum...! You've finally gone too far. How could you ally with devils?!"
"Devils? We are rightful nobles and subjects of the Kingdom of Niflheim."
"What? Nobles?"
"Yes. I am Viscount Watt Greenwater of the Kingdom of Niflheim."
Watt picked up a broken spear shaft from the ground.
"From now on, I will live as a true noble, not under the insulting name of 'devil' given by inferior races like you. You will envy our evolution and live your entire lives longing for it."
Watt threw the spear shaft.
"Ugh!"
The shaft pierced through the armor of a Kelone knight near Margrave Pruna.
"Of course, you won't even have the chance to feel that envy."
As Watt raised his finger, the devils giggled and prepared to charge.
"Cut off the Margrave's head without damaging it! We'll display it on a flagpole!"
BOOM!
At that moment, the spot where Watt had been standing exploded.
The devils were dumbfounded as they stared at where Watt had been. Watt was gone. All that remained were traces of what looked like his webbed hand, flesh, and an axe emitting lightning stuck in the ground.
"...That axe."
"You know that talking too much is the first way to die, it's beyond cliché, it's classic, right?"
Not just the devils but even Margrave Pruna looked up to the sky where the voice came from.
There was Caesar with red hair and golden eyes, standing on top of Whitey.
Caesar jumped down from Whitey.
To the devils, Caesar was a red comet. And a calamity that burned devils.
BOOM!
When Caesar landed, an earthquake occurred, causing river water to surge and spill onto the dock.
As the dust cleared, they saw where Caesar had landed. A deep crater remained in the ground with river water pouring in and flowing. Around it, only white-burning devil flesh and blood were faintly visible, with no surviving devils in sight.
"Kill him!"
Even in the face of overwhelming force, the devils bravely rushed toward Caesar.
"If we kill Caesar, the King will pour the blood of blessing on us!"
Some devils wielded tridents, some held whips, and others cast spells with staves. But before Caesar, everything was useless.
Swoosh!
With one swing of his left axe, Caesar turned the devils into bloody water.
The devils sank their teeth and weapons into Caesar's skin, but it only tickled him.
Caesar grabbed a fang-like devil that bit his left hand and drove it straight into the ground. Hundreds of teeth broke simultaneously as flesh scattered.
A long spear followed, piercing Caesar's back, but Caesar didn't dodge.
"What...!"
Though it clearly pierced the skin, it felt like striking steel with heavy resistance. Caesar grabbed the spear that had stabbed his back and said.
"That's not enough to pierce through."
Caesar immediately cut off the devil's neck. Soon, river water flowed toward Caesar. The water bound Caesar tightly as if it were alive.
"Got him!"
The four-horned devil Sosran chuckled as Caesar was trapped in the water prison. No one had ever escaped from that water prison.
"Drown to death! Caesar!"
Ring!
At that moment, Storge on Caesar's finger sparkled and dispersed the water prison.
"What...?!"
Thud!
Lefty embedded itself in Sosran's head.
Just before Sosran's body collapsed to the ground, Caesar mounted his shoulder and pulled out his left axe.
"Getting free after such words is also classic."
The devils were terrified. Binding doesn't work, and magic doesn't affect him. Physical combat is even less effective.
How on earth could they win?
Caesar began killing them all like a fox in a chicken coop.
"What are the mental ability users doing?!"
"We're trying, but it's not working!"
Even mental abilities had no effect.
What kind of monster was he?
Margrave Pruna and the knights couldn't close their mouths as they watched Caesar swatting devils like flies.
"So that's Caesar..."
"The savior of Shalibi..."
I thought that Caesar's reputation was somewhat exaggerated. When I heard rumors that when he swung his axe, clouds would flee in surprise, the sea would part, and the earth would groan, I thought it was just wordplay from people who liked to embellish stories. But Caesar's power was not overestimated. Rather, it was underestimated.
"The devil of devils."
"What does the devil of devils mean?"
"It means an angel."
"Oh! Truly a red angel sent by the goddess!"
The way he completely crushed and split all the devils as if born solely to destroy devils truly resembled a war angel bestowed by heaven.
The devils facing Caesar quickly made a decision when they could no longer handle him.
"Retreat! We're retreating!"
The devils jumped into the river.
Since they were composed of devils capable of diving from the beginning, they were confident in at least escaping through the water.
However, Caesar was not one to let them escape easily. Caesar grabbed Thunder and struck down on the river.
Crackle-zzzzzzzzt!
As the powerful electric current penetrated the river, fish along with devils floated to the surface.
"Ugh! Crunch!"
Caesar walked along the riverbank, crushing the skulls of the floating devils. Caesar's gaze fell upon Niflheim's ship.
Caesar leaped toward the ship, stepping on the last devil he had killed.
Thud!
The ship tilted and staggered. The terrified crew of Niflheim trembled.
"Hello?"
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
Crash!
The mast broke and slammed into the floor.
Following that, the crew threw themselves into the river to survive.
Margrave Pruna came to his senses.
"...Counterattack! We're reclaiming the third defense line!"
"Aaaahhh!"
***
Margrave Pruna blankly stared at the battered third defense line.
The battery was smashed, not a single ship remained for docking, and the pier was damaged beyond use.
"We woooooon!"
"Waaaaaah!"
Nevertheless, the soldiers savored the victory. The joy of the first victory after being helplessly pushed back to the second defense line was difficult to express in words.
Above all, they could rejoice because the symbol of victory was clearly visible before their eyes.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
The chant for Caesar flowed naturally from the soldiers' mouths.
Margrave Pruna's common sense that changing the tide of war was not about an individual but about the will created by individuals bonding together was completely shattered.
It seemed that only today did he realize that there really are people born to become heroes in this world.
"Are you Margrave Pruna?"
"That's right. Grand General Caesar El Lindger."
Margrave Pruna shook hands with Caesar.
"Thank you, Grand General Caesar. If it weren't for you, we would all have died here."
"Somehow I thought the Margrave Pruna I knew would fight to the death here, so I rushed over by myself."
"If there's a place where we should die, it's here, where else would it be?"
Caesar looked at the corpses and the damaged battery. He clearly told them not to fight to the death and to move all supplies back first, but Margrave Pruna didn't listen, and there was so much Caesar wanted to say, but...
'He must be the one feeling bitter.'
Margrave Pruna had lost most of his troops and resources.
Defending this place was obviously impossible, and even tending to the wounded didn't seem easy.
"Then let's retreat."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you going to take this number of troops to the second defense line? Or will you defend the third defense line?"
Excluding the wounded, Caesar roughly counted less than 3,000 men.
Knights, including temporarily hired ones, were at best about 200. With this level of forces, defending the third defense line would be nothing short of suicidal.
"But abandoning the Pruna border is unacceptable. I am the margrave who protects this place, so it's fitting that I meet my death here."
Yes, this level of stubbornness is what makes a margrave.
Though stubborn, it was because this stubbornness had been passed down through generations that the Pruna border could be protected.
"I promise you on my position as Grand General. When we go to recover the Pruna border, I will give Your Excellency overall command."
"Still, no. We will protect this place."
"It will take at least two weeks for support from Homigraph to arrive. Defending this place for two weeks would be nothing short of suicide."
Caesar decided to make one final attempt at persuasion.
"Isn't there a saying about taking one step back to advance two steps forward? First, save your people. These men must live to restore the border, right?"
Margrave Pruna looked at the soldiers groaning and bleeding.
Eventually, Margrave Pruna clenched his fist and said,
"...Very well. Let's do that. But keep your promise."
"Of course. I will definitely keep my promise to give you overall command."
Margrave Pruna and Caesar shook hands.
"I'll be honest. I knew you carried the dishonor of destroying the Holy Grail. So until right before this situation, I was uncomfortable accepting your help."
"I think that's completely understandable."
"But seeing you now, it seems clear that destroying the Holy Grail wasn't simply for personal gain."
"If it were for my personal gain, why would I destroy the Holy Grail? I would have just taken it."
"...Hmm. Now that I hear it, that's true. Then why did you destroy it?"
Caesar shrugged his shoulders and said.
"I've always said until now. Holy water is the worst treatment made by torturing the Saint. That's why I destroyed it."
"Is that true?"
"I'm sincere."
I understand Margrave Pruna's suspicion.
Originally, people only want to hear what they want to hear, and inertia and customs are scarier than one might think.
Even though Caesar tells the truth, people can't accept it because of the customs that the Royder Order has brainwashed into them for the past 200 years.
The way to break such customs is to feel rather than to hear and understand, which is much faster. Caesar mounted the Whitey.
"Anyway, I'll be going now."
"Wait, where are you going?"
To prove that Caesar's reason for destroying the Holy Grail was justified, one must prove that Caesar stands at the antipode of evil.
There are various ways to prove this, but Caesar intends to use the method he's best at.
"If I took a hit, I should return the favor. That's what satisfies me."
Yes, that's right. It's definitely not that he's going to relieve stress from paperwork.
***
Denver sat cross-legged on the throne, twirling the crown.
"Oh? So Caesar has stepped up to support the border?"
A devil with a grandfather clock attached to its head bowed and said.
"Yes. That's correct. Exactly 30 minutes and 35 seconds... 36 seconds... 36 and a half seconds...? 37 seconds..."
"Enough. I understand, so be quiet. Marbas."
Marbas mumbled and respectfully withdrew.
"...But time must be precise."
Denver ignored him and spoke to the devils.
"As expected, he's moving according to our predictions."
A devil with no flesh on its hands, only bones and blood vessels intertwined, quietly spoke.
"Shall we proceed according to the plan? My king."
"Yes."
Denver rose from his seat and walked down the stairs.
"Tell the greedy cardinals and pitiful kings."
Denver's fingertips moved.
Then horns began to grow on the heads of kings and nobles who were hanging from pillars, bleeding.
"Uaaaaaaaaaah!"
Denver hummed, taking the screams as a pleasant melody, and said.
"Since Caesar is not in Homigraph and Sapientia, take revenge to your heart's content."
Denver crushed the crown and threw it outside the palace.
"The more the continent groans and falls into grief, the more people will seek me out."
Outside the palace, everything was red. Red flesh that had devoured buildings was spewing out devils, and newly born devils were wailing like newborn babies.
Denver swirled his finger. Then nine horns on his head twisted and intertwined with each other.
"Horns will be the symbol of evolution and value."
Denver's low laughter enveloped the entire palace.
After laughing pleasantly, Denver looked at Marbas, who was quietly watching nervously.
"What is it?"
"Ah, well... a little... well..."
"Speak. What is it?"
"Caesar is crossing the third defense line and heading toward the second defense line. Riding that pegasus."
"The border?"
"Yes. 1 minute and 5 seconds... 6 seconds..."
"Enough! Is it the second defense line?"
"Yes. That's correct. I will go and confirm."
Marbas opened a small door on his forehead and put in a small cuckoo.
"Indeed, Caesar is moving to the second defense line. And... huh?"
Marbas' expression froze.
"He saw me... Aaaaaaa!"
Marbas grabbed his forehead and screamed, rolling his body. White flames flickered like a snake's tongue through the door on his forehead.
"Aaaaaaah! My king! My king! It hurts too much!"
When Marbas clung to him, Denver kicked him away. Marbas rolled down the stairs. Yet he did not stop groaning.
"It hurts too much! Too much! Aaaaa!"
"Why on earth is he acting like that?"
Denver's question circled in the void.
But it was clear who had made Marbas like that.
"Caesar..."
It's certain that that damned man has done something strange.