58
I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.
Chapter 58
Although he barely managed to calm himself by planting his tentacles into the ground, when he came to his senses, Barre was standing there, exhaling steam from his mouth.
Kwaaaaang!
Barre struck Andromalius's face with his strong fist.
Andromalius's head exploded, along with purple blood and flesh.
Andromalius's body, now without a head, disappears again, shedding like a snake's skin.
"Think you'll fall for it twice?"
Barre grabbed Andromalius's core and slammed it down.
A huge crater formed on the ground, and Andromalius could barely breathe from the terrible pain.
Bang!
Once again.
Bang!
Once again.
After being slammed down three times in a row, Andromalius found it difficult to come to his senses.
Where on earth was the sky, and where was the ground?
Why was he being thrown around like wet laundry?
Andromalius could only cry out feebly.
"St-stop...! Stop!"
"What are you talking about? The night's just beginning."
"Aaaaargh!"
Unleashing this boiling power recklessly really relieves stress.
To be honest, living as Caesar required too much brain work.
Returning as Barre and fighting simply and brutally, relying only on strength and a sturdy body, feels like a weight has been lifted.
"Yeah! This is the feeling!"
Barre's body was like a drug.
How did he live until now, giving up this boiling power?
He almost doesn't want to go back to being Caesar.
How many times did he slam him down?
Andromalius's body slipped from Barre's hands and split into dozens of parts.
They all look different.
Some had one horn on their head, some had two, and some even had three.
They all looked at Barre with fearful eyes, each holding their own weapon.
"N-no. I don't want to die."
"I just wanted to become a knight..."
"Stop! Stop! I don't want my skin to be peeled off again!"
Barre slowly started searching for the real Andromalius hiding among them.
Why is Andromalius's nickname the 'Flaying Demon'?
This guy skins demons alive and wears their skin on his body.
Surprisingly, this adds one more life to him each time.
And as now, he could summon and freely control the demons he had skinned.
Barre spoke, addressing the Andromalius who must be somewhere:
"I heard that all demons' abilities are born from their desires. I think I know why you have this ability."
Barre pointed between their legs and said,
"Is it because your thing rotted away from syphilis?"
"Attack!"
Barre ran in the opposite direction from where the voice came.
It was an obvious lie.
The demons rushed towards Barre.
Some tried to slash Barre with blades, while others tried to bind him with long chains.
But none of their abilities could stop Barre.
Barre lightly swung Wilderness, nullifying all their resistance.
At the same time, he used psychometry.
These demons are ultimately mentally connected to Andromalius.
If so, they should roughly know where he's hiding.
-"S-stop! I don't want to fight!"
-"Please spare me!"
-"My, my body isn't moving the way I want!"
But their mental states were too unstable.
It seemed almost impossible to find Andromalius through their minds.
Then, the next best option.
None of the demons rushing at Barre have real malice.
They're just forcibly carrying out Andromalius's orders.
So, he just needed to catch and kill the ones who attack with malice or try to run away.
At that moment, he looked at a strange guy shooting bean-like bullets from afar.
He has a lot of malice but is strangely passive.
Barre ran towards him, literally crushing the demons, and grabbed his neck in one go.
"H-how!"
"Bingo."
Barre slammed him down.
"Ugh!"
Then the other demon guys all choked as if their breath was suddenly cut off, and they collapsed, shaking.
Seems like their nerves are connected.
"This is fun."
Instead of Wilderness, Barre repeatedly punched the guy's face.
"Stop! Stop!"
As Andromalius's face crumbled, the faces of the other guys started crumbling one by one.
His lifelines were decreasing one by one.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The demons barely managed to approach Barre, swinging their blades, using magic, and shooting flashes of light.
But not even a scratch appeared on Barre's sturdy body.
Instead, Barre gleefully cracked the guy's head like cracking a walnut.
Eventually, all the other demons' heads were shattered, leaving only Andromalius.
Barre lifted Andromalius by the neck, his face a bloody mess.
The guy started pleading pitifully.
"St-stop... Please stop..."
"For someone who wanted to be the herald of a new era, you're pathetically begging for your life. Aren't you ashamed?"
Barre stretched out his left hand.
Then, Wilderness, which had been deeply buried in the ground, clung to Barre's hand with a snap.
And he strode towards somewhere.
"Wh-why were you hiding among humans? Humans killed the Demon King! Shouldn't you be in the demon realm if you want revenge?"
"I'm not really interested in revenge or anything like that. I'm sick of war. I just want to live peacefully like now."
Barre went to where Joseph had fallen.
As expected, there was a bottle of holy oil at Joseph's waist.
Barre broke the oil bottle and applied it to Wilderness's blade.
Andromalius said, shaking:
"If-if you let me go, I won't bother you ever again! I'll tell my king to never touch you no matter what happens! His Majesty will definitely listen to me!"
"Do you think I'm an idiot? All demons know that Barre is a doppelganger, but very few know that Caesar is a doppelganger. Why should I take such a risk?"
"Th-that's..."
Barre threw him to the ground and stepped on his chest.
"I'll give you ten chances. Tell me why I should spare you. Now, first one."
Barre used psychometry.
"I'm a member of Niflheim! If you spare me, you'll gain a great ally!"
"Be friends with a demon bastard like you? Do you want to die? Don't you have anything more productive to say? Alright, second chance."
"You have to spare me! If you don't spare me, Homigraph and Sapientia will be the first to be destroyed by Niflheim! Our first target is Homigraph and Sapientia! I can tell you when you need to run away!"
"Are you telling me to run away now? Do you want to die right now? Don't you have anything really productive to say? I'm starting to want to kill you. Third chance."
Andromalius finally realized what Barre was aiming for.
"I-I have a lot of money!"
"Now we're talking. How much?"
"So much that I can't even count it all! I have nominee accounts and bearer bonds! I also have gold and jewels!"
"Oh ho"
The locations of Andromalius's nominee accounts, gold, and jewels that he had hidden like a squirrel entered Barre's mind.
This is getting exciting.
"And? Fourth chance."
"I have a lot of elixirs too! You might not need them, Barre, but Caesar would, right?"
"Where are they?"
"If-if I tell you where they are, won't you kill me?!"
But the locations of the elixirs he had hidden kept entering Barre's mind.
Some were in the Kingdom of Dior, and some were in the Empire.
"Fifth chance."
"I have many connections! There are quite a few nobles and wealthy people who sponsor demons. I can make them support you."
"Sixth chance."
"Ar-artifacts! I have artifacts!"
"Seventh chance."
"I have demon prisoners captured in the demon realm! I can help release them!"
"Eighth chance."
"And... and!"
Andromalius wracked his brain frantically.
But there was nothing more coming out.
"Tell me what you want! Then I'll answer!"
Barre stroked his chin.
Come to think of it, there was something he wanted to ask this guy.
"Do you know any other doppelgangers besides me?"
"Doppelgangers... there are none."
Barre searched through the guy's mind.
Then he saw a doppelganger being tortured by him.
This damn bastard seems to have experimented on doppelgangers.
"You son of a..."
"Ah, I know! But accidentally they died..."
"What accident! They died during your experiments, you bastard."
Barre lifted the axe.
The gleaming oil sparkled in the moonlight.
"Wait! Wait! I-I'm sorry! No! I apologize! If you spare me, I'll release all the other demons in the laboratory too! So please..."
"I know all the demons in your lab are dead, you fucking bastard."
"H-how... Aaaaargh!"
Wilderness pierced into Andromalius's head.
***
An unfamiliar ceiling.
He blinks his eyes and moves his hands around.
And as he tries to remember why he's lying here...
"Sir Caesar!"
Joseph suddenly sat up.
Every muscle in his body screamed as if it were being torn apart.
But he stumbled out of the bed and flung open the door.
"Sir Joseph! You shouldn't be moving right now!"
Nursing priests and nuns rushed to help Joseph stand.
Joseph grabbed one of the priests and said,
"Caesar! What happened to Sir Caesar? Is Sir Caesar also in the recovery room?"
"Well..."
At that moment, Inquisitor Tina pushed past the nursing nuns and supported Joseph.
"Let's talk inside first."
"..."
Joseph reluctantly went back inside as Tina suggested.
As soon as Tina closed the door, she spoke.
"Sir Caesar is currently missing."
"...Damn it."
He had hoped it wasn't true.
He desperately hoped it wasn't true.
The fact that he was lying here meant that Caesar had either been captured in his place or had chosen to sacrifice himself.
"Have you found any trace of Sir Caesar?"
"The police are searching, but there's been no trace yet. However, we did find traces of another knight, not Sir Caesar's."
"Another knight, you say?"
"Yes. We can't identify exactly whose traces they are, but it's clearly a very strong knight. The forest has turned into a wasteland, and hills have become valleys. There's a possibility that Sir Caesar survived with that person's help."
Joseph put on the blue flame emblem that was on the shelf as he spoke to Tina.
"Then I should lend my strength too. I can't just lie here."
At that moment, a syringe was jabbed into Joseph's arm.
"Huh?"
"You can't even dodge my hand movement, and you're talking about helping?"
Joseph staggered back to the bed.
"Just rest for now. All the inquisitors in the Wizard Province are moving, so we'll find him soon."
Thud.
Joseph passed out, and Tina covered him with a blanket before sighing.
"Where on earth are you?"
It's already been three days since Caesar went missing.
All sorts of bugs were starting to swarm around Caesar.
***
Harrison looked at the green-haired man sitting at the head seat with uncomfortable eyes.
"...It's an honor to meet you, Lord Aldo Sylvatil."
Aldo nodded slightly and looked around Caesar's study.
"I never dreamed that uncouth fellow would be living such a luxurious life. He's reformed, hasn't he?"
The knight standing behind Aldo nodded.
"It seems so, Lord Aldo."
Harrison had personally investigated the Sylvatil family, so he knew who this knight was.
The Knight of a Hundred Victories, Gideon
Ranked 4,928th in the Knight Night magazine.
A knight who brought 100 victories to his lord through countless proxy duels.
A powerhouse who ranked in the top 1-2% purely through duels among over 300,000 knights.
It was quite ironic that such a monster was living as a knight of a mere Baronfamily.
"But it's small, so it might not be bad to use it as my villa."
Aldo looked at Harrison and said,
"My people will come soon to sort out Caesar's assets, so please cooperate."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Caesar is dead, isn't he? Then naturally, all of Caesar's property becomes the property of the Sylvatil family, which means it's my property."
Harrison felt anger rising but took a deep breath.
"That's not right."
"What do you mean?"
"If Sir Caesar has truly passed away, then according to the law, it would belong to the Sylvatil family. But it's not yours, is it?"
Harrison crossed his legs.
"You're not even the head of the family yet."
"Are you daring to insult me? A noble?"
At that moment, the study door burst open and a blonde man entered.
"What insult? He seems to be telling the truth, brother."
As soon as Aldo saw the man, his fists trembled.
"Eric..."
"Father's will hasn't even been revealed yet, has it? So it's too early for you to act as the head of the family, brother."
The knight behind Aldo put his hand on his sword hilt and said,
"Young Master Eric. According to the laws of the Sylvatil family, if someone passes away without a will, naturally Lord Aldo would inherit the Sylvatil family."
"I know that, Sir Gideon. But do you think our father is the type to pass away without leaving a will? You know how meticulous our father is, don't you?"
Eric looked at Aldo and smirked.
"It makes me wonder if someone might have destroyed the will. There's no way he would let the incompetent brother inherit the Sylvatil family, right?"
Gideon's eyes turned fierce.
"Watch your words, Young Master Eric."
"Well, it could be possible, that's all I'm saying."
Eric looked at Harrison and said,
"But brother isn't entirely wrong. If Caesar is dead, then all his assets would indeed become the property of the Sylvatil family."
Eric snapped his fingers, and people rushed in.
"So, for quick processing, I'd like to check his assets. I ask for your cooperation, Harrison."
Harrison now understood why Caesar had left Vex Province.
Despite being half-brothers, these guys weren't worried about their brother's well-being at all, but were shamelessly trying to tear apart their brother's possessions.