Chapter 133
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: It's Not Over Until It's Over (2)
Suddenly, we received an urgent summons from His Majesty.
Until yesterday, we'd heard that the subjugation force was being assembled without any issues.
But we hadn't heard anything about a reason urgent enough to call us together like this...
"What's going on?"
Jenny, Scarlett, and Lynn had also been summoned.
In the palace where we gathered for the audience, we even ran into Mersen, who had been struggling to handle Parus's aftermath.
"Goddess! Saint!"
We exchanged warm greetings and caught up, but even Mersen knew nothing special about this summons.
"Let's head in quickly."
The subjugation force couldn't possibly be fully assembled yet.
With curiosity and a touch of unease, we hurried toward the audience chamber.
"We come before Your Majesty."
From the moment we offered our greetings.
No, from the instant we entered the audience chamber and saw His Majesty's expression.
I could sense that something was wrong.
His Majesty's usual benevolent face looked extremely grim.
"...I'm sorry. I feel ashamed to have called you here so urgently while you're supposed to be resting."
"No, Your Majesty. What has happened?"
"...Do you remember sending a detachment of the Imperial Army ahead to the Mera Coalition?"
Before the subjugation force was fully assembled, we'd dispatched a unit of the Imperial Army first to prevent the enemy from fleeing.
"Yes, I remember."
"They were all wiped out."
What...?
All of them wiped out, just like that?
"What do you mean...?"
Did the Chairman and councilors in the Mera Coalition—who had no military or representatives left—make a last desperate stand?
It was confusing.
The orders given to them were for surveillance, not engagement.
I couldn't understand how a situation had arisen where they were all killed.
"We'd lost contact with the communication soldier... it cut off abruptly."
It's known that the communication crystals supplied to the Imperial Army are the most stable models available.
There had never been a case of one cutting off without some external interference.
"This morning, contact was restored."
They were all wiped out, but contact was restored?
"Your army has been completely annihilated. If you want to defeat me, you'd better send some real fighters next time."
Those words coming from His Majesty's mouth sounded exactly like a declaration of war from the enemy.
But in the Mera Coalition, there shouldn't have been anyone left capable of such a boast...
"...He claimed to be the Cursed Demon King Kraksus."
What nonsense...
The Chairman and councilors who existed solely to resurrect Demon King Kraksus had all met their ends.
And now, in this situation, someone claiming to be the Demon King appears?
"Could it be an imposter?"
Mersen asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. But what's certain is that someone with enough power to annihilate even a small elite Imperial unit exists."
The Mera Coalition was an alliance formed for the purpose of resurrecting the Demon King in the first place.
So it wouldn't be strange if someone was impersonating him.
But at this point, after the Chairman and councilors are dead, why bother impersonating the Demon King?
Besides, if you're going to impersonate him, you need to show power worthy of the title.
Wiping out a small Imperial detachment isn't enough to convince anyone it's the Demon King.
"...That's why I called you here. Could you go and verify it...? Of course, the subjugation force is partially assembled now. I'll send them out as soon as they're ready."
His Majesty bowed his head and made the request.
"Yes, understood. We need to confirm whether the Demon King has truly been resurrected."
We were bound to clash with it eventually anyway.
And once everything was sorted and the world was at peace, there would be plenty to do.
So there was no hesitation.
"Thank you, truly. I always end up relying on you all."
We packed our gear for battle and set off once more for the Mera Coalition.
"This is boring."
Demon King Kraksus yawned as he gazed at his trembling followers before him.
He had killed all the humans who came as scouts.
But that wasn't enough to satisfy him.
He needed a larger-scale massacre.
Sacrifices to sustain himself.
He considered killing all the humans in front of him but spared them for now, figuring they might still be useful.
"Go back and get to work. Don't forget to meet the sacrifice quota by the end of the week."
"A-any more is impossible..."
After Kraksus's resurrection, nearly everyone in the coalition had been offered as sacrifices.
And those who had offered them up were the very ones standing before the Demon King now.
"Impossible?"
"There... there are no more people to offer..."
The only living people left in the coalition were those standing before the Demon King.
Everyone else was already dead.
The things moving outside were just puppets putting on a show to lure in more humans.
"You've already sent the message, so the Empire will respond soon enough."
"That's right...! Now that we've made such a big announcement, the Empire can't just sit idly by..."
"Oh? So you're planning to do nothing and just reap the rewards?"
Kraksus's eyes gleamed coldly as he asked.
"N-no, that's not it... We're strengthening our foundations..."
The sole reason he had kept them alive was this: he needed humans to gather more humans as sacrifices.
He could have done it himself, but it was a hassle, so he let them live.
"Right, I see. Meaning more sacrifices will soon come rolling in..."
They perked up at his seemingly agreeable response.
"Which means you're no longer useful."
Kraksus had never intended to let them live.
In fact, he had always planned to absorb their souls once they outlived their usefulness.
'F-fuck... This isn't what we agreed on...!'
He had promised them glory at first.
But it was glory as nourishment for him.
"D-did you use the Chairman and councilors the same way and discard them?!"
"The Chairman and councilors?"
Kraksus paused as if thinking, then laughed.
"Ah, you mean the ones who contributed the most. Hmm, they were definitely useful."
Compared to the others, only the Chairman and councilors had been overwhelmingly useful.
And for good reason...
"Without them, I wouldn't have been resurrected in the end."
"What do you...?"
"What else? After they died, I consumed their souls and resurrected myself."
Kraksus chuckled as if it were no big deal.
"They were definitely useful. I might have rewarded them if they'd lived, but if they had, I wouldn't have been able to appear... So it couldn't be helped."
His cackling was the very picture of a demon.
In the end, even the Chairman and councilors—who had sacrificed everything for him—meant nothing to Kraksus.
No matter how many centuries they devoted.
Seeing that he felt not even a shred of gratitude, the people before him began to pale.
"...What do you plan to do with us...?"
"Don't ask stupid questions. You've seen it yourselves. What happened to the other humans."
Of course they knew.
The humans they had brought were devoured soul and all, right in front of them, without a second thought.
Afterward, their husks continued the puppet show.
"...P-please... spare us..."
They wanted to live.
To enjoy wealth and glory for a long time.
That's why they had gotten involved.
The Traschon Kingdom, in particular, hadn't cared about the Demon King's resurrection.
They had joined purely for the money.
But now the Demon King had resurrected, and they had to offer their own lives too?
'This can't be happening...!'
They couldn't accept it.
But they couldn't protest either.
Doing so would just make them the first to be devoured by the filthy demon before them.
"Now, who wants to go first? The first volunteer gets an honorary demon status."
Honorary after death, of course.
Not a single one dared speak; they just stood there, watching each other.
"Tch. Humans are all the same. How am I supposed to get anywhere without any ambition?"
Kraksus giggled mockingly.
"Well, I've had my fun, and I'm hungry. Time to finish you all off. I'm getting curious about my minions' faces too."
Of course, he felt no affection for his minions.
They were just tools to sow chaos and grow his power.
"Now, say goodbye."
"Spare...!"
They begged for life and mercy, but Kraksus had none to give.
As they trembled in fear, one by one.
In the end, they were all devoured by him.
"Now, you lot keep up the puppet show."
Finally, the chamber where Kraksus stood fell silent.
"This should be enough to make it possible now."
He had no intention of just waiting for the Empire to send people.
He planned to devour the small villages around the coalition one by one to build his strength.
And for that...
He would need his minions.
"Alright, let's get started."
Opening a gate and summoning his minions would consume a lot of the power he'd gathered so far, but it was fine.
High risk, high return.