Chapter 11: Hero, Conference, and... (2)
Chapter 11: Hero, Conference, and... (2)
I had just assumed he was one of those discarded assassins the Empire trained up and threw away. But a Hero candidate, no less.
Honestly, it was a shock.
'Yeah, it was a shock....'
But I hadn't expected to get this distracted.
When I came to my senses, I found I'd already arrived back at my room.
Maybe because I'd been out of it, my memory felt hazy, like fog had settled over it—there wasn't much I could recall clearly. What was the clearest thing I remembered?
The certainty that that guy was going to die?
'.......'
It's best not to think about that anymore. Whether he died or not, whether I pitied him or not, there was nothing I could do about it anyway.
I grabbed the cube Ed had brought me and flopped onto the bed.
I was mindlessly scrambling the cube, gradually erasing stray thoughts one by one, when I heard a knock.
"It's me."
"......Your Majesty?!"
I shot upright. I frantically checked my attire, roughly smoothed down my disheveled hair, and opened the door.
"What brings Your Majesty here again...?"
"I told you. I was coming to fetch you."
"Pardon?"
When did he say that?
Maybe he'd read my puzzled expression, because the Demon King raised one eyebrow. He folded his arms, leaned against the doorframe, and studied my face with a look of displeasure.
"The Legion Commander meeting. Still don't remember?"
I didn't remember, but somehow I sensed that admitting it would be a bad idea.
I nodded with the most nonchalant expression I could muster.
"Ah, yes. I remember."
That was acting with every ounce of strength I had.
The Demon King bought it without a trace of suspicion, nodding as he straightened up.
"Then let's go."
"Yes."
I felt like I shouldn't drag this out any longer, so I hurried after him.
Which was why, far from having the chance to set the cube down, I walked out of the room having forgotten I was even holding it.
* * *
At the time of the battle with the Hero, the 7th Legion Commander had been an ogre.
Even setting aside the fact that he was one of the core forces of the Demon King's army, he was memorable for certain. After all, he'd served as a fine prop for Deon Hart.
In other words, when Deon Hart first appeared, he had appeared while killing the 7th Legion Commander.
The Demon King recalled that day and let out a short laugh.
When they had won the battle against the Hero, when he had raised his sword to personally finish off the Hero whose life would've ended soon anyway—
──The Hero chose self-detonation.
How flustered he'd been, watching the Hero's body emanate a brilliant light.
"......This generation's Hero seems rather aggressive."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
A Hero had two options upon death.
One was to scatter fragments of power across the continent to create beings who could resist the Demon King, however slightly. The other—typically used when the Demon King was nearby—was, in layman's terms, self-detonation.
Gathering the Hero's power and detonating it.
Usually, Heroes chose to scatter fragments of power for the sake of the future.
'Not that I'd die either way.'
It wasn't for nothing that he was called the strongest Demon King in history. A bit wasteful, perhaps, but if he used his mana without restraint, he was confident he could survive the aftermath of that explosion without significant injury.
The problem was the other demons arrayed around him.
All the demons of the Demon Castle who had come out to witness a historic battle that could rightly be called a fight for the fate of their race.
The Hero's power was granted for the purpose of eliminating the Demon King, and the demon race were beings born from the Demon King.
Ultimately, the Hero's power inevitably affected demons too, even if indirectly.
So if the Hero's power were to explode here...
'A rough estimate—half.'
About half of this many legions would vaporize in an instant.
Considering that the Demon Castle was the size of a small Imperial city and that every demon living there was present at that spot, the scale of the damage would have been absurd.
"Everyone fall ba—!"
That was why, the moment he hurried to issue the order.
KWAAAANG!!
......A human fell from the sky.
And with the 7th Legion Commander, no less.
Having crushed the 7th Legion Commander beneath him as he landed, he didn't so much as glance at the Demon King. He simply stabbed the commander in the throat with a dagger, as if double-checking that the one pinned under him was dead, then used it as a brace to slowly rise. His attitude was so unhurried it was absurd.
White hair and red eyes.
Those blood-colored eyes shifted between the Demon King and the Hero before settling on the Hero. And then he began to approach this way with a leisurely gait.
Right through the center of that battlefield encircled by countless demons, without the slightest hint of tension.
It was an utterly defenseless attitude.
Yet perhaps because of that confident bearing, an undeniable force could be felt from his unshaken expression, and the soldiers—far from stopping him—could only watch, frozen stiff.
'Pathetic lot.'
Even so, unable to openly curse them for being pathetic, the Demon King silently furrowed his brow.
Because he too had been overwhelmed, if only for a moment.
The distance hadn't been great to begin with, so the man arrived before the Hero in no time.
Without sparing the Demon King a glance, he placed a hand on the Hero's shoulder and brought his face close to the Hero's ear.
And then, a miracle occurred.
The cluster of light radiating from the Hero's body came pouring down toward that human.
"......Madness."
A groan escaped him.
He knew the Hero, the Demon King, and the Empire's system for sending Heroes better than anyone, so his speculation about the situation came quickly.
That white-haired human had probably followed along to witness the battle's conclusion firsthand and report back to the Empire. That was likely his primary mission.
And his secondary mission was probably to assess the Demon King's condition after the Hero died and, if he judged he could manage the kill himself, to carry it out.
So when the Hero chose self-detonation, the man must have calculated the probabilities.
[The probability that the Hero's self-detonation would damage the Demon King, and the scale of damage the Demon King would sustain from it.]
[The number of surrounding demons that could be eliminated by the self-detonation.]
[The probability of breaking through those reduced demons and killing the wounded Demon King.]
[The final likelihood of carrying all this out while achieving the primary mission of "returning alive."]
The judgment must have come back: self-detonation was irrational.
So he would have placed his hand on the Hero's shoulder and stopped him. That he had jumped right into the middle of enemy lines was a bit unexpected, but perhaps he was confident in his ability to escape alive.
'Intelligent, highly loyal to his mission, and combat ability as well....'
The corners of the Demon King's eyes curved with amusement.
His condolences to the Empire, for throwing a man like this into such a dangerous place. If it were him, he might have used him when needed, but he wouldn't have sent him to a death spot with such disrespect.
In any case, the Hero read his intent and urgently shifted course, pouring the power into the man for the purpose of transference. Of course, things like the power remaining in the recipient's body according to the Hero's will did not happen.
'Naturally.'
The Hero's power was directly granted by the World with a purpose. It was power that, when a Hero died, was supposed to scatter and return to the World.
Even leaving fragments of it on this land required the Hero's own life as the price, so intentional transference was out of the question.
The Hero himself would have known that better than anyone. He must have suffered excruciating pain from that action.
Nevertheless, looking at the Hero who had struggled meaninglessly and died, now hanging limp, the Demon King lifted his gaze slightly to look at the man holding the corpse.
He was the direct party to an absurd attempt that defied the World's will. There was no way he'd be unscathed either.
And sure enough—
"Cough."
With an unflinchingly composed expression that didn't betray a single weakness, he coughed up blood.
Even as a greater volume of blood than expected spilled past his lips, his expression remained the same. At that eerie dissonance, a flash of delight crossed the Demon King's eyes.
The Demon King, suppressing his rising excitement with effort, smiled kindly and spoke.
"You. What's your name?"
"......Deon Hart."
Deon Hart. He rolled the name over and over inside his mouth.
Truthfully, he didn't even need to savor it. He already knew the man.
Looking only at the outward situation, he had stopped the Hero's self-detonation and coughed up blood as the price.
Even the other demons would acknowledge that much.
The circumstances themselves were on his side, so there was no reason to hesitate any longer. The Demon King revealed his desire without reservation.
"Would you consider joining the Demon King's army?"
It didn't matter whether the other party was human or not.
The Demon King liked this intelligent, loyal being, and above all, this human before his eyes had drawn out his interest when he'd been rotting away from ennui.
There was ample reason to pull him into the Demon Castle.
* * *
"Hey, move! I can't see!"
"So is that human an enemy or an ally?"
"He stopped the Hero's self-detonation! At least he's not an enemy."
"But he killed the 7th Legion Commander, didn't he?"
"Ohh? His Majesty is asking his name!"
"Shut up! I can't hear a thing!!"
"You're the loud one!"
"So, what's the name?"
The distance was considerable to begin with, the surroundings were noisy, and the human's voice was quiet, so instead of straining his ears, a demon soldier narrowed his eyes and focused on the shape of the man's lips.
"De...mon, A...ru, t?"
"Demon Arut?"
"I think so?"
"Demon Arut, huh......."
A name that sounded more demonic than a demon's.
And so, Deon Hart's name was transformed into "Demon Arut" and spread throughout the demon army.
* * *
The achievement of the human who had stopped the Hero's self-detonation and prevented massive damage was so great that even the other Legion Commanders acknowledged it.
What's more, after the post-battle victory celebration—which also served as a welcome party for the new talent—where 'Demon Arut' drank heavily and turned the Demon Castle upside down, there wasn't even any backtalk about his abilities. Especially since another Legion Commander had been the victim of that incident.
As such, regarding the human who had suddenly appeared and immediately occupied the position of 0th Legion Commander, all the demons of the Demon Castle generally refrained from speaking ill of him.
Of course, that was only 'generally.'
"He's late."
The 6th Legion Commander Bellitan tapped the meeting room table and muttered. His brow was deeply furrowed, betraying his displeasure.
He knew full well how great the achievements the man had racked up at that time were. He acknowledged his formidable martial prowess too. But even so, this was too much.
The 0th Legion Commander, Demon Arut.
Every single time there was a meeting, he was late.
It was happening again now. Everyone except the Legion Commanders who were away on business had gathered in the meeting room, and yet that human alone was absent.
In the end, Bellitan couldn't endure the waiting and slammed the table.
"Shouldn't someone say something about this?!"
"You're loud."
"Jeikar! How long do you plan to tolerate that arrogant behavior? He is...."
"Bellitan."
Jeikar, who had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes and looked at Bellitan.
At the cold gaze fixed directly on him, Bellitan flinched and stopped speaking. As if she had been waiting, the 4th Legion Commander Idelia cut in.
"The arrogant one here seems to be you, Bellitan. Do you even realize who you're directing such disrespectful remarks at?"
"......What?"
"Calling someone arrogant when he even uses polite speech toward mere servants. That was a truly unfunny joke."
"Using polite speech doesn't mean he isn't arrogant! If that's the case, how do you explain him being late to meetings?"
"He must have his reasons."
It was a statement without the slightest waver.
When even Asild, who didn't get along with her, nodded in agreement, Bellitan almost found himself thinking, 'Is that really the case?', if only for a moment.
Bellitan, having quickly shaken his head to regain his senses, opened his mouth with disbelief.
"How... can you be so sure of that?"
Just as Idelia was about to answer, a crash—BANG!—rang out from one side of the table.
At the unusual sound, every Legion Commander's head turned toward the source in unison.
No sooner had they identified who it was than some sighed and shook their heads, while others nodded as if they'd expected it. A few even wore bewildered expressions.
Bellitan fell into the third category.
At the far end of the table. There, a small girl had bolted upright, both hands planted on the table.
"That's enough blasphemy, Bellitan! It's irreverence!"
"......Lirinel?"
"It's irreverence!"
"Lir...."
"Irreverence!"
The 11th Legion Commander, Lirinel.
Normally quiet and gentle, there was exactly one thing that, once involved, made her fly into a mad rampage—and unfortunately for Bellitan, that one thing was Demon Arut.
Yes, she was Demon Arut's rabid fangirl.
It was a fact known to most anyone who resided in the Demon Castle, but Bellitan, who was frequently away from the castle on demonic beast hunts, had no way of knowing that.
So he just stared blankly at the tiny girl flinging jabs at him.
"Apologize! You ugly thing!"
"Hurk."
"Li-Lirinel...?"
She might look frail and tiny, but she was still a Legion Commander.
Bellitan was a typical warrior who swung a massive axe, and Lirinel was an exceptional witch who possessed the greatest mana capacity among all the Legion Commanders.
If the two of them were to fight, it was obvious without even looking that this meeting hall would be blown away.
And His Majesty the Demon King or the 0th Legion Commander were due to enter any moment now—and they blew up the meeting hall?
The Demon Castle would be turned on its head that very day.
Perhaps there would even be a large-scale replacement of Legion Commanders.
So just as the other Legion Commanders were fidgeting anxiously, gauging the situation, a servant outside the meeting hall doors announced the Demon King's arrival.
"His Majesty the Demon King and His Excellency the 0th Legion Commander are entering."
......Along with news of the 0th Legion Commander.