Chapter 220: To the Demon Realm (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 220: To the Demon Realm (3)
I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before.
That the moment your child is born, you feel as if you’ve gained the entire world.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and hold her.”
“Ah, right.”
The child was placed in my arms.
This tiny life, without even the strength to open her eyes, leaned her frail body against my arm and let out a wail, as if to announce her presence.
“It’s okay. It’s Daddy.”
As if recognizing her own blood, she soon stopped crying.
Perhaps exhausted from her cries, the baby fell asleep as soon as she quieted down. She mumbled and cooed in her sleep, and I couldn’t help but find the sight utterly adorable.
So this is what it feels like to have the whole world.
I finally understood.
“Look at your face. You’re over the moon.”
Lorraine giggled as if it were the funniest thing she’d ever seen.
I smiled back.
“It’s my first time with a child.”
To be honest, I have plenty of experience with women. My reckless days were quite long, after all. But even back then, I was always careful about contraception, so no one ever got pregnant.
“Huh? Of course it’s your first time with a child…”
Lorraine tilted her head, as if wondering what I was talking about.
Then, her expression soured and she held out her hands.
“You bastard… Give me back my baby!”
Startled by her sudden outburst, I carefully returned the child to her arms. She looked down at the baby she was holding so gently and spoke in a sorrowful voice.
“Oh, baby, is Mommy sorry? It’s Mommy’s fault you ended up with such a philandering father.”
“Hey, what are you…”
“Even if your daddy’s eyes wander to other women and children, Mommy will always be on your side. Understand?”
Muttering to herself, she kissed the baby’s forehead, then shot me a look. It was a gaze that seemed to ask, ‘What are you going to do now?’ I was dumbfounded.
“When did I ever say I’d neglect you?”
“You won’t neglect us?”
“Of course not!”
“Then swear it. Swear that you won’t neglect me and my daughter and that you’ll always do your best for us!”
“Do I really have to swear…?”
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry…”
Seeing Lorraine’s expression instantly turn mournful, I let out a dry laugh. I raised both hands in surrender.
“I swear. I swear on my life I won’t neglect either of you.”
Just like that, Lorraine’s expression brightened as if nothing had happened.
“What should we name our daughter?”
“…”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Her shamelessness left me speechless. Realizing it was impossible to win an argument with her in this state, I quickly gave up and decided to help name the child.
Naming my own child was a strangely stirring experience.
After a heated discussion, we spent a full hour deciding on a name.
“Rolex. Your name is Rolex now!” Lorraine said, hugging the baby tightly.
Rolex.
It was a disaster that happened after I jokingly mentioned the watch brand, and Lorraine actually liked it.
‘How can a person’s name be…?’
If the day ever comes when she complains about her name, I’ll be sure to tell her.
Your mother named you that.
Just as I was making that firm resolution, Lorraine’s expression darkened.
“Lorraine? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“…Do you really have to go?”
Even without a subject, I knew exactly what she meant.
“I have to. If I don’t kill the Demon King, who will?”
“But there’s Frillite. And the Platinum Knight Order, who are always strutting around, calling themselves the strongest on the continent. Wouldn’t they be enough?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t think so.”
“Cloud.”
“Like you said, it would be best if they could defeat the Demon King on their own, but you know as well as I do that it won’t be that easy.”
Lorraine bit her lip hard.
“But I’m worried… The Demon King is a monster that takes four heroes working together to defeat. No matter how strong you and Frillite are, there are only two of you.”
A deep anxiety laced Lorraine’s voice. I understood her concern. Unlike my other companions, she didn’t know much about me.
Should I tell her the truth about myself to calm her fears?
Before I could finish that thought, she placed her hand over mine.
“Do you love me and our daughter?”
Was she trying to use love as a chain to keep me from leaving?
But I couldn’t refuse to answer.
“Yes. I love you.”
I wasn’t raised to be so pathetic as to withhold the words ‘I love you’ from the woman who bore my child.
At my unhesitating reply, she gave a bitter smile.
What she said next was completely unexpected.
“Then come back alive.”
“Huh?”
“I said, come back alive. Why are you looking so dazed? Don’t tell me you’re planning on making our daughter grow up without a father?”
“No, that’s not it. I was just surprised because you changed your tune so suddenly.”
“I was just whining earlier. I know it’s selfish to try and hold you back. I know it’s something that has to be done. That’s why I’m telling you this now.”
Lorraine narrowed her eyes and shot me a glare.
“You just try dying. I’ll remarry in a heartbeat.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I snorted in disbelief, and she frowned.
“You’re laughing? You think this is a joke?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
I wrapped an arm around Lorraine’s shoulders and pulled her into my embrace. She didn’t resist, leaning her head against my chest.
“I’ll come back safe and sound. So don’t worry too much.”
“Okay…”
She finally seemed to relax a little.
We stayed like that for a moment, feeling each other’s warmth.
Then, I cautiously spoke.
“By the way, that talk about remarrying… that was a joke, right?”
Lorraine, who had been wearing a peaceful expression, opened her eyes wide and gave me a mischievous smile.
“Well, who knows? I can’t leave the father’s spot empty for too long~.”
“…”
“Hey? What, are you sulking?”
“Forget it. Do whatever you want.”
“You’re sulking. You must be really jealous, huh?”
She’s teasing me to the very end.
Feeling sullen, I turned my head away to avoid her gaze.
“Ha, are you really the Cloud I know? Why are you acting so cute?”
A soft hand cupped my cheek, forcing my head back around.
Mwah.
A soft sensation on my lips.
Then, our lips parted.
“Just come back alive. If you do, I’ll be yours forever.”
Lorraine said with a gentle smile.
Seeing that smile, I let out a hollow laugh.
Who, looking at her now, would ever remember the insolent brat she used to be?
*
Now that the baby was born, there was no reason to delay the expedition to the Demon Realm any longer.
However, there was one problem I had to solve before leaving: my companions.
To be frank, they wouldn’t be of much help to me anymore.
Of course, that didn’t mean they were weak.
Having overcome many hardships with me, they were now among the strongest fighters on the continent.
But what lay ahead was beyond what even the strongest on the continent could handle.
I realized that after meeting the Dragon Lord.
‘Now I know why the game ends before you meet the Demon King.’
You can’t beat him.
If the Demon King is anything like the Dragon Lord, there’s no way the characters in the game could ever defeat him with their stats.
‘Then again, maybe not.’
Judging by the legends of the heroes who had defeated the Demon King in the past, he might be much weaker than the World Tree, the Blood King, or the Dragon Lord.
But I couldn’t risk their lives on such an uncertain possibility.
So, I prepared myself for a difficult conversation, intending to persuade them to stay behind…
“Alright. If that’s what you think, Cloud, then we have no choice.”
Surprisingly, they agreed with me easily.
I honestly expected them to insist on coming, so I asked why they were so compliant.
“I’m not an idiot. I’m weak. I realized that properly during the last incident. Even if I stubbornly tagged along, I wouldn’t be much help to you. If anything, I’d just be a burden,” Katarina answered with a bitter expression.
“When you were fighting the dragons, Sir Cloud, I was struggling just to block the aftershocks. Someone like me could never be of any help to you.”
“I-I tried my best, but…”
Leslie and Eri seemed to have lost their confidence. Ophelia, as I expected, said she would follow me, but I firmly refused.
And Shedia…
“I’ll stay with my sisters.”
“Okay!”
She didn’t seem to have much of an opinion on the matter.
It looked like she was just happy to be with Katarina and Leslie.
And so, with less difficulty than I anticipated, I was able to arrange things so I could act without them. I decided to depart for the Demon Realm with only Angelica, the Succubus Queen, and Hailey, the Vampire Lord.
Angelica would serve as our guide to the Demon Realm, and I still needed to keep an eye on Hailey.
“Be careful. If you get hurt, I’ll kill you!”
“I will be waiting for you, Sir Cloud.”
“Come back safe!”
“N-Next time, I’ll try harder so I can be of help…!”
“I will be praying for your success, Hero.”
Leaving their and many others’ farewells behind me, I stepped toward the portal.
My vision and the air around me shimmered and changed.
A desolate land covered in black sand, and a world that was bright yet dark under the light of a black sun.
We had entered the Demon Realm.
“What is this?”
The moment we arrived, we were confronted by a massive pile of rotting corpses.
Fortunately, they weren’t human.