Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: Life is a Series of Escapes (12): Their Circumstances - One Demonkin's Story
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# 188
19. Life is a Series of Escapes (12)
#13 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Demonkin.
Screams, wails, laments, chaos. And then screams again.
Blazing flames began to scorch the surroundings, and with them, screams and wails echoed far and wide.
One by one.
By the hour, the minute—no, by the second—one life after another was vanishing.
“Agreat……!”
In the midst of that battlefield, a girl with short black hair ground her teeth as she glared at a man of enormous build.
“Princess Belegrea, did you not anticipate even this much?”
“To think you would go this far! Were you so desperate for war that you’d incite civil strife among demonkin?”
Unlike the man’s leisurely voice, the voice of the girl called Princess Belegrea was as rough as a beast’s howl.
“Isn’t it strange for the princess—who struck first—to say such things?”
“Are you talking about searching for the succubus clan? Was spilling this much blood truly worth it for that alone? Do you crave a throne built on corpses and bathed in blood!”
Clang!
A sharp blade aura shot from the girl’s hand toward the man, but he blocked the attack all too effortlessly.
“Worth it? You call that ‘worth it’?”
“What?”
The girl didn’t miss the moment the man tilted his head in confusion.
And in that instant, they both shared the same thought.
‘Something’s wrong here.’
‘There’s been a misunderstanding!’
They were leaders of their factions.
They weren’t fools who couldn’t read the reasons behind their opponent’s words and actions.
Thus, the man realized that the girl’s actions were merely to find the succubus clan and that their subordinates had been targeted by someone else entirely.
The girl, too, realized that the man before her had misunderstood and thought she had struck first.
But what was happening now could not simply be brushed off as a misunderstanding.
One of the three divided factions had attacked another.
If the man acknowledged his mistake and stopped, he would have to answer for all the lives lost so far.
Even if he stopped, the girl would have to kill him to avenge her people’s blood.
Even if he begged for forgiveness, it wouldn’t be accepted.
No, it would be accepted—in the form of death.
Not just the man, but all his subordinates as well!
“I’m sorry it’s come to this.”
“We can stop even now.”
“And then we die.”
“If we’ve done wrong, we must face punishment.”
“Indeed. Wrong is wrong. But right now……”
Immense energy began to gather in the man’s greatsword.
The man before the girl’s eyes was the one who, before leading the radicals, had been the greatest warrior of demonkind and the ruler of all their armies.
He was the great general of the demonkin and the great general of demonkind—Agreat.
“I’m sorry, Princess Belegrea, but for the unification of demonkind, I must take your life.”
“If a demon like you became Demon King, even more would die! I cannot allow that!”
Immense demonic power began to gather in the sword gripped by the girl as well.
Sword aura!
As the leader of the moderate faction—the strongest faction among demonkind—she possessed power befitting her status!
“Sever!”
Agreat’s massive greatsword moved first.
A clean strike from above, brimming with overwhelming power!
Belegrea watched the attack to the end, deflecting its trajectory with the tip of her sword.
“Urk.”
“As expected of one who inherited the blood of the previous Demon King. Impressive.”
Agreat’s greatsword swung through empty air.
Belegrea’s sword had altered its path.
“Such absurd strength…….”
But as a result, the tip of Belegrea’s sword shattered.
Staring at her blade—now missing a third—she bit her lip hard and concentrated her mana even more at the tip, but compared to Agreat’s massive greatsword, it looked utterly pitiful.
“You fought well, Princess Belegrea.”
“Not yet!”
In the room containing only her and Agreat.
Princess Belegrea sensed her defeat instinctively, but she couldn’t give up just like that.
“Haaah!”
The surge of immense mana she unleashed in that moment was in no way inferior to Agreat’s!
“Impressive strength indeed.”
Even Agreat nodded in acknowledgment of that tremendous mana.
“But wars aren’t won by strength alone.”
“Ah…….”
Yet Agreat shattered Belegrea’s immense mana all too easily.
“No matter how fine a sword, if left unsharpened, it rusts. The reason the moderates lose to us radicals is that while you have those who know how to fight, none have actual experience in battle.”
To Agreat, who had fought in wars against humans, Belegrea’s attack seemed far too simplistic.
“As you face the demonkin’s future hegemony, try not to feel too aggrieved, Princess.”
“Is it… over?”
Watching the greatsword descending upon her, Belegrea closed her eyes, anticipating her end.
But.
“Not all moderates are demonkin without experience of war. Isn’t that right, Agreat?”
Just as Agreat’s greatsword was about to cleave her, a voice belonging to another demonkin echoed in the room—empty save for the two of them.
“Old timer?”
“Mekel…….”
Agreat withdrew his greatsword upon seeing the mana barrier blocking it, then turned his gaze to the voice’s owner.
“I have experience of war too.”
“Indeed. You were there, Mekel.”
Even seeing the lizardman covered head to toe in wounds, Agreat remained vigilant.
He was once a comrade who had fought alongside Agreat under the previous Demon King.
A trusted comrade.
Agreat was no fool to let his guard down against an enemy who had once been such a one.
“You’ve aged quite a bit.”
“You’re the abnormal one. You think someone my age suits rotting in the back room? Even if I’m a bit older due to racial differences.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
As Agreat’s sword moved once more, Mekel added another layer of mana barrier around Belegrea.
Clang!
“Kyaa!”
But unlike before, the mana barrier shattered far too easily.
“Princess!”
“I’m fine, old timer! I dodged it!”
Belegrea barely evaded the sword, but her complexion was poor from the excessive mana usage.
“Your skills have rusted with age. Back in the day, you’d have blocked that easily. Too much peace, perhaps?”
“Hah? You say that because you brought all your subordinates and fought comfortably. I pushed myself to get here protecting the princess. Between a worn-out fighter and a fresh one who did nothing—which fights better?”
“Your silver tongue hasn’t dulled.”
Seeing Agreat smirk faintly, Mekel scowled instead.
“Damn, I thought that provocation would at least make you angry.”
“That an old comrade’s skills haven’t faded is cause for joy. So, Mekel—care to return to the old days with me?”
“No. Scram.”
Agreat nodded at Mekel’s immediate refusal, without a moment’s hesitation.
“We’ve drifted too far apart already.”
Agreat quietly swung his sword at Mekel.
Mekel dodged the attack while unleashing various spells at Agreat.
Sword and magic.
The clash between those who had once been the previous Demon King’s right and left hands.
That clash ended all too swiftly.
“Guh!”
“Old timer!”
In Agreat’s victory.
“Old timer, are you okay?”
“I’m fine… cough.”
“Old timer!”
Belegrea gazed tearfully at Mekel, collapsed beside her.
A grievous wound.
Without immediate treatment, he might die from blood loss alone.
The thought that Mekel—who had been with her longer than even her father, the previous Demon King, since her childhood—might die brought tears to Belegrea’s eyes.
“It’s been ages since I last saw you cry, Princess.”
“Mekel, is now the time for that?”
“Kuhahaha… Seeing our cute princess cry, cough… is one of my joys.”
Belegrea could say nothing at the sight of him vomiting blood.
“You’ve grown too weak. Too much waste in your spellcasting. Too steeped in peace, eh, Mekel?”
“And you’re the same as ever.”
Gazing at Agreat, Mekel offered a faint smile.
“Indeed. I’ve never once been steeped in peace.”
“You’re right. You’re exactly like the war-torn days of old. Unchanged. That immense power, the erratic techniques unfit for it. And… that odd leniency toward those who fought beside you!”
In that instant, Agreat’s sword moved.
Instinct spoke before reason.
If he didn’t kill him now, something would happen… his instincts sensed it first!
“Hahaha, too late.”
“Old timer?”
Suddenly, Belegrea’s body began to glow white.
“Teleportation magic?”
“Just in case, I prepared it long ago. That was close.”
“Old timer!”
As Belegrea faded away in a pure white light, Mekel—who had blocked Agreat’s greatsword with his body—gave a gentle smile.
“Princess, you are a very strong person.”
“Old timer, what are you doing!”
“Stronger of heart than even your innate mana. So please survive. If you do, the Demon God will not abandon you.”
“Old timer? Old timer! Release it! Cancel the spell!”
Unable to do anything but watch the dying Mekel, Belegrea cursed her own powerlessness and could only call his name.
“Cheap tricks…….”
“Didn’t those cheap tricks save you more than once? Your enemies must have felt the same.”
“Damn. I forgot there were more who wanted to kill you over me.”
“Kuhahaha! Unlike what you said earlier, you’ve been steeped in peace too, Agreat!”
Even as he continued vomiting blood, Mekel mocked Agreat.
“Do you think one princess escaping here changes the tide? Unless you flee and rally other factions. Most moderates followed not the princess, but you. You were the center of the faction, Mekel—not the princess.”
“It might have started that way. But things are different now. The princess is that kind of person. Mana isn’t everything. Her heart and convictions are stronger! That’s her charm. See for yourself. She’ll slip through your fingers right before your eyes—the last chance!”
Clang!
“Tch.”
Agreat swung his greatsword at Mekel’s words, but he couldn’t strike Belegrea as she vanished into the white light.
“Ancient ritual?”
“A touch of ancient magic mixed in. Thanks to you, we had plenty of blood for the sacrifice. Quite effective.”
“Old timer…….”
With her body gone and only her face remaining, Belegrea looked at Mekel with an expression of resignation.
“As long as you don’t give up, this one will never become Demon King. So don’t give up. Princess, your heart alone is the demonkin’s hope.”
“Yeah. I understand.”
These would be Mekel’s final words.
To never forget his dying wish, Belegrea nodded repeatedly.
And the moment the princess vanished, Mekel slumped to the ground, while Agreat stared blankly at the spot where she had disappeared.
“My lord!”
“The princess has fled. Search the entire demon continent if you must—find her!”
As his subordinates—who had subdued most of the moderates with the princess—gathered one by one, Agreat issued calm orders.
“And keep this one alive at all costs. He’s the key to capturing the princess.”
“Yes!”
Watching his subordinates’ swift actions, Agreat recalled Mekel’s final words.
“‘As long as the princess doesn’t give up, I’ll never become Demon King’? Then I’ll force her to kneel and abandon hope with my own hands.”
Agreat—who had come within one step of the Demon King’s throne—vowed it again and again.
***
And at that very moment, as the demonkin great general Agreat vowed to make the princess give up.
Princess Belegrea—daughter of the previous Demon King and princess of demonkind—thought of the words akin to a final testament from her loyal retainer Mekel, who had sacrificed himself to let her escape.
‘As long as you don’t give up, this one will never become Demon King. So don’t give up. Princess, your heart alone is the demonkin’s hope.’
Closing her eyes as she recalled those words.
With a thoroughly dejected expression, she spoke to Mekel’s affectionate smile in her mind.
“Sorry, Mekel. I think I’ve already failed.”
“What’re ya sayin’, nya? I just told ya to answer the question, nya?”
“Gyaah!”
At the silver-haired demonkin poking her relentlessly with a “poke poke,” she gave up on everything.