The Beginning of Ruin 5: The Shattered Building
The Beginning of Ruin 5: The Shattered Building
The Demon King plummeted into the ruined building. Yormun Surtrna landed right behind him. Yet… “He’s gone?”
The Demon King was nowhere to be seen amid the wreckage. Tension and doubt coiled in her chest as Yormun gripped her hammer and scanned the surroundings with wary precision.
“Where are you? Stop hiding and come out!”
Her sharp voice rang through the debris, but no trace of the Demon King answered. It wasn’t that he was simply motionless. Yormun could detect the faintest stir of an ant crawling along the roadside if she focused. The complete absence of his presence meant he was concealing himself with flawless precision.
‘That monstrous bastard… How far does his power reach?’
His magic could halt hundreds of arrows with a mere gesture. His strength could catch her hammer bare-handed. And now this near-perfect stealth. Knowing her own might only made the gap between them more suffocating. The emotion it stirred was… fear.
“Come out… Come out right now!!!”
—Crackle-crackle-crackle!!!
The fear writhed inside her. To drown it out, Yormun swung her hammer with all her strength. A storm of lightning tore through the ruins, reducing everything around her to rubble as she lashed out blindly at the unseen Demon King.
Then—
“When you attack, shouldn’t you at least know where your enemy is?”
“Hrk!”
The voice came from directly behind her. The sudden chill of his presence made her swing reflexively, but—
—Thud!!!!
“Kuh-heoook!”
A fist slammed into her abdomen. Even through her armor the impact was devastating. Agony exploded through her body, nearly robbing her of consciousness.
“Kuh… heo… uuurgh…”
Yormun collapsed, groaning in pain. The Demon King regarded her fallen form and spoke in a quiet voice.
“Surely that wasn’t enough to finish you. You looked like you’d steeled yourself for this. To think you’d fall so easily… How disappointing, coming from the body that once belonged to your master.”
“…Shut… up…!!!”
—Whoosh!
Rage flaring, Yormun swung again. The Demon King evaded lightly and stepped back. She forced herself upright, but the fire that had burned in her earlier was gone.
She couldn’t win. There was no way she could win. He was the Demon King, the pinnacle of all demonkind. Even if he had died once through sheer stupidity, the gulf between them remained absolute. Defying him meant death—nothing more than being crushed like an insect too weak to even resist.
The realization sank deep into her bones. Only then did she notice her own body trembling with fear.
Yet…
“You still intend to continue?”
“Of course… I do!”
She crushed the terror down once more and straightened her stance.
“You know this is pointless. No matter how much you struggle, there’s no chance of victory—”
“That… doesn’t matter.”
“…”
It wasn’t that she believed victory was possible. She knew only defeat and death awaited her. Still, she refused to yield. Because—
“I… I simply can’t accept you. Someone like you… the one who slaughtered so many of our people. I can no longer recognize you as our sovereign!”
—Smack!!!!
“!!!”
A sudden slap struck her cheek. Unlike the earlier punch, it carried no crushing force, yet the pain that bloomed inside her was far greater. It wasn’t her body that hurt—it was her heart.
The Demon King spoke again, his voice perfectly calm.
“So, do you plan to run away like this?”
“…!”
That unshakable composure made the storm in her chest begin to settle.
“You know it as well as I do. No matter how hard you try, your power has limits. Rebuilding the Demon Kingdom, exacting revenge on those filthy free races—you can’t accomplish any of it.”
“Kuh…”
His words struck true. She had no rebuttal. The forces she had gathered numbered barely ten thousand, and even they slipped beyond her control, constantly harried by the free races’ punitive expeditions. She had long since recognized her own limits.
“Even so… even so, I can’t accept you. If you had only acted properly… if you had chosen to annihilate those filthy free-race scum as I said, none of this would have happened! How will you take responsibility for all the lives lost because of you?”
“I came here to take that responsibility.”
“…! What… what did you say?”
The unexpected answer left Yormun’s expression frozen for a moment.
“I know full well the mistakes I made. And I know the tragedies those mistakes brought about.”
“…”
“On my way here I saw them again and again—destroyed villages and cities, corpses left unburied. Every time I looked upon them, the pain was the same. Just as you said, it is all my responsibility. Everything happened because of my foolish choices.”
“B-But then why…”
“That is exactly why I cannot turn back. When one commits a mistake, one must answer for it. It is my duty—mine alone—to restore, even a little, what was broken by my own hand.”
“!”
The sovereign’s declaration that he would bear responsibility for his errors left Yormun silent. She could not fully accept his words. Even the Demon King’s power could not bring back the dead. Even if the ruined cities were rebuilt, they would never be the same. Yet despite that…
The fact that he would take responsibility for his mistakes, that he would try to set things right, made her realize the man before her was not merely a seeker of power. He was a king who still carried the weight of his nation.
“That is all I wished to say. The choice is yours now—whether to remain here, wasting time in futility, or to come with me and carry out true vengeance.”
“…”
With those words, the Demon King turned and began to walk away. Watching his retreating back, Yormun lowered her head in silence.
‘Was I the one running away all this time?’
One who tried to atone for his mistakes, and one who only criticized while doing nothing. The answer was already clear. Accepting that truth, Yormun made her decision.
*
“Your Majesty!”
“Sorry it took longer than expected.”
The Demon King emerged through the open castle gates, unharmed. Hela rushed to his side in a single stride.
“Are you all right? Were you injured anywhere—”
“Nothing worth mentioning. I’m not so weak that I’d be hurt by someone whose spirit is already broken.”
His pointed remark left Hela with mixed feelings, but she soon smiled and took her place quietly at his side.
“…I’m glad. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters. Then… what of Yormun?”
“You’ll see if you wait. I said everything I needed to say.”
It was not a reassuring answer, yet Hela already suspected the outcome. After all, it was her master, the Demon King. So long as he acted personally, no problem remained unsolved. She believed that without question.
And then—
“…”
“She’s here.”
As if answering that faith, a presence approached. Both Hela and the Demon King turned.
“…”
Yormun stood there in silence, cheeks faintly flushed, her gaze averted. A serene smile touched Hela’s lips.
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“…Kuh.”
—Thud!
Yormun dropped to her knees. Then, lowering her head before the man before her—before the Demon King—she spoke.
“My King. Your subordinate, Yormun Surtrna, swears her loyalty to you once more. Please do not refuse it!”
Her oath carried a desperate sincerity. The Demon King smiled calmly.
“However, I refuse.”
“…?”
“…What?”