The Beginning of Ruin 6
“However, I refuse.”
“W… what?”
The unexpected declaration from the Demon King left Yormun momentarily seized by deep confusion.
“W… why… Your Majesty? Just what reason could there possibly be…”
Yormun’s voice trembled as she asked the question. In response, the Demon King answered with a calm smile.
“Didn’t I say it earlier? If you make a mistake, you must bear the responsibility that comes with it. That is what duty means.”
“Y… yes. Y… you did say that…!”
At that moment, a single realization suddenly flashed through Yormun’s mind. The moment she recognized it, her face hardened like stone.
“Surely not…”
“That’s right. No matter how understandable the circumstances may be, this was ultimately a rebellion. As one who leads an organization, I cannot simply overlook it. Until this matter is resolved, I have no choice but to postpone accepting you back into my service.”
It was strict, if one were to call it strict, yet at the same time, it was only natural. This incident was not a problem limited solely to the Demon King and Yormun. Regardless of the reasons, it had been an act of treason in which they had drawn bows and swung weapons against their own sovereign. If he let it slide, it would become difficult to punish similar situations in the future.
Once discipline crumbles, it can crumble again. To ensure future matters could be handled smoothly, this issue required a clear resolution. This was precisely the responsibility she had to bear.
Yormun lowered her head and asked her master directly.
“Then… what should I do? How can I… return as a loyal subject and help you achieve your great cause once more?”
A question filled with desperate longing. In response, the Demon King spoke to her with a calm smile. He told her of a method of ‘atonement’ that she could carry out.
"The path of atonement is not always soaked in blood."
"Sometimes, it is found in the quiet labor of rebuilding what was broken."
⟨ Penance of Reconstruction ⟩
*
A mountain of supplies towered before her. Looking at the enormous quantities of food and military provisions they had seized from Sagunto, Yormun slightly furrowed her brow.
“At this rate… just distributing them will take at least a full week…”
“It will take even longer.”
“…What?”
“Because this is only the beginning.”
Yormun’s face showed momentary bewilderment at Crassus’s words. He continued in a serious tone.
“The spoils taken from other locations have not even arrived yet. Moreover, if we continue expanding our territory at this pace, by the time those are processed, a similar volume will have accumulated again.”
“…N… no, surely it won’t be that bad… As the army grows larger, we’ll need even more supplies…”
“You need not worry about that. The majority of our forces are undead, so they require no food, and they can simply wield the weapons they carried in life.”
“…Ah…”
“The seized goods can be used entirely for the reconstruction of the Demon Kingdom. Wasn’t that your original primary reason for raising your banner against our lord in the first place?”
“…”
Yormun was rendered speechless by Crassus’s words. Yet it was undeniably a task that someone had to do, and for a job of this scale, if it weren’t handled by a high-ranking demon like herself, various problems of authority and friction were bound to arise.
Of course, the price was that she wouldn’t be able to dream of stepping onto the battlefield for quite some time.
‘To think he’d take revenge in such a way… He’s surprisingly petty in the strangest places…’
Thinking that, Yormun nevertheless began to set about her work. For a warrior by nature like her, this kind of administrative duty was far from a good fit. However, this was a mission given to her as punishment for rebelling against the Demon King. There was no choice but to carry it out to the best of her ability without complaint. Besides, just as Crassus had said, it was something she had wanted to a certain extent.
Rebuilding what had been destroyed and giving new lives to the suffering citizens. The fact that he had entrusted her with a mission allowing her to devote herself fully to that cause let Yormun know that her lord had shown her a degree of consideration. The only problem was that the scale was so ridiculously enormous that she would have to rebuild every last city in the Demon Kingdom with her own two hands.
*
“Good. With this, I can feel somewhat at ease about the rear support.”
“She will carry it out well. Given Yormun’s personality, her pride alone will ensure she pours every ounce of effort into it until the end.”
Originally, as the Demon King, he should have paid attention to internal affairs as well. But the current him had no such luxury. There were still far too many tasks left to do before the situation improved enough for the strongest combatant to sit in the boss room poring over paperwork.
Having set aside his worries about internal matters for now, he turned his attention back to external affairs.
“Now that I think about it, what happened with Fenrir? Honestly, I thought she would have finished everything by the time we returned.”
“It seems to be taking longer than expected. I hear the humans there are putting up unexpectedly fierce resistance.”
“Does that mean… there are opponents strong enough to give even Fenrir a difficult time?”
Fenrir, one of the top three warriors within the Demon Kingdom. To face her one-on-one, one would need to be a member of the Hero’s party; otherwise, it would be impossible. The fact that someone was holding even her at bay meant the enemy was no ordinary foe.
Feeling a slight mix of concern and curiosity at that fact, he ordered a more detailed report on the situation.
“And if necessary, send in additional troops. We don’t have much time before the enemy begins moving in earnest.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
*
A city engulfed in roaring flames. Piles of corpses, screams echoing everywhere, and undead rising from all directions. In the wide plaza at the center of it all, a group of people was squeezing out the last of their strength to swing their swords.
“Damn it! Come on, you hideous undead bastards!”
“You lot are powerless before the might of God!”
Holy knights radiating divine power as they swung their blades, and priests purifying the undead with orbs of light. However, as time passed, their strength was visibly waning.
An endless wave of enemies in overwhelming numbers. From low-tier undead that were merely reanimated human corpses to massive undead formed from countless lumps of flesh. No matter how vulnerable undead were to holy power, in a situation where they were being crushed by sheer overwhelming numbers, compatibility meant almost nothing.
What was worse, even at this very moment, comrades who had just died beside them were rising again as undead. In such horrific despair, there was only one thing the holy knights and priests could believe in.
“O God… please… please grant us salvation!”
“Great God of the heavenly realm! Please answer our plea!!!”
“Grant us the strength to destroy this wicked evil!!!”
The holy knights and priests offered prayers bordering on screams, begging for help from the heavens. With comrades dying every moment and new undead rising in their place, the volume of their voices as they swung their weapons grew louder and louder. It was a scene that evoked madness more than holiness or nobility.
Then—
“!”
“Wh… what is this?”
The very next moment, the undead assault that had been pressing toward them suddenly came to a complete halt. Faced with this incomprehensible situation, a single thought rose in the holy knights’ minds.
“S… surely… has God truly performed a miracle?”
“H… has He come to save us? Finally… our prayers have been answered…!”
Smiles began to form on the holy knights’ lips amid the budding hope. But then—
“Huh?”
“N… no… that’s…!”
In an instant, the light of joy was wiped from their faces. The cause was a single being slowly revealing itself from within the sea of undead.
What was slowly advancing toward them at this moment was neither the god they had so desperately longed for, nor an angel from the heavens.
It was a demon.
The very culprit who had brought about this utterly horrific situation, the seed of calamity, the very embodiment of evil that had to be eradicated at all costs. At its appearance, the holy knights and priests erupted in fury.
“You filthy demon scum!”
“What business does the whore of evil have showing herself here!”
The holy knights shouted at the demon before them, their voices filled with rage. In a situation where their lives hung by a thread, there was no room whatsoever for conversation or negotiation. All that remained within them was burning fury and crystal-clear hatred.
“Even if we die, we’ll drag you down with us!”
“You shall receive divine punishment! I will take your head right here and now!”
“…Try it, if you can.”
The demon spoke in a cold voice to the holy knights who were seething with rage. With silver hair, brown skin, and her entire body wreathed in blazing flames, she slowly approached them with an expression filled with icy fury.
“This is exactly why it cannot be allowed… The human race… just as the Demon King said. They are beings that must all be wiped out.”
With those words, Fenrir gripped her sword properly. In her hand, blazing with flames, she held… a small necklace.