Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Truth (2)
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A landscape unfolded before Anes's eyes.
It was like a frozen hellscape.
Everything was frozen.
Far in the past.
Icebergs surging from rifts in the shattered earth, demon corpses scattered in uncountable numbers, a massive fortress reduced to piles of rubble.
...All of it frozen. Zekiel had done it.
"Rise."
Zekiel murmured quietly.
His gaze fell on five corpses.
They were all the subordinates who had followed him.
Arranged neatly like chess pieces, shrouded in cloth with only their toes peeking out—a truly wretched sight. A fitting end to the lives they had lived.
No names, no faces, no voices, no families... Nothing left behind. Even their corpses barely revealed their toes.
"...Rise."
Zekiel muttered once more.
The Imperial Secret Organization he had led, Balance.
But none of the members obeyed his command. It was only natural. They had all already breathed their last.
All annihilated except for their captain, Zekiel.
The result of the operation to seal the Demon Realm Gate.
They had lived in the shadows, hiding their identities, purging all curiosity and selfish desires to serve the Imperial Palace loyally. And this was the end of their lives as marionettes.
"The Imperial Palace's hunting dogs—what a pitiful state."
A voice came from the opposite side.
"Once the hunt is over, the hounds are destined for the cooking pot. You knew that full well."
Those words alone made it feel like all the blood in his body was surging backward. It was a rage he could not suppress.
Zekiel's entire body trembled. The man creakily lifted his head to glare at the owner of the voice.
The root of the calamity that had befallen the continent.
The master of the Demon Realm.
The Demon Queen Valeta.
Her current appearance was utterly bizarre.
Her entire fortress lay in ruins, countless demons reduced to corpses... Yet she wore an expression of extreme composure.
Even her body was far from intact—one shoulder of her upper body torn clean off. Her remaining arm cradled a young girl like a child.
Valeta broke the silence first.
"Balance..."
The name she uttered was that of Zekiel's organization.
The name of those who had operated in secret for the Imperial Palace.
"Now that I look at it, it's quite a fine name. With the Demon Realm and the continent reaching a temporary truce, the balance you desired has more or less been achieved."
Valeta's eyes curved like a crescent moon.
"Isn't that right? Captain of Balance, Snow Ghost Zekiel."
"...Keep those filthy hands off Her Highness the Princess."
But Valeta only pulled the sleeping girl in her arms even tighter. That area of the scene was blurred, making her face hard to discern.
"How pitiful. So pitiful. You still don't understand."
Valeta sneered.
"Zekiel, first, let me tell you the terms of the truce."
"...Terms?"
"We agreed to hand over the First Princess. So there's no reason to return her. How unfortunate."
Zekiel stared blankly at Valeta. Now that he thought about it, something had been off. There had been no reinforcements at all.
Handing the First Princess over to the Demon Queen.
That was the shocking condition of the truce.
"In exchange, the Emperor went so far as to bargain for your worthless life. Accept it. This isn't something your power can change."
Valeta's sneer soon turned into laughter.
"Who will ever heed your grievances? You served the Imperial Palace your whole life, but born lowly, living as a puppet was the best you could do."
"..."
"And who will remember you? The Snow Ghost who made a name in the Demon Realm—but no one on the continent will remember that name. You still don't get it?"
"...I said, put down Her Highness."
"Impossible. Poor Snow Ghost. You worked so hard for this truce. I'll raise the First Princess well. If war breaks out again, it'll be truly entertaining."
Valeta burst into continuous laughter.
"The Demon Realm will build its strength, while the continent slowly crumbles in the meantime. Humans are endlessly frail. They can never withstand the flow of time..."
Taak—!
Zekiel kicked off the ground, unable to listen any longer. He spread ice and charged swiftly, but no matter how much he traversed the space, the distance to the Demon Queen never closed.
It was bizarre.
The Demon Queen simply stood there, utterly unreachable.
"Farewell, Snow Ghost."
With those final words from Valeta.
"It seems you've been cursed with a terminal affliction, so we won't meet again."
Kung—!
Zekiel was hurled out of the Demon Realm.
The dimensional passage swallowed his body, and like sinking into deep water, Zekiel's form began to drift within it. His eyes wide open, the man muttered.
"Damn...!"
Frustrating that he hadn't died.
Failure for not slaying the Demon Queen, failure for not saving his subordinates and Her Highness. He had even been forced to bear the humiliation of his life being spared.
Kung—!
His heart pounded as if it would burst.
Because during the mission, he had pushed his cold energy to the absolute limit. This body, once thrown irreparably off balance, would never return to normal.
Sususu—!
Inside the dimensional passage, his mind grew ever hazier.
Zekiel closed his eyes and focused his spirit. Not to survive, but to etch the names and faces of his subordinates into memory without missing a single detail.
"Dreams... I think there were some."
Dreams of living ordinarily, of opening an orphanage to live with children, of sleeping with limbs fully stretched out. In the end, none had come true.
He hoped his subordinates' wishes would be fulfilled.
...But their wishes could not reach.
Had he ever once tried to balance his own life?
He had lived as an ornament of the Imperial Palace, like a shadow. He had striven so hard—what meaning had it all held in the end?
Captain.
Suddenly, the title felt shameful.
He hadn't saved his subordinates, hadn't protected himself.
He hadn't saved even one precious princess.
"You foolish bastards."
Your captain was this weak, couldn't even succeed at blind revenge. If you had known, you might have abandoned that foolish loyalty. Then... you might have lived better lives than Zekiel.
"Cough—!"
An absurd amount of blood spewed forth. With no strength to swallow or spit, his blocked esophagus made even breathing laborious.
Zekiel's consciousness gradually faded.
.
.
.
.
.
Anes vividly experienced Zekiel's past.
Beeee—
Tinnitus began to ring.
Anes's vision gradually turned pure white. Likely because she had been eroded by fear for too long.
At that moment, countless scenes began flashing before her blank white canvas of a view, like a fleeting montage.
─This is our last mission! What'll we do after it's over?
─But Captain, don't you have any dreams?
─I want to raise a hundred cats someday.
─Come to think of it, I've never seen the captain smile.
...What is this?
─Teacher, look at this!
─Teacher, where are you?
─Teacher!
...How on earth did this happen?
A truth the world had never known, a truth Anes wasn't even sure she should know. The events Zekiel had once endured flashed swiftly past her.
As a bonus, fragments of Zekiel's memories flooded chaotically into Anes's mind, jumbling together.
His origins beginning in the Penitence Palace, training harsh as torture, his days living as tutor to the princesses... Her head burned hot, her brain felt like it was scorching.
Blood trickled from Anes's nose.
In that moment, pinned immobile as if crushed by scissors.
In that moment when her head truly seemed about to burst.
"Ugh...!"
A strong impact snapped Anes back to her senses. She felt the black mist induced by fear lift in an instant, though she was still dizzy.
"...Ness!"
Only after a long while did she register the voice and the sensation of her shoulders being shaken.
"Lady Anes! Lady Anes!"
Her vision finally cleared.
Ether was shaking Anes's shoulders with a face full of worry, while Zekiel had purified all the black mists.
"Ah, ah, Lady Anes! Are you all right?"
"Ah..."
Anes couldn't respond easily. Her head was still spinning, and she didn't know what to say.
Her gaze naturally turned to Zekiel.
To the inspector standing there perfectly fine.
"...Why push yourself like that? Moderation is key."
Meeting Anes's gaze, Zekiel spoke nonchalantly. He had a candy in his mouth.
"Must've been really scary, huh? Tears and all."
Anes checked her reflection in the ice.
Her usual expressionless face, but ghastly. Tear tracks had streamed down her cheeks unnoticed.
"..."
After a long pause, Anes nodded quietly.
"...Yes."
For now, it was all she could say.
"...It was really scary."
It was just before dawn broke.
Right before their departure for the Black Tower.