11
Chapter 11
The Demon King has no fixed form.
He could be a child, an old man, or a monster weighing hundreds of tons and standing dozens of meters tall. He can effortlessly blur the lines between gender and race.
It isn't a transformation. He actually becomes that being.
To one who has transcended the limitations of the flesh, appearance is merely a shell used to present himself to others. It is something an ordinary creature, bound by a physical body for a lifetime, could never imagine.
It seems the shell he chose this time is that of a polished, high-class beauty.
Thump—.
Heavy, majestic footsteps echo throughout Tartarus. A tension-filled silence settled between us.
Being known as the Joker, I absolutely loathe this kind of suffocating atmosphere. You only live once; you might as well spend it laughing.
"Ahahaha."
I let out a light laugh in an atmosphere where even a single breath felt like too much.
Kelth's pupils dilated wildly as he watched, but the only thing that mattered to me was the Demon King's reaction. He simply looked down at me with stern, glowing red eyes that pierced through the darkness.
"Hahahahaha!"
So, I intentionally burst into an even louder laugh, but the Demon King didn't say a word. Kelth's face turned ghostly pale.
Suddenly curious about the Saint's expression, I turned my head—
"...I'm the only one laughing, huh?"
The Saint wore a stiff expression, unlike her usual self. It didn't seem like she was simply frightened.
"Sigh, where is everyone's sense of humor? Life is too harsh to be this boring!"
"You haven't changed, Joker."
The Demon King, who had remained silent, finally spoke. The atmosphere froze over like a sheet of ice.
A sneer remained fixed on my lips.
"What, did you expect me to change?"
"Are you not afraid? Your life hangs by a thread with less than forty-eight hours remaining."
"I've still got forty-eight hours? Wow, my life is annoyingly long."
"...."
Bound by iron chains and lying on the stone floor, I had no choice but to look up at the Demon King. I stared into the red eyes behind his sunglasses and parted my lips.
"I guess we really were friends, huh? Coming to visit me right before I die."
"Your lack of manners is also unchanged."
"You're telling a death row prisoner who's about to die to be polite?"
"Even as a death row prisoner, you are still a demon. Chapter 3 of the Demon Realm laws: all demons shall show full respect to the Demon King."
He usually let things slide, so why was this Demon King bastard being so rigid now?
Of course, I had no intention of following his orders. Why would I have any good feelings toward a Demon King who betrayed me and burned the bridge after crossing the river?
"Oh my! Your Majesty! You must be so hurt that I haven't used formal language with you until now!"
The Demon King's expression soured. Kelth looked like he was on the verge of fainting.
The more they reacted, the more I pushed my teasing. I was bored, so I decided to poke at the Demon King's temper.
"I have always respected you, Your Majesty! So now, please just get out of my sight! It's not like we're on a first-name basis!"
"...."
"Can't you see our precious Jailer Kelth is shivering? Chief Hades is probably trembling in his boots just hearing that Your Majesty has arrived! Please, show your great mercy and consider their well-being!"
Kelth's face turned as pale as a newly risen undead. Feeling that someone might actually die of a heart attack if I kept this up, I beamed a smile and spoke sarcastically.
"Is this what you wanted?"
The Demon King pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. For a moment, it seemed as if he were shaking his head.
"You're in a position where you should be begging for your life, yet you play tricks until the very end."
"Would you save me if I begged?"
"...Even if I did, you aren't a demon who would ever kneel and beg."
"Heh, that's why you're my friend. You know me better than anyone."
"That arrogant playfulness is what locked you up, Joker."
The tension in the Demon King's expression softened considerably. Having reached the iron bars, he stepped forward without hesitation.
The adamantium bars could not stop the Demon King's stride. He didn't break or bend the bars.
Swoosh—.
"Wow. I guess you can even control it selectively now?"
Surprisingly, the moment his body touched the adamantium, he became a spirit form and passed through effortlessly. Adamantium is something that neither ghosts, souls, nor spirits can breach; this was proof that the Demon King had not only transcended the physical body but also the constraints of space.
Thump—.
With precise steps, the Demon King approached me. Then, he bent his long, towering knees.
His face, which had been two meters above, descended to my level. Dark black sunglasses stared down at me. Squatting in front of me, the Demon King spoke in a tone different from before.
"Joker. No, my old friend."
It was a voice I recognized from long ago. It was the voice he used only in private settings.
"What is it, Kanos?"
I responded by calling him by his name. In truth, calling him 'Demon King' is my own way of showing respect, though no one else would understand.
"I am no longer a mere lord of the Demon Realm."
"Really? Then what are you?"
"I am the sole Emperor of the entire continent and the sovereign of a new era. I am the owner of seven nations and the ruler of countless races."
"My, look at this great person we have here."
"The Demon God? He is no longer above me. If he is the god of demons, then I am the god of gods. Any god who comes before me must bow, and any hero not under my command shall not keep their head."
"So what's the point of all this? If you keep beating around the bush, I might get bored and fall asleep."
The Demon King's expression hardened again, and he spoke in his previous voice.
...Why did he even change it? Just to set the mood?
"It means I can no longer play along with your clowning."
"Since when did we ever play in sync? You lived for your goals, and I lived for mine. We just happened to be on the same ship called the Demon Army."
"I must now reign as the Absolute Dignity. A being whose name none dare utter, whom all dread with awe and worship with faith. That is who I am now."
"The Demon Realm was already a dictatorship, but you want to pull that on the whole continent? Well, I suppose nothing is impossible for you."
Ah, listening to this is really ruining my mood.
What I pursued was chaos. A perfect chaos filled only with madness and confusion, where things like tradition and rules are shattered to pieces. That has been my lifelong ideal.
But look at the result achieved through all my terrorism, wars, conspiracies, and schemes.
The Demon King is trying to create a continent of his own. A continent that will be ruled by death for those who resist, becoming stricter and more rigid.
It is almost the exact opposite of my ideal.
"Ha."
"You are far too arrogant. No matter if you were the second most important contributor to the war's victory, you must not challenge the dignity of the Demon King."
"And that's why you threw me away."
"You've worked hard until now. Since you've been branded a rebel, I cannot restore your honor, but in consideration of your contributions, I'll at least dig you a grave."
"This is unbelievable. How could you do this to me?"
I—the Demon King I once knew—was not this kind of demon.
He was a romantic sort of evil, pursuing pure malice and seeking only battles with the strong.
That was why I shook hands with him. That was why we were in the same boat.
"We are no longer children, Joker. The games of our childhood are over."
"Remind me, who was it that told me the world is nothing more than a giant playground?"
"Our grown bodies no longer fit in a playground. Look at the larger world."
"Heh, you're the one who can't see the world, Demon King. You've lost your way, driven mad by pathetic lust for power and superiority. Your world hasn't expanded; it's shrunk."
"Say whatever you like. It won't change reality."
Since when did the Demon King become a demon who spoke of reality?
He was once a demon who stared at the red, clouded skies of the Demon Realm, counting down the days until he could go to the continent and face the strongest warriors.
To find that he has suffered a sort of corruption, becoming a cliché, predictable demon...
For me, it is truly heartbreaking. It's irritating, and I feel betrayed. Even more than when the Demon King passed the death sentence on me.
"You've changed."
"I am normal. You are the freak."
"Enough, go. Don't even show up when I'm beheaded. I'm tired of looking at your unlucky face."
"...."
The Demon King straightened his knees and stood up. His slender, tall body rose to its full height.
As he turned to leave, I spoke in a low voice.
"You called me arrogant."
"...."
"Demon King, you are hideous. Surely, arrogance is better than hideousness."
Stop—.
The Demon King, who was about to step out of the iron bars, froze in his tracks. Kelth, who had breathed a sigh of relief thinking it was finally over, looked tense once again.
"Hideous? Me?"
"Yes. If I had a mirror, I'd show you."
"Nonsense. How could I, who has achieved a great feat that no one else has ever accomplished, be hideous?"
"Even the image you're projecting now looks to me like a desperate struggle to hide that hideousness. Dressing up in a black coat just to look dignified... tsk."
Crack—.
For the first time since arriving here, the Demon King showed a sign of wrath. An ominous sound of joints echoed from his tightly clenched fist.
"I am a god. A god among gods, and the god of gods. Every church in this world will soon praise me, and my word will become the absolute truth."
"A god? Maybe. But you're no longer evil. How is chasing money, fame, and power evil? That's a common desire for every living creature."
"Do not define great and solemn evil as you please."
"No, you're the one who shouldn't try to drag evil down to your level. You're just an ordinary, greedy power-monger now. The moment you started craving power, you locked yourself away."
Perhaps having run out of things to say, the Demon King fell silent. He closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment, then spoke as if questioning me.
"What does it matter then?"
"What?"
"Whether I am evil or not, or something else entirely, the fact that I achieved the great feat of continental unification remains unchanged. It is an undeniable fact that I accomplished a grand achievement that should be broadcast throughout the universe and remembered for ages. That is enough for me."
After speaking, the Demon King turned away as if to bring the conversation to a close. He unilaterally cut off any remaining topics and walked away.
Deciding the conclusion all by himself; what a truly self-centered demon. I wonder if he became more like this after he started pursuing power.
"...A great achievement?"
Right then, the Saint, who had remained silent until now, cut into the finished conversation.
"I unified a fragmented continent and brought all the strong to their knees. Since I have achieved a feat unparalleled in history, how could it not be great?"
The Demon King replied as if it were obvious, using a manner of speech he never used with me.
With a vein popping on her forehead, the Saint countered his words. She reacted as if she had just heard something utterly absurd.
"May I tell you a story about a man I once knew?"
"A story from the Saint, said to be the wisest on the continent? I am curious. You may proceed."
"It is said that a man once lived on the western fringes of an empire that has now vanished."
I wondered what she was trying to say to the Demon King of all people. Unlike when she was with the Hero, she wouldn't be able to resist for a single second if he actually lost his temper.
"That man was incredibly selfish. He was also arrogant and greedy."
"Is that so."
"One day, that man killed all his neighbors for a ridiculous reason. He plundered livestock and property, and did not hesitate to commit vile acts."
"...."
"What's even more absurd is that he went around bragging about it. He took pride in the murders, the raiding, and the rapes, spreading word of his shameful acts as great achievements."
"...."
Like a horse with a bridle in its mouth, the Demon King was suddenly speechless.
The Saint delivered the final blow to conclude.
It was a conclusion entirely different from the Demon King's. It was a difference in perspective, viewpoint, and vision.
"Would you call this man great, Demon King?"
"Hmm...."
"You did not win the war by truly subjugating or uniting the people. You attacked others by turning their crises into your opportunities, nor did you cultivate the continent into a fertile land. Who on this continent would truly revere you?"
"That is..."
"What exactly are you so proud of? Is it the superiority you feel from placing everyone beneath your feet? Is bullying those weaker than yourself a great achievement? Do you feel pride in driving innocent, weak people into agony and listening to their voices of resentment? If that is so, if you truly believe that, then please, say it boldly."
"...."
Like a mute who had eaten honey, the Demon King couldn't offer a single rebuttal.
Now I'm starting to get confused. Is this logical Saint really a total idiot?
As if his shameful secrets had been laid bare, the Demon King dropped his head weakly.
First, he was told he wasn't evil by me, and then he was told he wasn't great by the Saint. It's no wonder. His convictions were denied right before his eyes, and he had nothing to argue back.
"You are right, Saint. Everything you said is correct."
Eventually, the Demon King raised his head. A hollow smile lingered on his lips.
An indescribable sense of emptiness leaked from his voice.
"Since those who speak the truth are not needed in my continent, the reason to kill you has only become more certain."
"Heh, in the end, no matter what he blabbered, the ending was already set."
"For the remaining two days, I hope you both live well. There really isn't much time left."
Leaving his words just as selfishly as always, the Demon King walked out of Tartarus with a light step.
Kelth, whose legs gave out, collapsed with a thud onto the stone floor.