Chapter 730: The Demon King's Half
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 730: The Demon King's Half
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
It was the sound of music.
Or perhaps it was the sound of mountains splitting and thunder roaring.
Massive blocks of alchemy materials were smelted in a gargantuan furnace. Towering giants swung heavy hammers and pressed steel tongs, incessantly shaping them into precision parts that seemed entirely at odds with the term "Demon Race."
Yet, these were not weapons or armor forged for the front lines where the war still raged.
As soon as these parts were manufactured, they were swiftly transported elsewhere.
They were taken to a high platform that looked as if it had been cast from solid steel. It was silver-white, its surface incredibly smooth, rising from the earth like a mountain range—a truly magnificent sight.
"￥&%%……"
Arcane, unintelligible chanting echoed through the space. Several High-Class Demons, whose appearances were indistinguishable from humans, floated above the platform. They expended vast amounts of mana to embed the alchemical parts into the massive structure.
Countless magic circuits flickered in and out of view on the platform. Had a Grand Magister with sufficiently profound magical knowledge been there to observe, they would have realized that the operating principles of these circuits were entirely different from modern magic.
These lines did not look as if they had been engraved onto the platform using magic materials; rather, it was as if they had been an integral part of the structure from the very beginning.
Looking up, everything appeared monolithic... and exquisite.
"Those are the so-called Royal Family?"
An looked at the High-Class Demons floating above the platform. When her gaze swept over the bracelets on their wrists—which radiated the aura of certain Rules—a faint flash of disdain crossed her eyes.
"Heh, there is no such thing as a Royal Family. That is merely a rumor spread by the ignorant."
Grand Duke Divine Will walked ahead of her. Hearing her words, he shook his head and gave a light chuckle.
"You should know better than anyone. The so-called Royal Family are simply those with an adaptability to those Ancient Artifacts. Because they are special, they naturally hold high status, leading the ignorant to spread such tales."
"If we are to speak of a true King..."
Divine Will turned back.
"In the entire Demon Race, there is only you."
"I am not the King you speak of. You have the wrong person," An said expressionlessly.
"Hehe... perhaps not yet. You are still a little short. But it does not matter..."
Divine Will suddenly spread his arms, speaking with a hint of fanaticism.
"Look, my King... all of this was prepared for you, for your return!!"
A massive mechanism groaned into motion, lifting the two of them toward the top of the platform. The demons working below, teeming like ants, knelt in reverent prostration at the sight. They raised their voices in a fanatical cry toward An:
"We welcome... the return of Her Majesty the Demon King!"
"I am not the Demon King!" An retorted.
But her protest was far too weak.
In the midst of such a mountain-shaking roar, a single person's voice was easily drowned out, unable to create even the slightest ripple.
At the same time, as she looked down at the kneeling crowd, a surge of intense loathing rose in An's heart.
She didn't know where this hatred came from; it was as if she simply detested the very sight of these demons kneeling.
"Let us go. Perhaps you have not yet remembered, or perhaps you already have and are merely playing the fool. Regardless, seeing is better than listening to these people shout."
Divine Will continued to lead An forward.
An didn't want to watch any more of these boring theatrics, but with her current strength, she was utterly powerless to resist Divine Will.
Too many fragmented images were flashing through her mind, and she had no way to deal with the First Demon General. Thus, she could only follow him helplessly.
They crossed to the other side of the platform and entered a subterranean space.
In truth, they had been underground the entire time, but this area seemed to be the upper level of the subterranean complex.
After descending a long flight of stairs, the demon guards gradually disappeared, replaced by a pitch-black tunnel.
"Are there no lights?"
"Of course there are."
Divine Will produced a battered old lantern.
A dim, yellow light flickered to life, finally illuminating a small portion of the path within the tunnel.
"Just this?"
An frowned slightly.
The dignified Grand Duke Divine Will was using such a primitive method for illumination?
Even if he couldn't use magic and didn't know the Illumination Spell, a torch borrowed from one of the Low Demons outside would have been ten times brighter than this thing.
"This is enough."
Divine Will chuckled. "Remember, while we pass through, do not speak. Do not circulate any mana or Fighting Spirit. Just follow me."
"And if I don't listen to you?"
"Then it would be a pity."
Divine Will raised the lantern, dispelling a few shadows at the tunnel's entrance.
"I would have to start piecing your body back together ahead of schedule."
"..."
An followed Divine Will into the tunnel.
She didn't want to obey the old man's orders, but after entering the tunnel, she found herself falling silent instinctively.
In that darkness, it felt as though countless gazes were fixed upon her, radiating a bone-chilling, terrifying cold... as if the moment she made a wrong move, the owners of those gazes would tear her to shreds.
Yet, when the lantern's light swept past, there was nothing in the narrow tunnel.
Was this the effect of another Ancient Artifact?
An frowned.
This particular Ancient Artifact didn't seem to appear in any of the images in her mind.
"Alright, we've arrived."
Light returned.
Divine Will put away the lantern and stepped aside.
Hearing his words, An subconsciously looked up.
And then... she froze.
She saw countless statues. These statues were lifelike, as if crafted by the hands of a master artist. they captured the hideous, distorted expressions of those facing death with extreme clarity, looking as though they might come to life at any moment only to die again in terror.
As her gaze moved past the statues, An finally saw it... the Obsidian Throne of Thorns.
And upon that throne sat a skeleton draped in a feathered robe.
"This is..."
The skeleton's eye sockets were deep, like black holes, yet An felt as if it were watching her. Simultaneously, a powerful sense of affinity radiated from the skeleton, giving An an urge so strong it felt as if her soul wanted to leave her body and merge with those bones.
"She... who is she?"
This bizarre impulse made An tremble. She stepped back, wanting to flee.
"And... who exactly am I..."
There were many things An wanted to deny.
She wasn't a demon.
She had nothing to do with the Demon Race.
She was just a lowly personal maid who wanted to serve her Young Master and spend the rest of her life with him.
Her greatest hobby was cleaning, and she was passionate about exterminating certain pests.
Beyond that... she was nothing, and she desired nothing else.
But when the skeleton upon the throne appeared before her eyes, she realized she no longer had the ability to even deceive herself.
"Has your awakening truly not reached that level yet?"
Divine Will sighed.
To be qualified to manipulate the Eternal Cycle to such an extent, yet have memories so fragmented and incomplete, was truly difficult to fathom.
But it didn't matter.
"Do you still not understand?"
Divine Will gazed at the skeleton and spoke slowly.
"She is you, and you are her, Miss An... No, using that human name now is truly a profan—"
"Shut up!"
An sharply interrupted him. "What do you mean, I am her? I have my own parents... though they are dead, I know exactly how I was born, how I grew up, and how I became the An I am today alongside my Young Master! It is impossible for me to have any connection to a mere skeleton!"
An's posture remained ramrod straight, her movements still precise and elegant, but her hands, clasped in front of her waist, were clenched so tightly they trembled.
She searched frantically, over and over, through the chaotic and complex memories in her mind, desperate to find something to refute Divine Will.
But the more she searched... the more powerless she felt to argue...
Otherwise, how could she explain these memories that had surfaced out of nowhere?
"Once... a thousand years ago."
Divine Will didn't argue. Instead, he began to recount a story.
"Among us... there was a leader. She was our King, our sovereign. We followed her, moving ever forward."
"Back then, our situation was somewhat similar to what it is now. We were oppressed by those atop the High Tower. It was our King who led us, giving us the courage to resist it all."
"Everything was going well, as beautiful as a dream. Under the King's leadership, we were gradually moving toward true freedom."
Divine Will paused.
"But when that incident occurred, everything changed."
"The world was inverted, the seas turned upside down, and civilization collapsed... It was a disaster that still makes my heart tremble to this day. And it was in that disaster... she, the King... died."
Divine Will turned to look at An. His aged, clouded eyes held so much sorrow, like a child who had been robbed of everything.
"I didn't even know how she died. I didn't know who killed her. But when I came to my senses... she had already fallen before me."
"She was dead."
"She died so ordinarily, so silently."
"But I did not accept it. The entire Demon Race did not accept it!"
"The Demon Race cannot lose its King!"
Divine Will's voice grew heavy, like the clashing of blades.
"So, after that, I used every means possible to resurrect her. Fortunately, though she had died, she had not died completely. The magic of that era was a terrifying thing. I used a magic device... no, in modern terms, I used an Ancient Artifact to seal her body in an instant."
"But my resurrection plan still failed. Because of a mistake I made, a portion of her consciousness—or rather, her soul—that was sealed within the body... escaped."
"That fragment of her soul somehow managed to evade the spatial turbulence sealed above the Abyss and wandered through the human world in a cycle of reincarnation."
"Most recently, she became an ordinary little girl in a small mountain village on the Empire's border."
"So, do you understand now?"
In Divine Will's clouded eyes, An's current struggle to maintain her composure was reflected. He spoke each word deliberately:
"You are that fragment of the soul. You... are the Demon King's half!"
"..."
An's body swayed, teetering as if she might collapse at any moment.
She, who had always held herself to the strictest standards, rarely lost her composure like this.
But no matter how strong one's mental fortitude, no matter if she had already suspected this outcome, hearing it confirmed with her own ears still caused her to waver uncontrollably.
The Demon King.
To a mere maid, that was such a distant, alien term.
If Grand Duke Campbell had known about this back then, he surely would have strangled her to death in that now-vanished village the moment they met.
"So, do you understand now? Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't. When I return you to the King's body, you will eventually understand everything," Divine Will said.
"Heh..."
An forced a cold sneer.
"You think I will let you have your way so easily?"
Since she was the so-called "half," her will should be able to exert enough influence over the outcome.
"You will."
Divine Will was certain.
"Why?"
"Because only by doing so can you obtain the power to save..."
Divine Will tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "What was the name of that son of the Lion King who likes to dress as a woman? Oh, right, Muen Campbe—"
BOOM!
The roar of countless steel mechanisms erupted!
Massive blades, like the claws of a monster, were instantly pressed against Divine Will's side, ready to tear him to pieces at any second.
The dignified An had transformed into a beast. Her expression was feral as she glared at Divine Will with murderous intent.
"You—will not—touch—Young Master!!"
"...How terrifying. I didn't expect that this time, you would have such a glaring weakness."
Divine Will brushed off his clothes. As if he hadn't even noticed the razor-sharp blades, he smiled kindly.
"And what if, in this matter, I choose to defy your will? What then?"
What then?
If Young Master died.
If he died...
Just thinking of that image, a terrifying desire for destruction began to rise in An's mind, a need to tear everything to shreds.
"I will kill you."
"And?"
"I will slaughter the entire Demon Race."
"And?"
"And... if Young Master dies."
An paused for a moment, then spoke each word with absolute, unwavering conviction: "Then there is no reason for this world to exist anymore."
Her entire existence revolved around her Young Master.
He was her world.
Just like the frantic, obsessive things she had done for him in the past.
If he were to die... her madness would descend upon the entire world, magnified ten thousand, a hundred million times over.
This was no idle threat.
Perhaps in some non-existent parallel world, this was something that had already happened.
"Destroy the world... is it?"
Divine Will chewed on those words.
They were words of immense weight, for he understood exactly how much terrifying power was required to destroy a world. Thus, even for him, the First Demon General, it was something he wouldn't even dare to dream of.
But...
"Hahahaha..."
He began to laugh.
"What..." An was stunned by his laughter.
"Good, very good... Destroying the world... isn't that wonderful?"
Divine Will reached out his hand, as if grasping the world he spoke of in his palm.
"Isn't this perfect? My King, in the past, you were so kind, so gentle toward this world."
"But... but... even a version of you that was so gentle and kind was still treated unfairly by this world, still met an end you never deserved. If that is the case... if that is the case..."
The kind expression on that aged face vanished bit by bit, replaced by utter ferocity.
It was as if he were stained with blood.
"Then let the world be destroyed."
"If, after you have fully awakened, this remains your will, my King... then I, Divine Will, shall be the first soul to offer my life to your blade!"