I'll Kill You
I’ll kill you.
27. I’ll kill you.
He had been such a naive boy. Yuda, in the prime of his youth, had been a boy with that kind of clumsy, tender heart. He had always wanted to prove his abilities, to become someone everyone could trust. And in the end, he had proven himself, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. Even I had come to acknowledge his stubborn resolve.
The truth was, the reason I had wanted to bring him into the hunting party was because I hoped that boy, who had suffered so much within his own family, could see a wider world. His past, tormented by those who should have been his family, was far too similar to my own. Unlike me, he had refused to despair and had tried to live with all his strength. That had made me worry about him even more.
Even though his path had veered far off course, that was exactly why I had wanted to bring Yuda into the hunting party. I had wanted him to travel to more places, meet more people, and create more memories and experiences—just as I had done.
And fortunately, I had been able to help Yuda do exactly that. He had followed me so well. I had treated him like a precious little brother. Every time we went out hunting together, Yuda would forget his quiver, and it had been such a headache—yet so endearing. Jeren had always been the one to bring it for him, and Yuda had been so happy about that.
Now, both Yuda and Jeren… everyone we had been with… none of them remained.
Even if there were others who survived besides Yuda, I no longer had the courage to meet them again. No, I couldn’t even picture a future where we could meet again. Was there truly any way for a slave whose right to live or die had been stolen to escape the Demon King’s grasp?
Right now, more than anything, I wanted to go find my comrades. After seeing that Yuda had survived, I had started to believe the others might still be alive too. So why… why, Demon King? Why did you kill Yuda? Yuda… Yuda…
“……”
My ideals had been in a place far too bright. That light had been so vast and immense that I had felt as if I could grasp it in my hand, as if I could snatch it up whenever I reached out. But I had never once considered where I was standing.
No matter how grand and radiant that light was, I had been sinking in a deep abyss where only pitch-black darkness remained, stretching out fingertips that could never reach it. And the light that had seemed so close at hand had ultimately been nothing more than a wave of light with no substance. I had been unable to grasp anything, and had begun to fall endlessly into the abyss.
“……Hurk……”
From the very beginning, I had been designed that way. A soul that longed to see the light, trapped forever in a body that could never reach it. The Demon King had reconstructed my body with this in mind from the start. Knowing that my ideals would threaten him. Knowing that they would threaten his own kind. That was why he had crushed me like this.
It was an endless chain of hatred. The Demon King’s cowardly appearance, yet the way he acted as if he could accomplish anything. And the way he truly seemed capable of achieving everything he desired.
“……”
Now, it made my blood boil. I didn’t even feel like giving up anymore. Right now, I just… I just wanted to kill the Demon King. I wanted to take revenge on him. Just like what happened to Yuda, I wanted to tear him apart right in front of me without leaving a single trace.
But… but…
Swish——
“Eugh……”
I was far too powerless. No matter how desperately I resisted or endured, his endless malice and pleasure stripped my body of any sense of ownership. Even if I refused to submit mentally, my body had already been made to obey the Demon King’s every word perfectly.
“You don’t even have the strength to resist today, do you?”
For the past few days, all the strength had drained from my body. I had been completely exhausted. Because of that, the Demon King had loosened the shackles on my entire body, removing the restrictions on my movements while still keeping me from leaving the bed. He played with the collar around my neck, but…
“Die… you……”
Even so, he hadn’t been able to erase the venom in my eyes.
“Before, I thought you were only pretty when you cried in pain. But looking at you again, I see I was mistaken.”
As the Demon King kneaded my face like a toy, I glared at him with half-lidded eyes and shouted.
“Die, I said……”
“The way you keep rebelling endlessly, only to be broken again and again… is truly beautiful as well.”
The Demon King whispered to me as if he found me utterly adorable. With that face that now only seemed detestable, sending flirtatious glances that carried not a shred of sincerity.
I had no choice but to muster what strength I could. Grab——
Even with my arms and legs bound in shackles, I lunged at him immediately and swung my fist. But crack———!
“Aaaaargh……!”
Before I could even properly position myself to strike, the Demon King used magic with a mere gesture and tore my shoulder joint out.
“Karia, I just had a good idea.”
As I glared at him through tear-filled eyes, wracked with pain, he smiled benevolently and waved his hand through the air, creating something.
“It’s a mana potion I made yesterday. It can grant any being a male organ incapable of reproduction.”
“What?”
“Pregnancy is still difficult to design, so I couldn’t include it in this potion… but isn’t it novel all the same?”
I stared at him for a moment, my gaze filled with intense contempt. However…
“I think it would be fun to enjoy something like this too. I’ve already done some solo practice in advance.”
The Demon King was serious. The dream he had once had because of Cartoria had become reality.
I bit down hard on my lower lip, looking at him with eyes full of nothing but disgust. But there was nothing I could do.
“Though I haven’t decided yet which of us will drink it.”
At the Demon King’s words, I felt a flicker of hope.
“If I drink it, I could enjoy you thoroughly until your waist breaks. But if you drink it, it might make for quite an interesting scene as well.”
I, too, had once been a man. And I had been quite skilled in bed. I had never done it with anyone from the hunting party, but… in bed, I had been someone whose mind and body were both perfect.
There was hope. If I could turn the tables on the Demon King here and somehow remove the shackles, I might be able to reign over him instead. So the moment I heard those words, I began looking at him with great interest.
Sensing my gaze, the Demon King soon smiled in satisfaction.
“Very well, then let’s make a bet.”
“For the next ten minutes, I will strangle your neck while kissing you.”
What nonsense.
“If you can endure without fainting until then, I’ll give you the right to choose.”
I immediately tried to shout back, telling him not to talk nonsense, but tight———
“Kuhk——”
His hand was faster than my mouth. In the end, with my neck being squeezed, my right arm already torn off, I couldn’t even last four minutes before collapsing.
Thud———
The Demon King laid me down after I lost consciousness and fainted, staring at me for a moment. I sank into my fading awareness, swallowing back the rage and resentment at once again being toyed with by the Demon King without accomplishing anything. But why?
After staring at me like that for a while, he…
“……”
…soon approached my bedside, sat down gently, and spoke.
“……It can’t be helped.”
As if he didn’t know that I could still feel sensations even while unconscious, he spoke to me, thinking I wouldn’t hear.
Strangely enough, his voice was filled with genuine pain.
“I saw that human’s true nature. Both on that day, and during this meeting.”
That was what he said.
“He had changed so much……”
In my hazy consciousness, with my eyes closed, I began to focus on that voice I could barely hear.
“The reason I executed that human that day was because the hope I had once felt when he was with you had completely disappeared.”
But why was he saying this after I had already fainted? I couldn’t understand at all.
“If I had truly listened to you and sent him back, he would have gathered an absurd army with all his heart and returned……”
The Demon King was speaking of what he had seen that day through his Clairvoyance.
“I never wanted to thoughtlessly trample on your ideals either……”
He was revealing his true feelings.
“……If this world could change like your ideals, then I too……”
In truth, long before me…
“I wouldn’t have given up either……”
He had once tried to pursue those ideals himself.
“……Heize……”
And for a moment, the Demon King muttered a name I didn’t recognize, then carefully stroked my hair.
“……Haa.”
Letting out a sigh, he reconstructed my torn body for the first time in a while, then left the bed. Placing the bottle on the table, he muttered,
“I’m not in the mood at all today……”
…and left the room.
That day, I was fortunately able to fulfill my role as a sexual tool with just the suffocating kiss. But who on earth was this “Heize”?
Who was he, that the Demon King would mutter his name with such pain?
And if that wasn’t his true intention… then why was he treating me so harshly now?
Of course, there was also the fact that I had stopped talking to the Demon King. But still, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to kill him. The more I thought about it, the more it felt like what the Demon King had said about Yuda was true. The fact that he was saying this after using Clairvoyance felt truly despicable.
This fucking bastard. If you were going to say it, you should have said it while I was conscious. Why are you just muttering to yourself and leaving? Why do you keep making that sad face? It’s not like you’re tormenting me to sort out your own feelings.
Ah, don’t tell me…
“……”
Even after regaining consciousness, I spent a long time agonizing over it. Should I reveal that I had heard this and ask about that conversation? Should I tell him that I could feel sensations even while unconscious?
If the Demon King didn’t know, that might be my only remaining card. Should I use that card just to talk about his true intentions again? Should I attempt conversation once more?
But in the end, the Demon King would just ignore my opinions and push forward with his own judgment, making a firm decision. And if he met my surviving comrades and decided that conversation was impossible, he would execute them immediately.
By that logic, even if all my comrades were alive, they would be burning with unquenchable rage toward the Demon King. From the Demon King’s perspective, wouldn’t we all have to be annihilated?
“Huu……”
In the end, I decided to set this matter aside for now. There was no way I could control anything afterward anyway. Why would I reveal my precious, only trump card to an uncontrollable Demon King?
I had to think as strategically as possible. The moment he killed Yuda, the Demon King and I had begun a war. And I was going to win no matter what.
Please… I had to win. For Yuda, and for my family, even if it was already far too late.
“……”
As I was thinking of ways to break him somehow, I happened to notice something while staring at the ceiling.
“……That……”
It might be my only salvation. My final lifeline. A trump card that could reverse this overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation. A revived Counterattack’s Potential.
The potion bottle that had caught my eye by chance was, in a way, my last chance to turn the tables on the Demon King in this situation.
Click——
So I immediately grabbed the potion and hid it under my pillow.
“……”
Yes. This was my final opportunity. The moment the Demon King came again next time, I would pour everything I had into a decisive battle with him.
This rotten Demon King bastard. I would use all my old techniques to turn him into a perfect woman.
“I’ll kill you for real, Demon King……”
This was a female’s rebellion.