TDKH 25

Chapter : 25

“Dael, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Before I knew it, Renel had grabbed my arm and was looking up at me with a worried face.

I steadied myself as best I could and asked Atrisha,

“‘A seed.’ What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He didn’t tell me exactly. But if I had to guess… he must’ve recognized my soul, too.”

“……”

“After that, the Demon King used his authority, and the territory was cut off from the outside world. That was the day the Immortal Demon King began his activity.”

Tears welled up in Atrisha’s eyes.

“Do you understand now? The Demon King activated his power because of me. He sealed off the territory because he expected something from me.”

“……”

“The reason the people of this land all live the same pattern of life—it’s because of me. He created a familiar environment for me. All of it, everything, is my fault.”

“……”

“So please… kill me. I’ve lived with this guilt for three hundred years. Please end this pain…”

At some point Atrisha had covered her face with both hands and was sobbing.

Tears I had never once seen in the previous timeline.

Renel and Arwen quietly approached, wrapped their arms around her shoulders, and patted her back.

“Don’t treat me like a kid… hic…”

Arwen said that, but Atrisha didn’t push either of them away.

Meanwhile, I drifted into thought.

There’s no doubt. The Immortal Demon King intended to turn Atrisha into another Demon King.

Just like the Demon King of Corrosion tried to make me fall.

Why? What did he expect from her?

No—there’s no point asking that.

I don’t even know what expectation drove the Corrosion Demon King to curse me in the first place.

What mattered more now was—

How did Atrisha leave the territory before my regression?

I hadn’t thought too deeply about it then.
Back then, I had no idea how obsessed the Immortal Demon King was with Atrisha.

I’d simply assumed:
“Wow, she managed to escape from the Great Demon King’s den. Maybe that’s the power of a soul mage.”

But now that I understood the extent and reason for the Demon King’s obsession, that explanation was impossible.

Before regression, it was impossible for Atrisha to have escaped Kamum.

We hadn’t met in Kamum either.

In fact, on that entire journey I never once visited Kamum.

Did the Immortal Demon King release her?

Ridiculous.

Then maybe—

I sucked in a breath.

A possibility touched my mind and sent chills across my whole body.

<What if Atrisha was already a Demon King at that time?>

The Immortal Demon King’s “experiment” succeeded.

Atrisha eventually fell and became a Demon King.

Satisfied with his success, the Immortal Demon King granted her freedom.

But even after becoming a Demon King, her desire to die didn’t change.

She wandered the continent seeking death.
And then she heard rumors of a party that killed a Great Demon King above rank 17.

She searched for that party.
And finally found them…

That’s a far more natural conclusion.

Before regression, everyone looked like a uniform Quadrangle.
There was no way to distinguish Demon Kings from others.

Even if Atrisha had become one, I couldn’t have noticed.

So was she the Demon King of Absence?

No. Impossible.

I recalled the conversation I’d had at the time with the Demon King of Absence:

—So you’re saying you were artificially created by the Corrosion Demon King as well?
—Kuku. You really do catch on.

He had admitted he was created by the Corrosion Demon King.
Atrisha’s corruption was caused by the Immortal Demon King.
Their stories didn’t match.

Then who was the Demon King of Absence…?

I stopped my thoughts before they drifted too far.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Right now I needed to focus on Atrisha—before she became a Demon King.

I was forcing down the goosebumps rising across my body when—

“Hey! Look over there!”

Renel pointed and shouted.

Atrisha—somewhat calmed—turned her gaze as well.
Arwen let out a groan.

“They’re serious.”

As she said, the Immortal Demon King wasn’t holding back.

People say “a crowd like clouds,” and there was no phrase more fitting.

Seventy-five thousand residents.
Every human being in Kamum was flooding toward our inn.

“……”

I watched silently for a moment, then made up my mind.

“I was planning to just take Atrisha and slip away quietly.”

“Dael?”

“Renel, Chris—protect Arwen. Arwen, prepare the blessing.”

“Hold on. What are you thinking?”

“Same thing as before. Only the numbers are stupidly larger this time, so it won’t be hard.”

Renel slapped her chest in frustration.

“Arwen already said it! To bless 75,000 people we need a week of prep!”

“Oh—that’s only if we bless all 75,000 at once. If we do them in small batches—say a few hundred—it’s basically the same as earlier.”

“You can do that?”

“In theory… though honestly, I’m not sure how many consecutive blessings I can manage. I’ve never tested that.”

Divine power might be different from mana, but at least this much was certain:
it wasn’t infinite.

I thought a moment, then asked,

“Could you hold out for a full day? I mean all of you.”

They looked at each other and nodded.

“Well… based on earlier, that seems doable.”

“Indeed. If it’s just a day, sleep deprivation will probably be the bigger problem.”

“A day should be fine. But what changes if we endure a day?”

I answered Arwen’s last question like a declaration.

“In that time, I’m going to kill the Immortal Demon King.”

A heavy silence fell.

The most shocked of all—ironically—was Atrisha.

“What did you just say? You’re going to kill him?”

“That’s right. The plan has changed.”

“What was the original plan?”

“To recruit you and then get the hell out. My party members still aren’t ready for a Great Demon King.”

“And what about you, old man?”

The answer didn’t come from me.
Arwen answered instead.

“Guess I’d better hurry up and grow stronger—so I can keep up with our leader.”

Atrisha looked like she wanted to retort, then gave up.

“That girl’s always been insane, so fine.”

“Aha-ha…”

“At least get the other two to talk sense into him. He’s basically marching off to die.”

But Renel and Chris weren’t exactly discouraging.

“Weirdly, I feel like we could pull it off…”

“Well, after watching him break a star, killing a Great Demon King doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.”

Atrisha stared, mouth open.

Seeing her make that face was honestly surreal.

Then Renel asked,

“You say that, but are you sure you’ll be okay? This is your first time fighting a Great Demon King, too.”

“……”

“Maybe we should all go together—”

“Then we’d have to fight the Great Demon King and seventy-five thousand S-ranks at once. The Immortal Demon King wants Atrisha—he’ll make the whole territory chase her.”

“But still—”

“More importantly, Great Demon King level is still too dangerous for you.”

Renel bit her lip in frustration.

“Sorry. I’ll get stronger fast.”

“You’re already growing at a miraculous pace. Don’t overdo it.”

“Mm… thank you. For everything.”

“Don’t make it sound dramatic.”

I patted Renel’s shoulder and turned away.

Atrisha spoke quickly.

“Wait. I’m coming too.”

“What? You heard me. If you come, 75,000 S-ranks are coming.”

“My body will stay here. I’ll link my soul to yours for a bit. Then I can share your sight and hearing. And no matter how far apart we are, we can talk in secret.”

I’d never heard of such magic.

I looked to Arwen for confirmation—she shook her head.

But Atrisha’s expression wasn’t lying.
If she were lying, her voice would sound like a Quadrangle anyway.

…Wait.

Then I remembered that night—her very first battle with us.

—Wasn’t today’s fight strange for you?
—What do you mean? Nothing different.
—So it didn’t work…
—Hmm?
—You really do have a cursed fate.

So that’s what it meant.

She linked our souls.

Back then, I was a lone-wolf leader who couldn’t coordinate properly.
I couldn’t hear requests, warnings, or calls for help properly.

Even telepathy—when Renel tried—came through as Quadrangles.

Atrisha had noticed immediately and tried to fix it.
She tried to let us communicate without voices.

But her power couldn’t bypass the curse of the Corrosion Demon King.

So she’d said, “It didn’t work.”

So you knew. About my curse.

Not the details, of course.
She never said “white squares.”

Probably even if she saw through my eyes, she’d see the world normally.

But she knew I could neither see nor hear properly like others.
And she tried to help anyway.

The attempt failed—but I was truly grateful.

Grateful for something that—now—would never happen in this timeline.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m not linking souls to help you.”

“That’s not why I thanked you.”

“…?”

“Anyway—if not to help, why come? You said you didn’t want revenge.”

Atrisha hesitated, unable to answer.

At that moment Chris shouted,

“It’s time. They’re right in front of us!”

“Good. Atrisha—where is the Immortal Demon King?”

Silently, she pointed.

Even from this distance, the huge castle was visible.

“The lord’s castle.”

“No way.”

“Didn’t they tell you outside? Guess the world got cut off too fast for word to spread.”

“……”

“The Immortal Demon King is the wife of Kamum’s lord.”

I nodded quietly.

Then stretched my body lightly and said,

“I’ll be back. Move to the next building.”

“What?”

“This inn’s going to collapse soon. I think that’s a tool shop next door. Meet me over there.”

“Why is it collapsing?”

I gathered power in my legs.

Crack. Crack.

Riiiiip.

Muscles swelled. The ceiling split.

“Because I’m going to jump.”

The next moment, I soared into the sky.

And flew toward the lord’s castle.

BOOOOOM.

Behind me the inn collapsed.
Through the noise, I heard Renel scream—

“Can’t you just walk like a normal person—!?”