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Chapter : 45
When Arwen used her blessing, something astonishing happened.
The metal-nail strands that looked like his hair began to fall off in clumps.
The bloodstains vanished, and color returned to his face.
Only when he finally regained a form barely recognizable as human and kin did he collapse to the ground with a thud.
“Even a precise, pinpoint blessing like that can erase the power of a Tenth-Rank Monarch. Impressive.”
“Thank you. I’ll begin treatment now—”
“There will be no need.”
“Yes?”
“He’s already stopped breathing.”
Arwen shut her mouth, her face stiff.
I looked at the fallen man, noting that his back no longer rose or fell.
“If Atricia were here, she could say more precisely, but most likely his soul died.”
“……”
“Honestly, I can’t imagine a soul surviving intact after enduring that kind of pain for decades.”
“Will everyone in the capital end up like this once the Demon King of Pain retreats?”
“No way to know. Everyone’s mental endurance differs.”
“We have to hurry.”
“Of course.”
I looked at Geren.
“Point the way.”
“Follow.”
Geren kicked off the ground and shot upward.
I followed behind and spoke to Arwen.
“Arwen, look up at the sky. Has the Demon King of Pain noticed us yet?”
“My eyesight isn’t as sharp as yours, Mr. Daile… Wouldn’t it be better if you checked yourself?”
“Doesn’t really matter even if I do.”
Arwen tilted her head.
Humanoid Demon Kings all looked like four-sided polygons to me—unable to distinguish one from another.
Still, Arwen lifted her gaze skyward.
“I can’t be certain, but I think he noticed. That one of his ‘creations’ died.”
“Oh?”
“He seems to be looking toward where we were.”
“Good. This is why I didn’t kill them with a sword and used a blessing instead.”
If we’d simply killed a human—the Demon King might not react much.
Even trained adventurers could handle these infected ones.
This was the imperial capital, home to some of the strongest fighters.
But if a vessel isn’t simply killed, but has the Demon King’s bestowed power erased?
That is not something he can ignore.
Naturally, his attention would turn toward us—
Not toward the party trying to escape the capital.
We moved quickly and soon spotted the next infected.
“There. We’ve arrived.”
“Alright. Arwen.”
“Yes.”
Arwen prayed once more.
This time a man whose skin was split like drought-cracked soil toppled over instantly.
“Next!”
“This way!”
We found the third soon after, and it fell as easily as the first two.
All night we sprinted through the capital.
Next. Next. Next.
It took only about thirty minutes until the sixth infected collapsed.
“Next—”
“Mr. Daile! The Demon King of Pain is moving!”
“What? Where?”
“I—I don’t know exactly. I never took my eyes off him, but he vanished in an instant—”
Then—
“Looking for me?”
I sprang in the opposite direction of the voice.
Then I raised my head toward the distant quadrangle.
The Demon King of Pain.
He had descended in person.
Ssssh.
I set Arwen down from my back and spoke to Geren.
“As I said before—Arwen is yours now. Get her out of the capital, full speed.”
“……”
“Renel must’ve opened a route to the east gate. The lockdown should be broken by now. Use that path.”
“Shouldn’t we fight together?”
“Don’t change the plan midway. Everyone else is acting based on it.”
“…Fine. Sorry.”
He grabbed Arwen by the back of her neck and slung her over his shoulder like luggage.
“Don’t die. I owe you too much.”
“Mr. Daile… please be safe.”
I nodded without looking back.
Geren kicked off the ground with tremendous force and vanished from sight.
Only then did I exhale and look toward the quadrangle.
“Thanks for waiting.”
He had willingly yielded the part of the operation I feared most.
Truthfully, a Tenth-Rank Demon King could have easily chased Geren and Arwen.
And while I wouldn’t have stood idle and watched, if he ignored me and went for them—
I had no idea how that would end.
The Demon King spoke.
“I assume the runaway was the Saint.”
“……”
“She’s interesting, but nowhere near as interesting as you, Daile Magnus.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“You know me?”
“How could I not? Your name is quite popular among the Demon Kings lately.”
“……”
“Sloth and Despair, in particular, seem very fond of you.
Especially the Demon King of Sloth—he thinks very highly of you.”
The Eighth and Ninth Demon Kings?
They’re interested in me?
Sloth liking me makes no sense.
I ruined his plans by stopping the Plague Demon King.
Does he get pleasure from failure or something?
“….”
But stranger still was Despair.
I’ve never met the Demon King of Despair.
The Demon King of Pain continued.
“And judging by the situation, that woman is with you as well.”
He pointed toward the sky.
His illusion still displayed Bailey’s face.
I neither confirmed nor denied—it was my turn to ask.
“You’re a Tenth-Rank Demon King. Why bully a weaker one?”
“Bully?”
“…?”
“I only intend to bless her with pain. To use a phrase you humans like—
I am blessing her.”
I stared.
I really could not understand.
But time needed stalling, so I played along.
“How is pain a blessing?”
“Because this world is cruel.”
“I can’t follow at all.”
“This cruel world is full of sorrow and suffering.
Like a shirt whose first button was fastened wrong…”
His voice grew distant, nostalgic.
“This world is made wrong.”
“……”
“Don’t you agree?”
“I do.
When I see Demon Kings like you crawling all over it.”
“That’s not why, but—hm.”
“So because the world is wrong… because it’s full of sorrow… you’ll drown them in pain?
Infinite agony, so they won’t notice anything else?”
The Demon King nodded leisurely.
“There are nuances, but roughly yes.”
“……”
“I only wish to give mercy—a blessing—to the pitiful souls trapped in a broken world.”
“But you clearly obsess over the Demon King of Inquiry.
You treat her completely differently from everyone else you infected.”
“So it seems.”
“Why? What makes her special?”
The Demon King answered quietly.
“Because she is my descendant.”
“…What?”
“That face you’re making is amusing.”
“Descendant? You mean when you were human?”
“Yes. There was a time when I was a mother to humans.
Even after I vanished, my children grew tall and healthy.”
Her voice slowed, as if she saw a thousand years ago.
“When I met them again, I couldn’t stop crying.”
“…From joy? Or being moved?”
“The opposite.
I was devastated.”
“Because you could not face them once you became a Demon King?”
“No.
It appears conversation with you will be difficult.”
She clicked her tongue.
Imagine being called slow-witted by a Demon King.
I finally understood the phrase mind-blowing on a physical level.
She continued.
“I mourned because they had to live in this broken world full of suffering.”
She had said that before.
I connected the dots—and cold chills shot down my spine.
I could predict her next words exactly.
“So I bestowed pain upon them.”
“…!”
“They no longer had to groan under the world’s cruelty.
How beautiful is that?
I saved them—from the world itself.”
“Insane…”
“By then they had children of their own.
And I realized something.”
Her polygonal shape hid her face, but her voice was terrifyingly lucid.
“If I hurt their children too, I could save them as well.
And when their children had grown—do the same.”
“……”
“Fourth generation, fifth—on and on.
At last, I could protect all my bloodline from this world.
I cannot save every human… but at least my descendants will be safe—from everything.
How fortunate I became a Demon King.”
How are Demon Kings all this deranged?
I’ve never been a parent, past life or present,
But even I know this is monstrous.
They are no longer human.
Their thoughts flow in perfect, horrifying logic.
“So that reached the Demon King of Inquiry as well?”
“Yes.
Though I didn’t expect her to ascend before I could act.”
“……”
“She was frighteningly clever.
Somehow she retained memories from almost infancy—
Including when I infected her parents right before her eyes.”
So Bailey, destined to become a Demon King,
Saw her parents turned.
She must have realized
That will be me someday.
Her life afterward is unknown,
But eventually she fell—and became the Demon King of Inquiry.
And after ascending, she protected herself first.
She created a dungeon even a Tenth-Rank Demon King could not penetrate.
And hid.
Becoming the pinnacle of fortress-type Demon Kings.
“If you care that much, why didn’t you attack her sooner?”
“Her dungeon is a masterpiece.
Even I must be cautious.
And there was no rush.”
“No rush?”
“This time she happened to come outside…
So I seized the chance.
Though it seems I still lack the full conditions.
Still, her leaving the dungeon is rare—I couldn’t waste it.”
Conditions?
…
…
Wait.
KWA-BOOM
A bolt of realization struck me.
I know why he invaded the dungeon before regression.
And if I’m right—it’s ridiculous.
“Geren, that bastard…”
“Hm?”
So he slept with the Demon King of Inquiry and had a child?
Unbelievable.
I’m not even going to unpack that.
Bailey had a child with Geren.
The Demon King of Pain sensed it—just as she had done for a thousand years.
And like always—she moved to deliver her “merciful pain.”
Even if it meant invading a lethal dungeon.
It has become her sacred duty—to “save” every descendant.
Shocking—but ultimately advantageous.
I had been worrying how to lure her into the dungeon.
All I need to do is say
‘Bailey has a child.’
She’ll lose her mind chasing us—
Straight to hell or into the dungeon.
