「…Demon King. 」
「Oh? Is that what they call me now? 」
He muttered something significant and he looked exactly like he did in the game. His entire body is covered in jet black armour and the only thing that I can tell is that he is a male. With the helmet covering his entire head, I can’t even see his face.
「Your Highness, please step back. 」
「Oh, so this man is a member of the royal family? Don’t think you can just die. 」
When I asked the Prince to step back, the Demon King let out a resentful laugh. Apparently, he has exceptional animosity towards royalty.
The in-game Demon King had so much resentment towards humans and the kingdom and it seems to be the same here. I’m sure there are reasons for his resentment that weren’t brought up in the game.
I withdrew the sword from my waist and faced the Demon King. To make it easier to use magic, I used a dark attribute one-handed sword.
When I was waiting for the right moment to attack, the Demon King opened his mouth.
「Hey, you, what’s your name? 」
「My name is Yumiela Dolknes. 」
「Dolknes… I’ve never heard of that name, are you an emerging noble house? No, it’s even more unusual to find a house that has been around since the founding of the kingdom.
Well, Yumiela Dolknes. Are you willing to betray the corrupt Kingdom of Balshine and become an ally of mine? 」
Oh, he asked me a standard question. Will I get at least half of the world?
「I will have to refuse. There’s no reason for me to do that. 」
Why would the Demon King attempt to bring me and only me to his side? Are you just trying to use my intellect to build up your firepower, or are you—
「He-help me… 」
There was a voice from the Demon King’s back that sounded like it was about to disappear. The voice came from the magically gutted floor.
「I can’t believe that you’re still alive. 」
The Demon King turned around and lifted Alicia from the floor like a piece of rag.
So they are indeed wearing a protection amulet. The protection amulet is said to be able to protect the wearer one high-level magic that can even shave the space off itself, but only once.
It saved my life, which also saved her life. William and Oswald must be alive too, but I don’t hear any sound as if they are unconscious. Either way, they are injured and have no way to recover.
「Alicia! 」
When Prince Edwin attempted to run towards the Demon King, I grabbed him by the collar and yank him back.
The Demon King grabbed Alicia’s arm and raised it up then turned to face us.
「I’ve heard the stories but I’m not sure if you understand. I figured right away that the three of them were trash.
Prince, why do you care about her so much? You may as well cut off the people who betray allies in the enemy’s territory. 」
「It’s true that Alicia did something she can never take back. Even so, I still love her. 」
「Nonsense, what’s the point of love? People will betray their loved ones for their gain. 」
「That’s not true! I would never betray my loved ones. 」
「 I will accept my death if I remain silent and watch Alicia die. Then the Balshine Kingdom will be free from the threat of monsters. Will that do? 」
「Thats… How can you compare a country to an individual? How can you guarantee that the Demon King will keep his word in the first place? 」
Alicia, captured by the Demon King, becomes distraught when she sees Prince Edwin who is at a loss for answers.
「Ed-kun, no! Help me! 」
「Shut your mouth. No, wait, let’s ask Alexia or whatever her name is. I will only spare one of these three choices: you, the Prince, or the country. Come on, pick one. 」
When the Demon King got his face closer to Alicia, she got terrified. She screams in reply as if the fear is stressing her out to the limit.
「Me, please help me! 」
「See, there you go. This is how people are. 」
「No way… 」
Prince Edwin was stunned to hear Alicia’s unapologetic plea for her life.
According to the Prince, Alicia was a kind-hearted girl who only changed when she saw me in front of her. She’s also the main character in the game, so the story must be true.
But reality has deviated from the game’s scenario. She was supposed to overcome many challenges in her first or second year at the school, but she has come so far without making it through the event.
I think that’s the reason why Alicia’s heart has remained weak.
「Well, I was just asking about who to kill. 」
The Demon King retorts and tightens his grip on Alicia’s neck. She screamed in anguish.
「Alicia! 」
Prince Edwin tried running up to him again but he felt uneasy about the Demon King’s behaviour. The Demon King should be able to kill Alicia in a heartbeat, but he’s slowly tightening his grip on her neck. As if to show us his overwhelming strength.
「We’ve got to get out of here! 」
I stepped in front of Prince Edwin and pushed him backwards. At the same time, a spell is released at me. Just in the nick of time, I also released my magic to counteract it.
「Hmm, I missed it. Too bad, I could have killed him. 」
Alicia, in the hands of the Demon King who said that, was dangling her limbs like a doll.
「Huh, if only the stupid Prince hadn’t stepped forward, I could have saved her. 」
There was no sound coming from behind me to tell me that the Prince was shifting. Probably the impact of the emergency escape knocked him out.
「I sense no respect for royalty in you, but are you interested in joining me? 」
「I have no interest in joining you, but why did you invite me? 」
「It’s… 」
The Demon King was about to answer my question, but I felt a hint of magic being activated. The aim isn’t going for me, it was William and Oswald that are at his feet.
I wanted to interfere with my magic, but I might end up getting them involved. I started running forward like a cannonball to slash the Demon King.
I can feel the response to the slash aimed at the Demon King’s neck. But it didn’t seem to interfere with the magic. They were already out of breath at his feet.
「You’re fast. You are the only one who has this kind of strength. 」
The Demon King jumped back, unfazed. It’s strange but I’m sure he had a good reaction.
In the next moment, the helmet worn by the Demon King shattered into pieces. The face of the Demon King that appeared from the inside was…
「Me? 」
No, it’s different. He’s a man with black hair, black eyes, a face with a stoic expression, a man who looked exactly like me, even his facial structure. I think the atmosphere is somewhat similar.
「I was surprised when I saw you. I’m sure you aren’t my descendant, so we may be distantly related. 」
The Demon King is a human? I should probably say he was a human.
「Don’t tell me that you offered me an invitation to betray the kingdom because of our similarities in appearance? 」
「With your black hair, how hard it must’ve been to live in this country, let alone this world? You’ve been through a lot of unfairness, haven’t you? Hate the world, hate the country, hate the people, let’s work together to destroy everything. 」
「It’s true that my life has been hard to live because of the absurdity of it. The feeling I had was not one of hatred, but resignation. I have thought of running away many times, but I never once wished for the world to end, for the country to disappear, for people to die. 」
No… I wanted to think I’m not like that. Because realistically speaking, I can do that.
「Why are you so… In the end, they will betray you anyway. How did they tell you about the origins of this country? 」
「The Hero and the Saint sealed off the Demon King and created a kingdom. 」
Does the Demon King’s secret involve the origins of this country?
「Fuahahahahahaha, so they started the story like that. Fucking snobs. 」
「Snobs? 」
「Don’t you ever wonder in the first place? Didn’t this country exist long before I, the Demon King, came into an existence? 」
I was certainly curious about that, but I couldn’t find any documentation on the history of the country before its establishment. I was convinced that it had been lost in the fires from the battle against the Demon King…
「Before Balshine Kingdom was established, this area was a warlike period. The first king of Balshine was the first person who won a series of battles and created a country. He had two outstanding subordinates, a wielder of light magic and dark magic. 」
「Don’t tell me… 」
With the two subordinates, the First Queen, who was said to be a saint, and…
「I served the King. I respected him, admired him, and my loyalty to him was second to none. He accepted the black-haired me. 」
The Demon King said that he was a loyal subject of the First King. But after that, he…
「But as soon as the country stabilized, I was sent to this remote area. The King was afraid of my power. No, from the beginning, he was only looking for power. In his heart, he must have loathed both black hair and dark magic. 」
His face was surprisingly gentle as he talked about the old days. It was as if he felt nostalgic about the past.
「…So, did you start a rebellion? 」
「Not by a long shot! 」
Suddenly, the Demon King’s expression changed drastically into a look of fury.
「Absolutely not. I thought it was inevitable. The King’s heart for his people is genuine and I thought that that was enough for me. I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend the rest of my life in the remote countryside, hearing about the King’s exploits through the grapevine. 」
But I guess that didn’t happen. And the first thing they did was…
「But the King raised an army. I don’t have any soldiers, I even pleaded him to quit, even if it meant being sent to the harshest battlefield. 」
I wonder why he didn’t fight back, why he didn’t run if he didn’t have a chance to win. Maybe he, unlike me, has a different perspective about this country…
「I had loved and adored this country and its people. But I was betrayed. All of my men, even those who were trustworthy, believed the rumours the King had spread. 」
He loved them so deeply that when those feelings were betrayed, they turned into a tremendous hatred.
「And I have killed everything, destroyed everything. The next thing I knew is that I was able to control the monsters. I hated the monsters that threatened my country and my people, but even I used them to my advantage. 」
I did not know the story of the Demon King. But I only know how that story ends.
「However, I lost. They avoided confrontations and sealed me using an ancient secret art. So here we are now. Are you still going to side with the Balshine Kingdom after hearing my story? 」
「I think the First King is totally at fault in that case. But now it’s different. 」
「My killers didn’t seem to accept you, did they? 」
「Well, I suppose you could say some of them are the most bitter bunch… But His Majesty and His Highness aren’t like that. 」
「They were only whispering sweet nothings in anticipation of my resurrection. Even if you kill me, you’ll still have no place in this world. 」
After hearing the Demon King’s story, I now understood what His Majesty had meant by the “Second Demon King” statement. It also meant to say that I shouldn’t know who the Demon King was.
「I want to eliminate the discrimination against black hair. For the sake of the dark-haired children who will be born in the future. 」
So I can’t be the enemy of humanity. Because if that happens, the discrimination against the black hair will only accelerate.
「When His Majesty heard this, he said that he would support them to ensure that they will not create a second Demon King. Maybe, in the story being passed down to the royalty, you would be labelled as evil.
But I am sure His Majesty is aware that you have not committed treason. The Demon King was born from discrimination and abomination. 」
I could be a true Demon King. Moreover, I’m much stronger and far more terrifying than the one in front of me.
「People’s hearts can change. Things may be good now but after decades, things may change. 」
「Then I’ll run away, whether outside the country or the continent. And the one that could kill me, or seal me, is dead. 」
Alicia, who was probably one of the best light magic users in history, is dead. Now, once I destroy the light-attribute sword, it will be impossible to kill me.
The Demon King’s enraged expression softened slightly after hearing my statement.
「How cold you are, my dear. Do you have anyone you love? 」
「Y-yes, but… 」
「What if he betrays you? 」
I never said it was a man I love. But it’s true, though.
What if Patrick betrays me? I still think that I’ll run away. I don’t want to hurt him, and I don’t want to hurt myself by hurting him.
「I think I’m going to run away… If he’s going to betray me, if that makes him happy, then I will gladly accept it. 」
「I thought so at first. When I saw her bonding with the King, I thought that was fine. But that didn’t happen on the second betrayal. 」
Could it be that the Demon King and the first Queen were lovers? His loyalty is incredible, like serving his Lord, even when his lover is taken from him.
「I had the option to escape, which you didn’t have. I think that’s the only difference. 」
You could say that the Demon King has the balls to face it and I don’t.
「Escaping… I didn’t even think about it. I wonder if the history would have been different if had I escaped… 」
My will to fight is gradually disappearing as I watch him imagining another life. Maybe Patrick is right about me being a softie.
「How about running away now? You’re supposed to be dead, and somewhere far away— 」
The words that escaped from my mouth are interrupted. He’s going to continue to face how far he’s going to go it seems.
「We can’t get away with this. I think that your idea to eliminate discrimination is noble. But I think this world must be destroyed. 」
Two people who are at odds with each other in a discussion ended up with one decision. It’s kill or be killed.
「I understand. I guess we’re going to have to fight. 」
That was the beginning of the battle between the Demon King and me.
We both jumped back at the same time and fire our magic at a distance. I have more power and manoeuvres than him, but I need to intercept and counteract all of them to prevent any stray shots from hitting Prince Edwin, who is unconscious behind me.
Is it not a good idea to fight at long distance? I try to switch to close combat, but the Demon King attacks my feet, floor by floor.
The Demon King grins as I leap to evade him. He thinks I’m stuck in the air. But alas, aerial manoeuvring is my speciality.
The magic power is blasted backwards to reach the Demon King. The Demon King turned his eyes away at speed, but it was already too late.
「Gotcha. 」
My slash cuts off the Demon King’s right arm. Swiftly, I bring the sword to his neck.
「…What’s wrong? Kill me. 」
「I’m not running away… 」
I thought I was ready for it. It’s most likely because I heard his story. His Majesty’s advice was right on point.
「Goddamn it! Such strength, you’ve killed a lot of monsters, haven’t you? In the same way, I’m a monster at heart. 」
「No, you are not. You are a person. 」
He’s much stronger than I am. He is much more of a person than I am.
「I don’t know if you’re trying to be nice, but that’s going to cost you your neck in the future. 」
I know, I know, my inability to kill people is my weakness. Still, I can’t help but wonder if it’s okay to stay like this.
「One last thing, please tell me your name. You’re not a monster nor a Demon King. 」
His eyes widened with a snap and the Demon King gave a dazed smile.
「My name is— 」
That day, I killed someone for the first time.
I hard a really hard time trying to follow either of their trains of thought. It just didn’t make any sense to me, at all. I’m not the type of person that would ever choose to run away from a fight though, so her thoughts make zero sense to me at all… I also don’t understand why the DK went stereotypical “Destroy the world!” when it’s really just a single country, not even a large one…
The fact this is all based on hair colour is probably the part that makes me go “That’s dumb.” the most though… It’s just so… Petty?
Well, isn’t it the same for skin color? In hindsight, isn’t the difference of skin color a petty excuse for all the atrocities committed by racist reasons?
Holy shit you’re right.
Well, if one side commits atrocities and the victim side also commits atrocities in the name of “revenge then none remain the victim but both become the perpetrators and spreaders of cruelty, injustice and evil.
By the way, please don’t misunderstand I was speaking in the Demon King’s case and in the general case as in war there are no victors only survivors. and you are completely correct. We are all humans, no one has superiority over any one else.
There is a quote:
War does not determine who is right. Only who is left
https://external-preview.redd.it/PBWVs54jIsvjN_sBA9VNlz_uqGF2ww_X1CHn2I518pQ.jpg?auto=webp&s=d74072fcfb461eed875d036522cd5b940fd587a7
*lefties happy noises*~
well, mc has the ability to bounce from the country to another one that would accept her. He likely didn’t
He seemingly was betrayed by everyone to the point he said screw it, why bother with the world at all.
Trust me, and I hope you never fully understand this, when you are betrayed that way, that bad, getting rid of them is one of the first things, and most satisfying things to think about. Most people don’t do that usually because of laws, and partially because everyone does not betray them at once.
Her point of view is ‘let’s make this work, and if it will never work, lets bounce’
his point of view is ‘everyone stabbed me in the back, everyone twisted the knife, everyone believe the lies, why let any of them live.’
They also prolly don’t have things like ‘therapy’ like we do here. Poor DK.
Therapy would not have helped…. The first King needs his head examined…
the reason the MC would run away is because she doesn’t want to kill them. as for the “demon king”, he had been sealed for a long time so his POV is still from the warring era where such discrimination was probably much stronger. also his feelings of betrayal are still fresh, so with that in mind, his feelings of wanting to see the world burn are understandable. not reasonable, but understandable, he is still in a really dark place mentally right now.
It is my understanding that the racism got worse because of him/ the rumors spread by the first royal couple….
Well, at one point there was a guy who wanted to kill everyone who wasn’t blond hair and blue eyed and was able to get away with millions of deaths before starting a global war…. So probably not that dumb. Racism does exist.
Also the DK was disappoint in people as a race. If you think of it in this way, the most upstanding person (to him) is the king who represents all your ideals goes and betrays you then what hope is everyone else who is less virtue than the peak of humanity. So he believes all of humanity is bad (no escape anywhere), while our MC believes that just escaping this country will find people she can live with (racism is localized).
The real mass-murder started 1941/42, but your point still stands. 6 million dead Jews and 5 million other inmates of the concentration and death camps….
6 million is a false figure. Look up the old records from any source before the history books were inflated increasingly more over time.
Really? And skin-color is any better?
The slightest difference is enough for people to get ostracized. If other factors are at play too… Well, we need an explanation, why we, the white people of Europe need to enslave the people of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia and strip-mine there homeland… We could be honest, and tell them that we want there workforce and resources and accept the revolution in our colony and in the home-country …. Or we tell them, that we bring them civilization, Christianity (Sorry, synonym whit the first one) and take questionable theories like social darwinism, racial theory and eugenic to explain why they are subhuman and shall bow down to the higher races…
And the good Thing? Racism becomes a tradition and a self fulfilling prophecy.
Negros are thief and stupid, so why even bother sending them to school?
Black-Haired people are the servants of the demon lord and bring misfortune. Best to punish them for the crimes they will commit….
It feels like she “accidentally” failed to save the three of them. You can see how sad she is about the loss throughout the chapter. She sure tried a lot harder to keep Edwin safe.
well, those 3 just tried to kill her, and the prince wasn’t part of it.
I don’t think she planed it… She was just apathetic, for the reasons already stated….
If one, or all 3 would have survived… I think she still would have given them a lift home…
So… the Saintess is Dead. The Demon Prince is Dead. The Prince has escaped, knowing that if the MC returns, she’ll let people know that she was betrayed by the Prince and the Saintess inside the Demon King’s lair. Luckily for him, he has a head start on telling whatever tale he needs to about what happened here.
I suspect the Santa Clause has just been invoked on the Villainous Daughter.
The prince was unconscious throughout the whole fight, he didn’t escape. I’d give about 95% odds that Yumiela won’t say what happened to Alicia and the other idiots but the prince WILL. That way Yumiela’s faith in him and the other royals will be justified.
Ah, I guess I lost track about which Prince survived then.
We will see… He could be love-sick and blame her….
Still, who will marry the prince now that the saint is dead? Not to mention that there will be a lot of rumors and questions about what happened here….
MOAR
Thanks for the chapter≧∇≦
Sorry Mister Demon king. You were a nice guy. But your level are a bit lower than our MC
Not so sure about nice… (pleasant conversationalist?), but yes… Hope she didn’t lob off his head mid sentence… that would be rude….
But she didn’t kill him, did she?
That aside, did that Saint really die just like that? She’s treated as little more than a mob character at this point…
Well… What can you do when you’re at level 40… Snapped by the last boss…
there is a reason the Darwin Award exists…. And she is a contender… Right before the final boss… backstabbing the most power full party member….
MC would have stayed in the back line and concentrated on healing. The Heroine could have had her moment of glory… and Than, while standing over the corpse…. That would have been the moment…
So now that Alicia has met the OG Demon King, I wonder what her opinion on Eumelia has changed any. Not that it matters seeing as her and the other two idiots are Fertilizer at the moment.
Still, heavy back story, wonder if she actually killed the guy. Got a lot to talk about with the Royal Family once they get home.
Thanks for the chapter
Of cause she would have killed him. She did know the mc for 3 years and she still tried to murder her…
Thanks for the new chapter!
lemme gues alicia will be next demon king since look like everything will go down for her after this and specialy after trying to kill yumiela
No Alicia was killed off for real. Her pathetically begging for her own life is the last we will ever see of the bitch. Good riddance to that cowardly back-stabbing filthy whore.
But It would be a good story non the less. A blonde demon-queen and a total switch in society in less than a generation…. (Golden /light hair == sign of the devil)
Thanks for the chapter
My name is Hanger, Cliff Hanger.
noooooo
Ah. I see. She “killed” the Demon King. The DK is dead, and they made a new friend along the way (i’m guessing)
Well… DK haven’t seen the other side of the world, so yeah, especially back in the warring states of the world, where world-wide travel is unthinkable… No one would think to escape to the other side of the world… and here our MC is from a world where racism is becoming different… And believes in how wide the world is…
Wait what? She asked his name but killed him without waiting for the answer????
He told her.
The author just didn’t write it.
In the end i’m wondering why our mc kill he demon lord the moment she learnt his name ???
Is his name the same the same like his her family name or his name are probably the same like her.
I think she did learn his name, but us readers didn’t get to read it.
The author probably did this to hightlight how much his name didn’t matter in their world- because think about her situation.
She, the daughter of a noble family(albeit a sucky one) has black hair, yet still faced discrimination. It doesn’t matter who they are because the moment they have black hair, their lives will always be filled with trouble.
Knowing their name and background does nothing, because nothing will change just because she(or anyone else) knows. The power of the discrimination is too strong. At this point in time, she has no political power to do so.
that or DK’s name had so much meaning that she had to kill him.
Thank you for the translation!
Just a minor textual note: be careful of grammatically correct sentences that don’t make sense in context.
E.g. “To make it easier to use magic, I used a dark attribute one-handed sword.” Given what the author said in the pervious chapters, I’m fairly sure the English should be “To make it easier to use magic, I held my dark-attribute sword in one hand.”
Also, “The protection amulet is said to be able to protect the wearer one high-level magic that can even shave off space itself, but only once.” This likewise doesn’t make sense considering the previous information about the “protection amulet,” so “It seems that protection amulets’ ability to save the life of the wearer from one fatal attack even works against high-level magic which shaves off space itself.”
Then there’s “I will accept my death if I remain silent and watch Alicia die. Then the Balshine Kingdom will be free from the threat of monsters. Will that do?” I’m fairly certain that this an offer from the Demon King, but even if it isn’t, as an offer, “I” shouldn’t be used twice here, unless I’ve read something VERY wrong.
One last thing: please be careful of grammatical agreement. E.g. “So they are indeed wearing a protection amulet.” should probably be “So, they are indeed wearing protection amulets.” (Unless they are ALL wearing one amulet together.) And more simply “When Prince Edwin attempted to run towards the Demon King, I grabbed him by the collar and yank him back.” Grammatically speaking, the tense needs to stay the same here, so “[…] I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back.”
Hope this helped rather than annoyed.
Normal commentor passing, but wanted to put my thoughts on what you brought up!
Hmm as to your first correction, there are one-handed and two-handed swords(the difference is their size, grip, etc), so rather than changing it to holding the “sword in one hand”, it’s better to keep it the same.
The second correction can be said better, but the order of the translation brings emphasis to the fact the amulent only protects the user one time.
The second to last one looks like a translation error, and the very last one looks like normal editing errors.
You can make a great editor :O I always just skim over errors and forget they existed lol
About the first point I made: in the example of her sword, please refer to chapter 19. Yumiela had to go dungeon diving for quite some time before she was able to get her hands on a darkness-attribute weapon capable of withstanding her magic. She was thus only able to get her hands on ONE such weapon, a bastard sword (otherwise known as a hand-and-a-half sword), i.e. a sword which is designed to give the wielder a choice of using one or both hands when wielding. THAT was the reason for that particular edit; there were a few other minor instances in this chapter (mass release issues, I presume: producing anything in bulk is difficult), but that was by far the most glaring.
Don’t worry too much about passing over errors: when I’m not actively looking for them, I won’t notice them either unless there’s a glaring one. (I don’t know any Japanese though, so I can’t be a true translation editor, more like a QC-type person… sorta.) Thanks for the compliment!
So mad at the world, but I can’t say this is uncommon irl. I believe in her ability!!
Thanks for translating!!
There’s a saying in my country that
”When Elephants die, they leave their tusks
with Tigers, their stripes
and Humans, their names”
So the last moment really got me…She asked him his name, so at least 1 person thinks of him as a human before he died
That was unexpected, I didn’t think she would kill him but she asking his name at the end, was a noble act so I guess she just wanted to give a kind of peace and reassurance to his soul. Thanks for the chapter Take care ☕
So whats his name?? aHH
this kinda hurt to read tho, im always a sucker for empathizing for the “villain”
I hope one day though, the true story comes to light. I really do.
if i remember correctly, he was specifically targeting only this kingdom.
meh
This is the first time I felt so apathetic when a major(?) character dies in a novel
I am having a really hard time working out who is saying what with the lines of dialogue in this chapter
I don’t get it. MC is bent out against killing people… She asked his name and then killed him? Isn’t that a bit of put of character.. Or did she let him escape like how she originally intended to?
Out of*
I’m hoping she killed the persona “Demon King” and not the actual man who was made the scapegoat by the kingdom’s scummy founders. The injustice leaves a bitter aftertaste especially since the royals don’t lift a finger against the black hair discrimination.
If you treat people like criminals, that’s exactly what they become.
Tes
I dont get this chap at all especially the ending.
Like why did she kill him??
You CANT even kill someone that try to kill you but you CAN kill someone who have done nothinv to you, hold no hatred to you, and even share the shame fate as you. Like hell seriously??? Why and How??
I think Im gonna drop this series if she really did kill demon lord. Like it made no sense to me. She cant kill bad people for so-you-know excuse okay I still can compromise that, but then how come she can easily kill demon lord who turn out just victim of unjust?