Chapter 131 - The Hour of the Four Heavenly Kings

Martin forced his eyes open as his vision blurred. Sir Carwol, the bodyguard who had been held captive with him by the Demon King, looked at him with concern.

"Are you all right, Your Highness?"

"Of course."

He was not. He had been through far too much in so little time. His thoughts were in turmoil, his feet sank deep into the snow, and the blizzard battered his body. Fortunately, no monsters appeared, but the journey alone was wearing away at his mind and body.

'The Demon King of Hellfire.'

Berge Deias. Martin turned the Demon King's name over in his mind.

'At first, I thought he was a high-ranking demon. But he was a Demon King.'

He had initially been too flustered to recognize it properly, but it had not taken him long to realize.

'The Demon King left his tower and kidnapped me.'

That much was understandable. A Demon King personally kidnapping royalty or members of the imperial family was hardly surprising.

But...

'Isn't a Demon King supposed to wait for the heroes at the top of his tower?'

That was the rule among Demon Kings. It was what they went on about as their Guide. Of course, there was room for interpretation: a search party was not an expedition.

'I don't know whether that gives him some leeway under the Guide Demon Kings must follow, or whether this is simply his whim.'

The distinction was crucial. The existence of a Demon King who did not follow the Guide would overturn everything they had known until now.

That was not his only concern.

'Kaede.'

She had said she had made a contract with the Demon King. In exchange for becoming his servant for five years, she would be guaranteed her freedom afterward. She seemed fine for the moment. But she was dealing with a Demon King. Would he truly honor the agreement in full?

'If you kill Kaede, I will never forgive you.'

His mother, the Third Empress, had died of illness when he was young. Then, amid their father's indifference, he had been forced to compete with his siblings. In those circumstances, she had been the only blood relative he could trust. She meant more to him than mere kinship.

'She said he swore on the Guide and the first Demon Emperor... '

For now, he had no choice but to trust him. To Demon Kings and demons, those two things were much like the World Tree was to elves. He did not know whether they had the same binding force as the World Tree, but at least their symbolic significance was comparable.

'I must become emperor.'

But he could not rely on trust alone. To put an end to this improper relationship, which had placed him at a disadvantage from the outset, he needed to stand on equal footing. He needed to become emperor.

'And until then.'

He had to do as much as he could for the Demon King. He had to prevent the Demon King's defeat.

For his own sake.

And for Kaede's.

Only then would the Demon King help him and leave Kaede unharmed.

'I don't know what butterfly effect handing over that token will have... '

It really was as though he had given away everything, but he did not regret it. Without doing so, he would never have gained this new opportunity.

'Unless the Demon King is an idiot, he won't rashly reveal the token I gave him.'

Moreover, Sir Carwol had been unconscious and had not witnessed his negotiations with the Demon King. All Martin needed to do was keep the secret himself.

"Your Highness, footprints."

The driving blizzard had partly covered them, but there were too many for it to conceal them completely. They were unmistakably human footprints.

"The search party must be close...!"

At that moment, snow erupted upward. A shadow fell over them. An enormous drake that had been hiding beneath the snow revealed itself. Cold breath gathered between its open jaws.

"Your Highness!"

Carwol shoved the prince aside and wrapped himself in aura.

THUD!

But the expected impact never came. There was only the drake's corpse, split in half, collapsing to the ground.

"Your Highness!"

Beyond it stood the great hero who had killed two Demon Kings, calling out to him.

"We've been desperately searching for you!"

He extended a hand, and the Third Prince took it.

"Lord Hillen! You saved my life!"

"I've searched all over the mountains for you. I'm relieved you're safe."

Hillen Cargill, now the Third Prince's savior, beamed.

* * *

Desire is the most fundamental force that drives humans: desire for power, desire for honor, a craving for strength, greed for money, the instinct to survive.

What drove Dafner Philiain was honor. The fame of finding a tower no one else had discovered—and the honor and power that would follow.

But now, his will to survive took precedence over everything else. He had to live to gain fame, live to enjoy power. He had to live to spend money, too.

WHOOSH!

Black flames spat out black light. The raging inferno swallowed everything around it. Dafner fired his bow. Five arrows flew at once, raising a wind that pushed back the flames. The small opening gave him room to slip away.

But the opening did not last. Flames rained down from the sky once more.

Dafner had turned and fled the moment he encountered the high-ranking demon. He could not be sure of winning a head-on fight, but he had been confident in his speed. That confidence had lasted only a moment. The demon had spread his wings, and escape was no longer as easy as before.

Flames fell ceaselessly from the sky, and whenever he slowed even slightly, he could sense the orcs drawing closer. His feet were heavy, and the heat melted his skin. Even so, he refused to abandon hope.

'Not much farther...!'

He had found traces of the search party.

'Hillen Cargill and the alliance's elite troops are with the search party. If we attack together, we can kill those Heavenly King bastards.'

The orcs driving him onward would be easier still. If not for the Heavenly Kings, he could slaughter even thousands of mere orcs on his own, though it would take some time. Dafner fired arrows into the sky and urged his heavy feet onward.

'At this rate... '

He would get away.

Berge knocked aside the arrows and ground his teeth. Dimensional interference bored into him with a stinging ache, eating away at his demonic energy.

'I never expected to catch him easily, but I didn't think he'd be this much of a rat.'

He had spread his wings. He had taken to the sky. Yet catching Dafner was still no easy feat. The best tracker among all the heroes—that meant more than simply being fast. The bastard was quick and agile, a seasoned expert at concealing his presence and using the terrain.

He hid in crevices, beneath the snow, and between trees to confuse Berge, keeping just out of reach with his unparalleled speed. Even riding frost wolves, the orcs could not keep up. The pursuit had long since become a chase between the two of them alone.

The problem was that Dafner, one of the ten great heroes, was not someone Berge could take lightly. An opponent who would be difficult even in a direct fight was now fully committed to fleeing, and Berge grew increasingly anxious. Soon, that fear became reality.

A group appeared in the distance. All too familiar. He had already encountered them once. Berge's face twisted.

'... Already?'

One had fled for his life, and the other had pursued with murder in mind, neither sparing a thought for anything else. Day and night had turned over in the process. But even so, he had ordered Hillen to lead them away from the tower.

'I realized too late.'

He had gone wrong from the very beginning. He should have caught Dafner before he discovered the tower. Failing that, he should have killed him as soon as he found it. But while concentrating on the Third Prince, he had lost track of Dafner, allowed him to discover the tower, and then given him ample time to escape at his leisure. He had wasted still more time belatedly searching for him, and this was the result.

The one fortunate thing was that the group had not yet spotted Dafner or Berge.

'Once.'

He glanced behind him. The orcs had long since fallen behind, but Ernyan was struggling with all her might to keep up.

That would do.

'Once.'

He had only one chance. Even if there was nothing afterward, this bastard, at least...

Berge stopped. Suspended in midair, he drew a breath. Air rushed into him. His heart thundered. Demonic energy gathered and compressed. A tremendous surge began. The mountain shook, and the unnatural flow of energy he had created soon drew the humans' attention.

"Such enormous demonic energy..."

"What's that?"

"A demon!"

"A demon has appeared!"

At the same moment—

"Help me!"

Dafner's desperate cry rang across the snowy mountains.

"It's the hero Dafner!"

"It's Lord Dafner!"

"A demon is chasing him!"

The search party finally spotted him.

"Send the knights!"

"Mages, stop that thing!"

"Rangers, shoot the demon!"

Urgent cries overlapped. Martin shouted at Hillen.

"Lord Hillen! Help Lord Dafner at once!"

But Hillen could only hesitate. He had recognized the demon in the sky. He could feel the fury pouring from him, the demonic energy gathering around him.

'The Demon King has intervened personally.'

Nothing like this had ever happened before. The Demon King he knew preferred to remain hidden and manipulate events from the shadows. Breaking the pattern he had maintained ever since his descent was proof of just how urgent this was.

Why? Over a single hero?

'He found the tower...?'

If so, everything made sense. Berge's relentless pursuit, his teeth clenched. The thick killing intent and demonic energy he exuded—and his fury.

The problem was that Hillen currently stood on the opposite side from Berge. Behind him, the imperial prince and the royal prince pressed him to act. Ahead, the knights began to run. The demonic energy around Berge grew denser still. Everything bore down on him.

'Do I intervene...?'

If he stepped in and saved Dafner, Berge would be furious. Berge did not tolerate betrayal. Betrayal meant punishment, and punishment meant death. If Hillen helped Dafner, he would die.

"Lord Hillen! What are you doing? Stop that demon at once!"

But if he did not intervene, the two princes would be furious. Before them stood a demon and a hero—a hero under attack by a demon. Everyone else had stepped forward to help Dafner. There was no way they would fail to notice something was wrong. Once the situation was over, their questions would become suspicion, and the worse things became, the more that suspicion would turn to anger at Hillen.

Why hadn't he helped Dafner then? Why hadn't he assisted him or actively fought off the demon? An imperial prince, a royal prince, and the elite troops of several nations would all demand answers.

'... '

Hillen bit his lip.

Help him, don't help him, help him, don't help him, help him, don't help him, help him, don't help him, help him, don't help him.

His head felt ready to burst.

"Lord Hillen!"

"Help Lord Dafner at once!"

"Help me!"

The imperial family, royalty, knights, mages—even Dafner's frantic cries. Everything pressed down on him. Blood trickled from his clenched fists. And finally, he made his choice.

'Please.'

Hoping only that the other man would recognize his desperation, his signal, he drew his sword.

* * *

A flash—a bolt of lightning struck.

The loathsome dimensional interference disrupted Berge's breathing.

'That fucking bastard...!'

His roiling emotions made the flames waver still more.

'You dare betray me?'

No. It was a signal. Like an empty wagon making the most noise, the lightning was all size and no substance. It was Hillen Cargill's desperate bid to survive. He had no choice, so he would only pretend—please, let it slide.

'Fine. I'll overlook it this once.'

Hillen was important. Berge did not want him branded an enemy by the Jespine Empire and the kingdom, condemned as a traitor to humanity.

So you, too—

Make sure you get out of the way.

Berge released the breath he had been holding. Toward Dafner's rapidly retreating back. Toward the search party approaching to save him.

He spewed a black breath.

A dragon's wrath erupted. The world turned black.

* * *

The searing heat split the blizzard. Horses screamed.

"Block it!"

The mages cast a joint spell. An enormous shield barred the black flames.

───!

The shield shuddered. The unabsorbed impact swept away the blizzard. For an instant, a vacuum formed.

CRACK!

The shield melted. The mages coughed up blood. The shield shattered, and flames forced their way through the gaps. The knights swung their aura, cutting away at the flames. Their aura was worn away in turn.

The knights screamed. They melted away without even leaving corpses behind.

CRACKLE!

Brilliant blue lightning tangled with the black flames. For one brief moment, it halted their advance. In that fleeting opening, Dafner released his drawn bowstring. Ten arrows merged into one. Enormous wind pressure sucked everything inward.

WHOOOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, it met the flames. It pierced the fire and drove straight through.

Or so it seemed.

But the opposite happened. The flames devoured the wind, growing larger and fiercer still. A black storm erupted. The search party screamed.

* * *

A vast cloud of steam, born of snow meeting fire, blanketed the surroundings.

"..."

A profound exhaustion washed over Berge.

For the first time since his regression, he had used his full strength. He had wrung out every last bit of demonic energy to unleash his breath.

To kill Dafner Philiain.

'Did I kill him...?'

He could not be certain. Nor did he have the strength to check. His fingertips trembled. He lacked the strength to move even a finger.

Still, he forced himself to appear calm. His sole target had been Dafner Philiain, and the power of his breath had been concentrated on him. The attack itself was so powerful that its aftermath had swept through everything nearby, but the allied search party was not weak enough to be annihilated by the aftermath alone.

Berge descended slowly toward the ground. No—he nearly fell. Ernyan rushed over and caught him.

"Are you all right?"

"... Yes."

He was not. His heart screamed as though it would burst. His breath was not mere magic, but an innate power. Having forced himself to use it beyond his limits, this backlash was only natural.

"... Dafner Philiain?"

"I can't see well through the steam."

"The orcs?"

"They're coming. They'll be here soon."

"If Dafner is alive, you must find him and kill him."

"And you, my lord..."

"I need a short rest."

"Shall I sing you a lullaby?"

"... Do you want to die?"

"Don't worry. Leave the rest to me."

She would show him what she could do as one of his Four Heavenly Kings.

"Dafner Philiain. You must kill him."

"Yes. Just trust me."

"... I'll leave it to you."

For a fleeting moment, he worried about betrayal, but soon shook his head. If Ernyan had wanted to betray him, she had had countless opportunities.

'Yes. So the chance that she'll betray... me... '

His consciousness faded. Ernyan gently closed his eyes.

- Are you really going to kill Dafner Philiain?

"Right now, I'm one of the Four Heavenly Kings."

- You're quite serious about this.

"At least I'm more serious than you are with all your talk of love, Lady Nairuniel. Please bury the Demon King in the snow so he won't be discovered."

Ernyan laid Berge down. The snow swallowed him.

"I owe the Demon King a great deal."

The Demon King had called it a deal, but to her, it had been a kindness. She had escaped a place that was like a prison, and coming to the tower had allowed her to make tremendous progress in spirit summoning. She had also rescued her younger sister, who had been kidnapped by the Demon King. Thanks to him, her sister had begun learning magic, and her frail body was gradually returning to normal. Ernyan had received more than she had given.

"Repaying kindness is the right thing to do."

- If you say so.

"But I won't harm anyone else."

She was no blood-crazed killer.

"Keep the steam as it is so it doesn't disperse. And find the hero Hillen for me."

- Understood.

"From this moment on..."

She lifted her mask.

"It's time for one of the Four Heavenly Kings..."

A sinister smile curled her lips.

"The Dark Spirit Summoner."