“What are you trying to do by getting closer?”
I grabbed Kalian.
This guy… he’s not in a good state.
Lately, thanks to Victoria, he had overcome his fear of women and seemed unusually happy.
But now, that happiness was on the verge of crumbling all at once.
This can’t happen.
Right now, the best thing to do is to retreat quietly.
I need to hold onto Kalian’s sanity, gather the surviving imperial soldiers, and return to the main camp.
There’s no room for reckless actions.
“Let go of me.”
“Now is the time to retreat.”
“There’s something I need to confirm.”
“That can wait. First, we need to get the soldiers under control and prevent more casualties. Only then can we clear up the misunderstanding about Victoria.”
“Wade.”
Kalian stared at me intently.
His eyes were filled with a storm of dark emotions—confusion, sorrow, pain.
“Did you know about Victoria’s true identity? Just this once, be honest with me.”
“If you won’t answer, then at the very least, I want to confirm it myself. So let me go. Let me see her.”
I always knew this moment would come.
But for it to be today… and in this way, of all things… This is the worst-case scenario.
I quietly stepped aside.
This was no longer something within my control.
From now on, it was up to Kalian and Victoria to decide.
This was entirely their matter.
Kalian stood before Victoria.
A few steps ahead, she faced him—not as a human, but as a being that had abandoned human form, a being at the pinnacle of demons, one that defied reason itself.
“Victoria… is that you?”
“Are you really Victoria? Or are you just pretending to be her while hiding the real Victoria somewhere?”
“I… am Victoria.”
Victoria, bathed in darkness and flames, answered.
At her response, Kalian let out a bitter smile.
“I see… So, is that your true form?”
“Answer me. Is this really your true form? Are you truly not human but the Demon King…?”
“No, right? It can’t be. You didn’t kill those soldiers, did you? It was someone else. That man from before must have used some kind of trick, right?”
Kalian asked desperately, as if trying to protect a small ember in the freezing cold.
Victoria clenched her fists tightly, biting her lips.
She no longer looked human, but even so, her emotions were laid bare for all to see.
“I didn’t kill them. But…”
“I knew it! Thank goodness. Yeah… there’s no way. There’s no way you would kill anyone so carelessly. There’s no way you could be the Demon King.”
“This is bad. Everyone is misunderstanding who you really are. We need to calm them down quickly. If we stay here like this, it’s dangerous.”
“Kalian.”
“You should help too. I don’t know what kind of trick that man used, but fewer people are dying now. Let’s go help the survivors.”
“Kalian.”
“Oh, right. You’re under an illusion spell. Wade and I will handle this, so you stay back. I’ll explain to everyone that it’s all a misunderstanding—”
He kept rambling, desperately trying to prevent Victoria from saying what she was about to.
But Victoria simply shook her head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? What do you have to apologize for?”
“I am the Demon King. I’ve been pretending to be human all this time, but this is my true form. In fact, my human appearance was just an illusion.”
Victoria forced the words out.
Kalian tilted his head, as if he’d misheard.
But no matter how much he tried to deny it, the words had already been spoken.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time.”
“The… Demon King…? You…?”
“I know that deceiving you was a terrible thing to do. I truly regret it. I’m sorry.”
“You’re saying that you’re the Demon King? The one who hunts humans without hesitation, the one who set the entire continent ablaze?”
Kalian’s eyes regained focus.
His hand slowly moved, gripping the sword at his waist.
Shing—
The cold blade was unsheathed, cutting through the air.
Swish—
Kalian swung his sword.
The threatening strike aimed directly at Victoria’s neck, but she made no move to avoid it.
She simply accepted the attack.
The slash vanished effortlessly, as if it had never existed.
Watching his attack disappear into nothing, Kalian clenched his teeth in frustration.
He struck again and again, determined to cut her down, yet Victoria neither blocked nor defended herself.
She simply negated every strike with ease.
Despite the overwhelming difference in power, Kalian didn’t feel frustration or despair.
“So, it’s true. You really are the Demon King.”
“I was betrayed. And I didn’t even realize it. I was just a fool, laughing and joking with you all this time… with the Demon King.”
“Kalian…”
Realizing that her words were the truth, he let out a deep sigh.
That sigh soon transformed into fiery rage.
His sword strikes grew stronger, fueled by his escalating fury.
The air was torn apart, the ground split beneath his feet.
The surrounding walls cracked and crumbled under the force of his attacks.
Even Victoria, who had endured without resistance until now, finally had to raise her hands to defend herself.
“Did you enjoy deceiving me? Were my words, my laughter, just a joke to you?”
“Did you infiltrate Arcana to plot humanity’s downfall? Tell me!”
Kalian’s anger overflowed.
The soldiers, no longer just afraid of the Demon King, now had to flee from Kalian’s wrath as well.
Dark clouds gathered above them, drawn in by his surging mana.
Lightning streaked down from the sky, crashing violently into the earth.
Boom! Crack!
“I trusted you. I believed you were truly a good person, and no matter what you did, I wanted to support you.”
“At first, I knew you were hiding something. But I didn’t care. I still enjoyed spending time with you, even if it was awkward.”
“I liked watching you eat with a mouth full of food. I liked wandering through the market with you. Those moments… I cherished them.”
“Was all of that a lie? Did you do it just to deceive me, to deceive us?”
Kalian’s rage had turned to sorrow.
Seeing it, Victoria’s face mirrored the same sadness.
Perhaps because it was too painful, or perhaps because he had sensed her change in expression, Kalian’s attacks halted for a moment.
“Tell me, Victoria. Were those moments all fake?”
“I…”
Victoria hesitated, stepping toward Kalian.
Her lips parted as if to speak.
In her eyes, sorrow and agony swirled in turmoil.
But then, she shut them tightly, cutting off whatever words had been about to follow.
When she opened them again, there was no trace of hesitation.
No sorrow.
She had made a decision.
“I am the Demon King. The time I spent with you? It was fun. Watching ignorant fools like you dance around like puppets always makes me laugh.”
“Victoria…”
“It was nothing more than a way to pass the time. After being away for so long, blending in with lowly humans was a decent bit of amusement.”
Kalian looked at her with a face full of despair, but she only responded coldly.
“Why are you making that face? You trash. You were nothing more than my playthings. I never had any feelings for you. You’re no different from insects.”
“I am the King of Ten Thousand Demons. Soon, I will eradicate all of you. Did you actually think you could befriend someone like me? How utterly foolish.”
She took a step forward, and in an instant, she was standing right in front of Kalian.
Instinctively, he raised his sword in defense, but with a simple, indifferent gesture, she shattered it effortlessly.
Kalian’s sword, stripped of its will to fight, crumbled into countless fragments.
He dropped to his knees, bowing his head.
“Kalian Bright… Humanity’s so-called hope, and yet, how pathetic you are. But it would be a waste to kill you here and now.”
Victoria looked down at him.
“If you are truly the hope of mankind, then sharpen your blade and come to me. Kneel before my power once again, and fall into despair. I will be waiting in my castle until then.”
It was the decree of an overwhelming conqueror, a prophecy that sent fear rippling through everyone.
The surviving soldiers trembled, unable to lift their heads, while Kalian sat in a daze, staring blankly at the ground as if his soul had left him.
And at that moment, I knew—I was the only one who noticed.
Her hands were trembling uncontrollably.
And from her cold, merciless eyes, tears were silently falling.
Victoria gazed at Kalian for a while, then turned her eyes to me.
Then, with a powerful leap, she soared into the sky and disappeared into the Demon King’s domain.
As I watched her silhouette fade into the distance, a sudden burst of laughter erupted from somewhere on the ground.
“Hahaha, that was truly entertaining this time.”
Amid the scattered corpses, someone stirred and slowly rose to their feet.
It was Oliver—the man who had first charged at Victoria, only to be slain with a gaping hole in his chest.
“How did it feel? Watching the relationship between Kalian and the Demon King crumble right before your eyes?”
“When did it start?”
“Hmm? Ah!”
He tilted his head before clapping his hands together.
“You’re asking when I started pretending to be Oliver? That would be… Do you remember when he climbed the outer wall and shouted that the demons were coming? From that moment, it was me. The real Oliver died as soon as he entered the outpost. I killed him myself. His body? Too bothersome to dispose of, so I just turned him into a demon.”
“You bastard.”
“Even I think I did a great job. If I had infiltrated earlier, you might have beaten me up in our first encounter and seen through my disguise—hahaha.”
Without hesitation, I closed the distance between us in an instant and grabbed his shoulder.
Crunch.
My hand dug into his body, breaking bones, tearing flesh, reaching deep into his core—where his mana and soul resided.
I could feel an immense power within him.
“So this is your true form? You hid yourself well.”
“Deception is my specialty.”
“Good to know. Now, die.”
“I don’t think so.”
He extended a hand toward Kalian.
Kalian sat on the ground, motionless, unresponsive.
“I acknowledge that you’re strong, but I’m not the type to die easily. I’d like to take your dear friend with me, if you don’t mind.”
“You really think that’s possible?”
“Of course. You already know it is.”
“I don’t care if that fool dies or not. My only real obstacle in this world is you. Killing you here benefits me the most.”
“Liar.”
He grinned widely and shook his head.
“You wouldn’t do that. I know everything. You treasure Kalian more than anything—perhaps even more than your own life.”
“Want to test that theory?”
“I’d love to. If that’s really what you want.”
Crunch.
I tore his shoulder apart.
Alcatraz raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his torn flesh.
“So, we’re choosing the peaceful route, then?”
“Get lost.”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I got to witness the tragic tale of Kalian and Victoria until the very end.”
“Don’t be mistaken. I’ve figured out your tricks now. You won’t get away with them next time.”
“Haha, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Even with his mutilated shoulder, he bowed respectfully.
“Now, I’ll take my leave. Soon, I will extend an invitation to both you and Kalian—be sure to accept it.”
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