Kalian couldn’t get up.
Even when Victoria and Alcatraz had left, and the surviving soldiers were reorganizing and preparing to return, he remained motionless.
The shock of being betrayed by Victoria must have been far greater than losing the battle.
For the first time in his life, he had met a woman he could trust—only for her to turn out to be the Demon King in disguise.
“Get up. How long are you going to stay like this?”
I approached him.
“If you keep this up, it’s dangerous. We don’t know when the retreating demons might come back, so let’s return to the Empire first.”
“Wade… I… I can’t do this anymore.”
“Huh?”
Kalian spoke in a cracked voice.
“I can’t trust women anymore, I can’t hunt the Demon King anymore… It’s impossible now. I can’t do anything. I’m sorry, Wade.”
“You think you’re the only one who’s been dumped? Stop whining.”
“I’m sorry for turning all your efforts for me into nothing. But I was never worth the trouble you went through.”
“You’re being a pain.”
Betrayed by someone he trusted, abandoned by someone he loved, and that person just happened to be the Demon King.
I understand.
I get it.
I know how much this hurts you.
But that doesn’t mean the protagonist can just give up here.
When I placed my hand on Kalian’s shoulder, he let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.
“I don’t need comfort. Someone like me doesn’t even deserve that. Just… leave me here and go back to the Empire.”
“Don’t worry about me. It’s not like I’m planning to die here. I just need some time to—ugh?!”
He gasped mid-sentence.
Because I had just landed a knee kick straight into his solar plexus.
Even as he clutched his stomach, struggling to breathe, I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back up.
“Guh… W-Wade? What the hell was that for?!”
“If words don’t work, a beating will. It’s been a while since I last hit you, hasn’t it? Let’s warm up a bit.”
“W-wait… My heart hurts too much right now. My brother died, and Victoria… she broke my heart. Just give me a little more time—”
“I’ll make something else hurt instead.”
“Argh!”
I started beating Kalian up.
He curled up in an attempt to take fewer hits, but that wasn’t nearly enough to block my attacks.
“When your mind is clouded, sweating it out is the best remedy. So? Feeling a little better now?”
“Ugh… How the hell would getting beat up make me feel—”
“Guess you haven’t sweated enough. Let’s go again.”
“I feel better! I feel better, okay?! Just stop, please stop!”
After taking a thorough beating, Kalian finally surrendered.
Yeah, that’s more like it.
If you’re going to whine about heartbreak, saying your chest is tearing apart or that you want to die, then I’ll just beat you until it feels like you actually might.
Sure, losing his brother must have been a huge shock.
But on a battlefield, that’s a reality you have to accept.
The faster you pick yourself up and do something, the better.
You can grieve all you want after we get back to the Empire.
I reached out my hand to the battered Kalian.
“This isn’t over yet. Whether you want to talk things out with Victoria or get revenge, you have to do something. Get up.”
“…Yeah.”
We gathered the remaining troops.
The soldiers, who had been in panic, regained their composure.
A few officers took command, and returning to the Empire’s stronghold wasn’t difficult.
Upon crossing the outer walls and entering the Empire, we encountered the Imperial Central Army, who had come in response to a request for reinforcements.
However, they were not friendly toward Kalian and me.
We were accused of being connected to the Demon King and were taken to the capital’s prison.
The officers who had fought alongside us at the wall desperately defended us.
They argued that we had achieved great military success against the demons at the very frontlines—how could such heroes suddenly be treated as criminals?
But the officials from the Imperial Palace didn’t care.
The capital’s underground prison.
A facility where only the most dangerous criminals—those who threatened the Empire’s very existence—were imprisoned, tortured, and punished.
Once you entered, you wouldn’t leave until you had turned to dust.
And now, Kalian and I were thrown into this place.
Kalian asked, “…”
“What are they going to do to us?”
“They’ll probably question us about Victoria. From their perspective, we were practically friends with the Demon King… They want to see if we have any useful information.”
With magic-suppressing shackles and various restraints, we were dragged to the interrogation chamber.
As we walked down the corridor, screams and wails echoed from all directions.
In this world, torture was legal, so this was hardly an unusual sight.
Creak. Slam!
A heavy iron door swung open, and we were shoved inside an interrogation room.
A single interrogator and two subordinates were waiting for us, with various torture instruments lined up behind them.
“Kalian Bright. Wade Silverrain. These are your names, correct?”
“Yes.”
The interrogator casually confirmed our identities.
Kalian answered most of the questions.
“We brought you here because we have some questions about the Demon King. If you answer truthfully, there will be no problems. But if you don’t… things might get a little troublesome. Now, let’s begin.”
The interrogator flipped through his documents and asked,
“We received reports that the Demon King appeared at the border. But due to the panic, the soldiers’ testimonies were inconsistent. So, I’m asking you directly—Victoria Grace. Is she the Demon King?”
A simple question.
Yet, for some reason, Kalian hesitated.
Noticing the odd reaction, the interrogator studied Kalian’s face.
“Why the hesitation?”
“She is… yes, she is the Demon King.”
“This isn’t a difficult question. Just answer what you know without overthinking it.”
I had a bad feeling about this.
I knew exactly why Kalian was acting like this.
Even now, he didn’t want to accept that Victoria was the Demon King.
Or, he didn’t want her to become a target of the Empire.
And sure enough, the situation took a turn for the worse.
“The soldiers claim that the Demon King killed more than half of the Imperial Army. But no one could determine how. Do you have any guesses about the method?”
The question assumed from the start that the Demon King had massacred the Imperial forces.
That statement shook Kalian’s fragile belief even further.
Kalian shook his head.
“No. She didn’t kill a single Imperial soldier.”
“Not a single one? You were closer to the Demon King than anyone. Are you saying you never saw people die?”
“I saw them die, but it wasn’t her doing.”
“That’s odd.”
The interrogator frowned, as if he had hit an unexpected obstacle.
Then, he waved some documents in front of Kalian.
“According to the testimonies of the soldiers present, the Demon King slaughtered the Imperial Army. There are hundreds of statements like this. Are you saying they’re all false?”
“Yes.”
“And what’s your basis for saying that?”
There was no basis.
Even I couldn’t fully grasp the magic that had been used, so there was no way Kalian or anyone else could explain it.
Kalian was simply clinging to his belief that “Victoria wouldn’t do such a thing.”
But saying that out loud wouldn’t help him here.
“…You’re suspicious.”
The interrogator narrowed his eyes at Kalian, then gestured to his subordinates.
The silent guards grabbed red-hot iron rods and stripped off Kalian’s shirt.
“You seem oddly sympathetic toward the Demon King. It feels like you’re hiding something. I’ll ask again—how did the Demon King kill the Imperial Army?”
“…”
“If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine too.”
Sizzle.
The guards pressed the burning hot iron against Kalian’s skin.
Without any mana to protect him, his flesh cooked instantly, smoke rising from his body.
The scent of burning flesh filled the room.
But Kalian didn’t scream.
He clenched his jaw, refusing to speak.
“Kh… ugh…!”
“You endure well. Let’s see how long you can last.”
The interrogator smirked.
The guards removed the first iron and grabbed another one, freshly heated.
I let out a sigh and spoke.
“The Demon King did massacre the Imperial Army.”
“What…?”
“This guy was close to her before she revealed her true identity. That’s why he doesn’t want to admit it… But it’s true. I saw it myself.”
Both the interrogator and Kalian turned to look at me.
Kalian shot me a glare filled with betrayal.
But there was no other choice.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because there was no one else there who could have massacred the Imperial Army except the Demon King. I don’t know the exact method. We don’t fully understand the Demon King’s magic.”
“That makes sense.”
“That damned Demon King… deceiving us and slaughtering the Imperial Army. I hope the truth is revealed soon so they can be eliminated.”
As soon as I stepped in, the interrogation ended quickly.
Kalian had tried his best to defend Victoria, but I used every bit of my rhetoric to paint her as humanity’s enemy.
That way, the investigation would conclude sooner, and we could make it clear that we weren’t on the Demon King’s side.
After we were released, Kalian asked,
“Was this really the only way?”
“Yeah.”
“You completely turned Victoria into a demon… Was that really necessary?”
“You were the one crying about being betrayed earlier. And now you’re worried about Victoria again?”
“That’s…”
Even after everything, he still couldn’t let go.
He had been saying he’d never trust women again, but now…
Kalian hesitated at my question, then let out a sigh and looked up at the sky.
“Yeah… to be honest, I am worried. This incident has caused major conflict between the Empire and the Demon King’s army. The situation was already tense as it was.”
“That’s true.”
“But… if you think about it, maybe it’s actually a good thing?”
“How is this a good thing?”
“If she’s in the Demon King’s castle, the other demons will protect her. She doesn’t have to hide her identity anymore, and at least she’s safer there than being hunted by the Empire.”
First love really is terrifying. Even in a situation where they should be enemies, he’s thinking, ‘At least she’s safe.’
I shook my head.
“I don’t think so. Victoria is going to be in danger soon. And not because of the Empire—because of the Demon King’s army itself.”
“In danger…? What do you mean?”
“The most dangerous person in this world is after Victoria. And they’re right next to her, inside the Demon King’s castle.”
“Then… what should we do? How can we save Victoria?”
Kalian’s expression grew serious.
He must have sensed something after seeing Alcatraz at the border.
I scratched my head and answered,
“Well… There’s one way. Probably the only way.”
“And what is that?”
“We form a Demon King Subjugation Force.”