Selene knew that asking such a thing was foolish… because everyone in the Empire knew that the supreme being of the Demon Race, their only King, had fallen sixteen years ago in that great war at the hands of the Hero and his companions.
His death had been the final straw for the Demon Race, who were already at a disadvantage in the war…
Since then, the demon forces in the Empire had completely withdrawn to the Demon Realm, never again reaching the glory they held 100 years ago.
However, just as Aoke said, Selene had participated in that great war.
Unlike the vast majority of her kin, who refused to answer the Demon King’s call due to the absence of the contemporary Shadow Demon Lord, she had voluntarily joined his army out of admiration for the Demon King himself.
To her, the scenes of that day remained vivid in her mind.
The King’s vast army had marched through the Shadow Demon Territory to the front lines, while she and her clansmen stood on the mountaintops, gazing from afar at him soaring through the sky and the military might he led.
Strength was beauty — this was a consensus among all of the Demon Race. In the Selene of that time’s eyes, there was nothing more beautiful in this world than him.
Even though a sea of soldiers followed behind him… the presence of the entire army could not compare to that solitary figure against the vast firmament.
“Selene… come back!”
By the time she snapped out of it, the shouts of her mother and father standing on the mountaintop had already become distant.
Selene could not stop herself from chasing after that figure… and behind her, many of her kin who shared the same thoughts followed.
She could never forget the King’s beauty… even if he had already fallen.
But at this moment, she felt that this person sitting before them, shrouded in shadows, was just as beautiful as the King from that day —
“The King? Me?”
The Humanoid’s hand, holding a teacup, stopped. He looked as if he were stunned.
Aoke turned his head, appearing as though he wanted to explain things to Selene, but upon seeing the sparkling look in her eyes, he remained silent.
He let out a soft chuckle. Although his expression was not visible, the two sitting across from him felt that he must be amused from the bottom of his heart… because his upper body, wrapped in shadows, was trembling slightly.
“I am not your King.”
He set down the teacup and then reached out a hand to his face. When he lowered his hand again, the shadows obscuring his face had vanished.
“You… it’s you!”
Selene was suddenly scared out of her wits and quickly hid behind Aoke’s back. Because this person… actually had the face of the Maid who had choked her!
“Shadow Demon Lord. I ask that you stop frightening her.”
Aoke, whose sleeve was being gripped tightly by Selene, bowed his head deeply toward the man he addressed as the Shadow Demon Lord.
“Why are you so easily startled? Isn’t this our clan’s signature skill?”
The Shadow Demon Lord stood up from his seat and walked over to Aoke’s side to pat Selene’s head.
Before doing so, he retracted the face he had deliberately manifested to scare Selene, returning to his previously shadow-covered form.
“You… You are our Lord?”
Hearing their exchange, Selene, who was clutching her head, finally dared to look up at the Shadow Demon Lord.
“Don’t call me that. I haven’t looked after matters for over 300 years. You seem to be the successor my clan chose for me, right? If you want it, I don’t mind giving this position to you right now.”
“No, no! How could I dare… I am not worthy…!” Selene tried to kneel in extreme terror, but the Shadow Demon Lord held her up. “I told you not to do that. I don’t like children who don’t listen, you know?”
His tone was very lighthearted, and every word sounded like a tease or a joke. But Selene did not dare take his words as a joke, only responding with a stiff body: “Yes, yes… Your Highness.”
“That’s more like it. Since you are my successor, you should at least have this level of composure.”
The Shadow Demon Lord patted her back and then led her back to her seat at the table.
After doing all this, he also sat back down and looked at the two uneasy people before him.
“I know you two have many questions. Ask away.”
“Excuse me… why are you here? You, who disappeared 300 years ago…”
Selene was the first to ask. She had been born a few decades before the great war and was currently only about 200 years old.
In other words, the Shadow Demon Lord had left his clan long before she was even born.
She was extremely curious about his whereabouts… because when she had asked the elders in her clan who were thousands of years old in the past, they had all worn troubled expressions.
“I’m an undercover agent in the Duke’s Household.”
“So that is to say, the one who told the humans the Sword Saint’s location… was you.”
This time, it was Aoke who asked. He recalled what those humans had said when he was in contact with them — that they had a fellow countryman working undercover within the Duke’s Household.
“It was me.” He picked up his teacup and took a sip. “I originally thought I could finally get rid of her this time… Sigh, I didn’t expect someone to move her away without me knowing. Truly a pity~”
Although the Shadow Demon Lord was sighing, the two could not hear a hint of regret in his words.
“…Did you do this to kill the Sword Saint? To kill a member of the Brave’s Party?”
“Yes. Just as your ‘Demon King Succession War’ requires.”
‘You want to be the Demon King?!’
The two were left dumbfounded by his calm words.
It wasn’t because this Lord who saved them knew information about the Succession War… but because he spoke as if he were a participant himself.
After the Demon King’s death, the leaderless Demon Realm had split into two factions and engaged in a protracted struggle — one was the Peace Faction led by the Demon Dragon Duke and the Blood Demon Duke, who had once joined the Brave’s Party and advocated for peaceful coexistence with humans.
The other was the Revenge Faction led by the Demon King’s widow, the Heavenly Demon Duke, and the remaining three Magus, who advocated for avenging the Demon King.
And this Demon King Succession War was precisely a plan orchestrated by the Heavenly Demon Duke — who was once the Queen and now the self-proclaimed Regent — to select a new successor to the Demon King and take revenge on the Brave’s Party.
And she, the strategist herself, probably never imagined that the Shadow Demon Lord, who had never shown his face even once during the great war, would appear here now to compete with these juniors —
“No, you’ve misunderstood me. Although my goal is the same as yours, I have no intention of participating in the ridiculous game held by the Regent and those three old fossils. I’m doing this… simply because I want to take revenge for that guy.”
Only when he spoke those words did the Shadow Demon Lord’s tone become serious.
A vast sense of sorrow and grief emanated from him… intimidating the two before him into silence for a moment.
‘So he only infiltrated the heart where those associated with the Brave’s Party gather… just to avenge the King?’
“This is also the reason I stepped in to save you. You must do something according to my instructions.”
As he spoke, he reached out and drew a straight line in front of them.
That line tore through space, and cloud-like shadows surged out from the rift.
Wrapped within those shadows, a pale-blue longsword slowly descended onto the table.
The moment the sword touched the table, the tea in the cups before the three of them froze into ice at an incredible speed.
A Frost Layer began to spread across the table… but the Shadow Demon Lord simply waved his hand at it, and the frost receded like spring snow under a scorching sun.
“My instruction is simple — this is the ‘Frosted Demon Sword’. Take this sword and kill the Sword Saint for me.”
Utterly indifferent to the look of terror Selene gave the sword, the Shadow Demon Lord calmly issued his command to the two.