Chapter 1470

After a thunderous explosion echoed through the area, Nyx, who had been briefly extracted in spirit form, realized his entire body was bound and was being crushed.

[You monster! You got even stronger than you were back then!]

Davey was an existence Nyx simply couldn't comprehend.

He was someone who once made the very air tremble with fear with every step he took. Nyx still remembered the island where he'd first dealt with the reckless hero, reestablished his legacy, and tried to resurrect the Demon King.

That was when Nyx met Davey, and also where he met his end. His death was truly agonizing and futile. Yet, for some reason, once he woke up again in the river of reincarnation, that hateful human was holding his soul captive.

The current Davey was different from before. While it was the same man who killed him using a special arrow in the past, the power coming from him now seemed strong enough to instantly reduce his soul to a pile of ashes.

‘Aaaah. The future of the demon race is so dark...’

Davey casually remarked, “Now, how about we talk a bit?”

[I have nothing to say to you.]

“You're already dead. Your soul was supposed to vanish entirely, but Surtr's arrow sent it back to the River of Souls instead. If it weren’t for me, you probably would’ve paid for your karma and spent a practical eternity undergoing purification.”

Of course, that process certainly would not have been pleasant.

[I have no intention of talking with you, no matter what you say! All I feel now is the agony of not having seen the demon race unified and the race alliance at peace.]

Hearing that, Davey laughed out loud.

Aris and Shuneria, who arrived later, found the sight rather strange. They gazed upon a giant lich's soul pinned to a massive rock, bound in place by a spear of light.

Shuneria, who'd been listening to their conversation, snapped at him and shouted, “Hey! What's this talk about the demon race unifying?! Peace is a good thing!”

Davey simply muttered something completely unrelated. “The unification of the demon race... the peace of the demon race...”

“Davey?” Sensing something was off, Aris flinched and reached out toward him. But her hand only swept through his afterimage.

BOOM!!!

A tremendous roar echoed, and Nyx let out a painful scream.

Davey had started crushing his soul.

[GRRR!!!]

“The unification of the demon race? Peace? Get real. Do you honestly think I don't know what kind of person you are?”

[GAAAH!!!]

“You just wanted to put Perserque as the Demon King, control her, and rule the world however you pleased.”

That bastard played a role in making Perserque the Demon King.

Of course, Perserque had instinctively knovn her existence was twisted by Thanatos, the God of the Abyss, and had thus taken the best possible action to save everyone. However, Nyx in the parallel world not only resurrected her, but also tried to use her to satisfy his own desires.

He had a twisted lust for domination, enacting a sinister plot to hold even the Demon King in his grasp.

No one knew what he had done in the past, but he was at the very least deeply involved in the war between the demon race and humans. And during his second time, if Davey hadn’t killed him, he would’ve simply repeated his rebellious actions after being unsealed.

[Shut up!]

His eyes flashed, and he gathered the power of his soul to resist. But Davey kicked and shattered his lower half without hesitation.

[GAAAH?!]

“The demon race found peace after the war, and there’s no longer a reason for them to be manipulated by the logic of a bastard like you and shed pointless blood.”

[Shut up! How dare a being like you talk about the demon race?!]

“Who should talk about the demon race, if not the Demon King?”

Nyx’s eyes shook violently.

[What is that?! What nonsense! How dare a human!]

He screamed at the top of his lungs. He couldn't even maintain his reason properly.

After talking with him, Davey realized he’d suffered severe memory loss. He began to doubt whether he'd be able to get any useful information out of the fragmented soul.

Soon, a part of the Demon King's authority began to flow out from him.

[T-that? That is?!]

“That's right—this is the authority of the Demon King that Perserque should have had. It’s currently scattered, and the leaders of each demon race faction holds a portion of it.”

[Impossible. How could a human...]

“It's the result of a peace achieved by an individual of the demon race who was truly loyal to the Demon King, and risked his life to make it happen.”

Although he died, the demon race and humans ultimately signed a peace treaty, and the reasons for hostilities had disappeared.

The ancient beasts had stopped rampaging, and sunlight had begun to shine upon their land once more.

Davey pressured him and said, “Under the authority of the Demon King, I command you to answer me truthfully. Nyx, did you truly act for the sake of the demon race? Can you honestly say you were completely loyal to the Demon King?”

The soul didn't answer, but he already said it best by saying nothing at all.

“Nyx, I have just one final question for you. There's one thing I can't quite understand, no matter how much I think about it.”

[...]

Nyx seemed confused by the fact that Davey was the Demon King. However, his confusion completely crumbled with what he said next.

“Gargantia Netzach.”

[WHAT!!! How do you know that name?!]

“I want you to tell me everything about him. Tell only the truth! I command you as the Demon King. Even if you want to lie, spill it all. That’s my final command to you as the Demon King.”

[Gargantia... Did he undo his seal?]

His eyes shook uncontrollably. Noticing that, Davey smiled faintly and used his power to crush him again.

[GRAAAH!!!]

“Hey. Remember who’s in front of you.”

[D-damn it...]

“I’m the Demon King. What does that make you?”

The answer was obvious—Nyx was just a demon race member who served the Demon King.

“Watch your mouth, you bastard.”

Boom!!!

Watching Davey indiscriminately assault Nyx, Aris and Shuneria talked in whispers.

“Davey seems more vicious than an imp when he's like this...”

“If others find out that the god who granted me a stigmata is this kind of being... I'll be screwed.”

* * *

Living beings, not the undead, were blocking the way of the infiltration squad.

Their skills varied widely. Yet, while some seemed like they'd never fought before, every one of them possessed power beyond the Expert level.

Rinne, who'd been standing in the back, stepped up to Evangeline's left with a crowbar in one hand and brass knuckles in the other.

Reina also formed an energy sword of light, briefly unfurled her pure white wings before making them disappear, and stepped up to Evangeline's right.

“Rinne evaluates the enemy’s numbers to be considerable. Rinne warns no mercy for those who are hostile.”

“As per Master’s command.”

They spoke in hollow voices. If they were merely being controlled, they’d only be victims, but the hatred in their eyes was genuine.

One of the enemies spat out, “The Saint of Tionis’s child cannot be allowed to live!”

Intense hatred could be felt.

Evangeline sighed, then grabbed Prince Gulom, who was hiding in the back, by the collar. “You’re coming with me.”

Startled by her sharp tone and sudden lack of courtesy, he screamed and squirmed to no avail.

Currently, Illyna and the allied forces were confronting Gargantia outside to draw his attention, while Perserque was hiding and twisting his senses.

He'd certainly notice something was off eventually. Before that happened, Evangeline needed to rescue the four people who were being held hostage.

Yet, she was still curious. Evangeline raised her hand and stopped everyone. “Wait.”

Since they were beings with reason, they turned their gaze toward her.

“Just one thing... Just one question.” Whether they were being controlled or not, she could sense a fierce hatred within the fragments of emotion they harbored, and curiously asked, “Why? Why do you hate my dad so much?”

“What are you trying to say, Grand Princess of Heins?”

“I can see it. How much you all hate my dad.”

They had willingly submitted to Gargantia. She thought it was because they were drawn to his power. If they'd simply acted out of fear, she wouldn't have given it a second thought.

Yet, she could sense something different about them. In fact, everyone hostile toward her in that place felt different.

Rinne and Reina instinctively tried to change the subject, as it was something Evangeline wasn't supposed to hear about yet, but they were cut off before they could begin.

“My older brother was torn apart and killed by the demon race.”

Evangeline was speechless.

“My parents were killed in an attack by Heins while I was serving the Boltis Royal Family.”

To be precise, they were just a few victims caught in the war between Rowane and Boltis.

Yet, for them, those lives meant everything.

Evangeline didn't even know how to respond or begin to defend her father. “T-that... was...”

“Necessary? Is that what you want to say, Princess?”

Evangeline shut her mouth, her face pale.

The enemies continued.

“My brother was everything to me.”

“My parents worked hard their whole lives for me. They always worried that I might get sick when I was little, and they spent countless nights crying after I left to work in another country.”

Yet, they’d died.

“I have one question, Princess. The Saint of Heins claims he fought for peace, and perhaps he did. But did he actually bring me peace? Or is he simply an evil man who brought me nothing but despair and ruin?”

There was no way to justify his actions. Every deed carried its own karma.

“Why were we forced to talk peace with the demon bastards who killed my brother?”

She weakly shot back, “Then do you want us to fight until death?”

“What I want isn't peace with those monsters, Princess.” Unstoppable hatred poured from his eyes. “Those demon bastards who tore my brother to shreds... I'll smash their heads and suck out their marrow.”

She stayed silent.

“I only want one thing! I want them to suffer. My powerless cries were nothing more than meaningless resistance, while the Saint of Heins became the hero of the world. Yes, I admit that he acted for peace, whether it was according to the International Federation’s agreement or for his own peace and his family's safety. So instead, I'll ask you again.”

He took a step forward, raising his weapon.

“At the end of the day, what about me? Shouldn’t I be able to unleash the rage I have from losing my family?”

“And so you joined forces with that crazy lizard?”

“Whatever ideology he has, that doesn't matter. What matters is that my last chance in life came, and I took it. We'll probably die here. But, I have no regrets.”

Evangeline, her face pale, looked straight at the fierce sorrow and hatred he was radiating.

Soon, Reina walked forward. “Haah. I figured this might happen.”

The man started. “Hero of Light...”

“Your reasoning isn't wrong. There may be no such thing as a perfect choice in this world. Even someone who tried to live as reasonably as possible might inadvertently set off a massive butterfly effect with their decisions, leaving countless people in tears.”

She pointed her energy sword at the man and continued, “You aren’t wrong. And we won't be wrong, either.”

Her presence spread out. “Finding a clear resolution to that... is probably impossible. I won't insult you with empty words like there might’ve been a better way. I'll bear the karma of the blood and tears you've shed. I will not run away from it.”

“Then we don't need to talk anymore,” the man shot back. “Daughter of the Saint of Tionis, did you get your answer?”

“Evangeline, Rinne analyzes you should leave immediately.”

Reina had experienced a feeling the moment she saw them. That was why she didn't want Evangeline to hear about the sad truth hidden beneath the surface.

That was when it happened.

“W-what is this mess?! Open the way at once! How dare invaders who trespassed into my kingdom even speak—”

Rinne stomped hard on the floor, and fragments flew up, hitting his face.

“Gah!!”

“Rinne evaluates shutting his mouth highly.”

“If he wasn’t our guide, I wouldn't have let him get away with anything.” Evangeline gritted her teeth and roughly pulled him to his feet. “If you keep running your mouth, I swear I'll tear you apart myself.”

Her red eyes twisted into a violet color. Seeing her vertically slit pupils, Prince Gulom's face turned pale, staying that way as she roughly tossed him aside.

Although Gulom was shameless, he was a member of the faction friendly to Davey.

Of course, that decision was made by the Ahm Kingdom, not him specifically, but Evangeline found the situation truly strange.

The man continued, “Princess, the Saint of Tionis did what he had to do. We don't deny the peace he brought.”

There was more to say.

“However, don't forget that countless people have had to swallow their tears and make a choice like this along the way. We, who are bound by our orders to defend the royal castle, will stop you... but we haven't reported this encounter to our master, Gargantia.”

With those words, he quickly swung his sword, which was blazing with aura.

Slash!!!

Yet, as soon as Reina's energy sword rose in the air and flashed, his neck was severed.

“I... had no other choice.”

Having been granted a special power, he was still able to speak even after his neck had been severed. However, he was still only human. In the end, his life came to an end.

“The world sure is scary... I really want to kill this guy who's supposed to be an ally, yet I feel pity for the enemy soldiers. This situation is ridiculous,” Evangeline muttered bitterly, walking out along the path Rinne and Reina had created.

* * *

Prince Gulon spoke up as they entered the royal castle’s hidden passage, telling them, “I-it's... it's just ahead, Princess. That's the altar where I found the warp circle. It wasn't originally there, either. I stumbled across it by chance while looking for a place to hide my emergency funds before I left for Pallan.”

That meant the Ahm Kingdom had already been taken over, even before the banquet in Pallan took place. It was a bit odd that he did not question Heins's military power, but the important thing was that their destination was right around the corner.

Evangeline asked him, “Hey, what did you think when you saw them just now?”

Despite the troubling question, he frowned and shouted, “What nonsense! They're just the subordinates of the wicked monster who dared to invade and take over the royal castle of the Ahm Kingdom!”

‘Man... he really is a shameless bastard. Though, I will say, he isn’t all that spineless...’

She pressed the question. “You didn't feel anything after hearing their story?”

“What does it matter? I have far too much to be concerned about than the lives of insignificant civilians. I am—”

“Yeah, yeah. It's a real relief that a guy like you isn't the future of this country,” Evangeline said flatly, passing him by.

“W-what is that supposed to mean?!”

“Shut up and keep coming along. Don't say another word from now on. You're giving me a headache.”

“P-Princess! This door requires a special key...”

Crack!!! CRACK!!!

A massive dragon foreleg burst out of thin air, tore the door apart like paper, then disappeared.

“...”

Golum hiccuped and fell to his knees. Evangeline looked inside, only for her eyes to drastically widen.

“WAAA!!!”

Where the altar should’ve been was instead a massive corridor, and beyond it, four pale-faced people were desperately running toward them.

Surprised to see her, the boy running at the front screamed, “P-Princess!!!”

It was none other than the Prince of Sparta Kingdom, Khrones Lan Sparta. The same boy who was called an unrivaled genius.

Evangeline began, “What is going o—”

“It's a trap! Run away!”

At his shout, Evangeline looked at the black mist rushing them from behind. More precisely, it wasn’t mist, but swarms of bugs rushing in like a wave.

Even the courageous Evangeline couldn't help but frown at the horrific sight. She intended to immediately shoot a breath attack to scatter the swarm and save them all.

Then Eosha, who was right behind Khrones, screamed, “Don't do it, Princess! They absorb mana to grow stronger!”

Thud! Thud!!

At the same time, all the surrounding structures began to change as if by magic.

“Damn it! The map is changing again!” After sprinting straight to Evangeline, Khrones grabbed her hand and took off before she could say a word. “First, we have to run! This place is like a maze where the structure changes periodically!”

In fact, the corridor she had just entered was now a blocked passage, clean and seamless as if nothing had been there from the beginning.

Eosha, who checked the strange pattern drawn on the wall in a panic, shouted, “This way! This is definitely the way!”

Khrones nodded and resumed running.

“KYAAA!!! Help us, Prince!!”

Lady Laura Mel and Lady Rune Bertas also came running after them, clutching the tattered remnants of their torn dresses. It seemed they had tossed their shoes and ripped their long skirts to run faster.

It was clear they had been running for quite a while.

“That way! That's it!”

The four desperately ran toward one side of the maze as if they were familiar with it.

“Uh... UGHHH!!! P-protect me! I said protect me!” Golum's stamina was even worse than that of an ordinary noblewoman. Gasping for breath and running in a panic, he looked like he was about to be devoured by the bug swarm any second.

Yet, Evangeline knew better than to just abandon him because they had achieved their initial goal. Though, it was true that he was an utter bastard.

She repeated the word patience in her mind countless times, then dragged her feet and stopped. She turned and glared at the bug swarm that was frantically rushing in.

“Don't do it! They absorb mana and grow stronger!”

‘As if there'd be such an opportunistic lifeform.’

[Stop.]

As the Dragontongue spell manifested with overwhelming Fear, the massive swarm of bugs rippled for a moment before grinding to a noisy halt.

“I don't know the spell structure... but at least they're not intangible.”

Then, Eosha, who had figured out the path by looking at the pattern, pointed toward one of the walls and shouted, “I found the way! It's that way!”

It happened to be where Prince Gulom was standing, a little separated from the rest of the group.

At the same time, Evangeline frowned as the strange magic circle, which had begun dissolving under her Dragontongue magic, started reforming and pushing in again.

“Hurry up and do something! We can’t instantly destroy it outright.”

If Evangeline had been alone, she would’ve incinerated the entire area, but the strange space and the bug wave clearly seemed to be a special magic created by a barrier. In other words, she had already fallen into a trap when she opened the door.

For Evangeline, who only had high resistance but no high-level magic ability, finding and destroying the barrier's core was the easiest way to overcome it.

At that moment, Eosha shouted, “Prince Gulom! Open the door over there and hold the line!”

Gulom, seeing a door appear beside him that was not there moments before, hastily opened it.

Creak. CREAK!!!

As it opened, the bug wave had already started moving once again.

However, as they drew closer to Golum, his face turned deathly pale.

One of them muttered, “No... right?”

In that fleeting moment, just as Eosha sensed something was wrong and started to scream, Golum darted into the supposed safe zone by himself and slammed the door shut behind him.

THUDDD!!

Everyone was speechless at his extreme selfishness. Meanwhile, Evangeline quickly started looking for anything off about the bug wave.

That was when it happened.

“Ugh. UGHHH!! What is this?! AHHH!!”

After the horrific screaming, the deafening buzz of countless insects echoed throughout the maze.

“S-save...”

“I told him to open the door and hold the line, not enter and close it, so why...” Eosha muttered with a look of futility.

The place Gulom entered to save himself was actually a special trap when entered, not a safe zone. Eosha hadn’t mentioned that fact beforehand simply because she never thought he’d try to run away.

“Damn it, once the door is closed, I can't open the safe zone...”

Then, the ceiling above Evangeline was smashed, and Rinne and Reina descended with a tremendous roar.

“Found it!”

“Rinne has arrived.” At the same time, her eyes flashed blue, and countless numbers quickly passed through her pupils. “Analysis complete. Eradication commencing.”

A huge cannon rapidly formed on the back of her hand. One shot, and it completely blasted away a single point in the bug swarm.

Boom!!

The swarm of bugs vanished as if it had never existed, and the maze that had been constantly shifting around them began to disappear as well.

“Wha...”

“You destroyed the core, right?” Evangeline asked as she looked at Rinne.

She gave a firm nod.

Then Reina spoke up while looking around to inform them, “We need to get out of here quickly, a full scale battle has already broken out outside. But before that, where’s Prince Gulom?”

Evangeline sighed while shaking her head. “He tried to run away to save himself, only to be eaten by the bug swarm.”

Where she pointed, only white bones remained.

“I felt guilty about the idea of killing someone who was our ally. But now that this bastard who was supposed to be our ally is dead, I don't feel anything... Does that make me a bad person?”

Rinne patted her back. “Rinne states that a foolish ally is the most dangerous.”

Boom! Boom!!

Soon, a deafening roar echoed throughout the entire royal castle, unknown whether it was because Evangeline's intrusion had been discovered or because there was no longer any reason to stall for time.

“But even if we forget about the hostages inside, Gargantia has hostages all across the continent...”

“Lady Perserque's magic has already completely cut this place off from the outside. Rinne reports that his devil magic can no longer spread across the continent.”

“Mom's so amazing...” Evangeline marveled.

“Because she's been through this before,” Reina added with a wry smile.

She truly excelled at driving her enemies into a corner.