Chapter I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake. 237

I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake

Chapter 237

Agatha and Caesar were people who carried too much burden to simply remain as lovers. It was inevitable that their casual conversations would end up including plans and worries about the future.

“When I interrogated the doppelganger, I found out they weren’t just observing you, but also observing the demon race. Thanks to that, I was able to learn what plans the devils were making.”

There was no way Elijah would have only been observing Caesar. He wouldn’t have left such a significant variable as the demon race unmonitored.

“What was their plan?”

“To put it briefly, they were planning to attack Luxhope the moment you conquered it.”

“That’s quite a classic method. Attacking when guard is most likely to be down.”

“The interesting part is that Belial alone would attack Luxhope, while the other 20 devils would focus solely on preventing me from coming to help. Even though Belial is a six-horned devil, does it make sense for him to face you and Raven alone?”

Hexagonal demons number less than ten even if you search the entire continent. Growing an additional horn means more than just awakening another demonic ability; it signifies overcoming an extreme mental situation through one’s own madness or values. In other words, Belial is such a powerful devils that it’s difficult to rank him when considering pure combat ability alone. However, Barre and Raven are top-tier experts who have even killed a Demon King.

No matter how extraordinary a hexagonal devil might be, it’s nearly impossible to face Raven and Barre simultaneously.

“With Belial, it makes sense.”

“Is he that extraordinary?”

“It’s because Belial’s ability is incredibly unfair.”

Belial’s alias is ‘Demon of Ashes.’

He can turn everything that touches his body into ash. Whether it’s concrete or steel, he can break it down to particle level and burn it into ash that has no value and is rather harmful.

“His body is made entirely of ash, so he can’t be killed by magic or sword energy. Since he can turn aura or magic into ash, we can’t attack carelessly either.”

“What? How do you kill someone like that?”

“Killing is impossible. We have to seal him.”

“Seal?”

“There’s exactly one substance in this world that he can’t turn into ash.”

“Wait, I think I know.”

Agatha cupped her palms to catch the raindrops falling on flower petals.

“Is it water?”

“That’s right. He’s weak against water. We should be able to seal him by putting him deep in the ocean.”

In fact, Belial appears as a gimmick boss in the Valent Saga. He appears as a devil who doesn’t die no matter how much you attack him and actually becomes stronger, but he can be killed by using push magic or wind magic to force him into the sea. Of course, this is reality, so it would be impossible to push Belial with mere push magic. Agatha looked at Caesar with curiosity.

“How did you know that?”

“I had to briefly visit the Unopenable Library, and I saw information there about Belial being weak to water.”

“Ah.”

Of course, this is a lie.

While information about Belial exists in the library, he had never seen such content. But since he did frequent the library to find ways to defeat him in the Valent Saga, it’s not entirely a lie.

“But you caused quite a commotion while capturing the doppelganger, right? Belial might know that the doppelganger was captured. Wouldn’t he withdraw his plans then?”

“No, he almost never withdraws his plans.”

“Why?”

“While Belial’s ability is unfair, it has limitations. To increase his ability’s range, he needs lots of ‘fuel.’“

“Fuel?”

“That’s what he calls living creatures. Knights with lots of aura are especially efficient.”

If Belial could use his ability without any conditions, this world would have already been destroyed. To spread ash containing his ability widely, he absolutely needs many humans.

“He’s probably hiding secretly inside Luxhope right now. And when we enter, he’s probably planning to use the thieves occupying Luxhope as fuel to spread his ash and devour us in an instant.”

“Right. That’s what the doppelganger said.”

“The method to deal with him is simple. After killing the thieves occupying Luxhope with bombardment, we’ll infiltrate Luxhope with a small number of elite members to face Belial.”

Caesar thinks that unknown devils with 2-3 horns are actually scarier than famous devils  like Belial who have unfair abilities. The famous devils’ limitations and ways to defeat them are all in Caesar’s head, but with unknown devils, they might be helplessly defeated because they don’t know their abilities.

“Now that he knows I’ve discovered his plan, he can’t do anything.”

“Hmm, Then I guess we can relax.”

“Shall we get going then? We’ve been here too long.”

“Wait a moment.”

Agatha made Caesar sit down as he was getting up and met his eyes. From Agatha’s expression, it seemed like she had something to say.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well……”

Caesar thought Agatha needed time to organize her thoughts. He waited patiently so Agatha could speak comfortably. Agatha fidgeted with her tail while calming her mind, and finally opened her mouth.

“You sent Raven to me yesterday, right?”

“I did.”

“At that time, Raven said she liked Barre. Did you know about that?”

Caesar lost his words, not knowing what to say. In that silence, Agatha discovered the truth.

“As I thought, you knew. How could you not know? With your psychometry.”

“…I cannot deny that.”

Agatha held Caesar’s hand tightly and spoke.

“Raven told me that she was able to forgive you partly because Barre treated her well, and because she knew you were never truly a bad person.”

“I am sincerely grateful to Raven for forgiving you and deciding to help you. Because thanks to Raven, you will be safe. But on the other hand, I’m anxious.”

Agatha pulled her knees to her chest, her eyes fixed on the flowers spread across the floor. Agatha’s expression was precarious, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

“Because I know that Raven’s feelings for you are not at all light…”

Agatha couldn’t think of Raven as simply Caesar’s helper. From Agatha’s perspective, both Raven and Gloria appeared as her romantic rivals. The thought that these rivals might shake and steal her man away drove Agatha nearly mad. Agatha finally buried her face in her knees.

“I really hate and despise this side of myself. Why am I so jealous? Why can’t I trust you?”

Agatha found it difficult to bear the collision between practical issues and personal problems.

“When Raven came to me and said she had liked Barre, I wanted to appear as mature as possible, so I gave her words of blessing. I said I hoped she would find new love. But inside, I was telling her to get away from you immediately.”

“Even I can see that Raven is an incredibly attractive woman. The same goes for Gloria. I wish they would both disappear from your sight.”

Caesar used his psychometry to deeply empathize with Agatha’s concerns. Agatha’s anxiety seeped into Caesar’s body. The anxiety penetrated painfully, as if carving out his heart. At the same time, it was so nauseating that he wanted to vomit immediately. Realizing that the depth of this pain reflected the magnitude and intensity of her love for him, Caesar’s heart felt heavily burdened. Caesar gently tilted Agatha’s body. Agatha fell into Caesar’s body as if collapsing.

“I’m sorry, Caesar. Even though I knew it would be hard for you, I couldn’t bear it if I didn’t express my feelings. It felt like my insides were burning up… Like I was going to die.”

“No, I’m sorry for making you anxious.”

“No, it’s my fault. My capacity is too small. I’m just being mean.”

Agatha buried her face in Caesar’s shoulder. Caesar’s shoulder became wet with Agatha’s tears.

“I like you so much, so much that it hurts. I understand why Raven said it hurts to look at you, and that makes it so hard. I wonder if I’m being too greedy.”

“I never knew I was such a jealous and mean person. I just thought everything would be perfect once you became my lover, but I’m more anxious and struggling.”

Caesar patted Agatha’s back and whispered.

“I love you, Agatha.”

Agatha couldn’t hold back her flowing tears.

“I’m afraid of losing you, Caesar. I’m scared you’ll leave for somewhere far away like my mother and my friends did. I wish we could throw everything away and travel somewhere far, living together peacefully. I don’t want to feel anxious or struggle anymore.”

Agatha burrowed deeper into Caesar’s body. Caesar held Agatha almost as if holding a child.

“But I know we can’t do that. The dream you’re pursuing is big, and you need help from many people to achieve it. Especially Raven and Gloria’s help will be crucial.”

“But I want you to know how much I’m struggling like this. I want you to know that I really love you so much.”

Caesar kissed Agatha. Agatha felt as if Caesar’s feelings were being transmitted to her, and her turbulent insides became calm.

“I already know, Agatha.”

Agatha wiped away her tears and forced a smile.

“If I’m going to love a man who moves the world, I should become a woman worthy of him.”

“You already are such a being. You’re the Demon King, aren’t you? You’re more amazing than me.”

“You built yourself up, but I was just given this. There’s a clear difference.”

Caesar wiped Agatha’s eyes. Agatha stopped crying.

“I’ll try, Caesar.”

Today, Caesar felt like he had found one more reason why he couldn’t help but love Agatha. Just as Caesar was about to approach Agatha’s lips, an unpleasant burning smell brushed his nose. Agatha must have sensed it too, as she narrowed her eyes.

A burning smell on moisture-filled ground was highly unusual. Caesar and Agatha followed the direction of the smell. Something like a flock of white birds was flying in from the sky. No, those weren’t birds. They were papers.

Caesar and Agatha stood up and caught one of the papers that had been carried by the wind. The paper reeked terribly of burning. On the paper, written as if hastily scrawled with charcoal or coal on scattered packaging waste, was text.

Unlike the carelessly scrawled, light handwriting, the content was very brief and heavy.

[Caesar is a doppelganger.]

Caesar crumpled the paper.

“Right. I wondered why they were staying quiet.”

The smell of ashes deeply penetrated Caesar’s palm.

***

[Caesar is a doppelganger.]

Thousands of propaganda leaflets were scattered throughout the troops, carried by the wind. The soldiers muttered while looking at the leaflets that had fallen to the ground.

“Lord Caesar is a doppelganger?”

“What nonsense is this?”

“Who scattered this stuff?”

The soldiers immediately denied it when they saw the leaflets. The soldiers remaining in the Eagle valley were all those who firmly believed and followed Caesar, trusting he would send them back to the continent. For these highly loyal soldiers, believing information without clear evidence or source, like now, was meaningless. But people, as always, love to write fiction. And that fiction always begins with the word ‘what if.’

“What if this is real?”

“Stop talking such nonsense. Just think of it as getting some toilet paper.”

“No, think about it. Didn’t Lord Caesar seem quite friendly with the Demon King from before?”

“Are you drunk? What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m just making a reasonable suspicion. Lord Caesar was going in and out of where the Demon King lives almost daily.”

“Lady Raven also crossed over whenever Lord Caesar did, so are you saying Lady Raven is a doppelganger too?”

“That’s why I’m saying Lady Raven could have been deceived too.”

Rumors breed rumors. Sensational stories breed even more sensational stories.

On a battlefield full of anxiety like now, even a small doubt can create ripples that spread quickly.

“Come to think of it, there were rumors that people in the troops were disappearing one by one… Could it be that he settled in this area to give us to the succubi and vampires?”

“I heard that too. Didn’t someone from the neighboring unit disappear yesterday?”

“Are we all dead men walking then?”

At that moment, Gideon approached the muttering soldiers and drew his sword.

“Do you think you can say whatever you want just because you have a mouth?”

“Eek! We’re, we’re sorry!”

“Give me that paper!”

Gideon snatched the propaganda leaflet.

“If anyone spreads strange rumors, I’ll cut off all their heads. Get out of here now!”

“Yes, yes! Understood!”

After the soldiers scattered like cockroaches, Gideon read the leaflet.

[Caesar is a doppelganger.]

Gideon couldn’t understand who would scatter such ridiculous propaganda leaflets.

Caesar is a doppelganger?

Who could possibly benefit from spreading such rumors…

‘It must be those devil bastards and doppelgangers.’

Cunning bastards.

Seeing how reckless they’re being now, they must be getting desperate too. Following that, more propaganda leaflets came scattered by the wind. Gideon caught one of the papers falling like snow. He thought it would be the same nonsensical story about Caesar being a doppelganger, but it wasn’t.

[If Caesar doesn’t reveal the truth, we will attack the supply ships coming to Luxhope.]

Gideon crumpled the leaflet.

It seemed an emergency meeting was needed.