Chapter 232
Chapter 232 – Side Story, Or (12)
“Hero Linus!”
The Demon King bellowed furiously in response to Linus’s greeting.
“You cowardly, underhanded fraud! And you still dare call yourself a hero?!”
His voice, burning with fury, thundered across the air.
“What the hell’s up with him?”
“I’ve got no idea.”
Also, what’s up with that arm of his?
Below the elbow of his left arm, sticking out from under his sleeve — pitch black.
Is it just a shadow?
The Demon King roared again.
“Linus! How dare you be worshiped as the hero of the continent?!”
“What the hell are you even talking about?! Just shut it and get in here!”
“Silence, Dian! I’m speaking to the so-called Hero Linus!”
He pointed a finger directly at Linus.
And that’s when I saw it clearly. That hand — completely blackened.
What is that? An injury? Or a side effect of resurrection?
“I saw it all on the way here! Statues in your honor! Murals! Streets and plazas named after you! So many things! But not a single one for Dian!”
“Well, obviously, Linus is the hero who slew the Demon King—”
“It wasn’t Linus who struck the final blow! It was Dian! And yet, why does no one know of Dian?!”
This lunatic—
There were still people here besides us, and he was blurting all this out without warning?
No heads-up? No agreement? Just like that?
“I thought you were a man of honor, but you stole your comrade’s glory like a petty thief! I regret ever respecting you, even for a moment!!”
The Demon King swung his arm — and the palace gate exploded.
Linus and I jumped down at once.
“Don’t run!”
Before the shards even hit the ground, the Demon King tore through the air, charging straight at us.
No exaggeration — he was in our faces in the blink of an eye.
“Son of a—!”
A crushing pressure slammed down on my chest.
“Move, Linus!”
I shoved him aside and hurled myself to the side as well.
KRA-KABOOM—!!
The shockwave came a moment after he passed, igniting the ground in flame.
There’s no way that’s his original body.
If this was some last-minute patch job for his resurrection, how the hell is he this strong?
No — he’s even stronger than before. It’s that arm.
His blackened left arm writhed like it had a life of its own, ominous and pulsing.
“You’re not getting away! If you plan on running, forget it!”
He skidded to a stop, tearing up the ground, then twisted his body sharply.
“Lord Dian! Lord Linus!”
Lormane’s golden barrier erupted between us and the Demon King just as he charged again, a missile of aura and fury.
KWAANG—!!
The Demon King slammed into the barrier, and cracks spidered through it at once.
Lormane’s divine shield — the one that could block Kaiden’s spells — was being shattered by raw impact alone.
“Stay out of this, Saintess!”
The Demon King turned sharply toward Lormane, high in the tower.
“Demon King! Obey the natural order!”
She shouted, locking eyes with him.
“When a being dies, that is the end! Only the undead return, and the undead are a sin!”
“Silence! And who are you to speak of sin?! Who decides such things?!”
His terrifying bloodlust made Lormane flinch.
“Tell me, Saintess! Who killed me? Who struck me down ten years ago?!”
“That was… Lord Linus—”
“Lies! It was Dian! Dian struck my neck! Will you deny that truth?!”
“Don’t spread blind rage based on misinformation! Belittling Lord Linus, who defeated you, won’t change the past!”
“No, Saintess, you’re the one who’s wrong! Even when Hero Linus fell to my psychic assault, Dian rose and struck me down! And yet why does no one speak of him as a hero?!”
His aura flared so violently, I thought just standing near him would burn me alive.
Lormane opened and closed her mouth like a fish, unable to speak.
“Dian, the one who slew me, should have become the continent’s hero! He deserved to be celebrated by all! But look what happened! No one even remembers his name!”
His invisible force sent an explosion tearing through the midsection of the tower.
“Lormane! Get back!”
Just as she stumbled, a portal opened.
Lormane tumbled through and appeared beside me.
“Lormane!”
“Lord Dian!”
She clutched my chest, quickly regaining her footing and reactivating her barrier.
“We agreed to fight with honor! That was all I had left! And now you trample even that!”
His eyes blazed beyond the shield.
“And digging up a grudge from ten years ago and throwing a tantrum, that’s what you call honor?”
Kaiden had appeared at my side, quiet as always.
“You, mage! You know the truth!”
The Demon King pointed.
“You were awake then! You saw it, you saw it clearly! You saw Dian strike me down!!”
“…Yes.”
Kaiden nodded, calm and unreadable.
“It wasn’t Lord Linus. Ten years ago, Lord Dian was the one who killed the Demon King.”
“WHAT?!”
Lormane shouted, and so did Celine, who had been helping the fallen Linus nearby.
“And what of it?”
Kaiden continued without pause.
“Does it matter whose hand delivered the final blow? What difference does it make to you? Who earned the title of hero after that has nothing to do with you.”
“But it insults me! For Dian, who killed me, to be disregarded, that’s an insult to me! I cannot bear it!!”
“When was Lord Dian ever disregarded?”
Kaiden smiled faintly.
“Are you really claiming no one remembers him? You’re wrong.”
He began preparing a new spell as he spoke.
“True, Lord Dian never became a hero. But there are still those who remember him. And without exception, those people cherish and love him.”
“That may be, but it doesn’t justify denying him the reward and recognition he earned!”
“Lord Dian never wanted it.”
Kaiden gently opened his arms.
“He never asked for that. So…”
With a roar, the Demon King shattered the barrier and charged through.
Kaiden unleashed his magic, but once again, the Demon King twisted it aside like nothing.
Next came Celine’s arrows, dozens of them, fired in rapid succession.
He flicked his hand. All deflected.
As expected, ranged attacks couldn’t even touch him.
Just like last time, it had to be me and Linus. Up close. Blade to blade.
Guess there’s no choice.
I reached for my sword—
FWISSH—
Thousands of butterflies exploded from the Demon King’s hand, swirling around like black smoke.
The enormous vortex consumed the space, blocking out everything except me and him.
Like a private duel arena. Just the two of us.
I’d never seen a technique like this, not even back then.
Something’s happening to his body.
“Explain, Dian.”
Now that we were alone, the Demon King’s tone softened slightly.
“What’s going on here? Why is Linus in the place of the man who killed me? Why do people not even know your name?”
“Does that matter so much to you?”
“You don’t think it matters?”
There was something like sadness in his voice.
“Dian… I came close to conquering the continent, and then lost everything. All I had left was an empty fortress and a sword.”
“And a teapot of warm tea, a few cups, and some cookies.”
He let out a low, voiceless laugh.
“In that moment, I wasn’t the Demon King. Just a warrior. And you fought me, beat me, and cut me down. It was a fair fight. I died with honor.”
“No one ever claimed you didn’t.”
“But your treatment, that’s what dishonors me.”
“I don’t get it. Why the hell do you even care?”
“I told you. When I fell to that cold floor ten years ago, I had nothing left. Just the fact that I faced the Hero’s party head-on, and died like a warrior. And now even that’s been denied.”
I get it now. This guy’s cut from a different cloth.
He’s not like me, some scrappy third-rate with a sword.
He’s a noble swordsman, through and through.
“…Fine. I admit it. You’re a romantic, idealistic kind of guy. Compared to you, Linus and I are just cheap swordsmen. But still—”
I shrugged.
“Linus becoming the hero who killed the Demon King, that was because I wanted it that way.”
“You… wanted it?”
“Yeah, man. Sure, I killed you. But all that attention afterward? Being called a hero or savior or whatever? I hated it. So I ran.”
“You ran?”
“I let Linus take the credit, let him carry the burden. Like I said, I can’t stand that stuff.”
The Demon King just stared at me in silence.
“…I didn’t really want to tell you all this. You came back from the dead, stormed all the way here, angry as hell, and now I’m saying it was all because I’m lazy and like my peace and quiet. That’s gotta be disappointing.”
“…Is that so.”
“One way or another, someone had to be the hero. Just not me. So Linus it was.”
“I see.”
His shoulders drooped slightly as he muttered to himself.
He’s not an idiot. He’s not someone ruled by emotion.
If he thinks it through, he’ll understand. He’ll figure out the truth.
Still… he looks kind of tragic.
He started a war for his people’s sake, got killed, came back ten years later — and now he’s alone. Everything he clung to, all gone.
“…Demon King. If you’re not planning on fighting anymore, if you’re done with revenge, I’ll talk to the Emperor. Your arm doesn’t look great either.”
“Then I can finally fight you without regret.”
“What?”
“You and I, one of us, dies here.”
…What the hell’s wrong with this guy?
Seriously, I don’t get him.
# # # # #
Inside the vortex, it was just me and Dian.
He still didn’t understand why I was doing this.
But this is for the remaining survivors of our kind, those who still live on.
Not long ago, a human who sheltered me from a checkpoint told me everything.
He was a possessor, someone from another world.
To be precise, this world is a novel. And he was a reader.
He told me what happens next, the continuation of the story, the side story that begins after my death ten years ago.