Chapter 233
Chapter 233 – Side Story, Or (13)
The fierce, howling black vortex completely cut me off from the outside world—just me and the Demon King inside.
It must be a technique he acquired upon resurrection, since I’ve never seen anything like it before.
A vortex so powerful that even Linus and the others can’t intervene from outside—it doesn’t even allow entry.
Which means, I can’t get out either.
And that means exactly what the Demon King said: one of us must die here.
No helping it, then.
I explained everything to him, and still, he chooses to fight—then so be it.
“You won’t regret this?”
“If I were going to regret it, I wouldn’t have started in the first place.”
The Demon King’s hand began to burn with black flames.
Before I knew it, the black burn-like marks had spread up his neck and jaw on the left side.
Was it always that far up? Or has it been spreading?
“But hey, what even is that thing?”
I pointed my blade at the Demon King’s left arm.
“Is it rotting? Some kind of side effect from resurrection?”
“None of your concern.”
He drew his left arm slightly behind his back and replied.
“Focus only on the fight, Dian. Like I said, only one of us will walk out of here alive. And no one knows which one.”
“…Yeah. Got it.”
I tried not to fight if I could help it.
The Demon King is no absolute evil.
He was a once-in-a-lifetime figure who rose to save his persecuted race, treated like untouchables.
To us, he was a calamity—but to the demons, he was salvation, a hero, the very light itself.
He had just cause for starting the war, and with nothing but his own abilities, he shook the continent.
No one can deny that he was a genius tactician and strategist.
He wasn’t just some throwaway villain to glorify the Hero’s party.
I don’t want to kill him.
If he had said he’d give up revenge, I was ready to beg the Emperor for his clemency.
Double jeopardy.
He already died ten years ago—he’s paid for his war crimes.
And if I asked, the Emperor wouldn’t object to letting him go.
But no matter how much I speak, the Demon King will never listen.
“What are you hesitating for, Dian?!”
He lunged, and I dodged to the side, slashing with my blade.
He moved so fast it was nearly a teleport—slipping past my blade with an afterimage and striking back.
“I’ll ask one more time. Are you really going to see this through to the end?”
“Are you already old and forgetful? Want to hear the same answer twice?”
“I’m still in my twenties!”
If he blinks, I’ll blink too.
I blinked behind him, aiming for an opening—when suddenly, something like a long snake shot out from the black arm.
It was made of thousands of black butterflies.
And it moved as if independent of the Demon King’s will.
“Demon King! Are you seriously okay?!”
“I told you—it doesn’t matter!”
But even as he spoke, half his face had already been overtaken by that black aura.
There’s no way that’s normal. Something is happening inside his body.
As the black energy spread, his attacks grew far more ferocious than before.
“Dian! Hurry—attack me! Now!”
Parrying his sword, a thought struck me.
Mandala of Resurrection—an ancient and forgotten dark ritual, they said.
Dark ritual—as in, black magic.
He was resurrected by black magic fueled by a destructive kind of black mana that slowly eats away at the body.
That would mean… his body is flowing with that same power.
Wasn’t that how Kaiden’s black-mage creator died, in his journal?
“Demon King! You’re addicted to black mana! If it continues, your life force will be drained and you’ll die!”
“I know that!!”
He bellowed, vicious and wild.
You know?
“I know!! So what! If it worries you that much, then die by my hand!!”
The black aura now fully consumed his face.
His eyes gave off an eerie, unplaceable light, and mist began to spill from his mouth.
“Hurry, Dian… There’s no time to waste!!”
His right arm was slowly turning black now too, and he screamed like he was coughing up blood.
“Before I can no longer keep my sanity—end this!!”
“You’ll lose your sanity?”
CRACKLE—!!
His tattered tunic ripped apart as his chest erupted in burning black fire.
The ground beneath him split and began to cave in.
“Dian…!”
Claws, black flame stretching long like blades, extended from his hand as he called out.
“Draw your sword! Raise your blade… and like ten years ago, strike my neck—kuh!”
His body jerked forward—and something burst from his back.
A grotesque, otherworldly shape.
Neither human nor beast, formed of tens of thousands of black butterflies.
[We’ll be together forever!!!!!!!!]
A woman’s shriek, ear-splitting and mad. What the hell is that?!
[If you come between us, I’ll tear you all to shreds!!!]
Its arm extended, stretching toward my neck.
Even dodging fast, the force of its swing sent me flying and rolling across the floor.
Insane power, insane speed, insane fury. Even the Demon King ten years ago wasn’t like this.
And I realized—
That’s black magic.
The vilest necromancy—possessing a living host, consuming it, then assuming full control.
Yeah. I knew something was off.
No non-black-mage can just use black magic. It always demands a price.
Merilda and the capital said they had paid with demon lives to power the Mandala. But that was a mistaken theory.
That Mandala wasn’t just resurrection—it was summoning too, wasn’t it?
The demon lives were the cost of summoning.
The cost of resurrection… was the Demon King’s body itself.
Which would explain why, ever since he collapsed earlier, he hasn’t moved an inch.
He’s already been consumed—already dead.
So what is this thing, clinging to his mind and flesh, and what does it want?
[I need stronger magic!! Magic strong enough to flip the world upside down!!!!]
It screamed like a lunatic.
[Otherwise, the Demon King will abandon me!!!!!]
And in that moment—I realized.
Goddammit. That’s her. That’s the black mana tied to Kaiden’s birth mother?!
What the hell happened?
[Never! I won’t let go! You’ll never leave me!!!!]
But there’s no time to unravel how Kaiden’s mother’s resentment became black mana and took root in the Demon King.
All that matters now: this thing, a host to seething hatred, empowered by the Demon King’s strength, must be killed—here and now.
The question is: how?
[Be with me forever!! I’ll give you everything!!! I’ll bathe you in my blood if you want!!!]
Now in a frenzy, it sprouted multiple arms and began lashing them like whips in every direction.
Just dodging them was all I could manage. I couldn’t even get close.
“Son of a—!”
A bladed arm came from a blind spot—I hadn’t seen it.
I have to dodge—but I’m too late.
I braced my sword for impact.
But nothing happened.
When I turned my head, I saw the Demon King—who I thought was already dead—raising an arm and grabbing the creature’s strike.
“Dian…!”
Groaning, he dragged himself up and shouted.
“It’s using my body as a host…! You have to strike me down!!”
Another arm lunged for me—and the Demon King caught that one too, with his other hand. Blood spilled from his mouth.
“If it breaks free… the continent is finished!!! Kill me—now!!”
[The Demon King held my hand!!!!!!]
No time to think.
Based on that last attack pattern, not even Linus could stop it.
This is the only chance—while the host still resists!
I gripped my sword, launched forward.
Poured all my aura and senses to their absolute peak.
Drew out every last drop of strength I’d never used—even against the Demon King ten years ago.
And now… I unveil the possession privilege I’ve never told anyone.
Everything stopped.
The raging black vortex froze. The black tendrils charging at me froze. Even the Demon King, coughing blood, froze.
No sound. No scent. No sensation. A vacuum.
I moved forward in slow motion.
Like walking through deep water—slow, but with a force that could not be stopped.
Time distortion. Something not even the greatest mage, or the Saintess, or the Hero, or even the gods, could wield.
This was my final possession privilege.
I never used it in the war.
I feared twisting the timeline, feared it might irreparably break the story of the original.
But now things are different.
The original has ended. We are in the world beyond.
And I will never let anyone destroy this quiet life I’ve earned in retirement.
Just before my blade reached the Demon King’s neck—
“Any last words?”
“I have a favor… Dian…”
He was only partially outside the effects of my privilege, but he still managed to speak.
“Somewhere… in the world… there are still my people… hiding… starving… freezing…”
COUGH—!
A stream of vivid red blood spilled down his chest.
“Our numbers… have dwindled… we’re no longer a threat to the continent… So please… could you take them in…”
He looked straight into my eyes, breathing raggedly.
“In exchange for my second death… grant amnesty to my people… living pitiful, wretched lives…”
It felt like I was struck in the back of the head with a hammer.
Even now—resurrected, dying again—his thoughts were only of his people?
This man is… beyond words. Noble. Pure.
“Please… let my people… live in peace…”
When I couldn’t speak, the Demon King finished.
“…in the world that comes after… in this side story where you are now the main character…”