Side Story Chapter 65
Kireua and Anna lost all words as soon as they entered the castle. Unlike the outside, there was a human inside—no, a demon that looked like a human.
“Is that… There’s no way, right?” Anna nervously asked.
The demon was standing alone in the wide lobby, holding something round that was dripping with blood, to say nothing about the corpses scattered around the lobby.
“I hyped myself up to chop off the enemy leader’s head myself, but it was all for nothing,” Anna mumbled, disappointed.
The demon was holding the head of Marquess Turtler, the leader of the western rebels and the one who had manifested the authority of the Black Tortoise.
“You’re finally back.”
“…You knew that we'd return?” Kireua asked.
“Of course,” the demon instantly replied. “I didn’t have a single doubt that you’d return.”
“Why?”
“You must want to know about the power inside you.”
Kireua was slightly shocked because it was obvious who the demon was referring to.
‘Coal,’ Kireua called out, just in case.
Coal still didn’t answer Kireua.
Only the demon in front of Kireua and a handful of other people could give Kireua the answer to this phenomenon.
“It’s in an awakening state after absorbing a significant amount of demonic power,” the demon explained.
“An awakening state…?”
“A demon king is sealed in each of the Seven Evil Sins’ authorities. You may have expected this, but your power is one of those authorities.”
Anna spun to look at Kireua. Although she had assumed that his authority was demonic, she hadn’t expected it to be the power of a demon king, one of the highest-ranking demons.
“I-Is that true?” Anna asked.
“…I don’t know,” Kireua mumbled.
“Answer me, Prince. Don’t you know what happened to the cardinal’s daughter in Hubalt after she manifested one of the Evil Sins’ authorities?!” Anna shouted.
Most people already knew the story of Lilith Aphrodite becoming a fugitive in spite of her position as the Moons Gate’s leader and the daughter of Cardinal Erman, the most likely candidate for the next pope.
After she had been branded as public enemy, the pope’s faction was torn to pieces. Lilith Aphrodite had once been praised as a saint, but she now was a witch. Where Erman had been praised as a sage ruler, he was now imprisoned in a dungeon along with the numerous priests and paladins that followed him.
Of course, most of those priests and paladins had changed their minds and joined different sides because even the God’s Knight and the White Lion had been defeated by the Four Paladins. The fall of the old guard and the rise of the new resulted in the creation of a new faction named the “neo-pope” faction.
“Kireua Sanders. The son of the god slayer that killed us demons’ god. Taught by Ulabis the Flame Emperor, one of the Nine Stars. Born from Charle di Pontier, the Third Queen Consort of the Avalon Empire…”
“What?” Kireua tilted his head. “You must have done your homework on me—and in such a short time, demon.”
“…Anna bel Grace. One of the Three North Stars. The adopted daughter of the blood of the Imperial Family of Hubalt. And the witch that returned to Avalon and joined the rebels to kill the Second Queen Consort,” the demon continued.
Anna’s eyes widened.
“…Anna?” Kireua looked at her.
Anna quickly shook her head. “I-It’s a misunderstanding. It’s not my goal anymore!”
“‘Anymore’?”
“It happened before I met you, Your Highness. While the Emperor was away, the Second Queen Consort was the leader of the Avalon Empire in all but name, and I wanted to return to my homeland. Carmen von Agnus, the leader of the northern rebels, thought that their priority should be to eliminate the Second Queen Consort. Carmen von Agnus and I temporarily allied to achieve our own goals. That’s all,” Anna explained.
Kireua’s eyes probed her for a long moment before he looked away. It was in the past, so they could always talk about it later. The more important thing was that a demon was aware of facts that only the involved parties should have known.
“It’s my ability,” the demon said as if he knew what Kireua was thinking about.
“…What?”
“I can absorb the memories and abilities of the people I eat,” the demon clarified.
The demon tossed Turtler’s head onto the ground. It slowly rolled, stopping right in front of Kireua.
“Urgh…” Anna covered her mouth. The head’s motion had revealed details that proved too much for the witch to bear. The back of Turtler’s head had been neatly cut open, but where his brain should have been was a gaping void.
“And my other ability is to resurrect anyone who I ate and make them my subordinates,” the demon added.
The corpses that had been scattered all around them rose with a horrific clamor of cracking bones, exuding the thick energy of death.
“All those abilities are part of the authority of gluttony that I have.”
A name suddenly flashed across Kireua’s mind.
“…Beelzebub, the king of undead,” Kireua murmured.
When the demon heard his true name, he smiled from ear to ear. “I knew it. You’re the person I’ve been looking for. Join me, Kireua Sanders. I’ll not only tell you the secrets of that power of yours but also put you to good use. Don’t be afraid. Kneel and worship me. I always keep my promise.”
Kireua smiled back. “Afraid, my ass. I’m actually grateful.”
Beelzebub stiffened.
Kireua fixed his grip on his sword. “I never thought that I’d be able to quell the rebellion in the west this easily.”
“…You fool.” The demon scowled. You don’t understand the situation you’re in.”
A storm of the demon’s murderous energy and demonic power overwhelmed the area. Nevertheless, Kireua continued to smile with confidence.
“Well, we’ll find out enough, won’t we?” the prince quipped.
“…What?”
A vivid layer of Kireua’s aura appeared on top of his sword, humming with power.
“We’ll see who’s the one who doesn’t understand what’s going on.”
* * *
Joshua headed to the outskirts of Arcadia with only a handful of his comrades right after he had seen his mother in her sickbed. Although it was unclear whether she was weakened due to her old age or the fact she hadn’t been able to meet her only child for a long time, it was confirmed that she hadn’t been inflicted with a disease. However, Joshua heard that she was barely able to wake up once a day at this point, so he didn’t get to say hello to her even after he had returned to the Palace.
Nevertheless, whenever she woke up, she always visited this basically deserted mansion, accompanied by her guards. Said mansion was the Agnus family’s residence where she and her son had stayed for a long time when he had been just a little boy.
“…Mother.” Joshua looked up ahead, smiling bitterly.
The building had gotten quite old, but aside from that, it was the same as before. Foot traffic was almost zero, and the area hadn’t gone through any development.
The area was massive, despite being located in the capital of the Avalon Empire, but the mansion was located in the outermost area of Avalon. Thus, not many people took an interest in this barren land. On top of that, new conflicts broke out every day in Avalon, so the Empire’s rich had their plates full protecting the land they already had.
“Is it okay for you to travel in such a small group? You don’t even have guards with you,” Lilith said as she approached Joshua, interrupting his musings.
Cain and Iceline that had come with Joshua were busy looking around the mansion.
“It was cumbersome to say it every time, so I made an announcement,” Joshua remarked.
“Excuse me?”
“‘It doesn’t make sense for a guard to be weaker than the person they’re protecting. If you’re still worried about me, fight me and beat me. Then you can come with me,’” Joshua recited.
“…Can anyone in the Palace do that?” Lilith blankly asked. “The person they’re supposed to be guarding is the Martial God, the most powerful person on the continent.”
“Who knows? They might have a chance now.”
“I already knew this, but you really are too mischievous. The Imperial Knights don’t know about your state, so who would dare to challenge you?”
Joshua shrugged nonchalantly. “But you look like you have something else to say to me.”
Lilith flinched and then let out a sigh. “As the head of an information guild, I thought I was quite proficient in hiding my thoughts.”
“It might have worked on other people, but not me.”
“…Yeah, yeah, you’re great. Anyway, like you said, there’s something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“You’re the only human who ever annihilated the Demon Spirit, the god of demons.”
Joshua turned to look at her. “This sounds quite important.”
“It’s very important for me.”
“So?”
Lilith hesitated for a bit before gathering her resolve. “…The Evil Sins’ authorities are the demon kings’ powers, but can they be artificially induced to manifest in specific people?”
Joshua gave her a sharp look. “…Well, I haven’t thought about that until now.”
“Is that so?”
“You think that it wasn’t a coincidence that you manifested the authority of a demon king.”
“Yes, I’m certain,” Lilith answered.
“In other words, you’re considering the possibility of someone in Hubalt being behind the manifestation of your authority?”
Lilith nodded. If it was true, the matter couldn’t be taken lightly.
“Can you tell me which demon king’s power you've manifested?”
“It’s—”
The moment Lilith was about to answer, Joshua held up his hand.
“…Wait.”
Lilith gave him a puzzled look.
“…It looks like the people with answers to our question have come all the way over here.”
Lilith's eyes widened. As she was a skilled swordswoman well past Class A, she also detected the presence that Joshua had just sensed.
“Be honest with me. You still have all your power, don’t you?” Lilith narrowed her eyes.
“Detecting presences is a matter of physical senses, not power. So sensing those people’s energies is a piece of cake.”
“…I have to give credit for your annoying perfectness,” Lilith said, shaking her head.
Numerous people wearing white revealed themselves around the mansion.
Temples existed everywhere on the continent, including Avalon… but not here.
Cain was the first one to recognize the people’s identities. “What business could the priests and paladins of Hubalt possibly have in the outskirts of Arcadia?”
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