DKFTI 9

In an instant, an ice-charged breath erupted from the darkness. It was a blow that would freeze a human solid and shatter them to pieces in the blink of an eye.

But Aizen was one of only seven apostles of the Holy Kingdom, and among them, none could match his ability. Aizen drew on holy power to protect his body. The bluish breath struck the golden shield and scattered into the air.

The destructive moment passed in an instant. As the breath cleared, golden aura surged from Aizen’s body from the use of holy power.

Aizen turned his neck left and right as if it were stiff, then lifted a finger to his lips.

“Shh. You will wake your Demon King.”

The breeze stirred Sibel’s hair. On the altar it was as calm as if it belonged to another world.

This warning is the only one. Leave this place quietly.

Shanti’s foreleg withdrew into the shadows. A deep groove remained where his foot had touched.

Aizen quietly looked down at the mark. Then he slowly turned his gaze back into the darkness. Red eyes glimmered faintly. Aizen did not look away and held its stare.

The long eye battle had begun.

***

“Uwaaaah! What is this!”

It was three days after the great cleaning. Starting the day in good spirits, Sibel found a mysterious box at the Demon King Castle’s gate.

Thinking it might be a delivery here, he happily opened the box and collapsed on the spot, screaming.

The scream tore apart the quiet morning and threw the Demon King Castle into an uproar.

“What happened, Demon King!”

“What is it, an enemy?!”

Shanti and Ruru rushed in a panic to where Sibel was. Shanti, panting as he ran, had sleep crust still in his eyes, and Ruru came clutching a pillow, a pajama cap dangling on his head. There were traces of dried drool on the corners of his mouth.

“Th… this, this!”

When he saw them, Sibel lifted his trembling hand and pointed at the box. The two of them looked at it.

“Yawn. Why get worked up over some box.”

“What could be so great inside that it scared you like that.”

Once Shanti and Ruru confirmed there was no enemy in the castle, they relaxed and trudged toward the box. Shanti lazily kicked it a few times with his foot, and Ruru glared at him, then picked the box up properly.

The two looked inside the box at the same time.

“……”

“……?”

Shanti and Ruru were instantly struck speechless. Then Ruru’s mouth dropped wide open.

“What is this!”

Like Sibel, they too were thrown into shock and terror.

Sibel was already shedding tears. Sitting on the floor like a pitiful little mermaid, he kept wiping at his eyes.

“This one, he was the one who carried the Demon King’s gift of peace to the Demon Kingdom!”

Shanti spoke in shock. Inside the box was the head of a demon.

“Th-those bug-like bastards! They killed our messenger?!”

Ruru stamped his feet on the floor in outrage. Meanwhile, Sibel went from sniffling to sobbing, muttering, “Ugh, those trash humans.”

“Tsk Tsk, my demon life is ruined.”

“Those ungrateful bastards! They dared wound our Demon King’s heart! I, Ruru, will go and wipe them out!”

“It is indeed insolent. How could they return a head after receiving a gift?”

Shanti stuck out his lips in a pout.

“Hic.”

Sibel’s heart was deeply wounded. He felt betrayed, and for a moment he even forgot his previous life and thought, “I was a fool to trust humans.”

At that moment, a dark shadow fell across Sibel’s body.

“What are you doing. You lot?”

Why would this human not go home? He was already tired of even wondering about the reason.

When Sibel saw Aizen, he wept even harder. Aizen, arms crossed, looked at the three of them as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

“Our Demon King sent a gift to the Demon Kingdom as a sign of peace, and the humans sent back the head of the messenger who carried it.”

At Shanti’s answer, Aizen’s calm brow furrowed.

“It’s a declaration of war.”

“How can that make any sense!”

“Hm.”

Aizen thought, there is nothing wrong with that, but he held his tongue because Sibel was crying so miserably.

“How could this happen? How could they answer goodwill with malice?”

“Would humans, who have died at the hands of a Demon King, ever accept that a Demon King’s act is ‘goodwill’?”

“Hey, human! You think saying the right thing makes this situation any better?”

Sibel only wailed loude at Aizen and Ruru’s words.

“Hics.”

Big drop of tears streamed endlessly down Sibel’s eyes. He had rubbed his eyes with his palms so much that the skin around them was red and swollen. His nose, his chin, even his ears were flushed. The redness stood even more against his pale skin.

“Tsk, since the Demon King is crying, I am sad too. Uwaaah.”

“Sob, I will go wipe out those humans!”

Ruru also burst into tears and threw himself into Sibel’s arms, while Shanti bit his lip and started to leave through the castle gate. At that, Sibel flopped forward and grabbed hold of Shanti’s ankle.

“Let go! I will avenge the Demon King’s honor and the fallen demon!”

“Nooo, you can’t, hic, you mustn’t.”

Aizen was nowhere near impressed at the circus before his eyes. Was this a proper scene, by any common sense?

Was it not supposed to be demons harming humans, and yet here it was, humans turning the Demon King Castle into a sea of tears? Just watching it gave him a headache.

“What did you send?”

In the end, he decided to approach the fundamental problem.

“Th–hic, the Puresia flowers from the garden…”

When Sibel haltingly spoke the name of the flower, one of Aizen’s arms, which had been crossed, rose. He pulled a finger free and scratched his forehead.

“Puresia?”

“Yes…”

Sibel, whose crying had calmed a little, nodded. Then Aizen looked at the three of them with an incredulous expression and spoke.

“You sent a man-eating flower?”

“…Eh?”

Sibel blinked as if he was hearing this for the first time. The tear that had still lingered in the corner of his eye dropped down.

“You mean that big flower in the castle garden, don’t you?”

“Y-yes.”

“The man-eating flower that sprays poison and melts people to eat them.”

“…..?”

Sibel looked at Shanti and Ruru with a bewildered face.

“You didn’t know?”

“Heh.”

The two tilted their heads as if to say, you knew too.

“…So you did know?”

“There’s no way we wouldn’t!”

“It was planted in the first place to guard the castle.”

These bastards…?

Sibel’s mouth fell open. That meant what he had done was not send a gift of peace, but a declaration of war or a threat.

“How could you send that!”

“But humans could need it too!”

“That’s right! That’s right!”

Sibel covered his face with both hands. He did not need to dig deep to know where it had gone wrong. The problem was simply in the beginning.

Why did demons lack even a shred of human sensibility.

“Can a Demon King really be this dimwitted?”

Aizen now even felt pity. Foolishness had its limits. The state of this castle was reaching the point of awe.

“You brat, how dare you keep talking like that to the Demon King! My patience ends here!”

Shanti, whose bare body was covered only in shaggy wool, rolled up his arms as if he were rolling up sleeves and strode toward Aizen. But Sibel clung tightly again to the ankle he had held earlier and spoke.

“…What do you mean ends here. Hold on a little longer… we’re good at holding it in…”

Sibel’s words, soaked in defeatism, left Aizen dizzy. This could not be called a Demon King. He was nothing more than a frightened child. His outer appearance might be that of an adult, but he was acting like a child.

Sibel, who drooped like a jellyfish washed ashore from the sea, slowly picked himself up. As if his joints hurt, he rubbed at his knees with little groans and then straightened his back and walked toward the box.

“What are you doing.”

Aizen called out as he watched Sibel’s back, which looked unsteady somehow.

“…We should at least hold a funeral.”

His voice was dispirited.

“Haa…”

He let out a long sigh. It was the kind of sigh that dragged down anyone who heard it.

“Demon King, please stop crying. Your pretty face will be ruined. I’ll go punish those humans for you!”

Ruru clung to Sibel’s arm and rubbed his face against him.

“Mm…”

Sibel answered, but so dispirited that anyone could see he had lost all will.

The truth was, Sibel had only clearly realized today that his future was bleak. The hostility he had vaguely felt toward himself had simply been laid bare before his eyes, nothing more had changed.

Demons did not fear death. They rejoiced at the sight of blood, they cheered at enmity and injustice. They did not grieve over the death of their own kind. But the problem was that Sibel possessed far too much of a human heart.

His heart, his heart… hurt too much.