DKFTI 104

“What does it matter whose house it is!”

Shanti jumped up. But there was a need to correct his misunderstanding.

“Aizen might look like a criminal, but he’s not a bad person.”

“What, why does the Demon King call the hero by name so affectionately!”

“I always did?”

“No! You always said hero, apostle, or human!”

That must be a memory mistake. He didn’t think he had ever used the word human. Sibel’s gaze suddenly turned toward Ramiel. He was looking past the arched railing. When he felt that gaze, Ramiel turned his head and met Sibel’s eyes.

“The weather is nice today.”

When his gentle eyes curved as he smiled, Sibel nodded before realizing it. The day was as clear as he said, bright enough to see the mountain peaks in the distance.

“But where did the hero go?”

Ruru asked. But Sibel didn’t know the answer either. The man who always appeared before him like a ghost the moment he opened his eyes was nowhere to be seen today.

It felt refreshing to finally have that shadow gone, yet the cool emptiness on his back felt strange. That was why warmth could be frightening.

“How would I know where the hero went?”

Shanti crossed his arms and spoke bluntly. But Sibel thought maybe he was out searching for ingredients again. Aizen had blended into this place that much.

Then something happened.

Thump, thump, thump.

Something brushed against Sibel’s ears.

“Wait, don’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

The sound echoing in his eardrums felt unfamiliar, and wariness made him lift his head. As Sibel suddenly grew alert, Shanti and Ruru pricked up their ears and listened too. The ground was vibrating.

“It’s rumbling.”

“Yes. This feels familiar.”

Just as Shanti turned his head and looked outside, thunder rolled through the clear sky. It was strange.

Bwooo–!

A horn sounded from far away.

“Oh no, that’s the danger signal!”

Shanti jumped in shock. The orc village had agreed to use that horn when an intruder was spotted.

“Let’s check outside.”

“Yes!”

“I’ll fly up to see!”

Shanti threw himself over the railing. Sibel flinched as the sheep form fell, but in an instant a huge dragon rose from below. His wings cast a wide shadow on the ground.

Sibel took out the crystal communicator and pressed the emergency call button for the Demon King’s castle. Sirens immediately rang throughout the castle.

They had all worked together to add a red flash to the alarm. The crimson light made the situation look urgent, which was good, but it also looked so dangerous that it made anxiety grow.

As the siren wailed, the whole castle became noisy.

“Demon Kiiing!”

From somewhere in the first-floor garden, Raccoon and the meerkat family ran over calling for Sibel.

His heart began to hammer. To be honest, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

Once, they had mistaken a wild boar for an enemy and scoured the mountain in full armor. Another time, they had believed a rumor, stood guard for three nights straight, then, half-asleep, dreamt of an enemy attack and ended up blowing up a mountain. That explosion had been Shanti’s doing. There had been countless such mistakes big and small.

Because of that, they had become numb, thinking that whatever happened was probably another misunderstanding.

“This feels wrong.”

He had a sense for danger. The accuracy wasn’t high, but it was honed through constant brushes with death, and now it sent a warning.

In daily life, people often ignore the signals that the universe sends as warnings. But why, of all times, did he suddenly remember that community post now?

“Everyone, gather!”

Sibel shouted and called all the beasts outside. At that moment, the sky flashed.

Boooom–!

***

He learned today that lightning could strike even with a clear sky. A yellow blaze wrapped in light fell from the heavens and struck the Demon King’s castle.

“Do everything just like we practiced!”

“Yes!”

“Call Shanti back too!”

“Okay!”

The castle burst into motion. Things like falling stars rained down into the front yard of the Demon King’s castle. They became golden flames.

“Demon King! The castle’s fine!”

Ruru stretched his body out and checked the exterior of the castle.

“Of course. We worked hard to prepare for this.”

Sibel was different today. The reason he could hold his head high so confidently under this attack was all thanks to their preparation in advance.

You think I’d fall for it twice?

Sibel had learned countless spells over the past few years to protect the Demon King’s Castle. He never had the foolish thought of handling a crisis alone, and he never forgot to set up defensive magic around the castle in advance.

That was the life of a coward. When danger came, the mind always went blank. To prevent that, he had built the most advanced defense system possible.

It couldn’t block Aizen’s infiltration simulations, but it was ready for attacks as direct as this one.

“T-that, that, that! Look!”

Sibel, Ruru, and Ramiel all ran to the first floor. There was a rule that everyone had to gather at the front gate in an emergency.

“These lunatics are trying to burn down our castle!”

Raccoon, who had arrived beside Sibel, clung to his leg and shouted. With the raccoon hanging from him, Sibel looked out at the front yard.

“Holy power?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

The color and aura were unusual. The brilliant holy energy sparkled as it expanded to swallow the Demon King’s castle whole.

Then Shanti descended from the sky and landed in the front yard, sweeping his huge tail. The holy flames were crushed under the dragon’s tail and partially extinguished.

“Holy Knights carrying the banner of the Holy Kingdom are approaching.”

Shanti spoke in a serious tone. Sibel’s body flinched.

‘The Holy Kingdom… the Apostles….’

He remembered the memory of that day. The moment when they had tried to kill him. The fear made his body shrank on its own.

“Come to think of it, the hero isn’t here today either!”

“Why are you still calling him with titles? Can’t you tell? He ran away!”

Raccoon answered Ruru.

“But the hero wouldn’t do that….”

“He betrayed us! He’s the Holy Kingdom’s lackey!”

At Raccoon’s words, Sibel and Ruru looked at each other. That human betrayed them?

“Then why else would he disappear right now? And who are those people? The Holy Kingdom! The Apostle must know what the Holy Kingdom is doing. He knew and escaped first!”

Raccoon’s suspicion made sense. The timing made it even worse. Up until yesterday, the man had stayed close, but the moment the Holy Kingdom attacked, he vanished without a trace?

“Hmm.”

But Sibel couldn’t agree. Aizen? Betrayal? It didn’t make sense.

“I don’t know about that. For now, let’s defend. Kkotdol!”

Sibel ran toward the yard where holy flames burned to strengthen the wall, but Ruru grabbed him in a hurry.

“Demon King! Don’t touch flames that carry holy power! It really, really hurts!”

So this was dangerous for demons. Sibel nodded and moved carefully toward the area where Shanti had buried the flames with dirt.

“But does the Holy Kingdom always attack like this out of nowhere?”

He suddenly thought of the Demon King who had disappeared mid-comment while writing in the community. Maybe it hadn’t been an act or attention-seeking after all. The thought gave him chills. Was that Demon King still alive now?

“They’ve never had any manners.”

“True. They always liked to smash first and talk later.”

That was knowledge gained through experience. He had never believed such a day would never come. He had at least prepared himself for how hard it would be to survive as a Demon King in this cruel world.

“Seal the gates!”

Sibel ran to reenact the simulation he had gone over hundreds of times in his mind.

Boom–!

The outside of the gates grew noisy. Hooves struck the dirt, shaking the ground. From the sky, bombardments fell again.

Bang, bang, bang.

The sound of attacks on the walls made his heart shrink, but when he saw the defensive magic holding, he let out a sigh of relief.

“At least our work wasn’t wasted.”

“Right. Then I’ll activate the traps too!”

“Okay.”

Outside the castle wall, traps had been placed densely. Ruru jumped up the wall and pulled a rope.

“Kkotdol! Help me!”

“Yes!”

Sibel pulled the thick rope together with the orcs. Some traps could be triggered by magic, but some needed to be done by hand. When they pulled the sturdy rope, the oil stored on top of the wall spilled out.

“Phew.”

Anyone trying to climb the wall would slip. The enemies outside would be drenched in oil. Once covered, they wouldn’t even be able to move properly.

As the oil poured down, noises rose from beyond the wall. The sound made his heart pound again. There were really people out there. People who had come all this way to harm him.

‘This world is really cruel….’

Facing hostility always was unpleasant.

“The other traps are working fine too. Look at those guys slipping in the oil! They’ll suffer for a while! Puhaha!”

Ruru peeked through a small hole in the wall and laughed at the enemy’s struggle. The bright smile made him look like a pure-blooded demon.

‘Ruru is someone I can’t ever have as an enemy.’

As Sibel thought that even in this urgent situation he had learned something, something happened.

A beam of light shot into the sky beyond the high wall. Everyone’s eyes turned to its source. The thin pillar, no wider than a forearm, began to grow larger.