DKFTI 56

It was completely different.

The depth of his magic power was closer to the abyss, incomparable to the previous Demon King. It was clear that it was power built up over an immeasurable time.

“Do you believe that your justice is absolute good?”

Leviathan walked leisurely past Calypse and came right up to Sibel. He reached out his hand.

Sibel, as if bewitched, took Leviathan’s hand. Sibel’s body was lifted up. He avoided Calypse’s sword and hid behind Leviathan’s back.

Leviathan smiled as if he found Sibel’s behavior cute and stepped forward toward Calypse. When his hand touched Calypse’s arm, Calypse’s frozen body moved again.

Calypse quickly stepped back. In that short moment, the pressure that came down soaked his whole body in cold sweat. When he turned around, all the paladins who had been there were frozen stiff.

“Did you not obtain what you wanted?”

“…You mean Apostle Aizen.”

“Humans are always excessively greedy.”

“……”

“Watching them throw themselves into that greed like moths to a flame and burn themselves away is nothing surprising to me.”

Each time Leviathan spoke, Calypse felt pressure crushing his body.

If Leviathan’s calm breathing broke even a little, the precise weight pressing down felt like it would crush his body to pieces.

The fear of death flooded over him.

Leviathan, who had been quietly watching Calypse’s wavering eyes, spoke.

“Do you feel fear?”

“……”

“You are nothing but a worthless being to carry justice.”

Calypse gnashed his teeth. Leviathan laughed faintly when he saw it.

“Go back. Your role ends here.”

At Leviathan’s words, the frozen bodies of the Apostle and paladins began to move again.

Calypse gripped the holy sword in his hand tightly. Leviathan spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Even worthless beings have no reason to be treated with contempt for their lives. Unlike you, I intend to show mercy.”

‘Even if it is evil, life has no reason to be treated with contempt. Your death will be a worthy sacrifice.’

The arrow of words Calypse had once shot at Sibel now came back to pierce him. Calypse felt humiliated.

But he judged that he could not put everyone in danger here. The holy sword that had appeared in his hand disappeared.

“I will surely repay this disgrace.”

Calypse turned his steps. The heavy apostle’s cloak draped over his shoulders rippled like a golden wave.

“Everyone, withdraw and return.”

So the Apostle and paladins of the Holy Kingdom retreated.

A moment later, the thunderous explosions pounding outside disappeared.

“Sibel. Are you all right?”

Leviathan looked at Sibel with his usual gentle smile, as if nothing had just happened.

“……”

Sibel was only confused now.

What had happened tonight?

Was this a dream or reality… His mind was covered with a thick fog, everything was just blurry.

“Lord Leviathan.”

He blankly called Leviathan, but his gaze stayed on the empty wall beyond.

The trembling at his fingertips did not subside easily.

***

That day’s event changed Sibel. It could be called growth, but more than that, the feeling that he was missing something was stronger.

“I made porridge that the Demon King likes.”

Shanti looked at Sibel with worry. He had not been able to get out of bed for days since the castle was attacked.

“We already fixed the Demon King’s castle wall! Why are you so weak?”

Ruru hugged Sibel’s waist as he spoke. In truth, everyone knew the reason Sibel was so listless.

“Is it because of him?”

They could not openly say it like Ramiel.

“Hm?”

Sibel looked like someone who had lost his soul.

“Uh…”

Time was passing, but his mind was nailed down to some day in the past. The gap from it brought strain.

His body broke down as his reality and mind ran on different times. Human minds collapse this easily.

“He didn’t die, right?”

“The holy power of the Holy Kingdom has healing ability. Besides, an apostle’s self-detoxification is well known.”

“Was it poison?”

Was it really poison?

“If he died from mere poison, he should lose the title of apostle.”

Ramiel smiled faintly. It was chilling how casually he spoke of death.

“Will he resent me?”

“……”

Everyone in the room was speechless.

“What would the Hero resent the Demon King for! You fed him, gave him a bed, huh? You even gave him an antidote! Even if he did die, how could he resent you?”

“Died…?”

“No, I was just saying! Just saying!”

Ruru, who had tried to comfort Sibel with words, hurriedly picked them back up.

Right now, Sibel looked like a tomato that would burst if poked even lightly.

“Should I, maybe, investigate the Holy Kingdom?”

Shanti, unable to watch any longer, stepped in.

“Hm? Ah…”

Sibel, who Shanti thought would immediately agree, trailed off.

At that moment, Sibel was caught in the same dilemma as Aizen.

What if he checked and found out he really had died? Then he felt like he would truly break.

It was a defense mechanism. A survival instinct that came from the instinct to protect himself.

“Haa, I will find out whether that hero bastard is dead or alive! At this rate, the Demon King will die first!”

In the end, what grabbed Sibel by the hair and dragged him back up when he tried to sink again into darkness were the family members of the Demon King’s castle.

“Is one human’s death such a big deal? If you live thousands of years you see peaceful deaths and tragic deaths crammed full!”

“No matter if it’s true, you’re being way too direct! The Demon King is mentally and physically weak right now!”

Ruru poked Shanti’s side as he said it. At Ruru’s loud voice, Sibel lifted his face a little from the blanket he had buried into.

After living for thousands of years, do you become a demon who is indifferent to something like the death of a human who burned for only a hundred years and disappeared?

It felt sickening and grim.

“Go out and plant some flowers you like. Leave the news from the Holy Kingdom to Shanti.”

Ramiel wrapped Sibel’s shoulders in a soft tone. Ruru tapped Ramiel’s side, as if he didn’t like him touching Sibel.

“Flowers?”

“Yes. The garden was ruined.”

“The garden…”

He let go of the Demon King’s castle he had cherished so much. Sibel looked out the window.

Gomdori and Raccoon were running around and playing.

In truth, the peace of the Demon King’s castle that Sibel had always longed for had now been achieved. There was no problem. That was for sure.

“Fine. Let’s do something.”

At last, Sibel pushed himself up.

They say a position makes a person. Sibel was no different. Even though he wanted to sink until his insides were emptied out, there were things he had to protect.

The family members that had come into being in the Demon King’s castle.

After he made up his mind like that, the things he had to do rushed into his head.

Repair the broken castle, take care of the summoned monsters, make new family members, prepare to survive. Everything was simple.

“Cheer up, pleaaase.”

When Sibel started walking, Ruru clung to his waist and was dragged along. Only then did Sibel feel Ruru’s soft fur.

It felt like dead senses were coming alive.

“Yes.”

“Let’s plant lots of sunflowers that the Demon King likes! And let’s plant radishes in the field too!”

“Let’s do that.”

The only escape from unbearable pain and anxiety was to return to daily life.

***

Autumn, winter, spring, and then summer again.

The Demon King’s castle had four seasons.

Ruru, going through such weather, trembled at how Sibel was a more relentless Demon King than any before.

Were the seasons that were natural in Korea such torment to others that they were called the abyss of evil?

Three years had passed since that day when many changes happened.

The Demon King’s castle was more lush and vibrant compared to three years ago.

“Hey, aren’t you doing it right? Do you think you can protect the castle like that?”

Raccoon had become a strict instructor who taught and managed Sibel’s summoned monsters.

The cute rabbits born from Sibel’s power gathered in a cluster and twitched their noses at him. Raccoon scolded them for being distracted again, but in Sibel’s eyes they were only adorable.

How could those fluffy little things protect anything? It would be enough if they could just protect themselves.

In the courtyard of the Demon King’s castle, colorful flowers bloomed in profusion.

“Wow, won’t they all die in this sweltering summer? They’ll burn if there’s not enough shade?”

Shanti had become a master gardener. Taking on the maintenance of the castle that Sibel had left behind, he became a capable man who could do anything.

“Hmm, Demon King. Since today is hot, should we make shaved ice and eat it?”

Ruru was always cheerful. He was always scolded as a bat-like fox, but in truth Ruru was loyal. Always the same, Ruru was by Sibel’s side causing trouble.

“Ahh! I stepped on a baby watermelon and broke it!”

“It would be nice if he just stayed still.”

Sibel, who was wearing a straw hat and tending the field again today, straightened from his squatting position and patted his back.

Thump, thump.

When he dusted off his hands, soil fell from his white gloves.