Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 426

“Oh, Lucren, have you finally decided to tell me what Akasha is?”

“Heh... hehehe... Yes, heh... Antirianus, you really know nothing... You know nothing...”

The Archlich, having lost the ability to continue fighting, let out a low laugh. He lay on the ground and spoke.

“I’ll give you Akasha, Antirianus.”

“...”

“Help me.”

The archlich’s words deepened the smile on Antirianus’s face.

“You’re not harboring other intentions, are you?” Antirianus replied.

Sabioleen Tana was listening to the conversation between them. It was clear that they were discussing something only they understood.

However, there was no need to intervene just yet. Listening to this conversation was informative enough.

She signaled her allies to hold their positions and watched the scene unfold.

There were too many unknown keywords.

But Akasha... That word imprinted itself strongly in Tana’s mind.

And the reaction of the old man called Antirianus caused a stir among the vampires.

To Tana, it seemed that Antirianus was not trusted by his own allies. The old man’s smile grew wider as he slowly approached the archlich.

“Lucren, how many times must I say it?”

Antirianus crouched in front of the archlich and whispered in his ear, “I asked what Akasha does. I never asked for it.”

“...”

“Didn’t I say it before? I never asked for Akasha. I only asked about what it does. No one gave me an answer, and it led to this mess.”

“...”

“Curiosity can drive a person mad.”

The archlich remained silent for a long time.

“Akasha... can make you a god.”

“A god?”

“Yes, a god. If you use Akasha, you can become a god. Antirianus, you and I can become gods.”

At the archlich’s words, Antirianus stood up and let out a chilling laugh. “Hehehe... hehe... A god? A god... huh. Heh... hehehehe...”

The old man covered his mouth and continued to laugh, as if he were overtaken by madness.

Everyone watched the strange conversation between the two ancient undead beings with curiosity.

“Hehehehe... Heheh... Heh...”

Suddenly, the old man’s laughter stopped, and his expression turned cold.

“To think it was such a trivial thing,” he said.

If that was the true nature of Akasha, the old man seemed utterly uninterested. His face was a mask of disappointment. However, a small smile soon appeared across his disappointed face.

“Yet, even trivial things can become interesting, depending on how they’re used.”

—Antirianus!

—Hey! What are you planning to do?

“Lucren, I will take Akasha.”

The spatial barrier was covering a large area around the battlefield, and thus casting long-range teleportation magic was impossible. It was also impossible to easily shake off any of the groups if they chose to pursue.

Nevertheless, there were many ways to evade them.

“Do you think you can escape, vampire?” Tana said.

Antirianus smiled at Sabioleen Tana’s words.

“Wouldn’t I have thought of such a method?” he said.

The old man spread his hand, and the large piece of parchment he was holding suddenly began to glow.

“It seems there was a reason for me to have spent much time turning this into a scroll.”

The scroll continued to glow, and a thick fog began to blanket the world.

The magic wasn’t easy to cast, but when turned into a scroll, it could be used instantly.

“This magic...!”

Quantum Maze...

Antirianus had spent a long time converting this large-scale barrier magic into a magic scroll, as if he had predicted that such a situation would arise someday.

There were probably people within the two groups who could break through the Quantum Maze, but it would certainly buy enough time, and that would be enough to escape.

***

After the tremendous effort of stopping the meteor shower, Harriet collapsed from exhaustion, and the grand duke was in a similar state.

Both had succumbed to severe mana depletion.

Eleris used Siphon Mana to restore their energy, just as she had previously done for Ellen.

The two were in a deep sleep, as if they had fainted.

Following the subduing of the meteor shower, the thick fog that had disappeared earlier on had begun to reappear, covering the area.

It had to have been a hastil- cast magic, since it was rather small-scale. While it covered a decent area, the four of us remained outside its range of influence.

The battle was taking place at such a great distance away that even with enhanced vision, I couldn’t clearly see what was happening. However, Eleris seemed to have witnessed the events firsthand. Her eyes were open wide.

“Antirianus has betrayed us,” Eleris said.

“... Betrayed?” I asked.

“Yes. It seems... he has decided to side with Cantus Magna.”

I never thought Antirianus would remain a loyal ally forever. However, even though I knew he was a difficult one to trust, we had to use every resource available, and unlike Lruien and Galarsh, Antirianus had offered his cooperation earnestly.

I had anticipated that he might act unexpectedly at a crucial moment, but for it to happen at this crucial point...

In the distance, in the midst of the fog, Eleris and I could see a swarm of black bats flying off, carrying something. Antirianus had transformed into a swarm of bats and was flying away with the archlich. It was too far for us to intercept, so Eleris and I could only look on.

Antirianus had allied himself with Cantus Magna.

“Wherever they’re going, it’s clear where they’ll end up.”

“... Indeed.”

The mage from Cantus Magna had come seeking the source of the magical tomes that had been delivered to the Imperial Magic Department. But this labyrinth and dungeon had been fabricated. The real source of the tomes was elsewhere.

Now that Antirianus had decided to join forces with the archlich, it was clear where they would be heading.

They would seek the true source of the demonic tomes required to complete Akasha.

“We need to go to the underground bunker under the Demon King’s Castle. We need to either secure or destroy the tomes there before they can raid it.”

“Indeed.”

The underground library beneath the Demon King’s Castle was undoubtedly valuable to them. After all, the archlich had come to this dungeon seeking the source of the magical tomes, believing that it was the true source.

If the underground library were to be seized, not only would Akasha be completed, but it could also lead to an irreversible disaster.

If I couldn’t stop Antirianus and the archlich, all the problems arising from the completion of Akasha would be my fault. I could no longer afford to choose my actions based on circumstances and context.

I looked over at Harriet, who was still on the ground.

“Rein...hart...” she muttered.

Harriet lay there and looked at me with her eyes barely open.

Had she only passed out for a short period of time, and was she slowly regaining consciousness? No, she still seemed only half-conscious.

Harriet looked drowsy, as if she were in a dream.

I knelt in front of Harriet and gently embraced her.

‘Antirianus’s betrayal... How would this situation unfold? Should I have never relied on him?’

I didn’t know. I knew nothing.

“Thick-Skull.”

“... Yeah...”

“No matter what happens in the future... just remember one thing...”

Harriet wrapped her arms weakly around my neck.

“I wanted to save everyone...”

Being judged on my intentions, no matter how pure they were, would be embarrassing.

One had to be judged by outcomes.

Seeking to be judged by intentions, feelings, or my will was nothing but defeatism. I was merely providing an excuse for myself if I failed to accomplish something properly.

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Still, I wanted to do well. I wanted to save everyone.

I hoped that someone, at least one person, would understand that.

“Yeah...” Harriet, who seemed half-asleep, gently patted my head. “I believe you...”

Those words cause a surge of warmth within my chest.

With those words, Harriet closed her eyes and appeared to fall asleep.

It pained me to leave her in such a state, but there was no more time to delay. If I were even a moment late, I would find myself entering an already-ransacked underground library.

And since the mage corps from the Duchy of Saint-Ouen would soon arrive, both Harriet and the grand duke would be safe.

Eleris seemed to have recovered somewhat from the damage inflicted upon her by Ellen’s mother.

“Let’s go, Eleris,” I said.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

We didn’t know when those trapped in the Quantum Maze would escape.

I wasn’t sure if Eleris and I could stop Antirianus and the archlich, but we were the only ones who could move immediately.

***

Eleris was indeed exhausted, having been struck by Luna Artorius and having shared her mana with Harriet, who had performed magic on an enormous scale.

Eleris and I left the area around which the teleportation interference barrier had been deployed.

It might have been better to wait for help from Lucinil or the Black Order after they escaped the Quantum Maze, but since Antirianus and the archlich might head straight to the underground bunker beneath the Demon King’s Castle, we had no choice but to move immediately.

Whoosh!

I could hear Eleris panting.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, Your Highness... I’m just a bit tired...”

I supported Eleris, who was struggling just by casting Mass Teleportation, as we walked.

The only fortunate thing was that the garrison at the Demon King’s Castle had already withdrawn. Therefore, there was no need to worry about any unnecessary conflict with any imperial forces within the deserted interior of the Demon King’s Castle.

We entered the cold and desolate interior of the Demon King’s Castle, and I continued to support Eleris as we walked through the building.

The ancient Archdemon... What did that mean? And why did Ellen’s mother know about it?

Even though I hadn’t said anything, Eleris spoke first.

“I’m sorry for keeping it a secret, Your Highness...”

“I don’t know all the details,” I said, “but I think I now understand why you decided to join the forces of the Dark Land, even though you dislike fighting, and why you were the only one among the Council that supported such a plan.”

“...”

The members of the Vampire Council had to have known that Eleris had originally been an Archdemon. That was why they hadn’t questioned Eleris’s decision to join up with the forces of the Dark Land.

Eleris continued to lean on me as we walked, and said in a weak voice, “I am an ancient Demon Queen, forgotten in the long history of the Dark Land.”

An ancient Archdemon... Eleris was an unfathomably old being.

She would be considered an ancient ancestor of Baalier.

“It’s not a particularly valuable or interesting story. But...” Eleris said in a sorrowful voice. “I wished for the extinction of humanity.”

“Luna Artorius... she said that wars stem from fear,” Eleris continued. “I was afraid of humans. I feared that one day they would unite their power and focus it on the Dark Land, so I wanted to annihilate humanity.

“While their nations were divided and they fought among themselves, as the Demon Queen, I could unite the power of the Dark Land. With that power, I believed it was my duty as the Demon Queen to annihilate the divided humans before they could form an empire like the one today.

“So... I turned the Dark Land into a hell.”

Her words seemed to be filled with self-reproach.

What exactly did Eleris do during her time as the Demon Queen?

“I engaged in crossbreeding to create powerful beasts, and I delved into numerous forbidden arts and dark magic to create powerful homunculi and chimeras. I mobilized demons to create war machines.

“Because of my will, many demons were subjected to harsh training, and under the pretext of stockpiling war materials, I turned a blind eye to the deaths of countless lower demons from labor and starvation.

“I was the worst Demon Queen, who sacrificed the most demon lives while claiming to desire the extinction of humanity and a world for demons.

“An Archdemon’s rule, and the existence of the Demon King or Queen, is thus both unifying and terrifying for demons.

“Despite everything I did, I never saw even a hint of dissatisfaction from my people, the demons. They all loved me, followed me, and never questioned my will.

“In the Dark Land, the rule of the Demon King is absolute. If a human king did what I did, there would be a rebellin, but no demon had the will to resist the absurdity and tyranny that I had unleashed.

“They followed me because they loved me, and even as they died, they cursed and blamed themselves for not being able to become strong, for not being born strong.

“I didn’t find that strange. Everything I was doing was to create an eternal peace for demonkind, so I saw it as a sacrifice that naturally had to be made, Your Highness.”

She had sacrificed countless demons for the cause of eternal peace.

I remembered something she’d said to me while we were on a magic train, not long after I’d met her.

—“What if, instead of obsessing over powerful weapons and magic, we had focused on creating something like this?”

She had said something like that.

Were her words a reproach not towards the previous Demon King Baalier, but towards herself?

Eleris had prepared demonkind for war, and no demon could resist the Archdemon.

Their loyalty to the Archdemon was blind, and they believed the Archdemon’s commands were the truth. The Archdemon, by its very existence, is a god to the demons. A being loved by all, with no room for doubt.

“So, did you go to war?” I asked.

“... No. There was a rebellion.”

“... How did a rebellion even happen?”

Did some demons finally awaken after the Archdemon’s tyranny reached its peak?

Did demons from the far reaches of the Dark Land, who could escape the Archdemon’s control, invade? Or did the Vampire Council attack?

‘No, that last one wouldn’t be a rebellion, would it?’

At my words, Eleris looked at me with a weary smile.

“There are demons that the Archdemon cannot exert its will over, aren’t there?” she said.

“Ah... no way.”

“An Archdemon cannot exert its will over another Archdemon,” Eleris said as she lowered her gaze. “I was overthrown by my son, who could not endure my tyranny, and my horns were broken.”

A rebellion, led by a son who could no longer bear his mother’s tyranny...

The only demon capable of opposing an Archdemon was another Archdemon.