Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 466

The execution of the princess could resolve quite a few issues for the empire.

Most important of all, it could temporarily alleviate the anger of the masses seeking a scapegoat. It could also redirect the anger that was now being directed at the Church of the Five Great Gods, thus diverting the negative focus away from the Church.

The vassal states, unaware of the truth behind the Gate Incident, also distrusted the empire for shielding the princess who had been cursed by the Demon King. Executing the princess could resolve this distrust as well.

With this, the imperial family could remove all suspicion that they were somehow involved with the Demon King and protecting the princess because of it.

The execution of Charlotte de Gradias would not solve anything about the reality of the world, but it could resolve the political issues plaguing the empire.

Of course, that too would only be a temporary measure.

Ultimately, since the embodiment of hatred, the Demon King, had not been destroyed, these issues could only be temporarily patched up, and were bound to fester and burst open again.

In the end, even if the empire actually executed the princess, it would only be a stalling tactic.

It might merely postpone the empire’s collapse and downfall. The divisions within the empire and its subsequent downfall could be inevitable.

The only one in the empire who knew the true intentions behind this event was the emperor.

People were merely excited about the execution of the Demon King’s two subordinates along with the princess, and had no clue about the true intentions behind the staging of this event.

However, there were a few who could guess the true intention of this event, even if the emperor didn’t say it.

“... You think Reinhart will come?” Ellen asked.

“Yes,” Vertus said.

Ellen could not find a reply to Vertus’s statement.

‘Would Reinhart come or not? He would surely come, he had no choice but to come,’ Ellen thought.

But if they knew that such a thing would happen, was it right to use Reinhart in this way?

Was it okay for those who had not been able to trust Reinhart before to now shamelessly use him, claiming that they now believed in him?

Even though it wasn’t her business, Ellen couldn’t shake off such doubts.

Reinhart would come.

Just as he always had, he would try to save Charlotte this time as well.

Was she jealous of that?

“...”

She knew it was shameless to wish for him to come, but Ellen couldn’t erase those thoughts.

***

The opportunity to get to Charlotte was created not by me, but by Vertus.

Moreover, it was also an unexpected opportunity to retrieve Lucinil and Sarkegar as well.

If I took Charlotte away with me, it would mean I had to reveal myself directly. That would involve taking a risk, and trust in the empire might be undermined if they lost an important figure to the Demon King during their execution.

Vertus was willing to take that risk on his side, and I had to take the risk of rescuing the princess, Lucinil, and Sarkegar from the heart of the empire.

.

.

It was three weeks later, on Monday, the day of the execution.

Naturally, the empire’s elite forces were engaged in resolving the Gate Incident. Therefore, the troops guarding the execution platform, in the middle of the overflowing crowd and the grandly-prepared execution stage, didn’t seem particularly high-level.

Of course, they had deliberately made it such that security was lax.

It was a laughable play.

The emperor had orchestrated this event to help the princess escape from the empire, and the Demon King had agreed to go along with it.

It was amusing that Vertus and I had reached an agreement without exchanging a single word.

—Waaaaaah!

However, the crowd, excited by the news that the empire was finally executing the princess, was clamoring loudly.

So much had changed from what I had seen of the empire not long ago.

The people looked the same, but everyone was ecstatic, as if something would change once the princess died.

‘What would they think if the princess were kidnapped by me? Would they remember Charlotte as an innocent and clueless, pitiful princess who was kidnapped by the Demon King twice? Or would they remember her as a collaborator of the Demon King, one that was so important that he had to come to rescue her?

‘What did Charlotte think of me now?’

I didn’t know. I would just do what I had to do, as I always had.

Vertus likely hadn’t set up much defenses to make it easier for me to rescue Charlotte, along with Lucinil and Sarkegar.

If the elite forces were in charge of the defenses around this staged kidnapping, there might be those who would die in a forced fight. That would be a ridiculous tragedy.

I planned to break through the guards and the executioners, subdue them appropriately, and disappear with Mass Teleport.

There was no need to shed blood unnecessarily.

I could kill a few to proclaim myself as the Demon King and unite humanity in fear of me, but I still had no desire to kill people. Besides, this wasn’t a task that required a large force.

I had brought Antirianus and Harriet with me since Riana, who hated the empire, wasn’t suited for this, and Olivia didn’t fit this kind of task either.

The three of us watched from afar as the crowd chanted.

—Kill her! Kill the princess!

A massive, frenzied crowd was calling for the princess’s death.

I could see them. Three figures tied to the stake, bound atop a pile of firewood.

On the left was Lucinil, the silver-haired girl.

On the right, Sarkegar, in the form of a demon with black membranous wings, was bound.

And in the center... Charlotte, her hair dyed jet black, was tied, her head hanging limply.

Like Sarkegar, the thick black mist emanating from the princess’s body made everyone aware of the ominous nature of her being.

The people shouted that the princess was cursed—that from the start, it wasn’t the princess who returned from the Demon King’s castle, but a demon disguised as her, now revealed in its true form.

That was what some in the crowd were shouting.

I didn’t know if Sarkegar and Lucinil were aware of the situation, but Charlotte seemed resigned, her head bowed. It wasn’t fear of the people’s hatred towards her. It seemed she was afraid to meet their eyes.

I would save those three. It was an easy task.

I just had to break through the crowd, split the stake, and use mass teleport to escape.

It was such a simple task.

As I watched the crowd from afar, thinking it was time to make my move...

“There’s a problem,” Harriet said, grabbing the hem of my robe.

“A problem...?”

It seemed like a serious issue, as Harriet’s face, visible inside the robe, had turned pale.

“The spatial coordinates of this entire square are distorted.”

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“What? What does that mean?”

Likewise, Antirianus, who was also wearing a robe, looked at me with a subtle smile.

“Great Being, it means that a barrier preventing spatial movement has been formed over this entire square.”

“... What?”

‘What on earth... What kind of nonsense is this?’

If a spatial movement barrier had been placed over this entire area, the option to break through the crowd, rescue those three, and escape immediately with a Mass Teleport scroll was off the table.

I would have to find a way to break through this crowd somehow.

‘Why on earth did Vertus set up such defenses? Could it be that Vertus really intended to kill Charlotte? No, that couldn’t possibly be the case.’

Antirianus began to chuckle.

“Heh heh... It seems we weren’t the only ones to make plans with the excess of time given to us. Isn’t it possible that others also anticipated the Demon King would appear at this place?”

A third party... A completely unexpected party—or multiple parties—had stepped in to intervene.

“Great Being, what will you do?” Antirianus asked with a smile.

Had Antirianus already sensed that something like this would happen when he first told me about this?

Perhaps he had, yet he deliberately didn’t tell me about it.

“You crazy old man...”

At my words, Antirianus only smiled more deeply, as if he had received a compliment.

***

The emperor did not go to the execution site. He merely watched from the high spire atop the palace walls, magnifying the view.

There was no reason for him to conduct the execution himself, and he wasn’t confident enough to face Reinhart there.

All Vertus could do was watch from afar as Reinhart rescued Charlotte.

The shouts of anger and hatred from the crowd in the grand square were loud enough to reach Vertus’s ears.

‘Do they hate her this much? Why do they hate her so much? Why?’ Vertus thought as he gritted his teeth and watched the scene.

He was waiting for Reinhart to appear and was waiting to execute the backup plan in case he didn’t appear.

“Your Majesty, there seems to be a problem.”

“A problem?”

“We don’t know who set it up, but a spatial movement barrier has formed around the entire area of the grand square.”

“... What?”

Vertus’s complexion turned ashen when he heard the report from the imperial mage standing beside him.

His thoughts weren’t very different from Reinhart’s.

Vertus knew that Reinhart had a number of highly skilled mages with him. Therefore, he thought it was a very simple matter of just breaking into the site and escaping via teleportation.

As long as Reinhart appeared, everything would be resolved.

There was no need for a big fight, and he was sure Reinhart wouldn’t cause a large-scale massacre.

But the presence of a spatial movement barrier meant that even if Reinhart appeared, he would have to break through the crowd to escape beyond the barrier.

If Reinhart tried to break through the crowd by force, it would result in a massive massacre, and Vertus knew that Reinhart wouldn’t want such a thing.

“Who the hell...?”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. From this distance, we can’t determine who set up that large-scale magic or with what intention.”

The distance was far too great for them to know that.

Reinhart wouldn’t do such a thing, and Vertus never ordered it.

This meant a third party had intervened.

“Some bastards figured out that the Demon King would come here...”

Setting up Charlotte and the two subordinates of the Demon King at the execution site had been seen as obvious bait to lure in the Demon King.

“Are they trying to kill the Demon King... Reinhart?” Vertus muttered.

Setting up a spatial movement barrier meant they intended to kill the Demon King without giving him a chance to escape once he appeared.

If Reinhart was indeed present, he would surely notice this situation as well.

Even though it wasn’t a trap that Vertus had set, this situation had effectively become one.

He didn’t know who this other party was, but the moment the Demon King appeared, the attack would begin.

The opponent would be fully prepared, so the wise and obvious decision for Reinhart would be to withdraw.

Vertus gritted his teeth.

Only a select few knew that that day’s execution was a setup by the emperor to lure the Demon King out so he could take the princess away.

Naturally, even the executioners did not know this.

If Reinhart withdrew, the execution would proceed as planned.

Even if they didn’t die from the flames of the burning pyre, the executioners would find a way to end the lives of the Demon King’s two subordinates and the princess.

If Reinhart intervened, he would be attacked. But if Reinhart withdrew, Charlotte and the Demon King’s two subordinates would die.

“Who the hell are the bastards behind this...?”

Vertus watched the overflowing anger and madness in the grand square with wide eyes.

***

—Waaaaah!

—Kill them! Kill them!

—Kill the filthy demons!

Amidst the madness and anger, I quietly observed Antirianus.

Harriet was biting her lip, her complexion pale.

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” I said.

“How can one recklessly predict the future, Great Being?” Antirianus replied.

“But it’s true that even if you knew, you wouldn’t have told me, right?”

“Of course, that’s true.”

He didn’t even try to hide his malice.

What I thought would be a simple matter had become a crossroads of two terrible choices.

Knowing that an ambush was planned, would I still rush in to save Charlotte and break through the crowd to escape?

Or did I have to watch as Charlotte, Lucinil, and Sarkegar died?

Antirianus enjoyed seeing me thrown into such situations.

That monster would be satisfied no matter what choice I made.

He would enjoy watching me die because of my foolish attachment if I made the first choice and failed, and would also enjoy it if I succeeded in rescuing those three.

However, he would also enjoy watching me despair at the reality that I had to go with the second choice, and exchange my survival for the lives of those three.

He would enjoy whatever I would do and enjoyed pushing me to the extreme.

As my subordinate, Antirianus should have pointed out the aspects of the rescue that I had overlooked, but he hadn’t.

After all, it was far more entertaining for him to let me arrive here unprepared.

—Waaaaaah!

The angry crowd roared. The execution was about to be carried out.

‘Would I die if I went in? If I, an Archdemon, died trying to save Charlotte and those two, what would happen to the Edina Archipelago?’

Without an Archdemon, the governance system within the Edina Archipelago could not be maintained.

Perhaps things would end with the Demon King walking into an obvious trap and dying foolishly with the three prisoners without even being able to save them.

I didn’t know who was trying to ambush me.

I hadn’t even reached Master Class yet. It was the right thing for me to withdraw.

I knew that it wasn’t the right move to save them.

Too many lives and fates were tied to my one life.

I would be weighing the lives of tens of millions to save these three.

Even if I could actually save those three, a ruler shouldn’t risk their life for such things.

A ruler is one who commands, not one who wields the sword.

It would be a reckless act.

But if I hadn’t done reckless things merely because they were reckless—if I had really wanted to live that sort of life—I wouldn’t have bothered defying my seniors. I wouldn’t have dueled with a senior.

And I wouldn’t have achieved the feat of ascending to the position of the Demon King, the position I achieved at the end of countless reckless acts that began with that first act.

I wouldn’t have developed the many relationships I did, and thus wouldn’t have had relationships to lose.

I wouldn’t have relationships I wanted to regain.

It was right not to do reckless things, but I was already standing on a mountain built by reckless acts.

Avoiding doing something reckless because it was too reckless would essentially be me disregarding everything I had accomplished through recklessness in the past.

That was cowardly.

That was just defeatism.

I, who had only been reckless up to this point, had completed myself because of that recklessness.

I couldn’t say that it was better not to do this because it was too reckless.

A ruler could not do such things.

A ruler carried too much to risk their life for such things.

Discard what needed to be discarded, and take what needed to be taken.

That was how it should be.

But I never thought I was fit to be a ruler. Not even once.

I had not done anything just because I could.

I did what I did because I had to.

I did what I did because I thought I had to.

Not once did I think everything would somehow work out, or did something only when I thought I was sufficiently capable of doing it.

—Waaaaaah!

“I’m going in alone,” I said.

Facing the angry crowd, I took a step forward.

“Harriet, disable the spatial movement interference.”

“Okay... I’ll try.”

“Antirianus, provide long-range support.”

“Yes, Great Being.”

‘Charlotte de Gradias. Sarkegar. Lucinil.

‘Today, I will save you.

‘This time and every time after.

‘I will save you. Always.

‘That is the path of the ruler that I walk.’