The strongest and most terrifying Demon Lord, Guy Crimson.
Our eyes met for the briefest moment.
It lasted no more than a few seconds, yet that fleeting exchange of gazes told me everything.
The absolute pinnacle had arrived—an existence I could never defeat, no matter what happened.
"...I see. So you are the Irregular."
The moment Guy Crimson broke the silence, an ominous pressure washed over me.
"...?!"
It was an overwhelming presence beyond comparison, like an ant standing before an elephant.
It was the most intense pressure I had ever experienced.
"...What in the—"
Crushed by his pressure in an instant, I reflexively asked... no, more precisely, I was about to ask.
That was, until the skill he had activated began trying to assess me.
"Are you going to pretend you don't know? You should know better than anyone that you aren't an ordinary demon."
No Attribute.
There was no way someone hailed as the strongest would fail to notice what the other kings had noticed.
More than that, he even possessed "that Ultimate Skill"...
He was not an opponent I could fool with lies or improvised excuses.
This is seriously bad...
"And this—this is that 'mark,' isn't it? ...How can you be a demon and yet have that thing within your soul?"
...?
...A... mark...?
Even as I could feel my mouth going dry and goosebumps rising all over my body in real time, Guy's eyes grew even more vicious, and he asked me a strange question.
"You would do well to tell me everything you know. Possessing this mark is something I cannot overlook as an Arbiter."
An unfathomably vicious bloodlust began to seep into Guy Crimson's pressure, as if he would kill me on the spot unless I gave him a proper answer.
The fact that he had invoked his position as an Arbiter meant that this mark I supposedly possessed would have no small impact on this world.
And at the same time, it was proof that the demon known as Guy Crimson was serious.
...Does he really intend to kill me—?
...No, he probably would not go as far as killing me.
Guy Crimson was more flexible than one might expect. If I explained myself properly, there was a good chance he would steer this toward some sort of resolution.
To begin with, he hated making a big mess of things.
But the problem was...
...What exactly is this mark inside my body...?
I did not have the slightest clue what this so-called mark was.
I had lived for over a hundred years believing that, apart from being No Attribute, I was hardly any different from other demons—and that had indeed been true.
Elder Gran had certainly said something similar long ago, but he had only told me that I would naturally come to understand someday. He had never once directly told me what it was.
In the end, knowing nothing, I had no choice but to remain silent.
"........."
"Should I take your continued silence to mean that you want to die?"
But Guy interpreted my silence differently.
Guy frowned as though he disliked what he saw.
Then, just as his hand moved toward my head—
Whoosh!!
A pure-white whip, as though flames themselves had been frozen, wrapped around Guy's arm.
"Stop, Rouge."
The owner of that whip was Blanc, the queen of this land.
Giving off a cold killing intent, she made no effort to conceal her fury, as though she were ready to fight at any moment.
"It wasn't enough for you to suddenly rush out of my castle—now you're trying to kill my retainer. No matter if you are the King of Hell, don't you think that is exceedingly rude?"
From atop the white castle, Blanc glared down at the ground with her crimson eyes.
The elegant smile she wore almost every day was nowhere to be seen; only a sharp, expressionless face remained.
If her subordinates had seen that ghostly expression, they would have been traumatized.
That was how furious she was right now.
Yet Guy accepted her killing intent without so much as flinching, returning Blanc's glare for interfering with him.
"...Ha. This is hardly the time to be saying that, Blanc. I could understand if it were the other two, but there is no way you failed to notice this, is there?"
Fwoosh!
Guy casually burned away the whip around his arm with [elemental spell], then bared his white teeth in a vicious grin.
And what he said next was more than enough to throw me into confusion.
"A demon with a [Hero's Egg]... An Irregular that has never existed even once, from the age of creation until now. Do you have any idea how much chaos it would cause if the world learned that a monster could become a Hero?"
"..."
"......"
"........."
"...........What?!"
My startled voice alone echoed across the silent battlefield.
...[Hero's Egg]? What kind of ridiculous—...
[Explanation. A Hero's Egg is a mark bestowed upon races recognized by the world, and it possesses power equal to that of a Demon Lord-class being. Once the egg hatches, it gains power comparable to an Awakened Demon Lord, and depending on the individual, they may reach the realm of a sage or a saint...]
I know that...! That's why I'm so shocked...!
[Hero's Egg].
As [Answerer] had explained, a Hero's Egg was both a mark that non-monster races such as humans, dwarves, and elves could obtain, and a system created directly by the world to oppose Demon Lords. It was a kind of seal that forcibly imposed karma and destiny upon its bearer through the will of the world.
In a sense, its bearer could be called a slave to fate.
It was an inheritance possessed by only a handful of Heroes in the story...
...Why the hell do I have that...??
Why would something like that exist inside me, a monster... no, a demon?
And not only that—if what Guy said was true... then the reason I had encountered Guy like this was also because of the destiny guided by the [Hero's Egg].
After all, Heroes and Demon Lords were bound to one another by the rules of the world.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register