Chapter 25 - Lingering Scent
"So, you couldn't deal with her after all."
At the rendezvous point.
Beatrice shrugged, a slightly awkward expression on her face, at Clay's words.
"I had no choice but to pull out before Yapheon's soldiers arrived. You didn't want them to find out I was there, did you?"
"No."
Clay replied briefly and looked to his side.
Neville, whom he had briefly set down, was sprawled against a rock, leaning against it.
'As expected, it's Beatrice.'
Neville glanced sideways at Beatrice talking with Clay.
At first, he hadn't fully realized.
He never imagined that the Beatrice would be traveling with Clay.
Moreover, Neville had never seen Beatrice up close before.
So, he couldn't immediately recognize her just by her name.
'What happened?'
But now, given the circumstances, he couldn't help but be certain.
Her name and her powerful attribute magic related to flames.
Someone might imitate the form of her magic, but they couldn't possibly exude such overwhelmingly pure energy as a fire demon.
"What are you staring at?"
Beatrice, noticing Neville's gaze, turned her head and asked.
"Is this your first time seeing a Heavenly King?"
"!"
She had directly confirmed it with her own words.
The fact that she was Beatrice, a key figure in the Demon King's Army.
"I'd like to give you more time to adapt, but we don't have that luxury right now."
Beatrice eventually turned her gaze from Neville and spoke to Clay.
"Clay, if there's nothing else for us to do here, shall we move quickly?"
"Alright."
He replied briefly again.
However, his gaze was fixed on the spot where he had encountered Yuru earlier.
Neville couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Neville just wanted to know what was going on.
He couldn't make sense of anything.
"Let's go."
At Clay's words, Beatrice unfurled her flame wings again.
"To avoid being noticed by others as much as possible, we have no choice but to travel in this form."
She walked over and first extended her hand to Neville.
A startled Neville was caught by her left hand and lifted into the air.
"Clay, ready."
At her words, Clay approached.
Beatrice wrapped her right arm around his waist.
Whoosh!
And just like that, the three of them instantly soared into the air and escaped the gorge.
'...Ugh!'
Neville felt utterly nauseous from the incredible flying speed, but fortunately, his body didn't suffer any problems.
The Blessing of Recovery was protecting his body, allowing him to endure the rapid flight speed.
After a long time, he sighed even more deeply when they reached an unexpected destination.
'Is that?!'
The hidden Fourth Demon King's Castle, Barungenia.
When the massive, gloomy castle, with eyes gazing down from its spires, appeared before him, Neville couldn't help but tremble in shock.
'Weren't all the Demon King's Castles destroyed?!'
The Holy State Alliance had propagated that all the Demon King's Castles had collapsed with the Demon King's fall.
But if so, what was he seeing with his own eyes right now?
『An uninvited presence is felt.』
『A power opposite to Pitch-Black.』
『Disgusting! Disgusting!』
It was then.
The surrounding Gargoyles flew in like a swarm, thrusting their grotesque faces right in front of Neville.
"Huh, hah!"
『Stand back.』
Beatrice uttered Dragon Speech towards the Gargoyles.
『Proxy of Pitch-Black, that one is dangerous.』
『A power that seeks to erase us with light is involved.』
Nevertheless, the Gargoyles did not easily retreat.
It was understandable, as Neville was a being clad in several layers of holy blessings.
From the perspective of monsters, it was no different from an arch-enemy's stench wafting in front of them.
『That is why he is needed.』
Beatrice calmly explained.
『To defeat the Holy State Alliance, shouldn't we understand their blessings as well?』
There was no need to coercively subjugate the Gargoyles.
The Gargoyles, who had been making a ruckus, fell silent at the simple yet hard-to-refute logic.
『...Indeed, that's true.』
『We haven't gotten such a good experimental subject before.』
『We acknowledge it, Proxy of Pitch-Black.』
Soon, the Gargoyles whispered among themselves and then parted, saying.
『However, we earnestly request that you shackle him securely so he cannot harm us.』
『Don't worry about that.』
Beatrice reassured the Gargoyles, still not retracting her Dragon Speech.
『I won't allow even a speck of threat.』
At her confident voice, the tense atmosphere among the Gargoyles quickly eased.
"Now then."
Beatrice, after a brief eye contact with Clay, spoke to Neville.
"Welcome to the Demon King's Castle."
♧
The Demon King's Castle.
The residence of the strongest among demons, standing opposite to humanity.
'This is, absurd.'
Neville swallowed dryly as he walked through the corridors of Barungenia.
'To think such a perfectly intact Demon King's Castle remained.'
Two of the three castles known to be the Demon King's residences had long been destroyed by the Holy State Alliance.
Adding the one that collapsed on its own due to the aftermath of the battle where the Demon King lost his life, a total of three had been destroyed.
'I hadn't heard about a fourth castle.'
But besides those three, there was still another Demon King's Castle remaining.
'If father found out about this...'
The entire Holy State Alliance would be turned upside down.
The Demon King's Castle was like a sanctuary where demons gathered their power. The Demon King's power resided in all Demon King's Castles, and facilities to protect and defend demons were attached to them.
This Demon King's Castle must surely be the same.
The three eyes above this Demon King's Castle that he saw upon entering already proved that fact.
"Neville."
While Neville walked, lost in thought from the shocking fact that another Demon King's Castle existed, Clay spoke.
"As you can see, the foothold for demons to emerge into the world again has not been completely destroyed."
"Sir Hero, no, Lord Clay. Why are you in such a place? What are you trying to do with Beatrice...?"
"I intend to punish all those who caused my death."
Clay turned to Neville.
"Is that too trivial a reason?"
Neville held his breath at the sight.
'Punish them, with demons?'
What that implied was one thing.
'Is he trying to become the Demon King himself?'
Clay was the Hero.
The Hero who protected humanity.
Neville truly respected Clay, who silently carried out his given task with unwavering conviction.
To the extent that he felt disillusioned with the world when Clay died absurdly.
"...Lord Clay."
However, even if he died unjustly, this was an entirely different matter from simple revenge.
"Do you know what that means when you say it?"
The enemy of humanity.
Clay was trying to become the Demon King now.
"No, you can't! Absolutely not!"
"Why not?"
Clay asked calmly.
"Isn't it rather obvious? That I would become this."
"It's not because of other people!"
Neville understood his feelings.
He thought there was justification for him to act this way after being unjustly killed and brought back to life.
"You might suffer even greater pain!"
It was obvious how the world would judge Clay, who had reappeared as the Demon King.
Everyone would rush to try and burn Clay, who had fallen into humanity's most dangerous enemy, down to his very soul.
"Even if it's not demons, there are those who know all too well how to inflict pain on humans! If you come out into the world again, everyone will..."
"Don't you think it's truly abnormal?"
Clay replied quietly.
"That those who claim to protect humanity possess more means to torture humans than anyone else."
"Lord Clay!"
"Neville, I've decided not to trust people."
Yet, Clay extended his hand to him.
"But I know those who are willing to join me. The first among them is Neville, you."
The one who had opposed the death of Hero Clay.
Even when his position was in jeopardy, he voiced his opinion.
"I know well what you did for me. You were the one who brought me food when I was imprisoned."
"That was..."
"Neville, I want to ask you about what you consider important."
Clay's eyes shone sharply.
"Which is more important to you: your position or your conviction?"
It was the first moment Neville felt fear from Clay.
♧
WHIIIINE!
Nael walked through the wasteland, battling against the fierce wind.
"...The scent."
When she wrinkled her nose, she caught the lingering scent of someone who wasn't here.
No, to be precise, it was a memory.
'Damn it.'
She had held onto it tightly.
Yet, as time passed, Clay's lingering scent faded.
'Damn it, damn it, damn it!'
Suddenly, she got angry and punched an innocent rock beside her.
The rock shattered into pieces upon impact with her fist.
"...I learned everything from you."
Clay was Nael's master.
Of course, he had never officially declared himself Nael's master.
She had unilaterally considered him so.
Nael was originally born a weak individual.
On top of that, she lived an unusual life.
Her wolf beastkin tribe was attacked by an unknown nomadic tribe, and she was even abandoned by them for being weak, losing everything and becoming a wanderer.
But she didn't just die.
After embarking on a pilgrimage of hardship, training, training, and more training, she grew strong.
To an extent unimaginable from her initial state.
Nevertheless, in a desperate struggle with a large monster she encountered for the first time, she was on the verge of death.
She collapsed without knowing what had happened.
When she opened her eyes again, a man was before her.
Are you awake?
It was Clay.
He had moved her to a cave and was watching over her.
Naturally, at that time, she didn't know who he was.
So, as soon as she woke up, she picked a fight by asking who he was and then swung her fist again.
And was defeated so easily.
Not even beasts fight like that.
Unlike his later self, the Clay she first met was neither particularly kind nor gentle.
That's not how you use your strength.
She challenged him numerous times.
And was futilely defeated.
As this repetition continued, something strange happened.
Yes, that's how you do it.
When he first praised her, she experienced something warm igniting within her chest.
She was acknowledged.
That experience stirred a greater desire to be acknowledged by him.
And as that desire accumulated, she finally came to admire him.
"Clay."
Nael murmured, looking out at a wasteland similar to where he had found her.
"Should I have done something back then?"
She let him die with the conviction he had taught her.
She let him be punished for not using his power for humanity.
She thought that was what she, as his disciple, should do.
"I don't know."
She lowered her gaze and clenched her fist tightly.
And then took a deep breath.
Beatrice's lingering scent was stimulating her nostrils.