Chapter 76

“What do you think love is?”

It was an empty question.

There was no point to the question, no heart behind the one who asked it, and nothing to be gained from it.

It was merely a pastime to kill idle time. No answer would touch his heart, and he wasn’t even seeking a response.

It was more like a self-reflection to solidify his own thoughts.

“Love is the greatest pleasure. No hardship or pain is insurmountable if there is love. Yes, love is truly great. Whether it’s for a lover, a child, or a friend. No matter the modifier, love is truly great. In fact, it might be the root of everything.”

The man, who began to lay out his firm theory on love, smiled as he looked at the two women who had collapsed like rags.

The soldiers they had brought had long since turned into unrecognizable chunks of meat, or rather, small lumps of blood soaking the ground.

“Then, are those who don’t know love the most unfortunate in this world?”

As he shook the blood off his sword, which was devoted to love, Latri Berze, Raul’s mother, tightly sealed her lips.

The man before her was none other than the one who had caused the current situation.

He was a beast who had tarnished the honor of the husband she loved for his own plans.

“That might be pitiful, but if they never knew it, there would be no pain. No… perhaps it’s even a blessing. Compared to the pain of losing love, the emptiness of a life without love is nothing.”

However, the Demon King didn’t like the look on her face.

So, he decided to stomp on it and bury that expression in the dirt.

It was a face that reeked of selfishness, as if only her anger was justified. A foolish woman who only thought of her own feelings—that was the Demon King’s assessment of Latri.

“Then, are those who have lost love, like us, the most unfortunate in the world? No, that’s also unfortunate, but the real misfortune lies elsewhere.”

Muttering something incomprehensible, he sheathed his sword and turned his gaze to Rosie.

Rosie was also burning with hatred no less than Latri’s. Even after such a crushing defeat, her eyes still burned with fighting spirit. The Demon King didn’t dislike those eyes. They were the eyes of a warrior.

But he only didn’t dislike them. He didn’t like them either. They were also the eyes of a foolish beast that didn’t know when to submit.

“That example would be a man you both know well.”

At that, Rosie and Latri’s expressions changed drastically.

They both thought of the same person, had been equally cruel to him, and had equally received his devotion.

Thus, their reactions were eerily identical. Avoiding eye contact while cold sweat dripped down—the Demon King found even that disgusting and almost clicked his tongue.

“Raul Berze. Your son and your fiancé. I’ve decided to define him as the most pitiful man in the world. Aren’t you curious why? I think the answer lies in your own actions, but I don’t expect you to have the brains to realize it. Nor the conscience to repent for it.”

Latri and Rosie turned their heads away, avoiding the Demon King’s disgust-filled gaze.

“He, too, lost love. If you look at it that way, he’s no different from us—a prisoner of love. But…”

The Demon King pitied Raul.

He hated all humans, and Raul was no exception, but he also felt a sense of pity for him.

It wasn’t because he had lost his lover. Well, that might have been one of the conditions, but it wasn’t the essence.

“The most pitiful person in this world is the one who loves without the possibility of being loved in return. And on top of that, he has also experienced the loss of love.”

At those words, Latri snapped back.

“What do you, of all people, know…?”

“At least more than a mother like you. Even at that point, he was pitiful. But you don’t even know about his physical condition, do you?”

At the mention of his physical condition, both Latri and Rosie showed signs of doubt.

They knew his health wasn’t great. He had become more sensitive to the cold, ate less, and avoided outdoor activities.

But those could easily be attributed to changes in personal constitution and preferences.

“If you were his fiancée, maybe, but as a mother, isn’t it natural to be concerned about your child’s changes? Any ordinary mother would have noticed that much.”

“… He didn’t say anything. How was I supposed to know?”

“How cliché. Before you refused to talk… shouldn’t a mother ask if her child is alright when he returns from the battlefield?”

“…!”

“Well, I doubt a lecture like this would mean anything to someone like you.”

At the Demon King’s words, Latri clenched her fists so tightly they bled.

What emotion was in that blood? Guilt? Regret? Or just belated maternal love? Only she knew the answer, but the Demon King guessed it was none of those.

“Let me tell you. His body is like a rotting tree. A pitiful tree that’s lost most of its roots, its leaves, and branches… Yes, truly pitiful.”

In the Demon King’s eyes, Raul and the other heroes were just great warriors.

At first, he dismissed them as mere apprentices who had learned techniques from his disciple. They were indeed immature and weak.

But they had shed much blood, used every means including drugs, and sacrificed their own lifespans to challenge the Demon King.

As a result, they achieved victory. The Demon King thought they would be treated as heroes. They were warriors, after all.

But the Empire betrayed them. And the reason was utterly trivial. Honor, power, delusions, trauma, or just plain boredom.

The Demon King truly found such an Empire disgusting.

“You have lost love, like me, but I don’t pity you in the slightest. Do you know why?”

“I don’t need your pity, you bastard!”

“… Because you don’t deserve love. How dare you, who rejected love, crave it and speak of it? Love for you… is nothing but a cheap joke.”

The Demon King poured all his contempt on Latri and Rosie, shattering their pride.

The elite troops of their family had been annihilated in a single strike. It was a disgrace beyond measure. Moreover, he had delivered that strike while sitting on a rock, as if it wasn’t even worth standing up.

“To continue about his body… because of you, another root of his will rot today. The tree withering won’t be far off.”

“What nonsense…!”

“Oh, the fiancée, huh? Truly clueless. Not much different from the humans you look down on. This is at least a joke worth listening to.”

They truly knew nothing about Raul’s physical condition.

“Let me make it clear to you fools. His body is now…!”

At that moment, the Demon King, who was about to say something, turned his head back.

He heard something rustling, so he drew his sword and took a stance.

He had already decided to slaughter all the humans in the village as a warning, so there would be no exceptions. He had spared Latri and Rosie as a pastime, but the others were not exempt.

The Demon King was a man who, once he decided something, would carry it out no matter what. So, he swung his sword to kill those pitiful lives.

Until he realized that pitiful life was a man carrying his pregnant wife, fleeing.

“…”

The Demon King couldn’t bring himself to swing the sword.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t killed pregnant women before. Among the lives he had slaughtered, it would be strange if there weren’t any pregnant women. He had killed without caring who they were.

But as someone who had just preached about the beauty of love, he couldn’t bring himself to cut down his own sorrow.

He just stood there, dumbfounded, watching the fleeing couple.

“… How resolute. Unlike me.”

Just as he was about to dwell on the sorrow that had surfaced after so long, a red slash and a blue slash flew at him simultaneously.

The Demon King quickly swung his sword to the side, barely blocking the attacks.

They were so fast and powerful that even the Demon King struggled to block them.

“I wanted to dwell on my sorrow, but you still don’t understand emotions.”

“You can dwell on it later, can’t you? In the afterlife.”

“No matter how much of a Demon King you are, this is my territory. It’s troublesome for you to meddle here.”

The ones who revealed themselves were the Emperor, fully armed, and the Empress, who had temporarily regained the strength in her legs through a strengthening potion.

“You must have come at Raul’s request. While he deals with the Dragon Queen, you plan to deal with me. I was going to move more cautiously, but… those fools disrupted that.”

“… Surprisingly accurate. With our plans being read like this, the name of a genius strategist is at stake.”

“Of course, since we’re the ones who set this up. You must be thinking of him, struggling on the battlefield right now. It’s infuriating to think of something else while facing me, but… you must also be thinking of him, struggling, so it’s mutual.”

The Demon King laid his sword horizontally, exuding a menacing aura.

“One Sword.”

The Demon King swung his sword, wrapped in immense energy, and Empress Penelope drew her sword, barely blocking the attack.

It was an attack that could have been deflected, but if she had, Latri and Rosie’s lives would have been in danger.

“Empress, I…”

“Don’t speak. I might kill you before the Demon King does.”

Even though the attack was blocked, he didn’t lose his smile.

No, he began to smile even more eerily, sending chills down the spine.

“You think of your beloved friend… and I think of my beloved rain… That’s how we’ll fight.”

“… You’re insane.”

“Let’s clash our loves against each other, shall we?”