Chapter 102

I wanted to touch the sun.

The moment I realized that the sun was beneath me…

I fell into deep despair.

*****

Just moments after a short but intense battle, a blonde girl sat crouched on the jade floor of her prison. She was cold, hungry, and shivering. It had been so long since she last conversed with someone that she could barely remember when it happened.

Every day, she would appear before hundreds of transcendent beings, but they never saw her as an equal—just an amusing toy.

It wasn’t sorrowful, really. After all, she came fully prepared for this. But enduring it was becoming unbearable.

Thud-.

Footsteps approached the iron bars of the girl’s cell. Was Chronos, the god of time, here again to drag her off to the arena? With hollow eyes, she turned her head.

Her golden irises trembled violently.

“M-Maria…!”

“Greetings, Champion.”

“Y-you… How are you here?! Could it be… the Demon King…?”

“Judging by your appearance, you don’t seem particularly well-off.”

Inside the golden eyes, two contrasting figures were reflected: one clad in white, the other cloaked in darkness. Behind the pristine white girl stood a shadowy presence.

“This isn’t part of the deal! What is the meaning of this, Demon King?! This goes against our agreement!”

Blonde-haired Frey suddenly shouted at Demon King Canos.

“Why are you involving Maria?! This wasn’t planned! If you do this, our strategy will…!”

Canos looked down at Frey with a chilly gaze and raised his hand. In an instant, Frey’s exhausted body floated into the air, her neck squeezed by an invisible force.

“Don’t act rashly, champion.”

“Guh… Kkhh…!”

“I am not your friend. You have no right to question my actions.”

Plop-!

“Cough! Cough!”

With disdainful words, Canos explained to Frey, who had just been freed from the pressure and was coughing. “I brought the Saintess because I judged that her knowing about your plan would help us achieve our ‘goal.’ The Saintess will eventually be close to Joker in the future.”

As Canos pushed Maria’s back toward Frey, Maria resisted despite not having received permission to enter yet. But resisting the Demon King’s power was impossible.

Thud-!

“Don’t treat Maria carelessly!”

Seeing Maria fall in front of her, Frey reacted fiercely.

Maria felt an odd sense of unease from this scene.

‘Why…? Is the champion concerned about me…?’

“Champion… There is something I wish to ask.”

“Maria, no. Right now, there’s nothing I can tell you…”

“The champion should not refuse. I could explain it myself, but I thought it would sound more credible coming from you, which is why I brought you here.”

“…Damn it.”

Frey bit her tongue in frustration at Canos’ dismissal of her words. She looked exactly like a rat cornered in a trap.

“I had some suspicions already.”

“What? Maria, what did you say?”

“The one behind Joker’s return… I didn’t think it was only the Demon King. Surely there must be an accomplice nearby.”

Maria calmly spoke while suppressing her inner confusion.

“When I was on the guillotine, I heard that the Demon King wasn’t with Joker during his return. That made me believe the Demon King must be involved somehow.”

“That’s correct, good job. You’re smart, Maria.”

“At that time, weren’t you there either, Champion?”

“….”

“I couldn’t see due to blindness then, so I don’t know if you attended the execution or not. But I could feel it. Anyone wielding Solar Techniques has such a blazing aura that it’s noticeable even from afar.”

Maria’s pure white gaze met Frey’s trembling eyes. After hesitating for a moment, Frey reluctantly nodded.

“…Yeah, I wasn’t there. I was with the Demon King.”

“Was the champion also behind Joker’s return?”

“It was me who brought him back, so technically, you’re not wrong. Though the Demon King helped too. Did you mention this speculation to Joker?”

“No, if the champion was truly behind it, I figured there must’ve been a reason for you to hide it. Was it the right choice?”

“Phew, yes, it was. Thank goodness. Joker shouldn’t know… I’ve been acting like such an idiot. Underestimating you, Maria.”

Frey sighed deeply. Whether it was due to physical fatigue from the hardships she endured or because of her sudden arrival, Maria couldn’t tell.

“Please enlighten me, Champion. I must know.”

“Haa…”

“Why did the champion ally with the Demon King, plan Joker’s return, betray the continent, and side with the Demon King’s army? And…”

Maria asked a question she’d kept bottled up for roughly five hundred years.

“Why did the Indomitable become Submissive? Please explain.”

*****

In a past life, during the height of the war between the continent and the Demon Realm, deep within the Demon King’s Castle—the Demon Throne Room.

Seated despondently atop the throne was a girl with hair as black as an abyss and eyes as red as blood. Though her gaze was always trapped within a dark void…

“It’s so dark…”

If her vision was obscured, she could simply remove her sunglasses, but Demon King Canos chose not to.

Whether the darkness referred to the scenery of the Demon King’s Castle or symbolized the hopelessness in his heart, only Canos himself knew.

“What a fleeting world…”

Canos’ gaze swept across the dim interior of the Demon King’s Castle.

“Waiting has grown tiresome. Dreaming of something beyond fate—it’s time to let go.”

At that moment, the castle doors opened, and a shadow draped in tattered black clothes entered. Canos tilted his head slightly.

“There’s no one watching here. I’ve consumed all their sight.”

Even though he had detected the intruder, Canos didn’t flinch, merely moving his lips. His reaction suggested he had sensed the intruder long ago.

“So, you can discard those shabby disguises. Warrior.”

“…I greet the Demon King.”

When the intruder reached the throne and removed the tatters and mask, golden hair and a delicate, pale face were revealed. A figure far removed from the image of the Demon King’s army—an actual outsider.

The continent’s beacon of hope.

The Demon King’s nemesis.

The indomitable warrior, Frey Dr. Siegfried.

“What brings the warrior who should be training tirelessly on the continent to my domain?”

“I have something to discuss. Do you have time?”

“I do have a military conference scheduled shortly, but I can cancel it if it’s important. What’s the matter?”

“Demon King…”

Frey’s demeanor was respectful. She knelt on one knee before the Demon King with perfect decorum, speaking like a foreign envoy addressing an emperor.

“Can you give up destroying the continent?”

Canos responded dispassionately.

“That’s the warrior’s role. I am the Demon King.”

“There’s nothing absolute in this world. Why does the mightiest person under heaven allow themselves to be bound by rules?”

“If you’ve come to deceive me with silver tongues, I’ll rip them out and make pickled fish paste right now. Would you like everyone in the Demon Realm to feast on a banquet made from you?”

“…!”

“The warrior’s role is to kill the Demon King. The Demon King’s role is to destroy the world. Stop wasting words. You are only completed by killing me.”

Frey painfully bit her lower lip. Canos tilted his chin arrogantly and stared down at the warrior with a somewhat haughty gaze.

“…May I interrupt briefly? I have something to show you.”

Frey’s calloused hand reached for the hilt of the massive sword strapped to her back.

“As you wish.”

Clang-!

As soon as Canos gave his permission, the sword was drawn. The Holy Sword Excalibur—the legendary blade that none of the previous warriors except the first could unsheathe, but this era’s “Frey Dr. Siegfried” managed to pull free, emitting light in the darkness.

Light seeped through the cracks of the darkness, dominating the space. Golden energy enveloped Excalibur’s blade. With the ferocity of a gale, Frey rose from her kneeling position and leapt high into the sky.

Excalibur traced a golden vertical semicircle. The sword, raised above Frey’s head, descended like lightning. A colossal heat wave resembling the sun surged toward Canos.

To block Frey’s dazzling attack…

Canos raised a finger. Just his pinky, without any magical energy.

BOOM-!

KRAKKK-!

“Ugh!”

“What’s the point of this, warrior?”

The sword, Holy Sword Excalibur, which could slice steel like tofu, failed to cut even Canos’ pinky and was repelled.

On the other hand, Canos remained calm, showing no signs of impact. Frey coughed up blood from the shockwave and managed to speak.

“Cough… That was… my strongest strike.”

“…”

“The warriors grow weaker with each generation. Meanwhile, you are known as the strongest Demon King of all time. I know… You seek an opponent worthy of risking your life in battle. But as you’ve seen, even after reaching my peak, I cannot rival you… Cough!”

Canos formed a snare-like gesture with his hand and tightened it. Frey dropped to her knees, clutching her throat. An intangible force was choking her.

“Ck! Khack! Grrr…!”

“What a pitiful warrior. A true warrior doesn’t yield to evil and never loses their light of perseverance. Predicting defeat before even fighting properly—you lack the qualifications to be called a warrior. Die.”

“That’s not true! The reason I came here today is…!”

“Vanish. A warrior incapable of opposing the Demon King has no reason to live. A weakling who cannot fulfill their own destiny calling themselves a warrior? Miracles only occur when one gives their all!”

Frey’s complexion turned deathly pale, as if she were about to suffocate. Of course, such a situation wouldn’t reduce the Demon King’s pressure.

In a critical state, Frey flailed her arms desperately and managed to utter words.

A crimson gaze coated in darkness caught her attention—a look filled with contempt and humiliation. A gaze she had received countless times before, leaving her self-esteem unscathed.

“It’s because…! You might achieve your deepest desire through me!”

Whoosh-.

With those words, Canos’ oppressive force abruptly ceased.

“…Do you know what my deepest desire is and still dare to say such things?”

“Cough, cough! You seek an equal rival, don’t you!”

“Yes, but now I realize it’s an impossible dream. Even combining the entire continent and dimensions, I find no one who can challenge me. Among all the warriors, I had pinned some hopes on you, but alas…”

“Why does the Demon King only think about finding an equal rival?”

Frey asked curiously.

Ripples appeared in Canos’ eyes.

“What kind of question is that?”

“If there’s no rival, why not create one? Isn’t your power limitless?”

“A god cannot create another god.”

“But not all rivals need to be gods. There are beings comparable to gods, like Taeseuethes, the Godslayer. If you seek an equal rival, why not cultivate one?”

“Rubbish. To cultivate you, the last hope of the continent, I’ve carefully allowed my forces to fall step by step, giving you opportunities to grow. Yet even you couldn’t surpass my pinky.”

“I’m not the strongest one besides you! Why do you insist that only I can be your adversary?”

Frey seized the momentum and continued.

“This world is full of powerful individuals. There are certainly those stronger than me, though not many.”

“To you, perhaps. To me, there’s little difference between you and others. Archangels? The Five Kings? Great Sages? They’re all mediocre in my eyes.”

“Still, there’s one person worth betting on, isn’t there?”

“Who are you talking about?”

Canos’ curt retort showed he hadn’t fallen for Frey’s persuasion yet. Taking a deep breath, Frey calmly mentioned the name she had been repeating steadily.

“The second-in-command of the Demon King’s army, the second-in-command of the Demon Realm, the second-best in this world.”

“One below the top, above ten thousand. Joker.”

“He’s the magician of miracles, turning impossibilities into possibilities. Who knows? Perhaps Joker will fulfill your seemingly impossible wish.”

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