Chapter 116

“A weakling who is nothing but weak will not change even if they muster courage.”

The King of Specters strangled Noah Mulbred, who had mocked him.

“That reckless courage cannot change the current situation. It will only shorten your insignificant lifespan.”

“At least Raul Berze… did not call it courage to pick a fight with someone weaker than himself.”

“That mouth of yours is the root of all sin.”

Just as he was about to tear his head apart with his other hand, a fierce flame burned that hand.

“….!”

“Damn… this is so embarrassing I can’t even show my face. Four of you ended up like this together.”

When the Emperor’s flames burned the King’s sixth arm, the King released Noah Mulbred and tried to shoot the Emperor to death with that hand.

At that moment, the Empress’s slash severed his arm.

“Ha, damn… I was trying to find an opening to stab him, but I couldn’t just leave him to die. Seriously.”

“How on earth…!”

“Preparing for the worst is exactly for moments like this.”

The King of Specters couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

He had clearly pierced their bodies and subdued them, leaving them barely alive. Even if they woke up, it shouldn’t have been possible for them to move so vigorously.

Unless there was some special means.

“That bitch’s face makes me feel disgusted, but…”

Camilla’s spear, wreathed in lightning, pierced the King’s abdomen. As it penetrated, the lightning spread, and the King of Specters also took damage, forcing him to release those he held.

“You have left wounds that are not easily healed. Even for you, it shouldn’t have been easy to move in such a state. But how…”

Then, the Dragon King’s Heart, which Camilla, the Emperor, and the Empress had hidden in their bosoms, lost its light and turned to dust.

Although it didn’t have the power to resurrect from death, it had enough power to heal fatal injuries.

The Dragon Queen Arisa, who resided within, didn’t want to save them, but the wise old dragon’s will restored them.

After restoring them, the remaining power was also given to them, causing even the King of Specters to be shocked at their growth.

“Wise dragon… are you too denying the justice of my revenge…!”

At that moment, something sharp severed one of his remaining arms.

It wasn’t a blade.

It was just an ordinary hand blade. Yet, with that hand blade, he cut through the King’s solid body.

“Raul Berze…!”

“Noah Mulbred.”

Raul didn’t even glance at the King.

Instead, he looked at a certain cowardly noble who had been willing to sacrifice himself.

“I acknowledge you. I forgive you for calling my sister a cripple. You are worthy of living.”

“…You bastard. My leg you broke back then still aches.”

“Back then, I was somewhat introverted, so I didn’t have the courage to tell you to apologize to my sister. Unlike you, I was a coward.”

“If you call me a coward twice, I’ll really cut off your limbs…”

“I won’t apologize, but I’ll grant you one request. Ask for anything.”

“Then… then… Raul Berze…!”

He collapsed, his legs giving out, and with trembling hands, he pointed at the King of Specters.

“Kill… that guy…!”

“An easy request.”

Raul adjusted his grip on his cane and steadied his stance.

“Ha, can you do it…?”

“It’s a request from someone who risked their life for me. It’s not impossible.”

Raul took a deep breath and gathered the power flowing within him.

Just moments ago, something foreign within him had been flowing, distracting him and allowing a strike to land, but now it was different.

It took time to harmonize and gather that power with his own, but fortunately, he managed to complete the harmonization before the others finished their recovery.

“Honestly, it’s a gamble, and I don’t like this power.”

White scales began to sprout on Raul’s arm. The scales vibrated at high speed, and as he swung his arm, the sharp scales created precise slashes.

Like a net, the intricate and precise slashes poured toward the King of Specters, leaving deep scars on his body.

“Have you gained the ability to transform parts of your body like a dragon…? How ironic. I never thought you, who so vehemently rejected her advances, would use the power of a dragon.”

“I am Raul Berze, King of Specters. The nature of the power I wield does not define me.”

“But… the result will not change.”

The King of Specters gripped an invisible bow with his remaining arms.

“I must destroy you all!”

His voice was filled with rage.

A voice filled with resentment.

At the same time, it was a cry that felt sorrowful.

“I am the King of the weaklings who were destroyed by your hands!!!”

And the vengeful spirits of the kingdom began to gather.

“Vengeful spirits!!! This tyrant is your king!!!!!!!!!!”

And those spirits,

grabbed the King.

“…What is this?”

His people were shouting.

This is enough.

Please don’t become a monster anymore.

Don’t become a monster like the Empire that tramples the weak.

Return to the proud King of those days.

Return to the King we loved.

“No…! The tyrant must atone for his sins…! He must atone for the sin of failing to protect the country…! The punishment of becoming a specter unable to die, wandering the earth… becoming a monster that shoots all enemies to death…!”

Countless hands grabbed his shoulders.

Countless hands grabbed his ankles.

Countless hands embraced him.

“Why are you stopping this tyrant…! This tyrant has the duty to avenge your resentment…! That is the least atonement this tyrant can do…!”

Countless faces shook their heads.

It’s enough now.

Let go of the heavy guilt and find peace.

No one resents you.

But the King couldn’t believe it.

The King, who had been betrayed to the bone, could no longer trust anyone.

He had become such a monster.

The people tried to remove the King’s helmet. So that he could see the world again with the eyes of a benevolent King, not a specter.

But the more they tried, the more the King pressed the helmet deeper. He didn’t have the courage to see this terrible world again with the eyes of a King.

“Come at me, Empire…! My country has not yet fallen!!! The tyrant is still alive with eyes wide open! The war is not over yet! Let’s continue the war, Empire!!! The war you so love!!!”

Before the hot anger in his voice could cool, the heroes’ weapons flew at him.

He couldn’t dodge even if he wanted to. How could he shake off the people holding him?

He couldn’t block even if he wanted to. How could he use the souls of his people as a shield?

“The weak are trampled like insects…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that the weak must be trampled again.

Because his people were listening.

Everything began to crumble slowly.

Cracks began to form in everything that made up the King.

The King, even in such a state, began to fight the heroes on equal or greater terms. With his peak archery and excellent martial arts, he pressured the heroes.

The Emperor’s flames swept through, the Empress’s slashes cut through the gaps, and Camilla’s lightning pierced through, yet the King gritted his teeth and endured.

The King did not die. On the day he was betrayed to the bone, his once hot heart had turned cold. How can you kill someone who lives with a heart that has already stopped?

You can kill a Demon King who lives as the strongest, but you cannot kill a specter who lives as the dead.

“Pitiful King.”

And Raul, who saw through that point, slammed his cane into the King’s foot, pinning it to the ground.

“On behalf of the Berze family, I apologize for our family’s sins.”

“What use is that now…!”

“Because it is the right thing to do.”

Raul focused the power the Queen had given him into his fingertips.

He mixed the essence of his own techniques with the reckless martial arts of the Queen, who fought without fear.

It might seem like a chaotic technique.

But it was also a technique so mesmerizing that the Queen would have fainted, drenching the floor.

And he added a curse to that technique.

“With this one move, I seek forgiveness for all sins.”

“Please accept my will to settle all grudges.”

“I will also forgive those who seek forgiveness from me.”

“May my heart be at peace without a single trace of wind.”

Raul’s resonance, the Queen’s power and technique, and the mindset of forgiving his mother were added.

By forgiving the person he hated, the resonance reached the heart of the one burning with hatred.

Raul’s hand, with a strong resonance, touched the chest of the King of Specters, and a shockwave that seemed to shake heaven and earth erupted.

“What on earth have you done…?”

The King’s heart began to beat again.

The hot heart of those days was beating vigorously once more.

As long as his heart was beating, he could no longer be a specter.

As a human, he could no longer maintain that monstrous body.

Two arms, a heart that could stop and die at any moment, and human eyes.

He returned to the body of an ordinary King from those days.

“No… it’s not over yet… this war!”

Due to the shockwave Raul caused, the King’s helmet partially shattered.

The empty black eyes that were revealed looked at the world.

Those eyes, so similar to Raul’s, were filled with countless emotions.

The King of Specters quickly ran and snatched a noble’s bow and arrow.

“Do not take away even my hatred!!!!”

The King drew the bowstring toward the Empress’s abdomen.

But the King, still excellent, hesitated. He heard something squirming.

Hearing that sound, the King hesitated for a moment, but then released the bowstring.

The arrow, just before reaching the Empress, turned back and pierced the King’s heart.

His final arrow pierced not the heart of a monster, but the heart of a proud King.

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