The Demon King of Incarceration fell to his knees.
However, Eugene didn’t rashly approach the fallen Demon King. He had already caused Incarceration to fall to his knees several times throughout their fight. There had also been several times when the Demon King had been knocked down and seemed unable to get up.
But every time, the Demon King of Incarceration had still gotten back to his feet. Even when he had been struck with attacks that should have left him close to death — no — that should have taken his life outright. This Greater Demon King, who bore the curse of immortality, would always get back up once more to block Eugene’s path forward.
‘Please,’ Eugene thought to himself as he glared at the Demon King of Incarceration, forcefully suppressing the urge to pant for breath. ‘Please don’t get up.’
This wish was filled with all of the sincerity that Eugene could muster. Such a strong desire was because Eugene, just like the Demon King, had been pushed far beyond his limits. His whole body was groaning in protest, his vision was swimming, and his head felt clouded, so it would be challenging for the Hero to keep fighting any longer.
Of course, Eugene wouldn’t set his sword down just because he thought it would be a challenge. He might be sincerely wishing for the opposite outcome, but if the Demon King of Incarceration did get up one more time… if he raised those shaking fists that he couldn’t even hold steady and started walking towards them, then Eugene would naturally step forward to meet the Demon King and be ready to swing his sword once more.
“Haaaah…,” a long sigh escaped the Demon King of Incarceration’s lips as he continued to kneel on the ground.
Eugene bit his lip to keep focused as he took a cautious step forward.
Fwooosh…!
The flames of his Divine Sword, which had been infused with his godhood of victory, flared up once more.“You can lower your sword,” the Demon King of Incarceration said, raising his voice so that everyone could hear him.
Startled by these words, Eugene froze in place. On the other side of the collapsed city walls, the Divine Army had come to a halt as they chanted the name of Eugene Lionheart.
After shooting a glance at his Divine Army, Eugene spoke to the Demon King, “What happened to all of your subordinates?”
“My subordinates? Hah,” the Demon King of Incarceration chuckled for a few moments before shifting his posture so that he was now sitting down on the ground with his legs in front of him. With his arms resting on his raised knees, Incarceration stared at Eugene as he said, “Their loyalty to me was born out of fear rather than trust, and their obedience was trained into them by keeping them ignorant and incompetent. From the moment Babel collapsed and my defeat became certain, I was no longer their master. Though I never even considered them worthy subordinates in the first place.”
Eugene listened in silence.
“Of course, not everyone is like that. Among all of the demonfolk gathered here, there are a few who are sincerely loyal to me and would have willingly sacrificed their lives for me. However, I still don’t have any feelings toward them,” the Demon King of Incarceration admitted with a dry laugh.
The only exception to this was Gavid Lindman, but that man was already dead. The Demon King of Incarceration didn’t spare any thought as to whether his army would be destroyed now that they had been defeated.
“That is why I took it back from them,” the Demon King of Incarceration explained.
“What exactly did you take from them?” Eugene asked with a frown.
“The dark power that I had granted them… as well as their dark power. I decided that I needed it more than they did in order to keep fighting,” the Demon King explained.
In response, Eugene didn’t say anything and just glared at the Demon King of Incarceration.
Incarceration sighed, “However, it has still turned out like this. Despite making such an unsightly choice and giving it one final struggle, in the end, our battle has ended with me on my knees.”
“At least you’re not dead,” Eugene quickly retorted.
The Demon King of Incarceration smiled brightly at this quick response and continued speaking, “I don’t want to repeat the same things over and over again, Eugene Lionheart. With this body of mine, I am not able to die even if I wanted to. For me to die… it will be when I can no longer suppress the madness that I have buried deep within me, and I lose everything to it. Or perhaps, if there comes a time when I get the chance to trade my own life for the Demon King of Destruction’s death…. Until then, I am bound to this body like a ghost possessing a corpse.”
As he was saying this, the Demon King of Incarceration placed a hand on his chest.
Clinkclinkclink.
A tarnished, blackened chain emerged from his blood-stained chest. This chain was so aged that none of the chains that the Demon King of Incarceration had revealed thus far could even seem to rival it. It was the oldest of all his chains. The very first chain that he had created and the one that had given him his title as the Demon King of Incarceration .
Sensing this, Eugene swallowed a nervous gulp.
“This chain… is connected to the Demon King of Destruction. As long as this chain doesn’t break, I won’t be able to die. That said, even if I were to die somehow, that doesn’t mean the Demon King of Destruction would die with me,” the Demon King of Incarceration noted with a wry smile.
Eugene processed this silently.
“However, through this chain, I can get close to the very heart of the Demon King of Destruction. I… am unable to do anything to it, but if it’s you, Eugene Lionheart, then there’s a possibility that you might be able to end Destruction,” the Demon King of Incarceration said eagerly.
Eugene’s eyes shook as he tried to come up with a response, “Does that mean…?”
“So you want me to make things even clearer?” the Demon King of Incarceration chuckled as he retracted the chain back into his chest. “This battle has ended in my defeat.”
His voice wasn’t all that loud. However, the Demon King’s declaration still managed to overwhelm all of the surrounding noise, including the chanting of the Divine Army, and echoed throughout the battlefield.
“Helmuth has been defeated in this war,” the Demon King of Incarceration announced once more.
These words caused all of the members of the Demon King’s Army who still lived to fall into despair. Having been robbed of most of their strength, they buried their faces into the ground as they wailed in sorrow.
Though, with the current state of the battlefield, it wasn’t all that important to the surviving members of the Demon King’s Army whether or not the demonfolk were willing to admit their defeat. Even if the remnants of the Demon King’s Army wanted to resist this surrender, having been drained of most of their dark power, the demonfolk’s parting struggles wouldn’t be able to change the outcome of this battle.
“I, the Demon King of Incarceration, do admit to our full defeat. With a body that cannot die even if I wanted to, I cannot offer you my neck just yet. But someday, Eugene Lionheart, when you finally achieve your goal… I will gladly offer you my neck and open the door to the future with my blood,” the Demon King of Incarceration promised.
Unable to say anything to this, Eugene just stared at the Demon King of Incarceration. He had yet to be hit by the joy of their victory. This… all of this still felt unreal.
The Demon King wasn’t done yet and continued, “Until then, I am willing to bow my head and submit myself to you as your captive or slave.”
“What about Helmuth’s territory and all of the empire’s citizens?” Eugene eventually managed to ask.
“As the victor, is there any need for you to ask the vanquished for their opinion?” The Demon King returned his question with a smile before slowly shaking his head as he continued speaking, “The law of Helmuth is that the victor can claim everything from the loser. Even if you hold no desire to press your claim, I, as the vanquished, have no intention of claiming ownership over anything that previously belonged to me. As such, Eugene Lionheart, you can do whatever you please with Helmuth.”
Incarceration’s hand, which had been resting on his knee, flipped over so that it was now facing palm-up. A bundle of chains suddenly appeared on the Demon King’s outspread palm.
“This chain binds the souls of every single demonfolk, including those who didn’t come here,” the Demon King of Incarceration revealed.
It didn’t matter whether or not they had a contract with the Demon King. Helmuth was the territory of the Demon King of Incarceration, so all of the demonfolk who lived or were born there were ultimately the Demon King of Incarceration's vassals. The dark power that the Demon King of Incarceration had freely bestowed to everyone in his empire for the past three hundred years had marked every single demonfolk.
“As long as you hold this chain, you will have command over all demonfolk. If you order them to die, they will die, and if you order them to become your slaves, they will serve you as your slaves,” the Demon King of Incarceration explained.
Eugene chewed his bottom lip as he thought about this. He didn’t like the demonfolk. There was no way that he could like them. Even if the attitude and public perception of demonfolk may have changed over the past three hundred years, to Eugene, the demonfolk were still the enemy. However, his hatred of them wasn’t enough to willingly annihilate all the demonfolk who remained in Helmuth, including those who had chosen not to participate in this battle.
But that didn’t mean he was going to refuse the offered chain. After all, just because most demonfolk hadn’t participated in today’s battle didn’t mean Eugene could just ignore the demonfolk’s innately violent nature.
“Fine,” Eugene said with a nod. “I’ll go ahead and do as I please with them.”
Eugene reached out his hand and picked up the chain. He had no intention of killing or enslaving all of the demonfolk, but he still decided to accept this chain as insurance so that he had the ability to seize control of the demonfolk in case of an emergency.
As he tucked the chain away on his person, Eugene raised his head and looked up at the sky, murmuring, “Victory, huh?”
Ever so slowly, the realization of what had happened was beginning to sink in. They had won the battle. They had won their war against the Demon King of Incarceration. Although they hadn’t been able to kill the Demon King just yet, the Demon King of Incarceration had admitted his defeat.
This was a victory that he had been desperately searching for ever since he was Hamel. A victory that he hadn’t been able to obtain even as Agaroth, the god. He had defeated the Demon King of Incarceration, someone who had seen the world end and begin anew many times over and who had always exerted his complete control over the world as he prepared for the next era.
“Ha….” A laugh unconsciously erupted from Eugene’s bloodstained lips.
As he was laughing, his legs suddenly gave out. Just as he staggered and was about to fall, Eugene was saved by Kristina’s support. The Saint was also in the same exhausted state as Eugene. But desperately clinging to consciousness, Kristina forced her body to keep moving as she stepped forward to help Eugene keep standing.
[Hamel.]
“Sir Eugene.”
The Saints called out Eugene’s names with trembling voices.
Boom!
Behind them, Molon and Sienna had collapsed onto the ground.
Before Molon could stagger back to his feet and walk over to embrace Eugene, Sienna had already leaped up and ran forward, crying out, “Hamel!”
Tears streamed down her face as she embraced Eugene and Kristina.
Sienna stammered, “D-did we win? Did we really, really win?”
Sienna had also felt the same desperate desire for a victory over the Demon King of Incarceration. Ever since Hamel’s death, just how long had she been waiting for this moment?
Molon, who had belatedly caught up with Sienna, approached them with his arms spread wide.
“Ahahaha! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Molon’s voice was hoarse from all the roaring he had done during their battle, but his laughter reached even louder heights as he embraced everyone. As their victory was made clear, the realization was also slowly spearing through the Divine Army. Here and there, Lionheart standards were being raised into the air. Led by Gilead, the general staff rushed over the destroyed city walls and came running towards Eugene.
Melkith, who had been hiding in the rubble of the city, raised her head from where she had been crouching down and leaped out of her hiding spot.
She raised her head high and waved her arms vigorously as she tried to lead a cheer, “Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray!”
Still in his descended form as a giant made of light fused with storm winds, Tempest trembled in joy as he uttered, [Finally…. We finally did it…!]
They had finally fulfilled the goal of their northern expedition, which Tempest had been waiting for for so long. Tempest had even personally struck a blow against the Demon King of Incarceration.
Eugene lowered his trembling hands. The flames of the Divine Sword dissipated away into nothingness. He listened as his name was chanted from all directions. This was their victory. Eugene closed his eyes for a few moments.
He knew the truth. Their victory in this war didn’t mean that everything was over. They still had the Demon King of Destruction left to deal with. They still had to save Vermouth.
After getting enough rest and making preparations, they would soon be marching to Ravesta. Holding on to the chain of the Demon King of Incarceration, they would stand in front of the Demon King of Destruction. There, they would meet Vermouth, who was sitting on top of the wound left by Agaroth as he held back Destruction.
The Demon King of Incarceration watched all of this take place as he remained seated on the ground. In his opinion, it couldn’t be helped that Eugene didn’t seem able to find joy in his victory. Incarceration still felt that Eugene was being too greedy in wanting to save Vermouth while also slaying the Demon King of Destruction. He felt that it was obvious that slaying Destruction would also result in Vermouth’s death.
However, strangely enough, such an ambitious desire no longer felt like they were chasing a vain hope.
Just a few hours earlier, Incarceration would have believed that it was completely impossible, so… why had that changed? Had his opinion changed after suffering such a complete defeat that had rendered all his struggles meaningless? Or perhaps, had he been influenced by the unreasonable and stubborn ideals that Eugene and the others had voiced? In the end, had he been wholly convinced by the unwavering trust that they had shown in each other, their lack of betrayal even at the very last moment, and the hopes they shared for the future?
Perhaps… just perhaps, they might really be able to make his wish come true. They might just be able to finally slay the Demon King of Destruction who had destroyed the world so many times over. They might be able to do what the Demon King of Incarceration had never been able to manage. Where Incarceration had only found failure and had been forced to compromise, they might be able to find success.
“Is that how it is,” the Demon King of Incarceration chuckled as he shook his head. “The whole lot of you are certainly surprising… and impressive.”
As the cheers of victory began to spread across the battlefield, the Demon King of Incarceration parted his lips to say something. Incarceration’s voice was being kept from reaching the Divine Army, making it so that only Eugene and his comrades, standing right in front of the Demon King, could hear him.
The Demon King of Incarceration confessed, “I had always thought that my will could never be allowed to be shaken by anything or anyone. The countless eternities I have lived through have spanned far too great a length of time and during those eternities… I made sure to seal away all of the various figures who had the potential to cause my will to waver and endanger my sanity. I… could not allow myself to be shaken. If I were ever to waver, give up on my mission out of despair, and give in to my death wish, the world would never get to see another era….”
These words were delivered with a faint smile. Eugene opened his eyes and stared at the Demon King of Incarceration warily.
“But in the end, the bond that you share… and the hope that burns within you when you speak of your future has led me to fall flat on my face,” the Demon King admitted wryly.
“Do you regret it now?” Eugene spat out, ignoring how the trembling in his hands refused to subside. “You should have killed me a long time ago. If you had, you would have prevented me from reaching the strength I have today. So, do you regret it?”
There had been many chances to kill Eugene. The Demon King of Incarceration could have done so at any time. That had been the case three hundred years ago, and until just yesterday, it would still have been easy for the Demon King of Incarceration to kill Eugene.
However, the Demon King of Incarceration hadn’t done so. Instead, he had waited until the Hero was capable of defeating him, and in the end, Incarceration had fallen to his knees.
“Most of my life has been filled with regret,” the Demon King of Incarceration responded with a smile. “However, Eugene Lionheart, right now I can say this for certain. I don’t regret how things have turned out today. I don’t regret not killing you.”
He paused for a few moments. After taking some time to listen to the resounding cheers and victory celebrations, he laughed once more.
“Even though I have been defeated like this, strangely enough… I feel relieved,” the Demon King admitted.
Eugene sneered, “I had no intention of ever granting you such relief, oh Demon King of Incarceration. I only ever wanted to drive you into despair.”
The Demon King of Incarceration just laughed once more. “Haha, despair you say…. It would be very difficult for you to rouse such emotions in me. I hope that you don’t feel too upset about my self-satisfaction.”
Eugene was distraught by these words. His distress came about because he hadn’t defeated the Demon King of Incarceration just to hear him say such things.
Even though the Demon King of Incarceration could sense Eugene’s discomfort, he continued speaking, “In the end… this means that the prayers supporting you and the hopes you spoke of were stronger than my desire to restart the process with the next era. Although I still feel reluctant to think that I can’t save all these valuable variables to better prepare for the next era…. If a next era is no longer required, it means there will be no need for such reluctance.”
“You son of a bitch,” Eugene cursed.
The Demon King of Incarceration shook his head and said, “This world has diverged greatly from the fate I have so often seen repeating itself. Although I don’t know for sure whether these differences will be enough to change the established ending, I… I am beginning to lean towards the hopes and dreams for the future that you so desire.”
“I know that you have a lot of history and your own circumstances,” Eugene said with a furrowed brow. “But even so, I don’t have any desire to sympathize with you. As far as I am concerned, you’re just a Demon King who has repeatedly destroyed the world alongside Destruction over and over again. Even if you did… restart the world from the beginning every time, I won’t feel any gratitude towards you for doing so.”
Incarceration just shrugged and said, “Instead of your gratitude, I actually prefer your unchanging hatred towards me. Because if it weren’t for that hatred, you wouldn’t have gotten to where you are today.”
“It really pisses me off that I can’t kill you right now so that you won’t be able to keep flapping your lips like this,” Eugene growled through gritted teeth as he turned away.
He didn’t want to speak to the Demon King of Incarceration any longer.
However, even as Eugene turned away from him, the Demon King of Incarceration whispered with a smile, “I hope that you can muster up the same level of hatred for the Demon King of Destruction.”
Eugene silently clenched his fists.
“Eugene Lionheart,” the Demon King of Incarceration said before his gaze shifted to the side. “Sienna Merdein. Molon Ruhr. Anise Slywood, Kristina Rogeris.”
After saying the names of those who had finally shown him defeat, the Demon King said in a sincere tone of voice, “I hope that all of your wishes come true. Instead of starting the next era, I hope that you can open up a true future for this era. May you destroy the Demon King of Destruction and save Vermouth.”
The cries coming from the victorious Divine Army were suddenly snuffed out. The chanting of Eugene Lionheart’s name also ceased. Even the wailing coming from the defeated Demon King’s Army fell silent.
All noise suddenly disappeared from the world.
Molon, who was still embracing everyone, felt his hair stand on end. Sienna stopped sobbing with joy as her eyes widened in alarm. Anise’s expression, which had been pale with exhaustion, suddenly stiffened and Kristina, who had been holding on to her rosary with tears pouring from her eyes, felt her legs give out on her.
Startled, Eugene raised his gaze. The Demon King of Incarceration also turned around and looked behind in shock.
They saw a riot of colors spreading across the sky.