Caron had awakened, but that didn't mean everything was over.
Fwooosh!
With Halo at his side, Caron was mounted on Gratia's back, flying at full speed toward the Demon King's castle. The scenery around them shifted rapidly, the rough wind tearing past and whipping their hair.
"...I could go alone. Is there truly any need for you to force yourself?" Halo asked quietly.
Caron gave a faint smile and shook his head, then replied, "It isn't forcing myself. I still need to devour the leftovers of Sloth's power."
Sloth had suffered a grievous wound, but in the final moment, he'd managed to escape.
Caron let out a short breath as he felt the new core pulsing within him.
...9-Star, he thought.
At last, he had reached it. No longer did he feel the eight separate seas within him, but instead a single, vast ocean.
The number of seas had diminished, yet the scale of what he now sensed couldn't be compared to what came before.
It felt as if he had been born anew. Mana filled every corner of his body, and he felt as though there was nothing he couldn't do. Of course, he would need to swing his sword to properly test it, but still...
"This time, I really thought you were done for. Owner, you know it's all thanks to me, right?" Guillotine asked.
At Guillotine's words, Caron grinned crookedly and replied, "Fine, this time I'll admit it."
Guillotine's help had been immense.
Even after his core had collapsed, the reason Caron had been able to keep his mana from scattering was because Guillotine had become the anchor holding the mana together.
Thanks to that, Caron had regained control, and with the Azure Mana bestowed by his elders, he had forged a new core.
If even one piece of that puzzle were missing, it would have been impossible. But in the end, his core had been reborn, and he had stepped into the long-awaited realm of 9-Star.
Caron lightly tapped Guillotine's hilt, then lifted his gaze toward Halo, who wore armor of the same deep blue hue. He'd incurred a debt so great he could never hope to repay it.
And still lingering in his ears were the words he had heard in that dreamlike world.
"You bastard. Are you running off on your own again?"
It had been unmistakably Halo's voice. Not an illusion, not some trick, but words Halo himself had spoken.
Caron's head throbbed with questions. He wondered where he was supposed to even begin unraveling this.
He thought about it for a long while, but the answer was the same as before. And so, in a low voice, he asked, "...Grandfather, did you... No—since when have you known?"
His tone shifted. It was no longer Caron, Halo's grandson, who spoke; rather, it was Cain, his old friend.
Halo remained silent for a long time, his eyes fixed only on the ash-colored sky ahead.
The silence was suffocating, and Caron found it unbearable—until at last, Halo's gentle voice broke through. "Pretending to be fooled was no easy task. You were never much of an actor."
"...So it turned out I was the fool all along," Caron muttered.
"Don't be so disheartened. Up until you were a child, I truly had no idea," Halo said.
"Then why didn't you tell me? Damn, that's embarrassing," Caron muttered.
"Because it was amusing. Watching you play the doting grandson, calling me 'Grandfather, Grandfather' with that pitiful act—do you know how laughable it was? You'll never understand what that felt like," Halo replied with a laugh.
The imposing, dignified Halo was gone.
Caron scowled, striking his own forehead with his fist, then said, "I thought my acting was flawless."
"I had my suspicions, but when Kerra, Beatrice, Ugo, and the others chose to follow you, I knew for certain," Halo explained. His calm was unnerving. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.
He turned his head slightly, glancing at Caron with a smirk tugging at his lips as he said, "For a grandson looking at his grandfather, that gaze of yours is far too impure. Show a little more respect to your elders."
"...Tsk," Caron responded.
He'd never imagined Halo would have seen through him. It felt as though he had been struck in the gut.
"My plan was to reveal it on your deathbed," Caron said.
"Then you should've acted better. And do you really think swordsmanship changes overnight?" Halo pointed out.
"I thought I blended it well enough with the Oceanwolf Sword Arts," Caron retorted.
"It was Eclipse. If I couldn't recognize you after seeing that, I should have just gone and died. You idiot," Halo snapped.
It felt as if Caron had gone back in time. He gave a wry smile as he looked at Halo.
Halo, in turn, glanced at Gratia's head and asked casually, "Did you tell Gratia as well?"
"Yeah. A long time ago," Caron answered.
"And you told everyone else but tried to keep it from me until the very end? You insolent bastard," Halo snapped.
"Hey, I was the one who got the short end of the stick," Caron shot back. "You killed me, but then I opened my eyes, and there you were—standing there as my grandfather. What was I supposed to do? Of course I threw a few punches."
Like old friends reunited after years apart, the two spoke without formality.
Caron had dreamed of this moment at least once—revealing his identity to Halo, then finally talking things through. He just hadn't imagined it happening like this.
In his plan, Halo wasn't supposed to know until Caron said it himself. Getting caught this way was never part of the script.
But there was nothing he could do. That was life.
Deceiving a 9-Star knight had been a near-impossible feat from the start.
Caron let out a long sigh before asking in a low voice, "Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
"I had plenty," Halo admitted. "But right now? Not really."
"Why not?" Caron asked.
"Because this time you survived. And since you're my grandson now, what's the point of scolding you?" Halo replied.
"Grandson, my ass... Wait, don't tell me you even told my father?" Caron asked, grimacing.
Halo chuckled and said, "A friend who calls my son 'Father'... surely I'm the only one in the world with such a rare experience. Hah!"
He laughed openly, then shrugged and continued, "Don't worry, I never told anyone else. But tell me—were you planning to hide this from Fayle forever?"
"...There's no real need to tell him, is there?" Caron muttered.
"Hmm. Maybe so," Halo responded.
For a conversation held after fifty years, their banter was downright childish.
But neither of them minded. After all, this—trading frivolous jokes—was exactly the kind of reunion they had both wished for.
"...Still, I'm a little disappointed," Halo said.
"Now what?" Caron asked with a scowl.
"I really enjoyed it every time you called me 'Grandfather.' Biologically, I am your grandfather, am I not? So keep calling me that," Halo said.
"Go die," Caron snapped.
"From now on, I'll make sure Fayle is always with us. In front of him, you'll have to keep calling me your grandfather," Halo said with a smirk.
"Why the hell are you still the same after fifty years? In front of family you put on such a heavy act, but here you are, just the same bastard as always. You'd think time would change a man..." Caron said.
"Worry about yourself," Halo replied dryly.
They sparred like two young men in their twenties—not grandfather and grandson, but friends.
After a long stretch of such nonsense, Halo's voice suddenly grew serious.
"Let's deal with Sloth first. Then we'll share drinks and talk properly," Halo suggested.
By then, a massive fortress loomed in the distance. It was the Demon King's castle.
It was the final step toward conquering Sloth's domain.
Caron exhaled deeply and gave a nod, then called, "Gratia?"
"You want me to start with a breath attack?" Gratia rumbled.
"Yes," Caron said.
"That is a fine idea," Gratia agreed.
Whoosh!
An enormous surge of mana gathered in Gratia's maw.
Kwhoosh!
A moment later, that torrent of mana crashed down toward the Demon King's castle. Screams and roars erupted from below as chaos spread through the fortress.
Watching the scene, Halo said softly to Caron, almost under his breath, "...Thank you for surviving."
"We'll talk about that after we finish this," Caron said.
"I know. I'm just saying. Maybe I should've never acknowledged you at all—where did that obedient grandson of mine go?" Halo wondered jokingly.
"Obedient? Me?" Caron asked in disbelief.
Halo paused, as though considering something, then shook his head and admitted, "Right. You were definitely always insane."
The two finished their idle chatter, then peered down from their vantage point. The castle was right beneath them now.
Halo drew his blade, Gram, and smirked at Caron. He said, "Watch closely, foolish grandson. Let me show you how your grandfather fights."
Caron unsheathed Guillotine with a scoff, then replied, "You should be resting at your age. An old man throwing himself around like that—can't be good for your heart."
The two knights leaped from the dragon's back.
At that moment, it was as though two meteors came crashing down upon the Demon King's Castle.
***
Kwoooooom!
Kwaaaang!
Explosions thundered again and again through the Demon King's castle, a fortress built so high it seemed to mock the very heavens.
The demons who had been guarding the castle couldn't even muster proper resistance. The walls crumbled and the towers collapsed.
Upon the once-silent stronghold of the Demon King, catastrophe had descended.
"Old man, I told you to rest in the back!" Caron shouted with a smirk.
"What, you think you can sit at the same table as your elder? If you're a kid, then stay back like one!" Halo shouted back.
A colossal ocean swallowed the Demon King's Castle whole.
No—two oceans.
The oceans unleashed by two men filled the castle to bursting. One was heavy and solemn, weighing down everything it touched. The other was violent, surging with cruelty and destruction.
Caron and Halo advanced, their swords displaying two utterly different forms of swordsmanship, yet both tearing apart everything in sight.
There was no hesitation in their blades. After all, this was the Demon King of Sloth's castle. Everything they saw was an enemy. There was no reason to show mercy.
"It's been a while since we had a match," Halo shouted with vigor. "The one who reaches the Throne of Sloth first wins!"
"Guillotine!" Caron called sharply. "Don't let me lose to this old man! Find me the throne!"
"To the right! Run right! See that grand castle at the center? Sloth's power is emanating from there!" Guillotine shouted.
With Guillotine's guidance, Caron dashed ahead.
There was no being capable of stopping these two knights, who had long since surpassed the limits of humanity.
Even the demon dukes, who could have slowed them, had already abandoned the castle under orders from the Demon Queen of Lust.
The fortress was, in truth, an empty shell. The demons had neither expected nor prepared for such a situation. After all, they had never imagined their king would return with nothing but his soul.
The Demon King was the heart of the castle. Now that he had barely managed to bring back his soul alone, the fate of this place was already sealed.
Kwaaaaang!
Kwooooom!
Each wave unleashed by the knights split the mighty castle walls as though they were nothing more than sand.
Even the demonic monsters, who knew no fear, couldn't bare their fangs.
That was because Caron had absorbed the power of Sloth during the forging of his new core, and the creatures obeyed the authority of their king above all else.
And now, though the Demon King's soul had fled, the one who bore his authority was, ironically, Caron.
Thus the demons could do nothing but stand frozen like statues, forced to watch the humans rampage through their midst.
Kwoooooom!
At last, Caron and Halo reached the inner sanctum where the Demon King's throne lay. With a single stroke each, they shattered the great doors and rushed inside, competing to be the first.
The sight that greeted them was stark.
There was a staircase that rose impossibly high. And upon that staircase was a single throne glowing with an eerie light.
From the throne, the voice of Sloth resounded.
"...Caron Leston. How...? I destroyed your core with my own hands..."
The tone was one of disbelief.
"...Let us negotiate. You cannot conquer the Demon Realm with your expedition's power alone. Halo Leston! I will cooperate with you. If you join hands with me, the conquest will be possible. I... I will wager my soul upon it."
It was pathetic. Even a Demon King who had instilled terror into countless lives debased himself at the very end.
Sloth cast away all pride, begging for surrender. But all he received in return was the mocking laughter of two men.
"Save that nonsense," Halo spat. "Didn't I already tell you back in the Eastern Great Forest? I'd end you here in the Demon Realm."
"Halo! Then let me tell you the truth of this world! The one beside you is not your grandson! That boy's true identity is—"
"I don't care anymore," Halo interrupted.
"...You are being played into the clutches of the Void. Caron Leston! Are you not curious about your first life? Spare me, and I will tell you everything!"
The Demon King's end was miserable.
Caron only smirked at Sloth's desperate words about the world's truth. He lifted Guillotine and said quietly, "My first life, huh? Now that you mention it, you've made me curious."
"Spare me, and I will be your slave! Take me as your servant—"
"Why bother? I can just kill you and absorb your memories. Guillotine, am I wrong?" Caron interrupted Sloth's request.
"Just drive the blade into the throne. I'll handle the rest," Guillotine instructed. Its voice rang with certainty.
Caron surged upward with all his might toward the throne.
The Throne of Sloth glowed with a sinister violet.
Whoosh!
Guillotine's dark blue blade gleamed with a menace greater than ever before.
"Give my regards to Slaughter," Caron said.
"Caron Lestooooooon!"
"Farewell," Caron added.
Kwaaaaaaang!
The Throne of Sloth shattered into pieces.
Thus ended the pitiful reign of a Demon King who had mocked and tormented countless lives for centuries.