Chapter 500: Delusion (8)

In front of Gavid were the doors leading to the ninety-first floor of Babel, the entrance into the Demon King's personal palace. While it felt like these doors could never be opened unless it was by the Demon King's will, Gavid felt no resistance when he tried pushing them open.

Still, this would be his first time trying this.

Gavid's mind was full of varied thoughts as he pushed the doors wide open. For the past hundreds of years, Gavid had never once opened these doors of his own volition. He had always kept to his office on the ninetieth floor.

Although it was rare, the Demon King of Incarceration did occasionally send messages to Gavid. These messages mostly addressed Helmuth's political issues and never included any personal correspondence.

The same also applied to Gavid. As the Archduke of Helmuth, he held jurisdiction over everything that happened within this great empire, served as the final adjudicator for all important decisions, and then sent the reports up to the Demon King of Incarceration.

All of that was done without any face-to-face contact. Even for Gavid, as the Archduke and Blade of Incarceration, this would be his first time entering the royal palace without permission. No, in the first place, Gavid had never even knocked on the doors of the royal palace without a summons from the Demon King. The only times he had ever entered the royal palace were during events like the recent ceremony for the appointment of a new Staff of Incarceration.

'And even that was an exception among exceptions,' Gavid thought to himself.

That was the first time the royal palace had ever been opened to celebrate the appointment of a new Staff of Incarceration. In the first place, the focus of that atypical event hadn't even been the appointment ceremony. The Demon King's true purpose had been to gather up the top one hundred ranking demonfolk and proceed to weed out the undeserving.

'It was an amazing feeling.' Gavid burst out laughing as he recalled those memories.

Gavid could at least be certain of this much. After the war had ended, the Devildom became an empire, and the Demon King's Castle was remodeled into this skyscraper. This would be Gavid's first time ascending to the royal palace of his own volition.

But why was that? Why hadn't he ever tried to enter the palace before now?

There wasn't any special reason for it. Gavid simply hadn't had any particular desire to climb up to those upper floors. After all, he didn't want to bother the Demon King of Incarceration needlessly.

All of Helmuth, this entire gigantic empire, couldn't have even been established without the Demon King of Incarceration at its core.

Helmuth had been able to develop incomparably faster than any other country on the continent because of the Black Towers that had been erected throughout the entire nation. These Black Towers, which could be considered one of Helmuth's many landmarks, received the dark power that was transmitted to them from Pandemonium and amplified it. This dark power was then spread throughout the entire territory through cables that had been buried deep underground.

It was as if the entire empire was a parasite feeding off of the dark power of the Demon King of Incarceration. The Demon King was practically keeping the entire empire running all by himself. Gavid, in particular, was more aware of this fact than anyone else.

"Please forgive my rudeness," Gavid said with a bow.

After all, for the past hundreds of years, Gavid had been able to look down on the entire capital city from his office on the ninetieth floor of Babel.

The Demon King of Incarceration was the one who had turned this Devildom into an Empire and was also the one responsible for erecting the Black Towers and burying the cables underground. Most of the technologies that were currently spread throughout Helmuth had been gifted to the demonfolk by the Demon King himself, who had thus managed to advance magical technology incomparably further than anything that Aroth, which boasted of being the Kingdom of Magic, had ever achieved.

So, then, why... why had such a Great Demon King stopped the war when he was on the verge of complete victory? Why hadn't he completely conquered the entire continent? Why build an empire seemingly designed to make the lives of humans more comfortable than that of the demonfolk?

Gavid didn't know the reasons for any of this. He had been curious, but he had never asked.

Ever since the war ended three hundred years ago, Gavid just kept his head bowed as he silently followed the Demon King of Incarceration's will. All that he had done was for the sake of the Demon King. As the Blade of Incarceration, he guarded the entry to the royal palace; as the leader of the Black Mist, he had trained the Royal Guard; and as the Archduke, he had devoted himself to working towards Helmuth's best interests.

But that was why, even more so...

Gavid felt that he had no choice but to do this.

So even though he hadn't been summoned, he was opening the doors to the royal palace of his own initiative and entering the throne room without even asking for permission. He may have apologized for his rudeness, but he wasn't going to back down now.

"Your Majesty," Gavid said as he lifted his head and looked up from the floor.

The whole room was filled with a pitch-black darkness that stretched all the way up to the towering ceilings. No, rather than a ceiling, the roof overhead looked like the endless depths of the night sky. And in the center of that night sky floated a throne wrapped in chains.

The Demon King of Incarceration was sitting on that throne, resting his chin in one hand as he silently stared down at Gavid.

The moment that he saw the Demon King of Incarceration's face, Gavid unconsciously let out a laugh.

Gavid hadn't asked for permission to enter; he hadn't even knocked and had just barged in without any warning.

Yet, even so, there was no sign of displeasure on the Demon King's face. There wasn't any irritation or anger either. The Demon King wasn't even showing any of his usual boredom.

Instead, the Demon King was smiling as if he was amused. His eyes and lips were both slightly curved.

Gavid let out a hollow laugh as he shook his head, "Could it be that you don't consider my behavior to be rude at all?"

The Demon King's expression didn't show any surprise at his sudden entrance. Instead, he looked as if he had been greatly anticipating Gavid's arrival.

And perhaps, Gavid realized, that might indeed be the case.

"Is there any reason for me to consider your behavior rude?" the Demon King of Incarceration said with a laugh. "You shall not enter the royal palace... I don't remember ever giving such an order. But perhaps my memory is flawed?"

"...Not it is not," Gavid quickly shook his head in denial. "You have never once given me such an order, Your Majesty."

"That means you were always free to come here whenever you wished," the Demon King stated firmly.

Cliclink.

The chains wrapped around his throne let out a clanging noise.

"And even if I didn't grant you the permission to come and go as you please, Gavid Lindman, if you were to open those doors and enter here of your own volition, I would not have considered it to be an act of rudeness," the Demon King added.

"But why wouldn't you, my lord?" Gavid asked with a frown.

"Isn't the bond that has built up between us strong enough to pardon such daring behavior?" the Demon King said with a grin.

At these words, Gavid felt a huge shock, as if he had just been struck on the head with a hammer.

The bond? The bond between them? Had the Demon King of Incarceration really admitted to having a bond with him?

"How...," Gavid began, then gulped. "How dare I accept that Your Majesty could ever feel such a bond with someone like myself?"

The Demon King calmly responded, "You have served me for a very long time."

Cliclink.

The chains made noise once more.

The Demon King of Incarceration leaned his body forward slightly as he gazed down at Gavid and continued speaking, "There are so many demonfolk living under my rule that even counting them all is a difficult and burdensome task. All of the demonfolk who live in this empire are my subjects, and all the immigrants currently living in the empire will completely transform into my subjects once their physical bodies expire."

The Demon King of Incarceration might still have a smile on his face, but Gavid sensed the extreme boredom that was hidden behind his expression and voice. Boredom was the sole emotion that the Demon King of Incarceration had ever shown day after day, so much so that Gavid couldn't help but think that boredom was the fundamental emotion that lay at the heart of the Demon King of Incarceration.

However, these casual words that the Demon King had just muttered out of apparent boredom carried enormous weight. As the Demon King of Incarceration had said, there were indeed countless beings who knelt beneath his throne. In addition to that, the Demon King of Incarceration could also place all those living on the continent under his rule whenever he so wished.

"Out of all those countless beings, you are the one who has served me for the longest time," the Demon King revealed.

These words held extreme weight for Gavid. His shoulders began to tremble, feeling as if they were about to be crushed by the heavy weight at any moment.

These words were also undeniably correct. Among the countless demonfolk who served the Demon King of Incarceration, the demonfolk with the longest span of service was indeed Gavid.

"...," Gavid was struck silent by this realization.

Now that he thought about it, he should have already realized what he meant to the Demon King in the first place.

In the present day, it was difficult to even count just how long ago it was that Gavid first became the Blade of Incarceration. That was just how far into the distant past their history stretched.

Although this might be stating the obvious, Gavid wasn't born as the Blade of Incarceration from the very beginning of his life. Gavid Lindman was, in fact, born as a Daemon, one of the most common races of demonfolk.

The Blade, the Staff, and the Shield of Incarceration. These were the closest servants to the Demon King. Back in that long-ago era, every demonfolk who held any confidence in their skills aspired to rise to those positions, and Gavid was no different.

Time flowed past, and many things happened. Gavid slowly climbed up the ranks step by step. At that time, he didn't possess the Demoneye of Divine Glory or his Demon Sword, Glory. Nevertheless, Gavid had been strong. He wasn't pushed back in the slightest, even when facing demonfolk who were hundreds of years older than he was.

"As Your Majesty has said, I have indeed served you longer than any other demonfolk," Gavid agreed.

Just as he had always wanted, Gavid rose to become the Blade of Incarceration. Even before the opening acts of the war, Gavid had already been standing by the Demon King's side as the Blade of Incarceration.

And just as Gavid had done from a young age, there were countless other demonfolk who had also aspired to become the next Blade of Incarceration. Since the end of the war, Gavid hadn't received any challenges for his seat, but hundreds of years before the war, Helmuth had been much more barbaric and reflective of a demonfolk's true nature than it was now.

Yet Gavid had never once had his seat taken from him.

The Staff of Incarceration had changed hands several times. The Shield of Incarceration had also undergone a few replacements. However, since Gavid had claimed the title, the Blade of Incarceration had never once swapped places.

Thanks to that, the Blade of Incarceration had even become his unique title.

"Even so, I...," Gavid hesitated.

Three hundred years ago, during the era of war, a death squad led by the Hero Vermouth Lionheart had invaded Babel. They killed Urogos, who had been the Shield of Incarceration at that time. They had also slain the Staff of Incarceration of that era, Belial.

However, they didn't manage to break the Blade of Incarceration. Even though he had been defeated, Gavid had barely survived.

For Gavid, this was still a disgrace. Since he had been defeated, he felt it would have been better for him to die on the spot. However, Gavid's life had been spared because the Demon King of Incarceration had ordered him to withdraw.

"Even though I have served Your Majesty for so long in the years since then, I still do not understand Your Majesty's intentions behind giving such an order," Gavid confessed.

Why had he ordered Gavid to withdraw at that time? Why hadn't he allowed Gavid to die like he had deserved to after experiencing such a defeat? Why had he allowed Gavid to still claim the title of the Blade of Incarceration even after having been defeated?

Why had the Demon King made such an Oath with Vermouth when he didn't need to do so? Why hadn't he simply conquered the entire continent? And why had he shown such acceptance to the humans after establishing the Empire of Helmuth?

And what on earth had been in that Oath?

"Why haven't you killed Hamel?" Gavid finally voiced his most urgent doubt.

Among the many questions he had bottled up within him, he most desperately wanted an answer to this one.

"Your Majesty must have already long been aware that Eugene Lionheart is the reincarnation of Hamel of Extermination," Gavid accused.

"When do you think I first found out?" the Demon King of Incarceration asked with a smile. "Just because it's me, that doesn't mean that I know everything that is going on in the world. As for the reincarnation of Hamel Dynas... that is something I knew about in advance, but I didn't know the exact date it would occur. If it weren't for the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony that raised so many noisy rumors, it would have taken me a while longer to find out the true identity of Eugene Lionheart."

The Demon King of Incarceration slowly raised his head to look upwards.

The only thing that could be seen in the direction of his gaze was the same pervasive pitch-black darkness. This was the top floor of Babel, the Demon King's Castle, and the Demon King's personal palace. So, the ceiling of this floor might be the closest ceiling to the sky, but it wasn't actually open to the sky.

"It wasn't just a coincidence that he was arranged to be reincarnated. From the very start, it was all fated," the Demon King revealed.

Gavid listened in silence.

The Demon King continued his explanation, "Vermouth wasn't truly the Hero chosen by this era. Because Vermouth lacked the necessary capability to be that Hero."

The moment he heard these words, Gavid's cheeks trembled in shock. He recalled the various heroes from all across the continent that he had met less than an hour ago. Hadn't Gavid himself thought as much? If the heroes of today's era had been there three hundred years ago, there would have been several more heroes apart from Vermouth and his comrades capable of slaying a Demon King.

"If Vermouth wasn't the chosen Hero, then... are you saying this era has been waiting for Hamel's reincarnation?" Gavid asked in disbelief.

"I guess you could chalk it all up to fate," the Demon King of Incarceration replied with a slight smile.

So, who on earth was behind... this fate?

The name of a certain god naturally floated to the surface of Gavid's mind, 'The Light?'

If it was a fate that not even this Great Demon King could truly control, was there anyone apart from a god who could be behind all of this, especially when it came to something like reincarnation? And the most powerful god in this world, with the greatest number of believers, was the God of Light.

'Vermouth must have arranged for the reincarnation...,' Gavid thought suspiciously.

Vermouth had been the Hero chosen by the God of Light. At the same time, he had also been the master of that evil and sinister Sword of Destruction....

A person of such duality — who had been considered the source of despair by the demonfolk and the source of hope by the humans — just what exactly was he hoping for with Hamel's reincarnation?

"But that's even more reason why I can't understand it," Gavid spat in a trembling voice.

He now understood on a deeper level that it was this very era that had placed all of its hopes on Hamel's reincarnation. This current era was stronger than any other era that Gavid had lived through. It was even strong enough to threaten Helmuth... this giant empire that had been created by the Demon King of Incarceration by gathering together all of the demonfolks' impressive strength and that Gavid had been shepherding on the Demon King's behalf.

"He, he is surely Helmuth's most dangerous enemy," Gavid accused.

"That is true," the Demon King readily agreed.

"But Your Majesty...," Gavid said with a note of protest. "You promised Eugene Lionheart that you wouldn't attempt to kill him until he had managed to climb up to the top floor of Babel."

"That's right," the Demon King nodded once more.

"Then, before he starts climbing up Babel," Gavid paused, knowing he was about to ask an impertinent question. "Am I permitted to go looking for him to take his life?"

Despite his reluctance to offend the Demon King, Gavid couldn't bear not asking his question. Why should they allow Eugene, the Hero, to climb up Babel uncontested? Someone who had clearly become their strongest enemy, someone who was becoming increasingly deadlier the more time they gave him. Why wait instead of just trampling him while he was weak?

The Demon King of Incarceration just stared down at Gavid without responding. Gavid stared back, refusing to avoid his gaze.

After a few moments of silence, the Demon King of Incarceration asked, "And if I didn't give you permission to do so?"

"I will, of course, withdraw my request without any further questions," Gavid solemnly vowed.

"Would you still be willing to serve as the Blade of Incarceration even after that?" the Demon King probed.

"Your Majesty is the one who bestowed upon me that title, as well as my Demon Sword and Demoneye. Without any question, my sword is and has always been yours, my liege," Gavid loyally professed.

The Demon King grinned, "What about your position as the Archduke of Helmuth?"

Gavid said gravely, "I will focus on preparing to lead us to victory when the war eventually breaks out."

"And what about your position as just Gavid Lindman?" the Demon King's smile deepened as he asked this question.

This time, the sudden question left Gavid speechless.

The Demon King raised a brow, "Whether it was opening the door to my palace and entering on your own or questioning me, wasn't all of that done by the will of Gavid Lindman? Not the Blade of Incarceration or the Archduke of Helmuth."

Gavid held his tongue.

"As a blade, all you need to do is simply follow your master's will. As the Archduke of Helmuth, all you need to do is follow your Emperor's will and faithfully serve the empire. Neither of those two roles requires you to invest any of your own desires or will into them."

Gavid continued to remain silent.

"But what about you as an individual? Is it the Blade that is seeking answers from the Demon King of Incarceration? Or is it the Archduke? Or could it be you yourself?"

As the Demon King of Incarceration asked this question, he didn't give off any of that persistent feeling of boredom that had previously been exuding from him. His narrow, smiling eyes were filled with the rarely-seen emotion of amusement, and even his low voice was filled with surprising enthusiasm.

"...I...," Gavid slowly prepared to speak once more. "I think he should be killed before he even arrives at Babel and starts his ascent."

"Is it for my sake?" the Demon King asked.

"If I was just your Blade, that is what I should say," Gavid admitted.

"Is it for the sake of Helmuth?" the Demon King asked once more.

Gavid lowered his head, "If I was just your Archduke, that is what I could say."

The Demon King's smile deepened, "In that case, what about for your own sake?"

"Yes," Gavid finally revealed the wish lingering at the bottom of his heart. "I want to kill Hamel."

To satisfy the murderous intent caused by his humiliation at the heroes' hands three hundred years ago.

"I want to fight with Eugene Lionheart," Gavid declared.

Because of what he had seen in the battle earlier today.

"I want to face off against such a mighty hero personally." His voice was resolute.

Gavid put aside all the questions that he had been bursting to ask when he first entered the royal palace. He was no longer interested in demanding their answers from the Demon King of Incarceration.

The reason for Hamel's reincarnation? The reason why the Demon King hadn't killed him? The reason for endangering the Helmuth Empire's wellbeing?

Gavid ignored all of that, as well as all of the countless other questions that he had for the Demon King.

Instead, Gavid recklessly revealed the battle lust and fighting spirit characteristic of most demonfolk as he said, "I don't want to meet him on the battlefield. I want to face him in a duel, one on one."