I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake. Chapter 169

I Killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.

Chapter 169

The beast people felt joy at regaining their magic.

The Red Fox Tribe collectively used hypnotic magic to block the Black Horn Tribe’s pursuit.

The Gray Wolf Tribe conjured wind to crush the heads of the Black Horn Tribe chasing them.

The Mountain Tiger Tribe dug deep holes in the ground where the Black Horn Tribe was treading, causing them to stumble.

Finally, the Shadow Otter Tribe collected falling rainwater and hung massive water droplets on the heads of the Black Horn Tribe, suffocating them one by one.

“We just need to escape!”

“But where should we go?”

At that moment, a red-haired man dropped from the sky.

“Were you waiting?”

“Doph…!”

“Shh!”

Caesar blocked the beast people’s mouths.

Following that, Raven descended from the sky riding whitey.

And as soon as Raven landed, she immediately collapsed.

“Ueeeeeek!”

Raven eventually vomited on the ground due to motion sickness.

Caesar patted Raven’s back and laughed.

“Isn’t it time you got used to this?”

“… This is really the last time… Ugh!”

Caesar winked at the beast people while patting Raven’s back.

The beast people immediately understood the relationship between Caesar and Raven and were amazed.

Who was the Green Eye wizard?

Wasn’t she the companion of the hero who killed the Demon King and the pinnacle of wizards?

To treat such an unbelievable wizard like a friend.

The beast people couldn’t help but respect Caesar.

Raven wiped his mouth and spoke.

“… First, let’s escape to a safe place. The Black Horn Tribe will likely track us.”

“Understood. Then let’s go.”

Caesar climbed onto Whitey and reached out to Raven.

“… You’ll get struck by lightning if I leave you alone.”

“I know. Anyway, you can’t fly.”

“Why?”

“If Geotech sees us, he’ll cast a sealing curse, which would be disastrous.”

“Ah.”

Caesar lifted Raven and sat her in front of himself.

“Follow me. I’ve roughly scouted some hiding places.”

“Understood.”

Caesar started running first, and the beast people followed him, not hiding their respectful gaze.

***

Geotech regained consciousness and looked around.

Everything was in shambles.

Some were recovering through the Black Blessing, but it would take quite a long time to heal, and Geotech’s pyramid was half-destroyed and crumbling.

“This… Damned bastard…!”

Geotech couldn’t contain his rising anger.

He had never experienced such humiliation while occupying the beast people’s Forest, not even once.

Geotech felt like his insides would rot and decay if he didn’t immediately tear the red-haired man’s limbs and chew them up.

The troll high priests approached timidly.

“Great High Priest… What should we do… Kek!”

Geotech grabbed the neck of one troll high priest.

And he pushed the Black Blessing completely into the priest’s body.

“Ugh, Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaah!”

The troll priest’s flesh swelled, rotted, and collapsed to the ground.

Splat! Splat!

The priests were unable to watch the horrific scene and buried their heads in the ground, trembling.

Eventually, the troll priest’s body, now reduced to a solid spine and skull, became Geotech’s staff, spewing ominous Black Blessing.

“What should we do?”

Geotech pointed in the direction where the red-haired man had disappeared.

“Chase that red-haired man without leaving a single one behind. Bring him to me alive. I will personally carve his limbs and gouge out his eyeballs to chew on.”

The priests prostrated themselves and said:

“Yes! Understood!”

The priests quickly rose and issued orders to all Black Horn Tribe members.

“Go! Go and find that red-haired man! Do not kill him under any circumstances, and be sure to capture him alive!”

The Black Horn Tribe, numbering around 150,000, began to move en masse.

Geotech sat in the golden palanquin prepared by the priests.

“Let’s go.”

Geotech’s eyes burned with ominous intensity.

***

Both the Allied Forces and the Imperial Nation define these people as rebels.

Rebels aiming to overthrow the Imperial Nation.

Anti-system advocates.

Devil worshippers.

But they were not such reactionaries.

Their goal was very clear.

They wanted to return to their hometown.

They wanted to stop the war.

They wanted to put down their guns and knives, drink to their heart’s content, dance, work normal jobs, meet lovers, and get married – to live an ordinary life.

Their dreams had been distilled and gathered under one flag.

They were Home Town.

However, even an organization united by one desperate dream will start to creak when 30,000 to 40,000 people gather.

“Just when are we supposed to keep waiting? Sith?”

Instead of answering, Sith exhaled a long cigarette smoke.

Gathering the desires of those wanting to return home under Sith was relatively easy.

Occasionally devils would sneak in, but using the holy knights’ necklaces made it easy to filter them out.

The problem was that their desires were steeper and more intense than expected.

“We still lack logistical support to break through the Steel Fortress. We just need to gather a bit more.”

“Rather, this will give the Allied Forces more time to respond. We’ve already accumulated a fully equipped division-level force, and now we just need to push forward!”

“Then how are you going to destroy the strong Steel Fortress’s main gate? Just with towed artillery? I’ve heard the Steel Fortress’s main gate was designed not to break even if an ogre charged at it. How do you plan to attack that?”

“Waiting further is not an option. Why don’t we make long ladders to climb over the walls?”

“Make ladders over 40m long? Do you think that would be safe?”

“Then what do we do?! Commander-in-Chief!”

Sith had one method.

Waiting for his promise with Elijah.

Elijah said he would open the main gate the moment they reached the Steel Fortress.

Elijah had no reason to betray Sith, so bringing them safely home was not a lie.

But waiting any longer was becoming difficult.

He had been sending black pigeons to urge Elijah to signal quickly, but Elijah remained silent.

“Just three days. Wait just three days. Three days from now, a supply train departing from Luxhope heading to the Demon King’s Castle will leave, and let’s hope it carries weapons to attack the Steel Fortress.”

“What if we can’t obtain those supplies?”

Sith met the gazes of his staff officers.

“Then we’ll advance.”

The staff officers’ expressions finally relaxed.

Sith stood up and put a cigar in his mouth.

“I’ll rest for a bit. Draft the supply seizure operation plan and bring it to me.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Sith left the conference room and headed to his personal barracks.

Although the vampire castle was mostly demolished, there were still some intact areas, and Sith was using the bedroom where the vampire castle’s owner used to stay.

Sith sat on the messed-up bed and sighed.

“This is difficult.”

Sith, who is leading those who want to return to their hometown, ironically did not share the same dream as them.

Sith’s hometown is the demon realm.

Although not qualified to carry their desperate dreams on his back, he is gathering and wielding their dreams because Elijah needed him.

However, as time passed, Sith began to feel disillusioned with his work.

No, to be precise, their dreams began to transform into Sith’s own dreams.

Sith had always captivated them with sweet words like ‘I’ll take you back to your hometown’ and ‘I’ll gift you a peaceful daily life’.

They were nothing more than honeyed words, but the words that came from his shameless lips bound Sith.

As time went on, Sith truly wanted to take them back to their hometown.

However, when thinking rationally, to ensure they all return home safely, Elijah’s help was absolutely necessary…

He had no idea if Elijah would send a signal.

At that moment, a small mouse stood in front of Sith.

Sith tried to wave his foot to drive the mouse away.

But the mouse stood still and stared at Sith.

“What? There’s nothing to eat, so go away.”

Sith tried to drive the mouse away again, but… Then, he felt a strange sense from the mouse.

“Wait, are you… A doppelganger?”

“I’m not just a doppelganger.”

The mouse transformed into a black pigeon.

“I’m Pepe.”

Sith felt slightly elated upon seeing Pepe.

“Did Elijah send you?”

Pepe would often come directly when delivering Elijah’s detailed plans.

Sith was somewhat excited, thinking they could finally advance to the steel fortress, but Pepe did not meet his expectations.

“No, I came to check if you’re alive.”

“What are you talking about?”

Pepe headed towards the bed.

And transformed from a black pigeon into an incubus, sitting on the bed while hiding under the blanket.

“As expected, Elijah did not eliminate the necessary alter egos.”

“What are you trying to say? Speak properly.”

“Elijah eliminated the alter egos in front of me. Those guys disappeared like ash scattered by the wind.”

“For what reason?”

Pepe poured a drink from the bottle on the table and took a sip.

“Why do you want to know?”

“What?”

“Why are you curious about whether Elijah eliminates his own alter egos or not?”

Sith felt a surge of emotion rising in his throat momentarily.

“Of course…!”

But he couldn’t spit it out.

Because he had no valid reason.

“You are Elijah’s alter ego. I’m the same. In other words, we are Elijah’s consumables. So why are you excited about Elijah eliminating other alter egos?”

Sith could tell that Pepe was deliberately continuing to scratch at his emotions.

Sith could not help but be suspicious, as this was completely different from Pepe’s previous appearance, which was no different from an emotionless machine.

“What exactly happened, Pepe?”

“Are you confident you can handle hearing it?”

“It’ll be better than not hearing it at all.”

Pepe took another sip of alcohol.

“Elijah sent his alter egos along with the doppelganger ‘Mountain Lord’ to obtain Caesar’s blood and flesh. Naturally, they couldn’t defeat Caesar, and Caesar captured them all.”

Pepe recalled how the alter egos had disappeared at the time.

They vanished as if they had never existed in the world.

“And then Elijah eliminated all the alter egos. I didn’t hear the reason directly, but it was clear. It was to demonstrate his cruelty and ruthlessness at the same time…”

Pepe stared at his reflection in the full-length mirror.

“It’s like a threat that he can eliminate me at any time, so I shouldn’t even think about resisting.”

Sith reflexively uttered a statement typical of an alter ego.

“We are Elijah’s alter egos. We are living beings created by Elijah with a clear purpose. Shouldn’t we then follow Elijah’s will?”

Pepe threw the wine glass.

The full-length mirror shattered into pieces and scattered on the floor.

“I’m not that bastard’s tool!”

Pepe approached and grabbed Sith’s collar.

“I don’t know how you think, but I don’t want to die like trash! I want to leave a trace of my existence in the world! I want to live in my own way!”

Sith stood up and held Pepe’s excited hand.

“What do you mean by living in your own way? What do you mean by leaving a trace of your existence?”

“…I don’t know.”

Pepe cried out of frustration.

“I don’t know what I want to do. But I don’t want to disappear vaguely like those divine beings. That wasn’t death. Death is sacred. There must be at least a trace that I existed in this world. But… I have no idea. I have no clue what I should do. I just…”

Hot tears from Pepe’s eyes ran down his chin, wetting Sith’s hands.

“I just want to live…”

Sith was familiar with Pepe’s outcry.

Pepe’s outcry resonated with the dreams of the soldiers Sith was leading.

The soldiers simply wanted to return home, meet their families, and see their friends.

But their dreams were being suppressed, trampled, and insulted by the dreams and desires of the Emperor.

Sith gently shook off Pepe’s hand from his collar.

“It’s difficult to precisely understand what you’re trying to say.”

“Even if I say this, you…”

“My words are not finished yet, Pepe.”

Sith grabbed Pepe’s shoulder.

“But if escaping from Elijah is your dream, I’ll support you. You have the right to achieve that dream.”

“What right do I have?”

“You just want it.”

Sith wanted to cheer on Pepe’s dream.

It was because Sith himself had no dreams.

Sith, who had no desire to live and no desperate wish to return home, could feel alive just by having someone beside him with such a passionate desire.

That sensation was not bad at all.

“Keep it a secret from Elijah that you’re here. Instead, help me. Like how you want to live, my soldiers and comrades want to return home. We need a way to send them back.”

“Why do you want to help them?”

“Just because they want it.”

Pepe found Sith’s way of life difficult to understand.

But the difference between Sith and Caesar was that Sith helped Pepe even knowing he could be eliminated by Elijah at any moment.

He was not ungrateful to Caesar.

But the courage Sith showed to Pepe was enough to move him.

Pepe nodded.

“Okay. I’ll help.”

TL NOTE:

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