Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Demon King [3]
After dying from illness in his previous life, Dix woke up, and found himself in someone else’s body.
With his genius brain, it didn’t take him long to understand his current situation and get used to this new world.
With his experience from his previous life, Dix successfully built a guild called Azure Crown, and became the top 1 Ranker in the Tower.
He thought everything was fine.
But that was until Dix entered the 22nd floor.
Or rather, returned to his world.
And the moment Dix met Prince Erza, for some reason, an indescribable familiar feeling welled up in his chest.
And it wasn’t until recently that he understood what that feeling was, and why it suddenly existed.
Erza was his comrade in his previous life.
Or rather, Kaelus’s next life.
Dix had naturally seen through the prince’s plan from the start.
But, like Kael, he believed that it was the only and best choice.
But, there was one thing that Dix truly did not understand.
— Why did you do all of this, Kaelus?
— Why were you willing to sacrifice the kingdom you founded?
"Just because you feel it’s your responsibility as a former hero?"
"Not exactly."
Erza shook his head.
"It’s true that I feel I have a responsibility, but the main reason is because... I promised you that I would always love and help this world."
"...Just because of a promise?"
"That was your promise, Dix. Making it even more special."
"..."
Alaric didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"Hey Dix... do you think I did wrong? Honestly, I struggled a lot, but I still decided to go this far."
The prince smiled bitterly.
The King sighed.
"I have no right to judge, and I don’t know how to judge."
Then, his eyes turned to the window.
"You are both a blameworthy king and a good king."
The reason Erza chose to exterminate all the nobles who exploited the commoners was because he didn’t want any more civil wars to break out.
If those wars continued, the population would decrease, and there wouldn’t be enough left to revive the Demon King.
"Even if that was your plan, we can’t ignore the fact that all the people have had a better life after those nobles were purged."
Although it was only for a short period of time.
"As for heroes..."
Alaric paused.
"Honestly, I don’t know how to say it."
A hero’s duty was to protect the people.
But now, what Erza was doing was conflicting with that.
"I understand, Dix. You don’t need to say any more."
[You have 20 seconds left to stay on the 26th floor.]
"20 seconds?"
It wasn’t a very long time, but it was enough for The King to ask his former comrade one last thing.
"You won’t regret it, Kaelus?"
Erza smiled faintly.
"Never."
"...Can I hug you one last time?"
The prince spread his arms out.
"Of course, this is the last time we’ll see each other after all."
Without wasting any more time, Alaric rushed forward, and hugged Erza tightly.
They were no longer in that timeline.
And now, the two of them had a new destiny, a new body.
But at this moment, it was as if the two of them were still in that time.
The time when the hero Dix and the hero Kaelus traveled together.
"...Goodbye, my friend."
Alaric’s body was slowly fading away.
"Can I ask you one last favor, Dix?"
"Of course, my friend."
"Whether it’s in this life or my previous life... most of my actions will lead to unforeseen consequences. So... just like those times, can you take care of those consequences for me?"
"You... are such a troublesome person, Kaelus."
The King smiled.
"But of course I will do that. You are my companion, after all."
Just like that, he disappeared into thin air, leaving Erza to face everything alone.
Not long ago, the prince’s mood had been really bad, but now, his mood had improved somewhat.
"I apologize, citizens of the Dicathen Kingdom. I apologize for being a trashy ruler."
The next moment, all of that liquid entered Erza’s stomach.
— Goodbye, Prince Erza.
— Goodbye, Hero Kaelus.
***
"Grandma, I have a day off tomorrow, so why don’t we go out and play together?"
While having dinner with his family, Collin suddenly spoke up.
"Yay! Let’s go out! Let’s go out! Let’s go out!"
And just like every other time, his little brother was extremely excited.
The grandmother didn’t say much, just giving a friendly smile.
"Of course."
Hearing that, Collin smiled brightly.
It had been a long time since their family had spent time together like this.
Tomorrow was going to be a great day!
Whoosh!
A strong wind blew from outside.
And when it passed, there was no sound inside the house.
The three of them were dead.
There was no tomorrow.
***
Since today was a holiday, Anderson decided to spend some time with his beloved mother.
And the best way to do that was to go for a walk.
And what better place to do it than in the park?
"Mom, how did you feel today?"
"Lovely. But the best part was spending time with you, my son."
The mother ruffled Anderson’s hair, making it messy.
"After meeting that person, you really have matured a lot, huh? If you meet that person again, remember to invite that friend to our house for dinner."
Embarrassed, Anderson pushed her arm away.
"Come on, Mom, I’m not a kid anymore."
"Haha, in my eyes, you’re only 5 years old."
This could be said to be the happiest time for both of them.
It had been a long time since they felt like this.
"But do you feel something’s wrong?"
"What?"
"The park is a crowded place, but we’ve been here for a long time, and we still haven’t seen anyone."
Anderson looked around.
"...You’re right."
Whoosh!
"Huh? Wind?"
Thud!
The head of the man’s mother fell to the ground.
"What’s that sound?"
Thud!
And the next head to fall to the ground was Anderson’s.
***
Sitting in an alley was the man who had just finished talking to Erza a few days ago.
He drank bottle after bottle of wine, but he didn’t seem to feel any pain in his stomach or anything.
The man didn’t even frown once.
He looked... serene.
As if he already knew when his death would be.
"So this is your choice, prince?"
Whoosh!
"Haha. Just like I said, there’s not a single person who opposes your decision, right?"
***
With a speed faster than light and sound, Erza advanced to every corner of the Dicathen Kingdom.
Not forgetting to kill anyone the prince could sense.
Just like that, the population of the Dicathen Kingdom decreased at a dizzying speed.
Meanwhile, the number of people Erza killed was increasing at the same rate.
[52/2,000,000.]
[422,413/2,000,000.]
[1,651,831/2,000,000.]
And then, what had to come happened.
[2,000,000/2,000,000.]
The Demon King, the one who brought destruction to the world, the one who turned everything into a nightmare, was resurrected.
Standing on the pile of corpses of innocent people, Erza, no, the Demon King, raised his face to the sky.
The sky was gloomy today.
"...How wonderful."