I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 121

 

“This is a message from the patron.”

 

As big as a house.

 

That was the only way to describe it—a massive body. Black flesh and purple blood. The man who had been resting atop the corpse of the monster that appeared in the Eastern Continent and swept through the Five Territories raised his head.

 

“Another monster… How tiresome.”

 

The battle had continued for a week without rest. No matter how much support he had received, that fatigue wasn’t easily relieved. He was filled with the desire to just give up and collapse on the roadside to sleep.

 

That’s how the year had been.

 

There was nothing surprising about it anymore.

 

“It’s similar, but no. There’s an unaffiliated Dark Mage hiding in the Neighboring Kingdom.”

 

“A Dark Mage?”

 

The man frowned for a moment.

 

Battles with Dark Mages were always terrible. They thought nothing of sacrificing others and used defenseless people as sacrifices. Regardless of whether they were strong or weak, they were disgusting and revolting.

 

And how easily their numbers grew. They were like endlessly appearing cockroaches.

 

“Those Black Tower or whatever they are—can we finally subjugate them?”

 

Still, there was one reason they couldn’t rashly attack them. Their patrons, the Imperial Emperor, even the Saint and Pope of the Holy Nation…

 

All the power holders of Various Nations, including them, had forbidden the subjugation of the Black Tower.

 

On the surface, they said it was to drive them into one space and make them easier to control… But from his experience, it was an unacceptable story. Among the Dark Mages he had encountered, only one had retained their humanity.

 

“That’s not it.”

 

However, the answer from the Leather-clad Woman’s mouth betrayed the man’s expectations.

 

“They say he’s a wanderer who didn’t join the Black Tower. Ashta Belan. A High-rank Dark Mage over eighty years old this year, who massacred an entire Count’s Domain during his prime.”

 

“Impressive that he’s still alive.”

 

“Seems he made a non-aggression pact with the Kingdom back then. Well, thirty years is a long time for a kingdom to endure.”

 

The man, Johnny, pulled out the Holy Sword that had been embedded in the monster’s head and hung it at his waist as he asked.

 

“What about the thing I asked you to look into?”

 

“…Wait a moment.”

 

The woman turned her head back and shouted.

 

“Hey, Shtidy. Our Hero wants something to drink.”

 

“…Doesn’t he have hands?”

 

When Shtidy, who had been leaning against a spot some distance away drinking coffee, grumbled and asked, the woman shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Well, he’s precious.”

 

“Ridiculous.”

 

As Shtidy grumbled but obediently left his spot, the woman watching his retreating figure whispered.

 

“I confirmed it. The Trading Company is sending people to various parts of the continent. Even to unprofitable slash-and-burn villages. Officially it’s for trade, but….”

 

The woman who had been crossing her arms and tapping her fingers said.

 

“The monsters appeared right after they finished their trade. …I’m not certain. Since it’s the continent’s best Trading Company, it wouldn’t be strange for them to go anywhere for trade. But.”

 

Johnny waved his hand. His enhanced senses detected Shtidy returning. There wasn’t much time to talk.

 

“That’s enough. That’s sufficient. What about the others?”

 

“Shtidy is still checking. Albeng doesn’t seem to have any particular connection with the Trading Company. He seems to be on bad terms with the New Pope and Cardinals too.”

 

“….”

 

After thinking for a moment, Johnny looked straight into the woman’s eyes.

 

“Can I trust you?”

 

“Well, who knows. You took in a lowly thief, so I’m just repaying the favor. Whether you trust me or not is up to you.”

 

He sighed and stood up from his seat. Opening the water bottle that Shtidy had thrown from afar, Johnny drank roughly and said.

 

“Let’s go. Did you say that Dark Mage massacred the Count’s Domain?”

 

Before leaving, he took one last look at the monster.

 

“It’s less than this.”

 

* * *

 

Clatter.

 

The man who opened the iron door threw me inside.

 

“Kugh…!”

 

I hit my face against the cold floor. For a while, I couldn’t get up and could only gasp for breath. It wasn’t because of the impact. It was because of the sword wounds that had slashed all over my body.

 

The magic circle carved into the floor drew holy power from somewhere and healed my body. Before long, I could move my body to some extent, but that was all. No matter how much I experienced the pain, I never got used to it.

 

“Damn…”

 

Today makes it the third day. No, is it the fourth?

 

After the Demon Lord took over my body and activated some unknown magic. I ended up trapped in this place.

 

Without knowing why, I was bound and subjected to experiments that were close to torture. The researchers, whether they were priests or mages, didn’t change their expressions no matter what reaction I showed.

 

It wasn’t difficult to figure out the reason.

 

The memories of others that I had glimpsed bit by bit whenever I absorbed souls. What I was experiencing now probably wasn’t much different from those. If there was one difference… it would be that these were my memories.

 

The face reflected in the iron door was my face. Even though the hair color was different and I looked small enough to be only five or six years old. It was definitely my face.

 

However, these were events I couldn’t remember at all. Well, the only thing I remembered before being saved by Master was being trapped in a box, shivering from cold and hunger.

 

Only after my body finally calmed down did I get up from where I was.

 

I had to escape from here somehow. I had no idea what the Demon Lord was planning to do using my body. It wouldn’t be strange at all if the world had become hell by now.

 

Actually, more than that, I felt like I would die first if I stayed here.

 

The researchers here were too different from the mages I had briefly experienced at the Magic Tower. They had no intention of caring for their test subjects at all.

 

‘The other senior mages at the Green Magic Tower would even try to recycle used magic stones somehow…’

 

Whether they had money to burn or were really trying to kill us, they never stopped the torture to a suspicious degree. Just in the past few days, the number of test subjects who died exceeded double digits.

 

“How on earth should I…”

 

Could I escape from here?

 

I couldn’t feel the core made by weaving divinity and mana together, and my physical strength was insignificant. Escaping the laboratory was distant, let alone this memory that the Demon Lord had trapped me in.

 

“It seems like it might work if I do it right though.”

 

There was a difference from when I had absorbed other people’s souls.

 

Perhaps because this was a reconstructed situation rather than glimpsing memories, I was able to move my body as I wished. I hadn’t yet confirmed whether my actions affected the surroundings, but…

 

“What do you think it’ll be?”

 

“What?”

 

When I looked up at the sudden voice, I saw the face of a boy poking his head through the iron door.

 

“Are you feeling a bit better? You took quite a beating today.”

 

His age… looked similar to mine. His golden blonde hair and clear eyes were striking.

 

“…”

 

“Haven’t come to your senses yet…?”

 

The boy tilting his head didn’t fit this space at all. His striking appearance aside, in a place where everyone had dying eyes, his were the first I’d seen full of life.

 

A researcher’s family member? The aura he gave off was different for that. And no matter how inhumane those bastards were, they wouldn’t leave their own child unprotected in a place like this. Especially in this kind of space.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“You forgot? How long has it been since I introduced myself?”

 

He might be something the Demon Lord planted. To kill my personality here and manipulate me at will…

 

“Ahem, ahem.”

 

The boy cleared his throat as if secretly proud and said:

 

“I am Ruin Epeldor.”

 

“…?”

 

“You can’t forget again, okay?”

 

At those words, I stared at him with my mouth agape without realizing it.

 

It was a familiar, familiar name.

 

The Second Hero who defeated the Demon Lord. That was the name of the Hero who slayed the dragon together with the sky.

 

“Wait, Epeldor…?”

 

What was surprising was surprising, and what was strange was strange.

 

Since the Second Hero was also a Hero created according to the Artificial Hero Project, he could have been in the same facility.

 

But Epeldor is the name of the Empire, and a surname only permitted to the Imperial Royal Family. Even if I were to concede a hundred times that this person really is that Ruin Epeldor, at this point in time, he wouldn’t have received that surname yet.

 

Yet the Boy introduced himself as Ruin Epeldor.

 

“…It’s just a pipe dream.”

 

“Pipe dream? What does that mean?”

 

I watched the Boy shake the Iron Bars and then lay down.

 

I knew that my words and actions could change the situation, but I could no longer find any meaning in it.

 

This is just a vivid pipe dream. The Demon Lord probably just wanted to torture me by mixing up my memories. Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Shtidy started doing Tap Dance with Albeng next to me, the Elf King bowed his head to an Ice Spirit, and the World Tree flew around riding a Dragon.

 

“Child. Don’t bother me and go back. This hyung is tired.”

 

“Child? Why am I a child? Why are you hyung?”

 

In the end, there’s only one way to escape from here.

 

Divinity.

 

Since the Demon Lord has obtained Divinity, to break his Magic, I too must be able to handle Divinity.

 

Fortunately, I already have experience successfully handling Divinity on my own. If I can just sense the Divinity sleeping within me, I’ll find a way to escape using it somehow.

 

“Are you ignoring me?”

 

I heard the quite angry voice of the Child from Outside the Door. Well, from the perspective of a kid who’s only about five or six years old, it would be hard to tolerate being ignored.

 

But what could that little thing possibly do? It’s just one character from a pipe dream, and even if it were a real person, as long as the Iron Door blocks it, it can’t affect me in any way.

 

I concentrated on sensing Divinity with my eyes closed. The Boy who had been throwing a tantrum for a while seemed to get bored and soon disappeared. However, there was no progress at all in sensing Divinity.

 

I wasn’t disappointed. Even if I were the Demon Lord, I would have certainly prepared various defenses to make sensing Divinity difficult. Giving up with just this much would only make the Demon Lord laugh.

 

The Divinity absorbed into my Soul wouldn’t have run away anywhere, so if I keep trying for days, I’ll surely be able to sense Divinity.

 

Several hours seemed to pass. It wasn’t Divinity, but just when I was about to sense some Mana…

 

“Number 66. Come out.”

 

“….”

 

“Aren’t you coming out quickly?”

 

The Lock of the Iron Door opened, and the Researcher’s shout was heard.

 

The researcher shouted angrily. The break was over, and it seemed the experiment would continue again. When I remained still without moving, the researcher came inside and dragged me out.

 

Then, he struck me with the club he was holding.

 

“Kugh…!”

 

Even though this was just a dog’s dream, the pain was exactly the same as reality. The rough researcher’s hands disrupted the sense of mana I had barely managed to grasp.

 

“At this rate, we’ll be late. If you don’t listen again, know that it’ll hurt even more. You can look forward to it.”

 

“….”

 

The researcher slung me over his shoulder and headed to the laboratory. He had impressive stamina for a researcher. While it wouldn’t be difficult for a grown adult man to carry around a five or six-year-old child, the Magic Tower Seniors from the Green Magic Tower couldn’t do such things.

 

When I struggled to open my eyes while hanging from his shoulder.

 

In the distance, I could see the face of a child looking at me with a smile as if saying “serves you right.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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