I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 15

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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 15

 

Defeating the Knight Commander wasn’t difficult.

 

His movements were quite flashy and unique, but when mana bullets were added to the Military Spirit’s attacks, he collapsed in an instant.

 

What remained on the street were countless corpses of soldiers and knights.

 

And one priest.

 

“Hi, hiiek…!”

 

As the Military Spirit growled and thrust its face forward, it forcibly lifted up the priest who had fallen to the ground in a pathetic state.

 

Was it because I had used too much magic in a short time? I pressed my forehead against the sudden wave of fatigue and asked.

 

“You’re the priest who presided over the execution ceremony. Right?”

“What are you talking about! An execution ceremony, I don’t know anything about…!”

“You are though.”

 

The priest who had shouted the Goddess’s name while ordering people’s executions. Seeing him up close, I was certain.

 

“There’s something I don’t quite understand, so could you answer me?”

“Let go, let go! Goddess Aision will never forgive you!”

“I’m talking about capturing and killing the poor people.”

 

The priest’s struggling movements hesitated for a moment.

 

“The Lord seemed to have the purpose of developing the city, but I don’t understand why the Religious Order cooperated.”

“Just, just for something like that…!”

“Something like that?”

“Do you even know what you’ve done! You’re doing this kind of thing just because we killed a few measly poor people? How dare you, uwaaaaah…!”

 

When I had the Military Spirit crush one of his hands, the priest let out a terrible scream. I could feel several citizens peeking through window gaps.

 

“Next time it won’t end with just one hand.”

“…Heu, heuk.”

 

The priest who had barely calmed down answered while sobbing.

 

“The Lord promised to build a huge cathedral and dedicate it to the Religious Order. I, I was supposed to become the bishop of that cathedral.”

“…”

“This was officially approved by the Religious Order too. Understand! This is the Goddess’s will! Even now, immediately release me…!”

 

I felt frustrated. There was a lot I wanted to say, but.

 

‘It’s meaningless.’

 

If he were someone who would listen, he wouldn’t have done such things in the first place.

 

Besides, right now I felt much more like finishing quickly and resting than anything else. It had been too harsh a night to endure as an Apprentice Dark Mage.

 

“Deal with him.”

 

I left the priest to the Military Spirit and was about to head to the Lord’s Castle when.

 

“…”

 

When I brought my hand to the strange sensation I felt at the corner of my mouth, I touched red blood.

 

“…Did blood splatter on me?”

-That’s what you coughed up. You fool.

“Huh?”

-It’s because your level is still shallow. I was worried from the time you started overusing Soul Magic. Your body is gradually unable to keep up.

 

But I didn’t stop. My body was craving rest, but it would be over soon.

 

I dealt with the soldiers guarding the entrance and entered the inner castle.

 

Perhaps because I had already dealt with a considerable number of soldiers on the way here, there weren’t many conflicts.

 

-What’s wrong with you?

“Hm?”

-I’m asking because you keep looking around.

 

Was it that obvious?

 

“I just thought it was incredibly fancy.”

 

As befitting a place where a lord lives, the inner castle was endlessly gorgeous with all kinds of decorations.

 

It was a sight I had never seen in my life, something I couldn’t even imagine.

 

-Hah…

 

However, the Demon Lord let out a scoff as if dumbfounded.

 

-You think this little bit is fancy?

“…Isn’t it?”

-You should have seen what the Demon Lord’s Castle looked like when it was intact. Compared to the Demon Lord’s Castle, this is not just shabby but downright vulgar.

 

The Demon Lord continued speaking without pause.

 

-There’s not even a trace of artistic sense to be found, just collecting anything that glitters thinking it’s good. It’s taste no different from a crow’s.

“…”

 

The Demon Lord’s speech didn’t stop.

 

I wondered if there had ever been another time when the Demon Lord talked this much. Even when talking about magic, it wasn’t to this extent.

 

“Well, you must have quite the pride.”

-When you live for a long time, your artistic eye naturally develops.

 

I sighed and spoke to the Demon Lord.

 

“But there’s nothing there.”

-…What?

 

It was a fact I knew well.

 

Legendary weapons that would cause chaos if even one appeared in the world, spirit medicines including elixirs, paintings and ornaments by great artists, and so on.

 

The Demon Lord’s Castle would naturally have been filled with all kinds of treasures.

 

What was the reason I headed straight to the Demon Realm upon hearing rumors that the war had ended? Wasn’t it because of my greed to become rich by picking up even one of those treasures, even a small fragment?

 

“That Demon Lord’s Castle you’re so proud of. It was completely destroyed in the fight with the Hero.”

 

It wasn’t even simply destroyed, but had vanished without a trace to be found.

 

The Hero probably regretted it after the fight ended too.

 

He had achieved victory, but couldn’t obtain a single proper war spoil. Even if not the Hero, surely his companions or the Allied Forces must have regretted it.

 

“This place is much more splendid and pleasant to look at than that desolate pit.”

-….

 

For some reason, the Demon Lord didn’t speak for quite a while.

 

“What’s wrong?”

-…Ridiculous.

 

I had only stated facts, so what could be the problem?

 

-As I said before, even defeat was part of my plan. Do you think I wouldn’t have anticipated the Demon Lord’s Castle being destroyed?

“As expected of the Demon Lord. You had a plan for everything?”

-The truly valuable things were all stored separately….

 

Treasures that the Demon Lord had secretly moved before the war. It was a story that couldn’t help but make my mouth water.

 

“That’s an interesting story, but let’s save it for later.”

 

While the Demon Lord was speaking, I arrived at the Lord’s Chamber.

 

Finding it wasn’t difficult. The terrified servants gave me directions every time I encountered them.

 

The moment I gently placed my hand on the enormous door that seemed twice my height.

 

-Get back.

 

As soon as I reflexively stepped back, the door exploded outward.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

My body was pushed back by the impact. Flying debris. Smoke filling my vision.

 

Various parts of my body stung and ached. The robe I was wearing wasn’t sufficient to block all the fragments.

 

“To avoid that attack. You have quite good instincts.”

“…Who are you?”

 

What was revealed as the smoke cleared was a young man with long hair.

 

The glasses on his face, the staff in his hand, and his blue robe were an appearance that anyone could recognize as a mage.

 

“Steuve Al Mahib. I’m a mage indebted to Baron Belive.”

“Al Mahib?”

“That’s right. I am the third son of the Al Mahib family, Steuve Al Mahib! Even if you’re a filthy Dark Mage, if you walk the path of magic, you must know about the Al Mahib family, right?”

 

The Al Mahib family, that’s….

 

“…What? I don’t know anything like that.”

“What…!”

 

Seeing him speak like that, I thought it might be quite a famous family, but there was no way I would have heard of it.

 

I was just lucky enough to catch my Master’s eye and began learning magic, but I didn’t have any particular ambition in magic.

 

I had never particularly interacted with other mages, nor had I ever been interested in useless information like famous families. I wondered if the Demon Lord might know.

 

-I don’t know. There’s no way I would remember the names of insignificant humans.

 

Despite having died twice to that human, he was a consistently pointless Demon Lord.

 

-But this is dangerous.

“Why?”

-By human standards, he’s quite a strong mage. No matter how bizarre your mana manipulation abilities are, it’s impossible to beat him with magic right now. Well, to me he’s at a trivial level….

 

Tension began to rise.

 

If the Demon Lord was saying this much, he was certainly a mage of considerable skill.

 

Until now, I had somehow managed to win through the overwhelming compatibility of Spirit Command, but if the opponent was a mage of high-level skill, the story would be different.

 

“Hmm…. How did you get through the soldiers and Knight Order to reach here?”

“Stop chattering and finish him, Al Mahib. Get rid of that disgusting Dark Mage!”

“Don’t worry, Baron. As you know, I am an Al Mahib. A mere Dark Mage is no match for me.”

 

The mage said this and walked toward me.

 

“You look young, and the amount of mana I sense is ridiculously small. Did you perhaps obtain some decent secret technique?”

 

With each step closer, the air felt heavier. The mana in the atmosphere was actually pressing down on me.

 

“Or maybe, yes. I’ve heard that dark magic has methods to slow aging or restore youth. Whatever it is, it’s quite tempting.”

 

Blatant greed.

 

I was certain that if caught, I wouldn’t die peacefully.

 

The possibility of being tortured to extract information or used as a test subject couldn’t be ignored.

 

I had to escape from here first.

 

“Deception.”

 

The moment the magic circle glowed beneath my feet and my form disappeared.

 

“That won’t work. Dispel.”

 

Light burst from the staff the mage was holding, and a strange wave emanated from it.

 

-Oh no.

 

Along with the Demon Lord’s sigh, tremendous pain shot through my heart.

 

The magic was instantly dispelled, and I collapsed on the spot, coughing up blood.

 

“Cough, this is…”

“Dispel. A magic that disrupts the surrounding mana and forcibly cancels deployed magic. What you experienced is the backlash. You probably won’t be able to use magic for a while.”

 

The mage approached me and looked down at me.

 

“I taught you something, so you answer my question. What kind of magic was that just now? Did you draw the magic circle with mana? Even using a magic circle, the activation was fast. It doesn’t match your level. There must be some special secret technique. What was it? Where did you get it?”

 

The mage seemed confident that I couldn’t do anything.

 

Unfortunately, that was true.

 

I had already pushed myself too hard getting here, and after what just happened, my condition was close to the worst.

 

Even the mage’s face right in front of me appeared to be two or three. But.

 

“Mage sir.”

“Yes, Dark Mage.”

“I’m asking just in case, but can you see souls?”

“You mean Spirit Sight. Unfortunately, I don’t have Spirit Sight. I know it can be obtained through a special ritual, but it’s not an ability worth obtaining by doing such things.”

“I thought so.”

 

If he had Spirit Sight, there’s no way he could have remained this unresponsive.

 

“Bite.”

 

Light tried to burst from the mage’s staff, but his reaction was too slow.

 

A mouth formed on the face part of the Military Spirit standing beside him, opened wide, and bit off the mage’s entire head.

 

The mage’s body collapsed, spurting blood.

 

With trembling hands, I opened a Soul Vial and collected the mage’s soul. I forced my closing eyes open and stood up.

 

Now only one remained.

 

“St-stop! Don’t come closer!”

 

Only Lord Belive, who had been confident of the mage’s victory and grown arrogant, now frozen in place, unable to accept the situation.

 

“Do you know what you’re doing right now? If you stop now, it’s still not too late…!”

“That.”

 

The old scythe felt unusually heavy.

 

“I already heard about it.”

 

But it was sufficient to deal with the terrified lord.

 

-The first trial is complete.

 

Right after hearing the Demon Lord’s voice, I realized I had fulfilled the contract with the Military Spirit.

 

At the same time…

 

-So this is how it works. Not bad.

 

* * *

 

The citizens of Belive Territory trembled in fear all night long.

 

The ordinary citizens who could at least peek outside through windows had it better.

 

“Did a war break out?”

“Then we might be released…”

“We’re all going to die. Going to die!”

“It would be better if we’re discovered. If no one can find us, we’ll starve to death.”

 

Those who suffered the most were the poor people locked in prison, who could only understand the situation through sounds.

 

Even after the noise died down, no soldiers came to the prison.

 

A few hours passed, and just as I was about to give up thinking due to the cold and hunger and try to sleep.

 

Click.

 

The prison doors began opening one by one.

 

“…Huh?”

 

When had he been standing there?

 

A young man wearing a tight-fitting small robe with a pale, sickly face was standing in front of the prison door.

 

The poor people, unable to understand the situation, couldn’t rashly step outside the door despite the moment they had so longed for finally arriving.

 

“Come out quickly. I’m tired.”

 

A voice heavy with fatigue. Only then did the poor people begin to move cautiously.

 

“Are you releasing us?”

“O-our home collapsed, where should we go?”

“Mom… where is my mom?”

 

Once one person spoke up, the prison instantly became noisy.

 

However, the moment the young man opened his mouth, people had no choice but to close theirs.

 

“I’m only releasing you. I won’t take responsibility for what happens after.”

“Thank you…!”

 

Though his words might have seemed irresponsible at first glance, to people who had been waiting only for the day they would die, these were the most desperately needed words of all.

 

One of the poor people escaping from prison asked the young man.

 

“But, who are you…?”

 

The young man leaning against the iron bars pondered for a moment, then answered with a smile as if an amusing thought had occurred to him.

 

“Dark Mage.”

 

Though I’m only an apprentice.

 

The poor person stared at him with a blank expression, then came to his senses due to the cold he felt and ran outside.

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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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