I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 162

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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 162

I broke the blade.

I broke the Holy Sword.

I broke the peerless, Indestructible Sword meant to face the Demon Lord.

In other words, this meant I had broken the Goddess’s Sword, and it could also be expressed as breaking the Goddess’s Divine Power.

“So this is proof of that, and a symbol.”

The twisted sword.

I make this reverse-edged scythe my Holy Sword.

It is the most lethal awl aimed at the Goddess, and the flag I wave for victory.

-How pathetic indeed.

The Goddess sneered.

Of course, speaking of victory just from breaking one sword is a leap.

The Holy Sword is merely a tool to the Goddess, and the Goddess’s power that went into making it would be only a tiny fraction. However, magic had always manifested through such leaps.

The first principle of magic.

“What happens once, can happen again.”

This small victory is a stepping stone toward a greater victory.

-Magic, you say.

The Goddess whispered in my ear.

-Merely?

“It’s not something to dismiss as ‘merely.'”

The battle between the Goddess and me had long transcended the realm of simple combat. Since clashes between those possessing divinity don’t affect physical damage much, how much damage is dealt to one’s divine status would have the greatest impact on victory or defeat.

The Hero, and the Holy Sword.

The law of the world the Goddess created to defeat the Demon Lord. That it took the form of a ritual was absolutely no coincidence. It would be the most effective way to annihilate the opponent’s divine status.

“With this.”

It is complete.

“As a Hero, I shall subjugate the Demon Lord with this Holy Sword.”

-Go ahead and try.

The Goddess will fall victim to the law she herself created.

* * *

I feel overwhelming power.

The world collapses and turns to light, seeping into my body through the twisted Holy Sword. Just like when I harbored six types of divinity in one body. No, it’s an even greater power than that.

Three worlds converge at one point.

Indeed, it’s the power to defeat the Demon Lord. Yet my body doesn’t collapse, so perhaps this is the greatest value of the vessel that is the Hero.

Every time I swing the twisted Holy Sword, everything that exists in its path disappears. It’s thoroughly decomposed and absorbed into me.

However, the Goddess was not.

Speed faster than any knight in the world. Power that had long surpassed the Hero’s single strike. Yet the Goddess was not struck down.

When I swung the Holy Sword, the Goddess was already no longer there.

-Listen, foolish deity.

The world trembled as the Goddess’s voice echoed.

I reflexively raised my head. She was there in the lofty sky.

-You gave me the Demon Realm.

I lowered my head at pain too great for my eyes to bear. But she was also beneath my feet.

-The Heavenly Realm was mine from the beginning, and the Demon Realm has also become mine. The Middle Realm has long been a farm I’ve cultivated.

She was everywhere in the world. Even when I closed my eyes, she was between my eyelids and eyeballs. The Goddess existed everywhere.

Even when I swung the Holy Sword, the Goddess from elsewhere would fill that spot.

Could those words be true?

No, they’re wrong. The Goddess is certainly one. But she is everything. In the energy flowing through the Holy Sword, in the beautiful clusters of light. In the thin air. The Goddess dwells in everything except me.

-Listen. I am the master of the three realms.

The world mocks. The Goddess mocks.

-In this world, I never lose.

No. The world already recognizes her as the Demon Lord. The entire world will be hostile toward her, so even if she’s the Goddess, she won’t be able to endure it…

“…!”

But if the entire world is the Goddess, then doesn’t that mean the Goddess is hostile toward me?

The flow of fate has changed.

The fate that had been spewing hostility toward the Goddess now recognizes me as an enemy. The Goddess, who had been watching my struggles to relieve her boredom, now targets me in earnest.

The laws break and let out a terrible shriek.

The Hero and Demon Lord fight. The fate that should originally help the Hero defeat the Demon Lord instead targets the Hero. Laws that were carved so naturally crumble so simply.

“Not yet….”

Not yet.

The laws haven’t completely collapsed.

At most, the power flowing through the Holy Sword has diminished. At most, fate is hostile toward me. Since I already experienced this while facing Johnny, it’s not fatal.

However, it’s a desperate situation.

I can’t even trust the premise that the Hero will defeat the Demon Lord. I don’t know when it might collapse. In a situation where the gap between the Goddess and me is still vast, what should I believe in?

“Oh my. You look quite dangerous, new King.”

A voice was heard.

In a world where I thought everyone had died. Not the wailing of trapped souls, nor the Goddess’s mad voice. A voice so peaceful, and therefore so alien, was heard.

“…Dahan?”

-A demon. Is this the last remaining trace of Alde?

Golden Star Trading Company Owner Dahan. No, the demon Simone who had taken over his body was standing there.

“Normally it would be right to simply observe, but advising an inexperienced king is also the duty of a retainer.”

Wearing his usual colorless ceremonial robes, kneeling. He spoke with a polite yet frivolous smile.

“In this conflict between great beings, may this humble servant dare offer a word?”

-A king, you say.

The Goddess smiled with an expression of interest. The Goddess who had filled all things in the world converged into one.

And surprisingly, the place where the demon knelt was precisely between her and me. Did the demon intend this?

-I ask. Who is this king you speak of?

It was a languid and authoritative voice.

If we’re talking about the Demon Lord’s successor, it could be said to be me, having absorbed his soul. But since the Demon Realm now belongs to the Goddess, she could also be called the Demon Lord.

Then which of us does the king the demon called refer to – me or the Goddess?

That was exactly what the Goddess was asking.

However, I could be certain.

‘He said quite dangerous.’

He must mean me, who is being pushed back by the Goddess. If the demon calls me king, the Goddess will not forgive it. She has already declared herself master of the Demon Realm. No king would leave behind a retainer who doesn’t follow them.

“A king is.”

The demon slowly raised his bowed body and opened his mouth.

“One who must know how to take responsibility for their words and actions.”

“….”

-Indeed so.

The Goddess burst into laughter and clapped her hands.

-A king is one who can achieve everything they desire, but precisely because of that, they must thoroughly follow the rules they themselves have set.

Perhaps because I felt the demon’s eyes were subtly directed toward the Goddess.

-Demon Lord Alderion, that wretch was truly absurd in that regard. A lying king, indeed. A divine authority of lies, indeed.

The last demon, who could be called a trace of the Demon Lord, might feel joy in being acknowledged by her. This is because of the inferiority complex the Goddess held toward the Demon Lord, the threat and humiliation she had felt.

At the same time, it would also be the influence of accepting my deception and taking over the Demon Realm.

-War, plunder, victory. Monopolization for endless growth. These are the rules I have set. They are fundamentally different from lies used to escape situations through cunning.

The Goddess’s divine authority is the establishment of laws. That was clearly a tyrant’s power.

I don’t know how many worlds she has invaded with that ability, or how many divine essences she has plundered. But the Goddess would have used all of those things for her own benefit.

“There is one more thing, as I understand it.”

The demon now turned his head completely, looking straight at the Goddess as he spoke.

Then he stood up from his position.

Now I could only see his back, but I could be certain he was wearing a smile befitting a demon.

Of course, I knew one more law that the Goddess had established.

“Choose.”

The demon’s words no longer contained any respect toward the Goddess.

Rather, they held a venomous hatred.

I realized why the Goddess had been wary of the Demon Lord. Why she felt threatened by the king of a lowly world who had ascended to divinity long after her.

Even a mere mage must be careful with their words to reach higher realms. Those who habitually lie cannot reach higher realms.

“To destroy the laws you established with your own hands means abandoning the authority of a king.”

If this is true even for a mere mage, what about one who has ascended to divinity?

As the demon said, a king must know how to take responsibility for their own words. They must take responsibility. Otherwise, the dignity they have built as a god will crumble.

“If you comply with the laws, you will face death because of them.”

Therefore, a king who habitually lies would have become established through fear. A divine nature that doesn’t crumble despite speaking lies would have seemed like an incomprehensible existence to the Goddess.

“Just as I have spent infinite time in regret due to my choice. You too shall become the same.”

Who had spoken those words?

It seemed like the demon had said it, but also like words that had flowed from my own mouth. Perhaps no one had spoken at all.

-How dare you…!

As the Goddess revealed her anger, the demon crumbled to dust and disappeared. Everything around us vanished. A powerful storm seemed to arise and sweep away the world.

However, it had no effect on me whatsoever.

-Ha, haha…! Interesting. How interesting!

And before long, laughter echoed through the air.

-Choice. A choice, you say.

Where the storm had subsided, the Goddess sat once again with a benevolent smile.

-You’re telling me to choose whether to die while holding this position as king of the Demon Realm, or to survive by destroying the laws.

I noticed that the Goddess’s fingertips were trembling slightly. Was it because of the anger she harbored? Or did it signify that her divine nature was crumbling?

-I am a Goddess.

The Goddess murmured, emphasizing as if trying to engrave that will into the world.

-Throughout all the time I have existed, I have obtained everything I desired.

The divinity contained in my body, my dignity as a Hero, allowed me to roughly gauge her divine nature. I could faintly read the history she had built over countless ages.

-Once I have something in my grasp, I have never given it up.

It was a desperate, fierce history.

-No matter how lowly a world it may be, it is mine.

Before targeting the Middle Realm, while plundering countless other worlds. Before continuing countless battles of wounding and being wounded.

Even the history from before the Goddess was called a god, I glimpsed briefly.

-Do you think I would feel threatened by something like this?

It was such a fleeting moment that I couldn’t realize exactly what it was, or even if it was real. But I felt the life of one person who had struggled desperately.

Of course, it wasn’t particularly important.

Due to what had just happened, the pressure of fate bearing down on me had lessened.

The Goddess had made her choice. To protect the authority of a king, she decided not to deny the laws she had created herself. Not to give up the territory she had obtained.

Then I could win.

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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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