I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 54

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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 54

 

“The current Elf King is the Hero’s blood relative.”

 

At Birutta’s unexpected words, Jude, who had been surveying the surroundings, looked at her.

 

“To be precise, it would be correct to call him a ‘bastard child.'”

 

The Demon Lord laughed as if finding it interesting. Birutta, who couldn’t possibly know this, continued speaking.

 

“We, who had been striving to fulfill our long-cherished wish for ages, eventually fell into the arrogant idea of directly creating a new World Tree ourselves.”

 

This was already a story I knew. Including the fact that it had ended in miserable failure.

 

“Our Elves’ funeral customs are a bit unique. Do you happen to know about them?”

“…Suddenly?”

“We bury the dead in small trees prepared in advance.”

 

There was said to be such a custom among those who claimed to be descendants of Elves in some small country existing somewhere on the continent.

 

“What began from the hope that the souls of the dead would dwell in trees became a ritual for birthing spirits, with all sorts of magical procedures added to it.”

 

Spirits.

 

The Demon Lord evaluated them as a type of soul possessing special and powerful force.

 

“That’s right. Though they are incomplete beings that possess neither memories from life nor proper reason. How else could we express them other than calling them spirits?”

 

However, spirits had a distinguishing difference that clearly separated them from ordinary souls – namely, the special spirituality they possessed. Or what could be called divinity.

 

The Demon Lord said:

 

Divinity. Without divinity, no matter how much effort one put in, reviving the World Tree would be impossible.

 

“Divinity…”

“As expected, you know about it. Because we lacked divinity, we have continued to fail. Our ancestors hoped to weave the created spirits together to reach godhood.”

 

A self-mocking smile formed at the corners of Birutta’s mouth.

 

“There’s no need to say how foolish that idea was. No matter how many mortal souls we gathered, we could never reach divinity.”

 

What she was looking toward was a tree of immense size even among the Great Forest filled with trees over ten meters tall. It was the giant tree where I had been imprisoned until recently.

 

“Then the Gate of Demon Realm opened, and the Hero was born. Our ancestors, who had been wandering the continent searching for clues to reach godhood, couldn’t help but be amazed. In the mortal human… the Hero, they discovered faint divinity.”

“…!”

“Though the Hero himself seemed unaware of it, our ancestors who had searched for divinity across generations could tell. There were even some who seriously devoted themselves to the Goddess Sect at one point.”

 

Jude let out a hollow laugh.

 

This was because he thought the fanatical behavior of the Elves he had seen so far matched quite well with the priests of the Religious Order.

 

‘No, perhaps the Elves influenced those bastards instead.’

 

Unaware of what Jude was thinking, Birutta spoke in a serious tone.

 

“Thus, our ancestors decided to lend their strength to the Hero. What they gained in return was the safety of the Great Forest. And one night before slaying the Demon Lord.”

“…Huh?”

 

At Birutta’s sudden words, Jude tilted his head in confusion.

 

Jude wondered if she was joking. Her serious expression didn’t match the content at all.

 

Moreover, for some reason, the Demon Lord seemed quite displeased.

 

“The calculation was that if we could bear the child of one who possessed divinity, we could fill what we lacked. But we failed once again.”

-That was only natural.

“Only an Elf slightly superior to other Elves was born. We couldn’t find even a trace of the divinity we had hoped for.”

-While it’s true that the Hero accumulates divinity by passing through trials, that can’t be considered entirely his own. It doesn’t even belong to this Middle Realm in the first place.

 

The Demon Lord recited knowledge that should have been conveyed to the Elves of a thousand years ago, in a mocking tone.

 

-The moment he completed his mission, the divinity would have evaporated without a trace. Even the faint amount that might have dwelt in his child.

“Expectations turned to disappointment directed at the child, and that child grew up unable to help but obsess over completing our cherished wish. Of course, the Elves during that time also did their best to fulfill our wish, but… that child. The current king crossed the line.”

 

Perhaps the judgment of the Elves at that time wasn’t wrong. The Demon Lord hinted at the possibility that the born child had a seed of divinity like the Hero’s dwelling within him.

 

The Elf King’s superiority compared to other Elves was probably due to that divinity somehow influencing him. However.

 

‘Evaporated, but to where?’

-Where else would it go?

 

The Demon Lord laughed. But it was laughter that gave a completely different feeling from usual.

 

-The source of his power. The one who created the law called Hero. None other than the Goddess.

 

Since I had already somewhat guessed this while questioning the Demon Lord, the shock was lessened.

 

Planting small seeds and harvesting them when they had grown sufficiently. The Demon Lord was describing the Goddess as a more faithful farmer than anyone.

 

-But the problem began when the king’s lifespan was nearing its end.

“His lifespan was ending?”

 

Though Elves lived for eons by human standards, that didn’t mean eternity. Naturally, the Elf King was no exception.

 

“The king’s twisted obsession with our cherished wish exceeded all bounds. Unlike other Elves, he couldn’t be satisfied with passing on his achievements to future generations. He forcibly extended his lifespan and refused to become an incomplete spirit.”

 

Was that why he had been lying like dead on what resembled an altar?

 

It seemed the king’s words about having lived for ages even by Elven standards weren’t an exaggeration.

 

“Binding spirits born from consciousness into one to reach divinity… Everyone agreed to that. Even the hopeful, foolish observation that it would be possible with just a little more effort!”

 

Perhaps because they too were Elves who had strived for the goal called the World Tree’s wish during their lifetime, she thought they would willingly endure such sacrifice.

 

Even knowing it had already failed, they might have been unable to stop what they had been doing out of inertia.

 

Since Birutta didn’t bother to explain, Jude speculated as such. However…

 

“But that was only using spirits born from death. No one agreed to the act of melting the living to turn them into spirits…!”

“….”

 

At her passionate cry, the small trees in front of her swayed. They looked as if they were waving their hands.

 

Only now did Jude realize what had happened to the other Tree Searchers. The small trees before his eyes were her companions.

 

“Melting the living to create spirits, you say…”

 

Could it be that the reason he felt there were few Elves compared to the scale of the Great Forest was because of this?

 

The spirits created by the Elves were incomplete beings without memories or intelligence from their lifetime. How many Elves had been sacrificed to the delusion that just a little more, just a little more would make it work?

 

The King’s obsession with his wish seemed intense enough to lead the entire species to destruction.

 

“There’s one thing you’re wrong about.”

“…?”

“Saying no one agreed to it.”

 

No matter how exceptional the Elf King might have been from birth, he was now nothing more than a living corpse forcibly clinging to a dying life.

 

Surely his power would be weak compared to his prime. Otherwise, there would have been no way for Birutta to escape with me.

 

This meant that if the Elves had actively risen up, it would have been entirely possible to stop the King.

 

“If no one stood in his way, if they followed without refusing, that’s no different from agreeing. Moreover.”

 

He didn’t know about the other Elves. But at least Remal seemed to actively participate in the King’s plan.

 

“That’s…”

“The Tree Searchers were dealt with for that reason too.”

“….”

 

The Elves who only stayed within the Great Forest certainly followed the King’s plan.

 

The Tree Searchers who wandered Human Territory searching for World Tree Branches and experienced various things seemed different. Even if they couldn’t abandon their Elven nature, they must have vaguely sensed something was wrong.

 

So they were eliminated. To prevent them from influencing other Elves.

 

“Spirits in the first place.”

 

Not wanting to let go of the dead would be the same for anyone. Wanting to be together if possible would be natural.

 

But even so, to have them dwell in trees after losing both memories and intelligence.

 

That was definitely connected to Dark Magic. He had heard that Necromancy, a branch of Dark Magic, also started from such desires. His Master’s secret technique, Six Arms, was also…

 

“…That’s all I have to say.”

 

Though she looked like she had more to say, Birutta stepped back and said nothing more.

 

“Let’s go back.”

“Have you confirmed everything you needed to?”

“Yes.”

 

Jude let out a deep sigh.

 

He had thought there would be souls of dead Elves here, but he was mistaken. Finding Elf souls in the Great Forest should be considered impossible.

 

‘All that’s left are things like those…’

 

Jude briefly looked at what had been the Tree Searchers and shook his head.

 

He didn’t even know if he could absorb things that had become like that, and even if possible, he couldn’t tell what kind of effect it would have.

 

The Demon Lord wasn’t saying this or that either, just bursting into laughter. From Jude’s experience, it didn’t seem like anything good would happen.

 

Fortunately, he was able to return to where the ‘Mother Tree’ was before his mana completely ran out.

 

Through Birutta’s story, he could understand why this dying thing was called the Mother Tree. Her mother… It seemed this tree was what became a spirit after her real birth mother died.

 

The reason it was so withered and losing vitality day by day might be because it was consuming energy to hide her and him.

 

Irritation welled up.

 

The burden he had been feeling for some time was becoming increasingly unbearable.

 

‘What am I supposed to be.’

-What else? You’re the new Hero, the one who has enslaved the Demon Lord’s soul, and humanity’s traitor who promised to kill the Goddess.

‘Shut up.’

 

When would Jude, who had been merely an Apprentice Dark Mage, ever receive such blind expectations from someone again?

 

Simone had given him a similar feeling, but that wasn’t emotion directed at Jude. It was just something sent while mistaking him for the absolute ruler of the Demon Realm. So he avoided responsibility by acting as the Demon Lord as instructed.

 

Even now, Jude wasn’t anything like an agent of the World Tree, but…

 

“May I ask you one question?”

“Go ahead.”

 

Birutta, who had been quietly watching Jude, spoke to him.

 

“Just now, in that place, what were you trying to confirm?”

 

Jude, who had stopped moving, rolled his eyes around. His mind was working in complex ways.

 

-It doesn’t matter, does it? Look at those eyes. Even if you were to destroy the world, those are eyes that would support you. Something trivial like absorbing souls—even if she knew, she wouldn’t make an issue of it.

 

Jude swallowed his dry saliva and opened his mouth.

 

“I am.”

 

The Demon Lord’s laughter that came belatedly stirred an ominous feeling, but it couldn’t stop his mouth that was already moving.

 

“By absorbing souls, I can steal away the opponent’s potential.”

“Absorbing souls? Potential…?”

 

What the Demon Lord had described as expanding the vessel, Jude interpreted as stealing potential. It wasn’t very different in meaning, considering it granted talents one never possessed.

 

“…Right. Currently, I’m in a state where I can’t perceive the World Tree Power sleeping within me. Elves are sensitive to the World Tree’s energy, so if I absorb their souls, that is, I can awaken the World Tree Power. Yes. That must be it.”

 

As Jude continued speaking, he felt the surroundings grow quiet. Since it was a space with only two people to begin with, there wasn’t much that could change, but the atmosphere had definitely shifted.

 

Lifting his head with an inexplicable sense of unease, Jude could see.

 

“Then it’s simple.”

“…?”

“If it’s a soul you need, there’s one right here.”

 

Birutta, wearing a bright smile, drew a sword she had taken out at some unknown moment.

 

Toward herself.

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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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