I Summoned the Demon King and Got a Dad - Chapter 85

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

85. The New Ruler of the Demon Realm (2)

The sky collapsed.

Light and magic power mixed together, completely erasing his vision.

Theodor gritted his teeth.

The defensive barriers wrapped around his entire body were stripped away layer by layer.

His back burned first.

The impact resonated through his spine.

Intense pain he had never felt since birth constricted his entire body.

Even so, Theodor pulled his remaining magic power as far inward as possible to keep the body temperature in his arms from wavering.

Only after the final wave erupted did the world regain its sound.

A few seconds for the dust to settle.

Theodor, who revealed himself, was enduring while kneeling.

One hand pressed against the ground, his other arm still wrapped around Kan.

The defensive barrier had completely disappeared.

The pain felt from his back was vivid.

It was a fatal wound.

Theodor coughed up blood and released his arm.

Fortunately, Kan was unharmed. Unlike Theodor, he didn’t have even the slightest wound.

Their eyes met.

Kan’s pupils trembled, lost and confused.

Kan gasped for breath and opened his mouth.

“…Why?”

It was a voice that seemed unable to understand.

It was natural.

Even Theodor couldn’t understand his own actions.

In the Demon Realm where power was directly connected to survival, one had to abandon other emotions to live.

The moment emotions took precedence, judgment became clouded.

One would weigh all emotions and become hesitant.

At the end of that, one would ultimately make wrong judgments like now.

Theodor was feeling that fact keenly.

He should have prioritized returning alive above all else.

But Shuria came to mind.

Because he thought that child was pitiful.

So…

In the final moment, what flashed through Theodor’s mind were two faces.

Shuria.

And Elisia.

In his fading vision, their figures overlapped.

Unable to endure any longer, he lost consciousness just like that.

And Kan’s gaze was still fixed on the fallen Theodor.

His blue eyes were shaking violently.

Confusion.

Hesitation.

And inexplicable agitation.

It was because he belatedly realized Theodor’s sacrifice.

“Why on earth…”

Kan couldn’t take any action.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

It was certainly the perfect moment to absorb Theodor’s power and become the Demon Lord.

But Kan couldn’t do it.

That was when it happened.

Over the battlefield where silence had descended, a woman slowly descended.

The woman with brilliant silver hair and black eyes wore a gorgeous dress that didn’t suit this place at all.

Lightly stepping on the void, she gracefully descended to the ground, treading on air.

It was Tinia, the Demon Lord Count and Kan’s mother.

Her gaze was directed toward Kan and Theodor.

The fallen Demon Lord and her son standing without a single wound.

She had thought both would die.

Glancing at the two, Tinia opened her mouth in a quiet voice.

“Absorb his magic power.”

Originally, if Kan hadn’t survived, she had planned to become the Demon Lord herself.

But this wasn’t bad either.

No matter how much the Demon Lord was determined by magic power, to win the people’s hearts, it was better for Kan, who had defeated Theodor, to become the Demon Lord rather than herself.

Except for the situation where Kan wouldn’t carry out her command, her judgment was correct.

But unlike usual when he would follow whatever she said, this was different.

Feeling annoyed by that fact, Tinia called her son again.

“Kan.”

“…Yes, Mother.”

Only then did a response come.

But still, Kan’s gaze was directed toward Theodor, not her.

Tinia didn’t like that fact.

“Absorb it.”

That feeling was clearly revealed in her voice.

But still, Kan was hesitating.

Even though he knew he couldn’t go against her words.

“It’s an order.”

At Tinia’s single word, the mark engraved on Kan’s heart constricted his heart.

Magic power forcibly surged and Kan’s hand rose by itself.

Kan’s hand moved over Theodor’s heart.

He could feel dark energy rising through his fingertips.

Kan closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

He had never resented his body for not following his will as much as now.

Kan’s eyes became wet with sorrow.

For the first time, he had to kill with his own hands the person who had given something for his sake.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice echoed low.

Theodor’s magic power began to flow into him like a reverse current through his hand.

Kan coughed and spat up blood.

It was painful.

It wasn’t simply a matter of accepting strong power.

Tinia felt puzzled by Kan’s suffering appearance.

Because for demons, the process of absorbing magic power couldn’t be painful.

That was when it happened.

A black, thick rift began to appear beneath Kan.

What he had absorbed wasn’t just magic power.

The contract engraved in Theodor’s magic power.

The contract Theodor had made was still remaining within his magic power.

The darkness split open, and an unfamiliar sky unfolded.

It was the sky of the Mortal Realm.

Beyond the rift, far away, the figures of Shuria and Elisia could be seen.

The voices of the two people heard from far away felt like a dream.

Drawn by that sound, his sunken consciousness slowly rose to the surface.

When Theodor lifted his heavy eyelids with difficulty, he saw Kan before his eyes.

Kan standing on that magic circle that had bound him.

Chains emerging from the magic circle constricted the fleeing Kan.

Theodor realized.

That magic circle and rift were his last chance to return to the Mortal Realm.

Theodor began to move.

But his body, drained of all magical power, was no different from a human’s.

Tinia, who quickly noticed his escape attempt, used magic to restrain him.

That was the moment.

When Kan broke Theodor’s restraints.

What reached the end of Theodor’s gaze was neither a new Demon Lord nor a powerful demon.

It was just a young child around Shuria’s age.

“Grab me!”

“Kan, take mother’s hand!”

Theodor and Tinia simultaneously called out to Kan, extending their hands toward him.

And what Kan grasped, barely managing to free just one hand from the magic circle’s chains, was Theodor’s hand, not Tinia’s.

The two of them moved to the Mortal Realm just like that.

Having fulfilled its purpose, the rift closed.

* * *

A metallic scent could be felt from somewhere.

It was the smell of blood.

When Elisia raised her head, she saw Theodor and Kan appearing in the sky above.

While Kan was bound by chains, Theodor was falling endlessly downward.

“Theodor!”

Elisia cried out in shock and without a moment’s hesitation ran toward where he was falling, wrapping divine power around both arms to catch him.

Tears welled up in Elisia’s eyes as she confirmed Theodor was covered in blood from head to toe.

She reached out her hand and shook Theodor’s body.

“Please, try to open your eyes.”

Shuria, who had approached at some point, also took her place beside Theodor and sobbed.

“Dad, you can’t die!”

The overlapping voices gradually became clearer.

In Theodor’s blurry vision as he struggled to open his eyes, he could see the faces of two people.

Shuria and Elisia.

The expressions looking down at him revealed undisguisable worry and affection.

Taking a short breath, Theodor found himself smiling without realizing it.

His scattered senses returned to their proper place.

Forgetting even the fact that he was in pain, Theodor pulled the two of them into his embrace.

“I missed you.”

But the touching reunion was brief, as they burst into tears again upon seeing Theodor’s wounds.

There wasn’t a single uninjured spot on him.

“Dad, I told you to be careful with your face.”

At the sight of Shuria burying her face in his chest and crying sorrowfully, Theodor let out a small laugh.

“I’m sorry.”

Answering thus, Theodor patted Shuria’s back while meeting eyes with Elisia.

Reading the look in his eyes, Elisia approached Theodor and extended her hand.

White light emanated from her fingertips.

It was divine power.

The divine power that originally no demon with magical power could accept was now healing Theodor’s wounds and restoring his strength.

At this sight, Elisia couldn’t hold back and burst into tears again.

Theodor had become human.

Unlike the two who were crying loudly, Theodor smiled as he pulled Elisia into his embrace.

“I’m back.”

And before Theodor’s eyes, a familiar pink color appeared.

[I wish you happiness.]

It was the Magical Diagram.

The Magical Diagram disappeared after leaving those words, and Theodor smiled again.

“Yes, thank you.”

Theodor murmured quietly while looking at the void where the Magical Diagram had vanished.

Even with the contract gone, nothing would change.

Because none of them had ever been insincere.

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