719. [Evil Side] In the name of love
The devil opened his eyes.
The two open eyes on his face made of shadows drew a blurry outline. The Demon King, who was lying down, trembled and raised his body made of shadows.
His body was submerged in a black, thick, tar-like liquid.
A refined nightmare.
We collected the dreams of millions of citizens of the Lake Kingdom and collected only the deepest nightmares.
In this nightmare, the ‘fear’ beneath the underlying consciousness… the memory of ‘destruction’ imprinted in the genes of humanity was pulled out and refined.
This is the identity of the revived nightmare monster.
Ancient monsters that once threatened the existence of humanity. The shadow of that memory.
And the Demon King was sure that the ‘person’ he was looking for was also in this nightmare.
That’s why I repeated the world countless times and continued to search the inside of the nightmare… even though
this time I went all the way to the bottom of the deepest place.
《Where on earth is it?…》
I still couldn’t find it.
The Demon King suddenly felt tired. Although he had never been tired during this countless and long search, he was aware of his fatigue for the first time.
It must have been that much time.
To the extent that even the opposing player, who had been fighting with such indomitable will, could no longer continue the game…
《…》
The Demon King completely got up and left the room of nightmares.
Kugugu Palace….
The wall between the nightmare room and the throne room opened to the left and right, and the Demon King walked out from behind the throne room.
‘It seems like I’ve been searching for nightmares for quite some time…’
Meanwhile, the Demon King was trying to find out what happened to this ‘game’. It would be difficult if the human world had already come to an end.
《Cromwell!》
The Demon King visited his loyal servant and the leader of the Demon Guardian Corps, whom he had entrusted as his acting authority.
《Where is Cromwell?》
And the devil was eventually found.
Outside the royal castle. In front of the sewer.
In this filthy place filled with the residue and garbage of nightmares that had flowed in…
Cromwell’s body was horribly cut into pieces.
《….》
Had he been crushed by a black dragon?
The second-highest-ranking Nightmare Corps commander was dead, his entire body crushed and burned, with a grievous expression on his face… with his hands stretched out to the sky.
The body of the dead demon guard commander was already rotting and rotting. With the corpses of his men piled together around him.
《Oh my…》
The bodies of the demons mixed together and rotting were in themselves a grotesque and disgusting sight, but only a trace of compassion remained on the demon king’s face.
“How can you lie dead in a place like this? My servant.》
The Demon King clicked his tongue and lightly snapped his fingers.
Taaaak-!
“I have never permitted your death.”
Then, the black darkness that covered the Lake Kingdom swirled down and poured down on the dead bodies of Cromwell and the demon guards.
《Rise, Cromwell. Even so, wouldn’t it be so vain if it ended like this in a place like this?》 The
corner of the Demon King’s white mouth curled up as he saw this.
《At least I have to die to see the royalties. Isn’t it?》
Then
wiggle!
The bodies of the demon guardian commander and his subordinates, who were undoubtedly dead, pulsated once as if they had regained their breath.
wow wow wow…!
Immediately afterward, an eerie sound of joints breaking came from the corpses.
《Kaaaaaaaaaa-!》
Cromwell stood up, twisting his body grotesquely.
The whole body, rotten, crushed, and torn apart, stood on the ground in a hideous manner. The two eyes, which had already lost their light, opened eerily, revealing the whites of their eyes.
Gooooooo…!
Unsettling green magic swirled around the huge deer antlers that towered over her head, connecting them with her subordinates.
Wow!
AA AA AA!
Then, one by one, the corpses of the demon guards rose from their seats, letting out terrible screams.
The Demon King’s white smile became even crueler as he looked at the moving corpses.
***
In front of the royal castle. Fountain Square.
“….”
Nameless was bound to the fountain.
My entire body is tied with black iron chains to a dried-up fountain where neither clean water nor waste water gushes out anymore. He sat down on the floor, lowered his head, and didn’t move anything.
“….”
Crown was standing in front of him.
I stood still and looked down at the scene where the chains were digging into my sister’s body and slowly contaminating her clean skin.
Jerk. Jerk.
It was then.
The sound of footsteps came in. Crown looked in the direction where the footsteps were heard – towards the royal castle.
A figure was seen walking down the long stairs from the open door of the royal castle.
A shimmering being that literally looks like a human shadow.
Crown chewed up the other person’s name and spat it out.
“…The Demon King….”
The King of Monsters, who had been absent for a very long time, has finally returned from the nightmare.
“There was no chaos while I was gone.”
The Demon King clicked his tongue and came down the stairs and looked around.
《I entrusted him with the game as a substitute, and he cut up the chessboard. It’s good that Cromwell is loyal, but it’s always disappointing that he can’t do things properly without instructions.》
“….”
《And… who is this? “Isn’t this the dethroned princess of the Lake Kingdom’s eternal resistance group?”
The Demon King slowly walked towards the bound unknown.
《It’s a pitiful sight. It looks like he is bound by a nightmare dreamed by his own people.》
“….”
《But what can you do? You are the one who made them cling to you like this. Nameless.》
The Demon King picked up the chains that bound Nameless’ body. The Demon King sneered, gently letting the rattling chain slip through his fingers.
《Because you are the one who showed them ‘hope’. Because you were the one who promised ‘salvation’ to them.》
“….”
《You made a vain promise and it did not come true, so you have to pay the price.》
This chain was stretched out from the nightmare of the people of the Lake Kingdom.
The unconsciousness of the people gathered together. Collective consciousness. Refined within that… resentment.
Resentment towards the royal family who ruined the kingdom and turned it into hell. And resentment towards the failed saviors who spread false hopes.
The world was approaching its end, and the possibility of salvation became infinitely low. The people were now looking for someone who would bear this long pain for them.
– You dream this nightmare for us.
Nameless did not refuse. I couldn’t do that.
The nightmares of the people seeped in through the chains connected to the body. The immortal nightmares of every person in this country have piled up inside each other anonymously.
Nameless was swallowed up by the sum of the nightmares of millions of people. Her consciousness was slowly melting into it.
And when even the last of his consciousness melted away in this nightmare, Nameless would transform into the culmination of all nightmares… the final monster.
“….”
Crown quietly looked at his sister.
The poor princess, who, while listening to the Demon King’s ridicule, is gradually becoming stained with darkness, carrying the curse of all her people…
The Demon King turned his gaze from Mu-myeong and saw such a crown.
“Even after getting to this point, do you still want to save your brother? Crown?》
“….”
《Is it because of the love between families for their younger brother?》
The Demon King sneered.
《What on earth is it that makes everyone in this world cling to such shallow emotions between people?》
“…You too.”
Crown opened his mouth quietly.
“Isn’t it the same, Demon King?”
《What?》
“You’re looking for ‘that woman’. In a nightmare. Endlessly.”
Under the mask, Crown’s eyes glowed coldly and with mockery.
“Isn’t it because of love?”
The Demon King’s face was distorted.
《…You talk carelessly about the topic of clowns.》
“Isn’t that the same, Demon Lord?”
Now Crown taunted openly.
“You too are a clown for foreign media.”
Kwasik!
When the Demon King made a gesture in the air, an intangible force grabbed Crown’s head and slammed it to the floor.
Crown didn’t groan once. Blood flowed from the beaten forehead and ran down the mask.
“My feelings for ‘that woman’ are not love.”
The Demon King grunted and loosened his hands.
“It’s just a feeling of guilt.”
“Didn’t you say that before? “Just thinking about the other person makes my heart tremble, my body trembles, and tears come to my eyes… That kind of feeling is called love.”
Crown laughed.
“Your obsession with saving ‘that woman’ is, from what I’ve observed, unmistakable love.”
《Crown.》
The Demon King’s voice became cold.
“It is a simple punishment for me to make even your memories participate in this infinite return. This means that you, the culprit who put your kingdom into this hell, will pay for your sins.》
“….”
《I don’t mean that you should speak presumptuously…!》 When
the Demon King lightly snapped his fingers, an intangible force erupted. This crown was strangled.
However, Crown, who had already become aloof in the face of death, continued to make fun of his mouth. Before I knew it, I had given up on honorifics.
“…Isn’t that infinite regression now over?”
《What?》
“Ader, your player, is broken, and Ash, your agent, has now reached the final round. “The play of destruction cannot continue any longer.”
This is the final play. Endgame.
That was definitely true for Ader and Ash. But the Demon King lightly denied it.
《Last episode? That would be the case for the player and his agent.》
“….”
《My soul did not weaken in the slightest from this asceticism. All you have to do is find the next player, find the next agent, and start the next game again.》
Until you find that woman in this eternal nightmare. Crown shook his head in front of the Demon King’s obsessive promise.
“Why don’t you give up at that point?”
《…What?》
“Anyway, the woman you are looking for is not in this nightmare. “It’s time to admit it.”
Even the monsters in the deepest part of the nightmare have already been scraped off. There was no nightmare that the Demon King did not look into.
‘That woman’ is not in this nightmare of the Lake Kingdom.
Crown thought, but the Demon King shook his head loudly.
“no. She must be in a nightmare here. It has to be that way.》
“….”
《And I will definitely save that woman. To do so, even if your country and your world must be destroyed indefinitely in the future. I will do so willingly.》
The Demon King growled evilly as he looked down at the Crown resting its forehead beneath his feet.
《You should continue to bow in and watch, clown. The sight of everything you love being covered in darkness and destroyed. Infinitely. Forever…!》
The Demon King passed through the fountain square and walked into the darkness of the kingdom.
Crown thought as he looked at the back of the Demon King.
‘It’s over for me too…’
I participated in this ‘game’ countless times, even though I was a bystander.
Crown’s soul was also limited. He also had a feeling that there would be no next round for him.
And if even yourself disappears. Even then, if the next game repeats itself.
This poor little brother will have to continue to suffer under this hell without even a brother to hate.
It was then.
“A the…?”
The eyes of the unknown person who had been tied to the fountain and did not move slowly opened.
It seemed like he heard the conversation between the Demon King and the Crown a little while ago. Unknown repeated the name of a person who came up during the conversation.
“Ader a the… ah. “Why did I forget that name?”
The red ribbon that someone had tied newly at the last festival was swaying on the dethroned princess’s white hair.
“It was the name I gave to that person…”
Unknown sobbed softly as he finally remembered the distant past.
“He was fighting too. For over 500 years….”
No.
It’s not 500 years.
Repeating this world for billions of eons… Ader, that man is fighting against the devil.
There is only one reason.
‘To save you.’
Just for the sake of obscurity…
Crown knew, but didn’t bother to say it. Because I didn’t want to increase my brother’s pain any further.
‘Ader, Ash, and me.’
This is the last time.
This is the last chance to end this cursed pastime and face the devil.
‘Save my sister Ash. ‘Keep your promise.’
Black chains continued to fly and wrap around the sobbing nameless body. Crown quietly watched his younger brother’s depravity and made a wish.
‘I deserve to die. My kingdom also has to pay karma. But my younger brother. Just my younger brother.’
certainly.
You must be saved.
Crown bit his lip gently.
Even though I was a bad brother all my life, if only I could save my younger brother in the end…
I promised myself that I would do anything for that.
***
To save each precious person.
Everyone was throwing themselves into their own hell.
Into an ever-repeating cycle from which no one has ever been saved.
I just hope that someone will break this bondage…
