Episode 110
According to Therid’s confirmation, the knights who were guarding the North Palace were not members of the Crown Prince’s knight order.
When I asked who the original guards were, Therid calmly replied,
“No one guards this place. His Highness does not use prisons.”
An empty prison throughout, and a knight carrying a forged symbol.
Something strange was happening. But what was even more suspicious was that as time passed, my heart started pounding uncontrollably, my breath became labored, and tears inexplicably welled up in my eyes.
So, without hesitation, I rushed to Dianel’s office. Therid followed me as I dashed away.
“Hey! What’s going on… Where are you going?”
“If you’re curious about the truth of this matter, then come along.”
With a witness in tow, he wouldn’t be able to back out now. I muttered under my breath, determined.
‘Dianel, try spewing nonsense this time. I’ll shake some sense into you.’
Clutching my fist tightly, I ran towards the front of the office. A crowd of secretaries stood there murmuring. Among them was the secretary I had seen several times before.
He cautiously knocked on the door and asked,
“Your Highness, may I come in… Your Highness?”
Feeling embarrassed, I looked at him and asked,
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, it’s His Highness. He hasn’t responded for over an hour…”
“Well then, just open it.”
“Wha… how!”
Disregarding his hesitation, I swung the door open.
There was a sound of something crashing against the wall. I heard the secretary recite ceremonial phrases, but I paid no attention.
Instead, I pushed through the crowd and walked into the darkness that no one else dared to enter.
“Dianel, what are you… sleepi–“
In the pitch-black darkness, even the single candle that had illuminated the office went out.
Dianel stood there, his head hung low, completely still.
It was hard to see him clearly in the dimness, but his entire body seemed limp.
“Sleeping in a situation like this?”
Unable to comprehend, I pulled the curtains wide open.
Finally, the office became bright, revealing Dianel properly. His body slumped to the side, with his soul protruding and entangled in the suffocating darkness.
A lifeless, desolate aura stared back at me. Immediately, the surrounding darkness rushed forward, obscuring Dianel’s eyes.
Dianel didn’t resist. No, he seemed devoid of any strength.
‘His soul is escaping.’
I murmured helplessly as I watched him blankly.
“…Is he dead?”
As if sensing the disturbance outside, people rushed in like a tide. They approached Dianel hesitantly, then soon realized he was unresponsive and grew distraught.
Therid, who was at the back, was in the same state. He repeatedly opened his mouth in disbelief before managing to speak.
“This… This can’t be. His Highness has passed away.”
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
“There’s something we still don’t know! Get the doctor right away! Summon the healers and the mages! Immediately!”
In a frenzy, the room became crowded with people moving frantically.
However, I couldn’t move an inch until they laid Dianel down on the floor and started emergency treatment.
My gaze was fixed on the chair where Dianel had been sitting. More precisely, it was beside the chair, where his soul and the encroaching darkness were.
A part of the darkness approached me and whispered. Various voices, each with its tone and color, echoed.
“You killed him.”
“Yes, it’s because of you that he died.”
“The savior who saves no one. Hehehe.”
“How pathetic. This world, you, even the one who died for you.”
“I wish everyone would just die. Disappear completely.”
The whispering darkness contorted and took on a form. Upon seeing it, I finally understood what that darkness was.
“…You’re the Demon King.”
“To think you’re only realizing it now. It’s too late, hehe.”
“…It’s too late.”
I kept murmuring those words. It was indeed too late. No matter what I did, it seemed impossible to bring Dianel back to life.
But why did I feel this pang in my heart? Why wasn’t I filled with sadness or grief?
Perhaps it was because it wasn’t over yet. Because I still had the power to save him. Because I…
At that moment, a searing pain surged through my head. My entire body writhed in agony, feeling heavy, tormented, and weary. It was because forgotten memories were pouring forth like a flood.
Memories of lives lived as a savior, as Piasse, as Siara, and many other incarnations. They resurfaced, causing a sigh mixed with breath.
It was Eora’s consideration, born solely out of love, even if she was a being burdened by the weight and hardship of being human.
‘I want to rest now.’
In truth, I might have desired the end of the world more than anyone else. However…
I slowly lifted my head and looked at Dianel surrounded by darkness. Right now, he died believing in me.
The change was beginning. The change that had been sustaining me alone.
‘Maybe this time will be different.’
Strangely, my weary body regained strength with that single glimmer of hope.
I clenched my fist and addressed Dianel with a strong tone.
“You’ve been through so much, Dianel.”
“…?”
“If you want to stop, you can. But… I hope your death brings me a little more happiness. How noble of you.”
“…?”
“Now that you’ve died, you must have realized what would happen if you chose to vanish here.”
Finally resisting the darkness, Dianel muttered with determination.
“…Until when?”
Dianel ripped off the darkness that bound his body. At that moment, the hand of the Demon King fell to the ground.
Surrounded by Eora’s light, the slowed-down time allowed the Demon King to be motionless for a while.
Seizing the opportunity, Dianel walked towards me. As he was in a soul-like state, his emotions were revealed. He was angry.
Dianel stood before me and asked without hesitation,
“Until when will you repeat this act?”
I laughed.
“Until you can rule over them.”
“And what do you gain from that?”
I whispered to him, looking him in the eye.
“Dianel, you remember now. Even if this world is destroyed, you won’t be annihilated. You’ll wander the universe endlessly, suffering.”
“…”
“The destruction of the universe? It will happen after spending more time than the entire existence of this universe. Can you fathom how insignificant that time is?”
“…So, is that why you’re giving me this chance? If there were no darkness from the beginning, wouldn’t it be better?”
“Then there would be no light either. Moreover, there must have been a reason for you to be born in darkness.”
“I’m no longer interested.”
He wasn’t tired. No, he was afraid.
Afraid that he would repeat the same mistakes as before. Afraid that he would be consumed by darkness and cause harm to someone.
But that wouldn’t do. I confronted him with an even stronger tone.
“I want to know your reason for existing. You willingly took on the darkness and swore an oath in front of me. So, you must take responsibility for your actions.”
“Responsibility.”
“Yes, running away by dying is not taking responsibility.”
Dianel remained silent. He seemed lost in thought, and I, too, was lost in my thoughts.
Eora’s guidance, which had resurfaced with the recovered memories.
From the very beginning, light and darkness coexisted in a state of pureness.
Eora was responsible for the creation, while darkness took on the role of destruction. Their powers had to interact for the world to function harmoniously, so they remained faithful to their respective roles.
However, at some point, darkness began comparing itself to light. It envied the light and wished to become a vibrant being frolicking beneath its radiance.
The thoughts of darkness, possessing power on par with creation, were formidable.
As they compared themselves to Eora, other beings started discriminating between light and darkness as well. The more they claimed to be under Eora’s jurisdiction, the more darkness forgot that it was an equal existence to Eora.
The hatred within the darkness grew stronger.
‘We are beings formed from what Eora discarded.’
The power of darkness, defining itself so clearly, was immensely strong, even beyond Eora’s reach. Above all, she exerted all her strength to uphold a world in imbalance, leaving her with no extra energy.
As darkness, the harbinger of destruction, crumbled, the boundaries between light and darkness blurred for all beings.
Ancient races became bewildered and began to rampage recklessly. They oppressed darkness and created divisions and discrimination among their kind.
Dragons, especially the most powerful among them, were willing to do anything to prove their righteousness.
In the end, Eora eradicated the dragons and created humans as the new race to lead the world.
From the beginning, humans were designed to coexist with both light and darkness. Particularly, the noblest of humans, the royals, were born closest to darkness.
It was Eora’s guidance, meant to allow darkness, which had been resentful of past discrimination, to realize its existence more easily and smoothly.
However, it was something they had to realize on their own.
If they failed to realize it, they would bear the consequences themselves.
I lifted my head and looked at Dianel. His hazy eyes seemed on the verge of losing their focus.
I gently wiped the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes and whispered.
“…Dianel, I’m sorry.”
Tears pooled in his eyes. As I wiped them away, I murmured.
“With that heart of yours, you can govern those darknesses. And then, someday, you will find your answers.”
At that moment, the momentarily silent Demon King began to twist his body.
