Chapter 362 – Interlude: The King of Darkness

The ruined capital Beriondora. The former royal capital of a kingdom destroyed in battle against the Demon.

The Royal Castle towering at its center should have been a place left to collapse and decay after being overrun by the Demons. Anyone familiar with the castle’s original state would doubt their eyes upon seeing its current condition.

The walls and spires that should have crumbled were now restored. No, restoration might not be the right term. While the destroyed sections had regained their original forms, they had been replaced with some glossy black building material.

The black castle that had become the Demons’ stronghold – this was Beriondora Royal Castle’s new appearance.

A figure stood atop one spire – that of the Demon Mustra. A black haze-like Miasma billowed from Mustra’s hands, covering the sections not yet repaired. When Mustra clenched her outstretched hand, the Miasma swirled upward as if rolling up. With that, the spire where the collapsed interior had been visible was repaired, the damaged sections filled in with black building material.

“Lady Mustra.”

As Mustra was inspecting the repaired areas, a voice suddenly called out to her. Mustra turned her gaze while maintaining a faint smile on her lips.

Another Demon was ascending from below. It was Zaradi, Valros’s trusted subordinate.

“Oh, Lord Zaradi. What brings you here?”

Her thread-thin eyes captured Zaradi. Mustra inquired while still smiling.

“Lord Valros wishes to know the progress of the repairs.”

“It’s proceeding smoothly. The damaged sections are nearly complete.”

“…So it appears.”

Zaradi looked toward the spire gleaming like obsidian.

The building material was neither quite stone nor metal. There were Techniques to temporarily materialize objects by solidifying Miasma, but this seemed different.

Even to Zaradi, one of the oldest Demons, Mustra’s Miasma properties were… an unknown, incomprehensible thing.

The immortality she displayed during the recapture of the Chamber of Keys, completely unfazed by having her heart pierced. The horrifying power that could weld arms back together. And then this ability to create hard objects from somewhere.

Regarding the castle repairs, he suspected it was the same power as the black Spear she used in battle before, but he couldn’t discern the common foundation underlying Mustra’s abilities. Yet it didn’t seem to be Magic either.

“Well, I’ve reached a stopping point, so I shall accompany you to Lord Valros. It would be better to report the details directly.”

“Is that so?”

Zaradi replied curtly before leaping into the air. Mustra followed suit, both descending according to gravity until their speed slowed just before impact, landing silently on their toes.

Leading Mustra, Zaradi entered a corridor from the courtyard and headed toward Valros’s chambers. Knocking on the door, they received Valros’s response granting entry.

Upon opening the door – there was Valros.

Above Valros’s outstretched palm, an octahedral blue object floated, slowly rotating. Valros turned his gaze from the blue object.

“…Mustra came too?”

“Yes. Since I reached a stopping point, I thought it better to report directly.”

“Hmm. Then let’s hear it.”

Without being drawn into Mustra’s pace, Valros urged her to continue.

“The major damaged areas are mostly sealed. After that, well, I’m thinking of covering all the mismatched sections and unifying them.”

In essence, she planned to cover the entire castle with her ability, turning it completely black. In its current state, the repaired sections were obvious and looked unsightly, she implied. To Valros, it made little difference either way.

Of course, it probably didn’t matter to Mustra either – Valros estimated this Demon was simply continuing out of boredom.

“I see. But we can say the minimum preparations are complete. All that remains is to wait for the right time.”

Valros closed his eyes as he spoke.

Yes. The preparations were complete. The final Miasma Orb Seal that Mustra had been handling had also been released, and Valros now possessed it. With this, all the Spirit Tree’s Seals had been broken.

“…Well, I’ve also released my Seal and have nothing left to do. I’ll continue working behind the scenes like this. By the way… is that the key Alvelinde brought?”

Mustra spoke while looking at the blue object Valros had been observing.

“Yes. Though the crucial Alvelinde never returned in the end.”

He had likely been contemplating Alvelinde’s fate while looking at the key. Valros slightly furrowed his brows.

“Did she lose as well?”

“Most likely. And I hear that Crown Prince in Silvatoria has also fallen from power.”

“My, my. The cracks are becoming visible, aren’t they? Haven’t they noticed our movements too?”

Mustra actually seemed to enjoy this, her shoulders shaking as she spoke. Without reproaching Mustra for this, Valros answered.

“Probably. But even if Silvatoria sends troops here, it won’t be a problem.”

“As long as we have the key, it won’t matter.”

“Indeed… we should avoid depleting our forces at this time.”

“That’s right. We must preserve our strength for the liberation of our leader.”

“Since this will become our stronghold, we should take good care of it. Well, Silvatoria’s movements aren’t a concern then.”

As Mustra’s smile deepened further, she asked Valros:

“–What about the south?”

At these words, Valros glared at Mustra with displeasure. Mustra continued as if unaffected.

“Oh, dissatisfied? If you want to preserve our strength, why not persuade those people to join us? Now that your dream is taking shape, more might agree to support you?”

“If those people would move for something so trivial, they would have moved long ago. We don’t need their help in the first place. They’re the kind who dislike fighting and turn their backs on everything. They know power exists yet don’t reach for it, content to remain prisoners. Even if we brought them in, how much could they accomplish?”

“How harsh. Even though it’s your homeland.”

“Precisely why I know their temperament. Since long ago – I never liked them. People who are content with the status quo, just sucking their thumbs waiting to sink below the horizon.”

Darkness coiled in Valros’s palm. Black lightning scattered as if displaying his inner passion. Those words referred both to the people of Valros’s homeland and to the Demons who, bored with their infinite lives, allowed themselves to decline.

For a high-ranking Demon, was it because of his youth? Or because of the uniqueness of his origins? Valros was an un-Demon-like Demon.

“Those with power should rule the world. Gods, Demons, humans, Monsters, even beasts – nothing changes in this regard. That is the natural order. Those with power who accomplish nothing, rotting away while still alive – I cannot tolerate such things. If there are obstacles in my way, I will cut them all down with a Sweeping Strike and reach my destination.”

Saying this, he crushed the darkness in his hand.

“Someone like me even thinks it might be better if you simply became king yourself.”

“I said the same thing. But he wouldn’t agree.”

Zaradi gave a wry smile, but Valros shook his head.

“If my becoming king would unite the Demons, I might have considered it. I don’t want confusion and conflict to drag on either, and there are things only our leader can accomplish. Even Demons need a banner to rally behind, it seems.”

“Kuku… I see. Well, personally, I’m interested to see what kind of country you and the Demons will create once our leader revives.”

Perhaps satisfied with having drawn out something close to Valros’s true feelings, Mustra shrugged and turned her back to the two. Before leaving the room, she looked back over her shoulder, showing a cutting, faint smile.

“Please don’t degenerate into being like those common, boring Demons. As long as you remain different, I shall continue to assist you.”

Valros furrowed his brow but didn’t respond. Mustra shook her shoulders and left the room.