Chapter 94
Chapter 94. The Prince’s Mask
――Busted.
This is Zilbagias, the Demon Lord’s Prince, unable to stop the cold sweat from flowing.
Beside me, Leila blinks in confusion, her face asking, “Huh?” It seems she couldn’t understand what our father was saying.
…This is my last chance.
I had no choice but to bluff with all my might!!
“What are you talking about?”
I played dumb.
‘Tawake!’
But Faravgi narrowed his eyes further and growled.
‘The last thing I saw, that shimmering silver light— the light that dwelled in your blade. And the fiery pain that severed my neck…!’
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Leila, still sitting on the floor, tightly gripping her hands.
‘That was undoubtedly a holy attribute! I’ve seen the heroes use it countless times!’
“…Are you imagining things?”
‘No, it’s not a misunderstanding! I’ve experienced the holy attribute several times! That sensation was absolutely that!!’
Faravgi stood his ground, unwilling to back down.
This guy, even if it were a blunder, isn’t about to change his view! Trouble!
‘Ngh… And I just remembered. You blocked my full-strength breath with a shield, didn’t you!?’
“…There was no other way to block it.”
‘Ah, and you even left your sword behind!!!’
Moreover, Faravgi noticed the Holy Sword Adamas leaning against the corner of the room with foolish sharpness.
Then, with a shocked expression, as if struck by lightning, he stared at me.
‘You… Could you be a hero turned into a demon!?’
…………
I was left speechless.
Faravgi is—an impulsive type. He acts on intuition without much thought.
This time, due to his personality, he’s likely produced misunderstandings and mistakes time and again.
But right now—he’s bypassed the reasoning and hit the truth…!
I felt I had to retort, but I couldn’t move my mouth due to the shock.
I tried to gently close the gates of the spirit world, but Faravgi’s massive spirit got stuck, making it difficult. Damn it.
If I were to kick Faravgi out now, it would be like admitting my guilt.
I couldn’t simply throw him into the spirit world like this…!
This suspicion, this information leaking is bad!!
I needed to find a clever way out. As I was thinking,
“Ah…”
I heard a sigh-like voice and looked down at Leila.
In contrast, she was looking up at me.
In her eyes—there was a kind of ‘understanding.’
…Despite being the daughter of a traitor, she must have wondered why she was treated so well.
She had always thought it was a mystery.
But all of that, as well as the treatment of the Saint Liliana and the obsession with the sword—
If I assumed I was the hero—
Everything—
Clicks into place.
‘What has happened…’
Inside me, Antendeixis lamented.
‘Could it really be like this… No, what happened can’t be helped. This is a situation much better than being told in front of Enma.’
…Indeed.
I was struck with dread at the realization that if today’s decision hadn’t been made, this would have likely occurred during the necromancy lecture.
‘At this point, make up your mind, Alexander.’
Antendeixis spoke solemnly.
‘Either bring them to your side or… dispose of them to silence them completely.’
It was one of those two choices.
…But in reality, it was practically just one choice.
I let out a breath; thin and long.
“…That’s right.”
Confirming the soundproof barrier once more, I conceded and nodded.
I relaxed my shoulders and looked at Faravgi not as the arrogant demon lord’s prince, but—ironically, with the feeling of a comrade.
“I was a hero of the human race who participated in the assault on the Demon Lord Castle…”
Faravgi and Leila widened their eyes in shock.
†††
Leila listened in disbelief.
Zilbagias recounted his past, his true identity.
I always thought he didn’t seem like a five-year-old, but now I understood why.
How could it be? His mental age was above Leila’s…
‘What… how could this be…’
Even Faravgi, who accurately identified Zilbagias’s true identity, seemed dumbfounded by the concept of reincarnation.
‘…Why, why didn’t you say that back then!?’
And naturally, he began to get angry.
‘We could have teamed up, couldn’t we!?’
“You’re the one who unleashed your breath the moment we met…!”
Zilbagias bared his teeth, refusing to back down.
Leila was surprised. It was the first time she had seen Zilbagias, usually calm and seemingly able to control his emotions, act so pointlessly impulsively.
At the same time, it illuminated the fact that that usual behavior was a mere facade.
“And… I couldn’t say it.”
Zilbagias’s expression twisted in frustration as he continued.
“You didn’t know, but I had demon warriors as my guards. They were watching from a distance, and they rushed in as soon as they saw your breath. Moreover, even after that, the demon lord’s prince who took on your subjugation mission showed up.”
One of my brothers, he spat out.
“I certainly thought about cooperating with you. But… for that, I would have had to kill all of my current subordinates, my guards, to silence them. Moreover, without letting even one escape, perfectly.”
He weighed the risks, said Zilbagias.
Glancing down at Leila, struggling but distinctly.
“Considering all the risks and returns… I chose my current position and subordinate over you! That’s why I fought you and killed you…! All of this—”
To defeat the Demon Lord…!
‘Guh, uuuu…!!’
Faravgi growled, his jaw trembling and ready to burst forth with rage at any moment.
However, due to the uniqueness of Zilbagias’s position and their shared goal, he managed to keep his remaining reason in check and endured.
“We were… truly unluckily doomed…”
Zilbagias muttered with his head lowered.
“Why… didn’t you just move away sooner….”
‘…If I had waited a few more days, I could have shaken off the curse of the wings.’
Faravgi too closed his eyes and squeezed out those words with regret.
‘Normally, I would have disappeared before things got noisy… But… it really was just a little while longer… If that rumor about another prince arriving soon were true, then it was already too late…’
Despite their different species, both Zilbagias and Faravgi fell silent, wearing similar expressions of grief.
“…Dad…”
Leila, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke to her father.
‘Oh, Leila.’
Faravgi looked at her with a painful smile.
‘…I’m sorry. I’ve truly caused you trouble.’
“Dad… why did you leave the castle?”
Faravgi had abandoned the White Dragon faction and fled.
Leila had always been told this by Orphen. She had been led to believe it without question, but—now, no matter how impulsive her father was, it seemed unfathomable that he would make a rash decision while holding the future of his clan in his hands.
At Leila’s question, Faravgi’s eyes were stained with hatred.
‘Guh, Gar, Gaah…! Orphen, that accursed Dark Dragon…!’
“D-Dad! Calm down…!”
‘Guh, I’m sorry…!’
He immediately returned to himself at his frightened daughter’s voice.
‘…In this state, my emotions are getting even more unruly… The cold darkness torments me…’
That was understandable. Leila felt true sympathy for her father. Originally of the holy attribute, being overwhelmingly enveloped in such a dark force…
‘…I was manipulated by the Dark Dragons.’
Slowly, her father began to speak.
He, who had led his clan in protest against the unfair treatment between the Dark Dragon faction and the White Dragon faction over roles in battle and resource distribution.
It seemed he had been cursed with madness just as he was trying to engage in dialogue.
Faravgi managed to endure, but the inexperienced young dragons couldn’t hold back, transforming and rampaging, taking advantage of the chaos, they were attacked by the Dark Dragons, leading to an all-out battle.
‘It wasn’t the usual faction struggle; it became a bloody fight…!’
Amid the chaos, several young ones, along with Faravgi’s wife—
‘Freya was killed…!!’
At the sound of her mother’s name, Leila bit her lip.
‘And when I could no longer control it, that despised Orphen appeared…! He said he would calm the situation if we withdrew—so I… left you behind and had no choice but to flee with my clan…!!’
Tears streamed from his dark eyes as Faravgi spoke.
‘I’m sorry…! Leila, because of my inadequacies, you had to suffer like this…! Until that moment, I had thought of the Dark Dragons as fellow kin, despite my hatred for them. But those guys… they only saw us White Dragons as enemies…’
He could not see through that.
He blamed his laxity.
‘I’ve truly caused you trouble… I’m sorry, Leila. I’m sorry…!’
Even while blocked by barriers, Faravgi rubbed his head to the ground as he apologized to Leila.
“Dad…! It’s not your fault…!!”
Leila, trembling, squeezed her voice out, tears streaming.
‘So… to repay for that, I teamed up with the humans…’
Faravgi turned his gaze back to Zilbagias.
‘And as you know, that has only caused you more trouble… In fact, I’ve come to think I’m grateful that you’ve managed to stay alive until now…’
At that moment, he seemed to come to a realization.
‘But why is Leila with you?’
“…I need you to listen calmly…”
Zilbagias explained carefully and slowly.
“…As an apology and compensation for harming this demon prince, Orphen has presented Leila as a representative of the Dragon Tribe.”
‘…………’
Faravgi’s jaw dropped.
He seemed dumbfounded by the sheer shock of it.
And once understanding caught up, naturally—
‘Guh—GAAAHHHHHHHH! Orphen, you bastard!!!’
He exploded.
The tremendous rage nearly blew away the barrier, but with that momentum, the light attribute breath leaked from his mouth, and Faravgi, burned by his own magic, groaned, “Gwaah!” and returned to quiet again.
‘Guh, Guuuu…’
He spat out remnants of dark magical power like smoke, struggling.
It was a sight so pitiful it hardly resembled the former leader of the White Dragons. He couldn’t even act as he wished…
“I’ll take care of your daughter as much as I can…”
Zilbagias bowed his head to Faravgi.
“And the reason I called you out now is related to that.”
‘What do you mean…?’
“Actually, I’m learning necromancy…”
Faravgi was aghast to learn he had been chosen as the next lecture’s material.
Even Leila was so scared she trembled; one could only imagine the shock he himself experienced.
‘N-No, then what will happen to me?’
“Calm down. I won’t do anything bad… Besides, since you’ve been discovered, I can’t just let your soul run free, naturally.”
Zilbagias alternately looked at Leila and Faravgi.
“So… if you’re okay with it, I think I can seal your soul within something and protect it.”
‘…………’
Faravgi—his father fell silent, gazing down at Leila.
Leila, too, held her breath and watched.
‘…I see.’
Eventually, after a deep ponder, Faravgi raised his face.
‘I appreciate the offer, hero.’
At his father’s response, Leila let out a sigh of relief—
‘—But I refuse.’
However, the unwavering words that followed made both Leila and Zilbagias’ eyes widen.
