Chapter 226

○ Lesser Demon King Melvis’s Country

Lesser Demon King Melvis was sitting quietly on his throne.

He leaned on his elbow, deep in thought.

The people of the castle watched him from afar.

No one wanted to speak to him.

They were too scared to.

And it wasn’t because of anything that he was doing.

In fact, he had not said a single word ever since he sat down.

However, his people had noticed it.

The person on the throne was a being with overwhelming power.

But while no one else would approach that place, one single figure began to walk towards him.

It was someone that they all knew very well.

The person who had protected the castle all of this time after Melvis had fallen into a deep sleep.

“Forgive me for being late. I was leading the army in the north.”

Farneze apologized as she knelt before the throne.

Farneze was a General who answered directly to Melvis. She was one of the old guards, who had served him while he was still awake.

“I’m sure it is…justified. So, what happened?”

Melvis wasn’t uncommunicative. He could talk for a long time if it was necessary.

“A short while ago, the armies of four different countries were invading us from the south. Dardaros and Tulart, who recently succeeded Gorgodan, went to crush them.”

“The south…I see. And there’s been some changes.”

Melvis’s memory did not include the last few hundred years.

At that time, it would have been unthinkable for the southern countries to invade this country.

“And Lesser Demon King Kyuka came with his army from the north, and so I had to go and drive them back. But I should not have left the castle so unprotected.”

Farneze bowed her head very low.

There were three Generals in this country.

If they wanted to resist this alliance of four countries, then they had to send out two of their Generals.

And so Farneze was staying at the castle in case something happened.

But then Kyuka’s army attacked suddenly.

Judging by the scale and momentum, Farneze decided that she had no choice but to go out. And so she had led her army in order to defeat Kyuka.

And while the battle between the two armies was fierce, Kyuka was not to be seen on the battlefield.

It was just as Farneze became suspicious that the report came from the castle.

–Lesser Demon King Kyuka had taken his men and attacked the castle.

Farneze left the battlefield after putting one of her men in charge, and she rushed back. However, the incident had already been concluded.

Kyuka’s men had all been killed.

The castle interior, especially the entrance that connected to Melvis’s room, was thoroughly destroyed. And Melvis himself had awakened.

But Kyuka had fled. However, there was no one left at the castle who could chase after him.

And now no one knew where he was.

Farneze had then decided to go and meet Melvis at once.

“Your Majesty, I have waited so long for your return.”

To these words, Melvis merely muttered, ‘Mmm.’

Melvis was an Elder Vampire.

A few hundred years of sleep was not going to affect his life span by much.

She knew this, but Farneze had still been worried about what would happen should the king never awaken again.

“As for what happened while I was asleep, I will learn of it gradually…”

“Yes.”

Due to the severity of his actions, Melvis was seen by many to have a very impulsive personality, but he was actually quite level headed.

He was capable of strategizing and coming up with optimal solutions on the spot.

The reason that Melvis didn’t immediately try and gather information after waking up, was because he had determined that it was ‘not important.’

“Farneze.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Can you see this?”

Melvis showed her his empty hand.

“I am sorry. I cannot see anything…”

Farneze thought that Melvis was holding something in his hand.

However, no matter how hard she squinted, she could not see anything.

“Hmm… Then can you hear?”

This time, he raised and then lowered his hand.

Farneze perked up her ears, but of course, she could not hear anything, and apologized.

Melvis touched his temple and considered this.

Farneze waited quietly.

“Do you know about the Under World?”

“The Under World? I am afraid that I am ill-informed…as I have not heard of it.”

“Souls from the Celestial World, Human World, and Demon World are sent there when they die. It is there that these souls drift in a ‘raw’ state.”

“I never knew that there were more than three worlds.”

“Well, it is really only known by a few people in the Celestial World. These souls in the Under World. They exist with clouds above, the sea below, and the great vortex that connects them.”

Melvis said slowly, with a nostalgic expression.

The souls that float in the Under World’s seas are pulled into the great vortex. They scrape against other souls as they rise up.

And when they reach the clouds, they fall into the sea as rain.

This just repeats.

Over and over. Hundreds….no, hundreds of millions of times they will rise and then fall.

During this process, the personality that is stuck to the souls is scraped off and disappears.

Just like a fading memory, every record of that soul from its past life is washed away.

“And once that soul has become pure again, it sinks deep into the sea, where it is reborn in some other world.”

“…”

She had never heard any of this before.

And she could not understand how Melvis knew about such things. However, there must be an important reason that he was telling it to her now.

“These loud, clanging chains will not disappear unless my soul is cleansed. It is quite the curse. No, a grudge.”

“…”

Farneze did not know how to reply to these mutterings.

However, she did know one thing now.

Melvis could see something that she could not. And he was hearing things that she could not hear.

“So…who killed Hera?”

He muttered quietly.