Chapter 593: The Demon King of Incarceration (14) [Bonus Image]

Chapter 593: The Demon King of Incarceration (14) [Bonus Image]

The Demon King of Incarceration tried to stand up but couldn’t get to his feet. His legs lost their strength mid-attempt, causing him to collapse back onto the ground. His vision kept shaking from side to side, and even his sense of balance seemed off.

Was his brain damaged? Or perhaps it was a different organ? He seemed to have retained his rationality, but....

‘It’s difficult,’ the Demon King sighed.

He couldn’t even voice the thoughts going through his head. The Demon King of Incarceration decided to just lie down on the ground for a few more moments to catch his breath.

But why wasn’t he able to catch his breath? Although that was what Incarceration was trying to do, he simply couldn’t get his wild panting under control. Every time the Demon King attempted to take a deep breath, his chest hurt so badly it felt like his ribcage was about to be ripped apart. Instead of air, it was only black blood and shattered pieces of internal organs that dripped down from his parted lips.

‘It truly is difficult,’ the Demon King grimaced.

Was there a hole in his chest? Could it be that his shattered ribs had torn apart his lungs? Was his heart still in good condition? There were too many concerns to address regarding the current state of his injuries, and most of the results that came back from his self-examination were negative.

‘At this point, I’m barely clinging to life,’ the Demon King admitted to himself.

As long as the first chain that the Demon King of Incarceration had ever created was still connected, his body wouldn’t be able to die even if he wanted to. And his chain that was connected to Destruction... hadn’t been broken yet. So, as long as it remained intact, the Demon King of Incarceration would never be able to die.

But in his current situation, that wasn’t all that helpful. In a state where it wouldn’t have been strange for anyone else to have died long ago, the chain was just barely keeping him alive.

Was it finally enough?

This thought suddenly occurred to the Demon King. There was no way for the Demon King of Incarceration to die in this battle. No matter how much Eugene and his comrades might cry out for his death, there was no practical means for them to kill the Demon King of Incarceration. So, in their fight, the only ones whose defeat would end with their deaths were Eugene and the rest of his party.

For the Demon King of Incarceration to be defeated... they would need to change his mind.

Eugene and his companions would win when the Demon King of Incarceration finally decided that there wasn’t any further need to test them. They would win when the Demon King of Incarceration was no longer obsessed with ensuring the next era. They would win when the Demon King of Incarceration stopped thinking about whether or not their mission was even possible and just placed all of his hopes on the current era.

“Hahaha.” Eventually, the Demon King of Incarceration couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

While letting out a low chuckle, the Demon King of Incarceration pressed his hands against the ground.

In this test of their strength... Eugene and his comrades had sufficiently proven themselves. They had used every means at their disposal to push the Demon King of Incarceration to his breaking point. So much so that the Demon King could no longer be pushed any further. Even if their success was due to variables that the Demon King of Incarceration couldn’t have foreseen, such as the betrayal of Balzac Ludbeth... and how they had obtained the help of Noir Giabella’s remnant soul.

But the Demon King of Incarceration loved unexpected variables. Especially variables that had not existed within all of the countless eons he had experienced. He loved how these variables could shake the course of fate, which was constantly converging on a path to Destruction. The more deadly a threat those variables could pose to the Demon King of Incarceration, the more effectively they would be able to resist fate.

That was why he found the current era to be such an amazing and beautiful one. Its heroes were overflowing with the will to rise up against the Demon Kings and save their world. Not a single one of them had given into despair, and even in the face of overwhelming power that should have stripped them of their will to resist, they had still continued to move forward bravely.

Incarceration had tested them several times. He had tried to force them into despair by showing them such power that they must have felt that it was impossible to defeat him. He had told them to give up, that they would be able to move on to the next era together, where they would be able to enjoy the glory and happiness they deserved.

However, none of them had accepted his offer. Not one of them had hesitated out of a fear of death, nor had any of them betrayed their comrades.

So, Incarceration wasn’t able to drive them into despair as he had hoped. He had confirmed their strength. They had also refused to give up on their desire to save Vermouth, no matter the cost.

In that case, wouldn’t it be fine just to end things like this?

“Your Majesty!” some demonfolk cried out as they approached the prone Demon King of Incarceration.

This group of demonfolk were the last members of the Demon King’s Army stationed within Pandemonium. At the sound of their voices and approaching footsteps, the Demon King of Incarceration slowly lifted his head. Only then did the Demon King of Incarceration realize where exactly he had fallen.

He was in the capital of Helmuth, Pandemonium. The city that had been completely remodeled into a battle fortress with the ability to indiscriminately bombard the rest of the continent following the demonfolk’s victory in this war had now completely lost its function. The attack that had brought down the Demon King of Destruction had also cut down vast swathes of Pandemonium, but even before that, Pandemonium had already been reduced to ruins. This was all thanks to Melkith, who had followed Eugene’s orders and had invaded Pandemonium all on her own before running wild through the city.

The demonfolk stammered, “A-are you all right...?”

The demonfolk approaching Incarceration didn’t appear to be heavily wounded. The Demon King of Incarceration could easily infer the reason for this.

These demonfolk hadn’t put up any resistance to Melkith’s invasion. The demonfolk who would have had the strength to do so were already on the battlefield outside the city. These demonfolk, who had remained within Pandemonium, were all lowlifes whose only thoughts were of how they could invade the continent and sate their desires once the Demon King had emerged victorious. Because of that, these members of the rearguard hadn’t dared to confront Melkith and had instead remained hidden. While hiding, they had just watched as Melkith’s Omega Force destroyed all of the missile batteries and the other weapons that the Demon King of Incarceration had prepared.

The Demon King of Incarceration stared at these demonfolk without saying anything.

Incarceration could read the anxiety and fear in their eyes. He could also see another desire that was slowly spreading its way through them.

These demonfolk had thought that this war would naturally end in Helmuth’s victory. They hadn’t had any doubts about the Demon King’s eventual triumph. However, in front of them was the Demon King, who they had once thought to be so undefeatable but had now fallen into such a miserable state that it wouldn’t be strange if he were to die at any moment.

No, it wasn’t just this world. Even the fates of the previous world and all the worlds that had come before it were never meant to rest in the Demon King’s hands. Whenever the Demon King of Incarceration had launched his invasions, the beings who had stood up to fight against their inevitable destruction had done so with the determination to create their own fate, without succumbing to despair, without allowing their hope to be snuffed out. Instead of the next era that the Demon King of Incarceration had always insisted on... they had fought to continue the future of their worlds.

“Show me then,” the Demon King softly said as he raised his hand.

Roooooar!

The battlefield outside Pandemonium shook. The demonfolk, who had already stopped fighting, screamed as they were drained. The Black Fog were the first to fall to their knees as they writhed in pain, and the demonic beasts all collapsed as lumps of dead flesh.

“Show me your radiant light that erases despair,” Incarceration said, challenging Eugene.

The dark power Incarceration had just stolen from his victims wasn’t able to fly through the sky towards him. Like a shadow attempting to spread beneath a light that was far too bright for it, the dark power slithered across the ground as it flowed toward the Demon King of Incarceration.

The Demon King chuckled as he clenched his fist and said, “Show me a defeat that will close the door to the next era.”

The Divine Sword was raised aloft. A pillar of light rose above the world.

As he shuddered at this sight, the Demon King of Incarceration whispered, “Show me the victory that will open a path for the future.”

Dragging the towering pillar down with him, Eugene descended to the earth. Unable to hold it in, the Demon King of Incarceration burst into laughter. He grew so focused that even the clanking sound of his chains wasn’t able to enter his ears. The Demon King of Incarceration ran to meet Eugene as the Hero fell from the sky.

Boooom!

Darkness and light collided. But it was the darkness that shattered into pieces and was scattered. The countless chains trailing behind the Demon King of Incarceration were also broken along with the darkness. The Demon King of Incarceration staggered backward as if he was about to be sent flying, but he barely managed to keep his feet under him. He clenched his fist once more as blood and laughter spewed from his lips.

The next swing of his fist managed to stop the light in its tracks. However, that light was far too bright for the current Demon King of Incarceration to block completely.

Behind Eugene, Tempest also raised his fist. A storm rose once more. Infused with light, the wind erupted forth in a flash. The Demon King of Incarceration used his remaining chains to try and hold himself in place, but the storm of light engulfed the darkness in its entirety and shattered the chains.

The remaining force of the blow washed over Pandemonium and eradicated what remained of the city’s walls. As he was sent flying by the storm, the Demon King of Incarceration watched as the Divine Army marched over the fallen walls. Instead of ending the lives of the Demon King’s Army as the demonfolk just lay there, having lost all of their strength, the Divine Army had instead advanced on Pandemonium.

They were chanting the name of Eugene Lionheart as they marched. Everyone on the battlefield could sense that the defeat of Helmuth, the demonfolk, and the Demon King of Incarceration was drawing near. The victory of Eugene Lionheart and the Divine Army was close at hand.

‘Victory,’ Eugene also had a flash of intuition.

Eugene no longer had any remaining doubts about his divine domain.

He listened to the prayers of his believers as well as how his name was resounding throughout the battlefield.

Right now, what was it that everyone so fervently desired? What were they certain they had found? What was necessary to finally bring an end to this battle? What exactly was needed to close the door to the next era and open the door to the future?

The Demon King of Incarceration had already said what this was.

And Eugene was also sure of the answer to these questions.

“Agaroth,” the Light whispered from its cave beneath that distant sea.

The Divine Sword of Light Eugene held in his hands shone with a radiant light.

“Hamel,” his comrades’ voices called out.

“Eugene Lionheart,” everyone else called the name that he was currently known by.

All of the different names that belonged to Eugene were combined into one.

Fwooosh.

Levantein, which had fused with Eugene’s heart, possessed an all-encompassing divinity. As Eugene held the Divine Sword with both hands, the sword burst into flames.

The light of the sword had been converted into a fiery blaze. The roaring flames tore apart what remained of the Demon King of Incarceration’s clouds of darkness. The Demon King of Incarceration held up his hands to try and push back these flames, but his darkness was no longer able to cast any shadows, and his chains could not bind these flames.

In the midst of the flames, the Demon King of Incarceration silently lowered his fists.

After lifting his head to look up at the sky one last time, he shook his head with a long sigh.

“To think that you would be the God of Victory,” the Demon King of Incarceration muttered with a chuckle. “It truly suits you.”