CH 28

[…Fake, what the hell did you just do?]

After taking off the stuffy mask, I turned around and looked at Sagna.

Sagna was frowning as if he had seen something really weird.

“What are you talking about?”

[How did you do that!?! I’m very curious about everything that just happened! When and how did you manage to cast an illusion upon all those humans? When you’ve only been sitting in this spot the entire time!]

“Oh well, I just took care of it naturally.”

I replied casually right away, while I sat down with my legs crossed.

Casting illusions at first may seem like incredibly complex magic, but in fact, it is quite constrained.

First of all, the person who is under the illusion must inhale a certain amount of fantasy powder, either through the nose or the mouth.

Secondly, it would not be possible for the person to be tricked by the illusion if he or she is extremely sensitive or alert.

Thirdly, if several people were hallucinating at the same time, they would all see the same illusion.

“I was actually worried for some time because I was not sure when I would be able to sprinkle the fantasy powder upon all of them. After all, the amount of powder that could be used was very limited.”

[Was it roughly sprinkled all over the devil’s castle?]

“No. That’s impossible. The powder was so light that it had to be stockpiled on the third floor in a room where the wind doesn’t blow.”

In fact, I discovered this when I tried it last time at the devil’s castle. In addition to its weight, the fantasy powder was also very shiny.

If someone saw the sparkling powder floating around the castle and made the soldiers cover their noses and mouths with their handkerchiefs, this plan would have been completely ruined.

But to be honest, if they were skilled knights, they would have definitely noticed the fantasy powder all over the floor.

“More importantly, inhaling the powder would be useless in a situation if the ones affected were very sensitive and attentive to their surroundings.”

I spoke while my finger tapped on the armrest of the throne. It was a very tricky situation, but in order to match my infamous reputation, I had to pretend that I had an amazing skill.

[So, what did you do just now and how did you do it? Come on, don’t leave me on a cliffhanger, just tell me!]

“Well, what happened was…”

I stopped moving my fingers, while tapping the armrest.

I quietly looked up into the air and smirked, pulling up the corners of my mouth.

“…I had poured a lot of the fantasy powder within the barrier of the devil’s castle.”

The moment I remembered the story of how they defeated the devil, I remembered the barrier that surrounded the castle.

Since they’ve decided to subdue me, the barrier that was placed in the devil’s castle definitely had to be broken somehow. Even the real devil couldn’t prevent the barrier from breaking.

‘If it’s bound to break, then I’ll take advantage of that exact moment.’

As soon as the Warrior broke the barrier, the powder would mix with the remnants of the barrier and flow directly towards the soldiers.

It was a good thing that all of the soldiers had surrounded the castle’s barrier. They inadvertently inhaled the falling fantasy powder.

“The timing wasn’t bad either.”

The massive thunder that was heard as the barrier broke, helped a lot since it temporarily stunned the minds of all the soldiers as even Haron stopped being attentive and alert as well.

The soldiers that were in the front were definitely affected by this psychedelic powder. However, I was a little worried because there were quite a few soldiers at the back, but fortunately, Tina managed to take care of those remaining ones.

(t/n: psychedelic means to create hallucinations)

“It was half a gamble, but it worked better than I thought.”

Sagna, who was quietly listening to my story while sticking by my side, had finally regained his composure from the initial shock and started talking.

[You’re really… Even the Demon King did not make good use of the power of hallucinations.]

“She was already strong in the first place. That’s why she didn’t have to worry about her head rolling like me and I really needed to believe in myself in order for me to succeed.”

I rose up slowly from my seat.

I carefully tucked in my silver hair within my robe so that it would not slip out by mistake.

“But in the meantime, the Warrior has managed to break free from my illusions and that is quite an amazing feat.”

I smiled bitterly.

I was expecting that it wouldn’t go as smoothly as I had planned, but I was still very confident with the psychedelic properties of my fantasy powder.

…I wonder if someone helped him.

“Well, anyway, the ending of this game is the final battle between the Demon King and the Warrior.”

I slowly lifted the mask in my hand and covered my face with it.

Regardless of how this fight will end up, I definitely didn’t want to show him the real me because I wasn’t brave enough to see his reaction once he knew the truth.

Sooner or later, a man with a familiar face slowly emerged from the other side of the huge hall.

The scene of the black cape fluttering behind him while he was walking in with a shriveled sword in his hand created such a dramatic look that everyone would have thought that he was the devil instead.

“Oh no.”

What made me feel incredibly uncomfortable was seeing for the first time his ferocious gaze directed towards me. His fingertips had been tingling with anticipation because he lived for this exact moment so he faced me without any hesitation. Even right now, the sharp sword in his hand seemed to have already pierced my heart.

Haron stopped just below the steps in the center of the hall.

He then looked up at me with cold eyes.

There’s also a voice modulation spell that was installed on the mask. So if I ever needed to talk, the other person would only hear a deep tone that was different from my usual voice.

I smiled slightly, looking down at him from the throne.

The line I had heard a thousand times before, is the same line that I would tell the Warrior now.

“Welcome to my territory, Warrior.”

~♡~

Despite me welcoming Haron with open arms, he remained silent without answering my greetings.

A moment of silence flowed in this spacious hall with only the two of us present.

“…How boring it is for us to only look at each other like this, Warrior. If you would have said hello, I would have definitely accepted it.”

“I’m not in the mood to mess around with you.”

Haron’s voice was extremely cold and dark. Compared to Lucia’s voice, which was relatively playful.

“Really? How does this make you feel? Do you wish to tear me apart right now?”

“…Stop this bullshit.”

It felt a little strange. I didn’t expect that he would know how to get angry like this.

“Even if you don’t make fun of me like that, I already feel extremely disgusted as if I already had been stuck in the mud.”

Red blood was dripping from Haron’s left hand.

I don’t think that I had made traps that could hurt him like this.

But now wasn’t the time for me to worry about that.

“You don’t seem to have any intention of talking to me.”

“Do you have any thoughts on holding a conversation?”

“I’ve already dealt with all your fellow soldiers. But if you would think about it, I’ve been pretty quiet for the past few years.”

Haron’s face crumpled at my casual words that were said with a smile.

I mean, if I were to state the opposite, weren’t you the ones who came here in the first place? So you all cannot blame me if I try to defend myself as well.

“Are you really willing to sign a peace treaty? After giving up the plan to annihilate humans?” Haron finally answered.

“That’s…”

Lucia obscured her words as if she was in deep thought.

Threatening the peace of the world with the power of destruction that was to be unleashed by the Devil remained a constant threat and fear for the entire Kingdom.

I would say that I’ve been looking for my powers, but I have not yet fully regained all of them at this time.

But if we established a peace treaty with the humans and cooperated with each other, we may find a way to prevent the disaster sooner.

“I promise to cooperate as much as I can in order to be at peace with all mankind.”

“…”

“Why are you giving me that look on your face?”

“…But your words are literally too suspicious.”

“I can write you a fair pledge if you desire. Humans are more obsessed with that sort of thing, aren’t they?”

“You will make a pledge…”

Haron murmured quietly.

(3rd person POV)

If that’s true, then there would be no better outcome. In fact, the devil has not created any conflicts as of late.

What he meant was that it wasn’t a ridiculous idea.

“If you can discuss with Duke Blake about what we’ve talked about…”

The devil spoke.

Perhaps Duke Blake will like it, too.

It was because of uncertainty that he did not speak out about the peace treaty.

However, he would not hesitate if he could reach an agreement with the Devil before the Duke of Rokden.

Haron felt very troubled for a long time.

Soon he came to a decision.

“About the peace treaty…”

“Do you agree?”

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t think I would be able to accept it.”

It was an unexpected answer.

Lucia was astonished, but she kept her wits together, pretending to be undisturbed.

“Really? I think it’s a pretty generous offer, but I’m surprised… or do you believe that I’m not taking this seriously?”

“Not at all.”

After all, I was prepared to die.

For Haron, the idea that the other person was above him was so natural that he never bothered to question it.

Nevertheless, there was only one reason for not accepting a peace treaty.

“Because if the Devil is still alive, I would never ever be able to escape my place.”

Even if a peace treaty was concluded safely, there was no guarantee that his safety would be guaranteed after that.

Even if an agreement was reached, there would still be a lot of disturbances and political intrigue behind the scenes.

Then until all of that was done, or perhaps for the rest of his life, he would have to live as the Devil’s watchdog or enemy.

This would mean that he would have to be under Duke Blake’s thumb for the rest of his life.

“This is purely out of my own greed.”

Kill the Devil, and then your duty as a Warrior would be completely over. But if you don’t kill him, the peace of mankind would always be threatened.

“I’ll be dead before that.”

Before this, he would have made a slightly more rational choice. Even if he sacrificed himself, he would still choose the path where everyone would be safe.

“No matter how many times I think about it, this is the best decision that I could make.”

“Best? By fighting with me?”

“After knocking you down, saving the princess, and putting down all my duties…”

“…”

He climbed up the stairs before him slowly.

“I would be able to set new goals.”

Before I knew it, the two of us were facing each other, leaving only a single space between us.

“Not as a savior or for the sake of world peace, but a very small and trivial goal.”

Just with the goal of achieving a little normal happiness.

Haron squeezed and straightened his bloody hand once again.