Book 8: The Second: Chapter of the Final Battle: The Sword of the Demon King—The Silent Eagle
Moving through a magic portal, I crossed over several hundred miles and returned to the hall of the Demon King’s Castle. This traveling method was really convenient. Even if I was in the wilderness during the day, I could still return to the Demon King’s Castle by night to bathe and sleep on a soft bed.
My phobia of adventures has been cured without a cure!
“At your service, Your Majesty, the Demon King!”
Awaitsun and an entire row of dark knights knelt down on one knee, saluting me. From their attitudes to their expressions, not a single hair on them was lacking in respect. Even though I returned unexpectedly, their salutations were still made so orderly and uniformly, as if they had been constantly waiting for my return.
The only person standing was Illu. He was currently in full human form and didn’t look much different from the dark knights at the side. That was because he was now wearing a ring of disguise, which I had given to him, on his finger. It certainly was not a heart-shaped ring; it was in the shape of a bow.
I sat down on the throne. This throne was as grand as the Demon King’s Castle. Not only were there numerous decorative designs engraved on it, there were also several hundred precious stones embedded in it. The first time I saw it, I nearly wanted to knock out all the gemstones embedded in it!
However, the moment these words left my mouth, Awaitsun promptly offered me a pile of gemstones to choose from. As a result, I managed to spare the throne with much difficulty. After all, this chair was mine. If there wasn’t any need to, I should not create several holes in it.
Even so, this throne still had its flaws. It was too hard! After sitting on it for a long time, my backside would ache. However, after just a word of complaint, Awaitsun immediately sent someone to stack blankets on it. The next day, it even changed to an especially soft cushion. There really wasn’t anything I could criticize.
No matter if it was money, jewels, garments, or even women, as long as I wanted it, Awaitsun was able to attain it. This often made me feel that the Demon King’s Castle was situated in a capital city, instead of on a mountain top that rarely saw signs of humans.
“May I ask if Your Majesty has any requests?”
Sure enough, it was this sentence again. Over the past few days, I was nearly falling under the impression that this was the only sentence Awaitsun knew how to say.
With one knee on the ground, Awaitsun raised his head to look at me. There was not a trace of emotion on his face. At the start, he had given a professional smile. According to him, that was a smile that could best give others a favorable impression of him. He had been trained in the past to use this expression in front of the Demon King. However, the one time I used farsight to look at that smile, other than wanting to kill him and then flay his corpse, I had no other impression.
No matter what kind of expression that damn handsome face makes, it will only make guys want to terminate him sooner!
However, excluding that damn face, Awaitsun was still very useful. Hence, I only prohibited him from showing any emotions; I did not actually kill him.
Despite that, I still felt very unsatisfied with his complete obedience and emotionless face. The more I looked at him, the more discontented I became. Regardless of the orders he received, Awaitsun would only say “understood,” “understood,” and “understood.” Understood, my ass!
Even if the dark knights were dispatched to carry out missions with a ten percent survival rate, his only response would still be “understood.” Didn’t he even say previously that I am a demon king that “would not rashly send his underlings on suicide missions” and that’s why he chose me? But now it looks like there’s a complete lack of regard for the lives of his underlings!
I think the only people able to stir up his emotions are probably his wife and children, right? But now is not the time to use Alice ── it hasn’t come to such a boring stage yet. In any case at the moment, there are still many other things apart from Awaitsun that I can play with. I’ll leave it until after I am left with nothing to play with… Ahem.
After thinking for a while, I raised my voice, “Illu, come here.”
Illu scowled and said coldly, “I only obey the monarch!”
Here it comes again. I raised an eyebrow and asked, “You too know that your monarch is at the Holy Temple and is living very happily there. Do you want me to go over and disturb him?”
It was as if Illu had received a heavy blow. Even though it looked like he was having an internal struggle, I already knew what he would choose.
He walked up to the area beneath the throne, and then somewhat challengingly pulled off the ring of disguise, revealing his distinct appearance of an undead creature. He was extremely similar to Roland in many ways, except that Roland possessed three pairs of dragon wings, while Illu had a pair of membrane wings that were akin to bat wings. Also, Roland had a pair of black flaming eyes, while Illu did not. He only had a pair of blood-red eyes.
At present, all undead creatures followed my orders. Even Roland’s undead army from that previous time was the same. Only this Illu was always rebelling!
To be fair though, it was precisely because he was so defiant that forcing him to submit was particularly interesting. So long as I mentioned that I would do something unfavorable toward Roland, Illu would comply with my commands with a humiliated face. Compared to the rest that dutifully obeyed me, he was a lot more fun.
“I want you to take ten high-leveled undead creatures and send a warning to this adventurer party.” I gave him the exact location of the adventurer party, and then passed him a piece of paper. “This is the contents of the warning. Just read it out loud.”
“In the name of the Demon King, I declare that this world belongs to His Majesty, the Demon King. Any action that goes against His Majesty will be seen as treason, and will not be permitted to see the light of day…” Illu stopped after reading aloud this part. He asked bluntly, “After I finish reading it, do I kill them? Can’t I just kill them at once?”
“Kill what?” I said sourly, “If I wanted to kill them, I would kill them directly. Why would I still send a warning!”
Illu nodded his head in agreement, “Then I will kill them straight away.”
Like hell you will!
If I wanted them dead, you think I can’t kill them myself? There would be no need to involve you! In a fit of rage, I waved my hand and shot out a dark blade. However, Illu actually moved away and easily dodged this strike.
I clenched my fists tightly, and the dark element gradually thickened. I didn’t need to painstakingly gather it at all; merely feeling angry was enough. But killing Illu over such a small matter seems a bit… so what if I kill him? He was originally Roland’s subordinate. There is only Roland in his eyes. It would not be a shame to kill this fellow!
Illu was also on the alert. His two wings fanned lightly and his feet left the ground. Although he knew that he couldn’t beat me, he clearly did not intend to quietly resign himself to his death. His courage was truly commendable, but unfortunately something like courage cannot save him…
“Gahhhh──”
A cry of pain burst out from Illu. His left wing had been chopped off, and his entire person immediately plummeted to the ground. Turning back his head, he saw Awaitsun with his sword raised as he stood beside his legs. His face was grim and his sword was stained with blood.
Silent Eagle is quite strong indeed. Illu is probably unable to beat him in a fight ── damn all these expert swordsmen.
Illu’s face was full of resentment. Even though half of his body was covered in blood, he was still able to push himself into an upright position, seemingly thinking of a counterattack. However, the rest of the dark knights rushed up and around ten of them pressed their blades against his neck, preventing him from moving.
Illu is a commander of creatures of darkness. His ability in leading troops into battle is a lot stronger than fighting solo. Unfortunately at the present, the person he is rebelling against is me!
I am the highest figure of authority for all creatures of darkness. Not a single soldier will listen to his commands to oppose me!
“Your Majesty,” Awaitsun sheathed his sword as he spoke in a deferential manner. “Please allow me to issue the warning. Sir, I am your true subordinate. Illu, this fellow, is unable to do anything properly. It is most likely that he would spoil everything!”
When he heard that, Illu glared at Awaitsun fiercely. What an ungrateful fool. Awaitsun slashed you in order to save you.
This guy, Awaitsun, do you think that I’m blind? Hmph! “You? Look for you to fight over women with me? Illu is an undead creature; only he is able to frighten people. With that face of yours, what can you do besides seducing women!”
Awaitsun hurriedly said, “If you want women──”
“I have no interest in those subservient women!” I fiercely interrupted him.
Even though those women were indeed carefully selected by the Shadow Cathedral, and were even divided into different categories, glamorous, pure, cute, and so on, there was only one similarity. They were all ultra-beauties.
Awaitsun had even told me that these are all inexperienced virgins, but if I liked ones with experience, he could also get some── But do I need to use such methods to get my hands on a woman?
My rage turned to laughter and I said deliberately, “Ah, maybe there’s one that’s not bad. Your wife Alice is living in a side hall that is so far away from the main castle hall. Isn’t that a bit hard on her? How about letting her come and stay in the main hall?”
Awaitsun was silent just like his title, Silent Eagle. Despite that, I believed that if I really asked Alice to come over and warm my bed, Silent Eagle would definitely not remain silent. However, such an important game must, of course, be played at a later stage. Right now, there were still other games to play. It was not urgent to play such a big one.
Even though it’s obviously not urgent to play this climax of the games, I always can’t resist using Alice to threaten Awaitsun. Why is that so? I stared at Awaitsun. It has to be because this face is so handsome that it is upsetting my stomach!
“The Cathedral of the Shadow God really should not have chosen you as the Silent Eagle. I get mad just by looking at your face!”
Awaitsun remained quiet, but his heart skipped a beat. I narrowed my eyes slightly and asked suspiciously, “What are you hiding from me?”
“I would not dare──”
A massive dark claw materialized out of nowhere and seized Awaitsun, suspending his entire person in midair. This was not exactly a comfortable position, especially since my magic was powerful but lacking in control, particularly in the area of strength.
I stood up and took two steps closer to him. At the same time, I used farsight and saw his pained expression very clearly. This made me feel a lot better. Compared to that smile that could best give others a favorable impression of him, or an emotionless face, this was a lot better!
“Are you really not going to say it?”
Still, Awaitsun gave the same reply, “Your Majesty, I-I am not hiding anything from you──”
The dark claw tightened, and its crushing force rendered him barely able to breathe. After struggling for a while, his entire face even turned red. It was at this point that I said indifferently, “I remember warning you in the past to never ever lie to me, right?”
“Yes…”
Awaitsun practically squeezed this word out from between his teeth. He looked like he was nearly unable to breathe, let alone open his mouth to speak. I relaxed the dark claw a bit. He took in a deep breath and then continued to gasp for air. If I had loosened it a little later, perhaps he might have really suffocated.
“So, let me ask one more time.” I gave him a kind reminder, “Don’t give the wrong answer. I certainly have more than just the boring method of squeezing you.”
This time, I did not mention his wife and kids. In any case, he himself should know what these other methods were. As expected, Awaitsun yielded.
“When their calculations show that the Demon King is about to be born, the Cathedral of the Shadow God will choose the Silent Eagle based on looks.”
“Based on looks?” I chuckled. “With your looks, unless the Demon King is female, it will only have a negative outcome right?”
Awaitsun fell silent again. This trait of his is really annoying. Damn Silent Eagle!
The dark claw tightened again. However, this time it was not on purpose; it was only because of my unstable emotions. Nevertheless, it made Awaitsun speak up. With some difficulty, he explained, “If the Demon King were male, he would vent all his anger on the Silent Eagle.”
…The Cathedral of the Shadow God is too good! Did they believe that they had already seen through all of the Demon King’s actions? However, I could not defend myself, because I was still dangling Silent Eagle in midair. Damn it!
Damn it! Damn it! I’m so mad that I want to squeeze this guy in front of me to death. But if I really did that, wouldn’t it be verifying that what the Cathedral of the Shadow God said was true? Damn it!
I forced myself to crack open a smile, and pretended to relax as I said, “Their reckoning is quite accurate! It’s a pity that they missed something. If the Silent Eagle was so handsome that he was killed by the Demon King right at the start, then wouldn’t all those years of training be wasted?”
Unexpectedly, Awaitsun smiled. “My assistants are all capable substitutes for position of the Silent Eagle.”
I was stunned, and looked at the “assistants” at the side. There were at least twenty of them. Previously, I had never taken any notice of them. However, upon using farsight now, I realized that they were all actually pretty good-looking. So that’s how it is… So that’s how it is!
“So all of you ‘Silent Eagles’ are taking on the sufferings in place of this world. When necessary, you would even be killed one after another by the demon king. This is truly a mighty sacrifice! But is this really worth it?”
Awaitsun merely watched me. He did not give an answer, and those Silent Eagle substitutes also did not reply. They were just like their title ── Silent Eagle.
I clenched my fists with all my strength. Only then was I able to prevent myself from slaughtering all these fellows at one go, even though it was originally within their job scope to be abused to death by the demon king!
“Answer me, is this worth it? I don’t like the silence from all of you. Don’t reply to me with silence. If you do it again, I will send you all to hell!”
“Your Majesty, we are already dead. We died the moment we were selected as the Silent Eagle.”
Awaitsun’s face was full of agony── No, agony was not enough to describe his current expression. He was in pain, but trying hard not to let it show. I had never seen him with such an expression before, not even that time when there was only a month left until the lands of darkness would swallow the entire world. A beautiful expression.
“So sir, you can do anything to us, but please do not use other things to threaten us. We are already willing to do anything for you, sir. You do not have to use methods like threats on us! I really should not have gotten married.”
The final sentence was said very softly, practically only mouthed out. Nonetheless, I still heard it.
The dark claw released him, and Awaitsun was caught unprepared. As he fell to the ground, his knees weakened, but in the end, an expert swordsman was still an expert, and he promptly stood firm. Except, his head hung low, and he did not raise it for a long while.
If it wasn’t that my sensing ability allowed me to see his expression clearly, just by looking at his hanging head and his faintly trembling shoulders, I would have probably thought that Awaitsun was crying! However, he was indeed not; he was merely frightened, but so frightened that he was unable to continue playing the role of the forever unperturbed Silent Eagle.
That normally cool-headed attitude was absolutely faked. He was terrified; terrified that something bad would happen to his wife and children, maybe even terrified of death? After all, once dead, he would never be able to see or protect his wife and children again.
It is a lot simpler if he can be afraid. I tossed out the bait, “Awaitsun, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself. I can let you and your beloved wife and children live blessed and happy lives. You will be below one man, but above thousands and thousands of men; even I will also honor you. So long as you are my most loyal subject.”
Awaitsun immediately lifted up his head. Dropping one knee to the ground, he exclaimed, “Your Majesty, I am already your loyal subject!”
Upon hearing this obviously nonsensical answer, my fury overflowed and I couldn’t help but threaten him, “It looks like, you would rather live through days like the present, not knowing when I would summon Alice to warm my bed or throw your children into the garbage can!”
“Your Majesty, I am your loyal subject!” He still refused to change his words.
Like hell you are!
At the peak of my fury, I became calm instead. Even if I continued threatening him, I would not attain his devotion. Right from the start, I had used the wrong method. I needed to calm down a little. I sat down onto the throne, and while doing so, stroked the tip of the orb on the armrest. The design of this orb was truly wonderful. As long as I stroked it, even my thoughts would become unusually clear.
“Who are the people in the royal family of Kissinger?”
Awaisun paused, obviously thinking that I had changed the topic too much. However, he still answered dutifully, “The king, queen, a prince, and three princesses.”
There is only one prince. Is he the only son? I made my decision and ordered, “Lead the dark knights and the undead army to attack the Kingdom of Kissinger. Fight your way straight to the palace. I want you to kill that prince!”
Awaitsun’s eyes widened. This time, he finally did not utter “understood” immediately. It looked like I had chosen the correct action.
“What’s wrong? Can’t do it?” I purposely asked in this manner.
“Understood!” As expected, Awaitsun added on this sentence. He hesitated for a moment, and then opened his mouth to ask, “Your Majesty, could you enlighten me on why you wish to kill Prince Tayder?”
“Of course you can.” I was in an extremely good mood. Not only did I manage to make Awaitsun show a never-before-seen expression, I had even made him so shocked that he forgot to say “understood.” Afterwards, there would still be several very interesting games waiting for me. The current situation really couldn’t be any more perfect.
“However, before telling you, there is something I need to do first. Scarlet, teach me!”
No problem.
Nowadays, Scarlet was very well-behaved. She granted me whatever I asked for, and as long as they were things she could do and would not jeopardize me, she was very willing to do them all. Even if I did not make any requests, she would still try hard to grab any opportunity to teach me magic. It was just short of her getting down on her knees and begging me to learn.
In accordance with Scarlet’s instructions, I stood up and stretched out my right hand to gather a large amount of element. Then, I chanted a string of long and awkward-sounding incantations. However, this little bit was not difficult for me. In the past, I had to praise the God of Light at all times and in all sorts of conversations. Compared to those lengthy and ugly words of praise, curses were nothing!
As I recited the spell, a large magic circle appeared overhead in the hall. Awaitsun merely glanced up, and then looked back at me, waiting for instructions as usual. He did not pay any heed to this magic circle. However, in the next second, strange multicolored rays of light shot out from the magic circle, forcing him to turn his attention to it.
In the kaleidoscopic light, Awaitsun asked apprehensively, “Your Majesty, may I ask──”
I was too lazy to explain and immediately interrupted him, “Quiet. In a moment you will know what it is for.”
Awaitsun could only close his mouth and wait. I continued to manipulate the element to complete the magic circle. While this magic circle needed a lot of element, it was the skill required that was much more difficult.
Even though my skills at casting magic were not very good, ever since becoming the Demon King, this was still the first time I had to use some effort to cast a spell. This really made me incredulous. Is there really anyone else who can cast this spell?
The issue is in the number of people.
Oh I see. After putting the finishing stroke on the outline of the magic circle, and then pouring in large amounts of element to activate that magic circle, the strange multicolored rays of light intensified. In a split second, the light covered the entire hall. But then in the next instance, it vanished without a trace. There wasn’t even any hint of the magic circle. The hall looked no different from how it was a few minutes ago.
From the corner of his eyes, Awaitsun rapidly scanned the place from left to right. When he did not notice anything amiss, his pulse distinctly slowed down.
It’s a bit too early to relax now. Feeling that I was going to see something interesting, I laughed and said, “Now you can ask.”
Awaitsun opened his mouth, but he could only make sounds like “ah” and “uh.” He could not form any words at all. He raised his head to look at me, doing his utmost to prevent fear from showing on his face.
“Don’t panic, you are not the only one who can’t speak. Those Silent Eagle substitutes are also the same.” Upon hearing my words, the substitutes immediately paled. One after another, they tried opening their mouths to say something, but they could not utter even a single word. Their mouths were only full of sounds like “ah ah.”
I explained nonchalantly, “You and your dark knights can communicate with each other using psychic magic. You can also directly give commands to the undead army. Therefore, none of you need to speak at all. Doesn’t this fit the title of ‘Silent Eagle’ even better?”
Awaitsun raised his head to look at me. Why?
Not bad! In such a short time, he has managed to grasp the trick of using psychic magic as means of communication. I did not answer him directly; instead I smiled and told him, “Look down at your hand.”
Awaitsun immediately looked down. On the back of both hands, a magic circle had appeared. It could not be wiped off nor scrubbed off.
“All the words that you write down will be seen by Scarlet, so don’t try to use writing to communicate with others, like an explanation to the King of Kissinger on ‘why you want to kill his son’.”
Awaitsun’s eyes widened as he looked at me.
You carry out all sorts of atrocities, yet do not even utter a single word of explanation. When even those people who know the truth begin to question your defection, and then loathe you for the pain you have inflicted on them, let’s see whether you can still be so devoted and self-sacrificing!
“My dear Silent Eagle,” I deliberately brought up the words that Awaitsun had spoken in the past. “As you desired, I am not a Demon King who would destroy half the world. Compared with such a senseless action of obliterating half the world, I’d much rather prefer to play games. I hope you will like my games.”
After saying that, I wiped the smile off my face and sternly commanded, “Listen well! Within the next three months, you will lead the army and storm the capital city of Kissinger. After that, in front of the king and queen, kill the prince with your own hands. You must slash him no less than one hundred times. Not a single cut less! If you don’t accomplish it, I will personally wipe out ‘every single person’ in the royal household of Kissinger. Do you understand?”
Awaitsun raised his head to look at me, his face full of panic. However, he had already shown too many expressions today, I was a little tired of looking at them.
“What are you staring at me for?” I said coldly, “Go and prepare the troops for battle!”
… Understood!
After accepting the order, Awaitsun led the entire row of dark knights away. He did not even leave anyone behind to protect me. Previously, regardless of whether or not I was in the Demon King’s Castle, he would at least leave two people behind to watch over the place. Evidently, Awaitsun was rather furious today.
With those dark knights gone, only Illu who was sitting on the floor and I were left in the entire hall, making the place appear extremely spacious. As there was no one else to look at, naturally, I could only look at Illu. His wing had already been joined back, but it was still drooping down motionlessly. Clearly, it had only been restored to the level of an ornament. He could not fly at all.
Illu also noticed that I was looking at him. It was probably because he was an undead creature, that so far, he still has not shown any fear. No matter how much I threatened or tortured him, he was still unafraid of me. What a troublesome fellow.
Feeling mystified, Illu asked, “Why did you give him three months? That way, that guy will hold off killing him until the very last moment.”
“It’s precisely for him to delay.” I stretched as I said, “If I ordered him to immediately kill that prince, then this game will be over in a short while. So I gave him three months to struggle in pain. This way, I can play for a little while longer!”
Illu shook his head as he said, “I can’t understand you.”
I snorted. “There’s nothing strange about that. You are merely an undead creature. You can’t understand anybody!”
Unexpectedly, Illu said, “The monarch is very easy to understand.”
“Oh? Then tell me, why did he kill you at the start?” I was nearly dying from curiosity. Why did Roland want to kill a dark knight? I had questioned all the dark knights, but no one knew what had happened then. I was afraid that other than Roland and Illu, no one else would know.
“The monarch didn’t kill me.” Illu replied reflexively. But then, probably because he felt the apparent change in dark element, he added on, “As for the corpse used to create me, the monarch did not tell me why he had killed him.”
So I can only ask Roland? But he’s at the Holy Temple…
I frowned. “Forget it, forget it! Follow my original plan and go warn that adventurer party. Remember, read off the paper I gave you. After reciting it, scram. But leave behind two expendable creatures that aren’t too strong or too weak to attack that adventurer team. In the following days, continue to send over more of them. And remember, those creatures must become stronger and stronger, but not so strong that they slaughter the entire adventurer party.”
Puzzled, Illu asked, “What are you trying to accomplish?”
Heh heh! “I want to raise up a ‘hero’.”
Illu froze. “Raise up a hero? Heroes should be your enemies. Why would you want to train your enemies?”
“Because!” I said lazily, “If there’s a Demon King, of course there has to be a hero. Otherwise, if I’m the only person, doing a one-man show is rather boring!”
“It is foolish to train your enemies.” Illu did not agree in the slightest.
“Shut up!” After cursing, I couldn’t help but yawn loudly, “I’m going to sleep.”
One bad thing about becoming the Demon King was that my body had weakened.
After I became the Demon King, the power of my magic has been exceptionally strong. On the other hand, my body was far from how well it had been when I was a holy knight. At first, I thought it was because I lacked holy light. That’s why from a strong and sturdy holy knight, I changed back to the form of an ordinary person. However, I was also sleeping longer and longer hours, such that instead of a normal person, I was practically turning into a pig. This was simply too abnormal!
After thinking for a while, I suspected that this was the doing of the Cathedral of the Shadow God. Just as I was about to press Awaitsun for an explanation, Scarlet told me that in order for the Demon King to use large amounts of dark element, he had to possess a strong psychic ability. However, it was due to the overuse of his powerful psychic magic that his body could not bear the burden. That was why all the demon kings in history have always had poor health.
So that means, I will slowly weaken until I die?
Before the dark element has been reduced to a point where the world regains its balance, you will not die.
“If you’re going to sleep, go and sleep on your bed!”
I was abruptly startled awake. I glanced at Illu. He still had the appearance of an undead creature. Even though I had ordered him to maintain his human form, he never liked the appearance of a human, and seized any opportunity to revert back to his original form.
“I didn’t know that undead creatures are concerned over where I slept.”
“Your room has magic circles that prevent you from randomly casting spells in your dreams!” Illu bellowed, “You’re very dangerous when you’re asleep!”
It was only then that I realized, his other wing had also broken.