Chapter 200 – Hell – 3
To demons, humans were just playthings to relieve boredom and mere components used to strengthen their power.
The more humans dragged into hell were tortured, the stronger they became, and as their power grew, their position in hell naturally rose as well.
After a brutal torture session, when the flesh died and the remaining soul was permanently bound to the demons, it unleashed a wail filled with pain, becoming a source of power again. Thus, it was only natural for demons to view humans this way.
They had to, after all.
Until they encountered the two humans who abruptly barged into hell and began slaughtering demons.
When they first discovered two humans leisurely strolling through hell, the demons rushed in with joy. However, it didn’t take long for them to realize it was recklessness.
Hundreds of demons were permanently eliminated by the black-haired woman’s hands wielding the Holy Sword, stacking their corpses into a small hill. The demons couldn’t even touch the hem of the black-haired woman’s clothing.
No matter how powerful the Holy Sword was, this was hell itself, the very stronghold of demons. So, they thought they would surely win if they unleashed their full power, but in reality, it was quite the opposite.
The demons, piled up as corpses into a hill, eventually changed their target. They decided to aim for the relatively easier-looking black-haired man standing next to the woman with the Holy Sword.
Compared to the black-haired woman who obliterated every demon in sight, the man merely finished off the demons that survived, making him seem much easier to deal with.
However, the demons that charged at the man were permanently eliminated as well.
The weapon in the man’s hand was not a Holy Sword, yet it exhibited divine power strong enough to rival it. By the time the first demon charged, realizing this fact, it was already too late.
Even though it didn’t display overwhelming force like the black-haired woman wielding the Holy Sword, dozens of demons were struck down without landing a single hit, all falling to the divine energy.
In any case, it was clear that both were terrifying beings that they could not defeat with their own power. The demons fled, leaving behind a hill of corpses.
They ran to seek help from a high-ranking demon, one of the Demon King’s closest aides, who governed this area.
Of course, it didn’t take long for the fleeing demons to regret their choice.
“Empress, do you know this saying?”
“What do you speak of?”
“The source of pain is the head. If you destroy the head, it can prevent feeling any more pain.”
“Your words are quite correct. I shall personally commend you.”
Even at my ridiculous joke, Kaiquilia praised slightly before stomping down on the demon’s head pierced by the Holy Sword, causing it to scream, “Kieeeek!”
Splat, followed by the contents spilling out. The dried ground became slick with dark red blood.
Despite having felled so many demons, Kaiquilia’s clothing remained pristine. Upon closer inspection, it seemed the demon remnants evaporated into thin air the moment they touched her due to the power of the Holy Sword.
I stared down at my black uniform stained with dark red blood and decided there was nothing I could do about it. The Holy Sword was special.
“However, there is a flaw in your words.”
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“What reason would we have to send these wicked beings away without pain?”
As we exchanged these trivial discussions, we moved forward. In our path stood a massive demon that had previously faced off against Kaiquilia and had escaped in utter disgrace.
It was ‘Four-Winged Demon,’ one of the bosses in the demons’ sanctuary DLC. Being a DLC boss, it was considerably tougher than the average ones, and our matchup was extremely unfavorable.
Having learned all its attack patterns from me, Kaiquilia allowed not a single blow to land and overwhelmed it head-on. The demon looked pitiful as it got beaten senseless.
On the verge of death, the Four-Winged Demon attempted to flee, but it was struck by an attack resembling sword energy from behind and soon plummeted to the ground.
That was why we could walk through hell so peacefully.
“……”
And then, Margarita was quietly observing our tranquil selves from behind.
Margarita alternated between the fleeing demons in fear and the two of us, who appeared completely unfazed by the massacre, with a dumbfounded expression.
Then she cautiously opened her mouth.
“Uh… you guys… you’re not from the Holy Kingdom, right?”
“Is it customary in the Holy Kingdom to address the Pope as ‘Your Majesty’? It has been so long that if you’ve forgotten all knowledge of the human world, I would specially forgive you.”
“N-no! That’s not it…”
Margarita, who had asked me and then received a deadly glare from Kaiquilia, quivered in shock. It seemed the earlier incident of the Holy Sword being thrust against her throat was still vividly fresh in her mind.
Despite her tone and actions, Kaiquilia was actually in a very good mood. She could probably let many things slide.
“We are from the Aiternum Empire. As I mentioned earlier, that person is the current Empress.”
I answered on behalf of Kaiquilia. Margarita cast a sidelong glance at me.
“I know that. I heard it too. But even so, I still can’t believe it. The fact that an Empire person uses the Holy Sword, and that weapon you’re holding as well… Honestly, I used to be a Holy Knight myself. I can distinguish how much divine power is contained in a weapon.”
A little voice added, “Not now though.”
“To be honest, I would never have imagined the Emperor of the Empire would use the Holy Sword. So how—”
“Curiosity kills the cat, Margarita.”
Her glare filled with superiority directed toward Margarita. Having said just a single line, Margarita immediately understood the meaning behind it and promptly shut her mouth.
It was quite understandable why she reacted so sharply. After all, she had used the Holy Sword to slay her family members tainted by demons.
To question why the Emperor of the Empire was wielding the Holy Sword would inevitably bring back memories of that time, causing her to respond sharply.
“Delta. You are the same. As a knight, you have a duty to serve the Emperor closely. Why are you away from that position?”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
I had been walking slightly away from Kaiquilia but moved closer upon hearing that.
“Closer.”
I inched closer.
“Closer.”
I moved even closer.
“Closer.”
Until moving just a little would bring our arms within reach.
“That will suffice.”
Kaiquilia finally nodded in satisfaction. The closeness was so intense that one step forward would brush our forearms together.
I felt Margarita’s piercing gaze directed at me from behind. Although we had just referred to ourselves as the Emperor and her knight, our behavior was far from fitting that description, which must have puzzled her.
After that, there was nothing more to say, and no demons with their wits lost to charge at us, allowing for a quiet journey. Thanks to that, our way was smooth.
After an unknown amount of time, I spotted the Four-Winged Demon, sitting on the ground, blood pouring from its severed limbs as it gasped for breath.
“Over there…”
“Do you still have words to speak?”
As I approached it, Kaiquilia muttered with a hint of irritation at Margarita’s voice, which echoed once again from behind.
Startled, Margarita took a moment, but with a determined expression, she spoke up.
“Are you two… um, lovers?”
“……”
It was a completely unexpected question, but Kaiquilia made no objections.
She simply gazed silently at Margarita with her usual expressionless yet commanding face as she posed the question.
After standing there emotionless for a while, Kaiquilia finally opened her mouth with a rather subtle expression as Margarita quivered and was about to stutter.
“What reason led you to think that?”
“Um… you both have similar hair colors, and your clothes are alike, and there are similarities in the weapons you use… so I wondered if you matched each other.”
Thinking back, that was indeed the case. I mentally compared my appearance to Kaiquilia’s.
Both of us had pitch-black hair, wore black uniforms, and wielded swords radiating divine power. It was enough to create an illusion that we were specially coordinated.
Plus, although nominally we were lord and knight, our actions didn’t feel that way at all.
After staring at Margarita for a while with a face betraying no emotion, Kaiquilia suddenly turned her head away.
“Think what you will. I am too busy to respond to every little misunderstanding.”
‘She’s not denying it.’
Knowing Kaiquilia’s character, I expected her to make some statement like, “She’s mine, not a romantic partner.” This was surprising in many ways.
With her golden irises now focused on me, I quickly followed suit. Kaiquilia’s expression remained unchanged, still inscrutable.
Soon, we arrived at the Four-Winged Demon lying helplessly on the ground while gasping for breath.
“Did you say you needed this demon’s eyes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Exactly.”
“What a fortuitous coincidence. It was quite nauseating to have such filthy eyes roaming over my body.”
For the device to function, two drop items acquired from defeating DLC bosses and two lootable items from the field were required. One of the drop items was the demon’s eye.
Initially, I thought that like when I defeated the human butcher in the tutorial area and obtained the blood-stained sword, the demon’s body might dissolve and drop the item. However, to be safe, I decided to extract it first.
Upon hearing about extracting the eye, the demon frantically flapped its wings, but with over 90% of them torn, flying was impossible with the remaining limbs.
Kaiquilia casually gestured with her chin.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
Margarita gave a moment of flustered hesitation before nodding and drew her sword, approaching the Four-Winged Demon. Without a hint of hesitation, she stabbed the demon’s eyelid with her sword.
The demon let out a bird-like scream as its body twisted. But at that point, there was no action it could take.
“Delta.”
As I watched the bikini-clad beauty diligently extracting the demon’s eye, I heard Kaiquilia calling me from right beside.
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“What do you think about what that one said?”
“…Huh?”
“Are you making your serving lord repeat herself? Truly a bad habit. I asked how you think about it when that one referred to us as lovers.”
