V1C10

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The Day of Wrath (Before)

The winter arrived and clear, cold air hung over the snowfield. It was the last morning of the year, when Senka once again visited the snow-covered old castle.

The expressions of the three people encircling the round table in Byakuren’s private room at the top floor were stiff.

“I have ascended the throne and have come for you as promised.”

“I see. I’m ――”

Senka interrupted Byakuren by raising his hand.

“Please listen first. The situation has changed.”

Despite feeling displeased for having being interrupted, Byakuren closed her mouth.

Nervousness could be felt from the usually composed Takashiro too.

The reason was tense atmosphere around Senka. He, who had always been collected, had fully lost his calm.

“After I solidify my standing as the Demon Emperor, I will start war with the humans.”

“What did you say?!”

Byakuren’s voice turned shrill.

“It won’t be something sporadic like before. I will claim their territory. Depending on the situation, I might even end up invading the land of dwarves and elves.”

“Such a thing ―― won’t possibly be allowed!”

“It was allowed.”

“Wha…?!”

“It won’t happen immediately. I have also just been crowned. First, I’ll have the Demon Kings align with the idea, solidify the foundation and challenge it in a solid form.”

“…”

“However, amongst the Demon Kings and nobles who are bordering with human kingdom, there are some who have already started to prepare for the war.”

At that, Senka finished his sentence and looked into Byakuren’s eyes.

“Do you know the noble called Gaien?”

“Yes…what of it?”

“He seemed to have been quite taken in by you, my lady.”

“…”

“That person has also started preparing for war. Unluckily, Orcs have quite grown in numbers. This matter seems to have overlapped with the time of plundering expedition.”

“Are you saying that this castle is also in danger?”

Takashiro talked for the first time.

“Yes. I, myself, am not personally acquainted with this Gaien person. I have ordered the Demon King which Gaien serves to leave this castle alone, however…”

Senka made a slightly bitter face.

“Whether or not it will reach the country bumpkin nobles from North is a bit…moreover, his subordinates are brainless orces and ogres.”

The demon territory is vast.

It couldn’t be helped if Senka, who resided in the central and was in a position to rule over all Demon Kings, was unable to manage every single northern noble.

“I have received the report that Orcs have already left their villages and started to gather while proceeding west.”

“If that is the case, the battle will begin at the fortress along the main road as early as 10 days.”

Takashiro said with a bitter face. Senka’s voice that responded to him was also heavy.

“This time, not only the Orc troops, but Gaien himself may cross the border. If that happens, the war will grow faster.”

“The werebeast race that lives on South Mountain has maintained neutrality until now. What about them?”

Takashiro tried reading Senka’s expression.

“Even I don’t know that much. Are they not your retainers?”

“…”

“Of course, I don’t think that any danger could possible come your way. However, what about others? What are you going to do with that human girl?”

Byakuren’s face turned visibly pale.

“I know that you can protect her. However, the war will continue. If Demon Kings went all out, even the spectators in heaven will eventually descend. I’m saying this with the war with the divine race in mind.”

Takashiro’s face was also drained of blood.

“…It might become the biggest military campaign since the Great Disaster”

“Let that girl escape to the west where war won’t reach. You will be moved to the Imperial Palace within the next couple of days.”

“That can’t be――!”

Byakuren stood up vigorously. The cold air emitting from her instantly dropped the room temperature into negatives.

“Please calm down.”

Senka’s voice was still calm.

“However, this is too sudden――!”

“Too sudden? We had already agreed that I would welcome you by the end of the year, did we not? I have told you just now that we have no time to spare.”

“――!”

Byakuren bit her lip.

“It has been decided that we will only extend the territory until the four countries in the center of the continent. We will not go further west. It would be better if you let that girl escape to a place where war won’t reach while you can.

“N-no…I don’t want to…..with Alfra….”

Looking at Byakuren, who was standing with a distorted face, Senka furrowed his eyebrows.

She was far too different from the woman with frozen heart he knew.

―― Who in the world am I talking to?

It was the kind of change that unintentionally made him think so.

“You see, I don’t care about what happens to that human girl. However, if a danger comes her way, you will be saddened. I personally came to this place the moment I heard about the movements in the region. Won’t you…consider my feelings for a little too?”

“…”

“I have come to save that girl for you, neglecting my obligations as the one who rules over the Demon Kings.”

Byakuren sat down, as if collapsing.

“But… I also have the duty to set up a residence in this sacred ground.”

The ley line spot in the basement of this castle. Even though it was outside of the demon territory, Byakuren still killed the noble ruling over this snowfield fortress.

Ever since then, this fortress had been designed as the castle of a feudal lord in order to avoid the same thing happening.

“That seems to be fine already. That person also wishes to welcome you to the Imperial palace.”

“How could that be…”

“This sacred ground in itself has no value. And besides, the road to the underground cavity is sealed with white magnet, right?”

Byakuren, who had lost her excuse to refuse, stopped moving as if frozen, staring blankly at an empty space.

―― That guy came again

Alfra was excising in writing in her room.

As always, she was isolated from the conference of the adults.

She wasn’t good at studying reading and writing. She would immediately get distracted and start thinking about the relationship between Byakuren and Senka.

―― What guy will definitely get rejected

―― Byakuren belongs only to me. And I also belong to Byakuren

―― Because we are already in that kind of relationship

Alfra’s mouth drew into a happy smile.

―― Byakuren is kind. We’ll always be together

Getting bored of studying, Alfra rolled on her bed and nibbled on the cookies that Felmar baked.

They were sweet and savory.

Felmar had given her a platter full of cookies, saying that she had baked a little too much, however it was the amount which Alfra most likely wouldn’t be able to finish on her own.

―― I’ll give it to Byakuren later

She really loved that idea. The two of them would eat sweet cookies together.

―― Won’t that guy leave soon?…

Just as she reached for the second cookie, she suddenly felt Byakuren’s presence.

However, Alfra, who jumped up from the bed, froze still.

Something was different from the usual. She felt something scary.

Cold air, chill enough to make her think that snowstorm had blown in, flew into the room from the open room.

“Byaku…ren?”

Byakuren, who was entirely devoid of warmness, like an ice sculpture. And Senka, standing behind her.

“What’s wrong?…Hey?”

Terribly hoarse voice, which even she couldn’t recognize as her own, leaked from Alfra’s throat.

“I’m going to the palace. This is a farewell.”

“―― What?!”

Byakuren’s unbelievable words made Alfra dizzy. Small black dots emerged in her field of vision and she felt as if everything before her suddenly turned dark.

“I’ve left the rest to Takashiro, so ask him.”

“W…wh, y…?”

“…”

Byakuren remained expressionless. Alfra did not notice that within Byakuren’s tightly clenched fists, nails were deeply digging into her skin.

Even if she did, she would probably be unable to realize the implication behind that action.

―― Bad Demon King will…my Byakuren…

Alfra ran. She grabbed the magic-coated rapier she had been gifted before, swung it once while running and discarded the scabbard.

She slipped by Byakuren’s side and drew close to Senka.

―― You! As long as you didn’t exist!!

“Oh my, I sure am hated.”

Senka shrugged, his voice tinted with bitter smile.

The atmosphere instantly became denser. The dreadfully heavy resistance wrapped around Alfra’s body and she became unable to move.

A miniscule amount of magical powers in atmosphere that normally couldn’t be felt had now become dense enough to have physical effect.

“Wha…?!”

Alfra’s rapier-holding arm wouldn’t even budge. Legs she tried to move forward were pushed back.

In addition, even more enormous amount of magical powers surged forward from Senka.

“It would be boorish to interrupt a moment of separation. I will be waiting at the palace.”

Senka told Byakuren without losing his elegance, not taking Alfra in consideration.

A stream of magical powers that felt like she had been thrown into muddy water, pushed Alfra back and she fell onto the bed while staggering.

After bowing to absentminded Alfra, Senka turned on his heels and left.

Alfra had underestimated Demon Kings. She thought that no matter how strong they were, they were still the same creatures as her. That as long as they were caught off guard, they could be killed.

Remembering the powerful magical powers overflowing from Senka, she shuddered. Alfra realized that had he desired to kill her, she would have taken her last breath then and there.

“Ah….aa”

An unstoppable torrent of magical powers. That was what Senka showed in the middle of his conversation with Byakuren.

“A big war is about to begin. Escape to the West with Felmar. She seems to be planning to return to western demon territory. While she’s at it, she’ll bring you to a human territory where war won’t reach.”

It was an emotionless cold voice.

“Why…? This is a lie, no….!”

“Take this with you.”

Byakuren let Alfra hold a barrette decorated with blue gems.

“It looks great on your flaxen hair.”

How many years had it been since she was called ‘you’ instead of her name? ―― Everything before her darkened, as if her consciousness was growing distant.

Intangible darkness seemed to have started crawling up Alfra’s legs.

“If we survive, we’ll meet again. Hurry up so war won’t catch up to you.”

―― It’s a lie! Byakuren is going to the Demon King’s castle. There’s no way we could meet.

“No! Don’t go. Why? Take me with you too!!”

Alfra mustered up all her strength to smile at Byakuren, who was silently looking down on her.

Hoping for her to answer back with the usual soft smile.

“Byakuren…”

However, Byakuren’s expression remained cold and unmoving.

“Right! The cookies…”

Alfra looked around as if she had remembered something.

She grabbed a single cookie from the platter with a trembling hand and with a forced smile plastered on her face she held it out to Byakuren.

“I’ve got cookies. Let’s eat together. I got lots of the delicious ones from Felmar…”

Her beloved stayed silent, as if she was frozen.

Looking up at her with an almost pleading expression, Alfra could no longer keep her smile, and fear and concern warped it into something strained. Sweets fell from her hand and Alfra’s distorted smile finally collapsed.

“…No, don’t go! Hey…why?! Is it because I’m a human? Because I’m not a demon?!”

“…I’ve already told you everything that was necessary. Are you planning to make me repeat myself?”

Byakuren’s voice was clear yet cold. Alfra timidly peeked at her face, but nothing she desired could be seen there.

“Ah…I’m sorry. Forgive me, Byakuren. But to leave like that…

She was seized by the kind of panic that she had never felt before.

That fear made her recall the day when she thought that the world had ended. The dread she felt as her parents were killed and she looked up at the blade that was about to be swung down upon her.

And now, a bigger despair was threatening her.

The arrogant face that was looking down on her was one Alfra knew well.

It was indelible scenery from her past. In a snowfall, in a village where all living beings had died, an icy beauty looked down on dying Alfra.

Alfra realized.

That her abandonment was already set in stone.

Byakuren averted her gaze and turned her back on Alfra.

In a second, mahogany-colored eyes were wetted with tears.

Unable to endure it even for a short while, big droplets started to spill from Alfra’s eyes.

“I’m sorry! Forgive me! I won’t be selfish anymore. I will listen to everything you tell me. So, take me with you!!”

Inside the room, Alfra’s begging echoed like a quiet scream.

Byakuren’s shoulders moved a little and she started walking towards the door.

“Wait! I beg you. Don’t throw me away. I will do whatever you say, so please don’t leave me behind.”

Alfra, who tried to chase after Byakuren while crying, tangled up in her own legs and fell down from the bed.

The platter turned over and the savory cookies were crushed under her body.

“I beg you. I will do anything. Please forgive me―― Don’t…throw me away!!”

The door closed silently.

Alfra’s Goddess was taken away by the bad Demon King,

Takashiro visited Alfra’s room with a grave expression.

He anxiously peeked at Alfra. In his hand were knapsack and a leather bag with all the necessary items for traveling.

“Milady…”

Alfra sat on the floor, unmoving. To the point that one would feel anxious about whether she even forgot to breathe.

“Madam has departed towards the imperial palace together with Senka-sama.”

Opening her eyes wide, the girl simply cried.

“Madam refused to leave this castle until the very end, however, there is no defying the Demon Emperor’s orders.”

“…”

“Please try to understand Madam’s feelings too. That person, who is usually so composed, screamed emotionally that she did not want to separate from Alfra-sama.”

“…Why I was thrown away then?”

“Nothing can be done against Senka-sama’s intentions.”

‘How pitiful’, Takashiro thought. However, now they had to leave as soon as possible.

Avoiding the impending war and reaching the safe west would be a long journey.

He felt uneasy having only Felmar accompany Alfra.

If possible, he would prefer to deliver her to the safe location himself. However, Takashiro, who had been ordered by Senka to swiftly follow after him to the castle couldn’t do anything about it.

“We, demons, value power. Strong obtain the power and rule over everything, while weak obey. Humans strive for power even if they are weak and cannot fight, but we are different.”

“Is that guy stronger than you?”

“Even just comparing us would be presumptuous.”

“What about Byakuren?”

“It wouldn’t even be a proper fight.”

“Then, someone like me can’t beat him, huh.”

Alfra asked detachedly while crying. Takashiro felt something dangerous in her current state.

“Do not get strange ideas. There has never been a case of a human defeating Demon King in our long history. And Lord Senka is somebody who rules over those Demon Kings.”

“…”

“It must surely be difficult for current Milady, but please quicken your pace. It will be harder to head west after the battle starts.”

If the war broke out, the inspections at the checkpoints and borders would become stricter. Even distancing oneself from the conflict would prove to be difficult.

However, Alfra was thinking about something entirely different.

No human has ever defeated a Demon King…Indeed, Alfra hadn’t heard of anything similar in legends and heroic tales she knew.

However, she did know about a sort of a legend which talked about defeating demons with court rank. It was done by braves and heroes from fairy tales.

Even humans should be able to defeat demons with the rank of nobles.

Alfra was more resilient than ordinary humans and had strong resistance to magic. Both Byakuren and Takashiro praised her results.

‘It’s because I received blood―― Byakuren’s blood.’

Takashiro had once said that Byakuren might have had the same level of magical powers as a noble.

―― Then, what will happen…if I drink the blood of other demon…

―― A lot…of the blood of powerful demon

―― Will I become…stronger?

―― Nobles would be impossible right from the bat. I’m not a hero

Then, how about starting from weaker demons?

―― I only got a single drop from Byakuren each night but…it should be okay to get all of it from others, right?

First, she would kill a demon which even she could defeat.

―― Of course, the blood will be all mine

―― I will…surely…get a little stronger.

If she got all the blood, next time she would probably be able to defeat a slightly stronger demon.

―― Every drop of their blood will also be mine

―― After all, Byakuren said

That the strong snatch and the weak obey. Those who have power are absolute.

―― Takashiro said the same too

She would start from demons weaker than her.

―― How many do I need to kill to reach Senka?

How much demon blood do I need to drink to defeat nobles?

How much noble blood do I need to drink to defeat Demon Kings?

How much Demon King blood do I need to drink to kill Senka?

Alfra imagined a mountain of demons.

The base was made from a hoard of ordinary demons.

The materials for the middle were nobles. There seemed to be more than 100 nobles so it would probably be a big job.

The summit was made up from Demon Kings. It would surely be a hard work, but as long as she reached it, the end would be only a little push away!

A pyramid(kanji: tomb) made from the corpses of the demons. Standing at the top was the hateful bastard who snatched Byakuren.

If she defeated Senka and reached the gravestone of the pyramid…

―― Byakuren will be mine

A revelation dawned upon Alfra.

—

Notes:

And there we go, the blackening. Next chapter is the final of this arc. After that the story is shifting into more of adventure genre. Alfra and Byakuren also won’t meet for a long time.

Notify me about all mistranslations, typos, awkward grammar etc.

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