At the same moment Reinhild’s right hand gripped the blade, the Demon God seized Reinhild’s head.
And hurled him straight into the wall.
Kwooooaaang!
The colossal roar shook the entire Demon King’s castle.
Reinhild could not even scream and was slammed into the corner of the room.
The impact that struck Reinhild’s body was so tremendous that even the thick, warded wall cracked.
“Kh, uugh….”
Something in his body had surely broken.
It hurt so terribly, yet for some reason a silly laugh slipped out.
“I… did it.”
He had managed to grab the Hero’s sword before the Demon God could stop him.
Because he had been thrown while clutching the blade, his hand was cut as well.
Maybe five hundred years ago, but there was no way he in his current state could withstand the power of the Hero’s sword.
Surely the “vessel” the Demon God wanted so badly would shatter into pieces…
“…Huh…?”
It’s blurry.
…Why?
Crunch.
“Pointless nonsense.”
“Aaaagh!”
The Demon God, who had closed the distance before he knew it, stomped on one of Reinhild’s shoulders where he lay sprawled on the floor.
Reinhild let out the scream he had held back and thrashed.
Because he had been enduring pain like being torn limb from limb, even a small shock came as enormous agony.
“That was almost troublesome.”
The Demon God clicked his tongue softly.
“I can praise you for doing something completely unexpected, but did you think I would fail to respond to such sluggish movement.”
“…Khhk,”
“To be pleased without even noticing that the blade was wrapped in miasma.”
Reinhild had skewered the Demon God’s guard just as planned, and his movement using divine power was faster than imagined.
But the Demon God was a little faster still.
At the moment Reinhild reached for the sword, the Demon God wrapped miasma around the blade.
“You cannot even distinguish whether what you touched was miasma or divine power. It is shameful to tout yourself as a Demon King.”
At those words, Reinhild’s pupils trembled.
‘No. What I grabbed was the Hero’s sword.’
When his hand touched the sword, what Reinhild felt was definitely divine power, not miasma.
No matter how much power he had lost, there was no way a Demon King could fail to tell miasma and divine power apart.
That was the High God’s power, not the Demon God’s.
‘I definitely touched the sword!’
Then why!
The confusion was greater than the pain of being thrown, slammed, and stomped.
He could not understand it.
Even if there was divine power left in his body, it did not protect Reinhild, who was a Demon King.
His heart should not be this intact!
‘…It is over.’
There was no method left.
No matter what he did, he could see no way out.
It was truly the end.
“Did you move using divine power? I left that paltry force alone, and you used it like that. It will strain your heart a little, but I will just have to rip it out by force.”
The Demon God’s mutter sounded like a death sentence.
Reinhild stared into the air, a blank look on his face.
Having figured everything out, the Demon God, as if to mock him, brought the Hero’s sword right up to his nose.
As if to say, go on and try to grab it.
At the same time the Hero’s sword hung over Reinhild’s head, the Demon God took a step back.
‘…Huh?’
Had the Demon God not avoided the Hero’s sword just now?
‘…Why?’
Come to think of it, from the beginning until now, the Demon God had not touched the Hero’s sword even once.
Why?
‘…Instead of batting the sword away, he threw me.’
If, instead of grabbing and throwing Reinhild, the Demon God had struck the Hero’s sword aside, Reinhild’s hand would never have touched the blade.
And yet the Demon God did not touch the sword.
‘The High God’s power… has a negative effect on the Demon God!’
Reinhild unconsciously clenched his fist tight.
In a manifested state, the Demon God could not exert his full power.
Moreover, if the body he had made to remain here were damaged, he would be flung back to the divine realm against his will.
That was why the Demon God was cautious in even small actions and reacted all the more sensitively to divine power.
‘Then why was it like that just now?’
Is it not enough to simply avoid touching the Hero’s sword?
Why did he show displeasure just because the sword came near?
Unless he was affected even without touching the sword…
‘That’s it.’
He had come to be affected even without touching it.
Just being close was enough to feel the High God’s power, to feel disgust, and to unconsciously retreat.
It was certain.
But why suddenly?
‘Because… I touched the sword?’
If the Hero’s sword reacted to the power of Xion that Reinhild bore, and the High God’s power dwelling in it grew a little stronger—
And that was why the Demon God reacted more strongly to the Hero’s sword—
Then…
‘There is still a chance.’
He saw hope.
“Remember this moment well, Demon King. Once I rip out all the divine power, your magic will run wild, and you will lose your reason. This will be your last moment seeing the world in your right mind.”
“I do not… want to go berserk.”
Reinhild looked up at the Demon God with a frightened expression.
The Demon God enjoyed savoring emotions like “pain” or “fear.”
So whenever Reinhild suffered, he would add needless words or acts to induce greater agony.
Reinhild intended to turn that to his advantage.
He had to show fear and make the Demon God focus on tormenting him.
Only then could he aim for a last chance before all the divine power was torn out.
“What scheme now?”
A chilling laugh slipped from the Demon God’s mouth.
Gooseflesh prickled up Reinhild’s arms.
It was only a laugh, yet it felt as if it seized his ankles and dragged him down into despair.
He wanted to throw everything away and fling himself into hopelessness.
“Do not expect that having a sword in front of you can become a new opportunity.”
The Hero’s sword, which had been floating in the air, rotated half a turn.
The tip that had been aimed at Reinhild now pointed at the ceiling.
The Demon God moved the sword right up to Reinhild’s nose.
The hilt was right before his eyes.
As if to say, go on, take it.
“Now that I know what you are aiming at, it is no hard thing to prepare a countermeasure. Even if you grasp the sword now, nothing will happen.”
The Demon God withdrew the force that had bound Reinhild.
‘I can move!’
As his arm was freed, Reinhild even forgot to keep acting frightened and hastily reached out for the sword.
Just as the Demon God wanted, Reinhild took the Hero’s sword in his hand.
“…”
And nothing happened.
“Khahahahaha!”
The Demon God burst out laughing.
It was laughable to see the Demon King, knowing it would achieve nothing, still bother to take the sword in hand.
Ah, what a pity.
He wanted to get a good look at that face fallen into despair, but the Demon King’s face was so covered in blood and tears he could not see it clearly.
But that was fine.
The show was not over yet.
‘Entertain me a little longer, Demon King.’
Usually, in this situation, weak creatures tended to try to plunge the sword they held into their own bellies.
The Demon God neither knew nor cared why the weak made such foolish choices.
But he waited for the Demon King to make that choice.
Then he could laugh to his heart’s content.
He wanted to make Reinhild realize with his whole body that no matter what he did, there was no hope.
How delightful it would be to stain the last hope left in those bright red eyes completely with despair.
‘Now, this is your last chance.’
Whether, as he had said a moment ago, he meant to smash the “vessel,” or whether he had lost his will and decided to abandon life—
The chance to lift the sword and stab his belly was now.
‘Go on!’
The Demon God urged Reinhild inwardly.
Reinhild answered that cry by tightening his grip on the sword.
And he slowly moved his arm. As if he were about to plunge the sword into his belly at any moment.
Everything was going exactly as the Demon God expected.
The Demon God raised both arms, expecting to savor to the fullest the pleasure that the emotion called “despair” brings.
And then,
The Hero’s sword stabbed into a belly.
“Khk,”
Not the Demon King Reinhild’s, but the Demon God’s.
“…Kh, khk… khahahaha!”
The Demon God burst out laughing in disbelief.
“Foolish Demon King. You make the wrong choice to the very end!”
Even though his belly was pierced by the Hero’s sword, the Demon God was unscathed.
Reinhild’s eyes went wide.
It seemed he had thought that stabbing the Demon God with the Hero’s sword would somehow kill him.
Truly an absurd idea.
“Do you truly not know, Demon King. Even if the High God’s power dwells in this sword, one who is not the chosen Hero cannot borrow and wield a god’s power!”
Had he fallen into the delusion that having divine power planted in his body made him a Hero.
He knew Reinhild had a simple nature, but to be this foolish.
Thank goodness he would not be absorbing that stupidity along with the High God’s power contained in the Demon King’s flesh.
“Being stabbed by this paltry sword will only leave a scratch on the flesh. But fine. You did succeed in sullying my mood. I will praise you for that.”
The Demon God figured it was time to end the pleasant game and confine the Demon King.
He had seen enough of the Demon King’s foolishness, and there would be no further amusement, so it was time to—
“…Ghk—”
Just then, the Demon God felt an unexpected pain from the belly pierced by the sword.
It was a sensation he had never once felt in all his life as a god.
“Gwaaaaaaah!”
From the very mouth that had mocked Reinhild just moments before, the Demon God let out a scream.
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