Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 584

Heinrich wore a determined expression, while Louise appeared utterly dazed.

It was only natural. The Demon King, the source of all these troubles and the one deserving of the world’s hatred, had secretly sought out her son. And her son had kept this a secret from everyone, including Louise herself.

“He came to my tent at the Allied camp,” Heinrich explained.

Before he had known he was an illegitimate child, while he was still struggling with the hatred of his siblings and his ignorance of the truth, he’d received an anonymous letter.

“In the letter was a short message, telling me that my siblings would try to kill me...”

“Huh?!”

“Maybe... they already knew I was an illegitimate child. I don’t know how, but I’m certain they knew.”

At the time, Heinrich had not believed it and dismissed the letter as a prank. But soon, through the words of his two brothers—who were actually his uncles—he learned the truth: he was indeed an illegitimate child.

“He came to me that day. It felt like he had been watching me from somewhere.”

“The Demon King...? You mean he appeared in person?”

“Yes. Maybe he used some kind of magic, but he appeared directly in front of me.”

During that confrontation, the Demon King made Heinrich an offer. It was already too late, he said. If Heinrich wanted to survive, he had to go with him.

If he stayed, he would either be killed, or be forced to kill his siblings with his own hands.

“And... He said if I followed him, he would tell me everything. What had happened, what could still happen, and what I could do...”

The more Louise listened, the more her skin crawled. The Demon King had been watching her son, even extracting information from the Allied Forces without her knowing. It was chilling.

But thankfully, her son hadn’t followed the Demon King—he was there, right in front of her.

“The Demon King tried to lure you to him.”

Heinrich kept quiet.

“Thank goodness, really. I’m so glad you didn’t follow him. You made the right choice. You made the right choice—you were wise.”

Three people had been deceived by the Demon King’s silver tongue and followed him: Harriet de Saint-Ouen, Riana de Granz, and Olivia Lanche. It might have only been three, but each was either a child of a prominent noble or considered the future of the Empire.

That alone was already shocking.

Yet the Demon King had tried to snatch Heinrich away during his period of fear and confusion. It would have been strange for Heinrich not to have been swayed, yet he had somehow refused that irresistible offer.

Louise was both proud and deeply moved. Her son had rejected the temptation offered by the Demon King, even in such a vulnerable moment. It only underscored how cunning and terrifying the Demon King truly was.

But then...

“Sister, I didn’t refuse to follow the Demon King because I didn’t trust him,” Heinrich said, looking at Louise with a firm expression.

“What...?”

He hadn’t followed the Demon King—but it sounded like he was on the verge of saying he did trust him. Louise began to tremble.

“I know what you’re thinking—that the Demon King lied to lure me in, or that I’m saying this because I was deceived by those lies.”

Heinrich swallowed hard and continued. “I have no intention of following him or working with him, even if he comes back for me. You can rest assured of that, sister. But no matter how hard I try to doubt him... no matter how much I think it over... I just can’t see the Demon King—no, Reinhart, as some evil monster.”

“Little one, the Demon King deceived everyone,” Louise said. “He fooled the world with his kind, gentle facade. Didn’t you see, up close, the people who were taken in by that act and ended up helping him?”

Even in that moment, those words left Heinrich speechless.

Kind and gentle? Anyone who had seen the Demon King during his time at the Temple would never describe him that way.

“Sister, the Demon King was anything but gentle and kind. To be honest, he was a madman.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yes. He was a lunatic who caused chaos wherever he went. If anything, he did everything wrong while undercover.”

If his goals had truly been infiltration and recruitment, then the Demon King had gone about it in the worst way possible. And yet, Reinhart had somehow made friends and formed genuine connections. It all seemed too chaotic to have been intentional.

To say that those relationships were part of some master plan felt like a stretch—they were more like a string of accidents than a strategy. If his true aim had been to recruit allies, there was no reason for him to behave the way he had. Claiming that the result justified the process was a deeply outcome-driven view.

The Demon King had lived like a madman in the Temple. In many ways, Heinrich himself had been more of a victim than anyone else.

As Louise listened to her son speaking, though, she couldn’t shake her growing sense of dread.

No matter what he said, she couldn’t help but fear he had already been swayed by the Demon King’s smooth words or his subtle deceit.

But Heinrich already knew what he needed to say.

“Sister, don’t you think the Allied Forces have been advancing too easily for a while now?”

Louise paused. “No. That can’t be.”

“Even though it’s winter, the weather was unusually mild. We took down the warp gates of small cities without much strategy. And didn’t you notice what the battlefield at Serandia looked like? It was like someone had already swept through the place before we even got there.” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Things that were clearly strange, yet no one had questioned them.

“Could it be... could it really be...”

“I’m sure of it. The Demon King’s forces are helping us—fighting ahead of us.”

People had assumed it was some secret weapon of the Empire, or some unknown strategy. That was the comfortable explanation. Admitting it might actually be the Demon King’s doing was something no one wanted to believe, no matter how plausible it seemed.

“Why on earth would the Demon King do that? Why would he help us after triggering this Gate Incident?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why he’s helping us, why the Empire is hiding it, or what he really wants. But there’s one thing I’m sure of.”

The Gate Incident—the calamity triggered by the Demon King, the very thing meant to bring humanity to ruin.

“There’s something about that event we still don’t understand.”

Heinrich no longer believed in the grand narrative everyone else clung to.

***

Ludwig stepped out onto the streets of the capital and headed toward the Temple of Ouen where Rowen was staying.

The fact that he could at least do something brought him a small sense of comfort, but even so, he couldn’t shake the helplessness he felt as snow continued to fall around him.

Rowen had told him that the real crisis wasn’t the cold itself, but the danger of the shanties collapsing under the weight of the snow.

—Damn it, when will this snow stop...

Even before he reached the refugee camp, Ludwig could see people climbing onto rooftops to clear away the snow, and others working to keep the roads usable.

The guards and other imperial personnel were busy clearing out the snow, but the citizens themselves were also out, shoveling diligently.

For the first time in a long while, the streets of the capital—cold and lifeless since the Gate Incident—were filled with people again.

Those who still had strength could clear the snow themselves. But in the refugee camp, where starvation was rampant, many didn’t even have the energy to lift a shovel.

The purification of disease-ridden areas was important, yes, but under these conditions, did it really matter? The shanties barely kept out the freezing wind. Without them, people would simply freeze to death in the brutal cold.

Everywhere, the land was overwhelmed with grim realities like this.

Both Rowen and Ludwig knew that purifying disease was only a temporary fix.

What Rowen was doing had nothing to do with hope. It wasn’t about saving the world or restoring peace—it was just a way to hold back despair, however briefly.

It wasn’t noble, but it was necessary. It had to be done—because there was no other choice.

In an era where even speaking of a tiny hope had become a luxury, all they could do was desperately plug the holes appearing in the dam that held back despair.

Even Rowen, who was not just an ordinary priest but an archbishop, and Ludwig, who was still a superhuman despite losing an arm, could only do small things. In the face of such a reality, there was no place for those who were even smaller.

The great tasks were left to the great figures. People like Ellen, Heinrich, and Louise von Schwartz—the ones Ludwig had shared breakfast with that very morning.

Those with immense individual power or the ability to move large armies would end the Gate Incident. It was their role to usher in hope.

If that day ever came—if peace truly returned—then the meaning in these small acts would finally be revealed.

When the time came for those who had somehow survived to greet peace and begin rebuilding, the work Ludwig and Rowen were doing would be what saves countless lives. It would be what gives those people a future.

That was why Ludwig kept walking. He believed that if he continued to do what he could that day, then maybe—just maybe—things would turn out alright in the end. Rather than give in to despair, he chose to act because there was still something he could do.

Ludwig did not give up.

As he walked on, nearing the temple where Rowen was staying, voices reached his ears.

—Where should we sell this?

—There might be some noble bastards out there willing to buy it.

Ludwig saw people carrying sacks and moving quickly through the streets.

There were more than just a few of them. Groups of people hurried through the streets, as though fleeing from something.

—Damn, it would have been better if it were food.

—That was all taken long ago. We’re lucky to have gotten this much.

The whispered conversations confused Ludwig.

—But why is there not a speck of gold or silver in a place called a temple?

—They probably sold everything themselves. We’re lucky to have gotten this much from such a poor temple.

People were running through the streets with sacks in their arms...

A temple...

—Thank god we only got a bit of our hair singed.

—We’re the lucky ones. Everyone going in now is as good as dead.

Ludwig could see the gray smoke rising beyond the alley, through the falling snow.

—It’s a fire!

Before he could fully comprehend those words, Ludwig was already running.

***

Through the pouring snow, Ludwig could see the temple, consumed by flames which defied the sky as gray smoke billowed upward.

A crowd of people had gathered around, staring blankly at the massive inferno.

The Temple of Ouen, where Rowen had been staying, was engulfed in flames.

Crackle... crackle!

Amidst the roaring flames, he heard the sound of something breaking and collapsing within the temple.

—It looks like it’s going to collapse...

—What about the guards?

—They must be on their way. But can they even put that out...?

—It’s divine punishment. Punishment for those who colluded with the Demon King.

—Oh, give me a break. It’s those refugee scoundrels, not divine punishment!

Only then did Ludwig realize what those people with sacks he had passed earlier had been doing.

Looting and arson.

Ludwig silently recalled Rowen’s words. “Sometimes there are people who try to set fires...”

Someone had set fire to the temple, and taken advantage of that by looting whatever had been inside the temple.

“Rowen!”

Like a man possessed, Ludwig surged forward, his body surrounded by a glowing blue mana shield as he charged into the flames.

—That guy’s got a death wish!

The onlookers, who had been idly watching the temple burn, clicked their tongues as they saw him rush into the fire.

But their opinions, their scorn for the Order of Ouen—none of it reached Ludwig’s ears.

“Ugh...!”

Crackle...

The inside of the temple, filled with acrid smoke, was a mess. Everything that could burn, from broken chairs to tapestries, was ablaze, making it difficult to see even one step ahead.

Creak...

The building groaned ominously, the sound of splintering wood and the cracking of walls growing louder with each passing second. The whole place was on the verge of collapse.

Who would do this? Why?

No matter how much someone hated the Ouen Order, did it really have to come to this?

Even amidst the acrid smoke, Ludwig soon saw it.

‘A corpse...?’ he thought.

Scattered across the sanctuary lay people Ludwig didn’t recognize, dressed in the robes of monks and priests. He couldn’t stop to examine them, but he instinctively knew they were all dead.

Swallowing the bile rising in his throat, Ludwig pushed forward, making his way through the sanctuary, searching. He lifted burning beams and heaved aside fallen stone columns, scanning desperately.

Knowing that inhaling the smoke was dangerous even for a superhuman like him, he held his breath as he searched for the person who was supposed to be there.

How long had he wandered through the burning sanctuary, lost in the smoke?

Eventually, Ludwig saw someone sitting in front of the statue of Ouen at the far end of the sanctuary.

It was archbishop Rowen.

But she was not in her usual gray, worn robe—she was dressed in a white ceremonial garment. Or at least, it had once been white. Now, it was soaked in deep red.

“Rowen...!”

Rowen’s entire body was a wreck—stabbed and slashed too many times, the sacred robe looking more like a blood-soaked shroud.

Ludwig dropped to his knees before Rowen’s lifeless body, trembling.

“Rowen... Rowen... Priestess! Priestess! Please... Please wake up...!”

But even as he cried out, Ludwig knew—his voice couldn’t bring her back. Rowen’s eyes were wide open in death, as if something irreplaceable had been stolen from her... forever.

Clutching Rowen’s shoulders, Ludwig knelt there in the heart of the inferno. Even with the searing heat pressing in from all sides, he didn’t sob—he couldn’t. Instead, tears streamed down his face from his wide, unblinking eyes.

“This... This... This can’t be. Just... Why...? Why...? Why...?!”

Crack...

The temple burned around him.

CRACK!

And then came the sound—the sound of something giving way, something that should never have broken.

Boom!

The temple collapsed.