Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 613

Illeion Volten stood at the warp point, ready for teleportation.

The popes were already aware that the Demon King’s followers were growing in number. Though Illeion didn’t know all the details, he could feel the shift in the air.

He was torn between aligning himself with the Demon King or the Empire, but that wasn’t his main concern.

What he hadn’t anticipated was the possibility that the followers of the Church might have already organized themselves and turned against their leaders.

Within the capital, factions within the Five Great Orders had already fallen under the influence of the Demon King’s followers. While it wasn’t clear if Rowen was their leader, she was undeniably a key player.

Thankfully, only the factions within the capital had reached that point.

The rest of the holy knights and members of the clergy serving with the Allied Forces might have begun to lean toward supporting the Demon King, but they were beyond Rowen’s control. The bonds forged by wading through countless life-threatening situations on innumerable battlefields was not easily broken.

The forces of the Five Great Orders within the capital were only a fraction compared to the holy knights and members of the clergy serving with the Allied Forces.

While the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights might hold a lower official rank than the popes, his authority and power were immense. Rowen’s own power, while significant, was not absolute.

The Commander could, if he chose to, move in and conduct what might be considered a coup. If he returned to the Allied encampment and led a large unit of holy knights back to the capital, he had the strength to crush the subversive elements of the Church within the capital.

Illeion Volten was the one who had dared to attempt the audacious act of eliminating the enemy leader in the heart of enemy territory. The elite holy knights who had carried out that order were loyal to Illeion Volten, yet even they had fallen to Rowen.

He had underestimated Inquisitor Rowen’s combat prowess. It was clear that she had not only been underestimated, but had also concealed her true strength.

Illeion Volten was determined to sift through the remaining personnel, hoping to salvage those not yet swayed by Rowen. His plan was to return to the Allied camp, where he could regroup and strategize.

The factions of the Church within the imperial capital had spiraled out of the control of both the popes and the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights.

He felt lost, unsure of his next move, but knew he needed to reach the safety of the allied base to clear his mind.

The place he once called home had become enemy territory, and he needed a secure environment to gather his thoughts.

“Commander, what will happen now?” someone asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied, frustration simmering beneath his calm exterior.

The popes’ decision to hand over the entirety of the Church of the Five Great Gods—along with the Order of the Holy Knights—to the Demon King was already infuriating, especially since they never truly held the power to make such decisions. To make matters worse, they were assigning Rowen’s own people to track him down.

The capital was a treacherous place. He had to leave.

Illeion Volten stood anxiously at the warp point, waiting for the mass teleportation magic to activate and send him back to the Allied Forces.

“When we get back, we’ll head straight to the garrison,” he muttered to himself. “There’s no telling if Rowen’s scheme has spread that far. We’ll need to verify everything first. After that, we’ll decide our next move...”

He had always thought Rowen’s attempt to interfere with the Empire was risky, but he hadn’t realized just how dangerous Rowen had become. The weight of his misjudgment pressed heavily on him, and he felt as though he had ruined everything.

The thought of his failure made him want to bite his tongue in frustration. He needed to get back. But once he returned, what then?

If he made a mistake, a war within the Church could erupt.

The capital felt like enemy territory, but the holy knights and priests serving with the Allied Forces were more loyal to the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights than to the popes.

Some sympathized with the Demon King, but their true allegiance lay with Illeion Volten, who had fought by their side. They would fully support Illeion Volten.

Illeion Volten was a commander who had left his army behind and ventured into enemy territory. If he could just return to his base and rally his troops, he would gain control over the situation.

He had no desire to challenge the authority of the popes. But if the popes’ authority had become meaningless, he couldn’t just stand idly by. It would mean the Church of the Five Great Gods had completely lost its purpose.

The fact that a single individual had gained personal control over the Church and was using it for their own means was a significant issue.

He could respect the leaders’ decision if it involved negotiating and coexisting with the Demon King. There would be no reason for him not to accept that as reasonable. However, if someone other than the leaders was already pulling the strings of the Church, then it did not deserve to exist in its current form.

The popes were incompetent, and Illeion Volten was no better. He thought he understood the situation, but he was only looking up while claiming to see the bigger picture.

His focus had been solely on the Empire, the Demon King, and the emperor, and he had not truly observed the shifts happening beneath him. He might have thought that the shifts within the ranks of the Church would create an issue later on, but he failed to see that they were already a major problem.

He didn’t know where to begin, but he knew he had to get back to the Allied camp.

The popes were not just incompetent; they were utterly incapable.

Illeion Volten understood this distinction well. Though he recognized his own shortcomings, he knew he was far from incapable. A vast number of holy knights and priests still followed his lead. Upon his return, he would have to confront the reality of the already-fractured Church of the Five Great Gods.

Only then could he decide his next move.

“Once we return to camp, gather at the headquarters immediately,” he commanded.

“Yes, Commander,” came the reply.

Illeion Volten felt a knot of anxiety in his stomach, aware that his return might ignite a massive internal war within the Church.

How to adapt to the current situation, how the alliance with the Demon King would play out, and what to do about Rowen... All these questions weighed heavily on his shoulders.

How long had he waited for this moment?

In an instant, the mass teleportation was triggered. A sudden burst of light enveloped everything.

Illeion Volten blinked as his vision adjusted.

“Damn.”

The scene before him made it clear: something had gone terribly wrong.

Instead of arriving at the Allied base, Illeion found himself in an unfamiliar forest.

His companions were nowhere in sight.

Yet, he wasn’t entirely alone.

Two figures stood before him.

The Demon King sat on a tree stump, gazing thoughtfully into the distance.

“They decided to name it ‘Intercept’... You’ve just experienced what it can do, so you have an understanding of it now, don’t you?”

Beside him stood a girl with twin braids, her expression calm yet curious.

“This is our first meeting,” she said softly.

She was the daughter of the Duke of Saint-Ouen, Harriet de Saint-Ouen, renowned as the greatest genius in the history of magic.

“It seems going back was never even an option for me...” Illeion Volten said.

If Illeion Volten had made it back to the Allied camp, it would have undoubtedly sparked an internal war within the Church. It was evident that others were aware of what the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights knew.

“This is... strange and uncomfortable, isn’t it? Just the other day, we’d agreed to join forces, and now here we are, facing off against each other.”

The age-old enemy had suddenly become a friend, but now, they were enemies once more.

It was just one of those stories.

***

What would happen if Illeion Volten returned to the Allied camp? It was the scenario everyone allied with the Demon King feared most, and it seemed unavoidable.

The moment Illeion Volten vanished, his natural course of action was to try to return to the base.

“I never intended to harm any of you,” the Demon King said softly. “Why would I? I joined forces with you to save others, regardless of the reason. What good would it do to replace the popes or the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights? It would only create more problems.”

His gaze lingered on the commander’s face. “I enjoy maintaining the status quo just as much as you do, perhaps even more. Of course, I don’t want life with the Gate Incident to become the norm, but I was willing to leave the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights and the popes in their places, without any major changes.

“I was willing to be content as long as everything ran smoothly and there was no conflict between us. There would have been no need to spill blood. I never intended to kill or replace anyone. But then I realized that if I didn’t make a change, things might spiral into chaos.”

The Demon King’s voice grew bitter and resentful. “You did not tell me that you were plotting something so drastic. I knew from the start it would be hard for us to form a complete alliance or establish a clear hierarchy. But then, I heard that the popes were planning to eliminate all the heretics. Not just a few, but almost all of them, even though there are only so few humans left. What are they thinking, trying to wipe them out?

“I was willing to be used, and I even said you could switch sides whenever you wanted. But I never said I’d let you destroy me if you sided with the opposition, or remove me from the equation because you took their side.”

Illeion Volten glared back at him.

“Of course, you probably didn’t know about it since that was the popes’ idea,” continued the Demon King. “You were too busy fighting monsters to worry about such things, weren’t you? But thank you for not offering such a weak excuse. I’m not saying it’s wrong not to know. It’s not actually wrong.”

For Illeion Volten, the war effort alone was overwhelming. He was too far from the capital to understand how things were unfolding, what the popes were thinking, or the internal politics of the Church.

It had been that way even before the Allied Forces had been sent out. Illeion Volten often chose to roam the battlefields instead of staying at the headquarters of the Order of the Holy Knights.

He was too absorbed in the war to focus on practical matters. That was his mistake. He’d worked tirelessly, pouring everything into his duties and beliefs as a powerful holy knight, fighting on the front lines, completely ignoring politics.

“So, I’ve decided to replace the popes,” said the Demon King. “Sure, if I threatened them, they’d agree to stop their schemes. But the fact that those damned bastards didn’t inform me about their plan to massacre heretics shows they’ve already made a mockery of my goodwill.”

“So, rather than expecting five popes to heed my words, I’d prefer to have just one person who truly understands me,” the Demon King mused.

“Surely not...” Illeion Volten murmured, staring blankly at him.

“I met Rowen too late,” the Demon King continued. “If I’d met her before her reckless actions, things might have been different. But now, we’re at a crossroads: either all the so-called heretics will perish, or the Empire will fall.”

The Demon King knew a decision had to be made.

“The Five Great Orders will be unified with the Demon God Cult and the Hero Cult to forge a new religious system. This will protect those labeled as heretics. No—they won’t be heretics anymore. They’ll be integrated into the Church of the Five Great Gods.”

A Unified Holy Order...

“And a sister I know well will rise to lead them.”

All sorts of arrows and bombs fired by others had erupted around us, ultimately merging into a single, colossal explosion.

This was to be a grand unification, yet it also sowed the seeds of division. Though it staved off immediate chaos, it would eventually become the catalyst for future discord.

“Are you saying that you’ll raise the flag of the Dark Land... within the very heart of the Empire?” asked Illeion Volten.

Anyone with keen insight would recognize that the Demon King’s forces had infiltrated the capital.

“Yes.”

The Demon King had stepped forward, knowing that without action, everything could unravel. He had planned to use the Church of the Five Great Gods as it was, but the situation had spiraled out of control.

A more significant structural reform was now essential for survival.

If only he hadn’t attempted to kill Rowen... These changes that were meant for the future had been hastened by Illeion Volten’s single decision.

“I don’t agree with purges or anything like that, which is why I left you alone. But it seems that crazy woman Rowen was right.”

“...”

“It looks like new wine needs to be put into new wineskins.”

If a group was left unchanged after being taken over, existing interests would persist. In that case, it would be no different from not having taken over at all. Those left in power could hide things from the higher-ups and conspire at will.

“Half-heartedly lending them a name was never an option.”

In a world where everything was pushed to extremes, moderation was a myth. If one was going to act, they had to do it thoroughly and precisely. And without mercy. It had to be done, to prevent any fallout. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Even in less turbulent times, purges were common. But in a world that was shuddering under the weight of catastrophe, trying to seize control without removing the entrenched powers was naive.

The Demon King believed he had taken over the order and the knights by recruiting the popes and the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights, but in truth, he hadn’t gained control of anything.

The popes were determined to eventually eliminate the heretics, making them unsuitable for this reformed religious system. It was unrealistic to expect them, entrenched in their old ways of thinking, to embrace new ideas. Even if they appeared to be cooperating, it would only be a facade.

And so, he had removed the popes who mistakenly believed they held real power.

Which left Illeion Volten.

He wielded genuine influence, held symbolic significance, and had a large following. He was essentially the backbone of the Church’s military strength.

Had Illeion Volten returned safely to the Allied Forces’ base, his future choices could have sparked an internal war within the Church.

“The old popes are a nuisance, but you seem like someone who tried your best, even if your actions seemed misguided from my perspective.”

In truth, Illeion Volten hadn’t betrayed the Church to the Demon King. That was the decision made by the popes. And his attempt to eliminate Rowen had been necessary from his perspective, to avoid causing chaos at this time.

“But since I’ve chosen to support Rowen, I can’t join you.”

Unfortunately, when this latest purge commenced, Illeion Volten was still within the existing power structure.

He wasn’t being made to step down because of any wrongdoing, but because he had no choice. That was the nature of purges.

And since the Demon King had decided to ally with Rowen, Illeion Volten, who had tried to kill Rowen, could not remain in the Order of the Holy Knights.

“So, unlike the popes, I want to give you a choice.”

Illeion Volten looked at the Demon King with a tense expression. “A choice...?”

“Yes.”

The Demon King held up two fingers. “You have two choices. First, meet your end by my hand right now.”

The Demon King curled one finger.

“Second, step away in silence.”

Retirement... A fate more unfathomable than death itself.

***

In the highest chambers of the main temple of the Order of the Holy Knight, an uneasy silence hung in the air.

The unexpected survival of a priestess who was presumed dead.

The chilling sight of that priestess mercilessly slaying the five popes.

And the reappearance of Olivia Lanche, who had vanished alongside the Demon King.

How this series of events had come about was shrouded in mystery, but Olivia Lanche’s message was crystal clear. The Order of the Holy Knights and the Church of the Five Great Gods were now under the Demon King’s control.

Regardless of whatever hidden machinations, this was the stark reality facing them.

Ellen stood frozen, fists clenched in frustration, her helplessness mirrored in both Louise and Heinrich.

Ludwig, however, couldn’t contain his disbelief. His eyes were wide with shock as he stared at Olivia Lanche.

“This is... this is madness...” he muttered. “How can you be here? How can the Demon King control the Order of the Holy Knights? This is impossible... Such things shouldn’t happen! How dare you speak so boldly right here in the heart of the capital?”

Ludwig’s anger, long buried under layers of self-reproach and guilt, finally boiled over.

“Don’t you feel any remorse?” he yelled. “Do you realize how many lives were lost because of you? And now, what? You killed the popes, and what about Rowen? Was this all part of the Demon King’s plan? How can you... How can you be so shamelessly—”

“Hey,” Olivia Lanche said frostily, cutting off his angry tirade. “Was I talking to you?”

Ludwig seemed slightly stunned. “What?”

Olivia let out a short, dismissive click of her tongue.

“And who are you, anyway?”

To Olivia, Ludwig was merely a fleeting presence, someone she barely remembered.