Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 615

Fortunately or unfortunately, a fight didn’t break out. Ellen took her group and left quietly, slipping away silently. Ludwig, who seemed lost in thought, followed her.

“The timing couldn’t be worse,” Rowen remarked, prompting a chuckle from Olivia.

“We’re convinced we’re cursed like that. We always get caught in situations where we really don’t want to be seen. It’s just our luck.” 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

“Haha, maybe every moment is one in which we really don’t want to be seen,” Rowen replied.

“That might be true,” Olivia agreed.

Olivia sat cross-legged on the table in the blood-stained conference room, arms folded, as she watched Rowen clean up the mess.

She was carefully tidying up the scattered pieces of flesh, using a prayer of purification, a rag, and a broom.

“If you’re going to clean up so thoroughly, why make such a mess to begin with?” Olivia asked.

“People like them should not be granted an easy death. I wanted them to suffer,” Rowen replied.

“And how do you think someone like you will meet their end?” Olivia wondered aloud.

“I’ll worry about that when the time comes,” Rowen said.

“You seem to be living a charmed life,” Olivia observed.

“Everyone deserves at least that,” Rowen replied.

Neither Rowen, who was smiling as she cleaned up the aftermath, nor Olivia, who was watching her without lifting a finger, could be considered sane.

“What do you think happened with Illeion Volten?” Rowen inquired.

“Whether he returns or not, we’ve taken precautions,” Olivia replied confidently.

“That’s a relief,” Rowen said with a nod.

They were ready for any outcome, whether Illeion Volten made it back to the Allied Forces or not. The idea of him safely returning to the base and leading an army of holy knights back to the capital was out of the question.

Olivia observed Rowen as she meticulously wiped away the evidence.

“Unlike the popes, we won’t kill Illeion Volten. You don’t have any objections, do you?” Olivia asked.

“I get the concern about the repercussions, but won’t we face future problems if we don’t deal with someone like him?” Rowen asked.

“We’ll send him somewhere he can’t cause any harm,” Olivia replied.

“Isn’t it too late for exile?” Rowen pressed.

“Not exile,” Olivia clarified. “We’ll give him a nice house in a beautiful location where he can live out his days in peace. He won’t be able to manipulate anyone, nor be manipulated himself. At the very least, doesn’t he deserve the chance to die peacefully of old age?”

“Coming from someone who nearly died because of him, it’s not really my place to say, but I guess you’re right,” Rowen admitted.

Illeion Volten would spend the rest of his days in Edina.

Even if he harbored any thoughts of becoming a threat again, it would be impossible. No one would be able to use him to challenge the leadership of the Order of the Holy Knights.

Rowen grasped the meaning behind Olivia’s words and smiled warmly as she continued to gather the scattered pieces of flesh.

“By the way, it looks like you’ve found a new home,” Rowen observed.

“Why? Are you thinking of visiting?” Olivia asked.

“Absolutely,” Rowen replied.

“We’ll see about that,” Olivia said with a hint of teasing.

“I’ll make sure to earn it,” Rowen promised.

No matter how you looked at it, Rowen was undeniably unhinged—a terrifyingly crazy individual. Yet, her loyalty to the Demon King was sincere.

Olivia had only met Rowen a few days ago, but from the very start, she had been unusually friendly toward her, which only heightened her unease.

“I know you like Reinhart, but why are you so fond of me?” Olivia asked, her curiosity tinged with suspicion.

“When no one else believed in the Demon King, you were one of the few who did,” Rowen replied.

“Oh, I see. If you look at it that way...” Olivia murmured, understanding dawning on her.

Rowen claimed to be a follower of the Demon King, but when she’d first encountered him, she had dismissed the Demon King’s words as lies. It wasn’t until the Gate Incident, when everything unfolded just as the Demon King had predicted, that Rowen’s perspective shifted.

To her, the three original followers of the Demon King, who had faith in him all along, would surely seem almost as formidable as the Demon King himself. She was sure to feel a deep sense of loyalty to Olivia Lanche, the envoy sent by the Demon King.

“I wonder if it was really necessary to kill the popes,” Olivia sighed, looking at the bodies before her.

“They would never have accepted the Holy Order,” Rowen replied. “Even I struggle to accept that the Demon God Cult and the Five Great Orders share the same origins. How could these old popes ever come to terms with it?”

Before learning of the Demon King’s influence, Rowen had imagined integrating the two new orders into the Church of the Five Great Gods. Her plan involved stirring chaos in the refugee camps to provoke a massacre, thereby heightening resentment against the Empire.

With that unrest, she intended to seize control of the Church and restructure it to include the Demon God Cult and the Hero Cult within the broader Church, which included the Order of the Holy Knights.

She never expected things to go smoothly, nor did she have a solid plan in place.

What mattered was the understanding that expanding the Church would inevitably lead to chaos.

Absorbing the heretical refugees would create internal turmoil within the Church, making it difficult to integrate them effectively. However, it would also attract those who despised the Empire.

Rowen craved destruction. For her, the goal of expanding the Church wasn’t about achieving something specific; it was about the expansion itself.

Then, the Demon King appeared at just the right moment.

Unlike Rowen, the Demon King didn’t seek chaos.

Rowen longed for destruction, but the Demon King did not, which shifted the course of events. Rowen’s plan stalled halfway, but she couldn’t reverse what had already been set in motion.

There was a massacre, and resentment against the Empire reached its peak. But the next step, which involved recklessly expanding the Church and turning it into a ticking time bomb, was deliberately avoided.

The Demon King had a different vision—he wanted to reform the faith. Unlike Rowen, who sought chaos by indiscriminately mobilizing the Hero’s Order and the Demon God Cult, the Demon King had a more focused goal. He wanted to clear up the misconceptions behind the Great Gods and the Demon Gods under the banner of the Unified Holy Order.

Of course, this was no easy task. The situation could still turn volatile. But this time, the creator of the bomb had no intention of setting it off.

Incorporating the Church of the Five Great Gods into the Holy Order in Edina couldn’t happen overnight. It would require patience, and progress would have to be slow and steady.

“Even if the popes could never embrace our plan, it wouldn’t be impossible to manipulate them as figureheads. Eliminating them like this only complicates things, doesn’t it?” Olivia mused. “Who’s going to handle all the work they’ve been doing? Replacing five popes at once is bound to raise suspicions.”

She sighed, her uncertainty evident. “Reinhart made the call, so I won’t argue, but I’m not convinced it was the right decision.”

Rowen nodded, understanding her concerns. “I get what you’re saying,” she replied.

The sudden absence of five popes could indeed stir up the chaos Reinhart hoped to avoid, potentially destabilizing the Church, just as Olivia feared.

Rowen shook her head, trying to reassure her. “It’ll be okay.”

“The popes never really did any work anyway,” Rowen explained.

“So, they were just filling seats?” Olivia asked, perplexed.

“Exactly. They gave orders, and we executed them, but they didn’t actually do any of the work themselves. They lacked real power. Without them, things might even run more smoothly,” Rowen replied.

“But if they gave orders and people had to follow them, doesn’t that mean they were working and had power?” Olivia questioned, puzzled.

“Do you think those orders were really their own ideas?” Rowen asked.

“Hmm?” Olivia tilted her head, puzzled by Rowen’s question.

“The popes just followed what the assistant bishops told them,” Rowen continued. “They took their advice, listened to their analysis, and made decisions based on that. They were like parrots, just echoing what they heard. Were those orders truly based on their own judgments?”

“Oh,” Olivia murmured, starting to understand.

“If you can control the information someone receives,” Rowen added with a smirk, “you can control their actions and decisions, while making them believe they’re making their own choices. It’s surprisingly easy to sway the thoughts of stubborn old folks.”

“Did you really manipulate them?” Olivia asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

“They were so anxious, worrying about everything, and then they even started considering siding with the Demon King. Do you really think the popes reached that decision on their own?” Rowen mused aloud.

“Huh...” Olivia murmured, trying to process it all.

“If you keep whispering in their ears that the Demon King’s forces are too strong, that there are too many of his supporters within the Church, that the Church might fall completely to the Demon King, that a coup could happen, that this is the current trend, and that it’s hard to change the outcome... If you keep repeating those things over and over...”

Rowen chuckled softly, clearly amused by the power of suggestion. “What thoughts must fill the minds of those old pigs, clinging desperately to their positions? Naturally, they’d believe they were making their own decisions, standing firm on their own convictions.

“But what if, in truth, there weren’t as many supporters of the Demon King as they were led to believe? What if the whispers in their ears were nothing but exaggerations, distortions, or outright fabrications? Was it ever truly their own judgment at play?”

Humans base their judgments on the information they receive. But information isn’t always the same as truth. Amidst the overwhelming flood of information, people can lose their way, struggling to discern what is real.

Yet, if the information only points in one direction, they’ll follow it, convinced it’s their own choice. They never stop to consider who laid the path before them.

People often walk their paths, believing it’s their own judgment guiding them, unaware that someone else is leading the way.

The popes had not been brainwashed, but they might as well have been. Once they encountered the Demon King, they were deemed useless and eliminated. They couldn’t maintain order, nor could they control their own thoughts.

And it wasn’t just the popes.

“Do you think it was only the popes who were like that? What about everyone else?”

The same held true for others within the Church. As whispers containing favorable views about the Demon King and the supposed rise in the number of his followers spread, more people began to agree.

It might not have existed at the start. But those in the Church believed they saw a trend, and soon everyone was following along, turning it into one.

If Rowen’s words were true, then the Church of the Five Great Gods had crumbled before the Demon King just because of a few well-placed rumors. Just like how something could become a trend simply because people say it is.

The Church of the Five Great Gods had fallen, all because of mere whispers.

“This wasn’t the outcome I intended, but thanks to the thoughts that clouded the popes’ minds, I got to meet the Demon King. So, I suppose my efforts weren’t entirely in vain.”

“What were you originally trying to do?” Olivia asked.

“I wanted the Church to support the Demon King and stand against the Empire,” Rowen admitted.

“You realize you’re exactly the kind of person Reinhart can’t stand, right?” Olivia remarked.

“Honestly, wouldn’t it be odd if anyone actually liked someone like me? If such a person existed, I’d be terrified,” Rowen replied with a wry smile.

Olivia sighed. “You’re really insufferable.”

It was true that Reinhart had little patience for people like Rowen, but in reality, Rowen was the kind of person most people would find difficult to warm up to, not just Reinhart.

“Anyway, Your Holiness,” Rowen continued.

“I’m not quite there yet, but go on,” Olivia replied.

“Ludwig must be hurting,” Rowen said softly.

Olivia furrowed her brow at the unexpected comment. She vaguely remembered seeing him a few times and wondered if he was the one who had faced Reinhart during the Temple Tournament.

“Hearing that from someone like you is quite refreshing. So what? Who is he?” Olivia asked, her curiosity piqued.

“He’s nothing,” Rowen replied, her tone sharper than before. To her, Ludwig was insignificant.

Rowen fell silent, but Olivia couldn’t shake the memory of Ludwig’s expression.

It felt like he had just grasped a harsh truth, something he had always sensed but had only just heard spoken aloud by someone else.

He was nothing.

But wasn’t everything unfolding because of those who were deemed nothing?

Was it a warning against harming those who seemed insignificant? Or was it a warning that hurting them could lead to unexpected consequences?

It was likely the latter.

“Are you suggesting we should have been more cautious because he’s nothing?”

“I meant it’s better to eliminate them than to leave them wounded,” Rowen clarified.

What happened when those who are nothing became something?

That transformation was happening right before Olivia’s eyes.

***

The news of the killing of the popes of the Five Great Orders never made it beyond the order’s walls.

Since they weren’t prominent figures in humanity’s fight, it was easy to keep the information contained.

Everything was handled quietly and with discretion.

The Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights was replaced, and Olivia Lanche assumed command.

Priests with extraordinary holy power unexpectedly emerged, and their new teachings spread.

All of this happened in silence and secrecy.

The snow had stopped, the skies cleared, and warmth began to return.

The snow, which had seemed to fall endlessly, suddenly stopped. Warm sunlight bathed the land, almost as if it were a dream.

An unusually warm climate, reminiscent of late spring, settled in. While a chill remained in the air around the capital, the snow quickly melted away.

In just one day, the once snow-covered city was transformed, and everyone could see it.

“You know, once this happens, there’s no turning back,” Riana de Granz said.

“I know,” the Demon King replied.

The two walked together through a quiet park in the capital, watching the melted snow flowing in streams of water.

“You might be able to stop the massacre for now,” Riana warned, “but later on, you might have to kill even more people with your own hands.”

The Demon King remained silent.

“You know that putting things off only makes them worse later on,” Riana said.

“That’s true,” the Demon King conceded.

To quell the riots in the refugee camps, the Empire had resorted to violence.

So, to stop the tension from erupting into a full-blown rebellion, they’d brought Rowen into the fold.

This allowed them to secretly control the Order of the Holy Knights, the entire Church, and the refugee camp.

But this was only a temporary fix.

Just as the Empire, stripped of its legitimacy and justification, was kept from collapsing through the brutal measure of a massacre, the task of dismantling and absorbing the Empire would have to come after the Gate Incident was resolved.

When these issues finally came to light, the Demon King would have to repeat history, only on a much larger scale.

“Can you do that?” Riana asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

Silence hung in the air.

Everyone understood they were just patching up problems as they arose, like mayflies trying to survive the day.

They knew they were only delaying the inevitable, taking turns to hold back the flood. In the end, the dam would eventually burst.

“Have I ever done anything just because I could?” the Demon King replied, his voice carrying a hint of resignation.

Wielding a sword.

Becoming the Demon King.

Everything he had done wasn’t out of ability, but necessity.

He did it because he felt he had no choice.

The only lesson he gleaned from his actions was that perhaps he shouldn’t have acted at all.

Yet, he still did what he believed was necessary.

Upon hearing this, Riana bit her lip and gazed at the Demon King.

“So you can’t say you can do it,” she observed.

The Demon King could only manage a bitter smile in response.

“You poor thing, come here. Let your sister give you a hug,” Riana offered gently.

“Screw off,” the Demon King retorted.

Spring made a fleeting visit to the capital.

Though the snow and ice vanished, nothing else seemed to thaw.

It was a spring that would come and go in the blink of an eye.