Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 670

“You’re dead.”

I was certain it was Ellen’s voice I heard.

I couldn’t help but be taken aback, and the Ellen entity seemed just as surprised. It stared down at me with lifeless eyes, its sword pointed at my neck, trembling slightly.

This was a scenario I’d encountered many times before. It fought with Ellen’s style, though it lacked Ellen’s spirit. After countless fights, Ellen had never driven the sword into my neck; she always stopped just short.

I was always the one who lost, and Ellen was always the one who won. Just as losing to Ellen had become second nature to me, perhaps defeating me had become second nature to her.

In that final moment, the familiar habit of pausing took over, and the words that always came out slipped from her lips without thought.

“Ugh... Ugh...! Ugh...!”

Unbearable tears welled up in Ellen’s lifeless eyes and she began to sob uncontrollably. Her tears flowed endlessly, mingling with the rain.

Ellen was crying, even though it shouldn’t have been possible. They weren’t tears of frustration or resentment; they were tears of pure sadness.

“Ellen...?”

Her sobs were the only response. “Ugh...! Ah, ah... Ah... Ugh...”

I was at a loss to explain what was unfolding before me. But in that silence, I could sense the intense struggle she was going through.

Ellen hadn’t vanished entirely. Somewhere deep inside, Ellen was still there.

Luna had promised she could bring Ellen back. Even though I hadn’t tapped into Luna’s power, it showed me that Ellen could indeed be redeemed. Even those spirits had also assured me that Ellen could revert to her usual self.

Ellen hadn’t disappeared. Luna could restore her, and the vengeful spirits could do it if they left her. I was simply too weak. Too weak to bring her back. I just couldn’t reach her.

Ellen could still be saved; she was trapped somewhere within that monster. It clenched its teeth, desperate to act, but all it could manage was to cry helplessly.

It was in unbearable agony.

Rumble!

A grayish-white aura started to emanate from Ellen’s body.

“Ugh...!”

It clutched its head.

“Ugh... Ugh... Ugh... Aaaaaaah!” it screamed through Ellen’s sobs.

Rumbleee!

A force tore through the ground like a lost soul, sending out a shockwave so powerful it felt like it could shatter my body. I was thrown back and tumbled through the air.

How far was I flung?

Struggling to my feet, I saw Ellen clutching her head, surrounded by a torrent that seemed to pour out of nowhere.

Rumbleee!

The earth-shaking tremor continued, while something seemed to surge from within Ellen’s body.

“Kill... I must kill... Must kill... you... and the Hero, too... Everything you love. Everything precious to you must be taken... That’s only... fair... It must be that way...”

The Ellen entity glared at me, clutching its broken sword, while a strange aura of vengeful spirits swirled about it.

I couldn’t tell if Ellen’s condition was getting better or worse. If it got worse, would that be a good thing for me?

I wasn’t sure if the torrent of vengeful spirits pouring from its body meant they were leaving Ellen or if it was going out of control, but the rough gray torrent, a similar aura to the one that shrouded the broken sword, clearly showed how dangerous it was, both for itself and for me.

Approaching it recklessly could mean death. Yet I was certain there wouldn’t be another chance.

I didn’t know how to defeat it. I didn’t know how to kill it. But there was one thing I understood.

Having been possessed by it before and having suffered spiritual attacks through the strange power it channeled through its sword, I realized something.

It could kill the living, but couldn’t destroy souls.

It could possess a body and control it, but it couldn’t eliminate the soul of the body’s original owner. If it could, it would have snuffed out my soul the moment it possessed me. The fact that it did not do so meant that, despite it being a collection of souls, it could never truly kill or erase one.

My survival, even after being possessed for so long, was proof of that, and the fact that Ellen’s soul was still somewhere inside her confirmed it.

I moved forward.

Rumble!

Ellen was charging at me, wrapped in a torrent of vengeful spirits.

Instead of retreating, I pressed forward.

Thud!

The assault wasn’t just on my mind; the physical force from our clashing swords was overwhelming.

Boom!

The shockwave was so powerful that it pushed away all the raindrops around us, preventing them from even touching us.

The broken sword met Tiamata The pressure exerted by the vengeful spirits collided with Tiamata’s Divine Power, igniting fierce flames.

I couldn’t tell if the flames were consuming the vengeful spirits, or if they were real. The spirits’ fiery wrath enveloped me, and the pain was so intense it threatened to tear my mind apart and drive me insane.

I was blanketed in a torrent of vengeful spirits. The entity seemed to be using its last ounce of strength to try and kill me. The agony was so intense, it felt as though my soul was being ripped apart, a pain so profound it threatened to tear my very heart to pieces.

But I understood that while this pain could weaken the soul, it couldn’t destroy me.

The Void Sword could slice through my flesh.

That Blade of Resentment could target my very essence, yet it could never truly kill a soul, as long as I didn’t succumb to the pain and fear.

Screeech!

I knew I couldn’t win.

I had never won before.

It had always been that way, all through the days when I secretly trained with Ellen while keeping my identity as the Demon King concealed.

I hadn’t taken up the sword in order to eventually face Ellen in battle. Yet here we were, locked in combat.

Whenever Ellen fought with all her might, I was inevitably defeated.

Defeat was my constant companion, but each defeat was different. At first, I would fall in a single move, then two, then three, then four. Eventually, I managed to hold my ground for about ten minutes.

Ellen had even once remarked that it was tough to fight me after I had acquired Alsbringer.

I always lost. I always fell. But I was a loser in the making.

Even knowing I couldn’t win, I gritted my teeth and tried anyway.

I had not become stronger in order to fight Ellen; I worked hard to face the challenges that I knew lay ahead.

‘I have always lost to you.’

Kururung!

Ellen’s eyes burned with hatred and anger as she tried to push my sword aside and target my neck amidst the swirling chaos.

I spoke.

“Just once...”

Since the Gate Incident, tears I hadn’t shed even once began to well up.

The words, unable to be contained any longer, finally escaped my lips. “Just once...”

I knew tears wouldn’t change a thing, so I hadn’t allowed myself to cry.

“Right now... Just once is enough.”

But the need was so overwhelming, so urgent, that at last, my tears flowed freely. Those tears were swept away by the tempest that raged around me and the torrent of vengeful spirits.

“Can’t I win... just this one time...?”

‘Just once...’

I longed for victory just in this critical juncture, even if it meant spending the rest of my life losing to Ellen.

If I lost now, I wouldn’t even have the option to lose in the future. I was willing to spend all my remaining days getting beaten and pummeled by her, just like how it had been back in the Temple.

“So...”

Reclaiming all that lost time would have been enough for me.

I whispered, using Self-Deception.

I prayed, using Incantation.

‘Just this once. Just this one time.’

“I will...”

‘In this moment...’

“Defeat you.”

‘No matter what...’

“I will win.”

Kwarururung!

“Ugh... Ugh... Aaaaaaah!”

As the conglomeration of vengeful spirits reached its breaking point, it started to unleash its power recklessly, and its actions grew more violent with each passing moment.

Bang!

Instead of blocking the upward swing of its sword, I stepped back to avoid it.

No matter how much power was in the weapon, it still had absolute limits. It was a broken sword, so its reach was limited.

When it lunged forward to stab, I deflected it. Through the confusion that clouded Ellen’s senses, it was evident that the creature inhabiting her body was bewildered as well. Its movements had become sluggish.

Ellen Artorius knew my swordplay better than anyone else. But in the end, that also meant that the person who understood Ellen’s swordplay the most was also me.

When it attempted to push my sword aside and strike at my neck, I parried the attack.

When it swung its weapon at my neck again, I ducked to evade the blow.

And when it tried to strike me with a knee as I crouched, I swiftly moved my head aside to dodge.

Its twisted face, filled with confusion, anger, and despair, loomed right in front of me.

“Ugh... Sob... Sob!”

The broken sword leaped forward, driven by pain and desperation.

Realizing that this moment wouldn’t come again, I opened myself to it.

Thud!

“Ugh...!”

I did not try to block the sword that pierced my heart; I embraced it. The icy pain shot through my mind, but compared to the weight that leaned against my soul, that pain was insignificant.

I grabbed the arm that had stabbed me and pulled, dragging the Ellen entity closer to me.

Grip!

I clamped my hand around its neck.

“Ugh... Ugh... Aaaaaaah!”

Kurururung!

It wouldn’t be able to break free.

To achieve just one victory, I was willing to be stabbed in the heart over and over again—tens, hundreds, thousands of times if necessary.

If I could reclaim Ellen, I would do anything. I had done everything. So I could endure this much.

The torrent of vengeful spirits battered my entire body, each with its own physical force. Still, even as my body broke down, it continually regenerated itself.

As long as it couldn’t kill me in one blow, I would continue to regenerate endlessly. I still had my holy relic, so I could do that.

Just one victory.

Just one chance.

I had endured everything for this moment, while the entity was weakened..

Without sacrificing Luna.

Without losing myself in the process.

I had clenched my teeth and watched countless opportunities pass me by, all in the hope of a moment like this. Now, I would do what needed to be done.

I moved toward it, even as it struggled, its neck twisting about as if pleading to be released.

Everything I had gained from slaying monsters up to this point. All the Achievement Points I had saved for this very moment.

‘I am using them now.

To bring Ellen back.’

And maybe, for the last time...

[Using all 287,620 Achievement Points]

I used Revise.

“Ugh... Ugh... Aaaaaaah!” it screamed.

After this, I wouldn’t need the powers of Incantation or Self-Deception anymore.

I wouldn’t need them ever again. They could all vanish after this.

With more earnestness than ever before, with an intensity unmatched by any other moment, and with the strongest will imaginable, I wished—no, I commanded—with every fiber of my being...

“Disappear!”