Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 692

If human thoughts were a thread, Ellen’s mind was a chaotic tangle of yarn. She couldn’t pinpoint where her thoughts had all begun to weave around each other, and because of that, she couldn’t find a way to untangle her mind.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Ellen was baffled as to why that cat from her past had appeared wearing the necklace she had discarded, not at the Temple but in a city in the southwest of Kernstadt, thousands of kilometers away.

Ellen ran, even though she didn’t even know why she felt the need to flee.

She sprinted wildly into an alley.

What was happening?

How had everything spiraled so crazily to reach this point?

Ellen was mired in confusion, unable to find any answers, so she just ran aimlessly. She dashed through the maze-like alleys, their twists and turns reflecting the turmoil in her mind.

Cold sweat clung to her skin, and despite her usual endurance, she was out of breath.

“Haa... haa...” she gasped.

Fear gripped her.

She was terrified.

Everything felt eerie, as if she had been deceived, like some unseen force was toying with her. She felt a suffocating pressure, as if she were fleeing from an unseen pursuer who already had her in their grasp. The cat, once her constant companion and source of comfort, had appeared in an unexpected place, turning into an object of fear.

As she dashed through the alleys, Ellen lost all sense of direction. She couldn’t remember where she had come from or where she was headed. Was she just running in circles? Or was she actually moving toward something? Should she try to climb over the walls and buildings to escape the city more quickly?

She glanced back in terror, huffing and puffing and out of breath, her skin clammy with cold sweat, but nothing was chasing her.

Still she ran, unsure of what she was fleeing from. Though nothing tangible seemed to be pursuing her, the sensation of being hunted consumed her thoughts. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it felt as if someone who knew her every secret was observing her. She believed she was escaping, yet deep down, she was already ensnared.

None of this made sense otherwise.

“Huff... huff... huff...”

Klang! Thud!

Almost at the end of her aimless escape, Ellen found herself navigating through an alley cluttered with trash and boxes. As she ran, she noticed her surroundings gradually turning white. She couldn’t recall how she’d ended up where she was.

“What... is this?” she murmured to herself.

Out of nowhere, a thick fog began to form, creeping into the alleyways. It seemed impossible on such a sunny day. Yet Ellen couldn’t stop running.

As the fog enveloped her, she realized something was off. She had been sprinting through a narrow alley with walls on either side, but as the fog closed in, everything around her vanished.

The walls of the buildings on either side of her disappeared, leaving Ellen surrounded by a thick fog that rose up to her ankles. It enveloped everything, swallowing all the familiar landmarks until she could see nothing but the dense mist.

A chill ran down her spine. If this was magic, she couldn’t discern its nature. Though she wasn’t immune to magic, ordinary spells couldn’t harm or interfere with her. Yet, there she was, inexplicably trapped in a magical maze.

Ellen ran on aimlessly, desperate to find an end in this strange, endless space. Was she just running in circles? Was she actually making any progress? She felt trapped in this endless maze.

She kept running, her feet pounding the ground, until...

“Hah... hah... hah...”

Just when she thought she couldn’t take another step, ready to collapse from sheer exhaustion...

Whoosh!

“Huh? Huh...!?”

Out of nowhere, the fog lifted.

Ellen was struck by the sight in front of her.

The sun blazed high in the sky, casting its light across a brilliant blue expanse.

Before her was a white sandy beach, as if appearing out of nowhere.

Swoosh...

The waves rolled in.

Splash...

Ellen found herself on a stretch of coastline, with crystal-clear emerald waves lapping at the shore.

What had happened to her?

Where was she?

Was this place even real?

Ellen gazed at the beach, her eyes trembling with emotion.

There he was.

As if by fate.

Reinhart stood at one end of the shore.

The talisman she once wore. The very talisman that had adorned the black cat’s neck just moments before.

“Are you done running away?” he said.

That talisman hung around Reinhart’s neck.

***

Ellen had navigated a bewildering maze and now found herself on a familiar beach.

She was forced to realize the meaning behind everything, everything that had happened up to this point.

The black cat had been Reinhart.

She wasn’t held back or restrained by anything.

Swoosh...

Only the sound of the waves and distant seabirds broke the silence between them.

As Reinhart drew nearer to her, Ellen could only tremble.

All she could do was tremble and slowly retreat as he approached.

She didn’t know where she was, but it was clear he had known exactly where to find her.

“H-how... How...?”

Ellen’s voice quivered with fear and confusion as she struggled to grasp the situation.

Reinhart merely shrugged.

“You wouldn’t be reckless enough to leave the same way you entered Kernstadt.”

He had anticipated her every move.

“That was the last city, wasn’t it?”

He had known her destination.

He had known that she would head southwest the moment she entered Kernstadt.

“The final city before reaching the Sren Mountains.”

A vast mountain range that loomed in the Southwest of Kernstadt.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out you were heading to Rijaiera?”

Ellen’s hometown... The Demon King had anticipated that Ellen would try to escape to Rijaiera, nestled southwest of Kernstadt. He knew she would choose to head to the Sren Mountains over crossing the southwestern border.

“Of course I knew you’d take that path.”

Entering from the northeast, and moving southwest.

He had mapped out her route, predicting the cities she’d pass through given her final destination, and had likely been tracking her since midway through her escape.

As Ellen retreated, she found herself trapped in a corner.

The Demon King seized her chin, locking eyes with her.

“Even if you’d made it to Rijaiera without getting caught, do you really think things would have turned out differently?”

“...”

“You might not know this, but I’ve already been there.”

“What...?”

Ellen was taken aback. This was the first time she’d heard such a thing.

She had only mentioned Rijaiera to Reinhart in passing, a long time ago. She never imagined he’d remember, let alone visit the place himself.

When had he gone?

Even if Ellen had finally made it to Rijaiera, Reinhart could have easily followed her there. The Demon King had known her destination the moment she’d set foot in Kernstadt. Even if she had managed to escape safely, he could have reached her final refuge.

Running away had been impossible from the very beginning.

Ellen swallowed hard, her chin still held firmly in Reinhart’s grasp. Under his piercing gaze, she found herself unable to move. She felt a vague sense of fear and a vague sense of pain.

Reinhart released her chin and took a small step back.

Just moments ago, she had been in a city in Kernstadt, yet now she found herself suddenly standing on a tropical beach.

“Where... is this...?” Ellen asked, her voice tinged with confusion.

Reinhart simply shrugged and gestured behind her, not toward the beach, but further inland.

Ellen turned to see a mansion standing there, an unfamiliar sight amidst the landscape. It was as if both the beach and the mansion had appeared out of nowhere, neither existing in her memories.

“Are you sure you don’t know?” Reinhart asked again, his tone probing gently.

The scene reminded Ellen of the Granz Duke’s villa in the Edina Archipelago, a place they had visited once. But this place was clearly different from that mansion.

Ellen gazed into the distance.

Before her stretched a landscape that could only be described as a tropical forest.

A single memory surfaced in her mind.

“Could it be... Here... it’s where we... once...”

“Yeah,” Reinhart confirmed with a nod. “This is the uninhabited island we once visited during that group mission.”

An unnamed, deserted island. The place where they had once completed a group mission.

It wasn’t some figment of imagination; it was a real place. Now, though, a mansion stood where there had been none before.

She couldn’t fathom how she had arrived there, or what the mansion was. She didn’t understand why she had been brought back to this place. It was a place that held fond memories from a challenging yet rewarding time.

Both Ellen and Reinhart had been brought back. She was unsure why she had been brought back to this place, or what he intended to do.

Reinhart remained silent, offering no explanation.

If he voiced any resentment, could she handle it?

Traitor.

Fugitive.

Ellen had no excuses to give Reinhart.

She had left without a word, driven by her own reasons.

She had nothing with which to counter his potential grievances, anger, or resentment.

She lacked the confidence to sway him.

Fearful of what he might say, Ellen trembled, but Reinhart stayed quiet.

Instead, he simply picked up a thick branch that lay among the scattered twigs.

Swish!

“...?”

Ellen instinctively caught the branch Reinhart tossed her way.

“Forget everything else,” he said.

Reinhart picked up a branch for himself, his eyes twinkling with a mischievous glint that reminded Ellen of their days at the Temple.

“Let’s have a sword fight. It’s been too long,” he suggested, holding the branch like a practice sword and pointing it at her as he slowly approached.

The memories of those days tugged at Ellen’s heart, filling her with a bittersweet sorrow.

“Ugh... ugh...”

Just standing in front of him filled her with such emotion that she couldn’t hold back her tears.

Reinhart, however, remained unfazed, his playful demeanor betraying no hint of restraint.

“Hey.”

Noticing Ellen’s tears, Reinhart casually kicked off the sand and rushed toward her.

“You’re wide open, you fool.”

Thwack!

“Ah...!”

Overwhelmed by her sadness and longing, Ellen was caught off guard. The branch struck her head, and she fell to the ground.

“Ugh...”

Reinhart glanced down at Ellen, who lay on the ground, tears streaming down her face, and chuckled.

“Pull yourself together, will you?”

“...”

“Do you even know who you’re dealing with?”

The God of War.

The Immortal.

Apostle of the God of War.

The Demon King of Flames.

The ruler of the continent.

She stood before Reinhart the Great.

He held a branch in his hand.

“Get up. Let’s go again,” he said.

Ellen sniffled and staggered to her feet.

The tip of the branch she held trembled.

What was he trying to achieve? Did he really think that sparring with a simple branch could bring them back to the way things used to be?

So much had changed, and they had spent so much time apart. He should have known that they couldn’t return to the past. What was he trying to do?

His intentions, his demeanor—everything seemed so pitiful and sorrowful that Ellen couldn’t concentrate.

If anyone wanted to turn back, it was Ellen.

But she couldn’t.

She wouldn’t let herself.

Because she felt that someone like her, a sinner, could not.

“R-reinhart... I... I can’t... I can’t do this...”

All she could do was stand there, with her hands trembling.

“Really?”

“Y-yeah... I... I can’t... I’m sorry... I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’m sorry...”

Ellen was overwhelmed with emotion, tears streaming down her face as she stood there, unable to say more.

Reinhart’s expression softened as he looked at her.

“Then.”

The playfulness vanished.

Aura enveloped the branch.

“Die.”

It wasn’t a gentle leap.

Before Ellen could fully comprehend what was happening, Reinhart was already upon her. The simple branch had transformed into an aura blade, aiming straight for her side.

She was going to die.

In that instant...

Clang!

Ellen’s own branch, now glowing with aura of its own, intercepted the lethal strike.

“Hah, hah... Hah...”

Ellen staggered backward, trying to steady her breath as she locked eyes with Reinhart.

He grinned, casually resting the aura-infused branch on his shoulder. “See, you can do it.”

With a nod, Reinhart pointed the branch at Ellen once more.

She wasn’t sure what he expected, but she knew nothing would end until she met his standards.

So, swallowing her tears, Ellen raised her branch and pointed it at Reinhart.

Seeing her resolve, Reinhart’s smile widened.