Chapter 21 – Duke of Sheringham Family
We arrived at the outskirts of the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Inglith.
A lot happened on the way, and it took almost four weeks to get here, but the Demon Lord’s army still managed to invade the Royal Capital.
What proved most useful was the Undead Legion.
Thanks to the destruction of several villages, towns, and lord armies, I was able to add several times more skeletons and zombies to my army than I originally had, and most importantly, my Dullahan troops were strong.
Those whom the werewolves deemed strong certainly possessed superior combat skills, and it is extremely useful to revive them as Dullahans and have them swear loyalty to me.
They do not die, they do not need rest, and they have no problem commanding because they have retained the knowledge and memories from their previous life.
The Undead Legion was more than sufficient in numbers, though the demons complained about the stench of freshly risen zombies.
Therefore, fellow undead who did not mind the stench were better suited to take command.
The Demon Lord’s army set up camp at a short distance from the Royal Capital.
The reason why they dared to stay in a place where they can be seen is to exert psychological pressure.
…… they just need to be afraid of being attacked at any moment.
The Demon Lord’s army is excited, and morale is high because they have invaded the Royal Capital.
Occasionally, they would make a lot of noise, yelling and stomping their feet, but I let them do as they pleased.
Their earth-shaking yells and footsteps would surely strike fear into the citizens of the Royal Capital.
We laid siege to the Royal Capital with the Undead Legion.
The wyverns that came out to scout were almost all wiped out by the dragons. A few were deliberately let go and allowed to return, to make them understand the current situation and give them a sense of despair.
…… More, more fear.
Let them suffer as I have suffered.
Two days after setting up camp around the Royal Capital, there was movement.
A figure appeared on the outer wall of the Royal Capital.
Soon, Wilhelm came to report.
“People who bear resemblance to the Demon Queen have appeared.”
At these words, Lord Ewaldt stood up.
“I shall handle this myself.”
“The Demon Lord himself?”
“Yes. Those people are likely family members of the Duke of Sheringham. Rachel’s birth family and descendants of the First Saint. The very ones who scorned my Queen and cast her aside first. This demands… personal recompense. Do not interfere.”
“By your will”
I also stand up.
“Lord Ewaldt, may I be present? Of course, I won’t lay hands on them.”
Lord Ewaldt’s hand gently touches my cheek.
“Won’t it be painful to face them?”
“Erm, I’ll be fine. I’m not here to forgive. I just want to see how they die. Seeing their final moments… might help soothe my heart a little.”
“I see, then we’ll go together.”
I place my hand on top of his.
Then, with Lord Ewaldt’s flying magic, we headed to the front of the army.
The outer wall of the Royal Capital is getting closer and closer.
In proportion to this, my heart grew colder.
…… Ah, so I’m back.
To this hateful and horrible Royal Capital.
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Lenard Sheringham gasped at the sight before him.
The Royal Capital is currently under siege by the Demon Lord’s army.
The city was surrounded by undead, such as zombies and skeletons, and if a wyvern unit was sent out, it would be defeated by dragons.
Moreover, the country has a small military.
Even if you gathered all the armies under the lords of the Royal Capital and the surrounding areas, they still wouldn’t number as many as the Demon Lord’s army spread out before them.
He had heard about it in reports, but seeing it with his own eyes, a sense of despair slowly seeped into his heart.
No matter how well he and his father could use Holy Attribute Magic, no matter how good his mother was at Fire Attribute Magic, there was a limit to the number of opponents they could take on.
The Royal Capital had no choice but to brace for a siege against the Demon Lord’s army, and they, the Duke of Sheringham family, were entrusted with the West Gate, located directly in front of the highway and where the demons were most numerous.
This was the largest and most vulnerable gate, and if they were to break through it and enter the Royal Capital, the city would be overrun with demons in moments.
He tightened his grip on his sword.
…… Will I be able to defend it?
Along the outer walls, the soldiers the Duke had brought along stood ready.
They, as well as Lenard and his men, will fight today with their lives on the line.
“Reporting! We have spotted a shadow approaching from the Demon Lord’s army! It is flying through the air towards us!”
One of the guards shouted.
“How many?”
The soldier responds to the question of his father, the Duke.
“There are two of them!”
“What was that, only two?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the front to see what was going on.
Indeed, something could be seen approaching from the direction of the Demon Lord’s army.
At first, the two shadows were just flickering and reflecting the light, but as they gradually approached, the colors became discernible.
One was blonde and the other was silver-haired.
The shadow stopped in mid-air some distance from the outer wall.
Everyone was left speechless by the figure that was there.
She had long, soft, lush blonde hair, and even from a little distance, they could see the sparkle of her vivid pink-red eyes.
“Rachel……?”
His mother muttered involuntarily.
The former sister of Lenard, ex-fiancée of the Crown Prince, who was expelled from the Duke family and executed by the Royal Family.
Rachel Sheringham was there.
Holding Rachel by the waist was a demon.
A silver-haired, brown-skinned, black-horned demon man waved his hand lightly, and a translucent membrane appeared behind them.
Rachel and the demon man were before them.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Duke’s family. How have you been?”
Rachel was expressionless.
It was a familiar look to Lenard.
His sister always had her head down and was never expressive, and even when she was, it was somewhat gloomy and lacking in glamour.
Although she was a descendant of the First Saint, she possessed magical power of the Dark Attribute.
Lenard lost interest in such a sister.
Rather, he felt ashamed as a member of the same duke family.
“I had heard that Rachel’s body had disappeared, but you demons have resurrected her and are manipulating her!”
“Oh my goodness……!”
He heard his mother and father’s voices, a mixture of surprise and anger.
He didn’t think his parents cared about Rachel either, but perhaps it was different when it came to their own child.
“To think that a descendant of the First Saint would be manipulated by demons!!”
“Even in death, she brings further shame to the Duke of Sheringham!”
Apparently, the angry voices of her parents had reached her.
Rachel smiled softly.
A smile brighter than any she’d ever shown before. And yet she smiled as if she had just gotten something she longed for from the bottom of her heart.
It was so radiant that he couldn’t help but admire it for a moment.
…… Was my sister so beautiful?
Rachel spoke.
“Ah.”
It was a sigh with a seductive look.
The soldiers were also fascinated by Rachel.
“I’m glad to see you, after all.”
The same pink-red eyes stared at them.
The expression suddenly disappeared from Rachel’s face.
“Truly, I’m glad to have realized that you people are the worst. I’m ashamed of myself for thinking of you people as family and loving you.”
Her voice was cold.
“Don’t blame yourself? Your world was so small back then.”
The demon man kissed Rachel’s forehead, and Rachel squinted her eyes happily and smiled.
He had never seen his sister look so happy.
“Yes, that’s right. I thought that being the fiancée of the Crown Prince and the daughter of a Duke was everything. But because I possess dark mana, I was treated as a ‘failure’ within the Duke’s household.”
So, Rachel turns around.
“You offered me to the Royal Family without a second thought, right? Because Saintess Yuri said so. For that reason alone, and without any solid proof, the Duke of Sheringham, knowing that I would be put to death, expelled me from their family register and handed me over to the Royal Family. Did you think this was a good opportunity to get rid of the failure who was in your way?”
Neither his parents nor Lenard could speak.
Rachel was right.
In the Duke’s household, Rachel was indeed treated as a failure, and her parents, relatives, and even servants were cold toward her.
When it was said that Rachel was a danger to the country, both her father and mother immediately wrote her off.
If they had left her in place, and criticism was directed at the Duke’s family, it would tarnish the family’s reputation.
“Were you glad I was executed? Or did you just not care? Well, I guess I didn’t matter. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so heartless as to give up your own daughter, knowing that she would be killed.”
Fufufufu, Rachel suddenly laughs.
He didn’t know what was wrong.
But a chill went down his spine.
…… Was Rachel’s magical power so immense?
Even at a distance, he can feel a thick, strong sense of darkness.
“I have returned to exact my revenge. But it is not I who will kill you. It will be the Demon Lord who does. Right?”
Rachel looked up at the man beside her.
“The Demon Lord?!”
His father looked at the demon man intently and trembled slightly.
Lenard also suddenly remembered his childhood education.
The Demon Lord whom the First Saint fought.
A brown-skinned demon with silver hair and red eyes.
With black horns, and an inhumanly beautiful face.
“Foolish humans.”
It has a deep, resonant voice.
“Thanks to your execution of Rachel, she is now a lich and has broken my seal. I thank you for giving me a beautiful and capable Queen.”
“That’s a lie,” he muttered.
…… Rachel has resurrected the Demon Lord?
“By your foolish choice, the Demon Lord is resurrected.”
Murderous intent spread with the wind.
There was a stir among the soldiers.
If that person is the real Demon Lord ……?
Sweat began to trickle down Lenard’s forehead.
This terrifying sense of intimidation, this magical power, this presence, this murderous intent, they were all something quite extraordinary.
Even the First Saint had a hard time fighting him, and she couldn’t kill him, so he had no choice but to seal him away.
“You will receive retribution for mistreating my Queen for so many years.”
The man who called himself the Demon Lord lightly swung his hand sideways.
In an instant, the soldiers on the outer wall collapsed.
A quick glance revealed that they were dead, foaming at the mouth.
…… What did that man just do?
However, with just a wave of his hand, all the soldiers on the outer wall fell to the ground, not moving a muscle.
Just as his mind was wrapping around the situation, Rachel cheerfully exclaimed, “Oh my!”
“As expected of the Demon Lord, it’s amazing how you can reap the souls of hundreds of humans in an instant!”
“This much is no problem.”
His body trembled. He manages to hold onto the hilt of his sword, but he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to pull it out.
…Is he really the Demon Lord?
In an instant, hundreds of people were killed.
There’s no way he could face something like that.
Even though he is a descendant of the First Saint, he does not possess the same power as the First Saint.
He just knows what magic the First Saint used.
He can’t wield them all.
“Rachel, you betrayed us!!”
Rachel laughs mirthfully at her father’s yelling.
“Oh, you were the ones who betrayed me first. It was the Duke’s family that treated me coldly, abandoned me, and betrayed me. That’s why I only responded to that. Betrayal should be punished, right?”
The Demon Lord nods at Rachel’s words.
“Yes, traitors must be given their due. But I will not have Rachel be stigmatized as a murderer of her own flesh and blood.”
The Demon Lord strokes Rachel’s head.
“Come, members of the Duke’s family, I am your opponent.”
Just being stared at by him was suffocating.
His every instinct told him that he couldn’t compete.
Neither his father nor his mother moved a single step.
No, they couldn’t move.
When he looked down, he saw something like a black shadow wrapped around his ankles, preventing him from moving.
“You will not get away. I will make you suffer just as much as Rachel has suffered. Rest assured, I will not kill you right away. At least, not until Rachel gives her permission.”
Rachel laughed again.
“At the end, cut off their heads.”
“Are you planning on turning them into Dullahans?”
“Yes. To be honest, I don’t even want to see their faces, but wouldn’t it be convenient to have undead that can use Holy Magic? I’ll turn them into Dullahans and make them submit to me.”
“If you insist.”
“Rachel,” he called his sister’s name.
Rachel turned around and looked straight at him.
The gloomy, downcast girl was no longer there.
“I hate you all so much.”
It was tantamount to a death sentence.
“Rachel, let’s talk—…… mugu?!”
The shadows at his feet stretched out and covered his mouth.
Rachel was smiling.
The Demon Lord waves his arms again.
Behind him, under the outer wall, the death cries of the soldiers who had been waiting echoed, and a thick smell of blood wafted through the air without him turning around.
“It’s already too late.”
His sister was no longer the Rachel Sheringham that Leonard knew.
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Sads Translates 