Chapter 24 – Behind the Scenes / My Destiny
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A soldier walks through the Royal Castle of the Kingdom of Inglith.
Around him, the knights and servants who had remained in the castle lay dead, staining the beautiful corridors of the Royal Castle red.
The soldier walked through the thick smell of blood, as if he were taking a walk on a sunny day.
Even though there were demons present, neither side seemed to mind the other.
Eventually, the soldier came out into the hall.
“Master Rodolphe!”
Upon being called, Rodolphe, a werewolf and one of the Demon Lord’s army’s executives, turned around.
“Ah, Keith. Have you finished guiding the Demon Lord and Demon Queen?”
The soldier walked up to Rodolphe and removed the head piece of his armor.
The soldier named Keith smiled happily.
“Yes, I even received words of appreciation from both of them! It was the first time I saw the Demon Lord up close, and he is really cool!”
“Sure, the Demon Lord is cool.”
Keith is a lycanthrope.
He was also one of those who let the demons into the castle.
After the Demon Lord had killed the Duke of Sheringham family and all the soldiers they led, the lycanthropes, posing as surviving soldiers, entered the castle.
The humans easily let Keith and the others into the castle.
Keith then went to the King, gave a report, and spent a day in the castle pretending to be a human.
Then, after receiving a signal, they killed all the soldiers at a gate in one corner of the castle, opened it, and their compatriots stormed the castle.
Keith had been walking around the castle all day as a messenger for the knights, so not only did he have information, but he also knew where the royals were, so he served as a guide when the Demon Lord and Demon Queen entered the castle.
“But you did a good job this time. Thanks to you, we were able to get into the castle easily, and we even found the location of the secret passage, so that was a big help.”
Keith scratches his head in embarrassment at Rodolphe’s words.
There were multiple escape routes used not only by the queen and her daughters, but also by the country’s nobles, all of which were hidden.
If it weren’t for Keith and the others, they would have discovered the hidden passages too late and would have missed the humans.
“I had heard that the Royal Family of this country was the target of the Demon Queen’s revenge, so as ordered, I divided the lycanthropes other than myself into several groups and had them follow the escaped humans.”
“Then those who fled must be dead by now.”
Just to be sure, the lycanthropes were sent to the hidden passage to see if anyone was coming back, but if the werewolves went with them, there would be no problem.
The werewolves have been instructed to kill the humans as soon as they emerge from the escape route.
This was the order of the Demon Lord, who wanted them to fall into despair the moment they felt hope after exiting the escape route.
Although he didn’t say it aloud, it seemed the Demon Lord had no intention of forgiving the humans for their treatment of the Demon Queen.
Beside the Demon Lord who gave such an order, the Demon Queen just smiled in silence.
If the soldiers who were protecting them suddenly turned into demons and attacked, the humans would surely be greatly surprised and terrified, and would likely die in confusion.
Just imagining it made Rodolphe chuckle.
“Keith, I know you only just got back, but help me with the corpses. Gather the headless corpses and their heads here. It seems that the Demon Queen turns reasonably strong humans into Dullahans.”
“Ah, so you’re increasing the Demon Queen’s forces.”
The Dullahan squad is under the direct control of the Demon Queen.
Unlike zombies, they don’t decompose, and unlike skeletons, they can talk and think. Zombies, in particular, smell terrible when they start to decompose, so not rotting is a welcome change.
Their loyalty to the Demon Queen is a little too intense, and although they can be depressing at times, they are perfect as a fighting force.
In addition, they were perfect training partners, allowing the others to learn how the humans fight.
“It would be nice if the Dullahan troops took command of the Undead Legion, so we wouldn’t have to suffer that foul stench that makes our noses curl.”
“Well, I don’t like that smell either.”
Rodolphe and Keith leave the hall as they talk.
Tonight, there will be a grand banquet in the human castle to celebrate the Demon Queen’s revenge.
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The Audience Chamber of the Kingdom of Inglith.
Ewaldt stood beside Rachel, who was sitting on the throne and looked out the window with a faint smile on her face.
At first, he was attracted to her by calculation, interest, and the beauty of her soul.
She has the same soul as Saintess Illumina, possesses enough Dark mana to completely revive the Demon Lord, and although she is a Lich, she was originally a human, yet she was able to resurrect the Demon Lord. He found the contradictions in her soul, which is pure but also tainted with hatred and anger, interesting.
The way she was discomposed by Ewald’s words was not bad either.
Her desire to take revenge on humans is similar to the demons’ desire to kill humans.
He also brought her in to learn about humans.
However, Ewaldt found his time with Rachel very interesting, and at times peaceful and pleasant.
Little by little, he kept applying captivate in an attempt to capture her, but it was less effective than he expected. Still, it was cute to see Rachel slowly becoming attracted to Ewaldt.
It was fun to see the affection in Rachel’s pink-red eyes grow with each passing day.
How amusing it would be if the Demon Lord obtained the Saint.
With that in mind, Ewaldt began to charm her, but before he knew it, he found himself drawn to her instead.
Rachel, a former human, has no connection to Ewaldt.
Therefore, unlike ordinary demons, the words of the Demon Lord carried no compulsion.
However, Rachel dutifully accepted Ewaldt’s request to have dinner with her, and whenever he said he wanted to talk more, she would visit him that afternoon.
She must be a serious person at heart.
Still, it seems there was no choice but to seek revenge.
Rather, it seemed as though revenge was her goal in life.
After achieving her goal, Rachel may lose her energy and disappear.
Ewaldt didn’t like that.
It would be a shame to lose the beautiful, intelligent, and powerful Rachel.
It would not be fun to lose time spent with Rachel.
That’s why he proposed to Rachel again.
If she became the Queen of the Demon Lord, she would have the goal of destroying humans, and if she came to love Ewaldt, she would not disappear anytime soon.
Rachel had become special.
When Rachel agreed to become his Queen, Ewaldt felt joy for the first time in his long life.
After that, he found himself increasingly attracted to Rachel.
Rachel is truly intelligent, and the way she planned her invasion of the Kingdom of Inglith was truly befitting of the position of the Demon Queen.
…… The people of the Kingdom of Inglith are all fools.
If Rachel had married the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Inglith and gained an influential position in the human military, the Demon Lord’s army would probably have had a much harder time.
She would have been more troublesome than the Saint from another world.
…… But Rachel fell into my hands.
That’s why Ewaldt calls Rachel “My Destiny.”
If any one event – Rachel’s resurrection as a lich, her joining the demons, her unsealing and complete resurrection of Ewaldt, or her becoming queen – had been missing, things would not have progressed to the present.
This is nothing short of a miracle.
“Rachel”
When he called out to her, Rachel turned.
“Lord Ewaldt.”
A calm, soft voice calls back to Ewaldt.
After meeting Rachel, he remembered the joy of hearing his name called.
It had been ages since his name had last been called.
Ewaldt was born in an ancient time, when humans and demons still coexisted together and there was no distinction between the races.
Both of Ewaldt’s parents were demons.
Although they were a bit conspicuous in the village, the four of them – his parents, Ewaldt, and his younger brother – lived a peaceful life together.
His father was an excellent hunter.
His mother was well-versed in medicinal herbs and was the village apothecary.
His younger brother was energetic, cheerful, and honest.
Ewaldt was not his parents’ biological child, but a foster child, and they treated him and his brother equally. Ewaldt had a lot of mana and was able to handle various types of magic from a young age.
At that time, he had less mana than he does now, so everyone could call out Ewaldt’s name.
Both his father and mother had gentle personalities, avoided conflict with the villagers, and always had a smile on their faces.
However, one day, a child his mother was treating died.
The child was seriously ill and no matter how hard his mother tried, there was no hope of recovery.
But the child’s family and the villagers didn’t think so.
When the child died, they blamed the mother, as if she had killed the child.
That she killed the child by giving a suspicious herb.
Yes, the villagers blamed his mother, bringing up the difference in appearance and lifespan, saying that she looked down on them.
Neither his father nor his mother ever looked down on the villagers.
On the contrary, they treated them as their beloved family members.
However, the villagers did not understand this in the slightest.
To make matters worse, an epidemic broke out soon after, and even that was blamed on Ewaldt and his family.
In retrospect, the villagers were anxious.
They are beings with different appearances and life spans.
They had a lot of mana and could kill them at any time.
Perhaps somewhere in their heart, they had always felt threatened.
In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep, the house where Ewaldt and his family lived was set on fire.
His mother held his brother in her arms, and his father held Ewaldt in his arms, and rushed out of the burning house.
There, villagers armed with weapons were waiting for them.
Before they could resist, his mother and brother were impaled with sharp wooden spears.
His father was shot with arrows, taking several in the back as he shielded Ewaldt.
The villagers, armed with weapons, attacked his mother, brother, and father, and Ewaldt could only watch in shock, protected by his father.
When he came to, everyone but Ewaldt was dead.
His kind father and mother, and his energetic younger brother, were all killed by the villagers.
It was then that Ewaldt first learned of hatred.
With that emotion, Ewaldt used his magic.
With all the mana he had, he unleashed every offensive spell he had memorized and aimed them at every villager in sight.
There was no fear of death in his heart.
Only hatred and rage reigned over Ewaldt.
Before he knew it, the village had turned into a sea of blood.
Ewaldt killed each and every villager.
Still, the negative emotions persisted.
Since that day, it never went away.
Perhaps because he killed so many villagers, Ewaldt’s mana increased and he became stronger, and his body grew in size all at once.
Ewaldt buried his family and then wandered aimlessly.
Years, decades, and centuries passed as he went around killing humans, and before he knew it, the demons began to call Ewaldt their king.
As he reigned as the Demon Lord and forged a connection with the demons, Ewaldt’s anger subsided for a time, but the hatred never went away.
The battle with Saintess Illumina came as a shock to Ewaldt.
Among the humans, one emerged whose power rivaled Ewaldt’s.
When he was sealed, he was angry that this would mean the deaths of all demons, and he hated Saintess Illumina, who had sealed him away, but he was still tormented by the seal that could not be broken.
He is conscious but unable to move.
He can hear sounds but cannot speak.
For 800 years, he could only hear reports that the demons were getting weaker by the day, and he thought he was going mad.
In the end, he had almost given up.
As things were, the number of demons would decrease, and Ewaldt, who slept in the basement of the Demon Castle, would be the last of the demons, and would then be killed by the humans while still sealed away.
He could only imagine such a future.
That’s when Rachel appeared.
Rachel’s dark magic was comforting.
Her voice as she chanted was dignified and clear, and although he felt pain from the Holy Attribute mana when the seal was broken, the Dark Attribute mana that poured into him afterwards was so rich that it felt like water was filling his thirsty body.
Rachel resurrected Ewaldt.
She saved Ewaldt, who thought he had no choice but to give up.
Not only that, but every time he saw Rachel, he felt his dry mind and body quenched.
As he spent a peaceful time there, reminiscent of when he lived with his father, mother, and younger brother, Ewaldt realized.
…… Oh, I was starving.
He was starving for the fulfillment he felt during those happy times.
That was the peace that Rachel provided.
Instead of worshipping him or fearing him as the Demon Lord, Rachel treated him as Ewaldt.
That was more comfortable than anything else.
Every time he met Rachel, he found something good about her.
Even though she was once human, he felt no hatred or anger.
At first, he called it “fate” to get Rachel, but now he truly believes it.
She reminded Ewaldt of love.
With her Undead Legion, the demons regained their momentum, overturned the odds, and invaded the Kingdom of Inglith.
Rachel is something of a miracle.
“I’m glad it was you who awakened me.”
Ewaldt whispered and Rachel smiled.
“I’m glad I met you too, Lord Ewaldt.”
Ewaldt kissed her softly on the lips.
…… Rachel is my destiny.
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Sads Translates 