Chapter 202

The History of the Royal Family (2)
“Avalon Kingdom’s territory was merely average in size, but its military might was said to rival that of the Land of Eternal Night.”

“But isn’t that the country where the Demon King was born…?”

The Knight of Knights, a noble of Avalon Kingdom. Arthur, known as the Knight King, became the previous Demon King and brought calamity to the continent.

“… It’s true that the Demon King was born in that country…”

“Yes. It is true that the Demon King was born in that country.”

The Avalon Kingdom, despite waging a three-front war, did not weaken its forces. But that was merely how it looked from the outside. In reality, the country was already on the verge of collapse. It was no longer capable of standing against the world.

And when their powerful ally, the Land of Eternal Night, met its end, the King of Avalon made a decision.

This country is finished.

The King of Avalon ascended the throne at the age of ten and was fifteen at the time. He was supported by those gathered at the Round Table—the strongest of the strong. Chief among them was Arthur, but Eibon was also among them. Each one was said to be powerful enough to rival an entire nation.

However, a third of those who had gathered at the Round Table had already fallen in battle. Avalon Kingdom was being driven into a corner.

“And Arthur, by royal order, went to the border to fight the Gran Kingdom… Isn’t that right, Eibon?”

“So you did notice.”

As we descended the stairs, Father turned his gaze behind us. Eibon had been following us. And I hadn’t even noticed…

“You just weren’t paying attention to the rear.”

Brother should really stop reading people’s minds.

“Why didn’t you protect the King of Avalon? That much hasn’t even reached our country. Anyone else might be excused, but you and Arthur were the only ones who would never betray the kingdom, right?”

“I didn’t betray anyone!”

And then Eibon began to speak.

At the time, Eibon was a Great Mage. This was before the Magic Kingdom even existed. He truly was the most powerful magician. However, back then, Eibon was over 200 years old. He could barely stand, let alone walk.

Arthur had entrusted the defense of the capital to Eibon while he protected the border. Even though he couldn’t walk, Eibon could still wield considerable magic. At the time, he could only move using something like a wheelchair, so he couldn’t leave the capital.

“If I had just had ten more years. If I could’ve moved for just ten more years, Avalon Kingdom would not have fallen. If I had regained my peak strength, no nation could have stood against me. But even I had my limits.

That’s why I attempted to extend my life. Through the analysis of ancient grimoires, I discovered a secret technique for prolonging life. But to use it, I had to offer as a sacrifice someone with whom I had formed a deep bond.”

It seems Eibon had a son at the time. However, they were not related by blood. He was a child Eibon had picked up by chance on the battlefield and raised on a whim.

Though he had little magical talent and could never become more than a basic magician no matter how hard he tried, he grew up straight and true despite being compared to his adoptive father and insulted by others.

“I still remember it clearly. My son said to me, ‘Dad, use my life. More people will be saved if you regain your strength than if I survive.’

Even I, who could use the lives of countless strangers for rituals, couldn’t bring myself to do it. But my son’s resolve was unwavering. So I made the decision.”

So anyone else would have been fine…?

It was a forbidden technique that should never be used. The one used as a sacrifice would have even their soul extinguished, unable to reincarnate. Eibon, who had no time left, could not spare the time to devise a different spell.

And so Eibon entrusted the capital’s defense to the other members of the Round Table and carried out the ritual underground. No one could enter during the ritual. If someone intruded, the balance of magical energy would collapse, and the ritual would fail.

The ritual succeeded. But the country was destroyed.

The one Eibon had entrusted with the defense of the capital—had been an enemy from the beginning.

The Gran Kingdom had once used an ancient magical weapon. It was a strategic-class spell that used a city’s population as a sacrifice.

At the time, Eibon had used all his mana to cast Reflector, a spell that repelled other magic. Without it, Avalon Kingdom’s capital would have been wiped out. It was likely a ballistic-type magic.

In the end, Eibon succeeded in repelling the strategic-class spell. But even he could not choose where it would land.

The magic rebounded and landed on the very city that had launched it. Naturally, the city was destroyed. The few surviving rulers and the noble army were wiped out.

But the lord’s son survived. For thirty years after that, he lived in Avalon Kingdom—under a completely different identity.

That man rose in rank and became one of those who gathered at the Round Table. All of it—for revenge.

“That’s just misdirected hatred.”

“Yes, it was.”

He used his own citizens’ lives to cast a strategic spell, and it was simply returned to him.

But as soon as Eibon went underground, that man killed the King of Avalon. The king had been an excellent ruler and warrior. But even he couldn’t defeat a fellow Round Table member. No one had suspected anything, so the man had walked into the royal castle unchecked.

He even killed Arthur’s daughter—the king’s wife.

But Lycoris, Arthur’s daughter, survived. A girl left behind by one of Arthur’s friends—aside from being a beastkin, she looked similar enough. She cut off her prided ears and tail, engulfed herself in flames, and faked Lycoris’ death. In a rage, Eibon tore the limbs from the avenger and threw him into a G’s den.

When Arthur, who had rushed back upon hearing of the capital’s destruction, saw the scene, he misunderstood—he thought Lycoris had died. She had already escaped the capital by then. Even Eibon hadn’t known she had survived at that time.

Arthur could not suppress his rage. The power of the Spirit King dwelling within him went berserk, and he absorbed the spirit who had been his friend, becoming the Demon King.

“So the power of the Spirit King…”

“Those who lose control of it become Demon Kings.”

Arthur, the former Spirit King, became the Demon King and brought about mass destruction. He burned down countless towns and countries, and with an army of monsters, invaded many nations.

“I tried to stop him too. But he still retained his sense of self. And when the royal palace burned, the survivors brought me the last will of the King of Avalon.”

(The kingdom is finished. But the people must be evacuated. As the final king, I speak now to all who have survived and gathered at the Round Table. Lead the people north, into the untamed wilderness. The central region is already beyond saving.)

Eibon met Arthur in his Demon King form only once. Though consumed by power, Arthur understood the last words of the King of Avalon. He did not suppress his rampaging strength, but simply redirected it. He destroyed every nation that might obstruct the fleeing multiracial people.

Having regained his peak strength, Eibon used his magic to single-handedly sink all of the magic warships owned by the Gran Kingdom.

Later, a single surviving member of the Round Table established a multiracial federation in the northern lands. However, the demons—who had triggered the great war between humans and demons—were sent to a newly discovered continent at that time.

Had the demons remained on this continent, conflict would have been inevitable. It was a painful decision.

Thus, most demons vanished from this continent. The few who remained were reportedly all killed. In fact, there hasn’t been a single sighting of demons in the past hundred years.

“And then the nightmare began. Arthur was finally consumed by his power and started killing indiscriminately.”

Arthur no longer possessed the mental strength to suppress the power of the Demon King. If left unchecked, he would slaughter all living things on the continent.

By that time, even the Holy Church headquarters had been overrun by monsters and had fallen. The Holy Church, which occupied the current Imperial State, announced the birth of a Hero.

A weapon bearing the name of “Holy”—the pinnacle of which was the Soul Sword—chose its wielder.

The Soul Sword stands at the top of all holy swords. It was forged with power granted by both the Spirit King and the Goddess. The other holy swords were created by either the Spirit King or the Goddess alone. While effective against the Demon King, none of them could deliver the final blow.

That is because the Goddess and the Spirit King are equal in power.

The Hero won many battles and finally defeated the Demon King.

“But the truth is different. The Demon King was only sealed away.

The reason is that the Spirit King, who is the source of the Demon King’s power, can never be destroyed. He is part of the world’s foundation. Even if he dies, someone else will inherit his power eventually. And when that happens, the same tragedy will repeat.

So the Hero sealed the Demon King into their own soul. Once the Hero dies, the sealed Demon King is automatically passed on to a blood relative’s soul. Or perhaps their own child.”

“But Father, Alice can normally use the Spirit King’s power—”

“Perhaps the seal broke. After all, there's no real management method. The only thing passed down is that the bloodline must not be broken. No one even knows why the seal moved from Sylvia to Alicetia.

In the first place, all we know is that it was sealed in a member of the royal family.”

It seems it was quite a mysterious seal. And there’s a reason why I became the Spirit King.

“Probably because my past self used the sealed soul without permission.”

Iris must have reused the remnants of a soul that existed in the body she reincarnated into, trying to leave a piece of herself behind. Since she did it instinctively, even Iris’s memories of it are unclear.

“… I’d like to hear more about that.”

So I told them what Iris had refused during reincarnation. And that, when they tried to force her, she snapped and reincarnated herself.

“You really did something outrageous… Creating a soul yourself is not something a human should do. Don’t tell me Alicetia can do it too?”

“If you’re asking whether it’s possible or not, I’d say it is. But I really don’t want to.”

That’s something I never want to do again… well, I didn’t actually do it myself, but still, I don’t want to. Fighting Teth would be a hassle, and tearing yourself apart isn’t something a sane person does.

“So that means Arthur’s soul is…”

“Just so you know, souls have lifespans too. Because it was left alone for so long, it had already decayed and was just remnants.”

Normally, a soul would go to heaven or hell and be purified. The difference is just whether there’s pain or not. If left untreated, even a soul will erode. The only exceptions are people like Eibon, who maintain their own soul.

And when a soul completely decays, the Spirit King’s power just moves on to someone else.

“………”

“There’s still something that might be Arthur’s soul left, but it’s probably sealed together with some strange power. I didn’t take everything from Iris, after all.”

All the hatred from back then should’ve been sealed away with it. In fact, I haven’t inherited even a shred of that hatred.

“Well, that’s fine. There’s nothing Alicetia can do about it anyway.”

“Exactly.”

Father and Brother seem to understand that no matter what they want to say, it’s pointless to direct it at me.

Eibon looked a little lonely. No—he probably already suspected that Arthur’s soul had eroded. In a way, he’s in the same situation.

“Now I understand why Alicetia is oddly manly at times.”

“Iris’s soul was the main component in creating me, so I’m technically a girl…”

That’s kind of rude.

“So, are we safe regarding the Demon King?”

My brother was worried about a possible revival.

“The Spirit King’s power relies on spirit mana. From what I’ve heard, without absorbing spirits, the power can’t manifest. So if we tamper with the spirit contract, it won’t be a problem.

Even if someone becomes the Demon King, without spirit mana, the rampaging power won’t activate.”

I’ll talk to the spirits later and revise the contract. Maybe something like temporarily cutting the connection if Demon King symptoms appear?

If we do that, there won’t be enough energy to trigger anything. Normally, mana flows through the bond anyway. I’ll take care of that too. I have no intention of becoming a Demon King myself.

Father coughed to interrupt and shift the conversation.

The Hero who defeated the Demon King was none other than Lycoris, the founding ancestor of the Arland Kingdom.

After giving birth to the King of Avalon’s child during her escape, she entrusted her son to an ally who had sheltered her and set out on a journey to stop her father. For some reason, she was chosen by the Soul Sword. No one knows what happened or how she obtained it.

Upon learning the truth about the Demon King, Lycoris killed the Pope during the victory celebration and fled. She also stole the Soul Sword while she was at it.

“By the way, I’ve killed the Pope a few times too, but that guy doesn’t die.”

“… What?”

A shocking revelation: the Pope is immortal.

“As far as I know, there’s only ever been one Pope. That guy can’t be killed.”

Apparently, the Pope has secrets too. I’d love a tissue sample.

What do you think about this chapter?