CHAPTER 51
Carried in Red's arms, I had finally made it through the long passage and out into the open.
Thankfully, the animal senses Red had mimicked weren't wrong.
I felt relieved seeing our entire group gathered at our destination. But then...

"They said they're going to make Ceres resurrect the Demon King, and then take him as the Demon King's consort."

The moment I heard Red drop that bombshell, I thought she had lost her mind.
Make me resurrect the Demon King? Me? And do what? Make me the Demon King's consort?
Am I crazy? Like hell I'd do something like that!

"There's no way I'd ever do that!" I yelled.

"Exactly. That's why they were trying to capture you and force you to comply," Red shrugged at my panic. "Haas was actually the Demon King's subordinate. She orchestrated all of this to resurrect her Lord."

"She was the Demon King's subordinate? Well, that explains why she'd go out of her way to betray me. But even so, what's this about being the Demon King's consort? That has nothing to do with resurrection."

"She just said a noble guy like you would be a fitting match for the Demon King."

Bullshit. The first part made logical sense, but the second part was just retarded logic.
...But wait, even if it's me, can I actually resurrect the dead?
There was nothing in the original novel about Ceres reviving the dead, but then again, he never tried, so I couldn't say for sure it was impossible either.

While I was caught in my doubts, a loud noise reached my ears.
It was the sound of many footsteps rushing up the passage we had just escaped from.

They caught up already?!
Realizing the demons chasing us were about to arrive, I panicked.

"Over 100 demons are about to pour out of there! Viol, call the Imperial Army! The rest of you, get ready to fight! We need to buy time until the army gets here!"

With the people gathered here, we could probably hold our own against 100 demons to some extent. That's why I suggested buying time. But for some reason, everyone's reaction was strangely passive.

"What for?"
Viol didn't even twitch despite my plea to call the army.

"There's really no need for that," Alios added.

"Did you guys not hear me? I said over 100 demons are coming!"

"We heard you. That's exactly why we're not doing it," Viol said nonchalantly. "With the sheer combat power gathered here, including myself, what threat is a mere 100 bugs?"

"No, I know you guys are strong, but still—!"

I tried to persuade them, but it was too late.
The demons had already started pouring out of the passage.

"It's Ceres!"
"He's over there, grab him!"

The first few demons who emerged spotted me and immediately lunged.
And in the next second, the head of the leading demon was obliterated.

"Do I really have to dirty my hands with trash like this?"
Viol, having obliterated a demon with a single bare-handed punch, scowled. The other demons faltered, only to be sliced to pieces in a flash.
It was Alios's doing.

"Just so you don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing this because you told me to, I'm doing it because Ceres is right next to you," Alios grumbled, flicking the blood off her sword.

More demons continuously poured out, but the results were identical.

"Are you unharmed, My Lord?"
About ten of them rushed out, but the Death Knights slaughtered them in an instant.
"Please rest easy. Mere lower-class demons like these are no match for us, no matter their numbers."

"Wait, it's not just lower-class demons in there!" I warned them, worried they were getting too arrogant. While escaping, I had noticed a few genuinely powerful-looking ones mixed in the ranks.

"You think we'll just roll over and die?!"
"Form a defensive line!"

Just as I expected, the situation changed when the stronger ones emerged.
These demons, who were both powerful and intelligent, immediately formed a defensive perimeter, buying time for the rest of their forces to come up.

"Like we'd let you!"
"You're underestimating us."

Alios and Niobe moved to break their line, but right at that moment—
A powerful spell flew toward the two women, forcing them to dodge. The one who cast the magic was a figure I knew all too well.

"Lord Ceres, you truly have a talent for making things difficult!"
"Haas!"
Listen to this traitorous bitch running her mouth!

"I tried to handle this as quietly as possible. Did you really have to force things to escalate like this?" Haas demanded.

"Quietly, my ass. If your plan succeeded, the whole world would be turned upside down anyway! I heard you were trying to make me resurrect the Demon King?"

"...It seems Red has been talking."
Haas glared briefly at Red before surveying the other women gathered around me. She gritted her teeth in frustration.

"The traitor Red, Emperor Viol, the Whiperion Knights, and the Hero Alios. To gather so many women who would be treated with the utmost respect wherever they go... you are truly amazing."

She called out their names, but Sibylius's name was missing.
Assuming she simply didn't recognize her because her face wasn't well known, I shot back.

"You're pretty amazing yourself, managing to hide your true colors for over 20 years. You filthy traitor."

"...I was on the Demon King's side from the very beginning. I was never on your side to start with, so technically, this isn't even a betrayal."
Haas replied calmly before barking orders at the other demons.
"What are you doing?! Capture Lord Ceres immediately!"

"This wasn't part of the plan! The ones we were supposed to separate him from are all gathered right here! And what's this about the Demon King? Did you deceive us?!"

"So what?! Right now, we need Lord Ceres if we want to survive this! We have to capture him and use him as a hostage to escape!"

It seemed the other demons hadn't known about the Demon King's resurrection either and were wavering, but Haas quickly crushed their dissent.
They were trapped in the middle of the Imperial Capital, face-to-face with the absolute strongest fighters in the Empire. Capturing me was indeed their only way out, just as Haas said.

"I'm out."
"I'm going back—"
A few demons tried to turn around and flee back down the passage, but it was useless. I fired my Divine Power at them like bullets, blowing holes straight through them.

"Did you think I'd just let you go?"
I had briefly considered letting them run away to cause infighting, but the future consequences were too dangerous. These bastards knew about the secret passages that allowed them to move stealthily through the capital.

"...Damn it!"
"Grab him!"

In the end, exactly as Haas intended, the demons had no choice but to fight.
When a strong demon charged with a dozen weaker ones in tow, Viol blocked them.
She swung her fist to crush them just as she had before, but the strong demon hastily threw up a barrier to block it. The barrier cracked and nearly shattered, but it managed to withstand the single blow.

"Tch!"
Viol clicked her tongue in annoyance and began throwing a barrage of punches. Despite having absolutely no formal martial arts training, the sheer destructive power of her blows was overwhelming. The demons were so busy just trying to block that they couldn't even think about advancing toward me.

"I'll be your opponent!"
"Me too!"

Whenever a few of the stronger demons teamed up to push forward, Niobe and Alios intercepted them.
...No, wait. Were the demons actually intercepting Niobe and Alios? The demons were desperately stalling the two women, trying to keep them too occupied to protect me.
The rest of the demonic horde was held back by the other Death Knights. Since the demons were entirely focused on defense, the knights couldn't wipe them out easily.

Seeing this, I tried to step in and help fight.

"Are you crazy? Why would you walk right into the hands of the people trying to capture you?"
"We'll protect you, so just stay put right here."

Sibylius and Red blocked my path. They stood right beside me, but instead of actually fighting under the guise of "bodyguarding," it felt more like they were casually watching a fire across a river.

"If you guys aren't going to fight, at least let me—"

"Ceres!"
Just as I was about to protest, I heard a familiar voice I hadn't heard in a while.
It was Ares.
She leaped from a window of the Temple and rushed toward me.

"Where on earth have you been?!" she asked, her face pale with shock.
"They said you disappeared from the Temple, so I've been looking everywhere for you! Why are you outside? And what is all this chaos?!"

"Demons! Haas is a demon! She betrayed me and tried to kidnap me!"

"...What?"
I quickly explained the situation, and Ares stared at me with a blank expression.
"That can't be?"

"If you think I'm lying, look for yourself. She's right over there!"
"!"

Ares, who had found it as hard to believe in Haas's betrayal as I did, was stunned to see Haas standing among the demons.
Her devastated expression quickly twisted into sheer fury, and she charged straight at Haas.

"Haas!!"
"...The Count!"

As Ares closed the distance, her sword coated in blazing Aura, Haas hastily threw up defensive magic.
"To think you've become a Sword Master! Truly impressive!"

"You traitorous wretch, was this your plan from the very beginning when you provoked me?!"
Hearing that, it seemed the entire bloodline verification incident at the Temple had been orchestrated by Haas as well.
Ares screamed, her voice thick with the ultimate sense of betrayal.
"No, since you're a demon, you were never on our side to begin with. From the very first moment, you deceived me and Ceres!"

"It seems there is a misunderstanding. Lord Ceres was originally on our side as well!"

"What did you say?!"
No, no! I have no idea what she's talking about!
I frantically shook my head at Ares, denying it. Naturally, Ares didn't believe Haas and trusted me.

"On what grounds do you claim my son is on your side?!"

"Because that is what he was born to be!"
Haas spouted absolute nonsense while dodging Ares's sword strikes and blocking with her magic.
"He is destined to become the Demon King's consort!"

"The Demon King is already dead!"

"No! If Lord Ceres takes hold of the Black Pain you wield, we can resurrect her!"

"Even if the Demon King does resurrect, you think I'd hand Ceres over to a piece of trash like her?!"

"Think about it carefully. Who else but her, the greatest monarch to ever rule this continent, could possibly claim ownership over a being as noble and supreme as Lord Ceres?"

Haas shouted her absolute bullshit loud enough for everyone to hear.
Hearing this, our entire group stopped fighting for a moment, looking utterly dumbfounded. Naturally, as the person in question, I felt exactly the same.
I shouted with pure rage.
"Bullshit! Do you think I'm crazy enough to become the Demon King's property? I'd rather fight her to the death, regardless of whether I can win or not!"

"Hmm, I think becoming the Demon King's property sounds quite nice actually."

"...Sibylius?"
What the hell is she talking about all of a sudden? I stared at her as she spouted this out-of-nowhere nonsense.
That was when it happened.

Sibylius, who hadn't fought at all and had just been standing next to me, stepped forward. At the same time, an immense, pitch-black energy erupted from her body.
The aura of absolute darkness didn't just wrap around her body; it expanded massively, as if it were going to pierce the heavens.

Instantly, the Divine Power inside me violently churned. As if it were on guard. Or perhaps... as if it were terrified.

I wasn't the only one who reacted. Everyone who had been fighting stopped in shock, turning their gazes toward Sibylius.
Having drawn the eyes of every single person present simply by releasing her aura, Sibylius spoke in front of everyone.

"Listen well. If Ceres is destined to be the Demon King's consort, then from this moment forward, I am the Demon King."