Book 8: The Eleventh: Chapter of the Final Battle: “The Twelve Holy Knights—Gathered”
Book 8: The Eleventh: Chapter of the Final Battle: “The Twelve Holy Knights—Gathered”
I can’t see anything…
Damn it! Why is the holy element so thick? To gather this much holy element, enough that I would be unable to do it even if I had the Divine Sun Sword and stood in the Church of the God of Light, who could be capable of such a thing?
It was seriously unbearable. Despite not being a direct threat to me, holy element still clashes with dark element. As for me, a vessel filled to the brim with dark element, I was standing here getting burned as if I was a fish on a frying pan!
Not to mention that I still could not see anything. Other than holy element, there was only more holy element. It’s much too bright!
“Adair!” I growled. “Just what are you pulling?”
I felt a wave of intense pain in my shoulder. Adair, you dare to attack me?
“Adair, get over here!” I blasted out a large amount of dark blades and roared. “How dare you attack me!”
These dark blades did not seem to be able to stop Adair’s attack. Right now, with my sensing ability, I could just barely make out a bunch of shadows flitting back and forth. They were very fast; the dark blades could not graze them at all. It did not seem like the work of only one person. Has Adair prepared an ambush?
It made sense. To go through such trouble to make me leave the Demon King’s Castle, it couldn’t have been just for a leisurely stroll to get fresh air!
However, the amount of people made no difference. So what if you have blinded me?
“Adair, you’re truly underestimating the ‘Demon King!’”
Tens, hundreds, thousands of dark blades filled the entire space. Even though the surrounding holy element made it very difficult to gather dark element, it was still not enough to stop the Demon King’s ability to attract dark element. All it did was make the process ten times more taxing than usual.
“Be careful now, Adair.”
Dark Blades, fire.
Due to the hindering of my sensing ability, once the blades had been fired and traveled farther than three meters, I could no longer see them. However, I could clearly hear the sound of the blades cutting into human flesh. The strange thing was that there were no cries of pain. Perhaps they hadn’t cut too deeply.
I was slightly peeved, so I decided to gather more dark element to dispel this blanket of light. I needed to regain my sensing ability. Being a blind man with open eyes was much too unbearable!
While gathering dark element to fight against the holy element, I also had to keep on firing the dark blades to attack those shadowy figures. Since becoming the Demon King, this was the first time that I’d felt tired by using magic.
Just what kind of person could match the Demon King in gathering elements like this? The Pope?
Hmph! No matter what, I had definitely injured, perhaps even killed, some of them. Even though I couldn’t see clearly, the ground was littered with black shadows in the shape of humans. The stench of blood permeated the air as well.
Bit by bit, the holy element was chased away and replaced by dark element. My sensing ability was also coming back gradually… I could see him!
I crafted a giant hand to grab him, but it was nimbly evaded. Angered, I made three more giant hands. This time, he had no room to dodge and resorted to slicing at them with his sword. That sword was truly a sharp one. One swing sliced the thumb off of a giant hand.
However, two other hands rushed in immediately. Even if he cut off more fingers, they could be quickly replaced with more dark element. It was an utterly futile struggle.
Finally, the giant hands closed in to the point that he couldn’t even swing his weapon. One swing of the sword got it stuck within a giant hand. He tried to pull it out to no avail, and instead got caught by another giant hand himself. The sword remained stuck, and he could no longer move.
Hmph! No matter how good your swordsmanship is, if you cannot move, then what good would it do!
I walked up to him and said coldly, “Adair, how dare you attack me. You’ve prepared yourself to die, haven’t you?” Although I was going to kill him anyways.
“Ngh!” I made the giant hand squeeze tighter. Adair’s ribs must be broken by now, yet he only let out a muffled grunt. The pain tolerance of sword experts is so annoying!
I pulled out the sword that was embedded in the giant hand and swung it a few times. It was surprisingly agreeable to use.
The four giant hands took hold of Adair’s arms and legs, suspending him in mid-air. I walked before him. “I’m very sorry. I shouldn’t have picked you as my vice-captain back then. You’ve slaved for me all these years, only to be killed by me in the end. I truly cannot think of anyone else more unfortunate than you… But you deserve it! Remember in your next life, my orders are to be obeyed unconditionally! Even if it’s a crazy order such as letting me become the Demon King!”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but with his ribs broken, it was impossible for him to squeeze out a single word. I did not want to listen anyways.
This time, I must completely finish him off!
With a thrust, the sword went through his chest effortlessly. This should be enough right? I even killed Adair. This should make you guys despair completely and leave me alone, right?
By now, the holy element had finally dimmed somewhat, and the surroundings became clearer. I did not want to see Adair’s corpse, but I couldn’t leave him there by himself to wait for his death either.
That’s right, he wasn’t dead yet. My swordsmanship really wasn’t all that great, and with the additional hindrance of holy element, I had completely missed his vitals and hadn’t been able give him a clean and painless death. I should at least give him another stab to put him out of his misery.
“Sun…”
He can still talk? But this- this isn’t Adair’s voice. Adair wouldn’t call me “Sun” either. He only calls me “Captain” and “Knight-Captain Sun.” The only ones who would call me “Sun” are the Twelve Holy Knights.
His figure gradually became clearer…
Lesus.
He suddenly coughed, his mouth stained with blood.
How could it be Lesus? I was somewhat confused. Suddenly, I realized that the sword in my hands was none other than the ever so familiar Divine Sun Sword—and two thirds of it was buried within Lesus’s chest.
“Everyone is…”
I widened my eyes unconsciously. But Lesus did not finish his sentence. Instead, he turned to survey our surroundings with a sorrowful expression.
The surroundings…
There were corpses everywhere.
Chikus was sprawled on the ground. His left shoulder had been cut open and his shoulder blade broken. Blood pooled around him.
Elmairy was on his side, with a cut through his neck. His head hung crooked to one side. I did not know if his spine was broken or not.
Ecilan was lying spread eagle. An “X” shaped cut laid prominently upon his chest, deep enough to see the bones underneath.
The others…
Lesus murmured weakly, “Sun.”
I turned my attention to him in a hurry, no longer daring to observe the others’ disastrous states.
They’re dead. They’re all dead…
Lesus was still suspended in the air. I hurriedly dispelled the giant hands, but he could not stand at all without the support of them. I was caught completely off guard as he crumpled and fell. The Divine Sun Sword was pulled straight out of his chest, accompanied by a huge amount of blood…
“Judgment!”
Before Judgment hit the ground, I managed to catch him. I immediately laid him onto the ground to check the injury on his chest. Upon closer inspection I found that the wound wasn’t just a chest wound. The sword had pierced a hole right through his back, resulting in severe blood loss.
This, this kind of injury requires an Ultimate Heal. I have to first gather holy element—
“…” I gazed down at my hands, which didn’t have even a shred of holy element. I could only gather endless amounts of dark element, only useful for killing people, not saving them!
Judgment is about to die, yet here I am, unable to do anything. Am I really going to have to sit here and watch him die?
“Sun.”
Judgment reached a hand out to my face. For some reason, his fingers only rested lightly upon my eyelid.
“Everyone dreamed of the same thing one night. All of us, including Roland. Sun, do you understand? Even Roland who does not need sleep dreamed that the God of Light did not abandon you.”
The God of Light? Despite worrying over the urgency of Judgment’s injuries, I was still startled. What does this have to do with the God of Light not abandoning me?
“Shut up! Hurry up and heal yourself! Don’t just talk!” I pressed down on his chest wound. But the cut was too deep, and the blood continued to ceaselessly flow.
Yet, he paid it no heed, focused only on his own mutterings. “In the dream, you were gazing at us with blue eyes, and your tears were falling nonstop.
“It scared Roland so much that he rushed to us the next day to report that he dreamed of you crying. He thought something had happened to you and was panicking. That’s how everyone found out about this occurrence.”
Then, he actually smiled. But his voice was no more than a bare whisper. “Do you know, regarding this dream, what everyone’s identical consensus was?”
His smile was so weak… I tried my best to reply with a smile as well. “To give me a good scolding?”
Judgment smiled, but his hand slid down.
“It’s…”
His eyes closed, his head drooped, and his voice could barely be heard. “How much we missed your blue eyes.”
……
………
…………
“Judgment?” I shook him, “Judgment? Judgment? Judgment? Judgment? Judgment…”
“Sun.”
I raised my head, blankly staring at Roland who was limping this way. His wounds were no better than the others, but he was an undead creature. He had already died.
Roland said disbelievingly, “Y-You killed them? You actually killed your brothers… the Twelve Holy Knights!”
“I…”
I didn’t know it was them. I, I… I killed the Twelve Holy Knights.
No, no—
“Sun?” Roland walked a step closer.
“Nooooooooooooo—”
What have I done?
Just what have I done— No, I can’t! Control it, everyone is still here, I can’t lose control, everyone, everybody’s corpses are still here… Corpses…
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
“Sun!”
Unbearable pain. Only wishing to perish with everything. Somebody was shaking me by the shoulders while yelling into my ear, “Sun, Sun, hurry up and use Resurrection!”
Resurrection…? That’s right! There’s still Resurrection! Everyone can still be saved!
No, the me right now has no means of casting Resurrection. I-I am no longer the Sun Knight, I am Grisia the Demon King. All I can gather is the dark element, not the holy element that can resurrect people!
“Sun, calm down. Right now, only you can save everyone!”
As he spoke, Roland astonishingly went to pick up the Divine Sun Sword that was lying on the ground. He held the sword out to me. Roland was an undead creature—his entire arm was charred and smoking because of the Divine Sun Sword, yet he did not let it go.
I turned to look at everyone, at all the heavily injured corpses strewn around the ground. And suddenly, realization hit me. What is there to hesitate about? Could the situation possibly get any worse than it already is? Absolutely not!
No longer hesitant, I reached out and took the Divine Sun Sword. Then, I immediately summoned Scarlet, Pink, and Stephen, and to the three liches I commanded, “Draw the magic runes for Resurrection, hurry!”
Upon seeing the scene, all three of them looked stunned. Then, remembering my command, they immediately realized what I was planning to do.
“Don’t be a fool. There’s no way you can resurrect ten people!” Pink scolded.
“I can!” I yelled, angry.
“Do you really plan to resurrect ten people?” Stephen said incredulously. “The you right now can’t even manage one! You’re already a vessel for the dark element. You’re not the Sun Knight anymore, but the Demon King! You’re the spokesperson of the Shadow God. The God of Light won’t answer you at all!”
He voiced my biggest concern. The Divine Sun Sword felt hot and scorching in my hands, as if telling me that I, as I was right now, was no longer its owner. I tightened my grip around the sword.
“Judgment said the God of Light didn’t abandon me. I trust him!”
Raising the Divine Sun Sword, I turned my gaze upwards reverently. Even though I could not see the sun—with my blindness, I had not been able to see even a shred of light for a long time now—I still called out, “I believe the God of Light will not abandon His Twelve Holy Knights!
“God of Light, I am not the Shadow God’s Demon King! I am your Sun Knight. I have been and I always will be! Please answer my plea, and re-awaken Your Twelve Holy Knights!”
I beg of you, please don’t abandon me again, please don’t abandon the Twelve Holy Knights. I truly will descend into Hell…
“Oomph!”
There was suddenly a grunting sound as Roland was sent flying, but no one had attacked him. Thankfully, he was able to get up again immediately, with an expression of utter confusion. Good thing he isn’t hurt.
He looked at me, and then yelled, “Sun, above you!”
I had also noticed it. Above my head had appeared a huge orb of holy element, practically like a sun!
Despite not being able to see, I still raised my head. I fought away the urge to cry. There were still too many things left to do. This wasn’t the time for tears. It was just that… The God of Light was much too good to me.
I’m sorry. I can’t believe I had suspected that You only chose me as Sun Knight so that I could become the Demon King.
Truly, You have always loved us deeply.
The holy orb transformed into a beam of light and crashed straight down.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Large amounts of holy element surged into my body, painful beyond words. Dimly, I seemed to hear the sound of Scarlet screaming. I gritted my teeth to hold back any more screams of pain, lest Scarlet did anything rash and unexpected. I then yelled to the three liches, “Don’t come here, Scarlet! Go draw the magic runes for Resurrection!”
The searing, hot pain lasted for a long time, but the pain was welcome to me, for it meant power to heal everybody!
The light beam gradually became weaker, the pain not as intense anymore. I still had strength left to take care of other matters. Taking out the Eternal Tranquility, I poured in holy element to activate the magic seal the Pope had put in before, stopping dark element from flowing back into my body.
When the beam had shrunk to the size of a fist, I called out, “Roland, help me move everyone here! Scarlet, is the magic circle ready—”
As the last shred of light faded, my words were stuck in my throat. Judgment was standing right in front of me. He raised his hands, palms pressing on my chest, solidly securing the Eternal Tranquility above my heart.
“…Judgment?” I stared at him blankly. “You didn’t die?”
He actually had the nerve to grin, casually replying, “Do I look dead to you?”
But just now…
Another pair of hands draped onto my shoulder. Earth taunted, “How could that level of injury ever kill off the Twelve Holy Knights! Aren’t you being way too gullible?”
“That’s right!” Metal put his hand on my other shoulder, screeching, “I was worried if the injuries were too shallow, and if I should add another stab to my waist. Good thing I didn’t!”
“Wouldn’t you be happier if you did?” Moon jutted out his chin. Even though his expression was one of suspicion, with the angle his head was tilted at, it would look like he was looking down on you regardless of his expression.
Stone took hold of my hand, shaking his head as he spoke, “You’ve always underestimated us too much.”
Say what you like, but why the heck are you holding my hand?
“Sigh!” Leaf touched my face with one hand, while the other rubbed his own neck. He smiled wryly. “Last time, I died for real from a slash to the neck. This time, I had to slash my own neck to fake death. In future battles, I definitely will need a metal neck brace.”
What does your neck brace have to do with my face?
Storm stretched sleepily, taking hold of my left arm as he sighed, “I haven’t slept this comfortably in such a long time.”
Blaze suddenly hugged me from the behind, tightly enough that I thought my ribs were going to break. Are you trying to punish me for breaking Judgment’s ribs earlier?
Ice quietly held my other hand, his demeanor just like that of a newlywed wife!
Cloud appeared last. He looked around, and upon finding no more space for him to squeeze through, resigned himself to holding onto my hair.
Roland was the only one who didn’t approach. In the past, he would always more or less wear a lonely expression when he could not join in on something. But this time, even though he couldn’t take part, he gazed at us with his eyes, as if he was standing by our side.
What are you guys doing? But what I managed to ask was, “You guys are truly not dead?”
It doesn’t matter what they’re doing. Never mind touching, I wouldn’t mind if they each gave me a stab, as long as they’re alive!
Leaf replied exasperatedly, “Can’t you feel that my hand on your face is warm?”
“It’s actually pretty icy…”
“Eh, I lost a bit too much blood.” Leaf actually took out a rose bead to crush, and his hand immediately became a lot warmer.
After confirming that the people before my eyes weren’t illusions, I finally had the mind to ask, “What are you all touching me for?”
Judgment looked to the side, and I followed his gaze. There stood a huge pillar. I wasn’t sure if it was from my attacks or if it was originally crooked, but it looked like it was about to fall over any second.
“You guys are finally done! Now it’s my turn to work.”
A person jumped out from behind the pillar, and even though he was wearing light mage robes instead of the usual fancy ones, if that wasn’t the Pope, then I’m not the Demon King!
He dragged out a box as he spoke, pulling from it a bunch of magic tools. Then he flopped down and proceeded to draw on the ground, looking like a mischievously doodling brat.
That damned geezer could actually hide from my sensing abilities. Just who are you? The Pope is actually the ultimate Demon King right?
“What are you all grabbing me for?” If it’s to beat me up, then start already! This was taking a toll on my heart. I wasn’t sure if I should be touched that everyone was still alive, or be wary of a beating.
“There is only one solution.” Judgment began to explain. “Using the entire Church of the God of Light as the base, and the entire Leaf Bud City as support, we can turn the city into one huge seal, keeping you in the ’Sun Knight’ state. However, that needs to wait until you’re back at the Church of the God of Light to proceed. So for now, we’re making a temporary seal with the Divine Sun Sword as the base, and the Twelve Holy Knights as support.”
I was speechless for a moment, then protested, “I can’t be the ’Sun Knight!’ The Demon King must keep on absorbing the dark element, or the world will be destroyed!”
“That’s why, every six months you must take the temporary seal—which is the Divine Sun Sword and the Twelve Holy Knights—to a barren place with no people, and spar with Roland. We will aid him with non-holy light related skills. Both of you will use dark element, which will expend a considerably large amount of dark element.”
I remained silent for a long time, before speaking faintly, “This is much too risky. If you guys have any common sense, you’d know that the best plan is to leave me alone! Have you considered, that should you bring me back, Leaf Bud City will always live under the fear of the Demon King, and that if I lose control someday, it might then become a ghost city?”
Metal said sharply, “Did you think we came to find you with common sense?”
Even the easy-going Stone was angry. “Faking death was anything but easy. One wrong move and we’d truly be dead!”
Storm shrugged, saying, “Even your vice-captain had no such thing as common sense. If he had any, he’d have replaced you as the Sun Knight, and not gone and become a spy! Did you know, he went with the resolve of killing a holy knight on the spot if that’s what it took to prove his loyalty to you!”
I know. He had even almost killed Vidar.
“Anyhow, none of us have any common sense, you idiot!”
“Your teacher has no common sense either! The king who agreed to let Leaf Bud City become a seal also had no such thing! Even the Pope came along with us without any common sense!”
“Eh, that… I do have common sense!” The Pope raised his head and said awkwardly, “I’m only supporting you all because I heard about the dream all eleven of you had, confirming the God of Light does want to bring Sun back!”
Everyone ignored him.
Judgment spoke calmly, “If we bring you back, Leaf Bud City will live under the threat of a subdued Demon King. If we don’t bring you back, the entire world will live under the threat of a completely out of control Demon King. Even His Majesty the King understood this, which is why he agreed to our plan.”
Storm grinned, saying, “The king even used the ‘a huge risk for our country’ excuse to rip off a huge sum of money from the Kingdom of Kissinger and the Kingdom of Moon Orchid as ‘Demon King Management fees.’ By welcoming the Demon King, the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound will be financially set for the next ten years!”
“…Yet not a single penny is shared with the Church of the God of Light,” the Pope muttered.
Earth cursed, “You bastard, don’t you know that if a leader sets a bad example, his subordinates will follow suit? The person who lacks the most common sense is you!”
“How do I lack common sense?” I sputtered. I have already resigned myself to being the Demon King!
Roland was to first to reply from his spot a ways away. “Grisia, if you had any common sense, I should have been burned at the stake by now, right?”
Leaf scolded, “Did you use any common sense while resurrecting me? If you had, you wouldn’t be blind right now!”
I moved my gaze over each person, finally stopping at Judgment, with everyone staring at him.
“What are you staring at me for?”
He spoke calmly, “Even though I’m the Judgment Knight, I still have to obey the leader of the Holy Temple, the Sun Knight. And my Sun Knight had only said that the Twelve Holy Knights will never abandon each other. He never mentioned what common sense is.”
Then, out of the blue he switched the topic, bringing up something utterly unrelated. However, his words weren’t unfamiliar. It was a question he had asked me a long time ago.
“Sometimes, I really don’t understand the purpose of the Twelve Holy Knights’ pretense. It’s understandable that the Judgment Knight must remain cold-hearted, but what’s the point of needing specific appearances like black hair and black eyes?”
Before I could figure out why he was repeating words from the past, everyone else answered in unison.
The Twelve Holy Knights remain unchanged through the generations.
And the law and justice they represent will forever remain unchanged as well.
Even when everything else changes with time,
Some things will never change.
The Sun Knight will never change.
The eleven brothers standing by his side will never change either,
A little pretense in exchange for eleven brothers, what a good deal!
“…Judgment, you told them?”
Judgment shook his head and replied, “No, I didn’t say anything. The dream I told you about actually went on longer for the others. I only dreamed of you weeping, but they had also dreamed of the scene where I asked you that question.”
At that, he suddenly smiled. “Grisia, you once told me, that if even the God of Light wants you to become the Demon King, what else could you do? Now, the God of Light wants you to obediently return to the Holy Temple. What else can you do?”
“… But I’m so afraid.”
I finally said it. It was because I was afraid, so no matter how much I wanted to go back, I had to hold myself back at all costs, telling myself that I could not return to the Church of the God of Light.
“What are you afraid of?” Judgment asked with a frown.
I looked at everyone. I knew there were tears falling from my eyes, but I didn’t have the time to mind them.
“If a day were to come, when I become someone who really deserves a beating—and I mean the kind that really deserves one! Would you guys still not give up on me no matter what? Just like today, without any common sense?”
I’m afraid that I’ll become more and more twisted under the influence of the dark element. I’m so afraid of seeing disappointment in your eyes, so afraid to hear you guys say, “We can’t take it anymore. We’re giving up on you.”
Storm patted my shoulder, saying, “Don’t be afraid. If you deserve even a bit of a beating, we’ll immediately beat you up without any mercy!”
…Heh!
Earth swore, “What the heck are you crying for?! Guys look really ugly when they cry! Especially when you’re laughing and crying at the same time, that’s super hideous!”
“Shut up, the tears won’t stop! Sob…”
“Uhm…” The Pope cut in, “I finished drawing the magic circle. Can we start the sealing ritual now?”
Everyone chorused, “Obviously, hurry up already! Do you think it’s comfortable for ten people to crowd around touching a man?”
The Pope got up, saying, “Take off your shirts.”
…What?
Everyone stripped off their tops without missing a beat. On their chests were the exact same magic circles, and they looked like they were probably tattoos.
I tried to hold back the prickling feeling in my eyes, not wanting to be called a crybaby by Earth. I turned my attention to the Pope in a hurry and asked, “What should I do?”
“All you have to do is release the holy element that you have just taken in.”
“… It’s that simple?” I gaped. I had thought it’d be beyond difficult. This was a magic ritual to seal the Demon King, after all!
“The hardest part has already passed. It’s now up to fate whether it succeeds or fails.” The Pope replied with a shrug.
“This magic ritual is the world’s most powerful sealing ritual. However, only the theory exists, for nobody has ever used it. That’s because its success rate is very low. Not only does it require a large amount of holy element, the one being bound cannot struggle at all through the sealing process either. But what kind of person wouldn’t struggle when they’re being bound by powerful magic? Never mind the Demon King!”
He looked at me, and asked seriously, “Sun, are you completely willing to be sealed? Because if this ritual were to fail, you’d revert back to Demon King form after expending all the holy element, and we might all be killed.”
I looked at everyone, feeling glad for my sensing ability. It allowed me to look at everyone all at once even when there were too many people around. I didn’t have to worry about only having two eyes and being unsure of who to look at.
These kinds of fetters, truly…
“I could not be more willing.”