Vol 4 Chapter 99: Betrayal (Vol 4: The Otherworldly Battlefield Arc)

“You’re leaving, huh?”

Dawn hadn’t yet broken when Holo cornered Sukui, her smile sweet enough to hide knives. He’d barely slipped out of bed.

“Yep.”

No lies. No point. Sukui shrugged, already strapping on his boots.

The Demon King’s head—that was the deal with the priest. A promise to keep, even if it killed him.

“Want me to stop you?”

Sukui grinned, all teeth. They both knew she wouldn’t. Or couldn’t. But he asked anyway, just to watch her pout.

“Nah.”

Holo’s reply came quick, sugary-smooth. She didn’t get his obsession, but she smelled a secret worth clinging to. And cling she would.

“I’m coming.”

No debate. No room for it. Her eyes gleamed, daring him to argue.

“…Tch. Fine.”

Sukui rolled his eyes. He’d totally planned to ditch her—sneak out while she snored. But Holo? She’d probably set his boots on fire if he tried.

“Wait—really?”

Holo blinked, caught off-guard. She’d rehearsed six guilt trips and a hostage negotiation! But Sukui just yawned, already halfway out the door.

He’s letting me stick around? Her heart did a weird little flip. Does that mean he—

“You comin’ or what?”

“Y-Yes!”

They slipped through the city’s back alleys, avoiding early risers. The church loomed ahead, its Holy Knights stiff as statues.

“Priest’s orders.”

Sukui flashed a lazy smirk. The knights stepped aside, sweaty-palmed. They’d seen him haul the priest’s corpse back last week. Nobody messed with the guy who hugged death for fun.

“Long walk~” Sukui sing-songed, eyeing Holo’s skirt. “Sure you’ll keep up, Princess?”

“Shut up! I’ll blast you and the Demon King!”

Holo’s cheeks puffed. Cute. Deadly. She jabbed a finger at him. “Close combat’s your thing. I’ll handle the fireworks. Got it?”

“Whatever.”

Sukui kept walking. Holo trailed him, grumbling about “ungrateful jerks” and “accidental fireballs.” He hid a smirk.

Of course, considering how completely different their roles were, Horo’s opinion made perfect sense.

Grinning, he excitedly talked about how well his newly mastered technique complemented Sukui’s abilities. Sukui, just as pleased, listened intently.

“Here we are.”

In front of the Demon King’s Castle.

Amidst the remains of monsters slain by the Cleric, Sukui and Horo arrived at the castle gates.

“Looks like nothing else showed up this time.”

“Yeah. Either the cycle just happened to speed up, or if it was a trap, they wouldn’t spring it twice in a row.”

Even when Sukui had come to meet the Cleric, the doors hadn’t opened.

Either way, with the Cleric gone, Polivity’s survival was looking dicey if monsters could show up at any moment.

Which meant there was no future unless they took down the Demon King right now.

“Let’s open it.”

The massive doors—big enough for several dragons to pass through.

But Sukui had a hunch.

“It opens.”

Heavy, but not as heavy as it looked.

The doors creaked, slowly parting without the kind of weight one would expect.

“No need to open it all the way.”

Sukui pushed it just enough for the two of them to slip through and stepped inside.

Dark.

Sukui’s footsteps were naturally silent.

Horo, unable to gauge the room’s size from sound alone, hesitated for a moment before following him in.

He felt the door shut behind them.

“What the—?”

Shock.

But Horo’s face wasn’t reacting to the door closing.

From the faint sound of his own footsteps, he had already mapped out the room in his head.

And that was something he shouldn’t have been able to do from the outside.

A light flickered on.

Sukui and Horo, about ten steps in, glanced down to see they had been walking along a carpet leading inward.

Beyond that, across the vast hall—

A lone boy sat, slouched in what could only be called a throne.

“Hey there.”

A casual greeting, spoken like any normal person.

And yet—

That was it.

This room was all there was.

This castle was all there was.

“You’re not the hero, are you?”

Horo couldn’t move.

Not because the boy looked strong.

Not because he was nervous.

The Demon King’s Castle—just a single room, nothing more.

That kind of shock had already faded.

What was left was simple—

He didn’t understand.

“How unfortunate.”

The figure in front of him—he couldn’t grasp a single thing about him.

Human appearance.

Speaking human words.

Even the content of his speech wasn’t particularly strange, given the situation.

And yet—

He didn’t understand.

To the point where he didn’t even know what it was he didn’t understand.

Like trying to hold onto mist.

The words entered his ears and slipped right through his brain.

That’s how alien it was.

More so than Sukui himself.

A being beyond comprehension.

He couldn’t understand anything—so he couldn’t do anything.

Not even lift a single finger.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

The boy before them—

The Demon King effortlessly spoke the words that marked the beginning.

“Horo-san.”

Sukui called Horo’s name.

“Yes!”

And yet—

That was all it took.

A being beyond understanding. So bizarre that it made him forget what he was supposed to do.

But so what?

Sukui was here.

Sukui called his name.

That was all that mattered.

That was all he needed.

“I got it! The Demon King, we’ll—”

He wasn’t shaken.

If anything, he was fired up.

To prove it, Horo shouted with conviction—

And in that moment, Sukui quietly placed his hand over Horo’s.

Horo’s voice caught in his throat.

Now of all times, but maybe that’s exactly why.

He must be trying to reassure him.

Blushing slightly, Horo looked up at Sukui’s face—

“Goodbye.”

That expression—

Sukui, who had always looked at him with kindness—

For the first time, more gentle than ever.

Yet, at the same time, tinged with something unfamiliar.

A little sorrow.

A touch of hesitation.

And yet, still smiling.

Horo understood everything.

“No!”

More than any other moment in his less-than-happy life—

A rejection so intense it felt like his very existence would end.

Without thinking, he turned his back to Sukui—

And vanished.

“Teleport.”

The teleportation ring.

A ring that transported its wearer to a designated location when infused with magic.

Sukui had poured his own magic into it—forcing Horo to teleport.

“Are you sure? She didn’t seem too happy about that.”

“Yes.”

Sukui answered as if it were nothing.

“I was going to do it anyway, but seeing you made me move faster.”

The Demon King.

“Really? I don’t think I’ve even shown anything that threatening yet.”

He glanced at himself, as if double-checking his own appearance.

Sure, he looked human enough.

But to someone with a touch of madness, even the smallest detail stood out.

Every word, every syllable he spoke—

Was wrong.

“Perhaps. But you—”

Sukui, ever so slightly—just the tiniest bit—

Felt something akin to fear.

“You have no reason.”

A chaotic abyss of insanity.

A being made entirely of something that should never even be capable of speech.

And yet, it spoke as if it were natural.

But its words held no meaning.

A coincidence.

A fluke where the noises of madness just happened to align with human speech, making it seem like a conversation.

An illusion of dialogue.

“If the Demon King is truly just a pure mass of insanity—”

Then, in terms of madness alone—

He surpassed even Sukui.

“Hahaha, I suppose you’re right.”

As if it were perfectly normal, it laughed.

“Well then, let’s start with introductions.”

Sealed within the Demon King’s Castle.

The gods’ greatest failure.

“Demon King. No name.”

“Devotee of Death, Sukui Kensei.”

With that—

He whispered.

There was no stance.

But then—slither.

From Sukui’s entire body, a black miasma, thick with madness, oozed forth and coiled around him.

Stepping forward marked the start of battle.

At the same time, the Demon King erupted—

A flood of pitch-black sludge spilling forth.

“Let’s begin.”

A tide of it, threatening to flood the entire room, birthing a monstrous horde.

And as the creatures filled the space—

The Demon King spoke.