The Reincarnated Demon King Can’t Escape~ When I Reincarnated 1000 Years Later, My Yandere Heroines Were Waiting for Me~ - Chapter 1

The End Of The Demon King, The Awakening Of The Yandere

Ah. Am I really dying?

The wound on my stomach is deep. I know better than anyone else that it is a fatal injury. The puddle of blood spreading under my back has lost its warmth long ago, and only the coldness of the stone floor soaks into my skin.

As I lay flat on my back, I only moved my eyes upward. Moonlight is shining through the gaps in the ceiling, which has half collapsed. The light paled and lit up the throne room that used to be so proud and grand.

I am the Demon King Erdrain.

The man who once ruled the demon world and led an army of ten thousand.

Now, that name is about to rot away, buried in rubble and blood.

I got taken down by an assassin sent by my little brother.

Why, Reidlark?

I thought I would feel some hatred bubbling up. But my chest is only filled with total confusion.

Why. That single word keeps spinning around in my head like a broken gear.

When we were little, my little brother used to cling to my back and cry. He was the little brother who practiced his magic so seriously because he wanted to get better than me. He was the little brother who followed me wherever I went, calling out, “Big brother, big brother.”

That little brother of mine killed me.

I just don’t understand the reason.

More than hatred or anything else, that is just so sad.

My awareness is fading away.

The edges of my vision are getting dark and shadowy. Even the moonlight is starting to feel far away, and right then.

I heard footsteps rushing against the floor.

They are light and fast footsteps, like an animal running. They are coming straight toward me from the back of the crumbling hallway.

“Master!”

A silver shadow jumped into my sight.

It is Lycolegis, a silver wolf beastman. Her nickname is Lyco.

She is my subordinate, and she is like a little sister or a daughter to me since I have taken care of her since she was tiny.

Lyco dropped to her knees right beside me and took my right hand without saying a word.

With both of her hands. So tightly. It is almost like she thinks she will never be able to hold it again if she lets go.

Her silver ears are flattened completely against her head. Her amber eyes are wide open, shaking as if they are lost. Her whole body, every single part of her small frame, is trembling in tiny shudders.

“Master. Don’t die. You can’t.”

Her voice is completely scratchy.

Usually, Lyco is quiet and does not show her feelings at all.

She stands silently by my side, speaks only when it is necessary, and gets rid of enemies without showing any mercy.

That same girl is crying like a little kid right now.

“Don’t leave me behind.”

A teardrop fell onto my hand that she is holding.

It is warm. That warmth is the only thing that clearly reaches the tips of my fingers, which have gone totally cold from the blood.

I am sorry, Lyco. It really hurts my heart to leave you behind. It truly does.

The next sign of someone coming was much quieter.

It is the low sound of wings pushing through the air. There is one heavy, thick flap of wings, and then a soft step.

The black-winged dragonute, Asmeia.

Folding her pitch-black wings, she walked over quietly.

She knelt down next to Lyco, gently lifted my head, and put it on top of her lap.

Her warm hand brushed through the hair on my forehead.

“Lord Erdrain.”

Her voice was low and dignified. The steady voice of a woman who has gone through countless battlefields.

“I will definitely take revenge on the person who did this to you.”

Right there, her words broke off.

I will get revenge. The lips that tried to make that promise twisted up, her voice shook, and she completely broke down.

“Oh. I hate this after all. Little brother. Don’t die, please.”

Little brother.

Asmeia, Big Sister As, calls me that.

Even though I am the demon king, she acted just like a real older sister to me, scolding me, spoiling me, and looking after me. Even though she calls me “Lord Erdrain” with a serious face in public, she switches to “Little brother” whenever we are totally alone. It was like her own special privilege that went past our ranks.

That mask is completely peeling off right now.

The fingers brushing through my hair are shaking. Something warm dropped onto my cheek.

This is only the second time I have ever seen Big Sister As cry.

Though I can’t remember when the first time was anymore.

The third person’s footsteps were the loudest of all.

She must have run here at full speed. She was breathing heavily from her chest, practically rolling into the throne room as she burst in.

The former hero, Clarissa. Her nickname is Clara.

Even though she is a human, she became my subordinate. She followed me around under the excuse of “I am definitely going to find a slip-up and take down the demon king,” but in the end, she never pointed her sword at me until the very last moment.

Clara twisted her face when she saw my injury.

What’s wrong? Didn’t you want to kill me?

No, let’s stop saying such mean things.

The color is completely draining from her white cheeks, and her eyes are shaking wildly.

She tried to tighten up her expression right away by closing her lips tight and putting strength into her shoulders to fake her usual tough face, but she failed.

“We made a promise, didn’t we?”

Her voice was trembling.

“The one who gets to kill you is me.”

Ah. Right, there was a promise like that too.

It was a declaration that Clara pushed onto me with a totally serious face at some point.

It was a desperate excuse for a human like her to stay by my side.

“Liar.”

Her voice went hoarse.

“I really hate you after all.”

I know the true feeling hidden inside that “hate.” I knew it, and I just kept pretending I didn’t notice it the whole time.

Man, she really is clumsy.

Well, I guess I can’t really talk about others either.

I think to myself while being wrapped up in the warmth of the three of them.

This is enough, I guess.

I have had enough of fighting already.

The title of demon king. The days tied down to the throne. The endless loop of battles. Fighting to protect things, losing things because I fight, and picking up the sword again to take back what I lost. I was already completely exhausted by that repetition.

If there is a next time.

If my soul is given just one more chance.

I want to live my life quietly in a place where there is absolutely nothing.

As if responding to that wish, magic power surged up from deep inside my body. The light wraps around my entire body, like squeezing out the very last drop from a spring that should have dried up.

A magic circle spreads out beneath my feet. A geometric pattern of light runs across the stone floor, completely painting over the red color of the blood puddle. It is a forbidden spell that I figured out from a grimoire more than a hundred years ago, but never used even once. A great magic of time and space transposition that sends the soul to the far side of dimensions.

[Chronodimensions]

The light expands.

I felt my soul peeling away from my body. The pain fades away, the coldness disappears, and everything gets lighter as if it is melting.

Ah. So this is death.

It’s not bad.

I am glad that the last things I can see are the faces of these three.

That is why I used my last bit of strength to put a smile on my face.

I wanted to look cool. I wanted to pass away while saying a cheesy line at least at the moment of my death.

That is all it was. Really, it was just a silly whim.

“Let’s meet again at the edge of dimensions.”

The light burst.

My vision gets swallowed by white. The faces of the three girls get further away, their voices can’t reach me anymore, and.

My awareness broke off.

—

Only the body of Demon King Erdrain was left behind in the throne room.

There is no warmth anymore. The vessel that lost its soul lies inside the remaining light of the magic circle.

The three women stood frozen.

Lycolegis stays on her knees, continuing to hold the hand that doesn’t move anymore.

Asmeia blankly looks down at the weight that disappeared from her lap.

Clarissa squeezes both of her hands in front of her chest, biting her lip without moving a single bit.

For a little while.

Or perhaps for a few seconds that felt just like eternity.

Nobody said anything.

Eventually.

The light disappeared from the eyes of the three girls.

The eyes that were wet with tears dried up. The color of emotion dropped out completely. Their eyes, which were crying, shaking, and losing control just a moment ago, changed into something clear and cold, just like glass beads.

Standing there were three shadows that held nothing but pure determination.

“I will keep my promise. Wait for me, Master.”

Lycolegis muttered.

Quietly. So, so quietly.

Her silver ears slowly stand back up.

Only the marks of tears are left on her cheeks, but there is no shaking left in her eyes at all anymore.

“Big sister is definitely going to come get you. Wait for me, okay, little brother?”

Asmeia’s voice didn’t even have a trace of her sobbing from earlier left in it. Her pitch-black wings slowly spread out, blocking the moonlight. A giant shadow fell over the throne room.

She is even wearing a smile. A frozen smile with absolutely no warmth in it.

“I won’t let you escape. You better wait, Demon King Erdrain.”

Clarissa wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Roughly, just once.

Then, she placed her right hand on the sword at her waist. The exact same movement as the day she promised to take down the demon king in the past.

However, what is living in her eyes is not hostility anymore.

It is something much quieter and much deeper, something that doesn’t even have a name.

With eyes that held darkness in three different ways, they turned their backs to the throne.

The dumb words that the demon king said at his death, which were just like a death poem.

To fulfill that promise.

To meet each other again at the edge of dimensions.

—

At the exact same time.

In a room where no light could reach, a young man was sitting down.

He is leaning his back against the wall, holding his knees, and shaking.

“It’s a lie. I didn’t hear anything about killing him.”

A voice mixed with tears melts into the darkness.

“Why? Big brother.”

From the depths of the darkness, another voice echoed.

A cold, smooth voice without a single piece of emotion in it.

“No, this is fine, Lord Reidlark. With this, you will be the next demon king.”

“Shut up, Vargas!”

The young man shouted.

His fist hit the stone floor, and a dry sound echoes through the room.

“I never asked for this kind of thing!”

The shout bounced off the walls and was eventually swallowed by the silence.