Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Eveline deliberately walked with a brisk pace.
She was trying to shake off her gloom when she spotted a familiar figure loitering around the forest near the Demon King’s castle.
Eveline narrowed her eyes and looked at the sleek, shiny head of hair.
He was someone she could look at without having to tilt her head too far back, unlike Adam.
“Ahern?”
c
It was the first time she’d seen him since the Demon King’s castle.
She had completely forgotten to check whether Abraxas had safely thrown him outside the castle gates that day.
After that, Adam’s condition had rapidly worsened, and anything unrelated to that had naturally fallen to the bottom of her priorities.
Because her entire life had revolved around Adam.
Now, all of it was in the past.
“Umm, Mr. Ahern?”
She called out, unable to hide her confusion, and Ahern, who hadn’t noticed her presence, jolted in surprise.
Ahern quickly composed himself and said nonchalantly,
“Long time no see. What are you doing here? Did you get kicked out of the Demon King’s castle or something?”
Eveline frowned at the playful joke he threw out the moment he saw her.
It was like she’d been hit by a stone he tossed without much thought.
She glared at Ahern with a sulky expression, as if pouting in annoyance.
“It was just a joke… or was it true?”
Ahern mumbled quietly and grinned at the sight of her reaction.
Then he stepped a bit closer and spoke again.
Of course, keeping more than a handspan of distance between them.
“What? Did the warrior try to kill you or something?”
“Huh? Why would the warrior try to kill me…”
Eveline started to retort in disbelief, but her words trailed off.
A scene flashed across her mind.
“No… that was just when he was half-asleep…”
She must have been mistaken for someone else.
It was always the other version of herself—the god he used to miscall.
“…Did he really try to kill me?”
As the events of that day rapidly replayed in her mind, Eveline realized just how off things had been—unnaturally so.
“Why did Adam reach out to me? What was he trying to do?”
But regaining her composure, Eveline masked her expression and lifted her chin with dignity.
“Anyway, that’s not what happened. So, did you manage to make some money selling that dreamcatcher?”
“Thanks to that, I’ve got some breathing room. Too bad it didn’t work immediately, but by the looks of it, it should kick in soon.”
For some reason, even Ahern’s usual tone was irritating today.
Maybe it was because he kept hitting the nail on the head, as if he’d seen it all himself.
Eveline figured nothing good would come from staying with him and started to walk away.
Just like a stalker, Ahern hovered around the Demon King’s castle again but still hadn’t managed to get inside.
As Eveline tried to use the moment to slip away, a bright voice following behind stopped her.
“More importantly, is there a decent place to stay? I’m thinking of hanging around nearby for a while, then heading home after some time.”
“Why are you out here when you’ve got a nice home?”
“Right? I left for a few months, and some damn squatter just broke in and took over my place.”
So that’s why he’s been wandering from village to village like a beggar. There was a story behind it.
No wonder he was pushing his wares so hard even inside the Demon King’s castle.
“If he’d said he was a beggar, I might’ve bought another item out of pity. But he looked fine, so it never crossed my mind.”
Contrary to his own claim that his house had been completely ransacked, Ahern looked perfectly fine.
A little dirtier, perhaps, but he was wearing decent clothes, and there wasn’t a single scratch on his face.
Still, you never know with people.
Eveline looked at Ahern secretly with a tinge of sympathy.
“What’s the town guard doing?”
“What can you expect from humans?”
Judging by the way he dismissed the guards as ‘those people,’ they didn’t seem very trustworthy.
Well, with the emperor being the way he was, what could you expect from those under him?
Hmm. Eveline walked on as she listened to Ahern.
“Hey, don’t be so cold.”
Just as she expected, Ahern’s sharp voice pierced through the air right after.
There went her escape plan. If she went back to the village alone, she’d be lost in thought again.
Eveline decided to offer him a small act of kindness this time.
Not out of pity because he looked like a beggar—she intended to charge him.
“Then would you like to come to our inn? I’ll give you a discount.”
“Sure, sounds great.”
Unaware of her hidden motives, Ahern accepted without hesitation.
* * *
Ahern walked closely beside her, then turned back to stare at the place where the Demon King’s castle once stood.
The place that used to be his home.
And where the warrior would be now.
He recalled the warrior’s appearance—still looking like a fledgling, unlike the others who came before.
His first impression had been weak, far different from previous warriors.
No matter how quickly Ahern had been resurrected, he never expected them to send such a wet-behind-the-ears brat as his opponent.
He had scoffed, looking down at the warrior standing below the platform.
But the moment he met those golden eyes, a chill ran down his spine.
Why was that?
A strange, unshakable certainty gripped him—that he could never win against this one.
It wasn’t as if dying mattered. If he died, he’d just be reborn into another life.
And yet, in that moment, the feeling that had overwhelmed him was fear.
The mere fact that a brat who hadn’t even lived twenty years made him falter—if only for a second—was enough reason for Ahern to curse him.
He’d done the same to a previous warrior once. That warrior’s final moments were quite a spectacle.
Watching him lose his mind after killing his own lover.
Ahern chuckled to himself, but when he noticed Eveline looking at him with a puzzled expression, he suppressed his laughter and said,
“Didn’t the warrior say not to let strangers into the castle?”
“He did… but it doesn’t seem to matter anymore.”
Eveline looked Ahern up and down and let out a small scoff.
He looked so frail, like someone who wouldn’t be able to beat even Tommy with those fern-like hands.
The Demon King, agitated by her gaze, suppressed his irritation.
Just a few more days. Surely he would lose control soon.
“To think that a loyal mutt’s oath would actually come in handy. If he goes berserk and kills even one person, then the warrior must be slain by Abraxas.”
A demon he had considered useless and nearly disposed of for being too weak—who would’ve thought he’d become useful?
The day he’d been waiting for was only a few days away.
Ahern decided to enjoy the fleeting amusement while he could.
With a calm, steady smile, he asked,
“So, where’s this inn?”
“Follow me.”
Eveline motioned with a jerk of her chin.
Ahern, grinning like a fool for some reason, followed after her.
“He’s been grinning like that this whole time. Lost his house, lost his money… No wonder he’s gone a little crazy. I guess I’ll let him stay cheap for a few days.”
But Eveline didn’t know.
She didn’t know that someone else had also seen Ahern.
“T-the Demon King…!”
* * *
The only elder in the village, a hunter who had seen the previous Demon King, collapsed to the ground at the sight of a face he could never forget.
He couldn’t forget what had happened that day.
The face of that vile man who smiled as he personally set the village ablaze, commanding magical beasts to tear his family apart right before his eyes!
Spared by the Demon King’s whim, he fled.
He left Dainel Village—far away, to a place beyond the Demon King’s reach.
Even when he heard rumors that the Sixth Hero had slain the Demon King, and that the hero had later gone mad after killing his lover in the capital, he didn’t return.
Afraid of losing his family again, he remained unmarried into old age.
He never had children, and in a way, that gave him peace. If a new Demon King were to rise, at least no child of his would have to witness the same horror.
He thought he would never have to see that face again until the day he died—but the Demon King resurrected earlier than expected.
A new Demon King, and a new warrior.
Though no one had placed any hope in the fledgling warrior, he killed the Demon King like a seasoned general who had survived centuries of war.
The hunter, who had been ready to take his own life rather than witness another tragedy, came to revere the hero who appeared like a ray of light.
But he still couldn’t sleep peacefully, unsure whether the Demon King was truly dead. So he wandered into the forest, where younger folk dared not go, and loitered around the Demon King’s castle. Others mocked him as senile, but he didn’t care.
He had to see with his own eyes that the Demon King was truly gone before he could sleep at night.
He wanted to break free from the guilt of surviving while his family perished, to finally live—truly live.
So when he saw not the cursed Demon King’s black hair, but clear silver hair from the castle, how relieved he had been.
The warrior really did kill the Demon King.
This time, the Demon King was truly gone!
Usurpadora
Nossa, porque será que o rei demônio ressuscita toda vez.