#096. The Demon King is Too Kind (3)

#096. The Demon King is Too Kind (3)

A long time has passed, what must be several years, since Ian fell asleep within the Evolution Cocoon.

[Give up. In the end, I will be the one to win.]

The Demon King’s blood did not readily acknowledge defeat.

For it possessed a single, unshakeable assurance.

[Command – Complete your evolution, and emerge to kill the humans.]

No matter how much Ian struggled, the evil deeds concealed beneath his virtuous actions would not disappear.

The moment he emerged from the cocoon, Ian would be forced to kill humans.

Even if the demons regarded him as human, that fact would not change.

[…!]

But at some point, the Demon King’s blood came to realize Ian’s ‘insurance policy’.

[Command – Since you are also half-human.]

If Ian were to instill that brainwashing into the demons.

The brainwashing to kill humans, through the effect of Ian’s own self-brainwashing that recognizes any being as half-human, can only be activated on demons who are not humans.

Ian, whom he had believed would slaughter the humans immediately upon being released from the Demon King Evolution Cocoon, might not be forced to do so.

Ian had a way out, even if he lost this battle, to uphold his beliefs.

The Demon King’s blood, on the other hand, had nowhere to retreat.

If Ian were to succumb to corruption by good deeds, he could no longer corrupt a Demon Lord candidate into evil.

Even the Blood of the Demon Lord was steadily losing the power of the previous Demon Lords that had once protected it.

The vengeful spirits of past Demon Lords, freed from Ian’s brainwashing.

A nature eroded by repeated brainwashing into goodness.

The Blood of the Demon Lord’s very essence grew tainted.

As time passed, it was the Blood of the Demon Lord that found itself at an increasing disadvantage.

“[Don’t you desire to ravish women to your heart’s content?]”

“[How about ordering those who oppress your family to commit suicide?]”

“[With the brainwashing of a Demon Lord-class being, you could obliterate the empire that forces tragedy upon the kingdom.]”

“[Drive the imperial family and nobles of the highest bloodline into the back alleys of Sodom, treating them like dogs.]”

“[Strip them of their human rights, treat them like beasts, and let them die like pigs in a pen. Wouldn’t that feel cathartic?]”

Even with such persuasion, squeezing out the last vestiges of the Blood of the Demon Lord’s power, Ian remained resolute.

“Don’t you understand now? That the truly wicked act is not the suppression of the body, but the theft of the freedom to become a better person, subjugating them under my benevolence.”

The Blood of the Demon Lord felt it was going insane.

“[That damnable theory of benevolent subjugation! I’m sick of hearing that undermining the will to work with welfare benefits, castrating violence, and controlling creatures through good deeds that turn them into worthless beings is far more evil – and that it applies to humans too! How many times must I say it!]”

Ian’s brand of evil was fundamentally different from that of other beings.

To consider it evil to prevent someone from voluntarily committing good deeds? Where in this world could one find a person with such ruthlessly high moral standards?

Now it was impossible to tell whether this was due to the influence of the brainwashing, ‘You are a mother who cherishes her children above all else.’

A mother might do such things.

If the desire to care for her child outweighs the child’s future, she might indulge her own desires, always keeping the child within her arms, wrapped within her skirts.

Come to think of it, Ian’s theory of benevolent subjugation was akin to a ‘skirt corruption’ theory.

“[It was my mistake to self-administer this brainwashing upon you. I should have crushed you with my own will!]”

“That’s not true. I’ve always lived like this, and I always will.”

“[It’s useless saying that after being brainwashed! I can’t know your true intentions when you’re not like this!]”

The Blood of the Demon Lord was appalled at even using the energy, that he carefully preserved for corruption, to vent his frustrations, but that, too, was perhaps an effect of Ian’s brainwashing.

Having been half-treated as human for years, coaxed, soothed, and brainwashed, there was no way he could remain unchanged.

It was usually the Demon Lord candidate who ended up changing, though.

The one inflicting pain was the Blood of the Demon Lord.

The one unilaterally getting beaten was the Demon Lord candidate.

This had always been an unshakeable formula.

But now, it was different.

Ian, in reverse, was unilaterally beating the Blood of the Demon Lord.

Forcibly hammering in unwanted ideologies and ways of thinking through brainwashing.

“[Let’s compromise, just enough. Aren’t you worried about your family…?]”

“Mom and Anna will be fine even without me. My only task is to not disappoint everyone when I emerge from my cocoon.”

At this rate, he himself might be the first to break in just a few more years.

It was one day, as the word ‘resignation’ was steadily expanding its territory within the Blood of the Demon Lord, raising its head.

“[You got lucky.]”

“What desperate act are you planning now?”

“[You were the worst Demon Lord candidate. I’ll remember these past few years for the rest of my existence. Still, this is not my complete defeat. The time allotted to you has been forcibly terminated.]”

Even those guarding the chrysalis weren’t spared some calamity; someone had forcibly extracted the Demon King’s blood.

Ian’s potential to become the Demon King of Mind Control was extinguished this instant.

Was it the mother, unable to bear seeing Ian suffer?

Or Saint Cecilia’s decisive act?

Or perhaps the Empire’s aggression, breaching the defensive lines?

Truthfully, any recipient for the Demon King’s blood was acceptable, so long as it wasn’t Ian.

Surely, the world wouldn’t harbor two lunatics, individuals capable of uniting all worldly karma with wicked impulses, yet incapable of committing a truly wicked deed.

With a mix of relief and disappointment, the Demon King’s blood departed Ian.

It delved into the psyche of the next Demon King candidate.

And was ensnared by an insurmountable despair.

* * *

Many accepted the reality of Ian slumbering within the chrysalis without question.

Better than a benevolent Demon King was a Demon King candidate in an unawakened, chrysalis state.

Not even demanding a sacrifice every decade, how much easier and more convenient to manage.

From the Empire’s perspective, both the northern expedition and the subjugation of the Demon King’s army required strategic weapons and immense funds.

If they could settle matters by tacitly condoning Theresa and the Demon King’s Guard or offering them minimal support, it was a far more profitable bargain.

“I can’t accept this.”

If there was one individual who denied this reality, it was the Hero Oppenheimer.

Around the time of the Demon King subjugation squad, he had been the only one to stand against Ian until the very end, but the situation had shifted after Ian accepted the demonic blood.

First, Oppenheimer’s precarious political standing within the kingdom had significantly improved.

“Have you heard? The Demon King candidate, Ian, placed the Fate of Mind Control upon the Hero.”

“Famous, isn’t it? The Hero slays the Demon King the moment the Demon King fails to control the monsters. It was definitely a prophecy like that, right?”

“A prophecy? It was Mind Control.”

“Hmph. How can that be Mind Control when it was the will of that noble saint? It’s a prophecy.”

Having been forcibly burdened with duty and having his existence affirmed by Ian, the Hero received official support from the kingdom and apologies for past oppressions.

“The nobles from that time have all retired from the front lines. Our family’s intentions are different now.”

“If you have any inconveniences while acting as a Hero, speak freely. Support for the north? We’ll provide it as much as you need for subjugation.”

“You’re the only one who can surpass Theresa and the Star Sepia House, the foolish archdukes who cannot make a decision for humanity to protect their bloodlines.”

“Well, to subjugate the Demon King, won’t I have to surpass them someday anyway?”

“We’ll assign you a new subjugation force. Train them as you please. Soldiers and commanders, supplies and equipment, we’ll provide it all.”

The generous support was unceasing, so much so that had he received such support earlier, there would have been no need to clash with the kingdom.

Letters inviting the Hero from the capital’s famous social circles flooded his mailbox to overflowing.

Of course, Oppenheimer paid no heed to their belated flattery.

‘The babbling and insincere smiles of those who sullied and defiled my predecessors’ honor are meaningless.’

‘Ian has robbed me of both my duty as a Hero and the chance to corrupt as a Demon King.’

‘I’ll repay him in kind.’

‘Just as I was robbed of my chance, I’ll rob him of the chance to evolve into a Demon King.’

‘If there is anything I must do, it is to drag that presumptuous boy out of that chrysalis, not subjugate him.’

Oppenheimer revealed such determination.

“There will be no reason for me to become enemies with you. Taking Ian out is what you all desire as well, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Then, I have one request. I know of a candidate who can accept the Demon King’s blood in Ian’s stead. I wish for you to find him.”

A boy monster, a near-perfect double for Ian.

When he first received the commission, he doubted if such a monster, so like the noble saint, truly existed. Even if he did, would he have survived until now?

But after years of effort, Oppenheimer truly found such a monster, and his emotions were complex.

“The more I look, the less I understand. Just what are you? How can a monster prevent other fiends from harming each other, and not even attack humans?”

The boy monster was so docile, it was as if the real Ian was standing before him.

He accepted his fate without any resistance, even as the Demon King’s blood was drawn and injected.

It was only after receiving the injection that the monster opened his mouth for the first time.

“Me, good boy?”

“…!”

Teresa clenched her fist tightly.

Once, to prevent the boy monster from being killed, Ian placed such a suggestion within him.

[Command – Remain a good boy in front of Mom.]

The monster was asking.

Asking Teresa, if he was a good boy now.

His honesty, almost foolish, was just like Ian’s.

“…Yes. You are a good boy.”

The boy monster closed his eyes contentedly.

A new cocoon enveloped him, and the old cocoon cracked and shattered.

Ian had escaped the fate of a Demon King candidate, and the boy monster, almost his doppelganger, had accepted that fate in his place.

*Get lost. You should hurry and disappear from this ominous land and be happy with your family. Good deeds, and the evil acts of dirtying my hands, are all the hero’s burden. I won’t yield it to anyone.*

The hero Oppenheimer watched Teresa Clan’s retreating figure before turning away.

* * *

The Demon King’s blood was bewildered.

A boy monster who looked just like Ian had appeared in his stead?

And he even possessed the talent for suggestion this time.

[Caught. This time, I will corrupt him.]

Contrary to his grand ambition, an obstacle quickly emerged.

The suggestion used by the boy monster was even more extreme than Ian’s.

[Command – Do not fight]

[Command – Behave yourself]

[Command – Be a good boy]

The boy monster, who forced all monsters into gentle obedience to keep a single command.

The Demon King’s blood resigned itself to the sight of a monster without any cracks to exploit, and with whom communication was practically impossible.

It was the moment the Demon-Human War would forever cease from the continent.