Speaking of the Demon King...
“...I'm going to see if he's awake yet.”
Lonia's voice was still thick and nasal.
The Demon King lay on the ground, his head resting on Rafina's folded coat. Lonia crouched down, staring at his horns for a moment.
The Demon King's eyelids fluttered.
“...Fortuna, just how long are you going to keep tormenting me?”
His tone was as listless as someone who had just been signed up for a party they had absolutely no desire to attend.
“...Fortuna?”
Lonia asked, thoroughly perplexed.
“Heh, you'll get to know Her in the future. Back in my hometown, people usually use that name to refer to that entity.
“As long as you don't call Her by Her true name or refer directly to Her concept, you can avoid the punishment. Even so, She always tells me in the most bizarre ways: 'You will pay the price for this.'”
He still didn't explain what Fortuna actually was, only gazing at Lonia with a complicated look in his eyes.
“Is it not innate...? When she's clearly just an ordinary little brat...”
he muttered.
“...What kind of gibberish are you spouting? Speak in a language I can actually understand, please!”
Lonia snorted coldly and stood up.
“How rude. Whatever.”
The Demon King pushed himself up from the ground, his movements far slower than Lonia had expected.
His arms were trembling, and cold sweat broke out across his face.
He looked like an ordinary person who had just recovered from a severe illness.
“Looking at your sour face, I guess she told you.”
Lonia glared at him.
“What a fierce expression.”
“Hey, cut the cryptic talk. So, your horns cracked because of the curse?”
“Yes, it's the external manifestation of the curse.”
“Can it be cured?”
“It can be patched up, but not cured. If it could be cured, I wouldn't need to look for a successor. I would have just locked horns with Beatrice for the rest of my life.”
Lonia clenched her teeth.
“And what about after the successor takes over? The same thing happens all over again?”
She imagined what that would look like.
Soft, fair skin turning to an ashen, deathly gray, and those crystal horns that beautifully refracted the light cracking as if they had been slammed onto the ground.
“What else can I do? Drag Fortuna down and stomp Her to death?”
The Demon King spread his hands helplessly.
“...Is it absolutely necessary to inherit this position and the curse? 'Demon King' is just a title, isn't it...?”
The Demon King cut Lonia off.
“No. How do you think the Demon King's curse is inherited? By drafting a decree of succession? And then simply announcing someone else as the new Demon King? Why do you think Abyss City is kept hidden from the sunlight? Do you really think a simple barrier is enough to achieve that?”
He pulled open the collar of his robe, revealing skin covered in wrinkles and scars, along with a line of text on his neck.
It was a script Lonia had never seen before.
It wasn't the common tongue of the continent, nor was it the ancient demon language.
“σκότος. Greek, meaning ‘darkness’,” Rafina said softly.
“...Greek? Darkness?”
“Greece... seems to be a country that exists in the Lord Demon King's hometown,” Rafina added.
“It's basically something like that. And you know about Authority, right?”
The Demon King took over the explanation from Rafina.
“This is the Demon King's Authority, the proof of kingship that will be inherited by another along with the curse.”
Authority.
It wasn't the first time Lonia had heard this word.
Rafina, her sister, history class.
But it was the first time she had seen it with her own eyes.
Her sister's 'Blood' had never been directly manifested before others. The same went for Rafina's. It was said that because it was incomplete, it could not be manifested.
“It is precisely because of bearing the Authority of ‘Darkness’ that Abyss City is able to welcome the eternal night.
“Weak demons do not have to huddle in caves, nor do they have to fear being annihilated by the holy light of the Church of Radiance. Under the eternal night, without the permission of the Demon King, no light can bloom here.
“This is also the demons' greatest reliance, the reason why that war maniac Beatrice dares not unite with the Seven Seals again to launch another demon hunt.
“If no one inherits ‘Darkness,’ Abyss City will fall apart. The additional magic barriers set up to guard against ordinary invaders cannot withstand the holy spirit servants of the Church of Radiance and the angels sent by the Seven Seals.
“They will begin to purge the demons.
“Among the Ten Royal Courts, only the Flame Demon Royal Court and the Succubus Royal Court can fight under the sun mostly unaffected. If we factor in holy resistance, then only the Flame Demon Court is left to be deployed in battle.
“If I'm still alive, I can still act as a deterrent. But what if I die?
“Beatrice, the holder of the Authority of ‘Faith’. The Eternal Child, Co-ruler of Holy Spirits, Terminator of the Long Night, Daughter of Psalms and Ballads, Maiden of the Blazing Sun... damn it, that old hag's titles are more numerous than those of the Seven Seals' cardinals.
“And all of that is secondary. The important part is that she's a lunatic, and she's also Rank Nine. Lonia, without the protection of the eternal night, during the day, your sister wouldn't even last a minute against her.”
Lonia bit her lip tightly.
“So... Fina must... bear all of this...?”
“Heh.”
The Demon King let out a weak chuckle.
“Then why don't you offer a solution?”
“...”
Lonia lowered her head.
“Are you crying?”
“I'm not crying!!!”
“Alright, alright, you're not crying, you're not crying. Don't get so worked up, okay? But then again...”
The Demon King shifted the topic.
“The curse erodes the structure of the mana circuits. The more stable the structure, the slower the erosion. My talent is limited, and my circuits are on the verge of collapsing completely. But Rafina is different. She might be able to find a solution. Before the curse completely erodes her.”
Lonia's pupils contracted.
“A solution? You just said it can't be cured.”
“I said I can't cure it, but that doesn't mean there is no solution. The curse on the throne of the Demon King wasn't there from the very beginning; it was placed there artificially.
“Who did it? When? I've searched the books in the old archives and found nothing. Maybe it was Fortuna, or maybe it was some wicked Transmigrator. In any case, some fellow carved this curse onto the Authority. Every time a new Demon King inherits the Authority, the curse is activated.”
Lonia stood up. Her knees had gone numb from crouching, causing her to sway slightly, but she steadied herself by grabbing the stone pillar beside her.
The Demon King's deep purple eyes gazed at Lonia.
“My time is running out. But she still has plenty of time. If she can find the source before the curse's erosion becomes irreversible, it might be possible to lift it completely. Not just for herself, but for all the future Demon Kings to come.”
Lonia's lips thinned into a hard line.
She turned around, walked back to Rafina's side, reached out, and grabbed her wrist.
“Let's go.”
“...Where?”
“The old archives.”
Rafina blinked.
“You said there are tens of thousands of books there. About the history of the demons, the succession of the Demon King, the curse—everything. The reason he couldn't find anything after searching for hundreds of years is because he was looking alone. Now, there are two of us.”
Rafina looked at her. Those eyes were startlingly red, yet more earnest than they had ever been.
“...Mm.”
Lonia dragged her toward the exit of the inner courtyard. But as she passed by the Demon King, she paused.
“You... don't die too quickly.”
“Oh my, are you worrying about me?”
“...”
The Demon King leaned against the stone pillar, watching their retreating figures.
“...I'll do my best.”
The two small figures disappeared into the shadows of the inner courtyard's exit.
The Demon King closed his eyes and let out a long breath through his nose.
“...I really want a Coke...”
Rate on N.U.
