ALL NOVEL Chapter 12
EP.12
Sometimes, there are moments when one simply has to wait for the right time.
The chains binding me have not given me any restraints, yet…
I remained still.
All it took was for him to let his guard down.
The moment his vigilance relaxed…
Becoming complacent, overly confident in his own plans…
That would be the moment when my presence would become the variable.
That moment would herald your destruction.
* * *
The Demon King’s right arm.
Kellypak smirked as he looked at the figure collapsed before him.
‘Is this the one the Demon King spoke of?’
The sight of him sprawled on the ground, bound by large chains, was laughable. How could such a being dare to kill the Demon King’s avatar?
‘Well, I couldn’t say I was entirely surprised.’
This being’s mere display of arrogance had driven most humans to self-destruction. If he had shown even a hint more of that arrogance or if even a moment more had passed, everyone would have been annihilated.
Above all, he still wasn’t completely sealed.
The chains were merely a pretext.
Even though thousands of human lifespans and souls had been sacrificed to those chains, it would mean nothing to someone who had simply shattered the hierarchy of the Demon King’s avatar.
With just a squirm, the seal would shatter and collapse.
Yet, the reason he wouldn’t move was—
“—Let go of me!!”
It must be because of that girl.
She was merely a pawn to sacrifice the Trelinia Kingdom.
But who would have thought it would connect like this?
‘He cannot kill me.’
That was a certainty for Kellypak.
At least, as long as that girl was alive, that enormous serpent could not take my life.
‘The moment the curse’s caster dies, the curse will make its final struggle and perish.’
That was the nature of the curse.
At the instant the caster dies, it leaves a horrific curse even more powerful in its demise.
If I were to die here, the princess—whose life had already been drained away—would dissolve into nothing, to the point of being untraceable.
“Haha!! Bind the princess tight!”
Kal Rediams, having regained his wits, shouted.
At his hearty laughter, the entire army shook off the effects of Jörmungandr revealing some of its power and bound the princess.
“So, you are the princess!”
“What? You bald head! Let me go!”
“……”
A vein throbbed on Kal Rediams’s forehead.
Regardless, amidst the chaos, Eliserde’s eyes finally captured a certain entity.
“……Ah.”
Bound by horrendous chains that could provoke nausea merely by looking at them, a certain presence was governed.
“……Jörmungandr.”
The princess’s actions halted.
She stared silently at Jörmungandr.
Could it be that he was… defeated?
No way.
There’s no way Jörmungandr could lose to these pathetic beings.
Those chains could certainly be shattered with a single thrash.
So why was he still?
As Eliserde pondered this question, she followed where Jörmungandr’s blue gaze was directed and found the answer. His gaze was fixed on her chest. To be precise, on her heart.
He must have known.
About the curse within the princess’s heart.
Yet he remained silent, patiently waiting for her. Only then did the princess understand why Jörmungandr was remaining still.
“Because of me…?”
[…….]
The princess’s eyes trembled.
Her racing heart was telling her that the caster of the curse was right beside her. Therefore, he remained still to save her. Even if she were to kill the caster, the curse would not simply vanish.
“Why…?”
Someone like me could just be ignored.
Eliserde thought there was a distance between her and him.
Of course, that was understandable. Setting aside the fact that he was a serpent and she was a human,
Eliserde was in a position to be sacrificed, while Jörmungandr was her master.
That created a small barrier of misunderstanding between them. Although Jörmungandr was always by her side, it didn’t necessarily mean that he had any affection for her.
For some reason, it seemed he feared giving her his affection.
And that was why.
Eliserde also did not speak about her curse.
She didn’t want to burden him unnecessarily and thought that even if she did, nothing would change.
But.
That Jörmungandr.
He remained bound.
Simply because of Eliserde, who was to be sacrificed.
“Just, just sweep them away…! I don’t care what happens to me!!”
[…….]
He did not act.
He only gazed at her with inscrutable eyes.
Eliserde bit her lip.
Blood flowed from her tightly clenched fist.
She felt powerless.
It was the first time she realized her own powerlessness so starkly.
When she was first sacrificed to him, she thought it was fortunate if she could become a sacrifice for the kingdom and save it.
Though her death was regrettable.
If she were destined to die anyway because of the curse, it was fortunate if that death could save her kingdom.
And because of that.
Because she had grown close to Jörmungandr.
A crack had formed in the once perfect Jörmungandr.
That was the reason.
Jörmungandr was defeated.
The princess tightly closed her eyes.
[Let’s end this tearful farewell and move on.]
A hateful voice.
Eliserde glared at him with bloodshot eyes, but the demon did not flinch.
Instead, he merely raised the corners of his mouth as if it were amusing.
[Take her away.]
* * *
“…This is absurd.”
Asgard, watching the situation unfold from a distance, swallowed his breath in disbelief.
Jörmungandr had been subdued.
Putting aside that fact, it was simply incomprehensible that a demon stood beside Kal Rediams, the King of Caliburg.
It was a serious violation of the treaty.
The law established when the greatest empire in the human world declared war against the Demon Realm.
Under no circumstances should they cooperate with the Demon Realm.
This clause had been broken.
And not just by anyone, but by the king himself, in collusion with a demon to abduct the princess of another kingdom.
Asgard thought that perhaps he wished for a voluntary murder of the empire.
Otherwise, there was no way they would ally with the Demon Realm while the empire stood strong.
Of course, the fact that Jörmungandr had been subdued was also hard to believe.
The Jörmungandr he faced was not comparable to any dragon.
Granted, the dragon he faced had been weakened by the greed of humans after long imprisonment. Even so, it possessed enough strength not to be instantly killed by the full power of the Solitary Hero, Asgard.
Even that dragon was far inferior to Jörmungandr’s claws.
And yet with such a mere army, they managed to subdue Jörmungandr.
“No, there was a reason.”
He grasped the situation from what was unfolding.
Although he couldn’t tell exactly what it was, it seemed they were using Eliserde to threaten him.
Eliserde was being dragged away, her head bowed low, into a small prison. They began to leave Jörmungandr behind.
Were they headed somewhere?
Asgard furrowed his brow as he tried to discern their destination.
“The Trelinia Kingdom…”
An ominous feeling crept over him.
For some reason, it felt like they must not take her to the Trelinia Kingdom.
After all, taking the princess to their kingdom while effectively imprisoning her seemed to suggest ill intentions.
“I must stop them.”
He wasn’t sure if he could succeed.
But it was something that had to be done.
And above all, he owed them.
With that resolve, Asgard threw himself into the fray.
In the midst of the enemy.
——Kwaaaaang!!
* * *
A meteor fell from the sky.
The dazzling silver meteor descended and swept away the entire army in a colossal storm.
“What, what is happening!!”
Chaos erupted among the soldiers.
The same was true for Kal Rediams, who stood at the front.
“Who are you?!”
Kal Rediams yelled.
As the dust settled, the figure of a man revealed itself.
“A Solitary Hero.”
With that brief statement, he raised his sword.
“T-the Solitary Hero…?”
Confusion filled everyone’s gaze.
The Solitary Hero?
What was he doing here at this moment?
“Hero! Step aside!! We are on our way to return the princess to the kingdom!!”
Kal Rediams shouted.
But the Solitary Hero simply glared at the king with cold eyes.
“To return the princess… is that what you call putting her in such a prison?”
“Haha, the princess has been a bit feisty, it seems. She doesn’t appear to want to go home. However, it is wise for a king to send her back. So step aside; I shall take the runaway princess back to the kingdom.”
“……”
As the Solitary Hero fell silent, the king nodded and passed by him.
Even he knew that killing the Solitary Hero was out of the question. It wasn’t just a matter of whether one could or couldn’t; it would invoke the goddess’s curse.
While it didn’t necessarily cause physical harm, it would instill hatred in all living beings of the human realm.
No matter who he was, he wouldn’t consider killing the Solitary Hero.
And just as he passed,
Kaaaang——!!
The sound of swords clashing erupted.
[Hero, sheathe your sword.]
“Shut up. I won’t converse with a filthy beast from the Demon Realm.”
The black magic clashed with the pure white aura.
The collision of the two forces sent shockwaves through the ground, pushing all the humans back.
And in the midst of it all,
“I shall kill you.”
[If you can.]
The confrontation between the demon and the Solitary Hero began, an inevitable clash of sworn enemies.
To be continued…