Chapter 337“Magic? The Beholder did?”

“Yes, Mother. To be more precise, he was put under a strong hallucination. As you know, Mother, regular magic wouldn’t work against him.”

“Hmm. That is true. So how did you come up with the background? It wouldn’t be possible to make him lose his memories and inject new memories into him in just a day or two.”

“The ceremony lasted for one hundred days. He did return to his senses at times, but it was only for short moments. Even he cannot overcome the authority of the Beholder in this world. During the one hundred days, we searched for the right places, picked the right people, and implanted new memories in him. Arrangements were made so that he could live as a regular vampire knight… or become a great lord of a region at best.”

“You did something unbelievable.”

“We designated about thirty regions as candidates and investigated all of their local nobles and lords before coming to a decision. All the conditions were perfectly suitable for him to become a knight or a lord in the region. In order to have him remain in a small, isolated region, we required a perfect balance of the truth and lies, and we saw that the Tywin family was the best fit.”

“Hmm. Let’s say that’s true. What about the holy knight? Why did you make it so that the one who killed him was a holy knight?”

“Because the holy knight was the most appropriate target as well...”

“Hmm?”

“A holy knight of the Caylor Kingdom’s church was an existence that he could not easily encounter immediately after opening his eyes as a vampire who had yet to awaken his powers. However, it was very possible to meet the holy knight after gaining some status. The holy knight, someone with an obscure background, was the best target of revenge for him.”

“So, you were trying to adjust the difficulty of his goal? You thought he would be satisfied once he achieved his revenge after experiencing some hardship?”

“Yes…”

“Ha… Why didn’t you just erase his memory completely?”

“It was impossible because his soul was too powerful. We failed to remove even a single power he possessed as well. The best we could do was to… place tattoos on his body as if his powers were sealed. Most importantly, complete removal was not permitted by the Beholder.”

“That’s expected from the Beholder. Anyway, you never intervened after the ceremony?”

“When we realized that he was uninterested in becoming the lord of where he opened his eyes, we led him to a great lord of the Caylor Kingdom, and that was the last time. Our goal was for him to be conferred a title there or for him to take advantage of the chaos and become a great lord all the while getting his revenge there.”

“But things went awry?”

“Yes. When he briefly came to during the ceremony… I think our faces were imprinted in his memory.”

“What? Then, he has to be thinking that I’m working together with you, right? The fake child had to have been there as well.”

“…Yes.”

“Haha. Oh, my. Anyway, so he thinks that he’s died once and traveled back in time? And he knows that you lot were involved?”

“Yes. I think he became more certain once he met with the third prince.”

“This must be fate. Time after time, he ends up back here again.”

“…”

“From now on, don’t try anything else. If he ends up hearing this from you children, he will kill you all regardless of the reasons.”

“But, Mother, the responsibility still belongs to—”

“You foolish child. Do you still not understand?”

“What?”

“You children had been nothing more than pieces on the board, just playthings of the game prepared and initiated by the Beholder. Why do you think the Beholder offered you help when I wasn’t here?”

“…!”

***

“The Beholder… It was the dragon’s plan?” Eugene asked.

Lefersha was roused from her recollection, and she nodded. “That’s right. I am certain that everything was according to the will of the Beholder, Zescard.”

“Why? If what you said was true, the dragon is an existence that is difficult for even me to confront. Why would such a being bother go to such extent?” Eugene asked. He just couldn’t understand it.

Why would they intentionally take a complicated, difficult path? It would have been much easier to kill him.

“Because he’s the Beholder…” Lefersha answered.

“…” Eugene’s gaze became filled with coldness. Lefersha’s explanation was confusing.

However, Lefersha continued speaking, “The Beholder is an existence who watches and guides the world. I’m not entirely sure, but that seems to be his mission. For him, the concept of good and evil or the difference between races means nothing to him. Well, I feel like he’s a little biased toward humans, but anyway...”

Lefersha continued, noticing that Eugene’s patience seemed to be running thin. “The Beholder definitely had a reason for leaving you alone. Perhaps he already had a plan ever since you entered this world. The fact that he allowed a demon king of another world to reside in his world was a decision beyond normal comprehension.”

“…”

Eugene’s anger subsided slowly. She certainly had a point. The other top ten devils of the Demon World had welcomed his leave with open arms, so it made no sense that the dragon had allowed him in this world without careful consideration.

“It’s probably also the reason the Beholder bestowed some of his authority to the imperial family of the empire. Aaah, yadiyah. That’s all I know. I don’t know anything else,” Lefersha concluded.

“…”

Eugene remained silent.

Lefersha smiled. “So, what are you planning to do now? Are you going to kill me, your daughter, and reopen the first passage?”

“N-no…!” Georg jumped at her question.

“He won’t open it. He already promised me. Isn’t that right?” Georg asked.

“…”

Eugene was silent.

Georg started to become anxious.

“Why aren’t you answering me? You promised, didn’t you? You said you would close the passage. If beings like us break our promises—”

“I…” Eugene finally opened his mouth. “I said I would not return using the passage. I never said I would close the passage.”

“That’s…”

Georg attempted to put up an argument, but he was stumped. Eugene was right. He had promised not to return to the Demon World, but he didn’t say anything about closing the passage.

‘Dammit! What am I going to do?’

Georg felt as if he was going crazy. He found his eyes naturally heading toward Lefersha, who was standing a little distance from Eugene.

‘It’s all because of her...’

The first passage of the Demon King of Blood—Georg and the other devils knew that whatever was blocking it possessed as much power as the demon king, or even more. Otherwise, there was no reason for it to be the only non-operational passage in this world. However, the ten devils were anxious about its existence, so they wanted to completely shut the passage down.

Such was the reason for Georg’s presence here. He was one of the top ten devils, as well as the mediator and the proposer. Regardless of who it was, he had been intending to negotiate with the existence responsible for keeping the passage closed.

And if possible…

‘I was going to use the power of the dragon or whatever to eliminate the Demon King of Blood…’

Georg knew from the beginning that he could not possibly eliminate Eugene by himself. However, he knew that it could be done if he had the cooperation of the being keeping the passage closed. And if luck were on his side, perhaps he could get rid of the two. The Demon World would greatly profit if he could get rid of both the Demon King of Blood and the most powerful existence of this world. That was Georg’s plan as the smartest, wittiest existence among the devils.

However, his plan was currently in danger of being destroyed, and it was all because of this damned girl—the daughter of the Demon King of Blood.

After organizing his thoughts, Georg spoke, “Ehem! Then what about this?”

He then continued after catching their attention. “Let’s put the matter of the passageway aside for now. In any case, shouldn’t you meet with the dragon, the Beholder first? What do you think?”

“…”

Georg took Eugene’s silence as an affirmation and turned to Lefersha while celebrating his small victory. “If what you said was true, the Beholder is the one responsible for everything, right? So you should either bring the dragon here or arrange a meeting—”

“You dare talk down to me? You inferior half-baked devil,” Lefersha growled.

“…!”

“Whoa!”

Georg’s eyes widened, and Mirian exclaimed. The spirit turned to Eugene and whispered, “She definitely is your daughter, sir. Her temper is no joke. She’s scary.”

Eugene had to stop himself from nodding in agreement. He turned to Lefersha and saw that she was looking down at Georg with arrogant eyes.

“L-look at that expression. She’s exactly like you, sir…” Mirian pointed out.

Lefersha continued, “You think I’m easy to play with just because I’m acting nice after seeing my father after a long time? Oi, half-baked devil. Do you really think I don’t know what you are up to?”

“Y-you wench… You dare to…” Georg muttered.

“Why? Did you want the Origin and the Beholder to have a go at each other?” Lefersha asked.

“…!” Georg froze on the spot.

“Why? Are you surprised? Vermins like you all think the same. You—who do you think I am?”

Georg flinched. He had forgotten. Indeed, the malicious wench of the Dark Clan was the Origin’s only child. She was the only creature who was personally reaped and reborn by the hands of the Demon King of Blood. Considering that Eugene had never had any descendants in the Demon World, she was a unique existence. In other words, she was the only being at the apex of the Tribe of Darkness aside from Eugene.

“I don’t think he’s wrong,” Eugene said.

“…!”

Lefersha and Georg turned towards him with surprise. Lefersha could not hide her bewilderment. However, Eugene stared into the eyes of his daughter as he spoke coldly, “The Beholder… Where is this dragon named Zescard?”

***

“…The moment we arrive at the imperial castle, all of you will die. No, perhaps everything has already gone to waste, both the imperial castle and the capital.”

“You crazy bastard…” Galfredik growled in response to the words of Marecasio Helmond.

The Marecasio was bleeding profusely under the constraint of chains made of pure silver. However, unlike Galfredik, Prince Localope and the others could not hide the shock on their faces. Their faces were devoid of any color. If the words of the Marecasio were indeed true, it wasn’t only the imperial castle and the capital that they had to worry about. The whole world would be engulfed in an unprecedented catastrophe.

“Eugene… The Demon King has already attempted to reopen the first passage in the past. That is what we stopped, Prince. We saved the Roman Empire and the imperial family,” Marecasio Helmond said.

“Shut your mouth before I rip your heart out,” Galfredik said while clawing his hand into Marecasio Helmond’s chest, and it wasn’t just an empty threat.

“Kekekeu! This is interesting,” Marecasio Helmond cackled.

“Interesting? Do you want me to make it more interesting? You motherfucking—” Galfredik growled.

“You are the same as me. No, you are the same as us,” Marecasio Helmond said.

“What?” Galfredik said while glaring at Marecasio Helmond.

Marecasio Helmond merely smiled.

Galfredik was slightly taken aback because he could see self-mockery behind Marecasio Helmond’s smile.

“There was a time when we served him, just like you. I thought it was my duty and privilege to worship and submit to him. He was the center of our world. Why? Because he was the first and last of our tribe,” Marecasio Helmond started.

“You punk…”

“Don’t you, or rather, don’t you all know it by now?” Marecasio Helmond asked while looking around with his remaining eye.

“He has no interest in anything. He only thinks about himself. Think about it. Was he ever for anyone? Has he ever taken responsibility for anything he had gained so far? Out of the things he had obtained—his territory, Brantia, the Dukedom of Maren—does he really care about any of them?” Marecasio Helmond continued.

“…!”

The people were rattled. Marecasio Helmond’s eyes sparkled with joy, like a fisherman noticing the quiver of his rod.

“It would never be the case. He was like that in the distant past as well. He was even indifferent to his own children. He is an existence destined to walk alone forever. You can never stand by his side. Not even near-immortal beings like us are allowed to—”

“Shut your mouth, you big-mouthed bloodsucker. Who are you trying to dupe here?”

Everyone was jolted awake from their trance. They turned toward the voice.

“In the end, aren’t you whining because you didn’t receive any attention from Sir Eugene? Oh my, you pathetic little attention seeker. What’s the point of living for hundreds of years if you’re nothing but a baby inside?”

The one responsible for saving everyone from their trance was none other than a petite woman whose appearance resembled a raccoon.