บท 2: Regression!
Kaen found it odd, however, decided to ignore it as he raised his trident to deal a finishing blow to the Demon King Lucifer and the Leader of Demons.
"No Emperor Axel, Don't go. You can always see the Demon King after he is dead" A knight following the Emperor of Vradel Empire requested in a loud Voice.
The emperor with the majestic name, Alex Ed Vradel, was a man in his early forties who boasted long blonde hair and a matching beard, standing at a height of 180cm (5'11").
He donned his white imperial uniform adorned with intricate golden embroidery.
His gold-colored eyes perfectly complemented his diamond-shaped face.
He moved towards the center of the Battlefield in a rush as he rejected the knight's plea: "No, I want to be the one to finish the Demon King."
Raising his eyebrows, he asked: "Do I not deserve that much as the friend of Kaen and Emperor of the Mightiest empire of this world?"
"Your Highness Axel, That isn't the question here. This place is dangerous for you, I implore you to return to your chambers" The knight insisted.
Kaen who had raised his trident, had his attention grabbed by the Knight and Emperor's voice as he turned to look at them.
His eyes widened in horror as soon as his gaze fell on his best friend, The emperor.
Vradel was the least powerful kingdom in the past, however, with Kaen helping his best Friend, Vradel became the strongest among all the empires and Kingdoms.
Kaen had a concerned expression on his face as he muttered: "What's he doing here?"
He was confused, why was Axel here when he should stay in his chambers, protected by the knights?
However, soon he remembered that the demon king was still alive and he turned his head in a flash to strike him down.
And as soon as his eyes fell on the Demon King, his eyes widened in shock.
He witnessed the demon king smiling at him. He had his hand raised, attacking the Emperor with a red beam of fire. He couldn't muster the Hellfire in the state he was in, therefore, he used this beam of fire that was terrifyingly fast in striking someone down.
"No!" Kaen shouted in a vain attempt to stop the Demon King from shooting, however, he was too late.
Without wasting a moment or a second thought, Kaen vanished from his spot before appearing in front of the emperor, who was bickering with the knight right now.
Kaen didn't have the time to block this attack with a weapon, therefore, using his body, he took the attack upon himself.
"Arggghh" He let out a low shriek of pain as the beam struck his body, unable to pass through it.
The Emperor had a shocked expression upon witnessing Kaen appear suddenly in front of him. He had already noticed the Demon King's attack, however, he couldn't react to it.
The Emperor asked with a worried face: "Kaen, Are you okay? Why did you take the attack on yourself? We need you for Humanity, It wouldn't have mattered even if I died!"
Kaen, hiding his pain, shook his head before smiling at Axel, assuring him: "Don't worry, I am fine *cough*"
He coughed out blood, however, soon smiled at Axel, to not make him worry: "This is from the fight with the Demon King, not because of this attack. Don't worry about me, alright!"
Axel nodded, however, soon widened his eyes as he pointed behind Kaen.
Kaen turned to look behind himself to find the Demon King standing with a smile, albeit with difficulty.
He raised his right hand, firing multiple beams toward Kaen.
"Hide behind me, I'll Protect you!" Kaen instructed Axel and the knight before beginning to block the beams with his Trident.
After blocking several beams, Kaen taunted: "Give up Lucifer, You can't win with these beams!"
However, instead of responding to him, Lucifer continued to barrage these beams with a smile on his face.
It seemed as if he was waiting for something.
Pierce!
Pierce!
As Kaen was blocking these beams, two swords came piercing out of his chest.
His pupils shrunk as this realization dawned upon him.
He turned to look behind him to see who had attacked him, not willing to accept that it could be his best friend.
However, despite his wishes, he was only welcomed by the sight of Axel and the knight smiling mockingly at him.
*Cough* *cough*
He coughed out a mouthful of blood, his heart had been pierced by the sword, however, he could remain alive for some minutes due to the mana in his body.
He fell on his knees with a shocked and betrayed expression.
"Hahaha, human, I love the expression you have right now!" Lucifer laughed as some of the demons arrived to take him back and support him.
"W-Why?" Kaen let out the biggest question that was troubling him right now.
Lucifer smiled at Kaen, answering while pointing behind him: "Ask Them, I need to heal myself, I'll take my leave!"
Lucifer left as the Demon army retreated before vanishing from sight.
Axel and the knight came in front of Kaen and he looked at them.
"W-Why did you betray... me?" he asked in a low voice.
Axel smiled as he shook his head, explaining: "It isn't only me who has betrayed you. You see, the whole humanity has decided to sacrifice you for peace!"
Kaen revealed a confused countenance, however, didn't have the strength to ask out loud.
Axel, being a good friend, understood his feelings, explaining: "You must be confused as to how sacrificing you is related to peace right?
Let me explain,
Demon King Lucifer sent a proposal to us that if we were to help him kill you, The demon race would not invade our world for the next 10000 years. Also, he agreed to make a soul contract that would take his life if he went back on his words.
We pondered over the offer and decided to accept the deal as we could accomplish two goals"
He raised his index finger, continuing:
"If we rejected the offer and somehow, you defeated Demon King Lucifer, would it be the end?
There are seven demon kings and what if two came at the same time, would you alone be able to defeat them?
Second, you were a threat to us too.
What if you thought that the emperors were incompetent and decided to conquer and unite this world under your rule? We wouldn't be able to stop a powerful being like you"
Kaen wanted to retort, however, didn't have enough strength left in his body.
Now, his life flashed before his eyes, the good moments, the bad ones too, he saw it all.
He accepted his fate, and began to imagine an impossible scenario: "Would it make a difference if I was given a second chance at life?"
And the answer was, he didn't know and he didn't care. This was an impossible wish which wasn't possible anyway.
With the last of his strength, Kaen made a warm smile toward Axel, wishing him good luck.
Axel snorted at him in response.
Losing all the life in him, Kaen's eyes rolled upwards toward the back of his head as he fell to the ground, dying.
Axel and the other soldiers left as night arrived.
Kaen's body wasn't touched by anyone as most of them were afraid that he had performed some magic on his body to kill anyone who touched him.
They wanted to make sure, everything was alright before making a move.
In the silent night, with no one in the surroundings, Kaen's lifeless corpse lay on the ground.
His weapons, Demios and Yuriel began to shake as they started floating in the air.
Both weapons began to shine with a brilliant white light, swirling around Kaen.
As they did, the wind whipped into furious tornadoes, the earth trembled beneath him, thunder roared in the sky, and a torrential rainstorm poured down upon them all.
Amidst this chaos, a voice resonated, proclaiming-
"THE CONDITIONS FOR THE CONTRACT HAVE BEEN MET!!!"
Kaen began to gain consciousness as he thought: "Looks like I arrived in the world of the dead!"
Kaen's eyes fluttered open with a heavy headache and blurred vision.
Kaen looked around with an incredulous expression on his face, finding himself in a place that felt oddly familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it.
As he surveyed his surroundings, a realization dawned on him—this was the stable behind his childhood home, where he used to sleep.
"Oh, looks like the world after you die is made up of your memories" He came to this conclusion.
Kaen held his chin between his two fingers, deciding: "Let's see how much it matches my memories"
He searched the stable, finding everything similar to how he remembered it to be.
Even the horses were exactly the same.
"This is excellent, Everything is exactly the same as I remember
Huh? Wait?
My Voice, why is it like this?"
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(A/N: Thanks for Reading. ^..^)
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