Demon King Vs Undead King, Once Again.

“You said you cannot accept a Demon King who harbors a human heart. Is that because you hate humans?”

I stared intently at Regal.

“Why do you hate humans, Regal? Is it your nature as a demon?”

“Demons do not necessarily hate humans. Even among past Demon Kings, there were those who interacted with humanity,” Regal stated dryly.

“However, I—I cannot forgive human existence. I can never accept them. That is how I feel. Because—”

The hollow sockets of his skull fixed their glowing red light upon me.

“I used to be human myself,” Regal revealed.

“Just like you.”

“Ghk…!”

I felt my face stiffen beneath my mask.

Just like me, was Regal a demon who was once reincarnated from a human?

“I heard it from Zegart. That you were reborn from a human into a demon. And that your mind remains human even now.”

I gasped.

How could Zegart possibly know that…?

As I stood there stunned, Regal’s red eyes remained locked onto mine.

“I was reincarnated as a demon, and at the same time, I gave up on humanity. They are filthy creatures. Even those with whom you share a deep bond will easily betray you depending on their self-interest.”

“Betray you?”

“Thousands of years ago, back when I was still human—I was revered as a hero in a small kingdom,” Regal reminisced.

“I had a single man I could call my best friend: Leon. Together with him, I rode through countless battlefields. We crossed blades with numberless demons, cut them down, and eventually fought a formidable Demon General—”

This was the first time I had ever heard about Regal’s past.

In his human days, he might have lived a life much like that of a Hero.

“We were cornered. At that moment, Leon betrayed me. To save himself… he blew up the Demon General along with me.”

“Ghk…!”

I gasped once more.

Though our circumstances were different, having been betrayed by someone we trusted was a past we both shared.

I could easily imagine his pain, rage, and despair.

It was likely very similar to what I felt toward my beloved disciple, Lyle…

“Carrying that regret, hatred, and resentment… I was reincarnated as an undead. I accumulated power, and eventually became a Demon General.”

Regal exhaled sharply.

“I no longer possess a human heart. However, my rage and resentment toward human existence will never fade. To erase every last one of them—that is my reason for fighting as a demon.”

“That’s not all there is to humanity.”

“It is everything to me,” Regal refused to yield an inch.

“Therefore, I will never accept a Demon King with a human heart.”

“So you’re saying you can’t fight under me.”

“Indeed.” The skeletal swordsman nodded.

“Then what do you plan to do? Elevate Zegart as the new King and fight under him?”

“…Indeed,” Regal affirmed in a creaking voice.

“Therefore, I shall strike you down here.”

CRACK!

With a loud shatter, Regal’s armor broke into pieces.

Purple flames surged from his entire skeletal frame.

“This is—”

An extraordinarily dense… miasma?!

“This is the resentment I refined over thousands of years… compressed into miasma,” the flame-shrouded skeletal swordsman announced.

“It is true that your base stats are far higher than mine. In a straightforward battle, I would have no chance of winning.”

The flames erupting from Regal’s body grew even hotter, as if threatening to burn away the atmosphere itself—or rot the world to its core.

A miasma of flames.

“However, with this accumulated power… if I unleash it, focus it, and raise it to its absolute limit, I may surpass even your power for a single instant.”

Regal raised his ominous sword, forged from what looked like countless joined bones.

The flames covering his body migrated into the blade.

“It is a power that can be used only once, for a fleeting moment. I shall bet everything on that moment to strike you down.”

“Sorry, but I can’t afford to be struck down. As a King—as Freed Rats—I have a purpose to live for,” I stated quietly.

My resolve to fight was already set.

As was my readiness to cut him down.

So, pushing away all hesitation, I declared:

“Anyone who blocks the path of the King—even you—I will strike down.”