Two Punishments

The first punishment for Lyle—.

It was a lifelong, constant, excruciating pain. Whether awake or asleep, he would be tormented by that agony, making it difficult to even carry out a normal daily life. Even if he were to use a jamming-type Miracle Armament like Gram, it would be impossible to dispel a curse woven by the Demon Lord’s transcendent mana.

And now, I would deliver the second punishment.

“—Last Word.”

“Uugh… guh…!?”

The mana light overflowing from my body clung to Lyle, making his frame convulse violently.

“Wh-what kind of magic is it this time…!” Lyle asked, his face contorted in pain.

“It’s a type of brainwashing magic. ‘From this moment, you will go to the Hero Guild and confess everything you did in the Demon Realm.’”

I gave the command.

“……!”

“You betrayed me and tried to monopolize the glory of slaying the Demon Lord—reveal that sin. All of it.”

“N-n-no, if I do that… it hurts, it hurts… uguuu… I’ll be ruined… guaaaa, aaaaah…!”

“You will lose your qualification as a Hero and be imprisoned as a criminal. Given your past achievements, you might avoid the death penalty… but it will be impossible for you to ever rise again as a hero. Your ambition to climb the ranks is crushed. For eternity.”

With those words, I picked up Laevateinn. Perhaps because it had left his hand, I didn’t feel that sense of exhaustion even while touching it. I gripped the jet-black blade. Putting strength into my hands, I snapped it in two.

The black fragment floated up and was absorbed into the Purgatory Demon Blade, Radis. It fit perfectly into one of the missing sections of the blade.

“Six missing pieces remain.”

The Demon Lord’s sword vibrated with a low hum.

“Spend the rest of your life embracing that pain. Unable to become anyone of importance, living alongside an agony that will last forever—”

“Gua… aaaaaah… it hurts… it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts IT HURTS…!”

I looked down silently at Lyle’s face, which was a mess of tears and snot.

“N-no… forgive me… help… p-please… I beg you… I was wrong… I-I was possessed… so, Fried… Master, forgive… please forgive me… it hurts it hurts it hurts… I don’t want… to be ruined…”

His words no longer resonated with my heart. I felt nothing. I had a sensation of the “human” part remaining deep inside me slowly crumbling away. The something that had kept me tethered as a human was fading, vanishing.

“No… I can’t… in a place like this… I was going to rise higher… above everyone… eventually, even a King… damn it, damn it… gua, it hurts it hurts it hurts… IT HUUUURTS… damn it, Fried, I’ll never forgive youuuuu!”

I turned my back on Lyle, who continued to let out endless bellows, sobs, and cries of agony. I walked over to Stella.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Fried-sama, your hand…”

Stella had a sorrowful expression.

“Hm? Oh, this?”

I hadn’t noticed in my agitation, but it seemed the palms and backs of my fingers had been torn when I crushed the blade of Laevateinn. Blood was dripping down, drip by drip.

“It’s not a problem.”

I chanted a healing spell and sealed the wounds.

“With this… I might have truly become a demon, in both body and soul.”

Parting with the last thing I held dear when I was human. Becoming a Demon Lord—in the truest sense.

“Fried-sama…”

“No, it’s nothing… eh!?”

Before I could finish, Stella suddenly hugged me. A soft, supple sensation. Above all, a warm one.

“…Stella?”

“Fried…-sama.”

Was she comforting me? I lightly hugged her back for a moment, then pulled away.

“My apologies. I thought it might bring your heart a moment’s rest…” Stella whispered sadly, bowing her head. “I overstepped my bounds…”

“No, it made me happy. Thank you.”

I nodded with a hint of a smile. Then—

“—Fried-sama, reinforcements are coming.”

Stella’s expression suddenly sharpened. The third eye appeared on her forehead.

“The number is seven. All are Heroes. Behind them are about five hundred soldiers.”

“If I fight this ostentatiously, the other Heroes are bound to notice,” I muttered with a wry smile. Now, what to do? “It might be amusing to act like a Demon Lord and strike down every Hero in sight…”

“With respect, I believe it would be best to withdraw for now,” Stella advised. “I am concerned about how your power was unstable earlier.”

“…I see.”

That was likely the influence of the fragment of Radis. I’ve already reclaimed the fragment, so I think it’ll be fine. However, I can’t say for certain. There’s no guarantee that wave of exhaustion won’t hit me again, and facing multiple Heroes in such a state is dangerous.

I’ll retreat, just to be safe.

“Stella, find us a safe route. We’re leaving this place.”

In the midst of a mountain where a blizzard raged, there were two silhouettes.

“…Hmph, this presence is a fragment of the Demon Lord’s blade. It seems the new Demon Lord has recovered it.”

A massive shadow growled.

“What is the depth of his vessel…? How do you see it, Sigmund?”

“The current Demon Lord Fried is rumored to possess gargantuan power. His vessel is an unknown quantity. The time to strike is still far off,” the small shadow called Sigmund replied. “First—to suppress the Demon Lord’s power and overcome him, I believe the priority is to gather the fragments.”

“Are the fragments I hold not enough?”

In the hand of the massive shadow was a black metal shard. It was a fragment scattering purple sparks.

“With one, not yet. But if we had another… perhaps.”

“You are cautious.”

The massive shadow shifted. The fighting spirit emanating from its body rose up as an aura, scorching the atmosphere.

“Because you are far too bold, my Lord,” Sigmund stated flatly. “I believe it is a subject’s duty to restrain that.”

“Then, we shall remain in hiding for a while longer. Go, Sigmund. Bring more fragments to me.”

“As you wish, my Master, Lord Zegart the Beast Emperor.”

“It is not ‘Beast Emperor’.”

The massive shadow—Zegart—laughed.

“Before long, my title shall be ‘Demon Lord’.”

“Damn it… no… no no no… I won’t ever confess my sins… it hurts it hurts it hurts IT HUUURTS… I don’t want to…!”

Lyle began to walk, weeping. Because of the pain, he would walk a little and collapse, stand up and walk again, then collapse—.

His destination: the Hero Guild. There, his sins would be exposed to the light of day. His ambition, his glory, all of it would end, and the time of judgment awaited him—.