Walking in another world – Chapter 327 – Demon king – Part one

Ignis holds his hand up, and something like a black curtain emerges.

I don’t have to use Magic Energy Detection to feel the thick waves of magic energy there.

“Go through here.”

He’s not explaining anything, so everyone’s bewildered.

I guess he’s saying we can go to the demon king’s castle if we go through there, but how are we supposed to know?

He explained things before, but I feel like he’s kind of in a hurry today. What’s gotten him in a rush?

“So if we pass through here, we’ll go to the demon king’s castle?”

“Yes.”

“All right. Should we try it?”

I ask after turning around.

Apparently the demon king named me specifically, and I can’t say I don’t really want to meet the demon king either.

As for it being a trap… I’m not really worried.

I actually feel like demons are more trustworthy than humans. I say that because of the impression left in me by the darkness of Elesya and the people in the empire.

And there’s this town. At the very least, people here seem happy.

I can’t say they’re completely free, but everyone seems thankful for the demons.

Chris nods in response, and that settles it.

I go first, and the others follow, with Ignis being the last.

“It really feels weird. I went through it one time already, but I’m still not used to it.”

Whispers Kotori, and everyone’s eyes fall on her.

She seems surprised, but she could’ve just said that she did this before and it was fine.

Ahh… I feel like Kotori doesn’t understand why we’re all looking. Well, it’s over anyway.

Now my attention is on what’s in front of us. There’s a door that’s close to five meters tall with stone statues on either side. They feel like they’re alive, like it wouldn’t be weird for them to suddenly jump out.

Mia grabs my arm when she sees them. I like the feeling in my arm, but I can’t let it show on my face because everyone else is looking.

Don’t think about it… Don’t think about it…

“The demon king is this way. Watch yourselves.”

Ignis touches the door, and it slowly opens. An automatic door! I almost yell that, but is it powered by magic energy?

I guess it’s so big, that it would take a lot of effort for someone to open normally.

I look around, and a thought pops into my mind. Where did the demon king’s castle come from in the first place?

It looks beautiful, and very clean too. But if heroes throughout history have invaded this place, there’s a good chance that it turned into a battlefield.

And yet, there’s no signs that anything’s been broken. There’s always time between a demon king dying and another one appearing, so do they repair the damage during that time? Or does the demon king go out to face them?

I have a picture in my head from games, of a demon king sitting back in the throne and waiting, and fighting in the throne room. Well, none of this really matters.

The door opens completely and Ignis walks ahead of us.

There’s a long red carpet that extends all the way to the throne. About fifty meters.

In that throne there is someone wearing a black robe. It just looks like a suspicious person.

The hood prevents me from seeing the face, but as we get closer, I see that this person is surprisingly small.

I look around and see four ornaments, modeled after a sword, staff, shield, and armor.

Why are they tucked into the corners?

But what catches my attention even more, are the demons lined up along the carpet. I recognize some among them.

First there’s Ghido, who I met the other day. Then there is the one Yutaka called Ou. I don’t know if that’s his real name, but he does look like an old person. He has deep wrinkles on his face, and seems to be looking this way like he’s watching us closely.

There are about twenty demons here, but they all look young except him, so it makes him stand out even more. He has three horns too, unlike the others who have two.

As we walk inside, the demons turn this way, with clear interest in their eyes.

I feel the grip in my arm tightening. Is Mia nervous because she’s remembering how she was almost killed by a demon? Her breathing is erratic.

“Are you all right?”

“…Yes.”

Her answer feels half-hearted, like she doesn’t really mean it, but she doesn’t stop.

I stop for a moment. Ignis notices it, but keeps moving forward, and speaks in front of the throne.

“My lord, I have brought them.”

The demon king nods, and looks this way. I can really feel like I’m being watched.

I wait for Mia to calm down, and walk towards Ignis.

Then the demons surround us. There’s a great feeling of pressure now.

Everyone here looks nervous, not just Mia. I feel like they all understand in their minds, but the idea that demons are enemies of people is so deeply rooted, that it’s having an effect.

I don’t know if it’s because the demon king understands this or if it’s just a coincidence, but the demon king raises their hand for the demons to back down.

They’re all confused at first, but apart from Ou and Ignis, they all obey and take some distance from us.

I hear a sigh of relief close to me. I turn to look, and see that like Mia, Kotori is holding on to Hikari’s arm and trembling. Hikari looks really bothered by it.

I almost laugh at that kind of pitiful scene, but the demon king’s words stop me.

“…Welcome to the demon king’s castle. I’m happy… That we could meet again.”

Those words sound very casual, but I feel like there’s a flood of emotions behind them.

The demon king removes the hood, revealing beautiful, flowing, shining silver hair, that instantly grabs my attention.

That beautiful face feels familiar, like I’ve seen it somewhere before. And those ears. They’re pointy… Like an elf’s.

I can hear gulping, and see a shadow run past me… It’s Rurika.

The demons all stand ready to move, but the demon king stops them.

And then, Rurika hugs the demon king.

“…Eris.”

She whispers with a crying voice.

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