The oldest memory he had was that of a greatly contorted face.
She was a beautiful girl. Men found words like ābeautifulā and āgirlā to be embarrassing. They werenāt words that men should utter. This was a rather aggressive way of thinking, but it was an era where you could only survive if you wore that aggressiveness around you like armor.
Among the many races of demons, the man was one of the prideful tiger beastmen. He had been on the battlefield for a hundred years and he had just now met his end. He died instantaneously after being impaled through the heart by a knightās sword. ā¦ā¦That was definitely what had happened, but why did he see a girl before him?
Tears were flowing down from her eyes.
ā Iām so relievedā¦ā¦you are alive.
The tears were clearly falling on the manās cheek. The sensation felt foreign to him. It didnāt feel cold or hot. It only felt like something was falling and colliding against his cheek.
ā Thank you. Thank you for being aliveā¦ā¦and Iām sorryā¦ā¦
The girl continued to cry. Her face was a mess of tears and snot.
This is troubling, the man thought. His memories were slowly returning to him. The girl in front of him was his lord. His lord who possessed beautiful optimism. He wanted to follow that belief to the end of the world. That was why he left his home and took up her banner.
ā Are you crying because of this humble one, Your Highness?
ā No.
She sobbed heavily as she spoke.
The girl could no longer speak. Her crying had swallowed her voice. This is troubling, the man thought once more. His dull-wittedness must have made the girl cry. How could he make his lord cry? He was a disgrace as a subordinate.
ā I have disgraced your death. I ridiculed your conviction as a warrior.
ā What do you mean?
ā You fought splendidly and fell splendidly in battle. Meeting your end like that would have been the greatest end for you as a warrior. Howeverā¦ā¦I have revived you. I am sorryā¦ā¦.
The man looked down at his hands. His right hand with brilliant copper fur was nowhere to be seen. All he saw was the rotten hand of a corpse. Is that so? The man thought. I died and came back to lifeā¦ā¦.
ā I defiled your life and creed. Iām sorryā¦ā¦Iām truly sorryā¦ā¦.\n
According to an old saying, warriors are those who are honest to a fault and meet their ends in a single ultimate moment. The girl was the lord of those individuals. She knew better than anyone else how wrong it was to deny the death of a warrior.
ā Do you require this humble one again?
ā Yeah. Iām sorry. I didnāt know until now, but it seems I was a helplessly foolish child.
The girl laughed. The ends of her mouth were trembling. She was just barely able to maintain the awkward smile on her tear-ridden face. It was a mess.
ā Life is unbearable since you guys are gone. I donāt feel like Iām alive. A world without your cheering and laughter simply feels cold to me. Iām sorry. Because of my selfishnessā¦ā¦could you please live one more time?
He already knew fairly well that the girl before him was unexpectedly fragile. There was a time where he and his comrades had a discussion about this in secret. It was incredibly impious to think this, but it might have been better if their lord hadnāt been born as a Demon Lord.
She was a sincere person and, above all else, she was someone who couldnāt lie to herself. She accepted being born as a Demon Lord and clearly understood what it meant to live as one. While other Demon Lords were satisfied with the authority they had, the girl was the only one to raise her battle scythe and continue forward.
The man smiled. Was he capable of smiling after becoming a living corpse? He wasnāt confident; however, he wanted to tell the crying girl that it was all right now.
He had been swayed by her a long time ago and he had already resolved himself to always live as a warrior.
ā A hundred years ago, I vowed to support Your Lordship till the day I die, butā¦ā¦it seems I am lucky. I can continue to work for your sake even after death. Lord, be it once, twice, a hundred, or even a thousand times, I, Ulain, will always live for your sake.
So please stop crying, the man asked.
ā Our lord whom we are proud of, Barbatos.
The girlās face crumpled up again. Her expression contorted before she started to sob again. It wasnāt like earlier where she was crying calmly. She was sobbing so loudly that it could be heard from every direction. The man raised his right hand to pat the girlās head.
ā ā¦ā¦.
However, he stopped once he noticed how unsightly his hand had become. He was no different from a zombie now.
On the other hand, the girlās white hair was radiant. The man couldnāt forgive himself if he sullied such a magnificent work of art. ā¦ā¦From now on, he will most likely never be able to touch the girlās head. The man accepted this fact, but also felt bitter about it.
Grab.
Something grabbed the manās hand at that moment. The girl had grabbed his hand with hers. The man was surprised. Come to think of it, his lord had the ability to read the minds of demons. She didnāt let go of his hand even as she continued to cry.
This is troubling, the man thought as he tightened his grip as well. He still couldnāt feel any heat, but something warmer than any sort of heat was being transferred to him. It was being transmitted to him directly without any tampering whatsoeverā¦ā¦.
This was how were born.
A total of 500. \nThey were all equipped with pitch-black armor from head to toe. They claimed that it was for the sake of raising their defensive power, but the truth was different. They didnāt want their lord to see their bodies that had become living corpses. A look of guilt would appear on their lordās face whenever she saw their bodies. They didnāt want that.
These individuals who were able to serve their lord again for a second time raised their swords proudly.
ā Now then. Let us go forward, brothers, fellow Walkure.
ā Here and now, we are an invincible and immortal army. Here and now, we have already died, so we cannot die again. Thus, we will never know defeat.
ā Gods, please look over us. Valhalla is here on the surface.
Their lordās smile eventually returned. She started to joke around like usual.
This alone was enough to satisfy the death knights. Thatās right. They didnāt need to go to some heaven in the sky. If they could see their lord smile and fight by her side, then they were already in heaven.
On the day the Goddesses no longer granted a future for their lord, then they too would become dust and disappear since they lived on their lordās magic. They would be meeting their end together with their comrades and their lord. That was enough. They couldnāt ask for anything more. This was what the man thought.
Before that damned brat showed up.
* * *
āā¦ā¦.ā
Death Knight Ulain became silent.
If he were actually alive, then he would probably be sweating profusely right now. It was a relief that he was already dead. Seriously. The girl before him was that enraged.
āTheseā¦ā¦are Dantalianās fingers?ā
The girl gnashed her teeth as she spoke in a shaking voice.
Death Knight Ulain immediately thought of the perfect answer to this. āYes, they are. They are the fingers of that son of a bitch, Your Highness. Why are you so upset? Is it not normal for someone to lose a finger or two on a battlefield?
If anything, this is a good thing. I never liked that brat in the first place. He looks incredibly feeble despite being Your Highnessā lover. I thought that brat was a woman the first time I saw him. Seriously! How does he intend to get anything done looking like that? Itās ridiculous. He should go die somewhere.
Itās good that he lost his fingers! If he has an injury, then even a dandy-looking guy like him would look a little more manly. While weāre at it, I want to make a deep knife mark on that guyās face. Thatās the only way to fix this. Please allow me to make that brat into a true man, Your Highness.
āIt took only 2 seconds for him to think of this answer. It was easy. The Death Knight had always contemplated what he could do to most effectively screw that brat over.
It wasnāt just Ulain. Dantalian was a common enemy for the other death knights as well.
\nBarbatos remained firm.
āMy legion is not the only one that is going to be fighting this time. The other legions are also rushing here like a bunch of frogs with their asses on fire, so thereās no way we would lose even if my numbers decreased a little.ā
ā But Your Highness, there is always a chance that something may happenā¦ā¦.
āHey, hey. I also know that you guys donāt particularly like Dantalian.ā
Barbatos let out a sigh.
āBut think about it, you brat. Okay? What would happen to my honor if people found out that I did nothing after my close aide got attacked? The other Demon Lords would probably be delighted to have another thing to tease me about.ā
ā ā¦ā¦.
āOf course, Iām also angry that Dantalian got hurt. I acknowledge that. However, my honor is more important. If you donāt step on a bug, then theyāll never know that theyāre a bug. So think of it as doing something for your original master even if you dislike Dantalian. Okay?ā
ā ā¦ā¦Understood. As you command.
Ulain gave a salute.
She was right. A rulerās dignity must always be prioritized. It was only right to be scolded since his distaste toward Dantalian made him forget about this. However, instead of scolding him, she consoled him instead. Ulain could only be grateful.
Ulain returned to hell with a hundred of his comrades the next day. The death knights were disappointed to leave Barbatosā side when a huge battle was going to be happening soon, but protecting their lordās dignity was also as important. They obeyed her order faithfully.
Barbatos gave them one last word before sending them back.
āOh right. Iām saying this for cautionās sake, but donāt kill Dantalian and say that it was an accident during a fight. You guys will die by my hands, then.ā
ā ā¦ā¦.
Tsk, starting from Ulain, all of the death knights clicked their tongues in their minds. It seems that Dantalianās life was going to last a lot longer than expected. Unfortunately.
***
TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I totally forgot to release this chapter yesterday. Sorry about that. I donāt know how it slipped my mind entirely. I think I subconsciously thought that I had already released a chapter the day before, so I didnāt think about it too much. Welp. This means the next chapter will probably be out by tomorrow, so I guess itās not a bad thing?Ā
I wonder if this death knight is going to have a more prominent role now. I guess weāll just have to wait and see.