Frieren: Demon of Domination

Thirteen hundred years ago, after Agusheed first attacked the old Demon King Castle and was defeated,

When he awoke in the Demon King's study, for the first and only time, someone had seen through to his essence with a single phrase.

—Half-human, half-demon

Surprising, even unbelievable.

In that era thirteen hundred years ago when there was virtually no research into the realm of 'souls'...

The Demon King himself possessed the ability to see through to Agusheed's soul's essence.

At least as far as the strongest Grand Demon himself knew,

Even to this day, only the Demon King had ever discerned this point.

Of course, Serie might have that ability,

But she had never been interested in research into the 'soul' realm.

Magic that couldn't be used in combat was useless garbage in her eyes...

So even though she could once easily defeat Agusheed like His Majesty,

She couldn't see through to the strongest Grand Demon's soul essence at a glance.

Precisely because of this,

Though Serie was no weaker than His Majesty who had reigned at the world's pinnacle for a thousand years—

Agusheed couldn't muster the same respect for that old woman as he once had when facing the Demon King.

Yes, respect—

Even the strongest Grand Demon himself couldn't deny his extremely contradictory attitude toward the Demon King.

On one hand, because of the Demon King's actions,

Agusheed's dislike and hatred for him had reached an almost insurmountable degree.

It could even be said that if not for the constraints of that so-called 'thousand-year pact'—

Agusheed would have long been able to go to Aureole and reunite with Flamme.

From this perspective, saying the Demon King and he had mortal enmity wouldn't be excessive.

But equally undeniable was—

The Demon King had shown almost unlimited indulgence toward Agusheed.

Whether it was publicly refusing to become one of the Seven Sages of Destruction in Demon King Castle,

Or repeatedly violating the Demon King's prohibitions by beating Grand Demons who wanted to go out and slaughter to half-death...

Even when facing Agusheed's challenges again and again laden with killing intent—

The Demon King had never said much, let alone punished or blamed him.

Demons don't have emotions like jealousy.

But even Bose, the most obtuse among the Grand Demons,

Could sense His Majesty's protection and favoritism toward Agusheed through repeated observations.

Of course—

This alone wasn't enough to make Agusheed develop that respect contradicting his true feelings.

What truly made Agusheed hold such an attitude toward the Demon King

Was that period of time he spent by the Demon King's side.

Well...

Rather than following, it was more like the Demon King forcibly keeping him there.

Though he didn't want to admit it—

That was indeed the period when Agusheed made the fastest progress in knowledge and magic.

The Demon King's unreserved teaching left the strongest Grand Demon still puzzled about his intentions.

They had many casual conversations.

Although they hadn't met for a thousand years, the Demon King's figure had become very blurry in Agusheed's memories.

But he remembered those few conversations between them crystal clearly.

Explorations into methods of recovering emotions,

Teasing born from pure boredom,

Unrestrained cursing from one side and continuous nodding from the other...

And discussions of some interesting questions—

Every sentence, every word, Agusheed remembered to this day.

Undoubtedly,

Those casual conversations with the Demon King held a position in the strongest Grand Demon's heart second only to his memories with Flamme.

And regarding the reason for Agusheed's appearance as this half-human, half-demon anomaly—

They had once had a conversation of moderate length about this.

[Only the Goddess who created the world could do such a thing.]

This was the clear answer the Demon King, hands clasped at his desk, had given Agusheed.

But Agusheed, who didn't really believe in the Goddess's existence at the time, thought the Demon King was just being philosophical.

But since having several conversations with Kraft—

Agusheed had gradually come to accept this explanation.

And regarding the doubt about curse versus blessing that had once come from the Demon King's mouth,

Over the thousand years, Agusheed had occasionally speculated,

But they all ended inconclusively because of his lack of serious interest.

Until today—

...

For a moment, Himmel felt he saw light in his dream.

No...

This light didn't seem to come only from the dream—

If it were just light from a dream, it absolutely couldn't illuminate Himmel's eyelids.

That was definitely light from reality.

But...

Outside the cave housing the Hero's Sword was endless falling snow,

And neither Agusheed nor the Hero of the South inside would use illumination magic without reason—

So where was this light coming from?

What exactly could emit this radiance that made Himmel feel warm and bright even in his dream?

The blue-haired hero instinctively reached out, wanting to follow the direction of the light.

But just as he extended his palm,

The nearby bright light grew fainter.

Like a fleeting firefly, it instantly became dim.

At the last moment before the light disappeared, the struggling Himmel finally opened his eyes.

And what appeared before him—

Was the Hero of the South with a calm and gentle expression beside great mage Flamme's statue,

And Agusheed standing before the Hero's Sword with neither joy nor sorrow, releasing the sword hilt.

"How interesting, so that's how it is..."

"Both curse and blessing—"

"Even she who created everything would be so contradictory?"

This was the first sentence Himmel heard upon waking, finding himself floating in mid-air.

The speaker was Agusheed, raising his hand and gazing at his palm.

Because he had his back to Himmel,

Himmel couldn't see his expression, much less what was in his palm.

Because he was blocking the Hero's Sword,

Himmel couldn't see the Hero's Sword's final ray of light fading,

Much less the few pieces of broken stone that had appeared beside the blade.

Therefore, unlike the Hero of the South who had witnessed everything just now,

Himmel felt only confusion about Agusheed's muttering.

But having experienced being knocked unconscious directly,

The blue-haired hero, who had learned his lesson this time, didn't rashly interrupt.

He watched Agusheed's upright back,

After exchanging a glance with the Hero of the South, quietly waited for Agusheed to finish thinking.

"How interesting..."

Agusheed gazed at the burn mark slowly healing in his palm, repeating this phrase once more.

And before him,

The Hero's Sword, returned to its original place and once again dim as scrap metal, made the strongest Grand Demon slightly lower his brows.

"Acknowledging my soul and power, yet rejecting my demon body and magic..."

"There are such contradictory things in this world—"

Agusheed didn't voice this whisper.

At least with Himmel having failed to draw the sword, he didn't want to add insult to injury to the boy's heart.

When the burn mark in his palm completely disappeared, Agusheed slowly turned around.

Inevitably, Himmel's gaze met Agusheed's.

"When did you come over?"

Without immediately asking what had just happened,

Himmel asked Agusheed somewhat awkwardly with a cold tone.

"Just when you grasped the sword hilt."

"I couldn't sense it at all... so I really didn't mean to disturb you..."

"You've already been punished, why are you still saying this?"

"Because I'm wondering how to bring up what happened while I was unconscious—"

Himmel's directness met with a cold shoulder.

Agusheed remained silent, showing no intention of revealing anything to him.

Even the Hero of the South expressed helplessness at his seeking eyes.

"Well... since you don't want to say, I won't ask further..."

Himmel, finding no anomalies at the scene, sighed softly.

But his confusion didn't end there—

"Then Mr. Agusheed, may I ask why you suddenly came here?"

"Is it because of great mage Flamme's statue or because of the Hero's Sword?"

This time, Agusheed didn't avoid the question.

"Both, but not only."

This answer gave Himmel much room for speculation—

And moreover...

What did 'not only' mean?

Was there something else here that could interest Mr. Agusheed?

Before Himmel could fall into thought, Agusheed lowered him from mid-air.

Himmel, reacting in time and standing steadily on the ground, had just raised his head

When he saw a Southern Nations standard envelope appear between Agusheed's fingers

And his explanation of 'not only.'

"This is what that little village chief entrusted me to bring you—"

"As for what exactly it says, you can see for yourself."

Why would there be a Southern Nations standard envelope in the Village of Swords,

And one addressed to him?

What exactly is this...

Temporarily setting aside all the questions he'd been thinking about,

Himmel, receiving the envelope from Agusheed with new confusion, broke the seal.

Then, the first line he saw made him widen his eyes in shock—

This is...

This is?!

This is a plea for aid from the Southern Nations defense line!!

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Powerstones?

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