The Demon King Seems to Conquer the World

I had a dream.

It was a dream that could be clearly understood that it was a dream. Characters were wearing Japanese clothes and walking along the townscape made of wood. They spoke Japanese… In other words, it was a world similar to a historical drama.

I naturally might find a place at the Far East end of this world. That was what I thought. In other words, it would be a projection of my own desire.

People dressed in kimono were walking along the road, and I was also walking in it. The season was spring, and I could see the castle in the distance. It wasn’t a stone castle, the tiles were black and the walls were plastered in pure white.

It seemed to be a main street in the downtown area, with many shops lined up on both sides. The split curtain with the name of the shop in nostalgic letters was hanging on the table.

‘Aah, the nostalgia. Is there such a place in the Far East? I want to go.’

I naturally thought that the migratory birds were stimulated by their return instinct.

However, my heart was in denial. This world was different from the original world. Although there was something that looked like Japan, there would be no Japan there.

There was neither the Roman Empire nor the Mongol Empire in this world. There might be an island that seemed to be Japan, but it was probably not Japan.

—

When I woke up and opened my eyes, it seemed the sun had already risen up and the visibility was bright. While fluttering my eyes, I turned my sluggish neck since I leaned by back on a hard tree. The poncho hood was taken off.

‘Who took it off? Was it Carol?’

When I thought that, Carol was still on my chest. I was suspicious, and when she opened and looked around her, something with momentum caught on the edge of my view.

It collided!

Her neck moved ahead of the thought as to avoid the ball which flew toward her head reflexively. The head shifted sideways.

*Kon*

There was a light sound heard next to my ears.

It wasn’t a ball that flew. It wasn’t even a bird.

In front of me, I could see a sword that had been polished and reflected the brilliance of steel. And the sword, which would have split my head sideways from my ears if I hadn’t avoided it, had its blade buried in the trunk of the tree I was on my back now.

‘What??’

The brain, which was devoured by the peace of the sleep, accepted reality as if it was suddenly thrown into the world of demons in one go, switching the background of the happy dream world to the real world.

I lowered down my body as much as I could and rolled to escape the blade. The poncho was torn vertically from where it was torn by yesterday’s mess, and by that time I made a full turn, my body was free.

“Uwaa, what the…!?” (Carol)

Carol, who had been woken roughly, said as she woke up and blinked her eyes. She turned her head and shook her sight to grasp the situation, and she soon found Canker.

“Wha!” (Carol)

As soon as she noticed the suspicious person, she pulled a dagger out of her pocket with her trained hand. However, Canker pulled out her dagger and grabbed it with his own hand and stopped her.

“Uhh…” (Carol)

Carol dropped her dagger when her hand was squeezed tightly.

‘As a person who has that swordsmanship, his grip strength should be tremendous. It can’t be helped.’

Rather, I was relieved.

It was scarier to be cut with strange repulsion.

“Hey, it’s been a long time.” (Yuri)

I said while being cautious of the surroundings. Other than Canker, there was no sign of an enemy at close range for the time being.

However, the others might be far away. For me, I couldn’t judge the situation adequately.

A torrent of excitement swirled around in my head, and the dreaming feeling was immediately gone away.

Then, I became concerned about my left foot. It might be because of the adrenaline rush, I couldn’t feel any pain even if I put pressure on the toes and stepped lightly. I could stand normally.

‘I wonder if I can bear for another two to three steps. More importantly, I’m more afraid of arrows.’

I was afraid of the arrow, so I moved casually so that the trunk of a tree was on my back. Although I could be wary of the sides, I would have to show a big opening to see the rear completely.

I turned the head properly. I was also being careful. When I was aware of that, I felt that my feet were on the ground.

“Put down your weapon.” (Canker)

Canker put the blade of his sword on Carol’s shoulder, which raised only her upper body. He might have recovered his armor since he was wearing metal armor all over his body. However, only the face guard had been removed since the metal fittings were completely destroyed.

A cloth was wrapped around the exposed face. It seemed to be tied up quite tightly with trousers or some other fabric, but the cloth was dyed bright red.

‘The subcutaneous part of the nose isn’t muscle but cartilage, so it’s difficult to suture. Even if he wraps a cloth to stop it, the bridge of the nose gets in the way, and it is difficult to stop the bleeding. It must be a difficult thing to do.’

“I’ll say it again.Put down your weapon.” (Canker)

‘You don’t have to say it twice.’

“Surely, you are Canker.As I expected of you.” (Yuri)

“…?” (Canker)

‘I truly expected this. Although it’s frustrating…’

“Did you chase me through the night? Checking the footprints with a torch or something…Even if you have a grudge against me, it’s not something possible to do.Your effort is amazing and your head is smart as well.” (Yuri)

‘Even if he tries to do this, it’s not something that you can usually do. If the troops were almost wiped out, the supply was burned, and if there was a serious injury, it would be demotivating.’

‘It’s beyond futile for ordinary people. It would have been necessary to have a truly forged mind and body.’

“Don’t get me wrong.I don’t want to talk to you.If you don’t put down your weapon, I’ll kill this woman.” (Canker)

Canker repeated.

‘However, he may not know how to act since I can’t feel any sign of scheming.’

“You can follow me through the night and find me sleeping, but for some reason, there are two of us.You felt suspicious and when you opened the hood, one of us was a beautiful blonde woman.Well, it seems that I’m the only one who you want to kill.” (Yuri)

‘The first slash was aimed at me, not Carol. When he took off the hood, Carol’s and my head must have been onto another.’

‘If Carol’s hair was black, he could do it, but I would have gone to that world. It will be the end if he stabs Carol’s belly with a sword and skewers us like dumplings. Nothing is difficult.’

‘But this guy couldn’t do that. That was because he saw Carol’s blonde hair.

When I noticed the slash, it was directed to my head. I wonder if he momentarily lost his focus in order not to hurt Carol. The sword hit the trunk because he wanted to stop to prevent the sword from hitting Carol after inflicting a fatal wound on my head. Perhaps, the bloodshed made him unwell and he couldn’t put that much trust in handling his sword.

“Give me your weapon.” (Canker)

Canker said it for the fourth time.

“I can’t do that.” (Yuri)

I asserted as if to cover something. However it wasn’t something that I could do.

“Carol. Throw the cane there at me.” (Yuri)

I said in the Shan language.

‘Carol doesn’t understand the conversation between me and Canker at all. As Myaro said before, it sounds like an octopus conversation.’

“A-are you sure?” (Carol)

“Yeah, trust me.” (Yuri)

Carol threw the crutch at her feet to me. I crouched a bit and picked it up, and put the dagger I had pulled out into a scabbard. I held the legs of the crutches and held the T-shaped part toward Canker.

During that time, Canker didn’t do anything. He maintained the blade of the sword on Carol’s shoulder.

“You are smart.That’s why, it’s weird, but it can be trusted.If you are a foolish soldier, who doesn’t do anything, it would have been hard.” (Yuri)

“…” (Canker)

“She is more valuable than a gold bar of the same weight.However, if you kill her, she will be just a lump of meat.You’re not a fool. You must know before this that she’s not a good hostage to kill. It’s trivial to give me a threat if you’re scared of my retaliation.You can’t kill her.And you’re not threatening.” (Yuri)

When I said that, Canker moved his sword and put the blade on Carol’s cheek.

“… Even if I can’t kill her, I can hurt her.” (Canker)

‘What?’

“You know…You must have concluded that there should be no scratches on the face.If her value goes down, you’ll just lose.” (Yuri)

‘It may be more exciting to have a few scratches. However, considering that the higher the demand, the higher the price. And the value will be less than half if it’s not good. It’s a ridiculous act like breaking a large gem into small ones.’

“Are you fine with that? Making an indelible wound would ruin this woman’s life.” (Canker)

“I don’t care.” (Yuri)

‘Anyhow, if I die and Carol is kidnapped, a life of living as a thing in the Kuran world is waiting. This can’t be compared.’

‘Some woman may think that they can’t go out to the public anymore if they have a scratch on the face, and may commit suicide because their life is over, but Carol isn’t that kind of person.’

“That’s not true.You must have carried this woman on your back.There is no way you don’t care about a woman who you worked so hard to rescue.” (Canker)

‘That’s why you think so. You could say that because it was our first time to fight yesterday, but I was able to move well at that time. It must look strange why I’m so slow. If you think a little, you will come to such a conclusion.’

“I don’t care.Except for killing, I know you can’t do it.” (Yuri)

“Are you fine with that? Even if this woman’s life is ruined?” (Canker)

‘Aah, this guy… In his country, women have almost no human rights, so is he mistaken about it? I have a feeling that is true.’

“That’s why I told you I don’t care.Since she’s going to be my wife.” (Yuri)

I lied.

“What did you say?” (Canker)

“When this is over and I return home, we will get married right away.So, it can’t be helped if her face is scratched in this situation.Well, it’s going to be sad.But, we will overcome it as a couple.” (Yuri)

“…Kuh.” (Canker)

Canker clenched his teeth briefly.

‘I don’t know if it’s regrettable, but the bloody cloth that is tied on his face to the side is so miserable to the point his facial expression is hard to read.’

“If the woman was completely worthless garbage to you, you would kill her because she was trash anyway.You may aim for my psychological upset.But I know you’re finding great value in her hair.I won’t get fooled by your ridiculous threat like killing her or cutting her face. So, I’m going to kill you quietly.” (Yuri)

“…” (Canker)

“Well, if the blade slips, I’ll be in trouble. So, I won’t attack you.The rest is up to you, but how long are you going to do it? This is advice, but you should stop this silly hostage operation and hold your sword quickly.” (Yuri)

My wound was sewn, so there was little bleeding and the wound surface wasn’t exposed.

‘Although the wounds are the same, there is a difference in the level of treatment. If he waits, he’s going to exhaust his physical strength.’

“I won’t listen to you.This battle is in your favor.” (Canker)

‘Favor?’

“Do you mean I’ve eaten enough and slept, whereas you were up all night and losing blood?” (Yuri)

“…Yes.” (Canker)

I was convinced that if we fought, he would lose and he would try to escape unreasonably.

“You… haven’t you noticed?I have a serious injury on my foot.” (Yuri)

I raised my left foot lightly and showed the sole of my foot. The shoe had no part on the toe.

The left foot didn’t have the sole on the toe, and there was only a bandage wrapped there. It should have turned red and black due to the bleeding that came out little by little.

“I had my sole cut because I stepped on a piece of iron.If it weren’t for this, I’d be chasing you yesterday.Didn’t you wonder why it didn’t happen?” (Yuri)

‘Perhaps, from Canker’s point of view, I might give up chasing. Well, he should feel that.’

“This leg is almost ineffective.I can’t move like yesterday.As you can see, the bleeding is really bad.From an objective look, it’s probably a fifty-fifty.” (Yuri)

I didn’t say that the wound was sutured by Carol.

‘The scary thing is that he is convinced he would be in a disadvantageous position if he goes against me. With that in mind, he thinks fighting me should be avoided, and the fighting itself isn’t an option.’

“Besides, you have a much better weapon.The reason why I get to hurt your nose is because my bomb hit you unexpectedly, but this time, there’s no such a thing.Well, I’ll use this.” (Yuri)

I repositioned my crutch. I had decided that using this was much better than using a dagger.

‘In the battle with this guy, the difference in reach is so big. If possible, I want to tie a dagger to the tip of the crutch, but he won’t wait for that.’

“Don’t just stand there, let’s do this quickly.” (Yuri)

“…Yeah.” (Yuri)

Canker grabbed Carol’s collar and threw her to his right as if tossing something.

“Ugh!” (Carol)

I could see Carol was holding back the scream. Well, it was a rough throw.

“You better tell this woman not to disturb us.” (Canker)

“Really?” (Yuri)

“Wealth and honor are fascinating, but life can’t be replaced.If she tries to interrupt, I won’t hesitate to point my sword at her.That would be unfortunate for everyone.” (Canker)

‘Actually, there is a good chance of doing so.’

“Carol, if you try to interrupt, he would kill you. So, hide in the shadow of a tree.” (Yuri)

“…Understood.” (Carol)

I had a short conversation in the Shan language.

—

“Let me ask you.Did you feel relieved with this?” (Canker)

“Yeah.” (Yuri)

As I gave a short answer, Canker held his sword with both hands. He casually closed the distance. When he came to the point that we could reach each other, he held his sword tightly.

“Huh!” (Canker)

He let out a small breath, and he immediately started. Even so, it was obvious from far away as his sword couldn’t reach my body.

I took the crutch I had put out in front of me.

‘A normal stem has a deep stem inside the handle, so there’s an iron side apart from the tip where it often meets. But of course, this crutch doesn’t have that. This is originally a spear, but that part has been cut off.’

I protected the stick as I avoided receiving the sword, but the sword extended to chase the stick. There were two to three clashes.

From the sidelines, it didn’t look like slashes. It would have looked like the weapons were hitting out of range.

The distance between us became open.

“Hmm.” (Yuri)

I thought it would be disadvantageous to hold the stick in the middle, so I held it on my right shoulder. Then, I felt defenseless as if I was standing naked against the sword with the tip pointed.

‘Nothing has changed, but there’s a lot of pressure as I can’t rely on anything between his sword and my body, which will bleed if slashed. Even with one stick, it feels different.’

“You’re calm…” (Canker)

For some reason, I was called out from the other side.