Chapter 5: The Price of Freedom

I knew he was serious, but why was he doing this to me?

After that, I lost my voice.

Whenever I absolutely needed to communicate, I resorted to writing. Even those who tried to speak to me dwindled away.

Calmly, I sealed myself off. I ensured nothing could leak out, no matter what.

Kratus wrapped an arm around my waist, a satisfied smile gracing his lips.

“You bastard. I like you disgustingly much.”

“……”

Kratus kept me by his side constantly. That much, I could endure. After all, endurance was my greatest strength.

However, I could never grow accustomed to his habit of killing every demon who even seemed to grow slightly close to me, no matter how much time passed.

It wasn’t even a matter of deep affection. Any acquaintance, anyone I’d merely grown somewhat fond of, would soon vanish.

Consequently, I ceased interacting with anyone, and my attendants became demons brainwashed by Kratus’s shadow. They were living, moving dolls.

They mechanically carried out only the shadow’s commands.

Among these puppets, I, too, became a puppet.

Kratus was pleased.

Judging by his usual behavior and how he treated me, Kratus was an unparalleled tyrant, yet he was surprisingly diligent in his duties. Trapped by his side, I found myself confined to a study filled with books on all sides.

“If you’re bored, read a book or something.”

It had been five years since I was dragged to the Demon King’s castle, and fifteen years since I first fell into the Demon Realm.

Although I could fluently speak and read the Demon Realm’s language, I had never seen anything like this. ‘Was it another country’s language? Were there even other nations in the Demon Realm?’

I was about to close the book, dismissing it casually, when suddenly—

“It’s an ancient language. Were you interested in ancient languages?”

Kratus abruptly leaned his face over my shoulder from behind.

“Shall I teach you?”

Unable to refuse, I had no choice but to learn the ancient language. Knowing he might retort, ‘Is what I teach not even worth learning?’, I applied myself diligently.

They say there’s no such thing as useless knowledge.

Lessons in ancient tongues.

That was the only thing I was ever grateful to Kratus for.

Discovering that particular book in a corner of the library was purely coincidental. Its dark crimson cover and ornate decorations caught my eye, but the moment I held the chosen volume, a strange sense of stability enveloped me, as if I were leaning against an ancient tree that had grown with me like a brother.

As if enchanted, I opened the book. When I found a familiar magic circle within, I nearly stopped breathing.

I didn’t remember it precisely, but it was vivid enough in my mind that I recognized it instantly. It was the very same magic circle that had been on the building’s floor.

I began reading the book, written in the ancient language, from the very first page, focusing intently. I absorbed every single character, letting nothing escape my memory.

Then, I reached the very last page. My gaze was captured by a hastily scrawled signature.

Illeis Regiatus.

The lineage of the Demon King is passed down only among the Dragon-demons. However, Kratus was the only Dragon-demon currently in the Demon King’s castle bearing the surname Regiatus. So, who could the owner of this name possibly be…?

While it piqued my interest, it wasn’t important at the moment. With trembling hands, I clutched the book.

What truly mattered to me now was this:

‘I can go back.’

Hope, long buried in the abyss, stirred and turned over.

‘I can escape.’

I raised a hand and pressed it over my heart. The contract of subjugation. I had to find a way to break it.

Twenty years had passed since I fell into the Demon Realm. I was now twenty-eight years old.

Early that year, a rebellion erupted in a remote corner of the Demon Realm.

Instinctively, I knew.

The opportunity I had so desperately awaited had finally arrived.

I retrieved my axe, slung it over my back, and went to find Kratus.

He was holding a war council with his vassals that morning. It was typical behavior for the diligent tyrant.

Pushing past the knights who tried to stop me, I opened the door myself. All eyes in the chamber turned to me.

Kratus’s ice dragon eyes narrowed, stretching long both vertically and horizontally. Meeting his gaze, the words I intended to speak caught in my throat.

“Where are you off to, dressed so impeccably from head to toe?”

Kratus spoke in a gentle voice. Yet, the air around him froze, so cold that frost seemed to drift through it.

As no one dared to speak, his shadow stepped forward. They were the only one who had conversed with me and survived.

This alone hinted at Kratus’s profound trust in them. I inwardly scoffed. ‘My situation, having inadvertently become a trust barometer, was truly laughable.’

“It seems the Legion Commander has come to request permission to sortie.”

Indeed. Even I had forgotten, but Kratus had bestowed upon me the rank of Legion Commander when he brought me here.

“That’s right. Yenis was the Legion Commander.”

He uttered an impressed, ‘Oh.’

“Surely you’re not volunteering to suppress the rebellion for my sake, are you?”

I nodded. It was rude, but no one dared to point it out. They merely held their breath, their astonished gazes flickering between Kratus and me.

The atmosphere shifted dramatically. The air, previously laden with biting frost, warmed as if to usher in spring.

He brightened instantly.

“I see. If that’s the case, then of course I’ll grant permission.”

This was unexpected. The ease with which things unfolded left me bewildered.

“Why are you surprised? Did you think I’d refuse?”

Fearing he might change his mind, I hastily shook my head in denial, bowed, and quickly exited the room.

As I hurried to prepare for the sortie, someone followed me. It was his shadow.

“Legion Commander Yenis.”

I turned, our eyes meeting. What they read in my eyes, I couldn’t say.

However, it was the first time I had seen such an expression on the shadow’s face. No, it was the first time I realized a demon could even *have* an expression.

The one who always maintained a stoic expression, comparable to my own, widened their eyes in apparent shock before biting their lip.

‘Could I have been discovered? My intentions? By his shadow?’

‘Should I kill them?’

Crossing my internal musings, they spoke.

“Take care of yourself.”

Then, without a backward glance, they returned to Kratus. I remained rooted to the spot for a long moment.

In my ears, their words echoed as, ‘Do not get caught.’

The battlefield was already a maelstrom of combat.

From a high vantage point, I surveyed the evolving situation. Another of Kratus’s shadows accompanied me, standing by my side.

They were a blabbermouth. While seemingly praising Kratus, they cunningly undermined me.

‘Did they truly not realize what would happen if Kratus heard that I, pretending to make a mistake, had replied to their words, and that they were blabbering like this?’ I wanted to silence their noisy mouth with my axe, but I held back.

Even such a nuisance had their uses.

In the heart of the battlefield, where friend and foe were indistinguishable amidst the chaotic melee, the moment had finally arrived.

I bound the hands and feet of the shadow, who had been diligently assisting me, with void energy. Stuffed alive, they spluttered in shock.

“What is the meaning of this?! Do you truly think you can get away with such an act?!”

Ignoring them, I tore off my upper garment. I ripped the subjugation contract array, etched from the center of my chest to my left breast, directly from my skin.

Warm blood gushed onto the ground. The searing pain made my vision swim.

“W-what on earth are you trying to do?!”

Sensing the ominous shift, the shadow was seized with terror. Though I swayed from blood loss, I kept my eyes wide open.

From this point, it was a race against time.

I stripped the shadow of their clothes and placed the dripping, bloody piece of my skin, bearing the contract, onto their heart. Then, I delicately channeled demonic energy, fusing it with them.

Hiss.

“Aargh!”

Their flesh seared, emitting virulent demonic energy. They convulsed, trembling violently. Spitting out curses, blood poured from their eyes and mouth.

As the fusion neared completion, the connection between Kratus and me weakened significantly, if only for a brief moment.

This was the moment I had so desperately waited for.

I swung my axe, severing their neck. After a few spasms, their limp body collapsed to the ground, and I set it ablaze.

Without delay, I pulled out a magic stone and shattered it on the floor. The magic stone, inscribed with an ancient array, instantly transported me to the Demon King’s castle dungeon.

“Hah. Haa.”

The chained monsters, smelling blood, thrashed about in a frenzy. I rechecked their numbers. One at each corner of the array drawn on the floor. Five in total.

With trembling fingertips, I touched the center. The array, where blood had begun to pool, radiated light.

‘The real challenge starts now.’

I reached into my inner pocket. I pulled out the gate stones I had secretly collected from the lord’s castle and dropped them onto the array. As each piece fell with a thud, the light emanating from the array intensified.

Whoosh!

I steadied my blurring mind and channeled my magic.

Kieeee-

Kiaaak!

The monsters, bound as conduits, convulsed. The head of the first monster burst with a *thwack*.

Immediately, the one next to it collapsed, and the third thrashed as if to break its chains.

‘Just a little more.’

The sound of chains vanished. The third monster died, then the fourth. The head of the fifth and final monster swelled, and it convulsed.

The world was swallowed by white.