Previously...
"Your sleeping habits are so unusual, are all humans like that? I never expected my Zeroth Corps Commander to hug a pillow quite adorably like that."
"...I have nothing to say.."
***
"Sorry to bother you after waking up but I need to talk to you for a moment."
"This must be able the intruder that was sent after me right?"
"As expected of Arut! Now come with me."
The Demon King dragged Deon out of his room, leading him to a more desolate place before heading down the stairs that lead to the underground prison.
'The underground prison... This is where that guy is at right.. he still hasn't seen my face yet unlike in the novel.'
Deon looked further into the prison, though it seemed empty at least from the inside, tons of leftovers still lingered whether it was clothes, bones, hair, and nails, they were all left behind by deceased prisoners who were stuck in there once. Ultimately that would also be this assassin's fate as well.
"Oh dear, what a mess in here."
Deon hadn't realized they finally had gotten to the cell where the assassin was at, by the time he did the assassin was already staring at him in shock and betrayal.
"Arut, take a look at him. Doesn't he seem familiar? With the sheer willpower to take down demons and that same willpower grows even stronger when it comes to contact with me, the Demon King."
"He must be a Hero or has a hero fragment lingering with him." I already knew that anyways.
Deon 'concluded' his thoughts to the Demon King who also agreed with his words.
"It's not even funny anymore. Sending a Hero to the Demonic Realm?"
"Can you even consider him a Hero? He only carries a small fragment of the Hero's powers."
"I guess we can call him a Hero Candidate, it fits more than calling him a Hero. A Hero wouldn't be this weak."
"I second that."
"However your majesty... I think it'd be great if I could have a nice and gentle chat alone with him."
"Alright, I'll be waiting in the front."
"I won't take too long."
Deon waited until the Demon King had left before turning to the assassin who was still looking at him in disdain.
"...Deon Hart you fucking traitor!"
"..."
"How dare you! You earned the trust of the Emperor and became one of the heroes of the Empire. Yet you go and betray them and switch sides to the Demon Realm?!"
"What does.. A mere disposable pawn like you get to say in this?"
"W-what...?"
"Is your head so small that you cannot think? Why would the Emperor send you here to take out me? You know, too much loyalty will end up backfiring you someday, I guess that someday is today though."
Deon didn't even care about correcting the assassin, the Emperor already knows everything and both the Demon King and the Emperor are fighting each other over him.
"I-impossible..."
"I don't have much time so, you can think about it as you die in vain. Although I'm not sure of what crimes you committed it must have been pretty bad for you to be killed like this. by your own Emperor."
Deon didn't care whether or not this assassin would live or die. He wasn't one of his people. and he tried to kill him. So why would he care whether or not the assassin would live or die? He's not a hero, so why should he save him?
"Well, I have to go now. Enjoy your stay here."
Deon walked away from the assassin who was now cursing the Emperor swearing that he'd take revenge.
"Oh, you're back. Has your curiosity been upfilled?"
The Demon King waved at Deon cheerfully who had just gotten out of the cell where the prisoner was.
"No, it was just a mere pawn. But if you want you can torture him to get information out of him."
"I'll get Jaykar to handle that, he's exceptionally good at that."
The Demon King then signaled the guards to call in Jaykar.
***
"Your majesty, I heard you called me."
"That's right."
Jaykar stood there nervously in his ragged clothes, both Arut and the Demon King were standing there in front of him.
The duo who both played a part in killing the hero. The Demon King who weakened the hero until he could no longer fight and had to resort to self destruction and Demon Arut who absorbed the hero's self destruction yet is still alive and as strong as ever.
"My dear Arut wants you to torture someone for more information and we were wondering if you could do that for us."
"..Yes, I also have a good method if you want to hear it."
"I'd like to hear it."
Jaykar immediately agreed, this was a chance to get some more small information about Arut and maybe some teachings as well. Since he was one of the Demon King's most treasured talents or the only treasured one even.
"If you want... you can torture them until near death experience and just as they're about to die, heal them, then you repeat that process until they confess. Another option is to mentally torture them, I don't really have any methods for that though."
"..."
"..."
"..Is there a problem?"
"Not at all Arut!"
"No Sir Arut."
One thing both the Demon King and Jaykar had in mind was; The Zeroth Corps Commander is way too vicious. No they should've expected this since he is known for his brutality.
But this... was a whole new level.
"Then I'll do just that, soon."
"Okay."
Deon replied back dryly. His legs were starting to hurt and he wanted to run back to his room and slack off right now.
"Ah, I'll see you on the battlefield First Corps Commander."
"...I see, then I should be getting back as well. I'll see you there." Fuck, even without the Demon King asking me for a favor it's still brought up in another way.
Jaykar bid his farewells before teleporting away, back to the battlefield on the front lines where he was fighting the hero.
***
"Haah..."
'In the end I really can't escape from this huh..'
Deon stood there, leaning against a wall with his hair tied in a mid low ponytail. He was extremely uncomfortable.
And extremely is an understatement.
Does he really have to fight his own brother? What type of cliche protagonist manhwa bullshit was this? Well... He did reincarnate as one so it might be his fault.
"Sir Arut, all preparations have been complete!"
"Thanks Ed."
'I wonder if it'll still carry out as usual when I go unconscious since I now have more control of my body. But it might not work now since he's aware of everything and now has record unsealed.'
If that's the case then they might find out that he was weak well that doesn't matter if they find out he'll just run away change his identity and live a slacker life!
Deon smiled at the thought of his back up plans which Ed misunderstood as him being happy to go out and fight again.
"Sir Arut!"
"Ah, Ririnell."
"I really really missed you!"
Ririnell came running at Deon before hugging him. Deon stunned, was unsure to do and patted her head.
"Ehehehe...."
'Crap, I totally underestimated this side of hers. Doesn't she even create a cult for me in the future... I need to do everything I can to stop her from doing this..'
"Oh! Sir Arut, I made this necklace for you! I casted a defensive spell on it so it will prevent you from dying at least once."
"Thank you Ririnell.." What an amazing item indeed, although I have the Unbreakable Shield, this would also boost my chances of survival.
Ririnell handed the necklace over to Deon. Ed seeing this breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much Miss Ririnell. I know that Sir Arut is strong however I still couldn't help but worry however I can now rest easy thanks to the necklace you gave him!"
"To think of Sir Arut to that extent! ..You are such a great lieutenant!"
"Continue to serve (my) Sir Arut with that attitude!"
"Yes Miss Ririnell, leave it to me!"
"...Do whatever you want.."
Deon boarded the carriage quickly to get away from these insane people. Now thinking about, why did Ed always stick with Deon even until his doom? Was he just that loyal?
Well it's useless to think about it, at least he knows Ed is and will always be by his side. Until Ed leaves him on his own, which would be preferable.
"But seriously... how did rumors about me get this bad..?"
Deon wondered how rumors about his brutality spread so quickly even though he barely went on missions? Sure he went berserk on each one but it was only a few he went on, so who's spreading these rumors about him?!
***
"Sir Arut, we have arrived."
'So this is the border between the Human Realm and Demonic Realm.'
"Sir Arut, I've been waiting for you since our last encounter."
Deon took the hand that was extended out to him and shook it. Looking at Jaykar, it seemed like his brother must be extremely strong if he got Jaykar like this.
Now thinking about it, every single one of his lives absolutely suck. In his first life he lost everyone he loved because of a stupid ass curse from that White drug, second life he died because of my crazily obsessed comrades. And now in his third life he went to war for eight years?
Deon scoffed at his horrible his luck had to be in order to have live each one of his lives that miserably.
'As expected. He's looking forward to the battle seeing how his faced has eased up after leaving the Demon King's Castle.'
"Sorry to disappoint you but currently there's been a lull in fighting. However we do not know when will the battle will resume so you can prepare in advance at least."
"Alright., my corps... and I will go pack up." I seriously don't want to do this! Let me slack please...
Deon replied back hesitantly to Jaykar. He just wants to sleep in a bed comfortably but this world has other plans for him
***
"Sir Cruel, we've gathered more intel!"
A soldier reported, handing over a stack of paper to Cruel.
"According to our scout that was patrolling they overheard that the Zeroth Corps Commander will be joining the battle which is why so many demons are in high spirits. However-"
"Stop. That's enough."
What a headache he has to deal with. Why did that infamous bastard come here?
Cruel looked at the report from the scout he had received from the knight.
Zeroth Corps Commander... The joker card of the Demon King. And the presence that's known to be even more outstanding and stronger than the First Corps Commander who's said to have been the strongest out of all twelve commanders.
"Sir Cruel... What shall we do, if this is indeed true our chances of victory are close to zero."
"..We will send in an assassin."
"An assassin for the Zeroth Corps Commander?! How are you so sure it'd work?!"
"That's only if the Zeroth Corps Commander actually exists. Although his rumors are outstanding, no one has ever been able to confirm if these were true or not."
"Are you saying that..."
"Yes, perhaps the Zeroth Corps Commanders existence is that nothing but an illusion to life up the demons spirits created by the Demon King."
"Continue to gather information about the Zeroth Corps Commander. If we can reveal whether or not their existence truly exists or not it would be a huge feat on our side."
"Yes Sir Cruel!"
***
My hand was bleeding in my 5th and my teacher made me wait the whole class and didnt allow me to go get a bandaid or go to the nurse and because of that blood got on the floor AND HE GOT MAD AT ME BECAUSE I MADE A MESS???? LIKE YOU TOLD ME I COULDNT GO ITS LITERALLY YOUR FAULT????