“What do you mean?”

At its words, the party members looked at each other.  However, they didn’t know the name.  Kairen, who had lived a long time, didn’t know it.  Laura, who had lived inside the Plain of Darkness, also didn’t know the name.

There was one exception.  Azell looked at the Undead with a surprised expression on his face.

“Are you talking about the Demon King Balserk?”

“Of course, people don’t know that name.  After the Dragon Demon war, Dragon Demon king Atein’s name overshadowed all the dark figures in history.  They were deemed inconsequential compared to Atein.  The name recognition of Balserk is probably lower than the lowest ranked general of the Dragon Demon army.  You’ve been obsolete for a very long time.”

<…after my body became like this, I thought I would never have the occasion to be wounded again.  I was wrong.>

The Undead grumbled to itself.

Azell asked it a question.

“I’m just telling you the objective truth…..  Does this mean you are Balserk?”

“You are the Demon King, who caused a million deaths in the Yudusk kingdom.”

Yudusk was one of the seven kingdoms fighting for supremacy over the continent right now.  The kingdom was located north, and it bordered the Plain of Darkness.  Even during the Nadick empire, this kingdom had possessed the most land.  This remained true even 220 years after the Dragon Demon war had ended.  Their royal bloodline also remained unbroken, so they had the deepest history.  This was also why their social structure was antiquated.  There were only two amongst the seven kingdoms that still allowed slavery.  Yudusk was one of the two.

“Moreover…  You are the one that deepened our knowledge of the Demon race.”

Azell thought about the story he heard from Carlos.

3

Before the Dragon Demon war, humans didn’t know much about the Demon race.  In truth, it wasn’t as if people had a better understanding of them now.  However, in the past, it was pretty much a blank slate.

At the time, Carlos insisted on making contact with the Demon race.  He thought it was a solution to their hopeless situation.  This was why he continued to scrap together more knowledge about the Demon race.

Carlos spoke.

“The awareness of the Demon race can be divided into before and after the appearance of the Demon King Balserk.”

“Why?  Actually, I don’t think I’ve even heard of the Demon King Balserk.”

“The world is large. He was famous in the north.  It is understandable that people, who aren’t from that region, don’t know about him.”

“Everyone knows who Atein is.”

“On top of that, everyone knows the four Dragon Demon Generals.  This is why they are considered to be incredible.  It isn’t an exaggeration to call them the strongest beings in history.”

Carlos snorted as he continued to speak.

“If you were from Yudusk, the name of Balserk would have struck fear in you.  When one mentions the Demon King, everyone thinks about Atein first.  However, the people of Yudusk would think about Balserk first.”

The Demon race didn’t exert their evil onto society before Balserk’s appearance.  Demons were seen as beings from legends, and the civilians didn’t believe that they were real.  The only ones that knew about them were Black Magicians, who voluntarily entered into the Swamp of Destruction to seek knowledge and power.

“Everyone that was called Demon King in history all possessed a real body.  Most of them had an intimate relations with Black magic.”

There were some that thought they would be able to acquire great power by approaching the Demon race.  However, there hadn’t been any cases where a Demon went out of its way to harm humans.  None had tried to achieve notoriety until Balserk.

Balserk was an outlier.

“To the best of my knowledge, Demons do not have names.”

Carlos had already met a lot of Demons.  He called them up, and he walked the tightrope to gain power.  This resulted in Carlos becoming a caliber of magician that even surprised the Dragon Demon Generals.

“However, a Demon that wanted to be called Balserk made its appearance.  Creatures, who possessed great power in darkness, started to appear within the borders of Yudusk.  A great calamity arrived in the region, and the name of Balserk gained notoriety…….”

Balserk was like black curtain covering the region.  All the people, who were called heroes at the time, were systematically killing the beings that were causing trouble.  However, they couldn’t locate Balserk.

“As time passed, someone figured out the truth.  Balserk was a Demon, who didn’t have a real body.”

The process was very long and complex.  The story of Balserk’s rise and end is known more to the people of Yudusk compared to any other heroic tales.  It would take him forever to explain everything, so Carlos gave a summarized version.

“In the end, Balserk was caught and he was deposed.  The hub of the chaos was gone, but peace didn’t return immediately…   Afterwards, there was a period of 10 years where chaos reigned.  A lot of blood flowed during this time.”

“That summary is quite lackluster.”

“You want to listen to the whole story?”

“Of course not.  I’m past the age where my eyes would shine from hearing an old story.”

“Then shut up and listen. There’s a problem in this story.  How did they depose Balserk?”

“Mmm?”

“Demons don’t have bodies.  This is why it is impossible to kill them.”

“Is that so?  However, aren’t there cases where the Demon and a Black magician merges?”

“It has been done before, but it just amounts to the Black magician receiving a several dozen seconds of uncontrolled boost before the host goes crazy.  Moreover, it doesn’t mean the Demon is killed when the Black Magician is killed.”

Black magicians usually didn’t think about the aftermath of their actions, so there were cases where they made a deal with a Demon to merge with them.  The benefit lasted only for couple seconds.  At most, the Black magician would have this surprising power for several dozen seconds before being destroyed.

Unbeknownst to the two of them at the time, an exception would show up later.  Yuren was surprisingly able to control the power he gained after connecting with a Demon.

Carlos spoke.

“Basically, magicians need an address.”

“Address?”

“There are countless number of Demons, and they all have no name.  If one performed the Demon summoning ritual, a different Demon would show up each time.  The summoner has to have a method to bring out a Demon, who has the specific knowledge that one needs….”

It was unknown as to how the Demon race had acquired their knowledge, but they weren’t all knowing.  Each Demon possessed different knowledge.

“First, you have to find a suitable Demon to deal with.  Then you need a way to summon them, and a contract is formed.  Then the methodology needed for the Demon to find the magician is established.  The magician also needs a way that would allow them to call out a specific Demon.  Black magicians puts a lot of value on the Demon Codex.”

A trial and error was needed to summon the right Demon.  This process was very dangerous, so the Demon Codex containing knowledge about different Demons were coveted by Black magicians.

“When the Black magician connected to the Demon is killed, the Demon cannot cut through the line to come to this world.  The knowledge of summoning this specific Demon would fade from the world.  That’s it.  Demons do not have a real body, so they cannot die.”

“If that is so, I’m assuming Balserk had formed contracts with numerous beings.  Since he is gone, are you saying all the people, who knows how to call out Balserk is dead?”

“Maybe.  However, that explanation doesn’t feel right.  The situation surrounding Balserk was an oddity.  Even if there were countless tales about heroes taking down the dark beings, the existence of Demons became known to the public.  The reason why Demons were dangerous became known.  That part is a bit strange.”

“What about it?”

“The knowledge of magicians aren’t usually shared with the masses like this.  The truth about the Demon race was spread through the story of Demon King Balserk.  This knowledge was something that was guarded zealously by the Black magicians.  Even if a knowledge was revealed to the public, there are parts that should have been redacted.”

Above all, an unprecedented number of people found out about the Demon race through this story.  Basically…

“It means there would be more people, who would covet the power and knowledge.  They would try to contact the Demon race.”

This was why Balserk was the true Demon King.  It purposefully spread the knowledge of the Demon race to entice more people down the path of destruction….

Chapter end