Ivar bit his lip.
He'd made a mistake. He shouldn't have told her that Dantalion was dead. He never expected her to see through Lord Dantalion's true intentions so decisively.
What should he do? He couldn't simply execute Barbatos like this. She may have fallen from grace, but she was still nominally the leader of the Plains Faction. She had once been a figure who commanded the entire Habsburg Empire. If he unilaterally disposed of Barbatos here, the other Demon Lords would never accept it.
'Wait.'
Ivar suddenly shifted his thinking.
'Is it even possible to find Lord Dantalion on this vast continent?'
It would be easier to find a single grain of sand on a beach. Where Lord Dantalion was—whether he was staying in a city, lingering in the countryside, or had secluded himself in some remote cave—Barbatos had absolutely no idea.
'Impossible.'
Literally impossible.
If Barbatos had subordinates to manipulate, it might have been a different story, but alone, she could never accomplish it. The issue came down to how he could strip Barbatos of her authority as a Demon Lord. No, it went beyond that—it all depended on how to take away not just her authority, but all of her pride and power.
A malicious smile crept across Ivar's lips.
"Are you truly prepared to bear anything?"
"...! Yes!"
Barbatos's eyes lit up brightly. The persuasion had worked. Or so she believed.
"I cannot trust your resolve. Even if I did, I have no intention of simply accepting it. You understand that, I trust."
Ivar fixed Barbatos with a cold stare.
"You were the one who, manipulated by the tongue of De Farnese, the Military Affairs Secretary, effectively brought about Lord Dantalion's ruin. You have already killed Lord Dantalion once. Thanks to that, both I and Secretary of State Lazuli... we all lost his lordship."
Ivar raised his right foot.
The sole of his foot pressed firmly down on Barbatos's head.
"I will never forgive you."
"……Ugh."
"Your competitiveness. Your possessiveness. Your ignorance — I will never forgive any of it. Do you understand? The woman Lord Dantalion loved most was not you. Not me, either. The one who held all of his trust and affection was always Lapis Lazuli."
Ivar twisted his right foot.
Barbatos's head was driven into the floor. It was a level of humiliation she had never experienced once since being born a Demon Lord. Not by a fellow Demon Lord, but by a mere Demonkin — and one serving as a maid at that.
"Lapis Lazuli committed suicide. She chose death even though Lord Dantalion was still alive. Do you know why? She prioritized his lordship's will over her own hopes, over her own convictions... Lord Dantalion asked us to believe he was dead. We will never be able to meet him again. We are not permitted to."
Barbatos did not resist the humiliating treatment in the slightest.
She simply submitted like a slave, crushed under the sole of Ivar's foot. She discarded every last shred of the pride she had maintained until now. Ivar looked down at Barbatos like that and curled the corner of his lip upward.
"Lapis Lazuli fully complied with his lordship's request. When he asked her to consider him dead, that half-demon truly accepted his death. Do you understand what that means? His lordship and I are shouldering that level of resolve to orchestrate this purgatory."
Murderous intent gleamed in Ivar's eyes.
He raised his right foot and kicked Barbatos in the side. With no means and no will to resist, Barbatos groaned in agony. Ivar Lodbrok did not stop the violence. Once. Twice. The kicks struck Barbatos's body relentlessly.
"And yet you dare say you want to meet his lordship?"
Ivar ground his teeth.
"A privilege that neither I, nor Lazuli, nor the Military Affairs Secretary, nor anyone else was granted — and you, of all people, the very one responsible for all of it, dare ask for it?"
"I'm sorry... ugh... I'm sor... ry..."
"Know your place."
Barbatos stifled her groans and kept apologizing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Gasping for air between the blows, choking back sobs, she somehow managed to continue her apology. The merciless beating went on for some time before it finally stopped.
"Hah... ah... ugh..."
Barbatos's body had already been damaged beyond repair from prolonged exposure to drugs and torture.
The moment she regained consciousness, violence descended upon her, and Barbatos's body collapsed lifelessly. She retched multiple times, vomiting stomach acid. There was blood mixed in with the stomach acid. Even breathing was painful for her. The fact that she hadn't lost consciousness was nothing short of a miracle.
"Fine. You ask for permission — I'll gladly grant it."
Ivar drove her foot into the side of Barbatos's face.
"But His Excellency Dantalion has already passed on. To meet a dead man, you'll have to die once yourself. A fair condition."
"……."
"I'll give you your first trial, Barbatos. Reverse the flow of your mana."
Mana Reversal.
For someone who had devoted their life as a mage, it was a punishment on par with death. The Circles revolving around the heart would be forcibly shattered. The Circles that had been syncing in rhythm, supplying mana throughout the body, would go berserk — their direction and speed twisting out of control as they collided with one another.
"Right now."
It was the same agony Paimon had once endured.
Paimon had lost the realm of power built over two thousand years due to mana reversal. Barbatos would fall into the same state. Back then, Paimon had at least had a medical team swarming to her aid. Barbatos, on the other hand — treatment was nothing more than an extravagant delusion. Her entire body was already in ruins.
Nine times out of ten, reversing the mana flow would be fatal.
"Thank you……."
But Barbatos managed a faint smile.
She forced the corners of her mouth to move, trying to show the most wretched expression she could. That was the only strength Barbatos had left. She spoke, grateful simply that an opportunity had been granted.
"Just a moment……just a brief moment, please wait……I'll finish it soon……in one go, I'll end it……."
A sneer crept onto Ivar's lips.
"By all means."
She released the mana-binding seal restraining Barbatos's body. With this, Barbatos could now control her mana — but Ivar Lodbrok felt no fear whatsoever. She knew exactly how dire Barbatos's condition was.
Once the restraint was removed, black mana slowly enveloped Barbatos. Dark, shadow-like energy gathered at the stumps where her limbs had been severed. They took on the shape of arms and legs. Eventually, the black mana sloughed off and fell away, revealing limbs of pristine, snow-white skin.
"Hah……hck……."
Barbatos braced herself against the floor with both hands.
Her head was spinning. She had barely circulated the minimum amount of mana, yet she could barely breathe. It felt as though something in her stomach was about to surge back up at any moment. The nausea made her ears ring.
Ivar spoke coldly.
"What are you doing, Your Majesty? It hasn't even started yet."
"Yes, just a moment... it'll be over in a moment..."
"It seems the word 'moment' is defined rather uniquely in Your Majesty's vocabulary. Allow me to calculate the time for you, so there are no misunderstandings between us. One minute. You must unleash your mana within one minute."
"..."
There was no time to hesitate.
Barbatos focused on the mana gathered near her heart. Perhaps it was because it had been suppressed by the sealing artifact for months on end—the mana was as unstable as it could be. The knowledge she possessed as an archmage warned her that reversing mana flow in this state would be tantamount to suicide.
'It's okay.'
Barbatos whispered to the eight rings bound around her heart.
'Yes. It'll be okay.'
And then Barbatos—
With her eyes still closed, she deliberately severed the outermost of the eight rings.
"!"
Her mana instantly went berserk.
Barbatos vomited blood. Dark, clotted chunks were mixed in with the crimson fluid. Which organ it had come from, she had no room to consider. Her innards twisted and her bones screamed.
"Kuh... hghh... hck...!"
Barbatos collapsed forward into the pool of her own blood. The arms that had barely been holding her body up lost all their strength. The agony didn't end with a single wave. The mana that had lost its path tore through her body aimlessly, shredding everything in its wake.
An icy voice fell upon her from above.
"Surely that's not the end, is it?"
"Ngh, haaah……hck……."
"How unfortunate."
Ivar Lodbrok let out a sigh. It was a sigh laced with undisguised mockery.
"Very well. I shall show you mercy. One minute per ring. All together, I'll give you eight minutes total. That's a full eightfold extension of your time limit. How about that—does the girl's generosity give you a sliver of willpower?"
"Thank……you……."
"Then by all means, move on to the next one."
Ivar sneered.
"A full minute has already passed."
"……."
She would have to endure this agony seven more times.
No—with each ring she undid, the pain compounded. Double. Triple. Quadruple…… Barbatos clenched her teeth and forced her upper body upright. Her thin arms trembled violently. And yet Barbatos shattered the second ring in a single burst.
"Ah……!"
There was no further scream.
Blood surged up her esophagus, smothering every sound. Barbatos couldn't breathe. Her organs were being crushed. The Demon Lord's regeneration tried desperately to repair them, but regeneration itself drew from mana. The mana rampaging wildly through her body made the healing process itself an additional agony.
Ripped apart, regenerated, ripped apart again—then as it tried to regenerate, it was shredded completely raw.
"……, ……."
Clots of blood poured endlessly from her mouth.
Ivar murmured.
"One minute has passed. Next."
"……."
He broke the third ring.
Blood flowed not just from her mouth but from her ears as well. Since she could no longer hear anything, Ivar kicked Barbatos's body with his sole instead of giving verbal commands. A prearranged signal. Even amid the hellish agony, Barbatos understood what it meant.
He broke the fourth ring.
Tears of blood streamed down. Skin split open and black liquid oozed out — primarily from the limbs that had just been formed and hadn't yet stabilized. None of the organs Barbatos harbored could maintain their function. They lost even their shape.
The heart held on until the very end before collapsing.
The fifth.
The sixth.
The seventh―――.
At last.
The eighth.
"…………."
How many times had she lost consciousness?
Tens of times, hundreds of times — she faded in and out, yet each time Ivar nudged her body, Barbatos clung to awareness. The ground was soaked through with the blood Barbatos had shed. A pool so vast it was impossible to believe it had come from the body of a small girl.
In the center of that crimson pool, Barbatos lay buried like discarded refuse.
Her body wouldn't move at all.
Breathing had stopped long ago.
Only the pain still raging in her gut let her barely grasp that she was still alive.
"Never mind eight minutes — it took two hours. How pathetic."
Something kicked her body.
A kick sent Barbatos tumbling face-first back into the pool of blood.
"That will be all for today. You've far exceeded the time limit, so the first trial is neither a success nor a failure. In the next trial, I hope you'll show me Lord Barbatos's true sincerity."
The sound of footsteps faded into the distance.
Barbatos slowly closed both eyes. He hadn't been able to see anything for some time. But he had been desperately keeping his eyelids raised — because closing his eyes here felt like it would truly be the end. Like he'd fall into an eternal sleep.
But a brief respite.
A very brief respite was granted.
"……."
When he closed his eyes, for some reason, that person's face surfaced in his mind.
'Dantalion.'
Barbatos wanted desperately to call that person's name aloud. With all his heart.
But his mouth wouldn't open. He couldn't even string his thoughts together. His entire body steeped in blood, Barbatos plummeted into the deepest shadows of consciousness……
============================ Reader Comments ============================
[Reactions]
NineBreaker// Barbatos... ;_;
Reality Breaker// What color is Reality Breaker's blood?
Hanmae Local// I've given up making excuses now...
asd Mage// What's there to hide? I'm also a fan of Joara romance fantasy. I especially adore palace court dramas. Works like Ro○mari and Noble○Lady hit right in my sweet spot. HAHA.
Ssarimyeon// Dantalion is a tsundere...? I'm too scared and terrified to live.
Fish Person// So it's become a joke. I knew it.
Ferrer// The cover was incredible.
no name// Indeed. Perhaps the pain simply isn't enough...
Sanchonabe// Yap yap.
NeoGGM// Yob yob.
Chapter 500. I can't believe it... ;_;
The fact that we've made it this far is entirely thanks to you, the readers. Thank you. I'd like to keep writing just a little bit more.