Backstabbed

They lit many buildings on fire, and many spells lit up the night in assorted colors and exotic magical arrays.

“Isn't it beautiful?”

Walter crumpled his eyebrows.

There was a faint echo of people screaming and crying. They splashed blood across the white walls. Occasionally sounds of explosions and rumbles of fallen buildings can be heard.

“This is… the greater good you talked about, right?”

“Yes… It's the last time we will see the destruction of a capital city. Once we unite the world, I hope there will be no more sacrifices.”

“This is for… eternal peace.”

“Like I said, a war to end all wars.” Rowan looked towards Walter with a concerned expression on his face.

They had many arguments in the past and even battled each other over the philosophy of good and evil.

For the first time, the Dark Legion comprised races other than the usual evil-aligned demi-human races and heteromorphs. These were the humans, elves, dark elves, fairies, dwarves, dragons, lizardmen, etc.

The usual races that would join the Dark Legion every time the Demon Lord reincarnated were the goblins, orcs, ogres, beastmen, trolls, minotaurs, snakemen, toadmen, giants, kobolds, demons, ghosts, skeletons, liches, slimes, vampires, zombies, etc.

The Dark Legion was more diverse and many than ever because of Demon Lord Rowan's ideology.

He wanted to destroy the system in which the weak, the poor, and the non-human species were oppressed just because of their status. Some wanted to come out of the darkness and live in the light, while others wanted to put their race on top.

To counter the growing threat of the Dark Legion, many countries were afraid and so offered a larger part of their armies to the Holy Alliance.

The races in the Great Holy Alliance were similar. There were humans, elves, high elves, fairies, dwarves, lizardmen, and even high elder dragons who were always neutral but were triggered by young dragons who wanted to change the status quo.

Rowan's ideology wasn't easy to follow.

Despite what fairy tales were like, evil never had an advantage or a head start. The entire world would be against evil forces because they were afraid of annihilation. If evil had one advantage, it was their lack of morals. By throwing away their morals, constraints did not bound them, and they could use any tactic in war.

Although Rowan sought to find a balance, often he had to use cruel methods to get results. Although Rowan and Walter had the same end goal, they argued over the methods.

Walter felt that what made something evil depended on the methods. For example, killing the children of the opposing side to make them weak in the future.

Rowan felt that the people of this world were too vengeful and stuck in their ways. If much of their population weren't wiped out, there would be another uprising or civil war. Rowan planned to wipe most of them out and create a new world.

As a Demon Lord, he would never age and die. He could keep the peace as Emperor for all eternity. Finally, there would be peace.

Many of the current civilizations came from the ashes of earlier kingdoms. The newer generations don't remember. For example, they established the Falan Kingdom when the Holy Capital of Zelda was razed to the ground thousands of years ago.

No one remembers it now, nor do they care. Similarly, human kingdoms have killed elf forests and enslaved many of their kind, but did anyone care?

Many high and mighty people spoke of changing the system, but when they ascended to King, did anything really change? Many poor children wearing ragged clothes wished to change the world, but it denied equal opportunities to them.

The cycle of pain and suffering feeds itself, causing the people who lived in that system and their children to suffer. Rowan wanted to change this permanently. If many people had to die for everlasting peace, then so be it.

Rowan differed from the people who made the same sacrifices, but their results would only last a couple of generations. Once they died, their nation would become corrupted again, making whatever sacrifices made meaningless overall.

Rowan was worried that his friend would have doubts again, but what he saw was a man who found clarity. There were no doubts about Walter's demeanor.

“Do you have any regrets?” Rowan asked.

“No…”

Feeling relieved, Rowan looked back to the view of the capital.

*Shunk!*

“Not anymore…”

Feeling something warm spilling into his chest armor, Rowan looked down and saw the God Slaying Blade emerging from the left side of his chest where the heart was.

Rowan was confused and then frightened.

How did the enemy come at them unnoticed? Did this mean that the Great Alliance was hiding someone stronger than the Hero? Was this attacker the actual hero? No. The Hero's aura couldn't be replicated or faked. Could this be a third party? Did God himself descend onto Earth after his angels failed?

Rowan was about to communicate with Walter, but when he looked behind him, he saw Walter was standing in the attacker's place, holding the sword that stabbed him.

Rowan was perplexed, but after a moment a shocking realization came to him.

“Walter?”

He coughed up blood after saying that.

He couldn't understand why Walter, his loyal best friend who even proved himself by killing his sister in front of him, would betray him.

He snapped out of it and jumped away, removing the sword from his chest and then activated a high-tier healing spell called [reform].

If a healing spell is powerful enough, it could regrow lost limbs and internal organs. The top healing spell from the priests in the church of light could even regrow the head and brain.

[Reform] was even more powerful. It was a god-level spell in that if the soul were intact and there was a piece of flesh remaining or a single cell, it would grow into a complete body.

Yet, nothing happened.

He tried activating the void barrier and magic shield, but they were disabled.

Rowan tried every other spell and found out that his magic casting was blocked.

He couldn't use his skills because he was paralyzed.

“You look surprised. That's a rare expression.” Walter said with a tranquil but cold undertone.