Chapter 726
Rumble, rumble...!
"Ugh!"
Ariel snapped her eyes open.
The entire Lake Kingdom, which had been floating above the lake due to magic, had been forcibly plunged into the depths of the lake. The impact caused her to lose consciousness.
Whoosh!
The entire Lake Kingdom was already submerged, and the last line of magical protection within the royal castle was being breached by the cascading waters of the lake. It looked like a flood meant to end the world.
Outside the large glass windows of the castle, the lake water surged.
The once clear turquoise lake had become muddied, mixed with dark shadows, obscuring visibility even a short distance away.
In the murky waters, people and debris from the buildings swirled together.
Because everyone was cursed with immortality, they couldn't die even amidst this disaster.
Suffering endlessly from the agony of drowning, people flailed their limbs madly.
"Hahaha."
And this scene...
The sages watched it calmly, as if observing a fish tank from the other side of the glass.
"The view from underwater is quite unique. This apocalypse game should satisfy the spectators quite well."
"Indeed, it's a scene worth having three of us intermediaries involved."
The two sages laughed and spoke in turn.
However, the central sage, the one who initially ensnared Prince Christian, the 'Demon King,' was not laughing at all.
"No, the true apocalypse game hasn't even begun."
Having completely shed his disguise as an old human, now a form entirely like a black shadow, the Demon King spoke with a snarl.
"I will search through the unconscious of all the people of this Lake Kingdom, through all their nightmares... until I find that person."
"..."
"Until then, the apocalypse game must not end."
The other two intermediaries, who had come to aid the Demon King, shrugged at each other. They muttered something along the lines of 'what an odd one he is.'
"Why..."
At that moment, Ariel, staggering to her feet, questioned these demons.
"Why... are you doing this..."
To stay sane and calmly ask questions in such a situation.
The other intermediaries, with wide white grins, were about to mock her, but unexpectedly, the Demon King answered seriously.
"It's because of the original sin your ancestors committed long ago."
"What...?"
"You flourished as a magical kingdom. But you never pondered where this magic came from, who brought this power. You ignored it."
The Demon King murmured monotonously.
"Now you are paying the price."
"What does that even mean..."
Grinding her teeth, Ariel grasped a water-soaked longsword lying on the floor and drew it. It was an ordinary iron sword that a nearby fallen guard had dropped.
"Even if our ancestors sinned, it doesn't justify us suffering for it!"
"Indeed. That may be true. But your destruction now isn't because of your ancestors' sins, is it?"
The Demon King coldly pointed out the truth.
"It's because of your foolish brother and father."
"Ugh...!"
"You've gained immortality, so you must also pay the fitting price. Now you and your nation will eternally... rot in nightmares at the bottom of this lake."
Crash! Shatter...!
The castle's large glass windows, unable to withstand the immense pressure, shattered along with the protective magic, and the lake water, now a torrent of black bubbles, flooded into the castle.
As the water rapidly filled the space, Ariel clenched her teeth.
"I will reclaim it."
Hearing her voice shine with vivid resolve, the Demon King finally turned to face her properly.
"Whether it's because of the sins of my ancestors or the foolishness of my father and brother that this nation was ruined... it is all the royal family's responsibility. With my own hands, I will restore the glory of this nation."
At last, the Demon King laughed.
"So, you sent out that fake prince? As your last hope?"
Ariel had, right after the 'curse of immortality' was cast, realized the anomaly and immediately ordered Aider's 'banishment.'
- You are no longer a citizen of the Lake Kingdom...!
The princess's command carried a power that instantly stripped Aider of his status as a citizen of the Lake Kingdom...
Therefore, he was able to escape the subsequent two curses.
Citizens of the Lake Kingdom couldn't leave the country, and the entire kingdom sank below the lake.
But Aider would have safely escaped the lake.
"..."
Ariel herself didn't fully understand.
Why, at that moment, she had chosen to send Aider out.
There could have been many other choices, but why did she choose to send out a non-citizen of slave origin, a mere double of the prince, using the last opportunity for escape?
What was she expecting from him...?
"I will predict, fallen princess."
In the swirling vortex of the black polluted water, the unconscious bodies of the king and the prince were sucked into the Demon King's hands.
The Demon King placed his hands on the king and prince's heads and extracted the shadows he had implanted in them.
The two, who had been enchanted and led the kingdom to ruin, would awaken and regain their senses the next time they woke up. Then they would realize what they had done and go mad with despair.
Caressing the heads of the foolish king and prince who had already succumbed, the Demon King finally faced the princess.
Those clear turquoise eyes glaring at him with noble defiance, refusing to yield even in such a dire situation.
"Your hope will shatter and erode until it ultimately perishes."
"That will never happen."
Ariel spoke with unwavering certainty.
"As long as I am the master of my soul."
"Haha, we'll see."
Whoosh!
The rushing black lake water filled the inside of the castle, sweeping Ariel away.
Caught in the immense mass of water, Ariel was flung out of the castle.
"No great human has ever withstood this infinite hell of the apocalypse game. All have succumbed and fallen."
Towards the receding shadow of the princess, the Demon King spoke calmly.
"You will be no different."
***
The entire Lake Kingdom sank to the bottom of the lake.
Immersed in water, the people of the Lake Kingdom, whether citizens or non-citizens, endlessly drowned. Because they were now immortal, they had to endure the agony of drowning continuously.
Most people went mad within a day, let alone a few days, and lost their will to resist.
The Demon King approached them one by one and offered them a contract.
Instead of living in this hellish reality, he promised them a comfortable nightmare. In exchange, he asked for their dreams.
The vast majority succumbed. Most people of the Lake Kingdom chose to become living devices supplying the Demon King with nightmares rather than endure the unbearable agony of drowning.
And so, within mere days of the Lake Kingdom's submersion, countless human cocoons, shrouded in black shadows, floated throughout the kingdom.
However, even though the majority were like this.
There were those who refused to accept the Demon King's proposal to the end.
Ariel, enduring through countless deaths with her iron will, was eventually rescued by Coco, her nanny and a great witch.
A master of teleportation magic, Coco had been surviving by finding spaces within the kingdom that had not yet been submerged.
As soon as Ariel was rescued by Coco, she uttered these words.
"We need to find a way to move freely and breathe underwater, nanny...!"
Even in such dire circumstances, refusing to give up and finding the next path forward, the nanny could not help but weep.
Together, they rescued Dirandahi, the head of the magical research institute who had been imprisoned. He was one of the kingdom's top magicians.
After repeatedly dying and coming back to life in his waterlogged laboratory, he developed a device that allowed breathing underwater.
They equipped these devices and distributed them to those who had not yet succumbed to the Demon King.
Braving the turbulent currents and the evil aura swirling within the submerged Lake Kingdom, the survivors made a desperate effort to reactivate the barrier outside the Lake Kingdom.
They powered the devices, repaired broken parts, and died over and over...
It took them a hundred years to finally reactivate the barrier and start draining the water from within the Lake Kingdom.
***
Whoosh...
The black water that had flooded the Lake Kingdom flowed out, dripping thick droplets as it poured outside.
As the water drained, the Lake Kingdom, which had been submerged for over a hundred years, revealed its horrific appearance, covered in water moss and decay.
"..."
On the rooftop of a building located in a high area.
Ariel, who was looking down at this sight, slowly removed the underwater breathing apparatus from her head.
"Ah."
Her silver hair, which had grown wildly from long neglect, cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
"We have finally taken the first step."
Ariel turned around.
There, lined up, were the survivors who had fought alongside her through this arduous battle for over a hundred years, their faces filled with emotion as they witnessed this monumental sight.
Magical research head Dirandahi.
Internal guard post overseer Baltimore.
Captain of the standing army, Malone.
Royal warehouse janitor Bayanbulak.
Sewer manager Paleig...
And besides the named citizens, there were also the non-citizens who had fought alongside without giving in.
Regardless of their pre-collapse status or talents, those who had not bowed to the Demon King fought together.
Thanks to them, Ariel had been able to keep fighting without giving up.
"There is still a long way to go."
Looking at her companions, whose resolve had not faltered throughout this long and grueling battle, Ariel, with her eyes still shining with determination, declared.
"Let's find a way to move to the next stage. We need to break the curse on the Lake Kingdom."
Then, Ariel looked at the central, darkened building of the Lake Kingdom...
She gritted her teeth as she stared at the castle from which she had been exiled.
"And ultimately, find a way to defeat the Demon King...!"
But neither Ariel nor those who had fought alongside her knew.
That the time when the Lake Kingdom was flooded was actually more peaceful.
***
That night.
After a small celebration of their first success in a hundred years, the survivors had a modest feast.
Exhausted, the survivors finally removed their underwater breathing devices and lay down comfortably, seeking a well-deserved rest.
"...?!"
Ariel, lost in her thoughts as she looked down at her homeland covered in water moss, suddenly sensed something ominous and turned around.
Shing!
The rusted iron sword she had been carrying since the day of the collapse was drawn from its sheath.
"Who is there!"
Then, a sinister boy's voice emerged from the darkness.
"Haha, you should have just drowned quietly, shouldn't you?"
Step, step-
From the darkness emerged a neatly dressed boy with dark blue hair.
"It would have been less painful that way."
And in the boy's arms was one of the survivors.
Limp, bleeding from the neck.
The boy, licking his lips with his red lips, mercilessly bit into the survivor's neck.
Crunch! Blood spattered everywhere. The boy, having drained his fill, licked his lips with his bright red tongue.
"Well, from a vampire's perspective, a lively prey is naturally more appealing. And since you're immortal, you won't die no matter how much blood I drain..."
"What, the..."
In the face of this surreal scene, Ariel, wondering if this was a dream, belatedly realized.
That they had been surrounded.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...!
Evil beings descended from the sky, breaking through the darkness and surrounding the survivors.
A black dragon,
The demon guardian commander,
An unknown witch,
The plague lord,
The vampire king,
The spider queen,
The daughter of a succubus,
The ghost pirate captain,
The slaughterer of the full moon,
The goblin god-king-
Monsters from the old times, already defeated and sealed in memories, capable of destroying the human world even alone, had been revived under the Demon King's hand and ambushed the survivors.
With the water drained, revealing the ground, and the Lake Kingdom becoming a space where people could breathe and walk...
The monsters, revived from nightmares over the past hundred years by the Demon King, began to occupy the city.
"So, then. It's time for you immortal humans to be hunted by monsters."
The vampire king, Celendion, smiled slyly, baring his fangs.
"The real hell has begun."