Episode 172: The King

Luverios repeats an endless cycle of death and rebirth.

Each time he revives, soldiers, knights, and citizens alike take his life.

“Serving a king like you… I’m sick of it!”

Those words came from a servant who once tended to Luverios’ daily needs, as he pushed him into a well.

“Because of you, my father…!”

Shouting through tears, a young man drove a knife into Luverios’ throat—the son of a low-ranking official executed by Luverios for a trivial reason.

Not a single soul stood to protect Luverios. All those who had suppressed their anger now unleashed it, taking his life in droves.

—How much time had passed through countless deaths?

His spirit was utterly worn down. Luverios lay motionless in a back alley of the capital.

“Ugh… ugh… ah…”

His limit was fast approaching.

The fragile core of his soul—barely held together—was beginning to crumble.

—The sound of footsteps echoed on the cobblestones.

Desperate to flee, he tried to summon strength, but even the will to act had long since faded.

“What’s wrong? Won’t you stand, Luverios?”

“Siegfried…!”

The king, who had lost everything, raised his face weakly.

Standing before his gaze was—a silver-haired young man.

“I…”

From the fragments of his broken consciousness, Luverios forced out words.

“I… just wanted to prove myself to my father, to my brothers…”

Luverios’ father, the former king Almadius, had won the people’s support with his refined appearance and eloquent speeches. The first prince, Farnadios, and the second prince, Salnarius, each possessed remarkable talents.

In contrast, Luverios, the third prince, had not a single quality to boast of.

“That’s why… I joined forces with Joachim and had my father and brothers killed.”

But—becoming king did not make him a capable ruler.

His policies favoring the nobility gradually drained the kingdom, fueling the people’s discontent.

“To you… I must seem like a foolish king. A worthless existence, right? But… even so, I don’t want to die!”

Tears streaming down his face, Luverios pleaded desperately.

“Please, Siegfried… save me! Forgive me…!”

“Forgive? I never hated you to begin with.”

Quietly, Siegfried placed a hand on Luverios’ shoulder.

“—Don’t belittle yourself as worthless. You villains shine far brighter than the stars in the night sky. And you, who have colored the Kirchhen Kingdom arc in so many ways, gleam the brightest among them. No matter what the world says—I alone recognize your worth.”

Speaking in a gentle tone, Siegfried peered into Luverios’ face.

In that instant, Luverios understood.

—Ah, I… just wanted to be acknowledged.

He hadn’t truly wanted to kill his father or brothers. All he wanted, really, was to be recognized.

Why had he never realized something so obvious until now?

“I—”

As he began to speak, a chilling voice poured over his heart.

“So don’t give up. Hold your spirit firm.”

In the depths of the young man’s eyes burned—a darkness like an abyss.

“No matter how many times you’re killed, as long as your spirit doesn’t break, you can still start over. I won’t abandon you—no matter how many thousands or tens of thousands of deaths you face, I’ll stay by your side. Burned, slashed, poisoned and writhing, boiled in a cauldron, limbs torn apart, bones crushed to dust—I swear, I’ll bring you back every time. You stained your hands with evil to seize the throne, didn’t you? Then walk the path of that evil king to the end! As one who treads the same path, I—I’ll face you with my entire being until the very last moment.”

“Hic…!”

A terror unlike anything he’d ever felt enveloped Luverios’ heart.

—This man is serious. This is no joke, no act.

Those who had killed him before were driven by anger or hatred. But Siegfried had none of that.

And that was why… no amount of pleading would sway him.

Most terrifying of all was the certainty that even if Siegfried endured the same hell as Luverios… he would laugh, revel in it, and rise again and again.

“Stop… please, save me. I can’t take it anymore… I admit defeat.”

Luverios—finally, from the depths of his heart, acknowledged his defeat.

Magic or martial prowess was irrelevant.

The man before him was an otherworldly existence, beyond reason.

And he himself was never meant to face such a being—that truth crushed him.

In that moment, his body began to collapse, as if mirroring the shattering of his soul. The pain was deeper, fiercer, and more merciless than anything he’d ever experienced.

“—Is that it? This is where it ends?”

Siegfried murmured quietly, channeling magic into his fist.

And then—he struck Luverios’ body with a Magic-Infused Strike.

“Guh… aaahhh! Ah… gaaaaah!”

Luverios screamed in agony, as if his body were being torn apart from within.

With that pitiful roar at his back, Siegfried quietly left the scene.

Soon, drawn by the screams, the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder.

“Hey, isn’t that—Luverios lying there!?”

“What the hell’s going on… no matter how many times we kill him, he keeps coming back. Is this Lugdura’s power?”

“Take him away!”

The soldiers, shouting, rushed over and hoisted Luverios’ crumbling body.

Later, he was publicly crucified, his chest pierced by a spear, ending his life.

“Giiiiaaaaah!”

His dying scream wasn’t from the pain of the spear. It was a cry of despair at his defeat by Siegfried, at the shattering of his soul. But no one knew the truth.

And his shattered soul—never again returned to his body.