I Am the Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings but the Demons Are Obsessed With Me

30 – Chun-sik, once a human Four Heavenly King… A Great Sorcerer.

Bodies do not dream.

– “Daddy!”

– “What exciting thing brought our daughter running here so cheerfully?”

So it was difficult to call this illusion, seen by one who had become a lich, a dream.

It was merely a replay of old memories. An illusion of the past replayed every night so as not to forget those memories that must not be forgotten.

But even those memories were no longer clear.

The face of my daughter was now so blurry that I couldn’t see it properly. Magical memories were etched deeply in my mind, yet the very landscapes I should never forget, I simply could not recall.

– “Did I do the magic you taught me right, Daddy? hehehe. Did I do well?”

– “Wow, that’s impressive~? Can you show me?”

– “Sure! What was it again… Water splash, swim! Dragon Rise!”

– “hahahaha, it’s not swim, it’s whirlpool… huh?”

– “Look! It worked, didn’t it?”

– “How did you… this magic…”

My daughter was a genius.

A genius exceeding even myself, born the son of a farmer and ascended to Master of the Blue Mage Tower. Her talent was beyond anything I could have imagined.

Only the great heroes who have become legends could possibly be compared to the talent my daughter possessed.

And so… I was happy. I taught her magic with all my sincerity and dedication. In my joy, I forgot the fact that the goddesses do not simply bestow such talent without reason.

For a child to be born with such great talent.

“I am from the Holy Kingdom. I have come to seek out a mage who would become a companion to the Hero.”

It was a sign that an age demanding great talent had dawned.

The Demon King had been resurrected. The Hero had been chosen. An oracle from the Goddess had descended.

And then.

The daughter became a companion to the Hero. It wasn’t so strange for one born with great talent to join a grand journey.

It wasn’t strange, but—

As a father, it was also a matter of concern.

The Hero’s journey was, after all, a journey of relentless trials. Sending his beloved daughter into a battlefield where life and death hung in balance was not something a parent could willingly do.

But.

“hehehe, Dad~. Aren’t I cool? A mage in the Hero’s party! Just like something out of a history book, right?”

“…Indeed. Our daughter really is amazing. But, you know, daughter—”

“Dad.”

“Hmm…?”

“I’m okay. It’s a bit scary but… this is something only I can do, isn’t it?”

Being unable to obstruct a child who decided their future with such a sparkle in their eyes was also.

A parent’s heart.

In the end, all he could do was gift her a small magic wand. It wasn’t the best wand, but it was a well-balanced one, suitable for his still inexperienced daughter.

“Wow! Dad, I love you~. I’ll make good use of the wand!”

“Good. My daughter. Take care of yourself and stay healthy. Write often. Got it?”

“Mhm!”

The Hero was strong. The daughter’s talent was formidable.

Together they triumphed day after day, conquering various dungeons and defeating the demons of the demon world.

Night after night, he worried until dawn, only to check the morning letters and newspapers for reassurance.

Ten years went by like that.

It was a night when he slept more deeply than usual. Upon waking, his mind felt exceptionally clear and refreshed, even the languor of the morning sun seemed vibrant.

There was no letter.

The newspaper had news of his daughter.

The world crumbled.

It felt as if his heart had dropped from its place.

Hoping that he had read it wrong, he read the newspaper over and over again.

Without even strapping on his shoes, he bolted barefoot. He didn’t even know where he was headed. He ran wildly, casting magic indiscriminately. In his frenzy, he crossed rivers and soared through the sky, eventually losing consciousness and fainting. He didn’t remember much.

But, there were a few things he vaguely remembered.

Cheers seemed to echo from all directions… Celebratory cheers praising the monumental victory of mankind.

Finally, he arrived at a place referred to as the end of the world.

In this territory lying on the boundary line between the mortal realm and the magic kingdom, throngs of people were celebrating. They were rejoicing in the hero’s victory, venerating the goddess’s grand design and lauding the magnificent victory that mankind had achieved.

He pushed past all the cheering and came face to face with the hero.

The hero’s expression hardened upon the recognition. As for his own face… he couldn’t imagine.

He just stood there.

And with an air of raw desperation in his voice, he shouted, shrill almost like a scream.

“My daughter? Mi-/My daughter! What happened to her?”

The surrounding cheers died instantly. Instead, whispers filled the air.

Within that murmuring crowd, the hero, looking desolate, simply extended a broken staff.

The staff was instantly recognizable.

It was the staff which he had presented to his daughter.

“….”

What the hero’s silence implied; his mind, white as chalk with shock, figured it out on its own.

The staff had shattered, unable to withstand the tremendous magic force of his daughter, probably from the use of a powerful spell. It was certain that a reasonably ‘good quality’ staff wouldn’t have been able to handle such a spell.

Even with a broken staff, magic could still be cast, but it wouldn’t be as effective. This would be particularly detrimental on a battlefield, where lives hung in the balance each second.

And his grown-up daughter, who had been strong enough to confront the Demon Lord, had continued to use this staff because…

because it was the staff he had given her….

Unbeknownst to him, the surrounding crowd was now mourning the death of a hero, hailing her noble and sublime sacrifice. All they knew was that the magician, a comrade of the hero, had died a martyr in the battle against the Demon Lord. They knew nothing about the staff or the daughter.

But, the truth wasn’t that simple.

Unable to accept this reality, he shook violently.

With a heavy mouth, he moved his heavy tongue, took a heavy breath, and finally managed to utter in a heavy voice.

“Her body…my daughter’s body, what…what happened to it?”

“….”

“Answer me! Now!”

“…She’s become a Banshee, cursed by the victorious Demon Lord…”

– “What…?”

Meeting his daughter wasn’t so difficult.

He obliterated all the visible demons and made his way to the Demon King’s castle. He found his daughter – she had become a banshee – wailing in distress and shackled her.

From that day forward, he devoted himself to studying necromancy.

He poured himself into the art of necromancy every day, searching for a way to restore his daughter.

However, necromancy was not a magic suited for ‘humans.’ With his human mana, all he could do was mimic it.

In the end, he laid his hands on forbidden dark magic.

Borrowing the power of a demon, he was reborn as a lich.

And what he saw with his newfound lich eyes was…

His daughter, merely a banshee now – an empty shell with a missing soul.

From the start, he had been clinging to a meaningless endeavor. He grasped the fact that his hope, which had required borrowing the demon’s power, was unachievable.

– “Ha, hahahaha….”

Who should he have cursed? The goddess who endowed his daughter with the talent of a hero? Himself in the past, who had gifted her a staff? The demon king who took her life? The four heavenly kings who cursed his daughter? The devil, who was likely laughing at all of this?

He cursed them all.

He should not have learned magic.

In fact, he had been wrong from the start.

He should have merely followed in his father’s footsteps, tending the flower fields and living an ordinary life. He shouldn’t have developed a curiosity for magic shown by the wandering mercenary. The desire to become a wizard, to become a member of the Azure Magic Tower, to become the Tower master was all…

A mistake.

Relieved by realizing this fact, he closed his daughter’s physical remains in a coffin. From within came the distressing wails of the banshee.

He used all the demonic corpses he had slain thus far as material for his necromancy. He summoned an undead legion and dug a suitable site to lay his daughter to rest, all the while battling audacious, pesky demons, fighting off witches trying to snatch his materials, occasionally getting grilled by irritable lizards.

Before he knew it, he was being called ‘The Lord of Darkness’ among the demons.

A ridiculous moniker.

One day, a summons came from the Demon King’s castle. It seemed the Demon King had resurrected.

– “Won’t you become my Four Heavenly Kings?”

The moment he faced the demon king who killed his daughter…

A long-forgotten rage boiled within him. Using all of his undead and magic, he attacked the Demon King, but…

He suffered an unthinkably empty defeat.

– “Having ambition is a good thing. Let me ask you again. Will you become the God of Death?”

– “…Yes, I will become one.”

Upon being overwhelmingly defeated…

Everything felt meaningless. My daughter had rushed into a monster, winning through her death.

Any more denial of reality would have been an insult to my daughter’s choice.

She was a great wizard. The more powerful the Demon King is, the more profound was her sacrifice. Then it wouldn’t be terrible to work under the Demon King.

Since then….

– “My name is Rain.”

I met the other Gods of Death.

There were two characters who always invaded the tomb and acted annoying, and one who was half human, noticeably weak.

Rain was exasperated about how inadequate the title of God of Death had become.

For the Demon King to reign supreme, his Gods of Death should not be so substandard.

I secretly helped Rain, alongside the other demons. Somehow, the witch and the lizard folk showed interest in him and often interfered with their ‘antics’.

I even sent skeletons to help out with the workload… but I still don’t understand why I threw their bones to the lizard beast.

– “Great wizard! Thank you. Your help has made the work go smoother.”

– “Tch, I just helped because it’s a duty of a God of Death. There’s no need for gratitude.”

– “If I don’t thank you for your help, it will seem like I’ve no sense of appreciation.”

– “Do as you wish.”

– “hehehe, thank you. Is there anything I can help you with?”

– “Do you think you can be of help to me? Just get stronger.”

– “I want to be stronger, but… there are many difficulties being a half-human.”

– “I will teach you.”

– “What?”

– “Tch, I mean I’ll personally teach you magic. Before becoming a lich, I was a human, so I can teach human magic as well. Stick with me.”

– “Thank you!”

So I taught him magic.

As far as I can tell, he’s a bit smart, because he managed to learn magic pretty well. Relying on the power of demons, his understanding grew as he experienced his racial transformation. With his new insights, Rain could use this even better.

– “If mana can transform into the magic, then…can magic also transform?”

He started to think about new ideas he’d never thought of before. Most of the necessary theories were created by him. It wasn’t a difficult thing.

Even before becoming a Lich, I was a great wizard. Merged with the talent of the great wizard and hundreds of years as a Lich, in the domain of magic, I could be compared to a god.

“Tsk, is that all you got after all the training I’ve given you? Is it because you’re half-blood, really… an abysmal talent.”

“hahahaha, sorry about that.”

“I’ll make you a staff.”

“What?”

“One so strong and sturdy you can beat it against steel and it won’t break.”

“Ah, that, uh, thank you…?”

Sure.

While teaching magic to Rain, he was reminded of his daughter.

His love for his daughter wasn’t due to her great magical talents.

The time spent teaching magic to his daughter, laughing, and talking was so precious. He had realized that too late.

It was okay if she wasn’t great. It was okay if she wasn’t outstanding. Even if his daughter had no talent in magic, and even if the hero were to be defeated by the demon king, it would have been the same.

He loved his daughter. He still loves her. The times spent with his daughter still remain cherished in his soul.

He returned to the grave.

He unearthed the coffin in which he had buried his daughter. He could hear the wailing of a banshee from inside the coffin.

He opened the coffin lid. The banshee rushed out.

He watched the banshee for a while, to engrave the image clearly. He even touched his cheek to feel his skin. The greeting was enough with that.

He used necromancy to drain the magic flowing in the banshee’s body. The body, unable to endure aging, turned straight to ash and dispersed.

And he blankly…

Recalled his daughter’s childhood. He couldn’t remember his young daughter’s face clearly. She seemed to have grown too much during 10 years with the hero.

However, those times were still clear. The warmth and love from back then are still here, even as a skeleton.

Even if his daughter’s face is completely forgotten, oblivion won’t take these feelings away.

He smiled.

And cried.

Tears turned into toxic smoke pouring from his eye sockets. He cried for a long time, then smiled again.

He meant to make a staff.

The sturdiest,

A staff that would never break.

“It’d be great if it could also be used as a weapon.”

After a long time, his inspiration as a magician surged.

It was a few months before Rain’s death.

A letter arrived through the carrier bird.

“What’s this?”

It was an encrypted message from the organization. Deciphering it wasn’t all that difficult.

[The Hero has crossed over to the Demon world.]

‘…What the hell? Why is the hero already there?’

This was a big problem.