The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

hen the leader cut him off.
“This guy will soon die, and we still have enemies who are eagerly waiting to kill us.
I don’t think I even have to waste time to explain which side would be more advantageous for you to follow.” 

The mercenaries also agreed with the leader.
They glanced at each other, and in the end, they ignored Nick. 

“N….no…” Nick fell into despair at his subordinate’s betrayal.
He kept on thinking about how his daughter would get eaten by a monster.
“Please…ju…st…Ellie…” Nick pitifully shouted as he died, and then finally stopped speaking.
He stopped breathing.

“…Nick.” Til looked at Nick’s corpse.
His friend had changed from a faithful comrade to his closest enemy in a day.
His eyes looked conflicted as he looked at Nick’s corpse. 

Nick had betrayed his closest friend to fulfill his own greedy desires.
None of those desires had been fulfilled, however; instead, he had met a pathetic end in a nameless forest.
Nobody except for Til thought much of his death; only Til looked at Nick’s corpse with despondent eyes.
This made Nick’s death even more pathetic. 

Ziiing! The leader immediately infused mana into the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.
Then, he looked toward Zich and Til and said, “Is it okay for you to be so relaxed? I recommend you two to get to Pialu as fast as possible so that you can save at least one more person.” 

However, even while facing the possibility of a giant army of monsters ambushing Pialu, Zich and Til were way too calm.
Instead, Zich was even pushing the leader to quickly call the monsters to Pialu.
“Ah, that? You don’t have to worry.
Even if we’re going to Pialu, we’ll figure that out by ourselves.
You don’t have to worry about us, so just quickly call the monsters.” 

The leader narrowed his eyes.
“Your bluff is too much.
I’m different from that idiot Nick.” 

Did he feel annoyed that the leader insulted Nick?—Til slightly furrowed his brows.
However, he didn’t do anything else and stared at the leader’s actions.
Time passed, and the leader continued to infuse mana into the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.
However, nothing changed.
Did nothing change on the opposite side too when it was activated? 

However, judging by how confused and taken aback the leader looked, that was definitely not the case.
Zich thought it was funny when a look of befuddlement appeared on the monster’s face.
“W-what? What’s up with this?” The leader increased the amount of mana he infused into the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.
However, there was still no visible change.
The leader grew anxious and increased the mana input twofold. 

Crack! An ominous sound came from the Pyramid. 

“What?!” The leader frantically scanned the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.
He saw that there was a large crack, and small fragments were falling off.

“Oh my? What, is it broken?” 

The leader couldn’t even hear Zich’s mockery.
The leader quickly put his hand on the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls in a desperate attempt to fix it.
Of course, there was no way he could fix it by just pressing on it.

Crumble! Instead, the crack grew bigger, and a fragment that was as big as a nail fell from the Pyramid.
He saw the inside of the Pyramid from the cracked hole. 

“…What is this?” The leader pushed his finger into the hole. 

Crack! The hole grew bigger and more fragments broke off.
The leader began scraping the surface of the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls as if he was cracking an egg, and what he found inside was a One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations that was firmly placed so it wouldn't move around.
The leader became silent; no, he couldn’t say a word.
He couldn’t understand what was going on, but he was sure of one thing—the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls he was holding was a fake.
It was a mold that only looked like the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls on the outside.

“Ha! Hahh! Heeahahahaha!” 

The leader heard sounds of laughter; it was twisted laughter full of glee.
It was a type of laughter that made one wonder how could there possibly be a burst of laughter so full of mockery and ridicule.

‘Zich Moore.’ The person who was laughing was Zich.
He had one of his hands on his face, and his shoulders shook with laughter.
Although the leader had many memories of Zich defeating him, he felt a keen sense of déjà vu.
And his sense of déjà vu was right on the mark.

“Are you perhaps looking for this?”

The leader was beyond shocked when he saw what Zich took out.
Zich was holding an item that he had been sure was in his possession—the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.

‘What the hell happened!’ Why was the fake Pyramid of Vengeful Souls with Nick, and why did Zich have the real Pyramid of Vengeful Souls? ‘No, is that also a fake?’ The leader looked at Zich suspiciously. 

“Perhaps, are you doubting if this is real? Why don’t you have a little bit of trust, my friend? This is definitely real.” Zich shook the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls in an exaggerated manner.
“It’s the real Pyramid that allowed me to use the monsters in the Denest Mountain Range to wipe out all your comrades.”

The leader’s face twisted in shock.
The only people who knew about this were the robed figures and the person who caused this incident.
‘It has to be true!’

“Ah man, I had no idea that you’d like the fake so much.
I didn’t know that you’d really kill Nick to get that.
No, that’s wrong of me.
Since one’s preferences are crucial to determining the value of an item, I full heartedly support your personal taste.
If I knew ‌you would like it so much, I would have made a couple more.” As Zich’s high-spirited voice rang out in the air, the leader’s fury exponentially increased.