The seal had burned into the sky.
Magic had scarred the air.
500 elite mages lay unconscious, some coughing blood, some missing limbs.Ten of the greatest swordmasters lay broken, their weapons shattered, armor crushed.
"We… did it…"
They hadn't.
Not really.
Because none of them noticed — he let them win.
The Final Glance
Amid the blinding chaos, the Demon King had stood firm.Wounded — yes.But far from defeated.
He had survived worse in the pits beneath the palace.Felt worse in the flames meant to kill him as an infant.
He could still move.Still cast.Still kill.
One more push… and the swordmasters would have died.The mages would've been torn apart.He would've escaped.
But then—
He looked up.
And in the crowd, he saw something that made him pause.
A sound he had never heard during his reign.
Laughter.Smiles.Joy.
The people were cheering. For the first time in 15 years.
Not for his death—but for what they thought was freedom.
The Brother's Tear
Then his eyes caught someone else.
Far in the back of the crowd, hidden in shadow—
His brother.
The only one still standing.
And he was crying.
Not out of fear.
Not out of hatred.
But out of guilt.
His brother had given him the drink.
His brother had helped them prepare the seal.
But now—he regretted everything.
And for the first time in his cold, shattered life—
The Demon King felt something.
Not rage. Not vengeance.But the tiniest flicker of warmth.A drop of something unfamiliar. Something… kind.
The Choice That Broke a God
A single thought formed in the Demon King's mind:
"So this is what it feels like… to be cared for."
It wasn't much.
Just one tear. One moment of grief.
But for a man who had never been given anything but pain—
It was everything.
And in that moment, he made a choice.
He could kill them all.He could end the kingdom.He could break the world that broke him.
But…
"If I disappear… maybe they'll smile again."
"Maybe that tear was real."
"Maybe that is enough."
He stopped resisting.
He opened his arms.
He let them seal him.
Not because he was weak.Not because he was defeated.But because someone… finally cared.
The Tragedy in Silence
No one knew.
No one would ever know.
To the world, the Demon King was a monster who was finally defeated.
But the truth?
All it ever took to stop the greatest evil in the world… was a little love.