Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 229 Heart Like Being Carved by a Knife

Chapter 229: Chapter 229 Heart Like Being Carved by a Knife

In the kingdom of fairies, King Kaka was inspecting the infection ward for those affected by "Darkness."

This ward, established for hundreds of years and enshrouded in a Barrier, was devoted to managing infections caused by "Darkness."

Every fairy infected by this affliction was isolated, monitored round the clock by other fairies.

King Kaka’s hand gently touched the glass as his gaze settled on the quiet Elf Girl inside the room; through the clear glass, he could see everything inside clearly.

The Elf Girl in the room was named Ye Ye. By the years of the fairies, she was still very young, yet she devoted herself selflessly to the front lines of constructing temporary seals, exceeding her tasks with all her might.

But in the end, the Goddess of Fortune had not looked after this diligent girl.

Ye Ye had unfortunately fallen prey to the "Darkness," a force like a cluster of Black Flames that could never be fully extinguished, perpetually scorching her delicate wings.

The only silver lining was that the Darkness had not penetrated too deeply, and with some time spent on defense, the "Darkness" would not spread further.

As King Kaka watched Ye Ye, she too was looking back at him.

Ye Ye bore the pain from her wings, managed a faint smile toward their King, unaware that her poor acting did not escape Kaka’s notice. Not even the most beautiful smile could mask the pain she suffered.

Trying to calm his inner turmoil, King Kaka smiled back at Ye Ye through the glass wall. Only if he remained optimistic could the girl on the other side of the ward stay hopeful.

Everything will get better.

Kaka wanted to assure the girl of this, but the words would not come out; he simply could not make such a guarantee.

Leaving Ye Ye’s ward, King Kaka took a few steps forward and arrived at another ward.

The fairy inside had one arm utterly consumed by "Darkness," twisted into a black tentacle akin to an octopus.

The fairy had a ferocious expression, seemingly struggling against something.

His situation was far from optimistic; his body had started to mutate.

If he couldn’t endure with his willpower, the mutation would spread to his entire body, further worsen, turning him into a bizarre creature that aimlessly wandered and destroyed, its body oozing a viscous liquid like oil.

King Kaka pursed his lips tightly and clenched his fists. Despite his people suffering, he felt powerless.

"Your Majesty the King, the statistics are in." The clumsy secretary Sisi stumbled through the narrow corridor of the ward, handing over the document to Kaka, "A total of five hundred and sixty-seven fairies have been tainted by Darkness. Among them, four hundred and twelve have minor injuries, seventy-seven have mutated, and the rest have been completely corrupted."

Kaka did not take the document but directly asked, "Among the corrupted fairies, are there any that have managed to free themselves from the Darkness through their own willpower?"

Once entering the stage of corruption, things become difficult to salvage, but not impossible.

Among the Corruptors, there existed a small handful of fairies who, miraculously, broke free from the Darkness and regained their self-awareness after being corrupted.

The fairy who miraculously recovered self-awareness was, for some reason, no longer vulnerable to a second assault by "Darkness."

These fairies didn’t know exactly how they had done it and only felt as though they had been in a very long dream. Upon awakening, they remembered nothing of the dream’s content.

The principle behind the fairies’ recovered consciousness was still unclear, but fairies like them who were immune to a second corruption by "Darkness" could greatly alleviate the pressure on the infirmary, caring wholeheartedly for others infected without themselves being contaminated.

Regrettably, the number of people who were corrupted but then miraculously regained consciousness was so few that, even with their schedules fully booked, they couldn’t take care of more people.

Kaka always hoped for a fairy to emerge who could completely escape from "Darkness" and understand its mechanism, so as to prevent the creation of extremely dangerous corrupted individuals and to spare him the agony of worry.

Sensing the hope residing in Kaka’s eyes, Sisi couldn’t bear to break it, yet ultimately, she still reported the numbers truthfully to Kaka,

"Your Majesty the King, so far no one has been able to break free from the corruption."

"Is that so..." While Kaka wasn’t surprised by this outcome, he couldn’t conceal the sense of loss in his eyes, "Keep observing for a few more days. Surely someone will overcome ’Darkness.’ They’ve only been corrupted briefly; we’ve got to have faith in them. If things really escalate to an uncontrollable status, I’ll take it upon myself to end them."

Even though she wasn’t the sharpest, Sisi detected the inner turmoil and pain in the words of the Monarch.

Each corrupted individual was their kin, and how could it not be painful to personally strip the lives away from warriors who had once fought on the front lines?

Sisi tried to comfort Kaka, "Your Majesty, I believe everything will get better. Humans should be coming to assist us soon. With their help, things should be resolved quickly, just as they always have been in the past."

Kaka furrowed his brows and sighed.

From the humans’ end, it would be at least another week before they sent help; they claimed they needed some sort of conference to select the right people...

The fairies had risked their lives to control the spread of "Darkness," yet humans were still preoccupied with their own affairs, sluggish and seemingly not urgent, evidently not grasping the severity of the situation.

Kaka didn’t know how long the barrier, constructed at the risk of numerous fairy lives, could hold. He had urged the humans, only to be told to wait a little longer.

Getting them to send someone within a week was already something he had managed to secure with difficulty.

Gazing at his suffering kin through the glass wall, Kaka felt as if his heart was being torn apart, and he clenched his fists tightly,

"Can we really only wait and remain helpless? If such things happen today, they will surely happen again in the future. Must we just watch as tragedy repeats itself, as kin after kin are sacrificed? Is there truly no solution to be found?"

The unspeakable emotions in his heart swelled more and more, and Kaka was in turmoil.

The laws of the Fairy Kingdom condemned them to watch helplessly as tragedy repeated itself, engaging in actions that were temporary fixes without addressing the root problem—the unknown darkness emanating from below.

And yet, they lacked the power to change the situation.

Suddenly, a loud crash that shattered the silence of the hospital jolted Kaka back to reality, and the crisp sound of shattering glass echoed unusually distinctly through the corridor.

Several fairies responsible for medical care hurried over, and upon seeing Kaka, they immediately called out, "Your Majesty, it’s terrible! ’Cleaner’ Lord Keke has been corrupted again and has started wreaking havoc in the hospital!"