Chapter 83: The King of Calamities

Rin thought desperately, trying to find a way out of the situation he had somehow fallen into.

What can I possibly do to calm him down? And how am I supposed to get out of here?

Kaelith was still above him, his crimson eyes fixed on Rin with an intensity that made every instinct in Rin’s body scream that he was in danger.

Then, suddenly, a familiar voice echoed inside his mind.

[Host, I can help you with a solution.]

Rin almost jumped.

You can? Then tell me quickly! he shouted mentally.

The system remained completely calm.

[I suggest that the Host embrace Kaelith and say a few reassuring words.]

Rin froze.

Embrace... Kaelith?

He stared at the man in front of him. The Demon King. The King of Hell.

The man whose name alone had been enough to make entire kingdoms tremble in the story Rin had once read for fun. And the system wanted him to hug him?

Rin’s expression became complicated.

Are you absolutely certain this is a good solution?

[Affirmative. I am here to provide complete support to the Host.]

Rin swallowed.

Should I do it? Should I not?

He looked at Kaelith again. Those red eyes were still watching him.

Fine. Whatever happens, happens.

With a trace of desperation in his eyes, Rin slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around Kaelith’s neck.

Kaelith immediately stopped. For a moment, he seemed completely unable to understand what was happening.

Rin took a breath and forced his voice to remain calm.

"It’s all right. Everything is fine. No one is going to hurt you. I’m here... I’m here."

He gently held Kaelith closer and patted his back. The reaction was immediate.

Kaelith became completely still. Just moments ago, Rin had been terrified of him. Kaelith had seen the fear in his eyes. He had been expecting resistance, anger, perhaps even hatred.

But instead, Rin was holding him. Trying to calm him. As though Kaelith were the one who needed protection.

Something shifted inside the Demon King. For the briefest moment, an old memory surfaced from somewhere buried beneath centuries of war, bloodshed, and loss.

A young man stood beside him. The boy was holding Kaelith’s hand timidly.

"Together, we’ll make it through. We’ll always be together."

The young man smiled.

"Don’t leave."

Kaelith remembered answering him with a happiness he could barely recognize now.

"I won’t. I’ll stay right here beside you."

The memory disappeared like smoke carried away by the wind. Kaelith returned to the present.

He was still in Rin’s arms. His expression had changed. The madness in his eyes had faded slightly, replaced by something almost fragile.

"Are you certain you’ll stay beside me?" Kaelith whispered.

Rin hesitated.

He didn’t know what the correct answer was. But he knew what the system had told him.

So he gently continued patting Kaelith’s back.

"Yes. We’ll always be together. So calm down. I’m here."

For several minutes, neither of them said anything. The room became strangely peaceful.

Rin remained there, holding the Demon King.

And Kaelith accepted the embrace as though he had spent an eternity wandering through a desert, desperately searching for water.

For once, there was no shouting. Only silence.

Then—

[Host, you have successfully calmed Kaelith. Congratulations.]

Rin blinked.

Um... I understand.

The system continued.

[Host, how much longer do you intend to embrace Kaelith? It is time to explore your surroundings.]

There was something suspiciously amused about the system’s tone. Rin finally realized the absurdity of the situation.

He was standing—or rather, sitting—in the arms of the Demon King.

Yet when he looked at Kaelith now, the terrifying ruler of Hell seemed less like a monster and more like a wounded creature that had spent far too long without anyone willing to stay.

Rin’s expression softened. Without thinking too much about it, he asked quietly,

"You loved him, didn’t you?"

Kaelith stiffened. Slowly, he pulled himself away from Rin’s embrace.

However, he didn’t let go of Rin’s hand.

"Yes."

His voice was quiet.

"He was my only ray of sunlight."

Kaelith lowered his gaze.

"But you’re misunderstanding something."

He looked back at Rin.

"That person... was you."

Rin’s heart skipped.

"What?"

"You disappeared into the ruins. I searched for you endlessly."

Kaelith’s voice trembled slightly.

"And finally... you’ve returned."

The obsession slowly returned to his eyes. Rin stared at him.

"Why are you so certain that person was me?"

He paused.

"Is it because we have the same name? Or because my soul responded to your summoning?"

Rin took a breath.

"I want an explanation. What happened in the past? How can you be so certain that I’m the person you’ve been searching for?"

His voice became calmer.

"Please... tell me your story."

This was exactly what Rin needed. If this really was the world of Betrayal, then there had to be something hidden between the pages. Something he had never discovered while reading the novel.

And for the first time, Rin began to understand something. Maybe Kaelith wasn’t simply evil.

Maybe he had been broken. He had lost the people he loved again and again. He had watched everything precious to him disappear. How could anyone remain completely sane after suffering through that?

Then a memory suddenly returned to Rin. A side story. An explanation from the author.

Rin remembered the words clearly now.

Don’t think of Kaelith as evil. After Erys divided his soul, what remained were only fragments—despair, hatred, fear, and calmness.

Those emotions eventually took form. And the only person who loved Kaelith despite what he had become was his beloved.

When that person disappeared once again, calmness was replaced by calamity.

Rin’s eyes widened. How had he forgotten?

The man sitting in front of him wasn’t ordinary Kaelith. He was Kaelith after everything had been taken from him. The Kaelith who had been left with nothing except the darkest pieces of himself.

While Rin was still thinking, Kaelith began speaking. His voice was soft, almost a whisper.

"The first time I met you was also because of a summoning ritual."

Rin listened carefully.

"I was a general back then. You were a mortal."

Kaelith smiled faintly.

"From what you told me, you had died in your world and somehow appeared here."

His expression softened.

"You seemed so fragile that I was afraid if I touched you too strongly, you would break."

Rin remained silent.

"But every time I thought you were weak, you proved me wrong."

Kaelith’s voice carried something close to pride.

"You fought for me. You won the hearts of the demons around us. Everyone loved you. Everyone respected you."

He paused.

"And slowly, we discovered that there was a mystery surrounding you."

Rin’s attention sharpened.

"A curse."

Kaelith looked directly into his eyes.

"A curse on you... and on me."

Rin listened to every word. Deep down, he felt that Kaelith wasn’t lying. But he couldn’t tell whether that feeling came from instinct—or because he had already read parts of the story.

Kaelith continued.

"We discovered that before you became a mortal, you had once been a God."

Rin’s eyes widened.

"The God of Love."

Kaelith gave a faint, bitter laugh.

"Ironic, isn’t it? You were the God of love, yet you couldn’t freely choose whom you loved."

His expression became distant.

"But you never allowed that to stop you. We continued searching for answers."

He fell silent.

"Until that cursed day."

Rin’s heart tightened.

"That day?"

Kaelith nodded.

"What happened?"

"You were erased."

The words were simple. But the pain behind them was enormous.

"You fell into the Abyss. We couldn’t find your body. We couldn’t find your soul."

Kaelith’s fingers tightened around Rin’s hand.

"I searched for you with our friends."

His voice grew quieter.

"Eventually, we realized that you had been sent back to your original world."

Rin stared at him.

"A space-time portal had opened inside the Abyss. We tried again and again to open it ourselves."

Kaelith shook his head.

"It was impossible."

Rin absorbed every word.

"And then? How did I come back?"

Kaelith’s expression darkened.

"We attacked Heaven."

Rin blinked.

"We?"

"There were three of us."

"Three?"

Rin immediately remembered the novel. That couldn’t be right. In the version of the story he knew, Kaelith had attacked Heaven alone. At least, that was what Rin remembered.

"I was certain there was only you."

"There were three."

Kaelith lowered his head.

"Me. Noctis. And Sol."

Rin’s eyes widened.

"We were arrogant. We believed we could bring you back."

His voice became colder.

"But fighting gods while being mortal is impossible."

Kaelith’s expression filled with hatred.

"Everything people say about gods is a lie."

Rin remained silent.

"They aren’t merciful. They aren’t gentle. They aren’t loving."

Kaelith’s eyes hardened.

"Those beautiful beings people worship are nothing more than hatred wearing a beautiful face."

Rin could hear the anger in every word.

"After thirty-one days of fighting, we managed to kill ninety-nine lesser gods."

Rin’s breathing became slower.

"But when the greater gods arrived, we were nearly destroyed."

Kaelith paused.

"The one who saved us was... Eryon."

"Eryon?"

"The God of Night and the Barriers Between Worlds."

Rin listened. His heart was beating faster now. He didn’t know why, but with every detail Kaelith revealed, a strange hatred was beginning to rise inside him.

Kaelith continued.

"After we returned, Eryon told us that we had activated the curse upon ourselves."

His voice became quieter.

"We didn’t have much time left. So he offered us another choice. Forbidden magic. The only way we could become strong enough to challenge Heaven again."

"And all three of you agreed?"

"Yes."

Kaelith closed his eyes.

"But forbidden magic is called forbidden for a reason."

A long silence followed.

"When each of us learned it, the curse was removed."

He opened his eyes again.

"But the consequences were enormous."

Rin suddenly felt something wet touch his hand. He looked down. Then his eyes widened.

Kaelith was crying. The Demon King. The ruler feared by kingdoms. The monster from the pages of Rin’s favorite novel. Was crying.

"I couldn’t save them."

Kaelith’s voice cracked.

"Noctis became the God of Darkness..."

His tears fell silently.

"And he became the moon."

Rin couldn’t move.

"And Sol... became the God of Air."

Kaelith lowered his head.

"He no longer has a physical form."

Neither of them spoke.

"Neither of them has a body anymore."

Kaelith wiped his face, but more tears followed.

"And me..."

His eyes slowly lifted.

"I became immortal."

Rin stared at him.

"The God of Calamities."

The room seemed colder.

"So, in desperation, I attacked Heaven again."

His voice became hollow.

"After ninety-nine days, I conquered it."

Rin’s heart pounded.

"But even though Noctis and Sol no longer had physical forms, they still helped me."

Kaelith’s expression twisted with regret.

"But because of the power I received, my mentally is ill... I killed all of our friends."

Rin’s eyes widened.

"I brought them back."

Kaelith’s voice trembled.

"And then I killed them again."

He swallowed.

"Again and again."

Rin couldn’t find words.

"I destroyed kingdoms just to discover summoning rituals from other worlds."

Kaelith stared directly at him.

"Rituals that could call you."

Every word struck Rin like thunder. He had heard the entire explanation. Every detail. Every loss. Every sacrifice.

And now he understood something terrifying. This wasn’t merely the story he remembered. This was the truth hidden behind it.

Kaelith’s voice suddenly broke.

"Rin... forgive me."

Rin froze.

"I couldn’t save your brother."

Kaelith’s tears began falling again.

"Nor could I save the other half of you. I tried everything. I tried everything I could."

Rin stared at him. A terrible fever seemed to spread through his body. His chest tightened. His heart hurt.

He couldn’t understand why. Then tears began falling from his own eyes. One. Then another.

Until Rin could no longer hold them back. He began to cry. Not quietly this time. He sobbed as everything he thought he knew began collapsing around him.

And now, instead of Rin holding Kaelith, it was Kaelith who wrapped his arms around him.

He held Rin carefully, almost as though afraid that the person he’d spent centuries searching for might disappear again if he loosened his grip.

Neither of them spoke. Until a faint voice carried through the wind.

Soft. Distant. Almost impossible to hear.

Yet Rin heard it. A voice filled with warmth and longing.

"Welcome back, big brother."

A pause.

"I missed you..."