Chapter 11: Hero, Meeting, and…

I thought he was just one of the Empire’s discarded pawns, trained as an assassin, but a hero candidate, no less.

Honestly, it was shocking.

‘Yeah, shocking…’

To think I’d be this distracted.

When I finally came to, I was already in my room.

I must have been out of it because my memories are foggy. What was the clearest memory I had?

The certainty that he would die?

‘…….’

I should probably just not think about it anymore. Whether he lives or dies, whether I pity him or not, there’s nothing I can do anyway.

I flopped onto the bed, Ed’s cube in my hand.

As I mindlessly shuffled the cube, trying to clear my head, a knock echoed.

“It’s me.”

“…Your Majesty?!”

I shot up. I quickly checked my attire, smoothed my disheveled hair, and opened the door.

“Why are you here again, Your Majesty?”

“I told you. I’d come to get you.”

“Huh?”

When?

As if reading the question in my eyes, the Demon King raised an eyebrow. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, a displeased look on his face as he studied me.

“The legion commanders’ meeting. Still don’t remember?”

I don’t, but somehow I knew I shouldn’t say that.

Putting on the most nonchalant expression I could muster, I nodded.

“Ah, I remember now.”

It was a performance worthy of an award.

The Demon King, completely buying it, nodded and straightened up.

“Let’s go then.”

“Yes.”

Knowing I shouldn’t delay any longer, I hurried after him.

Because of that, I left the room without even realizing I still had the cube in my hand, let alone having time to put it down.

***

During the battle with the hero, the commander of the 7th Corps was an ogre.

Even setting aside the fact that he was one of the Demon King’s core forces, I remember him clearly. He served as a fine foil for Deon Hart’s debut.

In other words, Deon Hart made his first appearance by killing the 7th Corps Commander.

The Demon King chuckled softly, reminiscing about that day.

When they had won the battle against the hero, when he had raised his sword to personally end the hero’s life, which was already hanging by a thread—

──the hero chose to self-destruct.

He was so taken aback by the radiant light erupting from the hero’s body.

“…This hero seems quite proactive.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

When a hero dies, they have two choices.

One is to scatter the fragments of their power across the continent, creating beings capable of resisting the Demon King to some extent. The other, mainly used when the Demon King is nearby, is self-destruction.

Gathering the hero’s power and detonating it.

Usually, heroes choose to scatter their power fragments for the future.

‘Not that it would kill me.’

There’s a reason he’s called the strongest Demon King in history. It would be a waste, but if he used his magic without holding back, he was confident he could survive the aftermath of that explosion without significant harm.

The problem was the other demons stationed around him.

All the demons of the Demon King’s castle had come out to witness this historic battle, a battle that could decide the fate of their race.

The hero’s power is given to eliminate the Demon King, and demons are a race born from the Demon King.

Ultimately, the hero’s power would inevitably affect the demons indirectly.

So, if the hero’s power were to explode here…

‘Roughly half.’

About half of these numerous legions would instantly vanish.

Considering the Demon King’s castle is the size of a small imperial city and all the demons within it are present here, the level of damage would be absurd.

“Everyone, step back—!”

He was just about to issue the order when—

콰아앙!!

…A human fell from the sky.

And with the 7th Corps Commander.

Appearing by crushing the 7th Corps Commander, he didn’t even glance at the Demon King.

He simply stabbed the 7th Corps Commander beneath him in the neck with a dagger, as if to double-check if he was dead, then used the body as leverage to slowly stand. His demeanor was unbelievably leisurely.

White hair and red eyes.

Crimson eyes flickered between the Demon King and the hero, then settled on the hero. He started walking towards him at a relaxed pace.

Across the center of the battlefield, surrounded by countless demons, without a hint of nervousness.

His attitude was utterly defenseless.

Yet, perhaps because of his confident demeanor, an undeniable aura emanated from his unwavering expression, causing the soldiers to freeze, unable to stop him, and merely watch.

‘Pathetic fools.’

Even so, the Demon King couldn’t bring himself to openly call them pathetic, and quietly furrowed his brow.

For a moment, he too had been overwhelmed.

Since the distance wasn’t far, he quickly reached the hero.

Without giving the Demon King a second look, he placed a hand on the hero’s shoulder, bringing his face close to the hero’s ear.

And then, a miracle happened.

The streams of light erupting from the hero’s body poured towards this human.

“…He’s insane.”

A groan escaped.

Knowing more than anyone about heroes, the Demon King, and the Empire’s system for sending heroes, he quickly pieced together the situation.

This white-haired human probably followed along to witness the outcome of this battle firsthand and report it back to the Empire. That was likely his main mission.

And a secondary mission would be to assess the Demon King’s condition if the hero died, and kill him if he deemed it possible.

So, when the hero chose to self-destruct, he must have calculated the odds.

[The probability of the hero’s self-destruction harming the Demon King, and the extent of that damage.]

[The number of surrounding demons that could be eliminated by the self-destruction.]

[The probability of breaking through the reduced demon forces and killing the injured Demon King.]

[And finally, the possibility of achieving his primary mission of ‘returning alive’ while doing all of this.]

Self-destruction must have seemed illogical.

That’s why he placed his hand on the hero’s shoulder, trying to stop him. Jumping into the heart of the enemy camp was a bit unexpected, but perhaps he was confident in his ability to escape alive.

‘Smart, loyal to his mission, and his combat abilities are…’

A playful smile stretched across his face, crinkling his eyes.

He felt pity for the Empire, sending such a capable individual to such a dangerous place. If it were him, even if he used them, he wouldn’t send them to their death without any respect.

In any case, the hero understood his intention and quickly shifted the direction of his power towards him as a transfer. Of course, the power didn’t stay within the recipient’s body as the hero intended.

‘Naturally.’

The hero’s power is bestowed directly by the world with a purpose. Originally, when the hero dies, this power should shatter and return to the world.

Leaving even fragments of it on this land requires the hero’s life as the price, so intentional transfer is impossible.

The hero himself would know this better than anyone. He must have been suffering tremendous pain from his recent actions.

Seeing the hero, who had died after a futile struggle, slumped over, the Demon King raised his gaze to the man holding the hero’s body.

He was directly involved in a nonsensical attempt to defy the world’s will. He couldn’t be unscathed.

Sure enough,

“Cough.”

With a resolute expression that revealed no weakness, he coughed up blood.

A surprising amount of blood flowed from his mouth, yet his expression remained unchanged. The strange sense of incongruity thrilled the Demon King.

Suppressing his rising excitement, the Demon King asked with a gentle smile.

“What’s your name?”

“…Deon Hart.”

Deon Hart. He repeated the name in his mind.

Actually, there was no need to dwell on it. The Demon King already knew him.

Judging by the surface, he had stopped the hero’s self-destruction and coughed up blood as a consequence.

Even the other demons would acknowledge that much.

With the circumstances in his favor, there was no reason to hesitate any longer. The Demon King openly revealed his desires.

“Would you consider joining the Demon King’s army?”

Whether the other party was human or not, it didn’t matter.

The Demon King liked this intelligent and loyal being, and more than anything, this human had sparked interest in his otherwise jaded existence.

There were plenty of reasons to bring him into the Demon King’s castle.

***

“Hey, move! I can’t see!”

“So, is that human an enemy or an ally?”

“He stopped the hero’s self-destruction! He’s at least not an enemy.”

“But he killed the 7th Corps Commander?”

“Huh? The Demon King is asking for his name!”

“Shut up! I can’t hear anything!!”

“You’re the one being loud!”

“So, what’s his name?”

Due to the distance, the noisy surroundings, and the human’s quiet voice, the demon soldier didn’t strain his ears but instead focused on the movement of his lips.

“De…mon, A…ru, te?”

“Demon Arute?”

“Seems like it?”

“Demon Arute, huh…”

A name more demonic than a demon.

And so, Deon Hart’s name was distorted and spread through the demon ranks as Demon Arute.

***

The human’s achievement in preventing the hero’s self-destruction and averting a major catastrophe was a great feat, acknowledged even by the other legion commanders.

Furthermore, after ‘Demon Arute’ got incredibly drunk at the victory celebration and newcomer welcome party following the battle with the hero and turned the Demon King’s castle upside down, nobody questioned his abilities. Especially since the victim of that incident was another legion commander.

Therefore, the demons of the Demon King’s castle generally refrained from saying bad things about the human who had suddenly appeared and taken the 0th Legion Commander’s position.

Of course, that was only ‘generally.’

“He’s late.”

Belitan, the 6th Corps Commander, muttered, tapping the conference room table. His brow was deeply furrowed, revealing his displeasure.

He was well aware of the great merits he had earned back then. He acknowledged his formidable power. But even so, this was unacceptable.

0th Legion Commander, Demon Arute.

He was late for every single meeting.

And so it was now. Excluding the legion commanders who were away on missions, everyone was gathered in the conference room, yet that human was absent again.

Eventually, Belitan couldn’t bear the wait any longer and slammed his hand on the table.

“Shouldn’t someone say something about this?!”

“Quiet.”

“Jaykar! How long are you going to tolerate his arrogant behavior! He—”

“Belitan.”

Jaykar, who had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, slowly opened them and looked at Belitan.

Belitan flinched and stopped talking at the cold gaze directed at him. As if waiting for this moment, Idelia, the 4th Corps Commander, interjected.

“Arrogant suits you better, Belitan. Do you even realize who you’re directing such rude remarks towards?”

“…What?”

“Calling someone arrogant when you speak so formally even to servants. That was a truly unfunny joke.”

“Using formal language doesn’t mean one isn’t arrogant! Then how do you explain his lateness to the meeting?”

“He must have his reasons.”

Her statement was unwavering.

Even Asild, who didn’t get along with her, nodded in agreement, making Belitan momentarily wonder, ‘Could it really be the case?’

Belitan quickly shook his head, regaining his senses, and gaped in disbelief.

“How… how can you be so sure?”

Just as Idelia was about to answer, a loud bang echoed from one side of the table.

Startled by the ominous sound, all the legion commanders turned their heads in unison.

As soon as they identified the source, some sighed and shook their heads, some nodded as if they expected it, and a few wore bewildered expressions.

Belitan belonged to the third category.

At the edge of the table, a small girl had stood up abruptly, her hands planted firmly on the tabletop.

“Enough with the insults, Belitan! It’s blasphemy!”

“…Lirinel?”

“It’s blasphemy!”

“Liri….”

“Blasphemy!”

Lirinel, the 11th Corps Commander.

Usually quiet and docile, she would go berserk when just one thing was involved, and unfortunately for Belitan, that was anything concerning Demon Arute.

Yes, she was Demon Arute’s biggest fan.

Most of those residing in the Demon King’s castle knew this fact, but Belitan, who often left the castle for demon hunts, had no way of knowing.

Therefore, he stared blankly at the little girl who was furiously pointing her finger at him.

“Apologize! You ugly thing!”

“Gasp.”

“Li, Lirinel…?”

She may look fragile and adorable, but she was still a legion commander.

Belitan was a typical warrior who wielded a massive axe, while Lirinel was the demon with the largest mana pool among the legion commanders, a formidable witch.

If those two were to fight, it was obvious that the conference room would be blown away.

Even if that weren’t the case, the Demon King or the 0th Legion Commander would be arriving soon. You want to blow up the meeting room?

The Demon King’s castle would be in an uproar that day.

There might even be a large-scale change of legion commanders.

Because of this, while the other legion commanders were cautiously observing the situation, a servant announced the Demon King’s arrival from outside the meeting room door.

“The Demon King and the 0th Legion Commander have arrived.”

……Along with news of the 0th Legion Commander.