Chapter 158: Deon Hart, the Betrayer of Humanity

Rweche took in the Taehon Kingdom, promising protection and supplies.

And the Taehon Kingdom has a border—the very same one I personally crossed to confirm.

Since most of the Empire’s territory is in the north, the border connected to the south was considered useless and tucked away in a corner of my memory. But it seems its time has come.

“…Before that, Develania.”

“Yes, Deon… Demon-nim.”

“Call me whatever you’re comfortable with here. More importantly, do you know the personality of Rweche’s general? If I remember correctly…”

“He’s principled, isn’t he?”

“I seem to recall hearing he was principled.”

Just as I thought.

“The Taehon Kingdom has a border. You’re likely aware, but since we’re focused on the Empire’s city gates, we’ve been neglecting that area, so they’re probably lax on security. A week after my ‘warning to the Human Realm,’ the 5th Corps will cross that border and wreak some havoc.”

“…Me?”

The commander of the 5th Corps, Oel, who had been sitting idly, looked at Deon with a startled expression.

“Yes. Go wild, but stay within your limits and capabilities. If things are easier than expected, you can even take over the Taehon Kingdom itself.”

Our ultimate goal is to conquer the Human Realm, so taking it over beforehand wouldn’t be a big problem.

Though, that’s unlikely to happen.

Perhaps it was because such a large force as the 5th Corps was being mobilized, but the Demon King, who had been quietly observing the situation, subtly raised his hand.

“Could you elaborate a bit more?”

“An attack by the 5th Corps, not just ordinary soldiers, would leave a small kingdom like Taehon helpless. The King of Rweche, having an alliance with the Empire and Sanguo, wouldn’t want to appear negligent in his promises, so he’ll definitely scramble to send support.”

“Indeed, he would.”

“With some troops sent to the Empire and others to support Taehon, Rweche’s defenses will be significantly weakened.”

The Demon King, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head slightly.

“…You’re planning to strike Rweche before the Empire?”

Having already anticipated what Deon would use as his warning to the Human Realm, a question naturally arose in his eyes.

Fortunately, it seemed his guess was incorrect, as Deon shook his head.

“No. Didn’t we say we needed an example?”

To achieve that, Rweche needs to be the first to break the alliance and the last to fall.

“While maintaining the offensive against the Empire, if we send a reasonable number of officers and soldiers to attack Rweche, whose defenses are weakened, the desperate king will request support from the Empire and Sanguo. Since he can’t withdraw the support sent to his vassal state, Taehon, he’ll contact his allies.”

The Demon Realm doesn’t have infinite troops, so we’ll likely only be able to send enough to barely breach a single fortress, but it’ll be enough to pose a threat. Most demons look intimidating, making it difficult to judge their strength by appearance.

Therefore, the King of Rweche, already on edge due to his weakened defenses, will be startled like a rabbit at the mere sight of demon troops at his city gates.

Deon touched his lips.

“He’ll either request the return of the support he sent or ask for support from his allies, but…”

“From the Emperor’s perspective, it’ll be difficult to safely return the received support. And sending more support in a situation where he already lacks troops is even harder. Any support sent will likely be a disposable force to save face. Sanguo wasn’t a particularly strong kingdom to begin with, so even if they send support, it won’t be much.”

“Yes, moreover, the Emperor has deployed the supported troops to the most intense battleground in Paras Territory. If a ruler can reduce their own people’s casualties by using the blood of others, they will do so. Therefore, withdrawing the supported troops is a complicated matter, and even if they send their own troops to replace and return them, much time will have passed after completing all those procedures.”

Rweche can’t just idly wait during that time.

“In the end, the king’s younger brother, the ‘General,’ will step up to defend.”

Since he’s principled, even if the king tries to dissuade him, he’ll ultimately go.

The Demon King, having understood everything, wore a delighted smile.

“I’ll lend you Develania.”

“Thank you.”

With Develania, they’ll easily be able to take his head.

Since they’re brothers who deeply care for each other, the king will lose his mind. He’ll be extremely sad and frustrated, eventually turning to anger.

Anger towards the Emperor who took everything but gave nothing, or towards the two rulers who sent paltry, face-saving forces.

With the alliance rendered meaningless, he’ll naturally break it.

“The important thing here is to never attack the isolated Rweche.”

If we attack and conquer it, the other allied kingdoms in the Human Realm will unite even more strongly, having witnessed the fate of the fallen kingdom.

But what if the Demon Realm never attacks Rweche?

“Kingdoms will start considering breaking their alliances.”

In the current complex political landscape, you can’t be complacent just because you have vassal states, especially if they were swayed with words rather than force.

They became vassals for their own safety and benefit, not to suffer losses.

“Excellent.”

As if to lighten the mood, the Demon King clapped his hands twice.

“Then, we’ll proceed as our Commander-in-Chief says. This concludes the meeting.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Ah, Deon.”

As the legion commanders rose from their seats and began to leave, Deon, who was getting up with his cube, paused and turned back to the Demon King.

“Did you know? The restrictions on demons, whether from crossing the border or from contracts, disappear when facing a ‘Hero’ or a ‘Savior.’”

“…….”

…He deliberately told me late.

Deon’s grip tightened on the cube in his hand.

I can’t deny it’s important information, but how can I be happy when he dangles information like this and plays games?

A low voice escaped through his gritted teeth.

“Thank you for the information.”

“No problem. Oh, and.”

“…….”

“I understand your feelings, but go easy on the drugs.”

This isn’t even worth answering.

Deon quietly touched his lips before turning away.

…….

The first things he saw upon exiting were Ed and Dan in the middle of a heated argument, Ben watching them with a look of exasperation, and… Develania, who seemed to have been waiting for him.

…Right, I had something to discuss with Develania. I told her I’d combine the information the Demon King gathered independently with the information she gathered and give it back to her. So, I told them to get the report from her.

‘Well, I had something else I asked her to do anyway.’

Being able to get all the information at once won’t hurt.

Deon gestured for Dan and Ed, who had spotted him and were rushing over as if they had never been arguing, to step back and faced Develania.

“How did the task go?”

There were two pieces of information he needed from Develania.

Initially, after his last trip to the Empire, he had only asked the Demon King to find information about ‘what the Duke cherished most,’ but Deon subsequently issued a personal command, prioritizing it above all else.

‘Retrieve Cruel Hart’s body.’

He had roughly given her the location. He told her to go check if Cruel’s body was there and, if so, to recover it.

But.

“…Why are your hands trembling?”

“That’s…”

Something feels ominous. My fingertips are going cold.

It was a straightforward order. It shouldn’t have taken this long.

“…Now that I think about it, it’s been quite a while since I gave that order, and you haven’t said a word.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I expected it would be difficult to recover the body intact. Surely that’s not why you haven’t spoken until now, is it?”

“…….”

At her continued silence, Deon quietly clenched his fist.

“…Don’t tell me, you couldn’t even recover the body?”

“I’m really… really sorry.”

“…It’s okay.”

Yes, I expected even this. It’s not surprising news.

Deon lightly ran a hand over his face, composing his expression.

“Surely that’s not all. You wouldn’t be trembling this much just because of that, would you?”

“…There were traces of his head being severed.”

“…….”

“Traces indicating someone took his head…”

“That’s enough.”

Oh, really.

The news was even more devastating than he had imagined, and he finally lost his composure, raising his hand to cover his face.

“Are you alright…? I’m so sorry…”

“No, yes. I’m alright.”

“…….”

“Truly.”

I’m alright. I have to be alright.

Develania was a demon with a high position as the Commander of the 2nd Corps. He couldn’t show such disarray here and undermine his ‘authority’.

After a long silence, Deon, having barely managed to regain his composure, lowered the hand covering his face.

“You said there were traces of his head being severed. Then what about the torso?”

“There were also traces that someone else took that…”

“…I see.”

‘Someone else’ means a different entity than the ones who took the head.

“Was there a time difference?”

“Yes, it seems the torso was taken by someone about three days after the head was taken.”

“…….”

Deon tucked his trembling hand into his pocket and pulled out a uniquely shaped cigarette.

He might not know who took the torso, but he had an idea who and why took the head.

‘Those bastards who tried to kill my brother and me that day.’

Their main goal was to kill me.

Since they missed me, they needed proof that they had definitely killed Cruel, the traitor and obstacle. That’s why… that’s why….

‘Damn it.’

Deon stopped himself from thinking further, cursing inwardly as he put the cigarette in his mouth.

Ben, who had been standing at a distance, glancing over with worried eyes, seemed to notice this and rushed over, his eyes wide.

“No drugs, De… Demon-nim! What are you trying to do in your condition!”

“…….”

“Have this instead!”

Looking utterly bewildered, Ben snatched the unlit cigarette from Deon’s hand and shoved a pill that reeked of herbs into his grasp.

Goodness, Develania marveled inwardly.

‘What’s with his guts?’

Demon… Demon-nim had become even more unapproachable since his severe illness. You could say almost everything about him had changed.

His refined demeanor and elegant speech. Even his occasional coughing up of blood was elevated with an air of dignity. His flawless, near-perfect attitude felt like a thick wall to all demons.

How could anyone dare approach someone who belonged on that high throne? Even making eye contact felt like a sin.

Whether Develania was astonished or not, Deon glanced at Ben, noticing the sensation of the pill in his hand. The familiar scent, even from a short distance, told him what it was without looking.

“It’s a sedative.”

A medicine made from fairy herbs.

He had taken it many times before. Its effects were remarkable, so Deon wordlessly put it in his mouth and waved his hand, signaling Ben to step back.

Surprisingly, it was Develania who stopped Ben, who seemed reluctant to leave and kept glancing back with concern.

“There’s no need to push him away. You were going to ask about the first task you assigned, weren’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s still vague… I need a little more time. I’ll give you everything at once when I have more information. Would that be alright?”

“Alright.”

There’s still time.

Develania, expressing her gratitude for his ready agreement, bowed her head and stepped back, glancing at Ben.

Dan and Ed, who had been watching Ben with anxious eyes from afar, realized the conversation was over and quickly approached.

Ed pushed Dan’s face away with his hand as Dan opened his mouth to call him ‘Master’.

“De…”

“Demon-nim!”