Drip, drip. Water drops from the ceiling. It’s a basement so dimly lit that only the nearby objects can be seen through the flickering torchlight.
In that dark space, a couple tied tightly with ropes cries out to the man in front of them.
“Finn, p-please save us… We’ll pay back the money…!!”
They seem like a debtor and a creditor who couldn’t repay on time. Their bodies are already covered in wounds as if they’ve been tortured.
“Your deadline is well past. You’ve got to pay the price.”
Finn, with his red hair and sunglasses, smirks while resting his chin on his hand. He’s tall and built like a muscular hunk.
“I’m sorry… but please, the child… Demon King…”
The man, presumably the husband, bangs his head against the floor, begging for mercy. Despite the pain, his desperate attitude shines through.
He’s hit his head so hard that all his teeth are broken, and he’s drooling blood mixed with spit as he tries to speak.
Struggling like a fish out of water, his tied arms and legs flail about.
“A child? So you’ve got something you want to protect? Borrowing from the Hero Church, huh?”
The mention of ‘child’ makes the red-haired man flinch. He is known as Finn, the Demon King of Might.
He immediately rises from his chair and speaks to the blue-haired woman beside him.
“Intinium, how much did these scums borrow from me?”
“About 140,000 gold coins… Finn oppa…”
The two look like siblings, moving in perfect sync as if they’ve been doing this together for ages.
Upon hearing the amount, Finn approaches the man lying face down. In a place filled with the metallic smell of blood, he grabs the middle-aged man’s hair.
“You borrowed a hell of a lot, are you not ashamed?”
“The kid is sick… I couldn’t help it…”
“That’s your problem!”
Bang! Finn slams the man’s head into the floor. Dust flies from the sheer force.
A moment of silence follows. Finn’s expression doesn’t change even as the man in front of him bleeds profusely and loses consciousness.
“Darling!! No!!”
The woman beside him screams at her fallen husband, but no reply comes back.
The pool of crimson blood on the floor says it all.
“Intinium. Bring the brat here.”
“Got it… Finn oppa…”
With his spirit low, he gestures at Intinium to follow through.
“What’s happening… Mom?”
A small girl, held by Intinium’s hand, comes out confused.
She coughs repeatedly, clutching her chest as if in pain, ready to rush toward her parents, but the blue-haired Demon King blocks her way.
With a finger held up, indicating shhh, Intinium signals to the girl, who then loses strength and collapses.
“Speak straight. Do you really have no money to pay back?!”
“N-no… If you give me more time…”
Finn threatens the wife while behind her the husband fades away. Despite the chance to be taken to a priest to save his life, seeing someone claim they have no money makes him seethe with rage.
“So you’re playing it like this? Fine.”
With a crack, Finn twists his wrist, then spreads his arms wide. He clapped his hands together like swatting a fly: slap!
“Let’s feed her to our little sister.”
With hands clasped together like in prayer, Finn starts to squeeze them as if molding a snowball.
“There aren’t enough corpses left since the Apostle of Rage died.”
Creeeak, squash. Chilling sounds reverberate through the air, and the couple in front of him is contorted in various directions according to Finn’s movements.
“It was great bringing in Intinium’s share from the north!”
Finally, a red mass, now the size of a simple die, drops to the floor. Just a moment ago, the couple was begging Finn to take their money.
“Mom..!! Dad..!!”
The little girl cries out as she watches her parents turn into a pile of meat in an instant.
Somehow, her entire body feels powerless, shaking hands and legs.
“What will we do with the child..?! Finn oppa…”
“Of course, if they can’t pay back the money, they gotta die—.”
As the tearful girl catches Intinium’s eye, she licks her lips in anticipation.
Just then, a loud noise shakes the entire basement.
Crash! The side wall crumbles as several knights burst into the basement.
“By the Emperor’s decree!! Finn!!”
“Follow Captain Reinhardt!!”
With a shield bearing the crest of a cross and a lion, it looks very much like the holy knight’s gear Licht saw in the final exams.
Charging in with that shield in hand, an old man with speckles of gray hair collides with Finn.
“How did the Imperial Knights find this place…? Ah, crap. That old dude is done for.”
Finn curses with a hand on his forehead, confused about how his secret lair was exposed.
In a situation where another Demon King was killed, his position had been pinpointed. He pulls out brass knuckles from his pocket.
“Who knows where that wizard went and what he’s doing!!”
Though Finn continued to slam his fists down onto the shield, the golden lion wouldn’t let go of his arm.
That was one of the holy knight’s skills: Sacred Lion.
It looked even more refined than the one Licht had seen before.
“Captain Reinhardt!! There are already casualties!!”
“This place is too cramped; we have the upper hand! Focus on saving lives!!”
The knights following him discover the pieces of the couple and report the situation to their captain, Reinhardt, who now faces off against Finn.
“Hey, the shield broke? Just proves it’s weaker than the Holy Sword!!”
How many times had Finn pounded the shield? It seemed impervious to the Demon King’s attacks, but now it was damaged. With the balance of power tilted, he threw a decisive punch.
“Gah…!”
Reinhardt slams against the wall, the impact so strong that cracks spiderwebbed across the surface as if a bomb had exploded.
He could hear his ribs breaking from the inside, and his armor crumpling like paper.
“What a sturdy bag of sand. Makes me nostalgic about the days I spent with my brother!”
Despite trembling legs, the elderly knight stands back up immediately.
As he spits out a mouthful of blood, Finn, surprised to see someone withstand his might for the first time in ages, readies himself for a serious fight.
“Someone is going to come… Finn…”
“Whoever comes, no one is stronger than me in this world.”
“Is that so? The hero who contracted with a god.”
In that moment, the knight, with a nasty grin, thrusts his sword into the ground, and Finn feels a chilling blade whiz by, forcing him to protect his neck with his hands.
Oh no, I’m screwed…
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind surged in through the ruined wall, followed by a long-handed axe crashing to the side. Clearly bearing the mark of the Wolf King.
“You’ve held on well. Captain Reinhardt.”
“…Your Majesty.”
“Rest easy, my friend. Don’t die leaving behind two sons who go to the Academy.”
A figure with a long scar over one eye, Rock wraps Reinhardt in his cloak. Not even hesitating to protect those around him, he steps forward toward Finn.
“It has taken too long to track you down. Hero Church.”
“You crazy woodsman!!”
Finn, with his black outfit flapping, threatened the Emperor who was coming to kill him, but the situation had already turned upside down.
Gone was the earlier relaxed demeanor as he barely managed to block the axe that came aimed at his neck.
“Let’s hear the reason you touched my daughter.”
The Ten Heroes, with an overwhelming presence, could devour an opponent with just their arrival. A wolf that swallows the sun and bites the moon had succeeded in tracking the Hero Church.
“Intinium!! You must run!! You can’t defeat the Emperor!!”
Caught off guard, the Demon King of Might sweats profusely, raising his voice to his sister beside him.
*
Meanwhile, in the Academy’s male dormitory, Kainel and I were chatting away.
“Kainel, how about a trip to Tardun’s Shrine this weekend?”
“Tardun? Why’s that?”
“I plan to practice some swordsmanship rigorously.”
To catch Finn, I ultimately need to grow stronger. My Demon King Kill isn’t enough as it couldn’t completely slay even the Magic Hat. Unless I can be as overpowered as Emperor Rock.
Kainel and Ariel also have a vendetta against Finn. I might need their help, just like during the showdown with the Head, since heroes and demon lords share a close bond.
“Princess Pina will come too, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then I should bring Ariel as well! She’s grown up in the countryside, so she’ll love a trip.”
They chat like a cute couple on a double date. He wasn’t originally like this. Has he picked this up from me? It annoys me a bit.
[Schartines♡Nex 67% ‘NEW!!’]
[Lee Soo-hyun♡Pina Grancia 8% ‘NEW!!’]
Two status windows popped up in front of me. My Affection Level had risen after talking with Nex at the bakery.
“I did give Pina some chocolate…”
I resolved to push away the disgusting memo suggesting we melt and share it… It would seem creepy if I said it myself, maybe if Pina says it later.
Seeing her hugging a chocolate the size of herself while wagging her tail was pretty adorable. Normally, puppies shouldn’t eat chocolate, right? Is she safe being from the Inrang Tribe?
“How can I become strong like you! Licht!”
While I was lost in thought, Kainel looked at me with envy. His skills as a hero were growing, but he still fell short when it came to opposing a Demon King.
“Kainel, have you considered joining the Imperial Knights?”
“..Not really. Why do you ask?”
There was a knight event for Kainel strengthening in the game, wasn’t there? Is there no way to make that happen?
“I think it’d be great to learn from observing their movements.”
“Is this about the future again? Do you know something about my brother’s situation?”
“….”
I didn’t answer. It was a painful topic for him. Kainel had a backstory where his brother was killed by the Demon King while being a knight.
That’s why he has difficulty approaching Ariel, and he’s practiced swordsmanship without a teacher. All the main characters have their own scars relating to the Demon Lords.
Watching the knights would likely boost his swordsmanship quite a bit… Ah, that gives me an idea.
“If it’s uncomfortable, how about you meet one of your classmates later?”
“..Who is it?”
“Someone named Leon.”
The holy knight Leon. Last time I saw him, he seemed to have transformed for the better since getting off the harem.
Leon’s father was skilled enough to serve as captain of the knight order multiple times. If the connection is there, who knows, he might be able to train in swordsmanship with him.
