Chapter 1 – 20 Gold Demon King
The most central part of the castle.
Audience room.
The scaffolding made of neat obsidian is horribly cracked.
The scene where the stone statues modeled after successive demon kings have been damaged to such an extent that it is difficult to recognize their original form seems to have expressed how fierce the fight that took place here just before was.
In the middle of the audience room, the owner of this room and the one who stood at the apex of the highest level of demons, the Demon King, is lying helpless.
Han Geon-woo, a black-haired man drenched in blood who was struggling to catch his breath while holding his sword like a cane, looked down at the corpse of the demon king he had defeated at the end of a desperate struggle, realizing that his long journey had finally come to an end.
“Huh… ,Huh! De, finally…”
‘Sea Baal… ！I don’t know how many times I almost looked around because I was afraid that someone might not be the demon lord… It’s a shame because this is the third time. If I hadn’t known the information at all, it would have been me who collapsed on the floor, not him.’
—-Break! Knock!
After spraying about half of the top-notch recovery potion that was left in the inventory, I drank it all at once, and the stomach wound that was so severe that the dangling arm and intestines were exposed was healed in an instant.
“Whoa… !”
Geon-woo, who touched the area where the new flesh had grown, was able to sigh with a much more comfortable face.
After regaining some stability, he inserted his sword and rummaged through the demon king’s corpse.
Like a demon king, he possessed treasures of inestimable value, but he clicked his tongue with an expression of obvious disappointment, as if there were no items of the kind that Geon-wu wanted.
‘I just happened to… ，As expected, there was no way to return from the beginning?’
“… Why?!”
While he was immersed in such thoughts, a blonde-haired female knight who was tied up with a rope in the far corner of the audience room was glaring at Geon-wu with an expression that looked like an enemy.
“What?”
“… Don’t pretend! Why did you, the hero, kill all the punitive forces right before entering the throne room?
“Under.”
‘Because I’m dumbfounded.’
Geon-wu strode forward with a spirited expression to the female knight who was shouting angrily… ．
ㅡPeruk!!
“… !… !”
The defenseless stomach was kicked like a rugby ball. The female knight, whose face was contorted with pain in an instant, let out a gasp and vomited.
“Who is living where is the one who is pretending right now… And, a colleague? Did you fucking call me a colleague right now? Talking about an open mouth.”
Puck! Puck! Puff! Geon-wu, who had a face like a demon, kicked the female knight in succession without mercy.
“Oooooh… Whoops!”
Geon-wu grabbed the hair of the woman who was vomiting while bending her body like a shrimp, and pressed her lips to her long ears.
“The reason you guys followed me in the first place was not only to support the subjugation of the demon lord, but also to deal with me immediately if we succeeded in defeating him. Isn’t it?”
“Cool… Cool… !What, what nonsense!”
The female knight, who momentarily showed an expression that seemed to say, “How do you do that?”, Tried to hide her disheveled appearance while shouting loudly.
“All the other members are dead, but don’t you think you’re the only one surviving because of a different feeling? Filia… No, Seras, the leader of the Shadow Hunters?”
“… ?！That, how did you name that…? ?”
“There is a way. If I kindly explain it to you, you will never understand.
-Kuheoeook… You… And Philia… !! Why… ?
-I won’t say to forgive us. Geon-wu, Your Highness said to eliminate the possibility of confusion in advance… I will tell you, my former colleague, my true form and name for the last time. The leader of the shadow hunters. Seras… Seras Victoria.
Geon-wu gnashed his teeth inwardly, recalling the words the female knight in front of him had said right before he took his breath away in the previous episode.
‘Because of these bastards, it ended in vain in the situation immediately after killing the demon king.’
“The other guys who feigned coincidence while traveling so far and joined the demon lord subjugation party were all four-year-olds, right? You’ve worked really hard to prepare.”
“… Are you intending to humiliate me, a traitor?”
Seras, who decided that there was no point in taking it off any more, asked questions to understand the other person’s intentions. In the worst case, he would explode the poison hidden in his mouth.
“I was quite worried about turning it into a house like this, but… You have a separate role to play. I will send you back in good health, so when you return, report that I am dead.”
Geon-wu took out his sword and let go of Seras’ hair, which he had been holding on to.
ㅡSuddenly!
She cut the rope that was holding her in one stroke.
“If you, like a captain, tell the testimony, that old man will believe it as it is…” Shouldn’t this be enough to get a thank you? I’ll be able to enjoy a part of the glory I deserve instead.”
“Ha! I’d rather die if I die. Report lies to Your Highness!”
“… It’s not a request, it’s an order?”
The moment Seras was about to say something in an attacking stance, Geon-wu muttered softly, activating the artifact prepared in advance and speaking again in a voice full of mana.
“After subduing the Demon King, instead of successfully eliminating me by working together with his remaining subordinates… All of his men were killed, and you, the sole survivor, barely escaped.”
“After subduing the Demon King, instead of successfully eliminating me by working together with his remaining subordinates… All the members of the crew died, and I, the only survivor, managed to get out…”
Geon-wu put on a satisfied expression when he saw Seras who followed exactly what he had said.
“Okay. Just remember it as it is. Now go away.”
Shit! As soon as the return scroll was torn, the magic ceremony unfolded, and Philia had a hazy expression… No, Seras’ figure disappeared in an instant.
Geon-woo, who was staring blankly at the place where she disappeared, muttered, remembering the days when she did not know Seras’ identity and called her Philia.
“Bitch… Let’s never see each other again.”
Hero, a title given only to superhumans who can stand against the demon king.
It can also be interpreted as meaning that you can threaten the country with your personal power. Furthermore, if you attach the modifier that you have defeated the demon king, public sentiment will lean toward the hero.
The best scenario for the King of Altma, who would be uncomfortable with the return of the hero in either direction, whether it be force or fame, is the co-destruction of the demon king and the hero.
Geon-wu shook his head thinking about the aftermath even after contemplating several times whether to wipe out the palace where the king attempted the Tosa Gu-fang, then raised his sword high and looked at his own face reflected like a mirror, precisely in his eyes.
The pupils, which should have been originally intelligent, are completely dead, and because of the unique dark and gloomy aura, the eyes naturally lose their strength just by looking at them.
‘I’m sure it’s not intuition. This is truly the last time… ．Now it’s revenge and I don’t mind it. I just want to live a quiet life.’
After he came to this place out of nowhere from the earth he originally lived in, Geon-wu, who had experienced death nine times and was completely mentally exhausted, decided to become a dead person as the world wanted.
* * *
It has been a long time since it was announced to the world that the warriors and subjugation forces who fought against the demon king were victorious and died a glorious death.
The western edge of the Principality of Haron, the downtown area of Barmela.
‘Has it already been 14 years? Time flies so fast.’
There is a blonde man who looks at the full-length mirror blankly, thinking of the years that have passed helplessly.
I’m already thirty-five this year.
In the past, the man who had risen to such a high level that he was called a swordsman was a hero, and his face value seemed low because his body had aged considerably, but his defocused and rotten eyes gave him an impression that naturally reminded him of the word “Uncle”. ．
The boy who was young at the time he came over to this world is nowhere to be found. This man, who is fiddling with his wiry beard in front of the mirror, is neither Han Geon-woo nor a warrior, but an alchemist living under the new name of Roden.
“Customer. Are you going to buy that mirror too?”
The clerk, who had been watching Roden like that, carefully asked with a friendly smile.
‘Oh, it’s a mirror… Now that I’m living in a new house, it would be nice to have a full-length mirror.’
“I see. I’ll count this as well.”
“All together… , Is 8 silver.”
After rummaging through the wallet in his bosom, Roden handed the other party eight pieces of silver and left his shop, being told that the purchases would arrive tomorrow.
It was a blue sky just a little while ago, but the sunset started to go down between entering and leaving the store, as if time had passed since I was choosing various items.
Stopping in downtown to pick up furniture for a potion shop that had recently been renovated, Roden slipped out of the shop and walked down the street.
The next destination is the red light district across the dark alley, Changgwan to be exact.
Lately, he has often felt that his heart is empty and lonely. At such moments, he could forget his loneliness for a while by holding a woman at the window, smelling the scent of her flesh, and releasing his sexual desire.
‘Obviously I remember going around this alley and going further forward… ．Is it over there? ‘
Roden, who was looking around the alleyway he was not familiar with, was drawn to the sound of a murmur from inside the colorful tent on the other side of the road.
Let’s go inside by opening the gap between the tents front and side without any other worries… People presumed to be aristocrats or well-known merchants who wear masks on their faces, wear hoods all over their bodies, or, on the contrary, show off their wealth with fancy clothes, are huddled together in a small space.
‘Simple Auction House… This is it.’
It was a landscape he had seen several times during his travels, so Roden knew at once what kind of gathering this was.
It is a small auction house held after a roving merchant guild traveling between cities enthusiastically promotes it to the wealthy nearby.
Thought to take a look while he was in, Roden checked the products across the crowd.
There, they have pointy ears and thick horns reminiscent of those of a goat… There was a demon girl.
The shackles on her ankles explained the situation this girl was in instead.
When Roden moved to a position where he could see a little better, the voice of the presenter who raised her arm high next to her Demon Girl resounded.
“Okay! This is the last product of the day! If you see it, you will know at once, but the true identity of this girl is… Oh, my God! Demons! During the height of the war, it is a terrifying demon that made us humans shudder whenever we met eyes!!”
The presenter, who placed his L-shaped fingers on his temples and imitated a horned demon, continued his speech.
“Everyone, don’t you want to have a golden opportunity to command anything to those demons!? Anything!”
The air around her became hotter as the host continued to spit and tremble all over her body.
“First of all, let’s start with 5 gold!”
Ordinary adult male slaves cost from one gold coin to three gold coins, and female slaves vary greatly depending on their appearance… Considering that the average was between two and four gold coins, it was quite expensive.
It is probably the price that includes the price of the devil’s horn, which is considered a fairly rare material.
-6 gold
-6 Gold 50 Silver!
-7 Gold 30 Silver!!
The presenter’s speech must have been quite effective. As soon as the auction started, the bidders raised their voices to compete with each other.
“…”
Roden felt quite a bit of sympathy when he saw the skinny demon girl wearing shackles inside the cage, but that was all. She knows very well that there is no end to saving others with just such a small sympathy.
But apart from that, the more she looked at the girl, the more she felt something strange.
‘What is that child? It feels familiar to me for some reason, or something like energy.’
Roden, who tilted his head in his mind and stared at the girl inside the cage, opened her eyes wide.
14 years ago. The demon king whom I managed to defeat while going through death several times.
Roden, who had vividly remembered it because he had accepted the demon energies emitted by the demon king through his whole body through the bloody battle with him, barely sensed the demon energies that he felt infinitely weak from that demon girl.
