[12th Round] The Living Demon
Pedigree was very important.
It might not be important on Earth, but in the world of Fantasy, people often even sacrificed their lives to protect ‘noble blood’.
It was a little different from loyalty.
They believed that a descendant who inherited the blood of a hero and had many achievements would also be able to protect the world and their family.
Hence, it was more like a local creed.
It had already been scientifically proven that inherited genes didn’t affect the future and fate of a person.
Talent was just talent.
How it would be used was in one’s own hands.
But in the world of Fantasy, things were different.
“H-how… Such a miracle…”
“His Majesty is a relative of the White Hero!”
“Hoho! It was inevitable!”
Unlike the gods of Earth that nobody had ever heard from or seen before, the God of the Fantasy World made her existence known.
I hadn’t visited the temple since the 1st playthrough, but the God of the Fantasy World loved to intervene in the Hero’s adventures.
Locals called it “destiny.”
They believed that that was how God showed her love.
Dragons were the most influenced by this ideology.
That also included Ice Dragon Sleas, the destroyer of the environment and creator of the ring that I now wore.
That lizard also imitated God.
She gave special privileges to the Hero and his descendants.
Back when she was the Guardian of my second homeland, it was a very powerful empire. Although it quickly fell after she left for the Southern Continent.
“Are there those who are against my rule?”
“No, Your Majesty!”
“That would be blasphemy!”
“We will serve you faithfully!”
Everyone bowed before me.
Even the Sword Princess, who hated me before, showed respect.
In the Fantasy World, bloodline was more important than talent. No matter how hard one tried, they still wouldn’t be able to defeat the one who could order a powerful dragon to deal with everything due to their familial background.
Crushing an army of 5,000 was indeed an amazing feat.
However, if the dragon received an order from a member of the royal bloodline, she could defeat fifty thousand soldiers and save the entire country all alone!
There was no comparison.
All of that was in the past, though.
The Dragon King, Noebius, had killed the rest of the guardian dragons, so there were no longer any of them left to impersonate God.
But this culture still remained as an exaltation of the pedigree.
That included the ring that I put on.
“Henceforth, I cannot accept this marriage. But I swear on my reputation that I’ll take care of the princess. Those who are against my decision, come forward.”
“…”
“…”
“Since there are no objections, let’s move on to the next matter at hand. I declare that the capitulating countries of the Northern Continent are now part of the Holy Mollan Empire as a principality. There is no need to pay tribute, but every year on the day of the founding of the empire, legal heirs must be present, and those who violate this will be considered traitors.”
I said nothing about the countries that didn’t surrender.
Because the rulers of such states were executed, nothing could be done to them but to manage them personally until a worthy candidate appeared.
At that moment, noises began to rise from outside the meeting room.
BOOM!
I told my subjects not to bother me over little trifles. That was why when one of my subjects burst inside, I already knew what was happening was important.
“Your Majesty! Trouble!”
It was a guy who became the head of the knightly order instead of Alex, who had the misfortune of meeting stupid heroes, who led him to his death on the Western Continent. His name was most likely the Head of the Knightly Order B.
He didn’t reach A-rank, but he was still useful and quick-witted.
“What happened?”
“A demon has been summoned in the Magic Kingdom!”
“Demon?”
“Yes. The Knightly Order had already reached the capital, but the soldiers were helpless against the vile monster. I quickly ordered to retreat, but the demon is too strong…”
“Enough, I get it. Aren’t my people dying out there as you prolong this?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty!”
I got up.
It wasn’t for me to say this because I used the Demon Lord’s daughter as a heating pad, but…
“It’s time to do my duty as a hero.”
I was bored of playing the Emperor role.
I, the MAX-Class Hero, secretly wanted the Demon Lord himself to be the one summoned as I headed to the capital of the Magic Kingdom!
***
The inhabitants of Earth were mistaken about the inhabitants of Fantasy.
Elves, demons, angels, spirits, mermaids…
Everyone had strange ideas about the “non-human” races.
However, they, too, ate and went to the toilet and would feel embarrassed if they were seen naked. If they made a mistake, they received scolding from their mother, and to avoid this, they used their father as a shield.
There was no perfect race that fed on nothing but dew and never made errors.
The same was true of the angels and demons, which we loved to pit against each other.
If angels were “people with wings,” then demons were “people with horns.”
But demons, unlike angels, were viewed as unpleasant by the masses.
Both of these races were mean and evil, but only demons had a negative image.
Yes, the God of the Fantasy World defeated the Demon Lord and accused him and the entire demon race of deception and incitement, but the characteristic demon skill ‘Awakening’ played a big role in this.
The same was true of the monster before me.
“Hahaha! You’re all no different from insects! Small and weak!”
Demons could change their physical form to whatever they wanted.
They couldn’t become as huge as the Supreme Dragon of Oblivion, but they could turn their fingers into blades or grow wings on their backs.
That was the demons’ awakening.
Most of them had unusual appearances.
Their females still tried to look good. Meanwhile, their males only needed strength, so their appearance wasn’t that pleasant.
The enmity towards them probably began precisely because of the male ones.
The demon that the Head of the Knightly Order B trembled so much against also belonged to them.
“Hmm… This is the first time I’m seeing that newcomer…”
He looked more like a monster than a demon.
He was about 3 meters tall, but he seemed even larger because of his tentacles sticking out in different directions.
I took a look at his stats.
▷ Race: Exceptional Demon
▷ Level: 999+
▷ Job: Brutal Assassin (Assassination = Carnage ↑)
▷ Skills: Dark Energy Z, Tentacles Z, Endurance MAX, Carnage MAX, Assassination MAX…
▷ Status: Frenzy, Excitement, Enjoyment
His entire appearance and skills screamed that he was a villain who shouldn’t be negotiated with and needed to be exterminated at once.
I’d seen this a lot in the 1st round.
In any case…
“Oooohhh…”
“Aaaahhh…”
“Haaaaa…”
People, suspended by the grasps of the monster’s tentacles, uttered strange groans.
King, queen, princes, princesses, servants, aristocrats, wizards…
They weren’t wrapped in them but pierced in the area between their legs, like a kebab on a skewer.
For a moment, I was worried, but everything seemed to be fine since after everything was over, they would still be sent to the guillotine for treason.
“Two Z-rank skills?”
Those ranks were too high, even considering that I was already in the secondary education course.
If I wasn’t here, he would have destroyed the Holy Mollan Empire in a couple of days.
If Master Mollan intervened, though, then there would be no traces left of him, but He shouldn’t have any need to interfere.
Were the royal family and mages out of their minds? What did they think would happen if they summoned a demon with two Z-rank skills?
They were most likely deeply repentant now.
“And you…”
“You finally noticed me.”
The demon, destroying everything in his path, glared at me.
“Hahaha! So you are the emperor they speak of!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He rushed towards me.
Hearing his cry, the soldiers turned and looked at me.
“His Majesty is here!”
“The Hero has come! We are saved!”
“Fools! Protect His Majesty!”
The ordinary soldiers wanted me to protect them, but the knights wanted them to protect me. While they were arguing about it, the demon had already reached me.
And with his tentacles, he aimed at my butt.
I smiled.
“Hey, you pervert.”
It was time to put an end to this.
I summoned the wings of the righteous hero.
Fshuh!
Because of this, my magnificent royal robes were torn apart, but the demon would pay in full for it, so everything was fine.
Unfortunately, due to my introduction with the mantle, he quickly diminished all the fervor.
The wings of the righteous hero, which were able to break even the scales of the Supreme Dragon of Oblivion, who once approached godhood with his G-rank skills, shredded through the demon’s body with ease.
The Holy Sword was just a spare.
Thanks to the teachings of Master Mollan, the wings of the righteous hero were already stronger than the Holy Sword Nucleon.
“I-it c-can’t be… my tentacles were destroyed without the Holy Sword?”
Even before he died, the demon was talking nonsense.
“A real hero does not rely only on the Holy Sword. Take note of this.”
“T-there is no other hero who has such wings…”
Bam!
The blood-covered demon fell.
He couldn’t even recover since the blessing of the righteous hero interfered with his regeneration.
“It’s more of a curse than a blessing,” the First Spirit put in her two cents.
“Tsk. You don’t even know what you’re talking about. Holy blessing is poison for demons.”
“It seems to me that what the Drug Hero calls a holy blessing is poisonous for all races…”
“Do you want to experience it yourself?”
“Don’t insult the noble spirit!”
The demon that canceled his awakening showed his true appearance.
Because of his huge size, I thought that he would be a man of 20-30 years old, but a child appeared who didn’t even seem ten years old.
He was quite a kid.
He was, of course, much older, but that was completely unexpected.
Was he stronger than the Demon Lord?
“If he is such a strong demon, it’s impossible that I’m unaware of his existence…”
For me, he was just a puppy, but if he was against another hero, then he was on the same threat level as the Five Great Disasters.
I didn’t bother to guess.
Because I had someone to whom you can ask everything.
“Ssosia. Show yourself.”
“Hey! You bastard!”
Nothing could fix her.
Her husband called her, but she didn’t even show a single drop of love. Instead, without even saying hello, she began to call me names.
Instead of clothes, she had soapy foams all over her body.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“How many times have I said not to call me so suddenly! Because of the curse, I can’t even refuse!”
“I just wanted to see you as soon as possible.”
“Scoundrel…” Ssosia said coolly, calling out a long towel and covering her naked body with it.
Her expression and gaze softened a little, too.
“I need to find out something right now.”
“I knew it! You called me not to because you wanted to see me!”
Ssosia’s expression changed again.
I didn’t pay attention to it.
“Who’s this demon? This is the first time I’ve seen him.”
Turning slightly and looking at the demon, she grunted.
“Are you completely stupid? There’s no way you know every demon out there. It’s natural for you to meet someone of my kind for the first time.”
Hearing her statement, I chuckled. After all…
“The only reason why I wouldn’t know a demon’s name is if it’s a living demon.”
