Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Hero Sage of the Kingdom
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‘Demon King... You haven't forgotten me.’
A full month and five days had passed.
She had thought he’d forgotten all about her.
She had believed he’d never come looking again.
She had assumed he’d leave her locked away forever until she withered and died...
‘This has to be the last time, right?’
A hero and the Demon King were beings destined to kill each other.
The Demon King had unusually kept her, a hero, alive and imprisoned for so long, but even he was now heeding the call of fate by summoning her.
The closer Sage got to the grand hall where the Demon King awaited, the more her heart pounded.
-Avenge me.
Bergio’s voice grew clearer and clearer.
She remembered why she had come to kill the Demon King in the first place.
Bergio’s sworn enemy.
Because he had killed her master.
She had come to kill the one who murdered her master.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
Kill the Demon King.
There was just one regret.
‘Vivian said she’d come again tomorrow...’
The presence of Vivian, who now visited her every night.
That was her only lingering attachment.
‘It’s fine. If I defeat the Demon King...’
She could save her.
Even with the shackles on, her body brimmed with overflowing mana.
She would catch him off guard and strike.
That was Sage’s plan.
Clang. Clang.
The doors opened.
The Demon King seated in the grand hall came into view.
And beside him stood his loyal followers: the priestess and female warrior, the dragonkin, the half-vampire, and the succubus.
Not to mention the mages who had betrayed the kingdom.
They lined up on either side of the Demon King, glaring at her.
These were the ones who had killed all her comrades.
Their attire was so obscenely revealing she could barely look straight at it, but every one of them possessed tremendous power.
“Long time no see.”
The Demon King’s deep, gloomy voice echoed through the hall.
She gritted her teeth against the surging disgust.
“You seem to be doing better than expected. Your skin looks healthier than before, after all.”
Her skin, untouched by sunlight for so long, was now pale and porcelain-white.
The toned muscles honed by training had softened a bit, and the calluses on her fingers had vanished.
“You’re the one who locked Sage away.”
“Locked away? Didn’t they let you exercise inside?”
“...”
“Well, what you did in prison doesn’t matter. What matters is that I remembered you and called for you. You know what that means, right?”
“Kill me. Sage would rather die than be defiled by you.”
“Defiled? Don’t you have something to do first?”
“What?”
“A duel.”
A duel?
Sage furrowed her brow.
She couldn’t make sense of the Demon King’s words.
A duel, of all things.
She was already shackled.
The hierarchy was crystal clear.
She wasn’t the one requesting it—the Demon King was proposing it himself.
What was his game?
“You’re trying to trick Sage!”
“No tricks. If you win the duel, I’ll grant you a reward. I might even consider sending you back to the kingdom if that’s what you want.”
“...You expect me to believe that?”
“What if you don’t?”
“...”
It was simple.
If she won, her wish would be granted.
If she lost, her future would only grow darker.
“Fine. Let’s duel. Sage is confident.”
I snapped my fingers.
Two priests waiting outside the hall entered, carrying a single sword.
“It’s the holy sword. Take it and defeat my champion.”
The remaining priest unlocked the shackles on Sage’s hands and feet.
Clang!
Her arms and legs were free.
Sage wondered.
Which of the Demon King’s minions standing behind him would fight her?
‘I haven’t seen them fight properly...’
Whoever it was, she would give her all.
That was Sage’s unbreakable rule.
“Looking for your opponent? But the one who’ll face you isn’t one of them.”
“What?”
Then who?
The Demon King spoke.
-Rise.
As soon as his voice, laced with demonic energy, ended, the thick demonic aura filling the surroundings split apart, revealing a pitch-black void.
As if space itself was warping to unveil a new dimension.
A figure emerged from the black darkness.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
What stepped through the rift was something extremely familiar to Sage’s eyes.
“Huh?”
Familiar armor.
Though it was warped and battered beyond easy recognition, Sage knew it instantly—she’d seen it countless times.
The kingdom’s crest on the left breast, ornate pauldrons, and the famously sturdy mithril plating.
The knight hailed as the strongest in that nameless kingdom now.
Her master, the knight.
It was Bergio’s armor.
The armor of the master she had once revered stood before her of its own accord.
Gripping a sword dreadfully corrupted.
He had become a dullahan.
The monster born when a headless knight dies, unable to forget its grudge, and turns undead.
Her proud master.
The knight called the kingdom’s strongest in life.
Now stood before her as a grotesque undead monster.
Black smoke rose from the neck stump.
As dark and thick as the power he’d wielded in life.
“M-Master?”
“You recognize him. Must be from all that time together.”
“Y-You... What have you done?! H-How could you do this to Master?!”
Sage screamed at the Demon King on his throne, looking down at her.
He smirked as if he’d expected this.
“Thanks to you, Sage.”
“...What? Because of Sage?”
“Your power let me raise him again. It was quite the ordeal to bind the soul of the dead back to its body. Wouldn’t have been possible without such deep resentment.”
“What are you talking about...?”
The Demon King’s gaze upon her was ice-cold.
“You didn’t know? After you lost to me, the thousands of soldiers you brought became my power. Know why I didn’t come for you sooner?”
He twisted his lips into a cold smile.
“I was busy absorbing the power I took from you.”
“B-Because Sage lost...?”
“Believe it or not, up to you.”
There was a bit of a lie mixed in.
What truly allowed me to create a dullahan from Bergio’s grudge was the hero’s power that Priestess Vivian brought me.
Sex with her and 5,000 corpses could only expand the dungeon’s scale and strength.
It didn’t directly boost my own power.
But what did the truth matter?
The important thing was that, thanks to her, I’d revived Bergio as a loyal minion.
‘He seems a bit weaker than in life, though...’
That could be fixed later once I found his head again.
And Vivian still had more value to exploit in breaking Sage.
So there was no need to shatter her faith just yet.
“A touching reunion between master and disciple—why the long faces?”
“You bastard...”
Flames of hatred blazed in Sage’s glaring eyes.
Hatred and rage.
But it was different from what I’d seen before.
No trace of a hero’s sense of duty.
Just personal vengeance.
Had she completely forgotten she was a hero?
Clearly, much of her memory had been erased.
“I’ll kill you!”
Holy power rose from her entire body.
And with it, the demonic energy I’d secretly infested her with.
“I’ll put Master to rest with my sword and shatter you, Demon King!”
Having grown so accustomed to demonic energy over time, she didn’t notice.
That she was wielding both demonic energy and holy power together.
That it prevented the holy sword from manifesting its full strength.
Whoosh!
Impure holy power, tainted with demonic energy, flared from the holy sword.
The holy power was murkier than before.
Blinded by fury, Sage didn’t realize.
-Avenge me...
Bergio’s voice echoed close by.
-Avenge me. Kill the ...king who slew me.
It’s a lie.
It couldn’t mean the king.
It had to be that Demon King.
“Don’t worry. Sage will avenge you for sure.”
To do that, she had to cut down her master, now a dullahan.
Because of him.
The master he had turned into that.
‘I have to.’
For his honor.
For new vengeance.
And for her own atonement.
She had never once beaten him in life.
But she vowed now.
“Begin. This should be entertaining.”
Master.
Sage will definitely win.
I’m sorry.
She gripped the holy sword tight.
A somewhat murky light emanated from it.
And she swung.
-The sword feels too light.
Boom!
-Too many stray thoughts when you swing.
Clang!
-How long do you plan to stay down? No matter how much you play the pity card, enemies won’t spare you.
Spark!
Demonic energy clashed with holy power.
With every exchange against the dullahan, Sage had to admit it.
This dullahan was made from her master’s body and soul.
The swordsmanship and footwork were all too familiar.
The ironclad defense that made her feel like she was hitting a wall every time she attacked.
And yet the sword was far from slow.
The guilt buried inside her only grew heavier.
-Avenge me.
Bergio’s constant cries to her now felt like they were all her fault.
It’s not Sage’s fault.
Sage didn’t kill Master.
Master was... killed by the Demon King.
The Demon King revived him as an undead too!
Sage did nothing wrong!
-Still so many stray thoughts.
“Kgh!”
A red line slashed across her cheek.
‘I thought I’d grown strong enough.’
Her master’s power was still too much for her to handle.
At that moment, her master pulled back.
A brief opening appeared.
But this was a trap.
-Be extra wary when an advantageous foe retreats. They’re preparing a bigger strike.
She knew because her master had drilled that lesson into her countless times.
As expected.
Her master unleashed a massive blow just like in life.
A overhead smash that could crush a foe’s shoulder.
It was well within Sage’s expectations.
Whoosh!
She easily dodged the attack.
Bergio’s sword didn’t touch her.
“Such... the limitations of a mindless undead, I suppose.”
The Demon King’s disappointed voice rang out.
I can win.
If I cut down the dullahan version of my master that he made.
I can atone for the sin I bear toward Master.
“Vivian would’ve loved to see this.”
What?
The dullahan’s heart was impaled on Sage’s sword.
Stab!
-Hesitation makes your strikes weak. Show no mercy to your foe.
The holy sword failed to pierce Bergio’s heart.
She could almost hear Bergio scolding her.
“Ah.”
Bergio’s sword aimed for her throat.
“The match is decided.”
“Coward! You interfered in the fight!”
How hollow that cry sounded—Sage knew it all too well.
“Think excuses like that will work?”
The Demon King’s words were utterly frigid.
From the start, he held absolute dominance in this situation.
She knew that.
It was never meant to be fair.
Sage had gone without real combat or training for over a month, leaving her weakened.
She’d anticipated the Demon King would use any trick.
“Kgh...”
“Now that you’ve lost, it’s time to pay the price.”
Bergio struck the back of Sage’s hand with the flat of his blade.
Clang.
The holy sword slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor.
It felt just like her own plight.
“Come here.”
“...”
Sage shuffled toward the Demon King.
She had no right to refuse.
She’d considered suicide.
But Vivian kept lingering in her mind.
‘I’ll come again.’
She said she would.
Vivian said she’d come today too.
So.
‘Sage has to live.’
As she drew near the jade throne, he said,
“Come and take off my pants.”
“...”
“You’re not thinking of breaking our deal, are you?”
Sage obeyed without resistance.
She pulled down the Demon King’s pants.
Thwack!
His massively erect cock slapped against her cheek.
‘Disgusting.’
The foul stench of demonic energy made her skin crawl with revulsion.
Irritation boiled up.
“Suck it.”