The Demon King's Emergency
**The Demon King's Emergency**
"Hero-nim, please help us!"
"Kyaaaah! Save me!"
"Demons! These are demons... Kyaaack!"
Kim Jae-hyun heard the desperate pleas of the citizens everywhere begging for his help, but he ignored them all.
Unarmed citizens and mages across the city had tried to resist, but while the priests' holy power could be blocked, the knights' attacks slipped through every defense.
"Kyaaack!"
"Kyaaah!"
Everywhere, bodies lay dying in pools of blood, and the knights and priests laughed as they slaughtered with gleeful cruelty.
"P-please, save me. Just my daughter... anything, please..."
A mother clutched her young daughter tightly in the midst of the monster swarm, sobbing as she begged with all her heart. Yet the knight raised his sword without a shred of mercy and cleaved mother and daughter in two.
The scene was broadcast live across the entire Holy Kingdom of Astraea.
"How could this be happening!"
Someone in a distant city within the kingdom cried out in horror at the terrible sight. Every viewer watching the live broadcast from above felt the same jolt.
The so-called knights and priests had slaughtered an innocent mother and daughter without hesitation. Even though the woman on the mother's side had knelt and begged for the child's life, they had shown not a trace of compassion, smiling as they killed them.
"She isn't the Saint. These aren't priests or knights. They're demons! Demons!"
"Demons! This country has gone mad! This country was always the Demon King's nation!"
"Demons! Demons!"
Chaos erupted in cities across the kingdom. The sight of the Saint, knights, and priests filled countless people with fury and deep anxiety.
They had not seen the videos, so they never witnessed the one million rampaging beasts. But the evidence was right there in the live feed: the corpses of those beasts lay scattered across the city, killed by the immense holy power unleashed by Kim Jae-hyun's Holy Sword. The sword had been used to hide his demonic energy completely, making it look as if he were still the heroic knight.
People looking at those bodies felt an overwhelming fear—that perhaps a new Demon King had truly emerged in the Middle World.
The sentiment was not limited to Lampas City. It was the heart of the Holy Kingdom of Astraea itself.
To them, the tale of a Demon King leading one million dark armies to destroy the world was no longer legend—it had been real just ten years ago.
'This kind of horror must never happen again!'
'What the hell are those traitorous Saint and priests doing?!'
'They betrayed the Hero like this? Crazy! What will happen when the new Demon King appears!'
'So it was true that Irene, the Empress of the Habsburg Empire, had been brainwashed?'
The shocking truth left everyone stunned, but the future was clear.
"The Demon King may have appeared! Now is not the time! The Hero has stopped fighting for the continent because those thousand demon witches and devils who betrayed him, slaughtering over one hundred thousand innocent people without a second thought, now control the kingdom!"
"We must expel the wicked witches and devils wearing the Saint's guise, restore justice, and welcome the Hero!"
Waaah!
Across the Holy Kingdom of Astraea, rallies ignited. They formed the self-proclaimed Revolutionary Army, centered on those who dreamed of revolution.
In truth, there was no real army—just a band of rioters.
The name "Revolutionary Army" was nothing but self-aggrandizement. It meant the evil witches and demon horde would be swept away, the Hero welcomed, and the world saved from the Demon King's threat—the noble cause.
Yes, the cause was righteous.
"Fire Strike! Flame Collision!"
The seventh-circle mage hurled a Fire Strike that slammed into the earth and created a blazing sea of fire.
"Kyaaaaah!"
They had charged with spirit, but their strength was laughable—only Sword Experts at beginner level or mages of two or three circles at most. Facing the overwhelming power of a true seventh-circle mage, they crumbled instantly.
"Astraea! Crush your enemies!"
"Die!"
Priests and knights were stationed everywhere in the Holy Kingdom, serving as the main force to crush the rebellion.
No matter how numerous, ordinary humans could never match the limits of their power. Even with weapons raised in fury, they were crushed and slaughtered by the tens of thousands.
Yet the kingdom was gripped in a feverish state from the revolts against the Demon King. The suppression by powerful forces happened within ten minutes, a scene unimaginable on Earth—uniquely visible only in this world.
But even though the rebellions were swiftly crushed, the damage was immense.
Countless lives had already been lost, and distrust of the ruling class began to spread through the Holy Kingdom of Astraea.
Originally, the kingdom had been supported by the Saint Lucrezia, who possessed great holy power. She could purify lands instantly tainted by demonic energy, possessed a saintly beauty, and remained a virgin. She was revered, and stories of her love for the dead Hero had become legendary within the kingdom.
But now, with all truths revealed, she was no longer the Saint—she was called a cruel witch.
No longer loved by the people, she ruled through force, subjugating her subjects like a Demon King.
The Saint had become a tyrant resembling the Demon King itself.
"Hu-hu-hu... Now it's all neat and clean."
In the aftermath of the massacre inside Lampas City, where every survivor had been wiped out, the Saint stood amid a mountain of corpses and smiled as she declared it clean.
Those who had started the revolt and failed, or who had merely watched the videos in silence, all felt the same thing.
'This country has gone insane!'
'It's over now!'
People were terrified. The slaughter in Lampas City had been real, not some distant tragedy.
Soon they would be killed too, for knowing the secrets. They had already killed over one hundred thousand people.
Killing more than one hundred thousand, and twenty thousand would be hard? One hundred thousand would be harder?
They were already countless.
In that moment, Kim Jae-hyun appeared before the Saint. The smile on Lucrezia's face froze in tension.
Jae-hyun looked down at her with cold eyes and asked, "Is this the conclusion you reached? To slaughter every person who knows this secret to keep it hidden?"
"Yes, it was unavoidable to prevent chaos across the continent. If those people survived and started gossiping, the entire continent would fall into turmoil."
Lucrezia showed no regret even after eliminating over one hundred thousand lives.
"You've killed more than one hundred thousand innocent people just to keep the secret... so ruthless, I can't believe you're the Saint."
"Hu-hu-hu, I'm glad you confirmed your sincere declaration that you will not interfere with the continent's affairs. Since you loved Irene so much, she's now the Empress of the Habsburg Empire with a beautiful daughter, and recovering her will be difficult."
"You're being too relaxed. You think I won't kill you?"
Kim Jae-hyun asked in a cold voice, but Lucrezia shook her head.
"No, if that were the case, I would have had my head cut off right away. There must be something you want from me. That's why you declared you would not interfere and would remain silent while watching this situation."
"Of course. This is their fate. Those who chose me as their leader after I was betrayed by the Hero deserve to be slaughtered by their own chosen leaders. It's not my place to interfere, and I have no duty to save the world from the Demon King that those traitors helped create."
Jae-hyun's stance left no room for compromise.
Lucrezia frowned and asked, "Even if I could be killed easily right now, you didn't do it. There must be something you want."
"Exactly."
Jae-hyun nodded in agreement. Lucrezia smiled brightly and asked, "I knew it. What do you want? If it's to return to your original home, it will take another forty years, but if it's to reclaim Irene, I can secretly support you and help."
"I'm sorry, but you're wrong. That's not what I want."
The denial left a sense of unease in Lucrezia. She couldn't understand what he truly desired or why he had spared her when he could have destroyed everything.
"Then what is it that you want?"
"Now. This situation."
Jae-hyun's answer came with a grin. Lucrezia suddenly felt something was terribly wrong and her mind cleared.
And she realized she had gone pale from her own actions.
What had she been thinking, believing Jae-hyun would simply watch her commit such atrocities?
She felt no regret for the slaughter itself. It was necessary to eliminate those people.
But she had not imagined that Jae-hyun might record the video and spread it. She had not understood the persuasive power hidden in the Demon King's words and could not have imagined that he had become the Demon King.
Jae-hyun had only used the Holy Sword and revealed not a drop of demonic energy, so everyone saw him only as the Hero wielding the Holy Sword. They never imagined he was the Demon King who had released a massive army of monsters into the city.
The Holy Sword had been used to prove his innocence as the culprit and Demon King.
"S-Surely...? You... recorded every single scene in video?"
"No. I didn't record anything."
Jae-hyun denied it. Lucrezia breathed a sigh of relief, but Jae-hyun's next words shattered it and plunged her into despair.
"Do you think I need to store it when I'm already broadcasting the entire kingdom's video, showing every moment of this situation?"
Jae-hyun's words made Lucrezia's face drain of color again, and she stumbled backward.
"S-Surely...?"
"Yes. The slaughter you committed has already been revealed across the entire kingdom. And at the same time, the fact that you betrayed me is also known to everyone."
"Y-You...!!!"
Lucrezia exploded in rage and glared at Jae-hyun as if she wanted to kill him. The moment his hand moved, she was forced to her knees in front of him against her will.
"Huh..."
Lucrezia knelt helplessly before him.
"The things you've done have already been exposed across the entire kingdom. And I am offering you a proposal now. Those who swear loyalty and submission to me will be protected from the attacks of the Demon Army led by the new Demon King."
Lucrezia understood that what he wanted was her ruin and that she was finished. But how many would actually refuse his offer?
Most ordinary citizens would swear loyalty to him, and the traitorous knights and priests who had betrayed the Hero to follow her would probably turn to Jae-hyun and betray her again if given the chance.
"Kill me."
Lucrezia, no longer able to endure her humiliation, told Jae-hyun to kill her. But he laughed and shook his head.
"Aww, why would I kill you? There's still so much more for you to receive. Ku-kuk!"