When the Betrayers Conspired
The Gale Sword Emperor, William Rodriguez.
Among the six betrayers, he held a significance greater than any other in the Demon King Kim Jae-hyun’s eyes.
Emperor Ferdinand von Habsburg of the Habsburg Empire had led the betrayal and trampled Irene.
The Great Sage Griffith Ricardo of the Habsburg Empire had performed the brainwashing on Irene.
Saintess Lucretia of the Holy Kingdom of Astraea, who had been the second person he trusted most after Irene among their companions, still felt an unforgivable betrayal.
And the Force Sword Emperor Karl Tenant and the Archmage of Flame Jason Light were among the two with the smallest share of grudge among the six. In rank, they stood fifth and sixth.
Yet the last betrayer, Gale Sword Emperor William Rodriguez, was the Demon King’s prime target of hatred.
It was he who had stabbed the Hero Kim Jae-hyun—former human—through the abdomen and left him critically wounded. Because of that, Jae-hyun had been on the brink of death and had no choice but to become the Demon King to survive and exact absolute revenge.
In short, he was the direct cause who had forced the Demon King to become the Demon King for the sake of survival.
Moreover, William Rodriguez, like Karl Tenant, had obtained the title of Duke and held the position of the supreme ruler of the Gallia Kingdom, surpassing even the king—a fact that was widely known across the continent.
“The Demon King has appeared.”
At the royal palace of the Gallia Kingdom, William had received news of what had happened in the Holy Kingdom of Astraea.
Upon receiving the information, William immediately sent official envoys not only to the Valois Kingdom where Karl was located in the south of the Gallia Kingdom but also to the Habsburg Empire, a super power in the north that controlled most of the western part of the continent and held the majority of the northern territory. He also sent one to the Minoa Kingdom where Jason was the king’s son-in-law.
Exactly a diplomatic alliance.
Originally, the Minoa Kingdom and Valois Kingdom had been rivals to the Gallia Kingdom.
The Sardinia Kingdom and Venice Kingdom were not direct rivals to the Gallia Kingdom since the two kingdoms did not border it thanks to Valois; they had already become complete outsiders in international society because they had not possessed any of the Hero’s companions who had shown outstanding performance in the war against the Forces of Darkness ten years earlier.
However, even before the appearance of the Demon King, the two kingdoms had acted as neutral zones that prevented the Holy Kingdom of Astraea and Valois Kingdom from clashing over territory, and they had served to make the Gallia Kingdom constantly mindful of its rear from Valois Kingdom.
Especially since they were both in the same fallen position, the Venice Kingdom and Sardinia Kingdom had been struggling to maintain their insufficient national power by forming a tight alliance with each other.
It was also true that the Gallia Kingdom had quietly grown them by providing various support while pretending to watch over Valois Kingdom in order to keep it in check.
Although they had once been comrades and shared the unspeakable ugly secret of betrayal, there was no reason to cooperate for the sake of national interests.
After all, everyone was in the same position of being unable to speak and equally competitive.
However, now that the Hero they thought was dead had appeared as the Demon King, they all had to unite their strength to oppose that Demon King.
Slurp slurp—
But William was busy with lunch. Although he sought power, William did not seek wealth. He possessed power that surpassed even the king, yet he did not gather riches or engage in luxurious living.
While he was a martial artist who collected swords and various high-grade weapons as a hobby, he did not like gold, jewels, or extravagant clothes.
However, the part where he indulged in luxury the most was food.
Every day he arranged a magnificent table that far outstripped the king’s in variety of dishes.
Right away, more than a hundred chefs lived in his residence, and the money he spent on ingredients alone was enormous. And remarkably, he ate a meal of one hundred portions for each meal, never skipped a single meal of the three daily meals, and sometimes—calling it snack time—would eat thirty portions between lunch and dinner.
An insane feast.
While Karl the Force Sword Emperor only ate five to ten portions, William ate one hundred portions and prepared his meals in a luxurious style. His appetite was abnormal to anyone who saw it, and despite being known as the Gale Sword Emperor who used swift sword techniques, people had found it hard to believe he ate so much at first.
However, his appetite had already been known before the battle with the Demon King ten years earlier. The Hero Jae-hyun had once said that “the majority of the pocket dimension is filled with the things that fellow ate.” His appetite had been famous even during the war.
And after lunch was over, he moved on to the main event. Karl had proposed, and Ferdinand and Griffith had agreed to attend the secret meeting.
Saintess Lucretia was already in the Demon King’s grasp, but the gathering of the five remaining betrayers who had not yet been caught had begun.
***
Irene had chosen exactly seventy women as her maids. In total, twenty-eight were married women and forty-two were virgins.
All of them were stunning beauties with great beauty, and since they were all Dark Retainers who were loyal to Jae-hyun, their loyalty toward Irene would be absolute as long as he did not issue the order of betrayal.
Having selected her maids, Irene sat on her throne as the Empress and smiled with a bewitching laugh. Even though she had become a Great Archdemon, her pure smile was so lovely that she looked like a goddess or angel rather than a Great Archdemon.
“My name is Lin.”
“My name is Selina.”
“My name is Lucien.”
“My name is Serphius.”
“My name is Lillian.”
Five beautiful women who could be called Jae-hyun’s lovers simultaneously bowed politely toward Irene and greeted her.
Lin, a seventeen-year-old smiling girl who was a seventh-circle black mage with the same golden hair as Irene but different green eyes, and whose appearance and atmosphere somehow resembled Irene’s.
Selina, a twenty-something woman with the same golden hair as Irene but red eyes opposite to her blue eyes, and who had elegant and noble beauty.
Lucien, a beautiful dark elf woman with beautiful black hair and black eyes, pointed ears, and an appearance that looked like her mid-twenties by human standards, with a free and lively atmosphere.
Serphius, a twenty-something woman with beautiful black hair and black eyes like Lucien, but radiating a noble atmosphere that surpassed Lucien’s and a sense of coldness, the Dark Dragon Lord.
Lillian, the Succubus Queen with brilliant red hair and red eyes, full of intense splendor and sexuality.
Excluding Lin, the four women were all the pinnacle beings within their races and the most beautiful women.
“Wow, everyone really has amazing looks?”
Irene stood up from her seat and honestly admired their beauty. The continent’s greatest beauties gathered here, so even with Irene, the continent’s greatest beauty, they did not lose their light.
And Irene approached the one who was the only human—Lin, whose beauty was the lowest. Returning to the body of an eighteen-year-old girl, Irene was close in physical age to seventeen-year-old Lin, and despite her youthful appearance, she actually looked younger than Lin in appearance alone.
Unless her body’s development was overwhelmingly superior, no one would think Irene was older than Lin, and even if generous, they would consider them the same age.
“Your name is Lin, right?”
Irene asked Lin with a smile, and Lin answered in a slightly nervous voice.
“Y-yes. I am Lin.”
The tone alone showed she was nervous, so Irene covered her mouth with her hand and laughed while saying, “Oh my~”
“There’s no need to be so tense. I won’t eat you. If I were to eat you… it would taste good.”
Irene’s words sounded like a joke, but they were not. To the Great Archdemon Irene, even though Lin was a human black mage, she was a delicious prey.
But because her human identity from before still remained strongly, and it would never disappear, she would never eat humans forever.
Looking at Lin, Irene felt she could understand why Jae-hyun favored her, and that was a good thing. Although it made her recall the resentment and vengeful spirit toward the world she now had, the overall appearance type reminded her of her own feeling.
Even though Lin had had sex with Jae-hyun, Irene did not feel jealous. After all, she was not like Lucretia, and as the Demon King Jae-hyun who thought he needed multiple wives, she had no reason to be jealous.
Irene knew that the greatest existence in Jae-hyun’s eyes was herself, so she could always look down on other women comfortably.
“Hehe, she’s cute. I know why Oppa likes you.”
Of course, the reason was not because Lin was cute, but because her atmosphere reminded Irene of herself. And Irene lifted the skirt of the black dress Lin was wearing. Since she was not wearing anything underneath, Lin’s pubic hair and private parts were completely exposed.
“This place is pretty too?”
Lin’s face blushed at Irene’s praise. Being praised as pretty by the most beautiful woman in the world was embarrassing.
After examining Selina, Lucien, Serphius, and Lillian in turn, Irene sat back on the throne as Empress.
“It’s fine for all of you to become Oppa’s concubines.”
Irene’s evaluation of them was extremely favorable. Wanting to fill at least thirty of Jae-hyun’s concubines, she would gradually increase them starting with the five he favored most.
Of course, the original wife, herself, was the only one, and she had no intention of yielding her position to anyone.
“It’s fortunate to be evaluated like that.”
Hearing Irene’s evaluation, Jae-hyun nodded and looked at the five women he had shown grace to. All of them were beautiful, and any man would want to possess them, but Jae-hyun felt no desire to possess them now.
No, he felt no desire to have sex at all.
In his head now, only the thought of…
“Revenge.”
Only revenge.
Lucretia was already suffering horrible pain, and Ferdinand and Griffith were also suffering, but it could not be said that his revenge was over with that much.
Of the six betrayers, three were still unharmed and unpunished, the ones already being punished needed even more painful punishment, and the ones not yet punished had to pay the price of betrayal forever.
It was for that reason that his clone had raided the Elf Forest.
The purpose was also to create dark elves, but more importantly to prepare a foundation for revenge.
“The two World Trees inside the Dark Empire are already in my hands.”
The two World Trees in the Elf Forest where Ungkor and Lucien had raided a few hours earlier were already in Jae-hyun’s grasp.
The entire continent, including other races, was already on alert against the Dark Empire, and even dragons were acting as if they wanted to attack the Dark Empire, but continent conquest was nothing interesting to Jae-hyun.
What he and Irene wanted now was nothing but revenge.