The Hero and the Demon King
Kim Jae-hyun had noticed the arrival of the ancient hero the instant it happened.
The colossal aura had struck him the moment the legendary hero was summoned. He would have felt it even without his own senses, and Irene and every single subordinate under him had registered it as well. In fact, the sheer volume of energy being poured in had been so excessive that they had forced open the dimensional gate before the proper time even arrived. Yet the power still overflowed, and somehow the ancient hero had been dragged into this world anyway.
Summoning the ancient hero required far more energy than the method they had originally used to bring him here in the first place. Back in the old days, humanity had not even dreamed of accurately summoning the hero with a dragon heart alone; they had simply picked a random Earthling and hoped for the best. The hero had been that random pick.
But now, using the Dragon Heart extracted from the corpse of the Demon King they had slain—the very heart that belonged to Leylana—they had perfected the organ capable of pulling in someone far beyond the original method. That was how the ancient hero, who had descended upon this world over eight thousand years ago, stood before them once more.
“I should greet him properly.”
Jae-hyun muttered under his breath and reached down to stroke the head of the woman sitting on his knee. For hours he had kept Irene seated there, his penis still buried deep inside her without once pulling it out.
Through the connection of his senses, he could see everything. The penises of his multiple clones were being sucked one after another by the beautiful women around him, while below him Lin and Selina, Lucien, and—only moments ago still thrashing desperately—the red-haired, red-eyed Dragon Woman now surrendered with dreamy eyes, sucking on one of his clones and taking his other penises in front and behind as she swayed her hips.
This was the first time Jae-hyun had ever used his clones in such a way. It allowed him to satisfy multiple women at once, but he had never been the type to care about anyone except Irene. Even Lin, whose features reminded him of Irene, was adorable, yet that was all. He was not the sort to show consideration.
Still, he had accepted Irene’s plea. On any day he did not bestow his favor, she had to live as a virgin, so he gave them this small grace whenever he could.
Because of it, the five women who had been waiting patiently for his favor every day now enjoyed the pleasure of sex to their hearts’ content, and they would be able to do so every single day from now on.
“Are you planning to greet the ancient hero as well?” Irene asked softly, still seated on his lap, while her eyes remained fixed on the scene before them.
“A clone or two should suffice for a greeting.”
To welcome the hero who had returned to this world and the rare person from his old homeland, Jae-hyun had created one additional clone.
* * *
Jae-ho could not gauge exactly how strong Kim Jae-hyun was.
He believed in his own strength, of course. Even if the Demon King’s army was terrifyingly large, he had already prepared countermeasures.
But the information he needed was missing.
He did not care how the hero had fallen into Demon Kinghood. That was nothing more than curiosity. What he truly required was the exact level of power the Demon King possessed.
He had never seen the Demon King fight. He had not heard of any battle the Demon King had ever fought after arriving in the Intermediate World. In fact, he had never witnessed the Demon King engage in combat at all. When attacking neighboring nations, he had merely unleashed a horde of monstrous black smoke and countless undead armies. Those undead consisted only of the lowest ranks—zombies and skeletons. There were no Death Knights, no Death Mages, and no liches, the higher undead that could think for themselves.
From the Demon King’s perspective, it was nothing but a light tap.
He ruled the Dark Empire, having corrupted the Holy Kingdom of Astraea and now commanding more than forty-one million forces of darkness. To humanity and the entire world, he represented an invincible threat. Yet the true extent of his own strength had never once been confirmed.
The Demon King who had plunged the continent into the greatest crisis in history had never shown his battle power once. The irony was almost laughable.
Fortunately, Jae-ho could obtain information on the Demon King’s strength from the memories of the hero who had once been him.
He had not received hearsay. He had simply read the memories of Ferdinand and Griffith.
Reading Ferdinand’s memories was child’s play. Reading the memories of the 10th Circle Archmage Griffith had been slightly more difficult, but nothing he could not handle with the memory-reading spell “Read Memory.”
With those memories, Jae-ho could watch every battle the Demon King had fought on the battlefield and every clash with the last Demon King, Leylana. He could gather quite a bit of information about the Demon King in his hero days.
He could also see the grotesque betrayals committed by Ferdinand and Griffith and the truth behind Ferdinand’s lies. Yet he focused far more on the Demon King’s level of power.
“Even after two years, he has only reached that level. Not bad, but still nothing special.”
The man who had once been ordinary on Earth had undergone astonishing growth here. He had spent fifty years in this world, returned to Earth, and spent another five years there. That growth had carried over to Earth, and he had grown even stronger while on Earth.
From Jae-ho’s perspective, reaching that level in only two years was impressive, but it was still not something to worry about. Without even a Holy Sword, he could fell his opponent bare-handed.
“Still, they committed a terrible act against my own descendant.”
Jae-ho finally understood the ugliness of their betrayal. They had betrayed and killed the man who saved the world simply to take the woman they wanted.
If anyone else had done it, he would have killed them on the spot. But the one who led it was his own descendant and the current Emperor of the Habsburg Empire—Ferdinand. That fact was what made him feel the need to forgive.
He felt no kinship with Ferdinand just because they were both Earthlings and Korean nationals. While on Earth, he had witnessed countless evils after gaining power, and if he discovered another Korean was trash, he had killed them without hesitation.
“Since they killed my descendant Seria, I cannot forgive them.”
Thanks to Ferdinand’s memories, Jae-ho knew exactly how Ferdinand had lusted after Irene and why the princess Seria had been born. He also knew Ferdinand had never loved Seria. Yet Seria was undeniably his descendant.
Through Ferdinand’s memories, Jae-ho watched the scene where the Demon King ordered Irene to cut Seria’s throat with a sword.
Even for the sake of saving the continent, the Demon King had to be eliminated. He was a monster that must be erased.
“Ferdinand.”
Jae-ho called his descendant’s name with the authority of a forefather.
“Speak… please.”
Ferdinand still found it difficult to accept that this man was his ancestor and that he was his blood descendant, but the Dragon Lord’s confirmation left him no choice. He swallowed his humiliation and answered.
“I have read both your memories and Griffith’s. That woman named Irene is truly a great beauty. And that Saintess Lucretia is magnificent as well, but that woman… do you still want her as your Empress?”
Jae-ho asked Ferdinand.
“…Since you have read the memories, I cannot hide it.”
Ferdinand had originally planned to use him only until he could return him to Earth, but now that he knew this man was his ancestor and had read his memories at will, there was nothing left to hide.
Even the fact that he had forced brainwashing on Irene to make her Empress had already been exposed, yet Jae-ho had not scolded him. Ferdinand sensed that his descendant was being shown mercy and support, so he changed his stance.
He would treat this man as his true ancestor and see only the Demon King as a lowly slave.
He also suppressed the anger over his memories being read at will and tried to push it down as much as possible. He knew that protesting would only bring him harm.
“I must have that woman. Without Irene, I truly cannot sleep peacefully. I want to sleep with her again, and no matter what happens, I must make her my Empress. Otherwise, I am not even living—I am already dead.”
Ferdinand spoke honestly about his desire as a descendant, not as an Emperor. The sight of such a descendant was truly wicked and disgusting, yet Jae-ho nodded.
He pitied Irene for what she had suffered, but she was still a woman. The fact that she had taken Irene’s place and cut Seria’s throat on the Demon King’s orders was a sin Jae-ho could never forgive. In order to make her pay for daring to kill his own descendant, he would turn Ferdinand into his eternal slave.
“Then I will take him back. Simply capture Irene, force the brainwashing, and that should be enough.”
“Yes, that will be sufficient.”
“I will do my best.”
Ferdinand and Griffith, unaware that Irene had already become a Great Archdemon instead of a human, made that promise.
‘They said the ancient hero was righteous. But he is nothing of the sort.’
According to the ancient stone tablets, the ancient hero possessed a noble character. However, from Griffith’s perspective, fortunately or unfortunately, the ancient hero was not a saintly fool. He was a man who cherished his own descendants and could ignore the suffering of others without hesitation.
“Yes, and I have seen the curse you are both under as well. It is truly strange… hard to break. It is too tangled, and this method of curse has never been seen before, so it may take some time to interpret.”
Ferdinand and Griffith’s faces hardened at Jae-ho’s words. What they secretly wanted to ask was for the Demon King to lift the curse he had placed on them.
Even the ancient hero could not lift it immediately!
If they were forced to endure the torment of becoming gay against their will, this was no small matter.
At least not for them.
“Is there no way?”
“If the symptoms appear, knock him unconscious and suppress him… but that would still cause immense pain. It seems there is no other choice.”
When Jae-ho placed the curse on Griffith and Ferdinand, he had believed they might faint or bind themselves to escape the torment. He had cursed them so that if they did not perform gay sex, they would suffer unbearable pain.
Because they could not endure that pain, they had no choice but to do it. As a result, they felt an even greater sense of self-loathing and mental anguish from the act they had chosen themselves.
“Hold on for now.”
Even as his descendant, Jae-ho had no choice but to say that.
“And hide behind me both of you. The Dragon Lord would advise the same.”
Jae-ho’s eyes flashed with sudden coldness. The sudden change in atmosphere made Ferdinand and Griffith realize the situation and immediately hide behind him.