The Crucial Difference Between Hero and Demon King
However, the decisive difference between the hero and the demon king lay in their objectives. The hero harbored a strong interest in conquest and domination, treating them as his actual goal. The demon king, by contrast, viewed current conquest and domination merely as stepping stones for his revenge.
“Couldn’t I have seized power on Earth?”
Kim Jae-hyun asked the question briefly, in keeping with his personality. Yet within those few words lay multiple layers of meaning.
A being of your strength needs nothing more than to come this far; you could have seized power here on Earth and dominated the entire world, achieving global conquest without leaving Earth at all. Why travel all the way here instead?
Yu Ji-ho understood the question perfectly. It was far more than a simple query.
“Seizing power on Earth. Is that the same as seizing power here? No. It is entirely different. The entertainment districts on Earth are probably richer, but I have no desire to rule Earth the way it is. Even if I became emperor of the entire world, modern concepts of democracy and human rights would spark countless revolts.”
Jae-hyun agreed. The people of this world still lacked a strong sense of their own rights, but humanity that had awakened to modern society would never accept monarchical rule in any significant numbers.
Even in the Arab world, where royalty still existed, the power of religion—Islam, for example—would drive those people to die for their faith rather than bow to any mortal king.
“Earth’s humans will never willingly surrender their freedom, and even if they did, they could never rule here the way those people do. Here, anyone who tried could be worshiped as a god, and if you willed it, everyone on this world could live and die for you alone. No matter how ruthlessly you seized power on Earth, no matter how many millions you slaughtered, none of that is possible here. Hahaha. This world already assumes that the strong should submit.”
Yu Ji-ho laughed as he spoke.
Oath-using knights and mages who wielded terrifying magic actually existed. Dragons, elves, dwarves, and other intelligent races walked the earth. Demons invaded this world to conquer the Middle Realm. It was not difficult for him to control and dominate every human being.
On this world, nobles could kill commoners with no consequence. Yu Ji-ho’s descendant Ferdinand had already ascended to the throne. In other words, anyone who shared his blood was the emperor.
The emperor was his own descendant. No one could deny it. The ancestors of the Habsburg Empire’s rulers had been his bloodline.
As the supreme elder of the royal family, he would concentrate every ounce of authority and power into his own hands. After crushing Kim Jae-hyun and the demonic hordes, he would rule this world with absolute might.
Brainwashing every single citizen was impossible, but subduing the noble families who formed the backbone of his rule was entirely possible. He would build a palace even grander than the legendary Ava Palace built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. He would gather every beautiful woman from across the continent, then burn them all to ash and keep them forever as his personal enjoyment.
He already possessed the power to turn any mortal with a limited lifespan into an undying immortal—someone who would never fall from a cliff or be killed.
Yu Ji-ho had not only summoned his families and wives still on Earth; he planned to take new ones. Among the women he intended to claim as wives, Irene and Lucretia ranked first and second.
Though they were used goods, he would cherish and protect them. First, he would bring over the wives already on Earth.
Their combat abilities would be more than enough to turn the tide of any war.
“You seem awfully confident. After all these years, you’re still just a weakling.”
Kim Jae-hyun sneered at Yu Ji-ho. It was not mockery meant to provoke. He was genuinely mocking the man.
Now that he understood Yu Ji-ho’s ambition, he knew exactly why the hero had left Earth for this place. Yet watching a man who wanted to become a god made Jae-hyun unable to suppress his laughter.
Conquest? Domination? Wanting to conquer and dominate forever?
He should never have come to this era. If he had arrived in it, he should have hurried back to Earth at once.
Unlike Jae-hyun, Yu Ji-ho had been forcibly summoned through the heart of the demon king Laylana’s massive power. That was why the Earth dimension was still connected to this one. He could pull his families from Earth here at any time.
“You insolent brat. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Yu Ji-ho countered with icy disdain. Jae-hyun chuckled at the challenge.
“By the way, I’m curious. What date on Earth did you arrive on?”
The connection between Earth and this world was something that naturally interested Jae-hyun. Not right now—he still had revenge to finish—but someday he would return.
He would not go back until his vengeance was complete, but he wanted to know the current date. If it matched the day he needed to leave, he would wrap everything up and step through the gate immediately.
Even if it did not match, it would not matter. He would simply open the gate to the appropriate time zone and travel.
“June 20, 2015.”
“I arrived on March 17, 2015. I can’t use that gate.”
He wanted to shift to a time zone close to the one he had arrived in. With a three-month gap, Jae-hyun decided he would not use the current connection.
“The current Earth time zone does not match the one I intend to return to.”
“Hahaha. Is it a pity?”
“No. After I torture you, kill you, and devour your soul, I can go wherever I want on Earth.”
To Jae-hyun, Yu Ji-ho was a truly useful creature.
The root of every torment he had suffered traced back to this man. Moreover, even without the grudge, Ji-ho had tried to kill him for the absurd ambition of world conquest.
And the soul of the ancient hero Yu Ji-ho was so vast it could have fed a hundred million human souls. Using his soul as payment would allow far more dimensional travel.
Perhaps Earth was not the only world he could reach.
“You want to kill me?”
Yu Ji-ho glared with cold eyes. Jae-hyun folded his arms, gave a cold smile, and closed his eyes.
“Try a little harder. You’re still too weak and disappointing me.”
Jae-hyun was not in his true body; this was only a clone. Among the clones, this particular one had received almost no power.
He was not even using ten percent of his original strength.
But that was more than enough.
“You’re weak enough that even ten percent of my power could crush you. I considered giving you the Holy Sword, but I decided I didn’t want to hand it back to an old master. So I’m keeping it. The sword probably won’t even work for you anyway. Go find yourself a decent weapon.”
“Ten percent…? You say I can’t even reach ten percent?”
Yu Ji-ho stared in disbelief. Jae-hyun nodded. His combined use of the Holy Sword and Demonic Sword was that overwhelmingly powerful.
The synergy between the two blades was beyond imagination. Simply owning both already amplified his strength tremendously.
Because both swords grew stronger the more powerful their user became. For someone like Jae-hyun, the level of power they could produce would surpass anyone who had ever wielded them.
The Holy Sword, equal to the source of all sanctity in this world, and the Demonic Sword, equal to the source of all demonic energy, were simply that great.
That was why they were known only by their names—Holy Sword and Demonic Sword—symbolizing sanctity and darkness, nothing more.
“If I threw away both swords right now, you’d still be close to thirty percent.”
“Then show me that power!”
Yu Ji-ho, goaded by the challenge, swung a fist at him. It was no ordinary punch. It contained enough destructive force to one-shot the Demon King Laylana in an instant.
Yet it inflicted no damage on the surrounding area. The shockwave of destruction did not spread; every ounce of power was concentrated into a single point. The fist moved as if every last drop of force was used solely to pulverize a target, wasting nothing.
Jae-hyun caught the fist with his left hand as if swatting away a mosquito.
Yu Ji-ho’s eyes widened in shock.
“What?!”
“I told you. You’re weak.”
“Stop joking! You’re still just a kid who’s barely twelve years old!”
Yu Ji-ho had never imagined the Demon King was this strong. To test him, he threw a left hook. Jae-hyun’s right hand caught it as easily.
“Grr…”
When both fists were pinned, Yu Ji-ho gritted his teeth and almost unleashed a magical attack from the barrier. He stopped himself. A blow of that strength might shatter the barrier and shake the entire planet.
“Let’s stop here. If I go any further, this planet might be in danger.”
Jae-hyun nodded in agreement.
“Fine.”
He released the fists he had been holding. Yu Ji-ho stepped back.
“I’ll leave for now. Keep training hard and build your strength. You’ve wasted years being a powerless hero.”
Jae-hyun mocked him once more and vanished. Watching the Demon King laugh and disappear, Yu Ji-ho’s teeth ground together in fury.
“I won’t let you die easily, you bastard. Demon King, I will kill you for sure. I will rape every woman you own. And I will spend every ounce of my strength from this moment on to stop your revenge. I swear it…”
Yu Ji-ho continued to grind his rage in silence. Then he noticed the barrier was still intact and muttered to himself.
“…How do I get out of here? I should break the barrier first.”
He punched the barrier with all his might. At first he thought it was nothing.
BOOM!
But the instant the shockwave hit, the barrier did not crack. It showed only a tiny line and then instantly repaired itself, leaving no visible damage.
“Fine. I admit you’re stronger than me. Demon King…! But the moment I leave this place, I will use every means to kill you. Starting with earning the fame of the ancient hero who descended in this era, I will make this world my home!”
When his composure shattered, Yu Ji-ho’s face burned with cold, quiet rage. Yet the hatred for the mocking Demon King burned openly in his eyes. He no longer looked like the pure, righteous boy recorded on ancient steles.
He had already stopped being the heroic warrior who killed ordinary humans without reason.
He was simply a greedy human with powerful strength and a soul stained by darkness.
He had once been the heroic hero who maintained his purity for fifty years on Earth. After only five years back on Earth, he had already rotted from within.
The ancient hero who had lost his heart now swore to grind his teeth in rage and kill the Demon King the moment he escaped the barrier.
But that plan could not be carried out until he left the barrier. In other words, he was now nothing more than a prisoner.