chapter 5
5 – If you kneel in front of me… Huh?
The words of regret that came out of the mouth of the devil..
The moment you hear that word that can infer the meaning of ‘denial’ about something,
I could instinctively sense that she had no intention of saving me.
‘Wouldn’t it be possible for you to save me if you did this far? Are you really planning to kill me like this!’
At the same time as I thought about it, I, who had been caught in a deep tension due to the situation in which my life was going back and forth, began to fall into an unbearable panic.
It was me who had really pushed hard for a plausible excuse I had just barely come up with.
However, now that the final effort has been completely blocked,
I didn’t have time left to think of anything else.
‘Dying..? ..die? ..Really?..Really… Am I going to end up doing nothing just like this?”
The fear of death begins to feel all too vivid with the fact that you have reached a dead end.
The fear of the cold reality of literally ending everything without doing anything began to wrap around my mind in an instant.
As a result, I no longer had the capacity to calmly think of something.
‘I don’t want to die! I’ve suffered so much… I’d rather have died with those bitches than this. I can’t die in vain like this!’
A desire to survive that starts to scream in your chest.
As a result, I began to plead with a voice filled with despair as the situation worsened and I lost the time to even think about sleeping.
“Buy..save..please..”
Begging for life, which is impossible for a warrior who values honor.
I didn’t know that the demon lord, who was offended by this unsightly appearance, would punish me for a painful death, but I couldn’t help but beg for it nonetheless.
Weapons were also confiscated, and even one arm was not normal, so it was absolutely impossible to fight against the demon king in the first place.
All that was left was to beg for mercy, even if it meant risking falling into the abyss of hell.
Like that, I threw away my chae-myeon as a hero and bowed my head in front of the demon king.
That moment..
“!…”
I suddenly felt a soft touch on my head as I lay face down
And right after that, before I even thought anything about it,
In my ear…
I began to hear the demon king’s voice of compassion.
“Okay… I’ll save you.”
*
A warrior with an expression full of despair and resignation in front of his eyes.
Looking at him, the demon king could only feel heartfelt pity once again.
Although he was an enemy, he had the ability and mind to pay respect.
However, now he was not enough to have been betrayed by his comrades, and now his final honor was shattered.
As a warrior… and as a warrior, he lost everything and was miserable and pitiful.
And in such a state, the hero spoke to himself, the demon king, with a dejected laugh.
Saying that I want to live a different life than before..
At the same time, he calls the past, where he lived with honor and conviction, foolish and meaningless.
‘It’s really unfortunate. To think that a hero who had never been shaken would be ruined like this…’
As a person who has seen and entered his brilliant performance through magic and subordinates, and at the same time, as a person who has raised his strength with all his might to defeat such a hero.
Seeing such a hopeless appearance of the existence that he once considered his nemesis, the demon king said with a little bit of sincerity.
“..I’m sorry..”
“!…”
The moment she heard this, the warrior made a slightly surprised expression and then made a darker expression.
Perhaps the fact that he had received this kind of sympathy from the demon king rather than from someone else seemed to have shocked his heart even more.
And right after that…
“… Help me… ”
“…”
A word that began to come out of the warrior’s mouth.
Through that voice of deep frustration,
The demon king could feel that the man’s pride, which had been weakly maintained just before, had completely disappeared.
A hero who only shows despair, pain, and regret.
Standing at the symmetrical point of oneself, and because of that, the existence that I felt like no one else from the moment I saw it for the first time.
Seeing such an existence destroyed to the point of being irreversible,
The demon king felt bitterness and regret that he had never experienced before, and began to caress the poor man’s head without realizing it.
At this moment, if she could, she wanted to give this man a nice word of comfort.
In addition, if possible… I also began to think that I might be able to dig into the heart of this mentally broken man and attract him to my side.
Although it is true that I feel genuinely sorry for him… If he does not actively wish for death, and harbors hatred for the people who betrayed him,
Through this, it was the demon king’s honest wish that the hero would become her subordinate.
That was the purpose of her coming here in the first place.
The problem was, for the demon king, who had no such experience, it was doubtful whether she could calm the hero’s heart around her words.
‘If I had known it would be like this, it would have been better to bring Beelzebeauty… It seems that Jim’s stubbornness was a mistake…’
The Demon King feels regret for not bringing a competent subordinate to the conversation.
The words that came out of her mouth after thinking about it while regretting so deeply.
It’s… it’s too clunky for her to think about.
It was a short sentence that did not seem to be very comforting.
“Okay… I’ll save you.”
“!…”
A word that makes you think that you can only say this while talking.
However… the hero unexpectedly began to look quite surprised at her words of ‘consolation’.
In an instant, a ray of bright light began to drift over the dying face.
As a result, the demon king felt a little puzzled, and for now, he continued to throw out the words he wanted to say as he thought.
“I will save you. And.. I will also give you a chance to suit you. A chance to get your hands on honor again… a chance to avenge the people who betrayed you, and to make your name known to the world as a warrior.”
“ah… ”
At her words, the warrior momentarily starts to put on a dazed expression.
Looking at him who seemed to be so agitated, the demon king, slightly agitated, continued to speak the story that came to her head without hesitation.
“I will give you everything. The honor and revenge you want, and even more if you want! So, warrior, kneel before me and swear an oath of allegiance… eternal obedience! So Jim can give you all of this!”
A demon king who gets swept away by the atmosphere at some point and starts talking strongly.
However, speaking frankly, she began to wonder if this was a little too far-fetched.
Even though he was betrayed by humans, the hero was still a human.
He is also a noble hero who has dedicated his life to protecting humans.
As for whether he will follow her advice… To be honest, I thought I was skeptical.
‘I did say whatever came to my mind, but haha… honestly, it couldn’t have been so easy. No matter how much he was betrayed by humans, he was still a hero…’
The demon king begins to feel really sorry for not being around his horse once again.
By the way..
-dump!
“!?!?”
In the next moment, the hero quickly kneels in front of the demon king.
Then, the warrior’s voice began to be heard clearly in her ears.
“I swear, Your Majesty the Demon King! Hero Eren Savior! I swear absolute loyalty to the demon king, the ruler of the demons and the owner of the new dwarf!”
“… ”
A warrior who declares obedience without hesitation.
In this unexpected situation, the demon king could not help but feel the emotion of surprise automatically despite his invitation.
‘No way.. Are you saying that Jim’s clumsy words from a while ago were quite comforting? But Jim couldn’t have had a talent for that… . Ah.. no,.. that’s not it. This is obviously…’
The demon king looked at the hero’s face amidst doubt and slight shock.
At that moment, one fact began to shine clearly in her eyes.
It was… the intense longing on the warrior’s face.
A strong will that burns fiercely like the flames of hell, completely different from when it withered just before.
And, while looking at it, the demon king instinctively recognized it.
Why did the hero in front of her surrender to her without delay?
Is it because of the humiliation of swearing allegiance to oneself, who can be called the ‘enemy’, rather than choosing a clean death?
The reason is…
‘revenge… is it..’