The Demon King Overrun by Heroes Novel - Chapter 133

Chapter 133
## Chapter 133: The Way Out

A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

Jetson, a representative of the Golden Moon Merchant Group, hummed a familiar melody while savoring his morning brew.

He leaned back, enjoying the sharp, aromatic scent of the coffee.

“It really is a blessing to live long enough to see everything change.”

Fortune, he reflected, was as fickle as the spinning of a wheel.

Years ago, during his time running a modest magic boutique in Akan, he had pulled a fast one on a slow-witted dwarf, offloading some defective merchandise for a fortune.

It would have been a perfect score, except the dwarf turned out to be a royal princess of Verft.

The fallout was catastrophic. He barely kept his head, but he was permanently blacklisted from the merchant guild.

Yet, just as the darkness seemed absolute, a door opened. That was how he found his place within the Golden Moon Merchant Group.

His current status far surpassed his old life. Instead of scraping by on daily sales, his talent for commerce now earned him astronomical performance bonuses.

‘What exactly is this organization trying to achieve, though?’

At the start, they scoured the lands to purchase every available elf slave. Once that was settled, they shifted to hoarding raw materials—copper, iron, manganese, orichalcum, mithril, and even precious mana stones.

The funding seemed bottomless. They bought everything in sight, and by any logical metric, their spending vastly outweighed their income.

Stranger still, they never sold a single scrap of their hoard.

‘Not my problem. As long as the gold keeps hitting my account.’

His mandate was simple: negotiate ruthlessly and squeeze every copper out of the price. Since he took a percentage of the savings as a bonus, everyone won.

A polite knock sounded.

“Sir Jetson. I have your morning paper.”

“Appreciated.”

“It’s no trouble at all.”

A stunning elf offered him a gentle smile. Her natural grace never failed to lift his spirits.

She was one of the many he had personally secured, but things had changed.

She was gorgeous, diligent, and now a free woman. It was only natural for him to feel a bit of a spark.

“Now, let’s take a look.”

Jetson cleared his throat and shook out the broadsheet.

Scanning the kingdom’s daily news was the cornerstone of his morning routine.

“What’s this?”

His brow furrowed as he scanned the front page.

Usually, the paper was a clutter of local gossip, but today, a single narrative swallowed every column.

【Martin Jespain, Third Prince of the Jespain Empire: “The Pyre Tower is finally within our sights…”】

【Prince Bellop Corzen of the Corzen Kingdom: “A privilege to finally expose this stain on our world…”】

【Jespain and Corzen Coalitions endure heavy casualties to pin down the tower’s location…】

【The Pyre Tower Revealed: Princes announce the coordinates…】

【The Hidden Truth: The Pyre Tower wasn’t at the peak?】

【Where is the Great Hero Daphne Philia? The shadow behind the glory…】

【The Brave Expedition led by Daphne Philia risks all to find the Demon King’s lair…】

Every single page echoed the same headline.

【Waton Kollo and the Golden Shield Strike Team rescue Gainas’ Third Prince. Is the Adamant Tower hidden in the frozen wastes? Where was the prince being held…】

【Rumors of the Lust Demon King of the Pirate Isles allying with sea-raiders?】

He couldn’t believe the quality of the news lately.

“The world is going to hell. Pirates are one thing, but to join forces with a Demon King? Despicable.”

He clicked his tongue in disgust and turned his focus back to the Pyre Tower.

“…So, they found it.”

The Empire had been running a massive propaganda campaign recently, claiming they were forming a grand alliance with the three northern realms to settle this once and for all.

The involvement of Hillun Kagil and Daphne Philia alongside Prince Corzen had kept the public in a frenzy.

Jetson had even looked into it for the sake of selling logistical supplies, but he backed off once he realized the Empire was only allowing official state-sanctioned guilds to participate.

“They actually succeeded, huh?”

Secretly, he’d expected them to fail; after all, the last two major pushes had ended in disaster.

But the streak was broken.

“The Pyre Demon King is a dead man walking.”

The Empire had been humiliated for too long to let this go. If you’re going to hide a fortress, you’d better make sure it stays hidden.

“Well, it doesn’t affect my bottom line.”

The Empire never let independent traders near their hero campaigns anyway.

Jetson shrugged his shoulders.

“That Demon King caused quite a stir for a while, but he’ll be a footnote by next month.”

He turned the page again.

“Tch, nothing but fluff.”

Every article from front to back was about the Pyre Tower or Daphne Philia. Frustrated, he balled up the paper and threw it into the wastebasket.

—

“…What kind of joke is this?”

Berge let out a breathless, hollow laugh.

Since his return to this life and his descent into Aren, he had held nothing back.

He had pushed his limits, exerting power that defied the laws of the world to unleash total devastation—and the physical toll had been immense.

It had cost him his consciousness.

Just before the world went black, he had given Ernyan a single, clear command regarding Daphne Philia.

He had told her to make sure Daphne was dead.

When he finally woke up, she confirmed the deed was done. Daphne Philia was no more.

He thought he could finally breathe. So why…

“…am I being told the coordinates of the tower have been leaked to the public?”

『…It was out of my hands.』

『By the time Daphne Philia was dealt with, she had already handed over a recording crystal with the tower’s location to the Corzen prince. His entire inner circle saw it.』

『In that moment, I couldn’t exactly demand they hand it over—or slaughter the entire royal party.』

The logic was sound. If they had touched the prince, they would have had to vanish the entire Corzen Kingdom to keep the secret. Even if they managed that, the Empire’s survivors would have raised questions that couldn’t be answered.

But logic provided little comfort when his back was against the wall.

He had bled and toiled to keep that tower a secret.

Berge looked at Ernyan, his voice strained.

“I thought you said everything was handled perfectly?”

“…I truly believed it was.”

After burying the Demon King under the ice, she had manipulated the mists and hunted down Daphne Philia.

There were others searching for the hero, but Ernyan had used her magic to keep them separated. She made sure Daphne wandered in circles until Ernyan could bring Hillun Kagil into the fold.

She thought she had controlled every variable.

She never suspected that in the tiny window of time between Berge falling and her taking action, Daphne had already secured the tower’s location and passed it to the prince.

“…I am deeply sorry.”

“…No, stop. You did what you could.”

He felt a surge of rage, but it was quickly swallowed by cold dread.

‘Now what?’

The Empire would be at his doorstep soon.

And it wouldn’t just be them. Hilderan had been waiting for a chance like this for a long time.

He could already see the nightmare: thousands of heroes laying siege to his home.

Names like Balraff Disroad, Rozel Charnt, Ralph Schmidt, and Gillian Aint—the brightest stars of the continent—leading the charge.

‘Open fire!’

‘Burn it all to the ground! Hahaha!’

He could almost hear the dwarf’s manic shouting. Hundreds of mana-fueled cannons would rain fire on his walls.

But a man like Ralph Schmidt wouldn’t flinch behind his shield. Balraff Disroad’s blade would carve through the defenses. The elite heroes would take hits, but they wouldn’t fall to mere artillery.

Cannons were meant for armies, not for the pinnacle of human strength.

‘Witness the power of the orichalcum titan!’

Golems would rise to meet them, leading to a brutal war of attrition. A war he would lose.

The heroes would punch through the first floor and climb to the second. There, Lavinia Akan’s chimera army would be waiting.

‘Princess?’

‘Hmm?’

‘What in the world are you doing here?!’

‘…Working?’

‘Good grief, you’ve actually allied with the Demon King.’

‘It was a business arrangement.’

‘Business or not, this is… unbelievable.’

He imagined the deadpan conversation between Lavinia and Rozel Charnt.

The heroes would be livid that a princess was helping their enemy, but Rozel’s protective nature and Lavinia’s status as Akan royalty would probably keep her from being executed on the spot.

The third floor would be a ghost town. It was better to have Elena or Kaede join the defense on the fourth floor rather than waste them alone on the third.

The fourth floor.

‘Welcome to the master’s tower. I am the Dark Spirit Sorceress, one of his Four Heavenly Kings.’

The Crown Princess of Hilderan wouldn’t lose her composure even then.

‘…The Dark Knight, in service to the Demon King.’

Under Ernyan’s direction, Kaede would play her part perfectly. Her loyalty would make her a terrifying opponent.

Elena, feeling the weight of her debt to Berge, would fight until she dropped.

But the gap in numbers and raw power would be too much. They would eventually be defeated, and the princess would be “rescued” and taken home.

‘…Your Highness? My lady, how could this happen?’

‘…Actually, I am the Dark Spirit Sorceress.’

‘Why would you turn your back on your kingdom for a Demon King?!’

‘Everyone has their secrets.’

The kingdoms would bury the truth of their princesses’ “betrayal” to save their own reputations.

Berge debated whether he should make his final stand on the fourth floor or the summit.

It didn’t matter. There was no scenario where he won.

His tower wasn’t finished. It was designed to create chaos and uncertainty for humans, not to withstand a direct, full-scale assault from the world’s elite.

‘……’

His mind stalled. He couldn’t find a way out.

…Master.

…My King.

“…Demon King, are you still with us?”

Berge blinked.

Ernyan’s voice pulled him back to the present.

“…What did you say?”

The magical communication was still active; Martin was waiting for a response.

『Listen, since we’re in the same boat, I’ll do everything in my power to delay the Empire’s heroes.』

『Can you manage the Hilderan Kingdom on your own?』

Splitting the two forces was a massive advantage. Facing them separately was at least a fighting chance.

“Do you have a strategy?”

『Claiming injury is the easiest route, but I can come up with something more creative to buy time.』

Even with the location known, heroes needed logistics and preparation. Delays would buy them precious weeks.

“Do it.”

The link went dead. Berge called his inner circle to the fifth floor.

“What’s the situation?”

“I’ll blow them all to hell with the cannons!”

The dwarf gave her usual, explosive response.

“If the Third Prince stalls the Empire, that just leaves Hilderan.”

“Correct.”

Jespain was a future problem. Hilderan was the immediate threat.

“As the Crown Princess, tell me—how will Hilderan react?”

“They will bring everything they have.”

Hilderan’s pride had been torn to shreds.

Their Crown Princess had been taken, and their elite hero team had failed to bring her back.

And while they were licking their wounds, the Thirteenth Princess had been snatched away too.

The King wasn’t the type to forgive such an insult.

And more importantly…

“My father will burn the world down to get me back.”

The King’s obsession with Ernyan was absolute. He would spend every life and every coin to reclaim her.

“The force will be even larger than Hillun Kagil’s team.”

“Yes. They can’t afford a second failure, so they will go all-in.”

Fortunately, Hilderan’s greatest asset—Hillun Kagil—was already compromised.

“What if Hillun Kagil leads them into a trap?”

He would inevitably lead the vanguard. What if he steered the entire Hilderan army into a slaughter?

“That’s a poor move.”

Gordon spoke up, disagreeing.

“Hillun Kagil is too valuable for your future plans. We’ve kept our connection secret. If the entire army is wiped out and he’s the only one who walks away, the suspicion will be permanent.”

A lone survivor of his caliber would be under a microscope forever.

Trying to save others while sabotaging the mission risked exposing his treachery.

Protecting the tower was the priority, but…

“Beating them back once or twice won’t stop them. They’ll just keep coming until we’re exhausted.”

“…You’re right.”

Hero missions always came down to two things: saving the royals or killing the Demon King.

For Hilderan, the priority was their princesses.

‘Wait…’

Berge tilted his head as a thought formed.

“…Why don’t we just remove the reason Hilderan is coming here in the first place?”

“Remove the reason?”

“Exactly. If they have no reason to attack, they won’t risk their best men on a suicide mission.”

Would they really just walk away?

“And that reason is…”

Ernyan’s expression shifted. She realized where he was going.

“That’s right.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“It’s the only way.”

Berge confirmed her fear.

“Ernyan Hilderan, Crown Princess of the Hilderan Kingdom. It is time for you to return home.”

“…You want me to go back?”

Ernyan’s voice turned ice-cold, her eyes trembling.