The Demon King Overrun by Heroes Novel - Chapter 134

Chapter 134
## Chapter 134: The First

When stripped down to its core, the dilemma was actually quite straightforward. To resolve the issue of the abducted princess, one simply had to give her back. If the goal was to pacify the Hildean Kingdom and save their heir, then the solution was to let the crown princess of Hildean go.

“If you go home, Hildean will lose their primary motivation to hunt me down,” Berge reasoned.

Naturally, the presence of the 13th princess and the previous blow to their pride wouldn’t be forgotten instantly, but it would surely drain the wind from their sails. To the kingdom, the 13th princess was a broken, useless royal; recovering the crown princess would likely shift their focus toward celebrating their hero’s return rather than doubling down on a risky war with the empire. It was a strategic move to prevent the catastrophic scenario of fighting two superpowers simultaneously. If they played it right, Hildean might even exit the conflict entirely.

“…You are actually sending me away?” Ernyan asked, her voice quiet.

“I am. But we won’t just let you walk out. We’ll arrange for Hillun Kagil to ‘rescue’ you…”

Berge stopped, feeling a shift in the room’s energy. He looked at Ernyan and noticed the change immediately. The playful glint that usually danced in her eyes had vanished, and the smirk had slipped from her face. She looked exactly as she had during their very first encounter.

He remembered her then—Ernyan Hildean, staring at the moon from the lonely balcony of the 13th princess’s palace. Though she had smiled brightly the moment she saw him back then, that haunted look had never truly left her.

‘What is it now?’ Berge wondered. He couldn’t grasp the issue. “Aren’t you happy to be returning to your home?”

It baffled him. Regardless of how much she committed to her role as one of the Four Heavenly Kings or how hard she worked for him, she was a human and a princess. Unless she planned to perish within the tower’s walls, she had to go back eventually.

“I helped you earn your title as one of the Four Heavenly Kings,” she said. “You asked that of me.”

“That is true,” he conceded. He hadn’t commanded it, but he had asked her to manipulate Hillun Kagil, which had made capturing the hero significantly easier.

“I convinced Kaede to join, and I gave you the locations of the noble families’ hidden treasuries.”

“You did.”

“I couldn’t stop the tower’s location from being compromised, but I assisted with the matter regarding Daphne…”

“You helped end him,” Berge acknowledged. “I asked you to take care of his death, and you did so flawlessly. I am grateful for that.”

She had provided countless other benefits as well. He had never anticipated a kidnapped royal would be so effective, but she had become a vital asset to the tower’s operations.

“And despite all that, you’re telling me to leave?”

“Yes.”

To Berge, gratitude was one thing, but the safety of the tower—and himself—was paramount. If Ernyan stayed, she would likely die in the coming siege. If she left, she had a chance to live. The choice was obvious.

“It is for your own benefit,” he added.

In his mind, it was the objectively better path for her. Returning as a rescued hero allowed her to reclaim her status rather than being buried in the rubble of a falling tower.

“…I’ve been told ‘it’s for your own good’ my entire life back in the kingdom,” she whispered. “And not a single time was it actually for me. You promised to grant my wishes, didn’t you?”

“I did, but—”

“I am cashing them in now. Every single one I’ve earned.” Her voice grew firm, emphasizing every syllable. “I. Am. Not. Going. Back.”

—

How had it come to this?

The meeting had dissolved. Ernyan had fled down to the fourth floor, and Berge had been forced to end the session. He thought his plan was brilliant and expected her to jump at the chance to return to human society. Surely any human would prefer a kingdom over a demon’s spire.

“Just forcing her out isn’t an option, is it?” Berge muttered.

“Clearly not,” Gordon replied.

Ernyan Hildean knew too much. She was more entwined with the tower’s secrets than any other outsider. If she left harboring a grudge, she could reveal every weakness they had. A former friend turning into an enemy was the ultimate threat. He had to convince her to go willingly.

“You let a human princess get too close,” Gordon noted.

“I can’t deny that. But we wouldn’t be here without her. You were starting to see her as one of us too, weren’t you?”

“I was,” Gordon admitted.

Berge’s attempts to deviate from his past life had created new, unforeseen complications. Without Ernyan’s intervention, they might already be defeated. Still, the logic escaped them both. Why would she refuse her own home?

“Then offer a solution,” Berge challenged. “Aren’t you supposed to be my advisor?”

“Even for me, this defies all logic,” Gordon sighed. “If we put Hildean aside for a moment, what about Jespain? The 3rd prince is stalling, but they will arrive. How do we stop them?”

“We have a way,” Berge said. “They are already fractured.”

The imperial siblings—the princes and princesses—were at each other’s throats. The 3rd prince was using this campaign as a tool for succession. It was arrogant, but it worked in Berge’s favor.

“It’s a chaotic empire where siblings try to assassinate one another regularly,” Gordon added. “They are more likely to turn on each other than on us.”

“We need to widen those cracks,” Berge said. “Make them destroy themselves. Even with the 3rd prince as a tentative ally, we can’t trust them fully.”

Berge ordered Gordon to contact the Golden Moon Merchant Guild for every scrap of intel on the imperial family. While they were discussing this, a knock came at the door. Elena peeked inside.

“…Demon King? May we speak? It’s about my sister.”

Gordon took the hint and left. Elena took a seat, and Berge got straight to the point. “Why does she hate the idea of going back so much?”

He had seen flashes of her resentment before, but never a flat refusal. Unlike Elena, who needed the tower’s mana to survive, Ernyan was healthy.

“Do you know of the ‘Child of the World Tree’ ritual?” Elena asked.

“I do.”

“That is the root of it,” Elena explained.

She told a story of a king obsessed with the ghost of a lost empire. He wanted to breed powerful royals to reclaim Hildean’s glory. He forced the ‘Child of the World Tree’ magic onto his family. Many died, but Ernyan was the one who survived and thrived—the perfect fruit of a bloody process.

Ernyan had never known freedom. Her talent was the result of relentless, high-pressure grooming. She wasn’t the only child subjected to this, but she was the most successful.

“And the others… they hated her for it,” Elena said.

“Jealousy,” Berge realized.

“Yes. They went through the same pain but didn’t get the same results. They were compared to her constantly.”

Ernyan had been isolated by the envy of her siblings and the cold expectations of her father. Elena had been her only comfort.

“I don’t understand,” Berge said bluntly. “If they were bothering her, she should have just eliminated them.”

“…We are humans, my lord,” Elena said, startled.

“I know. It was a joke.”

Berge leaned back. “So it is simple after all. If the king and nobles are the problem, she just needs to be in a position where they can’t touch her. If her siblings are jealous, she needs to become something so high they can’t even reach for envy.”

“Is that possible?” Elena asked.

“There is only one such position in a kingdom.” Berge looked at her. “We make her the Queen. Problem solved.”

Elena stared at him, an image of her sister in a mask leading an army to claim the throne flashing through her mind. Surely, he wasn’t serious.

—

Ernyan sat on a small hill she had constructed, watching the water flow and tossing pebbles into the stream.

—*Didn’t you say you’d leave one day?*— her spirit asked.

“I did.”

—*Then why stay? The Demon King is…*—

“Aren’t you tired of this conversation?” Ernyan interrupted.

—*You can’t stay in a demon’s tower forever. You’re the crown princess.*—

“I’m not saying I’ll never go back,” Ernyan clarified. She knew she had made mistakes that led to the tower’s location being leaked. She felt a sense of responsibility.

—*Then what’s the condition? What do you need to go back?*—

“To be Queen,” she whispered.

—*You’re already a Heavenly King.*—

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

—*No? Then what?*—

“The Spirit King,” Ernyan said. “That is the dream of every summoner.”

—*That only happens once in a thousand years. But for you? At twenty-four?*—

Ernyan had summoned an advanced spirit at twenty-three, a feat unheard of. If anyone could contract a Spirit King, it was her.

—*And then what? Smash the kingdom?*—

“Maybe,” Ernyan laughed. “I just wouldn’t be a puppet anymore.”

She realized she had grown fond of this place. The loud dwarf, the strange elf, the chimera-making princess, and even the stern dark elf. Most of all, her sister was getting better here. And then there was the Demon King—the man who had reached out to her when she was at her lowest. She found a strange, honest joy here that she never felt in the palace.

The kingdom wanted her to be a conqueror. The tower let her be a “villain” for fun.

“Especially the Demon King…”

“What about me?” a voice asked.

Ernyan jumped. Berge was sitting right next to her. “When did you get here?”

“Stealth is the first thing we teach at the Academy,” he said calmly.

“To kidnap people?”

“Technically, yes.” He looked at her. “You are human. You aren’t my kind.”

“I’m one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Isn’t that enough?”

“You really want to stay that badly?”

“If you stay, the tower falls,” Berge said. “I can’t protect it yet.”

“You have me.”

“You aren’t an army. If you leave, Hildean might back off. That’s your job.”

“So you’re kicking me out and then making me do more work?”

“I’m not kicking you out,” Berge clarified. “You are part of this tower now. That doesn’t change if you’re in another castle. Once a Heavenly King, always a Heavenly King. I’m not going to scrap the group you built.”

Ernyan looked at him, surprised by his sincerity. “That’s very sentimental for a Demon King. You heard my talk about the Spirit King, didn’t you?”

“I did. It changes things. It makes the ‘Queen’ plan more viable.”

He handed her a necklace—a communication device. “Go back. If it gets too hard, come back here. I’ll always let you in.”

“A Demon King saying that to a princess? How strange.”

“You’re the strangest human I’ve met,” Berge replied. “A kingdom with you as Queen sounds entertaining. If you’re in charge, no one can tell you what to do.”

He explained that Hillun Kagil, the national hero, was under his influence. If Hillun “rescued” her, their combined influence would be untouchable.

“The rest is up to you,” Berge said. “Gain the power that even a king fears. Then come back to the tower and tell me about it.”

Ernyan laughed, her spirits finally lifting. She knew that if she stayed now, the place she loved would be destroyed. “Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll save your tower.”

She stood up and brushed herself off. “But on one condition.” She stepped closer to him, her eyes bright.

“What now?” Berge asked.

“I’m the first,” she whispered. “The first one you reached out to. The first one who took your hand.”

She looked him in the eye, her gaze intense. “Don’t you dare forget me. If you do, I won’t forgive you.”

Berge nodded slowly. “I keep my promises.”