The Demon King Overrun by Heroes Novel - Chapter 50

Chapter 50
## Chapter: 50

### Chapter Title: Each One’s Circumstances

—

Time seemed to stretch thin.

The blade held by Hillun Kagil carved through the atmosphere.

The short locks of the Demon King swayed in the breeze.

A single flash—

The head was severed.

The crown of the Demon King.

It fell toward the earth.

“Ah.”

A sharp cry escaped Casey’s lips.

The Demon King.

The Great Lord Demon King.

He had perished.

Casey, who had spent decades as the loyal vice officer to Drakson, found the reality impossible to grasp. Her mind rejected the sight before her.

The deafening roars of triumph from the humans.

The smell of life fading as blood soaked the soil.

None of it reached her consciousness.

“…Lord Demon King.”

She stretched out her fingers, which shook uncontrollably. The distance felt infinite.

“Die, monster!”

A human soldier swung his blade at her. She caught the cold steel with her naked palm and snapped it like glass. With a fluid motion, she tore through his windpipe and discarded him like trash.

“Lord Demon King.”

She took a single step forward. A sorcerer conjured a howling gale to stop her.

*Squelch—*

Her physical form simply forced its way through the magical pressure. She crushed the heart of the sorcerer without breaking stride.

“…Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King. Lord Demon King.”

She drew nearer to Drakson’s remains, inch by agonizing inch.

A wave of uncontrollable fury began to boil within her soul.

How could they. These pathetic mortals. Who did they think they were touching?

How could they dare to bring him to this end.

In the middle of a chaotic clash involving thousands, the image of the man who had struck the final blow burned into her memory.

Hillun Kagil.

The wretch who had already taken down the Lust Demon King.

The Hero. That cursed hero.

Die. I will kill you. I will tear you apart.

Her murderous aura radiated outward. She abandoned all restraint, allowing her primal demonic essence to erupt.

I will.

End your life.

In that instant.

*Thud—*

A heavy force collided with her. She was sent rolling across the terrain, tumbling over the mangled remains of both monsters and men.

Which filthy worm dared…!

“Regain your senses, Lady Casey.”

“…Quail?”

Quail, cloaked in his signature bear pelts, was hauling her away from the center of the fray.

“We must retreat immediately.”

“But the Lord Demon King…!”

“The Lord Demon King is no longer among us.”

“Then we must have our vengeance…!”

“The tower is giving way! If we linger, we will perish like gutter rats before we ever get the chance for retribution!”

The structure belonged entirely to the Demon King.

His subordinates were tethered to its existence.

Therefore.

With the death of the Demon King, the tower began to dissolve.

And as the tower failed, every beast and demon lost the sanctuary it provided.

The shield that warded off dimensional interference was gone.

With the Demon King and his tower—their only protection—vanished, every surviving member of the legion now felt the full weight of the external dimensional pressure that sapped the strength of beings from another realm.

“If we do not flee this second, we will never have another opportunity.”

Not while the tower’s framework still flickered in reality.

“And who decided you were leaving?”

Heroes stood there, drenched in the dark ichor of monsters.

“Who claimed we’d permit a high-grade demon to crawl away?”

“Look, there are two of them here!”

“Cut them down! They’re losing strength now that their king is fallen!”

“The kill is mine!”

A flurry of steel descended upon them.

“Run.”

Quail used his own massive frame to intercept every strike intended for Casey.

“I am not so pathetic that I will fall to the likes of you.”

Quail let out a deafening bellow.

On that dark day, three high-grade demons, ten mid-grade demons, fifty-two low-grade demons, and 1,321 monsters were wiped out.

—

The tower came down.

More accurately, it simply ceased to be.

The spire, constructed through the absolute authority of the demonic realm, crumbled into nothingness the moment its anchor—the Demon King—was extinguished.

What remained were only the corpses of beasts, demons, heroes, and soldiers, the grim evidence of a brutal struggle.

“Ha, so this was your intention from the start?”

Rozel Charnt looked down at the lifeless form of the Demon King with a somber expression.

“Given how things unfolded, we merely did what was necessary.”

“Hmph, if you say so.”

Hillun Kagil gave a respectful answer. Rozel let out a dry snort but didn’t push the issue further.

Heroes were driven by the hunt for demons and their kings. Claiming such lives allowed them to absorb essence and grow in power.

However, despite the fierce competition, there was a silent pact among the high-ranking heroes to avoid infighting over who landed the killing blow.

Furthermore, Hillun Kagil and Berge had performed their duties perfectly.

Had they not managed to pin Drakson down, Rozel’s magical flames would never have reached him.

Had he not seized the opening to take the head, the conflict might have dragged on. That severed head might have been Rozel Charnt’s instead.

‘It’s hard to complain to a man who fought on the front lines about taking the credit, especially when he’s already killed one before.’

He could have argued, of course. Some heroes were petty enough to start blood feuds over such things.

But such actions carried heavy risks.

Who would follow a commander who sabotaged his allies just to hoard the glory of a kill?

“I’ll be claiming the remains.”

Suppressing any lingering resentment, he moved Drakson’s body into his magical subspace.

The rights to all materials gathered from the monsters and demons had already been promised to Rozel Charnt and the Akan Kingdom, so Berge offered no objection.

Securing Drakson’s demise was enough to fulfill his own objectives.

‘I wonder if my own tower will vanish like this when I fall.’

The thought of that arrogant hero defiling his own corpse made his internal mana churn with irritation.

While he was lost in his thoughts, the cleanup process concluded.

The legions of the Akan Kingdom gathered every scrap of value and every body into their storage pouches, collected their fallen comrades, and set the battlefield ablaze.

“What is the tally of our losses?”

“141 with minor wounds, 55 in critical condition, and 271 confirmed dead.”

Rozel Charnt’s features darkened.

“…The cost was high.”

“The enemy forces were more formidable than we anticipated. And the lingering influence of the Demon King lasted longer than we projected…”

Within the confines of the tower, the advantage belonged to the demons. This particular Demon King and his army had been an anomaly in their strength.

She cast a quick glance toward Hillun.

“He was nothing like the Lust Demon King. We may have to revise our estimations for the remaining Demon Kings.”

“Agreed.”

Regardless of the data gained, the heavy casualties suffered by the Akan Kingdom were a bitter reality.

“…It was unavoidable. We achieved the primary goal.”

“There is one more thing, sir.”

“…?”

“We found no currency or treasures of any kind.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I personally oversaw multiple sweeps. There is absolutely nothing. It’s quite baffling.”

“…The court will be furious. Well, Akan is wealthy enough to weather it.”

Rozel Charnt shook it off. Gold was not her concern.

Her eyes were on the Demon King’s corpse. For a king known as a beast with no magical talent, his body was the true treasure.

Then.

“We found cells over here!”

As the subterranean dungeons were the last to fade from existence, the captured royals began to emerge.

Two princes and two princesses.

The princes hailed from Ormus. One princess was from a minor, insignificant territory. And the final one…

“…!”

Why on earth is that woman in a place like this?

Berge stood rooted to the spot. The soldiers who recognized the princess’s face let out audible gasps.

“Your Highness!”

“Heavens, the Princess!”

“What could have brought Her Highness here?”

The knights and sorcerers of Akan immediately dropped to their knees in a show of respect.

“…Hmm.”

Dull, crimson eyes slowly scanned the crowd. Strands of oily, violet hair drifted in the wind.

“…The tower.”

She tilted her head curiously. Her oversized robe brushed against the dirt, hanging loosely from her frame.

“The Demon King is gone?”

“Indeed, Your Highness. We have slain him!”

“And you… are who…?”

“Hokel, Commander of the Golden Lion Knights.”

“Ah, that name… perhaps I’ve heard it.”

The princess, whispering to herself, noticed Rozel Charnt and gave a small wave.

“A face I know…”

“Your Highness. What in the world were you doing in a place like this?”

Rozel let out a long, weary sigh.

“Seeking ingredients.”

“Ingredients?”

“Parts of monsters…”

“You ventured into the heart of a Demon King’s territory just to find monster parts?”

The princess gave a vacant nod.

“The Beast Demon King didn’t harm you?”

“I provided funds, and he provided monsters.”

“He traded low-level monsters to you for gold?”

‘She’s completely insane.’

Berge, watching from the side, couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of respect.

She had walked into a demon’s den alone to conduct business?

All for the sake of her chimera experiments?

She was either a genius or a lunatic.

‘So Drakson took her gold to purchase my demonic power.’

It was ridiculous—the kind of person who would sell such a thing and the kind who would buy it were equally absurd.

‘And she lost her temper because I didn’t follow her specific rules.’

The rules of engagement certainly didn’t account for making deals with the enemy.

Normally, no Demon King would entertain such a thing. At best, they would corrupt a human into a dark servant.

But the rulers of Aren were a different breed.

‘If Drakson was this opportunistic, Jason Cockmund is almost certainly doing the same.’

Perhaps Ugar Velbeck as well. Only Reina Sordain seemed unlikely to consort with humanity.

“Did the King know you were here?”

“I left a message.”

“A simple note before disappearing into this danger? Good grief. You are far too reckless.”

Rozel rubbed her temples in frustration.

“We are returning to the palace immediately. Is that understood?”

“I’m not finished…”

“There is no more ‘not finished.’ The Demon King is dead—there’s nothing left. We’ve claimed all the monster remains anyway. We are leaving.”

“…Are there many?”

“A great deal.”

“Very well.”

The princess offered a nod of agreement.

“Finish the cleanup and prepare for departure! Keep the movement low-key—we move in silence!”

“Understood!”

“Provide an escort for the princess.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Rozel handed the princess over to the protection of the knights and focused on the final details.

The elite units of Akan began their quiet withdrawal.

And so.

The Beast Demon King was no more.

And the Beast Tower vanished from the map.

—

Zetson.

He was a man without a noble lineage. He was an orphan who had the good fortune of being taken in by an elderly man who ran a modest magic boutique.

Starting as a simple clerk, he entered the world of trade and quickly stumbled upon his true calling.

The power of his words.

He was a master at deciphering emotions and bending people to his will.

Once he took over the shop following his benefactor’s passing, his skills truly flourished.

He would take low-quality items and sell them at exorbitant rates. By attaching impressive backstories and grand names to them, he found people were eager to buy.

He amassed a small fortune.

Until his luck ran out.

“What a disaster.”

The Princess of the Dwarves, Louise Berft.

He never could have guessed that the person he was swindling was of royal blood.

He never imagined she would see right through his deception.

As punishment for his fraud, Louise had his entire inventory confiscated.

‘If it had just ended there, I could have recovered!’

But her spite was far-reaching.

“You dared to mock me with your lies? I will ensure you never work in this industry again.”

Using her royal influence, she circulated scathing (in his opinion) accounts of his dishonesty among the nobility.

The news that he had defrauded a vital diplomatic ally spread like wildfire. When he tried to defend himself, it only encouraged his other past victims to come forward and voice their grievances.

“What a despicable man.”

“A complete embarrassment to the kingdom.”

“This piece of filth dares to call himself a businessman?”

The authorities raided his establishment, shut it down permanently, and stripped him of his merchant license. Every coin he had saved was seized by the crown.

The only reason he wasn’t rotting in a cell was because Louise deemed it a waste of tax money to feed him.

‘Curse them! It’s not like I’m the only one who stretches the truth!’

Time dragged on.

He couldn’t find work; his reputation was so tarnished that no one would hire him.

He was forced to flee the capital city.

‘But where can I go?’

Should he head to the Traparta Union, the hub of global trade?

Then he remembered the man who had casually flipped him a gold coin once.

‘The Golden Moon Merchant Group was on the rise…’

The Hero Hillun Kagil was close with the successor, and they were swimming in investment capital…

‘That’s the place.’

A man who throws gold coins around wouldn’t go back on his word.

Zetson arrived at the gates of the Golden Moon Merchant Group and knocked.

He had no idea he was walking straight into the jaws of a predator.

End of Chapter 050: Each One’s Circumstances