Chapter 189: Chapter 189

“Those two. Will they be alright?”

Sullivan’s face was filled with worry as she spoke.

“We should have gathered more information and moved after getting solid evidence…”

“Do we really have that kind of luxury right now?”

The leader of Ultimoon Fes, Kerbe Cowell, maintained a calm demeanor.

Having lived for nearly 500 years,

He had reached a level where he could smile through most situations, so he didn’t appear particularly rushed even now.

“While their plan may seem reckless at first glance, I don’t think it’s bad.”

“Why? Everything is uncertain. We don’t have any information about the Demon King, how many troops are in the Demon King’s castle, or what the surrounding situation is like.”

Going directly to ask the Demon King about their plans.

Is that something that should come from a hero’s mouth?

Why did Kerbe Cowell approve this operation?

Why did Park Hyun-a follow along despite her grumbling?

She couldn’t understand it at all.

“Sometimes you need to take reckless actions to find a breakthrough.”

Kerbe Cowell slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

“That’s how life is. Not everything can fit together like cogwheels. Sometimes you have to rely on intuition. Sometimes you have to leave everything to luck.”

“Even when your life is at stake?”

“What can you do? That’s life.”

At that moment, Sullivan shot a glance at Kerbe Cowell.

“You speak well. But those two are the ones risking their lives right now.”

“Ahem! I’m just speaking from my experience.”

Just as Kerbe Cowell cleared his throat awkwardly after being hit with the truth.

“Did you feel it too?”

Suddenly, both their expressions hardened.

“Magical power. And…”

An enormous amount of magical and holy power was gathering.

Kerbe Cowell and Sullivan rushed out of the tent.

As soon as they got outside, a massive magical power swept over them.

Kerbe Cowell hurriedly drew his sword and deflected the incoming magic.

With an explosion, the magic scattered.

As if they had been waiting, shouts erupted from everywhere.

“Enemies all around! We’re already surrounded!”

The enemy had already surrounded them from all directions.

His hand gripped the sword tightly.

“How did they know…?”

It was incomprehensible.

Ultimoon Fes had been perfectly hidden from everyone’s eyes until now.

But to have their location discovered and be surrounded…

Did the Drason Empire betray them?

“Tch. This is bad. I’ll have to abandon this body.”

In the distance, Duke Orlaben Grimier’s muttering could be heard as he frowned.

There was no reason to act in this situation, so it wasn’t the Drason Empire’s betrayal.

Then how was their location discovered?

“Focus on escape for now! A barrier field has been deployed, so we’ll have to break through directly!”

Kerbe Cowell nodded at Sullivan’s words.

‘Right. For now, I should focus on escaping.’

Just as he was about to move after steeling himself.

“It’s been a while, Kerbe Cowell.”

A somehow familiar voice was heard.

Turning around, he saw three people approaching.

“Kinley. Gelling. Asmund.”

The legends of Gatren who appeared with the declaration of holy war.

They were all familiar faces to Kerbe Cowell.

Once comrades who fought against the demon race on the same front.

Kinley, the only woman among them, stepped forward.

“Surrender. You’re already surrounded.”

Kinley said while pulling out a huge hammer.

Kerbe Cowell responded by pointing his sword.

“How did you know? We maintained absolute secrecy about our location…”

Suddenly, Kinley burst into loud laughter.

Behind her, the other legends, Gelling and Asmund, also couldn’t hold back their amused laughter.

Kerbe Cowell frowned.

“Kerbe. Your instincts have definitely dulled with age. Saying the location couldn’t possibly be known.”

Kinley gave a cynical smile.

“There are no absolutes in this world. We’ve known your location for years. We just left you alone because there was no need to deal with you.”

“Did you forget? We are Gatren.”

As pride filled Kinley’s face, a look of contempt for her opponent flowed from her eyes.

“Until now, we let you live because there was no reason to kill you, but now the time has come.”

“Choose, Kerbe Cowell.”

More than thousands of elite troops had already surrounded them.

“Surrender. Or death. Which will it be?”

“What’s this…? Why is it so quiet?”

Park Hyun-a anxiously looked around.

“It’s completely empty.”

Choi Hyun-seok also kept looking around with an uneasy expression.

Quite some time had passed since the two heroes arrived at the Demon King’s castle.

At first, they moved with extreme tension, but that didn’t last long.

As time passed without any sign of life, they couldn’t help but notice something was strange.

“Did they all move away or something?”

The Demon King’s castle isn’t simply a concept like the Demon King’s residence.

The Demon King’s castle is a kind of symbol representing the Demon King’s dignity.

A Demon King would choose death before abandoning their castle.

That was the rule of the demon race.

“Unless all the troops are gathered somewhere attacking, there’s absolutely no way they would move.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“Well… Let’s keep going for now.”

Although no one was there, demonic energy was flowing from the center of the castle.

Perhaps the Demon King might be there.

The group stood before a massive door that appeared to be made of minerals.

Its height alone was about 5 meters.

The door, decorated with bizarre patterns, felt intimidating just standing in front of it.

Park Hyun-a knew where this was.

‘The Demon King’s quarters.’

She had met the Demon King here before.

Inside was a huge hall, with only a throne sitting alone.

The Demon King said he always spent time sitting in that chair.

Park Hyun-a nodded at Choi Hyun-seok’s words.

The door slowly pushed open.

Finally, the massive hall revealed itself.

The throne placed in its center.

A man was sitting there.

Park Hyun-a narrowed her eyes.

While it was certainly Demon King Tegrad sitting in the chair, he looked very different from how she remembered him.

“Is that the Demon King?”

Choi Hyun-seok asked in a somewhat bewildered voice.

“Yes. The demonic energy is definitely his. But…”

“He looks like he’s about to die?”

The Demon King looked extremely aged.

His appearance was like that of someone well over eighty years old.

The magnificent horns that once represented the Demon King’s dignity were crumbling with less than half remaining.

At that moment, Demon King Tegrad opened his eyes.

“Yes. It’s been a while.”

“Have you come to kill me?”

Park Hyun-a didn’t answer.

She asked questions while walking through the hall.

“You look terrible, Demon King.”

“So it appears that way to your eyes too.”

“Nothing happened. I simply followed the natural course of things.”

Tegrad slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

“You must be pleased. You’ll be the first hero to kill a Demon King. Isn’t that the highest honor for humans?”

“What honor is there in killing a dying old man?”

Finally stopping in front of Tegrad, Park Hyun-a halted.

She looked around once and continued speaking.

“Where did the others go?”

“To find a new Demon King. It’s natural. Following the strong is the nature of the demon race.”

By this point, Park Hyun-a couldn’t help but notice the situation.

She laughed cynically.

“The Demon King’s Army’s current retreat. They’re deliberately opening the way for you to be killed.”

Now all the questions were answered.

The Demon King’s Army’s repeated retreats.

The appearance of a collapsed command system somewhere.

Everything was because the army commanders had betrayed the aged Demon King Tegrad.

The collapsed command system was likely because internal reorganization wasn’t completely finished yet.

“Dorithugs. Is this that annoying bastard’s doing?”

Tegrad didn’t answer.

Taking his silence as confirmation, Park Hyun-a continued her questions.

“Demon King. What were you thinking when you did all this?”

“Why did you kill Hemis? What was your reason for recklessly starting a war using necromancy? Why didn’t you step down from the Demon King position until things got this bad?”

“Too many questions.”

Tegrad shook his head.

“Since I do feel sorry about some things regarding you, I’ll sincerely answer just one.”

It was about trying to kill Park Hyun-a and turn her into an undead in the past.

Although they were together out of mutual necessity, he was the one who betrayed her first.

So he thought it would be fine to resolve her doubts before dying.

But Park Hyun-a didn’t seem satisfied with that answer.

She narrowed her brows and spoke. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵

“Just one question? Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not in a position to be picky, are you?”

“Park Hyun-a. Do I look like someone who’s attached to life?”

Tegrad bursts into a hearty laugh.

Park Hyun-a clicked her tongue.

Even if left alone now, the Demon King will die soon anyway.

Such childish threats won’t work.

“Then just answer this one thing.”

“What exactly are you plotting? I know you’re not stupid enough to do all this without any thought.”

Tegrad lifted his head and stared into empty space.

“I just wanted to save the demon race. Fortunately, things seem to be going according to my plans.”

“I killed Hemis… Because I couldn’t trust her. I’ve watched Hemis for nearly a thousand years, but I could never understand what she was thinking.”

An uncontrollable element.

A demon with power so great that while invaluable as an ally, could destroy all plans if things went wrong.

That’s why she was eliminated.

“I thought it better to remove her than leave her as an uncertain factor.”

“Wait a minute. You’re straying from my question. I asked what you were plotting when you caused all this.”

“Are you sneakily adding more questions?”

“You’re the one who isn’t answering properly.”

“I’ll tell you just this much.”

His demeanor suddenly changed.

With a serious look, he faced Park Hyun-a and spoke.

“At this rate, the demon race will eventually perish. That’s why I had no choice but to take this dangerous gamble.”

“So what exactly is this gamble?”

“Sorry, but I can’t tell you any more than that.”

Park Hyun-a irritably scratched her head.

There’s still no clear answer.

Even if she pressed further, nothing more would come of it.

“Let’s wrap this up. I’m getting tired.”

Tegrad closed his eyes.

“I didn’t expect to die by your hand. But this ending isn’t so bad.”

Tegrad found the current situation somewhat amusing.

A Demon King dying at the hands of a hero.

It’s like the plot of a fairy tale that humans love.

But what about reality?

There’s only a defeated Demon King and a hero who became humanity’s enemy.

There are no winners here.

“No, I’m not going to kill you.”

At that moment, Park Hyun-a turned around.

She patted Choi Hyun-seok’s shoulder.

“I’ve already reached my growth limit anyway.”

“Well, I’m grateful, but…”

Choi Hyun-seok scratched the back of his head.

Honestly, he felt uncomfortable.

It felt wasn’t his place to interfere.

Besides, he’d always just received help from Park Hyun-a, so he felt guilty.

“Hey. I have over 100 bonus points right now.”

“Why did you save up so many?”

“Even if I increase my stats, I’m not confident I can use them properly.”

“So don’t worry about me and finish this yourself.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded.

If she had over 100 bonus points, there was no need to level up further.

He approached the Demon King.

Tegrad slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Choi Hyun-seok.

“I see. So you’re Choi Hyun-seok…”

“How could I not… You were at the center of all chaos…”

Tegrad’s gaze as he looked at Choi Hyun-seok was strange.

“This is why I had to deal with Hemis. I regret not making that decision sooner.”

“Is that all for your last words?”

Instead of answering, Tegrad closed his eyes.

Choi Hyun-seok reached out and twisted his neck in one motion.

The neck twisted with surprising ease.

Simultaneously, system alerts were heard.

[Congratulations! You have defeated Demon King Tegrad!]

[Acquiring massive experience points]

[Level up!][Level up!][Level up!][Level up!][Level up!][Level up!]…

The level-up alerts continued endlessly.

Various system alerts followed.

[Acquiring 100,000 Hero Points]

[Title ‘Regular Hero’ has been upgraded to ‘Veteran Hero’]

[Title ‘Veteran Hero’ has been upgraded to ‘Legendary Hero’]

[All abilities increase by 20 points]

[Magical Control skill grade increases from S → SS]

There were so many alerts it was overwhelming.

Choi Hyun-seok read through the alerts with a somewhat dazed expression.

Along with a cheerful alert, a system message he had never seen before appeared.

Clap clap clap clap-! Congratulations!

You’ve finally defeated Demon King Tegrad!

However, it’s too early to relax.

This precarious world still needs your help!

Here, I would like to make you one promise.

When all threats are gone and peace returns,

I will give you a choice.

Choi Hyun-seok gulped and pressed the view details button.

After a long blank space, the final sentence appeared.

If you’re curious, hurry up and save the world!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read advanced chapters, you can do so by unlocking chapters.

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