≈ Chapter 2 ≈
I quickly ran toward the three men.
Hmm.
Hmmm.
No matter how carefully I looked at them from every angle, I couldn’t figure out who they were.
Think about it.
The only person in the original novel who was strong enough to invade the Demon King’s Castle and wipe out the high-ranking demons was the male protagonist…
‘Ah… wait!’
A realization suddenly flashed through my mind, and my eyes widened.
Come to think of it…
‘Aren’t these the Warriors from before the male protagonist’s time?!’
The original story went like this.
The demons invaded the Human World under the Demon King’s orders twice.
The first invasion was stopped by a group of legendary Warriors.
They even fought their way into the heart of the Demon World—the Demon King’s Castle.
‘So these must be those Warriors!’
The demons suffered huge losses during that battle and were forced to retreat.
Later, that defeat became the reason they launched a second full-scale invasion of the Human World.
According to the original novel, those previous Warriors all died together with the Demon Kings after being cursed by the Demon King.
‘But… I never cursed anyone.’
Confused, I squatted down beside them.
Then I noticed a pale blue aura surrounding their bodies.
It was stopping their wounds from healing.
That aura was definitely my unique demonic energy…
‘The demons must have used my power to attack them.’
Now that I thought about it…
The demons had always been taking my demonic energy.
Since my human blood was much stronger than my demon blood, my demonic power hadn’t naturally awakened yet.
So before they extracted it…
They always forced me to drink medicine that temporarily awakened my demonic energy.
‘Ugh… drinking that medicine always hurt so much.’
I shivered without thinking.
After forcing my power out, they sealed it inside magic stones and used it during battles.
That explained why…
Broken pieces of magic stones were scattered all around the bodies of the high-ranking demons I had seen earlier.
‘So the “Demon King’s Curse” mentioned in the original story was probably just the process of being consumed by my demonic energy.’
I finally understood what had happened.
The previous Warriors had successfully defeated the Five Demon Kings.
But…
They couldn’t block the attacks made using my demonic energy.
So the Warriors died as well.
After that, other demons entered the now-empty Demon King’s Castle.
Then they used me as a puppet Demon King once again and launched the second invasion of the Human World.
Everything matched perfectly.
I rested my chin on my hand and thought deeply.
“Hmm… what should I do?”
My original plan had been to run away immediately.
But after thinking about it a little more…
Running away wouldn’t solve anything.
After all…
Demons were naturally hostile toward other races.
They worshipped strength above everything else.
To demons…
A half-breed like me, whose human blood was much stronger than her demon blood, was worth less than the trash lying on the ground.
‘The high-ranking demons were even ashamed that the Demon King was a human half-breed, so they hid my identity from everyone.’
Because of that…
No ordinary demon even knew I was the Demon King.
Anyway…
Back to the point.
Right now, I was just a weak little child who hadn’t even awakened as the Demon King yet.
And I looked almost completely human.
If someone like me tried to survive alone outside…
The chance of living was almost zero.
‘But that also means the chance of anyone discovering that I’m the Demon King is almost zero.’
Besides…
In the original novel, I didn’t awaken as the Demon King until Part Two, when the second war between humans and demons began and the male protagonist truly became the main character.
‘So as long as I don’t lose control, everything should be fine.’
In the original story…
I became the Demon King because I couldn’t endure the endless abuse from the demons anymore.
If I looked at it the other way around…
If I could live safely and happily… then I would never go out of control.
My eyes sparkled.
‘…If everything goes well, I might be able to awaken safely as the Demon King.’
Without losing my mind.
Without going berserk.
Without hurting anyone.
That means I could become the strongest being in the world, just as the original novel described!
I couldn’t hold back my excitement.
I lowered my head.
“Hehe… hehe… hahaha…”
A sneaky laugh escaped my lips all by itself.
Sure, I awakened late…
But once I became the Demon King, I was unbelievably strong.
Even in the original novel, the male protagonist had suffered terribly just to kill me.
…Actually, that thought felt unlucky.
I’d better stop thinking about it.
‘Anyway, I have to save the Warriors somehow.’
My new plan was simple.
First…
Save the Warriors.
Then make them become my guardians.
If they protected me…
I’d have three guardians with the highest status, the greatest strength, and endless wealth.
“Perfect.”
Just a moment ago, these Warriors had looked like nothing but trouble.
Now…
They looked like the golden rope that could save my life.
I tightly clenched my tiny fists.
“Warriors… just trust me.”
I’ll save all of you somehow.
So…
You have to protect me until I grow up. Deal?
✦ ✦ ✦
BOOM!
Flames burst into the air with a deafening explosion.
The great mage with long hair barely blocked the Demon King’s attack before collapsing, his fiery red hair scattering across the ground.
‘Kyrios.’
Zigfried looked at him helplessly.
At the same time, the silver-haired High Priest released streams of brilliant silver light from his entire body.
It was holy power created by burning away his own life.
‘Caesar!’
‘Go! You have to kill the Demon Kings, no matter what!’
Caesar shouted until the veins in his neck bulged.
Then…
He collapsed as well.
For only a brief moment, Zigfried stared at him in despair.
‘Damn it!’
Gripping his blood-soaked sword tightly…
Zigfried charged forward.
Slash!
The head of the last remaining Demon King flew through the air.
The three Warriors had finally won.
At that very moment…
Zigfried realized the truth.
‘…None of us are making it back alive.’
The long and terrible battle against the Demon Kings had left wounds that would never heal.
His fingers lost their strength.
The sword slipped from his hand.
It was the very sword he had never once let go of since entering the Demon World.
Clang!
The sound of steel hitting stone felt strangely distant.
His knees gave out.
His entire body became colder and colder.
Everything before his eyes faded into darkness.
…At least…
It should have.
“…Sir.”
“…”
“Mister!”
Someone was calling him.
Zigfried suddenly regained consciousness.
“Gah!”
He gasped for air as though he had been dragged out of deep water.
Holding his chest tightly, he kept breathing heavily.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
His blurry vision slowly became clear.
At the same time…
A cheerful little voice shouted excitedly.
“Ah! You’re awake!”
A child?
Startled, Zigfried quickly turned his head.
At the end of his gaze sat a tiny child with messy pink hair and round sky-blue eyes.
She looked no older than five.
She seemed completely harmless.
But…
Inside the Demon King’s Castle…
Nothing could be trusted.
Without hesitation, Zigfried grabbed the child by the collar.
“Cough!”
The child struggled, her eyes becoming as wide as a frightened rabbit’s.
Releasing a terrifying killing intent, Zigfried questioned her.
“Who are you?”
“M-My name is Tatiana. You… you can call me Titi.”
“…”
The child answered with tears forming in her eyes.
Even while remaining cautious, Zigfried felt a headache coming on.
“I’m not asking for your name… Never mind. Tell me who you are.”
“I-I’m… a slave in the Demon King’s Castle…”
The child answered obediently, looking as though she might burst into tears at any second.
Zigfried quietly observed her.
‘Just what is this child?’
To anyone else…
She looked almost completely human.
But something about her was strange.
He could sense an extremely faint trace of demonic energy coming from her.
It was so weak that only someone as powerful as Zigfried could barely notice it.
Most people would never realize it was there.
“I’ve never seen a child like you before.”
Zigfried carefully examined her.
“You clearly look human. So how can your body contain demonic energy?”
The child’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.
“U-Umm… that’s…”
“The longer you hesitate, the more suspicious you become.”
“N-No! I’ll tell you!”
Startled, the child hurriedly raised her voice.
Even then…
She hesitated for a long time.
Finally, after making up her mind, she carefully spoke.
“It’s because… I’m half human… and half demon.”
“…What did you just say?”
For a moment…
Zigfried couldn’t believe his own ears.
“A human-demon half-breed?”
