NOVEL WEB chapter 1
1 – The End of the Last Standoff is Betrayal
A place where magic covers a vast space and heavy air presses down on the body.
The deepest part of the Demon King’s castle where the throne of the Demon King lies.
“Demon King! I will bring you down for the peace of this continent!”
“Hero, You’ve defeated my four heavenly kings one by one and managed to reach here. Honestly, I didn’t even imagine you’d come this far.”
Hero Hans.
His real name is different, but the black-haired warrior, who is called Hans because it’s tough to pronounce, was confronting the Demon King with a shining holy sword in his hand.
“Hero, I will fight with you.”
And the blonde girl who stood behind Hero Hans, pulling out a splendid magic sword.
This beautiful girl, who possessed bright blue eyes like gems, stood beside the hero with a determined expression.
She was Agnes Dela Cloetti, the first princess of the Kingdom of Cloetti, renowned in the kingdom for her sword skills and ability to use magic.
“May the blessing of the goddess be with you, Hero”
A girl who wore white robes, often fluttering her long silver hair.
The chosen saint, Shiela Frost.
“Leave the support to me! If we fight like we usually do, we can do this!”
A redhead sorceress with red flaming eyes who is rumored to be the next in line for mage tower master.
A girl known as the ‘genius sorceress’, Alexa Reitley.
These girls were the companions of the hero who were summoned by the kingdom and also the ‘lovers’ who would one day marry the hero.
With such dependable ladies, the hero was holding the holy sword, confronting the Demon King.
“So, no use for unnecessary talk! Come on, hero!!”
The Demon King, spreading black magic from his body which looked like a black shadow, laughed.
The hero and the three girls, holding a deep commitment in their hearts, charged towards the Demon King.
How long the fight lasted, no one knew.
Sorceress Alexa and Saint Shiela were relying on their staffs just to stand, and Princess Agnes was panting as if tired.
Naturally, the hero couldn’t escape unscathed either.
Although he had no serious injuries, the hero who gasped heavily clutched his holy sword.
“You did well… hero… to corner me like this…”
“I…I cannot lose. Demon King!!”
The hero raised his holy sword high.
For a moment, the sword emitted a dazzling light.
“What… you still have this much power…?!”
“Wuaaa!!”
The shining holy sword.
The hero ran towards the Demon King holding that sword.
“Hero!!”
Princess Agnes calling the hero in worry.
In response to her call, the light emitted by the hero’s holy sword became even more fierce.
“This is the enddddddd!!”
“Youuu!!”
The hero with his shining holy sword and the Demon King spreading dark energy crossed swords, their shadows of light and darkness intertwining.
And then, the Demon King was enveloped in dazzling light.
“Gah… Ahhhhh!! I… I am…!! I, the Demon King!!”
The agonizing yell of the Demon King.
With the burst of dazzling lights, the Demon King’s yell faded away.
And then, where the light disappeared, there was no sight of the Demon King.
“Ah… the magic…!! The magic is gone!!”
The Holy Maiden Ciella cried out in joyous voice.
Just as she said, the Demon King’s dense magic that had filled this space gradually disappeared.
“We did it!! We have overcome the Demon King!!”
The sorceress Alesa also smiled in delight.
“Yes… Finally, peace has come to our kingdom.”
Princess Anies, too, showed a smile on her face.
And the three girls greeted the hero, who could be said to be the main character of this battle.
Was it because he just used his power?
The hero, with a tired expression, approached them slowly, holding the Holy Sword that had lost its radiance more than usual.
“Hero, you were splendid!”
“At last, we have overcome evil in this world!!”
“Come, let’s go back!!”
Amidst the girls’ cheers, the hero responded with a smile.
“Okay, but… can you support me? I have no strength left.”
At the hero’s words, the girls looked at each other.
And then, Princess Anies approached the hero with a smile.
“Of course, Hero. I will assist you.”
Anies smiled beautifully, approaching the hero.
And, as it was, tightly embracing the hero,
She thrust her own dagger into his heart.
“…huh?”
The hero Hans gave a surprised voice.
“Why…? Why would you do…such a thing…”
“Well, because you now have completed your role, Hero.”
Princess Anies continued to speak, her face still bearing a beautiful smile.
“Hero who has completed his role, there is no need for you anymore, is there?… I have no reason to marry someone like you.”
“But… if you do this… the King will…”
“Do not worry, it is something the King also agrees with.”
At the princess’s words, the hero’s face turned pale.
He looked at the Holy Maiden Ciella, then at the sorceress Alesa.
“……”
The Holy Maiden Ciella avoided his gaze.
“…I hope you don’t take it badly, but, I also have to think about my own future.”
Sorceress Alesa spoke, her voice bearing a hint of guilt.
The fierceness in the warrior’s eyes begins to fade.
“I, too, Saint Ciella here, and Alesa are set to marry the crown prince of the Halphaus Empire.”
“Halphaus… Empire…?”
“Yes, a major power that can be called the largest nation on this continent.”
Aniese pulled out a short sword that had been thrust into the chest of the warrior, Hanse.
As the short sword was pulled out, blood spurted out from its place, splattering on Princess Aniese’s face.
“A hero who defeated the Demon King with a warrior, and the wife of the crown prince of the Halphaus Empire…Isn’t it more honorable than this?”
“…I apologize. Sir Warrior. May your soul rest in peace, by the goddess’s side…”
“Well, I’ll try to make sure at least your achievements are praised.”
The hero Hanse collapsed on the spot, spewing blood from his chest and mouth.
Aniese who approached him, picked up the sacred sword that had been held in Hanse’s hand.
“I’ll take this back. It’s a treasure of our kingdom.”
Princess Aniese, who had become increasingly cold, took a look at the dying Hanse.
Along with two other girls, Princess Aniese left the place.
In that place, there was only the body of the warrior Hanse, soaked in blood.
How much time had passed?
Someone appeared at the place where the warrior Hanse had collapsed.
A woman with golden hair and emerald eyes and horns on her head.
The woman scanned around her and then approached the fallen Warrior Hanse with a light step.
“Hey, Warrior. Warrior.”
The girl poked at the warrior.
“They all went far away. They won’t catch you so wake up slowly.”
After saying that, the eyes of the warrior Hanse, who had been entwined, bulged.
And Hans, who jolted up from the ground.
“Cough…Spit…Spit!! Yuck! I almost suffocated because of the blood.”
“Do you need recovery magic?”
“Oh yes, even if the heart is safe, the truth is that she was stabbed with a knife, so please.”
Upon hearing the words of the Warrior Hanse, the girl cried out, looking towards the throne.
“Rose! Rose!! Come out here and use recovery magic!!”
After the girl’s outcry, a woman appeared from a wall behind the throne of the Demon King.
A beautiful woman with gray hair braided, gathered together.
She had horns on her head too, indicating she was a demon.
“Your Majesty the Demon King! Is it all over?”
“Yes, but the warrior was stabbed with a knife. Treat him.”
“Oh…yes!!”
The woman, Rose, hurriedly ran over to treat the Warrior Hanse.
This woman was called ‘Redblood Roselia’, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army.
“What, is it over?”
“Oh, I thought I was going to die from frustration.”
“I didn’t mind the small space…”
Out of the space that Rozay emerged from, others revealed themselves.
An imposing middle-aged man with large horns and a beard, a demon girl wrapped in a robe, and a beast with fur all over its body walking on all fours.
All of them are powerful figures bearing the title of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Devil’s Army.
“I never thought… that you would be able to fight so skillfully after suffering from the curse of inversion.”
“I’ve been ambidextrous from the start.”
“If it were an ordinary person, they might feel as if their body is not their own… But never mind. It was already known that you are an exception…”
During the battle, the hero had received a curse from the Demon King.
The inversion curse. A curse that flips the left and right of the body’s functions or organs.
Like a right-handed person becoming left-handed, one of the curses that makes the body uncomfortable to use and interferes with the battle but…
“…Well, thanks to it, I was able to act as if my heart had been pierced and I was dead. Thanks.”
“Hmm…”
This time, it was used to change the position of the heart on the left and right.
Probably, the traitors think that the hero Hans has definitely been stabbed to death.
“Demon King, the treatment is finished.”
“Good.”
A girl with blonde hair called the Demon King.
After finishing her treatment, she looked straight at the hero who got up from his spot.
And, she smiled and spoke.
“Huhu, how was it? How about my acting?”
“…Well, I’ll say it was better than the Four Heavenly Kings.”
Looking at the Demon King Elaine who was proud of her acting, the hero Hans wore a bitter smile.
And, he erased the smile from his expression and opened his mouth.
“Now, Demon King Elaine. I kept my promise, right? Now it’s your turn.”
In a world without a hero, if the thought to have disappeared Demon Army was alive and stronger, attacking.
What kind of expressions will those girls wear as they cry?