There’s a Demon King Inside the Hero

Chapter 2: The Retired Hero and the Former Demon King (2)

The sound of people’s cries and hurried footsteps echoed around him.

Kim Suhyeon gripped the broom in his hands, imagining it as a sword, ready to thrust it at the Living Tongue.

It was the basic stance he’d practiced countless times as a knight in Altera, so much so that he grew tired of it.

The Living Tongue, having dropped from the sky, rolled its eyes, searching for its target.

That target wasn’t Suhyeon.

Its gaze landed on someone closer to it—a little girl, kneeling on the ground, crying, perhaps having lost her mother in the crowd.

The monster opened its mouth, ready to attack.

Suhyeon clicked his tongue inwardly.

No matter which world it is, monsters always have bad taste.

When surprise summons happen, more casualties are caused by a single rampaging monster than anything else.

This is because there’s often a delay before a hunter arrives to eliminate the threat.

So, I just need to hold on until then.

The frog-like monster’s long tongue shot out of its mouth, aiming for its victim at a rapid speed.

Not if I can help it.

Suhyeon dashed toward the monster, aiming the broom’s tip at its left eye, thrusting forward.

Kerurururuk!

The monster’s stance crumbled as its long tongue missed the girl and slammed into the asphalt, leaving a dent and scattering debris.

Even an F-rank monster was still a monster.

A direct hit from that would be instant death.

Kerururuk!

Although Suhyeon had struck the Living Tongue’s left eye, there wasn’t a scratch on it.

The broomstick wasn’t sharp enough to penetrate the monster’s tough skin.

But that wasn’t the point.

The goal was to grab the monster’s attention.

Now its focus has shifted from the girl to Suhyeon.

[Dive to the right!]

Before Suhyeon could even process the Demon King’s voice, his body reacted instinctively.

Just as he leaped to the side, a gust of wind brushed past where he had been standing.

The Living Tongue had used its powerful hind legs to lunge at his previous location.

Cracks appeared on the ground where the monster had landed.

‘If I had been just a little slower…’

[Its tongue is coming! Duck!]

As soon as he ducked, a red tongue shot past his shoulder like an arrow.

[I can see the flow of magic inside the monster’s body. I’ll tell you where it’s going to attack, so dodge with everything you’ve got!]

‘Why are you helping me, though?’

[Do you have time to ask? It’s about to charge again!]

Suhyeon quickly planted the broomstick into the ground, spinning a quarter turn to narrowly dodge the monster’s charge.

Right now, Suhyeon was an ordinary person.

However, he was also someone who had spent 105 years eradicating monsters in Altera as a hero.

People often say the body remembers what it’s done for a long time, but in Suhyeon’s case, his years of intense experience were burned into his mind, guiding his movements.

After a year of living in Altera, Suhyeon had finally decided to become a hero and had applied to join the kingdom’s knights in the capital of Argen.

‘I like the look in that boy’s eyes.’

The knight commander had taken an interest in Suhyeon and had matched him against himself during the entrance test.

At the time, Suhyeon was beginning to realize that his physical abilities and magical potential were growing at a pace far beyond normal.

The power the gods had granted him wasn’t a convenient ability that made him instantly strong, but one that grew over time.

By the end of his first year in Altera, Kim Suhyeon had fully grasped this fact.

He hadn’t yet learned magic at that time, but his enhanced physical capabilities were obvious.

That’s when he became arrogant.

Whether it was the knight commander or anyone else, they wouldn’t stand a chance against me with mere human strength.

That was the thought he held as he faced the knight commander.

But before he knew it, his sword had flown from his hand, and the knight commander’s practice sword was resting against his throat.

Suhyeon had been using a real, sharp sword, while the commander had wielded a practice sword.

‘Hoo… You’re far stronger than you look.’

‘What… what just happened?’

The knight commander stroked his beard as he watched Suhyeon’s stunned expression.

‘Combat isn’t just about strength. It’s about how you use that strength, where you apply it, and how efficiently you move without wasting energy. From what I can see… you don’t even know the first thing about swordsmanship.’

With a kind smile, the commander withdrew his practice sword.

‘But that just means you haven’t picked up any bad habits yet. You’re in. From now on, you’ll learn swordsmanship and wield that power solely for the kingdom.’

After joining the knights, Suhyeon trained in the fundamentals and applications of swordsmanship alongside the knight commander and other knights.

As he continued his journey, he gained the Holy Sword, fought monsters, and eventually adapted swordsmanship to suit his own combat style.

[It’s going for your left shoulder!]

[The tongue’s shifting! Behind you!]

Drawing on his memories of battling monsters, Suhyeon managed to avoid the attacks with minimal movement.

With the Demon King calling out the monster’s attack trajectories, dodging wasn’t too difficult.

However, given his current physical state, attacking the monster was nearly impossible. If he tried, he would be counterattacked immediately.

For now, keeping his distance and stalling was his best option.

But this was a perilous tightrope walk.

One small mistake… and he would die.

Moreover—

‘Damn it, I’m running out of stamina.’

His breathing grew labored. How long had he been holding out? One minute? Two? Five?

Though he was distracting the monster, keeping it from attacking others, his body was reaching its limit.

[It’s over.]

‘What?’

As the Demon King’s grim voice echoed in his head, the Living Tongue lunged at him.

I won’t dodge in time.

His legs felt heavy.

Boom!

Screech!

A massive blade, the size of Suhyeon’s body, came flying from above, piercing the monster from its back through its belly and pinning it to the ground.

Keruruk! Keruruk…

The monster twitched and convulsed before losing its strength and life, collapsing to the ground.

Its mana core shattered, and the monster turned to ash, scattering into the air without a trace.

Everyone in the vicinity, including Suhyeon, looked in the direction the blade had come from. A male hunter stood atop a building at the intersection.

“A hunter! A hunter is here!”

Cheers erupted as people pointed to the hunter.

The hunter smiled and waved, eliciting even more excitement from the crowd.

[Tch, lucky you. I sensed something with concentrated mana approaching.]

The Demon King seemed to have known the hunter was nearby.

[It looks like these hunters have a significant amount of mana flowing through them, but they seem to use it differently from mages. Most of it seems to be focused on enhancing their physical abilities.]

The sweat that had drenched Suhyeon began to cool as he let out a deep breath and sank to the ground.

He had survived.

Looking around, Suhyeon saw that everyone’s attention was on the hunter, but he smiled to himself.

I protected them. I saved these people.

In a place like this, an ambush summon could have resulted in over a hundred casualties.

But he had prevented that disaster.

[You’re thinking too lightly. You almost died, you know.]

Suhyeon frowned but couldn’t deny the Demon King’s words.

If his steps had been slightly off, if his movements had been even a bit slower, Suhyeon would be lying here, drenched in his own blood.

[Hero, you’ve really grown weak.]

‘So what? You didn’t help much either, did you?’

The Demon King sighed.

[If I could use magic, I’d have obliterated that monster with just a snap of my fingers.]

Sure, the great archmage Demon King who could fire off dozens of 6th-class Meteor spells with ease probably found it amusing that I struggled with a low-rank monster.

‘…Wait a minute.’

An idea suddenly sparked in Suhyeon’s mind.

‘Hey, Demon King.’

[What is it now?]

‘You said hunters have mana flowing through them, right?’

[That’s correct.]

Suhyeon’s body is currently normal. To others, it looked like he could only use basic self-defense skills.

When he went to Altera, he had an overflow of magical aptitude, learning magic through intuition alone, without formally studying it.

But this guy—this Demon King—might know how.

As the King of Monsters and King of Magic, the Demon King must surely know how to imbue Suhyeon’s body with mana once more, allowing him to use it.

But… this is also the being that plunged an entire world into fear.

What should I do…

Suhyeon’s mind raced with conflicting thoughts.

‘Should I really accept guidance from a madman like him?’

[What? A madman? Did you just call the Demon King a madman? I swear, by the name of the Demon King, I’ll curse you—]

‘See? There you go again.’