The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 149

The Pope realized what she meant by Elias’s words.

He fell into contemplation for a moment, calculating the pros and cons of her statement coldly.

‘Indeed… There is some truth to that woman’s words. The national power of our Elf Church Country truly faces limits now.’

Until now, they had managed to scrape by with the help of the Beastman Kingdom, but considering the issues of dealing with the newly occupied territories, they had indeed reached a dangerously critical level.

If they weren’t careful, the nation could literally collapse from indigestion, and if the Falcon Empire were to launch a massive counterattack, they risked suffering significant losses.

‘We’ve come this far, but still, we cannot disregard the national power of the Falcon Empire. Thanks to the advantage of both sides attacking, we have managed to cope for now, but they are certainly not the type to crumble easily.’

Moreover, as Elias pointed out, if the Elf Church declared that it would end the war right now in accordance with the Demon Kingdom’s wishes, the diplomatic risks for the Elf Church would considerably decrease.

It’s no secret that the Church had already become a vassal of the Demon Kingdom, so following their orders would be viewed as quite natural.

Of course, in this scenario, the one to take the blame would be the Demon Kingdom, but since the Church was still in a hostile relationship with other nations excluding the Church, they had no reason to care about that.

After finishing his calculations…

“…Understood. As a vassal, I certainly cannot go against Your Majesty’s will. Therefore, the Elf Church will cease hostilities from this moment onward.”

The Pope slowly nodded and replied, looking at the Demon Race General before him.

Seeing this, Elias broke into a deep smile, lightly lowering his head.

“Thank you for your wise decision, Your Majesty.”

*

“…Is this really happening?”

Cassandra held a letter in her hand.

While looking at the contents discussing the Elf Church’s withdrawal from the war, she couldn’t hide her surprise.

‘I would never have guessed that the Elf Church would actually step back from the war… No matter how much they became a vassal, I never thought those proud elves would operate like this.’

From Cassandra’s perspective, who could only guess that the internal situation of the Elf Church wasn’t great, their complete halt of the offensive was quite unexpected.

However, regardless of her feelings, the Elf Church was indeed fortifying their defenses without advancing any further.

Consequently, the Beastman Kingdom also began to quietly withdraw without reckless advances.

‘Then… there’s only one left.’

The Elf Church and Beastman Kingdom, which had felt like a dagger aimed at her back.

Now that they had ceased their war efforts, the Falcon Empire could fully focus on the biggest enemy right before their eyes…

The war against the Magic Kingdom.

‘Just you wait, you filthy Magic Kingdom bastards… I’ll make sure you understand the price of betraying your own kind.’

*

“Chomp, chomp.”

“Crunch, crunch.”

“…”

“Oh, this is tasty too. The Falcon Empire really has a lot of excellent food.”

“Woof! Woof!”

In front of me, Amelda and Terra were continuing their meal with a slightly gluttonous demeanor.

Their expression of deep joy, devouring not just rationed food but a variety of delicacies they had splurged on, was palpable.

However, at this moment, sitting quietly across from them was the figure of Lich Eileen.

To her, this scene of happy dining playing out before her eyes felt nothing short of torturous, as if she were witnessing an inhumane form of agony.

‘I want to eat… I’m so hungry… It hurts…’

Having lived as a citizen of the Empire, she knew very well the tastes of the food before her.

However, that only deepened her agony, as she couldn’t partake in it.

‘Aah… If only I could at least taste a piece of that pie…’

In fact, unable to hold back any longer, Eileen forced a piece of pie into her mouth and tried to chew, but the result was nothing short of despair.

All she felt was the dull sensation of her jaw cutting something.

She couldn’t taste anything, and the pie pieces simply fell to the floor through her hollow jaws.

In that moment, Eileen fully realized that she had become a body incapable of partaking in meals.

Overwhelmed by terrible emptiness and pain from being deprived of life’s basic rights, Eileen tried to get up from her seat.

But…

“Where do you think you’re going, Eileen? Did you forget what the Hero said? You were told to stay in this barracks until he returns. Surely, you don’t intend to disobey that order?”

“Grrrr…”

“…I apologize.”

At Amelda’s words, Eileen reluctantly sat back down, turning her gaze away, desperately trying to ignore the horrific scene before her.

‘Really… How did it come to this?… How did I end up… in such a miserable state?…’

*

The Falcon Empire’s army started gathering in Macedonia.

Looking at the sight of the grand army, which reached at least 30,000 troops, I felt again how formidable the Empire’s strength was.

‘Even in this situation, to have that many troops… Truly, the Falcon Empire is different, the strongest nation on the continent.’

When they are enemies, they are quite a headache, but now as allies, they felt rather reassuring.

Meanwhile, my focus began shifting away from the Imperial army filling the castle to the Magic Kingdom soldiers approaching from beyond.

Their forces were roughly around 20,000.

Considering that generally, the defenders hold an advantage over the attackers, the battle situation was indeed unfavorable for them, but looking deeper, it wasn’t quite so.

Unlike the Falcon Empire forces which consisted predominantly of infantry, the Magic Kingdom soldiers included a significant number of high-grade personnel, such as witches.

While the Imperial Army utilized a strategy of overwhelming numbers based on a massive population, forcing their way through, the Magic Kingdom preferred to refine each soldier to maximize efficiency with a smaller number.

In that context, regardless of the apparent size difference, the actual combat power was not drastically different.

Thus, I recognized that it was our responsibility to tip the balance in our favor.

‘The size of our Demon Kingdom’s troops here is hardly a handful. However… since each one is a strong enough fighter to slaughter ordinary soldiers, we can achieve considerable success if utilized properly.’

Although a counterfeit, I had come out under the name of the Demon King, so I had to show significant accomplishments.

For the sake of showcasing the Demon Kingdom’s prowess, as well as fulfilling my personal ambitions, I needed to earn recognition for my contributions in this war.

Just then, while I was contemplating what I should do here…

“Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

In the next moment, I turned around in surprise at the sudden voice calling me.

*

“Thank you for joining us, Your Majesty.”

The person speaking to me in a respectful tone was Helene, the strongest general of the Empire, currently overseeing the Imperial army here in Macedonia, wearing a smile adorned with her uniquely beautiful face.

“There’s no need for thanks. Even though I govern a nation, it’s only natural to respond to the commands of the Supreme Commander here.”

Having unexpectedly taken on the role of the Demon King’s substitute, I felt a sense of pride in my seamless performance.

I looked at Helene, who seemed to be oddly tense, and said, “So, what was the reason the Supreme Commander summoned me?”

“Yes, actually, before the battle, I wanted to make a request of you.”

“A request. If it’s the Supreme Commander’s orders on a battlefield, then I’ll need to comply. What is it?”

Expecting her to bring up matters related to war, I accepted her request without hesitation.

However…

“Yes, well, that is…”

“?”

In the next moment, Helene seemed to fumble her words, pausing for a moment.

I began to feel a mix of curiosity and concern regarding what kind of demanding request she was about to lay upon me.

‘If the request is too unreasonable, I’ll obviously refuse, but… It’s also not very good to create a rift with the Supreme Commander like this.’

Just as I began to slightly frown in concern,

Helene spoke with a tone filled with a solemn determination.

“Your Majesty! If it’s alright with you, may I propose a duel?”

“…Huh?”