The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 155

Helene, this human being, unintentionally scratched at Eliza’s painful insides.

Regarding this, Eliza contemplated whether to toss this human, whom she was ‘carrying’ in her arms, aside. However, she decided to exhibit patience and chose to endure that.

It was not, as Helene thought, to expose some political weakness.

The reason why she was showing this much mercy to someone who had tried to kill her was… because Helene’s desperate struggle for unattainable love made her see a reflection of herself.

In her past, where she had tried so hard to win the heart of the Hero, only to end up failing miserably, it struck a chord with her.

“Well… there might be a bit of delusion involved, but really, she and I are practically kindred spirits…”

The Hero, already involved with someone, showed no signs of that bond breaking. Although the other party was supposedly a lowly demon race, through seeing the strong connection between the two she had randomly observed afterward, Eliza couldn’t help but confirm to herself that she had no dreams or hopes left.

Moreover, quite incidentally as it might be, she already had a significant other named Nyadan.

To be honest, while there were still some ambiguous feelings about that affection, Eliza couldn’t deny that her relationship with Nyadan had already reached a level beyond simple friendship.

In the end, regardless of the situation, Eliza’s chances of ending up with the Hero had become practically zero.

To Eliza, Helene’s desperate attempts to get involved with the Hero disguised as a Demon King inevitably reminded her of her own past struggles with meaningless fights that caused her considerable emotional turmoil.

“Ha…”

After finally suppressing the anger that had erupted due to Helene, Eliza spoke softly while gazing at the woman nestled in her arms.

“Well, anyhow… it’s best to cleanly give up on the fact that the Demon King already has someone other than me. I tried my best, but in the end, it was futile no matter what I did.”

“!… E-Eliza… are you saying that too?”

Helene began using honorifics while curiously questioning her for some reason.

However, Eliza paid little heed to that fact, smiling wryly as she replied.

“Yeah, to be honest, I really tried my best, but it didn’t work out. Now… I’ve completely given up. Also, I’m already taken.”

“!… Is that… true?”

At Eliza’s words, Helene wore a sad expression…

Perhaps she was showing a look of sorrow over the fact that she had failed in love, and in response, Eliza began to think that this woman in her arms wasn’t fundamentally a bad person, despite her extreme tendencies.

“At any rate… cheer up; love doesn’t only come in one form. Since we’re in a similar situation, if you’re okay with it, I can be a listening ear.”

“!… Really? Is it really… alright?”

Seemingly comforted by those words, the shadow on Helene’s face gradually lifted.

Eliza thought that, quite accidentally, she had gained a human friend with a similar plight and responded with a bright voice.

“Of course! If you need help, just tell me anytime. I’ve lived longer than you, despite how I might look.”

“Ah…”

Helene’s face flushed slightly at Eliza’s words.

It seemed that having someone to confide in was genuinely quite a significant comfort to her, and Eliza couldn’t help but smirk internally at that.

“Really… that Hero person sure makes things tough for a lot of people. Having too much pointless popularity is also a problem.”

With those thoughts in mind, Eliza arrived near Castle Macedonia.

At this moment, she was unaware that the gaze Helene was giving her was quite intense, as she hurriedly turned to fix her eyes on the other people welcoming her and Helene.

*

The sight of witches and soldiers’ corpses littered everywhere.

York, watching this, chewed on deep-seated anger and asked in a chilling voice.

“… How bad is it?”

“I apologize… about half of the Magic Battalion was slaughtered, and there are many injured among the soldiers.”

“… We were completely defeated. There’s no excuse; we were thoroughly beaten.”

York frowned at the casualty report that was even worse than she had anticipated.

However, at the same time, she knew all too well that venting her frustration here wouldn’t change anything.

‘For now, not to mention attacking, it’s even a struggle just to hold our ground here. The Empire Army is one thing, but if the Demon King’s forces move in, we have no chance of victory at all.’

As her focus drifted towards the Demon King’s troops, the Empire Army initiated an ambush with impeccable timing.

Through this, York began to deduce that the Demon Kingdom and the Empire had definitely formed a solid alliance, and simultaneously, that the Elf Church Country had also shifted its stance, joining the Demon Kingdom while breaking away from the trajectory of hostility with the Empire.

‘If this continues, it poses a risk of the Magic Kingdom becoming diplomatically isolated unlike ever before. Not only is the immediate threat from the Empire Army a problem, but if we don’t prepare for what comes next, we will find ourselves in an irreversible situation.’

While this couldn’t be called her blunder, the power dynamics between the continent’s nations had completely flipped overnight.

Feeling the dire necessity to return to the Magic Kingdom and report this grim news, York immediately commanded her subordinates.

“Retreat. If we stay here, everyone will be at risk. For now, we need to placate the Demon King’s army, and in the meantime, the remaining soldiers must prepare to withdraw.”

“Understood, General.”

“Let’s meet their demands as best we can, and if that doesn’t work, stall for time. In the meantime, we must send our troops to Castle Delphi, which we previously secured.”

“Yes, General.”

“Understood.”

Knowing full well that further combat was impossible, the subordinates had no objections.

Thus, the messenger York sent managed to negotiate with the Demon Kingdom.

Of course, the terms of the treaty meant that the Magic Kingdom had to bear the losses, but nonetheless, the Demon King accepted.

Immediately afterward, the troops of the Magic Kingdom began their withdrawal as quickly as possible, without any hesitation.

After returning to Castle Delphi, the Magic Kingdom officially declared an end to the war to the Empire, while the Falcon Empire accepted this in an effort to stabilize its complex internal affairs.

From this point onward, the war waged by the three nations against the Falcon Empire, later referred to as the Great Empire War, came to an end.

Although, ultimately, the three nations had failed to drive the Empire to the brink, in the aftermath of this war, the Falcon Empire lost 20% of its territory and could no longer maintain overwhelming superiority against other countries.

The Elf Church Country regained its lost territory and even gained some of the Empire’s territory, acquiring more land than what was lost during the Racial War.

Similarly, the Beastman Kingdom captured the plains they had long desired, achieving modest gains.

Furthermore, despite suffering a significant blow in the last battle, the Magic Kingdom expanded its borders up to Castle Delphi, a strategic point in the North, allowing them to muster enough strength to directly pressure the Empire in a way they couldn’t before.

However, the ones who ended up with the greatest benefit from this war weren’t the Elf Church Country, the Beastman Kingdom, or even the Magic Kingdom.

The biggest beneficiary of this war was the Demon Kingdom, which merely watched this situation unfold across the sea with minimal interference.

Despite expanding their territory, the damage this war inflicted upon the three nations was beyond imagination.

The Elf Church Country, already wobbling internally, faced even more delays in recovering from the injuries sustained from the Empire’s invasion due to the hasty mobilization of their forces.

The Magic Kingdom and the Beastman Kingdom were in somewhat better positions, but the nearly complete cessation of trade and interaction with the Empire due to this war caused multiple problems, especially in terms of food supplies.

Moreover, decisively,

As a result of the betrayals and backstabbers that surfaced around this war, these four nations on the continent had completely lost the unity and sense of shared identity they once had during the Racial War.

Collaboration like before had become nothing more than a distant dream, and now they found themselves facing ‘enemies’ bound by chains of resentment soaked in blood rather than comrades united by ties of blood.

On the other hand,

This state of division was a flow that could only be welcomed by the Demon Kingdom, which had always been at odds with the nations of the continent, having suffered severe damage during the past war against the united forces of the four nations.

At the same time, the process had provided the Demon Kingdom with an ‘unexpected ally’ that allowed them to prepare for their next move.

To create a decisive move that would incite even more chaos on the continent, ensuring that they could no longer even think about laying their eyes on the Magic Kingdom across the sea…