The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 168

Hero Ellen.

In a situation where the worst being I thought I would never see alive was right in front of me, Shude was engulfed in deep confusion and fear.

She was the one who betrayed me, and she possessed absolute power, deemed an unassailable foe.

Watching such a terrifying presence approach her, Shude felt as if her whole body were freezing up.

However…

‘…Ah… No… Wait a minute… Ah… There’s no need to despair this early. Even if the opponent is a formidable foe, I’ve grown stronger beyond comparison! With this level of power, even if it’s that Ellen… perhaps…’

Shude, now endowed with powerful magic thanks to the Sealing Stone, was in a state where she might just defeat the hero.

Having concluded this, Shude steadied her anxious heart and gripped her staff, gazing directly at the approaching hero.

‘I don’t know how he survived over there, but… anyway, maybe I can win now! If I eliminate that guy right here, there will be no future repercussions…’

With such thoughts, Shude slowly started pulling magic power up from her core.

Seeing this, Ellen spoke to her in a cold voice.

“To fight me means you have no intention of apologizing, right?”

“!…”

With those words, Ellen slowly drew his sword and approached.

The magic power emanating from his body began to exceed Shude’s expectations in its intensity.

It was a colossal force that could be felt without need for a back-and-forth exchange.

In that moment, Shude began to think that perhaps it would be better to simply bow and apologize right here.

Whatever the case, she recognized that in relation to the hero’s circumstances, she had indeed made a mistake,


and witnessing the hero’s strength at that moment made her acutely aware that this battle felt like a gamble.

‘Should… should I just kneel down? No matter how strong I’ve gotten, I’d at best be able to draw even with the hero. In that case…’

Thinking coldly, the answer deemed correct seemed to lead that way.


Moreover, knowing there was still Eileen, who was hanging on for dear life, even if Shude’s power was on par with the hero’s, the odds of victory were slim.

In a situation where she understood the opponent’s strength, fighting clumsily would surely provoke the enemy without any good outcome.


Adding to this, the land was currently engulfed by the Magic King’s spell, Forbidden Dreamland.

Ultimately, it wouldn’t be long before heroes or anything else found themselves under the control of witches like herself.

In such a scenario, betting recklessly to shorten her lifespan wasn’t worth it; it was better to kneel, bow her head, and survive, planning for revenge once Dreamland had been unleashed.

Thus, immediately after reaching an exceptionally witch-like logical conclusion,


Shude stared directly at the hero’s face as he approached her.

Then…

-Thunk!

“…Huh?”

With a sound so loud it could be heard, Shude made a powerful movement.


In response, hero Ellen began showing a slightly surprised expression,


and Shude, gathering all her strength, shouted at him.

“I’m so sorry! I was wrong, my hero! I truly regret causing you such trouble!”

“….”

With her head pressed against the ground, Shude spoke in the most humiliating posture possible.


Seeing her like this, the hero fell momentarily silent, as if lost for words, and Shude continued to pour out her apologies.

“At that time, I was out of my mind. I got caught up in that filthy conspiracy of Torare’s and tried to betray you. I am so… so sorry, my hero! I’ll accept any punishment, so please forgive my sins!”

Shude, fully bowing and earnestly pleading for forgiveness.


In response, Ellen showed a moment of contemplation before speaking to her in a cold tone.

“There’s one thing I want to ask.”

“Yes! Ask me anything, my hero!”

Engaging fully in his words, Shude answered eagerly.


Ellen, locking eyes with Shude, spoke in a voice laced with chill.

“Where’s Torare?”

“! T…That…”

The anger radiating from the hero’s question was palpable.


Shude understood easily why he would ask such a thing.

‘Revenge, huh? Ah… Well, it makes total sense; I would feel the same way.’

Torare was the root cause of all this trouble, and from the hero’s perspective, this was a natural enemy to rage at.


Ellen must have already heard from Eileen that Torare was in her vicinity, so asking Shude about it was only to be expected.

And from there, Shude began to realize that she had come to the point where she had to make a choice.

‘If I reveal Torare’s location, the hero’s party will rush to kill him immediately. In that case, more than likely his head would roll before the ceremony is over. But if I keep my mouth shut here, I have no doubt I will lose my head first.’

Her own life versus the life of the man she loved.


In this situation where she had to weigh two lives against each other, Shude surprisingly reached a conclusion rather easily.


If Torare had looked only at her with steadfast devotion until now,


or at least remained faithful only within the confines of their hero party, she might have risked her life to protect him.

Despite her cowardly nature, she had a principle of not lying about love and had lived a life pursuing it.


However,


at this point, letting go of her attachments to Torare was surprisingly easy.

Her feelings for him were genuine, but his past disgraceful behaviors,


and the sight of him breaking their promises to chase after other women had extinguished the eternal love Shude once held.

That said, she had no intention of easily giving him up, but making a decision in a life-or-death situation was surprisingly simple.

“I… I will tell you where Torare is. S-so please forgive my mistakes and spare my life.”

“…Alright, I’ll spare you but just your life.”

“Yes! Thank you, Ellen!”

Feeling relieved at receiving an affirmative response from the hero, Shude internally smiled.


Without a moment’s hesitation, she revealed to the hero the location of Torare,


and right after that, hero Ellen turned to the back and spoke coldly.

“This side is finished. Please finish it off.”

“Understood.”

“…Huh?”

With that, a group of figures suddenly began to emerge from the darkness.


The moment Shude saw them, her face, which had been relaxed after saving her life, suddenly hardened into a grimace.

‘W-What are those guys… Demon Races? And those two… Amelda and Terra?’

Figures appearing from unexpected places.


The elite guard of the Demon King she had seen before,


and members of the Previous Hero Party.

Seeing a group of powerful individuals who were nearly on par with her original unenhanced self suddenly appear, two thoughts emerged in Shude’s mind.


One was the question of whether something significant was hidden within this Sealing Stone that could attract such strong practitioners.


The other was how if she had chosen to fight the hero clumsily here, she would have been utterly crushed.

‘That was a close call… But is this situation… really fortunate?’


Thus puzzled, Shude settled on her backside, watching the unfolding scene before her.


There, a demon adorned in full armor approached the Sealing Stone, retrieving a bottle that contained the Black Flame from their bosom.

“Now then, let’s see what can happen?”

With those words, the demon brought the flame-filled bottle closer to the Sealing Stone.


And then…

“!! Ah!”

In the next moment, the Sealing Stone was instantly engulfed and ignited by the Black Flame.


Witnessing it burn like dry wood doused in oil, Shude felt her amplified power rapidly dissipating, as a chilling sensation enveloped her entire body.

‘W-What? H-how can this be… How can a Sealing Stone, which until now couldn’t be harmed by any attack, be destroyed like that…?’

The Sealing Stone, which had been impervious to even the greatest of magic, was now disappearing so easily it sent a shockwave through Shude.


However, at this moment, she did not realize.

The shocking scene visible to her eyes was just the beginning.


The truly important events were starting to unfold not here,


but in the capital of the Magic Kingdom, Rehi.

“Now then… with that done, let’s go. We might still have things to deal with.”

“Understood.”

With a relaxed tone, hero Ellen spoke, joined in agreement by the demons.


Thus, as Shude was dragged away, bound by Ellen’s party, she began to tremble slightly with increasingly dense anxiety and an unknown dread.

‘What on earth is happening? What is this…?’