The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 17

A tingling sensation at my fingertips.

As I struck something solid, a slight pain made me grimace, but regardless, a small upward curl at the corners of my mouth was automatic in response to the ‘result’ I faced.

“To think I defended against a strike of this magnitude, and I’m only feeling this much pain… This equipment bestowed by the Demon King is indeed reliable!”

Cassandra, the Paladin, renowned as a general ruling over the land of Rob, and famous across the Empire.

I knew her power was on par with or even superior to that of the Elf Paladin Amelda from the Hero Party, so I recognized that the attack she launched at me was not ordinary.

“A shield-bashing charge… I think it was called the Shield of God?”

The power she used when she repelled one of the Demon King’s aides in the story.

Had this attack hit someone else, not me, but rather the aide who had just fled, it would probably have caused quite a severe injury.

Its attack power was formidable, and moreover, it was a strike imbued with Divine Power, a force that stands opposed to Demon Races. It was a clash of elements that was the worst kind.

Yet at this moment, even though I had withstood her deadly blow directly, the only aftermath I felt was simply “a little bit of pain.”

Just that much.

The armor I wore had excellent defensive properties, and crucially, no matter how much Demon King gear I was clad in, I was fundamentally human.

I did not suffer any additional damage from the elemental interaction she hoped for, and even disregarding that, I could easily overpower her based purely on my base stats.

From Cassandra’s perspective, it could only be said that she had clearly picked the wrong opponent.

“In that sense, it seems she’s put forth some effort in devising another scheme. Not that it helped much.”

As Cassandra’s attack was blocked, that girl who tried to attack me was seized by the neck…

A being that proudly made it onto my blacklist as a member of the Hero Party.

Beastman Female Warrior Terra.

At that moment, witnessing her squirming in pain in my grip, I started to tighten my hold on her neck even more.

“Kurghhh!!!”

Letting out a howl of agony, Terra desperately tried to attack my arms in an attempt to escape.

However, given that her neck was already grasped firmly, she could not exert her strength fully, and with armor that was tough as nails, her struggles were futile flailings.

But…

Despite the futility of her efforts, this moment allowed me to discover an important detail regarding her.

“I thought it was just a simple accessory… but could it be…?”

The green light catching my eye emanated from the shackles.

As I recognized what it was, a smile automatically crept onto my face.

“Shackles of Domination… wearing such a precious item, are we?”

An item that strips the wearer of their reason and turns them into a berserker who only obeys commands.

In the game, there’s only one to obtain, and it is notoriously hard to procure.

My gaze then shifted to Cassandra, who was unable even to draw her shield due to the force I was exerting on my great sword… more precisely, to her fingers.

The ring that served as the conduit for the shackles adorning her hand.

Seeing it sparked an amusing thought in my mind.

“Well, I was planning on revenge anyway; this isn’t half bad. I guess I’ll just have to see if it actually acts as intended. But even if it fails, there are plenty of other options.”

Right after concluding this.

I suddenly concentrated my strength into the hand gripping Terra’s neck.

And then…

– Crunch!

“Gurk!… Hah…”

With that instant impact, Terra passed out, her body going limp.

I had controlled my strength just enough so as to not endanger her life.

Once I confirmed she had fainted, I released my grip and let her drop to the floor.

I then shifted my gaze away from Terra and directed it towards Cassandra.

Simultaneously, her face began to reflect a deepening fear…

I stretched my now free arm toward her.

And then…

*

“Th-this can’t be…”

The Demon King, who had just taken down the Beastman Female Warrior in a heartbeat.

As I watched him dispose of someone with equal power to her in an instant, I grasped the reality of her failed gambit immediately.

Cassandra’s face began to fill with an even deeper dread.

“Is this… is this what it means to have the power of the Demon King…?! No… this can’t be real… It’s far stronger than what I heard!… How… how could my trump card fail so pitifully…?”

Nothing more than a 2:1 scenario made Cassandra feel she had a chance, yet in mere seconds, the Demon King shattered that belief to pieces.

He shifted his gaze towards the terrified Cassandra.

Though obscured by the helmet, making it difficult to read his expression…

Precisely because of that, he appeared even more terrifying.

Then slowly, he began to extend the arm that had just held the Beastman Female Warrior toward Cassandra.

“Ah… Aah…”

As she began to feel deep terror from that despairing reality.

In her mind, there were no thoughts of dropping the shield to run away, or drawing the sword she’d sheathed within the shield to attack the Demon King.

All that filled her head was overwhelming fear.

Caught in a horror so atrocious, all Cassandra could do was tremble.

And then, in the next moment…

“Gah!”

The Demon King grabbed her wrist which held the shield and twisted it.

With a cold, intense strength coursing through him, Cassandra felt a deep pain, forcing her to relinquish her grip on the shield.

Then, with an irresistible force, he yanked on Cassandra’s wrist and began to examine her.

Confronted with such a terrifying yet incomprehensible action, a horrifying thought began to bloom in Cassandra’s mind about her future.

“W-why isn’t he killing me? Is this… what I’ve heard about?… The fate of the warriors who fall into the hands of the Demon King… Being used as breeding tools for the Demon Races, giving birth to Demon offspring only to be killed…”

Stories whispered among the Racial Alliance regarding the pitiful fates of those captured by the Demon Races.

Tales filled with humiliation and despair, of being violated by low-ranking creatures like goblins or orcs, and some dragged off by high-ranking Demon Races to suffer sexual abuse until their very deaths.

Though nothing concrete had been confirmed until now, with such wicked and cruel Demon Races, it seemed utterly plausible.

In that fleeting moment, as more vivid and dreadful images of the future began to illustrate themselves in her mind, Cassandra lowered her head in defeat, still held captive by the Demon King’s grip.

“It’s over… The Demon King will kidnap me and subject me to all sorts of humiliations. He’ll mock me, a servant of God, while inflicting every possible degradation upon me…”

Just like any ordinary woman, but especially for her as a Paladin, Cassandra despaired at a future that was utterly unacceptable.

In that moment…

Suddenly, a story about the Demon King, whose source she couldn’t identify, began to surface in Cassandra’s mind.

“W-wait a second… It’s not certain, but didn’t I hear somewhere that the Demon King oddly possesses a sense of pride as a warrior?”

Given the vagueness of its source, she couldn’t be sure about it.

However, at that moment, Cassandra felt that even if the story were uncertain, she had to cling to that tiny fleeting hope.

“Y-yeah… Well, it’s not like I can lose anything by trying, right?… Even if it turns out to be untrue and I fail, I’ll suffer the same rough treatment at the hands of the Demon Races anyway. So…”

So, clinging to that one-in-a-million chance, Cassandra began to tremble with fear and tension that surged within her.

At that moment…

“!”

The Demon King suddenly released her hand as if he had finished something, his action prompting Cassandra’s pulse to race with urgency as she knelt before him.

Then, from her lips came a sentence.

It was… driven by her fervent desire to hold onto at least her minimal honor, as a general of the Empire and a Paladin serving God.

“Cough! Kill me!”