The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 21

Tera, who repeatedly suffered from the extreme pain of her soul being weld and separated.

But in this moment…

She suddenly began to feel a chilling sensation as if her soul was crying out, triggered by something that transcended the horrific pain she had endured until now.

As this unfolded, Tera’s already tattered mind started to feel as if it was drifting away somewhere.

It was like a ship that had lost its anchor and was swept away by the waves.

In that moment, Tera began to scream in despair, but… she could no longer hear any sounds in her ears.

No…

To be precise…

It wasn’t that she couldn’t hear anything.

It would be more accurate to say that no sounds came forth…

*

‘…Ah…’

Barely regaining her senses amidst the hellish chaos of her mind, Tera.

Right after that, she began to feel that the Zokse of Domination binding her had disappeared.

No longer was there a constraint tightening around her formalities, and the sensations that had caused her pain had also vanished.

‘Is it over?… But… why?’

The actions of the Hero, presumed to have freed her.

In response, Tera stood up, staring at the Hero who remained before her, trying to comprehend why on earth he had let her go…

She intended to ask why he had freed her when he had clearly intended to use her for ‘that’.

But…

‘…Huh?’

In that moment, as she attempted to move her body with her questioning thoughts…

Tera started to realize that something was off…

That something was fundamentally wrong.

‘W-What… What is this?… What… what the heck is this?’

Tera tried to look up and fix her gaze directly on the Hero.

However, at this moment, her body no longer listened to her words…

Tera, as a singular personality and consciousness, was not responding.

‘W-Why? The… The Zokse no longer exists… There’s nothing binding me anymore. But… this…’

Unlike before, there was no sense of being restrained, unable to move her body.

However… despite this feeling of freedom, she could no longer rise from her place nor lift her head.

This was not merely a matter of limbs.

She couldn’t open her mouth, breathe, or squint her eyes; none of these actions were within her control.

All she could do was…

Passively receive the sensations coming from the outside.

Seeing, hearing, and feeling with her skin.

She could perceive all of it, but she had no control over it.

And at that moment, while realizing what this meant, Tera’s mind began to feel a sense of fear.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“Wha…? Huh?”

‘..!’

In the next moment, the voice of the Hero reached her ears.

At that very moment, without receiving any input from her reason or original consciousness, her body very naturally stood up.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The sounds escaping her mouth resembled the barking of a dog.

Completely detached from consciousness and reason.

Only her instinct as a dog, blindly obeying the ‘Master’ before her, remained.

In this manner…

Tera’s mind, now nothing more than an existence akin to a beast rather than a beastman, was profoundly buried in despair.

However, despite these emotions, in this moment, she could take no action.

She could not shed tears, nor could she howl in pain…

Nothing was permitted to her now.

All she could do was merely observe and accept the sensations from the outside.

Only these two options remained for her.

*

“Huff… Huff… Huff…”

Before my eyes, Tera, wagging her tail and displaying a truly dog-like attitude.

While watching that sight, I could unmistakably recognize that what I had aimed for…

The ‘failure’ that was supposed to activate with a 3% probability had successfully activated.

‘It took a bit longer than expected… but well, it worked, so this is good.’

The Zokse of Domination.

It seals the target’s reason temporarily, turning them into a puppet that obeys commands.

In the original work, Torare, who failed to conquer all four heroines, could use this as a last-ditch tactic to satisfy the ending conditions, allowing him to force one heroine who hadn’t been conquered to submit and trigger the ending branch.

However… this powerful item that could turn the flow of the game would come with a kind of penalty, as there was a chance of failure.

The phrase stating that the power of the Zokse activated with a 3% chance went off.

At that moment,

It was said that the heroine on whom the Zokse was placed experienced a complete severance of ties between mind and body, devolving to a level no longer human but akin to a beast.

In such a case, Eileen and Amelda would see their combat power halved, while Shude the Witch would nearly turn into trash.

Fortunately, due to Tera’s innate traits as a beastman warrior, her combat power didn’t change drastically…

But crucially, it wasn’t the change in combat power that posed a more significant problem.

The transformed heroine would no longer be classified as a normal heroine but rather deemed a ‘pet’ that could be domesticated by the system.

This change was permanent and could not be undone even by using the divine elixir known as the god’s potion.

While it didn’t trigger a game over, all means to see the ending would be effectively blocked, making it essentially a forced game over situation.

And…

As a result of this ‘failure’,

Tera transformed into a state indistinguishable from that of a mere pet, panting before me.

However, even as I looked at her seemingly vacant expression, I knew from the descriptions in the original work.

She could never come out again…

Yet, I was aware that the ‘reason’ of Tera still resided within that animal before me.

‘It reminds me of a movie I watched long ago. It was about transplanting a black brain into a white body… I think the state of the original white person was like that. Or was it the other way around?’

With such thoughts, I gently stroked Tera’s head as she looked up at me with bright eyes, and in response, she began to emit happy expressions, as if feeling content.

In this moment, separate from the desperate cries of her reason, which was perfectly imprisoned within…

She displayed an utterly pure joy to me, her Master.

*

“Indeed… the Hero, huh.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, the Demon King.”

Kneeling before the desk where the Demon King sat, Eliza began to report the outcomes of the operation in a tone filled with admiration.

Not only had they intercepted the supply line originating from the military base at Rob, but they also completely burned all the supplies stored there for several months.

On top of that, the Hero had overthrown the general in charge of the defense and had even captured the beastman female warrior, previously part of the Hero’s party.

Reporting these facts without any filters, Eliza spoke in an excited voice, slightly flushed, which was unusual for her.

“It was truly remarkable. From the very beginning, he cut down the humans without any hesitation, using cunning to deceive the foolish humans and infiltrate… And his gallant figure, saving my loyal servant, was…”

“Eliza, if you speak so highly of him, can I take it to mean you no longer harbor doubts regarding the Hero?”

Interrupting Eliza, whose emotions seemed to be heating up, the Demon King spoke in a calm voice.

She recognized that she had perhaps become a bit overly excitable and soothed her emotions, replying in a more composed tone.

“Ah… Um… Yes! If the Hero possesses such remarkable abilities and a hatred towards humans, it seems I can entrust him with future missions.”

“Good… I’m glad you think so.”

“…?”

The Demon King responded to her with a slightly somber expression regarding her words.

In turn, Eliza set aside her buoyant mood and, with a voice imbued with a hint of curiosity and concern, asked her Master.

“Um… Your Majesty? Is there somewhere you feel unwell? You don’t seem to be in good spirits.”

“…No, not at all. I was merely a bit surprised. The fact that the Hero was able to achieve that much for our demon race… even I had not anticipated it.”

With a smile on his face, the Demon King soothed Eliza in response to her question.

After which, he composed himself again and, with a calm voice imbued with the authority of a ruler, asked Eliza before him.

“Now, where is the Hero?”

“Yes, as far as I know, he has returned to his room. With the beastman female warrior, of course.”

“I see.”

As soon as he finished that sentence, the Demon King rose from his seat.

In response, Eliza felt a twinge of confusion and cautiously asked her Master.

“Where are you going, Your Majesty?”

“I intend to go to the Hero. He has executed my order splendidly, so naturally, I must reward him accordingly.”

The Demon King’s voice was quiet yet slightly subdued.

In response, Eliza bowed her head, seeing her Master off as he quietly left the office.

With emotions too complex to be easily revealed to others, he held his thoughts within.