The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 40

Demon Race Female Warrior Rebecca.

With violet hair and a face adorned with small freckles, she boasted a rather plain appearance—not quite a beauty, but not unattractive either.

However…

Despite her ordinary looks, Rebecca had recently begun to think she was truly cursed by fate.

Recognized for her exceptional skills as a warrior, she had been assigned to the Demon Races’ regular army.

But when Rebecca checked which unit she was placed in, her thoughts automatically turned to a single line:

“What a damn mess…”

The commander of her unit was not a famous Demon General like Samson or Saul, as she had hoped.

It was the human hero,

Ellen Savior.

Originally part of a Hero Party aiming to assassinate Your Majesty, the Demon King, he had succumbed to the overwhelming power of the Demon King and became one of his subordinates.

Rebecca was one of the soldiers conscripted as a subordinate to such a hero in this war, and furthermore, she received orders to serve as the only aide among one hundred companions.

Not exactly a trustworthy commander, but rather someone who might be hiding a dragon inside him—the Hero.

Rumor had it that he possessed significant combat power, yet he was quite greedy for achievements, leading to whispers that he might annihilate all his subordinates to secure glory depending on the situation.

The fact that such an untrustworthy figure had become her superior…

And that she had to assist him up close?

That alone made Rebecca’s mind automatically churn out words of lament.

“Especially since I haven’t done anything wrong… How did my life come to this twisted fate…?”

With a different race and terrible rumors circulating about him,

Moreover, he had just taken the position of Vanguard through a meeting yesterday—an honorific and perilous duty.

Consequently, Rebecca found herself at the front lines, facing an utterly untrustworthy superior.

In such a crappy situation, Rebecca had resolved to accept her fate half-heartedly from the start of the march…

Ultimately, at this very moment,

She was casually considering the 100% likelihood of her own death.

Looking at the countless arrows raining down before her,

With the deathly storm descending from the sky, Rebecca began thinking this could indeed be her grave.

“This really… qualifies for a ‘damn’ moment.”

Feeling a deep regret at the thought of collapsing without even having swung her sword, Rebecca prepared to accept her death with a knowing expression.

But then…

“Everyone, bow your heads.”

“?”

The Hero’s calm voice suddenly rang out.

Rebecca and her companions felt puzzled as to what good that would do, but complied and bowed their heads.

Right after…

*Pop!*

“!”

A sudden flash of black light.

Even with their heads down and eyes turned away, the intensely bright black glow was enough to shock Rebecca and her comrades.

And just then…

As the black flash faded, they raised their heads to see the Hero, who had effortlessly erased the countless arrows that had been flying towards them moments before.

Displaying a combat power beyond their wildest imaginations, the Hero continued moving forward as if nothing had happened.

As Rebecca and her allies were overwhelmed with confusion and surprise,

“!”

“Damn it, is that magic this time?!”

The foes’ attacks came rushing towards them again.

Watching the magic assault with even greater power than the arrow storm earlier, Rebecca and the others began to envision the clear death that awaited them.

But…

“!”

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

In the next moment, the Hero leaped effortlessly towards the incoming magic.

Rebecca’s face turned pale with shock.

Was that Hero trying to commit suicide?

However, in the next moment…

The Hero swung his sword at the oncoming storm of magic, as if mocking her thoughts.

Then…

*Boom!!!*

A tremendous explosion echoed.

The massive wave of magic energy emanating from the Hero’s sword completely obliterated the magical barrage that was falling toward them.

“What… what is this…?”

“I knew he was strong, but I didn’t expect it to be this much…”

Rebecca and the soldiers stood there gaping at the Hero’s shocking strike.

Then, noticing their stunned expressions, the Hero spoke in a calm voice as if nothing had happened.

“What are you staring at? Move out! We can’t delay the rear units.”

“Y-Yes? Ah… Yes!”

The soldiers, still dazed by the Hero’s decisive orders, began to march again.

They realized that now was the moment to advance, given the enemy attacks had dwindled thanks to the Hero’s impressive display.

Thus, the Demon Race soldiers, for some reason, felt their bodies lighter than usual and pushed themselves forward with all their might alongside the Hero heading towards Antioch.

Meanwhile, as they moved with their comrades,

Rebecca suddenly began to recognize something.

“Could it be… that the Hero just protected us back there?”

The Hero, who effortlessly blew away the tremendous offensive directed at them with a simple swing of his sword.

Surely, someone with such strength wouldn’t find arrows or magic attacks to be a danger.

If he used defensive magic or evasion techniques, he could easily brush off that level of assault.

Yet…

Even so,

He purposefully swung his sword to obliterate all those attacks headed towards Rebecca and the others, using immense power.

Rebecca couldn’t fathom the totality of the Hero’s strength, but the force behind that one stroke was anything but ordinary.

If properly aimed, it might even be capable of blowing open a castle gate.

But he…

As a human-born hero,

Used such power not to create a glorious achievement but to protect them,

To safeguard the Demon Race soldiers under his command.

Recognizing that fact,

Rebecca began to reconsider her evaluation of the Hero she had held until now.

“Maybe… he’s not as bad of a person as I thought…”

*

Charging toward them was a figure clad in Black Armor, wielding a great sword—the embodiment of fear…

It was the Demon King, appearing before the Antioch soldiers, beginning to demoralize them.

“The… Demon King…?”

“That monster is here…”

“We… we’re done for. There’s no way we can defeat the Demon King who took down the Hero so easily!”

Despair spilled from the soldiers as they fell into despair.

Seeing their panicked state, General Parisect himself began to be consumed by a heavy dread.

“The Demon King… of all times, the strongest enemy of the Racial Alliance has appeared before us. Damn… Why is this miserable fate befalling me…”

Unlike other foes, the emergence of the Demon King brought feelings of hopelessness even to Parisect.

A monster strong enough to solo a legion—a being so powerful that even the Empire’s top generals knew they wouldn’t stand a chance in a one-on-one.

They had heard that the only one capable of facing the Demon King one-on-one was the Hero, but that Hero had already long departed to the afterlife at the hands of the Demon King.

The simple fact that such a being was charging toward him wielding a weapon was terrifying enough…

Nonetheless, Parisect gathered every ounce of will to regain his composure and shouted urgently.

“What… what are you doing? Shoot! Keep attacking until he falls!”

Struggling to choke down his fear, he bellowed loudly,

And the soldiers desperately tried to ready their bows and magical staffs.

However…

“Ugh… urgh…”

In this moment, they couldn’t even manage to use their weapons properly.

The overwhelming fear that gripped their hearts—the fear that their combined attacks wouldn’t even scratch that Demon King

And simultaneously, the dread of the ‘death’ heading toward them.

That fear made them want to turn and flee immediately.

And…

Watching the soldiers’ bodies freeze in extreme despair,

General Parisect came to the conclusion that he had no choice but to take extreme measures.

That was…

“Gahh!!!”

“Eeep!”

“Gah!”

In the next moment, a soldier’s head was severed cleanly by the blade swung by General Parisect.

Watching their comrade spill blood and fall, the remaining soldiers were engulfed in shock as if ice-cold water had been thrown over them.

In response, the General said in a chilling voice,

“If we retreat now, we’ll die in a far worse way than this. So choose: will you die by my hand here, or will you fight until the end under the name of the Racial Alliance?”

With blood dripping from him, Parisect yelled firmly.

Subconsciously, the dazed soldiers had no choice but to collect themselves.

“We… have to block the enemies!”

“There’s no way for us to retreat!”

“Too bad, it’s already too late.”

“!?”

“Gah!”

A suddenly cold voice rang out.

And… the faces of Parisect and the soldiers turned pale with terror.

Standing among them was a figure clad in Black Armor, brandishing a Black Great Sword—the Demon King was right there.