The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 74

“Impressive, indeed. To evade my single strike to that extent.”

“Ugh…”

The hero stood there with his armor damaged.

As Nyadan looked at him, she spoke with a voice full of bravado, but inside she was subtly clicking her tongue.

‘Ugh… If he had taken the blow directly, it would have done some damage. Did he dodge at that precise moment? I expected it to some extent, but he’s not an easy opponent.’

If it had been an ordinary foe, that single strike would have ended it, but as expected, the hero was not one to go down without a fight.

However, Nyadan wasn’t particularly disheartened by the situation.

What she had just done was merely the opening move.

The real battle could be said to start now.

“One thing… I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

Nyadan suddenly posed her question.

In response, the hero replied in a rough voice, and Nyadan spoke with a hint of sincerity in her tone.

“How do you feel about that person, Eliza?”

“Eliza?”

The hero reacted with slight surprise at Nyadan’s question.

He then questioned her with a voice laced with curiosity.

“Why is that coming up here?”

“Because I’m her… umm… I’m her friend. It seems like you and she have been getting pretty close lately, and as a friend, I can’t help but be concerned, right?”

“…Even so, it doesn’t seem like a topic to discuss in the middle of a battle.”

“Just answer it. It won’t take long, will it?”

As the hero tried to evade the question, Nyadan maintained her stubborn attitude.

With a light sigh, the hero reluctantly provided an answer.

“I consider her a friend. Not particularly special… just one of those friends you have.”

“Fr…iend?”

Nyadan began to show a slightly meaningful reaction to the hero’s words.

Looking at her, the hero exhibited a clear desire not to waste time chatting any longer.

“Let’s get back to it then. I don’t want to waste any more time here.”

With those words, the hero readied his great sword for an attack.

However…

As she watched him, a deep smile began to spread across Nyadan’s face, hidden beneath her helmet.

‘I’ve won.’

*

The moment she spoke to the hero, Nyadan was continuously calculating her victory even while talking.

‘The current distance between us is about 5 meters, this should be enough…’

Immediately after measuring the distance, Nyadan began to secretly scatter powder using magic.

Her method of attack, Dust Explosion, involved generating incredibly small, nearly invisible particles to blanket her opponent before detonating them.

However, just before the explosion occurred, she had to briefly increase the density of the powder, making it visible for a moment. Yet, by the time the opponent noticed it, ignition had already begun.

Thus, Nyadan continued to engage the hero in brief conversation while spreading her invisible touch of death.

And then… as soon as that was completed, the hero halted his conversation.

Immediately after,

“If you want to!”

“!”

Rather than awaiting the hero’s attack, Nyadan charged toward him in an ambush.

But.

“Ugh!”

-Swoosh!

In the next moment, the hero chose to dodge, pulling back instead of blocking Nyadan’s sword.

He seemed to predict that an explosion would happen at the moment their weapons clashed, and in truth, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

To trigger a Dust Explosion, a spark was inevitably required, and just moments ago, Nyadan had used the spark created when their weapons met for that purpose.

In that regard, the hero’s choice to evade her attack was quite a wise decision, but…

At this moment, a scornful smile emerged on Nyadan’s lips.

‘Too bad. You can trigger an explosion not just by clashing weapons.’

From the start, the powder she had prepared was not floating in the air.

Its position was exactly where the hero retreated to while dodging her attack…

Immediately confirming this, Nyadan released magic from her fingertips towards the hero.

At a glance, it seemed as if she simply released a small magic bullet that wouldn’t cause any significant damage.

However, that was only true in terms of the magic bullet’s own power.

What actually occurred as a result was anything but… light.

“!”

-KABOOM!!

The loud explosion echoed again as the magic bullet ignited.

Unlike before, since there was a considerable distance this time, there was no need to control the power for safety.

Moreover, it was an attack powerful enough that even a decent opponent would be reduced to bits if they couldn’t withstand it.

As explosions cascaded, the arena was soon enveloped in dark red smoke, blanketing the sky.

Like a blooming flower of death.

Watching the brilliant explosion unfold before her eyes, Nyadan instinctively felt a rush of excitement welling up from deep within her.

‘Certainly… I don’t particularly enjoy fighting, but I can never give up feelings like this.’

Battle and struggle…

Nyadan despised not being able to sleep well due to the stress caused by such things.

And yet, at this moment, she found herself feeling rapture and thrill as she gazed at the explosion unfolding before her.

Flames of death that devoured everything.

Gazing at it, Nyadan felt a chilling thrill as she assured herself of victory.

‘Unlike before, this landed perfectly. This ends the game. No matter how great he is, there’s no way he can come out of this unharmed.’

Moreover, it wasn’t just a simple attack, but a precise blow delivered to the hero, who was thrown into confusion and retreat.

In such a situation, even a hero would find it nearly impossible to evade this.

‘With this kind of firepower, in a worst-case scenario, he wouldn’t die, but he’d get critically injured. Honestly, I secretly hope he just dies like this…’

Despite using the term friend, the hero did not deny being close to Eliza.

In light of this, Nyadan thought it might be best to eliminate any potential accidents, as she watched the flames before her with a chilling expression.

At that moment…

“Huh?”

“Phew…”

In the next moment, the smoke within the arena began to clear, revealing the hero’s form.

His armor, which had just moments ago been crumpled, was now nearly in tatters, and there were soot marks all over his body.

However,

Even so, at that moment… there were no signs of any serious injuries on him.

The hero emerged unscathed despite enduring such a powerful explosion.

The moment Nyadan witnessed this, a deep confusion began to creep across her face.

‘W-what… how is this? He shouldn’t be fine after taking that head-on… How… how is this even possible…?’

Despite having received her heartfelt attack directly, the hero appeared to be perfectly fine.

But before she could think of anything further, the hero began charging toward her with his sword drawn.

“Ugh!”

Desperately adjusting her polearm, Nyadan tried to defend against his attack.

But…

-Clang!!

“Huh?”

In the next moment, a heavy impact was felt.

Even though she tried to defend, the shock and numbing sensation swept through Nyadan’s body.

‘W-what… what is this? H-how is this even possible?’

The blow he had just landed felt entirely on a different level compared to their earlier clash.

Even though it was just a single strike, Nyadan realized she was losing power.

In that moment, deep confusion began to envelop her as she struggled to understand the current situation.

-Swoosh!

Then, once again, the hero’s attack flew towards Nyadan.

Still shaken from the earlier impact, she realized she couldn’t defend against this attack and quickly tried to evade.

And then…

-BAM!!!

As the hero’s blow landed, an incredible explosion erupted.

The shockwave, comparable to Nyadan’s Dust Explosion, swept through the area, and she did everything she could to tumble backward, feeling a chilling sensation in her chest.

‘If I had taken that hit, right now I…’

The hero’s transcendent prowess surpassed all expectations.

It wasn’t that he had some extraordinary ability; merely wielding his sword infused with magic gave him strength that could rival her own spells.

Finally, Nyadan recognized that the one before her… was a monster far beyond her expectations.

‘Could it be… I wasn’t the only one hiding something?’