The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 79

“Hero… what do you mean by that? Why is a hero coming from there?”

“…Huh?”

Elias spoke with a voice filled with a deep question.

In response, Eliza, bewildered by her mother’s reaction being far more extreme than she expected, cautiously asked, “Why… what do you mean? The person Mama likes is the hero, right… or not?”

“Not at all.”

“…Huh?…”

Elias firmly answered Eliza’s inquisitive question.

Eliza felt an emptiness in her mind for a moment, as if everything had been wiped clean.

And a bit later…

It was as if the light that had been extinguished was suddenly rekindled as Eliza began to gather her thoughts.

Right after, she looked at Elias, who wore a questioning expression, and with a trembling voice, she began to confirm once more, “So… really… it’s really not true? The one you like, who could perhaps become my dad, is not a hero… right?”

“I told you it’s not. A hero? That guy isn’t even my type, and above all, he’s human. Even though, considering our dynamics so far, I acknowledge him as a fellow creature, I don’t think he’s someone I could have a serious relationship with.”

“Ah…”

In truth, considering the past, they had genuinely tried to kill each other, and Elias has basically had a longstanding dislike for humans.

Thus, when Eliza first learned that Elias fell in love with a hero, it was hard to believe.

But now reflecting on it, it turned out that all of it stemmed from a misjudgment from the very start.

‘Well, thinking back, it did feel a bit odd… How could Mama be with the hero…’

Realizing that it was all just her misunderstanding, Eliza felt an urge to find a hole to crawl into.

The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt about everything she had done so far.

‘Ah… I can’t believe it… How could I have such a misunderstanding? To even think that the hero could have some kind of relationship with Mama… It’s just absurd no matter how you look at it!’

Only after her mental filter had vanished did she start to see her ridiculous actions, feeling an overwhelming impulse to roll on the floor if she could.

At that moment, new questions began to arise in her mind.

One was, who exactly did the hero confess to back then?

And the other was…

“Um… Mama? Then who exactly is that person? The one you’re considering marrying… who is it?”

“Ah… well, that…”

Elias, flustered by Eliza’s sudden question, began to flush red just like Eliza had moments ago.

And right after…

“Ugh!…”

“Mama?”

The next moment, Elias let out a somewhat awkward groan and collapsed onto the floor.

Seeing her act like this when they had just been having a perfectly fine conversation made Eliza want to question the situation, but soon she had to abandon that thought.

The injuries Elias sustained because of Eliza’s attack were definitely not something to be taken lightly, and more importantly, they were the result of a misunderstanding.

It would just be ridiculous to discuss it when her mother was hurt because of her mistake.

Besides, now that it was revealed that her mother’s partner wasn’t a hero, Eliza felt it might be a bit inappropriate to pry about someone her mother seemed unwilling to talk about.

‘Well, I’m sure Mom will tell me when she thinks it’s a good time. To be honest, I’m really curious about who it is…’

With that, Eliza organized her thoughts and slowly descended from the arena.

Immediately afterward, a somewhat forced yet nonetheless victorious declaration echoed in her ears.

*

“…Huh…”

Elias, dragging her injured body down the hallway.

It wasn’t a fatal wound, but she was definitely in considerable pain, causing her to frown slightly.

‘I didn’t think it’d hurt this much… but I am happy that my daughter has grown so much…’

Regardless of the pain that made her entire body ache, Elias moved forward, feeling joy in one corner of her heart.

At that moment…

A person she had somewhat expected began to appear before her.

“Looks like you’ve once again been eliminated in the main round? You were so confident that this time you would win, and look at you now. It seems like you and Narcil just aren’t meant to be.”

“Tch…”

Samson spoke with his usual arrogant tone.

Elias clicked her tongue softly before responding with a look of irritation, “That was 200 years ago. Back when I lost to you in the finals, I thought I could win without trouble next time… but here we are, stuck like this for ages.”

Saying this, Elias slowly leaned her body against the wall.

Right after that,

Samson stood beside her, his voice calm as he said, “Honestly, I didn’t expect things to turn out this way back then either…”

“Back then, I was a married woman with a husband. I never thought my next opponent would be you after he left…”

Despite still having that annoying tone, at this moment, the two showed subtle yet strong emotions, like an awkwardly intertwined tree house.

A moment later, Samson carefully reached out to pull Elias’s body closer.

“…It hurts.”

“For a demon general, you shouldn’t be so weak.”

“Isn’t that more a statement that applies to you alone?”

“Then should I let go?”

“…Not that, but…”

Elias answered with a voice of resignation.

With that said,

the two remained silent for a moment, leaning against each other.

In a place where no one could see.

Having a quiet moment just for the two of them…

*

Eliza returned to the waiting room after the match.

Unlike the heavy resolve she had shown before going up to the arena, she now wore a dazed expression as if she had just hit a wall.

“Whew…”

“…Um… Eliza? Is something wrong? Why do you look…”

“…Huh?… No… It’s nothing… just… let me be alone for a moment.”

“Ah… okay…”

Eliza responded with a completely empty expression to my question.

Seeing her like this led me to believe that something was indeed amiss, but I felt that if I poked around carelessly, it would be bad, so I decided to step back for now.

‘Well… I’ll hear the details later when she feels better, and for now, I should prepare for the next match.’

Thinking that, I turned my gaze to someone who had just finished sharpening their weapons and was slowly getting up.

A mysterious figure donned in red armor.

Immediately afterward, that person began moving towards the arena’s passage… and as I observed, I, too, donned my great sword before approaching the red armor.

“Then, I look forward to working with you.”

I greeted with a relatively light-hearted tone.

In response to my action, the red armor stopped in place, slowly turned to face me.

Then, as if acknowledging my greeting, they lightly nodded before moving forward in silence.

Seeing this, I figured my opponent was quite a taciturn person as I followed them toward the arena.

And shortly after,

Standing side by side with the red armor, facing each other.

Then, I gripped my great sword and stared at my opponent before the red armor drew their great sword and adopted the battle readiness stance.

‘Just like before, it seems they have no intention of having a conversation.’

There was a complete contrast to Eliza’s previous match, which had been filled with dialogue.

Thinking about this, I infused magic power into my great sword, preparing a single strike against the red armor before me.

At that moment…

“!”

“Huh?”

The next second, I felt an ominous presence.

Immediately afterward, the gazes of the red armor and I almost simultaneously directed towards a single spot.

And then…

-BOOM!!!

A loud explosion sound suddenly erupted.

With the massive noise coming from the outskirts of the arena, nearly everyone’s gaze, including mine and that of the red armor, shifted to that direction.

And then at that moment…

“Gaaah!!”

“There… There’s an intruder!”

Chaotic voices erupted from the exact opposite side of the explosion.

Recognizing that something serious was happening, I quickly started heading towards the guest room where the Demon King was.

“Damn it! Your Majesty, the Demon King!”

At that moment…

“Huh?”

Suddenly, I felt someone gripping my wrist.

I turned my gaze towards that direction and immediately recognized who the owner of that hand was.

It was the red armor that had been my opponent.

But then…

“Wait a moment, I’m right here, Hero.”

“…!?”