The battle against the Demon Lord was entering its final phase.

“Die, heroes!”

A beautiful woman clad in black robes, the Demon Lord Yulisha, swings down a jet-black greatsword. I parried it with the long sword in my right hand and aimed the pistol I pulled out with my left hand at the Demon Lord’s chest.

“Aah!”

The demon king retreats, blood pouring from her chest.

“As expected, Master Freed!”

The boy standing next to me smiled at me. He has blond hair, blue eyes, and a refreshing smile. His name is Lyle and at 42 years old I’m about the same age as his father. He is my partner and favorite disciple who has come with me to the top floor of the Demon King’s Castle.

“I’ll take the right, you take the left. Are you ready?”

“Yes, now is the time to use my power…”

“Disappear with my dark magic!”

The demon king shouted, interrupting our discussion.

“Ragnar Bomb!”

A jet-black ball of energy was released from the tip of the outstretched sword.

“Damn, a top level spell with no chant…”

As expected of the Demon Lord, she has tremendous magical power.

“Miraculous Armament “Gram” – Magic Interference Maximum Power!”

I quickly raise the long sword in my hand. This is a Miracle Armament. It’s a sacred treasure given to me by God. My Gram has the ability to interfere with and “jam” any magic. The black energy ball melted in front of me and disappeared.

“My magic is……a failure……?”

The Demon Lord was puzzled.

“Then I’ll have to attack directly!”

She pulled out her sword and slashed at me. I responded with “Gram”. Our strength was almost even. I continue to receive the fast and heavy slashes with my long sword.

Now, Lyle!

I signaled with my gaze to my apprentice who was coming around from the opposite direction.

“Howl, Levatein!”

Lyle raised his greatsword with its crimson blade and swung it down.

“Rune Shield!”

A glowing blue defense field appears in front of the Demon Lord as she turns around.

“Magical Interference Maximum Deployment.”

However, Gram power caused the field to dissipate without a trace.

“Shh, shh, shh…….”

Lyle’s flames exploded on the defenseless Demon King.

“Goooooooooooooooooooooooo……!”

As expected, Yulisha was severely damaged by the flames of Levatein, which boasts one of the strongest attacks in the world. She stumbles weakly and collapses on the spot.

“Today–”

I quickly gave chase and chopped off her head with my long sword and scattered a rain of bullets over her remaining torso.

“One more blow, Lyle. If we leave her alone, the Demon Lord will regenerate. Before that happens, the flames of Levatein will completely annihilate her…”

Suddenly, I felt a hot shock in my chest.

“What……?”

For a moment, I didn’t know what happened. I turned around and saw Lyle’s mischievous smile.

“You……?”

Lyle thrust his greatsword into my back…….?

“After the battle is over, it will mean that the hero Freed and his disciples have defeated the demon king, right?”

Lyle, smiling against the flames, looked like an evil demon.

“My master is a hero among heroes who will be remembered for a long time, and I’m just an extra…but I’m thinking of a different scenario.”

“Different……scenario……?”

I asked, and a gush of blood spurted out of my mouth. My consciousness was rapidly fading.

“I’m sure the public will be more than happy to hear that the hero Freed died a horrible death and was avenged by his apprentice Lyle.　Isn’t that more dramatic?”

“Oh, you……what……?”

I couldn’t understand. He was my beloved disciple, whom I had taken under my wing for ten years.

I’m not married and I don’t have any children, but I thought of Lyle as if he were my own son. Lyle also loved me like a father. I believed that.

Why? Why did you betray me…?

“Now, blow everything away, Levatein. The Demon Lord and my master.”

Lyle said calmly, and raised his crimson sword. The flames that erupted from it enveloped me and the Demon King together. The next moment, my consciousness faded away.

My first memory was of flames all around me. It’s a memory from when I was a child, when the demon tribe attacked my home village. My parents and all the people close to me were killed.

I barely survived, thanks to the heroes who rushed to my aid. Left alone, I struggled to survive and eventually awakened to the qualities of a hero.

I learned how to fight as a hero at the national training institute, and I became very successful. I fought many demons as one of the highest-ranked heroes.

At first, I was proud to be a righteous hero who protects people. However, I soon realized that this was a mistake. There were ugly jealousies and power struggles swirling among the heroes.

Heroes dragging down other heroes who have a better record than them.

Heroes who cozy up to the upper echelons of the country and take bribes.

Heroes who only seek status and satisfy their desires, while putting helping others at the back of their minds.

There are many ugly conflicts between the heroes and those who are around them. The only exception to this was Lyle.

Ten years ago, Lyle, who was only six years old at the time, came to me as an apprentice, wanting to learn how to fight as a hero. The honest and dedicated Lyle slowly melted my heart, little by little, as I was beginning to distrust people.

I thought of him as my friend, my partner, my apprentice, and my son. But in the end, Lyle betrayed me. Is there no one I can trust? With regret, my life is over…

“……where am I?”

I woke up in a large hall, with a red carpet and luxurious furnishings. 　It looked like I was in a castle. But I wonder if it’s somewhere in the Demon King’s Castle. It was different from the place where we had been fighting earlier.

“Why am I in this place……?”

I felt a twinge of pain in my chest.

“Yes, Lyle betrayed me…”

“You’re awake, Demon Lord.”

When I turned around, I saw a girl standing there. She wore a black outfit that looked like a military uniform on her slender body, had flowing silver hair that reached her waist, purple eyes with a mystical glow, a breathtakingly beautiful girl.

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Stella Di Erzerwein.”

She knelt at my feet.

“Please call me Stella. I’m a loyal servant who obeys any orders from the Demon Lord.”

“You’ve been calling me Demon Lord for a while now, what are you talking about?”

I looked down at my body, confused. I must have been enveloped in Lyle’s flames, but I didn’t have a single scratch on me. Moreover, my clothes had changed. Instead of leather armor, I was wearing a jet-black robe with gaudy decorations and a long, purple staff stood beside me.

“You still have your human senses, don’t you? It’s only been a short time since you were revived, so it’s not surprising.”

Stella smiled. A beautiful girl stares right at me and I get nervous. What am I doing being so shy at my age? What’s more, she’s not a human. She’s a demon.

“In time, you will become accustomed to your powers as a demon lord.”

“What are you talking about?”

I was puzzled.

“The previous Demon Lord, Yulisha-sama, had the ability to revive.”

The ability to revive – in other words, the ability to come back to life even after dying?  As expected of the Demon Lord, she possesses extraordinary power.

“It appears that your Miracle Armament has interfered with Lady Yulisha’s power and caused a malfunction.”

“The magic jamming ability of……Gram.”

“As a result, the power of the Demon Lord resided in you instead of Yulisha-sama, and you were revived.”

“I have the power of the Demon Lord in me……?”

Suddenly, my right hand became hot. I looked at it and saw a red crest resembling a six-pointed star floating on the back of my hand.

“That emblem is the mark of the Demon Lord.”

Stella tells me.

So you’re saying that Yulisha was supposed to be revived, but I was revived instead? And with the power of the Demon King….

“Still can’t believe it? Then take a look at this – ‘Status Display’.”

With Stella’s incantation, a series of glowing letters and numbers appeared in the air.

Former name: Freed

Class: Demon King

Total LV：4702

H P：35566

M P：91005

Attack：70330

Defense：45200

Evasion：31785

Hit：55539

Equipment

• Robe of the Champion
• Staff of the Demon King

Skills

• Intimidation (LV 250)
• Miasma Wave (LV 536)
• Demon Army Obedience (Lv 1)

Spells

After that, there was a string of letters.

“This is… this is amazing.”

Stella looked surprised.

“The level of the average demon tribe is around 50, our executive class is around 200, and the past demon lords are around 500 to 700. But your level is much higher than 4000……!”

Apparently, it was quite a difference.

“Please use your power to save us, Demon Lord.”

“Save us?”

“The demon world is on the verge of extinction. The chiefs of the demon army, who are the leaders of the demon army, are fighting against the great offensive of the heroes, but they are being pushed back. I don’t know what to do.”

I see, the heroes who invaded the demon world are all active in their own ways.

“I’m a hero. I have no business saving demons.”

“Demon Lord……”

“Don’t call me the Demon Lord. I’m a Hero. I’m Freed, the hero who will save the human world from the demons.”

Suddenly, an explosion sounded from afar.

“What’s this……?”

“It looks like the humans are attacking.”

Stella’s expression tightened.

“Humans?”

“I’ll check the battle situation with my clairvoyance now.”

A third eye appeared on Stella’s forehead.

“They must think they’ve defeated the Demon Lord in the battle just now. The rest of the army seems to have attacked close to the Demon Lord’s castle.”

Apparently, Stella can sense what’s going on outside the castle.

“The castle’s guards are intercepting them, but how long can they hold out? I’ve also exhausted my magic power to the limit in the battle the other day and haven’t recovered to a state where I can fight.”

She looked at me and said,

“The only one who can stand up to the humans now is you. Please save us, Demon Lord Freed.”

“I told you before. I’m not going to save the demons.”

“They’ll kill us all if I don’t. Please…”

I was at a loss for words. Her tear-stained eyes were so sad, so wistful, so fragile…. For a moment, I was mesmerized.

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