“Haah…….”
He is out of breath.
The dagger in his hand has a broken blade and is useless.
The magic staff in his other hand is soaked in blood, losing its original color.
Whoosh whoosh.
With each tremble, drops of blood drip to the ground.
Everything is painted red with blood.
If there is a place called hell, it must be here.
It was indeed a precise description.
Lee Han lifted his weary head.
In the middle of the blood-stained land.
The Demon King.
The one who created this hellish scene was staring at him.
“Hero! It was a good fight!”
Spitting blood, the Demon King burst into laughter.
Lee Han shook his head.
… Truly horrific.
The laughing Demon King’s chest had a gaping hole.
The place where the heart should be.
How much magic, resources, and lives were spent to create that hole?
Lee Han’s mana circuits were burnt out from the effort.
All just to cast the spell to restrain the Demon King.
Yet, the Demon King was still alive and laughing like that.
“I didn’t die fighting, but was captured! You are truly… stronger than you appear!”
Lee Han gritted his teeth as he looked at the Demon King.
“Because there is something you need to do.”
“Me, the Demon King? Even if that’s the case, does it require you to destroy your mana circuits?”
“My ability doesn’t matter. In a world without the Demon King, magic is unnecessary.”
“Hahaha!”
Stumble.
Lee Han moved as if he was about to collapse.
He covered the hole in the Demon King’s chest.
Gush!
The flowing blood stopped.
“Why do you not kill me! I have killed many of your comrades!”
I know.
The party assembled to defeat the Demon King.
It wasn’t just the core members of the hero party. Extras were comrades too.
Daniel, the cook, who held his nose while cooking monsters.
Davis, the porter, who diligently carried supplies.
Jennifer, the guide, who smiled brightly when discovering a shortcut to the Demon King’s castle…
All those except the core members were dead.
Lee Han clenched his fist.
If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not the truth.
But still, the Demon King cannot be killed.
The Demon King’s life is more valuable than his revenge.
“It’s because your survival has great social value.”
“What do you mean?”
Crack.
Lee Han bit his lip.
How many absurd scenes had he witnessed since being reincarnated in this fantasy world?
People were killed for political reasons: being suspected as witches, as tributes, or as traitors. Many innocent people died just because they were suspected of colluding with demons.
This world is another world.
These people are primitive.
“In this damned primitive world, the Demon King is needed.”
Lee Han murmured, biting his lip.
“Girls unjustly killed for alleged collusion with demons. People executed as witches. Numerous humans sacrificed as meaningless tributes. They all died as an excuse for associating with you. Go and tell the world. That the Demon King has nothing to do with them.”
Many comrades died. With the price of their lives, he will create a better world.
The Demon King burst into laughter, looking at Lee Han.
“Puhuhu! Alright. I will gladly participate. We demons always obey the strong.”
The reason he overpowered with force and didn’t kill was for this.
Now, the world will be a little better.
“But!”
Gush!
Bright red blood spurted from the Demon King’s mouth.
“You seem to lack the ability to see your fellow humans.”
“… What?”
“You don’t even notice the blade aimed at your back.”
“!”
Clang.
The sharp sound of metal slicing through the air echoed.
Cold sweat ran down Lee Han’s spine.
A shiver of dread swept through his entire body.
He didn’t have time to turn around.
— Thud.
A head rolled on the ground.
It wasn’t Lee Han’s.
The Demon King’s black hair rolled on the blood-soaked floor. Blood streamed from the eyes, which couldn’t even close.
Lee Han hesitated.
The Demon King, even while dying, was smiling.
Cluck, cluck.
The words bubbled out through the blood foam…
— Now that I am dead, I will return.
Bubble, bubble.
The mouth closed with the blood foam.
Lee Han held his face in a daze.
No matter how powerful, the Demon King couldn’t be alive with the head severed.
— Thud, thud.
Blood dripped next to Lee Han.
The blood-soaked sword aimed at him.
There was no need to turn around.
The sword belonged to his comrade.
Lee Han’s lips parted.
“Aina. Do you know… what you’ve done?”
Phew.
He took a deep breath and continued.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
The Demon King’s bright red blood dripping from your sword.
It’s not just the Demon King’s blood.
It’s the blood of those unjustly killed as witches, those sacrificed as tributes, and those who died wrongfully.
“No. I understand.”
“But, how could you.”
Lee Han stood up.
Aina’s sword grazed his neck, but he didn’t care.
He looked up at her.
Her golden hair, once more radiant than the sunlight, was now blood-soaked and lost its shine. Her eyes, once as blue as the sea, were dull in the backlight. Her expression was firm and unyielding, a stark contrast to her serene demeanor. A harsh, metallic voice escaped from Lee Han’s throat.
“How can you be so calm? You’ve severed not just the Demon King’s, but thousands of lives with your hands.”
“Because this has confirmed it.”
“What?”
“That you and the Demon King…”
Aina glanced between the Demon King’s severed head and Lee Han with her dull eyes. Then she spoke.
“It is now certain that there has been a connection. No ordinary human would be able to communicate with the Demon King.”
“Wait. A connection? What do you mean?”
Lee Han’s gaze sharpened.
Aina’s pupils trembled briefly.
“… My suspicion has become certainty.”
“Stop beating around the bush and speak clearly.”
“It’s certain that you, Lee Han, were colluding with the Demon King, that you were a pawn of the demons.”
What is she saying now?
After defeating and even killing the Demon King.
What on earth is she talking about?
Ignoring the stunned Lee Han, Aina continued.
“Your actions have made it a reasonable suspicion. You were exceptionally persuasive. You convinced two of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings to switch sides and made the remaining two fight each other. As a result, we easily entered the Demon King’s castle.”
“…”
“A castle that no one had ever entered in the 600-year history of the Empire.”
“Are you saying that my competence means I was colluding with the enemy?”
“No.”
Aina shook her head.
“I’m saying that the Demon King’s castle opened because you colluded with the enemy. Moreover!”
Aina stared at the Demon King’s severed head on the ground.
“If we had kept the Demon King alive, she would have devoured the Empire from within. You had the capability for such a scheme. This isn’t the only evidence. Lady Claire.”
A girl with flaming red hair stepped forward.
The party’s fire mage and successor to the prestigious Harold Trading Company. And a childhood friend.
Claire opened her mouth.
“I-I saw it.”
“What did you see?”
“I saw Lee Han controlling the demon monsters as he wished. It had to be mind control.”
Lee Han spoke up.
It wasn’t so much a prepared statement as an outburst of frustration.
“I simply reminded them of their own interests. It was the higher-ups in the Demon King’s castle who were exploiting them, so I directed them to attack there.”
“Well, still.”
“Claire. We’ve been through hard times together. Look at me. You don’t trust me?”
“Do not look, Lady Claire! Even that could be the start of his mind control magic!”
Looking down at the ground, Claire muttered.
“From that time on, I was subjected to your mind control…”
Lee Han’s mouth became dry.
He couldn’t believe it.
No, he didn’t want to believe it.
But they are definitely now…
“This… this is all to frame me…”
“Silence, Lee Han. Lady Aria, what about you?”
“Ugh… Yes!”
Hesitantly.
A girl in a saint’s robe walked forward with her head bowed.
Her hair was as blue as the sky on a clear day, and her eyes were a harmless green.
Saint candidate, Aria.
“Aria, tell us about the symptoms you experienced.”
“Symptoms…?”
“The night you slept in the same tent as Lee Han.”
She mumbled as she began to speak.
“My… my lower abdomen…”
“It’s alright. What happened?”
“It… it… it burned. I felt like I couldn’t control my body. My mind went red. It was strange…”
“Lady Aria is a saint. A pure one at that. The symptoms she experienced were clearly due to Lee Han’s hypnosis and mind control. If she hadn’t resisted, it would have been horrible. It’s clear mind control and hypnosis. To weaken her power by violating her purity.”
It was clear.
They were framing Lee Han.
With absurd false accusations.
Why?
For what reason?
Since when?
Countless confusions ran through his mind.
Normally, he would have organized his thoughts and found a solution. But now, Lee Han was exhausted.
His mana circuits were burnt out from fighting the Demon King, and his thoughts were sluggish due to a head injury.
Above all, one thought wouldn’t leave his mind.
“… Weren’t we comrades?”
“I used to think so, but not anymore. Lee Han, you subdued countless enemies with just your tongue. Your skills surpassed anyone’s. That’s an impossible feat by normal standards.”
Aina’s sword was pointed at Lee Han.
“You are a collaborator. Using hypnosis and mind control to hand us, humanity, over to the enemy.”
Claire raised her magic staff.
Aria began chanting a prayer.
Lee Han raised his broken dagger and blood-stained staff.
“…”
Thud.
Then he dropped them.
Their eyes filled with confusion.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you resisting?”
“I can’t point these at you.”
“Stop lying and pick up your weapons.”
“Just answer me one thing.”
A brief silence.
Lee Han spoke with difficulty.
“Who was it?”
“…?”
“I don’t believe all three of you betrayed me simultaneously. We were comrades, all of us. Even those who died and were left behind.”
Lee Han trusted them.
But among them.
There was a traitor.
Someone who started the slander and sowed discord while he was absent.
“Who was the first to start doubting me?”
Aina shouted at his words.
“Everyone! Cover your eyes and ears.”
“Was it you, Aina? No. You just like to take the lead. It’s that foolish sense of chivalry. But you’re smart and political enough to make it possible.”
“Shut your mouth, demon!”
“Claire, I want to believe you. We’d have been best friends since we were kids.”
“…”
“Aria, I’d like to believe you’re not the timid one, but…”
That was it.
— Clink!
The restraints prepared to capture the Demon King.
They were placed on Lee Han.
◆
[ Hero Lee Han of the Otherworld. Do you know your crime? ]
From his arrest to the trial, everything happened swiftly.
A guillotine was prepared next to the judge.
— Defendant Lee Han! As a member of the hero party, your crime of colluding with the enemy is severe! You show no remorse for your actions!
The guilt was certain.
The witness stand curtain.
He trusted them too much, the women hiding behind them.
No.
Perhaps his naive and foolish belief that the people of this otherworld were pure was reflected in his actions.
Could you survive with just a silver tongue?
No. It’s impossible.
All the evidence was fabricated.
Dissecting the fabricated evidence logically is possible… but that’s not the issue.
The issue is that public opinion has been swayed to believe he must die.
Even if the evidence is false, he will still be executed because the people of the Empire are clamoring for his death.
It’s a political defeat.
After defeating the Demon King, he was bound to the guillotine to be executed.
“Hehehe.”
Laughter bursts forth.
“If you have any last words, speak them now.”
Last words.
He lifted his head.
He could sense the women behind the curtain flinching.
They were united against him.
The one who started the political maneuvering first likely aimed to solidify the hero party by killing him and, in doing so, to reap all sorts of benefits.
She was smart enough to consider the aftermath of the Demon King’s death.
She’s not interested in the rest of the fools who would have fallen for her plan. The cause of all this. She is unforgiving.
‘Who is it?’
He doesn’t know. He has no information, no time.
In a few moments, he’ll be dead.
How can he give her back what she gave him in this situation?
There is a way.
A way to torment her before he dies.
— “Defendant Lee Han! Stop stalling and speak! The time for your final words is not unlimited!”
He smiled and looked at the inside of the curtain.
“My death will be beneficial to you. That’s good. I’m glad to die for your sake.”
There was a commotion inside the curtain.
By suggesting that someone stood to benefit from his death, he sowed seeds of doubt.
They would start to suspect each other.
He will die, but the seeds of doubt sow will haunt them.
— “Do it now!”
A voice urgently shouted.
Was this enough revenge?
Sigh.
He smirked.
‘… If I could be reborn, I’d like to live quietly and leisurely.’
Death was nothing special.
— Thud
A brief, sharp pain.
Then his vision tilted diagonally.
… It’s unfair.
◆
[ Lee Han, the Demon of the Otherworld. Execution complete. ]
[ In recognition of their contributions to expelling the Demon King and exposing the demon, the following individuals will receive the following rewards ]
[ Second Princess Aina. Raised two ranks in the line of succession. Granted territory equivalent to a duchy. ]
[ Saint candidate Aria. Bestowed honorary knight title and granted the status of a saint. ]
[ Claire of the Harold Trading Company. Bestowed honorary knight title and granted exclusive business rights in the Imperial capital. ]
[ Declared the three party members “War Heroes” and guaranteed them the appropriate treatment. ]
