From Mightiest Hero To Demon King (LN) Volume 1 Prologue

｜・・Vol 01 Ch 01 Part 01 →

Prologue: The Hero and the Demon King Face Off

Once upon a place, there was an ugly boy.

He had baggy eyes and a snub nose. And though he didn't overeat, he was round and fat like a pig. No one in his village, not even his own parents, could hide their disgust for his monstrous physique.

When he reached the age of twelve, that all changed.

The ‘gift' bestowed upon him by the the One True G.o.d was of unusually high quality.

The boy became a hero.

Whether it was ferocious demons or those who stood on the side of evil, he felled them in swathes for the sake of the world and its people.

And thus, in the fourteenth year since the bestowal of his ‘gift'—the year he turned twenty-six—he faced down the source of evil itself: the demon king.

◆

Although he had, without a doubt, performed legendary deeds, that half of his life went unsung.

What happened was…

★★★

A moonlit night. A rumble echoed across the wasteland several kilometers from the demon king's castle.

There stood the hero Garrius, s.h.i.+ning golden armor fully encasing his rotund body. When he swung his sword with all his might, daggers of light sprang from the golden blade.

In his way stood an old man with the body of a lizard.

A white beard sprang from his chin, and atop his head grew two luxuriant, bold horns. The man, wrapped in a black robe and boasting a long, fat tail, was dragonkind—and feared as the current demon king.

The daggers of light burst through the seven-layered magical barrier wall and struck the demon king.

“Nnngah!”

The demon king coughed up red blood and at last gave a bow.

“I had never thought I should be brought so close to defeat as this. Or, no—I am done for, am I not.”

He fell to his knees and looked through narrowed eyes at Garrius. It was difficult to tell with the scales, but his wrinkled face seemed to lose its previous gravitas and fill with the calm of an amiable old man.

“You had best finish me off, Hero. The victory is yours. No, it is thine.”

“…”

“What's wrong? Why aren't you moving? It won't be long before I recover.”

“…”

“Oh, for the love of…. Say something! It's your turn to speak. Get it? This is the best part!”

“Uh? Oh, um, sorry. I was thinking about something.”

“For pity's sake, you're really fouling this up. Can't you get on with killing me already?”

Did the way he talk just change? He sounds like the old men from my village. And he's pretty cheerful for someone about to die. As Garrius thought this, his grip tightened on his golden sword—the Holy Sword. But he couldn't lift his arm nor take a step forward.

This fight between the two of them wouldn't end until one of them died.

If the hero Garrius died, the human troops would call off their invasion and retreat. If the demon king died, the demons would surrender the castle and all its lands.

This face-off was the outcome of a unilateral announcement by the humans, who were pressing their advantage over the inferior forces of the demons.

———Or, that was how it was supposed to go.———

A battle cry sounded in the distance. Because the helmet of his Holy Armor endowed him with superhuman hearing, Garrius could tell that several shouts were coming from the direction of the demon king's castle.

Garrius glanced that way; the area around the castle was bathed in red light.

“Fire? No way. They started the a.s.sault?”

“What is it, hero? Hadn't you noticed? They didn't start just now. It began right after we started fighting.”

Garrius looked stunned for a moment. Then he gave a start and asked, “Why? If you knew that, why did you fight me?”

“On account of how we've been cruelly tormented by you lot. I was expecting those louts to try attacking the castle in my absence. Of course, my kin fled the castle, and indeed the whole region, long ago. Pity the castle's getting burned now that we went and abandoned it for you.”

The demon king gave a hearty laugh, splattering red blood everywhere.

“Don't look so shocked. Come, now. Take my head. The demon king is dead, and his land destroyed. Now that my kin are hidden away in the wilderness, they can find a moment of peace.”

“So you knew. From…the beginning.”

“Ohoho, how could I not? Though we might have the power to beat you as individuals, there's no way we could win against your superior numbers.”

“So then, you fought me with the intention of…”

He couldn't say the word ‘losing'.

However, the demon king burst out laughing again.

“Don't be a fool. I fought in earnest. I had every intention of taking your head and hurling it at your troops. I've every intention of playing the role of the demon king till the very end.”

“But that means there was no point to our fight. Why did you accept?”

“Hmm. To buy time. No, that's an excuse. The truth of the matter is, you fascinate me.”

“I do?”

“You are an indomitable warrior, laying waste to the battlefield with your golden Holy Sword and Armor. Your swordsmans.h.i.+p shows integrity and virtue. And not only did you accept this decisive fight in good faith, you show the loser no contempt. Truly, your conduct is unlike the rest of your kind.”

The demon king announced with satisfaction that their fight had been exhilarating until the very end. However…

“Though I told you we fled, in truth, many remain to fight in the castle. They want to make a point of their willingness to resist to their last breath, you see. I ought to have stood with them, to save even a few of my kin from such sacrifice.”

Behind his helmet, Garrius bit his lip.

I see. So I wasn't imagining it.

Since becoming a hero and beginning to battle the forces of evil, Garrius had harbored an uneasy feeling.

It had seemed to him that the demons might all be valiant and acting on firm principles.

They appeared to hold fast to the n.o.ble motives of wanting to protect what they cherished, even at the cost of their lives.

That's actually what they were like.

They sacrificed themselves so their families could have somewhere peaceful to live.

Wouldn't that make us humans the bad guys?

Garrius believed that to be the case.

Humans, when confronted with demonkind, became overtaken by horror and hatred. Fearing for their own safety, they would employ all sorts of contemptible tricks and utterly destroy the demons through force of numbers. This time was no different.

And though it required some sacrifice, the demon king had used the humans' own trick against them, saving many of his kin. However…

“Why did you tell me this? If I report your plan to the army, they'll hound your kin all the way to the wild lands.”

“Hm? Ah, that's true, isn't it. Oh dear, oh dear. I don't suppose you could keep it a secret?”

Even as his face began show the pallor of death, the demon king gave a mischievous smile.

Garrius had won the battle, but where character was concerned, he was far outmatched. Calmly acknowledging this, Garrius raised the Holy Sword high with the thought that there was only one thing left to do. Just then—

“P—Please wait!”

A small, indistinct shape scurried up to them. Although it stumbled and fell, it fought back tears and came to stand before the demon king.

“Please! Don't kill Grandfather!”

s.h.i.+elding the demon king with her arms spread wide was a small child. She had the horns and tail of the dragonkind, but the rest of her features were human—a human crossbreed, who also seemed to be the demon king's granddaughter.

“Cucouroux, what are you doing here?”

The demon king was taken aback. It delighted Garrius that someone as measured in thought as the demon king could be shaken from his calm.

“Please don't kill my grandfather!” the little girl implored.

This really does make me the bad guy, huh?

Behind his helmet, Garrius gave a dry laugh and slowly pointed the tip of his sword at the pair.

“Stop! Please stop! The girl is still young. At least take mercy on her!”

The demon king was frantic. He summoned the last of his power to s.h.i.+eld his granddaughter with his body.

The Holy Sword flashed. White light spilled forth from the gold and beamed towards the old demon king.

“Ng…wha?”

But while the light eventually dissipated, the demon king did not die.

“Could this be…'EX-heal'? But…why?”

It was one of the Holy Sword's special abilities. The target's wounds would be almost completely healed.

“Long story short, it's best if we have you die. I'll say I used a spell that obliterates all traces of flesh.”

The old demon king showed no signs of hostility towards others. No one could reasonably complain about letting him escape. Garrius wouldn't stand for it.

“Well, then. I suppose we won't be meeting again.” Garrius turned to leave.

“Uh…um. Thank you so much, Mister Hero!”

The words of grat.i.tude made no sense. He had killed so many demons before now.

Garrius did not turn back at little girl's words, nor did he raise a hand in reply.

Bathed in moonlight, the hero merely walked away.

☆☆☆

In this way, the war between humans and demons came to an end.

The hero Garrius, the most distinguished of all the war's partic.i.p.ants, returned to the royal capital two weeks after his battle with the demon king.

However, what awaited him were neither accolades nor appreciation.

Instead, he was callously ordered to leave the country while a handsome prince took credit for all of his heroic achievements.

The mere fact of his heroism was to be stripped from him, never to be spoken of in the world of humans.

｜・・Vol 01 Ch 01 Part 01 →