The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 166

It was a terrible sight.

Jeron’s face, which had looked so sure of himself before, was now twisted. It looked like one side of his face had been pushed in. Dark, thick blood poured from his nose, which was now big and swollen.

Jeron’s eyes were empty and lost. He couldn’t even focus.

He was too scared to look up at Roman Dmitry. He shook like a small child who was afraid, and he gave up.

“Oh dear.”

“Take care of Jeron!”

Count Gregory’s men rushed onto the stage.

Jeron was important to Count Gregory, and they couldn’t let anything bad happen to him.

They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

People had been talking about who would win when Jeron came on stage. Now, they were silent. They stared at Jeron on the ground. He was getting help.

Ranked 10th.

People said being in the top ten was a whole different level.

Jeron had always proved he was strong, so this wasn’t just empty talk.

That’s why it didn’t make sense that he lost so easily. If Jeron had fought hard and then lost, people would have cheered him, but they couldn’t understand how he could be beaten so quickly.

Roman stood tall on the stage.

Everyone watched in silence as Roman looked around at the crowd.

‘The stage is set.’

The fights before were just warm-ups for what was coming.

Cairo was a weak kingdom. Roman wanted to show everyone in Cairo just how strong he was.

Roman spoke.

“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed. A year ago, I said I wanted to fight the ranked warriors. Why do you think I did that? It wasn’t because I needed to get stronger. It was because I wanted the ranked warriors of Cairo to get ready to face me. And this is what happened.”

He didn’t show any respect for Jeron, who had lost.

He made fun of Jeron.

Roman made it clear how weak he thought Jeron was.

“Now that I’ve beaten Jeron, who was ranked 10th, I know that no one in Cairo except Count Nicholas can beat me. So, I’m going to skip the rest. In three days, right here, I will fight the ranked warriors from 9th to 2nd place.”

Everyone was shocked.

What was he talking about?

Even after hearing it, they couldn’t believe it.

“And after I beat all of them, I will challenge the greatest swordsman of Cairo.”

People were shocked by what Roman said.

Roman Dmitry had been acting strangely, but this was too much.

It was clear.

Roman Dmitry wasn’t just arrogant, he was crazy.

Cairo was in chaos.

Roman had declared war.

It was already amazing that he had beaten everyone from 99th place, but now he was saying he would fight the top-ranked warriors one after another.

It was shocking.

The main people involved met right away.

“What are we going to do about this? To be honest, I was thinking of giving up. Jeron and I are about the same skill level, but Roman Dmitry beat Jeron easily, didn’t he?”

This was Bruno, ranked 9th.

Bruno had been there that day.

He had wanted to see Roman fight so he could be ready to face him, but he was scared when he saw Jeron lose so badly.

This was too much for him. Since he knew he would lose anyway, he didn’t want to risk getting hurt like Jeron.

Oscar, ranked 2nd, who was sitting across from him, spoke.

“Even so, we can’t give up.”

“Oscar-nim!”

“None of us here support the royal family. So, if we let Roman Dmitry fight Count Nicholas, we could benefit without doing anything. But, Roman Dmitry made fun of Jeron. He said Jeron wasn’t good enough to be ranked 10th and that he would fight all of us on the same day. This is important. If Roman Dmitry loses to Count Nicholas, people will say we were cowards for giving up the 2nd place without even fighting Roman Dmitry.”

This was about pride.

Now that everyone was watching, they couldn’t back down.

“Then are you really saying you’ll fight Roman Dmitry?”

This was the 5th-ranked warrior speaking.

Everyone was angry at Roman’s words.

But, even though they were angry, they all knew that Roman Dmitry was strong.

He was a monster who had gone from 99th to 10th place.

The ranked warriors of Cairo respected Roman Dmitry because he had beaten them without stopping to rest. They knew he was a talented swordsman.

It was clear.

Roman Dmitry was talented and would one day be famous. He was still young, but everyone knew he was special.

Oscar said.

“Yes, I plan to fight him. That’s why I asked you all to come here. To be honest, I don’t think I can beat Roman Dmitry by myself. I’m asking you to sacrifice yourselves, so I’m sorry, but please weaken Roman Dmitry as much as possible before he gets to me. Marquis Benedict, who I work for, will make sure you are rewarded. If we work together like that…”

His eyes changed.

He was proud to be ranked 2nd.

He knew that Marquis Benedict wanted Roman, and he didn’t want to make it easier for him.

“I will risk my life to beat Roman Dmitry. And, in front of everyone, I will say that I could never have won without you.”

The ranked warriors looked at each other after hearing Oscar’s words.

They didn’t want to be the ones to sacrifice themselves.

If Roman Dmitry hadn’t made them angry, they might not have even met here.

But, it was too late.

Their pride wouldn’t let them back down.

“I will follow Oscar-nim’s plan.”

“Roman Dmitry, let’s show that upstart what’s what. What? He’s going to beat all of us? I promise you, I will stop Roman Dmitry before he even gets to Oscar-nim!”

“That’s right! Let’s work together!”

The ranked warriors were motivated.

They forgot about their own groups and spent all night planning how to defeat Roman Dmitry.

Three days later, Roman arrived at the place he had promised.

He waited, surrounded by the crowd, and soon the ranked warriors of Cairo appeared.

“Gasp!”

“Bruno and even Oscar! All of the 2nd to 9th ranks are really here!”

“They’re really going to fight Roman Dmitry. It’s impossible to know who will win.”

People had said that only Count Nicholas could beat Roman after the fight with Jeron.

But, fighting eight swordsmen in a row was a different story.

And these weren’t just anyone. Even Bruno, the 9th rank, had once been a famous swordsman in the Kingdom of Cairo.

Whispers of Bruno’s name traveled ahead of him on the Western Front. Soldiers spoke of his courage, his skill with a sword, and the way he faced even the strongest enemies without fear.

Even when fighting the powerful Chronos Empire, Bruno was a force to be reckoned with.

Eight swordsmen appeared, one after another.

Roman watched the swordsmen arrive, his mind going back to the report he had read three days before.

He remembered the report from three days ago: Marquis Benedict’s aristocratic faction was secretly gathering forces.

They probably don’t want to rebel against the kingdom, but they are after me. If I say no to what they want, Marquis Benedict will definitely do something drastic.

Just as he had expected.

The aristocratic faction… *Why* were they so powerful?

The armies of Chronos and Valhalla were too strong to attack. But any group that tried to become a third power was stopped before they could even start.

Because of this, the royalist group was in a difficult situation.

In the Cairo Kingdom, they made it so that people could only survive if they joined the aristocratic faction.

He found it darkly amusing.

The fighters in front of him were Rankers – powerful warriors known throughout the land. Since none of them were loyal to the royal family, they had joined together, even though they usually served different lords.

This was the truth of their world. If you weren’t a royalist, the nobles would always band together against you.

‘The way Cairo is run, I don’t have any more time. It’s a dead end. I have to destroy them, or they will destroy me. I’m at a turning point, and I must choose.’

A smirk played on his lips. He had been waiting for this moment for a year.

Peace had lasted too long, and Roman Dmitry had no love for peace.

This was just the beginning of the end.

With a soft tap of his foot, Roman stepped onto the stage.

He wouldn’t waste words. From now on, he would show them the truth with his actions.

Bruno and the others had thought they had a good plan.

‘Roman Dmitry will try to win fast, right from the beginning. He has to fight eight Rankers one after another, so he’ll want to avoid a long fight. That arrogant fool. He’s made a big mistake. If we hadn’t joined together, we would have attacked him foolishly, one by one, just like he wanted.’

Bruno had one goal: defense. He would only defend.

He planned to use his aura to create a shield around himself and hold out for as long as he could.

He didn’t think he could win. But he was determined to last as long as possible. He believed he could tire them out, even if they were much stronger than him.

But then… *Scritch*.

‘……?!’ The first clash of swords.

The moment he tried to block Roman’s attack, Bruno’s eyes went wide with shock.

It wasn’t the sound he had expected at all. He had expected the clang of steel meeting steel, but this was…

His sword, strengthened by his aura, should have stopped Roman Dmitry’s attack. But instead, even with his aura burning brightly, his sword was sliced in half.

It was unbelievable. His plan, destroyed in a single strike. Before Bruno could even think, a searing pain ripped through his chest.

*Thwack*. The sound of the sword hitting flesh. Blood splattered.

He wasn’t dead, not yet. But with a gaping wound in his chest, Bruno crumpled to the ground.

“Next.”

Roman said, his voice cold. Silence fell over the crowd.

The crowd had come expecting a tough fight. They were stunned into silence by how easily Roman had won. It was a complete victory.

Still, it was just the first fight. Even though Bruno had been defeated so easily, they believed the 8th-ranked fighter would be different. Surely, *he* would put up a better fight.

*Clang!* The 8th-ranked swordsman managed to block Roman’s attack.

The 8th-ranked swordsman put all his strength into blocking Roman’s attack. He managed to stop his sword from being cut in half, unlike Bruno. But that was all he could do.

That was the best the 8th-ranked fighter could manage. Then, Roman’s fist smashed into his stomach. He crashed to the ground, face first, and vomited violently.

“Next.”

Just one minute had passed. Now it was the third fighter’s turn.

The 7th-ranked fighter walked onto the stage, looking very nervous. But his fear quickly turned to something worse.

*Thwack-* The force of Roman’s attack was crushing.

Roman’s aura was incredibly powerful, so strong that even a 5-star aura defense couldn’t stop it. And even if they somehow blocked the first attack, his follow-up attacks were just as deadly.

The 7th-ranked fighter had been a legend in his time. He wasn’t just some ordinary fighter who would fall easily. But now, people watched in stunned silence as blood flew from his body.

“Next.”

The fourth fighter. The fifth. The sixth. The fights continued.

All their careful plans, made the night before, were useless. Every fighter who faced Roman was defeated.

As the fights went on, the color drained from people’s faces. If Roman had just been very skilled, they might have admired him. But this was beyond anything they understood. Even the people watching were starting to feel fear.

Most people didn’t know the truth about Roman. They didn’t know that the spirit of Cheonma Baek Jung-hyuk now lived within Roman’s body, giving him incredible power. It was this power that had allowed him to defeat even Butler in such a short time.

How long had it been? Less than a year. This incredible display of strength was what he had achieved in that short time.

And what had he done in the last year? People might remember Roman from a year ago, but the Roman standing before them now was completely different. He had become something far more dangerous.

From the start, when they planned this challenge, Roman had seen these swordsmen, including Oscar, as weaklings. They weren’t worth any complicated strategies.

No matter how strong they thought they were, they were just like frogs in a well – they knew nothing of the wider world of powerful fighters. They weren’t even ranked among the best fighters on the continent.

*Thwack-* The 3rd-ranked fighter fell. He crumpled to the ground.

Looking at the 3rd-ranked fighter lying bleeding on the ground, Roman saw the horrified faces of the remaining fighters.

“……N-no way,” someone whispered. Among them, Oscar stood with a face as white as death.

Oscar had been sure he would win easily once Roman was tired from fighting the others. But now, he just stared, unseeing, at the sun high in the sky.

The duel had begun at noon. The sun was now directly overhead, but the stage below was already stained dark with blood.

Only then did the truth hit him. Roman Dmitry was not just strong – he was a force of nature that Cairo had no hope of controlling.

“Next.”

Roman repeated. To Oscar, it sounded like a death sentence.

When he heard Roman’s voice call him forward, Oscar closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable.