The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 207

Assassination. Someone trying to secretly kill another person. When Kevin heard the Chronos Empire wanted to assassinate Roman Dmitry, he quickly thought about Roman Dmitry dying.

But Kevin knew his lord was strong and wouldn’t be easily killed. He didn’t know how, but if Roman Dmitry actually died, Kevin felt like his life would have no meaning.

Roman Dmitry was everything to him. Like the sky above, like a god. Just thinking about the man who saved him from a terrible life dying made Kevin angry.

At first, Kevin was worried about the assassination plan. But then, his worry turned into anger. If anyone tried to kill Roman Dmitry, Kevin wanted to hurt them badly. He wanted to make an example of them, so no one would ever try to assassinate Roman Dmitry again.

And now, he had found Kort. As soon as Kort bit his lip and tried to run, Kevin jumped at him, moving like a wild animal.

“So, it’s you!” Kevin shouted. He knew this man was a swordsman from Ecorche, the one Lucas told him to be careful of.

Kevin moved very fast to get close to Kort. Kort frowned and used his aura too. Kort was weak and didn’t think he could get rid of Kevin easily. So, they would fight directly. Kort was a skilled 4-star aura swordsman and thought he could quickly beat Kevin, who was just known from stories.

Whoosh – Kort’s aura attack rushed forward. Kevin moved quickly to avoid it and got very close to Kort, almost touching him. Scritch.

“Kuh.”

Kevin’s sword cut Kort’s leg. It was a fast attack.

Kort tried to attack Kevin by turning his dagger, but Kevin stayed close and didn’t move away. If you watched from far away, it looked like they were wrapped around each other. One wrong move could mean death, but Kevin seemed unafraid as he kept attacking.

Blood flew everywhere. Kevin kept dodging Kort’s attacks, which were strange and hard to predict. At the same time, Kevin managed to cut Kort again and again. It was clear Kort was more skilled than Kevin. Kevin’s aura was weaker, but Kort had lost an arm, so he couldn’t fight as well as he usually could.

Also, Kevin was fighting very bravely and taking risks. Kevin’s eyes were red with blood, and he looked like a demon who wanted to kill.

Whoosh – Kort’s attack almost hit Kevin, missing by a tiny bit. Kevin heard voices in his head, like demons shouting, telling him where the attack was coming from. Even as Kevin leaned back to avoid it, he kept looking at Kort. This fight was very strange.

Kevin had only learned swordsmanship from Roman Dmitry for two years. Normally, he should have been easily beaten by someone with 4-star aura. But Kevin was different. He was learning from Roman Dmitry, and he knew that aura power wasn’t everything.

People were still just people. Even a strong aura swordsman would die if you cut off his head. Kevin had seen this before, and it made him confident. Everyone he had fought before was stronger than him, but they all ended up hurt and confused, not believing they could be losing.

It was happening again now. Kevin attacked Kort’s weak points. Since Kort had lost an arm, Kevin focused his attacks on that side. He pushed Kort, making him lose his balance. Even though Kort was stronger overall, he couldn’t take control of the fight.

Kevin fought like a crazy person. His energy was exploding. Suddenly, Kort tried to attack Kevin’s chest, but Kevin jumped right into Kort’s aura and attacked the same way. Wham! They crashed into each other. Kort’s eyes went wide with shock.

Kort was just a little too slow. Even with aura all around his face, Kevin bravely decided to attack Kort’s chest first. How could Kevin make such a crazy choice? Looking into Kevin’s eyes, Kort saw no fear, only a strong belief that he was right.

‘…I was given the wrong job.’ It wasn’t Roman Dmitry or even Chris, who people said was almost as good. Kevin was much stronger than anyone thought. Unless this was all a dream. From the start, he had taken on a job he couldn’t win.

Plop. Kort fell to the floor. Kevin looked down at him, his eyes full of anger and wanting to kill.

“If my lord hadn’t told me not to kill you, I would have hurt you very badly while you were still awake. But don’t worry. Being alive won’t be good for you.” Those were Kevin’s words. Then, Kort heard a thud and everything went black.

Kort didn’t know how long he had been unconscious. When he woke up, he was in a small, hidden room. Only a candle on a table gave a little light. Pain shot through his body. He was still alive. He had to find a way to survive.

‘Roman Dmitry must want something from me. Why else would he keep me alive? First, I’ll give him anything he asks for. Information, if he wants information. Loyalty, if he wants loyalty. I have to live, so I can get revenge for what happened today.’

In the assassin world, if you look weak, you are finished. Even though his arm hurt badly, Kort’s eyes showed he really wanted revenge.

Just then, creak, the door opened. A man came in. It was Lucas. Kort watched Lucas carefully, but Lucas didn’t even look at him. Lucas put something down next to Kort. Right away, Kort’s eyes widened. Inside the leather cover, Kort saw tools for torture.

“N-no, let’s talk first…” Kraaah! It started with his fingernails. One after another. Lucas used tongs to pull out Kort’s fingernails. Lucas didn’t even blink as he watched Kort twist in pain. The torture went on. After all the fingernails were gone, Lucas started on the toenails. When all the toenails were also gone and blood was everywhere, Lucas took out a different tool to cause pain in a new way, so Kort couldn’t get used to it.

Lucas didn’t say a word. He just kept torturing Kort. This went on for a whole week.

Cort felt like his mind was breaking. He was so weak he couldn’t even groan.

“Please… just kill me,” he whispered.

It had been seven days.

He had lost all hope.

He knew he would not live. Any thought of surviving was just a useless dream.

Then, Lucas looked down at Cort. “Cort,” Lucas said, his voice cold. “Sword of Echorche. We are not going to kill you. Our leader has decided. He wants someone to remember what happened to those who attacked Dimitri, and to tell everyone. All the other assassins from Echorche are dead. The pain I have caused you will show everyone the price of attacking Dimitri.”

Lucas stepped closer. He took a small bottle of clear liquid from his bag and opened Cort’s mouth.

“Drink,” he ordered.

*Glug, glug.* Cort could not fight back. He was so thirsty, he had not had water for days. He drank everything, even though he thought it might be poison.

“One week ago,” Lucas continued, “our leader went to the Chronos Empire. He learned that Echorche’s base is near Cairo.”

He paused. “Now, I will let you go.”

Lucas smirked. He was not kind.

“So…” Lucas leaned closer, “if you want to live, run as fast as you can. Run before our leader finds and kills your boss.”

Brakan, the leader of Echorche, answered the phone. It was the client.

[It has been a week. Does this mean the mission failed?] the client asked.

Brakan tried to sound confident. “Please wait a little longer. Echorche never fails. We have not heard that Dimitri is still alive, and no one knows where Roman Dimitri is for the last week. It is too early to say it failed. Please trust Echorche and wait.”

[Okay, I understand,] the client said. [But remember, if you fail, you will pay a big price.]

*Thud.* The call ended.

Brakan felt dizzy from the client’s threat. ‘Did we really fail?’ he thought. A week had passed. The time limit was almost over. Brakan thought they might have failed, but he couldn’t tell the client that. The client was the Chronos Empire. Their Emperor wanted Roman Dimitri killed. What would the Empire do if Echorche failed? Echorche had taken this job because the Empire offered a huge amount of money. But now, Brakan knew it was a mistake.

But he could not give up. Chronos wanted Roman Dimitri dead. Even if the first team from Echorche failed, they still had many assassins. ‘I must stop all other missions now. We will use everyone in Echorche to kill Roman Dimitri. Even if we lose many members. If we kill Roman Dimitri, Chronos will still support Echorche, and we can recover.’ He felt very stressed and scared.

Echorche had done many assassinations before. They were famous in the assassin world for being successful. Even though Roman Dimitri was a strong 5-star swordsman, Brakan thought it was not impossible to kill him. It was dangerous, yes, but if they used enough assassins, he was sure they could do it. Cliff and Cort, and many other assassins… They were strong enough to kill even the King of Cairo. But none of them had contacted him. Brakan felt like he was about to fall off a cliff.

Brakan stood up. He knew he had to do something himself, something he hadn’t done in years. Just then… *Flicker.* The light in his lamp went out, then came back on. Brakan was alone in his office, late at night. The lamp kept flickering. He went to check it. *Flicker.* The light came on again. At the same moment, Brakan felt a sudden cold fear. He sensed someone else in the room, hidden in the shadows.

One second passed. He looked at the person’s face. It looked familiar. At first, in the dark, he didn’t know who it was. But then, he remembered the papers on his desk. Like a shock, he realized. The new plan to kill Roman Dimitri… The first page had a picture of Roman Dimitri. And this person in front of him… it was the same face.

Two seconds. Brakan’s eyes opened wide. He knew it was Roman Dimitri. He jumped back and pulled out a dagger from his belt. Three seconds. Dimitri blocked all his attacks easily. But Brakan didn’t expect to win. He knew he couldn’t kill Roman Dimitri with just a dagger. Dimitri was here, in the Chronos Empire. Echorche’s base was near Cairo. Brakan understood what this meant. The assassination had failed. Cort and the others were probably already dead. Roman Dimitri had found their base. But how?

Then, a thought flashed in his mind. This could be his chance! If *he* killed Roman Dimitri here, he could still win. Four seconds. He threw more daggers at Dimitri. At the same time, he reached under the table for the emergency bell. If he pressed it, many assassins outside would come running. Five seconds. *Scritch.* “Kraaah!” Brakan screamed. His arm was cut off! It flew through the air and landed on the floor. Brakan’s face twisted in pain. He fell to the ground. Blood poured out. Roman Dimitri had already taken out his sword. He had cut off Brakan’s arm so fast, Brakan couldn’t even see it happen.

His head spun. He couldn’t think clearly. He knew being an assassin was dangerous, but he never thought it would end like this, because of Roman Dimitri. This was the Chronos Empire! Who would be crazy enough to come here after trying to kill someone?

“Keeuh…” he groaned.

He used his one good arm to drag himself away from Roman Dimitri. He hoped his men would hear him. He had a useless hope that no one would come in time. He looked up quickly. Roman Dimitri was looking at the emergency bell on the wall.

“If you press this,” Roman Dimitri said, his voice calm, “your men will come running.”

Brakan understood what Dimitri was going to do. He looked up at Roman Dimitri, his face white with fear.

*Press.* *BEEEEP!* Roman Dimitri pushed the emergency bell, staring right into Brakan’s eyes.