The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 132

The room was filled with worried faces. The members of the Northeastern Union were meeting again.

Baron Conrad spoke, his voice loud in the tense room. ‘This swords competition hosted by the Dmitry family… it’s our chance! As soon as I heard about it, I called you all here.’

Roman Dmitry is offering a big prize for the winner: one hundred gold coins and he will grant any request! If someone from our Union wins, we can use that.

We can show everyone that we are the bigger people. Instead of demanding Roman Dmitry say sorry, we can forgive him. This will make us look good and fix our relationship with Dmitry. We can get our honor back by being forgiving.

They had spoken to Count Fabius and realized something important: Roman Dmitry is powerful and influential.

They realized that getting full revenge and making Roman Dmitry a permanent enemy was not smart. It was better to just look good and pretend everything was okay.

Forgiving Roman Dmitry seemed like the best way to get back their pride and start over with him.

One nobleman spoke, sounding worried. ‘But can we even win? It’s not just us trying to win this competition. Lots of people are interested. Can we really beat everyone else and win?’

Another nobleman agreed. ‘Exactly. And remember Chris and Kevin? Those guys who were with Roman when we fought the Warlock? They are strong fighters. If they fight for Dmitry in this competition, it will be really hard to win.’

This was a big problem. They had to win. Their whole plan depended on winning.

Baron Conrad smiled, hearing their worries. ‘Yes, winning won’t be easy. But the competition has six groups. Chris and Kevin are strong, but they can’t be everywhere at once! Dmitry will have to send other fighters too, and some of them will be weaker. That’s what we need to focus on.

We need to choose our best fighters from all our families and put them in different groups. If we do that, we should be able to win in at least one group.’

‘…Hmm, that sounds possible,’ one nobleman said, sounding a little more hopeful.

Another added, ‘Yeah, that’s not a bad idea. Even if only one of us wins, we still succeed, right?’

The last few days had been awful for the Northeastern Union. They felt deeply ashamed.

They were embarrassed to face anyone. They didn’t know how to fix things with Roman.

They wanted both revenge and a way to make peace. This competition was definitely the best chance they had.

Baron Conrad continued, ‘The competition is in one month. Listen carefully, everyone. If we miss this amazing chance, we will never get our good name back. We have to win, no matter what it takes. Even if we have to pretend someone from outside is from our area, we must get a winner. And really, it shouldn’t be too hard. Dmitry is strong, but they can’t win everything, can they? They are just one family from a small place. This competition is our chance to become important again.’

One month from now, they thought. Their shame wouldn’t last forever. The Northeastern Union would find a way to survive, like always.

Meanwhile, at Dmitry mansion. Roman called his main fighters to him: Chris, Kevin, McBurney, and others.

Roman looked at the faces of his fighters. They were all watching him, waiting. He spoke calmly, ‘I think you’ve all heard about the competition I’m holding. So, here’s what’s going to happen: for the next month, you will all fight each other. It’s a competition between you. We will see who are the best six fighters to represent Dmitry in the big competition. What you did before doesn’t matter. Only how you fight this month will decide your place.’

Instantly, the mood changed. You could see it in their eyes. Even though Roman hadn’t offered any prizes yet, just the word ‘competition’ made the air thick with tension.

‘We are back from the war in the South, but our fight is not over,’ Roman thought. ‘Now that I’ve shown my power, I will have to deal with important people in Cairo who won’t like it. Even here in Dmitry, we need to stay ready, like a sword that’s always sharp and ready to be used. I need to give my fighters a reason to keep getting stronger.’

The war had been intense for Roman and his fighters.

The war had made some of them stronger, better fighters. But for others, the easy life back in the capital was making them lazy and less sharp.

They were relieved to be safe and away from fighting. People in Dmitry praised them for their bravery in the war.

War changes people in different ways. Not all changes are good. Life in Dmitry was making them too relaxed.

Roman didn’t like this. He saw that his fighters were losing focus. He needed to give them a new goal, something to make them excited and driven again.

‘If you fight for Dmitry and make us look good in this competition, you will be rewarded. If you are chosen as one of the six fighters and you win with honor, I will give you a special, powerful skill. It could be a way to train your mind, a better sword fighting style, or a way to move faster and stronger. I will teach you something amazing that will make you much stronger than you are now.’

A higher-grade technique. The fighters swallowed hard, their throats suddenly dry.

Even if the competition was just to see who was loyal to Roman, they would have fought hard to win. But a higher-grade technique? They knew this was something truly special.

‘Our lord is so much stronger and smarter than us,’ they thought. ‘He knows things that are like priceless treasures. Even the small things he’s taught us have made us much stronger. But a ‘higher-grade technique’… that means something amazing, something perfect for us right now. This is much better than just getting gold coins.’

You could feel the excitement in the air. They had become close friends during the war with Hector.

They trusted each other deeply now. But in this competition that Roman had created, they were not going to hold back.

Even though they were friends, each of them wanted to be the best. Roman had given them a challenge, and their eyes showed their burning desire to win.

‘This competition has two goals,’ Roman thought. ‘First, to show those nobles in the Northeast what real power is. Second, to train my fighters and make them even stronger. After this competition, things in the Northeast will be very different.’

It was a perfect plan for him. Roman told his fighters they could begin.

‘The free-for-all begins now!’ Roman announced.

After his fighters left, Roman thought to himself.

‘This next month,’ Roman thought, ‘is also a time for me to get stronger and prepare.’

Southern Front.

Fighting Butler showed Roman that there were still incredibly strong fighters in the world, fighters he hadn’t even imagined. And Edwin Hector’s magic was wild and impossible to guess.

The smithy was hot and filled with the clang of hammers and the smell of burning metal. Roman Dmitry stood there, feeling the heat on his face. He knew he needed a new sword. The Flame Blade, his faithful weapon, was no longer enough. For the first time as Roman Dmitry, he felt truly challenged. Each time he faced danger, he felt more alive, like Baek Jung-hyuk, the Heavenly Demon, who was used to death. Danger was normal for Baek Jung-hyuk.

But Roman thought, ‘It’s foolish to look for danger. I risked my life for victory, and the only way to avoid repeating the same crisis is to become stronger myself. Just like my men will compete to improve, I will train hard this month to become stronger too.’

He learned a lesson on the battlefield.

It was time for secluded training.

He planned to stay in the smithy, thinking about his condition while making a new sword.

A sword was just a tool.

To become stronger, he needed a new sword. The Flame Blade had been perfect for him before, but it was not strong enough for him now.

That was natural.

He always made swords for how strong he was right now. So, when he became stronger, his old sword became like an old thing.

Before starting his training, Roman called Lucas.

“Lord Dmitry, you called for me?” Lucas asked.

Lucas, the head of the information guild, had done a lot. With Dmitry’s power and money, he quickly took control of the area and recently took over the information guild, Black Moon.

Roman was right about Lucas. Lucas was very capable, and with a good reward, he quickly created Hao’s Moon system, his new information network.

Things were different now. If Roman wanted information on Barco, Lucas could get it to him in just five minutes.

“Lucas, I’m going to train alone for a month,” Roman said. “No reports unless it’s a real emergency for the family, okay? And also, I want you to sell this sword.”

“Yes, Lord,” Lucas replied.

Roman handed over the Flame Blade.

He decided he needed to get rid of the old sword to make a new one.

“Its name is Flame Blade, but when it finds a new owner, it will be called Blaze,” Roman explained. “Sell it however you want. Don’t say I own the sword. Find a new owner for Blaze. Use the money for the information guild.”

That was what Baek Jung-hyuk, the Heavenly Demon, would do.

As the Heavenly Demon, Baek Jung-hyuk had made many swords. Each time he made a new one, he let go of the old one without regret.

It was an artisan’s ambition. Even though he didn’t need the sword anymore, he hoped it would be great in someone else’s hands.

The Heavenly Demon’s swords were treasures. They traveled the world, met many owners, and as those owners became famous, they showed people that the Heavenly Demon, Baek Jung-hyuk, was a great artisan.

This time was the same. For the next month, Roman would spend time making a new sword. That’s why he was letting go of the old one. He hoped that people wouldn’t know ‘Roman Dmitry’ was involved in finding a new owner for the sword.

If people knew the hero of Cairo made the sword, it was very likely that a rich collector would pay a lot for it, no matter what it looked like.

He didn’t want that. He wanted his sword to find an owner who knew its value.

Lucas took the sword.

“I’ll handle everything, Lord. See you in a month,” Lucas said.

The meeting ended, and Roman left for his training.

From now on, it was time for hard work.

After Roman left, Lucas looked at the sword closely.

“It’s an amazing sword,” he thought. “Why would he want to sell something like this?”

He wasn’t a blacksmith, but he knew good weapons from being on battlefields. This sword was definitely a masterpiece.

The blade was smooth and sharp.

He swallowed hard.

He wanted to use it himself, but he had to do what Roman told him.

‘It’s really a pity. If I were still fighting, I would do anything to buy this,’ Lucas thought.

Lucas knew the difference between what he wanted and what he had to do. If Roman ordered it, he would do it perfectly.

He stopped thinking about wanting the sword and suddenly had an idea.

‘The lord said I could sell the sword however I wanted. What if I put this sword, made by the hero of Cairo, up for auction anonymously? How much would it be worth? That’s not a bad idea. The lord wanted the sword to find its owner, so someone who knows the value of the sword will pay a lot for it.’

It was a perfect plan.

He knew where to go: the territory of Count Adelian, in the northeast, which had a warp gate to the capital.

Adelian Auction House.

Lucas’s heart raced as he thought about what would happen at the auction.