The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 372

Roman Dmitry’s words hung in the air, sharp and clear. He had gone too far. The Valhalla Emperor’s voice was suddenly fierce.

“You have made a mistake.”

“If you read the old records, you’d understand why I say this. Stern Valhalla, who everyone called a tyrant, was controlled by someone else. This doesn’t make his bad actions okay, but it means someone is gaining from you becoming king.”

“Roman Dmitry! That’s crazy talk!”

Barak yelled.

This man was a hero, the one who saved Valhalla.

The Valhalla Emperor wanted to thank him, but he couldn’t accept what he was hearing.

“I risked my life for Valhalla! Stern Valhalla! No matter his story, I couldn’t just watch his terrible acts hurt the people of Valhalla. You think I’m the only one who gained? I lost so much stopping that rebellion! My soldiers, my friends, everything! I suffered, I went through hell, I walked over dead bodies, my hands are covered in blood! And you, who knows all this, you *dare* say these things to me?!”

Magic energy flared around him, creating a shimmering shield. Their words became whispers, unheard by anyone else nearby.

“And this whole rebellion wasn’t even my idea! Sanchez came to me and said we should rebel. And I heard *you* planned it all! Roman Dmitry, don’t tell me you wanted to destroy Valhalla from the start. Otherwise, why would you say I was the one in charge?”

His voice was full of strong feeling.

The Valhalla Emperor spoke like he wanted to attack Roman Dmitry with words.

But.

Roman Dmitry stayed completely calm.

He listened to everything, then answered in a steady voice.

“Let me tell you three things I suspect.”

Roman Dmitry had studied the old records of the Valhalla Emperors many times. In all the confusion, he found strange things.

“First, like I said, if Stern Valhalla was a puppet, and if Cortes Valhalla chose his useless 14th son for some plan, then even leaving that son behind must have helped someone. If that’s true, then even if you lost things, no one on this whole continent gained more than you by becoming king. Not even me, who got rid of an enemy of Dmitry, or the Chronos Empire, who became a little weaker, gained as much as you.”

“That’s crazy…”

“Second.”

He stopped the Emperor from speaking.

Roman Dmitry looked firm, like he was saying, ‘Listen to me until the end.’

“The good thing you got from becoming king was the friendship with Dmitry. Because we fought the rebellion together, the people controlling Stern Valhalla could put a new puppet on the throne – someone Dmitry trusts – instead of the old king who hated Dmitry. The records of Canellas Valhalla show this. The Chronos Empire has been mixed up in Valhalla’s history from the start. If they are still pulling strings, then this rebellion could be the first step in their plan to take over the continent.”

This was just an idea, of course.

A wild idea.

But.

Because of the third point, Roman Dmitry thought it might be true.

“Third, there’s the ‘perfect ending’ that Valhalla wanted. Everyone in Valhalla wanted you to win the rebellion. They wanted you to live, beat the bad Emperor, and become king. But really, that shouldn’t have happened. When the old Emperor attacked Hernand hard, some people said I saved you from total ruin. That’s partly true. I wanted to help, but I really thought Hernand would fall. I decided I had to leave you. It’s strange, but sometimes things that seem impossible happen. It would have been great if you lived, but if you died, I thought, well, that’s how it is.”

But then.

The rebels lived.

They beat the Emperor’s army and went to the capital!

“Later, when I looked into it, Hernand was in even worse shape than I knew. So, I started to wonder. Could they really hold those walls, which were almost destroyed, just with willpower? Isn’t the amazing story of the rebels barely surviving actually planned? Valhalla Emperor, the real story should have ended with you dying. But you lived, you became king of Valhalla, and now I have to ask these questions.”

The mood changed suddenly.

From the moment Roman Dmitry started talking about these dangerous things, he had a clear goal.

“I’m not talking to you to hear the truth. You won’t tell me the truth just because I have guesses without proof. Whether you planned the rebellion or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to get rid of what I think is a problem here.”

It was a shocking thing to say.

Just because he suspected something?

To kill the King of Valhalla?

The situation was getting very dangerous, very fast. The Valhalla Emperor knew he couldn’t ignore these words as just empty threats.

Roman Dmitry.

What kind of man was he?

If he said he would kill, he would kill. Everyone knew he didn’t care if someone was an Emperor.

The Valhalla Emperor and Roman Dmitry both understood this.

Roman Dmitry was trying to scare the Valhalla Emperor, but if he couldn’t convince him, he would really do it.

Roman Dmitry had changed everything.

Now, the Emperor had to explain himself. Roman Dmitry was in control.

Valhalla.

Something he needed to defeat anyway.

He had just chosen a very direct way to do it.

He couldn’t just accept the Valhalla Emperor while having so many doubts.

Explain and convince him.

Or die here.

It was the Valhalla Emperor’s choice.

As Roman Dmitry walked closer, the Valhalla Emperor gave a short, surprised laugh.

“Heh, hee hee hee. Damn, you figured it out fast.”

He was different now.

The proud warrior face was gone. Now, his face was twisted with greed as he looked at Roman Dmitry.

“How can you guess all this without knowing anything for sure? Roman Dmitry. Let me tell you, this magic keeps our words secret. People can’t hear us, and to anyone watching, it looks like we are talking about something completely different, not the truth.”

He dropped the act.

Showing his real self, he scratched his head hard and looked worried.

“I thought it was a perfect plan! To be found out like this… Yeah, that’s why you’ve been a problem for me since I first heard of you. Eyes that see through everything, and actions you can never predict. ‘We’ knew you would get in the way of our big plan.”

“Just one question.”

“Ask.”

“Why did you make Stern Valhalla king? You could have just taken over Valhalla without doing that.”

“A simple human like you can’t understand the great plan. But because you figured out some of the truth, I’ll show you something interesting. The real story of Stern Valhalla, and what really happened during the rebellion.”

*Whoosh!*

Magic power rushed out.

Memories flashed in front of Roman Dmitry’s eyes.

“This will be fun for you.”

It started on that day.

Stern Valhalla.

The day people began to call him crazy.

Stern Valhalla, who was pretending to be asleep, finally found the person who was secretly putting dead animals on his bed.

*Thwack!*

“I caught you!”

The person didn’t fight back at all.

It was a man Stern Valhalla knew.

Looking closer, it was the servant who always did his chores. But the servant just stared blankly, with no feeling in his face, even after being caught with the dead animals.

He didn’t say anything, didn’t even look sorry.

When Stern Valhalla looked into those empty eyes, his own eyes suddenly went wild with anger.

And then, in a low, dangerous voice, he said,

“I’m going to kill you.”

The sword crashed down! *Thwack!* He struck his opponent down.

Stern pressed the knife he already had ready against the servant’s throat.

“Why are you doing this?” the servant cried.

“What did I do to deserve this? I helped you! Why are you looking at me like that?”

Stern’s face was red with rage as he shouted.

This was the last page of his journal, written just moments before. Stern Valhalla’s mind was slowly breaking down. After many sleepless nights, he was losing his mind.

His head was overflowing with the urge to kill. Thinking about all he had suffered, he imagined cutting off the servant’s head, right now.

“Answer me! Tell me why!” Stern shouted again and again.

But there was no reply.

Stern Valhalla watched the servant’s body move awkwardly, like a broken toy. He tightened his grip on the knife.

He decided he would kill first, before they could kill him. He gritted his teeth, ready to push the knife in. But then, something inside him broke.

Stern Valhalla collapsed backward, letting out a terrible cry.

“Aargh! Please, just leave me alone! Please!”

He just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill someone. Even though he was losing his mind because of everything that had happened, he couldn’t be cruel enough to hurt another person.

People called him an angel because he seemed so kind and pure. It wasn’t just to survive. Stern Valhalla really enjoyed being with people.

He had even dreamed that if Jeasus Valhalla became king, he would get a small farm in a faraway countryside and live a simple life.

And now, his life was ruined. He felt like he would go crazy just looking at the knife in his hand.

Suddenly, *Crack!* A heavy weapon slammed down on the servant’s body from behind.

The one holding the weapon was Duke Vieto.

He grabbed Stern Valhalla by the back of his neck and dragged him away.

“You’re interesting,” Duke Vieto said. “Most people would have become monsters by now, after all you’ve been through. But you held on until the end. That’s why you’re perfect. Someone like you, once you break, you break completely.”

Stern couldn’t understand. Duke Vieto, who everyone thought was loyal, was acting like a criminal with an evil grin. It was completely unbelievable.

It was then that the rebellion began. Duke Vieto’s true plan was revealed.

Duke Vieto ordered his soldiers to spread through the palace and kill everyone they found.

“Kill them all!” he commanded. “Leave no one alive to remember this day!”

It was a terrible massacre. Blood covered the floors of the imperial palace. So many people died.

Stern Valhalla, still being dragged by Duke Vieto, stared blankly around him. It was horrible. Servants he had talked to just days ago were now torn apart, their bodies scattered everywhere.

His brothers, who had been fighting to be the next Emperor, were now just cold bodies, their eyes staring blankly.

This was a rebellion, something unbelievable that destroyed the way Valhalla chose its rulers. Finally, Duke Vieto stopped dragging him. They had arrived.

Jeasus Valhalla was there. The Crown Prince, who always seemed so strong and sure of himself, was now kneeling down, his face pale with fear.

“D-Duke Vieto,” he stammered. “Please, spare me! I won’t tell anyone what happened today. Please, please! If you let me live, I’ll give up being Jeasus and leave the Imperial Family forever!”

He begged desperately, crawling on the ground and crying.

Duke Vieto leaned close to Stern Valhalla’s ear and whispered in a cruel voice.

“That guy is the one who hurt you. He’s the reason for everything. If he dies, no one in Valhalla will ever bother you again. I promise. Stern Valhalla, kill Jeasus Valhalla now. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”

His voice was low and crazy. Stern’s head was spinning. He remembered everything he had suffered. He saw the blood on the ground. So many dead people. His mind was completely gone.

Stern Valhalla had held onto his sanity until the end, but now, the mad voice finally broke him.

“…I’ll kill you…” Stern whispered.

From then on, he couldn’t remember clearly. When he came back to himself, Stern Valhalla was looking down at Jeasus Valhalla, lying dead, his body twisted and broken, his face covered in blood.

Suddenly, the chaos in his mind stopped. He felt strangely calm. He could breathe again. That was the day Stern Valhalla became the tyrant people would later fear.

Suddenly, *Whack!* The world changed again. As Stern Valhalla remembered more, he saw a new scene in front of him. It was a very familiar place.

“Report the situation,” a voice commanded.

Stern was in a dark room. On a raised throne, Alexandre looked down at two figures.