The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 401

The word ‘people’ surprised him.

A ripple went through his mind.

Alexander knew he should not ask, but he spoke anyway, his voice shaking a little. “Are you really the Heavenly Demon, Baek Jung-hyuk?”

“Yes.”

“Ha.”

He felt weak.

The war wasn’t over yet.

He knew he couldn’t give up now. He had to fight back with all his strength, even though he was shocked.

But Alexander couldn’t. Heavenly Demon Baek Jung-hyuk, no less.

Alexander felt ashamed for facing someone like a god. He covered his face, feeling pain.

‘I really was insignificant.’

All this time.

There had been several opportunities to confirm the truth.

Even after seeing Roman Dmitry fight, Alexander couldn’t figure out the true nature of his martial arts.

It was pathetic.

He would light up like a child when a storyteller told tales of the Heavenly Demon, yet when he actually faced him, he came to conclusions that had nothing to do with the truth, like a blind man.

The leader of the Murim Alliance, a high-ranking figure in the Heavenly Demon Church, and so on.

He had even believed silly guesses about Roman. This showed him how unimportant he really was.

He knew it himself.

That this was his level.

If he hadn’t been reborn in the new environment of Alexander, his past self would have lived and died an ordinary life until his last moment.

It’s like a saying: ‘A needle in a bag will eventually poke through.’ It means that the truth will always come out.

There was a reason why Kim Pan-seok lived as an ordinary man while Baek Jung-hyuk’s presence pierced through the bag and dominated the world.

Knowing that.

He was always worried about losing everything he had. He always wanted more and was never happy, like someone who is always thirsty.

His inability to be satisfied stemmed from his past life.

If he had been content with his position as emperor and the fame of being the founder of Aura, the Demon King’s whispers wouldn’t have been able to break him.

He raised his head.

The blue sky was bright and clear, but to Alexander, it felt cold and uncaring, like it didn’t notice his pain. Roman Dmitry’s presence overwhelmed him.

‘Perhaps I wanted to become like Heavenly Demon Baek Jung-hyuk.’

This life.

He wanted it to be different from his past life.

Alexander had always been amazed by stories of the Heavenly Demon. He wanted to be strong and respected like him, to have everyone look up to him. Just as Baek Jung-hyuk accepted people’s cheers as a matter of course, he wanted to become like Baek Jung-hyuk.

He thought that he might be able to create the reality he had only imagined in the new world.

At least when he was called the founder of Aura, Alexander dreamed of this and fought hard, his hands covered in blood.

Heavenly Demon Baek Jung-hyuk.

He meant that much to Alexander.

He was a figure to dream of, an object of admiration, and what he truly desired was not simply conquering the continent, but dominating the world with a single sword like Baek Jung-hyuk.

He didn’t know what to do with his complicated thoughts.

Lost and confused, Alexander couldn’t utter a word and silently looked up at Roman Dmitry.

‘…Is it not possible to live for the person I admired, even now?’

Already.

It was too late.

His soul belonged to the Demon King, and he had committed so many irreversible acts in his relationship with Roman Dmitry.

He would have been more comfortable if he hadn’t known the truth.

If he had just been a martial arts master whose name he vaguely knew, Alexander wouldn’t have shown such a pathetic figure, swayed by strong emotions.

His lips trembled.

With difficulty, Alexander opened his mouth.

“We are already too late.”

At that moment.

Flash!

Roman Dmitry beheaded Alexander.

Alexander’s body died.

However.

His spirit lived on.

Because a part of his soul was bound to the Demon King, Alexander went to find the Demon King in his soul state.

“Demon King. Please save me. There is a reason for this defeat. If you give me one last chance, I will fully explain the reason for the defeat and come up with new countermeasures.”

At the moment of death.

He understood the situation and faced reality.

Heavenly Demon Baek Jung-hyuk had become Roman Dmitry, and the relationship was too broken to fix.

In that sense, Roman Dmitry beheaded him quickly.

It meant that he would not accept Alexander’s existence, and Alexander regained his senses and focused on reality.

He still didn’t have the confidence to face the Heavenly Demon.

However.

He had to survive somehow.

Wanting to live, Alexander begged sincerely.

But.

“Alexander. Do you know why I made you, a mere human, my servant?”

“…I don’t know.”

He raised his head.

The Demon King’s appearance was human-like.

The main body might not be, but the hollow eyes and long, flowing black hair had something captivating about them.

“The biggest reason is that you are a being that causes dimensional rifts. The dimensional rift will deepen as long as you are alive, and that alone was enough to explain why I used you. But there was no reason to make you a servant like now. The reason I accepted you was because of your feeling of being less important, which made him doubt himself.”

Alexander.

He was an interesting being.

To ordinary people, he had already risen to a position worthy of admiration, but he couldn’t believe in his insignificant origins and suffered from inferiority every day.

That stimulated the Demon King’s interest.

When the Demon King offered his evil help, Alexander hoped to solve his problems with eyes full of inferiority.

“It was a little fun. Your appearance, becoming more anxious when I gave you what you wanted, was amusing to see. However…”

He smiled coldly.

As the Demon King stood up, his body began to change. His skin turned darker, and sharp horns grew from his head. His eyes glowed red, and Alexander felt a wave of cold fear wash over him.

Darkness prevailed.

A horn sprouted above his massive body.

With black hair grown like a mane and bloodshot eyes, Alexander felt a pressure that bound his body.

“Your role ends here. There is no more interest to be gained from you, and the boundary between the Demon Realm and the Earth Realm has already been significantly weakened by your life as Alexander. Even if you don’t exist, the two worlds will become one. The door to the Demon World will open soon.”

It was soon.

The people of the Salamander Continent would see the world become dark.

And.

“At that time, there will be no place for you in the new world.”

With his last words echoing in the darkness, Alexandre felt his soul fall. It was like dropping into a pit with no bottom, a place of endless blackness.

This was a place where souls were destroyed, not just hurt. It was a place of nothingness.

Demons that ate souls moved around him, their bodies twisting and turning. Alexandre sat curled up, and a strange laugh came from his throat.

“You damned bastard,” Alexandre whispered, his voice shaking. “In the end, you’re abandoning me.” He had always known this would happen.

Alexandre had lived only to serve the Demon King. He knew he was just a tool, used to create openings between worlds. Now that he had done his job, the Demon King had no reason to keep him alive.

Even knowing this, a part of Alexandre still wanted to be important. He wanted the Demon King to see him, to remember him. But he knew deep down this was reality.

The Demon King glanced at Alexandre one last time. His voice was cold as he spoke the truth Alexandre didn’t want to hear. “It is over.” With a growl, he signaled. Dark shapes rushed forward. Demons swarmed in.

Red lights flickered in the darkness around him, like eyes watching him die. Alexandre curled up even tighter. A strange, wild laughter burst from him.

“Demon King!” Alexandre shouted, his voice cracking. “You made a mistake abandoning me! You wanted to read my memories? Too late! I put a spell in my mind. Only *I* know the truth about Roman Dmitry!”

He laughed again, louder this time, almost screaming. “No one else can ever know who Roman Dmitry truly is!” He looked at the red lights, his eyes wide and crazy.

“Roman Dmitry,” he hissed, “is someone even *you* cannot defeat! He is like a god, stronger than any human should be! Do you understand now? You will regret this! I may die, but you will fail because of what you’ve done today!”

With shrieks and screeches, the demons jumped on him. They were like black shadows coming closer, their forms shifting and changing as they attacked Alexandre’s body – or rather, the body his soul had taken.

Even as the demons tore at him, Alexandre laughed wildly. His mind escaped the pain. He started to imagine things, like the time he dreamed of ruling the *Murim world* – a world of powerful warriors and martial arts masters.

In his mind, he was no longer Alexandre, but Chunma Baek Jung-hyuk, a powerful hero. It felt amazing. Because he had really experienced this power before, the imagined feeling was even stronger, even more real.

In his real life, he always felt weak and unimportant. But now, facing death, and having met someone he truly respected – Roman Dmitry – he felt strangely free.

Sounds of cracking and crunching filled the air as the demons devoured him. And just like that, Alexandre was gone, swallowed by the darkness, his laughter fading away.

*Meanwhile, far away from the dark realm…*

In Cairo, the city was alive with celebration. It was a total victory! People filled the streets, cheering and waving flags. They shouted Roman Dmitry’s name, praising him for defeating the Cronos Empire.

Emperor Alexandre was dead. The news spread like wildfire. Roman Dmitry had won! People felt a wave of relief wash over them. The terrible war, which had seemed so close to destroying them, had turned around.

Later that day, a meeting was called. The leaders gathered, their faces red with excitement and victory.

“Thanks to Roman Dmitry,” one leader began, his voice still full of excitement, “we easily defeated the enemy soldiers who had lost all hope. It’s a truly amazing victory! We didn’t lose many soldiers in this battle, but the enemy was completely destroyed.”

Another leader, more serious, spoke next. “We can’t let this chance slip away. Emperor Alexandre, a ghost from the past who should have died years ago – his return proves the Cronos Empire is using dark magic. We must use this against them! If we tell the world what they’ve done, the Valhalla Empire will have no reason to help Cronos.”

Everyone knows that using forbidden magic is wrong. The laws of our lands say that anyone who does this should be punished by all the countries together.

This means the Valhalla Empire would have no good reason to keep fighting for Cronos.

The leaders from Cairo nodded in agreement. “Exactly,” one of them said. “If we stop fighting now, we can be in a strong position. We can accuse Cronos of using dark magic and bringing back the dead. Just say the word, Roman Dmitry, and we’ll send messengers to tell all our allies we want to talk peace.”

All eyes turned to Roman Dmitry. It was his decision. Everyone held their breath. If he agreed, the war could be over.

“No,” Roman Dmitry said, his voice calm but firm. “We will continue the war.”

Silence fell over the room. Then, one leader stammered, “D-do you mean… to fight until the very end?” Everyone in the room looked shocked and confused.

The leaders were stunned. The war wasn’t finished! Fighting Cronos and Valhalla would be incredibly dangerous. They would lose many more people. Hadn’t they already won enough? Peace was possible now. They could make Cronos weak and keep everyone safe. Why choose a harder, more dangerous path?

Roman Dmitry spoke, his voice clear and strong. “Whether Cronos used dark magic or not is not the main point. We have known the truth about Cronos for a long time. Think about the Hector Kingdom – that alone was enough to show how evil they are. But we were too weak to stop them. We couldn’t even speak the truth when they did terrible things.”

One leader nodded. “Yes, but now things are different. If we push them hard, Cronos will have to give up.”

Roman Dmitry agreed, but his face was serious. “That’s true. But just making them surrender isn’t enough. Too many people have died already. We need to make sure this never happens again. We need to do more than just get peace.”

As Roman Dmitry spoke, the mood in the room shifted. The leaders’ excited faces became serious. A strange tension filled the air. They waited, unsure what he would say next.

Then, Roman Dmitry spoke the words that would change everything. “Therefore,” he announced, his voice ringing with power, “I will use this victory to destroy Cronos and Valhalla completely. My goal is to conquer the entire Salamander Continent.”

Conquer the continent. The words hung in the air, heavy and unbelievable. A cold feeling went through everyone in the room. It was a dream so big, so impossible, that they had never even thought of it. The leaders stared at Roman Dmitry, speechless, completely stunned by the enormity of his ambition.