The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 417

The grand hall was filled with important people from many countries.

These were important leaders from different countries. But they all bowed to Roman Dmitry right away.

A new empire was on the verge of being born, and Roman Dmitry was to be its emperor.

Upon hearing the suggestion that Dmitry should declare the establishment of an empire and rule the continent, Roman Dmitry looked at the people with a calm expression.

He knew that such a moment would arrive someday.

Dmitry always wanted to be the best. His close followers knew what to do now that the war was ending.

Not yet.

Roman Dmitry was still the king of the Dmitry Kingdom.

However, within Dmitry, all discussions about who would take over the throne were already finished, and he had promised to hand over the throne as soon as the war ended.

Because of this, the representatives of each country could speak up without holding back.

Knowing Dmitry’s plans, they believed that now was the time to declare the Third Empire.

All the representatives waited for Roman Dmitry’s answer.

As a heavy silence filled the room, Roman Dmitry finally spoke.

“Some of you here have already discussed the future with me. I made it clear to them, but I will say it again to all of you.”

Daniel Cairo and Edwin Hector had already promised their loyalty.

Having promised them the future, the words he was about to say were a message to the three southern nations.

“Many things have happened in Salamander. Alexandre, Valhalla, Chronos… You all helped defeat them. But don’t expect rewards just for being here now. If anyone breaks the laws I set in this new world, they will be punished, no matter what our past relationship was.”

This was not a matter to be taken lightly.

Roman Dmitry, as the representatives of each country knew, always kept his word.

“If anyone here repeats the mistakes of the past, like Marquis Memphis, who died on the execution ground, I will punish them as they deserve. No exceptions will be made. These words may sound cruel and harsh. Chronos and Valhalla only cared about themselves, but even after defeating them, you can’t just enjoy power as much as you want. However, if you accept what I have said and agree to follow the laws of the new world, I can promise you one thing.”

Long ago, from the moment he first took over this body, Roman Dmitry had been imagining the future he was about to talk about.

“You will live in your own lands without being invaded by anyone. That is the future I want.”

In his past life, when he was Baek Jung-hyuk, the Demon Fiend, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, said with a confused look:

“If you don’t want to enjoy the power you worked so hard to get, why did you bother conquering the Murim world? I don’t understand it. You have absolute power. Even if you had many wives like me and lived a fancy life every day, no one would say anything. But you’re living a boring life like those stuffy guys from the Orthodox Sect.”

Demon Fiend was someone who enjoyed life more than anyone else after the conquest of Murim.

People even said, ‘Live like the Demon Fiend,’ because he wasted all the wealth he had and lived a wild life.

Even living like that, his wealth never ran out.

He was well paid for his work during the conquest of Murim, and the wealth he gained made him the richest man in Murim.

Baek Jung-hyuk drank tea.

Waking up every day to drink tea, going for a walk, and practicing his sword until he was sweating was his daily routine.

The Demon Fiend’s frustration was understandable.

The absolute ruler of the Heavenly Demon Sect, the one who conquered Murim, was living a dull and ordinary life.

How much tea had he drunk?

Baek Jung-hyuk, who was looking at the lake from the pavilion, put down his teacup and looked at the Demon Fiend.

“When do you think I decided to conquer Murim?”

“Well, isn’t it just your natural instinct? A Heavenly Demon can never live under anyone else.”

“You’re right. As a Heavenly Demon, maybe my fate was decided when I was born. But I decided to conquer Murim when my father abandoned me and forced me to survive on my own. I was afraid of losing my life. If I did nothing, if I bowed my head and lived like everyone else, my life as the son of the Heavenly Demon would be in danger. So, I struggled every day. I didn’t even think about why I had to live like this. If anyone threatened me, I would step forward and defeat them.”

He couldn’t live an ordinary life.

It wasn’t what he wanted.

Knowing that he couldn’t live an ordinary life, Baek Jung-hyuk learned to stand up for himself from a young age.

Day after day, time passed.

He grew stronger and became a powerful successor. No one treated him carelessly like they did when he was a child.

But in his heart, the memories of the past always stayed with him.

He was sure that if he stopped growing, his peace would be destroyed one day.

“What I wanted was stability. A life where my land wouldn’t be invaded even if I did nothing. To do that, I had to conquer Murim. I thought that only by becoming so powerful that no one could touch me could I escape my destiny as a Heavenly Demon and find stability.”

It was a contradiction.

Because he wanted stability, Baek Jung-hyuk caused the worst bloodshed in Murim’s history.

The stability that Baek Jung-hyuk talked about had a slightly different meaning.

It didn’t mean that he just wanted a peaceful and stable life.

It meant a life where, if he lost something, he would be responsible.

It didn’t mean he wanted to avoid competition or fighting.

In the world of survival of the fittest, everything was forced.

The future that Baek Jung-hyuk wanted through the conquest of Murim was a life where everyone respected each other’s lands and lived together.

He smiled.

“I just wanted to live like a human being.”

At that smile, the Demon Fiend looked away.

He always thought about what was best for him, but whenever he saw this side of Baek Jung-hyuk, he felt a warmth in his heart.

“My lord, you are a truly unique person.”

That day, the Demon Fiend thought about his own life and realized that the stability that Baek Jung-hyuk talked about was the right for each person to live the life they wanted.

Thinking that he still couldn’t live as strictly as Baek Jung-hyuk, the Demon Fiend went to a courtesan house again the next day and raised his glass.

Roman Dmitry’s statement was something that needed to be considered.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the King of Redford spoke up.

When I was just a nobleman, I often felt the world was unfair. Chronos and Valhalla made foreign merchants pay very high taxes. We knew this was wrong, but we had to accept it. In our business, we even had a name for it: ‘Imperial Tax’. It meant you had to pay them taxes and bribes just to do business.

Before he became king, he was the best merchant in Redford. He was born a nobleman in a weak country, so life was hard. He often sat alone, slowly drinking his wine, and thought about all the problems he might face and how to solve them.

“When I faced these unfair things,” he said, “I just wanted business to be fair. I don’t even want to be rich or famous. If you make a world we can agree with, I will gladly accept it, even if it means I might be executed one day. So, I give you my loyalty.”

The King of Redford bowed his head low.

His strong feeling spread to everyone in the room. Nobody told them to do it, and it wasn’t planned, but the leaders of each group started to speak, one after another, saying what they felt.

Now, King Umberto spoke. “Leaders like us,” he said, “have probably all had the same problems. Umberto is next to Chronos, and I have never slept well because of it. I just want to feel safe. If we have lived honestly, I hope I can at least go to bed without fear. If the future Dimitri talks about is really a world where we respect each other’s lands, then I will gladly give you my loyalty.”

After him, King Franck stepped forward, his voice firm. Then Edwin Hector, who looked relieved. Even Daniel Cairo, who was known to be cautious, spoke. Even kings who had already promised to be loyal before said they would give their loyalty again to Roman Dimitri in this new world. You could see the hope in their eyes.

Everyone agreed. Roman Dimitri accepted what everyone wanted. Before this moment, they had been polite to each other. But now, they started to act like they were in a new relationship, with him as their leader.

“I accept your promise of loyalty,” Roman Dimitri said. “Soon, I will announce that Dimitri is now an empire. I want you to come to my coronation. From that day, the Salamander Continent will have a new world, ruled by me, Roman Dimitri. But before that…” His face changed. His smile disappeared, and his eyes became serious.

Things must be done in order, he thought. Before he announced this new world, Roman Dimitri wanted to get rid of everything from the past. “We will do a big cleanup with all our power,” he announced. “Remember, personal feelings are not part of this cleanup. If someone has done wrong, we must punish them strongly. This will build the base for our new world.”

*** At the same moment, someone else was in a big hurry. Hoffman, the head of the Golden Bank, was shouting at people. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide with fear. “Move the luggage quickly!” he yelled. “We don’t have much time!”

There had been a big war across the continent. During this Continental War, when the two empires and the kingdom alliance were fighting fiercely, Hoffman naturally gave all his support to the Chronos Empire.

He had learned the secrets of the Golden Bank. Because of this, he openly showed what he wanted, and he strongly believed that Alexandr would win the war.

But they had lost. He still couldn’t believe it was real. Alexandr was dead. Even Marquis Memphis, the most powerful person in Chronos, had been killed in public.

As soon as he knew this was true, Hoffman quickly started to get ready to escape. He knew the only way to survive was to run away from the coming violent revenge.

‘Roman Dimitri is not someone who will be kind,’ Hoffman thought. ‘He will execute anyone who supported the two empires, no matter who they are. If I stay here, I will die too. And right now, the Golden Bank doesn’t even have the money to pay back the loans it took to fight the war.’

Right after the war ended, many people contacted him from everywhere. People who had lent money because they trusted the good reputation of the Golden Bank sent calls demanding their money back as soon as they heard they had lost the war.

This was the punishment for not planning ahead. Actually, he didn’t think Chronos would lose. To be clear, because he was working for Alexandr, he took a big risk. He thought he could only survive if Alexandr won.

He used all the money of the Golden Bank to buy supplies for the war. He thought it wasn’t enough, so he used all his contacts to do even more. Because of this, the Golden Bank was now in very big debt.

This problem could have been fixed if they had won the war. But now, there was no way to pay it back. So, there was only one way for him.

As soon as the city of Chronos was captured, Hoffman quickly took his secret money and valuables and looked for a way to escape. He knew he might never be able to live as the head of the Golden Bank again.

He would have to use magic to change his face, change his name, give up his fancy life, and start a new life. But he thought this was better than dying.

Just then. He thought his preparations inside were almost done when suddenly he heard a loud noise from outside. Crash!

At that loud crash, Hoffman’s face turned as white as paper.

*** In a quick second, Hoffman quickly thought in his head.

‘I don’t need to panic,’ he thought. ‘The people I owe money to can’t blame me yet. The time to pay back the money hasn’t come. And Dimitri and Valhalla haven’t made peace yet. Count Snodin is against Roman Dimitri. So, Dimitri can’t attack Valhalla directly. The Golden Bank’s main office is in Valhalla, right?’

He remembered that Count Snodin was still powerful. He couldn’t believe that Snodin, who had gone to a big meeting with other countries, had been arrested and taken away during that meeting. This was surprising because Snodin was supposed to be strong.

Hoffman was greedy. He thought he still had time because he needed enough time to turn his secret valuables into money.

He knew a decision would be made soon, maybe in a few days. But he decided that no matter who came in suddenly, he had to look as calm as possible to get more time.

He walked forward. As the head of the Golden Bank, he tried to look confident. He said in a strong voice to the people who came in, “How dare you— Ack?!”

In that moment, his eyes opened wide in shock. It was people who had come in with soldiers. Leading them was a very familiar person who was smiling slyly.

“Long time no see, Mr. Hoffman,” Fabius said, his voice smooth and cold. It was Count Fabius himself. His sly smile and cold eyes reminded Hoffman of a terrible nightmare from the past. Hoffman knew Fabius meant trouble.