The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 419

The world outside was changing quickly. But in the dark dungeons of Dimitri, time seemed to stop for the prisoners. It was a place filled with darkness.

Ares stared into the darkness. His face was thin and pale. He used to be known for his handsome looks, but now that was gone. His silver hair was sticky with dried blood and smelled bad.

He looked down at the magical bands on his wrists and ankles. They were like chains, stealing his magic and making Ares, once a powerful fighter, feel like a normal, weak man.

He couldn’t escape. But he didn’t even want to. Since being locked up, only one question filled his mind.

‘Why did I lose?’

Losing. It was impossible to accept. His enemy was just a boy who used to beg for food in the streets. When Ares first saw Kevin, Kevin was so much weaker. Ares never thought he could lose to someone like that.

Even when Kevin fought back, Ares couldn’t believe he was actually being beaten. But it happened. He had lost.

As he remembered the fight, his own life felt meaningless.

‘I worked so hard to become strong in my own way. I learned from Lord Alexandr, but I changed his lessons to fit me. People said I was a leader, someone who would start a new era. But did all that work mean nothing against Roman Dimitri? Roman Dimitri grew strong so quickly after meeting someone powerful. Was all my hard work so weak that it couldn’t even beat Kevin?’

It was a terrible thought.

Meeting Roman Dimitri had shown Ares a new level of power. But even with that new power, he still lost to Kevin, who had learned from Roman Dimitri even earlier. It felt like all his effort was for nothing.

Realizing that all his hard work seemed pointless, Ares pulled at his hair. He felt like he was falling into a deep, dark hole of sadness. He couldn’t breathe.

Where did he go wrong? Maybe he made a mistake when he chose to follow Alexandr. Maybe that was the start of his downfall.

“…My life is terrible.”

He looked up at the ceiling. It was black as ink, blocking out all sunlight. Ares lost track of time.

There must be a war happening outside. Dimitri had stopped Chronos, which was surprising. But Ares wasn’t sure Dimitri could win. Alexandr… he was like a monster. Even though Roman Dimitri was strong, Ares still believed in Alexandr’s power, which he had seen with his own eyes.

Not yet. It’s not over.

Suddenly… *Creak*. The dungeon door opened. *Whoosh*. A torch light flickered. Ares saw Commander Jonathan of the Knights standing there. He knew right away. He laughed sadly, without meaning to.

“…Dimitri won.”

“Yes,” Jonathan said.

This was the worst news. Even in prison, Ares kept hoping that Alexandr’s powerful magic could still win the war. But he was wrong. Looking at Jonathan’s calm face, Ares knew the war was over, and Dimitri had won. He closed his eyes tightly.

He had wanted Alexandr to win, but it wasn’t just because he was loyal.

‘I made the wrong choice.’

Roman Dimitri… Following Dimitri made Ares feel truly alive. He learned so much and grew stronger so fast. He started to wish he had chosen to follow Roman Dimitri instead of Alexandr from the beginning.

Every night, Ares couldn’t sleep. His thoughts were a mess, but he always came back to Alexandr. Alexandr’s magic was incredible, beyond human limits. He was so powerful he could destroy a whole city with one spell. Ares felt he couldn’t betray someone like that. It was a difficult choice. But if he had known Roman Dimitri was strong enough to beat Alexandr… maybe Ares would have chosen a different path.

Ares looked up, his face pale and tired.

“Please, tell me,” he begged Jonathan. “How did Roman Dimitri beat Alexandr? It’s impossible. It should be impossible. You know it too! Alexandr is like a monster, stronger than any human. He’s almost like a god in human form. How could Roman Dimitri win?”

Ares didn’t care if he looked weak and desperate. He needed to know the truth. He needed to understand how the unbeatable was beaten, even if he couldn’t see it himself. He thought he had made the right choice before. Even now, he thought choosing Alexandr was the logical thing to do.

Jonathan’s face became hard and cold.

“I don’t need to explain anything to a prisoner. Our Lord simply wins, as he always does.”

He nodded to the soldiers. They came forward, opened the cell, grabbed Ares by his arms, and pulled him out. Ares was weak. This man, who was once a powerful warrior, couldn’t even push away these normal soldiers. He looked at Jonathan, his eyes pleading for an answer. But Jonathan’s next words were another blow.

“If you want answers, ask the Lord yourself. Today, our Lord becomes Emperor. And…”

Jonathan’s voice was icy. He was no longer kind to Ares, not after Ares had betrayed Dimitri.

“You and the other prisoners will be executed.”

Dimitri. A huge crowd had gathered. They came to celebrate the new Emperor, but they were shocked to see a giant execution area. It was strange. Usually, celebrations like this are happy events, focused on the good things to come. But Dimitri showed everyone the place of execution even before the celebration began.

Prisoners were lined up there. People recognized some of the prisoners and stared at their sad, defeated faces.

Soon, the crowd started to whisper. Then, someone moved through the crowd, and everyone looked his way.

“It’s Roman Dimitri!” someone shouted.

“…Is he going to do the execution himself?” another person whispered.

Roman Dmitry’s outfit was unusual.

Everyone knew he would become the ruler, so they thought he would wear a fancy outfit for the coronation.

But what he wore was not what they expected at all.

He was dressed like he was going to fight a battle. The sword at his side made people feel uneasy.

Clang, clang.

He stayed calm as people stared at him.

Roman Dmitry stood on the platform. He looked down at the crowd and spoke loudly.

“From now on, I will start the execution ceremony.”

At that moment, people’s eyes widened in shock.

Roman Dmitry did something unexpected. Soldiers, who knew what was going to happen, dragged a prisoner forward.

“The prisoner’s name is Karman. After the Odelia Kingdom fell, Karman caused trouble among the people of the fallen country. He started riots. If he wanted to rebuild Odelia, Dmitry would have helped him. But Karman was just following Alexandr. He started riots to help the Chronos Empire during the war.”

Swish.

Roman Dmitry raised his sword. It pointed at Karman’s neck. Karman shook and begged for his life.

“So, I sentence him to death.”

Flash.

Thwack.

Blood burst out and sprayed the platform. Karman’s head flew into the air, and blood poured out like a fountain.

The onlookers were shocked. Their eyes widened in surprise and fear.

People thought the coronation would be happy and full of joy. But Roman Dmitry started it with death and blood. This sent a strong message: In Dmitry, public justice was not just about punishment, but a clear message to everyone.

The soldiers took away the body without a head. Then, they brought another prisoner to the platform. Before the blood on the floor could dry, the next execution began.

“The prisoner’s name is Hoffman. He was the head of Golden Bank. Hoffman knew about Alexandr and helped the Chronos Empire. So…”

“Please, please don’t kill me!”

“I sentence him to death.”

Flash. Hoffman.

The head of the Golden Bank, who used to be powerful, was killed without a struggle.

On the platform, most of the people being killed were important figures. Each time their crimes were read out and they were killed, the people felt nervous.

They had heard about Dmitry’s laws. They knew what Roman Dmitry was like. But they never thought he would start the coronation like this.

The execution went on.

Blood flowed. The wooden floor was dark red with blood. It was so much blood that it started to drip down, drop by drop, onto the ground below.

How many people had he killed?

With the last prisoner, the onlookers started to whisper.

“…It’s Ares.”

“Ares, you mean?”

“Are they really going to kill Ares too?”

Ares. Everyone knew his face. He finally walked onto the execution platform.

Ares was a complicated person.

He was a traitor.

He betrayed Dmitry at a critical moment. Because of his betrayal, Dmitry almost faced a terrible crisis.

He had more reason to be killed than anyone else on the platform.

But even knowing this, people felt complicated because Ares had been dedicated to Dmitry until his betrayal.

He helped a lot during the war prisoner incident. Ares stood at the front. He used his power against the Chronos Empire to bring back the prisoners.

Also, Ares helped solve problems on the Arcadia continent. During the fight with the Valhalla Empire, Ares risked his life alone to follow Roman Dmitry’s orders.

Everyone remembered what happened then. Because of Ares, Dmitry won the war easily.

People’s feelings were mixed. As they watched, Ares was dragged onto the platform by the rough hands of the soldiers. He knelt down.

He looked miserable. The hero who had helped Dmitry looked worn out. His hair was messy, and he looked weak.

The Ares that people remembered was always confident. This was the first time he looked so weak. Some people looked away, feeling sorry and confused.

Before Roman Dmitry could say what Ares had done wrong, Ares suddenly spoke loudly.

“My lord, please give me a chance to make up for what I did. Please, I don’t want to die! Not like this! I beg you!”

He sounded pathetic. He didn’t accept what was happening and was trying to save his life.

“I know I made a big mistake. I betrayed Dmitry. But before that, I worked hard for Dmitry. I risked my life for Dmitry in the war with the Chronos Empire, the problems on the Arcadia continent, and even the war with Valhalla.”

Everyone listened carefully. Ares saw that people were listening, so he looked up at Roman Dmitry and tried to make him feel sorry for him.

“I had a hard time making choices. Betraying Dmitry was difficult for me, and I still regret it. My lord, I admit I made a mistake. In the future, Dmitry will face many problems as it becomes an empire. You can’t kill so many people every time. Please let me be an example. If you give people a chance to fix their mistakes instead of pushing them to the edge, the empire will have a bright future.”

This was a tricky issue.

Setting clear rules and being strict was important, but some people were worried about being too strict.

Ares mentioned this. He said that the only way to be forgiven was to ask in front of everyone, now that Dmitry was changing.

“If you spare me, I will be useful to Dmitry, like I was before.”

People held their breath. What Ares said made sense. He was important to Dmitry.

The air was tense. Then, Roman Dmitry spoke in a cold voice.

“Ares, even if Dmitry becomes an empire, we will not change our ways.”

He didn’t change his mind. He looked down at Ares with steady eyes.

“You had a chance to change things. If you hadn’t chosen Alexandr, it wouldn’t matter what you intended to do. We will not change our ways, now or in the future. People must understand that their actions have consequences. We cannot make exceptions, not even one.”

Like the old story of a leader who had to punish his friend for the good of everyone, Roman Dmitry made a difficult but necessary decision.

Roman Dmitry said,

“There are no exceptions. This is the law that the Dmitry Empire will follow.”

There was no happy ending.

Roman Dmitry cut off Ares’ head to show everyone that the rules were absolute.

Flash.

Thud.