The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 519

Yeongdeungpo was packed. A huge crowd filled the square. President Kim Jeong-tae walked onto the stage. Loud cheers and clapping erupted from the people looking up at him.

“Hello, I am President Kim Jeong-tae,” he said. The cheering slowly quieted down as people waited to hear his words. He was the President of South Korea.

In these troubled times, people outside of Seoul saw him as a bad person. But in Seoul, it was different. Life in Seoul had been safe because of him. Every time disaster struck, he made sure Seoul was protected. So, for the people of Seoul, Kim Jeong-tae was like a hero. He had called them here today. Not everyone in Seoul liked him, but the people who came to hear him speak did.

“I am here today because of a very bad man named Roman Dmitry. He has gathered local groups and started a fight against the government. Starting a war when we are facing disasters is wrong, and against the rules everyone agrees on. They are using the chaos in South Korea to push our country to the edge of ruin. Does that make any sense to you?”

“Now is the time we should all be working together to fight the monsters, just to survive! But Roman Dmitry is doing something that completely ignores the safety of South Korea. This shows what kind of person he really is. Anyone who truly cares about our country would never start a rebellion now.”

Kim Jeong-tae left out anything that made him look bad. He was good at twisting the truth. He made his enemies seem small and hid how much the provinces were suffering. Because people in Seoul didn’t see the real situation, they only saw the good things Kim Jeong-tae had done for them.

“And that’s not all!” Kim Jeong-tae continued. “Roman Dmitry has killed many people who support our government, in places like Hanam and Guri. He is a killer! He is a monster trying to destroy South Korea! People of Seoul, Roman Dmitry cut off the head of the mayor of Hanam and put it on display, just because the mayor disagreed with him. Even in these crazy times, such cruelty shows he is a monster pretending to be human. Our intelligence agency looked into Roman Dmitry, but they couldn’t find out where he came from. Someone whose background is unknown is trying to take over South Korea. There are two possibilities. Either another country is trying to hurt us, or this is just a monster of a man, killing people for no reason.”

He focused on the most shocking parts. He didn’t mention why Roman Dmitry started fighting. He didn’t say that the government had tried to hire Roman Dmitry, but he refused. He also didn’t talk about how government people like Jo Dal-soo had tried to kill Roman Dmitry. He never mentioned anything that might make Roman Dmitry’s actions seem reasonable. He couldn’t. He needed the support of the people in Seoul. His power depended on them. Knowing this, Kim Jeong-tae was now trying to confuse the people of Seoul, now that the rebels were rising up.

“I will protect South Korea! I will protect Seoul!” he declared. “So, trust me and give me your strength! Don’t listen to the rebels! Support the right thing that I, Kim Jeong-tae, am doing! As always, I will protect Seoul!”

“Kim Jeong-tae! Kim Jeong-tae!” the crowd shouted. “Kim Jeong-tae! Kim Jeong-tae!” They chanted his name over and over. Some of them were people paid to start the cheering. As these people shouted, other citizens joined in, as if they were under a spell.

“Kim Jeong-tae! Kim Jeong-tae!” “Kim Jeong-tae! Kim Jeong-tae!” “President! We believe in you!” “Defeat the rebels!” The excitement spread quickly through the crowd. Kim Jeong-tae smiled brightly as he watched them chant his name.

The speech was over. As Kim Jeong-tae walked off the stage, his bright smile disappeared. His face became cold and hard.

“Those fools,” he muttered to himself. “They don’t even realize who is keeping them safe, and yet they still complain.”

This speech was planned carefully. The rebels were helping people even while fighting, and those people were telling Seoul citizens about it. This was a problem for Kim Jeong-tae. People in Seoul were getting confused. They wanted to believe Kim Jeong-tae, but they were also hearing that the rebels were helping people just like them. The truth about what was happening in the provinces was spreading fast. Because people were starting to talk about why the local areas had to rebel, Kim Jeong-tae quickly arrested them for being traitors. Then, he made this speech. He wanted to confuse them and make them forget the truth. He wanted them to trust him completely. Kim Jeong-tae was controlling what people thought. Now, if he could defeat the rebels, the truth would never come out.

“Where is Roman Dmitry now?” Kim Jeong-tae asked.

“He destroyed Gwangmyeong recently. It looks like they will attack Seoul right after they regroup,” someone replied.

“Hmph,” Kim Jeong-tae scoffed. “Even though I knew the rebels would attack, they haven’t even lasted a week. It just proves there are no capable people in South Korea anymore. What are the chances Roman Dmitry would attack Yeongdeungpo right now?”

“Zero chance,” another person answered confidently. “Because the White Wizard joined the rebels, our defenses in Yeongdeungpo were revealed. But we expected that. We’ve set up layers of magic to block teleportation. Even the White Wizard can’t teleport through it. If Roman Dmitry shows up in Yeongdeungpo, he’ll be surrounded by our troops.”

“Roman Dmitry,” Kim Jeong-tae said with a smirk. “What a fool. If he wanted to start a rebellion, he should have been smarter about it.”

Kim Jeong-tae thought Roman Dmitry had made a foolish mistake. If he wanted to change the government, he needed to show people he had a good reason to rebel. He needed the people to support him. But Roman Dmitry had started a war, breaking international rules, and he had been cruel, killing people from his own country. This made it easy to make Roman Dmitry look bad. People believe what they see right in front of them. Even if Kim Jeong-tae’s neglect had caused many deaths, people would blame Roman Dmitry for the killings they could see.

“He’s stupid,” Kim Jeong-tae thought. If Roman Dmitry had tried to win over the people legally, even if it took longer, Kim Jeong-tae would have been in trouble. But because Roman Dmitry acted so quickly and violently, Kim Jeong-tae had been able to get help from China.

“No matter how strong Roman Dmitry is,” Kim Jeong-tae said, “he’s clearly new to politics. He doesn’t understand how things really work. Someone this dumb can’t have anyone powerful backing him. Tell everyone to strengthen defenses and hold their positions. Chinese soldiers are coming to help us crush the rebels. We used the cities around Seoul to slow them down, but the moment they step into Seoul, we will destroy them.”

“Understood,” came the reply. Kim Jeong-tae changed his face again. Ready to meet the public on his way to his car, he put on his kind and strong president mask again.

Just then, a bodyguard ran in, looking panicked.

“P, President! Roman Dmitry is here! In Yeongdeungpo Square!”

“What?!” Kim Jeong-tae was stunned. Something was terribly wrong. This was unbelievable.

It was so sudden, it was almost unbelievable. The air shimmered and twisted, and then Roman Dmitry was there, landing silently on the ground.

“…What’s happening?” someone whispered.

“It’s Roman Dmitry!” someone else yelled. “The rebel leader is here!” At first, the soldiers just stared, not believing their eyes. Then, they started shouting and scrambling to surround Roman Dmitry. There weren’t just hundreds or thousands of soldiers. There were tens of thousands, including the strongest hunters from Seoul. Tap tap tap – the sound of boots on the ground filled the air. The situation was incredibly tense. Roman Dmitry looked around calmly at them all, then shouted loudly so everyone, even the people far away, could hear.

“I am here to judge Kim Jeong-tae and his government! They have ruined South Korea! They have put the safety of a few rich and powerful people above the rest of the country. They ignored the problems of local areas. They cut off help to local governments that didn’t obey them, and even threatened to kill them. I have faced their threats myself. Their message is clear: obey the government, or be destroyed by the government. I knew then that this country needed to be reborn, starting with the choices they forced upon us.”

“Lies!” “We don’t believe you!” the soldiers yelled back. One soldier shouted angrily at Roman Dmitry, “You killed all the soldiers in Hanam! How can we believe anything a murderer like you says?”

It was the effect of the speech.

People understood why Roman Dmitry started fighting, but they still argued about other things.

Roman Dmitry responded coldly.

“Why is killing the enemy a problem?”

“Enemy! Hanan is a citizen just like us….”

“That’s utter nonsense. I knew I couldn’t go along with the central government, and I gave the local forces, including Hanan, a choice: whether to follow me or the central government. I defined those who chose the central government, knowing that this country was wrong, as enemies. The fact that they are citizens of this country, and that each soldier may have special circumstances, is completely irrelevant. Even if they were forced onto the battlefield, I cannot allow the possibility of endangering my people with petty mercy towards them. Just in case. I want to ensure the complete annihilation of the enemies, so that no more blood is shed. Because the war of those who talk about peace will never end.”

Kim Jung-tae’s speech.

It was meaningless.

Roman Dmitry had no intention of pleasing everyone.

Roman Dmitry only cared about his own people. So, it didn’t matter to him that his reputation was getting worse.

“They shouldn’t have stood against me from the beginning. I didn’t harm a single citizen while starting this rebellion. You are free to believe whatever you want, but you will pay the price for what you believe in.”

He drew his sword.

Enemies filled his vision.

It seemed impossible to fight so many soldiers. But Roman Dmitry didn’t hesitate. He moved forward.

“From now on, those who stand in my way will all be considered enemies.”

Immediately after hearing the news of the rebellion, the capital defense forces conducted countless drills, practicing how to deal with the opponent by overwhelming them with numbers when the rebels appeared in the heart of Yeongdeungpo.

It was just like the training. Soldiers charged from all directions, confident in their numbers.

Swords flashed, and heads flew into the air. Blood sprayed everywhere as the first soldiers fell. Before the others could even scream, chaos exploded around them.

Screams echoed from all sides. Roman Dmitry was too fast, too strong. No one could block his attacks.

Like a breakwater, the fiercely surging waves were shattered at once. They were overwhelming, but there was only one opponent.

The soldiers of the capital did not doubt their victory, and from then on, they attacked without distinguishing between allies and enemies.

“Fire Cannon.”

“Barrage.”

Anti-personnel attack.

Allies around them might be swept away, but they were rather used as bait to hold Roman Dmitry. This was also part of the training. Kim Jung-tae ordered them not to be picky about methods in the process of dealing with the enemies, and so the fiercely burning flames and hundreds of arrows struck the allies as they were.

“Aargh!”

“Kraaah!”

It was a gruesome sight. They attacked Roman Dmitry at the cost of their allies’ lives, but their attacks did not achieve significant results.

He came out through the flames.

Because of the Flame God Technique, the flames gave Roman Dmitry a powerful force. Even the arrows using skills lost their power before touching his skin.

It was overwhelming magic. Roman Dmitry knocked down all the ranged attacks, then rushed forward and dug into the space teeming with enemies.

He cut off a head. The opponent was an A-grade hunter. He blocked Roman Dmitry with plausible skills, but the way he died was not much different from an ordinary soldier.

The same was true for the hunter whose arm was blown away. A B-grade hunter attempted a surprise attack, but Roman Dmitry narrowly deflected the attack and cut off his forearm.

Roman Dmitry also agrees that this fight is eating away at South Korea, but even so, it was a necessary process.

Kim Jung-tae had been in charge of South Korea for 20 years. He had become very powerful, like a strong castle that was hard to attack. The current South Korea is flawed from the root.

Rather than persuading those who believe Kim Jung-tae is right, it was necessary to cut out the rotten roots they believed in.

Chronos. Valhalla. In his previous life, they were the same. Because of Aleksandr, their insides were rotting to the point of no return.

Dialogue was not allowed.

From the beginning, they walked a path that was contrary to their ambitions, so they did not admit their mistakes until the moment of their destruction and insisted on their claims until the end. After a long war, the continent regained peace. Roman Dmitry’s method clearly called for a lot of blood, but he didn’t think it was wrong.

Talking is for people who are reasonable. But Kim Jung-tae and his people have hurt too many people for their own gain. They don’t deserve to be talked to. They deserve to be punished.

Kim Jung-tae was like that. He shed a lot of blood. He accumulated karma for 20 years.

While checking the information of the central government, Roman Dmitry excluded their existence from the beginning.

Incheon Government. Busan Government. Ulsan Government, etc. He accepted those who struggled to survive in the era of great chaos, but he did not accept the central government, which had the most powerful power in South Korea. That was the difference.

If the central government had been even a little aware of its position and played a role befitting it, Roman Dmitry might have looked back on his relationship with them.

Edwin Hector, who attacked Cairo for Hector, was accepted as a subordinate, but Kim Jung-tae, who sacrificed his own people for his own safety, was not accepted for that reason.

He killed all the enemies he encountered.

Ignorance is also their sin. Turning a blind eye to reality is also their sin.

If this remains as his karma, Roman Dmitry will gladly bear that karma for the sake of those who follow him. You can call him selfish. He didn’t bother to deny the words that criticized him as cruel.

Whether living as Chunma Baek Jung-hyuk or living as Roman Dmitry the Emperor, what he seeks is not general justice, but the peace of those who follow him.

Kim Jung-tae’s South Korea was not qualified to enter his fence.

People were shocked by his overwhelming force.

At first, they doubted Roman Dmitry’s intentions. As the saying goes, ‘make a feint to the east and attack in the west,’ they believed that he was attracting attention here and definitely had another plan.

But now, seeing him cut down a thousand soldiers in an instant, they finally realized Roman Dmitry’s sincerity.

“…Could it be.”

It was certain. Roman Dmitry was planning to slaughter all these enemies alone.