The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 96

The Hector Kingdom was on the brink, and Edwin Hector’s voice carried the weight of his people’s desperation.

“I won’t deny your words,” he began, his voice echoing through the communicator. “The famine in the Hector Kingdom is widely known. We’ve borrowed as much as we can. Attacking the Cairo Kingdom wasn’t a choice we wanted, but one we had to make, to escape this endless debt.”

Roman Dimitri listened, his face unreadable.

“Are you asking for understanding?” he asked, his voice sharp and cold.

“No,” Edwin Hector replied. “I’m explaining how desperate we are. The fate of the Hector Kingdom depends on this war. Our military provisions are low. In three months, as you said, we’ll run out of food. Yet, we cannot back down, even if it means foraging for wild greens and chewing on the corpses of our dead. We won’t retreat until we get what we need.”

It was a chilling declaration, a glimpse into a realm of desperation few could fathom.

Edwin Hector had left the castle, his heart heavy with the burden of his kingdom’s suffering.

The Hector Kingdom was truly in a state of misery. The once-golden land was now cracked from a severe drought. Young children, their ribs visible, sat listlessly, their eyes hollow with hunger. They reached out their emaciated hands to Edwin Hector, begging for food.

How had it come to this? Edwin Hector, a member of the royal family, began contemplating the attack on the Cairo Kingdom, his mind racing for solutions.

It was as Roman had anticipated. Edwin Hector’s desperation only confirmed his expectations.

His words painted a grim picture, pushing the Hector Kingdom closer to the edge.

But even without this war, the Hector Kingdom was already destined to fall.

“Now that you understand our mindset, tell the Cairo royal family this: if they don’t accept our proposal, we’ll fight to the end. Don’t think time is on your side. If we gain nothing from this land, we’ll spread the corpse poison we acquired from the Necromancer, turning this place into a land of death.”

Edwin Hector had reversed the situation, cornering them with a suicidal threat.

He had no intention of returning empty-handed.

“My name is Edwin Hector. As a prince, I’m ready to do anything to save my people. Roman Dimitri, what will you choose? Will you fall with the Hector Kingdom, or seek a future through compromise?”

In Cairo, Edwin Hector was seen as a villain, but he didn’t care.

Doing anything for his kingdom was his duty.

“The choice is Cairo’s,” he concluded.

This was the role Edwin Hector believed the royal family should play.

Edwin Hector, the Star of Hector, the man Roman had heard so much about during his investigation of the Hector Kingdom.

‘Unlike his incompetent father, he’s a remarkable figure, the mainstay of the Hector Kingdom. Involved in every major and minor affair since he was young, he’s solved countless problems. People call him the Star of Hector. Even amidst this great famine, countries like the Cronos Empire seek a political marriage with him. He’s a talent recognized everywhere. And now, he leads this war.’

It was all as expected.

Roman knew an ordinary person wouldn’t be in command of this war.

The systematic and bold decisions forced Roman to acknowledge his opponent’s ability.

The role of the royal family. The justification was clear.

Roman knew they wouldn’t back down, but Roman Dimitri was far from ordinary.

Thud!

“Kraaah!”

“[What are you doing!” Edwin Hector exclaimed.

Roman had stabbed Thompson’s thigh with his sword. The soundproofing ensured the soldiers wouldn’t hear the screams.

Roman suppressed Thompson’s writhing body, twisting the sword slowly, as if squeezing out every ounce of pain.

“What am I doing?” Roman asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “As you can hear, I’ve simply stabbed this man’s thigh with my sword.”

“[Kill him instead! Why are you torturing him, even if he’s an enemy soldier!” Edwin Hector pleaded.

“Why am I torturing him?” Roman mocked. “You’re being sentimental. I don’t care about the Hector Kingdom’s situation. You crossed the border and massacred innocent soldiers of the Cairo Kingdom. Yet, you cry like a coward because I stabbed you in the thigh. Don’t be mistaken. Just as you cherish your soldiers, my people are important to me. Why should I show mercy to the enemy? The war has begun, and you, who crossed the line first, can’t expect humanity from me.”

Edwin Hector had made a grave mistake.

Roman Dimitri wasn’t a man of common sense.

Regardless of the opponent’s choices, he did what he believed was right.

Crack.

“Ack, Kraaah!” Thompson screamed, struggling in agony, his hand reaching out pathetically, begging for death.

Roman didn’t know Thompson. He held no personal malice, but he tortured him without hesitation because he was on the opposite side of the battlefield.

It was a jungle out there, a natural state of affairs.

Whatever values they held, whatever justice they pursued, from the moment they recognized each other as enemies and revealed their hostility, they would do anything to defeat the opponent.

That was all there was to it.

Roman didn’t overthink it.

He had no intention of backing down from Edwin Hector’s threat, so he tortured Thompson, wanting him to hear it.

Blood splattered, soaking Roman’s face.

He revealed a ferocious look, grabbing Thompson’s collar.

“Just as you do your duty, I’ll do what I believe is right,” Roman snarled. “So, never get caught by me. I’ll kill every one of you in pain. I won’t spare a single one. Even if you raise a white flag and run, I’ll follow you to the end and stab you in the back. My name is Roman Dimitri. I’ll get my price, not for some grand cause, but simply because you touched my people.”

He spewed out his hostility.

The Hector Kingdom couldn’t have known that from the moment they crossed the border, they had provoked an enemy they shouldn’t have touched.

The Hector Kingdom had already made a desperate stand.

If they didn’t choose to surrender, Roman would infect them with fear through the communicator.

Thud.

“Grrrr.”

Roman stabbed Thompson’s neck with a knife. The sound of life fading away echoed through the communicator, leaving Edwin Hector speechless.

Thompson’s head dropped.

Roman put the communicator to his mouth again.

“If you choose a desperate resistance, we’ll meet soon,” he said.

With those words, the transmission ended.

The sound cut off suddenly – *thud*. Silence. The screen went dark, communication lost.

Inside, Edwin Hector felt like exploding with anger. But his face was cold and calm.

‘Roman Dmitry. He is more dangerous than I thought.’

Roman Dmitry had just threatened to die with them all. A suicidal move. An ordinary person would have been scared and backed down.

He killed Thomson, as if he wanted everyone to hear.

Even knowing Edwin Hector’s circumstances and mindset, he mutilated Thomson’s body and sent him a warning. He was a frighteningly dangerous man.

Roman Dmitry knew if he stopped even for a second, he would lose his advantage. So, he didn’t give them any time to relax.

He was the type of human you never want to meet as an enemy.

The only variable in the perfect plan was growing in a direction that Edwin Hector did not want to imagine.

“What are you thinking of doing?” Jackson asked.

From beginning to end, Jackson had heard the conversation. Especially when Thomson was being tortured, he couldn’t control his emotions, and his face looked like it was about to explode.

Edwin Hector said, “If we wait any longer, we will become weak and lose everything our nation stands for. That’s why we must act now. We have used all our money. We have gathered soldiers ready to die for Hector, Jackson. We cannot go back. The people at home now care more about what we can win than just staying alive.”

It was a harsh reality.

That was the burden Edwin Hector carried. He remembered the faces of the people in Hector, their hopes resting on his shoulders. He couldn’t fail them, even if it meant making terrible choices.

Even if countless people died, people could not help but think more about the fact that they were alive than feeling grateful. That’s how humans are.

Edwin Hector carried the burden. He took all the responsibility for the war and went to the battlefield himself, instead of the king of the country.

“We cannot return without gaining anything. Mobilize the troops right now and form a siege around the location where Roman Dmitry appeared. And if we capture that fellow, I will personally carve out Roman Dmitry’s flesh piece by piece to avenge Thomson, who died in agony,” he said, his voice hard as stone.

Jackson nodded, his face grim but determined. “I will follow your orders, Commander.” There was no hesitation in his voice, only a deep loyalty.

This war, even if the end is death, Jackson would not regret being Edwin Hector’s man in the slightest.

The operation changed. Hector’s Aura Swordsmen stepped forward.

“Follow me,” one of them said.

10 minutes ago, Edwin Hector had issued an order.

“We can no longer be swayed by the remnants of Cairo. From now on, we will eliminate the beings in the darkness, even if it means sacrificing ourselves. The Aura Swordsmen will lead the way and light the path, and the moment we are attacked, the soldiers in other areas will climb the mountain all at once. It is a fight to overwhelm with numbers. We will give up our flesh and take the enemy’s bones.”

He made a decision. Edwin Hector planned a trap as tight as a spider’s web – the ‘net of heaven and earth’.

The moment Roman Dmitry reveals himself with a single attack, the troops that boldly charge up will block all escape routes for Roman to flee. It is a strategy that inevitably involves sacrifice.

Edwin Hector hoped to create the best results with minimal damage, but he changed his mind after facing Roman’s hostility from across the communication device.

Edwin Hector thought about how to catch Roman Dmitry, this ‘monster’. He decided they had to be extreme. He would push his soldiers into a dangerous, desperate attack.

The Aura Swordsmen at the front glowed. A brilliant, white light burst from the magical artifacts they carried, casting long, dancing shadows in the forest. The air crackled with energy.

It was a magical artifact. It reacted to mana and created light, and the enemy who came into contact with this light was temporarily exposed to sparkling fragments of light. It was a trap to maximize the effect of the net of heaven and earth.

While activating the magic artifact, it was difficult for the Aura Swordsman to exert his full power, but someone had to risk their life to put a bell around Roman’s neck.

Hector’s swordsmen risked their lives. Even if they had to die as bait, a strong desire to lead this battle to victory was evident in their eyes.

“There’s no one in front! Follow me slowly!” The Aura Swordsman lit the way.

With him at the lead, Hector’s troops moved their feet in droves. Everyone had confidence on their faces.

Once they were convinced that they had solved the unknown fear, the slow search operation regained momentum.

That was premature certainty.

The moment they stepped into a space where they clearly thought no one was there, the space twisted and something reflecting the light flashed.

Snikt!

Blood splattered. The Aura Swordsman widened his eyes, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed as it was.

Beyond that, Cairo’s soldiers, who clearly hadn’t shown even a single strand of hair until just now, appeared like a mirage and rushed in all at once.

“Attack!”

“Attack the enemies!”

Then, a figure burst from the trees – Chris, the Captain of the Cairo Guard, his sword raised high. “Attack!” he roared, veins popping out on his neck.

When he first entered the mountain, Roman Dmitry had expected that the situation would turn out like this.