Chapter 197 – Vice Demon King

“Honestly, don’t you think you guys are taking this too far?”

Hyunbin said to the man sitting across from him.

In the past, he was the Demon King; now, he was the CEO of the Hanul Group.

Im Jae-joon listened intently, his hands clasped over his knees.

“I know she’s in charge of information gathering, and I get that she has the traits of a strategist. But she should at least be able to protect herself.”

Hyunbin had stormed in and was now nagging him.

Im Jae-joon couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile as he listened.

“Hey, hey, don’t laugh. Does it make any sense for the great Demon King’s army to be taken down by a single villain? Think about it. What would have happened if her real body had been the one sliced up? That’s just poor employee management on your part. You should at least have some welfare policies in place.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, this isn’t something you just ‘keep in mind.’”

The reason Hyunbin had come to nag him was simple.

Olivier had been attacked by a villain.

If her main body had been attacked, she would have died. The only saving grace was that Olivier rarely moved around in her real body.

Originally, a succubus’s role was to seduce others and steal their magical energy through intercourse.

But Olivier, despite being a succubus for whom allure was a virtue, was incredibly timid.

In modern terms, she was a shut-in, a hikikomori.

Instead, she operated through her clones.

While her real self was plain and wore no makeup, her clones were all dolled up, boasting glamorous appearances.

In other words, there was no chance of Olivier being harmed outside.

Because she never went out at all.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“What? Hey, what concern? It’s just annoying if my personal radar gets taken out. Do you know what it feels like to drive a car without navigation? It feels like you’re the only person in the world. You become a lonely outcast.”

He’d been sticking close to Olivier lately while searching for achievements, and it seemed they had grown quite close.

No, perhaps the two of them were always meant to be this way.

-Perhaps we could join hands with the Hero?

Olivier, as seen through the memories of Demon King Dantalian.

Even though she was his subordinate, she had said something so absurd.

Olivier was the only one suitable for constantly monitoring their greatest enemy, the Hero. Any other observer would be instantly deleted by him.

Olivier, who had been watching the Hero, had advised the Demon King.

She said that he was trying to protect those around him in the same way the Demon King did.

That he had chosen the path of conquest in order to protect.

At the time, he thought it was ridiculous. He only realized Olivier had been right when they faced each other for the first and last time, at his end.

The Demon King who rose up to protect the oppressed demonkin.

The Hero who took up the sword himself for the sake of the innocent who were dying.

“You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m not worrying, I’m filing a complaint.”

He had also been planning to put safety measures in place for Olivier.

Though she had been caught off guard, there was no guarantee something like this wouldn’t happen again.

She was extremely competent.

In the future, enemies might target her specifically.

“I’ve already prepared a safety measure.”

“A safety measure?”

“Yes, I just happened to get in touch with him.”

“Hey, don’t use expressions like that just to sound mysterious. How am I supposed to know who ‘him’ is?”

Hyunbin’s point was valid.

“Dalteen Shadow.”

“Who’s that?”

“The Vice Demon King.”

“Ah, moon-pie.”

He was an enemy Hyunbin remembered.

A man who moved just like a shadow.

With his unique assassination skills and outstanding combat prowess, he could be called the strongest in the Demon King’s army, second only to the Demon King himself.

“That’s all well and good, but you guys are a bit strange.”

“In what way?”

“I mean, you, Olivier, Graham, and now this shadow guy.”

Im Jae-joon finally understood what Hyunbin was getting at.

“It feels like your Demon King’s army is sneakily gathering in the modern world, one by one.”

The current members of the Demon King’s army were not returnees or dimension-hoppers.

They had all died in the other world and been reborn in the modern one.

“Something’s fishy. Don’t you think this is a little too contrived to be a coincidence?”

“Who knows. Perhaps my reincarnation in the modern world had an effect. My subordinates and I were bound by an oath of master and servant, and we had wished for that bond to continue even after death.”

At Im Jae-joon’s words, Hyunbin looked utterly disgusted.

Of course, that wasn’t the truth.

“Oh, right. And that thing we talked about before.”

The Hero was once again about to walk the path of conquest.

A different one from the other world.

“Yes, I remember.”

The Director of the Disaster Management Agency was a two-faced man. He had already confirmed the man’s connection to the Union Hunters.

But the more he investigated him, the more he realized the man was a devil in disguise.

At first, they had joined hands because they each had something the other wanted. But there was no guarantee they would continue to want the same things after achieving their initial goals.

Eventually, the Director of the Disaster Management Agency would stand in their way.

No, he had already started making suspicious moves.

-I will give you another chance to fulfill the wish you could not achieve.

Im Jae-joon recalled the memory.

A figure made of such a holy golden light that it was difficult to even gaze upon.

In the complete ‘nothingness,’ he had made a promise with it.

-As you wish. And as I wish.

The woman enveloped in the holy golden light smiled benevolently.

The pact she proposed was too absurd to even be called a pact.

-Please form an alliance with him.

An alliance.

She seemed to have difficulty with the expression.

She probably used that word because she struggled to find the right term in human language.

-A friend, you mean.

At the Demon King’s words, the holy golden woman gave a gentle, soft, sun-like smile.

That was his contract with her.

He was a monster who had managed to break through that hell all by himself.

He never wanted to make a guy like this his enemy ever again.

“You just do what you have to do. I’ll take care of that side of things.”

“All the annoying work is yours. All the easy work is mine.”

“The money-making work is mine, the non-money-making work is yours.”

“You keep that up, and you’ll go bald in this world too.”

Im Jae-joon scoffed at Hyunbin’s remark.

He had no idea.

Just how much attention he was paying to his hair health in the modern world.

“Just check if this person is to your liking.”

Im Jae-joon handed Hyunbin a report that had come to him.

As Hyunbin flipped through it, page by page, the corners of his mouth could be seen turning up.

“Ah, this lady.”

He knew he would like her.

The years spent at war with the Hero were not for nothing.

“Hmm, I don’t like it.”

“…”

Im Jae-joon’s pupils trembled slightly.

* * *

Olivier, no, Assistant Manager Kim Min-ah of Hanul Guild, was standing in the guild lobby.

The guild employees wanted to strike up a conversation with her, but seeing the even colder aura she exuded today, they couldn’t muster the courage to approach.

Several people hesitated nearby, holding coffee cups, before just walking past.

“She looks even more expressionless today.”

“I told you, she’s like a doll.”

“Well, as long as she’s pretty, that’s all that matters.”

Kim Min-ah was so lost in her own world that the useless chatter of others didn’t even register.

She was thinking about the Hero.

There had been a huge commotion yesterday trying to catch the villain.

He had insisted on hunting the villain with a long-range attack, causing a chaotic mess.

Still, it was the first time.

The first time she had hugged the Hero.

He was a ruthless man without blood or tears, but he was still human, and he had a broad, warm back.

It felt good. A firm and reliable back.

-Don’t get any funny ideas, just go straight home.

-Don’t you go getting yourself killed.

His brusque but concerned, gentle tone seemed to echo in her ears.

“It’s a green light.”

Kim Min-ah let out a confident huff.

With an amazing woman like her by his side, even a man obsessed with muscles couldn’t remain emotionally unmoved.

God created man and woman, and they were naturally drawn to each other.

“Heh heh. For the sake of the new Demon King’s army, subjugating the Hero is a mark of loyalty to His Majesty…”

“The Hero? Did you say the Hero?”

“Ack!”

Kim Min-ah was startled to hear someone respond to her muttering.

A wave of shame washed over her.

She looked around to see who it was, but she couldn’t see anyone.

“Where are you looking?”

Olivier looked forward. Then she looked down.

There stood a small child with bright, curious eyes.

“Hey kid, were you talking to me?”

Kim Min-ah asked, just in case.

The kid, who looked like he had just started elementary school, bellowed at her words.

“Ahem, you there. How can you not recognize me, even in this form?”

“Uh…”

Kim Min-ah blinked.

Somehow, that condescending tone was etched in her memory.

“Your Highness?”

The abandoned bastard son of the Demonkin King, and the second-in-command of the Demon King’s army.

The image of the Vice Demon King, Dalteen Shadow, came to mind.

“Huhu, indeed. It has been a long time.”

Dalteen had boasted immense power. His old, menacing appearance didn’t match the angelic-looking child before her at all.

“You were reincarnated too, Your Highness?”

“Indeed. I was. I have returned to fulfill my old oath to my master.”

The little Dalteen spoke with an air of self-importance.

His old self might have been formidable, but his current, youthful appearance didn’t look helpful at all.

“It’s good to see you, though.”

Still, she was happy.

It was like meeting an old comrade again.

She remembered his final moments after the death of Demon King Dantalian, how he had fought to the death, vowing to avenge his master.

“But you were talking about the Hero.”

Dalteen began to speak cautiously.

Kim Min-ah found his reaction strange.

“The Hero is in this world too, you know.”

“…The Hero is here…?”

Dalteen asked again, as if he truly didn’t know.

Kim Min-ah asked back, bewildered.

“You didn’t know?”

“I did not.”

“Honestly, it feels weird to say this, but not knowing about the Hero in this world is like being a spy…”

It was true. The Hero, then and now, was a figure revered by all.

“My mother has restricted my TV viewing. I can only watch PBS. Huhu, it is a most educational channel, you see…?”

Hearing the greatest warrior of the Demon King’s army say that, Kim Min-ah felt completely disillusioned.

“In any case, the Hero is here. Excellent. I can finally settle the score that I couldn’t back then.”

Dalteen recalled their final battle.

The cowardly Hero who had hidden behind his army, afraid to face him in a direct confrontation.

“Your Highness. I should tell you beforehand, we are not enemies with the Hero right now, but…”

“Oh, what’s this? Why were you reincarnated as a little kid?”

The wild Hero suddenly appeared.

No, this was the Hanul Guild lobby, so it was only natural for him to show up.

Somehow, the Hero knew who he was and patted the Vice Demon King Dalteen on the head, as if he were cute.

“This is that moon-pie guy, right? Was it Dal-tteun? The one who shot shadow cannons. I heard about him from the Demon King earlier.”

“Uh, yes. That is the Vice Demon King, but…”

Olivier glanced nervously at Dalteen.

He was a man with quite a temper.

Even in a child’s body, he possessed the greatest martial power in the Demon King’s army, so she couldn’t help but be tense at the possibility of a fight breaking out here.

But it seemed Dalteen had learned a thing or two since reincarnating.

“Huhu, it has been a while, Hero.”

“Oh, yeah. Look at you, no muscles on your shoulders. You need to train more. Even for a kid, you should at least have some deltoids. Come to the training grounds later.”

Olivier flinched at the Hero’s words.

The Vice Demon King Dalteen still held a grudge against the Hero.

Furthermore, the source of his power wasn’t muscles.

The Hero might be suggesting a light spar as a greeting, but Dalteen might try to turn it into a battle to the death.

Fortunately, there was no clash between the two.

The Hero went into his training room, and Dalteen stood his ground, unmoving and aloof.

“Olivier.”

“Your Highness, I’m sorry, but in this modern world, we have an alliance with the Hero…”

“I have a favor to ask.”

Dalteen cut Kim Min-ah off.

“Buy me a Huggies diaper.”

“…?”

“The kind with wings.”

Dalteen’s pants were soaked.

“Huhu… It seems I was startled by our reunion.”

“Shut up and go get some salt from the company next door…”