The Demon King Always Wants to Surrender
Chapter 1
Suixing Town was a frontier town of the Holy Empire, bordering the Demon Clan’s territory. The land was barren and sparsely populated. However, with the Empire’s declaration of war against the Demon Clan, this always-quiet small town also became lively——
“Did you hear? That Demon King has been resurrected! My nephew saw it with his own eyes at the front lines! He has a thousand eyes and a thousand hands. Just one look at you and he’ll make you explode on the spot!”
The tavern regular spoke with spittle flying, but found that the young man sitting across from him remained unmoved, only focused on burying his head and eating voraciously.
“…What, you don’t believe it?”
The young man who was called out subconsciously tugged at his gray hood, “Wow, amazing, amazing.”
“Listen to him talk nonsense!”
Another drinker raised his cup.
“Are you new here? Don’t listen to this old fool bragging. If his nephew was really at the scene, how did he survive? If you ask me, it must be false intelligence released by the Demon Clan to intimidate people!”
The young man seemed to have no opinions of his own, nodding in agreement.
“Mm, makes sense, makes sense.”
“Exactly! Battle reports can lie, but the battle line doesn’t. Under the leadership of Lord Hero, the battle line has been advancing forward all the way, charging into the Demon Clan’s homeland and beating them until they fled in panic! At this time a Demon King appears, who would believe it!”
Discussion arose and fell throughout the tavern. The serving girl carrying wine moved through the crowd, cleaning up the leftover food and cold dishes on the tables, her gaze occasionally glancing toward that gray-hooded young man. Just by his voice, he didn’t seem to be of age to come to a tavern.
But her attention was soon drawn to new customers, two Imperial officers. From the style of their armor and insignia, they might hold considerable positions.
“Two barrels of black beer, send them to the camp.”
The somewhat younger adjutant tossed a silver coin toward the bar.
‘At least he paid,’ the serving girl thought.
She quickly wiped her apron with her hands and also served beer to these two officers.
“No need.”
The older centurion’s face was stern.
“Clear water will do.”
Lead-gray eyes surveyed the tavern. Imperial soldiers had a naturally imposing aura, and wherever their gaze fell, people unconsciously fell silent. Finally, the centurion’s gaze settled on a freckled little boy.
The freckled child immediately clapped his heels together and performed a proper military salute,
“For the Empire’s glory!”
“Quite impressive.”
The adjutant smiled. Kids this age loved playing war games the most. The wooden sword he held in his hand was quite impressive. The adjutant patted the child’s head.
“Guess where we’ve fought to. If you guess correctly, I’ll allow you to polish my sword.”
“Do I even need to guess?”
The boy waved his wooden sword, excitedly jumping three feet high, fanatical light surging in his eyes.
“You must have fought all the way to the Demon King’s territory and killed all those damned demons!”
If this were thirty years ago, no one would have dared to imagine it. Fight to the Demon King’s territory? Not being attacked by those terrible demons would already be incredibly fortunate! But in these thirty years, two major events occurred: first, the previous Demon King disappeared and the seven Demon Clan Grand Dukes killed each other in chaos; later, under the Goddess’s blessing, the strongest Hero in human history, Noah, was born.
However, just as humanity’s counterattack seemed unstoppable, an unexpected dark cloud quietly loomed over them. Currently, the matter of the Demon King was still secret, but the centurion had already received orders to mobilize more forces for this war.
Before that——
“What kind of person is this child’s father?”
The centurion pointed at the freckled child.
The serving girl who had just returned from moving beer barrels was startled.
“Very, very sorry, that…”
“Isn’t he just a bastard child without a father!”
Someone stirred up trouble without concern for the consequences. In this kind of closed-off small town, what kind of treatment would a child without a father receive?
“Oh, not convinced? Go find his wild father then!”
He slapped the serving girl’s buttocks.
“Right, Marta?”
The freckled child’s eyes almost burst with fire. He waved his small wooden sword and charged forward, but was stopped by his mother.
“Shh—— go play outside, this has nothing to do with you.”
“But——”
“His father is a demon, right?”
The centurion said in a deep voice.
As soon as the words fell, everyone jumped up like startled birds, tables, chairs, and wine pots overturning everywhere.
Demon Clan! Those were man-eating demons!
Looking at how they bragged loudly at the drinking table, you would think they could kill their way to the Demon King’s territory and destroy the demon’s nest in the next second, but in reality they’d have headaches for half a day if a wild boar came to their fields.
Immediately the tavern emptied considerably, leaving only that gray-robed young man who continued eating with his head down. He was simply like someone who had been starving for a week, unwilling to give up this meal no matter what.
Marta immediately knelt down. She tremblingly held her child.
“Please, please forgive us, but you see, Tyr is very ordinary, he’s a child just like anyone else——”
“Why didn’t you say this earlier?”
The adjutant complained dissatisfiedly to his superior. He removed the glove that had just touched the boy, disgustedly throwing it into the nearby fireplace, then drew his sword.
“Madam, you know, don’t you? The ‘One Drop of Blood Principle’—as long as one drop of demon blood flows through you, you are undoubtedly a demon.”
All this happened too quickly. The boy who had been excitedly clamoring to kill all demons just a second ago had now become the target to be hunted. After a moment of stunned silence, he reacted and screamed:
“No, I’m human! When I grow up I want to join the army, for the Empire’s glory, I will definitely kill all the demons!”
“Then start with yourself.”
The adjutant said with a smile.
The sword’s gleam flickered, reflecting a mother’s despairing face.
She steeled her heart and desperately threw herself at the adjutant, shouting in despair:
“Run!”
This lunge came unexpectedly. The two collided with a nearby table, wine cups and dishes shattering all over the floor, also pressing down on the overly long hem of the gray-robed young man’s clothes. Silver short hair spilled out like moonlight, blood-red eyes bore a cold, imposing pressure, and an inhuman demonic aura hit them head-on.
The centurion’s voice pierced through the tavern with a changed tone.
“You are—— the Nameless One, Anomis!”
“Hm?”
The adjutant didn’t understand.
It really wasn’t the adjutant’s fault for being ignorant. To avoid causing panic, the military had blocked the information.
However, the centurion was very clear about all this. He had been on that battlefield, watching as their Lord Hero cornered a Demon Clan Grand Duke to a dead end—— Anomis appeared out of thin air at that moment. Before that, no one had even discovered his existence. He simply stood unquestionably before the Hero, effortlessly blocking the sacred magic that was fatal to the Demon Clan.
Such a terrifying existence was unprecedented and undoubtedly a huge blow to the Holy Empire.
Since they still couldn’t figure out the new Demon King’s origins, they gave him a code name: Anomis.
However, the centurion didn’t know, and no one knew——
The Great Demon King Anomis was a complete and utter human.
“Is that what you call me?”
The Demon King was stunned. This sounded like they were cursing at him.
“Whatever, call me anything you want. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
He walked forward a few steps, passing by the mother and child Marta.
“I came to——”
I came to surrender.
A bottle of holy water suddenly splashed over, wetting the Demon King’s silver-white short hair, dripping down his face. Good heavens, was this holy water made with spices? The intense fragrance made him sneeze loudly. He was about to rub his eyes, then remembered he was still wearing colored contacts, so he had to give up and could only blink a few times inconspicuously.
“Is this enough?”
Can this prove I’m human?
From the centurion’s perspective, it wasn’t like that at all. He only saw that holy water blessed by a bishop, containing sacred power that could kill mid-level demons, could only make the Demon King sneeze without pain! The other party even asked leisurely “Is this enough?”, completely not taking them seriously!
Now even the uninformed adjutant tensed up, immediately pointing his sword at Anomis. However, those cruel red eyes were so cold and emotionless (because he was nearsighted and couldn’t see clearly), showing no reaction even when facing a blade (because he had no idea how to react). This terrifying pressure soaked the backs of both men with cold sweat.
Anomis was about to explain when Marta suddenly threw herself forward and hugged his leg. She was like grasping at a lifeline, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
“Sir! Please! Take Tyr with you! For the sake of his father being your kinsman!”
Anomis: “Huh?”
Tyr shouted unwillingly: “What nonsense are you talking! I’d rather sacrifice myself for the Empire than collude with evil demons!”
Marta backhanded the boy with a slap, pressing him down to kowtow heavily on the floor, pleading in the most spirited voice a mother could muster:
“Take him away!”
Tyr was about to retort, but saw Marta’s tears falling on the floor, one drop, then another. His heart trembled. The Imperial army wanted to kill him, and next they would definitely mercilessly kill his mother too, just because she wanted to protect him. Unwillingness, humiliation, and despair surged into his eyes, blurring everything before him.
“If…” he whispered softly, suddenly making up his mind and lifting his head abruptly, “If you can take my mother with you, I’ll listen to you forever!”
Anomis: “Huh??”
By this time, the adjutant had been completely crushed by fear. He couldn’t stand it anymore and charged forward swinging his sword. Even if he was killed the next second, it was better than the current torment.
Anomis, whose true identity was a shut-in, really couldn’t react in time and stood there dumbly. If the adjutant could successfully strike down, he would obviously be able to kill this fraud in one blow. However, the world has no ‘ifs’. The centurion stepped forward and restrained the adjutant, both kneeling before Anomis.
Anomis: “Huh???”
“Superior!”
“Don’t sacrifice yourself pointlessly here! Don’t you still have people waiting for you at home!”
The centurion scolded harshly. Didn’t he see that the Demon King didn’t even bother to defend? Their attacks were simply like scratching an itch and would only anger the other party!
“Your battlefield is not here. There will be places that need you in the future!”
He raised his head, a sharp light bursting from his eyes.
“Demon King, I know I have no right to demand a trade. But if I self-destruct, while you can certainly escape unscathed, this demon child might not be so fortunate. How about a deal? You can take this child and his mother, but my subordinate must leave safely. If you find this insufficient, you can take my head.”
After a long while, Anomis wondered:
“What would I want your head for?”
“A head isn’t enough?!”
The centurion’s pupils shook.
“Enough! No, that’s not what I meant! Not enough! Not enough!”
Seeing that the centurion was about to commit suicide by slashing his throat and splattering blood on the spot, Anomis quickly soothed him.
“I want you to keep your head and deliver a message for me.”
“…A message?”
The Demon King wants to surrender! Seeking protection! Anomis looked at the crying mother and child, forcibly swallowing down the matter of surrender, and said melancholically and sadly.
“I have no intention of war. The choice is in your hands.”
“That’s it?”
“Do you really want to leave your head behind?”
“How rude of me!”
When the centurion and his adjutant ran away tumbling and crawling, they couldn’t help thinking that this Demon King seemed different from the rumors. Even though he possessed incomparable power, he wasn’t bloodthirsty, and even… felt sad about casualties on both sides? What a profound yet benevolent Demon King!
From this day on, humanity’s understanding of His Majesty the Demon King ran wildly down the wrong path, never to return.
And in the small tavern, the mother and child who had survived the disaster looked at each other.
Anomis was preparing to find another place to surrender when the woman suddenly gripped him tightly.
“Your Majesty, there’s an Imperial military camp nearby!”
“Really? That’s wonderful…”
“I know a secret path leading to the Demon Clan territory, come quickly!”
“Wait—— no—— let go of me——!”
