Chapter 213: Demon King Sitri

I am Sitri.

A demon under the direct control of the Evil God.

Twelfth in our hierarchy.

I am almost as powerful as Guzion, the 11th-ranked demon who infiltrated the Holy City of Sanctum.

Though my ranking is 12th, I am the most powerful among the existing demons. That’s because I was supposed to be the next demon king.

I received special protection from Evil God-sama because of this, making me stronger than Guzion and, of course, stronger than the other demons beneath him.

My power already rivals that of previous demon kings, but I have yet to take my place in the human world.

Why? Because the Evil God stopped me.

The stock of negative energy under the Evil God’s control was still sufficient, so there was no need to hastily make me the demon king.

So, I waited.

It has been a century since Demon King Velt was defeated by the heroes.

Now, it was supposed to be my turn.

It was finally my debut as the demon king!

Or so I thought—until I was stopped again.

Apparently, Evil God-sama was troubled by the existence of the heroes.

Demon King Velt had been ranked 13th among the demons. He might have been one rank lower than me, but there wasn’t much difference in our power.

Velt, too, had received the Evil God’s protection, yet the heroes, summoned by the Creator God, slaughtered him in an instant.

The heroes themselves were walking cheats.

They already possessed the power to annihilate high-ranking monsters with ease, and their leveling speed was absurd.

Whenever a demon king reigned in this world, a hero would inevitably appear within a few years—ten at the longest.

The moment the hero arrived, the demon king’s fate was sealed.

So, what could be done?

The demon king would desperately unleash terror and dread upon the world, gathering as much negative energy as possible.

Everything was for Evil God-sama.

The demon king would perish at the hero’s hands, but the negative energy collected before that would nourish the Evil God and prepare the way for the next demon king.

Evil God-sama didn’t intend for us demons to be defeated. He schemed and trained us in counter-strategies against the heroes.

But the heroes were still cheats.

No matter what plan he devised, their overwhelming stats and nonsensical skills would break through it all.

Each of us had the potential to become the next demon king, and we understood our fate. We had given up on defeating the heroes.

We knew we couldn’t win.

But for the sake of Evil God-sama, who went to great lengths for us, we did our best to spread fear and despair throughout the human world.

Demon King Velt tried using sheer numbers.

He created an army of monsters and unleashed them worldwide. Individually weak, but their numbers were overwhelming.

I thought it was a smart move.

No matter how strong a hero was, they couldn’t possibly stop simultaneous stampedes across the entire world.

Yet Velt was still defeated by the hero.

To scatter monsters globally, he couldn’t surround himself with powerful subordinates, and I believe that played a significant role in his downfall.

He had been prepared for this.

The real issue, however, was that the hero—no, *that* hero—nearly annihilated all the monsters Velt had sent across the world.

Two heroes arrived during Velt’s reign.

Before then, only one hero had ever been summoned at a time.

The presence of the holy knight and saintess who accompanied the hero was bothersome enough, but this was the first time two heroes appeared.

The strength of the true hero was overwhelming.

He leveled up at a frightening speed. Without a doubt, he was as powerful as any hero could be.

But the one who crushed Velt’s plan was called the Guardian Hero.

This Guardian Hero’s leveling was slower than the true hero’s, so I initially thought he was merely a substitute.

But this Guardian Hero flew across the world, stopping the stampedes one by one.

That Half-Elf woman, Tina Harrivel, with the Guardian Hero, had also been a nuisance.

Even Tina, supposedly descended from the hero, possessed extraordinary power—power that should have been impossible.

As a result, even though enough mana had been accumulated to raise the next demon king—in other words, me—Evil God-sama found himself without any leeway.

That’s when Evil God-sama conceived a new plan: reincarnate the hero.

At first, I didn’t understand, but when Evil God-sama explained, it became clear.

Long before I would reign as demon king, he would reincarnate a hero from another world but curse his soul beforehand.

It was a brilliant idea.

With a cursed soul, no matter the strength of the reincarnated hero, he would never be able to grow stronger.

And this wasn’t just any curse—it was the curse of Evil God-sama, the most powerful incarnation of malice in this world.

It would be an extraordinary curse.

That reincarnated hero must have died by now.

He was cursed by Evil God-sama, after all.

Evil God-sama used a vast amount of mana to summon the hero, so he is resting now.

Once he awakens, he will install me as the demon king, and I will reign over this world. I plan to spread fear and despair far and wide.

It will take time for a new hero to appear.

Evil God-sama said, “I’ve consumed a large amount of energy from the Divine Realm.”

That means I’ll probably have a hundred years or so to enjoy my supremacy!

The thought excited me.

I could already picture the twisted expression of the Creator God, powerless to summon another hero while I trample over his beloved world.

I will finally become Evil God-sama’s strength.

Or so I thought...

Until *that* Bakemono appeared before me.