Chapter 0: Prologue

A war between demons and humans that has lasted for centuries.

A fierce, bloody battle for dominance of the continent between the Demon King and the Hero.

However, reality was far from the eternal victories of the Hero found in fairy tales.

The demons, united under the existence of the Demon King, wielded overwhelming abilities individually.

In contrast, the humans, weak by comparison and prone to division once their common goal disappeared, were never truly a match from the beginning.

Yet, the reason humans managed to endure for so long lay in their astonishing resilience—the ability to continuously produce Heroes who could eventually surpass the Demon King, no matter how many times they were defeated.

Of course, even after reclaiming the continent from the demons with great effort and driving them back to the desolate Demon Realm, the humans would be pushed to the edges of the continent again within a generation of the Hero’s death.

Ultimately, the history of claiming the prosperous continent followed an eerie pattern of repetition.

A fleeting victory for humans.

The demons’ resurgence and counterattack.

The humans’ retreat to the barren northern lands.

After a long passage of time, a powerful Hero would emerge among the surviving humans, defeat the Demon King, and once again usher in a brief era for humanity.

A never-ending, inescapable cycle with no overwhelming victory for either side.

Over the long years, attempts to break this repeating structure were not entirely absent from both sides.

However, each time, as if by some cruel trick of fate, neither succeeded in eradicating the other completely.

And so, on a day when the demons held dominance over the continent once more, he appeared.

The 265th Hero according to temple records.

A superhuman who defeated dozens of previous Heroes and managed to wound the Demon King, hailed as the strongest in history.

He left behind mountains of demon corpses—countless to the point of being unmeasurable—and wrought destruction with such brutality that it was hard to believe he was a Hero.

He set the continent dominated by demons ablaze, carving the true meaning of hell into their memories.

A monster unlike any seen before.

The most heinous human in history—Hero Kaiser.

With overwhelming power rivaling that of the first Hero and a madness so terrifying that even the heartless demons recoiled, what truly struck fear into the demons was his fighting style.

Typically, Heroes would form parties or lead large armies to conserve strength as they marched toward the Demon King’s castle.

But from the very first battle with the Demon King’s forces, Kaiser always fought alone.

He not only humiliated the elite Demon King’s army but also bathed in their blood, mercilessly slaughtering every demon in sight.

His very presence was the embodiment of terror.

His infamy was such that the Demon King’s army, stationed to guard the road to the capital, fled at the mere thought of facing him.

Advancing relentlessly, Kaiser reached the capital where the Demon King’s castle stood and set half of the massive city ablaze.

There, he faced the Demon King—hailed as the strongest in history—in a final showdown.

The battle was fierce and unpredictable, with neither side easily gaining the upper hand.

The grand and magnificent Demon King’s castle was reduced to rubble, and the fight dragged on for days as they exchanged significant blows.

But eventually, the seemingly endless duel between the Demon King and the most horrific Hero came to an end.

The Demon King emerged victorious.

Hero Kaiser, defeated.

The conclusion was anticlimactic, even hollow.

However, the Demon King did not take the life of the defeated Hero.

Speculation about the reason ranged from “refusing to grant a peaceful death” to “intending to present him as a gift to the furious populace.”

But the true reason remained known only to the Demon King.

Meanwhile, what awaited the captured Hero—now infamous as the worst in history—was a trial that would be remembered as one of the century’s most significant events.