What should I do if the hero is resurrected in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia?

Chapter 140 The Demon King (4K)

The hall where the awarding ceremony was to be held was resplendent with gold and bustling with activity.

Bishop Patrice was patting King Rhian on the shoulder with a broad grin, his white beard trembling slightly with his loud laughter. He seemed to be telling a joke only the two of them understood. Even the elderly king, whose physique had somewhat failed him, broke into a rare, hearty smile.

On the edge of this bustling and dazzling scene, Chloe, the heroine of the sea god, frowned slightly. Her gaze passed over the banquet crowd and finally landed on the strange trio who were surrounded by the crowd, yet seemed to be separated by an invisible wall.

Milad, Loran, and Orpheus.

Mirad stood ramrod straight, wearing a polite smile, and spoke to those who approached him… barely behaving himself. Orpheus, on the other hand, stood in the shadows behind and to the side of Mirad, as indifferent as ever.

What truly aroused Chloe's suspicions was Loran.

This girl has been quietly standing next to Mirad for over ten minutes... without secretly glancing at the man beside her as she usually does.

Luo Geng was now simply looking down at a small patch of floor in front of her boots, as if it were engraved with some extremely attractive pattern. Her hands were behind her back, displaying a silence that was completely out of place with the festive atmosphere around her.

This is really... so unlike her.

"Are they alright...?"

Chloe's tone was filled with undisguised concern. Ryan, standing beside her, glanced quickly at the two of them and said with absolute certainty,
“They definitely had a fight, and the reason was Orpheus.”

"Relying on your beastly intuition?"

Chloe sighed but didn't refute. "However, I think it's true. Anyone with eyes can see what Mirad is thinking. Sigh... it's such a headache..."

"Isn't Luo Gen's intention quite obvious?"

Ryan awkwardly handed Chloe a bunch of wildflowers he'd picked from who-knows-where, and, meeting her helpless gaze that seemed to say, "What are you doing at a time like this?", he spread his hands, "...but it's really not appropriate for us to get involved in this kind of thing."

He looked at Luo Geng, who was surrounded by people but seemed more lonely than ever before, and his tone softened for once, "The emotional entanglements of the younger generation must ultimately be left to them to resolve themselves. You and I can't help much."

At that moment, the atmosphere inside the palace reached its peak.

Amidst the thunderous cheers, King Rhian slowly walked to the center of the platform and gestured for silence. The clamor subsided like a receding tide, and all eyes turned to the elderly monarch, awaiting the coronation of their hero.

At this moment that everyone is watching with bated breath...

Orpheus, who had been standing quietly in the shadows behind and to the side of Mirad, moved.

She took a step forward silently.

It was at this step that she pressed her entire body against him, her cold body pressed against Mirad's back without leaving a single gap.

Mirad's body stiffened abruptly.

He could clearly feel the girl's well-proportioned curves pressing tightly against him. Even through the fabric, he could feel the cool, delicate touch.

Then, a strand of pale golden hair brushed against his earlobe...like the softest goose down.

"Mirad...close your eyes."

Her voice was soft and close, carrying a slightly cool breath that brushed directly against his ear. The sound tickled his ear canal, causing a fine layer of goosebumps to rise uncontrollably across Mirad's body.

What is this going to do?
At times like these…

A flicker of confusion crossed his mind, but out of an almost instinctive trust in his companion, Mirad obediently and slowly closed his eyes.

Just as he was engulfed in darkness, the breath that seemed to be mixed with delicate snowflakes became even clearer.

Orpheus's lips were almost touching his earlobe.

That incredibly soft thing was right in front of me.

"...Devildom of the Crown· Ruin of Ashen Silence."

Hush

When meeting the king, one must not make a sound.

Everything falls silent.

The moment the words left his mouth, Mirad snapped his eyes open.

The magnificent palace, the clamor of voices, the king's blessing, the figure of Luo Ran... all of it turned into meaningless grayness in that instant.

Without the slightest hesitation, even faster than thinking, a chilling killing intent crashed down from behind like an invisible mountain. His honed fighting instincts took over his body in an instant, and his right hand reached for the sword hilt at his side with lightning speed!

However, his hand stopped a few centimeters from the hilt of the sword, unable to move any closer.

Mirad struggled to turn his eyes slightly downwards.

Then, he saw it.

It was neither an illusion nor a magical constraint.

A section of a real, enormous snake body with flawless, pure white scales had, at some point, bound him tightly from his chest to his legs like the most deadly yet gentle noose.

How pure and shimmering that snake's body was.

It was impervious to even the tiniest dirt, radiating a soft glow, yet it was indestructible.

It fit Mirad's body perfectly, and with each contraction of his muscles, he could clearly feel the chill emanating from beneath the scales—a chill powerful enough to extinguish any flame—and... a terrifying power that even he could not resist.

Just as Mirad was calling upon the silent earth elementals of the land, the enormous serpent tail that had been wrapped around him made a new move.

It wasn't a rough dragging, but rather an almost elegant... irresistible unfolding.

Mirad was gently lifted up and flipped over.

His original posture of having his back to her was forcibly turned around.

He was elevated.

With toes off the ground, the body floats in mid-air.

The snake's body, like a sturdy throne, lifted him to a height of four or five meters.

Then, he was forced to look it in the eye.

...That was no longer a princess who needed his care, but a fallen woman who had wandered from the vanquished kingdom of Petro.

At this moment, Orpheus… or rather, the Demon King who has revealed his true form, still retains the appearance of a girl in the human form of his upper body, but the snake body connected to his lower body is so large that it can fill the entire palace, winding and coiling among the petrified sculptures.

The ends of her pale gold hair merged into tiny snakes, which were now reaching out in his direction, their scarlet tongues extended.

Its face was still the exquisite yet cold look that Mirad knew, but its eyes had completely transformed into... snake-like vertical pupils, looking down at its former "companion" imprisoned at the tip of its tail.

Orpheus. Medusa.

Two completely opposite names overlapped in his mind like the cruelest joke, tearing each other apart until they were bloody and mangled.

"...Since when did it start?"

Mirad stared at it for a long time, and finally just sighed softly.

"From the moment that foolish dragon Floros was wounded by me and followed my scent to your kingdom." The emotionless voice did not come from her bloodless lips... but echoed in every corner of this dead zone.

The pure white snake's body swam around him and then tightened, its scales rubbing against his body, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

He remembered the figure by the campfire, complaining about how bad the roasted meat was, yet trying hard to swallow it bite by bite.

He remembered the "princess" who was not good with words, yet stubbornly followed behind him, clumsily learning how to survive in this world.

He remembered the girl who couldn't even dress herself, who opened her arms to him, exposing her chest, and was half asleep.

...He even recalled Baphomet's false dream, in which Ophie became his wife, who would act coquettishly towards him, worry about his wounds, and want a child.

But... that down-on-his-luck yet never bowing his head, proud and stubborn, the girl he once liked never existed in the first place.

How much of what he said in the past was true and how much was false... it doesn't matter anymore now.

"The reason for leaving me alone? To humiliate me? I never expected monsters to have that kind of interest."

Mirad looked down and saw Loran, who was filled with surprise and panic, and Chloe and Ryan, who were chatting and laughing... Their postures were frozen in the moment before they were fixed in place.

If we could have discovered it sooner and killed this deceptive monster!

His struggles only resulted in the snake's body tightening further. The snake's body forced its way into his chest cavity, squeezing out the last bit of air from his lungs, but then loosened its grip just before he was about to suffocate, allowing air to flow back into his lungs.

"You are very powerful, the strongest human I have ever seen... I like you very much."

The serpent's tail lifted him closer to the Demon King, allowing him to witness firsthand the flawless, mirror-like skin where even pores were gone... and those cold-blooded serpent eyes that seemed to be sizing up prey.

"what…"

Mirad let out a nearly self-deprecating chuckle. "A mere monster dares to speak of human love?"

"like?"

Its head tilted slightly, and the figure of the man in front of it was reflected in its almost pure white vertical pupils. "That kind of thing doesn't exist. To be honest, every time you try to make me understand what love is, trying to convey those so-called feelings in your heart, I feel like vomiting from the bottom of my heart. Weak humans use these ethereal feelings to connect with each other, but they can't even stop me."

"I like you. Simply because you are strong, and very qualified as a male."

The scales guarding the vital parts slowly shifted their position, allowing the alluring beauty of the flesh to bloom.

"Your offspring will enter my womb, where the weak and stillborn will serve as food for my race, until a powerful offspring is born to wipe out humanity. Until then, you will not die. I will let you live until you witness the extinction of humanity... and then I will devour you."

Its powerful tail tip easily tore Mirad's clothes to shreds. The snake's eyes lingered on them for a moment before the Demon King continued speaking.
"...Why isn't there any reaction? Don't you like me?"

The sound continued to come from all directions of the palace, grand and ethereal yet carrying a childlike innocence and confusion.

Mirad understood. In his logic, a powerful male, when faced with an equally powerful female who is willing to mate with him, should exhibit the most primal and irrepressible urges.

Milad did not answer.

He simply looked at it quietly, at that exquisite face that had once filled him with affection but was now nothing but an unfamiliar stranger.

He stared at those pure white vertical pupils, trying to find even the slightest trace of "Orpheus".

Nothing at all.

There was only emptiness and nothingness.

He felt the pain in his chest caused by the betrayal gradually cooling and solidifying.

Instead, a deeper and colder anger emerged.

"A laughable yet pathetic monster..."

Mirand laughed very lightly and very briefly.

That laughter was filled with exhaustion and mockery.

The Demon King looked at him. Clearly, his life and death, his dignity, everything he possessed, were like a fragile butterfly, firmly held in his palm. If he so desired, he could grind him into pulp at any time.

But why... why does he still have that contemptuous, disdainful attitude even now?
A sense of unease, which seemed to come from nowhere, instantly filled every inch of the emptiness in its heart.

Frustration. Annoyance. Confusion. Anxiety.

why?
Why do these inexplicable and illogical thoughts always pop up from the bottom of my heart when I'm alone with this human?

Its gaze, uncontrollably, drifted down to the frozen image of the gray-haired human female below.

It remembered the scent of that human female; the same fragrance lingered on his lips. The emotion that female displayed in her final moments before being petrified was... something complex that it could neither analyze nor comprehend.

However, its gaze returned to Mirad's face.

Just now, he was still troubled by that girl.

Human beings, such lowly and inferior creatures, are always bound by these meaningless emotions, becoming weak and foolish.

So much so that they failed to see through its disguise, which led to the destruction of the entire country.

This is something it should despise.

But why... when it saw Mirad's face, now vivid with anger, did the indescribable unease within it become even stronger?

The feeling is like watching hazy humans laugh, cry, and embrace through a layer of mist... while it can only stand alone in this eternal indolence and death, spewing out its incomprehensible restlessness.

Having become the Demon King, it should have been a perfect, noble, and superior being, possessing the power to destroy humanity and becoming the "True King" who reigns supreme over all life.

It deserves satisfaction and pleasure.

But nothing.

It just felt...it was too noisy.

Those frozen smiles, those silent bonds, and that damned, defiant light in the eyes of the man I had bound... it was all so noisy.

Why is it still not satisfied? What exactly is it lacking? What is it that it cannot see through and cannot possess, that should be ignored behind those anxieties, anxieties, and confusions, that those base and inferior humans enjoy with a clear conscience?
That must be a human weakness.

That is the reason it was able to successfully infiltrate.

It is a connection that allows the weak to call upon friends and companions to struggle for survival.

It knew those things were on the other side of the mist. It had been very, very close to them. It could feel their disgusting warmth and light, and hear their annoying and nauseating laughter. It was just one step away, just one step away, from knowing what those things really were!
It cannot.

It is the Demon King.

It just felt...very unwilling.

Why does the man in front of me, while simultaneously trying to make it sense the presence of the mist and the things beyond it, look at me with such contempt?

"……Shut up."

For the first time, a hint of wavering, which even it itself was unaware of, crept into the Demon King's voice.

(End of this chapter)