Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 118
EP.118 Duke Betica Part 2
Shin Si-ah, lightly smiling as she gazed at the stack of documents containing the plans ahead, couldn’t help but reflect on her role. When she had been the Demon King, right until her death, she had always been the one mentioned in documents, never the one handling them. Now, however, she had become the one organizing the plans.
‘This feels more right to me.’
While some believed that positions shaped people, Shin Si-ah knew that whether someone suited a role was a completely different matter.
It felt far more natural to her to take on a supportive role, helping others from behind the scenes, rather than pretending to be the hero or the Demon King.
‘Someone might call me a fool for it, but… what can I do? This is what suits me.’
She chuckled at her own thoughts, jotting down notes and pondering what would best help Jeong-hyeon. That’s when Pamur, who had been standing nearby, spoke up in a serious tone.
“Demon King, is the reason for sending the Hero to Duke Betica to kill him?”
Shin Si-ah stared at Pamur in confusion. He met her gaze, raising an eyebrow, as if questioning her.
“Duke Betica is one of the strongest beings of the old era… No matter how strong the Hero is, I believe he won’t be able to defeat her.”
Pamur’s words had some truth. Duke Betica was a force to be reckoned with, having an entirely different level of strength compared to anyone else.
Under normal circumstances, sending Jeong-hyeon to face her would have been unthinkable.
‘But Jeong-hyeon’s divine power is limitless, and even I, when I was a Hero, don’t understand how strong he really is.’
The more she thought about it, the more it worried her, but she knew Jeong-hyeon wasn’t someone who could be stopped once he made up his mind.
If things went wrong, she and the others could always rescue him. She trusted they would be strong enough to pull him out of danger if necessary.
‘For now, I’ll trust him. As the Demon King, giving orders should sort things out.’
Shin Si-ah returned to the documents, continuing to write, though her mind was still on Jeong-hyeon.
Reltra, standing nearby, let out a snide chuckle and addressed Pamur.
“Talking a lot, considering you were the one who was beaten and forced to submit.”
Pamur, visibly irritated by the insult, stood up angrily but quickly sat back down when Shin Si-ah gave him a subtle, warning look.
He opened his mouth to offer some kind of excuse, but clearly, the shame of his defeat was too much to bear, and he closed his mouth instead.
‘His pride is strong, but seeing him like this… Jeong-hyeon must be really strong.’
Pamur, seething with frustration, spoke again, his voice tinged with bitterness.
“However, I’m not sure if Jeong-hyeon is stronger than Duke Betica. She possesses a completely different kind of power. I am certain the Hero will lose to her.”
Normally, Shin Si-ah wouldn’t have engaged in such an argument, but hearing Pamur directly dismiss Jeong-hyeon, she couldn’t help herself.
“No? Jeong-hyeon is stronger,” she answered defiantly, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks immediately after speaking.
‘What did I just say?’
Trying to cool her flushed face, she felt Reltra watching her with an amused look.
“So, Demon King, what is it about the Hero that you like so much?”
“Wha—? Why are we talking about this all of a sudden?”
“Because this is the real important question.”
Before she could stop herself, Shin Si-ah almost answered, but quickly shook her head and avoided the question.
“It’s a secret.”
“Then just a hint…”
Shin Si-ah chuckled at the thought of hints. Hearing the word immediately caused a smile to escape her lips. Looking around, it was hard to believe this was the Demon Realm, and that they were the Demon King and Duke.
‘How strange,’ she thought, feeling this place was oddly peaceful compared to when she had been the Hero. She quickly returned to her usual response, saying it was a secret, and steered the conversation away.
“This isn’t so bad,” she reflected as the sharp, alert senses she once had as the Demon King seemed to have faded. Pushing Reltra away, who was trying to get closer again, she smiled calmly.
***
Jeong-hyeon dragged his large sword across the floor, watching the girl approach him with an amused smile. Even from a distance, the overwhelming magical power she exuded was unmistakable. While he couldn’t fully gauge her strength until they clashed, it was clear from her presence alone that she was incredibly strong.
“This will be fun,” he thought, saliva unconsciously pooling in his mouth as he activated his “Domain Declaration.”
The air around him turned bright white with divine power, painting everything around them. Betica took a step back, and then with her massive sword, she cleaved through the divine power, a grin spreading across her face.
“You’re doing something interesting!” she said.
Normally, using the Domain Declaration would crush or immobilize any opponent. But now, to his surprise, Jeong-hyeon saw the proclamation disappear for the first time.
As Betica swiftly closed the distance between them, Jeong-hyeon drew his sword and grinned.
“Yeah, it’s damn fun!”
“Seems like we can communicate after all!”
Their conversation felt almost absurd, as if two berserk orcs were discussing combat tactics, but in truth, they were testing each other’s strength, clashing their weapons together. Jeong-hyeon, feeling the thrill of battle once again, grinned wide as he threw a punch.
Thud!
He had struck with genuine force, but Betica blocked the blow with surprising skill.
She swung her massive sword downward with tremendous force, causing the ground to tremble and the structure of her castle to shake. Jeong-hyeon recognized her tactic—she was likely trying to use the environment to her advantage, knowing that direct confrontation would drain her magical energy.
Amused, Jeong-hyeon unleashed even more divine power.
“Now this is a real opponent!”
The ones he’d fought before had only been prey waiting to be hunted, but Betica was different.
He concentrated his divine power, intensifying it and spreading it across the surroundings.
‘Now, let’s add the power of Rosario.’
The divine power ignited and spread into a fiery blaze, consuming everything in its path. Betica, undeterred, used her demonic magic to force the flames away. Raising her sword high, she declared,
“How dare you!”
With a swing of her blade, she unleashed a barrage of magic-infused energy toward him, charging forward again with relentless power.
Her approach was direct and ferocious. Jeong-hyeon recognized this as a sign of her experience and the path she had walked. He quickly raised his sword to block.
Clang!
The clash of their weapons didn’t sound as heavy as one might expect from two great powers. It was a lighter metallic sound. Still, Jeong-hyeon knew his counterattack had landed. He quickly followed through, aiming his sword at the slight stagger in Betica’s form.
Normally, such an exchange would have ended here, but Betica evaded his thrust and counterattacked with remarkable precision.
‘Heh, definitely… crazy.’ Jeong-hyeon thought as he effortlessly dodged Betica’s attacks, feeling confident that he could take on the entire human realm by himself at this point.
‘At this level, summoning forces would only lead to pointless sacrifices.’
It was better to showcase his personal strength. He sent his sword energy in all directions before concentrating his divine power into one spot.
‘This is my land, my castle, after all.’
Determined to crush everything in his path, he focused the energy into a single point and launched explosive bombs at Betica and the surrounding area, causing them to detonate.
“Have you lost your mind?” Betica laughed, commenting on his madness as she watched the explosions.
Amused by her reaction, Jeong-hyeon decided to go even further, pouring divine power into his entire body. With greater speed than before, he charged at Betica, determined to put more pressure on her.
“… Hah!”
Betica flinched, stepping back before gathering all of her demonic power into one place. She opened a massive gate, larger than any structure they had seen before, and shouted,
“Then how about this!”
From the gate poured thousands—no, tens of thousands—of arms, all coming toward him with the intent to capture him.
Jeong-hyeon was reminded of the “Trial Room” he had faced long ago and prepared for a new round of parrying.
‘I remember how to handle this.’
He swiftly struck down the oncoming hands, sending them back toward Betica. She smiled at the sight, then charged at him with renewed vigor.
“Not bad!” she exclaimed, as the magic-infused arms bombarded them both.
Jeong-hyeon, grinning again, accepted the challenge, welcoming the powerful demonic energy.
***
The battle went on for what felt like an eternity, though Jeong-hyeon guessed it had lasted at least five days, considering how many times the sun had risen and set.
‘Well, whatever, it was incredibly satisfying,’ he thought, lying down with a satisfied smile on his face, as if he’d just enjoyed a hearty meal.
Betica, who had been lying on his stomach, stared at the sky with a confused expression before finally asking,
“By the way, who are you?”
‘Now? Asking this now?’ Jeong-hyeon thought, but he still gave a nonchalant reply.
“I’m a hero.”
“A hero, huh? The hero of this generation is quite strong… I really like that.”
Normally, being called a hero would lead to confusion or surprise, but Betica accepted it with complete composure.
Jeong-hyeon chuckled at her relaxed attitude and replied,
“So, are we going to fight more?”
“I’d love to, but I’ve run out of strength and magic, so it’s not possible,” Betica responded.
“Really? That’s too bad,” Jeong-hyeon mused.
“And besides, the outcome was clear from the start. You won decisively, so there’s no reason to keep fighting.”
In the beginning, both Jeong-hyeon and Betica fought evenly, matching each other’s power. However, as time passed, Betica’s magic began to wane, her supply of demonic energy running low. Eventually, she could no longer unleash her full magic and had to rely solely on her physical strength.
‘Truthfully, I could have ended this easily by suppressing her with divine power earlier.’ Jeong-hyeon thought, but the desire to fight more kept him from doing so.
‘That’s why the fight dragged on.’ He found himself enjoying the battle more than he had expected. It had been a long time since he’d fought like this, and he felt a strange satisfaction.
Covered in sweat, Betica climbed onto his stomach, looking at him with shining eyes as she spoke.
“You, hero… I like you,” she said with a mischievous smile.
Her posture was strange. Jeong-hyeon tried to sit up, feeling her thighs pressing into his lower abdomen. Before he could move, Betica gently pressed down on his shoulders, whispering softly into his ear.
“Did you know? In my duchy, the victor of a duel takes everything.”
“… Really?” Jeong-hyeon responded, his voice tinged with curiosity.
“That’s right,” Betica said, her smile growing. “To put it another way, you won this duel. That means this girl belongs to you now.”
In that moment, Jeong-hyeon could feel the distinct scent of a woman’s body close to him. For a brief moment, he was taken aback by her boldness, but before he could react, Betica began teasing him, lightly licking his cheek as she laughed.
“Seems like you won the fight, but in this situation, I think the girl will win,” she teased, her voice filled with amusement.
Jeong-hyeon, unsure how to respond, remained silent.
Just then, a cold voice interrupted the moment.
“I was wondering why Jeong-hyeon hadn’t returned… but I see I didn’t need to come after all.”
Both Jeong-hyeon and Betica froze, realizing they hadn’t noticed anyone else approaching during the battle. They were caught completely off guard.
As they both scrambled to react, Shin Si-ah walked over, grabbed Betica by the armpit, and effortlessly lifted her up as if she were a cat.
“Also, Betica… don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous to be talking about being a virgin or whatnot after you lost?” Shin Si-ah added with a playful tone.
Betica, stunned by the sudden turn of events, collapsed into a defeated heap.