My Dad, the Demon King, Is a Big Problem-Chapter 121

A heavy wave of disbelief rippled through the gathered knights.

It took them a moment before they could finally speak.

"That merchant is a demon?"

"Is that really true?!"

"This is impossible! How could a demon exist in the human realm?"

"Dear gods…"

"Magi alone is bad enough, but now demons are living among us?"

Even after breaking the silence, they quickly fell speechless again.

They had traveled to the Demon Realm through Magi before, but never had they encountered a demon in the human world.

It was one of the worst scenarios imaginable.

There were greater evils in existence, certainly, but the idea of a demon walking among them, pretending to be human…

It was something they never wanted to consider.

The Magi plaguing the world was already enough of a torment—now they learned that a demon had been living among them in disguise?

It made their blood run cold.

Then, Adrian shouted, "We have to help Crescent immediately! If anything happens to her—!"

He looked frantic.

The other knights were just as uneasy.

They had to act. They had to join forces and put down the demon.

Finally, Meteor spoke. His voice was calm, but deliberately so.

"Your Eminence, I’ll assist Crescent first. That demon—he isn’t just any demon. He’s Cyrillote Eldorette, ranked third in the Demon Realm. She can’t fight him alone."

Silence fell.

And then—

"…What did you say?"

"Did you just say rank three?"

"That’s insane!"

"Shouldn’t we all be fighting, then?! We need to call for reinforcements from the temple!"

The tension escalated rapidly.

They had never faced a demon that highly ranked before. The highest-ranked demon any of them had ever encountered was 29th.

And now—third?

Could Crescent really fight that alone?

No.

No matter how powerful she had become, no knight—no matter how exceptional—could handle a demon of that caliber single-handedly.

Not only that—Crescent's divine rank was the lowest. She was a Primrose.

Her natural divine power had clear limits.

…Though, truthfully, she had never seemed like a normal Primrose.

Reuben Pluto kept his gaze fixed on Crescent.

Blinding white divine power clashed violently with an overwhelming darkness.

Neither side was giving an inch.

So far, she was holding her own.

But something about the battle seemed… off.

At a glance, it looked like an all-out war. A spectacular, grand-scale fight.

But in reality—

They were only trading blows.

The battle was circling.

Reuben’s gaze shifted to the ridge in the distance. Beyond it was a sizable village.

By now, the villagers must have realized something catastrophic was happening nearby.

At last, Reuben spoke, his voice steady.

"You will evacuate the surrounding areas. Clear the nearby village. And send for reinforcements from the temple. The rest of you—stay here and monitor the battle."

"What?! We’re not helping Crescent?!"

Adrian practically yelled.

Meteor had been about to ask the same thing. But in the end, he bit his tongue.

If his grandfather had made this decision, he had no choice but to follow.

Defying the cardinal’s orders was not an option.

And yet, his instincts screamed at him to charge forward.

Reuben’s voice remained firm.

"For now, we watch. Let’s trust in Crescent, even for a moment."

***

Haa.

Landing lightly on the ground, I took a deep breath.

The rush of cold air filled my lungs, easing the tightness in my chest.

Lowering my sword, I turned to face Cyrillote.

He, too, had landed opposite me.

The Magi surrounding him whirled violently, forming an impenetrable vortex of dark energy.

Clicking my tongue, I muttered, "Hey. Let’s take this to the Demon Realm. We need to end this there."

There was no way we could continue fighting here.

By now, people had surely realized something was happening. The Holy Knights would come soon.

I didn’t want anyone else getting involved in this fight.

But Cyrillote rejected the idea instantly.

"That’s not happening."

"What?"

"If we go to the Demon Realm, your father might interfere. And then I won’t be able to carry out my orders. That would be inconvenient."

"You bastard…"

No—wait.

There was no point in expecting logic or fairness in a battle where we were both trying to kill each other.

I exhaled sharply.

"Fine. Then fight properly. If you're going to follow the Demon King’s orders, do it right, you Demon-King-obsessed lunatic."

By now, we'd exchanged dozens of blows.

The sheer force of our attacks had leveled the battlefield.

But despite all the destruction, Cyrillote wasn’t actually going for the kill.

He was toying with me.

And that irritated me more than anything else.

A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

"If I went all out, this would be over too quickly. That would be boring. I wanted to enjoy myself first."

"What?"

He twirled his massive bronze blade effortlessly, as if it weighed nothing.

"Your swordsmanship is interesting. I don’t get to see it up close often. Since this is our first and last battle, I thought it’d be a waste to end it too soon. You weren’t supposed to be fighting me, after all."

A strange weight pressed on the air as he spoke.

I narrowed my eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

The moment the words left my mouth, something clicked.

I had wondered about this for a long time.

The Demon King was desperate to kill me.

So why—aside from the Duke of Dimensions—had no other demons tried to assassinate me?

After Lady Aldred opened that portal to the Demon Realm’s graveyard, I had expected something similar to happen again.

But it never did.

…Because Cyrillote had been interfering.

Boom!

A deafening clash rang out as our blades collided.

For a moment, we were locked in place, testing each other’s strength.

Gritting my teeth, I spat, "You’ve been killing demons, haven’t you? To stop them from getting to me?"

"Obviously."

His voice was almost offhanded.

"You’re the princess. It would be insulting for lowly demons to kill you."

"You really thought I’d be grateful for that?"

A dry laugh escaped me.

Cyrillote had eliminated demons sent to kill me?

It was shocking—but that was all.

I didn’t feel even a flicker of gratitude.

Just confirmation that he was an absolute lunatic.

"Does the Demon King know about this?" I asked mockingly. "Isn’t that treason? A loyal dog like you, getting in his way?"

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"He found out eventually. Which is why I had no choice but to accept his orders this time."

"So you won’t ever be able to carry them out."

Divine power flared in my hands, surging through my sword.

If he wanted to waste time, that was fine.

Because the longer this dragged on, the better my chances of killing him first.

I pressed forward.

Holy energy burned against his Magi, causing the air itself to tremble.

The impact rattled my bones—but I did not back down.

Then, for the first time, his grip weakened.

Ding!

<Time remaining: 12 hours!>

…Huh?

Already?

The system notification startled me.

But it didn’t matter.

Twelve hours was more than enough.

If this battle lasted that long, we’d both collapse from sheer exhaustion.

The real problem was—

No matter how much I had improved, I couldn’t overpower Cyrillote outright.

I could hold my ground.

But to defeat him?

I wasn’t sure if my current strength was enough.

…Wait.

Something clicked.

There was one thing I had completely forgotten.

The special item I had won from hitting Cyrillote in the face.