The Terminally Ill Hero’s Husband is the Demon King

Solitary Subjugation Unit

One had to be careful of the Demon King who appeared on Gray Mountain, for he was beautiful and kind. The people of Gray Mountain warned others with serious expressions.

According to what people said, the Demon King had golden hair that shone like the noonday sun and auspicious golden eyes, and at first glance, his appearance was closer to that of a hero than a Demon King. He was said to have a hearty smile as well.

“And his voice, too! Even on the pitch-black night, the Demon King’s voice has a majesty like a God’s. And should I say it’s benevolent? Or kind? I’m not afraid of him. Demonic beasts or wild animals in the mountains would probably be more dangerous.”

“He won’t look like a cursed being. It’s probably just a deception, but… the more I think about it, the stranger it is. Is he really the Demon King? What if we’ve been mistaken?”

Rumor had it that he looked less like the ruler of the wicked and cursed, and more like a guide for lost souls. He did not seem to be a being who bestowed chaos, destruction, and pain, but rather one trying to become a home for lonely beings who wandered, unable to be purified.

Yuers was a nation founded by the hero Rasselas Ingmar, who had defeated the Demon King half a millennium ago. A blessed land with Gray Mountain as its roof and the Abev River, split into two branches, surrounding it. With Gray Mountain at its back, broad plains, and two deep rivers, Yuers was a small and humble country.

Was it because the blessing of the archmage Jin Kashutra, who had been loved by God, dwelled in Yuers? Or was it because, fitting for a country ruled by the descendants of the Hero King Rasselas Ingmar, outstanding heroes often appeared?

For over 500 years, Yuers had enjoyed a long era of peace and prosperity without hardship. Even amid several great wars that swallowed all the central nations in war, it had, for the most part, remained peaceful.

Iris Ingmar, the twenty-third descendant of Rasselas Ingmar and the twenty-fourth king of Yuers, groaned softly as she sank into deep thought. To become the ruler of a country without great hardship was a blessing for a leader.

Even fifteen years ago, when she had gone to subjugate monsters that had appeared on the outskirts of Yuers as the crown heir, she had not expected that the Demon King would appear during her reign.

There had been a time when reports kept coming in about suspicious monsters said to appear on Gray Mountain. Then, from one day onward, rumors began to spread that a Demon King lived on Gray Mountain. Looking back on Yuers’s long history, there had been no small number of cases where something insignificant was exaggerated into a Demon King.

The people of a peaceful country without war or famine practiced martial arts for the sake of art and health. Because there was no war, tales of valor and legends were all the more popular.

Even an insignificant story about going on an adventure to a neighboring country was enough in Yuers to earn someone drinks. That was why Iris listened to the reports about the Demon King’s appearance half-heartedly.

She admitted that her initial response had been wrong. After all, who could have known that a Demon King would suddenly appear after roughly five centuries?

Looking back, perhaps from the moment Iris was born with the power of purification, she had been born with the fate of having to subjugate the Demon King. Just as some kings are born with the fate of founding a nation, and some kings are born with the fate of war.

Iris was not a weak-willed person, but she worried that perhaps she had been born with the fate of ruining a nation. If so, she could put herself aside, but what was to become of all the people of Yuers?

The name of the country changing was not such an important matter. Struggles between rulers could plunge people into suffering, but in the long run, time would resolve them.

However, the involvement of something that was not human was different. She could not let the people of Yuers fall into the Demon King’s grasp and live a living hell among demonic beasts in polluted mountains and rivers.

During the five years after her coronation, Iris sent punitive forces several times. In the end, all of them failed to subjugate him. The reason there was not much unrest despite the disastrous results was that, strangely enough, the punitive forces always suffered little damage. In other words, casualties were rare.

Rather than fight the punitive forces, the Demon King preferred to send them back through illusions and mind control. Without fail, he had them deliver arrogant letters saying that the time had not yet come, so they should not hurry.

They had survived, but the retainers of the punitive forces, having tasted the utmost terror the Demon King had shown them through wicked magic, would return their positions and disappear as if fleeing.

When even an incident occurred where a knight, unable to endure the shame, took his own life, Iris had to make a decision. Just as Iris was organizing a punitive force and preparing to take the field herself, a guest came to the royal castle.

“Please send me first for the subjugation of the Demon King, Your Majesty.”

“How long has it been? Gillian, you were alive?”

Seeing the man who volunteered to subjugate the Demon King before even offering greetings, Iris welcomed him with both arms open. His name was Gillian Arke, and he was a famed hero not only in Yuers but also among the central nations. He had been Iris’s classmate at the Royal Swordsmanship Academy and was an unusually candid friend for a king to have.