"Didn't even bother with a barrier, are you really that confident?" Edward spoke, slowly entering the throne room with a massive red carpet extending to a few meters from the throne. "Show yourself, you bastard! You started this, didn't you? So let's finish it quickly."
Edward walked straight, looking around, and said, "Three years! You made the last three years of my life a complete hell, so why are you hiding now?"
Looking at the throne, Edward sensed a dense mana spreading around it. "The great, the mighty, the incredible Demon King is hiding behind his own throne? Pathetic."
After Edward took two more steps, a blue magic circle appeared on the long floor of the room, illuminating the entire space. Seven silhouettes of people wearing red hoods appeared on platforms in the air, sitting on invisible platforms on the ceiling.
"Don't fear; he's injured, there's nothing he can do now," said one of the hooded figures, their leader, who saw everyone smile as they noticed Edward's blood-covered body.
"We won't let you get near the Demon King!" shouted all the hooded figures, extending their hands forward. Red magic circles appeared in front of them, from which chains emerged, reaching him in the blink of an eye and wrapping around his entire body.
"Now, Edward, you will know the price of being the hero," spoke the Demon King, now standing in front of his throne, pointing at Edward, causing chains to emerge from the ground, wrapping around his legs and arms.
"Don't you think you're a bit late? You should have said that three years ago," seconds after Edward said this, all seven hooded figures fell to the ground with ice spikes piercing their bellies.
"What! How? It shouldn't be possible," the Demon King spoke, showing signs of weakness again.
"I knew you were stupid, but not to this extent," Edward said, smiling at the Demon King with his body still bound in chains.
"What the hell are you talking about? It makes no sense," the Demon King closed his fist, causing the chains to tighten around Edward's body.
"Well, how about this? I killed them because I'm stronger, that's it. And I called you stupid because you're the one who made me like this," Edward spoke calmly, looking at the Demon King with a bored expression. "So, do you understand?"
"Ah, yes... Just die," the large magic circle on the floor turned completely red, making the chains move, tightening around Edward's body while trying to tear him into five pieces.
"How cruel... If this happens, I won't be able to repay the favor you did for me," the chains stopped moving, the sound of various cracks was heard, and in the blink of an eye, all the chains and the huge magic circle on the floor disappeared. "Ah, they finally died; they were quite resistant."
The bodies of the seven hooded figures were now separated into various parts on the ground like an ice sculpture.
"The curse... the chains... How did you escape, injured like that?" A portal appeared above the Demon King's head, and from it, a huge blue arm moved towards Edward.
When the arm hit the ground just above him, Edward, in mid-air, tapped the skin of the arm with the tip of his toe, causing it to shatter into numerous pieces. As he landed on the ground, he looked at the Demon King's shocked face and said, "I think there's been a misunderstanding. Don't you find it strange? How could I do such a thing with all this blood on me?"
"Cursed, so you gained the ability to regenerate, huh?" At this moment, a feeling of power made the Demon King elevate his ego to the heights, now that he had discovered a way to kill the hero. "Servants, the enemy is not outside, but inside. Come, everyone, it's time to kill a rat."
After the Demon King said this, five seconds passed, then another ten seconds. Edward, looking around, extended his hand, asking, "How long should I wait? I have a date with a princess, you know? I can't wait for your servants to reincarnate."
"There were more than a thousand demons of each kind... What kind of monster are you?!" Countless yellow portals appeared throughout the room, and from them emerged numerous monstrous aberrations never seen before, occupying practically the entire space, all with a single target—Edward.
"Oh! So, this is your maximum power? Too bad, not knowing how to fight... If you attacked me earlier, you might have had a chance," Edward spoke mid-air, as he had to jump to avoid being swallowed by a huge monster resembling a jellyfish. While in free fall, he said, "Ice Seal."
A blue flash covered the entire room, lasting less than a second but enough to make the Demon King not even realize what happened because now, in front of his eyes, the entire room was covered in an icy mist.
Before the Demon King could say anything, applause was heard, followed by a gust of wind that dissipated the mist, revealing that the room was now filled with hundreds of ice statues. On top of the largest one was Edward. "Implosion."
One after another, all the ice statues exploded, causing it to snow inside the room.
"So, did you like it? Grand Demon King," Edward spoke, landing in front of him, looking at him joyfully.
"Eh...ah...but..." The Demon King, with trembling legs and a blank mind, his eyes empty, was practically dead.
"Hmmm, looks like you're not doing well. Let me help you kneel," Edward placed his hand on the Demon King's white hair, easily pushing him down to his knees.
After a few seconds, Edward wiped his hands together, saying, "Ok! Let's stop acting now! Neither of us is good at it." Edward slapped the Demon King, knocking out two teeth.
All the weakness that was exposed disappeared, and the Demon King looked inquisitively at Edward. "Are you going to kill me now? Or are you going to drag it out a bit longer?"
"What? I'm not going to kill you, remember? We need to talk; I haven't repaid your favor yet," Edward said, looking at the Demon King with an angelic face that seemed to want to forgive all his crimes. But for some reason, the smile of this angel made the Demon King's body glimpse his death for the first time, something that haunted him since he saw the human kingdom saved by a small group of people.
Nine hours passed, and in the human kingdom, in the throne room, Edward appeared standing in front of the King and his daughter. The reason for this was not arrogance, but Edward was holding the Demon King by his white hair, dragging his red body to the ground. "Here's what I told you."
Edward threw the Demon King's body forward, rolling on the ground and stopping belly up. The King, looking at everything in disbelief, noticed the movement of his breath, but there was not a single drop of mana coming from his body. Moreover, judging by his expression, it couldn't be said that he was alive.
"Don't worry, the way I left him, even a baby would scare him." After Edward said this, his body swayed, and his vision blurred until it turned black, and the last thing he remembered was hearing the princess scream his name.
"Edward!" The princess ran towards him at a surprising speed, managing to prevent his fall, embracing him lovingly while starting to stroke his head.
"My daughter, as soon as he wakes up, remind him," before the King finished speaking, the princess turned her face, smiling, and said, "I know, father. 'Thank you for bringing the Demon King alive and giving the opportunity for revenge for the kingdom.'"
"Hahaha, I'm quite predictable," the King said, standing up and waving his hand to his daughter. "Go, you can take him to rest; your father will take care of the tedious part."
"Thank you, Father..." The princess, carrying Edward, left and went straight to her room.
Once the King confirmed his daughter's exit, he unsheathed his sword, saying, "Not only did you defeat him, but you also left the final blow for this powerless king. Jennie's mother really never misses." In a quick and precise cut, so clean that it didn't even dirty his blade, the King cut off the Demon King's head, giving him a definitive death.
"Take the head and show it to my people, and don't forget it was Edward who delivered the final blow," what he said made the butler, who had been holding the head of the Demon King, let it fall to the ground, causing the entire room to fall into absolute silence.
And that's how the destruction of this world was prevented by someone from another world.