Cucking The Demon King
Chapter 138: The curse

Chapter 138: The curse

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

He hadn’t expected that answer.

Not because it was strange—but because it was too close to what he had already been told.

’The true goal of the Crimson Order is to bring the god of darkness into this world... to open this world for the true demon king to claim.’

Liam stayed still, gaze drilling into Jaegel’s trembling form.

The leaves around them rustled gently, charred fragments occasionally drifting down from the blackened trees.

Smoke curled faintly in the air, the scent of ash and scorched wood clinging to everything. But he paid none of it any mind.

Because those words—those exact words—rattled something loose in his memory.

He remembered it now.

A moment back when everything had first started.

When the system had just latched onto his soul like a parasite, and he was still adapting to the system.

Back then... Lilith had spoken to him.

And he remembered something she said, which chilled him now more than it did then.

According to her, the story of the demon king and the war against demons taught to them in the academy was nothing but a fake.

The demon king the great knight Arthur Silvagold fought was just a figurehead, and even his army were just a small fraction of the true power of the demons.

She also said the true demon king, Mammon, hadn’t stepped into earth yet, and if he had, she would have surely sensed his energy.

At the time, he didn’t put much thought into the weight of those words, more engrossed his his new power and system.

But now?

Now it all made sense.

’The Crimson Order knows. They’ve known all along.’

They weren’t worshipping the so-called Demon King that ruled from the depths of the continent, whose dark army swept across cities like wildfire.

They weren’t trying to serve him.

No.

They were paving the way for the real threat. The one Lilith had spoken about. The one even she had seemed wary of.

Liam felt his heartbeat slow as the implications sank in.

If the puppet demon king had already conquered a quarter of the planet...

Then what would happen when the real one arrived?

He didn’t need anyone to answer that question for him.

He could already imagine it.

The skies turning black and staying that way. Oceans boiling. Cities crumbling beneath feet that didn’t belong to any natural being.

People screaming as their minds twisted into madness just from looking at what had stepped through.

According to Lilith, he had already managed to absorb six out of the seven sins, with the only one left being the lust sin he possessed.

But even without the sin of lust, he was already a formidable opponent, one far out of his league.

If he managed to get into earth, it wouldn’t be a war, but an extinction!

’If they succeed...’

The image of Emma’s unconscious face flickered in his mind again.

Of her, barely clinging to life after fighting off just a handful of these fanatics. Of the girls he’d saved. Of the forests, the rivers, the skies. Everything would die. Everyone would die.

Liam slowly exhaled, his fists tightening again at his sides.

He wasn’t noble. He’d never claimed to be.

But this?

This wasn’t something he could let happen.

Not while he still breathed.

A soft shuffling sound pulled him from his thoughts.

’I’m still too weak, i need to get stronger... faster.’ He thought.

He turned his head just slightly—and saw Jaegel, still crouched low, rubbing at the top of his head with shaky, jerking fingers.

The heretic’s eyes were wide, bloodshot. His pale tongue flicked out every few seconds, his body trembling not from fear—but disbelief.

"Still alive..." He muttered. "I’m still alive..."

He repeated it like a mantra, as if speaking it too loudly might break the illusion.

Jaegel had seen it before. With his own eyes. Heretics who dared whisper even a fragment of the Crimson Order’s deeper truths—

Dead. Instantly. Their heads splitting open like rotten fruit. Their bodies disintegrating into black dust.

There were ancient enchantments. Contracts woven into the very soul upon induction. Uttering secrets was supposed to be impossible.

So how?

How had he said all that?

And how was he still breathing?

He looked up at Liam again, swallowing hard.

Surely... this was his doing.

Jaegel didn’t know how. But something about Liam’s presence had nullified the curse. Overridden it.

It didn’t make sense.

But then again, neither did Liam.

He’d walked through fire like it was wind. Torn apart heretics like paper dolls. Defeated beings Jaegel wouldn’t dare look at, let alone fight.

And now—now even the death curses of the Crimson Order had failed in his presence.

"I..." Jaegel whispered. "I shouldn’t have been able to say that. I should be dead. I should be—"

He cut himself off, teeth clamping down on his tongue to keep from spiraling into hysteria.

Instead, he placed both palms on the ground, bowed until his forehead touched the dirt, and whispered—

"I have found my new master."

It wasn’t just words.

It was a realization.

He’d spent years in service to the Order. Lied, killed, stole—done everything asked of him, hoping one day to rise high enough to survive the eventual descent of the god they worshipped.

But now?

Now he realized that even that had been pointless.

The real god of darkness would not offer salvation. Only oblivion.

But Liam...

Liam had peeled back the veil in a matter of seconds. Had made Jaegel speak truths that should’ve torn his soul apart. Had protected a divine-blooded girl just because he wanted to.

In his heart, Jaegel felt it.

The weight of destiny shifting.

He hadn’t just found a powerful man.

He’d found a king.

No—a conqueror.

And if he had to betray every oath he’d ever made to serve this new master, then so be it.

He’d do it without regret.

"Please," He whispered again, still pressed against the scorched earth. "Allow me to serve you, my lord. No longer as a coward... no longer as a shadow. I will be your eyes. Your ears. Your claws, if you’ll have them."

Liam stared at him for a moment, saying nothing.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

He was still thinking about the implications of the true demon king. About Lilith’s warnings. About what would happen if the heretics succeeded.

But a new piece of the puzzle was now before him.

A coward... but a loyal one. Desperate to live. Desperate to be useful.

And in Liam’s experience, desperate people made for useful tools—so long as you kept them on a short leash.

He stepped closer.

Jaegel didn’t flinch this time. Didn’t dare move.

Liam crouched slightly and spoke in a voice just above a whisper.

"You’re mine now, Jaegel."

The heretic’s body trembled. But this time, it wasn’t from fear.

It was from relief.

"Yes," he breathed. "Yes, my lord. Thank you."

"But don’t dare lie to me," Liam continued, eyes cold as iron, "If you do, I won’t burn you. I’ll pull your soul out through your mouth and make you watch me crush it."

Jaegel didn’t doubt him.

Not for a second.

"I-I understand. I swear on my name. I will never lie to you."

Liam stood again and turned his gaze to the horizon. The fire had mostly burned out now, leaving only smoldering embers and ruined trees behind. The forest was silent—too silent that it felt ominous.

Jaegel was right, he was indeed related to the reason he was still able to stay alive, and his why he head hadn’t exploded the moment he spoke about the heretic’s secret.

While the man didn’t even know, he had been using his demonic authority to prick inside his brain ever since they entered the forest.

He knew he couldn’t just trust an heretic he just picked up in a cave, talkless of one who previously tried to kill him.

He was a bit suspicious that Jaegel could still be planning something against him, and that him being so obedient was just a ploy to let him lower his guard.

But when he scanned his brain and mind using his demonic authority, he found something which surprised him, and that was a small, yet extremely powerful curse.

He didn’t even know it was a curse, until Lilith told him that was that it was.

According to her, it was probably planted in the brain of every heretic, so they wouldn’t be able to betray the organisation.

Fortunately, whoever casted the curse on Jaegel seemed to have a weaker authority than him, so he was able to easily override it.

’Demonic Authority, it really is so useful.’ He thought, taking another glance at the man.

He had never expected that he would be using him like this, but then, he wasn’t complaining.

As long as he managed to protect Emma, the rest of the girls and find the truth about what was really going on, he was more than satisfied.

Jaegel was just a means to an end to achieving that.