In that moment, William knew—there was no avoiding it. He would have to face Jhen.

There was no possible way to run.

But just as she stepped forward, the door to the house creaked open. Someone emerged.

It was an older man with a thick black beard and long, unruly hair. Despite his time in hiding, he wore fine clothes and looked remarkably healthy. There was an air of quiet strength about him.

Jhen froze when she saw him.

“Father?” she whispered.

The man standing before them was none other than the former king—the ruler of the Demon Island before everything fell apart.

When he laid eyes on Jhen, his expression softened into something warm and almost sorrowful.

“Oh, my dear Jhen,” the king said. “Why did you let revenge consume your heart? Why couldn’t you find peace in the life I gave you?”

He was talking about the position in the palace, the role in the army. He had been watching over her all along—always helping, always from the shadows.

“I didn’t want any of that!” Jhen yelled, her voice cracking. “I just wanted to be your daughter! But you never let me! Why? Why didn’t you?!”

The king took a slow breath, pain flashing across his eyes. “It wasn’t me… It was your mother. She never accepted you because you weren’t her child. I tried, Jhen. I tried to bring you into the family, to make her see… but she refused. I failed to protect you from that.”

Jhen stood stunned. She hadn’t known. All this time, she had believed that both her parents had cast her aside—that neither had wanted her. But now… she saw the truth in his eyes. Her father had cared.

For a brief moment, her murderous aura wavered. Her expression turned distant, uncertain.

But it lasted only a second.

Her eyes narrowed. The darkness returned.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said coldly. “I’m here to end this. You’re weak. This is my chance.”

William, silent until now, had been listening carefully—and sensing the king’s energy. The man was injured. His power was nowhere near Jhen’s. If she attacked, he wouldn’t survive.

So when she moved again, William stepped forward, placing himself between them.

“Jhen,” he said, his tone firm, “you know I can’t let you harm the king.”

He drew his sword, shifting into a battle stance.

“I’ll fight you if I have to.”

Jhen let out a harsh laugh. “Please. You? You’re strong, I’ll give you that—but we’re not in the same league. If you fight me, William, you’ll die.”

But what choice did he have? Let her slaughter the royal family? Steal the demonic scripts? Kill Victoria?

Not a chance.

William’s grip tightened on his sword. He didn’t care about the odds. He had made his choice.

And Jhen?

She smirked, shaking her head in disbelief.

To her, William was just throwing himself at death.

But that wouldn’t stop him.

Before making any moves, Jhen decided to say something shocking—something the king would never expect.

“Father, did you know that this William has royal blood too? I tested him. Tell me, is he another one of your bastard sons?”

As soon as Jhen said that, the king’s expression changed completely. He was stunned, staring at William with confusion in his eyes, unsure of what was going on.

“Impossible,” he said. “There’s no way he has royal blood. I have an artifact that shows me the location of everyone with the bloodline.”

Even William was intrigued. He’d been wondering about his lineage too. It didn’t make any sense for him to have a royal bloodline—he came from another world!

That could only happen if his parents back on Earth had demon blood, and he was sure that wasn’t the case. So how did he have this bloodline?

“That test you did must’ve been wrong,” the king said. “He probably just has a pure bloodline or something like that.”

“It’s true, Father,” Jhen replied. “He didn’t trigger any of the traps in the castle because of his bloodline. I’m certain of it. And the most impressive part? He’s not even from Demon Island. He came from the continent!”

Everyone was shocked. Not just the king, but all the other members of the royal family who had taken shelter inside the house.

Then William spoke. “Enough talking. Let’s fight already.”

He just wanted it to be over. He just wanted to get out of that cursed castle.

Jhen replied coldly, “If that’s what you want, then let’s go.”

She unleashed her demonic energy and formed armor around her body. It was impressive—reminding William of what he looked like during his own demon transformation.

So, he did the same.

But his transformation was a little different. While Jhen’s form was surrounded by pure dark energy, his had streaks of red—like blood.

His stats skyrocketed, and he gained several new combat abilities.

What caught everyone off guard was the king’s reaction. The look on his face—like he recognized something but refused to say it—didn’t go unnoticed.

“Red tones, royal blood…” the king thought, “this is getting complicated.”

The princess who had come with William rushed toward the king—her father—hugging him and standing close to protect him if needed.

Now, only William and Jhen stood on the battlefield. Everyone else moved away. A fight like this could destroy anything and anyone caught too close.

“You really think you can beat me?” Jhen said arrogantly. “Your transformation might be impressive, but I’m still stronger and more experienced than you. Don’t forget—I’m the one who trained you.”

She was overflowing with confidence. And William knew she had a point. Even with all his stats boosted by more than 100 points each, he could feel it—he still wasn’t on her level.

“Will I have to use Hero’s Limit too? The problem is… that’ll leave me drained,” he thought.

He couldn’t afford to be left weak. What if the king—or the royal family—decided to turn on him? After Jhen’s betrayal, William didn’t trust anyone anymore.

Not to mention Kier was still there too. Tied up and unable to move for now? Yes. But still waiting for the right moment to strike.

“You sure are full of yourself for someone who’s just a bastard daughter,” William said with a sly smile.

That hit a nerve.

Jhen’s face twisted with rage, and she charged at him. Her movements were lightning fast, almost like she was gliding over the ground.

In less than a second, she was right in front of him, swinging her sword in a diagonal slash across his chest.

Even with his speed and demonic armor, he couldn’t block it completely. The cut across his torso was shallow, but it still drew blood.

William stepped back, but Jhen kept pressing forward. This time, she used her demonic energy to summon a chain that wrapped around his ankles, restricting his movement.

Unsure of what to do, William cast his black fire magic, launching a massive fireball straight at Jhen.

She dodged effortlessly with a leap—and in the blink of an eye, she was behind him. With another quick, clean strike, she slashed across his back.

At that moment, William realized just how big the speed gap between them was. Jhen was far faster.

But he wasn’t about to let that slide.

Even after taking the hit, William did something unexpected. Jhen had stayed close to him to follow up her attack—giving him a rare opening.

He spun around and tried to grab her—going for close-quarters combat. Even Jhen looked surprised. She had expected him to retaliate with his sword, not try to wrestle her.

Her speed may have been superior, but William had the edge in raw strength. His strength stat was higher than hers.

He started forcing her body down, gripping her tightly. With her restrained, he began punching her in the stomach.

Each punch landed with a heavy thud. Jhen winced in pain, though she wasn’t taking much actual damage—her demonic energy armor was still absorbing most of the impact.

William knew that. But he also knew everything had a limit.

He kept going. One of his hands held Jhen’s sword arm in place to stop her from retaliating, while the other kept hammering punches into her midsection.

Cracks started to appear in her armor. And then—finally—it shattered.

The next punch landed clean.

It was a brutal hit. Jhen was sent flying, crashing into part of the royal family’s house and smashing through the wall.

William stood there, staring at the gaping hole.

About twenty seconds passed before Jhen returned. Blood was trickling from her mouth, and her expression had darkened—visibly more furious than before.

“Not bad,” she said. “Your physical strength really is something to be proud of. But next time, I won’t give you a chance to use it.”

Jhen’s demonic energy increased in power. William knew that she was going all out after that hit, and wanted to take him down as fast as possible.

William had already been at a disadvantage—but now, feeling her power rising even more?

He knew he was screwed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep