Chapter 1

Hero of Another World.

The hero of Earth who defeated the Demon King Valor and saved the continent from the threat of the demon race.

Yet the people of this world had another name for Hanseong.

The Empire’s Hound. A merciless slaughterer.

Han Sung’s sudden summoning to this realm one day was no accident.

An ancient summoning ritual, painstakingly prepared by the Empire’s mages, had been activated. Han Sung, Earth’s SSS-rank monster hunter and commander-in-chief of the Humanity’s Last Stand, awoke in this otherworld.

As nothing more than a tool to fulfill the Empire’s ambitions, Hanseong was reborn as a human weapon bearing the name of a hero.

The empire that defeated the Demon King immediately declared a war to unify the continent, placing the ‘Hero of Another World’ at its forefront.

He adjusted his grip on the sword hilt in his hand and quietly raised his head.

As the empire’s war to unify the continent drew to its final stages. Malbork, the capital city of the Teutonic Knights’ state, which had vowed resistance to the very end.

Faint flurries of sleet drifted through the night’s curtain.

A white and dark winter night. It was immediately after he had struck down the man who was both a loyal subject of the Teutonic Knights and the bearer of the ‘Greatest Sword of the Continent’, the legendary ‘Sir Bader’.

Thud!

Behind him, a searing pain struck like fire. The cold touch of metal. A blade had torn through his chest and jutted out, its blue-black edge gleaming.

“Damn it.”

After a life-or-death struggle, what returned to Hanseong was the blade of an Imperial soldier.

“Well done, warrior from another realm.”

The holy sword Durandal of Count Brandenburg, the Holy Sword Knight.

“I knew this would happen.”

Hanseong’s body was too exhausted to dodge the surprise attack from his own allies, swung right behind him.

“You cowardly bastards, only good for stabbing people in the back.”

Once, he succeeded in defeating the Demon King in the name of a hero.

But that was only the beginning. After that, it had to become nothing more than a conquering machine to satisfy the empire’s ambitions.

The Demon King was vanquished, and the empire’s long-cherished dream of unifying the continent was achieved. So what came next?

It was a case of being discarded after being used.

“You chose to die honorably here alongside the Divine Sword, Lord Bader.”

Count Brandenburg spoke.

Honorable death? Not even a hollow laugh escaped him.

“Your patriotism and devotion to the empire will be praised by future generations forever.”

“Ha, the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of National Defense would weep to hear that.”

Hanseong sneered, blood pooling at his lips. The blade in his hand emitted a sharp aura, as if poised to slaughter the count at any moment.

But just as he swung the hilt, Hanseong’s body froze abruptly.

It was a golden seal.

The binding oath that the White Mage Tower prided itself on… Geas.

“You bastards.”

The leash to train the empire’s warriors, the hunting dogs of another realm.

“Who calls whom a dog?”

Seeing this, the Count spat out a cold sneer.

“Yes, you bastards worse than dogs.”

Hanseong spat out curses once more.

Alongside the continent’s greatest swordsman, whom he had just struck down with his own hands, he too would meet his end here.

The long hunt had finally come to an end.

The commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army’s First Corps present here, Count Brandenburg, was the very executor of that betrayal.

Hanseong quietly knelt down. Burying his head in the snow-covered ground, he closed his eyes weakly. Yet, strangely, Hanseong’s expression was calm and serene.

He did not even utter the common curse directed at the Empire that had betrayed him.

The ‘Hero of Another World’ closed his eyes thus.

In the next life, I vowed not to be a warrior discarded like an old shoe, but to become a demon king without blood or tears.

As the last spark of life flickered out, the small stone swallowed within Hanseong’s body began to emit a faint glow.

And then──.

“Congratulations, Your Grace! It’s a boy!”

A white and dark winter night, with pure white snowflakes drifting down.

One life closed its eyes, and a new life opened its eyes.

“Congratulations, Your Grace! You have a son!”

The old woman’s shrill voice rang in his ears. The agony of the sacred sword Durandal, which had tormented him until just moments ago, vanished as if it had never been.

‘Where am I…?’

Hanseong immediately looked around to assess the situation. But it was extremely difficult to steady himself.

The surroundings were filled with blinding white light, making it impossible to open his eyes properly. His consciousness felt heavy, as if a lump of lead had been placed on it.

A sensation as if he had become an absurdly small and light being.

Just then, the soft touch of a blanket enveloped Hanseong.

Hanseong twisted his body within the blanket and gazed at the woman holding him. She was a woman of striking beauty with vivid blonde hair.

A face vaguely familiar from memory. As a hero of another realm, Hanseong knew many influential figures of the empire.

‘I distinctly remember her as the young lady of some count’s household…’

“You’ve endured so much, Elena.”

‘Elena, the young lady of the count’s family who became the Duchess of Saxony!’

Elena. The moment he heard that name, Hanseong was struck by a shock as if hit over the head with a hammer.

Then that man looking down at them with such affectionate eyes couldn’t possibly be…

The Grand Duke who ruled the northern regions and the former Demon King’s domain, now reduced to an imperial province, shortly after Hanseong had defeated the Demon King Valor.

A member of the three great duke families standing at the pinnacle of the empire—the Duke of Saxony.

Only then did a sense of satisfaction wash over me, as if the puzzle pieces had finally fallen into place.

‘The reincarnation was successful!’

The ultimate move to break the hunting dog’s leash. The artifact Hanseong had painstakingly obtained, the ‘Stone of Reincarnation,’ had safely fulfilled its purpose.

And he was the eldest son of one of the empire’s most prominent noble families.

But the Duke of Saxony’s true worth didn’t end there.

The Necropolis, known as the headquarters of black magic. The one reigning at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower within it.

The Black Spire Lord.

In other words, the Duke of Saxony was a necromancer and dark mage without equal across the entire continent.

That is why he earned the nickname ‘Lord Black’.

The fact that the Duke of Saxony was granted the former Demon King’s domain as his fiefdom was also not unrelated to his background.

The ‘Stone of Reincarnation’ allows souls to cycle while preserving memories and consciousness. However, one cannot directly choose the target of their rebirth. In other words, whether one is born as the eldest son of a great noble or abandoned in a sewer as the child of a prostitute is entirely within the realm of fate.

And yet, he managed to snatch the best silver spoon imaginable.

‘To live and die, yet end up biting a golden spoon.’

As Hanseong calmly assessed the situation, the Duke of Saxony spoke up, looking concerned.

“Old woman, the child hasn’t burst into tears yet.”

Even the Black Count of the realm seemed helpless when it came to worrying about his child.

“How peculiar indeed. Yet it breathes so distinctly.”

“Isn’t a child not crying an ill omen?”

“Its breathing is steady, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

The old woman approached Hanseong. Hanseong deliberately continued taking deep breaths, as if to show off.

“But since Your Highness is concerned…”

SMACK!

The old woman, having taken Hanseong from Elena, began slapping his buttocks with all her might.

“You must spank his bottom until he cries.”

Hanseong cursed inwardly and struggled violently. But with the body of an incomplete infant, there weren’t many options available.

“What a stubborn child!”

The Duke of Saxony murmured in apparent surprise.

“He must take after your stubbornness.”

Elena opened her mouth, her smile mirroring her mother’s.

“Give him to me. I’ll try.”

Though she had become a mother, she still carried the delicate grace of a noble maiden. Her soft hands reached for Hanseong’s buttocks.

Han Seong, who had never shed a single tear since coming of age, finally had no choice but to burst into loud sobs.

Dale of Saxony.

Like the saying, “New wine belongs in new wineskins,” that was Hanseong’s new name, having grasped a second life.

Dale, the eldest son of the Saxon ducal house.

Under the devoted care of the duke and duchess, ‘Dale’ waited for his time. Occasionally, he eavesdropped on the imperial affairs discussed between the couple, their attendants, and the vassals.

No matter how intact the consciousness inherited through the artifact was, the infant’s body was not.

A time of agonizing endurance. And at the end of that endurance, the first thing granted to Dale was language.

“Oh my goodness, just look at our Dale!”

Elena was practically grinning from ear to ear, caught up in the typical motherly belief that her child was a genius. And Elena’s claim that her child was a genius was by no means the common delusion often found among mothers.

At the age of four, Dale’s academic zeal was nothing short of astonishing, as he freely wielded both the empire’s common language and the noble tongue.

Dale began holing up in the duke’s library, devouring books day and night.

『Fundamentals and Applications of Mana Resonance』

*Imperial Army Tactical Magic Manual*

『The Correlation Between Mana Circle Rotation Rate and Mana Generation』

『Understanding Magic Enhancement Through Formulas』

『Introduction to Rune Magic』

Day after day, he had the books he desired delivered from all corners of the continent, including the Holy Path.

‘Being born with a silver spoon sure has its perks.’

After finishing a volume, Dale leaned back against the old bookshelf, recalling his past homeland.

When he awakened his talent as a monster hunter on Earth and grasped a weapon, his past self fought monsters with a mission. For humanity alone. But in this world, it was different.

The total number of demons and monsters slain under the name of the hero pales in comparison to the number of ‘humans’ slaughtered as the empire’s hunting dogs.

Therefore, Dale’s purpose never wavered.

‘With these hands, I will bring down the empire.’

He bit his lip softly, reaffirming his resolve.

It was at that very moment.

Whoosh!

A whirlwind erupted at his feet, as coldly sharpened hatred swept in. A vortex of magic power.

‘Damn!’

The immature body of a four-year-old, swept up in a torrent of emotion, caused the mana within to surge violently. Though the duke and duchess were not yet aware, Dale was steadily forming fragments of a ‘mana circle’ within his own heart.

Whoosh!

As the surging mana swirled like a whirlwind, the bookshelves supporting Dale’s back began to collapse like dominoes.

“You’ve really done it now.”

He collapsed weakly in the library, now a complete shambles.

“──Dale.”

A familiar presence stirred behind him.

“What’s all this commotion?”

It was the voice of Dale’s father, the Black Duke, the Duke of Saxony.

A scene of utter chaos, with books and shelves scattered everywhere in a whirlwind of rampant mana. Dale pondered for a moment what a four-year-old would do in this situation, then quickly gave up on the thought. A four-year-old wouldn’t think about how to behave.

“Did you just release the mana inside you?”

“Well… I’m not sure. Suddenly, a strange wind blew up from beneath my feet…”

Dale shrugged nonchalantly. Like an innocent child unaware of his own talent.

Seeing this, the Duke of Saxony let out a startled gasp.

“You’ve already formed fragments of a mana circle within your body…!”

Dale inwardly gasped in near-horrified astonishment.

It wasn’t unheard of for someone to naturally resonate with mana at a young age. But even for someone descended from a line of mages, it was far too early for a four-year-old. That was precisely why he had kept it secret from the duke and duchess, waiting for the right moment.

Dale understood the danger inherent in his own talent. He also knew that the line between ‘prodigy’ and ‘monster’ was ultimately paper-thin.

“He truly is my son.”

Yet the response to Dale’s concern was the Black Duke’s smile, one that did not hide his father’s emotions.

“Not being able to teach you necromancy is my eternal regret.”

The Black Mage spoke with apparent regret. It was a statement even Dale hadn’t anticipated.

How could the Black Mage Tower Lord, the continent’s foremost necromancer, refuse to pass on his specialty to his own child?

“Why not?”

Dale feigned ignorance and asked again.

“I promised your mother that our child would not inherit my legacy.”

The expression on the Black Duke’s face as he spoke held an undeniable, profound regret.

‘Then again, what mother would wish for her child to become a necromancer?’

When courting Elena, whose age difference was not insignificant, he had made this promise to her, who feared the Black Knight’s notoriety.

As an added note, at the wedding ceremony, the Black Count led all the elders of the Black Tower in attending dressed entirely in pure white—a story so absurd it wasn’t funny.

Regardless of this or that, the Duke of Saxony was the empire’s foremost noble. Yet the promises he made for the sake of a mere count’s daughter revealed how pure his love truly was, contrary to the Black Duke’s appearance.

Four years is no short span of time. All the more so when spent confined within the body of an infant, nurtured by family care.

Thus, life at the Saxon ducal house made Dale realize emotions he had long forgotten.