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Story of The Ancient Demon King!
Type
Web Novel (JP)
Genre
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Rating(4.0 / 5.0, 152 votes)
5    56% (85 votes)
4    13% (20 votes)
3    13% (19 votes)
2    9% (14 votes)
1    9% (14 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
Year
Example: 2012
2019
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
302 Chapters (Completed?)
1 LN Volume (Hiatus)
Licensed
No
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
N/A
Release Frequency
Every 5.9 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #3624
Monthly Rank: #5318
All Time Rank: #1919
Reading List
[Graph]
On 2898 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #4811
All Time Rank: #3285

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

A young man who had longed for stories of good and evil since childhood lost his life in a tragic accident and was reincarnated as a boy named Chrono Mak in another world.

He learned that in this other world, there is magic and witchcraft, and depending on how you train them, you can become as strong as you want to be, so he decided to become the strongest demon king in order to recreate the story of justice and evil he once dreamed of.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Furuki Maou no Monogatari wo!
古き魔王の物語をっ！
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
To Be a Power in the Shadows! (WN) (7)
There Was No Secret Organization to Fight with the World’s Darkness so I Made One (In Exasperation) (5)
I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (3)
The Incompetent Prince Who Has Been Banished Wants To Hide His Abilities~ The Strongest Sage Who Reincarnated Twice, He Wanted To Enjoy This Life, so Took It Easy and Was Banished From the Royal Family. It’s Too Late To Be Told Come Back Now Cause the People of the Territory Have Noticed His Abilities, and Won’t Let Him Return to His Family Home (1)
To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Fantasy World
  2. Comedy recommended
  3. Light Novels
  4. good novels
  5. J/K novel

Latest Release

Date Group Release
04/01/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c127
03/29/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c126
03/27/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c125
03/20/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c124
03/15/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c123
03/11/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c122
03/08/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c121
03/04/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c120
03/01/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c119
02/25/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c118
02/22/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c117
02/11/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c116
01/31/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c115
01/28/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c114
01/23/25 Hilly’s Cat Corner c113
123…18
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14 Reviews sorted by


Wills03106
Wills03106 rated it
November 19, 2020
Status: c12
I am enjoying this story immensely, but it has just started. The only reason I gave it a five is because it does not deserve its current 3.8. So far, they have just done the setup. Basically, a Sid esque figure, who loves straight forward absolute good vs absolute evil conflict, is reincarnated into a magical world. His plan after he reincarnates is to simply become the ultimate demon king and then fake his death at the hands of the hero. Similar to Sid and Liam from Shadow Eminence and... more>> Intergalactic Overlord, respectively, the protagonist does not actually enjoy evil and simply enjoys performing surface level acts that he thinks are villainous. One minor tweak to the established formula is that he is actively trying to create a hero to defeat him to fulfill his fantasy, which I think could lead to some great moments. I am writing this prematurely, but I think this has potential. It has been hitting all the right beats and has been scratching that itch left behind by Shadow Eminence. If the absurdity is not for you then so be it, but please do not give it harsh reviews just because you do not like the genre. Finally, I am calling on you three and four starers, please, if you think this story has any potential give it as high a rating as possible before it is dropped. <<less
16 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Dobber1k
Dobber1k rated it
July 21, 2022
Status: c50
Honestly I’ll make it short. Translation is garbage and an mtl. I can handle misspelled words and all but when your sentences in every chapter end up being so confusing you can’t understand what’s happening in dialogue it turns you off. I’ve seen the same name misspelled 3 times in the same paragraph. The characters that show up tend to disappear. Indefinitely? No clue 50 chapters in the potential for the first heroine that appeared in like ch 3 haven’t seen her since. #3 and 4? No clue been over... more>> 30 chapters. And for some god aweful reason past maybe chapter 30ish? The MC became concerned about money and everything about the MC has completely changed. And I mean like 80% the first 15 years of his life like breeze through like a whirlwind for the first 10ish chapters but the past month has taken 40 chapters.

I love the concept. I like the MC and the story. But it’s all a sh*t show. Terrible translation, characters have very little development (at least to this point). Only really one does. And it’s not the MC. MC turns wishy washy. The whole plot turns into a leave it luck factor where every advancement of the story is just really a large misunderstanding. I want to read it I do. But I don’t think I can handle it anymore tbh <<less
8 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Austinless
Austinless rated it
March 14, 2021
Status: c55
This story is pretty decent. You'll probably notice that this story is very similar to the powers in the shadows (shadows eminence). There is however a key difference which makes this one a better read in my opinion (avoiding the horrible translation which I will get into). Power in the shadows really focuses on the perception of other characters on the main character Cid, which is fun but for me got a little stale. It felt like everything including characters was a backdrop to focus on misunderstandings on Cid and... more>> the world revolved around him. For this one however though still shallow like most of these light novels I feel like focuses more on the world. Instead of the world revolving around the main character it feels like the main character has intruded into the world and has shaken the balance. I'm giving it a lot of credit but remember it's very shallow! I read these not for the depth but because they're fun!

Warning though, back to what I preluded to earlier. The translation, if you can even call it that, is very bad!! It's just a mtl with an editor! I'm used to these but for many it's bad! The reason I'm giving this five stars is because I want more attention to it and for an actual translator to pick this up!!!!!!

Oh yeah prob give it a 4.2 <<less
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Dreyerboys
Dreyerboys
June 1, 2024
Status: c55
I want to like it, but I'm not really sure what's going on. It may just be that the brain rot has set in too deeply and such a normal plot escapes my current view, or the story legitimately doesn't make sense. I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Plot:

So, according to the summary and first chapter, the MC is someone who is obsessed with heroes and villains. He feels that it's unfair for evil to always triumph, to gain all the benefits in life, while the "heroes" are really... more>> nothing more than debauched lunatics without any true righteousness.

Then, for some reason, he gets reincarnated and decides to make his dream a reality. He plans to become the strongest Demon King (?), raise a hero, and have said hero defeat him in a final climactic battle, saving the world and humanity from his clutches. However, aside from saying that, nothing he does is in line with that dream. At least, I can't see it.

Before I get into why, I want to explain what I believe a Demon King to be.

A ruthless, cunning individual, with ultimate power and an army strong enough to crush kingdoms. In some stories, "he's" strong enough to contend with gods. In others, he brings ultimate despair across the world, turning order into chaos. The antithesis to righteousness. A symbol of depravity. Someone who will kill, so long as it benefits him. A psychopathic tyrant, obsessed with power.

You get the point. I know, nowadays, we have Demon Kings often depicted as either the good guys, or someone pushed to a bad end by force. They're labeled "demon kings" simply because they either wield dark magic, are the king of the demon race, offending someone they shouldn't have, or all of the above. The term "Demon King" is often used incredibly lightly, especially in current Japanese webnovels. It's to the extent that, in my opinion, they can hardly be considered "demon kings".

This novel, according to the summary, is supposed to be somewhat in line with my original view on Demon Kings. It portrays itself as a novel, where the MC will follow the route of a tyrannical, kingdom-building leader, whose sole purpose is to raise a hero, so the MC can experience true justice (albeit, through someone else).

A little convoluted, but I can get behind it.

Now, here's the problem.

So far, the MC hasn't done diddly dick. He's gotten OP in like 2 chapters... somehow. It's explained, a little, but not really. He's just however OP the author wants him to be, though it seems he's working on rectifying that.

He hasn't built an army. He doesn't seem to have any plans on building an army. He works as a part-time waiter, part-time servant of the princess, part-time blacksmith, part-time.... the list goes on. Regardless, he's just doing a bunch of odd jobs to make some cash and collect information.

At the same time, far from bringing despair, he's only saving people and annihilating villains. He gives people he likes strength, then leaves them in the dust, not capitalizing on their moment of weakness. (Though, despite that, every woman he saves is enamored with him.)

He's got a castle... which is okay.

Other than that, I'm not really sure what's going on. Far from being a demon king, most of the story focuses on everything else but that very aspect. The King, side characters, female leads, love interests... all of these things seem to get more screen time than the MC and his goal.

As for the MC, he's just kind of... running around, existing I guess? Again, I'm not really sure what he's doing. I'm not even sure if he knows what he's doing. Why is a self-proclaimed Demon King even working under some random shop owner in the first place?

He's basically invincible. If he wants money, he can take it. If he wants information, nobody can stop him. If he wants subordinates, either pay them in things other than money or instill a deep sense of loyalty in them. He's doing things with the least amount of efficiency as humanly possible.

I know I've gone off on a bit of a tangent, but it's frustrating when 50 chapters goes by, yet it feels like nothing's happened.

I think the author has totally veered off from the original plot, but I could be wrong. Again, maybe my brain cells just can't handle something normal yet, and this is all a misunderstanding. Though, that's highly unlikely. However, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Characters:

Not a beta-cuck Japanese MC, so that's a relief. Though, he's a bit weird. I don't really have a problem with him, other than his way of achieving his goals.

The side-characters are fine. Again, they seem to get more screen time than the MC.

However, there is quite a bit of classism. Not just from royalty or nobility looking down on others, but EVERYONE seems to look down on the MC when he's in his young adult (15yo) form. There's so much time wasted with useless dialogue.

Other than that, even though all these side characters get more screen time than the MC, we hardly know anything about them other than if they're female, they love the MC. In fact, everyone has a good opinion of the MC, for literally no reason.

There's not really much to comment on. Pretty standard Japanese webnovel nonsense.

World Building:

I'd say this is one of the stronger parts of the novel, though that's not saying much. Lots of information on the Human side. Very limited information about demons. The power system... well, so far, there isn't really one. Gods... they exist... maybe. Churches certainly do.

Aside from all that, most of what we know is based on the MC's limited, ignorant worldview. Something he doesn't take the initiative to rectify.

Useful information about the world and setting is scattered at best, and blatantly ignored at worst.

Fight Scenes:

Normally, I wouldn't add this category in here, but I have to bring it up.

The fight scenes are terrible. They hardly exist at all.

You might get a few lines of something happening, but rather than a fight, you usually just get the end result. There's almost no mention of "attacks", "slashes", "dodges", or any sort of intense buildup. The author goes straight for the result 90% of the time. Which is a shame, because the fight scenes could potentially be epic.

Personal Thoughts:

I wish the author did a better job at writing this. The chapters often feel random, as if the author arbitrarily wanted to write something that vaguely resembled the original, intended plot of the novel. Then... he goes off on several chapter long tirades of... stuff that seemingly makes no sense. For example, one chapter, the MC just suddenly infiltrated the Royal Academy. When? Why? We have no idea. I think it says that he did so to obtain information, but the man can turn invisible and go unnoticed by even the Kingdom's strongest. Hell, he has the strongest person in the Kingdom on his side!

Everything he does makes no sense.

Need money? Work part-time.

Need information? Work under royalty and infiltrate the academy.

Need subordinates?...... Well, let's put that off.

Need strength? I'm too busy with the first 3 to care. Only when I get clapped will I start to focus on this again.

Do evil? No. Eradicate evil.

Become a Demon King?.... I'm not sure he knows what that means.

There's no thought about the future, except from the first few chapters. There's not even any thought in general. He just travels around and does things, for seemingly no reason. Then, overly smart people try and come up with reasons and justifications for him, without his knowledge.

It's all so confusing. Nothing makes sense. The MC makes no sense, the chapters make no sense, and sometimes the words on the page don't really make much sense. It really seems like the author forgot what he was writing every time he starts another chapter.

As for the rest, Hokuss's review mentioned it as well.

It seems like a poorly written spin-off of Eminence in the Shadows. Changes in POV happen quite frequently. Misunderstandings between characters are forced, as the MC usually leaves mid-conversation.

MC's background is confusing and unclear.

The best description I can give the novel is that: It's a bunch of poorly written short stories that happen to be in the same world.

Rating:

I'll withhold a star rating for now. I feel like I may be misunderstanding what's going on, despite a large part of me doubting so. That being said, I probably won't be reading this anymore. <<less
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Hokuss
Hokuss rated it
November 23, 2023
Status: c50
This is extremely badly written or translated. There seems to be no feelings or build up in the climatic scenes whatsoever.

The author seemed to have taken inspiration from emminence in shadow but had failed miserably to account for what makes the shadow so good. The main character seems unwilling at best. He does no evil deed, yet calls himself demon king. He hides his identity for very little reason unlike shadow.

Change of POV come at the worst time. It feels like the author is trying to create misunderstanding inside the... more>> characters itself?

The author gives no reason why he knows such level fighting style and the background is also very unclear. Rest is history. <<less
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TeddyWestside
TeddyWestside rated it
June 22, 2022
Status: c20
2 stars is the best thing I can give this.

Story wise, this is of the same vein as Cid's story but the comedy is lacking compared to Cid's. What I have enjoyed so far is the lack of harem scenes although harem tag can be seen. As long as you know the story of Eminence in the Shadows, you can enjoy this story. If we're talking about the story alone, I would give this a good 3.5.

Now, the reason why the I gave this a two is because of the... more>> UI of the site and the brain damage I've felt from reading the TL. The Ads are annoying when using a phone and the TL was horrid. I understand that you have poor English, but at the end of the day, the result is the only thing that people will value. <<less
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Draghnof
Draghnof rated it
April 6, 2021
Status: c10
The premise and the 1st few chapters are really good but it's already finished by chapter 10 (after the 2nd time skip)

The MC is a pro-justice MC who feel bored in his fantasy world and decide to play the famous hero against demon king plot.... Unfortunately there is no need for a hero since the bad demon king is already defeated and his successor is a pacifist. So he decided to be the demon king and find a suitable person to be the hero......

But like I said, he's a... more>> justice hungry MC so he only develops the hero part of the story.... He's the poorest demon king ever.... A lone demon king in his self build demon king castle in the middle of nowhere -_- He could have recruited some people but either he let them be or either he put them in the hero party :-/

Usually the demon king has a huge advantage over the hero and the hero improves himself thanks to the battle against the demon king army but here the MC is just alone, so to train the hero's team he planned some encounters between them and usual villains....

He acts like a demon king in front of other (except his family and fellow villagers because he don't want to be treated as a demon king when he's a justice seeker) but other than his power and acting he has nothing of a demon king (he's a demon who is 100% human like, just a higher lifespan -_-) no subordinates and a castle nobody can see because in the middle of nowhere.

"To be a power in the shadow" is way better in it's realisation (It's the same thing except here the hero's team doesn't know they work for the MC, everything else is the same) <<less
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Lance26
Lance26 rated it
September 17, 2023
Status: --
Honestly, the story is very solid. Save for a continuous introduction of different side characters that hardly matter. The translation on the site is very shitty though... I myself have only made it far since I have read my fare share of mtls.

Some might alike the story to be like a budget Eminence in shadow, but NO. The only aspect that the MC doesn't know is how he is being romantically involved with the heroines and a few misunderstanding to install some light tone to the story, everything is something... more>> he actually know.

The story revolves around a guy who admires heroics. He has his own symbol of justice and his own vision of a hero. The moment he reincarnates in another world though, he finds out that the hero is just some symbol of peace, the demon lord is just some secluded country's king, and many more. He doesn't like this, he wants a straight forward hero vs evil. So he brings it upon himself to reenact this; by becoming a demon lord himself and train the hero that would defeat him. <<less
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Marvoch
Marvoch rated it
March 14, 2023
Status: c3
Unfortunately, I had to abandon my reading after only three chapters. The translation is among the worst I have ever read, and I read a lot of awful translations in my life. There is not a single sentence that is structured naturally or coherently, despite the original writing style being extremely linear and direct.

Other than that, from the little I have been able to read, the story seems exceptionally superficial and bland. The style is, as I mentioned earlier, direct and linear. It almost feels like reading a hastily written... more>> diary—hardly any details and descriptions are given.

The premise is interesting, but the total absence of narrative momentum throughout the three chapters made it impossible to overcome the translation problem and vice versa.

If I could have given it a chance, I might have enjoyed it more, but I doubt it, as the writing is bland and usually this leads to boring and underdeveloped stories with superficial plots.

I gave it two stars only because the idea is nice and not overused in the sea of (Japanese) web novels out there, although there are other exponents in the vast internet sea.

If you are a die-hard fan of chuunibyou characters seeking to realise their dream of an epic saga culminating in the clash between hero and villain in another world and you are able to stomach very bad mtl translations, this may be for you. <<less
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GoshoujinSamaPleaseGiveMeName
GoshoujinSamaPleaseGiveMeName rated it
January 20, 2022
Status: c8
A super fast paced high fantasy comedy webnovel.

I had read only a couple of chapters of this webnovel but I already have so many opinions about this. I should start with the things I like the most--which is fewer than the things I don't like.

I enjoyed the plot. It is decent and pretty interesting. The subplots are what making me wanted to progress through the story.

The translation is fine. I like the heroines of this webnovel; I enjoyed thoroughly their povs. They do lack some depth but compared to the... more>> other 80% Japanese webnovels/lightnovels I'd read in the past, these heroines are already better.

Let's move on to the things that I don't like--though I've already stated one above.

I should start of how confusing the prose is. It's very telly; I can't picture what's happening clearly, and their movements are dull. It really bugs me when I was reading this, and sometimes you would see an adjective that should'nt be there--though I can't tell whether it's the translator or the author.

I think the number one thing that the readers would notice after reading a couple of chapters is the very fast pacing. It's okay to have a very fast paced story but in this webnovel, there are a lot of things missing, hence it gets very confusing.

Tone of this story doesn't work for me. I think the author is trying to mix comedic and serious based on its prose and povs. They are trying to mix the two of those together but it sometimes becomes a mess and thus making it feels insincere. This gave me a vibe similar to a Light Novel I'd read before, and it feels like the author is trying to achieve that but it did not work.

First person perspective and third person omniscient is the two perspectives in this novel. The first person is decent while the third person omniscient feels lacking. Like I said earlier, it is very telly, but for some reason, the third person became a tiny bit less telly but it did not take advantage over the pov.

Main character is very boring to me. I feel like he's just there to take the us to the more interesting characters. Like I said earlier, it is very confusing, and thus I don't know whether he got reincarnated or not.
Spoiler

He said something in the later chapters that contradict of the first chapter where he died and got reincarnated.

[collapse]

His motivations are unknown. He did want to become the demon king like he said in the first chapter, but that is rather weak and not a motivation to me.
Spoiler

There are not just enough reasons to convince the me why would he left the village and go on an adventure. He did killed some bandits on the way, but why? His motivations are unknown in the first place. There are not that enough chapters when he was in the village, and I believe extending that would be worthwhile. Why would he kill some bandits even though he wanted to be evil? There are a lot of ways for the MC to become the demon king, and I don't think going on an adventure and save some random girl's lives would end up him to be a demon king.

[collapse]

His goals contradict his behaviours. I think what viable word for this character should be: cardboard cut.

He became op--and this is not a spoiler because this happens just a few chapters--and where did he get that? This is not very well explained. He became op out of nowhere. Great.

The other characters are what I found more interesting, and I wish I have more pov of them while the MC is in adventure.

The world building is generic. The magic system is not explained in the first place and I should not be surprised to not get any explanation about the world. The mc's way of gathering information is a turn off for me because it's very telly; it didn't world build upon the country. This is high fantasy and I expected to have a great world building.

Overall, I will continue to read this. If you like a mix of comedy and seriousness, then this is might be for you. If you like pretty good characters and not just there to flock over the MC, this might be for you. <<less
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ErikHarrison
ErikHarrison rated it
July 6, 2021
Status: c72
Lets get comparisions to Eminence in Shadow out of the way.

It's not very similiar in execution just setup, I expect to see this trope pop up more if this also becomes succesful (similiar to the villianess or not evil villian tropes became popular).

The MC is likable but weirdly dense or highly perceptable, to the point he doesn't feel "tangable". Most of the story is borderline SoL and fight scenes are typically anticlimatic. None of the supporting cast stand out or actually ever fight, the MC fights pretty much exclusively. No... more>> magic system or defined strenght, MC is kills the strongest guy in a 1v1 on like chapter 3.

It's not bad, I enjoy the trope and wish to see other stories flesh it out and deconstruct it. This is a simple attempt which held my attention to the current chapter. <<less
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Novelty Tea
Novelty Tea rated it
July 5, 2021
Status: c18
Good concept, mediocre characters, horrible translation.

It's a mix between I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire and Eminence in Shadow.

Although the concept is good, the characters are really mediocre, I can't even remember the MC's name, other than the times when it is specifically mentioned. The backstories seem contrived and pointless, and the author drops random people into the story at random intervals. Author has introduced over 10 characters, yet only 3 matter.

A thing that the author never does is name the character, and it's really annoying, they all... more>> refer to the other party without a name, so it get's confusing who the hell is talking 90% of the time, flashbacks are random, and make zero sense in the context of the matter, and just generally s*upid.

Now, let me talk the translation. It's just plain horrible, it seems to have just put it into Deepl and uploaded it onto his website without the slightest proofreading or editing. alot of sentences are cut off into -'......', which is s*upid as it's always midsentence so I have to spend half a minute figuring out wtf the author meant by that. The grammar is horrible, the writing is convoluted, the website has an ad that stays on your screen for the entire time whilst blocking 1/8th of it. It's just plain lazy overfilled with annoying ad's that has almost made me want to copy paste the text into docs.

TL;DR Horrible translation and website, alright story. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
TalkNoJutsu
TalkNoJutsu rated it
November 12, 2022
Status: c140
The story itself is very good, the author be though is very annoying and childish. Creates a cliffhanger, then tries to sustain it by filling the next few chapters with different events, in the end making the reader unable to enjoy those chapters since he's looking forward to the cliffhanger getting resolved then getting annoyed. And the way the MC is always being kept away from the start of fights for any st*pid reason is just annoying
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ishira
ishira rated it
October 2, 2023
Status: c64
In short, it has similar setting as Eminence of the Shadow, but less refined. It has few inconsistency, blind spots, and less developed characters, although I don't know if I have to blame that to Author or to the Translator.

Easily recommended if you enjoy story like Cid's.

Edit : Downgraded the rating from 4 to 3 because I don't remember the story anymore. Left it alone for a few months and I already forgot the story. Usually some bits stick to me for a lot of series I read, but... more>> this one just melt away from my memories. <<less
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