Episode 044.
“Hmph! Are we supposed to call this full strength?”
“I won’t be expecting anything. Just try not to get in the way.”
Before departing for the east, the hero let out a snicker.
“…….”
The other hero was no different.
They shook their heads as if they found the whole thing pathetic.
“…….”
“…….”
Seria and Rain looked at each other and frowned slightly.
They had no choice.
Hadn’t they been disgracefully crushed by one of the Four Heavenly Kings not long ago?
The soldiers might not know, but the heroes were now openly laughing at them.
The only fortunate thing was that they still believed the one who defeated them had been one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
If it became known that they had lost to a B-rank monster…
They did not even want to imagine it.
“Let’s go too.”
The main body of the subjugation army had already set out earlier,
and Seria’s group, under the pretext of being a small reconnaissance unit, belatedly stepped into the teleport gate.
With tearful expressions like heroines facing a trial,
“Just you wait… once Tanas comes back…”
“That’s right. If only Tanas had been there…”
It was a baseless delusion, as though finding the Hero of Recovery would put everything back where it belonged.
If someone else had seen their conversation, they might have worried, “Are they mentally unwell?” but unfortunately, only the girls were there.
But now, their suffering was over.
All that remained was to return to the way things used to be.
Running on that happy fantasy, Seria, Arshe, and the other girls stepped into the lingering glow of the teleportation magic.
Shooook─
“We greet the kingdom’s protectors.”
After joining up with the knights and mages waiting on the eastern front, Seria’s group headed for Artem first.
It was because they had obtained information that Tanas had been seen there.
“Pardon? Did you say Artem?”
Originally, their mission should have been to tour the front lines and check whether anything seemed amiss…
It was blatant disobedience of orders.
A kingdom knight asked in puzzlement,
“Lady Seria, may I ask why you are going there?”
“It is the goddess’s guidance.”
At that one sentence, he had no choice but to shut his mouth.
‘If I say it is, what’s he going to do about it?’
After glaring once at the kingdom knight, Seria continued traveling by carriage.
Then,
“Lurein.”
“Did you feel it?”
“You too?”
The four girls nodded at the same time, then spoke to the knight outside the window.
“Wait a moment.”
“Lady Seria? What are you…”
“Not Artem. Go that way, to that canyon over there.”
Should one call it a childhood friend’s intuition?
In any case, something difficult to put into words seemed to be calling to her.
To be precise, it was the remnants of a fading blessing.
But it seemed to be telling her Tanas’s location.
‘Isn’t this truly fated…?’
That was what she thought.
“Lady Seria… our mission is, strictly speaking, to inspect the foremost region and determine whether there is a threat befitting the goddess’s oracle…”
The kingdom knight frowned at this sudden action, but
“It is the goddess’s guidance.”
“…….”
At that one sentence, he once again became as silent as if he had honey in his mouth.
It was no different from a kind of cheat code.
What was he going to do?
Despite the opposition of the kingdom knights and mages, they forced their way deeper into the canyon.
“Kerek! Kerrrrek!”
“Kkii-kkii! Kekeke!”
As if they had been waiting, hundreds of goblins blocked the road.
However,
“Explosion!”
Kwaaaaaang─!
Flames erupting from the staff burned hundreds of goblins to ash in an instant.
“As expected of Lurein, the greatest genius of this era produced by the Magic Tower…!”
“To think she has this much firepower even when her body isn’t in perfect condition!”
Arshe likewise swung her sword and cut down the goblins.
Making a mockery of the name “reconnaissance unit,” they recklessly unleashed wide-area attacks and noisily slaughtered the goblins.
Of course, it was not without sacrifice.
“Third squad, where is third squad?”
“They were isolated earlier while blocking the rear… If we go to rescue them even now…”
The knight glanced at the hero’s party, but
“We don’t have time for this. We have to move inside as quickly as possible.”
“That’s right. It was an unavoidable sacrifice.”
“Hurry up! We don’t know when the goblins will swarm us again.”
Rain, Arshe, Seria, Lurein, the members of the hero party—
not one of them agreed.
“Seria, look over there.”
“Hm? A barrier? Did the monsters put it up? Lurein, check it for me.”
“No, this is… no. It’s a barrier that blocks monsters from entering.”
“Who would do something like this out of nowhere…? Isn’t it too suspicious?”
“It doesn’t matter who it was. One thing is certain: it’s blocking our passage.”
Arshe said this without hiding her displeasure.
The very fact that some nameless barrier was blocking their path when they had come to save the world as members of the hero party irritated her.
“Then just break it.”
At that moment, the kingdom knight stopped her.
“Sir Arshe, this is surely a barrier placed to hold back the goblins. If you recklessly dispel it…”
“Silence. Are you saying you dare defy me, Arshe the Iron Wall, the proxy of the Tyr Order?”
“…….”
Kwaang!
Kugugugung─
The first barrier shattered with an explosive roar.
But after that, dozens more barriers blocked their way.
Seeing the defensive layers piled up like onion skins, Seria narrowed her brow.
“Let’s break them all.”
“But Lady Seria, this barrier blocks demonic energy. No matter how I look at it, it seems to have been installed by our allies…”
The kingdom mages sensed something was wrong and tried to dissuade her, but
“Our allies are blocking the hero’s path? This is either an enemy trap, or sabotage by someone trying to monopolize the achievement! Lurein, what are you doing? Hurry up and break it!”
As Seria declared this, Lurein’s staff shone once more.
“What the hell is this? How many layers did they put up!”
“This is starting to seriously piss me off…!”
Kwaaaaaaang─!!
The girls kept pouring out their mana and smashing the barriers one after another.
Then the number of goblins attacking from the rear began to increase noticeably,
and the mana waves that leaked out in the process were enough to draw the attention of the holy knights, adventurers, and mercenaries guarding the entrance to the cavern.
“Hurry!”
“Just smash it apart!”
Now they couldn’t stop.
The number of goblins had grown beyond what the knights could handle.
“Huh? This is…”
“It’s a holy magic circle… What do we do?”
All four girls fell silent for a moment.
“…….”
But they had already come this far.
“Let’s just break it. We need to check what’s inside first.”
“Let’s get inside and think after securing a position.”
Just as they were about to destroy the final holy magic circle,
“Stop! Who the hell are you!”
“What do you think you’re doing!!”
An arrow flew out of the darkness and struck the ground at the girls’ feet.
A paltry warning shot.
However, Arshe’s face twisted as she shouted.
After the incidents before,
her pride had already been deeply cracked, so she reacted sensitively even to this.
“You dare attack us, the kingdom’s heroes?”
As if agreeing with her words, Lurein also frowned in displeasure and swung her staff.
“You’re in the way! Explosion!!”
Kwaaaaaaaang─!
“Th-those lunatics!”
“No!!!”
When the explosion of flame struck the layer outside the holy magic circle, a massive boom rang out and thick dust scattered.
Fragments flew in all directions, and in an instant, the place turned into chaos.
“Cough, cough! Intruders! Block the entrance!”
“They might be dark mages who lured the goblins here! Be careful!”
“Damn it! Zeke! Kael is missing! He must have slipped out during that explosion!”
“What? Damn it…! Find him, now! He couldn’t have gotten far with those legs!”
As the dust slowly cleared amid the commotion, Milene stared at the intruders in shock and aimed her weapon at them.
Behind them were swarming monsters; before them were people blocking the entrance…
But the intruders only stared blankly at the dungeon entrance.
“…It’s there, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. I wasn’t sure before, but now I know for certain.”
“So you were there…”
And then they grinned.
As if they had found something.
**********
Slice!
The moment his head hit the floor, I immediately swung my sword and tore his body apart in all directions.
“Urk…!”
Before black blood could even spray from the severed surfaces, another flash of my blade swept through, and only fragments of what had once been a demon’s body scattered messily across the floor.
“W-wow…”
“Is it… is it over? Really?”
Behind me, Gran and the holy knights, who had been dealing with the remaining goblins, shouted in a daze.
In their eyes, this situation must have looked like a miracle.
The apostle who had been trying to command thousands of goblins had been turned into finely minced meat and vanished in vain.
But this wasn’t a miracle. It was a kind of shortcut.
‘Normally, we would’ve been stopped by monsters and unable to even get near the boss, forcing us to break through by sheer force…’
But this wasn’t a game.
If the boss was stupid enough to walk up and recite his lines, then I just had to cut off his head.
Second phase?
Transformation?
Why would I wait for that?
The apostle was gone now.
He had merely become well-minced scraps of meat…
“Old man, get some rest. We can finally catch our breath.”
I shook off my sword and looked back at Gareth.
But Gareth still had a stiff expression, gripping his black bow even tighter.
“…This is ominous. The air hasn’t settled at all…”
At that moment,
++
[Warning!]
[An evil power is gathering!]
[The Death God’s authority has taken root in the apostle’s body.]
[Exercise caution!]
[The Death God may descend in person!]
++
“So that was it…!”
Gareth broke into a cold sweat and quickly stepped back.
The fragments that had become ash gathered one by one toward the center, forming a black mist… no, a black sphere, and slowly began increasing in size.
“Im-impossible!”
“What is this wicked mana…!”
The holy knights and priests cried out in horror.
“M-Master!”
“Tanas! What are you doing! Hurry and get over here!”
The sphere filled with dense mana grew larger and larger,
and everyone present instinctively knew.
The moment that thing was completed,
true terror would awaken…
Of course,
that would not happen.
++
[Notice: The effect of the holy magic circle has blocked ‘Return to Death.’]
[The ‘Power of the Death God’ bestowed upon Apostle Malkion is disappearing as is.]
++
I had prepared for it.
“Huh?”
“Its size is…”
Even if I had recruited Prisia and Gareth, fighting that thing head-on by the proper method would have been practically suicidal.
Normally, this was how you cleared the Death God scenario.
That was why I had even used the magic stone of Invium
to create the holy magic circle and dozens of layered barriers in advance, wasn’t it?
Not just an apostle—his grandfather could come and he still wouldn’t revive.
“Hmph… Kid, so you had everything planned out.”
“Of course. Did you think I just came here without a plan?”
“A-as expected of my master!”
“Now then…”
Before I could even finish speaking,
Kugugugugung─!!
A tremendous tremor rang out, as if the entire cavern were screaming.
“Kyaa!”
“Dodge!”
Boulders the size of houses fell from the ceiling,
and the floor split apart with a crack as if it were a living creature.
“Wh-what is this all of a sudden!?”
“Is the dungeon collapsing? Is it because we defeated the apostle?”
Beyond the panicked screams of the adventurers, an ominous sound was heard.
++
[Warning!]
[The holy magic circle has been destroyed!]
[Barrier damage rate 100%. The seal has been released.]
[An evil power is gathering in one place again.]
++
“…….”
An utterly absurd sigh escaped me.
They say an unlucky bastard will break his nose even if he falls backward,
and that was exactly my situation.
I had prepared in double, no, triple and quadruple layers, and still this happened?
Milene and Zeke were holding the line outside,
and I had deliberately separated Baros and Kael beforehand.
On top of that, I had even used the magic stone of Invium to maintain the mana for the holy magic circle and barriers, and yet the result was…
“Which son of a bitch…”
It wasn’t the goblins. Even a million of them couldn’t have done it.
What kind of lunatic had smashed all of that in less than a day?
“Kahahahaha! There will be no place for you in the heavenly realm…!”
The lumps of flesh spewed out black smoke and clumped together again.
No,
this wasn’t regeneration.
As if time itself were being rewound,
it was a powerful authority activated through the medium of someone’s power.
[Warning: The Death God’s avatar is descending.]
Pitch-black darkness exploded at the center of the altar.
It was on a completely different level from the deathly aura I had felt just moments ago…
An overwhelming pressure that gnawed at the soul simply by existing.
“M-Master…”
Prisia, her face pale, clutched tightly at my clothes.
“K-kid… that thing’s on a whole different level from the guy before…”
What else was there to do?
“Run.”
“…Pardon?”
When I shoved my sword into its sheath and spat the word out, everyone stared blankly at me.
This time, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“I said run! Everyone, get out of here!”
The destruction of the continent had arrived.
##