Chapter 198
Chapter 198
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: 57-2. The Hero Confronts the Demon King.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pine Granasia lost consciousness, then came to.
A chill seeped into her helmet from the cold floor beneath. No matter where she looked, all she saw was darkness.
"...Where is this...?"
It was similar to the place where Licht and Kainel were trapped, but different.
Subspaces could create entirely separate realms, like leaves chewed through by insects.
She had clearly been smashed into the ground by the giant god's attack.
Thanks to Licht's foresight, the Masterpiece she was already wearing had kept her unharmed.
"...Mardol? You got sucked in here too?"
Then, a familiar voice came from behind her. An elf mage with distinctive twintails.
"Ariel...?"
"What do we do...! You can't get caught too!"
But Ariel was looking down with her red eyes, on the verge of tears.
The moment Pine sensed something off about her, a crushing pressure bore down on her body with a grinding kuguguk.
'It's the Authority of Powerlessness. I've been hit.'
Strength drained from her entire body, replaced by the weight of heavy chains. She'd felt this sensation before.
Even as she thrashed to move, Pine couldn't budge.
"Professor Dennis cast a magic circle on us... but I'm the only one who can move...!"
Pine collapsed face-first onto the cold ground again with a thud, finally grasping the situation.
The professors, including Drake and Dennis, were stuck to the ground like glued gum, unable to rise.
Thankfully, the students hadn't suffered major injuries, thanks to the 3D Magic Circle that had blocked the giant god's attack.
"Mardol...!! No...!! Get up...!!"
A halo of light enveloped only Ariel's surroundings. A protective barrier from the Light Holy Sword.
Kainel had cast it on his lover before being dragged away by Finn.
The Blazing Flame Mage strained to lift the fallen Pine but failed.
Pine's consciousness was fading as blood failed to reach her head.
'...I should have protected Soo-hyun.'
Even through her blurring vision, she pictured the man in the Black Knight helmet.
A hero from another world.
He always rushed ahead to save others, yet harbored deeper wounds than anyone.
'....'
He felt pain from sword cuts, swallowing agony in secret. A fragile soul.
Chosen hero or not, he was no different.
From watching him closely, she knew he was just human.
Only Pine, who had nursed him after the final battle with the Head, knew this.
That was likely when she began seeing him as precious.
Even recently, the lingering wounds on Licht's body. That was why she'd used healing magic on him.
The foolish man who dove into the valley stream without hesitation to save her.
'......You're too soft.'
She'd changed since meeting the Black Knight. He'd always swung his sword in solitude before.
His words and actions warmed her like medicine on a wounded wolf's injuries.
Now, just thinking of him not being by her side filled her with dread.
He was too innocent and pure for someone like her—imperial princess of the Granasia Empire—to covet.
Lee Soo-hyun and Pine Granasia's hearts were linked. Now, only one clear beat resonated, no longer overlapping.
'I have to help Soo-hyun.'
Kuduk. Pine gripped the ground with her hand.
She endured the overwhelming pressure.
Grinding her teeth against the vibrating Authority in the air, the Glass Knight straightened up, breathing raggedly.
"...Mardol? How...?"
Ariel gaped at her overcoming the Authority.
Golden wolf eyes flickered within the glass helmet.
"Ariel, fire your strongest spell straight ahead."
Those eyes pierced toward hidden foes.
"O-Okay...!"
A magic circle unfurled from Ariel's palm, launching a flaming orb with a dragon's head. It cleaved through the darkness, exploding in bursts like fireworks.
Kung.
Then, a massive white leg descended from above like a pillar, revealing the hidden Infinity.
"Wha...? How did you know? Finn oppa said you wouldn't notice if I hid here...!"
The blue-haired woman couldn't hide her bewilderment. She'd hidden using the dark space, save for the floor.
The moment another Demon King of Powerlessness appeared, Pine charged with her sword drawn.
This woman wasn't a true Demon King. Just a fake mimicking the shell.
Pine recalled the temple incident.
The corpse that turned to a pile of cards upon Licht's slash. The sticky bloodstains on its mouth.
All illusions crafted by Magic Hat. Paper dolls made of cards.
She recognized the truth from a similar childhood experience in the palace.
Kwang! Kwang! Like stomping ants, Infinity's attacks targeted Pine. Shadows loomed overhead.
As space warped and pulled at her, Pine leaped, ready to sacrifice an arm or two.
Fireworks erupted at the giant god's foot, the explosions clearing a path to the Demon King.
"Pine!! Don't worry, come closer!!"
Pine glanced back at sweat-drenched Ariel.
The Blazing Flame Mage blocked the Demon King's assaults while casting to aid the Glass Knight.
"Wha...? How are you here...?"
Infinity panicked as Pine closed in. She should have been immobilized by the Authority.
How could someone not a hero move like this?
Even with the Light Holy Sword's protection on that mage, the Glass Knight drawing her blade was unnatural.
Pine Granasia reached Infinity.
She attempted the technique she'd failed in the grade exam. Mimicking her father.
What Licht had practiced in the training grounds.
Shed greed. Relax fully, target weakness.
Grip hard at the end to cleave.
She slowly raised her sword skyward—
"Heart Slash."
⟨ Heart Slash ⟩
Replicating Emperor Locke's axe strike.
Kwaang! Air burst with the sound.
"Kaaaaak!!"
Infinity split in half, crumbling into a card pile.
I thought we'd killed Finn. What was this scene?
"...Kuh, kuahaha."
I'd severed her head, but a new one sprouted from the neck.
Not a scratch from prior wounds. Kainel and I froze.
This Finn looked like someone else entirely.
Purple from head to toe.
Short hair now long and flowing, a mix of red and blue hues.
"In the end, forcibly reviving my dead little sister was impossible."
My sword-grip hand trembled instinctively.
Phase 3?
Unlike what I knew, the Demon King of Powerlessness was two.
Cyclops split upper and lower body; it hadn't used Authority against Pine.
Her pre-death laugh mentioning Infinity nagged me.
Perhaps one personality split in two.
Or twins merged. Possibilities abounded.
These Demon Kings were all mad.
"Hey, Licht, was it? I'm truly impressed with you all."
The Demon King smiled at us, eyes curved like hooks. Chilling.
"Licht. That guy's form..."
"Probably her true nature."
Blood's metallic tang filled my mouth. How to fight this?
Force (Muryeok) and Powerlessness (Muryeok).
A corrupted hero wielding contradictory powers as a Demon King.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I am Infinity."
The purple-haired Demon King seemed calm, unlike her prior frenzy.
As I lunged with my Heart Sword at her open arms—
"....Let's have more fun, heroes."
The scenery warped. Infinity vanished as my Heart Sword hit the ground.
"Licht...?"
"Kai!! You're alive!!"
After the ripple, Pine and Ariel appeared before me.
Scattered cards suggested they'd handled the sister.
"Ariel... anywhere hurt?"
"Pine, were you in another subspace?"
In my urgency, I couldn't even use her alias.
If the Demon King was truly dead, the Authority should lift.
But the subspace persisted.
Danger remained. I scanned for the Demon King.
"Yeah, Ariel and I took care of it."
Pine recounted obliviously.
"...Huh? But where are the professors? They were with us..."
Sharp Ariel noticed the anomaly amid chaos.
The people trapped with them were gone.
"Kainel, raise a Light Holy Sword barrier now!!"
Damn, the Ten Heroes were isolated to hinder us.
A void space existing only for us four.
"To think the prophesied hero was really at the academy."
The voice came from above. The Demon King of Powerlessness floated midair.
Behind her, the Cyclops reformed, upper and lower united.
"So you're the Beloved Hero."
Blindingly white giant god at her side, Infinity named a hero I'd never heard.