Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: The Demon Awakens
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Kahthel.
The demon who had been slumbering had returned.
It had only been three years.
He arrogantly lifted his chin, rolling his eyes to survey his surroundings.
And then he spotted me sprawled face-down on the floor in an utterly pathetic pose and asked,
"Why are you lying there like that?"
"...Thanks to you."
"Hm?"
Kahthel made no effort to assess the situation.
He simply turned his gaze to the heroes standing nearby.
Despite being nothing more than a shut-in NEET who'd holed up in this room sleeping for three years, the bastard struck a pointless pose and opened his mouth.
"Thanks for giving my resurrection such a grand welcome."
The heroes didn't respond. They simply raised their weapons.
The sound of them gulping in tension reached my ears.
They hadn't anticipated him waking at this exact moment, nor were they particularly thrilled about it. But now that he was up, the heroes had only one course of action.
"...Hm."
With no real reaction from the heroes, Kahthel seemed somehow sullen.
He'd clearly been expecting more fear, more hysterics.
"What lackluster responses."
As Kahthel snapped his fingers, black energy seeped out.
The black energy spread widely from Kahthel at the center.
The black mist steadily blanketed the battlefield, slow but relentless, until it reached the heroes' domain.
The heroes held their tension as the unidentified mist enveloped them—but only for a moment.
-Krrrrrr….
Suddenly, red eyes gleamed within the pitch-black mist.
"Th-this is!"
"Magic beasts!"
The heroes panicked and staggered back.
From the intervals they'd observed between new magic beasts appearing earlier, the prevailing theory had been that summoning them took a significant amount of time.
They'd anticipated facing magic beasts alongside the demon, but no one had imagined the summoning could happen this instantaneously.
I'd seen countless magic beasts before, but this was the first time I'd witnessed one being summoned with my own eyes.
The magic beasts slowly emerged from the mist.
And the heroes were already shrouded within it.
"Hey! Don't scatter! Stick together!"
"You idiot! With beasts popping up right in front of us, you think that's possible?!"
Magic beasts appearing out of nowhere right up close, lunging at the heroes unbeknownst to them.
Terror gripped the heroes—the fear that a beast might appear right beside them, or behind, at any moment—plunging them into chaos.
The area around me was shrouded in mist as well.
Standing motionless amid the beasts slowly filling the space around me, I watched them.
"Anis."
Suddenly, someone called out from behind me. It was Betty.
I'd told her to hide somewhere safe, so why was she here?
She must have heard the explosion and come looking out of worry for me. It had been a massive blast, so it surely reached her ears even from afar.
"Lord Kahthel has awakened."
Betty muttered upon seeing the magic beasts filling the surroundings, then looked at my face and rushed over in surprise.
"You okay? Your nose is bleeding."
"...Betty."
When my face had hit the floor, it must have struck harder than I'd thought. Unbeknownst to me, blood was trickling from my nose.
Betty personally used her fingers to wipe the blood from my messy face.
"...Anis!"
And amid the unresolved chaos, Yoon Na-rin desperately called my name.
"Get over here!"
As if forcing herself to forget my refusal to turn back, she shouted.
She yelled that it was dangerous there, to come to her.
But despite her desperate cries, I gave no reply.
"You…!"
Her eyes were sad for only a moment before twisting into fury upon spotting Betty.
At the same time, a fireball roared to life in her hand.
"You…."
Betty reacted the same way.
She'd been wiping my face with her sleeve when she spotted Yoon Na-rin, her expression crumpling into a scowl.
But realizing I was ignoring Yoon Na-rin, she soon wore a mocking smile.
"Come on, Anis. Don't bother with her."
Betty placed a hand on my cheek and looked at Yoon Na-rin. It was blatant provocation.
I could have sworn she mouthed the word 'moron' or something similar.
Strange.
Betty would never hurl crude insults like that.
She'd hardly ever sworn in front of me.
For her to openly provoke like that—it couldn't be. Must've been my imagination.
-Fwoosh!
I turned to see a mass of flames hurtling toward Betty.
I reflexively swatted away the blazing orb.
-Boom!
A brilliant explosion rang out, accompanied by the sound of flesh searing.
"…Anis! You okay!?"
Betty and Yoon Na-rin cried out simultaneously, their voices thick with worry.
Far off, Han U-sol stared at me with wide, shocked eyes.
Strange.
I'd definitely enveloped my hand in mana to deflect it, yet I'd still gotten burned.
On the spot where my skin had peeled from fiddling with that bullet.
Yoon Na-rin's eyes shook violently upon seeing my wound.
She seemed deeply shocked at the fact that she had hurt me.
Not content with rubbing salt in the wound—she'd outright burned it.
It hurt.
It hurt like hell.
But I wouldn't get angry.
Betty wasn't dead or even seriously injured.
Considering everything you'd done to me, I could let you burn a hand.
Enduring the searing pain, I rolled my eyes around.
I surveyed the battlefield where heroes and magic beasts clashed.
Right before me stood Yoon Na-rin. A short distance away, Han U-sol watched me.
A bit farther, Daniel was swarmed by magic beasts, with Reisi and Fergus rushing to his aid right beside him.
And right next to me was Betty.
They were all gathered.
All in one place.
The people I'd once grown fond of, felt affection for.
I slowly looked at each of them in turn.
Betty, closest of all,
Yoon Na-rin.
Han U-sol.
Daniel.
Reisi.
Fergus.
And….
Rena's voice intruded.
I froze.
If the heroes had come here, then Han—who had been facing them—should have come along as well.
Why wasn't he visible, even now that the heroes had arrived?
Strange.
He'd said he wouldn't overdo it, just fight lightly.
That there was no way he'd die, and he'd retreat if things got dangerous.
That's what he'd said.
That's what he had said.
Yet even now, with Kahthel awake, he still hadn't appeared. Why?
"………."
Thump thump.
My heart began to race with dread.
As if she'd been waiting for this exact moment, Rena whispered to me once more.
The young girl glided across the ground like silk, emerging from the mist with elegant, dignified steps.
And then came three graceful claps that echoed with poise.
Three measured claps, perfectly timed, neither excessive nor lacking.
Clap, clap, clap.
The girl smiled.
Rockbell lay dead at my feet, his eyes vacant.
"…Damn it."
Aselrica bit her lip.
Things had gotten tangled. Royally tangled.
She hadn't taken Camilla's word that Kahthel was still far from waking at face value.
On the contrary, she'd assumed it might happen imminently. Better to plan for the worst than hope for the best.
That's why she'd moved so swiftly to wrap things up quickly.
Even more so.
She hadn't expected him to wake this soon.
And at this timing, of all times.
'…No choice but to retreat.'
Tangled.
Royally tangled.
The area was crawling with magic beasts, formations long since meaningless.
And the black mist pouring from the summoning blotted out the moonlight, hindering visibility.
"Retreat! Han U-sol! Snap out of it!!"
Worse, Han U-sol—their strongest counter to the beasts—was lost in shock, his mind elsewhere. The odds were abysmal.
The silver lining: the heroes hadn't fallen into full panic.
Hardened by repeated training and real combat, they were tougher than expected.
At the retreat order, they withdrew in perfect order.
And Han U-sol's created weapons proved invaluable in the process.
"No need to kill the beasts! Priority is getting out of the mist!"
"One bullet will slow them down! Use the opening to pull back!"
With the lethal weapons against the beasts, the heroes successfully retreated from the mist without major casualties.
Barring any major interference, they could withdraw safely like this.
'Anis Harper….'
Once out of the mist, Aselrica's first priority was locating Anis.
Kahthel was keeping his distance, showing no intent to pursue. The only real threat among them seemed to be Anis.
'…Gone?'
Anis was nowhere to be seen.
She'd been right there moments ago, but in the blink of an eye, vanished.
A scan of the surroundings yielded the same result. No sign of her.
Had Betty's ability teleported her?
Aselrica paused warily for a potential ambush, but sensing none, she rallied the heroes.
"Fall back!"
Leading the withdrawal, she glanced behind.
The plan to end everything before the demon awoke had amounted to killing just one traitor before failing spectacularly.
The demon was awake, and a powered-up demon would spawn even more magic beasts going forward.
"………."
Aselrica bowed her head in frustration.
The objective had failed.
Now, it was time to prepare for what came next.
Corpses littered the ground.
Bodies bisected horizontally, headless ones, those with limbs torn off, entrails crushed—all lay equally in place.
Slum bugs—the kind you saw everywhere in the shanties—crawled over them.
As if they'd always lived there, they scurried across the corpses like it was their home.
Betty and I advanced, stepping over the bodies.
Deeper, deeper.
The closer we got to the center, the more corpses lay on the ground to greet us.
Everything but the sky was red.
The only things with color here were Betty and me—and the bugs devouring the corpses.
At the innermost point, a single corpse greeted us.
As if by some unspoken agreement, Betty and I both gasped.
The corpse was missing its left eye.
Its abdomen was deeply split, entrails faintly visible.
Its left arm was gone, and its right wrist partially severed.
Various marks from large and small weapons scarred its body here and there.
Its mouth bore light tearing wounds, as if from biting a sword.
A deep gash pierced the clavicle between neck and chest.
A small bullet hole marked the center of its forehead.
And, and, and….
And.
Rarely, its eyes were closed in death.
"Han……."
In the end, Betty couldn't hold back and began to sob.
Tears welled in her eyes and streamed fiercely down her cheeks.
I stared down at the horrific corpse, body rigid.
"………."
Han.
Betty's crying.
Loud enough to shake the world.
Even Betty, who followed my lead in treating you casually, seems saddened by your death.
As for me.
I don't really know.
Is this really you?
It's so gruesome, maybe it just doesn't feel real.
My stomach's too weak; I don't even have the courage to confirm if this lump of meat is truly you.
"………."
Betty wept for a long time.
A really long time.
…As for me, I just stood there blankly.
Utterly blankly, rooted to the spot.
Inconsiderate as ever, he chattered away in my head.