Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Doubt and Faith
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“Permission denied.”
“Pardon?”
“The Hero is an absolute asset. We can’t just let such power wander off freely. If something happens to her, it would be a massive loss of strength. There are still suspicions, so I’ll assign a watcher.”
“……Understood.”
Sage bowed her head at the king’s firm refusal.
It was practically impossible to sway his will to keep her here.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
“I believe you’ll grow even stronger than this. For the kingdom, for the continent, please keep striving.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Sage offered her respects and withdrew.
“Sir Bergio, please console her a bit.”
“Yes, sire.”
The Hero Sage felt a deep sense of helplessness.
Her instincts were screaming a warning, yet with her current abilities, she couldn’t act on it.
Were her instincts wrong?
Or was the holy sword mistaken?
Either way, it was fatal.
It meant her training was insufficient.
“Is it bothering you that much?”
Sage couldn’t turn at the sound of Bergio’s voice from behind.
She was ashamed of her own powerlessness.
“…Yes, it’s bothering me.”
Sage’s voice trembled with emotion as she forced the words out.
“Why is it bothering you?”
“Because my training wasn’t enough. I don’t even have the skill to prove my suspicions… It’s pathetic.”
“That’s enough.”
“What do you mean?”
She still couldn’t bring herself to look back.
She lacked the courage to face Bergio’s encouraging expression.
What if he was smirking?
She knew he wasn’t the type to mock her, but she couldn’t be sure.
Her rural village had always been full of lies.
Her birth mother, insisting she was fine and not to worry.
Her father, treating her like a servant after her mother’s death.
Her stepmother, who beat her while lying about there being no inheritance after her father died.
The sleazy innkeeper who exploited her after she barely escaped.
Everyone around her had been a liar.
That is, until she inherited the Hero’s power.
Even now, she couldn’t bear to watch the faces of those who smiled at her usefulness change in an instant.
“Doing it again? Thinking I’m lying to you?”
Thud. Thud.
Bergio’s footsteps approached.
He stepped around in front of her.
“Look. See what expression I’m making.”
“……”
Bergio wore a warm smile.
“You can do it. You’ve grown so well already. From an ignorant country girl to a proper Hero. Not many in the world could achieve that.”
He wiped the tears from Sage’s cheek.
As his hot, thick hand touched her skin, she felt her heart ease without realizing it.
The anxiety she’d felt moments ago melted away.
“So, take heart. If you steel yourself before the Demon King descends, you’ll overcome even greater hardships.”
A smile creased his wrinkled face.
“You’re not saying it won’t be tough.”
“That would be a lie. I want to be honest with you. Knowing your wounds……”
Bergio, who had wiped her tears, gave her a kind smile.
“Trust your instincts. No matter how superior the holy sword is, it can’t grow as fast as your body. Remember, it’s just a tool to amplify your power.”
It was advice from a Swordmaster.
Someday, she’d be able to use the wisdom he’d shared so casually.
Sage stared blankly at Bergio.
Bergio was over fifty. Yet as a Swordmaster, he looked young enough to pass for mid-thirties. They said reaching the absolute realm rejuvenated the body.
She had just turned twenty.
A ten-year difference if he were thirty……
She felt her heart pounding without knowing why.
Are you insane?
She couldn’t let herself get drunk on the security Bergio provided.
She mustn’t relax if she wanted to grow on her own.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. Now, let’s go train. I’ll keep an eye on those two mages.”
“Yes!”
Bergio ruffled Sage’s hair.
It was his habit to boost her spirits.
Normally, she would have hated it.
Thump thump.
Her heart kept racing.
“Haa, haa.”
The two priestesses, having spent an intense and steamy night together, still hadn’t come to their senses.
I laid them down on the bed.
“Hnggg!!!”
Spluuurt!
Just from moving their bodies to lay them down, Amy and Rebecca squirted out the semen stored in their wombs.
The bedsheets were soaked, but since they’d just soak them again, I left them as is.
They’d clean up properly tomorrow.
After settling them in bed, I headed up to the first underground floor.
“I-Is this the place?”
“Oh, you heard it too?”
“Dragging us all the way here means your brother’s got the same idea, right?”
Even now, adventurers seeking to indulge their lewd desires had come to our dungeon.
At this hour of the night.
Both men and women seemed to know the dungeon’s true nature and came accordingly.
Do they think this is a motel?
They were here because of the rumors I’d deliberately spread.
But I hadn’t called them for that.
I’d summoned them to vent their filthy desires—and make one of them taste utter despair.
Then the despairing woman would either take her own life or venture deep into the dungeon.
That was how dungeons fed in the past, so I was giving it a try.
If I’d seen this in the arena, I might have ignored it……
I wasn’t generous enough to let the cheating couple before me slide.
I approached the adventurer party.
“Hey.”
“What, guests already? Sorry, how soon will you be f——”
The man couldn’t finish his sentence.
Slash.
The male adventurer’s head flew high into the air.
Blood spurted from the clean-cut neck after a delay.
“Huh?”
The female adventurer finally noticed the headless corpse.
Terror twisted her face late, a scream about to escape her lips.
“Shut it.”
“Mmph!!!”
I clamped her mouth shut.
“This isn’t a motel for bitches like you. It’s a dungeon.”
“Mmph!”
“One of you two gets to taste utter despair. That’s the rule here.”
I tore the woman’s clothes off.
Riiip!
“He got off easy, so you’ll taste the despair in his place.”
I thrust my cock into the female adventurer’s pussy.
I could feel her folds crumpling around my shaft.
Pathetic.
The tightness, the chewy texture— all subpar.
“Haaang, haaaang. Ohhh!!”
I jerked off inside the unconscious woman’s pussy and unleashed my semen.
Too weak to withstand my power, the female adventurer couldn’t handle it.
Fwoosh!
“Not even proper experience points.”
Tsking at the woman who’d dissolved into light, I descended deeper into the dungeon.
In the plaza at the heart of the depths, I threw a punch.
Bang!
The air tore with the sound.
My power had indeed grown stronger.
Not just physical strength, but my sexual technique and cock rigidity too.
It reached deeper now.
And not just reaching—it could pulverize her pussy.
I could vividly feel the sensation of crushing her cervix and womb.
Even sturdy Amy passed out in one go.
Thanks to Rayleigh and Kina?
I’d absorbed their immense power.
The level-up messages had poured in.
Getting stronger is a good thing.
Especially since Dibel Forest became my domain, my growth rate had accelerated.
The list was much longer now than when I first descended here.
Level 17.
I wasn’t sure exactly how strong that was.
Adventurers in this game weren’t ranked by levels anyway.
They used A-rank, B-rank, S-rank.
I’d beaten Frederike, called Special A-rank, and withstood a joint attack from two sixth-ranked mages at least A-rank.
At least Special A-rank, possibly up to S-rank.
…That’s what I’ll assume.
[Owned Dungeons: Dibel Forest, Dibel Dungeon]
I checked the new Owned Dungeons entry again.
It must have appeared thanks to the new dungeon slot from killing the Lord of Dibel Forest.
I recalled the message about turning the forest into a dungeon.
Because I hadn’t desolated it and left it be?
“Looks useful.”
Facing a kingdom’s regular army with just a single cave dungeon was nearly impossible.
Which meant.
Dungeonizing the forest was the way.
But simply adding more traps wouldn’t cut it.
Dungeons were ultimately built on monsters.
I thought of the 3-star monster summon ticket I’d gotten from fighting the max-level rabbit.
Assuming me and my minions faced an enemy nation’s elites, the most efficient monsters would be large ones like ogres.
I needed monsters that could smash soldiers outright.
Or chimeric types that intimidated foes visually.
“Wonder what’ll come out.”
Using the summon ticket, light enveloped me.
“Grroooar!”
It was a 3-star monster, the Red Troll.
A troll variant slower than normal trolls but compensating with brute strength to ravage enemies.
“Lucky.”
A monster that took a full party of five B-ranks or an A-rank to defeat.
The summoned Red Troll bowed its head to me.
“Groar.”
Like a tame puppy.
After that, I used experience points to summon as many 2-star monsters as possible.
Kobolds, orcs, fire bears, giant spiders, etc.
No special traits attached.
I didn’t need elites. Just numbers.
Dozens of monsters stood alongside the Red Troll.
Even huddled together with natural predators, they didn’t devour or fight each other.
Because they were under my dominion.
They’d clash if numbers swelled too much, but not yet.
“Go on then. Find your habitats yourselves.”
The monsters scattered in perfect order.
Monsters summoned.
Now, over the next two weeks, I’d install traps all over the forest and dungeon.
“Welcome, knight.”
Alcom, the village chief of Lorangleble, greeted the knight from Mir City.
“I am Iffen, knight of Mir City. You’re the chief of Lorangleble, correct?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Straight to the point. Are the kingdom’s mages still in the dungeon?”
“Yes. They said they’d explore for about a month when they entered, bringing a month’s worth of food and water. It’s been two weeks, so they’ll return in another two.”
“The messenger didn’t mention that.”
“I was too flustered at the time……”
The knight, clad head to toe in plate armor, exuded the pressure of a bear.
Alcom trembled just standing there.
He desperately wanted to collapse and confess everything.
But having faced the Demon King once, Alcom was certain no knight, no matter how strong, could defeat him.
The presence was different.
The Demon King made him kneel without a thought of resistance.
So he had to endure.
To save his life.
To avoid dying a pathetic old age and preserve his youth.
“It’s true, sir.”
Trembling under the pressure, Alcom refused to bend his knee.