Chapter 141
Chapter 141
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: The Path to the Last Heavenly King
After successfully defeating Memoria, we were briefly discussing our future plans.
"The place we should head to next... is undoubtedly the territory guarded by Romulus."
Kyle unfolded a map, pointed his finger at the land of the last remaining Heavenly King, and spoke. The final Heavenly King, known as the Time-Devouring Wolf. The land ruled by Romulus was right in front of the castle where the Demon King Ergothum resided.
If we don't deal with this one first, we won't be able to go kill the Demon King Ergothum. After all, the reason we defeated the Heavenly Kings was to reduce his forces in the first place.
"The reason he's called the Time-Devouring Wolf is likely due to the incident where he turned an entire kingdom's order of knights into old men."
Victoria spoke up with a somewhat uneasy expression. The story of an entire knight order composed of young men transforming into aged people, collapsing on the battlefield unable to bear the weight of their armor, was famous across the continent.
There was even a legend that those who were already old, like the knight commander, turned into skeletons and were only identified by the swords they held or their family crests.
"It's highly probable he possesses an ability to skip through time. Just like the other Heavenly Kings did."
Endless Dream, Succubus Queen Bellamora Lictis.
> The Unbeatable Knight, Death Knight Durahan.
>
The Memory-Eating Slime, Memoria.
Thinking of the epithets of the Heavenly Kings we had defeated so far, I was pondering how we should go about defeating Romulus.
p>Since he's a monster in the form of a wolf, perhaps we could use his physical structural limitations to our advantage by digging pits or setting traps.
The reason we were able to defeat Memoria this time was also because we exploited his innate limitations.
"Lord Astal, within the legacy magic space, you were clearly able to slow down time, weren't you? I think that could be helpful against Romulus too."
"That was possible because I separated that legacy magic space and made time flow slowly only within it. I can't make it large enough to swallow a whole wolf."
I shook my head at Victoria's suggestion, expressing regret. To counter Romulus, who is presumed to have the ability to accelerate time, we would need some kind of countermeasure like that.
As I've said before, magic that reverses time is considered taboo, called 'rebellion against heaven,' even among mages.
"But, if he really can manipulate the flow of time..., there's one thing I don't understand."
I told Victoria, who looked disappointed, and the others about what I had been thinking.
"Something you don't understand? What is it?"
"If he could truly send another being into the distant future or make time flow faster, wouldn't he have tried to counter us earlier?"
The current situation is that three out of the four Heavenly Kings have been defeated. If Romulus had known this fact in advance, he should have taken action before this outcome occurred.
"You mean his time-devouring ability has limitations?"
"Yes. Either he can only send beings other than himself into the distant future, or perhaps the future is already determined."
If he could freely travel through time himself, he could have gone back to when we were infants and snuffed out our lives beforehand.
"...Or perhaps the reason the Demon King Ergothum tried to kill Lord Astal is because of Romulus. There's no rule saying he can't send his own allies into the future."
Victoria nodded, agreeing with my opinion. In the end, the abilities of the Heavenly Kings, which we thought were absolutely impossible to counter, all had some weakness or clear limitation.
As we are doing now, understanding the opponent's abilities and fighting accordingly is the most important thing.
"...Or perhaps there really is another god behind him."
Considering the reasons gods cannot directly influence the mortal world and the concept of 'routes,' it would be stranger if there wasn't a god governing such things.
"Arian. The existence Memoria mentioned before dying might be a god."
"Do you believe his final death throes? Couldn't it be a lie he concocted to cause us trouble?"
"It's hard to say that, because Ergothum and Romulus's actions are far too suspicious. If they wanted to kill us, wouldn't it have been better for them all to gather in one place and attack us together?"
I was a bit suspicious of the clue Memoria left us: Arian. It seemed to me that he hadn't shown his face even while his close aides, the Heavenly Kings, were almost all dead, as if he was waiting for us to arrive at the Demon King's castle.
"If that were the case, perhaps Lord Astal would have completely annihilated everything with magic, or they judged that not managing other territories would lead to the Demon Realm's lands being consumed."
Taryon's opinion wasn't entirely wrong either. In a world with swords, magic, spirits, and divine power, deploying troops separately like this is also a way to reduce risk.
As with the knight order defeated by Romulus we just discussed, there were cases where many weaklings gathered together could not defeat a single strong foe.
"In the end, we'll only know when we meet them face to face. Whatever goals the Demon King or Romulus may have, we have to kill them."
I said this while examining the map for the fastest route to where Romulus was located.
"The distance isn't that far from here... The problem is what we should ride to get there."
I crossed my arms and pondered for a moment. We need to deal with him quickly before the news of Memoria's defeat spreads, so that killing the Demon King will be easier too.
Unlike last time, the Oblivion we were currently in had no witnesses around. Memoria's excessive obsession with humans was working in our favor, making the situation more advantageous.
"Can't we just take a carriage?"
"The territory ruled by Romulus is famous for being called the Graveyard of Heroes, a place where no living beings exist."
The land we must head to next is a territory mainly composed of undead monsters and demons. As with Necrobel before, we couldn't use transportation like carriages.
Think about it. If a living horse appeared in a place where everything is dead, wouldn't everyone be suspicious?
"How about using your familiar? Slimes can mimic inanimate objects too!"
Then Anima, her face brightening, clapped her hands. As a Spirit Mage, she was more adept in such matters than I.
"That's a good idea. If we mimic a large bone giant or a similar monster, we could enter Necrobel without Romulus noticing."
"Don't tell me we have to hide inside the slime? It's an experience I never want to go through again..."
Victoria shuddered slightly and told me she didn't want to do it. Probably because she had her memories stolen by Memoria before.
I too had almost fallen victim to him, so I knew the sensation was like having a tongue stabbed into your brain and sucked.
"You know my familiar is a good kid, unlike Memoria."
"That may be true, but..."
I continued speaking while summoning my familiar onto my palm. Wriggling as if it recognized Victoria, it didn't seem to have any intention of harming her.
"We can enlarge this guy with magic and move while wrapped inside him like a tent. It won't be dangerous."
I gently stroked Victoria's head with my other hand, trying to reassure her.
It felt ticklish in my chest to show affection like this, something I don't usually do, but now that we were lovers who had overcome adversity, there was no reason to care about others' gazes.
"...I'll trust you. After all, it's the word of the person I love, no matter what anyone says."
Then Victoria made an expression that said she had no choice and whispered to me in a voice sweeter than ever before.
"Hey, you're scaring the people watching, so can you save that kind of talk for after we've dealt with the Demon King?"
Kyle, the only one here without his lover by his side, spoke through gritted teeth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ At that moment, in Necrobel where Romulus was, troops were being densely deployed around the area in preparation for any unforeseen events.
No matter how powerful Memoria was, the thought that he might not have survived this generation's Hero party was hard to shake off.
"Damn it, what on earth is His Majesty the Demon King thinking, just letting the Hero come this far!"
Romulus growled lowly, lamenting his fate. It felt completely opposite to the past when his life was saved; now it felt like he was being sent to his death.
"Is that girl Arian that important? Important enough to sacrifice all four of us Heavenly Kings to revive her?"
Click, click.
Anxiously grinding his teeth, Romulus resented the Demon King Ergothum, who still hadn't moved a single step from his castle.