Chapter 142
Chapter 142
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The Village of Liars
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As I traveled toward Necrobelo using my familiars, I found myself reflecting on the journey up to this point.
The moment when my first impression with Victoria was the absolute worst. The moment when Kyle and I fought back-to-back and were acknowledged as comrades...
And the moment when I accepted Victoria's confession and we began dating.
Having overcome countless adversities and hardships together, I could see a glimmer of hope on the faces of all my companions who had been with me through everything.
Now, if we just capture Romulus, the last of the Four Heavenly Kings, and kill the Demon King, we can finally return to the continent.
"...You seem deep in thought."
"Ah, Victoria."
Victoria, who had been watching me intently, was chewing her lip as if she had something to say.
Thump, thump—!
She, who had been sitting perched on the rib of a giant skull that seemed almost alive, had somehow moved close to my side.
"I was thinking that someday, a moment might come when we'd talk about this adventure as if it were just an old story, saying 'back then, this happened...'"
"Frankly, I don't think it's a story worth boasting about to others. The Demon Realm is definitely not a place for humans to live."
Yes, of course it would be.
There were times when we couldn't turn away after seeing the faces and hearing the screams of humans who had been captured by demons or monsters and turned into furniture or food, begging us to save them.
In truth, they were already dead, their life functions ceased, and when we realized they were just mimicking voices and actions to lure in other victims, it made us sick to our stomachs.
"But, I found what I wanted and wished for most in this hell."
The light question, "What's that?" didn't escape my lips.
Because Victoria's eyes were looking at me with more affection than ever before.
"—True love. A pure affection free from any prejudice or discrimination." "......"
I could have guessed this even without eavesdropping on her inner thoughts. I felt a bit awkward, as if I were being tested unnecessarily.
Come to think of it, how long would this ability to hear inner thoughts last?
My guess was that the Heavenly God was the most likely cause. Making the Saint hear her own voice was her unique ability.
Since gods cannot directly influence the mortal world, she might have used her power just enough not to be detected, through some loophole.
What secret are the gods hiding that requires this?
In fact, there was a high probability it was connected to the Demon King's goal. Both Bellamora and Memoria seemed to have some hidden agenda.
"Victoria. Surely the Heavenly God..."
"Yes, no matter how many days and nights I ask about the parts you suspect, she does not answer."
Victoria replied with a somewhat weary expression. Only one of the Four Heavenly Kings remained before we could meet the Demon King Ergothum.
By this point, you'd think they could give us a little information, but I couldn't help feeling that both the Demon King and the gods were just waiting for us.
"At the very least, I wish they'd tell us how to use the Demon Sword. The first Saint wouldn't have mentioned it for no reason."
I looked at the sword hanging at Kyle's waist as he said that. He carried that cursed object, which made me feel sick and gave me a headache just by looking at it, with utter nonchalance.
"Are you... okay with that?"
"Huh? Of course I'm okay. Maybe because I'm the Hero, it feels like the first Saint is watching over me."
Ah, so that was it.
It's a common theme in the tales of minstrels and bards. The Hero and the Saint fall in love, only to end in a tragic conclusion—a trivial, clichéd story.
Perhaps this is why the first Saint places her hopes in Kyle.
To become a hero who can fight for his comrades even after facing the Demon King Ergothum, without losing his mind.
"Will we be able to stay sane when we see the Demon King? What if, like what happened with Durahan, Kyle suddenly snaps and goes berserk..."
"...That won't happen. The first Saint is watching over us, and most importantly, we have the strongest mage on the continent with us."
In response to Anima's words, Kyle glanced at me as he spoke.
Well, it's true. Even within the Illusionary Dream of Bellamora, who was known by the epithet 'Endless Dream,' we managed to hold onto our sanity.
If we say a madness that feels like we'll go insane washes over us when we meet the Demon King Ergothum, we also have a few means to break through that.
"Still, it's unsettling. The place we're heading to now is also famous by the name 'Graveyard of Heroes.'"
Anima continued, saying that this is precisely when we must not let our guard down.
Graveyard of Heroes.
Necrobelo, ruled by Romulus, is located right next to the Demon King's Castle, and the characteristic of that place is that all heroes who reach it are found dead.
This was precisely why we aimed to deal with the Four Heavenly Kings in advance before the Demon King Ergothum subjugation.
Originally, if the leader falls, the organization beneath them easily collapses, and taking advantage of that chaos, countless heroes had already been sent to the Demon King's Castle from the Empire.
"...Even figures like the former Magic Tower Master or the Swordmaster all perished without even their corpses being recovered, or were found as skeletons."
They all met similar ends.
Becoming dream inhabitants by Bellamora and living in perpetual torment, being unable to die in Durahan's arena, becoming beings like Memoria...
Or the story of being swallowed whole by Romulus and turning into a skeleton was now famous to the point where everyone knew it.
"The reason only undead exist within his territory might be because living creatures cannot withstand the Demon King's influence."
"Or he might have intentionally filled it only with those creatures to easily distinguish outsiders."
The reason we were now moving atop this ridiculous skeleton was precisely because there were no living creatures within the territory.
The territory, comprised of demons and monsters that transcended death—skeletons, ghosts, zombies—was eerily quiet and gloomy.
"...Everyone, prepare to hold your breath."
A place where fog obscured even an inch ahead, a sensation of the entire body being crushed, and where it felt like even the heart might stop.
I signaled to my companions as I saw the scenery before me, like a soap bubble filled with air inside water.
Clatter. Clatter.
The creepy sound brushing against my ear and the mound of earth...
These bastards, it seems they distinguish the living from the dead by the sound of breathing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Romulus had made all necessary preparations for the Hero's party that would soon invade this place.
He had given orders to the territory's inhabitants to immediately report the location of any living beings they saw and kill them.
Living humans, unlike the undead, ultimately cannot hide the sound of their breathing or heartbeat, and this was a way to detect them even if they used perception-hindering magic.
"...No, this won't do."
Romulus was about to clad his body in heavy armor, then realized it was a pointless act and scratched the ground with his front paw.
This was the Hero's party that had already killed or successfully sealed all the other Four Heavenly Kings.
Such petty tricks wouldn't defeat them.
He could tell just by the attitude of the Demon King Ergothum, whom he served so faithfully, who hadn't taken a single step outside the castle and was instead simply waiting for them.
The Demon King was quietly waiting for the Hero's party to come kill him.
And,
this could mean only one thing.
The reason why the Demon King, powerful enough to destroy countless parallel universes and undying for centuries, wasn't showing his power was...
"The Demon King must be examining every possible means to save Arian."
It was highly probable that he was testing the possibility he had created—namely, the route of this world.
Romulus knew.
Because when he was young and nearly died from a stone thrown by a human, the Demon King had saved him.
After that, Romulus swore loyalty to the Demon King, and the history of gathering the monsters and demons scattered across the Demon Realm and gradually expanding their influence.
If that was the Demon King Ergothum's will, then unlike the other Four Heavenly Kings, Romulus felt he had no choice but to offer his loyalty.
"...Is there no other way?"
Determination filled Romulus's eyes. He opened his maw wide and struggled to swallow himself with the throat that emitted a white light.
Gulp.
His cheeks began to tear, and dark red blood started soaking the floor.
It was an act he would never normally do.
Sending himself into the future meant losing more than gaining.
However,
'...But, I must do it.' Just as the Hero's party had done.
Romulus didn't stop leaping in place and spinning his body round and round.
The Demon King Ergothum hadn't given any special orders or commands for elimination even though Bellamora held affection for a man named Astal.
He hadn't even punished Durahan when he returned after failing to kill Astal.
Why did he do that? He clearly ordered him to invade a remote village on the outskirts, yet it was as if he already knew he would fail.
'If I combine all these possibilities...' Astal Caesaro.
The key the Demon King Ergothum seeks must surely lie with that man.
Even after all the Four Heavenly Kings poured out all their power, he didn't die and instead gained even greater strength.
'He must know I would do this.' He too, to live up to those expectations, had to mobilize every means at his disposal.
Eventually,
a wolf with white fur and a throat as dark as the abyss—the opposite of Romulus—emerged from his maw.
Done.
"—Grrrrr." Another wolf that devours time revealed itself.