Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Journey to the Demon Realm (4)
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It was regrettable that an important informant had died so pointlessly, but all the same, we had achieved the feat of eliminating a very powerful enemy on the eve of our battle with the Demon King.
Even better, not a single enemy had managed to escape unscathed, which meant it would take the Demon King's Castle a bit longer to gather intel on us.
Satisfied with this encouraging result, we pressed our momentum and increased our marching speed toward the Demon King's Castle.
The Demon Realm had apparently devised a solid strategy for defending against heroes. As we pushed deeper into its territory, we found defense outposts built at every key pass.
But no matter how sturdy the outposts were, they couldn't hold back our overwhelming firepower.
If anything, they just handed over all their stockpiled rations to us on a silver platter.
Having already brushed aside what was essentially the Demon Realm's number two so easily, it was probably too much to expect a proper defense from mere foot soldiers.
"Ice Age!"
We easily crushed another military outpost and were about to move on to the next one.
But Nania grabbed my collar and held me back.
Nania, who had gone from being a Demon Realm executive to the hero party's capable scout, had shown tremendous performance on this expedition into the demon world.
I turned to listen to what she had to say.
"Raden, things get really dangerous from here on out."
"Yeah?"
"Up until now, the Demon King has only stationed relatively small forces because he's been wary of a coup. But from this point forward, we're entering territories ruled by his closest aides. It won't be easy."
"How many troops are we talking?"
"There are about two gates left before the Demon King's Castle, and I'd say there are around twenty thousand troops stationed at them."
"…"
No matter how powerful the hero party was or how many wide-area attacks we had at our disposal, facing off against tens of thousands of soldiers wasn't going to be simple.
Honestly, if we fought all the way to the end, I figured we'd win eventually. But if the battle dragged on, the Demon King wasn't an idiot—he'd send reinforcements from the castle.
At that point, breaking through would be impossible.
"Hmm…"
I let out a groan as I pondered our options.
Should I contact the territory and have them bring a earth-digging machine to tunnel underneath?
I stared at the Demon Realm map we'd seized from the gate, lost in thought.
Every single path marked on the map had a gate blocking it, making it impossible to slip past.
I slowly scanned the map and then pointed to one spot.
"Can't we go this way?"
The place I'd chosen was a mountain labeled Hartne Peak. Once we descended it, the Demon King's Castle would be right there.
There weren't any military outposts on the mountain, either.
"Hmm… Going that way is basically impossible."
"Why?"
"This mountain is insanely high and steep. Even the Demon Realm figured no enemies would ever try coming over it, so they didn't bother setting up any defenses."
"Hmm…"
Nania was dead set against climbing it, but for some reason, I had a gut feeling that this was the right path.
If I were a commander leading a large-scale army, I wouldn't have given this mountain a second glance, either.
It was at least ten thousand meters tall—higher than Earth's Mount Everest.
If a general had chosen to advance this way, with climbing technology as primitive as it was, he'd have taken ten thousand soldiers up and come down with fewer than ten.
But our party wasn't thousands strong, or even hundreds. We were a small elite group of fewer than ten.
To my eyes, scaling this mountain looked manageable.
I immediately went to the rest of the party and asked for their thoughts.
"It's been a while since I got to stretch my legs."
Yumi, with her excellent stamina, agreed readily.
"Well, a mountain like this is a breeze now."
Marey and Daisy didn't seem to have any complaints, either.
The only ones who opposed the idea fiercely were the trio.
"No way, no way! If we climb that thing, we'll freeze to death!"
"Raden, we really can't. I'll die…"
"I can barely handle the hill behind the house—how could I do that one…?"
It was the weak-stamina trio, who also happened to be the hero party's original three: Rainy, Laura, and Nania.
I'd figured they'd prefer facing tens of thousands of troops over climbing a mountain.
I tossed out the proposal I'd prepared in advance.
"Don't worry. I'm not asking you three to climb it."
"Then…?"
I patted my back.
"You can just ride piggyback."
***
Whoooosh!
Sharp, biting winds whipped around Hartne Peak.
About halfway up, the nonstop screams of three women echoed without cease.
We'd reached the five-thousand-meter mark and were now scaling a sheer ice cliff.
Crack!
The ice where Daisy had planted her foot shattered, plummeting downward. Laura, riding on Daisy's back, let out the first scream.
By the time her scream faded.
"Ma… Marey-nim, g-gently… gently!"
Marey leaped several meters upward, and Nania—suddenly airborne—sent thick teardrops flying as she experienced freefall for the first time.
"Kyaaaah! Kyaaaah! Raden, Raden, Raden!"
Rainy, cradled in my arms, had put on a brave front up to a certain point. But then, out of curiosity, she peeked downward, freaked out, buried her face against my chest, and trembled violently.
"Urgh…"
Even for me, now in the realm of superhumans, climbing a hundreds-of-meters-tall ice wall demanded intense mental focus.
I was stabbing my sword into the ice wall to climb, and any tiny slip in control would bring the whole thing crashing down.
With Rainy trembling against my back like that, it was impossible to concentrate.
After a moment's thought, I sliced a small ledge into the ice wall for a brief rest.
Then I grabbed the shoulders of the still-shaking Rainy.
Thanks to her holy power, she had resistance to the cold, so it wasn't the chill making her shake.
If it was fear, there was a simple way to calm her down.
"Rainy."
"Y… Yeah…"
Rainy was too embarrassed by her own trembling to meet my eyes.
But shaking like this at high altitude was just human instinct.
I didn't hold it against her.
Instead, I pulled her into a warm embrace.
"…"
Rainy trembled in my arms for a while longer, but gradually seemed to find her peace as the shaking subsided.
Once I confirmed she was a bit calmer, I cupped her cheeks and made eye contact.
"Rainy."
"Yeah…"
"Scary, huh?"
"…Yeah, really scary."
I sat her down properly, then shot to my feet.
"Huh…?"
As Rainy looked on in confusion, I gently stroked her hair.
I'd originally planned to climb slowly and safely, but seeing her like this, I worried it might give her trauma if we took too long.
So I decided to take a bit of risk and climb fast.
We'd already scaled more than half the ice cliff, and my estimate said it was doable.
"I'll head up first—let me know when you arrive!"
I called out to Marey and Daisy, waiting for them to climb ahead.
Since my method carried some risk, I planned to go after confirming the two of them had made it up safely.
"Wha… what…? What are you planning?"
Rainy asked, trembling as if sensing something ominous.
Instead of answering, I softly fixed her hair and flashed a grin.
"It'll be fun."
"N-No, I don't like fun stuff."
"Heh… look forward to it."
"Ugh…"
Rainy said she hated it, but she seemed to enjoy being held in my arms while I fixed her hair—she stopped trembling, at least.
A fuzzy, comfortable moment passed like that.
"We're here!"
Marey and Daisy signaled from above.
I scooped Rainy up gently into a princess carry.
"Hup."
With a short grunt, I started running straight up the vertical ice wall.
Actually pulling off the insane feat of sprinting up slippery ice against gravity.
"Kyaaaah! Kyaaaah! You're crazy! Save me!"
Anxious about falling, Rainy dug her nails into my back to hold on for dear life.
I'd have to tell her to trim those nails later, I thought as I ran.
Thud.
After about fifteen seconds of nonstop sprinting, we finally reached the summit safe zone.
The women watching our ascent erupted in unison as I landed in perfect form.
"Ooh…"
"Perfect score! Perfect score!"
They applauded as one.
I bowed my head slightly in thanks for their praise.
Rainy, who'd just been forced into extreme sports thousands of meters in the sky, was still out of it, staring blankly into the air.
It was for the sake of catching the Demon King, but I'd been the one to suggest climbing the mountain, so I felt responsible. I knelt down in front of her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Sorry. That was scary, right?"
"You son of a bitch. Fucking bastard!"
Fortunately, she didn't seem to have any health issues from the climb.
Good thing she's healthy.