211
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 211
Caesar climbed up the valley as slowly as a crawling snail.
One wrong step on fallen leaves could force him to fight the puppets before even reaching the entrance.
"Ahhh... Ahh..."
Raum's puppets patrolled in groups while shedding tears.
There was no motivation in their eyes, and their clothes and equipment were completely worn.
Though they looked like defeated soldiers, their patrol was very thorough.
Their heads turned constantly, and they cleared their view by cutting away obstructing grass with their swords.
Like a seasoned senior soldier in the military?
That subtle feeling of doing the job well despite hating it, like being forced to work under threat of losing weekend leave by the duty officer.
Caesar approached within 3m of them, wondering if he could gather information.
-Ah... Ah... Oh Goddess...
-Why did you abandon me?
-To become a devil's puppet and kill comrades... Ahh...
Their pain and anguish flowed in through psychometry.
They were all being controlled by Raum while retaining their will.
'This damn setting is the same too.'
Raum's puppets, with their hearts extracted, only lose their bodies, not their minds.
So they move unwillingly according to Raum's intentions, and when even their minds wear away, the heart above their heads fills the hole and they become Raum's complete puppets.
Those completed puppets become equivalent to A-rank knights, maximum S-rank knights in the Valent Saga game, and are used by Raum.
Caesar continued gathering information through psychometry while following other patrol puppets.
-I wonder if that child is okay?
-That child taken by Raum... Seems to still be locked in the cave...
The cave's internal structure entered Caesar's mind next.
The cave structure was very simple.
Just a straight, flat tunnel with a dead end.
Meaning, that entrance is the cave's only entrance and exit.
'Getting Gloria out will be the problem.'
If attacked, all scattered puppets will swarm in, and if Raum collapses the cave while Caesar is inside, both Caesar and Gloria will be trapped and die.
Then the location of Gloria's room entered Caesar's mind.
Gloria was in the cave's depths, a 5-minute walk from the entrance.
'Can't take Gloria outside.'
It would be fine if Gloria could at least walk, but if unconscious, facing Raum while carrying them on one shoulder would be impossible even if he transformed as Barre.
-Caesar stop.
Caesar stopped at Raven's words.
-From here is the dispel zone. The moment you enter, your presence will be exposed. Won't be able to block that acrid smoke either. What will you do now?
"What else? Have to make them bring Gloria out themselves."
-Hey! All the puppets around will hear if you speak!
"That's the point."
The puppets started looking around for the source when they heard Caesar's voice.
Caesar continued speaking regardless.
"Raven, I'll shake the cave to make them bring Gloria out themselves."
-What? Is that possible?
"Have to try at least. Can you analyze where to target the cave entrance so it won't collapse?"
-Would need to remove all dispel magic for that though?
"They already know I'm here so it doesn't matter if dispel magic is removed."
The puppets started gathering where Caesar's voice was coming from.
From their aimless sword swings, they hadn't found his exact location yet.
"Is 10 minutes enough?"
-Who do you think I am? One minute is enough.
"Good."
The puppets gathered following Caesar's voice.
Seemed like all the puppets in the valley had gathered.
Caesar closed his eyes and calmly sought the wind's path.
Being in a valley, the wind's path wasn't complex but flowed straight.
Caesar filled his lungs with air.
"URIAAAAAAAH!"
With a battle cry, Caesar threw miniaturized Thunder.
Thunder flew riding the wind, discharging intense blue current like a lightning bolt.
Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!
Thunder riding the wind burst the puppets' hearts in succession.
The puppets who lost their hearts collapsed like cut strings.
Thunder that took out 5 at once returned to Caesar's hand, frantically discharging current.
"Urrrrrrrrrgh!"
When Caesar's concealment was lifted, the puppets swarmed towards him.
Caesar was clearly visible even to Raven's eyes 2km away.
How could one miss a red-haired man holding Thunder in one hand, shining alone in the smooth abyss?
The puppets rushed toward Caesar like moths discovering a campfire.
Caesar threw Thunder again.
Thunder became a comet, precisely intercepting only the hearts of the puppets.
It was the same with Caesar's lefty.
Caesar's lefty deliberately avoided striking their arms, legs, or torsos.
-It hurts.....
-I want to stop.....
-Ahhh.....
These were all beings forcibly having their hearts extracted by Raum.
Knowing they had no malice at all, Caesar precisely targeted and destroyed only their hearts with the intention of saving them.
Then, a sharp spear penetrated Caesar's lower back.
Though he could withstand most attacks with his body, he twisted to deflect it due to the chilling energy felt in his lower back.
Caesar's judgment was correct.
Purple energy was flowing along the spear shaft.
The being had no heart in its head, and its chest, which should have been empty, was filled.
Caesar used psychometry on it.
-Must never disobey Lord Raum's orders.
-Nightmares...! No more nightmares...!
'A heartless puppet.'
It was one who had been toyed with by Raum until even its mind was stolen.
They were far stronger than regular puppets, and unlike regular puppets who mindlessly swung their swords, they could use techniques from when they were alive.
Following that, a sword wrapped in purple energy aimed for Caesar's flank.
Caesar deflected it with lefty while stepping back.
Looking around, 9 heartless puppets were emanating killing intent toward Caesar.
Each one of them was at least Gideon’s level.
Then, Raven's voice reached Caesar's ears.
-Caesar, analysis complete.
Four lights flickered near the cave entrance.
-Hitting any of these will make the whole cave resonate but won't collapse it.
Without hesitation, Caesar struck the nearest entrance.
The cave greatly resonated as dust fell softly.
Wooooooo!
The sound of puppets rushing out was heard from the cave entrance.
As expected, there seemed to be many puppets remaining inside the cave.
The 9 puppets rushed at Caesar simultaneously.
Against the attacks closing in from all directions, Caesar used Berserker once more.
"Uriyaaaaaaaa!"
Thunder left Caesar's hand.
Simultaneously, Caesar's body swung down an axe toward the spearman charging from the front.
Crack!
The steel spear bent as sharp winds swept in all directions.
"Wooooooo!"
The sharp winds completely severed the tendons in the puppets' eyes, hands, and feet.
Following that, the wind emanating from the axe controlled Thunder racing through the air, sweeping across the spines of the puppets closing in on Caesar.
Clang!
One puppet blocked Thunder aiming for its waist.
However, unable to handle Thunder's power, it was pushed back.
Instead, it succeeded in deflecting Thunder high into the sky.
Three puppets were sprawled on the ground.
They were even quickly recovering and trying to get up, squirming.
The attacks of these beings closing in from all directions were very fierce.
Since their weapons were flowing with aura, even Caesar with his tough skin would have his muscles injured mercilessly if cut.
Since his physical regeneration ability wasn't at Barre’s level, if he got seriously injured it would clearly be very troublesome during the fight with Raum, so he had to avoid or block as much as possible.
'Their techniques are more refined than I thought.'
Most holy knights are classic-type knights, so they invest in equipment rather than sword training.
But these ones frequently attempted surprise attacks like technique-type knights.
'These are all disciples of the Baptismal Sword.'
The disciples of the Baptismal Sword referred to those who would receive their master's baptismal sword after the future ‘Baptized Ones’ died or retired.
They were like ascetics who lived to learn and develop various techniques their masters had honed to receive the baptismal sword.
So they're all tricky.
'Should I just push through?'
If he stacked Berserker up to 4 levels, he could just overwhelm them with pure force.
But that would rapidly consume aura.
Considering he wasn't just facing this one but had to fight Raum, he couldn't consume too much aura yet.
'Then......'
Caesar parried the incoming sword strikes while recalling his fight with Vigilante.
Vigilante's 4-sword style moved independently as if each sword was alive.
And they persistently dug into Caesar's weaknesses and gaps, leaving scratches on his body.
-Is that all you can do?
-Just striking and swinging?
'My defense wasn't solid.'
Due to Barre's habit of taking enemy attacks with his body remaining, he couldn't react sensitively to Vigilante's attacks.
But now Caesar is different.
The ideal axe technique Caesar pursues is closer to Yan's style.
Beyond defending against enemy attacks, he aims for the pinnacle of a technical knight who creates opportunities and gaps to counterattack.
Because he aims to complete a hybrid style mixing in Caesar's uniqueness, simply being good at taking attacks with his body is meaningless.
So Caesar absorbed the memories remaining in Vigilante's swords and skewers to discover his weaknesses, and spent a tremendous amount of time overcoming those weaknesses.
Now it's time to test the results.
Clang!
When Caesar's Lefty clashed with the puppet's greatsword, five powerful streams of wind flowed in all directions.
The five wind streams slightly twisted the paths of the five blades precisely targeting Caesar.
Kwaaang!
Their weapons collided and shattered.
Through the gap of the brilliantly breaking weapons, Caesar's Lefty slashed horizontally.
Hoong!
Path of the Wind Second Form Single Wind cut through their solid sternums and crushed their hearts.
After handling 6 of them at once, Caesar charged straight at the 3 coming after him.
Caesar swung Lefty horizontally to gather the three incoming swords into one place.
Then he stepped on their swords to fix them in place and swung Lefty again.
Hoong!
Their hearts split in two and crumbled.
Caesar looked around.
The puppets strangely didn't rush in.
They couldn't have become scared now.
That means someone must have blocked the puppets' approach.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Caesar looked toward the cave entrance where the applause was coming from.
There were countless puppets and one devil with five horns on its head.
Caesar focused on the devil's appearance.
The five horns wore a crown made of blood vessels, in its right hand was a wand decorated with splendid jewels and gold, and its face was crushed as if severely burned.
It's the Heart Magician Raum.
"Indeed impressive. To handle the disciples of the Baptismal Sword so easily."
Caesar picked up Thunder stuck in the ground.
"Where is Gloria?"
"I'll tell you if you answer my question......"
Caesar threw Thunder.
Thunder burst the hearts of four puppets near Raum and returned to Caesar's hand.
Heart fragments and blood from the ones just burst splattered on Raum's face.
"Where is Gloria right now?"
"You're quite impatient."
As Raum gestured, the puppets crowding the cave entrance simultaneously stepped aside.
"Tatiana, bring her."
Along the path split cleanly like a neat parting, a woman in white clothes walked while carrying Gloria.
How could he not recognize that woman's face?
Blonde hair, blue eyes, and the teardrop mark at the right eye.
With a pure white sword curved like a white crescent moon sheathed at her right side, there could only be one such person.
The Knight of Perfection Tatiana.
When asked who was the strongest knight before Yan's appearance, she was one who was always mentioned, and seeing this woman called the Saint of the Dre Order together with such filthy demons created an incredible sense of dissonance.
It felt like forcibly fitting mismatched puzzle pieces.
Raum placed the golden staff against Gloria's nape.
"Is this the disciple you're looking for?"
"......"
"Why so quiet? Is it not her? Then I suppose it wouldn't matter if I kill her."
The sharp tip of Raum's staff dug into Gloria's nape.
Only then did Caesar open his mouth.
"Hand over Gloria."
"Heh heh heh heh heh!"
Raum laughed while shaking his shoulders.
"This is so interesting. Really interesting. I always find this situation so thrilling and enjoyable! The sight of a strong warrior like you fidgeting helplessly because of one woman...! It's so thrilling!"
Raum removed the staff from Gloria's nape.
"Where did your earlier spirit go, Caesar? Come on, throw an axe like before. What are you hesitating about?"
"Hand over Gloria."
"Oops, I almost gave her up. Aren't you being too presumptuous?"
Raum pointed at Caesar's two knees.
"Shouldn't you at least get on your knees when making a request? It's only polite, isn't it?"