273translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 273
When you start as an adventurer in the Valent Saga, one skill you naturally acquire is 'Search.'
It's easy to think, 'Of course an adventurer would have a search skill,' but conversely, this means that without the search skill, one cannot survive as an adventurer.
The search skill serves as the foundation for everything from finding dungeons to identifying various traps and discovering hidden treasures. That's how inseparable dungeons, adventurers, and searching are as skills...
"Hmm... I wonder if it's okay to touch this?"
Caesar began investigating the prison interior with psychometry, questioning everything like an archaeologist.
Anyway, Caesar has plenty of time. The crown prince might be continuously calling for Caesar, but it's the crown prince who's in a hurry, not Caesar, right?
And since he only needs to arrive in Vex Province by January 1st of next year to witness Gloria's duel, spending a day or two here doesn't matter.
"There's nothing worth salvaging."
There's really not a single thing worth obtaining.
Even when looking for something distinctive or statue-like, everything is plain, befitting the prison's nature.
Caesar decided to check the escape route first.
Normally, after obtaining the reward, one would run for their life to the corridor outside the prison, arriving at a cave waterfall.
This cave waterfall is connected to none other than the Pigeon Cave Lake that Caesar had crossed earlier, with water flowing from the lake connecting to this cave waterfall.
The easiest way to reach the deepest part of this prison of sinners is to dive into the lake and swim to this cave waterfall.
But Caesar didn't choose this method not only because the lake was frozen solid, but also because the waterway connected to this cave waterfall forms a complex maze, and one could easily get lost and drown.
In any case, after falling straight down below this cave waterfall and letting your body follow the flow of the river in the cave, you'll eventually meet the Eileen River. Then the escape is successful.
"The escape route seems fine for now."
Caesar estimates it would take about 5 seconds to run to the escape route at full speed. While Caesar is fast, the distance is also quite short.
'There's nothing worth investigating here either...'
Caesar went back up through the prison.
Since the sinners were either stuck to the walls like barnacles or suspended in mid-air, they were difficult to touch casually for fear that Caesar's flesh might stick and tear off.
So what Caesar could choose were the 'forks in the road' he had passed by until now.
Caesar looked at the fork in the road he had encountered earlier. One had the dragon language meaning Grezawa. The other had a dragon language with an unknown meaning.
To be more precise, it's not even certain if it is a dragon language.
In the original Valent Saga, going this way means certain death. While wandering through all kinds of hellish nightmares, the moment you mistakenly go this way, your screen suddenly goes black and your HP drops to 0.
Even if adventurers wanted to investigate why they die, there are absolutely no means for them to completely resist mental attacks, so they couldn't investigate. Before going, Caesar first threw a small stone to test.
Thud. Roll, roll, roll
As the cave echoed, a 3D map formed in Caesar's mind. It seemed there were no problems for about 20m ahead.
Of course, some magical mechanism could still activate, but...
'Let's take a bit of risk.'
To gain something big, one must risk something.
And hasn't Caesar become stronger in his own way? If something seems about to activate, he can quickly get out.
Caesar threw his spatial bag in front of the fork in the road, then held Thunder and Lefty in both hands. And he walked, taking slow steps forward.
Thud. Thud
The sound of Caesar's footsteps bounced off the walls and ceiling, allowing him to sense everything ahead of him.
'There's a large cavity 30m ahead.'
Apart from that, so far there have been no problems...
Grind
The sound of something moving came from afar. Rather than machinery, it was more like the sound of heavy stones rubbing against each other.
Caesar stopped walking and focused on his hearing.
Thud. Thud, Clank, Clank.
Following that, he heard the sound of something walking.
At the same time, he could hear the sound of steel grinding against something. This kind of footstep was identical to that of a 'knight.'
Because when a knight walks while wearing steel armor, they make this kind of sound. What would it mean to have an armored knight in this dungeon?
'An enemy.'
Caesar surveyed the terrain.
The passage was narrower than he had thought. It didn't seem good for freely wielding Thunder here.
But just 30m ahead, there was a cavity.
Caesar decided to advance to terrain that would be advantageous to him. Caesar ran forward. The sound of Caesar running would certainly reach the enemy, but its footsteps remained steady.
Either it was calm or uninterested, its emotions were faint. Caesar thought of the worst enemy he might face. The knights of Grezawa depicted on the ceiling paintings? Or soldiers? No.
It's a dragon knight.
As Caesar reached the entrance to the cavity, he came face to face with vertically slit golden eyes like a lizard's. Its hands and feet were covered with green scales, its nails were sharp, and its armor, though dusty, was red as if inlaid with rubies. Additionally, the 5m long spear in its right hand was eerily sharp.
"＆#%^@#."
It spoke unintelligible words to Caesar. Probably a language from a forgotten era. Caesar silently held up Thunder and lefty, then took a deep breath.
‘This is my first time fighting a dragon knight.'
Even in the Valent Saga, he had never fought such a normal dragon knight. In the City of Sin, Grezawa, the 'dragon knights' guarding Grezawa were all damaged, making them comparable to A-rank knights in terms of power.
But that one over there would be at least equivalent to an S-rank knight.
'Should I try talking first?'
The creature swung its spear in the air a few times.
Ting!
As the spear blade bounced off the ground, sparks flew and ignited fiercely. Its fire burned less like a blazing bonfire and more like sticky lava clinging to the spear blade. It seems intent on fighting.
"So you're a dragon knight of Sturungarden."
"$%@@#."
The creature seemed excited when Caesar mentioned Sturungarden. Whatever the case, judging by its expression, it appeared determined to kill Caesar. Since Caesar had no intention of dying quietly and had many questions to ask, he decided to try to subdue it first.
"Hah......"
Caesar took a deep breath and rushed toward the creature. As if it had been waiting, the creature thrust its spear. The sound came late; the spear reached Caesar faster. It was almost like a red laser piercing through Caesar's heart.
Since he was tense and prepared for the creature's attack, he barely managed to deflect it.
Clang!
With a thunderous sound, the entire cavity shook. Dust embedded in the walls and ceiling fell, and rocks crumbled down.
'It's heavy.'
Is it because it's a knight directly created by a dragon using its own teeth? There's a distinct feeling that it's fundamentally different.
Despite Caesar striking down with considerable sincerity, the creature's spear was merely pressed slightly downward without touching the ground.
Crackle!
When Caesar's Thunder struck the creature's spear, a thrilling lightning bolt ran along the creature's spear blade.
But the creature's hands were covered with scales similar to dragon scales. Such feeble lightning couldn't penetrate its scales.
The dragon knight swung its spear horizontally toward Caesar who was trying to approach. It seemed to be trying to keep Caesar at bay, as if not wanting to give him any distance.
'That's not enough.'
Caesar swung lefty powerfully.
Clang!
Then Caesar swung Thunder, sending a sharp wind toward the creature.
Clear Field Form 2
Wind Blade
As a stream of sharp wind advanced toward the creature's chest and face, it immediately lowered its head and closed its helmet.
Boom!
When the blade wind touched the creature's armor, it left only a long scratch with no significant damage. But the impact seemed to be transmitted as it was, as the creature momentarily staggered.
Caesar seized that opening and dug in deeply. As he dug in about 3m, Caesar came within the range of his psychometry.
-How dare you...!
As expected of a being born from a dragon's body, arrogance was its passive ability. Fire gathered in its right hand and was sprayed toward Caesar.
The flames it sprayed were also more like sticky lava rather than ordinary flames. Caesar swung lefty to deflect its attack.
Then he fed Thunder into the creature's side.
Clang!
Despite Caesar swinging with all his might, his Thunder couldn't penetrate the creature's armor.
Perhaps it could be described as being dented? At the very least, he thought he could send the dragon knight flying, but its two feet remained firmly planted on the ground. It had properly absorbed the impact. He met the golden eyes flashing through the helmet's slits.
[Stop]
Like the killing intent emitted by a wild beast, it bound Caesar's entire body. The creature swung its spear toward Caesar's head in the moment he stopped. But......
Swoosh!
The creature's spear merely swept through empty air.
-How?!
Caesar understood why the creature was confused. The magic it used was dragon language magic.
It was undoubtedly a type of mental magic that momentarily controls the mind, causing one to freeze like a mouse seeing a snake. But Caesar was under the protection of 'Flawless.'
Since he was protected by 'dragon language' magic rather than simple human magic, the creature's dragon language magic was completely useless.
-Could it be that this scaleless one has the blessing...!
Caesar fed Thunder into the confused creature's side again.
Clear Field Form 3
Dragon Rising
Sharp wind has no meaning against an opponent wearing armor.
What's needed to destroy armor is heaviness. An intense whirlwind wrapped around Caesar's Thunder and dug into the creature's damaged side.
"Kuk!"
The intense whirlwind originating from Thunder tore at the creature's side. Following that, dozens of sharp wind blades dug into the broken armor, and the whirlwind wrapped around the creature even sent it flying, causing it to crash into the cavity ceiling.
The dragon knight's armor and helmet flew off and scattered on the floor, and the bloodied dragon knight also came down to the floor. But the dragon knight, still being a dragon knight, didn't scatter like leaves but landed properly on two legs.
'As expected, it's tough.'
Though partly due to the dragon knight's carelessness, it's absurd that it's still alive after taking this attack head-on. Caesar thought there was no point in quietly waiting for it to recover in this situation. Caesar made Thunder smaller and then threw it toward the creature.
Clear Field Form 5
Flying Wind
Flying Wind, an evolved form of the Gentle Breeze of the Wind Path, advanced straight toward the creature. The creature raised its spear to block Thunder, which arrived in an instant.
Clang!
When Thunder collided with the creature's spear, sharp wind fragments wrapped around Thunder exploded in all directions like a grenade.
"Kraaaack!"
Tearing through the creature's tough skin and wounding its right eye, Caesar jumped up above the cavity and swung his Lefty in the air.
Clear Field Form 6
Blood Wind.
An evolved form of the Wind Path's Steel Wind.
Blood Wind. Like Steel Wind, it's a technique where Thunder circles around to continuously attack the opponent, but the difference is that not only does Thunder attack, but dozens of sharp wind fragments created by Thunder's rotation also bite at the creature.
The dragon knight couldn't properly open its eyes, as if facing sharp sand winds blowing in a dry desert. This was because when it opened its eyes, sharp wind fragments would devour the dragon knight's eyes.
The dragon knight's tough skin became a bloody mess, and Thunder eventually dug into its back.
Crackle!
Thunder, which had precisely struck the spine, fried the creature's nervous system.
"Kuaaaaaaaa!"
The creature trembled without being able to properly resist, and Caesar swung his Lefty toward it.
"Farewell."
The moment Caesar was about to behead the creature like an executioner beheading a condemned criminal, the creature's wounded right eye opened.
-Yes. Even if you're not a chosen warrior like me, you're a servant of Grezawa, that's what you mean...!
The scales wrapped around the dragon knight's hands, feet, and tail began to fill up instantly. Caesar sensed the danger and applied more force as he swung lefty toward the creature's nape, but......
Clang!
He couldn't beat the speed at which the scales were filling up.
-I'll tear you apart and kill you.
The human-shaped face disappeared, the snout elongated, the teeth sharpened, and the cornea thickened. It felt like the species itself had changed. Caesar looked at his Lefty, which had clearly struck the creature's neck. The Lefty had only peeled off a few of the creature's scales without penetrating. Just like striking chainmail armor, the creature's scales and hide had absorbed the impact. The creature's golden eyes, filled with killing intent, flashed.
[Karmic Fire, pierce through.]
Caesar clearly noticed what the creature was aiming for and immediately vacated his position.
Four redly burning spears crossed and struck into the place where Caesar had been. Caesar received Thunder with his left hand and looked at the creature. It was on all fours with one hand holding a spear.
"...Phase 2 begins, huh."
Caesar took a deep breath and prepared for the creature's attack. However, that attack was not something that could be prepared for just by preparing.
[#@$^.]
As the creature muttered in dragon language, a sound came from the side.
Tap.
But what was strange was that the dragon knight wasn't moving at all.
'This is... The Red Fox clan's...!'
Caesar instinctively swung Thunder toward where the sound came from, but......
Grab!
The dragon knight roughly caught Caesar's Thunder. A dragon knight with sharp golden eyes thrust its spear from behind Caesar.
-Die.
Stab!
A sharp flame spear dug into Caesar's lower back.