Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Red-Eyed High Elf (3)
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1.
-Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Reporting, sire. The Lord of the Undead dispatched to the Holy Empire of Ailes has been subjugated."
A massive castle brimming with demonic energy.
It was adorned with exquisite furniture crafted by the finest artisans.
Probably only dwarves could create such delicate decorations, but the castle's master was no dwarf.
Of course, it had once been the dwarves' homeland in the past.
But it was no longer their land.
⚠️ DANGER STAGE ⚠️ Demon King's Castle This was the land of the Demon King, now claimed by the demon race.
In that Demon King's Castle, the Demon King heard news of her 'dear friend' whose reports had suddenly ceased.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Demon King 'Silmarion' – Lv.??? (★)
"...Skull has been subjugated, you say."
Silmarion, the Demon King who had been grooming her crimson red hair, wore a faintly bitter expression upon hearing the report.
That said, she wasn't exactly mourning his death.
She merely regretted the loss of one of her Demon King's army's key forces—nothing more, nothing less.
"Who did it?"
She couldn't afford to grieve in the first place.
As the Demon King, she had to suppress personal emotions in such matters.
Especially now, she needed to stay calm and investigate who had taken down a mid-tier demon.
"Those creepy Holy Order bastards? Or did one of the Ailes Empire's Swordmasters step up?"
If it was the Holy Order, there was nothing to be done.
They were currently in direct confrontation with her Demon King's army, so charging in recklessly would incur heavy losses on her side as well.
Humans who possessed the power to slay demons—they weren't to be trifled with lightly.
And the Swordmaster of the Holy Empire was one of the strongest among humanity, requiring significant sacrifices to face. Of course, he wasn't unbeatable.
If it was a Swordmaster, it might even give her a good pretext to invade the empire.
She had to deal with the empire's "sword" anyway to topple the Holy Empire of Ailes.
"Um, about that..."
"What is it? Speak up."
However, from her subordinate's reaction, it seemed neither was the case.
Then who the hell was it?
A mid-tier demon who could single-handedly topple a nation—whose hand had dared to claim it?
"Not that High Elf from the Crision Kingdom, and it couldn't have been the cat from the Grandel Mountains either. Who was it?"
Demon King Silmarion tapped her fingers impatiently.
If a new powerhouse capable of facing a mid-tier demon had emerged among the humans, things would get even more troublesome.
"It's the Hero."
"...The Hero?"
The response she received was quite unexpected.
"The Hero, you say?"
"Yes. According to our embedded spies, a black-haired young man who crossed over to Asral by ship possesses the strength to fell a wyvern in a single strike."
"Another one of those damn Heroes? They really never learn."
Heroes—ever since Silmarion had set foot in the mortal world, these pests had started appearing one or two at a time.
They all claimed to be born to defeat the Demon King, charging into her castle with their companions.
This despite her Demon King's army not being at war and merely negotiating truces with each nation.
They all wielded holy swords from who-knows-where, and the party composition was always the same: a male Hero leading, followed by a female mage, a female priestess, and an elf archer—the only other male being the Hero himself.
At first, Silmarion had struggled against the Heroes' potent holy power, but by the third one, she'd figured out countermeasures.
Some she slew personally before they grew too strong; others she hypnotized their entire party into copulating until they killed each other.
She'd racked up double digits that way.
Silmarion sighed deeply, lamenting, "Another Hero..."
Honestly, she wished they'd stop showing up already.
"...So, what proof is there that this mighty Hero took down Skull? How was he even found? He was quietly gathering the undead in that labyrinth."
"There were collaborators, apparently."
"Collaborators?"
"A somewhat renowned human adventurer party and a mysterious dragonkin were spotted in the labyrinth."
"Anyone else?"
"No. Mana signatures detected in the labyrinth numbered six, with the rest belonging to the demon presumed to be the Lord of the Undead."
"I see..."
After hearing the full report, the Demon King organized her thoughts for a moment before rising from her seat.
"Then I'll go deal with the Hero right now. Better to strike before he grows any stronger."
Right now, she said—to eliminate the Hero.
This was the wisdom she'd gained over the roughly fifty years since arriving in the mortal world as the Demon King.
Eliminate potential threats before they power up.
If they could be recruited, great; if not, regrettable, but death was the only option.
Her goal wasn't world conquest as the rumors claimed—it was simply to carve out a safe haven for the demons who'd fled war in the demon realm.
She was different from the demon realm's 'pureblood demons.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ah, my lady Demon King! I almost forgot to mention one thing... She's already gone."
"What is it? If it's that important, just use the emergency summons."
"Well, it's not confirmed, but apparently there's a High Elf in Asral City."
"A High Elf? Still just an elf at the end of the day—strong among humans, sure, but no threat to you, my lady."
"True? Even a High Elf is just an elf, after all..."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
About thirty minutes later.
"A demon's coming...! Everyone, run!"
The city's streets were packed with fleeing citizens.
They were scrambling because a demon had already appeared in the city, closing in on the walls, on the verge of smashing them.
Moreover, the adventurers who'd stepped up to stop it had all been devoured by those bizarre tentacles—no one dared step forward now.
Sticky, slimy tentacles extended from the demon, wrapping around their victims and swallowing them whole.
One could only wonder what happened after that.
But no one would volunteer to find out firsthand.
Even the bold adventurers who'd boasted of slaying the demon had bolted.
Who'd want to be ensnared by tentacles and violated all over?
No extreme masochist, that's for sure.
'Even the Heresy Inquisitor got taken, so everyone's fleeing.'
And rightly so—the ones swallowed by the tentacles had let out horrific screams as they were dragged away.
'...Should be around here somewhere.'
Cyan approached one of those tentacles, searching for something.
Strangely, the tentacle didn't attack her.
On the contrary, it shrank back in fear as she neared, retreating.
"Ah, found it."
-Stab!
Suddenly, Cyan thrust her hand into the tentacle.
Her hand pierced the steel-shredding appendage effortlessly, delving inside to grab something.
She yanked it out, and a small, girl-sized figure emerged covered in slime.
-Thud!
"No... No more slimy stuff..."
It was none other than Louis, drenched in the tentacle's mucus, trembling and sobbing.
She'd clearly been swallowed and subjected to all sorts of torments.
"Hey, Louis? You okay?"
"...Lady Cyan? Ah, ahh. What the hell was that?! It just swallowed me out of nowhere!!!"
Freed from the tentacle, Louis spotted Cyan and started bawling while weakly pummeling her.
Normally, Cyan would've punished such antics with a back-of-the-blade strike, but guilt over not warning her kept her still, taking the hits.
'...She looks like a kid throwing a tantrum.'
Anyway, leaving the sniffling Louis behind, Cyan turned her gaze back to the undead demon.
A monster from Novel Online neither: built on a Hero and a slain demon as base, framed by cursed tentacles.
It had overcome the demon-weakness of holy power and boasted unexpectedly high durability.
Without a Heresy Adjudicator stepping up, there was no way to deal with it.
'But that guy's in no condition to move right now.'
The problem was the Adjudicator's poor state.
Why had the Inquisitor come out instead of the Adjudicator earlier? Scooping up the whimpering Louis, Cyan headed back to that cafe.
-Creak.
"...To think I'd make a mistake... To think I'd make a mistake... To think I'd make a mistake..."
-Thud! Bang! Thud! Bang!
The sound of fists pounding something.
It was the Heresy Adjudicator muttering to himself while slamming the cafe wall.
Peeking in to confirm, Cyan shook her head.
'This guy's done for. Just like in the game.'
Recalling the 'Heresy Adjudicator' from the game, Cyan gazed at him with pity.
The four strongest in the mortal world from Novel Online appeared as superhuman paragons outwardly, but each had personality flaws.
The one called the Heresy Adjudicator was exactly this type.
Put simply, if his beliefs were denied or proven wrong, he'd self-flagellate like this, becoming utterly useless for a while.
Even shoving a sword in his face or detonating a bomb beside him wouldn't snap him out of it.
...Considering his age, it wasn't that abnormal.
"...What's with that broken guy?"
"Don't mind him. Kids are all like that."
-Boom!
A massive rumble from the east.
'Leave him too long, and the city's toast...'
Cyan glanced toward the monster, then back at the Adjudicator—no change.
He'd probably stay like that for at least half a day.
'No choice. I made that thing, so I'll clean it up.'
Sighing, Cyan set Louis down.
"Lady Cyan?"
"Stay here and rest. Mission accomplished anyway—no reason to let that giant monster rampage. Got my sample, so I can dissipate it now."
-Flash!
She teleported right in front of the monster.
"Grrrk?!"
The undead demon recoiled greatly upon spotting Cyan.
"Grrrrr...!!!"
Though the central demon and tentacle monster were physically connected, their wills were separate.
The tentacles clearly feared Cyan, yet the demon raged furiously at her sight.
Probably remnants of the Hero's or slain demon's memories inside—or both mixed.
⚙ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚙ X-Ray Vision – Enhancement Magic ※ Attribute: Physical / Range: None / Max Targets: 1
▶ Eyes that pierce through objects or living beings. Can even see places hidden by barriers.
'Already devoured about a hundred people.'
She peered inside the demon with X-Ray Vision.
Dozens of human-like figures crammed within the massive body.
All being thoroughly slimed by tentacles, regardless of age or gender.
'...Saw something I shouldn't have.'
Among them, beautiful elves and burly, well-endowed muscled adventurers alike.
Cyan promptly dispelled the magic.
Felt a bit queasy.
'Blowing it away would be easiest, but it'd take the adventurers inside too.'
Graviton-crushing it would pulverize the internals too.
Heavenly Demon techniques? Risked breaking Transform and exposing her identity, plus collateral damage.
Best was neutralizing tentacles first, then the demon separately—but their size and connection made it tough.
'A Swordmaster could slice around the people, but I'm no swordsman...'
By lore, Swordmasters could target vital hearts without surface wounds, so with that sword aura, no issue.
Unfortunately, Cyan had no sword affinity.
'Gotta go with that method.'
So, what to do? Use human intelligence, of course.
(Though she wasn't human.)
-Flash!
Cyan soared into the sky toward the sea.
'Good thing this city's a port.'
Extending her hand to the ocean, she applied gravity manipulation via Graviton.
-Rumble...!
Vast seawater lifted into the air.
Dozens of tons, easy.
What she planned with it was unclear, but soon she chanted from her mouth.
"......Ignite." ⟨ Hellfire ⟩
-Roar!
True to the True Word of Fire, massive flames erupted.
Incredibly, the inferno used the seawater as fuel, blazing fiercely.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Hellfire – AoE Magic ※ Attribute: Fire / Range: 10~1000m / Max Targets: ∞
▶ Incinerates the target with hellish flames. Even if it's water.
"...A bit early for first snow, but it'll be fine."