Chapter 102
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: 5-Star Hero
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"Tch."
Maybe something annoying would crop up again because Aqua had killed those humans, but I figured the time had come anyway.
'It was bound to be found out eventually.'
Now that humans had restarted the war and were scouring the south, it was only a matter of time before they learned this ruin was still intact and clashed with us again. That's why I'd been steadily building up my forces and making preparations.
"M-Master... All the humans I had charmed are dead."
"Tch."
And then Lilith delivered the finishing blow with her report. Whether the humans had sensed something off and killed them, or whether they'd followed my prior orders and killed themselves before their enchantment could be discovered... All the heroes I'd made give false testimony through enchantment back then were dead.
That pretty much confirmed we'd been found out...
'A 3-Star Hero. Then a 4-Star Hero came next.'
Which meant... no, it was highly likely that next up would be one of the empire's top forces—a 5-Star Hero. They wouldn't send any run-of-the-mill scrubs to a dungeon that had taken down a 4-Star Hero, after all.
'But just how strong are they?'
I'd seen a 4-Star Hero's power firsthand, but I had no real idea how strong one of those vaunted 5-Star Heroes really was. From what I'd observed so far, the power gap between heroes seemed to widen the higher their star rating climbed...
The difference between a 2-Star and 3-Star Hero was smaller than between a 3-Star and 4-Star...
'Hang on. I don't even know how strong they are in the first place, or who the other 5-Star Heroes even are.'
Come to think of it, there were supposedly six 5-Star Heroes on the continent, but the only one I knew was the Hero of Radiance. There were too many lower ones to memorize, but I really ought to look into the 5-Star Heroes at least.
"You called for me, Master?"
So I summoned Alfred, who had once caught sight of a 5-Star Hero from afar while humans were conquering the southern demon lands in the past.
"About the 5-Star Heroes...?"
"Yeah. Their power, and who the others are besides the Hero of Radiance."
Alfred's face twisted like he was dredging up an unpleasant memory. He chose his words carefully before finally speaking.
"They're... monsters."
The northern region of the continent.
In stark contrast to the south, which was treated as the weakest area, the demons and demonic beasts inhabiting the north were evaluated as far stronger than those elsewhere.
Even before humans implemented their dungeon-preservation policy, the north's treacherous terrain and bone-chilling climate had always deterred them from venturing there.
As a result, demonic beasts and demons in other regions might get subjugated promptly when they appeared, but in the north, such hunts were often postponed. Over decades or even centuries, this allowed countless demonic beasts and demons to grow powerful there.
And to block those overwhelming demonic beasts and demons from descending from the north, the human empire had stationed their greatest asset there...
"Hee-hyah!"
-Roooaaarrrrr!!!!
A woman with striking red hair and a beauty mark beside her eye swung a short wand as if conducting an orchestra, humming a little tune.
With every swing of her wand, black flames erupted, igniting the mindless demonic beasts charging at the northern barricade—and the few demons hidden among them.
"Th-This flame...?"
"That mad bitch is here... Grahhh!!"
The demons wreathed in flames desperately doused themselves with water, tried smothering the fire with sand, or rolled in the snow, but no method extinguished the blaze that had taken hold.
Uquenchable black flames. The conductor of the battlefield. The nightmare of demons. And one of the only six 5-Star Heroes on the continent. All those epithets defined her.
The Hero of Mad Flames, Scarlett.
She was cackling madly in the north, burning demons alive alongside her eternally unquenchable flames.
Mad Flames—not Radiant Flames. The flames of Mad Flame Scarlett, bearer of that moniker, would never go out without her permission.
She delighted in setting demons' limbs ablaze, forcing them into a dilemma: burn to death as is, or amputate the burning parts themselves.
As the demons' screams faded, a bored expression crept onto Scarlett's face, replacing her manic laughter.
"Sigh... This is getting old. They say the policy's been broken, so can I go conquer a dungeon too~?"
As she lowered her wand like a conductor signaling the end, the hidden demons who hadn't been targeted by her magic breathed sighs of relief. But then they felt an incongruously sweltering heat amid the northern chill and looked up at the sky in unison.
"Ah."
A crimson meteor blazed overhead, and with that sight, their consciousnesses snuffed out.
-KABOOOOOM!!!!
With the front lines swarming with demons collapsing in an instant, Scarlett retreated. The knights guarding the northern front didn't cheer her power so much as sigh in relief that the meteor hadn't fallen on them—and trembled in fear.
"Scarlett. I told you not to use meteors if possible."
"Dunno~ Didn't I wrap it up quick thanks to me? And who was it that told me to finish fast today?"
"Haa..."
The gray-haired man chiding her fiddled with the monocle over his right eye. He surveyed the terrain cracked and crumbling from her black flames and meteor, then sighed.
At least she'd controlled it so the protective magic on the walls took no damage—there were no friendly casualties...
"Can't you at least put out the black flames?"
"It's the same effort either way, right? Just leave 'em."
"Haa..."
The hero tasked with cleaning up after Scarlett extended his hand toward the flame-engulfed battlefield with a sigh.
-...Tick.
In that instant, the relentless black flames died down.
Not just the flames—the massive craters from the meteor, the shattered terrain, even the trees and grass burned to ash began restoring themselves, as if time itself were rewinding.
The only things not restored in that miracle were the pathetically slain demons and beasts.
"Yay! So convenient, right?"
"I've told you time and again, my power isn't for cleaning up your messes."
The gray-haired man snapped at Scarlett in annoyance, but he too was a hero—a 5-Star Hero on par with her.
The Hero of Rewind, Clark. Tasked like Scarlett with defending the northern front, he tidied up the traces of her latest disaster. Then he stood beside her and returned to the command building.
"Why the sudden rush to end it quick? A few days ago, you were griping about having to clear a path for those rookies attacking that dungeon..."
"Rookies? Scarlett, there was a 4-Star Hero among them..."
"Pfft, whatever. Anyone weaker than me is a rookie."
"...Hoo."
Clark gave up talking to the madwoman. No wonder the temple, which bestowed fancy epithets to elevate heroes' prestige, had saddled her with "Mad Flame."
"And why pick on me? A while back, Lumen—that old guy's the one who chomped a whole mountain peak."
"...You're probably the only one who calls Sir Lumen that."
Clark answered Scarlett's barbs dutifully even as he pondered the same question himself.
A while back, the Hero of Radiance Lumen had personally mobilized against reports of a top-tier demonic beast, the Yeti King. But ever since that day, something had been off about him.
The man who always restrained his power, striking only his targets precisely, had let emotions sway him that day—slicing not just the Yeti King but the entire mountain peak. What on earth had that messenger told him...?
"Scarlett. Clark."
"...! Sir Lumen!"
"Oh. Hey."
The subject of their conversation appeared before them, even as Clark kept responding to Scarlett's chatter amid his thoughts.
Bright golden hair. A face like a vibrant youth in his twenties, belying his near-century age. Pure white sword and armor befitting his title. The Hero of Radiance, Lumen. For some reason, he stood before them geared up to depart.
"Sir Lumen...? What's with the luggage and gear?"
"Sorry. It's sooner than planned, but I have to return to the capital."
"Ehh? Lumen bro. By yourself? Take me too! This place is boring as hell!"
Lumen's abrupt declaration.
With the empire's declaration of war sparking assaults on dungeons across the continent, demons had read the humans' movements and counterattacked. In this dire situation, three 5-Star Heroes had been deployed to stabilize the north's perilous front...
"We could hold the line without you, Sir Lumen... but has something happened in the capital?"
Blocking Scarlett's whining to tag along, Clark asked the reason from Lumen, whose expression was subtly twisted—like he was suppressing anger.
They'd been dispatched north on intel that forces from some dormant dungeons were marching. They'd only clashed a few preliminary skirmishes so far, and now one 5-Star Hero was pulling out...?
"...I have a debt to repay."
Lumen met their gazes evenly as he recalled a comrade who'd steadfastly supported him since the distant past. A cheerful man, always charging ahead in battle to shield everyone from attacks—his adjutant.
'Paulen...'
His close friend. His vengeance, at the very least, had to be delivered by Lumen's own hand.