Chapter 193
Chapter 193
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Flames That Scorch the World (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Oh…… what the!
“Hup!”
Duncan slapped his own cheeks with a sharp smack.
It wasn't that simple a problem. If he let that giant through right now, he might survive, but Ilenia's death would be all but certain. And if it absorbed the mana from the offering, the Infernos would grow even stronger than they already were. There was no guarantee that he, or the key squad that had headed for the World Tree, would be safe afterward.
But…… an irresistible fear gripped his ankles.
His experience in hell had punched a massive hole in the heart of the merchant. Courage, boldness, a sense of responsibility…… all those noble emotions had long since leaked out through it. No matter how hard he tried to plug it with greed or a thirst for recognition, it was only temporary—the hole could never be fully filled.
The primal terror that any living being must possess, the fear of death.
That fear, which he had forgotten while traveling with Kadim, had been reignited stronger than ever after swallowing the spark called 'hell.' Dying here, separated forever from his family, being thrown eternally into that horrific hell…… it was truly, truly, truly worse than death itself.
On top of that, Infernos were a calamity no human could handle. Even the great Golden Lord Remillion had been powerless against them, hadn't he? Fleeing like this…… yeah, it was understandable, extenuating circumstances.
“Hahk, hahk, hahk……”
When he came to his senses, he was already panting as he fled in the opposite direction.
Inside him now, there was no supreme guide, no warrior who had earned recognition by defeating Agon’s Furious Horn, no comrade who had shared the blood of a great warrior. Only a coward desperate to save his own skin remained.
What suddenly halted that coward was one absurd thought.
'W-wait…… if I'm gonna die and go to hell anyway…… isn't it better to go now rather than later?'
The reason hell terrified him above all was those grotesque demons. But right now, hell contained their ultimate predator, the one thing even those demons feared most.
The demon slayer who was dead serious about butchering demons: Kadim.
“……”
If he died at any other time, he'd be helplessly toyed with by the demons. But if he died right now, he could count on Kadim's help.
It was a slightly unhinged idea even by his own standards…… but it wasn't wrong. His trust in Kadim was absolute—to the point where he believed the man would somehow save him even from hell.
And if he ran away from a mere ball of fire like that, how could he face his family, who had boldly seen him off, or the warrior who had set out without fearing even hell?
After squeezing his eyes shut and agonizing for a moment, Duncan turned around with resolute eyes.
The fear of death had undeniably lessened. His irregularly pounding heart gradually steadied. As the wall of flame drew near, Duncan recalled Kadim's teachings to burn away even the lingering dread.
Words have the power to change actions.
“Yaaah!! You worthless spark not even fit to light a rat's ass!! Over hereee, over heeere!! Behold Duncan Wheeled, recognized by Agon’s Furious Horn and Atala's great warrior!!”
- Grrrumble, grrrumble…….
――――――― Kwang!
Screaming at the top of his lungs, he hurled a rock at its instep, and immediately a foot the size of a courtyard slammed down onto the ground.
“Huaaaahk!!”
……Of course, words could change actions, but they couldn't change the enemy's size.
He had at least drawn its attention away from Ilenia, but he had no idea how to deal with it. Duncan hurriedly checked his weapons as he fled.
Hellfire dagger? No need for extra firepower against something already scorching hot. Invisible blade? Might sever an arm after slashing thirty thousand times. Night Shadow Cloak? Hmm, that might actually work…….
Kwagwagwang, kwagwagwang - !!
“Hahk, haaahk!!”
……Never mind.
The moment he pulled the cloak over himself, the Inferno exploded its palm, scattering embers everywhere. Even the finest stealth was worthless against indiscriminate AoE attacks—a mere piece of cloth.
There was nothing useful in his inventory either. All that remained was the money pouch from Ilenia. A pretty light load for road money to the afterlife. The merchant belatedly regretted the bad deal.
At that moment, a strange sensation emanated from the hand gripping the money pouch.
“Hahk, hahk, hahk……?”
It wasn't unfamiliar. It felt similar to when he had held Lilia's hand at the rest stop before. The remembered sensation guided him instinctively, making him open his palm downward.
Guuuuung -
A pitch-black 'distortion hole' rippled open on the ground.
“Wha……?”
Thud, thud, thud - !
The Inferno was closing in right behind him. With no time to think, he leaped into the hole. But for some reason, it was like jumping onto a hole-shaped shadow—he couldn't enter.
- Kuhuuu - !!
Memories flashed by like a life review, and he recalled Ilenia opening a 'distortion hole' at close range.
'Oh, the exit! I need to make an exit too……!'
He created another hole a short distance away, and only then was his body sucked in. The Inferno roared in fury at missing its prey by a hair's breadth.
- Kuhwaaaah - !!
Duncan tumbled out the opposite hole, rolling to a stop. Stunned, he shook out the money pouch and checked its contents. Amid the familiar Luden gold coins, three oddly shaped silver coins were mixed in.
Holy relics containing the divine power of the Forgotten God: the 'Silver Coins of the Fallen Kingdom.'
“……”
He had no clue what was going on. Had Ilenia given him this pouch knowing this would happen?
But the how and why didn't matter. What mattered was that he could now draw divine power from these silver coins and create 'distortion holes' like a priest of the Forgotten God.
The tables had turned.
“Huu…… You bastard!! Where ya lookin'!! Over hereeee!!! Duncan Wheeled is right hereee!!”
- Kook? Kuhwaaaaah - !!
Thud, thud, thud, thud - !
Duncan lured the Inferno right up to his nose before leisurely escaping through a hole. Provoke again, escape before the embers or feet could touch him, provoke once more and escape through a hole. For a while, the merchant toyed with the raging giant like a matador dancing around an enraged bull, buying time.
But he soon hit his limit.
He wasn't as skilled with holy spells as Ilenia. The backlash from repeatedly creating distortion holes and constantly reorienting himself brought on extreme fatigue and dizziness.
“Urk, guwek, gueeeek……”
Kwagwagwang - !!
“……Hahk!”
On top of that, hellfire poured through an unclosed hole and nearly roasted him despite his escape. Duncan frantically sealed the hole in panic.
But that crisis led to an unexpected inspiration.
“……”
Maybe…… he didn't have to just evade. Maybe he could actually take down that giant.
It was extremely dangerous, but there were no other options anyway. He instinctively felt he had few uses of 'distortion hole' left. At this point, wouldn't it be better to gamble his life instead of giving up and fleeing or waiting to die?
'Uh, Primordial Darkness or whatever you are…… anyway, great Forgotten God…… since you're helping me, might as well see it through cleanly…….'
Duncan offered a rough prayer to the Forgotten God, who had probably lent him power, then launched his final provocation.
“Yaaah, you chunk of charcoal not even fit for a dwarf's shit-sack!!!! Behold the great merchant chosen by the Forgotten God, Duncan Wheeled, right hereee!!”
- Kuwagagagah - !!!
――――― Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thoroughly enraged, the Inferno now resembled an erupting volcano more than a burning giant. With single-minded intent to crush the one slippery rat, it charged fiercely, scattering flames and shaking the earth.
That was why it failed to notice the hole Duncan had placed at its feet.
Squelch—the foot it stepped forward sank into the mire-like hole and shot up from the opposite one. Duncan sealed both holes simultaneously, as if waiting for this moment.
Guuuuuuk, kwagwang - !
- Kuhwaaak - ?!
The staggering Inferno collapsed, one leg trapped and unable to move. It would have been best to sever the leg by enhancing the hole's sealing or cutting power…… but that was beyond Duncan's current ability. Just maintaining a hole that size made his vision blur and his head ring.
Still, it was enough.
“Hyaaaaaah!!”
Duncan charged at the giant with a yell. With its foot bound, the Inferno's chosen attack was its fist. A massively flaming punch hurtled toward the merchant dashing on foot.
- Grrrumble - !!
―――― Kwarr rumble - !!
But that was exactly what Duncan had planned.
Just before the fist connected, Duncan veered sharply to the side. At the same time, he opened holes where he had been and right next to it.
“Die, you fuck!!”
Thus, the meteor-like fist passed through the black hole, emerging upside-down from the ground……
―――――― Kwang!!!
……and returned straight to its wielder, smashing squarely into its blazing face.
It had swung with such force that it exploded on impact, head flying off. The Inferno couldn't even scream in death throes. It merely crumbled like volcanic pyroclastic flow, headless and futile.
Ku – woong!! Fwoosh, fwoosh - !!
The ashen forest trembled, flames spreading everywhere. From the Inferno's corpse—which had killed itself with its own fist—thick smoke hissed out and dissipated.
“Hahk, hahk, hahk……”
Duncan panted, wiping away the soot-black sweat.
Having gotten so close to the hellfire, his skin was boiled red with blisters here and there. Amid the pain he barely registered, a heavy nausea and exhaustion washed over him. Then came an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and relief that drowned it all out.
He had done it.
He had truly, truly taken down an Inferno!
The giant spreading hellfire through the great forest, the hellfire spirit deemed impossible for mortals to oppose, the embodiment of disaster that even mighty Remillion couldn't handle—he had overcome his fear of death and defeated it alone!
“Heh, heuh, heh heh……”
A hearty laugh burst out unbidden. Even his dizzy, swaying vision felt like a blissful dream. He could already imagine the faces Kadim and his family would make hearing this tale…… just thinking about it sent thrills through his body.
But the Inferno he had just felled was merely one horn of a dilemma.
……Thud, thud, thuroom, thuroom…….
“……Huh? Wh-what……”
Before he could rejoice, far off in the distance, a herd approached like moving mountains.
One, two, three, four…… by rough count, over ten. The Inferno pack he had shaken off earlier had finally tracked the mana to Ilenia. Duncan's briefly brightened face drained to pale horror.
Over that pallor, a sudden azure glow overlaid.
―――― Woo woo woo…….
The glow's source was none other than the Infernos. Blue energy leaked from their hearts, heads, every burning corner of their bodies. At the same time, the flames enveloping their forms weakened, as if fuel were spilling out.
- Grumble, grrrumble - !!
- Grrrumble…….
Fwoooosh…….
The escaping blue energy coalesced thick and dense like thunderclouds. As their firepower repeatedly waned, the Infernos eventually faded into wisps of smoke. The deep blue clouds that had toyed with the spirits in midair suddenly flowed to one spot and vanished.
To the place Ilenia had been—the one he had asked her to seal off from approach.
Duncan shot to his feet.
'The offering! The offering infused with great holy magic! That girl finally finished preparing and used it!'
Her words weren't bravado. The offering truly had the power to wipe out the Infernos. He'd struggled so much with one, yet over ten were massacred in the blink of an eye! A twinge of emptiness mixed with overwhelming awe surged through him.
He couldn't bear not knowing what it was. Ignoring his lungs aching like they might burst, he bolted toward Ilenia.
But the moment he confirmed the offering's true nature.
“……”
Duncan froze like stone, forgetting even to breathe.
Wooooo…….
Standing beside Ilenia, a red-haired girl absorbing vast mana into her embrace.
“……And who, who the hell are you?”
No matter how he looked…… she was the spitting image of the 'grand sorceress' he had met before.
*
He charged.
- Krraaaahk!
His blood surged.
- Kweeeeeek!!
The blood of progenitor demons split open at the crown, the blood of possessing demons bitten at the throat and savored, the blood of parasitic demons squeezed from rent torsos—none compared to this.
Indeed, fresh blood just forged in hell, the demons' homeland, was different. His heart, soaked in fresh vitality, thumped thump in satisfaction. The echoing screams of demons were as sweet as a lullaby.
Yet Kadim wasn't as exhilarated as his first taste of blood. There was one big issue preventing him from fully savoring the blood scent.
'Melissa…… isn't pursuing.'
His expectations had been off.
He had nearly filled his needed blood vitality, yet there was no sign of Melissa crossing the rift.
Two possibilities. Either she had seen through the lure and chosen to pursue later, or she was being overwhelmingly pushed back by the dragon.
Neither was ideal. The former risked the reclamation squad being wiped out; the latter, Melissa dying before he learned the truth. He had asked the dragon not to kill her before he returned…… but it might not be able to show mercy in the circumstances.
Kadim turned back toward the rift.
It was a shame to leave like this. Hell only got better blood sacks the deeper he went. But delving further would delay his exit too much. He resolved to drink more on the way back and escape without lingering.
At that moment.
“……!”
Flash—a unidentified light flickered behind him.
It wasn't from a demon. The surrounding demons had long fled in terror at the savage slaughtering the fresh blood.
The light's origin was beyond an arch-shaped gate resembling hell's entrance.
Gazing at the hill of pure white flames, Kadim vaguely intuited.
Probably inside there, the one who ruined Melissa…… much tastier blood was strewn about.