Lost Days in the Abyss
I had lost count of the days.
It felt like more than a year had passed.
Yet I could not gauge the exact time.
"..."
"..."
The comrades who kept walking said nothing.
Bandages wrapped every part of their bodies.
Beneath those bandages lay bruises of a dark violet hue.
The twisted bodies of the demonic beasts and the aura they emitted carried the demonic poison of the darkness attribute.
I had learned that exposure to it caused mana poisoning.
If only I had awakened as the Saintess...
With an evolved healing ability, I could have cured the demonic poison.
Clench.
I had not awakened.
Even now, with the final battle against the Demon King right before us, I remained unawakened.
Therefore, the party advancing in this worst possible state was clearly my responsibility.
Still, was this fortunate...
Or should I call it the worst?
The Hero had not awakened either.
If the Hero had awakened while I alone remained unawakened, I could not imagine how much blame I would have faced.
The thought alone made my body tremble.
Yet this was no cause for relief.
To defeat the Demon King with ease, the Hero's Holy Sword needed to awaken.
Could the Hero, who had failed to awaken until now, manage it during the life-and-death struggle with the Demon King?
What if he never awakened at all?
I was terrified.
The fear was so great that I wanted to stop walking and run away.
Everyone must have been thinking the same thing.
"..."
"..."
No one blamed the Hero.
It was not out of understanding.
Blame would change nothing.
"..."
Fortunately, the Hero seemed to recognize his own shortcomings and no longer voiced complaints as he once had.
Step... step...
Thus we pressed on through the dark cave leading to the Demon King.
* * *
"It's getting wider."
At Seria's words, everyone, including me, looked around.
The passage that had barely allowed one person through had grown so vast that we now had to describe the ceiling as high.
How had we failed to notice such a clear difference while moving?
Were we that exhausted?
"Kyaaak... Such terrifying demonic energy... I can barely breathe."
Arang suddenly bristled her fur and panted.
I felt nothing at all.
Looking beside me, the Hero wore the same bewildered expression.
"On the way here... there were no demonic beasts... They couldn't approach because of the demonic energy."
Nene hugged her staff, her small shoulders trembling with fear.
Perhaps only those who had awakened their Mana Roads could sense it.
When I looked at Seria last, her usual expressionless face had given way to one of deep concern.
She reached toward the Hero's back as if to speak, then clenched her fist.
"Let's drop our packs and use all our consumables. Including the rations."
"What? Why?"
At the Hero's question, Seria answered.
"Because the next battle will be the last."
After Seria spoke, no one opened their mouths again.
We simply used every holy water and scroll we had brought, repeatedly enchanting our weapons and armor.
Crunch... crunch...!
Even though we were starving, we silently chewed and swallowed the cookie bars made of vegetables and meat that we had never touched before.
"Arang and I will go ahead to check the enemy."
After saying this, Seria and Arang crossed the passage together.
Thud..! Thud—!!
"What... is that? What's happening inside?"
Annie stared beyond the passage with a startled face at the vibrations shaking the entire cave wall.
Thud—! Thud—!!
The impacts continued.
"It stopped..."
A sudden silence fell, chilling the blood.
Step-...
Clack..!!
At the sound of footsteps from beyond the passage, everyone raised their weapons without exception.
"Haa.. haa.."
Arang appeared, her white fur stained red, breathing roughly.
"Saintess..! Heal her quickly!"
Seria supported Arang and pushed her toward me.
"Huuu..."
Seria's shoulder blades, exhaling white breath, had turned pure white.
"This is insane... A crazy monster... It can't be..."
Fear surged as I watched Arang mutter endlessly while receiving treatment.
Arang was an awakened martial artist.
How could she suffer such injuries and be terrified in such a short time?
Could we even defeat an opponent like that?
"Everyone, gather around... Listen while I treat her."
Seria drew our attention.
"Inside is a wide open area. The ceiling is high enough for a spire. Countless stalactites as tall as a person hang down."
First, she described the terrain.
"In the center is a demonic beast presumed to be the Demon King. Its attack type is long-range bombardment or mage. We couldn't get close, so we couldn't confirm if melee attacks would work."
Next, she explained the type of demonic beast we had to face.
"Wait... attacked with magic missiles?"
At that moment, Nene raised her hand and asked.
"Yes. It was a magic circle for magic missiles."
"That can't be... Arang got hit by something like that...? Magic missiles are basic magic..."
Ren tilted her head and questioned.
"It was magic missiles... but more like spikes? Or should I say spears? They were incredibly large and seemed to have homing capabilities."
"They definitely home in! Even when I dodged, they kept chasing me!"
Arang, now healed, jumped up and added her opinion.
"Something like that would be swept away by my Holy Sword's mana release anyway, right?"
The Hero added a remark, but no one responded.
Even I, a non-combatant, knew.
How could the Hero handle what Seria and Arang together could not?
"Let's split the party into two groups. I'll protect Nene and the Saintess with my defensive swordsmanship. Annie, who has defensive abilities, will protect Ren and the Hero. Arang will act alone."
In the end, the operation was established according to Seria's plan.
Step... step... step....
With trembling steps, we passed in single file through the dark, narrow straight passage.
Flash—!
"Ugh..!"
Though I frowned at the sudden brightness, I forced my eyes open at the fact that a monster called the Demon King existed in this place.
Just as Seria had described, stalactites hung from the ceiling like icicles.
They were not simple rocks but appeared like blue crystals, reflecting internal light and functioning like fluorescent stones.
Immediately after, as I slowly lowered my gaze...
There was the battlefield, pitted with holes everywhere.
Srrr...
In the center floated a spherical shape.
How had the Demon King appeared in old fairy tales?
A red giant with horns, seated on a throne?
Or a massive demonic dragon covered in black scales, breathing fire?
"That is..."
All such images vanished in an instant.
Swish...
It was a gigantic eyeball.
Surrounding it were countless lip-shaped forms clustered like grapes.
"...Is that the Demon King?"
I had never seen a creature like that.
Yet from the gaze of its pupil, devoid of any readable will, I instinctively recognized what it was.
It seemed like a being that had evolved solely to kill.
"Follow the plan!!"
Seria shouted and charged at the monster.
Though she must have been terrified, she approached alone to draw its attention.
"Haaa-...."
White breath exhaled from her open mouth trailed like a tail.
Chaaak—!!
Crack—!!
Her sword swung in an arc, and a cylindrical wall of ice encased the Demon King.
Through the rising ice wall, I glimpsed the scene beyond.
Pop pop pop pop—...
Countless lips chanted something, forming magic circles equal to their number.
"Saintess..! Over here!"
"Yes..!"
After Nene called me, I stood beside her as she began chanting interception magic.
"By the light of the Mother, embrace the lost ones..!"
I too recited the incantation for protective holy magic.
Kwaaang—!! Kwaaang—!!!
Kwagagagak..!!!
The ice wall, which had never broken against any demonic beast's attacks or techniques before, was pierced by shining harpoons on the verge of melting and collapsed.
Shwaaa—!
Bang..!! Bang...!!
Beams snaked through the air, shattering stalactites, and their fragments struck the holy barrier I had deployed.
Shwaaa— Crack..!!
"Ah..!"
The moment a beam touched the barrier.
Crash—!!
As expected, the barrier was torn apart and destroyed.
"Keep attacking—!!"
With that cry, Seria blocked our path and swung her ice sword to deflect the beams.
I stared blankly at how swiftly she parried them, then quickly regained my senses and invoked my healing ability to rapidly mend Seria's wounds.
Fwoosh—!
Kwaaang—!!
From the side, Nene continued casting flame magic, launching attacks at the Demon King.
Shwaaa—!!
Zap zap zap—!!
From the Hero's side opposite us, golden slashes and white lightning bolts kept flying.
Everyone was desperately trying to overcome this horrific moment and bring down the Demon King.
Srrr...
Yet the gigantic eyeball stared at us without a single wound.
It was not because its body's durability was exceptionally high, nor because it had cast any protective magic.
@#*$@$(@##@*———
With so many mouths chanting, hundreds of magic missiles were fired, colliding with and erasing all our attacks before they could reach.
Kwaaang—— Kwaaang——!
Watching our party's attacks vanish like the colorful fireworks we had seen in the royal capital, I pictured our end.
The Demon King's attacks seemed infinite, but the mana manifested through our human Mana Roads had limits.
We would die... We were going to die.
The moment our mana was depleted, we would die.
And the child in my womb would die too...?
Ziiing—...
At that moment, an unknown mana filled the Mana Road within my body and began circulating through my entire frame.
Beep—— Mana raced along thin tubes.
It was amplified through thick ring-shaped vessels sewn and connected in various places.
...It looked wider?
The instinctive sense of expansion—that I could do many more things—spread the energy flowing from within me to my surrounding comrades.
Crack—!
Then Seria's ice, which had been losing momentum, froze thickly once more.
Chaaak—!!
"Hahat-! What is this! I feel overflowing power!!"
The light slashes from the Hero's Holy Sword flew endlessly toward the Demon King.
"..You've awakened!"
"Yes!"
I answered confidently to Seria's words as she turned to look.
My ability had evolved from simple external wound healing to regeneration that could restore even expended mana itself.
We could do it..!
No matter how close to infinite the Demon King's magic was, I could restore my own mana and my comrades' mana as well.
Crack—!!!
Chaaak—!!!
Kwaaang—!!
Without losing any momentum, our comrades' attacks erased all the Demon King's beams—
Crack..!!!
Kikikik..!!
And struck the body attached to that eyeball.
Shuuu...
As expected of the Demon King, its body's durability was strong; only a few of the constantly moving lips burst.
Thud—!!
Kiiik..!!
"This is the power of the Hero!! How do you like that!?"
Even an unawakened Holy Sword seemed to hold extreme affinity against the Demon King; the Hero's attacks alone left clear wounds.
"Everyone...! Just a little more..!!"
If we pressed this momentum and increased the Demon King's wounds, we could finish it...!
"Haha—!! Die—!! Just die already...!"
Something strange caught my eye.
The Hero, excited, stepped forward and kept swinging his sword.
Why wasn't he staying behind the shield...?
Until now, he had only launched slashes from behind Annie the dwarf shielder's expanded shield.
"I am the Hero!!! The Hero who will defeat the Demon King!!"
Thinking the Demon King's magic was completely blocked by our comrades' barrage, the Hero attacked openly outside the protection range...
"Leon!! You're too far forward...!!"
Seria's scream-like cry echoed through the cave—
Flash—!
"...Ah."
The moment a wave-like force spread from the Demon King's widely opened pupil.
All the attacks we had launched were perfectly erased, as if they had never existed from the beginning.
@#*$@#(@#(@#
Immediately after, before anyone could act, the Demon King's lips chanted a spell in unison.
Ziiiiiing—!!
Hundreds of beams rose into the air, all targeting only the Hero, and flew toward him.
He was dead. The Hero was going to die.
Even when beams fired in all directions, it had taken all our comrades attacking together to barely stop them.
Now concentrated on one person? There was no way to block them.
"Uwaaah—!!"
The Hero dropped his Holy Sword and ran backward like a madman.
Shuuu——!!
The thick beams, said to have homing functions, pursued the Hero from behind.
"Block—!!"
The Hero dove behind the massive shield summoned by the dwarf Annie and Ren, one of the elf sisters.
Kwagagagagak——!!!
The enormous mithril shield created by her ability was pierced by the beams.
"Annieee—!!!"
"Ren—!!!!"
It swept past Annie and Ren who stood behind it.
Shuuu....—
What remained in the place filled with smoke were the two comrades' ankles.
"Aah.. ah...!"
The Hero survived by flattening himself to the ground.
The two of them? We could not save them.
Even with my awakened ability, it was impossible.
Restoring a human left with only ankles belonged to the realm of the gods.
"You bastard—!!!"
"Ren..!!! Ren...!!"
Arang rushed at the Hero in fury, while Nene knelt and screamed at her sister's death.
But the Demon King...?
If it attacked again now, we would end up the same as Annie and Ren.
When I hurriedly turned my head.
Thud—!!
Seria had already plunged her sword into the Demon King's eyeball.
"...Ice Soul!!!!"
Kwadddddk—!!!
Seria's figure came into view, detonating ice spikes inside the eyeball as if her entire Mana Road had gone berserk, dealing damage.
Tremble tremble tremble—!
@#(@$$@(@$...!!
What was terrifying was the Demon King's appearance, still trying to chant despite suffering such an attack without dying.
"Seria..!!"
Calling her name, I poured all my strength into replenishing Seria's mana.
Thud—!!! Thud thud thud—!!!!
Only after the surrounding scenery became a forest of ice spikes.
"Haa... haa....!"
Seria, completely exhausted, knelt while using the sword embedded in the eyeball as support.
The Demon King had been defeated.
"Why—!! Why did you make Annie die!!?"
"Let go!! Are you saying I, the Hero, should have died instead!!?"
..But our fight was not over.