Chapter 27. Oh Right, I'm a Hero Now
Barbatoss.
Just hearing that name made my teeth grind.
Me, at the pinnacle of the human world. Balpador, at the pinnacle of the demon world. Even Baldr right in front of me.
All of us had been ensnared by that bastard's schemes, ruining everything.
The insidious destroyer who led both Earth and the demon realm down the path to annihilation.
Absurdly enough, through 998 regressions, I'd mistaken him for nothing more than a loyal servant of the demon world.
Right up until the last loop, when he was about to rip the Demon King's core straight out of my body and devour it.
His flawless deception, enough to fool even a regressor's eyes, now had just one fatal flaw—it had been exposed to this regressor.
"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty? Barbatoss has guarded and tended to Your Majesty's chambers alongside me for the past 300 years!"
"And gobbled it all up with glee, no doubt."
"No, what are you—?!"
"Barbatoss is an aghulma. It can devour anything whole and hide it in its gut."
"That can't be... How could a mere aghulma rise to the rank of demon world viscount?!"
The current Barbatoss was probably a fake, swallowed whole by an aghulma.
Even I didn't have precise details on him, though.
Despite all the regressions it took to realize I'd been had.
"That's not the point right now. While you're away, it'll try to devour the Demon King—my original body—down to the last scrap."
"Aargh! That heaven-defying scum! Then we can't delay. We must head to the demon world at once!"
I stared blankly at Baldr's excited form.
"In that getup?"
"!"
His snow-white dragon face flushed red.
"It's urgent, sure. But you need a day to recover, and so do I. Charging in blindly won't cut it—Balpador's power and Barbatoss's schemes are no joke."
"I'm not afraid of Duke Balpador's might! And that Barbatoss scum even less...!"
"However."
I patted Baldr's white shoulder.
"They'll discover your true form. And I don't want that any more than you do."
"...Then what should we do, Your Majesty?"
To find a volcanic region fitting for his lava armor, Earth was out of the question.
Every time I'd stripped off his armor before, I'd taken him through a specific gate.
"If not the demon world, then the spirit beast realm."
"?"
I used Reverse Terraforming to turn back time on the spirit gate.
The spirits who'd died or been injured returned, while Baldr and I remained unchanged.
"This is... a divine power skill!"
Baldr's eyes widened as he looked around.
"A skill I got from becoming a hero. Pretty useful, right?"
"Indeed! To even steal skills from those sly heaven-dwellers. As expected of my Demon King!"
I turned away from Baldr, who was flattering me with double thumbs-up, and spotted a slave spirit emerging from the ruins.
"Are you leaving now?"
"Yeah. Sorry for dragging you into all this mess."
"You brought us back good as new. We're fine."
"Hmm..."
If I hadn't scheduled the meetup with Baldr here, the spirits wouldn't have suffered.
For breaking free of the illusionist, it had been far too brutal.
"Tell me what you want. I'll make it happen if I can."
"Then... grant me dark energy, too."
"What're you talking about?"
"I saw you take in that Red Fury King last time. I saw it evolve into something even stronger."
"That's..."
"I know it involves dying and coming back. I still want it."
"Why go that far...?"
The slave spirit glanced at Baldr, then turned to me with a resolute expression.
"This gate is the last refuge for spirits cast out from the spirit realm. I want power stronger than anyone's to keep it from ever being in danger again."
"...I get it. But if Death Terraforming hits you, you won't be you anymore. That okay?"
"Yes! I'll do anything to protect this gate."
The slave spirit's eyes sparkled with determination.
I let out a small sigh and reached out, grabbing its slender neck.
I didn't want to see its fragile neck snap off.
"Death Terraforming."
◾ Spirit King's Touch Lv 810
◾ Burn Immunity Lv 351
The spirit, writhing through mutations for a while, finally shimmered all over and prostrated itself before me.
A Fire Spirit King born from Death Terraforming—unbelievable.
I read its status window with a mix of shock and absurdity.
'After surviving that insane sea of flames, it evolved into the Fire Spirit King.'
"Rise, Ifrit."
The tall spirit king, its form flickering in and out of visibility, stood tall with dignified poise.
"I sincerely thank you for granting me such immense power, O Great Evil One."
"Good. Guard the gate well."
"Yes, sir!"
Afterward, since I couldn't just take Baldr out as-is, I rummaged through the ruins for the illusionist's old clothes, draping them over him and pulling a hat low over his head.
Now he looked less like a demon and more like a devout Inspector Cult follower.
"Time to catch a plane."
An hour after evacuating Gangbuk's citizens just in case, the hero emerged from the sewer.
With a mysterious man in tow.
"Are you alright, Hero?!"
"Hero!"
The pope, Vice Chairman Jeong Hyun-seop, and the paladin order all rushed over to greet me.
"Who's that guy?"
"Oh, he's the one who helped take down the demon. Big hero."
I patted Baldr's shoulder to show he was harmless.
"Ooh! So you caught the demon?!"
"That's right."
"Rejoice, everyone! The hero has vanquished the wicked demon!"
"Wooooaaah!"
The pope, ever the showman beneath his righteousness, bellowed to the crowd.
After the commotion and a press conference, when the pope suggested heading back to the main temple, I declined, citing no time, and headed for the airport.
I worried Baldr's identity might slip if we entered the temple, and honestly, time was tight.
Barbatoss could devour my Demon King body any moment, and Balpador was surely plotting to seize the throne.
'Gotta get there before my body's all eaten up.'
I'd re-equip Baldr with his lava armor, and I needed to level up and acquire skills from past loops, so Japan it was.
Mount Fuji had turned from a dormant volcano to a full-blown active one 12 years ago, when the first gates and monsters poured out. The gate there led straight to the spirit beast realm.
The endless lava flows from Fuji actually came from that gate, not the mountain itself.
Those flows would be the lifeblood Baldr desperately needed now.
"The flight to Mount Fuji, Japan, leaves in two hours."
"Thank you for the convenience."
"No trouble at all. It's our honor to assist the hero."
Thanks to the volunteers from the Gaon of Light main temple church handling check-in, everything went smoothly.
Especially since the Inspector Cult had already prepared Baldr's ID.
"Park Bo-geom? That's your ID?"
"Yes. They said it suited me..."
"......"
I dozed off on the plane and woke to find we'd arrived.
With Baldr in tow, I unfurled my armor's wings and rocketed toward the Fuji gate.
Without his lava armor, Baldr would have to reveal his dragon form to fly.
He could manage alone, but a giant dragon appearing would cause pandemonium, so this was safer.
Baldr couldn't outright defy me and just grumbled under his breath, tucked against my side with a humiliated scowl.
Kuooooh!
At least when I dropped him at the volcano mouth, where lava poured in torrents, he perked up and rolled gleefully in it.
"Will your armor be ready by tonight like that?"
I shoved him into the spirit beast realm gate.
Inside, volcanoes dwarfed Fuji, belching lava on a grand scale.
The heat would melt a normal human instantly amid the crimson flows, but Baldr and I reveled like we'd found paradise.
No prying eyes here—we could wield dark energy freely.
"Death Terraforming."
This time, I unleashed an excessive surge of dark energy everywhere.
The massive volcano around the lava flows levitated at my command.
Dark energy wasn't limited to life; it could manipulate and create matter like this.
The scorching lava heat was swallowed into pitch-black darkness, blacker than night.
"Ooh! As expected of my Demon King! Such vast darkness—it's been ages since I've felt such mighty power swelling my chest with awe!"
Baldr marveled as I kneaded an entire spirit realm volcano for his armor.
'Baldr, you say the exact same lines every loop.'
I smirked, then glanced at the lava cannon rocketing up from below.
Kwa! Kwang!
The gate keeper stomped furiously, firing futile blasts that burst before reaching me.
'Still the same old you. Lava Giant Tauritsan.'
Tauritsan, lord of this vast volcano and chieftain of the lava giants, always attacked furiously whenever I uprooted their home.
'In past loops, I'd have just killed it without a thought...'
This time, taking an innocent spirit beast life's felt wrong.
I compressed the colossal lava mass I'd gathered and hurled it at Baldr.
"Grroooar!"
Baldr thrashed inside the lava orb, roaring unbecomingly.
Half an hour, and his armor would be complete.
I left him to it, dodging Tauritsan's lava shots as I descended into the massive crater left behind.
At the heart of the bottomless, shadowy pit lay a skill I'd hidden in past loops.
Reflecting my tastes from those regressions, the double dungeon entrance loomed, supported by two absurdly massive pillars, lavishly adorned.
As I stepped in, ornate oil lamps ignited in welcome.
After traversing the long corridor,
I reached the grand hall's entrance and lit the torches on either side.
Whoosh—
The gray hall, untouched for ages, blazed with torchlight as if greeting a visitor. Towering gargoyle statues lining the walls cast flickering shadows.
'Around here.'
In the circular hall's center, I placed a hand on the floor and infused a bit of mana.
A magic circle glowed, and a message appeared.
You have accessed a skill acquired in a previous regression.
Do you wish to inherit it?
Just as I was about to leisurely inherit the skill, an attack came from behind.
Kwagwagwang!
A massive gargoyle had struck at me.
"You dare not recognize me?!"
My rage boiled for a moment.
Then I realized my golden armor was gleaming.
'Oh right. I'm a hero now.'