Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Sloth Demon King's Meteor
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Rennel said with utmost seriousness.
“I’ll freeze this entire area solid.”
“A method similar to mine.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Alright. Go for it.”
Creating even a little more room for my party members to shine would help them grow stronger.
“But there’s something bothering me... If we do this, the Demon King will definitely die. His cause of death will probably be listed as hypothermia.”
“No helping it. Protecting the territory is the priority right now.”
“Sigh. Got it.”
Rennel began forming hand seals.
And then she started chanting the incantation.
I’d thought she didn’t need spells anymore, but seeing her do this meant it was one hell of a massive spell.
Is that it? Mega Blizzard.
The Disease Demon King stared at us with his hollow, emotionless eyes.
“What magic is she preparing?”
“Not being a combat-type Demon King is your weakness. Any other Demon King would’ve already sliced Rennel’s throat by now.”
“You bastard.”
The Demon King growled, but that was all he could do.
He couldn’t block or prepare for Rennel’s magic.
All he could manage was spreading his filth more desperately.
Seems like he can’t move while using that authority.
As I thought that leisurely, Chris’s voice reached me.
“Dai-il. If possible, it’d be best to keep him alive, right?”
“Of course, but the situation doesn’t allow it.”
“I’ll put him into a coma.”
“...?”
I stared at Chris in bewilderment.
“The Demon King’s true body is that filth. We don’t even know if the thing’s alive to begin with. What do you plan to do?”
“That filth is breathing. It’s inhaling and exhaling.”
“Huh?”
For a moment, I thought Chris had lost his mind.
But his utterly serious gaze insisted he wasn’t mad or bluffing.
“So?”
“No matter the form, the spot emitting breath has to be a vital point. I’ll target that and put it in a coma.”
“...”
“I’ll aim for the spot I’ve deduced and knock it out, then Rennel, you freeze all the filth solid.”
In lieu of an answer, I gave a faint smile.
My comrades truly are the strongest. At this rate, maybe...
We might even grow stronger than when I last saw them before regressing.
I looked at Rennel.
She was mid-chant and couldn’t respond, but she gave a slight nod.
That was the signal.
Swish.
Chris slipped a few finger-sized paralysis needles between his fingers.
Then, in an instant so fast even I nearly missed it, he launched them.
“What! Gah.”
Splat.
The paralysis needles embedded into the filth’s (supposed, per Chris) respiratory organ.
Judging by Chris’s bright expression, it had worked.
Hiss.
But the filth was still expanding its range.
“Did it hit right?”
“He’s definitely unconscious. Look, you can’t hear the breathing anymore.”
“Never could before either.”
“You’ve grown too accustomed to the other noises. If you tune out your own breath like I have, Dai-il, you’ll hear others’ breathing too.”
“You took my words to heart, huh.”
“The Demon King said his true body is his authority. He’s set it to last ‘until the territory is completely overturned.’ Now it’s up to Rennel to finish it...”
Right on cue, Rennel shouted in response.
“Mega Blizzard!”
⟨ Mega Blizzard ⟩
In an instant, the temperature plummeted to a bone-chilling low.
Even though Rennel must have excluded us from the spell’s effect, it was still this intense.
Whoooosh!
A massive blizzard swept through the entire area in front of us in seconds.
The filth froze solid rapidly.
Starting from the pools closest to us, it spread outward, eventually encasing even the Demon King’s.
Crack.
As the Demon King turned into a magnificent work of art, the blizzard died down.
Rennel wiped sweat from her brow with a “Phew.”
“Done. This’ll hold for a solid hundred years.”
“Meaning summer comes after a hundred years?”
“This is why I can’t talk to warriors. I infused enough mana to keep it frozen for a hundred years.”
“You have that much mana?”
“Basic for a 6th-circle mage. Well, I’m completely tapped out now, though.”
She puffed out her chest proudly as she said it.
I chuckled and replied.
“Impressive work, Rennel.”
“Eep.”
“Praise me too.”
“Impressive work, Chris.”
“This pattern feels familiar.”
And with that, the incident wrapped up nicely.
No need for me to step in.
Which made me all the more satisfied.
My party members were plenty capable... At least until they regained their pre-regression strength, it’d be best if I held back as much as possible.
Now all that was left was to bring the Saintess before the Demon King and confirm quest completion. Done and dusted.
I smiled contentedly.
But that smile soon hardened into a grimace.
“D-Dai-il. What’s wrong? Your face got scary all of a sudden.”
“Damn it.”
“...?”
“Not living up to his title. The Sloth Demon King. Far too diligent.”
I pointed at the frozen Disease Demon King as I spoke.
The two followed my finger and mirrored my earlier expression.
“Th-That’s...”
“The Sloth Demon King’s emblem!”
Whoooosh.
The Sloth Demon King’s emblem floated in the air above the Disease Demon King’s head.
The half-lidded eye pattern I’d grown sick of seeing these past few weeks.
And from within that emblem came a bizarre voice.
How annoying.
Just those few words made Chris’s knees buckle.
Rennel clamped her mouth shut, fighting back waves of nausea.
From beyond continental distances, merely transmitting his voice through an emblem...
To exude this level of pressure and majesty.
Of course, it had no effect on me.
Shing.
I drew my sword and said,
“Done spectating? Get lost.”
“No thanks.”
“I’ll tell you later. Right to your face. Just before I kill you.”
A brief silence followed.
Rennel and Chris looked up at me in disbelief.
Soon, the Sloth Demon King spoke from beyond the emblem.
“...”
I flinched for a moment.
Hero. That name again.
I’d slain countless Demon Kings before regressing, but none had ever uttered the word “Hero.”
The first time I heard the title “Hero” was from the Absence Demon King.
But could it be... that “Hero” was common knowledge among a certain level—perhaps Arch Demon Kings and above?
I absolutely have to meet this guy.
The Sloth Demon King might know the Erosion Demon King’s whereabouts.
Of course, I feigned ignorance and asked coolly,
“What’s a Hero?”
“What?”
Hiss.
Suddenly, the eyelid’s angle shifted slightly.
It was clearly gazing at the sky... no, beyond the sky.
“What are you doing?”
“...”
Swish.
The eyelids turned back to us.
It was a contextless statement, but one I remembered hearing before.
Rennel spoke in a trembling voice.
“Th-That’s from an ancient text...”
“...”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
But based on his nature, I could guess the rest.
<Too much hassle.>
The Sloth Demon King continued.
“...”
“What punishment?”
He enunciated clearly.
What happens to a star when you snuff it out?
No way?
Goosebumps erupted across my body.
The next instant.
Whooooosh!!
Something began falling from the lofty heavens.
I strained my eyes to see.
It was an indescribably massive rock.
Falling at an unimaginable speed.
“Shooting star...?”
Rennel’s mutter nailed it.
With its long, fiery tail, it was undoubtedly a meteor hurtling straight for us!
The emblem vanished with those words.
Meanwhile, the meteor filled the sky, closing in on us.
“Ugh. Uwaaaah.”
“Wh-What do we do? No, what can we do?”
“Both of you, calm down.”
I soothed Rennel and Chris, then drew my sword.
Rennel pounded her chest in frustration.
“What are you doing? We need to run now!”
“She’s right. It’s a meteor. No one can stop something like that.”
Rennel tried to drag me by the arm.
But I gently pushed her away and said,
“Don’t freak out.”
“What? What do you...”
Sword drawn, I bent my knees.
And for the first time since regressing, I unleashed my full power.
“...!”
“No way.”
The chilling aura radiating from me made them both step back.
“This is S-rank?”
“No. I’ve met an S-rank adventurer. Even they couldn’t emit this kind of presence.”
“But in reality...”
“Ah. Remember what Dai-il said before? The Sloth Demon King just mentioned it too.”
And they said in unison,
“Hero?”
Thud.
As if on cue, the ground beneath my feet cratered.
I drew every ounce of power to its limit.
And then,
“Haaaaah!”
I launched my sword skyward.
Screeeeech!
A deafening sonic boom tore through the air, shredding eardrums.
It struck the meteor dead-on, now massive enough to fill my vision.
Moments later.
BOOMCRASHBOOM!
My sword began shattering the meteor to pieces.
Not just cleaving it in half.
Halves wouldn’t suffice to protect the territory.
So I pulverized it into tens of thousands of fragments.
I’d channeled the sword’s force to burst outward upon impact.
BOOMCRASH!
Another thunderous roar, and the star exploded completely.
Scattering as chunks from dozens of centimeters to several meters across the territory.
“Rennel! Cast a territory-wide barrier spell. Even shattered, the damage could be severe.”
“M-My mana’s almost gone... No. I’ll do it.”
Rennel clasped her hands with grim determination.
But I had to grab her arm.
“If you’re out of mana, don’t. Forcing it out is dangerous—you know that much.”
“But the damage...”
“No. It’ll be fine.”
I looked up at the purple sky.
Their eyes widened.
Vmmm.
A radiant golden light wove a rainbow barrier in the air.
The meteor fragments slammed into the golden rainbow.
BOOM!
Not a single piece pierced it.
A merciful yet unyielding golden fence, like the arms of a god!
The meteor shards rained down for another twenty minutes or so.
Finally, as the last fragments vanished, the barrier faded.
“Wh-What the hell was that?”
“First time I’ve seen it too...”
“Yeah. Obviously. Dai-il, any idea? No ancient text mentions a golden barrier ritual like that.”
I closed my eyes briefly before answering.
“The Saintess.”
My Quad wrangle says the Saintess is fake.
But if she can perform miracles like this, who cares if she’s real or not?
So no need to feel sorry for not being the real one.
No more apologies this time, Saintess.