Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: The Heroes' Night - 3
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Velosian shuddered violently as if struck by lightning and shouted.
“My core? You think I’d tell you that?”
“Decided to drop the formalities now? Why not from the start.”
I replied indifferently.
‘Bion. What’s this guy’s core?’
[One moment.]
Tap.
Bion displayed the Eye of Omniscience.
It didn’t bother revealing the secret’s rank or level.
No need for that anymore. Now it could reveal every secret.
In the frozen time, I checked Velosian’s core and let out a gasp of admiration.
“Huh. Never would’ve guessed.”
The next instant, the screen vanished, and time resumed its flow.
I turned to Velosian.
“You’ve got some tricks.”
“Wh-what…….”
“Heroes, esteemed champions.”
I lightly turned to face everyone.
From the invitation to the fourth generation.
A total of eighteen heroes and champions.
‘With our party members, me, and Trail, that makes twenty-six.’
[I’m here too.]
Anyway, this was a massive group on the move.
Under normal circumstances, we’d have been spotted ages ago, but thanks to the dead of night and Neril’s magic, no one noticed us.
Adwin said.
“This defeats the purpose of calling them all at once. I gathered them together because individual meetings would take too long.”
“Sorry. You okay?”
“Heh. Who do you think I am?”
“Still good, huh. I planned to wrap it up quick, but it dragged on. Velosian needs to die before Acteon.”
Neril nodded.
“Yeah. Kill Acteon first, and we’d face the world’s laws backlash.”
“Then we couldn’t kill Velosian. But you said killing Velosian doesn’t trigger it. Right, Impellium?”
“Yeah. Demon Kings seem fair game.”
Velosian reacted at the mention of his name.
“Eup. Gulp!”
In some incomprehensible noise.
He was currently bound head to toe in Neril’s magical chains.
The chains dug into his mouth, silencing any protests.
Jenia opened her mouth with a strangely distant expression.
“We almost died to that guy back in the day, right?”
“Was there something like that?”
“I barely remember.”
“Serein sis wouldn’t, obviously. She was on death’s door then.”
“Risel was so worried back then…… Risel?”
For reference, Risel was stuck right next to Grade.
“Huh? What’d you say?”
“Nothing. Keep doing what you were.”
“W-we weren’t doing anything.”
Anyway, the mood felt just like a group heading out for a late-night stroll because they couldn’t sleep.
I gave Velosian a light tap.
“Guess you’re the only serious one here. Not that you’re human.”
“Eup eup.”
“Got something to say?”
He nodded furiously.
I glanced at Neril.
She wasn’t thrilled, but she released just the restraint on his mouth.
“Cough. Maide. You planning to break your promise?”
“You’re sticking to informal now?”
“You’re a hero, aren’t you? Even if it’s a deal with a Demon King, to toss it aside and trample it in a single day.”
“Hey, Velosian.”
I leaned in close to his face.
“How many people have you deceived?”
“…….”
“Ever felt a shred of guilt toward any of them?”
“…….”
“Nope.”
I smirked and continued.
“So I don’t either.”
We arrived at the imperial palace underground.
The stark white expanse of countless white doors beneath the palace.
A fact I’d learned during the party with Impellium: these doors were escape tunnels from the special prison.
Velosian had created white doors mimicking the special prison, desperately trying to connect to the ‘Maide world.’
Back then, I’d just thought he’d put in a lot of effort.
Not anymore.
I addressed the heroes and champions.
“These doors are Velosian’s core.”
“……?”
Question marks appeared on everyone’s faces.
But Velosian hung his head, admitting my words were true.
Neril asked.
“Wasn’t Velosian trapped in the special prison?”
“At first, yeah. But he and Acteon put their heads together to find a way out.”
“…….”
“As you know, the special prison is Acteon’s gifted world, and ours is Maide’s world. They’re supposed to be entirely separate spaces with no overlap.”
“…….”
“But Acteon had that exceptional ability to traverse worlds.”
That’s how he’d roamed Maide’s world, hopping bodies.
Until Impellium defeated him and sealed him back in his own world.
“Guess he taught Velosian the trick.”
“Hmm.”
“Velosian kept splitting his core…… the ‘white doors’…… searching for a connection to Maide’s world. Meaning these doors are Velosian himself.”
In other words, every door here was a tunnel he’d dug for his escape.
“And the most successful one connected to the imperial palace underground—the place we came through.”
“…….”
“The one where we met Grade too.”
Grade scowled, looking deeply displeased.
Risel soothed him and asked.
“What does ‘most successful’ mean?”
“It let him enter Maide’s world while retaining the most power. Still pathetic compared to his main body, though.”
Of course, even after that, Velosian kept splitting his core, focusing on crafting ‘better doors,’ apparently.
Some connected to the armory storing Dame’s sword.
Others to the kitchen where Serein’s parents ate.
Some to the altar holding Risel’s trumpet.
Others to the plains etched with Biond’s wide-area scanning magic circle.
And some to the place Leon researched necromancy.
“But none matched the efficiency of the imperial palace door.”
“Yeah. So Velosian consolidated the power from the other doors into the imperial one. The places those other doors connected to became frozen in time—severed from Maide’s world, preserved in their initial linked state.”
That’s why Serein’s parents could eat endless new meals, or Dame’s sword stayed pristine before breaking.
Anyway, the explanation wrapped up.
The heroes and champions just glared silently at Velosian.
He writhed on the floor like a worm, bound in Neril’s magical chains.
“Neril, release him.”
“Okay.”
Clank.
As Neril dispelled her magic, Velosian looked up at me.
I said.
“Choose.”
“What?”
“Die fighting, or die quietly.”
Velosian stared blankly, speechless.
I slowly gripped my sword and said.
“Five seconds.”
Maide Mohan began counting.
“Five.”
Exactly five seconds.
In the first one, Velosian felt a terror unlike anything in his life.
Terror even Impellium hadn’t inflicted.
‘Wh-what’s Maide’s reputation now?’
He couldn’t check it like with Acteon, but it had to be nearly double Impellium’s peak.
He couldn’t even stand against Impellium.
Against nearly double that in Maide……
‘Damn. Shouldn’t have let the previous heroes and champions hand over their reputations.’
He’d been mistaken.
Never dreamed they’d permanently transfer their reputations to Maide.
A hero’s reputation was more than life itself.
So he’d assumed it was just a temporary loan until Acteon died.
‘And they just…… handed it over?’
If the heroes and champions watching with arms crossed hadn’t fully transferred them.
He could’ve survived.
At least until after Maide died.
Why make such an absurd choice?
“Four.”
When Maide counted four, Velosian’s mind raced at blinding speed.
Two options.
Die fighting, or die quietly.
He was certain he couldn’t win a fight.
Just die meekly?
What about my dream?
My dream to become the Demon God?
“Three.”
At three, fury surged.
How did it come to this?
Why must I die like this?
At first, survival was all that mattered.
Knowing all previous Demon Kings fell to heroes’ swords, Velosian prioritized living.
But then Acteon.
Meeting him changed his dream.
The goal Acteon fanned.
Why must Demon Kings grovel at heroes’ feet?
If the land overflowed with Demon Kings, and he reigned supreme, could he escape that misery?
Acteon’s proposal had become an irreplaceable dream.
“Two.”
Ah.
No time, no time!
No time for reminiscing.
‘Fight? Or just die?’
Regret followed the rage.
Should’ve backed off once he knew about Impellium.
Acteon seemed to know more about Maide…… should’ve pried.
Why’d he think he had the upper hand?
Why ally with an idiot like Kaild?
No. Why.
Why chase the pipe dream of becoming Demon God?
He knew this world was built so Demon Kings could never win.
“One.”
Aaaah.
Aaaaaah!
No.
Spare me. Spare me.
I don’t want to die.
Not like this.
‘Wait!’
Maide gave two choices, right?
Fight and die, or quietly die.
But no third option?
Of course there is.
‘Beg. Beg for my life.’
No, too pathetic.
But I have to live. Survive first, then plan.
Just die cleanly. Accept death calmly like other Demon Kings.
No, no. I want to live.
Velosian was on the verge of mental collapse.
Maide’s lips moved.
He’d decided.
Couldn’t show more ugliness before the watching heroes, champions, and party.
Die with dignity and serenity.
Accept defeat, close his eyes.
He voiced his resolve.
“Pl-please spare me! Spare meeeee!”
“Time.”
Maide’s sword became a storm.
In that instant, it began shattering every door in the space.
-Kugugugung. Kwagwang!
“Aaah…….”
Light faded from Velosian’s eyes.
Damn it.
‘What did I just yell?’
By then, all doors were destroyed.
The last remained: the one linked to the imperial underground.
He clearly saw Maide’s sword flying toward it.
Velosian spat blood and uttered his final words.
“Spare…… me…….”
Boom!
As the imperial underground door shattered.
Sssr.
Velosian’s body crumbled to ash and vanished.
Clang.
I sheathed my sword.
By destroying even the white door linked to the imperial underground, Velosian was utterly erased.
Grade, who’d been holding his breath, whistled.
“Didn’t even take a second? Shattered every door inside.”
“Did I?”
“What can I say…… You’re no hero anymore.”
“Strange way to give a compliment.”
Leon chuckled oddly before speaking.
“Oh, right. How do we get out now? You smashed the door to the imperial underground too.”
“Check where we’re standing first.”
At that, not just Leon but everyone looked around.
One by one, they muttered in disbelief.
“We’re outside.”
“The palace?”
“Ah. That door over there!”
“Just…… one door standing.”
I nodded and said.
“That’s the special prison. All white doors gone, only Acteon’s world remains.”
When I checked Velosian’s core with the Eye of Omniscience, it showed what would happen if I destroyed all the white doors.
Should’ve mentioned it sooner.
“From the start, Acteon connected that red door between this world and that one. Linking his world to the worlds gifted to other heroes.”
“…….”
“He did that for about 40,000 years, and 10,000 years ago, he linked to the ‘Maide world.’”
“Hmm. Not red, though.”
“That’s why…… huh?”
Neril smirked.
“Still not red. That door.”
“I-is it?”
“I thought only heroes saw the special prison as a red door at first, but the previous heroes call it white too. So not that.”
Then a screen popped up.
[Of course. Only Maide can perceive the special prison accurately because you’re the world’s master. Well, ‘former’ master.]
“…….”
[The red door means your world is under attack. Unnecessary alert for non-masters, so invisible.]
That’s how it was.
I scratched my head.
Then returned to the main point.
“Anyway, as I said, Velosian desperately linked those white doors to connect to Maide’s world while keeping his power.”
“…….”
“Now that he’s gone, only the original red door remains.”
“I’ll take that as understood for now, Maide.”
Lephia said playfully.
She had this odd knack for lightening heavy, confusing moods.
Probably a human trait, not a hero one.
“What now? Storm the special prison and kill Acteon while we’re at it?”
“Hmm. Hold on.”
I approached the special prison and grasped the door handle.