#014 Promise
#014 Promise
KREEEEK!!
The Green Goblin, Amutar, ran through the forest.
He wasn't being chased by anything, but he ran forward without knowing why.
Because he felt his life was threatened.
"Grrrr...."
Amutar collapsed onto the ground.
No matter how hard he tried to forget, he couldn't. The cold, furious gaze of the Hero surfaced in his mind, and Amutar could no longer walk.
The stinger aimed at the witch.
It had clearly been aimed at the witch's chest, but a wind blew at nearly the speed of light and knocked the stinger to the ground.
And then Amutar met their gazes.
The witch, looking at him with indifference.
And the Hero, whose gaze seemed to boil with indescribable rage.
He had barely survived by fleeing early from the golden storm unleashed by that golden-haired Hero, but he could not overcome the terror etched into the blood of the Demonfolk.
Terror of the Holy Sword.
Terror of overwhelming power.
Terror of death.
If the witch had not made him her messenger, he would surely have died.
"G-ghhh...."
"Oh my? What's a Green Goblin doing here?"
"Kerek...?"
Amutar raised his head.
There, a demon in jester-like attire was staring down at him.
The man in the ridiculous jester's outfit, his face painted white and even red tear tracks drawn beneath his eyes, approached Amutar and smiled warmly.
"Hello! Are you a goblin from the direction of the Hero Village, by any chance?"
"G-grrr...."
"I can tell you're intelligent, you know. If you don't answer nicely, I might just kill you."
At the demon's words, Amutar hastily straightened his posture.
"Y, yes, that's right."
"Good. Then let me ask you something."
The demon snapped his fingers, and mana began to take shape in the air like a picture.
"...A Holy Sword that looks like this. Has it awakened, by any chance?"
"Wh, who are you...?"
"Me?"
The jester twisted the corner of his mouth and pointed at himself.
"The Demon King."
* * *
About 500 years since Belphegor's death.
The times had changed!!
"Haaah."
"We've caught them all. There's no one left inside now."
"Mm, well done."
Lucius grinned broadly, holding his Holy Sword.
A den holding only thirty or so goblins was nothing compared with the power of the Holy Sword, but for Lucius himself, clearing it was an enormous achievement.
"We've never cleared a dungeon together like this before."
"Together? You did it all by yourself."
"I only did as you instructed, Master. As expected of you. How did you know exactly where the goblins would appear?"
"It's obvious at a glance."
Even though 500 years had passed, goblins were still goblins.
Compared with the goblins of the Demon Realm, the goblins of the Middle Realm used positively civilized traps.
Middle Realm goblin traps were meant to 'capture'; Demon Realm traps were meant to 'kill.'
It was truly fortunate that they didn't do things like lure enemies into a cave and then collapse it with mana bombs to crush them to death.
And because I had checked every one of those traps, clearing the den had taken far longer than the Holy Sword's power should have required.
About one hour.
Considering that the same number of goblins had been swept away by the Holy Sword's golden storm in the village in less than three minutes, clearing the goblin den had taken a considerable amount of time.
"If anything, I'm the one who dragged it out. Because I said there were traps that weren't there."
"No. They were all things that seemed likely to be there. In fact, some of the traps had traces of having been dismantled, didn't they?"
"Well, that's true, but...."
"And it's by no means slow. At this pace, it's about the level of Gold Rank mercenaries clearing a goblin den."
"You know about that kind of thing?"
"I looked into various things about what to do after leaving the village."
Adventurers.
People who go into dungeons to eliminate Magic Beasts or Demonfolk and collect the byproducts from their corpses, or take the Mana Stones embedded in Demonfolk hearts, or take gold and treasure from storehouses that intelligent Demonfolk kept inside dungeons.
The profession of chasing a so-called 'big score' hadn't existed in my era.
Similar to mercenaries, but those who pursue 'adventure' a bit more than mercenaries.
Over the span of 500 years, new professions had emerged, and adventurers made money by hunting Demonfolk.
Yes, the Demonfolk who had once driven humanity to the brink of extinction had collapsed with the Demon King's demise and were now reduced to being hunted by humans!
'What happened to you, Demonfolk?'
Back when I was causing chaos, the fighting between humans and Demonfolk was not so much a battle as a 'war.'
'After all the work I put into building the Demon King Army!'
I, Belphegor, had overcome all the restrictions of being summoned to the Middle Realm and had finally become able to exert at least a portion of the Demon King's true power.
And rather than acting alone, I formed the Demon King 'Army' and drew numerous races of the Middle Realm into the Demonfolk.
Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, Trolls, Drakes, Succubi, Beastfolk, Vampires, Lycanthropes, Naga, and others—those classified as 'demi-humans (亞人)' by humanity were brought over to the Demonfolk in droves.
In effect, except for races like Elves and Dwarves that maintained close relations with humans, all of them sided with the Demon King Army.
Some, like Goblins and Orcs, stood on the front lines slaughtering humans, while others, like Vampires and Lycanthropes, had their forces preserved and only a very small number mobilized in exchange for cutting ties with the Human Alliance.
Humanity mainly attempted guerrilla warfare using a small number of Heroes, but most battles against humanity were fundamentally large-scale engagements of tens of thousands against tens of thousands.
Capturing castles, fighting field battles on plains, raiding and seizing ports.
The Great Battle of the Zodiats Plains.
It was a representative battle where all those called the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King Army gathered, and thirty thousand humans, including numerous Heroes, fought on the plains against an army of hundreds of thousands.
In the end, I was recuperating in the Demon King's castle when the Wind Holy Sword Hero suddenly burst in and tore out my heart, but in my era, large-scale war was the norm.
But now it's different.
-Dungeons?
-Yes. We simply call the places where Demonfolk hide 'dungeons.'
Humanity had become the ruler of the continent.
The Elves and Dwarves, who had sided with humanity to the very end and held out, had properly established kingdoms and formed constructive alliances with humans, it was said.
Then what became of those who sided with the Demon King Army?
"They fled to the mountains, to caves, to the seabed, to the northern continent—to places beyond the reach of human hands."
"I see.... So the nests they made after fleeing are dungeons?"
"Yes, Master. Just like this place."
I entered the 'Goblin Dungeon' together with Lucius.
It was different from the goblins that had attacked the Hero Village, located about two days' distance from the Hero Village.
We weren't heading anywhere in particular, but if we came across Demonfolk along the way, we couldn't just pass them by.
Just as a sparrow couldn't pass a mill without stopping, I couldn't simply pass up a Demonfolk stronghold.
'I can't resist Mana Stone farming.'
Don't scold me for picking on weak goblins.
Even weak goblins had Mana Stones embedded in their hearts, and I needed those stones to extend my life.
"Perhaps humanity should have lived hiding in caves like this as well. It's all thanks to you, Master, and the Heroes."
"Oh, well...."
Thanks, indeed.
Since I got beaten to death by a Hero and the Demon King died because of it.
"After the Demon King died, the Demon King Army collapsed, right?"
"Yes. Within less than a year, the Four Heavenly Kings who had followed the Demon King turned against one another and each proclaimed themselves Demon King, and the Human Alliance broke them down one by one, bringing peace to the continent."
"Tsk tsk, I knew those idiots would do that. They were always fighting among themselves over who was second-in-command...."
"Pardon?"
"...They fought often before fighting the Demon King. Hahaha."
I almost spoke like a Demon King.
'Still, it's so absurd I'm speechless.'
Even if the four of them had split their forces equally into quarters, each would have commanded nearly three hundred thousand Demonfolk.
And they lost?
"The Holy Sword Heroes couldn't have played a major role...."
"Ah, they did."
"Huh? Why? How?"
"What do you mean, how...?"
Lucius tilted his head and asked back.
"Fire, Water, Earth, and Light. After the Demon King was destroyed, the Goddess sent four Holy Swords out into the world. Each of the four Holy Swords met its own master and played a major role in defeating the four Demon Kings."
"......."
As I thought, perhaps some world law applies a formula like number of Demon Kings = number of Heroes.
"Then where are all the Holy Swords now?"
"...Are you thinking of looking for another Hero? As expected, have you changed your mind?"
"It's less about finding a Hero and more about finding a Holy Sword."
I extended my fist toward Lucius's chest.
"The Wind Holy Sword in your left hand. And in your right hand... well, is there something you want to hold?"
"What do you mean...."
"Why do you think each person only wields one Holy Sword?"
That was prejudice.
"Back in my day, there was someone who dual-wielded Holy Swords."
Me.
"I, is that possible...?"
"It's just that no one knows. Think about being able to grip a Holy Sword in each hand. Wouldn't Holy Sword wielders end up slaughtering each other?"
"Th, that's...."
Lucius turned pale.
Clearly at the thought that someone might try to take his Holy Sword, he fidgeted with the fourth finger of his left hand, betraying his anxiety.
"Heh heh, don't worry. I'll protect your Holy Sword."
"What?!"
"You only need to protect this one thing."
I grabbed Lucius's left hand tightly.
"No matter who comes, you must not take off this ring?"
"......No matter who it is?"
"Yes. Ah. Except me."
I lightly flicked the ring with my finger.
"Just trust me. I'll make it so you can dual-wield Holy Swords."