Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Demon King's Lair
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This boost is remarkably high, so the Hero—who ranked mid-tier among the original game characters—transforms into the game's top physical damage dealer in a single event. And if you look at the Hero's current status window...
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Strength: 160 💨 Agility: 138 ✨ Magic Power: 98 💪 Stamina: ??? 🍀 Luck: 120 🛡️ Endurance: ??? Name: Aei | Class: Hero | Level: 46
> Traits:
> • Hero's Will: 80% chance to nullify incapacitation effects.
> • Indomitable Will: Rise once more even after stamina depletion.
> • Strike Evil Instantly: 3x damage on counters. Considering my own level of 46 and Strength of 120, there was no way I could beat the Hero in a straight-up fight. My original plan had been a vague one: smack him over the head after he wore himself out battling the Demon King. But now that I thought about it, the Demon King was way too weak for that to work.
If I botched the sneak attack, the Hero's traits would kick in, he'd survive, and his counter would probably leave me a mangled mess like Lucy or Usga. Had I been too complacent? I clicked my tongue and headed toward the Demon King's revival site.
The Hero could detect the revival location the moment he obtained the Hero's Relic, so I followed him, advancing without a hitch. Whenever I tried to bash the monsters with my mace, the Hero would step up first, slicing them down with swordsmanship swift as a gale.
"Are you alright?"
"And you, Hero?"
As we fought like that, something like camaraderie started building between us. The instant we escaped the Fat Blond Tanning NTR Lord's territory, hordes of monsters swarmed to greet us, and we bulldozed through that monster wall with raw power.
We'd camp out for chats and rest in shifts, drifting off to sleep. It was genuinely enjoyable. For the first time since arriving in this world, it felt like a real adventure—watching each other's backs, pressing forward, fending off monsters. I sensed a real bond forming between us.
The ever-densening monster packs were a clear sign we were drawing nearer to the Demon King's revival site.
The closer we got to the Demon King's castle, the more fiends the Hero carved up—but that also meant more experience points piling up, making him stronger. By the time we reached the castle entrance, both the Hero's and my levels were inching toward 50.
Upon arriving at the [Festering Domain Mansion]—the Demon King's revival site—Hero Aei turned to me.
"I can feel the Demon King's energy strongly just ahead."
"Let's make final preparations before we go."
And so our last camp began. I asked Hero Aei,
"Once you defeat the Demon King, that's it, right? After that, will you marry Princess Erina?"
"Yes. That's the promise we made."
"There's no precedent for a human becoming consort in the Elf Kingdom. You won't ascend the throne."
"It's fine. I love Erina."
It was the kind of line that stabbed right through you. Thinking back, the original Hero was a harem-chasing sleaze, but this guy was a real man—eyes only for Erina, ignoring all other women as he charged off to slay the Demon King.
I knew how to control Erina, and his personality wasn't bad at all. He was a bit stingy with money, but that wasn't my problem. Honestly, he'd been a rock-solid party member the whole trip. But did I really have to kill a guy like this?
In the end, even if I killed him and went full NTR route, I'd be swamped afterward. The Hero who slays the Demon King gets insanely busy. Plus, as the Demon King slayer, he'd have to attend events everywhere. Wouldn't it be better to just take the clean gut-punch of handing Erina over to him and call it satisfaction?
There were plenty of women in the world. He takes Erina, and I scoop up all the rest. I wasn't that greedy anyway. Yeah. Let's spare the Hero. No need to kill him. He was too good a guy for that.
"Priest."
At that moment, Hero Aei drew his sword and scanned the surroundings warily. I felt the dark energy seeping from the ground and rose to my feet as well.
"Hehehehehehe!"
A pitch-black figure soaked in tar burst from the shadows in a vaguely human shape. It wiped the thick slime dripping down its body and glared with blood-red eyes.
"You... you're the Hero? Huh?"
The body constantly dripping, the crimson pupils. I knew what this was. Upon reaching the front of the Demon King's domain, you sense the revival, and one of the Four Heavenly Kings appears at random. Among them, this [Dripping Pallkios] had immense resistance to physical attacks—a perfect Hero counter.
"I am Dripping Pallkios, one of the Demon Army's Four Heavenly Kings... you who would interfere with my Lord's revival..."
Slash!
"Gurk!"
"Hahaha... attacks like this..."
The Hero swung his sword in a massive arc. Pallkios's head split clean in two, revealing a smooth cross-section like fractured glass. The half-faced Pallkios sneered at the Hero. The standard strategy here was for me to pummel it with holy magic. It was low-level anyway, so...
"...shouldn't... work... Huh...? What's... this...?"
Pallkios pawed at its severed half-face, muttering oddly before its eyes darted around in panic. Then it vomited thick blood and began to crumble. I could only lower my mace and stare at the Hero.
"M-My Lord... forgive this... disloyal... guh..."
And just like that, Four Heavenly King Dripping Pallkios melted into a puddle of oil.
Gazing at the Hero's back, I thought: I could never kill this guy anyway. I gave up on killing the Hero. Shaking off stray thoughts, I focused on taking down the Demon King. It was right in front of us now.
Why had the Hero grown so strong? I pondered this as we passed through the Festering Domain. The reason was simpler than I expected: we'd fought too damn many battles. The original game's level 20-30 clear skipped mob fights, focusing solely on bosses for efficiency.
In gameplay, the time limit pressure made the canon strat rush the Demon King at minimum level, dodging every fight. Arriving faster meant lower levels for the Four Kings and Demon King, but the local monsters stayed the same strength.
In simple terms, even if the Hero blazed the shortest path here at level 20, the monsters wouldn't conveniently scale down to 20. But our Hero had stubbornly brute-forced every single one bare-handed to reach the domain, then massacred hundreds more all the way to the castle.
You can't avoid powering up after mowing down hundreds of average level 30-40 monsters like that.
My mistake for never suggesting we sneak past them.
"Wh-who goes there!"
Guards appeared at the domain mansion, their bodies oozing dark energy as if corroded by demonic power. Without hesitation, the Hero drew his sword and charged the one on the right.
I naturally swung my mace at the one on the left. We dismembered them in seconds and kicked open the iron gate, storming inside.
The Hero trembled at the gruesome sight within the mansion. I flinched back a step myself.
The interior was packed with corpses—like stepping into a massive cave sculpted from human flesh. Limbs littered the floor, bloody handprints smeared the walls, drag marks from spilled blood trailed everywhere, chunks of innards dangled, and a foul, metallic stench assaulted our senses, muddling the mind.
"Let's hurry."
"Right."
Steeling myself, I grabbed the shocked Hero and pushed forward. The final boss room was grotesque even in the original game, but seeing it for real? The visuals were no joke. Borrowing the Hero's Relic's power, we quickened our pace.
Every step squelched through blood-soaked floors, turning my stomach. The Demon King's revival was happening on the top floor. Stray monsters popped up now and then to startle us, but none could stand against the Hero, who'd been forcibly grind-leveled.
Watching him turn monsters into mincemeat with a single sword stroke, I felt that newbie thrill of an overpowered RPG game.
When we reached the door to the top floor, an unmistakably sinister aura seeped through from beyond. Even I felt the tension mounting now that we were here—Hero and me both. Sure, it was a one-shot kill, but facing that evil presence made our bodies tense instinctively.
"Here we go."
I nodded. The Hero kicked the door, shattering it to splinters and revealing the room. A gaunt-faced lord spotted us and shouted,
"Who the hell are you! There were guards outside—how'd you get in?!"
Behind the lord loomed a massive egg containing the Demon King. Pathetic arms protruded from it, giving it a Digimon vibe. That was the Demon King at level 30; legs would sprout for 40, and a head emerging meant full revival at 50.
I told the Hero,
"Demon King's yours."
With that level gap, it'd be a one-shot. Meanwhile, I charged the lord to take him down.
"Eeeeek! Stay back!"
The lord flailed his arms in resistance, but this punk was just a naked level 20 small fry. I casually dodged his punches, grabbed his collar, and slammed him to the floor. He let out a dying frog croak and rolled.
As I raised my mace, the lord flattened himself prone, clapping his palms together and begging like a fly.
"Cough... Sp-spare me! Please! It... it was all the Demon King! He promised... promised to make me king..."
🗣 DEMON KING'S RAGE "Human! Do you betray me?! I trusted you!" The Demon King fumed as it clashed with the Hero. I glanced back at the lord. His withered face twisted into an idiotic hehe grin. Without hesitation, I swung the mace. His face caved in against it, flattening like okonomiyaki.