EP.108 Disaster, Nightmare, Ghost(1)
Western Front, Phantom Territory Krempelia.
In the heart of a ruined old city, the knights were taking a break. Surrounding them were the corpses of beasts. But it wasn’t just the beasts’ corpses that filled the area.
“······.”
Just as plentiful as the beast corpses, human corpses lay strewn about.
The knights remained silent about their fallen comrades. It felt miraculous that only this many had died.
‘It’s all thanks to the Hero.’
They were grateful for the miracle rather than mourning the dead.
The knights’ gazes turned to a figure standing in the center of the battlefield. Starlight shone brilliantly beside him.
The Hero, Kyle Toven.
“···Huh.”
Kyle let out a short breath with his Holy Sword planted in the ground. His body felt heavy. It was due to swinging his sword all day long.
‘I didn’t plan to step out.’
He couldn’t ignore the captain’s summons.
‘Suddenly, the heretic’s beasts appeared at the front lines.’
The beasts bred by the heretic were strong.
To face monsters mixed with various beast advantages, the presence of superhumans was essential.
Such beasts had appeared simultaneously.
The number of superhumans was limited. The attack was sudden and fierce enough that everyone had to step up. Kyle himself couldn’t avoid injury.
“···Kyle?”
Kyle turned his head.
Saint Sara was approaching him. Her robe was also stained blue with beast blood.
“Kyle, are you okay?”
“Could you please heal me?”
“···Are you hurt?”
“It’s nothing serious.”
Kyle extended his arm.
It was the arm bitten by the beast. Seeing the blood dripping arm, Sara frowned. No matter how you looked at it, it was more than just a scratch.
“···The wound is severe, Kyle!”
“It’ll heal soon.”
“Even if it heals, normally it’s not like this···.”
Sara stopped talking and closed her mouth.
She bit her lip and fell silent.
While the heretic’s beasts were troublesome, it wasn’t the first time they faced them. They had experienced battles worse than this before.
‘Back then, I returned without a scratch.’
Sara clearly remembers.
She remembers the sight of Kyle returning unscathed after sweeping away the heretic’s beasts.
-Ugh, man. I’m dying.
-You’re being overly dramatic. Raniel.
-Dramatic? To match your pace, I have to drain all my mana down to zero, you know? Seriously, damn······.
And the male figure beside him.
That was the reason Sara kept silent.
‘If things were normal, this wouldn’t have happened.’
Things that shouldn’t happen did happen.
There was no need to ask why. It was definitely due to that man’s absence.
“······.”
Kyle also fell silent knowing that fact.
In the midst of swinging his sword and leaping between the beasts, he couldn’t help but realize.
‘···There’s no one I can count on.’
That he was completely isolated.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t happen. Even if isolated, the path would be cleared quickly because there was a mage following him.
He cleared the way.
He stood beside him, filling in his shortcomings.
‘Changing the terrain, binding the beasts with chains··· and leading when necessary.’
Because of such a mage, Kyle could wield his sword without worry. But not anymore. He couldn’t just swing his sword now.
Because there’s no mage to watch his back.
He had driven that person away himself.
“···Huh.”
Kyle let out a short breath.
His wounds had healed quickly. Clenching his fist once, Kyle took hold of the Holy Sword again.
Ding, dang.
The bell rang from the watchtower.
Kyle scanned the watchtower. Remia, who was nocking an arrow, shaped her mouth to convey a message.
“···They say more are coming. Get into position, Sara.”
“···Got it.”
At the sound of the bell, the knights one by one started to rise.
Leading them was Kyle. Without a word, he stared at the battlefield.
Thud, boom.
The ground trembled.
The cries of the beasts echoed in his ears. Beasts poured in from beyond the horizon.
Grrr.
Kyle readjusted his grip on the Holy Sword.
Then abruptly, a thought crossed his mind. It wasn’t a sudden thought. It was a question he had long held.
‘Why, is humanity not annihilated?’
No, it was slightly different.
Kyle revised the question that arose.
‘Why don’t they annihilate humanity?’
The conflict between the Demon Lord’s Army and humanity had been going on for centuries. For centuries, humanity had not been annihilated. Until now, Kyle had believed it was thanks to the Hero.
But, what is the reality?
Now that he became the Hero, he could understand.
‘The Hero is not that great of a being.’
Objectively speaking, it was indeed strong.
Yet relatively speaking, the Hero is not strong compared to the four disasters. The Hero can never be perfect all on his own.
Blessed by the Saint.
Supported by the Archery Master.
Assisted by the Wise One, and only then can he maintain balance.
In contrast, disasters are perfect on their own.
If such disasters were to simultaneously strike the kingdom, the kingdom would simply turn to ashes.
‘No, there’s no need for them to work together.’
Even if Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade, the most feared disaster, crossed over to the front lines··· Kyle had no confidence in stopping him.
He felt that deeply over the past five years.
The moment he faced the Demon Lord, he sensed it.
The Hero is expendable. The Hero is not the great being people talk about. There’s no need to go as far as facing the Demon Lord. Just standing before the Death’s Blade is enough for the Hero to lose meaning.
‘If they want to destroy the kingdom, I cannot stop them.’
Even the last shield of humanity.
Even that, he found impossible.
‘Then.’
In front of that truth.
“······.”
Does all of this truly hold any meaning?
Kyle looked at the incoming beasts. Then he glanced at his own hands.
The Holy Sword he held still shone brilliantly.
It just shone.
Brilliantly, excessively brilliantly.
2.
The outer edge of the night city, Kadinak.
Far away from where the beasts rampaged, hidden in the outskirts of Kadinak, there was a concealed passage.
‘A passage leading to the Demon Realm.’
It was created by Refe.
The Succubus Queen, Refe had lived for a long time. Not to the point of being called ancient, but··· at least she had lived since the time before Kadinak was born.
The night city, Kadinak.
As she tasted the name of the city, Refe chuckled softly.
‘It’s funny.’
The night city, the city of brothels.
She was the one who planned that place.
‘I captivated the lord and remodeled the streets to my taste. No one realized.’
It was a long time ago.
Refe looked at the secret passage she had designed.
“I didn’t originally plan to use it like this but······.”
No matter what, now all she had to do was get out this passage. The success of her plan was right before her eyes.
“···If I had known this, should we have brought him?”
“Didn’t we say we’d avoid pursuit, Refe?”
“No, there’s no pursuit at all. I didn’t think it would be this easy!”
Things went too smoothly.
So smoothly that it was unbelievable.
‘The guards couldn’t catch on, and the barriers of the Royal Capital are meaningless before Gletus’s parasites······.’
She even used human corpses to avoid being tracked.
But looking back now, it seemed pointless. They were already waiting at the destination for the transport of the hostage.
“······Isn’t it too easy?”
Refe suddenly muttered.
‘To storm the Royal Capital, abduct major figures··· and escape this easily?’
At this rate.
“···If we just charged in, wouldn’t we be annihilated?”
“What do you mean, Refe?”
“No, think about it.”
Refe spoke.
“I thought there was something in the Royal Capital that made it so the four disasters couldn’t touch it? So I was extremely scared.”
But what’s the reality?
“We just entered and left, right?”
“···That’s true.”
“Then why don’t we destroy it?”
That question resonated with Daike as well.
It is a question that anyone living in the depths of the Demon Realm, drinking magic, would once ponder.
Humanity is a tragically weak existence.
Of course, occasionally superhumans appear, but··· one flickering flame cannot eliminate the darkness that has been alive for centuries.
‘The four disasters.’
Darkness that has lived for centuries.
Among the beings living in the Phantom Territory, there is no one unaware of the disasters. No one doubts their strength.
Ancient Lich, Skebal.
Heretic, Gletus.
Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade.
Black Storm, Belial the Black Dragon.
When one of them met death, no one believed it. The four disasters are almost like a belief among the demons.
‘The hierarchy of existence is different.’
Even those who reached the peak of their species are mere creatures before the four disasters. Disasters cannot be opposed; that’s why they are called disasters.
‘Then.’
At this point, a question arises.
‘Why has humanity not perished in over a century?’
That is a question that is entirely reasonable.
The conflict between the Demon Realm and humanity has lasted for over a century. During that time, humanity has endured.
It’s not that kingdoms don’t fall.
However, that balance has been maintained.
That balance is something demons cannot comprehend.
“Why?”
Refe tilted her head.
Looking at her, Daike slowly opened his mouth.
“···I’ve heard something.”
“Heard something?”
“A long time ago, I had the opportunity to directly meet one of the disasters.”
Daike recalled an old memory.
Before the operation, he had the chance to encounter a great being by chance.
“I asked the Ancient Lich, Skebal, why the other disasters don’t step forward.”
“So, what did they say?”
At that question, the Ancient Lich answered.
Recalling that response, Daike began to speak.
“They said, Contract.”
“···Contract?”
“Yes, Contract.”
The answer he heard that day was too hard to understand.
It was too convoluted to grasp.
“The primordial contract. The first light and the first transaction. The binding of stars. Those words were thrown around. I don’t know the details.”
“Contract······?”
It was an incomprehensible statement.
Just as Refe was about to ask another question.
Creek, creak.
A sound of something dragging across the floor was heard.
Refe turned her head toward the source of the sound. It was the end of an alley.
“···I found it.”
At the end stood a shadow.
A shadow that should have been cast on the ground now stood tall. It writhed, revealing its eyes.
‘Black pupils.’
That intense gaze remained in her memory.
Refe blinked for a moment, then slightly opened her mouth. What came out was pure surprise.
“···I didn’t expect this.”
3.
“···You’re still the same, Senpai.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing, just······.”
Kalt silently looked around.
Blood flowed through the rubble of the collapsed buildings. The flowing blood was both blue and black.
‘This is no joke.’
Splatter. The blood flowed up to his feet, and Kalt couldn’t help but click his tongue. Surrounding him were heaps of beast corpses.
Though they were weakened by the barrier.
However, weakened as they were, they weren’t easy to deal with. All of them were troublesome beasts.
‘If things like that can’t use their power properly······.’
Kalt glared at the mage standing before him.
“You seem to be stronger, Senpai?”
“Not really.”
Raniel van Trias.
The Ashen Mage shrugged her shoulders.
