NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14
Kiiyit!!
The green goblin, Amutar, ran through the forest.
It wasn’t like he was being chased by something, but he ran forward without any understanding of what was happening.
Because he felt a threat to his life.
“Krurrr….”
Amutar buried himself on the ground.
No matter how hard he tried to forget, he couldn’t shake the cold fury in the Hero’s eyes, causing him to be unable to walk any further.
The poisoned dagger aimed at the witch.
It surely targeted the heart of the witch, but with a speed like light, the wind blew and the poisoned dagger fell on the ground.
And Amutar locked eyes with her.
The witch, gazing at him indifferently.
And the hero, as if overflowing with an indescribable rage.
He had managed to escape from the golden storm unleashed by that blonde hero, barely staying alive, but the fear etched in the blood of the demon race could not be overcome.
Fear of the Holy Sword.
Fear of powerful strength.
Fear of death.
If the witch hadn’t made him her messenger, he surely would have died.
“Kuh, uuuu.”
“Oh? What is a green goblin doing here?”
“Kekrek…?”
Amutar lifted his head.
There stood a being dressed like a clown, staring down at him.
The man, with a white-painted face and red tear marks under his eyes, approached Amutar with a friendly smile.
“Hello! Are you perhaps a goblin from Hero’s Village?”
“Kuh, krurrr….”
“I can see you have some intelligence? If you don’t speak up, I might just have to kill you.”
At the man’s words, Amutar quickly straightened up.
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
“Great. Then I’d like to ask you something.”
As the man snapped his fingers, mana began to take shape in the air like a painting.
“…Have you awakened with a Holy Sword that looks like this?”
“Wh-who are you…?”
“Me?”
The clown twisted the corners of his mouth, pointing to himself.
“The Demon King.”
*
About 500 years after the death of Bel Pegor.
The times have changed!!
“Haah.”
“We’ve caught them all. There’s no one left inside.”
“Well done.”
Lucius was smiling brightly while holding the Holy Sword.
Compared to the power of the Holy Sword, the goblin nest with around thirty goblins was nothing, but it was an immense achievement for a single human named Lucius.
“We’ve never tackled a dungeon like this together before.”
“Together? You did it all by yourself.”
“I was just following Master’s instructions. You really are amazing. How did you know exactly where the goblins would appear?”
“Just a hunch.”
Even though 500 years had passed, goblins were still goblins.
Compared to the goblins in the demon realm, the goblins in the intermediate realm were merely genteel traps.
If the intermediate realm was focused on ‘capture,’ the demon realm aimed for ‘killing.’
It’s a good thing they didn’t lure the enemy into a cave and then collapse it with a mana bomb to crush them.
And checking these traps made the raid time much longer compared to the power of the Holy Sword.
About an hour.
Considering that the same number of goblins was swept away in less than three minutes with the Holy Sword’s golden storm in the village, it indeed took significant time to conquer the goblin den.
“I delayed things rather because of me, saying there might be traps not set by me.”
“No, those were just things that seemed likely. In fact, among the traps, some even showed signs of removal, right?”
“That may be true, but….”
“And it’s definitely not slow. At this speed, it’s almost at the level of gold medal mercenaries raiding a goblin den.”
“You know that well, huh?”
“Once I left the village, I looked into various things about what to do.”
Adventurers.
They go into dungeons to eliminate monsters or demons and gather the byproducts that drop from their corpses, or collect the magic stones lodged in the hearts of demon races, or grab treasures stored by intelligent demons in hidden warehouses.
Those seeking a ‘big score’ are jobs that didn’t exist in my time.
Similar to mercenaries, but searching for more ‘adventure’ than mercenaries themselves.
As 500 years passed, new professions emerged, and adventurers earned money by hunting demons.
Yes, the demon race that once drove humanity to the brink of extinction has now become prey to humans due to the demise of the Demon King!
“What happened to the demon race?”
During the tumultuous times, the battle between humans and demons was more like a ‘war’ than a simple confrontation.
“How could I even establish the Demon King Army!”
Having endured all the constraints when summoned to the intermediate realm, I, Bel Pegor, finally managed to unleash some of the Demon King’s true power.
And not only me but the ‘Demon Army’ formed many demon races from various tribes in the intermediate realm.
I drew in goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls, drakes, succubi, beastmen, vampires, lycanthropes, nagas, and many who were classified as ‘subhumans’ by humanity.
Virtually all races, except for elves or dwarves that had engaged in friendly exchanges with humans, sided with the Demon King Army.
Some goblins and orcs stood at the forefront, massacring humans, while others, like vampires and lycanthropes, preserved their power but ceased relations with the Human Alliance.
Humanity mainly attempted guerrilla warfare with a few heroes, but most conflicts were massive battles with tens of thousands on both sides.
Sieging castles, clashing in open fields, raiding and seizing ports.
The great battle of the Zodiats Plain.
The Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Army gathered and faced off against a massive human army of thirty thousand, among many heroes, on the plains.
Yet I ended up receiving a blow to the heart from the Wind Sword Hero while recuperating in the Demon King’s castle.
But in my era, large-scale wars were the norm.
However, now everything is different.
-Dungeon?
-Yes. We simply call the places where the demon races hide ‘dungeons.’
Humanity has become the ruler of the continent.
The elves and dwarves who stood with humanity to the bitter end established kingdoms and forged constructive alliances with humans.
So what happened to those who sided with the Demon King Army?
“They fled to the mountains, caves, under the sea, the northern continent—places beyond human reach.”
“Indeed…. So their nests are dungeons?”
“Yes, Master. Just like this place.”
I entered the ‘Goblin Dungeon’ with Lucius.
A location about two days away from Hero’s Village, different from the goblins that attacked before.
We weren’t exacting a specific destination, but if we encountered demon races along the way, we couldn’t just pass by.
Just as a sparrow can’t simply pass by a mill, I too cannot ignore the strongholds of demon races.
“I can’t resist farming magic stones.”
Don’t scold me for bullying the weak goblins.
Even weak goblins have magic stones lodged in their hearts, and I need those stones to extend my life.
“Perhaps humanity had to hide in caves like this. All thanks to you, Master and the heroes.”
“What do you mean….”
Thanks to you.
Because I got dumped by the hero and was killed, the Demon King ended up dead.
“After the Demon King died, the Demon King Army fell apart, right?”
“Yes. The Four Heavenly Kings who followed him soon started to quarrel and each declared themselves the new Demon King within barely a year, and the Human Alliance gradually shattered them and brought peace to the continent.”
“Tsk tsk, I knew those fools would go that way. They kept fighting over who would be second in command….”
“Yes?”
“I used to often fight them before battling the Demon King. Hahaha.”
Such was the Demon King’s way of speaking.
“Still, it’s so absurd that I can’t find words.”
Even if the four of them had split their forces equally into quarters, each of them would have controlled nearly three hundred thousand demon races.
But they lost?
“The Heroes of the Holy Sword must not have played an active role….”
“Oh, they did.”
“Huh? Why? How come?”
“What do you mean by how come…?”
Lucius tilted his head in confusion at my question.
“Water, fire, earth, and light. After the Demon King perished, the Goddess sent those four Holy Swords across the world. The Holy Swords each found their masters and played significant roles in defeating the four Demon Kings.”
“…….”
Surely there must be some global law where the number of Demon Kings equals the number of heroes.
“So where are the Holy Swords now?”
“…Are you perhaps trying to find other heroes? Has your thought on this changed?”
“I’m trying to find the Holy Swords, not heroes.”
I reached out my fist toward Lucius’s chest.
“One in your left hand, the Wind Sword. And in your right hand… what do you want to hold?”
“What do you mean by that….”
“Why do you think each hero holds just one Holy Sword?”
That’s a prejudice.
“In my time, there were even those who wielded two Holy Swords at once.”
Me.
“Is that really possible…?”
“No one knows, so they think that way. Imagine being able to grip a Holy Sword in both hands. Wouldn’t the users end up slaughtering each other?”
“That….”
Lucius turned pale.
Surely the thought that someone might try to take his Holy Sword led him to fidget with his fourth finger on his left hand, showing his anxiety.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect your Holy Sword.”
“What?!”
“You just need to keep this one safe.”
I firmly grabbed Lucius’s left hand.
“No one, no matter who it is, must take this ring off, got it?”
“……No matter who it is?”
“Yeah. Ah, except for me.”
I lightly flicked the ring with my finger.
“Just trust me. I’ll let you duel with dual Holy Swords.”