Chapter 167 - Volume 8
Volume 8, Chapter 25: It seems Like I’ve Become a Legend Again, Part 1
Let’s rewind the clock to a little bit before the Demon attendants started fighting with the [Heroes].
Kyoji, the hero of water, arrived at the great cavern that was the stronghold of the forces of darkness with about 10 people in tow.
“Do you spot any enemies?”
“Yes. According to our intel, since the army and all of the mercenaries in this area have been recruited by Nefertia’s army, it seems that only patrolling guards remain.”
“That’s all we have, huh. Well, then we’ll proceed. Leave no eyewitnesses, whether soldiers, civilians, or even livestock.”
“““Yes!”””
No matter how much of a hero he was, there was no way he could have fought an entire army here.
Besides, the dark elves and the beastmen were stronger than human soldiers, even as civilians, so they had to be killed before they had the chance to assemble.
Even the livestock were being killed since many of the animals here were monsters, and if they left behind an intelligent monster that opposed them, they could potentially manipulate the animals into even more troublesome enemies than soldiers.
Kyoji himself had chosen to abandon humanity, but the members that he had brought along with him were the only subordinates who knew of his ambition to conquer the world, including the country of Sail, which Kyoji called the ‘New World’ he would create.
Kyoji, who understood that he was inferior to the hero of flame, trained up ten of his subordinates to [hero-class].
However, because they were “cultivated”, and because they had only raised their combat capability and not yet honed their abilities in real battle, they needed to commanded directly by Kyoji.
Kyoji and his men hid their identities under cloaks that they pilfered from someone’s home, and proceeded along, killing all of the soldiers and residents whom they encountered.
Their objective was the town center of the giant cavern. The ancient castle that had been built by the [First Hero]who had consolidated the forces of darkness a long time ago.
There was something there that Kyoji was aiming for,
It was said that the person who obtained it would be the king of the forces of darkness, and because the dark elves and beastmen were restraining each other from it, it was something like a neutral zone. With tens of thousands of inhabitants in the city, Kyoji and the others tried to blend in to infiltrate the castle.
“Is there no one in charge?”
“According to the residents here, this was is “holy ground”, and it seems that they were afraid to enter at all, much less manage it.”
“It’s just the “grave” of a fool……”
That existence called the First Hero was an Earthling just like Kyoji, who had brought together the disparate tribes together and tried to instill in them a culture with the ideas of freedom and equality …… but failed.
He hadn’t been summoned here as a hero, but like Kyoji, he seemed to be a castaway that had accidentally drifted here and become a hero.
Although it was quite a long time ago, from the thoughts that he expressed, and what he’d left behind, it was highly possible that he was a “modern person” who had jumped across not just space but time to arrive here.
Kyoji scorned his thoughts and what that man had left behind.
“It’s foolish to teach anything to hungry beasts who have no culture. First you suppress them with power, then only after you are ruler, do you get to speak.”
Still, with what that man had left behind…… Kyoji’s ambition, his “true purpose” could be achieved.
Because of that, he had made a believer outside of his own circles in Sefira, and investigated the [First Hero].
“Then, let’s rush in. Split the troops into two groups of five, you’re all knights after all, All of you are my sword and shield, and you must remember to cover for each other.”
“““Yes!”””
Kyoji wrenched open the door and intruded into the castle.
It seemed that Sefira wasn’t able to obtain detailed information about what was inside, but as a castle that had to be livable, it couldn’t be too-maze-like a structure.
Even so, Kyoji and the others cautiously advanced forward, especially since there were no obvious security devices or magical traps.
“……it’s beautiful.”
“I agree. It’s quite the aesthetically wonderful decor…”
“No, it’s not. It’s Spotless, though, for something that’s over a thousand years old.”
According to Sefira’s report, the royal families of the Dark Elves and the Beastmen invaded this castle a few months ago, but he didn’t think that they would have cleaned it. It was also possible that purification magic had been cast upon it……
“Was someone else here……?”
“Uwahhhhhhhhhh!!?”
“What!?”
The half who had been advancing ahead suddenly disappeared, seemingly swallowed up by the floor that had abruptly opened. As Kyoji rushed forward in a hurry to check, the hole in the floor had closed entirely before he had the chance to even look in, and whatever seam it had opened from was no longer visible.
“Kyoji-sama, let’s break the floor!”
“Yes, we sho-…… no, wait. Everyone else back down, let a person with high attack power try first.”
“Leave it to me.”
Among his remaining men, the largest knight raised his two-handed mithril axe.
“Huuuuuuuuup!”
*TINK!* The knight swung down the axe from an overhead stance with a shout, but the floor was barely scratched.
His attack power was very close to that of a hero’s, so even if Kyoji tried, there wouldn’t have been much difference.
“……Let’s move on. If what we desire is underground, we may still meet with them yet.”
“““……Yes, sir.”””
*
“……Where is this place?”
“If everyone is safe, someone light a lamp.”
“Two of us are slightly injured…… but we should be able to fight still.”
The five of them had fallen down a pitfall into an ancient stone passage.
From their reckoning, they had fallen quite the distance, but since all of them were [hero-class], they had managed to only suffer minor injuries. One of their members was capable of using water-based recovery magic, so this was no issue.
“Can we head back up?”
“……No, it’s impossible. There’s no means to go so high.”
“Then let’s go ahead. Our first order of business is to find stairs leading back up and rejoin Lord Kyoji.”
“Right.”
At the squad leader’s words, the knights all picked up their weapons and lifted their spirits.
They could be called existences that were synchronized by Kyoji, young warriors whose skills were inferior to the squad that they had left behind, but they had a strong camaraderie, and were great at coordinating with one another.
“Hold on…… something’s coming.”
As one of them called out a warning, all of them stopped in unison, and the knight wielding the shield stood at the fore.
Waiting a while, they heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching them from the front.
“It’s not Lord Kyoji. Open with magic.”
“Step back.”
A slender-looking knight stepped out from the back, and shot several Ice Javelins, a mid-tier water magic, down the passage.
“……Did you get it?”
However, no screams or sound came from the depths of the passage. On the contrary, the heavy footfalls continued to approach as if nothing had happened.
[Gau!]
“““………Hah?”””
The knights gaped at the adorable teddy bear that raised one arm to wave at them joyfully in greeting as it approached them.
“Wh-what is this?”
The shield knight pointed at the plushie even as nervous sweat beads rolled down his face. But the commander of the squad rushed forward to stop the knight in front who was about to approach it.
“Oi.”
“What, are you scared of something like this”
The shield knight looked back as he paused his footsteps and words.
And then he slowly fell down, half of him entirely missing as if it had been cleanly cut out.
[Gau.]
The mouth of the plushie that spoke again was blood-splattered, and they could hear the sound of something stiff and hard being crushed.
“…… It ate…… him?”
“This, this thiiiiiiiiiiiiing!”
The magic-wielding knight cast Ice Javelin again. But the attack was sucked into the mouth of the plushie that suddenly grew to envelop it, and it crushed the ice javelin with crunching sounds.
“Everyone, on alert! It’s a [Greater Demon] class demon at least!”
“How dare you!”
“Let’s take it!”
One of them had been defeated by the stealthy attack, but there were still four warriors of the [hero-class] here.
For a battle between a [Greater Demon] and one of the [Hero class], the advantage lay with the [Hero class]unless something completely unthinkable happened.
Even if the demon in front of them was stronger than that, they thought that they wouldn’t lose as long as they fought together.
But they forgot…… That there had been “multiple” heavy footfalls.
[GuoooooooooooooHHHHHHHH!]
And in the next instant, the stuffed toy roared at them as dozens of [Greater Demons] rushed in from the darkness and attacked the four of them.
[Gau].
Author’s Notes:
It got longer than I thought it would, so I split it into two parts.
I didn’t manage to get to Yuru still.
Next time, the second half! Kyoji’s battle!