137. Titanomachia (3)
“hahahaha, I guess I’m dreaming now.”
I smiled and looked around.
I barely escaped being buried alive on the ground and came up to the ground, but unfortunately, the place I came up to was not the ground but another hell.
“A dream, not a dream…”
“What are you talking about? “If this isn’t a dream, what is?”
“Come to your senses, Captain! “This is not a dream!”
“Shut up! How can this be said to not be a dream? The kingdom disappeared overnight! And what is left but nothing but ruins, if not a dream?”
“It’s not a dream, it’s reality…”
Karkal, the leader of the knights of Hermod, was struggling to deny reality as the scene unfolded before his eyes.
“Do you think this makes sense… What happened? “How could this happen…”
“…We don’t know either. There is no contact with the unit outside. “Did there happen to be an attack by the Demon King’s army or a monster while we were away?”
He was never embarrassed by anything, but in a situation like this, even the most seasoned knight commander would not be able to stop sighing.
The kingdom that I had devoted my entire life to protecting disappeared overnight.
Furthermore, the survival of the people and other knights is unclear.
The ruins of collapsed buildings and unidentified tree roots growing all over the place. Some buildings were able to maintain their shape without completely collapsing thanks to the roots.
“There must have been a queen and a morrigan in the kingdom… Yes! Queen! Let’s go to the royal castle right away! “We have to find the queen!”
“I understand!”
“Everyone must not go. Some disperse and search for survivors. The protective shield disappeared. Then monsters might flock here too!”
The knights first run to ensure the safety of the queen.
It seems like there will be no survivors, but we can’t give up on even one person, so we spread out and search as much as possible.
“Damn it, even Wangseong…!”
However, the royal castle had already been seriously destroyed.
The beautiful royal castle of Hermod, which boasted hundreds of years of history, is no longer any different from the ruined castle that is now collapsing.
The good news is that no people’s corpses can be seen.
At least the people seemed to have evacuated somewhere.
“Damn it! “Has Her Majesty not found it yet?”
But the queen was nowhere to be seen.
If only there was a queen, it would be possible to rebuild the people’s home, but no matter how hard you search, you cannot find the queen in this collapsed castle.
The Queen of Hermod was not one to evacuate or do anything just because she said something happened to the capital.
In the past, when she was a princess, she personally treated the wounded and took care of orphans with priests and other magicians on battlefields where other royal families did not even go near.
Even after going through the scary experience of being kidnapped by Satan, he was not afraid at all and actually became more courageous.
However, the princess’s condition became strange…
Still, unlike other royal families and nobles so far, he seemed to show at least the slightest sincerity.
But what kind of disaster is this…?
“Captain! “There is a hole leading underground!”
“A hole leading underground?”
At that time, I heard some good news from a driver who was looking around.
“This is the place. Was there originally such a large underground area in Hermod’s capital?”
Just looking at it, it is a very large basement.
Originally, Hermod’s basement was tightly closed with several protective barriers and a sturdy design, allowing only the royal family, but now the barriers have disappeared and the ceiling has collapsed.
If you go in, you can go in.
“…Maybe Her Majesty the Queen is in here. “Let’s go in quickly and find it.”
Originally, it was a taboo area only allowed to the royal family.
Karkal took the lead and went out to find the queen.
But soon he regrets his choice.
The truth hidden underground was tantamount to completely denying the life he had lived.
Despite going through life and death, harming his colleagues who were like family to him on the battlefield, and experiencing dozens of unwanted separations, he devoted his life to Hermod until the very end.
But how would you react if you found out that it was all a meaningless act?
What if all of that was just a matter of bad taste that had been going on for a long time?
“…Everyone, wait a moment, there is someone with strong magical power in front of you. “Maybe this is the cause of Satan.”
While Karkal was exploring the underground, he sensed a presence with powerful magical power and was put on alert.
This level of magical power cannot be easily found even on battlefields against demons in the past, and is a level of magical power that is difficult to compare unless it is a demon lord that has been seen only a few times.
He, along with the knights under his command, did not let his guard down at all and headed towards the place where he could feel the magic.
“Huh? What are you guys? Could it be that I got lost underground?”
A girl with white hair and a petite body.
“…A child?”
“Oh, do I look like a child? Ah, it’s been a while since I heard you call me that…”
We were able to find Zion, who was slowly recovering from her wounds, tied to her roots.
Meanwhile, even though Shion was surprised at the fact that she was called a child, she seemed to really like it.
This is a completely unexpected encounter from Karkal’s point of view, so it seems difficult to know how to react.
†††
‘Could this memory be that of another hero?’
Arcel felt a strange sense of kinship as he watched the fantasy before his eyes.
According to the story of Alfred, or rather, Little Alfred, there were a total of 17 warriors before Arcel, and there was also an unknown first warrior.
The boy holding the holy sword is probably one of those warriors.
Although he was defeated, he fought bravely against the Demon King until the end and died.
“Ugh…”
“Are you okay? I never thought you would destroy the holy sword without pulling it out. “There’s nothing wrong, right?”
“…Yeah, it’s okay. “I just saw something for a moment.”
Arsel calmed Alfred, who was worried, and firmly held the holy sword again.
So far, we have only processed one sack.
I shouldn’t have gotten tired already.
“Hey! Can’t we deal with these damn bastards quickly! “How long are you going to keep playing like that?”
Then suddenly Clen appeared in front of Arcel.
Of course, it was not a real Clen, but just like before, it was an illusion for simple communication by sending some magical power.
“Huh? This is Grandma Clen. How is it? She felt like fighting a guy with a similar physique to hers. “That skeleton was originally stuck in the warehouse, but I took it out because it had a similar physique to Grandma Clen.”
“You damn bastard! “Once this is over, I will definitely take your skin off and use it as floor covering, so you better be prepared!”
“Oh… Then, I hope Grandma Clen doesn’t have athlete’s foot. If I’m going to use it, I want to use it cleanly.”
“I will make you use me as a footsweeper in a cheap inn!”
The Clan even cried and cursed Alfred.
I guess the battle with that giant was quite arduous.
Currently, Clen was competing head-on with the giant, but no matter how strong Clen is, she cannot continue to fight against an opponent who regenerates endlessly.
The giant’s arm, which had already fallen, was reattached and regenerated.
“Whoa… that’s it. Get it done as quickly as possible. “It’s hard to hold on any longer than this…”
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In the end, the illusion could not be maintained for long and disappeared.
“Hmm, it looks like the holy sword we just disposed of was not the holy sword responsible for the regeneration of giants. Still, it feels like the output has somewhat decreased.”
Alfred didn’t seem to like the first holy sword he dealt with, as it didn’t seem to be very effective.
Even so, the first holy sword was the most important.
Now the Queen will not allow Arcel to continue attacking simply because the giant’s body regenerates.
At first, they would have left him alone, saying he was just wasting his strength, but now Arcel will also be perceived as a threat.
“It seems like a holy sword that was only used to enhance output. “Where is the holy sword with the most important power of regeneration?”
However, the Holy Sword that was just disposed of did not actually account for a large portion of the giant’s power.
As Alfred said, it merely strengthened the power of the giant itself.
“…Alfred.”
Still, Arcel did not feel intimidated at all.
“Why?”
“It’s okay. No need to worry. We can take down that giant. The queen of vampires and a demon called Satan. And I am a warrior, so what are you worried about?”
“Wow, it’s a bit surprising that you would say something like that.”
In Alfred’s eyes, Arcel began to feel that he had suddenly gained courage, a spirit that had never been there before.
Could it be the effect of absorbing the power of the Holy Sword?
“We will defeat that giant here. This is not for the world or peace. “It is also for our own future.”
“Wow, I’m very surprised that you would say something like that. “Didn’t you always say things like it was for peace and for the world?”
“Of course, our future is directly related to the world and peace. “The meaning hasn’t changed much.”
Arsel said with a happy smile.
“Hmm, I think that holy sword just now is probably more effective against you than that giant.”
Although he was surprised and scratched her head, Alfred did not seem particularly uncomfortable with the changed Arcel.
In fact, it seems to be better than before.
A warrior who always took the lead in the war against demons and led the future, but now Arcel is starting to shine little by little more than he did back then.
More than the day of the final battle with the Demon King.
“You damn bastards! “If my territory is destroyed even just a little bit, I will take revenge on you somehow!”
Then, Clen’s angry cry was heard.
He is struggling to fight a giant, but the two people most involved in this matter seem to be very unhappy with each other because they only seem to have a sweet vibe.
“Oh no, if this continues, Grandma Clen will collapse from a fever. “Now let’s stop chatting and get going.”
Alfred chuckles and speaks.
“I understand. “What’s your next goal?”
“It might be a little difficult now that the queen has noticed it, but… The next thing to aim for is the holy sword on the right chest. That holy sword has the most magical power. Even if it’s not a holy sword with the power of regeneration, if you deal with that, the queen’s power will drop significantly.”
Hearing Alfred’s words, Arcel focused his attention on the giant’s right chest.
There seems to be a holy sword filled with purple magical power.
Furthermore, as Alfred said, in terms of pure quantity, it had the most magical power.
“I understand. Leave it to me…!”
Even though Arcel can fly, he kicks the ground and jumps towards the giant at very high speed.
It also created the illusion that a meteor fell to the ground and ascended back to the sky.
Kwaaang-!!!
Furthermore, when it hit the target, a huge explosion occurred and a giant as big as Clen stumbled and placed his hands on the ground.
Alfred thought as he looked at that.
Now, if he gets punched by Arcel, he will have to do whatever it takes to avoid the situation.
The best thing would be not to do anything that would warrant a beating, but… I already had so much karma from the past that even if I didn’t do anything that would warrant a beating, I would still have enough accumulated fists.
“…This is a big deal in a different way.”
This is because Arcel did not know that more than half of the hardships he experienced were caused by Alfred.
But at the same time, I felt relieved.
When I first met her five years later, she was in a worse state than dead, like a broken doll, but now, as if it had never been that way, she now seemed brighter than her past.
Honestly, I thought it would take decades to find the old days, but I had no idea that it would be revived like that in less than a year.
This is very surprising, considering that at one time I was worried about what would happen if I was permanently unable to recover.
I guess heroes are different as expected.
It was not called a symbol of hope for mankind for nothing.
Arsel’s heart would have been broken many times already, but he stood up again and continued to move forward.
A heart that never gives up and keeps moving forward even when it is broken.
That was the strongest power she had.