147. Let them come
Travelling with an army of monsters was necessary, but also tedious. There was no way monsters could match the speed of a brave two-legged courser.
In the end, if we don’t want to see the janitors drop out, we have no choice but to keep pace, which was very annoying.
In the end, to alleviate boredom, we each enjoyed our own hobbies. If Cream and I were giggling as we looked at the pyramid of power the monsters had built.
“Muffins! Muffin!”
Choco would take a nap by his master’s side or argue with monsters that looked strong. And when she gets tired of fighting and being still.
It is to grab the dagger hanging from my waist and summon the spirit that dwells within it.
[Umm, what’s going on?]
I don’t know if it’s because it’s her senior, or if it’s the courtesy she gave to the prey she caught in her lifetime, but Choco tended to show respect for muffins in her own way.
Just looking at the respectful words right now. Well, Muffin, who always wants to stay one step away from our group and remain a mere bystander, doesn’t seem to like that either.
“Tell me about the old days!”
[Haa·······.]
But Choco’s faint respect didn’t stop him from whining at Muffin.
I can’t take out her muffins right now because I’m among the monsters, but when Choco, who doesn’t care about her filth, starts rolling on the floor with her muffins in her arms, she finds that she can be her own too. There was no other way.
[Yes, baby. What story do you want to hear?]
If it’s a talent, it’s a talent to show off such a tired and annoying look with a soft tone like her grandmother teasing her granddaughter.
But whether she didn’t know despite her exhausted voice, or whether she was pretending not to know, Choco still replied with a clear face.
“Well, about the demon lord you fought at the end!”
[What I have already heard several times. Whoa, got it. Then······.]
[Wait, I want to hear that story too.]
It was then that I, who was swaying leisurely on Cream’s waist, intervened.
At my sudden intrusion, both Choco and Muffin looked at me with puzzled eyes. Sensing that I was interested in the story, Cream jumped off the ogre’s head and approached Choco.
Choco, who was rolling around on her floor, happily patted her cheek at the feet of her master, who had been approaching her first for the first time in a long time. On behalf of the other distracted guy, Muffin asked me a question.
[It’s the first time I’ve seen you interested in a story like this.]
[Well, I’m not interested in the story of those remnants, but this time I’m probably going to have to fight one of them.]
[·······.]
There was no way Muffin didn’t know what the story I was talking about meant. When I was talking with the Elder Lich, Hargas, Choco and Muffin were also hiding in the same spot.
From noble mtl dot com
The eternal demon king. It was a monster among monsters that even a brave man with the divine protection on his back could not face alone, and was able to defeat it only after God arranged for a battle saint.
And the soul of that battle saint was with us now. However, Muffin’s reaction was lukewarm compared to reuniting with an enemy who once fought for life and death.
Of course, when thinking realistically, it was much more likely that he was impersonating the demon king of eternity than himself, but…
[It is often misunderstood, but the reason why the Demon King of Eternity was such a difficult opponent was not because he was that strong. The darkness of the world added to the demon king was enough to turn ordinary people into walking disasters, but it was a kind of power that was rather ineffective for the strong. Whose abilities do we know resemble?]
[What, why are you looking at me? Hey.]
[······ Anyway, the Eternal Demon King was also stronger than an ordinary Elder Lich, but he wasn’t an opponent he couldn’t win at all. What made him such a tricky adversary was the immortality of the lich’s split soul.]
This was a story I talked about the other day. The lich rips his soul into pieces and seals them in a reliquary. By doing so, he gains immortality, but as strong as his supernormal abilities are, the side effects are great.
Not only does it become undead, but every time the reliquary is broken, all powers are greatly reduced, and the lost pieces of the soul cannot be recovered. A law that violates the law has fatal side effects.
[Even if he was defeated, the demon king of eternity was revived with his original power intact. We knew there was a limit to the number of reliquary boxes that ensured his resurrection, but we were exhausted as he repeatedly fought fierce battles with the demon king.]
[I remember it vividly. No matter how many times I drive a knife through his heart… He just scattered, leaving behind a fishy sneer. And now, as time passes, the news that the demon king has started rampaging again from the other side of the continent is delivered.]
On the contrary, the Holy Sword showed a more disgusting reaction than Muffin, who was a party to the battle. Muffin was narrating the story in a voice stricken with tiredness and boredom as usual.
The emotion in that voice was so dry that it was almost as if he was talking to someone else. Is she tired of the past stained with despair and the present that cannot rest even after death?
[Yes, but in the end we won.]
“Wow! How?”
[One day, when we met him again, we realized that the demon king’s power had greatly weakened compared to before. Even then, the hero succeeded in decapitating the demon king… I was convinced by seeing him.]
Muffin was silent for a moment, as if groping for memories of his past.
However, instead of urging her, Choco quietly waited for her answer. Suddenly, not only the Holy Sword, but even Cream were listening to the story with interest.
[All the reliquaries have been destroyed, and there will be no reappearance of the eternal demon king.]
Yes, I really wish I had been right.
I turned my gaze away from Muffin and looked beyond the army of monsters surrounding us. Still a long way off.
Cream gently laid her hand on my handle. Through the bonds of her soul, the memories of the woman she saw trickled in little by little. The destination that the army of advancing monsters will reach. Another gathering place.
Comparing with us is not allowed. The number of simple monsters more than doubled, the number of names wandering around exceeded double digits, and monsters with intelligence like us did not rise up.
But there was one thing that caught my attention more than all the signs of defeat.
A facility of the Dark Church located in the center of the gathering place. And the flag of the burning skull fluttering above it.
*
The army of monsters that marched without rest while the sun was up finally stopped under the command of Cream. The distance is really close now. You probably noticed it on the other side too.
But there was no reaction other than a few flying monsters sneaking a peek at us. To them, we’ll just look like monsters who have come to join a larger gathering.
A monster’s physical ability can approach it in an instant, but it’s an ambiguous position that’s quite far from a simple distance. After ordering a rest there, Cream secretly left the assembly area.
She left her chocolate inside just in case, and her steps as she ran with only her holy sword and demonic sword hanging from her waist were breezy.
[So, what are we going to do now?]
Of course, the place where those steps were heading was toward the opponent’s assembly point.
I want to go into hiding like this and slit the head of the enemy commander, but unfortunately it is impossible. Cream is good at her stealth maneuvers, but she doesn’t have any special stealth abilities.
Crucially, this is because the commander of the gathering place, the elder lich, is elsewhere.
[Whoops, well.]
It has always been my job to make plans for the warriors. This is because Cream and Choco are not interested in this, Muffin sticks to a bystander attitude, and Holy Sword has no say.
Of course, it’s because I’m the smartest. Mum. After all, the purpose of this trip itself came from my motivation, so it was natural for me to take the baton.
[I heard that if the favor continues, it is a right… I never thought I would think of the hero’s grace like that.]
“Carbal, do, do, do whatever you want.”
[Have you seen it?]
[·······.]
Leaving the Holy Sword behind as if she had lost her will to live, Cream kept running. His steps were unstoppable, as if he were going to jump towards the monster at any moment.
However, while Cream may be lacking in her everyday common sense, her flair and flair for battle are innate.
I’ve never seen Cream train properly, let alone when I was with Cream, even in Muffin’s memory. Even so, she is proficient in the three arts, and has the quality of being a transcendental person.
“Should we start?”
[Okay, this should be enough.]
This time, too, his genius, far beyond commercial interests, which was nothing short of talent, was displayed without regret.
I reaped her dark haze that made her appear to be her monster and her kind. As if it were always in effect, the darkness that had enveloped her cream lifted, and cream touched my shoulder for a moment as if regretting it.
Soon, she turned around and stretched out her hand as if to grab the air around her. In her darkness, her white skin stood out exceptionally, and the moment when those slender, pretty fingers folded and unfolded.
“Krwwwa!”
[Aww!]
“Drerererere…! No, what about this power?”
The cries of the monsters echoed from the gathering place on both sides, feeling the flow of unpleasant power.
The next moment, the divine power of the moon overflowed from Cream’s hand, dyeing the area into winter.