14 – BAD END: Saint (3)
There could be many reasons for the defeat. It could be due to a simple lack of firepower, insufficient numbers of hero party members, or using too much stamina and divine power on the way to Balkan’s room. The noise might have attracted too many monsters.
But if we had to pick one of the biggest reasons for the defeat, the answer was easy to find. King Chung, the Insect King Balkan, was just too powerful.
The hero’s swordplay was nothing more than a brush against Balkan’s robes, and the sanctity of the saint could only burn small insects. Even if a few of the party members were not eliminated in the middle, the result would be the same.
When the hero party first encountered the Four Kings, they displayed their strength as if to boast their authority.
“What a disappointment.”
Bam!
“Hero!”
The giant scorpion’s pincers descended fiercely onto the hero’s abdomen. Luke, who was already weakened, could do nothing but take the blow. Bright crimson blood burst from his lips.
“Just because you are a hero who hasn’t appeared in centuries, does that mean this is all you’ve got? What good is all the excessive power I’ve prepared for so long, or the power bestowed upon me by the Master?”
Crunch!
“Even though my admiration was different, there was a time when I felt excited hearing stories of heroes. The story of the powerful Four Kings who once thwarted a mighty enemy, the stratagems of the demon king’s army that challenged the hero, and even the story of the demon king who ultimately defeated the hero.”
Bam!
“I heard such stories and nurtured a vision, eventually taking a seat among the Four Kings. And I’ve been honing my skills, looking forward to the hero’s arrival one day, but… is this what it amounts to?”
Bam! Bam! Bam!
“In the end, the supposed hero turned out to be such a weakling.”
Multiple times.
The hero’s body was struck by the massive pincers.
The steel pincers, though slow, relentlessly crushed Luke’s body. The only team member who didn’t drop out, the saint Yuris, could only watch in horror.
“Hero!”
Her body was no longer functioning properly.
Paralysis and neurotoxins had already stiffened her body, and the only functioning organs were her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was overwhelmed by the despair and confusion of this situation.
How did this happen?
Surely we were ahead in the battle, so why did we end up on the losing side?
How many of Balkan’s insects do we have to deal with before reaching our limit?
Why is the hero we were so sure was a traitor lying cold on the ground, turned into a mere slab of meat?
The answer was simple.
The hero was not a traitor but truly a hero.
It was their own doubt that was useless.
Of course, when she thought about the faint taint of evil she had felt from the hero’s body, it was a little confusing, but it didn’t matter now.
After all, it was all over.
As the price for his recklessness, the hero had been defeated, and now all that was left was to repay that price in full.
This fact was so terrifying that Yuris shouted once again.
“Wake up, hero!”
All she could do was shout. Even though it felt so powerless and pathetic, she didn’t stop.
“Please, wake up!”
She wanted to grab onto any thread of hope.
She didn’t want to die like this. If she was defeated, the continent would be engulfed in despair. Many people would cry and lose hope.
And above all… she would slowly die, surrounded by the insects she despised so much. In her position, she was willing to die if it meant avoiding that.
Fear slowly consumed her heart.
The hero she had hated for half a year suddenly felt strangely helpless, but she couldn’t stop herself.
Did that wish get through?
“…Spend ten years of your life to completely heal your body.”
Finally, the hero stood up from his seat.
It was accompanied by a somewhat incomprehensible, yet anxious murmur.
The hero’s broken body started to mend. Bones that had turned into dust were regenerating, and flesh that had burst out was returning to normal. It was truly a miraculous healing speed, but Ulysses wasn’t particularly surprised.
He had seen a similar sight before. Rather than that appearance, he was more interested in the sentence he had just mumbled.
“What?”
As if questioning whether he heard correctly, he unconsciously muttered.
“Ten years of life…?”
Then, he vaguely remembered hearing that number before.
But that thought didn’t last long. The hero opened his mouth before that.
“Damn…”
“Huh?”
A short mutter filled with irritation.
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That mutter piqued the interest of King Balkan.
“You’re using an interesting ability, hero. Is the hero of this generation born with that power?”
“…Yes. You damn troublemaker. I tried to protect you as much as possible, but you ended up using it anyway.”
The hero raised his sword.
“Because of you, the plan is all messed up. Don’t worry. I’ll make it fun now.”
And then, he muttered once again. Quietly, as if conveying it to someone.
“…Spend twenty years of your life to strengthen your body.”
But the contents of that mutter resonated clearly in her ears.
It was not a misunderstanding. He clearly said, ‘lifespan’.
If her common sense is correct, he had literally infused his own life force to heal his own body.
Immediately after, a power capable of being harnessed erupted from the warrior’s body. Magical energy with a bluish hue flowed out from the warrior’s physical body, and the blade of the holy sword shone brightly.
The pressure emanating from him was on par, if not surpassing, that of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Balkan observed this with excitement.
“hahahahaha! Yes, that’s what makes someone a true warrior!”
The clash resumed.
This time, it was more intense than the previous clash.
Luke’s sword cleaved through a giant scorpion. The magical power emanating from his body incinerated the surrounding insects.
He swept away the poisonous mist spreading around him with the wind and peeled off the chitin armor of the beetle, which even Camilla’s sword aura couldn’t penetrate, with the holy sword.
In the midst of Luke’s rampage, his sword briefly made contact with Balkan’s body.
“hahahahaha! How amusing! Yes, entertain me even more!!!”
At each moment, Balkan summoned a massive number of insects to confront the warrior. Such battles continued for a while.
Unfortunately, in terms of stamina, the warrior was inevitably falling behind.
Unlike Balkan, who had gathered insects for hundreds of years, Luke had only temporarily increased his strength by using his lifespan.
As a result, as time passed, Luke could only grow weaker.
Every time, he muttered this while chewing on it.
“I dedicate ten years.”
“…I dedicate ten years.”
“……I dedicate ten years.”
As the eerie muttering resounded, the brilliance of the holy sword gradually intensified.
The dazzling light produced by burning life force was overwhelming.
Even Ulysses, who had previously denied him, momentarily lost his composure and could only gaze at him.
“……”
She could no longer cheer him on and could only watch him from afar.
Someone was fighting fiercely, and she could only lie helpless and miserable, just spectating.
She began to doubt herself, wondering if she could support him, despite having denied him all this time.
“You possess a strange power, warrior.”
After fighting for who knows how long, King Balkan opened his mouth once again.
His chilling voice seemed to scrape against iron, devouring the atmosphere.
His body was no longer in normal condition.
The cloak and bandages that covered his body had been torn in various places by the hero’s sword, and his entire body was covered in dust.
Anyone could see that his flesh had suffered many injuries.
Yet, he still smiled as if he found this situation amusing.
“I’m using my vitality like a karate ticket.”
Blood oozed between the torn bandages of the king’s body.
“Do you think your vitality is infinite?”
At the same time, the bugs in the blood fell to the ground, wriggling in all directions, including centipedes, maggots, and beetles.
“Do you think you’ve become invincible just because you’re burning up my lifespan?”
At that moment, Yuris smelled a terrible stench. From the pieces of his body that had been torn apart, there was an unbearable odor of rot.
Even in such a situation, the king continued to speak.
“No, I’m just delaying the approaching harsh reality. Your future has already been determined by defeat.”
At that moment,
“Gulp-!”
The hero vomited blood. Bright red fresh blood spread on the ground. Yuris couldn’t endure it this time.
“Hero!!”
“The poison is finally taking effect.”
The hero said.
“When?”
He had removed all the poison. He had also killed all the venomous insects. But when did the poison enter?
“There’s no need for the poison to be in the insects only.”
The king walked with a stagger and pointed to his own arm. It was the forearm the hero had cut off earlier. There, thick dark red blood and bugs were still falling.
“Your blood is nothing short of highly poisonous. It’s so deadly that even a single drop on the skin can kill most people. Do you think you haven’t splattered a drop of it on me during our fight?”
“Damn it…”
“You should have been poisoned a long time ago, but your vitality is so strong that it hasn’t affected you until now. But now that it’s finally taking effect…”
The king laughed chillingly.
“It seems you’ve reached your limits as well.”
The hero clenched his lips.
Even in the midst of all this, he tried to make a deal, sealing a contract related to his lifespan with lips covered in blood.
That’s when it happened.
“Stop.”
Crash!
“Gah…”
Suddenly, massive thorns shot up from the ground, piercing through the hero’s abdomen.
The hero was speechless, and in that state, Balkan spoke.
“I have seen enough of your abilities. I am getting tired as well. Let’s end this.”
Balkan snapped his fingers.
Phwoosh! Phwoosh!
At that moment, the same thorns as before pierced through the hero’s body once again.
Yuris looked on with a despairing face. Even in this situation, her body remained stiff, unable to even twitch a finger.
Luke let out a groan, writhing in pain before eventually collapsing, as if his life force had been drained.
That was the end.
The hero could no longer move or breathe.
He was dead.
The fierce battle ended so futilely.
Now, all that remained was one paralyzed saint and one Four Heavenly Kings still standing proudly.
“Well, now…”
Balkan turned his head. The insects slowly approached Yuris.
“Only the two of us are left?”
Yuris’s expression was a mix of despair.