Chapter 124 – 124. Debbie (2)
On that day, yes.
It seems like he was walking around nearby to dig up mushrooms and greens as usual.
It didn’t go that far.
At most, it was a small forest located about a 10-minute walk away.
I was looking forward to the taste of meat after a long time because I was lucky enough to catch a small wild animal.
Those expectations were completely shattered by a sudden incident.
“You there.”
What appeared before me were four unknown demons.
I was greatly embarrassed by the sudden appearance of a stranger.
It wasn’t just because a stranger appeared in such a remote place.
The intimidating feeling of the menacing weapons they wore all over their bodies naturally killed my spirit.
As I was trembling and unable to open my mouth, a man carrying a huge ax on his back held out his rugged hand to me.
“The Great Demon King told me to bring you four years. Please follow me obediently.”
The great devil.
The moment I heard those words, goosebumps appeared on my back.
The horrors I witnessed in the village I visited not long ago came back to my mind.
Weren’t the vicious people who did it none other than the devil’s army?
The head of such an organization is looking for me.
No matter where or how I looked, I could sense nothing but subversive intentions.
As if to prove that my prediction was correct, the man with the ax took a stance as if he was going to attack me if he had to.
The three people standing next to him were also slowly reaching for weapons that were emitting evil energy.
The ‘eyes’ shining on my forehead showed me a certain future.
What I will look like in that future———.
“Hehe… !”
As soon as I saw the terrible scene, I screamed without realizing it.
Following the alarm ringing in my head, I put down the ingredients I was holding and started running.
“Tch! This is why the little one!”
Seeing me running away, four people from the Demon King’s army rushed at me.
Following the huge axe, sickles, whips, and plain swords were aimed at my neck one after another.
Desperately twisting the future.
I barely avoided a series of attacks that cost me nothing but my life.
Falling down trees and twisting vines, I used all my strength to escape from the forest.
But things didn’t go as well as the last time I ran away.
The four people who came to see me were probably strong within the Demon King’s army, so all I could do was tie them up for a short time with my little trick.
After running away like that, I ended up reaching right in front of the gate of the underworld.
Since I had nowhere to run, four members of the Demon King’s army threatened me with vicious weapons.
“I’ll give you one last chance. If you don’t want to die, follow me obediently. “If you do that, I’ll forgive you for throwing off your arm.”
The other three people also began to sneer in agreement with the giggling Ax Warrior.
An imminent crisis.
The fear of having to live with a disability for the rest of your life, even if you barely survive.
It was a threat that, if anyone heard it, might immediately make them bow their heads and beg.
However, when I was still a teenager, I couldn’t imagine such vague things.
Rather, there was a different future that I was afraid of.
A village that was completely ravaged by the Demon King’s army.
The ‘villains’ of the Demon King’s army who treat the demons there like slaves.
Even if I survived, I hated the idea of being in the same position as them.
There was no end to my feelings of rejection toward a future without even an ounce of peace.
That’s why I ended up shouting out a word that was almost like a secret.
“City… Hate! Should I go to villains like you?”
“Then die.”
Wedge!
A huge ax that tore through the air flew in to split the top of my head.
I’m dying here.
It was a life that was truly meaningless, with less meaning than a single grass root.
It was a time when I had given up on everything.
Pubeook!
The ax that was supposed to crush my head somehow made a sound like it was hitting something hard.
I opened my tightly closed eyes.
In my regained vision, my body had been slightly moved to the side.
Did he instinctively display future vision?
It seemed like he had unconsciously leaned his body to the side and avoided the man’s attack.
But that was all.
Nothing has changed in the situation.
“What are you doing, X? Has it become a waste to kill someone just because their face is a little smoother?”
“Hmph, don’t look down on me. “I was just a little tired and my arms were shaking.”
After waving his arms in frustration, the male demon pulled out his ax again.
“I guess I was lucky enough to avoid it once, but I won’t do it twice.”
But.
That was all.
Huh, wow.
A strong wind blew from somewhere.
The wind was blowing from the entrance to the Underworld, which had already opened wide.
A frighteningly ominous air came out and enveloped the four demons.
Immediately after that.
“Oh?”
The man who raised the ax above his head was sucked inside the gate of the underworld.
A look of late fear appeared on his face as he flew through the air like a piece of paper.
“What is this——.”
Before the man even finished speaking.
Thousands and tens of thousands of hands stretched out from deep within the darkness of the underworld.
Hands like dark clay swallowed up the ax warrior called X.
Without even being able to scream, the man’s body was sucked into the depths of the underworld.
“X!!”
The female demon shouted as if screaming, and uneven veins appeared between her eyebrows.
He hit the barbed whip on the floor a few times and then swung it at me.
“This is like a bug———.”
But at a timing that is half a beat faster than that.
A group of hands stretched out from inside the wide open door, restraining the woman’s body and instantly taking away her freedom.
“Agag, go away!!!!”
The female demons let out a bizarre scream, their eyes turning red.
Without even being able to utter a normal word, her body was also sucked into the underworld.
What. What is happening?
In my trembling mind, the fear-soaked questions couldn’t stop.
My legs were shaking, probably because I had witnessed such a terrible scene.
Fear dominated my body and mind.
I ended up rudely wearing my leather pants.
I guess it was good.
It was just a trivial thing compared to the fear of ‘death’ that had now taken shape before my eyes.
The two demons, each holding a sickle and a plain sword, began to slowly retreat.
There was deep fear in their eyes, which seemed to have nothing but intention to run away.
However, if there is something puzzling.
The fact was that their eyes were not on the darkness of the Underworld, which was emitting a terrible energy, but on me, who was sitting in front of them.
“What a monster… !”
Right after the man in plain clothes muttered that.
The two men ran away from me, desperately moving their weakened legs.
There was also a moment of relief that one threat had disappeared.
I immediately turned my creaking head and looked at the entrance to the underworld, where I felt nothing but a gloomy atmosphere.
“… Huh?”
The reason for making such a foolish sound was because the ‘door’, which had been wide open just a moment ago, appeared to be tightly closed.
The wound that the ax warrior had inflicted on the door had completely disappeared.
The underworld was tightly closed and silent, as if they were trying to lie to me and say that nothing had happened.
Could it be that the will contained in the door saved me?
It was too perfect timing to just be lucky, so I couldn’t help but make such wild guesses.
I took off my urine-soaked pants.
I stumbled and tried to stand up, but without realizing it, I put my hand on the door.
“Hi!”
Out of instinctive fear, I quickly pulled my hand away with a scream.
It was because I was scared that I too would be sucked into the underworld.
Luckily the door didn’t react to me.
Only then could I say, wow, and feel relieved.
I don’t know why, but the entrance to the underworld didn’t seem to have any intention of swallowing me.
It was unclear whether inanimate objects possessed will, but that was the only expression that came to mind.
Starting from that day.
I completely settled down and started living at the entrance to the underworld.
There were times when the devil couldn’t let go of his attachment to me and sent his men to me.
Each time I did that, I chased the enemies out of the cave with my ever-growing future vision ability.
Even if a strong enemy that I could not fight against appears, the door opens like a ghost and swallows all the enemies threatening me into the bottom of the underworld.
As time passed, I felt more and more protected by the door.
At some point, I even felt a bond with Moon, who couldn’t say a word.
The Demon King, who felt fear at the sight of me like that, began calling me ‘the sentinel of the underworld.’
Now that I have tinnitus, I can live completely alone and finally enjoy peaceful days.
… That’s what I firmly believed at the time.
***
Time continued to pass, and I turned twenty-four.
Fortunately, when I became an adult, the devil’s army stopped coming to me.
It was a very good thing that we were able to live without any major accidents thanks to that.
Another problem had already arisen for me.
In the very forest where I first encountered the powerful enemies called the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army.
Once again, I had to greet some unwelcome guests.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Are you by any chance a sentinel of the underworld?”
A nun with silver hair who mentioned my tinnitus as if she was embarrassed.
She was a woman so beautiful that it was hard to tell whether she was a human, an elf, or a spirit.
Behind her, two humans with brown and purple hair, and a smiling blonde elf followed along.
While being wary of the four suspicious-looking women, I immediately tried to use my future vision.
At this point, my abilities had already evolved further, and I had reached the point where I could easily predict the future for a few hours.
So I was able to easily figure out what these women were trying to do to me.
“Okay. “I am Devi, the guardian of the underworld.”
It’s probably something that will make you feel sick anyway.
Anticipating an obvious ending, I lifted the curtain and took a peek into the future.
『Isn’t it cold?』
『Uh, um. It’s warm.』
『That’s a good thing. Now, you can add more.』
『If you say so… Oh, excuse me.』
“… ?”
What is this future?
While he tilted his head, his face turned bright red.
Why am I hugging that nun and sleeping in the same tent?
And with her face turning bright red.
It was difficult to understand.
While I was staring blankly into space, I somehow got the impression that a girl with brown hair was glaring at me as if she were going to kill me.
