Chapter 99 – But What About It? It Actually Happened.(4)
The arrow flew through the wind and pierced the head of a goblin that was running towards it with a deafening howl. Even the monsters that had penetrated the defenses could not penetrate the defense of the full-plate warrior holding a tower shield the size of a door, and in the meantime, another arrow hit the heart of the goblin who was sadly pounding the huge shield with a weak club.
“They’re really coming in endlessly! How long do we have to hold out!”
Hockna exclaimed nervously, bowing again to the string. The quiver hanging from his back, which was always full, had already decreased by half, but the waves of monsters that kept coming in like water rushed in showed no intention of stopping. Even the few monsters that Hockna had shot and killed were just nourishment for the monsters that would soon come. This is because the purpose of monsters born from the blood of immortal dragons is only destruction, and predation on their own kin was not a problem in the process.
Even if the frontline monsters are killed with difficulty, the vicious cycle of the monsters in the rear eating the remains of the dead monsters and becoming stronger to fill the void is repeated. To prevent this, those who can handle divine power and wizards are taking care of it so that not even corpses are left behind, but the speed at which new monsters fill the empty space is faster than the speed at which monsters are decreasing. A monster wave defense with no end in sight and only despair.
But the most terrifying thing was something else.
[Kuaaaaa!!]
“Oh, damn it. My ears!!”
“My, my ears!! I’m bleeding from my ears!!”
It is the immortal dragon, the mastermind who sends monsters endlessly while floating in the air without flapping its wings. Contrary to its terrifying appearance and the majesty emanating from it, it is a monster that rips its ears at regular intervals while dangling sadly in the air, tied to a chain of blue lightning, dripping blood that creates monsters on the floor. The immortal dragon only roars full of anger at the transcendent who uses its body at will, but the roaring noise has resulted in the morale of the monsters boiling up and the morale of the humans dropping.
And to a race with sensitive hearing, such as the Elves, the Demon Dragon’s roar was itself a threatening weapon. It was such a huge sound that even a normal human could hear a strange sound in their ears the moment they heard it, so whenever the dragon roared, elves bleeding from their ears and collapsed one after another. And that, Hawke was no exception.
“Ugh…!”
Along with an unpleasant sensation in the ear, the vision is shaken. My stomach groaned as if it were about to turn upside down, and the strength drained from my body. I tried to regain my senses and focus on my hearing, but all I could feel was a stabbing pain and a muffled hum. The demonic dragon’s roar, which twisted and crushed sight and hearing, was a fatal attack for the elven archers in itself.
“… Kna, are you coming to your senses?”
Then light poured in, and Hochna felt her hearing return to normal.
“I’m sorry, Ayla. It seems like I keep becoming a burden.”
“Ah, no. Hawkna is constantly holding the monsters in check, so she can endure like this. I’m sorry I couldn’t recover sooner.”
Due to the demonic dragon’s continuous and unintentional ear terror, Ayla, who usually restores Gordon’s physical strength, who usually takes most of the attacks at the forefront of the party, had to take charge of Hochna’s recovery. Fortunately, there were a lot of monsters born from the blood of the immortal dragon, but the attack power of each one was more than enough to withstand compared to the ferocious monsters that the warrior party had faced so far, so there was no big problem yet. Yeah, that’s still it.
“Here comes the big one!”
“Damn it again…!”
With someone’s cry, several gigantic silhouettes appeared behind the wave-like hordes of goblins. They were large demi-human monsters, such as ogres who destroyed camps with overwhelming power and trolls with insane regenerative powers that quickly recovered from minor attacks.
Monsters such as goblins and kobolds have a fast body and cunning intellect, but they are weak compared to humans, and their size and strength are poor. There are wizards with powerful firepower, so you should be prepared to some extent, but Orcs and Trolls were an exception. It’s not that smart, but the combat power of each one is considerable, so the moment you allow even one of them to approach near the castle wall, the possibility of a hole in the wire is very high.
“Shoot!!”
“Blow it away!!”
Therefore, when a gigantic monster appears, most of the firepower is immediately poured into that monster. Cannons spewed fire, and lightning and flames poured out from the magic circles drawn by the wizards and rained down on the ogres and trolls. The kingdom of Hermon was preparing not too badly for suddenly being on the front line, but there were a few problems.
“Injury! Injury!!”
“Ha, damn it…!”
The kingdom of Elheim was the most powerful country that could wage a war nearby, so the kingdom of Hermon had been wary of an invasion by the kingdom of Elheim, which had been nearby. Although Baron Ragnar Armageddon, the owner of the territory in the direction of the Elheim Kingdom, signed a mutual non-aggression pact with the tyrant Violence of the Elheim Kingdom, he did not let go of national defense at all. Thanks to that, he is somehow easily coping with the situation where he is suddenly at war with the army of monsters, but the problem is the timing of the war.
It was not in the summer when the fruit was plentiful, nor in the fall when the crops were harvested, but in the spring, when we had to start farming right after consuming a lot of food to survive the harsh winter, the monsters attacked without warning.
The problem is not just food. Demonic spirits are beings born from the blood of demon dragons, so other monsters eat their corpses and become stronger unless they are disposed of through the power or divine power lent by the goddess. Because of that, the priests, who usually worked to heal the wounded, needed to go to the front instead of the rear. Of course, wizards are also helping to dispose of the corpses of monsters, but if it was a few years ago, because of the collapse of the magic tower, the job of a wizard quickly lost his future job.
And as much as they were deployed to deal with monsters, the number of clerics to heal the wounded was inevitably reduced.
If the monsters are not properly dealt with, the number of injured will increase, but if a priest is placed to deal with the monsters, the recovery of the injured will be delayed. It was a situation where only the clergy who devoted themselves to recovering the injured were dying in a time when there was really no answer. Of course, being a cleric in charge of handling monsters wasn’t entirely comfortable. In the case of the clergy who went to the front, they had to perform two tasks at the same time, recovering allies and disposing of the remains of dead monsters, so they had to consume more energy.
It’s holding up well for an improvised front line, but that’s only a matter of time. Aside from the endless waves of monsters, there was a limit to the physical strength of the humans they were dealing with. The battle with the demons had only started a few hours ago, but they were already exhausted like people who hadn’t slept for three days. Of course that too…
“At 4 o’clock, four ogres and three trolls bounce.”
“Take care of your business ahead of time.”
“It’s a damn thing to worry about, really.”
They were at least alive thanks to those two people running amok in the middle of enemy lines, not in the front line.
Selena, the first hero who was said to have sealed the immortal dragon, recorded in history.
And Ragna Armageddon of the Black Army, a beast that has been secretly attacking Hermon Kingdom.
Most famous heroes and most famous villains. If it weren’t for the two people standing at the point of confrontation with each other, the front line of Hermon’s kingdom would have collapsed long ago.
The reason why Hermon Kingdom’s front line was able to hold on without collapsing was that the endless monsters they were dealing with were actually the ones that the two people couldn’t bear to kill and missed.
Thanks to the strongest hero and the worst villain Owu and the trolls taking care of all kinds of gigantic and vicious demon beasts that dare not compare, Hermon Kingdom has not yet perished. Prince Frederick, who was commanding the soldiers on the front line of Hermon Kingdom, was confused about that fact, but he felt complicated.
For the kingdom of Hermon, Frederick followed the words of Ragnar Armageddon. He gathered and controlled those who opposed him, and supported those who opposed him called the Champion. However, on the day of the battle between the hero and Ragna Armageddon, Ragna Armageddon is fighting for the kingdom of Hermon.
…Of course, the reason why Rag and Armageddon fight is not for loyalty to the kingdom that was revived later, but simply to not ruin the play because of the contract they made with the goddess, but since they were only one of the supporting characters on the stage, there was no way to know such details. As Prince Frederick, who had never been there, he had no choice but to make the mistake of thinking that everything that Rag or Armageddon had done so far was for the sake of the kingdom. In fact, none of the things that Rag or Armageddon had been doing harmed the kingdom, and rather helped rule the kingdom than harmed it, so he could have thought so.
Rather, it would be difficult for a person in this world to read it with any other intention, as there is no way to know the circumstances outside the world, such as the goddess’s exam or the play.
In any case, those who did not know the circumstances could only send a kind of longing gaze toward the two people who easily butchered the terrifying monsters in the middle of the enemy camp.
A beautiful female warrior who exterminates evil monsters wielding her dazzling flash like her own limbs, worthy of being called the manifestation of a goddess…
On the contrary, she wields a thick darkness, but a tall male villain who controls the battlefield while leisurely commanding the great army of darkness…
Selena, the first warrior, was famous for being so beautiful that it is natural that there is nothing strange about calling for a few gold nuggets to buy a picture she drew, and except for the fact that Rag and Armageddon too reveal women too much, weakness and liveliness cross each other’s territories. He was on the side of a handsome man who coexisted properly without encroaching. Moreover, they talk without hesitation as if they have known each other for a long time (Although Rag and Armageddon interfere one-sidedly and Selena hates her like a daughter who listens to her father’s nagging) and fights back to back as if they believe in each other (Selena’s divine magic is the light attribute) It’s a fatal blow to Baron Armageddon, who is vulnerable to , and a catastrophe occurs the moment their attack ranges overlap, so they turned their backs on each other to prevent it).
After all, this is a battlefield. Traditionally, the middle of a battlefield is the perfect place to start a legend.
It was the beginning of secret and insidious delusions and rumors that Selena, the first warrior, blushed and vehemently denied.
*
“Killing Ragnar Armageddon, that’s the only condition?”
[Yes. Deal with him who is ‘evil’ and realize ‘justice’. That is the condition on which I lend you my strength.]
“…”
After hesitating for a while, the hero cautiously opened his mouth.
“…Is the ‘justice’ that the goddess speaks of merely dealing with ‘evil’?”
[Is there any problem?]
“Is ‘justice’ simply dealing with evil, not protecting the weak and keeping peace?”
[I understand what you mean, champion. But… Isn’t that something you care about?]
The goddess of justice, Justia’s golden eyes flashed brilliantly.
[You are a human being, not a god, so you cannot protect everyone in the world with your own strength.]
“I still have to do the best I can.”
[No one has ever given you such an obligation.]
“I don’t do it because someone told me to, I do it because I want to.”
[If you do good deeds, not everyone will recognize your efforts.]
“I’m not doing this because I want to be recognized by someone.”
[…Ha, that’s right. Indeed, the Creator is the creature.]
Justia puts a smile on her lips that she seems to know what it is, and moves her golden rod in her hand…
[Yes, I see what you are thinking. Yes, your thoughts are ideal. But… It’s too ideal. It’s nothing more than dreamer’s bullshit, with no regard for the problems of reality. Do you know why?]
Taang! The moment her justice slammed her ruling baton into her own palm, an inaudible sound rang between her little hand hammer and her palm.
[Because I have no power.]
The story that came out of her mouth ironically hit his blind spot.
[Justice is keeping the law, and law is the promise of society. And it is those with power who make the promises of that society. No matter how ideal and correct you talk about a hundred days, if you don’t have the strength, it’s just passing nonsense. The important thing is not what you say, but what position you are in when you say it. The power of a horse comes from the person’s position. The higher the honor and power, the more weight a person’s words have. In that sense, your words… Are no different from leaves scattered on the floor blown by the wind.]
It was a cold and realistic story that made her heart ache for everyone who listened to it because she was determined, and Justia changed her tone again to a calm and relaxed tone and continued her words.
[That’s why, I’m going to give you strength. The power to change what you think is wrong, the power to practice what you believe is right…]
And at some point, the hero was listening to her words.
[I will give you the strength to realize your justice.]
With that answer, the warrior made a decision.
“…Baron Ragnar Armageddon is my enemy, but nothing he said was wrong.”
[Therefore?]
“And he… Said something to me.”
[What is that?]
The answer returned from the hero was one that Justia had never thought of.
“Do you really want ‘power?’ If anyone says the same thing, he must never believe it because he must have a different ulterior motive.”
[…
And Luminus, the goddess of light who had been arguing with Justia a while ago, sent her compassionate and sympathetic gaze to Justia, the goddess of justice.
*
The worst situation in which the power of the monsters became even stronger, and even the two of them, who had cut down so many monsters that would be passed down as legends to future generations, could not block all monsters.
At that moment, the sky split and the warrior of light descended on the earth.
It was the beginning of a legend that would be praised by everyone in the future.
…Except for two.
“Hey, why do ashes fall from the sky?”
“I do not know.”
“No, don’t you know? Why are you suddenly falling from the sky like being thrown away?”
“Oh, I don’t know!”
