Chapter 154 – Chapter 38. The Journey.
The Cursed Tower was located a little further north than the Monster Plains to the southeast. So, first of all, I had to follow the road to the Monster Plain and take a slight turn.
The first place they arrived was the middle city of Gehel. I had stopped by this place before when I was going to catch the demon Genevi, who was the enemy of the smoker healer. … And here I also met Hero Navre, a beast.
Jihyeok recalled the memory for a moment and then erased it. In this way, the existence of the beast-man warrior and the mop-fairy gradually faded in his memory.
The Jihyeok team set out again after spending two days in Gehel. Here we take a slight turn on the road to the monster plains. They moved along the stems of the babbling brook. It got bigger and deeper as time went on.
They reached a village in a week. The village, which seemed to have a population of about a hundred people, was beautiful and peaceful.
The villagers warmly welcomed the warrior team. Her pretty country girl clung to her, and the bald Gideon’s face loosened up. She was a rare beauty in such a remote place.
They went to the only bar in town. The old innkeeper treated the warrior team with a hearty meal. Jihyeok paid one gold coin for food and room. Of course, he had more than enough money to pay, but he refused, saying change was fine.
We got four rooms. Jihyeok shared a private room, and the others split into pairs.
The peaceful village was quiet. … As terrifying as it is.
As the sun began to set, the sky was covered with a red glow. Jihyeok was about to stand up when someone came to his room. It was a Lizardman kayak.
“Captain.”
“I was going to call you, but you came.”
Hero Kang Ji-hyeok’s eyes changed sharply.
“… Did you feel something too?”
Lizard Man Kayak habitually stuck his tongue out once and licked his snout.
“There are no children in the village.”
“I’m in too good shape to do a rough job there.”
“Yeah, it looked a little suspicious.”
Kayak also seemed to sense something suspicious. Jihyeok glanced out the window. It seemed that the villagers were going to and from the road normally, but there was definitely a feeling that they were being watched. I wonder if I hadn’t noticed from the beginning, but once I got suspicious, everything looked suspicious.
“Looks like they’re targeting us.”
“Are they bandits?”
“I can’t tell. … But I think it’s most likely a demonic cult.”
“Demon Church, are you talking about it?”
Kayak’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected home. Jihyuk nodded his head.
“We are one of the teams that subdued the Demon King. It must have already been firmly imprinted on the church.”
The Lizardmen seemed to have understood that as well.
“Then what shall we do?”
“Tell them to prepare for a counterattack at any time. However, you shouldn’t be caught. Then you might run away. … We have to get rid of all of these guys here. Whether it’s bandits or the devil’s cult.”
“Yes, chief.”
Kayak, bowing his head respectfully, left the warrior’s room. Jihyeok felt that the time for the hidden demon church to come into full swing was approaching.
About two years later, after the old emperor died, taking advantage of the confusion, the second demon king would descend on the continent.
Since the first one was reverse summoned without even trying to do anything properly, the other side must be thoroughly prepared for the second one. Of course, Jihyeok had no intention of just watching it.
… While I was immersed in this and that thought, the evening sun quickly set and darkness came.
Jihyeok made a rounds of his teammates’ rooms before going to bed. There was a certain tension on their faces, as if they had already heard the details from Kayak.
“Let’s take turns sleeping for a while, one by one. Don’t let go Understand?”
I couldn’t stay up all night without sleeping because of my upcoming schedule. So, appropriate adjustments were required. They nodded in agreement.
Jihyeok went back to his room and lay down on the bed.
The night went on like that. A long time after the moon rose, I started to feel a secret movement outside. It was obviously not a small number. They surrounded the building where the hero team was sleeping.
Soon, several people entered the building. They walked down the aisle very carefully.
Jihyeok pulled out the holy sword placed on his bedside. Then he put a pillow in his bed and stood close to the door.
The door opened with a click and someone with a blue dagger crept into the room. He crept in like cat steps and stood by the bed. And as soon as the dagger was raised, screams erupted here and there.
The guy stabbed the blanket. However, he quickly turned his head away in surprise when he realized that the bed was empty and no one was there. At the same time, the head of the bastard landed on the holy sword.
Jihyeok immediately packed his luggage and came out into the hallway. The other three who broke into each room were all dead. The warrior team headed straight to the hall on the first floor.
Then, suddenly, fires began to rise here and there. It was clear that the members of the church, feeling that they had failed, set fire to the building. At the same time, with a bang, fire magic flew and hit the building.
“This Ceebaal-!”
Bald Gide swears and stomps his feet.
Jihyeok called Sally and Yayel loudly.
“You two block everything that comes in. For now, focus on defense rather than attack!”
“Yes, chief.”
The warrior team went out of the building as it was after catching formation. At the same time, dozens of arrows and magic rained down on them.
Telekinetic Celie stretched out her arms and opened her palms. The invisible transparent membrane blocked the enemy’s attack.
“Kill them!”
The old man who pretended to be a bar owner pointed his finger at the team of warriors and shouted. However, no matter how much he shot arrows and fire magic, he couldn’t touch a single hair on them. There, the old man realized that they had already noticed the surprise. Without that, there was no way I could have coped with this perfectly.
The old man finally decided to write the number of his spleen. He sacrificed six church members to summon a monster. Ahhhhh, the two church members who screamed in agony suddenly sprouted insect limbs from their bodies. The monsters born with their bodies as hosts took on the form of spiders.
They moved their legs and attacked the hero team.
Jihyeok, Gide, and Kayak ran forward as if they had waited. At the same time, Lorelia finished casting the buff.
In the meantime, thanks to the special training from Sasha, the buff master of Ganesha’s team, Laurelia’s buffs improved noticeably. It was still difficult to implement long-distance buffs due to low proficiency, but range buffs have evolved to the point of imitating them.
She brought her hands together as if to hold her water and slowly wrapped them around them. Both of her hands trembled. And she scattered mana into the air.
– Shine!
It sparkled like a star and was absorbed into the body of the team members.
The three men who were running forward were also buffed. Gide groaned loudly as he felt his body lighten.
“Aaaaa!!!”
They brandished their weapons and sliced, beat, and filmed the church members at random. At first, they were hesitant to shoot arrows and magic because they feared that their colleagues would get hit, but as they became more impatient, they started attacking in such a way that it would eventually happen.
However, the nimble Jihyeok and Kayak were not hit by their attacks. Fortunately, Gide, who was slow, was hit by several arrows on his back and limbs. However, as a guard, he did not know to stop, hitting and slashing enemies with his heavy iron shield.
“Dogs, bastards!”
The two monsters were quickly cleaned up by Jihyeok and Kayak. Neither the devil nor the occasional catch were no match for them. The Devil Church’s surprise attack was great, but it wasn’t that they underestimated Jihyeok’s team too much.
As the situation reversed, some of the Demonic Cultists who had been paying attention began to run away. Yayel and Shelley also switched from defense to offense from then on.
In particular, telekinetic Celie shone in this melee. She slammed her maddening church members down with her giant, invisible fists. They flew into the sky with a tremendous impact, then fell to the ground and collapsed.
Yayel made good use of double casting. She ravaged her foes by casting a mana shield in her left hand and fire magic in her right hand. A wizard who could attack and defend at the same time was truly a fearsome being.
The demon cult members, which numbered close to a hundred, were quickly disposed of by the warrior team. Jihyeok did not miss even the few runaway church members. He pursued each one to the end and cut off their heads with the holy sword.
After annihilating all the church members, the warrior team ended the battle.
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, chief.”
Everyone seemed to be comfortable with this level. However, it seemed that the years of experience had not been in vain.
From then on, Jihyeok started looking at the houses. And he found the corpses of the villagers hidden there. There were also many corpses of young children. As expected, it was revealed that the devil cult members had killed them and pretended to be villagers.
“These cruel bastards… !”
Celie the telekinetic didn’t hide her grief and anger as she watched it. Lorelia looked pretty shocked as well. It was as if I had vividly confirmed right in front of my eyes that humans could be so evil.
Jihyeok thought that it would be better to burn down the village instead of leaving it as it is. Anyway, this place will soon become like a ghost town. It was sure to become a hideout for bandits, so it was better to just get rid of it.
“Burn everything.”
The team members who heard the hero’s command wandered around and set fire to it. Soon the whole town was burning.
The coachman, who had saved his life by hiding in the stable, drove the wagon with a team of warriors.
The team members leaving in the wagon looked at the strong flames that lit up all directions for a long time. Everyone had a confused expression. Even Gide, who was shy, kept his mouth shut for now.
Jihyeok asked Gide if he was okay after being hit by several arrows. The big guy grinned.
“Ayy, there’s nothing wrong with that much, keuhehe. … Still, it’s definitely not my taste. Seapearl, I know how it feels for women to get stuck in my cock!”
Still, that joke eased the stiff atmosphere of the team members. Jihyeok laughed lightly.
“Ah, this is why pretty girls can’t be trusted. … Have you been there before? You’re asking me if I want to have sex with you. Seapearl, I almost fell for it!”
“… Didn’t you come over for dinner?”
When Kayak, who shared the same room, said that, Gide was taken aback. Yayel this damn bastard —-, and pointed his finger at him.
“No, he didn’t fuck-!”
“Then?”
“… Siipal… , That bitch was fucking good. Didn’t this almost put my proud cock in danger?”
“I should have cut it off.”
When Yayel muttered that, everyone laughed lightly.
… However, the complex feeling hidden behind the laughter remained stuck for a long time.
