〈 Chapter 108 〉 The Third Trial (3)

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Screams, thunderous noises, and swirling crimson particles.

All of it pointed to the end.

‘Damn it.’

My head was starting to hurt.

The sudden arrival of doom momentarily stopped my thoughts, and my weakened legs were paralyzed, overwhelmed by the scene before me.

‘But…’

I can’t just sit here.

That would mean all my efforts to get through the first and second trials were in vain.

‘Although the first trial might not have been my actual memory…’

It undeniably became the driving force that propelled me forward.

I became a hero with an ordinary body named Allen Pleuk. It seemed to be an impossible goal, but in the end, I managed to pull it off after trying.

No matter how hopeless it appears, you won’t know unless you try.

‘And next is to assess the current reality.’

I can’t do anything just by despairing at the horror before me.

I needed to calmly reassess my current situation.

That was what I learned in the second trial.

‘For now…’

Hailen was quieter than I expected.

It might sound strange, but considering the Demon Kings invaded, it was unusually quiet.

There was no visible sign of any Demon Kings, and almost no signs of the heroes opposing them outside of a few injured ones within the trial barrier.

‘But based on the scale of destruction, there must have been battles with the Demon Kings.’

The barrier broke while I was undergoing collaborative tactical training within the trial, so it couldn’t have been more than three hours ago.

For the city to be this destroyed in three hours, there must have been fighting between the Demon Kings and the heroes.

But the lack of evidence now suggests…

‘Is that so?’

As blood began to rush to my head and strength returned to my legs, I was able to stand again.

I had some assumptions, but it would be better to hear directly from a witness.

And fortunately, there was a witness nearby whom I could ask about it.

‘That person should be able to give me a clear picture of the situation.’

As I walked toward her, the others who noticed me began whispering among themselves.

“That guy came out of the lake, right?”

“Does that mean he’s a hero?”

“What good is a hero now? It’s all over.”

For the record, once I exited the trial, I had released the optical modulation and returned to my appearance as Allen Pleuk.

If the Demon Kings had attacked first, it would have been impossible for me to react. I didn’t want to waste my carefully constructed false identity as Sung Yoo-rang here.

“It’s been a while.”

As I greeted her, she returned a bittersweet smile.

“You took quite a while to arrive.”

She was Stella, a Saint-level hero ranked 4th and the strongest magician.

And my assumptions about the current situation were quite related to her as well.

“How much damage did you cause over there?”

Her bittersweet expression deepened.

“More than half… maybe a bit more than that?”

Indeed, the buildings completely collapsed were mostly due to her.

Her magic was powerful, but it wasn’t exactly suitable for use on such a large scale within this barrier.

But in a situation like this, she probably had no choice.

“That means the hero side is nearly wiped out.”

That doesn’t mean she was responsible for it.

Rather, it’s likely she cast a large-scale destruction spell as a last resort. After all, there was no other option left.

Therefore, there was only one crucial question.

“Are all the Demon Kings dead?”

The current situation had most of the heroes in Hailen completely wiped out.

Even so, the silence suggested the possibility of the Demon Kings’ annihilation.

However, Stella shook her head.

“No, it failed. Even for me, the maximum power I could bring down the city was barely half.”

With that, she coughed lightly.

A bit of blood splattered with the cough.

“That was also a result of draining my life force to the extreme.”

Although she spoke about it nonchalantly, it really was no small feat.

For a magician to unleash wide-ranging magic capable of annihilating multiple Demon Kings would indeed be legendary.

But that would require someone to live on as a legend.

“How many Demon Kings are left?”

“Fortunately, it seems I’m lucky. It feels like only about three remain.”

Only three left.

That was at least a somewhat hopeful piece of news.

But using the term “only” was a bit questionable.

‘Of course, three is a significant reduction from the number of invading Demon Kings…’

The problem was that there were hardly any heroes left to confront them.

That meant our options were severely limited.

“Can this barrier hold until support arrives for those three?”

We had no choice but to wait for reinforcements from elsewhere.

Even though this was Hailen, known as the city of heroes, not all heroes were stationed here.

Especially among the Saint-level heroes, most were scattered elsewhere except for Stella.

“Well, will reinforcements even come?”

But Stella was negative.

“They targeted the Church Headquarters as soon as they invaded. All the apostles in the Apostle Council are dead, and the High Priest is missing. The church’s command is practically in the hands of the heads of each barrier. Do you think they’ll send support troops to Hailen, which has already been destroyed?”

“There are plenty of resources like relics here. And a Saint-level hero like you is still alive.”

“They don’t know I’m alive. Even if I am, I have little life force left, so it has no meaning. And the same goes for the relics. By the time they arrive, most of the relics will likely be destroyed.”

She was right.

But there were still considerations worth examining.

“Then what about the Saint-level heroes? Even without orders from the barrier heads, if they were to come…”

“The 1st and 3rd place won’t come. The 2nd might possibly, but as far as I know, he’s in a place where contact isn’t going smoothly. And as for the ones ranked below 5th… some have died in the previous battle, and there are only two or three left. Expecting them to come would be overly optimistic.”

Optimistic thinking. That certainly seemed the case.

There was no guarantee that reinforcements from the Demon King army wouldn’t arrive either.

Then we couldn’t just wait idly for potential visitors.

‘In the end…’

I looked out beyond the barrier, which resembled purgatory.

Then, I turned my head back toward the lonely lake.

“There were still so many people in there.”

Not just people, but precious connections remained inside.

If the trial were to collapse in this state, they would disappear along with it.

I mustn’t allow that to happen.

“If two of the three Demon Kings are here, can this barrier hold?”

“That would depend on how strong those two are, but I think it’s possible against two average Demon Kings.”

“Then it means I just need to take down one, right?”

Defeating one might be possible.

Of course, that possibility could change based on who the Demon King was, but I was in good condition while he had just fought some heroes, so it seemed doable.

And above all…

“Are you not worried for your life?”

“If that life can prevent destruction, then that’s all that matters.”

I would stop the destruction of this world.

That was my current objective.

Ultimately, it would be right to sacrifice myself to save those stuck in the trial.

“A mere talent like me surviving would be far less beneficial than other candidates surviving.”

The Demon King side must have consumed a large portion of their forces during this invasion.

So it was still worth a shot.

If Yusera, Ershiarah, Wilhelm, and many other candidates could survive.

“Is there anyone to say such things when planning to take down three Demon Kings and still wants to go alone?”

Stella took a jab, but I brushed it off with a laugh.

“Yeah, it does sound funny.”

I know myself best.

No matter how remarkable my achievements were, I shouldn’t confuse that with reality.

So far, I had just been fortunate.

“Then I’m off.”

With that, I turned away from her.

I had nearly gathered all the useful information.

Now, it was up to me.

“Didn’t you just say you’d take down three Demon Kings?”

“Seems like you know Stella well enough.”

“Isn’t that the guy from earlier?”

Perhaps having overheard Stella and me, people around us were buzzing with excitement.

For some reason, their gazes upon me seemed to change little by little.

Most of them were filled with anticipation.

“Perhaps he’ll defeat the remaining Demon Kings.”

“But he doesn’t look that strong?”

“Could he at least use some magic?”

I let out a hollow laugh.

I wasn’t that strong, nor could I use magic.

But I was intent on defeating a Demon King.

Just as I was about to step out of the trial barrier…

“Allen Pleuk.”

Suddenly, Stella called my name.

I turned back to look at her.

“The hero ranked 50th who defeated three Demon Kings.”

“I’m ranked 100th, actually.”

“Let’s say about half of the 50 above you have fallen behind.”

In this context, wondering about the meaning of hero rankings seemed pointless, but I decided to let it slide.

What mattered more was what she was trying to say.

“That guy seems intent on searching for the Demon Kings alone. Can someone go after him and offer assistance? I have a bad feeling about this.”

A few people who were seated began to stand up.

In a situation where the Church’s command structure had collapsed entirely, they surely wouldn’t have stood up just because Stella ordered them.

Their decision to rise must have come from their hopes for me.

“I’ll say this up front.”

It’s probably better to state it first.

“I’m not as strong as you think. I can’t guarantee your lives against the Demon Kings. Will you still follow me?”

However, they were undeterred by my words.

“We’ll follow anyway. I also have precious people within the trial.”

“I’ve got nothing to lose. If I can get revenge on the Demon Kings, then that’s fine by me.”

“Besides, nobody expects you to guarantee their lives. In battle, you have to look after your own life in the end.”

If that’s how they felt, there was nothing more to be done.

Everyone had their reasons for following me.

But for some reason, her last words stuck in my mind.

‘No one expects anyone to guarantee their life…’

Before leaving the trial barrier, I took one last glance at the lake.

‘Elsie, Yusera.’

For a moment, they weighed heavily on my mind.

But I soon turned away from them again. I had to move forward for their sake too.

So I stepped out of the trial barrier.

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