〈 Chapter 201 〉 Demon King Subjugation (2)

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Whoosh!

Flames erupted from the Rose Sword, sweeping across the front.

The Demon Kings hit directly by the flames melted away helplessly.

Being inside the barrier, their recovery was also sluggish.

‘With this, I can definitely say it’s at the Saint level.’

Comparing it to the Royal Sword, which is also a 5-star Relic, the divine power might be similar, but the Rose Sword had greater destructive power.

That was likely due to the difference in the properties of light and fire.

Of course, there are pros and cons, but it was natural that fire would be more destructive given the same amount of magical power.

‘Moreover, the user herself is exceptional.’

If it were just about the attack power, the Demon Kings wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage.

The reason they were struggling was precisely Gwen’s swordsmanship.

She was sweeping through the Demon Kings with her characteristic swift swordsmanship.

‘The Reedval Family’s… No, Gwen’s swordsmanship.’

The original Reedval Family swordsmanship was excellent enough for Libero to have evaluated it as decent swordsmanship.

But Gwen had raised that swordsmanship tirelessly over the past 20 years, and as a result, her proficiency had reached my level, S.

Of course, due to the uniqueness of Libero’s swordsmanship, that rank was essentially meaningless…

‘There are hardly any people who can reach swordsmanship S in the first place.’

You either have to possess tremendous talent or have traits like Gwen’s ‘precociousness.’

No, in fact, Gwen could very well reach not just swordsmanship S but even S+.

If she were to give up having a child and invest all her remaining time into swordsmanship.

But if I were to ask whether it was worth her happiness to give up, absolutely not.

Right now, swordsmanship S was more than enough.

‘And swordsmanship isn’t just about rank.’

This world is not a game.

So judging swordsmanship by rank is a foolish thing to do.

I looked at the swordsmanship she was using.

‘As expected…’

It was originally a technique I had borrowed her will to use, so I thought she would easily use it.

Swordsmanship ‘Gwen.’

With flames filling the surroundings, Gwen was using that swordsmanship well, leveraging her inherent speed.

That gigantic flame rose was much larger and more intricate than what I had forced to create using Libero’s swordsmanship.

‘Gwen won’t have any problems.’

On the other side, Sara and Lucy were also fighting against the Demon Kings quite evenly.

“Sky Cleaving!”

In Sara’s case, the Sacred Replicants were now dwindling down in number.

She had somehow managed to obtain the miscellaneous Relics held by the Water Sage, but the reality was, it was still not enough.

So Lucy was filling in that gap.

Crash!

When Sara struck a Demon King, inflicting great damage, Lucy rushed in to finish it off, preventing regeneration.

That method seemed precarious compared to Gwen’s overwhelming strength, but it was stable in its own right.

‘So things are starting to wrap up, huh?’

I looked around the battlefield.

Even inside the barrier, the numbers of the Demon Kings had dragged the fight on for quite a while.

But now, there weren’t many surviving Demon Kings in sight.

‘Then…’

I looked down at the fallen 33rd Demon King, Levia, beside me.

She wasn’t just down; she had been hit hard enough to be impaled on a rock using a few swords, leaving her unable to regenerate.

It was the first priority of my allies after I shot her down with a bow earlier.

‘From what Luel said, this one is the actual leader of the later Demon Kings.’

I had quite a few questions I wanted to ask her.

“Hey, if you spare my life, I can tell you how to become a Demon King.”

Seeing her plead made it clear she had prepared to spill some info already.

Meanwhile, upon hearing her plead, Luel told me, “Don’t listen to that. There wouldn’t be any other dimension’s foreign agents ready to accommodate you right now.”

I thought so too.

From their perspective, they’d definitely want to wrap this world up as quickly as possible.

Me resisting like this wouldn’t be very pleasing to them.

‘Moreover…’

I said to Levia, “Anyway, I can’t become a Demon King.”

This was something I had heard from Luel and Albert not too long ago.

Due to the existing connection between heroes and Earth via the Divine Seat, they could not become Demon Kings in another dimension.

“Then why did you attack us?”

“Is there a reason to attack an enemy?”

“But you already betrayed the High Priest.”

“Well, whether I betrayed or not is secondary. A foe’s foe is not necessarily an ally, right?”

At that, Levia’s pupils widened.

“You…!”

“Enough, just answer my question. Depending on your response, I might consider sparing you.”

Of course, I had no such intention.

Whether she realized this or not was irrelevant.

In any case, her only option left was to spill what she knew to me.

“…Alright. What do you want to know?”

“Have you heard of the predicted destruction?”

“Predicted destruction?”

She looked like she was hearing that term for the first time.

So…

“Have you ever heard that the world will naturally fall into destruction in two years?”

Hearing that, she scoffed as if it were absurd.

“Ha, if that were the case, would we be going through all this trouble?”

Fair point.

I was just checking if she knew about it while suspecting she might want to hasten the destruction for some reason.

“Well then, you’ve answered, so now…”

“No, one more thing.”

I had somewhat anticipated that she wouldn’t know this part.

“So, do you know anything about the Creator God and the sealing?”

So this was the main point.

“Creator God? Sealing?”

Does she not know?

I aimed Albert’s sword towards her neck.

At that, her already pale face turned a shade of blue.

“Of course, I know!”

“Really?”

“More accurately, I’ve heard of them.”

I felt like she had taken a step down, but it didn’t seem to be a lie.

“What have you heard?”

“I’ve heard the two of them mentioned once in a conversation among those bastards. I wasn’t interested in what those bastards were doing, so I couldn’t hear the details, but they mentioned some sort of extension of the Creator’s seal.”

“Extension of the seal?”

That was actually a keyword I was interested in.

However…

“Is that all?”

“That’s it.”

That seemed to be all she knew.

‘When she referred to those ‘bastards’, she must be talking about the initial Demon Kings. So, the initial Demon Kings might know something. That’s a slight harvest from this.’

It might even be safer to go after the Demon Kings first before looking for the High Priest.

…Though neither option seemed safe.

‘So…’

I had heard all I needed.

With a swift motion, I raised Albert.

And just as I was about to swing it down on her neck…

“W-Wait a second!”

Sorry, but there wasn’t any time to waste now.

I needed to hurry back to Schurz as quickly as possible.

He wouldn’t wait forever.

But then…

“B-Biollet…!”

“Allen, wait a moment!”

At Luel’s words, I hurriedly halted my strike.

“Luel?”

“What did Violet just say?”

When she asked, Levia answered.

“Violet said she needs to tell you, especially Allen Pleuk, something important.”

If it was about Violet, she was the Demon King in charge of contacting the Demon Kings, as had been mentioned by Freira before.

And simultaneously, she was also the Demon King Luel had been in contact with.

Perhaps that’s why Luel said carefully to me.

“I don’t think she’s a bad guy, but you should judge for yourself. After all, she is a Demon King.”

A Demon King whom Luel doesn’t think is bad.

Furthermore, it seems Freira had also become quite close with her.

Now, she was trying to convey something to me.

‘It’s better to listen for now.’

Thinking that, I replied.

“Alright. What news do you have?”

Then Levia began to relay Violet’s words bit by bit.

“Schurz? Schurz has…”

Schurz?

Why did his name suddenly come up?

A foreboding feeling crept in.

‘The fact that his name came up, which should’ve been in the Fog Sea Area, means he has left the Fog Sea Area, doesn’t it?’

Just as that thought formed, Levia continued.

“Recovered the Relic ‘Wings’…”

The moment I heard that, I surmised his whereabouts.

‘This guy Schurz…!’

This is bad.

“He headed to Hailen? Violet, what do you mean by that?”

If he has even recovered the Relics he was using, then he must’ve gone off to make preparations for a battle, leaving me behind.

But there was one strange thing.

‘Why is Violet telling me this?’

Perhaps the Demon Kings were unaware of the conflict between Schurz and the High Priest.

Moreover, the transaction I had made with Schurz occurred in the Fog Sea Area, beyond Violet’s surveillance.

Then why would Violet go out of her way to inform me about this?

The answer spilled from Levia’s lips.

“Freira is in danger.”

In that instant, Freira’s image flashed in my mind.

If Violet said that, it meant Freira had returned to Hailen after finishing her role as a Demon King’s spy.

Then there was a good chance she was in danger too.

‘That guy Schurz definitely wanted to kill Freira.’

Of course, it wasn’t certain whether he’d truly kill Freira.

He was currently in a situation to prioritize the more critical task of killing the High Priest.

But regardless of which it was, the situation was certainly urgent.

“Luel, we need to go to Hailen! Right now!”

“It seems that’s the only way.”

However, it was then.

Flap!

Suddenly, Levia’s ripped wings unfurled.

While buying time, it seemed she prioritized the recovery of her wings over her limbs.

“Thanks for the time, Violet.”

As she flew up, I wasn’t making any effort to draw my bow or weave the Wind’s Power.

If I pushed myself too much today, I might end up hearing something from Luel.

Instead, a pillar of fire erupted beneath Levia.

Whoosh!

It spewed out from the Rose Sword held high by Gwen.

Levia, hit directly by the pillar of fire, fell as her recently regained wings were burned away.

And that was when Lucy, who had rushed in from somewhere, finished her off.

‘Looks like everyone’s dealt with now.’

I wanted to check if there were any Demon Kings still alive, but there was something more pressing at hand.

‘Schurz…!’

Why did he rush to Hailen so quickly?

I still couldn’t guess the reason, but it was certain I had to chase after him as fast as I could.

“Everyone, quickly get on the boat!”

My companions, excluding Luel, seemed not to have grasped the situation yet, but they must have sensed the severity of it from my expression.

I hastily called to those rushing toward me.

“We need to head to Saint City Hailen as fast as possible!”

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