Chapter 185 – The Hero (6)
[Chapter 10 – Section 3] Blood God Banzai!
When the Ranuvel patient suffers in their dream, the witch goes to help. They take care of a sort of welfare system so the patient doesn’t die prematurely or turn into fuel while in pain.
However,
‘That’s old news now.’
Witches have died from infertility issues or accidents, and the only one still active—Ranuvela XIII—suddenly declared a two-year hiatus!
Now the patient has to handle things on their own.
“It seems we came to the right place.”
After racing along the forest path that the Sword Demon had carved straight like a highway, we soon came upon a wide hill.
And atop the hill lay one massive dragon, its head cleanly severed in two.
It seemed to have been observing an unfamiliar lifeform and got taken down before it could do anything.
“He really is targeting Hero-nim…”
Erona, who hadn’t believed me before, turned deathly pale.
“Calm down.”
“B-but… If I hadn’t asked Hero-nim for help, the Blade Phantom wouldn’t have come to the territory, and then Father wouldn’t have… Ahh!”
Thud!
Overcome with guilt, she sank to the ground soaked in the dragon’s blood.
I thought she hated her parents because of the political marriage…
“Search the area.”
“Yes!”
The subordinates under Elf Legoris’s command began inspecting the dragon’s lair.
I couldn’t just stand around either.
“Let’s see…”
The dragon had been killed by vertically cleaving its skull in two—not particularly surprising—but the body had remarkably few wounds. A typical Sword Demon would have mutilated the corpse after killing it.
The dragon’s heart?
Legoris approached.
“The Dragon King’s heart doesn’t literally mean the heart. It’s the power crystal located inside the dragon’s throat.”
“Is it there?”
“Very high probability.”
Legoris, gripping a dagger wrapped in blue aura in reverse, stabbed into the dragon’s scales.
Poke!
Very slowly, with a strained expression, he peeled off a scale.
“…Shall I help?”
“Hm…”
He hesitated.
“I have no intention of claiming ownership of the Dragon King’s heart. I just need to confirm whether the hero came here.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“The dragon’s heart is precious, but the Dragon King’s heart is a treasure that money can’t buy. You’re not greedy? Or do you not know its value?”
“The opposite.”
Blink!
I transformed Valentine into a sword and sliced through the dragon’s neck.
“Ah…?”
Legoris, who had struggled just to peel off one scale, was left dumbfounded.
“There’s no need to be greedy. So the person who needs it should use it.”
“…I’ll gratefully accept it.”
Legoris’s tone seemed much more polite than before.
He crawled straight into the throat from the cut surface I made?
He must really want it badly.
“Captain!”
“Are you all right?”
The subordinates who finished searching the surroundings gathered one by one.
A moment later,
“Phew…!”
Legoris emerged from the throat, exhaling as if releasing pent-up breath. Even covered head to toe in dragon blood and saliva, he didn’t lose his smile.
“Did you find it?”
“Is it there?”
The subordinates also seemed extremely interested in the dragon’s heart.
“Of course.”
Sparkle sparkle!
Legoris pulled out a baseball-sized orb radiating a brilliant light from his bosom.
“Ooh!”
“That’s…”
I wanted to join in their awe, but since I felt zero sympathy, I reminded them of our original ‘purpose’ for coming here.
“Legoris-ssi.”
“Hm. Sorry. I got carried away with my greed and delayed us.”
His tone had gone beyond polite and become extremely friendly? His expression looked like he was seeing someone from his hometown after ten years.
Just because I gave up the dragon’s heart, we suddenly became friends.
“It seems the hero didn’t make it to the destination.”
“Indeed. Just seeing the Dragon King’s heart still here… explains why the area was so quiet.”
There had been no battle. Only creatures killed like ants stepped on by a passing person.
The elves who hadn’t shared information until Legoris came out calmly reported.
“Captain. We could hardly find any traces of the Blade Phantom.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t share—they had nothing to share.
“A monster that leaves no footprints, no fur, like a ghost. What a troublesome thing.”
“The only thing we figured out… is that the Phantom we were tracking and the one that killed this dragon are different.”
“A new Phantom?”
“Yes. It seems they joined right in front of the lair after the dragon was hunted.”
“Then that means at least three.”
Three.
To me, whether it’s one or three makes little difference, but for those who already struggled against even one, this was despair-inducing news.
“Can you tell where they went after joining up?”
At my question, the elf glanced at Legoris as if seeking permission.
“It’s fine. We’re friends.”
Huh?! For real?
It’s not exactly cheap, but I didn’t expect our friendship to cross racial barriers to this degree.
“They seem to have followed the existing forest path downward after joining.”
“Ah!”
I realized the Sword Demons’ plan.
‘They thought this through!’
They carved a shortcut straight through the forest to quickly link up with reinforcements, then went to greet the hero who was climbing toward the lair.
However,
‘That’s strange. The patient doesn’t have the skill to beat three Sword Demons.’
While I pondered, Legoris—who had been praising his subordinates—spoke up.
“We’ll know when we get there.”
“Hm.”
We needed to hurry. If the patient dies, this whole trip would have been for nothing.
***
Erona, who had barely regained her senses, hurried ahead as if rushing.
Normally I should have stopped her, but the elves seemed indifferent since she was ‘the hero’s woman.’ And for me, if she died, she could serve as the trigger—so I let her do as she pleased without interfering.
At that moment,
“Over there…!”
Erona pointed somewhere with her fingertip.
“Ah… We’re too late.”
A woman whose body had been diagonally sliced in two lay collapsed in the middle of the forest path.
Instant death, obviously.
In this fantasy world steeped in Jeong Yong-sang’s novel settings, revival was relatively generous—but against Sword Demons that nullified magic-like fantasy powers, even that was impossible. She was completely dead.
“There are more over there.”
The unspoken rule was to capture beautiful women alive rather than kill them, but the Sword Demons mercilessly massacred the ‘hero’s women.’
One, two, three, four…
Judging by the fact that there were fewer bodies than the reported number, it wasn’t a total wipeout.
“Even the saintess…?”
Erona stared blankly at the cleanly bisected woman.
Saintess.
A holy woman.
I’d only skimmed the work’s settings, so I didn’t know the details, but she was probably on par with—or slightly above—a pope in rank.
“Again…”
It wasn’t a hidden assassin or surprise attack, but they had been killed by the Sword Demons without even a chance to draw their weapons.
That showed just how overwhelmingly superior the enemy was.
What a tragedy, cut down in the prime of life.
“She suffered the same fate.”
Legoris frowned as he recalled his fiancée, who had chosen the hero.
“What’s this…?”
I picked up a sword from the bushes that had been cleanly severed and rendered useless.
Exquisite craftsmanship.
I didn’t know the metallurgy level of this fantasy world, but this was beyond what human hands could normally achieve. It seemed more suited for ceremonial use than actual combat?
Blink~
The eye-tentacle that had been resting decoratively on my right shoulder gave its appraisal.
“Really?”
Its gaze seemed to acknowledge it without looking down—surprisingly high praise.
In other words,
“A holy sword…?”
While it varies by work, the ‘holy sword’—the hero’s exclusive weapon—generally has settings like never dulling or breaking.
Why?
Because it’s a sword made by a god. If it breaks, it’s closer to a setting collapse than blasphemy.
Of course, if the enemy is stronger than a god, that’s another story.
“Yes. It’s definitely a holy sword!”
Erona—who was close enough to the hero to share intimate secrets—vouched for it.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure…”
She stared in dismay at the ‘half holy sword’ discarded like scrap metal on the roadside.
“His companions are dead, but it seems the hero escaped safely.”
The world is still maintained. Proof that the patient is alive.
“The traces of the Blade Phantom group that attacked the hero’s party have been cut off.”
Leaving the mourning to the humans, the elves—who had methodically surveyed the area—reported calmly.
“Hm…”
It seems the Ranuvel patient used fantasy abilities to flee into the sky.
The reason I think so?
Because I’ve experienced being chased by them with relentless pursuit all the way to the opposite side of Earth back in <Palace Maid Deok-chun>.
‘He’s going to self-destruct at this rate?’
His beloved women were brutally murdered right in front of him. If he’s still sane after that, that would be the stranger part.
“The mage isn’t here.”
Erona—who knew the hero’s party roster inside and out—said.
Finally earning her keep, huh?
“So he grabbed the beautiful witch by the waist and fled into the sky.”
“I’m certain.”
“Hm…”
Humans can’t fly, and neither can Sword Demons with blade-like limbs.
That might be their only weakness?
‘No.’
Jumping to conclusions is dangerous.
“What do we do now?”
Erona, still unable to shake off her guilt, looked extremely anxious.
“Well… since the hero and the mage have eloped for love, we should clock out too.”
“Huh?”
“They’re coming.”
“Who?”
“Blade Phantoms. Three is just the beginning.”
I could instinctively tell.
Crack—crack—
The patient’s mental state was being reflected, and the crack in the world had widened dramatically!
“Amolang. It was a short journey, but it was enjoyable while it lasted. We plan to return straight to our homeland from here.”
Was he anxious about staying in a foreign land with a national-treasure-level item like the ‘Dragon King’s heart’?
Legoris—my sudden friend—announced his departure.
“So this is goodbye.”
“Come to the Elf Kingdom anytime, my friend Amolang.”
“Yes. If the opportunity arises.”
The ‘forest elves’—faster than horses in the woods—swiftly disappeared.
“……”
“……”
Before we knew it, only Erona and I remained.
“…Then I’ll be going too.”
“W-wait! Are you really going to abandon me in a dangerous place like this?!”
“The sword hanging at your side isn’t just for decoration, is it?”
“Against monsters that killed even the Grand Swordmaster in one strike, it’s meaningless.”
“Even so, I have no obligation to protect you. If you’re a knight, act like one—square your shoulders and die with dignity.”
“See? You’re telling me to die…”
“You might not die.”
“Amolang-ssi. Please escort me back to the duke’s territory. I’ll definitely compensate you.”
I closed my eyes and thought for a few seconds before speaking.
“There’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
“Make sure the people who died here can return to their families’ arms. I won’t help.”
“By myself? Even the ones who were laughing together with me just a short while ago…?”
“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”
“Wait! I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it!”
“Time is…”
Blink!
In the middle of our trivial conversation, the eye-tentacle alerted me to danger.
There’s only one condition under which this guy senses ‘danger’.
Sword Demons.
It seems they’ve finally begun a large-scale invasion.
“Time is…?”
“…running out.”
“If Amolang-ssi helps, we could save a lot of time.”
“Meanwhile, I’ll be praying.”
“Ah! You said you’re a priest.”
“That’s right.”
Dear respected senior. Please watch over us from wherever you are.
Blink!
I plunged the transformed tip of Valentine into the ground and shouted vigorously.
“Blood God banzai~!”
Thud!
The earth screamed.
[Valentine]
A mythical-grade demonic sword crafted by Blood God So Un-hyeon using solonium for his frustrating junior.
When you vigorously shout ‘Blood God banzai!’, blades are summoned equal to the number of enemies.
The effect range dramatically increases when there are no comrades or lovers nearby!
※Can only be modified after surpassing Senior.
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