13 – BAD END: Holy Maiden (2)
Continuously pressuring him when he was already exhausted, she could finally get an answer.
Something about sacrificing what was important to him to save his life.
No one knew what ability he used exactly, but it was a quite plausible story, so they all believed it for now.
Well, they couldn’t heal such wounds without any price to pay.
But for now, they believed. No one completely believed him.
“Hmph, lies.”
Out of the curses the warrior possessed, there was the curse of distortion.
This cursed made it so that even if the victim spoke the truth, it would be interpreted wrongly.
“He must have used some trickery. It must have been something that unexpectedly came out due to unforeseen circumstances.”
That’s why the holy maiden couldn’t help but think that at the time.
The battle at that time was actually quite intense.
If there had been another party member in the warrior’s place?
If the Minotaur had chosen to charge instead of swinging its axe?
It could have resulted in an even more serious catastrophe.
If Camilla or Lily had been the target, it could have been a fatal incident.
In other words, he could be seen as having planned poorly and caused his teammates’ deaths.
Therefore, although some parts of his explanation were convincing, there were no party members who fully trusted him.
The reason why some still trusted him was because he actually seemed to be in pain.
“Cough! Cough!”
After Minotaur’s body was split in half.
His condition noticeably deteriorated. His complexion was strangely pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
The warrior who was supposed to be the strongest suddenly became ill.
The saint at that time thought as she looked at him.
“Hmph, it seems there was actually a price to pay?”
Seeing him so pale and weak.
“But I still can’t let my guard down. You never know when and where he might strike.”
Anyway, since there was already a past failure in the operation, it was inevitable that his persuasive power would decrease.
However, there were fewer incidents of blindly attacking him for no reason.
Even if they wanted to attack someone who clearly seemed to be in pain, the party members were not that cruel.
Furthermore, since they had already entered the demon stronghold, they couldn’t send him back even if they wanted to.
Being tossed around in the Demon Stronghold was nothing to worry about.
So for now, they let him be.
The party members seemed to have taken that stance. Neither bothering him nor showing any favoritism.
The saint thought as she remained cautious of him.
No, maybe all the party members have had this thought at least once.
When a hero betrays, when is the most optimal time to show the best efficiency?
They were currently inside the throne room of the Demon King’s stronghold.
In other words, there couldn’t be a more optimal time to reveal their true selves.
Each action could lead us to our deaths.
And among them, the best timing of all.
“If he were to betray, it would be best to fight against the Four Heavenly Kings.”
She thought that was probably the only time.
No doubt the battle against the Four Heavenly Kings would be fiercer than any other time.
And at that time, he would show his true intentions.
But the Holy Maiden had confidence in herself. It was not a simple arrogance that rose from within.
Among the Four Kings, Balkan, the King of Insects, had an exceptionally strong divine power.
He used dark magic, specifically the unmatched bug technique.
Perhaps even a touch of her divine power would make her flee like a burning moth.
In a way, she and King Balkan could be called divine beings.
So she had confidence. Even if he betrayed her.
And so the journey continued.
Wandering through a maze-like palace, heading towards the residence of the Four Kings.
Of course, they couldn’t avoid meeting bugs along the way.
“Eek! A, a swarm of cockroaches!”
“Miss Holy Maiden, it’s troublesome for you to scream every time you encounter bugs. What will you do when we face them later?”
“Hero, be quiet. We will handle it ourselves.”
“……”
It was quite repulsive and disgusting, but with time, they were able to adapt.
There were times when the hero voiced his opinions, but most of the time, it was suppressed.
After all, he had a record of endangering the entire party with the Minotaur’s weapon.
*Cough* *cough*
Continuing the exploration in this way, the time for the final battle finally arrived.
“Our cowardly little rats have found their way into my domain.”
A few days within the palace.
The existence of us had finally been discovered by King Balkan.
“Tsk, I’m annoyed that the seeds of the goddess have entered without permission, but it is fortunate. I willingly offer you as food for my children.”
A chilling voice echoed throughout the entire palace, and the environment around them changed.
Click! Click!
The passage was blocked, and bugs swarmed from all directions.
Flies, scorpions, grasshoppers, cockroaches, and more.
Numerous venomous insects and pests surrounded them, hindering the party’s path.
As if they were trying to prevent them from reaching the king.
“Eek! The bugs have come out in a swarm!”
“Everyone, prepare for battle! Charge forward as we are! Run to the Queen’s Chamber at full speed!”
But still, for now, it was intense.
I swatted, burned, and purged the bugs flying nearby, clearing the way.
If there was a blocked path, I shattered it with physical force, and the flying bugs were defended against by the magician’s barrier.
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The goal was solely that creature’s neck.
Up until now, the saint had confidence in herself.
Although it may be disgusting, her divine power was undeniably effective, and she still had an abundant amount of sacred power left.
Yet, she didn’t forget to pay attention to the warrior, Luke.
It was certain that someday, she would confront that creature and take its life in front of the King.
However, as time passed and the battle prolonged, her determination started to wane.
Her power was overflowing, but so was the enemy’s army.
Even if she killed and killed, the bugs kept coming endlessly.
“Haah… Haah… Damn it, why are there endless bugs!”
“Stop them from coming!”
“They’re special entities. Focus, everyone.”
And as we went further in, stronger and more special bugs came out.
It was only natural that the difficulty increased.
“You endure quite well. However, there seems to be only a little left.”
In the end, there were casualties in the middle.
“Ugh…”
“Lily?”
The magician of our team who was preparing magic eventually collapsed.
The cause was exhaustion.
Continuous running, concentration required for magic preparation, and on top of that, the poisons spreading from all directions.
Because all of those things constantly tormented her, it seemed that she experienced exhaustion.
Considering her relatively weak stamina, it was a natural outcome to run while casting magic.
And because of that outcome, the party quickly became endangered.
Since the bomber that was continuously sweeping away the bugs disappeared, a large hole appeared in our team.
“Lily, snap out of it! Ahh, what do we do?”
“Give them to me. I’ll run while you attack. Camilla will be busy swinging her sword.”
From that moment on, the onslaught of the bugs became even more fierce. Even if I slashed, purified with divine power, and shot them with arrows, the bugs quickly approached.
One person failed, and then the next person quickly followed suit.
“Crack…”
Next, Camilla, who was in the front line, fell victim to poison and collapsed.
“Urgh!”
Then, Adel, who was hit in the chest by a special entity, was sent flying far away.
Even the sight of them falling to the ground and being surrounded by insects happened quickly.
Squish, squish.
A chilling sound, as if bugs were biting into flesh, overwhelmed them.
She was quite confused by this situation.
“What on earth…?”
What’s going on?
There were no mistakes in the battle itself. Everyone performed their assigned roles, and her power was indeed highly effective against bugs.
So why did the outcome turn out like this?
All of her party members were brought down by the insects, leaving her alone amidst thousands of them.
The reason was simple.
There were an extraordinary number of bugs in the forest. They easily disregarded powers like hers and overwhelmed everyone.
Squish, squish, squish, crunch.
The spine-chilling sound of bugs crawling against the wall echoed continuously.
Bugs were approaching from all sides, surrounding her in real-time.
“Hee, heeek.”
The horrifying sight made her face turn pale blue.
The other party members who had fallen to the ground were already covered by the bugs.
And she could easily guess that she would soon be in a similar state.
She had prepared for it, but her legs trembled even more than she anticipated in this chilling end.
That’s when it happened.
Thud.
Someone grabbed her around the waist.
She let out a surprised gasp and glanced to the side.
“Huh?”
There stood a warrior.
The warrior who spread more sins than anyone else. The warrior who everyone in the party thought was a brute. Ironically, he was the only one who remained by her side until the end. Gripping his own side, he frowned in frustration.
“Tsk, if you had listened when I tried to talk, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Dammit…”
As if he disliked the situation itself. Instead of his usual cheerful and smiling demeanor, his expression was filled with annoyance.
He looked at the saint and spoke.
“Let’s go again.”
“Yes, yes? Where to…”
“Where else? We have to go to the Chongwang’s lair.”
“But what about the party members…”
“How can we take care of them in this situation? Just leave them be since they won’t be killed by the bugs. Of course, they might lose some flesh…”
If she didn’t like that idea, she should have listened from the beginning.
With that muttering, he shot forward.
Bang!
Like cutting through the air, his body rushed forward. It was a bonus that the saint was caught in his side and was being pulled along.
The warrior took care of the saint and opened his mouth.
“From now on, continuously spread sanctity around us. It’s more important than buffs. Ah, is there enough sanctity?”
“Yes? Yes. There’s still…”
“Ha, you always had it when you needed to heal me before, luckily it seems like you have it this time.”
He sneered and laughed.
It was a complaint that he usually didn’t make, but she had no choice but to pretend to be asleep.
Following his instruction, she spread sanctity around.
Like fireflies in the darkness, shining sanctity surrounded the warrior and the saint.
The bugs drawn to the light rushed in, but they couldn’t cross the curtain of light she created and simply collapsed.
“Now, I’ll increase the speed. Please hold on.”
“Ah, I understand…”
From then on, the warrior’s pathfinding began.
Relying on the curtain of light that burned everything around them, he fearlessly ran towards the bugs blocking their way.
By doing so, the path opened up, and he swiftly ran towards that path.
The destination is the same as before, Alhyeonsil, where King Chung resides.
After wandering for about 30 minutes like that, they finally arrived at the place where King Chung lived.
“…Hoo.”
A chilling voice, as if scraping metal, resonated.
King Chung’s voice was composed of a rough voice, as if he had vocal cord nodules.
“Indeed, even after rotting away, you’re still Junchi. A hero is always a hero.”
His body was not visible. His entire body was tightly wrapped in cloaks and bandages.
Whether he had covered his eyes or not, all she could discern about King Chung was his chilling voice and the ominous magic filling the surroundings.
“To come this far, piercing through my children, even after losing your comrades. It seems you’re better than the previous heroes.”
Gulp.
She swallowed her saliva and steeled herself.
It would be over once they captured King Chung.
If they captured him, humanity would finally achieve peace, and they could save their comrades surrounded by insects.
She raised her spiritual power and prepared for battle.
Ironically, the only one she could trust, despite her distaste for him, was the hero.
“Well, there’s no need for any further talk after coming this far. Come. Show my subjects what despair truly means.”
“You always annoyed me every time I saw you. How about you fight with a little less annoyance, damn it.”
And so, the battle began.
*
…And, I’ll tell you the result.
Just as the world doesn’t always go as one wishes, even if they steeled their resolve, it was difficult to change the outcome of the battle.
Reality was brutally cruel.
Yes.
“Kuk!”
“Hero!”
The hero was defeated.
