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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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Chapter 193
A hawk was quickly crossing the dark northern skies.
There is no hesitation in the flapping of the wings as if the destination has been decided.
‘Are we almost there?’
The Hero glanced around.
The vast expanse of the sea spread out in the hawk’s sight.
Over the past few days, there had been a tremendous forced march.
Not only advancing north without rest, but also, when flying became difficult due to the inclement weather, he sought out and annihilated nearby Demonic Church’s strongholds.
Thanks to intermittent interrogations of the congregation by using various methods during the process, he was able to determine the position of the church leader.
‘It’s a village where the Frost Dragon tribe spend their summers…’
Although it was unclear why, it seemed they were not immediately attacking Cuculli and the children.
They were simply watching.
‘It’s fortunate… but their aim wasn’t to disrupt the baptism, so what exactly are they aiming for by just observing?’
The Hero harbored such doubts as he glanced briefly at a map of the northern part of the continent displayed on one side.
The northernmost part of the continent, known as the end of the world.
If he hurried, he could arrive in about fifteen minutes or so.
Once he reached the village, the questions would naturally be answered.
It was the moment he was energetically continuing his flapping.
Flap-
The Hero noticed enormous shadows moving in the same direction from one side of his field of vision.
‘…What’s that?’
It was unlikely, but… they were so large that one could mistake them for a dragon.
Black and glossy scales glistened in the moonlight filtering through the clouds.
A spacious deck like back that could accommodate ten people.
Sharp, curved horns and claws.
The hot air rising between their teeth stuck to their backs like steam from a train.
The Hero began to observe hastily.
‘…They’re as formidable as Vermoth, if not more. At least high-grade demons. There are… four of them.’
The memory of the auction house raid came back simultaneously.
It was the riot that occurred three days after the prison break at Stagnum, a prison located in the northern part of the continent, and the subsequent rampage of the escapees in the western part of the continent.
The investigative team pointed to Demonic Church as the mastermind and, after tracking them down, found the cause of their abnormally high mobility.
“Huge flying demons have been spotted nearby. It is presumed that they have tamed the demons and boarded them.”
…So those are them.
The Hero angled towards the flying demons with his wings half-folded.
Despite their massive size, which could reach several tens of meters in length, they were incredibly fast.
Comparable to hawks.
The natural question arose: why were they moving separately from humans?
It would be much more mobile for them to ride those demons rather than move on foot.
Why bring them all the way to the north and not ride them?
The answer came quickly.
‘It might be a hindrance to secretly watching the children.’
In an instant, the Hero’s heart sank.
…Then why are they moving now?
And in the direction where it is presumed that the Demonic Church’s Leader is?
‘Something happened.’
So, there must be some urgent need for transportation.
Like if they lost track of the children and began pursuit.
Or if they needed air transportation to follow Cuculli to the sanctuary.
Whatever the case, something must have happened between the Demonic Church and the children.
The Hero prepared to release the polymorph.
‘Regardless…’
Those creatures must not be allowed to reach the children.
The Hero flapped vigorously.
…The moment the hawk’s small shadow overlapped with the lead Myrmat.
Thud-
With a noisy bone-crunching sound, the Hero transformed back into human form.
Whoosh-
His wingless body plummeted rapidly towards the head of the lead demon.
There was only about a second left until the collision, but it was enough time to regain balance and prepare for impact.
▼
Accessing the void of Valber.
▲
‘A weapon suitable for facing giant demons.’
…There was no hesitation.
Since there was already a sword made for that purpose.
When the jet-black steel greatsword landed in the Hero’s hand, it was already just before the collision.
Because the Myrmat was flying so fast, a pillar-like tail was right in front of him.
But there was no sign of panic on the Hero’s face.
▼
Activating the domain.
▲
Whoosh-
Abnormal forces of gravity occurred between his sword and the Myrmat’s head.
The Hero landed between the horns as if drawn by a magnet.
Without hesitation, he swung the sword towards the demon’s neck.
The Myrmat also twisted its body at the same time.
Crack-
The Myrmat, whose neck was halfway severed, thrashed violently.
As a top-tier demon, it was still vigorous despite the fatal wound.
Hot black blood sprayed in all directions, obscuring the view with its steam.
Crunch-
The Hero exerted more strength in the hand holding onto the Black Hope.
His body swayed as the neck began to be gradually severed.
His vision rapidly blurred.
Beyond that, he saw three Myrmats rushing towards him from behind.
“Where to!”
▼
Accessing the void of Valber.
▲
The Hero momentarily let go of the Black Hope, then, lying down, reached into the hole in the air.
What emerged was a bow, Lute, which intensified gravity on the target, the bow of sinners.
Unfortunately, there was no time to activate Infinity.
Zzzz-
The Hero immediately used Cuculli’s essence to erect an ice wall in the air.
Then, redirecting swiftly, he aimed at the Myrmats whose speed had decreased drastically due to the sudden change in direction.
Swooosh-
Arrows filled with a tremendous amount mana sliced through the air one after another.
Considering the swinging body of the swaying demon, it was an accurate shot enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Two Myrmats with holes in their wings quickly distanced themselves as if pulled back from behind.
He could buy several tens of seconds until they regained speed.
‘…Wait.’
It was a moment when the Hero, about to catch his breath, realized something.
‘The remaining one is…?’
Whooooooosh-
A black shadow rushed towards him from below.
The Hero reflexively turned his head… to face a massive mouth lined with long fangs, even longer than most longswords.
‘Insane…!’
Thud-
The Myrmat engulfed both the Hero’s head and the head of its own kin in one go.
Hot black blood incessantly poured into the closed mouth.
Kwuuuu-
As if driven by the predator’s instinct to cut off its prey’s airway, the demon vigorously shook its massive jaws in all directions.
As the body of the kin, whose neck had been severed, fell lifelessly to the ground, it was the moment when the Hero’s last memory was…
Paaah-!
▼
Infinite Seasons: Annihilation.
▲
When the energy imbued with various destructive properties erupted within the body, even a top-tier demon like Myrmat couldn’t withstand it.
The Myrmat began to fall with its head lost just like its kin that had just crashed to the ground.
“….”
Thud-
The Hero rose with a severed section of neck clearly visible.
Even though he had dispatched them in an instant, his expression was not particularly pleased.
Using the “recoil” on the falling Myrmat’s body to float momentarily in the air, he murmured quietly.
“…Clever.”
Flap-
The two Myrmats that had fallen behind retreated in opposite directions as soon as they witnessed their kin dying.
Perhaps they had sensed their kind dying, as they were quite far away.
He had no choice but to choose one.
‘Even if I kill one swiftly, I might miss the other.’
Wood-dud-dud-duk-
The Hero clicked his tongue and polymorphed into the form of a hawk again.
.
.
.
Thud-
Black blood fell like rain.
The Hero, realizing he had grown stronger than before as he watched the falling Myrmat’s body convulsing, acknowledged it anew.
‘…It’s different from when facing Vermoth.’
Back then, despite utilizing the acceleration of the magical train for the best strike possible, he had only managed to stun Vermoth.
Although he had succeeded in killing, it couldn’t even be compared to completely severing the head as he had done now.
‘Well then…’
Transforming back into a hawk, the Hero soared vertically.
Having reached the maximum reachable height, he looked down.
For now, he intended to track down the remaining Myrmat.
Whoooooosh-
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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Focusing mana in his eyes, he quickly spotted the last Myrmat.
Although it was far, it was not an unreachable distance.
It was probably due to not being able to gain enough speed because of the holes in its wings.
…It was the moment when the Hero, calling for a chase, began his pursuit.
Whooooosh-
Just then, the clouds dispersed in the strong gust, revealing the view on the other side.
…When he saw the coastline of the Frost Dragon tribe’s village, the Hero had to hastily stop.
‘An iceberg?’
There was an iceberg that was not marked on the map.
The Hero instinctively extended his senses towards it with all his might.
Although the distance was too far for his mana to reach, it was enough to detect the powerful waves of mana erupting explosively from the iceberg.
‘This overwhelming cold… it’s the mana of the Frost Dragon. Then that place must be their sanctuary. But why…’
The direction the Myrmat were heading was different.
The last Myrmat was not flying in a straight path towards the iceberg but was flying towards a distant location.
‘Could disrupting the baptism not have been their goal?’
…That couldn’t be true.
The Hero sensed something strange and once again focused his mana on his eyes.
With the vision surpassing that of a human, combined with the immense mana, the Hero could perceive far-off places as if he had used a telescope spell.
“Ah…”
The moment when the Hero could comprehend everything was right after.
The information he had just acquired quickly intertwined in his mind before swiftly organizing itself.
Where should he go?
The decision was difficult, but… he had to make it quickly.
Swoosh-
The Hero began to fly away like an arrow.
* * *
Meanwhile, the fight between the children and the worshippers was raging fiercely.
Crash-
Evergreen trembled at the sound coming from the side.
It was the sound of an ice shield blocking the dagger thrown by the opponent, being deeply dented.
But there was no time to turn her gaze.
If she had that luxury, she would need to shoot another arrow.
If her support was cut off, the front line of Lucas and Gerald would collapse in an instant.
“Thanks, Evergreen!”
“If you have time to talk, look ahead!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Lucas narrowly avoided the flying sword and rolled over.
Being relatively inexperienced, he kept facing crisis after crisis.
If it weren’t for the Ice shield, he would have been dead long ago.
Crash-
Unfortunately, half of the Ice shield that was defending the front line had already been destroyed and turned into water.
Some enemies had fallen, but the situation was still clearly unfavorable.
Leciel was barely holding on, standing until now was almost a miracle.
It wouldn’t be surprising if she fell any moment.
Luke and Ban were nowhere to be seen.
They were probably engaging in battle with the black-skinned demons nearby.
They had dreadful stealth abilities.
The demon disappeared in an instant and reappeared repeatedly, each time with a spurt of blood.
Waldiff, who was about to unleash his second spell, was struck down without a chance to react.
As Lucas narrowly avoided a sword flying towards him, Evergreen thought of the sight of Luke, who was exerting all his strength to pull a demon away from behind.
“Evergreen! Run away!”
…The boy was already bleeding profusely from his side.
Pushing away the ominous imagination, Evergreen aimed her arrow.
Whoosh-
The quiver gifted by the Hero at the auction was enchanted with a bleeding curse on the arrows.
Suddenly, another fierce battle erupted in the front line.
“Aaargh!”
Thunk-
As Lucas parried an enemy attack with his rapier, two ice golems attacked the rear of the demon worshipper’s executive.
Their massive fists charged forward.
“Where?!”
The executive immediately reacted and crushed them.
However, he failed to notice Gerald’s spear hiding in their shadow.
Thwack-
Gerald seized the opportunity and thrust a powerful piercing strike.
“No way!”
As if to prove his skill, the executive evaded the attack by floating his body in the air… Gerald had fully anticipated his evasion.
“I already knew this!”
The halberd he received from Noubelmag as a secondary weapon shone brightly.
It was what Gerald had placed on the ground as soon as the battle began.
The first thrust was a feint with all his strength.
Crack-
The halberd swung with full force and cleaved the executive’s torso in half.
Gerald roared loudly.
“Nice!”
Before Gerald, who had momentarily become defenseless, the two executives rushed in…
“Gerald!”
Thud-
Karen and Evergreen’s arrows intercepted one of them.
Whoooosh-
A strong wind blowing from somewhere knocked down the remaining one.
“Cough…”
Waldiff struggled to his feet, blood trickling from his lips.
“Just a little longer, cough, just hold on. Reinforcements from the village will come.”
Karen screamed like a banshee.
“Who’s holding who! Just lie down quickly!”
Whoooooosh-
But Waldiff stubbornly fired a volley of ice darts at the Demonic Church Leader before supporting Leciel with ice armor and a shield.
They also pulled out two more ice golems and targeted the Demonic Church Leader.
Crash-
Although the golems were immediately destroyed by the leader’s severance, Leciel managed to catch her breath thanks to them.
Crash-
…Truly superhuman mental strength.
But now, it was truly reaching its limit.
With a face as pale as a sheet, she collapsed to the ground.
Karen and Evergreen’s faces turned ashen.
‘How much longer can we hold out…’
They could feel themselves gradually approaching their limits.
Probably five minutes.
…No, not even five minutes.
“Aaah!”
The children panicked at the sharp scream echoing on the coastline and looked towards it.
Leciel was urgently backing away, clutching her arm.
“Leciel!”
Leciel began to allow effective strikes.
If the Demonic Church Leader were to become free, it would take less than a minute for them to be wiped out.
The children tried to run towards her, screaming…
“What a big dream!”
“You can’t even get close to the leader!”
It was hard to even look at Leciel amidst the onslaught.
Finally, a smile began to spread across the lips of the Demonic Church Leader.
Although the battle had been dragging on due to the unfortunate matchup, victory was still hers.
“Holding out with pathetic tricks ends here.”
“Pathetic tricks… are what you’ve been using.”
“I’ve wanted to cut that tongue of yours since earlier.”
“……”
Leciel didn’t avoid Kalende’s gaze, but she couldn’t prevent her expression from stiffening.
Concentrating on consciousness was becoming increasingly difficult due to pain and bleeding.
Whoosh-
The determination that makes up the heart sword gather and then disperse again and again.
‘Will I be able to block the next attack…’
…It was the moment when Kalende’s hand slowly began to rise.
Quaaaang-!
With a deafening explosion, Kalende’s body was slammed dozens of meters away.
Leciel’s eyes widened.
“…What’s this?”
No one among the children immediately understood the situation.
All they could do was look in the direction from which the attack had come.
Since the distance was far, it was only possible to barely recognize its identity after focusing magical energy into both eyes.
“…H-how did they get here?”
The unexpected arrival left everyone’s eyes widened.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
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