Chapter 42: O Hero! Please take care of my daugh… Kegh?!
Rumble—
The shaking of the palace further intensified due to an external impact. This wasn't the time to be leisurely talking with Boss K. Whether the other side came over, or vice versa, we would end up meeting very soon.
I once again summoned forth Holy Sword 2, and surrounded my entire body with the powers of SSS-rank Dark Energy and Battle Spirit.
"Well then, shall we have a look at this angel's face?"
"We'll also…"
"It's fine. Just don't end up dying."
I rejected the Elf father and daughter's intention to work together, as I didn't completely trust in them. Too many times, to a sickening extent, had I made the mistake of making early judgements after only listening to one side of a story in the 1st Playthrough. To put it bluntly, this parent and child duo could be heinous criminals. What if they had received the verdict of a life sentence because they committed too big a wrong? Then the conclusion would be that the ones breaking in right now would be in the right.
"Ow Ow~!"
"Ow Ow ooo~"
The ogres that discovered me came over attacking in a group. I had no time to play with this lot, however; I simply ignored and passed them by as even the time spent cutting them down would be a waste.
Crash-!
But the intruders didn't seem to have the same thought.
"Ow Ow oo~?!"
"Ow Ow~?!"
The ogres, pierced through by a sort of light, were killed in swathes.
Pssss…
Contrary to Boss K's explanation of how you would never die within this underground prison, the corpses of the ogres done in by that light disappeared without a trace.
I gazed towards the direction from where that problematic light had shot over from. Before all else, however, I had to confirm something.
'Miss Trainee Teacher, do you know about the nature of the angels?'
► Answer: Of course I do! They are beings of a contrasting attribute to demons. This is between you and me, but if the graduate who defeats the Demon King wishes to remain in Fantasia's continents, they will naturally go over to a higher education process. The main enemies they'll face at that time are the angels.
So the elementary education was demons? Having listened to Miss Trainee Teacher's words, it turned out that the situation was a highly dangerous one—it was akin to a high schooler being given a university-level problem to solve.
'Angel, huh…?'
The number of times that even I, as someone with 11 years of Hero-ing experience, had seen an angel was so few as to be counted on a hand, and those angels I saw were mostly exiled criminals. The individuals in subject had said, "I was an angel in the past. Surprised, right?" but truthfully at the time I wasn't particularly interested; I didn't take seriously the words of those scammers claiming to have only lost the power of an angel due to being exiled. And I still felt the same way about them.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
Dozens of beams of light came shooting at me.
"Even though we could solve things with a constructive conversation without fighting."
They were committing a mistake, like assassins attacking the carriage of an imperial princess who harmed the welfare of her nation. That's why folk like them always bought misunderstanding and met unfair endings.
"It'll be like that this time too."
I wasn't so kind as to overlook getting hit by others. My Skill Fortune consistently activated at this time as well.
Swish, swish, swish.
All the beams of light shot by the angels unbelievably brushed past my body. Not a single one managed to make contact.
It was a situation that made me laugh in spite of myself. My heart began to grow ever so overwhelmingly inclined towards the Job of Thief rather than Hero.
Slowly, the profiles of the intruders came into my sight.
▷Race: Angel
▷Level: 999+
▷Job: Watchman(Defense→Five Senses↑)
▷Skills: Divinity(S) Divine Protection(S) Glory(S) Order(S) Judgement(A)…
▷Condition: Perplexion
It really was an angel. Their race alone was already revealing "I'm an angel!", but the two pairs of pure-white wings on their backs was similar to the image of an angel in my imaginations. And they all appeared to be virtuous.
"So it was the Hero's doing after all."
"You will be stabbed to death for the crime of releasing the sinners."
"Abandon the thought of an easy death."
They spoke harsh words with faces that looked as if incapable of harming a fly. Starting off by killing the moment we met?
In the 1st Playthrough, the majority of those scammers claiming to be a former angel were at least consistent in looks and behaviour; good-natured, abiding by rules, and conscientious. Yet what exactly were this lot?
"Ahh, eyes that say they themselves are absolute justice, I see."
That was exactly how my 1st Playthrough companions were like; they didn't hold a whit of doubt in their own actions. To save one young girl who called for help, they would slaughter hundreds of people who might have a daughter of the same age.
The attitudes being shown by these angels was also the same.
I hadn't done anything. All that had happened was that the event location above was burned out of existence by a meteor coincidentally dropping from the sky, and thus appeared the underground tunnel. I had only entered out of curiosity and yet, these angels were suddenly trying to kill me right off the bat.
"Well, fine."
I also liked this sort of development, as things went quick, better than mouthing off endlessly.
Flap-flap.
The angels moved by flying at a low altitude despite being inside the narrow-spaced palace. Their intact legs were apparently just decorations.
I made my approach at an angle, kicking off the walls and pillars of the palace. The flight ability of the winged angels weren't a big advantage here, a space that was enclosed in all directions; their wings only served to be cumbersome in this place.
"How is he not being hi—Kugh?!"
I stretched out a hand towards the grumbling male angel's face and thrust my fingers into his two eye sockets, taking a grip like I would a bowling ball. Then I bowled him.
"Kyagh?!"
The female angel, who collided with her comrade who came flying over in a bloody mess, let out a cute scream as she tumbled over along with the male.
I kicked off the palace ceiling and leaped towards their side in an instant.
Purk-purk.
I impaled the two on Holy Sword 2 like a skewer.
"Two for starters."
I mustered the entirety of my Dark Energy's power as it would be bothersome should they happen to revive. While I had no previous experience in this, they were unlikely to remain fine if they clashed with a conflicting power.
A pitch-black aura coiled around Holy Sword 2, the bodies of the two angels exposed to this began to convulse. And then they let out lovely shrieks.
"Aaargh~!"
"Kyaargh!"
Their singing didn't go on for long, however—the two angels whose skins had been youthful and plump turned middle-aged, then elderly in no time, then became like mummified corpses. And that was it.
There were no signs of them reviving.
"To think a Hero possesses Dark Energy!"
"This Dark Energy is Demon King-level!"
"O god of heaven, how could this…"
The group of angels that had been heading towards the Elf father and daughter located at the palace's heart changed direction in unison, then came charging towards me. Had they judged me to be the largest threat? Or was it out of camaraderie? Whatever the case, it made things easier for me as it saved the work of pursuing them.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
A banquet of beams of light shooting over like rain, yet not one of these beams managed to touch my body. Shouldn't they be taking out some other means of attack at this point? That is of course, if they had one.
"Kuugh-?!"
I grasped the neck of an angel.
Had this angel been a warrior like the boss' daughter, he would have immediately resisted by kicking at my Treasure 1 or flinging his fists. This one wasn't able to do so, however; he was merely frightened out of his wits, meaninglessly flailing his limbs about. It was just like… facing a child.
"How worthless."
Crack.
Finding it too bothersome to even continue dealing with him, I broke his cervical vertebrae between the 6th and 7th point. I used Dark Energy as the finisher this time as well; starting from the center of the angel's neck, his entire body began to melt like ice cream in the middle of summer.
"Run away! All units retreat!"
"Hurry and make a report to the higher ups…!"
"Just what on earth is this Hero!?"
The angels, judging that they couldn't go on like this any further, turned around. They took flight the moment they realized their light beams, which were their sole method of attack, had no effect and that they were utterly no match for the opponent.
Wearing a fishy smile, I swung down Holy Sword 2.
'You should take responsibility for picking a fight, yeah? My appearance-fee is expensive.'
Slash, slash-
Rumble—!
The Skill Massacre wasn't restricted to lifeforms—the cut I made at mid-air grazed the wings and bodies of the angels, and collapsed the pillars and ceiling of the palace before them.
I had sealed their escape route.
"O Hero! Why do you take the side of those followers of evil?!"
One of the trembling angels gathered his courage to shout this question at me.
"Who are these 'followers'?"
"The companions of the fallen Hero! Evils that encouraged the Hero, who forgot his duty to slay the Demon King, onto the wrong path instead of persuading him!"
I got to listen to an interesting story, so I decided to repay the angel for his courage and sincerity.
Purk-
I stabbed him with Holy Sword 2 and…
Tsss…!
Reduced him to dust using Dark Energy(SSS).
"Hiik?!"
"Gasp!"
"Oh my god…"
It was a one-sided fight from that point onwards; in a refreshed manner I went around to them one by one, feeling as if I was playing tag with chickens trapped in a coop, and wrung their necks. Of course, I didn't kill them right away.
"Miss angel with the black underwear."
"Pl-please spare me-!"
"Try guessing my question if you want to die gently."
"Wha-?!"
I didn't specify the questions I tossed at the angels I captured, but gave them a free essay-type question, and the result would sometimes be information outside my expectations…
"Light and darkness, Divinity and Dark Energy. The followers of chaos who belong to neither are the evil eating away at the world! O Hero! Open your eyes! Half-hearted chaos maintaining the middle ground will call on even greater disaster!"
"Tell me more."
"That is al—Kugh?!"
… such as this. It seemed they were hating on me for being an opportunistic neutral power.
"Oh Hero! Come to your senses and see the truth! That sword is the 5th Holy Sword used by the Hero of chaos who raised arms against God! It will eat away at your soul and gradually destroy it the more you use it! Kyauh?!"
And there was this kind of information too!
My heart fluttered at hearing there were at least five more Holy Swords. If I were to gather them all, would it be possible to obliterate this fantasy world with the flick of a finger?
I interrogated the angels one by one before killing them. No exceptions were made.
"O wonderful Hero, I will become the slave that you hope for. My body will only be yours from this—Kyauh?!"
Regardless of whether they surrendered or swore loyalty, I killed them all.
"Who the hell is this hussy kidding? Pah!"
The weak would be dominated by the strong—this was a logic that was only too natural in this barbaric world—and yet this weakling was spouting presumptuous nonsense like "I'll be your slave. Be grateful for it.". A bitch that was like Sylvia! The kind that I abhorred the most.
"O Hero! We are angels! Apostles of God! It makes no sense for the Hero chosen by God to be oppos—Kuogh?!"
"You lot should go extinct for that reason alone!"
The angel called me a pawn of the Fantasy God who kidnapped me to this awful world.
I found a new goal to pursue from today onwards: to erase every angel I came across regardless of any reason. Until I caught the Fantasy God by the back of his neck!
► Startled: Student Kang Han Soo. Isn't your goal too similar to the angel-hating Demon King's dream?!
'I'm fine, Miss Trainee Teacher.'
► Shrug: Yes, I'm sure there won't be a big problem. The development where one encounters angels takes place in the higher education curriculum. It's an enrichment process wherein one contemplates on what is truly good. When Student Kang Han Soo returns to Fantasia at the end of the Hero Festival, there'll be absolutely no chance of you encountering angels. Although this time's case was a bit unforeseen, it's a peculiarity only possible because this is the Festival.
Peculiarity? Then it seemed I had to drag out the festival for as long as possible while enjoying it.
The reason for this thought was the Skill I had obtained after killing the angels this time around.
Divinity(F)→Divinity(E)→Divinity(D)
Divinity, a Skill which only those with the highest religious-type Jobs such as Saintess or Pope could obtain. While some monsters did possess it as well, D-rank was on the extremely high side by human standards.
Sparkle-sparkle.
The power of Divinity(D) shined brilliantly above my palm.
"Ho-how do you possess Dark Energy and Divinity at the same time…?"
The last of the angels, who was stabbed through by Holy Sword 2 and on the verge of death, muttered this to himself with a stupefied face. It was apparently his first time seeing such an excellent Hero.
As I dealt the finishing blow using Dark Energy(SSS), I replied, "Is it really necessary to know, I wonder?"
The important thing was that I could use it right now.
I turned around towards the inner region of the palace where the Elf father and daughter were at.
*
*
*
This underground prison, which had been buried somewhere on the continent where the Hero Festival was taking place, was sealed for a very long period of time. Pressed beneath the giant Zelkova tree inhabited by Elves, its prisoners had spent their time only endlessly waiting for the destruction of the prison that would happen in the far distant future. No one came. Nothing changed.
That's how it definitely was until just a while ago.
"How mortifying…"
"Disappear along with the secret, Third Elf King."
I had thought I had wiped all of them out, but it seemed one angel had slipped out of the ranks. Truthfully, it didn't matter up to that point. The problem, however, was that the boss who had made me nervous had been helpless against merely one angel and fallen into a dead-end crisis. Where had the daughter gone to?
"Get away from my father the King!"
I had barely thought of the question when the boss' daughter, whose clothing had been reduced to rags, stabbed at the angel's back with her rapier.
Flash!
Following which there was an explosion of pure-white light. The moment the rapier's tip touched the angel, the power of Divinity(SS) exploded at the point of contact.
"Kyagh?!"
And the boss' daughter was blasted away in vain.
Clang.
Her hand injured by the explosion, the rapier also slipped from her grip and fell to the ground.
"Wait, as I'll kill you soon as well, wench. Of course, I shall make it so that you will repent and regret your sin amidst humiliation and shame—personally. Heheh."
The angel, who was fine despite being stabbed by a blade, spoke as such while wearing a villainous smile. To make that sort of expression with a virtuous-looking face…
"A bastard that's like Sieg, I see."
That's why I could no longer stand by watching.
Holy Sword 2, which slipped from my hand, flew forwards in a straight line.
Purk-
'Sir Hero! Nice shot!'
"Kuogh?! How was my Divinity pierc—this, this is Dark Energy…?!"
Flop.
With Holy Sword 2 stuck between his 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae, the angel babbled to himself before collapsing on his face in an unsightly manner.
"This punk… wasn't he too weak?"
The way he spoke and his combat ability were inversely proportional.
Come to think of it, it seemed like all the angels were weak.
► Explanation: Powerful Divinity deflects everything, except for Divinity and Holy Swords which are of the same element, and Dark Energy which is of the opposite element.
'Oh! Miss Trainee Teacher, thanks for the break down.'
► Worry: But anyway, it's so regrettable. The Elf gentleman who knows an important secret will end up dead soon.
Oh my!
I had forgotten about Boss K for a moment. After being one-sidedly done in by the angel who was protected by the cheat-like Divinity, he was currently in the middle of working hard to leave his last words.
"O, O Hero… I entrust my daughter to you… Her chest may be small, but she is a kind child with a generous heart…"
"My father the King! Making jokes even in this situation…!"
Judging by the atmosphere of the two, it seemed that resurrection wasn't possible if killed by an angel.
I drew near Boss K who was entrusting his daughter to me.
And then I grabbed and shook him by the collar.
"Kegh-kegh!"
"You irresponsible punk! Don't pass your daughter over as you please without even respecting my preferences and will! It's a real nuisance!"
I activated the Skill I had freshly obtained this time, and stuck the power of Divinity(D) into Boss K's body like a straw.