Chapter 230 – To the Dungeon (2)  

The nameless plains in the eastern part of the Ea Continent.  

Though vast, these plains had remained unnamed until recently—a common stretch of land, distant from human settlements, where monsters descended from the northern mountain ranges roamed freely.  

Now, though still nameless, they were widely known.  

This was the place where the King of Death, the Demon King, had once established his kingdom. It was also where the Demon King’s army had fought their final battle against the allied forces before the Demon King fled to another world.  

Even now, traces of that battle remained.  

Scattered piles of charred corpses and bones. Rusted weapons and bloodstained equipment littered the ground, and the lingering aura of death in the air sent chills down one’s spine.  

“It’s desolate… like hell,” Yerim murmured, feeling the oppressive energy. I gave her a bitter smile.  

Her words were accurate. To me, this place was indeed hell.  

The desolate hell before me now, and the violent hell I had experienced during the battle—both were versions of hell in my eyes.  

Back then, I had fought alongside other knights and soldiers against the Demon King’s undead army, praying that the hero’s party would defeat the Demon King.  

Yet now, I was the one playing the role of the hero.  

‘The twists of fate are truly unpredictable.’  

With that thought, I glared at the ravine ahead.  

Beyond the vast plains, at the eastern edge, stood a low mountain range like a towering wall. Past those mountains lay the eastern sea, a place few had ever seen.  

And in the middle of that mountain range, there was a ravine—as if the mountains had been split apart.  

That was where the Demon King’s dungeon lay.  

Back then, after the Demon King fled, the allied forces had set up a camp near the dungeon in that ravine. Confident that the Demon King would not return, they had established the outpost—only for it to fall shortly after.  

And now, here we were again, leading a massive army.  

This time, we had no intention of sending our forces deep into the ravine.  

Behind us, where our party stood, tens of thousands of troops had gathered.  

Knights and soldiers had joined us along the way—over a thousand knights and countless soldiers, their numbers too vast to count.  

This was no longer just the Imperial army.  

Remnants of satellite nations destroyed by the Demon King’s forces, disbanded members of the former allied army—countless knights and soldiers had all gathered here.  

Their assembly was not just due to our efforts in rallying survivors along the way. The Emperor of the Empire had sent word to every nation on the continent.  

Under normal circumstances, other kingdoms would not have mobilized so quickly, even at the Emperor’s request. But this time was different.  

Before the Emperor’s message arrived, divine oracles had been delivered to every kingdom. And even before that, the entire continent had sensed the anomaly.  

Vanished people and buildings, suddenly appearing structures never seen before—after witnessing such things, how could they not believe the oracle warning that the world would end if the Demon King was not stopped?  

Thus, the assembled army was no longer just the Imperial forces but a true united army of Ea.  

Knights and soldiers from nations that had fought the Demon King’s forces for years, the formidable Imperial army, and survivors burning with vengeance.  

Even mages and sword masters had joined.  

Excluding our party, this was a gathering unprecedented in Ea’s history.  

With such diverse forces coming together, chaos might have been expected. Fortunately, the chain of command remained intact, thanks to the Empire’s sword masters and the Imperial Chancellor.  

In fact, the experienced knights and soldiers who had fought the Demon King’s forces only strengthened our readiness for battle.  

“Who set up tents here?! I said the camp should be as far back as possible! This is the battlefield—didn’t you hear me?!” An aged soldier’s shout echoed from behind.  

“I know it’s tedious, but dig deeper! I know you’re a knight, but just follow orders! Those who’ve fought these bastards for years told us how it’s done!” On the other side, a battered freelance knight berated a young Imperial knight.  

From the perspective of national relations or knightly ranks, such scenes should have been unthinkable.  

But with sword masters taking the lead, even the Imperial knights held no resentment.  

“How much of the palisade is done? That’s not enough! And have the water mages started their work? What are you waiting for? We need to flood the trenches first! If you want to stop their advance, nothing beats a moat!” The elderly sword master, Duke Charles, roared at the mages, while Grand Lightning Mage Count Gunter Schröder flew overhead, directing the trench-digging efforts.  

“It’s quite a sight,” Yerim remarked, admiring the allied camp. Then she frowned at our party, standing idly on the hill. “But should we just be standing here like this?”  

Her reaction was understandable.  

For hours, we had been standing atop this hill like models, clad in the ornate robes we had retrieved from the Imperial vault, weapons in hand.  

Even I wore a gilded cloak over my armor, so the others must have looked even more extravagant.  

But the hardest part wasn’t standing here for hours—it was the stares.  

Though too distant to make out faces, the countless soldiers and knights were all watching us.  

“Look up at that hill! That is the hero who defeated the Demon King’s minions, the first in history to be acknowledged by the gods of two worlds! And beside him are the saintesses and mages of both worlds! With them and the sword masters here, no matter how powerful the Demon King is, we will prevail!”  

The heralds’ voices carried far, ensuring every soldier knew who we were.  

And so, we stood on this hill, serving as morale-boosting propaganda models for the army.  

“This is also part of a hero’s duties,” I replied calmly to Yerim’s question.  

Truthfully, I disliked this role, but it was one of the responsibilities past heroes had shouldered, so I couldn’t refuse.  

Besides, it was undeniably effective for morale.  

Yerim stared at me in surprise, then chuckled.  

“Now I think I understand a little why you were so reluctant to become a hero.”  

I shook my head inwardly.  

Standing before crowds as a symbol wasn’t the hardest part of being a hero.  

But I didn’t need to say that aloud.  

Princess Melia, the saintess of Ea, spoke up.  

“If this were all there was to it, Sir Albert wouldn’t have struggled so much. The truly difficult part of being a hero is…”  

“Politics.”  

“Politics.”  

We finished the sentence simultaneously.  

“You know well,” Melia said.  

“I fought the Demon King for years. Though I wasn’t part of the hero’s party, I saw enough of their struggles,” I replied.  

The princess nodded.  

“Even within the army or the Imperial capital, endless lines of people sought the hero’s favor. And the hero had to bear the responsibility for every battle. Fail, and they faced all the blame.”  

“Yet wielding any real authority beyond honor was nearly impossible,” I added.  

The princess wore a sorrowful expression.  

“That’s why I tried to at least secure the Imperial family’s support for him…”  

That had been her reason for staying by the previous hero’s side.  

“It’s not too late now.”  

“Yes. You’re right. Thank you again.”  

“Save the thanks for after the work is done.”  

I waved off her gratitude. Thankfully, Yerim no longer made strange faces when the princess thanked me.  

Our party had become one, as I’d hoped.  

Though it was an odd party—two saintesses, two (or three) mages, and one hero—I had no intention of adding more members.  

The princess, as a saintess, was unavoidable, but replacing the late Hofmann with someone else?  

Even if I allowed it, the others wouldn’t approve.  

Admittedly, the gender ratio was a bit skewed, but against a Demon King wielding immense magical power and aura, this was the optimal lineup.  

As I glared at the distant ravine, I recalled Yelena’s words in the Imperial council chamber.  

The old gate was destroyed, but the Demon King’s best target for crossing into Ea could only be that dungeon.  

“If the Demon King intends to return to Ea, he must target the structure he was most connected to—his dungeon,” she had stated firmly.  

The other spatial mages had agreed, leading us to set up our defenses before the ravine housing the Demon King’s dungeon.  

Soon, a gate would open, and the Demon King’s army would pour out. Our forces would engage them here, while our party infiltrated the dungeon to confront the Demon King.  

A strategy identical to the one used by the previous hero’s party.  

Unoriginal, and half-failed back then, but with the Demon King changed, our party’s strength different, and the allied forces bolstered, it was the best plan we had.  

Now, with tens of thousands of troops, thousands of knights, sword masters, and even the Imperial Chancellor here, there was no turning back.  

Once the gate opened, we would have no choice but to fight.  

With that thought, I continued playing the role of the hero model alongside my comrades on this hill.  

Then, three days later, an overwhelming surge of aura and mana erupted from the ravine.  

The gate had opened.  

“Sir Hero! A massive aura ahead!”  

A priest rushed into our tent to report, but we had already finished preparations and stepped outside.  

Beyond the tent, the Kingdom’s forces stretched as far as the eye could see.  

Long trenches and moats, dug with magic and manpower.  

Barbed wire and landmines salvaged from encounters with the Demon King’s human forces.  

And finally, machine guns mounted behind the trenches.  

These were additions I had ordered after the defenses were set up.  

With little training, I wasn’t sure how well they’d be used, but barbed wire and landmines required no skill, and machine guns only needed trigger discipline. I could only hope they’d be effective.  

Behind these defenses stood thousands of knights, tens of thousands of soldiers, and hundreds of mages, all in position.  

Preparations were complete.  

Thanks to the sword masters and the Imperial Chancellor, morale was high.  

As I stepped out and surveyed the scene, a deafening cheer rose from the soldiers.  

“Long live the Hero!”  

“With the Hero and the Saintesses, we will prevail!”  

“Long live the Empire!”  

“Long live Ea!”  

The cheers spread, morale soaring.  

“You’re quite popular,” Yerim teased, grinning at me.  

Zahina, Yelena, and Irene also looked at me, and I could only shake my head at their stares.  

“I guess our modeling paid off.”  

But the others didn’t seem to agree.  

“It’s not just that. They’re placing their hopes in you,” the princess said.  

Everyone nodded.  

Just then, the Chancellor arrived, accompanied by sword masters.  

“Are you ready?” he asked.  

“Yes. We’re ready.”  

“Then I leave it to you.”  

I nodded.  

Whoosh.  

At that moment, another surge of mana and aura erupted from the ravine.  

Overwhelmingly powerful—so strong even ordinary soldiers could feel it.  

And this mana… I recognized it.  

The Demon King had crossed into this world.