Chapter 207 – Rescuing the Hero

“It seems the Demon King’s army in Daejeon has started moving. The operation was a success.”

“That’s a relief.”

At the mage’s words, the Hero, Albert, smiled. It was a smile that seemed both happy and hollow.

The Duke, seeing the boy’s smile, placed a hand on the Hero’s shoulder and grinned. “I won’t send you alone, so don’t worry. Two swordsmen are going with you.”

Perhaps because death was near, his voice was softer than usual.

The Hero, surprised, looked at the old man. From beside him, a grumbling voice could be heard.

“That’s quite reassuring. And, please exclude one of them. I plan to survive as long as possible.”

At the Grand Mage’s sarcastic remark, the Duke shook his head. “If you wanted to live, you shouldn’t have come.”

“I lost the draw, so I had no choice.”

The Grand Mage, whose tongue was sharper than his wit, scratched his head as the old man laughed again.

“Was it because of the Marquis?”

At the Duke’s words, the Grand Mage shrugged. “Well, I did owe him a favor. That’s why I couldn’t run away until now. I think I’ve done my part, so I’ll escape when the time is right.”

“You’re a wicked mage.”

At the Duke’s words, the Grand Mage raised his staff. “You could say I’m just being a mage.”

The royal mages who had come with him turned their heads as if it had nothing to do with them.

The young Hero seemed to gain some strength from the swordsmen’s banter. However, that strength vanished the moment he looked around again.

The place where the swordsmen were joking was surrounded by an enormous number of undead—no, the Demon King’s army.

The Hero’s group was in a large park within the city. The park, with its stone-paved ground, had a few shabby statues standing here and there. If Eger or Yerim had been here, they would have clicked their tongues at the statues, but the Hero, unfamiliar with this world, only thought they looked like statues of very overweight people.

No, he didn’t even have time to examine the statues closely.

The park, which was usually empty and vast, was now filled with a large number of people. However, aside from the Hero’s group, everyone gathered here was dead.

Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and corpse golems had crowded into the park, surrounding the Hero’s group.

“Do you think we can escape?”

“Hmm, it’s annoying with those flying ghosts in the sky…”

Unlike the Hero or Eger, the two swordsmen didn’t have the ability to sense mana, so they couldn’t see the evil spirits. However, they could feel the ominous aura moving above the park. From their past experiences, they knew that aura was created by evil spirits. And the Grand Mage’s lightning magic had worked on them before.

“The problem is those guys with the strange weapons.”

Among the undead were skeletons wielding weapons they had seen recently and some they had never seen before. There were undead carrying guns and others with large sticks or clubs slung over their shoulders. Given their size, they were clearly more dangerous than guns. Since no mana was detected from them, they thought it wouldn’t be a problem, but with unfamiliar weapons, it was best not to let their guard down.

The reason they could talk like this was that the undead—no, the Demon King’s army—had surrounded them and were waiting. They didn’t know if they were waiting for all the undead from Daejeon to arrive or if they were waiting for the Demon King or his other subordinates to come. In any case, the Hero’s group also needed to buy time, so they had no reason to object to the undead just surrounding them.

Everything has an end.

After the message from Daejeon arrived, the undead surrounding them began to move.

Kyaaaaah.

Clank. Clank.

The corpses dragged their hands and feet as they approached, moving in unison with the skeletons. Behind them, the skeletons with weapons aimed at them.

“Were they waiting for the ones at the gate to move?”

Seeing the undead move, the Duke nodded, and the Hero gripped his sword tightly and spoke.

“They probably let us go last time. This time, they’ll definitely try to kill me and the Saintess.”

His voice was firm, unlike his age. It seemed the Hero had regained his composure.

However, the Grand Mage smiled bitterly upon hearing the Hero’s resolute voice.

‘Even if the Hero changes now, nothing will change.’

The Hero’s awakening had already been completed when he became the Hero. There might be some minor growth afterward, but he wouldn’t change as much as an ordinary boy becoming the Hero.

The old swordsman, the Duke, smiled as he looked at the young Hero, but to the Grand Mage, that smile seemed incredibly bitter.

‘Well, I’ll just have to do my best.’

Although he had joked about escaping, the Grand Mage had no intention of running away. After all, the swordsmen existed to protect the Empire. They were willing to lay down their lives for that purpose. All the swordsmen who had gathered in the capital had prepared for death and left to stop the Demon King’s army. The Marquis, who remained in his territory, likely felt the same.

‘Still, it’s a shame I won’t get to see that knight become the Hero.’

The Grand Mage was very curious about what would happen if Eger, the knight, became the Hero. He was different from the Empire’s knights he had seen on the battlefield and even from the knights of the Royal Knight Order. As a free knight, it was natural, but…

‘He was different from other free knights too.’

Moreover, to have that level of strength before becoming the Hero…

“I was curious about what would happen if a swordsman became the Hero, but I guess I’ll see that after I die.”

The old swordsman seemed to share the same thought. The Duke left those words behind and charged forward. The Hero followed him.

Before moving, the young Hero left a final word for the Saintess.

“I’ve always liked you.”

At those words, the Saintess missed her timing to release her holy power. She looked at the Hero with a panicked expression as he ran forward.

“Now’s the time… No, maybe not.”

The Grand Mage let out a hollow laugh and soared into the sky.

The battle had begun, but the Demon King was nowhere to be seen.

‘Did he avoid me?’

The Heroes had failed to kill the Demon King twice, but the Hero was still the Demon King’s natural enemy. Even though they had failed last time, the young Hero had fought the Demon King directly. It wasn’t strange that the Demon King didn’t show up.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

If they had been aiming for the Demon King, it would have been the worst situation, but their goal wasn’t the Demon King.

The boy—no, the Hero—swung his sword with a lighter heart than ever before. His sword felt light. Was it because he had been freed from the burden of being the Hero? The Hero felt his sword, mana, and even holy power more freely than ever. It felt as if his strength had risen to a new level.

‘If I had more time, could I have done as well as the other Heroes?’

Seeing his holy-infused sword energy sweep away dozens of skeletons, the Hero couldn’t help but think that. But he shook his head. That story was already over. He didn’t feel regret. After all, a more talented Hero candidate was waiting for him to pass on his holy power.

The Hero wasn’t afraid of dying, nor did he feel regret. However…

‘I wish the Saintess—no, Melia—wouldn’t die.’

He knew that the Saintess couldn’t be left out, even though two swordsmen had come with him as bait. But it was still sad to think of someone he liked dying.

The undead kept coming. He continued to cut them down with his sword energy, but more and more kept pouring in. As time passed, the undead overwhelmed them, and he could no longer see the Duke, the other knights, the mages, or the Saintess.

Boom!

A loud explosion echoed from the sky. Looking up, he saw the Grand Mage caught in the blast. The Grand Mage had deployed a barrier to block the explosion, but dozens of missile-like objects were flying toward him, spewing flames.

The Hero didn’t know it, but what was flying toward the Grand Mage were portable anti-air missiles made in China. They used infrared tracking, so they were ineffective against flying targets, but unfortunately, the Grand Mage was a lightning mage. High-temperature currents constantly flowed around him.

More than ten missiles struck the barrier the mage had erected.

Boom! Boom!

A massive explosion followed.

‘Ah…’

Through the red flames, he saw a figure falling. He wanted to help, but it was too far. And now, the Hero wasn’t worried about the falling Grand Mage but about the Saintess. He could no longer feel her holy power.

Even without her holy power, unlike Knight Eger, the Hero could generate his own holy power. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about the Saintess.

The Hero bit his lip and turned toward where the Saintess had been. Originally, they were supposed to scatter in all directions to cause as much damage as possible and buy time, but now he just wanted to do as he pleased.

‘Am I too late?’

Even as that thought crossed his mind, he didn’t stop. Cutting down skeletons, slicing through corpses, and smashing skeletons as he moved forward, he soon stopped in his tracks, wide-eyed.

Whoooosh.

A massive surge of holy power erupted from where the Saintess had been.

It was a holy power far greater than his own as the Hero. It wasn’t the holy power of a Saintess meant to save people but the holy power of a Hero meant to kill the enemies of the gods. A holy power that only the Hero could produce.

No, a holy power that only one other person besides the Hero could produce.

“How is this here…?”

As if hearing the Hero’s voice, the holy power transformed into sword energy and swept across the area.

Kwaaaah!

The incredibly long sword energy swept across the Hero’s front, no, his sides and back as well. Strangely, the sword energy didn’t harm the Hero at all, only sweeping away the undead around him.

All the undead around the Hero fell to the ground, and the Hero could see his surroundings again.

In front of him, where the Saintess had been, stood a person next to her. Beneath them, a magic circle glowed, but the Hero didn’t even notice it. His eyes were filled only with the knight standing next to the Saintess, holding a sword filled with holy power—Knight Eger.

“Why did you come? What are you going to do now that you’re here!”

The bloodied old swordsman burst out and shouted at the knight. The Duke seemed genuinely angry.

“I came to save the Hero.”

At the knight’s words, the Duke’s mouth fell open. The Hero and the Saintess also widened their eyes.

Save the Hero? It didn’t make sense.

“What, what are you talking about! You’re the Hero!”

The Duke, so flabbergasted that he stuttered, shouted again.

At the Duke’s words, the knight placed a hand on the Saintess’s shoulder and said, “I have no intention of becoming the Hero. I plan to buy a quiet estate and live comfortably.”

At the knight’s absurd words, the Duke was speechless. The knight removed his hand from the Saintess’s shoulder and continued.

“Those who survived, please use the portal. Mage Yelena is waiting. Saintess, please transfer as much holy power as you can before you go.”

It seemed that placing his hand on the Saintess’s shoulder was also to receive holy power.

As the undead became confused by the new holy power and the Duke stammered, the knight subtly pushed the Saintess back. At that moment, holy power flowed into the knight again, and the Saintess stepped onto the magic circle.

The Saintess’s body glowed.

And then, she disappeared.

It was a bizarre situation, but the Hero was overjoyed that the Saintess could survive.

‘But what about me…’

As the Hero thought that, the knight appeared beside him.

“Don’t think strange thoughts. Where are you trying to run? If you want me to be comfortable, you’ll have to work hard.”

The knight, spouting incomprehensible words, grabbed the Hero’s arm and flung himself toward the magic circle.

The Hero, outmatched in skill, mana, and holy power, was helplessly dragged along by the knight.

The Hero stepped onto the magic circle for the second time.

The Hero struggled to escape the magic circle, but in the end, he had no choice but to cross through space.

“Alright, I’ve saved those who need to suffer. Now, it’s time to clean up the mess.”

The Duke looked at me with a bewildered expression, the Grand Mage ran over with his body scorched and battered, and the undead prepared to attack again as I radiated holy power.

Feeling everyone’s gaze, I raised my sword.

Holy-infused sword energy shot into the sky.

“Alright, the disposable Hero is here. Bring it on!”

Kyaaaaah!

As if that was the signal, the undead filling the park began to charge.

Seeing them coming,

“Everyone, run!”

I started running so fast that my feet became a blur.