Chapter 41 - Hero VS Kingdom 3 (1/2)

Chapter 41 - Hero VS Kingdom (3)

He had a dream.

It was a land of despair where everything was dyed with blood and darkness.He stood face to face with her on top of a castle wall made through the pain and suffering of people.

No, it was a too one-sided encounter to call it a face to face meeting.

Artpe had already lost to the hero.All his magic spells had been blocked by their magician.He had thrown his daggers in desperation, but an archer with long ears destroyed all of them with her sharp arrows.

Normally, his subordinates were lazy, and they had treated his authority as their commanding general as shit.However, they acted in a way that was incongruous to their past actions.His subordinates fought desperately to protect him, but in the end, they were easily slain by the warrior’s great sword.If they had always done well as they did right now, their actions wouldn’t have felt sudden and unexpected to Artpe.They decided to act in such a way at the last moment, and it almost brought tears to Artpe’s eyes.

“Don’t do it.Wait a moment.Don’t swing that.”

“Hero······.”

The steel knight, who never took off his helmet, refused to stop.He was about to sever Artpe’s head.However, the hero desperately halted his action.

All the other members inside the hero’s party let out a sigh at the same time.The hero paid no attention to them as she stepped forward.She made a sincere entreaty towards Artpe.

“Please don’t cause any trouble, and surrender to us, Four Heavenly King Artpe Hirtana Kelduke.There is no need for us to fight each other any longer.”

“Hero!You!”

“It is impossible.”

“Everyone be quiet······Please surrender yourself.”

Artpe hadn’t been hostile towards the hero from the beginning.She was the only one that was aware of this fact.Artpe had watched over the hero for a very long time, and she was aware of this fact too.If Artpe had wanted to, the hero knew he could have killed her a long time ago.

This was why they could be on the same side.She was sure they could be on the same side.They…..

“You speak as if the Demon King’s army isn’t on a campaign to bring peace to the world.”

However, Artpe made light of the hero’s words as he mocked her.His sharp purple eyes were half hidden by his drooping black hair.It wasn't just the hero.His eyes twinkled as if he was mocking the entire hero’s party.

“Why······?”

She asked the question as if she couldn’t understand him.However, Artpe didn’t give her an answer.

He didn’t want to stop the hero’s steps.A heavy burden was already on her slender shoulders, and he didn’t want to add more to her burden.

Instead, he tried to relax her contorted face a little bit.He let out a grin as he opened his mouth.

““Hero. I’m pretty sure a very good looking noonim will be coming here soon, and she’ll be very angry when she sees my corpse.I want you to give her this message.”

His words were very comedic when one considered it to be his last words.It made the hero’s face scrunch up.Unlike her, the members of the hero’s party thought Artpe was scheming to screw over the hero.This was why they started moving before Artpe could finish his skit.

The Warrior unsheathed and gripped his great sword.The magician held a staff that looked too heavy for her even if she was holding it with both hands.She prepared a spell.The archer pointed an arrow towards Artpe.The red haired thief rushed towards Artpe with his daggers drawn.

They all treasured the hero above all else.They wanted to shield her from the fucked up truths that dominated the world.

“Don’t try to confuse her, Four Heavenly King.”

“In truth, I….Kuh-huhk!”

The dagger scored a clean hit.Artpe had already exhausted his magical energy, and his defensive gear were all broken.His consumable artifacts were all used up.Artpe could no longer put up a fight, so he exposed his heart to the dagger of the thief.

Yes, he already knew this would happen.

“In truth, I’m not too fond of older women…Kahk.Please tell her…!”

His vision was being dyed black.He could feel Etna’s Mana swell from afar.She was the commander of the Army of Thieves.

‘Ah, if I was going to die anyways, I shouldn’t have called noo-nim here.’

He had such useless thoughts as he died.

“This makes you…It makes you seem like a normal person….!”

He could hear the tearful voice of the hero as he was at death’s door.Her voice somehow made his chest burn.

However, he couldn’t turn back the time.This was a story that had already ended.

This was how his previous life came to an end.

Artpe’s Innate ability had reversed the world, and he opened his eyes from within a small human body.He wanted to hurry up and wake up from the nightmare that rehashed the past events…...

“No······ Nooooooooooooooooo!”

He heard a female’s scream.It was the voice that he had heard during the last moments of his previous life.

Wait a moment.

Who’s voice of despair was it······?

“······ah.”

Artpe opened his eyes.His ears were deafened by the sound.It was the worst kind of nightmare.

He had a harsh expression on his face as he tried to get up.However, his body was strangely heavy, so he looked down.Maetel and Sienna had fallen asleep from exhaustion after they had a territorial fight over his abdomen.

He looked to the side, and he saw Aena who had gotten up early.She glared at him with white eyes.She was looking at him as if he was a convicted criminal.

“······well, I’m popular.What can I do about it?”

“Hmmph!”

Aena’s cheeks were puffed out as she quickly turned her head away.Artpe let out a bitter laugh when he saw her.Then he woke up the two brats that clung to him like koalas.It was time to head out now.

When the morning brightened, the townspeople and the children were led out the town by Artpe and Maetel.Since all of them had packs on their backs, it looked as if they were refugees. Fortunately, it was late spring, so the weather was mild.

“Mmm.We are quite noticeable.That’s great..”

“Isn’t it bad if we are noticed, Artpe?”

Maetel tilted her head in puzzlement as she asked the question.Artpe let out a light laugh as he gave an explanation.

“That only applies when we are exploring a Dungeon where we have no idea if strong enemies are present or not.However, we know that there are only level 100 cast offs inside this region.This is why it would be more convenient if they scouted and came towards us.”

“I see!”

When their enemies caught sight of the group, they would immediately attack the party.In such a scenario, Maetel would be able to cut them down without being repulsed by what she had to do.

Artpe didn’t explain any further as he expanded his Mana Threads into a wide net.This wasn’t something like feeling an ominous feeling when one was being watched or ambushed.He would be able to know who was going to attack him.At the very least, it would allow him to prepare a counterattack.

As he controlled a massive amount of Mana, he directed a question towards the nearby Village Person A.

“So which village is closest to this location?”

“The village doesn’t have an official name….If we go past that hill, we’ll be there.”

The town didn’t have a name.These towns were so unimportant that it would probably not be recorded in the hero’s chronicle.They went to several of these villages as they gathered more people.Moreover, they cleared out all the soldiers and black magicians they encountered….

The Quest Reward would continue to bottom out.

The thought of it made him sad.However, even if the Quest Reward was garbage now, he had to go through it to get to the next stage of this Quest.This was the charm of a chained Quest, so he had to endure it.

‘Still, I hope this ends before the summer of this year.I want to avoid what always occurs in the fall…...’

If he went by the schedule, they had plenty of time.They would have enough time even if they ran in place going nowhere for four years.Even if such delays occurred, Maetel would probably learn skills like Jump and all the techniques associated with it.She was scary like that.