Chapter 48.1 - Hero and Demon (1/2)

Chapter 48.1 : Hero and Demon

◆ Death God, Zarxis

「How’s the development of the situation, Atlankua?」

The woman stood on the other side of the darkness. By appearance only, she seemed just like any other human. Although one couldn’t call her a peerless beauty, she would be able to charm a man or two.

「Reporting, our servant is currently accompanying the Hero of Light. He might be intoxicated by liquor and women by now.」

「I see… I presume they have yet to discover your true identity.」

「Despite having seen my face, he doesn’t seem to realize my true identity. Rather, it’s more like he is charmed by my beauty.」

「Kukuku… Great! That’s great. Once he sees what you truly look like, he’ll die from shock.」

「You jest, Zarxis. This figure is also my true figure. Even that girl called Nao hasn’t realized my other form.」

I felt a slight wave of anger in Atlankua’s words. After all, her other figure wasn’t pleasing to the eye at all.

Atlankua was similar to a werewolf, having two forms. One was human and the other… Many men turned their backs to it with a disgusted face when they saw it.

Even Atlankua herself hated that appearance.

She was my subordinate goddess and her main ability was to hide within shadows. Whether it was a person with a keen perception or a divine being, none could perceive her.

「You’re right… My bad, Atlankua.」

「It’s okay, I don’t mind it at all. I’m going to snatch that bitch Rena’s most important person. So I won’t mind such trivial matters.」

But I knew she was really worried about that “trivial matter”. That was just how much Atlankua hated her other figure.

And she also hates the goddess Rena. She might just be jealous of her beauty.

「I see… Then it’s time to begin the next phase of our plan.」

「Fufufu, I succeeded in luring Rena’s Heroes to this region. Now I just need to lure him into the labyrinth.」

I nodded at her words.

The first phase of the plan was already complete. They had successfully created a disturbance that was large enough to lure the Hero of Light to where they wanted.

The next phase was to make him enter Labrys’s Labyrinth.

「You found the way to lure him already, didn’t you, Atlankua?」

「Yes, Zarxis. We only need a woman’s tears to lure that Hero. And I’ve made arrangements for that to happen.」

「I see… As prepared as always, huh.」

「Yes, Zarxis. Let’s wait and see how she’ll bait him into the labyrinth.」

Atlankua smiled evilly as she spoke, and I couldn’t help but chuckle along with her.

「Kukuku, Hero of Rena. Now… Bite the bait and come to us.」

◆ Hero of Water, Nefim.

It was early in the morning and the ship headed to Ariadya was sailing smoothly when the captain of the ship approached me with a worried face.

「Uhm… How is the situation, Hero of Water-sama?」

「No worries, captain. We do not need to fear the Merfolk or anything like it.」

「You… Really, aah. Can’t you even have a bit of faith in Nefim-sama!?」

「Yeah.」

My traveling comrades were angry at the captain of the ship who appeared to doubt my skill.

「Calm down, ladies. I understand the captain’s concern. I mean, he did have reason to worry after several ships got attacked by Merlows.」

The Merlow race supposedly inhabited the western bays of Sead.

The difference between the males and females of the race was quite striking.

The females had their upper half resembling beautiful women while their lower half was that of beautiful fish. They were commonly known as Mermaids.

Compared to them, the males of the Merlow race were quite ugly. Although their upper half also looked human, they had fish heads, fins on their limbs and scales covering their entire bodies.

Despite having visited Sead Inlet so many times before, I still felt nauseous whenever I spotted their ugly appearance.

Both were part of the Merlow Race but apparently, Mermaids and Mermen were on bad terms.

The Mermaids hated the Mermen because they were ugly and the Mermen hated the Mermaids because the females disdained their appearances.

And both of them were hostile to humans.

Many human ships around Sead Inlet were ambushed and sunk by Mermen pirates. Two ships had already been done in by the Merlows within Ariad Inlet.

That was why the captain was so worried.

「As expected of Nefim-sama.」

「Such a generous person.」

My comrades rushed to praise me.

There used to be three of them, but I got one of them pregnant, so she took a break from adventuring.

[TL: F$CK, I thought he is a SHE!!]

「Captain, don’t worry. The Hero of Water, Nefim, is with you. I’ve fought against Mermen so many times before that there is no need to fear them. Moreover, there are also a few Freedom Fighters who came along with us. What are you worried about?」

「Ahaha, true enough.」

The captain laughed, but inside he was still nervous. It must be quite painful for him to tread through dangerous waters, but he had to sail to trade.

The ship advanced along the river with the power of the Goblin slaves’ constant rowing. Their pace matched the rhythm of the drums.

I saw a similar ship once at the Saird Inlet. They used rowers too, but it was my first time seeing so many together.

Maybe the large number of rowers made the ship sail so fast. With such speed, we could arrive at our destination without encountering any Mermen at all.