Chapter 162 - Hero"s Descendant (5)
The Demon realm wasn"t small compared to the human realm. The Demon realm was mainly composed of vast desert terrains and high plains. On the other hand, there were also rich lands where crops could be grown. There were plenty cattle too. The cattle started out from level 100, but they were rich in fat. Their meat was tender.
At times, a heat wave swept over the Demon realm, so it was a hot place to live. Despite the temperature, everyone adapted and they got used to the heat. They lived pretty well. Moreover, there were regions that were colder than the northernmost continent of human realm. The Demon realm was balanced.
If one a.s.sessed the situation in a logical manner, the Demon realm didn"t need to invade the human realm. A war was usually started when one side was lacking in something. One took away what one needed from others through war. However, the Demon realm had everything, so why did they need to go and quarrel with the human realm? What did they want?
“So why does the Demon King want to invade the human realm?”
“That is where the fight is.”
To be precise, the human realm held those that hadn"t been conquered yet.
Many strong beings were born amongst the Demon race. Moreover, these strong beings wanted to prove their strength. The way they proved their power was to subjugate others by force. It had always been like that. This principle held same for the human world.
"Of course, the current Demon King is the type of person that won"t be satisfied until he has everything. That is why he is trying to conquer the human realm."
If the heroes hadn"t been born, the Demon King might not have gone out of his way to attack the human realm. Of course, this was merely speculation. It wasn"t something he could prove.
“That is why they continue to come at the human realm like idiots.”
“I believe that"s how it is.”
“Kee-hahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The ocean of the Demon realm was being dominated by the Genesis Mermaids. If the Demons wanted to cross the ocean into the human realm, it was inevitable that a clash would occur between a large number of Demons and merfolk.
Of course, the merfolk were strong at a fundamental level now. They were all over level 200. Moreover, the merfolk had traveled to Nirotacid with Artpe"s party for the past week. The average level of the merfolk exceeded 250 now! Artpe"s party didn"t" need to support the merfolk any more. They would be able to face the Demons without much difficulty.
“Master, we"ve successfully concluded the cleanup. I would like to deploy around 100 thousand troops here.”
“Mmmm. I think 100 thousand will do a credible job in stopping them.”
He couldn"t drag around 200 thousand merfolk indefinitely. After exiting Nirotacid, Sherryl followed Artpe"s order. She dispatched Genesis Mermaids to important locations within the ocean.
While she was alive, distance didn"t matter. She was able to circ.u.mvent distance to communicate with her subjects. In a case of emergency, all the Genesis Mermaids would pull together to create an encircling net. It would be a blockade to stop the Demons.
“However, if your people are faced with a great number of Demons that they can"t handle, I want you to order a retreat. The human realm has forces too. I don"t want your people to weaken in the process of stopping the Demons. It is unnecessary and idiotic to do so.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
This was how the 200 thousand merfolk decreased to 100 thousand then 50 thousand. In the end, he decreased the number of merfolk accompanying his party to 10 thousand.
It was around one month since they had exited Nirotacid.
The party was getting closer to the heart of the Demon realm, so their expression was filled with anxiety. They had been fighting amongst each other like idiots over who should have an offspring with Artpe not too long ago. It was hard to believe that they had reached this point.
“This is the end of the line for you guys.”
“······ah.”
The merfolk had accompanied Artpe"s party, and it was a.s.sumed that they would stay together for the duration. However, it all came to an end when Artpe spoke those words. It was inevitable. The merfolk couldn"t accompany them unless the path from the ocean to the Demon King"s castle was a straight line. It wasn"t. Therefore, the separation was inevitable.
“After this point, the probability of those within the Demon King"s castle noticing us is high. We need freedom of movement to be able to keep the Demons in check. This is the best method for us.”
“······understood. If that is what you want, please allow me to accompany master.”
Sherryl was currently around level 360. The party"s level was approaching 380. Sherryl was a bit behind compared to Artpe"s party. However, Artpe seemed to have a plan. He didn"t hesitate as he nodded his head.
“All right. Please help me, Sherryl.”
At this point, this was how the party"s level broke down. Maetel and Artpe had the same level. They had reached level 383. The next highest was Sienna at level 381. Regina was level 380 and Vadinet was level 377. Elrick brought up the rear at level 375.
On top of that, Roa was level 382. She was merely a pet, yet she was closing in on Artpe and Maetel. There was only 1 level difference. She was monstrous.
“We"ll be exiting the waters now, so we"ll be able to see the Demon King"s castle with our eyes. Obviously, this means those within the Demon King"s castle will be able to see us too.”
“We somehow managed to reach this place without being found.”
“It is all thanks to the merfolk.”
Sherryl was silent. She felt embarra.s.sed by the compliment. Artpe smirked as he continued speaking.
“Listen up. What I"m about to say right now is important. Unfortunately, we can"t storm the Demon King"s castle right now.”
In her past life, Maetel had come to the Demon King"s castle at level 374. However, that occurred in the past life. Several unknown variables had been introduced into this life, so he didn"t dare to storm the Demon King"s castle right now.
“There is a Dungeon near the Demon King"s castle.”
“We are here, yet you want to go into a Dungeon!?”
He wanted to go into a Dungeon, because they were able to arrive at this location. He had brought his party here, because the Dungeons in the human realm could no longer raise their levels!
They were able to unexpectedly raise their levels through the Ocean"s Tomb and Nirotacid. However, it was unknown as to whether they"ll be able to easily clear the Dungeon they were about to head into.
“There is someone that used to be called the greatest archmage of the Demon realm. He was the first one to find out about Dimensional pockets, and he performed experiments that dealt with increasing the density of Mana in a limited amount of s.p.a.ce….”
“Too difficult!”
“You reacted the same way in the past”
“Huh?”
Maetel could only tilt her head in confusion. Artpe smirked as he gave an additional explanation.
“I"ve told you his name before. There was a Demon called Nanarai Bodra.”
“That name makes me feel icky.”
“There is a theory that it is an alias. However, that isn"t important right now. The important fact right now is that there is a Dungeon near the Demon King"s castle. It was made by Nanarai Bodra.”
Had Artpe been ignorant of this fact in his past life?
He knew about it, but he didn"t have the opportunity to tell the Demon King about it.
The archmage hadn"t wanted anyone to intrude into the Dungeon, so it had been hidden. A wide area distortion spell was placed over it. Aside from Artpe, no one could discern the location of the Dungeon.
The Demon King never thought it would be possible for him to miss something near the Demon King"s castle. He had never considered the possibility. This was why Artpe was able to get away with not reporting this information to the Demon King.
“If we enter this place, the Demon King"s army won"t be able to find us. That is why I plan on using my boot"s ability to teleport us there. The Dungeon is the last place that"ll allow us to grow. Then we"ll fight the Demon King.”
There was the continental alliance and the 200 thousand Genesis mermaids. They were facing off against the main force of the Demon King"s army. It gave Artpe"s party the opportunity to take a shot at the leadership of the Demon realm. It really wasn"t something a hero"s party was supposed to do.
Artpe hadn"t planned this out from the beginning, but somehow, he was able to complete this truly exquisite plan.
“So why can"t we move against the Demon King immediately?”
“Maetel, what did I just say?”
“Didn"t you say you love me? I love you too! Let"s marry!”
“Stop trying to fabricate stuff.”
Artpe definitely said the Demon King"s army wouldn"t be able to find them if they entered that "place." Regina suddenly raised her head before he could stress that point again.
“Even if we are found, they won"t be be able to find us if we enter that place.”
“That is it, Regina.”
“Artpe is vicious.”
Regina"s ability to comprehend the situation was on a different level compared to the idiot hero. Regina was immediately able to discern what Artpe was trying to do from his single sentence!
“Who will take the leading part in this? It is probably me.”
“You are ready. Get ready, Regina.”
“Artpe······ If you don"t explain it to me, I"m going to cry.”
Artpe activated his staff, and he resonated his Mana with Regina. Regina had already started to chant her spell. Since the spell was relatively new and it had such a large damage, it took her 10 minutes to chant this great magic.
“It is as Regina had said. Even if our presence was detected by the Demon King, we just have to enter the Dungeon before we are caught.. They won"t be able to find us. This is a Dungeon that I only know about.”
“You found it through your Innate ability?”
“Yes, it was through the Innate ability.”
Still, wouldn"t it be a waste to immediately go into the Dungeon? It would be fine if they were detected. Artpe had made his calculations, and he decided it would be ok to strike a heavy blow before they went into the Dungeon.
“When you say a heavy blow...”
“It is Regina"s Downfall spell. Since we are going to do something big, let us add all our Mana to the attack.”
It would be difficult for Regina to tune up a spell of that caliber by herself. This was why he was going to receive help from his staff. It would allow Regina to better control her Mana, and he planned on acting as support for Regina"s spell. This was all possible, because he had the Materialization sell.
“Of course, we cannot kill the Four Heavenly Kings or the Demon King with this. The spell effects too wide a region. It might be ok during the initial stages, but once it is activated, it would be hard to hide the spell. It would be very difficult to land this spell without them dodging it. However….”
“The Demon King"s castle will be blown to dust.”
“That"s right. That is why I want you all to give up all your Mana. Maetel, you know what to do?”
“Ooh. In the end, we are doing this again?”
Maetel obediently activated her Record Master. The rest of his party resignedly gave their Mana to Maetel.
The only thing that was different from the past was the fact that Roa was fundamentally closer to being human through her Polymorph skill. This was why she was able to give her Mana to Maetel. Since Roa was able to resonate with Maetel, her growth had accelerated in recent days. The benefit of her new form outweighed the small downside.
“Too much Mana.”
“I"ll help.”
Mana was pouring into Regina through Maetel. Artpe took control of the Mana as he let it flow into his staff.
Artpe supported Regina as she formed the Downfall magic circle. He amplified her power as he made a second magic circle. He was able to break down the structure of the spell using his Read all Creation magic, and he was able to create the second magic circle thanks to his Materialization magic! Regina looked a little bit more relaxed.
“It"ll be possible now.”
“Of course, it is possible.”
The dense Mana from the ocean of the Demon Realm crystallized as it was being sucked into the magic circle. The power of the magic circle grew. At some point, the magic circle was completed. It was made by combining and charging the Mana of Artpe and Regina into the magic circle. She just needed to finish her chant, and she"ll be able to use the spell at any moment of her choosing!
Regina started to rise as she reached the completion of her spell. Artpe followed her, and his eyes shone with light. They broke through the surface of the water, and they floated in the air. A truly large magic circle followed out behind them. It was very conspicuous.
"They should be noticing it about now."
The Demon King"s castle was far away. It was a speck in the distance. Sure enough, when Regina and Artpe appeared out of the water, a bright ray of light shot out from the Demon King"s castle. It was a familiar energy signature. It was sent by the first ranked Four Heavenly King from his past life.
“However, I made preparations.”
Artpe didn"t hesitate as he threw several of the consumable Artifacts he had received from the Dwarves. He had filled it with Mana, so he could use the Artifacts at any moment. When the consumable Artifacts left Artpe"s hand, they activated immediately. It formed truly large barriers. Afterwards, the beam of light impacted on the barriers.
Artpe a.s.sessed the power of the beam of light as he nodded his head. In a flash, 3 barriers melted away, but three remained intact.
"Fortunately, his power levels is around the same as what he possessed in his past life. If we fought him now, we can win against him."
It would be great if the Four Heavenly King had charged towards them, but that didn"t happen. Instead, Artpe felt a magical energy form from the Demon King"s castle. It was a bit larger than the one prior to this. Artpe also knew this energy signature.
“Artpe, your Mana is wobbling!”
“Koohk······!”
"It is the Demon King."
When Artpe felt the magical energy, he felt his heart constrict. Was it because he had been unable to erase the Record of being dominated by the Demon King in his past life?
"How funny. I"m the most ridiculous one here. How can I claim that I am free from him? I shrank away just from sensing his Mana."
However, he couldn"t stay frozen like an idiot. He firmly bit his lips. He was a human now, and he was the hero. He couldn"t stay psychologically fettered by the Demon King. He couldn"t let that happen!
“Artpe.”
It happened at that moment. Maetel had exited the waters with the rest of the party. She firmly held onto his hand. Artpe was so surprised that he almost forgot to maintain control over his magic.
“You······.”
“You"ll be ok.”
“······.”
“I"ll protect you, so you"ll be fine.”
Was there a deep meaning behind her words? Artpe was too afraid to ask. He couldn"t ask that question.
However, Artpe"s Mana stabilized right after he held Maetel"s hand. The staff did its job magnificently as it amplified the spell. Lastly, the magic circle was strengthened. Regina was sure that this was the moment she had to manifest the spell. Her voice sounded a bit gleeful as she yelled out.
“Downfall!”
The great magic was activated.
The calamitous spell, which had never been used in history, hit the Demon King"s castle.