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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Screams, roars, and scattering crimson particles. All of it pointed to the end.
‘Damn it.’
My head began to ache. My thoughts momentarily stopped with the sudden apocalypse, and my legs, weakened, wouldn’t move, overwhelmed by the sight.
‘But…’
I couldn’t just remain crouched down. That would make passing the first and second trials meaningless.
‘Even if the first trial wasn’t actually my memory…’
I couldn’t deny that it had become the driving force that allowed me to move forward.
Become a hero with the ordinary body of Allen Blake. It seemed like an impossible goal, but I had managed to achieve it in the end.
No matter how hopeless it seemed, you never know unless you try.
‘And the next step is to grasp the current reality.’
I couldn’t achieve anything by simply despairing at the carnage before my eyes. I needed to calmly reassess the current situation. That’s what I had learned from the second trial.
‘First…’
Surprisingly, the current Hailen was quiet.
It might sound strange, but considering the Demon Lords had invaded, it was certainly quiet.
The Demon Lords weren’t directly visible anywhere, and at the same time, the heroes confronting them were also hardly seen, except for some of the injured within the trial barrier.
‘But judging by the scale of the destruction, there’s no doubt there was a battle with the Demon Lords.’
The barrier was breached when I was undergoing cooperative tactical training within the trial, so it was at most three hours ago.
For the city to be destroyed to this extent in three hours, there had to have been a battle between the Demon Lords and the heroes.
But the fact that it wasn’t visible now meant…
‘Is that it?’
As the blood rushed back to my head and strength returned to my legs, I was able to stand up again.
I had some assumptions, but it was best to hear directly from a witness. And as it happened, there was a witness nearby I could ask.
‘She’ll definitely be able to tell me the exact situation.’
As I walked toward her, those who noticed me started whispering.
“That man came out of the lake, right?”
“Does that mean he’s a hero?”
“What’s the use of being a hero? It’s already over.”
I had released the Optical Modulation and returned to Allen Blake’s appearance as I exited the trial.
If the Demon Lords had invaded first, the situation would be beyond the point of handling with a bow, and I didn’t want to waste the false identity of Seo Yoo Rang, which I had painstakingly created.
“It’s been a while.”
I greeted her as I approached.
She replied with a bitter smile,
“You’re quite late.”
She was Stella, the 4th ranked Saint-level hero and also the strongest mage. And my assumptions about the current situation were closely related to her.
“How much of that destruction over there was caused by you?”
Her bitterness deepened.
“A little more than half… I suppose?”
As expected, the complete collapse of the buildings was mostly due to her.
Her magic was powerful, but not on a scale suitable for use within this barrier. However, in the current situation, it must have been an unavoidable choice.
“That means the heroes are almost completely annihilated.”
That didn’t mean she was the one who did it. Rather, it was precisely why she had cast large-scale destruction magic as a last resort.
There was no other way.
Then, one thing was important.
“Are all the Demon Lords dead?”
Most of the heroes who were in Hailen were currently annihilated. If it was this quiet despite that, the annihilation of the Demon Lords was also a possibility.
But Stella shook her head.
“No, I failed. Even I could only manage to unleash enough power to potentially kill the Demon Lords at the cost of about half the city.”
She coughed, a bit of blood mixed in with it.
“And even that was only possible by pushing my life force to the limit.”
Although she spoke of it powerlessly, it wasn’t actually the case.
For a single mage to unleash wide-scale magic capable of eliminating multiple Demon Lords was something worthy of becoming a legend.
But legends required someone to tell them.
“About how many Demon Lords are left?”
“We were somewhat lucky. From what I can sense, there are only about three left.”
Only about three left. It was a relatively hopeful piece of news. But whether the expression “only” was appropriate was questionable.
‘Of course, three would be a significant reduction compared to the number of Demon Lords who likely invaded…’
The problem was that there were hardly any heroes left to face them. That meant the remaining options were very limited.
“Will the barrier here hold against those three until reinforcements arrive?”
There was no other choice but to wait for reinforcements from elsewhere.
Even if this was Hailen, the city of heroes, not all heroes resided here. Saint-level heroes, in particular, were scattered all over the place, except for Stella.
“Well, will reinforcements even come?”
Stella was pessimistic.
“They targeted the headquarters of the Order simultaneously with the invasion. The apostles of the Apostle Council are all dead, and the Pontiff’s whereabouts are unknown. The command of the Order is effectively in the hands of the branch chiefs of each barrier. Will they really dispatch reinforcements immediately to Hailen, which is already destroyed?”
“There are many resources here, like relics. And a Saint-level hero like you is still alive.”
“They don’t know if I’m alive. Even if I am, it’s meaningless since I don’t have much life force left. And it’s the same with the relics. By the time they arrive, most of the relics will likely be destroyed.”
She was right. But there was still something to consider.
“What about the other Saint-level heroes? Even without orders from the branch chiefs, if they come here…”
“The 1st and 3rd won’t come. The 2nd, maybe, but as far as I know, he’s currently in a place that’s difficult to contact. And below the 5th rank… some died in the previous battle, and there are only two or three left, but expecting them to come would be too optimistic.”
An optimistic judgment. She was certainly right. There was no guarantee that the Demon Lord army’s reinforcements wouldn’t arrive by then.
That meant we couldn’t just sit around waiting for them, unsure if they would even come.
‘In the end…’
I looked outside the barrier, which resembled purgatory.
Then, I turned my head and looked towards the lake that remained desolate.
“There were still a lot of people inside there.”
Not just people, but also precious connections to me. If the trial space was destroyed in this state, they would disappear along with it. I had to prevent that at all costs.
“Will the barrier here hold if two out of the three Demon Lords are eliminated?”
“It depends on how strong those two are, but if they’re average Demon Lords, it’s possible.”
“Then we just need to defeat one, right?”
Defeating one might be possible.
Of course, the possibility depended on which Demon Lord it was, but considering I was in perfect condition while they had likely been somewhat weakened from fighting the heroes, it was worth a shot.
And above all…
“Aren’t you afraid for your life?”
“If I can prevent destruction with this life, that’s enough for me.”
To prevent the destruction of this world. That was my current goal. Then it was right to save those within the trial, even at the cost of my own life.
“It would be much more helpful for other candidates to survive than for me, with my meager talent, to survive.”
The Demon Lord’s side must have also consumed a lot of troops in this invasion. Then it was still worth trying. If Yuseora, Ercia, Wilhelm, and many other candidates survived.
“Is that something a guy who caught three Demon Lords and is now casually going to hunt another one would say?”
Stella retorted, but I just laughed it off.
“You’re right, it’s funny.”
I knew myself best. No matter how great the achievements I made, I shouldn’t confuse them with reality. So far, I had just been lucky.
“Then I’ll be going.”
I turned away from her. I had obtained almost all the information I could get. The rest was up to me.
“Didn’t he just say he caught three Demon Lords?”
“He seems to know Stella-nim too.”
“Then isn’t that man that person?”
Perhaps they had overheard my conversation with Stella, as the whispers around me grew louder. For some reason, the way they looked at me felt different. Most of those gazes were filled with expectation.
“Maybe he’ll defeat the remaining Demon Lords.”
“But he doesn’t look that strong?”
“Maybe he can use magic?”
I chuckled wryly. I wasn’t particularly strong, and I couldn’t use magic. But I intended to try and defeat a Demon Lord.
Just as I was about to leave the trial barrier, Stella suddenly called my name.
“Allen Blake.”
I turned around and looked at her.
“The hero ranked 50th, who defeated three Demon Lords.”
“I’m ranked 100th, not 50th.”
“Let’s just say that about half of those above you are dead.”
I wondered if the hero rankings even mattered in this situation, but I decided to let it go. What she was about to do was more important.
“He seems to be planning to go after a Demon Lord alone. Will anyone follow him and help? I’m a bit worried.”
Some of those who had been sitting stood up.
It probably wasn’t just because Stella had given the order, especially since the Order’s chain of command had completely collapsed.
They must have stood up because of their expectations of me.
“Let me tell you something first.”
Then it was necessary to tell them beforehand.
“I’m not as strong as you think. I can’t guarantee your safety from the Demon Lords. Will you still follow me?”
But they weren’t fazed by my words.
“I’ll still follow you. I also have someone precious to me inside the trial.”
“I have nothing to lose anyway. As long as I can take revenge on the Demon Lords.”
“And besides, no one expects you to be responsible for their lives. On the battlefield, you’re ultimately responsible for your own life.”
If that’s how they truly felt, there was nothing I could do. They all had their own reasons for following me.
But the last comment bothered me for some reason.
‘No one expects me to be responsible for their lives…’
Before leaving the trial barrier, I turned and looked at the lake one last time.
‘Elsie, Yuseora.’
I thought about them for a moment. But I quickly turned my gaze forward again. To protect them, I had to keep moving forward.
Just like that, I left the trial barrier.
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