Ch.140Demon Realm (6)

# The Demon Realm (6)

Legion Commander Twelve had an unfortunate school life. He endured the violence and criticism of stronger peers during every break period to get where he is today.

Yes, he has more patience than any other Legion Commander.

Neither insults nor overwhelming violence can stop him.

“Uwahaha!”

“Scurrying around like a pest!”

Indeed, as if he had long ago abandoned any sense of dignity, he was rolling on the ground and crawling across the floor to avoid the hero party’s attacks.

Twelve was openly focused solely on evasion and defense. Moreover, his methods completely lacked dignity, appearing as though he had abandoned everything for the sake of survival. The hero party was facing an unexpected challenge.

“Heheh! I don’t even blink! Do you think you can catch me with that?! You’d be shocked if you knew how good I was at running away during my school days!”

A skill honed from the agony of being beaten during every break period.

Twelve shouted loudly while scurrying around avoiding attacks.

Anyone watching might think he was fighting honorably, but Twelve was truly moving about in the most unsightly manner.

Perhaps that’s why his contradictory attitude seemed like provocation.

With time, the hero party would surely win. Since Twelve had given up attacking from the start, he would inevitably be caught eventually.

However, no one could guarantee when that “eventually” would come.

“Damn it…”

Garnet clicked her tongue as she watched Twelve block her widespread flames by manipulating sand.

Things weren’t going as expected.

She and the hero party should have been able to deal with someone like Twelve instantly if they combined their strength.

But what was this? Right now, Legion Commander Force was walking slowly to finish off Extra, and she couldn’t even stop him, let alone kill Twelve.

“Are you going to go?”

“…”

Encouragement and desperation.

Twelve openly hoped that Garnet would go help Extra.

Not only because he couldn’t handle her, but also because it was bitter to watch Extra die such a meaningless death.

One should struggle as much as possible.

That’s how he had risen to his position.

And he wanted to be a soldier fighting for a cause, not a monster slaughtering the weak.

“Tch.”

In the end, Garnet passed by Legion Commander Twelve and headed toward Force.

With her power leaving, the situation until now would be reversed, but they should be able to hold out.

“Now, let’s really get started.”

“You’re truly disgraceful.”

“Why are you suddenly acting tough?”

Eirene Saintess and Millia Asrin muttered incredulously.

Anyone watching would think he was a different person from the one who had been crawling on the floor to escape just moments ago.

“I understand him. When you rise to a higher position after being in a miserable state, you naturally want to act superior.”

But Tina nodded as if she understood Twelve’s utterly disgraceful attitude.

Hadn’t she also gone from wandering through slums to suddenly becoming an upper-class person?

Feeling special, thinking all problems are solved, and becoming unnecessarily arrogant.

She had experienced it all and understood.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Someone like Legion Commander Twelve… we can defeat him on our own, can’t we?”

“Today I’ll take Esmeralda’s position, right?”

“…I’ll cover you.”

Eirene Saintess, Tina, and Millia Asrin.

The three took positions to fill Esmeralda’s absence and began to face Twelve, who was now pretending to stand with his hands behind his back.

***

Meanwhile, Hero Esmeralda, separated from her party and facing Legion Commander Eleven with only Lug in tow, gripped Lug’s leash tensely.

“You should be careful.”

Lug, glancing sideways at her, frowned and spoke.

Eleven’s noble figure, holding just a single sword, was different from when they had seen him before.

Even then, he had seemed like an insurmountable opponent, and now it was the same.

Yes, despite all her growth, Esmeralda still felt a wall between herself and Legion Commander Eleven.

“…What on earth have you done?”

And as if to confirm that feeling wasn’t a lie, the information about Eleven that appeared in Esmeralda’s eyes had greatly changed.

[Comprehensive Estimate Lv. 1124]

Esmeralda certainly didn’t think she would be the only one to grow.

No matter how much faster she could grow as a hero, she never thought others would remain stagnant.

But there are limits.

There are expected ranges.

And Eleven’s growth had far exceeded the limits Esmeralda had assumed.

‘Honestly, I thought I could win the next time we met.’

Esmeralda had grown.

Through training with Indra, she had acquired the powerful force called Gangki, and through sparring with Fellheim Senova, she had further honed the sharpness of her swordsmanship.

She had been confident she could win even against the Eleven of the past.

But now, she couldn’t be so sure.

“I merely acknowledged my arrogance and further polished my sword.”

“You weren’t particularly arrogant back then…”

Even when Esmeralda had tried to attack by twisting her entire body, Eleven had shown the resilience of a veteran.

Despite being blind, despite being pierced by numerous swords, he was someone who knew how to swing his sword at Esmeralda’s neck without hesitation.

“Hero.”

“…Yes, Lug.”

“That man has fully integrated all those killings into himself.”

“What do you mean?”

“It might be because of me.”

“…”

Esmeralda turned to look at Lug, biting her lip firmly.

Though angry, she seemed to be holding back her words by biting her lip, as if she wouldn’t reproach him for it.

“When I faced him in the past, I exercised power at the cost of the killings he had accumulated. But he not only endured it but fully integrated that process into himself.”

Legion Commander Eleven is a figure who has survived in the Demon King’s army for quite some time.

During that process, his rank sometimes rose and sometimes fell.

And now that he had descended to the position of Eleven, he was essentially in a situation close to retirement.

Yes, he was old. There seemed to be no room for further growth.

A fate of inevitable weakening. Yet for someone who had fought wanting to die on the battlefield, the hellish landscape Lug had shown him had brought enlightenment.

“Hero, I cannot touch him any further.”

An environment of hell where the world itself seems to harbor malice toward oneself.

He had shattered the malice of [Eight Hells – Blade Wheel Hell] head-on and gained enlightenment through it. The reason he hadn’t returned to the Demon King’s army, using vacation and demotion as excuses, was because he needed time to organize that enlightenment.

“He has already entered the path. If I stimulate him in this situation, if something goes wrong…”

He could transcend beyond his aging body.

In the worst case, it means he could become a second First.

He is still at a crossroads, but it’s certain that he has stepped onto the path.

A being precariously balanced.

To face such a being, one must use their inherent strength, not power from beyond, like what Esmeralda has built up.

“I see. As always, the worst situation has arrived, and as always, I understand that Lug is incompetent.”

“Exactly that.”

“…”

Esmeralda thought about hitting Lug but shook her head.

There’s no time for that now.

Right now, Eleven seemed to be waiting for their conversation to end, but she couldn’t let her guard down.

If she showed even a moment’s opening, her head could fall.

“…Fine. Let’s do this.”

“Is the conversation over?”

“Yes, thanks to your patience.”

Esmeralda pulled the leash she was holding backward, pushing Lug back, then stepped forward.

“You’re not going to attack together?”

“Well, this side has reasons why it can’t fight.”

Eleven, perhaps not having eavesdropped on their conversation, was questioning Esmeralda’s solo approach.

And upon learning that Esmeralda would fight alone, Eleven licked his lips in disappointment.

“That’s a shame. I felt like I could grasp something if we fought just once more.”

“…”

Esmeralda felt a chill down her spine.

As Lug had said, Eleven seemed to be standing at a crossroads.

If Lug had clumsily stimulated Eleven here, a truly irreversible monster might have been born.

“But you too are an opponent who lacks nothing! Fighting always makes me feel alive, so I look forward to this one as well!”

Kiiiiiiing!!

Along with an eerie sound like a wailing ghost, red Gangki began to rise over the sword Eleven had drawn.

“Haaah…”

In response to Eleven, Esmeralda also began to create pure white Gangki over her holy sword.

And twelve swords floating in the air. Normally, she would have handled a longsword as her spirit sword for its versatility, but this time was different.

“Indeed, are you also seeking to pioneer a new path!”

She raised into the air the rapier used by Fellheim Senova along with the weapons of the reversal heroes who had held out in the fortress city.

They included huge greatswords, short daggers, stilettos, spears, and axes.

Not familiar weapons, but diverse ones. Yet they were clumsy. Esmeralda had decided to accept Fellheim Senova’s advice, but time had been woefully insufficient to apply it.

But if she relied on basics here, she couldn’t defeat Eleven. After all, Eleven was a swordsman who had reached the pinnacle through those basics.

She had already fought Eleven once and realized she couldn’t overcome his swordsmanship head-on.

“Then let’s begin.”

And as if he could wait no longer, Eleven declared.

Bang!

With Esmeralda’s powerful charge, their swords clashed.