Chapter 114: Let’s wait for the hero.(2)

We had been waiting for the Hero for quite a while, but before we knew it, we were in a strange space.

The place was filled with sticky, black pudding-like things.

If the Demon King’s goal was to make people feel uncomfortable, then he had succeeded tremendously.

“So, what kind of space is this?”

“This place seems different. It’s a bit unlike the places we’ve been to so far.”

“This is a space created by the Demon King. It’s probably to be expected.”

Yeah, it would be.

But even though it was expected, the Hero felt uneasy, as if they were being tricked by the Demon King.

‘Well, it’s not like I’m weak enough to fall for the Demon King’s tricks now.’

Honestly, at this point, the Hero was strong enough not to fall for the Demon King’s schemes.

After all, even the Demon King, as of now, was nothing more than a cowardly figure who hadn’t fought properly and was killed by the Saintess, growing weak while only building up his strength here.

“Let’s keep moving up for now.”

“But Hero, look at this.”

After walking for a while, Erin kicked something new that was lying in her path.

It was a lump of black armor.

I had no idea where it came from.

“What is this? Black armor? It seems familiar.”

It seemed familiar.

There were quite a few of them.

If someone was wearing such high-quality armor, it would probably be something you’d see in the

Demon King’s castle.

At least, given the current situation, these couldn’t be allies of the Saintess.

Every time they moved forward, they saw more corpses of black-armored figures.

It seemed unlikely they were allies of the Saintess.

They were probably minions sent by the Demon King.

And since there were so many of them, perhaps these were the new Demon King’s army.

“Really? Was there such a monster?”

“They probably don’t have any meat or bones inside, so they might be something like living armor.”

Definitely, they were closer to living armor.

“I don’t remember. Anyway, judging by their dead bodies, they must be minions of the Demon King.”

As they kept looking, something started to come back to their memory.

“Hm. I think I might remember if I think about it.”

It definitely seemed familiar. It looked familiar, but it still felt like something was off.

But still, they couldn’t really remember. After all, with all the fighting, the Saintess often intervened, so there wasn’t much time to remember each and every monster.

At least, the Four Heavenly Kings were familiar.

“But why are there only three of the Four Heavenly Kings?”

“Yeah, right. Wait, have we ever seen the last one?”

It seemed like they should remember, but they didn’t.

Hmm. Had they fought that person before? Even the Hero wasn’t sure.

Maybe in this battle with the Demon King, they would finally see the last of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“Hmm. I can’t remember.”

“Well, for now, these are just random mobs.”

Erin kicked the wriggling black armor with her foot.

“Yeah, probably.”

The Hero party decided to ignore the black armor.

And they felt it—somewhere ahead, the Saintess was near.

***

While waiting for the Hero, the situation took a strange turn.

“The path is changing in a weird way.”

“It’s probably because this is a space created by the Demon King.

”In other words, depending on the Demon King’s will, this place could change or remain the same.

However, seeing that the space had transformed into something like pudding, it seemed like the Demon King was trying to prevent them from advancing.

After all, in reality, he was just a coward who had lost in the power struggle between gods and descended to the human world, doing dirty work.

The Demon King probably didn’t anticipate this.

That’s why he changed his strategy.

He probably tried to delay their arrival at his space as much as possible.

“Does waiting here even mean anything?”

“It probably does.”

Leaving aside the meaning, this situation is exactly what it would look like if the Demon King were playing with us.

Maybe if I were the Hero with the Holy Sword, it’d be different, but as I am now, if I just stay here, I’m unsure what kind of attacks the Demon King might send my way.

It’s been a long time since the Hero was supposed to arrive.

But if he hasn’t come yet, it seems like we’ve been separated, locked in different places.

It was then.

Perhaps tired of waiting, Pixie suddenly stood up from her seat.

“I’m so annoyed. I’m fed up. I want to quit.”

“Pixie?”

Pixie’s mood had shifted.

Why did she suddenly change like that?

It seemed like her emotions were fluctuating a lot.

Is it that even if a child takes on an adult’s body, their mind remains the same?

No.

She should be quite old by now.

She shouldn’t be whining like a kid.

“It’s like this. Was the Demon King a reclusive loser in the past or something?”

“Oh, our Pixie is really showing some extreme emotional swings.”

Could it be the influence of the Goddess’s favor?

Why did she suddenly go on a rampage?

“This place doesn’t even have a map or anything. I’d at least like a relatively normal space.”

“Well, the castle where we fought the Demon King still had some charm.”

Certainly, this place was worse than the dungeon where the Serpent King had been.

“Yeah, that castle. I’m not someone who’s supposed to be drawing maps in dark and damp places like this! No matter what, the Demon King probably wants this, but I can’t just leave it like that.”

Suddenly, the surrounding environment began to change.

This strange, humid, black mass-filled space… now, even the black knights had been replaced by pitch-black ground, and suddenly light began to shine, and brick-like structures began to cover the surroundings.

It was as if the whole area was covered with new structures, just like something you’d see in a game.

“Huh?”

As I quietly observed, it seemed like this place was similar to somewhere I had seen before.

That’s right.

It was inside a castle.

A castle, and specifically, the Demon King’s castle.

Ah, now I get it.

This is what it was.

Of course, Pixie’s power had been enhanced.

“Ah, I see. Our Pixie’s abilities have gotten stronger.”

“So, does this mean that the villain who can turn something like the pride of Korea, a massive chest, into a flat one has gotten even stronger?”

What was Succubus even saying?

Did she speak Korean?

What’s the big deal about a chest like that anyway?

It was just something that was tossed around here and there.

Whether it turns into a watermelon, melon, or an apple, it doesn’t matter.

“Stop talking about that chest. It’s just a cheap chest anyway.”

“Then what, is your chest gilded or something?”

It might not be gilded, but isn’t it kind of similar?

I purposely flaunted my large chest as I spoke.

“I have a chest with divine power flowing through it. And I’m an angel, you know? Unlike those other people, my chest isn’t worn out and beaten up.”

“But you turned that into the pride of Korea.”

“Life’s like that, isn’t it? After being used and worn out, it needs to be washed. Anyway, look. Pixie is really amazing.”

Before I knew it, the surroundings had turned into a castle.

“Did you change the whole space?”

“It seems like Pixie instinctively viewed the Demon King as an evil person and took revenge on him as a human who had been bothering her.”

This could be considered quite an impressive skill.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Personally, I think, though with some conditions, she might be among the strongest in the world.”

“Couldn’t the seas of Earth also be slashed depending on her will?”

There must be some targets for her to play with in the process.

“Right. Changing the physical parts of Succubus would mean you could even erase her inner energy, right?”

“Could my spear become a regular spear?”

Battle mage’s face twisted in a way that was quite satisfying.

Yeah, that could happen.

A spear could turn into a regular spear.

“Yes. And Pixie’s attack can’t even affect me, so I must be the strongest in the world!”

“In the end, you’re just saying you’re great.”

Of course, I’m an angel!

“No, but Pixie is amazing. This is the very castle where I came to defeat the Demon King.”

To be honest, did I ever say what the Demon King’s castle looked like?

No, I didn’t.

But when Pixie got irritated, the whole environment around us transformed into the Demon King’s castle, the very place I had previously dealt with the Demon King.

I couldn’t see everything yet, but it was clear that the general shape was familiar.

This means that Pixie couldn’t stand the Demon King’s antics in his own home and unleashed the Demon King’s power herself.

To put it more clearly, this means the Demon King is no match for Pixie.

Did I overestimate the Demon King more than I should have?

-This is getting suspicious. I’m curious about the current state of the Demon King.

Exactly.

The Demon King even sent his clones, which just seems off to me.

“I see. So, does this mean the Demon King got hit in the head by Pixie in his own huge house? Is that what you’re saying?”

That’s about the gist of it.

Of course, before that, I did make the Demon King angry.

“To be honest, I did smash up the castle before.”

“See? I told you, this guy’s got major personality problems.”

Personality problems?

That’s harsh!

Where do you find someone like me, an angel?

“No, think about it. Even the Hero party finds this hard. Once you leave the village, it’s survival mode, right? You have to sleep in the forest, set up tents, and, of course, split into teams to guard against demon attacks.”

“Still, a Hero party should get treated well in a village, right?”

“Yes, they try to treat us well. The problem is that damn Hero… he refuses the help.”

-Thank you for saving the village. This is a small token of our appreciation, but…”

-No need. In fact, we apologize for being late in helping. Our Saintess, despite her shortcomings, prepared some supplies to help you rebuild the village.

-Oh, thank you!

The day before, the same guy who was eating porridge made of flour was now offering to help the village—what a joke.

They made me take the lead, and I had no choice.

Being a Saintess never felt more uncomfortable than it did at that time.

At least I could deceive them by calling it the Goddess’s grace.

“Oh, that’s sweet.”

“That kind of sucker would give a house to a beggar if they asked for it. Now I see there are many more reasons not to get involved with that guy.”

It’s impossible.

If I married someone like that, even if I became successful, I wouldn’t live rich.

That guy was always giving out help and support, no matter where he went.

Marrying someone like that?

He’d probably give away every penny to the beggars on the street.

The woman who marries him would end up suffocating from the frustration.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. So what if he’s a sucker? This is what matters, this.”

Succubus subtly asked me as if measuring the size of a man’s… well, you get the idea, by shrinking and stretching her fingers.

“It’s probably pretty big, right?”

“How do you know if it’s big?”

You asked, so I answered, and now you’re freaking out about it.

-Ugh! Saintess, what are you doing?!

-So what if you saw that? It’s not like it’s going to wear down. Anyway, demons are appearing, so hurry up and escape.

Surprisingly, our Hero party was quite spectacular.

We were so strong that the Demon King kept attempting assassinations.

Naturally, the Hero and we didn’t even care about when we bathed.

Yeah, I’ve seen it many times.

The Hero’s growth.

In my own way.