Chapter 74: The Lion King’s Demise. And the Hero’s Party.

Oh, that sounds interesting to watch.

That’s what Cain thought.

After all, wouldn’t it be better for the demon army to compete among themselves to see who’s superior?

“Wait, hold on, do we even know each other? I’m not the same succubus you know! I’m different! Even my master is different! Eek!”

Before she could even finish explaining, the lion charged.

Boom!

In an instant, the lion’s claws raked the ground.

However, the Succubus was not easily taken down.

She had once served under her own demon king.

Though the Four Heavenly Kings’ Lion King of the Saint’s world was tough to deal with, dodging his attacks was still possible.

But even as she avoided the attack, she was shocked to see the massive claw marks on the ground.

“Wow, that guy’s no joke.”

“We should’ve just killed him instantly.”

This might turn into a bit of a hassle.

Especially since the opponent is an animal.

Cain charged more energy into her spear.

“So, you can’t win?”

“Roaaaar! I will kill you all!”

“I don’t taste good!”

The first target was the Succubus.

However, despite being constantly scolded by the saint, the Succubus had once enjoyed the pleasures of an era.

Not to mention, she had once been a subordinate of a demon king from another world.

There was no way she was going to be taken down here.

So, she flew away with all her might.

“That stupid woman. What are you saving your charms for, a soup?!”

By this time, Cain was reshaping her spear into a giant axe-like weapon.

Yeah, she had her charm magic.

Though she’d only ever used it as a distraction thanks to the saint, it was still the ultimate weapon!

“Fufufu. Does our Lion King not know who I am? I may look like this now, but I was once called the Queen of Succu—”

Roaaaaaar! (How dare you, with your pathetic body, challenge me!)

Boom!

There was no time to charm him.

Before she could even attempt to use her allure, the Succubus had to focus on saving her own life.

“What… what kind of brute is this?”

Grrrr! (I’m not attracted to winged creatures!)

“Wow. That’s… that’s Succubus discrimination! Eek!”

While the Succubus was busy dodging the lion beastman’s attacks, Cain finished modifying her weapon.

Now, the tip of the spear had transformed into a massive glowing triangle.

Neither a spear nor a traditional weapon, it was a giant triangular mass of power infused with blue light, and it was aimed directly at the lion.

“I always feel like this move takes way too much effort to pull off.”

Grrrrr? (You think you can fool me with such a shallow trick?)

The problem was, the lion beastman had already sensed it coming.

Cain quickly swung her spear, bringing the giant triangle of light down.

[Judgment Spear]

Whoosh!

Boom!

In an instant, one side of the forest was engulfed in light and vanished.

“Ah, damn. That bastard sure is quick to notice.”

Grrrr!

“This thing is insanely powerful, but it’s still not really suited for me. If this were a game, I’d be more of a speedrun type, and this thing is way too slow.”

Unfortunately, the opponent also seemed to have decent mobility.

This weapon was powerful and had a wide range, but it was so slow and heavy that it felt like his shoulder would dislocate every time he used it.

‘What should I do now?’

At this rate, it was bound to turn into a long battle.

The opponent was fast, while Cain’s own mobility was lacking.

Maybe I should have gone for close combat instead.

Charging up this much power to end it quickly turned out to be a mistake.

But even in close combat, she wasn’t sure if she could guarantee victory.

After all, she was a battle mage.

And she really hated taking hits, even a little.

Getting hit, getting hurt—she hated those things more than dying.

So it was probably best to take the lion down in this state.

Luckily, she had the Succubus and the elf on her side.

“What… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Do you even think you can fight?”

No, it didn’t look like they could fight.

They looked way too weak.

Even with spirit magic, it was doubtful they could hit that lion.

“What are you talking about?”

“You wouldn’t even work as a meat shield.”

To be a meat shield, you need some muscle mass at least.

No answer.

Cain shook her head.

“What the hell?”

“Can you handle that thing or not?”

“You expect a noble elf like me to fight that thing?”

“So you’re only an elf when it’s convenient?”

Maybe I should just beat the crap out of her.

Cain punched the elf squarely on the head.

Grrrrrr! (Do you think you can kill me with such a weak attack? I am the Lion King!)

“Well, it’s definitely a beast, that’s for sure.”

Boom!

Cain struck the lion again with her spear.

Grrrrrrr! (It doesn’t matter if you can’t hit me!)

“That conniving little bastard says it doesn’t matter if you can’t hit him.”

The elf, rubbing the bump on her head, translated with a hint of personal grudge.

Sure, it’s one thing for a beast to mock people, but the lion wasn’t wrong.

If you can’t land a hit, all the power in the world means nothing.

In that case…

Cain took a small potion bottle from her coat pocket with her left hand and put it in her mouth.

She felt mana boiling within her.

“Well then, I just need to keep hitting until it lands, right?”

She was determined to pluck every last hair from that lion’s head.

Boom! Crash!

The battle dragged on longer than expected.

Neither the battle mage nor the lion beastman could land a solid hit on each other.

Whenever the lion beastman tried to strike, Cain’s spear was already in the way, and if Cain tried to thrust her spear, the lion would dodge swiftly.

“This damn beast keeps dodging like crazy!”

Cain was getting frustrated.

As the battle continued, Cain expected help from the Saintess, but she hated the thought of letting a winnable fight slip away.

“Maybe it’s because he’s the Lion King? He did call himself that.”

Muttered the elf, offering no real help.

“Go, Cain! You got this!”

Shouted the useless succubus, who cheered from above.

Cain needed a new plan.

“Keekk, keekk.”

The lion beastman growled.

His opponent was strong enough to wake the sleeping lion within him.

That pink-haired girl’s spear was terrifying.

While her spear technique wasn’t great, the sheer power was overwhelming.

Every time she swung it, an entire part of the forest vanished.

There was nowhere left to hide for an ambush.

He had no choice but to wait for an opening, but even that was becoming impossible.

‘Is that really a spear?’

He thought.

With its magical energy, it was more of a magic weapon than a spear.

If that was the case, there was only one way.

The lion beastman glanced at the succubus in the sky, then turned to the elf beside the pink-haired girl.

“If that’s the case, I have only one option.”

The pink-haired girl seemed to value her comrades.

The succubus was annoying to target in the sky, but if he captured the elf, he could use them as a hostage to defeat the others.

The lion beastman faked a jump toward the succubus.

“What, is he going after the succubus? Huh?”

Whoosh!

He wasn’t going for the succubus after all.

Cain hadn’t expected him to suddenly charge back toward the elf.

Sure, she could block in time, but…

“Wait, wait, wait! He’s coming at me!”

Shouted the elf.

Cain thought, ‘He’s not targeting me? He’s after the elf!’

It was clear that the lion beastman wasn’t trying to overpower Cain directly.

He wanted to take the elf hostage.

“You filthy animal, I underestimated you!”

Cain cursed.

“Rrrrrrr! (Let’s see if you can still fight when your comrade is captured!)”

Just as Cain was about to throw a punch, the elf, Elena, hastily summoned a water spirit.

Suddenly, water gushed out from the spirit, drenching the lion beastman and sweeping him away in a massive wave.

“Keaaak!”

Crash!

The powerful water pressure swept through the entire area, turning the ground into a swamp and dragging the Lion King with it.

Cain stared in disbelief at Elena.

Why had she been hiding such power until now?

Even the ground had turned into a swamp.

If she had used this from the start, Cain wouldn’t have had to struggle so much.

“Why the hell didn’t you use this earlier?”

She asked, frustration clear in her voice.

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became.

Victory would have come easily if she had unleashed this power earlier.

“Well, the Saintess only told me to gather items with Sylph.”

Replied Elena.

“Great. A slave mentality.”

Cain muttered.

“I tend to push through things with brute force.”

Elena said, as if it were perfectly normal.

Cain couldn’t believe it.

“You’re probably one of those people who lets their husband pull their hair too, right?”

“Well, that’s…”

Instead of getting angry, the elf actually seemed to consider it.

“Or maybe you’d enjoy your wife pulling your hair too?”

“Maybe…”

Elena mused.

Cain sighed.

No wonder the Saintess pushed her around.

Even so, Cain couldn’t believe that despite having such a powerful ability, Elena hadn’t used it earlier.

Sure, she had a massive debt of 10 billion—no, 20 billion gold—but she still should’ve contributed more in the fight.

Anyway, Cain refocused.

The lion beastman was getting back up.

“Translate what he’s saying.”

Cain ordered.

“Rooooar!”

The drenched lion glared at them fiercely.

“It looks like we’ll have to fight close-up after all.”

Cain thought.

“He says, ‘Do you think this is enough to stop me?!’”

Translated Elena.

“Alright. Come at me, then.”

“Rooooar! Huh?”

“Why did he stop? Wait, is he… staring at her chest?”

Cain noticed the lion beastman staring at Elena’s wet, now visible chest, clearly aroused.

Cain let out a sigh.

“Ugh, perverted beast. In the end, a male is still a male, huh?”

Cain’s spear struck the lion beastman’s groin with great force.

“Ugh…! I… I can’t… go down like this…!”

“He’s saying, ‘I can’t go down like this!’”

Cain clicked her tongue.

In the end, the lion king collapsed miserably on the spot.

***

In a hotel in Seoul, the hero’s party was staying at a hotel provided through the Korean branch of Red Dragon, thanks to Michael.

Initially, they had come to search for Saint Karina, but now that they were in the country where the saint resided, the party, feeling more relaxed, was enjoying the culture of this world.

“Chicken is really delicious.”

“It tastes completely different from what we have in our world. The batter is crispy, and the inside is juicy, unlike the soggy fried stuff from back home.”

Said Maria.

The hero and Maria especially enjoyed the chicken.

The saint, who usually never complained about difficult situations, was oddly picky about food.

Considering she came from a world like this, it was understandable.

“The variety of food here is amazing.”

“The magical engineering and tools in this world are inferior to ours, but everything here is so convenient. I honestly feel grateful for how Karina followed us without complaining.”

This world wasn’t as advanced in magic as theirs.

At most, it was just starting to develop basic knowledge and applying mana for combat.

Magic tools in this world were created using science rather than relying solely on mana and mana stones.

“Still, it doesn’t seem like a perfect world.”

“Huh?”

“Look over there.”

The hero said, nodding toward Erin, who was sitting in front of a desktop monitor, shaking her head.

“Damn it! Chinese hackers always cheat!”

Erin yelled.

Upon arriving in Korea, Erin had immediately started playing games under the pretense of looking for Karina, but now she was losing her temper.

“To think that noble elf would be cursing like that, using the local slang so freely…”

It was amusing to see how quickly she had picked up the language, though it was probably thanks to her high intelligence.

Still, who would have thought she’d get so engrossed in games, forgetting all about their mission to find Karina?

To be precise, she had always been prone to getting angry, but after arriving in Korea, her cursing had intensified in just a few days.

“Are games really that fun?”

It did look entertaining.

Honestly, nothing in their world’s entertainment could compare to the games here.

“Before anything else, we need to find out the saint’s location. Erin!”

The hero called out to Erin, who was lost in the game.

“Have you found any information about the saint?”

“Huh? Oh, um… I forgot. I’ll… I’ll check now.”

Had she really forgotten?

It seemed hopeless.

As Erin hurriedly began her search, the hero let out a deep sigh.

“Maybe I should learn how to use a computer too.”

He had trusted Erin to handle it so he could take it easy, but now he wondered if it would have been better if he had taken care of things himself.

“I’m checking on my phone.”

Said Maria.

“There’s some information related to the saint, but… huh?”

“What is it?”

The hero asked.

Maria had apparently discovered something interesting on her phone.

“There are elves in this world too? One of them even looks a lot like Erin.”

Maria had stumbled upon some information about returnees during her web search, and she found a picture of an elf who looked very similar to Erin.

The hero saw it too and suddenly found it amusing, bursting into laughter.

“Ha! Could that be Erin’s mother?”

“An elf? No way… wait, what?”

“What is it?”

Erin nearly fainted when she saw a photo of an elf posing seductively in a bikini.

At first, she thought it couldn’t be, but then she saw the name “Elena” written below the image and realized the truth.

Tears welled up in Erin’s eyes.

“M-Mother!”

She cried.

“Oh my god, it’s true?”

Yes, it really was her mother.

The mother who had disappeared when she was young had ended up selling her body in this faraway land.

Meanwhile, her daughter had been engrossed in games, forgetting all about her search.

Erin wished she could disappear from shame.