episode_0012

Many things have changed with the awakening of the warrior.

He moved forward without hesitation and there was no major damage even when he reached the upper level of the Demonic Realm.

The awakening of the warrior was a good change.

Unfortunately, it was not a good change for the party members.

Once the hero stepped forward, most issues were resolved, so the gap between the party members and the hero gradually widened, with less opportunities for growth.

The awakening of a warrior is a fleeting event that requires rejoicing.

It’s funny how such awakening is not applied well to party members.

I felt like I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

‘Usually you have to find a way somehow.’

Honestly, there was no way.

All we have to do is keep going like this and the party members will grow greatly through enlightenment and awakening like warriors.

Anyway.

I went through a series of good and bad situations.

Before I knew it, I had reached the middle part of the advanced level.

If we keep going like this, it’s only a matter of time before we meet the devil.

We decided to stay here for a while and rest for the first time in a long time.

Each person had a different way of sending it, but the wizard developed or studied magic for himself.

The warrior trained himself, and the warrior and elf fell into deep meditation.

Like when I was out at night when I had nothing to do.

I was sitting on a rock and staring blankly at the sky.

Then a saint came to me.

“Would you like to sit here?”

There are no rocks around to sit on.

Since the rock I was sitting on was quite large, there was no problem for two people to sit on it, so I asked.

The saint nodded and sat down next to me.

“It looks quite complicated.”

Many distracting thoughts were visible on her face.

“… That’s right.”

The saint said with a weak smile.

Her voice, exhausted from experiencing so much, had become very quiet.

‘It has to be that way.’

Ma Kyung’s journey feels like walking through hell.

Enemies are everywhere and even proper rest is not allowed.

Now that I have some free time, I’m taking a break.

When I think about the early and middle grades, it was a difficult experience that was worse than hell, so it was natural for me to feel exhausted.

“Are you okay?”

The saint shook her head at my question.

If it were her normal self, she would have said it was okay, but she was in a state where she was so emotionally driven that she couldn’t.

“For me… I gained a lot of confidence… From what you said to me… however… It’s so hard to start the journey of the devil… What should I do… I feel like I’ve become useless… Because a warrior can do everything. Am I really needed? Isn’t it actually a burden…? ?”

A trembling voice.

Her body also trembled.

He seemed to be feeling a deep sense of shame over the current situation.

‘Actually, I am the one who helped me the most on this journey.’

If it weren’t for the saint, I probably wouldn’t have come this far or even started.

There were so many things she accomplished.

Yet, I fell into a sense of self-destruction.

It was because the situation was pushed to the limit.

“I don’t know if the saint will be okay with me saying this. What I can say for sure is that this journey would not have been successful without the saint.”

“… Me?”

“Yes.”

“I… I don’t think so… ”

“Do you trust me?”

The saint hesitated at the sudden question.

He quickly nodded.

“Then you can trust me. Saint, if you don’t believe in yourself, have confidence in me who believes in you. You are a wonderful person that I recognize, so you will be able to overcome it.”

“… ”

The saint looked at me.

Her eyes were full of tears.

She opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“I… Can you give me a hug just once… ?”

“Any amount.”

I hugged her carefully.

I felt her warm body temperature in my arms.

As if comforting a child.

I patted her back gently as if comforting her.

The saint shed tears in my arms, as if she was once again shaking off her anger.

***

Even after she stopped crying, the saint was still in my arms.

This is because I accepted her request to do this just for today.

It wasn’t a very difficult request, and I was willing to do as much as I could if it gave me strength.

It’s cute because it feels like seeing a younger sister.

I can’t believe we were spending so much time without saying anything.

She said.

“Thank you… ”

“No. Considering what the saint has done, I can always do this much.”

“… ”

Was he embarrassed by those words?

The saint buried her face further into my arms.

“You seem embarrassed.”

“… ”

“You don’t have to be too shy. ‘You’re old enough to be foolish.’

“… Anyone who sees it would think that he lived for hundreds of years.”

If you think about it, he lived for over hundreds of years.

But the saint, who did not know this, said so.

I just smiled.

The saintess lifted her head from her embrace and looked at me with puzzled eyes.

“… Did you really live that much?”

“Well. I don’t know either. It is true that I have lived quite a life.”

“Uh… Longer than our director?”

“Yes.”

“… ”

He looks at me as if he is at a loss for words.

A face that looks somewhat disorganized.

The saint buried her face in my arms again.

“… Why tell me that now?”

“I just didn’t tell you what my age is because it doesn’t matter. Perhaps the saint is uncomfortable with the fact that I am older.”

“Oh, no… It’s not like that… ”

The saintess who said that in a hushed voice kept her mouth shut.

I felt like he didn’t want to say more, so I didn’t ask any more questions.

I just send her warmth so that she can gain strength for her future life.

***

The party members took a break for two days.

Although there was obviously no fighting.

Their eyes were sharper and stronger than ever.

Instead of looking devastated and collapsing, I realized that the final battle was just around the corner as they looked like they had been reborn.

And so the journey begins once again.

I laughed out loud at the overwhelming battle of the party members, which took on a completely different level of momentum than before.

Only two weeks have passed.

So much had changed that I could believe that the first feeling I had was not a lie. They were completely different people.

‘It feels as if everyone has attained enlightenment.’

I don’t know if it’s because I got rid of all my complicated thoughts or what.

It was clear that they had achieved some kind of enlightenment and had become strong enough to be close to warriors.

‘The saint’s strength has not become stronger, though.’

The efficiency of handling the divine power and divine power that one possessed increased dozens of times.

‘This is enough to try.’

It’s hard to believe that the party members have grown in just one year.

At this level, there was no problem in catching the demon lord.

You can see that they are moving forward almost as if they were massacring the upper mid-majority level without any hindrance.

Now there are no demons left who can stop them.

Only the devil can block their path.

Rather, that was what the party members hoped for.

‘It will be over soon.’

The goddess, who had clearly been worried about the hero’s rather slow growth before coming down to the underworld, would have anything to say after seeing his current appearance.

I was very excited about the response.

‘I’ll be back soon.’

It wasn’t long before I could keep my promise to the goddess.

I waited for that time to arrive and headed on my journey with my party members.

***

Inside a huge castle filled with darkness.

There, sitting on the throne, was a demon king spewing out enormous demonic energy.

The Demon King asked as he looked at his kneeling hatchling.

“Where is the warrior party.”

“You have just reached the advanced level of Demonic Sutra. I think we will probably reach this point in the near future. All of the executives of the Demon King’s army have suffered defeat, and even the corps commanders are suffering defeat.”

News of defeat.

However, the Demon King’s face showed no signs of confusion when he heard that.

Rather, he looked down at his subordinate with an expression as if he knew that would happen.

“I see.”

“I… Demon King. Can I ask you one thing?”

“Allowed.”

“… I would like to ask why you are so calm. The current situation is a crisis of crushing defeat for the Demon King’s army. Also, I don’t understand why they didn’t move the others even though there was a clear opportunity to kill the hero party.”

Even though you can kill them, why don’t you kill them?

Just watch.

The Demon King smiled at those words with such meaning.

“Because the result is obvious. No matter what you do, the moment the hero party moves, the results do not change. However, the world after the results can change. I am waiting for it.”

“… ”

The Demon King’s subordinate looked at him as if he couldn’t understand.

The Demon King did not open his mouth, as if he had no intention of saying anything more.

He waved his hand as if to tell me to go quickly.

The subordinate left there with only greater curiosity.