episode_0025

A red-tinted land where not a single trace of life can be found.

Arthur and Alice had been moving for hours, but had found nothing.

Strange… I heard that the place where demons are rampant is called the Demon Realm, but this part is different from reality. Is there a reason for this? Surprisingly, Arthur might not know.

“Arthur, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“This is a demon realm, so why aren’t there any demons or monsters?”

Arthur began to look at Alice with strange eyes at her question.

“…Well, we’re going to assassinate.”

Assassination? Assassination of the Demon King? But there will be a military leader or strong demons by his side.

“Is that possible? There must be other demons in the Demon King’s Castle.”

When Alice asked again, Arthur hit his forehead with his hand.

“I told you to focus during meetings, Aris!!”

“No…”

Of course, Alice had no way of knowing what had happened in the past, but for now, she had no choice but to pretend not to remember.

Ha… This is so unfair. I didn’t even hear it!

“Mi, sorry.. Please tell me more..”

Arthur’s hands began to tremble with anger at Alice’s continued barrage of questions.

“…I’m really going to explain this for the last time!”

“The Demon King’s army has invaded the Empire, so while the Empire is distracted by the fake warrior, I’ll go catch the Demon King with you, the real warrior!”

Arthur’s words made him curious about who the fake warrior was, but he couldn’t handle the consequences if he asked again, so he had no choice but to swallow his words.

Well… I guess they’ll just put up a strong guy and act like it’s not important information anyway.

“Anyway! The Demon King is alone in the Demon King’s castle right now. The sooner we catch the Demon King, the more people we can save!”

With those words, Arthur began to clench his fists and take on a solemn expression.

“Oh..I see! But..How do you know the Demon King is alone? He might be hiding his troops.”

Arthur began to become more assertive at Alice’s question.

“Among my abilities, I have the ability to detect magic, and right now, I can only sense the Demon King’s energy in the magic realm. And it’s incredibly accurate! I’ve never been wrong, so don’t worry.”

“Oh! That’s great.”

Although Alice praised Arthur on the outside, she found Arthur’s appearance slightly unsightly.

When you actually arrive at the Demon King’s Castle, the demons won’t make a surprise attack, right? Well, you have to be able to overcome a certain amount of trials to make them trials. It won’t be something like “fight the entire demons and win!”

As we chatted and moved around, it was already evening.

As night fell, Arthur began to naturally take out various items from his subspace pocket.

After a while, a campfire and tent were set up as if we were camping.

“Let’s sleep here tonight and start again tomorrow morning.”

At Arthur’s words, Alice nodded. The two of them, lying side by side, closed their eyes to fall asleep.

“Ha…”

But upon hearing Alice’s sigh, Arthur spoke to Alice.

“Are you worried about anything?”

“What if the Demon King is too strong and I can’t win..”

At Alice’s worried tone, Arthur snuggled close to Alice and started hugging her.

“Don’t worry, Alice.”

“I have it and I have the Holy Sword, so I’m sure we can win.”

Alice was surprised by Arthur’s words.

West…Holy Sword? I don’t have anything like that.

“…Arthur? That… Holy Sword, do you remember where it is?”

Alice asked Arthur as if she knew the answer but was asking to confirm, and Arthur answered with a bright smile.

“Of course! Don’t worry, I’ve got it safely stored in my subspace pocket. Because of the sword’s divine power, I won’t let the Demon King notice, so I’ll hand it over to you as soon as I get to the Demon King’s castle.”

“Okay.”

Thank goodness… There’s also a holy sword. It seems like it’s something that helps with trials… I’m sure it’ll be very effective, right?

“See you tomorrow, Arthur.”

“Yeah..”

That’s how the night in the Demon Realm passed.

… … …

The next morning, the two woke up and looked at the map, heading towards the direction where the Demon King’s Castle was.

“…”

“Arthur? You said there is nothing but the Demon King..”

Arthur began to sweat coldly at Alice’s words.

“That…That, it definitely wasn’t there..! It suddenly appeared! Did it fall from the sky..?”

Arthur felt embarrassed and started making excuses.

Hmm… Now that I think about it, it doesn’t make sense that it suddenly appeared. This is the inside of the trial, so it could have just suddenly fallen from the sky like Arthur said?

Arthur and Alice hid behind a rock and looked at the monsters blocking the path.

Looking at the map, I had to pass through the valley in front of me, but unfortunately, there were three monsters blocking the way. Arthur said that there were no more monsters besides the three here, but it was hard to believe that unconditionally, so I had to proceed carefully.

The appearance of the monster blocking the path through the canyon was similar to the Minotaur that was sometimes found in dungeons, but it was three times larger and its horns and skin were dyed black. And strangely, it was holding a greatsword instead of an axe.

Fortunately, it seems to have almost no intelligence… Should I try using the status window first?

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Name: Black Cow

[Ability]

Stamina -50

Strength-50

Agility-30

Magi-20

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

If you look at them one by one, they don’t seem to have that high of an ability, but if there are three of them, wouldn’t it be easier than you think?

“I think it would be good to kill one by surprise and then escape once.”

“Oh..really? I don’t know..”

In response to Arthur’s question, Alice told him about the monster’s abilities.

“Based on my abilities, the name was ‘Black Ox’ and as long as you don’t get close to it, you won’t be in any danger.”

Since this was a trial and not reality, Arthur was lying to himself that the status window was an ability he had gained by becoming a warrior.

“If I just had a moment, I could kill them both at once…”

Arthur opened his mouth after hearing Alice’s muttering.

“Aris? I think I can do that too!”

Alice responded reflexively to Arthur’s words.

“You..?”

“What, what the heck!! Then do you think I came here to play? I’m also helpful!”

Now that I think about it, my magic ability was 80, and my blessing was that of a saint… so I guess I can use divine techniques..!

“Then if I take them by surprise and kill one, I can tie up the other two for a while?”

“Of course! Trust me!”

Of course, it was a little bit awkward, but since they were enemies who wouldn’t cause much trouble even if their plans went awry, Alice began preparing for a surprise attack.

When she saw three black bulls in her field of vision, and two of them were facing the opposite direction, Alice immediately drew her sword and used her technique.

Thunder Dragon Nine Type – Type 1 Lightning

-Squeak!

The surge of electricity created an afterimage, and soon it was piercing through the neck of Alice’s black bull.

At the same time, Arthur’s prayer sound reached Aris’ ears.

-Whoa!

Alice saw golden chains rising from the ground where the two remaining black oxen had been standing, binding their legs.

-Crunch!

Taking advantage of the moment when the black bulls were confused, Aris cut off the heads of two black bulls with one swing of her sword.

-Thump.

The black bull’s head fell to the ground, spurting blood.

In an instant, the battle with the monster was over, and when I looked back, I saw Arthur running towards me with a smile.

“Heh.. Heh.. What’s so fast! Anyway, I’m glad I caught it without getting hurt!”

“Okay.”

Arthur is more useful than I thought..? I really didn’t expect anything from him..! At this level, he’ll be helpful even when fighting the Demon King.

Of course, if the real Arthur or the fake Arthur had heard this, it would have caused an uproar, but Alice was confident in her own way.

But… doesn’t this seem more useful than the real Arthur..?

As Alice was weighing the real Arthur and the fake Arthur, a voice came to her ears.

“Now, if you just pass this valley, you’ll reach the Demon King’s Castle!”

At Arthur’s words, Alice nodded, and the two began to pass through the canyon.

… … …

After walking for about three hours, Alice and Arthur were able to get out of the valley.

“Oh? I guess that’s the Demon King’s castle. It’s really big.. Does the Demon King have a lot of money?”

Alice said it as a joke, but Arthur didn’t react at all.

“Arthur..?”

I turned my head to the side and saw Arthur’s face gradually turning pale.

“Ah..Aris?”

At Arthur’s trembling voice, Alice also gulped.

“Huh..? Why?”

“That…That’s…”

-Gulp.

“ It seems like the Demon King suddenly got really strong..”

“The Demon King?”

Arthur spoke with a serious expression, but Alice didn’t pay much attention.

Isn’t it just because you’re close to the Demon King’s Castle that you feel it?

“Arthur, it must be because we’re in front of the Demon King’s Castle. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it!”

But Arthur still couldn’t come to his senses.

“But… this doesn’t seem realㅡ”

“Let’s just grab it quickly and rest. Take out the holy sword first.”

“Oh, I see!”

At Alice’s words, Arthur took out a white sword from his subspace pocket and handed it over.

Wow… It’s definitely different… Is this the Holy Sword?

A sword that gently emits divine power from Alice’s hand.

Aris, who was curious about the performance, immediately used the status window.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

[Holy Sword (???)]

– All of the user’s attacks are imbued with divine power and increase their abilities.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

It was a simple explanation for a holy sword, but the effect was incredible. In particular, the option to increase ability stats was an ability I had never seen before.

Aris, holding the Holy Sword, used the status window to check the amount of increase in ability stats.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Name: Alice

[Ability]

Stamina -60

Strength-63

Agility-68

Horsepower-70

[blessing]

-Guardian Knight of the Warrior Who Dominates the Thunderbolt (SS)

[Skill]

-Noble Sacrifice (SSS)

-Master of the Brain (SS)

– Soul Bond (S )

-Status Window (S-)

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Alice was able to confirm that all of her abilities had increased by 5 thanks to the Holy Sword’s power.

“Isn’t that incredible..? And with this amount of magic power…”

Aren’t the trials too easy? It definitely can’t be… Is it just because I’m too strong?

Alice’s heart, filled with pride, began to flutter, and she took Arthur’s hand and headed to the Demon King’s castle.

As they approached the Demon King’s castle, Alice could also feel something.

“I definitely feel like there’s something there… It seems a bit ominous.”

-Brrr.

But Arthur didn’t say anything, and I could feel the hand he was holding beginning to tremble slightly.

Was Arthur really scared..?

Assuming that the owner of the trembling hand was Arthur, Aris approached the Demon King’s castle. However, Aris did not know that it was her own hand, not Arthur’s, that was trembling slightly.