CH 348

Chapter 348. The Advent of the Demon King and the Fallen Warrior (5)

The warrior stared at the Demon King, spitting out blood-mixed phlegm. Just now, the Demon King’s castle and the Demon King were blown away by the sword of the Guardian Knight, but the Demon King was revived as being created from nothing.

"Haha, is it possible to kill that?" The adventurer, called the Mercenary King, laughed tiredly.

"I know right, huhuhu. I don't think it'd be bad to lie down in front of the Demon King?" the witch, with the name of Greed, replied with a smile in a self-mocking voice.

"Wow, you sound so sincere when you say that," the adventurer said.

The Witch of Greed said jokingly, "If it weren't for Unni, I’d lick the Demon King’s shoes right away."

The Witch of Pride frowned and said, "Quiet, I'm thinking now." 

"Hohoho, yes, yes. I’m sure you are."

The Witch of Greed sullenly attacked the Demon King with spirits.

The warrior who was fiercely blocking the attacks of the Demon King on the battlefield and a wolf with a green mane would have died of excessive bleeding if it hadn’t been for the saintess’s miracle.

"I think it's time to come to a resolution." The Witch of Pride moved forward with a determined expression.

"What are you trying to do?" the gray-haired genius madosa asked in fluster. 

The Witch of Pride smiled and touched his shoulder. "It’s good to prevent abdominal bleeding with ice, but it would be better to use Mirpa's healing potion."

"Do you mean the potion that's extremely painful? That's a potion for torture! You'll faint if you use it! And moreover, are you going to change the subject?!" the genius madosa chided.

The Witch of Pride shrugged. "I'm not changing the subject. I’m not explaining it because you already know it."

The genius madosa clenched his teeth. "Are you planning to sacrifice your body?"

As long as the whereabouts of the core that allowed the Demon King to exist in this world were unknown, it had to be sealed again to create a new nucleus.

"Yes. See, you know it well."

At the teaching tone, the genius madosa closed and opened his eyes.

"Then I'll sacrifice myself. It’s right to sacrifice myself, who's barely able to provide support since  I'm hurt. Above all, your knowledge is the treasure with no equal in the world. We can't lose it here," the genius madosa said.

The Witch of Pride nodded. "That's extremely right. Losing me is a fatal loss to the world. But it's not enough. You, who are only a madosa, and the body of a great madosa who is about to surpass the limits. You also know well which is more valuable as a magic catalyst."

The genius madosa had no words to reply with.

"And who else in the world can replace me? I'm the only one who can save the world."

It was a terribly arrogant and self-righteous remark. However, no one there could refute it.

Except for the warrior. 

"Don't make me laugh!" the warrior, who had cut the king's head into dozens, shouted.

"You're mine! No one else's! Not the world’s! Mine! You’re Galak Blade’s! So who said you can die!?”

"Ahahaha! As expected, those are just foolish and selfish words, just like you. But there's no other way. So you make the sacrifice."

It was as if the warrior was sacrificing himself rather than herself. In a way, those words were not wrong. The warrior left alone will live in hell.

The Witch of Pride magically interfered with the divine power of the saintess.

"Ugh!"

The warrior, who suddenly lost the connection with the divine power, knelt due to accumulated fatigue and damage.

"Will you be able to hold out for a moment without my lovely warrior, Great Warrior, Current King?" asked the Witch of Pride.

The two answered at the same time.

"No problem."

"The same goes for you about being foolish, Head of the Witches. I can't believe you're asking such an obvious question.”

An old man called the Current King controlled a dragon and burned the Demon King.

"Hmm, I see. It’s rare, but I made a verbal mistake. It's natural that you’ll be able to hold out.”

The Witch of Pride nodded and looked at the adventurer. "Mercenary King, it's a request. Stop the Demon King’s movements for a moment."

“Ahaha, that's impossible?"

"I'm not a person who makes the same mistake twice. I know that you certainly can. So go!"

The Witch of Pride magically threw the adventurer to the Demon King, and the adventurer screamed. 

"Uaaaahhhhhh!"

The adventurer quickly landed and entered the battle. Soon after a fierce battle, the adventurer held the Demon King, and the Witch of Pride did not miss the gap and sealed the Demon King in her body.

A sphere of high gravity formed around the body of the Witch of Pride and began to consume the surroundings. As she disappeared to the other side of the world, the Witch of Pride smiled sadly at the warrior.

"Then this is goodbye. Take good care of my belongings."

The warrior shouted as he saw his lover disappearing, "Definitely! I will definitely see you again! I'll free you!”

“Huhu, that's nice. Try it. The core of the Demon King is my heart.”

Soon there was nothing left in the place where the Witch of Pride and adventurer were. Nothing at all.

"Wait just a little bit, Wayne."

The warrior neither screamed nor cried. No, it would be right to say that he couldn't.

The warrior, who decided to become fallen, just held the bracelet tightly with a cold light in his eyes.

-o-

My great-grandfather and the Witch of Pride swung their sword and magic wand at each other. In the sudden situation, I didn't know what to do, so I stayed still, but their blows did not clash with each other.

"You didn't get up even when I tried to wake you up, but you’re quick when it comes to things like this.” 

"Don't interfere, Marco."

Marco, the legendary adventurer who was praised as the Mercenary King in the past, dug between the two and released a sword and magic strike.

Marco shrugged with a cheerful smile.

"Ahahaha! Why are you attacking each other as soon as you meet each other? Doesn't talking it out usually come first when it's been a while since meeting each other?”

At Marco's nonsense great-grandfather said, "Don't interfere. I want to let Wayne go in peace when she's still in her right mind. Wayne considers losing her intelligence the greatest shame."

The Witch of Pride also nodded at my great-grandfather’s words.

"I can't die calmly for you either. Killing someone who doesn't resist would be a great insult to you.”

The two knew each other well and simultaneously pointed their sword and magic wand at Marco.

"So don't interfere."

"So don’t interfere."

Marco wiped away his tears and raised both hands as if he were surrendering when he saw the weapons aimed at him.

"Damn, you guys are making such a big fuss. How can I live being so sad?"

It was a voice that felt sincere.

Marco sighed, looked at me, then said to the Witch of Pride, "So do you really have to die? There's an impressive magician over there who pulled your consciousness out from the body of the Demon King."

The two looked at me.

"Oh, me?"

When I pointed at myself, he nodded.

"Yes, you." Marco yawned leisurely and advised, "Well, it's honestly none of my business whether they’re going to die or live together. But don't be too emotional with possibilities right in front of you."

The Witch of Pride thought seriously and shook her head. "It's impossible. I chose my heart as the core to extinguish the Demon King."

I also seriously agonized over the words of the Witch of Pride. The heart was an essential organ for survival. To kill the Demon King's consciousness, one had no choice but to destroy the heart. Even if we joined forces with the Witch of Pride to seal the Demon King again, it had to be sealed with the heart, so the Witch of Pride had to die. It was clear that the reason the Witch of Pride made the heart the core was to make sure the Demon King was unable to hide the core separately. Even if the Demon King manages to live without a heart, it wouldn’t be able to use mana properly. The heart was also a mana organ that produced mana.

"Well, it's impossible if it's the heart."

"See? There's no way for me to live, so get out of the way, foolish adventurer."

When the Witch of Pride pushed the magic wand, Marco smiled awkwardly and took a step back.

"No, I can save your life. There are about three things that come to mind, so that's not a problem."

I shook my hand insignificantly and was lost in thought.

"What..? There are three?”

My great-grandfather of course, but as well as the Witch of Pride, opened her eyes wide in surprise and asked me.

"You just said it's impossible!"

"Ayy, that means that it's impossible for you to use magic if I save you. Anyway, the heart has to be extracted, but without it, you can't create mana."

The three were puzzled by the obvious words.

"Hey, is magic the problem here?"

Contrary to Marco's dumbfounded statement, the Witch of Pride became serious.

"I can't use magic...?”

For a magician, especially a high-level magician like a great madosa, not being able to use magic was like a death sentence. It could be better to choose to die with the Demon King here.

The Witch of Pride put down her magic wand.

"Let's hear the method first. The three ways to save my life.”

I opened my fingers one by one and said, "First, give up your body and put your soul in a core and transfer to a dragon tooth soldier."

"Dismissed. I don't want to give up on being human. I'd rather die."

It was the fastest and most stable way, but I knew she would refuse. Giving up on being human was a taboo and an insult to the magician. In addition, there were serious restrictions on the use of magic, so it was clear that she, who had extremely high pride, would have thought it’d be better to die.

"Second, extract the heart and quickly connect an artificial heart."

"Well, definitely, I can live if we do that. Although, I won't be able to use magic."

Mana production was almost impossible, but if she tried to use magic, her unstable heart would likely explode and she would die.

"Third, you die once and are reborn."

The Witch of Pride immediately grasped the meaning of my words.

"It's ridiculous. There is an excessively high possibility of failure. Rather, I can't find an example of success."

It was certainly ridiculous. Of course, it's not something I should say as someone who was reborn. Moreover, I couldn't incorporate myself into this situation because I wasn't reborn by magic.

"Then there's only the second method. I can't give you much time to consider it. Even if I do the procedure right now, it’ll be cutting it close.”

When the Demon King wakes up over time, I wouldn’t be able to do this surgical procedure, let alone the other two methods.

"There’s no need to think about it. Do it right away."

"Will it be ok?”

It was unexpected that she decided immediately.

"Who do you think I am? Knowledge which is the treasure of humankind is in my head. Even if I can't use magic, not a single part of my life will fade. Do it."

The eyes of the Witch of Pride shone without any signs of shaking.

"My lovely warrior. The child said it as if it were nothing, but it also has a high likelihood to fail. Even if I die, I want you to live."

With a confident smile, my great-grandfather burst into laughter as if he were dumbfounded.

"Hahahaha! How ridiculous. Don't make me laugh. If it fails, I'll die, too. So live."

"Huhuhu, that's scary.”

Marco, who was watching the conversation between the two, frowned and retched.

"Uwack! Damn, I should've just let them die. Why do I have to watch this just for her to be reborn?"

"I agree."

I couldn’t help but agree with Marco. His and my feelings were in sync, and so we shook hands.

"Can I call you a friend?" Marco asked.

I laughed lightly. "What are you saying? You’re an old man who is over 120 years old,” I jested.

Marco pretended to be hurt, holding his chest, and I called Hillis, who was watching from down there.

I'll probably see blood, but I can't just pour Elder Mirpa’s healing potion, can I? She might die of shock.

-o-

Over quite a long time, the heart of the Witch of Pride was extracted and an artificial heart made of alchemy was attached. Without Hillis in the middle, there were about 20 times when she really almost got sent to death, but somehow it was successful.

I never thought I would experience something like this in my life. As expected, life is something you can’t predict. 

"Okay, just cut this."

I threw the Demon King's core and heart, and my great-grandfather cut it at once. The vast amount of black mana scattered from the body of the Witch of Pride, causing convulsions. Hillis sang a hymn in a calm voice and stabilized the Witch of Pride with the power of the Holy Grail.

"Now, with this, it’s over," I wiped off my sweat and said.

My great-grandfather, who was watching anxiously from the side, approached me and asked nervously, "Is it really over?"

"Yes. So please don't go making any trouble now. Do you know how hard it is for Grandfather because of you?"

"Khmm! I have nothing to say against that. Anyways, thank you."

Unlike my great-grandfather’s usual self, he blushed and spoke sincerely.

"Well, act better if you know. And the patient herself likely already knows, but in short, never go into the Olympus Forest. Her heart will explode."

"Okay."

"And I'll leave the follow-up care to Elder Mirpa, since she's a lot more of an expert than I am."

So is everything over now?

When I thought so, as if telling me I did well, my father grabbed my shoulder.

"Then all we have left is our business." 

"What?"

"Go back to our hometown and follow in my footsteps."

"Ah…!"

My father's touch was to hold me from running away. He gave out a vicious martial aura.

"And I couldn't fight against the Demon King even after all that."

That's what you really think! What is this?! Save me!