This World Needs a Hero

Chapter 323:

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Boom—

The thick darkness greeted the hero, who had stepped inside in the deepest part of the Demon King's castle.

The darkness was almost tangible, as if it had substance.

Even when the hero infused mana into his eyes, his vision remained completely obscured.

Boom—

The darkness was so intense that even the bravest might hesitate to take a single step forward.

It was strange; before opening the door, a clear light had been seeping through the crack, yet the interior was pitch black.

Instinctively, the hero turned to realize the entrance had vanished.

A mysterious voice whispered:

[Let's go.]

'Right.'

Boom—

From the moment the hero stepped inside, the only thing guiding them was the sound.

The sound, which resembled a heartbeat, led the hero forward.

Boom—

Step—

Boom—

Step—

Boom—

…Splash.

The rhythmic combination of footsteps and the heartbeat created a strange cadence.

The hero noticed that the once cold, hard floor had turned into something damp and sticky.

Walking on the slippery surface, the hero followed the sound of the heartbeat.

It felt as if he was walking into the insides of some massive creature.

Sss—

Before long, a faint red light began to rise from the edge of the hero's vision.

Though it illuminated the darkness, it was far from comforting.

In fact, it was so unpleasant that the hero almost wanted to look away.

Step—

A few more steps revealed a magic circle with a diameter of several dozen meters.

[...A summoning circle.]

'Should I try casting Halo?'

[No. It's likely too late for physical attacks to be effective.]

The countless symbols that made up the magic circle were glowing red, writhing as if alive.

The sound was coming from the ceiling above.

Boom—

The hero looked up.

Boom—

'It's the core, as I suspected…'

This core was several times larger than the others the hero had encountered.

With bizarre protrusions and spikes, the core clung to the high ceiling, writhing incessantly.

Then, it spat something out.

Drip—

A drop of black liquid fell from one of the core's protrusions.

It was a highly concentrated form of demonic energy.

Although it resembled the torrential demonic energy the hero had faced hours earlier, its potency was incomparable.

A human touching it would be dissolved to the bone instantly.

[It seems the core has almost exhausted itself. Was it used to power the magic circle?]

The hero nodded.

This demonic energy had been sent from across the demon realm to empower the summoning ritual.

Since the ritual was nearly complete, all the demonic energy would have been consumed.

Indeed, despite being near the core, the concentration of demonic energy in the air wasn't too high.

'But where is the Demon King…?'

[Nowhere to be seen.]

There was no sign of any presence.

The hero frowned slightly and looked up at the core again.

It continued to writhe, struggling to expel the remaining demonic energy.

One drop.

Two drops.

It looked as if an invisible hand was squeezing a heart to extract its blood.

Drip—

The hero naturally followed the falling drops with his eyes.

From the protrusion, the drop fell… it took a few seconds… until it was sucked into someone's mouth.

<Ah….>

A very peculiar sigh reached the hero's ears.

Even the hero, who had experienced things beyond human imagination, had never heard a sound like this before.

[Did you hear that?]

'I did.'

The hero continued speaking slowly.

'And… I see something.'

[What?]

'Ahead.'

The hero's eyes focused forward again.

…There was no doubt about it.

Until a moment ago, the hero was the only one in this space.

With senses sharpened to the extreme, there was no chance of being mistaken.

Yet, at some point, something was now standing in the center of the summoning circle.

It stood there, mouth open, catching the falling demonic energy.

How could one describe its sudden appearance?

Its emergence was so abrupt and natural that it felt as if the hero's consciousness and perception had surrendered to its presence.

<Ah...>

Attack?

Retreat and regroup?

While the hero pondered their next move, the thirsty sigh continued.

It was louder than before, and although it seemed to come from the creature's mouth, it echoed from all directions simultaneously.

The air grew heavier.

The hero's eyes started to burn as if they were on fire.

???’s voice murmured softly:

[The Demon King...]

'That... is the Demon King?'

[No doubt about it.]

'But it looks so different from the image in Zero's memories.'

[The summoning must have been incomplete.]

It looked as if space and time were distorting around it.

The creature's form was constantly changing, without any fixed shape.

The hero observed what could be called its face.

The positions of its forehead, chin, and cheekbones kept shifting, and from time to time, grotesquely twisted eyes would break through the skin, only to disappear again.

The eyes varied in size and shape; some resembled human eyes, but most did not.

Although they all pointed in different directions, they blinked simultaneously.

…And then there was the body.

It was impossible to discern the Demon King's true form.

Where did it begin?

Where did it end?

At times it appeared humanoid, at other times like a mass of countless tentacles, or perhaps like endlessly swirling black smoke.

It wasn't just large and powerful; it seemed as though an infinitely vast and deep space had been compressed within it.

However, the hero could only study its body for a few seconds.

Suddenly, countless bubbles boiled up from the sticky black substance on its surface, obscuring its form.

The Demon King, though, paid no attention to the hero, completely focused on the demonic energy falling from the ceiling.

…Despite being a being that had once regarded the hero as a formidable opponent, it didn’t even glance in their direction.

[Yes, it's certain. The summoning was incomplete. There's no way it could have fully succeeded after we disrupted so much of the demonic energy needed for the summoning. However…]

‘…However?’

[It seems to have gone wrong in a way we didn’t expect.]

The mysterious entity, who had absorbed the knowledge of all the scholars and archmages of the First Age, was quick to understand the situation.

[The Demon King cheated.]

The voice turned somber.

[Only its ‘power’ has crossed over. Only the power was summoned.]

The hero, unable to immediately grasp the meaning, questioned the statement.

‘What do you mean…?’

[It separated its pure power and sent it to this world, leaving behind its intellect and consciousness.]

‘Wasn’t the Demon King’s goal to dominate this world? If only the power came through, isn’t that a risky move? What could be the point…?’

[There is a point. This way, it’s less constrained by the laws of causality.]

<Ah...>

The Demon King’s sigh echoed once more, sounding far more desperate and sorrowful this time.

The mysterious entity's speech quickened as well.

[Do you remember what I once told you?]

‘What did you say?’

[To be cautious of its authority, that conceptual power.]

He remembered it.

If, during the Great Battle, the Demon King had restored causality and used that power freely, no matter how awakened Ted was with the 7th form, he would not have been able to achieve victory.

The unique power of the Demon King that once defeated ???, who could single-handedly confront thousands of humans in the First Era.

...It was said that the moment the Demon King used that power, it would be tantamount to his defeat, so there was no need for an explanation.

The Hero’s eyes slowly dimmed.

[Just stay still. Don’t do anything. Whatever you do now will be meaningless. We have no choice but to wait until he activates his power...]

??? stopped speaking.

They both simultaneously realized something.

The sound that had been ringing regularly in their ears had stopped.

‘The core...’

[It stopped.]

A peculiar silence.

The core was no longer emitting demonic energy.

...The Demon King’s gaze, which had been fixed upward all along, now had enough reason to shift.

[It’s coming, focus on evading.]

The Demon King slowly raised his arm.

No, from the perspective of those facing him, it was uncertain if it was even an arm.

The figure of the creature, seen through the bubbles, momentarily blurred like smoke.

The arm, once within their field of vision, expanded infinitely as it was raised.

...And finally.

The moment they sensed something bursting forth from the end of it,

The Hero instinctively drew upon his mana.

[...What? No! Stop!]

As ??? shouted fiercely,

The Hero’s magic formed a barrier, enclosing the Demon King.

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* * *

Clang-

The ring and necklace that encircled his neck and fingers shattered.

As the objects that had provided a fleeting peace fulfilled their role and crumbled away, ???’s harsh curses rang in his ears.

[You bastard, I knew you would do this. This is why I told you to stay still!]

‘But wasn’t it worth it?’

[Shut up and focus on regeneration.]

??? berated the Hero in a very agitated voice.

[...If you have time, you should thank Yussi. If it wasn’t for that artifact, you’d already be dead!]

The last few minutes could be summarized as follows.

The Stellar Rift didn’t hold out for long and shattered.

The once sturdy Demon King’s castle was more than half-destroyed, and the Demon King was currently floating over all the chaos, exerting the power ??? had so feared.

‘...I couldn’t just let the sacrificial forces get caught up in that. You know that, right?’

[So you used the Stellar Rift to abduct the Demon King?]

The outcome was, in a word, good.

The Hero survived, and his comrades had time to retreat thanks to the delay in the manifestation of the power.

At the edge of his vision.

He could see Avalon distancing itself and the sacrificial forces forming ranks nearby.

All those who had been fighting scattered noticed the danger and quickly regrouped.

The Hero sighed in relief and looked back up at the sky.

‘...So what is that? Explain it now.’

Wooooong-

The incomprehensible power emanating from the Demon King’s body was overturning the entire world.

What words could possibly describe that scene?

It was like pouring black paint all over the upper half of a pure white canvas.

No, perhaps a more fitting description would be that it looked like a vertical ocean of night.

We on the ground were the beach, and the sky where the Demon King floated was the sea.

The black substance flowing from his body was surging towards the ground in layers like waves.

No matter how deep the darkness of the Demonic Realm, occasionally stars and the moon would peek through thick clouds.

But the darkness of the Demon King erased all of that.

His eyes became the light source instead.

A bizarre, crimson light.

As that light descended, it felt like someone was drilling into their brains, a powerful and unsettling discomfort rising.

...Even a doppelgänger, immune to mental attacks, nearly fainted from the contamination.

If the sacrificial forces hadn’t kept their distance, they would have gone mad instantly.

Even now, despite the considerable distance, people were fainting in droves.

[...It’s faster to just see it for yourself.]

The darkness, crawling forward, first encountered the demons.

At first, it seemed they stayed in place to greet and worship the Demon King.

But that wasn’t it.

They were frozen in place, unable even to think of fleeing.

Sssss-

The darkness engulfed them.

One wave in and out.

And then...

‘...They’re gone.’

About a dozen upper-ranked demons disappeared without a trace, as if they had never existed.

Like a piece of ice dropped into lava, there was no sound, no resistance.

But the Demon King’s hunger seemed insatiable.

Grrrrr-

The Hero looked up at the sudden roar.

A massive shadow was flying over the ruins of the Demon King’s castle.

Malekia.

...She, too, was being chased by the darkness.

But, having exhausted herself fighting Cuculli, her escape didn’t last long.

Crunch-

A long, sharp tendril of darkness extending from the Demon King’s fingertip pierced her wings.

“Your Majesty! Why would you do this to me?”

A sharp scream.

The massive dragon, dozens of meters in length, was disintegrated in seconds.

Her scales, once as tough as steel, and her teeth, larger than greatswords, all turned into black smoke and were absorbed.

“Your Majesty!”

Her pitiful death cry was the last.

The Queen of Agony, who had ruled over humans with terror for centuries, vanished without a trace.

...At last, the darkness seemed to pause, as if satisfied.

Crunch-

Crunch-

Crunch-

Then, a chilling sound echoed all around as if something were being chewed.

[If we are replication, that creature is theft.]

Against the backdrop of that sound, ???’s low voice resonated.

[Dissolution... that might be more accurate. The moment any living being touches that darkness, they lose all their power, life force, memories, ego... everything that maintains their existence and becomes part of the Demon King.]

‘...Becomes part of him?’

[Yes, of course, it varies by individual, but no matter how strong they are, they can’t resist to the end. They slowly lose parts of themselves and are absorbed.]

According to the explanation, this was a power on a completely different level from the demons they had faced before.

[In other words, you become the core, suffering eternally within the Demon King, generating demonic energy.]

At those words, the Hero looked back toward the Demon King.

The demons, who prided themselves on their strength, were being devoured by the darkness without even a chance to scream.

The more of his kin he devoured, the clearer the Demon King’s form became.

It was a scene that hinted at the Demon King’s intentions.

‘Now I get it. He plans to devour everything here, and then use that power as the foundation for a proper descent.’

[Correct. Even the Demon King couldn’t guarantee victory over you if he descended in his current state. So instead, he’s chosen to cause chaos and eliminate all threats before making his move. Now that you’ve grasped the situation, what’s your plan?]

Fortunately, the Demon King seemed to believe the Hero was already dead and didn’t pay any attention to him.

As a result, the area where he stood was the least affected by the encroachment.

But soon, the darkness would encroach.

He had to act before that happened.

“……”

After a brief moment of silence, the Hero spoke calmly.

‘…Then the answer is becoming clear.’

[What?]

??? thought that this time, the Hero’s resolve would finally crumble.

Even when he had far greater power than he did now, facing this absurd authority had shattered his fighting spirit.

But what ??? encountered was the same calm and composed Hero as always.

There was no bluffing or falsehood.

No one knew this better than ???, who was inside the Hero’s mind.

‘Let’s clarify one thing.’

[…What is it?]

‘You fought the Demon King for days on end. If, as you said, that darkness consumes and steals everything, how was such a battle possible?’

??? answered honestly.

[I had countless cores within me. Even the most exceptional geniuses numbered in the thousands. No matter how strong the Demon King was, he couldn’t take them all at once.]

However, losing them one by one had been inevitable.

At first, he had the upper hand, but in the end, he had been miserably defeated.

The Hero murmured slowly.

‘…The Demon King can't endure indefinitely in this state either. He’s just as pressed for time as we are.’

Whether it’s intelligence or strength, they were both concepts that could not exist independently.

Forcing them into a tangible form and separating them cannot leave one in a normal state.

In some ways, it was an act that carried far greater risks than the creation of an avatar.

[That may be true, but…]

Wooooooong-

Before ??? could finish his sentence, the Hero’s body was already engulfed in a brilliant light.

The Seventh ritual, Eclipse, Ted’s technique that allowed a human to stand against the Demon King.

It felt like flames were rushing through his veins beneath his skin.

Having a vague sense of what the Hero intended to do, ??? sighed quietly.

[Our essence is merely a shell. What do you think will remain if you lose all your cores?]

This wasn’t right.

No matter how prepared the Hero was for death, this was beyond the bounds.

There was a stark difference between fulfilling the mission and disappearing in an intact state, and being sucked into a void after losing everything.

“We’ll see….”

But the Hero’s unwavering gaze was fixed on the darkness pouring out towards Avalon.

“A lot will remain.”

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