The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 68

They were witnessing in real-time why the Slaughter Cult was known as such a terrifying organization.

The promised hour finally ended.

Under her touch, the three troublemakers became obedient children.

“Please, kill me… just kill me!”

“I’ll tell you everything, just please, stop killing us….”

The voices that had begged for their lives turned into pleas for death.

They confessed everything they knew.

Or at least, they tried to.

“The base is in the Forest of Death… Urgh!”

“Ugh, urgh!”

“What is this, ugh!”

The moment they opened their mouths to confess everything they knew, they coughed up blood and died.

Those who were watching were astonished.

“What is this…?”

“Could it be a restriction?”

The Warlocks had placed a restriction spell without their knowledge to prevent unexpected situations.

In the end, they could learn nothing from them.

“Damn it! We need to rescue the captured people!”

Taion was extremely frustrated.

Now that the bandits were dead, there was no way to find their base to rescue the people.

“No, there’s still a way.”

“Aden Remes?”

At that moment, Aden approached Taion.

At Aden’s waist, the little Ent Ets was nervously holding onto him.

“Their base is inside the crater in the depths of the Forest of Death.”

Aden conveyed the information he had heard from Ets to Taion, including the location and approximate number of people.

“That can’t be…”

Taion was shocked and sighed after hearing Aden’s explanation.

The depths of the Forest of Death were filled with monsters and a miasma of poison and dark energy, making it difficult for ordinary people to survive.

Leading the knights into such a place was not an easy task.

At that moment, Aden spoke to him.

“I’ll go and scout them.”

“What did you say…?”

“With Ets guiding me, I can enter the depths alone. You stay and protect the village in case reinforcements attack.”

Aden had a reason for stepping up.

After negotiating with Ets, he learned about the mastermind behind this incident.

The Warlocks who had taken over the Ent village were working together to create something.

And there was a knight overseeing the process.

The knight was very strong, and he had destroyed the sacred tree that protected the Ent village.

Ets had told Aden:

– It was a human man wielding a black greatsword and wearing black armor.

Aden knew there was only one person like that.

His eyes grew sharper.

‘The Black Knight, Dares Clayman.’

He was another close knight under Sylbeta Sias.

—

The eldest son of the Sias Grand Duke Family, Sylbeta Sias, had three Semi-Master Knights under his command.

The Red Knight, the Black Knight, and the White Knight.

They were like his loyal arms and legs.

Based on their blind loyalty, they each carried out special missions assigned by Sylbeta.

In the depths of the Forest of Death, inside a crater, there was a lake.

The lake had a dark, murky color that made anyone feel repulsed, and bubbles were constantly rising from it.

Next to the lake, there was land where the Ent village should have been.

But now, a group of people in black robes had taken over the place.

The sacred tree that protected the Ent village lay fallen as if a giant had cut it down.

A man in black armor was sitting on the stump of the fallen tree.

Next to him was the black greatsword that had cut down the sacred tree of the Ents.

The man who had cut down the symbol and pillar of a tribe.

The Black Knight, Dares Clayman, asked the mid-level Warlock commander Gerard.

“How is the current progress?”

“We’ve finally established the basic framework. From now on, we just need to melt and absorb the essence of the sacrifices inside, and it should be complete in three months.”

“We’re cutting it close to the deadline.”

Gerard grinned slyly.

“Heh. Once this ‘gem’ is complete, your lord will be one step closer to his desired goal.”

“Yes, that’s how it should be.”

It had taken dozens of Ents and hundreds of humans just to create the framework.

Of course, it had to be worth the cost.

“But we’re still short on materials.”

Even if they used all the remaining Ents and humans they had captured on this island, it might still not be enough.

Gerard clicked his tongue in regret and shook his head.

“Tsk, tsk. It’s a shame we lost that Ent yesterday. One Ent is worth dozens of humans. Such a waste.”

Just yesterday, due to a guard’s mistake, one of the Ent pens was opened.

Fortunately, most of the escaped Ents were recaptured, but one managed to get away.

The guard responsible for the mistake met his end as a material for the gem.

When the bandits brought in the last villagers from the slash-and-burn village, they planned to grind all of them, including the bandits, into materials.

“If the tail gets too long, it’ll get caught, so we should deal with it soon, heh.”

The Black Knight briefly showed disgust at Gerard’s attitude of treating people as materials.

But it was only for a moment, and he soon agreed with a detached expression.

‘It’s ridiculous to despise them while cooperating with this work.’

There was no guilt in attacking the Ent village and capturing Ents to use as materials.

They weren’t the same species, so there was no need for guilt.

But kidnapping and using powerless, innocent humans as materials shook him a little.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel sympathy or guilt for the humans used as sacrifices.

But he had a goal he prioritized over those feelings.

‘My lord, Sylbeta, must become the next Grand Duke.’

If he became the next Grand Duke and led Sias, they could break the shackles that had bound Sias for centuries.

For that goal, he would sacrifice as many others as needed.

He would stain his hands with the blood of resentment.

He would ignore the screams of people and turn a blind eye to their deaths.

His lord was already walking such a path.

‘I am Sylbeta’s knight.’

A knight was just a tool of their lord.

If the lord commanded to fight, he would fight, and if the lord commanded to cut people down, he would cut them down.

He only needed to trust and follow his lord.

His eyes gleamed with determination.

‘If it is a dream that only a devil can achieve, then I shall become a devil.’

—

The depths of the Forest of Death.

It was a dangerous place forbidden to ordinary people.

Trees with deadly poison that could infect with just a touch.

Monsters carrying all kinds of poisons.

And even undead born from those who died there.

It was a place so perilous that even the residents of the slash-and-burn village, who lived in the Forest of Death, called it ‘the demon realm’ and avoided it.

Aden entered such a place, guided by Ets.

“I’m sorry for being a burden….”

“No, compared to my illness, you’re as light as a feather!”

Ets, who was carried on the back of the smiling Priestess Lunia, looked distressed.

The Ents were naturally very weak in stamina.

Because they were an Ent tribe with roots in trees, they led lives that didn’t involve much movement.

Taion asked Ets.

“Do we just keep going this way, Ets?”

“Yes, yes! The direction is correct.”

Slash!

Taion cut through the bushes blocking the way and made a path.

Originally, Aden had planned to take Ets and go alone.

But Taion vehemently opposed and insisted on coming along.

– How can I let you, who are not even from our territory, take on such a dangerous task! No! If you’re going, take me with you!

Priestess Lunia also tagged along under the pretext of fulfilling a protection request.

Although, Aden felt it was more because she found it interesting.

Taion ordered the elite knights to stay behind and protect the villagers.

When Aden stepped up to lead by example, the knights were moved to tears.

“To think he would step up for a matter not even related to his territory!”

“To judge a man solely by rumors… Ah, what kind of person am I!”

As the saying goes, ‘Birds of a feather flock together.’

The knights of Sedus, like Taion, were simple and emotional.

Leaving behind Lowe, who was determined to guard even to the ends of hell, they set off.

“Aden, I will protect you….”

“You’re weak. Just stay here and wait.”

“…”

Currently, Lowe’s skill was at the level of Sword Resonance.

It was a remarkable achievement for his age, but among the knights present, he was the weakest.

Aden’s blunt truth left Lowe hurt and behind.

Lowe then firmly resolved, ‘I must become stronger to protect Aden!’ but Aden was unaware of this.

Anyway, thus, Aden, Taion, Priestess Lunia, and Ets entered the depths of the Forest of Death together.

The depths were filled with poison so strong that even breathing the air for a long time could cause poisoning.

Thus, Aden, Taion, and Priestess Lunia had wrapped cloth soaked in Holy Potion around their mouths.

Ets, being from the Ent tribe adapted to the Forest of Death, had a natural resistance to the poison and was unaffected.

Ets, who was on Lunia’s back, warned.

“Ah, be careful. From here, we pass through a colony of poisonous spiders! Once we pass through here, we’ll reach the crater.”

As Ets warned, the deeper they went, the thicker the miasma became, and they could feel the presence of monsters all around.

“It’s amazing you managed to escape through such a place.”

“It’s thanks to our tribe’s unique abilities.”

The Ents had excellent stealth and blending abilities in the forest.

This allowed them to evade the monsters and, despite their weak stamina, escape from pursuers.

Only Ets succeeded in escaping because their tracking skills were equally excellent.

Soon, the bushes rustled, and monsters appeared.

-Screeech!

-Squeee!

With eight legs and dozens of compound eyes, covered in thick, grotesque hair, and hideous fangs.

Giant poisonous spiders.

They were monsters that had evolved to adapt to the environment of the Forest of Death, storing deadly poison in their venom sacs and living in colonies.

“Taion, I’ll handle the right side, you take the left.”

“Got it.”

As a starving giant poisonous spider, seeing prey, charged at Aden’s group with its fangs bared.

Pop!

Aden leaped towards them first, swinging his sword.

Slash!

Two spiders were cut down in one strike, their segments scorched by Aden’s fiery Sword Aura.

Several other spiders had their limbs cut off just from the impact.

“Hyaaah!”

On the left, Taion shouted and fought the spiders.

Hissss!

One spider sprayed venom.

“Not on my watch!”

Taion narrowly dodged the venom, and the tree it hit foamed and melted.

Meanwhile, he thrust his sword into the spider’s maw.

Though he lagged behind the Semi-Master Aden, Taion was still an outstanding high-ranking Sword Aura knight.

He was smoothly slaughtering the spiders.

Meanwhile, one spider managed to slip past the formidable duo.

The spider, realizing it couldn’t handle the strong Aden and Taion, targeted the seemingly weaker Ets and Lunia.

-Squee!

The spider jumped, baring its fangs.

Thud.

The spider’s head exploded.

Drip.

Priestess Lunia stood holding a morning star, spider fluid dripping from it.

She wiped the spider fluid from her cheek and smiled brightly.

“Heehee! You shouldn’t underestimate us, spider friends!”

‘Sc-scary…’

Ets, on Lunia’s back, turned pale.

In the eyes of an Ent, they were formidable warriors, if not as powerful as Aden.

The leaves on Ets’s head trembled in fear.

But at the same time, he felt a sense of relief.

These strong warriors were allies against those who had destroyed his village.

Hope glimmered in Ets’s heart.