The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 71

[Demonic Strategist]

< For a long time, the monsters in the Forest of Death maintained a balance among themselves. However, you disrupted that balance and caused a monster rush with your demonic scheme. >

—

“……”

Aden’s expression turned subtle as he confirmed the content of the achievement.

Is this mocking me?

Aden somehow felt that the system was mocking and rebuking his actions.

“They give achievements for anything.”

– It’s a perfect title for you. The system has a discerning eye.

“Shut up.”

He clicked his tongue and dismissed the achievement from his mind.

By the way, Taion almost died in the monster horde but miraculously escaped thanks to Priestess Lunia.

After that, he expressed his anger, shouting Aden’s name, but Aden had no idea.

—

In the midst of the sudden monster horde’s charge, while the warlocks and black knights were fighting back, Aden and Ets headed towards the cage where people and Ents were imprisoned.

The place where the kidnapped people were held was safe, as it was in the opposite direction of the monster wave.

“Ugh…”

A man, stabbed in the throat by Aden’s Baalzebul, let out a dying scream and perished.

The guy Aden had just killed was the last guard, and all had been dealt with by Aden.

Everyone was too preoccupied with the monsters to notice this side.

Upon entering, they found a prison where the captured people were held.

Despite Aden’s entrance, they stared blankly into space as if in a trance.

“Is this black magic?”

– They are under an illusion spell. It seems they cast it to prevent any escape. Since it is a simple black magic, it will soon wear off unless the caster periodically re-casts it. There might be some recent memory loss as a side effect, but it won’t have significant effects on their bodies.

“That’s somewhat fortunate.”

Going further inside, they found a cage where the Ents were confined.

“Who, who are you…?”

They were not under black magic and were wary of Aden’s appearance with clear minds.

– The Ent Tribe is generally born with the blessing of spirits. Therefore, unless it’s exceptionally strong black magic, most curses are repelled.

Just like how Aden’s system protects his mind and self.

There were about ten or so Ents, all with androgynous, beautiful appearances like Ets.

“Even adult Ents can’t be distinguished by gender.”

– Naturally. Ents are genderless.

“What? Wait, what does that mean?”

– Exactly what it sounds like. Ents have no gender distinction. Trees don’t typically have male and female, right? Though there are some exceptions.

Aden was dumbfounded.

He furrowed his brow, finding it incomprehensible.

“If they have no gender, how do they even reproduce?”

– Do you want to know?

“Never mind. Don’t.”

Aden shook his head.

It was beyond his understanding and something he didn’t want to comprehend.

“Everyone! I’m here!”

“Ets…? It’s Ets!”

“Oh, Ehad! Emuna!”

Seeing Ets, they dropped their guard and were surprised.

Ets briefly explained to the villagers, letting them know that Aden was on their side.

Swish! Creak!

Aden cut through the hinges of the iron gate with his Sword Aura and opened the door.

“We’re safe! Thank goodness!”

“We survived thanks to you.”

Ets rejoiced in reuniting with his clan.

However, the happy reunion was short-lived.

Ets’s expression stiffened as he counted the number of people who emerged from the prison.

There were only about ten Ents who came out from the iron bars.

“What about the others…?”

Ets remembered that there were nearly forty surviving Ents as of yesterday.

“……”

The Ents averted their gaze at Ets’s question.

That alone was enough for Ets to realize what had happened to the rest of the clan.

The Ent called Ehad confirmed it in a somber voice.

“We are the only ones left, Ets.”

“Ah…”

Ets’s leaves drooped sadly.

The Ents comforted Ets, who was downcast.

After a while, one of the Ents stepped forward and bowed deeply to Aden.

“Thank you for your help.”

“No need for thanks.”

He had only made a deal with Ets. There was no reason to receive gratitude.

“More importantly, I have a question for you all.”

At Aden’s words, all the Ents looked at him.

It was a question Aden had to ask.

“What exactly were they researching? Do you know anything?”

—

The black knight Dares and the warlocks, swept up in the monster rush, were fighting against the monsters.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

The head of a warlock who was struck by a blind punch from a Poison Ogre turned to mush, while another warlock, pierced by the venomous spike of a Venom Lizardman, turned blue and died instantly.

Death bloomed everywhere.

However, they did not fall victim to the monsters one-sidedly.

“Condemnation!”

Slash!

Dares Clayman sliced the Poison Ogre’s body in half with his Aura Threads.

“Summon skeletons!”

“Raise the dead!”

The warlocks cast black magic to assist the black knights.

“Rise from death!”

– Uwoooo!

On one side, dark magic was infused into the corpses of monsters, making them fight.

Necromancy, the art of controlling corpses, was particularly effective in such death-ridden environments.

Moreover, these monsters were not united by a common purpose from the beginning.

They had been gathered by Aden’s cunning(?) scheme and found themselves here by chance.

They were natural enemies, growling at each other whenever they met.

A Poison Ogre smashed the head of a Venom Lizardman with its fist.

A swarm of giant spiders clung to the Poison Ogre, tearing off its flesh.

The giant venomous spiders tangled with the Venom Lizardman, biting and tearing at each other.

Since the monsters fought indiscriminately against one another, the warlocks and Dares could somehow hold their own against more than a thousand monsters.

Eventually, nearly half of the monsters were killed.

However, the humans also suffered significant casualties.

Gerard sighed deeply in frustration.

“Damn it, more than half of us are down…”

Originally, there had been forty-five warlocks occupying the Ent village.

But after the battle with the monsters, only about twenty remained.

At this rate, continuing their research would be challenging.

Gerard trembled.

‘If we mess up and the boss gets disappointed… No! That can’t happen!’

There was only one way left—to complete the ‘gem.’

To do that, they had to use all the monster corpses and the humans and Ents they had captured to forcibly complete the gem quickly.

Though the efficiency might drop, it was the only way to meet ‘his’ expectations.

That ‘him,’ the leader of Chaos, the boss.

A great being revered like a god by the warlocks of Chaos.

They couldn’t afford to let such a noble command be ruined by this absurd monster wave.

A vicious glint appeared in Gerard’s eyes.

“Everyone, use all your strength to kill the monsters! Leave none alive!”

The warlocks and black knights fought even more fiercely against the monsters.

Countless monsters died, their blood forming rivers that flowed into a lake.

The thick mana in the blood also dissolved into the lake.

Blood is the essence that contains the mana and life force of a creature.

The mana and life force gradually sank deeper into the water.

And there it lay.

A colossal skeleton that could only be described as the remains of a dragon.

A Basilisk.

The very creature that had created the current Forest of Death and had been in a long slumber between life and death for centuries.

But the intense, bloody mana stimulated it.

Shrrrrk!

The Basilisk’s heart absorbed the mana spreading through the water at a furious pace.

Even though it was halfway to death, it greedily absorbed the mana without abandoning its greed.

Thump.

The cold heart of the slumbering Basilisk began to beat.

Magic power spread through its entire body, restoring it.

Crack, crack.

New flesh grew between its bones, and severed tissues reconnected.

The Basilisk, which had been half skeleton, quickly regained its form.

Finally…

Flash.

Its eyes opened.

The eyes of a snake that couldn’t hide its ferocity and malice.

Rumble.

“The ground, the ground is shaking!”

“What’s happening now?”

“Wait, everyone, look over there!”

They looked at the blood-stained lake, where the surface was unnaturally rippling.

Boom!

Something shot up from the middle of the volcanic lake like a waterspout.

The water spray from the eruption rained down everywhere.

As the water settled, its form became visible.

– Krrrrr….

Sharp, venomous green scales, and crown-like horns on its head.

It was a massive snake, deserving of the title of king.

Over ten meters in size, it was a presence that oppressed all beasts.

The ruler of the Forest of Death, the Basilisk.

A tyrant known as the king of venomous snakes.

Those who looked up at it from below, whether monster or human, were frozen.

Dares Clayman, who always had a calm expression…

“…Shit.”

Unconsciously let out a curse.

The Basilisk looked down with eyes full of hunger.

There was plenty of prey.

The Basilisk, which had been asleep for many years, was consumed by one thought that paralyzed its reason.

‘Hungry.’

– Kyaaaah!

The Basilisk roared, announcing its resurrection.

—

At that moment, Aden heard the roar from afar and smiled coldly.

“Finally, it has awakened.”

By now, the place should be in ruins after experiencing a monster rush.

And in that state, the appearance of a Basilisk, a creature that only a Sword Master could deal with, and that a semi-master would need to risk their life to fight, had emerged.

He could imagine the look of utter despair on their faces.

He felt the intense fluctuations of aura, mana, and dark magic.

It was the aura of a fierce battle between the Basilisk and those people.

They would either be annihilated or, if lucky, only a few would survive.

‘This is what you call pulling strings without lifting a finger, “using one enemy against another.”‘

– It’s just that you are sly and vicious. What ‘using one enemy against another.’

Aden ignored Curse’s nonsense and asked the Ents.

“Is this the place? Their research lab?”

While the warlocks were fiercely fighting the Basilisk, Aden decided to raid their research lab.

They had some time to spare.

Aden headed towards the lab with Ets and a few Ents.

‘The rest of them should be taken care of by Taion and Lunia.’

Aden left the people who had been imprisoned in the care of Taion, who had finished his role of herding the monsters—though he was glaring at Aden with gritted teeth—and Priestess Lunia.

Though Priestess Lunia was somewhat unreliable, Taion would be too busy taking care of his own people.

“Yes! This is the place, benefactor!”

“Stop calling me benefactor. My name is Aden.”

“Yes, benefactor Aden!”

“…”

These tree ents had an odd stubbornness about using the term ‘benefactor.’

The Ent village was built by weaving dead branches on trees or hollowing out large trees to make houses inside.

The warlocks’ research lab was in the basement of the largest hollow tree house in the village.

As they descended to the basement, Ent Emuna shivered and said,

“They said they were using us as materials to make some kind of gem.”

A gem? He couldn’t guess what it was.

Surely, they wouldn’t be doing something as insane as making actual gems.

They descended the stairs to the underground lab.

“My God!”

“This is horrible…”

“Ugh…”

The Ents turned pale and some even vomited at the sight.

The place looked like a butcher shop, or something straight out of hell.

There were bodies of people cut into pieces hanging from chains all over, with bloodstains, corpses, and strange, grotesque experimental tools everywhere.

However, Aden was used to this, having hunted down many warlocks in his past life.

He looked around and murmured,

“I don’t see any bodies of the Ents.”

– The bodies of the Fairy Tribe revert to mana and disperse after a certain time. Not a drop of blood is left.

Thanks to Curse’s explanation, Aden understood why there were no bodies of the Fairy Tribe.

So, what were they making with the live Ents?

‘I don’t see any prominent results of their experiments.’

There were many miscellaneous items, but nothing particularly noteworthy.

However, it was unlikely that there was really nothing.

In such cases, the important core would be hidden deeper inside.

‘Warlocks always hide the most important things in the most secret places.’

Aden closed his eyes and focused his senses.

Then he saw things that were invisible to the naked eye.

“Here it is.”

Aden immediately slashed at a wooden wall with his condensed Aura Threads.

Slash! Slash, slash!

The wooden wall shattered into pieces, revealing a hidden space.