The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP6. Cataclysm

The Black Knight’s sword was blocked. Just once. Just once was the number of times Sein could block his sword.

The Black Knight tried to blow away Saint. Ainzel hurled flames at the Black Knight, and he tried to ignore the flames with his self-defense weapon.

However, in that fleeting moment, no matter how strong your self-defense is, it is an instinct as a living being that cannot be ignored.

A very brief moment of hesitation, less than a second.

A flinch, a single tremble, and the arrow flew.

It was Lena’s. The arrow hit his sword, and the black sword flew out of the knight’s hand and into the air.

“…Yes, the fairy’s child was sensitive to sounds. Even more so than I was. I think I… overlooked that.”

The black knight took the sword strikes of the saint with his armored hands and feet. However, without a weapon, no matter how strong one was, it was difficult to deal with an opponent with a weapon.

‘Your swordsmanship is useful. Your physical ability is nothing special compared to mine, but the swordsmanship engraved on your body is first-class. It would be reckless to try to deal with first-class swordsmanship with just your hands and feet.’

The black knight blocked Sein’s sword strike once more. Due to Sein’s swordsmanship emitting a bright light, scratches began to appear on his armor.

‘and….’

Ainzel continued to fire magic at him. Ainzel’s magic skills were barely on the level of a wizard, but even so, he was expert-level. He could cast simple magic spells indiscriminately.

‘I didn’t know that the warrior was so skilled as a battle wizard. He is different from a normal wizard. He knows a lot about actual combat.’

The black knight took the opportunity to fly towards the sword. If he could just grab the sword again, he had nothing to fear.

And then, Ainzel fired his magic once again.

The black knight dodged it easily.

And, that magic wasn’t aimed at the Black Knight from the beginning.

There was an explosion, and the sword flew further away.

“I… thought wrong. I should have prioritized the sword, even if it meant using self-defense equipment.”

Ainzel did not respond.

The dust cleared. The black knight was without his sword, and the warrior and his companions’ power was relatively intact.

The 4th Corps Commander of the Demon King’s Army. The Black Knight. The elder of all demons. Even Arin, who holds all sorts of titles, did not know that he would be pushed into this situation.

Feria teleported towards him.

“How dare you, you wizard!”

The Black Knight swung his fist at Feria, but Feria blocked it with a shield.

And then, Beatrice, who had recovered some of her divine power, began to move.

Of course, because of the Hammer of Light, I had used up almost all of my divine power, so no matter how much I squeezed out of my divine power, there was only one miracle I could use.

It was a window. Spears of light fell down.

“what!”

The black knight realized it was not an attack until he saw the arrangement of the spears.

The spears made of light pierced the ground, transforming into spears and bars to imprison their opponents.

And then, an arrow was seen flying between them, carrying out the black knight’s mission.

An arrow with a steel core. Lena fired an arrow at the black knight’s neck.

The black knight barely managed to block it with his self-defense weapon.

But that’s it.

The Black Knight no longer had any black magic left.

The warrior and his companions were also almost out of energy, but there was a difference between almost running out of energy and completely running out of energy.

“…I lost.”

“Yes, you lost. Black Knight Arin.”

As Ainzel aimed his sword, the old demon twisted his face into a smile.

“Damn, damn those human and fairy children… I never thought I’d be defeated by children.”

Ainzel never let his guard down against his opponent until the very end.

As Ainzel and Sein aimed their swords at the Black Knight, the Black Knight finally lowered his head.

That was when.

The sound of countless footsteps could be heard.

The fortress gate opened.

The demons were returning to their fortress once again.

Ainzel realized, “Oh no,” that time had passed too quickly.

“It seems that the god you humans speak of has abandoned you, children.”

The black knight smiled brightly.

A large number of demon soldiers. With my remaining strength almost depleted, there were just so many soldiers before my eyes that I couldn’t deal with them.

“…Fuck.”

Ainzel bit his lip. Sein also looked bewildered.

“Hey you! Alcimedus! Hurry up and kill the children of humans!”

The black knight shouted. The second-in-command of the legion, named Alcimedus, drew his sword and began to rush at Ainzel, Sein, and Feria.

Lena and Beatrice, who were in the rear, somehow managed to escape to the top of the wall, but Ainzel, Sein, and Feria didn’t even have a wall to escape to.

Ainzel thought.

Should I just give up like this?

Objectively speaking, it was hopeless. The sight of the enemy’s legion commander still alive and countless demons surrounding them was enough to make anyone feel hopeless.

Ainzel began to think that it might be more beneficial to die at this point and then think about where he went wrong.

“What are you absent-minded about!”

Until Feria grabbed him and dragged him away.

“Either you run away, or you prepare to fight, you have to do something. What are you doing? You have to live!”

Only then did Ainzel come to his senses. His arms and legs were still intact. There might still be a way.

Ainzel looked at the enemy.

There was no sign of fighting anywhere. No wounds, no damaged equipment, not even a drop of blood from the Imperial Army. Nothing.

It meant that the Demon King’s army had lost control of the Imperial Army.

And the Imperial Army was to head towards this fortress again if the Demon King’s Army lost sight of the Imperial Army.

Yeah, a little bit. If I just stalled for a little bit, I might have found a way to win.

At least it would buy us time until the Imperial forces arrived at this fortress again.

So how do we buy time…

Ainzel ran out.

He ran towards the black knight.

“Does this body look easy? You’re a human child.”

The Black Knight caught Ainzel and incapacitated him with his bare body, without using any black magic.

But even that was intentional.

The situation where the hero was captured. The hero’s companions had almost used up all their strength, and the Demon King’s army was covering the entire castle.

Yes, it’s a moment when anyone can’t help but let their guard down.

Perhaps, if I had been in good health, I might not have let my guard down. However, if I was physically and mentally exhausted and a very advantageous situation arose, it would have been natural for anyone to let their guard down.

Feria squeezed out her last bit of magic power and ‘teleported’.

Yes, I teleported Sein behind the black knight who had no hands to hold onto Ainzel.

The black knight’s neck was pierced.

The oldest commander in the Demon King’s army has died.

“Yeah! Ainzel, how did you get the idea to run towards the commander in that moment?”

Sein said, patting Ainzel’s head once.

“well.”

Ainzel barely opened his mouth, his breathing still not returning to normal. As pathetic as it was, it was the only thing he could say, and to Sein, it didn’t matter.

“The commander has fallen! We must kill those humans quickly!”

The 4th Legion of the Black Knights naturally began to target Ainzel, who had killed the Legion Commander.

Without even knowing who the biggest threat is.

One person.

One person.

Another one. Countless demons were swept away by being hit by arrows.

“Wh, what!”

It was Lena. The demons didn’t know that even without magic, her arrows were still the most threatening.

“Fairy! Aim for the fairy first! She’s killing us with her arrows!”

The soldiers began to climb the walls and aim for Lena.

And then, the heads of those soldiers were blown off by the hammer.

Beatrice placed her staff in her subspace pocket and swung the hammer she had stored inside, taking the lives of the demons.

“Sledgehammer! Sledgehammer! The saint attacks with a sledgehammer!”

“…Do you normally use a hammer?”

Lena asked Beatrice. Lena was still polite to Beatrice.

Beatrice continued swinging her hammer as she spoke.

“Originally, handling a hammer was an essential virtue for a priest.”

Instead of saying anything, Lena simply accepted and pulled the bowstring.

And then, once again, the sound of footsteps was heard.

The imperial army returned to the fortress once again.

“Wow!”

“Let’s capture the fortress! Now is the perfect opportunity!”

The Imperial Army quickly entered the fortress with its gates open and began attacking the Demon King’s forces, while the Hero’s companions assisted them.

Ainzel finally felt that he had won.

It was the first victory achieved without a single death.

Ainzel felt his heart pounding as he continued to attack the demons.

As the last demon finally fell, the imperial army roared.

As the Demon King’s army fell, most of the Imperial Army also died. However, they eventually succeeded in recapturing the fortress in this rugged mountain range.

“I won. I fucking won….”

Lena spoke to Ainzel.

Ainzel answered her.

“…I’m glad I survived.”

What a relief, Ainzel thought at that moment.

Ainzel was seeing things that he shouldn’t have seen.

“…uh?”

The gray soldiers.

I could see the nightmare soldiers swarming in.