The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

Dealing with Malecidus did not mean the end of the matter. Rather, there were still beings on the battlefield who could be said to be equal to or greater than Malecidus.

Grandis. He was a uniquely powerful black magician in the entire world.

There was even talk that he was superior to the Demon King in the realm of black magic, and it was Grandis who achieved great feats greater than Malecidus with his overwhelming power.

The knights who were to face Grandis had already exhausted all of their divine power in the battle with Malekidus. The remaining soldiers did not have the strength to face Grandis.

But that doesn’t mean there was no hope.

Grandis doesn’t use his full power on the battlefield.

To be exact, he doesn’t give his all when he doesn’t want to.

Ainzel saw Grandis as having a rather monstrous behavioral principle. He could not understand why she would only pursue her own interests and suffer disadvantages or intentionally not exert her power on the battlefield. Ainzel did not have the capacity to endure disadvantages, nor did he have the confidence to survive without exerting his power.

However, Grandis was fundamentally different from Ainzel from the start. He had never been weak in his entire life, and he had never regretted his own helplessness.

In terms of birth, talent, body, and soul, she was already at the top of the class among the demons of the Middle-Earth. All she had was boredom and caring for herself and those who had followed her family for generations.

And now, her subordinates were also at home base, and the word responsibility was already far away from her.

All she had now was interest.

That’s why Grandis didn’t bother to attack the soldiers. He knew that they would die anyway with just a wave of his hand.

Grandis said with a smile on his face.

“Where are you… I can’t see you very well.”

Grandis looked around calmly, even though he had landed in the middle of the human soldiers, as if the spear-wielding bunkers were not even visible.

The soldiers unconsciously gripped the spears in their hands as if they were their only lifeline.

However, they knew best that it was not something they could do. A creature that was quite different from seeing a strong enemy, literally on a completely different biological level. They did not drool at its beautiful appearance, nor did they show pride in its reputation. They were just afraid. The soldiers were infected with a fear that covered their bodies.

Even the Paladins were no exception.

Of course, Malecidus also reacted in that way, but the pressure he felt from Grandis was even greater.

How can such a strong aura be emitted from such a small body?

The knights were inwardly astonished, but they had no choice but to hold on to their hammers and shields.

“Where are you?”

Grandis continued to look for Ainzel, his head tilted back and forth.

And then, one paladin, unable to overcome the pressure in that situation, ran and aimed his hammer at Grandis.

Grandis simply snapped her fingers without even looking at him.

And then, the Paladin literally evaporated without a trace.

“Hey, where are you? Are you going to play hide-and-seek?”

Grandis thought for a moment, then flew up into the sky again and snapped his fingers.

A huge net began to spread across the sky.

Ainzel hid among the soldiers and watched a black net spread across the sky. If he touched that net, Grandis would probably find out his location, and if that happened, there was a high chance that he would be killed by Grandis again.

Ainzel moved the holy sword far away and then stood as far away from Grandis as possible.

The Holy Sword was in the opposite position to Ainzel, so even if it was Grandis, it would be able to buy a few seconds.

A few seconds. A few seconds would have been enough.

Ainzel prepared to activate the artifact attached to his wrist.

It was an artifact that had teleportation magic engraved on it in advance. Although it had the disadvantage of being disposable and only being able to teleport to places that had already been engraved, it was enough to get away from that place.

But there were a few problems. First of all, if Ainzel escaped the battlefield first, there was no way to know what Grandis would do to the remaining soldiers. To put it bluntly, he could kill all of them with just a few claps. In that situation, Ainzel had to use a trick.

To give Grandis hope that she can still catch him. Teleporting to a relatively close place where she thinks she can catch him, but where she thinks that if she misses him once, she will never catch him again. It was a decision that could be made because she was certain that Grandis would unconditionally prioritize herself over the front lines.

Another big problem is that the moment Ainzel activates the artifact, there is a high probability that Grandis will sense it and incapacitate him within those few seconds.

That’s why Ainzel was looking for a way to get attention.

When the net of black magic reached the Holy Sword that Ainzel had moved in advance, he unleashed the divine power that had been stored inside the Holy Sword.

Divine power is in conflict with black magic, and if the two come into contact, it is bound to explode.

There was a small explosion, and Grandis’s gaze was drawn to it. Her net had been pierced by divine power.

And Ainzel didn’t miss that opportunity.

Grandis turned her head as soon as she felt the magic flowing.

Ainzel ignored it and teleported out of Grandis’ range.

Grandis frowned.

“…I missed it. Hehe.”

Grandis forced an eerie smile and looked at the soldiers left behind.

A force of about three thousand. Grandis looked at the force and tried to release his anger at losing the warrior, and aimed black magic at them.

With about three thousand, Grandis can be dealt with without difficulty.

It would take some time, but since I was already annoyed, I thought I would just deal with the humans like I was stepping on ants.

“Haa… I was wondering what you did to Malekidus.”

It was completely different from the functions of the holy sword that I had known until then. It was quite fun to fix the opponent’s black magic power to a depleted state. I was already curious about the warrior, so I planned to catch him, interrogate him, ask him questions, and dissect him, but I missed it…

Grandis felt regret and tried to prepare black magic, but at that moment, the holy sword that was left behind was teleported.

It wasn’t difficult for Grandis to figure out where the Holy Sword had been teleported to.

The problem was that the location was closer than expected, and no effort was made to hide the location of the Holy Sword’s teleportation.

Grandis realized the meaning contained within it.

‘Stop doing useless things and come to where I am. You want to catch me, right?’ It was a judgment that seemed to read Grandis’ mind.

Ainzel had used himself as bait to tell Grandis not to touch the soldiers. Of course, he had also figured out Grandis’s principle of behavior, which was that he would not care about the soldiers as long as he could catch him.

Grandis smiled, licking her lips seductively.

“Warrior… how funny. You’re taking this gamble on me.”

Most people would avoid it, calling it a trap, but traps meant nothing to Grandis. She had defeated the Lich King, one of the three great disasters of the continent, so there was no way a simple trap would mean anything to her.

That is why Grandis willingly accepted the courageous, arrogant, reckless, and somewhat coercive invitation that the warrior extended to him.

Grandis began to fly at incredible speed.

“I didn’t know you were capable of such a daring thing, even though you’re known for your strategies. Okay, I’m starting to get more interested. Let’s see what you’ve prepared.”

Ainzel took a moment to catch his breath.

“Good. Grandis will be here soon. You’d better prepare for battle in advance.”

As Ainzel’s voice echoed low, the soldiers became tense and gripped their weapons tightly.

“Well, then wouldn’t it be better to retreat?”

When a soldier asked Ainzel, Ainzel shook his head.

“No, that’s not true. Even if we retreated, it would have been meaningless.”

“Why, my lord?”

“that…”

The moment Ainzel was about to answer, a black shape was seen flying towards him at incredible speed.

Grandis smiled and said.

“Let’s see, where is the warrior?”

Ainzel continued speaking to the soldier.

“…Since Grandis has decided to catch us anyway, we’ll still be caught if we retreat.”