The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

Ainzel looked up at the sky.

Should I call it a reunion? Even looking at it again, it was truly unbelievable. A feeling of half awe and half fear, wondering if such a creature could exist.

Just by appearing, the sky seemed to go dark. His entire body was screaming to let his opponent know the gap between him and himself, to let them know that he could never win.

‘…under.’

Ainzel was dumbfounded. Even though he had already lost his sense of pain, he still had some instinct left and it was affecting him like this.

But Ainzel did not tremble or waver in fear. Instead, he looked calmly at Grandis.

Black hair and red eyes. All demons have black hair and red eyes, but this is the first time I’ve seen hair that black.

Her hair, which seemed to be woven from the night sky, gently swayed in the wind, and in contrast, Grandis’s skin was extremely white and pale. It looked like the moon floating in the night sky, but unfortunately, I had no time to admire her appearance.

Because Grandis’s aura was quite ominous.

“Haa… I personally participated in the warrior’s tricks, but the warrior still hasn’t shown his face. Don’t you think it’s rude?”

Ainzel said nothing. The holy sword in his hand seemed to be shaking.

We’ve succeeded in luring Grandis. Now all that’s left is to buy time.

I could feel the soldiers’ bodies trembling. Could they buy time? Against this monster?

But the question wasn’t whether you could, but whether you should.

Ainzel looked at the soldiers around him.

Each and every one of them was an elite soldier counted among the best in the empire.

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that they were brought in for this operation.

Ainzel bit his lip. The soldiers began to infuse magic into their shields, creating a force field.

It seemed like a clash was about to break out at any moment. But Grandis began to yawn in that situation.

“Haam, so the warrior won’t come out until the end, is that right?”

It was a natural thing. If Ainzel were to step forward, Grandis would likely satisfy his curiosity about Ainzel and then kill all the other soldiers.

So here I had to endure. No matter what happened, I had to endure it.

If Grandis set their mind to it, no matter how hard they tried to stop them, they would all be wiped out in the end, but if they could just buy time, it would be a good thing.

The only silver lining is that there was an unspoken agreement between Grandis and Ainzel.

Ainzel deliberately exposed his location and threw an invitation to Grandis, and Grandis accepted Ainzel’s invitation.

If he had thought sensibly, he would have wiped out the remaining army that had been completely exhausted by Malecidus rather than accepting Ainzel’s offer, which may or may not contain a trap.

But the moment Grandis made an unreasonable and reckless decision instead of a common-sense one, he was effectively giving up his right to kill the soldiers and his right to escape the trap.

Grandis maintained his arrogance to the end, as someone who was one level above others, thinking, ‘I have no fear of human traps, and no matter what they do, it’s none of my business.’

That’s why Ainzel was confident. If he stayed still, he could buy time.

And the idea worked. The soldiers remained in a state of standoff, and Grandis did not engage in indiscriminate slaughter as expected. He simply watched them with a look of helplessness.

And then the silence was broken.

“…If you act like that, there’s nothing I can do, warrior.”

Phew!

A soldier was pierced from head to spine by a black spear, transforming into a skewer-like figure.

There was no time to even react.

I just closed my eyes and when I opened them I saw a person skewered vertically, bleeding from the eyes and nose.

“Well, what do you think? If you, warrior, don’t reveal yourself, I’ll start killing these people one by one. Of course, I won’t kill you because I’m somewhat interested in it, but if you’re having fun like this, why should I tolerate it?”

After saying that, Grandis made an “Ah” sound and smiled seductively.

“Of course, even if you don’t come out like this, you won’t die. That’s because this spear is called the ‘Spear of Selection.’ It’s a spear that only kills those who don’t have divine powers… But you do have divine powers, don’t you?”

Grandis pouted her lips and smiled coldly when she realized that no one was answering her question.

“Okay, if that’s the case… which one should I choose?”

As Grandis said that, he realized that the warrior was just stalling for something. It wouldn’t be bad to catch the warrior, but it wouldn’t be bad to experience the warrior’s elaborate tricks once.

It was a human trap anyway. He didn’t think that he would die just because he was hit by something like that. Malekidus was unable to use black magic, but he couldn’t possibly abuse that ability.

Moreover, even if she could no longer use her black magic, it would only be the black magic within her body, and she had prepared for a situation where her black magic would be depleted.

Rather than taking the wave head-on, I will not be swept away. Likewise, although I will willingly enter a trap, I will not think of escaping.

Her only interest was in what tricks the warrior used and what methods he used to trap her.

‘Haha, I’m looking forward to it. I wonder what you’re wasting your time for.’

If you’re doing this just to hope for something trivial like increased hospital power, I’ll kill you all, warriors and all.

And while Grandis was thinking that, a chain of light shot up into the sky from behind.

“what?”

Grandis watched the chain of light rising into the sky. It was magic, and it was a very sturdy structure.

“This… I can’t help it.”

And while she was thinking that and looking closely at the chains of light, one by one, the chains rose into the sky.

A huge number of magical chains shot up into the sky, and they all began to bind Grandis’ body.

“…Amazing.”

Grandis muttered that without realizing it. No matter how much he thought about it, it was an incredible magic that was hard to believe was created by a mere human.

And then, the wizards who created the magic appeared through teleportation.

They were the wizards of the magic tower.

“Everyone! Pour your magic towards Grandis!”

Grandis looked at the blue-haired wizard who was speaking like that.

Feria. The next tower lord of the Magic Tower.

Hundreds of wizards appeared around her.

“…I thought it wasn’t normal to create this much magic remotely, but… I never thought this many magicians would show up.”

Grandis looked with interest at the structure of the chains that bound him.

“There must have been a medium, but what could it be… Yes, the Holy Sword. It’s the Holy Sword.”

Numerous spells were aimed at Grandis.

“Even if Malecidus can do something, he must find a way to stop Grandis.”

Ainzel frowned as he said that. No matter how much he thought about it, he didn’t think he could stop that worst witch, but he still had to think of a way.

Eventually he came to the conclusion that he had to borrow the strength of others, and he went to see the Emperor.

“Could you lend me some of your elite soldiers?”

The emperor frowned and said.

“You’re saying you’re going to pour your elite troops all over Calethion? Why would you do something like that? It’s just pouring water into a bottomless pit.”

“We need elite soldiers to buy time for Grandis.”

“So why do we have to deploy such troops? Even if you know my weakness, it’s useless to simply use those precious soldiers as the warrior’s guards-”

“It can bring victory.”

Victory. The emperor could not believe his ears at such an absurd word.

“What do you mean… it can bring victory to all of Calethion?”

“Yes. Somehow.”

The Emperor doubted those words, but he felt tempted by the sweet words of victory.

It’s not just any other place, it’s the entire Calesion. The importance is infinitely high, but the probability of defeat is also extremely high, and we have invested a lot, so we can’t retreat carelessly. But, you think we can win just by giving up a few elite soldiers?

The emperor had no choice but to take the sweet bait.

The next place Ainzel visited was Peria.

“Peria, we need the power of the Magic Tower.”

“The power of the magic tower? Why?”

When Peria asked, Ainzel’s face hardened and he said.

“Because we must bring victory throughout Calethion.”

“What is that…”

At Ainzel’s words, Peria shook her head and said.

“Haa, I am the next Lord of the Magic Tower. I am not the one who controls the Magic Tower. Until I become the official Lord of the Magic Tower… I guess you could say the elders of the Magic Tower control the Magic Tower.”

Ainzel looked at Peria and said.

“Then can I ask the elders? We need wizards. Enough to subdue Grandis.”

“What? How do you subdue Grandis!”

“We will lure Grandis to a place we have prepared in advance and fight him.”

“…Then it may be possible… but how do we get Grandis involved?”

Ainzel smiled and said.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll catch on.”