The Protagonists of Romance Fantasy Novels Have Escaped

152 – 152. The Cursed Ones (1)

The passage leading to the main gate of the Demon King’s castle opened.

The river, stained black.

Rushing beneath the arching grand road built above it.

The fierce icy winds emanating from the calamity of death surged forth. Despite boasting an extreme cold that could freeze even the soul, Edanant broke through the icy winds without hesitation and crossed over the main gate.

Go go go go go go-.

“Are those the vanguards protecting the Demon King’s castle? I knew they’d be here…!”

The moment he passed through the main gate,

The massive statues shaped like dragons began to move.

A defensive spell to repel intruders.

The eight statues standing to the left and right of the main gate spread their wings simultaneously.

“Damn it! If you’ve taken control of the Demon King’s castle, at least turn off the defensive spells…!”

Cursing the incompetent handling of the saint party that left the castle’s defenses intact, he unleashed the power of calamity.

Clack-.

Hundreds of flintlock guns aimed their muzzles.

Then, as the triggers were pulled, a thunderous gunfire erupted, attacking the dragon statues. As hundreds of bullets collided, the massive figures staggered.

Did I take them down? He refrained from uttering the cliché line.

Glaring at the defensive spells that had lost their balance and collapsed, he prepared for a second barrage of bullets. After all, as the vanguards protecting the Demon King’s castle, they would surely boast formidable defenses.

“…Damn it!”

He spat out a coarse curse.

The enormous dragons rose, as if to crush the hazy haze and dust.

Only small cracks had formed.

Despite being hit by the barrage of bullets, the eight statues remained unscathed.

Wooong.

The highest-level defensive magic permitted to the Grand Sorcerer of the 8th Circle.

The defensive magic granted to the artificially created dragons reached an astonishing six layers.

It is the ultimate realm recorded in the arcane arts.

If the Grand Sorcerers of the Mage Tower, who participated in the battlefield, had witnessed this spectacle, they would have praised it as the essence of magic, reserved only for the unparalleled sage.

Indeed, it is the magic of the sage.

The six layers of defensive magic served as a bulletproof barrier against the onslaught.

“Did you prepare this arrangement to protect Beatrice? You foolish, wretched fool! Consider the perspective of the intruders who must breach the defenses of the Demon King’s castle!”

No ordinary attack could penetrate the defensive magic.

The ultimate magic deployed by the Celestial Mage was akin to a calamity for those facing it.

It surely boasted unparalleled defensive power.

To subdue the vanguard of the Demon King’s castle blocking the entry, a maximum strike capable of piercing even the strongest defenses was necessary.

Kuuung──!!!

The massive dragons swung their forelimbs and tails, crashing down upon Edanant.

In response, Edanant leaped from the ground, reaching the high walls of the Demon King’s castle.

“I intended to save this until I encountered them…!”

Originally, he had planned to use it against the saintly party that had fallen to the minions of death.

However, upon clashing with the colossal dragons boasting extreme defensive power, he had to abandon that plan.

This was not the time to hold back his trump card.

As he gazed at the dragon, its mouth agape, revealing sharp teeth, he thought.

“Pierce through, bow of the heavens.”

Particles of misfortune gathered from all directions surged upward.

Eventually, the particles, undergoing division and convergence, formed the shape of a missile launcher.

A weapon designed to penetrate defenses.

Not a high-explosive bomb focused on destruction, but a missile equipped with shaped charges intended for penetration.

While it lacked the lethality of high-explosives, it was a weapon capable of instantly neutralizing defenses. As Edanant snapped his fingers, energy erupted, and the missiles were launched.

Thudaaang──!!

The missiles shot in a straight line, striking directly against the defensive magic shielding the dragons.

As the primary explosive embedded in the missile detonated, it rendered the defensive magic useless. Following that, the secondary explosive ignited, and the conical warhead, propelled by fierce explosive energy, pierced through the dragons’ armor.

Guuu

At the same time, the projectile that pierced through the gloves unleashed a fierce pressure, tearing apart the insides of the dragons until they were nothing but rags.

“This is the power of modern weaponry, you damned bespectacled fool!”

The once-mighty dragons collapsed into heaps of debris.

Edanant passed through the swirling dust and reached the interior of the Demon King’s castle.

‘The Demon King’s castle. I had seen its exterior from a distance… but this is my first time stepping inside.’

The first ornament to greet the invader, who had ruthlessly shattered the colossal vanguards, was a flag emblazoned with the emblem of the Demon King.

A rusted crown.

Two sharp scythes crossing each other.

The flags hanging all around harmonized with the red carpet adorned on the floor.

This was the stronghold of the conqueror who had seized the hegemony of the continent, opposing the Empire and the Holy Kingdom. The grand and imposing sight of the Demon King’s castle must have loomed over the saintly party, poised at the climax of their adventure, with an overwhelming presence.

“It’s all frozen in the cold and biting wind.”

Yet, the majesty of the Demon King, which had symbolized the wickedness of the world, was buried beneath snow and ice.

The biting wind had created a tundra of eternal frost.

Naturally, the interior of the Demon King’s castle, where the calamity of death was imprisoned, could not be unscathed.

It was in a state of ruin that was hard to believe had once adorned the climax of the tale. Stepping into the realm of the icy cold, Edanant exhaled white breath, feeling the weight of the Demon King’s downfall.

Creeeak-.

As he set foot on the stairs leading to the second floor, where the throne hall was located,

A creaking metallic sound echoed.

At that moment, the inner door, surrounded by frost, swung wide open.

“Edan!”

A woman clad in a black dress revealed herself.

Hair completely devoid of color.

Eyes as dark as foreboding shadows.

Though her appearance had changed significantly, it was undoubtedly the Second Saint Beatrice.

Edanant swallowed hard at the sight of Beatrice, who welcomed him with a bright smile.

“You are… not Beatrice. Who exactly are you?”

Not Beatrice.

And not the calamity of death released from its seal.

I don’t know.

I couldn’t gauge her identity at all.

A woman with flowing white hair approached, stepping gracefully as if she were a beauty reuniting with a long-lost lover, a captivating smile gracing her lips.

* * *

Aldebaran. Altair. Procyon. Hela.

The radiance of the one true god, manifested from the Four Sacred Swords of Demon Extermination, dispelled the blizzard.

A brilliant beam of light surged forth.

Witnessing this, Ludmila and Jebeline advanced towards the Demon King’s castle with their companions.

The sound of gunfire echoed in succession.

This indicated that Edanant, who had entered the castle first, was engaged in combat.

Facing the deathly retribution alone was a reckless choice. Ludmila and Jebeline hurriedly quickened their steps, eager to join Edanant as soon as possible.

—I’m going…! Beatrice, I won’t… let you go…!

An undead figure, clad in worn leather armor, blocked their path.

The Spirit Knight.

Among the undead belonging to the spirit realm, it was a being of the highest rank.

The commander, armed with numerous weapons, forbade the intruders from advancing. Feeling the heavy pressure enveloping them, Ludmila and Jebeline paused for a moment and prepared to respond.

“That undead is dangerous. It might even surpass me.”

“An undead that rivals the Seven Kingdoms… This will be no easy opponent.”

It was perilous.

They must not show any openings.

An extremely developed intuition continuously warned of danger.

Though they had faced countless adversaries until now, they had never felt such a sense of crisis. Thus, Ludmila and Jebeline, with their swords drawn, aimed at the slowly approaching undead and unleashed their full power.

Kwahwahwahng!!

The flames of tyranny, eternally burning the essence of life.

The lightning of famine that could annihilate a city in an instant.

The torrent of retribution surged towards the undead blocking the castle gate. The swirling maelstrom of retribution seemed poised to engulf the undead at any moment.

Chaang-.

The Spirit Knight drew both the b*stard sword and polearm it bore on its back.

“An undead? It doesn’t seem like a mere undead… Could it be a guardian of the deathly retribution?”

Querisa, who was facing the undead alongside the great sorcerers, raised her hand. It was to protect her employers as they entered the fray.

Whirr-.

From the air thick with cold, turquoise flames erupted.

The cursed beings, the undead, are vulnerable to the divine essence of the Creator God and to fire-based magic. Querysa, who could not have been unaware of this, attempted to erase the spirit rider with a large-scale ignition spell.

Boom—!!

“What, what is happening!”

Querysa screamed.

The pits of fire, waiting to descend, suddenly vanished like candles caught in a strong wind.

The magical energy fueling the spell was severed.

As if the powerful waves of a shockwave rendered electronic devices useless, a new magical force intervened, rendering the spell’s execution impossible.

It was absurd.

To dismantle the magic of the Tower of Sorcery, known as the pinnacle of sorcery.

A humiliation.

Could it be that I would be dispelled?

For a sorcerer, being dispelled was akin to having the very source of their accumulated magic denied. Thus, Querysa sought to uncover the identity of the one who had humiliated her while deploying a large-scale detection spell.

—I will not let you go…!

Following the spirit rider, a new undead emerged.

An emerald necklace adorned its neck.

A gray robe emblazoned with the symbol of the Tower of Sorcery.

The undead that revealed itself alongside the dispel was cloaked in flames of magical energy. The grand sorcerers who witnessed it recognized that a legendary being, the Archlich, recorded in ancient texts, had appeared.

—Beatrice, I will never let you go…!

Clatter.

The Archlich, wrapped in magical energy, moved its jaw and spoke.

“Son…? Could it be, Madven…?”

Facing him, Querysa gazed at the emaciated skull, her voice a hollow echo of despair.