Stray

“We’re almost there.”

Jesse sniffed the air and wagged his tail to the other side of his body.

“The arrangement of the temporary teleportation array has been completed. However, once the magic array is activated, even if we don’t activate it, the shortest-acting material can only remain valid for five hours… Mr. Ramon and Mr. Light have been fighting for more than seven hours. Maybe we should finish it later.”

“Don’t worry, love. They’re not going to dawdle and make fools of themselves in such matters. Surely they will act for real. Wait for my signal. After all, we have to send these two to the surface before we can slip away.”

Jesse huffed his moist nose.

“I wonder how our Godwin Lopez is progressing now?”

Not far from the center of the city.

Godwin Lopez’s heart was blank, but it wasn’t in a bad way.

In addition to the strength of the fighters themselves, the real battle was influence by countless factors— From the environment, weapons and equipment, the possible follow-up effects of war, and the humidity of the air, mood, and tension.

Individual combat power was just a simple part of this complex formula.

This was Godwin Lopez first time exposed to such a battle.

There was no hatred, no worries, and no terrible responsibility to shoulder. He only needed to control the team in the right position, and at the same time attract the attention of the so-called “Demon King” in front of him.

Even if he knew in advance that what was in front of him was not the real Demon King, he couldn’t help but get serious.

For the first time since entering the Abyss, Godwin’s blood began to boil. No longer needed to look forward and think about other things. Those intricate situations, the worrying past and future, all disappeared in his mind at this moment.

Along the way, he did have a headache because of Oliver’s and Debby’s undisguised beaming, but if that was the price of joining this battle, it was quite worth it.

The body of the holy sword, which had cut the Demon King twice, trembled. The strange beast in front of him let out an earth-shattering roar. The green feathers on the edge of its black wings cut four dazzling arcs of light in the dim battlefield.

The most powerful and… safest enemy in the world.

This wasn’t for others. It wasn’t a task, but just to “help”. He finally left everything in the world behind and the unprecedented sense of peace and happiness wrapped around Godwin.

It was just a simple, unforgettable battle.

He didn’t know if it was Nemo Light’s advance arrangements as all the attention of the “Lord of Illusion” was focused on Godwin. The rest of the members of the expeditionary force rarely attacked as only the strongest of humans could withstand such a concentrated attack…

An attack spell grazed his body, and the sharp blade that counterattacked opened its scales. Godwin no longer had time to think about “What he looked like”. He only knew that the blood was rushing to his head and every one of his pores was dilating. His body was freed from his mental shackles, and he felt as light as feather.

The sword in his hand had never been so obedient to command. The pains that ran through his life were thus brought to a close and relegated into memories one by one.

He was simply enjoying it, and Godwin couldn’t help but feel ridiculous.

Behind him, the dragons returned to their original size one after another and continued to bombard the relatively soft abdomen of the strange beast with magic, helping him control the “Demon King” in a certain area. Debby used magic to support an extremely strong protection. The shiny green barrier protected the weakest parts of the army to ensure that he wouldn’t be distracted by the safety of the people below.

The elves surrounded the outermost side to ensure that the golems wouldn’t disrupt the army’s formation. The one-eyed dwarves jumped around and laid brief forbidden magic arrays at the feet of the Demon King, eliminating the possibility of the Demon King summoning giant golems.

All races performed their duties and formed a huge orchestra with blades and spells as musical instruments, playing a symphony of blood and fire without any chaos.

The soldiers looked at their leader, the strongest human in Horizon like a conductor. The orange-red light that broke out around Godwin Lopez’s body almost turned into gold, devouring the waves of incoming darkness…

Even if the enemy was outrageously terrifying, perhaps… they could survive and win.

It wasn’t until the scenery began to change rapidly that Godwin realized that the “Demon King” in front of him was retreating towards the center of the city.

[Nemo planned everything in the city.] Oliver’s voice in his memories awakened him from that wonderful sense of happiness. [His creation has no thoughts. Perceiving Nemo’s weakness, it will instinctively retreat towards the center of the city.]

[At the moment when Nemo is “dying”, I will do my best to trigger a power impact, so that his body… Uh, so it would think the Demon King is dead and there would be a, uh, moment of relaxation. With the power of Jesse and Adri, they can make a very powerful teleportation spell to the surface, and they can teleport me and nemo out at that moment.]

[Let’s not mention all the “uh’s” you been saying or how bullshit the whole middle part of your plan sounds, especially since it looks like you’re just making it up on the spot.] That was what he responded at that time. [What about the expeditionary force? What are you going to do about them?]

[Nemo has already calculated it. With the guidance of Telaranea, you’ll have time to return to the teleportation array the same way.]

[What about your companions?]

[Telaranea will bring my horse and goat back. Jesse and Adri are strong, and they can leave on their own. As a demon, Bagelmaurus only needs to fly away from the bottom of the abyss in advance.]

[One more question, if you take Light away, what will happen to the fake Demon King Light made?]

[It will disintegrate.]

[Then the expeditionary force will think I killed it, right?]

[Uh, yes. But this is not something I can decide on my own, so I want to discuss this with you—]

[I refuse.] Godwin shook his head firmly. [I don’t need this fame, and let you follow your father’s path doing the same thing. Since the fake Demon King will retreat to the center of the dead city by itself, you should have time to finish it off before you leave. I want this as part of our cooperation.]

And this cooperation was finally about to begin.

The soldiers in the expedition weren’t like sheep who would follow the leader. With the battle underway and the “nineteenth generation” in front of them so terrifyingly powerful, the fighting style was much more defensive, and they couldn’t help but constantly retreat.

Although the battle in front of them was approaching to a hot point, many people’s attention began to turn to the direction of the Demon King’s retreat, attracted by the abnormal energy radiating from the center of the dead city.

The elves who like to act in groups of two or three had already risen into the air, trying to discern what the ominous ball of energy expanding outward from the center of the dead city was. Several Gatekeepers had even left the team and marched towards the center on their own.

It should be time.

Godwin, who had been attracting most of the attention of the “Demon King”, avoided a black flame, waved his sword in his hand, and severed one of the wings on the beautiful creature. The strange beast in front of him let out a roar, raised its other wings while spraying out black blood, and finally rushed towards the city.

However, everyone in the expeditionary force weren’t overwhelmed by the immediate victory in front of them. The representative of various races wouldn’t be stupid enough to quarrel at this time. With almost no casualties, the soldiers gathered together more cautiously and didn’t break their formation.  

Horizon, as the vanguard, chased at the fastest speed. After more than ten minutes, all the troops rushed to the middle of the dead city and were immediately held firmly in place by the scene in front of them.

The nineteenth generation Demon King was collapsing.

The huge beast gradually melted in the literal sense, and the hard black scales turned into a thick black liquid.

It was stepping on a huge, unseen magic array under its feet. There was vigorous surface magic power running in the magic array, and the brilliance of the magic array was becoming stronger. Perhaps the Demon King’s weakness was due to this magic array. The dazzling white brilliance swallowed all the dark shadows laid by the Demon King.

Near the Demon King, Godwin Lopez seemed exhausted, and half knelt on the ground.

Oliver Lopez was holding a figure tightly in his left hand, with a weird smile on his face, and the aura around him could be described as terrifying. The ominous brilliance on the bone sword in his right hand became stronger as if it was another Demon King.

The young Debby Light suddenly covered her mouth with both hands, and a little tear flashed in her eyes. There were a few curious Gatekeepers who wanted to get close, but they were overwhelmed by the aura that they couldn’t move.

Whatever that move was, it must’ve accumulated to its limit.

“No!” someone subconsciously shouted. “This bastard wants—”

Unfortunately, that simple shouting couldn’t stop what happened next.

A beam of light shot out.

An uncomfortable gray light penetrated the head of the “Lord of Illusion”, and the Demon King’s huge body stagnated in place. Just like the countless previous Demon Kings in legends, it began to collapse rapidly, turning into a translucent black liquid, releasing countless miasma.

It stood to reason that now the expeditionary force should leave here immediately and look for the bone jade that would appear nearby.

But no one cheered, no one cried, and no one could even recover.

Compared with the previous months of battles, this time the expedition only lasted for about a day. It went too smoothly, as if it was a trap, and no one subconsciously was willing to buy it— This directly caused no one to accept the reality that had just happened in front of their eyes until the tremor brought everyone back from their stupor.

With the death of this generation of Demon King, the bottom of the abyss didn’t calm down, but began to tremble more strongly. The dead city began to disintegrate, and the sound of explosions sounded all around.

Countless huge stones fell from the sky above the bottom of the Abyss, and the battlefield instantly turned into a tomb that was about to be filled.

“Retreat!” Godwin Lopez’s voice was hoarse. He used his magic to amplify his voice to the maximum and then stepped on his equally exhausted mount and rushed to the tail of the army.

“But bone jade…” The human powerhouse closest to him spit out half a sentence of doubt.

“Withdraw now—!”

The shocking facts were in front of them while the deadly crisis was behind them. No one wanted to doubt the Hero’s words— It was just a teleportation to the shallow depths of the Abyss. Besides, they had plenty of remaining supplies and they could wait for the inexplicable collapse to end before exploring for the bone jade.

The expeditionary force quickly changed its formation and withdrew to the previous teleportation gateway as quickly as possible.

Shamelessly snatching the final blow, Oliver Ramon, who would be awarded the title of “Hero”, was still standing in the dazzling white formation, motionless.

Godwin Lopez didn’t intend to care about him, but the Gatekeeper who had just returned from the slaughter made a sound.

“Oliver Lopez, it’s time to leave.”

“I want to guard my treasure.” The leader of Tumbleweed’s voice is so brisk and annoying. “Get lost.”

“Treasure? Do you want to take the opportunity to hide bone jade for yourself? …Your greed will kill you.”

“Someone once said this to me, but obviously, I am still alive and well.”

Oliver Lopez didn’t deny the speculation. The smile on his face became brighter, but the intimidation in his mouth became colder.

“Well, if you still stay here and plan to obstruct me… I may have to clean you up as well.”

Several Gatekeepers glanced at each other, ignited a parchment spell, and disappeared into the air.

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief as he knelt and sat on top of the formation.

Since the end of the battle with Nemo, he had been transferring his power into Nemo.

Before Nemo completely entered a near-death state, he couldn’t risk withdrawing the power that protected the last bit of life. This piece of flesh was like a bottomless pit, and he must be prepared for the final burst, and he couldn’t tolerate the slightest distraction.

Fortunately, the battlefield was finally empty again.

In the increasingly intense white light, in the gradually intense miasma, among the collapsed ruins, he leaned the head of his lover in his arms on his shoulder.

Oliver kissed Nemo’s slightly cold ear, carefully staring at the huge beast that was melting in the array.

In front of him, the huge false creation finally melted completely until there was no black scale left.

The Demon King’s dying moment had arrived.

Oliver didn’t make a sound to remind Jesse and Adrian, who were hiding in the dark. He had a more direct way…

The last of his power exploded in the body of the newborn God, and after a steady stream of delivery, the terrifying power of the death of the flesh was perfectly simulated.

Since Godwin arrived, the magic array that had been shining brightly had finally been activated.

It was just an instant.

At the bottom of the Abyss, there was no longer a single figure left on the collapsed battlefield.

At that moment, everyone on the edge of the great teleportation gateway could feel the emptiness under their feet. It was as if the illusion of falling when they fell asleep as the ground under their feet seemed to be shrinking inward.

The bottom of the Abyss was collapsing at a terrifying speed, but no one was in the mood to consider whether this was normal at the moment.

“Quick!” After Godwin commanded Horizon, one person dropped out of the team.

“Telaranea… Telaranea!” Godwin roared, kicking the last member of Horizon into the array. “It’s about to collapse!”

“I know.”

The gray parrot had already dragged the goat away through the teleportation array, and the girl with the braided hair led the horse into it, but she was still standing outside the array.

“I knew it. You wouldn’t be kind enough to come down and show us the way,” Godwin panted wearily. “No matter what you want to do, follow me first… If something happens to your shell here, Oliver will definitely—”

“I won’t do such a stupid wasteful behavior.”

The girl with the braided hair looked at the bottom of the Abyss that was gradually shattering.

“…Godwin Lopez, did you know? For every human that I make a deal with, I will ask them a question. ‘What is the last thing you regret in your life?’”

“What the hell are you…”

“Until now, I haven’t been able to understand all the information, because the answers given to me by many of them are trivial. It was obvious that such a long and rich lives would go through countless twists and turns of fate— One of those idiots even told me that the last thing he regretted was that he didn’t give his child a parting kiss before he left home many years ago.”

“I don’t have time to talk this nonsense with you. Come here quickly!”

Telaranea pierce her own chest with one hand, bloodily breaking it open and pulling out a bright red eyeball. Then the demon untied the orange crystal on her chest and wrapped it around the eyeball.

“If I had given him a little more strength at the beginning, maybe the result would have changed… Now I can more or less understand those inexplicable answers.”

The eyeball flew away with the pendant, overwhelmed by endless darkness and dust.

“…It’s okay now. Let’s go.”

The girl with the braided hair turned her face that had a calm expression. She picked up her skirt and stepped into the teleportation array without looking back.

In this way, after the last expedition member left, the teleportation array finally dimmed, and then was instantly buried by countless falling boulders.

At the same time, somewhere in the Border Forest between Garland and Alban.

The Rest in Peace laid quietly on the grass on one side, and its owner still maintained a kneeling posture.

Oliver’s arms were not empty.

…They succeeded.

After leaving the abyss, he began to desperately heal his lover who had a small breath left. Now Nemo’s chin was still resting on his shoulder, sleeping very heavily. His heartbeat was weak, but regular.

It wasn’t until his breathing began to fail that Oliver realized that he was already in tears.

The black armor was so damaged that there was not much left, and he shakily held Nemo as he leaned against a nearby tree. After adjusting his posture with difficulty for a while, he sat down against the tree and let his lover’s head rest on his leg.

After doing all this, he covered his eyes with one hand and stopped controlling the tears.

Sunlight penetrated through the gaps in the leaves, leaving patches of light on the grass. The leaves were green, the birds sang softly, and the air was humid and warm, just like the summer when their escape began three years ago.

“Good morning, Ollie.”

A weak but gentle voice sounded in his ears.

“’No matter how bad things are, I will always greet you with a smile. At least I won’t cry like the first time.’ …Who said this again?”

His Demon King stretched out a blood-stained hand and poked the tip of his nose in revenge.

“Also, where is my ring, Mr. Hero?”

The author has something to say:

Back to square one!!!

Kinky Thoughts:

Reunited on the surface!!!!