LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 236
The party is taking a break while camping, and the effect of the barrier stone has worn off.
“Wah! Faust is gone! The Hero too! The Royal Princess?! What in the world is happening?! And why is the girl wrapped up in a fluffy blanket?!”
As time started flowing again, Ambrosia began to bounce around everywhere, boing boing. I had jokingly covered her with the blanket, thinking it would be fun. Sure enough, her reaction was quite satisfying.
“I’ve turned into a roll bun!”
As I lifted Ambrosia’s thin legs, which were rolling around on the floor unable to unwrap the blanket by herself, we shared the situation.
We had gathered three barrier stones, with just one remaining. I decided we had little time left before the enemies caught wind of our situation, so we needed to move quickly.
The last remaining dark barrier stone was located to the west of the Demon King’s Castle. The mage unit from the human realm coming from the east hadn’t made it to that location, so we had to proceed directly.
After another day’s journey, we managed to find and steal the barrier stone from the habitat of the dark dragon legion. Moments later, we stood in front of the Royal Palace of the Demon King.
“It’s much larger than I expected. For such lowly creatures, they’ve built quite a grand royal structure.”
Interestingly, both the Demon Race and the humans look down on each other’s high-ranking officials as inferior. There seems to be some understanding there.
If I had to compare, this area felt even larger than the Imperial Family’s grounds. There were plenty of open spaces inside.
Even without a single torch, the area was bright. The intense moonlight illuminated everything like it was daytime.
“This isn’t exactly a good environment for stealth. Ever since coming to the Demon Realm, the moon seems larger, or is that just my imagination?”
“It’s not your imagination. The Demon Realm’s moon actually behaves differently. It’s said that once every few years, it releases a strong magical energy that evolves the demons.”
Ambrosia shuddered at my answer.
“It’s said that during that time, the moon looks blue due to the magical energy.”
“Hard to believe we are on the same continent.”
We moved a bit closer. Unlike the Imperial Family’s grounds that are surrounded by tall castle walls, here the barrier blocks intruders.
“Let’s get started.”
We carefully gathered the four barrier stones together.
—Fizz!
Sparks flew, and a huge hole opened up in the barrier before us. The Hero party swiftly entered.
Avoiding patrolling demon soldiers, we dashed between the obsidian structures.
“Wait, they’re coming from both sides.”
A crisis arose in the alley. We hid our bodies amid the trash piles as patrolling soldiers entered from both pathways.
“Here they are.”
I took out cardboard boxes from my item box and distributed one to each party member. I flipped the last one over my and Acella’s heads.
“Are you out of your mind? Do you think this can hide our bodies?”
I pressed Acella’s head down as she grumbled, squatting. Five suspicious cardboard boxes appeared amidst the trash.
Peeking through a gap, I saw the patrolling soldiers pass by us without a second thought.
“They can’t possibly miss this?”
“This is a time-honored stealth device.”
With a dazed expression, Acella snapped back to reality as I snapped my fingers and hurried our steps.
We arrived at the back of the stronghold. This area was surrounded by castle walls. Tanya hooked a grappling hook and climbed up the rope to help the other party members.
“Ambush!”
“Sound the alarm!”
Just then, as I was pulling Ambrosia up, two patrolling soldiers happened to walk by and spotted us.
As they were about to call for support using their artifact.
—Bang!
Without giving them a chance to speak, Lishe attacked one from behind. It was a speed that couldn’t even be seen by the naked eye.
“Ugh…!”
The other one immediately tried to scream, but it seemed like something was stuck in their throat, choking them.
Turning to the side, Acella stood proudly, casting magic instantly. She had used the spell of golden words. Taking advantage of that, Lishe took care of the remaining patrolman. Their horn thudded to the ground weakly.
“That was close.”
“I’ll handle the cleanup.”
After hiding the demon’s corpse with an invisibility potion, I guided the way.
“This way.”
From here on, this was my specialty. I skillfully traced the route according to my memory.
“If we enter through the main gate, we’ll have to defeat the prepared henchmen one by one as we ascend to where the Demon King awaits.”
With a clank, I opened the trash disposal passageway. We entered and broke down the outer wall to the left.
“This outer wall is double-structured. It connects all the way to the highest floor. We can go straight up without being detected.”
“Climbing a cliff? That won’t be easy.”
“The gap is narrow. Just stick your back to it and crawl up. You know how caterpillars move, right?”
Valen demonstrated with her own body. She was right. Acella showed the signs that she didn’t like it, but soon gave in and illuminated the dark interior with light magic.
Tap, tap. The sound of bricks being grabbed echoed quietly as we progressed upward.
Crack!
Suddenly, something broke. The brick Acella had grabbed crumbled due to its age.
I immediately caught Acella, who was about to lose her balance and fall.
“Was that also a punishable offense?”
“When are you going to stop that? Just climb up.”
It seemed Acella wasn’t in the mood for jokes at that moment. She had a bit of a tense attitude.
It made sense, considering the final battle was just around the corner.
In the flowing silence, we continued to hear the sound of climbing bricks for three hours.
Finally reaching a wide wall, I said, “Here we are. If we break through this wall, we’ll reach the Demon King’s audience chamber. Everyone must be quite exhausted, so prepare well before we go.”
I handed out vigor potions to the party members one by one. I also treated the wounds on my hands and legs from our long climb.
I paid special attention to Acella’s hands. Her magic-enhanced gloves were torn, and there was a slight trickle of blood through the gap. I put on some ointment and wrapped a bandage around it.
“Such an old-fashioned treatment.”
“But it’s effective.”
Acella chuckled at my answer.
“Are you nervous?”
“Ritch told me the Demon King is a wizard who has reached a higher level than himself. That means he can use at least 8th-tier spells. Most likely offensive magic.”
“We already spoke of the strategy.”
“We must win. No matter what.”
In the suffocating darkness, Acella’s eyes shone clearly.
I took one last look at the party members.
“The structure inside is as we discussed. The Demon King’s audience chamber also serves as a workshop, so he won’t have any subordinates. If we ambush, we can fight on favorable terms with numbers. We must seize that opportunity.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s get ready.”
Everyone prepared their stances. We prepared to launch ourselves off the back wall. Tanya placed her sword against the wall in the center.
Lishe signaled. Three, two, one.
—Kwah!
With Tanya’s aura exploding, the wall burst open. At the same time, all six of us dashed inside.
The audience chamber was on the top floor of the Demon King’s Castle. There was no ceiling. A slightly ominous, huge moon that could only be seen in the Demon Realm brightly illuminated the space.
The interior was circular. It wasn’t very spacious.
An unusual feature was that it didn’t have a complete room structure. The outer edge fell into a bottomless pit where the ground couldn’t be seen. Originally, one would ascend to this audience chamber via a central elevator.
There was a bit of distance from the wall to the floor. As we leaped out, a pitch-black pit rushed to meet us beneath our feet. Even though I had explained the terrain in advance, Ambrosia’s face turned pale with fear.
And at one end of the room.
Specifically, at the angle we were entering, where the edge of the pit began.
A magnificent throne made of obsidian towered above us, facing away.
Accurate.
From here, we could strike the Demon King as soon as we entered. It was the angle I had calculated from the very beginning.
Huff.
Tanya exploded with aura. As our feet soared, her wind gusted fiercely from beneath, propelling us with even more speed.
Hah!
Lishe emanated light from her holy sword and forged the sword energy with precision aiming straight at the center of the throne.
—Swoosh, boom!
It was without a doubt a clean strike. The throne split in half and crashed to the ground.
“Where’s the Demon King?!”
There was no change in the status window. Victory was still out of reach.
Lishe’s sword had only divided the chair.
The owner was already gone.
“Hey, over there.”
Valen bared her teeth with hostility as she drew her bowstring. Toward the center of the audience chamber.
The other party members also adopted combat stances.
“…Wasn’t he just there?”
“He was sitting on the throne.”
He was twice the size of other demons, with broad shoulders that radiated intimidation. His red skin and the exquisite horns growing from his forehead revealed that he was certainly of the Demon Race.
Clad in a well-tailored suit, complete with checkered patterns. He hadn’t tied his necktie, leaving a few buttons undone.
The Demon King.
Having reached the pinnacle of the Demon Realm, he showed no interest in us—the ones who had attempted to assassinate him and put his life in danger—and was instead engrossed in reading the book he held in his hands.
The tiny lettering seemed almost like it belonged to a being of a diminutive race, but he meticulously read through it.
“Hmph.”
Acella, without hesitation, thrust her wand towards him and erected a magic circle. The Demon King, however, simply raised his palm in a composed manner.
“Please wait. I’m currently at a fascinating part.”
—Boom!
Acella didn’t wait and unleashed a barrage of ice spears. A 5th-tier offensive spell erupted with enough force to pierce steel where the Demon King had been standing.
“You’re rather impatient.”
The Demon King’s voice came from another direction. To the left.
He had already moved to perch on a staircase, still not taking his eyes away from the book.
“Can’t even see him anymore.”
“It feels like he instantaneously teleported.”
The party members braced themselves, tightening their combat stances. The movement displayed by the Demon King was clearly beyond common sense.
Finally, having closed the book he was reading, the Demon King stood up, adjusting his suit and raising his head high.
His gaze was fixed upon the large moon that loomed in the sky.
“The quest for knowledge is a pleasurable endeavor. No matter how much intellect you invest over a lifetime, there are realms you’ll never reach.”
Still disregarding us, he seemed absorbed in his own world.
“How many times have you looked up at the sky? Mortals struggle to endure even a single day on this earth. Even if they conquer the continent, they can never reach the sky, let alone access the realms of spirits and gods.*”
Finally, he turned to face us.
“Do your existences hold any significance?”
As the Demon King’s words reached her, Acella’s lips curled wickedly upwards. She seemed to be eager to jump into battle at any moment.
The Demon King leisurely surveyed us.
“You arrived three years earlier than Clairvoyance predicted. Everyone is a different character, aside from the Hero.”
“How amusing.”
Clack, Acella stepped forward.
“I should have known you were a sage of time. With immediate casting. Well worth the journey to get here.”
Acella’s golden mana began to draw a cube in the air.
“Indeed, that was the case.”
In the blink of an eye, the Demon King was suddenly beside Acella. He examined her magic circle with apparent intrigue.
And then, delighting in it, he smiled.
“Did you also foresee the future?”
—Bang!
Lishe’s holy sword exploded into action, signaling the start of the final battle.