Chapter 223. Overlord (3)
“Dear Husband, I think we’re done with the monsters in this area.”
“There really aren’t many... Plene, it’s fine now.”
“Un!”
Plene, who was entertaining our ears and leading the monsters to their deaths, immediately stopped singing at my request. I sent out my elementals to shatter the petrified monsters as I looked around the area. Far in the distance, I could see a volcano shooting up into sky. Bulusan Volcano. As expected, it had grown to the point its original appearance was unrecognizable.
“Dear Husband, can you feel it? The breath of the fierce beast that’s hiding its presence.”
“Of course, now that we’re this close, I can feel it clearly.”
“This might be...”
Lotte, who was listening to our conversation, spoke out with a bit of hesitation. I turned to face her and asked.
“Do you recognize it, Lotte?”
“Have I not explained to Hero about them?”
“No.”
“I’ll keep it short and simple. There no humans in the world I came from. Only existences that humans call monsters lived there. Of the five major countries, there was a country centered around a volcano with its king commanding a powerful army.”
“And that’s...”
Lotte slowly nodded her head.
“I didn’t notice their special characteristic from any of the monsters we’ve seen so I didn’t say anything, but now that we’ve come this close, I can feel their auras. Even among us monsters, we wondered how the monsters in the army he commanded were so strong. Today, I have the feeling I’ll find out why... It’s making me rather anxious.”
“Ah, I heard about them too! Larva Immoral Leg, right?”
“It’s Lava Immortal Legion, idiot.”
“I lived in an island so I don’t know these things!”
Now that she mentioned it, Plene also came from the same world as Lotte. Seeing Plene yelling at Lotte, I patted her head and calmed her down.
“Plene’s doing fine, so don’t worry.”
“Ehehe...”
“This is why idiots are too easy to handle... Anyways, Hero, if the king is really here, even Hero’s guild members might not be safe. It’ll be best for only a selected few of them to fight him.”
“If we get rid of this king, we only have to deal with four others? That sounds like a deal to me.”
“It would be nice if that were the case...”
Lotte still looked uneasy. With how confident she usually was and this being the first time she was showing this side of her, even I began to worry.
“Losing the world’s power and being connected to Earth... It was certainly the five kings that commanded us. But I always thought that there was someone above them. I don’t know why and I can’t remember who it was, but I know someone was there.”
“That’s not too surprising. When there is huge gap between the leagues of two beings, it’s possible that the being of lower league can’t recognize the being of higher league even if they were facing each other directly. Even if the being of lower league recognized the being of higher league, he’ll forget once he turns around. These powerful existences can cause mental pressure just by being in someone’s memories. That’s why beings of lower league forget about them, to protect their minds.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard that.”
I replied to Licorice’s explanation with a bitter smile and loosened my body by stretching. This unknown leader was most likely the world’s enemy, but the one I had to worry about currently was the one waiting for us in the volcano.
“We already took care of the other areas. Once we clean up the Bulusan Volcano, we’ll be done with the Philippines.”
“Be careful, Dear Husband. The dungeon’s power might not work on this guy.”
“I have a plan even if that’s the case. Don’t worry, we got this.”
After giving an encouraging talk, I opened the guild communication channel and reported.
[We’re done. How about you guys?]
[We’re almost done too!]
[Just wait a bit, friend!]
[Already? Your Evil Eyes are too overpowered. Hold on, we’re finishing up too.]
[Almost done. Meki, doing work.]
[We encountered an SSS+ rank giant monster. Kang Yungoong is holding it back. If you’re done, come help us, Kang Shin.]
It seemed Walker was having trouble as he gave a serious report. I immediately gave Lotte a glance. Even as she grumbled, she returned to her wyvern form, and Plene, Licorice and I immediately jumped on her back.
“Let’s go take care of the SSS+ rank first.”
[I can feel its aura. I’ll hurry!]
Lotte flapped her wings once, soaring up so quickly that the surrounding scenery seemed to warp. In just two minutes, we saw the giant monster Walker mentioned.
It was indeed a giant monster, as a 20 meter tall giant was wreaking havoc with its giant sword. A peculiarity was that its entire body was made of fire. No, that’s... lava? The moment Lotte caught sight of the giant, she growled.
[It’s as I thought, Hero. It’s him! The king is in the Philippines!]
“That’s the Lava Immortal Legion?”
[To be exact, it’s the Lava Immortal Legion’s Destroyer, a soldier in the forefront of their assaults.]
“Soldier? Not a commander, but a solider?”
As if to say yes, Lotte accelerated. She really was ruthless. I immediately took out my Chaotic Spear. Although chaos flame was the strongest attribute I could wield, even the powerful chaos flame had a flaw. It was that it wasn’t that effective against the fire attribute. So, for now...!
“Everyone hold on! Lotte, accelerate!”
[Leave it to me!]
“Oh, this isn’t bad, Dear Husband!”
“Grab onto Lotte, not me!”
The ones fighting the Destroyer realized I had come and looked up at me. Although the Destroyer also found out, the vibration from the spear attack Father shot out caused a chunk of lava to fall off its leg.
[Grrrrrruaaaa!]
“Ruyue, Sharana!”
[Un!]
Above my spear, a whirlpool of ice raged. In just 0.5 seconds, it would reach the enemy. Carrying the ice energy strengthened by absorbing the wind Lotte raised, the Chaotic Spear shot through the air. The tip of the spear was shining in white.
“Eat this!”
[Critical Hit!]
The moment Lotte crossed its body, the spear I thrust directly struck its shoulder. Lava and ice collided, causing steam to rise, while its shoulder burning in orange flames froze, melted, then fell off its body. In other words, I had cut off its arm.
[Guaaaaaa!]
“Tsk, I could have defeated it by myself!”
“Be honest and thank me, Kang Yungoong!”
[They absorb flames and regenerate themselves. Make sure you don’t use any flames! Quick, destroy the arm that fell off!]
“Ruyue!”
Dozens of ice spears appeared in the air and rained down on the giant’s arm on the ground. In an instant, the arm completely melted away, and the enraged giant roared and swung its giant sword towards me with its remaining arm. Its sword burning with lava instantly elongated, breaking past Lotte’s speed and attacking me. However...
“I said your opponent is me!”
A sharp shockwave shot out from the tip of father’s spear and struck the giant’s body. Meanwhile, Lotte turned around to face the giant and charged towards it again. While the giant flinched from father’s attack, I stabbed my spear inside its chest.
[Grrruaaaa!]
“Now, everyone, use ice magic!”
Licorice held Plene and shouted as she flew off from Lotte’s back. The succubi all launched ice spheres into the air, while Licorice created an overwhelmingly bigger chunk of ice.
“Dear Husband, go first!”
“Got it!”
I’ve been waiting! I raised Ruyue’s power to the peak and a freezing energy that seemed to freeze even its creator began to emanate from the Chaotic Spear. The giant roared and held up its giant lava sword, while father and Walker also charged towards the giant.
“Haaaaap!”
With a spirited shout, I charged. The giant’s giant sword instantly swept over me, but I ignored it and continued forward. Its terrifying heat immediately engulfed me.
[Kugagagaga!]
“Son!”
“Don’t overreact, old man!”
[Kugaga...ga?]
The giant stopped its mad laughter and tilted its head. It was to be expected. After all, it should be able to feel its flames subsiding.
Felixes’ Chaotic Cape fluttered and let out a radiant light. The giant’s flames were certainly above the realm of SSS rank, making it impossible to absorb them. However, it was still possible to nullify them!
I soon popped out of the giant sword and stabbed my spear covered in ice aura in its face. It was a Heroic Strike!
[Critical Hit!]
[Kuaaaaa!]
“Die!”
“Die!”
“When did this become Revival’s official chant!? Can we not use such a threatening chant!?”
After the giant made a thundering roar in pain, the succubi’s ice magic descended.
“The crime of trying to harm Dear Husband, pay for it with your life!”
“Attack! Freeze him!”
[Kuoooooo!]
The earth trembled and the lava giant kneeled with its upper body frozen. Without hesitation, I shot an aura wave containing a compressed snowstorm and exploded its head.
Having lost the control center, the lava forming the giant’s body fell and scattered. The succubi then shot out ice arrows and thoroughly destroyed the lava. There was no longer any sign that the lava giant had existed. After confirming that its presence disappeared, I took back the spear I was still aiming towards it.
“Done.”
[As expected of Hero...]
“Wow! Amazing, Dear Husband!”
I sighed and murmured, while Lotte murmured in amazement. I would have liked the succubi to express themselves like Lotte, but it seemed they were deeply touched as they were all running towards me. I immediately looked for Licorice.
“Licorice, do something about them!”
“Dear Husband is so cool!”
[She’s their leader!]
“Right, they share their emotions!”
Could there be anyone more able yet tiring!?
After restraining the succubi, I smacked Licorice’s head and shared the information Lotte told me with father and Walker. After listening to Lotte’s explanation, even father made a slightly tired expression.
“You mean there are a lot more of these guys?”
“Yes. The fact that they’re here means that the king’s army has moved. They will start their advance soon.”
“Advance? Invading the enemy’s territory and gathering up an army. It’s a rather human method.”
“Don’t look down on them because they’re monsters.
Lotte, who was back in her human form, retorted mockingly at Walker.
“They’re a race that can use their heads like humans. If you look down on them, you’ll regret it.”
“Well, I know that. I’ve met intelligent monsters in the dungeon too.”
I asked Lotte to return to her wyvern form. It was time to meet up with the others.
“We know their identity, so we don’t need to hesitate. We’re going to go defeat this king. All of us.”
“You say that, but I bet you’re going to take the last hit again.”
“How else would I act like a guild master?”
I rebutted Walker while he and father got on Lotte’s back. The succubi also turned into bats and flew up.
“Let’s go. We’re meeting up.”
[Shin, a scary giant monster appeared! Hiing, my shadows aren’t working well!]
“... Let’s go help the others first.”
Just when I was trying to act cool... Ye-Eun, you did this on purpose!