I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 126

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 126

 

Recently, many people had been talking about stories related to the Mythical Age.

 

It started with the Dragon that attacked the Empire.

 

The appearance of the Dragon, which had only been known through legends, shocked many people. They wondered if the forgotten Mythical Age, which had vanished long ago, might be returning. Not long after, the strangely abundant mana also fueled the rumors.

 

Ignorant fools who had never learned magic in their lives began to feel mana. Talentless individuals awakened their aura. Such strange phenomena occurred everywhere. It was a situation where the standards for Mages and Knights needed to be rewritten.

 

Books dealing with the Mythical Age sold like hotcakes, and Poets sang legends in the streets. It wasn’t much different from when the Hero had recently defeated the Demon Lord.

 

Therefore, people realized it.

 

The identity of the Giant that attacked the Empire.

 

The calamity that had burned the World Tree in the war of gods long ago. The Humans of that time called it the Fire Giant of Hell, filled with fear.

 

It was enormous in size. It was comparable to the Dragon they had seen before, but it repeatedly expanded several times its size in an instant before shrinking again. Each time, the heat that struck the Capital grew stronger.

 

“Hold on! Hold on until we can reconstruct the Magic Circle!”

 

“That’s where the Red Magic Tower used to be! What the hell did those bastards do…!”

 

Mages who had relocated their Magic Tower into the Capital after the Dragon’s attack were gathered together, blocking the falling fireballs.

 

“Senior, I think I’m really going to die.”

 

“Shut up and pour in your mana! If we fail, we all die! Got it!”

 

One by one, the Mages collapsed. Each fireball had power that easily surpassed decent Mid-tier Magic. They could only endure this much because the Mages’ abilities had greatly improved compared to before. Otherwise, the Capital might have already been completely burned down.

 

“Defensive Magic Circle reconstruction successful!”

 

Not long after, one of the Elder Mages who had been repairing the Magic Circle shouted.

 

“Report the damage situation!”

 

“A quarter of the Capital has been completely burned, and the estimated death toll is about 100,000! The damage outside the Castle Walls, which couldn’t receive the Barrier’s protection, is the greatest. And…”

 

“What is it!”

 

“The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Palace…”

 

At that moment, a Mage appeared, flying rapidly. The Elder Mage who recognized the Mage shouted.

 

“Tower Master!”

 

A mage with his face covered by a blue robe. The master of the Blue Magic Tower, one of the Empire’s Three Great Magic Towers. He who had participated in the imperial succession ceremony had returned.

 

“Emergency, it’s an emergency…!”

 

“I know. We’re currently assessing the situation…”

 

“Damn it, the Emperor is dead!”

 

“…What?”

 

The Elder Mage dropped even the staff he was holding at the Tower Master’s outcry.

 

Was it because crude profanity had burst from the mouth of the Tower Master who always maintained his dignity? No. That was certainly surprising enough, but the content that followed was several times more difficult to bear.

 

The Emperor was dead.

 

Since imperial succession ceremonies were originally held when the Emperor’s lifespan was running short, the death of the Former Emperor wouldn’t be entirely impossible. However.

 

Only then did the Elder Mage’s head move with a creaking sound.

 

In his eyes, he saw the burning Imperial Palace.

 

“Crazy…”

 

-Ah, ah. This is an announcement to all citizens of the capital.

 

At that moment, someone’s voice rang out.

 

-I am the Hero who defeated the Demon Lord and was granted Epeldor Castle, Ruin Epeldor.

 

Once or twice a year. An old artifact that rarely operated. It was a voice flowing from amplifiers installed throughout the capital.

 

-The capital is currently under attack by monsters. All forces except for the mages maintaining the Capital Defense Barrier and the Royal Guard Knights will commence citizen protection and evacuation operations. I repeat. All forces except for the mages maintaining the Capital Defense Barrier and the Royal Guard Knights will commence citizen protection and evacuation operations.

 

At the voice filled with conviction that contained no trace of anxiety, the citizens began to calm their agitation one by one and listen carefully.

 

Only then did people realize that the destroyed barrier had been restored. The chaos subsided, and they began evacuating while maintaining order.

 

-Citizens, follow the soldiers’ instructions and move to evacuation sites.

 

That was certainly.

 

-I will deal with the monsters.

 

The voice of a Hero, and a lord.

 

* * *

 

“That thing is him? The Red Tower Master.”

 

The man who had thrown aside the elder’s corpse he was holding looked up at the sky and spoke. The elder’s fist, which had been clenched tight until the moment of death, finally opened, and a glittering ring rolled across the floor.

 

In the sky, the figure of a roaring Fire Giant could be seen.

 

The Red Tower Master.

 

An Archmage known to all. Currently, he was a wanted fugitive who had plunged the Red Magic Tower into financial ruin and had been in hiding for over a year. The man was saying that he had attacked the capital.

 

“I heard about it beforehand, but he’s quite something.”

 

Most of the events occurring during this succession ceremony had been prepared months in advance. Even the appearance of that Fire Giant. He was the one who had timed the explosion of the Imperial Court to coincide with the moment that thing appeared.

 

Everything was to naturally orchestrate the deaths of the Emperor and Former Emperor. And for Ruin Epeldor to usurp the throne.

 

“Abel Epeldor cannot be called evil, but… he is insufficient to rule the Empire. He is even more insufficient to face the new era.”

 

Merchant Leader Dahan said this. The man just shrugged his shoulders and asked Ruin.

 

“Can you win? I’m not confident.”

 

“Have I ever been defeated?”

 

At the calm voice, the man folded his fingers one by one as he answered.

 

“Let’s see. It’s not like there weren’t any, right? Don’t you remember that time? When the demon suddenly appeared in the canyon. You were crying…”

 

“I wasn’t crying.”

 

The man who chuckled asked with a serious attitude.

 

“How many times can you use the Holy Sword?”

 

“Three swings and it’s over.”

 

“Wow…”

 

He let out a sound that was ambiguous between admiration and a sigh.

 

“To bring that thing down in three strikes. Well, compared to fighting the Demon Lord, it’s nothing. What if you fail?”

 

“I’ll die. Before that happens, I’ll kill that thing and obtain divinity.”

 

“I’ll cheer you on!”

 

“Follow me.”

 

Having finished speaking, Ruin disappeared in an instant. A fierce wind swept through the spot where he had left.

 

The man left alone sighed and shouted.

 

“I specialize in rear support!”

 

The man reappeared behind the monster. He swung his dagger toward its head, but it didn’t work. The blade melted along with the aura that filled it. The poison that had been clinging thickly evaporated, spewing smoke.

 

As fire spread to his clothes, he retreated in alarm.

 

“Ehe. This is hopeless. My attacks aren’t working?”

 

“Just draw its attention. Lure it in the opposite direction from the capital.”

 

“Easier said than done…!”

 

The man pulled out weapons from his coat again and threw them. Each of the dozens of daggers surged with tremendous aura, but not a single one reached the giant’s body.

 

However, he succeeded in drawing its attention.

 

The giant slowly turned its body. Despite its size, it had a light frame. Its fist flew toward the man at tremendous speed.

 

But the man, dodging falling fireballs with acrobatic movements, was already far away from the fist.

 

“Hey, Red Tower Master!”

 

The man cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

 

“What was it? You got hit once by a dragon and were carried away? I don’t know what happened to the Tower Master. If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed… Oops.”

 

The giant roared in fury. As it struck the ground with both fists, the earth cracked and lava burst forth.

 

“Increase the distance more. Not yet.”

 

“Easier said than done…! Even though I’ve recovered a bit lately, I’m still not back to my old self!”

 

The man’s movements were fast. In terms of speed, he could even surpass the Hero.

 

But his specialty wasn’t frontal combat. It was ambushes that exploited enemy carelessness. He was confident only in targeting the back of the head while the Hero faced demons.

 

After every battle ended, the man would always recall Ruin’s face, drenched in sweat as she looked at him. Even as his emotions dulled while completing trials, that gaze alone never changed.

 

“Find its weakness.”

 

“Earlier you said just draw its attention…!”

 

The man was certain that golem-like bastard was taking revenge for that time.

 

“…I’m really going to die.”

 

Their attacks didn’t work, while each enemy attack was lethal. The moment he took even one hit, the battle would be over. On top of that, it showed no signs of tiring.

 

Since it had already departed from the form of a living being, it was natural if you could call it natural.

 

“Hey, that Royal Guard or whatever…”

 

“Still not enough to deploy them. Later.”

 

“Ha, seriously. Ugh…!”

 

Was it the price for letting his guard down? The moment he turned his head toward the scorching heat, the man could see a massive fireball that had approached right to his nose.

 

His posture had crumbled. It was already too late to dodge.

 

The moment he sensed death, the giant fist made of fire split in half.

 

“Two left.”

 

“Ah, shit…”

 

The man spat out curses at the calm voice of the Hero who had somehow appeared beside him.

 

The situation was close to the worst.

 

The areas touched by that body cracked open, spewing forth lava, and the fire that spread wouldn’t go out. The ground they could step on was gradually shrinking.

 

The Hero had only two more chances to swing the Holy Sword. Moreover, if he couldn’t bring that thing down on the second attempt, they would die just like that.

 

‘Can we win?’

 

The man’s mind rapidly calculated. It was hopeless. He couldn’t see any possibility.

 

However.

 

“We can win.”

 

He was certain as he watched the Giant writhing, seemingly in pain from its severed arm.

 

During the short time before facing the Demon Lord, they had experienced countless situations worse than this.

 

There were times when they couldn’t sleep a wink for a week while being tormented by demons, and times when they fell into a horde of monsters with only a dagger. Though their companion the Saint and Kaella were both absent, the current situation couldn’t be considered worse than those times.

 

Most importantly, because the Hero was here.

 

The Hero was a symbol of victory. Until the moment they killed the Demon Lord, they had always been victorious. Kaela Rowan had said that repeated actions become magic in themselves, making them easier to achieve.

 

Then wouldn’t victory be the same?

 

No matter how much weaker than before, no matter how it had lost all divinity and only a shell remained.

 

As long as the Hero was with him, it didn’t seem like they would lose at all.

 

The man dodged the Giant’s attacks while endlessly observing. And he discovered it.

 

“There, the right chest!”

 

He found it with the keen eye that could spot traps even in the dark night.

 

“It’s a person!”

 

Near the chest of the endlessly burning massive body, a small human form faintly revealed.

 

Ruin frowned and looked in the direction the man had indicated.

 

He didn’t drag out the time.

 

In an instant, he ran dozens of meters and leaped up. With movement closer to flight than a leap, Ruin reached the Giant’s chest in a moment, steadied his breathing, and gripped the Holy Sword in his hand.

 

From the scabbard, the sword was drawn.

 

The quickly swung sword strike split the Giant’s body in half. It split the sky, the clouds, and the world.

 

A blow no different from the one that had split the dragon. The Giant let out a scream filled with agony.

 

“One left.”

 

“Ha, shit.”

 

However, it was unharmed.

 

A merchant watching from afar… the demon smiled.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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