The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 135

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 135. Archbishop of Desire, Lactasia (1)
“…And who are you?”
Only then did Lactasia turn her head leisurely, as though just noticing my existence.
“Hmm.”
Lactasia scrutinized me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, as though appraising merchandise.
After examining my face carefully, she clicked her tongue as though her interest had waned.
“You’re ugly.”
“….”
The blunt strike landed squarely, and my pride stung a little.
‘No.’
While I wouldn’t compare myself to Yuren, I’m hardly someone people call ugly.
As I swallowed the words rising in my throat and soothed my wounded pride, I heard—
“What did you just say, you wench?”
A fierce voice from behind.
“Who exactly are you calling ugly?”
Iris glared at Lactasia with a contorted expression and cried out.
“Dale isn’t ugly—he has a distinctive charm! What do you know to speak so carelessly?!”
“….”
Wait.
Did I just hear something that hurt even more?
“Oh my, was he your boyfriend? Sorry~ But you have to admit what’s true. Compared to that cutie next to him, he really is plain, isn’t he?”
A face that looks decent on its own can appear as homely as a squid when placed directly beside the real thing for comparison.
In truth, there probably aren’t many men across the entire Continent who wouldn’t look like a squid standing next to Yuren.
“That’s only because you’re comparing him to Yuren! Look, Dale doesn’t lose to Yuren when compared…well, he does lose, but! He still has his own unique charm!”
“…Iris.”
Please….
“And to evaluate a man solely on appearance! What matters isn’t looks but the depths of a person’s character! Outward appearance isn’t everything!”
Stop… please stop.
‘My heart is breaking.’
I didn’t usually care much about appearance.
Yet being human, it was instinctive to naturally care about one’s outward form.
Especially before the woman I loved in my past life.
“…Somehow it feels like you’re hurting him more?”
Even Lactasia seemed to think this had gone too far, regarding Iris with a displeased expression.
Iris turned to me with a startled, flustered face.
“Ah…! D-Dale…! I didn’t mean that your appearance is lacking…!”
“…Stop.”
I grasped her shoulder with trembling hands and spoke through gritted teeth.
“I understand… so please, stop now.”
Any further and I would suffer wounds that even the Savior’s blessing couldn’t heal.
“Kyahahaha! These young ones are so fresh and delightful~!”
Lactasia wrapped her arms around her belly, bursting into laughter.
But it was short-lived.
“Which is precisely why…”
Her eyes gleamed with an eerie light as a thick, murderous intent swept through the Cavern.
“There’s a certain pleasure in tearing out throats, you see.”
“…Lactasia.”
“Oh my, you know who I am?”
Lactasia regarded me with a look of pleasant surprise.
“Yes.”
“Hmm. How troublesome~ This only gives me more reasons not to let you live~”
“The feeling is mutual.”
I slowly drew upon my mana, gauging the distance between us.
“Heh.”
Lactasia smiled coldly as she watched me prepare for battle.
“I see you’ve defeated the Ruins Guardians, so you must have some confidence in your abilities…”
Her eyes blazed with an eerie crimson light.
“Do you truly think such trivial strength will work against the ‘Archbishop of Lust’?”
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The vast Cavern—no, the entire Ruins trembled as a terrifying surge of mana swept through.
“Hehehehe. Come now, my adorable little pets.”
With a casual flick of her hand, a group of men emerged from behind Lactasia.
All handsome in appearance, they raised their weapons with vacant, glazed eyes.
“D-Dale!”
Yuren rushed to my side, sword already drawn.
“Did that woman just call herself the Archbishop of Lust?”
Yuren’s eyes questioned whether she was truly an Archbishop.
Instead of answering, I gave a slight nod.
Yuren’s expression hardened visibly.
“We need to find an opening to escape somehow…”
“No.”
I shook my head quietly, my gaze fixed on Lactasia.
Lactasia, the Archbishop of Lust.
In terms of pure combat prowess, she ranked among the weakest of the Archbishops.
Yet she was a Demon who used her bewitching beauty and seduction magic to enthrall male heroes, toy with them until they grew tiresome, then drain their very last breath of life through the Blessing of Exploitation—a villainess who had claimed countless heroes before falling to Yuren’s hand in the future.
This was an opportunity to eliminate the one who had sacrificed so many heroes.
‘If I can kill Lactasia here, it might be an even greater windfall than the Legacy of Iron Fist.’
Therefore.
“Yuren. You take the others and handle these puppets.”
“Dale, surely you don’t mean to…”
Yuren trailed off, his expression startled.
It wasn’t difficult to discern the unspoken question lurking beneath his hesitation: ‘You’re actually going to fight the Archbishop?’
I answered with nothing but a subtle nod.
“…Understood.”
Yuren adjusted his grip on his sword and drew forth his mana.
“Oh my, I do love that fighting spirit of yours.”
Lactasia smiled darkly, turning her gaze toward her ‘pets.’
“That one—capture him alive. The rest… you may slaughter as you wish.”
“…Yes.”
The puppets nodded their heads with vacant, glassy eyes.
And then.
Boom!
The horde of puppets launched forward in unison.
Their eyes were clouded as though intoxicated, yet their movements were anything but sluggish.
“Iris!”
Yuren charged toward the puppets, calling out her name.
“Yes!”
Without need for further words, she understood what was required.
A radiant cascade of pure white light erupted from Iris’s form, flowing into Yuren, Berald, and Camilla.
The Saintess’s Blessing.
The fatigue accumulated from the battle with the Guardians melted away as though washed clean, and vitality surged through my companions’ bodies like waking refreshed from a pleasant slumber.
“I shall take the vanguard!”
Camilla was the first to surge forward.
She swung her blade against the onrushing men while simultaneously chanting an incantation.
“Merciful Seven Gods! Grant thy light upon those who have lost their way!”
A radiant sphere of pure white light blossomed outward from Camilla’s position.
As the holy magic—antithetical to those bearing demonic power—unfurled, the puppets within its radius noticeably slowed their movements.
“Hyah!”
Camilla cut down the advancing men.
Yet even with their movements hindered, the relentless assault of the puppet horde proved overwhelming.
“Ugh…!”
Camilla was driven backward.
As a puppet’s blade descended toward her, closing the distance with lethal intent.
“Hrraaah!”
Berald surged forward with a fierce cry, striking the puppet’s cheek with a devastating blow.
Crack!
With a sickening sound, the puppet’s body crumpled like a severed marionette.
“Fall back, all of you!”
Berald charged ahead, spreading both arms wide.
Dozens of mana projectiles materialized in the empty air.
Berald clapped his broad, outstretched arms together with violent force.
“Palm Lightning!!!”
Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar shook the eardrums as mana bullets scattered in all directions.
Azure lightning crackled from the gauntlets adorning Berald’s hands, infusing the mana bullets with electrical energy.
“Kugh.”
“Hack!”
“Ah, ugh, ahhh.”
The puppets caught in the barrage of mana bullets trembled violently before collapsing one after another.
“Hehe~ What’s this? I thought they’d be small fry, but they’re more impressive than expected?”
Lactasia’s eyes narrowed as she watched the puppets fall helplessly.
“But.”
With a sinister smile, violet mana flowed from Lactasia’s body into the fallen puppets.
Crunch, crunch-crack!
With grotesque sounds of bone, the puppets rose to their feet.
“Ahhh.”
“For Lady Lactasia….”
“For desire…!”
“We shall offer our very lives.”
The puppets breathed heavily, their eyes bloodshot with crimson.
“Oh my~ How delightful.”
Lactasia burst into delighted laughter as she gazed upon them.
“Will you die for me?”
“Ugh, ah.”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The puppets shrieked and charged forward.
Blocking the puppets as they rushed forward mindlessly, as if unconcerned with their own lives.
“Did you ask me to become yours?”
Yuren raised his sword.
“I’m afraid I must decline that offer.”
Yuren’s stigma blazed with light as a silvery aura whipped around him ferociously.
The puppets charging forward with shrieks were swept up in the silver aura and scattered like pebbles.
“Because I already have someone who has sworn to give me everything.”
Yuren glanced back toward me with a faint smile.
He kicked off lightly and charged through the mass of puppets.
Clang!
Shing-shing-shing-shing-shink!
Like a wolf tearing through a flock of sheep, Yuren moved with savage ferocity.
Even the puppets enhanced by Lactasia’s mana were no match for Yuren.
“Kugh! Hack!”
“Lactasia… please….”
The puppets dwindled one by one each time silver aura flashed.
“Hmm….”
As the number of puppets decreased, Lactasia’s expression, which had been composed, gradually twisted.
‘…What is this?’
Irritation welled up from the depths of her mind.
It wasn’t merely because her puppets were being helplessly overwhelmed by this fledgling hero Party.
Puppets were always disposable tools, and before her eyes lay treasures incomparably more valuable than these pathetic constructs.
Yet there was one reason she felt such frustration.
‘I’ve been casting seduction magic this whole time… why isn’t it working?’
Click.
Lactasia stared at Yuren while irritably biting her nails.

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