The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 229

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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 229. The Spider and the Empress (6)
“What in the world… are you spouting nonsense?”
A Demon Human, and the Archbishop’s goal is to prevent the Demon God’s resurrection?
Wasn’t that the same as saying the Saint of the Seven Star Church’s purpose was to slay the Seven Gods themselves?
“Do you… understand what the Demon God truly is?”
Mephistopheles bit his lip firmly and continued speaking.
“He is neither a savior to fulfill the desires of Demon Humans, nor a guide to lead them to paradise.”
“….”
I knew it.
The Demon God saves no one.
He guides no one.
He is merely….
“The Demon God is… a calamity that thinks only of burning every living creature in this world.”
Yes.
Just as Mephistopheles said, he was no god—merely a calamity that would annihilate everything in existence.
‘The problem is how Mephistopheles knows this.’
Like any religion, the Demon God Church held unwavering faith in the Demon God.
That was only natural.
For those bearing the Demon God’s stigma upon their chests, their fate was inescapable—unless they resurrected the Demon God and created a world for Demon Humans, they would spend their lives hiding from heroes.
“Can an Archbishop even speak such words?”
“It is precisely because I am an Archbishop that I can speak them. An ordinary Demon Human would never have reached the truth of the Demon God.”
“Fine, I’ll grant you that much.”
I fixed Mephistopheles with a sharp gaze.
“But do you think that means I can trust you?”
My opponent was a Demon Human.
Moreover, he was the Archbishop of Corruption among the Six Archbishops—the one most skilled in deception and cunning.
“That is….”
“Considering everything you’ve done, I wouldn’t just doubt you—I’d have every right to kill you where you stand.”
I recalled the deeds Mephistopheles had committed.
Attempting to change Yurina’s stigma to that of the ‘Sun’.
And.
‘It was this bastard who tried to corrupt Lanez into a witch.’
Of course, that was something from my past life that never came to pass in this world.
But it was undeniable that Mephistopheles had attempted to inflict terrible suffering upon those precious to me.
‘And now he claims it was all to prevent the Demon God’s resurrection?’
Absurd.
What connection could changing Yurina’s stigma and corrupting Lanez into a witch possibly have with preventing the Demon God’s resurrection?
“…Wait.”
Then, a thought brushed across my mind.
‘In my past life, after Mephistopheles changed Yurina’s stigma to the Sun, he did nothing else.’
That’s right.
Whether I saw it in the Helios Family Underground Chamber back then or not, Mephistopheles—who possessed the ability to turn heroes into puppets—had inexplicably only altered Yurina’s ‘stigma’ and left everything else completely untouched.
If the reason for that was to prevent the Demon God’s resurrection…
‘Then could Mephistopheles have changed Yurina’s stigma for the purpose of creating a descendant of the Sun Swordsman?’
As a result, by maintaining the Moon stigma, Yurina gained far greater power than in her previous life.
But that was merely a consequence, nothing more.
Just as Yurina’s mother had been, one would naturally assume that only by bearing the ‘Sun stigma’ could one become a true descendant of the Sun Swordsman.
In other words.
Mephistopheles.
‘Was he trying to prevent the Demon God’s resurrection by creating a descendant of Reynald Helios, who had sealed the Demon God in the past?’
I stared at Mephistopheles with bewildered eyes.
No.
This alone wasn’t enough.
Even if that explained Yurina, what about Raneez then…?
“Ah.”
A soft exclamation escaped between my lips.
Raneez Malam.
In other words, the Witch of Night couldn’t control the power of the blessing of harsh winter and attacked indiscriminately—heroes and Demons alike.
‘The reason the Demons’ plan to resurrect the Demon God came so close to failure in my previous life… was because of Raneez.’
What if that had been intentional from the start?
What if the reason he drew Raneez to the Demon side wasn’t to gain a powerful ally, but to slip an unpredictable bomb into his own pocket?
“This is insane.”
The sensation of scattered puzzle pieces clicking into place.
The truth about the Archbishop of Ruin—the one shrouded in the most questions among the Six Archbishops—was laughably simple.
“Why… did you betray the Demons?”
“….”
Mephistopheles kept his mouth firmly shut before opening it with a bitter expression.
“Because there is someone I must protect. I will devote everything to it, without fail.”
“Is it that female Demon, Serpente?”
“That is….”
“What exactly is your relationship with her?”
“….”
“Tch. Never mind.”
I clicked my tongue and turned my head away.
“I haven’t decided to trust you yet.”
The story’s details may have aligned, but that was all.
An Archbishop of the Demons was an existence that couldn’t be trusted simply because something seemed ‘plausible.’
“And I have no intention of becoming your ally either.”
There’s a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but in most cases, the enemy of my enemy is simply another enemy.
Mephistopheles was no exception.
Even if we shared the common purpose of preventing the Demon God’s resurrection, I couldn’t bring myself to consider him a comrade.
“For now, I need your information.”
“So this is a temporary alliance, then?”
“You could say that.”
I nodded and gazed down at the corpses of the fallen Apostles of Ruin scattered across the floor.
“What in the world were these bastards doing here?”
“They were preparing an assassination plot against Empress Camelia. They intended to cripple the heart of the Empire and plunge the Continent into the abyss of war.”
An assassination plot, then.
“These fools think they can assassinate the Empress with just their numbers?”
It was true that the Apostles of Ruin were abnormally powerful compared to the apostles of other Archbishops.
Ordinary apostles—not even of Archbishop rank—had nearly driven the Eternal Order and Mephistopheles to the brink of defeat.
But.
No matter how strong they were.
“Surely even they must know the Empress isn’t someone who’d fall so easily?”
That’s right.
No matter how formidable they were, Empress Camelia existed beyond the bounds of common sense.
A demigod who freely wielded the power of the Seven Gods.
Even if the Archbishop of Ruin himself came directly, victory couldn’t be assured against Camelia—so how did they plan to assassinate her?
“The Primordial Spark.”
“The Primordial Spark?”
“Yes. They plan to ignite the Spark of Ruin in this underground chamber and use its power to nullify Empress Camelia’s divine protection.”
“….”
What in the world was this Spark of Ruin?
And they could nullify the Empress’s protection with its power?
‘As far as I know, the only thing capable of nullifying divine protection is the Primordial Flame itself….’
Ah.
“Right… that’s what it was.”
Why did I only realize this now?
In my previous life, no traces of Camelia using her divine protection were found at the scene of her death.
In other words, the Seven Stars’ protection itself had been nullified for some reason.
And there was no way to nullify divine protection except through the Primordial Flame.
So.
The reason the Empress died in my previous life without even being able to use her protection was.
‘The Primordial Spark.’
Mephistopheles called it the Spark of Ruin, but considering the current situation, it was identical to the Primordial Spark—merely called by a different name.
“What do you mean by that?”
“…Never mind. In any case, all we need to do is find that spark and extinguish it, right?”
“Yes. Now, while the spark has only just begun to ignite, is the only time. If the spark grows any further, then… unless one becomes the very incarnation of the Demon God itself, it cannot be extinguished.”
Unless one becomes the very incarnation of the Demon God itself, it cannot be extinguished, he says.
“Well, I understand now why you’ve been fidgeting around like a dog desperate for a piss since earlier.”
“….”
“So, where exactly is this spark?”
“…I don’t know.”
Mephistopheles shook his head.
“We can confirm that the spark has manifested somewhere in the Imperial Palace Underground, but we were still searching for its exact location.”
“And then you were attacked by the Apostles of Ruin?”
“…Yes.”
“Fine.”
I grasped the situation well enough.
And I knew what needed to be done from here on.
“You stay here and keep quiet. I’ll go extinguish that spark.”
“…You alone, sir?”
“Actually, the two of us.”
I turned to look at Elisha.
She had joined the battle against the Apostles of Ruin, following behind me, and now stood catching her breath with an exhausted expression.
“…Insight’s Blessing won’t be able to locate it.”
“That’s something we’ll figure out ourselves.”
I turned my head back to look at the members of the Eternal Order sprawled on the ground, gasping heavily, and at Mephistopheles.
“Don’t go anywhere. Stay here. I still have plenty of questions for you.”
Of course, they wouldn’t obey so readily.
But there was no choice.
Right now, stopping the ‘spark’ took priority over everything else.
Tap.
I returned to where Elisha stood, leaving Mephistopheles and the Eternal Order behind.
“Haa, haa.”
“Are you alright?”
“Phew. I’m fine. By the way, Dale, are you hurt anywhere?”
Elisha examined my body with a worried expression.
“I’m unharmed.”
“…Thank goodness.”
Elisha let out a relieved breath, placing a hand over her heart before opening her eyes slightly.
“So how do you plan to find the spark?”
“You were listening?”
Of course, when I began my conversation with Mephistopheles, I had immediately erected a Barrier to prevent sound from leaking outside, allowing our discussion to continue uninterrupted.
“I heard through the spider web remaining on your body.”
“Eavesdropping… I never knew you had tastes like Lanez, Professor.”
“What?”
“I was joking.”
“…Is this really the time for jokes?”
Elisha scolded me, pinching my cheek.
I let out a soft chuckle and shrugged my shoulders.
“I have a method in mind.”
Once again, I planned to borrow the power of Elisha’s Blessing of Insight.
“The Blessing of Insight alone cannot find it… Ah, I see.”
Elisha nodded, as if understanding what plan I was devising.
“Are you thinking of strengthening the Blessing of Insight through Dale’s bodily fluids?”
“Yes.”
Since the Primordial Flame dwells within me, by consuming my blood, she should be able to track the location of the spark.
I brought my palm toward the blade’s edge to draw blood.
“What are you doing?”
“Pardon? Don’t you need blood to strengthen the Blessing of Insight?”
“Hmm. It seems I forgot, having recently strengthened the Blessing of Insight only through blood.”
Elisha stepped forward and pulled my neck toward her.
“Mmph.”
The sensation of soft lips. Her tongue, coiling like a serpent, stirred within my mouth.
Exhale.
Elisha pulled away slightly and curved her lips into a smile.
“Isn’t this method simpler for strengthening the Blessing of Insight?”
“….”
Now that I thought about it, any bodily fluid would suffice to strengthen the Blessing of Insight, not necessarily blood.
“If Dale wishes… I could strengthen it with other bodily fluids as well?”
Elisha lowered her gaze toward my lower half, her lips curving into a faint smile.
“….”
This woman.
What are you even looking at right now?
“Hehe. I was joking.”
“…Wasn’t it you who scolded me earlier for joking at a time like this?”
“I don’t recall.”
Elisha chuckled softly and shrugged her shoulders, just as I had moments before.
“Sigh. Do you sense anything?”
“Wait a moment.”
Elisha closed her eyes and concentrated her mind.
After focusing for some time, her violet eyes gleamed as she opened them.
“It’s this way.”

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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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