novelraw Chapter 72 : Chapter 72
Chapter 72 : Chapter 72
Chapter 72. The Entrance to Hell (4)
Noemi’s trauma was a bit peculiar.
“It was when I hadn’t been here for very long. Dad, you taught my sisters how to study, leaving only me out. I still can’t erase the memory of that day from my mind.”
Of course, I didn’t know about this.
It was something that happened before I entered this body.
Regardless.
Noemi continued with a devastating expression.
“I felt like my world was collapsing. How could you leave only me out? Am I that lacking? Does Dad hate me? All sorts of self-deprecating thoughts filled my head.”
Noemi clenched her fists tightly as if the memory was still vivid.
“It was from that moment. I started to put my all into studying magic. I read every book I could get my hands on, trying not to fall behind. To get in Dad’s good graces.”
Her eyes were blazing so fiercely that I couldn’t even look her straight in the face.
It made me wonder if this was what they called a mad person with clear eyes.
Did something come to her mind?
Suddenly, Adel nodded and opened her mouth.
“Come to think of it, Noemi, you weren’t very interested in magic at first. Even Master Rude said he was worried because your innate magical power was immense, but you were lazy.”
“That’s right. Before that, I didn’t know why I had to do such a thing. That became the catalyst for who I am today, so in the end, it wasn’t so bad.”
Why is that a trauma?
Isn’t it fine if she overcame it well?
But Noemi shuddered, saying she never wanted to relive that nightmare again.
“I’d rather die than have Dad not look at me.”
Cough.
I let out a dry cough and offered a solution.
“I don’t think you can call that a trauma, but since you say so, let me give you some advice. Dad loves all of you. I never favor one over the other or love anyone less.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Haha. I can’t exactly take out my heart to show you my true feelings, this is quite a predicament.”
Noemi smiled brightly and shook her head.
“That would be a problem. I’ll believe you, Dad.”
Then she suddenly linked her arm with mine and asked this question.
“But Dad, how do you know that the ghost of the first Demon King is there and that it uses mental magic that stimulates trauma, even though you’ve never been there?”
A question I was now tired of.
I spun a plausible tale without changing my expression.
“There was a book I read in the Demon King's Castle that mentioned such things.”
Noemi tilted her head and asked.
“Hmm, is that so? I don’t think I saw anything like that… Well, if Dad says so, it must be true.”
Huh? What’s this now?
I had visited the Demon King's Castle thousands of times in the game, but surely Noemi hadn’t visited that place as well, had she?
While I was pondering what to say.
Alvarez raised his hand high and said.
“I will also tell you about my trauma. The time I betrayed Lady Adel and joined hands with the Marquis was the most…”
“It’s alright. You don’t have to.”
“……”
Alvarez stared at me with a blank face.
I couldn’t read his expression since he was just bones, but for a moment, it felt like he was out of his mind.
“You should listen to my story too…”
“No. It would be best for you to stay here and guard the mansion.”
Alvarez shook his head, saying that was not possible.
“I must protect Lady Adel. I cannot follow that order.”
“What if someone attacks this place while we’re gone? You, at least, should stay here and guard the surroundings. You wouldn’t want Adel’s home to be in danger, would you?”
I put extra emphasis on the part about Adel’s home, and Alvarez became flustered.
“I am Lady Adel’s knight. A knight has a duty to serve their master by their side.”
“And also a duty to protect their home.”
“……”
While Alvarez hesitated.
Adel shook her head, saying it was fine.
“Master Anonymous is here, and so is Father, so you don’t need to worry about me. Do as Father says.”
“…My Lady.”
In the end, Alvarez took a step back.
As I’ve said many times, a larger number of people doesn’t necessarily make the conquest easier.
‘Rude will also be busy preparing to leave for the Marquis' castle, so I’d be a little uneasy if everyone left.’
This place was our base and the starting point of the game.
I absolutely needed at least one person to guard the house.
There were the demons, but I didn’t know when they might stab me in the back, and the dragons wouldn’t be able to respond actively without their queen.
‘Alvarez also has experience as a knight, so he’s perfect for guarding the house.’
After that, I was about to leave immediately but stopped by the gold mine for a moment.
It was to pick up Mammon.
‘He’s the best trap expert. It would be good to take him just in case.’
If I moved relying only on my game knowledge, I might get into trouble.
Haven’t I struggled several times already with the changed environment?
So, it would be better to have him accompany me as a form of insurance.
Mammon, upon hearing the story, chuckled and immediately agreed.
“You say there’s a place full of traps? Then I can’t possibly not go. As they say, one must have a broad range of learning to be able to set better traps.”
What a trap pervert.
Anyway, as long as he’s by my side, at least I won’t have to worry about traps.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that I was fully prepared.
Well then, shall we get going?
The moment I was about to tell Anonymous to turn into a dragon.
Noemi suddenly grabbed my wrist and shook her head.
***
Having reached the center of the Demon King's Castle, Nox couldn’t hide his astonishment.
‘To think a guy like that is sitting on the throne. Something is very wrong.’
Infiltrating this place was too easy of a problem.
I suppressed my presence and infiltrated.
Currently, I was on the ceiling of the hall, looking down.
Just in case, I deliberately let some of my power flow downwards, but no one noticed.
‘If he’s proclaiming himself the Demon King, he should have noticed by now.’
Not noticing my presence was one thing, but I couldn’t feel any powerful magical energy from the guy.
Just the level of an ordinary high-ranking demon.
Even the dead Dekal would have been much stronger than that guy.
‘Is he hiding his skills?’
If so, it would make sense.
He must have already known I was here but was feigning composure.
It was highly likely that he was trying to lure me into a false sense of security and release his power the moment I got close.
‘What an incredible fellow. To think there’s another demon besides me who can suppress their power to this extent.’
The one on the throne was someone I had never seen before.
But it wasn’t a big deal that his face wasn’t known in demon society.
The number of demons was large, and it was common for a once-unremarkable demon to suddenly stand out.
‘He must have had that kind of confidence to occupy the Demon King's Castle. The more I look at him, the more I covet him.’
Nox wanted to fight the guy right here and now, but he soon gave up the thought.
He was on Primus' bad side due to successive failures.
No more failures would be tolerated.
‘It’s a pity, but it would be better to fight him after I’ve grown a little stronger.’
Nox carefully left the hall and headed for the Entrance to Hell.
The guy proclaiming himself the Demon King didn’t even look this way, as if to say, ‘come back anytime if you’re confident.’
‘Hmph. You’ll only be able to afford such leisure for now.’
A short while later.
The area around the Entrance to Hell was sealed off, but it was no problem for Nox.
However, four soldiers who looked like mid-ranking demons were guarding it.
Nox released his stealth as if he had nothing left to hide.
“Who goes there!”
But the men couldn’t continue their words.
Because that was their last testament.
Nox, who had subdued the four demons in an instant, looked down and muttered to himself.
“It’s so deep that the end is not in sight.”
The rumor that more people died from misstepping than from challenging the ruins was indeed true.
Not only was his vision blurred due to the thick fog, but the surroundings were also very steep and dangerous at a glance.
“I will definitely conquer this place and obtain greater power.”
Nox spat out these words as if brainwashing himself, and slowly started walking down the spiral staircase that stretched along the outer edge of the pit.
His shadow was soon hidden by the thick fog and was no longer visible.
It looked as if the ruins had swallowed him whole.
***
“Ugh. I’m dizzy.”
Adel staggered as if she was feeling dizzy.
I, too, felt a strange sensation and found it difficult to breathe properly.
‘The miasma is way too strong.’
I couldn’t see even an inch ahead of me, and if Noemi and Anonymous hadn’t used Light magic, I might have mistaken this for being in space.
In addition, my strength was constantly draining from my body, and I felt that I shouldn’t linger for long.
What is this all of a sudden, you ask?
It happened a little while ago.
Noemi grabbed my wrist and said this.
“There’s no need to ride on Master Anonymous.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I’ve been there before. I couldn’t go all the way, but I’ve been to the middle.”
Did I hear that right?
Where on earth had she been?
But Noemi’s eyes sparkled as she said it was true.
“You know that ancient magic I used when I annihilated the remnants of the old Demon Tribe? Where do you think I got that?”
What, why are you setting such a scary mood.
I just hoped she wouldn’t say she got it from the Entrance to Hell, but ominous premonitions are never wrong.
“I told Master Rude that I got it from another ruin, but actually, I got it from here.”
“When on earth did you come here?”
Noemi looked up at the sky with an innocent face and tilted her head.
“Hmm, about five years ago? It must have been right after Dad only taught my sisters. I was so angry that I left the house and just walked, and I ended up here.”
Noemi said she just walked and walked without knowing where she was going, and when she came to her senses, she had arrived here.
How absurd.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t know much about magic back then?”
“Hey. My basic skills don’t just go anywhere.”
Perhaps the strongest among us is Noemi.
‘Even I have to make thorough preparations to come here, and she came here in the very early stages, around the age of 10. It’s unbelievable.’
Even if she were caught by the first Demon King’s mental magic, wouldn’t Noemi be able to solve it somehow?
No. She might be able to subdue him before she gets caught.
I asked with an awkward face.
“What about the demons and monsters?”
“I killed them as soon as I saw them. There weren’t any particularly strong ones, though. The Demon King's Castle was especially empty.”
So that’s why she reacted that way when I said I saw it in the Demon King's Castle.
Does this child not have the emotion of fear?
Anyway, thanks to Noemi’s teleportation magic, we were able to instantly transport here.
But Noemi complained that this was her limit.
“I couldn’t go any further. The miasma was so strong that I felt like my energy was being drained. It also felt somewhat eerie.”
It was certainly a place with a strange atmosphere.
In the game, only the numbers of dropping health points were displayed next to the character, so I didn’t feel much, but this was a moment when I realized how scary damage over time really was.
Right at that moment.
Something moved in front of my eyes.
“Uwooooh!!”
Alvarez.
No, it was a Death Knight.
But it was immediately shattered into pieces by Anonymous' attack.
It was just a lesser version of Alvarez, of the same race.
“Hmph. How dare a mere Death Knight.”
I think it was a good thing I didn’t bring Alvarez.
Fighting his own kind would be a bit much.
“Since one has appeared, more will come soon. Let’s move right away.”
Everyone nodded and followed behind me.
Then, something came to mind, and I stopped and pushed Mammon to the front.
“There might be traps around. Mammon, you check it out.”
Mammon looked around with interest.
After scanning here and there, he peeked and pressed something.
Thump!
Aish, that scared me.
A huge rock fell from the sky.
It was so big that I could still feel the vibrations.
Despite that, Mammon muttered with a dejected face.
“Too crude. Who would fall for something like this? If it were me, I wouldn’t use this method but…”
He kept muttering to himself, but sorry, I would have fallen for it 100 percent.
As expected, games and reality are different.
I would have regretted it if I hadn’t brought Mammon.
***
Meanwhile, on the lowest floor of the Entrance to Hell, a ghost-like being moved slowly and uttered a meaningful statement.
“This is strange. How did they suddenly move to the middle layer? Could it be the work of that human wench from back then?”
It was impossible for sweat to come out of his back after becoming a lich, but he felt a cold sweat run down his spine.
Kaliditas, the first Demon King and the master of this place, became restless and recalled the events of five years ago.