I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 54



53 – [In the Land of Elves – 21]

Concentrate.

Wyverns are dangerous when attacking as a group.

Individually, they might not pose a threat to Elvenheim, but grouped together, even without a superior alpha, they naturally exhibited disciplined, army-like behavior.

However, if the formation could be broken, starting with the vanguard wyvern, it would be okay.

She was worried about Silphy and Les.

Royce, too.

Titania, I didn’t know if she’d be okay.

I was worried about the countless elves of Elvenheim, but there was only one thing I could do right now.

Kill the enemy.

In this Elvenheim, aside from Titania, there probably wasn’t anyone better at this than me. But now, Titania had taken a surprise attack instead of Sylph to save her, and ended up seriously injured.

I said that earlier, but she was undoubtedly in a life-threatening situation.

Therefore, now I have to do what I can.

“Huuup!”

I leaped up and slashed through the wyvern in one motion.

Before the wyvern could even descend, I kept slicing it apart in the sky with a *shwiiish, shwiiish, shwiish* sound. Soaring high, I stared at the wyvern.

‘My body’s not listening properly. I only managed to cut down 21 in one pass.’

And some of them weren’t even instant kills.

I hadn’t had a seizure yet, but my body could die any time now and it wouldn’t be strange. I had to conserve my strength as much as possible, but at least when dealing with wyverns, I didn’t need to use that much power.

It’s just that, if I don’t go all out, the subjugation speed drops significantly.

In this case, there was no choice but to wish for the best from the Elvenheim soldiers. Fortunately, there were many archers in Elvenheim, so they had the means to snipe the flying wyverns.

Speaking of sniping.

Who was it that threw that spear-like thing?

And, changing forms with magic… among humans, that’s only possible with a special lineage or talent, but in the case of magical beasts, powerful ones possess that ability as a given.

With that kind of power, only a high-ranking member of the Demon King’s army came to mind.

‘The Demon King is dead, and I’ve killed more than half of the Demon King’s high-ranking members.’

I’d killed five of the Demon Lord’s top brass, the Eight Divine Stars.

After taking down the Demon Lord and securing the people, I’d planned to look into the remaining three, but since there usually wasn’t a demonic invasion for decades after that, I figured I could take my time.

They’d be weakened and pathetic anyway.

Not that I was letting them off the hook, I still intended to hunt them down, but compared to the sacrifices happening right in front of me, they were a lower priority.

But now, those Demon Lord executives, not weakened at all, are invading Elvenheim with wyverns?

Weird.

Weird.

Real weird.

‘I’m missing something here.’

Something.

Something crucial.

“Hero, is it?”

“……!”

While I was cleaving through the wyvern, a voice echoed behind me.

And then, I saw a magic spear vibrating at high speed.

The same one that pierced Titania. Wasn’t that guy a sniper?

Why show his face right in front of me?

No, demons are basically proud, a law-of-the-jungle race that wants to confirm their strength.

Which means…

He could have come here wanting to crush me head-on. That possibility couldn’t be denied.

Hooom!!

Clang!!

‘Fast! And the power too…!’

Kwaaang!!

I was pushed back by the sheer force, flying backward and crashing to the ground.

I fell, but immediately pushed myself back up.

Nothing was broken, and there were no major issues with my body.

‘A Demon Lord’s officer, and a strong one at that. That’s strange, I thought I’d cut down every high-ranking officer.’

Each time, I’d been on the verge of death, and in time I grew stronger, so much so that the last Demon Lord’s officer I cut down was completely overwhelmed and killed by me.

I didn’t even remember his name.

“You blocked it well.”

“……”

“It displeases me somewhat to kill you in this state, but since you killed the Demon Lord, shouldn’t we have some kind of revenge match?”

“Huh.”

I let out a breath of disbelief, and the monster frowned.

“What’s so funny?”

“When I went to kill the Demon Lord, when I was whole and not this half-crippled thing, you didn’t even show your tail. Now you come out to try and kill a half-crippled me, and yet you’re acting so high and mighty?”

“……”

“Get a grip, there’s only one thing you guys need to do.”

“Should I ask what that is?”

“Apologize and die. Just like livestock, killing and being killed, you pups, just to get stronger.”

“That’s prejudice.”

“Then let me ask you, have *you* never killed a person?”

“Never.”

“Bullshit, the stench of blood reeks off you! Berserk Wyvern!!”

A wyvern’s evolved form.

Amongst monsters, there were those that gained absurd power the instant they evolved into higher forms.

The wyvern was one such case. The exact conditions for a regular wyvern evolving into a Berserk Wyvern were unknown, but it was clear that it was an evolution obtained by killing countless lives.

In other words, what the Berserk Wyvern just said was a blatant lie.

“Hah, clearly I was joking a bit too much. My name is Garfield, a current officer of the Demon King’s army, here to execute the hero…”

I charged forward, without hesitation.

Ignored him.

Words not worth listening to.

KA-ANG!!!

Garfield, the Demon King’s officer, blocked my attack, his face twisting in a scowl.

“How uncouth.”

He seemed displeased at being interrupted mid-sentence.

“Wipe the blood off your mouth before you talk, who are you to talk about manners? You’re less than beasts, you pups, only getting the right to live through slaughter and power.”

Sword and spear clashed, each trying to overpower the other, but it was proving difficult.

Even though I talked big, this Demon King’s officer, Garfield, was strong.

It didn’t seem like an easy win, at least not in my current state.

Even if I managed to pull off a victory, I’d have to push myself, and more than anything, it would take time.

There were so many wyverns, the likelihood of casualties was high.

Shit.

This is gonna take longer than I thought.

‘But letting this b*stard get away is even more dangerous.’

With Titania taken by surprise, there was no one in Elvenheim who could match this Garfield guy.

Even if we somehow won by sheer numbers, it would be a national loss.

And when I say national loss, I mean manpower.

From noble mtl dot com

Countless people would die.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I had to push myself, even if it was risky, and keep him contained, take him down as quickly as possible.

“Indeed.”

Garfield chuckled.

“Seems a hero’s got a soft spot for the people.”

Don’t fall for it.

I stayed silent, deliberately ignoring his words.

CLANG!!

Sword and spear clashed, ringing out loudly.

SWISH!!

The sword swung, the ground cracked, and a slash tore through the air. Garfield’s eyes widened, and he darted to the side.

“You monster.”

*Shwaang! Shwaang! Shwaang! Shwaang!!*

A barrage of sword strikes flew simultaneously. Garfield’s face twisted in a grimace as he moved rapidly, dodging my assault.

“Huu.”

“Dizzying. This is weakened? No wonder the Demon Lord lost.”

“The Demon Lord’s dead, so why didn’t you stay hidden instead of crawling out? And more importantly, why are you still overflowing with power, even after the Demon Lord’s fall? The monsters should lose their power when he dies.”

That was why, in the past, after defeating the Demon Lord, we also launched a monster extermination campaign to eradicate them all, but they just kept popping up, endlessly.

And only later was it revealed that monsters were born naturally from accumulated mana. And unless that fundamental natural generation was stopped, their birth wouldn’t cease.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t good with that kind of thinking, and I couldn’t grasp the kind of truths that require centuries of study to attain.

I just wanted to save the lives I could save while I was still alive.

“Am I obligated to explain?”

“That’s enough. Just knowing there’s ‘something’ I don’t know is enough.”

Royce can handle the thinking.

I just need to pass this information to Royce.

*Thwoom!!*

I lunged forward, and Garfield quickly righted his spear as if to defend.

I changed my grip on the holy sword and swung.

“This much is—!!”

“An afterimage.”

“What.”

Garfield’s eyes widened.

*Zzzzzzhhkkk!!*

What I thought I’d blocked was just an afterimage I’d created, the real attack already slicing past Garfield.

But it’s shallow.

Even as I flapped my wings, retreating fast, I charged forward without stopping.

‘The berserk wyvern’s characteristic is its tenacious vitality.’

It regenerates from most attacks and is incredibly hard to kill.

Even with its head cut off, it’ll twitch and attack as if alive for a while, meaning it won’t die until its entire body is destroyed.

So, what’s the method then?

Just keep killing it until it dies.

Any enemy.

That’s the most effective.

*Clang!!*

*Zzzzhhkk!!*

“Kkkrrk! Another afterimage!”

Just as I thought, this b*stard has been crushing things with overwhelming physical prowess and talent.

He’s weak against unorthodox techniques.

“Using cheap tricks, for a hero!”

“Hah.”

Where’s the righteous skill in a skill that kills the enemy?

It’s a skill for killing them all.

Whether you split their head cleanly with a sword,

or sneak up and slit their throat with a dagger.

It’s all a skill for killing.

All the same “skill”.

“……!”

*Whoosh,* a strange sound echoed in my ear, and I involuntarily stepped back.

A sense of unease.

And I looked up.

What the hell is that?

‘That.’

A rock.

A rock engulfed in flames was falling.

It was headed straight for Elvenheim, and it would be dangerous if it hit.

A meteor, maybe?

“……!”

*Ting!!*

Garfield attacked with his spear as if blocking me, and I grimaced while defending.

“That b*stard…!”

Garfield, no matter how you look at him, isn’t the mage type.

Not many people can use high-level magic like Meteor.

There were creatures among the monsters that could use magic, too.

That’s…

“…no way, there’s another one?”

“Whoops, you’re sharp, aren’t you?”

Another demon lord’s officer?

“You’re shaken.”

*Zzzzip!*

My cheek was lightly sliced, and Garfield gave an awkward grin.

“You dodged again, even in this situation?”

Titania’s grievous wound.

Meteor.

Two demon lord officers.

The World Tree’s blessing absent.

This situation was going from bad to worse.

No, first.

‘That Meteor…!’

*Whooosh!*

Lances formed of magic flew towards me, and I rapidly deflected them.

But the spears kept flying, and I grimaced.

“You think I’d let you go!! Hero-boy!! With that ragged body of yours, you think you can focus on anything other than me!?”

Tch, I clicked my tongue.

And then, that moment.

“Cough……!!”

“Whoops, seems like the curse is acting up?”

I staggered, spitting blood.

But at the same time, my one remaining eye widened.

Staring at Garfield, I muttered, almost to myself,

“You… how do you know about my curse?”

That was the core question.

He shouldn’t have any way of knowing my condition, yet he acted like he did.

Something.

A powerful sense of unease washed over me.