The Hero Disciple Is Back - Chapter 103



102. Variables that change the course of the war

-Do I have to do this?

Leah asked me.

I couldn’t dare ignore the worries and concerns contained within it.

It was impossible to ignore those pure, innocent feelings towards me.

Certainly, the choice I was about to make was extremely reckless. It was like a wild wolf living in the mountains, with nothing special about it, trying to catch an ogre or a troll. If a wolf charges at an ogre or a troll, the only outcome it will face is entering the stomach of that monster. Of course. The fight itself was not even possible in the first place.

It’s no different for each country.

Even if I had done everything I could to prepare for the final battle… . It is impossible to be certain that my efforts, my will, and my determination will achieve results. Efforts are not rewarded, my will is bound to hit a wall, and my determination is bound to be broken. Because I knew better than anyone else that this world is so absurd and cruel.

But since I know that this is the world, I cannot give up. I have no choice but to struggle. I have to grit my teeth and continue to struggle endlessly. Stopping is not acceptable. There is no option to not fight, no option to stop struggling. As long as I am alive, I have to struggle and struggle. That is how I live, and there is no way to stop.

Ah, it’s not completely impossible.

There is a way to completely seclude yourself, giving up everything, letting go of all ties, turning your back on the world, and living in seclusion in the mountains alone, with nature as your companion. That is exactly what I did in the past.

But now, that can’t be the case. There’s something I can’t let go of. There’s something I can’t let go of. There’s something I absolutely need, to the point where I think it’d be better to die than let go.

So I had no choice but to answer like this.

“Yes, it’s something I absolutely have to do.”

That is why I exist as a human being.

The only thing a country must do for the sake of human existence is

So decided

I have decided on my final battlefield.

♤♤♤

“… Cool!”

… Did you lose consciousness for a moment?

It seems that he temporarily lost consciousness due to excessive use of his spirit power, causing his balance to collapse.

The spirits looked at me with concern. It seemed like they were not dead thanks to these children.

“I’m fine. But…”

I looked around.

land of the dead

It was a sight that could only be described that way.

Everything was dying.

It’s like I fell into the demon world….

But I soon realized that wasn’t the case.

This is the exact location where we fought that monster just a moment ago. It’s just that the location has changed. Because of that absurd monster’s magic. No…

“Is this his true power…?”

『Everything… . rusts… .』

I did not sympathize with the expression of the spirit salt that gave me strength within me. I could not find a more appropriate expression to describe the reality that the monster had created than the expression rusting.

【This is my world.】

The ruler who created the world where everything was rusting and falling apart into nothingness was looking at the world he had created, muttering as if it was futile and meaningless.

The overlord was looking at the world he had created, sword in hand. There was no sense of satisfaction or accomplishment in his gaze. There was only emptiness and futility… . There was only an empty bitterness. There was nothing else… .

【How is it?】

“… It’s terrible.”

I answered honestly. The sight of everything, living and non-living, rusting and turning to nothing but dust and disappearing… I couldn’t find any other expression than “horrible.”

【Only the great heavens can endure my world, and even rule this world. That is why I swore allegiance to Him.】

That’s why I could understand why the Demon King gave him the name of Overlord. His power is the power to destroy the world, and therefore, it is the power to rule the world. He is literally the Way of the Overlord, the Overlord. If there was no Demon King, it would have been like that.

“If it is a power that cannot destroy the world, then is it a power that can rule the world? It is absurd. In the end, there is nothing left but a world like this.”

【… That’s right. After all, that’s the only way the devil can be.】

Born with a desire to destroy

In the end, that is the only thing that can be life

I want to destroy everything

All that remains is a burnt-out wasteland and ashes left in vain.

…then we cannot help but have questions.

Then why on earth did God create the devil?

What on earth did the world become like this for?

For what on earth… .

【I’m sorry I got distracted by useless things.】

“… I got some rest thanks to you, so I don’t deserve an apology.”

As I said that, I grabbed my sword. How much could I do against that unstoppable monster? I had no confidence whatsoever. But even so, I was going to face the monster. There was no option to run away, and there was no option to put down my sword. I just burned everything I had and challenged the monster’s sword.

That’s all there is to it.

“salt”

『It’s already the limit… . Are you still going to do it?』

“okay.”

I have no choice.

Must do.

If so, there is only one answer.

Moving forward.

Until the moment this heart stops

from now on

Further ahead

“Please.”

“…okay.”

♧♧♧

“shit!”

Sarah couldn’t help but curse. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight. She knew better than anyone, as the hero of Infinite Regression who had met death at the hands of the Demon King countless times. Letting down your guard? You couldn’t even let your guard down. That’s what a duel with the Demon King was like. If you let your guard down for even a moment, your death is certain…

【Do you have time to worry about anything else?】

“this…!”

Kwaaang!!!

“Ugh!”

Sarah was swept away by the explosion of magic and was pinned to the ground, but she quickly rolled over and got up, then gritted her teeth and swung the holy sword.

Kwaaang!

The mass of magic fired by the Demon King collides with the Holy Sword and causes an explosion.

It wasn’t that the warrior had let her guard down and made a mistake. It was the circumstances of the war that had forced her to take over and take her attention away.

‘I don’t know about anything else, but war never goes according to plan or expectation…’

Despite disclosing all the information accumulated during the endless regress and training them thoroughly by spending time on it… The hell of a battlefield makes all of a person’s efforts, will, and determination meaningless. The moment they lose their momentum, they instantly collapse and are caught up in the atmosphere of defeat, making it difficult to escape from it.

The human army was in such a situation at the moment. Even though the fight seemed equal at first… It was natural for the flow of the battle to change as time passed.

‘There won’t even be a proper commander!’

An army with a messed up chain of command, it was literally a brainless army. However, the Demon King’s army, although it had problems with quantity, was overwhelmingly elite in quality. Only the strong who survived the fight for their lives were in this position.

Even if proper command did not come from above, the Demons were the best experts when it came to simply killing the enemies in front of them. So, although the broken chain of command was bound to cause problems, it did not make them completely incapacitated.

No matter how many there are, no one wants to die. And what you are dealing with now are monsters… . Even though you know that there is no choice but to retreat, and no matter how prepared you are, if you continue to fight and fight against those monsters in this hellish war… .

Either you want to run away or you just want to die, either way, you will eventually collapse from the pressure of this hell.

‘We need to create a variable.’

On this side, the mercenary kings and the teachers of the warrior candidates who acted without saying a word caused variables, but… that wasn’t enough. If it were normal, it would have been an incredibly effective variable, but due to the nature of the Demon Tribe, it wasn’t a big variable. That’s why a huge variable that could have ripples in the flow of this war was needed. A huge variable that could have an influence on this entire war.

That is possible

‘Me and Leah. But…!’

“Blast!!!!”

A powerful explosion occurred due to the magic of the verb.

Kwaaang!!!!!

But no proper damage was dealt to the Demon King.

【Do you think you can destroy me like this, White Dragon!!!!】

He and Leah cannot retreat. The moment even one person retreats, everything will immediately fall apart. Just as he and Leah are variables that can change the flow of the battlefield, the other side also has the worst variable in history that can overturn everything: the Demon King.

‘It’s dangerous like this!’

This fight doesn’t end with defeating the Demon King. To truly save the world, he and Leah must defeat the Demon King, and the human army must defeat the Demon King’s army. Only when both sides win can humanity be saved.

Therefore, both sides must win. It is a necessary condition that must be achieved. Neither side can fail. One must be accomplished to save the world.

【You have a lot on your mind.】

“shut up.”

Even though the warrior was caught in the flow of the war, she did not lose her tension and focus, so she was able to deal with the incoming Demon King’s attacks. In the end, she had to make a decision.

While he risked his life and fought the Demon King alone, Leah changed the course of the war… .

-Leah, I will be in charge of the Demon King… .

It was while Sarah was using magic to convey her thoughts to Leah.

-You don’t have to, Mom. ‘Reinforcement’ has finally arrived.

It was Leah who sent such a message after breaking Sarah’s magic.

‘Reinforcements?’

At that moment, Sarah could feel it.

She had thought.

What is needed now is to create a variable so powerful that it can influence the entire war.

And now it feels like it was entirely possible.

‘Nature?’

From noble mtl dot com

Nature that seems unmovable no matter what happens

The energy of nature that seems like it will always exist in that form

Because it was shaking as if an earthquake had occurred.

【Ugh!】

At that moment, a huge gust of wind suddenly blew and covered the Demon King.

-Is this that disciple?

-When I first heard about it, I thought it was a really small human girl.

-greatness

“…government ordinance?”

There were more than one or two.

Countless spirits appeared on this battlefield.

It was a truly mysterious and wondrous sight, one that even the warriors of Infinite Regression had never seen before.

That was a given.

Does it make sense that the winds of the North blow from the South? Or, conversely, does it make sense that the winds of the South blow from the North? Of course it doesn’t make sense. Likewise, it was taken for granted that the spirits usually did not want to leave their own domains.

It was something that even the warriors of the Infinite Regression could not have imagined, that so many spirits could gather in one place to the point of causing nature to shake like this.

-I came here at the request of a friend.

-Yeah. I can’t ignore a friend’s request.

-Helping your friends is important

But there was a person who made it possible.

There was one person.

There was a person who I persuaded by talking to him one by one and asked him to be my friend.

“… I always try to protect myself, but is it always me who gets protected?”

Sera, the warrior of the infinite return, muttered as if she had realized a truth she had not known before and gathered her strength. It was absolutely impossible for her precious person to have caused such a huge variable and yet not be diagnosed.