Forsaken Priest of the Hero's Party-Chapter 63: The Monster King

“Harmael?!”

Yurinel, the chosen Hero, made a strange expression as she looked at the woman who had caught her sword.

Why has she appeared here now?

Could it be that Harmael had joined hands with the Flesh Underground Castle?

“This is the first time we’re meeting like this. Yes, I am Harmael.”

At that moment, the Vindication shot out from behind like a venomous snake.

Harmael dodged and jumped away from them. The hero’s party looked confused as she just smiled without attacking. What on earth was this woman plotting?

Hadn’t she come to fight? Had the so-called Demon King left her Imperial Palace just to have a chat with them?

If Harmael were the type to waste time like that, she wouldn’t have been able to establish her own empire. That’s why the hero party did not underestimate her.

“Why don’t you bow for me? Call me ‘Your Majesty’ and all that while you’re at it.”

“Enough with the pointless provocation. Since you’re here, get to the point.”

Lucia retorted while letting her whip dangle.

“If you want to fight, I’ll fight. If you’ve come to talk, I’ll oblige. If you have a request, I’ll even grant that, but first I have a question, Your Majesty. May I humbly wrap my whip around Your Majesty’s neck and snap it?”

“You’re as insolent as ever, but you won’t have much time left to be so cheeky.”

Harmael laughed it off. In the end, power comes from ability.

The hero party had abilities that she acknowledged, so even this level of insolence didn’t bother her. If it had been bugs without any real skill, she would have crushed them long ago.

“The day will come when you all bow your heads before me and beg for your lives.”

“Maybe, but today will not be that day.”

Parnell snorted. Harmael coming here alone was both a crisis and an opportunity.

Furthermore, the hero’s party had more than enough skills to seize that opportunity.

“I’ll admit your skills are impressive. I also acknowledge that none of us could defeat you alone, but we’re not alone. You, on the other hand, are. You must have strong allies you could bring, so why did you come alone? Did we look that easy to you?”

If Harmael had brought the demon realm’s strongest with her, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

But now that she had come alone, it was a different story. At this point, the hero’s party had no intention of avoiding a battle. Not only was the fight winnable, but rather the stage had been set in their favor.

What is a hero?

Essentially, they were assassins.

It’s just that those assassinations usually ended up killing all the witnesses too, but originally, their reason for existing was precisely to kill the key figures in the demon army and escape.

If they could kill the Demon King Harmael, the demon race would once again fall into internal strife with numerous tribes vying for power and they would no longer be a threat to anyone.

The continent would become peaceful again, and all of that would become the hero party’s accomplishment, personally witnessed by the Saintess herself.

Why would the hero party pass on such an incredible opportunity? Even if Harmael had come to talk, they should at least strike first with their swords.

Even Renheim and Aridel, whose bodies were in terrible shape from the radiation, kept their mouths shut. Their thoughts were simple—if they could kill Harmael even at the cost of their own lives, that would be a much better situation for the Goddess.

Gulp.

Renheim, who had resolved to risk his life, took a sip of what might be the last drink of his life and nearly spat it out. The moment the water touched his lips, the lingering lead taste in his mouth was washed away by a refreshing, cool, even sweet flavor.

Renheim’s expression changed completely as he felt sensation return to his tongue, gums, and mouth. Only then did he realize this water was from the Reviving Spring. His expression contorted.

The Spring, cut off from Kyle, had eventually dried up and disappeared, but the last few bottles of Holy Water drawn from there had saved him from the Hydra’s Poison. Without further thought, Renheim approached the saint and brought the water bottle to her lips as she wore a determined expression.

“W-what is this? What are you trying to feed me... mmph!”

This archbishop was like the most trustworthy older sister figure to her, so the saint had no thought of resisting and could only drink the water. Once she drank it; however, she immediately understood why Renheim had done so.

A refreshing energy enveloped her body, sweeping away all negative effects.

She drank faster and faster, finally emptying the bottle. Her head cleared as if the water had swept away the dust in her mind and her body felt refreshed.

“This water is from the spring created by that priest Kyle who was with the hero party,”

Renheim whispered in the Saintess’ ear.

All the while, his eyes were clearly fixed on Harmael, who was exchanging words with the Hero’s party.

“To think that priest could even cure the Hydra’s Poison! I don’t know what those fools in charge of that priest in the church were looking at with their eyes open.”

If they made it back to the church alive, there would be more people to hold accountable.

Kyle had come to the church of his own accord, but none of the many priests of the Trinity Church had grasped his true nature. Thus, he had walked out on his own, and now his whereabouts couldn’t even be confirmed.

Because those who had evaluated Kyle at the time had already concluded he worshipped false gods before making their assessment, the church took no action while he came and left of his own accord.

Only belatedly did they realize they had let a great figure slip away, but no one knew where the priest called Kyle was or what he was doing now.

Or more precisely, it was too late.

“Saintess. According to the last report I received, that priest was last seen in Larpentia, a small city in the empire. Since then, he left and disappeared without a trace.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“There’s a possibility Harmael still has some of the Hydra’s Poison left.”

Her calm attitude and boldly appearing alone...

Renheim felt uneasy about it somehow. There must be a reason for Harmael’s confidence, or at least he thought.

“If we get poisoned again, we need to start searching for his trail from Larpentia. Now that we know the Ancient God’s priest can even neutralize the Hydra’s Poison and that Harmael has obtained the Hydra’s Poison through some means, we absolutely need him.”

Of course, Harmael had her own reasons and the Hydra’s Poison was indeed part of the source of her confidence.

But what she truly believed in was not the Flesh Underground Castle, nor the Hydra’s Poison, nor even her own power. Harmael clenched her left hand holding a black bead inside and crushed it.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not the one who will cross swords with you.”

A beam of black light shot up into the air from the shattered bead. What was contained within was a type of magical power too different to be called demonic energy. The moment that magical power surged, darkness gathered in the air and dark clouds formed a large gate, which opened wide.

From the gate that opened too quickly for anyone to react, a blazing fireball fell.

“Let me introduce you. The star of this stage is not me, but... what is that?!”

Even Harmael was shocked to see it. Could that possibly be Grimudo?

There were two suns in the sky.

Another sun had appeared in the sky covered by black clouds. The blazing heat scorched the world worse than midday, withering leaves and drying out vegetation.

As it drew closer to the ground, its size grew larger and larger. What had looked like the sun in the sky grew from the size of a coin to a house before finally reaching the heights of a palace.

The moment that burning, sphere-like object touched the ground, a heat wave struck the world and nearly eight thousand corpse soldiers were reduced to charcoal, erased from the earth. This time, Albatross couldn’t even muster his anger.

“W-what is this? Is this the end of the world? Is doomsday coming today?”

That overwhelmingly powerful presence was so far beyond what he could imagine, it was already close to a natural disaster—just as no one gets angry at a volcano for erupting.

Amidst the thick smoke and hot winds, parting the terrible devastation, a burning bird stretched out its neck. Seeing it, Lucia Weston screamed.

“The immortal phoenix!”

Grimudo’s monster corps.

Among them, undoubtedly the strongest being.

The leader of the monsters, who should be called the Monster King, slowly revealed himself, parting the dust and smoke. That was what had curled his body into a round red sphere and fallen.

Lucia trembled, after Seeing that burning bird. She whipped her head around to look at Harmael and spat out venomous words. That was the bird of destruction that had come for them on the day House Weston fell.

“Are you insane...? Are you trying to get us all killed? Do you even know what you’ve done? Grimudo is not something we can control or use!”

However, no answer came.

Hissss!

Shhh.

The blazing earth gradually cooled. The fires clinging to the ground extinguished themselves.

Everyone that survived unconsciously raised their heads to look at the still open gate.

Their mouths closed on their own, and their bodies trembled involuntarily. Darkness multiplied and covered everything, opening a quiet stillness.

Even on the intelligent face of Renheim, terror was etched. The saint, Aridel, shed a few tears.

It was not out of fear or a desire to cry that she shed tears.

“Too... too strong. Perhaps even more than Mother...”

As a saint who could directly see the goddess, she fell into despair.

The saint, who had thought the dignity and status of the goddess was incomparable in the world, now saw and felt that legendary being she had only heard of in tales. The moment she felt that endless power, her heart died.

“Is this... is this a demon king? This is rather...”

Even Renheim, who should have comforted her, couldn’t utter a word. He came, surrounded by jet-black flames darker than the darkness from the gate.

The phoenix, looking at his master, let out a clear cry from its beak to welcome him. He waved his hand in response. Just that alone caused gale-force winds to sweep through.

His magical power was so intense that even the slightest movement caused the surrounding mana to be redistributed. Even Harmael’s hand holding the shattered bead trembled. Only then did she realize that Grimudo had been going easy on her, and for quite some time at that.

He didn’t need the petrifying monster Cockatrice to kill her.

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One finger was enough. Harmael stood frozen like the dead, unable to say anything.

“Gri... mudo.”

Only after a long while did the hero finally manage to utter his name.

Her voice was trembling. But was it only her voice that trembled?

Even the hand holding the sword shook uncontrollably. The nightmare she never wanted to see again had come.

The ancient demon king had descended upon this place.