I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

134. The Witch’s Salvation

The queen and the seven holy swords, who had been silent for a while due to the sudden surprise attack, seemed to have been completely neutralized by Alfred’s attack at first.

Because we only used pure mass attacks rather than magic targeting the most vulnerable state, we would not be greatly affected by the special power of the seven holy swords.

“Really… You are surprisingly violent, contrary to your appearance.”

“Wouldn’t this make you more of a man? Or should I say macho?”

But that is still just wishful thinking.

Not long after, particles of magic began to gather and form the queen’s body.

The shape of a queen created by gathering black particles.

“Macho…”

As expected, the queen still looks at her Alfred with a smile as if nothing is wrong.

Alfred smiling brightly and the Queen smiling.

They are obviously greeting each other with bright smiles, but strangely enough, it feels like they are reflecting their twisted emotions.

“From what I heard, it seems so. But isn’t calling yourself a villain proving that what you are doing is wrong?”

“Well? By the way, didn’t you like the vent I gave you? “I can’t believe it’s already been filled like that.”

“You can rest assured that we moved it to another elf in the basement instead?”

“Oh… I took a hit from this, but it’s okay. The first refill is free. “I’ll make you another one as a service.”

“Is that so? “I heard a rumor that you seem to like conversation, but I guess it was just a rumor.”

“Sorry, I only talk to people, I don’t have a hobby of talking to animals.”

“I see… I’m sorry.”

So the Queen clicks her tongue and begins to reveal her true self.

Kwaaang-!

The seven trampled holy swords emit bright light and instantly shatter the skeleton.

To be exact, they were all cut down.

Even if the warriors who own the Holy Sword do not exist, they move with their own ego.

This means that the warriors who were the owners of the Holy Sword carried the Holy Sword around with them throughout their lives until they died, and their experience and magical power came to form a will.

“How much do you know about the Holy Sword? I don’t know about others, but if you are a warrior, you probably know about the origin of the holy sword. “I’m sure they would have told you.”

The seven holy swords each begin to show colorful lights.

Red, yellow, green, blue, purple, light green…

And finally, the holy sword used by Morian in the center took on a black glow.

“…It is said that only a chosen warrior can draw a sword, and it contains a false legend that it was created by God and can save this world with its power.”

Arcel said with her eyes frowning.

The Holy Sword certainly has great power, but I have already personally experienced that power alone cannot save the world.

Of course, as the Queen said, if that power is wielded generously, eternal peace can be achieved, but that is more like a false peace forcefully maintained in the face of overwhelming power.

Is that actually any different from the Demon King?

“Isn’t it too early to conclude that it’s false? “You decide the answer in advance without even looking at the results.”

“No, it’s definitely a lie. Just strong power alone cannot save you. “I don’t know if there is someone who can use that power correctly.”

A person like that has not yet appeared in the world.

The fact that salvation has not yet been granted to the world during the long period of existence of the Holy Sword is proof of this, and the fact that no one who is perfect in everything can exist also played a role.

Perfection does not and could not exist in this world, so it is natural.

But it gets closer to perfection.

We may not be able to provide complete salvation, but we are trying to provide salvation at least to the extent of reaching out a hand to someone who is stuck in a swamp.

To that end, Arcel continued to move forward.

In the past and now.

No matter how difficult and painful things were, I did not give up and kept moving forward until the end.

That is the path Arcel took.

“It doesn’t matter. What is important is the power of the holy sword. “It is the ability contained in the Holy Sword that satisfies the minimum conditions for a hero to fight against the Demon King.”

“The power contained in the holy sword?”

“As you know, each holy sword has special powers. In common, they can cut down magical power, and when dealing with the Demon King, they unlock their power and strengthen the warrior.”

“What does that mean?”

“But beyond that, each holy sword has its own special power. For example, the warrior’s holy sword has the power to purify the soul and give one an indomitable will.”

Unlike other holy swords, Arcel’s holy sword, Mystel, contains the power to not only cut down magical energy but also purify it.

Based on that power, he healed Stella, and the only weapon that Alfred is reluctant to use is Arcel’s holy sword.

“And the former warrior had the power to bestow an immortal body. “Are you sure the records say you never get hurt unless your heart is broken?”

And the warrior before Arcel.

“It is said that based on that power, he achieved victory after a long battle against the Demon King, the most powerful enemy at the time. Unfortunately, it is said that all of his companions died after a long battle.”

“…Are you talking about him?”

“Yes, for some reason, the demon lord didn’t die even if his food was poisoned, and even if he gave poison to the princesses, he didn’t show any sign of pain. “Wouldn’t it have been better to just have it sealed?”

Afterwards, he was corrupted from a hero to a demon lord.

That power remained even after the hero became the Demon King, making Arcel and anyone else feel the thrill that they could never win against the Demon King.

Even the warriors created to defeat the Demon King could not inflict even the slightest scratch on the Demon King.

This is also why Alfred said that he could not defeat the Demon King no matter what he did.

“He was a warrior stronger than any warrior in history at the time. He is also the one who ended the heyday of the demons. However, it is also said that he gave up in despair over the fact that no one could protect his colleagues except himself.”

It won’t die unless you give up.

In other words, no one could kill the Demon King unless he wanted to die himself.

At first, Morian also thought that the queen had created a clone of Arcel, but in reality, she only possessed Arcel’s magic power and her body contained the power of the Demon King.

Thanks to this, a monster with immense strength and an immortal body that could not be damaged was born.

“Anyway, I have continued to research the Holy Sword. Just as a skilled craftsman must have good equipment to demonstrate 100% of his abilities, the new hero I will create will also need a holy sword.”

If Alfred had not overloaded his magical power and caused him to collapse from the inside, he would have been unable to defeat Morrían no matter what he did since he had already lost his ego.

“Originally, we were trying to duplicate the Holy Sword, but the power contained in the Holy Sword was like the power given directly by God, so that was completely impossible.”

The queen shakes her head with regret.

Soon, the queen strokes the holy sword floating in the sky and shines her benevolent smile again.

“I will explain kindly this time as well. I am now planning to use the power contained in this holy sword. Unfortunately, one sack has already completely lost its owner and no longer contains any power, but it could serve as a core.”

The good news is that the most annoying Morian and the Demon King’s Holy Sword no longer have any power left.

Probably, its power must have been temporarily sealed as it completely lost its owner.

Originally, it should have been the same for other holy swords, but perhaps the Queen used some kind of trick, or it wasn’t the case.

“Ah, thank you for giving me such a nice doll. “I already needed a framework, but I can replace it with this.”

“What? Hey! “Where can you steal from someone else?!”

At that time, the Queen extended her hand to the skeleton that Alfred had summoned.

Then, the remnants of her demon lord came out of her queen’s body and began to eat away at her skeleton.

“I’ll borrow it for a moment. “I will use it cleanly and return it to you, so please don’t criticize me too much.”

Alfred, embarrassed, tried to retrieve the giant skeleton, but he had already stopped listening.

The ownership had been taken away by the remnants.

“The Queen is so crazy about stealing other people’s things?! “Did your parents teach you that?!”

“Well, I don’t know. “Thanks to Satan, the late king passed away and was unable to receive proper teachings.”

“What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden? “I have never touched King Hermod!”

“…Alfred.”

Alfred got angry at the queen’s sudden remark, but Arcel actually grabbed her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“You don’t seem to know… But what the queen said is true. “The late King Hermod died because of you.”

“What? I’ve never killed anyone? “Didn’t he just die of old age?”

“Strictly speaking, although he did not die directly from you, you can be seen as the main cause. “When the late king heard that the queen was kidnapped by you when she was a princess, his blood pressure rose and he stopped…”

Arcel said with his eyebrows crossed that he had to stop because a blood vessel in his brain burst.

She was shocked to learn that her only precious daughter became the devil’s plaything.

She didn’t particularly mean to take the queen’s side, but she told Alfred because he seemed completely unaware.

“…Uh, sorry?”

“It’s okay. “Thanks to you, I ascended to the throne earlier and had time to prepare all these things.”

The queen smiled as if it was okay, and Alfred smiled humbly and apologized.

It was difficult to understand both the person making the apology and the person accepting it.

“Really? “I’m really glad that’s the case.”

“What are you so happy about now?!”

“I feel unfair too, it was the devil who ordered me to kidnap the princess. In the first place, you would just chase after it for a bit like usual and eventually lose it, but then you chased it especially stubbornly and got that queen back, right? “If the devil had seen him, it would have all ended then.”

“The king was so shocked that he even collapsed, so what could I do but pursue you relentlessly?”

Arsel grabs Alfred’s collar and shakes him as he looks embarrassed.

“Don’t be too angry, warrior. “I’m fine.”

The Queen looked at that and laughed.

While the three were having that conversation, Clen, who was quietly watching from the side, thought.

‘In the end, isn’t that guy Alfred’s contribution to all of this great?’

I don’t want to get involved in the troublesome affairs of people, so I don’t say anything, but strangely enough, it seems like Alfred has added a little spice to all of this.

I felt like that was not what I had intended, but in the end, the whole situation turned out that way.

“Anyway, the power given to the swords by God remains in the other six holy swords. And since the Demon King was also a warrior, he can still manipulate and use that power.”

Thump…!

And then, the skeleton, which was nothing but bones, is engulfed by the remains of the Demon King and slowly begins to grow blood and flesh.

In addition, the holy swords enter the giant’s body, further amplifying the power of the remnants.

It is probably the power of one of the seven holy swords.

“Thanks to you, I can make something big and beautiful like this.”

The skeleton that had been completely consumed was transformed into the shape of a gigantic giant and appeared before my eyes.

It was so huge that it could even rival the body of Clen.

But more than that, the question arises as to why the Queen is able to deal with the remnants of the Demon King.

“…Hey, you already knew, but you’re out of your mind? Humans are dealing with the remains of the Demon King. No way, you-“

“Yes, I gave my soul directly to the remnants. “The past five years have been quite painful, right?”

“You managed to survive even after such a suicidal act. Normally, it would be ruined by the demon lord’s ego.”

“Others may not know this, but Hermod’s royal family has been brainwashing the Demon King since he was a human. I believed in it and tried it. Of course it was still risky, but somehow we succeeded.”

The queen smiled and stretched out her hand.

The current queen looked the same as before, but her body was not actually made up of human bones and flesh.

The remnants of the Demon King, or magic power, were nothing more than imitating the appearance of a human being.

“At first, we accepted a very small amount of remnants and slowly adapted to them. “For the first year, the pain was so crazy that I wanted to die, but then the pain subsided and I couldn’t feel anything anymore.”

“You idiot, the connection between body and soul has almost been severed. Somehow, even though there was a hole in the wind, it was still alive. “Your soul was already connected to the remnants of your body, not yours.”

Five years ago, the queen’s body was already just a doll.

That’s why she couldn’t feel pain and didn’t die even when her heart was destroyed, and it wasn’t until her head was finally destroyed that her doll could no longer function.

“Are you really human? If that were the case, I wouldn’t have been able to feel the taste of food, pain, joy, sadness, or anything else, so how did I survive without breaking down?”

Alfred said that the Queen was so amazing that she was truly amazing.

That was natural.

That meant that she, the queen, had completely lost the sense that she was alive, and that she had been ruling Hermod for as long as 5 years while she was still sane.

It is something more terrible than suicide or death, which we cannot even dare to attempt.

“I don’t know about that either. “I think I did it with help from someone at first… But I can’t remember.”

The Queen explained that she received help from someone.

But she no longer remembers who it was, and she says she has never been able to see him again.

“…You are already a witch, I guarantee you. “My mother was a witch too.”

“Thank you. They even provide a guarantee. “It’s just a shame that now I really can’t remember who it was.”

Alfred speaks as if he is fed up.

“But that doesn’t matter anymore, right?”

But thanks to you, I have this much power.

“Now all that’s left is to finish.”

The Queen sat on the shoulders of her giant and looked down upon her earth.

“By the way, you have really nice bones, Satan! It’s durable enough and the scenery is really nice! “Where did you get this?”

“I personally excavated and made the bones of an ancient giant that went extinct a long time ago! How is it? “Don’t you think it’s amazing?”

“Yes! “I think it’s really great!”

Alfred’s nose rises for no reason at the praise of the queen, who speaks happily.

“Why can’t you be serious even once?!”

“Give up, hero, that guy was like that even in front of the devil. “Maybe that’s just nature.”

Seeing Alfred like that made Arcel feel sick to his stomach.

Clen seemed to have already given up.

Cow-!!!

The giant encroached upon by the remnants stepped his foot once, and the earth shook violently and a gust of wind blew.

A monster even more terrible than the previous Morarian appeared.

Of course, magic power and durability would be lower than before, but other than that, it was far superior to Morian.

In particular, the power radiated by the six holy swords was much more intense than that of the Morrían.