I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

49 – 49. The Sleeping Vampire

“You dare to be human-“

“It’s not like a human, it’s a human.”

A soldier stabbed a man with a spear.

The man quickly grasped the dagger in his hand, intending to decapitate the soldiers around him in an instant.

Kagagak-!

Sparks fly.

The fierce dagger was blocked by the hard upper that rose from the ground.

It was to prevent Clen from killing the soldiers.

If Clen hadn’t stopped it, the soldiers around the man would have dropped their heads in an instant.

“…You guys step back, and help people evacuate. It looks like there is a big fire outside.”

“But, lord-“

“It is an order. I will personally punish that detestable human being.”

When I saw him pull out the dagger, I realized that he was no ordinary human.

It took less than a second to take out a dagger from his chest and cut the throats of all the soldiers around him.

What’s more, the feeling of mana is also unusual.

Above all, the sharpness of that dagger was beyond imagination.

When I saw the dagger’s trajectory, I tried to cut only the trajectory that could kill the living thing with certainty.

“…Ugh.”

Arcel realizes that things are not serious and he immediately tries to call Alfred using the ring.

Outside, people are full of screams.

Besides, Arcel had just noticed that the man was not an ordinary human being when he saw the dagger.

‘That’s definitely Sabach’s dagger.’

Sabach.

A name that cannot be known in the world of darkness.

A group that finds talented children and trains them from a young age to become assassins.

‘Because it’s the same sword that kid used.’

And a member there was once a colleague of Arcel.

Originally, he would never act in a public position or reveal his face or name, but it is said that he changed his method after trying to assassinate the demon king in Sabah and failing several times.

Surprisingly, he sent one of the members to reveal his identity and cooperate with the demon king’s nemesis, the hero.

In fact, before Arsel left on his journey, he met a mysterious girl.

A girl who was only suspicious.

The girl came to the hero saying she would cooperate. She revealed herself as a thief and said she would help the hero on his journey.

At first, he was reluctant, but as time passed, Arsel was able to trust the girl.

The girl excelled at chasing monsters and demons running away, and was good at setting traps, discovering traps, and disarming them.

There were adversities that could not be overcome without a girl.

Even though he didn’t talk much and his expression was cold, it bothered me, but after defeating the Demon King, we laughed and were happy together.

And after that…

“…Ugh.”

It was as if sins were running down Arcel’s back.

I remembered the girl who had been brutally murdered, to the point where I couldn’t even recognize what it was.

The end of the girl who was younger than herself was so terrible that it could not be explained in words.

‘But for now.’

I couldn’t be caught up in the nightmares of the past forever.

She could no longer lose sight of what was in front of her eyes.

And I didn’t want to disturb the barely maintained peace.

‘Alfred, please come here-‘

Arsel was about to pray while holding the ring tightly.

“Don’t play vain tricks, warrior. As for you, I will take care of it myself.”

Chang-!

“Kuh?!”

The man jumped right in front of Arcel in an instant and tried to cut off his ringed hand.

Perhaps it was a sharp blade that would slash my wrists and even my ankles if I had been a bit late in drawing out the holy sword.

“Is that a holy sword?”

Thump!

‘What kind of power?!’

Moreover, the man’s strength was greater than expected.

Although it is said that Arcel has lost most of his power, his dagger was fast and heavy enough that Arcel lost his holy sword in just one blow.

The holy sword flew dozens of meters and stuck into the wall.

The hand holding the sword trembled from the shock.

“…You will never die gracefully.”

The man’s red eyes glared at Arcel as if he hated them.

“A worthless human being, in front of whom would you dare to wield a sword?”

At that time, Clen, who was next to me, said in anger.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of thorns rose from the floor and walls towards the man.

The thorns are large and sharp, like spears.

Even where the thorns touched, the poison was so cruel that even steel melted into liquid.

“Let me show you special mercy, die. Die in pain Regret being born, die criticizing your existence. That is my mercy.”

The man was avoiding all of Clen’s attacks with unbelievable movements, but even that seemed to have a limit.

Even if Alfred managed to evade by pulling his head off or moving his joints in ridiculous directions, the man simply had to evade with his quick, light body and body vision.

My collar is scratched and scratched.

If we keep going like this, we’ll probably be overpowered in no time.

“…Dare you!”

But Clen had no choice but to stop attacking for a moment.

Because the man who was running away from the thorn approached Arcel again.

If you continue to attack like this, Arcel will also be caught up in it.

“Get out of there right now! Don’t you get in the way!”

Clenn roared.

“I was complacent. Asmodian.”

At that moment, the man turned and headed back to Clen.

Pajijik!!

“Kuhhh?!”

Used an unknown artifact towards Clen.

Then hundreds of layers of huge magic circles overlapped around Clen, blocking her movements.

I felt a sense of intimidation, like the magic of a witch I had seen in the forest before.

“It was made to seal the Demon King. It’s something that can never be easily solved. Originally, it was a sealing magic that would have been used in case that hero failed.”

The man laughed at Clen.

“I’ll finish it after you take care of that filthy traitor and the demons of this land. Watch your estates perish there. The army has already been prepared outside the barrier.”

“…How dare you, with such a joke-!”

Magic energy fluctuates around Clen, but is blocked by a magic circle.

As if the man’s words that he was made to seal the demon king weren’t bluffing, Clen tried to break the magic with force, but it wasn’t that easy.

Arsel saw that and tried to retrieve his holy sword.

There is no time to call Alfred.

If you take your eyes off a man even for a moment, those daggers will sever your own throat.

In that case, I had to pull out the holy sword and at least destroy that sealing magic.

No matter how much magic was created to seal the demon lord, a holy sword that could cut magic would have been able to break it.

“Ugh…!”

But even that is not as easy as one might think.

The man who neutralized Clen goes directly to Arcel.

Arsel pulled out his holy sword and hid from the man’s eyes.

If you chase yourself like that, you won’t have time to cut the magic that disabled Clen.

‘Please, Alfred-‘

Thump!

“Do you think you can run away from me?”

“?!”

Arsel, who tried to call Alfred as soon as the man appeared, was taken aback.

I purposely ran to the auction house’s warehouse to hide, but the man found himself in an instant.

As if the opponent had figured out that he could call Alfred using this ring, he showed his will to not allow that no matter what.

“I heard it through an informant. I heard that the hero who was the savior of the world is being loved by Satan.”

“Alternative-“

It seemed like he knew the relationship between Arcel and Alfred.

As Hagiya Sabah is an outstanding assassination group, the information about him is beyond imagination.

It seems that you have already figured out that Arcel is living with Alfred.

Kagagak-!

The dagger and the holy sword collide.

Originally, although heavy, Arcel would have been able to crush an attack like this with a dagger.

But the body itself is also in a very weak state. In a situation where he can’t even use magic, it’s hard not to miss the holy sword.

‘Damn it…’

Arsel was really resentful of himself.

It was because, putting aside the fact that she was a witch to people, she was now only holding on to the ankles of others.

I don’t know if I could even call him Alfred, but the man was persistent and didn’t even give me a chance to do that.

f*ck-!

“Ugh?!”

When the reaction of the holy sword was delayed for a moment, the man’s kick hit Arcel’s side with precision.

Thump!

The pain of distorting the intestines swallows the whole body.

In the end, Arcel lost the Holy Sword once again, and fell to the stage of the auction house.

As I kept sharing the sword, it returned to its original position before I knew it.

“Ouch! Uhhhhh…”

She was barely able to get her body up with just that once.

Blood flowed backwards from his mouth and tasted like fishy iron, and he lost even the holy sword, which he had never missed in the final battle with the demon king.

The man approached the fallen Arcel and easily took the ring off his hand.

Kwajik!

Then he trampled it with his foot and broke it.

“Ah…”

The only way to call Alfred was gone.

Even the holy sword was dropped, and even the ring was smashed.

Arcel hurriedly looked around him and saw the holy sword used by another hero next to him.

I reached out my hand to borrow the power of that sword, but I couldn’t reach it.

I try to get up, but I just keep vomiting blood.

“…It’s absurd, are you really the hero who defeated the demon lord? Aren’t you weak and unable to do anything other than rely on others?”

Pu-wook!

“Ugh!”

The man stuck a dagger into Arcel’s hand so that he could no longer move.

Arcel bit his lip and endured the pain, but all he felt was helplessness.

A sense of helplessness that one cannot do anything.

If you think about it, saving the burning forest at that time would have been impossible without Alfred’s help.

“And if you are truly a warrior, why are you trying to get in my way? Wasn’t the hero the one who protects humans from demons? But why are you trying to protect the demons now?”

In addition, I couldn’t deny the man’s words decisively.

As the man said, Arcel was trained to protect humans from demons in the past.

“I came here to deal with the elimination of all demons in this land and the existence that can become a new demon king. But you can’t cooperate, but you’re going to interfere?”

Arcel couldn’t comment.

“If you cooperate even now, I will save your life. After all, you are the hero who once saved the world from the demon king.”

Because the man’s words were reasonable.

“…You dirty traitor.”

Even so, as Arcel hesitated to answer, the man glared at him critically.

“There are dozens of cities burned by demons, and hundreds of villages have disappeared. More than millions of humans have been killed by them. Did you forget that?”

It was true.

Destroyed countries, destroyed cities, burned villages, and dead people by the demon king.

They were unimaginably numerous.

The reason Arcel wanted to defeat the demon lord, even at the cost of his own life, was to prevent such a tragedy from happening any more.

But…

“…That’s not it. But-“

Certainly, all of those damages were caused by demons, but is it right to turn the arrow of revenge to other demons as well?

Just because he might become another demon king, is it right to get rid of the demons who rule the territory peacefully?

In particular, Arcel had subjugated all the demonic families who had directly plundered human villages in the past.

Most, if not all, of the remaining demons were not the ones who were plundering like that.

Of course, if it were Arcel when he was called a hero, he would have pulled out his sword, saying that it was the best choice, even if it wasn’t right.

Because I didn’t want that tragedy to happen again.

“Only then… Nothing can be solved. This is not a problem that can be solved simply by overthrowing one or the other…”

But it was different now.

I was able to answer because it was Arcel who had been living in this land for a while.

That method is wrong.

Although these were unforgivable words for those who lost their loved ones to demons, in the end solving everything by force cannot solve the fundamental problem.

Of course, it may bring temporary peace, but in the end, more disasters will come.

This is proved by the stories of past warriors.

Of course, Arcel was the same.

“Yes, then-“

The man pulled another dagger from his bosom.

This time, it goes to his chest, not his hands.

It was to finish Arcel.

“…It’s magic to seal the demon lord.”

“!”

The man stopped his dagger when he heard a voice behind him.

Originally, there must have been so much pressure on Clen that he couldn’t even speak.

How can you say that anyway?

“It’s insignificant, if only I knew humans were so weak. I would rather have destroyed you together with the Demon King.”

Clen said with a puzzled laugh.

Damn it!

“I’ve been a bit intimidated by some humans in the past, but now I know I don’t have to.”

Her magic circle that sealed her inside cracked her.

Hundreds of overlapping magic circles were broken one by one, and soon all the magic circles were destroyed at once.

“Okay… It’s not enough that you dare to set fire to my territory and say that you will kill all the people of the territory, so I will repay you for that.”

Damn it!

Next comes a change in Clen’s appearance.

The figure of a young woman with black hair is distorted little by little, and the shape gradually changes into a gigantic monster.

Clen changed into a gigantic scorpion, reaching the ceiling of this auction house that held hundreds of people.

Wow!

The scorpion’s huge blade came down to the ground.

The auction house was destroyed by a huge body created from within, and Arcel barely survived the collapse.

Debris fell on Arcel, of course, but the holy sword, Mystel, flew in and cut down all the debris.

Thanks to that, she was able to be safe, but she still couldn’t be relieved.

‘Is this her true form?’

A monster in the form of a giant scorpion that appeared before your eyes.

It was after the man lightly smashed the magic that was created to seal the demon king.

However, one problem with her was that she felt ominous.

She was originally as nervous as her Alfred, but she had a gentle disposition…

Not now.

I couldn’t.

Clen was here, watching the screams and pain of the people outside.

A huge explosion that happened suddenly.

An unquenchable flame that began to soar.

She was constantly watching those who suffered from them.

Children fleeing from the flames fall unconscious, and soldiers who find them try to save them by sacrificing themselves.

But I couldn’t.

As ignited debris fell, soldiers wrapped themselves around the fallen children.

In the end, both the child and the soldier died.

She

She In the first place, she was the one who could spy on the entire manor, so she wouldn’t know that anymore.

Is that why?

Clen seemed to have lost her temper somewhat.

In other words, a gigantic monster with power comparable to that of the demon lord.

It is a story that she loses her reason and starts to run amok.

[…Today, humans disappear from this land.]

Clen’s voice came directly into my head.

There was a rage in her voice that was incomparable to her before.