The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 203



EP9. ■■

Beatrice walked through the Holy Land with mixed feelings. She was mixed about not being able to fight alone.

“…Nothing much, right? I guess nothing should happen… .”

Beatrice was worried about her colleagues. No matter how well planned the operation was, it was a risky operation with a high chance of failure. If something went wrong, they could be in big trouble without a priest. She wondered if she should have gone too.

It wasn’t that she didn’t have anything to do either. No, it was a job that had to unite the entire world in the name of the church, so the difficulty of the job was not easy compared to her colleagues. But at least she was doing well so far.

Beatrice went to the chapel, closed her eyes, and knelt down. It was the church she had wanted to escape from. It was the position she had wanted to escape from, but in this situation, all she could do was pray.

“God, do not let your sheep be tempted…”

She continued to recite her prayers. After praying for several hours, she opened her eyes and stood up.

No matter how much she prayed, she never received the same revelation as when she had previously summoned the Archangel. She bit her lip, feeling lost and uncertain about her future.

What would the future hold? Was there really a way to win? Could it be that the battle was already unwinnable from the moment the Archangel was lost? Beatrice felt a thousand thoughts running through her head.

“…But we have to win at all costs. We have to win. Yeah.”

If there is no way to win, you must create a way to win. This fight is not just a war, it is a war that will determine the fate of humanity. Beatrice clenched her fist. Blood flowed out of her fist.

She wandered around the holy grounds to get some air out of her dizzy head. The wind gently caressed her silver hair.

And then, as she wandered aimlessly, she realized that she had come to the place where she had kept the holy sword.

Perhaps, if the Holy Sword of the Dragon Knight had been returned through the normal process, it would have been placed here. As the saying goes, it was because of their greed that the Holy Sword was broken, and because of that, this has happened. Beatrice’s expression darkened as she thought about it.

She walked to the place where the Holy Sword was stuck. Yes, the Holy Sword was nowhere to be found, just empty space…

“…huh?”

Beatrice rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what was happening.

But no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, the sight before my eyes did not change.

“The Holy Sword… why is it visible?”

Incredibly, the Holy Sword was still stuck in that spot. It looked perfectly fine, as if it had never been broken in the first place. Her eyes widened.

“Anyone who can restore and bring back the Holy Sword…”

Beatrice felt her hands shaking slightly.

She fell to her knees in front of the Holy Sword. Then she grabbed the Holy Sword and supported her body.

My head was spinning. I felt like I would faint and collapse at any moment.

“Oh my god…”

Why did you arrange such a cruel fate?

She covered her mouth and sobbed.

…

Ainzel looked at Kaledar. He clearly said that he was going to retreat.

‘If we withdraw already, the operation will fail.’

The enemy’s core force has not yet been sufficiently reduced. If the Demon King were to recover in this situation, it was obvious that an unbearable disaster would occur. Ainzel bit his lip.

That’s why Ainzel shot magic at Kaledar, who was trying to return.

“Where are you going? I have to chase you till the end, okay?”

Kaledar looked at Ainzel and crumpled his face. If he keeps getting interrupted, he won’t be able to retreat. It wasn’t pleasant to be interrupted like this when time was of the essence.

However, Ainzel liked the fact that his enemy was so openly showing his impatience. The more impatient the enemy was, the more likely it was that the situation would turn in his favor, and he would be psychologically discouraged and make mistakes. He took out his bow with such thoughts in mind.

Then, Ainzel aimed his bow at Kaledar and shot an arrow filled with energy. Kaledar hardened his face and lightly knocked the arrow away.

“You keep interfering…! Alright, then I’ll do whatever you want. All forces will retreat! I’ll deal with this man!”

Ainzel bit his lip. He couldn’t stop the retreat of the others. Was it a blessing that he was able to stop the retreat of the strongest enemy, Kaledar? But there was nothing he could do. He was struggling just to stop Kaledar, so this was the best he could do.

Kaledar rushed forward at incredible speed in an instant.

Ainzel pulled out his sword and clashed it with Kaledar’s. Sparks flew into the sky and a clashing sound was heard.

“You have kicked away the chance to live. You will surely die.”

Ainzel looked straight at Kaledar and said.

“Well, we’ll just have to see whether I die or not, right?”

Kaledar’s face hardened even more. It was a very annoying situation. He had to deal with the human quickly and run himself, but the enemy had not yet crossed the line, but he was on the verge of crossing it.

Even Ainzel had an advantage in fending off enemy attacks rather than attacking first, so if he fought to buy time, it would be nearly impossible for even the highest-level demon, Kaledar, to win quickly.

‘Damn… I acted too rashly. I should have asked the Demon King what to do and then pursued him or something. Who would have thought I’d get caught like this?’

Kaledar seemed dazed when he heard about Ainzel’s plan, since he only thought that he, and the main force, were trying to trap him.

“You guys, stand back and keep some distance until it is safe!”

Ainzel gave orders to his soldiers. After all, there wasn’t much that the average soldier could do against a demon with the same level of skill as a Grandmaster. Knowing this, the soldiers also retreated without saying a word.

Ainzel lunged at Kaledar once again. At that moment, Kaledar saw Ainzel’s sword.

Although it was filled with energy, the sword itself did not look in good condition. Kaledar smirked. It seemed as if he could see the key to victory.

Kaledar instantly rushed to Ainzel and swung his sword.

A blow that poured out an enormous amount of his own strength. Ainzel tried to block the blow with his sword.

“How stupid. You should have thought of avoiding it instead of stopping it.”

As he said this, Kaledar cut Ainzel’s sword in two.

“…!”

The trajectory of Kaledar’s sword did not stop even after cutting the sword in two.

Ainzel panicked and tried to teleport away. However, just before teleportation, the sword grazed one of Ainzel’s arms. He barely managed to avoid losing his arm, but it was effectively useless. Ainzel gasped for breath as soon as he realized the excruciating pain coming from his arm, and Kaledar immediately rushed in.

‘Damn, without a sword I have no deterrence at close range!’

Even if you try to hold out with a shield, it’s only going to be that bad. In the end, since you won’t have any deterrent power against the enemy, you’ll be beaten and defeated, and you won’t be able to do anything.

His arm continued to throbbed. Ainzel used his divine power to heal his arm, but nothing changed.

Ainzel’s face crumpled the moment he realized that. Was he going to lose like this? Really?

No. I can’t die here right now. I can’t lose like this.

… but we cannot win in our current state.

“…shit.”

Ainzel cursed softly.

Kaledar was running at incredible speed regardless.

Yes. Right now, he had to win. To do that, he had to do things he really didn’t want to do.

… Actually, I knew from the beginning. I knew that I wouldn’t win if things continued like this.

That’s why I made excuses. I thought it was a good thing to just hold on like this. I thought it was a victory because I benefited from it.

But I knew from the beginning that that wasn’t the case.

For a true victory, holding out here was not enough.

What was he hesitating for? What he wanted was victory, and the means to victory were already in his hands.

“…okay.”

So this is what happens in the end.

Ainzel made up his mind.

…

As Beatrice looked at the Holy Sword, she felt something strange in it.

The holy sword was shining brightly. She instinctively realized what was about to happen.

“no.”

She absentmindedly reached out her hand toward the Holy Sword. However, the Holy Sword had already disappeared without a trace.

“no….”

…

“…”

Kaledar opened his eyes wide. A sword appeared out of thin air that had never been there before. The sword was infinitely bright, infinitely dark, infinitely pure, and infinitely turbid.

A sword that was so extraordinary that he couldn’t even understand it. Realizing that such a sword was right in front of him, Kaledar opened his mouth and spoke without thinking.

“…Who the hell are you?”

Ainzel licked his lips.

There were days spent in fear. There were days when I was obsessed with breaking free.

“…Ainzel.”

He opened his mouth so quietly.

But, didn’t he end up coming back here?

“Ainzel…”

He repeated his name once more.

The sight was so splendid, and so distant-

“He is a warrior.”

EP9. The Warrior