Chapter: 541
The moment Erginius stepped into the dungeon inhabited by the Evil God of Darkness, he felt the malevolent energy lingering inside, biting his lip.
The darkness of the Evil God was a disaster that couldn’t be described with mere words like “terrible.”
The god’s power consumed all human senses, crushing hope, feeling like a weight of despair on the shoulders, causing even the bravest souls to wish for death rather than face the horror illuminated by bright light.
Even in the final moments of confronting the Evil God of Darkness, hope among the heroes was scarce.
If the Holy Knight Ruel hadn’t sacrificed his own future to create a miracle, they would surely have been defeated.
And now, at this moment, facing the Evil God of Darkness, Erginius vowed for revenge against the past, while on the other hand, he had to grit his teeth to calm his trembling hands.
“Alright, you useless folks. Follow along. If you’re just high-named namesakes without any use, you should be able to manage that much, right?”
But Lucy was different. Having faced the Evil God and escaped death several times, she was calm, even in the presence of the dark god’s aura.
As if she didn’t even know what fear was.
“Right. The useless prince can’t keep up since he gets exhausted after just a little walk. Want me to carry you on Daddy’s back like a fool?”
“Nonsense! I’m not the pathetic loser I used to be! Don’t underestimate me!”
Is he trying to put on a brave face? Of course, he would. A human can’t be devoid of the feeling of fear.
Hah. I can see why Ruel cherishes that kid so much. How can such a small back look so big when viewed from the heart?
“Is that so? Do as you please. When you’re whining and crawling on the ground later, I’ll make sure to stomp on you.”
“That won’t happen!”
But it was strange. Nobody was questioning why that kid was in charge. Given the impressive array of characters present, wouldn’t it be better if someone else led the party?
Even though Ruel was advising from his mace, making immediate decisions seemed difficult, right?
“Oh? Lady Alrn, have you conquered this dungeon before?”
When Yuden, the Sword Saint, expressed similar thoughts to Erginius, Lucy openly scoffed.
“Mr. Fetish, are you half-brained because you’re too busy watching Daddy? Ever thought about why the other useless ones aren’t saying anything?”
“I-I’ve never been watching anyone!”
“Pfft. Look at your shaky voice. What a truly pathetic lady. Aren’t you embarrassed pretending to be a girl at your age? Huh?”
“Enough! S-Stop it! I’ll stay quiet! I’ll be quiet!”
Witnessing Yuden scream, Erginius resolved that he should just keep quiet for now.
If he uttered a single wrong word, the fox perched on Lucy’s shoulder might shift into a human form and cause havoc.
Having been schooled by the fox numerous times, Erginius followed dutifully behind Lucy.
“Haha. It’s alright, Sword Saint. It’s natural to care about your counterpart when they are like you.”
“No. That’s… uh. Uwaaaaah.”
Before long, Erginius understood why everyone else had entrusted leadership to Lucy without any fuss.
The little girl, hardly reaching his waist, commanded more neatly than any seasoned commander of an entire army.
As soon as she scouted the dungeon’s landscape, she immediately found the way forward.
Predicting enemies he couldn’t even see and discussing how to tackle them.
Utilizing traps to lower the pace of their dungeon conquest.
She even managed to collapse parts of the dungeon’s structure to face the troublesome monsters below.
Watching Lucy’s antics made Erginius wonder how things would have been if they had such a child during their time.
He couldn’t say the hero who led them was a bad person. There was no doubt he deserved to be called a hero.
However, the disparity between his skills and personality was evident; his command left much to be desired.
Seeing the hero’s reliance on misplaced instincts to summon all sorts of nonsense only proved how remarkable he was while also making Erginius feel inwardly frustrated.
What irritated him even more was that he would fix the mess created by his own blunders and then bash his head into the ground claiming responsibility!
The struggles they faced because of his foolishness!
In situations where he should have been the one to die!
Instead of taking the responsibility, he shamelessly apologized first!
Where were they supposed to vent their frustration?!
“Pathetic Wizard! I know you want to stare at the girl’s butt from back there, but at least pretend to be following us, will you?”
“Do I look like that kind of person!? I just thought it would be more convenient if we had someone like you in our party!”
“Puhah. You’re sounding just like an old grandpa. How pathetic must the hero be if he’s being compared to a cute girl like me?”
Erginius had intended to speak up for his former comrade, but he could find no words to counter that claim.
The hero’s incompetence in leadership was a magnitude beyond the term “pathetic.”
While Erginius was letting it sink in, trying to remember if the hero had any good leadership moments, the party had made steady progress forward.
It took just one hour to reach from the first to the tenth floor. It took an hour and twenty minutes to get through floors ten to twenty, which had more gimmicks added, and forty minutes to reach from the twentieth to the thirtieth floor. During that time, Lucy had Benedict wreak havoc in the dungeon to speed things up.
“…Is this really okay?”
“Against a stupid dungeon made by a pathetic idiot, this much is more than enough. Honestly, it’s almost a shame we didn’t blow up everything. It would have been such a delight to watch that guy’s face crumble in disbelief.”
“Ugh. Who even is the villain here, I can’t tell.”
This swift advance remained unchanged even after reaching the thirtieth floor, where the Evil God of Darkness’s powers lay.
Despite losing parts of their senses, under Lucy’s guidance, there were no variables.
What do you do when someone seems to know what’s going to happen in the future? You can’t stop them just by robbing one of their senses.
Before half a day had even passed, Lucy reached the forty-sixth floor and, without Erginius saying a word, found the location where the Evil God of Darkness was sealed.
“Hey, pathetic loser mage. It’s finally time for you to earn your keep. Don’t tell me you can only show a sorry face even in your area of expertise?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve spent nearly a century verifying this plan.”
Without facing any real battles thus far, his condition was as optimal as it could be. His mind was clear, and his magic was rich.
So, there was no room for mistakes.
Even if any unforeseen events occurred—
*
“Who knew the pathetic Agra would be quiet today?”
He thought the creature below would intervene when it was in danger, yet strangely, it remained silent.
Was the laughing god doing a good job keeping it at bay, or did it deem us too powerful to engage?
Personally, I believed it was the latter. Given what happened last year in Burrow Territory, the Evil God of Darkness would be quelled immediately if it attempted to resurrect in front of them.
[In other words, it’s just waiting for the right moment.]
‘Waiting for us to arrive at the Fairy Forest?’
[Indeed. It’s wise to prepare as much power as possible. A disaster is approaching.]
Hearing my grandfather’s words, I watched as Erginius prepared a magic circle.
The magic he was drawing was so complex that my knowledge couldn’t even begin to grasp it.
Others present were not significantly different from me. The only difference was the degree to which they stopped trying to understand it, as they all had given up understanding it at some point.
Some couldn’t even spare a glance at the magic circle from the start.
Like Arthur, who was still sprawled on the ground.
He looked suspiciously still, as if he were dead, but he had fought through to maintain his pride until the end.
Even when it seemed he might collapse from exhaustion midway, he gritted his teeth and followed us with his own legs.
Did he find it so unbearable to be called pathetic?
While his tenacity was commendable, I just wished he’d recognize that if something went wrong, we’d all suffer because of it.
…
[What are you planning now? ]
‘Uh. How did you know? Am I coming off like a pervert sniffing around looking for sweat?’
[Your expression reeks of wanting to pull a prank on someone.]
I hadn’t really meant any of that.
I just wanted to see if Arthur would get mad at me being a little annoying while he lay there.
If he couldn’t get up, then I thought of teasing him until he was utterly frustrated.
With relief momentarily turned into annoyance due to the perverted Apostle next to me, it wasn’t such a terrible thought to blow off some steam at Arthur’s expense.
Ultimately, wasn’t my failure to break the record just a chance to vent my frustration from pestering that guy?
I’d been nice to him!
As I grumbled inwardly, the shadows around us began to thicken. The magic sealing the Evil God of Darkness was being affected by Erginius’s spell.
“Prepare for any unexpected circumstances. We’re about to disturb the seal.”
As I saw the growing darkness enveloping the area, I moved closer to Arthur and summoned my sacred power to create a domain.
A place where darkness could never invade.
Then, gazing at the faintly cracked seal, I was hit with a deep sense of malice from the darkness.
A shiver signaling danger! Outwardly, a smile appeared on my face.
Hello there, pathetic hikikomori loser stuck underground. It’s time to catch some sunlight!
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