The Jörmungandr I hurled with all my might soared into the sky with a swishing sound.
Of course, with my usual strength, it would have been impossible, but the serpent sensed my intention and coiled its body, launching itself upward.
Simultaneously,
Flash-!
Jörmungandr used [Shell of the Old God].
The effect of [Shell of the Old God] is to restore its prime strength for three turns.
In other words, for the next ten minutes or so...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Jörmungandr reverted to its form as the 'World Serpent,' showcasing its true nature as an ultra-giant monster!
Having completed its transformation to its prime state, Jörmungandr immediately attacked the black lake. The fish 'Kun,' just about to transform into the giant bird 'Peng,' was caught off guard and took the full brunt of the attack.Crash! Boom-!
The fish, halfway through its transformation, was pressed down by the serpent and sank back into the lake.
'Kunpeng...!'
Raising massive waves and bubbles, Jörmungandr and Kun fought fiercely beneath the lake's surface. I swallowed hard as I watched.
'Can we finish this in ten minutes?'
Of course, even if we couldn't finish within ten minutes, we had other strategies prepared to take it down afterward.
The dark event and the Goddess's blessing were both tailored for this battle. It would be great if we could finish it easily without much effort!
After about ten minutes, everyone was on edge, waiting with bated breath.
Splash-!
Breaking the surface first was the giant fish Kun.
Everyone's shoulders tensed. Did this mean Jörmungandr was defeated?
Swish-!
But no.
Jörmungandr emerged next, holding the massive fish in its powerful jaws. It lifted its defeated prey like a hunter.
Thud...!
The enormous body of Kun was flung out of the lake.
Half of its body had transformed into Peng, suggesting it had desperately tried to transform to escape Jörmungandr's grasp.
Swish-!
Jörmungandr exhaled in satisfaction. This serpent had wrapped its long, gigantic body around Kunpeng, squeezing the life out of it.
Everyone cheered. I jumped up and shouted.
"Well done, Jörmungandr!"
Swish... Swish...
Jörmungandr, exhaling contentedly, glared northward with its golden eyes.
"Now, back to the north..."
"No, where are you going? Come here."
As Jörmungandr, driven by instinct, tried to head north again, the effect of [Shell of the Old God] ended, and it reverted to its small, original form.
Swish, swish...
Jörmungandr coiled up, looking somewhat sad.
Violet and the Gambler's Club members petted and comforted it.
'We really got through this easily.'
I hummed contentedly as I looked down at the fallen Kunpeng, half-fish, half-bird.
Moreover, the flying monster battle, which had to be fought once every five stages, was now counted as complete. We had really handled it smoothly.
'We deliberately violated the insomnia period to incur penalties, customized the dark event and the Goddess's blessing for this battle, and even deployed a natural enemy, the serpent.'
Thanks to the royal scepter, we could handle four stages with ease.
When the strategies I prepared worked beautifully, there was no greater joy as a conqueror.
I indulged in self-satisfaction for a moment. My strategies are excellent... although it seems like cheating with the royal scepter...
"...But Your Highness."
Just then, Junior approached hesitantly. I turned with a questioning sound.
"That equipment Jörmungandr is wearing."
"[Shell of the Old God]?"
"Yes. While Jörmungandr's use is highly effective..."
Junior glanced at me furtively.
"Wouldn't it also be greatly helpful for someone on our side who has lost their strength to use it?"
"For example, who?"
"Like Lady Hecate...?"
Junior twisted her hair with her fingers and stammered. Guessing who she had in mind, I chuckled.
"Hecate's power is entangled with ancient curses. Those curses are now subordinated to me. I'm not sure if I can fully restore her power."
"Ah..."
"And more importantly."
I turned my gaze. Junior also looked in that direction.
The Gambler's Club members were putting on an impromptu magic show, and Jörmungandr, no longer a mythical creature but just a slightly larger snake, was enjoying itself, swishing around.
"Even if one could regain their prime for ten minutes per battle... what then?"
"..."
"After the duration ends, they have to return to their current selves."
Restoring the lost prime form.
For some, this effect could be as addictive as a drug.
If misused, especially if someone longing for their prime used this equipment, it could be very dangerous.
"The past is just the past. We have to move forward."
It's a harsh truth, but those who have lost must learn to live with their loss.
Whether it's a past connection, a lifelong achievement, or anything else...
What's gone is gone.
There's no other way.
"..."
Junior, looking sorrowful with her lips tightly pressed together, sighed deeply.
"I'm worried about Lady Hecate."
"Me too. I'm worried."
I smiled gently at Junior.
"Let's hope that after this struggle and pain, happiness will come to her."
Not just Hecate, but everyone here on the front lines who has lost something, big or small.
May they accept their loss and rise again. May they have the courage to overcome the harsh challenges.
I can only support them.
***
A few days after Stage 44 ended.
A modest funeral was held west of the city.
It was a joint funeral for those who had died after Stage 40.
Some soldiers who were injured during the Night Bringer battle in Stage 41 had succumbed to their wounds.
In Stages 42 and 43, a few regular soldiers were killed by the final struggles of the remaining monsters.
And in Stage 44, although there were no battle casualties...
In the temple of Crossroad, someone dear to all of us passed away peacefully after living a full life.
"Uhh, uhh."
On a hill beside the gravesite, Damien was crying, his face a mess of tears and snot.
In Damien's cupped hands, a small bundle of fur covered with a white cloth... a hamster lay peacefully.
Yes, Podongi had passed away...
At 2.5 years old, it had lived a long hamster life.
We couldn't hold its funeral with the soldiers who had died fighting, but after the ceremony, those who knew Podongi came to mourn.
After respectfully conducting the soldiers' funerals, I finished all the schedules and went to Damien.
"Our Podongi... it was eating sunflower seeds so well until yesterday, but it just went to sleep like this, full and round."
"You took good care of it, so Podongi was happy too."
"I feel like I was a lacking owner, sniff..."
Damien sniffled and looked toward the temple.
"I have a flower bed I take care of at the temple. I plan to bury it there."
"Alright. Bury it well in a sunny spot."
I wondered if burying it so close would just keep making him sad whenever he went there, but it didn't seem to matter. At Damien's feet was a small hamster cage... with another young hamster busily running around inside.
"Who's this?"
I asked curiously, and Damien scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"A few months ago, I took Podongi to the Crossroad Hamster Club... we call it CrosHam."
Is that another secret organization I don't know about?! How many secret groups are there in this city?!
"Podongi ended up impregnating a female hamster there."
"..."
So he already had offspring? What a fiery little guy...
"The babies were born, and they asked me to take care of one, so I've been raising it."
"Huh."
Looks like Damien's hamster master life will continue for a few more years.
I looked at the little hamster bustling around in the cage and asked.
"What's its name?"
"Podong 2."
I flinched.
"What?"
"Podong 2. Podong 2."
"Podong? The name's the same?"
"No, it's completely different. It's Podong 2."
"...Podong 'i'?"
"Podong '2'!"
Damien clenched one fist and extended his index and middle fingers, shaking them while shouting 'Podong 2!'
The pronunciation is exactly the same! How is it different?! They even look almost identical! (TL Note: The confusion comes with how 2 is pronounced in Korean. It's pronounced 이 (i), so Ash thinks he is saying Podongi, which was the name of the original hamster, while Damien is saying Podong 2)
"I was going to name it Podong Junior, but I thought that might be awkward..."
"Yeah, that would definitely be awkward."
Anyway, though not as many as the fallen soldiers, Podongi received quite a bit of mourning as well.
Especially the elves, who are somewhat like rodents, and the muscular guys who bathed with it in the sand, showed their sorrow. How many CrosHam members are among them...
After the cleanup, I headed to the temple with Damien. There were a few other heroes hospitalized there whom I needed to see.
'Especially the Emperor, and the Emperor, and the Emperor...'
He gets very bored in the hospital and keeps calling for me. So I visit the temple at least once a day.
Chatting with Damien, we entered the temple entrance.
"Your Highness!"
High Priestess Rosetta came running out urgently. I looked at her, puzzled.
"What's the matter?"
"King Poseidon has regained consciousness!"
I was startled.
King Poseidon had been in a coma since the battle with the black dragon. The King of the Merfolk had finally woken up.
"He urgently requests your presence!"
"I'll go right away."
Giving Damien a nod, I quickly followed Rosetta into the temple.
"This way."
"Thank you."
As I carefully stepped into the room Rosetta pointed to...
I saw the Merfolk King soaking in a tub of holy water and potion.
He looked decades older than before. His once muscular body was emaciated, and his beautiful bronze skin was dry and lifeless.
"King Poseidon, how are you feeling?"
I approached and asked, and the Merfolk King slowly looked at me with weak eyes.
"It seems we've managed to protect the world, Prince Ash."
"Everyone combined their strength. King Poseidon, you did a great deed as well."
"Yes, the world is safe..."
King Poseidon added bitterly.
"For now, at least."
Sensing something ominous in his words, I stared at the Merfolk King.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"I saw it."
"What did you see?"
"When I barely escaped from the Lake Kingdom and crawled out through the entrance of the Black Lake..."
King Poseidon, who had been left alone in the dungeon of the Lake Kingdom, returned by his own strength. He was talking about that time.
Recalling that time, the Merfolk King's eyes trembled.
"Chains of darkness poured out from the Lake Kingdom, extending hundreds, thousands of strands out of the Black Lake."
I frowned.
"Chains...?"
I had seen something like that before...
"Those chains grabbed someone, binding their entire body, and pulled them into the Black Lake."
King Poseidon looked at me.
"Who do you think that person was?"
"...!"
I instinctively knew.
"Nameless."
"Yes, and she was undoubtedly..."
King Poseidon spoke with difficulty.
"Turning into a 'monster.'"
"..."
"Bound by chains, consumed by that darkness, being dragged into the Black Lake... she could hardly maintain her human form."
I remained silent, and King Poseidon continued.
"Our eyes met, and she spoke to me."
"...What did she say?"
"She asked me to tell you."
I clenched my eyes shut at his next words.
"To kill her. She said that was the only path left."
"..."
"The despair I felt from her... was greater than what I felt from the Night Bringer. I knew instantly."
King Poseidon's shoulders trembled.
"She is the true master of darkness that will destroy this world."
At that moment,
I felt a strong vibration at my waist. I urgently pulled out the source of the vibration.
It was the royal scepter from the Lake Kingdom.
The jewel at the head of the scepter, which had been emitting a brilliant cyan light, gradually dimmed. Alarmed, I focused my consciousness on the scepter, but I could no longer use its power.
'The authority within the scepter... has been reclaimed.'
This phenomenon meant only one thing.
I clenched the now powerless scepter tightly.
My adversary had returned.
The Demon King had come back.
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading