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Chapter 275: To the north (3)

Rumble!

The earth rose up, sweeping away the monsters.

It wasn’t just the surface that lifted—it was the entire deep sediment of the earth rising.

It was literally a tsunami of soil.

"Uoooooo!"

"Kaaaa!"

The mighty monsters could not withstand it and were buried.

They would never appear on the surface again.

Buried deep in the ground, they would die, rot, and decay into oil.

Hundreds of monsters were killed that way.

"Wa-wait!"

"Who are you!"

The demons who had mocked the humans\' resolve flew in, panicked.

One of them saw Ketal’s face and gasped.

"…Wait. You’re—!"

Instead of listening to the demon\'s words, Ketal lightly stepped forward, flew toward the demon, and clenched his fist.

He gathered mystery into it and swung.

Crack!

A huge hole appeared in the demon’s chest.

"Guhhhh!"

The demon spat blood.

It tried to raise its arm to counterattack with its trembling body.

Ketal grabbed that arm, broke it, and landed a series of punches.

The demon’s body crumbled in an instant.

It could not regenerate.

It was banished back to hell.

Ketal nodded in understanding.

"A demon of this level dies if I hit it properly, huh."

"You, you! That barbarian!"

"You’re next."

[Yes, sir!]

Ketal pulled out the broken holy sword.

He ran toward the demon, who was backing away after recognizing Ketal\'s true identity.

He gripped the sword hilt tightly and struck downward.

Crack!

The demon’s body was crushed.

And it could not regenerate.

With just one blow, it was banished to hell.

Ketal smiled in satisfaction.

"A demon of this level goes down in one hit. Good!"

Using the broken holy sword was more efficient when dealing with demons with ordinary names.

Ketal had figured that out.

"Oh, ohhhh. The feeling of slicing through the flesh of a filthy demon. The sensation of fulfilling my duty. It feels so good!"

"…It’s noisy, though. That’s a downside."

But it was useful enough.

Ketal moved his body in satisfaction.

"U-ugh?"

The monsters were confused.

Moving by instinct alone, they realized something had gone terribly wrong.

"Oops."

But that thought didn’t last long.

Because Ketal began to crush them all to death with his movements.

The monsters started screaming and fleeing.

"…Wha-what?"

"Huh?"

From atop the fortress walls, knights and soldiers watched in dumbfounded silence.

They had prepared for death.

With desperate resolve, they had vowed to disappear with the kingdom.

But then, suddenly, a single human appeared and slaughtered all the creatures from hell. The knight commander, with a confused expression, asked Pasika,

"Your Highness. Do you know him?"

The knight commander had seen Ketal talking with Pasika.

Pasika, who had been staring blankly, hurriedly collected his thoughts.

He was not a fool.

What was the best course of action for him in this situation?

Quickly realizing it, Pasika shouted,

"…He is a hero!"

"What, what?"

"He is a mighty hero, renowned throughout the continent, who has come to aid us! He has slain countless demons and shattered every evil hand that reached this land! Such a man has come to help us!"

"Oh, ooooooh!"

"Now! Everyone! Follow the hero!"

Pasika shouted boldly and led the charge.

The knights and soldiers, who had been in shock, yelled and followed him.

Morale soared to the heavens in an instant.

"Uoooooo!"

"Kaaaa!"

The remnants of the monsters, already swept away by Ketal, were swiftly killed by the soldiers.

The battle was quickly overturned.

Crack!

Ketal advanced through the waves of monsters.

At the end of his path, he reached a massive hole.

"What’s this?"

A wriggling, gelatinous black hole existed in the ground.

When he tapped it with his finger, it reacted.

The holy sword answered.

[It’s a passageway that connects the surface and hell.]

"Oh?"

Ketal’s eyes widened.

"So I can go, too?"

The demon’s world.

Could he go to hell?

But the holy sword dashed his hopes.

[No? Only those who contain demonic energy, like demons and monsters, can pass through.]

"Ah… I see."

[You seem disappointed, but my senses must be wrong, right?]

Ketal smacked his lips instead of answering.

"So how do we handle it?"

[The passage itself is a type of monster. It’s strong, but there’s a limit to what it can withstand.]

"Ah, got it."

Ketal stomped down with force.

Crack!

Cracks spread instantly through the deep passage.

The energy was transmitted to the core of the monster at the end.

Boom!

The passage exploded like a bursting balloon.

The monsters crossing through it were obliterated along with the passage.

"Is that it? That was simple."

"It worked, but it’s not supposed to be that easy..."

The passage was a bridge connecting hell and the surface.

Its importance made it incredibly sturdy—able to withstand even magical carpet bombing.

But it had shattered with a single stomp.

The holy sword was in awe of Ketal’s power all over again.

"K-Ketal."

Pasika, breaking through the remaining monsters, approached Ketal.

Ketal casually spoke,

"You can handle the rest, right?"

"…Of course."

The demons were completely destroyed.

Most of the monsters were crushed to death by Ketal.

Even the passage to hell had been destroyed with a single blow.

All that remained were the stragglers.

They could easily be handled with their forces.

"Then I’ll leave the rest to you. I have a long way to go."

"You, you—"

Pasika stared at Ketal with a bewildered expression.

"Who... are you?"

Pasika didn\'t know exactly who Ketal was.

Seeing the head of the mercenary guild bow to him, and even the saintess of the sun god and the disciple of the tower master treating him with respect, Pasika quickly judged that this person was beyond his ability to handle and fled swiftly.

Even though he had shouted that Ketal was a hero and a warrior to raise morale, it wasn\'t something he truly believed.

But now, what was this?

Ketal opened his mouth.

“When we first met, you spoke to me about a certain rumor, didn\'t you?”

"Y-yes, I did."

About a warrior said to exist across the continent.

Someone who had slain countless demons, saved the sanctuaries of the gods, and protected the sanctuary of the elves.

“Who do you think that person could be?”

Ketal smiled faintly.

Pasika, who had been silent for a moment, swallowed hard.

"...You’re saying... you’re that protagonist?"

"Well then, if we meet again someday, let’s meet as friends."

BOOM!

Ketal leaped into the air.

Pasika, watching his vanishing figure, let out a bitter laugh.

"...It was my fortune. A great fortune indeed."

In the meantime, nearly all the monsters had been dealt with.

The commander of the knights approached cautiously and asked.

“Who is he?”

"His name is Ketal,"

Pasika replied, continuing.

“He is the one they call the hero across the continent.”

“O-oh... ohhh...”

“Ketal, sir!”

The soldiers, who had been quietly listening in the background, began shouting Ketal’s name.

“Ketal, sir! Thank you!”

“Ohhh, hero! Thank you for saving us!”

The cries spread across the battlefield, even reaching into the castle.

For a long time, the kingdom resounded with chants of Ketal\'s name.

* * *

[This is surprising.]

“What are you talking about?”

[That you’re actively protecting the surface more than I expected.]

Ketal hadn’t just saved Pasika’s kingdom.

On his journey, he had witnessed numerous attacks by the forces of evil.

He saw small villages overtaken and trade caravans under attack and in peril.

And Ketal helped the people without fail every time.

People rejoiced in his assistance, praising him as a benefactor.

This was something the Holy Sword found quite unexpected.

Ketal was an anomaly.

He wasn’t of this world.

He was something from the distant Forbidden Land.

Because of that, the Holy Sword had thought of Ketal as a neutral entity, standing between heaven and hell.

Though he may have held some goodwill towards humans, it didn’t seem like he would take sides.

But judging by Ketal’s actions, he was clearly on the side of humanity.

“I am not an evil being,”

Ketal said calmly.

He was aware that he was twisted in many ways.

But that didn’t mean he had given up on being human.

He had come to this world as a human, and though he may be broken, he still held onto his essence.

At least, that’s how he saw it.

“Besides, demons are my enemies. There’s no reason for me to let them continue tainting this world.”

Demons were indeed Ketal\'s enemies.

After several clashes, that much had become clear.

There was no reason for him to stand idly by as they defiled the land.

[Well... that’s great. As a Holy Sword, it would have been uncomfortable to just watch evil unfold. I’m glad I’ve found such a fine master.]

The Holy Sword chirped cheerfully.

Ketal chuckled softly and murmured.

“Still, things aren’t looking good.”

Over the past few days of traveling, he had encountered nearly ten attacks by the forces of evil.

Some cities had already fallen before he could arrive.

The surface world was undoubtedly in danger.

Ketal tensed his legs.

“I need to move faster.”

BOOM!

He soared through the air.

Ketal continued heading toward the north.

Whenever he encountered a demonic invasion, he fought them off and helped the people. Gradually, more and more people began to recognize his name.

And at the end of that journey...

"...I see snow."

White snow covered the ground in a thick blanket.

The once warm weather was growing colder.

Ketal realized it.

He had arrived in the North.

* * *

This was the North.

The land of the barbarians.

“……”

Ketal gazed absentmindedly at the snow-covered land.

Memories he had been trying hard to forget began to surface.

The Holy Sword, sensing something, asked curiously,

[Why did you suddenly stop?]

"...It\'s nothing."

Ketal shook his head and started walking.

His footprints left marks in the freshly fallen snow.

Ketal arrived at a village in the North.

“This is the place, right?”

This was the village where a disciple of the God of Swords was said to be staying to preach.

Ketal entered the village.

Of course, there was no gatekeeper.

No guards were patrolling.

Buildings were haphazardly erected, as if without any planning.

The ground was uneven, and despite the cold, a foul smell lingered in the air.

Barbarians wandered about the village.

Whenever Ketal had walked among people before, he had always felt out of place, like a mismatched puzzle piece forced into the wrong slot because of his massive frame and strange appearance.

But here, it was different.

Though Ketal stood a head taller than the other barbarians, he didn’t seem out of place among them.

It was as if he had returned to where he belonged.

And that fact made Ketal uncomfortable.

He was not a barbarian.

This was not the place for him.

"...Let\'s find him."

[Yes.]

Sensing Ketal\'s foul mood, the Holy Sword quietly kept an eye on him.

Ketal walked through the village.

Before long, he found the building he was looking for.

"...Oh, wow."

Ketal looked at the building with a mix of awe and disappointment.

The structure appeared as if it had been bombed.

The walls were riddled with holes.

The wooden planks were on the verge of collapsing.

If it weren\'t for the symbol of the God of Swords hanging precariously above the entrance, Ketal might have mistaken it for an abandoned building.

Inside, there was supposedly a disciple of the God of Swords.

‘They said he was a gentle soul.’

As he left the sacred land, the followers of the sanctuary had wept and pleaded, praising this disciple’s exceptional humanity.

What kind of person could he be?

Ketal was curious.

Ketal approached the building and knocked on the door.

A commotion erupted from within.

“You damn barbarian scum!”

BAM!

The door swung open as if it were about to break.

A man, wearing a tattered disciple\'s robe and sporting a wild beard, glared at Ketal with bloodshot eyes.

“I told you! I told you! Don’t come here when I’m trying to sleep! Listen to me for once! Pleeeease!”

"...I think there’s been a misunderstanding."

“Shut up and die!”

The man swung his sword wildly.

Ketal, taken aback, casually grabbed the man\'s blade.