“It’s the hero…”
“…and the ‘Blood-Red Goddess Elena’!” The people in the guild broke into cheers. However, the young man outside the guild, facing the remaining demons alone, couldn’t share in the joy.
The older-looking demon crossed his arms and grumbled, “Who would’ve thought we’d run into a hero? Our luck is terrible.”
“But do we really need to fear him? Right now, it’s six against one!” The young demon said, and as he finished speaking, the other four demons appeared, surrounding the young man on the ground.
The young man took a few steps forward, motioned for the women to quickly get to safety, and raised his broadsword to protect them, letting his actions speak for him.
The surrounding buildings were consumed by the demonic fire, and the entire small town was nearly engulfed in flames. The demons landed on the ground with smug expressions, saying, “Let’s have some fun and pass the time!”
Before they could finish their words, the demon group rushed towards the hero. The young man agilely dodged their attacks, wielding his massive sword. Every strike he made sent splatters of crimson blood into the air. The Hero’s Sword was the ultimate weapon against demons, and even a light scratch could be fatal to them. As a result, the six demons quickly found themselves in retreat, step by step.
Their initial plan was to use their greater numbers and engage the hero in close combat, wearing him down slowly, but now they were suffering injuries. Two of them had already panicked and fled, leaving the remaining three or four demons to quickly retreat into the air, creating some distance as they prepared to unleash fireballs and lightning strikes.
The young man darted around on the ground, desperately dodging the magical attacks. If he were to be hit by one of those spells, it would surely be fatal. He had no choice but to seek temporary shelter in one of the nearby houses.
“Ha ha ha! Just a moment ago, you were so arrogant. Now, we’ll make sure you regret it!” the demons taunted as they continued to chase him.
The young man, preoccupied with dodging the falling lightning, paid no attention to what the demons were saying and failed to notice one of them lurking behind him. After narrowly avoiding another bolt of lightning, he tried to turn around, but the demon behind him seized the opportunity and charged straight at him. With no time to react, he felt a sharp, intense pain in his thigh. He looked down to find a barbed dagger deeply embedded in his leg. He immediately retaliated by swinging his sword, cutting the demon who had wounded him in half.
“Ugh!” The sudden movement caused the young man to clench his teeth in pain.
“Oh? You’ve got a good tolerance for pain. I like that, I like that!” The demon, excited by the young man’s suffering, clapped and cheered.
The situation appeared to be turning against the hero, and the people inside the guild were growing increasingly anxious. Someone shouted, “Use your magic, hero! The hero can use magic, can’t he?”
“The hero has wings. If he flies up into the sky, he can fight them on equal footing!”
“Yeah, come on!” The onlookers from inside the guild cheered, but none of them were willing to fight alongside the hero.
“I wish I could…” The young man whispered at a volume no one else could hear. Beads of sweat the size of beans continuously fell from his forehead, and the pain had taken over all of his thoughts.
As a human, the hero had limits to his physical endurance. In this protracted battle where there was no quick resolution, his reactions were becoming increasingly sluggish due to the pain from his wounds. With no assistance and facing overwhelming odds, he truly had no way out.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Hmph.” The demon sneered at the pitiful state of the hero, disdainfully snorting as it prepared for the final attack that would seal the hero’s fate.
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“DYYZ! DYYZ! DYYZ! EYCE! DYYZ! DYYZ! DYYZ! DYYZ! DYYZ! DYYZ! DYYZ!”
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Inside the guild, people clung tightly to their ears, shut their eyes, for fear that their eardrums and eyes would be damaged. It was either temporary deafness or blindness. They had never imagined that the demons were far more terrifying than they had known, and at this moment, everyone was silently praying for safety, hoping to survive this violent onslaught.
The thunder finally subsided, and the area struck by lightning was left with a deep, blackened crater. The plants, trees, and everything in the vicinity were utterly obliterated, reduced to ashes, including the two demons.
Only then did the demon calmly lower the hand he had raised to summon the lightning.
“Are you okay?” He lifted the edge of his cloak and asked.
“My ears… they hurt,” the hero replied in pain as he rubbed his ears.
“Well, it was quite close,” Thrett said with a smile as he gently massaged the hero’s ears.
The hero’s gaze met Thrett’s, and the lightning strike from earlier had blown away the edge of Thrett’s hood, revealing his face. His straight black hair hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes, one violet and one blood-red, added an otherworldly quality to his handsome face.
Thrett found the situation rather frustrating. His eyes were supposed to be violet, but due to the sealing of his powers, his right eye had turned red. What was even more irritating was that despite having seventy-seven seals placed on him, his powers hadn’t weakened much. He could thank the excessive seventy seals placed by Lily for that. Without those extra seals, the damage from the recent lightning strike would have been far more extensive.
“Are you a demon?”
“Yes, I’m a Contract Demon. Look, here’s my contract certificate.” Thrett quickly produced the forged document created by Violet.
“I didn’t intend to attack you, but…” Thrett could easily destroy a large area with just a simple attack. It was evident that he and the demons he had just faced had a significant difference in power.
“Let’s discuss this later. I’ll help you heal first,” Thrett interrupted, placing his hand on the wound on the young man’s thigh. A faint aura emanated from his palm as he carefully removed the dagger. In no time, the wound had completely healed.
“Thank you,” the young man said.
He had heard of the feats of Contract Demons before, and it was said that the demons who willingly entered into contracts usually possessed powerful magic. However, he had never imagined that their abilities would be so overwhelmingly superior when compared to regular demons. Not only did they have healing powers, but they also displayed a vast difference in their offensive capabilities.
“Is your name Thrett, Thrett Fyndrilval Ellyad?” He silently recited Thrett’s full name, and a sense of familiarity washed over him. However, the memory seemed to be buried deep in his mind, shrouded in the obscurity of winter snow, making it difficult to recall.
“It’s a nice name,” he said, comparing it to his own somewhat playful name, which made him feel a bit envious.
—
The Hero Named “Tom Legend” (Part 2)
“Are you here to make fun of me?” The young man’s collar was grabbed by Khlue, who had just saved the town.
After successfully rescuing the town and returning to the guild hall, the first words he heard were a string of curses from Khlue.
“I didn’t have that in mind.”
Thanks to the young man’s heroic performance, Khlue’s false claims of being the hero were exposed. In his humiliation, his initial feeling wasn’t shame but rather anger, which he directed towards the innocent real hero.
However, no one was willing to engage with him, and the crowd pushed Kh;ue aside, surrounding the young man. Thrett put his hood back on and stood silently at a distance, observing.
“It’s all thanks to the hero that we were saved,” someone said.
“Your heroic presence, my lord, is something I will never forget in my lifetime!”
“You really had us fooled all this time!”
“Your humility and modesty in acting unassuming, my lord, truly reflect your noble character!”
“Let’s wait until tomorrow to start rebuilding our home, for with the protection of the benevolent Goddess Elena, the Hero has arrived in our town of Rolen, leading us away from the terror of the demonic creatures and bringing us safety. Therefore, tonight, no matter what, we must hold a celebration to pay tribute to the merciful Goddess Elena and the great Hero!”
The people around him erupted in excitement, but the young man, not used to being engulfed by the crowd, frowned in discomfort and muttered, “I’m not the Hero.”
After nightfall, in the town square, the townspeople and travelers alike tossed fragrant herbs into the bonfires, reciting prayers to the Goddess Elena. The flames rose high, filling the air with a pleasant aroma.
Everyone came together, helping one another, as they brought out items salvaged from their damaged homes to burn. Meanwhile, the town’s mayor and wealthier families provided meat, dried goods, and strong spirits, sharing them with those gathered around the sacred fire.
Singing and dancing filled the night as people gathered around the fire to keep warm, forming circles of activity. They would rest when they grew tired, but tonight was about feasting and rejoicing, offering prayers to the goddess to cleanse their hearts of the day’s fear, so they could rebuild their homes with renewed spirits in the morning.
Thrett had initially planned to have a brief chat with the supposed hero before leaving, but from the beginning of the festival, the hero was constantly surrounded and showered with the highest level of attention and respect. There were people who knelt before him, expressing their gratitude.
“Looks like I won’t be able to say hello after all. What a shame,” muttered Thrett to himself. While he didn’t mind the festive and celebratory atmosphere, the scent of the burning herbs, known for its demon-repelling properties, made him uncomfortable. Additionally, hearing everyone chant the goddess and hero’s names left the current Demon Lord feeling a bit displeased, so he decided to forgo seeking out that hero for a conversation.
While the chances of encountering an interesting hero like this again in the future might be low, Thrett, as the Demon Lord, had plenty of time. Maybe in the next few hundred or even thousands of years, another equally interesting hero would appear.
Thrett walked away from the crowd by himself, heading towards the dark forest. However, as he was about to enter the forest, someone grabbed the corner of his cloak.
“Are you leaving?” the hero, breathing heavily, asked as he clung to Thrett’s cloak. He was afraid that Thrett, cloaked in black, might suddenly disappear into the dark woods.
“Is that you? I initially wanted to say hello before leaving, but it seems like you’re quite busy,” Thrett remarked.
The young hero shook his head. “I really appreciate it. If it weren’t for your help, I might have been dead by now,” he said and gave Thrett a deep bow.
“That was just a small gesture. To be honest, I should be the one thanking you,” Thrett replied.
“Why?” Thrett asked.
“Because this is the first time in my life I’ve seen a real hero,” Thrett replied with excitement. In the past three hundred years, he had only come across the remains or corpses of heroes. Seeing a living, breathing hero was quite a rare occurrence for him.
“Do demons worship the goddess too?” The hero asked with a puzzled expression as he looked at the demon before him. No matter what, heroes and goddesses should be archenemies to all things demonic. Yet the demon in front of him seemed to have an unusual reverence for heroes.
“Hmm?” Thrett immediately noticed that the hero had misunderstood him. However, he didn’t correct it and instead asked, playing along with the hero’s interpretation, “So, are demons not allowed to admire heroes?”
“I didn’t say that. It’s just that Mr. Thrett’s ideas are a bit… peculiar,” the hero replied softly, trying to avoid being impolite.
“In that case, I’m super in awe of heroes, super eager to witness a hero wielding a sword, super fond of hero totems, and super envious of the goddess’s white wings. Are all these things peculiar?” Thrett exaggeratedly reinforced the misunderstanding, tempting the hero with the desire to play along. The hero appeared genuinely naive, and Thrett couldn’t resist the urge to tease him.
“You really seem to admire heroes a lot,” the hero noted.
“Yes, absolutely! I really want to try holding that blood-red…sword,” Thrett replied, pretending to revere the hero while failing to remember the full name of the Hero’s Blade. Thrett couldn’t believe how easy it was to fool the hero, even easier than deceiving his own pets and their caretaker. He had to suppress the urge to burst into laughter.
“If it were possible, I’d gladly lend you the sword. But it seems like it can’t be wielded by anyone other than the hero. I’m truly sorry,” the hero explained.
Thrett struggled to contain his laughter. “Oh, what a shame,” he managed to say with a straight face, even though he was on the brink of bursting into laughter under his hood. In reality, he had no interest in the hero, the goddess, or that supposed “blood-red sword.”
However, he vaguely remembered his household’s elf once mentioning a desire for the Hero’s Blade, which was why he tried to see if he could deceive the hero and take the sword back with him.
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
Thanks for the chapter（*’∀’人）