This World Needs a Hero - Chapter 162

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Chapter 162

Jet-black night clothes.

White masks.

Darkness as black as ink.

Whooo-

A chilly wind blew through the members of Exploration Unit 26 and the congregants surrounding them.

The warrior squinted his eyes and surveyed the surroundings.

The masks, numbering in the forties, were now equipped with dense encirclement, glaring at them.

Some had even climbed onto tents and crouched like predators, and there were those who seemed to be approaching as if stalking the ground.

‘… Agile like beasts.’

The warrior, who remembered each position distinctly, turned his gaze back to the front.

A congregant who appeared to be a leader was repeating the words he had just said like a parrot.

“…came to propose a deal.”

Perhaps due to the darkness of the night, the masks seemed to float alone in the darkness.

It was the moment when he noticed that the eye holes were curved like crescent moons.

[Shinwoldan’s people]

“…Shinwoldan?”

[Direct armed group of the Demon King’s High Priest]

It was a name mentioned by Ted at some point.

Larze spoke with an interesting tone.

[Well, well, this is interesting. I thought Ted had killed them all when we subdued the Demon King’s cult, but it seems like some are still around.]

Unlike the necromancer they encountered at the factory, this one was a martial arts type.

With each gust of wind, a metallic sound could be heard clinking beneath the robe.

‘It’s actually going well. And…’

It wasn’t just weapons they had.

The warrior’s eyes sparkled as he felt a faint vibration.

“A deal? Did you just say a deal now? You bastard?”

Meanwhile, Zeon, as if energized, stepped forward towards the leader.

With that remark, the members of the Exploration Unit began to shout insults and jeers individually.

It was a natural response.

For the past few days, they had persistently attacked and set traps, so what kind of frozen deal was this?

Moreover, the Demonic Church was a trash among trash that even the human race was reluctant to deal with.

With their comrades firmly behind them, there was no need to suppress their resentment.

“Leader! Do you want to hear more? Let’s kill them!”

“You’ve got the wrong guys, you collaborator. Do you know who’s here?”

Scores of menacing gazes were cast.

But Shinwoldan’s leader didn’t even blink.

It wasn’t a gesture of tolerance; beyond his curved eye holes, his black pupils remained still without even a twitch.

He continued with his business.

“Leave behind the pieces you have collected so far and step back.”

“Look at this bastard-”

Clack-

A hefty pouch dropped between Zeon and the leader.

Zeon reflexively jumped back and drew his sword, but…

“This is….”

He soon realized that the contents of the pouch were not poison or anything of the sort, but rather something he liked the most.

…Gold.

A considerable amount of gold and treasures shone brightly even under the dim moonlight of the wilderness.

Even if divided among all the members of the exploration unit, it was still a substantial amount.

However, the leader of Shinwoldan paid no attention to the wealth he had thrown, staring fixedly at Zeon.

“The treasure you are eyeing belongs to our church.”

…Belongs to the church.

The congregants echoed behind him as if in chorus.

In the eerie campsite, amidst the echoing noise, the seasoned exploration unit members also wore grim expressions.

“It is also something that non-believers can never deal with. The prophet has said that he would forgive your greed… and ignorance. Leave.”

…Leave.

The echo repeated once more.

Suddenly, the continuous jeering and cursing ceased.

“Leave with the pieces you’ve gathered.”

Leave with the pieces.

They repeated the words with a dry tone in the silence.

“This, this bastard.”

Zeon, who until just a moment ago was ready to swing his sword, was now swept away by two emotions.

Fear and greed.

It wasn’t surprising that the hand holding the sword handle was trembling as much as his pupils.

‘…So this is how they received the pieces from other exploration units.’

Judgement was made.

The warrior was convinced that now was the most suitable time to execute the ‘plan.’

An unexpected variable had appeared, but it was rather fortuitous.

[Yes! Let’s do it!]

Larze’s excited voice faded away.

Followed by a sound that hadn’t been heard in a long time…

Zzzzzt!

A faint spark sound tickled the ears.

A white light rising from toe to head.

In the darkness enveloping the campsite, the warrior briefly shone like the sun.

The world slowed down, and silence flooded in simultaneously.

“W-w-w-what’s happening?”

The members rubbed their eyes, wondering what they had seen wrong, in slow motion.

The world slowed down dozens of times.

As a result, every movement that could have been performed without consciousness was subdivided into dozens.

For an ordinary person, under such immense pressure on the body and mind, they wouldn’t be able to move a muscle in that position.

But the warrior had experienced this immense pressure dozens, hundreds of times, embodying the compression and explosion.

Swoooosh-

He firmly grasped the spear.

Lifted it.

At the same time, he pulled his shoulders back.

After putting pressure, he squeezed the ground with the soles of his feet.

Twisting his hips, shifting his weight to the front of his elbows, he threw his body with all his might.

It was the moment when the fastest, most efficient, and most precise thrust in the extreme low-speed unfolded.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak-!

Here, the warrior could confirm that the leader of the Shinwoldan faction was an exceptional skilled individual.

Perhaps even stronger than Zeon.

He succeeded in reacting to the attack at this extreme speed.

Swish-

Two short swords crossed, blocking the way ahead.

“It’s too late.”

One, the spear had already passed the swords.

The late blade of the sword collided with the spear, and a blue flame engulfed the field of view.

The warrior saw the pupils beyond the mask expand rapidly.

Boom-!

The head of the leader burst like a watermelon struck by a hammer.

Thud-

The people at the campsite watched the leader’s body collapse, their eyes wide with surprise and confusion.

All they could perceive was something fleeting passing by.

“… What, what’s going on.”

In the bewildering silence, the warrior took a deep breath.

It was to boost his confidence before the battle.

‘What should I say to intensify this fight the most?’

His mind quickly turned.

He pointed to the coins and loot scattered on the ground.

“Are you bastards going to have only that?”

“Huh, what?”

“If they are Canis’s men, let’s not be deceived by tricks and take everything! The treasures! The money! It’s all ours!”

The enthusiasm of the expedition members ignited in an instant.

They faced the incoming cultists and shouted Kasim’s name.

“As expected of Kasim!”

“His ideas are different!”

“The great villain Kasim!”

The warrior turned around, laid down Ted’s essense, and maximized Bucks’.

Then he lightly tapped Zeon’s chest as he approached the loot on the ground.

“Let’s deal with the enemies first.”

“Y-yeah. I was momentarily blinded.”

Zeon also laughed awkwardly and then shouted, joining the fight.

‘Okay, let’s start pulling out.’

The warrior smiled as he felt the solid texture of the loot in his pocket.

The key fragments from the Shinwoldan leader’s embrace.

And the “storage key” stolen from Zeon.

Everything went smoothly.

‘The storage must be under his bed.’

The warrior leisurely left the battlefield and entered Zeon’s tent.

In the chaos of the dark, no one noticed him, as he maximized his stealth skills.

Larze murmured in amazement.

[What about going to Canis after everything is over? It seems to suit your temperament quite well.]

The warrior didn’t bother to reply and focused on unlocking the vault.

Although Zeon had maintained thorough security with various locking spells and locks on the storage…

It was all futile before the warrior, who had a robe enchanted with dispel magic of the rank of a Maester and the skill of a master thief.

Vrrroooom-!

“… What’s this?”

[What’s wrong?]

“The fragments…”

The fragments acquired from the leader suddenly popped out of his pocket as the warrior finished unlocking the vault and lifted the lid.

Click-

At the same time, the fragments inside the vault also popped out like arrows.

The two merged in mid-air with a strong vibration…

‘A sphere?’

The warrior looked at the smooth black sphere slowly falling into his palm.

It was small enough to fit in his fist.

With no resemblance to a key anywhere, the warrior tilted his head.

“… Is this the ‘key’?”

[No doubt. It’s the same type of magic as the one felt from the coordinates.]

“Okay, now all that’s left is to go to the coordinates.”

▼
Accessing Key of Valber.
▲

The warrior first stored it in the safest space.

He also collected all the odds and ends from the vault.

Larze chuckled as he watched, shaking the doll’s body.

[Now then…]

Larze’s whisper tickled the warrior’s ear.

[Are you going to kill him?]

The outside commotion was gradually subsiding.
.
.

Zeon swung the last demonic cultist’s head off, recalling the man who he had been staring at since earlier.

His confident proclamation.

“Men of Canis! Do not be deceived by lies, seize it all! The treasures! The money! It will all be ours!”

…What a splendid mindset that was.

He felt deeply embarrassed at almost making a foolish choice blinded by the treasures in front of him.

With just a little thought, it was obvious.

‘There could have been more money pouches, and if I had been clever, I might have had other pieces traded with other expedition teams. I really… am far from Kasim.’

Zeon sighed and instinctively felt his chest.

The key fragments that would lead to treasures surpassing tens of thousands of gold coins….

The key fragments…?

‘Gone?’

Zeon reflexively searched his body.

Nothing.

…Where could he have dropped it?

No, he had put it in his inner pocket; why would it have fallen out?

Even though he knew it wouldn’t be there, Zeon hastily turned over, scouring the ground.

As expected, he only found the still-warm corpses and what had spilled out from them.

“Captain, what are you looking for?”

“Shall we help you search?”

He couldn’t ask for help from his subordinates.

Even though they had been together for a long time, in the face of the value of this key, they were all untrustworthy scoundrels.

Zeon poured all his mana into his eyes, staring at the ground.

He perked up his ears in case his subordinates found it first.

“By the way, where’s Kasim? Where did he go?”

“He’s probably fine.”

“Damn it, even though he’s the one who took down their leader in one blow, why is he worrying about something? He’s probably hiding somewhere, looting the loot.”

…Kasim.

Loot?

‘Huh, huh? Huh?!’

Zeon suddenly rushed to the tent with a thought that had occurred to him.

It was exactly three minutes later that a furious scream burst out.

“Kaaaasiiiiim!!!!”

* * *

Meanwhile, the Dietrich Mansion on the island was busy with unexpected visitors.

No, to be exact, the visitor side was a little busier.

Inside the carriage passing through the main gate.

Ban sighed deeply, looking at her sitting in the seat without even thinking about sitting down. “……”

He wanted to nag at her to sit down, but… It wasn’t easy to do so when he looked at her sparkling eyes and lips that were slightly parted.

‘How did I end up spending the vacation with her?’

Ban sighed deeply, feeling a headache coming on.

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