Hero's Coffin Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Meanwhile, the companions' speculations continued.

"According to what the first emperor said in his lifetime, it's an object that doesn't lose its light even in the darkest place..."

"Then it must be in a corner of the temple! Since the center has an open ceiling, they might have deliberately placed it in a dark place where light doesn't reach!"

Kalterik quickly added his opinion to Harenir's muttering. He still didn't know what holy relic they were looking for, so he stood back like an observer, fiddling with the stick. Does this really only have a flashlight function?

Click, click, click, click, clickclickclickclickclick.

"You bastard, you keep being annoying...!"

As he was trying various experiments, wondering if it might only work when pressed in a specific rhythm, Kalterik shouted, "Wah!" Ah. They were in the middle of an earnest discussion over there, and not only was he showing disinterest, but he was even being disruptive.

"...Wait."

As he was sheepishly putting away the flashlight, Harenir reacted. Did he perhaps know the hidden purpose of this stick? He raised the stick high with a welcoming feeling, but Harenir looked at him with a strange expression and just lightly pressed down his wrist. As if he had no interest in such a stick, he adjusted the direction of the light.

The place that had just been illuminated by the flashlight. It was the lower part of the tombstone, and some letters were engraved in a place that had been barely visible in the moonlight alone.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you earnestly wish, the sun will always rise for you.

It will save you from the darkest despair.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...Isn't the sun supposed to rise whether you want it or not? While he was internally making indifferent observations, his companions read the letters seriously. Noi quietly recited the passage several times before finally exclaiming, "Ah!"

"The name of the holy relic itself is Arux, 'small sun'. So wouldn't it be in the direction where the sun rises, the east?! The eastern corner!"

While Kalterik had suggested each corner of the temple as candidates, Noi had narrowed down the inference to one of them. It sounded very plausible, so the companions nodded and immediately headed east.

A small sun. Thinking that the name sounded quite grandiose, he casually asked Noi,

"Will that holy relic alone really help in eliminating the Encroachment Zones?"

"Of course!"

"How can you be so sure? Arux has been hidden in this tomb until now, so you haven't used it while the Dium were running rampant."

At his question, Noi made an "Aha—" sound and narrowed his eyes.

"Well, since the history of Arux was cut off at the same time the tomb rose, it's understandable to think that way. But even after that, Arux has been consistently revered. It was a holy relic sought after in every turbulent era!"

"...Why?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?! It's a holy relic that amplifies holy power by five times!"

Ah, so it was a buff item that upgrades stats by five times.

Now that all his questions were resolved, he felt completely refreshed. He understood why his companions were trying to find it even while facing these numerous monsters and considering the possibility of conflict with demons.

"And the place where that sun shines its light was also called a 'Sacred Realm'. You could say it has very good compatibility with Haren!"

Sacred Realm + Sacred Realm = 2 Sacred Realms? No, maybe it could be Sacred Realm2.

Such an item should definitely be eaten.

While he was inwardly marveling, Noi even explained that Arux shines brightest only when it's in the hands of its rightful owner, which would most likely refer to Harenir. Wasn't he already using the holy sword that the first emperor was said to have used? Even tossing it on the ground casually.

Belatedly, he thought that perhaps Harenir was indeed the protagonist of this game. If he were to play a game, it would have been much easier to play as such a hero. All the empire's citizens revered the hero, and he even had close companions who would go along with the absurd plan of faking his death.

Although it didn't seem like an entirely comfortable life since he had to fight on the front lines while traveling around Encroachment Zones, he suddenly felt envious. It was as if everything in the world revolved around him.

Clank, clank, clank...

Just then, a strange sound broke his reverie. As they were heading east, the repetitive noise made the companions stop one by one. This sound was unnecessarily familiar.

[Intruders, kigik, intruders...]

[Must, punish...]

As they headed towards the source of the noise, they discovered a very deep and huge pit. There were even multiple pits, and the soldiers in white armor were all stuck in them, clanking. The sticky liquid flowing from the walls of the pits seemed to prevent them from crawling out.

It was clearly a trap.

This meant that a demon with 'intelligence' enough to come up with traps as a way to deal with the annoying soldiers had stepped forward. Just as Kalterik was grinding out curses, whoosh—! An ominous wind swept through.

Tap, tap, something appeared, stepping on the marble floor of the corridor.

[Oh my, humans?]

Blue-tinged skin and peculiar pink hair flowed down to the waist. Though it had a human form with an alluring face, two sharp horns protruded from its forehead as if to announce its different race, it had a long tail, and moreover, its eyes were inverted. The sclera was pitch black and the pupils were blood red.

Looking at the demon that had appeared on the wind, Mela muttered as if sighing.

"Succubus..."

This demon, also called a dream demon, was said to have the ability to invade human dreams. It would secretly enter dreams and steal and consume life force. It could manipulate dreams into nightmares to extort energy, but generally, it stimulated lust to bewitch the human mind and absorb vitality.

Usually classified as a lower-level demon, the one that appeared before them didn't look like such an easy opponent at all. From the moment the succubus appeared, the atmosphere crackled with tension.

[I like humans. These ones gave me trouble because they have no souls.]

The succubus said, glancing at the pits on the floor. It meant that if they had souls, it could have more easily trapped the soldiers in nightmares, but it couldn't. He wondered if perhaps the reason soulless dolls were placed here was for this purpose.

Harenir gazed steadily at the succubus.

"After being utterly defeated in the human-demon war, you've been hiding. Why have you appeared again now?"

[Oh my, why are you talking about ancient history? And to say we were utterly defeated, didn't you also crumble pathetically afterwards?]

The succubus covered its mouth with its hand and laughed, "Hoho." That 'afterwards' probably referred to the period when the continent was devastated by the appearance of the Dium. The succubus spoke in a dreamy tone, as if having a happy dream.

[We've always dreamed of revenge. And we didn't miss the opportunity that came...]

"So this time, you've crawled in here to wake 'that' up, I see."

[Crawled in? Your choice of words—]

Whoosh! The succubus flew at Harenir.

[You're quite beautiful.]

It snarled fiercely from a distance close enough for their noses to touch, but Harenir didn't move a muscle. As if nothing had happened, he just calmly met its eyes, and instead, the succubus hesitated.

It muttered blankly, looking at Harenir's face up close.

[...You really are beautiful.]

It was in the form of an exclamation that had escaped without it even realizing, and Harenir responded with an eye-smile. He saw clear disgust settle in those blue eyes. He recognized it faster because he was familiar with it.

But as if enchanted by Harenir's face, the succubus flew around him this way and that, saying,

[Shall we make a deal? If you give me this face, I'll tell you how I got in. Aren't you curious?]

"You're a succubus, so you used dreams, right?"

[What? You even figured that out, how clever? After infiltrating this island, I brought out the monsters I had put in my dreams! It's an ability that most dream demons can't use at all, so it shouldn't have been known!]

"It was a guess, but I was right."

He had been thinking this for a while, but Harenir seemed quite skilled at acting. He even smiled gently as if grateful that it was now spilling everything on its own, which made the succubus frown for a moment, but soon its displeasure at being toyed with turned into interest.

The succubus reached out its hands as if to cup Harenir's cheeks.

[Ah, I really do want you. Won't you become my pet human?]

"You bastard, how dare you! Who do you think you're touching!"

Whoosh! Finally unable to contain his anger, Kalterik swung his greatsword. He even surrounded it with ominous holy power, causing a terrifying sonic boom. The succubus, who had quickly retreated, blinked its wide eyes as if surprised.

Then it said in a quite amused tone,

[You're holy knights, aren't you? It's always the most fun to break holy knights. Do you know how enjoyable it is when these chaste ones fall apart?]

Oh, a dangerous statement in terms of age rating. He had been estimating this game to be rated for 15 and up. There was quite a lot of blood, and the appearances of undead, zombies, monsters, and Dium were extremely creepy, so it should be around that level.

While he was considering the rating criteria, Kalterik ground out not to insult them in an even more indignant voice.