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249th Chapter: Destruction God (1)

When the hole was pierced in the ceiling of the hideout and the soldiers invaded, I was startled.

Moreover, they had seen through my disguise as a woman, so I thought escape was impossible now.

Back then, I was puzzled about what to do.

Meanwhile, the others yelled, “We’ll handle this, Radon, you run away!”

Because the soldiers were after me.

At the same time, I wondered, why are they so obsessed with me?

Curiosity sparked, and instead of fleeing, I stayed put.

The girls accompanying me took up battle stances but I told them to stop.

Then, guided by the soldiers, we arrived here.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why, it’s all because of you, Senior.”

“And why are you here, then? I heard you went on a mission with the older girls.”

I had heard that the two saints were in Papias, but I never expected they would be facing the king directly.

Honestly, it was unlikely they could just sit idle after I got involved in something unusual.

It seemed they had come under the pretense of rescuing their precious student from distress.

How admirable. Truly admirable.

I couldn’t help but pat Angela’s head without thinking.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“You just look so nice.”

“But is my sister here too?”

“That’s right. Other girls who were on a mission with me are here too.”

Angela and Luska do not have good memories of Papias.

For them, Papias was the very embodiment of their arch-nemesis.

It was a level of loathing that made them pray every night for its destruction.

They probably never imagined they would set foot in this vile land again.

“Ahem… Did you forget about me, Senior?”

Suddenly, Nebia cleared her throat as if to draw attention.

Naturally, she leaned her glossy green hair towards me.

Her intention was clear—she wanted the same treatment I gave Angela. She seemed a bit envious seeing it.

Sensing she might pout if I didn’t, I obliged her just the same.

“Hehehe…”

What’s with that laugh?

Her bright, cheerful face made it feel like I was touching the peak of sensory delight.

For some reason, she felt more like a beast than Angela.

Then she downright clung to my arm and pulled me into a hug. It was a surprisingly burdensome gesture.

Was she doing this because she was upset she had been left out of the mission?

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“There’s no one else here. There’s no other chance like this, is there?”

Not a chance in hell. Can’t you see there’s someone else here?

And as expected, Angela, sitting across from me, was poking my arm with a sharp stare.

“Radon, you haven’t forgotten about it, have you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean what? You have us, right? Isn’t that so?”

Angela spoke with a bright smile.

Though her expression was very saintly, she began pinching my arm.

It felt like she was twisting it with a pair of pincers. And she kept shooting me looks to remind me to behave.

“Do you know what happens if you let your eyes wander to another girl?”

“Oh dear, Angela? Don’t you know the one who eats first is benevolent?”

That fierce rebuttal that remained unspoken felt like it might drive me mad.

But more importantly, why was I here again?

I was getting all muddled because of them!

.

.

.

.

.

.

Torma was witnessing an unbelievable sight.

The boy he had been searching for barged in suddenly, and here he was, petting the heads of the two saints.

‘What in the world am I looking at?’

There was no way he could be considered an ordinary academy student given his extraordinary behavior.

Despite being captured, he was acting so nonchalant. Clearly, he had come here of his own volition.

The boy was quite strange. Even while holding a sword, he was casually mingling with the two saints.

Now, Torma could understand why the elf was wary of this boy.

“Radon Crawler, you just waltzed right in front of me.”

As Torma finally opened his mouth, the boy turned his gaze towards him.

He debated whether to behead the boy for being so insufferable, but seeing the elf’s obsessive behavior, he decided to capture him first.

“Oh, that’s right. I needed to talk to you about something?”

The boy had briefly forgotten Torma’s presence.

Only now did the boy named Radon start to look in this direction.

His attitude was simply absurd. Though it was grateful that he came over voluntarily.

“Your Majesty the King. I won’t beat around the bush.”

“You cheeky brat!”

The knights that had stationed themselves in the room pointed their blades at Radon.

Though it was a small nation, Torma was of royal blood. The knights wouldn’t let a breach of etiquette pass before the king.

“Your Majesty! We should bind this scoundrel immediately!”

“He’s the one we intended to capture from the start. So right now….”

Rumble!—

Suddenly, an unknown roar filled the reception room.

The knights, who had been threatening me, froze at the sound.

The hostility directed at me dissipated with a chilling silence.

“Calm down. I still have yet to fully control him.”

“….”

“Kuh…”

The knights were unable to move. Their bodies were ensnared by strangely shaped tentacles.

The overwhelming force they sensed left them speechless.

And behind them, a massive figure began to reveal itself.

“So you calm down too, Diora.”

Rumble.-

A giant dragon emanating a purple hue suddenly descended.

The ceiling of the reception room was rather high, and had it not been so, it might have broken right through.

The dragon’s overwhelming presence startled the two saints, and Torma realized its existence, swallowing nervously.

“Is this… The highest-level spirit?”

The meaning behind the term highest-level attached to a spirit or specific entity was anything but trivial.

That power, often dubbed a walking natural disaster, was capable of annihilating an entire nation.

It was utterly unbelievable. How did a mere academy student contract such a monster?

The trembling wouldn’t subside.

As I thought, the elf named Grisha had a valid reason to be wary.

“Now that it seems to be somewhat settled, shall we have a chat?”

The will to fight had completely vanished. No one could dare disrespect that boy in this place.

With overwhelming strength backing him, the boy inquired of Torma.

“What in the hell is the reason for distributing this crap flyer?”

“….”

The nature of the response would determine their lives.

Indeed, that was why I could only act like this.

On a perfectly ordinary day, a rumor spread that a reward would be given for capturing him. Naturally, no one could sit idle.

Of course, Papias and Viole wielded considerable power. In this unregulated era, exerting influence without authority was feasible.

However, to misjudge the boy’s character and true abilities was an oversight.

“Did you really need to push this far just to drive me into a corner for some grandiose goal of wanting to become emperor?”

“….”

Torma couldn’t say for certain.

Probably, even his collaborator Harkel Viole felt the same way.

It was merely a request from the elf named Grisha. He simply mentioned this boy as someone to be wary of.

Thus, they had attempted to suppress any potential variables by any means necessary.

Yes, it was merely because Grisha ordered it. Like a puppet on a string.

“Did some elf ask you to do this? To keep an eye on this brat?”

“That’s…”

“You’re just being used. You must have been swayed by the empty promises of seizing the entire Empire by taking down this pathetic little nation.”

“….”

“Just be honest. What exactly are you plotting here?”

Radon Crawler. What on earth does that boy know?

Judging that it was impossible to hide any longer in this situation, Torma slumped his shoulders.

“Follow me. I have something to show you.”

With that, Torma stepped away from his position and exited the reception room.

Outside, he awaited Radon’s approach.

Angela and Nebia also stood up to accompany him.

“Wait, you two, stay back and join Gene.”

“That’s not happening! I won’t let Radon go alone to who knows what!”

Angela was upset at the thought of letting Radon leave alone. But Nebia had a different opinion.

“Angela. Just let him go.”

“Why?”

“I can tell by the tone of that man’s voice.”

Nebia understood Torma’s true intentions.

He had already lost the desire to ensnare Radon.

“You should first join Gene and gather more details. Then you’ll know what to do.”

“Okay….”

“And that ring.”

Angela and Nebia wore the same ring. Radon’s interest was piqued as he looked closely at it, appearing relieved.

It was a ring for summoning ‘someone’, allowing them to be this confident in a place like this.

“Keep it safe and use it at a critical moment.”

*

I could roughly guess where Torma was taking me.

I had already instructed Muto and Aisha to scout this palace for anything suspicious.

As a result, I learned that an unusual energy was emanating from underground.

And as expected, Torma began to lead me below ground.

From here, I sent the following soldiers back.

Following Torma deep underground, I found myself in what seemed to be a vast chamber.

In the dim space, light reflected off experimental tubes. It resembled the backdrop of a nefarious research setup.

Growl!—

Guhh!—

A horrific beastly roar echoed from within a cage.

The moment I confirmed what was inside… I knew my judgment had been correct.

‘It was definitely a good thing Angela and Luska didn’t follow me here.’

A winged wolf and a fox with multiple tails were suffering inside the bars.

If they had seen this sight, they would have lost their sanity and rampaged.

The resonance Luska experienced was all due to this.

But what reason could they have for carrying out such acts?

That answer was likely to be explained by the creature right before me.

“Nice to meet you, Radon Crawler.”

An elven man sat in a chair placed in front of a gigantic table.

“Is this the first time we’re meeting face to face?”

He turned his head to look at me. He was Grisha Highend, number four of the 7th League of Doomsday and the Village Head of the Elf Village, commonly known as the Yellow Tower master.

“I have been waiting for you all this time.”

He gestured to the chair opposite him.

I took a seat as he recommended. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about the chair.

“You are the one leading this nonsense, aren’t you?”

I showed him the flyer in annoyance.

The fact that a supposed dead villain was very much alive and actively obstructing me was infuriating.

“I heard from my mother that you are from an elf village. Is there any petty grudge making you act this way?”

A madman elf obsessed with revenge. I thought he was that kind of character.

If it was like that, then it wouldn’t be strange for him to do such things.

But what was strange was that he had involved the king of Papias and various nobles in the scheme.

He believed that as long as the Destruction God descended, they could ascend to the emperor’s throne.

“There was no need to go that far… oh?”

In that moment, I was struck silent.

I had caught sight of an unbelievable entity… the being that lay hidden within Grisha had suddenly emerged.

“Was there a need? Of course, there was.”

Grisha, enshrouded in a sinister divine aura, spoke to me.

“You are an irregular from another world.”

 

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