Chapter 23 The Paladin, Revived
The Paladin, Revived
——It’s dark…
Pitch-black darkness.
Silent darkness.
Ah…so peaceful…
I…what was I…
Maybe this is what the underworld is like…
I’m just so sleepy.
As I drift aimlessly, suddenly a fire ignites within my soul.
Ascending. Ascending…
I slowly ascended to a place like a night sea.
——Strength slowly returns to my limbs.
My sense of touch.
——I feel the ground; I seem to be lying down.
My sense of smell.
——It is the smell of a battlefield.
It’s a disgusting smell mixed with blood, mud, and guts.
That’s right, I was fighting…
…Huh…?
What was I fighting …?
My sense of taste.
——It tastes like mud.
Damn it!
My sense of hearing.
“Boss!?”
——I can hear Gomez’s ridiculously loud voice.
Shut up!
My vision.
It’s blinding…
It’s blue.
A cloudless sky.
My consciousness awakens slowly.
Huh…?
I open my eyes, still feeling dazed.
Gomez is standing in front of me with his mouth open.
When I see Gomez’s stupid face, I realize.
Ah, I must be dead.
Judging by the situation…
Anger wells up inside me.
“Damn it! You’ve got to be kidding me!!!”
I hit the ground as hard as I could.
“Wh-what happened, Captain!? You were dead a moment ago…”
Gomez looks confused, not understanding.
“That’s right! I was dead!”
I slowly got up and checked my whole body.
Damn, even my equipment is burned!
I’m na_ked on the battlefield!
I try to find my spatial expansion bag, but it’s gone.
Come to think of it, Gomez said it was missing earlier.
Where was it missing?
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
What a huge loss!
A breeze touches my little boy.
“Give me your clothes and equipment, Gomez—no. I can’t wear yours. Ricardo!”
I asked Ricardo, who was fighting nearby, for equipment.
“Wh-what!? Me…? Ehh, please return it later…”
Ricardo looks very reluctant.
Why is he so reluctant?
He’s so relaxed, even though I died. Damn!
“So, can you explain?”
As I change, Gomez asks dumbfoundedly, hand on his hip.
“It’s a hero skill, a skill I got from the Demon Lord Phoenix I killed!”
My anger was rising again, and I punched the ground again.
Hero Skill [One Time Resurrection].
That’s the name of the power I lost earlier.
“It’s a skill that allows you to resurrect once.”
“…Only once?”
“Yes! Only once! I can’t activate it again!”
I’ve kept it a secret all this time, but since I can’t use it anymore, I’m going to reveal it.
The Demon Lord Phoenix was an immortal Demon Lord.
It was a very annoying Demon Lord who could revive again and again, but my [Demon Lord Slayer] was an unusually good match with him.
The wounds I inflicted on him wouldn’t heal no matter how many times he revived.
He was confused that no matter how many times he revived, his wounds wouldn’t heal.
The Demon Lord Phoenix’s attack power wasn’t that great, and with fire-resistant equipment, it was easy.
His Demon Lord’s greatest weapon was the fact that he couldn’t die.
I gathered information beforehand and had Veiss-sensei choose a strategy to challenge him.
It was a great success; it was so easy that I couldn’t stop laughing.
Well, it was unexpected that the skill I gained from crushing him was significantly reduced.
Still, it was an extraordinary power for someone like me who does this kind of work.
After all, I could revive once.
I could go into battle with peace of mind.
Even if we died together, I would be the only one to come back to life.
This was a great support for me.
I didn’t tell anyone about this power.
That was because it was really my last Trump card.
I was thinking of using it in the worst-case scenario, the final battle, to violently defeat the Demon Lord.
But… to think that I would use it like this… If it were against the Demon Lord, it would have been worth it!
Frustrated, I slam the sword I borrowed from Ricardo into the ground.
Ricardo screams, but I ignore him.
“Damn it! My last! My last Trump card! To think I would use it to get stabbed by a woman!”
Gomez looks at me with a half smile.
I’m not in the mood to laugh!
“What a stupid way to use it! There had to be a better way! Damn you, Monicaaaa!!!”
How much do you think I have done for you!?
You repay my kindness with evil!
Driven by anger, I slashed a nearby goblin in half with Ricardo’s borrowed sword.
“Ah! Please be more careful with that.”
Ricardo yells.
Shut up!
“Well, since you came back to life, that’s good, right? No matter how stupid it is, at least you’re alive again.”
“Well, that’s true…”
I’m a little relieved by Gomez’s persuasion.
“I was relieved… If you had disappeared, this clan would be over.”
Gomez sighs and mumbles, scratching his head.
“I know, I’m sorry…”
I feel guilty and look away.
I check my soul vessel again.
Damn it! Much of the power in the vessel is gone!
I had finally exceeded 60%, but now it’s down to about 30%…
Demon Lord Iron Rat, Demon Lord Uriel, and Demon Lord Phoenix.
I hunted three of them!
Three of them! I killed three Demon Lords of immense power!
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
An overwhelming feeling of frustration.
I feel like I’m going crazy!
This feeling of irritation, similar to anger, has been with me ever since I acquired the Hero Skills.
[Hunt the Demon Lords, and make them your nourishment.]
The Hero Skills, the source of my power, are whispering to me.
Shut up! Shut up and let me use your power!
Your power is mine!
[Seize it! Seize it! Seize it! Seize it! Seize it!]
Aaaaaahhh!!
I shake my head. No, I have to calm down.
At this rate, it’ll take me a long time to reach my goal…
Four or five more…?
How many more must I hunt to escape this frustration?
How long can I stay sane?
It’s best to hunt powerful Demon Lords, but my life is no longer guaranteed.
It was such a precious power.
I must rethink my plans.
First, I’ll kill the Demon Lord Goblin King.
I will definitely kill him.
I will kill him miserably.
And then I’m going to kill Monica.
I’ll find her and kill her.
Even if she begs for mercy, I won’t forgive her.
I will never forgive her.
She killed me once, so it’s only fair that I kill her back.
“First, let’s regroup with Gideon!”
“Alright! Everyone, just one more push! Let’s give it our all!”
Gomez yells.
Shut up!
I put on Ricardo’s clothes.
“Damn! It stinks! You idiot, wash your clothes!”
“Sieg, isn’t that a bit too much!?”
Ricardo looks shocked.
Shut up!
I need to change my mindset. If I don’t die, maybe I’ll have another chance to gain a similar ability.
It’s okay.
I can still change things.
I’m still alive.
I tell myself.
As soon as I said that, something from the sky pierced the battlefield with a loud explosion.