Spear of Destruction
"I'm going to kill the village chief."
Pontus, a childhood friend of Christo, said this with an angry look on his face as soon as they reached the creek that ran beside the pioneer village.
"Not only the village chief. I'm going to kill all the old men in the village. I've already talked to some of the younger ones."
"What are you going to do by killing the village chief?"
"It's obvious."
Christo's question was answered by a woman in her early thirties, holding a baby in her arms.
She, too, had her eyes set on it.
"We are going to tell the holy tree church all about it and ask them to kill the monsters that live in the swamp."
"The village chief and the old men are rotten in the head. They are so corrupt. They want three babies? Calling the adventurer who was kind enough to hunt goblins for us last time for a very reasonable fee and poison him? That's crazy, isn't it?"
"I won't let them kill my sweet boy."
"Christo boy, I hear you're good friends with the Frontier Count. We'll take care of the village chief, but please tell Netzel-sama to put together a proper strike force."
They made it sound as if the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] was not doing everything right, but judging from their actions, this assessment was justified. The [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] has been begging for food and not producing any real results. However, in terms of strength, even if Christo told Netzel and the holy tree church, it is unlikely that a better strike force than the mercenary group would be coming. The only thing better than them would be the elite forces of the country or church, or the army of the hero family.
Christo looked around.
"If we subjugate the god of the swamp, the harvest of the village will drop at once. The most recent harvest is enough to feed fifty-eight families for a year, but according to my calculations, that number will be cut in half."
"Half fifty-eight... I can't do any calculations. How much would that be?"
"The amount of food that twenty-nine families can eat in a year. If you take away 60% of this through taxes, you will only have enough for 11 families."
"There are 17 families living in our village… is that enough?"
"No"
Pontus shook his head.
He crossed his arms like logs trained in agricultural work.
"Kill the old man. There are too many old people in our village."
"Well, if we kill the village chief, we'll have less to feed. We are the main workers in the fields, and the labor force will remain the same. If we kill the old men, everything will be all right."
"It's decided then. Let's do it. Pontus, you're the leader."
"Leave it to me"
"Wait a second!"
A petite woman with freckles―― another childhood friend, Ulrika, appears in front of everyone.
"Are you guys insane? If they find out that you're going to kill the village chief, you'll be sentenced to death by a high-ranking person in the castle."
"If they find out we are killing the babies, the castle leaders will sentence us to death. It's the same thing."
"...That's right ...No, no. Everybody calm down. Pontus, Doug, and Sheev all need to calm down. It is natural that they would be angry if they were told that we bury our babies in the forest, but we need to calm down."
"Ulrika. Haven't you ever offered the baby you had with Pontus to the god of the swamp? How did you feel at that time? You wanted to stop throwing away more little lives in the mud according to some crazy custom, didn't you?"
"I did, but I didn't want to kill the village chief for that."
"What is this? Is your grandmother getting in the way?"
"W-what a thing to say!"
"Do you need your grandmother? If so, I will especially keep your grandmother alive."
"Ulrika. I won't let you live if you tell on the old people. I'll kill you and your grandmother."
"Uu..."
Ulrika went silent.
Pontus emits a sharp bloodlust.
Four villagers who had also completed their preparations.
No matter how you look at it, the atmosphere is extremely dangerous.
Christo opened his mouth when he saw that no one was speaking.
"I've been told by the village chief not to get involved in this matter. And you have asked me to inform Frontier Count Netzel and the church. Which side do you want me to follow?"
"Ours, of course."
"Okay. Then collect the signatures of the villagers."
Christo nodded and said.
"It may be a minority opinion. Collect the signatures of those who agree with you, and if it is the majority, I will work with Frontier Count Netzel and the church as desired. If you say it's consensus, then I will respect that."
"I understand. I just need to collect signatures?"
"Yeah. Honestly, just ask if they're for or against killing the old people."
"There's no need to lie. All the young people are in favor of killing the village chief."
With these words, Pontus and the others left.
Ulrika also looked at Christo as if she wanted to say something, but Pontus grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
(Basically, I was going to be a bystander, but… If things continue like this, the pioneer village that the old man built will become a pool of blood and collapse. Well, what shall I do?)
"Let's get the village chief and the others out of there before the attack."
Melvina said without hesitation when Pontus and the others were out of sight.
This girl was always straightforward and quick to make a decision.
There are times when she seems more like a hero than Setanta.
This is a weakness of Melvina, but it is also a strength that is hard for others to imitate. Christo always respected Melvina because she had something that he did not have.
"I understand. I will support you. As long as the old men disappear from this village, Pontus and the others will not try to pursue them."
"Until the strike force arrives, we will have to fight off the monsters sent by the god of the swamp."
"Leave it to me. I've already drawn the blueprints for the fortification. I'll make it quickly by combining the [Rock Spear]."
"Fufu."
"What? What's so funny?"
"No, because... I thought Christo-san was a good guy, just not very honest."
"You're wrong. I'm not a good person."
"I'll leave it at that."
"――――"
He felt like their vacation was over.
However, if Melvina hadn't told him, he would have been immersed in sex forever, so this should be seen as a good opportunity.
Christo checks the pouch on his waist.
It was filled with small rune stones.
× × ×
Werewolves, goblins, and women in robes appeared and attacked Christo when he was building traps such as defensive walls and pitfalls in the shallow layers of the northern forest.
It was a hindrance, so he killed them with rune magic [Arrow of Light] and [Rock Spear].
Creating a barrier.
Killing them one by one.
After about three hours of this, the front of the barrier was filled with impaled prey...... It was filled with the corpses of countless monsters.
"Is this the 130th body? There's no end to this."
Christo frowned when he used his [Rock Spear] to chop a demon with a lion's face and a scorpion's tail to bits.
He also used the spear to bury the corpse in the ground, but it was getting tedious.
(Should I fire a warning shot? If I shoot it appropriately, the monsters will instinctively sense danger and won't come near me.)
"Branches of ash trees that are the essence of the world"
Christ jumped onto the wall several meters high while unfastening the clasp on his waist pouch.
"Great God, from the depths of the earth, I scoop out the twilight."
Chanting.
Christo's body, with his arms outstretched, emits a faint green light, and purple electricity begins to scatter in the surrounding space.
Rune stones of all kinds float in the air and shine golden.
"God's Blade, Fallen God, wake up
Wings woven without wings orbiting, a blow that rips through the sky.
Shake and destroy
Fulfill, fall, rise, forever and ever."
Christo's black eyes―― the pupils dilate like those of the cat race.
His human form sways, revealing white wings, purifying flames, and dazzlingly beautiful golden horns.
An angelic demon spreads its wings.
In other words, a tear in space appears above Christo's head, and the tip of a glowing spear slowly appears from the chasm.
"Fear Me
Know the end
The indestructible divine spear, piercing the gods."
A gust of wind rises, the trees rustle, and a small storm came as the sky was covered with clouds.
Christo opens his red mouth, which is ripped open to his ears, and is intoxicated by the pleasure of exercising his magic with his demon god form partially open.
"――Bury it, Gungnir."
At the end of the chanting, a devastating blow was unleashed.
The huge, luminous spear advanced straight north, evaporating the ten-plus meter-high forest in an instant.
Nothing can hinder it.
Nothing could resist.
With a sharp hissing sound, everything instantly turns into a black blotch.
Even though it was a partial release, because it was released in the form of the demon god, the spear, with a power close to the magic of the original god, pierced the northern forest in a straight line in a crater 30 meters wide, burning the swamp beyond and vaporizing everything in its path.
(Oops, I'm a little off.)
It was the first time for him to handle this kind of magic, so he couldn't get his aim right.
The spear, which had flown to the swamp, hit something huge and disappeared, its power greatly diminished. A terrible scream could be heard. It seemed that it was a creature that the spear had hit.
"I was going to aim a little higher, but..."
Christo looked at the hollowed-out area in front of him and frowned.
He had intended to angle the spear upward so that its trajectory would quickly fade into the sky, but it was just slightly below.
"Well, it's an error, an error. It's just a misfire."
"It's not a very funny joke."
The golden hair fluttered in the wind.
The trees in the undamaged forest shook with tremendous force, and before Christo knew it, the elf man he had just met last night was standing on the hollow ground.
With cool eyes, he glanced around at the beginning of the blow.
"You did it flashily. Do you think you can get away with it for free?"
"It was just right. The amulet you gave me didn't work at all. Replace it with another one."
"The effect is still there. If someone builds a wall in the forest and prepares for battle, the monsters of the forest will attack out of a sense of danger, whether they are under my protection or not."
"Is the swamp god angry?"
"It's the god of swamp. That's not the right way to abbreviate it. It would be crazy not to be angry at such a massive attack. You've just picked a fight with every monster that lives in the swamp."
"Then I'll just use the same magic I used earlier and wipe out the swamp."
"Do you think I'll let you do that?"
"Are you going to fight me?"
"What else is there?"
"If you kill me, you won't be able to obtain the Primordial Elixir."
"…………. I'll find someone else."
"When will you find them? Will they accept exchanges as willingly as I do? Ulrika, unlike you, will age by the minute."
"――――"
Eltharion had been smiling the whole time, but now his smile had frozen.
"You are like a devil"
"I'm a devil. I have no problem with that recognition."
"…………"
"――――"
They faced each other and gazed into each other's eyes.
As the sunlight filtered through the trees, the sounds of insects and birds that escaped from the spear of destruction were returning to the forest.
Eltharion's golden hair is floating in the air, and vines and other branches are growing from the black soil that he has stepped on. The flowery-scented fluid he was secreting seemed to be rapidly promoting the growth of plants and trees.
"――――"
A murderous intent dwells in Eltharion's eyes.
His silhouette, with his hair spread out like an oddly shaped spider, suddenly began to darken and blur.
The green eyes are tinged with a fierce light, and the sunlight filtering through the trees transforms the shadows cast by the young elf into a grotesque object.
The shadow of a huge warrior with the lower half of a horse and an arm with a bow and sword integrated into it――.
(Demon God)
Christo sees through the elf's true identity.
"――――"
"…………"
The next time Christo blinked, the ground next to him splashed with tremendous force.
There was a brown spear, over two meters long, stuck in the ground.
No, not a spear, but an arrow.
Looking at it, Eltharion was holding his right hand forward and scattering purple electricity.
"The skin of your neck is connected only by one bottle of the Primordial Elixir."
"…………"
(I couldn't see it. As expected, this is definitely his authority. The question is, how does it work――)
While Christo was looking at the brown spear with interest, Eltharion was suppressing his anger and putting words in his mouth.
"I would have killed you without hesitation if not for my earlier request. It is mere luck that you are still standing there. I'll let you off the hook this time, but not next time. I will kill you for sure."
"Thank you for your patience. You have a gentle nature, Eltharion. I'm a pacifist by nature, too. I hate savage killing. By the way, I have a word of advice for the god of the swamp. Do you want to hear it?"
"…………"
Eltharion's eyes were completely looking at garbage, but Christo continued regardless.
"The pioneer village is now split in half. There are those who want to follow you and the god of the swamp and those who want to break free from your rule. The latter will soon ask the church or the government to organize a strike force. If that happens, the elite of the human race who have been fighting the dragon race will come to this land in droves. Among them, there should be many warriors who handle pseudo-holy swords that kill elves."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Why don't we just back out on this? You don't fight a battle where the winner is the one who stands and kills until the end."
"That's for the god of the swamp to decide. It means nothing if you tell me."
"Then tell the god of the swamp. As a demon brother, I just want to help you guys."
"...I will tell the god as much as I can."
"Also, I have a letter for you from Ulrika."
"What?"
"Here."
Christo said and handed over a piece of paper that his freckled childhood friend had asked him to give to Eltharion. After being taken away by Pontus and the others, she came back and handed him the letter.
As Christo remembers, Ulrika could not write, but the letter had a few misspellings, but the words were somehow readable.
"She wants you to save the pioneer village. Due to your god, the village is divided internally, and the village is on the verge of killing each other. The kind Ulrika is heartbroken at the state of the village."
"…………"
Eltharion's beautiful face changes to one filled with anguish.
Christo observes such a change in his expression.
"Ulrika... you spelled it wrong. I taught you before. You have a bad memory."
"It seems her feelings have been conveyed."
"Shut up. Get out of here. Next time we meet, be sure to bring the Primordial Elixir. Or else."
"Or else? Are you threatening me as well like the god of the swamp?"
Silently, the brown spear is released.
This time, too, he did not see the preliminary movement, but he deflected the spear in the other direction by distorting the space with the [Northern Flame Wall] that he had deployed beforehand. At least with the defensive barriers constantly deployed, it seems that his attacks can be prevented even if they are not visible.
Christo watches the trees in the distance sway with tremendous force.
"My attack was deflected?"
"It means that there is such a magic. It can't be helped if you don't understand it if you're stuck in the countryside like this."
"You get on my nerves every time. I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life."
"I get that a lot."
When Christo shrugged his shoulders and said so, Eltharion stepped back with a look on his face as if he had encountered a creature he did not understand.
Christo smiled brightly.
"I'll come to visit you again."
"I hope you won't come back."
"Give my regards to the god of the swamp. Tell him that I won't forgive it for bullying the old man until it kills him."
"You seem to have a death wish."
Eltharion said, but he quickly looked toward the entrance to the forest.
Christo also noticed at the same time, but apparently one of the adventurer party who was in the castle during the day entered the forest.
"Eltharion, what will you do to those adventurers?"
"Don't call my name with that filthy mouth... I'll kill those adventurers as an example."
"Then I'll kill them for you."
"Are you out of your mind?"
"No, it's just equality. I kill demons and humans equally on a whim."
Christo smiled.
"That's what a Demon God is, isn't it?"
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