Chapter 177
To summarize the barbarians' words, it went like this.
Some bad guy appeared out of nowhere, ruthlessly killed their comrades, and drove them out of their home. And in the process, the holy relic fell into his hands.
After hearing those circumstances, I could somewhat understand why they were waging war. They were desperately struggling so that the remaining people could somehow survive.
What a pitiful situation it was, having to kill others in order to survive.
Even so, I didn’t particularly have any intention of saving them. It was literally someone else’s business. Meddling unnecessarily might just bring disaster upon myself.
Of course, that was before I heard their circumstances, and now the situation had changed a bit.
“Lead the way.”
I had come all the way to Roman with the intention of taking down the Seven Great Evils anyway.
So I wasn’t exactly helping them. I was just doing what I had to do.
It was just that in the process they would be saved on their own.
“Master-! Watch your tone-!”
“Are you looking down on us-!”
Franz frowned at the barbarian’s booming voice.
Whether they wanted to pick a fight, or if they just didn’t know their place.
A sigh naturally escaped at the behavior of these thick-skulled guys.
BOOOOM-!
A pillar of fire surged up in the distance, and the air was pushed away explosively.
“You are short, so your words can be short too.”
“You are not someone to look down on us. I made a mistake.”
The guys changed their attitudes in an instant, as if in the blink of an eye. Their lives were more precious than some barbarian pride.
Franz didn’t entirely dislike guys like that. At least they definitely bowed to the strong. As long as you had power, they were very easy to handle.
“Then lead the way now.”
At Franz’s words, Ru Deli and Garu Pa immediately gathered their tribe members.
Gathered in one place, their numbers were quite large. Roughly estimating, there were easily two hundred of them.
If they had clashed in earnest, the whole area would have been dyed blood-red.
“Master, follow us.”
“I’m uneasy leaving it to them alone, so our tribe will join as well.”
“Garu Pa, are you ignoring us right now?!”
“I didn’t say anything wrong-!”
The guys started bickering even before they set off.
What on earth should I do with these battle-crazed lunatics?
Thinking that, Franz let out a sigh and snapped his fingers.
Snap-.
With a light sound, their voices vanished from the world. He had used Silence Magic.
“If you fight from now on, consider yourselves both dead.”
At Franz’s old demeanor returning after a long time, Ru Deli and Garu Pa nodded their heads.
The killing intent flowing from Franz was no ordinary thing, so they had no choice but to accept it.
In that quieted atmosphere, the barbarians began to move forward, and Franz followed behind them. Yuna and Hera were naturally with him as well.
How much time had passed since then?
Franz broke the silence and opened his mouth.
“Explain a bit about that bad guy. First, Garu Pa, you start.”
“That guy-!”
“Speak quietly.”
“…The guy was strange somehow. Even though his eyes were closed, he moved as if he could see. Our comrades couldn’t do anything and were swept away by his sword.”
Garu Pa clenched his teeth tightly.
He must feel shame having been ruthlessly defeated by one of the Seven Great Evils with his eyes closed.
As much as he considered battle to be noble, he would also be dissatisfied with the guy’s attitude.
Franz turned his gaze away from Garu Pa and looked at Ru Deli.
“Ru Deli, you speak too.”
“The guy is a small human like you. And he used magic.”
“Do you remember what kind of magic?”
“There were many kinds, so I can’t remember them all.”
“That’s enough.”
He had naturally expected that the Seven Great Evils would be human. Because all the Seven Great Evils had been humans so far.
However, the fact that he used many kinds of magic was quite surprising information.
An ordinary person is born with one type of magical talent. That talent is what we call a magical attribute.
Mages usually do not touch other attributes and devote themselves to the talent they possess. It wasn’t that they couldn’t use other attributes, but because it was extremely inefficient.
Anyway, to summarize, it was like this.
The Seven Great Evil was a Mage talented in various attributes, was simultaneously a swordsman, and fought with his eyes closed.
He didn’t know the exact reason for closing his eyes, but he figured it might be some sort of means to strengthen his magic.
Idiots who increased the tier of their magic by placing restrictions on themselves were quite common, after all.
'If he’s a fellow Mage, then it’s actually for the best.'
Franz had conquered all magic except for unique magic. That included ancient magic and the magic of the Mythical Era.
That meant he could counter whatever magic the opponent used. In an anti-mage battle, he was practically invincible.
The problem would be that he was a mage and a swordsman at the same time, but there didn’t seem to be much need to worry about that either.
Because no matter how strong a human was, they couldn’t beat a Hero.
Having organized his thoughts like that, Franz voiced a question that suddenly came to mind.
“By the way, how long does it take from here?”
“It takes a full day riding a horse.”
If it was a day on horseback, walking right now would definitely take much longer than that.
Ugh, if there was something like that, they should have told me in advance.
“Do we just keep going straight in this direction?”
“That is correct.”
At Ru Deli’s definitive answer, Franz immediately snapped his fingers. Then, a magic circle large enough to envelop all the barbarians in the vicinity was drawn beneath their feet.
“Master…! What on earth are you trying to do…?!”
What do you mean what. Can’t you tell just by looking?
“Spatial teleportation.”
There was no way I was going to walk a distance that takes a day on horseback.
I didn’t want to needlessly stay out overnight and get scolded by Yusti-ah.
At the same time he thought that, the magic circle began to shine and the magic was activated.
Eventually, when the light faded, a massive ruin, a river, and a village that had been turned into a mess were in front of Franz’s eyes.
“M-Master, what on earth is this…”
“Is this really possible with such magic? Are you perhaps a god who came to save us?”
The barbarians marveled at Franz’s magic and spat out their respective impressions. But that was only for a moment; looking straight ahead, they shut their mouths and turned their heads.
“Franz, this is…”
Yuna, who was also looking straight ahead, trailed off.
It was a natural reaction, as half-rotted corpses were rolling around in the village that was entirely dyed blood-red.
“How terrible…”
Hera said that and slowly shifted her gaze elsewhere.
I agreed. It was terrible and disgusting.
So I would have to somehow catch the guy who did this and kill him.
“You guys wait here.”
Franz said to Ru Deli and Garu Pa.
Then, the gazes of the two who had simultaneously turned their heads turned toward Franz.
“Master, the guy is strong. Even though we rushed him as a group, we were defeated purely by the sword.”
“I know you are strong. But his magic might perhaps be above yours.”
Right, he must be strong. From an ordinary person’s perspective, the Seven Great Evil was a being no different from a disaster.
However, Franz was the undeniable king of magic, and a monster to the extent that even the calamity of the Mythical Era born by the Demon God couldn’t do anything about him.
“I’ll get your home back for you. Just get ready to hold a memorial service for the kids who went first.”
Franz brushed past the two, who had worried expressions that didn’t match their large builds.
A short woman holding a giant sword and a green-haired elf with a bow in her hand were beside such a Franz.
“The stench is overwhelming.”
Entering the village, Franz narrowed his brow at the stench wafting from all directions. The smell of rotting corpses was at a level that truly was truly nauseating.
It was a good thing he had his experiences from his Hero’s Party days, otherwise he would have been grabbing a nearby wall and vomiting.
Yuna and Hera, who had shared those experiences back then, were also just narrowing their brows and didn’t show any major reactions.
“First, we go to the ruin.”
In the center of the village was a massive stone structure. It looked just like a giant temple of an ancient civilization.
The magic power felt from within it was distinctly an unpleasant feeling, so there was no need to go out of his way to search for the Seven Great Evils.
[The item you are looking for is also in there.]
Leviathan, who had been keeping quiet until now, casually threw out a remark.
Franz was already well aware of that much, so it was indeed an unhelpful eel.
He even wondered if he should just pretend it was a mistake and kill it along with the Seven Great Evils.
Franz let out a short sigh and took a step forward.
How long had he walked down the street of the village filled with corpses like that?
Franz had arrived in front of the ruin before he knew it.
Because there were even more corpses in front of the ruin than anywhere else, the wafting smell was also more atrocious.
Could it be that the Seven Great Evil guy was suffering from severe rhinitis?
Otherwise, there was no way he would be staying in a place like this.
Thinking that, Franz climbed the stone stairs, and soon he was able to face the Seven Great Evil.
The guy was standing there as if to show off, but his eyes were definitely closed.