This World Needs a Hero

Chapter 309:

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HELHEIM SCANS

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Operation: Four Hours After the Commencement of Light Bringer

Avalon entered the next zone, the Demonic realm’s 47th sector and the demon horde’s pursuit finally began to slacken.

They seemed to need time to reorganize after suffering greater-than-expected losses.

“We’re moving out of the enemy’s sight.”

“Three, two, one.”

“Cease combat mode.”

“Phew...”

Those seated in the cockpit all let out light sighs in unison.

Karen removed her goggles and looked at the person beside her.

“Hey, you should rest too. Who knows when we’ll get another chance.”

Gerald, who was nursing a wound on his thigh with a grimace, tried to maintain a stern expression.

Karen’s face tightened slightly.

“...Does it hurt?”

“What is pain? Gerald, who has defeated a legion commander, knows nothing of such things.”

“Ugh, acting tough even now.”

Cuculli, who had been watching them, smirked.

“Oho, love blooming in the Demonic realm.”

Surprisingly, Karen didn’t deny it.

Everyone, expecting her usual vehement denial, was taken aback.

Even Gerald blinked in surprise.

Karen frowned at the reactions around her and snapped.

“...What.”

Then, the last to let go of the control stick, Ban joined the conversation.

His bangs were soaked with sweat.

“It’s good to rest, but don’t let your guard down too much.”

Luke added a word.

“They haven’t retreated far. They’re maintaining a certain distance. They can attack again in five minutes.”

“Five minutes...”

“Damn it, let’s just rest for a bit.”

The children staggered out of the cockpit.

Leciel approached the Hero.

“Professor, aren’t you going to rest?”

The Hero shook his head, removing his hands from the controls.

He gestured for them to rest, indicating he would keep watch.

Unlike his human disciples, this much exertion hardly affected his energy levels as a doppelgänger.

“Thank you.”

The children, who would normally have stayed with their master, lay down quietly on the bedding spread out on the floor, unable to endure any longer.

Resting to conserve their energy was more beneficial.

Evergreen rummaged through a nearby shelf, looking for snacks.

Top chefs prepared a variety of food for the assault team.

“Anyone want something to eat?”

“I’m fine. I can’t swallow anything right now...”

“Me! Me!”

“...Alright, give Cuculli something.”

The children chuckled, seeing Cuculli happily munch on preserved food.

It momentarily felt like they were back in the academy café years ago.

The clear sky, cool breeze, and the faint chatter echoing in their ears.

Gerald teased Karen half-seriously, half-jokingly.

Evergreen and Luke gazing at each other, making everyone cringe.

Cuculli devouring the snacks with astonishing speed...

For a moment, their expressions turned bitter.

“Damn...”

They looked around briefly.

The reddish steel walls and the humming machinery.

Though the gunfire had ceased, it still echoed in their ears.

A strange sense of suffocation weighed down on their chests.

Crunch-

It was then that Ban suddenly approached Cuculli and took a snack from her hand.

Cuculli stared wide-eyed in silent protest.

Ban simply shrugged.

“Hmm, tastes better when it’s taken.”

The children, understanding the intention behind the exaggerated tone, snapped out of their reverie and started chatting again.

“So, we’ve been in the Demonic realm for four hours now?”

“Wow, feels like days have passed.”

“But we made it through the 46th sector safely. We’ll get through the 47th, 48th, and 49th too.”

“And then the professor will beat up the Demon King?”

“That’s right.”

“And we’ll return and become heroes in the history books.”

“Exactly.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“...You know, maybe I’ll go to grad school when this ends. Become a professor.”

“Ooh...”

Some headed to other sections of the cockpit to check on their families.

As soon as she had a moment, Zion came over from the Royal Guards’ section to find her granddaughter, a mix of worry and pride on her face.

“You’re fearless. Planning to fight a legion commander alone.”

“I thought I could do it. I had help from Mother Ghost, too.”

Leciel shook her head as if it was no big deal.

She wasn’t bragging or being modest; she genuinely had little feeling about her achievement of taking the head of the 6th Legion Commander.

Zion shook his head.

“Who do you take after to be so impressive?”

“The professor.”

“......”

At this moment, each took a brief and limited rest amidst the battlefield.

Buzz-

A small noise interrupted the conversations.

“... What’s that?”

Buzz-

The screen connected to the deck’s crystal ball lit up in the cockpit’s center.

The noise was coming from the screen.

The children’s eyes were drawn to it, captivated.

The screen showed the city at the center of the 47th sector.

Someone’s trembling voice echoed everyone’s thoughts.

“What the heck are those things?”

Their eyes widened slowly.

The influence of demonic energy.

The degree of erosion depends on its concentration.

Examples of demonic energy contamination and so on.

These were things drilled into them from the compulsory courses at Rosenstark as soon as they enrolled.

But the 47th sector, where they had just arrived, presented a grotesque scene that no example or lesson had ever covered.

Ban murmured in a subdued voice.

“...So that’s why they stopped chasing us.”

“Oh my God...”

“Wasn’t demonic energy supposed only to affect living things? Does it affect inanimate objects too? I’ve never heard of that.”

“That’s what we were taught.”

Until now, their knowledge held true.

However, the buildings in the 47th sector seemed to refuse to remain mere structures.

Groan-

The walls and pillars rippled like flesh and bones, twisting into organic forms.

Windows, where there should have been, were replaced by bloodshot eyes, slowly blinking as they stared at Avalon.

Though made of stone, wood, and sometimes metal, their exterior looked warm and soft, almost like living beings.

Chomp, chomp—

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The passengers turned away in unison as one building’s entrance opened like a giant mouth, slowly chewing.

Just watching it felt like it was sapping their mental strength.

The assault team immediately began discussing the situation.

Leaders from each group quickly gathered in front of the screen to talk.

“Why aren’t they attacking us? Do they not harbour hostility towards us?”

“Hardly. They must be waiting for an opportunity. Or maybe, like tree-shaped demons, they’re rooted and can’t move beyond a certain radius.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. Fortunately, it seems not all buildings have transformed. We should proceed carefully, avoiding them as much as possible.”

“...Who knows how long we can keep avoiding them? If we go much further, there might be more buildings with eyes than without.”

“But we have to avoid them as much as possible, don’t we? Engaging with demons of unknown strength in our current situation would be reckless.”

“So, you’re suggesting we go around the city center?”

As the debate continued, the Hero, who had been lost in thought, spoke up.

“This is an unnecessary discussion.”

“......”

“We don’t have time. Thus, we have no choice.”

Detour?

Reconnaissance?

With less than a day left before the Demon King’s advent, there was no time for such things.

‘They must be hoping we waste time like that.’

...Though it was a ruthless decision, arriving even a bit earlier was more important than conserving strength.

They had to reach the 50th sector before all those demonic energies converged.

Step—

The Hero parted through the crowd’s gaze and returned to the cockpit.

“We’ll force our way through.”

[Avalon will now move at maximum speed. Passengers, please be mindful of your safety.]

A resonant voice announced.

.

.

.

As Avalon was breaking through the 47th sector with formidable momentum, they encountered an unexpected problem just as they passed through the city center.

The 47th sector was originally a city dense with various research complexes.

The closer they got to the city center, the more numerous the research labs, workshops, and material stores became.

The ‘mutated’ buildings, lurking within the complex ruins, attacked Avalon unprecedentedly.

“Hey.”

“Noubelmag?”

The Hero took off his goggles at the call.

Noubelmag was leaning against the cockpit with a serious expression.

“What’s the matter?”

He got straight to the point.

“The underside of the hull was just damaged.”

The Hero’s face hardened.

“The underside? How did they manage to attack the underside?”

“Well...”

Noubelmag quickly explained the situation.

In the First Era, there were skyscrapers that, the Second Era, people couldn’t even imagine.

These skyscrapers had separate spaces underground and rebar to support the upper structures.

“So, the mutated ones attacked from underground?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, a hole was made in the fuel tank. Our precious fuel is leaking onto the ground. Some other equipment also sustained damage.”

The fuel, essentially the lifeblood of Avalon, consisting of liquefied mana stones and refined mana contributed by the passengers, was leaking away.

Noubelmag continued with a resolute face.

“We need to stop and repair it immediately. If we leave the hole unattended, Avalon won’t even make it to the 48th sector, let alone the 50th.”

...Stopping.

The Hero glanced at the screen.

Beyond the dark mist of demonic energy, grotesque shadows were flickering.

It felt like being thrown into the middle of a nightmare.

“How much time do you need?”

“Thirty minutes. The problem is...”

The Hero felt a sense of foreboding.

Noubelmag wasn’t one to draw out his words.

“... What’s the problem?”

“...The damage can’t be repaired from the inside. We need to go outside.”

The Hero’s gaze turned back to the hellish exterior.

“Of course, I’ll go myself.”

“... You’ll go personally? What about the other engineers?”

“If it’s not me, thirty minutes won’t be enough. I guarantee it.”

“But...”

“You haven’t forgotten who designed and built this, have you?”

The Hero stared at Noubelmag.

He knew from multiple experiences that bending this old man’s will was impossible.

“What do you need me to do?”

“They’ll keep attacking from underground. Once the hull stops, the demons waiting for an opportunity will swarm in. So, assign people to protect me.”

Noubelmag spoke in a subdued voice.

“I’m not joking; it’s going to be extremely dangerous. You’ll have to protect a non-combatant like me in the thickest demonic energy. You might have to die in my place.”

“I...”

“I refuse that as the repair supervisor. Wasting your strength here would be putting the cart before the horse. You know that better than anyone, so don’t be stubborn.”

The Hero and Noubelmag’s gazes clashed intensely in the air.

Noubelmag repeated his conditions.

“Let me reiterate the conditions. First, you can’t go. Absolutely.”

“......”

“No large groups. The lower hull is cramped.”

The conditions continued steadily.

“We need a small number of people with the skill to withstand countless demons and unknown mutants for thirty minutes and the resolve to die if necessary.”

The Hero turned his head.

The eyes of the cockpit were all on him.

Quite a few hands rose simultaneously.

There was no sign of fear.

Everyone was hoping to volunteer for the mission.

“......”

But it felt like choosing who to send to their death for the Hero.

Desperate gazes silently intersected.

The Hero could only make a ‘rational’ decision.

“Alright, it’s decided then.”

Thud—

Noubelmag, with a pipe in his mouth, picked up a hammer.

“Then, lead the way.”

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