Chapter 355 ⤞ Even Heroes Have to Make a Living
As one of the villagers of Axel, Wiz naturally knew the strength of her lord and the 『 Hero 』 Party.
They could defeat Beldia (attribute counter), and even take down Vanir (through connections). In terms of strength, they were absolutely top-tier.
Though she never imagined that Adam could instantly kill Hans, one of the upper echelon Devil King Army Generals.
But the fact was right before her eyes, and she had to admit it. His strength had already far surpassed the Devil King Army Generals.
Seeing Hans frozen into an ice mountain, Kazuma hesitantly asked, "This guy... he's been defeated, right?"
"Puhuhuh — this is killing me with laughter!" Aqua let out a mocking laugh. Covering her mouth, she struggled to speak, "This guy was just boasting about how amazing and powerful he was, but was taken down in the blink of an eye. Isn't that hilarious?!"
Megumin also chimed in, "Indeed, I feel the same as Aqua. The words he spoke earlier sounded just like a final boss's battle declaration, which made me think he was really strong. I almost used Explosion Magic to blow him up. But... I didn't expect him to be defeated in one hit. It feels somewhat unsatisfying."
"Don't say that!" Wiz tried to defend Hans who was taken out in one move, "Mr. Hans is a Devil King Army General! His true form is a slime, and slimes as large as Mr. Hans are the rarest and highest ranked among slimes!"
"But he was one-shot by Adam."
"Well... Mr. Hans's true form has very troublesome properties! Physical attacks don't work, he has strong magic resistance, and once he catches you, there's almost no escape!"
"But he was one-shot by Adam."
"Hans... oh right! Mr. Hans is a slime variant — a Deadly Poisonous Slime! His poison attribute is extremely powerful, and direct contact would result in immediate death!"
"But he was one-shot by Adam."
"..."
"But he was one-shot by Adam-senpai."
Like getting hit with "Emotional Damage", though Wiz didn't know this meme, she could relate to the feeling at this moment.
"I'm going to get angry!" Wiz's soft and cute threat didn't sound scary at all.
"By the way, what should we do with this guy?" Kazuma looked at the slime ice mountain and asked their party leader who had just used powerful magic, "Adam-senpai, what are you planning to do... Adam-senpai?"
He saw Adam with his head lowered in thought.
Despite one-shotting a Devil King Army General — which should be a feat to celebrate — their leader was frowning as if dissatisfied.
This is... I get it! He must feel his strength isn't enough!
Even though he could one-shot a Devil King Army General, Adam wasn't proud; instead, he seemed dissatisfied with his tremendous power, believing he could do better!
As expected of the 『 Hero 』, Adam Carter!
"Adam-senpai, you've done well enough. Being able to take care of a Devil King Army General before he caused trouble for the town — you should be proud."
"What are you talking about?"
"Huh?"
"I'm troubled precisely because Hans was too weak and didn't cause any trouble for the town."
"...Huh?!!!" Kazuma was dumbfounded. He stared blankly at Adam, not understanding why the kingdom's Hero would say something like this.
Adam patted his forehead in frustration.
This Hans, though possibly among the upper echelon of Devil King Army Generals in terms of strength, was completely countered by him. He had expected Hans to be as troublesome as Beldia or Vanir, so he'd started with super magic and even used underhanded tactics like a sneak attack to suppress the threat.
However, he hadn't expected that this guy would be hard-countered by him, not even having time to yell 'Sneak attack! I was careless and didn't dodge!' before being cleanly frozen into an ice mountain.
"Like this, who would believe he's one of the Devil King Army Generals?"
"...Adam-senpai." Kazuma looked at him with utter disbelief.
Though sadistic and admittedly a scumbag, Kazuma still wanted to fulfill his responsibilities as a member of the 『 Hero 』 Party.
But he never imagined the kingdom's 『 Hero 』 would act like this.
The town had completely escaped disaster — no residents were hurt and no buildings damaged. Wasn't this the perfect outcome?
Why would Adam say such things?
"Adam-senpai, though it might not be my place to say, we are Heroes after all. Being able to resolve problems without casualties is part of our duty..."
"What a pity. I remember Hans of the Devil King Army had a bounty of 500 million, right?"
"Yoshiii—let's release him right now!" Kazuma immediately drew the short sword from his waist, ready to smash the slime ice mountain and free Hans.
His eyes lit up at the mention of the ξ500,000,000 bounty, suddenly looking more terrifying than anyone else in the room.
"Alright, alright, stop messing around." Adam held him back.
If Kazuma really released Hans, wouldn't Adam's sneak attack and the effort to seal the slime-man be completely wasted?
"500 million bounty… how many special ingredients could that buy?" Adam sighed with regret.
Even heroes have to make a living.
Though he knew Hans could cause immense trouble for the town if set free, without the kingdom's support, heroes had to earn their own money. Without additional income, they couldn't get far.
They couldn't be expected to fight the Devil King with nothing but wooden sticks.
"Aqua, what are you going to do?" Adam turned to the Water Goddess, who was already eager to act, "This ice mountain won't melt for now, but the power isn't strong — it only imprisons Hans. To truly finish him off, we need you to take action."
"No problem! I've been waiting for this!" Aqua glared viciously at the immobilized opponent, like a wolf eyeing a sheep. She could no longer contain her primordial power.
"Um... couldn't we just sit down and talk this through?" Wiz was still trying to mediate the tense relationship between both sides.
"Wiz..."
If he didn't know her heart was with humans, Adam would have thought she was a spy sent by the Devil King Army.
"Wiz, look over there." Standing beside her, he guided her gaze in the direction he was pointing.
There was a human skeleton in a secluded corner of the ice mountain. Because of Hans's deep red body and the skeleton's small size compared to the slime ice mountain, it wasn't easily noticeable.
Only when Adam pointed it out did everyone look over.
"Is that—?!!"
"It's a human skeleton!"
"Yes, it's human."
"How could this be?"
The party members immediately became angry.
They had thought they arrived in time and stopped Hans before any harm was done, but they never expected someone had already fallen victim before their arrival.
"Wiz, what do you think?" Adam turned to look at her.
He found the cute lich with her head lowered, her usual gentle demeanor transformed. Cold air suddenly burst from her body, and a huge ice pillar shot from beneath her feet toward the slime ice mountain.
"Miss Wiz—?!" x4
◈ Ice Magic ⫸ Cursed Crystal Prison ◈
The same type of magic, the same target. For Hans, already imprisoned and unable to escape, this was like adding frost to snow.
When honest people get angry, it's truly terrifying!
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