The Hero’s Mentor is a Demon (King) Witch

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It’s a monster.

Right in front of my eyes, there’s a sight so grotesque you could hardly chew through it.

A young man with golden hair.

And a red-haired witch.

Monsters that slaughtered the tribespeople indiscriminately after pulling the real Holy Sword from the Village of the Holy Sword.

What?

Did the goblins attack to eat humans and end up getting killed instead?

“Who cares! I’m a goblin!”

Goblins are part of the Demon Race.

Whether the Demon Race captures humans to make them slaves or kills them to mess with their corpses, what does it matter?

What’s important now is ‘revenge.’

Even if the tribespeople charged foolishly and got killed by a hero,

Amutar received Asydia’s baptism to exact revenge on those humans.

So, I’m going to kill them all.

Together with this village, I’ll erase it completely.

Tat-tat-tat——!!

The armored insects under Amutar’s command continued to fire their bullets.

They shot the poison inside their bodies like bullets, striking the barrier.

Swoosh, swoosh!!

Every time the poison bullets hit the barrier, it ignited in flames.

If the barrier wasn’t malfunctioning, the poison similar to that of the Narag Poison Bug would have spread inside.

“Taste the power of the Narag Armored Bug!”

The Narag Poison Bugs modified by Asydia lost their wings but gained a steel shell and bullets.

They became armored bugs crawling on the ground, giving them fearsome lethality.

While before they had to inject poison directly, now they could concentrate the toxin and shoot it like bullets.

If it weren’t for the barrier, I could surely poison all those humans.

“Kreee…!!”

The Giant Golem stretched out its hand, spreading its fingers in all directions, then shot the concentrated poison stored in its forearms through the hole in its palm.

“Bel Phegor Beam——!!”

Swoosh——!!

A powerful jet of poison struck the barrier.

The poison began to burn away in the barrier’s flames, filling the air with thick, pungent smoke, and Amutar quickly donned a prepared gas mask.

“Ha ha, die, you trash humans!”

Trying to blow the poison away with the wind?

It’s useless for the armored bugs.

It’s useless for Amutar riding on the golem as well.

Even if they break through the barrier and try to attack directly, the poison inside the bug’s body would splatter into the air anyway.

I might not be able to take down the hero with this, but I can surely take down the villagers and that accursed witch.

“Kreee.”

Even with the gas mask on, I can still feel it.

The delicious scent wafting from the witch’s heart.

Now, it’s even stronger than before, but the taste and smell of the mana dwelling within the witch’s heart were still intensely pungent.

It’s like an otherworldly fragrance, but Amutar understood.

That witch.

That bold human woman who has no hesitation in killing goblins—I’ll make her a goblin bride, the matriarch of the massive goblin tribe I will lead.

“So die already!! Kwahaha!!

Tat-tat-tat.

Every time the poison bullets hit the barrier, red flames surged, and white smoke billowed up.

And then.

The barrier slowly began to weaken.

*

“They turned the Narag Poison Bug into Steel Armored Bugs.”

It’s basic to modify biological weapons with the flow of the new era over time.

Though the armored bugs had completely changed form, they still retained the potent venom of the Narag Poison Bug.

Like how I changed my body but retained my magic core, perhaps these deformed bugs could be viewed as entirely different creatures.

A striking contrast of steel resistance versus poison attack.

To modify an entire lifeform like that, how—

‘Now that’s a painfully effective upgrade.’

From the opposing side, it’s incredibly bothersome.

The weakness of the Narag Poison Bug was that it had to stab with its poison stinger directly.

They’ve upgraded that by shooting bullets from a distance.

And even if you block it with a physical shield, the poison splatters in all directions, contaminating the target.

As long as they don’t completely seal it off with a barrier like this, someone’s bound to get hit with the poison at a level so fine it can’t be seen by the human eye.

Even if the poison is purified by flames like now, with all that smoke getting stirred up, it can still be inhaled through breath.

It’s thoroughly unpleasant and yet strategic.

It’s infuriating for those on the receiving end, but knowing that the descendants of the Demon King came up with this makes me a little proud.

I’m not defending their method.

I’m praising their determination to adapt tactics that previously didn’t work against humans.

Modifying the very essence of creatures is Beelzebub’s style.

Clearly, their method is yielding great results right now.

“What shall we do, Hero!!”

Due to the bewilderment among the villagers at such a novel attack method, we found it hard to reach a calm decision.

“Calm down!”

Your fuss won’t help at all.

Count Rapid seemed to be fighting back words, while Lucius and Rosmas tried to soothe the people ready to rush out.

“…….”

Liriez stood still, the Holy Sword firmly planted in the ground.

The people couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Everyone, calm down. You are safe.”

Everyone began to listen to my words.

And rightly so, as the moment I said a word or two to Liriez, she remained still with her sword stuck in the ground.

“I know you need explanations. But if you keep talking like this, it’ll disturb the ‘Large-Scale Magic Casting.’”

Be quiet because it’s loud.

“Trust us. Our current barrier cannot completely hold back the enemies. That’s why, with the Hero’s strength, we are going to cast a new barrier.”

We’ll handle it, so just stay still.

“Do you believe in the Hero? Do you believe in the power of the Holy Sword? If so, just trust the Hero and quietly pray. The power of the Holy Sword will protect you.”

Anyone praying to the Moon Goddess will be personally thrown outside the barrier by me.

I barely swallowed the words rising in my throat and was able to calm the crowd.

“Lucius, and everyone. Watch closely.”

Actually, you only need to watch Lucius.

But telling Lucius to ‘keep an eye on this’ felt like telling him to learn from the Hero.

So while it sounded like I was addressing everyone, it was really meant for Lucius.

“The Flame Barrier cannot stop their poison bullets. It can block them, but eventually, the barrier will disappear when the mana is all spent.”

Stimulating the crisis.

Someone tried to say, ‘But still—’ but the perceptive people quieted him down.

Are you planning to disturb the Hero while he is concentrating?

That’s treachery begging for death.

“So while my barrier holds, the Hero will create a new barrier. He’s currently focusing on a massive barrier that will encompass the entire village, so please trust the Hero and wait.”

What Lucius needs to check is another power of the Holy Sword.

“…it seems ready.”

I raised my staff high towards the sky.

Then, from the center of the dome-like barrier, flames began to engulf the core, slowly being drawn into my staff.

‘I set up a deployable barrier just for this.’

So I could recover it at any time.

While it would be different had I been able to use a countless amount of mana like the Holy Sword, I, who can only recover mana by consuming magic stones, would need to reclaim the mana used in the barrier.

Swoosh.

As the Flame Barrier disappeared, a square wall of ice began to rise around us.

Walls of white ice that are far sturdier than mere water.

“…Wall Glacier.”

Snap!

The moment Liriez opened her eyes, a rectangular formation of ice walls protecting the village was instantly created.

The Flame Barrier was sucked into my staff, and I slowly infused some of the mana used for the barrier into my heart.

“…Ugh.”

15%.

It was fine when facing the Narag Poison Bugs, but now, getting hit by the poison bullets of the armored bugs severely drained my mana.

If Liriez hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have reclaimed any mana, and I’d likely have lost even more.

‘Thank goodness for that.’

At least I managed to recover some.

And where else could I find someone who could perform as well as I am right now, even if I didn’t reclaim my mana?

Tat-tat-tat!!

The armored bugs diligently sprayed their poison at the ice barricade, but the poison just pooled on the ground against its steel-like hardness.

“Wow….”

Everyone couldn’t help but marvel at the impressive ice wall.

Lucius was also in awe of the tremendous ability manifested by the Holy Sword.

“Master?”

“I’ll explain the details when we’re alone later.”

There are too many ears listening now.

But at least for now, I might not be able to explain the ‘how to use it,’ but I could at least inform everyone of its existence.

“The Holy Sword each has a ‘Barrier.’ Just like the ‘Flame Cloak’ that the Flame Hero Bearnes showcased at the North Gate of Normans, it is possible to spread the power of the Holy Sword like a barrier.”

Of course, that’s certainly quite different.

While Bearnes, who had achieved first-stage awakening, spread a curtain in a flat way,

Liriez, one step away from the final stage, created a perfect rectangular formation of ice walls.

The reason it’s ice is simply that it’s a bit easier to create than water.

Later, after achieving the final awakening, I would also produce a giant water droplet that wouldn’t break under any external impact.

“…….”

Lucius tightened his fists.

He seemed eager to perform like Liriez someday.

Tat-tat-tat.

The armored bugs sprayed poison frantically, but the ice wall would not crumble.

It would be one thing if they scraped it with their steel bodies; no matter how much poison they sprayed, the thick layer of ice was unscathed.

“While the Hero casts the barrier, we need a plan to eliminate those things….”

In that moment.

Sasa-sasa!!

The armored bugs began to gather around the Giant Golem.

I felt an odd familiarity about the scene.

Small entities, swarms merging into one gigantic form.

Beelzebub’s specialty.

“…Synchronization?”

Around the Giant Golem, the armored bugs began to converge.

“Wow.”

Then with a flash of light, what appeared before my eyes was a true giant.

“…Colossus.”

The silvery-armored giant, resembling an insect, swung its giant steel fist behind its shoulder—

[For the Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor——!!]

With a powerful shout, it swung its colossal fist toward the ice barrier.