The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
Chapter 287

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Chapter 287: Demon God Dale (4)

The minor misunderstanding that occurred inside the party house was easily resolved once Yuren removed the pendant from her neck and returned to her original form as Yurina.

“So Yuren Helios was a woman… how surprising.”

Camellia glanced at Yurina with a wry smile.

Yurina flinched, her shoulders trembling.

“I… I sincerely apologize for lying in Your Majesty’s presence.”

Even though the Helios family held immense power within the Empire, the person before her was the Empress.

Now that it had been revealed that the Helios family had concealed Yuren’s death and deceived the Empress, Yurina couldn’t help but bow her head.

“Think nothing of it. I doubt it was your will to hide it.”

However—

“Was it Rosanna Helios? I will have a word with the current family head.”

Noble families of Helios’s stature were obligated to regularly visit the imperial palace to report on their family’s status and achievements.

And of course—

Rosanna, the current head of the Helios family, had intentionally concealed Yuren’s death and had been submitting false reports for over a decade.

While other noble families likely had their own secrets, the important part was that this one had reached Camellia’s ears.

If she hadn’t known about the false reports, it might be different, but now that she did, turning a blind eye was not an option.

“I will take into account that she is your biological mother and issue a fitting punishment…”

“No! I ask that you impose a severe punishment! One harsh enough for her to deeply regret what she has done!”

“……?”

Camellia was momentarily taken aback by Yurina’s fierce demand for harsh punishment, her eyes gleaming as if to say blood ties meant nothing.

“Hm. Very well, then.”

Camellia soon nodded and turned her gaze toward Dale.

“By the way, you said she was the fifth? I’d heard as much, but your lust is truly appalling.”

Clicking her tongue in disgust, Camellia shook her head.

“…….”

I had no words to refute her, watching helplessly as my lovers eagerly chimed in, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

“Oh right, Your Majesty. If you don’t have any other plans, would you like to join us for a hot spring bath?”

“Hot spring?”

“Yes. Dale mentioned that Your Majesty had a hot spring built right next to the party house.”

“Ah, yes. I remember ordering that.”

Camellia recalled instructing her aides to build a new hot spring facility next to the party house.

“Since you’re officially Dale’s ‘fifth’ lover now, I figured it would be good for us to spend some time getting to know each other.”

Iris offered the invitation with a bright smile.

Camellia could easily discern the true intention behind that sweet expression.

“Oh? Planning to establish the pecking order as soon as the new member joins?”

“No way~ Nothing like that. I just think it would be nice if we could all get along peacefully without fighting~”

“For someone with the title of ‘Saintess,’ you sure have a slippery side.”

“So? Are you coming?”

“I suppose I am.”

Camellia chuckled and shrugged.

Ever since she became Dale’s lover, she’d considered setting aside time to build a good relationship with the others.

This was the perfect opportunity.

“Dale, you stay here and clean up, please.”

“…….”

The lounge was a disaster, with food and drinks the party members had brought for the discharge celebration scattered everywhere.

“Wait, but… yesterday you said I needed to rest….”

“Oh my, and you did rest last night, didn’t you? Right? Surely, someone as noble as the Saintess wouldn’t have told a patient who regained consciousness after two weeks that he needed rest, only for him to spend the night drenched in sweat, indulging his lust like an animal, right?”

“Ah… well…”

You see, Saintess…

It wasn’t exactly my idea…

“You’ll take care of the cleaning, right?”

“Of course.”

I’ll even take care of the laundry.

“Fufufu. Then, we’ll be off.”

Iris waved gracefully as she led the others outside.

Left alone, I looked around the war-torn lounge and let out a deep sigh.

“Well… I guess I should be thankful it ended like this.”

Who would’ve thought the first thing I’d do after becoming the demon god was clean the lounge?

* * *

After finishing the cleaning,

I immediately headed to the training grounds in the party house.

“Alright… let’s see here.”

I took a deep breath and slowly began to draw out my power.

Fwoooosh!

In an instant, grey flames burst forth, swirling around me with a fierce intensity.

‘As I thought… the power of the Primordial Flame has increased to an absurd degree.’

After absorbing the remnants of the demon god, the power of the Primordial Flame had grown beyond measure.

Before, it had felt like “Blessing of Revival > Primordial Flame,” but now it was more like “Blessing of Revival = Primordial Flame.”

For now, I was barely maintaining a balance between the two.

‘But if the power of the Primordial Flame were to spiral out of control…’

Then, it wouldn’t just be humanity—but the entire continent that could be reduced to ash.

“…….”

It felt like I was walking around with a bomb inside me that could destroy the world.

The crushing pressure weighed heavily on my shoulders.

“Hoo…”

I steadied my breath and summoned my power again.

This time, I was testing the incarnation state—one that granted near-infinite mana.

It was, without question, the most powerful and destructive ability I had.

‘I could only maintain it for about a minute before.’

But now—

Fwoooooosh!

The grey flames surged around me again.

My body began to scatter into the flames, transforming entirely into ash and fire.

“Krrgh…”

A thrilling jolt shot down my spine.

An overwhelming sense of omnipotence, as if I could burn the whole world to ashes, surged through my mind.

One minute passed.

Then two, then three.

‘What the…?’

The Incarnation state wasn't deactivating.

“Heh.”

So… does that mean it's possible to maintain the Incarnation state indefinitely?

‘I didn’t even consider that possibility…’

Just then—

Fwoooosh! Fwoosh!

The embers grew larger, spewing magical energy in all directions.

Rrrrmmmmble!

The entire party house shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“Kh…!”

Panicking, I hurried to deactivate the Incarnation state.

FWOOSH!

But the embers flared up even more fiercely, growing larger.

[Translator - Night]

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“Damn it…!”

I drew upon the power of the Tree of Creation to suppress the raging flames.

The flames, which had been greedily expanding, suddenly lost momentum and gradually began to die down.

“Huff… huff!”

Returning to my human form, I dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

“…Hah.”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

‘So… I can maintain the state indefinitely, but the longer I stay in it, the greater the risk of losing control?’

More return meant more risk.

‘For now… I’ll have to seal it away unless absolutely necessary—no more than a minute at a time.’

If the Primordial Flame were to go berserk, the disaster would be irreparable.

“Still… it doesn’t seem to go out of control just from using the power a lot.”

I sighed in relief, surveying the now-calm interior.

If there had been signs of rampancy even when I wasn’t using the power, things would’ve been much worse.

‘So in the end, it’s best to use the power as little as possible.’

I sat down on a bench in the corner of the training hall and looked up at the ceiling.

“Don’t use the power, huh…”

The demons were virtually annihilated.

The Demon God was gone too, having had every last remnant of his essence absorbed.

‘All that’s left is… the Cult Leader of Eternity.’

If I can just eliminate the Cult Leader of Eternity, I can create a world where I no longer have to use this power.

A dream I’ve longed for over hundreds, thousands of years—

Now only a single step away.

“……”

But why is it…

Every time I think of the Cult Leader of Eternity, an inexplicable dread tightens around my chest.

A dreadful, bottomless fear—like staring into a dark, infinite abyss.

“Tch.”

I shook my head and stood up.

‘I just need to do what I’ve always done.’

My long-desired goal was just one step away.

“…I’ll head back early today and get some rest.”

I hadn’t rested properly yesterday either (though that’s my own fault).

Tonight, I planned to lie in bed and finally get some real sleep.

Just as I began tidying up the chaotic training hall and turned to leave—

Crack. Crackle.

Like fractures forming in glass, rifts began to appear in the air.

“…What the hell?”

I gripped my sword, staring at the forming rift.

As I watched, magical energy slowly gathered, and the crack widened.

CRASH!

With the sound of shattering glass, something burst forth from the rift.

“Huff… huff…!”

A man with white hair, his body covered in blood, stumbled out, gasping for breath.

A shattered golden monocle dangled loosely from his neck.

“You…”

I narrowed my eyes at the familiar face.

“Mephisto?”

“Keuh…”

Mephisto tried to stand, staggering, but lost his balance and collapsed to the ground.

“…What the hell happened to you?”

“I… I was… attacked…”

Attacked?

“…By the Cult Leader of Eternity?”

“Haah… haah… Yes. That man… he doesn’t care about ‘eternity’ at all.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You… you must… run… The Cult Leader of Eternity, he’s…”

Mephisto’s trembling hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder.

“He’ll… he’ll destroy not just humanity… but this entire world…!”

“…Destroy?”

“Stop him… now… ghhk… cough, cough!”

A gush of dark blood spilled from Mephisto’s mouth.

He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

White flowers began to bloom from his torn skin.

“…What the…”

What the hell is happening right now?

My mind was spinning in chaos when—

[Heh. So you managed to crawl all the way to him, huh?]

A voice echoed from the rift in the air.

“You…”

I bit my lip, glaring at the space beyond the rift.

[Is this the first time we’ve spoken directly?]

Snicker.

A laugh echoed from the rift.

[Nice to meet you, Dale Han.]

It was the voice of the Cult Leader of Eternity.

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