Betrayed by His Party, a Failed Healing Mage Revived Past Demon Lords Out of Spite and They Were All Overpowered Beautiful Girls - 13

Chapter 13: The Healing Mage Is Shocked by the Scumbag Hero’s Words

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Side: Hero

Albert finished preparing and, along with his companions, headed toward the town of Sapan, where the Demon Lord had been spotted. No. It wasn’t just the hero party. Unlike the first journey to defeat the Demon Lord, they now knew the location of its appearance. About a thousand of the elite of the elite knights, along with ten thousand soldiers, had been dispatched.

Thanks to this overwhelming force, the skeleton soldiers roaming Sapan and its surroundings were wiped out without difficulty. They were able to reclaim the town of Sapan.

“Skeletons are no problem at all.”

“Don’t get careless, Albert. We don’t know when the Demon Lord might attack.”

“Testarossa, loosen up a little. If the captain is tense, the others will get tense too.”

“Hm… yeah, you’re right.” 

Testarossa admitted, realizing she had been more tense than she thought. She took a deep breath. Then she let out a long sigh.

“If only Mana could join with her wide-range, high-damage magic, this battle would be a lot easier.”

“I wonder what she’s been doing all this time locked up in the forbidden library.”

“She’s probably just been reading every single spellbook she could find.”

At that moment, Karia, the summoner of the hero party and one of the three wives Albert had married, joined the conversation.

“Mana has never been interested in anything other than magic. She was overjoyed that the forbidden library had all kinds of forbidden spells.”

“Still, her behavior seemed odd. She was too conscious of the people around her, almost like she was afraid of something. And when I asked her about it, she just shook her head.”

“…Once we return to the capital, we’ll have to check on her again.”

“First, we need to defeat the Demon Lord.”

It was then that Lilith, newly joined to the hero party, spoke up with a sudden question.

“It’s strange.”

“Hm? What’s strange?”

“No matter how many skeletons we kill, the Demon Lord doesn’t appear… it isn’t fixated on Sapan… it seems to not mind if the town is taken back…? No, it’s still weird. Then why did it attack while revealing its presence? Why leave the residents alive?”

Ignoring Albert, Lilith muttered to herself. Albert started to regret, just a little, his decision from a few days ago to add her to the party. At that moment, a knight approached. He appeared to be a messenger, delivering orders for the next movement.

“Albert-sama, one hundred knights will remain in Sapan, and the entire army will advance into the Great Forest of Ruve.”

“The entire army? That’s quite bold.”

“The forest is vast. The Demon Lord is most likely hiding in the castle Albert-sama defeated previously, so we’d like the hero party to investigate that location.”

Albert nodded, saying, “Understood.” However, Lilith voiced opposition to this strategy of overwhelming numbers.

“I object.”

“…Why?”

“The opponent is a powerful user of charm magic. If we mobilize too many, they could be forced to turn on each other.”

“That’s true, but if it causes a commotion, we might discover the Demon Lord. Then we can finish it off ourselves.”

He persuaded Lilith and led the knights and soldiers into the Great Forest of Ruve. And then, it happened suddenly.

After entering the forest for a short time, a black mist appeared. Albert braced himself, thinking it might be a precursor to an attack. Then—

“Gobufu.”

Albert coughed up blood. It wasn’t an attack; suddenly, liquid surged up his throat, and it was blood. Testarossa and Karia also coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground. The other knights and soldiers were similarly affected.

“—Healing Magic High Heal.”

“T-thank goodness.”

Lilith cast healing magic on herself, Albert, Testarossa, and Karia.

“Lilith, treat the other soldiers— gobufu, why am I coughing up blood again…”

“This mist is the cause. Even the slightest inhalation rapidly amplifies pathogens in the human body. A death mist, like a plague magic controlled by a Demon Lord.”

“Now’s not the time for explanations!! We need to get the soldiers out of the mist!!”

“It’s useless. They’re all already dead.”

“Huh?”

Albert ran to a fallen soldier and was struck dumb by the gruesome sight. The soldier was already dead. No, more than that, the flesh had begun to rot, and maggots had infested it. The stench of decay burned Albert’s and the others’ noses.

“You guys still have some strength, so my healing magic barely worked in time. We need to escape immediately, or we’ll die.”

“R-retreat!!”

Albert chose to retreat without hesitation. Once they were outside the mist’s reach, Albert stopped. The entire army of over ten thousand had been wiped out without a chance to even scream—a literal total annihilation. But the situation did not end there.

“Hey. Isn’t this mist spreading!?”

“…Yes, it is. If we leave it, it’ll engulf Sapan within a few days.”

“R-right, we have to hurry back to the town and evacuate the residents!!”

“Wait, Albert!! If we retreat now, the hero party’s reputation—”

“Human lives come first!! And there’s nothing we can do against this mist without a plan!!”

Albert said and ran off. At that moment, from within the approaching mist, a masked man in suspicious attire appeared.

“Human lives come first, huh? How surprising.”

Albert and the others shivered at the voice. It was low, filled with an overwhelming hatred and killing intent. Then Albert realized.

“Valsh…?”

“…”

The masked man said nothing.

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I couldn’t hide my shock. The mask Elizabeth had given me apparently distorted the wearer’s recognition. In other words, no one could tell it was me. However, it didn’t work on people who were fairly close to me. Albert had discovered my identity, probably because he still regarded me as a dear friend.

“…This is insane.”

He killed me to boost his own fame, yet still thought of me as a friend. Not the thought process of a sane human. I had to suppress the urge to vomit at Albert’s psychopathy as he muttered to himself.

“No, that can’t be right. I killed him with my own hands… Hey!! You’re controlling this mist!?”

“Do you think I’ll answer that?”

Albert shrugged and nodded. Then he turned his back and ran. I wanted to chase and kill him, but I couldn’t. I hadn’t been attacked because I was inside the mist created by Pestia’s plague magic. This mist killed humans instantly, but it didn’t affect monsters at all. Apparently, it could be adjusted that way.

Once outside the mist, my neck would part ways with my body. I really needed to get stronger, and fast.

“Still… What was Lilith doing in the hero party?”

I had assumed it was just Albert, Testarossa, Karia, and Mana. But among them was my junior disciple. She was a more skilled healer than I was and was somewhat attached to me. If Albert was exploiting her, I’d want to help her, but… what should I do?

“Human rescue comes first, huh.”

That sounded like something the Albert I knew would say. Impossible to believe it came from the man who killed me. Maybe he wanted to show a heroic side in front of Lilith, but it didn’t seem like an act.

…No, thinking about it is pointless.

Albert was a scumbag who killed me and even framed me as a saint killer. I would have to kill him with my own hands.

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