Punitive Expedition

"How long have I been sleeping here, Led?" Her enormous body could no longer fit within the castle. The evil goddess Rosa Kevin reclined sideways upon her throne, asking her servant—the demon Emonled—out of boredom.

"Since I came here to serve you, it has been a little over three hundred years, my respected Demon King." Emonled flapped his wings. Beneath him lay the incomparably massive body of the evil goddess Rosa Kevin. Her blue-red scales glittered beneath the sunlight, and her winding, twisted body filled the entire castle.

"Three hundred years already?" Rosa barely shifted her huge body, and the earth trembled with every movement. "Ah~ Power... power keeps pouring out of my body!" Rosa slid her body forward, and the entire castle collapsed with a thunderous crash.

"Is this the Demon King who supposedly devoured seven worlds? She's really terrifying~"

"How could mere mortals of flesh and blood possibly defeat such an ancient monster?"

"Are you thinking of descending into the Mortal Realm to help them?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Other than mortals, who would provoke an ancient monster? Any god who did that probably felt they had lived too long and wanted someone to replace them sooner."

"Enough. It's enough for us to watch these mortals crusade against the Demon King from here," said an elderly voice. "Whether they succeed or fail, they alone will bear the consequences. It has nothing to do with us... Besides elves, only these mortals of flesh and blood can kill ancient beings with divinity."

The gods gathered together, seated within a magnificent divine hall, observing the story of the Demon King and the heroes through divine fire so they could spread their tale more effectively in the future.

The clear sky darkened in an instant. A cracking sound rang out several kilometers away, and the earth began to shake. Ominous clouds appeared overhead. The adventurers who had come to subjugate the Demon King took one look at Rosa Kevin's immense, sky-blocking body in the distance and fled in terror. Only a few dozen remained, standing there and preparing to fight the Demon King.

"What a bunch of deadweights." The mage Lilian yawned. "I really don't know what Ocast was thinking, dragging those self-important trash into the party to leech experience. They tagged along all the way here, and the Demon King merely turned over before they pissed themselves and ran."

"Lilian... most of them are just ordinary adventurers. Of course they would run when they saw a monster like that, so please don't blame them, all right?" The nun Marian wore a kindly smile.

"Lilian, stop talking about others. Your own legs are shaking from fear." The warrior Hertal laughed.

"When did that happen?!" Lilian planted her staff on the ground. "Tch... against a lumbering giant like that, one high-tier spell would be enough to take her out. Why would I be scared?"

"Don't underestimate her, Lilian!" the bard Val said grimly. "That creature is the evil goddess Rosa Kevin, one of the Four Great Demon Kings, as famous as Tarsim, Kalozis, and Myude."

"Really? She doesn't seem that strong to me... I didn't have much trouble killing Tarsim, anyway." The thief Lance spoke disdainfully. "With a body that big, she must move incredibly slowly. I think... her heart will belong to our Red Daggers!"

"So there are still people here. I thought everyone had run away." Emonled circled above the heroes. "Be careful, everyone. Before you stands the one known as the strongest Demon King..."

Whoosh—before Emonled could finish, an arrow imbued with holy power pierced his skull. Emonled fell to the ground.

"I thought the Demon King had sent someone impressive." The archer Ben stepped out from the shadows among the trees. Looking smugly at Emonled's fallen body, he said, "Turns out you're this weak! Pah!" Just as Ben prepared to step forward and inspect the corpse, Emonled suddenly rose straight up from the ground. He pulled the arrow from his head and said in a gentlemanly yet plain accent, "Your habit of firing arrows from the shadows is truly... a perfect match for your appearance, sir."

"Everyone, be careful! Stay on guard!" At Yusmedes's command, everyone present drew their weapons and prepared for battle.

"Don't waste your strength. I'm not the one you came to subjugate—she is!" Emonled stepped aside to clear a path for the heroes. "I only came to gather information... and to remind you that the Demon King's castle is still at least two kilometers away. Don't be so eager to reveal your trump cards."

A beastly roar came from the center of the castle—from Rosa Kevin's head. The sound shook heaven and earth. As Rosa Kevin's roar faded, countless undead surged up from beneath the heroes' feet.

"Everyone, be careful! Prepare the holy water!" Yusmedes shouted.

"I'll be leaving first... Have fun, everyone!" Emonled spread his wings and slowly flew into the sky.

"Her power is greater than when she was sealed four hundred years ago." The forest priestess Fudora looked toward Rosa Kevin's Rotting Forest in the far distance. "Ever since she broke through the seal and fled into our forest three hundred years ago, she has been draining the power of Mother Earth. There is not much power left in this forest now..."

A point of shimmering green light appeared in Fudora's aged hand. As it emerged, the trees around her began to wither. Those withered trees slowly merged with Rosa Kevin's Rotting Forest.

"Master Fudora!"

"Ataira, my disciple, give the forest's remaining power to the hero. Only then can the curse of Lilasa the Web Weaver be lifted." The green light slowly drifted from Fudora's hand into Ataira's. As the power transferred, Fudora's voice gradually weakened. "My strength can no longer sustain me. This world can only rely on you..."

"Master Fudora..." Ataira sobbed uncontrollably as she watched Fudora's body slowly decay and wither.

"Ataira, run!" The mage Milansa staggered in through the doorway, covered in blood. "Risala's Spider Demons have broken through Master Fudora's barrier... Hurry... take Okasht and leave!"

"Milansa—" Ataira hurriedly supported the severely wounded man and cast purification magic on him. Seeing her former friend in such a terrible state, tears streamed down her face. "Milansa! Hold on, I'll take you to Misty Spring right now! As long as we get there... you can recover! Right! If Master Fudora drinks from that spring, she can... survive too..."

Ataira turned to look at Fudora. That kind and gentle teacher had now become a withered corpse, merging with the forest into the Rotting Forest.

"Master..."

"It's already too late..." A trace of reluctance showed in Milansa's scarlet eyes. "For Master Fudora... and for me..." Having barely regained some strength, Milansa pushed Ataira away.

"Even if I drank from Misty Spring... I still... couldn't survive..." Milansa pulled open his clothes, revealing vast patches of black curse marks devouring his body.

"Lilasa's curse..." Ataira looked at the speck of green light in her hand. It was hope condensed from the lives of Fudora and the forest. If she used that power, she could definitely save Milansa.

"There is... there's still hope! As long as..."

"No... I am finished... I can only leave the rest to you..." Milansa held Ataira tightly as his bright crimson flame energy gradually scattered. As a flame mage, he knew his end had come. A tear fell from his sharply defined face, and his scarlet hair rose in the wind like fire.

This was the first and last time he held Ataira. Looking at the light of hope in her hand, Milansa merely whispered, "This light is beautiful. Too bad it doesn't belong to me... just like you..."

Milansa gently stroked Ataira's face and wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes. He wanted to kiss farewell the girl he had loved for so long, but the kiss never landed.

Lilasa the Web Weaver's Spider Demons soon arrived. Milansa pushed Ataira out of Ellina, the Forest Goddess's temple. The moment Ataira left the temple, Milansa sacrificed the remainder of his life to summon the fire demon Kars. Blazing flames separated Milansa from Ataira while temporarily blocking Lilasa's Spider Demons outside Misty Spring.

Ataira ran toward Misty Spring with the forest's remaining power in her arms. Behind her, great stretches of withered trees were swallowed by flames, and countless monsters pursued her. Ataira knew that no matter how frightened or terrified she was, she could not stop. This light was the hope that would save the hero—the world's final hope.

Ataira kept running, running without pause until she reached a pool of spring water. It was a clear pond, and deep beneath its surface lay the legendary Misty Spring. A goddess's barrier surrounded Misty Spring, preventing even the most dreadful monsters from defiling its waters.

Unfortunately, after Rosa Kevin's invasion, the forest began to decay. The spring's power and the goddess's barrier were both weakening. The outer edge of the pond had turned into blackish-brown dead water... Yet even so, a trace of the spring's power remained at its very center, where the hero Ocast lay.

"You sure kept me waiting..." The merchant Tesla stood on the shore. "We agreed on one hundred gold coins after the job was done. Don't you dare skip out on the payment."

"Good, the monsters haven't found this place yet..." Ataira breathed a sigh of relief, then turned toward Tesla. "I need some time to lift Ocast's curse. Can you buy me some time?"

"Of course~" Tesla was unusually generous. "Just remember to pay extra afterward."

"Thank you!" Ataira jumped into the pitch-black spring. The muddy dead water around its edges burned her pale skin, but with the forest's final power, Ataira quickly began the purification ritual.

A speck of shimmering green light adorned the center of the spring, while flames soared all around it. Ataira tightly gripped Ocast's cursed arm. From the depths of the spring, the forest's remaining power washed over Lilasa's curse. The current carried Risala's curse into Ataira, and pain and burning spread throughout her body.

"So this is the curse tormenting the hero..." Ataira caressed Ocast's forehead and could not help gently kissing his cheek. Minutes later, a pillar of water burst from the heart of the forest and shot into the sky.

"So this is where you are..." Risala twisted her red-and-blue limbs as she rapidly crawled toward Misty Spring. A vast horde of monsters followed behind her.

"They're here?" Tesla looked to his left as hundreds of dark energy bolts flew toward him.

"These bastards move fast."

Just as those attacks were about to reach Tesla, a holy barrier separated Misty Spring from the outside world. Countless monsters then rushed toward Tesla, Ataira, and Ocast, but the moment they touched the barrier, they were violently thrown back.

"It has been a long time... everyone..." A Spider Demon with a female upper body emerged from the horde deep within the forest. Her upper half was an incredibly ugly, obese woman; her lower half was a red-backed black widow; and at the joint connecting the two halves was a gaping maw dripping venom.

Risala slowly approached the barrier. "The Holy Wall of the northern Slok Church? As I recall, they aren't supposed to sell it to people from other countries. How did a little boy like you get this barrier?"

"Well... money can buy anything..." Tesla said smugly.

"That makes sense. The Church people are rather easy to... bribe..." Risala stroked the barrier of holy light, and something brown began spreading across it.

Crack—creak—A tiny fissure appeared at the barrier's weakest point. Soon afterward, the entire barrier was corroded away.

"Oh no!" Tesla had no time to flee before Risala's claw pierced his throat. Venom and curses wrapped around Tesla's body, and he quickly shriveled into a lump.

"Kill them—"

At Risala's command, the monsters surged forward one after another, charging at Ataira and Ocast. Yet before they could touch either of them, an even stronger barrier from the depths of the spring burned every monster to ashes. It was also an item sold by Tesla—the strongest holy barrier, an impenetrable shield that no monster, no matter how powerful, could break. Once that barrier was deployed, Risala could no longer harm Ataira and Ocast... but it was too small to fit a third person.

"This is the Holy Mountain of Mitchas... Boy! Where did you get this one?" Risala glared viciously at Tesla, who was nearly dead.

"Once this barrier... is activated, monsters like you... won't be able to get near them again... You've lost!"

"Seeking death—" Risala expressionlessly tossed Tesla aside.

Venom and curses gradually shriveled Tesla's bones and flesh. Yet even in his final moments, he still told his unfunny jokes. "People said cheating others in business like this would definitely bring retribution... I said I paid enough money, so the gods would surely bless me... But... it looks like I probably forgot to pay the gods the final balance..."

"Tesla? Tesla!!!" After awakening, Ocast struggled out of the now-polluted Misty Spring. Seeing that horrific monster tormenting his friend, rage instantly ignited throughout his body. The Holy Sword sleeping in the depths of the spring answered Ocast's anger as well, and immense energy filled the barrier known as Holy Mountain.

"Don't act rashly, Ocast! This isn't the time to fight Risala here!" Ataira held Ocast's arm. "Rosa Kevin will soon break the seal completely. We don't have much time... Ocast... you can't stay here... any longer..."

"But Tesla!"

"No buts..." Ataira's tears quenched Ocast's anger. "Milansa is gone... Master Fudora is gone too... Everyone in the forest is... dead. If you don't go to the end of the Rotting Forest now, then the thousands of adventurers fighting Rosa Kevin... will die too! Only you can defeat Rosa Kevin! You can't stay here any longer..."

"What about you..." Calming down, Ocast tightly held Ataira's hand. "I know you can use a teleportation array to send me to the Rotting Forest, but what about you? As the caster, you can't leave this place. Once I go..."

"It's all right... I'm the priestess of this forest. I'll be fine... The forest will protect me..." This was the most obvious lie Ataira had ever told. Teleportation energy surged from her body.

"Ataira! You—" Ocast gripped Ataira's hand and refused to let go.

"I'm glad I met you... It's just... just..." Ataira sobbed helplessly. "I might... not be able to stay with you until the end..." Ataira left him with one final faint smile, just like when they first met.

"Ataira!!" Green fluorescence flashed from within the Holy Mountain barrier. Half a minute later, Ataira was the only one left in the filthy Misty Spring.

"How tragic... As the caster of the teleportation array, you cannot leave..." Risala waved her slender limbs as they coiled around Ataira. "Lovely little priestess... I think we should have a private talk..."