This Hero is Too Curious! - 96 This Hero Battles A Hell Guardian!

We stood in silence. The being that had appeared radiated a presence that made one’s mouth dry. It was an aura of pure despair that permeated the air around us, like a cloud of poisonous gas. This feeling, which made all the hairs on my body stand on end, appeared to be shared among our enemies as well as all of them had stopped in place. They stared in awe at this being that had just appeared upon a white flash of light.

This creature, humanoid in shape and appearance, draped in a black cloak and wearing a pristinely carved mask that was colored purple simply stood up, cracked their neck, and looked around for a moment as the wind slowly blew. None dared interrupt them.

After a few moments, the creature began to speak. Their voice, muffled and shifted by their mask, sounded genderless and without an accent.

“Hmm… Odd. I recall a tent being here.” They muttered. Though normally someone speaking this quietly would be drowned out, the silence made their voice travel far. They turned their head and began to speak loudly, as if announcing themselves to the area.

“I heard…” They began, looking around the area lazily, taking comically large steps as they did so, as if to enforce their authority. “There was an explosion… From what I could tell…” They walked towards one of the hobgoblins. The beast trembled as the humanoid figure that was cloaked in black moved towards it while continuing its leisurely pace. “Someone misplaced some gunpowder.” It cupped the head of the hobgoblin gently with their thumb and index finger, holding its chin as if it was grasping onto a lover. “Would any of you know anything about that?” The figure asked, looking around the area before releasing the hobgoblin. Eventually one creatures, a lizard being like the ones we had fought before, pointed one of its clawed hands towards us.

The being that was draped in black looked towards us and shrugged their shoulders after looking at us for a moment. “That would explain it.” They casually uttered.

“So tell me…” The being crouched low to the ground, looking at the roof of what had once been the tent. “Where is the death knight I had assigned here? A creature that large would certainly be hard to lose track of…” They slowly felt at the fabric under their feet, caressing it softly. “Perhaps…” The being looked up towards us. Though I could not see its eyes, I felt its leer as my heart began to beat harder. “You killed it? Well, the cleric there probably did.” They stood up, walking towards us slowly, one step at a time.

A light gust of wind blew the dust that was once the death knight across the ground. The being in black looked upon the fragments that had once been the monster with a carefree glance.

“Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to replace a death knight? Do you have any idea how much this will cost me? I am already on thin ice as it is! Not just the death knight mind you, but the gunpowder as well! How… HOW DARE YOU?” Their voice echoed. The ground shook at the anger that was displayed as those near me trembled in fear. I believe that the only reason I haven’t started to shake is because I have faced death on more than one occasion already.

Though I could already tell who, or more precisely WHAT, this being is, I still had to ask just to be sure.

“What… is this thing?” I whispered. I could hear Jaq’s teeth chatter as he slowly answered me.

“That’s… A Hell Guardian… One of the Demon Kings chosen… O-Oh G-G-God…” I stole a glance towards him. His face has gone pale, a stark contrast to the red that it was earlier.

“Do I have… even a semblance of a chance against them?” I looked back towards the being. It was walking towards us very slowly, as if declaring how in control of the situation they were.

“No.” Kilin answered. I could tell that he knew what my plan was, but did not have the power to tell me to stop.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

“Erana, Tael, Ron, 15 seconds. Get it done. Everyone else… keep them safe.” I quietly declared as I stepped forward. The black cloaked figure stopped its approach as I did so.

“Ability Boost: Defense! Warrior’s Might!” I began, my body amplified itself, ready to receive any blow. It was time to unveil my new ability from the samurai class.”Chudan-no-kamae! Style: Defender!” My body began to glow with a blue luster. I could feel the movements of the air around me as they shifted even the smallest hair on my body. Every part of me was optimized for defense. I gripped my broadsword as hard as I could. This is my only lifeline.

Slowly, I began to walk to the right, away from the party. In response, the black cloaked figure tilted their head slightly and began to walk right as well which caused us to start walking in a circle around each other. We stood at least 20 meters away from each other, but their presence was so overpowering that it felt as if they were breathing down my neck.

We stood still, looking at one another as we both examined our foe. The only way I can succeed here and get everyone out is if everything goes according to plan.

Before I could think, before I could blink, before I even realized it, the figure appeared before me. They clashed a black saber that appeared as if it had been cut out of the night itself, against my broadsword. Their strength and speed was otherworldly. I was pushed back 5 meters from the clash, my muscles strained against the unbelievable force that had just hit me. I quickly realized that my opponent wasn’t even using both of their hands when they did this.

The figure leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear.

“Fighting an opponent as weak as you…” They shrugged their shoulders, scraping their blade against mine causing sparks to fly outwards. “Has no meaning.” They finished, scoffing as they did so.

Before I could respond or react to anything, my feet were kicked out from under me and the figure slashed their sword downward towards me. I could only just barely block the strike, but the force that was delivered launched me backwards a clear 30 meters.

I struggled to breath. It was only panic that caused me to rise to my feet as quickly as I could. It was here that I was met face to face with a hobgoblin. Their blade had already begun swinging downwards towards me.

In the next moment, the cloaked figure appeared as the hobgoblin collapsed. The head of my attacker fell softly to the floor as its body dissipated into smoke.

“Lousy beast interrupting me…” They dusted their hand off on their cloak as they spoke. “I’m sorry for that. I did not intend for us to be interrupted.”

I slowly backed away as I took as many gulps of air as I could. I positioned myself as best as possible in my situation, stepping to the left a bit.

“What, are you not going to thank me…? That’s quite rude. Here I went through the trouble of saving you from a death like that. From how you’re acting it’s quite obvious you intend to die heroically to save your friends. It wouldn’t be exactly heroic if you were to die to some beast after all this, don’t you agree?” The figure toyed with their blade, inspecting it as they spoke.

It’s because of this.

I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. Perhaps it’s because I’m an introverted person, but I always pay attention to the minor details that people do. It’s in these minor details that who a person really is becomes revealed. It was in my time working at Biar’s shop that I was able to sharpen these skills. I spent seven long months paying close attention to the behavior of those around me.

It’s because of this preparation that I can tell…

You don’t care. To you, this is a game. You don’t value the weight of your decisions, or care about how dangerous something can be. You’re simply angry and are taking it out on the closest thing you can, like a sociopath with an animal. It’s through this behavior that I can exploit you. You won’t kill me until you’ve had your fun. People like you have always existed. It’s people like me that have learned how to use your own incompetence against you.

I raised my sword and prepared myself. I ensured I was in the perfect position before I grit my teeth and began to run towards the cloaked figure. I started to swing my sword downwards when it happened.

I felt a searing hot pain permeate my abdomen. My sword was blocked casually by the hand of my opponent, as if all of my strength didn’t even matter. I looked down as I saw their black saber piercing through my body.

I coughed as I looked up. I can barely breath as I could feel my entire body shake. In a desperate attempt, I placed my left hand against the hand which was holding the blade that was piercing into my body. I could feel my style stop as I tried my hardest to muster my strength.

“Shh…” The masked figure began. “It’s alright. It’s alright! I forgive you.” They released my hand that held my sword as I lowered it onto their shoulder. They gently caressed my head as they whispered to me.

I felt a rising sensation of acidity in my throat as I could not contain myself. I vomited blood onto the black cloak of this creature. The taste of iron filling my mouth as I did so.

“A-Augh! H-How… How dare you! Do you have any idea how much it’s going to cost to get this cleaned?” In a rage, they quickly pulled their blade out of me as they kicked me backwards with the force of a cannonball, launching me away.

I collided into the party. Jaq’s massive muscular body caught me as I arrived. This went exactly as planned.

“Oh shit…” The masked being said as they looked towards me, realizing what I had been doing.

“NOW!” I managed to shout. As if time had slowed down, I saw the masked creature moving towards us as fast as it could before it was blocked by a white light that encompassed the party and transported us away.