Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 258: The Demon of Flowers (4)

"Come on! Let's keep fighting!"

More and more. With more enjoyment!

Ketal charged forward, laughing maniacally.

Floris hastily waved her hand.

"Bloom!"

With a rush, flowers bloomed.

Not just one, but dozens of flowers blossomed in quick succession, blocking the space between Ketal and Floris.

Ketal smiled and swung his fist.

CRACKLE!

The flowers shattered and broke apart.

He smashed through all the flowers that stood in his way, advancing forward.

Finally, Ketal appeared before Floris, who raised her arms to protect herself.

BOOM!

"Ugh!"

Floris's body slid back across the ground.

She couldn't completely block the attack.

She struggled to suppress the shock that shook her entire body.

Her eyes were filled with shock and denial.

'How?! He shouldn’t be able to use mystic arts for attacks! Physical enhancement should be impossible!'

At that moment, Ketal was moving purely through the power of his physical body.

Yet, he was overpowering Floris.

Floris couldn’t accept it.

But it was an entirely natural situation.

Floris was strong.

As a demon with rank, she possessed enough power to have reached the level of a hero.

Her strength was just below that of the ancient dragon Ignisia.

The mercenary king had judged her as being on the level of an ancient dragon, but that had been a misjudgment.

It was a mistake due to his limited perspective.

Objectively speaking, Floris’s level was closer to that of the High Elf Queen, Karin.

She possessed the same level of power as the strongest being of an entire race.

It was a formidable and great power.

But Ketal, even without using any mystic arts, had fought Ignisia to a standstill and gained the upper hand.

The same was true when he fought against Federica’s incarnation.

With only his physical body, he had gained a clear advantage.

The High Elf Queen Karin was undoubtedly strong, but compared to those two, there was a clear difference in level.

From the beginning, Floris stood no chance of winning against Ketal. Ketal spoke with delight.

"As you said, I’m not using any physical enhancement."

But even so, just his pure physical strength was more than enough against Floris.

Ketal charged forward again.

Floris hurriedly extended her hand, grasping a spear made of vines.

BOOM!

The spear shattered.

Floris's body tumbled across the ground.

She gritted her teeth as she rose, causing more flowers to bloom.

But these flowers were noticeably withered compared to the first ones.

The backlash from trying to kill Ketal with all her strength was evident.

Her power had clearly diminished.

In contrast, Ketal remained relaxed.

Though his mystic power had dwindled, it was still enough to last until the end of the fight.

Floris's expression grew increasingly desperate.

The thought of defeat began to surface in her mind.

Ketal’s expression, even as he was winning, was filled with regret.

“You’re not enough.”

The mystical beast within him was silent.

It yawned as if the current situation held no significance for it.

“I couldn’t achieve my other purpose. It’s unfortunate.”

“Shut up…!”

“Ah, but even so, you’ve provided me with enough enjoyment.”

Ketal grinned.

The sensation of fighting against a hero-class opponent with his life on the line, clashing against the mysterious power of fantasy—it was incredibly fun.

But it was also nearing the end.

This demon had nothing left to show him.

"I'll fight you with all my strength until the very end."

With a serious look, Ketal stomped forward.

He grabbed Floris's arm as she tried to resist and broke it.

He twisted her head and slammed it into the ground, then lifted his foot and repeatedly stomped on her body.

CRUNCH!

Her body was crushed and mangled, leaving deep indentations.

Though she barely managed to regenerate, the damage was accumulating for sure.

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Floris, in a fit of rage, unleashed her power.

Flowers rose all around, trying to engulf Ketal, but even the buds couldn’t bloom properly.

Ketal easily ignored them and kicked Floris away.

THUD!

Floris’s body rolled across the ground.

She staggered to her feet, but now she could barely regenerate.

If this continued, she would definitely be forcibly unsummoned.

“……”

She couldn’t let that happen.

Floris gritted her teeth.

To disappear without even tainting the world, blocked by a barbarian—she couldn’t accept that.

Floris desperately gathered her power.

The force gathering within her was something even Ketal couldn’t underestimate.

So, Ketal smiled.

“A final resistance, is it? I’ll accept it.”

Floris concentrated her power.

A small flower bloomed in her hand.

It was tiny, but it held more power than any other flower she had ever bloomed.

Ketal tensed, readying his entire body.

Floris spoke coldly.

“Blossom…”

[That’s enough.]

In that instant, a voice echoed.

“Hm?”

Ketal's expression changed.

A woman’s voice.

It came from Floris.

But it wasn’t Floris's voice.

The voice continued to echo.

[That’s enough, my child. You’ve done so well. But you look exhausted.]

"W-what? Wh-what’s happening?"

Floris's eyes widened.

It was as if even she hadn’t expected this.

[So, from here on, leave it to me.]

Floris's face was filled with terror.

“W-wait! Oh, no…”

CRACK.

A hand burst through her belly.

* * *

RUMBLE…

Even from outside, they could sense Floris's power waning.

The Mercenary King muttered.

"It seems he’s won."

“My…my goodness…”

The archbishop was horrified.

The Archbishop was shocked.

A demon with a hierarchy.

Floris.

A hero-class demon was now being defeated by Ketal.

“What level is this...?”

Even among heroes, there were clear differences in rank.

This meant Ketal was at a level capable of defeating Floris.

It was a power beyond their understanding, but fortunately, it was on their side.

They had won.

They were succeeding in banishing the demon from the earth.

Just as they sighed in relief, the Archbishop's expression changed.

“…Huh!”

His face turned pale as he struggled to catch his breath.

It wasn’t just the Archbishop.

The Mercenary King's face also turned pale, and Cain could barely breathe.

“Wait.”

Something was wrong.

Something terrifying had descended where Ketal was.

It felt as though a god had descended upon the earth.

No, it was even more horrifying and alien.

It was something that could easily dismiss Floris.

“W-what is this…”

The Archbishop had an intuition.

Something had appeared.

Something so terrible that it could never appear on earth, something that should never have appeared.

* * *

Crunch. Crack.

Floris's body trembled as if in a spasm, then went limp.

Unable to withstand the force, xhe had died.

A hand burst out from Floris’s belly, grasping the limp body as it rose.

Shhh-rrip!

It revealed itself.

A woman in a glamorous dress, with a voluptuous figure.

“Ahh.”

The woman looked at the world with eyes filled with ecstasy.

“This clean air. I missed it so much.”

She trembled with excitement as she stepped onto the ground.

And just by doing so, the earth was tainted.

The world was corrupted by a terrifying evil.

Ketal spoke up.

“A gatecrasher has intruded.”

“Sorry for interrupting your fight with my child. But I couldn’t resist any longer.”

The woman smiled sweetly.

If the Mercenary King or the Archbishop had still been there, they would have been enthralled by that smile the moment they saw it.

They would have betrayed the earth, knelt before the woman, and pledged their love.

Such was the power contained in her smile.

Of course, it had no effect on Ketal.

The woman, too, seemed to expect that, as she elegantly bowed.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you in person. Your name is Ketal, correct?”

“You know me.”

“I have a great interest in you.”

The woman licked her lips with her tongue.

“I know about you. But you don’t know about me. That’s quite unfair, isn’t it? So, let me introduce myself.”

The woman gracefully curtsied, as if she were a noble, perhaps even royalty from somewhere.

“I am the Mother of All Demons. My name is Materia. Nice to meet you, oldest one.”

* * *

“Oh.”

Ketal’s interest was piqued.

The Mother of All Demons.

possibility came to his mind.

“The consort of the Demon King?”

“No. That one is great and mighty. I can’t even compare to them. I’m just a mother.”

“You don’t need to belittle yourself like that.”

Ketal gathered his mystic energy.

Since it didn’t seem like a fight would happen immediately, he intended to conserve his strength.

The woman who introduced herself as the Mother of All Demons.

She was strong. Monstrously strong.

Just by facing her, Ketal could feel it.

He had only felt such a presence once before, outside.

‘A god.’

Federica.

It was similar to her.

No, it was even more terrifying and twisted.

Ketal smiled.

“Is it that easy for beings like you to descend upon this world?”

“Normally, it would be impossible… but thanks to the fool on your side, I’ve got some leeway. Now, I can intervene for a short while.”

Materia spoke lightly.

Ketal understood the meaning behind her words.

Federica had opened the heavenly passage to intervene in this world.

That must have been something beyond the domain permitted to her.

It seemed that due to the resulting rift, similar events were now possible on the demon side as well.

“She’s a worthless fool to the end.”

“She’s a helpful fellow to us.”

As Ketal gauged Materia’s power, she too was measuring Ketal’s strength.

Materia murmured with a curious expression.

“…You’re certainly strong. And you can wield mystic energy.”

Ketal’s entire body was still surrounded by mystic energy.

Materia found this very peculiar.

“How?”

“Is it that fascinating?”

“Of course, it is. You are the oldest being. You cannot become us, and we cannot become you. Yet, you’re trying to become us, so naturally, it’s strange.”

Materia’s words were similar to what the wandering merchant had said.

Ketal’s eyes sparkled.

“You. You know about me.”

“I don’t know you. But I know where you come from, what that place is like, and that you’re a traitor.”

“A traitor, huh?”

“Isn’t that so? You belong to this world, yet you were captivated by them and entered their realm of your own accord. What else would you call that but betrayal?”

Ketal laughed at those words.

“How foolish and stupid my ancestors were. Don’t you think so?”

“Indeed, they were.”

Materia chuckled softly.

A meeting between Ketal and the embodiment of evil.

But the atmosphere wasn’t bad.

It was rather peaceful.

Ketal asked lightly.

“Then, may I ask you a question?”

“I’m in a good mood right now. I might answer if I feel like it.”

“What exactly are the Forbidden Lands?”

“Our seal.”

Materia answered.

Ketal was momentarily puzzled by that response.

‘Our?’

The ancient dragon Ignisia had said that in the distant past, there was a clash between the gods and the Forbidden Lands.

It was said to have happened before the Great War of Gods and Demons.

And Federica had said that they must remain sealed there.

That they were the defeated ones.

Based on that information, Ketal had always thought that the gods had sealed the Forbidden Lands.

But now, Materia said it was ‘our’ seal.

Materia continued speaking.

“It's the proof of our victory after a battle that destroyed half the world against those who once held dominance. But we couldn’t kill them, so we sealed them away. But recently, that seal was broken? It’s an unexpected event even for us.”

Materia wore a genuinely puzzled expression as she asked with a smile.

“Do you happen to know why the seal was broken?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]