Chapter 524: The Demon Lord Army Officer Attacks!
"Bored."
In the inn room, Eiji sprawled on the bed, complaining loudly.
"Then go level up!"
Airi massaged her temples in exasperation—this was already the third time Eiji had whined about boredom today.
"But there's no way to get stronger..."
Eiji rolled over on the bed, sighing dramatically.
"If only I could learn resurrection magic, I'd be so motivated right now!"
Resurrection magic was absolutely impossible to learn.
Leveling up didn't increase his stats, and the boost to his magic power was less than one percent.
By the way, he was currently level 18.
He'd killed two manticores, and adventurers leveled up easily.
If Megumin hadn't stolen his kills, he'd probably be over level 20 by now.
Jumping straight to level 18 only to gain no meaningful improvements had made Eiji lose enthusiasm for leveling after returning from the hills.
After completing the griffon and manticore quests, the 50 million Eris reward arrived quickly.
This Kingdom of Belzerg used a currency called Eris, sharing its name with the state religion's goddess Eris. Its purchasing power was similar to Japanese yen, making 50 million a substantial sum—enough to live comfortably in the starter town for a lifetime.
"Is there any particularly useful skill?"
Eiji tapped the portrait on his adventurer card.
Over the past two days, he'd visited adventurers of every class across the starter town, using his extraordinary charisma to make them demonstrate their skills before him. As a result, his learnable skills list now contained hundreds of options!
These included support skills like Enemy Detection, Eavesdrop, and Lip Reading; combat skills like Spear Mastery and Archery Mastery; even life skills like Cooking and Blacksmithing.
Non-magic skills completely ignored talent requirements—they just needed skill points to learn. This was perfect for a compass-type like Eiji who had zero talent outside swordsmanship!
But with so many skills available, he couldn't decide what to prioritize.
Plus, he planned to learn Teleport magic later, so he couldn't waste skill points recklessly—he had to choose carefully.
"Steal, a thief-exclusive skill that randomly takes one item from the target based on luck... Is this skill mocking me?!"
"Echo, a crusader-exclusive decoy skill that attracts multiple monsters... If I just kill all enemies, why would I need to draw aggro?"
"Flee, Clairvoyance... Nothing useful here."
Eiji browsed through them one by one.
"Huh? This one seems interesting!"
Midway through, Eiji's eyes suddenly lit up.
It was a skill called "Skill Bind," which could nullify one currently active magic or skill from the target!
Success rate mainly depended on the level and power difference between users—the greater the gap, the higher or lower the chance. If their power was equal, the success rate hovered around 50%.
Wasn't this basically a silence skill?
Incredibly powerful!
And it suited Eiji perfectly!
"Costs 8 points... Pretty steep, but I'm learning it!"
Eiji immediately selected it.
"—Emergency alert! Emergency alert!"
"What the hell?"
Eiji instantly sprang up and jumped off the bed.
"I was just learning a skill, why is there an emergency alert?"
"There's the scent of approaching demons!"
Airi set down what she was doing and walked thoughtfully to the window.
"Moreover, this scent is quite familiar!"
"Emergency mission issued! All adventurers in the city, please gather at the main gate immediately! I repeat, all adventurers, especially the powerful ones, gather at the main gate now!"
Luna's tense voice echoed throughout the small town via magical broadcast.
...
At the town's main gate.
Several minutes passed as adventurers arrived one by one, fully armed.
"What's going on?"
Kazuma Satou arrived quickly with his three beautiful female companions.
"...Look there!"
Someone nearby was sweating bullets, their expression strained as they pointed.
Following their gaze, Kazuma's face suddenly turned extremely pale.
Under the gloomy clouds, amidst wind and thunder, stood the silhouette of a headless knight clad entirely in black, surrounded by an aura of malevolence.
"That's a Demon Lord Army executive! The Headless Knight Beldia! A monster with a 300 million bounty!"
One adventurer trembled uncontrollably, his legs instinctively stepping back.
It wasn't just him—most of those present felt the urge to retreat.
Though adventurers were generally people who lived by the sword and never lacked courage to fight monsters, facing a creature stronger than griffins or manticores would make anyone hesitate!
Among all the Demon Lord Army executives, Beldia wasn't particularly strong, ranking at best in the middle tier.
Yet he was undoubtedly the most active executive, always sent to the front lines whenever something happened. The adventurers of Belzerg Kingdom encountered him frequently and could recognize him at a glance.
"Why must I, just two days after being resurrected from death by a manticore, have the misfortune of running into a Demon Lord Army executive—a major boss-type enemy—in a beginner's town?!"
Kazuma wanted to cry.
This wasn't the isekai adventure he'd envisioned! Damn it, I want to go home!
"Great, let's run away!"
Kazuma turned to the three behind him, making the suggestion with complete seriousness.
"I agree!"
Aqua raised her hand shakily.
"That Headless Knight looks absolutely terrifying! And he's Undead—a goddess like me would definitely be humiliated by him in all sorts of ways!"
"H-Humiliated?!"
Darkness suddenly perked up, her face flushing.
"I will never back down!"
"You just got excited, didn't you?"
"...I did not."
"Me neither! Even if he's a Demon Lord Army executive, there's no way he could walk away unscathed from my Explosion magic!"
Megumin waved her staff around excitedly.
"If we defeat a Demon Lord Army executive, everyone will call me the Demon Lord Army Executive Slayer! My name will spread throughout this town, even sung by adventurers across the kingdom!"
"Are you all insane?! Why would you insist on fighting such a powerful enemy?!"
Several minutes later.
Seeing no more adventurers arriving at the gate, the Headless Knight nudged his horse forward with his legs.
The moment he moved, the adventurers tensed up immediately.
Even Megumin and Darkness gripped their weapons tightly.
"My name is Beldia, the Headless Knight—one of the eight current executives of the Demon Lord Army!"
Beldia cradled his head in his hands, his low voice echoing across the scene.
"I was originally sent here by order of the Demon King and have been staying at the castle in the northern outskirts of Axel... But for the past several days, every single day, some lunatic keeps coming to my castle to cast Explosion magic!"
His voice grew increasingly frantic.
"I thought someone had come to challenge me, but when I went out to look, the bastard had already vanished without a trace. Every single time! Are you just that bored with your life?!"
"Whoever keeps coming to my castle every day to cast Explosion magic and harass me—step forward right now!"