Chapter 15: Dragon King Helg
The last of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army was Dragon King Helg.
Despite his title, Helg wasn’t a dragon. He was a Lizard King, the apex monster among the lizardmen.
Lizardmen are humanoid lizards covered in hard scales. Known for their strength, they are excellent warriors.
Lizardmen revere dragons as their superior species. Helg calls himself the Dragon King to borrow their power.
As a Lizard King, Helg is notably larger and more impressive than ordinary lizardmen. He somewhat resembles a humanoid dragon.
Being aquatic, the lizardmen set up their base in a vast wetland rather than occupying human castles. Due to their exclusive nature, they rarely accepted the purple potion, resulting in few addicts among them.
However, like Necros the Undead King, mixed troops of other monster species were stationed in their territory.
The purple potion became popular among these troops, leading to internal conflicts. Fierce battles erupted between the stationed troops and the lizardmen.
Helg led the fight and defeated the stationed troops, but the lizardmen suffered heavy losses, significantly weakening their forces.
(I want to return…)
Helg desperately wanted to return to the Demon King’s domain.
For the lizardmen, the great marshland in the Demon King’s realm was home. The wetlands in this country weren’t bad, but it was still a foreign land.
They hadn’t invaded the human countries by choice. They were forced to attack on the Demon King’s orders. For lizardmen, land territories weren’t particularly attractive; invading areas without water was pointless.
Now that the Demon King had fallen, Helg was considering retreating.
However, he didn’t think the hero’s party would simply allow them to withdraw to the Demon King’s domain. The humans wouldn’t forgive them for destroying several human countries.
So Helg planned to use Necros as a diversion.
Necros was a Heavenly King who relied on his vast undead army. If left alone, he would surely raise an army and take action.
During that time, they could secretly move through waterways and return to the Demon King’s domain.
Helg ordered a lizardman mage to magically monitor Necros’s army.
Helg’s prediction proved correct. Soon after, Necros’s forces took action.
Necros began marching towards the Demon King’s domain with a massive undead army.
“This is our chance.”
Judging it the right moment, Helg led his lizardmen into the river connecting to the Demon King’s domain. They planned to return while the hero’s party was distracted by Necros’s undead army. Once back, they’d have the advantage of familiar territory. Moreover, there were still lizardmen and other allied aquatic monsters in the Demon King’s domain.
Dragon King Helg and his lizardmen quietly and steadily progressed through the river.
However, after a few days, the river’s water level mysteriously began to drop.
Given their nature, lizardmen have extensive knowledge about water. They knew it was unusual for this river’s water level to drop at this time of year.
“Has something happened upstream in the Demon King’s domain?”
Helg halted their advance and sent some subordinates to scout ahead.
But as they waited, the water level continued to drop rapidly, eventually exposing Helg and his troops hidden in the river.
“This is bad. Our movements will be revealed. We must press on.”
So Helg resumed their advance.
After a while, the scouts returned with their report.
“A dam has been built upstream, blocking the water.”
The subordinates’ report was surprising.
Dams are built by humans for irrigation. They’re unnecessary in the Demon King’s domain.
It was likely some human strategy.
“How large is the dam?”
“It’s not very big. It seems to have been hastily constructed.”
If so, it should be easy to destroy. Should they send troops to destroy the dam and restore the river’s water level before continuing? Or should they retreat to avoid the trap?
Helg hesitated. And this moment of indecision proved fatal.
Necros, whom they had relied on as a diversion, had already been defeated, and the hero’s party had already arrived near Helg and his troops.
Suddenly, liquid began pouring down on Helg and his troops.
“Rain?”
For a moment, Helg thought so, but it was too viscous for water.
“Could it be oil?!”
As he realized this, the surrounding lizardmen began to panic.
Looking around, they saw human warriors had somehow appeared on both banks of the river.
Barrels were visible nearby, from which the humans were scooping liquid and throwing it at them.
“They’re pouring oil on us!”
It wasn’t a direct attack, so there was no way to defend against it.
They could resist magic, but mere oil simply stuck to their bodies.
Moreover, they were exposed on the riverbed with nowhere to hide.
“This is bad! We need to escape immediately—”
“Well then, let’s start the magic show.”
A man on the nearby bank called out.
Simultaneously, fire magic was unleashed from various locations. In some places, flaming arrows were also fired.
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In an instant, the riverbed became a sea of flames.
There was no escape as more oil was continually added, intensifying the fire.
Fire is a weakness for lizardmen, but they’re highly resistant to magic, so fire magic usually isn’t very effective against them. This normally makes them formidable opponents that are difficult to defeat with magic.
However, when oil is directly poured on their bodies and ignited, there’s nothing they can do.
The lizardmen were engulfed in flames, screaming in agony. It was a scene from hell.
Even among the lizardmen, the bravest warriors, while on fire, climbed the riverbanks to attack the humans. But attacking uphill put them at a disadvantage, and the human warriors were quite skilled.
The brave lizardman warriors couldn’t display their true abilities and were easily cut down.
“Have humans become this ruthless?!”
Helg was horrified. Even the Demon King’s army wouldn’t use such an inhumane tactic. Lizardmen in particular had pride as warriors and preferred face-to-face combat.
As a Lizard King, Helg had some resistance to fire, so he wasn’t severely damaged, but there was nothing he could do for his subordinates.
“You monsters!”
Helg leaped, aiming his spear at the man who had ordered the attack. He was probably the commander.
He rushed forward, intending to impale the man with his spear.
But before he could, a warrior stepped in his way. It was a small warrior.
The small warrior blocked Helg’s spear with a sword, closed the distance, and unleashed a series of quick slashes without giving Helg a chance to breathe. This warrior was quite skilled.
“With warriors this strong, why don’t you fight head-on?! Don’t you have any warrior’s pride?!”
Helg shouted. He could accept losing in a fair fight, but being defeated by such a cowardly strategy was unacceptable.
“Oh, I’m not a warrior, you know?”
The man who seemed to be the commander answered.
“What?!”
Helg’s eyes widened.
“I’m a merchant, so I just choose the method with the least risk.”
The man—Trao—wore a friendly smile.
The small warrior in front of him—Rio—looked somewhat apologetic.
A merchant? Why was a merchant on the battlefield?
Helg was stunned by the fact that someone who was neither a warrior, nor a mage, nor a priest was standing on the battlefield. The realization that they had been defeated by a mere merchant shocked him.
“But as expected of Dragon King Helg. Even for a Lizard King, your resistance to fire is beyond our expectations. You’re not called the Dragon King for nothing.”
At Trao’s words, Helg regained his composure.
True, he had lost the battle. But he couldn’t lose without a fight. For the sake of the Dragon King’s name and for his fallen subordinates, he had to take down as many enemies as possible.
Helg took a deep breath.
He intended to use the flame breath that only those who have become Lizard Kings can use.
In response, Trao easily lifted a nearby barrel and threw it at Helg. Of course, it was a barrel full of oil.
Helg instinctively breathed fire at the approaching barrel, but he was a moment too late. The entire barrel of oil ignited, and he was doused with all of it. Even with his resistance to fire, this was beyond his limits.
His entire body was engulfed in flames. Oil had gotten into his eyes, blinding him.
“GWAAAAAH!”
Helg writhed in agony.
He craved water. He couldn’t think of anything else.
Then he lost consciousness.
“That completes the subjugation. This is the end of the Demon King’s army.”
Trao muttered, looking at Helg’s still-burning corpse.
He held a sword in his right hand.
He had personally delivered the final blow to Helg.
“Couldn’t we have won in a fair fight?”
Rio looked at Helg’s corpse with a somewhat sad expression.
“We didn’t have to go this far…”
“Not really. As I said, I’m a merchant. I don’t fight fair and square.”
Trao gripped his sword tightly in his right hand.
“It’s not like I have a grudge against them.”
As he said this, Trao frowned.
The country Helg had invaded was the Kingdom of Lyuze.
Later, the representative of the Adventurers’ Guild was delighted to receive Trao’s mission completion report.
However, upon seeing the expense claim sent along with it, he nearly fainted.
The items listed were holy water, oil, and a dam.
As usual, the purposes were meticulously detailed.
Holy water for the undead, oil for the lizardmen, and the dam to stop the lizardmen’s advance. Up to this point, it made sense.
The problem was the amount and cost.
It was understandable that the dam would cost a considerable amount.
Even in wars between humans, dams are often used for military purposes.
But the quantities of oil and holy water were astronomical.
It was an amount that made one wonder if they had created a lake or a sea. Naturally, the cost was staggering.
They double-checked with the suppliers, but everything matched what was written in the application.
“Good grief, if we let a merchant handle the expenses, the guild will go bankrupt.”
The representative grumbled as he read another letter.
It contained applications from Trao and Garnet’s members to retire as adventurers.
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