The Strongest in the World Doesn’t Want To Do Anything

44 – The Lonely Queen

When Cyclops lost its only eye, its hearing became extremely sensitive.

Whether it was a fledgling bird soaring through the air in search of prey, foolish monkeys engaging in reckless acrobatics, or humans rushing towards self-destruction with vengeance in their eyes, Cyclops could distinguish them with ease, the sound of their movements cutting through the air.

Hector, the former king of the Sandro and Terosa, had only hunted giant monsters for amusement, never bothering to study or investigate them further.

Hence, he was unaware of the peculiar nature of Cyclops.

Pepe, having lost sight due to a flashbang, immediately responded to the queen’s wailing, echoing like a scream.

Unable to move her legs due to various weapons, Pepe attempted to attack the queen following the sound but found herself completely immobilized.

“Kraaaaah!”

In agony from the inability to move her body, Cyclops let out a monstrous roar.

Queen Rosalia, who had been gazing at the heap of flesh that was Hector just moments ago, turned her head at the horrifying sound.

“Hehehe… I will kill you with my own hands, you filthy monster!”

The queen, brimming with anger, unleashed a curse towards Cyclops, then picked up Hector’s sword from the ground and cut her right palm.

Fresh crimson blood oozed from the torn wound.

A sorcerer from one of the royal courts, witnessing this scene, panicked and tried to intervene in the queen’s actions.

“Y-Your Majesty! You can’t use that!”

As the sorcerer approached, extending his left hand, flames erupted from the queen’s palm, engulfing him in fire.

The burning sorcerer writhed in pain as the flames consumed him, eventually stumbling out of the palace.

Ignoring it all, the queen extended her blood-soaked right palm towards the sky and chanted a spell.

Suddenly, the sky turned pitch black, thunder resounded, and black rain started to fall from the heavens.

“I offer half of the lives within my blood and the territory of Terosa as a sacrifice.”

The crimson blood collected in the queen’s palm washed down with the black rain from the sky.

“W-What is that sound? Sacrificing half of Terosa’s lives?”

One of the courtiers, observing the ritual, asked another in a terrified voice.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life.”

“How do they decide what constitutes half? Could it be us? Are we included?”

Trembling, the courtier silently prayed to the gods. It was likely the shortest and most fervent prayer of his life. He turned to another courtier, asking once more.

“Hey! How do they determine what counts as half? We need to know…”

– Thud

The courtier, who was conversing just moments ago, collapsed weakly to the ground.

“Kuaaaaah!”

The situation threw Sijong into a complete state of panic.

In various places across Terosa, many people inexplicably collapsed to the ground and never rose again.

Thus, half of Terosa’s population met an untimely and inexplicable death.

The magic invoked by the queen was a kind of forbidden curse.

It was a spell that could instantly kill all living beings, except those who inherited the divine power by sacrificing their own or others’ lives.

The queen stood in the spot where Handro had leaped, gazing at Cyclops with vacant eyes.

“Grrrrrrr…”

Cyclops, still without restored vision, suddenly clutched around his heart, making strange sounds and contorting his body in agony.

“Die!”

The queen’s voice sharply tore through. As if her words were the trigger, Cyclops, who had been suffering for a while, spewed black blood and collapsed, crushing his massive body like a lifeless corpse.

A futile victory.

To capture one gigantic monster, Handro, the commander of Terosa, and half of the nation’s lives were sacrificed.

The number of troops struggling to defend the royal palace immediately dwindled noticeably.

Among the survivors, there was no immediate joy despite Cyclops’s fall. The personal sorrow outweighed the national victory because comrades, who were perfectly engaged in combat just beside them, suddenly fell and could never rise again.

Rosalia, who had lost herself in anger and hatred, released her rationality. After witnessing the scene, a belated regret overwhelmed her.

Now, no one remained by her side.

The warrior Adelus, with whom she had promised a future, the captain of the guards who never hesitated to carry out any dirty work under her command, the unreliable but at least non-betraying Casey, and even Handro, who had always stood by her side through all the hardships…

All of this was because of that guy, Wolfgang.

The fact that Tendrial eventually revived Cyclops and Haganess swallowed the sect was due to things not going as planned.

“Really? Do you really think so?”

Rosalia asked herself.

If she hadn’t turned Wolfgang into an enemy from the start, wouldn’t everything have gone smoothly without any problems?

Where did the certainty come from that the actions Wolfgang committed in the erased past would happen the same way in this life due to regression?

While knowing well that many things in the newly gained world after regression changed differently from the past based on her actions and choices, why couldn’t she prevent it this time?

Rosalia was all too aware that the culprit behind all this was none other than herself.

So, she wanted to deny it even more.

She didn’t want to admit it.

It was embarrassing and shameful that she could only utilize the special ability of ten regressions in such a limited way.

Afraid to show her face stained with self-loathing to the sky, Rosalia couldn’t easily lift her lowered head.

“Now, what should I do?”

Tears of frustration rolled down Rosalia’s eyes.

***

“Ah- This is life.”

Wolfgang, with beer foam all over his mouth, exclaimed in admiration and patted his belly.

“Hehehehe”

Next to Wolfgang, Ghost also made a pleasant whimpering sound.

“Wow- It’s really delicious without a doubt.”

Laeli, who was chugging her beer, wiped the foam off her lips and smiled widely.

“Right? Among all the drinks I’ve had, there’s nothing better than this honey beer.”

Laeli nodded with sparkling eyes.

Seeing Wolfgang’s satisfied expression, a corner of Laeli’s heart felt warm.

“Hehe. I told you I could be of use, didn’t I?”

“Hahaha. Yes, yes. Really excellent!”

It was about 10 hours ago, when they were enjoying the honey beer in a cheerful atmosphere like this.

Wolfgang, carrying the exhausted Ghost on his shoulders, was fleeing from the rostrum when he couldn’t help but be bothered by the blonde thief he had left behind.

Although he had stolen their purse to create this chaos, it wasn’t Wolfgang’s style to just ignore someone who went so far as to use their abilities to save him from exhaustion and then be left behind.

“Ha. This is also a problem.”

Wolfgang sighed deeply and turned back in the direction he had run away from, in order to save the thief.

Ghost was in such a deep sleep that even though Wolfgang was running hurriedly and shaking the whole body, she was sleeping soundly and comfortably.

After running for a while, Wolfgang arrived at the same place where the thief, who was still collapsed in front of the burning ruins, could be seen engulfed in blue flames.

“Sigh…”

With a short and heavy sigh, Wolfgang grabbed the thief’s clothes like a handle and lifted her up from the ground.

In this way, Wolfgang, with one shoulder carrying the Ghost’s mantle and one hand holding the thief, ran towards the exit of the rostrum.

Having reached the door, Wolfgang turned into Rom’s restaurant alley.

[“Cheap Fist Rice”]

It was the restaurant where Wolfgang had entrusted his beloved gun as collateral.

It seemed to be well past lunchtime as the inside of the store was completely empty.

“Innkeeper! I’ve come to pay for the food!”

Wolfgang confidently summoned the innkeeper with his expression and tone of voice.

The innkeeper, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen, came out at the sound.

In fact, the innkeeper had intended to squeeze more money out of Wolfgang when he came to retrieve the gun he had left behind. If he couldn’t afford to pay, he could still get an expensive-looking gun for free, so it wasn’t a bad deal.

However, his cute and clever plan was instantly discarded the moment he saw Wolfgang return to reclaim the gun.

The sight of Wolfgang, who had come to retrieve the gun, beating up an unidentified monster and carrying a woman like a sack on his large frame, made it clear that trying to exploit him would only lead to getting thrown over his shoulder.

“I-I’ll give it to you.”