Simultaneous Travel: Becoming a Legend in the Heavens.

Chapter 557 Desperate Struggle
A great battle has come to an end, leaving behind a devastated battlefield, and the glory and triumph of the heroes.
Defeating and subduing a "demon god-level" monster is enough to make everyone who participated in the battle famous and renowned throughout the entire continent, just like the "thirteen heroes" of yesteryear.

Kazuma's team undoubtedly became the third Steel-class adventurer team, while Blue Rose Team made no secret of the fact that they were worlds apart from Kazuma's team and not even in the same league.

Adventurers who had witnessed Cocytus's power spread the story widely, benefiting from being witnesses to the event and the birth of a new legend.

The news quickly spread throughout the entire Kingdom of Ri-Estize, and even the royal city was alarmed. After all, excluding adventurers, the strongest person in the entire Kingdom of Ri-Estize was only the Knight Commander Gazef, who was only around level 30.

Even if Gazef wore the kingdom's equipment passed down through generations, he would only be around level 50 at most, far below the level of the monsters who were generally above level 70 and were known as "demons".

The king bestowed honors upon Kazuma's squad and ordered that the eldest prince Pablo, the second prince Zanak, and the beautiful and intelligent "Golden Princess" Lana, accompanied by Knight Commander Gazef, go to offer their condolences. The entire royal delegation is expected to arrive in about a month.

However, these things didn't really concern Lu Ke.

Compared to being noticed by the royal family, it would be more practical for the lord of Ye Lantier to reward their achievements by giving the team a detached mansion not far from the Adventurers' Guild.

Having already become king of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica, he is no longer interested in royalty; instead, he has a crush on [Golden Princess] Lana.

It wasn't because Lana was pretty... well, that was part of it, but he already had plenty of women, so one more or one less wouldn't matter. Besides, she was infatuated with his knight Clem, so Luke wouldn't have to break up a couple who were going their separate ways; that would be a bit tasteless.

What, you're asking about Albedo?

The succubus was originally just a virgin bitch, and her liking for Momonga was only due to the manipulation of the scepter; it had nothing to do with true love.

What interests Luke about [The Golden Princess] is her seemingly innocent and carefree demeanor, but beneath that facade lies a morbid soul. She considers nothing but her beloved possessions, scheming against even her own father, brother, best friend, and other friends—she's somewhat inhuman.

"What...what is this? Who is posting this kind of thing?!"

Darkness, who was in his arms, suddenly let out a scream, as if she had seen something extremely embarrassing. Her whole body tensed up, causing Luke to grunt and look over.

"What's wrong, Darkness?"

"This is it……"

Darkness blushed and handed over the newspaper. Luke took it, glanced at it, and read the contents aloud.

"'The Strongest Shield'—Darkness, a mysterious and powerful cross knight, is adept at both offense and defense. Even powerful attacks at the level of a demon god cannot harm her in the slightest. She possesses a body of steel that is harder and more solid than divine weapons..."

"What are the people who wrote this report doing? What do you mean by 'the strongest shield'? Only Megumin would like such a title. I am a mature adult, a lady of noble birth!"

"really."

Lu Ke closed his eyes, sensed it for a moment, and nodded in agreement.

"The strongest shield is not hard and solid at all; on the contrary, it is very soft."

Darkness blushed crimson and covered her face with her arm: "Is this...is this some kind of new play? Commenting on my body and saying such shameful things at my bedside in the early morning..."

The two's conversation woke up Aqua, who was fast asleep on the other side. The water goddess, still half asleep, groggily approached, glanced at the newspaper, and immediately widened her eyes, becoming fully awake as well.

"'Foolish Priestess' - Aqua, a high priestess who always imagines herself as the goddess of water. She's not very bright and often does all sorts of stupid things. She's a complete idiot, but her healing and support abilities are top-notch."

Aqua trembled with rage. "Which bastard gave me that nickname? What do you mean by 'self-proclaimed'? I am a legitimate and upright god of the Axis Church! The guy who wrote this report is blaspheming! He must be punished by the gods!"

Lu Ke kindly pointed to a line of small print at the bottom of the report, "There is also a disclaimer here."

"The information was provided by squad leader Kazuma Sato. No offense intended. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental."

"That good-for-nothing NEET!"

Aqua was trembling with anger. She grabbed Luke's shoulder and shook him vigorously. "Luke! Help me teach Kazuma a lesson. That guy is courting death again. He needs to be taught a good lesson."

Darkness shook her head with difficulty, her cheeks flushed. "Wait, Aqua, don't shake Luke at this time..."

Lu Ke yawned contentedly, "I don't mind, shake it however you like."

"What?! What are you two doing behind my back so early in the morning?!"

In the midst of the chaos, the door was pushed open, and Huihui rushed in, her face beaming with excitement, rattling off a string of words:
"Lu Ke, look at this! Look at this!"

"'Explosive Flame Mage' - Megumin, the strongest mage who surpasses human imagination and can rival the Demon God, a magical queen who holds all things in her hands and grasps the true essence, often rides her mount 'Golden Fortress'!"

"See that? Explosive Flame Mage, Magic Queen! My titles are super cool, and you, because you're so rich you're called 'Golden Fortress,' hahaha, so funny..."

Huihui's excited expression froze when she saw the three people entangled together in front of her. Her face turned red visibly, and she raised her hand to cover her face.

"You, you..."

"Have you ever heard the saying that there are always benefits after a great war? This is exactly what it is," Lu Ke replied calmly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, I'll come back later."

As Huihui said this, her gaze pierced through the gaps between her perfectly misaligned eyes, staring intently at the world that only adults could exist in.

Lu Ke followed Huihui's gaze and looked down at the Crimson Demon girl who wasn't blinking, asking her frankly.

"Is there anything else, Huihui?"

Huihui blushed and hesitated for a moment, then finally lowered her large magic hat and said in a weak voice, "Oh, ah... well, it's that... can I watch and learn for a bit?"

"Ten seconds. If you don't get out of here soon, I'll turn this whole squad into my harem today."

Huihui turned away in dissatisfaction, muttering under her breath, "What? As long as Kazuma is with you, it's impossible to achieve that."

After the troublesome guy left, Luke stroked his chin and looked at the shameless goddess and the female knight who, although she had a sense of shame, used it as a source of pleasure. He was a little aroused by her teasing.

"How about we start another game?"

"Agree!" x2
…………

So, by the time Lu Ke walked out of the room in his loose casual clothes, it was already noon.

In the luxurious living room, a knight in jet-black armor was bending over and scrubbing the floor, looking extremely clumsy. Beside him was his ostensible trophy, Cocytus, but at this moment, the Ice God of War was not holding weapons on his eight arms, but various cleaning supplies.

Obviously, having multiple arms is very convenient, at least it's quick to clean up, making "Momo" next to him seem quite useless. The Undead King really goes to such lengths...

"Good morning, Momo," Lu Ke greeted casually.

Momo, who was cleaning, stopped what she was doing, stood up, and responded politely:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Luke."

"Are you settling into your job? Is it too tiring for you?"

Momo paused for a moment, then slowly replied, "It's alright, not too tiring, just that I don't have much experience."

Yeah, right, I'm exhausted!
This body originally did not have any physical strength settings, but through his experiments, he found that he would feel tired and exhausted whenever he got close to Aqua, and the longer he stayed, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Considering that Aqua made him feel uncomfortable after casting a few buffs on him during battle, "Momo" has become the most convinced among everyone that Aqua is indeed a "water goddess".

So this is what the "goddess" the client was talking about is all about. At first, he thought she was just a love-struck fool, but after spending the last two days with her, he realized he was completely overthinking it.

Every day is spent eating, drinking, and having fun. There are always all sorts of blush-inducing sounds coming from the room. The time it takes for him to exude the afterglow of sex is longer than the time it takes for sex to happen. This is not love-struck behavior, he is just a complete scumbag!

"Don't worry, you and Cocytus are both very valuable strong individuals. Whether it's daily housework or earning money outside to supplement your income, you won't be able to stay for long, probably only for about twenty years."

Lu Ke sat on the sofa, picked up the coffee he had prepared, and comforted him thoughtfully, "Don't be afraid, twenty years will pass in the blink of an eye."

"...You are right."

Momo's feelings were complicated. If she had to describe her client in one sentence, she would say that even capitalists in the 22nd century had a better conscience than her.

Actually, there are ways to repay the money if you really want to.

After market research, he found that the items and weapons in this world were mostly low-quality. For him, common equipment was already considered a very powerful treasure. If he were to take out one or two less important artifacts, they would be more than enough to be regarded as national treasures.

But that would attract too much attention. He has already achieved most of his goals, so there's no need to stir up trouble.

Cocytus' identity has been set up. As long as his master accompanies him, he can live a normal life in the city. Except for scaring away a large group of people when he goes out, there are basically no problems.

Moreover, the dissemination of identity was also successfully achieved.

"Momo" looked at the newspapers on the table.

"The Dark Swordsman" - Momo, a powerful warrior with a mysterious identity, is a lone wolf who participated in the "Demon God Extermination War" and successfully subdued the insect-type demon god. However, according to an unknown source, he was just lucky to get the kill. In essence, he is a slacker who is repeatedly knocked away and has basically no output.

Well... although Kazuma Sato's meddling caused a slight blemish on his image, as long as it gets out, that's fine. At least his portrait did appear in the newspapers, and the Nazarick guild ring on his finger was also properly reproduced.

In this way, the guardians who have been stranded will receive news of him and should be able to return soon.

Hopefully everyone can be there; if that's the outcome, that would be the best-case scenario.

Just as Momo was thinking this, she heard Lu Ke's voice.

"I'm a little hungry, Momo. You and Cocytus go and prepare lunch for me."

“Yes, Mr. Luke.”

"Momo's" natural and fluent answer, even when she was still "Suzuki Satoru," she was used to being exploited and ordered around by her superiors. Now that she has returned to such a situation, it doesn't feel out of place at all.

One can only lament how terrifying human servility is; after bending over for so long, one can't even learn to stand up. But is he still human now?

While pondering this question, "Momo" led Cocytus away from there.

A moment later, Lu Ke stretched, got up from the sofa, looked towards the door, and began to count down in his mind.

three, two, one
bang-

The door was blasted open by a violent force, and a girl with half silver-white and half jet-black hair, exuding a faint sense of death, walked into the room holding a strangely shaped scythe.

"It's a pity I couldn't get there in time when the battle started. But it seems that none of the strong ones in the battle, including that insect-type demon god, died. They're all staying in this mansion."

The girl named Zesshi Zesshi, the ace of the Slane Theocracy, the strongest human, looked at Luke with great interest, the divine weapon "Charon's Scythe" spinning in her hand, drawing out a chilling glint.

"You're one of those people too, aren't you? Want to try challenging me?"

Lu Ke couldn't help but let out a sneer.

Zesshi Zesshi frowned: "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing. People laugh when they're extremely speechless. You understand that, right?"

"So that's how it is. I've been insulted."

A faint smile appeared on Zesshi Zetsumei's expressionless face, and pure killing intent erupted from his body.

"At least wash away this insult with your death."

…………

The Inn of Ye Lantier.

The Dark Codex was quite annoyed to discover that the team's strongest fighter had left the team again without his knowledge.

It's really a headache to encounter this situation when we've just settled into the city and haven't even made a move against the insect-type demon that was chosen as our target.

But there was nothing he could do. Only the strong have a voice. He used to be quite arrogant and didn't care about anyone. As a result, he was taught a lesson by that woman, beaten black and blue, and his head was even pushed into horse urine.

With the bloodlines of the "Six Great Gods" and the "Elf King," their combined level is 88. They possess superpowers that rank among the top ten on the entire continent. They can use the original owner's ultimate skill, and with the equipment of the Five Great Gods, they are absolutely no match for Jue Si Jue Ming. Even the insect-shaped demon god who appeared here is no exception. Even if he is strong enough, he cannot defeat the fully armed Jue Si Jue Ming without suitable and powerful equipment.

The Dark Scripture firmly believed this and let out a sigh. If only a man could truly subdue Zetsu Shitsumei, that would be wonderful, but that was impossible.

But what if it happens?

The Dark Scripture recalled Zesshi Zesshi's extreme desire for power, and the expression on Zesshi's face as he touched his abdomen when discussing the continuation of bloodlines, and his feelings were complicated.

I guess I'll get entangled with them, right?
(End of this chapter)