Help! I Think We Summoned A Demon King-Chapter 17: Hero Banquet IV

"There are a few important details which the Saintess had yet to cover during your Introductions, which I will be telling you all about now."

Everyone in the banquet hall straightened and paid rapt attention as the princess spoke, her gaze directed at the heroes.

"The borders of our kingdom and all other kingdoms are under constant attack by the demon lords and their minions."

"Excuse me, princess. Demon lord ?. I thought it was Demon King?" Ariana, seated closest to the princess, asked this question in confusion.

They had been told repeatedly about a Demon King; no one had mentioned a demon lord.

Elowen smiled, already expecting this question as she offered an answer."Yes. Demon lords. The representatives of the demon king in this world. They control countless hordes of demonic minions who plague the world of Arleria."

’"You just said demon ’lords’, princess. How many are there exactly ?" Ariana asked again, echoing the inquisitive demands in the other heroes’ minds, while the lady in a white gown, the other ministers, and the knight commander, who already knew all this, kept a respectful silence.

"In the world of Arleria, there are four other kingdoms, including Ursula, that make five kingdoms in total. And in every kingdom, there is a demon lord who seeks to expand their reach by pressing the kingdom’s border lands further, or simply wreaking havoc and destruction."

"You said there are four other kingdoms; do they all also have summoned heroes ?"

Jacob spoke this time, as his question left the other students shocked and expectant.

There might actually be others from their world.

Elowen, already understanding what might be going on in their mind’s, quickly decides to correct their misconceptions."Yes, there are other summoned Heroes. But no, these people weren’t summoned from your own world."

"I am not allowed to say any more than that, but these other heroes are ’definitely’ not from the same world you came from."

There was a look of disappointment on most of the heroes’ faces, but Zorat was quite pleased with this new piece of information.

There were other heroes in other kingdoms.

He had wondered where he would get the divine skill rune of the hero of spirit.

The royal court had expected Zorat to awaken this power in the beginning, but he didn’t. Instead, he awakened as the hero of item-box.

If there was one such hero out there already, which there certainly was now because of what he had heard, he would definitely obtain their divine skill rune as well.

Zorat had planned for a contingency to get that last piece if all else didn’t work, but now it seems he only has to pay a visit to the neighboring kingdom when it’s time.

He could even say he was lucky he awakened as the hero of item-box since this divine skill rune is the scarcest of all the others, and there hasn’t been such a hero for over a hundred years.

Which begs the question, what happened to all the other summoned heroes for all those years and the years before?

If they couldn’t vanquish the demon king, why does this kingdom keep summoning more heroes?

Meh... who cares.

Now that there are more humans and other species to play with, all the more fun hehehe.

"How strong are these Demon lords exactly ?" Jacob again asked the Princess.

"Let’s just say..... Beyond any of your current imaginations." The Princess sighed as she replied simply.

This caused a chill to run down all the gathered heroes’ spines. If the demon lords were that strong, what about the demon king?

A sudden quiet befell the group. Elowen realised these heroes might be thinking they were being herded to their very demise, so she explained.

"That’s why you were summoned, heroes."

"You are significantly different from the locals here." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Once you begin to train and level up, you all will soon realise how special you are."

"Not only are your base abilities ten times more effective than those of the natives of this world. Your speed of leveling up is ridiculously fast."

"A level that would take years for a normal denizen of this world to reach, you can reach in mere months or even weeks for some special few." She said this while she cast a side glance in Andrew’s direction.

"Add to that the fact that there is no leveling limit and restrictions like those placed on others in this world, and more times the awarded stats per level. You can become just as strong as these demon lords in no time at all."

"And finally, most importantly of course, are your divine skills. Gifted specifically by Goddess Arleria to battle the demon king."

"Individually, they are lethal enough, but when brought together, they are capable of vanquishing the demon king for good."

"Where exactly is this demon king ?" This time, it was Erica who asked the question. A very reasonable question indeed. And most of the heroes didn’t fail to notice how this princess had been sidestepping this crucial detail.

"That... am afraid I can’t say at the moment... but in due time, all things will be made clear," the princess explained regretfully.

Sus. hehehe.

Zorat knew the kingdom was hiding a lot of secrets, and he would take his time to unravel them, enjoying the process as he did so.

He wasn’t the only one who thought the kingdom was hiding a lot. Ariana and Andrew cast each other a glance, while Jacob just stared straight at the princess as if seeing through her, while Broddy was literally rubbing his chin in contemplation. Though it’s doubtful what he was thinking had anything to do with suspecting the kingdom.

"For the first two weeks, you all will be put through specialized training by the knight commander and her officers." At Elowen’s words, the Fox-beastwoman stepped forward from the corner of the room and stood behind Elowen, her right hand on her sword holster.

"This training will serve to familiarize you with the applications of your abilities, and also teach you basic fighting skills, techniques, and how to properly channel your strengths as a group." Elowen continued.

"After said two weeks of preparatory training, you’ll be accompanied into one of the kingdom’s deepest dungeons, ’The Catacombs Of Permafrost’."

"This dungeon has one hundred floors, which get progressively harder and more dangerous as you descend. But this also means you level up fast, as you’ll all slay dungeon monsters steadily until you are ready to join the war effort on the borders, where you’ll get to slay real demonic creatures, which grants much more experience."

"All this in preparation for the real battles ahead."

"The whole operation will be continually supervised by the knight commander to make certain you are all safe and can soon stand on your own."

"I know the circumstances that accompanied your arrival into this world aren’t that ideal, but as the Saintess had promised. You not only get to return to your world after defeating the demon king...."

"You also get to make any wish your heart desires."

What a load of bull. hehehehe