My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 188: Man Cave

Haestus, the god of death and the patron of all heroes wore an ugly expression on his face as he listened to a report from one of his subordinates. Apparently, a problem had occurred on one of his realms that would potentially set his plans back a good bit unless he gave them permission to move troops between the worlds.

He lay his back in his chair, his overweight body jiggled as he did so. There was something that many people misunderstood him. They all thought that his invasions were to become the ruler of all. In reality, he was just trying to complete his divine job faster so that he could go back to the good old days. 

Haestus was extremely lazy. He wanted to return to the era of the gods. How much work do you think the god of death has to do when only immortals exist? Exactly. So the way he saw it was that the sooner all life was wiped out, the sooner he could go back to being a freeloader.

"Yes, yes. I give permission."

"Excellent, as for the matter of Eve meeting with an admin of another world?"

"Just ignore it. It's nothing to worry about." Haestus had no idea if this was actually true or not. He just wanted to avoid the paperwork that would come with a proper investigation.

He waved away his subordinate so that he could get back to do doing nothing. The one good thing about being the boss was that he could delegate tasks to the others. He picked a bunch of grapes from the table beside him before setting in to relax for about a month or so. Nothing could possibly go wrong in that short space of time, right?

Meanwhile, Kace and his group had finally found the exit of the tunnel

Luckily for Kace, it was somewhere that he recognised. The cave system where his goblin tribe lived was nearby! They would definitely be able to hide out there without any risk of getting exposed. 

Kace quickly took off in the direction of the entrance. Leaving Dao and Josh to hurry after him. They had no time to waste. As long as the magic that shielded the cave was outside of Zornok's range, nobody would ever be able to find them. It was most likely only a matter of time before the heroes found the escape tunnel. He silently prayed that they would at least grant Sonja a painless death beside her loved one.

Kace's thoughts were in turmoil over how to explain it to Sophia when she returned to normal. Hopefully, she would not hate him for leaving her mother behind. What was he meant to do? Force her to come along? Dream on! She could kick his ass into last week if he tried to do something so foolish.

Kace grew excited as he saw the tunnel entrance come into view. He made a last-ditch effort to put as much strength into his sprint that he could muster. Passing over the threshold, he felt his connection to his tribe come back online. With laboured breathing, he tried communicating with Shadow.

Dao and Josh, who followed behind him, were confused to see him standing still instead of moving deeper inside. However, their confused expressions were soon answered as many shadows peeled back the veil of the true tunnel. With a smug grin, he leads the group onwards towards his throne room.

As soon as he entered the chamber, the tribe went into an uproar! They had thought that with the connection going dark on them that something had happened to Kace. He felt rather touched to see how much they actually cared about him. A goblin came forward to relieve him of his burden so that he could take his rightful place. 

He had to admit that he felt so much better being back in this cave. He finally felt safe since the outbreak of the war. He was beyond exhausted and felt like he could sleep for a week. However, there were things to do before he could indulge himself.

"Lorget? Keep an eye on the hero army. As soon as they leave the area, I want you to scout the city for any survivors. Shadow, I need you to set up many hidden scouts to keep tabs on our immediate surroundings. I don't want this place to be discovered by chance. If either of you discovers any non-humans, you may bring them here to safety. Can someone prepare rooms for our guests and get me the softest blankets we have? Oh, and food! We need food!"

Although it was a bit long-winded, Kace had to get it all off of his chest. If he did not say it all right now, he could get something wrong later. 'I need a hot bath!' Kace thought as his skin began to feel irritated from all the dirt, sweat, and blood sticking to it. However, he just did not have the energy to do anything right now. 

As he felt himself beginning to nod off a firm hand yanked him out of his throne and onto his feet. The sudden movement jolted him awake. Only to see the familiar warm face of Grugda staring back at him. No words were exchanged the Eljein dragged him through the tunnels. Eventually, they came to a halt in a small room that held a rock pit filled with cold water.

Kace groaned at the sight. It was clear that even Grugda was telling him that he needed a wash. As he stripped down to the nude, a spark of inspiration struck him. Since the magic here was not blocked, then this should work! Fire Spit! The liquid fire erupted from his mouth and merged with cold water. Heating it quickly like a kettle. The water began to bubble, and steam rose within the small room.

Kace dipped a toe in to test the temperature and found that it felt just right. As he finally got the time to enjoy some relaxation, he allowed his body to sink into the warm waters. He suddenly felt that he was being compared to someone he would rather not be, but it must have just been his imagination