Birthing Legends: My Womb Creates SSS Monsters

Chapter 274: Wait… They’re Alive? The Adventurers Who Ruined My Home Are Back?!

Standing in the center was a man in dirty, faded golden armor, his breathing heavy as he addressed the room. "The rumors were true," he said, his voice carrying a grim weight.

Instantly, the audience erupted again. "The Demon Lord!" someone screamed from the back. "I knew it! The reports were true!"

The crowd fell into absolute chaos, a hundred voices whispering and shouting over one another so loudly that the stone walls seemed to vibrate. The panic was infectious, spreading like wildfire through the packed hall.

"Can you all just shut the f*ck up and listen to what Captain Erwin has to say?!" a sharp, piercing voice cut through the noise. A girl wearing a wide, tattered witch’s hat stepped forward, slamming her staff against the floorboards. "Let him finish, assholes!"

The room instantly quieted down to a tense, uneasy murmur.

And just at that exact moment, Johnn pulled Maddy right into the clear space of the inner circle. Her eyes adjusted to the dim torchlight, scanning the battered, exhausted figures who were the center of everyone’s terror.

Her breath caught. Her mind went completely blank.

It was them.

It was the very same high-ranking adventurer party that had invaded her domain. The ones who had raided her home, almost slaughtered her unborn child, and forced her into doing all of this. But why? Why were they here in Prometha? And more importantly... how were they even alive? She had been entirely certain they were wiped out.

Maddy stared blankly at the man in the faded golden armor, the name slipping past her lips before she could stop it.

"Erwin...?"

Erwin didn’t hear her over the shifting weight of the crowd. He took a heavy breath, his eyes shadowed with fatigue as he raised his gauntleted hand to address the hall once more.

"We went into the deepest, darkest depths of the Shellgrave caverns," Erwin continued, his voice ringing with a practiced, commanding authority that demanded attention. "The Guild’s official mandate was merely an investigation. A routine check on the shifting mana currents. But I am the son of the Hero. I refuse to sit idly by. I will not let any monster and more importantly, any Demon Lord—ever step foot inside our nation’s borders again."

The room fell into a breathless hush. The anger and panic from before began to melt away, replaced by a sudden, heavy wave of emotion as the crowd hung on his every word.

"Ever since my father gave his life to defeat the previous Demon Lord, I swore a sacred oath," Erwin said, his voice tightening as he struck his dented breastplate. "I swore that no entity bearing that vile title would ever be allowed to breathe the air of our kingdom. We chose to push deeper. We chose to fight."

Around the circle, seasoned adventurers lowered their heads in respect, and several citizens wiped away tears. Even Johnn, who had been eager to brag about his own success moments ago, fell completely still. He gripped Maddy’s hand a little tighter, his eyes wide as he absorbed the grand, tragic legacy of the Hero’s lineage.

Maddy, however, felt a cold knot form in her stomach.

"Zaun,"

Erwin called out, his sharp voice cutting through the emotional silence. He looked over at the shadows near the edge of the inner circle, commanding his party’s assassin.

"Bring it forward. Let them see what we uncovered."

The crowd parted as Zaun stepped into the light. The assassin moved with a quiet, ghost like gait, his arms heavily burdened. He was carrying a massive bundle wrapped in thick, blood stained burlap and as he walked forward, the sheer volume of whatever was hidden inside began to rattle, catching the light of the Guild’s torches.

With a heavy grunt, Zaun loosened his grip and let the bundle drop. The burlap spilled open, and dozens of items clattered across the stone floor.

The crowd surged forward slightly, gasping at the sight. It wasn’t a hoard of gold or rare monster parts. Instead, a bizarre assortment of items rolled across the floor: strange, uniquely forged weapons, reinforced armor gears, metallic kitchenware, unfamiliar styles of clothing, and everyday domestic items that looked like they belonged inside a fully functioning home.

The onlookers were visibly shocked. The designs of the gear and the craftsmanship of the items were completely alien to them, looking nothing like the wares produced in Prometha. Loud murmurs tore through the hall as people tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

Erwin stepped forward, raising his voice to cut through the rising noise. "These items were retrieved from the deepest, most secure area of the Shellgrave," he announced, pointing a gauntleted finger at the pile. "They did not belong to wild beasts. These were taken from the domain of the Demon Lord itself... No, not just the Demon Lord, but each of its high-ranking members."

The Guild fell into absolute chaos at his words. The implication landed heavily on them.

"The Demon Lord has already built its own army?!" a veteran adventurer yelled out, his face turning pale.

"They’re manufacturing their own gear? They’ve built a settlement down there!" "This is bad... this is far more dangerous than we thought!"

The whispers turned frantic as the citizens and adventurers alike realized that a coordinated force was growing right beneath their feet. Standing in the middle of the panic, Maddy stared down at the scattered household items and weapons, her mind racing as she analyzed this sudden, unexpected threat.

Erwin knelt down, his armored joints popping in the tense silence of the room. He reached into the pile of scattered belongings, his hand wrapping around a peculiar, flat block of black steel. It was heavy, its surface covered in faded markings that looked more like veins than smithing grooves.

The crowd leaned in, their eyes locked on the captain as he held the strange artifact aloft.

"Out of everything we brought back from the abyss, this is the most bizarre thing we recovered.