Chapter 221 - Chapter Twenty-Four: Great Cave Exploration ②
Wilson-san walks toward the member of the Demon Race.
It is a Revenant. I thought that he wouldn't be attacked suddenly.
Or so I thought, but after what seemed like an exchange of a few words, he was suddenly blasted with fire magic and came running back.
"I was driven away. I told them I wanted to join the Demon Lord's army and asked to be introduced to the Demon Lord-sama, but they wouldn't take me seriously."
He bows his head in apology. His clothes are scorched, but he himself seems fine.
"It can't be helped. Let's pin them down."
Eleanor-sama and Wilson-san begin their incantations.
"[Skill: Prominence]!"
"[Skill: Cocytus]!"
They unleashed ultra-high-level fire and ice magic with a time delay. Eleanor-sama used one hand, while Wilson-san used both hands with all his might.
An orange dragon flew through, illuminating the cave walls, followed by several giant icicles. The area beyond the icicles became a sea of fire, but seeing as it extinguished immediately, the icicles must have hit and frozen the surroundings.
Cold air drifts from the depths of the hole.
As a precaution, I cast [Skill: Resist] magic on the humans for cold protection. We should be fine for a while.
For a moment, we watch the situation, but there is no movement.
According to Flora, they are either dead or near death.
"Shall we go? Jeanne, please illuminate the way."
Eleanor-sama said nonchalantly and started walking.
When we reached the back of the hole, a humanoid monster was impaled by icicles at the far end. The surroundings were completely frozen, making it feel like we were inside an icehouse.
Our breath is white. I have to breathe through my mouth as much as possible so my nose doesn't stick together.
There don't seem to be any of those worms, but they were probably burnt to a crisp by the [Skill: Prominence].
When I shone the [Skill: Light] on it, it turned its face away. Almost its entire body was charred, and with a large icicle piercing its chest, it was impossible to tell what its original form was.
Only the two twisted horns were clearly visible.
"That is why I told you to introduce me to the Demon Lord. At the very least, you would not have died here."
When the magic was dispelled, the icicle melted, and the impaled member of the Demon Race fell with a thud. To my surprise, it sat cross-legged on its own. There was a large hole in its chest. It's a miracle it's still alive.
"To think you are bringing humans along. It seems it was for the best that I did not guide you to the Demon Lord-sama."
It raised its head and spoke while spitting out a pitch-black liquid from its fanged mouth. It seems it understands human speech.
"What were you doing here?"
"It is useless to ask. Do you think I would speak when I know I am going to die anyway? My body has already lost all sensation. No matter what you do to me, it neither hurts nor itches."
When Eleanor-sama asked, it replied while black liquid continued to drool from its mouth.
It was probably laughing.
"It doesn't seem to be a lie. It can't be helped. Beowulf. Take its head and finish it off."
Beowulf took its head with her silver sword.
The head rolled, its posture collapsed, and it fell face down.
When Eleanor-sama dug a hole beneath the body, it fell right in.
Without thinking, I offered a prayer for the dead, and the body of the Demon Race member crumbled like ash, turned into dust, and vanished.
"This is..."
This means my prayer to the Goddess had an effect on the Demon Race...
When I looked at Eleanor-sama, her eyes were wide. No, it wasn't just Eleanor-sama. Everyone was the same.
"What does this mean? The Demon Race are enemies of the Goddess, yet it seems the prayer for the dead had some kind of effect."
Eleanor-sama decided to investigate once this subjugation was over.
It seems that when they defeated the Demon Lord, they simply dug a hole and buried him. Since the Demon Race are enemies of the Goddess, they normally wouldn't offer a prayer for the dead.
Looking at the lantern, nearly two hours have passed.
It should be evening already.
"Let's stop here for today. We'll fill in the entrance to this hole and withdraw."
We arrived back where everyone was waiting. On the way back, we blasted through without any caution, so we arrived in about an hour.
While Beatrix and the others were filling in the entrance to the worm's hole, Eleanor-sama was talking with the Headmistress.
She must be quite concerned about the Demon Race member turning to dust from the prayer. Even when we joined the support unit, she was talking with Harris-sama.
After reaching the Western Plains Kingdom Army Garrison and seeing off Marcelo-san and Angelica-san, it turned into a banquet.
At the base under the rock, Paul-san, Harris-sama, and Robinson-san remained as caretakers.
As promised, the Dwarves also came, so I invited Dune and Mel as well.
The three vanguards were talking with the Kingdom Army soldiers about Eleanor's armor and bragging about the Lindwurm shield. Henry-sama was also nearby.
Lyudmila, Bonnie, and Mary were playing with the fluffy ones along with the Headmistress.
Spirits and ghosts gathered around me and Beatrix, and Eleanor-sama, Wilson-san, Harris-sama, Priest Williams, and Jennifer-sensei also joined in.
We immediately started talking about the Demon Race.
"Does it really mean anything just because it turned to dust?"
Dune and Mel didn't seem to understand.
"It might not click for you sisters, but for humans, it's a big deal. It was purified by the words of a prayer to the Goddess. That means there's a possibility that the Goddess created the Demon Race."
Eleanor-sama and the Headmistress were talking in the cave. When a Revenant is purified with [Skill: Purification], it turns into soil. The prayer for the dead might have the same effect. But if that's the case, wouldn't it mean that the Goddess created the Demon Race, just as she created the humans who become the basis for Revenants? Eleanor-sama and the Headmistress raised such questions. Of course, no one could answer.
"What do the Dwarves think? If the Goddess we worship and the Creator you speak of are the same, do you think such a thing is possible?"
"I don't know about the Goddess, but the Creator created everything in this world. If that's the case, it wouldn't be strange if He created the Demon Race or the Demon Lord."
Dune and Mel were the ones who objected to this.
"Setting aside magic beasts, Orcs and Ogres are fundamentally different creatures. They aren't beings that should originally exist in this world."
Come to think of it, they had said something like that before.
"Sisters. I think what you're saying is correct, but the premise is different."
"What do you mean, premise?"
Since they both asked back at the same time, the Dwarf grimaced. I calmed them down, saying, "Now, now."
"What you sisters are saying is that the Demon Race is the same as monsters. I think they're different."
Come to think of it, when I offered a prayer for the Orcs, they didn't turn to dust. When I mentioned that, the Dwarf nodded vigorously.
"So, they're different things? Well, I guess I can understand that. Even so, then what exactly are the Demon Race and Orcs?"
The two Great Spirits tilted their heads.
"Unlike us lower spirits and humans, you sisters are part of the laws of this world themselves. That's why there are compatibilities you can't overcome. Water and fire, wind and earth. In the same way, if there were light and darkness—for example, if the Goddess the humans speak of is light, and the Demon Race is darkness, what would happen?"
According to the Dwarf, the Creator created all those laws, and this world was made according to those laws.
"Humans say the Demon Race are enemies, but the point is, they probably just have the opposite attribute. When a fire is raging, it won't go out even if you throw water on it, but a small fire can be extinguished with just a little bit of water. But that doesn't mean fire or water themselves disappear. It's just a tiny part. It's the same. My thought is that, so to speak, through Jeanne's prayer to the Goddess, only a part of the entire Demon Race vanished from this world."
He added that this wasn't the consensus of all Dwarves, but just his personal speculation.
"Even if that's the case, why do they have strange things like Orcs and Ogres following them?"
Dune was concerned about that. If they are part of the laws of this world as the Dwarf says, she probably dislikes that their existence is as incomprehensible as monsters.
"Listen, Water Sister. For example, it's said that Gargoyles were born from rocks through magic. You could also say that Revenants were created from humans or their corpses through magic. If that's the case, don't you think it wouldn't be strange if someone with immense magical power, like a Demon Lord, created other living things from something through magic? This is just an example, but if you created something like a queen ant or bee through magic and had it lay many eggs, even Orcs would increase in number in no time."
"I can understand that."
Dune seemed convinced.
Does that mean... what? Are the Demon Lord and the Goddess on equal footing? For that to be the case, he seems rather weak, considering he gets subjugated by humans every time he appears...
"You've noticed something good, Jeanne."
The Dwarf praised me.
"Most likely, the Demon Lord isn't a law. He's something that follows the laws, so to speak. In other words, a Demon Lord is on the same level as animals, plants, and us lower spirits, but he's something that isn't a living creature. That's why he was affected by the prayer of a human who follows the opposite attribute's law. When you chant [Skill: Purification] on a Revenant, it turns into soil, right? It doesn't return to being the original corpse. It might be the same as that."
"In other words, unless we unravel those laws, we might not be able to prevent the Demon Lord's resurrection."
"That might be so. But, on the continent, the Demon Lord is gone and magic can't be used, right? Maybe there's some connection? Like magical power being depleted on the continent."
"That is the view on the continent. However, there are places that cannot be explained by that alone. Why magic can be used only on this island, and why magic that was once usable on the continent can no longer be used—unraveling that is also necessary. If it were only a matter of magical power, I wouldn't understand the reason why we become unable to use magic if we leave this island."
At Eleanor-sama's words as she sighed, we all involuntarily looked down.
I can't imagine that lower-tier humans could ever unravel such a thing.
When morning came and we reached the magic circle outside the cave, the branches that had been covering it moved and let us through. The Dryad is protecting it.
We went under the rock and joined the stay-behind group.
The caretakers for the Class of 175 on the second day were Beowulf and Mary.
Up to this point, movement was mainly by [Skill: Teleport], so Harris-sama came to the front line.
Harris-sama was in high spirits, trying to make up for his pathetic showing on the first day, but unfortunately, the morning ended in vain. We only found out that the hole heading west made a large arc toward the west, north, and east, connecting to the edge of the middle hole. However, at the tip of the middle hole, there was a three-way junction with a hole heading east.
It was decided to explore the hole heading east in the afternoon, and a relay base was built at the end of the hole, with everyone except the support group moving in.
According to Flora, the next one is also a worm's hole. However, unlike the holes so far, it's basically straight. It was decided that either there's nothing ahead, or there's a base with many of them, so in the end, it became a scout-centered formation just like the first day. However, Flora was to come along as well.
As we proceeded, we went north for a bit and came to another three-way junction. Beyond this point, it wasn't a worm's hole. The soil of the walls was hardened. It was linear and didn't undulate.
"There are fresh Orc footprints. Footprints heading north and footprints heading west. Until now, we haven't encountered anyone other than the Demon Race who were using the worms, but from now on, there will be others."
Flora, who had checked the ground, pointed.
I couldn't tell at all by looking, but I should believe her.
"Let's call for reinforcements. We'll pull back for a bit and build a base. It's better to call everyone."
Paul-san said.
It seems it's going to be a full-scale battle.