Chapter 587 - Chapter 6: The Demon Realm in the Eastern Part of Engrio's Royal Capital ④
We set out when the sun was sufficiently high. Beatrix and Carla, who had been on watch until dawn, were a bit grumpy because I and Annabella had woken them up with Awake respectively, but it's work. It can't be helped.
The places we lowered the slugs were not so far from the wetland, and also by a small stream. And, in the forest, there are orcs who can be called the Demon Lord's army. Since they should basically be unrelated, we made the places distant. For Northern Gram, centipedes and millipedes are one thing, but frogs are necessary. I guessed it would be by the water's edge. So, even with fifteen places, I think we were able to disperse them fairly well.
When we actually went over the wasteland, the effect was excellent and there was one place where slugs were gathered. We released more, but they went somewhere and their figures aren't visible.
The place where the slugs are is in the middle of a meadow and surrounded by small streams. It's like a sandbank. For a while, we watched how things were while circling over the three places, and once took altitude.
"We're starting the attack. Be careful of the Demon Race's counterattack."
The upper-air unit is at an altitude where lightning magic won't reach. They are in the sun. First, there's no way they'll take a counterattack. We are also taking a fair distance. We have to counterattack without missing them.
"Cocytus!"
It's Eleanor-sama. This time we devised the bowl and a large hole is open in the bottom. We stuck a wall of Light to the bottom of the bowl. Even if they are high-level, they don't have wings. We expected the attack to come from below. So, we made it so we could counterattack. To avoid falling into the hole, we all rode split between front and back.
Five giant ice pillars were completed and accelerated toward the ground all at once. What they are flying toward is a meadow.
The original ice pillars themselves are large. They are being fired from top to bottom. The magic circle will likely not be safe.
When Eleanor-sama moved both hands she had held out in the direction she fired, the direction the ice pillars were flying changed. There is nothing at the destination. Just the ground. No slugs either.
However. Before the ice pillars flying in an arc hit the ground, they were blocked. They stopped in mid-air and ice chunks were completed. Surely, it's a Wind Barrier. As expected, there was a Demon Race.
"Cocytus!"
She fires again.
This time, ignoring the slugs, they fly in a straight line toward the ground where there is nothing.
The Wind Barrier covered in ice moved and was blocked again.
"Cocytus!"
A three-shot volley. I hurriedly canceled the wall of Light and cast Hand Over toward Eleanor-sama.
When Eleanor-sama tried to fire a fourth spell, the log-sized Holy fired by the upper-air unit was fired toward a shrub a little distance away.
"Jeanne!"
"Yes. Holy!"
I thrust my staff out from the hole and fire an eight-shot volley. Beatrix supports me so I don't fall. Seeing that, Carla and Annabella also held my waist.
The ice that the Demon Race had frozen the Wind Barrier with to use as a shield falls as if it lost its support. They canceled it. Or, did we finish them off?
The holy water blown by the Clamp Water fired by the upper-air unit hits the shrub and raises a spray.
"Holy!"
By the time I fire the second shot, Henry-sama, Will, and Bonnie began firing silver-white arrows toward the shrub.
"Holy!"
I fire another eight-shot volley.
The area around the shrub is already soaked with the blown holy water.
"The enemy has activated Teleport."
Eleanor-sama detected it. Did they escape?
In an instant, I felt bloodlust. When I looked up, the Demon Race was standing behind the three who were firing arrows. They put their right hand on the hilt of the sword at their waist. In their left hand, they are holding a pitch-black, large, round shield that half-hides their body. A shield made with Dark. They are closing their left eye. Surely, to look up at the sky, they protected one eye from the sunlight.
Henry-sama, who quickly sensed them, thrust out the silver-white arrow he held in his right hand as he turned around. The Demon Race drew their sword, slashed it away, and jumped back a step. The arrow was cut in half.
"Light!"
I tap the bottom of the bowl with my staff and fire magic from my mouth.
The Demon Race, who looked this way for an instant, took the Light head-on. They fell for the feint. They let out a groan and, while holding up the shield, stepped back a step. They closed their right eye and opened the left eye they had been squinting.
When Henry-sama slashed at them with a silver-white sword in a quick draw, they bounced it back with the Dark shield while stepping back half a step.
The Demon Race staggers. Wilson-san had shaken the bowl. At the same time, Beatrix deployed a Wind Barrier behind the Demon Race. The Demon Race, who tried to step back, had their actions forcibly blocked and their movement stopped for an instant.
Henry-sama is not one to miss that moment. He slashes from the left with his sword. While they are stopped by the shield, Will tries to pierce them with a silver-white sword too. At the same time, Bonnie throws a silver-white knife.
"Light!"
I fire Light in an eight-shot volley.
At the same time the light fired from the tip of the staff erased the Dark shield, Henry-sama and Will jumped in and thrust their swords into the chest.
While spitting pitch-black blood from their mouth, the Demon Race collapsed. They still seem to have breath, but the silver-white swords are still stuck in them. They likely no longer have the power to use Teleport either. Both their hands are down, but they are limp and they aren't pushing their palms against the bottom of the bowl.
"Splendid. I didn't think you would jump in here."
Henry-sama said words of praise while pulling out the two swords. Black blood overflowed from the wounds.
The Demon Race's mouth twisted a little. They surely laughed.
"I am Henry of the Kingdom of Sertoria, who fought the resurrected Demon Lord thirty-some years ago."
"Likewise, I am Eleanor."
The Demon Race's eyes widened a little upon hearing the two's self-introductions.
"I will tell you one thing. The human King who rules this land says he will not clear this land. You can pass away in peace."
What did the Demon Race think upon hearing Henry-sama's words? They just closed both eyes.
"Carla, Annabella, deliver the finishing blow."
When I looked back, the two had either lost strength in their legs or something, as they were sitting on their rumps with both legs thrown out.
"You can stay sitting. Thrust out both hands and aim calmly. Lightning and Holy are fine."
At Beatrix's words, they nodded silently and vigorously, thrust out their shaking hands, and finished the chant.
"It's okay. Fire."
"E-Energy Bolt!"
"H-Holy!"
At the instant the magic activated and hit the Demon Race, Henry-sama's sword beheaded them.
By the time we offered a funeral service and sent off the Demon Race, the upper-air unit descended.
"That was splendid. We ended up being unable to do anything. I'm sorry."
No matter how much they enlarged with Sight, it would be difficult to hit a moving target from that far away. If the light of Holy flies in front of their eyes when we are brandishing swords, they will definitely react. It must be consideration precisely because they are people who know that an instant's delay becomes fatal.
"No, it's likely because you smoked out the Demon Race immediately. The fact that we could concentrate only on this matter was also because we could leave the end to you."
I nodded greatly at Henry-sama's words.
"However, you said you would look for the magic circle using slugs, but how did you know it was in such a place where there was nothing?"
One of the mages asked. Normally one would aim for the place where the slugs were.
"It's easy. There were traces of slugs crawling. But, the traces disappeared halfway there. So I thought they had entered the Camouflage."
It's unique to Eleanor-sama, who is knowledgeable about slugs.
I had them actually look at it, but they didn't seem to understand well. They only noticed the difference from others after descending to the ground and pointing it out.
"Are these the traces of slugs crawling?"
They are already dry and look like nothing but glue stuck on. Since they are covered in dust, it's not understandable at a glance. In the first place, one would absolutely never look for such a thing normally.
"Yes. Previously, I was taught how to defeat slugs and such by Bishop Harrison."
"Ah, Bishop Harrison, is it."
It's not a lie. I didn't say I was taught about the traces of crawling.
"Yes. So, I thought if we added a fierce attack to the real target point as a surprise, the Demon Race would also be shaken and would protect the magic circle."
That's right. There was a possibility the Demon Race would abandon the magic circle. Because even if it's broken, they can just remake a new one. The Demon Race must have known nothing about the Northern Gram wetland matter. They must have thought the paired exit was alive. However, the Demon Race also knew that one of their companions had been killed, and must have been waiting in ambush to take revenge using the magic circle as a decoy. If we were desperately looking for the magic circle, a gap would surely be created. It's easier to aim for that. Despite that, we saw through the Camouflage that humans shouldn't be able to detect. The magic circle was about to be destroyed. They must have been shaken and protected the magic circle on impulse. That must have been a gamble for Eleanor-sama too.
"No, that was splendid. As expected of the one who subjugated the Demon Lord."
"No, no, you all, and King Seldic too, challenged the cave as the main force and returned alive, so it is the same."
They are praising each other. I somehow understood that kind of feeling.
Anyway, we successfully defeated the Demon Race. Since the caster died, the Camouflage also disappeared, and the magic circle became visible. Since slugs are swarming it, it's slimy. We drove them away with fire magic, and when we washed it with soapy water, a clean magic circle came out.
"Hey, what were those slugs over there gathering for?"
That's true. I don't think the Demon Race went out of their way to draw a magic circle. On top of that, it's a meadow. I don't know the reason for gathering. When we went to see, a baby snake's corpse was half-bone. They are eating it munch-munch. Could it be that the slugs hunted the baby snake?
"What is the meaning of this?"
Even Eleanor-sama, the slug-keeper, doesn't seem to know.
"Hmm?"
Henry-sama seemed to notice something. He told us to evacuate upward, so we soared into the upper air.
"That's a snake, isn't it?"
It's looking at the slugs from the shade of the grass.
"Shall we exterminate it? How about it? Carla, Annabella, want to try?"
It's the Bishop.
"Eh? Snakes are D-rank, right?"
They are intimidated, but you delivered the finishing blow to an A-rank Demon Race twice.
"No, please wait a moment. It seems it's aiming for the slugs."
Probably the snake was aiming for us humans. We are gone. So, it seems it set its sights on the remaining slugs. It raised its head from the grass and began to advance slowly.
"Let's watch for a while."
We took Eleanor-sama's proposal and decided to observe while being in the sun.
"The snake moved."
Eleanor-sama is biting. She might want to keep snakes too.
The snake seemed to stop being reserved since the humans were gone. It came out of the grass and headed straight for the slugs.
"Is it going to eat them? It's not revenge, is it?"
Beatrix is also watching together, and Carla is next to her. A mage's curiosity is exercised on anything.
The snake bit into the slug just like that. But, it's slimy. As expected of a slug. It doesn't care about the snake's two long fangs. It's just slimy and wriggling.
The snake tries many, many times, but its fangs don't stand. And it can't swallow it either.
"What is it doing? That?"
Having been shown the same scene more than ten times, the mages became impatient.
In the meantime, the snake seemed to have become tired, as its movements became slow. It can no longer even bite. It seems to have lost the power to even raise its head, and began to go limp.
"Could it be that slugs are the natural enemy of snakes?"
It's an unexpected fact. Was it not just being slimy?
The snake completely stopped moving and began to spit bubbles from its mouth. Its red eyes change to a dark color.
"Could it be poison or something?"
I wonder if it's that sliminess? It's useful for various things.
When the slugs gathered on the snake's corpse with their sliminess, they began to eat munch-munch.
"It's necessary to experiment once. Those slugs... no, I'll collect more in this wetland and take them home."
It's Eleanor-sama. She surely intends to mass-produce Eleanor's armor.
"N-No, that is, we have to get confirmation from our King too..."
"If as a result of the experiment it's found to be useful for snake extermination, I will definitely tell King Seldic. Let's see, I'll have the Class of 175 carry a letter. Could you transmit that to King Seldic once?"
Eleanor-sama argues against the mages. She's determined not to yield.
"Do you intend to conduct the experiment only in Sertoria?"
Falstaff-san, who had been silent until now, asked.
"No, I think most of it will be conducted in Northern Gram."
"Amphisbaena extermination, is it?"
"Yes. Originally, that's why we've come this far."
"I understand. Then, let's return to the fort once and ask King Seldic."
"Thank you very much."
Two heads, huh? Come to think of it, there were a mountain of baby snakes. If the experiment succeeds, we might be able to exterminate the snake kind. And we might be able to get a mountain of slugs too.
Eleanor-sama's proposal was successfully approved by King Seldic. We also contacted Northern Gram, and that became a request for cooperation.
Since the talk was settled well, Eleanor-sama is smirking. Tonight, she might dream of being surrounded by many slugs.
By the way, Carla and Annabella, who hit the second Demon Race with magic, were successfully able to learn new magic.
Carla learned Wind Barrier and Water and became a four-spell user. She might become an intermediate mage in the near future. Annabella learned Clean Up. Surely, just like Beatrix, Carla must be cluttering the room.
I learned the basic holy evil-breaking barrier Impetum. With this, I was able to complete the basic barriers. And Beatrix learned the high-level earth magic Sand Storm. Since she might become super-high-level, we went to Finis specially, but she didn't get a promotion. Learning everything while completing them is just like Beatrix. However, on the way back from Finis, we stopped by Northern Gram and talked about the slugs, so the experiment in the wetlands will proceed.