Chapter 834 - Chapter 5: Infiltration ②
Fiona pulled out the silver knife she had brought at her waist just in case. Since the Priestess and I are in the priesthood, we are not allowed to fight with blades. Fiona, once she undid the fusion with me, thrust it into the Demon Race's neck and gave it a twist, completely delivering the finishing blow. The reason she specifically undid the fusion was probably to prevent me from attacking with a blade. She's a kind girl.
The three of us defeated the first-floor Demon Race executive.
When I heard from Fiona that the boss Orc was bringing an upper-level Demon Race, I decided to ambush them at the lowest level of the tower. I wanted to perform a complete surprise attack.
We infiltrated the hangout and waited for the back door to open when the Demon Race came. After that, we passed through the door as if passing each other and descended to the bottom of the tower under Fiona's guidance. And we waited in ambush diagonally behind the chair.
I cast Sense Living just in case and confirm that there are no reactions of living things in the tower. There is no reaction at all. It's safe for the time being.
"Fiona, good job."
I go to Fiona, who is crouching by the Demon Race she delivered the finishing blow to, and when I speak to her, she drops the knife and clings to me. Her hands are trembling.
"We won, didn't we? The three of us defeated him on our own."
"Yeah..."
"You did your best. It's okay now."
I hug her. She delivered the finishing blow to an upper-level Demon Race.
"We did it!"
The Priestess jumped at us. The three of us form a circle.
"The four-fold volley of over-ultra-high-level must have been effective."
It's two shots of strengthened four-fold volley Heaven's Roar and two shots of eight-fold volley with reflection plates. Moreover, it's a complete surprise attack. I wonder if there's anyone other than the Demon Lord who can see through us even if we're hiding our form, or if ghosts are completely fused with a human? Excluding slugs.
"It was effective because the first move was the two of you's Heaven's Roar."
The first move of an upper-level Demon Race is usually lightning magic. Eleanor-sama explained that it's because it's the magic with the maximum attack power. However, I've never seen a single blow from a Demon Race that surpasses the equivalent of a four-fold volley of Heaven's Roar. Well, since there are eight shots in total, the appearance is amazing. But even taking that into account, I don't think it's less than the lightning of the previous Four Heavenly Kings' Number One. Much less, the opponent this time is the seventh member or lower from last time. He was struck by lightning equivalent to his own maximum attack power. Surely, his heart must have broken.
"Really?"
"It's true. Because when I released Over Flow, I had canceled Almighty Guard. If the opponent hadn't been shaken, he would have noticed before I released it. But he didn't even show a sign of dodging."
"Then we've properly grown too, haven't we?"
Growth or not, it's over-ultra-high-level. Moreover, there's a high possibility we'll grow further. Truly the strongest.
"Fiona even delivered the finishing blow. We couldn't do that."
"No, that was... It was decided by Jeanne's magic."
"No, no, the neck is something you have to do, after all. Right, Jeanne?"
"That's right. You have to properly slash the throat or the cervical vertebrae. All the soldiers and former scouts said so. Since those in the priesthood can't do it, it was a help that Fiona was here."
"Ufufu. Thank you."
We rejoiced once more. After all, just the three of us defeated an upper-level Demon Race. We can be proud.
I have the two of them enter the stones for a moment, and while illuminating with a Firefly, I offer a prayer and send the Demon Race off. After confirming he crumbled into dust and vanished, I return to the three-person fusion.
Perhaps because we defeated the Demon Race executive, the Priestess's tension is high, while Fiona is feeling drained.
"Fiona, are you okay? Are you tired?"
"Eh? Sorry. Somehow, I felt relieved after defeating the upper-level Demon Race."
I see. Her tension has slackened. I understand the feeling.
"Jeanne, let's take turns resting one by one. Both Fiona and I released Heaven's Roar, and Jeanne used over-ultra-high-level four times, right?"
I think that's right. In the excitement of winning the battle, we don't notice, but actually, the Priestess and I should be quite tired too.
"Right. Let's rest here. Fiona, you rest first."
"Here?"
"Yeah. This is the place of the Demon Race we just defeated. So, if nothing happens above, the Orcs won't come. The monsters from the second floor shouldn't easily come in here either."
Even that Behemoth was holding back. Unless a humanoid like an Orc on the first floor needs to report, they probably won't come in.
"Then, can I take a rest?"
"It's fine. But I'll just confirm the safety here, so after that. Sorry since you're tired, but can you just cast Camouflage? I'll cast Magic Reflection."
Since Vision and Almighty Guard are impossible.
It should be safe, but confirmation is necessary. When I explore the tower while illuminating with a Firefly, the structure is different from the ones I've entered before. There's no exit to the second floor. To be precise, there are traces of it, but it had become a wall. It doesn't even get a scratch when slashed with a silver knife.
"Could this be that wall?"
That might be the case.
"Shall I go on a reconnaissance for a bit?"
The Priestess offered, so I asked her.
I turn off the Firefly and instead have Fiona put out one pale blue fireball. And the Priestess undid the fusion and headed toward the wall.
"I can't pass through."
As I thought.
I'm sure the structure of the Demon Lord's Cave itself is the same. However, the position of the tower connecting each floor is said to change every time. It's probably to make past conquest experiences as useless as possible. It's only very recently that they started large-scale reconnaissance using Light and Flight Magic. No one would want to explore a labyrinth or forest in pitch darkness unless it was for the purpose of Demon Lord subjugation.
I don't know if this tower is a pattern that has existed before, but the Demon Lord must have made it as a countermeasure against wielders of Light magic. Just how much magic control does he have?
"What about the adjacent wall?"
In the towers I've entered so far, next to the door was just a stone wall. It should be possible to pass through.
"Impossible. Beyond this is bedrock."
She said that with her right arm buried up to the elbow.
Bedrock... The structure of the entrance and exit is completely different. Is the tower embedded deep within the wall of the second floor?
I had her check the upper part just in case, but it was also bedrock. In other words, a long passage exists beyond the wall. It's clearly different from before. The story is a bit different. However, as expected, it's hard to think that monsters would come in here. Rather than heading out with insufficient magic power, I decided to rest here.
I entrusted my right hand to Fiona and had her slash the wall with the silver knife, but she couldn't leave a scratch. I thought about illuminating it with Light, but it would be terrible if there was something strong beyond the wall, so I left it as it was and prioritized resting.
Undoing the fusion, we sit in a circle at the bottom of the stairs and take turns drinking the wine from the water bottle. Regarding the alcohol Diana-sama gave us, we already drank today's portion at Diana-sama's place. The bread is said to recover physical strength, but since we are in a state where magic power is low, it's not very meaningful. Since our forms are invisible to monsters, we decided to rest in turns. First, I have Fiona, who is clearly tired, rest in the stone. Camouflage will be canceled, but it can't be helped. The Priestess and I decided to keep watch. I stand up one candle and light it. When it burns out, it's two hours. For now, I'll have Fiona rest for two hours. Since there are three candles, I'll be second, and the Priestess will be third to rest.
"Hey, Jeanne, where is this?"
Since Fiona entered the stone, it became a conversation between the Priestess and me while gnawing on dried meat.
"Probably the cave where the Demon Lord resurrected."
"Then are we in Medioland?"
"I think so."
In the Henry Party's investigation, the entrance to the cave where the Demon Lord resurrected was blocked by a wall that couldn't be scratched by a silver sword or magic. It must be here.
"Then are we going to confront the Demon Lord ourselves?"
"Rather than that, shall we erase the wall on the first floor and go outside?"
If we go outside, we should be able to reach the fortress where the Medioland scouts are. If we do that, we can at least rest slowly in a safe place, and most importantly, we can call for reinforcements. Even if the current heroes are no good, there are hero candidates in each country. If there are no battles in various places, they should be able to move for Demon Lord subjugation immediately.
"That's right. Let's do that."
Although she agreed, she has a somewhat gloomy expression.
"Is there something on your mind?"
"Hmm? Right. I wonder what Testament was, after all."
That's something I'm also very concerned about.
My will should have become independent from my body and a spirit should have been born. Despite that, there's no sign of one being born anywhere. I think meeting Diana-sama is an amazing thing. I was taught magic too. However, she said that was a confirmation of whether I was worthy as the activator of Testament. I returned to normal too. Hypothetically, if a spirit had been born in that place, I don't understand the reason why I'm here.
In the end, was it something like Teleport?
Wait? Teleport?
"Hey, shall we try to contact the outside with the magic circle for sending letters?"
"Can you do it?"
The Priestess's doubt is natural. A space closed by a wall that cannot be erased unless it's with Light magic basically doesn't allow Teleport to pass through. Only someone like Gnome can do such a thing. In Gnome's case, it might be Translate.
"It's fine if the recipient is Eleanor-sama, right? For now, I'll send that all three of us are safe."
"Right, since it's not clear where this is."
I'm carrying many scraps of parchment. And I have ink mixed with Magic Stones and a pen. I just wrote the main points briefly, placed it on the magic circle, and chanted the password.
"It's not glowing."
I try it once more.
It's the same. The magic circle doesn't glow. In other words, it doesn't activate. Teleport can't be used. That means we have no choice but to break through the wall.
"What should we do?"
"Let's see..."
The Priestess and I crossed our arms and thought.