Chapter 841 - Chapter 6: Beyond That ②
We passed through an empty room on the way, but the Demon Lord only tilted his head slightly and pointed to the exit door. I wondered if there had been a vacancy, but I understood the reason once I learned the details of what was beyond the third door.
According to Fiona's scouting, there were two people waiting beyond the third door. They must have moved to form a pair. As expected, they seemed to have noticed Fiona's presence, as she was apparently challenged with a "Who goes there!"
"But when I explained the situation, both of them responded with the courtesy of a gentleman and a lady."
By the second time, Fiona seemed to have some leeway, as she had apparently talked about various things.
However, a gentleman and a lady. In other words, it's a male-female pair. So, there are two people ahead. Since there probably won't be a one-on-one duel, it'll be a group battle. This is troublesome.
Beyond the door were a male light infantryman wearing a green check and a female mage wearing a blue check pattern.
"Oh? The Demon Lord is here. Did you take their side? Even bringing an Arachne along."
She was talking to the Demon Lord without even glancing at us.
"I have only undertaken to be a guide."
"Only a guide?"
"Correct."
"What about that Arachne?"
"Hmph! I have the name Violet."
"A name? For a monster?"
What's with this person? How rude.
"Um, I'm sorry, but monsters are also living things inhabiting this island. Please stop saying such rude things as 'for a monster.'"
As a priest, I couldn't overlook it.
"Heh, you. You have a mouth on you. But look, we're monsters too."
"It's the same. And you were originally human, weren't you? If so, all the more reason."
She looked blank.
"Sorry about that. We didn't mean any harm. We weren't particularly making fun of that Arachne. Here, apologize."
"I see. Sorry."
She's surprisingly honest.
"Let's set aside the preamble and get started."
I thought they would announce their names like the warrior, but it started suddenly.
Just as the mage raised both hands, the space above our heads suddenly turned white. With a creaking sound, about ten icicles pointing toward us began to grow.
Fast! And it's Voiceless casting!
"Cancel!"
"Wind Barrier!"
"Glaciate!"
"Wind Barrier."
Canceling Magic Reflection, Lyudmila, Mary, and Beatrix created defensive barriers in that order. This kind of combination was drilled into us by Eleanor-sama. We had discussed it beforehand, but the three's reflexes were truly impressive.
Since Lyudmila made the first Wind Barrier in the shape of a ship's bow, the entire defensive wall took that shape. We were able to deflect the flying icicles to the left and right with a clank. It was also significant that the two vanguards, Beowulf and Will, supported the inner Wind Barrier.
"Heh, not bad. You immediately canceled Magic Reflection to make it possible to use attribute magic."
"Your icicle countermeasures are solid too. You knew that if you canceled carelessly, you'd be crushed by a mass of water, so you blocked it by creating an ice-attribute defensive wall without canceling. You're quite used to battle, aren't you?"
Everything's been seen through. If they know everything we're going to do, a surprise attack will be difficult.
(Hah!)
I let out a soft breath. This is about all I can do.
At the same time, the three canceled their defensive walls.
"Oops, is it Dark? You're quite something."
(Are you that relaxed!)
I let the pitch-black mist advance as it was.
"It's getting closer."
"Caution, caution."
Don't underestimate me, you jerk!
(Hah!)
I let out another breath.
With the effect of the Cat Stone, I advanced all at once to close the distance. Violet followed right behind me. Her four side legs extended to the left and right of my body. If anything happened, she would likely grab me and pull me back immediately. She's incredibly reliable.
(Fiona!)
"Lightning!"
At the same time, I aimed at the mage with a spear of light from my mouth. The spear of light that pierced through the black mist extended toward the female mage.
"What!"
It hit!
She twisted her body instinctively and avoided her vitals, but it pierced her left arm!
Fiona's lightning activation drew her attention. Besides, she probably had no experience facing Light magic.
"K-boom!"
Immediately after, Fiona's lightning struck the light infantryman. The light infantryman avoided it by doing a backflip. Normally, lightning falls from above. I pretended to aim for the female mage, but he avoided it easily. He's quite used to battle.
(Now!)
(Got it!)
The moment the Priestess canceled the Dark mist she had produced using my left hand, Beowulf charged at the female mage.
"You!"
She fired lightning horizontally with her remaining right hand. Thunderbolt, upper-level. It hit Beowulf, who was fired at from point-blank range. Beowulf, who took the hit, almost fell backward but managed to hold her ground. She held her shield and spear as she was.
"Th-this girl."
The mouth of the female Demon, who had a triumphant expression, twisted. She probably didn't think an upper-level spell, which couldn't be avoided due to the activation time, would be completely blocked.
As for the light infantryman, Bonnie fired arrows and Will fired throwing knives repeatedly to pin him down. Since they were aiming from the right to distance him from the mage, the distance between the two gradually opened, and finally, Mary froze the Wind Barrier Lyudmila had fired with Glaciate to create an ice wall, dividing the two. Furthermore, Will charged toward the light infantryman with a spear in hand.
When Beowulf lowered her posture to charge again, the female mage jumped back two, three steps. While jumping, she extended her remaining right hand to the side and canceled the Glaciate partition.
Lyudmila rapidly canceled the Wind Barrier. The canceled gust of wind struck the female mage, causing her to lose her balance and stumble.
"Th-this!"
Beowulf was not one to miss that. She closed the distance at once, and while thrusting her spear with her right hand, she swung up the Lindwurm greatshield she held in her left hand. He wouldn't have expected a heavy-looking greatshield to be swung at face height. It's Beowulf's specialty, made possible only because it was crafted from light Lindwurm scales.
The female mage, who fell for the first-seen trick, was slapped across the face and rolled away. She rolled on her own as she was, then got into a crouching stance on one knee. She's quite tough.
Beowulf, who failed to finish her, glared as she approached and raised her spear again.
Now!
"Holy Overflow! Holy Overflow!"
I fired two consecutive shots from the eight-shot port with reflection plates toward Beowulf's back. Simultaneously, the Priestess fired Holy Lance repeatedly from the orb I held in my left hand.
"Guaah!"
The Holy magic pierced through Beowulf and hit her directly.
This must have been effective. It's nothing to a human, but it's fatal once you've become a monster. Beowulf pounced. She mounted her just like that.
"I've got her!"
Beowulf's voice rose. We did it!
"You bastard!"
The light infantryman barked.
He had been pressing Will with two one-handed swords, but he threw one of them toward Beowulf.
Oh no!
The one-handed sword flew unerringly toward Beowulf's neck and pierced... or so I thought, but it hit with a clank and fell to the floor with a rattle.
"What!"
"An opening!"
Will pierced the light infantryman's torso with her silver spear. Is the match decided!
"Could it be, Almighty Guard?"
Ho ho. He saw through it even though I went to the trouble of casting Magic Reflection over Almighty Guard to deceive him.
"You're quite something for a human!"
To my surprise, he charged at Will with the spear still stuck in his belly. The spear buried itself deep into his abdomen, and his torso came right up to Will's hands. It was reckless. He tried to cling to Will with his arms spread wide.
Will tried to jump back and gain distance after letting go of the spear, but her arm was grabbed.
"Thunderbolt!"
It's lightning. Since they're in close contact, the effect of Magic Reflection is lost...
But, almost at the same time as or slightly earlier than the shout, Bonnie slammed into the grabbed arm as if pouncing on it, and the hand grabbing Will came loose. Will jumped back as she was to take distance, but Bonnie, who landed on the spot instead, was caught. Bonnie tried desperately to twist her body to avoid the lightning, but the upper-level lightning spell hit the man's body directly. There was no way to avoid it. Since it passed through the opponent's body, the power would drop slightly, but Bonnie would almost certainly be taken down with him.
"Kyaaaaa!"
Bonnie's scream echoed. The Priestess immediately fired an ultra-high-level Heal from the orb toward Bonnie.
Will, who ran over, slammed the light infantryman who was grabbing Bonnie's arm onto the floor, then stepped on his face and slit his throat with a silver knife.
"Bonnie! I'm sorry! Are you okay!"
Will pulled Bonnie up. Everyone rushed over at once.
"H-Hurt... I-I'm okay..."
Thank goodness. She was alive.
She was twitching and convulsing with her hair standing on end. The burns on her face were also severe. She seemed unable to speak properly, perhaps because she was numb, but if she's alive, she can be recovered.
When the Priestess fired another Heal from the orb, the burns healed and the twitching stopped.
Did the power drop because it passed through the opponent's body? Was it the effect of the Lindwurm leather armor and the Magic Defense Ring Eleanor-sama gave her? She did well to survive a direct hit from upper-level lightning with only that much damage. You can die even from a basic spell.
"That girl possesses a powerful spirit stone, does she not?"
Now that he mentioned it, that was true. She wore a pendant set with stones of two attributes.
You can't keep secrets from the Demon Lord.
"It is not particularly powerful, but it should be able to halve an upper-level spell. In addition, she has clothes and a ring with high magic defense. It is thanks to those effects that she was saved."
According to the Demon Lord, it was reduced to about the level of a high-end basic spell. On top of that, it wasn't a direct hit but indirect. That's why she got away with only this much.
But what does he mean by the stones of the four great spirits not being powerful?
"The stones this person is wearing were not made by a spirit in earnest. Those made in earnest are the stones Jeanne is wearing."
Is that so?
"Ehehe, the ones I got don't glow. I think they're just for communication."
Now that I think about it, I heard something like that.
Does that mean? The four stones I received have incredibly high magic defense?
"Jeanne should possess various spirit stones. In terms of magic defense alone, they can completely nullify an upper-level spell."
Is that so? I hadn't noticed because I'd never been hit by one before.
"As expected of someone with the 'decoy' attribute. You were even granted something like Almighty Guard. Shouldn't you just charge in alone without thinking about anything anymore?"
Beatrix, I don't think that's right.
The judgment was a victory. Two were defeated, and Bonnie, who needed rest, was dropped. She was sent back via Translate. I sent off the two monsters and returned their bodies to dust.
We decided to call it a day here.
We would rest until the next morning—I decided to have the guide tell me the time the sun rises—inside the barrier made of Violet's thread.
A banquet started immediately. Since we had the cart Violet was pulling, supplies were plentiful.
"It was a tactical victory. Splendid."
After the toast, the Demon Lord praised us.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything at the crucial moment."
Violet was looking dejected. Because of the Holy magic I was firing wildly, I had told her not to go to the front line. It seemed like a gap had opened up, given that the ghosts were fine as long as they merged.
But.
"What are you saying? You've practically defeated all the magic beasts on the way. And you're pulling the cart all by yourself."
Beatrix patted her shoulder to comfort her.
It was true. Magic beasts appeared on the way too. The Demon Lord should have chosen places with as little combat as possible. So, there weren't many opportunities to encounter them. However, Violet had defeated them all by herself.
"But the Demon Lord was with us. No matter how you look at it, they were terrified of that."
Well, that was certainly true. Normally, when encountering a magic beast, the opponent would mostly get into a combat stance. They would growl or lower their posture as if to pounce. Instead, they clearly looked frightened, tucking their tails and backing away.
"It was not just because I was there. It is because you are fast."
Violet was right next to me at first. The Demon Lord had egged her on. He said it would be faster if Violet did it alone if it was just magic beasts of this level. It must have also been effective that the Demon Lord said he would watch my back.
Just as the Demon Lord said, Violet was certainly fast. The opponents were magic beasts too. And they were all C-rank. They weren't opponents that could be defeated easily. Just as I thought she had disappeared, she had moved behind the opponent before I knew it. She stabbed them all at once from behind with her side legs. It was over in an instant. It was my first time seeing Violet's full-scale combat, but it's no wonder she tried to pick a fight with multiple Dragonewts. If she shows us something like that, even against a few of them, we'd just be a hindrance if we participated.
"Well, you know, I hunt all the time. That much is easy."
She says 'that much' easily, but a human couldn't do it.
"It's because someone as strong as Violet is with us that we can act decisively."
"That's right. The strongest among our companions is by Jeanne's side. There's nothing to worry about, right?"
"It's easy when you only have to worry about what's in front of you."
Beatrix, Mary, and Beowulf followed up.
"Umu. Even if we humans were to be annihilated, as long as we have the three-merged Jeanne and Violet, we'll manage somehow."
Will, that's a bit ominous.
"If the Demon Lord helped out more, Violet could go to the front too."
Lyudmila, I know you're joking because you're laughing, but that's a bit cheeky.
"Even if I do not step forward, the rear should be perfectly safe as long as the Arachne is there."
Hearing the Demon Lord's words, Lyudmila laughed with an "Ahaha."
Surprisingly, the Demon Lord checked Lyudmila. I thought he would just ignore her.
"Really?"
Violet looking up at me like that is cute.
"Yeah. It's more reassuring to have you by my side. If I withdraw, it's over."
When I glanced at the Demon Lord, he was drinking alcohol with an indifferent face. He's just like a certain someone.
"Understood. Then I'll stay by Jeanne's side."
"Thank you. I'm sorry for making you tag along."
"It's fine. Because Jeanne is challenging this to realize the coexistence and prosperity of humans and monsters."
"Yeah. If I miss this chance, I won't be able to challenge it again. I want to do at least what I can."
If I miss it this time, the next will probably be in a thousand years. Even if a new Demon Lord appeared, I naturally wouldn't be able to participate. Moreover, by then, mana would be thinner and learning magic would be much harder than it is now. In many ways, it might be the last chance.
"Alright, let's toast again! Come on, you too, Demon Lord. Now, cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Following Beatrix's call, we all toasted grandly.
According to the Demon Lord, the two this time make four people's worth. In other words, there are eight people's worth left, so four people. Let's do our best.