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Battle of Labyrinth City 

Satou here. I wish villains would wait to cause trouble until after mealtime is over. Anyone who causes mass chaos when people are in the middle of enjoying delicious food deserves punishment of the utmost severity. 

“Mew?” 

“What is it, Tama?” 

Hearing Pochi’s uncertain tone, I turned to see Tama looking around with her ears flat and her spine stretched. 

I know this pattern. 

A feeling of dread set in as I expanded my radar and map displays. 

“Oh-ho? What’s going on outside the guild there?” 

“The clerks are running outside. ’Sthere a fire or what?” 

I heard the foxfolk officer and Mr. Dozon commenting nearby. 

Quickly, I skimmed the information on my map. 

Are you serious? 

The cluster of red dots indicating the plunderers locked up in the dungeon had started getting sucked into a new, much bigger red dot—no, a red area—that was heading aboveground. 

According to the details on my map, it was a slime-type monster called a Squish Sphere. 

“Liza!” 

I closed my map and stood up. 

Liza quickly choked down the meat skewer she was holding and grabbed the Magic Spear leaning against the wall behind her. 

“Mew!” 

“Ish an emergenshee, shir.” 

Sensing the imminent danger from Liza’s posture, Tama and Pochi quickly gobbled up all the meat on their plates, hopped to their feet, and grabbed their helmets from the floor. 

They would’ve almost looked cool if their cheeks weren’t stuffed like chipmunks. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Damn, I’m sensin’ somethin’ powerful over there…” 

“Huh? What is it?” 

The more experienced explorers seemed to grasp the situation immediately, while the newer ones were confused. 

In fact, some of the rookies kept obliviously eating their food. 

“Waaaah!” 

“Wh-what is thaaat?!” 

As the onlookers screamed, a pink liquid burst out of the guild entrance. 

No, wait. That’s the thing I saw on my map… 

“Master, it is a giant slime, I report.” 

Nana’s face was emotionless as usual while she tightened the strap on her helmet. 

The pink liquid crashed into the plaza in waves, coming to a halt in a large, round shape. 

My AR display showed detailed information next to the giant slime. 

I was on guard because of its giant size, but in reality it was only a slime of level 40 or so. 

It had skills and a unique race ability like “Life Regeneration,” “Absorb,” “Amplify,” and Miasma Production. 

That last one was probably the most important point. And if I just activated my spirit light once I defeated it, I could probably purify the miasma caused by the skill in question, too. 

The more pressing matter was probably figuring out who’d set this giant pink slime loose to wreak havoc in the guild. 

And before I could even search my map, the culprits showed up of their own accord. 

“Master, look! Something came out!” 

“Black shadooows?” 

“They’re like people in strange armor, sir.” 

The black shadows that the beastfolk girls were pointing to emerged from behind the giant slime. According to my AR, they were lesser and intermediate demons. 

The demons glared at the fleeing humans and cackled maliciously. 

There were two intermediate demons and as many as ten lesser ones. 

My map said there was another lesser demon patrolling near the west guild building, but there were no humans in danger there, so I decided he could wait until later. 

“A-are those demons?” Arisa gasped. 

“How can there be that many demons if a demon lord hasn’t been revived?” Dozon shook his head disbelievingly. 

“Kinkuri, can you see?” 

“Juuust a minute…” 

Next to Dozon, the captain asked the foxfolk officer to have a look with his longscope. 

“…Geh, they really are demons. And I can’t even see the information for two of them. The big ones in the middle—I think they’re intermediate.” 

At that, the rookie explorers turned pale and started fleeing along with the staff of the bar. 

“Looks like this’ll be my last battle.” 

General Erthal stepped forward with his mithril sword in hand. 

“Guildmaster, I’ll buy you some time for a chant. As soon as it’s finished, burn up those demons and the giant slime, and me along with them.” 

Speaking without looking back, General Erthal looked like a badass legendary hero. 

Between the level-41 general, the level-37 captain, the level-52 magic-using guildmaster, and the level-43 Miss Sebelkeya, I didn’t think we were in such dire straits, but I didn’t want to ruin the mood. 

If things got too out of hand, I could step in for them. 

“Goodness, talk about putting an old lady to work.” 

The guildmaster grumbled as she drank a potion that instantly cured her inebriation. 

“I’ve no intention of burning you with them, though. Just delay them somehow and get out of there.” 

“I’ll give you the signal,” Sebelkeya added. 

“Come with me, Bahman.” 

“Of course, sir.” 

The captain followed behind the general. 

“I’d really rather not…” 

The foxfolk man covered his head preemptively, but the usual punishing fist didn’t come. 

“Kinkuri, go down to the labyrinth army barracks and get backup.” 

“All right. Don’t die, you two…” 

The foxfolk officer saluted and ran off at considerable speed. 

“…… ? Iron Protection Koutetsu Shugo.” 

Sebelkeya finished a chant. 

With a mysterious visual effect like armor wrapping around his clothes, General Erthal’s outfit suddenly took on the defense power of full armor. 

Of course, I also cast Enchant: Physical Protection on him in time with her spell. 

Sebelkeya looked confused for a second but then glanced at me and seemed to understand. 

I didn’t want to attract any attention by clarifying what I’d done, so I just pretended not to notice. 

“Huh! So this is the support magic of a former Hero’s follower… See ya later, Guildmaster. I’m gonna back up His Excellency the general.” 

Patting his own arms, Mr. Dozon hefted a giant hammer and ran after General Erthal. 

If what he said was true, then Miss Sebelkeya was in a previous Hero’s party. I’d have to ask her about it sometime over drinks. 

“Lady Ravna, could you take Princess Meetia to safety and inform His Excellency the viceroy of this situation?” 

“Understood!” 

“W-wait, Ravna—” 

The stern-faced knight lifted the tiny princess under one arm and rushed out of the bar. 

The two Lovely Wings were still around, so I asked them to start evacuating nearby residents. 

“Shall we get going, too, then?” 

There was a brief flash of surprise across my companions’ faces when I called to them. 

Did they think I was going to leave them here even though they were battle ready? 

“Now, that’s more like it!” 

Arisa recovered and exclaimed with her usual excitement, and the other kids gave a chorus of cheers in response. 

“Of course, master!” 

“I’m gonna wiiin?” 

“Pochi’ll work hard, too, sir!” 

“Yes, master.” 

“Mm. Got it.” 

“I’ll try to snipe them from a distance.” 

Our enemies’ levels ranged from 30 to 40 at the highest. 

The intermediate demons were higher levels than my kids, but none of them had any particularly threatening skills or magic except one lesser demon inside the building, so they would probably be fine with my support. 

“Satou, wait.” 

But for some reason, the guildmaster stopped me. 

“What is it?” 

If we didn’t hurry up and help them, General Erthal and the others might get hurt. 

“Intermediate demons aren’t like lesser ones. We can’t lose promising youngsters like you here. Go meet up with the viceroy to make a comeback plan and leave this to us adults.” 

The guildmaster was uncharacteristically serious. 

Judging by her grim expression, she probably thought they were going to lose to these demons and the giant slime, just like General Erthal did. 

“We’ll be fine—don’t worry.” 

I smiled reassuringly. 

Intermediate or not, I could still defeat it with one strike if I aimed for its core; the only real difference was the slightly higher level. 

“Satou, pride will only lead to your own—” 

“Let him go, Zona.” 

Miss Sebelkeya interrupted the guildmaster, gesturing for us to go on ahead. 

The guildmaster turned to argue with her, but I had no time to watch the two bickering, so my group and I left the bar. 

For some reason, there were fires breaking out all over the ground leading to the guild plaza. 

 

“Master, here they come!” 

I followed Liza’s gaze upward to see countless fireballs streaking toward us. 

They landed some distance away from us, setting fire to the ground like napalm bombs from a movie and producing black smoke as they continued to burn. 

All the smoke made it difficult to see, but when I looked around, I saw explorers fighting lesser demons and their minions all over the plaza. 

There seemed to be many a courageous fighter in Labyrinth City; I saw several bloodied battle junkies grinning ferociously as they fought. 

A few explorers had collapsed with mortal wounds, so I used Magic Hand to sprinkle potions on anyone in range. 

“Master, should you really be doing something so flashy?” 

“Yeah, it’s fine.” 

Arisa seemed concerned that I was displaying my mysterious abilities way too much, since I normally hated standing out. 

But unless someone was watching from above like a god, most people would probably just assume somebody gave them a potion or someone used Healing Magic on them. 

“Woooo! I can still fight!” 

“Let’s bring these demons dooown!” 

A few of the dimmer bulbs among them promptly ran back into the fray, heedless of their own lack of strength, but I ignored them and looked around the area. 

General Erthal and the vanguard had already engaged in battle with the leading intermediate demon. 

Looking at it now, the intermediate demon was actually very big. 

General Erthal was a considerably tall fellow, but this creature was several times his size. 

My AR display showed that the demon, which had an insect-like black exoskeleton, was level 44. 

“Master, theeere?” 

Tama pointed at a lizard-like lesser demon lurking behind the giant slime, his elongated throat glowing red. 

That was probably where the napalm-like fire was coming from, then. 

He was being guarded by the other intermediate demon, a female eight-legged silver creature, so the explorers couldn’t get close enough to fight him. 

And even as I looked on, the lesser demon opened his mouth to fire again. 

“Waaah, we’re in dangerous danger, sir!” 

Pochi flailed in a panic. 

You think I’d let that happen? 

I produced a pebble from Storage and flung it right at the lesser demon’s glowing red throat. 

The pebble flew so fast, it nearly broke the sound barrier, bursting right through the demon’s neck. 

The impact caused a rather interesting reaction: The lesser demon’s throat ruptured, and napalm-like liquid gushed out, setting fire to the other demons around him. 

“Master, here comes another.” 

At Liza’s warning, I turned to see a lesser demon charging toward us. 

“DERIDERIDELYEEEEN.” 

The female demon, who had the lower half of a spider and the upper half of a humanoid praying mantis, let out a strange cry. 

Her four mantis arms were all shaped like swords and scythes. 

“Achilles Hunterrr?” 

“Take this, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi weaved toward the creature, slashing at her pivot legs. 

“Come forth, ‘Spellblade’!” 

Liza applied “Spellblade” to her Magic Spear and charged directly toward the demon. 

Not far behind her was Nana, her shield at the ready. 

The demon stopped in place, swinging at the group with her four blade arms. 

“Have a little Deracinator!” 

Arisa’s barrier blocked the demon’s arms, giving Tama and Pochi an opening to slash up her forelegs. 

The demon’s dark-gray breasts split into eight spikes, shooting toward Liza and Nana. 

“Orb-weaver spiders are not sexy, I criticize!” 

Nana’s bizarre shout was laden with her “Taunt” skill, so all the spikes turned to target her. 

With the added power of Flexible Shield and “Body Strengthening,” Nana was easily able to knock back the spikes, which stabbed deep into the cobblestone ground instead. 

“‘Triple Helix Spear Attack’!” 

Liza’s special move pierced deep into the chest of the demon’s spider body. 

“DERIDERIDELYEEEEN.” 

Without twitching an eyebrow at the demon’s shriek, Liza pushed her spear in deeper, with magic blades rotating around it in a helix that drilled even further through the creature’s body. 

“Take this!” 

Lulu shot with her Fireburst Gun, taking out one of the demon’s compound eyes. 

“…… ? Blood Blaster Ketsueki Bakusan.” 

Next, Mia’s Water Magic spell altered the demon’s blood, turning it into blades that expanded the demon’s wounds until her head exploded. 

This was my first attempt at blood-altering magic, which I’d thought of after hearing about the vampire-like Blue People, but I decided to tell Mia not to use it anymore. 

It was just too gory, and I didn’t want to have nightmares. 

“DERIDELYEEEEN.” 

The demon’s humanoid upper half slumped lifelessly, and the spider lower half split open to reveal giant fangs. 

“……?. Here comes a hot one!” 

Finishing her chant, Arisa shouted to the rest of the group. 

“A knock back with a shield bash, I declare.” 

Nana struck the spidery demon with her shield, forcing her backward, then leaping away from her. 

Liza put some distance between herself and the demon with a nimble backstep, and Pochi tumbled to the side from her in somersault-like motions. 

Somehow, Tama was already standing by my side. 

She’s like a ninja. 

“Blast Shot Goukadan!” 

Arisa’s intermediate Fire Magic spell shot straight into the demon’s mouth, incinerating her from the inside. 

Yet even after an attack like that, the demon’s health had gone down by only about 40 percent. 

I guess demons are pretty tough, even the lesser ones. 

“Lulu, aim for the core.” 

“R-right!” 

Arisa’s attack had revealed the demon’s core, at which Lulu fired a shot. 

“Blocked, huh?” 

“Yeah, she must have some kind of barrier.” 

Right before hitting the core, the Fireburst Bullet had bounced off some kind of protective red light. 

I flicked my wrist, tossing a small stone at the core. 

The same light appeared and shattered the stone, but its fragments didn’t lose all their momentum, so a spray of stone pieces wound up splintering the core. 

“Up in smoooke?” 

“She turned into a cloud and disappeared, sir.” 

With her core destroyed, the demon turned into a black cloud and vanished as usual. 

Tama and Pochi seemed disappointed that there was no corpse left. 

It was good that they were so willing to eat monster meat and all, but I definitely couldn’t eat anything that was half-humanoid anyway. 

“Mister! Look out!” 

Someone called from behind me. 

Nearby, I saw a garnet-badge explorer spurt blood and collapse. 

I couldn’t see what he’d been fighting. 

“He can turn invisible!” 

A middle-aged man shouted a warning as he ran over to rescue the fallen explorer. 

Maybe it’s sort of like the chameleon plunderer from the labyrinth? 

I drew my fairy sword, slicing through the invisible demon with a single slash. 

“GUHEOOOOH.” 

The demon let out a dying howl as he turned into black smoke and vanished, leaving behind a softball-size core. 

“You never cease to impress, master.” 

“Buenooo?” 

“You’re amazingly amazing, sir!” 

“My highest praise to master, I declare.” 

Okay, let’s save the flattery for after the fight is over. 

It wasn’t that hard to figure out where he was anyway, since he had shown up on my radar and had an AR display next to him. 

“Damn, how’d he do that?” 

“He felled a demon in a single blow!” 

I heard people murmuring in amazement behind me. 

Deciding to save my excuses for later, I settled on a wave of thanks to the person who’d given us the warning. 

“Next ooone?” 

“Let’s keep it up!” 

We made our way toward General Erthal, taking down lesser demons as we went. 

I was concerned that there would be more casualties if I used this as an opportunity for the girls’ training, so I snuck in my own attacks with theirs to keep the fights short. 

“Who in the world are they?” 

“They’re all women and kids, but they’re just as strong as Jelil or Zarigon!” 

“You don’t know? They’re the guildmaster’s favorite party.” 

“I thought he won her over with booze and snacks, but he’s actually really strong!” 

The explorers chorused in amazement as they watched our fight. 

All of them were riddled with wounds; even the ones who were higher level than the demons were severely injured. 

I guess demons are a lot more difficult than normal monsters. 

“Here, please use this. It’s a magic potion.” 

“Wh-what is a maid doing here?” 

“I…owe ya one.” 

I had Lulu distribute magic potions to anyone who looked close to death. 

They were watered-down potions that I’d made to hand out, but they would serve well enough as first aid. 

Unlike before, these explorers were pretty close, which was why I refrained from using Magic Hand to give out potions this time. 

“Watch out! Behind you!” 

One of the explorers who was drinking a potion stopped and shouted. 

A big, bearlike lesser demon was charging at Lulu’s back. 

Of course, I’d already noticed his proximity, but I just watched with Magic Hand at the ready. 

Realizing that she didn’t have enough time to grab her Fireburst Gun, Lulu chose a different course of action. 

“Hi-ya!” 

With a cute little squeak, Lulu sent the bear demon flying through the air. It was one of the moves she’d learned in her self-defense courses in the elf village. 

Even the bear demon seemed surprised to be thrown by the delicate Lulu; he hit the ground looking as if he had forgotten to counterattack. 

“Damn…” 

“That’s one hell of a strong maid.” 

“Maybe she’s no ordinary maid, y’think?” 

“Well, what is she, then?” 

“She’s gotta be the legendary Maid King, strongest of all the maids!” 

The surreal scene had apparently made the explorers lose their senses a bit. 

That was all well and good, but I thought Lulu should be called a queen, not a king. 

“GUROROROWN.” 

The bear demon roared with rage. 

“That’s our next target!” 

“Got it!” 

At Arisa’s command, the beastfolk girls rushed the bear demon. 

Lulu quickly grabbed her Fireburst Gun. 

Noticing the explorers staring at her, she drew back nervously. 

“E-erm…” 

With a quick curtsy, Lulu dashed back toward the rest of the group. 

“We better step it up, too.” 

“Let’s show ’em what us veteran explorers are made of!” 

“““Yeah!””” 

Their spell of insanity seemed to be over. 

It was good to be enthusiastic and all, but I wished they would value their lives a bit more as they fought. 

“That all you got, old man?!” 

“Your Excellency!” 

From the front lines of the battle, I heard a loud clang and the raspy shout of the captain. 

I dodged the demon that was blocking my vision, leaving my companions to finish him off as I ran forward. 

From the look of things, General Erthal had gotten into trouble while we were fighting off this demon. 

I guess Sebelkeya’s and my defense magic wasn’t enough to keep him completely safe while fighting an intermediate demon. 

“I won’t let you!” 

“Outta the way, small fry!” 

The labyrinth army captain rushed to protect the general with his shield, but the demon with the insect-like exoskeleton kicked him away. 

Dozon had already been blown off the battlefield and was in the middle of being healed by a lovely priestess. 

“Found you, Pendragon.” 

The demon looked straight at me as he spoke. 

For a demon, his speech was surprisingly normal and fluent, without any weird sentence endings. 

“Sorry, I don’t have any demon acquaintances.” 

I spoke lightly, buying time for General Erthal to drink a potion. 

While I was at it, I opened the map and inspected the demon’s detailed information. 

I’d checked only his levels and special skills before. 

“Have you forgotten my face already?” 

With a crunching sound, the exoskeleton helmet opened to reveal a humanoid face within. 

The features were human enough, but the skin was a dark red that was almost jet-black, so he didn’t appear to be a human in armor. 

However, that face did look familiar. 

“…Ludaman.” 

The Plunderer King Ludaman sneered triumphantly. 

I scanned the information in my AR display. 

His race now read Demon, overlapped by Demonic Human, but his name field still said Ludaman. 

This was merely a guess, but I’d be willing to bet that a lackey of Yellow Robes—the yellow-skinned demon—had given him a short horn or long horn to turn himself into a demon. 

The other ones’ races had only indicated Demon, and they didn’t have names. 

I contemplated all this in less than a second, then started searching my map for the culprit even as I prepared for battle. 

No likely suspects caught my eye. The green-clad noble was nearby, but he appeared to be in the giant slime’s stomach. 

I didn’t see anyone else, so I decided to just ask. 

“So when did you quit being a human and turn into a demon?” 

“Just a few minutes ago.” 

Ludaman turned his right arm into an ax. 

That’s pretty impressive. 

“Who gave you the horn?” 

“I’ll tell ya if ya beat me.” 

Ludaman sneered nastily. 

Clearly, he had no intention of answering my questions. 

“I’ll be killin’ ya nice and slow for all the trouble ya caused me.” He licked his lips. “I’ll crush yer arms and legs so ya can’t move, then kill those kids and ravage those women in front of ya, one by one.” 

Okay, he’s dead. 

Ludaman’s taunts caused dangerous thoughts to run through my mind. 

“…Could I give you one piece of advice?” 

“Hunh? If ya wanna beg for yer life, go right ahead.” 

“You should probably keep that face mask closed.” 

Suddenly, Mia’s Blood Blaster spell burst through Ludaman’s face. 

“GUUUUUH!” 

I guess demons still feel pain. 

“I’ll kill ya! I’ll kill ya dead, Pendragon!” 

“You sure about that?” 

General Erthal and the captain seemed to have recovered. 

I turned to look for Dozon, but he and the priestess were nowhere to be seen. 

“Master!” 

Arisa contacted me with the Telephone spell. 

“The slime’s making its move. It isn’t going anywhere, but it’s using its tentacles to grab dying people and pull them in.” 

I used “Parallel Thoughts” to keep talking to Ludaman while looking at the semitransparent slime. 

The outlines of several dozen people were visible inside it. 

Checking my map’s detailed information, I found that most of them were still alive. 

Strangely, when their health bars were nearly depleted, they would recover a certain amount. 

That must be the slime’s “Life Regeneration” skill at work. 

As for the reason, the race-specific inherent ability Miasma Production in the slime’s AR made it all too clear, along with the agonized faces of the people inside. 

It was probably using their pain to produce more miasma. 

“Eyes on me, bastaaard!” 

The glowing black ax swung down toward me, but I parried it with my fairy sword. 

Experimentally, I tried producing “Spellblade” only on the area of the blade that was making contact with the ax in order to protect it. 

Manipulating the magic was difficult, but it cost less power than regular “Spellblade.” Not by much, though. 

“GRAAAH!” 

Ludaman followed up the slash attack with a flying kick, so I jumped aside. 

Then the rest of my group entered the fray. 

“Achilles Hunterrr?” 

“Slash, sir!” 

As usual, Tama and Pochi leaped in to slash at Ludaman’s legs. 

At the same time, Liza jabbed her spear at his thigh as he tried to kick them away. 

“Look out!” 

The short demon tail that had grown on Ludaman’s backside split into two, trying to pierce Pochi’s and Tama’s heads. 

I quickly used Magic Hand to stop them, but it turned out that I was just being overprotective. 

“Emergency dooodge?” 

Tama pushed Pochi down, the impact moving both of them out of the way of the tails. 

The spikes jabbed into the ground instead, sending rock and dirt flying everywhere. 

Meanwhile, Liza continued attacking Ludaman with her spear. 

He dodged her thrusts with a short jump, then aimed an overhead kick at me in midair. 

Perfect. 

I let the kick hit me head-on, sending me flying toward the giant slime. 

“““Master!””” 

My friends’ distressed cries pained me, but I’d done this on purpose. 

“Are you all right?” 

Arisa contacted me via Telephone. 

“Yeah, of course.” 

“Okaaay?” 

“Thank goodness, sir.” 

I could hear Tama’s and Pochi’s voices, too. 

Just as I was about to apologize for worrying them, I crashed right into the giant slime. 

Obviously, I didn’t want my clothes to dissolve, so I activated “Magic Power Armor” to protect myself from the corrosive slime. 

“I switched to the advanced Space Magic spell Tactical Talk, since I figured it’d be more convenient during battle.” 

“Good thinking.” 

Praising Arisa’s quick wit, I checked my radar. 

There, I saw Liza’s marker running toward me at full speed, only to stop and head back to the others. 

I guess I’d really worried them. 

“Master, requesting battle instructions.” 

I examined the other lights on the radar. 

General Erthal and company seemed to be coming back to the battlefield, as if to replace me. 

“Let the general and the captain take the front lines and just back them up as needed.” 

“Understood.” 

The demonified Ludaman was a higher level than my kids. There was no way I wanted them to be fighting him up close while I wasn’t around. 

“I’ll come back as soon as I rescue the people inside this slime.” 

“Can help.” 

“Mia, you support Liza and the others, please.” 

Having stopped right in the center of the slime, I marked on my map all the people who needed rescue. 

There were more of them than I’d expected; everyone who was still fully intact was alive. 

But if I took too long cutting up the slime to save them, there would probably be more casualties before long. 

Confirming the markers’ positions in my map’s 3-D view, I put “Spellblade” on the ends of each of my fingertips. 

Cut. 

Thin red lines lit up the slime from the inside, and in the next instant, it was reduced to a puddle of pink liquid on the ground. 

“The slime’s core has been destroyed! Quickly, carry out the wounded!” 

I shouted to the explorers and guild employees who were watching from safe hiding places. 

For some reason, this slime didn’t actually have a core, but it had been destroyed just as easily, so that probably didn’t matter. 

Isn’t that…? 

In the corner of my vision, I saw the top half of the green-clad noble. 

I looked around, but his lower half was nowhere to be seen. The slime must have melted it. 

I despised this man, and it was very likely that he was the one who’d turned Ludaman and his henchmen into demons, but I still couldn’t bring myself to turn my back on anyone near death. 

Walking to what was left of his body, I poured an intermediate potion over the gaping wound, using intermediate Healing Magic from my magic menu at the same time. 

Of course, even that wouldn’t miraculously restore his lower half. 

“Pendra…” 

Opening his eyes slightly, the green-clad noble started to speak but collapsed into my arms before he could finish. 

He must have really passed out. I guess the old saying Ill weeds grow apace is true, since this evil bastard had managed to survive such a mortal wound. 

But I could question him later. For now, I shoved the green-clad noble into the hands of a guild employee who came running up. 

“Master, help us!” 

As soon as I heard Arisa’s voice, I dashed toward her and the rest of my group. 

The silver intermediate demon who’d been protecting the napalm lizard was giving them a great deal of trouble. 

Even as I watched, he sent the beastfolk girls skidding across the ground. 

The silver demon started to charge after them, so Nana stepped in to protect the girls. 

But the silver intermediate demon’s eight arms knocked her out of her stance, and a blade went careening toward her face. 

Look out! 

I tossed a flash bomb right into the intermediate demon’s face. 

It was the one I’d gotten from Mr. Dozon at the rookie explorers’ class. 

In the instant that the flash filled our surroundings with light, I used “Warp” to get close enough to kick the demon’s arm away, then teleported back to my original position before the light faded. 

The demon’s arm went flying off and knocked down one of the spires of the guild building, but we’d just call that a necessary sacrifice. 

Keeping Nana from getting seriously injured was far more important than any building. 

“Demon!” 

“KILLKWYEEEELKKILLLL.” 

I used the “Taunt” skill with my shout, drawing the silver demon to attack me instead. 

Her whole body was practically made out of blades. 

I blocked the barrage of attacks from her seven remaining arms with my fairy sword, watching to make sure that my companions were able to drink potions and restore their health. 

Still, this thing’s attacks were a lot sharper than you’d expect for level 40. 

I understood why Liza and the others were having trouble. 

“Sir Satou, move away from the demon!” 

As I warded off the attacks, inwardly a little impressed, I heard Miss Sebelkeya shout from behind me. 

I grabbed one of the silver demon’s lancelike arms and used centrifugal force to swing it around and toss the demon toward the guildmaster. 

“…… ? Inferno Kaen Jigoku!!” 

As her voice rang out, the guildmaster unleashed a swirling mass of crimson flames. 

Using Magic Hand, I grabbed the silver intermediate demon and held her in midair so she couldn’t flee once she landed. 

As she kicked in the air like a cartoon character, the inferno crashed into her, sending heat and flames flying around. 

The heat rolling off her was so violent that it threatened to burn anyone nearby. 

“Did that kill her?!” 

The guildmaster’s unnecessary words invoked a Nope, she’s still alive flag. 

Writhing in the flames, the silver demon still had more than half of her health left. 

Using the flames as cover, I used “Warp” to get closer and cracked her core with a “Spellblade”-infused stone spear. 

“Thank you, Guildmaster!” 

Confirming that the demon had turned into black smoke amid the flames, I called out thanks to the guildmaster as she held her staff aloft in the distance. 

Thanks to her, I was able to avoid the problematic reputation of having defeated an intermediate demon single-handedly. 

“There you are, master.” 

“Are you hurt?” 

Liza and the rest of the group came running over, their healing finished. 

“I’m sorry I took so long to help.” 

“No, if we had only been stronger—” 

Arisa interrupted my and Liza’s apologetic loop. “Save all that for later! We’ve got to help the general with that other intermediate demon, and fast!” 

“Don’t worry about that. Just help out over there, please.” I pointed at some explorers who were struggling against a few lesser demons. 

Backup would arrive soon, but I was afraid they’d run out of strength before that happened. 

“Okey-dokey! But what about the general?” 

“I’ll go back him up myself.” 

As I spoke, my eyes were on Ludaman, who was toying with the general like a cat would a mouse. 

 

“I’ll take it from here. Drink this potion, please.” 

Blocking Ludaman’s ax arm with my fairy sword, I called out to General Erthal, who was wheezing heavily. 

“M-my thanks, Sir Pendragon.” 

“Think you’re getting away?!” 

As General Erthal retreated, Ludaman attempted to jump over my head and finish him off. 

Fortunately, a stone pillar rose from the ground to stop him. 

That was most likely the magic of Miss Sebelkeya behind me. 

Ludaman furiously destroyed the pillar, but this time a giant ball of flame flew at him with a roar. 

“Tch! I’ve had enough of your meddling, old hag!” 

Ludaman created a black barrier in front of himself, blocking the powerful fire spell. 

Since it was cast by a mighty level-52 mage, the flames broke through the barrier in moments, singeing his bug-like carapace until steam rose from the joints. 

“Should you really be taking your eyes off me?” 

As I watched, Ludaman attempted to charge the area where the guildmaster was encamped, so I slashed at him from the side. 

He counterattacked with an ax arm, but I parried that and sliced the arm off at the elbow. 

It was pretty tough, but nothing my fairy sword couldn’t handle with a touch of “Spellblade” at the moment of impact. 

“What the hell are you?!” Ludaman roared. 

Since turning into a demon, his voice had become considerably more shrill, lacking impact. 

“A noble and a garnet-badge explorer, I suppose?” 

“Even Erthal’s mithril sword couldn’t cut me, so how the hell did you slice off my arm?! Who are you really?!” 

Wow, is he really that tough? 

Ludaman attempted to ward me away with punches and kicks, but I refused to let him put any distance between us, focusing on buying time. 

“Maybe the guildmaster’s Fire Magic weakened your armor?” 

“Like hell!” 

Giving an arbitrary excuse, I watched my radar and saw that General Erthal was returning to the front lines. 

It would be a pain if Ludaman stayed that tough, so I made what appeared to be feint swings in order to slice a bunch of tiny cuts in his armor. 

“Thanks for holding things down here, Sir Pendragon.” 

“The guildmaster’s magic seems to have weakened the demon’s armor.” 

“That’s excellent news.” 

General Erthal wore a fatigued grimace. 

Since he seemed to be getting tired, we’d have to put an end to this fast. 

I blocked Ludaman whenever he attempted to attack General Erthal and got in his way whenever he attempted to dodge. 

“Aaaaargh! Help me out here, you lot!” 

Ludaman called out to the surviving demons, but none of them was able to respond. 

“I’ll make you regret turning to the path of evil!” 

General Erthal’s sword cut deep into Ludaman’s leg. 

The demon dropped to his knee, and Sebelkeya’s Spears Field spell tore into him, countless silver spear tips bursting from the ground. 

“GROOOOORRR!” 

Ludaman was knocked backward as he howled. 

Several Magic Bullets followed close behind. 

“So they’re finally here?” 

The labyrinth army’s giant golems were approaching from the other side of the plaza. 

The Magic Bullets just now had been from the mages riding in the golems. 

And from the east, the direction of the viceroy’s castle… 

“Guillotine Blade!” 

The gallant knight Lady Ravna appeared, unleashing an attack on Ludaman’s back with a flash of red light. 

Behind her was one of the viceroy’s guardian knights. 

The other three had stayed behind to protect the viceroy. 

“Shiga Sword Style—Secret Technique Cherry Blossom Flash!” 

The viceroy’s guardian knight leaped in from the other side, sweeping downward with a special move laced with “Spellblade.” 

Pinkish-red shards of light flew from the blade, scattering like cherry blossom petals. 

It was quite a pretty move; I’d have to learn how to do it sometime. 

Behind them, I saw some soldiers readying a Magic Cannon on a cart. 

Well, this is going great now. 

If this were an anime, I bet the theme song would be playing in the background. 

“YOU DAMN PIP-SQUEAKS! I’LL—!!” 

As Ludaman bellowed, fireballs of various sizes hit him in the face. 

This time they’d come from the guildmaster and Arisa. 

Mia was too focused on healing and support at the moment to pitch in with an attack. 

Ludaman staggered and dropped to the ground, and I pinned his right arm down with a stone spear, flipped him over, and cut off his left arm. 

“Your Excellency, now!” 

“Go to hell, Ludaman!” 

“UAAAARGH!” 

General Erthal’s “Spellblade”-infused mithril blade swung down and sliced off Ludaman’s head—or so it seemed. 

The explorers and soldiers filled the plaza with cheers. 

I heard the head hit the ground and saw Ludaman’s body start to go up in black smoke, so I didn’t watch too closely. 

Even if I’d set up General Erthal to finish him off, I didn’t want to watch a demonified human die. 

Turning my back on the severed head, I started walking toward my friends. 

“Mew!” 

Tama was slumped like a sack of potatoes in Liza’s arms, but then her ears suddenly flattened, and she looked up sharply. 

A red light appeared on my radar. 

Quickly, I whirled toward the direction of the light. 

 

“Indeed, indeed, transport, indeed.” 

A green lesser demon with a strange way of speaking was emerging from the cobblestones that were coated in the giant pink slime’s remains. 

He was mostly comprised of a single giant eyeball that had sprouted limbs and wings, most likely a different-colored variation of the first lesser demon I’d ever seen back in Seiryuu City. 

The eyeball demon looked around, noticed that his allies were gone, and dropped the bundle he was carrying. 

According to my AR, the contents were the demonic-potion pills I’d confiscated from the plunderers. Ludaman had probably ordered him to retrieve them. 

“Indeed, indeed, how embarrassing, indeed.” 

The eyeball demon picked up Ludaman’s head and began tossing it from hand to hand. 

“So there’s still another demon left?” 

“Looks that way.” 

As I responded to Arisa, I pulled my stone spear out of the ground. 

It was in poor taste to toy with a dead body, even that of a criminal. 

Besides, though the eyeball demon was only level 30, he had dangerous skills like “Psychic Magic” and “Shadow Magic,” so I wanted to dispatch him as quickly as possible. 

“Indeed, indeed, revival, ind—” 

An ominous magic circle appeared below the eyeball demon, and I flung the spear, piercing straight through the center of the giant eyeball. 

The magic circle disappeared, and the eyeball demon sank, twitching, into the pink puddle. 

But in the next moment— 

A geyser of pink liquid burst up from the ground, forming a humanoid shape some fifty feet tall. 

According to my AR display, he was a level-50 intermediate demon. 

And his name was…Ludaman. 

Here I thought only tokusatsu villains got revived in giant form when they were defeated. 

Ludaman didn’t have any revival-related skills, so I assumed the pink slime had come back to life, absorbed Ludaman, and revived him as well. 

“Doesn’t he know villains aren’t supposed to come back stronger when they get revived like this?” 

Arisa seemed to have used her Status Check gift to read Ludaman’s information. 

“This wretch just won’t go down…” 

General Erthal glared up at the humanoid creature’s face. 

The labyrinth army started to attack, but both physical and magical shots were simply absorbed into the demon without causing any damage. 

I wanted to turn into Nanashi or Kuro and defeat him, but that would be difficult to do with so many people all around. 

My best bet was probably to have the guildmaster defeat him with advanced attack magic. 

“PWEEEENNN.” 

As the unstable new form of Ludaman continually collapsed and re-formed, he howled and looked down at us. 

“DOOOOORAWA.” 

His hate-filled eyes were turned straight toward me. 

Oops. I guess he hates me now. 

“Guildmaster! I’ll lure Ludaman close to the labyrinth gates! Give me a signal when your spell is ready, please!” 

Calling out to the guildmaster, I ran toward the empty area in front of the labyrinth gates, taking care not to use “Flashrunning” or “Warp.” 

With each step the giant Ludaman took, a loud rumble echoed, the cobblestones breaking below our feet. 

“Everyone, stand by—No, get to a safe distance and give me some cover fire!” 

I gave an order through the still-connected Tactical Talk. 

The guildmaster’s advanced spells had a very wide range after all. 

“GWOOOOONWN.” 

I was starting to feel like I was in a giant-monster movie as I reached the labyrinth gates. 

The revived Ludaman’s movements seemed sluggish but were deceptively fast, since he was ten times my size. He caught up to me in a matter of moments, bringing down his giant fist. 

The fist crushed the ground beneath it, sending up a splash of pink liquid. 

Wherever the liquid hit stone, it produced a sizzle of white smoke—it must have been acid, then. 

I hopped away lightly, dodging the flying fist and acid spray. 

As I fled, I tried to talk to the revived Ludaman, but he no longer seemed capable of understanding or responding to speech. 

“Protect Sir Pendragon!” 

On the captain’s command, the labyrinth army golems lurched into the area in front of the gates. 

Facing the gigantic Ludaman, the six metal golems looked about as powerful as preschool children. 

“We’re ready over here! Come back!” 

After I ran around for a little longer, General Erthal’s shout echoed across the plaza. 

The guildmaster’s chant must finally have finished. 

The golems grabbed onto Ludaman’s legs to help me escape. 

Even in this form, Ludaman seemed to deeply despise me; he attempted to give chase, dragging the golems along. 

Then a giant hand stopped him. 

Emerging from the broken cobblestones, the hand quickly turned into the upper half of a giant golem, grabbing Ludaman’s waist and preventing his movements. 

“Hurry, Sir Pendragon! That golem won’t last long!” 

I heard Miss Sebelkeya calling out and my companions cheering me on. 

Just as I escaped from the bowl-shaped entrance to the labyrinth, the guildmaster’s staff unleashed a torrent of crimson flame. 

“UOOOOOOHHHWN.” 

Ludaman’s final form unleashed a howl and began to crumble in the flames. 

“Good work, master. Looks like we’re finally done here, huh?” 

Gazing up at the giant pillar of flame burning against the night sky, Arisa handed me a damp towel. 

I looked up, too, as I wiped the grime from my face. 

The creature had already lost its human shape, reduced to a loose column of water. 

But even now, the revived Ludaman’s health bar hadn’t hit zero. 

Once it reached around 10 percent, the speed of its reduction slowed, and at times it even wavered back up like an ocean tide. 

“That’s not good.” 

“…Huh?” 

My compatriots looked at me with concern. 

I checked the guildmaster’s and Miss Sebelkeya’s status, but neither of them seemed to be in any condition to deal the finishing blow. 

They’d run out of magic and gone into an overdose state from using too many magic recovery potions. There seemed to be a cooldown period for using too many potions, like in a game. 

The Practical Magic spell Mana Transfer would probably work differently, but I couldn’t just use that here. 

“It’s fine.” 

I had a backup plan for such an occasion. 

Searching through Storage, I started preparing for one last move. 

“But…” 

Arisa pointed up at the creature that had been Ludaman, which was starting to re-form into an even larger humanoid shape. 

I patted the younger kids on the head to reassure them. 

“Don’t worry.” 

Then I pointed up at the sky above the re-revived Ludaman. 

“Black shadooow?” 

“Someone’s there, sir!” 

Tama’s and Pochi’s exclamations drew the attention of the guildmaster and the others. 

“Wait, isn’t that…?” 

I winked at Arisa, holding a finger to my lips secretively. 

“Who’s that?” 

“It’s Kuro, one of Nanashi the Hero’s followers.” 

“The Hero’s follower?” 

I heard the guildmaster and General Erthal talking behind me. 

To be exact, it was a posable life-size mannequin dressed in Kuro’s outfit. 

It couldn’t fly on its own, of course, so I was using Magic Hand to move it around. 

That was how I’d produced it from Storage, too, of course. 

I’d also equipped it with a high-level recognition-inhibiting item so it couldn’t be analyzed. 

“Foolish plunderer, who sold your soul to a demon…” 

I used the “Ventriloquism” skill to speak through the Kuro dummy. 

“I shall destroy you with the power of justice given me by the great Hero.” 

The new form of Ludaman reached up into the sky with an armlike appendage. 

Checkmate, Ludaman. 

I took out a certain object from Storage via Magic Hand. 

Something I’d acquired in a place called “the void.” 

FLASH! 

A blinding light filled the air. 

BOOM! 

Half a second later, there was an explosive, earsplitting sound. 

It was one of the lightning bolts the World Tree had fired at me when I was fighting the space jellyfish. 

The lightning of the World Tree could repel even the black dragon Hei Long, so as soon as it struck the revived Ludaman, he crumbled into black ash. 

Then, just like any demon’s end, he dissolved into a black cloud and disappeared. 

His marker disappeared from my map, too. It seemed to really be over this time. 

I wasn’t able to find out who had turned him into a demon, but I could ask the green-clad noble I’d pulled out of the giant pink slime. 

“Is it over?” 

The guildmaster approached, held up by Jejeh of the Red Ice party. 

“Yes, it seems to be.” 

“Hmph. I suppose we owe him one, then.” 

The Kuro dummy was nowhere to be seen when the guildmaster looked up; I’d already put it back in Storage. 

“This area will be difficult to fix up.” 

“I’m beyond tired. Let Ushana and Sebelkeya take care of it.” 

Between the acid and the lightning, the labyrinth gate area was in a state of utter destruction. 

The guild plaza’s cobblestone paving was in shambles, too. 

“Good work, all of you. Go home and get some rest—let the others take care of things here.” 

With that, the guildmaster headed back to the guild building. 

It was probably time for us to get a good night’s sleep, too. 





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