“All right, Satou, we’re going to search this Den of Evil. I’m counting on you to check out Den Six.”
“Understood.”
The “Den Six” in question had a shady history: Several members of previous search parties had gone missing there without a trace. It was the next largest Den of Evil after the Five Major ones, though it was only about half as large as those.
As it happens, I already knew that the all-important demon lord was in a hidden area of the Den of Evil Hayato’s party was about to search, so I’d already put a marker on it and planned to keep an eye on the hero and friends to make sure they found it.
This “Sandstorm Lord” was only level 62, far lower than any of the demon lords I’d fought before.
It was also lower than Hayato, who was level 69. I was still planning on coming to his aid, though: The demon lord’s Unique Skills were not to be underestimated. We would have to proceed with extra caution, since he was stronger than his or my companions, too.
Like Arisa, the demon lord had his Unique Skills concealed so that I couldn’t even see them in my map information. All I could do was make an educated guess based on the information Hayato told me about the demon lord’s abilities.
“Are you sure about this?” Arisa asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go back them up when they’re about to find him.”
My group boarded a midsize Saga Empire airship and traveled toward Den of Evil Six, along with the scouting and transport squads that had been assigned to us.
“Viscount Pendragon, may I inquire as to our search strategy?”
“For now, we’ll make a base aboveground and stay on standby for a little while.”
“Standby, good sir?”
“You and your colleagues are exhausted from searching nonstop for days on end. I’d like you to get some bed rest for three days or so.”
I couldn’t overlook the fact that the majority of the troops had the “Exhaustion” condition.
If any personnel died of overwork on my watch, I’d never get a good night’s sleep again.
“But Viscount, if I may say, the good Sir Hero did entrust us with the task of investigating under your command.”
“Yes, I know. So for the first three days, we’ll focus on a preliminary investigation of the area within a few hours of the entrance, hunting monsters and Sandstorm Soldiers. Our full-blown investigation will begin once you all are fully recovered.”
The investigation itself would be done as soon as I stepped inside anyway. I figured I’d let my companions enjoy some hunting-slash-training while I went to the elf village to produce more elixirs and new public-facing equipment for the girls.
After a few more questions, the survey team leader—Mr. Kwandoh, the Sin Kaage–style master who Pochi and Tama already adored—finally accepted my plan of action.
“All right, we’ll be back soon.”
“Please do be careful, Sir Viscount.”
We waved at the worried-looking Mr. Kwandoh and headed into Den of Evil Six.
Right away, I used “Search Entire Map.”
…Yikes.
“What’s the matter, Master?”
“Danger?”
Seeing my expression, Arisa and Mia looked up at me with concern.
“Looks like this place is a base for the demon lord–worshipping cult Light of Freedom.”
While I was told that it was only about half the size of the Five Major Dens of Evil, there was actually a very large area concealed beyond a few hidden passageways. There were also several secret entrances that weren’t shown on my map.
There was also a cultist possessed by a demon beyond one of the hidden passages, as well as some kind of altar. This might actually be a pretty important place.
Maybe the people who went missing here stumbled on one of the hidden passages, or the cultists.
“Should we go take them down?”
“I think I’d rather wait until we have plenty of backup. We don’t know what kind of demon is possessing the cultist, and there are too many possible escape routes.”
There were way too many members here for a solo surprise attack to be a very practical plan, either. It’d all be for nothing if the cult leaders got away while I was dealing with the lesser cultists, whose numbers were near a thousand.
For now, I decided to put markers on the strongest and highest-ranking cultists and leave it at that.
“Let’s stick with the plan. Go ahead and hunt some of the Sandstorm Soldiers and monsters closest to the entrance, please.”
I gave Arisa the map of Den Six, marking the locations of the hidden passages and warning them not to go near.
“Safety first, everyone.”
Once I told them they could put on their golden armor as long as no one else was around, I borrowed Arisa’s soul shell garland and teleported to Bolenan Forest with Unit Deployment.
Sadly, I had no time to flirt with my beloved Miss Aaze, the high elf of the forest. Instead, I went to Trazayuya’s research lab, which I was still borrowing, to produce elixirs.
This time, I only had to do the final stages of production, since I’d asked the elf alchemists to take care of the early and middle stages in advance.
Even then, it would take more than a full day, so I’d be traveling back and forth all three days.
During breaks between steps of the elixir creation process, I set about making new public armor for my companions with the help of some of the elf artisans. I kept working through the nights while everyone else was sleeping, since it didn’t seem like I’d finish in three days if I only did it in breaks between alchemy sessions.
It was worth the extra work, though. By the end, I had finished several elixirs and some lovely new equipment that might best be called “silver armor.”
The silver armor was only about 80 percent as powerful as the golden armor, but I was able to equip Nana’s with the Fortress function, and the other girls’ with a new disposable defense system I called a “Phalanx.”
A key feature was that it didn’t look nearly as flashy as the golden armor. The rearguard armor matched the vanguard, instead of being dress-style armor like the gold versions. That was the easiest way to disguise the orichalcum fibers and giant monster fish scales sewn within.
While everyone was changing into their new armor, I asked through the partitioning screen about events while I was gone.
“How’d the survey go?”
“We beat a lot of monsters, but they were so weak that we haven’t leveled up.”
Aside from the Sandstorm Soldiers, they encountered other monsters like giant scorpions, poisonous snakes, giant worms and scarabs, mummies, and more.
“We actually found quite a lot of treasure, though.”
“And thieves.”
“Thieves…?”
“Yeah, my Space Magic detection picked up on thieves coming back from outside. We knocked them out and handed them over to the soldiers.”
Evidently, they had a hideout in this Den of Evil.
I wasn’t sure if the thieves were connected to the Light of Freedom or not. Hopefully, they wouldn’t leak word of our plan to take down the cultists’ base.
“There are plenty of coins and jewels, I report.”
“Instruments. Sheet music.”
“There were spellbooks, too…although they’re in a language I can’t read. Do you think you can?” Arisa asked.
“Probably,” I told her.
I took the books Arisa handed me over the partition screen and flipped through them.
“It’s mostly Parion Province text. They all seem to be beginner spellbooks. There are some spells I don’t recognize, and theories that differ from Shiga Kingdom’s, so I’ll translate it for you sometime soon.”
If we found anything useful, that would be a lucky break.
“Ta-daaa?”
“Shiiiing, sir!”
The group emerged from behind the partition, fully changed into their new armor.
They all looked great.
“These are rather stylish. And it’s so light, I can’t even tell I’m wearing metal armor.”
“Cuuuute?”
“Very adorable, sir!”
“New favorite.”
“Yes, Mia. I wish to register it in my bookmarks, I declare.”
Presumably, Nana’s odd phrasing meant that she liked the new armor, too.
“Am I really fit to wear such elegant armor?”
“You look wonderful, Liza.”
For Liza and Nana, I went for coolness over cuteness, emphasizing their more mature figures. Miss Ringrande’s armor was part of my inspiration. My armor matched theirs, too, though the breastplate area was more standard.
“You look very cool, too, Master. You ought to wear armor more often.”
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to wear it when we fight strong enemies.”
Light as it was, it still felt like an impediment if I was moving at high speeds. The circuits I used from the floating shield design made it feel lighter but didn’t actually change its mass or inertia.
“Master, the barrier of this new Fortress is smaller, I report.”
“It’s folded up when you first deploy it,” I explained to Nana. “You can expand it in all four directions, although you can’t move the point of origin.”
It was worth noting that it couldn’t be folded back up once it was expanded.
“It doesn’t have as much output as the golden armor Fortress, either. I’d keep it folded up when you need to block especially strong attacks—it’s twenty percent stronger when it’s folded up, and thirty percent weaker when it’s expanded.”
“Yes, Master. I understand how to use the expansion switch. I will now commence practicing with open mode and closed mode.”
I created a few golems to aid Nana in her experiments.
“I’ll teach the rest of you how to use the new equipment. The Phalanx is an expendable emergency defense barrier.”
This invention came from cutting down on Fortress’s functionality in exchange for increased deployment speeds.
“When you activate it, it expands like this. Make sure there aren’t any allies in range when you activate it—it’s a little wide on the left and right.”
I activated it as a demonstration.
“Wow, that was fast.”
“I was particular about the activation speed, since it’s for emergencies. But be careful, because the trade-off is that it only lasts for a few seconds.”
As I explained this to Arisa, I stepped away from the Phalanx. Since it was created using theories from “Dimensional Pile” and “Deracinator,” it stayed in place where it was activated.
“It stays like this. Be careful if you need to move around.”
Since it ate a lot of energy from Holytree Stone Furnace when activated, I warned Lulu that she wouldn’t be able to use it right after firing the Acceleration Gun.
“It can only be used twice in a row. If you use it a third time, the circuits will fry, which means your armor’s Assist functions will stop working, too. Try to think of that as a last resort.”
Everyone nodded seriously.
Of course, if I was with them in a dangerous situation, I could always just move everyone to safety with Unit Deployment. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Next, I gave everyone their new weapons for public use. I basically turned the equipment they used in secret into Magic Swords. Although Liza would use the Magic Cricket Spear as usual, I gave her a spear I made with a claw the lesser Evil Dragon family gave me in the labyrinth’s Lower Stratum, processed with the Bonecraft spell to be straight and sharp.
I figured it might be useful for her, since it had higher piercing ability than an ordinary Magic Spear, even if it couldn’t pierce anything like a true dragon spear.
I gave Lulu some new throwaway weapons, like a Magic Gun and Acceleration Gun. This Acceleration Gun could only produce three acceleration magic circles, not over a hundred like the one she used in private. The Magic Gun was still as powerful as a small warship cannon, so it should still be useful enough.
That being said, they both came out nearly as cumbersome as a portable cannon from the Warring States era—hopefully they weren’t too hard to use.
“I don’t think this has the same reach as my usual weapon, sir.”
“Don’t worry, be happy?”
“Pochi, you mustn’t blame any difficulties on your weapon. Practice with it until it becomes an extension of your arm.”
“Yes, sir! Pochi will do her best, sir!”
The others followed in the beastfolk girls’ suits, testing out their new weapons.
Before long, they had mastered their new equipment. Starting the next day, we began investigating Den of Evil Six, along with the Saga Empire investigation squad.
Since we’d already explored with my map as a guide, the investigation proceeded swiftly, without any major incidents.
Five days after we parted ways with Hayato, when our group was probably about to find the Light of Evil base, I received word from secretary Lilo in the holy city.
The hero’s party had found the demon lord.
I guess our purge of the cult hideout was going to have to wait until after we defeated the demon lord.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Sir Hayato.”
Hayato and the hero party were at the base deep in the Den of Evil, along with the black knight’s Saga Empire forces, six Temple Knights, and a large number of priests and personnel. We must have been the last to arrive.
“Satou, over here.”
Hayato waved me over to join a meeting around a map spread out on a table.
There were five passages to the large room the demon lord was in; the rooms connecting to each of these passages were guarded by large demon-possessed Sandstorm Soldiers.
According to my map information, each of these possessed monsters was over level 50.
That was on par with a labyrinth areamaster—a formidable enemy by most standards.
“We’ll attack all five of these spots at once. An elite team of chosen members will charge the biggest passage head-on, while the other four will need to be kept under control so the demon lord doesn’t escape.”
Hayato traced lines on the map while he explained the strategy.
“I absolutely insist on joining the elite team!”
“His Grace has ordered that we participate in defeating the demon lord. As such, we Temple Knights wish to join the elite team as well.”
The black knight and the Temple Knights’ captain focused fiery gazes on Hayato.
“Ryukken, you’ll be in charge of the third passage, in back. Rudoruu and Kwandoh will take the fourth. Captain Mohkiris, I’d like you to take the second passage.”
As soon as Hayato spoke, bellows of rage filled the base camp.
Clearly, everyone wanted a piece of the glory of defeating a demon lord.
Speaking as someone who’s fought two demon lords before, I have to say that sounded suicidal to me, even if this one probably wasn’t quite as strong, based on his level.
“All right. Ryukken and Captain Mohkiris, you can come with us, on the condition that each of your units takes charge of the passages I mentioned before.”
“Mezzalt must come, too! He has the Holy Sword Blutgang!”
“Then I wish to take my subordinate Rudoruu!”
When the pair kept vying for more glory for their factions, Hayato snapped.
“I’m not compromising any further on this. If you don’t like it, you can defeat the enemies in each of your packages and break through to join the demon lord battle.”
I couldn’t blame him for being angry. It was ridiculous to quibble over these things when a fierce battle with a demon lord was right around the corner.
“Rudoruu will take charge for Ryukken. Captain Mohkiris, you can assign your own substitute.”
The black knight and Temple Knights’ captain, evidently sensing from Hayato’s menacing expression that it was time to back down, reluctantly agreed to the strategy.
“Satou, can I ask you to take the fifth passage? It’ll be tough.”
“Yes, of course.”
I would’ve liked to join the hero’s party to back him up, but I couldn’t bring myself to hassle him with more personal requests.
Princess Mariest handed out bell-like magic tools to the commanding officers of each squad.
She explained that they would tell us when it was time to start the operation or retreat.
Once we carried out a quick test to make sure the bells were functioning, each of the squads began to move toward their assigned destinations.
The squad that was in Den of Evil Six with us was going to join us for this operation as well, aside from their leader Kwandoh, who was assigned to a different squad.
“Master, I’ve connected us with Tactical Talk. Are we really just going to stick with containment?”
“No, I want you to prevent the demon lord from escaping with your Space Magic, Arisa. We’ll make quick work of the large Sandstorm Soldier and move forward.”
“What about the smaller Sandstorm Soldiers? We’re not supposed to use any big spells until Hayato’s group gets to the demon lord, right?”
Any major magic that might alert the demon lord to our presence was strictly forbidden during the strategy meeting so that he wouldn’t run away again.
I’m guessing that Hayato also agreed to let the black knight and Temple Knights’ captain join him because they might act out on their own otherwise.
“The scouting party and I will take care of those. You guys can just focus on defeating the big one.”
While there were around fifty smaller ones in total, I was willing to bet we could beat them all in a matter of minutes.
Of course, it would only take seconds with my Remote Arrow, but in my hands, even that spell was too powerful and loud.
Tama and I stealthily took out the Sandstorm Soldiers patrolling the passageways, and soon we managed to reach the fifth passage without causing any major fuss.
Rudoruu’s squad, though a little slower, would probably be ready in less than an hour.
We took a short break, and I handed out some hot soup and stuffed bread to everyone.
“Mmm, that’s good.”
“Your cooking really is the best, Lulu.”
“Hey, she’s a Shiga Kingdom honorary knight. You should call her ‘Miss’ or ‘Lady.’”
“Just Lulu is fine,” Lulu reassured the friendly scouting party members with a smile.
None of them ever made any rude comments about Lulu’s appearance. It probably helped that they’d all seen her take out a Sandstorm Soldier with self-defense techniques on our first day together.
“Viscount Pendragon, won’t the monsters smell all this food?”
“Don’t worry. We have a wind spirit suppressing the smell for us.”
The small sylph Mia had summoned chimed in with a whooshing sound, striking a confident pose.
Just as we finished our short break and prepared our equipment, the bell rang.
This pattern meant “all squads are in position, be prepared.”
We all waited with bated breath for the next signal.
As the silence deepened until every breath or rustle of clothing felt deafening, finally, the bell rang a second time.
“It’s time to begin the operation. Nana, move to the forefront. Scouting party, please protect the rear guard from smaller Sandstorm Soldiers.”
I reiterated our strategy as I moved between the front and rear guard.
My main weapon for the day was a crimson Magic Bow. My quiver was loaded with blacksteel arrows, which I got from the Saga Empire supply squad. I figured I’d use these to slaughter some Sandstorm Soldiers.
“Sandstorm Soldiers! Sand to sand, and monsters to corpses, I declare!”
Nana shouted an unusual twist on “ashes to ashes.”
The “Taunt” skill she used along with her shout lured the Sandstorm Soldiers to rush toward her immediately.
“Let’s remove the weak ones from our path first.”
“Roger, sir.”
“Aye-aye, siiir.”
The beastfolk girls kicked and sliced their way through droves of small Sandstorm Soldiers, clearing the way toward the large demon-possessed Sandstorm Soldier.
When a demi-ogre-esque midsize Sandstorm Soldier tried to block their path, Lulu and I shot out its core.
Arisa used Deracinator to block off a lizard-like Sandstorm Soldier before it could try to trample Nana.
“Bweh-heh-heh, what delicious-looking little children, indeeed.”
The large Sandstorm Soldier shrieked in a creepy voice. Like the demonic one we fought before, this, too, looked like a combination between a scorpion and a human.
“Careful! One little spark can start a fire!”
Shouting a corny line, Arisa used Blast Shot to burn the Sandstorm Soldier’s face.
The large monster blocked the attack with its arm, which kept it from taking much damage—but that attack was just a distraction anyway.
“Look out below, I declare.”
Nana struck the large Sandstorm Soldier square in the chest with a “Shield Bash,” then followed up with her special attack “Blast Armor” while it was off-balance, destroying its defenses.
“Pochi doesn’t taste good, sir!”
“Tama’s not yummyyy?”
As the large Sandstorm Soldier lashed out desperately with its claws from its precariously bent-backward position, Pochi and Tama dodged the attacks easily, darting around and slashing the scorpion-like beast’s thin legs.
The Sandstorm Soldier’s segmented tail whipped around to try to skewer Tama and Pochi, closing in on their blind spot.
“Yeah riiight?”
Tama dodged acrobatically in midair, then used that momentum to slice up the demonic monster’s Achilles tendon.
Even as the creature lost its balance, the tip of its tail still plunged toward Pochi.
“Fallanks—plus ‘Vanquish Slicer,’ sir!”
Pochi used her new Phalanx equipment to block the tail. Then, using “Blink,” she closed in and unleashed a special attack on another of the creature’s legs.
Meanwhile, Liza used “Skywalking” to charge the Sandstorm Soldier head-on, destroying the core in its chest with a speedy “Helix Spear Attack.”
As the monster crumbled like sand, the demon that had been possessing it slithered out in shadow form.
“Aim…and fire!”
Lulu hit the demon dead-on with a thunder shot from her Gold Thunder Fox Gun.
Even then, the demon lord kept trying to crawl away, but a second and third shot struck him and turned him into black dust.
We ran on ahead toward where Hayato and the others were fighting, leaving Mia’s sylphs and the scouting party to handle the remaining small Sandstorm Soldiers.
STWAAAAYBYAAAAHK!
I climbed the cliff at the end of the passage to peer into the cavern and saw the demon lord howling.
He looked very similar to the scorpion-like large Sandstorm Soldier we’d just defeated.
The hero’s party seemed to be unable to get into the cavern, their path blocked by a huge number of Sandstorm Soldiers, far more than were there before.
A glittering light flashed near the demon lord.
GOOOOORHWAAAAAAY!
DANGER.
My “Sense Danger” skill told me to scoop up Tama and Pochi and hop down from the cliff.
A moment later, there was a sequence of terrible explosive noises behind us, and a cloud of sand that smelled like ozone blew into the passage.
“Mia!”
Covering my mouth, I called out to Mia, and whooshing sounds surrounded us as the sand was swept back out.
Mia’s sylphs had changed the airflow for us.
Checking my map, I saw that most of the countless new Sandstorm Soldiers had been wiped out, and Hayato and his party were running toward the demon lord.
That attack was apparently from Princess Mariest and Miss Ringrande.
I climbed back up the cliff.
The demon lord is still going strong.
Giant plates of shimmering purple light—Reflective Scales—were floating around him.
That must be how he blocked that magic attack.
STWAAAAYYBHAAAAAAHK!
Overlapping magic circles formed beneath his feet.
“Rin! Don’t let him get away!”
“… Break Magic Mahou Hakai!”
Miss Ringrande ran past Hayato and waved a Magic Invocation Staff, destroying the magic circles with a sound like shattering glass.
“Arisa, can you block the demon lord’s teleportation from here?”
“But of course! I’ll show you what the great Space Magician Arisa is really made of!”
I brought Arisa up onto the cliff to have her use magic.
In order to expand her range of effects, I also gave her permission to use her secret equipment, the Clearbough Staff.
“I’ve put up a barrier. Now we just need Hayato and friends to defeat the demon lord.”
“Thanks, Arisa. Let’s hunt the demon lord’s lackeys from up here.”
I called Mia and Lulu up to join us, and we started shooting down the large Sandstorm Soldiers that tried to block the hero party’s path.
“Très bieeen?”
“Rusus and Fifi are very very strong, sir!”
While we used long-range weapons and items to hunt the Sandstorm Soldiers, the ever-curious Tama and Pochi climbed up to watch.
Liza and Nana were behind them as well.
“The hero of Saga Empire is truly something to behold. His fighting is a cut above the others’, and it would be very difficult to get even one attack past those defenses.”
“Yes, Liza. Blocking his attacks would be a near insurmountable task, I assess.”
Um, hello?
Why are you talking like you’re going to fight the hero?
“Master, look…!” Lulu exclaimed.
I turned my attention back to the battle in time to see the hero and company engaging the demon lord in close combat.
Those metallic purple scales of light were blocking Rusus’s and Fifi’s attacks easily; even the hero’s Holy Sword Arondight, enhanced with its scripture, and Hayato’s Unique Skill Unstoppable Strike were struggling to break through.
The latter could pierce several layers of the Reflective Scales at once, yet he still didn’t seem to be able to reach the demon lord.
Mariest’s and Ringrande’s individual attack spells were being repelled, too.
Weeyari the archer aimed at a gap between the scales, only for her arrow to be blocked by a sandstorm-like barrier around the demon lord.
“Does that demon lord specialize in defense, perhaps?”
“No, I think that’s both his offense and his defense.”
The black knight and the Temple Knights’ captain charged in and were promptly attacked by a flurry of the Reflective Scales, slicing through their shields and parts of their armor.
“They’re zooming around, sir.”
“Looks hard to dooodge?”
“I wonder if Phalanx could hold up to that?”
“It’d probably be able to withstand one or two hits, anyway.”
Judging by the way the Temple Knights’ captain’s armor was torn up, it probably wouldn’t last much longer than that.
…Urk.
Rusus got too close in an attempt to back the pair up and got her leg sliced off by the Reflective Scales. When Fifi tried to come to her rescue, her armor got majorly ripped up, too.
“Looks ouchiiie.”
“Time for the emergency rescue squad, sir!”
“Not so fast, you two. They have a powerful priestess on their side.”
Liza stopped Pochi and Tama as they put on their paramedic armbands and moved to dash onto the battlefield.
Fifi helped Rusus retreat from the battlefield.
“I want to help, but with the amount of power it would take to break through those scales, I’m afraid I’d hurt our allies, too…”
“Well, there are some openings.”
I decided to help out a little until Rusus and Fifi recovered so that the attacks wouldn’t focus too much on Hayato.
Drawing my Magic Bow, I shot at the demon lord.
“Bull’s-eye.”
“Another classic Master moment! Of course you would manage a pinpoint shot like that.”
Mia looked up at me excitedly, while Arisa made fun of me a little.
“It should at least annoy the demon lord, even if it’s not doing much damage.”
I fired a few more times until I saw Loleiya’s Holy Magic activate.
Rusus and Fifi returned to the battlefield, their missing leg and major injuries respectively healed.
“Amazing, Priestess.”
“That’s as potent as an advanced healing potion.”
I saw Loleiya start her next chant right away.
Since Holy Magic chants took a long time, she was probably preparing spells in advance, based on what she thought she’d need.
“Master, backup Sandstorm Soldiers are arriving from another passage, I report.”
“All right, let’s hunt them down and let the scouting party keep our passage’s entrance protected.”
The rest of my group cheered enthusiastically and ran into the fray.
While we headed toward the new Sandstorm Soldier reinforcements, a group of Temple Knights went dashing past us. They obviously wanted to get a piece of the demon lord action instead of supporting the hero by taking out Sandstorm Soldiers as instructed.
“Honestly. They could at least take down the monsters they were assigned first, instead of dropping their work on someone else.”
“Agreed.”
Arisa and Mia scowled at the knights.
We watched as they charged at the demon lord, shouting self-introductions. The Temple Knights’ captain, who’d been trying to keep the black knight in check and vice versa, joined his men and ran toward the demon lord as well.
“More importantly, if we don’t clear these Sandstorm Soldiers out fast, they’ll start going after Hayato and the others.”
“Good point.”
Just as we turned our attention back to our own battle, there was a guttural scream behind us.
…Geh.
The Temple Knights’ captain had been sliced in half.
Four of the other Temple Knights were mortally wounded as well. Only the one with the Holy Sword Blutgang stood unharmed.
The black knight, who’d been trying to take advantage of the moment and close in on the demon lord himself, hastily scurried back.
“I’m going to go bail them out.”
With that, I ran toward the knights.
NWOOOMWAAOOOORH!
Sneering down at the halved body of the Temple Knights’ captain, the demon lord glowed with dark violet light and howled at the ceiling.
“‘Shining Helix Slash’!”
Hayato’s Holy Sword Arondight closed in on the demon lord’s undefended body, glowing with blue light.
Just before it touched the demon lord’s body, the demon lord vanished like a mirage.
“How in the world?!”
“I guess he broke through your Teleportation barrier…?”
“No, he didn’t. That wasn’t Teleportation Magic. He disappeared with some other technique.”
“Some other technique…a Unique Skill?”
“Yeah, probably. It might be something like your Unique Skill, Master.”
I tested it out by using Unit Deployment to move a short distance to one side and was able to teleport without even the slightest sense of resistance. Arisa’s guess was probably right on the money.
“Well, now we’re back to square one. We’ll have to track the demon lord down all over again.”
“First, we should really find a way to stop him from—”
As I spoke, I checked my marker list for the demon lord’s location.
…Seriously?
“What’s wrong?”
“I know where the demon lord is. It’s the hidden area of Den Six.”
“Hidden area? You mean the Light of Freedom hideout?”
I nodded at Arisa.
If the demon lord could only flee to that hideout, it would certainly make things a lot easier.
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