“Looks cleaner than I expected.”
The hideout’s scene, reached after crossing the veil of darkness, was rather ordinary. It was a bit dim, but there was lighting, and the walls seemed pretty standard.
“Sif, what’s the possibility of Agares being in this hideout?”
“Um… fifty-fifty?”
“That’s quite high.”
“It’s either there or not, right?”
This girl?
“Stop spouting nonsense and give me a proper answer. What are the odds that Agares is here?”
As I raised my fist, Sif finally provided a somewhat decent answer.
“It’s not low! That guy has a massive ego, so he probably wouldn’t run away easily!”
So he’s quite prideful, huh? Well, I guess it wouldn’t be weird for a high-ranking demon to have such pride. After all, if there were no irregulars like me, he would truly be a ‘great and powerful being.’
If I weren’t an overpowered character with two blessings that were impossible even in the game, it would have been tough for even the original protagonist to stop Agares’ plans.
“Johann…”
“Really creepy…”
“But I think it’s better than that temple from before.”
Looking at Viola, her face scrunched up, likely recalling unpleasant memories. Thinking about it, it wouldn’t be weird for it to become a trauma.
I patted Viola on the shoulder a couple of times and started the briefing.
“Everyone, listen closely. From now on, we are going to descend deep vertically.”
No need to deal with those cult scum one by one.
“What? What do you mean by that?”
Sif tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand my words at all. Shifting my gaze from Sif to the others, they seemed to grasp my meaning and started to huddle around me.
“Aren’t there going to be traps when we go down?”
“If there are traps, we’ll just break them.”
I dismissed Millia’s worries and spoke to the group who were silently watching me.
“If Agares is present, the rest of you aside from me, Renny, Karina, and Rue will confront the cult members that come rushing at us.”
“Yes, are you sure four of us can handle it?”
“Of course.”
After all, the attacks from the rest of the party were likely to be ineffective, so this approach made sense. I was a bit worried about Lewis, though…
“Lewis, you need to hold off the incoming enemies alone at the front. Can you do it?”
“Just leave it to me. I’ll block them proudly.”
“Good attitude. Karina, cast protection magic on everyone when we go down. Make it as powerful as possible.”
“Yes.”
“Sif, Millia. You two will provide support from the back with crossbows, but if anyone gets injured, treat them immediately with the healing supplies we brought.”
“Okay!”
“Got it.”
I didn’t have high hopes they would be a real fighting force, but it’s better than having nothing. Even blind arrows can hit something.
“Elisa and Shuri can set up their positions as before and use magic on the approaching enemies.”
“Got it!”
“Then I’m going in. Crafting.”
I block the entrance to prevent other creatures from entering. This delay will give us enough time to carry out our operation.
“Crafting. I’ll start, so stay vigilant and follow me.”
I began to head down the staircase leading from the 1st Floor to the 2nd Floor.
———————-
“What kind of ridiculous way is this to reach the depths… the cult will be furious when they see this.”
Sif couldn’t help but scoff while complaining.
“How was this made?”
“The cult must’ve made it painstakingly by hand.”
“That sounds pretty satisfying to destroy.”
I replied while looking at the spiral staircase leading straight down from the 1st Floor to the 3rd Floor.
“As mentioned earlier, we’ll form a formation and move out.”
“Okay.”
With Agares’s raid group in the lead and the cult’s defense group right behind, we headed along the path toward the ‘Altar’ located in the cult’s depths as directed by Sif.
“Who goes there!”
Two huge men, huh? I tapped Renny’s shoulder twice, and like a trigger being pulled, Renny dashed forward.
“How dare you…”
Before the second statement was fully spoken, the heads of the two men rolling on the floor indicated they weren’t just ordinary humans… or were they? Well, they were definitely chimeras.
“Renny, that’s amazing…”
“That’s awesome…”
“This is like the rabid…”
“Hehe, I told you Renny was amazing.”
“Enough with the compliments, let’s hurry and open it!”
Renny snapped back, her face slightly flushed with embarrassment.
So cute.
“…Then shall we go check if Agares is a coward or not?”
I boldly opened the altar door. The altar door slid open smoothly without a creak, likely due to the cultists’ diligent maintenance.
“A visitor has arrived.”
Did they really not run away due to their pride? I locked eyes with Agares, who sat on the throne in the center of the altar, looking down at me.
Is this guy Agares?
A rather cold-looking handsome man dressed as if he were some noble, looked down upon us. In other words, he looked like he just came out of a middle school fantasy. The somewhat pathetic-looking noble, probably still living in his fantasy, sneered at us.
“Have you come to sacrifice your life?”
“Oh, Agares. I’ll commend you for not running away.”
Agares’ expression twisted at my casual remark. Seeming quite upset at having his pride scratched.
“You! You’re just all talk!”
“Yet the one hiding behind his subordinates is the one talking big. Sitting on that fancy throne and pretending to be mighty, do you think you have the right to say that?”
Typically, demons like to spout nonsense, but he lacked the grandeur of Harpas and didn’t seem particularly intelligent either, cowering behind his subordinates. Is this guy really that weak?
“You’re getting cocky just because you received a boon from the World Tree. Believing in such pitiful roots and acting so arrogant? I’ll teach you a lesson about that.”
Agares rose from his throne.
Suddenly, the altar began to tremble.
“For insulting me, I shall make you suffer eternally.”
At his words, I immediately gripped my shovel tightly.
Let’s see if you have some skills.
“My hunting dogs! It’s feeding time!”
Monsters are coming, huh? Karina, Renny, Rue, and I turned our backs to each other, keeping alert. The altar’s walls opened, and the monsters we had seen before started to pop out one by one.
“There are quite a few.”
“There must be at least twenty, right? Karina, make sure to stay close to me.”
“I can manage to protect myself just fine.”
The kids by the passage should be okay, right? I cast my gaze at the closed door momentarily before turning back to Agares.
“Hey, middle school fantasy boy.”
“What?”
“You talk big, yet you unleash hunting dogs? Don’t you think that’s a bit pathetic? Harpas would laugh at you.”
“…We’re not the same as before.”
Seems like he decided to completely ignore my words, giving me a thumbs-down while flipping his fist.
“Die.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the hunting dogs pounced at us.
“Renny, Karina, Rue. Don’t move. Got it?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Yep!”
No need to waste time with these hunting dogs. I gulped down the flammable reagent that Viola personally made. I wondered if she added honey to make it taste better, as it was sweet compared to the last one.
“Trying some childish tricks, huh?”
“Using cheap materials to create your hideout, how very typical of a great archdemon.”
“What?”
“Crafting.”
The altar began to lose its shape, transforming into a giant trap. If he stayed seated on the throne, he would inevitably become a devil kebab, and thus, Agares had no choice but to rise from his seat.
“You!”
“Renny, I’ll leave the hunting dogs to you. Crafting.”
Ignoring Agares coming towards me, I built walls to prevent the hunting dogs from getting closer. Renny immediately jumped over the wall and started dealing with the hunting dogs as soon as I finished speaking.
“Rue, keep trying to brainwash Agares. Karina, throw any sacred magic you have at him.”
“Yes!”
“Got it!”
“Of course, my loooooord!”
The blade of my shovel clashed with the sword erupting from the air. The handle of the black sword bore ominous eyes. It looked just like a cursed sword. I pushed the demon back with a force that turned out to be weaker than I expected and gathered flames in my fingertips to shoot at him.
“Do you think such petty tricks would work?”
“‘Petty tricks’? You shouldn’t be the one saying that when you’re trembling in the face of them.”
The hunting dogs were yelping while being chopped up by Renny. While he lost his throne and charged at me, how ridiculous.
“Let me point out one obvious fact you’re overlooking.”
“What nonsense are you about to spout now?”
I pointed at the bulging temple of Agares.
“How many blessings do you think I possess?”
“What?”
With my body pressed closely to him, I unleashed flames from my mouth.
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