Ch.143Our Paths Crossed. (2)

“It’s terrifyingly deep.”

The Master of Dark nodded in agreement with the Devilhunter’s words. Though called a ravine, it was essentially a cliff.

They seemed to have been descending for quite some time, yet still hadn’t reached the bottom.

‘…Even demons couldn’t possibly use a place like this as an entrance.’

But it was already too late to turn back.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad. Perhaps because no one expected anyone to enter through such treacherous terrain, there wasn’t a single guard in sight.

“Wait a moment.”

The Devilhunter took out the bow strapped to his back and shot a needle-thin arrow downward. It must have been specially treated, as it flew at tremendous speed without making a sound.

A moment later.

With a soft swish, the arrow that had been shot downward returned like a boomerang. The Master of Dark stared intently at the arrow the Devilhunter caught.

“…What is that?”

“A measuring arrow. It returns when it reaches its maximum range.”

“And the range?”

“450 meters.”

“…So we still have at least that much further to descend.”

The Master of Dark clicked his tongue and kicked the wall. Because the barrier was made of soil rather than rock, he had to exert twice the effort with each movement.

One slip and soil would cascade downward, and then detection would only be a matter of time.

Thud.

The Devilhunter, finally reaching the bottom, let out a sigh of relief. Judging by the moon’s position, they must have spent at least an hour just descending.

After completing a brief reconnaissance, the Master of Dark returned and sent a telepathic message.

[I think we should only use telepathy from here on.]

[Understood.]

The Master of Dark immediately concealed himself in the shadows. The Devilhunter also moved while suppressing his presence as much as possible.

[It’s a cave.]

Before them were dozens of caves. Their haphazard formation resembled an ant colony.

[I sense presences beyond there.]

[Are we going in? If they swarm us in such a narrow space, we’ll have no way out.]

[It’s too late to turn back. By now, they’ve probably noticed the absence of the perimeter guards. If we prepare properly and come back later, they’ll have vanished without a trace.]

It was sound reasoning. After a moment’s consideration, the Devilhunter decided to follow the Master of Dark’s opinion.

‘It’s dark.’

Though he had relatively good night vision, the cave interior was much darker than expected. It seemed to reject even the slightest hint of light.

[Stalactite on the upper left.]

The Master of Dark could apparently see without light.

The ground beneath their feet gradually became smoother and softer. The sensation was like treading on rotten honey fruit and animal entrails, not mud.

As visual acuity alone had its limits, the Devilhunter infused his pupils with magical power to brighten his vision. Finding even that insufficient, he reached out to feel the wall.

At that moment, the wall surface that the Devilhunter’s hand touched wriggled and swelled.

‘?!’

The Devilhunter flinched and withdrew his hand.

[What happened?]

[…The wall moved.]

Instead of questioning, the Master of Dark examined the wall the Devilhunter was staring at. There was a tiny crevice in the wall.

The Master of Dark shot a portion of his shadow into the crevice. Simultaneously, his vision shifted, revealing worms wriggling and emitting purple light inside the wall.

Even that light was so faint it would be invisible without concentration, but it was enough.

‘…Demonic energy.’

The Master of Dark frowned and used his shadow to burst the worms. The terrible texture of the ground must be due to these worms burrowing through it.

[Did you find something?]

[There are worms. They seem to be like woodlice, gnawing on rocks and soil… and they contain demonic energy.]

[…Worms?]

[Tiny ones, moving in swarms of thousands. With those numbers, it wouldn’t be difficult to move the wall slightly as you said.]

Despite receiving confirmation, the Devilhunter’s expression remained tense.

The Master of Dark looked surprised at this reaction.

Was he afraid of worms? That couldn’t be. A hunter of demons wouldn’t fear mere worms.

Then…

[Master of Dark.]

[…What is it?]

[This cave, no matter how I look at it, isn’t natural. What’s accumulated on the floor resembles waste more than soil. In my experience, this is…]

The Devilhunter stopped speaking and turned his head toward the sound of claws scraping against rock.

It was coming from the entrance direction.

Whaaaash…

‘Huh?’

Purple light bloomed near the entrance. Worms that had been there unnoticed were wriggling, the source of the ominous light.

The worms, with exoskeletons protruding from their carapace joints, now filled the entrance completely. The small ones were palm-sized, while the large ones were bigger than adult men.

‘Could this entire cave be…’

As the Master of Dark urgently looked around, he saw purple light flickering across all the walls, incomparably more vast than at the entrance.

The startled Master of Dark summoned his doppelgangers and shouted.

[We need to leave this place immediately…]

At that very moment.

THWACK!

A worm twice the size of the Master of Dark emerged from below and swallowed him whole.

*****

At the same time.

In a forest about 30 minutes away from Moria Ravine.

A boy with a sickle was dragging something along.

[Ugh… uuugh…]

What he was dragging was a high-ranking demon from near Moria Ravine. With all four limbs severed, leaving only the torso, all it could do was groan.

[Just kill me now…]

“That depends on you.”

The Serial Murderer wiped the blood splattered on his face. The demon made a disgusted expression at the sight.

[The entrance… is at the bottom of Moria Ravine. Beyond the caves there… is Lord Agares’ dwelling.]

“Hmm, if that’s all, I’m a bit disappointed.”

The Serial Murderer moved his sickle to cut off a bit more of the demon’s shoulder. Unable to withstand the pain, the demon screamed.

But his scream seemed to be blocked by something, circling around before dissipating. The demon looked up with a pale face at the one who had created the barrier.

[H-how already?]

“What do you mean ‘already’? It took me 10 minutes.”

The demon trembled at Olivia’s words.

The return of this mage meant that all demons remaining in the area had been hunted down.

“Don’t ask about that, just ask which cave we need to enter.”

“Ahah, right, right. Which cave should we enter?”

[Well then…]

“I’ll kill you quickly.”

The Serial Murderer smiled brightly.

“Honestly, I’d prefer if you were more stubborn. Normal humans break down by this point. But demons don’t. Even with just a head left, they can still talk well for about three minutes.”

The Serial Murderer whispered in the demon’s ear.

“What will you do?”

[…]

The demon didn’t answer. He was just watching cautiously. Despite fearing the Serial Murderer, the fact that he was watching someone else meant…

Olivia turned her head to look in the direction of Moria Ravine. Then she extended her spiritual perception to its maximum.

That’s when she began to hear faint noises.

– Keeeeeeek!

– Intruders! Release more void worms!

As expected.

It seemed there were already visitors.

‘I thought the guards were too few.’

The entrance to the Demonic Realm of Earth, or rather the interior of the Demon God’s cult, changes location with each cycle. Among dozens of caves, only one is the real entrance, while the rest are all nests of void worms.

That’s why she had been trying to extract information from the high-ranking demon…

Olivia clicked her tongue while looking at the demon.

Whoever the foolish individuals were who had descended there, with such chaos erupting, the original entrance would certainly be collapsed by now.

Thanks to them, there was no normal way to enter anymore.

“Serial Murderer. That one…”

“Got it.”

The Serial Murderer grinned broadly. His empty hand. Yet at its end hung the head of the high-ranking demon.

“…”

The demon died with his eyes rolled back.

“You were going to say we don’t need him anymore, right?”

“Never mind that, just clean the blood off you. Demons are sensitive to the smell of their own kind’s blood.”

The Serial Murderer nodded and took out a handkerchief to wipe away the blood. Strangely, the stains disappeared as soon as they touched the handkerchief.

‘It must be magically treated.’

Instead of immediately descending into the ravine, Olivia surveyed the surroundings. She was looking for clues to deduce who these bold humans were who had invaded the Demon God cult’s headquarters.

And then.

‘…I had a bad feeling about this.’

Olivia’s eyes trembled.

The demon corpses found in the undergrowth all bore the same type of penetration wounds and sword marks. The Serial Murderer, who had approached from the side, had sparkling eyes.

“They’re skilled. Ahahah. These ones probably didn’t even realize they were dying.”

“And this?”

“Same here. Seems like an archer, but there’s no trace of arrowheads. Must have been made of mana?”

When a specialist in murder like him said so, it became even more certain.

Down there were the Master of Dark and the Devilhunter.