episode_0157

000

The path where the stench continues gradually erases its traces as the wall’s material changes. Rusty iron fences, stone walls soaked in chemicals and waste, and corpses buried in garbage, rotting so much that there is no time to consider whether they are human or something else, force one to walk quickly. The underground sewers of the back alleys are as dark and tainted as the world above, casting doubt on whether this is truly the underground of the kingdom’s capital.

However, as soon as they think the wall’s material has changed to metal, they realize that the passage they are walking through is not an underground sewer, but a passage of a massive ancient ruin buried beneath the kingdom’s land. As the headache-inducing toxic stench disappears, Gray quickly takes off his gas mask. Seeing that, Amelia also cautiously removes the bird-beak mask she was wearing.

“…Hoo-ah…”

Even though it blocks the stench, wearing a gas mask for almost 10 minutes is a bit stuffy. Taking a deep breath, a cool sensation flowed across the skin of her face. Amelia stared silently at the mask she took off, pulled the hood of her robe tightly over her head, and handed the mask to Gray.

“…Thank you.”

Speaking in as low a voice as possible, Gray looked at it and said:

“Either way, we’ll have to go through that place again when we go back up. It’s best to keep it since we’ll have to use it then.”

Certainly. Amelia thought so, nodded at Gray’s words, and tucked the gas mask into her chest. Then, she hurried to where Rubera was and stood beside her.

Cleon and Rubera watched the scene for a moment, and then breathed a sigh of relief as Gray didn’t seem to care much about her identity.

“Gray, was it? You seem to have good dexterity.”

“Thank you. I’ve lived alone since I was young, so I naturally came to like making things.”

Gray folded and unfolded his fingers, showing his teeth and smiling. He seemed simply proud to be praised for his dexterity, rather than recalling his unfortunate upbringing of living alone. However, with that dexterity, wouldn’t it be better to enter an alchemist’s workshop somewhere rather than being a detective? Cleon thought for a moment, but since everyone has their own circumstances, he decided not to ask about it separately.

What he was more curious about was –

“You said you owed me a debt.”

“Ah – that’s right. To be precise, it’s a debt through Layla…”

Gray scratched the back of his head a bit awkwardly at Cleon’s words. The reason Cleon asked Gray about it wasn’t really to make Gray feel guilty and get an apology. He just wanted to know what kind of causal relationship existed between Gray and himself.

Gray briefly met Cleon’s eyes and cautiously opened his mouth again.

“The first time Layla met me was when she was investigating the hero Albein.”

“…Albein.”

When an unexpected name came out of Gray’s mouth, Cleon couldn’t help but react to it. The reason Layla was looking for him must have been to gather the information needed to bring Albein to the academy.

And, based on the information Layla obtained from Gray, she devised a plan to bring Albein and came to Elesia.

“I see.”

“You’re… not angry? It’s hard to say this, but I also investigated what Layla was trying to do after that. However, doing more than what was commissioned as a detective is…”

Gray glances at Cleon while speaking. That means he also knows that Cleon was expelled from the party afterward. As a result, it turned out well for everyone in the group, but Cleon felt really great despair at the time.

But Cleon shook his head. As Gray said, Gray only did what Layla asked him to do. Although he helped Layla, Cleon knew that Gray didn’t do it with malicious intent.

“I’m not going to blame you, so don’t worry.”

“Really? You won’t change your mind later!”

Gray breathed a sigh of relief with a noticeably relieved expression, saying “That’s a relief~!” Cleon opened his mouth again at the slightly excessive reaction.

“…Is it that much of a relief?”

Then, Gray nodded vigorously, looking at Cleon and saying:

“Of course it is! I thought from the first time I saw you, Cleon-ssi, you were taller and more muscular than I heard. And your womanizing was over the top, so I thought you were a really scary person.”

“… …”

It seems that the voice was heard properly to where Amelia and Rubera were, Rubera snorted “Pfft”, and Amelia made a troubled sound as if she didn’t know how to react, “Um…”

“But it wasn’t. Cleon-ssi was a kind person.”

“… …Is that so?”

“That’s right! I was a little skeptical that you were the person who changed Layla-ssi, but after meeting and talking to you in person, you’re much easier to deal with.”

As Gray spoke with a smile, Cleon gave a bitter smile as his energy to get angry at Gray’s slightly rude words disappeared.

“…Ah! That’s right! It reminded me of Layla-yang’s story! Among Cleon-ssi’s party members, there’s Ku-”

“Cleon.”

At Rubera’s call, Cleon turned his gaze.

In the middle of the passage where darkness seemed to stretch out endlessly. It was standing. No, saying it was standing is a little insufficient. Dragging something on the ground, slowly, slowly, toward where Cleon and his party were. Sending a warning as if it were okay to run away at any time, `she` was approaching.

She, who was a head taller than Cleon, wore clothes made of blue cloth. Despite wearing overall baggy clothes, one could tell that her figure hidden beneath was very voluptuous. The color of her hair was a long indigo color, as if black paint had been mixed into the blue color of her clothes. She wore a black mask on her face, and the eye area was covered with red jewels.

Horns sprouting from her head, and a splendid tail growing from above her waist. Both were black, and the flow of black magic flowing from them did not allow one to mistakenly think of her as a `dragon`. It was something that Amelia, Cleon, and Rubera all knew well, the thing of a `demon`.

Tap. Tap. Each time the sound of footsteps echoed, the magical pressure of black magic flying towards the party made the skin all over their bodies tingle. When `that` she was holding crawled out of the darkness and revealed its overall silhouette.

It was a long club. It didn’t have a blade to be called a spear, and the end was blunt like a long staff, so it was swollen like a mace. The color was white, and it didn’t look like it was made of metal. Was it made by processing the bones of some kind of monster? However, what was certain was that she would be able to swing it without any problems, and that she could easily smash human bones.

“A demon… no, to call it a demon. It’s a little strange. There’s powerful black magic, of course, but at the same time, I feel elemental magic too.”

As Cleon murmured, Amelia looked at Cleon in surprise. She must have felt something similar to Cleon.

“Maybe she’s a half-human, half-demon like Ishtar.”

“Maybe, that’s right. I feel something different from a demon in her presence.”

At Amelia’s words, Cleon nodded, drew Galatea, and stood in front of Amelia as if to protect her. Seeing that, Rubera also drew Barisada and stood beside Cleon.

“Cleon. Did you notice.”

“Yeah. That woman has no murderous intent. Her hostility… is faint.”

`She` was wearing a smile on her face. Deliberately raising her voice, slowly approaching, waiting until they were ready to fight. Her attitude was clearly different from the other guardians of the ruins they had met so far. Unlike them, who regarded the intrusion itself as a sin and aimed for unconditional exclusion, she had a `come at me if you dare` kind of feeling.

However, if they ignored her and tried to pass by, the club would be swung immediately. Her surroundings – no, everything from where she was standing to the back felt like her territory. There was no murderous intent or hostility felt from her, but the `spirit of rivalry against the strong` was felt tinglingly. It was something that Cleon and Rubera had no less than others.

“What is it. I don’t feel like fighting 2:1…”

When Cleon said that, Rubera sighed as she looked at Cleon.

“Well. I won’t stop you if you want to put up that kind of male pride.”

“…It’s not really like that.”

Cleon said that, but took a step forward from Rubera.

“…If that woman is the one Kamara talked about, the one Ishtar is afraid of, don’t you want to see how far we can fight?”

Power entered Cleon’s hand holding the sword, and Rubera looked at Cleon and asked.

“Which one are you talking about? That woman? Or you?”

“Both.”

The next moment, as Cleon put strength into his feet to jump forward, the blue-haired woman leaped greatly and pounced on Cleon from above. It was like a blue thunderbolt. Despite having that large frame, she moved as lightly as Rubera, and the club she was striking down from above seemed to smash Cleon’s head as it was.

“Kuh…!”

Cleon chose to roll his body to avoid the sudden attack, rather than blocking it. In a fleeting moment, Cleon and the woman’s eyes met with the illusion that time was flowing slowly. Beyond the mask with glowing red eyes. And in the smile on her lips, her composure was felt.

Bang!

When the club struck the ground, the broken pieces of the floor scattered and flew in all directions. Rubera quickly struck them down with Barisada, preventing them from flying towards Amelia, but Gray panicked and dodged, making “Uwaak” sounds.

“You. You’re quite something. Most of the mediocre grave robbers would have become the nourishment for the ruins with that just now.”

The woman also seemed to have no intention of attacking anyone except Cleon, who had stepped forward to face her. She picked up her weapon, slung it over her shoulder, ignored Rubera nearby, and turned her head towards Cleon.

As expected, the monstrous strength of lightly swinging the heavy weapon that was as tall as herself was not something that could come from feminine, thin limbs, no matter how much taller she was than Cleon.

Was it strengthened by magic, or was it a racial characteristic? A blow with the weight of a mountain, the speed of a gale. Cleon had to be grateful that she was not interested in anyone other than him. If she hadn’t aimed for him with the first surprise attack, but instead had aimed for Amelia or Gray in the back, he might have had to throw his body to save them.

“You too.”

Therefore, Cleon answered with a sense of pure admiration. He had already stood up and taken a stance a long time ago, but the woman’s gaze facing Cleon, who was standing without showing any openings, observed him from head to toe as if trying not to miss Cleon’s breathing, pulse, and subtle movements of his muscles. In a battle between masters, an “opening” means the beginning of a “match,” and a “match” soon leads to a fleeting moment of life and death.

“Black hair. Black eyes. White skin. And, a beautiful sword. A black magic swordsman of the black magic clan. The tip of the sword does not waver, and a body that has been repeatedly trained. You, by any chance, are your name `Cleon`?”

At the words that came out of the woman who opened her mouth as if trying to create an opening by talking to Cleon, Cleon stiffened without realizing it. Perhaps she took it as a sign of affirmation. The woman did not stop at raising the corners of her lips, but opened her mouth and made a sound of laughter.

“So that’s it! Haha! I know your name well. My friend has mentioned it several times. But… you’re more upright than I thought. Your heart is set straight.”

“…Are you trying to shake me?”

“Huhu. You don’t seem like the kind of person who would be shaken by this much. It wouldn’t be fair if only I knew your identity. It would be right for me to reveal my identity as well. My name is Flarous. The only descendant of the Megido clan, the guardian of these ruins. And, the `Guide of the Throne`.”

Cleon only frowned at the words of the woman who revealed her identity.

“I don’t understand anything.”

“Haha! Maybe that’s right. But sometimes, it’s faster to bump into things with your body than to know the truth.”

The next moment, Flarous instantly narrowed the distance towards Cleon. Instead of jumping up like before, she ran in a straight line, kicking off the ground. A reckless charge. Cleon clearly saw an `opening` in that, but he did not stab it. Because he knew that the opening was a trap.

When a weapon with a huge mass was swung at him, he didn’t block it, but twisted his body to avoid it. Head, shoulders, waist, groin. And, a whirlwind of destruction aiming for and striking the joints. When he brought his sword to the dizzying trajectory dancing before his eyes, even if it was Galatea and Caliburn, he would be pushed back by the force.

“Mana Shock.”

Therefore, while concentrating on evasion, he cast a magic to cut off the flow as if to check. When the black magic lightning extending from his hand struck Flarous’s arm –

[… …]

Something in the form of a huge owl, a formless material, appeared and protected her body. A disgusting shape. And the energy felt from there was a darker hellish black magic than she herself. It was a higher-ranking demon that was more powerful than any ordinary small-time demon.

“Andras.”

“A demon…! Even though she’s a half-human, half-demon herself, she’s a demon summoner.”

It didn’t disappear as it was, but rose from Flarous’s body as it was, and scattered feathers while holding a large amount of black magic.

The flow of magic entangled in each feather was a curse. If a curse with physical power hit the body, it would cause unpleasant effects such as pain, chills, or numbness of the senses.

There was no way to completely avoid the rain of feathers scattered in large quantities. Cleon immediately switched his posture from evasion to counterattack and drew Caliburn from his waist.

[Haaam… Saint Blast]

Caliburn, who had awakened his consciousness as Cleon’s hand was placed on his hilt, exploded divine power in all directions to repel all the curses flying towards his master. It didn’t just stop at erasing the curse, but went on to burn and erase a part of the demon’s body that Flarous had summoned.

“Aha. You’re using the holy sword without any problems.”

Flarous spoke while covering her exposed face with her sleeve as if she was also shocked by the divine power. But she didn’t seem impatient. However. That was a clear opening. Cleon immediately swung the holy sword and magic sword in both hands in a crisscross manner.

The two sword strikes were made almost simultaneously. Traces of magic remained where the swords passed, and as she had her arm raised and defenseless, there seemed to be no way to block the swords.

“Andras!”

However, she boldly used the high-ranking demon she had summoned as a shield to block the sword and the impact of magic that followed. When the owl demon disappeared, scattering flames along with a powerful flash, a sphere of magic with an untouchable high heat appeared between the two –

Cleon was the one who jumped in first. He, who had wrapped his whole body like armor using black magic, pierced through the light that the demon had left behind and charged at Flarous. Flarous also swung her weapon with a beat late to block Cleon’s sword –

`Kagaak!!!`

And, Cleon’s two swords and her weapon scraped against each other. As it was an attack that stabbed through the opening, Cleon was the one who was pushing forward, but if the situation were to move to a simple battle of strength, her counterattack was also possible enough.

[What monstrous strength…! Cleon!]

[I’m going to pour out magic without limit~ be careful not to fly away~]

Therefore, Galatea and Caliburn decided to do what they could for Cleon. The two swords, which seemed to have hearts, drew magic from the hilt and covered the entire blade.

Seeing that, Flarous also injected a large amount of black magic into the weapon from her own body, and the entire club was dyed black.

Black magic and black magic. And the magical pressure gradually increased as divine magic collided. The two knew that the side whose posture collapsed first would be caught in this pressure and fly backward, losing as it was, so they did not step back even one step.

“Wonderful, to think there would be a human who can handle the holy sword and magic sword at the same time to this extent.”

“…Magic consumption is high, so let’s finish this quickly.”

The next moment, Cleon broke the balance of magic that had been tautly connected. He let go of the swords in both hands. Even Flarous had no choice but to be flustered by the action, but the two swords that were in a tug-of-war with the club did not fall. Magic sword and holy sword. Because they were swords with wills, they could maintain themselves to some extent even if they fell from their master’s hand.

And, a ray of light was swung like lightning from the bottom up. Cleon, who had let go of the swords in both hands, drew the dagger he had kept and swung it as he jumped into her arms.

Kwajik.

With a sound, the mask she was wearing on her face cracked.

“Kuh… Was it shallow…!”

As Cleon’s words ended, the magical pressure that had been tautly maintained behind his back exploded. And, with the recoil, the two were bounced in the same direction and –

“U,wat…!”

“Kuh…!”

Flarous and Cleon crashed into the wall together.

Dust rose, and a large crack formed in the wall. It was natural since a large woman and a tall man were crashed at the same time with great force. However, since Cleon had Flarous as a cushion, he felt the soft sensation of her body hidden under the cloth clothes before the hard wall.

“…Eut…!”

When Cleon coughed and raised his head at her voice, he saw her with red eyes revealed under the broken mask. Her face was flushed as he was clinging to her.

“W-wait a minute… I’m sorry, but this is progressing too fast…”

Then, as he tried to get away from her who was saying something…

“…You’re quick with your hands. Cleon.”

The sensation of a cold blade was felt behind his neck.

001

“Ishtar, huh… Is she still doing that kind of thing.”

Cleon barely received forgiveness for his molestation (?) and mentioned Ishtar’s name to Flarous, who had admitted his defeat.

When Flarous heard her name, she initially wore a surprised expression, and then a slightly sad expression.

Since her mask was already broken, she roughly tore a piece of cloth from her clothes and used it as an eye patch to cover her eyes. Covering her eyes was a natural act for her. She said that there was something she had to do for those who showed her eyes.

However, Rubera, who had seen her skills, was wary of her and hid Amelia behind her.

“To put it bluntly, I want to borrow your strength to stop Ishtar.”

“…Haha. I see, is that so.”

Flarous let out a dry laugh and grabbed Cleon’s shoulder. There was an unbelievably strong grip in that slender finger.

“I am a half-human, half-demon. In the past, I was her colleague.”

As those words ended, Rubera drew Barisada and aimed it at Flarous.

“Don’t worry. I’m properly hostile now. So put that cute knife down.”

[She said I was cute! Rubera!]

“Quiet.”

When Rubera reacted irritably to Barisada’s nonsense, Cleon also nodded. Rubera lowered her sword as if she couldn’t help it.

“Ah-. Good. I’ll answer because it seems like you want to ask me a lot of things. However, I need a price, though.”

Cleon felt a bad feeling at Flarous’s words. Although she is a half-human, half-demon, she is still a demon. If they demand a price, it’s usually a soul.

“…Let’s get the price after the story is over. I feel a strong destiny from you too. First, let’s move the place a bit…”

Flarous felt Cleon’s gaze, raised the corners of her lips, and slowly opened her mouth.