Chapter 56 – Graveyard (2)

A strange light flashed, and in an instant, the surrounding scenery changed. Belloc did not know what kind of spell this was, but he could tell that he had fallen into a quite nasty situation.

In his view, this place was not the domain of humans. If it were normal land, corpses would not crawl out from under tombstones, and the color of the moon would not be as crimson as blood.

As if representing his thoughts, the vibration of the isolated cemetery continued to grow. The iron fences set up around them shook, and a worn-out cross snapped with a click. An arm that had been buried for a long time shot up into the sky.

Keeeeeek

Empty eye sockets twitched, and black, discolored teeth growled. The ghouls approaching while scraping the ground had something that made human knees tremble.

The atmosphere is killer. Yes, it has to be at least this much to be called a place where a Great Demon lives. However, Belloc smiled fiercely.

Because the situations he had experienced so far were too shitty to be frightened by this sort of thing.

Kara, who had been held in his arms, also looked around and stammered.

“Where on earth is this… What about the other people besides us? Don’t tell me it’s teleportation magic? That’s impossible. I didn’t even sense any particular sign.”

Even she, a mage, seemed not to know the current situation. Indeed, a Great Demon was already a monster hundreds of years old.

Since it must know as many strange techniques as the years it had lived, it would be able to do things incomprehensible by human standards. Right now, there was something more important than that.

“We deal with those guys first. Thinking comes after that.”

Gesturing with his chin toward the monsters, Belloc released the two people he was holding. When the heaviness felt at her waist disappeared, Kara exhaled a long sigh. Then she swept her hair back and tightly gripped her staff.

Adel stared at Belloc for a moment with a bright red face, then shook her head and lifted her sword and shield.

Kieeeek

While the party was grasping the situation, the monsters of the graveyard were already rushing toward them. Limbs left with only bones, hollow skeletons, and the bifurcated, flickering tongues of ghouls lunged at them.

Belloc drew his sword with an indifferent expression. He had no intention of letting his guard down, but he also had no intention of draining his strength by giving it his all.

His level had also risen a lot. Now, the experience points given by such things were minimal. He had to deal with them quickly and look around. Because he had to grasp how the situation was turning out.

Kara muttered with her lips, and Adel recited a prayer while protecting her. Leaving the two behind, Belloc stepped forward as usual. Taking a large step onto the uneven ground, he swung his sword down.

A ghoul caught in the trajectory was split down its spine and died. Leaving behind the pouring black blood and brain matter, he slashed horizontally again.

The upper part of the head of a ghoul crawling toward the half-moon drawn by the blade flew off. The skeletons had their waists broken. As expected, the experience points are stingy. While Belloc was having such thoughts, Adel’s voice was heard.

“Lord Belloc! To the back!”

When he slightly turned his head, Kara was raising her staff with shining eyes. It was a spell. Belloc kicked the belly of a lunging ghoul and retreated backward. Seeing this, Kara spread her arms. Soon, she shouted loudly in a clear voice.

“O light that penetrates all things!”

The witch’s brown eyes glowed mysteriously. That radiance was much brighter than the eye-glow she usually showed. Belloc did not know that this was a phenomenon that appeared when using a powerful spell. He just watched the flashy performance. What is it? Why is it so noisy? Kara aimed the tip of her staff at the monsters.

“Pierce!”

The light flashed, and violet beams poured down. Soon, those beams turned into small arrows and rained down on the monsters like a downpour.

Whether it was trodden earth, worn-out stones, or rotten flesh, it did not matter. The destructive cluster of light disintegrated everything that blocked its path.

Keeeeeek

The monsters exploded before they could even attempt anything. Belloc admired the sight, forgetting the fact that his experience points had been stolen.

The bastards covering the graveyard were finished off with a single spell. I really should have been a mage instead of a knight. Hiding his true feelings, he said.

“It is a magic I am seeing for the first time.”

“It’s called Arcane Arrow. It’s a magic that’s also in the scrolls I gave you guys, and it was also written in this grimoire. It was worth practicing hard in the meantime. It’s better than I thought, except that it consumes quite a bit of spell power…”

Perhaps she had a headache, Kara wrinkled her brow and fiddled with the book at her waist.

“It has great power. Excellent.”

Adel also opened her eyes wide and admired it purely. The one who was more surprised by her words was Kara.

“Huh? Such pleasant words are coming out of your mouth?”

Adel raised her eyebrows and started to say something, but soon shut her mouth. Adel had to admit it.

That this witch was a truly skilled mage who was a great help to the party’s combat power. And that she herself had treated her harshly so far, swept up in a petty jealousy. Of course, it was not a thought that came overnight.

The long journey starting from Hameln, passing through Wild Raspberry Village, the Flowing Forest, and up to now had greatly helped change her perception.

The decisive factor must have been that single sentence she spoke at the Grand Church while holding the Teleportation Scroll.

Adel nodded her head. Yes, I shall acknowledge you as a companion.

As long as you do not play tricks that cross the line with Lord Belloc, we can be good friends. Having finished her thoughts, Adel lifted her chin and spoke.

“Hmph. Even when I praise you, it is a problem. Would you rather hear a bucketful of curses like before?”

When the female knight, who had only acted sharply, showed unexpected behavior, Kara was momentarily flustered but soon smiled faintly.

“No, I’ll pass. Because the world is too busy just to live hearing nice words.”

Oh. This is quite a giant leap forward. Belloc was watching the two of them with a pleased smile. At that moment, the moon floating in the sky flashed.

As the blood-red direct light illuminated the graveyard, the surrounding fog grew even thicker. Belloc suddenly scowled. His transcendent senses captured other monsters. More precisely, he heard the sound of digging the ground and phlegm-ridden groaning. Adel, perhaps the same, asked with a stiff face.

“Lord Belloc… this is?”

“It seems the second guests have arrived.”

Belloc drew the sword he had driven into the ground with a swoosh. Soon, the flashing of the moon subsided, and the wriggling fog thinned. Inside it, monsters appeared once again.

The party fought again. Lightning flew from Kara’s hand, and Adel and Belloc swung their swords. The monsters died in an instant just like before. Due to the excessive use of spells, Kara let out a sigh and said.

“It’s over, right?”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the blood-red moonlight flashed again. Sure enough, fog set in, and monsters appeared. As this was repeated several times, the party grew tired of it.

Especially for the two who had no concept of leveling up, the intensity was even greater. Kara no longer used magic. She simply looked around the graveyard with a pale face and shouted.

“Monsters pouring out endlessly! Something is strange! If we keep going like this, we will be wiped out!”

“Lord Belloc! What should we do?”

Adel shattered the head of a skeleton soldier by swinging her shield and asked. In the midst of the urgent battle, Belloc fell into a brief contemplation while swinging his sword.

An odd space that seemed like the Great Demon’s abode, a strange moon, fog, and monsters. Was it something like infinite respawning? Were they trying to wear them down by nibbling away at their stamina? Yes, it was certainly a terrible thing. However, it wasn’t so for him. Since he kept catching them, the experience points were not bad.

Rather, what if I take this as an opportunity? I will become stronger, and that monster who is bluffing about having lived a long life will eventually have its head cut off by my sword. By the time he thought that, Kara shouted loudly.

“Belloc! You have to make a decision!”

At her urgent tone, Belloc stopped thinking. When he turned his gaze, Kara was panting. Her faded eye-glow and even more disheveled hair stood out.

What about Adel? She was also the same. The hand holding the shield was trembling violently. While the knight with monster-like strength and stamina could endure it, his companions could not. Belloc said.

“Adel. Carry Kara on your back. I will clear the way.”

“Yes.”

“Huh? Wa… Wait!”

Kara struggled, but she was no match for the physical strength of the female knight who was beating down ghouls in heavy armor.

“Be careful not to get caught up.”

Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, Belloc quickly ran forward. His target was the iron fence visible before his eyes. For now, he intended to escape this graveyard.

The muddy ground, pits, and monsters stood in his way, but Belloc swung his sword regardless. The greatsword, which had now taken on a complete pitch-black color, flashed. At a speed that was invisible, the monsters were sliced to pieces.

It was a great art, but it was insufficient to break through the encirclement. Belloc gasped for breath. Soon, he concentrated his five senses to the extreme.

Every single clump of dirt flying from the sword he swung down, and every single claw of the ghouls swinging to tear his body apart, was felt in detail. Eventually, the world slowed down. Only Belloc could move freely in this stopped space.

The Steel Knight swung his sword. And he swung it countlessly, quickly.

A transparent trajectory extended outward with him at the center, sweeping like a storm. It was a storm of swords. The air around them trembled from the wind pressure alone, and Kara’s hair flew up like a bird.

The monsters were shredded without being able to stretch a single hand toward the party. The speed at which Belloc beat them to death was faster than the moon flashing and new monsters appearing. The two following him watched the scene as if possessed, and then moved their feet again.

Crunch!

The head of the last monster rolled on the ground. Belloc shook his sword, from which blood was dripping, once. Then he gasped for breath. It was a technique that consumed a lot of mental power. It was not something to be used often.

Before the moon could flash again, Belloc swung his fist. An object that had been stuck like an iron skewer rolled on the ground, and the party was able to escape the graveyard.

“Is that enough now? Let me down! Quick!”

Hanging on someone else’s back made Kara feel uneasy, so she struggled, but Adel did not budge. She looked at Belloc and asked.

“What should we do?”

Belloc was silent. More precisely, he was concentrating on the sounds around him and the sight beyond the faintly visible fog. The sounds of clashing weapons, shouting, screaming, and giggling, mocking shrieks were heard in succession.

If it was barely audible even to his hearing, they must be far away. Did they use magic to scatter the expedition? Was he safe thanks to his spell-blocking armor? No, more than that, if they had to break through that place, it seemed like they were a bit screwed.

“Lord Belloc?”

“The situation is getting twisted.”

Belloc gestured with his chin. Just as Adel was about to say she couldn’t see, the fog cleared and the surrounding scenery was revealed. The place where they stood was a quite high cliff. As such, their gazes naturally turned downward.

“My goodness…”

Adel, letting out a low groan, loosened her grip on Kara. At that, Kara, who fell on her butt, grumbled and stuck her head out. Soon, she also distorted her face.

“Where on earth is this…”

Passing the dense forest under the cliff, several mountains piled high with skulls could be seen. Horned demons sitting on top of them were flapping their leathery wings. He turned his gaze.

This time, a burning village was visible. A hideously deformed giant was tightly grasping a screaming soldier and tossing him into the fire.

Kara held back her urge to vomit. Wherever she looked, there were monsters, monsters. This place was a den of fiends. It was as if hell had descended. She raised her head.

At the end of that terrible space, a bizarrely shaped castle stood towering. She could tell instinctively. The culprit behind all of this would be right there.

A specter hundreds of years old, the second coming of corruption, a monster trying to plunge the kingdom into chaos. The Great Demon Astaroth…

At that moment, a voice was heard. It was a calm and dry voice as usual. Kara could not understand the meaning of those words.

“I don’t know how many times I will level up by the time I reach him.”

But for some reason, a strong confidence was contained within it.