Chapter 7

"「「「huff, huff, huff...」」」

Just how long had we been running?

Even Dill, who was the lightest and had the most stamina, was breathing heavily. As for me, who lacked endurance, my heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest.

Finally, we stopped running and cautiously turned around. In the distance, we could see the walls of the destroyed city.

We had been running non-stop from there. And then—

—It was gone.

There was no sign of the white-haired undead.

But we couldn’t relax immediately. While catching our breath, we remained on guard for a while.

“…Did we lose it?”

“It seems it didn’t even chase us…”

Finally, we let out a sigh of relief. The fatigue we had forgotten about suddenly hit us, and we couldn’t help but squat down on the spot.

“What the hell was that thing?”

“…It was a monstrous creature. If it had attacked us, we would have surely been killed.”

I recalled the terrifying scene I had just witnessed.

The creature that had been summoned was clearly a high-class demon. It possessed such a malevolent power that it could destroy a small city with just one individual, and even we, gold-ranked adventurers, would have a hard time defeating it.

And yet, it was instantly killed by that undead with a single blow.

“Still, why did it let us go? I guess it’s a silver lining in our misfortune…”

“…Perhaps…”

Hanna, who was usually so confident, must have been terrified. She said with a pale face,

“It didn’t let us go… It’s just that running away was meaningless… It could probably kill us at any time…”

“「「…」」”

Unable to refute Hanna’s theory, we shivered.

In the oppressive silence and heavy atmosphere, I tried to maintain my composure and said,

“Anyway, let’s get back to the city as soon as possible. We need to report this to the guild.”

“That’s a good idea… If we stay in the city, it’s unlikely that it will attack us…”

Agreeing with this, we pushed our tired bodies and started running again.

The city closest to the demon realm—Costal. Originally, it was a settlement created by adventurers exploring the demon realm.

Although there is a lord who governs the city, it is mostly a formality. The real power in the city is held by the Adventurer’s Guild.

Naturally, we used this city as our base for exploring the demon realm. After running non-stop, we finally made it back to the city and, without resting, rushed to the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Alec? What happened…?”

A receptionist, who knew us, was surprised by our ragged and sweaty appearance.

“huff, huff, huff… I need to speak with the guild master… I need to tell him something important as soon as possible…”

I told her to get the guild master immediately.

“Y-Yes, sir… Please, this way…”

Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, the receptionist quickly led us to a conference room instead of the guild master’s office.

“They are currently in a meeting… Thank you.”

I thanked the receptionist and opened the door. It was an emergency, so there was no time for formalities.

“Guild master!”

Suddenly bursting into the meeting room, we drew the attention of everyone inside. I, on the other hand, was surprised by the people in the room.

The room was filled with gold-ranked adventurers and above.

“What’s with this lineup…? Are we going to war…?”

“Such a distinguished group…”

Dill and Hanna, who followed me in, were also taken aback. Indeed, with so many gold-ranked adventurers, it would be possible to conquer the surrounding territories.

Still, it was convenient. We could tell the central adventurers of the city about the undead we encountered all at once.

However, just as I was about to speak, a giant man at the back of the room shouted first.

“Oh, Alec! You’re here just in time!”

Baldar, the guild master of this city, whom we all knew well, was a man in his sixties with prominent white hair. Despite his age, his physique showed no signs of decline. He was even larger than me and Guy, and his superhuman strength was legendary, having once defeated a giant in a physical contest.

He was a former gold-ranked adventurer and is now the de facto leader of the city. Even after retiring, he is still far superior to most active adventurers.

He is a man of deep emotion, usually a kind and friendly father figure, but when he gets angry, he transforms into a berserker, earning him the nickname 'the transformed Baldar.'

“Actually, as you can see, I was holding an emergency meeting with all the gold-ranked adventurers and above. I would like you to join us as well.”

“An emergency meeting?”

For a moment, I thought it was about the undead, but it seemed to be a different matter.

“A Tarasque has emerged from the demon realm.”

“A Tarasque…?”

A Tarasque is a monster resembling a turtle but is considered a subspecies of dragons. It moves very slowly but has an overwhelming defense due to its hard shell.

The Tarasque that was discovered in the demon realm and named the Tarasque Lord is hundreds of meters in size, compared to the usual five to six meters of a regular Tarasque.

Its weight is immense, causing the ground to sink several meters with each step. If such a monster were to attack, it would crush any city walls.

Worse still, if it continues its path, Costal will suffer significant damage.

The damage would likely not be limited to just this city. If the Tarasque continues across the country, it will destroy many villages and cities along the way, causing a major disaster.

The country has directly requested the Adventurer’s Guild of this city to attack the Tarasque, force it to change its path, and drive it back into the demon realm.

It’s not a request for its extermination, as that would be unrealistic. As long as it returns to the demon realm, it’s enough.

The Tarasque’s speed is about two to three kilometers per hour, similar to a turtle’s pace, so escaping from it is not difficult.

“Of course, we will provide appropriate compensation. I know you just got back, but please help us.”

“I understand.”

I nodded and then said,

“But I also have a report to make.”

“A report?”

Finally, I was able to tell them about our terrifying encounter with the undead.

“You mean the white-haired undead that you couldn’t even touch…?”

“Yes. It was undoubtedly a monstrous creature. We could only run… No, being able to escape was a miracle…”

“A monster that you, who are recognized as skilled adventurers, had to run from…”

Baldar and the other adventurers were visibly shaken by the fact that we, who are recognized for our skills, had to flee for our lives.

“Most likely, even if all of us here were to team up, we wouldn’t stand a chance against it. It might be a threat even greater than the Tarasque—”

Just then, I felt something strange around my ankle and looked down to see something rope-like wrapped around it.

“—Huh? …Oh!?”

In the next moment, I was pulled up by that rope-like thing and hung upside down.

“Even if all of us here were to team up, we wouldn’t stand a chance?”

The rope turned out to be a whip, and it was held by a woman.

“I don’t want to be lumped together with you lot, got it?”

The one who had me hanging by one foot with her whip was the only platinum-ranked adventurer among us, Estina.

“Estina…!”