Act 2-34 - Clash, Grey Cult

Chapter 34 : Clash, Grey Cult

After we finished our rest, we resumed our search in UG 4th floor.

Suddenly, Heidar rushed in front of Gamdon.

「Oi, stop at once.」

「What’s matter, Heidar.」

Childick retreated beside Gamdon immediately.

「People. I’m not sure about their number but, there’s around tens people. No doubt about it, it’s the grey cult and the hostages.」

A tensed air running through the entire subjugation corps upon hearing those sentences.

Though my 《Odo Perception》 couldn’t get a clear grasp about their number, I instantly noticed their presence too.

「The direction of their movement hasn’t changed. Maybe they have yet to notice our presence.」

「Fuh, let’s ambush and teach a bitter lesson to those psychopaths.」

Gamdon let out a belligerent smile as he raised his 《Strong Axe; Gigantes》.

「Oi you bastard, to anyone of you who only stays idly behind to watch the situation will be beaten to death by my axe if we survived this ordeal. My future is depending on this fight.」

Gamdon reminded us again for the umpteenth time.

… Finally, a clash with the grey cult.

Their side has around ten people as strong as Vlad and Gaza.

This was by no means an easy fight.

Though I wanted to hide 《Demon Eater Sword: Beelzera》’s power as much as possible, I guess it’ll be impossible for me to hide 《Gluttony’s Edge》 or 《Petit Dimordi》in this battle.

Originally, the devil was supposed to be the inhabitant of the spirit world; they were far more difficult to meet compared to demon beasts. In the history of humankind, there was only an extremely small number of their appearances recorded.

I could deceive the others about 《Petit Dimordi》’s materialization.

As for 《Gluttony’s Edge》, it wasn’t the kind of power that could be understood in a single glance.

But still… I’ve to prepare for the worst case situation.

We were walking in a big , long tunnel.

It was quite wide with a tall ceiling.

After getting this close, even my 《Odo Perception》 could find their ominous presence.

「… Thirty people huh.」

「According to the victims’ statement, the number of the hostages is twenty four. In short, their side have six people… since our number is double of them, maybe the fight won’t be as hard as our expectations.」

From the very beginning, those guys had no intention to clash with the army from the front.

No doubt about it, the army kept making an enemy of the citizens and adventurers by not doing their job properly, afraid of being held accountable for the tragedy.

「Oi Heidar, how’s their movement?」

「… They haven’t noticed us yet. This smells fishy. I mean, they arrived this far in this demon labyrinth without even relying on a scout.」

「They must be full of muscle-brained people! It looks like we’re overestimating them. Well in the end, they’re nothing but a bunch of lunatics! I guess this fight is as good as our victory once we ambushed and kill them all!」

Since I couldn’t help but feel anxious upon hearing Heidar and Gamdon’s conversation, I tried to use 《Odo Perception》.

Did those guys seriously not notice our presence?

But, even my 《Odo Perception》 didn’t catch anything suspicious.

「Those guys… might’ve prepared a trap for us at the next fork in the path. I think it’s dangerous to keep tailing them like this but…」

Mani touched her lips as she muttered so anxiously, illuminating the floor and ceiling with her mana lamp.

Suddenly, Edda stopped walking, and turned around.

「What’s the matter, Edda?」

「… I heard footsteps coming from behind us.」

I also stopped walking, looking at the direction of Edda’s line of sight, stimulating the vigilance of the people who were walking at the end of the line.

They also stopped walking, and started to look around.

But, my 《Odo Perception》 didn’t catch anything at all.

It might be just somesort of small demon beast.

「Oi you bastards, stop daydreaming and keep walking!」

Gamdon shouted at us the moment he noticed that we stopped walking.

That moment, a man appeared from behind us.

He had pale skin and bloodshot eyes.

At the tip of his long tongue was a golden piercing ring.

Grasped in his hand was a long sword with an eerie red-like color.

「AHA! GUESS I’VE NO CHOICE SINCE YOU GUYS DISCOVERED ME FIRST! YOU’RE NOT THOSE ARMY FELLA, RIGHT? THEN, I GUESS THERE’S NO PROBLEM WITH SACRIFICING YOU GUYS TO OUROBOROS-SAMA!」

Looking with odo perception, I saw that the man who had just appeared had a sinister-looking odo.

It seems he used rule magic to conceal himself from us.

And aiming for when we’re unprepared to ambush us from behind.

The three people at the end of the line would deal with him.

That eerie man happily brandished his sword, making full use of its reach.

His movement was a mess, yet fast.

He alone forced the three adventurers who fought him to retreat since they couldn’t close in toward him.

That eerie man didn’t pursue his opponents, but retreated instead.

「《Mass Blocker》!」

A magic circle formed as soon as he shouted.

The ground on the floor and wall sprung up behind that man, forming an impromptu wall on our retreat path.

It was a magic that manipulates the shape and condition of an inorganic object, alchemy.

The scale was bigger and the speed of activation was fast too.

It was the testimony of his high magical power.

He sealed our retreat path,

That wall… though it didn’t seem to be a solid one, we couldn’t afford to destroy that wall while dodging that eerie man’s attack.

「Well then adventurers, let’s dance till you or me die!」

Against three adventurers who got cold feet, that man was drooling like a predator who had met their prey.

He has rule magic and alchemy… no, since he single handedly observed our movement, he should have matter magic with him too.

Worst of all, he was a close combat adept too, his ability was simply all-rounder.

「Let’s help those three and retreat after we destroyed that wall!」

I shouted at the front group.

「Sorry! Those guys in the front are about to make their move!」

The moment Heidar said those words, my 《Odo Perception》 had also picked up the movement of the grey cult in front of our group.

They’re heading toward our way at tremendous speed.

At that running speed, they would reach us in a few seconds.

Their fast movement told me that they’ve high fighting spirit.

Their average level was about the same, higher than our average.

Even if we escaped in a hurry, such a poor escape would only allow them to hunt us down from the weakest, weakening our force at once.

After hesitating for a while, I decided to join the guys in the front group.

The fight in the back was one sided despite being 1 vs 3 but, our side has sixteen people while the other party only has around 8 people.

If we can surround them in one versus four or five, our side should be able to crush them all at once.