Chapter 99

Nina's unique skill, "Magic * Earth," allowed her to move at an astonishing speed by assimilating her body with the magic that had been transformed into threads. It was difficult to see through on the first encounter, and those who faced it would have the illusion that the enemy had suddenly closed the distance as if the ground had shrunk before their eyes.

"Sorry~"

"Hehe! Using a new technique, huh? Is it a unique skill? But it's not enough to kill me."

Nina instantly closed the distance with Goliath and delivered a slash, which Goliath easily blocked. Despite her attack being easily deflected, Nina had already moved on to the next attack. The assassination technique "Spin" usually involved slamming the upper arm into the opponent's neck to break it, but Nina spun vertically instead of horizontally, and used a composite technique by slashing at Goliath with both of her short swords.

Nina's slashes from both arms were deflected by Goliath, who wielded his dull, gleaming hammer, which he had created from the steel dragon's horns, with a look of enjoyment. The short swords, specialized for close combat, and the heavy hammer, a weapon of great weight, were incomparable in close combat. However, Goliath wielded his hammer at a speed greater than Nina's. Gradually, Nina could no longer keep up with Goliath's attacks, which he swung like twigs.

"Hehe, second one~"

"Ugh"

Goliath swung his hammer at Nina's head. A cute sound echoed around. It was the sound of Suke, who had puffed up his fur, intercepting Goliath's hammer.

"A sheep wolf like you has the nerve to block my attack?"

Goliath swung his hammer horizontally, and Suke tried to block it as he had before, but Goliath had activated his hammer skill "Crush." A dull sound came from Suke's body and Goliath's hammer. Suke let out a cry and was blown away several meters, landing on the ground.

"Suke!"

Marifa wanted to rush to Suke, who had been blown away, but she couldn't show her back to the werewolf in front of her.

"Captain, this is our chance. We should retreat."

"That group of subhumans calling themselves the Twelve Disciples won't let us. They are still monitoring us while fighting. We should take advantage of this situation. If we cooperate with those women, we can deliver at least one attack. If we can deliver even one attack, the poison on our weapons can immobilize them. If we can capture the women alive, it will be easier to retrieve Yu Sato."

"…Die."

Rena, floating in the air on a mithril broom, cast the third-level black magic "Thunder Crash." Lightning descended from the sky toward Goliath. Just as the blue lightning seemed about to envelop Goliath's entire body, the Thunder Crash disappeared.

"…A barrier? No, the magic disappeared."

"Hehe, for a kid, you sure can use powerful magic. Just one hit and I've recovered a lot of MP."

Nina and the others didn't pay much attention to the fact that Rena's magic had disappeared the moment it hit Goliath, but the Saint Jardaluk intelligence agents had a bad feeling. They immediately had someone skilled in appraisal and analysis investigate.

On the other hand, the battle between Chi-Du and Joseph was surrounded by an unusual atmosphere. Hergorilla and Joseph were grappling, and Ansger, the Golden Moon Flower members, and Chi-Du were watching as if they were spectators. Hergorilla, proud of his muscles, tried to break Joseph's neck, but...

"Hey, you're a gorilla? Don't kid me."

Hergorilla was frustrated that his pride in his strength couldn't even budge Joseph's neck. After all, there was a clear difference in physical abilities between monsters and humans. Therefore, humans had to arm themselves and hone their skills to fight monsters on equal terms. It was not a sane thing to do to fight a muscle-bound monster with bare hands.

Joseph, who was doing something that no ordinary person could do, made even the Golden Moon Flower members step back, not just Ansger. Joseph placed his hands on Hergorilla's elbows and exerted all his strength. Hergorilla's arms bent in a direction they shouldn't, and he let out a cry of pain.

"Hehe, who's the gorilla?"

"Who's a gorilla!"

"Whatever. I've taken more time than expected with this unexpected interference, but I'm ready."

Chi-Du stopped petting the Forest Panther and clasped his hands together. Magic power coursed through Chi-Du's entire body.

"Sir! I've heard that Chi-Du has a troublesome unique skill. Before he uses it—"

"It's too late. 'Gate Opening.'"

With Chi-Du's magic words as the keyword, a distorted gate rose from the ground. The gate, about five meters wide and ten meters high, appeared, and Ansger, though surprised, couldn't help but ask.

"You... can open a gate?"

The "gate" Ansger referred to was a phenomenon where a crack suddenly appeared in space, creating a rift. The cause of this phenomenon was still unknown, but it was known that the rift acted like a gate, connecting places. In the year 189 of the Holy Calendar, a gate that appeared in the Set Republic led to the A-rank dungeon "The Empty Box." In response, the Set Republic mobilized all its soldiers to slay the monsters that emerged from the rift. Despite the swift response, over ten thousand casualties were reported, but the king was praised for limiting the damage to that extent.

"Where do you think this gate leads? If I tell you, you'll probably lose hope..."

"Damn, stop being so dramatic and just say it, you bastard."

Joseph, irritated, beheaded Hergorilla.

Chi-Du mounted the Forest Panther and rode up to the top of the gate. Sitting atop the gate, Chi-Du looked down at Joseph and the others, a smile on his face, and revealed the name of what lay beyond the gate. Ansger and the Golden Moon Flower members turned pale at Chi-Du's words, which sounded like a death sentence.

"A-Anita, what did he just say? If I heard correctly, he said it's connected to G-Grim Castle? It can't be true, right? Grim Castle is the S-rank dungeon where the Overlord Drim, one of the three great demons, resides."

"Bel, calm down. It's just a bluff. Gates are natural phenomena. They can't be created artificially."

Anita, who was telling Bel to calm down, knew best that Chi-Du wasn't bluffing.

"Hehehe. My unique skill 'Gate Opening' can connect places I've been to, but even I can't go inside the castle. I can only get close to the perimeter of Grim Castle. Hehe, Grim Castle is an S-rank dungeon, and the monsters patrolling the perimeter are no joke. The gates of hell are about to open."

The distorted gate gradually opened. The Golden Moon Flower members readied their weapons. A red hand appeared in the gap of the gate, followed by a goat's face. A monster with a goat's head, a human body about two meters tall, and bat wings—a Lesser Demon.

"Ah!"

The Golden Moon Flower members with lower levels fell into a panic state due to the Lesser Demon's "Fear" aura. The Lesser Demon, seeing the Golden Moon Flower members, twisted its eyes in delight, and drool dripped from its mouth.

"Hehe, it seems they want women. As you know, Lesser Demons are rank 6. Well, just struggle uselessly and entertain me."

Lesser Demons continued to emerge from the gate. The Golden Moon Flower members, facing the despair before them, lost their will to fight.

"What a hassle."

Only Joseph stood in front of the Lesser Demons, unchanged from his usual demeanor.

"Meaaaaa"

"Shut up!"

Joseph's greatsword slashed the Lesser Demon diagonally from the shoulder. The Lesser Demon, with a look of anger, glared at Joseph. While a normal monster would have been mortally wounded, the Lesser Demon's wound began to heal. Although the Lesser Demon was the weakest of the Succubus race, it was one of the three races that the Adventurers' Guild considered dangerous.

"Meaaaaa"

"I said, shut up!"

Joseph's sword skill "Instant Flash" decapitated the Lesser Demon, which finally stopped moving.

With the death of their comrade, the Lesser Demons' attention focused on Joseph. During this time, the Golden Moon Flower members formed a formation centered around Anita, placing the weaker members at the back.

One Lesser Demon was crushed by a giant arm that emerged from the gate. The monster that emerged from the gate had a body over seven meters long, two curled horns, and fangs that were as large and sharp as an adult's wrist.

"You guys are really unlucky. The strongest of the monsters patrolling the perimeter has come out."

The monster that emerged from the gate was an Arch Demon—a rank 7 monster. On this day, for the first time, the ease on Joseph's face disappeared.