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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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As expected, we were able to regroup with the party members before 6 o’clock.
“Oh. It had already ended.”
There were 4 cleanly killed corpses along with the party members at the dungeon entrance.
During yesterday’s reconnaissance, I couldn’t see them heading out early to change shifts, but it seemed like they felt like doing that today, of all days.
“You arrived right on time… Hmm. Both of you are fine, right?”
Since quite a few guys had been shattered by the war hammer, both Yekaterina and I were considerably covered in blood, so Gin hesitantly asked.
“Those guys couldn’t even resist. Wow, just as Eldmia said, when I struck one to start, they were dumbfounded and couldn’t do anything.”
“Hmm. I see. The idea of striking at a weak point is important. We finished it off without difficulty too. Turns out Rellie knows how to use a silence spell.”
“To be precise, it’s a barrier that temporarily kills the surrounding sounds.”
“Doesn’t using magic get you detected?”
“Using it without getting detected is my skill.”
As expected of a party that wouldn’t lose to anyone anywhere.
Just thinking about the gap that will be felt when I have to work with other mediocre adventurers later is already making me dizzy.
“I just checked the passage briefly, and there’s no difference from the scale written on the map. I think there will be no problem if we proceed as planned.”
The plan Gin mentioned was nothing special.
Gaendal and I would stand shoulder to shoulder and push forward in a space narrow enough that would leave no room for two adult men to stand side by side.
Gin would follow behind, preparing for any unforeseen ambush, while Yekaterina, who would have difficulty swinging her war hammer, would follow a bit further back with Rellie to check that no one escapes.
Her war hammer alone would be capable of blocking the path just by pushing it forward, so as long as we didn’t miss the two archers and the mage as we advanced, there would be no problems—a perfect plan in its own way.
It was a policy befitting the word “subjugation.”
Just in case, Gaendal and I, who had found daggers and short swords from the fallen guys’ belongings, nodded and entered the dungeon.
After descending about one floor underground following the stairs, a stone passage with torches on the walls greeted us.
The simple map was memorized.
From now on, all we had to focus on was checking the number of people in the rooms alternating left and right and quickly relaying that information.
The remaining personnel were about 9 and some unknown number of demons.
There was nothing to hesitate about, so we rushed forward.
It was my role to raid the first room we encountered.
“One!”
“What? What the… Kuh-huk!”
While Gaendal and I entered the room to assess and deal with the personnel, Gin coordinated with the remaining one to guard the passage.
If there were two or more people gathered, we engaged in a coordinated attack; if not, we repeated the same actions.
As we made our way to the target chapel while killing all the bastards or making sure we hadn’t missed any spots, we signaled Yekaterina and Rellie behind us and entered the chapel first.
That was the gist of this repetitive killing.
Just like special forces subduing terrorists, the bastards died one by one amidst swift movements.
“Three!”
“Crazy ambu… Kuh-uhk!”
“Throw!”
“Ack!”
It wasn’t difficult to coordinate with Gaendal.
He reacted swiftly as if trained to understand the situation, accept it, and comprehend what my shouted words meant.
Of course, I could also take pride in being the same.
Thanks to that, we succeeded in ambushing even the archers, and managed to deal with 8 people without any effort.
“The rest are likely in the chapel. Let’s go.”
At Gaendal’s decision, I threw the short sword I was holding with all my might into the passage we had come from.
Of course, I didn’t throw it using aura, so it wouldn’t cause the misfortune of flying toward Yekaterina.
Instead, the sharp metallic sound roughly hitting the floor filled the passage and faded away.
Now, Yekaterina and Rellie, who were walking and checking each room one by one, waiting for this signal, came running.
We hurried as fast as we could to the chapel, which wasn’t far away.
During our swift movement, there were some guys who sensed something strange about the noise we made, but there were also those who didn’t notice anything.
Thanks to that, it was utterly impossible to tell whether this commotion had reached the chapel and put them on alert or not.
In the end, all we could do was hurry as much as possible to not give them any time to prepare, even by a little.
“After an ambush, the only thing I’m confident in is slashing. I’ll start it off.”
“I’ll cover you.”
Simultaneously with Gaendal’s answer, I accelerated a bit more and entered the chapel, which was emitting an ominous blue light, without a single door blocking the entrance.
As soon as I entered, I could tell.
After hearing our urgent footsteps, the gazes gathered to check who was running over.
However, there was not a hint of proper vigilance in those gazes.
They were merely gazes of curiosity, wondering who suddenly came running like this.
In other words, it meant this ambush was a complete success.
And for the first time in 15 years since being reincarnated into this world, I finally got to see directly what the demons looked like.
Five demons.
The only thing that could be considered their common feature was the horns on their heads.
The horns of various shapes, which seemed to have never heard of hats during their lifetime, were not very large but had enough presence to definitely appeal.
Some had two, some had one, but there didn’t seem to be any with three.
Unless they grew from the back of the head.
Other than that, there were no distinctive physical features.
They didn’t all have uniformly black hair, nor did they have black skin or black sclera.
However, there was one clear difference apart from appearance.
“Who the hell are you…?”
And one demon, who must have felt a similar question to what I felt, pointed at me in astonishment.
Those bastards know how to use mana.
As soon as I reached that judgment, I gathered the maximum amount of mana I could without worrying about lying in bed tomorrow and began enhancing myself.
I rushed in a single breath, swinging my sword at the guy who was astonished to see me.
“No way…”
The effect of body enhancement, which I had never attempted even once, was tremendous.
It was enough for the demon’s head to fall off in the blink of an eye, as I leaped toward him and drew my sword.
It was a tremendous speed even to my own perception, but one of them not only reacted to this speed but was accurately aiming and thrusting his sword at me.
“Mage! Stabilize the gate! We have to escape!”
I kicked the guy’s abdomen while narrowly parrying the sword thrusting in from the side, aiming at my temple.
The only one with two horns.
Could it be that the strength of demons is distinguished by the number of horns?
The remaining three reacted, but moved slowly – indicating that this guy was the leader and the biggest threat.
The proof was that even in this state, which could be called my full power, I was far from overwhelming him.
It felt like we were evenly matched.
The guy was slightly different from when I had briefly glanced at him earlier.
The eyes bloodshot to the point of being frightening, and the blood vessels bulging out from his face to various parts of his body helped me guess that he had enhanced his body with something.
And apart from the others, I could tell exactly what it was.
It was clear that the guy had pumped mana into his body, like doping.
“I will stop this one! Protect the mage!”
In the brief moment he gave orders to the demons, we clashed swords five times.
If I hadn’t learned swordsmanship from the Ogatorf family, I would have died with my jaw split open by the counterattack that came in on the third strike.
That’s how skilled he was with the sword.
Damn it, whether I ambushed or not, this is the first time I’ve properly fought someone this strong in my life.
If I had faced Delt, whom I could have killed with an unprecedented, unimaginable ambush, would it have ended up like this?
Of course, my swordsmanship was significantly lacking back then.
“Did you chug mana like a fucking drug?!”
I deflected the sword stabbing into my eyes by wrapping it and flicking it away, trying to split his skull using the rebound, but the guy’s flicked sword returned with a fearsome force, striking my sword away.
And taking advantage of that, I blocked his sword, which was striking in like lightning three more times afterward.
It wasn’t overwhelming, but he was definitely slightly stronger than me due to that mana doping.
Seeing that he would somehow try to regroup and escape if I distanced myself and showed an opening, I clung to him with all my might and clashed swords.
Amidst the huge impact that made me realize both his weapon and mine were creaking, I noticed my blade had slightly cracked.
In an instant, all sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind.
Do they make weapons assuming this level of combat as the basis?
Then is it only my sword that’s getting wrecked right now, and his sword is fine?
Is he aiming for weapon destruction?
“Mage! Hurry up!”
I had also thought about mana doping for physical enhancement.
And quite naturally, I didn’t even attempt it.
I might try it someday, but definitely not for a while.
That method was the most fundamental reason for why all humans who had attempted to use mana ended up exploding like fireworks and dying.
But he was enduring it.
Then does that mean demons have bodies that can withstand that?
“No fucking way!”
His blood vessels were swelling up as if they would burst at any moment, his eyes gradually turning bloodshot, his rough breathing, were all telling me.
And the moment he urged the mage, who spread both arms in front of the gate and diligently looked around while grunting, everything became clear.
He can’t last long like that!
“My sister said that’s suicide, you bastard!!”
Then I, who can last longer, will win!
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Go Eldmia! Fight him till he pops!
Pop goes the Demon!