"Well, Camisia will be in the front, I'll be in the rear, Lotte will be near me, Nina will be in the middle, and Menea... Menea can also use attack magic, right?"
"Of course! Isn't it natural for demons to attack with magic?"
I feel really sorry for being the only demon who can't use offensive magic.
After complaining in her heart, Ella continued to add.
"Then Menea will follow behind Camisia and provide support. Next, let's begin our adventure in the labyrinth!"
"Princess-sama—if you are the last one to leave…"
"No problem, no problem. I'm level 17 after all, right? I'm pretty good at defensive magic."
Without looking at Camisia's expression that looked like she was deciding something, Ella ran in front of her, cast a magic spell to increase her strength, and pushed open the blue stone door that looked very heavy.
Chapter 38 The Beginning of the Maze
What hit me in the face was a gust of air that was very turbid due to lack of ventilation for a long time.
"Ahem."
Ella coughed violently several times after breathing the air into her lungs without any preparation. She used one hand to prevent the three-meter-high stone door from closing, and pointed to the depths of the maze with the other hand.
"Ahem, the whole maze, ahem, is it like this?"
Camisia took a few steps forward and took out the magic lamp from the ribbon.
"Yes, Princess. To prevent the smaller monsters from escaping, there are no ventilation holes or anything like that. But that doesn't mean there's no breathable air in the entire maze. The ecosystem formed by the maze itself is sufficient to complete its self-circulation."
"Is that so? That's no problem then."
In the order of Camisia, Menea, Nina, Lotte, and Ella, the five of them entered the maze whose walls looked very slippery.
The entrance to the maze looked very small, only about the width of a carriage and a half, and the distance from the ground to the top was less than three meters. Under the illumination of the magic lamp, the spider silk on the ceiling and insects that looked like small monsters were faintly visible.
If you add some eerie background music and the sound of dripping water, the effect will be even better.
Thinking this in her mind, Ella stared at the small monster on the ceiling - it would be no fun if it fell on her.
"Why don't you clean up these small monsters? They'll drop magic cores after they die, right?"
Magic Cores, a substance found in all monsters, are their source of power and, for most monsters, their most valuable part. Almost all magic potions and items require Magic Cores, and adventurers earn money by collecting Magic Cores and monster carcasses and handing them over to quest commissioners. Alternatively, selling them directly to the tax collectors established by the demon clan at the export point is also a viable option.
Without stopping to walk forward, Camisia answered Ella while keeping a vigilant eye on her surroundings.
"Because these small monsters won't harm passing adventurers, and the magic cores obtained by killing them are of the lowest quality, no adventurer would do such a thing. Although we initially arranged for the labyrinth patrol to clear them regularly, their reproduction rate was too rapid, and in the end, we could only leave them alone like this."
"So, does that mean it's okay if I burn it now?"
"If you can do that, Princess, it's alright."
Out of deep disgust, Ella used Fireball on the monster on the ceiling. Was that surprising? While she could only use Iceball against ordinary creatures, it was clear that she could use offensive magic normally against something she'd physically resented. However, it seemed her actions had the opposite effect. Burnt insect monsters, reeking of burnt flesh, rained down from the ceiling. Then, amid Menea's screams, everyone sped past the maze entrance.
"Hey, Ella, you did this on purpose!"
"I didn't expect this result. If I had increased my magic output a little bit..."
"If that's the case, I feel like the monster will turn into powder and mix into the air, and then be—"
"Ah! Stop it, Nina. I get it... I'll think about it next time."
Ella couldn't help but imagine the scene Nina described, and her face began to turn pale.
Ever since I was still on Earth, I have never been very familiar with multi-legged insects. There was even an incident where I lifted the quilt to go to bed and found a spider hidden inside. As a result, I didn't dare to sleep in that bed all night and had to hide in the closet.
Taking out a water bottle from her dimensional backpack, Lotte handed it to Ella, whose face was a little pale, and looked around at the surrounding environment.
"I haven't seen any adventurers along the way. Is it because this place is too close to the entrance?"
"Well, this place is too close to the entrance, and the monsters were cleared out long ago. To obtain the more valuable magic cores, adventurers have no choice but to go deeper into the maze, so there are no adventurers here - huh?"
At this point, Camisia suddenly hummed, as if she had discovered something, and then took out her usual weapon, the Sword of Disorder, and held it in one hand with the power of the Hero Realm.
"It seems that's not entirely true. There's a group of adventurers fighting nearby. Do you want to go take a look? It might be helpful for Lotte-chan's upcoming maze competition."
"Well, let's go check it out."
After taking a look at the terrain search, it seemed that there were nine light spots fighting in the place Camisia mentioned. Among them, five of the light spots were monsters called "Maze Lizards", and the other side was an adventurer team consisting of two demons and two elves.
After following Camisia through several bends, they arrived at a cave entrance hidden by numerous vines. From time to time, the screams of monsters and the sounds of weapons clashing could be heard from the cave. Camisia made a gesture to silence the Sword of Disorder as it changed from a giant sword to a short sword.
"From now on, try not to make any noise or offer any help without authorization, as these adventurers will likely mistake you for a thief looking to steal your gains."
"Are there people who do such despicable things?"
Ella was somewhat dissatisfied with this behavior of stealing other people's achievements.
"As long as it's for money, adventurers will do anything. Besides, being an adventurer isn't a glorious profession. It's just about making money to support oneself."
"Well, it's roughly what Menea said, but I need to add that once such behavior is confirmed, the entire demon clan, including all adventurers, will be purged."
"But this will bring up another problem, right?"
As if she had thought of something, Lotte's expression looked very strange, an expression that seemed a little reluctant, yet helpless.
"If faced with such serious consequences, those adventurers who stole the work of others might kill everyone present in order to destroy the evidence."
"That's right. Therefore, in the labyrinth, no one other than you and your companions can be trusted. If we show up at this time, we'll definitely be mistaken for adventurers looking to steal your gains, so we'll just watch from afar."
After adding a final word of conclusion, Camisia cut the vines covering the cave entrance with the Sword of Disorder, which had transformed into a dagger, and walked into the cave first. After exchanging a glance with Lotte, Ella nodded and followed Camisia into the cave.
Chapter 39 begins, followed by the first battle
This is a wide square hall that is at least two hundred meters long. Starting from the entrance, the entire ground begins to sink downwards. The deepest central part is at least fifteen meters away from the ceiling. At the same time, because there is a kind of plant emitting light growing on the ceiling, the entire cave does not appear very dark.
A group of people walked into the cave one after another. Ella pressed her hand down, indicating that they should lie down.
"Master, things don't look good..."
Just as Nina said, there were only two male demons fighting the one-meter-long labyrinth lizard in the distance. The remaining two elves leaned against the wall, looking like they were recovering their magic power. Although the corpses of two labyrinth lizards were lying outside the battle range, judging from the performance of the two armed demons, they should have reached their limit. Facing the lizard's attack, they seemed very slow, as if their bodies were out of control.
After putting Hela down from her back, Lotte asked Ella.
"If this continues, unless a miracle happens, they'll probably die. Miss Ella, do you need help?"
However, before Ella could answer, Camisia gave the answer.
"Let's wait until the very end to rescue them. Adventurers can only grow by constantly experiencing the threat of death. Judging from their appearance, this must be their first adventure. If we help them now, the next time they encounter danger, they might not fight back like they did now, but instead wait for rescue."
The battle situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable.
The adventurers now were like people trapped in a swamp and unable to get up. Although they were still on the verge of life, they were gradually and uncontrollably moving closer to death. Every attack of the green lizards would leave a scar on the demon adventurers who were the vanguard. The most despairing thing was that these lizards were not like ordinary creatures without intelligence who only knew how to attack, but seemed to be fighting in coordination, slowly consuming the adventurers' physical strength. Whenever the adventurers were ready to fight hard, these lizards would jump away, and then use long-range innate magic to restrict the adventurers' movements, leaving no chance for the adventurers to take advantage.
"Hey, Ka, Lady Camisia, should we go help them?"
Unable to bear witness to this torture, Menea gripped her staff tightly and looked at Camisia with pleading eyes. However, Camisia simply switched the Sword of Disorder from a dagger to a bow and arrow, signaling Menea to be quiet with her eyes.
The battle situation was still turning unfavorable. The adventurer's steps had begun to stagger, and the hands holding the greatsword began to tremble. The shouting that had accompanied the charge at first gradually became smaller and smaller until now it was completely silent. The protective circle was shrinking rapidly, and it was only one step away from the elven adventurer who was recovering his magic power in the back.
"Camisia, are you still not feeling well?"
"Wait a moment, Princess. Lotte, get ready."
Unlike last time, although Camisia's expression didn't change, she still asked Lotte to prepare for remote support.
Entering combat mode, Lotte lay on the ground, set up Hela, injected magic power, pressed her hand on the magic seal on the upper right, switched the shooting mode from "Magic-Restriction" to "Magic-Annihilation", released the safety device, and adjusted the top sight.
He loaded the next magic he would use into Hela—"Armor-Piercing Bullet." This was a skill that only the holder of Hela could use, a skill unique to Hela's anti-material rifle, which was at the pinnacle of magical technology.
"Armor-piercing bullet? Is Lotte okay?"
"At this distance, and without knowing the opponent's skin defense, I can only use this to be on the safe side. Miss Ella, do you want to switch to a normal skill?"
Still watching the lizard that was closing the circle through the scope, Lotte placed her hand on the magic seal used to adjust the magic output.
"No, not really. Just let Lotte decide for herself. 『Spiritual Power Grant』."
After casting a spell on Lotte to help her concentrate, Ella gripped the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment, ready to use healing magic at any time.
The reason for her astonishment was the nature of armor-piercing bullets. With enough mana, they could even pierce a mountain of crimson gold. If used here poorly, they could easily pierce the labyrinth lizards and kill the adventurers as well. Furthermore, at Lotte's current level, armor-piercing bullets consumed so much mana that, at most, she would be exhausted after firing two rounds. This meant that, without support from others, Lotte needed at least one bullet to penetrate both lizards simultaneously to completely destroy them.
For Ella, this situation might not be difficult in "F.Wing", but if it were in this kind of environment with huge pressure like in real life, she would definitely not be able to do it to this extent.
If Lotte really made a mistake, she would have to use magic defense without chanting.
Having made up her mind, Ella changed the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment from being held in one hand to being held in both hands.
Finally, the adventurers, forced by the lizards, began their last fight. Even though the two sides were at such a distance, Ella could hear the adventurers' almost crazy shouting. The cowardly look she had before was completely retracted, and they began to charge without regard for defense.
For the first time, the adventurer used his greatsword to hit the lizard that had no time to dodge. Unfortunately, the sword did not hit the lizard's vitals, but only hit its tail. But this was enough. The lizard howled in pain and no longer cared about the encirclement. It left its position without permission and created a gap.
"Switch!"
As if hearing such a shout, another adventurer rushed out from behind the previous adventurer who had fallen to the ground due to excessive exertion, and swung his greatsword at the lizard that had not noticed him because of its howling. The greatsword chopped off the lizard's head with unprecedented speed - a hit would bring death, no matter who it was, they would think so.
However, things will not go as smoothly as people imagine.
The other two lizards spat acid from their mouths onto the adventurer. The adventurer was in unbearable pain, so he deflected his sword a little and only hit one of the target's short legs.
"hiss--"
The lizard, which had been in a passive position, finally became angry and began to spray corrosive venom at the four adventurers regardless of everything. However, the offensive and defensive battle did not end there. The venom was blocked by an invisible layer of defense, and the elven woman who had been hiding behind it used her newly recovered magic power to launch a magical defense.
"It's now!"
“Ahhhhhh! Die!”
At the cry of the elven woman, the adventurer who fell to the ground and the adventurer who had made a mistake in the previous chop rushed forward. Fearing that the remaining wrist strength alone would not be enough to cut into the skin of the maze lizard, the two adventurers used the speed brought by the forward rush plus all the strength of their bodies, like desperate gamblers using a poker hand at the last card table, betting everything and using the most basic sword skill - chopping, to cut into the lizard's body.
The maze lizard, hit in the vitals, lost its last ability to struggle and died with its body twisting and twitching.
But, this is just one.
The other two pounced on two adventurers who were lying on the ground motionless like dead people due to exhaustion.
"Lotte, now is the time!"
Finally, Camisia gave the order to attack.
"Preliminary loading—no, no need for test firing, 'Armor-piercing'."
"Bang."
There's no need to close your eyes; the magic mode doesn't emit flashes of orange flame from the cartridge that can damage your eyes, as the physical mode does.
He stared intently at the magic bullet that was fired from the gun barrel at high speed. The bullet had both speed and penetration, and it took less than two seconds from launch to hitting the target.
laugh--
The bullet aimed at the lizard closest to the adventurer, drawing a perfect line and hitting the target. It penetrated the lizard easily like a pen piercing a piece of white paper, and exited from the other side of its belly, nailing the entire lizard to the ground.
He quickly adjusted the scope and switched the target to another lizard. He still had one shot of magic left. Then, the shadow of a hand appeared on the scope - Camisia.
"That's enough."
"Um?"
Making a curious sound, Lotte turned her head to look at Camisia, who was switching the Sword of Disorder from bow form to greatsword form.
Did Miss Camisia also take action at the same time as I did?
Squinting her eyes slightly, until she found the target she wanted to find, Loti's originally normal pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a needle tip.
—The other lizard was shot into the ground by Camisia with the Sword of Disorder, at least ten meters deep.
Chapter 40: Misunderstanding is the beginning of the story
Miss Camisia...that's terrifying.
If only the power was considered, it should be possible to do it when Loti reached level 30 and then used Hela to use armor-piercing bullets. However, Camisia not only did it, but also did it without making any sound. If Loti had not seen Camisia wielding the greatsword with her own eyes, she would probably have regarded Camisia as an assassin like herself, suitable for long-range sniping.
"What's wrong?"
"No...it's nothing, Miss Kamisia."
"Let's go check out the situation."
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