Under Barkus (1)
Even if the lofty sky was blanketed in thick layers of dust, dawn would still break. The faintly brightening morning gradually bathed the land in bright white light, and the sun’s gentle rays reached even into the depths of the small cave. The modest campfire that had burned itself out to share its light the night before had become nothing more than white ashes cradling a few lingering embers.
“…Mmm……”
As the soft light spread and brightened the cave’s interior, Lusteria, waking from sleep, began recalling the events of the previous day while staring at an unfamiliar ceiling unlike her usual hiding spot. Finally reuniting with her master, enjoying a delicious meal after a thousand years, a warm and clean environment, a soft and fluffy bed. And the moments spent in sensual ecstasy, lost in lustful pleasure through the night. As her mind, still hazy with sleep, traced the memories to the very end, her eyes flew open.
“You’re awake.”
Following the voice, Lusteria turned toward one side of the bed and found Neromeltia already dressed, seated at the edge and sipping tea. Overcome with emotion at the sight of the master she had longed for, Lusteria sat up, her eyes glistening with tears. Everything that had happened the day before was no mere dream—it was all real.
“If you make that face, I might feel desire stirring again.”
“…Hah!!!”
In that instant, Lusteria remembered she was completely naked and hurriedly pulled the blanket up to cover her exposed chest. Neromeltia smiled faintly at the innocent reaction and brought over Lusteria’s neatly folded clothes. Washed clean by magic and crisply pressed, they looked almost brand new.
“I washed and tidied them with magic. Especially your undergarments—they were quite soaked, weren’t they?”
“M-My Lord!”
“Hehe.”
Playfully teasing Lusteria, Neromeltia used magic to cleanse her body while she dressed. Water conjured by magic drifted over the alluring succubus’s form, gently washing every corner before vanishing, taking all impurities with it. It seemed to linger especially around her chest and hips, but Lusteria saw no need to question the caster herself about it.
Once Lusteria had composed herself and risen, Neromeltia likewise cleaned the sheets and blankets—thoroughly soaked and stained from the night before—with magic before storing them in Dimensional Storage. In the now-empty space where the bed had been, she arranged the same table and chairs from the previous meal and began taking out breakfast items one by one.
“I’ve been thinking. Only fifteen Humians were sent to assault the Temple of Descent, and even though we lit a campfire last night and used purification and temperature-control magic before sleeping, there was no ambush. It seems there are no Humians or dragons nearby.”
“…You’re right.”
Breakfast consisted of pancakes piled high with apple jam, fresh cream, and syrup, accompanied by fresh milk and sugar-preserved apricots. Lusteria, her face brimming with happiness as she savored the sweet, warm meal, could only nod at Neromeltia’s precise assessment. Cheeks stuffed with pancake, she chewed and swallowed hurriedly before replying, looking so adorable that Neromeltia continued with a gentle smile.
“As you said, high-tier magic like spatial transfer might be detected by the dragons on the moon, so I won’t use it yet. But since we need to rescue the survivors and meet the Black Knights as soon as possible, I think using flight magic should be fine.”
“That sounds right.”
“Flight magic makes it easier to be spotted by enemies, so we walked yesterday. Now that we know there are no enemies nearby, there’s no need to hesitate.”
Thus, the morning meeting for the day concluded briefly. After finishing breakfast, Neromeltia gathered her belongings and cast a purification spell on Lusteria so she could move outside the cave without inhaling even a trace of the toxic atmosphere. Though Lusteria insisted she could manage it herself now that she had regained her mana thanks to the Demon Lord’s grace, Neromeltia merely smiled and cast the magic anyway.
Soaring high into the sky, the two flew swiftly toward the survivor hideout Lusteria remembered. What Neromeltia realized during the journey was that walking the entire way would have taken an extra day to arrive. Her prediction proved correct—there wasn’t a single Humian in sight no matter how hard she looked, and not even a minor alarm spell could be detected. She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that her bold choice had been the right one.
“It’s here!”
Lusteria pointed urgently at a coastal cliff, and the two descended rapidly. The cliff offered no footholds, only a sheer vertical drop battered by towering waves. Yet as they descended further and examined it closely, they spotted a small cave at the cliff’s edge. The entrance was cleverly concealed by a protruding rock formation above it.
Only after flying into the cave did they finally set foot on solid ground. The narrow interior was so dark that its depth was impossible to gauge, though the echoing sounds suggested it was fairly spacious.
“Light.”
Lusteria summoned a sphere of light with magic and sent it floating ahead. Though the bright illumination lit the cave clearly, beyond its reach lay only pitch-black darkness. Because the passage was so cramped and narrow, the light couldn’t reach far—only about ten paces ahead were visible.
“Eeeeeek!!!”
Lusteria’s sudden scream made the light sphere tremble violently, casting chaotic shadows everywhere. As she stomped her feet and screamed with her eyes shut tight, Neromeltia looked around. The cave floor and walls, which she had assumed were merely black, were completely covered in sea roaches. Startled by Lusteria’s cries and stomping, they began scurrying noisily in all directions.
“Fear!”
Kiiiiiieeeek!!!
Ordinary creatures could not survive in Hemonigent’s harsh environment under the influence of Luina. The sea roaches swarming the ground were anything but ordinary. Each was the size of an adult man’s palm, with fifteen pairs of long legs—each with two joints—resembling three fingers joined together. Evolved to devour any living thing, they possessed large, menacing mandibles like those of a hornet, and their legs were covered in sharp spines. Unlike common sea roaches that fed on carrion, these hunted living prey in packs and possessed vocal organs to signal their kin.
Overcome by primal fear from Neromeltia’s spell, they shrieked and scattered. Once they had retreated to a safe distance, Neromeltia immediately cast an offensive spell.
“Electric Area!!”
Zapzapzapzap!!!
Every sea roach in front of them blackened and curled up, dead. The magic, which created an area of electric current flowing across the ground, spread far enough that death screams echoed from deep within the cave. The cacophony continued for a while before finally fading into silence.
“It’s all right now. You can relax.”
“Huuuuh… Even their corpses are disgusting… Should we just burn them all…?”
“Using fire magic in a confined space like this would deplete the oxygen. We could create more air with magic, but the sudden pressure change might cause turbulence, and if any gas pockets form, it could explode. If the cave collapses, we’ll have real trouble. Just bear with it a little longer.”
Left with no choice, Lusteria advanced cautiously between the piles of sea roach corpses, holding the light sphere ahead. She squeezed her eyes shut or stared at the ceiling to avoid looking, yet she couldn’t risk tripping and falling face-first into the bodies, so she trudged forward with a miserable expression, carefully watching the ground.
Neromeltia, on the other hand, walked forward nonchalantly, occasionally kicking or stepping on the corpses. The sound of charred bodies crumbling echoed through the cave from time to time, making Lusteria shudder each time.
Before long, the sea roach territory ended and the floor became clean again, but Lusteria, already fed up with the seemingly endless cave, wore an even more dejected expression.
“Really, how much farther does this go…?”
“You’ve never been here before?”
“We all hid separately to avoid being discovered, so we never visited each other… If we got caught while traveling to meet, it would endanger everyone. I only learned the location because the commander came and told me… If I’d actually been here before, I wouldn’t have been surprised by the sea roaches! This is my first time seeing a sea roach habitat! How can anyone live in a place like this!?”
“…They must have been that desperate.”
The cave was cramped with a low ceiling, forcing them to walk bent over with heads ducked. After some time, the discomfort began to wear on them, and Lusteria grew increasingly impatient to reach their destination, whining pitifully.
“My back hurts now……”
“I think we’re almost there.”
Neromeltia noticed the echoes growing lighter and realized the long passage was finally ending. Her prediction was correct—faint light began to appear ahead. The presence of light meant there were likely people, and hope swelled within them. Quickening their pace to confirm what lay ahead, they soon emerged from the tunnel into a vast open space.
“Wow… The entrance was narrow, but this place is enormous!”
“Yes. It needs to be this big to shelter so many survivors.”
Before them stretched an immense cavern. Glowing stones embedded in the walls here and there weren’t placed by anyone—they were natural formations revealed by erosion. Their faint light allowed a rough estimate of the cavern’s scale. Though several glowing stones dotted the ceiling, it was so high that they resembled stars in the night sky, offering little practical illumination. The stalactites towered like ancient trees thousands of years old, and everything felt overwhelmingly vast, making the two of them seem tiny by comparison.
“Don’t move!”
Suddenly, several figures in what appeared to be knight armor leapt out from behind a smaller stalactite and pointed their swords at them. Full-plate armor, kite shields, and longswords forged from Cornium—also known as black iron. They were unmistakably the Demon Lord’s personal guard, the Black Knights.