The Calamity of Grindel (?)
Lonray Lonrayna, the village chief of Grindel, stood frozen in place. Her gaze was fixed on the sky, her body completely motionless. Even as a gentle breeze tousled her pale green hair and tickled the back of her snow-white neck, she simply stared upward in silence—at Raven, who was flapping his wings with graceful poise high above.
His sudden appearance had startled her into rigidity, but she was also concentrating hard in an attempt to analyze him. Yet despite all the time and mental effort she had invested, the only piece of information she had managed to uncover about Raven was a single, frustrating truth.
Unable to analyze target. Tier, mana, race, disposition—absolutely nothing can be determined.
The information that no information could be obtained. It was abnormal to an extreme degree. He was hiding his power and abilities with an intensity that could only be described as obsessive. It was almost like…
‘The servants of the gods. It’s just like looking at them.’
The pinnacle of life, descended to the surface on the goddess’s command to manage the ‘hell’ where the Betrayer was imprisoned. The Dungeon Guards. Dragons. They tried to conceal themselves so that the fragile surface-dwellers would not live in fear. In that sense, this being was similar to them. But while similar, the nuance was slightly different. If those exalted beings hid their power to avoid frightening the human race, then this one seemed to be…
“Is he… deliberately drawing out fear instead…?”
Intelligent lifeforms were wired to unconsciously feel fear and wariness toward information they did not understand. It was an instinct engraved into the depths of the mind from birth, designed for survival against unknown threats. And the thing floating in the sky possessed something that stimulated that very survival instinct in humans—the emotion known as terror.
Her pale green pupils trembled. Reflected within them was a twisted crow’s head that looked as if it had been melted and warped by fire, along with a long black garment whose material could not be identified. Enormous wings that no human should possess. If one were to judge its identity based solely on outward appearance, ignoring what lay beneath…
“…No matter how you look at it, that’s clearly an anomaly, isn’t it?”
Even if you turned the world upside down, it would still be an Another.
If she asked her old friend, that fool Rena, she would probably scream something like, “That’s definitely an anomaly, sunbae! Let’s run away!”
Anomaly. The term referred to high-risk humanoid monsters rarely found in the deeper layers of the dungeon. At the same time, it was also the word used for humans who had submitted to the ‘Betrayer’ residing in the dungeon’s deepest abyss and had consequently ‘fallen.’ Beings who were once adventurers but had become monsters at the brink of death. That was what an anomaly meant.
Which made them extremely dangerous.
Unlike ordinary monsters with low intelligence and no real combat techniques, anomalies retained high intelligence and outstanding combat ability proportional to the tier they had possessed before their fall. The higher their original rank, the more dangerous they became.
“Is that… a wand? It can use tools, then.”
That implied it had been at least a 5-Tier adventurer in life.
‘Judging by the wand, it was probably a battle mage who preferred close-range magic combat.’
Of course, this was all under the assumption that the being was indeed an anomaly.
‘Jumping to conclusions is forbidden.’
There were as many adventurers in the world as there were stars, and just as many professions. Though Lonray herself had never encountered one, it was entirely possible that a new class had recently awakened—one that granted massive black wings, concealed one’s true power, and inspired instinctive fear. Because she spent all 365 days of the year shut away in Grindel, news from the outside world reached her late. She decided to be cautious so as not to mistakenly attack an innocent adventurer.
At least until the adventurers started provoking him with arrows or spells.
“N-no! Everyone! What are you doing, provoking it like that?! Ah, ugh. Seriously!”
When the being soared high into the sky to avoid the adventurers’ cute little attacks and then pointed its wand toward the ground, Lonray closed her eyes as if in utter resignation.
And then—
“Blink.”
The moment she opened her eyes again after the quiet incantation, a high-ranking anomaly (presumed) capable of human speech stood right in front of her.
‘I-it can talk?!’
Lonray was so shocked she couldn’t hide her astonishment, looking exactly like an aunt who had just witnessed her young nephew speak his own name for the first time. An anomaly capable of proper conversation, not just repeating single words. If that was the case…
‘Does that mean it was at least a 6-Tier adventurer?!’
According to records, anomalies experienced a tier increase of at least two ranks upon transformation. That would place the anomaly (presumed) before her at least on equal footing with herself. Which meant it possessed more than enough power to single-handedly annihilate every adventurer currently in Grindel.
LonrayLonrayLonray!!!
A sharp alarm bell rang violently inside her mind as it detected the critical emergency.
‘This is… an emergency….’
Her pointed ears quivered with tension. During the times she had secretly followed (stalked) the Hero’s footsteps, she had occasionally felt this sense of mortal danger. She had believed she would never feel it again while staying in the upper layers, but that had been a grave miscalculation.
Veteran adventurer. Archmage. Librarian Lonray.
She suddenly realized that her hand was already reaching toward the anomaly (presumed), and that she was actively channeling mana toward it. This was the survival instinct carved into her very flesh. The course of action required to stay alive. Conversation was important, but if the opponent was a man-eating tiger outside its cage, the first priority was…
‘Tie it down first and think later.’
Bind
Dark red chains shot out from the Necronomicon at high speed, wrapping around Raven and restraining him. Lonray swiftly fastened a muzzle onto the mouth of what might have been Schrödinger’s mad dog, then let out a small hum.
“Hmm…”
He only let out a quiet groan, seemingly flustered. Seeing that he was offering far less resistance than expected, she gathered her courage and asked cautiously.
“…Who are you?”
‘Please. Just say you’re an adventurer who obtained a unique class. Or even a hidden ancient race would be fine. Just please don’t be an anomaly…!’
She prayed desperately that the being before her was not an anomaly. Since he seemed to possess the trait of concealing information, she hadn’t expected an easy answer, but the response came surprisingly quickly.
“…That’s actually what I wanted to ask you. Who are you? And why exactly are you trying to stop me when I came here to help the adventurers?”
A question in the form of another question.
‘He came to help the adventurers?’
Lonray froze for a brief moment at the unexpected words, but she quickly regained her composure. His friendly attitude had eased her expression considerably compared to before as she continued.
“I apologize. I have committed a grave discourtesy. I am the village chief of Grindel. My name is Lonray Lonrayna. If you are an adventurer, may I ask which group you belong to?”
Although his calm, non-resistant attitude while bound had loosened her tension somewhat, she had not fully lowered her guard. If he failed to give a proper affiliation, she was ready to unleash the attack spells she had already memorized. Lonray’s eyes gleamed sharply.
‘Now, answer me quickly.’
At Lonray’s question, Raven gave a small nod and opened his mouth.
“Village chief, huh… Confirmed. Yes, I am a contractor. Yuri’s contracted demon. The demon Raven. I belong to Sherpa Sion’s party.”
‘Hm? A d…demon? And he said Sion’s party…?’
Although she lived shut away in Grindel and received outside news late, even she knew who Sherpa Sion was. In fact, it would have been impossible not to know. How could anyone fail to recognize that adorable, lovable fishing-obsessed Felis who came to fish whenever she had the chance? And her manners were so impeccable—every time they met on the street, she would greet her with, “Nyang? Have a great day, Chief-nyang!” Every single time, Lonray had to fight the urge to kidnap her into the library and shower her with endless affection. It was practically torture.
‘…It’s not a lie, then?’
After quietly completing a second verification by sensing Sion’s pure mana from the eastern bridge, Lonray bowed her head deeply toward the demon before her—Raven—and apologized.
“I am truly sorry, O great demon. I misunderstood for a moment. Please, do not be too angry with me.”
“It’s fine. So raise your head, Chief. Right now, hunting the monsters should take priority over such formalities, shouldn’t it?”
“You are absolutely correct.”
“…If you think so.”
‘Then please undo these restraints already.’
I’m dying here.
“Ah. Yes.”
With a light snap of her fingers—
The steel chains that had been wrapped around Raven’s body like a cocoon dissolved into the air.
“Finally. I can breathe again.”
The seal on the most dangerous demon in the world had been released…!
The calamity of the amphibians. Fire Punch Raven. Restraint Release completed in two minutes and thirty seconds flat.
The time had come to show those noisy, croaking bipedal amphibians a blazing inferno. Tremble in fear, all of you! Just let me recharge my mana first!
With his restraints undone, Raven folded his wings and plummeted like a Stuka. He aimed the Injector at the frogmen and pulled the trigger.
Click.
“Fire Punch…!”
WHOOOOOOSH!!!
A massive flame erupted from the muzzle. Fluttering his previously folded wings, Raven began flying low and horizontal, pulling the trigger continuously as he scorched the creatures’ legs one after another. The crimson wave dried out the skin of the primitive, skin-breathing lifeforms before burning it pitch black, turning them into animal charcoal.
“Uwaaah, what the hell!!”
“Kieeeeeeek!!!”
“Gwaaaaaak!?”
“It’s a large-scale fire spell! If you don’t want to burn to death, jump into the lake!”
“Kraak! The water—the water’s too hot!”
“You’re getting cooked!!!”
“Sssssssss!!!”
It was as if dragons were exhaling their breath. Threatened by the ferocious flames licking at their legs, both adventurers and monsters alike dove into the lake in perfect harmony. The smell of sizzling meat and a chorus of agonized screams filled the air.
The moment the restraints had been released, in less than a minute the insane demon had painted a vision of hell across the ground. Watching the scene, the village chief of Grindel—Lonray—found herself completely at a loss for words.
“…What the hell is this.”