Chapter 660
Chapter Title: A Demon from the Age of Calamity
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Whoooooosh.
A dry wind blowing from afar ruffled Leo's white hair.
Leo stared silently at the scenery unfolding before him.
The party was currently at the entrance to the domain of Tartaros.
“I'm a little nervous.”
Chelsea muttered, gripping her long staff tightly with both hands.
Most of Leo's party members, including Chelsea, had experience entering the domain of Tartaros.
As children of great families, they had participated in subjugation expeditions to Tartaros organized by their respective houses.
But the atmosphere was completely different from back then.
When Chelsea had been active in Tartaros, she had moved with the skilled members of her family.
She had literally only played a small part in a large-scale subjugation force.
But now was different.
There were seven party members.
As such, the burden Chelsea had to bear was also immense.
The others seemed to feel the same, and the mood was tense.
Duran fiddled with the longsword hanging at his waist, and even Eliza, who would normally be tending to her nails, scanned their surroundings with sharp eyes.
As for Driana, she was at the front, scouting ahead.
Ar had her arms crossed and her eyes closed, but her cat ears twitched restlessly.
Amidst the tension, Iliana spoke to Leo with a nervous expression.
“Class rep. You must have a lot of combat experience in Tartaros, right?”
“This is my first time coming to Tartaros.”
“What?”
At his unexpected words, not just Iliana but the entire party turned to look at Leo.
“Hahaha! So even the black rabbit who gives off the vibe of a world-weary old man is just a boy after all!”
Ar stepped smartly in front of Leo.
“Your big sis will teach you well with her vast experience, so you can rely on me.”
Watching Ar, whose blue eyes were sparkling, Leo took a coin from his pocket and flicked it across the ground.
Flick-!
Ar, who had instinctively stomped on the glittering gold coin as it sped past her, fell silent, then glared and grabbed Leo by the collar, shaking him.
“I'm telling you! How long are you going to treat me like a cat! I'm a proper hero! The successor to Lord Ar-on!”
“Even so, you're still just a kitten.”
“N-yaaaaaaah!”
As the enraged Ar hissed, Driana brought the flat of her axe down on Ar's head.
Thump-!
“Oof!”
“Don't get so worked up, you stupid cat.”
Driana grabbed the scruff of Ar's neck as she crouched, clutching the back of her head, and dragged her away.
Watching this, Chelsea let out a small sigh.
“This is chaotic.”
“But at least the tense atmosphere has eased up a lot.”
“Huh? Now that you mention it?”
Hearing Leo's words, Chelsea's eyes widened.
“An overly tense atmosphere isn't good in the middle of enemy territory. In that sense, Ar's ability to lighten the mood is quite excellent.”
“Class rep, you sound like a professor.”
Iliana giggled.
Leo chuckled at Iliana and said.
“Well, now that the overly tense mood seems to have dissipated somewhat.”
Leo's eyes narrowed.
Ar, who had been pouting, also sharpened her gaze.
Crackle-
An aura of lightning flickered in Duran's hand for a moment, and Iliana's shoulders trembled slightly.
Whoosh-!
At that moment.
A dark red blade flashed behind Eliza, who was in the rear.
Flash-! Clang-!
“Oho?”
A woman in a black robe let out a light exclamation of surprise, seeing Iliana's sword block her scythe.
“There's one brat with quick reflexes, I see?”
“One?”
Iliana's lips curled into a smirk.
Crackle! Flash-!
Behind the woman, golden lightning roared ferociously.
Duran, holding his greatsword, swung it with the intent to slice the woman in half at the waist, his eyes glinting.
“Oh my?”
With a smile, the woman's body shot into the air.
“You reacted quite quickly, but that's all…”
“…you think? You stupid demon!”
“!”
Boom-!
The tip of Ar's foot slammed into the robed woman's face.
Ar's terrifying kick produced a massive, explosive sound, sending the demon flying and crashing into the ground.
A tremendous wind pressure then bore down on the demon.
Kwoooooosh-!
“Hngh?!”
The demon's eyes flew open.
The demon bit her lip hard against the immense pressure crushing her body.
‘That magician girl!’
Chelsea, holding her long staff with both hands, was pressing down as if crushing the demon, the tip of the staff aimed at her.
Gwoooooooh-!
Dark magic erupted from the body of the gritting demon.
She generated anti-magic power and resisted Chelsea's wind.
Watching this, Chelsea smiled brightly.
“Why don't you look up?”
“What?”
The moment the demon's gaze turned upward.
Driana, holding her axe high with both hands, was plummeting towards the demon at incredible speed.
“Hmph!”
Driana's axe came straight down on the demon's head.
CRASH! K-K-K-K-K-K-K-BOOM-!
The ground around them cracked and debris shot up.
Seeing this, Iliana's mouth gaped open.
“What kind of brute force is that…”
“Driana's physical strength is terrifying.”
“I thought you were the strongest among us.”
“My specialty is elegant movement based on high speed. You guys seem pretty fast, but you're no match for me.”
“Hmph. Sorry, but the fastest person in all the hero academies is none other than me! The great Iliana of the Lightspeed Quicksword.”
“What?”
Ar shot a look at Iliana.
Watching them, Chelsea, who had released her magic, muttered.
“Is she really going to stick with that embarrassing nickname?”
“The epithet sounds pretty cool, though?”
Chelsea looked at Ar with an expression of disbelief.
Looking at Ar, Duran muttered.
“It's a tragedy. Having to live in the same era as people like that.”
“Ah, for once, I agree with you.”
Chelsea shook her head at Duran's remark.
Driana emerged from the dust cloud and said.
“It escaped into the sky.”
At her words, everyone's gaze turned to the sky.
“That demon, what kind is it?”
Eliza, riding her summoned Wind Wyvern, asked with narrowed eyes, and Leo answered.
“Judging by the aura of dark magic, it's a Beast Sorcerer.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the demon, Ingel, threw off her robe.
“You insolent brats!”
Blood was trickling down the forehead of Ingel, where she had been struck.
Ingel's furious expression twisted as her neck suddenly bulged as if to burst.
“Uuub!”
From her stretched mouth, Ingel spat out an egg the size of her own face.
“Wretch!”
Seeing that, Eliza scrunched up her face in disgust.
“Definitely a Beast Sorcerer.”
A demon that stands as a counterpoint to summoners.
A demon that uses the power of magical beasts.
The egg Ingel spat out fell to the ground and cracked open with a *crunch-!*
Then, a demon that looked exactly like Ingel emerged from it.
“Uub! Wreeetch!”
Ingel spat out another egg.
And from that fallen egg, another Ingel emerged.
“W-what? What is that?”
Iliana looked horrified.
“Replication…”
“Replication?”
“It's a unique dark magic used by Beast Sorcerers.”
Leo said calmly.
“It's a spell that summons a duplicate with the same power as oneself. A very annoying spell.”
“A spell like that! I've never heard of it!”
‘It's a spell those Beast Sorcerer bastards loved to use during the Age of Calamity.’
Just as Leo was about to draw his sword.
“You stay out of this, Leo Flove.”
Duran, with his greatsword resting on his shoulder, said as he drew his longsword with his other hand.
“We'll take care of that.”
“Are you sure?”
To that, Chelsea replied.
“This is a mission that even a hero failed. That means it's incredibly difficult. You brought us along as comrades for this mission, didn't you?”
Rumble-!
Summoning circles began to unfold in front of the replicated Ingels.
And with them, something gigantic began to appear.
Seeing that, Chelsea said.
“I have a vague idea of what you're thinking, Leo.”
You want to give us experience.
Chelsea, Duran, Eliza, Iliana.
The four of them knew this.
“But even if we're inexperienced, you chose us because we're qualified to stand on the same battlefield as you, right? So, trust us.”
Chelsea stirred her magic.
“You said our party has the same name as the Great Hero's party, right!? Then there's no need for the class rep to step in for an opponent of this level.”
“She's right, Leo. You're our party's trump card. Conserve your strength as much as possible.”
As Driana finished speaking, a golden aura rose from Chelsea's body.
“Here I go!”
Wham-!
Ar charged without hesitation toward the five Gigantes that had been summoned.
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
A howl erupted from Ar's mouth.
“Iliana!”
At Eliza's shout, Iliana jumped onto the Wind Wyvern.
Whoosh-!
The Wind Wyvern flew through the sky at incredible speed.
“You insolent brats! You'll regret picking a fight with me!”
In mid-air, Ingel's eyes flashed with killing intent.
Ingel, who had been scouting the area, was swept up in excitement upon seeing the sudden appearance of a party of humans, a beastkin, and a dwarf.
This entire area should have been devoid of living beings.
And yet, a group of seemingly inexperienced humans, beastkin, and a dwarf had suddenly appeared.
‘Huhu! It's been a while since I had a good feast!’
She attacked, feeling a thrill of joy.
But the brats possessed astonishing power.
‘Damn it! How is it even possible for them to have such power at their age!’
Faced with this unbelievable outcome, Ingel decided to go all out.
“N-yaaaaaaaah!”
Boom-!
Ingel's eyes widened as she watched Ar charge at incredible speed and kick a Gigantes in the chest.
‘Beastification…?’
It's not nighttime.
And yet, a beastkin who can use Beastification…!
Watching from the sky, Ingel's shoulders flinched.
“I see! I heard a beastkin who could use Beastification had appeared! So it's you!”
A sneer formed on Ingel's face.
“So you're the ones! The foolish mortals who resist destruction!”
‘They're impressive, but… with just that level of skill…!’
It was surprising to see a beastkin, a dwarf, and two humans fighting five Gigantes, but it was absurd that they spoke of saving the world with such meager skills.
“What are you rambling on about, you ugly old hag.”
Just then, an annoyed voice cut in.
Flash-!
With a tremendous flash of light, Ingel's vision momentarily flipped.
“Huh?”
“Using an outdated dark magic that was countered 5,000 years ago! You're a pretty dim-witted demon!”
Iliana scoffed.
“What… did you say?”
“Replication weakens the main body too much, doesn't it? So all I have to do is get close like this and *swish*! It's over!”
That was true.
That's why it was created by the Monster Queen 5,000 years ago and was discarded not long after.
Even Ingel, the user, knew that.
However…
“This wench! How did you find out this magic's weakness! This spell was just recently bestowed upon us by the Monster Queen…”
Gwoooooooh! Kra-ka-ka-koom-!
“Good job, Pipi.”
Eliza's Wind Wyvern sent Ingel's body flying.
Blasted away by the aftershock of a Wind Breath, Ingel, now just a head, fell to the ground with a vacant expression before she could finish her sentence.
Thud-! R-r-roll... Thump-!
Ingel's rolling head came to a stop at someone's feet.
For a moment, Ingel's gaze turned to the sky.
“To have the power of a high-ranking demon, yet be so incompetent in actual combat.”
Leo muttered indifferently and raised his foot to crush Ingel's head.
For a moment…
“Ah… Ah… Ah…!”
He paused when he saw the look of utter shock in Ingel's eyes.
“Why… Why is the sky… the sky…”
Seeing Ingel's expression of disbelief, Leo lowered his foot.
And opened his mouth.
“You. Which faction do you belong to?”
“The sky… It's impossible…”
“I asked which legion you belong to.”
Leo's eyes, looking down at Ingel, momentarily turned gray.
Ingel's face was instantly colored with terror.
She felt an indescribable pressure.
In the face of irresistible fear, Ingel's teeth chattered as she answered.
“I, I… belong… to the Monster… Queen… Silatuna's… legion.”
‘Now I understand. This isn't a demon of the current era.’
Splat-!
Having heard her answer, Leo crushed Ingel's head without hesitation.
‘It's a demon from the Age of Calamity.’