The Adventurers
Boom! Vidion clashed weapons with the Demon of Constraints, Limut, locked in a contest of raw strength. Though Vidion's combat prowess ranked among the strongest of the Seven Heroes, the power of Limut—direct subordinate to one of the Seven Deadly Sins—was nothing to scoff at. Worse, every time their weapons met, Vidion felt his strength steadily draining away.
This must be the constraint. I need to find a way to break through it.
With that thought, Vidion drew deeper upon the power of the dragon. A Dragonian's draconic might was not limited to Dragon Blood alone. Their innate superiority as apex predators generated an aura that became a new source of energy in itself. Abilities such as the dragon's commanding voice, partial dominion over nature, and the power to deceive lesser beings—if usable—would have been invaluable in this situation.
"Kuaaah! Dragon Buster!"
The concentrated force erupted in an indiscriminate bombardment of aura across the battlefield. Sensing the danger, Limut had already retreated, yet the technique still caught him squarely. Even so, the title of archdemon was not for show. Despite heavy damage, Limut lunged back at Vidion, swinging his spear.
Then his true power revealed itself.
"I shall seal that power of yours for a while."
The dragon's aura—Vidion's greatest weapon—was bound by the constraint. Vidion's eyes widened at the sudden, drastic reduction in his strength. What kind of ability could seal a dragon's power? He had no way of knowing. Forced to fight with roughly seventy percent of his draconic energy sealed, Vidion pressed on.
Fortunately, the constraint had limits. The drain stopped, and the earlier lethargy gradually faded.
So the constraint has its own restrictions. There must be conditions attached.
Limut gave Vidion no time to ponder, relentlessly pressing the attack. Meanwhile, Slepitath used his ability to interfere with Vidion's fight. As a demon granted the power of obedience, he could force anything—or anyone—to submit to him, even allies of Vidion.
Seiros Kingdom soldiers under Slepitath's influence blocked Vidion's path like puppets.
"How vile!"
"Just what are you planning?!"
Slepitath laughed wickedly and gathered dark energy with his staff.
"Life Drain!"
The black magic slowly siphoned the life force of the Seiros soldiers.
"Haa~ How satisfying. No matter what, they die anyway. Shall I grant them a peaceful end, or make them suffer?"
He smiled with clear delight, his expression unpleasant.
"Kuuuuh!"
The soldiers, reduced to a zombie-like state, staggered toward Vidion.
"No choice, then."
Vidion channeled his remaining thirty percent of draconic power into his voice.
"Stop!"
The command consumed a great deal of mental and physical energy, but he could not bring himself to trample his own allies as mere obstacles. Nor could he ignore Limut, who was slowly recovering even now. It was a truly hopeless situation. The black sky offered no answers.
After halting his allies, Vidion weaved through them like obstacles and struck at Limut.
Chaaak! Thud! Clang!
Limut desperately parried with his spear, but Vidion's spearmanship was extraordinary. Even without the dragon's power, Vidion was a warrior of exceptional skill. Now fighting with everything he had, he steadily inflicted wounds upon Limut.
"That power certainly lives up to the name of hero. However, it is our mission to crush such beings and bring them despair. You will never escape the growing constraints!"
Limut slipped between the stationary Seiros soldiers, using the constraint and other factors to his advantage, and began slaughtering them. Vidion ground his teeth, barely suppressing his rage. If he let his anger erupt, he feared he would lose all reason.
Clang!
"You'd best not do anything you'll regret."
Vidion followed Limut, blocking his attacks while protecting the controlled Seiros soldiers.
***
Meanwhile, at the moment the sky began to darken, the Dawn's Wolf party was at a street stall in Dabens.
"Paul, the sky!"
Natalie wore a startled expression, as if such a phenomenon should not be possible. Her frightened, tearful face only added to the effect.
Paul, however, kept a cool head and began thinking.
"Something must have happened. Let's do what we can for now."
He apologized to the stall owner. The reason they had come was to conduct a public opinion survey—an order from Reina Mercury, though for a noble like her it was an important task.
Reina, in turn, could not stop thinking of one person.
"Father! Father is at the royal castle right now!"
She knew Valeron had gone to the castle to claim the throne. All members of Dawn's Wolf were aware of this fact.
"Damn it. That ominous aura definitely means something's happened. First, we need to gather adventurers and mercenaries! Reina, you and Natalie head to the royal castle!"
Paul calmed his racing heart and clearly stated their objectives. Reina nodded, took Natalie's hand, and ran toward the castle. She held on tightly, afraid Natalie might get lost in the chaos. Natalie, too, focused intently and followed.
Since Reina had been to Dabens before, she navigated the streets skillfully. Meanwhile, Paul was frantically rounding up scattered adventurers.
"Don't panic—stay together!"
"Chwik! It's Paul of Dawn's Wolf. Everyone, gather here!"
Chukran of Howling Rock joined in, helping gather the dispersed adventurers. The sky grew darker until, without light, one could not see even an inch ahead.
The adventurers managed to form a group. Fortunately, there was a wide open square, and the rare sight of an orc group from the Sog Kingdom helped prevent panic. However, the Seiros Kingdom soldiers and Sog Kingdom noble troops were thrown into chaos.
"Obey! Obey!"
The incomprehensible words echoing around them only heightened the tension.
One adventurer screamed.
"Aaaagh!"
"The soldiers are attacking! Defend yourselves!"
Screams rang out as the soldiers—formerly allies—behaved strangely. Paul moved before he could even assess the situation.
"They're under some kind of spell! The dark sky is the cause!"
The other adventurers snapped to attention at his words. Though visibility was poor, they barely managed to fend off the attacking soldiers.
Chukran moved to resolve the chaotic situation.
"Chwik! Everyone, get out of the way!"
He pushed through the gathered adventurers and charged into the soldiers. The soldiers lunged at anything living, so Chukran took considerable damage as he forced his way through.
"Kugh! These bastards! Over here! Chwik!"
His actions drew the soldiers' attention, and his shouts lured more of them after him.
"Obey! Obey!"
"Chwik! Obey? Whose wolf is that supposed to be?!"
Chukran's distraction opened a path. Following him were his orc party members and Paul.
Paul called out urgently.
"Chukran, you have a plan, right?"
"Chwik! If they're under a spell, there's still a chance they can recover. If we can't kill them, then we trap them!"
There was no point in fighting endlessly, nor in holding back enemies they could not kill. Paul fully supported Chukran's unconventional idea.
"Good thinking. There's a library not far from here! We'll lure them there!"
"Understood! Chwik!"
After their brief discussion, Paul and Chukran became bait themselves, drawing the soldiers away. Yet the number of soldiers accompanying them was far from small. The ones appearing in the square were merely the tip of the iceberg.
Even with the distraction, some soldiers still advanced toward the gathered adventurers. They repeated the same words over and over, pressing the attack, while the adventurers held their ground in their own ways.
"We can't let them break through! Injured, fall back and get treated!"
The one commanding them was none other than Clorsus. After his encounter with Bagan, Clorsus had turned over a new leaf. He had steadily built achievements and, through training, risen to fourth-ranked party. Right behind them was the fifth-ranked Dawn's Wolf—ironically, they now outranked Paul.
With Dractus disbanded due to the underworld incident, Howling Rock was now second, while the original third-ranked party had not joined this expedition. In other words, Clorsus was currently the most trusted figure among the adventurers.
"Damn it! If they surround us, it'll be hard to defend! If anyone can use light magic, find a space enclosed on three sides!"
Clorsus's clear command reached the adventurers. A mage who had been defending with Magic Shield—only at the third circle—dismissed the spell and cast Magic Lantern instead.
Flash!
A single beam of light pierced the darkened sky.
"There! Everyone, run that way! If more of them gather, we'll be at a disadvantage!"
Clorsus confirmed the location and issued immediate orders. The adventurers moved to the designated spot, and those who had been holding the line finally followed, forming a makeshift defensive formation. The exhausted adventurers were given a moment to rest while they focused defense on a single direction.
"Just hold on a little longer and everything will be resolved! You've all done requests like this before!! Let's do this with spirit!"
Clorsus encouraged the weary fighters. He himself joined the defensive line, blocking the soldiers. As he said, adventurers were always surrounded by danger. This was nothing unusual for them. They could be encircled by monsters at any moment, and death was always close in their line of work. In other words, this situation was quite familiar.
"We're all doing this to survive! Even if you die, don't die! If it looks like you're going to die, fall back!"
With that final rallying cry, Clorsus coated his gauntlets in aura and began shattering the soldiers' weapons.
Meanwhile, Paul and Chukran's group, having split off to lure away a large number of soldiers, advanced with the help of Orkun—an orc from Howling Rock. Orkun was a rare shaman even among orcs, capable of performing miracles through various rituals.
Shamanism was not magic. It was a technique that required a price to produce various effects. Monster blood, hides, or rare gathering materials could all serve as offerings. After hearing Chukran's explanation, Orkun immediately used a flame ritual—paid for with an Arc Wolf's tooth—to light the path ahead.
Since the incantation was in the orc language, the others had no choice but to hold off the soldiers in the meantime. Using the light from the flame ritual, they lured the soldiers and eventually reached the library.
"To trap them inside, we'll have to go in first."
"Chwik! Think we can get out again?"
"If not, we'll have to force our way out. But as you can see, their physical abilities are below normal. They seem like undead."
Paul spoke with resignation, saying they would only know once they tried. Orkun replied,
"Their intelligence doesn't seem very high either! Chwik! Shamanism can brainwash people too, but something on this scale must be black magic!"
Confident in his knowledge of the subject, Orkun's words made Paul nod. He had already suspected as much. After all, the information from Bagan had described the underworld as exactly this kind of place. He had never thought the Sog Kingdom's slave market would be free of such incidents. Still, it was surprising that it had occurred in Dabens, a territory of the orthodox faction.
What would you have done?
At that moment, Paul asked the question in his heart to the one person who came to mind. Though he felt as if he could already hear the obvious answer, he buried it deep and entered the library with the orcs.