Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Bastia Mountains (8)
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-Wooong!
"Contact the Adventurer's Guild, quick!"
"Why isn't the communication going through...!"
Now that they'd confirmed the gate, waves of mana pulsed through the air time and again.
Anyone who wasn't an idiot could easily predict that a full assault from the demonic beasts would soon hit the front lines.
"Move, fast! They're coming soon!"
"Archer unit ready!"
The soldiers on the front lines scrambled to set up defenses.
And at the center of it all, the hero—
"Hero."
—wasn't holding the line. He started charging into the mountains.
To destroy the gate as quickly as possible and reduce the number of beasts crossing over, even if just by a little.
"Sorry, Rion. No time right now—"
"You're heading to the gate... right?"
Karl was an outstanding warrior, but he wasn't a great commander.
He had a habit, whenever a critical situation arose, of throwing himself into the most dangerous spot on the battlefield.
That wasn't a bad thing, but for those who knew his tendencies well, it was a habit ripe for exploitation.
"It's a trap."
Why hadn't I checked Cedric's message beforehand?
'Erbert...'
The traitor Erbert.
Born human, he betrayed his own kind and sided with the Demon King.
And... in the original story, the black mage who kidnapped Cloe, brainwashed her, and used her as a test subject.
"You've noticed it too, haven't you, Hero? Heading to the gate now is just playing right into their hands."
What made Erbert terrifying wasn't his skill as a mage or the fact that he was a traitor.
It was his cunning in reading others' tendencies and weaving vile schemes around them.
"I know. But I have to go anyway."
Contrary to what people thought, Karl wasn't an idiot.
He'd judged that destroying the gate would save more lives than holding the line here.
A foolish man who knew it was a trap but walked into it anyway because he had no choice.
"Then I'll come with you."
And I had no intention of stopping him.
"Uh, huh?"
"Thought you'd try to stop me?"
"Yeah... honestly."
Well, a saintess definitely would have.
"That demonkin and the black mage are probably prepared for you coming alone."
Liliana and Erbert together had more than enough power to hold the hero back.
"They've definitely got something ready to grab your ankle for sure."
Without the hero, the front lines wouldn't even hold against the current beast horde—they'd be wiped out.
"But what if I go with you?"
Thanks to using the Rion identity unintentionally, my presence was still unknown to them.
"If we go together, even if you're held up, I can destroy the gate."
That would make me the biggest variable outside Erbert's expectations.
"...Fine. Just be careful not to get hurt."
"Of course."
And above all...
I had some business with that bastard Erbert.
"Haaack... Hweee..."
"Rion, you okay?"
"Huu... Haa... F-Fine...!"
The bold Sion who charged out so eagerly was now on the verge of collapsing, her stamina drained.
Damn it for real.
Why are these mountain paths so steep...!
Part of her even wondered if staying at the front lines would have been better.
But unable to let Karl go alone, Sion pushed herself up the path.
That's when, as the two reached right in front of the gate—
"You've finally arrived."
A woman's voice greeted them.
A seductive voice that tickled their ears.
"I was starting to get bored waiting."
A beauty who elevated a gaudy dress into something exquisite.
The very demonkin they'd encountered just hours ago at the gate.
-Shing!
"Out of my way."
Her appearance was striking enough to make any man gawk, but the hero drew his sword without a second glance.
Instinct told him this demonkin was no pushover.
"My, such a bold boy. Fitting for the hero, I suppose..."
The demonkin reached into the air and drew a sword of her own.
"Though that's old news now."
A serpent-like serpentine blade, long and sinuous.
With both drawing swords and facing off, combat could erupt any second—especially since time wasn't on the hero's side.
'Bad matchup...'
Liliana the Enchantress, one of the Demon King's seven vassals.
In raw combat power, she ranked low among the seven.
But she boasted the toughest, most tenacious vitality of them all.
Even against the hero, she could hold out for a good long while.
And her greatest specialty was—
"I'd love to invite the cute girl behind you too, but it looks like you're my partner today."
—trapping foes in her domain: 'Liliana's Garden'.
"I invite you to my garden."
"What trick is this...!"
With a gesture toward the hero, dozens of butterflies poured down from the air like a cascade.
They didn't stop there, circling to enclose the hero and Liliana.
"This is..."
"Quick on the uptake, aren't you? But too late, darling."
The hero sensed his ankle caught firmly by the demonkin.
He could break free with full power, but by then, the front lines would likely have fallen.
"...Rion! I'm fine—head to the gate, quick!"
"Got it."
In the end, the hero's only choice was to entrust the gate to Rion, who could still move freely.
From the moment Sion spotted Liliana, she'd planned to destroy the gate in his place.
Once Karl was trapped in the garden, she'd be the only one left with the power to do it.
That was why she'd followed the hero, leaving the endangered front lines and the sleeping Cloe behind.
'Honestly... personal reasons weigh heavier.'
And another reason...
"Oh dear, you can't just leave me out."
To lure that guy in, this seemed the most effective way right now.
"Pleased to meet you, beautiful lady. I'm Erb—"
"Shut up. No time, so come at me already."
"...Pardon?"
You're done for against me.
Though Liliana was holding the hero, I'd planned to guard the gate just in case.
"Oh dear, you can't just leave me out."
But this was the right call after all.
The gate stopping now would be a problem.
Even without the hero, to break the front lines and push to Prifre, they needed more beasts to cross over.
So they'd taken the gamble of just two guarding the gate.
'This woman...'
Silver hair, amethyst eyes—a Magic Tower alumna, no doubt.
The adventurer Rion who'd thwarted her at every turn lately.
"Pleased to meet you, beautiful lady. I'm Erb—"
"Shut up. No time, so come at me already."
Huh.
'Bold wench.'
That was Erbert's first impression upon facing Rion.
Her Magic Tower robe marked her as a mage, yet she held no staff.
Moreover, isolated without a frontline fighter, she was taunting him.
'This is why Magic Tower grads...'
Ortega, the holy site of learning where knowledge was shared with all seekers, regardless of talent.
Paradoxically, its core—the Magic Tower—barred entry to all but the gifted.
Thus, fresh graduates often forgot they were mere frogs in a well.
"Oh dear, I quite enjoy conversation, but you don't seem to—"
This girl was surely one such fool.
-Crackle!
—Until the girl's lightning bolt grazed his earlobe.
Erbert had thought that right up to then.
"...Even mid-conversation."
'...Fast.'
No time even to raise a shield.
Accuracy suffered for the speed, but a hit would've been lethal.
[Pl-Please, spare me this once! The target this time... was just an unlucky monster!]
Maybe he could understand why Yormungand failed now.
"Looks like you don't care for talk."
'First... that speed is dangerous.'
Buy time with Debility to slow her.
He'd love to clash head-on, but no need to take risks.
-Flash!
Debility hit, and Rion purged it instantly.
'As expected, dispels this easily—'
As Erbert admired her quick reaction—
-Crackle!
"Wha—"
Another lightning bolt grazed his earlobe, turning admiration to horror.
What Rion had done wasn't particularly special.
Dispel the debuff, counter with attack magic.
Basic combat for any skilled mage.
"...Who are you?"
But that held only if casting sequentially.
This girl had cast Dispel and lightning simultaneously.
Only one person on the continent could manifest two spells at once.
Wait.
'Rion... Rion... Ah, why didn't I notice?'
"Sion..."
Sion the Grand Archmage, one of the Seven Stars who felled the Demon King.
The only one on the continent capable of that miracle.