Part 7
Most of the doll-like monsters in the dungeon had been cleared, so we didn't meet any resistance.
"Brat! This girl is suffering tremendous pain as she resist moi control! If this goes on, she will suffer mental trauma! It is in your best interest to tear off the talisman and let moi go! Or else… (It's true Kazuma! I have been feeling something terrible… very terrible…! Ahhh, this is the first time I felt something so intense, as expected of a boss of the demon king army! I can't take it anymore…!)"
Probably because of the pain, the back of Darkness' neck was sweating as she followed me while panting.
From the looks of things, Darkness still had control over her body.
On the way back, the adventurers who entered the dungeon with us were stunned when they saw Darkness wearing a mask, but I didn't have time for them right now.
"Just hang on a little while longer, Darkness! We are almost there! I will release you from the pain when we reach the surface!"
"Ughhh… What is with this weird situation… (It's fine, just leave me.)"
...
"What did you say?" x2
Vanir and I cried out in unison.
— To be honest, bringing a boss of the demon king army back to the surface made me feel uneasy.
But he was using that body as a container.
Frankly speaking, Darkness was incredibly clumsy.
Even when she slashed at a target right before her, she would miss once for every five tries.
I wanted to ask her how could she be clumsy to such an extent.
Anyway, the adventurers on the surface should be enough to suppress Darkness.
"Darkness, great work for enduring this long! Leave the rest to Aqua, the other adventurers and I will restrain your body…"
I said that when I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But before I finished…
"… Fuhaha… Fuhahahaha! Art thou speaking to moi?"
The voice spoke very clearly, and wasn't interrupted by Darkness like earlier.
"Taking over complete! Brat, you underestimated moi! I was holding back earlier! If I approach thou's companion with such an appearance, she will welcome moi with her guard down! When I see thou's priest companion, I will cleave her right in the head!"
As Vanir was shouting this, he dashed up the stairs faster than I could even though he was wearing heavy armor.
Oh shit oh shit!
That fellow's target was Aqua. She might be wearing a strange mask, but no one would stop Darkness from getting near Aqua!
"Wake up, Darkness! You are better than this, do you want to give in to the minions of the devil?!"
"Fuhahaha! It's useless, brat! I don't know what this girl is thinking, but when the pain exceeds a certain threshold (I, I can't anymore…) will hand over the body… Damn, damn it, don't make such weird noise!"
Oh no, that pervert can't stand it anymore!
Vanir moved the body he had total control over and said:
"Alright, time for a touching reunion for comrades who made it out of the dungeon alive! My hated enemy! I want to see what thou will do to a comrade whose body had been taken over by the enemy…!"
She shouted loudly and leapt outside…!
"Sacred Exorcism—!"
"(Ahhhhhh—!)"
Aqua who was waiting at the entrance of the dungeon casted her spell without warning, enveloping her in white flames.
Part 8
Vanir who jumped out of the dungeon was on fire. He couldn't withstand it and fell on one knee.
"Dark, Darkness—!"
And of course, he did so while controlling Darkness' body.
I rushed out of the dungeon, rushing to Darkness' side to check on her.
But on the surface, Darkness had no signs of burns at all.
"Fu… Fufufu… Fuhahahaha! Fuhahahaha!"
And unexpectedly, Vanir who was hit by Aqua's spell didn't seem to be bothered.
"Hey Aqua! Don't attack Darkness with magic so suddenly, it's bad for my heart!"
I lectured Aqua, but she said unapologetically:
"What are you saying, that spell is harmless against humans! I felt something evil coming out, so I was thinking I should cast the spell first and…"
"(I, I see… That's fine, I was just surprised… Please give me a heads up next time alright…)"
That attack probably made Vanir relax his control, allowing Darkness' will to show up.
"Hey Aqua! A boss of the demon king army is trying to take over Darkness' body! The enemy appears to be a devil! An opponent you are great at dealing with!"
"A, a boss of the demon king army?!"
When I said that, Sena who was observing the situation from a distance shouted before Aqua could react.
When she heard me said that, Aqua frowned and walked towards Darkness with an irked face.
She slowly covered her nose and said:
"Smelly! This is too smelly! That's right, this is the stench of a devil! Really, how did Darkness get stained with this filth!"
"(Hmmm?! I, I don't think I am smelly…?)"
Aqua's words made Darkness tear up under the mask.
"Fufufufu… (Kazuma, smell me, it's not smelly right!) Fuhahaha, fuhahaha! (Even if there is a stench, it must be due to me charging around the dungeon just now.) Shut up! This is the scene where moi makes a cool speech, so keep quiet!"
Darkness became depressed when even Vanir lectured her,
"Fuhahaha! Greetings, cursed priest that shares the same name as that notorious goddess of water! I am Vanir! Duke of hell, one of the boss of the demon king army Arch Devil Vanir!"
Vanir had control of the body's speech function, but Darkness had control over the body. While Vanir was making a grand monologue, his body seemed bored as it kicked at the small pebbles on the ground.
… By the way, he mentioned the priest who shared the same name with the goddess of water.
Seemed like this devil realized Aqua's true identity.
"Not bad, greeting me with exorcism magic without hesitation! Fuhahaha, that's the reason why the infamous Axis devotees are shunned by all! Does thou not know basic courtesy?"
"Annoying— being courteous to the devil, what nonsense are you saying? Devils are worse than the undead who goes against the will of the gods. A parasite that can't survive without the negative emotion of humans—! Puhehe!"
The two were silent for a moment after this exchange…
"Sacred High Exorcism—!"
"Naive!"
Aqua casted a spell without warning, but Vanir dodged to the side at the last moment.
"Why are you dodging, Darkness! Be a good girl and keep still!"
"(I, I know, but my body is moving by itself!)"
As Aqua and Vanir started their fight, Sena and Megumin came to my side.
"Kazuma, Kazuma! What is with this situation? Why is Darkness wearing that mask…! How sly, I want a mask like that too! That mask is stimulating my blood of the crimson magic race!"
"What stupid things are you talking about, now is not the time for that! Darkness' body has been taken over by a boss of the demon king army, his main body is that mask! You have any ideas?"
"Satou-san, how did it turn out this way? That is indeed a boss of the demon king army on the wanted list, the one who possess foresight and clairvoyance, the devil of foresight Vanir. Why is a big shot like him doing here?"
Sena whose face was ash white said in a voice closed to screaming.
"That guy is here to investigate the people who defeated Beldia, a boss of the demon king army. He had another more troubling objective, but let's talk about that later. Right now, I have sealed him using the talisman Sena gave me. He is that mask on Darkness, and he is trapped inside Darkness right now."
Hearing me say that, Sena commented with a bewildered expression:
"Trapped, in her body? You sealed a boss of the demon king army inside the body of your comrade?! What's wrong with you? What are you thinking!"
"… But, this situation isn't good. That devil could even endure a hit from Aqua's exorcism spell. He is able to do so because he is possessing Darkness' body. Crusaders are holy knights that serve the gods, that's why Darkness has strong resistance against light magic. It should be better to tear off the talisman and release that devil for now."
After hearing Megumin say that, I looked at the devil Vanir who kept on dodging Aqua's spell.
Under his skilled control, Darkness's clumsy body was not affected by the heavy armor, toying with Aqua with his agile movements.
What the hell, I thought we would win if we trapped him inside Darkness' body!
I was surprised by how high Darkness' physical specs was.
"Release that guy? He is trapped in Darkness' body right now, so he can only attack with a long sword. But that devil said he could use killing laser, that would be hard to handle if we release him from Darkness' body."
When I looked again, the other adventurers had also joined in the fray. They were providing support, attempting to slow Vanir down so Aqua's spell could hit.
"… This, this is bad, if this goes on…"
"… Things don't look good…"
Following Megumin's gaze, I confirmed the situation—
"Damn! That Darkness is so strong…!"
"I can't hit her! She parried my attack with her sword easily! Her strikes are heavy and amazingly fast! We are only alive because she was holding back…!"
"Fuhahahaha! This body isn't bad! The strength and stamina are great! The resistance against holy magic makes it even more splendid! (Boohoo… I am causing trouble for the other adventurers, but I am a little happy to gain the upper hand against so many opponents…!)"
That girl… Now is not the time to be happy!
"Nah Darkness! Enough, stop thrashing around—! Do you want to be saved? Or you don't want to be saved? Or you are feeling great because you are showing the adventurers who looked down on you who is boss?"
"(No, no I'm not!) Fuhahaha! What's wrong thou weaklings, come at moi! Don't hold back!"
As Darkness was trying to explain herself, Vanir spouted taunting words, making the expression of the adventurers around her turn sour.
"Darkness, you little! Acting cocky because your attack is landing!"
"I thought you were the one that was the most level headed one in Kazuma's party! To think that you…!"
"Surround her! Encircle that crusader!"
"(The, the one taunting wasn't me!) Fuhahaha! No matter how many minions you throw at moi, I will beat all of you off! (Ahhhh…)"
Vanir was talking in Darkness' voice.
To the adventurers, there was no way to differentiate which was Darkness and which was Vanir.
And because of that, Darkness was drawing more and more hate from the crowd. For some reason, the adventurers were scolding Darkness instead of Vanir.
"She is obviously being manipulated by the enemy, but everyone is scolding her, how pitiful! Isn't there anything we can do?"
Megumin tugged on my shirt and said.
In actual fact, Darkness was being scolded as she overwhelmed the crowd with her abilities…!
"(Ahhh… The adventurers that talked to me nicely is looking at me with eyes of disdain…!) I sense feelings of joy… Why is that so? What is happening…!"
...
"But she seems so happy."
"… That, that's why we have to save her! Don't you have any ideas, Kazuma?"
Even if you asked me, the current Darkness was beyond what I could handle.
In the current situation, we don't have the means of defeating that devil.
Even Aqua's spell didn't have any effect, there was nothing we could do…
"You are so annoying! Why are you so hard to deal with!"
"That's what moi wants to say! Damn it, how despicable to attack in waves! Don't think you can play around because moi don't want to kill thou, adventurers!"
Meanwhile, Aqua and Vanir was still battling.
When the adventurers figured out that Vanir's target was Aqua, they formed a human wall to hold Vanir back.
Aqua kept casting her exorcism spell from behind the human wall, but both parties couldn't break the stalemate.
But the balance was finally broken by Vanir.
He probably had gotten used to controlling Darkness' body. Swinging the 2-handed long sword with ease, he started destroying the weapons of the adventurers one by one.
In terms of her strength and stamina, Darkness was well ahead of the other adventurers.
And with the vast combat experience of the devil and agility, the sub-par crusader Darkness was powerful enough to win against an adventurer party of ten.
"I think that girl seemed a little blessed today. Her performance has been eye catching in all sorts of ways…"
"Don't just say that leisurely, think of something… Ahhh!"
Finally, an adventurer couldn't withstand Vanir's fierce attack and fell to its blunt blow, crumbling the line of defense.
Megumin yelped when she saw what happened.
"Fuhahaha! It's time to settle our score, moi rival! To die under the blade of your companion, how blessed art thou!"
"Nah nah, Darkness! I believe in you! You won't lose to the devil right!? It's it's fine right!? Nah, Darkness, can you hear me!?"
Aqua retreated slowly as she shouted, but Darkness did not reply.
The balance between Vanir and the adventurers had broke down. It's only a matter of time before Aqua who was hiding behind them will be attacked.
"Satou-san, are you not going to join the battle? Aren't that priest and possessed crusader your party mates?! Are you not going to save them?"
Sena asked me urgently, now what should I do?
"No, you should know that I am just an adventurer. Guys that are stronger than me are falling one after another. I can't turn the tide even if I join the fray."
"You! What is with you!"
As Sena's face was cramping from disgust, the adventurers lost their ability to fight one after another.
"Ka, Kazuma—! This is a big crisis! The biggest crisis I have ever met—!"
Aqua who was on the verge of tears pleaded for help from the distance. Megumin hugged her staff as she looked up at my head with unease.
Even if you looked at me like this, the weak me couldn't do anything…!
Even Sena who was focusing on the adventurers being forced into a corner was looking up at me with a pale face.
I really wanted to give Sena a good lecture right now.
I was not the one who started the commotion, but I got dragged in as a victim every single time.
… Sigh, I kept getting dragged into troublesome matters, where did my luck go off to?
People who said I had good luck must have lied to me. I complained in my mind.
"Kazuma-san —! Kazuma-san —!"
— I listened to Aqua's pleas for aid.
"… You guys are really troublesome ahhhh!"
I shouted a little disparagingly as I prayed. I hoped that if my luck really was good, everything would turn out well as I charged in with my sword drawn.