The Hero Ruti drew her sword.
Before her was a pack of eight monsters. Four were titan crabs, giant crustaceans the
size of elephants. The others were hieracosphinxes, sphinxes with falcon heads.
"Why are the sphinxes guarding these ruins?" Ares asked. Something about how the
creatures fought without regard for their own lives felt off. Unlike androsphinxes, which
had humanlike intelligence, hieracosphinxes were more beast-like in demeanor. So
why had they protected these ruins in the middle of nowhere for dozens or even
hundreds of years?
"Who knows," Ruti responded disinterestedly.
It was a question that had no bearing on her. There were enemies before her and a
sword in her hand. That meant there was nothing to worry about. Ruti dashed toward
the monsters with her arms still limply hanging at her waist.
I like fighting. It's the only time that what I want to do and what my blessing wants to
do are in sync.
A titan crab swung a massive claw down at Ruti, but she leaped away to the side. The
hieracosphinxes tried to overwhelm her while she was in the air, but Ruti cut down
two of them with only a single slash each. The third hieracosphinx's leg went flying off
its body after another cut from Ruti's sword. After landing, Ruti immediately thrust
her blade upward to pierce the stomach of the titan crab that loomed overhead.
Meanwhile, Tisse took out one titan crab, and Theodora took out another.
"Chain Lightning!" Ares launched a magic attack that should have picked off any
remaining monsters.
"Not strong enough," Ruti said expressionlessly. Despite her armor, the girl easily
leaped on top of the head of the last titan crab that was still clinging to life and thrust
her sword deep into it.
The ground trembled as the final enemy collapsed. Sand that had seeped into the
crevices of the ruins was sent up into the air, forming a cloud.
"Eh?" Ares squeaked in surprise as a shadow appeared inside the gathered particles.
The last hieracosphinx's beak lanced out from inside the dusty puff.
"Uwah?!" Though Ares tried desperately to get away, his Sage blessing afforded him
poor physical abilities, and he was too slow. The hieracosphinx's beak was closing in,
threatening to tear his head off. The fearsome maw stopped just short of the man,
however.
"R-Ruti!"
Ruti had casually caught the hieracosphinx by the back of the head with her left hand.
The monster had the body of a lion, and its blessing should have even further boosted
its physical abilities, but it still could not break free from that slight girl's grip. Silently,
Ruti focused her strength into her arm.
"Kiiiiiiiirrr?!"
The hieracosphinx likely weighed a massive amount, but it was still lifted off the
ground. Its body spun around in the air, and then there was a horrible squishing sound
as its head was smashed. Ruti had slammed the monster's skull into the ground. Blood
splattered, and the hieracosphinx's body twitched, as if resisting its own death to the
very end.
"M-my thanks…," Ares offered.
"Drop the area-of-effect attacks, Ares. There are four of us now, so make sure you
actually finish off the ones you are fighting," Ruti chided without even acknowledging
what the man had said.
"Hn? Ah…"
"Also, your positioning is off. Big Brother would always cover for you there, but
Theodora, Tisse, and I aren't going to do that for you. Take care of yourself."
"S-sorry…" Ares gritted his teeth, grinding them as the word escaped his clenched jaw.
What Ruti had said was entirely true. Gideon was lacking in offensive abilities, but he
was skilled when it came to covering others. He'd also possessed a wealth of
knowledge regarding formations, tactics, and how to organize a proper rear guard.
Ares had been able to use his magic much more freely back when Gideon had been in
the party.
No, this is because Danan and Yarandrala left! If they hadn't abandoned the party for no
reason, everything would've been fine! Ares rationalized. Surely, he himself hadn't made
a mistake; his pride wouldn't allow such a thing.
Why aren't things going my way? I'm a sage, a wise man. I'm the one who carried this
party on the journey. I handled all the mental labor. Why won't anyone give me the
respect I deserve? Why do they always praise Gideon, that deadweight who was holding
us back? Name one thing he ever did!
"Enough talking for now. Let's keep moving."
Just as Ares was about to let slip a resentful comment, Ruti casually ended the
conversation, walking away as if she had no interest in Ares at all.
Ruti wasn't even looking at Ares anymore.
The party made their way down a passage, surrounded by giant stone walls with
glyphs and pictures engraved upon them.
"There's no mistaking it. These ruins are from the time of the previous demon lord,"
Ares said as he examined writings inscribed in the language of the dark continent.
"Mr. Ares, that's rather obvious at this point. We should maybe be considering what to
do in the current situation in which we find ourselves," Tisse remarked.
Magma slimes, minions of Dreadonna of the Flame, one of the four heavenly kings,
were drawing near. The viscous creatures were the pride of Dreadonna's forces,
excavating and melting through ruins in order to gather ancient weapons spread
across the lands. They were powerful and had a dangerous counter skill that caused
them to spurt lava when they were attacked.
"Many of the slimes have Fire Mage and Savage Fighter blessings. Things could get bad
if they attack us all at once," Theodora observed.
If the party was going to retreat, it was better to do so quickly. The farther they allowed
the enemy to advance, the more disadvantageous the situation would get.
"If they get the previous demon lord's weapon, then us coming here was pointless,"
Ruti pointed out.
Ares nodded in agreement. "Please calm yourself, Theodora. At worst, we can break
through with my ice. Magma slimes are weak to ice magic."
Theodora looked like she wanted to say something. Judging the effort to be worthless,
however, she merely shook her head slightly.
Magma slimes can hide in walls and are capable of melting new openings that allow
them to attack whenever and wherever they like. They might be slimes, but their
intelligence is on par with that of humans. What's more, we don't even know how many
of them we are facing. If they just hide in the walls and attack lava bursts, they'll wear
us down. We'll run out of magic power long before they do, Theodora thought. She knew,
however, that even if she or Ares died, the Hero would surely survive. Ruti's strength
grew with each passing day. She was already so powerful that Theodora, master of
spears and the cleric arts though she was, couldn't comprehend the depths of Ruti's
might anymore.
So long as the Hero is still alive, us dying might be for the best. Theodora, usually a stoic
figure, flashed a little wry smile at that thought.
"Maybe I should have gone looking for Sir Gideon as well," Theodora muttered to herself.
I'm sure he would be able to figure out how to contribute in the best way he was able. He
was a man with a broad field of view. I'm useless outside of fighting.
While it was too late now, Theodora regretted not having asked Gideon for advice on
what to do when she'd started to wonder whether she was holding the party back.
It had been a long while now since Theodora had seen Gideon, but when she envisioned
his face, she felt somewhat nostalgic.
A gargantuan demon, a monster that stood over nine meters tall, was guarding the
deepest layer of the ruins. It looked like a goat's skeleton with a thin layer of skin
stretched over its frame. The massive creature wielded an enormous sword and let
out a deep roar as acid dripped from its mouth.
"We have to fight a gargantuan demon?!" Ares exclaimed.
Such beings were considered the pinnacle of giant demons. They were particularly
skilled at close-quarters combat. Much like Ares, Theodora and Tisse appeared quite
unnerved at the idea of having to face such a mighty opponent. Ruti, however, was
thinking about something else entirely.
"A gargantuan demon makes sense, but why were all those magma slimes here?" Ruti
asked, expressing a similar sort of question to when Ares had wondered about the
hieracosphinxes. The Hero hadn't shown much interest in the presence of the hawkheaded monsters, but something about the gargantuan demons' presence had piqued
her interest in the unusual situation.
The demon lord's army was supposed to be composed only of demons. Throughout all
of recorded history, this constant had remained unfaltering.
"Did the previous demon lord and Taraxon have conflicting ideas or something? All
the books say that demons only consort with their own kind," Ruti stated.
Excepting Asura demons, all of demonkind had blessings. Unlike other creatures,
however, every demon of the same classification shared an identical blessing. For
example, every gargantuan demon possessed the Gargantuan Demon blessing. There
were no confirmed instances of demons with blessings like Warrior or Mage. The
general consensus was that any species with only a single blessing among its ranks
was considered a demon.
"Big Brother theorized that maybe the reason they're all the same is because God
expected them to fulfill the role of evil in the world."
Instead of a response, the gargantuan demon's roar thundered through the ruins. It
was a call for the party to advance, if they so dared.
"Interesting." Ruti's lips curled into a twisted smile.
The young woman had often debated the nature of the demon lord's army with her
brother during her sleepless nights. Demons working with regular monsters forced
Ruti to wonder what exactly they were trying to defeat. Ruti pondered what her
brother might've said at the revelation had he been there. The imagined scene brought
a small amount of comfort to the girl's heart.
"I told you so!" Theodora shouted.
The magical wall she'd conjured was holding off the advance of a new group of magma
slimes, but it was only a matter of time until they found their way past.
Immediately after the party had defeated the gargantuan demon, a squad of magma
slimes had ambushed them as if it'd been a plan. The semisolid creatures came
bursting out of the walls one after another as the barrier the gargantuan demon had
erected disappeared. The whole thing simply seemed too coordinated.
Fleeing through the door that the demon had been guarding, Ruti and the others had
barricaded themselves inside. Excluding the Hero, the party had exhausted nearly
everything they'd had in the battle with the gargantuan demon. Ares was only capable
of a few more spells. Theodora wasn't in much better shape, having exhausted most of
her own magic power; her breathing was labored.
"I'm back." The party's assassin had returned after having scouted the path ahead.
"Tisse! How was it?! Any sign of a weapon we could use against the slimes?!" Ares
shouted desperately.
If there was any hope of escape, it rested with whatever mighty weapon was
supposedly entombed within the ruins.
"There was a ship," Tisse replied.
"A… a ship?" Ares's voice wavered.
"I've cleared the traps in the passage ahead, so please follow me." Tisse turned and
headed back down the hall she'd investigated only moments earlier. Left with little
other choice, the rest of the party followed after her.
The dune split, and a giant shadow leaped up into the air. It looked like a large boat
with several spinning propellers in place of sails. Their rotating was lifting the massive
vessel into the air. Great piles of sand that had accumulated on the vehicle over its
many years of slumber were tossed aside in an instant. The little particles glimmered
in the air as they scattered back toward the ground.
"Wh-what the heck is this?!" Ares asked, incredulous.
"It's an airship," Tisse answered flatly as she gripped the yoke controlling the flying
vessel. Faced with a mass of instruments she had never seen before, Tisse's hands
were trembling despite her confident answer.
There weren't many of them, but a platoon of the demon lord's flame drakes was
following them. At a glance, the airship's fuselage was composed of a large number of
wooden parts. Tisse suspected that it would go up in smoke if hit directly with a fire
attack.
We need to get away quickly! thought the assassin.
"Tisse, you focus on the controls. Even if the drakes catch up, I'll take care of them
somehow," Ruti instructed.
"Understood."
Ruti headed toward the deck. Looking down, she saw the Desert of Bloody Sands
racing by below. The party had great trouble traversing the dunes, but the airship
coursed above it all so easily that the party was already approaching the desert
dweller village.
"It's quite fast, isn't it?" Theodora approached from behind, expressing her
astonishment.
"It is," Ruti replied.
"And this isn't even its full speed. The previous demon lord's weapons sure are
something. With this, we could go anywhere in the world… Is there anywhere you
would like to go?"
"No. Not so long as I'm the Hero anyway," Ruti responded as she looked up at the
spinning propellers. "These are greater wings than befit me."
An airship—wings with which to freely fly around the world. Ruti scoffed selfdeprecatingly to herself while everyone else was enthralled by the party's new
acquisition.