After wasting a heck ton of money for level, we continued our way through the village. Interestingly enough, we can see a lot of Japanese-like relics and tradition scattered around this place.
One of them is a shrine. Inside it is a… figurine of a cat girl wearing a swimwear.
"I used to think this place is cool," Megumin said, resisting the urge to face palm. "But now I know what this is and I hate the fact that this is our sacred relic…"
Aqua took a closer look at the figurine.
"Hey Kazuma, it displeases me how that figurine is being treated as well as me, an actual goddess."
"As the one who sent the guy with this thing here, you should be the one apologizing to the Crimson Demons."
But still if this was a figurine of Har*hi Suz*miya, I would definitely pay my respect.
…
Moving on, Megumin brought us to the next 'scenic attraction'. That is a sword stuck to a stone, like a cliche Excalibur setting.
"This is the holy sword that's said to grant immense powers to the one who pulls it out."
"Really? That sounds cool, let's try it!"
"That's fine, but it'll take some time; you need to pay a challenge fee to the old blacksmith first. You can challenge this after paying and each person will have only one try."
Another one of those fantasy world scam.
"Let me guess, this sword is permanently sealed in that boulder?"
Megumin nodded. "That's right, it'll automatically released itself after ten thousand pulls," she explained. "There's only a few hundred pulls since I last came here, so it'll be a waste of effort."
Aqua stepped closer to the holy sword.
"Hey, I can probably break the seal with my magic. Can I take this sword with me?"
"Please don't do that. This is one of the attractions in this village, don't pull it out!"
…
Next, Megumin brought us to a large fountain under a shade of tree.
"This is known as the 'Wishing Fountain'. There's a legend about this fountain. If you give offerings such as axes or coins, you can summon the goddess of gold and silver. Even now, there are people who throw axes and coins in."
Now I understand how Megumin figured out those petty tricks she taught the Axis Cultist with.
"I don't know who spread this legend… If not for the kind blacksmith who clears the fountain periodically, this place would've become a pool of weapons."
"… By the way, what did the blacksmith do with the coins and weapons he fished out?"
"He recycles them into…" Megumin narrowed her eyes and face palmed. "Never mind… Let's just continue," we were about to leave when we realized that Aqua is nowhere to be seen.
A ripple appeared on the fountain and Aqua's head poked out of it. She's still completely dry as she took out a few coins from the fountain.
"I heard there were people who threw their coins in, so I dove down and picked them up… Hey, when it's the tourist season, I'll allow you to hire me as the goddess of this fountain."
That's… that's actually not a bad idea. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
"Kazuma?" Megumin asked disbelief.
"We'll get the blacksmith to pay for it!"
…
The next place was an underground entrance that didn't look aesthetically pleasing at all.
In a word, it was like the entrance to a nuclear shelter…
"This is the underground facility that seals the 'weapon that might destroy the world'. No one knows when it appeared here… I heard that this facility was built at the same time as that mysterious facility over there…"
I walked right into the facility without hesitation. "Then all the more reason for us to secure it!"
Megumin and the rest followed me into the secret underground facility. It's a fancy building, resembling that of a large sci-fi research site. The walls are made of alloys and the whole facility itself looks incredibly sophisticated.
"Whoa… it looks like the Destroyer's interior," Aqua commented.
"Really? You think the same person who created the destroyer created this?" Darkness asked.
After walking deep into the building, we saw large sealed entrance with a control panel beside it. A joystick is connected to the control panel with a string of letters below it.
"Seems familiar, ne Megumin?"
Megumin took one look at the joystick and sighed a little. "Aah… I hate knowing what that is… Really breaks the cool aesthetics, you know?" she then looked at the code below the panel. "Let me try reading it…" she narrowed her eyes a little. "Ko… na… mi… koo do…"
"Konami Code, it's a code used in many games made by Konami," I grabbed the joystick. "Say, wanna push the code and see what's inside?"
"Are you sure Kazuma?" Darkness, the only sensible member of our party asked. "I mean, this is a seal with a weapon that could potentially destroy the world."
"I'm actually here to double seal it," I turned to Aqua. "Oi, Aqua, you can seal stuff right?"
"Of course! Leave it to me! No forces in this world can break a goddess's seal!"
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A.
The facility rumbled a little and the sealed door opened, revealing a set of dark staircase.
"Yosh, let's go Aqua. Megumin, Darkness, guard the rear, notify us if anything happens okay?"
With that, Aqua and I ventured deep into the facility. I used fire to illuminate our path downstairs. Aqua is of course leading the front since she's the one with a night vision and the statically stronger one of us.
"Kazuma, I see something,"
So do I, a gigantic ring like structure the size of a room. It looks incredibly sci-fi and I have a slight idea on what this does. According to Wolbach, the Demon General Sylvia is targeting an anti-magic weapon for her to absorb.
Now, I just have to bet that this thing can still be sealed by someone of a goddess's calibre.
We entered the room and stood right in the middle of it when…
"Kazuma, I felt two powerful presence outside the facility and a killing intent… It's Liz's killing intent… Kazuma, what do I do,"
"Seal the room, the code is up up down down left right left right B A, then tell Darkness to call some reinforcements…"
"Aqua, seal the weapon, right now! This is an emergency!"
Aqua nodded and a powerful magic began coursing through her body. "All my worshipper… Give me your prayer, give me power…" her staff materialized in her hand and her Hagomoro appeared around her shoulder. She then pointed her staff to the ceiling right in the middle of the weapon.
"Sacred Seal!"
Bright light fills the entire the room. Chorus of angels and divine aura filled the entire room. It kept going for an entire minute before the light finally dies down.
"Okay, how strong is the seal?"
"Only I can release it," Aqua said with a proud smile. "Anyone else will just destroy the weapon in the process,"
Okay, that's one problem out of the way.
"Megumin, how's the condition outside?"
"It's the Demon General Sylvia, she… she has Komekko taken hostage…"
"What about Liz?"
"She's fine, just a little bit shaken up,"
"Don't worry, we're going upstairs,"
I rushed up and heard some conversation coming from upstairs. I cast light refraction on Aqua and myself, removed all the light, and used lurk to become practically undetectable.
"...get away with bullying my sister and my daughter, then you are sorely mistaken, Sylvia san," Megumin's calm voice came from behind the door.
I heard a familiar pained whimper and my breath hitched a little. She got Komekko as hostage, that's how she get Liz all the way here. Goddammit, I'm not letting Komekko taste death, even if we can resurrect her later.
"Make one move and this one will suffer…" Sylvia said coldly. "Now open the door,"
I heard Megumin clicking her tongue. "I'll open it, but release her first,"
"You do not make demands. Now open it!"
Komekko cried out in pain and Megumin's bloodlust emanates through the sealed door. I was hoping I could have Sylvia as one of my agents like Wolbach, but… the mad lad pissed off Megumin and Emperor Liz.
Dunno about you, but I ain't risking my life saving Sylvia from an angry dragon and her mother.
"Open it," I told Megumin.
"Alright, I will open it," there were footsteps and a clicking sound.
I can hear her footsteps closing in on us. I walked closer to the sealed door and I can hear Liz's heavy breathing. The dragon's extremely scared right now and there's nothing I want more than to go through this door and comfort her.
But right now, we have to save Komekko…
The sealed door slowly opened and I can see it clearly.
Sylvia stood in the middle of the room, facing Liz and the sealed entrance. Komekko is being held by two ropes that binds her arms and legs. A knife is being held at her neck and another is pointed threateningly at various part of her body.
Both knife had blood dripping down on it… But Komekko isn't hurt at all…
Did she hurt Liz? No, Liz's fine, I mean, I don't think anyone can actually hurt her. Goddammit, what happened back there? If Komekko and Liz wasn't hurt then whose blood is that!? Or maybe one of them is hurt and was… healed… by Liz.
Sylvia san, forget pissing off my wife and daughter, you just pissed me off.
"Step aside,"
"Release her…" Liz's voice was more akin to a growl. "Release her at once…"
Sylvia grabbed Komekko by the neck and began slowly choking her.
"Step aside,"
I gently touched Liz's shoulder and she froze. The girl then nodded before she reluctantly stepped aside.
I took Aqua's hand and we began walking down the staircase. I want nothing more but to murder her, but I do not want to bet on Komekko's innocence.
"Kazuma, Darkness has arrived with… the NEETs…"
"Tell them to stay outside,"
"Got it,"
I sat down on the floor below the magic weapon. Still invisible and still hiding in the dark. Sylvia made it down a few seconds later, she took one look at the weapon and smiled in glee.
The girl tossed Komekko aside and Aqua, still invisible, quickly rushed to her side. She healed her while sneaking her out of the facility.
"Megumin, we have Komekko secure, after Aqua get her, tell Liz to join her with Darkness."
A bunch of tentacles sprouted out of the chimera's back and begun covering every inch of the weapon. The weapon seemingly melt and molded with her and the Chimera cackled with glee…
"Finally… After all these humiliation, I will have my revenge…"
Then… nothing. Sylvia looked at her own body, but it doesn't seem like anything is happening. She looked around for a moment, as if not believing herself.
"That's odd… I thought weapon this powerful would…" she raised her hand and seemingly spit the weapon back out. "Maybe I need to activate it somehow,"
"Or maybe you could try breaking the seal first," I commented, showing myself sitting a few feet away from her.
Sylvia took one look at me and her face lost all its color. "Y-you… H-how, when did you get here!? What did you do to the weapon!?"
"Sealed it… well, you just broke it I guess," I slowly stood up and grinned a little. "By the way, my name is Satou Kazuma, the Strongest Adventurer in Axel, pleased to meet you,"
"Satou… Kazuma…"
Sylvia did a one eighty and tried to flee, only to find herself staring face to face with Megumin. The Crimson Demon has that flat look on her face while cracking her knuckles.
"Ne, Sylvia san, would you care to explain what you did to my little sister and my daughter?"
Sylvia turned back towards me and adopted a battle stance.
"Smart choice! I mean, I can't be more powerful than a Crimson Demon, now, can I?" I brandished my sword and turned to Megumin. "We'll take turns okay?"
"Tch, make it quick…"
---
"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A"
I recited the code while sealing the door behind us. We've been down there for almost four hours. Liz joined us around the two hours mark. We were a bit hesitant about letting Liz join us, but she argues that this sort of thing is only natural for a dragon like her.
Well, dragon's gotta do what a dragon's gotta do.
Outside the facility we saw Komekko lying unconscious on Aqua's lap. Darkness sat beside her, gently stroking her head while humming gently.
Komekko has that peaceful smile on her face. She looked as if she's having a very nice dream. Like she just had a very good day playing with her friends.
"Otou sama…"
I turned to Liz and saw her kneeling down next to Komekko.
"Can you… make her forget? What happened to her was my fault I…" she lowered her gaze and broke into tears. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… Please, I don't want her to remember it…"
I stroked Liz's head comfortingly. "I can't do something like that without her consent," then I turned to Aqua. "Ne, Aqua, can you wake her up?"
Aqua's finger tips glows and she gently pressed it on Komekko's head.
The Crimson Demon blearily opened her eyes and yawned a little like she just had a nice sleep. "What happened…" her eyes widened and she looked at all of us. "Oh! Liza chan, did we win?" she asked with a grin.
Liza embraced Komekko and sobbed a little.
"Liza chan? Why are you crying? We won, right?" Komekko asked a little worried.
"Of course," Liza let go of her and smiled.
"Perfect Victory!"
Komekko gave her a thumb up.
"Perfect Victory!"
Komekko sat up from Aqua's lap and looked around. "Ah, everyone is here! Have you defeated it? The Evil Demon King General?"
"Easily," I told her. "Also, do you mind telling us what happened?"
Komekko nodded vigorously. "Yeah! You see, we were playing in the forest when we meet some Demon King Army. But Liz was super strong! She defeated them all with one spell and sent the rest of them went running."
The girl smiled sheepishly.
"But then I got careless and the leader caught me. She threatened to kill me if Liz didn't call for you. But Liz was super smart! Liz told the Demon King General that she can do whatever you can do!"
"So, the Demon King General forced Liz to follow her to that place," Komekko pointed at the secret facility. "Liz tried to look for opportunity to set me free, but then the Demon King General would attack me instead and…"
Komekko looked down and put a hand on her sides.
"It hurts, a lot, I-I almost cried… But then it feels really good when Liz healed me and I don't want to cry with Liz watching,"
"Then, we made it to the facility and I saw Megumin nee chan waiting for us! I realized that if Megumin nee chan is here then Kazuma nii chan is also somewhere. I realized that all this time Liza chan is leading the demon king general to trap so I kept quiet."
"After that… I don't remember, but I'd imagine there was an epic battle, right?"
Megumin nodded at that. "There was a battle, but not as epic as your battle, Komekko chan,"
Komekko tilted her head in confusion. "My battle?"
I cleared my throat and all eyes turned towards me. "As the Veteran Adventurer, Satou Kazuma, I hereby declare that the Demon King General Sylvia has been defeated by Komekko of the Crimson Demon Village."
Everyone else nodded in agreement at my proclamation.
"Eh, really?"
"Of course!"
"But you already killed her right?"
"Well… not really…"
"Can I do it? I want to gain lots of exp! Then I'm going to be a powerful demon summoner and summon Hoost!"
Silence followed her proclamation. I blinked a little before looking at Megumin.
"Ano, Megumin, you mind cracking that door open and clean up Sylvia's personal hell?"
"Yes, on it."