Chapter 311: Iron Maiden

"So, how many people were there in the hut?" Shirley asked Victoria who has been there before.

"There are about thirty of them. Seems like that hut is being used for their hideout and where they rest. There should be about five people guarding that hut, so the other twenty-five can rest. That's what I found when I look around with Spot. All those people we saw this morning are there. No need to ask Roy since he won't remember. This morning, there are just about ten of them. I suppose thirty is all of them." Victoria explained.

Victoria was investigating it together with Spot during the time Roy received his punishment. She thought of marking them with her clones, but seeing all of the people she saw this morning are inside the hut, there's no need to mark all of them.

"That's good. If all of them are in there, I can just kill them all in one go." Celestine said.

"…I don't think that there is any need for me and Lina to be in this group." Shirley said.

"We're here just in case there are other people approaching the hut, or if there's another similar hideout nearby. Master must have thought that since he hasn't seen everything around here, he wants me to have Elsie at look the surrounding area." It was Lina who spoke.

"By the way, when we were punishing him, you didn't hit him hard. Why?" Shirley asked as they were still on the way to the hut.

"He's still my Master after all. And he has said it many times that he's a coward. Shouldering the burden of the world alone just because of his memory from past life must have taken its toll on his mind. Even more when he's a coward. Though we can't just forgive him easily. He almost tried to kill children. That's unforgivable." Lina said.

"I guess you're right. Even the mission to meet the kings is going to him. At least it's good that his memory sucks. If he has a good memory, he will probably do many other jobs. Who knows what kind of conspiration were there in the future?" Shirley said.

"Whatever it is, for now we will focus on this mission. I'll summon Elsie to watch our surroundings."

Then, Lina summoned Elsie in front of her. She didn't summon Sunny just in case they need an escape route so she can used portal and return back to Cassau.

Around them, there are some Werewolves, in their wolf form, running around. The four girls are not attacked because all the Werewolves know who they are. They are their king's precious friends.

"Victoria, is their hideout we're going is over there?" Lina asked Victoria while pointing toward the direction they were going.

"That's right. is something the matter?" Victoria asked.

"That hideout is being attacked by wolves. Probably the Werewolves who transformed. And there seem to be one especially strong mage in that hideout." Lina said.

"What!? We must hurry and kill them all before giving them any chances to escape!" Celestine said as she runs on her own toward the direction Lina pointed.

"How many people are there?" Shirley asked.

"Hmm… Elsie saw thirty-one. One more than what Victoria told us."

"Then that one is probably the guy who hired them. And since the Werewolves are in trouble, that one is most likely an expert level mage." Shirley said.

Shirley and the others would sometimes spare their time by sparring with the Werewolves. Sometimes, they asked the Werewolves to just fight in their wolf form. That's how Shirley knows how powerful they are in their wolf form. Although not as powerful as their Werewolf form, they can still cause trouble to Shirley.

And since there's one mage who can cause trouble to a group of Werewolves, that mage must be stronger than an average advanced level mage. And probably has reached expert level. That's what Shirley thought.

"Is there any Werewolves nearby?" Shirley asked.

"Hmm… Jack! Come here!" Lina called Jack who was nearby.

"Huh? You're the king's maid. What's wrong?" Jack approached Lina and asked.

"Why are you not in your wolf form? Anyway, go and tell other Werewolves to surround that hut over there. Make sure that no one escapes. That place is one of the hideouts of the bad guys we're trying to kill. Let Celestine takes care of the strong mages, while the Werewolves can take care of the others." Shirley said.

"You're not my king, but since you're his friend, I'll tell the others to do as you say." Jack said.

Then he transformed into his wolf form, and easily passed Celestine who's going the same way. But when Celestine noticed that a wolf is going there, she quickly jumped and rode on the back of the wolf. She will arrive faster that way.

As for the reason why Jack was not in his wolf form despite Roy telling him to, it's because he thinks that there's nothing to worry about. His sense of smell is great and other than Roy's friends whose smells he already familiar with, there are no other people.

"We should be quick as well. Let's go!"

Then the Shirley and Lina run toward the hideout, with Victoria clung onto Shirley. Elsie also followed from behind them. It looks just like a scene in a horror story. Two girls being chased by an eyeball monster.

When they reached the hideout, the see many people died. Most of them died with spikes stabbing their bodies from the ground.

"This must be Celestine's magic. Is everyone of them died?" Victoria asked.

"Not all of them. Let's get rid of the rest. As for Celestine, they are a bit distance from here. Seems like that mage is really an expert level mage. Let's take care of everything here so we can meet her quickly. Though I don't think she will need any help." Lina said.

Thus, the girls started cleaning up the hideout. And once they were done, they look around to see if there are some kinds of secret they can get.

While Shirley and the others cleaning up the hideout, Celestine is fighting an expert level mage.

"Huff... so you're still alive, Lady Celestine. I used to worship you more than even the True God himself. But once I reached expert level, I got recognized and got promoted."

The expert level mage was indeed a cult member. And that person was a former members of the big boobs faction who worshipped Celestine. And Celestine herself recognize who the mage is.

"Zoe, you're a woman with huge breasts as well. I still wonder why you worshipped me?"

"The bigger the better!"

The expert level mage Celestine faced is a woman named Zoe. Although hers were big, they were not as big as Celestine.

"So, why would you pretend to be dead, and then return and fight me? Have you betrayed the cult?" Zoe asked.

"I have. There's something I want to protect. Being in the cult makes me unable to do that. And now, you're aiming for what I want to protect. No mercy to you." Celestine said calmly.

The angrier she is, the calmer she appears. That's how Celestine is at the moment. Her anger is at its peak.

"Something you want to protect? Don't tell me that it's children? Hah! Once they grown up, you will kill them anyway. Why would you protect something so fragile?"

"The reason doesn't matter. I will kill you right here right now!"

"Try it, you bitch!"

Zoe casted a huge fire toward Celestine. She's an expert level in her fire element, and she's proud of it.

But her mistake is that Celestine is much stronger than in the past. Celestine in the present has learned magic control after joining with Roy.

If she's just an average expert level earth mage like in the past, she will still get hurt despite the defensive magic she has. But this Celestine is different.

Celestine create a barrier with earth magic. Multi-layered. Her speed in casting magic is extraordinary. Even though the fire approached her quickly, the barrier protected her in time. Celestine receives no damage at all.

"Is that all? I guess that's all I can expect from you. Now, it's my turn. Die!"

This magic is something that she learned from Victoria. Along with Angela and Kayla who were earth mages as well.

From the ground, something like a coffin. It's called Iron Maiden. A torture device from Victoria's world, where someone will be trapped inside the coffin with spikes all over inside of the cabinet, and will stab whoever trapped inside.

Zoe never thought that the magic will appear from behind her, and she got trapped inside easily. Her scream echoed inside the Iron Maiden, as she died in extreme pain.

"I'll thank Victoria for this idea." Celestine said.

Just as she was about to return back to the enemy's hideout, Shirley and Lina approached her.

"Is it over?" Celestine asked.

"There's nothing worth-mentioning in the hideout. How about you?" Shirley asked back.

"There you go. I don't know if she has anything with her."

Celestine calmly opened the Iron Maiden, and the girls can see a corpse of the expert level mage unable to leave since her body is stabbed.

"…I guess we're done here. Let's check if she has anything we can give to Roy. Now, we should join the Werewolves and look around to see if there is anything suspicious nearby. The Werewolves were just ordered to kill, and not for looking for clues."

Victoria volunteered to check on Zoe's corpse. The corpse is all red from the spikes of the Iron Maiden, and there's nothing of importance that she carried. So, they left and joined the search with the Werewolves.