Chapter 174

174 – The Tenth Stratum – The Realm of Demons and The Awakened Interceptors 7 / Events 1

I got this information from the video after the fight.

This is a record of the fights other than the one in the final area of the tenth stratum.

First off, about the realm of watchdogs and necromancers.

The Zombies controlled by the Spirit Commanding General Kimaris, along with the Hellhounds and Skeleton Warriors, were made invisible by the Invisible Slaughterer Glasya-Labolas.

In addition to that, the Black Wound Hunter Leraje and the Archer of the Deep Woods Stolas both fired their arrows.

The Watchdog of Hell Naberius was defeated when the Storm Hero Aerial bulldozed his way through.

There are three Adventurers who stayed back in this place.

Two from the 5th ranked Scathach party.

The Faceless Archer Suuri, who is from the same village as Lily, Stolas at the time.

The Far-Reaching Swordsman Hamill, who chose to stay behind to accompany him.

The other is from the 1st ranked Aerial party.

The Gale Hero Ewan stayed behind in order to destroy not only his own Zombie but also that of the Frost Hero Bella.

The match itself between the Hunters did not take too long.

「…」

「…」

However, it is not hard to imagine that a great deal of thought went into both sides, including the moment when they drew their bows.

Both sides have Godspeed. An Archery Technique that is unnoticeable to the naked eye.

On Stolas’s side, she has a Monster ally. On Suuri’s side, he has a weapon that can change the trajectory of his arrows via Wind Magic.

Lily’s skill with the bow is without a doubt superior, but she doesn’t have the Aptitude for Wind Magic, which is something that an Elf is commonly known to be good at.

As an Elf Archer, Suuri is probably better.

A good Archer plans to hit his mark with only his own arrows after reading the enemy’s movements while facing his opponent.

They wait for the right moment to pierce their target, as the battle situation changes from moment to moment.

In that time, there was a conversation.

A conversation that Suuri would most likely ask to be cut out of the video in the near future.

「…Assuming if…」

「…」

It is rare for Suuri to ever respond to the enemy’s conversation.

Just as how he didn’t give her an answer when being interrogated by Lily after they met again.

That’s why she decided to stand before him in this way.

Even if he avoids conversing personally with someone from the same village, she will impede him from Clearing the Dungeon as a Monster so long as he doesn’t defeat her as an Adventurer.

「Assuming if, as you said, there was an Adventurer who used a bow Technique of Elf origin. Also assuming that that person is hiding their true identity by claiming to be a Normal. What is wrong with that?」

「If there was nothing wrong with it, why hide it then?」

「Perhaps to avoid causing problems in the first place?」

Lily finds this unforgivable, but I can understand Suuri’s decision.

Elves are a race that refused to take part in the war-like times before Dungeon Clearing became a form of entertainment.

A race that chose to side with neither Humans nor Monsters, choosing instead to reside in the forests.

This is why there are many fans who express their disapproval at the descendants of those Elves taking part in Dungeon Clearing.

Standing in the face of all that hate is a woman named Lily.

Her efforts and achievements are now widely accepted, and the number of Elf Adventurers has increased recently.

However, times were different when Suuri became an Adventurer.

It became a topic of discussion in our party as well, about choosing to hide the fact that the person is an Elf while Adventuring in order to avoid unnecessary criticism.

「If there are people who view that person’s race as a problem, then they are the ones who are in the wrong.」

「…If a certain someone was not happy with that person’s choice, that someone would find contentment in their own way. But what of their allies?」

That person is referring to Suuri, while the certain someone refers to Lily.

「…」

Stolas stopped talking.

「People acknowledge people’s battles, efforts, and victories. Demi-Humans mixing in is not a sin, but it merely creates noise.」

Even now, there are viewers who are not comfortable with Elf or Demi-Human Adventurers.

Even if they are no longer the majority, they are still a loud minority.

「…」

「Boring entertainment does not function as entertainment. Let’s say that someone thinks about aiming for the top with Clears that ask the viewers to accept diversity. Who has the right to criticize that?」

「…Are you saying that that person chose a life of hiding his identity in order to not cause any trouble for his allies?」

「Foolish, I suppose, to the eyes of someone who doesn’t know what should take precedence over pride.」

The Scathach party are a friendly bunch.

It is unthinkable that they would force Suuri to hide his identity against his will.

This is why I understood that if there was any reason for him to hide it, it was Suuri’s own decision to do so.

Suuri did not abandon his pride as an Elf, nor was he ashamed of it.

He saw the reality and made a strategic decision.

To not expose the party to criticism simply by joining them as an Elf.

Lily chose to oppose the irrational hatred.

Suuri adapted to reality.

Finding out the true intentions of her senior after many years, Stolas’s hands…shook.

Suuri is aware of Stolas’s true identity. He knows that she is Lily. And of her prowess.

If this stalemate goes on any longer, he won’t be able to rejoin his allies. That being said, it is not so easy to cause Stolas to create an opening.

This is why, just this once, he personally touched on a topic that he decided he would not speak of and cause Lily’s excellent archery skills to crumble.

Disturbing the concentration of Godspeed, which requires the utmost concentration, to render it unusable.

The match reached its conclusion in an instant.

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「…」

It is a victory for Stolas’s side.

Suuri’s Godspeed was superb.

In addition to the three arrows that were headed straight for Stolas’s head, heart, and Magical Energy organ, there were two more high-angle shots that covered the left and right of her in case she tried to dodge the aforementioned three, which makes up a total of five arrows that were fired with Godspeed.

「…」

The Faceless Archer was not off the mark.

However, he misinterpreted her.

He thought that his little junior’s heart was faltering after hearing of his true intentions.

「Was he…was that man right?」

Stolas muttered quietly.

An arrow stuck out of Suuri’s chest.

Three of his arrows pierced the Elf, and the other two were shot down.

But the Elf that was damaged was not Stolas.

「Tsk…Even though this is for the sake of victory, to think I’d become your shield…」

It was the Black Wound Hunter Leraje. The Dark Elf Hunter.

She is tall. Due to the height difference with Stolas, the vital spots that Suuri aimed for were off when they struck Leraje. Even so, the second arrow penetrated her abdomen.

She wasn’t just made invisible, she also used Elf Wind Magic to approach while evading detection.

Even then, if he sensed her, he wouldn’t allow her to get to point-blank range.

Which is why she settled for this method.

Combined with the fact that she’s invisible, she would become Stolas’s shield.

Standing in the way of the arrow’s trajectory, she receives the arrows in her stead.

At the same time, the high-angle shots that were aimed at Stolas were shot down by Leraje’s own Godspeed-like shots taught to her by Lily, it isn’t easy to perfectly learn the real thing.

Stolas’s wavering was all an act. Although, that one moment where her hands shook was real.

She wouldn’t be able to use Godspeed in time.

This is exactly why she planned to shoot an arrow normally when she predicted Suuri’s aim.

She never intended to bring Godspeed into this match in the first place.

「…You have my thanks, Leraje.」

「Hmph… I merely carried out Lord Lemegeton’s orders.」

Leraje’s Avatar sustained fatal damage and crumbled into Magical Energy particles and scattered.

Suuri’s reading of her was not off the mark. If Lily had remained stubborn in her denial of his methods, she would have been shaken by his true intentions.

The three of us, Fenix, Lily, and I, met face-to-face countless times.

In those times, we got through to her.

Even though it was a guess at the time, we told her the reason why Suuri would hide his face and become an Adventurer.

It was certainly a shock to her at first.

And then she was troubled by it.

From the beginning, Lily never intended to hide her ears.

And thought that Suuri was simply choosing to run away from the problem. She assumed that he thought being an Elf to be an inconvenience on their climb to the top.

But even if it’s not wrong, it’s only one side of the story. What if there was an underlying thought of not wanting to cause problems for his allies?

She worried about whether or not she had made the right choice.

Downplaying the problems that she more or less caused for her allies due to her actions in order to keep her pride.

However, she was thinking too much.

「I cannot deny that person’s thoughts. But this is what I think now. It is because they are that person’s allies, all the more reason that that person should tell them what that person thinks is important.」

「…」

This discussion was already had when she joined the party. We all agreed that she would be an Adventurer with us without her having to hide her ears.

And so after that, any opinions from the audience will be accepted by the party. This was never the responsibility of one person.

Her ability in Dungeons was never in question, so there was never talk of kicking her out because of that.

After the battle with Fenix, when I met her again, she was displeased with the fact that I hid my abilities while using my Black Magic to ensure everyone attains victory.

Of course, she was tough on herself, so she was ashamed that she didn’t notice my abilities sooner at first.

She never pretended to be something she wasn’t, so I guess she didn’t like that I pretended to be something I wasn’t.

「That person’s allies respect that person’s will, right? However, I do not know if that person is satisfied with the status quo.」

Even though Elves are being acknowledged recently, Suuri revealing his race will cause another problem to arise.

It’s possible that viewers will think of him hiding his true identity up till now as lying to them.

To some extent, there will be fans who take it that way. It wouldn’t be odd for there to be people who think that he tricked them into believing that he was a Normal who hid his face.

On the other hand, if Suuri were to discuss with his allies, everyone in the Scathach party would gladly agree to him revealing his race.

That way, they can accept any criticism from anyone together as allies.

Lily or Suuri, I don’t know which method was the right one.

However, hiding oneself for the sake of one’s allies is not always a pleasure for them.

Suuri did not reply to Stolas’s words.

Instead, he said this.

「It would appear that you are a better Archer than I expected.」

The reason he didn’t fire an arrow even until he was defeated is that Stolas was still vigilantly holding her bow at the ready.

Or it’s possible that he is admitting that he lost the match.

Either way, the Faceless Archer left behind some uncharacteristically encouraging words…then he was defeated.

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Lily’s voice wasn’t able to reach Suuri as someone from the same race imposing what she believes is right.

This time, they were able to confirm each other’s thoughts in the end by confronting each other as enemies.

Lily achieved her goal.

Also, with the help of Leraje, she managed to perform her role as the Monster Stolas.

The number of Adventurers left in the tenth stratum at that point in time…was seven.