Chapter 179.1

179 – The Tenth Stratum – The Realm of Demons and The Awakened Interceptors 12 / Traversing the Garden Part 1

He started to move the moment that there were two blocks remaining before we reached him.

I pointed a finger in the direction we were moving and muttered「Shield.」.

The Black Explorer Foras moved in front of me and readied his shield to protect me.

At almost the same time, Foras’s huge body moved back, accompanied by a high-pitched sound.

It was Aerial’s Wind Blade.

「Well done.」

「Thank you.」

Foras is a Minotaur. However, among a race that, on average, always gets Jobs that specialize in combat or physical training, he is a Black Sorcerer.

Minotaurs are sought after to work as the very personification of violence, which makes Foras inferior to his brethren in that aspect.

He has been fired from several Dungeons and even turned away at the door of many of them, but even then, he never gave up.

He continued to polish his Black Magic by practicing it on himself continuously just as I do.

And also like me, he trains his body in things he has no Aptitude for.

We train together sometimes and he is quick to respond to instructions.

This did not slow our advance. There was only one block left until we reach him.

With hand gestures, I tell Foras to ready his shield and then I gesture with my staff and mutter「Halberd.」.

At the same time as these motions, he jumped backward.

Immediately after, three Wind Blades assaulted each of us.

One was repelled by Foras’s shield, I managed to dodge the other one and it bore into the floor.

「Heave-ho~」

And the last one, the One-Horned Poet crushed it with a swing of her halberd.

A spear that has the function of an ax. A weapon with a sharp point, an ax part, and a sharp spike on the opposite end of the ax part, all incorporated together by a long handle.

It can stab, cut, hook and even bash armored opponents as a blunt weapon.

If someone with combat Aptitudes like her swings it, she has the power to crush even small boulders.

「Ufufu, I heard it go SNAP~」

Her main Job is a Beast Master. In addition to that, she succeeded in employing the plant-type Alraune, who are known to be hard to form a bond with, and she herself possesses an Aptitude for combat.

Furthermore, she can freely take the form of a Human or a Centaur.

She wears a loose cloth around her waist, possibly so that it covers the horse portion whenever she transforms into her Centaur form.

Also, she doesn’t just have the halberd as her weapon. She is also equipped with a sword, whip, and throwing knives.

「Lord Lemegeton, please praise me too~」

「Right, well done.」

「Yay~, I’ll do even better, alright?」

She is a woman with a strange air about her, but she too applied to the tenth stratum with her mettle to defeat Heroes.

In fact, she didn’t bat an eye at the Storm Hero’s attack. She is already prepared.

「Let’s go.」

That attack just now was merely a test.

Not an individual test, rather a test with the intention of seeing how good our cooperation as a group is.

It’s also possible that the Wind Blade was a sort of counter-response to the Black Magic that I cast prior.

A troublesome aspect about Aerial’s Sky Garden is that it affects the invocation of my Black Magic.

If I think about it, it only seems natural.

For example, if I were able to use a Fireball from Fire Elemental Magic, I wouldn’t be able to hit Aerial if I didn’t know the correct route.

Even if I were to properly fire it, it would go through several blocks and end up colliding into a wall or the ceiling.

Black Magic is only able to take effect when the Magical Energy from me hits my opponent.

This is exactly why Resist, where one clads themselves in Magical Energy to repel someone else’s Magical Energy, holds meaning.

With only so few blocks remaining, I can finally cast Black Magic. I was so focused on advancing through the correct route that only now do I have the luxury to do so now that we’re close.

Aerial is cautious of me. He considers me a considerable threat.

If it weren’t for his Sky Garden, his allies on the field would be exposed to all manner of Black Magic at any time.

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The Black Sorcerers on the field don’t just include me, there are a lot including the Monsters from the Elementary Level – Beginner’s Dungeon, and the two from Ellie’s party. It’s not officially known, but Foras is one too.

It would be dangerous to neglect them while in the heat of a fierce battle.

In fact, much like with the Fenix party and the Nicola party, I have a track record of instantly hitting people with Black Magic.

「Now then, Sir Lemegeton.」

However, there is one thing that I find curious.

To solve all of the above, he could have simply flown straight to me.

Of course, I wouldn’t go down so easily, but pretty much no one doubts that the Storm Hero will win.

So then why?

I’m sure that the answer is simple.

As the leader of this Raid Battle, he chose the safer route.

「Yeah.」

Temporarily, he chased me down while reliving his younger days, but once his allies caught up with him, he had to be aware of everyone as a whole once again.

I’m not sure whether that change is beneficial or detrimental for me.

We finally set foot on that block.

Aerial stands before me.

「I am impressed. You are the first person to ever conquer the Sky Garden in such a fashion.」

「Is that so? How many Monsters have defeated you like so?」

「Ahaha, I lost quite a lot back in the day. If I were to limit it to the past twenty years though, zero.」

That time with my master was the first official loss of Aerial’s career.

From there, he would go on to challenge the Demon King Castle countless times, where a life or death struggle with the Monsters, who have experienced countless battles under my master, would unfold.

With their Clears ending in failure many times, the young Aerial party only reached the seventh stratum.

That’s the record of how far mankind’s strongest could reach.

That record was never broken until later when the Fenix party reached the tenth stratum.

Ever since the Aerial party heard that the Demon King of that time had disappeared, he didn’t challenge the Demon King Castle ever again.

That is…until now, in this Raid Battle.

「Well then, we shall put an end to that twenty-year streak.」

「There have been many who have said that very line. But so far, not one of them has been able to actually do it. I wonder if you’ll be different.」

「We shall know soon enough.」

「I’m looking forward to it.」

First off, let’s talk about our advantages.

The Magical Energy organ has its limits. Like how you cannot continue sprinting for eternity. While running, your speed will drop, and eventually, your stamina will run dry.

The Holy Sword is a weapon that houses the Spirit’s divine protection. Its durability and sharpness are incomparable to normal weapons. The lack of which is a huge plus for us.

Even doing that alone is constantly consuming Magical Energy.

The Magical Energy required to Resist us is more than the average. In the end, he doesn’t have a lot of Magical Energy that he can spare for the battle with us.

He has to put his all into maintaining the Garden, Resisting Black Magic, and fighting.

These are our disadvantages.

We are facing the world’s 1st-ranked Hero.

No matter how many strategies or plans I pile on him, he could blow us all away in one.

That’s how overwhelming being 1st rank is.

The attack and defense battle took roughly ten seconds.

In fact, it probably only lasted that long.

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So this is what my senses, which were stretched to extreme concentration, could capture.

Aerial moved. No sooner than that, Amduscias’s halberd was broken in two, and her torso was pierced by his right arm. No. His hand didn’t even touch her, yet there was a wound… He’s extending a blade of wind from his arm!

Amduscias immediately dropped her halberd and grabbed the enemy’s arm with her right hand, and she changed into her Centaur form while swinging a sword in her left hand.

「Mm.」

When he thought he stabbed her chest in her Human form, she changed to a Centaur. What happens with this change is that she becomes much taller than her Human form. Aerial, who was grabbed by the arm, is naturally lifted off the floor. Foras and I let loose our Black Magic with all our might to aid her.