CH 109

Nido Tensei Chapter 109

Episode 109: Despair of the Shadows

After injecting a marker into the escaped demon, I escaped from the subspace and returned to the original world. The time that passed in subspace seemed to be very short, and the surroundings were filled with the demons I had just defeated.

The demons that were behind seemed to have avoided the direct hit of the previous attack because they were far away. Although there was some damage, I still seemed to be able to fight.

“Alright!”

With my legs strengthened by body enhancement magic, I jumped and surveyed the battlefield from above. It seemed that the adventurers had driven away the demons near the gate, as there were no signs of demons. They were now advancing by pursuing the demons that were coming towards us.

“Hm? What’s that? The demons over there are moving strangely.”

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the group of demons outside the protective wall of the town, right around the opposite side of the gate, were moving back and forth, occasionally moving suddenly in the wrong direction.

“What on earth is that… Ah!”

I tilted my head at their strange movements, but I noticed that there was something white and round moving around in front of the group of demons.

“Is that Mofumofu’s doing?”

Yes, Mofumofu was there where the demons had stopped. Mofumofu attacked the demons, and the demons panicked and tried to get away from Mofumofu, but Mofumofu quickly circled around to the opposite side and stopped their movements. It seemed that the demons were trying to escape from Mofumofu by going here and there. And one by one, the demons that couldn’t escape became prey for Mofumofu.

“Well, it seems like we can leave those demons to Mofumofu. It’ll be good exercise too.”

But let’s have a smaller dinner tonight. It would be troublesome if I got fat from eating too much.

“But all the other demons are coming towards us. It seems that the demon we defeated earlier ordered the demons to gather here.”

Right after the battle began, I created several walls around the town to divide the encirclement of the demons. The demons that were hindered by the walls were bypassing them and heading towards us.

“But why did they break the encirclement?”

Hmm, maybe they realized that the defensive walls were reinforced with magic? I didn’t have enough time to put a strong defensive magic on them, but the demons that were gathered this time were just weaklings and not that strong.

So they probably thought it would be better to concentrate their forces and break through a single point rather than trying to break a thick solid wall. It’s easier to destroy the gate, which is structurally easier to break open, than to break a solid wall.

And even if the demons weren’t that strong, if they rushed in without considering the casualties and managed to break through the gate, they might invade the town. That wouldn’t be good.

“But then why didn’t the demon come out directly?”

If it were me, I would have used the demons as decoys and made sure to break the gate or walls ourselves.

“Hmm, I wonder if that’s part of some plan?”

Well, I’ll find out later when I catch the escaped demon.

“For now, let’s do what we can do! High Area Marsh Bind!”

I cast a wide-range restraining magic towards the second wave of demons that were getting closer. Suddenly, the ground under the demons turned into a bottomless swamp and dragged them in.

High Area Marsh Bind, this is a magic that creates a wide-range bottomless swamp to immobilize the target. The demons couldn’t walk properly as their feet were stuck in the deep mud, and when more than half of their bodies sank, the mud lost its water content and returned to the ground.

“The demons over there too…!”

And when I restrained the remaining group of demons coming from a different direction, the adventurers who were heading towards us arrived.

“W-What the heck?! The group of demons is buried in the ground!”

The adventurers who came to fight the demons were surprised when they saw the restrained demons.

“Hey, baldy, did you do this with magic?”

Well, wide-range restraining magic is a minor magic that not many people use, so most of my acquaintances were people who would rather wipe out all the demons in an instant than restrain them.

But now I’m not a hero, but an adventurer. So I have to be careful not to decrease the value of the demon’s materials, so I can’t just use area attack magic like before. I’ve realized that the demons we’ve encountered so far aren’t that strong.

“Yes, there were so many of them, so I restrained them with magic. I still have things to do, so would you mind finishing them off?”

“W-Well, that’s fine… but is it okay? You’ll be taking all the credit!”

The adventurers were excited when they were told they could defeat the restrained demons. Well, from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know anything, it would seem like the demons were being tied up and handed over to them.

“Yes, as you can see, there are a lot of them. It would take forever if I were to finish off all the demons by myself and even skin them for their materials.”

Besides, there’s still the demon to deal with. We should leave the work that can be done by others to them.

“W-Well, I guess that makes sense. If we were to individually kill all these demons, it would be dark before we’re done.”

“U-Understood. We’ll take care of these demons. You go and do what you need to do.”

It’s great how quickly these adventurers make decisions! If this were the knight order from my previous life, we would have wasted time fighting over credit.

“Don’t worry, we’ll report to the guild about what you did, and we’ll make sure you get your share!”

“Huh? Well, it’s not necessary to go that far… Wait, you guys…”

I remembered when I looked at the faces of those adventurers. They were the adventurers who participated in my disassembly workshop.

“Thanks to you, we learned how to disassemble dragons and even received sharp weapons. We owe you for that!”

“That’s right. We disassemblers will help too. After all, disassembling demons is our specialty!”

“That’s right!”

Not only the adventurers, but also the disassemblers who participated in the defense of the town were there.

“Everyone…”

“Alright! Then I’ll deliver the finishing blow to that demon!”

“Hey, wait! Isn’t that an A-rank demon?”

“Hehe, the opponent can’t move properly, so the one who strikes first… guah!”

Ah, one of the adventurers who went towards the demon was blown away by its tail.

“That’s because you got greedy. Many demons can still attack even when their legs are sealed! Be careful and fight!”

“Got it!”

The adventurers who had decided what to do moved quickly. They all rushed towards the demons that they could easily defeat, the ones that would counterattack, and the dangerous ones even with their legs restrained. Some were even attacking demons that were higher rank than themselves and getting blown away like that person earlier.

“Be careful of the tail counterattack!”

“Got it! But it’s much easier than fighting normally!”

“That’s right, and we have this dragon armor and spear!”

“We can’t fight without these anymore!”

“We’ll hunt demons and definitely buy this equipment!”

The adventurers went towards the demons that suited them, whether they were easy to defeat, counterattacking, or dangerous even with their legs restrained. Some were attacking demons that were higher rank than themselves and getting blown away like that person earlier.

Or rather, if they’re going to buy dragon equipment, they should buy something better than this makeshift one.

“It feels like a festival, even though we were fighting for our lives just a moment ago.”

As I was thinking about that, Liliera and the others arrived.

“Good job. Is the gate okay?”

“Yes, the demons stopped attacking halfway and started heading towards us, so we attacked their backs as they fled. It was much easier.”

I see, Liliera and the others’ battle became easier due to the change in the demon’s strategy.

“But it’s a waste, isn’t it? Isn’t that your magic? Why did you hand over the credit to others?”

Gyro seemed dissatisfied that I entrusted the demon extermination to other adventurers. Although they said they would prepare a share for me.

“There were so many of them. I thought it would be better to leave it to them and prioritize chasing the demon.”

“Ah, well, if it’s the demon, then it can’t be helped… right?”

“Wha- Demon!?”

Liliera and the others looked at me with shocked faces.

“What!? Another demon appeared?”

Yes, it appeared again.

“I thought it was strange for the town to be suddenly attacked by such a large group of demons. I suspected that a demon was involved.”

Everyone showed understanding when they heard that. They have become more accustomed to it compared to before.

“So, what are we going to do now?”

Liliera asked me about our future plans.

“I successfully attached a tracking marker to the demon’s body, so I plan to disappear and chase after it. Once we regroup with the others, we’ll crush it all at once.”

“To gather and crush the demons… I see.”

“If you think about it normally, it sounds absurd… but when Rex says it, it sounds like something that can be done, so we have to be careful.”

“Understood.”,Huh! I think defeating the demons is something that can be done normally, right!?

“But if that’s the case, it’s better for us not to go along. Disappearing means using that thing, right? We have to hold hands. It’s fine if we use it outside like before, but if the hiding place of the escaped demon is small, we’ll just get in the way if we follow. If someone accidentally bumps into a demon, it’s over.”

Indeed, I designed my magic so that my comrades can also disappear and we can see each other. So if we make contact, it will involve people who are not our comrades. Liliera-san’s opinion that it would be a big problem if it was discovered that we followed before confirming the total number of demons is certainly correct.

“Yes, I should first go and scout the place where the demon escaped to.”

“If it’s Rex-san, scouting might just solve the whole case.”

“We think so too.”

Why is everyone harmonizing like this?

“Well then, I’ll go for a bit.”

“Yes, while Rex-san is gone, we’ll help take care of the remaining monsters.”

“Thank you!”

Alright, then let’s go after the escaped demon again!

“It… disappeared… n-no, is it… teleportation magic!?”

I witnessed that scene. The human, no, the Dragon Emperor suddenly disappeared.

That was undoubtedly teleportation magic. But it’s unbelievable. The humans of today should have lost most of their technology in the past war. Even we demons, it was the wise clan that recently revived this technology.

“This is… a serious situation.”

If humans can use teleportation magic, we will have to drastically reconsider our strategy. Our plan for the re-invasion as demons may require significant modifications.

“Perhaps it was actually a good thing that the assassination of the Dragon Emperor failed.”

That’s right, although we failed to assassinate the Dragon Emperor, there is still a chance to do so. More importantly, we have learned that humans possess teleportation magic. If we had executed the re-invasion plan without knowing this, we would have suffered a painful counterattack from the humans’ teleportation magic.

“Indeed, pretending to be dead was the right choice.”

That’s right. The position I was assigned for the assassination of the Dragon Emperor earlier happened to be a place with a large number of monsters. I thought it would be annoying if others took credit for the assassination of the Dragon Emperor, but this time it worked in my favor. Thanks to that, I was able to survive the Dragon Emperor’s attack by using the surrounding monsters as shields.

If I bring back this information, I may be able to avoid punishment for mission failure. Furthermore, I may even be entrusted with some kind of strategic command in place of a member of the wise clan, thanks to the achievement of bringing back valuable information.

“Luck is finally on my side.”

The Dragon Emperor is no longer here. Since he said he was chasing after the wise clan, he probably headed towards their hideout. In that case, I should go back to the headquarters.

There, I will report and head to the hideout to defeat the Dragon Emperor. Oh? If that’s the case, the Dragon Emperor not only learned about teleportation magic, but also went to the hideout alone, without any weapons?

“Kukuku, Dragon Emperor. It was unfortunate that you didn’t confirm our deaths.”

I was about to hurry back to the headquarters, but I reconsidered.

“It would be a shame to just go back like this. I should at least have a souvenir.”

That’s right, if I return to the headquarters like this, it would seem like I ran away. That’s not interesting.

Fortunately, the Dragon Emperor is not here now. And there are humans around who are in high spirits.

“Kukuku”

In that case, there is only one thing to do. Even though I’m injured, these humans are no match for me! I will gather the remaining human warriors and offer them as a blood sacrifice!

“Fuh, yes… guah!?”

At that moment, as I tried to stand up with a laugh, a sharp pain ran through my back.

“W-What… did I injure my wings with the previous attack!?”

To confirm the injury, I spread my wings and turned my head back. My wings feel heavy, this might be a serious injury.

“W-What is this…?”

I was shocked by that sight. There, on my back near the base of my wings, a white round furball was stuck. What on earth is this…?

“Kyuu”

At that moment, the white furball moved with a cry.

“It’s a living creature?”

I felt both surprise and anger towards this creature I had never seen before.

“Is this beast trying to devour the proud wings of us mighty demons?”

Consumed by anger, I decided to tear apart this furball in front of the humans.

“You furball! I’ll dye your white body crimson!”

I grabbed the two horns that grew from the furball and tore them apart, spreading them left and right. I thought I tore it apart…

“Wh-What!?”

Unbelievably, the furball’s body didn’t even twitch.

“Damn it!”

I immediately put all my strength into my arms. But even though I was giving it my all, this furball didn’t get torn apart, let alone show any signs of suffering.

“Kyuu~? Kyukyu?”

I don’t understand what it’s saying. But it’s definitely insulting me.

“I-I’ll kill you!”

Unforgivable! How dare this inferior creature mock me, a mighty demon!

“You deserve a thousand deaths!”

I unleashed my full magical power and cast the most powerful magic at the furball in front of me.

“Behold the magic of us demons, far surpassing that of humans! Taste it at close range!”

The magical power transformed into physical force and exploded right in front of me. The foolish furball turned into pitiful ashes.

“Hmph, it wasn’t as satisfying as I thought… naaahhh!?”

I thought for sure I had completely slaughtered it. I was convinced that it didn’t retain any proper form.

And yet!

“Kyuu?” The furball stood there as if nothing had happened.

“Wha… what…”

It’s impossible, that’s impossible! I am a demon! I boast a physical strength greater than humans and possess magic power greater than humans! And yet, it didn’t even get a scratch from my attack!? What on earth is this creature!?

“Kyuuun”

The furball gave a mocking voice. It seemed to be saying, “Is it over already?” as it looked at me.

And then I saw it. The furball opened its mouth wide, as red as blood.

“Gyaaaahhh!”

Ah, I should have just run away without being greedy…