Chapter 139 139 – Inside the Hole

Vilja knelt near the hole that started to emit white smoke. The limping Yua joined in to watch the devil struggle to climb the fifteen-foot-deep hole.

“You must be exhausted, Vilja. From making this hole with earth magic to making that holy energy attack. That must be really draining you.” The kunoichi commented with a smile, looking at Vilja’s pale face.

Mona was already in her normal state and was lying at the feet of the kunoichi. Kaine, who was next to her, tried to wake the female dog, but to no avail.

“Yeah, my mana is really drained. I need a lot of time to recover. No healer can restore me instantly.” The wizard also wore a smile. “But it’s really worth it. No one was seriously injured to the point of life-threatening like the previous missions.”

Elise and the two Elf men came to the hole again with big jars. Henrik and Elise poured all kinds of sacred objects, from jewelry to books, from their respective jars. Meanwhile, Marko poured holy clear water, making the devil scream even louder.

“Feel this!!!” Marko slammed the jar against the hole’s edge, making it shatter and fall to the devil, who was still struggling. That thing also has a sacred attribute.

Elise looked at her hands, which were a little smoky again. The jar she brought did not have any sacred attributes, but the items in it had touched that part of her body. It seems that her body is very susceptible to everything holy. She was already wearing gloves, and it still had an effect on her.

“Looks like this will still take a long time.” Henrik scratched his head. “I’ll prepare lunch.”

“Hey, come here, you bastards!!!” Jar’anig, the devil, shouted again..

***

The party had just finished enjoying their stew with dried meat when the devil’s screams finally died. The smoke from the hole had also thinned out. Marko is tasked with descending using a rope to check on the devil’s condition.

“I am one of the best warriors of darkness…. I was able to defeat the Cerberus, the guard of the underground…. And I am now defeated by a cheap trick like this….” Jar’anig sounded like he was crying. “Damn it…”

“So, which one do you choose?” Marko asked when he reached the bottom of the hole.

“What do you mean?” Vilja responds. She couldn’t see the hole clearly because the smoke at the bottom of the hole was still thick.

“Don’t take this head of mine!” The devil shouted again, but his voice was out of whack. “I’d rather die than be taken by you!”

“Well, you can take anything, but don’t take the head,” Vilja responds. “It still has consciousness. Under the right circumstances, he can build his body again.”

Yua chuckled. “So, he’s using a reverse psychological technique?”

“Psy what?” Vilja frowned. “I don’t understand the meaning of your words, Yua.”

“Fuck you all!!!” The devil cursed in frustration. “I will come to you and torture you one by one until you beg to die!”

Henrik sneered at the hole. “Wow, I was looking forward to the time I was punished by a head.”

“Ah, I found something good.” Marko grabbed a black bangle with carvings of moving snakes.

“Ah, maybe you can take some of the bones to make weapons,” Yua added according to her master’s suggestion. “We will fight the opposite of this, after all.”

“What a brilliant idea.” Vilja nodded in agreement.

After Marko took those items, Henrik pulled the rope. “But we still have to wait for this devil to completely disappear, even though I already want to go to town.” The archer then glanced at the sword on Elise’s back. “Well, this will be over much quicker, and I won’t have to use up my fortune if she just gives us her sword of darkness.”

“Henrik.” Vilja protested. “We can’t just ask for other people’s things. And they are also the ones who provide brilliant ideas for our mission.”

The archer flashed a smile at Elise, but it seemed too much. “I apologize. I’m overreacting.”

“No problem,” Elise answered in her usual stiff tone.

***

“A brave warrior runs alone.”

“Behind him, his comrades have fallen.”

“He lunged at thousands of enemies.”

“All of which look like grim reapers in his eyes.”

“However, he didn’t slow down his run.”

“Why would he do such a thing?”

A male bard performed the war song using a musical instrument similar to Kimi’s. Inside the restaurant, Vilja and Marko glared at the giant chunks of meat.

“Y-you’re saying your fortune is running out, Henrik?” Vilja looks nervous.

“This is a celebration for us. This is perhaps our most successful mission. There was someone injured, but not too badly.” Henrik raised a clay glass filled with wine. “But, after this, I became poor….”

The archer stopped talking when he saw that his two friends weren’t listening anymore and were eating like crazy. Henrik shook his head with a faint smile, taking his share.

“Aren’t you hungry, Yua?” Marko asked with puffy cheeks from the food.

So far, Yua hasn’t touched her food. “Looks like the effects of the bites are still there, Marko. I had no appetite.”

“Then you’ll ask Henrik for a treat when you’re fully healed.”

Henrik leaned forward. “I totally agree. When are we going to do it?”

Yua chuckled and picked up her wine glass. When she was about to drink, she saw Kimi standing in the restaurant’s corner. The woman in the dark purple robe signaled and moved towards a passage.

“Oh, excuse me.” Yua got up from her seat and headed for the hallway to the toilet cubicles.

“What’s wrong, Kimi?” The kunoichi asked.

Kimi turned her back on Yua, not lowering her hood at all. “Thank you for everything you two do. You have taken good care of my friends.”

Hearing Kimi’s voice was a little hoarse, Yua guessed that the woman had just cried. However, the kunoichi decided not to bring it up. “You’re welcome.”

“The next mission is to fight the sacred beings.” Kimi sighed. “Perhaps it will be the toughest since we will be fighting a non-evil entity, which might be close to a god.”

A faint smile formed on the kunoichi’s lips. “Well, I’ve had many dealings with the god himself.”

“That God of hope, huh?” Kimi looked up. “I also wanted to meet him to express my gratitude. He was the one who sent the two of you to me.”