CH 41

Chapter 41 - The Ritual of Destruction

“Randy ……? Y-You’re lying …… Hey, Souya-san …… tell me that it’s a lie.

In response to Rebecca’s question, Souya shook his head in silence. When Rebecca saw this, she stood stunned and cowered for a while, but then she fell to her knees helplessly. 

As Mia watched, her fingers trembled in shock as she held the lantern and it slipped from her hand.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ……”

Rebecca’s moaning voice echoed through the chapel. Mia was praying with tears in her eyes, not caring about the broken lantern.

The worst possible ending that could have been predicted. It’s not that I hadn’t thought of this possibility. However, the cruelty of the contents of the observed box made Souya feel his heart grow heavy.

However, now was not the time to be sentimental. Souya corrected the position of his glasses with his thumb, and without saying a word, he decided to examine the five bodies other than Randy.

The next thing he noticed was the shaved-headed monk Bud, whom he had seen at the adventurer’s guild in Ilstadt. Like Randy, he had a ceremonial dagger, Kris Knife, propped up at his throat. Unlike Randy, this one’s body was severely damaged. I wondered if he had been carefully carved because he was a heretic.

“Randy……Bud…… Damn it!”

Thomas’ face contorted with anger and regret at the loss of his comrades, he clenched his teeth, gripped his longbow tightly and shouted.

“…… Hey, aren’t these the three villagers who were kidnapped?”

It’s Merylou’s voice. As she said, the three young men lying on the ground were all dressed in similarly simple clothes. All of them had the same ceremonial dagger, a Kris Knife, at their throats and were dead.

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“A Kris Knife, huh. It seems that the Dark Priest was performing some sort of ritual here …… though.”

(Randy-kun, Bud-kun, three villagers ………… of the six bodies, who’s the other one ……?)

Souya turned his attention to the body of the man in black at the far end of the ceremonial formation stretching in six directions. Unlike the others, he was lying face down, and Souya approached him carefully to make sure he was unresponsive before performing the autopsy. 

The only thing different from the other bodies was the dagger in his hand. In other words, the black suit had thrust the Kris Knife down his throat with his own hand.

And then there is the necklace around his neck, where he committed suicide. It is the Evil Symbol of the God of Destruction, Ragnus.

“…… Don’t tell me …… Is this the Dark Priest of the God of Destruction Ragnus?”

(–He killed himself and offered himself as a sacrifice? Is that even possible …… No.)

If you are a follower of the God of Destruction Ragnus, you are no exception to the destruction. But if that’s the case, what’s the price of sacrificing yourself–?

Souya sensed a presence and looked back. And he cursed the carelessness of his decision.

—A sound pierced his ears.

Rebecca was cowering from the loss of Randy, and Mia was behind her, accompanying her. The Rock Golem B that was escorting them was grabbed by a huge arm and slammed into the ground.

What Souya saw was a four-armed giant with silvery-white skin and hollow eyes.

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The Silver Demon, the white and silver demon general.

After the thirteen demon kings known as the Gold Demon, the Silver Demon is the second most powerful demon in the world. The high-level demons were generally known by the name “colored” among the people.

The Silver Demon that crushed the Rock Golem B with a single blow seemed to have set his sights on the two nearby him, Mia and Rebecca. On the other hand, the Rock Golem A, who had been switched to the interception order, responded, but when its stone body was lifted with four arms, it was casually struck against the wall and stopped.

“Rebecca! Mia! Run!”

Thomas shouted as he saw the Silver Demon that had crushed the two rock golems in an instant, and held up his longbow, but it was too late. Mia could not react at all, and Rebecca was in no condition to move properly.

At that time, Souya and Merylou had already completed the chanting of magic and spirit art, which they used as trump cards.

“–Project in my eyes, and all things to my hands. [Material Transfer Aport].”

“–Spirit of the wind that blows in all directions. Reveal your for in the name of Merylou! [Wind Spirit Summoning – Summon Sylph!”

(T/N: Changed the chanting of the Merylou’s chanting a bit.)

One of Souya’s secret technique, the Material Transfer Aport, was activated, and Mia and Rebecca were transferred away from the claws of the Silver Demon.

And then, Merylou summoned the wind spirit Sylph with a time delay and immediately gave the order.

“Wind Spirit Sylph, catch them with the wind!”

Due to the material transfer Aport, the spatially transferred Mia and Rebecca, and the already dead hero Randy, slowly landed on the ground under the control of the Wind Spirit Sylph.

“–Beings that crawl from another world. [Poisonous Bugs Summoning – Summon Insect]”

The Silver Demon that struck down the claw attack, immediately switched to dark arts, completed the chant, and summoned a gate that gushes poisonous bugs from another world. A swarm of poisonous bugs rushed towards Souya and the five others from the gate. 

“Wind Spirit Sylph! Stop the poisonous bugs!”

Leaving the vanguard to the wind spirit Sylph, Souya and the other five fell back. But it is not a passage, and there is a wall looming behind them. The wind spirit Sylph was slicing through the swarm of poisonous bugs with her wind blade, somehow keeping the poison away from them. 

“–Wawa, Souya, a request for a SIlver-class adventurer is really no joke.”

“Merylou-kun. I apologize.”

“Hey, hey, seriously, don’t apologize …… It’s scary when Souya is being weak …… We’ll just have to take down that silver bastard and deal with the gate while the wind spirit sylphs hold out.”

Thomas and Merylou shot at the Silver Demon with their bows and arrows, but every arrow they fired was caught and snapped by the four arms of the Silver Demon.

“Damn it, I can’t hit him at all!”

Thomas showed his frustration. Merylou looked like she has also given in. After receiving all the arrows, the silver demon general began to chant a new spell. 

“–Oh demon snake, pursue your target and devour him to death. [Tracking Magic Bullet – Homing Missile]”

(This guy, he can also use magic including dark arts–)

Souya’s expression became less relaxed, his eyes widened, and he began to chant a little later. The magic of the Silver Demon was completed first, and the snake-like magic bullets dispersed among Souya and the others, and came flying.

When Merylou noticed the inevitable magic bullets, she put on an expression who’s prepared to die and took a defensive posture to withstand the impact. Although Rebecca they been given counter-magic protection, they could die with a single blow if they had been hit by the magic of the Silver Demon. 

“–Oh, demon snake, pursue your target and devour him to death. [Tracking Magic Bullet – Homing Missile]”

Souya completed the five tracking magic bullet Homing Missiles with the high-speed chanting Fast Cast, and with a slight delay, hit the five shots with the flying magic bullets.

The sound of explosions was caused by offsetting each other. But one of the shots wasn’t stopped completely, and Souya took the fragments of the magic bullet that came flying head on.

“Guh ……”

Souya’s body flew away and he was slammed into the wall. If it weren’t for Rebecca’s counter magic, he might have been seriously injured.

“Souya-san! –Earth Mother Goddess Mikaela, grant your people the miracle of healing. [Cure Wounds]!”

Mia, who was ready to use her sacred art, immediately healed Souya’s injuries with her sacred art.

“Thanks for the help, Mia-kun. However …… I didn’t think it would be this hard. It’s tough.”

Souya expressed his gratitude to Mia, but was unusually weak. Souya realized that even though the strength of the Silver Demon varies considerably depending on the individual, they have drawn a troublesome individual among them.

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The Double Speller was a rarity in his own right, and the fact that he could use the dark arts and magic at a high level was proof of its ability.

“–Fluttering beings from another world. [Small Demon Summoning – Summon Imp]”

After the poisonous bugs, the small demon Imp came flying out of the new gate created by the Silver Demon one after another.

“Damn it …… Is it no good!”

“Hey Thomas, don’t be weak, shoot arrows until you die!”

Thomas, who had been so stout in the face of Randy’s and Bud’s deaths, was now upset and whimpering, and Merylou, while giving him a scolding, changed the target of her arrows to a little demon Imp that she could hit. The Wind Spirit Sylph is also desperately responding to the approaching little demon Imp and poisonous insects with the wind blade while receiving the recovery of Mia’s sacred art, but it may only be a matter of time before the Wind Spirit Sylph returns.

Rebecca, in a daze, clung to Randy’s body that Souya had transferred and cried.

(–Why did I send Randy-kun, who is now dead to us. It may be a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the Material Transfer Aport is extremely draining. It’s also a bad move. It’s not like me.)

Souya asks himself a question. But when he saw Rebecca crying as she clung to Randy, he decided that the decision was probably a necessary one.

In the distance, the Silver Demon showed its fangs and smiled wickedly. I’m sure he’s planning to crush us with the poisonous bugs and little demon imp that are slowly pouring out of the gate.

–Souya made up his mind.　

“At this rate, we’re going to be wiped out. I’ll do it.”

Souya held the saber in his right hand and the Magician’s staff in his left hand.

“You can’t do that, Souya-san! You’ll get killed!”

“Thomas, trust Souya …… If it’s him…”

While Thomas tried to stop him, Merylou looked at Souya as if she was praying for him.

“What, It’s not the first time I’ve hunted a Silver Demon. However, I have no experience in fighting it one-on-one before, so I would appreciate it if you did not expect too much.”

Thomas looked stunned at Souya’s words.

“Souya-san …… Who the hell are you ……”

“What, I’m just an uncle with a blank-class certificate. I’ll give it my best now. I want to be popular with the young people, after all.”

Souya smiled fearlessly in this critical situation.