CH 95

After the encounter with the Bronze Demon, nothing special happened, and the city of Lingen was just around the corner. The sun was high in the sky and visibility was good, even though it was still early in the evening.

“…… I don’t see any smoke rising. Besides, it seems to have rained around here, too.”

The trees and flowers along the way were dripping with dew, and the road surface was as muddy as ever. With the heavy rains last night, it was likely that the flames that had burned through the city of Lingen had already been extinguished.

“The fire must be put out. And if the purpose of the Red Horn is to burn down the city, isn’t it possible that they have already left Lingen?”

Souya nodded in agreement with Shamil’s view.

“I heard that the Red Horn were out of sight when the Ilstadt strike force rushed in before. It might be a cautious individual that thoroughly avoids fighting with the strong.”

(The bronze demon in the way might be like a squealer. And by defeating two of them, it might have clearly shown our intention to approach. If that’s the case.)

Souya thought that they would have already noticed that there were adventurers approaching Lingen from Ilstadt. The reason why the Bronze Demon was placed on the mountain road: to blockade the road and to detect the danger if the blockade was breached.

Souya tried to think of two physical and magical means of noticing that the mountain road had been breached.

Physical means. The primitive method of using an imp, a small demon with the ability to fly, as a messenger to report on time. If the reports from the Bronze Demon that had been blocking the area ceased to come in, they would notice that there was something wrong with the mountain path.

Magical means. A method that uses a magic called Material Location, which detects the direction of a pre-designated material. If it was used on the red sword, it would cease to be detected when it disappeared, and they would notice something was wrong.

In addition to these two methods, there must be other ways. It is better to assume that they are already aware of it.

“If the demons have already left the city, it will be easier to rescue the residents.”

It is possible that, as Shamil said, if the individuals are very cautious, they may have withdrawn from the city to avoid the risk.

Souya hoped that was the case. Without a healer, it would be an extremely bad bet to challenge the Silver Demon, Red Horn. On top of that, if the group of bronze demons that Hans had witnessed were with him, he would be completely helpless. Clearly, we don’t have enough strength.

“You’re right. If it’s after the Red Horn has left, we should hurry and look for survivors before the sun goes down. If they are still there, they may be waiting in ambush. We’ll have to keep an eye on them and wait for Ilstadt’s reinforcement.”

“I understand if the bronze demon is all that’s left, I think we’ll be able to get by on our own.”

“If it’s only bronze demons, it’s ideal to lure them out one by one and take them out with two people, like we did before. If they have that red sword, it’ll be troublesome that we’ll have to use up a lot of magic power to destroy it.”

In any case, if you’re going to be facing a “colored” one, it’s not going to be easy. Souya took a deep breath to pull himself together.

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“…… That cedar, huh.”

About a hundred meters off the road, a huge single cedar tree stood tall.

Souya unfolded the simple parchment map Hans had drawn and compared the map with the giant cedar tree. According to the map, the end of the single cedar was a cliff overlooking Lingen.

“I’m sure of it. I’ve been to Lingen a few times, and I’m sure I could see the whole city from there. I will take the form of a cat and go to the cliff. Master should wait by the giant tree. I think it would be best to use visual sharing.”

“Shamil. Please.”

One of the features of the Familiar’s service is telepathic communication and sharing of any of the five senses between the Master and the Familiar.

Because it consumes a very small amount of magic power, it is not advisable to use it all the time, but it is very useful in these situations.

Souya put on his cloak and began to walk through the grass toward the single cedar tree off the road. Shamil followed him. When he reached the single cedar, Shamil changed from his human form to that of a black cat. The tailcoat he wore in his human form sank into the floating dimension box. What a dexterous thing.

Shamil, who had returned to his black cat form, headed for the cliff at the end of the single cedar tree. Souya leaned against the huge cedar tree and switched his vision to Shamil’s, sharing it with him.

“…… This is…”

The reflection was of the city of Lingen, drained of its bright colors and dyed in a dark gray hue.

Trees, grass, flowers, fields, buildings, people, animals, everything had been burned to the ground.

“This is terrible. …… In this state, survivors is…”

I could see a number of what had once been people, lying in the mud, charred.

Shamil’s telepathic voice had a hint of agitation in it.

“…… Shamil. Central Square.”

In response to Souya’s telepathic reply, Shamil looked at the center of the city and was astonished.

“Silver Demon ……! But, what do we do with this …… Master?”

In what had once been the central square. There was a silver monster standing there, about five meters long. It has silvery-white skin, a goat’s head, and jet black horns. It’s not the Red Horn that Souya had assumed would be there.

“…… We’ll keep searching for them. If it detects us, we’ll have to leave.”

Souya has adjusted to Shamil’s vision and has begun to search for the enemy again. The central square where the Silver Demon was located seemed to have some sort of red pattern painted on it, but the mud made it hard to see from here. 

“…… Shamil, the pattern on that square looks like it belongs to Ragnus, the God of Destruction. I’ve seen something like it recently. It looks like it.”

“…… The God of Destruction Ragnus? The demons are absolute monarchs, believing only in the Platinum Lord.”

In the midst of Souya and Shamil’s telepathic conversation, another silver demon suddenly appeared in the central square, alongside the silver demon.

Souya looked through Shamil’s vision at the newly emerged Silver Demon, a silvery-white demon that was over six meters long.

Its upper body was unusually muscular. Four huge wings. Three sinister eyes on its forehead. Silver skin with a yellowish tinge. A gaping mouth and fangs that were hard to describe on an animal. And the flaming crimson horns.

“…… So that’s the Red Horn.”

My naive assumption that they would have already retreated from Lingen was shattered.

The two Silver Demon showed up. Souya began to think about his next move.

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