Chapter 67: Course Change

　We were hunting A-ranked monsters as instructed by the Demon Lord, who had told us it was still too early to engage in battle. This was the fourth area we entered.

“Scan complete. There are four Lich-type monsters. I’m ready anytime. How about you, Mia?”

“Yes! I’m ready too.”

　We distributed the garnet stones infused with skills and stored them in our ‘Storage Bangles.’

The compatibility between the ‘Storage Bangle’ given to us by the Demon Lord and the garnet stones was excellent. From their appearance, you couldn’t tell what skills were infused in the garnet stones, but once they were stored in the ‘Storage Bangle,’ the details of the skills became apparent.

　When taking them out from the ‘Storage Bangle,’ the set of the garnet stone and its skill would appear in our minds, allowing us to choose and wield them by just swinging our arms.

“It seems we’re ready. As before, I won’t share information about the monsters. Assess them while fighting. After all, battles against humans always turn out that way.”

We nodded and quietly entered the area.

　There was an undead monster wearing something like a robe.

“There are two in the back and one on each side. If they’re like the Liches that appear in games, they’ll likely use magic. Be cautious of long-range attacks.”

“Understood. Light magic and holy magic are their weaknesses, right? Though we can’t use them.”

“For now, I’ll try fighting the one on the left. Mia, please take care of the other three.”

Mia smiled and showed me the OK sign she made with her finger.

Mia and I used the garnet stones of ‘Ping.’

Then, we split up and took action.

Mia threw a garnet stone infused with ‘Illusionary Painting’ towards a rock in the far right corner.

The garnet stone collided with the rock and shattered, depicting me on the surface of the rock.

While the four Liches’ attention was focused on Rock Takumi, I activated ‘Router’ on myself.

　The condition for ‘Router’ was to redirect the attack intended for Takumi to the Lich on the left.

Then, I swung my lightsaber forcefully against myself.

The moment the blade of light made contact with me, the lightsaber rapidly moved towards the Lich.

At the speed at which I swung down the lightsaber, it moved towards the Lich, as if flying towards it, along with my body gripping the hilt.

By the time the Lich noticed my approach, the lightsaber had already bisected its torso horizontally.

“Mia, the lightsaber is effective against them. I’ll leave the enemy in the front right to you. I’ll go for the two in the back.”

“Understood. Oh, by the way, Takumi, the ‘fake Takumi’ rock was obliterated by the enemy’s fire magic. We’re not sure about their other magic. Please don’t let your guard down.”

　Seriously? If I counter-attack with ‘Router’ when magic is directed at me, I’ll suffer a counter in return.

The weakness of this tactic is that it allows the enemy to move the shortest distance to reach me, making it easier for them to counter.

Should I cautiously use a decoy…?

At that moment, a red mist appeared behind me.

This is bad. I activated the ‘Barrier of the Mind’ and turned around.

The fireball struck the octagonal barrier right in front of me and caused an explosion.

I quickly closed the distance between me and the Lich and swiftly decapitated it with the lightsaber.

　As I thought, it seems they can’t continuously use magic with that level of power.

If they were to attack with magic after a short-range teleportation or something, it would have been dangerous if I hadn’t undergone the Demon Lord’s special training.

Alright, let’s quickly defeat the remaining two.

When I looked at Mia, a pitch-black hemisphere had formed around her.

Don’t panic.

In the previous section, I became anxious about Mia being in danger and ended up in a pinch myself.

Moreover, Mia was fighting with ease.

First, let’s assess the situation and grasp the effectiveness of the enemy’s skills.

“Mia, are you alright? You’re surrounded by something black.”

“Yes. It’s pitch black, and I can’t see anything around me, but I’ve defeated two enemies. It’s still dark, though. What should I do?”

　She’s already taken down two of them… I see.

This is it. Mia is stronger than I thought.

“Walk in any direction for a while. Then, I think you’ll be able to escape from the pitch-black area.”

After a short while, Mia emerged from the pitch-black hemisphere and waved at me.

“I panicked when it suddenly turned pitch black, but thanks to ‘Ping,’ I was able to determine the enemy’s position. I’m fine now.”

While we were talking, the pitch-black hemisphere disappeared, and two magic stones fell to the ground.

I picked up those magic stones and thought about retrieving the remaining two.

Just then, the Demon Lord approached.

“I thought the Liches would give you a hard time, but it seems you handled them with ease. The black sphere earlier was a magic called ‘Dark Boundary.’ When you enter it, light is blocked, and you can’t see your surroundings. Even if you have resistance to status ailments, you can’t prevent the effect of the magic, which is simply to block light inside the sphere. I’ve seen similar skills a few times even among people from other worlds, so keep that in mind.”

　We handed over the magic stones to the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord went to the back of the area, placed the four magic stones, and returned.

By doing this, it seems the Liches will be resurrected in three days.

“While you were fighting, Karla received a ‘Telepathic Message,’ so let me share the information with you.”

Summarizing the information we received, there are four main points:

・The enemy in the war against the Demon race consists of three allied forces: the ‘Elf Tribe,’ the ‘Melkid Kingdom Army,’ and the ‘Adventurers Guild of the Royal Capital.’

・Arthur successfully persuaded the Melkid King and is positive about forming an alliance with the Dwarf race and the Demon race.

・ After joining the ‘Melkid Kingdom Army,’ Arthur plans to defect from the allied forces at an opportune moment.

・Karla and the others arrived at the planned rendezvous with the demon army, but there was no one there.

“Where could the Demon army have gone? Enzo-san, don’t you know either?”

“There are several camping sites along the route to the border with the Human race. If they’re not there… something might have happened. Alessandro, that old geezer, is leading everyone. He may have a difficult personality, but he’s an excellent guy. Even if something happened, they’ll manage somehow. Karla told me to follow them on my own starting tomorrow. Dragons tend to stand out, you know.”

“What should we do? Our current level is only 47, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to level up gradually. If Karla is in danger, wouldn’t it be better for us to join them as soon as possible?”

“Mia, that’s not a good idea. The only thing you guys can do right now is to quickly reach level 60. I appreciate your concern for Karla, but for now, you’ll only be a burden. Especially without gaining experience in battles against others.”

I thought we might casually join Karla and the others through Mia’s conversation, but it seems it’s still not possible.

However, at the current pace, reaching level 60 by tomorrow will be tough.

Should I push a little harder?

“Enzo-san, if that’s the only thing we can do, please guide us in a training course that allows us to reach level 60 as quickly as possible.”

The Demon Lord looks at me with an unusually serious expression.

“…Very well. I’ll show you the battlefield. A hell where battles are repeated without a moment to rest, with no safe place in sight. Survive there tomorrow and prove yourselves. If I ever have to intervene even once, we’ll cancel the training and continue at the previous pace.”

　In order to prepare for tomorrow, we canceled all plans for the rest of the day and returned to the Demon King’s mansion.

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