“The Praszkeak Guild has one hideout in the northwest district of Servante and another in the east district. The boss, Yustasio, should be in one of them.”
“Lady Flora, saint of the Church of Utility, should be able to tell us which one is correct, right?”
All eyes turned to Flora.
As the Scales, she could track impure energy through yang magic of the ritual system.
The real hideout where Yustasio was staying would undoubtedly be swarming with pseudo-demons, so locating it would be only a matter of time.
The only issue was that the spell, while incredibly effective, was rather difficult to prepare on the spot.
“First Magic Corps! Assist the saint of the Church of Utility with the ritual!”
“Yes, sir!”
With the imperial palace’s support behind them, even that was not a major problem.
At Salvador’s command, dozens of mages assisted Flora as she drew the ritual magic circle, and the preparations were completed in no time.
Soon the magic circle beneath Flora began to glow.
<Starlight Compass>
Long ago, a group of priests lost in a vast desert with neither food nor compass prayed to the gods for salvation. The starlight in the night sky all pointed south at once. The priests, moving with firm faith, eventually escaped the desert and spread word of the blessing they had received from the God of Utility.
Starlight Compass was a yang magic spell that reenacted that legend.
Whether the story of prayers and starlight was true or false did not matter. Unlike yin magic, which operated on absolute principles, yang magic was a looser system based on the collective perception of the people of this world.
What mattered was the “recognition” of the legend itself and the qualifications of [Divinity] and [Mana] required to reenact it.
Shaaak!
The light swirling around Flora’s body transformed into an arrow and pointed in a single direction—northwest Servante. Several holy knights watching let out gasps of admiration.
“Ooh!”
“So this is the famed guidance of the stars. First time seeing it in person.”
Estriel smirked and spoke to his wife Dorothy.
“Disappointed your junior saint is stealing the spotlight?”
“Hmph. Flora and I simply specialize in different fields. When it comes to undead extermination or tracking, I’m a thousand times better.”
“As expected of you.”
Soon a large carriage carrying all thirty-three members moved toward the vicinity of the northwest hideout.
“According to the investigation by His Highness the Second Prince Salvador, the northwest hideout has a total of seven entrances.”
Second Prince Salvador had been able to monitor the Praszkeak Guild’s movements without drawing suspicion. The accuracy of the information was beyond doubt.
“Let’s split into teams and tighten the encirclement.”
“A good suggestion.”
Dorothy nodded at the opinion offered by a holy knight of the Church of Struggle.
With Triple Star-level powerhouses like Estriel and Flora, each could easily handle one entrance alone.
That meant dividing the remaining thirty-one people into five teams and assigning them to the other entrances was the wisest course.
Aiden, Chesa, Epio, Clara, Ray, and Linia—the six members of their clan—would head for Entrance 1.
Visanya had been left out of this expedition due to her low level. While her utility could have been useful, facing Yustasio risked her going berserk from trauma.
“Then let’s all meet safely again in the depths.”
The thirty-three members split up and began moving toward their assigned entrances.
Aiden moved with his five clan companions under the cover of the Formless Robe (S-).
The robe’s volume could be freely expanded or contracted as he wished, but its mass remained unchanged. Expanding it too much would negatively affect its stealth and camouflage abilities.
Whether due to his own skill limitations or the equipment’s own constraints, he estimated he could only bring about seven people at once.
While stealthily avoiding collisions with back-alley residents, they spotted a group of rough-looking men chatting in front of a shabby door.
That ordinary-looking house entrance was the first entrance to the guild house.
Aiden whispered,
“Nano Eater. How much time on the counter?”
「Eight minutes remaining.」
“Good.”
They had already coordinated with the other six teams to stagger their entry times. The goal was to confuse the enemy and divide their attention as much as possible.
When five seconds remained until entry, Aiden locked eyes with Ray. At that moment, the Balance of Good and Evil (S+) in her hand flashed.
Three… two… one… zero.
Tap!
The instant Aiden gave the hand signal, Ray stomped forward and swung the Balance of Good and Evil.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
Six guild members standing at the entrance had their heads smashed in sequence along the hammer’s trajectory.
Aiden had yielded the Balance of Good and Evil (S+) to her for this battle.
Over the past several months, Ray’s [Divinity] had risen to 4 thanks to the blessings of the Thousand Gold Church and various missions. That was more than enough to unlock the relic’s core functions of “promoting virtue” and “punishing evil.”
Black smoke-like energy suddenly rose from the headless bodies of the fallen grunts and evaporated on the spot.
It was a fragment of the demon Terpartizan obtained by consuming the Obsidrol Serum Pills.
“…Even the low-ranking members had turned into pseudo-demons.”
“Let’s save the commentary until after we successfully exterminate the Praszkeak Guild, Master.”
“Fair point. Let’s go.”
Boom!
They smashed through the door and stormed into the hideout.
“Shit, intruders!”
The Praszkeak Guild members spat curses and gave them a colorful welcome.
“Catch them!”
“Hahaha, time to test my new power!”
Dozens of guild members’ arms transformed into black mist. The unsettling, writhing fog stretched out and shot toward them.
「Master, Spare Master. I detect curse-like energy in the opponents’ attacks. Considering your anti-demon resistance, individual strikes may not be threatening, but repeated direct hits are expected to accumulate significant damage.」
Nano Eater issued the warning.
Unfortunately for the Praszkeak side, the group had a hard counter to demon contractors standing right in front of them.
“Look over here!!”
Ray shouted.
The demon arms immediately broke free of the guild members’ control and all surged toward her.
“W-what the fuck!”
“My arm’s moving on its own!”
It was the effect of Decay Hexer (S-), the trait Ray had gained after consuming the sacred medicine.
Decay Hexer allowed her to cast high-level curses on others or intercept curses below a certain power threshold and control them at will.
The downside, as indicated by the minus rank, was a fatal penalty: using the trait carried a low chance of afflicting her with a terrible curse.
Of course, for Ray who possessed Curse Devourer (S), that was actually an advantage.
Ray single-handedly absorbed the pseudo-demons’ curses and converted every ounce of their power into her own energy.
There was a limit to how long she could hold such massive power in her body. Without hesitation, she activated Life Incineration (S). She took a short, sharp breath and kicked off the ground. The very space around her shook.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!!
The single strike infused with “ki” caused the solid stone wall to crumble like a sandcastle. Dozens of pseudo-demons were swept away in the aftermath. Most were grunts, but a couple of executives were mixed in as well.
Ray did not stop. True to her name as a tank, she plowed forward, clearing every obstacle in her path and charging straight toward the depths.
A truly reliable vanguard.
“Let’s go!”
Aiden led the rest of the party after her.
Estriel, who had charged through Entrance 2 alone, soon linked up with Dorothy’s group.
Boom!
Hearing the distant roar, Dorothy smiled faintly and said,
“Looks like Aiden’s team is putting on quite the show, Estriel.”
“They weren’t bluffing when they said they’d draw Praszkeak’s attention. That girl they picked up in the northwest is quite the monster too.”
Estriel spoke casually while flicking his fingers. The arms and legs of seven pseudo-demons approaching the group were severed by his strong wire.
He recalled his fight with Yustasio. Even as the Holy Nation’s greatest assassin, it had been a formidable opponent he had not faced in over a decade.
Since the clone of a hero was said to be just as strong, this battle would not end easily.
But the subjugation force would not lose.
They had planned meticulously, the Wiblet Empire’s palace was on their side, and they had brought along powerhouses who could only be described as excessive force.
Dorothy and Estriel quickened their steps.
“Thirty-three people… They even figured out the exact number. Their advance speed is insane too. They’ve already breached the perimeter. What do you want to do?”
Yustasio frowned.
“…It looks like the Holy Nation gathered information thoroughly. I don’t know how, but they must have recruited high-ranking imperial family members or great nobles with comparable influence.”
Even assuming that guess was close to the truth, there were still many suspicious points. Even with the emperor’s help, sneaking thirty-three people into Servante would have been nearly impossible. After all, pseudo-demonified Praszkeak grunts were already operating inside the inspection checkpoints.
Yustasio shook his head.
There was no time to leisurely speculate in this emergency.
“…He’s coming again.”
“He?”
“The assassin who uses that strange technique.”
The master of Resonance Shatter Art—Estriel. Even Yustasio could not guarantee victory against him without using the full power of his demon contract.
“Ah, the successor of Isidoros Alsigima you mentioned in the letter before. Now that I think about it, it’s impressive that school has survived all the way to this era.”
“………”
Yustasio stood up wordlessly. He addressed nearly half of the executives still present in the room.
“Buy time here.”
“Understood, Boss!”
The order was practically a death sentence, yet the pseudo-demonified executives had already become perfectly loyal slaves to Yustasio. They accepted the command without the slightest resistance.
He turned and said,
“Mork, we’re heading to the basement.”
“Yessir~”
Mork followed cheerfully behind him. The only subordinate who could stand on equal footing with him was this polymorphic girl.
Creeeeak
The secret door leading underground opened.
Yustasio and Mork took the lead, followed by nearly a hundred pseudo-demons.
There were a total of thirteen executives in the depths.
Among the pseudo-demonified group were several with combat strength approaching the Continent’s Twelve Heroes level, but they were still no match for the Holy Nation’s elite forces accompanying Aiden’s side.
“Gwaaaagh!”
The holy knight from the Church of Struggle who had just crushed the last executive’s head frowned.
“The crown prince isn’t here! What the hell is going on?”
“…The number of executives we took down is far fewer than reported. Was the boss at the east hideout instead of the northwest?”
Flora shook her head at the question.
“There is no way <Starlight Compass> pointed in the wrong direction. There must be a secret passage somewhere.”
As Flora had asserted, that was exactly the case. Soon afterward, Plebelziam’s wave-detection ability located the hidden staircase.
Nano Eater issued a warning.
「Advancing any further is dangerous, Spare Master. I sense an enormous amount of mana from below the basement.」
“Hmm… There’s a high chance Irumokwi’s workshop is down there.”
Irumokwi was a classic research-type mage. And the combat power of a research-type mage—not a war mage—was maximized inside their workshop.
But the group descended the stairs without hesitation.
Soon a vast underground cavern appeared before them.
“Welcome, little rats.”
There, the owner of the workshop and Yustasio were waiting for them.