Trap (11)
“If it comes down to it, I’ll abandon Elvengarde. You should know that.”
“······!”
Mia’s eyes widened.
She stared at me for a moment, as if she wanted to ask me something.
But she couldn’t speak, and only her lips moved.
······It seems that there was some misunderstanding.
“Of course, I’m talking about the worst-case scenario. I’m not saying that I’ll abandon it when I can protect it, but if the situation is not favorable, I’ll have to abandon Elvengarde and evacuate the citizens. I know how important the World Tree is to the elves······. But it can’t be prioritized over people’s lives.”
Elvengarde is not a place name.
The place where the World Tree grows is Elvengarde, the land of the elves.
I know what kind of hardship the elves will face if they lose Elvengarde.
However, that doesn’t mean that the elf citizens can be sacrificed along with the World Tree in the face of the crisis of extinction.
“Yes. I understand. I also recommend that the citizens abandon the World Tree and flee in the worst case scenario. I think the same as Eugene. People come first.”
“Promise me here. In the crisis of Elvengarde’s destruction, you will prioritize the evacuation of the people above all else.”
“Yes, well······. I’ll do that······.”
Mia replied with a puzzled look.
I got a promise.
To save the people first, no matter what happens.
Perhaps, even in the worst case scenario, a catastrophe in which hundreds of thousands of citizens die will not occur.
“And there’s one more thing I need to make sure of here. Who cursed the dungeon?”
“······!”
“······?!”
At that moment.
The faces of Jill, Julia, and Yerina all turned pale.
Seeing that, I was convinced once again.
As I thought, it wasn’t something these guys intended.
However, the fact that they reacted with embarrassment when I brought up the story of the dungeon’s curse.
It was also evidence that these guys were involved in the curse, either directly or indirectly.
“H, how did you know?”
“How did I know? Every time I entered the dungeon, a cold air flowed out of the dungeon, and the monsters became stronger and went wild.”
“Yes, yes······? B, but······ I, I cursed it······ I, I confirmed that it had no effect······?”
“To be exact, it was like that every time I entered.”
“Ah······! I, I didn’t mean to······!”
Julia desperately explained, waving her hands.
Judging from her appearance, it seems that Julia was the main culprit.
Well, it’s only natural since Julia has a great talent for witchcraft and is supposed to become a witch in the latter half of the story.
But it’s true that she intentionally cast a spell on the dungeon.
But it wasn’t to hinder me?
I feel like the story is getting more and more complicated.
“What do you mean? You didn’t mean to? Didn’t you cast a curse to stop me?”
“H, how could I······. I, I did it to······ help Eugene······. B, but at first······ I was going to cast a curse to······ weaken the dungeon monsters······. B, but the magic worked strangely, and even though I cast a curse, I didn’t see any effect······ I, I thought I failed······.”
After hearing the whole story, the gist of it was this.
One day, Julia discovered that she could cast a curse on the dungeon.
And through this, she decided to help me conquer the dungeon.
It was revealed that the dungeon plays a role in extracting energy and sending it to the other world, and that the enemy of the other world is invading the present world.
She deduced that I was fighting those enemies by conquering the dungeon.
That was when I gave up explaining and ran away.
‘I wonder what would have happened if I had done this sooner.’
What if I had gathered these three together and talked to them like this before?
I feel a little sorry for that.
Of course, at that time, both I and these guys were foolish, so we would never have been able to achieve this result.
“I, I’ll try to······.”
“You can’t. It’s engraved in the dungeon network. There’s no way unless it goes to the other world. In fact, even if it goes to the other world, there’s no guarantee that it will be possible.”
“······.”
It’s impossible to undo it.
I can’t even explain how the curse works.
I have no idea how long the curse will last.
It’s strange.
No matter how much witchcraft is an unknown area compared to magic, the principle of which has not been specifically clarified.
It’s hard to understand the phenomenon in which magic moves on its own and engraves an unintended spell.
Perhaps the answer lies elsewhere.’This is also likely Draken’s doing.’
It’s not difficult to figure out.
If Draken had stolen magic from the other world and used it to apply sorcery at will, then the story would be neatly resolved.
‘Rather, could I use it to my advantage…?’
It’s quite hopeless that Haejoo can’t do it.
Rather, a way to use this curse comes to mind.
Of course, using this is really the worst of the worst situations.
I sincerely hope I don’t have to use it.
“I think the misunderstanding has almost been resolved. There may still be some lingering resentment, but… let’s put out the urgent fire first and then slowly resolve it. Let’s all meet again alive and well.”
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
My words were too ominous, and silence fell over the room.
I didn’t want to say such things, but I had to say them anyway.
Otherwise, there are more than one or two great people here who would not hesitate to throw their lives away in a crisis situation…
I’m too cowardly and mean to do that.
I’m afraid the main heroines will give their lives for me.
“Even if everything is over, it means nothing if you’re not there. Please don’t think nonsense.”
After finishing off the Four Heavenly Kings, I want to have a lively party with them.
Of course, even if the Four Heavenly Kings disappear, the threat of Draken remains.
But for now, the risk factors that could target my neck in everyday life have been eliminated, so it’s worth celebrating.
Then, I will join forces with the heroines to kill Draken.
I want to stay in this peaceful world and spend the rest of my life with these guys.
That’s my dream.
…I guess I’ll have to write a letter to Cornelia.
.
.
.
-The Frost Lord and Transylvania are outside!-
-The Frost Lord? Transylvania? So what?-
-Don’t you understand the situation…! The Frost Lord and Transylvania joined hands and attacked me! I don’t know why, but it’s clear that the two of them have joined hands with that man and are hostile to us!-
-······-
The Great Demon crawls out of the abyss and starts talking wildly.
Luna closes her mouth for a moment and observes the Great Demon’s expression in silence.
He looks very scared.
Having lost countless puppets that he had been enslaving for a long time.
The Great Demon, who had even lost Draken’s patronage, had never looked so miserable as he did today.
Perhaps when the battle begins, the Great Demon will be the first to turn tail and run away.
Luna decided not to expect much.
-It doesn’t matter. Even if the Frost Lord comes, he won’t be able to break through here. The dungeon itself is the strongest fortress in the world, and there’s also an undead army here…-
The undead army, which is a disaster in itself, is released outside.
Of course, they are not yet a complete army as they are still being resurrected.
But if you keep them in the dungeon and focus on defense, this place is literally an impregnable fortress.
No matter what you do, you can’t break it down or penetrate it.
It’s not a difficult level, it’s ‘impossible’.
Luna could say so.
Unless a miracle happens where the whole world joins forces and the superhumans come to an agreement and project enormous firepower at one point…
-Footsteps…!-
At that moment, the Great Demon was startled and crawled back into the abyss.
The Great Demon moves along the shadows and quickly heads towards the entrance of the dungeon.
Where the Great Demon arrived.
The tightly closed stone door slowly opened and light poured in.
-Frost Lord! Come in! I avoided you earlier because I wasn’t in the mood to fight, but here…!-
If you fight in the dungeon, you are invincible.
The moment the Great Demon confidently approached and peeked through the open door.
Suddenly, the Great Demon’s instincts screamed.
-······!-
The judgment was quick.
The Great Demon instantly shed most of the magic power in his body and quickly flew sideways.
And at that moment, a huge amount of magic power was injected through the crack in the stone door.
A golden beam of light like a bright light!
The sacred magic power that defeats evil soared into the dungeon and erased everything in its path.
The magic power that the Great Demon shed and escaped disappeared without a trace.
The place where the Great Demon was was now deeply dented and there was no trace of its former appearance.
‘Is it the Pope’s Archmage!’
I confirmed that the Frost Lord had come.
I didn’t know that such a strong force would come from the Holy Kingdom.
The Great Demon was startled and hid in the small shadow that remained, forming a hand sign.Then, the magic circle spread out and began to form a wall around the Great Demon, blocking all the magic power.
-Magic power······?!-
However, at that moment, black energy began to flow in through the crack in the door.
Magic power approached the Great Demon’s neck like a noose.
The magic power embedded a totem inside the dungeon.
And began to spread misfortune in all directions.
-Damn it, damn it! Damn it!!!-
If it was just a barrier that blocked magic power, it would be fine, but it is difficult to set up a barrier that blocks even magic power.
If it is an attack that even a sorcerer is involved in, the correct answer is to run away.
The Great Demon eventually decided to leave all the defense to Luna and the undead army, and immediately began to run away.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Hey! You have to finish this!”
-Where do these monsters keep crawling out from? aaah!!!-
However, four strong hands that immediately chased after him grabbed the Great Demon’s limbs.
Transylvania and the Frost Lord.
The Great Demon’s body trembled with fear as he faced the two men’s gleaming eyes.