35 episodes
The tunnels were very complex.
It was created a hundred years ago, when the Niilum Empire started a war, so it was built like a maze in case of enemy invasion.
‘All I remember is a rough entrance. You have to find the rest yourself.’
Ethan’s eyes lit up.
It was a tunnel used for the invasion of Nouvel City, but Ethan could not figure it all out.
Ethan chuckled inwardly.
‘It would be nice if I could remember everything in the tunnels that were made a hundred years ago, but unfortunately I’m not that kind of lumber.’
If he had been such a genius, there would be no way he would have endured humiliation under the demon king in his previous life and sought revenge.
Therefore, finding the exit of the tunnel had to be left entirely to Ethan’s base.
That was then.
Ethan, who was sweeping the tunnels, saw a strange vision.
“Well?”
Ethan frowned.
Soldiers who appeared out of nowhere passed in front of him.
The soldiers were moving quickly through the tunnel.
But the scene was clouded like a ghost.
The bodies of the soldiers were transparent, and the tunnel wall beyond them was reflected.
There was no sound of shoes hitting the ground.
“… … !”
Ethan understood.
‘This is the state of the Niilum Imperial Army a hundred years ago.’
The direction of movement of the soldiers was constant.
Then the figure disappeared beyond the passageway.
Ethan turned his head and looked over the passageway.
‘At the time of infiltrating the State of Nouvelle.’
Ethan instinctively knew that there was a new state in the direction the Imperial Army was heading.
‘Then you can go back in the opposite direction!’
I didn’t know how it was in English.
However, it was different from the memories of the past.
There was no feeling of being sucked into consciousness.
‘To be precise, it feels like looking at the remnants of past memories.’
It was a crude vision, but it was a big clue to Ethan.
“Ethan, what’s going on?”
Jacob called him.
When Ethan, who was looking for his way, suddenly stopped walking, he was puzzled.
“You didn’t come here recklessly, did you?”
bewildered Ben asked.
He had a duty to protect Princess Cynthia.
Ethan finally opened his mouth before an uneasy atmosphere in the party started.
“it’s nothing. Follow me.”
Ethan headed the opposite of where the Imperial Army had gone.
It was clear that there would be an exit since the imperial army, aiming for Nouvel, came in the same direction.
The group behind them was perplexed.
“Unlike before, there are no clues here now. But how do you know the way?”
“For now, let’s go quietly. Even if I was on the ground anyway, it would have been dangerous because of my solo dance.”
Seeing the subordinates buzzing, Jacob asked a question.
“Are you sure of the way?”
“yes. you’re right.”
Ethan answered confidently.
That was then.
Kick!
Footsteps came from Ethan’s direction.
Ethan raised his hand and stopped the group.
Everyone held their breath when they heard footsteps.
“This sound… … .”
“It seems that the original owner of this tunnel is coming this way.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
It was time for him to step forward.
“Leave it to me here.”
Jacob restrained Ethan and pulled out a knife with his men.
Sreung!
The forest had no choice but to send a boy priest alone, but now it is different.
The place was just a tunnel, but what he had to do was decided.
It was the knight’s specialty, combat.
“We can’t just hide.”
“Right. The name of the 5th Knight Commander will cry.”
“Pars-sama will sigh too.”
At Jacob’s words, his servants made silly jokes.
“These cubs.”
Jacob frowned and looked at his servants.
Then, a dark follower appeared in front of them.
“Who are these guys!”
All of them were wearing masks.
“Goes!”
Jacob dashed forward like a wild boar, slashing his dark follower.
“Great!”
“Ugh!”
Perhaps because they specialized in raids, the Dark Followers were weak in head-to-head matches.
There was no space to hide and memorize, so it was natural.
Jacob’s men followed in his footsteps as they finished off the wounded scumbags.
Every time the enemies were cut by the swords of the Paladins, dust fell from the ceiling of the tunnel.
Seeing this, Ethan put on a tired expression.
‘Is that a human or a wild boar?’
It wasn’t something Ethan, who had just inflated his power with divine magic a while ago, would say.
But Jacob was the size of a bear, so he looked that way.
“finished.”
Jacob shook his hand and turned back.
The dark follower was dealt with in an instant.
“It was hard. Then we go on our way.”
After congratulating the ball with simple words, Ethan hurried the party to the exit.
* * *
It had been several hours since Ethan and his party traversed the tunnel.
One of the paladins sniffed.
Among Jacob’s minions, he had the best sense of smell.
“Where does the stench come from?”
“I don’t know yet?”
“Let’s go a little further.”
At that time, Ethan also sniffed.
The stench was so strong that his face was wrinkled by itself.
It was also a familiar smell to Ethan, who rolled as he rolled on the battlefield.
‘The smell of decaying corpses.’
Ethan thought to himself.
But there was no need to create an atmosphere of fear in advance.
If you’re going to run into each other anyway, you’d better not tell me.
Soon, the identity of the stench was revealed in front of the party.
“I, that one!”
“It’s terrible.”
A mountain of small corpses piled up in a narrow tunnel.
The number was huge enough to exceed dozens, or even hundreds.
Even the knights who didn’t budge about anything frowned.
So, it was natural that the princess, Cynthia, was greatly surprised.
“… Whoops!”
Cynthia groaned with a pale face.
The white hand that covered her mouth was trembling.
Ethan was agitated at first too.
But he quickly regained his composure.
It was because they found a dark magic circle beyond the mountain of corpses.
And Ethan wasn’t the only one who discovered it.
“This is the work of a dark follower!”
Jacob’s eyes flashed.
So far, it has been only speculation, but it is only now that we can be certain.
The dark magic circle was emitting a magical light in the dark.
And it was sucking life from the body.
Ethan observed it calmly.
‘The remaining vitality of the dead body is being rapidly absorbed by the magic circle.’
Meanwhile, Cynthia, who was nauseous, barely opened her mouth.
“That magic, I’ve seen it before.”
“yes?”
At that, Jacob and his minions looked at Cynthia in awe.
In particular, Jacob’s reaction was the most extreme.
He strode closer to the princess and opened his eyes.
“How does the princess know about that evil dark magic?”
“I am rude. Get away!”
The escort knight, Ben, hastily stopped Jacob.
Cynthia was instantly speechless when the knight who had only laughed out loud suddenly changed.
But it was a situation where anyone could not help but misunderstand.
‘It’s familiar. calm down.’
Cynthia struggled to comfort herself.
At Jacob’s actions, his men also looked at Cynthia with disbelief.
As a result, the mood of the group became harsh.
‘If you don’t clear up the misunderstanding, something big might happen later.’
It has been called the flower of the devil, and has been subjected to such suspicion more than a dozen times.
Each time, Cynthia had to explain herself.
But it was then.
“Captain, what are you thinking?”
At Ethan’s voice, Cynthia and Jacob looked back.
There, Ethan was looking at Jacob as if pathetic.
* * *
“Ethan, you heard it too. The princess said she knew about that terrible dark magic.”
“Of course you know. Do you know what the duties of a princess are?”
Ethan sighed and continued.
“Recovering the remains of the Demon King. That is the duty of the princess. Even the manager must know. So you have to get used to dark magic. Just because you’ve seen the use of dark magic doesn’t mean you’ve mastered it, doesn’t it?”
“… … !”
“You must have come across dark magic while subjugating the Dark Followers. Am I wrong?”
“Wow, that’s for sure.”
“Even Her Majesty the Princess doesn’t just fight, it’s the same as fighting the Dark Followers on the front lines. If you make a mistake, you are preventing a disaster that will happen due to the remains of the Demon King.”
Ethan presented the facts rather than appealing to emotions.
So Jacob couldn’t resist.
“Hmm, I got it.”
Jacob was embarrassed.
She made a logical leap because of her prejudice against the princess.
Jacob formally apologized to the princess.
“My Majesty the Princess, I apologize for the rudeness I just made. I’m sorry.”
Jacob’s men also followed Jacob and bowed their heads.
Cynthia blinked in embarrassment.
Then Ben hurried her.
“majesty.”
“Ah Okay. I forgive you for your rudeness.”
Cynthia glanced at Ethan.
He seemed calm even after he had corrected the atmosphere that would become harsh if he made a mistake.
Cynthia opened her mouth again.
“As Priest Ethan said, I never learned dark magic. But looking at the corpse, I think it’s magic that collects life force and turns it into magic and magic. Maybe that’s where the solo dance spread on the ground came from.”
“There is a point. But are you not sure?”
“okay.”
At Jacob’s question, Cynthia nodded.
At that time, Ethan suddenly turned to the dark magic circle.
Jacob exclaimed in surprise.
“for a moment! I don’t even know what kind of magic circle it is, but don’t approach it hastily. Even the princess is not sure!”
“If it was magic that I didn’t know at all, I wouldn’t even have an opinion.”
Then, Ethan breathed divine power into the dark magic circle.
Paah!
The sphere of light condensed on the palm was very beautiful.
It was a sacred and majestic sight.
Cynthia’s eyes fluttered as she watched the scene.
‘I don’t know who you are, but your workmanship is very crude.’
Ethan clicked his tongue low.
If his subordinates had drawn a magic circle like this in a previous life, they would have been beaten in the throat at once.
‘I made the magic circle inefficient to create many solo dances at once.’
Contrary to Jacob’s concerns, Ethan had already seen the dark magic circle.
‘No matter how foolish I am, it’s all in the palm of my hand.’
So, it wasn’t because Ethan had a strong sense of Cynthia earlier.
This was to prevent any quarrels and troublesome things.
Dismantling the playful magic circle was eating cold soup for Ethan.
“ね.”
Although it was painful every time I used divine power.
Ethan furrowed his eyebrows.
If it was simply to get rid of the dark magic circle, it would have taken less time.
But instead, he selected and deleted only certain parts of the complex magic circle.
‘I’ll have to play on the board I made.’
Ethan smiled meaningfully.
As a result, the dark magic circle was cleverly twisted by Ethan’s hand.
The ominous red light of the dark magic circle slowly disappeared.
Not only Cynthia, but also the Paladins swallowed dry saliva at the sight.
“It’s done.”
Ethan shook his hand and stood up.
Then Jacob looked around the magic circle and asked.
“To change the magic circle with divine power, it is an extraordinary thing that I have never heard of. Are you really okay?”
“Once I got my hands on it, as far as I could handle it. There is nothing more I can do here.”
Since his name is a paladin, Jacob muttered as he looked at the corpses.
“By the way, these people must be people who have nothing to do with this.”
Cynthia bit her lip.
In an instant, the atmosphere became somber.
Ethan changed the topic as if to drive out the atmosphere.
“If you know you have touched the magic circle, they will come after you. I don’t want to leave the dead like that, but now is the time to move quickly. Hurry up.”