Luke led his party and ran ahead. The wriggling mist came close to swallowing it, but it didn’t matter to Luke.
“Suck!”
Fuhuaak
Every time he swung his sword, the fog burned and disappeared. The fog that threatened the entire party each time also stepped back.
Like a fuse, it seemed that he was afraid that all the fog would chain and catch fire.
“Oh oh!”
“As expected, the holy sword!”
As the party followed in admiration, a voice like scratching iron was heard through the fog.
-It’s ridiculous to see a damn kid set up with a single sword.
It was the devil who borrowed the form of the former guard and spoke. The demon shouted at the party in a voice mingled with ridicule.
-How long do you think that power will last? 10 minutes? 20 minutes? Or maybe it’ll fall right now. Hey, aren’t you overdoing it to not worry the party?
“…!”
The entire party flinched at the devil’s words. There is no such thing as infinite power in the world. When those sparks ran out, the lives of the entire party were in danger.
“Luke. How long can you last?”
“Do not worry. One hour is enough.”
Luke gave a simple answer to Julich’s question. Considering the previous magic sword’s firepower, that level was quite good.
Hearing Luke’s answer, the devil let out an unpleasant laugh.
-1 hour. That’s short. We’ll have to get out of the city in an hour, so what do we do? The only exit was closed.
“Are you not going out?”
-…what?
“I’m not going out. Why do you think we’re running away? I’m here to beat you up.”
Not only the devil, but even the party swallowed the wind. That’s true, but to defeat the devil in this situation.
I couldn’t tell if I couldn’t see reality or if my liver was too big.
“Master, do you have any groundbreaking methods?”
“There is, but for now I need to find a safe place. They must all be exhausted from hardly resting for three days.”
-ha ha ha! A safe place? Find out where! It’s already a city where I harvested everything! Do you think there is a safe place or something?
The faces of the party darkened at the devil’s words. If that was true, it was as if I had already entered the devil’s stomach.
But Luke didn’t even pretend to hear the devil.
“Everyone, don’t overdo it and take a break. There are still plenty of sparks, so we can make a temporary safety zone.”
“Why are you so calm in this situation?”
“Is there anything wrong with being calm?”
“Not that…”
At Luke’s words, Julihi was speechless. It’s not wrong, but it was unpleasant to be so calm in such a hopeless situation.
Looking at the speechless Jullich, Luke smiled.
“Don’t take the devil seriously. Do you think he only speaks the truth?”
“what?”
“The devil is basically lying when he opens his mouth. Rather, they tell the truth less often.”
Demons are spiritual creatures and use negative emotions as their power. Of course, it does not cover the means and methods to generate negative emotions.
“For example, a guy who lives on jealousy will always say, ‘Your next door girl is prettier than you’, and a guy who lives on suspicion will always say, ‘Your wife cheated on you’. Even though I’ve never seen the face of the person next door or my wife.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s it. So, it is a loss to listen straight to the truth.”
-This guy…!
The devil gnashed his teeth and glared at Luke. Perhaps because of his calm tone, the entire party escaped from fear.
It was not pleasant from the devil’s point of view.
“Let’s find a safe zone for now. The saintess might have arrived, so we should look for her first.”
-A saint? Heck, does a saint mean this b*tch?
At that time, the devil caught the word saint from Luke’s words and laughed coldly. Moments later, something popped out of the fog.
It was the corpse of a woman whose body had been torn in half. The sun pattern of the church, which symbolizes a saint, was engraved on the clothes.
-I had a hard time because I was a b*tch with strong divine power. But as you can see, it’s like this.
“Oh, that can’t be!”
“The saintess to the devil…!”
Despair spread among the party. Even Luke, who had been calm until now, widened his eyes when he saw the saintess’ corpse.
“No, nonsense! That’s fake!”
-Hoho, why are you saying it’s fake?
“The saintess must be protected by the paladins! How could he pierce through them and kill the saintess!”
-ha ha ha! You mean those scarecrows!
A mournful voice as if denying reality. Then the devil laughed even louder and held out ten more corpses.
Everyone frowned at the horrendous tearing and viscera protruding.
– Paladins are too weak. It’s like dying looking for God!
“Oh no! There can’t be only ten paladins! There could have been more!”
-okay. It might have been different if there were more. But they were just that. It was defeat that underestimated me.
“I can’t…! How could only that number have come to protect the saintess…!”
-Gee, don’t take your eyes off reality. It’s just embarrassing.
Everyone was stained with despair at Luke’s trembling voice. Luke also couldn’t find the same courage as before.
From noble mtl dot com
“Is everyone dead? Is that really all!?”
-Don’t make me say it too many times. That’s all. Too bad we don’t have more corpses to stick out.
“Oh yeah? It seems that it really came to that extent. Well, since it was a pilgrimage, the number must have been small.”
-…?
Luke, who licked his lips in regret, spoke to the party.
“Unfortunately, there are only ten paladins. In order to exterminate the demons, we will have to use our strength.”
“…Me, lord. Aren’t all those paladins dead over there?”
“All of that is fake. Honestly, how many times have I told you not to trust me?”
Luke clicked his tongue to make a tsk sound and pointed to the corpse in the mist.
“How can a dream demon tear people to death? I don’t know if I let them die of fear or pain.”
“Then what is that?”
“It is made of fantasy. The face must have been imitated after seeing the real thing. Seeing that I created an illusion and showed it to you, it seems that the real one is in a safe zone.”
The devil drank honey and became dumb. After explaining to the party, Luke looked back at the devil.
Then he shuddered and screamed with a terrified face.
“Keugh! The saintess and the paladin are both dead! Then all the mercenaries and knights who were useful to us who resisted you must have died! Show me some!”
-…..
“And who had the skill to deal with you! I think I would be more scared if such a person died! If you see a corpse with such a well-delineated face and physical features, you might inadvertently sit down and cry!
-…You’re a kid who won’t be happy even if you tear him to death!!
In response to the demon’s fury, black mist rushed from all sides. Luke, who was already preparing, quickly swung his magic sword and cut through the fog.
I was so angry that I forgot to stop the chain reaction, so the entire fog burned at once and the surroundings brightened.
“This doesn’t work.”
“Why do you touch the demonic nature!?”
“If a bastard opens his mouth, that’s it.”
“They say it’s the devil!”
“But when I heard it, I was annoyed. Anyway, when you’ve rested, run!”
At Luke’s signal, the group started running again. However, the atmosphere was incomparably better than before.
It was thanks to the possibility of survival for Luke and the others, who took lightly at the devil’s tricks.
Julich asked as he approached Luke.
“Where do you plan to go now?”
“Let’s go to the central district of the city. If there is a safe zone, it will be there.”
Places closer to the walls increase the chance of escape. Of course, the devil must have desperately tried to stop him from going.
Naturally, like rats in a dock, they will have no choice but to gather in the center of the city.
Nine out of ten likely the saintess and her companions would be there as well.
****
Luke’s prediction was correct. The distorted landscape returned to its original state as it moved toward the center of the city, and the fog gradually dissipated.
The range of the demon’s power is gradually shrinking. Eventually, the moment the sky became completely bright, a booming voice was heard.
“Stop! I will shoot you if you approach!”
Everyone, including Luke, stood still at the firm tone. Despite the distance, Bruno and Ray were able to accurately identify each other.
“I am a paladin.”
“These are the nobles who died in the fantasy earlier.”
“Then the saintess is safe.”
Julich let out a sigh of relief. Because there was no one as resilient as the saintess to deal with the devil.
“Are you minions of the devil, or mere illusions! Reveal your identity!”
“Neither way! I am Julich Bernstein, the heir to Count Bernstein! And this is my brother, Luke Bernstein!”
“What!?”
The Paladins seemed quite confused. The couple also fully understood. A city half occupied by demons.
You probably didn’t know that Earl Bernstein’s sons would come this far.
After hesitating for a while, one of the paladins approached with a nervous face.
“Can I check on you for a minute?”
“Do whatever you want.”
When permission fell, the Paladins took out small tokens from their arms and brought them to the body of the party. It wasn’t until he did the same thing to everyone once that he finally put on a relieved expression.
“sorry. I couldn’t help but doubt because I’ve been plagued by demons lately.”
“I understand. We’ve been through it too.”
In just a few minutes, Luke’s party fell into despair and was almost attacked by the devil. If it wasn’t for Luke, it might have been.
If you’ve been through something similar, you can understand their feelings.
“I will guide you to the saintess. Come here.”
Luke’s party followed the paladin. As they moved, they heard numerous glances and murmurs from all directions.
“who is this? Were there people like that?”
“It looks like it arrived today from the outside.”
“Sounds crazy. How can you break through the place guarded by the devil?”
It was a small whisper at first, but each time we moved, the gaze and number increased. Later, there were too many to count.
“That’s a lot.”
“yes. In fact, almost all of the people who stayed in the city are here.”
“You mean everything?”
Yulihi asked in surprise. Doesn’t that mean there are very few deaths? The paladin replied with a mixture of pride and bitterness.
“The saint recognized the danger of the devil as soon as she arrived. Thanks to that, we were able to evacuate many of the people who remained.”
She is not an ordinary priest, but a saint recognized by the church. When such a saintess said, ‘It’s extremely dangerous here’, it was enough to make those who hesitated change their minds.
The problem was the rest of the people who didn’t go out despite saying that.
“No matter what I said, they wouldn’t listen. The saintess tried to evacuate them until the very end, and then something happened in the end.”
“indeed.”
From the Paladins’ point of view, they must have said, ‘Let’s call for support and get out of the city because we’re demons that we can’t handle alone.’
However, the saintess was worried about the people who did not leave, so she stayed until the end, and was swept away just like the devil when he started in earnest.
“How many people are there?”
“I don’t know exactly, but maybe half of the city’s population.”
“It’s amazing.”
Somehow, it was a lot. No matter how densely populated the central district is, the people who lived in the north, south, east, west, and west gathered together, so it was enough to burst into tears.
Fortunately, this was only possible thanks to the other half leaving. If there were more people left, the central district alone would not have been able to accommodate them.
“Im here. This is the place where the saintess is staying.”
The place the paladin guided was a small mansion. It was a nice house that a commoner with some means could live in, but it wasn’t particularly nice either.
According to the explanation, it was a place where permission was granted to residents who left the city for a while. After a while, the party was able to meet the saintess.
“Welcome, everyone. My name is Lydia. I am really happy to be able to meet you here.”
The saintess with a very tired face greeted me with an effortless smile. He seemed to be just over twenty.
blonde hair and fair skin. I had seen her before in the vision, but when I saw her properly again, it was not enough to be called a beauty.
Luke’s eyes twinkled as he looked at the saintess. Before returning, her name was very famous.
‘I can see the black saint Lydia here.’