7-20. A Night No One Knows (2)
Satou's here. There were a lot of light novel and games that had had religious groups as the villains during the end of the twentieth century, but it felt like I didn't see it much recently.
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"Oi, you're late, the ritual has already begun. I'll open the door, so take your positions quietly."
A person who looks to be a leader-type is scolding us with rough voice in front of the door that leads to the ritual room. The scolding is over quickly, I slip in with the society members to go into the door.
I've thought of this since I mix in awhile ago, but they're full of leaks.
They don't look like a group that would do such outrageous thing as summoning items from hell. There's something mismatched about this. I wonder if there's someone who's pulling the string from behind?
Well, whatever.
There are probably only a few places where they can hold the ritual, so if I destroy this place, people who are thinking of doing misconducts will lay low.
The ritual room is wide. The width is 200 meters, the height is 20 meters, the depth is nearly 1 kilometer long. Of course there are a lot of standing pillars, but they sure are strong for supporting such enormous weight. Is it due to [Fixture Magic]?
My thought had wandered off for a bit.
The nearly 200 men and women inside the room are reciting poetry-like words repeatedly. It doesn't seem to be a spell chant.
There are three beds of stones lined up on the altar, and three girls are sleeping there. Magic circle-like drawings are painted on the girls' bare skins. They don't seem to be dressed.
"Summon the holy relics as compensations for these unsullied girls!"
"""Summon!"""
It seems I've come slightly late. Following the most self-important looking man's shout and the replies, three executive members beside the girls raise ceremonial daggers overhead, and swing it downward toward the girls' hearts.
Maybe it's not like the usual me.
The moment I see the executive members raise the daggers, I rush out instantly.
I feel the members behind me are blown to the wall. Looks like they've been exposed to the reaction from my sudden acceleration.
I run at the speed of an arrow, but I won't make it like this.
Remote Stun would be excellent for a case like this, but Sky Drive is faster. The magic gun's range is 200 meters. It's still far.
"M-A-K-E-I-T!"
I try to convince myself by yelling.
The moment during the executives' dagger swinging downward is only for an instant, in reality it can even be called [Now], but this isn't futile it seems.
At the next moment, I feel like strangely running in water, and when I come to, I've kicked the daggers from the executives' hands.
>[Ground Shrink Skill Acquired]
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"Who are you!"
The man who said that must be the society's head, no doubt.
But I make everyone faints before they can say anything. Since I make use of the ground shrink skill that I've just acquired, I must be looking like split bodies from their point of views.
Thanks to that, I don't need much time to make the nearly 200 members powerless.
I'd like to collect the short horns, but I guess I'll do something about the demonic possession people first.
"Disturbing the ritual like this, what a boorish comrade, deojaru."
"Yes, yes, truly like the inferior beings humans are, nari."
Two demons appears by breaking out of the bodies of two members that have fallen on the ground as if taking off clothes.
They're not short horns.
They're the same upper-ranked demon like Wagahai-kun.
The 'ojaru' one has red body with deer-like horns, it doesn't have wings. The 'nari' one has bronze body with water buffalo-like horns, it has two pairs of wings. They're both level 63.
"Good grief, he's foolish beyond help for disturbing our resurrection ritual, nanoda."
There's a figure of a girl sitting on the stone bed. The girl--no, the one possessing the girl doesn't show its true body.
Leaving aside the life of the members, I want to save the sacrifice girls.
I use ground shrink skill, and carry the two girls to the exit.
"I won't let you go, deojaru."
As if space is breaking in front of my eyes, the red-body demon teleports in.
Since both of my hands are occupied, I restraint it with [Remote Arrow] and [Short Stun], shooting with maximum power.
"I'll return it, deojaru."
The magic that I've shot toward the demon return to me in entirety.
Space magic huh!
The Remote Arrows change their course back to the demon, but the Short Stuns are going to directly hit me. I put up Shield at once to stop it. The shield breaks in an instant, but I've successfully arrived at the door.
I leave the girls on the other side of the door, and close it.
The red-body demon behind me is fed up with the Remote Arrows that are coiling around it.
"Irritating, deojaru."
The red-body demon roars, making cracks run on the space and destroys the Remote Arrows. Thanks to magic perception, I could see stream of magic that worked like early warning before the cracks ran on the space.
I turn ON the silver mask set and hero title before it's too late.
My equipped sword is Durandal, not Excalibur, it's not because I'm unwilling. I've stored dangerous amount of magic power inside Excalibur when I experiment with storing magic power, so I'm afraid that I would collapse the capital if I'm careless with it.
Durandal's performance is worse than Excalibur, but it's exceptionally strong compared to Gjallarhorn, so there's probably no problem.
"Houhou? I've thought it's a rat, turn out you're a hero, nari."
The bronze demon is approaching while munching on something. The altar's side has become a blood bath.
They themselves become the demon's sacrifices this time huh.
Right now, it's not the time to sympathize with them.
I put off dealing with the red-body for later, and going to get rid of the bronze demon first.
I move like teleporting with Ground Shrink, and slip below the bronze demon's chest, cutting--
Tremendous pressure overwhelms me.
>[Gravity Magic Skill: Demon Acquired]
>[Gravity Resistance Skill Acquired]
Still, I endure the high gravity forcibly, and swing the sword, but just before the holy sword touch the demon, I stop it, and back step away while opening the distance.
"The current hero is weak, instead his intuition is sharp, nari."
"If he cut just as he was, the hero's body would had been split in two, almost, deojaru."
It seems they've set some kind of trap-like magic.
If the crisis perception didn't ring me a warning, it would have been dangerous.
I make the Remote Arrows to fly around randomly, and hit the bronze demon with Short Stun, it seems that the trap magic breaks it huh.
I feel my body is being pulled slightly by the red-body demon. When I look at the log, it seems that it's using magic called [Drawing(Evil Snap)].
>[Space Magic Skill: Demon Acquired]
>[Space Resistance Skill Acquired]
I activate the resistance skill.
"The magic isn't too effective even though his level is low, deojaru."
"Ushashashasha, is that an excuse for your senility nari?"
Their attentions turn toward each others, now.
Making full use of Ground Shrink and Sky Drive, I rain down Short Stuns in 16 three-dimensional directions.
As expected, the Short Stuns begin to change their course, turning back. There's the bronze demon among one of the course.
When it hit the bronze demon, the short stun is forwarded to the red demon like the trap magic. It's different than the plan, but the result is alright.
Of course, they've only received small damages.
However, that's fine.
That instant chance I've got is quite enough.
When the blue glow from Durandal have melted in the darkness, the red-body demon becomes pieces of meat and falls to the ground.
I sprinkle it with dragon scales that I've taken out of the storage, incinerating it so it can't revive.
[Flash Slash Skill Acquired]
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"This is strange, nari."
Taking the moment when the bronze demon is stunned, I take out the Holy Bolt set loaded with magic power from the storage, and shoot it.
The bronze demon tries to repel it with its hand that has jet black spiral appeared on it.
"Avoid it, noda!"
With the possessed girl's words, the bronze demon inclines his body to avoid the bolt in a hurry, but it couldn't avoid the arrow, and its upper body is ripped into many pieces. Annihilated.
I've originally expected the bolt to be a mere diversion, but it's unexpectedly effective.
I cut the bronze demon while also using it to test Flash Slash skill.
"This is, splendid nanoda. I have to apologize for thinking you're a small fry hero, nanoda. No, I ought to thank you for destroying my courtiers, nanoda."
The girl who's sitting with one knee drawn up on the edge of the stone bed murmurs so as if asking questions.
When the girl stands up, she begins to spin words in a clear voice as if she's a stage actress.
"The time of my revival has come. O humanity fear it! Today, at this time, the world will begin its walk into ruins noda!"
This should be the scene where I should shudder, but maybe thanks to the strange word she's adding at the end of her sentence, it feels like a comedy show instead.
Now then, looks like round two begins.