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–––Bandit’s viewpoint

Having defeated Sherpa, Annero’s party was set free again. The king apologized to them and restored their titles, and everything went back to the way it was before… at least on the surface. It was impossible to avoid making the people resent the king for what he had done, and many were still displeased. There really was no way around that, the king had secretly planned to join a war, and the hero who tried to stop that was jailed. Even if the soldiers and knights kept quiet, there was plenty of gossip in taverns and other dark places, with plenty of people speaking ill of the king.

In an attempt to repair his reputation, the king announced his withdrawal from the war, but it was not enough for many. Bordaule also caught wind about that, so they sent a special envoy to discuss things in more detail with the king. In a way it was all reaping what he sowed, I was just glad that the people did not have to suffer too much because of all that.

Regardless, this also meant that Zelvis was not going to be working together with Leble. It could be said that as far as results went, that was perfect.

“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“Don’t worry about it.”

I exchanged some words with Annero, who had gotten ready to travel. The king had told him to stay, but he refused and chose to travel with me. The king was not quite pleased with that, but considering the rough time Annero had gone through, he decided to accept.

“So Bandit, what’s the plan now?”
“We’ll visit various countries and gather allies. There’s a chance there are demons all over the place and not just in Zelvis. We’ll try to undermine the empire while forming a stronger force. Basically knocking out two birds with one stone.”
“That feels an awful lot like wandering around aimlessly… but alright.”
“Alright, everyone’s ready? Let’s get going then.”

I say that and everyone nods. We had become a party of six members now, but I wanted to gather even more allies. Thinking of where to go next, we left Zelvis behind.

§　§　§

–––Freya’s viewpoint

It was dark here. A long time has passed since the last time I was here. I sighed, the darkness so thick I could not even see my hands in front of me. I was inside a large temple in Lumielle, or rather, the maze underneath it. Demons had entered the human land three centuries ago and built a castle and dungeon here. The castle was for defense and to ascertain authority, but the dungeon’s purpose was still unknown. All we knew was that the demons would trap humans inside and watch them suffer and die inside for their entertainment. Eventually Brave came and destroyed the castle, but the dungeon was just sealed shut.

No one knew why Brave did not exterminate the monsters inside. Maybe he simply did not have enough time, or he thought the people living nearby could do it. Whichever the reason, the threat of monsters remained, so people had to build a temple on top of it to oversee the dungeon. That was the beginning of Lumielle’s holy knight order too.

“That’s enough for a break.”

I was alone, so I had no reason to talk, but if I did not say anything out loud the sense of loneliness and dread would be unbearable. I channel mana into my left hand to create an orb of light, which I made float around me to illuminate my surroundings. The torch I brought with me had burned through already, so my only source of light was my magic now. The light seemed to lure in enemies, as I noticed a foul smell getting closer, together with an evil presence.

I unsheathed my sword and held my shield ready. After fighting demons in Strom, I realized how weak I was, so I came here to overcome that, deep inside the dungeon. I had no bed, so I had to sleep on the hard ground while constantly being on watch for any enemy attack, slowly chipping away at my mental health. All I had to eat were the bodies of the monsters and animals I ran into. At first it felt so gross I was constantly throwing up, but by now I was used to it, and could eat anything without it bothering me.

I was alone, and all I did was sleep and fight. Thanks to that, I felt myself becoming far stronger than I ever was.

A monster growled and leapt at me, so I tilted my body to the side to dodge and cut through it at the same time, then I raised my shield and stopped the charge of another monster that came from behind, before imbuing my leg with holy magic and kicking a hole into its torso. I was able to imbue any part of my body with holy magic now, controlling my mana without having to really think about it.

I defeated monster after monster, and slowly went further down into the dungeon. According to old tales, there was something like a king that controlled the rest of the monsters at the end of the dungeon… though there was no information about what that king actually was.

“…I guess I’ll find out once I fight it.”

I had become strong enough to easily defeat monsters that I struggled with before, but I had no idea whether that was enough to defeat the king yet. Still, I would not feel like my training was complete until I took it down. After a long corridor, I found myself in front of a large gate. I had not even opened it yet but I could feel a terrible presence on the other side.

Was I strong enough… or was this as far as I would get? Would I join the ranks of the monsters, doomed to wander the dungeon for all eternity? Somehow my brain became inundated with such thoughts, slowly making me afraid.

“Lumiere… please protect me.”

After a short prayer, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open, finding a lone knight past it.

“…an undead?”

I observed carefully, keeping my weapons ready and maintaining enough distance to defend myself if needed. The knight’s armor resembled that of a holy knight, probably its identity before turning into a monster. It had been here for so long that all flesh had rotten away, leaving only bone, but it raised its sword with a smooth motion as if it was still alive, before charging at me.

It was faster than I had anticipated, so I reacted too late and its sword grazed my armor making a screeching sound. I frowned and channeled holy magic into my sword before thrusting it forward, but the knight’s shield stopped it effortlessly.

It seemed like the miasma covering the knight was protecting him from my holy magic, but that also meant the miasma could not reach me. If our magics canceled each other, our physical skills would determine the victor. I braced myself and entered a cycle of attacking and defending.

As our attacks missed their marks, the walls and floor cracked, showing just how powerful the moves were.

“Kuh!”
“…”

I was alive, if I got hurt, I felt pain, and I bled. Meanwhile my opponent was an undead. It felt no pain, and never flinched. While my healing magic could instantly make any wound disappear, eventually I would run out of mana and be defeated. This meant I had to finish the fight quickly, even if it meant being a bit reckless! As I continued exchanging blows with the knight, I began praying to my God.

“Lumiere… grandiose God of Light… Please grant me the power to tear through the darkness…”

After I invoked the name of my God, asking for help, I started to feel power welling up inside of me. This was my newly gained trump card, God’s Grace. It was a holy magic spell that channeled almost enough power to make God appear physically, but if misused it could cause heavy damage to my mind, overwhelmed by God’s presence.

A divine presence filled my body and began to spread out to the room, obviously affecting the undead knight as well.

“…”

While it had no voice, the undead knight was clearly afraid of the divine presence. I would not let that moment go to waste, as I rushed forward and swung my sword with more power than before. My sword tore through its shield and shattered its sword as it tried to block, and as I channeled even more mana into it, cut through its entire body.

The undead knight gets torn to pieces as holy magic spreads through the room, cleansing it from the foul presence that filled it. I wiped off the sweat that had somehow built up on my forehead and examined the room, noticing a small magic circle glowing in a corner.

“That pattern… is it going to take me somewhere?”

I could not discard the possibility that it was one last trap meant to kill anyone naive enough, but it could also be there for a specific reason. Debating about it in my mind, I hesitantly stepped onto the magic circle. A moment later my eyes were filled with white light, and I knew I had been taken somewhere else.

“This place… feels familiar…”

This was a forest in the outskirts of Lumielle. I had come here many times as a child to gather resources.

“I appreciate not having to retrace my steps from the dungeon but… the city is quite far away.”

While I was glad I had survived my training, I was also a little disappointed. Now I had to get up to date with whatever was happening in the world, I had been away from society for long enough.