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That mark was the spirits’ Divine Blessing. It was granted as proof of a long and strong bond between a spirit and a human, but it also existed in a different form, when entrusting someone with their emotions. The spirits that grew bitter enclosed in the bottle had regained their trust for humans after coming in contact with Fricca’s heart.

「Also, the spirits showed me the way to the central room in the base. Let’s go.」

Fricca held her left hand against her chest, speaking more decidedly. The spirits had entrusted her with their emotions, the desire to release their captured fellows. A wish which resonated with Fricca’s own goal.

「Alright, lead the way then.」

Arlon nodded and went to Fricca’s side, to follow her like a bodyguard. They knew the workshop itself was not very large thanks to their preliminary investigation, but they were unable to identify the main room. But the spirits had just given them that information, narrowing their path to a single one. Receiving that unexpected help, the group headed to the control room with renewed resolve.

The walls and floor were all made of stone. No lamps were in sight, but somehow everything was clearly visible under an unknown light, and Fricca continued moving forward with Arlon and the rest following her.

「Well, that’s someone with renown for you alright, I guess we should’ve expected as much though.」
「Yeah, it feels like we don’t have to do anything.」

Zef could only laugh despite himself, moving as ordered while seeing Arlon effortlessly crushing his enemies together with their weapons in a single strike. Emera stood next to Zef, her sword ready, even though the vanguard was already fully accounted for.

The majority of the enemy’s defenses had been lured out to fight Mizar. But the most skilled ones had been left behind to watch over the underground control room, and were now pitted against Arlon.

Armed with spirit arms and black mist stone weapons, they were mighty foes. But Arlon’s polished skills and superior tactics took them down one after another.

「Mm, Dovalin’s handcrafted weapons are truly on a league of their own.」

After slaying a handful of guards, Arlon muttered impressed, his eyes on the axe that was entirely white except for the handle. Dwarves were sometimes called the gods of smithing, and Dovalin was a master amongst them. On top of developing a new material in the form of Anti-Demon Silver, his weapons were superior to any other common weapon.

「Can I… maybe now… not yet..?」

Emera firmly held onto her sword, her eyes fixated on Arlon who was too skilled to give her a moment to shine. With ten guards out of commission, Arlon’s group stepped into the central room of the building. A large dome-like space.

「That’s it there, that’s the control device.」

Fricca pointed to a rattling apparatus in the middle of the room, the most important spot of the entire building.

「Alright! Let’s get this over with.」

The device alternated between a loud and a quiet voice, and seemed to wriggle in an unnatural way. There was nothing else to see in the room, but Zef was still watchful, fully aware that such places always harbored secrets.

「A barrier… huh.」

Arlon frowned as his feet stood still.

In the end, there were no traps in their way up to the device. Their objective was its destruction, or at the very least stopping its activity, and it lay just a few steps ahead. But the biggest hurdle they encountered so far stopped them, a strong barrier made of mana was set up around it.

「How about this!」

Asbar got closer, and raising his voice energetically he swung his hammer against the barrier with all his might. Even the strongest barrier could be shattered by inflicting more damage than it could negate.

「Not even a scratch…」

But the barrier merely emitted a dull sound, not affected by the blow at all. At least that confirmed that the transparent and almost invisible barrier was incredibly strong.

「Fricca, did the spirits tell you anything about how to get through here?」

Asbar turned around, looking slightly dejected that his strongest attack had no effect at all.

「I didn’t even know there would be a barrier here.」

She shook her head as she replied, angrily staring at the device. They were so close, yet so far.

「It’s probably a spell cast by the manager of this place or someone like that…」 Fricca muttered, carefully looking at the broader area surrounding the device. Looking more closely, she noticed multiple small glowing shards and drops of water.

「Hmm… this is some exorcist spell, I’d guess.」

The most likely identity of those scattered items were spills of holy water and broken holy water bottles. Fricca continued speaking slowly as she crouched near the fragments.

「Think you can do something with that?」

Emera knelt down next to Fricca, looking at the floor with a confounded face and frowning.

「If I use my magic to rewrite the spell bit by bit it would be possible… but that would take forever.」

Saying that, Fricca began trying to decode and rewrite the barrier.

「Are exorcist barriers always this sturdy?」

Asbar’s powerful attack had no effect on the barrier at all. Zef was still incredulous, and he always preferred brute force, so he tried stabbing the barrier with his dagger.

「That Chimera Clauzen placed it should tell you enough. They always abuse spirits to strengthen even the most mundane spell.」

Arlon could not remain still either, so he approached the barrier and began unleashing as many attacks as he could as well.

「Spirits, eh… Well, doubt it’s gonna budge then, I swear.」

Asbar gave up, letting go of his hammer and resigning himself to stare at the barrier, which seemed to taunt them with its dull noise. Then something else happened.

「They’ve already gotten here!」

A guard appeared from the other side of the room, and the instant he saw Arlon’s group, he threw some orb to the ground. A moment later the ceiling opened up, countless humanoid entities falling out around the group.

「C’mon, that’s a bit too much.」
「Oh man, this isn’t what I was hoping for when I wanted to get some action earlier.」

There was a clattering noise after their fall. They were Battle Dolls. Zef looked gloomily at them, holding his dagger ready. Asbar heaved a deep sigh, then picked up his hammer from the floor.

「Finally! Let’s go, everyone!」
「That’s the spirit. Confronting unfavorable situations with a smile is the essence of an adventurer.」

Emera’s time to test her new sword, and fulfill her actual role as frontliner, had finally come. Her entire body was brimming with enthusiasm, and Arlon laughed, knowing that no matter what the reason was, having a positive outlook was always good. He had already started mowing down the dolls with his axe.

「Fricca, you focus on decoding the barrier, Zef will watch over you no matter what!」

Without asking first, Emera pushed that role onto Zef and ran out to fight the dolls.

「Isn’t that a volunteer thing usually? Shouting ‘I’ll protect you with my life’ or something like that?」

Zef mumbled as he walked to Fricca’s side, where Emera had been standing earlier.

「You’ll only bring yourself down thinking about it. So just don’t question it, Zef.」
「Okay okay, I’ll just do it then.」

Fricca replied in her usual attitude, her hands still busy working on the barrier. Zef stood behind her, cutting down the dolls that charged at them with his dagger. The blade easily severed their bodies, destroying even the spirit arms they were equipped with.

「Woah, that’s a sharp edge alright.」

Zef was impressed with the white blade carefully crafted by Dovalin, he then chuckled watching Emera further away, easily cutting apart the dolls with swings of her sword.