We had been advancing through the Northern Demon Zone while smoothly kicking away the monsters.

However

[That scream just now]

Suddenly, it happened.

The earth trembled, and the monsters began another great march.

Seras looks towards me.

[Touka-dono, this is]

Running my gaze over the surroundings, I nodded.

[Yeah.]

Its just like last time.

[Pigimaru.]

I didnt hesitate to make this decision.

Fusing with Pigimaru- Our combination technique.

-Creak-

A large amount of tentacles, resembling thick octopus legs formed and wriggled in the air.

Could this be the effect of the recent enhancement?

Pigimarus tentacles became thicker.

Splosh!

Theyre radiantly spreading out from behind.

A large number of monsters jumped out from the bushes from all directions.

This amount of monsters

Is it possible that the voice just now came out from one of the underground ruins scattered about in this place?

And of course

[No wonder theyre coming after us whenever they see us.]

Varying in length, thickness and number, tentacles shoot out around me.

[Kisshiiiiaaaaaahhhh]

[<Paralyze>]

[Uggeeeehhhh]

The monsters within the range of the tentacles tip were paralyzed and left behind.

And towards those monsters who were still in range- I invoke <Berserk> to finish them off with my combo.

Since were charging forward, its difficult to get all the paralyzed monsters within my range.

With my hair fluttering in the wind, I look at the monsters bleeding to death behind us.

[Im guessing its that Kuchiyose again, summoning them from somewhere.]

The sound was quite distant.

However, it definitely sounded like that scream before.

And, the monsters are heading north in unison.

It seems like the Kuchiyoses summons were invoked somewhere in the north.

Slashing down upon a nearby small monster with her sword, Eve curses this Kuchiyoses bad timing.

[Of all the times that it shouts, it had to be at a time like this]

Just then, a white bird approached the chariot.

Seras raised her bow upon seeing it.

[Wait.]

I stopped them from moving.

This bird doesnt have a golden eye.

Most of all

[It looks like this has something to say]

This will just be brief.

I exchange glances with Seras.

[Its Erika huh.]

Apparently, this bird is her familiar.

The familiar perches on my shoulder.

Thanks to my interception, the momentum of the attacking monsters has slowed down a bit.

However, theres still a large amount of monsters moving in the distance.

The monsters in the vicinity havent gone to zero yet either.

Still keeping combat ready, I urge her to continue.

[What is it?]

You do know that a little further north from where all of you are now, theres the Anti-Demon White Castle, right?

Ive already confirmed the location of that castle back when I was in the Witchs home.

It was said to be a castle made for the Demon Zone but

Right now, its being attacked by the Great Demon Emperors army and the monsters from the Demon Zone.

[Do you want me to take another route and go around it?]

Its the opposite.

[The opposite?]

Earlier, I was able to identify that the military flags around the Anti-Demon White Castle are those of Alion Kingdom, Bakuos Empire, and

The familiars eyes turn towards Seras.

Holy Kingdom of Neia.

[!]

Seras became agitated.

Cattleya Stramius is probably in that place, leading the Neia army.

The princess.

[Alions army is in there huh? What about Vysis?]

Ive learned through the ears of my familiar that Vysis and alos, the S-Rank Hero Kirihara have left a while ago, heading east.

Putting Kirihara aside, even that f*cking Goddess is absent?

Well, this is good news in this situation since I still dont have any means to oppose her.

[What else?]

Im sorry, but I wasnt sure which Heroes were in there and which werent.

[I see. Either way, we dont have any choice but to go there Right, Seras?]

[Yes.]

Without hesitation, Seras nodded her head.

[Please.]

Be careful there, Touka.

Erika warns.

From what Ive observed over there before looking for you all, the Great Demon Emperors army probably has a few Confidant-rank among them. In addition, they were flanked by the monsters from the Northern Demon Zone and there would probably some Human-Faced among them.

The Great Demon Emperors side is probably the one who set this up.

If Erika and my theory are right, then the Root of All Evil cant directly produce the Human-Faced.

The Human-Faced are powerful monsters.

In that case, it wouldnt be surprising that the Great Demon Emperor would want to make use of the Human-Faced that had already existed from back then.

Theyre indeed Human-Faced, but they werent really on par with those Confidants.

[Are those guys strong?]

You can just think of them as the executives with strength second only to the Root of All Evil. How should I say this but I think that since the Great Demon Emperors side deployed them, it seems like hes already decided on conquering this side

Since the Humans side strength couldnt be grasped if you include the Heroes, it will be hard for them to be optimistic.

Touka.

Erika spoke.

Feel free to use the weapons Erika gave you before.

[]

As I explained before, theyre all just prototypes that dont have much durability. Its like were using up all of their remaining time, but I can still guarantee their power. I dont think this magical chariot would have any further uses either, so feel free to dispose it Anyway, quickly go to the north.

[Erika.]

I gently pat the familiar.

[Thank you for telling me these.]

The familiar looks like its nodding his head.

Taking off from my shoulder, the familiar flew away.

I remembered that conversing through the familiar is pretty draining.

Erika said that before.

Its so draining that she wont be able to move for a day or two.

[Considering that exhaustion she talked about before, it looks like we wont be able to rely on Erikas familiar for a while hereafter. I guess that means we wont be able to obtain any more real-time information from now on.]

I could see gratitude on Seras expression as she said that.

[However, if we didnt get that information just now]

[Yeah We might have taken a different route, avoiding the route to the Anti-Demon White Castle where those monsters are headed. We should be grateful to Erika for that. Now then]

While I crush the monsters with my Abnormal State Skill in between our conversation, I call out to them.

[Eve, Seras.]

The two of them, who are already back to being combat ready, replied.

[What is it?]

[Umu.]

[At worst, I may have to rush to the Princesss rescue without you guys.]

Grabbing the spear that had been set up on the wall of the magic chariot, Eve jumped.

She dexterously landed next to me and held out the spear.

Grabbing the spear with a crystal embedded in it, I flung it to a monster.

[If we werent able to catch up to you, you will send the both of us back to the Witchs home- I already know that.]

[Especially if Im not sure if you could defeat a monster without dying. If I judged that you have suffered a life-threatening injury, no matter how little it is, I will send you back to Liz at that point. Understand?]

Eve let out a short chuckle.

[Acknowledged.]

Saying that, Eve threw a sword with a glowing tip.

The tip of the spear pierces a large monster running parallel to us.

And then

Fwuusshhhaaa!

A bluish white flame burst out, and engulfed the monster in flames.

The monster screamed and tried attacking us with its burning body.

However, it ran out of strength along the way and was left behind our backs.

[Umu. Even if its a large monster, I think I can fight them myself with the weapons that the Witch made and loaded into this magical chariot.]

[Me and my Abnormal State Skill arent that all-rounded either. There may be some of them who could slip past me- Therefore, Ill leave those monsters to the both of you, just like before.]

[Dont worry about them.]

Glancing at me with her emerald eyes, Eves ears twitched.

[These eyes and ears of mine will keep them from slipping through.]

A smile appeared on the edge of my mouth, Fuunnnn I snorted.

I place my hand on the turret of the magical chariot.

I then turned the gun barrel around and sent magical energy into the crystal built into the turret.

The tip of the turret began flickering with bluish-white light.

Then, a bluish-white laser was fired, piercing a distant monster that was closing in towards us.

The monster flew back, blood flowing out of its chest and tumbled down on the ground.

[Well have to leave some of the weapons behind when we get there But for now, its up to us how we want to get through this.]

Currently, it was like were being surrounded by monsters as we moved.

We need to arrive at the Anti-Demon White Castle as soon as possible while kick these monsters away from this group.

Seras- deployed her Regalia of the Spirits.

Leaping from the top of the chariot, she slashed down on a monster with a single slash of her icy blade.

With that, Seras was in mid-air.

[Sh*t-]

I extend out the tentacles and wrap them around Seras.

I then pulled up Seras who had lost control of her body while in mid-air.

She is now back on the chariot again.

[M- My apologies]

[Dont worry about it. However, dont be hasty. Well I understand how you feel.]

Even though she got back to her fighting stance, Seras expression is cloudy.

She was being swayed with impatience.

Well, its not impossible to guess whats on her mind.

This time, Princess Cattleyas life may be in danger.

It would be more difficult to tell her to keep calm.

However, theres nothing I can do about it.

Its no longer possible to know about the situation through Erikas familiar.

Now, how long can the people near the Anti-Demon White Castle hold out?

Of course, it will be better if they have the strength to defeat the enemies but

[.]

Redeploying my tentacles around extensively, I unleashed my Abnormal State Skill.

I wonder how much time has passed.

And How many of them have I killed?

The magical chariot is maintaining its speed- or rather, its rushing forward while increasing its speed.

The corpses of the monsters began piling up and scattered around as we continued running forward.

Looking behind us, I could see a trail of corpses laid out on the ground.

There were some Human-Faced among them.

Climbing over the corpses of their allies, the monsters had their eye wide open as they continued running without pause.

Weve been crushing every single monster we can on the way.

By now, the magical tank has been destroyed in some places.

There was a hint of exhaustion from Seras and Eve.

Ive also cancelled my combination technique with Pigimaru for now.

Its because Pigimaru collapsed from exhaustion before I could ran out of MP.

Well, it cant be helped.

I will continue killing, kill and killed all the monsters in sight.

It wasnt easy making this path of slaughter.

The monsters that was living in the Northern Demon Zone were now rushing in all of the time.

Ive been using my Abnormal State Skills, which includes <Slow> sometimes.

Thanks to this, weve managed to make it this far without anyone falling behind

[Hah, hyaahhh! Touka-dono Are you alright? I think you should leave them to me and Eve for a while, and you should at least get some rest]

The more MP I consume and the more magical energy I generate, the more burden my body will have to carry.

It will continuously increase.

Im sure my body is starting to scream, just like Pigimarus case.

However

[It isnt that great of a deal. Im a Hero, I have my level ups and status correction. I could last much longer compared to a certain normal High Elf or Leopardkin.]

Well, its not that Im not tired.

This 360-degree all-out battle while I maintained my combination with Pigimaru was unbearable for me.

However, I cant let my fatigue be known to them.

Above all, lasting much longer compared to them- isnt a lie.

Its also true that its not that great of a deal- when I compared this to back when I was in the Disposal Ruins.

This isnt a lie that she can see through.

Seras ability to see through lies can be used to determine if someone is deceiving her, but that could also be used for the opposite case.

As long as I can show her that it isnt a lie, Seras will have no choice but to believe it.

[Its more about whether we can make it there in time.]

Seriousness appeared on Seras white slender face.

Then, she stared towards the north.

Slightly wounded while her arm was bandaged, Eve looks behind her.

[For the time being, the fierce attacks of monsters seems to have subsided]

So far, there isnt any presence of monsters nearby.

Maybe its because weve already killed the monsters that were moving in our direction around this area, or perhaps

[The monsters around this area already arrived to the Anti-Demon White Castle huh.]

If that were the case

[Its possible that the Anti-Demon White Castle is nearby.]

However, the amount of monsters that can be described as uncommon

It seems that there are more monsters living in the Golden Demon Zone than I had imagined.

There are probably quite a few monsters lurking in the underground ruins.

If all those monsters were to come out of the ground

[..]

I dont even want to think about it.

I take out my Fly King mask.

[Its time for the both of you to prepare hiding your identities too. For the time being, you might as well use your bangle to turn into your Human form, Eve.]

[Touka, can I ask you something?]

[Hmm?]

[According to our original plan, we were supposed to enter the royal capital of the Magnar Kingdom, where we were supposed to blend in with the mercenaries, joining the Southern Army. However, if we just suddenly appear from within the Demon Zone to join the fight.. Would we be able to just pass as mercenaries? Also, I want to ask about Erikas handmade magic tools Most of all, if you use your Abnormal State Skill, your identity as a Hero from Another World will be revealed, isnt it bad since you want to hide your identity?]

[Youre strangely perceptive, Eve.]

The idea of sneaking in under the radar as a mercenary is most likely ruined.

Even though the goddess isnt there, we would stand out even if we didnt want to when we began defeating the monsters with our mysterious powers.

If the existence of that mysterious power could get into the goddess ears, she might end up thinking that Mimori Touka is still alive.

No matter how much I try to hide my appearance, it will show my identity from my skills.

The enemy isnt so naive that Ill be able to win against them without my skills.

If thats the case We need to provide some kind of cover for us.

[The point is that it would be better to deceive them. Well, I cant deny that its just an impromptu measure but.. I already have some measures in mind.]

I look at the Fly King mask in my hand.

[I think its about time for the ghost to make its appearance again.]

[Ghost, you say?]

[But for now, we just have to hope that the Princess is safe until we arrive]

Putting my mask on, I turn towards the front of our chariot.

[Thats right It will all be meaningless unless the princess is safe. Its going to be tough- but please hold on a little longer, Slei.]

The sweat-soaked Slei increased her speed even more as she roared in reply.

If everything is already cleaned up even before we arrive, then so be it.

However, since real-time information isnt available, we should prepare for the worst and hurry.

After that

[Were going to have to bet on how well those guys over there can do.]