We finally found where the monsters were hidden based on my theory behind Princess Aure’s “Summoning Magic” . If my guess behind the “summoned monsters” was correct, then defeating this monster here would help Lutra’s odds of victory as I ran at full speed while preparing a chant . I told everyone else to focus on the human guards as our goal would also be achieved if the person activating teleport was incapicitated as well .

Among the three mercenaries, one of them wore a robe which covered his entire body whom began chanting as another mercenary equipped with powerful enchanted metal armour stood as his guard . In an attempt to interrupt the magician, Phil and Til fired their arrows to him but the guard’s armour was extremely st.u.r.dy as their arrows couldn’t put a dent into it .

Although we began chanting nearly simultaneously, the magician’s spell was completed before me as it began to cast the advanced magic Purgatory . It’s main feature was its explosive power and wide radius as flames began to fill our surroundings turning it into a fiery h.e.l.l, making it impossible to dodge in this narrow corridor . It was an ability strong enough to eliminate us in a single blow .

However there was no need to panic .

I had reliable teammates .

  [Icy Veil] (Phil)

  [Kyu!]

Phil activated her spell which reduced fire damage while Erik granted flame and ice resistance to our entire party with his Blessing of the Dragon .

With these, we wouldn’t receive fatal damage from the flames as I continued to run through the sea of flames .

My skin continued to burn as I continued suffering damage to my body, however I could still fight . This was the specialty of the Magic Knight .

Despite having low defense, magic knights had exceptional magical defense . Along with my dragon leather armour, I was confident I would be able to endure Purgatory without any buffs but with Erik and Phil’s support, then I’m extremely confident .

Luna began smiling from behind me . Since day one, I’ve always instructed Luna to hide behind me or Lutra if we were attacked by a wide area spell since Thieves had extremely low physical strength, physical and magical defense .

  [Now it’s my turn . ] (Yuuya)

My chant completed at a good moment as I casted my customized version of Lightning storm made into a sniper-type spell .

  [Superconductive Bullet!] (Yuuya)

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Lightning storm which was compressed into a single bullet penetrated the wizard at light speed . Furthermore the paralysis effect of the lightning affected his consciousness as he fell to the ground . The other two consisted of a large man and a thin man as the both of them came within my sword’s range . The thin man was rus.h.i.+ng to open the door of the cage which pushed me to target him first . In order to defeat him, I turned towards the thin man .

  [War Cry!] 

The moment I raised my blade, the large man used War Cry which had a small effect onto other humans . However it still had an effect as my movements came to a halt while my mind was struggling to fight against the rage I felt towards the large man . Taking advantage of that moment, he swung his blade towards me .

As if he was used to being in combat with other people… He knew how to take advantage of his skills . Although my judgement was halted in that moment, I had the technique to compensate as the large man screamed .

  [OUHHHHHH! BAs.h.!.+] (Yuuya)

Since there wasn’t a timing for me to dodge, I twisted my body to receive the blade on the hardest part of my body, the leather armour covering my shoulder . Since the armour covering my shoulder was round, by adjusting my body at a specific angle I deflected the slash by jumping up at the moment of impact, reducing the slash to a dull impact .  

My Deflect wasn’t limited to my blade . It was my special technique derived from utilizing my body movements, making it possible to deflect so long as I had my body .  

Being guided by my sudden jump, the blade was guided down to the ground as the large man’s face distorts in pain while grabbing his wrist .  

From the range of a blade, I took one step in reducing the distance to an arm’s length .

I didn’t have my sword in my hands, however there was no problem as I channeled my power from my feet up all the way to my palms, shoving his chin upwards in an instant . The large man fell to the ground in an instant as his body began conversing . This wasn’t a skill but a martial art which had significantly weaker power compared to skills . However this meant that it could be utilized even without dealing any damage by rattling your opponent’s brain and cutting their consciousness .

This was another way I utilised to close my status gap in the past as it allowed me to defeat stronger warriors with a single blow with the exception of exclusive cla.s.ses depending on their ability .

  [a.s.sa.s.sinate!] (Luna)

The sound of ringing resonated in the room as Luna’s voice could be heard . The thin man s.h.i.+fted Luna’s point of impact from his chest to his shoulder similar to how I did but with his back facing Luna . As expected, these men were experienced in man-to-man combat . However, as a result of the dull impact he was pushed onto the cage and dropped the key onto the ground . Following the small stream of blood from his shoulder to his hands was a ring . It was the Eternal Ring which was capable of casting Teleportation .

This is bad, he’s intending to open the door and teleport the monster away . It would be dangerous if the monster was transferred into the coliseum before the battle between Princess Aure and Lutra begins . Luna was hesitant on attacking an incapcitated opponent to death as he began casting Teleportation . The moment he was going to succeed, a blade flew towards him as it penetrated his head .

It was a brilliant display of accurate sword throwing, however it wasn’t me . .

  [Prince Aleck, I’m sorry . ] (Yuuya)

  [No, it seems the best was saved for last just for me . ] (Aleck)

He took the Eternal ring from the dead man’s body, throwing it to me while letting out a laugh . In contrast, Luna was depressed as her tail deflate down to the ground . I walked up to her and patted her head .

  […Yuuya, Luna could have killed him, but Luna couldn’t do it . Luna expected that he s.h.i.+fted the impact… But Luna’s body couldn’t move . When he reached out for the ring, Luna still couldn’t move . Sorry, the plan nearly failed because of Luna . ] (Luna)

  [Killing monsters is different from killing people . Hesitation is a real thing . ] (Yuuya)

Luna was hesitant about taking other people’s lives even though the other party was definitely a villian . From a different perspective, it may seem weird to hesitate against a villain but killing was still something you had to get used to .

But it was something you shouldn’t be used to .

Luna began to cling onto me as I hugged her on her shoulders .  

It’s been awhile since we slept together but we might have to tonight .  

She may be feeling depressed, but it just goes to show how good-natured she was .

  [Yuuya, it’s great that we managed to neutralize them without killing excessively . ] (Phil)

  [That palm technique is so cool, teach it to me next time! I want to try it . ] (Til)

Phil and Til came over as Phil had already tied up the magician and the fainted man while she began performing first aid onto the big man .

We have already recovered the Eternal ring making it impossible for the monsters to escape the cage and with two minutes to spare . . With this, Princess Aure has lost her hand .

  [Prince Aleck, what will you do with that monster? Are you going to kill it . It shouldn’t be able to escape the cage without the ring . ] (Yuuya)

  [If possible, I hope to keep it alive . If I have my alchemists perform research on it then we might be able to discover something . ] (Aleck)

  [I understand . Then I’ll leave this to you . ] (Yuuya)

Since my job is done and I want to support Lutra, we might be able to make it to the beginning of the match . In that case, let’s do what we have to do .

At the moment, the large man whom Phil tied up woke up . He started grinning as he laughed out loud . In this situation where his ally died, he and his remaining ally was tied up and both the key and Eternal ring was taken away from him .

  [What’s so funny?] (Yuuya)

  [Haa, you really think I’ll answer?]

  [… . Then would you rather have it beat out of you?] (Yuuya)

That wasn’t an empty threat . It was something I would do if necessary .

  [No, that’s unnecessary . Prince Aleck, how about a deal? Princess Aure told us that you’re a siscon . I’ll give you the information on how to save your cute sister . In exchange, release me . Even if you were to torture me, I would never open my mouth . Furthermore, this information is something that you should never know . ] 

Prince Aleck placed his hand to his chin as he immediately came to a decision .

  [Sure . I guarantee your life as the first prince of the Laluzulu Kingdom, Prince Aleck Lazule . My conditions are for you to be restraint for a week and for you to answer my questions . Also, I’ll have you reveal your organization’s goals and forbid you from returning to your base and have you monitored for several years . ] (Aleck)

  [Your decision was quick . I admire your additional conditions . . Oi oi . Don’t look at me with such suspicious eyes . I would never tell a lie in front of such a scary uncle . I’m not hoping for a death wish this early . If I don’t meet the conditions, I can tell from his eyes that I would be lucky to be killed in the future . ] 

He was talking as if I was a madman or a psychopath . Although I don’t deny his a.s.sumption since I would do it if necessary . And I was confident in spotting a lie when I see one . I turned to the prince .

  [Let’s believe him . ] (Yuuya)

  [Then, let’s talk about what you hope to hear the most… . There is another location where monsters are being held as well as another person capable of using teleportation . They would teleport the monsters once Princess Aure sends a signal using an alarm . If no monsters were sent once she activated the alarm, then she would sound the alarm a second time which the guys in the other location will teleport monsters . ] 

We were done in . Princess Aure was one step ahead of us as she had not just one group but two group of monsters .

  [Where is that location!] (Yuuya)

  [I don’t know . Princess Aure is more paranoid than anyone else . She doesn’t trust her organization . Heck she doesn’t even trust her own brothers and sisters . Ahahahaha . Just how was she raised as a child . Was that castle a h.e.l.l?] 

I began to think as if my life depended on it . It was impossible for us to find another hidden room when we had one minute left before the match started to prevent teleportation .

In that case, there is only one thing left to do .

  [Everyone, I’ll begin heading towards Lutra . Even if she loses the battle, I can’t allow her to lose her life . ] (Yuuya)

I strongly a.s.serted that fact as Lutra would most certainly die if she faced up against several levels fifty monsters alone . I hope that if that happens, that she would surrender but the Lutra I knew would never surrender . And even if she did, Princess Aure might attempt to kill her in the guise of an accident just like what happened with PRince Aleck .

. . In fact, it looks like Princess Aure planned to begin her rule by killing her other brothers and sisters .

  [But Yuuya, how are you going to get there in time? There’s only thirty seconds left . ] (Luna)

  [I have this . ] (Yuuya)

The Eternal Ring which allows a limited number of teleportations . I’m sure that the thin man hesitated using the ring immediately due to its limited uses however there should at least be one use left for a monster .

  [Uhn . Please take care of Lutra!] (Luna)

  [We’ll join up with you as soon as possible . ] (Phil)

  [Yuuyniisan, hold out until we get there!] (Til)

  [Kyu!] 

I had reliable friends as I whispered before activating the ring .  

  [Yuuydono . I leave my sister to you . ] (Aleck)

  [I intended that from the beginning . Although, it may not be my time to s.h.i.+ne . We may have created a situation for Lutra to win . Princess Aure may have outsmarted us, but our trip here wasn’t a waste . The key to victory has been set . ] (Yuuya)

It was definitely not a waste for us to come here . We were able to create a situation for Lutra to win if she chose correctly without hesitation . The rest depends on her shoulders now . If she was right, then she deserves the praise . However, if she fails, then I’ll save her as her knight . The moment Princess Aure becomes the queen, then she will definitely attempt to kill Lutra . In that case, it might really be better for us to take Lutra with us on our journey .

The teleportation was completed five seconds later after my chant as I began teleporting towards Lutra .