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Chapter 45

Grrrr-

A growl echoed from the darkness.

Heightening my vigilance, I calmly assessed the situation.

\'The passage has been breached.\'

I didn\'t know the cause, but the passage had been breached.

The seven \'Imps\' baring their fangs and glowing red eyes in front of us were proof of that.

"We\'re in big trouble now, right? Mr. First Place."

Thompson asked me, seemingly aware of the situation.

"As you can see... it seems so."

I wasn\'t talking about the group of Imps in front of us.

Imps were the lowest-ranking demons among the demon race.

Although we were outnumbered, considering our current combat strength, they weren\'t much of a threat.

However.

"It seems we won\'t need to go outside the border."

"Huh, how could this happen..."

The very fact that these guys were here was the problem.

If they had invaded this place, it meant they were also in Sector 7.

And that meant Sector 7 was likely devastated.

"We need to hurry. Let\'s take care of them quickly."

Yes, we couldn\'t be sure of anything until we saw it for ourselves.

Getting out of here was the top priority.

"...I\'ll take care of the ones in front."

Whoosh!

Barundel, who was at the forefront, swiftly kicked off the ground.

In his right hand was the vicious axe he had newly acquired.

Finally, the moment had come for his burdensome equipment to shine.

At the same time.

Bang-!

Thompson, holding a giant wooden shield, encased himself in rock magic and leaped high into the air.

An intimidating jump as always.

I could imagine the fate of the Imp that would be crushed under his massive body.

"Haa!"

Following that, Kayla\'s barrage of flames began.

She, too, unleashed a relentless stream of larger and more powerful fireballs thanks to the equipment she had acquired.

And next was me.

Crackle! Buzz!

I instantly covered myself in lightning magic and created a sphere of light in my hand.

Simultaneously.

Dash!

I fearlessly jumped into the midst of the Imps.

My targets were the three Imps in the rear.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

The Imps, noticing the attack, rushed at me from all directions, baring their sharp fangs... but perhaps because I had already encountered countless demons in Aldeon?

Honestly, I wasn\'t scared in the slightest anymore.

And that was probably the same for the other members.

Bam! Thud! Crack! Whoosh!

Whimper! Yelp! Whimper!

The almost simultaneous attacks began to brutally crush the Imps.

Screech!

Listening to their cries, I almost felt sorry for them, but they were demons.

We showed no mercy, and the battle ended in the blink of an eye.

"Damn you, you mutts! How did you even get in here?"

Thompson, covered in Imp blood, said, shaking himself off in disgust.

"...Well..."

There was no way anyone could answer that question.

"Let\'s keep going."

Rather than exchanging pointless questions, we decided to move on.

And soon we were able to figure out the source of the stench.

"Ugh!"

"...What a mess."

Dozens of corpses scattered throughout the passage were visible in the light of the luminescent stones.

Most of their bodies were mutilated, as if the Imps had gnawed on them.

Worms were swarming around the decaying parts, and that was the source of the stench.

"This is more serious than I thought."

"Just from what I\'ve seen, there are easily dozens of corpses. There\'s no way this many people would use the passage..."

"They must have been fleeing. If Sector 7 was breached, this would be the only place to go. People probably flocked to the main gate as well."

"...Is that so? This is the worst, Mr. First Place."

"Sigh..."

Thud, thud, thud...

We pressed on, enduring the disgusting smell.

Soon, we reached the end of the passage.

There was only a ladder leading upwards.

"This is Sector 7."

From here, Kayla took the lead.

She was the one who knew the geography of Sector 7 best among the current members.

"...Follow me."

Kayla signaled with her hand and climbed the ladder first, and we followed her.

After a while.

"We\'re on the surface."

We finally reached the surface we had been waiting for.

And as expected, the sight that unfolded before us was...

"...This place too."

It was incomparably more devastating than the underground passage.

Dozens, hundreds of corpses were scattered everywhere, and traces of resistance and fierce battles filled the streets.

"..."

No one could easily speak at the sight.

Silence hung in the air among the party members.

"Excuse me."

We spotted a passerby and immediately stopped him.

Just by touching him, he was startled and said with a flustered face,

"Wh-what is it?"

"What happened here?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"How did this place end up like this?"

The passerby, who was looking at me with an incomprehensible expression, suddenly widened his eyes as if he had realized something.

"You... Are you people from the inner sectors?"

When I silently nodded, he glanced at me and my companions and hurriedly continued,

"Reinforcements! You\'re here as reinforcements, right? You seem like mages!"

"..."

I could sense the desperation in his voice.

How should I answer?

"...Aren\'t you?"

I decided to be honest rather than give him false hope.

"We happened to stop by. Reinforcements... well, I didn\'t see anyone who escaped through the underground passage."

"Ah..."

The passerby\'s face darkened rapidly.

"You\'re not... here to help us?"

"Well, that\'s..."

I naturally looked at the party members behind me.

Instead of saying anything, they silently nodded.

It seemed they felt the same way I did.

"If you want us to eliminate the demons, we\'re willing to help."

"...Really?"

"Yes, so please explain. What happened?"

Did he find hope in those words?

The passerby\'s vacant eyes were quickly filled with life.

"This, this way first. It\'s dangerous here."

He looked around a few times and then abruptly headed somewhere.

The place he led us to was a nearby three-story abandoned building.

Judging from the barricade at the entrance and the signs of life, it seemed like this passerby was using it as a temporary shelter.

"Here... This is all I can offer you."

He held something out with an apologetic look.

It was a few pieces of broken biscuits.

But even this would be precious food in the current situation.

The fact that he offered this meant that he was incredibly desperate.

"We\'re fine, so please tell us."

"...Ah, yes."

Munch, munch.

He continued speaking while chewing on the biscuits.

"It was three days ago. A demon with a single horn, in the form of a bull, suddenly invaded this place."

"...A bull with a single horn?"

"Yes, I saw it myself, although it was from a distance. It was definitely a bull."

He said with a convinced tone.

\'A bull with a single horn...\'

If it looked like that, there was one that came to mind...

But for now, I focused on the passerby\'s words.

"Anyway, it invaded alone and started destroying our sector."

"...What about the guards? There should be guards in Sector 7 too."

"Of course they tried to stop it. But... it wasn\'t a fight. It was just a one-sided massacre."

Thump! Thump!

Was it because of the biscuit stuck in his throat, or was it because he recalled the events of that day?

The passerby pounded his chest in frustration and continued,

"Ahem! Ahem! Ah, I\'m sorry."

"It\'s alright. Please continue."

"After crushing the guards, it disappeared, and we were relieved. We didn\'t know why it came here, but we thought it was over. But..."

"It wasn\'t the end."

"...No, that was just the beginning. The next day, hundreds of demons swarmed in."

"..."

"And then, well, as you can see..."

I followed the passerby\'s gaze and looked around.

Sector 7 was a devastating sight.

The strong stench of blood lingered in the air.

It was only natural.

The people of Sector 7, without walls or guards, would have no way to withstand hundreds of demons.

And above all...

The demon in the form of a bull with a single horn.

\'Valefor.\'

From the moment he, who held the position of Demon of Greed, appeared, the fall of Sector 7 within three days was already a foregone conclusion.

The one thing that bothered me here was...

\'Why?\'

I couldn\'t understand why they had caused this situation.

Was there something in Sector 7 that they coveted?

\'...Well...\'

That seemed unlikely.

What could possibly be left in this remote sector that even Asternon had abandoned?

I came to that conclusion and thought of another possibility.

\'Then, was the invasion itself the goal?\'

It wasn\'t an entirely implausible story.

But it also didn\'t seem very likely.

If invasion was really their objective, they would have attacked Sector 6 immediately after destroying Sector 7.

But just recalling the situation in the underground passage we had passed through...

\'Then they wouldn\'t have left Imps like that there.\'

There was no sign of that.

In the end, I couldn\'t come up with a clear answer.

"So... will you help us?"

The anxious passerby formally asked for help.

There was no reason not to help.

Our purpose in coming here was to hunt, and we could sufficiently achieve that purpose by helping this person here.

However.

\'The other members...\'

Before making a decision, I looked around at the party members who were sitting in a circle.

Fortunately, they seemed to feel the same way this time as well.

Barundel nodded, and Thompson clenched his fist as if it were a matter of course.

And when my eyes met Kayla\'s...

"Wait a minute."

She pointed at the passerby with a frown.

"Hey, mister. What exactly do you want us to help you with? Do you want us to beat up all the demons wandering around here?"

The passerby answered calmly, without getting flustered.

"Yes, that would be enough. We can manage the rest on our own."

"Why go so far? Can\'t you just flee to another place? Why cling to this dump?"

"...Yes, mage, you\'re absolutely right. But... even this dump is my home and my hometown. I want to protect it."

"Oh, is that so?"

I looked at Kayla\'s face, who had stopped talking.

She still looked displeased, but she wasn\'t showing any signs of disapproval.

When our eyes met, she reluctantly nodded.

That settled it.

"Alright. We\'ll help you."

"Th-thank you so much!"

The passerby repeatedly bowed, expressing his sincere gratitude.

I waved my hand dismissively and asked him,

"So what should we do first?"

"It\'s too late. Please rest for today. You\'ll be relatively safe if you stay here."

"Hmm, okay."

After the conversation, we were led by the passerby to the second floor to rest, and I headed upstairs with the party.

As we were going up the stairs, thump!

Someone grabbed my wrist from behind.

I turned my head to see Kayla.

"Why? What\'s wrong?"

She opened her mouth with a very uneasy expression.

"There\'s something strange. You know I\'m from here, right?"

"I know."

Of course, I knew that.

This was where I first met her, after all.

But why was she suddenly bringing this up?

She hesitated for a moment and then said,

"But you see, I\'ve never seen that mister before."

"...What?"

With those words, I could sense it.

That something was wrong.