novelraw Chapter 74 : Chapter 74
Chapter 74 : Chapter 74
Chapter 74. The Entrance to Hell (6)
“I’m bored to death.”
Lucifer muttered with a listless face.
It wasn’t just Lucifer.
All the other Archdemons were sprawled out with bored expressions.
It had only been a few hours since Frank’s party, including Mammon, had left this place, but Lucifer was wandering around like an unbridled colt, looking for something fun to do.
Then, his eyes landed on Mammon’s treasure, which Mammon had told him never to touch.
“There’s just too much of it.”
There wasn’t enough space for them to rest because of the treasure.
More than half of this place was filled with Mammon’s treasure.
That had always been a complaint, but to think such a golden opportunity would arise.
He used magic to collapse the ground where the treasure was located in one fell swoop.
Rumble, boom!
A cloud of dust rose, and a giant sinkhole formed, swallowing the treasure.
The demons were flustered by Lucifer’s sudden action.
But Lucifer used magic to create one shovel for each of them and handed them out to his brothers.
“What’s with the shovels?”
“We have to bury that.”
“Eh? Mammon will be angry.”
“It’s fine since we didn’t throw it away. What kind of brothers are we if we can’t even pull a prank like this. Right?”
His brothers just blinked their big eyes and soon grinned.
Lucifer also gave a wicked smile and opened his mouth.
“We will now begin the shoveling. Commence.”
“Commence!”
They shouted the same slogan and shoveled vigorously.
“We are demons who can’t live without pranks~♪”
“Heave, ho!”
Before long, the treasures were buried under the hard ground and completely disappeared.
As if they had never existed in this place from the beginning.
Joyful laughter overflowed.
“Uahaha! I finally feel so refreshed.”
“Tell me about it. I’m already curious what kind of face Mammon will make when he comes back and sees this. Hehe.”
But was this level of prank not enough to satisfy them?
Asmodeus brought up something out of the blue.
“Since we’re bored, how about we go outside for a bit? We can’t feel Primus' presence at all, can we?”
Beelzebub chimed in, saying it seemed like a good idea.
“I think it’ll be fine. Now is our chance, with no arrogant dragon and no Frank.”
As one after another raised their voices, saying it sounded fun, Lucifer, with a monocle from who knows where, examined the contract with Frank.
“Hmm. There’s no clause saying we can’t go outside.”
“Oh! Then, we can go out right away!”
“It’s not in the contract, but Frank warned us never to harm the miners above. If we just stick to that, it should be fine.”
“Go! Even if you can’t eat it, go!”
Lucifer slowly nodded his head and suggested that if they just went out, the miners might be surprised, so how about they first conceal themselves with invisibility magic, leave the village, and then transform into humans.
“That sounds fun! While we’re at it, let’s transform into the form of young girls. That’s the appearance that humans let their guard down the most for.”
They concealed themselves with invisibility magic and secretly slipped out of the gold mine.
After quickly leaving Rarc Village, they transformed into human girls as they had agreed beforehand.
Their appearances were all different, but among them, Satan’s appearance was overwhelming.
“How do I look?”
“Fuck. I thought you were an angel.”
“Cute. The pigtails are very impressive.”
“Phew, so dazzling. Isn’t this a bit much?”
To think that the identity of this cute girl, who seemed like she wouldn't exist in reality, was Satan, the most belligerent of the brothers.
As praise for Satan continued, Beelzebub whined for them to look at him too.
“Rate me too!”
What is this ugly woman.
Beelzebub had transformed into an unimaginable appearance.
His brothers held their stomachs and laughed at his appearance of a bald country girl with a face full of freckles.
“Hehehe. So ugly. It would be even better if your belly stuck out too.”
“Like this?”
Vwoom.
In an instant, Beelzebub’s belly swelled up like a frog’s.
His appearance was so funny that Leviathan rolled on the floor, gasping for breath.
“Gasp. Wheeze. Th-this is truly a work of art.”
The demons teased each other and enjoyed their long-awaited freedom.
Anyone who didn't know would have mistaken them for teenage girls giggling at falling leaves.
But as fate would have it.
There was a man watching this in real-time.
If you were to ask why the demons didn’t stop his approach, the situation was a bit complicated.
He had such weak magical power that he didn’t seem like a dangerous person at all.
Since he clearly looked like an outsider and not a village resident, the demons did not guard against him at all.
Rather, they repeatedly pondered how they could tease him.
***
‘Cu-cute… How can such a cute creature exist?’
The identity of the person watching them was none other than Bruno.
He had to undergo a long investigation to be questioned about his relationship with the traitorous Marquis.
However, the investigation concluded that he had been used by the Marquis, and he was released without charge.
Exhausted from the long investigation, he returned his title and left the capital without a plan.
Because he wanted to meet the woman he so longed to see.
Anonymous.
But what is this?
‘That’s her. She must be the woman of my dreams that I’ve been searching for.’
Anonymous was no longer in his mind.
Because he had lost his heart in an instant to Satan, who had transformed into a girl with pigtails.
Except for one person, Beelzebub, the other girls were also very cute, but her cuteness was on another level.
Bruno cleared his throat and approached them.
“Ahem. Are you girls from Rarc Village?”
“Hmm. Who?”
Lucifer put a hand to his lips and pretended to be cute, but in Bruno’s eyes, there was only Satan.
“I am an adventurer traveling the country. I want to go to Rarc Village, could you perhaps show me the way?”
It was a lie.
In fact, he had been here a few times already.
But he didn’t want to intimidate the girls by asserting his status. No, Bruno had already given up his title, so he was no different from a commoner, but anyway.
Also, if he said he knew the way, he wouldn’t be able to have the girls guide him, so he deliberately pretended not to know.
‘Who is this guy?’
‘He seems to be a nobleman of quite a high rank.’
‘For that, his clothes are too simple. Maybe he’s a fallen noble.’
‘He’s perfect to play with.’
The demons’ understanding was aligned.
If they harassed the residents of the territory ruled by Frank, there could be controversy later, but if it was an outsider.
And a fallen noble at that, he would be perfect to play with.
Despite their vile schemes.
In Bruno’s eyes, it just looked like the cute girls were whispering among themselves.
Soon, they nodded their heads and cleared a path.
They had opened up a space between Satan and Lucifer in the middle, and it felt as if they were saying, ‘come here and walk with us.’
Bruno quickly squeezed in between them and nonchalantly placed his hand on Satan’s shoulder.
“Haha. I was just lost and wandering around, but you guys appeared at the right time. Thank you.”
Normally, she would have scowled and told him to remove his hand.
But the girl with the pigtails just flinched slightly.
She didn’t mind at all.
Rather, she slyly moved one hand and gently fiddled with his hand, and at that moment, Bruno felt a jolt as if he had been electrocuted.
‘What a windfall. Hehe.’
What will become of Bruno’s fate?
No one knew.
***
How many hours have we been flying?
Anonymous' speed was by no means slow, but the bottom was nowhere in sight.
In the meantime, we had to break countless anti-air barriers.
And not just the anti-air barriers.
Giant bats, bone wyverns, and other flying creatures frequently appeared to obstruct us.
Besides that, numerous undead could be seen along the walls, but since they had no wings, they couldn’t approach us.
“The further down we go, the more monsters there are.”
“There’s no need to be scared. It’s just a sign that we’re almost there.”
I said that, but just when I was starting to get a little tired of it.
The longed-for bottom finally revealed itself.
Anonymous slowed down and landed safely.
As soon as we all got off her back, she instantly transformed into a human.
“Good work.”
“Hmph. Is that all you’re going to say?”
“Then?”
“At least pat my head.”
I chuckled and patted Anonymous' head, then looked up.
It was so dark that not a single speck of light could be seen.
If we hadn't instantly teleported to the middle layer through Noemi.
If we hadn't been able to descend quickly on Anonymous.
If Mammon hadn't dismantled the traps as soon as they appeared.
‘We probably wouldn’t have broken through the upper levels yet.’
This is why capable companions are precious.
I nodded and praised the group.
“You’ve all worked hard to get here. Now only the final gateway remains. Don’t let your guard down, and let’s focus until the end.”
“Yes!”
“Yep!”
“Okay!”
“Just give the order.”
Morale boosted with one compliment.
As they say, praise can make even a whale dance.
In the meantime, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, an amazing scene was captured.
There were corpses scattered everywhere.
It felt as if the rotting undead were clinging to the walls like parasites, staring at us with grotesque faces.
“Ugh. How unpleasant.”
Adel frowned.
Even Noemi, who was always composed, dry-heaved.
But we couldn’t break down here.
The surroundings were blocked by huge rock walls, but there was a door in only one place.
The size was so narrow that only one adult could barely squeeze through.
Was it because I had told them that the ghost of the first Demon King was in there and that he used terrifying mental magic?
No one was willing to move their feet first.
However, there was one person who did not know this fact.
“Why is everyone so frozen? Isn’t that the final destination?”
Mammon, who knew nothing, strode towards the door.
As if the corpses under his feet were nothing.
He narrowed his eyes and examined the door closely.
“Hmm. I don’t see any traps.”
I’m sorry, Mammon.
There are no more traps there.
Only the ghost of the first Demon King.
“Just in case, I’d like you to open the door and check inside as well.”
“Sure.”
Mammon, who readily accepted my proposal, pushed the door without a second thought.
Screeeech.
As soon as the door opened.
Pew!
A purple beam shot out from inside at an incredible speed and hit Mammon on the forehead.
“Gasp!”
If this were an action manga, he would have fallen backwards with a fist-sized hole in his forehead, but fortunately, his forehead was fine.
However, he stood in front of the door with a dazed expression and didn’t seem to have any intention of moving.
‘Looks like he got hit directly by the mental magic.’
Mammon is no ordinary fellow.
Among the demons, he is an Archdemon.
It would not be an exaggeration to see him as Demon King-class.
The first Demon King’s attack was so fast that even a guy like him couldn’t avoid it, leaving no time to react.
I told everyone to be on alert and watched the situation for a while.
But no being appeared from the open crack of the door.
‘Is he doing that because Mammon is blocking the way?’
If so, this might be an opportunity.
I looked at Anonymous and asked.
“Is a Dungeon Core something that burns easily?”
“No. It probably won’t burn even if you throw it into lava.”
“What about a dragon’s breath?”
“Hmm. I don’t know if you were to continuously blast it, but it would be fine with one or two shots. It’s a nucleus condensed with high-level magical power.”
Is that so.
“Burn it.”
Anonymous, saying that was exactly what she had hoped for, transformed into a dragon and swiftly struck Mammon with her front paw.
Clatter, clatter.
Mammon, frozen without even a twitch, was slammed against the wall.
Seeing him bounce back and forth between the wall and the floor felt like watching a game of brick breaker.
At the same time, a tremendous amount of firepower was spewed from Anonymous' mouth.
Fwoooosh!!
Phew, that’s hot.
If I had been a little careless, my hair would have been burned off.
Soon, a chilling scream echoed.
“Kiyaaak!!”
Soon, a Lich King, his entire body ablaze, revealed himself.
Normally, he would have appeared in high spirits with an ominous blue fire wrapped around his entire body, but unfortunately, the fire clinging to his body was the red fire shot from Anonymous' mouth.
As soon as he came out the door, thud.
He collapsed to the floor and no longer moved.
It was certain that he was dead, but Anonymous mercilessly trampled on his corpse.
And with a very mischievous face.
‘Noemi is one thing, but I think there are many truly terrifying individuals around me.’
I shook my head and looked towards the door from which he had appeared.
Now all that was left was to obtain the Dungeon Core.
But, at that moment.
An unpleasant chill ran down my spine.
“…Something’s strange.“
I quietly stared at the Lich King’s corpse.
It was certain that he was dead.
And yet, it felt as if some living energy still remained in this space.
But I soon dismissed the thought.
Hadn’t Anonymous' breath hit him directly?
The confirmation kill was also certain.
There was no need to raise any unnecessary flags.
Of course.