Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle - Chapter 223

223 – A Perilous yet Perfect Cooperation

Excluding the Astrea Party, Fenix Party, and Wraith Party, there were only a few contestants left.

And those few remaining contestants are in the middle of the battle against four people. 

I’m heading there to assist them. 

I need the strength of the four of them, and even in this situation, the points are still important.

「Ah?! Lem?! What the hell are you doing here?」

The one who gave me a greeting that is very typical of him is the Warrior Alba.

His voice made the opponents who were fighting pay attention to me as well.

Alba is a Magic Sword wielder with a thin but toned body, short silver hair, and sharp eyes.

He seemed to have injured his dominant right hand and was wielding his Magic Sword with his left hand.

He has trained his left hand just in case a situation as this happens, so he’s fighting quite well with it to some extent, but it’s still not as good as using his dominant hand.

「…Lem?」

The Paladin Lark with deep blue wavy hair and sleepy eyes might have gotten his sword destroyed since he is using the Hunter Lily’s dagger.

The length of the blade is short to be used in combination with a shield, so it seemed a little difficult to do.

「……」

Lily, who lent her dagger, seems to have injured her leg and is shooting arrows while being protected by Lark.

There is an opponent that uses Wind Magic, so her ability cannot be fully utilized because the air is constantly disturbed.

「Even without our leader, we have to be able to deal with this much…」

The Frost Hero Bella seems to be hesitant to freeze the opponents that are standing close to her allies.

Probably because it might freeze her comrades as well.

She should be aiming for the Wizard and she should be aware of that, but the Wizard’s side is also aware of that.

After blocking the view with an earth wall, Wind Blades are occasionally released as a diversion.

Perhaps she used quite a considerable amount of Magical Energy when they defeated the Garo party, so she could not defeat the Wizard with a large-scale attack.

It’s easy to misunderstand this, but the exception is a child like Wraith, who has been trained since he was a child. Usually, even though the Adventurer is a Hero, that doesn’t mean that he can easily use magic.

In particular, the Magical Energy organ is said to be very difficult to train.

Bella entered the Fenix Party shortly after graduating from the Training Institution, so she probably spent the whole three years in the institution just training.

It’s a difficult road that all young Wizards have to go through.

「Don’t worry! They are excellent, but they are currently not in perfect condition!」

「The strategy is working! Let’s keep going and slowly wear them down!」

「The Black Sorcerer Lem is really heading here! What should we do?!」

「Rumor has it that he does not have a good relationship with the members other than Fenix… Okay, I’ll handle this.」

There are four visible opponents.

The one coming towards me is a male Paladin.

I didn’t know that there were still people remaining who could act as a party…

I’m not familiar with them, but I don’t think they’re weak since they have remained this long.

As they said, the four members of the Fenix party are not in perfect condition.

That’s why they are struggling, but on the other hand, even though they are injured, these people have the strength to force the 4th Ranked party to struggle.

「I have been listening to the live commentary! Even though he is an excellent Black Sorcerer, he must have used a lot of Magical Energy to earn that many points! Now, he shouldn’t be able to break through Resist!」

「I wonder about that.」

He is cautious and did not step in easily.

Given my old reputation, it’s unthinkable that someone with a combat Job would be so cautious of going against a support Job in a one-on-one battle.

Since the Tag Tournament, I feel that my reputation has gradually changed.

It might become more and more difficult to use the method of taking advantage of the opponent’s contempt like before.

If that’s the case, I’ll just take advantage of the opponent’s caution.

I poured out my Magical Energy and he became more cautious. 

Paladins originally have magic resistance, so he is probably thinking that he can defend against my magic if he adds Resist on top of that.

He’s probably going to try to repel and cut through my Black Magic as he momentarily increases the amount of Magical Energy poured on Resist.

However, the opportunity never came.

「Gahh?!」「Wha…?!」「……」

The spear-user Warrior who was incessantly attacking Lark by taking advantage of the interval and the Fencer who kept avoiding Alba’s Extensible Magic Sword by making use of his nimbleness.

And the Paladin who was facing me.

All three of them got sent off the field almost simultaneously.

The Warrior was sent off by Lark, while the remaining two were sent off by Alba’s attack.

It was just as I had expected.

「What…?!」

The Wizard said in surprise.

They have dealt with the Magic Sword just fine until now, moreover, the hand wielding the sword is not Alba’s dominant hand, but two people were sent off the field with just a single attack. No wonder he was surprised.

I took that opportunity to approach him.

「Ugh.」

He pointed his staff at me.

I don’t have a combat-type Job, so I can’t really use my intuition or try to read the wind, or my physical abilities to avoid him.

But there is one thing I am good at.

And that is sensing Magical Energy.

If he were to promptly cast magic, he would choose to cast Wind Blades, which he had just used not long ago.

Since he was also panicking, he would generate it from the tip of his staff without taking any time to craft it. In fact, he did just that.

I can see his staff and sense his Magical Energy.

Then all that’s left is to get the timing right and jump sideways.

「You avoided it?!」

I cut his staff before he could cast another magic and then turned back the trajectory of the sword to slash through his abdomen.

His body was divided into two, his upper body and his lower body, and the earth wall was visible beyond it.

…As expected of a Holy Sword. Its sharpness is amazing.

『Depending on its partner, it can become even more amazing from now on.』

The black chick said cheerfully.

That’s right, even though it’s this strong, this Holy Sword seems to be incomplete.

I’ve heard somewhere before that if you satisfy Dark, you can obtain more divine protection.

Certainly, the Holy Swords possessed by the Spirits seemed to have a feature that those who did not have a Contract can still use the power of the Spirits.

Just like the Knight Lord Arthur’s Holy Sword of Light.

「Don’t let your guard down!」

The moment I bypassed the earth wall and tried to approach the four of them, someone jumped out of the ground.

An Ant Insect Demi-Human.

He must have been lurking underground this whole time waiting for the best timing for a surprise attack.

「No, I haven’t.」

But unfortunately for him, the Insect Demi-Human already had Black Magic cast on him.

Even when he was underground, I already knew where he was located by sensing his Magical Energy.

The Insect Demi-Human, whose spatial awareness ability was disturbed by Confusion, jumped out in between of the earth wall and me.

At the same time, Lily shot him right through his unguarded parts and he was sent off the field.

She gave us advice when Nicola was disguised as an Insect Demi-Human and she is well-informed with the races that live in the forest.

「Hey.」

Alba made his Magic Sword return to its original length and said that with a bad-tempered expression.

「Yeah.」

「…Thanks for the help, Lem.」

「No problem.」

I answered Lily with a smile.

「I thought Alba was an idiot when he shouted.」

「I agree. After being informed about the alliance by the live commentary, even if he is my senior, I thought that he wouldn’t be so foolish as to call out to the approaching reinforcement, only then did I realize that it was all part of his plan. 

「You guys…」

Alba’s veins were bulging after hearing what Lark and Bella said.

「If I think about it, it was a clever decision. Due to Alba’s belligerent attitude, the opponents wouldn’t have expected Lem to support Alba.」

I wanted to change that situation where the opposing party had the upper hand, even if only slightly, as soon as possible.

If something had happened, one of my friends might have suffered further damage, which might have led to them getting sent off the field.

If I had come a little later, I might have been the one to speak out first. 

The pressure on the four members of the Fenix party was reduced as the Paladin headed for me and the remaining three opponents couldn’t help but be aware of me.

The live commentary was useful in that it provided information, but it did the same for the opponents.

The opponents would probably immediately find out that I was approaching, and Alba’s remark was very typical of him.

Thanks to that, the Paladin was conscious of protecting himself.

「…But this is interesting. This meant that Alba and Lem had guessed what the other was thinking before taking action, right?」

We continued the conversation as we moved.

「Tch.」

「…Well, we’re not exactly close friends, but I think we’re both serious about winning.」

It would be a different story if it was the previous Alba, but I thought he would do well if he knew to some extent what I was doing when I was still in the party.

In addition to Bella’s words, the fact that he learned that I was Lemegeton after the battle in the Demon King Castle would have cleared up his suspicions that I’m incompetent.

「…Although it is frustrating that I couldn’t send anyone off the field.」

Lark sent off one, Alba sent off two, Lily sent off one, and I sent off one, a total of five opponents.

Bella didn’t earn any points in the battle against the five-person team.

「You did your best in the battle against the Garo party and you also protected us earlier. It’s a contribution that can’t be measured in points.」

Lily followed up for Bella.

I was carrying Lily on my back right now.

The uninjured Lark or Bella could also carry her, but I wanted them both to be in a state where they can move quickly at any moment.

I smiled at what Lily said, but just as I was about to tell them about the current situation… Alba turned his fist toward me.

This is that right? That thing where you bump your fist against each other.

I know that, but it was so unexpected that I froze.

「Hey.」

「Ah, yeah.」

When I bumped my fist against his, Alba snorted and turned away.

Given his personality, I’m sure he’s not thinking about pretending the past doesn’t exist or burying it.

In the first place, I had been hiding my own abilities and he was just speaking out his opinion.

Well, the way he said it was quite unpleasant, and it really hit me hard, but it’s true.

Rather than saying “I’m sorry for saying those unpleasant things to you” or “I’m sorry for hiding my abilities”, I feel more comfortable with this distance.

We’re not close friends and I’m sure we won’t have that kind of relationship.

But it doesn’t change the fact that we used to be comrades and now Alba has acknowledged my strength to some extent.

We may cooperate as we did this time, but it will be for the sake of victory, not for friendship.

That’s fine.

Even if you don’t like them as a person, you can still fight together with them, you can recognize their abilities, and you can trust them.

「…It’s amazing that you can make such a big swing that can leave you with openings by believing that Lem’s Black Magic will definitely come and that you can show Lem an attitude like “You did well!”」

Said Lark, while Lily said “In terms of his standards, I think he worked hard this time.” and Bella continued by saying, “Rather than that, it should be said that he has made considerable progress.”

「Shut up! Anyway, Lark, you did the same too!」

「Believing in Lem? Well, that’s right. I’ve had the chance to see what he’s capable of, and I don’t think I can say “It’s the same whether he’s here or not” like I used to. Oh, yeah. Thanks for the help earlier, Lem.」

Bella also nodded her head and said “Thank you.”

Even in those days, Lark’s opinions were less malicious or more indifferent than Alba’s.

The same goes for Lily.

Lily also had the chance to meet me after I left the party and I feel that she is more open than before.

「…Let’s hear from Lem about the current situation.」

Bella said so, and I spoke about the main subject.

I thought about it as I told them.

After defeating Garo, Fenix left the remaining four members to his comrades and headed toward the Wraith party.

If all of them had stayed together, they might have been able to defeat the four members of the Garo party and the five people earlier more quickly, but he might have lost the points that he could earn as the Wraith party and the Astrea party cut each other down.

So far, the Fenix party has defeated all the members of the Garo party and although the points of the five-person team have been split with me, they still earned 25 points from it.

In addition, he has made an alliance with the Wraith party and made it a 10 vs 5 instead of a 5 vs 5 vs 5.

Although four of his comrades were injured, the choice itself was not a mistake.

Rather, the correctness of the choice is not determined at the moment of the decision, but after seeing the result.

If all four of his comrades had been sent off the field, it would have been said to be the wrong decision.

If we could all work together to defeat the Astrea party from this point on, then others might say that the creation of the alliance was the key decision.

I checked the condition of the four of them again and confirmed the battle situation with my own eyes along with the live commentary.

『There are only 15 contestants left!!! The Wraith party and the Fenix party have teamed up and the Astrea party will be counterattacking against them!』

『And then, finally, Lem and the rest of the members of the Fenix party have joined the battle! I think this will make a big difference in the battle situation!』

We will start to take action to make a big difference in the battle situation just like what the live commentary said.