Chapter 60
After securing a definitive victory, the three of us stood in front of the door from which the numerous troops had poured out.
The fact that they didn't fully open the door until the end, despite so many people having to come out, meant they were doing something inside.
And it was surely related to the "big event" the old man had talked about.
Tension began to build among us, and we took a highly alert stance to respond immediately to whatever might happen.
"...I'm opening it."
As White Mask said this first, Muyeon and I quietly nodded, and White Mask took a deep breath.
And then.
Bang!
She instantly opened the door, drew her sword, and entered. We followed White Mask and immediately took battle stances.
But what we saw when we entered shocked us.
White Mask and Muyeon's expressions stiffened as if they had seen something they shouldn't have, and they immediately covered their ears and turned around.
The knight's iron rule: don't look at or listen to anything related to Outer Gods.
It seemed they were putting that into practice immediately.
I was shocked for a different reason than these two.
Well...
"Ururu, peek-a-boo! Oh, our baby is so pretty!"
"Uhehe? Uhe!"
...I saw heretics talking as if they were playing with babies, with a Lesser Outer God that looked similar to Ria placed on what seemed to be a magic circle.
These, these people.
What on earth are they doing?
I thought I might have seen wrong, but even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, the scene hadn't changed at all.
While this series of sights was shocking in itself.
Why are there Lesser Outer Gods that look exactly like Ria here?
Weren't Lesser Outer Gods supposed to be like fragments of Outer Gods?
No way.
Then, is the Outer God that created Ria nearby...?
"Hmm. She says to tell you that's not the case."
...Hmm.
I was deliberately ignoring her words, but she still tells me what I need to know even in this situation.
I'm starting to feel a bit sorry now.
No, still, ignoring a man's romance is an act close to a crime.
Anyway, I was going to talk to her again, but not now.
"Grr... Human, help! The leaf is forcing me to listen to her... Oww!"
...It seems Bell might suffer a bit because of this.
Sorry, Bell.
Bear with it for a moment.
Anyway.
That wasn't important right now.
"He, heek! The, the knights have entered!"
"Ah, please, please! Oh Torturer, save us!"
As soon as they confirmed our presence, the heretics scattered in panic and started fleeing somewhere, while the Lesser Outer Gods on the magic circle, not knowing what was happening, just stretched out their arms towards the people leaving them, as if asking to play more.
Torturer.
Is that the name of the Outer God these heretics believe in?
It's no use begging now.
You're about to be crushed.
Is this going to be resolved more easily than expected?
I was hoping it would end just like this, peacefully.
"..."
I couldn't help but sigh when I saw a being walking towards us with an ominous atmosphere.
Of course.
It couldn't end so smoothly, could it?
White Mask and Muyeon took defensive stances as they watched the expressionless girl walking towards us, even though she must clearly know we're knights.
But this time, I won't let these women fight.
"Master, please handle the control of the other heretics this time."
"Subordinate."
"This one... I'll try to deal with it myself."
It would be much better to receive support from White Mask and Muyeon's joint attack if possible.
But I saw it.
The ominous red aura settling behind that girl.
And that red aura...
It looked too similar to Asti's.
I wanted to fight directly and gather clues, so I hoped they wouldn't participate in this fight.
"...Alright. I'll leave it to you."
Fortunately, White Mask agreed to my words, and together with Muyeon, they began to drive out the heretics who were raising their voices almost to the point of screaming.
Good.
The moment they disappeared, I bluntly stated my business.
"You."
"...I have nothing to say to intruders."
"Do you know a child called Asti?"
I thought she might show even a slight reaction, but the girl remained expressionless.
She didn't answer at all, just emitting a menacing aura.
"Alright, that's your answer then."
At this point, a fight with this girl seems inevitable.
And given the characteristics of the girl who looks similar to Asti, she's probably stronger than I can imagine.
Before I could even finish mentally preparing for this,
The girl's body flew towards me at high speed.
Thwack!
This girl seems to fight with her fists too, as she collided her fist with mine as I swung.
No, to be precise, our fists aimed at each other happened to collide.
"...Ugh."
"..."
A groan escaped involuntarily due to the massive weight behind her arm, but I had no time to dwell on that feeling.
The girl was already preparing her follow-up attack as if nothing had happened.
Bam bam bam!
I raised my arms to guard against the three consecutive straight punches, but I felt threatened as if my bones might break just from the impact.
Enduring the throbbing pain, I swung my fist towards the girl, then quickly retreated.
I clashed with her to check how strong she was, but fortunately, it was within the expected range.
I thought that if I could somehow devise a strategy, I might be able to win.
Until I saw that.
"...Ugh."
"Uwuwu."
As the girl raised her arm and moved her fingers around, suddenly the Lesser Outer Gods who had been sitting quietly stood up.
Before I could grasp what was happening.
Thud thud thud!
"Oh no!"
The Lesser Outer Gods all flew at me and clung to my body at once.
Because of that, I allowed an opening.
Thwack!
"Argh!"
I felt a heavy pain in my abdomen and experienced being thrown against the wall.
I felt the urge to vomit everything inside.
But this harsh environment didn't even give me time to calm my stomach pain.
Bang!
As soon as I saw the girl charging towards me, I barely managed to dodge by turning my body sideways, but that made me feel even more nauseous.
As I forcibly got up and tried to do something, three Lesser Outer Gods suddenly flew in front of my eyes.
And then.
"Yah, yah, yah!"
They started slapping my cheeks mercilessly.
It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable pain.
But that wasn't the problem.
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
Because of that, my attention was diverted elsewhere.
Taking advantage of this, the girl started striking my entire body evenly.
With each hit feeling like it would leave a bruise, I felt my mind floating.
But I couldn't fall here.
If I fell, everything would be over.
Thud!
I barely found an opening and threw a punch at the girl, thinking it was the perfect moment, but I was dumbfounded to see her easily block it and create distance between us.
What on earth is she that she's stronger than even a skilled knight like me?
This was troublesome.
Very troublesome.
It's estimated to be burdensome just dealing with that girl alone, and she can even control Lesser Outer Gods?
This was beyond being outnumbered, it was an overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation.
If this situation continues, I'll just get beaten up more.
Is there no other way?
Is there no other option but to confront like this?
While I was lost in thought, feeling troubled.
"...Tan, tun."
Someone was calling my name.
The voice was so close that I flinched for a moment, but soon realized it was coming from near my chest.
"...Ria?"
Ria had poked her head out of the teddy bear mask at some point and was looking at me.
With an expression hardened with determination.
"Just hang on a little longer, I'll help you!"
With those words, Ria started flying off somewhere.
I was utterly bewildered by Ria suddenly speaking, but soon I recalled the connection when I saw the Lesser Outer Gods attacking me.
When Lesser Outer Gods are alone, they become so weak they can't even speak.
But when they get close to their companions again, their strength returns.
This meant that the Lesser Outer Gods currently being controlled by that girl were the same kind as Ria.
"...That bitch...!"
I blocked the girl as she tried to attack Ria, cursing without hesitation.
Such a sensitive reaction meant that where Ria was going was a critical spot.
"Oh no, you have to take me down first!"
Judging that she couldn't block it herself, the girl controlled the Lesser Outer Gods to fly towards Ria.
Perhaps because they were under the girl's control, they started flying at a much faster speed than the free Ria.
Where Ria was flying.
There was something like a totem there, and I could see it glowing red.
Red light.
A form strangely similar to Asti.
Is this 'Torturer' that the heretics believe in 'her'?
As I felt the puzzle pieces coming together, the girl pushed me hard and started flying towards Ria.
"No...!"
Just before she was about to be caught.
Ria accelerated and finally headbutted the totem.
Rattle, crash!
The totem that lost its balance and collapsed could no longer maintain its red aura, and the light faded.
At the same time.
"Huh? Huh?"
"Hueng."
The Lesser Outer Gods who had been chasing Ria as if to kill her seemed to come to their senses and landed on the floor, sitting with bright smiles.
"Ah, aah... I was so close."
I approached the girl who spoke in a despairing voice.
The girl, belatedly realizing my presence, looked up at me with the most pitiful expression in the world.
Yes, it's pitiful.
Extremely pitiful.
But I had made a promise.
After what happened after dealing with Candle.
That I wouldn't repeat the same mistake.
Thwack.
"Ugh."
I planted my fist in the girl's abdomen, and at the same time, the light in her eyes gradually faded and she collapsed.
I hit her just enough to make her faint, so she probably won't wake up for a while.
I caught the girl's tilting body with my arm and carefully laid her on the floor.
I had steeled my heart, but I hadn't completely removed my affection.
"Phew, is it over?"
I was about to relax, thinking it was over now, but Ria started excitedly rubbing my cheeks with her hands.
No, why.
Isn't it over when that totem falls?
As I was thinking that, White Mask and Muyeon came in.
Ria tried to quickly enter my pocket, faster than anyone else, but I reassured her and let her stay.
As expected, White Mask showed a moment of confusion when she saw Ria on my shoulder, but she met my gaze nonchalantly.
"So you were keeping a pet."
"Haha... It just happened."
"At this point, we might need to review whether your charges were incorrect after all."
Oh my, this person is making a joke.
...Although it was still an illegal act either way.
"...Anyway, you won."
"Not yet, Master. Heretics who prepared to this extent won't just back down."
I reported to White Mask based on Ria's behavior towards me.
At my words, White Mask acknowledged the fact and started walking around the area with Muyeon.
We had to find it quickly.
The fact that so many Lesser Outer Gods had gathered already meant there was a high probability that things had progressed quite far.
"He, here!"
While we were urgently looking around, Muyeon raised her voice.
"I saw it in a book before, summoning circles need to be symmetrical. But this one..."
The circle Muyeon pointed to was indeed not symmetrical at all.
If we found something strange, we had to act immediately.
I stomped on that spot hard with my foot, and something like a board fell down quickly.
Confirming the ladder that appeared with it, I nodded at White Mask and quickly went down.
And what was there was...
"Hi, hiiik!"
"This is..."
Although the face wasn't clearly visible.
A red dress.
Snow-white hair.
And.
A skin tone so white it looked pale.
It was the same color as the hand Asti had summoned.
As my mind started to go blank from the bizarreness that seemed about to manifest at any moment.
"Th, there!"
Ria pointed somewhere, and I could see a candle under the form of the Torturer.
Is that the medium?
"Uwaaa!"
I ran as fast as I could with all my might, kicked away the candle, and roughly landed on what looked like an altar, smashing everything.
And thankfully,
I could confirm that the form of the Torturer just evaporated.
"...Phew."
"Is it over?"
"That's a death flag, Master!"
You're casually saying something that could cause big trouble!
...Thankfully, it seemed like nothing else was happening.
Is it just my imagination that I've become a master at avoiding flags recently?
"...Good job, subordinate. I'll have to commend you again when we get back."
"No, Master. Muyeon also contributed this time, didn't she?"
"Me, me?! No, hehe. It was just luck..."
Maybe because it's over.
I felt a wave of drowsiness as the tension suddenly released.
Ah, really.
Let's rest now.
Even though I like wandering around, this is too much.
After stomping and crushing all the unsettling things, I climbed back up the ladder. As soon as I reached the top, I noticed a group of Lesser Outer Gods lying on the floor, chattering among themselves.
Hmm.
What should we do with these?
"You should take them with you."
"What?"
"You seem to like them, given the one clinging to your shoulder. Isn't it fine?"
"But it's illegal."
At my words, three question marks seemed to appear above White Mask's head, but I deliberately ignored it.
It's one thing to do it secretly, but it's different to do it openly, right?
But White Mask's words had a point. If we just left them here, this space would obviously become another fake wall.
It might be better to collect them in advance.
"I'll collect them for now."
"There, bottle..."
Ria pointed to an unbroken gourd bottle rolling on the floor.
As I immediately picked up the bottle and started catching the Lesser Outer Gods with my hands and putting them in, White Mask and Muyeon made disgusted noises.
...At this point, I was curious about what exactly they were seeing to react like that.
...No, I take that back.
While having these idle thoughts and gathering the Lesser Outer Gods with my hands, some individuals rubbed their cheeks against my hand a few times before entering the jar.
I wonder if these children basically like people.
"Nng! No, mine!"
...Ria hugged my neck and made a 'grrr' sound towards those Lesser Outer Gods, as if guarding me.
Why are they all so jealous anyway?
"I'm not going anywhere, there there."
"Huee..."
When I scratched her chin with my fingertip, the expression that had been 'somewhat' fierce until just now disappeared, and her body melted again as she made a blissful expression.
Yes, this is Ria.
...Let's hurry and collect them and go back.
My mind seemed to be pushed to the extreme to the point where I couldn't even appreciate how cute it was.
***
Tanton's room without Tanton.
There was a figure quietly sitting there, gently stroking Tanton's bed with its hand.
Soon, as if noticing something, it flinched and opened its eyes wide, but then.
As if it was actually a good thing, a being returned to a calm gaze.
"...You did it, Master."
Please, me...
Murmuring like that, Asti rose from her seat and began to move, taking steps to greet her master who would soon return.