TWEM Vol. 7 Chapter 6 Part 2
“(Haruto, where is the Demon King?)”
“(I already figured it out. Don’t underestimate my skills.)”
“(Haha, as expected.)”
“(Well, yeah. By the way, the Demon King’s room is located on the top floor.)”
Tendo nodded and I continued.
“(There are two presences in front of the room on the top floor. They’re quite big, though not as big as the Demon King’s.)”
“(Are they guarding the Demon King…?)”
Tendo was right, they must have been the Demon King’s guards.
I pondered over what to do for a moment, but since there was no point in thinking about it here, I decided to move on for now.
Well, they must have been strong, but it didn’t seem like they were as strong as the Four Heavenly Kings.
Satisfied with my explanation, Tendo asked me as he looked out the window.
“(Come to think of it, couldn’t you break in from the outside?)”
“(It’s not impossible… but if there were any countermeasures, we’d be exposed.)”
The Demon King’s castle has six floors, and the Demon King resided on the sixth floor, the top floor.
Tendo and I were currently on the third floor.
Once we reached the stairs, I looked around and saw other soldiers guarding the stairs.
Moreover, stone statues that looked like monsters were placed on either side.
“(That stone statue…)”
Tendo muttered. He must have appraised it.
I’ll try to appraise it too.
.
|
Name: |
Guardian Stone Statue |
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Notes: |
A moving stone statue created using alchemy and magic tools. |
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Wow, it was like a temple gatekeeper.
But we still proceeded as nothing changed.
All we had to do was move quickly and stun the soldiers before the statue was alerted of our presence and got through.
“What… Fuguu…”
“Hey. How… ugh…”
We knocked out the soldiers in an instant and laid them down.
And just as Tendo and I were about to climb up the stairs, the stone statue’s eyes moved.
“Oh shit!”
“Hey!”
I couldn’t help but let out a yelp when I saw it move.
The statue moved slowly and turned towards Tendo and me.
It looked like we were completely exposed.
The monster-shaped stone statue got off the platform and stood facing me and Tendo.
It was in a fighting stance, and it was unlikely that we would be able to proceed unless we destroyed it.
“(Tendo, wait there. I’ll take care of it right away!)”
“(Wait, wait!)”
Just as the stone statue was about to roar, I sliced it to pieces with my beloved sword.
If this huge body made such a loud noise, it would be obvious that we had broken in.
I felt relieved, but then I heard footsteps coming from the back of the room, followed by conversation.
“I just heard something crumble!”
“Over here!”
It seemed that several people were approaching us.
“Oh, no!”
The soldiers, who were apparently unconscious, and the stone statues that had been cut to pieces, seemed to reveal that there had been intruders.
Tendo raised his voice impatiently.
“What are you going to do, Haruto?”
“—Wait! I have a plan!”
I instantly conveyed the plan to Tendo.
“Are you sure this will work?”
“Trust me! I mean, that’s the only way right now!”
“…That’s right.”
While Tendo nodded, I used my alchemy skill to restore the stone statue I had chopped up.
But it was literally turned into a stone statue, without the functionality of the previous one.
Then, a few soldiers rushed to the scene.
“What happened?”
“I heard something crumbling over here!”
We answered their questions by transforming ourselves into the soldiers who had been guarding the stairway earlier.
By the way, the soldiers who passed out were hidden by assimilating them into the wall with rocks created using earth magic.
“No, this stone statue is moving due to a malfunction. I checked and it seems to be fine.”
“What?”
“I was so surprised by the sudden movement that I screamed. I have no idea why it moved.”
After hearing the report, the soldiers returned to their posts in astonishment, wondering, “Is something like that even possible?”
“It was a close call.”
“I’m glad they didn’t suspect us.”
Both of us were relieved and let out a big sigh.
“Do you want to proceed?”
“…Sure.”
Despite the slight hiccup, Tendo and I got back on track and headed up the stairs to the top floor.
～
We went up to the fourth floor.
The stairs we were climbing didn’t seem to lead directly to the sixth floor, where the Demon King was, so we had to climb another set of stairs for each floor.
Frankly speaking, it was troublesome, but I suppose this is one of the measures in case the enemy attacked.
When we reached the fourth floor, we checked the map and quickly found the stairs leading to the fifth floor.
But there was also a problem.
“(The stairs lead to the fifth floor, but it seems there are traps for intruders up there.)”
Hearing my telepathy, Tendo muttered without using telepathy.
“It’s like a game…”
“I agree, Tendo. In addition to that, there are soldiers patrolling. Just as you said, it seems like we are playing a game.”
I have the ability and map to see through the traps, so it’s not that difficult.
However, when there were traps like this, the Demon King’s castle felt like a game.
Even so, I had to make sure I didn’t get too relaxed.
Once again, we headed towards the top floor.
We stunned the enemies we encountered and finally made it to the fifth floor.
On the fifth floor, there were only a few rooms and not many people.
Using the map, we proceeded to the stairs leading to the top floor.
We soon arrived at the stairs, where two strong-looking knights were standing guard.
“(What are you going to do?)”
Tendo said to me, but what I was going to do was the same.
“(Should I knock them out?)”
“(…They seem strong, though?)”
I appraised them and found that their average level was 75.
I then put up a soundproof barrier around me.
“(I put up a soundproof barrier. I’ll take care of those two for now.)”
“(Yeah. I’m sorry but I will leave them to you.)”
I slowly appeared in front of the two knights.
“Who are yo– …”
“Intrud– …”
However, in an instant, the two knights fell to their knees.
“Amazing.”
When Tendo looked at the knights who were knocked out in an instant and muttered, I urged him to go ahead.