Hello, everyone. Here we are again.
I guess I'm gonna take back some of my words in the previous chapter's afterword. Even if I stick to my original plan, I predict that the entirety of Volume 9 won't be covered in 5 chapters unless I accelerate the pacing into essentially breakneck speed. So yeah, fortunately or unfortunately, this fiction will last a little longer than that.
On with the show, nevertheless. See you in the afterword.
[X][X][X]
Bang!
Splat!
With a single shot to the head, I obliterated another merfolk who had been infected. Its head was reduced to bloody paste, and I sighed. Every single merfolk I had encountered so far had died with a single hit. At this rate there would be no purified survivors at all, and I felt bad for it.
"This one believes, that was the last"
Yup, no survivors.
I sighed once more and looked at the Sea Dragon who had been accompanying me throughout the entire hunt. The amount of infected merfolk I had eliminated was numerous, somewhere in the high hundreds. If not for his company and detection skills, the hunt would have lasted much longer.
"Are you sure, Fydan?"
During the hunt, we had talked about a lot of things including his full name: Fydan Erud Zimeon. He had told me to address him directly with just the first part, so I did exactly that. Thanks to him, I had learned a few things about this planet, which I temporarily referred as Pandora for the time being.
Indeed there were intelligent life on Pandora, including human civilization. Magic existed and was common, and the civilization level was on the low side, making Pandora overall very similar to Omega, the parallel world I had visited in the past. I didn't really want to remember it since my quest on Omega, despite the positive results, had also resulted in the emergence of Shiva.
"This one is sure. This one no longer sense the evil energy"
"Alright, that's good to hear"
"Allow this one to express sincere gratitude to the other"
"It was my job anyway, and I got useful information from you. So all is fair"
I sensed the photon within my body and confirmed that I could use Dark Blast again. Now that the hunt was over and I could fly again, it was time for me to go and resume my mission. Of course, it was proper to say goodbye before leaving, and therefore I was going to do that.
"Fydan, it's time-"
Beep! Beep!
My words were cut short by the notification sound of my communication device. I gestured myself to tell Fydan to wait for a moment, though I was not sure if he understood.
Still, I wondered if Xiera had managed to calibrate the communication network to reach me even when my device was in safe mode right now. If that was the case, I must say that I was impressed because that was quick. Nevertheless, I put my hand on my ear to receive the coming message.
"...rdian. Ca... ou hear...?"
It was badly breaking out, but that voice was definitely Xiera.
"You're breaking out. I can barely hear you"
There was no immediate response to my reply, but I could hear some keyboard beeping sound from the other side.
Thud!
A sudden impact sound was heard, and I immediately wondered if Xiera banged at something there.
"Alright, Guardian. Listen up!"
Xiera's voice was loud and clear this time. Whatever she had just done, it worked.
"Unfortunately the calibration will take some more time, and so for now this one-way message will have to do. I hope you pay attention because I will say this only once"
Hearing what Xiera had just said, I focused myself to listen to whatever message was coming.
"The scouting system has been partially repaired, and you won't believe what readings it picked up just now! It picked up readings of Dark Falz Elder!"
Of course I couldn't believe what Xiera had just said. There was no way Elder could be running loose on Pandora, because like Luther, Elder was within me. I still felt his presence inside, so it must have been wrong info.
"I know that you are now thinking there must be a mistake. I do too! But the readings are too similar for it to be wrong. Therefore I assign you an urgent mission! Investigate the source of these readings! I'm sending you the coordinates now!"
Indeed, within seconds I received a packet of data containing the map of this planet along with a waypoint. The distance was quite far, some hundreds of clicks to the southeast, but it was a distance which could be covered by Dark Blast Loser within a fairly short time.
"I will keep you updated for any relevant thing we will find. Godspeed, Guardian! I hope we will be able to communicate properly soon!"
The transmission ended, and now I had a new mission. It was definitely time for me to go, therefore I looked at Fydan and began speaking my farewell.
"It's time for me to go. Thank you for your assistance, Fydan"
Fydan shook his head hearing my words.
"This one is the one who should be grateful"
"Heh, fine. Whatever you say. Goodbye, Fydan. May we meet again someday under better circumstances"
Fydan nodded as I stood straight, concentrating my energy.
Dark Blast Loser!
Once again, I transformed into an altered form of Falz Angel. I didn't worry about transforming right in front of Fydan because he already knew about this, thanks to our occasional talks during the hunt.
"Farewell, Guardian Angel"
I just laughed a bit in my mind hearing the nickname Fydan had given me thanks to this, then I immediately flew off to the surface, and finally the sky. With full speed, I flew straight to the coordinate Xiera had instructed me to investigate, hoping that it would be just a mistake.
[X][X][X]
Ainz and Lily returned to the office room where Ryu and Alice were waiting. The two of them were still sitting on their seats when Ainz came in.
"I'm back, Ryu-san! Liz-san!"
"What did you two talk about?"
Ainz had expected that either Ryu or Alice would bring up that question, and in this case it was Ryu. Right now he was very worried because Lily's unexpected action back then had distracted him so much that he had forgotten to take measures against that question. At this point, Ainz was already prepared for the worst.
"It's a secret, between me and Papa!"
Lily surprisingly gave that kind of reply with a playful tone. Ainz now was really lost on the level of independence Lily had. Ryu on the other hand, didn't show any unusual reaction.
"Hmm, so be it then. By the way, Ainz-dono"
Ryu stood up and faced Ainz. His face seemed as if he had made an important decision. Ainz did not expect this to happen, and somehow a feeling of worry began creeping up his mind.
"Yes? Is something the matter?"
"I... just wonder... Have you been watching us through Lily somehow?"
The hell?
Ainz was quite surprised with Ryu's question, since it was pretty much at the same level as the worst case scenario. Lying to cover himself up would definitely make him look bad since now Lily knew the truth and possibly would rat him out.
I have screwed up badly again!
Ainz realized that he had made a big mistake. He only had taken into account the short term efficiency for extracting the spy, and he had failed to take measures because of the surprising distraction. Basically, now his only option was to just confess everything again.
"Uhh... yes. I-"
Ainz really was about to spill the beans, but suddenly Ryu raised his hand.
"Ah, pardon me for interrupting, but please say no more and continue your surveillance as is"
"Eh?"
"As allies against Darkers and Dark Falz, I believe we need to watch each other's backs in one way or another. Moreover, your surveillance on us has saved us multiple times, right?"
Ainz wouldn't deny that last statement. Without the spy inside her, Lily would have been dead since a long time ago. For the same reason, Carne Village would have had casualties including Nfirea, a decently valuable person. All of those had been prevented because the spy, either the deceased Eight Edge Assassin or the Kashin Koji, had informed him so he could have taken the necessary actions.
"Ah yes, indeed that is true. Though unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you take it, my surveillance method has expired and for some technical reasons I am unable to replace it"
"I see. Can't be helped then"
"Ryu, I have been spying on you all this time and you seem to take it well. I cannot help but wondering about that"
"In ARKS, there are operators who always watch each and every operatives like myself during missions. What you did was not that different. Though to be honest, it is indeed unsettling to know that you have been watching us during rest time which should be private"
Alice, who was still sitting on her seat, seemed to be mildly dejected upon hearing Ryu's words. It was noticeable that her face became slightly flushed in red. It took Ainz just a few seconds to realize the implications. Both Lily and Alice were girls, so it was a given that they probably took showers together...
Nonononono! I have to divert the topic quickly!
"A-Anyway! Regarding the matter about the possible new Dark Falz, are there anything else you want to say?"
Ryu seemed to think for a brief moment, and then he shook his head.
"I think I have said everything, unless I forgot one thing or two"
"Ah, there is one thing that I am concerned with"
Alice suddenly spoke, with her face having reverted back to her usual stoic expression.
"Hmm, let's hear it"
After Ainz said that, everyone in the room sat down on their respective seats. After everyone settled down, Alice began speaking.
"There's still no telling whether the mysterious creature was a Dark Falz or not, but whatever it is, with that kind of look I worry that people might mistake it for an actual angel. And an extremely high-ranking one at that."
Ainz thought on Alice's words for a moment. He had learned a few things about this world, and indeed her worry held a point. People of this world regarded angels in very high regard to the point of having religions essentially worshipping them alongside the "Four Great Gods" and the "Six Great Gods". If Ainz compared it with the religions of his old world, angels in this new world were regarded overall higher than on Earth. Worse came to worst, that Falz Angel would possibly become a public figure akin to Jesus Christ, and that meant fighting against it would bring a significant political disadvantage.
"Hmm, you do have a point. So far, nobody else knows about it, right?"
Ryu then was the one replying to Ainz's question.
"No, we omitted anything about the Falz Angel or whatever that was from our report to the guild. I didn't want to cause unnecessary panic. So only those in this room and the Sea Dragon have seen it so far"
"A good decision. For now, I will up my surveillance and keep eyes open for that creature. Better hope that the creature would never show up in public"
Everyone else nodded hearing Ainz's words, and Ainz spoke again.
"By the way, Ryu"
"Yes, Ainz-dono?"
"Settle down in E-Rantel for a while. Something good might happen soon"
"Huh? Well, that was my plan from the start. But what something good?"
"You will see. Just never leave the city until it happens"
Ryu smiled a little hearing Ainz's words. He seemed to have figured something out, but Ainz didn't really intend to keep it a secret anyway. Ainz just wanted to surprise Ryu a bit.
"You really sound like you know something I don't, Ainz-dono. But alright, I won't ask anything more"
Ainz nodded, and all four of them stood up. He then immediately raised his hand towards an empty spot.
[Gate]
"Be careful out there. I no longer can watch you properly, so I am less likely to come to your aid if something bad happens"
"You too, Ainz-dono"
Ryu and Ainz shook hands, and then he stepped into the portal. Alice just bowed as a sign of respect before following Ryu, and Lily gave Ainz a quick hug.
"See you later, Papa!"
Ainz just nodded as Lily jumped into the portal. After making sure that everyone had gone through, Ainz dispelled the portal and sat down on his seat, once again letting out a big sigh.
Somehow, I made it.
Ainz felt relieved that somehow he had made it through the problems with little to no bad consequence. It could have been thanks to Ryu being an overall nice and trusting person, though it seemed he had grown out of it a little. The biggest wonder Ainz had seen this morning had been Lily's behaviour back then, which had essentially broken the general rule of how NPCs behaved. Ainz was very interested on this matter, but he had no idea how to find out since there had never been any documented case of Loyal Dog evolving into Devoted Dog.
In any case, once Ryu meets his sister, securing alliance with at least that particular group should be accomplished.
Ainz slouched on his seat. There were still many things to do, but he wanted to rest his mind again, even for just a few seconds.
[X][X][X]
"Look! That should be E-Rantel!"
Hekkeran declared in excitement after seeing the sight of a walled city. The group of four had been walking in a quite fast pace in order to avoid having to camp out in the wilderness, and thankfully they made it. Right now the sun was already near the horizon, but judging from its current position they still had about an hour before the day became dark.
"Whew, I guess all that walking was worth it"
Imina said the remark while looking visibly exhausted. With the fast pace and minimal break time, even seasoned adventurers would feel the exhaustion.
"Yeah, that's definitely it"
Rose said that with her arms folded. She had just looked around, seemingly checking if the surroundings felt familiar for her.
"Ryu-niichan is there, huh...?"
Sheep's face showed a rather hopeful expression. It was natural, since she had been looking for her brother for who knew how long, and now he was within reach. Knowing that, Hekkeran felt that he had to find Sheep's brother within this day.
"Alright, since the day is still bright enough, let's go to the city's Adventurer Guild and ask about your brother. Though by the way..."
"Hmm...?"
"None of us have brought this up for some reason, but I wonder if we should keep calling you Sheep, or address you with your real name"
Sheep smiled with a quick small exhale of breath, as if she had just done a restrained laugh.
"Heh, call me with whichever you like. My friends in ARKS call me Sheep, while my brothers call me Hikaru. I'm fine with any"
"Uhh, alright. Sheep it is, then"
From her answer, Hekkeran came into conclusion that it would be better to keep addressing her with the nickname Sheep. Despite her consent, it seemed that addressing her with her real name was exclusive to her siblings, and thus it wouldn't feel right if he started calling her Hikaru.
The group then walked to the closest entry gate of E-Rantel. Thankfully they didn't face any hindrances to enter the city. Of course, the guards noticed the gear they wore and the way they carried themselves, and naturally assumed they were there to become adventurers, which made the guards see the group favorably. Between that, and the beauties in the group, they seemed more than willing to assist the group.
"Alright, you may enter. Welcome to E-Rantel"
"Thanks. By the way, do you know the way to the Adventurer's Guild?"
"Oh, sure"
The gate officer then explained to Hekkeran's group the directions to reach their destination, seemingly validating their earlier assumption. While this was happening, a man dressed in a fairly fancy robe walked past them into the city, seemingly having quite a worried expression as he quickly raised his pace soon after. The group paid little heed to this robed man, and kept listening to the officer in charge.
Soon, they were done with the gate procedures and filled out the necessary information, and walked in without a hitch. The distance to the guild building was quite far, while both Hekkeran and Imina were already quite exhausted from their trip. Therefore, the group as a whole walked in a rather slow pace.
"I kinda envy you both"
"Hahaha, yeah. But please don't take it wrong"
Hekkeran and Imina spoke their remark on how both Rose and Sheep didn't show any sign of exhaustion from all the walking, which turned out to be another feature of their equipment. To put it simply, their equipment helped to preserve stamina in some way, enabling them to walk pretty much all day without resting.
"Hey, we've known each other for quite a while. Of course we know you meant nothing bad"
Rose spoke with quite a cheerful tone, glancing at Sheep to see if she shared her view. Sheep just laughed a bit with a slight smile. Hekkeran was still quite impressed on how Rose had broken out from her past trauma, transforming from a shy and scared girl to a confident and cheerful one. He had been wondering about it, but he believed that bringing up someone else's old wounds was not a good idea, so he would just let it be.
"And moreover..."
Sheep spoke, but she hesitated. Hekkeran couldn't help wondering, so he inquired.
"Moreover what, Sheep?"
"I do really want to see Ryu-niichan, but I'm afraid that he will be angry seeing me"
"Huh? Why?"
"Well, he won't take it well if he knows I came all the way here putting myself into danger"
"Oh.. Well, can't help you with that, unfortunately"
"Yeah, I know. That will be just between me and Ryu-niichan. Maybe he will smack me on the head at worst"
"That sounds mean if you ask me"
Imina spoke her opinion, but Sheep quickly shook her head and pointed at her hat.
"With my hat still on"
The other three in the group couldn't immediately understand what she meant, so there was a brief moment of silence.
"...Pfft!"
Imina burst out laughing, seemingly the first one to understand.
"With that kind of hat on your head, he would only make 'Pomf! Pomf!' sound"
The other two took another look at Sheep's fluffy hat before finally getting it and laughed as well. Nevertheless, the group took their time walking towards the Adventurer's Guild, failing to notice that the amount of civilians around got lesser and lesser the closer they got to the guild building.
[X][X][X]
Pluton Ainzach's Office, 15 minutes before present time.
Pluton Ainzach, the Guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild of E-Rantel, thoughtfully looked out the window of his office. The sun was already setting and the sky would become dark really soon, which meant it was time for him to call it a day and close office. This day had been quite a big one, mainly because the Adamantite Rank team Ignite Maximus had returned from their job. Having heard the report about Darker infection spreading all the way to the western ocean, and the battle costing the Kingdom's entire main naval forces, Ainzach couldn't help worrying about the future.
The news of the Kingdom significantly losing its naval military strength would eventually spread, and it would be a huge blow against the Kingdom in many aspects. It might be just a matter of time until the influence of the bad news brought the downfall of the Kingdom, and Ainzach would have to think of a way to continue living once that happened.
However, before Ainzach could ponder about it further...
Blam!
The door to Ainzach's office suddenly and violently opened. Ainzach was of course surprised by this, but he quickly lowered his guard a little after seeing that the one behind the door was his long time friend Theo Rakheshir, the guildmaster of the Magician's Guild of E-Rantel. Still, Rakheshir having a worried expression never meant anything good.
"Bad news, Pluton!"
"What is it, Theo?"
"A demon is infiltrating the city!"
"What!? Could it be the same one who attacked the capital?"
"I don't know! But this city is doomed!"
Ainzach could see clearly that Rakheshir was panicked out of his wits. It was natural, since a single demon had the capability to turn an entire city into wasteland. But no good information would come from a panicked man, so Ainzach had to do something to calm Rakheshir down.
"Theo, sit down there, take a deep breath, and calmly tell me how you came into that conclusion"
Theo did exactly as Ainzach had asked him to do, and then he began speaking.
"I was coming home from a trip, and I saw this group at the gate. One man, three girls. They looked like a bunch of quite strong people, maybe around Mithril Rank if I must say from their equipment. The guy asked the officer about where the Adventurer's Guild is"
"So far sounds like either a group aspiring to be adventurers, or some adventurers from another town coming for some business"
"Yes, Pluton. Anyone would assume that at first look, but I felt something on one of the three girls. I felt traces of illusion magic lingering on her, so I discreetly used [Lesser True Sight] on myself to see what she was hiding with the spell"
"What did you see?"
"Horns! That girl has multiple horns growing out of her head! She must be a demon trying to infiltrate the city and destroy it from within!"
Hearing what his old friend said, Ainzach stood up in full alert. Any possibility of demon presence, especially after what had happened to the capital, should be taken seriously. Nobody wanted another city within the Kingdom to become another victim to demonic invasion. The capital had survived thanks to the Adamantite Rank teams Darkness and Ignite Maximus having been there to fight off the demons and allegedly Darkers which had joined the fray. There were no evidence about the latter, but after knowing about what had happened at the western ocean, might as well assume it to be true.
Nevertheless, the situation at E-Rantel was worse since Darkness was currently not in town and Ignite Maximus was probably not in prime condition, having just returned from a tough job. But no matter what, something had to be done against the invading demon.
"Theo, do you have any spell to dispel the illusion?"
"It's just a second tier illusion. I can dispel it easily"
"Hmm, alright. Here's what I need you to do..."
[X][X][X]
Outside Adventurer's Guild Building. Present Time.
Rakheshir was highly nervous, and the same could apply to the adventurers around. In response to the current situation, Ainzach had announced an emergency job to all adventurers present in the guild, which was unfortunately not many, and at best only Platinum Rank. Of course anyone would be nervous knowing that they would be facing a demon soon unless they were of the same caliber as Darkness or Ignite Maximus, and it was a fact that none of them were.
The general objective of the adventurers was not victory, which would be a miracle if that somehow happened. Instead, their goal was to buy time while Ainzach hurried over to Shining Golden Pavilion Inn and get the Ignite Maximus team to come. With Darkness being out of town, Ignite Maximus was the city's only hope for survival.
As for Rakheshir himself, he had a personal objective to verify whether the other three people walking along the demon were merely unsuspecting innocent people or her partners in crime. Further actions would depend on which case it would be.
Right now, all the participating adventurers of at least Silver Rank were in position. Those of Copper and Iron Rank had been tasked to discreetly evacuate civilians with some false news to prevent panic from spreading and risk the demon noticing. Even with all the preparations within the short notice, Rakheshir could only hope that Ainzach would find Ignite Maximus as soon as possible, since in the end every people here would be no match to a demon.
Before long, Rakheshir noticed the group in question coming from around the corner. The distance was still quite far, but it was easy to notice a group of one guy and three girls. The way they walked was very natural, nobody would suspect that one of them, particularly the girl with long black hair, was a demon hiding her sinister horns with illusion magic.
Rakheshir prepared a spell which he would cast at the demon to dispel the illusion coating her horns. After the horns were exposed, he would pay attention to the reaction of the other three. Even if just for a very short moment, they would show a natural reaction, and through that reaction he could determine whether they were in cahoots with the demon or not.
Still, Rakheshir couldn't help worrying that this would be a mistake. But what other options did he have? He believed that he had none, so he proceeded with the plan.
[Shed Minor Illusion]
Rakheshir casted the spell right towards the demon's head. The spell was a type which hit directly and instantly without any kind of visible projectile, so within that instant the demon's horns were revealed, along with the left eye showing a blazing red color.
"D-Demon!"
As planned, a Gold Rank adventurer shouted from the top of his lungs while pointing at the demon. Rakheshir focused his attention to the three companions to see their reaction, and it only took him seconds to recognize their reaction. They reacted as if they had been found out. The three persons were in cahoots with the demon.
[Sparks: Red]
Rakheshir casted a low tier spell which shot out harmless sparks of red light to the sky as a signal for all adventurers to attack all four of them. By allying with a demon, the other three had essentially forfeited their rights to live, so if the adventurers could eliminate or incapacitate at least one, they would shave some works off from Ignite Maximus later, and that would be a good thing to increase their chance of victory.
Pluton, please get them here soon!
[X][X][X]
The Wilderness. Several Hours Before Present Time.
Hekkeran, Imina, Rose, and Sheep were walking in a pretty fast pace. Their destination was E-Rantel, the city where Sheep's brother currently lived. Right now, Hekkeran just remembered something worrying, so he spoke to the others.
"Guys, I just realized something. Now that Arche isn't here, there's nobody to maintain the illusion spell on Sheep"
The other three looked at each other, and they immediately looked worried.
"Oh, crap. If the spell expires in public we will be in trouble"
Sheep let out a sigh after hearing Imina's words.
"Why are people everywhere so filled with prejudice just because of my horns...?"
"Can't be helped, Sheep. Demons utterly devastated all lands 200 years ago just because they could, and recently this Kingdom's capital barely survived the rampage of one single demon. Hmm..."
Hekkeran went into thought while muttering incoherent words in low voice. He then seemed to came up with something and turned to resume speaking to Sheep.
"You once told us that your greatest enemy was Dark Falz, wasn't it? Think of it like this, what if a Dark Falz is able to take a human form and infiltrate your hometown? If one such Dark Falz is found in the middle of the city, every ARKS would attack to protect the city, wouldn't they?"
"Pfft"
Sheep laughed hearing Hekkeran's words. Hekkeran and Imina couldn't help getting confused.
"Did I say something funny?"
"Nah, not really. I just found it funny because actually there is one Dark Falz who can do that. It's complicated, so let's put it aside. I get your meaning, though"
Hekkeran smiled and nodded, feeling glad that Sheep could understand his meaning. Rose, who had been listening silently, then spoke out.
"In other words, we need a plan just in case, right?"
Hekkeran folded his arms, thinking more about the situation. Indeed, they needed a plan in case things turned south. The city would probably fall into panic and chaos if Sheep's horns were revealed in public. Worse, they might get attacked by adventurers. Sheep and Rose would brush off any attack thrown into them, but the same wouldn't apply to Hekkeran and Imina. They needed some plan to save themselves from possible harm.
"Right. Ideally, we would just go to the guild and meet Ryu there, but things never really go that smoothly"
"I'm all in for any plan we can come up with, but sadly I can't think of one"
"Hmm... I actually just thought of one, but... you might not really like it, Sheep"
"I can't say whether I like it or not until you tell me, Hekkeran"
"If the people are gonna consider you a demon, might as well not deny it"
The other three were confused hearing Hekkeran's words.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Pardon?"
Hekkeran, seemingly ignoring the other three's confusion, continued speaking.
"Sheep, Rose, do you have any flashy moves?"
The other three were still confused.
[X][X][X]
Outside Adventurer's Guild Building. Present Time.
The adventurers saw the signal fired by Rakheshir. Red light meant that all four of the suspects were fair game, but despite that they were aware that they still had to be cautious. After all, they had heard the news of a single demon wrecking the capital and it had taken two Adamantite Rank teams to drive him off. They became even more cautious after seeing the demon, and the red-haired girl next to her, pulling out their weapons seemingly out of thin air. The demon had a very sinister-looking bow, while the red-haired girl had a very mystical-looking magic staff which could have been a halberd as well with that size.
The demon drew her bow and aimed straight up. Immediately, she released a large energy bolt which quickly zoomed to the fairly dark sky.
BOOM!
A huge fiery explosion occured high in the sky right at the spot where the energy bolt was. For a brief moment, everything was bright as if it was day. Nobody had been harmed by the explosion thanks to it having been very high up, but all adventurers froze up, knowing what that meant.
It was a very clear warning that the demon was capable of blowing up the entire city within an instant. Any act of hostility would be responded with such deadly force which would definitely end the history of E-Rantel.
While all the people around were frozen in awe, the sole guy of the demon's group stepped forward and began speaking.
"Hear me people! We are here not to cause unnecessary deaths! Your demise is not our goal!"
Nobody responded to the man's speech, and so he simply continued.
"Our goal is to find a certain person! As long as we can find this person, no one will be harmed!"
Rakheshir, feeling that someone on this side had to take on the role of a representative, stepped forward. He was scared out of his wits, but still tried to act calm. He raised his arm, signaling the adventurers to hold positions, and perhaps also signaling the speaking man that he would be the representative of this city for now.
"L-Let me introduce myself. I am the guildmaster of this city's Magician's Guild, Theo Rakheshir. If we can come into a peaceful resolution, we will be glad to comply. So, would you tell us who the person you are looking for is?"
The man nodded, showing a rather relieved expression.
"Thank you for your understanding. We are looking for the leader of Ignite Maximus; Ryu Seika"
Whispers could be heard among the adventurers the moment they heard the name. Only newbie adventurers would not know the name of the only man who could rival the hero Momon. If a demon was specifically looking for him, it was highly likely to be a quest for revenge because of something he had done to the demon in the past. The possibility was high that the moment Ryu arrived, a massive fight would break out and cause great destruction.
Rakheshir proceeded to speak the truth anyway, since he felt that lying would be a bad idea against such a powerful demon.
"A-Actually, he should be here soon. But what are you going to do with him?"
Before Rakheshir could get an answer to the question, some cheers could be heard from the crowd of adventurers behind. He looked back and saw three familiar flying figures landing near. Ignite Maximus has arrived.
[X][X][X]
Shining Golden Pavilion. A Couple Minutes Before Present Time.
All three of Ryu's group were sitting idly in their room. They had arrived recently after walking around town, seeing if they could figure out what 'something good' would happen in the near future, but unfortunately they had not found anything.
"I really wonder what Ainz meant"
"Me too, Ryu-san. I have no idea what Papa wanted to show us"
Alice didn't say anything yet. Her eyes were as sleepy as usual, but it could be felt that she was in a deep thought.
"I'm not sure if whatever is going to happen would be good for us. Isn't it a possibility that it might be good for him, but not us?"
Ryu couldn't deny Alice's remark. Despite having promised to be an ally, Ainz was no saint. There had to be something he expected in return. For now, Ryu could consider the Photon Disks he had given to Ainz way back then as some sort of payment, but he had no idea whether that had been enough or not. Ainz had said that it was him who owed Ryu, but time had passed and many things had happened. His stance might not be completely the same anymore.
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly everyone heard someone banging at the door of their room.
"Ryu-kun! Are you there?"
It was hard for Ryu to recognize the voice behind the door, but from the way the man spoke, Ryu could guess who it was.
"Ainzach-dono?"
Ryu quickly opened the door. Behind it was Ainzach, who looked very worried.
"A demon is coming to the guild!"
"What?"
Ryu was surprised hearing what Ainzach had just said. The same applied to Lily and Alice. Could it be that Ainz had decided to repeat what he had done in Re-Estize, but with E-Rantel as the new target?
"Please protect the city! You will be rewarded anything the guild can afford!"
Before Ryu could give any answer, suddenly Lily shouted.
"Ryu-san! Look!"
Lily was right next to the room's window, pointing outside. The window was large enough for Ryu to see what was going on outside without having to move from his position, but he still rushed towards the window to see more clearly.
"Oh my-"
BOOM!
A huge explosion of fire occured high in the sky, following a large bolt of energy zooming straight upwards. For Ryu, the sight was like a massive ugly firework from hell. Whatever was causing this must be very strong.
"We will talk later, Ainzach-dono! Lily, Liz, let's go!"
Lily and Alice nodded, and all three jumped off from the window and used their flight spell to go straight towards the place where the bolt had been fired from. The location was right in front of the guild building, and Ryu saw that a bunch of adventurers were spread across the location, being in full alert but not moving. Several of them cheered when they noticed Ryu's team landing, but Ryu paid no heed and headed straight to one person he noticed; Theo Rakheshir. He seemed to be in a conversation with a man who seemed to be another adventurer. Rakheshir noticed Ryu's group coming and looked very delighted.
"Ryu-dono! You're here!"
"What's going on here? Where is the enemy?"
"T-This man said they are looking for you"
"Huh? Me?"
Ryu looked at the other man, who seemed to be delighted as well as he began speaking.
"So you are Ryu Seika?"
"Yes, I am. What do you need from me?"
"I believe it is better if you see for yourself"
The man then moved aside, revealing a group of people behind him. Ryu saw a woman he didn't know, but he quickly froze up seeing the other two, especially the last one.
"It... can't be..."
Ryu couldn't believe his sight. One of the other two was Rose, and the other was Hikaru, his own sister. Their eyes met for a moment, and Hikaru quickly ran straight to him. Ryu was still frozen up as this was happening, and Hikaru was just a few meters more from jump-hugging him.
However...
"B-Bind!"
Rakheshir casted a spell which conjured a magic shackle connecting Hikaru's ankles together. The sudden bindings put Hikaru off balance, making her tripped and fell flat on her face with a thud sound.
"N-Now, Ryu-dono! Please kill the demon!"
Ryu just looked at Rakheshir without speaking any words. His own face showed a mixture of disbelief and rage. He walked to Rakheshir, and without any warning...
WHAM!
Ryu punched Rakheshir in the face with all his might. Rakheshir fell down to the ground, having no idea why Ryu had just done that.
WHAM! WHAM! BAM!
Ryu stomped at Rakheshir's face repeatedly.
"What... have... you... done... TO MY SISTER!?"
SMACK!
Ryu stomped at Rakheshir's chest this time and didn't let go. As the result, Rakheshir could barely speak as he barely could breathe to begin with.
"Gah-! S-Sister? B-But *cough* ...the horns-"
"Horns... Horns..."
BAM!
Ryu stomped on Rakheshir's face again.
"AAAARGH! Why are every fucking people like this!? Hikaru has been robbed off her humanity by a madman, and now she has to be faced with prejudice!"
WHAM! POW! BAM! BWAK!
Ryu stomped and kicked Rakheshir repeatedly, fully filled with rage. All other people around could only watch in silence, having no courage to stop him.
"I-I'm... ugh! ...sorry! I thought... I thought *cough* she was about to attack you!"
Rakheshir pleaded for mercy while struggling to even breathe, and Ryu paused his act of violence.
"Sorry? You're sorry, huh? Is it because it is painful? YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH MORE PAINFUL IT HAS BEEN TO HIKARU!"
SMACK! WHAM! BWAK! POW!
"JUST DIE YOU BIGOTED, PREJUDICED, RACIST PIECE OF SHIT! THIS UNIVERSE WILL BE BETTER WITHOUT YOU!"
Suddenly, while Ryu was still raging, Lily put herself between him and Rakheshir.
"No more, Ryu-san. He's not worth it"
Ryu didn't say anything. He just breathed very heavily, trying not to mentally explode again.
"Look"
Lily said it while gesturing Ryu to look behind. Ryu did so, and saw Hikaru standing straight looking at him. Alice was right beside her, seemingly having dispelled whatever magic Rakheshir had casted. Her face was still pristine despite having fallen flat on her face, thanks to photon armor.
"Oniichan..."
Ryu, still being speechless, opened his arms for Hikaru, who immediately ran to him again. This time, nobody got in the way, and the two hugged each other tightly.
"Oniichan! I thought I've lost you!"
Ryu didn't speak at all, but it could be noticed that he was trying very hard not to cry. All other people around were touched by the scene of reunion presented to them, and some even cried.
Clap! Clap!
One adventurer began giving an applause, and it only took seconds until all people around followed, resulting in a big applause all around. Everybody for once seemed to forget that just a few minutes ago they had been in fear for their lives.
And sadly, nobody remembered about Rakheshir, who was still lying on the ground after having been badly beaten up.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
The two siblings are finally reunited, though with the cost of publicly displaying Ryu's major flaw as a person. He will have to face consequences later, though what the consequences will be is still a mystery. Meanwhile, Guardian will soon have a possible encounter with Elder. What event will eventually unfold there?
Coming up next will be the chapter to officially begin Volume 9, which will have a lot of changes. Look forward to it and see you again later.
