“Everyone, are you ready?”
“Hah!”
At one of the dungeon entrances, the warriors under the command of Evil Race Army General Aishe responded in unison to her words, snapping to attention as if striking their heels together.
These warriors, who particularly revered Aishe’s strength and ruthlessness within the Evil Race Army, were all Rank 4 powerhouses, with the two adjutants among them being of even higher standing within Rank 4.
“…”
Aishe narrowed her eyes slightly at the sight of the warriors lined up perfectly. Originally, there should have been ten warriors here. However, Adra, one of them, had been killed with a single thrust between the eyebrows, her weapon stolen.
Adra was a Rank 4 user of Spirit Magic. Her high combat power was due to her high Mana Capacity, but even so, she shouldn’t have lost to an average warrior in close combat. But still, that woman would do it. The one with the Pink Hair, who had taken back the Magic Steel weapon Adra had obtained as spoils of war and wore it openly as if to provoke.
Aishe wanted to kill her immediately. However, in this “Ceremony of Selection,” even before delving into the dungeon that was the main battlefield, the assassination of warriors was carried out openly behind the scenes. Another warrior who had been lost had died in a mutual kill with a subordinate of Yoma Clan leader Charleschan.
Spreading out the troops any further to reduce the war potential of other clans would only increase the probability of being turned back. It would be a different story if they used those other than warriors as “disposable Assassins,” like the other clans, but Aishe, who was participating individually unlike the others participating as clans, couldn’t use soldiers from the army who might betray her at any moment.
The Dark Elves, chased by the Holy Church of the humans as “messengers of the Evil God,” crossed the scorching deserts and freezing mountain ranges to reach a harsh land where Monsters and dragons roamed.
There were few places where people could live, and those who went to hunt for food were killed by Monsters. To survive in this land, the Dark Elves had to become strong.
It was from then on that the Dark Elves came to revere strength. Out of hatred for the humans, they called themselves the “Evil Race” and desperately survived on hatred. In that harsh life, a certain young pair of sisters who had lost their parents turned to a Magic clan that used Magic for assassination in order to live… to become strong.
At that time, Aishe was still a babe in arms, and her older sister, still a girl, chose the path of becoming an “Assassin” as the price for the clan raising Aishe.
For the young Aishe, her sister was a source of pride. Strong, beautiful, and by the time she came of age, she went to war with the humans, becoming a warrior feared by enemy soldiers as a “War Demon.”
Her sister fought for her young sister, returning wounded in body and soul. She learned killing techniques from Ergrim, who was feared as a beast of the battlefield at the time, knew no pleasure other than killing, had no emotional connection with anyone other than her sister, and only knew how to fight. But at a certain point, she began to show expressions that Aishe had never seen before.
It seemed that her sister had met Adventurers such as humans, Forest Elves, and dwarves on a certain battlefield.
She crossed spears with them several times on the battlefield, and each time she returned, her expression deepened with melancholy. Her sister never returned from the battlefield with the humans.
What Aishe felt was anger rather than sadness. At first, it may have been sadness. But that feeling twisted along with the flowing tears and turned into hatred for the human nations.
She hated the humans who killed her sister. But Aishe, twisting the sadness of losing her sister, came to hate her sister’s weakness that had led to her being killed by humans.
The current Evil Race Nation is wavering. The Evil King, who had lost the human woman he loved and lost the will to live, was on the verge of death, and taking advantage of this opportunity, the war-mongering clans moved their armies, centering on themselves.
Aishe moved her army as its vanguard to “start” a war with the human nations. It was difficult to stop an army once it had been moved. But even so, she knew that the moderate clans who revered the current Evil King would interfere.
That was why they attacked Cutlass Town. Because they could smoke out the “child of the Evil King,” who would be the key to starting the “Ceremony of Selection” to decide the new king.
The prince, who had fled the Evil Race Nation in fear of assassination, would have nowhere to live without Cutlass Town. If he understood that they were destroying every place where the prince could be, the prince would no longer be able to hide.
Aishe and the other pro-war factions wanted to start the “Ceremony of Selection” by having the prince participate, establish a new Evil King, and start a full-scale war with the humans.
By moving the army as a general and capturing a human town, Aishe had obtained the right to participate in the “Ceremony of Selection.”
However, even if they were also pro-war, Yoma Clan leader Charleschan and Gouma Clan leader Dowhill would prioritize their own interests over war. That was why she joined hands with Magic clan elder Ergrim, who was also pro-war, and plotted to cause another war of vengeance by the entire Evil Race by having Ergrim or Aishe herself become the Evil King.
(—But more than that, it’s that woman.)
Although she had fought to a draw on the battlefield and barely managed to win, Aishe herself knew the Pink Hair woman’s true strength.
How did she, a human, acquire that strength?
Why does she know the “War Demon” technique that her sister learned from Ergrim and sublimated on her own? Not only that, Aishe could not overlook that woman who had killed her adjutant, who had been with her for many years.
“First of all, it’s that Pink Hair woman. Smoke her out along with the prince!”
＊＊＊
“Uroaaaaaaah!”
The Magic Steel Two-Handed Axe swung down by Jesha split the head of the Magic Wolf that had charged straight at her. It was blown away to the other side of the passage without even having time to spew blood, and a crossbow arrow released by a girl clad in a cloak pierced the neck of a Magic Wolf that had jumped out as if sewing through the gap.
“Hah!”
Kadri jumped in there and used his Spear to slice off the head of the Magic Wolf, and a black-skinned boy who had jumped down from a high place attacked the several Magic Wolves that had been intimidated by it—Camille wielded two short swords.
“—Dancing Ripper—”
The Demon Sword, which sealed the Level 5 Combat Art, glowed faintly, and the flashing Blade that raged like a Cyclone instantly tore apart four Magic Wolves.
“Phew…”
“Young master, are you injured?”
After confirming that all the Magic Wolves had been annihilated, Camille exhaled, and shook his head at Kadri, who called out from behind.
“I’m fine. Let’s move on.”
“Hey, are you gonna leave the meat behind?”
Jesha interjected at Camille, who had immediately decided to move on.
The dungeon in the basement of the Evil Race Fortress is a “beast” dungeon. There are various theories as to where the Monsters in the dungeon come from, but there is the theory that the Miasma of the dungeon generates Monsters, and the theory that the dungeon extends its entrances like the roots of a tree and lures in Monsters. In the latter case, the beasts that appear would be called in from the Lost Mountains to the east.
In any case, beast meat is a delicacy for Jesha, who grew up in the desert. It’s strong-smelling and sinewy, but sturdy dwarves wouldn’t care about any of that.
“The smell of blood will attract other beasts. Give up on the meat.”
“Ugh.”
Jesha sighed at Camille’s words while looking around the intricate surroundings, and they started walking again while looking back regretfully.
This dungeon only has ten floors, but it is unusually intricate.
The inside of the dungeon, which had been repeatedly expanded and remodeled to increase the number of entrances, changed the height of the footing, the height of the ceiling, and even the walls, ceilings, and floors had passages without stairs as they progressed. It had become the worst maze, where you could lose your sense of location after just a few steps.
To break through this place, you would have to dive in many times and create an accurate map. Even now, there was a possibility that a beast would jump out from the darkness of a horizontal hole near the ceiling, and Camille and the others, who had obtained a simple map from the moderates, had no choice but to engrave marks on the floor while their minds were being worn down by tension, and proceed to the depths of the dungeon.
“…Target acquired.”
There was a group watching them from one of the dark passages.
Only those who have declared their participation and warriors can participate in the Ceremony of Selection. However, each clan was sending not only that, but also assault squads to kill other warriors. They are not official warriors and their strength is Rank 3 or lower, but even so, they are risking their lives for the sake of their clan.
“The prince and the dwarf woman… that’s all we could identify.”
“I thought there were five of them? Who’s missing?”
“Who is the ‘human woman’ that Ergrim-sama was concerned about? Is it that hooded one?”
“I don’t know. I think there was a Rank 3 girl, so maybe they left her behind.”
“Don’t let your guard down. First, we’ll rendezvous with Gram-dono.”
““Yes.””
They were foolishly waiting for Camille and the others to enter from the main gate. There were many who hadn’t arrived yet in this intricate dungeon, but even so, the maps possessed by their clan covered most of the area.
“We’re going after the princes. The enemy is a skilled Rank 4. We’ll ambush them in the open area further ahead.”
Gram gave instructions after merging and receiving reports from his comrades.
They were an assassination squad under Ergrim’s command. Not all of them had gathered yet, but still, more than half, nearly twenty members, had assembled.
Gram, the leader of the assassination squad and one of Ergrim’s subordinates, didn’t underestimate the Rank 4’s abilities, even if they were few in number. To eliminate them for sure, he planned to use the map to get ahead and kill at least the princes in a wide-open space.
Gram proceeded cautiously… overly cautious.
“……?”
“What’s wrong?”
One of the men, who was moving ahead through the passage away from Camille and the others, suddenly looked around, and the man next to him whispered a question.
“No, it’s just that something feels different than before…”
“Did we take the wrong path?”
“No, that’s not it… Gram-dono, take the right at that third passage.”
“Understood. You guys, be careful, there’s a hole in that darkness.”
“Yes, sir.”
Even detailed dungeon maps don’t cover every small hole in the floor or places where people can’t pass.
Without being able to measure the exact height differences or angles of turns, even the sense of distance was unreliable. Still, the reason they could proceed without getting lost was that Gram, who was walking in the lead, could find the holes leading underground.
Dungeons have ceilings and walls that faintly emit light to lure in prey. In a normal dungeon, that would be convenient, but in this intricate dungeon, complex shadows were created, hiding the holes in the floor and turning them into traps.
If the pitfall was only a few meters deep, it would only result in a sprained ankle. But in this dungeon, there were holes that led to the second or even third level, known as instant-death traps.
Lighting a 【Light】 would make it a little better, but it wouldn’t change the danger. But Gram could distinguish the difference in levels from the “smell” blowing up from underground, allowing him to avoid the deep holes.
If they proceeded according to the map, they would be able to ambush the princes. Thinking so, as they hurried forward, they suddenly heard the growl of a “beast.”
“A monster!?”
“Which direction is it coming from!?”
“There are many of them, what do we do?”
Everyone drew their swords with tense expressions at the sudden growls of what seemed to be more than a dozen beasts.
Even if it was a magic wolf, it wouldn’t be a problem for their skills. But Gram immediately judged that it would be disadvantageous to fight a four-legged beast in this narrow place like a hidden passage where they couldn’t swing their swords properly.
“Advance to the back! We’ll meet them in the plaza!”
Although they wouldn’t be able to launch a surprise attack, it would be difficult to do so if they were injured here. Gram thought it would be better to quickly deal with the magic wolves and fight the princes head-on, so he gave instructions to his comrades.
But—
“!?!”
The figures of his comrades who jumped into the plaza disappeared.
Did they move to the side to avoid getting in the way? Just as he was about to raise his voice to tell them to stop to confirm, an intense “killing intent” attacked from behind.
“What!?”
Even as he tried to stop, the following comrades, frightened by the killing intent, pushed Gram forward. And the moment Gram stepped into the plaza where no one could be seen, his body was thrown into the air.
There was only a deep hole there. The screams of his comrades suddenly echoed. Gram smelled the scent of the third level…
As Gram fell into the hole, he saw the pink-haired girl looking down at him with cold eyes from the edge, and he understood everything.
The “growl” of that beast, the “smell” that filled the surroundings, the “wall” in the middle of the road, the “plaza” that could be seen at the end of the passage, everything except the last killing intent was an illusion.
“……Next.”
Aria, who had been looking down at the sight of nearly twenty people falling into the hole, readjusted the shawl around her neck and disappeared into the darkness of the dungeon.
Next time, Ceremony of Selection Part 2
Maybe those people will show up soon.