Chapter 405

405 – Pursuit

I scowl at the door Thermal and Miria disappeared through. It wouldn’t be impossible for me to ram my way through, but if the passages get any narrower, I’d have no choice but to humanise.

Also… Thermal’s objective is probably to split our forces. He must have judged that, with just two of the Three Knights and a few knight slimes, they couldn’t have the combined forces of me, Aro, the nightmare, the magiatite heart, and Volk. If I were to leave, I’d be forcing them to fight Mephisto and the slimes by themselves.

Among all of them, Volk is the strongest, but… His HP has recovered, but his MP still hasn’t. He must also have a lot of mental fatigue built up.

What should I do? If Thermal flies into a rage, he could easily kill Miria, but… It’s possible that his display of anger was a bluff. If I’m not the one who chases him, he might give up on trying use her to negotiate and not bother threatening to kill Miria. But the reason Miria said he can’t kill her is unclear, so I can’t be certain. I can’t discard the possibility that they she spoke without much thought out of fear of being taken hostage.

It’s a choice between raising the danger to Miria, or worsening the situation for everyone here… No, that’s not all. I can easily beat any of the Three Knights…at least, Mephisto or Thermal, in a one-on-one fight. But the fact that Thermal fled with Miria means that he must have some sort of plan.

Our forces aren’t enough. We’re seriously at the limit. When I think that the last of the Three Knights, Rogueheil, and the Demon Lord will join in, my head hurts. What is Lilixira doing? She’s sent Alphiss in, so she can’t be unaware of what’s happening… I wish she’d at least send seraphim-san in as well… I guess she’s not planning on helping until the Demon Lord’s position is revealed.

While I’m thinking, more slime soldiers pour through the doors on either side of the hall, replenishing their numbers.

“Fight to buy time, and don’t let them rest!”

“Where’s the Saint? I’m going to hunt that bitch and earn princess-sama’s favour!”

In total, they’re close to twenty again… There has to be a limit to their numbers, surely. Just how many did that slime make?

“This is vexing. You must be wavering over whether to go because of my weakness.”

Volk laughs through his nose in front of me.

N-no, I never said you were weak… If anything you’re so strong for someone with a human body that it’s terrifying, and you don’t even know anyone by the name of God’s Voice, do you?

“The adventures alone aren’t nearly sufficient. Like that, yes, slow their movements like that. I will handle the Three Knights woman.”

Volk glances at magiatite-jii. While gliding across the floor, he is blowing on the knight slimes to coat them in metal and render them powerless.

Certainly, for clearing up the knight slimes, magiatite-jii seems the most suitable. The recovered adventurers have begun to move, but they’re clearly terrified. Most of them have already used up all of their MP. Besides, in the first place, they’re not a match for the slimes in terms of ability.

But originally, Volk was driven into a corner by knight slimes and the Three Knights. Even though magiatite-jii has joined, I’m not confident…

“Hurry up and go. It’s obvious that you are their primary target, ouroboros. I am the man who will be the strongest in the world one day. I can’t afford to keep losing to these fake swordsmen slimes.”

…I understand what Volk is saying. Probably, Rogueheil will show up where Thermal wants to lead me. It wouldn’t be strange for there to be other forces hidden in the castle, and there is the problem of the Demon Lord themself. Once they show up, If I’m by myself, I’d lose in terms of numbers. More importantly, we don’t have time.

“Gaah!”

My partner looks up at the ceiling.

The nightmare has been crawling along the ceiling and dropping bundles of thread to seal the movements of several knight slimes, but upon noticing my partner’s gaze, quickly descends down a thread to land next to us. I bow my head down to Volk.

“Once I’ve cleaned up the small fry, I’ll follow you right away.”

Volk points his sword toward the indigo haired girl, Mephisto.

Different from the last time I saw her, the front of her clothes are open, and a woman’s head with dishevelled hair is sprouting from her chest, giving her a bizarre appearance. But I’m not at all surprised. Mepthisto’s species is a [Dual Slime].

【[Dual Slime]: B+ rank monster.】

【A slime with two faces. One wields status condition-inflicting magic, while the other wields magic of death and destruction.】

【It specialises in the operation of magic while also locked in close combat, and also in pressing the opponent with a continuous shower of water blades.】

【Separates when driven into a corner.】

Looking at the species explanation, she seems a pretty troublesome opponent. But the enemies I’ll be fighting won’t at all be inferior to the [Dual Slime]. Volk has also told me to leave it to him. There’s nothing to hesitate over.

I start to chase Thermal. The nightmare attaches a thread to my back and climbs aboard. The knight slimes in my path scatter. Since Thermal has said that he would lead me away, it doesn’t seem like they want to go out of their way to challenge me.

“[Gale]!”

Aro shoots wind magic from my head towards the fleeing knight slimes.

“The Dragon Hunter, is it? It seems like you’re looking down on us…”

As the girl speaks expressionlessly, her second head laughs derisively.

“Hah, what an idiot. We know all of your skills and weaknesses! Dragon Hunter… For someone like you to have survived this long, the ones fighting you must have been even more stupid than you! Even if we fought a hundred times, we wouldn’t lose once, you know? Wouldn’t it be better for you to cry for help now? Go on, beg the dragon to save you, rather than lustfully chasing after a girl!”

Hearing Mephisto’s voice, I anxiously look back. But Volk doesn’t show the slightest unrest, and holds his greatsword ready.

“I told you, I’d be right behind you. I won’t forgive you if you look down on me any more, ouroboros.”

I face the front and crash through the wall, entering the passage that Thermal fled through. I’m not completely free of anxiety. I don’t doubt Volk at all, but the enemies are all too varied.

I’m worried if this is okay, whether it’s okay for me to prioritise my personal feelings for Miria while the whole world is in danger. That is why I am fretting over whether it would have been better for me to stay. But nevertheless, as sorry as I feel for the Saint and the other adventurers, no matter how much I worry, I am probably just be searching for excuses, and would choose the same option no matter what.

I recall the time soon after I came to this world. The figure of Miria anxiously calling out to me while using [Rest] after Douz cut me fills my mind.