After confirming that Full Moon, Luke and the others had begun their attack, we, Mel and the others broke in through the hidden passage.

We're not going to be able to get in.

''Hikage-san and the others, you're very good at blocking signs and speed.

I'm a ninja, that I am!　If you can't do this much, you can't call yourself a shadow, that I can't. And the numbing needle you sold me for Tact-dono is also in great shape, that it is.

Haha, that's good.

Mel is sometimes worried about Takuto, who is using assassination weapons without a care in the world. At this point, Chiffon speaks out with a question.

''Um!　Isn't it strange?　It's a hidden passage and there are no guards or security guards.

As I recall, that means...

A woman's voice echoes before Miranda can answer her thoughts.

'Good answer. It's called a trap.

Black Mercenaries?
?　?　?

Enemies appear from the front and rear and are pinned down. Mel immediately gives them instructions.

'Us and Hikage and the others in front!　Chiffon and the rest of you, take the back!

Copy that.

The dark mercenary licks his tongue as Mel and the others immediately respond.

''Ahhhh... nice. A pretty face, a resolute attitude, a woman like you is what I've been waiting for. Come on, let's kill each other!

Will someone please do me a favor and give me that guy's job?

It's all yours.

Lisa pops up as Mel looks truly disgusted.

'Don't mess with your sister!　Shokun!

Another enemy NPC appears in response to Lisa's attack.

The Dark Master?
?　?　?

That enemy catches Lisa's attack with his bare hands.

''Sweet. ''Haha!''

'd*mn!　Yikes!

Lisa guards against an enemy kick, but gets knocked off.

'I'll take care of you,'

Jeez, you're good!　I will never lose!

Each of the other dark mercenaries appeared as well. Other than the dark mercenaries, the enemies of the fire shadows and Mirai were different.

Dark assassins?
?　?　?

The Destruction Monk?
?　?　?

Seeing the muscle-bound Destruction Monk, Mirai protests.

''...Only me, the other party is definitely wrong!

'Gahaha!　Don't say that!　Let's have some fun!

"...there's nothing to enjoy at all!

Mel and the others began a fierce battle.


At the same time, I was about to rush in with Tetsushin-san and the others.

''Nuh!''

The enemy.

You're late...

As Tetsushin sheathes his sword, an enemy NPC is slashed and falls. That's nasty.

But we can't lose either. Ix takes aim at the enemy that was waiting in the hidden passage.

When it comes out, Koibito cuts it down. But it's an ambush...I'll try to communicate with Mel and the others, but I can't get through...well, I guess it's okay.

Now, if they're going to ambush you, we'll do whatever it takes.

"Shins... are you up for it?

Yeah, I'm on it. I've got it.

Sephora.

You are in charge.

It's times like these that Sins would come into play. Sephone's shadow summoning should also be effective. Now we just need someone to stop him.

"Noah, please.

Hmm.

Sinsu disappears into the darkness and Noah and Sephone disappear into the shadows. In the meantime, I asked Ix for information on the hiding place. There is a large space in the center, and every entrance seems to lead to it. And luckily, the room where the slaves seemed to be was accessible from a hidden passage.

Come to think of it, wouldn't they build a prison in a normal passage? They'd find it right away and free us, right? Well, I think it's time to move on.

I think it's time to move on.

All the enemies he encountered in the cave were asleep. It was Sins. The stop was given to Mr. Ironheart and the others. Then a synchronized communication comes in.

''...Father, we can't go any further.''

"...hmm. There are strong people. They know that Noah and his friends are aware of it.

"Gulp, I've got no choice but to pull out.

Well, there's a jail cell, and they won't let you go easily.

All right. Well, good job. We'll meet up with you.

"'Roger that.

I talk to Mr. Ironheart and the others.

'It looks like we have a strong enemy.

Well, we'll give you that.

Please.

We meet up with Sinsu and Nowa, and we run into the enemy.

"...here they come. Looks like a pretty good opponent.

I don't want to fight... hmm?

Before us was a man in a black robe and a dark summoner I'd met before.

''Ha!　Sir!　I changed my mind!　I'll kill that summoner.

Do you know him?

You don't know? Then I'll tell you.

"I've seen your face before. You're the dark summoner who ran away from me. You've been hiding in here, haven't you?

'Ha!　Huh...I'll kill you!

The Dark Summoner disappears. It's a different story now. You are going to hell.

A precise energy gun is fired at the dark summoner as he appears.

What?　Phew!

The dark summoner ducks at a foregone conclusion, but a tail energy gun snatches him in the face. 'Ix's one, you missed it on purpose.

''It's an imitation of the Master.

Don't copy that part. I feel like everyone's been under my influence lately.

'Huh... apparently that's not a lie.

Tetsushin-san slashes at him, but his opponent stops the attack with his sword. Stopping Tetsushin-san's attack so easily... clearly he's stronger than the Dark Summoner.

''Hmph!''

The man in the black robe pushes Mr. Tetsushin away by force. Feeling this, Tetsushin-san moves away from him.

''...This is strong...''

Unusual for a samurai to be... interesting.

So why don't we go ahead and see what happens?

I'm going to move on.

"You!　Enough!　Huh?

The dark summoner who was about to attack me is hit by an energy gun.

'Your opponent is me,'

At best, good luck against Iks. I can't imagine Iks losing at all, though!

I follow the directions of the tracking weather vane and run. Apparently, it's like bingo where Ix found it. That's where Kazuki gets worried and calls out to him.

'Are you okay?　The "Japanese fox

It's all right...we have Takuto and Koibito...everyone here. But we have to hurry.

The Japanese fox is strong.

''Ah!　Let's hurry up!

He kicked off the guards and made it to the prison. He was sober and strong.

'Ah!　Strong brother!

'Oh!　That's Tact!　I'm here!　Help me!

Caro's daughter and Aladdin were there. I use the unlocking wooden key to unlock the jail and use the emancipation device that Mr. Einstein gave me.

Then electricity runs from the collars of the captured slaves and the slave collars come off one by one.

Wow. That's what Mr. Einstein was all about. At first they didn't know what happened, but gradually they cheered when they realized that they were freed from the slave collars.

''Ha, it's off... big brother!　Great!

That's what I'm talking about!　Maybe you could take down that monster.

Hmm? A monster?

Aladdin, what's a monster?

You haven't seen it yet?　There's a bigger monster than a djinn in serious mode.

Hey, wait a minute... that djinn in serious mode was pretty big. Is the bigger one really the last boss?

'You said we were food for that monster or something?　Big brother.

Bait... what do you think I'm doing with my life! But now we know why they kidnapped the child. Then comes a synchronization from Ix.

'Enemy, I escaped with the item. He said if you wanted to kill me, come to the back, what do you want to do?''

That one. You can't beat them yourself, so you have to use the boss.

"There's no need to pursue it further. How about you, Tetsushin?

'I'm struggling. Do you want to intervene?

...unnecessary. We got everybody out of here. Since the warp gate doesn't look like it's working, we'll just rendezvous and get everyone out.

Because it would be tactless to interrupt the fight.

"Yes, Master.

I'll take them all and we'll head out. Probably the big hall is the boss's room, so we can't get out from any other exit. In that case, I'll just have to go back the way I came, knowing that I'm in the way... Just as I was thinking that, Ix, Tiejin and the others are coming.

''No~ Sorry. We let you get away.

I escaped the moment I realized that the Master had freed the slaves.

You read that I wasn't going to go to the boss room and chose to retreat... they called me husband or something, and an enemy that even Mr. Ironheart can't defeat... not to be underestimated.

He called himself Bloody Wars or something like that before he retreated.

A blood war is a war that's about to start. It makes sense, though, because this case is actually aimed at war.

Let's make getting everyone out of there a priority right now.

'Well... we'll lead the way.

Please. We'll get behind you.

The moment we run down the corridor and see the exit, Love Fire shouts out.

'It's a trap!　Please stop!

'What?　Everybody halt!

Mr. Ironheart stops them all. The top of the exit blew up and debris rained down on us.

Thanks to Love Fire's warning, we didn't get stuck under the rubble.

'Abuse!'

No fancy. Here.

I'm so glad you're all okay!

Mr. Wife, there's a lot of room...

Thanks for the help, but, well, let's see what we can do...

The entrance was completely blocked. I can't summon Black Iron or Moonshine Night in such a narrow passage... and I'm in trouble. Ah...by any chance?

Tetsushin-san, can you cut it?

Don't be ridiculous.

No... but we'll get backup.

Oh, but what about the scene in anime and manga where they cut you in half?　Isn't there a chance?

I know. I remember a scene from a long time ago, too, where a samurai in a cartoon cuts a giant rock in half.

'...It's not a skill or technique, so how could he do it?

But this debris has an endurance value, right?　Dad,

Backup from the two kids. What do we do? Ironheart.

'Hah!'

Gahhhh!

The rubble was stunned by Tetsushin-san's all-out blow.

''No?''

I told you that was impossible in the first place!

But if you're sure you can break it, you have to break it.

Ix, can you break it?

It can be done by using the energy blaster's de-limiter.

Rejected. It's too painful to break the energy blaster. But with a big move of that caliber, it's possible to break it.

There aren't many of our members that can do that outside of their trump card. It would only be Est-Oration's Strike or a Breath and Wave Technique such as Dragon Breath.

''Would Dragon Breath and Wave Technique be possible?''

'With Dragon Breath, it seems to be possible to destroy it with a single shot. With the Wave Technique, if you use the power of Estorations, it's easy to destroy it. If you don't use both of them, then it seems that Lily, Aeon, and I can destroy it with our simultaneous attacks.

If that's what Ix says, then I'm fine. I feel like he's suggested a quick release of the limiter and the attack power of the Dragon Breath, but I know it's super powerful. So I call Lily and Ion and explain the situation.

They agree, and the three of them arm their weapons against the giant rock.

'Energy loading complete.'

All right!　Light Waves

Blue wave!

Energy Blaster firing.

Three rays of light hit the giant rock, cutting down and destroying the endurance value as they watched. This was something I didn't know, but the guys who were waiting for me at the exit also received the aftermath and were obliterated.

''That's a lot of firepower.''

'That's nice... energy blaster. I'd love to shoot one too.

I know that feeling painfully well.

''...There's no way a brave man could have something like that.

Shizuku is so calm. Then a cheer rang out from the people behind me.

''Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!　All that debris in an instant!

Outside... we can go outside!

'I can go home to my mom and dad... thank you!

"Thank you.

It's nice of you to thank me, but I haven't been able to save you yet. Then a man came down from the sky. He restrains the alarmed Tetsushin and the others with his hand.

'Don't worry. He's on our side.'

'I'm not on your side,' the lamp goddess Jinn says to me.

"I'm not on your side. But it's true that I owe you a debt of gratitude. Because of some weak little fish.

'What?　Who are you talking about?

Streaks appear on Jin's face as Aladdin falls in love with him.

'...I hear you want to die.

'Wait, wait, wait!　It's a joke!　It's my weakness!　I'm sorry!

Seeing Aladdin get down on his knees, Jin smacks his tongue... he doesn't get angry. This genie. I still think you and Aladdin make a good team. Jin says to me.

'I'm going to bring that Aladdin guy back to town. "I'll bring the others back home too.

That would help. Once Najum gets back to Karo's place, the quest will be complete.

Please.

I'm on it. But the subhumans can't.

''I'll take care of that. I've already talked to the Beast Demon Guild about it.

You know... Tact and Jin, are they getting along?　A bit of gelatin.

Jin's knuckles fly at Aladdin.

'Don't be stupid, let's get the hell out of here.

Hahi... bite my tongue...

When the djinn deployed the magic circle, there was no one left but the subraces. I'll have to take the subraces with me too. In order to do that, I have to get Spica and Hix back.

Then I got to know the current war situation. It seems that everywhere is in a state of warfare. It seems to be caused by some strong NPCs mixed in with the enemy NPCs.

'I'll be back for a while. Ironheart and the others are struggling, please help Full Moon and the others.

How's the summoner doing?

'We're outnumbered, and our summons are excellent, so we'll be fine... probably.

I retrieved Hix and Spica, registered this place as a transition stone, and flew with the subraces to Freetia at the warp gate.

I left the recovery of Lily and the others to Ruin and the others, and took the subraces to the Beast Demon Guild. That's where the quest was completed.

''I've completed the request quest 'Free the slaves captured by the bandits'.
"You have successfully completed the 'Rescue the Caravan's Daughter' quest.

It looks like they managed to clear them both. But even now, Mel and the others are fighting. We should hurry up and get back.

Good job. You're good.

'Thank you. But we're still fighting, so I'll be right back.

Well... what's your prediction?

It's looking good. The people who were captured have identified the creature. And it looks like they're feeding on people's lives, growing the creature.

I felt the anger in Cain's eyes.

'That's...inexcusable. 'All right... hurry up and get back to your friends. I'll take care of them responsibly.

Please.

I took my recovered Lily, Aeon, Setia, Love Fire, and Ix to the hiding place again. We tried to join the fight somewhere, but apparently there was a possibility of an infinite number of enemies boiling up if we didn't make the Rathbos appear, so we aimed for the Rathbos' room.