We had escaped the threat of the Tyrant Turtle and were walking down a corridor that led to the lowest level of stairs.

"Are you okay, Kilt?

　Next to me being carried on my back by Illtimina-san, Solstice asks with concern.

'It's nothing serious, don't worry about it.

　When asked, Mr. Kilt laughed and replied that he was.
　But he was pale, and even as he walked, his right hand was still attached to his left side.

It was injured when he was blown away by the "Tyrant's Tortoise" and crashed into a wall.

　Ms. Illtimina estimated that she probably had cracked or, worse, broken ribs.
　But Mr. Kilt refused to let the girl recover from her recovery magic.

The great magic of the "Bird of Fire" and the healing of my broken right leg - in addition to these two things, Solstice's own remaining magic power was scarce, as she had been drained by the process so far.

''Save some extra power for the future.

　The leader's order to "I'm not a leader.

　Then I thought I'd at least be the one to make a "slight recovery" (helio), but

''In order to use the 'Divine Armor', you need the 'divine Qi', right?　Then you must not waste this time. It would be the end of the world if the original purpose could not be achieved because of this.
..........

　After being told that, I had to shut up too.

(........................but you're pushing yourself too hard, Kilt-san.

　We could only watch her back as she continued to walk, still not showing her pain.

　General Dardios, walking beside her, said without reading the air.

'But I was unconscious, demon girl.
Hmm?

　At Mr. Kilt's gaze, the General stroked his beard.

"I didn't expect to be hit by a single blow. "Did you misjudge the monster's strength?

　I asked.

　If you ask me, I've certainly never seen Mr. Quilt get hit like that before.

(Was there a reason for that?)

　All eyes were on her, and she replied, with a faint difficulty in her expression.

'Honestly, the General is right.'

　A slightly surprising answer.
　She lets out a short sigh and continues her story.

''I've faced many demons in the past. From my experience, no matter how much of a 'tyrant's tortoise' it was, I didn't think that blow was that powerful. But the moment I actually touched it with my sword, I felt the impossible weight and power of its flesh. And by the time I realized it, it was too late.
..........

　A frustrated voice and look in his eyes.

　We can't say for sure.

　And then, after a moment's thoughtful look from Lectoris.

That's most likely due to the influence of 'divine energy', I'm sure.

　I muttered.
　Our gaze now turned to that 'divine Fangra' beauty.

''What do you mean?''

　And Rapt.
　Recto Alice explains.

'The statues of the knights of the gatekeepers were destroyed, remember?　Some of them would have been preyed upon.

　Speaking of which.

(Yes, there was some leftover bitten off heads and arms and stuff.)

''In order to sustain the life of the 'Divine Armor', the 'divine Qi' is being generated in these ruins. And that red light 'divine script' that resides on the head to move the knight statue is also naturally a 'divine art' that uses 'divine Qi'.

　Ah..........

''Did the 'Tyrant's Tortoise' eat that 'divine Qi' along with it?
Correct.

　As I muttered, Recto Alice laughed like a teacher.

''That red light, even though it was small, it held a vast amount of 'divine Qi'. That's how many knight statues there are?　If he had ingested such a large amount of 'divine Qi', then his body would have undergone an alteration and reached an intensity that would normally be unthinkable.

　........I see.
　If I were to use an analogy, I'd imagine that when I thought I was going to be hit with a 'plastic bat', it was actually a 'metal bat'.

(In other words, because of that alteration, Kirt-san misread your abilities, didn't he?

　We look at Mr. Quilt.

　Realizing the cause of his dismay, Mr. Quilt brushes his bangs back, but with an unhappy face.

But that's just an excuse.

　He grunted in pain.

　No matter what the reason, the fact that I was hit doesn't change the fact that I was hit - for the proud 'Golden Seal Demon Hunter', I guess that's all that matters.

(......................But a demon who has obtained divine Qi, huh?

　Just remembering that huge figure brings back the fear.

　Our attacks didn't work at all, and the fact that we managed to escape was just a blip on the radar.
　I had never seen such a situation before.

(Even against that "Son of Darkness", it didn't go this far, did it?

　Maybe that 'Tyrannical Tortoise''s fighting power is even greater than the 'Child of Darkness'.

''..........''
..........
..........

　Everyone else's expressions were dull, as if they were remembering that threat.

　Is that 'tyrannical tortoise' still repeatedly slamming its body against the massive amount of rubble in an attempt to prey on us?
　The vibrations that seemed to shake this entire hierarchy still lingered in the core of my body. And I couldn't help but feel that the horrible act was still going on in the present.

　And that's when.

''Ah........the stairs.

　A staircase leading to the lowest level appeared unexpectedly in front of us.

(Yes, let's just look ahead for now.)

　My leg is no longer numb.

It's all right, Miss Illtimina, you're safe now. Thank you.

　I get off her back.
　Ms. Illtimina still strokes my cheek with concern.

Don't take it easy, Merle.
Yes.

　I smiled and nodded.

　Then I took a big deep breath and looked around at everyone.

Okay, let's go.

　I say, looking into everyone's eyes.
　They all nodded back, and then we started to walk away.

　Catsuit, catsuit, catsuit.

　The sound of eight people's shoes echoed down the long stairs.

　...........
　I felt like I was further away than I had ever been before.

　Eventually.

(Oh...)

　A massive five-made high gate, which hadn't been at the entrance to the hierarchy so far, blocked their path.

'It's not locked, is it?'

　The third eye opens, and Rectalis checks it.

　Iltimina-san and General Dardios press their bodies against their respective doors and exert themselves.

''Phew.''
Nuh-uh.

　Gosh, gosh, gosh.

　Gradually, the '30 Level Gate' opened up as the dust was removed and the creaking metal sounded heavy.　

　--The first thing that comes to our mind is a startling sight.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　On the other side of the liberated door was a vast, cavernous, bare rocky space.
　And.

(The city ... there's a city!

　What was there was one city in ruins.

''........What, what is this?''

　Solstice mutters to herself.
　No, all of us are stunned, staring at the scene in front of us.

　We were at the top of a hill that overlooked that entire city.
　A long staircase of broken stone stretches from here to that ruined city.

　If you looked up, you could see the ceiling of the cave about a hundred yards above you. What is that vague blue-white glow?　It's like a bright night sky with moonlight and stars. I'm sure that you can see well enough without the "light birds" and lanterns.

　The city is surrounded by steep cliffs.

　Below the cliffs, a river of underground water flows, and from the wall of the cave on the other side of the city, a large amount of underground water flowed into a series of waterfalls towards that river.

(............)

　There is no popularity in the city.
　Nor is there any sign of a demon, either.

　It's a complete ghost town.

　But I had no idea that the deepest part of the "Great Labyrinth" was like this.

''There's something that looks like a temple over there.

　Mr. Illtimina pointed into the distance.

　From here, a large building could be seen on the hill in the part of the city that was just the other side of the city.

　The spire-like part of it reached up to the ceiling of the cave.
　It was quite high and large.

　We stared at it for a while.

Let's go there.

　Mr. Kilt said, holding his side and exhaling heavily.

　We nodded and descended the stairs to the mysterious ruin.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　bolo

Oops.

　The stone steps are brittle and occasionally crumble underfoot.

　Crunch.

　Quickly, Illtimina-san's hand took my arm as I lost my balance and supported me.

'Are you alright, Marle?'
Oh, thanks, Miss Illtimina.

　I smile and thank her.　
　Ms. Illtimina smiles, too.

"Ta-da!

　Doden

　At that moment, Solstice's footing next to her also collapsed and she fell over. Ugh, are you okay?　

"...why won't you support me?

　A resentful gaze turns to my sister.

''Well I had my hands full with Marl,''
..........
..........

　No, no, it's not my fault, okay?

　I shook my head bruisingly at the gaze, as if it was filled with resentment.

　As I was descending the stairs like this, suddenly, Rapt and Recto Alice, who were walking at the front, stopped.
　I suddenly follow their gaze.

(----)

　And there were the bodies.

　There were three skeletons at the end of the stairs, sitting there.

　They looked very old, clothed but tattered. There were also what appeared to be ornaments on the necks and wrists of those bones.

　Mr. Kilt kneels in front of it and checks the corpse.

There's no significant damage. But he's been dead for several hundred years.
..........

　In other words, they're not people from the past survey team.

(Then I guess that means they're residents of this city, after all?)

　What is this city all about?

　The unfathomable eeriness of it all makes me look around at the entire city.

　Then we said a short silent prayer for the three dead, and then we moved on.

　In the middle of the stairs, there were a number of dead people who had become skeletons.

''...........''
..........
..........

　Everyone walked through without saying a word and finally entered the city.

　The streets are lined with bare dirt and modest stone houses. Some of the buildings are crumbling, but most of them are still intact.

I don't think I've seen this type of architecture before, have you?

　The knowledgeable genius girl muttered.
　The black knight's sister nodded.

'Not unlike Arun's architectural scheme, yet somehow different.
Hmm?

　After ministering, Solstice lightly touched the door of the house.

　Ky.

　It moved easily.

'................
..........

　I couldn't help but look at them.

　Everyone else also showed a lost look.

''Demon girl, do you want to do some research?''
"Hmm.

　At General Dardios's words, Mr. Kilt thought for a moment and nodded.

''That's right. There are still too many questions about these ruins. And there may be some clues to the 'divine armor'. We don't have a lot of time, but let's explore the city for a while.
Yeah!
Let's do it!

　We nodded.
　Especially Solstice, whose intellectual curiosity was blatantly pleasing.

　First, we entered a house with an open door.　

　It was an empty house.
　Empty shelves, empty jars. And a room covered in dust everywhere.

　I moved to the next room while dusting off the old, no longer-colored cloth that seemed to be a room divider, and it seemed to be a bedroom.

(............)

　On a bunk there, two corpses were lying down.

　A large skeleton and a small skeleton - maybe they were a father and son. They were in a position like a parent holding a child in their arms, and they were in eternal sleep.

　From the window of their bedroom, they could see the temple on that hill.

(.........sorry for breaking in without permission.)

　We apologize in our hearts and all say a silent prayer.　

　As it was, we finished examining the houses and continued our exploration of the city, heading back to another house.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　For a few hours, we went around examining this abandoned city.

　There were many dead bodies in the streets of the city.

　Some were sitting against walls, others were lying in the street, and all were clothed, and while we couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of death, we didn't see any signs of an attack, at least not by a demon.

　The remains of dead fountains were common in the streets.
　There were also many dead bodies lying there.

　Eventually we arrived at the plaza in front of the temple.

(............)

　There were hundreds of skeletal corpses gathered there, sitting facing toward the temple. One of the corpses closest to the temple was clad in weathered but slightly opulent priestly clothing.

　In the direction of the dead, there was a long staircase and a large temple at the end of it.

　In the course of our search, we found several books.

　Although there were parts that were illegible due to the damage caused by the long years, the father and daughter of the Solstice and Dardios families saw that they were the script of the country that existed around Arun in the olden days, and they were able to decipher the contents.

'....Apparently, it's a journal.

　The girl mutters and then tells us.

　Combining the contents of those books, we were able to find out the true identity of this mysterious and ruined city.

　This city was built 400 years ago - during the time of that divine and demonic war.

　Behind the scenes, the gods and the human race fought together against the demons, but many of the powerless humans were caught up in the vortex of war and died in the process.

　In order to save those poor people, the goddess Callwood created a great city built deep in the earth as a refuge for the people.

(...........That Goddess Callwood?

　The sense of divine arcane arcane within me was a sense of surprise.

　No, the same 'Divine Family', Rapt and Recto Alice, also had a severely surprised expression on their faces. That was how rare the mercy shown by that gray goddess was.

　It was said that at one time, as many as two thousand people had lived in this 'Coalwood Underground City'.

　Of course, this underground city was not only a refuge for humanity, but was also given a role as a life-support system for the Divine Armor.
　The people not only worshipped the Goddess Kallwood, but also the Divine Armament.

　Although the place was dimly lit underground, there was also a fountain that provided "healing spiritual water" as food, and people's lives were said to have been modest and peaceful.

(...Come to think of it, there were many traces of fountains on the road...)

　I thought that the 'healing spiritual water' must have been gushing out of there.



　Solstice's voice, reading the text, became a little lower.

　Perhaps since the time when the Divine Demon War had probably ended, the Gray Goddess Callwood had suddenly disappeared from the people's sight.

''You've lost interest in those humans.

　Rapt muttered.

　The gray goddess-sama helps people in a fickle way, and then abandons them in a fickle way.
　We guessed that as soon as the Divine Demon War ended, she forgot about those people and returned to the Divine World.

　Of course, the people of those days had no idea of such a thing.

　They didn't even know that the God and Demon War was over.

　And in the closed, dark underground space, anxiety and doubts about the current evacuation life began to arise in the people.

''--I'm going to check out the outside.

　Someone said.
　A few of us sympathized with him and went through the gates of that city we had also passed through and headed up to the upper levels.

　However, a few days later, only one person returned.

''There's a demon on the upper level and we can't get out.''

　That's when I found out the facts.

　It seems that the statues reacted to the intrusion from the outside, but not to those who lived inside. However, from the eleventh level upwards, there were 'Immortal Ogre' and 'Petrified Serpent Woman (Medusa)' who seemed to have invaded from outside the ruins.

　They had encountered and attacked those demons.

''.........''
..........
..........

　We pale at the implications.

(Which means that the 2,000 people who lived here are now trapped this deep underground!

　The people of those days, of course, realized this.

　They recruited a death squad and tried to break through the demons, but there was no way they, war refugees, would be able to overcome an environment that would wipe out 300 of Arun's elite knights, and no one came back alive.

''The only reason they didn't return was because they went out.

They will come back with help one day.

　The remaining people consoled themselves with forced optimism. If they didn't, their hearts were going to break in despair.

　A dimly lit underground space.

　No sunshine, no hope for life.

　Nevertheless, the people of that time desperately continued to live their lives as they had before. There were babies born in this underground city who had no knowledge of the outside world. For the sake of those children, the world could not be a world of despair alone.

　The days were kept in a precarious balance.

　Of course, not a few of the people chose to commit suicide by throwing themselves into the underground river of water.

　--that life lasted 30 years.

　People's lives had begun to stabilize, though not without hope, as they worshipped Lord Callwood, the Grey Goddess. ...Even though the population continued to dwindle little by little, and the future was slowly being chipped away at them day by day.

But one day, that all changed.

　Solstice continued, her expression strained.

　There was a big earthquake.

　In the past, there must have been frequent tectonic shifts in this area as well.
　As a result.

It says that the fountains in this city have suddenly stopped producing 'healing spirit water'.

　Ground movement has severed that channel.

(.............)

　I close my eyes tightly.

　Everyone else was clenching their mouths and giving me a look of helplessness.

　It is said that people have been desperately cultivating what little land they have left and planting fields. But there was no sunlight here, deep in the earth. Naturally, crops could not grow well here.

　They were trapped deep underground, deprived of the food they needed to survive.

...Now I see why the bodies are not traumatized.

　The cause of death of the people was, horribly, 'death by starvation'.

　No, to be precise, the journal said that the temple priest at the time had made a 'Eternal Sleeping Pill' and distributed it to the people of the city.　

　Kilt-san muttered.

''........poisoning death?''

　We look up.

　In front of us, we saw many people gathered in the hall in front of the temple, sitting and dying.

''..........''
..........
..........

　The air, cloaked in death, caresses our skin.

　Solstice closed the journal with a slam.

'They say that the priest's necklace is the key to opening the temple treasury.
..........

　We approached the skeleton of the priestess.

　Around the neck of the bone hung a golden ornament with a blue magic stone.

(I'll borrow it.)

　I clasped my hands together and then let him take off my necklace.

　Challah.

　The magic stone reflecting in the light was a kind of sad glow in my eyes.　

''Marl.''

　Illtimina-san's white hand rides on my shoulder as if to comfort me.

(.........yes.)

　I looked up.
　At the end of the long staircase in front of me, there was a large temple dedicated to the "Grey Goddess Callwood".

　The 'divine armor' that I was seeking was supposed to be there.

''.........''

　I took a deep breath and the eight of us began to climb the long, long staircase, with the gazes of hundreds of silent wrecks at our backs.