A few hours after we started exploring in earnest.
　When we came to the far end of the bamboo forest, we came to an open area that looked like an Alde forest.
　And of course, there was a huge tree in the middle, with what looked like a torrent around it.

'Ah, so we've met.

I knew you were here...

　Hmmm, I've really found it.
　What should we do........should we just leave it here and wait for it to develop into a big battle......I'm not sure.
　While we're waiting, other people might get harmed, and if the big battle develops into a big one, we might not be able to control it by ourselves.
　But if it turns into a major defeat, the rewards from the gacha will be...well, let's not do that.

　If you get greedy, you might get hurt, and you might have to sacrifice yourself for the sake of gacha.
　Then you can't draw the gacha comfortably. I want to feel good about playing the gacha.

"Oh, but isn't it somehow smaller than the last time we fought?

Hmm?　It does seem a bit small for sure...

　While I was selfishly troubled by one, Esther looked at the huge tree and tilted her head.
　If you ask me, that Grandis looks smaller than the last one.
　Could it be another guy?　Let's take a look at the status and see.

　------.
Grandis [tentative] Race:Trent
　Level: 50
　HP: 60,000
　MP:1,800
　Attack Power:1500
　Defensive Power:1300
　Agility:10
　Magic Resistance:120
　Unique Ability Mimicry
　Skills: Demon absorption, earth movement
------

"...What's this?　It's got a provisional or something next to my name.

Oh, something's coming up!

What?

　As I was distracted by an oddity in the status app's display, Sisha suddenly raised her voice and pointed at me.
　That's the direction Grandis is in, and when I look at it, I see that something black is coming out of a huge tree.

　The black object comes completely out of Grandis and begins to spread its wings and fly through the air.
　It was a small creature about the size of a goblin in the shape of a man, with a vicious, horned, ogre-like face.
　In its left hand it held a trident spear with a three-pronged tip, and in its right hand it held what looked like a black gemstone.
　It was flying around above us, looking at us with its red eyes as if it were observing us.

　What is that........is it a demon?　And, for now, status!

　------
Species:Diabolus [State] Attendants
　Level: 70
　HP: 65,000
　MP: 2700
　Attack Power: 3900
　Defensive Power:2000
　Agility: 160
　Magic Resistance:70
　Unique Ability: Control
　Skills Life Drain Inkbup Spear
------

　What the hell is this?　It's pretty strong, though!
　And the indication that it's a subtribe next to a race.......it's like it doesn't make sense.

　When I was confused by the sudden development, Diabolus suddenly let out a yell.
　It was so loud that it made the air and ground vibrate, making me want to cover my ears.

''Guh........Ugh, shut up.......''

'Why are you--oh!　Toto, Trent is on the move!

　I looked ahead and saw that Grandis and Trent, who hadn't seemed to be moving until a moment ago, began to move at once, pulling their roots out of the ground.
　Then they move forward from Trent, who is now able to walk, towards us.

''I wonder if that demon is controlling them?''

It seems so..... If we don't defeat that thing here, it's going to be a problem.

　In addition to Grandis and Trent, there's even a situation with Diabolus or something like that.
　Should we retreat and regroup, or should we continue to push on and take them down...?
　After having encountered the guy who seemed to be involved in the mutation around Queres, it's painful to run away and lose him here.
　Thinking about the future, I'd like to kill him here, but........

''Ummm, so--about right!

　The diabolus in the sky above threw the spear in his hand at Sisha and Esther, who were behind me.
　The thrown three-pronged spear was enveloped in a thunderous black light as it came towards me.
　I hurriedly bounced it back with the lid of the pot, and my body was brought backwards, but I managed to hold on.
　It's an attack so powerful that the arm that receives it goes numb.
　The spear that is repelled back goes flying while spinning in the air, and immediately it becomes a particle of light and returns to the guy's hand.

　 Does that mean he's reasonably intelligent?
　Well it doesn't matter.......I can't forgive them for attacking Estelle and the others, I can't forgive them for that!

Okay, he's definitely going to be breathing down our necks right now!

'Very good!　You don't need to be flying, just come at me, sir!

You can't come down here. Calm down, brother and Sissiya.

　I shouldn't have done that, I was in a bit of a temper tantrum.
　Even now, Trent is coming toward us. We're under attack from both the ground and the air. I'll have to assess the situation properly.
　Even though there's only one of them, they're being held in the air by a demon that has the offensive power to be lethal if it hits Esther or Sisha.
　Should I ignore the ground and somehow defeat it first from that Diabolus, or should I ignore the sky and deal with it from Grandis.......
　Or handle both at the same time..................this.

'Noor, can you deal with Grandis and Trent by yourself until you defeat the aerial demons?　You can use your skills, you know.

If you're allowed to use your skills, it's a piece of cake!

All right, well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're up.

Yes, sir!

　A knoll in a silvery aura state should be strong enough to take on a ground enemy, even if it's just one person.
　Besides, the current Grandis, for some reason, has a lower status than the last one.
　In the meantime, I'll protect it while Luna and Estelle do an anti-aircraft attack to bring down that Diabolus.
　If we take care of the enemies on the ground, that thing might escape when we're at a disadvantage, so let's strike it down at the same time and take it out first.

　I quickly asked Noll to do that, and she rushed towards Trent and the others, wrapped in a silver aura.
　Now we won't have to think about the ground for a while.

'He'll definitely penetrate here. He deserves all the deaths he can get for targeting Sisuha.



　Luna was staring at Diabolus with a sharp look in her eyes.
　Her usual state of seclusion was a lie, and she was holding her spear with a fighting spirit on her face.
　It may be the first time since the Smiter battle that I have seen him like this.

''Oh, well then, attack Luna along with Esther.

Yeah, all right. Luna, I promise you I'll shoot you down.

Mm, you can handle it.

　Only two people, Esther and Luna, can attack the Diabolus in the sky above.
　My Centiturbra is out of the question because it's too slow and unlikely to hit it at all.
　So I quickly decided to ask Estelle and Luna to attack me.

　Estelle puts out fireballs and shoots out at Diabolus one after another, but he dodges them by flying around lightly.
　Due to the fast movement, her attacks were not even snatched.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.
　I prevent it and have Sisha recover the damage that went in modestly.

''Mmmm, already!　You can't hit me if I move!

I'll take care of it. Phew!

　Luna threw a spear full of red aura at Diabolus, who was continuing to avoid Estelle's onslaught.
　A killing blow that used skills.
　Diabolus trembled and made a surprised gesture at the attack, but he flapped his wings and just barely avoided it.
　Luna's spear flies in the direction of the day after tomorrow at high speed while wearing a red light.

''Tch, you dodged it?''

'Oh come on, can't even Luna's spear hit you?

Don't panic, one dodge won't make a difference.

What?

　I didn't expect to be able to avoid Luna's blow.
　I was surprised that I was able to avoid it, but Luna just clicked her tongue in frustration and remained calm and unhurried.
　Avoiding it once is useless........?

　Diabolus, who avoided the attack, was laughing while pointing at us as if we were fools.
　And the moment he raised his arm to throw a trident while avoiding Esther's attack, as if he wanted to say in return - a red contraption shoots out from his belly.
　Diabolus, who was pierced through his belly, loses control of his wings and falls directly to the ground.

''When I dodge, my spear will fly towards the target even if it twists through space.......just once.

...I'm not sure if it has an automatic tracking system.

I don't think that demon has any idea what's going on.

'That's what I'm talking about, Luna!　Let's get it done while we can!

　It seems that the spear that was avoided changed direction once backwards and flew towards Diabolus again.
　I didn't see the effect because I had always hit it with one shot before, but automatic tracking is pretty egregious.......space twisting......

　It's unreasonable, but now I start attacking the diabolus that crashed to the ground, thanks to Luna's spear.
　The spear that was stuck in its belly had already returned to Luna's hand, but it was crawling around holding its belly without flying again as if the damage was terrible.
　That's where Esther tied up her limbs with earth magic so that she couldn't move, and then used water magic to punch through her body one after another.
　I also let the centimeter tarbula fly, stabbing all over the body while it was deformed like a tiny spine.
　Meanwhile, Luna is also throwing her spear repeatedly.

　It's a devastating strike from a long distance by three people.
　Sisuha was cringing because she had no means of attacking at long range, but she picked up a rock that had fallen nearby and threw it to attack soberly.
　Even if you don't go that far to attack........well, it's better than being assaulted.

　He continues to attack for a while, and when Luna's spear pierces the middle of his forehead, he finally disappears as a particle of light, as if his HP is gone.

''Alright, then, Nol's--''

　He finished defeating Diabolus and turned around to deal with Grandis, who had been left in charge of Nol.
　There was already no sign of Grandis there, but a scene of Nole moving around with a silver aura, overrunning Trent.
　With a single swing, parts of the tree were erased to pieces. It's moving too fast and doesn't show the slightest sign of being caught by the tentacles of the branches.
　Ninety percent of the torrents are already gone.

''So there's no more Grandis...''

Trent's almost gone too. That's great of you, Mr. Noll.

'In that state, he's that strong...'

　Estelle and the others have indescribable expressions as they look at the rampaging Noll.
　It's just the strongest status within this party, after all.
　I feel like Diabolus could have been defeated in the sky if it was Noor... if I jumped, I could reach it normally.
　Leaving the rest to Noor, I went to the place where Diabolus disappeared and collected the drop items.
　The items that had fallen were a black horn and a trident spear. The black jewel I was holding in my right hand had also fallen.......but it was broken up and shattered.
　It didn't look like he was using it during the fight, but what was he holding it for?　Let's collect the pieces just in case.

　When we finished retrieving it and returned to Estelle and the others, Noor finished defeating all the torrents and came back to us.
　Then the silver aura disappears from her........and she falls on the spot as usual.

''It hurts, it hurts........''

'Oh, you've worked hard. I'll be home soon and you should get some rest.

You're powerful, but you still go down.

　I carry the crying Noll on my back as usual.
　.........Oh, speaking of skills, Luna was too.

'Luna also used a skill, are you okay with it?

'I've only used it once, so it's fine for now. If it doesn't, I'll let you smoke from Heihachi.

　Luna started saying that while looking at me with zit eyes.
　
　But I've had my skills used, so I should at least put up with that and offer it.
　And being bitten by a little girl is bad........no, this makes me look a bit like a pervert.

"Well, it doesn't matter--

'No!　Then you can suck it up from me!

　I was about to reply that it was good, when Sisha interrupted me.
　She's kneeling in front of Luna, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, desperately begging me to suck her.
　Yeah, that's the real pervert. I don't plan on doing it, but I don't think I can very well imitate it.

　Luna, who was asked to do it, turned her face away from Sisha and muttered with a terribly apologetic expression.

''I don't want to because ... it's tasteless.''

'You didn't say that because you hated it, but because it really tasted bad.

'Yeah, it's like my tongue goes numb and a burning sensation spreads through my mouth, and the nasty smell blows freshly through the back of my nose.

That's not... that's... that's not a nice smell... uhh...

　What do you mean that the unpleasant odor is going to slip away freshly.......
　After all, even if it's hypothetical, Sisha's blood as a priestess doesn't seem to be very good for Luna.
　The said Sisha is crying as she hits the ground in frustration.

''How is it that a priestess is sad that she can't get her blood sucked...?''

It's a Sisha. You can't help it.

That's right, sir...

　Noor and Esther, who were watching the scene, have a dumbfounded look on their faces, but they don't seem to be going into it deeply anymore because it's a normal scene.

　Leaving the crying Sisha to Luna, I decided to ask Estelle what's bothering her.
　It's about the jewel that Diabolus dropped.

'Esther, do you have any idea what it looks like?　That guy who was flying in the sky had it.

'Oh, is that the jewel that the demon was holding in his right hand?　It's not falling apart. Let me borrow it for a minute.

　He handed a piece of the dismembered black gemstone to Esther.
　She covers it with her hands and begins to close her eyes and concentrate on exploring something.

''Well I can't really tell because of the dismemberment, but it's more like a magic light stone. There's also a little bit of magic left in it, so it probably had some kind of magic in it.

'A magic light stone........ Which means........

Does that mean the stone could be the cause?

I'm just saying it's not a sure thing.

　Diabolus's inherent abilities and skills aren't something that can cause that much trouble.
　But it popped out of Grandis, and there's no doubt that he was doing something inside the demon.
　I'm also curious about the fact that Grandis had a [temporary] attached to it.
　He didn't use the jewel in battle, and I'm sure he had it as another use... at least if it wasn't broken.
　It seems possible that Diabolus could have broken it himself before he was killed.
　Besides, the status said something about being a subordinate, so it's possible that someone was controlling that one....

　As I was thinking about this, the phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.

'My phone........oh!　Hey, this is it!

Is that a reaction to the mess?

　I took it out of my pocket and quickly looked at my phone, [Box Gacha held! And the screen displayed.