It was shortly after he and Kurohiko were split up.

　There was the sound of a crack in the wall behind them and the wall popped off.
　Cecily Arkwright turned around as quickly as she could.
　Currier Versteen also drew his sword and held it ready as he turned around.
　A figure appeared from behind the wall.

What's that?

　Large demons.

　Far more massive than the guardian species orcs.
　It was as big as a cyclops class monster.
　The atmosphere is somewhat different from the demons I've encountered before.
　Its body is humanoid.
　It's a head that looks like a skull fleshed out and has an evil look to it.
　Only the mouth is strangely large.

　In addition, it has three heads.

　It had eight arms.
　Each arm held a huge sword.
　Its skin was ochre with red-black veins running through it.
　The thing that stands out most is its strangely swollen belly, as if it were carrying a child.

''That demon ... do you know it, Cecily?''

　Cecily, who had been watching, hurriedly replied.

''Yea.......I don't think there was any record of a demon like that in the past literature. To the best of my knowledge, though.''

　And then.

Guh-boo... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

　The demon leaned forward and vomited.

'Nah!'

　Cecily's stance loosened for a moment.
　It was such a shocking sight.

　A large amount of demons were spat out of three mouths.

　As if they were created.
　It was the orcs that were spat out.
　Orcs covered in mucus stood up sluggishly.
　The orcs picked up their weapons, which were scattered on the ground, and turned to Cecily and the others.

''Don't tell me that demon is.......supplying the Holy Ruins with demons?

　Is there a supply demon like that on each level?
　I don't know.
　Anyway - we have to defeat the enemy now.

　In less than a few minutes, the two of us cut down more than half of them.
　With their backs to each other, they face the orcs without diverting their attention from the three heads.

''Hah, hah........''

　This is where Cecily finally gets her breathing under control.

'Are you okay?'
''Hmm, this was tougher than the final of the Holy War Festival.

　Currier's breathing has not yet been disrupted.
　That's great.

'Currier.'
What?

　'Huh,' said Cecily, taking a short breath.

'You don't have to think about trying to protect me or anything.
...What?
I don't want to be an obstacle.
..........
'During the attack, you were working to protect me during the entire battle, weren't you?
'Don't be stupid, you're missing the point.
What?
"I have never thought of protecting you since I entered this holy site.

　Currier sniffs and sniffs.

''I'm not protecting you, I've only had your back the whole time.
Currier.
'I'm not afraid to step forward because I think I can trust you with my blind spot--come on, Cecily.

　The Orcs are now ready for battle.

　Currier re-positions his sword.
　Cecily also readies herself.

''Let's stick around for a while until Kurohiko returns. For now, one zem-ek (one hour) we will destroy the demons here in the meantime. Is that all right with you?
Yes.

　Half of the Orcs solidified their exit with a zap.

Well, they won't let us escape. We'll have to make our exit first, Cecily!
Yes!

　The two of us make up each other's blind spots as we slash away at the swarm of orcs that are attacking to prevent us from reaching the exit.



　The three heads vomited again as they proceeded to slay the orcs and kill them.
　Dozens more orcs increase in number.
　At the moment, there would already be over a hundred of them.
　Moreover, the three heads began to move, vomiting.
　They are heading towards the entrance of the room.

''Tch ... they don't want to let us go, no matter what.

　Cecily saw an opening and fired an attacking jutsu at the three-headed leg.
　The surgical technique was a direct hit.
　He was able to shave the flesh off his thighs.
　However.

What?

　The wounds caused by the surgery are rapidly being repaired.

"You mean it even has the ability to regenerate...?

　And fast repair.

　It was so crowded with orcs there that the exit was no longer visible.

　The demon vomited for the third time.

　Currier clicked his tongue while taking care of the three orcs at the same time with a half-rotation slash.

'Are you saying it's a bottomless generation ability? If that's the case........if we don't do something about the main body that generates it, we may become jittery--

　Revelgate is glowing.
　Surgical magic armor.

　The currier wearing the divine white and silver armor runs to the vicinity of the three heads, slashing the orcs that leap at him with an unpleasant yell.

　From a sudden stop, a leap.

　You can also find a number of other things to do with your own money.
　Then he swung a long range light blade at the middle head.
　The light blade slashes through the middle head at an angle.



　A scream that tore at my eardrums.

'Humph, you're an unpleasant squeaky demon... well, the other two are going to stay like this--'

　Currier's movement, which was about to leap again, stopped.

''--, ........what?''

　The head in the middle has already begun to regenerate.
　A streak of cold sweat splattered on Cecily's sweat as she slashed the orc to death while spraying spit on it.

''Regeneration, too fast........''

　And the head is not a weak point.

　The two sides took up their positions again, and were now in a state of confrontation with a group of surrounding orcs.

''Oguhueh, guehueh... boguehuehuehuehueh...!''

　More orcs with more three-headed vomit.
　Not good.
　At this rate, we will be outnumbered.

"Currier.
Yeah, I know.

　There's no doubt that what's going through their minds is Kurohiko.

'Waiting for that guy on this level might be tough.
Safe, right?
It won't kill him. The only thing worse for him is...

　Tuttling, Currier poked Cecily in the waist with his elbow.

'You're going to be killed or captured by those demons here.
You too, sir.
"...don't worry about Kurohiko. He's stronger than me now. So I'm sure that our safety is what he would want more than us being safe.
I'm aiming for the staircase that leads to the next level.
Yeah.

　The demons of the Holy Ruins cannot move in the hierarchy.
　They take advantage of this law to evacuate.
　As long as that unknown demon doesn't break the law and chase us up the hierarchy.
　Using the homecoming transfer device is not an option at the moment.
　We need the holy element to activate it.
　And Kurohiko can't use the holy element.

　If one person is left behind, he'll have to climb fifty layers of stairs on his own before he can reach the surface.

"Whether or not I can kill that regenerative three-headed guy, I don't think Kurohiko will be able to get blocked by these guys.

　You should be able to get away with it, Currier seems to be stepping on it.
　Currier cut out a bright piece of fabric from his clothes and shredded it in a moment.

'Let's tear off a little bit of our clothes like this and aim for the stairs, scattering the bits and pieces. That way, he'll find it and guess that we've retreated to the upper levels.

　Even in times like these, Currier's judgment is calm.

　Ashamed of being trapped in a strange sense of frustration, Cecily was grateful for her calm judgment and dependability.

　The orcs begin to provoke her with amusement.
　The situation is overwhelmingly outnumbered.
　They must feel like they've already won.
　The three heads are silent for now.
　They looked like they were trying to figure out what was going on.

''First of all, I guess we need to make a retreat.
Yeah.

　At this point, Cecily's face was beginning to ooze disgusting sweat.

''Is the backpack ... a bit far? Let's give up on collecting it for now.''

　It contains food and other items, but for now, evacuation is the first priority.
　Currier comes up to your face while paying attention to your surroundings.

'First, I'll cleave the two legs of the three-headed man. I should be able to get them to their knees temporarily. Then, before repairing and standing up, I'll concentrate my attack on the only orc that can block the retreat route and run through - let's do that for now.
..........
'Cecily?　What's the matter...?

　Currier made an uncomfortable face, then huffed.

''You, you can't be--''

　Cecily slumped.

'Sorry, no.'

　I think he saw through it before he could say anything.

Did you hurt your leg...?
'When I slashed a few orcs together earlier, I was caught in the hands of a dying orc lying on the ground... then...'

　At first I didn't think it was much of a twist.
　But while I was talking to Currier earlier, I felt the pain and fever getting stronger and stronger.
　Apparently it was a more serious injury than I thought.

　To be honest, it was tough to stand now.
　His right leg was shaking in small increments.
　Not to mention the pain.
　It's impossible to run through at once with this right leg condition.

　No - let alone running through, even running.

''........I see.
At least let me give you the Currier.
If you say another word, I'm going to be very angry.

　I make a smile so as not to get too serious.
　I just couldn't raise my depressed face.


Don't worry about it, idiot. Besides, if it comes down to it, I'll carry you through on my back.

　It was gratuitous.
　But it's unrealistic.
　Carrying each person on your back will naturally slow you down.
　The range of motion of the weapons would also be limited.
　Most importantly, we now have the accumulated fatigue of the past battles and fifty levels of fatigue.

　And in order to break through that three-headed repair speed, speed is crucial.

　But there is one way to do it.
　There's a way for both of us not to be caught by the orcs.

Currier.

　Cecily put one of the flyers to her neck.
　Then she smiled.

'When push comes to shove, this is the way to go.

　If you die in the Holy Ruins, you will be transported to earth in a living state.

　However, they go into a long sleep afterwards, and it is impossible to know when they will wake up.
　I have heard that some of them sleep for decades.
　If it's bad, I may not be able to wake up and reunite with Kurohiko or Currier while I'm still alive.

　But it's worth a try.
　Even with Currier Versteen, it would be difficult to break through those three heads and the pack while protecting yourself.
　But if you're alone, you should be able to break through.

''That's........that's the only thing--''

　Currier's mouth tightens around it.
　She knows it, too.
　In the current situation, it's the only way to go.

　The worst outcome is that the two of them will be captured by those orcs [alive].

　She knows too well to understand.

　Geez, geez, geez, geez!

　Three heads vomit for the fourth time.
　Currier frowns.

''This time ... a guardian species orc, you say........''

　More than a dozen guardian species orcs were spat out.
　The orcs, who were repeatedly dancing and provoking each other in a merry manner, further increased the momentum of the battle cry.

''Kuh........it wasn't so much of a hassle if it was just one orc, but if it was more than ten times as many.......''

　The difficulty of breaking through the retreat has been raised again.

'The sooner you make a decision, Currier, the better.

　The more time that passes, the harder it is to escape.

　Currier bit his teeth with a look of incompetence.

　It was just that Cecily was strange.

　Right now, she felt strangely calm.
　Perhaps it was because--.


　It was because this 《Three》 attack team was the last to capture the Holy Ruins.


　Hmph, Cecily smiled.

''Could you tell Kurohiko one thing?
Fool!　I'll do you one better.
Currier.
I'm not sure...

　At least give me a word.
　I'll close my eyes.

"Do you want me to...


　A tremendous noise came from the wall of the room behind him.


　Currier became more alert and regained his poise.

'What, what?'

　The sound of something shattering.
　Immediately after.
　The wall that emitted that sound crumbled away with the impact.

"Ah--

　A man emerges from behind a crumbling wall.
　His left arm, greatly transformed in black.
　In his left eye, an eye patch.
　In his right hand, a cherry-blade spectral sword with a red vein affixed to it.
　He had taken off his jacket, and two black wings sprouted from his back.
　However, some of them were unfamiliar to me.

　Two huge black arms.

　Black arms with red veins running through them, floating diagonally above his two shoulders.
　Just the arms.
　Where they should have led to his shoulders, they were connected to a hole in the red and black dimension.
　In the black bowl on the left, he clutches a black sword that appears to be one size larger than the man's demon sword.
　Both of the man's arms had the same red and black veins running through them as the floating arms.
　In general, that might be a figure that could be described as disastrous.

　But to Cecily Arkwright, that figure seemed to be a shining hope itself.


''Excuse me.''


　He apologized and stepped forward, and then he stepped back into the room.


'I'm late,'