After that, the group starts to move towards defeating 【Selketo】 that exists on the first underground level. Fortunately, the Garginis team in charge and Ars and others heading to the second underground level were in the same direction.

　But gradually, differences began to emerge between the information we had received beforehand. It was far larger than the reports of Ordwise and his elite troops who were ahead of us inside the deposit. The passageway was wider than the upper floor, so much so that it made him feel that he was smaller.
　It wasn't intricate, but they still encountered crossroads at a high frequency.


　We instantly killed about twenty C-rate class demons, and at least wiped them out as far as we could not take them by surprise, including the way we came. That slowed down their progress, but it was better than ignoring them and risking being surrounded.

　As a result, Ars was able to see the battle of each squad in person. He told Ilyce that they were strong enough to fight, but as a matter of fact, whether to make an assessment or to trust them, Ars didn't know exactly what their fighting strength was.

　Morale naturally rose as each unit, evenly spread out in battle, was able to fight their way through the battle. The release of tensions lubricated and got rid of unnecessary force.
　Garginis' troops were working in groups of three to get things done, even against a C-rate or so. Even though each one of them possesses sufficient strength, they are still able to divide their roles perfectly. With defensive mages as the mainstay, they are winning solid victories. Although not flashy, the old style of using magic really made sense. The solid fighting style was the end result of a refusal to suffer unnecessary attrition or even minor injuries.

　And Fanon's troops are basically her own, motionless, high up in the air.
　This is a battle style that is rarely seen in Alpha. Letty's unit is the type in which she, as the captain, takes the lead.
　If it has to be done, Ars also thinks that if it has to be done, it's better to take action on your own, if anything.

　However--''

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that it's a good idea to be able to have a quick assessment of the situation," Ars himself takes a glance while defeating the demons.
　Perhaps Exeles' precise instructions are leading to a swift defeat. The ability of the team members to defeat each and every one of them is unquestionable. And based on the characteristics of the monsters obtained from the detection, the most suitable member is assigned. This is a perfect strategy woven together with a wealth of knowledge and actual battle experience.

　No, it's an efficient strategy that eliminates waste.

　--I see. I see.

　Not all of them join the battle, but they always have one or two people, mainly Exeles and Fanon, on standby as reinforcements or replacements.
　Is this taking into account the physical and mental fatigue caused by continuous fighting?

　Nevertheless, this method of warfare would not even take shape without Exeles functioning as a commander.
　Seemingly moving in a scattered and rambling manner, the troops are fighting to their advantage under the calculation of strategy.

　Nevertheless, if you look at the whole thing, it's a relationship between superiors and subordinates. Protecting the reigning queen at the top, the underlings work. Considering that Fanon is a single magician, this is certainly one scene that should be.
　Let's ignore the men's lively expressions for now.

　If anything, the guys in Fanon's squad are struggling to keep her from fighting as much as possible. That's how it seemed to Ars.

　Of course, Ars has also succeeded in defeating C-rate class demons without making them feel sluggish.
　However, perhaps because the others are too good, only one of them was defeated by Ars.

　Practically the single mage was untouched and the miscellaneous soldiers were dealt with.
　There is no stopping this march of the most elite of humanity's elite gathered here.

　Ars and others walked to the center of the first underground level. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get the best out of it.
　Aldoise and the others have been able to secure the passage to the third underground level and transmit information to the base.
　However, the second underground level is largely unexamined, and the only passage down to the third level has been confirmed. In other words, they only found a path from the second level to the third level by luck.

　To put it simply, they should not have been able to investigate even the first underground level satisfactorily.
　The place to investigate in order is still the first underground level.

　And then Ars and his team will certainly move forward and reach the center. From a certain distance, the center was in the form of a spiral, as if a number of circles were overlapping each other.
　Of course, there was also a direct path to the center.

　Without meaning to take the long way around, Ars and the others went straight towards the center.
　As far as the roads on either side were concerned, they were still curved and stretched out to surround the center of the city.

　And from this area, the purity of the mithril has increased, or perhaps it is sticking out of the walls like a crystal.


　The passage that leads to the second level of the basement is located just outside the center.

From here, there will be a division into squads that will go underground to the second level.

　Immediately after Ars uttered that, two people from Fanon's unit - the troopers who had let them go ahead of him - issued a flurry of voices. They hadn't advanced much and seemed to have turned back quickly.
　A man wearing a cloak with a familiar armband and pattern on his back was carried.

　The man lowered in front of Ars and the others was wounded, but seemed to barely survive.

We checked the passages to two underground levels. We found an injured man in the vicinity.
A survivor.

　The man doesn't respond to Ars's voice, only a faint rise and fall of his chest.
　It is clear that he is a mage belonging to the association.
　There is no doubt from the man's appearance and the look on Ilyce's face.

"Lord Ordwise's man. Of course. I hear the Lord pulled some of his men out of the service.

　As a nobleman, he may have taken some of them with him for his private army. And he probably took his colleagues with him when he entered the Society. The man is armed with armor-type AWRs on his extremities, which may be unique to Halkapudia.
　Ilyce, who knew what was going on, nodded coyly in agreement with Galginis' words.

　Ilyce sees that the man is not in a good condition and tells him that it is impossible to get any information out of him.

''In any case, you can't even talk to him in this state.

　Ilyce's gaze went to the gutted-looking scar on her side. It was a deep wound, as if a healing magician had been there, but it didn't seem to have bled much. The painful wound was covered by bright reddened flesh.
　He was sure that he was dazed and comatose. The fact that he was able to stop the bleeding was the reason why the man's fading life was being held together.

　Arus makes a decision in light of the current situation.

''Garginis, take two men from your unit and bring him to the base.
I don't mind. The further down you go, the greater the risk of turning back. I'll take care of it.

　''Hey,'' said Galginis, flexing his fingers and calling out two of his armor-clad troopers, and politely instructing them to carry it out.

　There are no stretchers or other transportation equipment, but it can't be helped. Because Ars himself did not expect the preceding troops to survive in the first place. Even for the sake of rescue, it's not hard to imagine if they actively hunt demons and lose contact with them.
　The survival rate would be very different from hiding under your breath.

　After watching him being carried, Ars turned his eyes to the passage where he had fallen.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with them. It could have been the groan of a carried beat.
　I couldn't hear it exactly, but it was probably some kind of rasp. At least he seemed sure he was breathing.
　'Then take the man to his base and I'll be right back,' he said to Garginis, saying a few words before turning back to fly. The other member of the escort was a squad member with a shield.

　Despite their high weight to look at, their movements were so smooth that they forgot they were even wearing armor. The crunching sound of faint metal scraping against each other still sounded and it quickly faded away.


　The passage that covered the circumference of the central room 《pocket》.
　According to the man who used it as a scout, it was just at the back of the central room, as I had confirmed beforehand. In other words, it seemed to be on the opposite side. The shortest way to get there is to go through the huge room in front of us, the Pocket.


　However, there was a strange odor wafting from the huge room (pocket) in the center that could be smelled even from here. The space that is dome-shaped is probably larger than the academy's training grounds. Even if you only see what you can see from the entrance, there are crystal clusters scattered around the edges of the pockets.
　This was because there was an overall low amount of mithril in this room, and the light source was poor.

　To be precise, no light reached the back of the room, and even from the fact that it was crystallized, the mithril here was not very responsive to magic from the outside.
　Combined with the pale light that mithril emits, it's even more eerie.

　The light source that shines faintly does not sufficiently penetrate the room's "pocket".

　The unknown and unseen places naturally make us more cautious.

　The team members' breathing begins to be disturbed as if it comes out of nowhere.
　Even after many years of experiencing the outside world, their heartbeats were still greatly disturbed within the bizarre deposit.

　Before he knew it, Ars stopped and realized that he was staying in place. The air had swallowed him up and forced him to waste a small amount of time.

'Don't stay,'