It wasn't until the water fish, which was indistinguishable between friend and foe, moved away that Exeles was finally freed.
　There would still be a tragic scene unfolding behind the trees that was out of this world. The waterfishes are taking care of the demons on their own, so it's not as easy as this.

'We're out!'
Yeah.

　It was Oren who responded to Ilyce's clerical report, who only skipped a voice.
　He resumed his steps, rubbing his shoulders as if he was out of his spell.

　Belatedly, Exeles also realized the imminent threat.
　An individual who can get through that school of water fish, guess what it means. A demon whose entire body is covered with a solid shell.
　Like an arthropod, the outer shell might as well be called a shell. The demon whose entire body was covered with an armor-like shell was like a turtle.

''--!　[Megalogant]

　The simple hardness is one of the best in the B-rate. It can be described as a demon that specializes in defense.
　The problem is that demons that are intended for predation aren't just covered by a hard shell.

''Mr. Oren, that thing will take some time!　First of all, let's drop our feet as fast as we can!

　Exeles is very vocal. This demon has a knack for defeating it.
　Its head is always caged in its shell, but not its four legs. It is hard as a rock, but it is a demon that can certainly be killed if you drop your feet and are careful.

　Its movements are quick for its huge body, but it should be able to deal with it well enough.
　The problem is that it stretches out its neck as if to shoot and bite you. Although there are individual differences, it would probably grow to 20 meters in length even if I were to check.
　The speed at which it stretches its neck is not uncommon.

　And if you are bitten in one spot, you will be dragged straight into a tight shell.

''Oh well, it's okay.''

　Returning a carefree voice, Oren passed Ilyce and stood directly in front of [Megalogant].

''Da, no!　The front is dangerous!

　In defeating a demon, only a single mage who is absolutely strong can use pure magic power to defeat a demon, exceeding the enemy's ability to defeat it. Ordinary mages know how to defeat demons by heart.
　That's why they can avoid losing vulnerable lives. By not making mistakes, they are mages.

　The movement is agile for a giant body, but the most alarming thing is that the neck is extended and retracted, only this one movement exceeds the speed of the mage's reflexes.

　Even Exeles can't act in time to evade after seeing it. Such a super-speed attack is no longer inevitable.
　But it is also possible to confront them with sufficient knowledge. The shells have complete resistance to all strains, and they can't give you an effective hit first. That's why dropping your feet and taking them down with a direct approach to the interior, where the demon core is located, is the usual method.

　The bite to be wary of is the hole in the carapace, whose mouth is too narrow to get an angle of fire. So, as long as you don't stand directly in front of it, it's an unimportant opponent.

　In the face of Oren, who is putting himself in danger because of his ignorance, Exeles moves to rescue him from the line of fire.
　However, there is no longer any way to get there in time, and the darkness that has accumulated inside the carapace jumps out.

　With instantaneous speed, the neck stretches out and the jaws, which were opened to bite into Oren's torso, are no longer attached there with a gap of recognition.

''--!

　But once again, the attack was made in a gap of recognition. It was not a demon attack, but Oren's attack.
　The mouth that had been opened right next to him was now torn open vertically, and Oren was running through it while his neck was torn in half.

　When did he draw his sword, and when did he thrust his blade out?
　And Oren's figure was on top of [Megalogant]'s shell. His sword is double-edged, a very common thing. There is nothing special in sight. There were only two rows of magical formulas carved from the sword tip to the sword tip.

　A beat later, countless slashes of light ran through the shell, and as expected, the entire shell sliced through the [Megalogant].

''....Oh no!

　Exeles let out a small, indifferent voice that was too small to be heard.
　A crack appeared in the [Megalogant]'s shell, and in the next moment, it was cut into countless pieces. Immediately after Oren nimbly descended from the shell, a large amount of blood, like a flood, flooded the ground.

''See?''

　With only his face turned, Oren said that with an innocent smile on his face.
　Immediately, until the end of threading the sword through its sheath, Exeles looked at it sharply to uncover the secrets that would be on it.

''Well, it looks like the chairman is going to be finished. It won't take another minute. Then we'll take care of the individual we failed to kill, and then we're done.
Oren, you're going to have to join us on that one.
Yes, sir. Thank you for making my job so easy.

　As if there was nothing more to do, Ilyce turned on his heel.
　She turned her eyes to the corpse of [Megalogant] and bent her mouth in a boring manner. By that time, her eyes had also returned to the color of amber.

　And Exeles, who had hardly even gotten a harvest, thanked Ilyce for paying the maximum amount of effort while being stunned.

''I'm sorry. I was following along with the intention of helping you as well, but...I ended up leaving it all to you.''
'This is all right. Besides, I thought you were following me to observe me back there?
You're here.

　As a gesture of surrender, Exeles looked down deeply once.

　Immediately after, the three of them looked up at the sky simultaneously.
　Somehow, but not necessarily, the three of them looked up at the sky at the same time.

''What was that?''

　Ilyce's expression was grim as she stared into his eyes. Thousands of meters above, perhaps even higher than that.
　A ray of light passed through the distant sky, spitting out white smoke. In the glow like a shooting star, only Ilyce could see the reaction of magic power.
　The high-powered rays of light split the clouds like a meteorite.

　It's not an imminent threat. It was as if it was swimming far up in the sky.
　Both Exeles and Oren were staring at that ray of light without warning. Even from here, they are a considerable distance away. And it didn't seem like it was going to fall anywhere in terms of angle, either.

　But that direction was not something that could be ignored.
　What that was, or whether it was magic, even that could not be determined from here. Even Ilyce has little reason to believe that it is magic, because the glow that the faint rays of light are towing only resembles magical light.

　Ilyce wrinkled her brow and turned her face to the sky.

(That direction is Barmes...........no.)

　Rather than Barmes, we're heading towards the interior, where the seven countries are densely packed. We don't know exactly where they are, but they will at least pass by us.
　At this point, we don't even know if this is an attack.

If it was an attack we should let you know.

　I thought so, but by the time I returned my gaze, Exeles had turned on his heel and I could see his busy back. I'm not sure if that light has already passed by the time the report arrives, even if I want to let you know now, or if it is.

　If it was a demon attack, it would cause extensive damage to humanity.
　Now that the Tower of Babel has lost its function, I should have considered the possibility of this kind of thing happening.

　There is no way to interfere with that ray of light from here.

'There's nothing we can do about it, but I have a bad feeling about it. I hope it's nothing.
'It's none of our business. At best, let's hope the chairman's premonition doesn't come true.

　Even as he listens to Oren's flippant remarks, Ilyce's brain is filled with a pessimistic imagination. In the outside world, everything is always suspect. There are signs of bad luck, but no signs of good fortune.

　Ilyce then turns his head in the direction the rays of light flew from.
　Her gaze is blocked by the mineral deposit, but the area behind it is still nothing more than demon territory. I feel a sense of foreboding that nothing could possibly go wrong.

　It's not likely that they will be able to vacate the building immediately due to the number of injured people, even if they start the clearing out process.

'Take care of the rest, Oren.

　After asking him to follow her, Ilyce went straight to the Tabernacle, where Ars forbade him to have access to it.
　No matter who it is, they are forbidden to enter, but Ilyce interpreted the meaning of it as anyone other than himself. There would be no secrets now against Ilyce, who also shared information about Ars's magical eye.

　Of course, I have no intention of interfering with the healing process. If there's even the slightest hint of it, we'll just return the way we came without a sound.

　And if Ars forces Ilyce to keep her mouth shut, she won't talk about the torture she suffered in the past or the human experiments she suffered on her body again. That is exactly the kind of life she once threw away.

　With a gait that seemed insufficient for a job, Ilyce turned her head to the manned tabernacle.
　Depending on the outcome, the reputation of the rapidly expanding association would fall to the ground. Of course, the heads of state and others don't decide that, but absurdly, the inner-city, protected people make the decision.

　An organization that is designed to protect someone else is likely to yield to the claims of the protected party.
　Looking back at the past, there are many who claim only their rights, and organizations are vulnerable to violence in the name of righteousness.

(But if they are subdued with power, it is no different than a dictatorship. That's why people like the righteous are held up by the masses as a provisional justice.

　If there is evil, just as there is justice, once the distinction is made, it is not easy to overturn. We've labeled the military as 'justice' and criminal groups like Krama as 'evil', but once the military, and by extension the association, is labeled as evil, justice will inevitably emerge.

　When you send innocent students to their deaths and let them die in a whimper, you can see what the masses are likely to think.
　This investigation of the deposit was fraught with such dangers.
　Either the head of state will control the public or the public will control even the head of state.
　If it's one or the other, Ilyce believes that the people in power controlling them will lead to peace. Yes, the current head of state would still be better, and in case the association could act as a control device.

　The reason they claim to be neutral is to show the military as a force that can monitor the military by taking the side of the people. It would be ideal if we could eventually get a foot-in-the-door co-op position. Strictly speaking, though, that we can make that widely known.
　The point is that it's a matter of appearances.

　But we cannot overlook the fact that the association is prematurely introducing a scandalous topic.

(Will it be aborted before the heads of state have even begun to think about it? I guess we'll have to wait and see the pros and cons of that.)

　I was worried that I had aged, but I didn't need to look in the mirror to see that my young body was free of wrinkles.

Now, let's get our worries out of the way for the time being.