Theo will make his way and I'll catch up with him on my back after everyone else has run through.
　Skaha said.

　Skaha is also a lightning-based [brave man], but there are many things he can do due to his high spirit rank.
　Being able to handle spirit arts requires both qualities and skills, so hard work is essential.
　Talent and effort. There's a lot of talk about which is more important, but in the case of a spirit contractor, both are important.

　Even if you have talent, if you don't put in enough effort and don't have the right skills, the spirits won't teach you the spirit arts.
　Even if you have bloody efforts, if you don't have talent, the spirit won't teach you the spirit arts.
　Also, even if you have both talent and skill, if the contracted spirit is of low rank, it's possible that they don't have the skill to teach you a strong spirit art.

　So, yeah.
　If you're going to rely on spirit arts, talent, hard work and luck are equally important.

　Skaha is equipped with everything.
　The lightning attribute is derived from the wind attribute.

　The air uncle, who contracts with the main body of the wind spirit, is of course not far behind in spirit rank, though.
　I think he has near the highest level of power among the spirits.

　Skaha can move at speeds reminiscent of a lightning hammer by wearing Raiden, not to mention lightning strikes.

''Theo.''

I thought you might say that, and this is the path I've prepared!

　Thread.
　Five strands from his right hand and five from his left. A total of ten threads extended from both of his outstretched arms, and they intricately intertwined with each side as they intertwined with the end of this area, the gate of the fake demon castle.
　With this, the [Black Demon Dog] can't attack from either side, and the individuals who are unlucky enough to be caught inside will be forced to leave by us.

　Once the fifteen of us, excluding Skaha and Theo, reach the gate, Skaha with Theo on her back catches up to us and completes the process.

''Well then, go ahead.''

We'll be able to blast all the people coming at us.　

　Helu-san, aka [Demon Sword Hero] Helwor, twitched his lips in a boring manner.

''Then I'll open a string for you. You can go out and frolic with the dogs to your heart's content.

You know what I'm talking about, Skaha. Open the door, right now!

...the irony, brainiac.

Huh?

　I blurted out.

　I can see both sides of the argument.
　They're both good, and I think they're both good.

　Like Hel's place, 'Charge and kick it out! A style like that gives viewers an exhilarating and exciting feeling that they want to applaud.
　It's a flashy attack.

　Skaha's place surprises viewers with a speedy attack by a member of the team with outstanding attack accuracy and speed.
　It's a quick attack.

　Doesn't matter which one. What's important is that we're choosing the method of attack to win.
　You can do it any way you want. A brave man's job is to win.
　What it takes to do that depends on your and your friends' abilities.

'You're a boring man, you could have moved more to do what you wanted.

Let it go. I thought we were supposed to be in charge of this layer?

　Mr. Helu cowered his shoulders and let out a sigh without further complaint.

'I won't interfere, was it? ''Do as you please.''

　She backed away from that, but it was clearly not the whole reason.
　If she thought she couldn't win with Skaha's methods, Ms. Helle would have ignored it.

　Expressing that it's not your preferred method doesn't negate your opponent.
　I don't like it, but it's not a bad idea.
　Mr. Helu seems to behave as he sees fit, but he has that kind of flexibility.

'Well, I'll see you later.'

　It's also the fact that we've been talking a little too often up to this point, and I wave lightly to Theo.

''Huh, I'd like to say 'I'll catch up with you soon', but I'm not going to say it because saying this might cause something bad to happen!

　I've said it.
　I'm not going to shove it. They're already running, and it's not like we're going to turn around.

　It's a formation with the Aerial Party in the front, the Helvall Party and us next, and the Skaha Party behind them.

　I think it would be better if either the Aerial Party or the Helvall Party were behind us, but I guess the three of us have the idea that this would make it easier for Skaha and Theo to join us when they catch up with us....
　And if nothing happens, it will be that way without a problem.

　It's probably not going to be like that, though, that's what the Demon King's Castle is all about.

　It was about halfway between the left and right barriers created by the woven threads, about halfway through the whole thing.
　It happened.

　Multiple things happened at the same time, and each person was asked to make a decision in a split second.

　To tell one thing at a time.

　One, a fence of threads burst into flames.
　It seemed for a moment that the fire attribute was released from the air and the thread burned.

　Two questions. The sudden appearance of fire magic and the fact that the thread burned. The answer to both was immediate.
　The invisible enemy must have unleashed the magic. If that was the case, then the condition for disabling invisibility would be that it was not an attack. Only the magic was visible, and the one that unleashed it was invisible.
　........Distance, I guess.

　It's strange that the thread burned. Theo's thread has magic resistance, so it wouldn't burn up like this with a fireball like the one he had just been hit by.
　However, this was another one that immediately came to mind.

　【Black Demon Dog】. To be precise, the liquid that those guys seemed to be applying to their bodies in order to slip through the threads.
　It must have been flammable.
　Eight out of fifteen of them slipped through the threads on the return trip as well. The amount that adhered to it was adequate.

　The thread was stored in the ring once when making the path, so it must have penetrated even then. I don't know how the thread expands and contracts, but it doesn't seem that the adhered material is being pretended that it wasn't there.
　The string fence was quickly transformed into a path of fire. Given the length of the path, it's not easy to extinguish the fire.

　Theo is the one in trouble with this. It is troublesome that the flame extends to the wielder.
　This is problem number one.
　Next.

"d*mn...!

Calm down, Ewan, we're here.

　[Gale Hero] Yuan's voice.
　Uncle Air is calling out to Yuan, who is raising his voice of impatience.

　Can't that guy be in a hurry?
　Because the [Invisible Killing Machine] Grasshara Bouras appeared and jumped at Euan from the sky.
　When you are being targeted by a demon equivalent of a floor boss, it's no wonder that your normal mind is disturbed.

　Ewan quickly fired three crescent-shaped wind blades as soon as he could, but they were all evaded in the air.
　Perhaps out of impatience, he was unable to aim them well. The power must be quite high.

　It's just training, no matter how excellent you are at the training school.
　I know he's excellent from the training so far, but that's just in terms of ability.

　People have emotions, and depending on that, they may or may not be able to show their abilities.
　That guy seemed overwhelmed by the fact that he didn't want to drag his predecessors down or something.

　Well, [Ice Hero] Beulah was also trying to show a good point in the first attack, but was beaten by [Devil of Love] Sitely.
　Not only the two of them, there are few people who can fully demonstrate their abilities in their first real battle.

　Uncle Air would be aware of that.
　So this is problem number two, but I'll leave it to you, okay?
　Next.

"....!　Master!

I know.

　The normally calm and sober Karina calls out to her teacher, 【Suri the Faceless Archer】.
　Seeing how many arrows were stopping in the air, the three Skaha Party members in the back must have been attacked by the [Black Demon Dog].

　Speaking of the rear, it's the road we've passed through so far, and since the left and right sides were blocked by threads, there's no way they would normally be able to poke us in the rear.

　It is more likely that the one on the back of the giant body of Grasshala Brass jumped down than worrying about the hole in the thread.

　-- or rather, how did you guess now?

　Unlike before, there are no traces of damp footprints on the earth.
　The only thing that feels strange is the slightest bit of his magical power.

　As expected of a world-ranked fifth-ranked [hunter], or should I say, it's not normal.
　Karina is also an expert archer, but she only glares at the void with a grim face and doesn't move. Is she unable to move?

　She can't follow the movement of the [Black Demon Dog] that has become invisible to her.
　Apparently it's not because I'm inexperienced that I can't understand it.

''Be careful, it's not just [Black Demon Dog].

　It's clearly a man-made plan. There's a guy who is giving 【Black Demon Dog】 and the others instructions accordingly, in accordance with the flow.
　Maybe he has a [Trainer]. Is that what Suri is talking about or are there other forces hiding in the background?

　I can't confirm it. Anyway, that's problem number three.
　The reason why I can't confirm it is because of the last problem.

''It's ... utterly troublesome.''

　It's Helu's voice. It sounds really troublesome, but it's a tone that could be considered swallowing, considering the situation we're facing.
　Helvall Party, me and Fran are now - right now - sinking.

　That's it, the ground has collapsed like quicksand, or to put it another way, we're being swallowed by a swamp of sand.
　This kind of trap is really like a dungeon, but I couldn't see it in the attack video for this layer.

　It seems to be a new one. I'm sure there are other traps besides this one, but if you make them at the shortest distance from the starting point to the False Demon King's Castle, most speed-oriented parties will step on them.
　If it's a newly built one, there's no way to anticipate it.

　Totally great timing.

　Because of the quicksand, neither the Aerial Party nor the three Skaha Parties could retreat.
　They have no choice but to meet the threat in front of them.
　On either side, their friends' strings are on fire, so they can't cross it easily.

　And of course, we can't even go to Theo's aid because the threat is right in front of us.
　I'm sure those two will be attacked by the [Black Demon Dog] right now.

　This feeling that I'm going to crush all four heroic parties together, I think it's really good.
　If it had been the traditional first layer, it would have been too boring.

　It's not that the level of attack is low. With seventeen adventurers, it's just that there are seventeen of them, and they're all top-notch.
　The dungeons are basically run with the idea of how to get rid of the five-man team.

　The fact that they can not only change it to raiding specifications in a short period of time, but also make it work perfectly is a true feat for the Demon King's Castle.
　It seems that the impregnable name is not a decoration.

　Four problems occurred at the same time.

''Wraith.''

　Fran's looking at me.
　I know. We're a two-man team now, but I'm still the leader of the party.

　We've been given a challenge to confront.
　The only thing left to do is to break through this like an adventurer.

　The thing to think about is not how to get out of the quicksand, but how to get out of it.
　The question is not how to get out of the quicksand, but which problem to help solve.

　Let's leave the Aerial Party's Grasshala Brass to them.

　The [Black Demon Dog] and presumed [Trainer] of the three Skaha Party members?

　The two remaining skaha parties, the two burning threads and the [Black Demon Dog]?

　Or the sinking five of the Helvall party?

　Who can do what, how it works and how it develops.
　Right now, seventeen of us are one group. With all of us as friends, how do we clear this layer?

　Think and move.
　If you can't do that, you'll never reach the [Indomitable Hero].

　I'll first--.