The fourth layer was pitch black.

'I see, so here we are...'

　Xu's voice.

　It's a welcome that only the original dungeon can provide.
　In a dungeon attack where it's important for the audience to see the game, there are areas that are dark, but there is no such thing as a completely dark area.
　The tenth layer of the Demon King's Castle also has special lighting to maintain the balance of 'dim but clear vision'.

　However, this fourth layer is surrounded by true darkness, where you can't even tell the boundary between the world and yourself.
　Even though Merlin and I are excellent at detecting magic, and the best adventurers are adept at reading the signs of the enemy, we still rely heavily on sight.

It's interesting that this is just like a dungeon. By nature, dungeons are supposed to be carefully navigated with a torch in hand, right?

　Mr. Merlin muttered happily, then produced a fireball.

'Isn't that a torch?'

'This is more convenient. You can walk around with that holy sword in your hand.

"Don't treat my holy sword like a torch.

　In the midst of Arthur-san and Merlin-san's shouting match, the other parties lit up one by one.
　It was mainly fire magic, but some had lanterns.

　In my party, Citry-san produced a light ball.
　It's not the four major attributes, but I'm not surprised when I think of Sitely-san's ability to reproduce it.

　More importantly, although he said it was a sphere, it wasn't actually round. It was a heart that was emitting light.

''Well, how does it work? Leme, what do you think?

　The faintly lit face of Ex-san turns to me.
　Rather than asking for an opinion, I'm sure it's more of an answer.

''If you believe that the precedent of once you step in, the rest of the structure won't change, then you can explore it a little at a time, but...''

'I don't want to spend too much time on it. I want to go to the fifth level this afternoon.

Then I'm afraid we'll have to let Mr. Ex or Ms. Merlin do their best.

You must be Ex. Come on, hurry up.

　Mr. Merlin answered immediately.

'You..... Well, I'll do my best. So, guys, we'll just--I'll borrow your shadow for a while.

　We were all shadowed by Mr. Ex immediately after we entered the safe room. Of course, we were consulted and agreed to it.

　It's called 'Dark Shadow Group (Anei Gun)'.
　It is a state in which he controlled the shadows of several objects.

　There are several spells that develop from this.
　This time, the shadows take the form of small birds and animals and fly into the darkness.

　It's called the Bird and Beast Scouting spell, and it allows the shadows to explore the field by shaping themselves into birds and animals.
　With this many shadows, you could cover a considerable area.
　If we move based on the terrain we found out, we won't waste any time.

''Eh, pretty........''

　Mr. Citry muttered.
　'Birds, rabbits and other cute silhouettes indeed.

''Thanks. I wonder if you'd be able to recreate these as well.''

You'll have to wait until you get to the Demon King's Castle to enjoy it.

　Putting her index finger to her lips and tilting her head, Sitley-san said.

''...Haha, I see. That's one more thing to look forward to.

'Hey, Ex, if you're looking forward to seeing a dainty maid... oh dear.

No, I'm not saying that.

　Merlin-san laughed at Ex-san, who looked troubled.
　While doing so, the shadow bird beasts were moving and Merlin-san was kneading his magic power.

　Naturally, the formation would be formed by those with superior shield roles and physical abilities, surrounding the wizard system to protect it.
　I noticed that Ex-san's shoulders shook with a twitch.

''A........beast, was trampled down. By something huge. The bird........disappeared, no, erased (...)?

　What is made in the shadows can be crushed and restored. There is no such thing as fatal damage because it was just a temporary form given to something that was originally intangible.
　As long as you have the magic power, you can continue to investigate the terrain.

　But - erased?
　Erased?　That doesn't usually happen.

''The magic supply has not been cut off, has it?

　Merlin's question.

'Oh,'

Well this is going to be tricky if you're going to remove your genie from the bottle.

The magic eye, huh?

　Remegaton's subordinate, 【Magic Eye Assassin】Botis also possesses the magic eye, but there are a great variety of types.
　It's not uncommon for Botis to have different petrification speeds, effect ranges and activation conditions depending on the owner.

It's a good idea to make sure that you have a good idea of what you're looking for," he said, "because this dungeon tends to recreate a 'race' rather than an 'individual', so there's a good chance that it's not a magic eye holder from some era, but a race that has a magic eye. Perhaps--

　All the lights have gone out, except for the lantern.

　The problem is that no one has broken the spell.

　It was erased (,,).

　The ground shakes with a thud ... thud ... thud ... thud ... the ground shakes.
　It's a sound as if someone, a giant-class being, is approaching.



　Sometimes Merlin's sensibilities are not so strange for an adventurer.
　If it's a matter of life and death, it's probably different, but encounters with the unknown and new experiences are exciting.
　But just being excited will defeat you, so you have to think of something.

　She looked at me.

'Reme, where do you think the enemy is?'

''It's up there. If you combine this darkness with the magic seal, you're in a pretty good position.

Yeah, but if we can't sense it, we can't.

''The concentration of magic power is high. Monsters and dungeons are made from the same magical power, so it's hard to find them when they're this dense.

We're in trouble. This makes us non-combatants as well.

　She doesn't seem troubled at all, she says.

'First, let's get Merlin-san back to being a combatant. Oh, and Mr. Ex, too.

'Uh-huh, I'll let you do that. You heard the man, Ex.

Yeah.

　Mr. Xu's shadow also seems to be impeding his progress.
　He and Merlin-san lined up, and we closed the distance between us and surrounded them.

　As for the top, we used multiple people's shields as a ceiling.
　A wall of people, a roof of shields. This is how we protect against the evil eye.

"Ah, uh...!　What is this thing about not being able to produce magic...!

　Someone spoke up.

'Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't explained it yet. This was probably--Gazer's doing.

　Many of them were more surprised, and some of them didn't seem to be able to figure it out.

'Gee, gazers are often mentioned in books and stuff! It's a big sub-beast with a big eye that went extinct a long time ago.... a magical eye that can nullify magic, is that true?

　They are a now defunct race, and the only ones that appear are in old stories and creations.
　It's not surprising that there are active adventurers who don't know about them.

''I can't even activate the summoning technique..........Um, Master Fulkas.

It's not growing.

　Maru's prediction was correct. Gazer's magical eye even nullifies the special abilities of magic tools.
　Even the blessings on Arthur-san and Ex-san's holy swords.
　However, it comes with a condition. The limited nullification is limited to as long as you have it in your sight.

　Black magic and white magic do not work on inanimate objects. And magical bodies (avatars) are not exactly living things.
　But black and white magic works. That's because it's set up that way.

　The spirits also seem to follow the rules of humans and put a limit on the gazer's ability to disable it.
　Otherwise, the body constructed with magic power would have dissipated as well.
　They want it to be as similar to the actual battle as possible.

''Leme, you have a plan, right?''

　Ms. Merlin smiles with a crooked smile.
　There's a part of her that seems to be giving me a chance to think. If nothing else, Ms. Merlin will probably deal with it.

　I'm tempted to observe how she does it, but this is a great opportunity.
　It's not every day you get the experience of dealing with an extinct species with the help of these members.

''Well it's a very violent strategy.

Tell me.

　I channel the communicator to the entire clan.

'Even I and Mr. Merlin can't trace the gazer's magical response. But we think they are up there. We don't know how many of them there are, but they have all of us in their sights. Right now, we're temporarily surrounding some of them, but this is to keep them out of the enemy's sight.

Mmmm ... that's not fair.

　The demon male lets out an exasperated voice.

''Among these people, the ones who are skilled in sensing abilities, excluding magic power, are Arthur-san and Fulkus-san. Ex-san, too, but I want you to knead your magic power so.......

'I appreciate that assessment, Leme. Neither I nor Lord Fulkas can fly. Miss Margrethe and Miss Mira's flying abilities are not available now either, are they?

　Summoning magic tools and manipulating blood requires magic power. With that part sealed off, there is no means of flight now.

''In addition to Jos-kun and Merlin-san's white magic, I will use her power.

　I nominated Subhuman the rabbit.

"What? You called me?

''Yes. First of all, I'm going to cast two white magic on you, who have escaped the enemy's gaze, and ask you to jump while holding Arthur-san and Fulkus-san. The shield will be deflected as you leap, so you will get the effect of leg strength increase properly.

'Hmm?　Okay, but that would mean all three of us would have to drop and leave.

I'll have Mr. Arthur and Mr. Fulkus take down all the gazers before they fall.

I'm not sure...

　I could see all of the Clan members gasp.

　Gazer would make the magic disappear. And its potency. That's why it's impossible to fly it away with wind magic and so on.
　The choice is to increase the leg strength, which is based on the fact that the effect will be nullified immediately afterwards. It's not a problem if the strength of the weapon is cancelled after the jump.

　I don't even know if this strategy can be called a strategy.
　But it's different if it's these two people who are entrusted with it.
　With the [Knight King] and the [Ridder Knight], it's not an impossible task.

"Hmm, okay.

I'm asking because I think my juniors can do it, so as a senior, I have to make it happen.

　The two men in question were not surprised and quickly walked into the center of the room.
　The rabbit subhuman followed soon after.

''If that's the case, we'll jump even to the moon~. The moon hasn't come up yet, though.''

　Preparation.

'Let me tell you, even though I'm a great wizard, white magic is not my forte. They have different aptitudes. Expect the effects to be only so-so.

　It's typical of Merlin-san that it's not "Don't expect it".

''Uh........Reme-kun........''

　In fact, under Gazer's gaze, Sitry-san had turned into her original form, a small panther with wings.
　She didn't seem to like her appearance and took emergency shelter in the chest of the [Black Mage] robe.

''It's okay.''

　He called out to her to reassure her.
　Mira-san also casually stood in a position to protect Sitley-san. She is also collecting her clothes.

'We're ready. Time for the knight firing.

　Arthur-san is a [Holy Knight], and Fourcas-san is sometimes called the Black Knight.

Can you go too, Joss-kun?

Yes....!

　The sound of footsteps shaking the earth is quite close. And more than one.
　Maybe they're already in front of me.

　Striking in total darkness without magic is tough, no matter how hard it is.
　The role of supporting the shield set up above is now being taken over by tall people, including the demon men.
　If I'm as tall as they are, I decided that it would be enough to move the shield away immediately after the leap.

''Let's go.''

　The rabbit sub-human held them and bent down gingerly.
　And then - they jumped.

　The ground is gouged and there is a terrific sound.
　The timing is perfect to move the shield out of the way.

"If we don't beat them all the three of us will....

　Someone's anxious voice.
　A little later, something hit the ground.

　There was a muffled sound that freaked some people out.
　Just in the light of the lantern, I could see the figure for a moment.

　It's a large sphere that a child or so could fit inside.
　It's dark in color and has large eyeballs.

　A gazer.
　The enemy let out a sort of groan, then dissipated with magical particles.

'Let's see how many more of them we have left.

　Merlin-san is in a position protected by a shield, kneading magic power with me.

''........I failed to ask you earlier, but how do those two guys defeat the Gazer in the sky?''

The monsters are the same as magical bodies (avatars), instead of dying, they dissipate with magical particles. In other words, as long as they don't die, they maintain their existence. So we can deal them a fatal wound and jump to the next one before they disappear.

　Mr. Xu says in a light tone, but how many people can do it?
　And that's in the dark, hunting for an unknown number of enemies, relying only on signs.

Maru and Mira-san.
Yes, sir. - We're ready to go, sir.

　Marl and Mila respond to the sound of Marlin and me.

'We're all going to be light soon, but don't be surprised if you see anything?'

　Merlin-san continued to pour out a small amount of magic power and checked to see if it would disappear.
　If it stopped disappearing, it meant that the operation was a success.

''Alright, the sun is coming up.

　Like a firework, it bloomed in the sky.
　It's like a small sun.

　The darkness was illuminated, and I could see what the rumbling of the earth was.
　What emerged was--.