"...would you, O foolish man, trample on my domain?

　Muffled voices were released with the spewing flames. Salamander had caught five signs of approaching the volcano he inhabited. All of them are insignificant to Salamander. I'm not sure I need to go out there in person.

But we are only human. You can't survive in my realm.

　A smile appears on his Noh mask-like face and his mouth is gaping open. It's a way of saying that he has absolute confidence in his own strength. It's called the hubris of a strong man. Even the flame surrounding Salamander's surroundings flickers violently, as if he is laughing.

''........Mm?''

　Huh, but.
　Salamander suddenly felt uncomfortable.

　The progress of the humans did not stop. On the contrary, they are invading more and more into the volcano.

　--What's happening?

　Salamander hurriedly uses his powers to project the humans' images into the flames. When I looked into the monochrome image, the humans looked cool and unconcerned by the heat of the volcano. The salamander's power, which was supposed to be impossible for humans to prevent, had been completely nullified.

''Wha, whatyyy!

　The spirit's screams wooded into the volcano.



　******



Hmm, did you not hear something?
Really?
I think I heard what sounded like a muffled scream...

　Wraith closes his eyes and listens closely, but he hears nothing. She tilts her head in wonderment, wondering if she was mistaken. Well, okay, she was about to step forward when Seth came into view, looking complicated.

'What's wrong?'
''........I had a sneaking suspicion, but what about the power of spirits that can't be prevented by magic, but can be prevented by magic tools......?''
Hmm, is it hot in here?
'No, it's not hot, though. If anything, it's more of a problem.

　Seth gazes at the magic tool hanging around his neck. The necklace, which is unusually effective, has a faint blue glow.

　-- Currently, he and the Wraiths had come to the middle of the volcano.

　Normally, the heat would make it hard to breathe, but the Wraith's magical tools prevented them from doing so. That didn't seem to be satisfactory to Seth, and he was muttering to himself from earlier.

　As for the other sides.

''Well, it's Rei-kun...''
Yeah.
Yes.

　In the end, it was put away by that one word from a masterful Lurimes. ''Is that good, is that good enough...! Leaving Seth with his head in his hands, the Wraiths look ahead with narrowed eyes.

'And yet, how far do we have to go?
Depends on where the genie is, doesn't it?

　The craggy red ground loosely stretches out in full view and goes on forever. Even though I don't feel the heat, it's going to take a lot of work to climb it.

　It would be nice if we knew where the spirit we're looking for was, but we have no idea where it is. Since it's absurd to climb to the top of the mountain, I really want you to come out somehow.

If I attacked the volcano at random, wouldn't it get angry and come out?
Why do you have to be so combative to begin with, Mr. Ray?

　Wraith begins to think with a rather serious look in his eyes. A pop and Lurimes' chop hit him in the head. He was supposed to have said battle if they were hostile, but he's trying to sell the fight himself.

　However, it's also true that the story can't start without encountering the spirits.

''Tei.''

　Wraith mumbles a little and kicks at the ground. It's too crappy to be called an attack. It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.

　In the midst of this, a strange sound rang out with a bang.

''........?''

　They all frowned at the sound that they did hear.
　The source of the sound is just below.
　If you turn your face down, it's the ground where the crack ran.

　The sound of a bang again sounded and the crack spread in front of Wraith's eyes.

''........Really?''

　Wraith's cheeks twitched, and he let out a voice that resembled a grunt. A thunderous alarm bell rang in his brain, calling out to him about the danger at hand.

　Moving quickly, Raffy was near him.

　He kidnapped Wraith's body from the side as he held her in his arms, and then leapt to retreat from the scene. A moment later, a crack that widened languidly eventually destroyed the ground and a demon emerged from the open hole.

　It wore four short legs on the ground, with chunks of rock growing from its back to its tail. Its sharp, pointed claws could be seen to be quite destructive, as it had destroyed the rocky ground.

　The red eyes with anger in them pierced straight through the Wraith.

''Wraith, what are you going to do if you call a demon instead of a spirit!　And he's pretty angry!
'I wasn't expecting that to come out of a thing like that either!　How short-tempered can you be!
"I have no temper!
"?　........Didn't the demon just talk?!
'What a stupid thing to say!

　Wraith is puzzled by the muffled voice he suddenly hears. The demon that appeared curled up neatly and started spinning around in a circle as it was. With a crunch, an unpleasant sound of the ground being shaved could be heard.

''Rei-kun, we can't use magic unless we use this ring!

　Magic tools are used up. This means that if you use the ring here, you will lose your trump card against the spirits. I can't replace my life, but I want to avoid that as much as possible.

''Raffy, please!
Yeah, I know.

　With Lurimes and the others watching her, Raffy, with Wraith behind her, draws the sword from her waist. Then he looked at the demon that was coming straight at him while scraping the ground.

　Raffy doesn't try to avoid the demon approaching at a tremendous rate, but instead rushes through it. With a sharp swing of his sword at the right time, he collided with the demon.

　A high-pitched sound resounded, and both Raffy and the demon were blown backwards by the impact generated. Raffy kills his momentum by putting his hands on the ground and remains still.

''The terrain is bad.''

　He squinted his eyes troublingly at the slope in front of him. Since the demon is in front of Raffy, that is, on top of the slope, the attack will have more momentum because of that.

　Raffy is the opposite. That's why you can't put as much force into it as you'd like.

'And that back, it's quite hard.'

　A chunk of rock that isn't an apparent fallout is strong enough to bounce a sword back. It's impossible to break through. What you should aim for is the belly that isn't covered by the rock.

　How should I aim? As if to say that they don't have time for this, the demon begins to spin. In the blink of an eye, it scrapes the ground and accelerates to kick the wraiths away.

''Raffy, I'll make an opening, so please do the rest!
Okay!

　The wraiths push down their fears and look at the demons coming towards them and place their hands on the ground. In this rocky place, terrain disadvantage is not a concern for the Wraith.

''Transformation.''

　The alchemy that was invoked caused the ground directly below the demon to rise rapidly. With the momentum of the roll, the demon was launched high into the sky.

''Oh!''

　Amidst the cheers of Rulimes, Raffy also leapt. She quickly caught up with the demon right underneath it, and thrust her sword straight into its defenseless abdomen.

　The demon's screams went up, and it eventually fell to the ground. A heavy thud sounded, followed by the sound of Raffy's light landing.

　There was no sign of the demon moving, and it fell limp and on its back.

''Huh ... that was close.''

　Looking at the doomed demon, Wraith wiped the sweat from his forehead. He acted lightly, and as a result, he suffered a terrible blow. She returns a bitter smile to Raffy's accusing gaze and bows her head lightly.

''But if you continue to do this, maybe there won't be a genie or... sorry...''

　Wraith succumbed to Raffy's absolute zero gaze and immediately reversed the proposal. As long as they were in a position to be protected, they couldn't complain. With no choice but to walk for now, the five of them began to climb the volcano again.