367-360 Reason for the struggle




 I tried to activate an additional purification wave when I caught sight of the War Maiden Holy Knights who were surrounded by a group of demons.
 But apparently there was no need to do so.
 It's a good thing that the cleansing wave that I released before we joined forces with them a while ago was enough to cover them, and everyone who seemed to be surrounded by a swarm of demons began to push back as if it was a lie that they were struggling.

 But there was no doubt that they were struggling, and they were clearly exhausted.
 I immediately called out to everyone and activated Recover, Dispel, and Area High Heel.
 Then, by the time I activated the purification wave to keep the demons away, everyone seemed to have calmed down, so I decided to figure out what to do after we parted ways with Lucy and the others.

''For now, I'm glad that everyone is safe.
You can't tell me she's safe.
'I didn't expect you to push me with such a dirty strategy.
 Reacting to my insensitive use of the word safe, Marluka-san and Gannett-san looked down and revealed their regret.
 I'm sorry for what I did.

''Thanks to Luciel-kun earlier, you really helped me.
'I didn't think you'd catch up to me so quickly,'
 Then Beariche, who made a little sad smile, thanked me for intervening in the battle, and Cassie mentioned that she was frankly surprised at how fast I was exploring.

'I didn't expect you all to be so far ahead of me either. But more than that, I couldn't believe that you all were struggling with the demons on this level.
Demons it's because a group of demons have appeared.
He wasn't strong, but he was cunning.
 Myra-san wrinkled her brows and Ripnea-san was trembling her body.
 I didn't expect a demon race to appear.....
 But if it was just a normal demon race, the current squad of Saint Knights of the War Maidens would have had no problem with it.......

''Could it be that another inhumane trap was used?
''What was used was the corpse of a demon tribe. The demon race was not that strong. But when I defeated them, the miasma suddenly erupted and my body gradually stopped moving.
'On top of that, the demons just kept appearing and getting stronger and stronger, and it was the worst.
 From the information from Cassie-san and Myra-san, I can see that the same kind of trick was applied as the trap for crushing the healers.

''Just to confirm, did those demons speak human language?''
'Only one person spoke. That's why Captain Lumina, Miss Elizabeth....
 Lipnea-san, who can't explain until the end, is replaced by Bearyce-san who explains what happened afterwards.

'That demon tribe only appeared after our bodies became heavy. I thought the space was suddenly cracked open, and then Eliza-chan was taken hostage. So I forced the captain to give himself up if he wanted to save her.
Why did you ask Miss Lumina to give herself up?
"I'm afraid the curse didn't work on the captain. They said it would interfere with their plans...
So what happened?
''That's when Luciel-kun's Purification Wave flew in. The magician's body burned with a pale blue-white flame, and he or she hastily deployed a magic circle and disappeared.
 Maybe if I hadn't released the purification wave, the two of them wouldn't have gotten caught in the magic circle...? 

If Purification Wave hadn't come through, the captain would have stabbed himself in the neck. And Elizabeth, for her part, was prepared to bite her tongue out.
Thanks to the Purification Wave, Elizabeth was able to escape from the demon tribe. The only thing is that she was inside the magic circle that the demon tribe had deployed, so the captain flew into the magic circle to protect Elizabeth.
 People didn't blame me for my actions, they just defended me. But I'm sure that's only because they blame themselves the most for being a drag on Lumina-san.
 I took out the magic crystal sphere from my magic bag and fully recovered my magic power, and then I decided to force everyone in the War Maiden Holy Knight Squad to make a ruthless choice.

''From now on, I'm going to abandon my own weight and seriously attack the labyrinth. If you think it will slow us down, could you wait in the stables with the other holy knights until I traverse the labyrinth with the other holy knights?
 The girls could sense my seriousness in that statement mixed with intimidation, but they didn't argue with their poor pride.
 They asked themselves, and then nodded at their friends.

'We'll go after it with all our might,'
We are the eleventh of the Holy Order of the War Maidens.
You can leave me if you think I'm slowing you down.
Even if it's only a scapegoat.
We're a family now.
'I'm in a lot of trouble without Elizabeth,'
'Captain Lumina will scold you if you wait on this.
If Luciel gets serious, all we have to do is go after him.
'So please, Luciel, let us go with you.  
 I'm sure all nine of them will be able to follow me without wavering in their minds, no matter what I say. However--''

''It's fine to fight the Lord of the forty levels, but there are times when you will be brought back by the magic circle that comes out afterwards. At that time, you will be asked to come inside.
I'll just throw a magic stone at that magic circle and we'll see where it goes.
...Is that so?
'Did you run into all the magic circles, by any chance?
 I rather couldn't see it any other way........

''As expected of an insane wise man, what you do is out of the ordinary.
''Well, normally if you don't recover your state, you'll be in a state of demon seal and collapse, and the demons will start coming to you, so you won't be able to get here.
Apparently, you might be able to move forward more quickly with us.
"...it appears that....
 Well, it doesn't matter, since we were able to catch up that way too.......

I'm going to abandon my own weight now and seriously attack the labyrinth.........
We're serious, too.

 Oh, I'm so embarrassed.
 Well, I hope this helped the girls relax a bit........

''I'm going to go now. Everyone grab my shoulders and robes or get as close to my side as you can.
"I wonder if you've developed a desire for a harem, Luciel.
"It's still light out and shameless.
'That's not the point. From here, we'll switch to ignoring the traps and demons and moving on.
 Then I made sure that everyone in the War Maiden Holy Knight Squad was in close contact with me, and I floated up to the spot with the help of the Holy Dragon and Wind Dragon, and then I flew out to the next level.