I nodded back to Filia and gently patted her on the shoulder.
　Taking that as my cue, Filia pulls away from me.

　On the other side of Filia, who looks a little embarrassed, are Arte and Flora.
　A slightly relieved-looking Arte speaks to Flora, and Flora responds to it in a few words.

　I walked up to Notaras and asked him how many layers we were in here.
　Notaras's eyes flashed behind his glasses.

'I have no idea,'

　Due to the collapse of the ruins, they couldn't determine their exact current location.

'About eighteen layers, I'd say.

　I murmured, and Notaras replied, "Probably.

　We may not know how many layers, but we're pretty sure we've come deep underground.

　Because apart from the sudden appearance of demons, we had been able to advance without fighting too many demons.

　On the other hand, even so, quite a few adventurers have dropped out of the battle so far.
　Some have been seriously wounded and are waiting for our return in the safety of the upper levels, while others have died.

　Creon pulled the holy sword from its sheath at his waist.
　The sword reflected the light of the lighting magic of the many adventurers and gleamed with a golden color.

''We're one step closer to achieving the Necropolis attack. I believe that each of you will fulfill that duty. When that happens, these ruins will be ours.

　Creon's words were quiet, but they resonated well in the moment.
　Vitality returned to the exhausted faces of the adventurers.

　The thought that they were almost ready to accomplish an unprecedented feat. And their faith in the Holy Knight Creon.
　I think those two things moved the adventurers' hearts.

　Unlike Arte, Creon had a lot of popularity.

　Anyway, the attack on the ruins is approaching its final phase.

　I whispered to Notaras.

'Please, Notaras.

　When I said shortly, Notaras replied with a hint of laughter in his voice, "It's a small price to pay," he said.
　Notaras, an executive of the old St. Sophia Order, was the most capable adventurer among me and Filia's allies.

　When Creon, Arte and the others moved to sacrifice Filia for the resurrection of the Demon King after the accomplishment of the attack, Notaras was the one I would rely on the most.
　Nasha, Laskarus and the others also returned a nod to me.

　Suddenly, I think of what Creon had said about the traitor.
　The adventurer who tried to kill Creon is among the attacking force.

　I have no intention of killing Creon.

　That's because Creon and I have known each other for a long time, but at the same time, I also knew that capturing the ruins would be difficult without Creon's fighting ability.　

　On the other hand, the 'traitor' is capable of capturing these ruins without Creon, and has a motive to kill him.

　Is there such a person in this group?

　My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

　The floor of the ruins trembled, and an ear-splitting roar echoed through the place.

　The front wall of the ruins slowly opens to the left and right, revealing the hall of the palace.
　There are stone statues of a stern hawk on either side.

　According to the information I researched beforehand in the Great Library, the hall with the falcon stone statue was an important place where the senior vassals of the ancient kingdom packed up.
　That meant that the palace throne of the Necropolis was just around the corner.

　And almost all of the space in the hall, which could hold about several hundred people, was occupied by a single demon race.

　It was a giant serpent, with silver-blue scales that glowed.
　The demon tribe protected the dead city of Necropolis as it was.

　The death guard of Necropolis, who have buried legendary adventurers.
　Many books that mention Necropolis refer to the serpent as "Ouroboros".

　Only the brave Pericles was able to defeat the serpent Ouroboros. Pericles could not be defeated completely, and that is why Ouroboros is still alive.

　Beyond this, Pericles only wrote that he was "betrayed by God".

　I drew my treasure sword tetracord.
　My opponent is a powerful enemy.

　I think everyone is expecting an epic battle.

"Let's go and slay the one thing that stands in our way, this giant snake!

　Creon called out to the entire attack team.

　However.

　Then a beautiful high-pitched voice echoed in its place.

''It's not even close to that.

　Suddenly, the Ouroboros stopped moving.
　Then it let out a scream as blue blood gushed from its center.

　I stood there, unable to understand what had happened.
　The Ouroboros seemed to have been mortally wounded.

　Before I knew it, a person was standing next to the Ouroboros, who was raging in mortal agony.
　The person had long silver hair that fluttered and wore pure white, loose-fitting clothing.

　It was the owner of the high-pitched voice from earlier.

　The person's face was horrifyingly well-defined and his silver eyes shone attractively, but it was impossible to tell whether he was male or female.

　The person pulled something out from under the Ouroboros' scales.
　An offal wet with blue blood.

　The heart of an ouroboros.
　The person grabbed the ouroboros heart in his hand and threw it into his mouth.

　Then he smiles.

Welcome to the end of the dead city of Necropolis. Welcome to the end of the dead city of Necropolis.

　No one in the invasion team responded to the words.
　I had no choice but to step forward and ask, "What do you mean?

"You don't sound like an adventurer. I wonder what kind of person you are.

The ruler of this Necropolis. The Last Guardian of the Necropolis is not a demon. He's a human being.

　The silver-haired "human" spoke to us with amusement.