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Chapter 163.1: Present
That was an extremely beautiful white palace―― but, that was the story of the past, it was nothing but a ruin of its former glory right now.
「The air
 feels really different.」
The one who spoke was Tendou Ryuuichi.
Just a while ago, he literally obliterated a boss monster and activated the teleportation that sent them to this area. After having a closer look at the area beyond the fairy plaza, they knew that they’d arrived at a place that was akin to palace ruin.
「Did we just get teleported into a castle?」
「Yeah, it seems to be that way. Look, there’s a chandelier too.」
The one looking around curiously was Nonomiya Jurya(Jury) and Yoshizaki Marya(Mary) combi.
The fairy plaza itself felt different from the one they had seen until now, there was a remnant of a white wall which made it different from the usual ones. Its most distinguished trademark, the water fountain, was also more gorgeous than usual.
「Hey, it seems Momokawa has yet to arrive at this location.」
And then, different from the others in the group, Randou Kyouko was muttering the name of a certain boy.
「At least we know that he ain’t teleported to this plaza.」
「How do you know that, Tendou?」
「If he had, the first thing he would do is make full preparation before going onwards. He’s that kind of fella.」
Upon recalling that, Kyouko looked around and found out that Tendou was right, there was no trace of anyone living in this plaza before. Because recently, they often found traces of someone living in the fairy plaza before them.
It was just as Tendou had said, if Momokawa Kotarou really did arrive at this fairy plaza before them, the first thing he would do with his vocation 『Shaman』’s skill was to turn the fairy plaza into his base. Considering his weak strength, it was almost impossible for him to use the fairy plaza as a mere checkpoint like them.
「Then, let’s keep going.」
Thus, Tendou and team, who concluded that Kotarou wasn’t in the same area as them, decided to continue with the capture of the palace area.
「
 It seems the same enemies exist in all areas, isn’t it?」
The one who first appeared before them, in less than five minutes of leaving the fairy plaza, was the skeleton that they’re already familiar with. Though they formed a small platoon complete with equipment, the equipment had already deteriorated.
「Shall I take the first shot?」
「By all means.」
「Momokawa did say that magic is all about practice.」
「It’s not, like that――『Tera Sagitta』!」
Kyouko fired her earth elemental’s low-rank offensive magic that she became quite familiar with, 『Tera Sagitta』 while enduring the teasing smile from Jury-Mary combi.
Despite being a lower rank offensive magic, the basic, and the weakest offensive magic in the earth element, its magic destructive and penetration power was comparable to that of a rifle bullet. The effect became even more prominent in the fight against brittle enemies such as the skeletons before them.
The fast-approaching small platoon of skeletons was obliterated in two or three shots of 『Tera Sagitta』.
「Yeah, it is just like the usual skeleton.」
「I expected them to be a little bit stronger since they’re coming from the castle-like building, but I guess this guy is small fry.」
JuryMary gave their impression as they saw the small platoon of skeletons get obliterated very easily by Kyouko’s magic.
In the new area, even if they found the same monster like the one they met in the previous area, the monsters were usually more powerful than the ones from the previous area. That’s why they’d expected that the skeleton would move like an expert martial artist.
But since the ability of the skeleton that just got annihilated was pretty much the same as before, it meant that the danger level of the new area was the same as the previous one.
「Could it be that this area is in fact a piece of cake?」
「Not yet―― The star actor is just about to appear.」
A skeleton was walking with a deep and loud metallic sound, which made it a completely different breed compared to its peers. And then, it finally showed its figure from inside the dark passage in front of them.
There were two of them, armed from head to toes like a knight.
The figure of those knights whose breadth and height were taller than Ryuuichi was truly a giant from a human perspective. It was obvious at first glance that their dark grey steel armor was quite bulky, add to that, they wore tin plate bucket-like helmets to cover their entire heads.
「Ooh, doesn’t this one look promising?」
No matter how you look at it, the inside of the armor was definitely not a human. Ryuuichi could smell the same smell of the skeleton from inside the armor of the two knights. It seemed they belonged to the undead race.
「――『Tera Sagitta』!」
Kyouko launched an attack without a shred of hesitation.
The two knights were carrying shields in their left hand, axe, and spear in their right hand respectively. Since they’re using close combat weapons, a long-distance attack with magic was an obvious choice to stop them from approaching, or kill them before that. That was Kyouko’s simplest yet most effective tactic.
The reason for her to do that was that even from that distance, Kyouko knew that the two knights before them were extremely dangerous opponents.
The earth bullet went straight towards the knight. Following that was the loud metallic sound that resounded in the passage.
「NO WAY, THEY’RE UNSCATHED!?」
Upon a closer look, the knight with a spear set their shield. And there was a dent in the center of the shield which Kyouko and Co assumed as the place which got hit by 『Tera Sagitta』.
And that’s the end of the attack which was delivered by Kyouko with her all. In short, no damage.
「Back off, you girls won’t stand a chance against them.」
「B-But!!」
「I mean, we also want to fight!」
「I said back off.」
Jury and Mary weren’t stupid enough to realize that was the last warning from Ryuuichi.
It wasn’t like they’re trying to show their power to Ryuuichi, it was just their pride as 『Warrior』 and 『Knight』. They wanted to show Ryuuichi that they’re not just helpless girls in front of powerful enemies.
But Ryuuichi had no intention of letting them fight the two knights. It was neither kindness nor affection. His eyes were glaring at the two knights in front of him.
To sum it up, when he told them to 「Back off」, it simply meant 「Don’t disturb my fight」.
「Here I come, armor ba*tard. Let’s see if you can withstand this――」
Ryuuichi’s lips lifted up forming a ferocious, war-like smile while he took out his 『King Sword』 from 『Treasury』.
His crimson greatsword that absorbed the power of red firedrake was swung weightlessly with one hand. Seeing that, the knights raised their shields like before.
「――RAAAGH!」
Following that, an explosive sound, almost twice as loud as the previous one, resounded in the passage. The cause of that explosive sound wasn’t just the superhuman strength that swung the sword, but the weight of the sword itself added more power into that slash.
Against such destructive force, the shield, and the body of the huge knight that was holding it, got slightly distorted in one hit.
But that was all it did. The shield and the knights holding it still maintained shape, albeit a little bit distorted.
Now, as if to say it was their turn, the spear-wielding knight was charging forward―― only to be greeted by Ryuuichi’s kick which came even faster.
「They’re lighter than what I imagined
」
The spear-wielding knight whose lance charge got canceled by Ryuuichi’s kick got blown back.
Ryuuichi initially thought that the knight would fall on their rear upon receiving his kick, only to see them blown back. It seemed the margin of error between his eye measurement and real weight was really big. Moreover, the recoil he felt when he kicked the knight was enough hint for him to guess the answer.
「I see, there’s nothing inside those armors, huh.」
They were hollow armor and helmet monsters loitering around aimlessly. Though Ryuuichi remembered that armor monster in the RPG game that he played during his childhood, he forgot about their name.
「So that means these guys have no head, heart, or weak spot huh.」
The axe-wielding knight was rushing towards Ryuuichi while the latter was pondering about the weakness of his opponent.
But the huge blade of the battle axe that swung from above was blocked way too easily by Ryuuichi’s king’s sword. The piercing sound of clashing metals resounded as the axe and greatsword were locking each other.
「So annoying, let’s just hit it randomly then.」
After he had decided on how to defeat his foes, Ryuuichi started pushing back the axe-wielding knight. As countless sparks flew from the point of contact between the axe’s blade and sword’s blade, the king’s sword became even hotter. Its scarlet blade grew hotter and hotter until it almost turned pure white and―― BOOM! the firedrake power in king’s sword finally exploded.
Following that, a, no, twice, thrice, four consecutive attacks from scorching great assailed the axe-wielding knight.
Pale, white smokes rose from the decapitated steel armor instead of blood. Right arm, left arm, thick waist armor, and neck.
「Well, I guess that’s it.」
The axe-wielding knight who just got dissected by Ryuuichi crumbled down on the spot. It seemed that it already had no power to raise its arms.
「If the underling is this tough, I guess I can have some expectation for the boss in this area.」
Ryuuichi muttered with a satisfied look on his face as he decapitated the spear-wielding knight who was rushing to avenge their comrade.