âFirst, we need to know the specific location of the Slaughter Hell.â
âDo you mean we have to ask Asura?â
âYes.â
âThere is a summoning circle already prepared in my room. It can be activated at any time, so go do that. It shouldnât be a problem for you.â
âWhat about you?â
âIâll hold his attention.â
ââŠunderstood.â
Sheryl nodded with a firm expression.
Frey hesitated for a moment before adding.
âActually, I planned on defeating that Demigod.â
This caused a little playfulness to appear on Sherylâs face as she said.
âDefeat a Demigod alone? Huhu. Thatâs hard to believe. Is that something that happened often in the past?â
âIt is.â
But it had been after heâd reached 9 stars.
Frey sighed.
At his current level, it would be difficult to defeat Apep at night.
He could try fighting some more and maybe think of another method, but right now, the only thing he could think of was to stall until sunrise.
âIf it werenât for the time limit.â
If there werenât two more Demigods coming as reinforcements, Frey would have had more than enough time to take care of Apep.
And he had the confidence to easily defeat him when he was in a weakened state.
But it was hard to do so during the night.
ââŠthose are just excuses.â
Unfortunately, his pathetic excuses wouldnât make a difference.
In the end, the thought of defeating a Demigod alone had stemmed from his arrogance.
Frey shook his head and said.
âAnyway. It didnât go as planned, so thank you for your help. And please be safe.â
âPlease leave it to me!â
Sheryl nodded firmly, trying hard to not reveal the joy she felt inside as she turned around.
âIâm fighting alongside the legendary hero right now.â
She felt strange.
To be precise, a feeling of excitement that she hadnât felt for a very long time blossomed within her.
Sheryl was excited.
She was excited because she was now on the same battlefield with the great hero who had bravely fought against the Demigods 4,000 years ago.
Even Sheryl herself was surprised by that fact.
Sheâd thought sheâd gotten rid of such immature emotions centuries ago.
Like a girl in love, she tried to calm her pounding heart while thinking.
âThis isnât weird.â
She admired Iris Phisfounder greatly, but she admired Lukas Trowman no less.
No, who wouldnât admire Lukas Trowman?
4,000 years had passed since his death but there was yet to be another person who was given the title âGreat Mageâ. Not even one!
A name that could be used to represent all Wizards!
That was what Lukas Trowman was.
And now, that legendary Great Mage had returned, and she was even fighting against a Demigod with him!
This was something she believed could only happen in novels.
ââŠI started feeling doubt about our fight against the Demigods some time ago.â
Probably all the Circle members had struggled with similar thoughts.
Was it really possible for them to expel those transcendent beings from the continent?
It was nigh impossible.
This was something sheâd felt for a long time. And that feeling had only become stronger after the failed battle against Nozdog a few years ago.
Demigods were insanely powerful.
But now.
âIf itâs MasterâŠâ
If she followed him, she believed they could achieve it. That seemingly unrealistic goal of defeating the Demigods.
She turned to the mansion.
Fortunately, unlike the rest of the property, the main building of the mansion remained intact.
Sheryl headed to Freyâs room. There was no sign of the summoning circle.
Naturally, Frey mustâve hidden it. Sheryl swept the floor.
Shh.
Then, Asuraâs bloody summoning circle, which had been concealed, was revealed.
âIt really is ready to be used at any time.â
All that was left was to actually do so.
Sheryl immediately activated the summoning circle.
Kugugu-
Asura appeared in the room. He was so large that the ceiling collapsed, and even the furniture in the room was smashed.
[âŠwhat, youâŠ]
Asuraâs expression became hard.
He looked down at Sheryl before speaking coldly.
[Lilithâs vampire Contractor? Where is Frey?]
At that moment, Asuraâs aura slammed down upon Sheryl, almost causing her to kneel subconsciously.
âHeâs completely different from Lilith.â
Asura, Lord of the Slaughter Hell. A vicious tyrant with six powerful arms.
Sheâd heard that he was the most vicious of all the Demon Archdukes.
Lilith had a wicked and twisted side, but she didnât give off such an overwhelmingly intimidating aura.
Of course, that could be because Lilith had somewhat of an affinity to Sheryl.
Sheryl struggled to maintain her composure.
It was unwise to allow yourself to be suppressed by a Demon.
âI summoned you at the request of your contractor.â
[Do you think Iâd believe that bullshit?]
âItâs true.â
[Then bring Frey. I will talk to him myself.]
âHeâs currently not in a position to talk to you.â
[Not in a position? Donât play with me, girl. I will decide that myself.]
Asuraâs expression became murderous.
He hated Lilith.
In fact, his feelings for her had long surpassed simple âhateâ. So naturally, he would not have any good feelings for her Contractor, Sheryl.
Sheryl felt a deep sense of foreboding that Asuraâs six weapons would strike her down if her words werenât satisfactory, so she hurriedly pointed outside the mansion.
âLook outside. Then youâll understand what Iâm saying.â
[âŠ]
Asura turned his gaze outside, where he saw Frey dodging Apepâs droplets.
[That guy is fighting another Demigod? It hasnât even been that long since⊠In a sense, heâs a pretty amazing guy.]
âMaster is currently in a fierce battle with the Demigod. The reason I could summon you was because he prepared in advance.â
[HmphâŠ]
Asura snorted slightly before speaking in a slightly softer tone.
[If you say so. Why did you summon me? Was it to help in the fight?]
âThat would be great, but first, I need you to tell me the Slaughter Hellâs location.â
[Why do you want the Slaughter Hellâs location?]
âThatâŠâ
Sheryl briefly described her plan to Asura.
After hearing it, Asura seemed a bit displeased.
[So you want to send the Demigod to the Demon World and leave it to me?]
ââŠis that a no?â
Sheryl became nervous.
If Asura refused to help, then their plan wouldnât be able to progress.
After being silent for a while, Asura spoke.
[I will help you this once.]
In the end, he wanted to fight a Demigod at least once.
After all, he had been treated badly by them numerous times.
âAhâŠ!â
Sheryl did not conceal her joy.
Then, Asura asked the question he was curious about.
[But is it possible? Dimensional travel consumes an enormous amount of energy.]
It wasnât the same as sending an avatar like he had done to come to the continent. The plan was to transmit the Demigodâs true body.
But then, after thinking about it, Asura nodded.
[Nevermind. Itâs possible with Freyâs mana.]
He knew just how dense and abundant his contractorâs mana was.
If it was that guy, he would be able to activate the dimensional movement without difficulty.
[To travel between dimensions, one would need to have a transcendent level body and mind. But since itâs a Demigod, that wouldnât be a problem either. Hmm. Interesting. It certainly is a different approach.]
Heâd always wanted to fight against a Demigod, but heâd never thought about forcing one into a fight in such a way.
A fierce smile spread across Asuraâs face.
[Fine, vampire. But you donât know much about coordinates in the Demon World, do you? So how would I tell you the location of the Slaughter Hell?]
âThe Black Dream hell is Lilithâs territory. If you tell me the approximate location relative to there, then weâd be able to calculate the coordinates.â
When he heard Lilithâs name, Asuraâs expression became uncomfortable, but in the end, he sighed and said.
[The Black Dream Hell is to the southern end. My territory is in the opposite direction from that bitchâs.]
âWhatâŠ?ââ
Sherylâs mouth opened wide.
[Is there a problem?]
ââŠitâs much farther than I expected. It would require much more computational power than I thought.â
No matter if he was Lukas Trowman or an 8 star Archmage, it would still be an enormous burden for him to carry out so many calculations. (TL: if only she knew)
[Besides that, I doubt the Demigod would get caught in the dimensional movement.]
ââŠâ
That was also something Sheryl had thought about.
A magic circle was required to cast the dimensional movement.
âA huge amount of mana will be released. Besides, it will take a while to cast.â
Unless the Demigod was a fool, he would surely move away from it.
That meant they would need to find a way to keep him from moving.
âAt least for 5 seconds.â
It was a short amount of time, but when the target was a Demigod, the difficulty rose significantly.
Sheryl realised at that moment.
She had been excited by the atmosphere and proposed a strategy that turned out to be filled with loopholes.
The probability of success had already dropped below half.
She felt bad for making a fuss out of nothing.
ââŠbut.â
She couldnât just give up.
She had already told Frey about it, and he had even thanked her for her help.
So Sheryl had to live up to his expectations, even if it cost her her life.
âI will start drawing the magic circle for the dimensional movement, so can you please explain the situation to Master?â
[Sure.]
Asura nodded and went to Frey.
Freyâs body was soaked in sweat. He still had a lot of mana left, but it required a high degree of concentration to avoid the droplets.
He glanced at Asura and said.
âAsura, youâre here.â
[I am.]
âWhat about Sheryl?â
[The vampire is drawing the magic circle for the dimensional movement. But there are two problems.]
âWhat are they?â
[One is to lure the Demigod to the place where the circle will be. The other is that you would need to restrain the Demigod for about 5 seconds while the dimensional movement is being activated.]
ââŠâ
[And according to the vampire, the location of the Slaughter Hell is too far away, so it would require extensive calculations. No matter how much youâŠ]
âNo. I can do it.â
Frey spoke, interrupting Asura.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he added.
âThere must be a better way. Asura, can you connect Sheryl to me?â
[This is really unpleasant. Iâm not an errand boy.]
âI canât leave.â
Even while they were talking, Frey was continuously dodging droplets.
[âŠhooo. You are the first contractor to make me do such a chore.]
Asura shook his head and contacted Sheryl.
âWhat is it?â
âPlease explain the technique for the dimensional movement to me.â
âHuh?â
Frey spoke in a clear voice.
âI will draw the magic circle myself.â
* * *
âIâm getting tired of this.â
Apep had this thought while looking at Frey.
At first, heâd found it pretty interesting.
He was pretty agile for a Wizard, and the timing, application and power of his spells were much better than other Wizards.
Most importantly, there were almost no 8 star Wizards among the humans for Apep to play with.
But after a few hours, he had grown bored.
Frey had only used that 8 star spell once. Apep wasnât sure if it was because his mana was running out or if he was just waiting for the right timing, but he had already grown tired.
Therefore, Apep decided to end this boring battle.
âThat strange time-consuming movement is annoying.â
Apep slowly lifted both hands.
The darkness around him strangely shook. This was no longer a simple attack like the droplets.
Instead, the darkness around him began to take shape, becoming sharp thorns.
To someone who had grown used to the slow but unusual movement of the black droplets, these sharp thorns would pierce through him easily.
Apep was sure of it.
He wouldnât even know how he died.
Apepâs smile widened considerably.
Pat.
ââŠ!â
A huge beam of light erupted from the ground, causing Apep to pause momentarily.
This wasnât an attack. Instead, it was the manifestation caused when a large amount of mana was being used.
âAre these his death throes?â
He didnât know what kind of spell it was, but the range was enormous.
The light seemed to cover almost all of the Blake familyâs territory.
âI canât avoid it. Hmph⊠good.â
Perhaps this spell was his last-ditch attempt. There was no reason for him to meet it head-on.
Apep wrapped himself in the darkness he was just about to use to attack.
It was a complete defense. Literally.
The defense he was using now was many times stronger than what heâd used against the Holy Breath.
No matter how amazing the spell was, there was no way it could kill him.
âRegardless of what it is, when this spell ends, youâll die.â
It was then.
Woowoong-.
ââŠ!?â
Suddenly, Apep felt like heaven and earth were being overturned.
That wasnât all.
He felt like he was floating, then sinking, then bouncing around.
It made him incredibly dizzy. He felt like vomiting.
Apepâs head was spinning to the point where he could no longer tell up from down.
âWha-, what is happening?!â
The cocoon of darkness was so thick that he could not see what was happening on the outside. However, Apep did not understand what was happening.
Was there something that could cause such dizziness even to Demigods?
His vigilance increased to the max.
Thanks to that, he hesitated in removing the cocoon.
When the tossing finally subsided, Apep slowly removed the cocoon.
And the scene that unfolded before him was something that Apep had never seen in his thousands of years of life.
Ahhhhh-
A terrible scream pierced his ears.
The pitch-black ground, purple sky, and disgusting stench that caused Apep to unconsciously cover his nose.
[I was dubious at first, but it really succeeded.]
ââŠ!â
Then he saw a throne as large as a mountain, on which sat an equally large being.
It was a creature with two heads and six arms, and as he spoke, a red haze seemed to flow from his body.
[Welcome, Demigod, to the Slaughter Hell.]
Brrr.
Apep shivered without realising it.
Then, he was stunned by that fact.
âI feel intimidated?â
It was the first time heâd felt this way toward someone who wasnât of his kind.
Humiliation gripped him as he grit his teeth.
âWho are you?â
[I am Asura, Lord of this place.]
âThis place?â
[Didnât I tell you? This is the Slaughter Hell.]
Asura let out a laugh before becoming serious.
[âŠhmm. By the way.]
He inspected Apep closely, his disappointment clear on his two faces.
[Looking at you here in the Demon World, Demigods donât seem that impressive. Iâm not sure I could even enjoy you properly.]
âYou⊠are you insulting me?â
[Did it sound like that?]
Even after hearing Apepâs angry tone, Asura remained indifferent.
He simply looked down at him from his large throne.
Apep grit his teeth at the fact that someone was looking down at him.
âDonât look down at me.â
[I could barely hear you from up here.]
Apepâs face turned red.
He knew where the Slaughter Hell was.
The Demon World.
The place where the Demons lived. It was one of the six hells in this place.
He also knew that this place was very chaotic.
Apep wasnât sure why he came here, but he couldnât tolerate this scumbag pretending to be above him.
âShut up! Youâre just a demon whoâs locked up in this world and acts like a slave to the humans! Do you know who IâŠâ
[Youâre stupid. Donât you understand yet? Who are you to tell me to shut up?]
Asura laughed.
[This is my world, my territory, my castle.]
âSo what? My strength hasnât changed! It will be the same as on the continent!â
âMine isnât.â
âWhat?â
[I said my strength isnât the same as in that place.]
Kugugu.
Asura lifted one of his six arms, and the sword held in its hand was lifted as well.
It was a sword larger than a mountain.
[Do you know what that means?]
Apep stared at the sword with a blank look on his face.