Proofreader: Xemul

If you knew that there was someone there, it would be easy to be prepared.

And if you know who that someone was, it would be even easier to be prepared.

Or so Loren had thought, but the reality was that things didn’t always work out that way. As he and his companions quietly peeked around the corner leading to the door to their destination, they were thinking about a trouble specific to the Ancient Kingdom’s ruins.

“If this was a normal building, we could take strong measures such as firing all the magic we could from here and disposing of the people behind the door.”

That was what Lapis muttered as she looked at the door right beyond the line of sight.

Loren thought that if they took such an approach, the equipment in the room would also be damaged, and the point of coming all the way here would be null. However, as Lapis was talking about a strategy that did not seem feasible to execute, he decided to leave it alone.

The door at the end of the passageway, which appeared to be quite sturdy even from a distance, was unlikely to be damaged by a half-hearted attempt to shoot magic at it.

“Should we be impressed and say something like ‘Just as expected of the Ancient Kingdom’?”

“Don’t say what you don’t mean. And by the way, that door can be locked from the inside. Both physically and magically.”

The information that Ivy just provided was, from Loren’s point of view, vital.

“So a surprise attack is out of the question.”

If they really wanted to surprise the ‘visitors’, Lapis’ method seemed to be the quickest and surest way. Other than that, if the door could be opened quickly, it should also be possible to surprise those inside.

However, a door that was locked by both physical and magical means took a long time to open, and the people inside would surely be alerted while meddling with the lock. This meant that Loren and his party would not be able to attack without being noticed by anyone inside.

“What if we use magic powerful enough to get through that door?”

Lapis was not ready to give up on the idea of a surprise attack from a distance, but Loren shook his head at her words. He didn’t know how sturdy the device in the room was, but he didn’t think it could stay intact after magic powerful enough to bypass the sturdy door was released. He had come here to secure the ancient device for Shayna. If they were to destroy it in a moment of adrenaline surge, then what was even the point?

“Ivy, can you open it quietly? You were involved with this place, weren’t you?”

“Of course, I can. As long as it’s locked in the proper way.”

Ivy answered Gula’s question.

“You have been able to go this far without encountering any traps thanks to me, so you should be a little more grateful.”

“Whatever. If you do that, the people inside won’t be able to tell…”

“They will once it is opened though? Or are you too stupid not to notice that your room has been unlocked, Gula?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Gula glared with a threatening expression, and Ivy turned away with a composed face. Loren gently let out a sigh of resignation, thinking that even between beings called Evil Gods, there was a lot going on.

“We have no choice but to approach as close as we can, and once Ivy opens the door, we’ll step in at once.”

“Then do them in?”

Lapis asked, and Loren shook his head.

“If it’s them in there, unless they’re really stupid or have a reason not to move, we won’t be able to stop them from running away.”

Loren predicted that the person in the room would be a swordsman named Magna, whom they had encountered several times before. He was a black-clad swordsman who seemed to have some connection to the Ancient Kingdom, and his fighting ability was even greater than Loren’s. He was someone Loren didn’t want to encounter if possible at all, but for some reason, they ran into this Magna guy quite often.

In a previous encounter, he had managed to cut off one of Magna’s right arms, but at the cost of some sort of injury to almost everyone who took part in the battle, and Loren was hospitalized for what must have been the umpteenth time.

“If I could finish the job, I would, but they’re very… tough.”

“We have always encountered them when they have equipment, tools, and conditions that are much more favorable. This time, well… I guess it’s the same situation again.”

Considering the information from Ivy, it was highly unlikely that they entered this facility on foot, assuming that the people in the room were Magna and his follower, a female Dark Elf named Noel, who had previously turned herself into an Evil God. In other words, it was highly likely that they had come here using some tools from the Ancient Kingdom time, which put Loren’s party at a disadvantage. Those two would be able to escape using that transport method.

“I don’t know why, but the other side seems to have the advantage when it comes to the Ancient Kingdom.”

“It’s a problem.”

“So, what are we going to do? Are we going in or not?”

Faced with Gula’s question, Loren thought for a while and decided on a half-hearted plan: they would move to the door as stealthily as possible, and Ivy would open the door as quickly as possible, but he didn’t dwell on forcibly engaging anyone inside.

“They’re a nasty opponent, but if we go all out, we’ll manage somehow.”

“Well, it’s not certain that the Black Swordsman and the Dark Elf are on the other side of that door.”

“So I’m going now, okay?”

After checking with Loren, Ivy ran down the passageway without a sound and stood in front of the door. Feeling Loren and the others following behind her, Ivy let her hand touch the door to open it, and immediately noticed something unusual and frowned.

“What is it?”

“In addition to the two original locks… > has been applied.”

It seems that whoever was inside had a very cautious nature. In addition to the original locking functions of the ruin, they had locked the door once more using their own magic. This meant that even if Ivy was able to open the door by regular means, the door would still not open. An > spell had to be used to unlock the > spell, which was an additional step. Moreover, once the > spell was released, there was a high possibility that the magician, who placed it would notice, making it almost impossible to surprise those inside the room.

“Can you remove it?”

“The original locks can be removed right away. Maybe the magic lock too… >.”

After unlocking the locks of the ruin, Ivy immediately used her magic to unlock the additional magic lock. However, the magic she casted had no effect.

“Hm? It won’t open?”

“This magician is on a higher level than I am. I lost because of the difference in the power of our magic.”

Pushing aside the flustered Ivy, Gula touched the door.

“Envy’s a fool. She’s lost all her magic power because she quit being an Evil God. She’s useless.”

“Sorry…”

Ivy was dejected, but they had no time to worry about it. Gula immediately used her > magic, which canceled the magic on the door. Loren, who immediately switched places with her, kicked open the door and rushed into the room with the same momentum.

At the same time, he blocked an arrow shot at him with the belly of his great sword.

“Look who it is!”

Unlike the passageway, the space Loren stepped into was entirely illuminated by a light source on the ceiling, providing a clear view.

In the center of the large room was a device that looked like a bed wrapped in a transparent shell. On the wall behind it were various glowing and spinning objects, and in front of it stood a slender figure clad in what appeared to be armor, but one that daringly exposed her brown skin. She was holding an arrow to a huge, strangely decorated bow, aiming at the entrance.

It was the Dark Elf that was Magna’s follower.

Loren, seeing that it was Noel, who seemed to have obtained the body of the Evil God of Lust, exclaimed.

“That’s our line! You guys again! What are you doing this time?!”

There was no answer to Loren’s question, and instead a second arrow came. Loren, who had noticed that the bow she was using had a strangely elaborate construction, thought that the arrow might have a strange effect, and chose to evade rather than defend himself. The arrow itself disappeared, leaving only a small hole in the wall.

Loren had thought that there would be a gap between shots, but the moment Noel fired the first shot, another arrow appeared out of nowhere and was already in the bow, leaving no time for a gap.

“It looks like the bow has an arrow-making effect.”

Lapis declared, while leaving the handling of the arrows to Loren, and was staring at the bow Noel was holding.

“The number of arrows is infinite and there is no gap between them, but there are no hit corrections or special effects on the arrows. It is a rather mild magic weapon.”

“A bow handled by an elf with an unlimited number of arrows is a nightmare!”

Elves were generally great archers, and it was extremely difficult to dodge their shots. It was no exaggeration to say that the number of deaths is equal to the number of arrows in an elf’s quiver. If arrows were infinitely generated, ordinary soldiers, no matter how many they gathered, could be annihilated without any means to retaliate depending on the distance and location of the shooter. However, if there were no magic effects on the arrows and the number of arrows shot out did not increase mid-shot, it wouldn’t be easy to strike down Loren with his skills.

“Where’s your master? Last time, when I cut off his arm, did it kill him?”

Loren’s words, meant to both confirm and provoke, caused Noel’s mouth to twist slightly in what appeared to be a smile as she held her bow in a careless manner and fired a third shot at Loren. If there were no funny effects attached to the arrows, it was better to defend than to evade. Loren flicked off the arrow with his greatsword as Noel said.

“He will not die at the hands of the likes of you!”

“Where the hell did he go then? I can’t seem to see him anywhere?”

“I have no obligation to tell you that. Magna-sama has already left this place, healed from the wounds you inflicted on him!”

“He must have realized we were coming in and fled before we got here, didn’t he?”

“Take it however you want. You owe Magna-sama a debt for damaging a part of his armor. He’ll deal with you when the time is right. Until then, live in fear.”

“Don’t you think we should just settle it right here, right now?”

Loren taunted and beckoned Noel to him, but she was having none of it. She shot another arrow at Loren’s party as if to warn them, then turned around without seeing the result.

“I have no more business here. I have to go after Magna, and I don’t have time to deal with you.”

“She’s trying to escape, Loren.”

“We have no way to stop her…”

Noel had seen Loren fight several times. That was why, even if Loren attacked her, she would be able to dodge and escape. Moreover, if the escape method was of the teleportation type, Loren would have had no way to stop her.

He was ready to throw his greatsword at her if she tried to leave even just one snide remark, but the elf did not say anything more. She used some kind of tool to create a gate of light that was just big enough for one person to pass through, then slid into it and disappeared.