Chapter 121: Toward The Demon King

Early morning of the next day―

「I’ll pray for your safety, Ciel-sama…」

In front of the mansion, Mari, Ciel’s maid, saw the party off with a bitter look on her face.

And the reason she had such an expression, Ciel, replied to her with a reassuring smile on her face.

「It’s okay, Mari. I’ll be back safe just like when Ragnarok happened.」

A few kilometers away from the royal capital Ul was a labyrinth that had sealed one of the seven demon kings, Belphegor.

After parting with Mari, the group headed to that labyrinth.

◆

Two hours later―

「Is this… that labyrinth?」

「According to the information we have, this one seems to be a ruin-type labyrinth, nya~.」

Aria and Vulcan exclaimed as they looked at the labyrinth in front of them.

They and the others were riding on the coach pulled by Noir and Freya.

As Vulcan had said, this labyrinth was a ruin-type labyrinth; moreover, it had a similar appearance to a temple.

「This might be the lower level of the labyrinth, but it still has many monsters roaming around. The majority of those monsters are 〝Living Armor?, B-rank monsters.」

Ciel explained for everyone who was looking up at the labyrinth.

Tama descended from Aria’s twin melons’ valley as he listened to Ciel’s explanation.

（Since there’s a demon king lurking in this labyrinth, it’s not the time to be stingy! 《Divine Protection of Lion King》… Activate!）

Tama invoked his most reliable buff skill with his adorable cries.

A golden light wrapped all of his party members inside it.

「This is… amazing! My statuses are rising through the roof.」

「That’s not the only effect! Poison, paralysis, sleep… It’s also protecting us from various debuffs!」

Ciel and May exclaimed with surprised looks on their faces.

When Tama saw those two react like this, a satisfied look appeared on his face.

「No way, such a tiny elemental cat has this kind of skill…」

「As expected of the one hailed as Sacred Beast!」

Ciel and May became even more surprised when they heard Aria’s explanation.

Upon seeing Ciel’s and May’s reactions, even Aria couldn’t help but feel proud as Tama’s owner.

「Is everyone ready then? Let’s get going.」

Cedric asked everyone with a refreshing smile on his face.

Nervous looks appeared on the faces of Aria, Tama, Lily, and Faeri. Vulcan and Stella flashed belligerents. Ciel and May nodded with composed looks on their faces.

◆

The labyrinth was strangely illuminated with a dim light on the inside despite having no windows. Cracked angel statues and wall paintings were scattered around. It could be a former church turned into a labyrinth or something similar.

「I’ve been in this labyrinth a few times. Please follow me, everyone.」

Ciel walked ahead of the rest of the party, serving as their guide.

Right behind Ciel was their vanguard, Stella and Vulcan; middle guard, Aria and Tama; Lily and Faeri right behind them; and lastly, the rear guard, Cedric and May.

A while had passed since they had stepped into the labyrinth.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of colliding metals come from inside the ruin.

「It’s coming, the living armor. Everyone, prepare for battle!」

Ciel, who realized the identity of their opponent just from the sounds, immediately notified her comrades.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And as she said, the beings that stepped out from the darkness were sets of armor who had gained their own wills.

The ten Living Armor spread out to surround Aria and co.

「Leave this to us, Ciel-sama! Tama, your turn!」

「Nya~n(Roger that, master)!」

As if to answer her master’s call, Tama leaped out in front of everyone.

Ciel had already pushed her arms forward to attack, but when she saw Aria’s and Tama’s confident faces, she decided to let them take the stage.

(Since my opponents have spread out in a large area, let’s use this!)

Tama, who had grasped their enemy’s tactic, invoked his inherent skill.

「Nyaaa（《Water Howling》）!」

A water elemental roar shut out from Tama’s mouth as soon as he let out his adorable cries. The super-compressed water gun pierced through the living armor on the right end.

That wasn’t the end. Tama then shook his neck to the left, and the water howling split the group of approaching living armor in two.

「What a skill! It’s so powerful on top of being easy to use.」

「Moreover, Tama-chan’s mana isn’t decreasing at all!」

Ciel and May praised Tama again.

At that moment, a certain question rose in Aria’s mind.

「Can I ask a question, May-sama?」

「Is something the matter, Aria-oneechan?」

「Just now, you said that Tama’s mana isn’t decreasing at all, but May-sama, could it be that you can see the other people’s amount of mana?」

No one could see how much mana other people had. Yet, May had assessed Tama’s mana just a moment ago.

Hearing Aria’s question, May unintentionally covered her lips as if to say (Cra*p!).

「Huhm, that question just now seems to be related to the information about the future.」

When he saw May’s current state, Cedric looked at Aria while doing a follow-up to explain May’s situation.

Aria, who had grasped the situation, didn’t ask any further.

（Thank you, Uncle! that was close!）

May thanked Cedrid in a soft voice.

Cedric suddenly recalled something as he replied to May with a wry smile.

（Come to think of it… it means that my little brother-in-law’s research has taken such leaps and bounds in just a decade, huh…）

So―