They all turned their gaze to one man.
"Allie..." Prinz muttered his sister's name and let out a sigh as Raewyn silently patted his colleague's shoulder to console him. But he immediately forced himself into a smile upon realizing there were eyes on him. He wasn't accustomed to being on the receiving end of consolation since he was usually the one to offer it. "My sister is smart and strong, so I'm sure she would've come up with a plan. She will save sir Tesilid and return safely from the abyss."
Raewyn and Ash immediately chimed in.
"Yes. You're right, Prinz."
"I also agree."
But Hestio's agreement sounded rather blunt. "Well, that much is obvious. Ailette is no fool, and she would never take on a Demon Lord without a plan."
"That's enough, Hestio," Ephael chided.
"Braided-hair man... His attitude... I like..."
Everyone was feeling slightly better after the conversation, but they still had to stay vigilant.
"We'd better stop worrying about those two for now," Prinz said, a serious look on his face. "We have a more pressing matter at hand."
He meant the arrival of Inferinos, the Demon Lord. They had to prepare themselves for a fierce battle. The reminder of the imminent catastrophe made everyone serious once again.
Raewyn managed to find a shred of optimism in their dread. "Killing Inferinos could result in the rescue of Ailette and the master of the holy sword."
"Oh, that's right! That's all the motivation I needed!"
It was unimaginable to think someone might survive a dungeon burst, but if anyone could do it, it was likely to be Ailette and Tesilid. Perhaps they might burst out of the dungeon along with its monsters.
Ephael and Hestio muttered to themselves, "Please stay alive, Tesilid and Ailette. That's all we ask of you."
"We're counting on you, Ailette. Just hang in there and keep out of the Demon Lord's sight. We'll handle the restâ"
That's when they heard a rumble beneath their feet. Everyone immediately fell silent. The deafening tremor continued for a long time, and it felt as though the earthquake was trying to rattle their souls out of their bodies.
All troops in the Litennial Plains fell to their knees and watched as the ridge nearby the field they were assembled on seemed to gradually start rising into the horizon of the night sky. Those who knew what it meant shouted out in warning.
"T-the ground is sinking!"
"Leave your current position immediately!"
An area spanning about two hundred meters in diameter, where the allied troops stood, started crumbling down into a sinkhole. Fortunately enough, the process took some time, giving everyone a chance to leave the area without any casualties.
The knights, mages, and priests all gathered around the massive sinkhole to look into its gaping depths, where the plants and trees were now buried deep underground. Dirt, sand, and gravel continued falling into the pit, but the hole itself wasn't meant to pull anything into the ground. In fact, it was created to do exactly the opposite. The ground trembled once again.
"Wh-what is that?!"
"Something is rising from the hole!"
Ephael and Ash shouted at once, their gazes fixed on the edge of the sinkhole. Something resembling castle walls decorated with gargoyles was rising from the ground, as if ancient ruins were pulling themselves out of the earth.
"Look!"
The structure finally emerged and revealed an arena carved out of a gigantic rock. The edge of the hole where the troops had been standing were now the highest spectator seats in the oval arena, where the fighters were facing each other.
Whoosh.
The three moons representing the Demon Lords shifted. The distorted blue half moon swallowed the crescent moon and cast the full moon in its shadow, eventually taking the night sky for itself. The victorious moon provided its ominous light to illuminate the arena where its master stood.
"Whew... The air in the Human Realm is too thin for my liking."
The female demon's blue and blonde hair fanned out like the feathers of a peacock and wavered in the air, while dark threads of her commanding presence and spine-chilling demonic energy spooled out from the infernal ruler. It was Inferinos, the third-ranked Demon Lord of the Demon Realm.
Humans instinctively trembled in awe and terror upon catching sight of her.
"I-is that what a Demon Lord looks like?"
"P-please... No...!"
The humans were weak, and their instincts told them to kneel and bow down before the commanding presence. In fact, most of the troops had a hard time fighting their instincts.
"How are we supposed to beat that thing?"
"We... We need to run..."
Some started breaking down and accepting defeat before the battle could even begin.
But there was something they had failed to notice. The Demon Lord wasn't the only one standing on the arena floor. A shadowed figure covered under the demonic energy and darkness that was emanating from the Demon Lord finally emerged.
"Divine Advent."
She spoke softly, but her voice rang clearly through the ears of the several hundred people watching. A bright, holy light wrapped itself around the caster and pushed the forces of darkness away.
The Demon Lord's opponent glowed brightly, as if she was setting herself ablaze to serve as a beacon to thwart the darkness. She then established a holy ground in the area. Her long silver hair, which symbolizes God's blessings, fluttered behind her like pale wings, and her eyes, which now glowed in golden light, never strayed from the fearsome Demon Lord.
Her elegance and presence, which had been subdued by her clothes, unleashed themselves upon the arena. She made no secret of the fact that she was indeed blessed by God. Her unique and powerful presence now matched that of the Demon Lord. Everybody on the battlefield immediately recognized who she was.
"It's Her Eminence the Divine Emissary!"
"Your Eminence!"
"Ailette!"
The joy was apparent in the eyes of the several hundred troops present.
"My dear child!" Grand Duke Heathfenrir couldn't spare any time to gaze in awe at the magnificence of his granddaughter. He quickly came to his senses and let out a stern command. "Commence the attack!"
The unexpected turn of events simplified their strategy. Now, their only job was to protect the Divine Emissary. The four others nodded and immediately lunged forward, but their efforts were in vain.
"What's going on?"
"This is ridiculous! I can't move forward at all!"
"Hmph! My muscles can't push through the barrier either!"
"This can't be happening..."
An invisible wall stood before them and prevented them from joining the battle. That's when they realized the unbreakable rule of this dungeon. The stage was completed in the territory of the Demon Lord before it was lifted upward into the human world, so no one was permitted to enter the battlefield anymore. The people who were standing outside the arena could only serve as spectatorsâthe Demon Lord would face Ailette Rodeline, and no one else. It was solely up to Ailette to bring down Inferinos.
"D-do you mean to say we have to watch Her Eminence fight against the Demon Lord all by herself?"
"My goodness. This is absurd."
"How could anyone single-handedly defeat a Demon Lord?"
It was impossible for any human to take on a Demon Lord alone. However, the vanguard of the end of times and the only person capable of facing the Demon Lord didn't let that fact dissuade her. With her silver hair swirling around her shoulders, the Divine Emissary said, "Inferinos."
The Cross Flory Lily Scythe flared up with aura and divine power in her hands. The wielder of the scythe was an aura master and a Tier 9 Divine Power user, the former being a power that required the peak of human strength, while the latter transcended the limits of human abilities.
The Divine Emissary opened her golden eyes with her energy burning around her. A deafening noise resounded as she kicked the ground with both feet. Likewise, Inferinos stretch her arm toward her.
"Executioner of Evil!"
Each strand of the demon's blue hair came to life and darted toward Ailette from every direction.
Boom!
The clash of the two beings released a tremor that shook the world.
â
Meanwhile, Tesilid was being mocked by another rule of the dungeon.
"What is this? Ugh!"
An unbreakable force stripped him of freedom and bound him in chains, then something violently dragged him away. He soon felt sharp blows against his back. Once he came to, he realized he was sitting in the middle of the stands of the arena all alone. He immediately tried to get up, struggling with clenched fists until his knuckles turned white and his veins bulged out of his biceps, but he couldn't even make the seat budge.
Am I being forced to be a spectator?! Tesilid realized the impish intent of the rule and clenched his teeth.
Meanwhile, he could hear an endless barrage of thunderous noise coming from the center of the arena where the fight was unfolding. The battle between Ailette and Inferinos was already underway. And yet, he had to sit there and helplessly watch the battle take place.
Then he heard a cynical voice mocking him.
"Ooh, VIP seats. A fine place to observe and appreciate every move Her Majesty makes! She came, she saw, she conquered! Three cheers for Her Majesty, the great Demon Lord Inferinos!"
Tesilid refused to respond to the speaker's taunting words.
"What are you doing, human? You're supposed to cheer for Her Majesty." Marchioness Elentia Levant kept chattering from a seat located somewhat far from him.
The whole nonsense was hardly worth a sarcastic chuckle, so Tesilid hardened his face.
"Ugh!"
A thorn suddenly sprouted out of his VIP seat and stabbed him. Apparently, there was a reason for this torment.
One of the decorative gargoyles in the stands muttered, "You are sitting in the Demon Lord's supporter section. We remind you to behave as a well-educated demon and will kindly coerce you to cheer for the appropriate side."
Needless to say, Tesilid opposed the rule with his silence and tried to withstand the intensifying pain as the thorn dug deeper into him. His jaws chattered as he made his best efforts to stop himself from letting out a groan.
That's when he sensed something ominous watching him. He raised his head and stared across the arena to see another version of himself in inverted colors sitting in the stands. There was nothing he could say about the way Reed mockingly sat in the Divine Emissary's supporter section. Even at a distance, he could clearly see Reed slowly bring his lips into a sneer.
Why is he doing this? Tesilid tried to make sense of things with the understanding of himself beyond the scope of the original story and see the underlying motivations driving Reed to act out of character. Reed detested the Loop One Hundred and Seventeen version of himself. So why did Reed tie him down to this seat instead of killing him right away?
What is he trying to show me? He was trying to find an answer when he thought he heard a voice.
What if I took your place?
It made Tesilid think. What would he do in this timeline if he was Reed from Loop One Hundred, who had failed to take Ailette?
No! Tesilid felt his body immediately grow cold and numb the moment he found his answer. It almost felt as if icy water was flowing into his veins.
"This can't be happening..."
Tesilid was certain Reed would bring Ailette over to his side right here, on this very day.