Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 25.3 : Tower of Striges

…. … …

It might turn into a drawn-out battle with just Gallios alone.

This is undoubtedly the kind of magic to counter undead.

「Defeating them with magic isn’t that amusing, right?」

But, Shirone seems to be dissatisfied with that.

「Another one is coming!!」

Stor warns us.

Dozens of zombies approach us.

We continue to meet hordes of zombies as soon as we go further into the tower.

However, it’s possible to exterminate them in an instant as long as we have that Sunlight magic.

But, Shirone is unsheathing her sword and then facing against those armies of zombies.

「EH, WHAT ABOUT SUNLIGHT MAGIC!!」

I’m retorting to her action.

「FLAME BLADE!!」

A blazing flame coils around Shirone’s sword as soon as she let out that cry.

「FLAME DECAPITATION!!」

And thus, she began her killing spree in the midst of the zombie army.

「W…. WOOOOW….」

Gallios unconsciously exclaims with awe visible in his tone.

「Any kind of attack shouldn’t be that effective against undead, yet….」

It seems Nimri is also entranced by that scene.

Undeads are always a troublesome opponent since, for example, take a zombie: they’ll become a skeleton after they are burnt with fire and then converted into a vengeful spirit without a corporeal body after their skeletal frame is smashed apart.

Especially the ethereal body, the kind of body that can’t be attacked by normal weapons. Normal weapons won’t hurt them unless you attack them with an enchanted sword.

Shirone’s pale blue light sword is a magic sword. The fire element within that sword, aside from causing damage to the corporeal body, is also cleaving the ethereal body, bone, and flesh of the zombies.

Shirone’s assault is terrifying; those armies of zombies are annihilated in a flash.

Everyone is shocked by watching her assault.

“I’m going to defeat them with only my sword while remaining inside their formation.” I want to retort like that.

「Well, let’s get going」

Shirone turns toward us with a refreshing expression and marches forward.

We silently gaze at her back.

=== === ===

◆ Dark Knight Kuroki

「That’s too amazing, right Rember…. The hero’s wife is so powerful」

Gallios mutters in awe.

We could advance safely till the halfway point in the tower, thanks to Shirone.

Naturally, whether it’s undead, giant spiders, or vampire bats, none of them are Shirone’s opponents.

Almost all of the demon attacking us was defeated by Shirone.

Despite sporadic traps present here and there, Shirone just broke through them with her raw power.

Arrows trap fell down even before hitting the target, she flew in the air without falling into pitfalls, even the falling ceiling traps were pushed back by her with a single hand.

To be honest, are we even needed in the first place?

「I’m also astonished. Though I witnessed hero-sama’s power before, I never thought that even his wives were extremely powerful」

Nimri and Gallios are also praising her without any restraint.

I can do this kind of feat too, you know. But, it seems this is already an amazing feat for them.

Moreover, I just can’t stomach it when they say that Shirone is Reiji’s wife.

She was labeled as Reiji’s woman back in our world, too. It seems that label isn’t that much different even in this world.

When I think about that, I feel like a fool for protecting them.

Should I go to cut the horn of the dragon right now?

It might be a good thing to get a beautiful woman similar to Rena, too.

For some reason, my heart is beating faster when I remember Rena’s face.

I’m also worried about Rena.

What the hell is Rena thinking about now?

While I was pondering as such, Shirone suddenly stopped walking.

「What’s the matter, Shirone-sama? 」

Rember inquires Shirone as to why she stopped walking.

I see a door in front of Shirone. The room’s door is different from the one so far.

「There’s something in there」

It’s as Stor just said, there’s something behind that door.

「Let’s go」

Shirone opens the door and enters inside.

「Light?」

Someone utters that word.

The light in this room is notably different from the other rooms. It can’t be compared with the illumination magic of Nimri.

But, that wasn’t the only thing different.

Someone is standing in the middle of that room. A living human who’s obviously not a zombie.

He possessed a pale face, golden-colored hair, and wore a black mantle. His cloth quality’s splendid, far from the clothes of those zombies and undead.

「Oh, just when I thought that master has returned, it turned out to be a human. You’ve come till this far, huh」

The man is laughing while looking at us.

「LOOK AT HIS EYES! HE ISN’T A HUMAN!!!」

Stor warns us.

His eyes are shining in blood red color. A pair of fangs peeks through his lips.

「A VAMPIRE!」

Nimri shouts so.

Different from the zombies that came until now, a vampire is a high-level undead possessing intelligence and can use magic.

「To think that the Striges went as far as using a vampire….」

Rember is saying so with a dumbfounded face.

「SUNLIGHT!」

「NIGHT ROBE!」

Shirone and the vampire invoke their respective magic skills.

The dazzling light that came from Shirone’s hand is thwarted by a dark mist that’s covering the vampire’s body.

「It might be possible if it’s real sunlight. You can’t beat me with this level of magic」

The vampire is laughing.

「Hee, not bad」

Shirone seems to be enjoying this situation.

「Fufu, back to you. Despite your lady-like appearance, it seems you’re a high ranking priest. This Elkitos praises thee. Are you interested in becoming my bride?」

The vampire called Elkitos says so while smacking his lips. The fangs peeking out from his mouth are flashing.

In this case, becoming his bride means that she’ll become his retainer for sucking her blood.

I won’t let him achieve that.

「My bad, but I’m not interested in a man weaker than myself」

Shirone points her sword toward Elkitos.

「Is that so? So does it mean you’ll become my bride if I’m stronger than you?」

Pair of bat wings springs forth from Elkitos’s back.

It seems the battle is going to start immediately.

「W-Wait a minute, Shirone-sama!!!」

Nimri is suddenly shouting at her.

「N? What’s matter?」

She’s looking at Nimri with a pouting face since he hindered her fight.

「There’s something that I need to confirm….」

After saying those words, Nimri hesitantly looking toward Elkitos.

「Disturbing my time with her, what a boorish man」

The vampire’s also annoyed.

「Are you the one who made those dead demons into zombies over these few days?」

Nimri asks the vampire.

In the first place, the reason why we came to this tower is to search for the Striges, the source of the zombie incident.

Apart from the Striges, a vampire can also use necromancy. So, it’s not that strange if this vampire is the culprit of the recent incident.

It seems Nimri is trying to confirm that.

「Ah, that’s right!! We have to investigate that too!! Nice!!」

Shirone is praising Nimri. To be honest, that’s why we came here.

Did we really come for demon extermination? That’s also one of the outcomes from our action until now. Well, if that’s the case, it’s better if the number of demons decreases.

「N…. No, even if you praise me」

Nimri mutters so with a troubled face.

Though I thought it’s okay to let Shirone go alone, maybe it’s a good thing that Rember came along, too.

Shirone will end up rampaging alone in the tower if we let her go alone. Consequently, we might lose our chance to get information about the culprit.

「Uhm, I don’t know what are you talking about since I awakened just 3 days ago」

Elkitos is saying so with a sullen face.

I don’t think that he’s lying. I never expected him to be the culprit, after all.

But, speaking of 3 days ago, doesn’t that coincide with my arrival to this tower?

「You just awakened 3 days ago? Then, does that mean you were not in this tower before, right? Could it be that you were sleeping in this tower?」

「Fufu, I was in a sealed state you know. Those women don’t possess enough power to employ me」

Elkitos has a happy expression on his face while announcing that fact.

It was in sharp contrast to Nimri’s and Shirone’s expression. He’s a little annoying.

「Then, why did you awaken?」

「It was 3 days ago. Though I don’t know the whereabouts of that personage, he/she was the one who used dark magic in this tower. I was unsealed due to the magic wave of that personage. Fufu, that personage should be an amazing person to possess that kind of power」

Elkitos is speaking as if he was entranced.

That was strange. I couldn’t feel any signs of this vampire when I came to this tower 3 days ago.

Nevertheless, it’s a fact that I applied barrier magic to this tower 3 days ago. It’s a powerful magic to hide this tower entirely. I should be able to feel something in case this guy’s power reached a certain level.

Or else, the owner of that power might not be that personage he’s referring to.

「That personage is…. Hey, is that personage in this tower right now? 」

Shirone is happy upon hearing those words. Does she want to fight against that Personage?