The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me

Chapter 98: Call and the Demonic Incarnation Appears

—…ming.

—…ry…ming.

—…up…wake up.

I had fallen asleep at some point in time.

I was woken up by the voice of someone…or at least that’s how it is supposed to be, but it seems like Rifreya, who was sleeping by my side, is still asleep.

—Coming.

—A scary one is coming.

—Run, run, run.

—The scary one is really close.

This time around, I heard it clearly.

Also, on the lower floor…

From the depths of the bottomless swamp of darkness, I could feel something that was like a mass of spirit energy.

“Rifreya, wake up! It is the Demon Lord!” (Hikaru)

“…Eh? Wa?! I fell asleep?” (Rifreya)

“It is okay, just get ready. We are going up for now. It would be impossible to fight here.” (Hikaru)

“O-Okay!” (Rifreya)

I pack up the blanket into the Shadow Storage, and wear my overcoat.

I unsheath my shortsword, make preparations for battle as we head up to the 3rd Floor.

Alex and his party were sleeping with a campfire in the middle in front of the stairs.

It seems like one is awake to serve as a watch. If I remember correctly, Jojordan, I think.

“Jojordan! The Demon Lord has come! Wake up everyone! We are facing it here!” (Hikaru)

“Eh eh eh, Demon Lord?!” (Jojordan)

Jojordan falls practically into panic at the sudden development.

He hurriedly stood up, and at that moment, he ended up kicking the hunting horn that is blown for the moment when the Demon Lord is found that was by his side.

The hunting horn rolled with good momentum, and it unluckily went in the direction of the stairs.

“Ah!”

“Seriously?!” (Hikaru)

The hunting horn made *kon kon* echoing sounds as it disappeared into the darkness of the lower floor.

“Y-You idiot! What are you doing?!” (Hikaru)

“S-Sorry! That’s cause you suddenly said the Demon Lord appeared!” (Jojordan)

“Monsters appear suddenly!” (Hikaru)

Jojordan is most likely not a warrior but specialized solely as a Spirit User.

Judging from the color of his hair, maybe he is a Water Spirit User?

“What’s the matter?! Ah, Rifreya-san!” (Alex)

“Eh?! Eh?!” (Crabbell)

“The Demon Lord is close approaching, so get ready at once!” (Hikaru)

Alex and Crabbell have woken up as well, but it doesn’t seem like they have understood the situation yet.

“What should we do, Hikaru? Wouldn’t it be better to go down and search for the hunting horn?” (Rifreya)

“…No, I don’t think we will make it in time anymore.” (Hikaru)

I can feel an enormous pressure approaching from the lower floor. I don’t have the courage at all to go down.

I don’t even want to imagine facing a Demon Lord in a place with bad footing.

“W-What do we do?! This is all because I kicked the hunting horn!” (Jojordan)

Jojordan moves around restlessly.

“We have to call people regardless. The party of Alex, please run to the stairs leading to the 2nd Floor and get a hunting horn!” (Hikaru)

The 3rd Floor has dense mist, so they won’t be able to find other parties so easily.

However, they can encounter monsters.

If they do, they have no choice but to fight. It would be impossible for Jojordan to get to the entrance of the 3rd Floor alone. Even Rifreya would have a hard time achieving that.

The only ones with a chance would be me and Alex who are Chosen. And so, if Alex is leaving, it would be better for the whole party to go as well.

I don’t know the fighting style of Crabbell and Jojordan, so there wouldn’t be any coordination.

“Ah, Hikaru! More importantly…” (Rifreya)

Rifreya suddenly stuck her body to mine and whispered to my ear.

Alex and his party made dubious expressions.

“Wa, what’s the matter?” (Hikaru)

“…Keep it down. You are a Loved One, so you might be able to lure the Demon Lord. How about pulling it to the entrance of the 3rd Floor rather than pushing ourselves into a fight here?” (Rifreya)

“I see!” (Hikaru)

The problem is the distance, but it is said that the detection range of Great Spirits for Loved Ones is around 100 meters.

If the Demon Lord is around the same range, then it might chase after me if it senses me.

If it is 100 meters, it is a distance that I can barely manage to catch with my eye in this floor.

“Change of plans! Let’s all move to the 3rd Floor! Rifreya and I will take the rear, so you guys defeat the monsters that show up please -as fast as possible.” (Hikaru)

“G-Got it! By the way, Hikaru, did you see the Demon Lord? What was it like?” (Alex)

“I still haven’t seen it! If it had approached the point of being visible, we would already be fighting!” (Hikaru)

I stare at the stairs leading to the lower floor.

“[Dark Sense]!” (Hikaru)

I don’t know what the Demon Lord is like, so I use Dark Sense.

The range of this Ability is around 100 meters.

“Not there, huh.” (Hikaru)

But the pressure has increased further than before.

—It has come.

—Run run.

—Scary, you are going to be eaten.

The Spirits were whispering to me from faraway, or from right by my ear.

I also want to run away just as those voices say.

But I can’t run away here.

I have to catch the Demon Lord on camera in order to get 1st place and revive Nanami.

“Alex! Do you know the shortest route to the entrance?” (Hikaru)

“Yeah, leave it to me! I properly have it in my head.” (Alex)

“How many Points left?” (Hikaru)

“Sorry, I used them as I got them and I barely have any Crystals left.” (Alex)

“Figures…” (Hikaru)

I only have 48 Crystals, so 1 Point and a little left over.

Well, if worst comes to worst, I can use 1 Point to buy a Barrier Stone.

Would it be better to buy it beforehand?

—It has come!

I heard a specially loud voice, and I turned my head towards the stairs.

(Fire?) (Hikaru)

Inside the darkness leading to the 4th Floor, I could faintly see a flame dancing like a snake.

That light was practically only a small spot at the beginning, but it appeared as if a flower bloomed and disappeared continuously, and the size gradually increased.

The distance of the flame was slowly decreasing.

And then, the moment I saw the contours of that something that was releasing the fire, cold sweat gushed out from my back.

“It is here! Run!” (Hikaru)

There’s most likely already 100 meters between us.

Anyways, we have to regroup with the other explorers.

There’s 3 groups of 3 parties each that are searching for the Demon Lord on this floor.

Turning that around, it means that you can’t deal with a Demon Lord unless you have that many people.

(They said the latter half were formed mainly of silver rank parties. We have to let them know at once with the hunting horn to call the first half strong parties here or things are gonna get bad.) (Hikaru)

It is regrettable that the hunting horn was lost, but there’s no point in lamenting it now.

The legs of silver rank explorers are fast.

We are talking about people who have had their bodies boosted by the rise in Tier after all.

The instant I began running in order to escape…

*BOOM!*

A deafening sound was made and swirling fire spouted out from the stairs, and I ended up looking back reflexively.

I had some distance from it, so it didn’t hit me directly, but I ended up completely making eye-contact with the abnormal being that came out after the fire.

“This is…the Demon Lord…!” (Hikaru)