Lakyus stood at the head of the assault team that was formed of mithril and orichalcum ranked adventurers. Tina was by her side too, and together they advanced.
Before she set out, Lakyus had heavily considered her position. Anyone who could use resurrection magic should not be on the frontlines. However, Lakyus' absence would lead to a huge drop in fighting power. Since the priority was to get Momon safely to Jaldabaoth, it stood to reason that Lakyus should not stay in the back.
They avoided the route Momon had taken, instead choosing to take one that led them to a location which had a barricade manned by guards. All they saw on the way there were streets painted in blood, with chunks of shredded meat scattered everywhere. Of course, the barricade had been destroyed so thoroughly that there was no sign it had ever existed to begin with.
In order not to make too much noise, the adventurers formed up into a group and crept ahead. However, after only about thirty meters of movement, they turned a corner and were beset by demons.
At the start of the battle, the adventurers, with their high fighting ability, enjoyed an overwhelming advantage in combat, but gradually, the balance of power began to shift. This was because their opponents had a numerical advantage that overwhelmed the adventurers' prowess in single combat. Their numbers were so great that it seemed as though every demon in the area had converged on them.
"Hold fast! Keep fighting!"
Lakyus called out while activating her group support magic. Of course, none of the adventurers would retreat. They knew how important this battle was.
In contrast with Evileye's task, which was to eliminate the trash that tried to get in Momon's way, their task was to put pressure on the demons and keep them from spreading out.
In that sense, fighting so many demons head-on was, in a way, Momon's greatest support. The longer they fought here, the higher Momon's chances of victory would be.
Warcries and the clashing of steel blended together, and the sound of spells being cast and special abilities being used — like flame breath burning up human bodies — blended together in a chaotic mix.
After Lakyus confirmed the situation, her face contorted. The words of a certain adventurer stuck in her mind.
"The demons have become stronger."
Could it be that they had opened the door to the demon world, and summoned even more powerful demons? Was the wall of fire the boundary between this world and the next? What would happen if they let things progress over time? Even if they defeated Jaldabaoth, could they restore the capital to peace? Would this all be for nothing?
"There’s no point thinking about this!"
As she shouted it out, Lakyus' countless worries dispersed.
If she did nothing, she would never understand. For that reason, Lakyus drew her sword.
"Shoot!"
One of the Floating Swords hovering at her shoulders rose up and shot out at her command. With a speed that split the air, it pierced a leaping hellhound right through the mouth, destroying it without leaving so much as a corpse behind.
Looking around, Lakyus realised they had been surrounded. The advance which had just begun had halted, and since they were encircled by multiple layers of the enemy, there was no chance of relief. There was nothing to do but fight.
The vanguard cast aside their broken weapons and drew their spares. The magic casters who had run out of mana used their scrolls or wands to cast their spells instead. They were running on fumes.
The outer ring of adventurers were orichalcum ranked, while the mithril ranked defended the wounded in the middle and the magic casters who had run out of mana.
This is bad... if this keeps up, we'll be worn down and defeated. Are we once again unable to defeat Jaldabaoth?
A cry rang out, and as Lakyus turned her head, she saw a warrior who had been knocked down by a demon.
"Slash!"
Before Lakyus could move, Tina was charging at the demon, filling the gap that had been formed.
The fallen warrior was carried off by other adventurers. It was good that he was still alive, but the situation was still very bad. The fact that nobody was casting healing spells was a clear sign that the mana of the priests who used divine magic was completely depleted.
We have to fall back.
If their lines were broken, they would be routed in an instant. Lakyus could not let them die like this. She considered what might happen if Momon were to be defeated, and realised that she would have to be very careful about it.
Retreating while completely worn out would be extremely difficult. It would be better to fall back while they still had the strength to do so.
"Fall—"
Just as Lakyus was about to give the command to retreat, she gasped as a new demon descended from the sky.
It was roughly three meters tall, and its muscular body was covered in scales that looked like crawling insects. It had a tail that resembled a snake.
Its head was a flaming skull, and its eyes were beacons of blazing white fire in empty black sockets.
In its mighty arms, it held a gigantic maul.
It spread the bat-like wings on its back. With a flap of its wings, it sent a wave of freezing air cascading forth, and a wave of soul-shattering terror accompanied it. Although they had fear-resistance magic cast and thus did not panic, this was a clear demonstration of the power of this demon, which was stronger than any they had encountered so far.
Sweat flowed like a river.
"―This is bad."
With ample mana and the adventuring parties at full strength, they would probably have been able to beat it. If they could just learn more about their opponent and fight it later, they would definitely have triumphed, but right now, none of these conditions were present. Evileye, who was very knowledgeable and could use powerful magic, was not here. Gagaran, who could defend against her opponents' blows and immediately press the advantage to counterattack, was not here. Tia, who could deftly evade her enemies' attacks and attack them with her ninjutsu, was not here either. The only ones here were two tired people.
She looked over to Tina, who nodded to show that she was ready to die here. Lakyus closed both her hands around the hilt of Kilineyram and began walking toward the demon. At this moment, a nearby orichalcum-ranked adventurer grabbed her shoulder and shouted.
"We'll hold him back! You should escape!"