Chapter 543 – Ghoul
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The Demon King’s subjugation team entered the cave, avoiding falling rocks.
The inside of the cave seemed to be open somewhere unseen. Since I had suffered something, I couldn’t move forward hastily.
The punitive force first took a seat near the entrance and gathered together to discuss future measures.
Burwell spoke first.
“There are two ways: climb up the pit we fell into. Or explore inside this cave and find another route.”
Even when I thought about it, I couldn’t think of any other method other than these two.
“I guess the inside of the cave is also a trap.”
Count Hubert said with an uneasy expression, glancing inside the black cave with no end in sight.
“… That’s likely to be high. But we’ve already fallen into the Demon King’s trap. That’s something we prepared ourselves for from the moment we entered the Demon King’s castle. Just because the trap is scary, we can’t just suck our fingers here. Somehow. We need to make a breakthrough.”
The punitive force is not a group of shipwrecked people who have to wait for rescue. I came to subdue the devil.
In the end, I had to move in one direction.
“Lord Burwell. I think it would be better to attack the pit first.”
Hestia opened her mouth.
“The pit we fell into is also the closest passage to the top. I don’t think it will be too late to explore the inside of the cave after first attacking the pit.”
Honestly, it was hard to think that there would be a route up to this deep underground cave.
However, the cave passage was also subtly angled upward. It seems like a subtle temptation, as if this might be the road too.
Most of the punitive force seemed to agree with Hestia’s opinion.
This is because I was reluctant to explore the inside of the cave, which seemed to anyone to be another trap.
“Does anyone have any other good opinions?”
-…
After looking around the quiet punitive force, Burwell spoke again.
“Then, as Lord Hestia suggested, let’s attack the pit first. Then…”
Burwell said, looking outside the cave.
“… We will begin the attack after their attacks subside.”
The sound of stones falling could still be heard outside the cave.
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The pit strategy team consists of the Holy Knight leaders and… Hestia.
Set, the Sword Master of the Kingdom of Laun, and Marquis Liu, the 7th Circle Wizard. And three people of different races, including Priscilla, were selected.
He was the elite of the elite who only extracted the essence of the punitive force.
Of course, the rest of the troops are waiting below.
I can’t help it.
You must quickly climb up a deep pit with no end in sight and deal with the demons.
It was also a mission close to acrobatics that could not have been accomplished by anyone but them.
I wasn’t selected for the pit attack group.
In the punitive force, I was an ordinary knight commander, nothing more or less.
Although Ramona showed abilities beyond that of a sword master… There were more people in the punitive force who did not know this fact than those who knew.
Even if you heard rumors about me.
It was something that was hard to believe unless you saw it in person.
Unless I pull out my Auror Blade, it will be difficult to acknowledge me based on rumors alone.
Above all, I had no intention of wanting anyone to know… And no intention of showing off my power.
Hestia and the Knights of Azaz know my abilities.
Did I tell Burwell my story?
I don’t know.
But maybe Burwell didn’t believe it… Or maybe they were considerate.
It’s also funny that I brag that I’m a great person just to get selected for the strategy group.
It didn’t seem like the success rate of the attack would increase significantly just by adding me in there.
I was confident that I would not bow down to anyone here by force, but I also had no feeling that I was superior.
As Gregory said, there were limitations in the current state where magical power could not be used.
The noisy sound of falling stones quieted down.
Starting with Burwell, the knights run up the wall of the pit as if they were running on the ground. Priscilla and the Marquis Rio follow behind, flying comfortably.
And not long after… Flashing lights, explosions, and explosions began at the entrance to the pit.
I could tell from the soft rumbling of the ground that a fairly intense battle was taking place.
How long did that situation last?
-Boom!!
Something fell to the bottom of the pit, raising a large cloud of dust.
When the dust cloud cleared, a paladin was seen kneeling on one knee.
It was Burwell.
There was a trace of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, and his breastplate was half crushed.
Burwell clearly looked frustrated.
A soft light emanated from the golden pattern engraved on his armor, and the dented breastplate was slowly being restored.
Along with that, Burwell’s facial color also improves little by little.
Starting with Burwell, they soon followed the rest of the attack team down the pit.
They weren’t in very good shape either, but no one seemed to be seriously injured.
Azaz was the first to open his mouth to the punitive force who were waiting, carefully watching their eyes.
“… The devil has appeared.”
“I couldn’t help it. The battlefield was so bad.”
Count Hubert added an explanation with a bitter expression as if making an excuse.
There was a penalty of having to fight by climbing up the wall. There, the devil appeared and stopped him, so he had no choice but to suffer a loss.
And it wasn’t just the devil.
There were far more demons lined up on the wall erected in the pit than the ones who came to Ramona.
Even if the demons had incredible combat power, the magical attack power they used was not something to be ignored.
“… There is nothing we can do. Let’s explore the inside of the cave first. If there is still no way… Let’s try to find a way to get out of the pit again.”
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The Demon King’s subjugation team had no choice but to begin exploring the inside of the cave.
The cave, which was somewhat narrow and long at first, suddenly widened.
A huge cave with a ceiling height and width of at least 50 meters.
There were many holes in the walls and ceiling of the cave. Anyone could sense artificial traces.
And soon after, the punitive force was able to figure out the purpose of the hole.
-Kkieek!!
A humanoid monster with a bald head ran towards me, screaming.
It runs on all fours like an animal, and the two ugly, shaking lumps of flesh stand out unnecessarily on its chest.
Making a useless guess that it might be a female, I pulled out the sword that was on my back.
That wasn’t the only monster attacking the punitive force.
Monsters crawled out like insects from holes in the cave wall, their red eyes shining, and they were rolling in like waves.
“Zombie?”
Although it runs on all fours, its ugly appearance looks similar to a zombie.
“What is a zombie? It’s a ghoul.”
Bianca corrects my misunderstanding.
“It is a monster created by a warlock using humans. It can be seen as one level higher than the chimera seen in Ramona. Furthermore, it is not as smart, but it is also intelligent.”
Ghouls are like a disaster to ordinary people.
It’s not like a single ghoul can destroy a small village.
However, most of the punitive force was made up of knights who could be considered living human weapons.
The knights formed a square and blocked the ghouls that came in like a wave.
Although the ghouls were numerous, they were no match for the knights who formed a solid formation. It was cut so cruelly that it is appropriate to say it was torn apart.
It is an insignificant monster to deal with a punitive force.
The meaningless military force seemed like wastage.
Perhaps because they had similar thoughts as me, the punitive force was showing an increasingly relaxed attitude.
A time when unilateral slaughter continued.
-Kwaang!!
With a loud explosion, three knights of the Kingdom of Laun exploded, and the seriously injured knight was instantly dragged away by the ghoul and turned into a piece of meat.
“A ghoul exploded. It looks like he was playing a nasty prank.”
Bianca frowned and explained what was going on.
The faces of the knights who were leisurely slicing up the ghouls became tense with tension.
I also felt a chill down my spine.
This is because I thought that if the ghoul had exploded on our group, it would have been difficult for Karen and Hilda to be safe.
I caught my guard down.
And I paid close attention to see if any explosive ghouls were approaching.
Even wizards urgently memorize spells.
The magic wave spreads around.
It seemed like they were trying to find an explosion ghoul.
Did the ghouls’ offensive last for about 30 minutes?
The ghouls retreated through the hole in the cave wall in perfect order, as if they had never done so before.
“…”
There were no ghouls that exploded after one explosion.
Although it was only a one-time explosion, the punitive force could not relax throughout the battle.
Even after that, the ghouls continued to attack.
An hour, thirty minutes… Sometimes it seemed like they were retreating, and then they attacked right away.
So far, there has been no major damage to the punitive force.
However, with the ghouls that could explode at any moment, they had no choice but to fight with great care, and just because of that, the subjugation team felt quite tired.
