Chapter Season 2 721

Translator: Alpha0210

There are nights when sleep simply refuses to come. Not because the moonlight is dazzling, or because the stars are shining in the sky, or because the surroundings are noisy. Nights when even a body steeped in exhaustion cannot close its eyes.

Nights burdened with worry are usually like that.

Crackle-.

Lukas sat gazing into the campfire, lost in thought, when he suddenly sensed someone approaching.

"Still awake?"

Schweizer emerged from the darkness. Apparently half asleep, he staggered all the way over just to sit down beside Lukas.

Lukas subtly averted his gaze.

"Well... figured I might as well keep watch."

"I already stationed the Golems I made. I set up alarm spells too."

"Right."

Lukas gave a faint chuckle, and Schweizer stared at his face for a moment.

Long enough to become uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Just thinking you’ve gotten pretty old too."

"Did I get wrinkles or something?"

Lukas had not spent much time looking in a mirror lately, so he reached up and felt his own face. Schweizer burst into snickering laughter at the sight.

"Yeah. Wrinkles, white hair, age spots, the whole lot, you bastard."

Only then did Lukas realize it had been a joke and lower his hand from his face. Once the laughter faded and silence settled between them, the two looked up at the sky at the exact same moment, as if they had rehearsed it.

"……."

For a while, they watched the Milky Way spread across the night sky.

Schweizer was the first to speak.

"Take breaks while you work. Seriously. I’m afraid you’re going to break yourself at this rate."

Schweizer patted Lukas on the shoulder before rising to his feet.

Then, before returning to his sleeping bag, he scratched his head and added,

"...Well. Guess I’m not really one to talk."

***

─Why had that moment suddenly come back to him?

"Kasajin! Behind you!"

"I know!"

The enormous Stone Statues bearing down on them from every direction had not merely been carved from gigantic boulders. Lukas did not know whether they possessed will or self-awareness, but one thing was certain: they had enough combat capability to keep up with a battle that changed from moment to moment.

Otherwise, they could never have moved those gigantic bodies without colliding with one another while still targeting Lukas’s group with precision.

BOOM!

Kasajin’s fist shattered half the Stone Statue’s body.

Considering the statue’s size, it was an astounding feat, like an insect the size of a fingernail smashing apart half its upper body, yet Kasajin’s expression did not brighten in the slightest.

In truth, he had pulled off similar feats countless times since the battle began. And yet the number of Stone Statues had not decreased, nor had the situation improved at all.

Rrrrrumble…….

Sand and fragments of stone scattered haphazardly across the floor floated into the air and flew toward the shattered Stone Statue. Then, as if time itself were being reversed, they fitted themselves neatly back into place until the statue was completely restored.

"These things just keep regenerating. How the hell are they built? Schweizer!"

"They work like Golems! It won’t end unless we destroy the core somewhere inside their bodies!"

"Somewhere inside……."

Even Schweizer knew how irresponsible that answer sounded, and his hand tightened into a fist.

They were simply too large. From down here, every one of them looked like an enormous mountain. They were supposed to locate a core hidden somewhere inside those bodies, and then destroy it?

"Since they’re so big, would the cores be big too?"

"...Normally, yes. A power source would have to be large enough to sustain bodies of that size. But even taking that into account, finding the exact location will be difficult."

"Lukas, can you not detect them through Mana somehow?"

"I’ve been trying, but this entire area is saturated with Divine Power……."

Lukas cut himself off and dodged a gigantic foot attempting to stomp him flat. The ground caved in beneath it, and the resulting tremor shook even the ceiling. At the same time, he fired off a barrage of spells that blew apart the Stone Statue’s leg, but all it accomplished was buying a little time.

Violence born from sheer size.

Even Lukas had never fought dozens of castle-sized monsters at the same time.

What should he do?

Absolute? No. It was the strongest spear Lukas possessed, but what they lacked right now was not destructive power. In fact, even the hastily improvised spells Lukas had just fired while evading the attack had been enough to damage their bodies…….

What mattered now was an attack with a wide area of effect.

Of all the methods available to him, the one capable of affecting the widest area was 8th Circle Magic……. And yet Lukas had not used 8th Circle Magic even once since the battle began.

It was not because he had lacked an opportunity. The problem was simply the location.

This temple might have been enormous, but that did not change the fact that they were inside a building. If he used magic destructive enough to subdue these Stone Statues, it would inevitably affect the structure itself.

One wrong move, and the ceiling could collapse directly on top of them and crush them to death.

Of course, with Lukas’s reflexes and Schweizer’s staff, they could use Teleport before the falling rubble reached them…….

But Lukas could not regard the Underground Temple as nothing more than an enclosed space. He knew there was a city precariously built directly above this roof.

What would happen if the ceiling collapsed? What about the people enjoying the festival in the city? Sarman had been built atop this underground structure. If the building’s ceiling collapsed, the city itself would naturally collapse along with it.

Sarman had a population of thirty thousand─ and if he included the visitors who had come to Sarman for the festival, the number would be far higher. Could the people in the middle of enjoying the festivities even imagine it?

The streets beautifully lined with night-market stalls cracking apart and collapsing, shattered buildings, roads, and people tangling together as they plunged into the dark underground.

...Even Lukas could not stop a catastrophe in which the ground itself gave way and an entire city plunged below.

That was also why Iris had not summoned an Archdemon despite their current situation.

"You fucking bastards!"

Kasajin swore as he swung his fist. The Stone Statue of a dwarf warrior was sent flying with half its body destroyed, only to rise again moments later with a clattering sound.

"Lukas─! Have you no other means?"

"I’m thinking!"

There were dozens of Stone Statues.

None of them possessed any special abilities.

All they did was move their bodies…….

But when those bodies were so overwhelmingly massive, even such simple actions became an irresistible form of violence.

[Ahaha…….]

A clear, ringing laugh echoed through the chamber.

Of course, Lukas had not forgotten about her.

The Demigod who could be called their true enemy, Noxtantine, still had not moved. She remained seated in the chair where she had first been standing, leisurely observing the situation.

She was not even that far away, yet the distance between them felt impossibly vast.

"Kh……."

Something about this battle was wrong.

Their room to maneuver was so limited it was suffocating, and not a single aspect of the situation favored them.

He was not complaining.

What had battles against Demigods always been like?

Including this one, Lukas had fought actual Demigods only three times, but if he counted their servants as well, the number doubled.

So he knew.

The position of the Demigods, and the position of humans.

They had always maintained the position of absolute superiority. Their arrogance bred carelessness, and those openings were the only weaknesses humans could tenaciously exploit.

Was that not obvious?

Putting aside the cruel nature of Demigods, there was no denying the truth that their power itself was fundamentally unfair.

The pinnacle of all living creatures, beings born overwhelmingly strong.

And what about their side?

How many records had Lukas read while pursuing the Demigods?

Whether he wanted to or not, he had learned what happened to those praised as heroes and geniuses when they stood against Demigods.

...We are the weak.

And for the weak to win, they cannot afford to be choosy about their methods.

Darken their vision, make their limbs sluggish, provoke them until rational judgment becomes impossible, narrow their options, and drag down their condition by any means possible.

Meanwhile, we always have to enter battle in peak condition.

Not a single weakness can remain. We have to fight on one of the rare best days of our entire lives─ and even then, our chances of victory are still slim.

'But what is this situation?'

Why is the Demigod not even joining the battle?

Why is our power being restricted instead?

Had Lukas misunderstood the nature of Demigods? Were they not simply arrogant beings after all?

Judging by appearances, Noxtantine did not seem to have deliberately engineered this situation, but Lukas was no longer sure even of that. Had the current predicament not already shown him what came of believing he understood what went on inside their minds?

'...Damn it.'

It even gave him the illusion that some entirely different existence had intervened and arranged the situation this way.

His throat burned dry with anxiety.

"Lukas……! For now, we should……."

Schweizer trailed off as he swung his staff.

The magic built into the staff, Teleport.

Schweizer’s judgment is correct. The best move here is to retreat temporarily. First, they need to get back to the surface and find a way to evacuate the people. It will not be easy, but once they reveal their identities, the people should cooperate to some extent. As long as the Underground Temple itself is not involved, they should be able to secure their cooperation─ and if none of that works, then even if they have to resort to slightly more forceful methods─.

[Ahaha. It is painfully obvious what you are thinking. But humans, once my warriors have awakened, they will never sleep again.]

Noxtantine’s delighted voice rang thunderously through the chamber.

[You may flee if you wish. But the moment you leave this place, my warriors will destroy every pillar supporting this weakened structure. Of course, perhaps you believe there will still be a little time before the city collapses entirely─.]

At that point, Noxtantine laughed once more before continuing.

[Is it not rather fascinating? That this decrepit building is what supports the city above.]

"……."

[Indeed……. That, too, must be an Authority of Noxtantine, Goddess of the Night.]

There is a high chance she is bluffing. No. She has to be bluffing.

Yet the question Schweizer had harbored ever since realizing how this city was constructed had just been answered by Noxtantine’s declaration.

He had no choice now but to accept that the situation had become the worst of the worst.

"Lukas, what do we do?"

Kasajin spoke, the man who had probably been moving more violently than anyone else in the group. His entire body was already drenched in sweat. He was not panting, but he clearly looked exhausted.

"Let me make one thing clear. Running away from here doesn’t make us scum. The bastard threatening us is the piece of shit here. If we die here anyway, everyone above dies too."

A threat.

Right. Well put, Kasajin.

That monster was threatening them. This, too, was something Lukas could never have imagined before.

A threat is only possible if one understands the other party. What do they want to avoid? What do they hate? Can that knowledge be used to impose conditions that benefit oneself? A threat can only be made after considering such things.

Had a Demigod ever threatened us before?

Not once.

They had never regarded humans as beings standing at the same eye level to begin with.

"I’m confident when it comes to fighting, but I can’t tell how this battle is going to unfold. I can’t see whether we can win if we fight to the end or not. So you make the call."

Continue the battle, or make a tactical retreat.

Lukas could almost hear the unspoken words Kasajin had swallowed.

Even amid the chaos of battle, Lukas could not stop himself from looking at his face.

It felt as though filthy water were sloshing up from somewhere deep inside him.

...Is that really it, Kasajin?

Are you leaving the decision to me because you truly cannot read the flow of battle?

Or is that not it at all? Do you simply want to dump the burden of a terrible choice onto someone else? Are you trying to force the guilt onto me?

─A voice like that seemed to come from somewhere.

Lukas bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

Kasajin is not that kind of man. Lukas knows exactly what sort of person he is. Yet these suspicions that sometimes whisper inside his head no longer fade.

Heavy.

Their trust, my choice, and the burden of bearing what comes from it.

But he showed none of it. Before anyone could see the blood leaking where his teeth had dug into his lip, he swallowed it.

"...We keep fighting for now. Until we reach the limit of what we can manage, we need to reduce the number of Stone Statues as much as possible. Iris. Wait for an opening and escape from here. Then, starting now, figure out some way to evacuate the people in the city. I’ll leave the method to you."

"But didn’t the Demigod say she would destroy the town if we fled?"

"That’s why I’m asking you. You’re the only one here who can make a decoy."

Iris nodded.

She could secretly summon a demon capable of mimicking her appearance, then quietly leave the Underground Temple herself. Indeed, it was something only Iris PeaceFinder could do.

"Understood? The people come first. We don’t have enough strength to protect the town itself."

Iris nodded once more, then disappeared.

It’s fine. Iris’s departure is not that devastating. She is not a direct combatant to begin with, and she could not summon combat-oriented demons here.

Now they just have to steadily reduce the number of Stone Statues, one by one.

The situation is not completely hopeless.

As long as one keeps a clear head, even an unprecedented crisis can be overcome.

"Lukas!"

That was how it should have been.

Why had he failed to think of it? Why had he never considered it?

The Demigod he had seen today had acted nothing like those he already knew. Therefore Lukas, too, should have acted and thought as though he were facing this being for the very first time.

─Why had he never considered that the Demigod herself might enter the battle? Why had he assumed she would simply continue watching her subordinates fight?

Noxtantine, who had been sitting in her chair, was suddenly right in front of him. Her mouth gaped wide, as though she might swallow Lukas whole at any moment.

He can dodge.

It will take less than an instant for her teeth to reach him, but even so, Lukas Trowman can dodge. Yet strangely, the moment he looked into Noxtantine’s bright yellow eyes, his entire body went rigid. Even his Mana refused to flow properly.

It was not fear or shock. It felt as though some tangible force had bound his body in place.

'A Demigod’s Authority……!'

Unlike an ordinary snake, the inside of her mouth bristled with countless spikes.

"No!"

The instant someone shouted, countless thoughts flashed through Lukas’s mind at once.

Among them were emotions so vile that even he found them disgusting, but what did it matter?

It was all over now anyway.

─Have you never once thought it might be better to die?

All the time.

Why had Residue’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind? There was no time to wonder. Noxtantine was already upon him, and she swallowed Lukas whole.

Just before she did, someone shoved Lukas aside. It was a desperate tackle. Lukas went tumbling across the sandy floor before springing back to his feet.

Desperate as it was, there had not been much force behind it.

It was not Lucid. Nor was it Kasajin. They had been far too distant in the first place, and if either of them had shoved him, Lukas would have been sent much farther.

Lukas looked at Schweizer, who wore an awkward smile.

"Get a grip. You─."

What had Schweizer been trying to say at that moment?

Now, there is no way to know.

An instant later, Schweizer disappeared into Noxtantine’s mouth.

*****

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