These Demons Do it for Free

The second battle against the Sentinel ended surprisingly uneventfully.

There’s always a significant difference between something you've never done before and something you've done even once. Furthermore, the creature we faced this time was of a lower rank than the Sentinel we fought previously.

Although Luke and Elowen were replaced by Arthur and Dana, it didn’t make a huge difference. In fact, despite Dana doing almost nothing, Arthur performed so well that the absence of two members wasn’t even felt.

'The Thousand Swords spell is just overpowered.'

Offense and defense, all in one. Arthur’s unique bloodline magic allowed him to form magical swords and control them freely, making him capable of tanking, dealing damage, and providing support all on his own.

Arthur handled both the defensive role that Luke played and the supporting role of Elowen without showing any signs of struggle. If Arthur had fought the Sentinel alone, he likely could have held his ground for a while. He probably would have lost in a prolonged battle due to not having a decisive strike to break through the Sentinel’s defense, but still.

In that sense, the power of my *Smite* was truly extraordinary.

Even from the perspective of Enigma’s guild members, a small but elite guild that confidently claimed a spot among the top five despite having only 13 members.

"You don’t have a guild, right? Then why not join ours? If you value freedom, there’s no better place than our guild."

Enigma, huh. Not a bad choice.

For one, it's a guild with no ties to my classmates, so I wouldn’t disrupt the balance among them by joining. Plus, with Pioneer serving as the guild master, the guild itself holds considerable power while maintaining minimal interference, which is a huge advantage.

However, what bothers me is Enigma’s eccentric nature. Hernando, who is stationed on the second floor as an Expert, gives off a rather difficult-to-handle vibe. I can only imagine what kind of bizarre individuals Pioneer has gathered into one place.

Surprisingly, Viola is considered to have a better-than-average personality among the Pioneers. They say the deeper you descend into the Abyss, the more unhinged you become due to its mana, so if she’s kept her sanity after reaching the limit, it implies that her baseline sanity is already far from normal.

It’s hard to imagine how eccentric the guild master of Enigma, who surpasses even Viola in personality, might be.

Hernando’s enthusiastic promotion of his guild, Enigma, was cut short before it could continue.

"Hey, Crawler. Enough."

"…You’re not even part of that guild."

"So what?"

With that last question, Viola’s playful tone, which up until then seemed like a joke, suddenly turned cold and sharp like a blade of ice.

With just that slight display of seriousness from her, Hernando clamped his mouth shut as if it were weighed down by a heavy burden.

Well, no matter how much influence you have with other Pioneers, you can’t outmatch the Pioneer herself.

Viola, who had silenced Hernando in an instant, then pulled me close, almost as if to prevent him from making any more moves on me, throwing an arm over my shoulder.

Because of this, I tensed up as I felt a faint softness against my arm.

'Surprisingly… not as firm as I expected.'

Considering how toned her body is, I assumed her chest would be solid muscle too...

"Relax. I’m not going to bite."

Uh, that’s not really what’s making me uncomfortable, though.

Despite my unease, Viola only laughed, pulling me even closer. Naturally, I got more tense, we became more pressed together, and the cycle repeated.

In situations like this, Ray would usually pull me out, but facing her natural enemy, Viola, she had completely reverted into a meek little lamb. Leif, too, was just fidgeting nervously, unable to intervene.

"Let’s go. Crawler, lead the way."

"…Yeah, sure."

Grumbling, Hernando obediently complied.

Taking his place, Viola did exactly what she had stopped him from doing moments ago.

"There are three spots open in our guild."

She proudly held up three fingers with her free hand, the one that wasn’t resting on my shoulder.

"Think about it. No pressure."

Uh, sure… but could you maybe take your arm off my shoulder if you don’t want it to feel like pressure?

§

A few days later, we arrived at Plaza E-20 without any issues. We were the first ones there. The distance was considerable, but with such a good guide, our speed was incredible.

The day after our arrival, some familiar faces arrived in second place.

The Frontier subcontracting team led by Lyudmila and Ruslan. Only the two of them from Frontier had participated, while the rest of the team consisted of the members Viola had kicked out of the Telemachus faction, promised a spot in the next expedition as compensation.

"As expected of the guild master. We thought we’d be first."

"That’s because of the Crawler."

Ruslan answered Lyudmila’s praise with cold reasoning.

'Oh, it’s F and T.'

The third team arrived two days after we reached the plaza. The fact that they arrived in such short intervals suggested that everyone was pushing to get here as quickly as possible.

Surprisingly, the third group was the team sent by the Union. Everyone’s expectations were off.

We had all expected the Conqueror’s team to be the third to arrive.

Since the Union team made it so quickly, we all thought the Conqueror’s team would show up soon after… but they didn’t appear the next day either.

"Why are they so late?"

"Looks like they got teleported far away."

"There’s no need to worry. Grant Dexter is one of the top-tier members of Conqueror. They’ll be here soon enough."

"Se-senpai! When did you…?"

And so, a few more days passed.

It was now the sixth day since we arrived at Plaza E-20.

Still, there was no sign of the team led by Grant Dexter.

§

"It can’t be helped."

Viola’s voice broke the silence that had settled over the plaza.

"We can’t just keep waiting here forever. If we waste too much time, we’ll end up giving the heretics more time to prepare."

It was a moment that required a decisive action.

As the leader, Viola drew her sword.

"Even if it’s just the three teams here, we’ll proceed with the operation as planned."

Each team’s assigned area had already been decided.

Hernando had drawn a map of the second floor, which had been distributed to the teams. The routes were carefully planned to optimize movement while taking the Sentinel territories into account.

Our team, as well as the others, had already dealt with one Sentinel on our way here. The Union team had taken down a *Stillery*-class Sentinel, while the Frontier team had handled an *Upper*-class Sentinel. This confirmed that only areas containing Upper-class Sentinels or higher had paths leading to them.

If you think about it, it would have been too much for the heretics to create hidden paths for every single Sentinel, especially for the ones below *Under* rank, which make up the majority of them. If they could pull that off, they’d have effectively turned the entire second floor into their backyard.

"But… can we really do this?"

"Grant Dexter is a skilled fighter. Something may have happened to delay him, but it’s possible they were simply teleported far away. We’ll leave a message for them with the people stationed here and move out."

Plaza E-20 had become a sort of base camp for explorers. Naturally, there were people stationed here. The only reason we could stay here for so long was because they had been providing us with supplies. Of course, at a steep price.

Viola clicked her tongue, muttering that we should have set off sooner.

"Ignore anything below *Under* class. Focus only on the Upper class and above. According to Crawler’s map, the Keeper is in our assigned area, but if you encounter it elsewhere, avoid fighting."

The Sentinel Keeper. It was said to be strong enough to rival an Expert-level explorer.

If we wanted to take it down safely, either Grant or Viola would have to get involved.

"Alright, let’s move out!"

§

Our assigned area was to the north of the second floor.

It was a zone where a Sentinel Keeper was said to be located.

Additionally, just below the Keeper, an even stronger Sentinel, classified above Upper rank, called a *Head*, was present.

And right now, it stood before us.

"Ray!"

"I’m fine! Just get ready!"

The *Sentinel Head* was on a completely different level than an Upper-class Sentinel.

Unlike the Upper-class Sentinels, which were about the size of a horse, this creature was a true monster. Its lower body alone stood 2 meters tall, and with its upper body combined, it reached a towering height of 3 meters. The sheer force of its halberd strike shattered Arthur’s defense magic, *Flash Sword*, in a single blow—something that *Under* rank Sentinels couldn’t even scratch.

Though Ray dodged the halberd, the wind pressure from the swing alone was enough to send her small frame flying.

A cushion of wind, blown from the opposite direction, softened her fall, while a jet of water distracted the Sentinel’s attention. Leif had grown used to summoning two spirits simultaneously.

In the meantime, I glanced to the side.

Viola stood with her arms crossed, merely observing the situation.

'She really has no intention of stepping in, huh…'

Behind her, a gaping, black maw of a hidden

 path lay open. Remarkably, nothing emerged from it after Viola took her position. Her aura was sealing the entrance, preventing anything from coming through.

Yet she still had energy left to fight, so did that mean she believed we could handle this on our own?

'Seems like we’ve got enough power.'

*Smite* is a straightforward spell—the more mana you pour into it, the stronger it becomes.

And I have mana in abundance. With my unique altar magic, which allows me to compress more mana than I can normally handle, I had enough stored to pierce even a Head-class Sentinel.

As long as Ray could break through its magic defense.

'The problem is that Ray hasn’t been able to land a single hit, even with support from Leif and Arthur.'

Leif and Arthur were doing their best.

But the Sentinel’s reaction speed was just too fast.

'Maybe I should just fire a shot and draw its attention to myself.'

If three people weren’t enough, adding myself to the mix might create an opening.

That’s what I was thinking as I prepared to use *Smite*.

"It’s ready!"

Dana, who had been observing silently, suddenly shouted, unleashing a torrent of mana.

*Divine Possession*.

A spell that summons an external spirit or deity into oneself.

The strength of the spell depends entirely on which god is being summoned.

And the one Dana had summoned seemed to be quite powerful.

*Thoom!*

Dana caught the weakened halberd with her bare hands, right after it broke through Arthur’s *Flash Sword*.

Her skin turned red, her hair stood on end, and her body bulged with veins as the divine power coursed through her. I remembered hearing her mutter about not wanting to use this spell, and now I could understand why.

"Now!"

*Crack!*

Dana’s body could only withstand the strain for a few seconds. Her muscles were already reaching their limits, producing unsettling sounds.

"Go, Ray!"

Ray charged forward, this time wrapped in the silver light of *Argentus*, rather than the blue glow of *Azure Rail*.

Arthur’s magic sword pinned the Sentinel down like a nail, while Leif’s *Aerial* spirit gave Ray wings.

With one swift strike, Ray’s blade, *Argentus*, performed yet another miracle.

*Flash-!*

The Sentinel’s magical defense shattered.

Through the opening, I fired my shot.

*Boom!*

§

"Not bad."

Sitting atop the remains of the Sentinel was Viola.

The reason she was there? She had finished it off.

"Having two cores is just cheating."

"Deeper in, you’ll find monsters with up to ten cores. Don’t assume breaking the cores is the end of the fight."

Viola leapt down from the Sentinel and approached the hidden path.

"Let’s seal this up first. We can debrief afterward."

"I’ll put up a barrier."

Hernando, who had been standing back, stepped forward at Viola’s command.

So, she planned to dump the task of setting the barrier on Hernando, after all.

I moved closer, curious to watch him work. I figured I couldn’t replicate it right away, but it wouldn’t hurt to observe.

As I watched Hernando set up the barrier, studying the hidden path carefully, a voice echoed in my mind.

[I could close this, you know?]

The Archdemon whispered to me through his power.