The investigation by the three was in vain; the ritual had already succeeded. Dodging the demons overflowing the town, we headed towards the underground again with our companions.
We hurried down the stairs leading to the underground with the guards.
“Be careful, demons might pass through here.”
“Demons?! Explain what’s going on!”
Sharin’s words were met by Nina’s questioning voice.
“Look ahead!”
Suddenly, a monstrous creature with bat-like wings, black skin, and sharp claws leaped out from the darkness.
“Is this a demon? It’s quite imposing up close.”
Everyone, including myself, was surprised and stepped back.
“Seriously, what is this? I’ll have you explain later!”
Nina drew her dagger and lunged at the demon. Lifting her upper body with a long tail, she flipped herself to follow the low ceiling.
As she did, she swung her sword down from above the demon’s head towards its hindquarters. Caught by the attack from above, the demon instantly turned and faced away from us.
At that moment, Sharin quickly thrust her blade. While the demon was confused by the attack from behind, it was crushed by Nina’s tail, which had missed its mark and fallen. The injured demon retreated back underground.
“Ouch, this is the worst.”
“Hey, are you okay? You didn’t hit your head on the stairs, did you?”
I helped Nina, who had fallen, to her feet, and we resumed our walk.
“W-what is this…”
The overhead of the underground hall was filled with demons, making a racket like a huge swarm of crows.
“Sharin, what do we do? We can’t tell where they’re coming from.”
“Yes, I have an idea. There’s a relatively large room further in. It would be spacious enough to perform a ritual there.”
We followed Sharin towards the back room.
