The hut contained only a simple bed, a few shelves that were empty, and a desk. Perhaps something had been placed there originally, but it was likely collected when the dungeon was discovered. There were no signs of habitation, and it seemed to have been unused for many years. The only thing present was a hidden door in the floor leading underground. Gerard opened the door and confirmed its contents.
“So this is the entrance to the underground. It’s too dark to see anything…”
Beyond the door was complete darkness with no light source. To proceed, a Night Vision Skill, preparation of torches, or securing vision with magic would be essential.
“Efil, please provide some light.”
“Understood. I will use Hotaru.”
Efil cast the Rank E Red Magic [Hotaru]. A small, spherical flame then appeared, brightly illuminating the surroundings. Efil manipulated the Hotaru and sent it descending into the underground.
“Alright, with this, our vision is secured. Gerard will take the lead, followed by Efil and me. Kuro, please cover the rear.”
From Kuro, who had shrunk to a miniature size on Efil’s shoulder, a doppelganger of his normal size was created. Most of its strength was allocated to the clone.
“Now then, let’s descend.”
“I haven’t detected any presence so far, but don’t let your guard down.”
“Gerard-san, please be careful.”
The illuminated underground revealed a tunnel-like path continuing forward. Walking behind Gerard, I repeatedly used presence detection to check the surroundings. If it weren’t for the darkness, Efil could have used her Clairvoyance to see ahead, but the location was unfavorable. Fortunately, Rio had previously informed me of the location of the hidden room where the demon was sealed, so I wouldn’t get lost.
“…No monsters are appearing.”
As Efil mentioned, despite walking a considerable distance, no monsters had appeared. In a normal dungeon, we would have encountered several by now.
“This might indicate some abnormality.”
I had felt a slight unease since entering the dungeon. There was an unusual lack of living presence. Even if Rank D monsters appeared, it wouldn’t be a problem, but their complete absence felt uncanny.
“What should we do? Should we turn back?”
“…No, let’s at least check out the hidden room.”
We continued down the underground passage, heading towards our target room.
— And finally, without engaging in a single battle, we arrived in front of the room where the demon was said to be sealed.
“You are here.”
“Ah, I sense a presence inside the room. Something is there.”
“…? But the demon is inside, isn’t it?”
It was indeed there. However, there were two presences. One was likely the sealed demon. It hadn’t shown any signs of movement since earlier. The other presence was something else, distinct from the demon. This… is it human? No, but…
“…It seems the demon and something else are present. In fact, we might need to focus on this other one.”
“Not the demon?”
“Ah, the demon is weakened. It appears the truly dangerous one is someone else.”
“Then, what about the target of subjugation?”
Hmm, the target of subjugation was the demon. I wouldn’t receive the reward money if I didn’t defeat it…
“First, we must neutralize the threat. We can consider the demon afterward.”
It might even be possible to make it a subordinate.
“Understood.”
“Let’s do our best.”
We reapplied support magic and used recovery potions to finish preparing for the battle.
“The sealed demon is in the center of the room, and something is behind it. Everyone, don’t let your guard down!”
As I gave the command, Gerard rushed into the room.
What appeared before my eyes as I followed him was an exceptionally beautiful woman, seated as if asleep in the center of the room. Her smooth hair was fiery red, and it was tied into a side ponytail on her temples. Her distinctive features were black wings, a devil’s tail, and ram-like curled horns. Apart from these, she appeared entirely human, which was precisely what proclaimed her non-human nature. This woman was likely the demon. Though her attire was simple, even through her clothes, her proportions were magnificent. So much so that it was astonishing. Her alluring body was bound by chains that dug into her. Any healthy young man would undoubtedly react.
If I weren’t accustomed to Efil’s appearance, I would have been in trouble too.
“You are here, please concentrate seriously.”
Ah, I know. The scene before me is one that makes one want to make a joke. Please allow me this much.
“What a strange sight…”
Gerard muttered softly. Behind the beautiful woman was the bone, bone, bone… of what appeared to be a monster. A mountain of bones, enough to fill a third of the room. Was this the fate of the dungeon’s monsters? A bound beauty and a pile of bones, we had stumbled upon a truly surreal scene.
— *Crack!* *Crunch!*
The sound of something being crunched echoed in the room. The one making this noise from the depths of the bone mountain was the culprit behind this tragedy. A dark aura emanated, suggesting as much.
Tch, the bones are obstructing my Appraisal Eye. Should I examine the demon woman first.
Just as I was about to activate my Appraisal Eye, the sound that had been ringing out ceased.
“…It seems the next prey has arrived.”
With a strangely mechanical voice, it appeared at the top of the bone mountain.
