Hero's Coffin Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The more they reacted, the more the succubus looked at the two knights who had drawn their swords with amused eyes. However, when the succubus looked at Mela, its face changed strangely.

The succubus tilted its head slightly.

[...What are you? Why...]

"It seems this demon hasn't found the holy relic yet."

However, Harenir cut off the succubus's words abruptly and drew his sword. The pure white holy sword shimmered faintly under the moon. Holding it straight and pointing it directly at the succubus, Harenir ordered.

"Everyone, move."

The meaning was intuitive. He would keep the demon occupied, so the rest should hurry and find the holy relic.

The companions quickly headed into the building. He also followed them, not wanting to get caught up in unnecessary fighting. And at this action, the succubus laughed and chased after them. Dark red wings rose from its back.

[You think you can escape from me...!]

"You said you liked me, has your heart already changed?"

Bang! The sound that rang out as Harenir blocked the succubus's path was fierce. Harenir's mockery mixed in sounded quite chilling. Though the wings were quite large, indicating it wasn't a weak demon, he didn't seem to be struggling at all.

Their fight began in earnest in the corridor under the moonlight. The succubus fiercely shot demonic energy as if trying to distance itself from him, but Harenir dodged it gracefully and charged.

As expected, there was no need to worry about that human, no, that superhuman-like hero. Turning his gaze away from him, he chased after his companions.

"We need to find it quickly!"

"The sun, the small sun...!"

Kalterik and Noi noisily ran around inside the temple. The east wasn't maze-like but was completely open, formed like a spacious hall. Various statues lined the walls, and a grand holy painting covered the entire ceiling supported by massive pillars.

The three of them searched everywhere thoroughly, while he felt along the walls, wondering what the holy relic named 'small sun' might look like. As the moonlight coming through the windows was limited here, the flashlight he had just obtained came in handy. Outside, the bang! boom! sounds continued endlessly.

"The small sun would be round, right? Or maybe it's triangular or square to subvert expectations."

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

He had asked quite seriously, but unfortunately, the person near him was Kalterik. Already at the peak of his anger from the succubus's actions towards Harenir earlier, he raised his voice irritably.

Whoa, whoa. Calm down, bear. I'm an ally. I may not be on your side, but my desire to help Harenir is just the same...

BOOM!

Just then, an enormous sound erupted right next to them. Dozens of monsters broke through the wall from outside the temple and charged in. Whether the succubus had summoned them in advance or just now was unclear, but they charged aggressively as if to interfere with them.

[Hyaaaaargh!]

[Grrrr...!]

Whoosh! Kalterik swung his sword widely and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Tch! Annoying bastards!"

Even faced with large monsters, Kalterik didn't shrink back at all, just frowning as if they were bothersome as he swung his greatsword. On the opposite side, Mela also calmly raised her rapier and eliminated the monsters one by one.

Then crack! Trees shot up from the ground, pinning down the monsters. The trunks seemed thicker, as if drawing more life force from the fields outside through the broken wall. Having experience dealing with monsters before, they all coordinated skillfully.

Just as he was thinking that Noi's binding ability was overpowered and about to relax, whoosh! Flames shot up. The flames rose high enough to reach the lofty ceiling of the hall.

Crackle, crackle, the flames caught on the tree trunks Noi had summoned and burned fiercely. As if the monsters had learned, this time fire-attribute monsters that were Noi's weakness joined the fray. Just as the wall-breaking monsters had scattered the group in half, the rising flames completely split them apart.

"Ugh, urgh...!"

"Noi!"

On the other side, Noi groaned painfully. It seemed that when the tree trunks burned, the summoner was also affected, as Mela could be glimpsed through the flames, holding him and looking worried.

He looked for Kalterik while checking the situation on the other side. It seemed they would have to deal with the monsters on this side, but strangely, Kalterik was quiet. Usually, he would have been shouting about how annoying these monster bastards were, but now what was he doing...

"Huff, hah..."

However, he stopped abruptly when he saw Kalterik's state.

Kalterik was leaning against the wall, trembling. He who had seemed fine just moments ago when facing the monsters was now convulsing, holding his head as if in great pain.

Like someone suffering from trauma.

"...Hey. Are you okay?"

When he approached and tapped his shoulder with a bewildered feeling, Kalterik startled violently. His widened eyes trembled wildly, as if he hadn't noticed him coming right next to him. Only after taking several rough breaths did he shout, "Wah!"

"Of course! What, unnecessary worry..."

Well, I also think it's unnecessary worry...

But it felt very strange when Kalterik said it himself. Rather, such an outburst felt like an attempt to disguise a normal reaction. Realizing that he was looking at him strangely, Kalterik frowned even more.

[Grrrr!]

Just then, Kalterik regained his posture as he swung his sword at a wolf-like monster that charged at him. The monster was crushed by the heavy greatsword and died. After instantly eliminating one, Kalterik turned to look at him.

"You... never mind. Just find the holy relic."

What's with that ambiguous silence?

Is it uncomfortable to receive help from necromancy in a sacred place, or do you expect that even if I summon undead with this pathetic body, I'll collapse after barely dealing with a few monsters? Why is the latter imagination so vivid? He felt a bit miserable.

Anyway, if Kalterik was going to take on dealing with the monsters entirely, he was grateful. As he didn't feel like facing the still creepy monsters up close, he focused on checking the statues.

However, Kalterik was still breathing roughly at times while fighting the monsters.

"Huff, hah, huff. Where, where are the fire-breathing bastards..."

It was a strange reaction to be struggling just because of the smoke filling the space. He even staggered at times. Still, he managed to find the fire-breathing monster and succeeded in cutting off its head.

Whoosh!

"Huff, hah..."

Kalterik let out a long sigh of relief in front of the monster's head that had fallen to the floor. As soon as the monster that had been continuously breathing fire and fueling the flames collapsed, the fire weakened considerably. It seemed the flames would naturally subside after a little while.

Hmm, it seems he has some bad memories related to fire. He had no desire to ask about the reason, so he just shrugged and continued looking around the space, but...

Whoosh! Bang, boom!

The succubus flew in, breaking through the walls of this place. The walls on both sides of the hall were destroyed, and it was chaos.

[Hah, hah. I was told to be careful of the holy knight with an exceptionally beautiful face, was that him?! There were rumors he had died, what the hell is this?!]

The state of the succubus, who let out a shrill cry, was a mess. Its left leg was broken and limping, blood was pouring from its shoulder. Its left wing seemed to have been cut off entirely, leaving one side empty. It looked like it had barely escaped after being completely tattered from the fight with Harenir.

And, there's a choice that those cornered like this usually make.

[You, you're afraid of fire, aren't you?]

It was taking a hostage.

The succubus, who had flown near Kalterik just then, grinned from ear to ear. As if it had read his fear just by making eye contact briefly, it stretched out both hands. The gesture of enveloping Kalterik's head while floating in the air must have seemed terribly lascivious to him.

Whoosh! Flames rose in a circle around Kalterik. To be precise, it wasn't fire but the succubus's dark red demonic energy, but Kalterik's face instantly turned pale. It seemed as if the most terrible moment in his memory was being reenacted.

"N-no. Huff..."

Kalterik gasped as he fell to his knees. Harenir, who had been chasing the succubus, also arrived at the scene and called out to him with a flustered face.

"...Sir."

"Kalterik!"

Just then, Mela also joined after clearing away the tree prison that had been blocking the center of the hall, and was shocked. As everyone froze, the succubus laughed loudly.

[Nobody move. Shall we see what happens to this one if you take even a single step?]

It was clearly a threat, but Harenir didn't readily move his feet. Oh, is this the real attitude when a hostage is taken?

He watched the scene curiously from behind. His figure seemed to be perfectly hidden in the shadows, unnoticed by the succubus. He highly appreciated the gloomy—no, stealth ability engraved in Isaph's body.

If it was a weapon that didn't move even a step, he happened to have one...