EP.118 33-4. Even Roses Made of Glass Have Thorns.
Sophitia's party continued to walk inside, but the inside of the cave was so long that they couldn't see the end.
A field of vision where they couldn't see even an inch ahead.
"I'll turn on the lights first."
Asha used spiritism to create a flame that lit up the surroundings like Nex, paving the way.
A situation similar to when Licht had entered the dungeon before.
But there were many differences. First of all, there were one or two unnatural things about it being the place where the Apostle of Wrath was.
"Why aren't there any guys guarding the inside..?"
Unlike the high-ranking monsters who were guarding the outside, there were no traces of footprints or fur.
Wouldn't it be disadvantageous to the enemy if monsters came out in a place like this and blocked the entrance they had entered?
He was an apostle who even deliberately dragged the monsters at the top down to cause confusion,
There was no way he couldn't think of a countermeasure when his hiding place was discovered.
Sophitia Coldheart, who was an excellent strategist, could not resolve the questions that lingered in one corner of her heart while continuing to walk forward.
If the white-haired man she had met a few days ago was by her side, would she have been able to know the reason for the contradictions she was feeling?
Besides, it was too quiet. Like a cave where there were no people or animals from the beginning, it was strangely so.
"A fishy smell…."
Phine, who had a sensitive sense of smell, sensed the anomaly first, and the rest of the people stopped walking. The scent of fishy blood that stings the nose.
"I'll have to use a little more strength."
Asha Aureus used spiritism to turn on the lights. In a place that suddenly became as bright as day,
"Eueueueup!!"
A girl tied with ropes was sprawled out on a stone altar. A place where snow didn't fall in this cold snow mountain.
With a cloth in her mouth so that she couldn't even scream, the sight of her about to freeze to death if Sophitia's party hadn't come.
"These crazy bastards…."
An inverted pentagram drawn with blood was drawn around the altar, and the corpses of monsters were piled up like mountains, encircling it.
No, to be exact, there were people too.
The corpses didn't seem to rot because of the cold environment, and they seemed to be frozen. The way they were lying down as if they were asleep without maggots or bugs swarming.
"Just like with Head, these guys are really!!"
What were they trying to do here?
Drake shouting loudly for someone to hear. That voice only echoed in vain.
"Wait, Phine…."
At that time, Phine Gransia was walking towards the altar without hesitation.
Bloodstains were erased in her footsteps, giving a somewhat eerie feeling, but she didn't care.
She was more focused on saving people than the suspicious pentagram, and she was moving towards the stone altar.
A Dark Knight, who doesn't spare his own life and rushes into danger, had a big part in how the Glass Knight changed like this.
"..Disgusting."
Phine untied the rope that the little girl was tied to and pulled out the cloth that was in her mouth. A red-haired girl with freckles was finally catching her breath.
"Thank, thank you for saving me.."
"Little girl, what's your name?"
Seeing the red marks left on her body as if she had been tied to a rope for a long time, Phine frowned in her helmet, and while soothing the child, she asked her name.
"Esther.. It's Esther."
The Northern Princess and Asha felt something uncomfortable when they saw the girl, but the heavily armored Glass Knight hugged Esther and brought her around them.
"..Yeah, do you know what the Hero Cult was trying to do here? Little girl?"
The black-haired woman with bear ears asked the question without letting her guard down. In this case, there were suspicious traces no matter how she looked at it.
"I.. I.. don't know.. Hwaaaang…."
Whether it was because the aftereffects of seeing the corpse were too great, the little girl immediately started crying, shedding tears next to Phine.
"Sophitia, that was bad."
"..Something's suspicious."
"Don't cry. Esther. Stop."
Leaving behind the only witness who could no longer talk because she was crying too loudly,
"It looks like they were trying to summon something by sacrificing humans."
The master of spiritism gave her opinion after organizing her thoughts. Not only the inverted pentagram, but also using the altar,
The greatest possibility was that they were trying to summon something using the corpse and the child as a medium.
"Are they trying to summon a high-ranking demon? I don't know what the identity is though!"
Drake was reliving the events that took place in the secret meeting place where the sun did not shine. It was different from what Licht had told him after the incident was over.
At that time, he said it was for the punishment of unbelievers in the Hero Cult, but now it didn't seem like there was a clear goal.
The monsters that keep coming down to the Northern Territory, the movement of trying to break down the walls, a board set up even before the Demon Lord of Omniscience died.
These three things made the Dragonslayer afraid. And made the hand holding the sword tremble.
"Wait, Phine."
"..Why, Sophitia?"
Phine was patting the child on the back and soothing her step by step.
"Get away from that child."
Watching that scene, the princess realized the identity of the sense of incongruity she had been feeling since before.
"The corpses around her have been dead for a long time, and if they were going to use her as a sacrifice, they wouldn't have done it so poorly."
Sophitia, who had been carrying the spear on her back, took it out. The end of the ice weapon was aimed at Esther's nape.
"And, in the place where the apostle is most likely to be hiding."
"Wait, Sophitia..!"
As she swung her spear without hesitation, the Glass Knight tried to take out her sword and block it, but it was already too late.
"..If there's a little girl like this, it's strange that this girl isn't an accomplice."
It was also what the mysterious man who had dinner with her before had told her that she had to look at the true nature rather than the appearance.
Sophitia, who had a cold personality, attacked the red-haired girl with that sentence that suddenly came to mind, and
"..Ah, I got caught."
Esther's mouth, who blocked the spear with her small palm, smiled so wide that it tore. Following that, she expressed her surprise that Phine hadn't sensed anything strange.
The reason why even Phine's eyes couldn't see through the lie.
In reality, Esther was the name of the Apostle of Wrath, and she deliberately didn't answer what she knew.
"Well, even so…. I can enrage at least one person!"
The apostle, who made eye contact with Phine, who was closest to her. No matter how much it's a Masterpiece, Phine Gransia's glass armor is specialized in anti-magic.
"Oh, uh.."
She had no resistance to this at all. As she was being eroded by anger, her eyes were dyed red, and color was added to the golden eyes, making them blood-red.
"Oh, damn it!!"
Drake, who immediately noticed the change, struck Esther's neck, but the girl smiled comfortably, having achieved what she wanted.
"..."
But even if the caster disappeared, the princess didn't even move. Her red eyes inside the glass helmet made the people around her tremble with fear.
"Is it an ability that affects even after death? I heard it was like that with the Apostle of Gluttony…."
It was possible that they were aiming for this from the start. Deliberately allowing people to approach and enraging the person who was the most difficult to attack among them.
"Phine. Are you okay..? Are you okay, right..?"
Sophitia was calling Phine's name, trying to check if she was sane, but
「Glass.. Knight..」
Instead of answering, she chanted glass magic, and a large glass knight popped out from behind her. A knight wielding a greatsword, similar to the grade test.
"Phine, wait..! Calm down!!"
Kwang! A huge sword made of glass was struck down towards the Northern Princess, and Drake barely blocked it, so no one was injured.
The earth shook, and stone powder fell from above. The Glass Knight, whether the space was narrow or not, was repeatedly attempting to attack.
"This is bad. If we take away the spirits, monsters may come down to the North…."
"Even so, I can't point a sword at my older brother's daughter!"
Seeing the enraged Phine, the other figures began to hesitate.
In addition, this place was a narrow cave. If they recklessly let the Glass Knight run wild, this place itself could collapse.
"It'll be too late even if we run to the entrance…."
The Princess worried about her changed friend and made a situation assessment. Even if they ran to where they came from, Phine's attack would continue.
"What should I do..?"
Even if they responded with spiritism, swordsmanship, and spearmanship, it was impossible to subdue Phine without hurting her. Who can neutralize the princess without harming her?
"Phine, come to your senses. You're just angry..? Huh?"
In the end, the best number was to calm her down. Sophitia, who was trying to freeze her to block her movements.
"Let's think a little calmly. Us."
Kadeudeudeuk. Ice shards gradually surrounded Phine as if frost was forming, but she did not waver and acted.
「Mirror Mirage.」
She summoned clones to break the ice wall that was riding up, and dug into the gap without missing it. A large number of glass illusions rushing at the remaining three figures.
"The cave will collapse if this continues!!"
"There's a limit to melting glass too."
Drake and Asha were blocking with swordsmanship and spiritism, but the Glass Knight, whose obstacles had disappeared, deliberately broke the ceiling of the cave and dropped stones.
A moment where even one person to save them was desperately needed.
"I've been looking for you. Our princess."
Someone rushed to Phine Gransia's side and appeared.
As if he had used Wolf Fang, a cobalt-colored flash of light cut across the cave at a rapid speed.
The sound of metal and glass colliding echoed in succession, and the man, after avoiding the attack the moment the clones rushed in, broke them.
"..Why are you angry? Phine."
The figure wearing the Dark Knight helmet, who had dealt with Reverse Scale Thrust and Red Tree, felt a sense of déjà vu while looking at the Glass Knight in front of him.
"Disciple!! The princess was attacked by the Apostle of Wrath!"
Licht, who had escaped from confinement, sighed as he looked at Phine, whose eyes had turned red.
"Phine, it's not okay to be angry and do that to other people."
"..."
Unlike the grade test, he, who knew the identity inside the glass armor, spoke calmly. As if he had expected this to happen.
"If you're angry, just unleash it on me."
Without asking or answering. The Glass Knight's large greatsword immediately flew at Licht. He reacted immediately and dodged to the side,
"Old Thought, Reminiscence."
He summoned another Heart Sword and inserted the black lever into the greatsword and pulled it. Jjeok, jeojeok. Phine's Glass Knight, which had started to crack even a little.
The cracks gradually went up his body and grew bigger, and soon after, it made a sound of Pagagagagang─!! and broke, and the glass magic was released.
"..If it's what you're doing."
At the same time as he spoke, Licht took the Shadow Fang stance. As if the grade test was being repeated, Phine also made a counter move, raising her sword high.
In fact, the Heart Slash she cast is a difficult move to block. Because of that, it was best to avoid it, but
"I'm confident that I can accept anything, whether it's confinement pure love or whatever."
Whether she did or not, the Dark Knight calmly continued the story, and made a slightly longing expression in his helmet.