The Necromancer Who Was Despised

She could even become a hindrance.

She hasn’t seen my party fight much either….

‘She might not be able to use her abilities at all.’

In particular, unlike Valdur, Kyla and Athena were incredibly fast, so it wouldn’t be easy for Anelace to support them with her skills.

“The cave entrance… it’s quite large.”

At Kereos’s words, everyone except me nodded.

As we entered the cave, we could see that the inside was bright.

“…Glowstones? What the…?”

The spearman Flyna muttered in surprise.

Indeed, the inside of the cave was extremely bright, with glowstones embedded everywhere.

It was amazing. Glowstones were quite expensive. So many of them were embedded everywhere….

Besides that, the size of the cave itself was ridiculous. Even a medium-sized monster like a Minotaur could run around in it.

But no matter how surprised we were, we shouldn’t have made a loud noise.

We had already entered the cave, so Flyna’s voice echoed loudly.

Kereos’s face turned as white as a sheet, and Flyna seemed to realize her mistake and covered her mouth.

The disapproving gazes of our party turned towards them.

They were openly trolling in a situation that wasn’t very pleasant, so they couldn’t have felt good.

It would have been a little better if Tildi had done it, but while he appeared easygoing, he didn’t make such careless mistakes.

“Quiet.”

I gave a short warning, and he bowed his head as if to apologize.

Thud. Thud.

But it seemed to be too late.

A Minotaur that had noticed the commotion came out of the cave entrance and spotted us.

“Moooo!”

A tremendous roar reverberated inside the cave.

Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.

Four Living Armors immediately charged towards the Minotaur.

Kyla followed a little behind, looking around, and Athena hid herself among the shadows of the cave.

‘This environment must be perfect for Athena.’

Although there are glowstones everywhere, there are many shadows thanks to the numerous stalactites, stalagmites, and stalactites.

There were hiding spots scattered throughout the area, and it was an environment where her surprise attacks would be maximized.

The Minotaur wasn’t holding anything in its hands, but it didn’t back down when it saw us running toward it.

It just lowered its fist as it ran toward the approaching Living Armor.

However, the Living Armor dodged the attack as if it was nothing and swung its mace at the Minotaur’s hand.

Clang!

“Mooo!”

It let out a painful roar, but it still held on with the tenacity unique to large monsters. At the same time, it kept the Living Armors that were surrounding it in check by swinging its arms left and right.

The Living Armor was sturdy, but even so, the Minotaur’s strength shouldn’t be underestimated.

We waited for an opening while we kept our distance, and that’s when Anelace shot an arrow at the Minotaur.

Ping!

“Moo!”

It seemed like she was aiming for its eye, but the Minotaur twisted its head away in an instant and knocked the arrow away with its horn.

It failed, but it was a good attempt. It actually helped.

Kayla took advantage of the opening created when the Minotaur blocked the arrow and kept the Living Armor in check.

“Moo!”

Unlike before, black man surged out and cleanly cut off the Minotaur’s wrist, and Athena didn’t miss the opening that was created.

“Grr!”

I don’t know how or from where she moved, but she suddenly appeared on the Minotaur’s shoulder and quickly slashed at its vital point before disappearing back into the shadows of the cave.

She didn’t make a sound as she moved.

‘Her movements are like a ghost’s.’

Athena had been fighting like a warrior, using her speed as a weapon in the wide-open spaces, but now I realized that that wasn’t her forte.

The Minotaur collapsed, and the Living Armors finished it off.

“… I can’t breathe. Phew.”

We quickly took it down, but it had already let out a warning cry that spread throughout the cave.

‘We were going to get caught soon anyway, but I wanted to take my time and observe.’

It would have been difficult to try if Athena wasn’t here, so it was disappointing.

“Let’s hurry. Let’s get ahead of them before they come.”

“Got it. … “I’m sorry.”

Cereo apologized once again on behalf of the party.

I shook my head slightly as if to say it was fine and started quickly raiding the cave, leading the way with the Living Armor.

Because of that, I couldn’t pay much attention to my surroundings, and I was a bit late to notice.

‘This… doesn’t seem like an ordinary cave.’

Strange paintings were drawn here and there on the walls.

Considering that it will eventually become a tourist attraction, it’s strange that it hasn’t become a hot topic.

‘Was it vandalized?’

Come to think of it, the glowstones too.

There was no such story… .

‘Something… interfered.’

I couldn’t help but suspect that.

“Mooo!”

Upon hearing the news, the guys who noticed our intrusion blocked the way.

However, our proficiency was rising rapidly.

Kaila quickly moved at high speed and dug into the arms of a few minotaurs and instantly ripped them apart, and Athena continued to succeed in surprise attacks while the minotaurs were distracted by the living armor and Kaila.

The minotaurs that were found in small numbers were instantly executed by us, and the ones that were huddled together seemed to hold out for a bit, but they collapsed to the ground long before.

Kaila and Athena were active, but the living armor that received my reinforcement and Anelace’s small support just pushed through, so even the huddled ones couldn’t hold out for long.

On top of that, when the number of them increased a bit, I started to throw dark balls, and sometimes, the situation was created where even more of the huddled ones collapsed faster.

The Cereo party was overwhelmed just by following us with our high combat ability, and there were many who muttered in surprise.

“… Mana, mana… Cereo will also reach that level someday… .”

Arad, one of the shield warriors, muttered.

It seemed like his aspirations for the mana breathing technique had grown stronger.

‘But not all mana users show such combat ability.’

Athena is a genius, and Kaila is a former knight.

On top of that, both of them have mana hearts and Athena even has a relic-grade artifact, so simply yearning for mana after seeing their force could be called a pipe dream.

‘Well, I’m sure he would have been envious just by seeing Baldur fight.’

Baldur was currently guarding my perimeter, so he wasn’t showing his direct force.

“… It’s deeper than I thought. We must have already gone a few hundred meters… .”

Cereo muttered quietly.

It was an unusually large scale.

On top of that, the deeper we went, the deeper we went into the ground… .

‘The slope is downward. … I have a feeling that it’s leading to a place like an underground labyrinth.’

The minotaurs of the underground labyrinth. It was a combination that reminded me of Earth’s mythology.

On top of that, things like murals started to catch my eye more and more often.

The Cereo party seemed to be so preoccupied with our battle that they didn’t notice it properly.

In the meantime, the number of minotaurs that we had taken down exceeded twenty.

But that was it.

“… Ugh. The main force.”

Unlike before, minotaurs with proper equipment completely blocked the entrance to the wide cave.

“… Steel? Monsters with equipment like that… ?”

“… I thought that they weren’t ordinary minotaurs ever since I heard that they took the artifact… “Could they be demons?”

“That’s not it. “I don’t sense any magic.”

Tilly shook her head and refuted the Cereo party’s agitation.

However, when you looked at her face, it looked like Tilly was the most agitated.

“… Not magic… “I sense divine power.”

“… Divine power? Then they are… .”

“No, no. They’re not like… apostles of a god. The divine power isn’t that strong. It’s at a really small level… I wish that I was just mistaken… .”

No matter how inexperienced they are, priests don’t mistake divine power.

‘Even if the god they serve is different.’

There are religions that believe in gods other than the Goddess of Radiance that the Holy Empire believes in.

However, their influence is weak.

But they also have divine power.

Even if they were priests of another religion, they could tell that the power they felt was divine power.

‘This is ridiculous.’

There was no such story.

It’s different from what is known in many ways.

After all, these were things I had only heard as rumors.

Since I hadn’t experienced them myself… .

Even so, there seems to be a lot hidden to this extent.

‘… Is that it?’

At that moment, the equipment of the one who seemed to be the leader of the group caught my eye.

‘… It’s bigger than I thought.’

After all, there were some relics that could adjust their size.

Even if you think about it simply, it had to be that big for a Minotaur to use.

‘Even though it’s sealed, some of its functions seem to be working.’

However, the sword was a little different. It was too small for a Minotaur to use, and the guy seemed to be aware of that, so he had it hanging from his waist.

‘… Could it be that it has some effect even though it’s sealed?’

That’s a bit surprising.

Otherwise, there was no need to hang a sword that he couldn’t use properly on his waist.

They waved their hands right away, not intending to talk to us.

No, it would have been impossible to talk in the first place.

The Minotaur messengers advanced towards us with their shields in front.

“… “Can we win?”

“We have to try.”

It’s definitely worrisome.

Most of what we’ve brought down so far have been defeated individually, and they had no equipment or were at the lowest level.

There were only about twenty of them that we brought down… .

‘There seems to be twice as many as what we can see… .’

Their densely packed appearance in the wide cave feels like looking at a heavily armed infantry formation.

On top of that, their equipment is also reliable… Their movements, which seem to have been trained in group combat, definitely approached as a huge threat.

They’re also twice our size.

However, I wasn’t scared.

I took out Skeletons 1 and 2.

Perhaps they didn’t expect there to be more undead, so Kereos and his party were agitated.

They were pale, and all sorts of traces of strength’s magic circles were attached to them, and since their bodies and equipment were all made of bone, they felt repulsive, unlike living armor.

I quickly cast all sorts of arcane magic, and this side also formed a single-line formation.

However, it couldn’t be helped that we looked lacking compared to the approaching Minotaurs… .

[Aura of Death]

I even added magic that I don’t normally use.

As the undead under my command were included in the range, I could see their momentum being greatly enhanced.

It’s a pity that I can’t use something of a higher level, but it couldn’t be helped.

“… The concentration of magic power isn’t ordinary. Could it be… .”

“Don’t worry, I’m not the Demon King.”

After interrupting Tildy’s thoughts, I prepared my next spell.

[Slow]

I thought about using Dark Ball, but there was nothing more certain than this in the current situation.

“Moo?”

As only some of them were slowed down, their formation began to crumble.

‘No matter how trained they are, monsters are monsters.’

There were bound to be shortcomings, and as I cast Slow several times, their formation began to collapse on its own.

Their faces showed confusion.