Cordelia’s face had gone white, and her voice quivered. “Wh-What happened...?! I thought that portal went to Neils Kingdom!”
“How should I know?! Damn, of all the times it could’ve gone wrong—” He caught his breath when the magic circle began to glow again. A faint silhouette of a young girl appeared in the light. He grabbed Cordelia’s hand and made a run for it. “Run! Let’s get to that town! We might find help!”
“Oh...I can’t run anymore!”
“Quit complaining! We can’t handle an ultra-demonic poltergeist like that by ourselves!” As he dragged her away from the portal, he slipped a hand into his breast pocket. With a gloomy click of his tongue, he muttered, “I’ll have to use this in the worst case...but it’s the last resort.”
“Cecil! Look behind us! There’s more!” Cordelia screeched.
It wasn’t just the ghost girl that had followed them through the magic circle. A Fenrir and an Infernal Capybara leaped out, their eyes gleaming menacingly in the dark night. The magic beasts closed in on them, the Fenrir carrying Charlotte on its back.
“I... I hate...you...” the ghost murmured.
“Grrrrr!”
“Capyyy!”
“Aieee! Did she summon her familiars?!” Cordelia forgot her fatigue and started fleeing for her life. Cecil ran after her, and they nearly stumbled over each other as they scampered toward the town.
Charlotte, Gosetsu, and Roo pursued them at an easy pace. Cecil and Cordelia felt like their enemies were hot on their heels, never even realizing that the beasts weren’t even attempting their full speed.
At long last, the pair passed through the city gate. Since it was well after midnight, there was hardly anyone in the main street. Not many of the windows were lit either.
“O-Over here! Let’s look for someone who can help!” Cecil yelled, leading Cordelia through the streets.
Sprinting pell-mell, they turned many corners in search of people. They quickly hit their limits and crumpled to the ground. They found themselves in a somewhat desolate alley, where many of the buildings looked abandoned, with broken or boarded up windows. But for some reason, there were flowers planted along the path and the place looked clean overall, as if the neighborhood couldn’t decide whether it was supposed to be safe or sketchy.
Finally, Cecil and Cordelia came upon a few dozen adventurers having a raucous drinking party.
“Hah hah hah! Down it! Drink it all up!” they whooped.
Most of them were human, but there were also Rock People and demi-humans mixed in. They were all armored—perhaps just back from a dungeon—but they were a red-faced, tipsy, jovial bunch.
“W-We’re saved... Let’s use them.” Cecil sneered, panting.
“They’re clearly inferior. Do you suppose these men stand a chance against them?” Cordelia said.
“Silly, we’ll just use them as a distraction, that’s all. Even drunk losers are good for something,” he replied, picking up some dirt and smearing it over himself. Pretending to be a poor citizen being chased by aggressors, he staggered over to the group of adventurers.
Of course, Cecil had no clue where he was, but this alley was in a place called the Maerd District. It used to be like a slum where thugs loitered about, but Allen and Charlotte had taken control of it with their carrot-and-stick approach. Now, those “thugs” were thoroughly reformed, and they all hung out together in a friendly atmosphere.
“Hey, did you guys read this book already? It’s a love story; everyone’s talking about it these days,” one of them was saying, holding up a novel.
“I did...and I’m pretty sure it’s based on the Dark Overlord and our dear goddess...”
“If only I could have a love story like that...” another one murmured with a wistful look in his eyes.
“Ahh...our dear goddess! Why did she have to fall for that jerk...!” yet another wept, falling to his knees.
“You still going on about that...?”
“I get how you feel...but you gotta admit, it’s only the Dark Overlord who can make her the happiest.”
“Let’s just drink! Drink away our sorrows!” They huddled around the heartbroken man, trying to cheer him up.
It didn’t matter which adventuring party they belonged to. They had a bond that surpassed such boundaries now.
Cecil ran into their midst, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Thank goodness I found you...! Please...help us...!”
“Huh? What’s going on?” A giant of the Rock People cocked his head quizzically. The others stopped drinking and looked at each other.
Making sure that he had everyone’s attention, Cecil pulled out a leather pouch with trembling hands and held it out to the giant. The giant looked taken aback, but he opened the bag. He was troubled to see that it was packed with gold coins.
“H-Hey. What’s all this for?” he asked.
“We’re being chased by awful beasts...! We have money! Can we hire you?” Cecil implored.
“Hm...? Interesting.” A young man with a massive snake around his neck snickered at the turn of events. “It’s your lucky day, then. Fine, we’ll help you out. Right, Magus?”
“Ha ha ha, you’re in the mood for a fight, huh? All right, we’ll do it—can’t let you guys have all the fun.” The giant laughed, and the others cheered.
For the adventurers who were in high spirits from drinking, this gig came as an amusing diversion. As Cecil tried to hide his dark, scheming sneer, he heard the padding footsteps of beasts coming behind him, and Cordelia ran to his side. He clasped her in his arms and shouted to the men, “Th-They’re here! Please save us!”
“All right, all right. Let’s have at it.” The few dozen men slowly got to their feet with their weapons at the ready. A taut silence filled the alley.
As they edged away from the group, Cecil whispered into Cordelia’s ear. “We’ll get farther away while they’re fighting! Even an evil spirit that strong should get weaker with sunrise!”
“L-Let’s...!”
Just as they were about to break into a run, the vengeful ghost and her familiars met their hired mercenaries.
“Oh, hello everyone. Are you having a party, all together?” The ghost(?) greeted the group in a friendly manner.
“Huh...?” The whole gang froze in place. None of them brandished their weapons, and those who had been about to cast a spell broke off their incantations. The ghost(?) and the adventurers stared at each other in silence for a while.
Cecil lost his patience and shouted, “What are you doing?! Why don’t you attack that monster?!”
“What did you say?!” Every single adventurer turned around to face Cecil.
“Eep!”
The rage on their faces was unmistakable. Their ominous glares were certainly not what Cecil would expect from hired men looking at their employer. Instead of advancing toward the ghost(?), the adventurers pressed closer to him.
“Hey, you scamp! Who do you think you are, calling our dear goddess a monster!” one of the men roared.
“Wh-What, that bloody ghost is a goddess?! Are you mad?!” Cecil cried.
“No, you’re mad! Our goddess would never chase anyone around unless she had a good reason to!”
“Which means...you must be in the wrong.”
“That’s it, go get ’im!”
“H-How—? Why—gyahhh!”
“Eeek! Cecil!”
One of the men landed an impressive punch on Cecil, and Cordelia’s shriek pierced the air. Cecil toppled over with a groan, and Cordelia rushed over to help him. The rest of the party was about to follow up on the attack, but Charlotte the ghost interrupted them.
“P-Please stop! Don’t hurt them anymore, everyone!”
“But, dear goddess, he’s a bad guy, right?”
“Oh, um, well...yes.”
“Did he...do something to you?” Groh asked.
“Umm...” Charlotte laughed weakly to hedge his question. She might as well have said “yes.”
In an instant, the whole group’s outrage shot through the roof.
“Kill him! Anyone who hurts our goddess is our mortal enemy!” Groh bellowed.
“Yeah!!!”
“What?! W-Wait everyone, please calm down!” Charlotte tried to stop them, but it was too late. Roo and Gosetsu only looked at each other.
“You’re calling me...a bad guy...?” Cecil muttered, wiping the blood from the side of his mouth and pushing Cordelia aside to stand up. A dark flame of indignant fury blazed in his eyes.
“Wh-What are you doing, Cecil?” Cordelia asked, but he ignored her.
“How dare you!!!” he barked. Without a moment of hesitation, he took a crystal ball from his breast pocket and threw it on the ground, setting off a blinding spark of light and ringing sound.
“Grrrr...” A monstrous shadow emerged. It revealed a jet-black dragon, rearing its head slowly under the moonlight. It was so massive that its head seemed to reach the stars, and its body was covered in scars from lacerations both old and new. “Grrrrrr...rawrrrr!!!”