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171 – The Tenth Stratum – The Realm of Demons and The Awakened Interceptors 4 Part 1

「Oh…? This is different.」

Aerial arrives here instantly.

He casts his gaze here and there as if to take in the scenery.

That’s right, the third area looks totally different from the past two black and columned areas.

The reason for that is the third area is the realm of sky and sea.

A sand pathway spreads across with the sea below and the wide-open sky above.

Of course, there are swarms of aquatic Monsters in the sea and winged Monsters in the sky

And standing at the other end is me.

「An interesting concept for a stratum. By combining multiple races of Monsters, it creates this idea that the Cleared strata will repeat endlessly, which is good. What is even more admirable, however, is your Magical Energy that is vast enough to summon such powerful Monsters altogether.」

「If that is truly how you felt, then I had hoped that you would enjoy it more.」

「Oh, I am. Even as we speak, I am enjoying it immensely.」

Aerial’s face looked lively.

「…Hmph. Are you able to dodge this as well, I wonder?」

Wind Blades came at me from all four directions, released by the Storm Hero one after another without any pause in between.

However, they all crashed into each other with a thunderous noise instead of hitting their target.

「Ka-kaka! I stole him, I stole him! I stole Lord Chief of Staff from the Storm Hero!」

My arm was grabbed by his bird feet.

He flapped in the air with his wings.

Right now, I am flying in the sky.

It was the giant crow Demi-Beast, the Phantom Thief Crow Raum.

The subordinate to the Floor Boss of the seventh stratum, the Eloquent Thrush Lord Caim.

「Well done.」

「Don’t mention it, boss! It’s good to have a thrilling heist like this once in a while!」

It isn’t rare for there to be a Demi-Beast with high intelligence and is able to understand and communicate with people. Raum is an example of one such Demi-Beast.

However, this isn’t the time to be talking leisurely.

「Yes, you did steal him, now can I have him back, please? My enemy, that is.」

The next attack is coming.

A transparent blade that tears through the sky approaches.

「Teleport.」

I order him.

「Aye aye, sir!」

Raum is compliant.

My field of vision changes completely.

I am now at the bottom of the ocean.

A magic circle was carved into the bottom of the ocean, on top of which I have just teleported on

One of Raum’s spells is Teleportation.

However, this isn’t the same as the Time Demon Agares’s Spatial Mobility.

In contrast with his spell, where he can teleport anywhere with anything depending on his skill, Raum’s spell has conditions.

One: The teleportation subject must be within sight.

Two: The destination must have a magic circle carved there.

Raum’s spell is the one responsible for returning Adventurers who fall while trying to solve a riddle back to the entrance in the seventh stratum.

This means that, compared to Agares, Raum’s spell consumes a small amount of Magical Energy.

As I appeared at the bottom of the sea, a shadow approached me without a moment’s delay. An ally.

A lone female Mermaid makes her way to me and touches me.

At that moment, I feel something warm wrap around me. A film of air stretches around me. An application of Water Magic.

「Thank you.」

An Avatar is defeated when it takes enough damage to kill your real-life body.

Of course, this includes death by drowning.

You really surprised me, Aerial.

However, even if you appeared in the later areas earlier than anticipated, I did expect you to chase after me.

I have prepared various ways to buy me time in order to regenerate enough of my Magical Energy.

「Fufufu, I am honored to be of service to the Chief of Staff. But please, don’t tell Lady Carmilla that I touched you. …I would be torn to tiny pieces.」

The Mermaid who helped me smiles broadly.

This can all be seen later in the video, so there’s no meaning to me keeping it a secret.

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This really wasn’t the right time to say anything, so I just nodded lightly.

「…」

At that moment, the sea shook. No. The entire area itself shook. It can’t be…

…It’s splitting.

Like a seashell being pried open, the sea opened up. Forcefully and fast, even.

The sea was parted in two along the sandy passage.

The rising seawater on the sides rose up and swallowed up the Birdmen in the air, and those that managed to avoid it got their wings wet which left them with no choice but to lower their altitude.

And then there’s me.

I grabbed onto the Mermaid’s hand and advanced through the rampaging ocean current.

「Were you planning on teleporting some of us Adventurers to the bottom of the sea? Or perhaps, this is how you intended to use it all along? In any case, I applaud your methods.」

This isn’t a good time to be underwater.

Just as I thought that, I was caught in something.

Not inside an Air Box, but an Air Sphere. Within it was seawater, the Mermaid, and the Demon King Army’s Chief of Staff.

「What now, Sir Lemegeton?」

Is this how it ends? Please don’t let this end.

That’s what his eyes seem to say.

Child-like eyes that seem to wish for the fun to not end. Not yet.

What now…?

I’ll do this.

Using the hoisted-up amount of water in the sides of the area that he caused, I summon him from it.

Come, Forneus.

A giant shark Demi-Beast.

I haven’t saved up enough Magical Energy to summon him yet.

Seeing as how I didn’t summon anyone else after the comparatively lighter to summon Raum, Aerial probably knows that as well.

If I unleashed the horn, I’d be able to summon him, but I didn’t do that. Even if I did, he would be on guard.

This is why now is the time to make this stick out.

「What in the-」

Just as how I was surprised at how fast Aerial arrived in the second area ahead of schedule.

This time, it was his turn to be surprised.

Just the fin of a shark, the long upper portion of the fin if you were to divide a fin into upper and lower portions, jumped out of the water to crash into Aerial’s body.

He was blown away.

The Air Sphere dissipated and I fell along with the seawater.

While falling, the Mermaid pushed me out of the water and a Birdman catches me.

「Let us distance ourselves from him.」

I search my surroundings, but I can’t sense Raum’s Magical Energy…It appears he was defeated.

「Understood. But I must say, magnificently done, sir.」

I managed to do it…partial summoning.

Summoning magic calls Contracts from beyond the boundaries of space.

It might be easier to understand if you recall Aerial’s Spatial Domination.

Even though a piece of Agares’s body was placed in a separate space, it was still connected to his body.

It doesn’t matter how it looks visually.

No matter how distorted the space is, what should be connected is still connected.

I thought that it might be possible to slowly summon a Contract instead of how I usually summon their whole body instantly.

So I started summoning the Sea Monster Forneus’s giant body starting with his fin.

As expected of Forneus, who was around since the age when my master was in charge of the Demon King Castle.

Even in that state, he sensed the Magical Energy in the connected space, surmised the intention of the summoner, and delivered an intense blow to the enemy.

「Hahaha! This is the first time I’ve seen such a move! Such intricate technique, yet such a powerful tactic! This is getting more and more enjoyable!」

Just before he crashed into the wall around the door, Aerial decelerates by emitting wind. Using said wind, he starts levitating like that.

Will he aim for the piece of Forneus that disappeared into the sea, or will he fly towards me?

…It’s definitely going to be me.

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As he’s approaching me, he prepares Wind Blades. It’s easy to tell because he’s using a lot of Magical Energy…but it’s still a lot of them.

How should I say this…It’s like a storm. But rather than strong gale force winds, it’s more like a storm of sharp wind is raining down on us.

I instruct the Birdman carrying me to find a way to avoid the Wind Blades.

Seeking the help of the surrounding Birdmen, they use Wind Magic, or sometimes they apologetically use their own body to shield me.

None of them hesitated to do so.