Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

44 – The Necromancer and the Frost Hero

Yes.

Bella jumping ahead is all according to plan.

Whether or not she realized that I’m Lem isn’t important.

She just needs to conclude that I’m an enemy who has seen through Fenix and party’s movements.

Under the instructions of Fenix in this short term battle, two have already fallen.

If I were the newcomer, I would seize information that only pertained to clearing the Demon King Castle. I cannot let myself be defeated the same way Alba and Lark were.

It is not unreasonable to think that way.

If I were Fenix, I would probably stop her, but it looks like he gave his permission.

「…!」

Passing the area where the ice wall stood, Bella’s expression changed to one of suspicion.

Most likely because I’m no longer visible.

Gra-la made me invisible and I was sitting on the stairs leading to the throne and subsequently the gate.

「Hiding…? No, it’s Glasha-Labolas. Please be careful! There may invisible enemies about!」

Calmly taking a guess and not forgetting to urge her allies to be vigilant.

An excellent Adventurer.

She wasn’t even there during the time that we fought Gla-la. She must have studied hard.

「…This is more troubling than I imagined.」

I’ll take that as a compliment.

…Maybe she does suspect who Lemegeton truly is.

「Aiming to launch an ambush, are we? I cannot allow that!」

She wielded her rapier in midair.

Cold air spreads around her.

She’s making grains of ice fall from the air, huh?

Being invisible doesn’t mean being untouchable.

They can’t be seen, but you can’t pass through them either.

So surely with this spell, you can grasp your enemy’s movements by seeing where the flow of ice grains are unnatural.

「I have you.」

Rather than using it to find enemies in a wide area, she only deployed enough of it in order to protect herself from a surprise attack. It didn’t reach the area where I was.

So the one she caught wasn’t me.

What was pierced by the icicle growing out of the floor was one of Kimaris’ manipulated ghosts, an Avatar of a once fallen Adventurer.

The icicle heated up and melted. The ghost happened to be a Magician.

Then, the invisible enemies resumed closing in on her.

「Wha-」

Bella immediately responded to that. This time, she froze the zone surrounding her, creating a large block of ice.

Having done that, she can sense the human-shaped moving objects moving in the opposite direction of her who are closing in.

Ghosts are the Avatars of Adventurers. They are constructed of Magical Energy and moreover, have a functioning Magical Energy organ.

It is difficult for Bella to sense whether the invisible shape is me or not.

A Magical Energy response can’t be confirmed through a video.

Outside of times when it is absolutely necessary, I suppress my Magical Energy so it won’t be that simple to find me.

「Ugh…」

Bella captured three more figures in the block of ice.

That took a lot out of her magical reserves.

「…Why aren’t you attacking me? Could it be that you’re ignoring me entirely?」

I don’t want to be the cause of my own elimination, like how Alba and Lark were.

At least, that is what Bella appears to have interpreted my actions as.

I wasn’t thinking of anything as rude as completely ignoring her.

But, it is a fact that I have no intention of fighting her fair and square.

I could list several plausible reasons but that would be troublesome, so I’ll just list two.

The first is that I want to fight Fenix in perfect condition. I have already used quite a bit of Magical Energy but I guess by the time I fight him, he would have used up the same amount of Magical Energy.

The second is that there are those who want to fight Bella.

She stops making ice grains fall.

It seems that she used up her reserve Magical Energy that was left after deploying the large ice wall. She probably has a little bit of spare energy left, I’ll need to revise the plan.

「Actually, you could say that I’m obsessed with you. Though I am not Lord Chief of Staff.」

There was the sound of a sword stabbing the ground.

Hearing that, Gla-la cancels the invisibility.

What appeared was an armored knight.

It was Kimaris.

A knight that wields necromancy.

「A necromancer…」

「That I am. I am called Kimaris. It is with great misfortune that I did not fight you on the second stratum, but as expected of the Lord Chief of Staff. He has granted me this chance.」

Kimaris saw the Fenix party’s Clear videos and says that he wants the Frost Hero’s ghost. Each person has their own reason to fight.

「…You wish to add my Avatar to your collection? Please stop.」

「It is good when they fight back. Let us decide the outcome through battle.」

Bella’s expression twisted.

「This is the worst. Has everything up to now been going according to this Chief of Staff’s plans?」

Forcing her to use her magic while being pushed out alone to target me allowed Kimaris to have a one on one fight with her.

「Aye.」

「He used both his allies and his enemies well.」

「If he eliminates you all here and now, his position will be indisputable.」

「Indeed it will.」

Bella sheathes her rapier with cold air but its power is unstable.

「Be at ease. I shall not use my ghosts. Even the Black Magic shall be removed.」

If one enters a one on one fight, there can be no intrusions. I respected that intention.

「…You want the ghost to be in its purest condition, yes?」

「Hm. Well then, let us begin.」

Bella…did not back away.

Instead, she resolutely steps forward and releases a thrust aimed to pierce Kimaris’ eye through the opening in his helmet.

「Splendid…!」

But Kimaris dodges it with a mere tilt of the neck.

He closes in on her and stabbed her in the chest.

「…Next time I come, I’ll be sure to destroy this Avatar.」

「Then I will simply add that to my collection once again when that time comes.」

Bubbling, Kimaris produces purple smoke that enters Bella through her mouth.

Her body twitched and shook, then the complexion on her skin was drained.

In order to indicate that it is a ghost, its appearance changes. The light is gone from its eyes and all signs of life disappear from its face.

Bella herself has already been eliminated.

「Well done.」

I called out to him while invisible and Kimaris turned in my direction and bows.

「Only because Lord Chief of Staff is at the helm.」

Due to the invisibility, she needed to fire off an attack with enough power to eliminate what she thought was me.

If she could see the shape, she would be able to ascertain its Job from the ghost’s appearance and then use an appropriate amount of Magical Energy to freeze it in place or render it powerless.

「If you want to praise and thank anyone, it should be Glasha-Labolas.」

「Him, yes, most certainly.」

He thanked him, then continued.

「If I may be so bold, I would also want the Flame Hero as we-」

「Haven’t we already been through this?」

I coldly responded, making Kimaris immediately withdraw.

「…Forgive me.」

If Fenix becomes one of Kimaris’ ghosts, the combat potential of the second stratum will shoot up considerably.

So of course I can’t let that happen.

I don’t intend to offer up my friend’s Avatar like that.

Also, that guy can’t be beaten like that in the first place.

「It’s fine. I don’t mind if you just want to challenge him to a match, though.」

「…I am afraid my painstakingly collected ghost will be annihilated in such a fight.」

「It’ll be fine if it’s a one on one fight.」

「May I collect those that were defeated by the Frost Hero?」

I ended up chuckling at Kimaris’s response.

If Fenix fought under the condition to not use magic, Kimaris can have a good match with him, but Fenix has no reason to respond to such conditions. So if Kimaris were to call out his ghosts, they will be destroyed just like last time.

To Kimaris, Fenix is the guy who destroyed every single one of his accumulated Avatars.

I can understand why he wants to avoid a fight with Fenix as a Necromancer, rather than a knight.

「I’ll allow it.」

With my permission, Kimaris heads towards the ghosts that were trapped in ice in order to release them.

At that time, I wondered how Fenix and Lily were doing…