Kuro no Maou

While thinking that I rush along the highway.

The destination is not Irz Village, but Daedalus.

“I thought I would reach it before sun sets, but it looks like it’s still far.”

I feel bad for Lily who is clinging on my neck while inside the hood of robe. But no matter what, I want to know about the situation of Daedalus.

Ignoring the orders for no public crossing, I am heading towards Daedalus. If the worst case happens and I’m spotted by any of the Daedalus soldiers it can’t be helped if I’m thrown in jail.

The biggest reason for taking such a big risk for going to Daedalus is the uneasy feeling swirling inside my heart.

I’m not convinced about the groundless uneasy feeling, but I still couldn’t ignore it.

If Daedalus was defeated by the human army, then the whole Pandora continent will be engulfed in war.

Surely, many people will laugh at my thinking, regarding it as delusion.

However, I know the what actions an ‘invader’ takes due to my knowledge in previous world. Furthermore, I know the cruelty of the people wearing cross uniforms through this body.

This world with magic is not some sort of fairytale story. I was summoned here against my will and was set up in experiments equivalent to torture and was also forced to fight against fellow experimental subjects too.

If those bastards invade in great numbers, then the Pandora continent will go through the path that I’ve learned from history lessons.

In brief, the peaceful life I have built in Irz Village is in danger.

In the first place, I came to Pandora Continent to run away from the cross uniform bastards, even if they are not here following me their searching range will be expanded eventually.

Therefore, to prevent the danger to me, my livelihood, and Pandora too, I came to the conclusion to go to Daedalus.

I really am feeling bad for taking Lily, more than half the reason she’s here is for my own self-protection.

Of course, I tried sending her to Irz Village when we left the Enkul Village, but Lily being stubborn didn’t nod at my words.

Definitely, Lily got a feeling that I’m in going to a dangerous place, so she might have chose to follow me.

I’ve made a decision already, to let Lily escape if we both get caught in a dire situation.

“－－That is Daedalus, huh?”

Though the surroundings are dark, my reinforced eyes catch a glimpse of the rumoured big castle walls of Daedalus far in the distance.

And so, I left the highway and started crossing through the forest.

I’m most likely to be discovered if I keep on walking on the highway, so it’s better to continue until Daedalus while sneaking.

The Riol Village I passed some hours ago had its doors completely shut and was quiet.

But, what about Daedalus?

From what I can see, there are no signs of destroyed castle walls.

Was it not a big scale castle siege war? Or is the opposite side of the castle wall broken?

I rush through the forest while holding my breath with my thoughts in a confusion.

“Great, It so bigーー”

Finally I came close to the Daedalus castle walls.

The wall standing majestically in front me can make someone think about a precipitous cliff.

The trees of forest are stopped where I’m standing. There is nothing to hide myself in between the walls and me.

If there was a tall tree I can invade by climbing it, or if there were big bushes I can approach while being unnoticed. It is natural to have those ideas when there is nothing in front of castle walls.

The problem is, how to reach the walls without being noticed.

Come to think of it, the first place I infiltrated the port town had low security that’s why I was transported easily.

I had already been predicted that it won’t be as easy as the previous time but......

“I don’t see a single person.”

From the looks of it, there doesn’t seem to be a single soldier present here.

Thirty metres above there is a passage present on the top of wall, but there is no sign of patrolling soldiers, of course the same can be said for the outside circumference of walls.

Perhaps even though they are patrolling it’s not like they can monitor each and every section of outer wall.

If it’s like that it’s not much of a big deal to approach the walls, and to climb the 30 metres walls is an easy feat for this body along with black magic.

Now the problem left is,

“The barrier, huh. It’s my first time seeing a genuine one.”

Unlike the shield, a barrier is a defensive magic that completely covers the target and can be maintained 24×7 hours a day.

It blocks all the attacks from outside and monitors the presence the of intruders within a fixed region and various other functions...

The only barrier I have and know of is Efreet, aka『Mosquito Repellent』, which deploys a barrier of flame to keep mosquitoes away.

And at the present time, there is a large scale barrier standing with Daedalus as its origin.

It’s not a shining bright light, rather it’s colorless and transparent, but even me who is standing 500 metres away from it can feel the strong magical pressure it exerts.

The difference in defensive ability with that 『Mosquito Repellent』is like that of heaven and earth.

Due to this powerful barrier there are no other soldiers except for at the main gate, probably.

The magic used by this barrier is white magic. It seems impossible to invade through just brute strength as my black magic has extremely bad compatibility with the white magic

But however, the current me is not alone, I have a reliable partner!

“Lily can you open a hole in that barrier?”

“UnーーI can!”

The white magic used by Sariel and the light magic used by Lily have completely different origins.

The light magic also acts a counter for my black magic like the white magic, whereas it is also classified as a color magic.

But still, they are both different. If it’s Lily who has good compatibility with her magic and excels at controlling it too she can pierce a hole through the powerful barrier.

“Well the, Let’s goーー”

I grab Lily under one arm and run the 500 metres at full speed.

Being coupled with the black clothes I doubt I will be found out. Please God don’t let me found out.

I don’t know whether my prayer was heard or it was inevitable but I safely reached the walls.

And though it can’t be seen through naked eyes, there is a barrier standing.

It might be a barrier that restricts physical intrusion, or it can be like the one place on the treasure box which gives out electric shocks.

Until I know it’s nature, It’s a bad idea to touch it.

Even though I know letting Lily touch such a thing is SO SINFUL, but here I can’t do anything other than relying on her powers.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yeah!”

Lily touches the invisible barrier with her both hands.

From the point of contact, the white light ripples as if a rock has been thrown onto water’s surface.

“Nhーー”

Lily’s two pairs of seven coloured wings sometimes flap and her white lit body fickers.

I feel for Lily who is seriously trying to pierce through the barrier, but this glittering light is unreasonably standing out.

It doesn’t matter if there are no soldiers here, but in this dark night the shining Lily can be spotted from 100 metres away rather easily.

The only thing I can do to help her not be spotted is just covering her with my robe.

It’s pretty nerve-wracking, but I still wait in silence for its completion.

How much time had passed? Maybe not even 3 minutes have passed but due to nervousness it’s feeling twice the length, then suddenly Lily speaks.

“It’s open!”

Not the meaning of 「It’s painful」but rather「it’s open」she said. [TN: In Japanese “Aita” means it’s open and “Ah itta” means painful. Both sound similar that’s why author is deliberately explaining it.]

Upon looking in front of Lily, there is an faintly shining circle drawn in empty air.

The circle is big enough for me pass easily, When I pass my hand through it I don’t feel anything out of place.

Looks like she’s succeeded in piercing the barrier.

“You did well, Leave the rest to me.”

I pat at Lily’s head, while she rejoices like a puppy.

I would also want to leave everything and keep on patting her, but there’s not time for that.

Putting Lily once again in the hood, I jump through the circle in the castle ward.

“Let’s go in one shot.”

Compared from the time I laboriously climbed the walls of the port city, my magic skills have also improved.

After all, I conquered a cliff of 100 metres to just invade the nest of a Garuda, If I use the rock climbing magic skill I used at that time, this 30 metre stone wall is just a child asking to be climbed.

To look cool in front of Lily who worked hard to open a hole in wall, I activate the magic while doing a signature pose.

“Anchor release!”

From the palms of both hands, a black wire flies out along the wall.

The wire with a harpoon like object at its tip sinks deep at the top of the wall.

At that time the rear of the wire starts to coil around the hand, hips, thighs, and the sole of my feet.

It’s alright with just coiling around hands, but it’ll help in more balance while climbing if there is a back support.

“Let’s go.”

After listening Lily’s reply, I retract the wire at once.

While being pulled by wire, I rushed up the vertical wall in one spurt.

This “anchor” is the same famous wire action that sometimes appears in action games. It is also called as ‘hookshot’ or ’grappling beam’. In short it is using a wire to move on a vertical surface like ‘TARZAN’. [TN: AIYAIYAIYAIAYIA. pfft]

My black magic can materialize simple objects like bullets and much more, and also excels at controlling them. If there is a really good imagination, then making a retractable wire is easy.

Using this “anchor” climbing a wall of 30 metres is as same as running on flat ground.

In several seconds I climbed the wall and land near the passage.

“No one is he......re?”

There really is not person near the passage.

While paying utmost attention, I looked towards the Daedalus city below the walls.

Below is a very vast street of houses and shops. It’s so big that many Irz villages can fit in it.

And the walls are covering it whole. It’s a tremendously big city.

If it’s a normal person they would have gone to bed by this time of night. In the corner of what is apparently a residential area are some houses with lights on whereas as red-light district seeming area is full of bright lights.

Even among them, the most noticeably shining is the castle of Daedulus.

The castle is covered by walls. From here the ground and the first floor of castle cannot be seen.

Even so, there is light glittering from there which is shining on the very large castle in the dark night.

Looking at that, I start to heave a sigh at its majesticness .

But, the moment I saw the flag hanging from the castle, I gulped down the sigh I was going to release.

“That is the......the cruciform symbol......”

The flag there was not the national flag of Daedalus with the dark emblem imitating King Gaevinal but it was the flag with an emblem of cruciform symbol which seemed to me like annoying madness.

“It’s a lie, right......That means the human army, are them.”

If I look closely, inside the city there are various sizes of the same flag hanging.

This scene was frankly saying the fact that Daedalus has been occupied by the Crusaders.

“Tsk, Damn Itーー”

It’s the worst, it’s a nightmare, the worst case scenario I thought has turned into a reality.

I found out that the cruciform symboled flag is not hoisted by a cult of humans, but is the national flag of Syncrea Republic.

Slowly, depairs starts spreading inside my heart.

Those bastards, Those damn bastards really did came to Pandora Continent in great numbers.

The fact that they have occupied Daedalus can only mean that there is no other force that can oppose them.

A big country like Daedalus is easily captured in a blink of an eye.

These bastards are planning to conquer the whole Pandora Continent, and do that not so far in future.

What should I do? Should I fight? Or escape?

“Damn......”

The Dragon King who is more powerful than me was defeated even when he was leading an army. They’re not the enemy I can fight against. Even in the world of magic it’s impossible for an individual to win against a whole country.

So should I really run? But to where? Is there anyplace these bastards won’t come?

Damn it, shit, no matter how much I think nothing good comes to mind.

No matter what I think, I can only imagine these bastards coming towards me with their cross in their hands.

What should I doーー

Kurono!!”

“ーー!?”

Lily jumps at my chest and tightly hugs me.

“It’s alright, Lily will save Kurono. Even if bad guys come, I will protect you!”

Lily spurts some tremendous lines. Even though I didn’t say any words, Lily who can read a person’s mind feels my uneasy feeling.

“......”

I cuddle Lily who is clinging onto me.

The faint warmth I feel at my hands and chest brings me back to my sanity and removes the uneasy feeling.

Argh, damn It, I showed an uncool side of me to Lily.

“Lily, I’m alright.”

That’s right. Now I’m not alone and I can’t only think about myself only from now on.

Just like Lily said she’d protect me, I will also have to protect Lily.

I definitely won’t let those bastards take away my peaceful life once again.

“It’s dangerous being here, let’s leave.”

“Yeah.”

Due to the restriction on information spreading, the news of Daedalus occupation is still not reached to any other village.

If I don’t do anything, these bastards will attack all the villages within Daedalus territory.

It’s impossible for me to resist until the bitter end, but I can escape from here.

If it’s no good to run within Daedalus territory, I can only run to other countries.

Well, the problem is whether the enemy nation Spada’s city state army will let me in or not. If they don’t I’ve got no choice but to do an illegal immigration.

First I need to tell this info to the nearest village, No, I don’t even know if they will hear my story who is only a rank 1 adventurer. The only route for me here is to talk to Village Head of Irz village to exert influence on other villages.

I once again start racking my mind for what to do from now on. Just as soon I started to make an anchor for going down the wall.

“ーーWhat might you be doing here?”

I heard a voice!... Spidey sixth sense alert!!!!

A voice of refreshing and beautiful little girl.

Before even thinking that the voice is familiar, a face of certain person rose up in my mind in an instant.

When I turn back to look, there stood the girl not any different from what I imagined.

A beautiful girl with platinum long hair, along with a pair of two big red eyes, wearing a vestment with cruciform symbol.

The girl, who showed me overwhelming power and the origin of my overwhelming fear is....

“......Sariel.”

There stood the strongest person I know of, 7th Apostle Sariel.