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Translator note: Another chapter down, and the excitement just keeps on building! What do y'all think?
From the Depths of Darkness - Part 4
I wished I could have stayed in his embrace forever, but I lifted up my face from Julius' embrace and peered at him. Looking at his face, I felt reassured, and was able to think more clearly than before.
To organize my thoughts, I began to speak.
"Julius, it seems... my sister, Aliza, is being controlled by something frightening that emerged from the gate to the Underworld."
Aliza had encountered an angel that came from the gate to the Underworld after I got engaged to Cyril, and before my mother passed away. It must have been when she was around ten years old. She was still just a child. Living a harsh and painful life in the slums, Aliza had clung to happiness, and it just so happened that what she found was a malevolent angel.
I didn't know how much of it was Aliza's own will, but I wanted to believe she was being manipulated, the angel taking advantage of her naive mind.
"It was Aliza's angel that opened many gates to the Underworld in the kingdom, and through these gates, an army of beasts would be arriving soon. They said they would turn the kingdom into a paradise."
"After you were taken, gates to the Underworld started appearing everywhere. I was forcibly teleported to a forest somewhere in the kingdom, and when I called Helios to return to the capital, Roge was in a frenzy, saying he was short on hands."
"Are the people in the capital alright?"
Contrary to my agitation, Julius continued in a calm voice.
"The knights and mercenaries are working together, closing the gates in various places. There was a huge gate and a swarm of demons above the fountain in the square where your shop is. Those who could fight were fighting back, evacuating the people of the city."
"Is Aliza's angel trying to destroy the country...?"
"I don't know. I didn't face off against the demons. I had to go pick up a master who had wandered off on his own. Roge said they would hold out until we returned."
Julius sighed, saying, "Relying on a defeated general from an enemy nation and a kind-hearted alchemist, what madness."
Yet, he seemed not to think it was all that bad. Roge believed that Julius would rescue me and return.
I gazed up at Julius's sky-blue and sunset-red eyes.
"Julius, that something called 'angel' is very scary and strong. My mother told me to run away from scary things. But... I want to protect everyone. Alone, I'm weak and can't do anything."
I had always thought that I didn't want to involve Julius.
Even when trying to rescue Roge in the demon mountain of the north, and when I was brought to the castle, I didn't want Julius to face danger.
But maybe that wasn't right. Surely, I was mistaken. Pushing Julius away by pretending he was unrelated was selfish and conceited on my part.
Julius was strong, so it was okay even if I was weak, he had said that before. I think I finally understood what he meant.
"...So, will you fight alongside me?"
"I've said it before. You only need to command me. Since the day you bought me, I am your sword. I'll slaughter anyone you deem worthy of death."
Julius spoke with confidence as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Hearing those words, typical of Julius, made me smile slightly.
"Your response is a bit extreme. We're fighting demons, you know. Cyril-sama is not an enemy, and Aliza too... is probably just being controlled."
"Now, I can legally kill those who demeaned you."
"That's okay, really...! It's not about revenge, it's about helping people, saving lives."
"...Chloe. I grabbed some alchemical stuff from your shop's box at random, and the weapons shop owner sent you a parting gift."
Julius handed me a cloth bag that had been tied to the rear of Helios's stirrup.
My infinite storage bag, which was connected to my infinite storage trunk, had been taken by soldiers. What Julius handed me was just a regular cloth bag. Inside, it seemed he had truly grabbed whatever was at hand and tossed it in. Various alchemical items were haphazardly placed inside. From luxury items to cheap ones, the contents varied. Some were useful, while others were completely unnecessary.
As I slung the bag over my shoulder, a wand was passed to me.
This wand wasn't the cheap magical amplification wand I usually used---it was an expensive one that I would have never bought personally.
"This is... isn't this a very expensive magical amplification wand, made from processed millennium tree and embedded with sacred minerals...! It's terrifying to think that a miser like Robert would give this away for free. There's nothing more expensive than something given for free, Julius."
"There's nothing more expensive than something given for free, true. So, you will protect... the people of the royal capital. It's an unfair deal, working for free."
"The materials dropped by the monsters we defeat will all be mine! It's unpaid work, but it'll surely turn into a good profit! And, whatever is attached to Aliza is probably much stronger than the demons from the Underworld gates, so it's bound to drop some high-quality materials we've never seen before! Please take care of it, Julius."
"Ah... You, stay behind. I can't use magic. So you'll provide support."
"Yes, leave it to me! With the support of the beautiful, genius alchemist Chloe, the already strong Julius will become even stronger! Now, let's wipe out the demons plaguing the royal capital in one fell swoop!"
Not wanting to be tossed behind Julius as before, I moved to his backside on my own. Helios's back was quite wide, and his flying was stable, so compared to the thought of falling from the castle tower, it wasn't scary.
I sat behind and grabbed the straps attached to the stirrup. Clinging to Julius would make it hard for him to fight, and as we had proven last time, I wouldn't fall off Helios's back from just a little jostling, so it was fine.
"Let's go, Chloe. Let's finish this quickly. I've lost blood because of you. On top of that, I haven't eaten properly since the morning, so I'm hungry. I want to eat the bean soup you make."
"Let's eat something better. Isn't it too sad for a hero who defeated evil monsters and protected the country to eat just bean soup?"
"Anything you make is fine with me."
Helios plunged towards the ground as if slicing through the sky.
In a soft voice, I murmured, "...That's not fair."
Piercing through the clouds, the ground drew closer.
Helios, stretching his body straight to cut through the wind, looked like a black bolt of lightning. As Julius had said, it seemed that gates to the Underworld had opened all over the kingdom. They appeared as abrupt black dots within the landscape.
The royal castle now looked like a sinister object, like a clay sculpture made by a young child. On top of the gray structure, assembled haphazardly with torn human limbs, faces, and torsos, large enough to be a small house, it felt as though I could see Aliza standing alone, looking up at us.
There was a considerable distance between the sky and the royal castle, and surely it must have been an illusion.
But I could tell that Aliza was there, looking at us.
On Aliza's body, something with horns and wings seemed to overlap.
With a faint smile on its lips, that something raised both hands into the air. Gates to the Underworld opened in the air around Helios, and chained winged demons attacked.
These demons had white wings resembling those of birds, bodies like beasts, and the beautiful faces of human women. One of their eyeballs was as big as my body. Flapping their wings with rustling sounds, their intelligent eyes followed us.
The demons, continuously uttering curses from their red lips, numbered perhaps more than ten. Around the demons, several red magic circles floated. Heat rays burst from the magic circles. The released heat rays scorched the ground, creating large cracks across it.
The same number of monsters that emerged from the gates in the sky now attacked from otherworldly gates on the ground, as voracious griffons flapped their wings, swooping down upon us. These were winged beasts with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion, creatures that attacked from the sky and devoured anything, be it living beings or inanimate objects.
Julius, atop Helios, who was dodging the heat rays while flying, readied his black spear. I infused magical power into my staff for amplifying magic.
Griffons were weak to ice magic. If their wings were to be sealed, they'd have no choice but to fall to the ground. However, even if we defeat the monsters spilling from the gates, if we don't close the gates, more will continue to emerge.
And closing the gates would lead to Aliza's angel just opening them again.
In that case---
"Julius, clear the way through the gate's monsters and take us to Aliza!"
"Ah. ...Don't get in the way, you unsightly birds." Julius nodded.
Helios charged straight towards the flock of the voracious griffons. I tried not to be in the way of Julius who seemed to swing his spear around.
One by one, the griffons were stripped of their wings and fell to the ground.
Continuing on, we flew towards the gate's monsters that kept whispering ugly words.
"Searing Angel Seraphim, imbue Julius's spear in Holy Light of Exorcism!"
With every graceful movement through the sky by Helios, the faces of the gate's female monsters were slashed. Voices of agony and words of resentment filled the air. The sheer ugliness induced terrible nausea.
"This is utterly disgusting...!"
"That thing loitering in front of your shop is pretty much the same, isn't it?"
"Himei-chan is cute, isn't she? Julius, you just don't get it...!"
From the gate's monsters that were being slashed, high-pitched screams overlapped, rising into the air.
I covered my ears with both hands. Helios's body swayed, somersaulting through the sky. Perhaps our sense of balance was disturbed by the sound waves. I could feel the strength draining from his spread wings.
I hurriedly took out a noise-canceling alchemical device for sleep from my cloth bag. I never thought I'd use something like this, but I was glad Julius brought it.
You never know what might come in handy. It's always good to be prepared. My alchemical devices, which reach even the itchiest spots, were simply genius.
"Now, perfect silence, tranquil space, comfort in lullaby's grace!"
I threw what looked like a small bear mascot into the air.
From the bear mascot, a comforting melody of a music box began to play, drowning out the screams of the monsters.
Power returned to Helios's body. Helios, still a child, seemed pleased by the lullaby, making a happy coo sound and glancing at me with narrowed eyes.
So cute. My child, so adorable. Mommy's going to work hard for you, Helios.
"What a foolish sound."
Julius, seemingly unimpressed, clicked his tongue.
With renewed vigor, Helios moved much faster than before towards the gate's monsters, who were twisting in agony. Flying freely through the sky, each movement allowed Julius's spear to pierce through, eliminating the gate's monsters one by one.
The gate from the Underworld crumbled away.
The number of heat rays slicing through the sky diminished.
Then, once more, Helios began to dive rapidly towards Aliza.