Chapter 536: Darkness: It Should Be Male, Right?
Hordes of undead knights surged from behind the ghosts, scattering the subjugation team like a tidal wave.
"Huh? Why did I pass out? That's weird, what happened earlier? Why can't I remember anything?"
Aqua stood up from the ground, clutching the back of her head with a dazed expression.
"Ow! Who hit me while I was sleeping? Kazuma, was it you?"
"Stop fooling around, Aqua! Retreat now!"
Darkness rushed in front of her, spreading her arms wide to block several undead knights.
"Eeek! Mr. Kazuma, save me!"
Seeing the ferocious faces of the undead knights, Aqua instantly snapped awake and ran crying toward Kazuma's direction.
"Don't come over here!"
Kazuma panicked and immediately took off running.
"Kazuma, Kazuma, I want to cast Explosion!"
Megumin followed closely behind him as the two fled haphazardly around the castle.
"No way! There are still other adventurers here—what if you accidentally hurt someone? Plus, if you collapse, won't that just add another burden?"
Kazuma flatly refused.
Even while fleeing, his mind was working rapidly.
"Then what should we do?"
"Lurk!"
Kazuma grabbed Megumin's hand and activated his skill.
In the blink of an eye, their presence vanished, and their figures disappeared from the hallway.
"That's so sneaky! Let me lurk too!"
Aqua was horrified.
"Uoooh!"
A swarm of undead knights closed in from behind.
"Noooooo!!"
Aqua had no choice but to flee for her life, tears streaming.
"I feel kinda bad for Aqua."
"Don't worry about her. She's the one who attracted them, so she can deal with it herself!"
"Hmm, what about Darkness?"
"Who knows? She's tough—she'll be fine."
"Um... do we have to keep holding hands?"
"I need physical contact to share the Lurk effect with you!"
"I get that, but stop pretending not to notice while squeezing my hand, okay?"
...
Meanwhile.
The subjugation team had been almost completely scattered by the undead knights.
"Hey, you okay?"
Eiji stepped forward, kicking away the undead knights one by one.
"Eh? Ah, yeah, I'm fine..."
Darkness, who had been pinned under the undead knights, was flushed and looked oddly pleased—until Eiji's face appeared before her. She quickly snapped out of it and stood up.
"...You seem a little disappointed?"
"Not at all."
Darkness denied it outright.
"Okay."
Eiji gave her a strange look.
"What should we do now, Mr. Eiji?"
Wiz stepped up beside them, her face filled with worry.
"Everyone's been separated by the undead knights—this is really dangerous!"
The undead knights were Beldia's direct subordinates, each possessing physical abilities surpassing their living selves and some resistance to magic. It took adventurers around level 20 to handle even one.
With such a massive horde swarming out, it was only a matter of time before Axel was wiped out.
"Most of the undead knights were drawn away by Aqua. It'll be fine."
Eiji waved his hand dismissively.
"That won't do. It's far too disrespectful to all the adventurers, isn't it?"
Wiz couldn't help but grumble, "Honestly, Beldia is being too serious. There's no need to deploy so many undead knights!"
"He's probably pretty scared right now."
Eiji shot her a sidelong glance. And whose fault do you think that is?
"Let's head upward."
"Upward?"
"Since we're here to subjugate him, everyone else will likely be moving upward too. We'll regroup there."
Eiji stepped toward the nearby staircase.
"Why would heading upward mean we're here to subjugate him?"
Wiz followed, looking utterly confused.
"Isn't Beldia on the top floor?"
Eiji replied as if it were obvious.
"Oh, Beldia is on the top floor?"
Wiz suddenly understood.
"How do you know Beldia is on the top floor, Eiji-san? He could just as easily be in the basement, couldn't he?"
Darkness, who had been silently following, voiced her confusion.
"As a grand archmage, isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to have some enemy detection skills?"
Eiji declared with absolute certainty.
"?"
"?"
The castle had three floors, each over ten meters high.
The trio climbed the stairs to the third floor, passing through the ruins of a wide corridor as they advanced toward the deepest part of the castle.
There was no sign of anyone around—not even an undead knight. The air was eerily quiet, making their footsteps sound unnaturally loud.
"You've saved me several times before. I really must thank you, Eiji-san!"
As they walked through the half-ruined castle, Darkness suddenly spoke up, expressing her gratitude.
"Have I?"
Eiji tilted his head.
"You don't remember?"
"I never bothered to."
"…Are you really a noble?"
Darkness let out an awkward laugh.
Somehow, even though everyone in Axel assumed he was a noble playing at being an adventurer, Darkness couldn't see a single noble-like trait in him.
He was careless, casual with people, and never put on airs—completely unlike a true noble.
"Well, in any case, you saved me during the manticore incident and the Headless Knight incident. Please allow me to thank you properly."
Darkness didn't know Eiji's true identity, but out of courtesy, she bowed formally.
"I don't know if I'm a noble, but I'm pretty sure you are."
Darkness's heart skipped a beat.
"People who obsess over trivial details like you usually have some connection to nobility."
Eiji thought of Riveria, that elven royalty who always fixated on the strangest things. Actually, the entire elven race was rather haughty—full of aristocratic quirks.
"W-what? No way! I'm just a regular adventurer!"
Darkness laughed awkwardly again, averting her gaze guiltily.
Eiji glanced at her and chuckled.
"We're almost there."
After passing through two more corridors, the three arrived at the deepest part of the castle.
Beyond the massive double doors, an overwhelming aura of the undead could be felt.
But before that—
"Who are you?"
Darkness immediately drew her greatsword, stepping in front of the two mages as she warily eyed the figure before them.
There stood a figure dressed in mage robes, blocking the entrance. The lower half of their face was concealed by a mask, their entire body shrouded in black robes, revealing only a pair of cold, bright yellow pupils glaring at the trio.
"Probably male, right?"
Darkness glanced at their chest and made this guess.
"Pfft—"
Eiji couldn't help but burst into laughter.
The figure at the gate narrowed their eyes, and Eiji could clearly sense the fury burning within them—they seemed to feel deeply insulted.
"Who's that?"
Wiz thought for a moment, then cheerfully stepped forward.
"Leave this one to me! You two go ahead inside!"
But Eiji grabbed her arm and shot her a fierce glare.
"Uh... O-okay, fine! We'll do as you say!"
Wiz blinked, looking left and right before reluctantly nodding.