Chapter 25 . 3 : Tower of Striges

　It might turn into a drawn-out battle with just Gallios alone .

This is undoubtedly the kind of magic to counter undead .

「Defeating them with magic isn’t that amusing, right?」

But, s.h.i.+rone seems to be dissatisfied with that .

「Another one is coming!!」

Stor warns us .

Dozens of zombies approach us .

We continue to meet hordes of zombies as soon as we go further into the tower .

However, it’s possible to exterminate them in an instant as long as we have that Sunlight magic .

But, s.h.i.+rone is unsheathing her sword and then facing against those armies of zombies .

「EH, WHAT ABOUT SUNLIGHT MAGIC!!」

I’m retorting to her action .

「FLAME BLADE!!」

A blazing flame coils around s.h.i.+rone’s sword as soon as she let out that cry .

「FLAME DECAPITATION!!」

And thus, she began her killing spree in the midst of the zombie army .

「W… . WOOOOW… . 」

Gallios unconsciously exclaims with awe visible in his tone .

「Any kind of attack shouldn’t be that effective against undead, yet… . 」

It seems Nimri is also entranced by that scene .

Undeads are always a troublesome opponent since, for example, take a zombie: they’ll become a skeleton after they are burnt with fire and then converted into a vengeful spirit without a corporeal body after their skeletal frame is smashed apart .

Especially the ethereal body, the kind of body that can’t be attacked by normal weapons . Normal weapons won’t hurt them unless you attack them with an enchanted sword .

s.h.i.+rone’s pale blue light sword is a magic sword . The fire element within that sword, aside from causing damage to the corporeal body, is also cleaving the ethereal body, bone, and flesh of the zombies .

s.h.i.+rone’s a.s.sault is terrifying; those armies of zombies are annihilated in a flash .

Everyone is shocked by watching her a.s.sault .

“I’m going to defeat them with only my sword while remaining inside their formation . ” I want to retort like that .

「Well, let’s get going」

s.h.i.+rone turns toward us with a refres.h.i.+ng expression and marches forward .

We silently gaze at her back .

◆Dark Knight Kuroki

「That’s too amazing, right Rember… . The hero’s wife is so powerful」

Gallios mutters in awe .

We could advance safely till the halfway point in the tower, thanks to s.h.i.+rone .

Naturally, whether it’s undead, giant spiders, or vampire bats, none of them are s.h.i.+rone’s opponents .

Almost all of the demon attacking us was defeated by s.h.i.+rone .

Despite sporadic traps present here and there, s.h.i.+rone just broke through them with her raw power .

Arrows trap fell down even before hitting the target, she flew in the air without falling into pitfalls, even the falling ceiling traps were pushed back by her with a single hand .

To be honest, are we even needed in the first place?

「I’m also astonished . Though I witnessed hero-sama’s power before, I never thought that even his wives were extremely powerful」

Nimri and Gallios are also praising her without any restraint .

I can do this kind of feat too, you know . But, it seems this is already an amazing feat for them .

Moreover, I just can’t stomach it when they say that s.h.i.+rone is Reiji’s wife .

She was labeled as Reiji’s woman back in our world, too . It seems that label isn’t that much different even in this world .

When I think about that, I feel like a fool for protecting them .

Should I go to cut the horn of the dragon right now?

It might be a good thing to get a beautiful woman similar to Rena, too .

For some reason, my heart is beating faster when I remember Rena’s face .

For some reason, my heart is beating faster when I remember Rena’s face .

I’m also worried about Rena .

What the h.e.l.l is Rena thinking about now?

While I was pondering as such, s.h.i.+rone suddenly stopped walking .

「What’s the matter, s.h.i.+rone-sama? 」

Rember inquires s.h.i.+rone as to why she stopped walking .

I see a door in front of s.h.i.+rone . The room’s door is different from the one so far .

「There’s something in there」

It’s as Stor just said, there’s something behind that door .

「Let’s go」

s.h.i.+rone opens the door and enters inside .

「Light?」

Someone utters that word .

The light in this room is notably different from the other rooms . It can’t be compared with the illumination magic of Nimri .

But, that wasn’t the only thing different .

Someone is standing in the middle of that room . A living human who’s obviously not a zombie .

He possessed a pale face, golden-colored hair, and wore a black mantle . His cloth quality’s splendid, far from the clothes of those zombies and undead .

「Oh, just when I thought that master has returned, it turned out to be a human . You’ve come till this far, huh」

The man is laughing while looking at us .

「LOOK AT HIS EYES! HE ISN’T A HUMAN!!!」

Stor warns us .

His eyes are s.h.i.+ning in blood red color . A pair of fangs peeks through his lips .

「A VAMPIRE!」

Nimri shouts so .

Different from the zombies that came until now, a vampire is a high-level undead possessing intelligence and can use magic .

「To think that the Striges went as far as using a vampire… . 」

Rember is saying so with a dumbfounded face .

「SUNLIGHT!」

「SUNLIGHT!」

「NIGHT ROBE!」

s.h.i.+rone and the vampire invoke their respective magic skills .

The dazzling light that came from s.h.i.+rone’s hand is thwarted by a dark mist that’s covering the vampire’s body .

「It might be possible if it’s real sunlight . You can’t beat me with this level of magic」

The vampire is laughing .

「Hee, not bad」

s.h.i.+rone seems to be enjoying this situation .

「Fufu, back to you . Despite your lady-like appearance, it seems you’re a high ranking priest . This Elkitos praises thee . Are you interested in becoming my bride?」

The vampire called Elkitos says so while smacking his lips . The fangs peeking out from his mouth are flas.h.i.+ng .

In this case, becoming his bride means that she’ll become his retainer for sucking her blood .

I won’t let him achieve that .

「My bad, but I’m not interested in a man weaker than myself」

s.h.i.+rone points her sword toward Elkitos .

「Is that so? So does it mean you’ll become my bride if I’m stronger than you?」

Pair of bat wings springs forth from Elkitos’s back .

It seems the battle is going to start immediately .

「W-Wait a minute, s.h.i.+rone-sama!!!」

Nimri is suddenly shouting at her .

「N? What’s matter？」

She’s looking at Nimri with a pouting face since he hindered her fight .

「There’s something that I need to confirm… . 」

After saying those words, Nimri hesitantly looking toward Elkitos .

「Disturbing my time with her, what a boorish man」

The vampire’s also annoyed .

「Are you the one who made those dead demons into zombies over these few days?」

Nimri asks the vampire .

「Are you the one who made those dead demons into zombies over these few days?」

Nimri asks the vampire .

In the first place, the reason why we came to this tower is to search for the Striges, the source of the zombie incident .

Apart from the Striges, a vampire can also use necromancy . So, it’s not that strange if this vampire is the culprit of the recent incident .

It seems Nimri is trying to confirm that .

「Ah, that’s right!! We have to investigate that too!! Nice!!」

s.h.i.+rone is praising Nimri . To be honest, that’s why we came here .

Did we really come for demon extermination? That’s also one of the outcomes from our action until now . Well, if that’s the case, it’s better if the number of demons decreases .

「N… . No, even if you praise me」

Nimri mutters so with a troubled face .

Though I thought it’s okay to let s.h.i.+rone go alone, maybe it’s a good thing that Rember came along, too .

s.h.i.+rone will end up rampaging alone in the tower if we let her go alone . Consequently, we might lose our chance to get information about the culprit .

「Uhm, I don’t know what are you talking about since I awakened just 3 days ago」

Elkitos is saying so with a sullen face .

I don’t think that he’s lying . I never expected him to be the culprit, after all .

But, speaking of 3 days ago, doesn’t that coincide with my arrival to this tower?

「You just awakened 3 days ago? Then, does that mean you were not in this tower before, right? Could it be that you were sleeping in this tower?」

「Fufu, I was in a sealed state you know . Those women don’t possess enough power to employ me」

Elkitos has a happy expression on his face while announcing that fact .

It was in sharp contrast to Nimri’s and s.h.i.+rone’s expression . He’s a little annoying .

「Then, why did you awaken?」

「It was 3 days ago . Though I don’t know the whereabouts of that personage, he/she was the one who used dark magic in this tower . I was unsealed due to the magic wave of that personage . Fufu, that personage should be an amazing person to possess that kind of power」

Elkitos is speaking as if he was entranced .

That was strange . I couldn’t feel any signs of this vampire when I came to this tower 3 days ago .

Nevertheless, it’s a fact that I applied barrier magic to this tower 3 days ago . It’s a powerful magic to hide this tower entirely . I should be able to feel something in case this guy’s power reached a certain level .

Or else, the owner of that power might not be that personage he’s referring to .

「That personage is… . Hey, is that personage in this tower right now? 」

s.h.i.+rone is happy upon hearing those words . Does she want to fight against that Personage?