On the Bōsō Peninsula, in a forest running along the coastline, a gust of wind swept through, clearing away dead leaves and thorns that littered the woods, gradually opening up a barely passable path.
Why am I here clearing the road? What exactly did I come here for? Even Kazamaki Ryuya was inwardly confused, numbly using his wind magic to clear the way ahead.
"Hang in there, Ryuya-nii! Just a little further, and we'll reach the destination!!"
About ten meters behind him, Ayano Kannagi cheered energetically.
Ryuya sighed internally. That's the sixth time you've said that. Could you stop repeating yourself? But then again, who could blame her? She was the heiress, after all. Grumbling in his mind, he nevertheless sped up his clearing pace by about thirty percent.
Behind him, Ayano, seeing Ryuya suddenly pick up speed, thought her cheering had worked and started shouting even more encouragements—only to get a face full of dust stirred up by the wind.
"Cough! Cough!"
Choking on the dust, Ayano covered her mouth and turned her head toward Luo Shu, asking, "Hey, are you guys sure that demon thing is really sealed nearby?"
"We're quite sure," Luo Shu replied casually, before reminding her in a pointed tone, "And also, Miss Ayano, please address me as Luo Shu, Luo Shu-kun, or even Luo-kun. What's with just calling me 'hey'?"
"'Hey' is 'hey'! What else could it be?" Ayano retorted, her face slightly flushed. She mumbled under her breath, "And who told you to call me by my given name anyway..."
Ah, the Japanese and their surname obsession... Luo Shu grumbled silently before turning to Takina Inoue, who was carrying a tracking device. "Takina, how close are we to the target location?"
"We're very near Point 490 as reported earlier. The target should be within a hundred-meter radius from here," Takina replied as she sent their current coordinates to SDS command. She glanced around the forest and warned, "From here on, stay alert. We might step into a region affected by abyssal descent at any moment."
Hearing that, Luo Shu's eyes flickered slightly. While silently transmitting their coordinates to Sharon as backup, he also addressed the group seriously, "If we're that close, then there's something we need to go over again."
At those words, everyone focused part of their attention on Luo Shu—including Ayano, who had been leading the way, and Chisato Nishikigi, who was keeping watch with her gun drawn.
Speaking in a low voice, Luo Shu briefed them, "Based on current intel, the demon sorcerer Mapa—the Celestial Astronomy member who replaced Katsuhiko Yakushiji—has set his sights on the sealed high-class demon. That's pretty much certain."
"If that's the case, then for Mapa to seize the high-class demon's body, his best opportunities are, first, when we've defeated the demon and it's being transported elsewhere; or second, when we're mid-battle with the demon and it's been weakened."
"The first possibility is less likely, considering the Director and the others would tighten security during transport, possibly even involving the military. So, odds are, he'll strike during the latter scenario."
"And that also explains his staged death. After all, if he wasn't trying to lure us into confronting the demon, he wouldn't have bothered faking his death in the first place."
Hearing this, Ayano asked curiously, "From what you're saying, it sounds like we're destined to fight that demon. Can't we just move the whole seal somewhere else along with the demon?"
At that, Luo Shu looked at Ayano like she'd said something naive. "If the seal could simply be relocated, why wouldn't Mapa do it himself? Obviously, it can't be moved. He probably can't even defeat the demon directly, which is why he went so far as to betray Celestial Truth and steal abyssal artifacts that benefit him personally."
As for why Mapa didn't work with other Celestial Truth members to take the demon together, Luo Shu could only assume it was because sharing the prize would leave him with too small a slice of the pie. After all, who would be willing to share when there's more profit in taking everything for yourself? Not to mention, there was only one high-class demon body to claim, and with so many demon sorcerers in Celestial Truth, it wasn't guaranteed he'd even get a share.
Meanwhile, eavesdropping on the conversation using his wind magic, Ryuya unconsciously slowed down a bit, worry creeping into his voice as he asked, "So you're saying this mission will inevitably lead to us fighting that sealed demon? What if we can't beat it?"
Ayano immediately bristled. "Ryuya-nii, are you saying I can't handle a mere demon?"
"Don't forget, I'm one of the top three fire mages in the entire family!"
Of course, that ranking only counted her father, her uncle, and then herself. But realistically, Ayano was probably the only one who took that ranking seriously.
Ryuya, fully aware of that fact, mumbled defensively, "That's not what I meant... I'm just worried."
"Being worried is perfectly normal. Honestly, not worrying would be the real problem." Luo Shu glanced at Ryuya and calmly explained, "Based on SDS's intel, although the sealed demon is indeed a high-class type, it seems to be extremely young, with power fluctuations far weaker than typical high-class demons. So, most likely, it doesn't possess the strength of a fully matured high-class demon."
"That's probably why Mapa targeted this particular demon in the first place. Of course, why such a weak yet high-bloodline demon was sealed, and why it arrived in this world along with the abyssal descent—that's still a mystery."
"Ohhh~ so in the best-case scenario, we're just dealing with an immature high-class demon? Got it. So, the only real threat is that demon sorcerer Mapa trying to ambush us?" Ayano finally felt somewhat reassured, though she didn't let down her guard.
She was still young, but she wasn't inexperienced. She'd eliminated plenty of monsters in the past. Strategically underestimating the enemy while tactically treating them seriously—that much she understood. If Ayano lacked even that basic level of competence, the Kannagi family wouldn't have considered her a candidate for clan leader.
"Not just Mapa. We still need to watch out for the sealed demon itself. Both are threats," Luo Shu reminded as he kept his own guard up. Like Ryuya, who was using wind magic to clear the way, Luo Shu had been subtly controlling wind energy around them.
But what worried him was that, despite constant probing, he'd found no trace of Mapa. That led him to suspect that the enemy possessed an abyssal artifact capable of concealing his presence.
Regardless, having accepted this mission, Luo Shu knew retreat might be necessary—but he wasn't entirely opposed to a direct confrontation with Mapa, whom he suspected to be a mind flayer-type demon.
Just then, Chisato Nishikigi, whose keen eyesight had picked up something unusual, suddenly stopped and pointed at a massive banyan tree ahead. "Wait... could that tree be our target?"
Everyone halted at once and looked in the direction Chisato was pointing.
Before them stood a towering banyan tree, its roots forming a deep pit at its base.
"This tree..." Luo Shu frowned, sensing something was off. Narrowing his eyes, he switched his vision to spiritual sight.
In this view, above the heads and shoulders of everyone present—including Chisato, Ayano, and himself—three flickering, ethereal flames could be seen.
Following Natsuki's training, Luo Shu examined the state of everyone's three spiritual flames—essence, energy, and spirit. What he saw made his eyes widen slightly.
All of their flames were trembling rhythmically, pulsing every two seconds.
"That's it... The three flames are flickering... So, we've already entered the area under abyssal influence..." Luo Shu whispered.
"Three flames flickering... Natsuki-chan's theory..."
Chisato, who had undergone some of Natsuki's training as well, quickly recalled the explanation. "So, that passage beneath the banyan tree must be our target?"
Ayano frowned slightly and said, "I don't know what you guys are talking about with this 'three flames' thing, but that tree definitely gives me a bad feeling."
Taking a deep breath, Luo Shu carefully sensed the area. Feeling no immediate danger, he said firmly, "Let's go. At this point, we have no choice but to investigate."
With that, he led the way, stepping over dead branches and fallen leaves as the group advanced together to the massive banyan tree.
Standing before the enormous tree and its cavernous opening—large enough for a truck to pass through—Luo Shu glanced around at everyone and said, "On the count of three, we all go in together."
"Three... two... one!!"
As the final word fell, Luo Shu stepped forward and entered the banyan tree's hollow interior.
Instantly, the world spun, and darkness engulfed everything.
When his senses returned, Luo Shu realized he was standing inside a vast cavern, easily larger than a football stadium. Looking up, he saw countless stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
From their tips, droplets of water slid down, gathering at the points before falling straight down. One drop landed directly on Luo Shu's face, chilling him with its icy touch.
"So, this is the sealing site?" he murmured.
At that moment, Chisato's voice rang out from beside him. "Everyone! Look ahead!"
Hearing her call, Luo Shu immediately lowered his gaze, quickly locating Chisato. Following the direction she was pointing, his eyes fell upon a figure.
A girl, impaled through the chest by a strange, black-and-red blade, pinned to the massive roots of the tree.
Staring at the figure, Luo Shu froze for a moment.
"This... is the sealed high-class demon?"