Activation, Ore Magic Red Beryl

After that, Grail and the others climbed the mountain.

Snow had piled up on the mountain, dyeing it completely white. It was so cold that their breath turned white. The snow continued falling without stopping.

……Though thanks to their magically imbued boots, it helped that their feet did not sink deeply even in the piled-up snow.

“This way.”

Guided by the woman, Grail and the others continued on and arrived at their destination.

There was a large stone monument there.

Some sort of writing was written all over it, but it seemed different from modern language, so Grail could not read it.

“Could you destroy that stone monument over there?”

It was exactly what the request had said.

However, there Grail suddenly wondered.

—Why did this woman not destroy it herself?

“Hey, if you’re coming this far with us, wouldn’t it be faster for you to destroy it yourself?”

“Hehe, you say such interesting things.”

The woman smiled and continued.

“When this stone monument is destroyed, Largorin is weakened. But you see, the attacks of the person who destroyed it stop working on Largorin. That is why I want to ask someone else.”

“Huh.”

Grail accepted that that was how it worked.

Once he accepted it—Grail acted quickly.

Oson muttered something like this, but,

“……It is quite an old-fashioned stone monument. It makes me hesitate.”

Grail pulled out his sword without caring.

“Don’t get scared, Oson. When you do it, you just do it…… like this!”

Grail suddenly slammed his sword into the stone monument.

A dull sound echoed, and a dull impact traveled into Grail’s hands. It was not easy like slicing through paper.

“Daaaaaaaamn iiiiiiiiit!”

Grail swung his sword down over and over without caring.

“How good, how good!”

The woman said cheerfully and clapped her hands. She looked at Oson and the others and continued.

“Come now, you all continue too!”

“……Let’s do it!”

Oson and the others, who had steeled themselves, also began attacking the stone monument. Grating clangs rang out—

Before long, the stone monument turned into rubble.

“All riiiiiiight!”

It was when Grail roared.

—I will not forgive you.

A heavy, pressing voice fell from above their heads. Grail’s emotions shook at the depth of anger transmitted through the voice. In his surprise, Grail looked up at the sky.

……However, there was only snow continuing to fall.

Oson and the others were also looking up at the sky in the same way.

The woman opened her mouth.

“……Did something happen?”

“I heard a voice saying, ‘I will not forgive you.’”

“Oh?”

The woman responded to Grail’s answer in an amused tone.

“I did not hear it, but hmm, so that is how it feels.”

“Hey, what does this mean?”

“Perhaps it means you have entered Largorin’s ‘absolutely never forgive’ list?”

Those words, which he could not overlook, grated against Grail’s emotions.

“Haaah!? What does that—!”

It was when Grail shouted.

“U—”

Their mage companion let out a groan and collapsed onto the snow.

“Wh-hey, what happened……?”

Even as he said that, Grail also felt a strange difficulty breathing.

“What the hell is this……?”

“This is part of the job too. I told you, didn’t I? After destroying the stone monument, it would be an easy job where all you had to do was sleep.”

While the woman spoke, their priest companion collapsed.

The woman reflected in Grail’s eyes appeared doubled to the left and right.

“……You bastard, what did you do!?”

“Dead Feint Cloud—a spell that makes people faint. Against low-level opponents like you, it works quite well, doesn’t it?”

The woman laughed, giggling.

“Here, I will have you become bait to lure out Largorin. Now, good night.”

“……Run!”

At the same time as those words, Oson and the others began running in all directions.

The woman did not panic—still with a smile on her lips, she watched them go.

“Running is useless. The poison that has spread through your bodies will stop you.”

As if proving those words, the figures moving away collapsed one by one.

Grail—did not run.

He glared at the woman with eyes of rage. Squeezing out the last of his strength, he drew the sword at his waist.

“Y-you bastard……!”

“Oh my, you are energetic, aren’t you? Is that what they call guts? How surprising. Not bad?”

“Kuruwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Grail shouted and slashed at the woman.

For some reason, the woman did not move—the blade Grail thrust out cut into the woman’s shoulder.

Clang!

There was a sound, but,

That was all.

“Kukukukuku……”

After laughing, the woman looked at Grail.

“Did you think an E-class blade—that such a garbage sword could reach me!?”

At the same time as she said that, the woman’s hand struck Grail’s stomach once. It was a light movement, as if brushing away trash, but tremendous pressure struck Grail’s stomach.

“Bufweh!?”

Grail’s body was blown away and rolled across the snow.

“Ahahahahaha! I could have killed you, really! But you are an important sacrifice for Largorin! How lucky for you, because thanks to that, your life has been extended a little!”

“……D-damn……!”

Tormented by both intense pain and the invading poison, Grail’s consciousness fell into darkness.

After knocking Grail and the others unconscious, Listea headed for the summit.

At the summit was her younger twin brother, Giltea.

“Good work, Nee-san.”

At his feet, a large magic circle over ten meters in diameter had been drawn. In the center, a large candle stand had been placed, and monster ore had been piled up on it.

“The preparations are complete. Honestly, the troublesome work is always left to me—”

“Dealing with fools is tiring too, you know?”

Laughing softly, Listea stepped into the magic circle.

“Now then, shall we begin? Fire Arrow.”

The arrow of fire released from Listea’s hand struck the ore piled on the candle stand directly, and it burst into flame.

Then she spread both hands and shouted.

“O flames of hell, now is the time to blaze up!”

At the same time as those words, light lit up in the magic circle.

From the lines that formed the magic circle, a red glow rose like steam. It became fragments of light and was absorbed into the night sky.

The activation of the ore magic “Red Beryl” had begun.

Red Beryl took a very long time to activate. They had to finish the preparations before Largorin appeared.

The plan was this.

Prepare Red Beryl aimed at the location of the stone monument.

Use the fools who destroyed the stone monument to lure out Largorin.

Largorin appears.

Burn Largorin away with Red Beryl.

Considering the expected firepower, Largorin would probably shatter in a single blow.

……Of course, the fools would die along with Largorin. It was not something Listea was interested in.

No, even before that.

The enormous heat and impact Red Beryl would spit out would greatly loosen the snow piled on this mountain.

It would become an avalanche and pour down on the town at the foot of the mountain.

There would likely be tremendous damage.

However, that too was not something Listea was interested in.

What mattered was the “Company’s order”—fulfilling it. The Company had said it wanted to test Red Beryl. Then she only had to carry that out. The damage and influence were not things Listea needed to think about.

Listea relaxed her lips.

“Really, being an employee is hard.”