The passage leading downwards was a spiral slope, and we proceeded slowly. As we walked, I could feel a faint miasma. The monsters in the underground were undoubtedly “Dark Dolls,” but given that their individual abilities weren’t high, the possibility of sensing the miasma before getting close could be attributed to–

“It seems there are quite a number of them even at this stage.”

“…One question.”

Lefin asked me, raising her hand slightly.

“How many of those monsters were described in the story as having appeared?”

I don’t know the specifics. But there were reports that the Knight Order of one nation, which somehow managed to get its act together, struggled with the numbers, so it’s probably not just a hundred or two hundred.

It could even be thousands… but since it wasn’t directly depicted in the game, there’s a possibility that it has changed now that it’s the real world.

As this was happening, the passage finally reached the underground, and the slope ended, becoming a straight path.

Now, how many are there?

I shined the light forward. The exit of the passage came into view, and we finally saw the Dark Dolls—

“…Huh?”

Lefin raised her voice. Then Rokuto fell silent.

And I too… the Dark Dolls are certainly weak. Apparently, there are exceptions, and the setting documents mentioned that some are large-bodied and cannot be dealt with by ordinary knights or warriors.

However, what I see now in the light are small-bodied, very ordinary individuals. Jet black skin, like an artificial doll without a hint of life, and miasma. They are eerie, but I don’t feel fear.

The problem is… there must be over a hundred of them just within the illuminated area.

“…This many, at this point?”

Immediately after I spoke, the Dark Doll closest to the passage looked at us, showing caution. It didn’t make a cry, but other individuals followed suit, turning their bodies towards us… their movements were somehow eerie.

“Lefin, Rokuto. Can you tell me how many there are?”

“Even if we calculate from their presence…”

Lefin groaned.

“I can’t answer immediately, but there’s a possibility it exceeds a thousand…”

“I hope that’s all it is.”

Even Rokuto seemed surprised.

“It’s true that their individual abilities aren’t high, but with this many of them…”

“Right… then a question.”

I asked Lefin and Rokuto.

“If I unleash my Book power and annihilate them all at once, do you think Redras would notice?”

“…As long as he’s pouring magic power into the earth, we can’t say for sure that he wouldn’t notice a large amount of magic power appearing underground.”

“What about intermediate magic?”

“I don’t know… but it’s a possibility.”

Lefin said. I replied, “Understood,” and then,

“Then, what about Lefin and the others’ presence?”

“…I think there’s a possibility that would also be noticed.”

In that case, there’s only one option. Since the Demon Race and Demon King didn’t notice the appearance of the Dark Dolls, annihilating them here shouldn’t be a problem. Even if they were noticed, as long as there are no traces that we did it, they shouldn’t be on alert when we enter the stronghold. Therefore, we should suppress the emission of magic power and act in a way that our true identities are not revealed.

“Rokuto, just to confirm, we can’t investigate without breaking through these guys, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, let’s do a little cleaning. Leave it to me. Lefin and Rokuto, focus on protecting yourselves.”

“Then, temporarily, into Lord Ruon’s body.”

“You can do that with non-contractors too?”

“It’s a pseudo-state, so you can’t use our powers.”

“Then that’s fine.”

Lefin and the others disappeared. At the same time, I first put my sword back in its sheath. It’s too difficult to deal with this many enemies with a sword. To finish quickly, I’ll change my weapon.

With a slight incantation, light appeared before me. As soon as I touched it, the light converged, and a spear appeared.

This is a type of magic that didn’t exist in the game… In advanced magic, there are methods to create swords through magic, such as the ‘Ice Spirit Sword,’ but this is a lower-tier magic of the same lineage. It creates a magic spear, and its attack power is almost the same as a common iron spear.

During my training, I tried using not only swords but also other weapons like spears and axes, but I ultimately concluded that the sword, which I was most accustomed to, was sufficient. As for bows and the like, magic is more useful, so I haven’t had a chance to use them, and while there are useful techniques in hand-to-hand combat, I haven’t had the opportunity to use them either.

However, a spear is a little different. In situations where it’s just me against a group, spear techniques with many area-of-effect attacks are quite convenient.

And with my abilities, even a simple horizontal sweep would be fatal to a Monster… I kept my gaze fixed on the “Dark Doll” that was not attacking me, but instead watching me warily, and I ran through the passage and burst into the wide Underground area.

Before they could make a move, I launched a preemptive horizontal sweep. In an instant, all the Monsters that were in range were blown away without exception. It was an attack with only a slight Body Enhancement, but it seemed to be enough for the “Dark Dolls”.

I move in a way that leaks as little Magic Power as possible to the outside… At this point, I’m still not very good at that, but this time, it seems like there won’t be a problem even if I don’t use my full power. There’s just one thing that concerns me–

“……There are so many of them.”

I muttered. The number of Monsters at the bottom of the Underground far exceeded one or two hundred. I swept away the Monsters that attacked me after seeing my actions, and I looked around.

“Rokuto, which direction?”

“Straight ahead!”

In response to the voice that echoed in my head, I stepped forward. Then, the “Dark Dolls” finally became active. They closed in on us all at once as if to crush us– and I, in turn, swung my spear with great force.

A dozen or so Monsters in front of me touched the spear and were instantly blown away. The spear created by Magic generates Magic Power in parts other than the blade, so even touching those parts has an effect. Therefore, any Monster that touches the spear will disappear without exception.

I re-gripped my spear and attacked the approaching Monsters, this time spinning around as if performing a spinning slash. The Monsters that tried to close in from all directions were easily blown away.

“……Huh?”

Among them, I discovered one that was illuminated by the light and was almost twice as tall as the other Monsters. I guessed that it was a being formed by absorbing more Magic Power than the other Monsters.

That one, too, attacked me… While scattering the surrounding Monsters, I faced the tall one head-on.

“It might be stronger than the others, but still–“

The Monster charged. I quickly got into a thrusting stance– and unleashed the general lower-level technique, “Flash Thrust.”

It’s a technique that unleashes a powerful thrust imbued with Magic Power. It directly hit the charging “Dark Doll” and… it was easily blown away and annihilated.

I thought I had it easy, but perhaps because I was distracted by that Monster, the surrounding Monsters quickly tightened their encirclement. Even if I were beaten black and blue, it wouldn’t hurt, but I couldn’t afford to waste time taking hits. I immediately swung my spear, blowing away all the Monsters that tried to get close.

Here, the Monsters’ movements also changed. The Monsters, which had no coordination whatsoever, suddenly changed into orderly movements.

I thought for a moment that it was the Demon Race’s doing–. I felt a particularly large Miasma emanating from something in my direction of travel.

“Is it controlling the Monsters’ movements with that Miasma…?”

Behind the Monsters attacking to surround us, there are movements of Monsters preparing to charge. No, that’s not all. There’s someone emitting Miasma even further back.

“Lefin, Rokuto, it seems there’s a strong individual even further behind the one commanding–“

“Yes. That Monster is the strongest one here.”

Lefin replied. I said, “Understood,” and looked at the Monsters charging under orders.

Like an entire Army… I thought as I scattered the approaching Monsters. The surrounding ones are moving briskly due to the Commander’s Miasma. In that case, it’s better to defeat the one commanding first.

Based on that judgment, I blew away the Monsters in front and charged. Then, the Monster emitting Miasma also bravely came towards me. I immediately unleashed my spear– and successfully defeated it. The Miasma also ceased, and the movements of the surrounding Monsters became sluggish.

Good… As I muttered in my heart, I also spotted the one emitting a strong Miasma further ahead. An individual with a body as large as mine… I rushed towards it.