My sword strike flashes, defeating the demons—though surrounded, the other three also react immediately to the situation and are able to move.

Balzard is particularly noticeable. He takes the attacks from the approaching lesser demons and high skeletons while counter-attacking and blowing them away. His defense, which ensures he takes no damage, must be due to a very strong magic barrier he has constructed.

His strength is truly fitting for one of the “Three Powers”—but Eina is not to be outdone. She skillfully evades the monsters’ attacks and precisely defeats enemies with refined movements. Perhaps because she uses sword techniques similar to Sofia’s, her movements are familiar to me, but Eina’s movements are more aggressive than Sofia’s. This might be due to the difference between a knight and a princess.

And Ririsha—she too wields her spear, thoroughly striking down enemies. She’s not a character who becomes a companion, but her skill is legendary, and she shows activity no less than a companion character.

However, the biggest problem is her leadership ability rather than her skill… It’s highly likely she’ll join Eina and the others after this battle. We’ll find out if she has leadership qualities after that. For now, she’s defeating enemies without problems, so this battle seems fine.

Eventually, the battle ends. It took less time than before, probably because Balzard went all out.

“It seems like a count who really loves traps,”

Balzard remarks. Ririsha nods slightly and says,

“It’s confirmed that he’s allied with the Demon Race… Let’s proceed. If we go straight through those large doors, we’ll reach the Audience Chamber. The Count should be there, most likely.”

Ririsha takes the lead and starts walking. The remaining three, including me, follow… and pass through the large doors.

At this point, we can assume there’s no need to wander around the Count’s Castle. As expected, there’s a trap in the Audience Chamber… I need to stay alert.

It doesn’t take long to reach the innermost part. In the brightly lit, spacious room, there’s a luxurious throne room at the back, modeled after where a king would sit.

And in the center of the hall, the person we were looking for stood, as if to welcome us.

“Welcome, Ririsha… and travelers.”

The person who even performs a courteous bow… His skin is strangely pale, and he must be between forty and fifty years old. Contrary to his black hair without a single white strand, he has quite dignified wrinkles… but the paleness of his skin gives off a strange sense of unease in every way.

No doubt, he is Aazack. Dressed in noble attire with red as its base, his standing posture possessed dignity, similar to his face, but at the same time, it also held a strange quality, like that of a jester.

“The reason you visit here tonight is… because Ririsha took action?”

“It seems you understand.”

Ririsha speaks with open hostility. At the same time, she steps forward in front of us, pointing the tip of her spear at Aazack.

“Your tyranny cannot continue any longer… Since there are monsters, you must have allied with the Demon Race, haven’t you?”

“Yes. It would have been a great opportunity if the monsters I set up had crushed you, but it seems it wasn’t that easy.”

“Yes, that’s right… I will punish you.”

“Is that so?”

Aazack speaks with a confident smile… From now on, I must pay close attention to his words and actions.

In the game, when I entered this Audience Chamber, there were no traps, just a battle. As for Aazack’s abilities… he uses many HP-draining techniques, making it easy for the battle to become prolonged, but his abilities are modest for a boss, so if you’re properly leveled, dealing with him isn’t difficult. Eina and the others, having fought this far, should be able to defeat him.

If it’s a straightforward slugfest, it won’t be much trouble… but since he intends to capture Ririsha, a trap is definitely going to be sprung. I must observe Aazack’s every move and be vigilant.

“You seem quite confident.”

Balzard states. Eina nods, agreeing, while holding her sword ready.

Currently, it’s undeniable that we have the overwhelming advantage. The enemy is Aazack alone. Moreover, all of us, including me, are unharmed.

“Do I seem confident?”

Tilting his head slightly, Aazack responds.

“Confident… Hmm, I see. Since I’m acting so aloof, you must think I have some strategy.”

“That’s undoubtedly true.”

Balzard stands next to Ririsha, readying his sword.

…While there’s a possibility Aazack might simply attack, I don’t think it will be that kind of battle, so I watch how things unfold.

If there’s a pitfall, I’ll immediately use magic to deal with it. For status ailment attacks, I’ve already given them items, so there shouldn’t be any problem… or so I thought.

But the next moment, I understood what that magic power was—and heard Eina let out a small groan.

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, I collapsed to my knees. Then Balzard also let out a small sound.

And even Ririsha… Immediately after, Aazack’s roaring laughter could be heard.

“—Hahahahaha! How foolish!”

He laughs like a villain in a manga or anime… well, he is a villain, actually.

“Of course, I have arrangements to deal with rats like you, don’t I? You’ll be tortured to death while unable to move… I’ll kill you while making you feel hellish pain.”

It’s a complete declaration of victory… but here I ask a question.

“Have you noticed?”

“Hm? Noticed what?”

“That trap isn’t working on me.”

—Suddenly, Aazack’s face was filled with astonishment. However, it didn’t seem to indicate concern that the trap hadn’t worked, but rather pure surprise.

“…Oh, you have resistance?”

“Resistance…?”

“Once this magic is received, resistance is developed. Since you’re so composed, you must have received this magic before, right? From your aura, I don’t think you surpass my power.”

…Just as I thought. What was activated was an ability-dependent trap. In the game, there was magic that dealt great damage to enemies below the magic user’s ability or level. The magic Aazack cast must be related to level or magic power.

In other words, Ririsha and the others were affected by the magic because their magic power or level was lower than Aazack’s. On the other hand, it didn’t work on me, who possesses an unreasonable ability. But since I don’t look strong on the surface, he must have thought I had resistance. I’ll go along with that.

If I had been in the Book, I would have wanted to deal with it, but the magic activated faster than I could move. The speed was simply due to it being magic that only stopped movement. If this had been offensive magic, I should have been able to deal with it before the attack reached me… but since stopping movement allows for anything, he prioritized sealing actions.

However, here’s a question. This kind of magic cannot seal movement unless the user continuously casts it. But Aazack doesn’t seem to be maintaining the magic. Furthermore, this magic wasn’t used when the Game Protagonists visited the Castle and fought. Ririsha used it when she visited the Castle, but it wasn’t used in the battle with the Protagonists… and the fact that he doesn’t seem to be maintaining the magic means—

“…Ah, I’ve encountered this kind of magic before. But the method is different this time. You’re using a device, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“You’ve set up some device in this room and are using it to maintain the magic… isn’t that it?”

Aazack looked at me with a wary gaze. It seems I hit the mark.

He was able to use magic on Ririsha, but he only had enough materials for one use… this magic was probably incorporated as magic against Ririsha.

Incorporating such magic into a room itself costs a lot of money, and it’s a considerably elaborate trap. He must have set this up out of caution towards Ririsha… it would have been dangerous if I hadn’t been here.

“Hmph, to think someone with resistance would be mixed in… Oh well. In that case, I’ll personally slaughter you.”

Aazack speaks… he’s in battle mode. Now, how should I move?

Since Eina and Ririsha can’t move, I need to fight alone while protecting them… Instantly killing him is an option, but there’s one problem.

Aazack, though human, possesses demonic power. In such cases, there’s a possibility that the demon race that granted him power is monitoring Aazack and observing this battle.

Considering Eina and the others are watching, it’s risky for me to get serious and leak magic power… so there’s only one answer. Protect Ririsha and the others, and defeat Aazack within the limits of the ribbon I got from Garuku.

I’ve trained a lot using the ribbon. I even anticipated fighting alone without being able to go all out—let’s do it.

“Behold! My reborn body!”

As I brandished my sword, Aazack shouted the same lines as in the game, and his body transformed. His wrinkled face grew whiter, and magic power erupted from his body.