I hear footsteps echoing.
I couldn’t imagine what the interior would look like when I looked at this temple from the outside.
It’s actually one simple path, but that path is decorated with portraits at regular intervals.
They all depict different things, but one in particular draws my eyes.
“It looks like…”
I see a painting of a dragon, that looks just like the dragon king in his dragon form.
Then again, it’s not like I’ve ever seen any other dragons…
Ou is standing in front of a different painting.
Actually, it’s not just Ou, the other demons too. But the other demons seem perplexed, with some even crying.
What is that painting…
“You boorish people. I was not expecting you to come this far!”
But then, I feel a different presence in the temple’s path.
No, is this anger?
I feel pressure pushing down on my body, like when I use Intimidate.
I almost kneel without thinking, as that scrapes away my HP even though I’m just standing here.
I need to brace myself. I put strength into my stomach, bear with it, and take a step forward. Then another.
And strangely enough, the pressure is disappearing.
I pass by many kneeling demons, and quickly throw multiple magic infused knives to the other side of the passage with the Replication skill.
The knives explode on the other side, and the pressure is gone.
“I’m surprised you could move so easily in the middle of that.”
Says Ignis with a clear expression.
Now that I think about it, when the other demons were kneeling, it felt like Ignis and others were about to do something.
“Let’s keep going before the goddess does something. But we are in her domain, so be very careful.”
Ignis says as he takes the lead and continues walking through the passage.
Other demons follow, and as before, I’m in the rear with Ou.
And in a white open area, we find Elizabeth. She’s glaring at us with a displeased expression. It’s like we rudely barged into her home.
I casually look around, and don’t see any traces of the explosions from before. The floor and walls don’t have a scratch on them.
I look at Elizabeth again, and see what looks like a big transparent box behind her.
That box has things of many shapes and colors inside, and it’s like they’re floating. Is that like a water tank?
But what interests me the most is that I sense what feels like magic energy from each thing. There are things of all sizes, and I can see them moving to another box through a tube from time to time.
“How stubborn. I don’t know how you made it here, but… It’s fine. I will end you here. How unfortunate. Especially that…”
Elizabeth stops, and looks at Ignis, and then at Ou.
“Such nice toys will be broken here.”
She says, and several demons attack.
Elizabeth isn’t really holding weapons, but even though it looked like she was caught off guard, the demons raising their swords stop about a meter away from her, with their swords still in the air. They’re like butterflies caught in spider web.
“You fools don’t know where you are. Die.”
Elizabeth raises her hand, and the demons look like they’re struggling.
I throw a knife at her to help them, and other demons fire magic, but it’s like it’s all blocked by a shield.
“No use.”
She declares loudly, but when it looks like she’s about to deliver the killing blow, Ignis swings his sword.
A dark shadow stretches from the tip of the magic sword, and it attacks Elizabeth like it’s alive.
It really is the flipped version of the holy sword, and it’s heading to attack Elizabeth.
Elizabeth calls forth a weapon of light… A spear, and swings it at the shadow.
Light and shadow clash fiercely, and after a while, both vanish.
In the meantime, the demons that were caught are able to escape with the help of the others.
“This really is an environment that works in her favor.”
Ou is about to activate magic, and frowns.
“Or it might be the opposite. An environment that is disadvantageous to us.”
The demons’ attribute is the exact opposite of Elizabeth’s, so is it hard for them to bring out their full power here?
Then I… Well, at least I don’t see any debuffs in my status panel. Then again, who knows if that sort of thing would be displayed.
But my body doesn’t feel heavy or anything, and I don’t feel anything wrong with me, so I’m pretty sure I’m unaffected.
So I’m in good form, but I’m sure Elizabeth won’t fight the same way here as she did over there, so I need to be careful.
I especially need to see just how different she is… I can’t tell from this back and forth alone.
Would it be best to cross swords with her and check?
I grip my sword tighter, and take a step forward, along with the demons, toward Elizabeth.
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Thanks for the treat.
I worry some of them might not make it out of this. I’m also curious about the start of this chapter why the demons were crying when looking at that picture