CH 156

Chapter 156

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : The Archfiend Workshop, Part 11 — Escape

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

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「J–Just in time…!」

「Haah, haah!」

Elsa was transferred to the room with the first fork in the road. She was able to make the transition just in time before the shockwave reached them. From here, they could escape outside by running.

「Eliza, we’re getting out of here!」

「That thing… That thing is not human…」

「Eliza!!」

Eliza was completely frightened. Even though she’s now inferior to Albert and Rafferty, if not for these two, Eliza would be the future leader of the Templar Knights. Even for Eliza, who had trained with the goal of surpassing Albert, she saw a swordsman who was completely out of their league. Not very much, but Eliza never imagined that something like that could exist in this world. How can she compete with that thing? Eliza was frightened, but her mind was occupied with that. It was the instinct of one who aspired to be the strongest swordsman, but that wasn’t what she should be doing right now. But the inexperienced Eliza couldn’t make such a decision in an instant. That’s why it is fatal.

The entrance behind them was blocked by a grate that came down from above with a crash. At the same time, the paths to the left and right were also blocked by the lattice. The passageway they were entering wasn’t so well lit that even Elsa had missed the trap in the grate. Even if there had been a trap that would have locked her in, she thought that with the transition, she would be safe at worst. But they could no longer make the transition, but only once. They had planned to retreat before they were exhausted to that point. Elsa regrets it, but it was too late.

She can’t see much in the darkness, and having no choice, she pulls the only torch she can find out of her luggage, lights it, and throws it to the side. Only the large passageway at the front of the building is not yet grated shut, but I can hear some rough breathing coming from there. Eliza also sensed the change and stood up, albeit sluggishly.

「Eliza-sama, I’m sorr–…」

「Shut it!」

Eliza tries to apologize for her mistake, but Elsa’s stern voice restrains her. Something is out there, beyond the darkness. Soon after, that something appeared with a rough breath. The giant body was…

「Pochi?」

「Isn’t he dead already…」

This was the nature of the discomfort that Elsa had felt earlier. Something was missing in the lab, she thought, and it was the absence of Pochi’s corpse. Of course, she hadn’t confirmed his complete death, but he came closer, dripping drool, as if to say, what was it that he had just suffered in agony?

「Excuse me! We’re not going to die. Right, Dagra?」

「Of course, Dogra. It’s common knowledge that a manly man doesn’t die easily!」

And then they heard from Pochi the voices of the two orcs that were supposed to have been eaten by Pochi earlier. Then, something like a bump rises from around Pochi’s shoulder, and eventually it extends as far as Pochi’s neck, and a face is formed first. It’s unmistakably the same orcs as before, with the only difference being that its mouth is as wide and slit as Pochi’s. A three-necked Dog Fiend. Its appearance was as if it were Cerberus, the guard dog of hell.

「That’s not allowed, ladies. You two we’re not getting out of here!」

「That’s right. We’re going to make sure both of you die here.」

「Wan!」

「Kuh, I don’t want persistent men, you know!?」

Elsa made light talk, but she didn’t really have that much time to spare.

Fighting this huge body in this small space. Moreover, from her earlier impression, she knew that she was up against a rather painstaking opponent. In addition, Elsa is quite worn out, and if she uses any more magic, she will certainly not be able to trigger the transition. Also, Eliza’s twin swords were already gone. The situation was bad.

「Eliza.」

「Yes.」

But even so, there were no words of resignation in Elsa’s head. She doesn’t have that kind of fragile mentality. She hasn’t been on pilgrimage duty for nearly a decade. She is also proud of it. Eliza responds to Elsa’s strong words.

「One minute… no, just 30 seconds. I’ll earn it. When I give the signal, you take the left, I’ll take the right.」

「Understood.」

Then Cerberus, Pochi that comes rushing in. At that moment, Elsa shouts.

「Now!」

「!」

The faces of Dogra and Dagra each catch them as they split to the left and right. Each tries to raise his head in the direction of Elsa and Eliza, but Pochi’s movement stops there.

「Dogra, the enemy is over there!」

「Dagra, the enemy is over here, too!」

「From this side!」

「No, no, this side first!」

Apparently, they are fighting. The body can’t help it if there are many chains of command, and Cerberus is writhing and confused. They think Elsa tucked it in, but the magic circle for the transition is directly under Pochi. They have to pull Cerberus away from that location at least once.

「Then we’ll have to decide by rock-paper-scissors which way to go first!」

「Okay, here we go! But how do you get your hand out?」

「Ah…!」

It’s fine that the orcs seem to be able to keep up their silly arguments forever, but when the female swordsman from earlier comes after them, there is no longer any way to strike. Not even Elsa had the confidence to fight a monster that could smash an entire mountain of facilities.

Given that, they had to get out of there as soon as possible. Elsa glanced at Eliza as if she had made up her mind. She wondered if Eliza will really be able to take her will into account. If Eliza doesn’t understand Elsa’s intentions, or if she remains limping, they both die. This is a gamble.

「（I don’t know when I’ve been pushed this hard before… Let’s do this!）」

Determined, Elsa barks at Cerberus with a deep breath.

「Over here, you monster!」

「Nha?」

Cerberus reacts to Elsa’s voice and turns its body toward her.

「When a woman invites you to join her, you’d be a fool if you said no.」

「That’s right. Let them enjoy how beautiful we are!」

「Wan!!」

「Do it if you can!」

Cerberus tries to rush at Elsa, who is ready. However, at the moment he took his first step, two flashes of light flashed. Eliza used the sword at her waist to cut off the heads of Dogra and Dagra from behind.

Taking advantage of Pochi’s momentary sprawl from the impact of the slash, Elsa rolls around on her feet and tries to get behind Cerberus. At the same time, she takes out a light bomb from her luggage and throws it at Pochi’s head. Since light bombs are standard equipment for those on pilgrimage, even Eliza, who was predictable, saw Elsa throw one and momentarily covered her ears and looked away. The sound and light stopped Pochi in his tracks, and Elsa took Eliza’s hand and tried to run to the magic circle. But behind her, the heads of Dogra and Dagra, which they had cut off, came rolling toward them.

「We won’t let you go!」

「You’ll die here!」

「You two are annoying!」

Eliza reacted to Elsa’s swearing and threw her handheld sword at him. The sword successfully sewed the tongues of the two heads to the ground, stopping Dogra and Dagra in their tracks.

「Alright, let’s escape!」

「Yes!」

Elsa uses all her remaining magical power to activate the transition. However, this time the transition is different from the usual one; it’s a phase transition, a special kind of transition in which two people switch places with each other. Elsa and Eliza will escape, of course, but what will be transferred to them instead?

When Dogra and Dagra bite off Eliza’s sword a little late in the metastasis, something appears before their eyes.

「Ahn?」

「What the hell is this, wait, isn’t this gunpowder!?」

What appeared before them was a blasting device used in mining and other excavations. Considering that Elsa would be pursued and use this magic circle, she had set it up just in case to repel the pursuit. She put a special device so that it will automatically catch fire only when a phase transition is made.

And the gunpowder was already just before it was lit.

「～～～!」

Dagra and Dogra hurriedly turned their heads, but they were no longer in time. Then, with a roar, the flames rolled up and engulfed Dagra, Dogra, and Pochi without mercy, and a serpent of flame ran through the cave.