Magi Craft Meister 523

16 The Demons’ Mastermind Arc

16-02 Belials

With her “Peach Blossom” in hand, Reiko jumped out of the skylight instead of exiting through the door.

“Reiko, the enemy is diagonally to the right from your location.”

Laojun’s Magi Radar, which was far superior to Capricorn 1’s Magi Detector, was able to detect the enemy’s location more accurately.

“…I found him.”

He seemed to be using a “Hide” spell, but it didn’t work against Reiko.

Reiko’s eyes were not only able to see the usual light spectrum, but also ultraviolet rays and infrared rays, and her ears could capture ultrasonic waves. She was also equipped with a simplified version of the Magi Detector.

“Here!”

She slashed at a limestone spire protruding from the ground with her “Peach Blossom”, and a figure rolled out from behind it.

“Damn it! How did you know I was here!?”

He was a man who looked like he was in his twenties. He was slim and had an eagle-like nose. His golden eyes were shining brightly in contrast with his gray hair and dark skin.

“Are you of the Kugutsu clan?”

“H… How do you know about that? Did that traitor tell you about us?”

Screaming, the confused man threw a rock at Reiko.

“What a nuisance.”

She flicked the rock away with a swing of her blade.

“…You monster… Are you in league with that shameless traitor!?”

“Activate ‘Ether Jammer’. Paralyzer.”

“Guh…”

The demon lost consciousness instantly. Since he was unable to use the surrounding Ether, he had no means to defend himself against the Paralyzer’s waves.

Reiko then tied up the demon with a rope made with Grand Spider threads and carried him to Capricorn 1. The rope had a thickness of 9 mm, and was so durable that even Reiko herself couldn’t cut unless she raised her output past 40% of her capacity.

“…Belials?”

Upon catching a glimpse of the demon Reiko had captured, Istalis said his name.

“Do you know him, Istalis?”

“Yes. He’s definitely Belials, a member of the Kugutsu clan.”

“So he’s good with Enslavement Magic?”

“Yes. There are many clans who can use their abilities to make monsters do their bidding.”

“Do they have any other abilities?”

They had to know that much about him if they wanted to keep this demon prisoner.

“The Kugutsu clan… Ah, yes, they should be able to use Transfer Magic as well.”

Upon hearing that, Jin quickly thought of a countermeasure: A magic-sealing necklace that Elsa had worn once before.

Back in Hourai Island, the real Jin hurriedly gathered the materials and started working on it.

“Umm, was it something like this…? It has no stamina-draining abilities so it’s easy enough to make.”

The source of its magical-sealing abilities was its wearers’ own Mana. It was quite ecological in that regard.

Using the Warp Gate on board, Jin transferred the necklace to Capricorn 1. Reiko then took it and put it around Belial’s neck.

It was made out of Aluminum 64, so it would be impossible to remove it without using magic.

“Looks like we managed to take care of it before he came to his senses.”

The Substitute Doll back in Capricorn 1 muttered those words with relief.

“Lord Jin, what do you plan to do with Belials?”

Istalis asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

“I want to ask him about the reason why he attacked us, and I also want him to tell us what other traps have been set ahead.”

Capricorn 1 stopped its advance until Belials regained consciousness. The idea was to wait until they could get him to tell them what kinds of traps to expect before risking being caught by them.

And that wait wasn’t that long. 10 minutes after being taken into Capricorn 1, Belials opened his eyes.

“Are you awake? Belials.”

“Uh… You’re Istalis! …Where are we?”

“Does that matter now? …Why did you attack us?”

“…”

Belials snarled. He didn’t seem to want to talk.

“We’ve piled up our current provisions and have gone to different countries…”

Belials quickly reacted to those words.

“Countries, you say? Are random groups of clan ‘countries’ now? Don’t make me laugh!”

“Belials! What are you trying to say? I don’t get you at all!?”

It seemed that Shion could no longer remain silent.

“We have to focus on getting food, right? We need to get enough food for everyone, or we’ll all starve to death!”

“Hmm, food, huh? There is food. …In the southern lands.”

“In the human countries!?”

However, Belials kept his mouth shut in response to that.

“…”

“Well, there’s nothing else we can do here. Let’s move on.”

“…Yeah.”

In response to Jin’s words, Istalis and Shion nodded and they all left Belials alone.

“Land 1, let’s go.”

“Starting Capricorn 1.”

After having wasted a little less than an hour, the party resumed their travel northward. Thirty minutes later, they reached the narrowest point in the Great Isthmus of Pazdext.

The area is rocky, and full of sections with both rugged cliffs and holes in the ground, making it extremely difficult to proceed.

“The color has changed again.”

After a certain point, the color of the rocks had changed from the gray of limestone to a reddish hue.

“…Radiolaria?”

It reminded Jin of a type of red slate that formed the Akaishi Mountains, also known as Japan’s Southern Alps.

Although it is a sedimentary rock like limestone, it is not calcareous, but a siliceous type of rock formed by the accumulation of dead radiolarians.

“Perhaps the Lauren and Gondoa continents have been brought together by millions of years of seismic shifts.”

Jin voiced his observation to himself as he looked at the landscape.

At that moment, Capricorn 1 stopped suddenly.

“What’s the matter?”

“There seems to be a magical trap ahead.”

“What?”

Upon checking the Magi Detector, they found a magical reaction that looked like a horizontal line.

“What’s that?”

“I do not know the details. But I believe it’s some kind of tripwire. So its purpose must be…”

“To trigger some kind of trap, huh…”

They didn’t know exactly what kind of trap it was, but they weren’t surprised. It was a great spot for setting a trap, after all.

“Belials, do you know anything about this? You’re already quite involved in this.

Shion looked over her shoulder and asked Belials, but he still remained silent.

“…So you still don’t feel like talking, huh?”

“Father, should I go on ahead and investigate?”

Reiko suggested this idea, but Jin stopped her.

“No, you can’t do that. We don’t know what’s up ahead. It’s too risky.”

“Then I’ll go.”

Netros intervened.

“I know quite a bit about the traps used by us demons.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Could I ask you to take care of this?”

“Yes, leave it to me. …Lucas, you come with me, too. It’ll be good training for you.”

“Alright.”

“Then I’ll go too. I’m sure I’ll be able to support you in some way.”

Ann volunteered to help them.

Thus Netros, Lucas, and Ann went on ahead to find and disarm the trap they had detected.

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