How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 156

173. Heading Towards a Suspicious Place (4)

I was stunned, not expecting my attack to actually break through.

“It’s softer than I thought?”

While I was wondering, I saw a sphere emitting a purple light inside.

“The core, huh? That must be the center.”

“…We just need to break that, then.”

Sylvester seemed to understand, and as soon as he landed, he powerfully dashed forward again.

He extended his sword as if to stab, releasing a sharp aura.

Like an arrow, he pierced through the core, shattering it and coming out the other side.

Losing the core that supplied its power, the Bone Warrior staggered, unable to maintain its form, and collapsed, scattering countless bones.

“Impressive skills, as expected.”

I honestly praised Sylvester’s skills, but he wore a somewhat complicated expression.

“No, the core was already cracked when I pierced it. Aileen, your water stream must have hit it first.”

Hmm, is that so?

Even so, I don’t intend to readily boast about it.

The only people who brag about their achievements in situations like this are those itching for a fight.

“Well~ it’s all thanks to the new equipment. Plus, spirit magic seems to be surprisingly effective against them.”

I just feigned modesty and played it off.

“Anyway, I was nervous since they said it was a monster created by those demonic bastards, but it’s not a big deal after all.”

Alnix stretched his stiff shoulders as if something was lacking.

“At this rate, can’t we handle it quickly just among ourselves? You agree, Aileen?”

“…Well, I wonder about that.”

I just gave a faint, bitter smile and didn’t make any definite statements either way.

“Anyway, this is just the beginning. Don’t let your guard down and let’s keep going.”

* * *

The demon’s ritual site is much larger inside than it appears.

The structure itself has the effect of distorting space, so its interior boasts a scale comparable to a decent dungeon.

As it is so vast, we have already been wandering around here for several hours, fighting the monsters we encountered.

This time, a monster similar to the Bone Warrior we saw earlier appeared.

A familiar [a magical creature bound to a witch or wizard] purely made of bones.

A snake with five heads and three tails.

“…It reminds me of a certain monster.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard rumors about a snake with nine heads…”

“Ah… the one that appeared on a large scale in the southern jungle this time? Was it a Hydra?”

Sylvester and Alnix expressed similar sentiments and charged towards the snake together.

The snake’s five heads spotted Alnix and repeatedly shot something out from inside their mouths.

Sharply honed bone spears.

Alnix responded to that.

“Not a chance! Hahahahahaha! It tickles!”

He laughed cheerfully and pushed forward, taking the attacks with his whole body.

It’s the defense he gained by purely strengthening his body with aura.

“Hup!”

Alnix crashed head-on into the snake’s body.

He rammed it once with his shoulder, firmly stomped on the ground, and then slammed it with his elbow.

Crack!

A cracking sound echoed as the snake howled.

A familiar carefully crafted by the demons can’t stand up to just one human.

Even though it’s just a familiar that should move according to orders, the snake tries to bite Alnix as if in anger, moving its five heads.

“I’ve roughly grasped… its strength. I won’t make a mistake this time. I’ll cut it down for sure.”

Sylvester muttered lowly, swinging his sword and passing by in a flash.

The moment his sword passed, the five heads were cleanly sliced off and fell to the ground.

After that, Alnix, who tore apart the snake’s body with pure strength, found the core and punched it, crushing it to finish it off.

And I, watching their performance, clapped while hugging my staff.

Well… all I can do is clap.

Okay, seal clap. Clapping.

You did a great job, so I’ll give you a handmade potion that I made myself as a reward.

‘They’re doing well on their own without me having to say anything…’

Whether they’re in their prime, the two of them were able to defeat the enemy sufficiently without my help.

If I step in there, it’s just overkill.

‘As expected… it’s easier when the party is strong.’

Strong companions guarantee my safety and slacking off.

It also allows me to comfortably freeload like this.

‘Plus, the difficulty is lower than I expected.’

The monsters that appear are weak for a place that needs to be conquered in Volume 23.

‘Well… it’s because the ritual site isn’t fully completed yet.’

Since a sufficient environment is not prepared, the difficulty is inevitably lower compared to the original work.

It’s like a guest has come before they’re ready.

Of course, they can’t properly welcome them.

It’s worth it to take the initiative and try to conquer it in advance.

“Anyway, it’s really disgusting.”

Alnix grumbled as if he felt uncomfortable even though he had defeated the enemy.

“These bones… these are real, right?”

He wore a complicated expression as he looked at the bones he accidentally stepped on and broke.

There’s no way he can’t distinguish the truth.

“…Probably real.”

I added briefly.

Sylvester also glanced at them as if something was bothering him.

If you think about what it means for those to be real, you’ll fall into the next question.

Where did they get this many bones from?

I have some idea, but I didn’t bother to tell them.

Maybe it’s an element outside of the original work, and it won’t help them at all even if they find out.

And I have to confirm it even if they do.

So I won’t say it.

“…It’s unpleasant, but conquering this place is the priority. Let’s think about that later.”

Sylvester cut off the question Alnix threw out and looked around.

“The problem is that it seems like quite a bit of time has passed since we explored here… but it doesn’t seem like we’re making any progress.”

Even though we’ve come quite a distance, there’s no end in sight.

We have to walk on land overgrown with suspicious plants and thick purple smoke, so it feels like we’re almost lost.

“Aileen, do you know the way?”

Of course, they have no choice but to rely on me.

Please leave it to the human navigation, Aileen.

“It seems like we can just go straight to the right from here.”

It’s not an unfounded guide.

I’m just guiding them in the direction where I feel the most discomfort based on my spatial awareness.

“If this place is a place created by distorting space, we can move on to the next section by finding the most heterogeneous part. I can get a sense of that.”

The gimmick of this castle is to isolate space, create many different places, and arrange them in a complicated way.

If you can’t find your way by crossing them one by one, you won’t be able to move forward.

“So, Aileen, you’re like a compass.”

Alnix said as if joking.

That’s good?

I want to just guide the way like that and go comfortably.

“Well, it’s not far. It seems like it’s time to move on to the next place, so let’s all cheer up.”

When I guaranteed it, their expressions brightened a little.

“However, those guys will start to interfere in earnest soon. Be careful.”

“Kuhahahat! You don’t have to worry about that!”

Alnix confidently pounded his chest with his fist and started shouting.

“They keep sending only trivial guys? At this rate, I can handle anything they send alone.”

“…I won’t bother to stop you, but as a colleague, what is Sylvester’s opinion?”

“Leave him alone. Well, even if he says that, he has something to rely on.”

“Then, shall we leave the guy who’s coming now entirely to Alnix?”

“Hmm? Aileen? Coming?”

“They’re coming, new obstructors.”

There was another sign of approach.

Looking back, Sylvester seemed to have noticed it already, only slightly moving his gaze to watch.

“Haha! Okay! Whatever comes, I’ll definitely…”

Alnix’s voice and confidence, who was confidently stepping forward as if to leave it to me this time, rapidly diminished.

“Ah… definitely.”

This time, the enemy is coming from the sky.

Moreover, its size is incomparable to the ones that have appeared so far.

“…Wait a minute? Wyverns?”

For convenience, shall we call them Bone Wyverns?

Dozens of Bone Wyverns seemed to have spotted us from the sky and were changing direction to fly towards us.

Even if I count by eye, there are roughly thirty or more.

“Come to think of it, you said that Alnix would handle the next guy alone, right?”

I readily give you the opportunity to play an active role.

“Please, feel free to play an active role.”

I believe in you!

You can do it, right?

When I pretended to send expectations with my eyes alone, Alnix drooped his shoulders.

“…No matter how much it is me, I don’t know what to do with winged guys.”

He even makes a crying face.

I knew it.

Sylvester also frowned with his sword drawn, as if he was annoyed by those guys.

“Do we have to face all of them?”

“Certainly, if we step up, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything we can’t do.”

If even I step up, we can annihilate them, but.

There seems to be no need to deal with them honestly.

“…I can try to draw their attention. I want to recommend suppressing them with spirit magic and running away in the meantime?”

“Can’t you use that space-skipping trick?”

Alnix asked expectantly, but I shook my head.

“I can use it, but I can’t recommend it.”

The consumption is a problem, but more importantly, I don’t know the structure of this place in detail.

‘I find the direction with my senses, but I don’t know what’s specifically there.’

It’s okay for short-range movement for evasion, but we need to move a long distance to get rid of those guys, and if there are obstacles or traps in that place, we’ll be caught.

The most foolish thing to do is to blindly rely on transition in exploration just because it’s convenient.

When going down an unknown path, there is nothing safer than walking and stepping on your own feet to check.

That is the basics.

“How about taking the opportunity to run to the place I mentioned earlier while showing a gap?”

When I looked at each of their faces with the meaning of ‘how about it’, they both nodded greatly as if they had no complaints.

It’s decided.

“I’ll launch a preemptive strike with spirit magic. Sylvester, I’ll ask you to suppress them. Can you do it?”

“No problem.”

Sylvester gripped his sword and looked at the distance from the guys several times as if measuring it, and then agreed again.

As it is, we were careful even to take a deep breath to time it, and we gathered our spirits.

“The moment I activate spirit magic. Immediately. Got it?”

There is no answer, but I’m sure they understood enough.

It’s not like they’re children, so there’s no need to check one by one.

“Salamander! Cover them with flames!”

When I summoned Salamander and gave the order, Salamander immediately shot fireballs at the sky.

Whirr-whirr-whirr!

The flames stuck to the guys, and the flames that stuck spread out and covered them.

And.

“Hup!”

Sylvester also swung his sword, aiming for the next timing.

The sword energy soon split like buckshot and hit the monsters covered in flames one after another.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gang!

A loud explosion rang out, and the guys couldn’t get into formation and hesitated.

But that’s only for a moment, it’s just suppression and won’t last long.

“Run!”

As soon as I shouted, Sylvester and Alnix shot out like arrows.

I also run out, but I can’t help but fall behind because my feet are slower compared to those two.

Well, if I fall behind too much, I can use short-range transition.

Certainly, the difference in physical ability is great.

Above all, the difference in skill is great.

Noticing that, Alnix grabbed the scruff of my neck without even asking and ran with me on his back.

Oh my, how violent.

The same joke doesn’t come out.

‘Ugh?!’

I had to cover my mouth right away because I thought I would scream from the inertia.

Still, I have to guide the way, so I was careful not to bite my tongue and specified the direction.

“Straight to the right… turn!”

While enduring the acceleration, I shouted, and the two turned in the direction at the same time as if they had received a signal.

“Ugh! Yes! Right in front!”

About 50 meters ahead, just crash straight in.

Hanging on Alnix’s shoulder, I activated the interference ability with the ability to control space.

A disguised passage opened in front of us, and we jumped in without hesitation.

Yes, so far it’s as planned.

I turned my head at an angle where the two couldn’t see and smirked.

* * *

“…The humans have passed through a certain area.”

“…Faster than expected.”

“…Not good.”

“…We have no choice but to step in directly.”

“…I agree.”

“…First, get rid of the most troublesome existence. It’s too much for us to deal with at once right now.”

“…Humiliation.”

“…We have no choice but to endure it.”

“…Especially, we can’t let that person know.”

“…I agree. We can’t be looked down upon. This is a problem we have to deal with.”

“…I know. Make sure they don’t get to the deepest part.”