Chapter 95: Time of Resurrection
The sun shone, marking the arrival of a new morning.
（Muuh, what’s the meaning of this? Even though Sword Saint Alisha discovered my true form yesterday… she isn’t telling Master and the others about it…）
Tama was pondering the matter during breakfast.
It would turn into an extremely serious matter if it was revealed that a monster that was mistaken as a kitten had been living with humans all this time.
But, Alisha didn’t tell Aria and co. about this fact. On the contrary, she had told Tama to be careful from now on so that no one would realize his true identity.
Tama couldn’t help worrying over this matter, but… he realized that there was nothing he could do against Alisha.
While Tama thought about what to do, everyone headed to the mansion’s garden to begin their morning training.
「This is… a phantasmal painting, right?」
Aria stopped walking, and her gaze went to the painting hanging on the wall.
「That’s the painting of the 〝First Hero? and the 〝Sacred Beast?.」
「WOOOW! So this is the first hero and the sacred beast!!」
Aria was extremely excited upon hearing Alisha’s explanation.
The scenery in the painting depicted a red-eyed youth cuddling up with a lion that had angelic wings protruding out of its back.
The first hero and Sacred Beast… they were the ones who had managed to place a temporary seal on the devil during Ragnarok in the ancient era.
（Even though there’s almost no record about their appearances, I never expected this place to keep a painting that depicted both of their appearances.）
Tama thought that when he saw the painting.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, Alisha was observing Tama as a slight smile formed on her lips.
A few weeks later―
「Thanks for the waiting, nyan! It’s 〝Startup? time for everyone’s artifact!」
Vulcan’s cheerful voice resounded in the garden, which was being used by Aria and co. for their training.
‘Artifact’s startup!’ It meant that the artifact had been created.
But unlike normal weapons, artifacts needed to be 〝Awakened?, before they could display their prowess. Until then, their state was known as 〝Startup?.
「I’ve been waiting for this! Let’s do this at once!」
「My bad, but we’ve no time for this.」
Stella’s spirited yell was immediately cut short.
Beelzebub was the one who had spoken.
Her expression was unusually serious, and it lacked her usual daring smile. She was sweating from her forehead.
「You mean… You discovered the Four Demon Dukes’ resurrection locations, Beelzebub-chan?」
「Yes, Alisha. And worst of all, their resurrection locations are so far from each other…」
「「「…!」」」
Everyone was left agape when they heard Beelzebub’s remark.
The Four Demon Dukes were really powerful. Thus, the original plan was to gang up on the demons with the combined force of Julius and Aria’s team.
But their plan had turned awry… when they were told that each Demon Duke’s resurrection location was so far from each other.
「The resurrection places are the historic ruins near Alfus kingdom and… inside this empire, in the labyrinth of Labyrinth City.」
「N-No way!」
「Labyrinth City of all places, nyan!?」
Aria and Vulcan were really surprised upon hearing this additional information from Beelzebub.
Her meaning was clear… One of the two locations was in Labyrinth city.
「Alisha, I have a request.」
Prince Julius spoke to Alisha in a soft voice while Aria and co. were still in an uproar.
「Ha~h… what are you expecting in this situation? Can’t be helped! Let me take care of the one in the Alfus kingdom… my homeland. It should be faster if I go there by myself.」
「My apologies for forcing you to fight in the front lines again.」
Prince Julius bowed to Alisha with a guilty look on his face.
He was extremely reluctant to ask her, a former warrior who had retired from the frontlines… and who was his buddy’s wife, to fight again, but he was forced to.
「W-Wait a minute! You mean Alisha-sama is… going to fight alone!」
Aria suddenly interrupted them with an extremely bitter look on her face.
No matter how legendary her feat as the Sword Saint was, facing one of the Four Demon Dukes by herself was… simply too reckless for Alisha.
Or so it was supposed to be.
「It’s not a big deal, Aria-chan.」
「Yes, Alisha is even more powerful than me at my peak state. I can reassure you that she’s one of the three strongest persons in the world.」
「…!?」
Aria was surprised when both Alisha and Prince Julius reassured her that it wasn’t a big deal for Alisha to go there alone.
Aria knew that Alisha was powerful enough to annihilate an entire army of demons by herself.
But, she hadn’t expected Alisha to be more powerful than Prince Julius, an extremely powerful hero, in his peak.
「That’s why, leave the Alfus kingdom’s matter to me. Aria-chan, and everyone, can I leave the one in Labyrinth City to you guys?」
Alisha started her preparations for her departure after she entrusted the resurrection location in Labyrinth City to Aria and the others.
「Aria-chan, I know you’re worrying about Alisha-chan, but… we’ve our own responsibility, nyan.」
「That’s right, Aria. I mean, even if everyone in your party and Prince Julius worked together, your war potential would still be below Alisha, you know? On top of that, you have yet to learn derivate skill.」
After Alisha and Vulcan, it was now Beelzebub’s turn to remind Aria.
She was right. Aria and co. had become far stronger than when they had just started their training. Stella had also gained a new user-friendly derivate skill.
But… the same couldn’t be said for Aria. She might eventually learn a derivate skill if they continued their training. But… they were running out of time.
「I understand… Vulcan-san, Beelzebub-sama. I’ll focus on our fight.」
Aria was finally convinced, and everyone started the preparation for their departure.
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