If the infected cows were the most terrifying demons Juno had ever seen, then this amalgamation was the embodiment of hell itself. While the adventurers stared in abstract horror, indents formed in the crowd, molding a face into the blob. The "mouth" hole was quickly filled in by crystals, forming a monstrous meat grinder in the middle.

"I don't think those villagers can be salvaged by now!" shouted Iliya. The others unanimously nodded, getting ready to begin battle.

Lei moved first, unsheathing his blade faster than a bolt of lightning. Iliya and Juno followed with ranged attack from the sides, but each barrage of magic was absorbed by the crystals. Seeing as their attacks weren't working, the two girls instead directed their energy into defending Lei as he fought.

All around the cave, the clang of lumite on lumite resounded, louder than the roars of the creature. From afar, Juno could see a brilliant flash of light, signaling the activation of magic. In an instant, Lei was able to slice the monster in half. But almost immediately after, the gash was patched up as the crystals grew back and locked into one another. Even if Lei could crush the corpses into an unrecognizable mess, any holes were replaced by more crystals. In a way, the amalgamation was more like a living mass of lumite that happened to wear corpses like clothes.

The creature roared again, molding itself into an odd shape resembling a silkworm's cocoon made from flesh. Suddenly, sharp protrusions of crystal shot out from the inside, forming what seemed to be appendages made from lumite.  The adventurers froze for a split second, shocked by the insane adaptability of this mindless terror. 

The sound of clashing rang again, followed by a sharp crack.

 

"Shit!" The top half of Lei's weapon flew off to the side, followed by the slayer as the creature struck him from the side. 

"Is... Is that rock hair???" Malis flew in front of the group and formed a magic shield to block the onslaught of crystalline locks, but even as the shield started cracking, the attacks showed no signs of stopping.

"Priestess, can you increase my speed, strength, and magical power? We're have to make a run for it!" 

Juno started chanting the priestess' spell, but hesitated a bit midway.

'Actually, should I really be boosting the strength of a demon?' 

"Hurry up before we all die!" 

"Alright, fine!"

 

The aura surrounding Malis suddenly doubled in strength, signifying the spell's success. With a burst of energy, the shield was replenished and stronger than before. With a speed almost invisible to the naked eye, the demon swept towards the tunnels, picking up all three of the adventurers along the way. As the shield started to crack behind them, Malis launched a magical attack towards the ceiling of the tunnel before darting through the debris, forming a wall of rubble between the escapees and their pursuer. Darting through the winding paths of the cave, the demon continued to form blockades behind them as they got closer and closer to light. Once they flew out of the cave, Malis tossed the cargo onto the ground and faced the mountain behind them.

 

"Sorry in advance for this! Just blame demons as usual!" Malis started changing up an energy blast, empowered by the buff from Juno. The attack grew to triple Malis's height before the sound of rocks breaking from withing the cave could be heard. Hearing the crystals approach, Malis fired their attack, enveloping the entire forest in a blinding light.

 

When Juno opened her eyes again, the mountain was gone.

Actually, the parts of the mountain were still there. It was just that the mountain had been turned into a pile of rubble, crushing the pieces of lumite beneath it. Above the pile of rubble was a five-layered magic circle, with Malis hovering above it.

 

"Thanks to that magic boost, I was able to create a demonic seal on this space. The strength of this seal should be enough for the time being, since I'm a general. I'm sure his highness will come deal with it later, so just make sure NO ONE sets it free."

The three adventurers sat in silence and stared at the demon, still processing the scale of what had just happened.

"So anyways, I have one interesting report to write. See y'all later!"

With a turn of their body, Malis vanished into the air once again.

 

"..."

 

"Damn it, that sword cost 2500 experience!" Lei dusted off his clothes and stood up, still looking hopelessly at the once-mountain.

"You're thinking about that?!" Juno was the next to get up, pulling Iliya up with her.

"In any case, I believe we should also return to report this." Per Iliya's suggestion, the three headed back into the forest.

 

Just like before, there was an awkward silence between the adventurers. Unlike before, however, a dusty mist now covered their way back.

 

"Have you thought about your weapon?" Lei asked, prompting Juno to remember their previous conversation.

"I'm not sure. I'll think about it."

"Understandable." Lei looked back at the two girls trailing him. "If you do decide to use the spear or sword, Alfred can train you."

Juno paused. "Alfred? Why him, specifically?"

"He comes from a noble family, so he's been trained in that kind of stuff. It's also the reason why he and his sister are so stupidly naive."

"You sound like you envy him."

Lei sighed. "Well yeah, to some extent. Compared to him, I've done a lot of terrible things to get where I am. But I'm pretty satisfied with where I am now. How about you? The holy priestess isn't from this world, right? It must suck to get forcefully taken from your home."

"Yeah... I want to go back as soon as possible," Juno answered, leaving a slight melancholic taste in herself. "It just happened too suddenly." 

 

"We opened the door to our classroom and instantly we were in here, and everyone was talking about us being heroes or whatever. At first I thought we could get home if we completed the task given to us, so I tried my best to help the hero progress, because I just wanted to go home. Just the fact that there exists magic and divine energy in this world helps me hold on to the speck of hope that tells me I can find my answers in the Demon King."

Juno held in a breath. She didn't want to admit it, but it was true that there was no definite way for her to go home.

"You didn't even get a chance to say goodbye...? How horrible..." Iliya put a hand on Juno's shoulder, hoping to ease some of her turmoil.

"That's part of why I absolutely have to get back home. I don't mind it too much, you know. After all, I wouldn't have met you guys if I wasn't the priestess." Juno exchanged a grin with Iliya, who smiled back.

 

"Well then, how about you? Why are you hanging around the priestess" The question was directed at Iliya this time. 

"Well, the truth is, I have no memory."

Juno halted. "You have no memory? What does that mean?"

"My memories start from when you saved me. The only things I know about myself is that the place you found me was not my home, and I can control divine energy." Iliya slowed down a bit. "I'm sorry that I can't tell you more, but... I'm an enigma to even myself."

 

"Either way, we all ended up here together, and that's all that matters in the present." Lei hastened instead, exiting the forest and heading into the city. "Now let get back to the guild."

 

 

---

For the first time in ages, the bustling guild hall was quiet. After all, rumors had already spread about the collapsed mountain, and people naturally wanted to find out the truth of what happened.

 

"So, you encountered a demon inside the cave, but it blew up the mountain and buried itself?" 

"Yes."

"I see. Well, that mountain didn't really fall into human territory, but you should still be more careful about your image."

Even though she had kept her best customer service smile the entire time, Juno could see the slight twitches in the receptionist's eyebrows . Although the version of the story Lei told wasn't too far from the truth, it was still difficult to fathom that an entire mountain could have gotten leveled. It wasn't even as if the original quest was difficult. As a matter of fact, was it not so insignificant a task that Lei had refused to go before? But since there were only a handful of people worthy of the title "Slayer" in this world, a mere receptionist definitely did not have the power to reprimand Lei. 

And so, the party was let off with an indefinite ban from Atska's quest board.