"Iris, look at that! There's light up ahead, I think that room with the large door really does lead us somewhere," I said while pointing forward.
Iris also seemed to be getting excited, and she replied to me with a similarly cheerful feeling.
"You're right~ I think this is amazing," Iris replied.
We ended up quickening our pace a little to reach the source of the light, and then—
——
My guess was completely correct. Iris and I arrived at the underground chamber that Iris had shown me before.
This room looked very similar, and I believe there is only one underground chamber near Yggdrasil, so I think we truly had arrived beneath Yggdrasil.
Iris and her family knew nothing about the mysterious corridor we had just passed through, which meant there was still something I had yet to discover.
I immediately went to the dusty bookshelf, searching for some books that I might be able to read in order to find out what was really going on.
Perhaps there was something written in a book about the magic circle or that corridor.
Come on, come on… ah, could it be this book?
This book was titled—
"Yuusha!" I suddenly heard Iris shout, causing me to reflexively turn toward her.
She was still standing in front of the corridor we had just passed through, staring at something inside it.
At the same time Iris shouted, I felt the ground beneath our feet tremble slightly because of something.
From the sound I heard, it might have been the footsteps of something in large numbers, or perhaps something very large.
I immediately placed the book I was about to read back onto the table and lightly ran toward Iris to see what was happening.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling a little panicked since she suddenly shouted even though there had been nothing there before.
My gaze immediately turned toward the corridor we had passed through, not because of its emptiness or how long it was.
Instead, we saw what looked like a monster force, made up of various different types of monsters, marching toward us.
It was possible that they all originated from the magic circle we had seen earlier, since the same thing had happened in Vannis.
They might really have appeared just as I suspected, but more importantly, there was no way we could fight them in an uncomfortable place like this.
Above all, I needed to prioritize Iris's safety before fighting those monsters.
"Y-yuusha… where did they all come from? We have to—" before Iris could finish her sentence, I immediately grabbed her hand.
"That's enough! What matters most right now is that we run," I said as I pulled her toward the stairs that would lead us back to the surface.
I quickly opened the door, bringing both of us back above ground.
Naturally, I immediately closed the door connected to the underground chamber so that the monsters could not chase after us.
Where should we go… should we take shelter at Yggdrasil? No, I think that would be a bad choice.
Going into the settlement also didn't seem like a good decision; we might end up bringing disaster to the people taking refuge there.
If that was the case… then we could only head to the front lines, where Luke and the others were fighting the anonymous force.
That was the only place that might be the safest for now, especially since Iris and I were already extremely panicked.
"Iris, are you still able to run? We have to go to where Loki-san and the others are," I said to her.
Of course, I was worried about her, especially after we had walked through that corridor on foot.
It was possible that Iris was already exhausted, which was why I didn't want to force her to run if she was still tired.
Iris slowly nodded at me and cleared her throat, as if agreeing with me.
"I'm still fine. I can recover my mana quickly, so I can still join the attack," Iris replied.
I looked at her for a few seconds before starting to run toward the barrier to regroup with the others.
—
My chest felt tight, my breathing became irregular, and this condition made me like this—my mind was haunted by the possibility of time repeating itself again.
Hopefully… I won't have to repeat time again. Luke, Hime, Yuu-chan… I hope you're all still holding on.
If their opponents were only ordinary monsters, they should still be able to hold out for several hours.
However, if their opponents were humans, I couldn't guarantee that.
Especially if the anonymous force was actually demons with physical forms almost identical to humans, yet possessing abilities far stronger than humans themselves.
In nearly all the Abbys invasions I had faced before, it was only in Vannis that demons appeared and joined the fight.
However, their numbers were small, which was why previous invasions had felt very easy for our party to overcome.
——
Hah, hah.
"Huh, you two? What are you doing here?"
When we arrived, the force made up of elves and members of my hero party were still holding their ground…
It seemed that the anonymous force had not yet attacked them, which was why they were still here.
They all immediately approached us, seeing how exhausted we looked after running.
I quickly explained everything that had happened to them, and their reactions didn't surprise me at all.
Loki-san immediately gave orders to part of the forces already prepared here to return near Yggdrasil.
He also told them to warn the residents who were sheltering in their homes to stay alert and prepare for an attack.
"Thank you, Yuusha. Thanks to your help, Iris was able to come back safely. I truly don't know how to repay you," Loki-san said with a bright smile.
"It's fine. For now, we just need to focus on the forces in front of us, right?" I replied.
—
We all waited to see what that force would do, since they still hadn't begun their attack.
According to Luke's observations, they seemed to be forming a magic circle that appeared to be intended to break through the barrier.
As for Iris? In a situation like this, I didn't know what I should do to make our relationship grow closer.
I also didn't yet know whether what was written in the book I had read some time ago was true or not, so for now, I would fight from here once again.
"Leader, it would be better if we were the ones to attack first."
"Right, right. They look like they're underestimating us. At the very least, we should prove ourselves to them."
"Especially since the heroes are here, we should be able to deal with them."
The elves began urging Loki-san and Forn-san to start the attack immediately.
The two of them looked confused, but eventually reached a decision.
"Hah… very well, everyone! Prepare your long-range magic. I'll count down before we attack together," Loki-san said.
Hime and Yuu-chan also prepared their magic, while only Luke and I could do nothing but watch them.
"One… two… now!" Loki-san shouted, signaling everyone to release their magic.
Boom!
Whoosh!
A strong wind began to blow due to the effects of the various spells hitting the enemy force.
"Did we succeed?" "Look at that!"
Only a quarter of their forces were defeated by our previous attack.
Rumble, rumble.
This tremor… I feel it again. What is going to happen next?
This tremor feels extremely close to us—damn it, where is it coming from?!