Drops of molten black metal fall and condense in the rapidly dropping temperature before they reach the ground, clinking and rolling into small round balls. Is's gaze involuntarily jumped after them, and then immediately came back to his senses.

That's not what he wants right now.

Extremely hot, then extremely cold. He remembered that Celebryan had instructed him and Scott to destroy a golem's Mithril armor in this way, but the demon's face didn't crack as he had hoped, and the knife he swung over was calmly blocked.

The demon turned the other side of his face with a look of regret.

"That's not polite. It said.

Iss sneered at it. He really wanted to burn this face as well, but if he didn't bring a bluffing fire, the fire ball of that size just now was already the limit of what he could use, and it would be useless if he burned his face...... He had to be used in a fatal weakness.

They continued to fight, in the most direct way. This demon does not know how to cast spells, but it has a strong defense, and his fighting skills are more proficient than Is. Surrounded by enemies, his companions had no strength left to support, and Terry was completely held back by a high-level demon who tried to destroy the ice shell, and Is, with the help of his more agile body and talent, barely managed to fight a draw with the enemy, and gradually became agitated.

He didn't need to defeat the opponent completely, he just needed to hold on until Ed's circle activated, but the feeling of being completely suppressed was disgusting.

And when he slid behind the demon through the ice in an instant, his heart sank even more.

The face that was originally burned beyond recognition is gradually recovering. The blood-colored filaments entangled and climbed like life in the black metal, busily reshaping the facial features. The burnt eyelids lifted slightly, and a faint light flashed through them, as if mockingly.

He only paused for a moment, and his four arms fell one after another, and four knives sealed him in them, unable to advance or retreat. Is's pupils shone brightly, and he pulled out an ice shield without thinking, but as if he had stepped on a round thing, he fell backwards involuntarily.

He cursed silently, raising his ice shield to protect the upper half of his body that would be slashed. Even the power of talent is exhausted, and he has been fighting for a long time, so he has to save some strength.

But another knife slashed at his legs—the demon had knives hidden in his legs.

Isis couldn't avoid it, and he was a little dazed for a while.

He never expected to die in such a place...... No, perhaps worse than death, these demons won't let a dragon go if it's still alive.

But the knife didn't reach him. A small white shadow suddenly appeared in mid-air, fearlessly rushing towards the blade.

“...... Nana!" Iss roared, and the blood all over his body froze instantly—when did this little bastard get out?!

Nana used all her strength to spit out its saliva blisters, which were much larger than the ones she had spit out before, not very bright, and did not look lethal at all.

However, with a soft sound, the broken blade fell to the ground, and even the slashes that fell on the ice shield looked a little weak.

The demon stepped back, his steps unsteady. The inconspicuous orb of light not only severed the knife, but also cut a semicircular wound into its foot, making it look as if it had been partially devoured by something.

It stared at Nana in surprise. The little dragon flapped its wings and struggled to stay in mid-air, screaming at it menacingly.

The next moment it was grabbed by Is, who had bounced off the ground, and pressed it to his chest.

He swung his knife and slashed horizontally, his eyes blazing with rage, as bright as molten gold, as if he had lost his mind, and he didn't care whether the knife was useless or not. The demon sinks and stands still...... And then it was fixed there.

It looked at Is, let out a weird chuckle, and then lowered its head to look down.

A flaming spike of ice shot out of nowhere, piercing into the only weakness it had hidden on the inside of its left leg.

It shouldn't have raised its leg to let Iss see this. Its blood-red veins met with the truly useful parts of it, and it stood out as it repaired its face, not unprotected, but still no match for the weapon that fused fire and ice.

All the blood-red filaments dimmed like atrophied veins.

"Nia is right......" it whispered, but was silent as Iss listened intently.

Isis inhaled deeply...... I'm still angry.

"Ed!" he turned and rushed to his chirping friend, "how long are you going to go?!"

A moment later, a silent light gave him an answer.

.

Ed propped his hands on the ground, staring intently at the circle that had begun to run. The entire crater was shaking violently like a ship about to capsize. The dwarves and demons who stood unsteadily rolled into a heap like apples in a barrel, occasionally smashing against the ice shell that protected him. He heard it crack—it couldn't withstand the power of the circle.

He turned his head to look for his companion, but he couldn't see it clearly. His eyes were blackened, sweat slipped down his forehead, he was so dizzy that he just wanted to fall to the ground, the feeling of being drained was worse than death, and he was now as weak as a worm.

But he had to. It takes a lot of power to make a circle work, and the only thing he can get and manipulate in this chaotic space is his own power...... And the two blue gems that Terry had secretly stuffed into him.

It was filled with the power of magic he knew best, with a gentle coolness like water.

He didn't dare to use it. Sometimes he was so bold that he dared to pierce the sky, and sometimes he was too small to take the slightest risk.

I don't know if it's enough...... No, I'm still pretty strong, everybody says so......

He cheered himself up in the dark, and he didn't dare to close his eyes open.

The white light rose and spread, like a fountain in layers, and the water gradually filled the whole deep pit, and it could stop at the line where the dwarves were holding on.

When the white light faded, the dwarves ...... Look at the demons face to face. There didn't seem to be any change in the surroundings, only the few outsiders who disappeared without a trace.

It took them a while to notice the difference—there were fewer and fewer demons.

The dwarf guarding the stone steps looked up in surprise. From the darkness they could not see, no new enemies rushed in.

.

“...... Does it work?" Filly asked.

He still maintained an attacking stance, stiffening for a moment before he could stand up straight. Without the priest's support, the wounds on his body were almost cascading, and blood was pouring out of the cracks and cracks in his armor, and Ed was terrified to watch.

He hurriedly healed his companions, but found that he was just an empty skin, and he couldn't pour out any water.

Fili waved his hand at him, "Don't worry, I can't die yet - I'm a paladin anyway." ”

Ed nodded sullenly, and suddenly startled: "...... Nana!"

It wasn't in his arms, it wasn't on his shoulders! It was so big! He didn't even notice when it was gone!

"Here. With a dark face, Isis pulled the little dragon out of his clothes to show him, and shoved it back in, ignoring its disgruntled screams and angry scratches.

“...... I'm sorry, it's me who is bad. Ed apologized in frustration.

Isis shook his head. He didn't mean to blame his friend, he only regretted taking Nana with him. When they are really in danger, they actually have times when they can't take care of it, even if it's much stronger than a human baby...... After all, he is still an ignorant little guy.

But it saved him.

He poked the dragon on the head and scratched its neck gently.

He also took it ...... And its amazing power was exposed to the eyes of the demons. Even though they had known for a long time that it was impossible to keep Nana's existence a secret all the time, and that even if it did nothing, nothing, it would not be possible for all races to lose half a point of interest in it, such exposure made him extremely uneasy.

He even began to wonder if he should send Nana to the other side of the world...... Sent to Xingxi, it was indeed her daughter, and she couldn't ignore it.

...... She probably really won't care. Most of them will only play with it for a while and then throw it away and let it crawl on its own, and she doesn't even have food in that place, do you want Nana to gnaw on the rocks?!

His mind was completely occupied by Nana, and he wasn't in the mood to listen to what they were saying when Ed summoned Ulrich again, the young Black Rock dwarf.

In fact, you don't have to listen to him to know. Even if Ed's circle succeeds, it's not over - he'll have to make sure that the Black Rock Dwarves no longer need their souls to fight forever and return to their bodies that have been turned to stone.

Ed wants to bring them back to life...... But that's almost something that God can do.

.

Ulrich doesn't know everything. Despite his surname "Silent Stone", he was actually just an ordinary dwarf - more than half of the dwarves in Akruj had the surname Silent Stone. He knew that the rift to hell had been opened during a festival, but he didn't know how it had happened. It's just that, as a dwarven priest who has lived here for hundreds of years, he can somewhat see that the magic circle that is usually partially obscured involves changes in space and time. Their ancestors had been building it for hundreds of years, but they had no idea that it would bring not the abundance and tranquility they wanted, but the catastrophe they wanted.

The battle ended that day very quickly, and the demons were chopped to pieces by the dwarven warriors who had gathered there for the festival before they could leave the pit. The priest and the mage teamed up to set up a circle, claiming that they had sealed the breach, but they didn't succeed.

The rift somehow joined the circle at the bottom of the pit, causing a change they hadn't figured out until now - it reopened every once in a while, and more and more demons swarmed in, growing stronger. Realizing that this was a crisis they could not solve, Utillo Merstone made a decision that made Mork angry.