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Chapter 36
A dark passage where not even a single ray of light could be seen.
This place had been built to allow the main commanders to escape when Angrelcher Castle was captured.
And now, Glenn was walking through it.
Normally, the lights should have been turned on.
But since they had entered from the exit rather than the entrance, the lights did not activate.
“B-Brother… Wouldn't it be better to turn off the light?”
Luceria spoke anxiously as she followed Glenn, who was walking forward with large strides.
A large sphere of light, created by gathering her holy power, floated above her hand and illuminated the darkness.
“Even though this is a hidden passage, wouldn't it be better not to turn on a light like this…?”
“There's no need to worry. Not even the slightest bit of light will leak outside.”
Of course, Glenn was confident that he could find his way to their destination even if they walked in complete darkness.
But Luceria was not used to this kind of infiltration.
She would not be able to adapt to darkness where she could not see even an inch ahead.
In fact, even in the original story, she had once fallen into a panic while alone in the dark.
She says she would rather turn off the light and infiltrate quietly…
But if I actually turn it off, she'll obviously start gasping because she can't breathe properly.
How can she be so similar to the original story, even when it comes to forgetting herself while worrying about others?
“I-I suppose you're right? Well… You've checked this place several times over the past few days, Brother, so I'm sure you're not wrong.”
Luceria forced a smile and quietly increased the size of the sphere of light in her hand.
It did more than simply illuminate the surroundings.
It also had the effect of relaxing the body and mind, which made it useful.
Lidenhall could do something similar, but there was an enormous difference between seven-star and nine-star power.
The difference was immediately noticeable.
“By the way, how much farther is it? I feel like we've been walking for about ten minutes.”
“Yes. I think we're almost there.”
Since this was a secret passage designed for the escape of important commanders, it should lead all the way to the upper floors of the castle where the command room was located.
Considering how much time it would take to fight through the enemies from the castle entrance and climb upward, this route was actually much faster.
More importantly, we can launch a surprise attack on Katzertho Rienz.
The fact that his own escape route had now become an assassin's route was simply amusing.
“Oh, Brother?”
Of course, Katzertho was not an idiot.
“It's blocked here.”
“Yes. It is blocked.”
Katzertho was a cautious person.
He had prepared for even the possibility that humans who were being pushed into a corner might send an expedition team to kill him.
“It looks pretty sturdy…”
“Yes. It's very sturdy. We'd probably have to use quite a bit of strength to break through it. Of course, if we did that, they would realize we're here.”
As he said this, Glenn approached the blocked wall and placed his hand against it.
“But there's a reason I came here even knowing that.”
“Since it's you, Brother, I figured you must have some kind of plan.”
Luceria's eyes seemed to say that she knew Glenn had a method, but had no idea what it was.
And that was only natural.
The way Glenn was about to open the door went far beyond the common sense she knew.
“Let me ask you a question, Saintess. Is this passage one-way?”
“Hmm… It seems like it.”
“But an emergency doesn't always mean you have to escape from the castle.”
A secret passage connecting a fortress to the outside was not necessarily meant only for escape.
After all, if a fortress became isolated, there still needed to be a way for messengers from outside to enter and bring news.
“So although this wall is blocked, there is a way to open it from the outside. A method that humans cannot use, but demons can.”
“If it's something demons can use but humans can't… Could it be demonic energy?”
Luceria pressed her palms together and opened her eyes wide.
Glenn nodded.
“Yes. That's right. This door can be opened using demonic energy. Therefore…”
With his hand still pressed against the blocked wall, Glenn quietly poured demonic energy into it.
“I can open it too.”
“What? What do you mean… Huh?!”
Rumble—
Along with the sound of a complicated mechanism moving, the wall blocking the passage slowly split apart, moving upward and downward.
Luceria's violet eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.
“No… Uh, ah… H-How…?”
“Shall we go?”
“B-Brother?!”
Luceria followed behind him in a daze.
Her face showed that she was still trying to understand what she had just witnessed.
She seemed to wonder whether it was some kind of trick.
But she had definitely felt the demonic energy coming from Glenn's hand.
“Let's go. There's something we need to take care of first. I'll explain the details afterward.”
Glenn smiled slightly.
“Ah, yes… Yes…”
Luceria still looked completely confused.
But soon, she quietly followed behind Glenn.
“Of course. But you're not really suspicious of me, are you? If you think about it, you could assume that I'm actually a demon and that I'm currently kidnapping you, Saintess.”
“……I'm confused, but I don't think that's the case.”
Luceria steadied her trembling gaze and looked directly at Glenn.
“If that were your intention, it would have been much easier to simply open the door first and have me follow behind later.”
“And more importantly…”
“I know that you're not someone who would do something like that, Brother. So, Brother, please tell me after this is over.”
“I want to know. What kind of person you really are… and what you truly want.”
Under her flowing white hair, her amethyst-like eyes shone brightly.
It was not suspicion.
It was a genuine desire to understand him.
Glenn awkwardly looked away and scratched the back of his neck.
“Yes, well… I was planning to do that anyway.”
Glenn had done quite a lot to help her.
But Luceria's trust in him was much higher than he had expected, and that only left him bewildered.
“……More importantly, we're about to fight Katzertho Rienz, so let's focus on that first. You remember everything I told you yesterday, right?”
“Of course, Brother. I stayed up until late dawn memorizing everything and picturing the situation in my head so that I wouldn't forget anything.”
Luceria smiled sweetly and clenched both fists.
“Then that's enough. Let's go.”
With an awkward expression, Glenn walked ahead.
Luceria immediately followed behind him.
In fact, there were several secret passages connecting the outside of Angrelcher Castle to the inside.
There was the passage Glenn and Luceria had just used, which led toward the command room.
There were also passages leading to the armory, the training grounds inside the castle, and even Katzertho's underground laboratory.
Since only demons could use these passages, Katzertho had probably created several of them in case one route was discovered.
Even so, Glenn had chosen the passage toward the command room instead of the underground laboratory because of the order of danger.
If they attacked the underground laboratory first, Katzertho would realize that someone had infiltrated the castle and would begin preparing for battle.
Then we'd have to fight a difficult battle.
They could destroy the laboratory after eliminating Katzertho.
