"I see... Anyway, die."
"FOOOOOOO! It's dangerous! Don't come so suddenly, my honey!"
I slash at him with all my might, but once again my attack is in vain. Veinrun evaded my attack by activating his teleport magic.
"But that's the part this great me love the most, too! However... This great me in the middle of a mission right now. It's too bad we have to be separated, but this great me need to leave now!"
"Wait! Release Ryuna!"
Ignoring Shakuna's cries, Veinrune puts his hand on the door of the boss's room.
This brown-skinned demon pushes open not the door that leads to the rest room. But the door that leads back the way he came.
When the man opens the door, I saw a magic circle with a pale green light that had not been there before.
"Dammit...! Are you trying to escape?!"
That magic circle was an escape route leading out of the dungeon.
By defeating the boss monster, a path leading out of the dungeon appears in the room before the boss room.
Once there, it is possible to return back immediately. Now, the man steps into the magic circle without hesitation.
"This great me don't want to leave you, bro, but if you want to see this great me, you can going to the 'Altar of the Snake God'. So, this great me looking forward to having a real killing (date) with you, honey!"
"Wait for me! Ryuna!"
"......"
Ryuna and Veinrune disappear.
This time they have escaped from the dungeon, not by means of a teleport magic, but by the effect of the magic circle in the dungeon.
"Tsk... we're screwed...!"
However, hust before they disappeared, I caught eyes with Ryuna.
The beautiful Priestess looked at me and smiled slightly, her lips seemed to murmur 'I believe you'.
"Kkh... we have to go after him! If we don't go after him, Ryuna will be sacrificed and killed!"
Shakuna rushes after him.
She tries to jump into the magic circle that leads to the ground... but I grab her neck and pull her back toward me.
"Kyaaa!? What are you doing!?"
"...It's no use. You can't catch up to him now."
I explain to her in a calm manner even though my face is distorted with anger.
"He's a magician who uses teleport magic. Once he escapes from the dungeon, there is no way for us to catch up with him. He's probably already moved on and run away somewhere."
"No way... Then what about Ryuna!?"
"......"
Shakuna asks bitingly, and I clench my fists in silence.
"Hey... Are you joking?"
Shakuna is stunned by my reaction and mumbles.
Shakuna stood there for a moment as if at a loss... then she exploded with emotion.
"You've got to be kidding me! Are you going to give up Ryuna's life!?"
"......"
"You've disappointed me... For you, Ryuna is a stranger and you may be able to give up on her. But she's my only sister! I can't abandon my sweet sister. I won't let her become a sacrifice!"
Shakuna scratched at my hand, trying to shake it off.
"I won't let her die... I'll save her! So let go of me! Even without your help, I'll save Ryuna..."
"Shut up!"
I head-butted Shakuna as hard as I could.
With a sound like a rock cracking, I hit Shakuna's forehead with a blow with all my might.
"~~~~~~~!"
Shakuna cowered in place, clutching her head.
She is no longer making a sound. Well, it must have hurt like hell.
"Shut up! I'll kill him and save Ryuna. I know that! I'm trying to figure out how to do that right now, so quit your grumbling!"
Of course, I had no intention to abandon Ryuna.
The only reason I kept silent was because I was thinking about how I could help Ryuna.
"As we can't catch up with the demon who can use transfer magic even if we continue to chase after him... we should go to the 'Altar of the Snake God' that he had mentioned. But where is it?"
In the game, there was no such place as the "Altar of the Snake God". Naturally, I didn't know where it was.
"Hey, you must know something... but you're still cowering and fainting in agony. Get up!"
"Ow~~! Whose fault is it if you hit a woman on the head?"
"I didn't hit you! I just head-butted you."
"It's the same! Ah, geez... it still hurts..."
Shakuna stands up slowly, stroking her forehead.
"I don't know where the 'Altar of the Snake God' is... but since it' s called an altar, maybe a priest would know about it..."
"A priest, huh?"
I walk over to Hadiss, who is lying on the ground with a hole in his chest.
I check his pulse and breathing just in case... but as expected, he is already dead, and there is no use in giving him a potion.
In the world of [DunBrave], as in many games, there is 'revive magic', but it has been verified that it loses its effect after 30 minutes of death.
If Ryuna, a healer, had been present, it might have been possible to revive him... but there was no way to save Haddiss now.
"I'm sorry about everything... and thank you."
"Hadiss..."
Shakuna's eyes are downcast.
She had been preoccupied with her sister until a few minutes ago, but she must have come to the realization that she had lost a friend late in life.
"......"
I close my eyes for a moment and mourn my fallen comrades.
I know it's too late to say this, but... this is the first time since I came to this world and became Zenon Baskerville that I have mourned a member of my party.
We were not close friends by any means, but just when I thought we had finally become friends, this happens.
I will probably never get used to this feeling of a gaping hole in my heart.
"But... we can't stay sad forever. We will save Ryuna. That's why we're going to start immediately."
"Yes... you're right. But what are we going to do now? We don't even know where he took her..."
"Well... first we have to find out where the Altar of the Snake God is. I don't know how much time is left, but we can't just wander around in the vast desert."
With a long sigh and a furrowed brow, I speak the first thought that comes to my mind.
"An altar, huh...? It must be a religious building. It would be better to go to some town and ask a priest... but it depends on our luck to find someone who knows it..."
"You don't have to... Because I know it..."
"...!?"
Suddenly, a voice interrupts our conversation.
I look up and clutch the sword at my waist.
"Hey, hey, don't pull out anything dangerous. I'm (Boku wa) not your enemy."
"You're not...?"
At the other end of the room, a young boy about the age of a junior high school student stands at the tip of the voice.
He was wearing what looked like a white priest's robe, and he was sitting on a treasure chest in the center of the boss's room.
"Who are you... Tell me your name."
"I'd like to say that you should say your name before asking for someone's name... but I know your names, so I don't need to introduce myself."
The boy, who was sitting on the treasure chest, crossed his legs in a graceful gesture.
Then... As if performing a magic trick, he spreads his arms out and says his name.
"My name is Salomon... King Salomon. I am the king who rules this dungeon."
The boy says this with a friendly smile on his innocent face.
