Betrayed, I Met The Demon Lord

Chapter 97 - The Burning Dunge-

[I see...] The Guardian relayed, her voice resonating like an echo in their minds. Everyone stared at her as if she were a creature from a fairytale.

'That's a strong spirit. I can sense it...' Vaelthir thought, his gaze steady. 'To think he can summon her like this...'

'She's so pretty...' Sylva thought, her eyes trailing over the Guardian's figure as Van gave her instructions.

"Can you do it?"

'To think he could also summon spirits...' Unicus mused, almost in awe.

[Essentially prevent the air from reaching the skeleton, huh?] the Guardian asked.

"Yeah. I know you've got experience creating vacuums firsthand," Van said, his tone steady but a flicker of memory crossed his mind. Last night's encounter with her power was fresh.

[... Very well,] she relayed, her focus shifting to the skeleton. With a flick of her arm, the flames surrounding the skeletal mage vanished, snuffed out as if they had never existed. The skeleton collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"I-It worked..!" Sylva exclaimed, breaking the silence.

But no one else spoke. They all stared at the motionless skeleton, their tension palpable.

"H-huh..? Why are you guys so tense? We did it!"

"Not yet," Van muttered, his tone dark.

"Indeed," Arnolt said, his voice low. "Who's to say that bastard won't rise the moment the Guardian releases her vacuum?"

All eyes turned back to the skeleton. Sylva swallowed hard, her expression tightening.

"Alright... Release it," Van instructed.

The Guardian's hold vanished, and the air returned to normal. The skeleton remained inert, unmoving on the ground.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

'A thousand more of these,' Van thought, his gaze shifting to the Guardian.

"Go back for now, I'll call you if we need some help," He instructed calmly, and she dissipated back to her world with a nod.

'If this works, she'll have to overexert herself... and that means me, since she uses my mana. We'll have to pick our fights carefully. Just skeletons—just skeletons all the way down until we reach that bastard. How tedious. Why couldn't his seal work like Magus's, where only the direct encounters scale to his stats?'

Van frowned, his thoughts spiraling.

'Then again... Who's to say the one we're chasing isn't nearby? In the end, we're relying on what Unicus said. He's the only one who made it out of here alive.'

His eyes flicked to his status window, scanning the sealed stats that mocked him. Then his gaze landed on Unicus.

'... It can't be. I could see it in his eyes. The loss and pain... He isn't the villain we're chasing.... And I know the look of hurt, from Magus. Amoria confirmed it for me with her story.'

"It worked... Now we wait. Make sure no reinforcements arrive," Unicus commanded.

Minutes passed. The silence was heavy but unbroken. When it seemed clear, they cautiously emerged from their hiding place.

Unicus approached the skeleton, kneeling to pick up the wand it had clutched in its bony hand.

'But just to be sure...'

Van moved forward with the rest of the group, his expression thoughtful. "To think it took something as simple as following the Fire Triangle to bring down that mage's skeleton."