Chapter 405: Pursuit
I scowl at the door Thermal and Miria disappeared through. It wouldn’t be impossible for me to ram my way through, but if the passages get any narrower, I’d have no choice but to humanise.
Also… Thermal’s objective is probably to split our forces. He must have judged that, with just two of the Three Knights and a few knight slimes, they couldn’t have the combined forces of me, Aro, the nightmare, the magiatite heart, and Volk. If I were to leave, I'd be forcing them to fight Mephisto and the slimes by themselves.
Among all of them, Volk is the strongest, but… His HP has recovered, but his MP still hasn’t. He must also have a lot of mental fatigue built up.
What should I do? If Thermal flies into a rage, he could easily kill Miria, but… It’s possible that his display of anger was a bluff. If I'm not the one who chases him, he might give up on trying use her to negotiate and not bother threatening to kill Miria. But the reason Miria said he can’t kill her is unclear, so I can’t be certain. I can’t discard the possibility that they she spoke without much thought out of fear of being taken hostage.
It’s a choice between raising the danger to Miria, or worsening the situation for everyone here… No, that’s not all. I can easily beat any of the Three Knights…at least, Mephisto or Thermal, in a one-on-one fight. But the fact that Thermal fled with Miria means that he must have some sort of plan.
Our forces aren’t enough. We’re seriously at the limit. When I think that the last of the Three Knights, Rogueheil, and the Demon Lord will join in, my head hurts. What is Lilixira doing? She’s sent Alphiss in, so she can’t be unaware of what’s happening… I wish she’d at least send seraphim-san in as well… I guess she's not planning on helping until the Demon Lord’s position is revealed.
While I’m thinking, more slime soldiers pour through the doors on either side of the hall, replenishing their numbers.
“Fight to buy time, and don’t let them rest!”
“Where's the Saint? I’m going to hunt that bitch and earn princess-sama’s favour!”