Chapter 4: Mirror Levelling

I lent the ring with relief of the coiling twin-headed snake to Pomera.

It was the 《Ouroboros Ring》, an item to avoid instant death.

Pomera wouldn’t be able to raise her level in 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 without this ring.

 

「… Whenever Pomera wears this ring, Pomera can experience the closest feeling of death.」

 

Pomera muttered quietly while looking at the snake ring.

After that, I lent my magic pouch to Pomera too.

 

「There’s recovery potion and 《Ether》 inside it. Please use it during the rest time of our battle.」

 

The real name of the so-called recovery potion was… 《Potion of Nine Life Cat》.

Since its’ main ingredients were the blood of the monster in 《Cocytus》, I couldn’t mass produce it.

If possible, I wanted her to supplement with white magic but, considering the remaining of magical power, using the potion was faster.

 

「Philia, is looking forward to seeing the place!」

 

「I don’t think this matter is something for you to look forward…」

 

Pomera heaved a sigh as she replied to Philia.

 

「Philia-chan, make sure you protect Pomera-san too once we’re inside. If the situation becomes too dangerous, you have to hide behind me ASAP.」

 

「Yes! Philia will protect Pomera!」

 

Philia’s base level was close to two thousand but, thanks to the terrifying abilities of the 《Dream Sand》, her true capabilities were far beyond her base level.

She could raise her level all the way up to more than three thousand and fight on equal ground against the devil in the mirror.

And maybe because she could recover from the damage by changing her form, or simply because of her ultra-recovery, her toughness far above her stats.

 

I placed the 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 in the room, and the three of us then entered the mirror.

 

The familiar aurora spread for as far as i could see.

 

「… I’ve come to this place again.」

 

Pomera cast a downward gaze, heaving a sigh as she embraced her cane.

 

The crowd of pale humanoids being approached silently from the front.

All of them only had one leg, headless with their face on their chest, floating in the air with various kinds of poses.

 

I grabbed Pomera by her waist and jumped quickly to the side.

Those bizarre humanoid creatures unleashed all king of attacks to where we stood a moment ago as they approached us.

 

「HIIIIIIIIII!」

 

Since those devils could move without making any sound, it was already too late by the time Pomera saw them.

She raised a small scream as they saw them seemingly appear out of nowhere.

 

This creature seems to be the fastest one among the grotesque devils in this mirror.

I retreated at full speed seeing them rushing toward us.

Meanwhile, I brandished 《Hero Sword; Gilgamesh》 at them.

 

「Get a grip, Pomera-san! You have to attack them like usual!」

 

「Y-Yes!」

 

Pomera raised her cane immediately.

I looked at our back as the headless, humanoid creature loomed at us from the front.

 

A mask of numerous woman’s faces came at us from behind.

The mask expanded in size, and eerie light gathered in their narrow eyes.

 

「There are too many of them… This session is a miss huh.」

 

Though I hadn’t understood the working principle behind it, the devil that came out every time I enter the 《Distorted Worl of Cursed Mirror》 had never followed a certain pattern.

And due to their sheer number and their teamwork, it was close to impossible to fight them from the front.

And in the situation where the crowd of them came out first, it only mean that we had to escape ASAP.

Since I also received assistance when power leveling with Lunaire, I often her muttering 『This time seems to be a miss』 once we escape from the mirror.

 

But the main problem was the fact that in the majority of the “Miss” case, the devil would also give us a hard time to escape.

 

Suddenly, countless huge white arms appeared from the ground.

There was a huge eye on the palm of the hand.

The arm was growing in a circle around us.

“”

I almost mistook it for the new devil but then, I recalled in the last moment that these arms resembled Philia’s 《Dream Sand》.

I saw the same thing a while ago during the Ragno riot.

 

Those huge hands grabbed the face on the chest, disturbing the crowds’ movement.

 

「Spirit Magic, 8th Rank《Salamander Claw》!」

 

Pomera swung her cane.

The flash of flame ran straight and hit the devil right in the face.

Though that attack was only strong enough to make them flinch, her attack did chip the devil’s HP.

 

… LET’S GO!

We might be able to raise Pomera’s level far more easily with Philia’s aid.

Even if we have to retreat when we met the “Miss” situation inside the mirror, we could retreat far more easily with Philia’s cover.

 

At that moment, a huge bear doll suddenly appeared in the sky.

It looked like it was made from patching up pink clothes, the eyeballs were replaced with bipedal wild boar.

 

「That bear, is so adorable!」

 

Philia raised her voice happily.

I on the other hand felt blood drained from my face upon seeing that devil.

 

「T-That guy, was a huge miss! Philia-chan took back your arm immediately!」

 

I knew since I fought them once before.

Philia’s 《Dream Sand》 had one fatal weakness.

Since everything she created was part of her body, they were more like her offshoot rather than creation.

 

For that reason, if she conjured many offshoot and they got annihilated in a deadly AOE attack, the damage would be returned to Philia.

Even when I defeated Zorophilia back then, I had to land three 《Gravibomb》 just to drive her into the corner.

 

「Eh… But, that scary face is…」

 

「DO IT, NOW!」

 

Philia pulled back all of her arms immediately.

Right after that, the mouth part of the bear doll split open, becoming a contrast to their fancy design.

The red liquid was dropping down from the gap of their human-like teeth.

They unleashed fire from their mouth, dyeing one part of the area in red color.

 

I held both Philia and Pomera in my arms and get away from that place.

 

「Time-Space Magic, 4th Rank; 《Short Gate》!」

 

I flew as far as possible outside the range of the attack.

The crowd of devils who chased after us a while ago was swallowed by the sea of fire.

 

I raised 《Hero Sword; Gilgamesh》 and pointed it toward the bear doll in the sky.

 

「Time-Space Magic, 19th Rank《Gravibomb》!」

 

Black light coils around the bear doll.

The black light finally imploded along with space.

The face of the bear doll squeezed at once and then exploded.

The explosion scattered clothes and cotton.

 

「… 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 is a dangerous place indeed.」

 

「B-But still, we have to thank that bear for taking care of the other devils for us!」

 

At that moment, a huge shadow fell in our direction.

A giant centipede-like monster appeared out of nowhere, bending its body as it headed toward us.

The centipede… Or rather, the centipede-like devil as if had a giant skull contour on its’ shell.

On every single joint of their body was the smiling face of a human.

Centipede legs-like feelers came out from around the temple area or the face of those human faces.

 

I swung 《Hero Sword; Gilgamesh》 at the approaching human-faced centipede.

The centipede skull which bisected horizontally was rolling around us as it was.

 

I looked at Pomera and saw her stiffened in the pose of raising her cane, this kind of spectacle might be a bit too much for her.

Since it’s been quite a while since the last time she visited the 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》, she might need some time to get used to this kind of bizarre spectacle.

 

She had no choice but to get used to it.

Even I might become a bit too careless since I’m used to this kind of spectacle.

By the time I got used to the 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》, my sense of fear and pain had already numbed which made it possible for me to deal with them in the most cool-headed way.

 

Philia conjured three offshoots in front of Pomera.

 

「Philia, will protect this side!」

 

「Thank you, Philia-chan! I’ll cover the other side, and Pomera-san, make sure you land a blow on those devils!」

 

「H-HIIIIIIIIIIIII…」

 

Pomera who had already on the verge of crying raised such a scream.