Lambert ran in the passage with his greatsword ready and suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Kreuz and Co. followed after Lambert accidentally ran ahead of him, stopping immediately and lining up behind him again.
「Is something the matter, armored swordsman?」
When Kreuz asked that question, Lambert only kicked the floor lightly.
「The sound of footsteps is strange. Be careful. It might be a trap. You guys should back up a little bit.」
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「Should we avoid this passage then?」
「No, my gut is telling me that this one isn’t a big deal. At times like these, we must be swift.」
「…Then, allow me to lead the vanguard. We will be annihilated for sure if something happened to you.」
But then, Lambert’s hand moved first before Kreuz took a step in front of him.
「Don’t worry about me. This kind of poorly built trap is just child’s play to me.」
「That might be true, but still…」
Lambert kept walking forward, making Kreuz even more dumbfounded.
At the same time, Lambert had sensed that someone was coming from the front.
In addition to the gathering of people, someone ran forward to the front of the group.
Lambert increased his walking pace the moment he sensed that the other party was rushing ahead.
The one who came from the passage ahead of Lambert was a child holding a sword in his hands.
To add to that, the child was particularly short.
His condition was clearly abnormal since the dreaded look on his face was too obvious.
「…Not a sorcerer. Calm down, we are kingdom soldiers.」
Kreuz and his party were looking at Lambert with slightly complicated looks on their faces upon seeing the latter shamelessly calling himself a kingdom soldier.
Lambert, who saw the dreaded look on the boy’s face, lowered his greatsword.
「S-sorry… I-I can’t go against that uncle’s order… Please, run from this place.」
「What the…?」
Lambert observed the condition of the boy as he let out an astonished voice.
Despite becoming an experimental subject, the boy had a neat appearance. He even wore a tailcoat made of top-quality material.
In addition, although his running speed was a far cry from that of a top-class warrior, he obviously received combat training.
Lambert noticed a small magic circle carved on the blade in the boy’s hands.
Lambert had no idea about the effect of the magic circle nor could he read the letters since he wasn’t a sorcerer.
But after awakening as an undead, Lambert had the ability to see the flow of mana. Thus, he noticed that the sword in the boy’s hands was sucking its wielder’s mana.
「HEY, LET GO OF THAT SWORD NOW!」
Lambert dropped his greatsword and stretched his hand toward the boy.
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The boy’s blade shone brightly and exploded suddenly.
Following that explosion, cracks spread across the floor and ceiling.
Lambert used his greatsword to repel the fallen debris as he ran forward.
「…」
Lambert grabbed the boy’s hand and laid the child on the floor.
The child’s body was caked black. The hand that held the sword was destroyed until his upper arm.
The child had already died.
Although Lambert managed to rescue the child from the fallen debris, the scale of the explosion made it impossible to save him.
「Sorry for failing to protect you…」
Lambert lowered his head as he apologized to the corpse of the child.
「A-armored swordsman, are you okay?! The ceiling is…!」
Kreuz’s voice could be heard from the other side of the rubble that had been blocked by debris.
「…You guys take another route. Leave this guy to me.」
「As expected, you’re safe and sound. B-but without yo— Ah, forget it. I understand. We’ll look for another route!」
Thus, Kreuz and Co. were leaving Lambert to go looking for another route.
Following that, seven men appeared in the passage ahead of Lambert.
All of them wore tailcoats. Of those newcomers, a child around the same age as the one who died in the explosion grasped the same exploding sword in his hands.
「…My original plan was to bury all of you alive under the debris, but good job for noticing the plan. Since this research facility has so many partitions, the walls are unexpectedly brittle.」
The tall and slender man stood behind the six youths, who acted like his shield, and gave such empty praise to Lambert.
「My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Tony Lair, the vice-leader of the alchemist research institute, 『Angel of Death』, which operates in this underground facility.」
The man who introduced himself as Tony Lair bowed toward Lambert with a rather pompous attitude.
As if to match him, the six youths mirrored his movements.
There was this eerie, expressionless look on their faces.
「Splendid. Not only did you choose to approach your enemy amidst the crumbling passage, but… You even went through it while carrying his corpse. That sword and armor aren’t just for show, after all. I was wondering what was happening when you defeated my subordinates in succession… To think that an extremely skilled person was mixed in.」
Tony Lair shook his head and then glared daggers at Lambert.
「…Good grief, I wanted to enjoy this more freely, but I guess I need to be more careful this time.」
「Despite your fair evaluation, you seem to be quite composed.」
「Yeah, there’s no doubt about your skills. But I don’t know if you’re unaware of this or not, but you have never crossed that line… In short, you’re way too naive. Perhaps you might want to see how far you can go with that much power, but I can only see it as naivety… It’s way too crooked of a belief.」
「…Huh, so you know.」
「That’s no good. As long as you dance with us, the 『Devil’s Piper』, you’ll eventually become a devil too. Those fellas from the church have prepared as such. For that reason, alongside my subordinates, allow me to lead the way down the road to Hell.」
Tony Lair held his hand aloft toward Lambert.
「Surround that man at once. Attack the joints of his armor with your swords. No matter how solid his armor, the joints are still the weak point.」
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