CH 110

Nido Tensei Chapter 110

Episode 110: Demon Hoipoi

“Is this the hideout of the demon?”

I gaze at the demon’s hideout from the top of the cliff. It was a ruined fortress built in a large canyon.

Following the reaction of the marker attached to the demon, I arrived at the demon’s hideout.

At first, I thought about using teleportation magic to quickly go and exterminate them, but I didn’t know what kind of place it was and how many demons there were, so I deliberately came here using flight magic.

If I jumped into a residential area and there were many demons, there would be a high risk of immediate combat and casualties among the townspeople. Also, even if I used teleportation magic, even if I concealed my appearance with invisibility magic, the distortion of dimensions could be seen and the intrusion would be exposed.

Above all, I don’t want to get involved in the machinations of the demons anymore. So if possible, I want to wipe out all the demons.

Fortunately, the place where the marker’s reaction stopped was not far from the town where we were. It was only a few hours’ distance by flight magic at most.

Using detection magic, I confirmed that there were many life reactions moving inside the fortress. Although it was certain that it had decayed and been abandoned, the fact that someone was there was still suspicious.

“But why build a fortress in the bottom of a valley, in such a strange place?”

This fortress seems to have not been used for a long time, and it looks dilapidated. However, even so, it seems usable if it is maintained to a minimum with preservation magic.

“Hmm, it looks similar to the regional fortress where I lived in my past life. It looks broken, so maybe it’s a relic from the same era?”

Oh, by the way, the research facility built in the cave the other day was a secret facility to defeat the White Calamity beast, so maybe this fortress was also built in the valley for a similar purpose.

“Well then, shall we go?”

I have already activated the invisibility magic, so I confidently head towards the ruins of the fortress.

“It really has a familiar structure.”

As I progress through the fortress, I feel nostalgia for its architectural style and interior. During the era of heroes, I often fought against monsters and demons in fortresses like this.

It would have been easier if we had a good commander who could coordinate with the military, but if they were people who cared about their reputation and honor, they wouldn’t let us fight easily, and the damage would increase, so it was tough.

And to protect the knights and soldiers who were caught in the crossfire, I secretly provided support from the base using area magic like High Area Heal, even without permission to deploy.

“Oops.”

As I reminisce about the base inside the fortress, footsteps approach from ahead. Of course, the source of the presence is not human.

It’s a pair of demons. They are probably patrolling inside the fortress. They approach here while chatting boredly.

“By the way, did you hear? The group that attacked the Dragon Emperor was completely wiped out.”

“Huh?! What’s that? They failed even though they brought such a large army?”

Ah, they’re talking about the demons that attacked the town.

“It seems that they were all defeated by the Dragon Emperor alone.”

“No way?! Is the Dragon Emperor really that strong?”

“No, it seems that the upper ranks are wary because the Golden Dragon has followed the Dragon Emperor. They think that the Dragon Knight Order may be secretly revived. They also think that this incident was deliberately used to expose the existence of the Golden Dragon and lure us out.”

“So you’re saying we were lured out?”

“That seems to be the most likely possibility. They say that the Dragon Knight Order has been completely rebuilt and that they conducted large-scale combat training by luring us out.”

Um, I don’t remember thinking about that. If anything, I just hurriedly prepared for the counterattack.

“Apparently, the town’s warriors were equipped with simple weapons made from dragon materials.”

“Why simple?”

“Despite their shabby appearance, they had abnormally good performance.”

Huh? I don’t remember making such modifications. Those were just spare equipment for the soldiers who were in the middle of maintenance.

“I see, it’s clearly a disguise.”

“Yeah, they pretended to have shabby equipment to deceive us and then wiped us out.”

Well, that’s a bit too much… Wait a minute? Could it be that’s what happened?

That request from the guild, maybe they really asked me to gather those items for that purpose. They had the actual disguised equipment prepared in the town, and they asked me to gather the numbers to give it credibility.

I see, I understand now! The reason those adventurers praised the equipment made in a hurry was because they were actually the disguised soldiers of the town’s defense force wearing the real equipment.

As expected of the Dragonia Defense Force of the Dragon Kingdom. Even without the Dragon Knights, they were preparing for external threats. Yes, even without the Dragon Emperor, their will has been inherited.

While thinking about such things, the demons who were chatting passed by me.

“Well then, I should also check inside the fortress.”

The fortress is already decayed, so I don’t have to worry about involving humans, but it would be bad if there were any hostages kidnapped from somewhere.

And there might be a teleportation gate that can move to the demons’ stronghold. If I find it, I should damage it so that they can’t lay a hand on us humans for a while.

So, I walk around the interior of the fortress. With detection magic, I can know how many people are inside the fortress and to some extent, whether they are human or not. But it is necessary to confirm with my own eyes just in case.

“But demons really like to use our ruins, don’t they?”

Maybe it’s because it’s troublesome to build new ones, but maybe they should start charging rent?

“Ah…”

With the word “rent,” I come up with a certain idea.

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

Once I decide that, I immediately start taking action. Fortunately, the structure of this fortress is not much different from the typical fortresses of my past life.

“It’s probably this way… Ah, there it is.”

So I quickly reach the desired location without much time. Since it’s the location it is, the detection magic doesn’t react to the demons.

It’s a large room with a huge sphere resting on top of thin pillars in the center, and several thin pillars extend from the sphere to various parts of the room.

And the true identity of this round sphere is a magic power reactor. It’s a power source that runs on magic, just as the name suggests.

In the era of my past life, fortresses like this needed a power source to operate the defense magic items installed in them to counter powerful demons and giant demons. Human magic power alone couldn’t constantly operate the defense facilities.

“Yeah, if I repair this, it should be usable.”

Although this fortress decayed a long time ago, the internal preservation magic seems to have been effective until recently, so it is not very damaged. This area was probably given priority for preservation compared to the outside, as it is the heart of the fortress.

“Now, let’s start the repairs.”

Just to be safe, I cast a soundproofing magic inside the room so that no sound leaks outside, and then start the repairs.

“I can substitute these parts with the materials I have. And here, I can use a magic item as a substitute for this.”

I repair the magic power reactor by utilizing the materials and magic items I have. I also modify the control device to make it easier to use.

“By the way, was this fortress used during the time of the last Dragon Emperor?”

In the story of the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Princess that Lune-san told, it was mentioned that they went out to battle with all the Dragon Knights.

If that’s the case, the soldiers in this fortress would have either gone out to battle or fought to the end here. It’s ironic that it is now being used as the hideout of the demons.

“But the structure of this device hasn’t changed much from the era of my past life.”

I don’t remember knowing about this fortress in my past life, so it’s highly likely that this ruin was created after I died.

However, considering that there aren’t many advancements in the facilities despite that, maybe the era of the Dragon Emperor wasn’t much different from the time when I died in my past life?

“Alright, repairs complete!”

Since the repairs were relatively easy, I immediately start up the magic power reactor. As a result, a slight vibration runs through the fortress. Since the work is done, I cancel the soundproofing magic, and the sound of a loud siren enters my ears. This is a siren that alerts of enemy intrusion, of course, the intruders that the siren is warning about are the demons.

From a distance, I can hear what seems to be screams from the demons. At the same time, the reactions of the demons that I had detected with detection magic disappear one after another.

“Yeah, the defense system seems to be working properly.”

In the past, fortresses like this were most wary of demon intrusions. Therefore, incorporating the wavelength specific to demons into the defense system was the top priority.

So, with the restoration of the fortress’s power, the defense system that hadn’t been broken yet resumed its operation and started to eliminate the demons that had invaded the fortress. The demons must have been surprised to be suddenly attacked in a fortress they thought was already broken.

“It seems like they’ve been using our era’s ruins every time. It’s good for them to experience some pain once in a while.”

And so, after a while, all the reactions from inside the fortress disappear.

“It seems like there were no humans after all.”,Yes, even though this fortress is strict against intruders as a military facility, it doesn’t just kill humans who are of the same kind. They usually capture them and investigate their identity. So the fact that all the activity inside the base disappeared means that there were no humans inside this fortress.

And as the demons’ activity disappeared, the sirens also stopped ringing.

“With this, all the demons inside the fortress have been eliminated!”

Those who settle in without paying rent and without permission can’t complain even if they are forcibly expelled, right?

By the way, there’s a reason why the defense mechanisms of the fortress don’t react to me, who is not an authorized person. It’s because when I was repairing the magic power reactor earlier, I infiltrated the core of the defense mechanisms in the fortress from a nearby control terminal and registered myself as a member of this base.

Well, I’m glad that the security of the control device was weak. Why was I able to do such a thing, you ask?

Well, it’s because in a previous life, I was the one who first created magical architecture that incorporates magic items into buildings for management.

In that previous life, I was ordered by the king at the time to create a semi-automatic fortress that could be operated by a small number of people, similar to a large fortress.

With that background, I, who knew the basics of magical architecture, immediately realized that it was a developed version of the control device I had created in my previous life.

Once you understand the basics, the rest is easy. The device that turned out to be surprisingly similar to the one I had created in my previous life was easy to understand, and I quickly changed the management authority of the fortress from the previous administrator to myself.

“Well then, let’s resume the exploration of the fortress interior. It would be nice if there’s a gate that leads to the demons’ stronghold.”

I decided to defeat all the demons and thoroughly searched every corner of the fortress. But unfortunately, there was no teleportation gate that could take us to the demons’ stronghold.

“As expected, the most important facility must be in a different place.”

It’s a bit disappointing, but it’s only natural. This place was used by the demons as a temporary base. If they were to set up a gate to go to their stronghold, it would be more common to have it in the main fortress where they put more emphasis on defense.

“Oh well. Let’s just be satisfied with the fact that we were able to exterminate the demons inside the fortress!”

By the way, the demons that I had planted markers on were also lying inside the base. They couldn’t escape and were defeated normally.

“Well then, let’s go back for now.”

I activated teleportation magic and returned to the town where everyone was waiting.

“I’ll leave the rest to the Demon Bait.”

It was hell.

“Aaahhh!”

We came to the decaying fortress of Dragonia to check on the safety of our comrades whom we lost contact with.

“Cordel has been taken down!”

And as we continued to advance deeper without finding anyone, suddenly a scream came from behind. It was the gong that signaled the beginning of hell.

“Gwaaaah!”

“Lazam!!”

The defense mechanisms of the supposedly decayed and immobile fortress had resumed their activity and suddenly attacked us.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Our comrades tried to attack the defense mechanisms, but it seemed that these devices were equipped with magic items that activated defensive magic, and our attacks didn’t do any significant damage.

“R-run! Just run outside!”

I see, this was a trap. When the foolish intruders ventured deep into the fortress, they were attacked from behind with a powerful blow.

“Who would set up such a sadistic trap?”

They let us pass as if nothing happened on the way in, but when we tried to escape, numerous defense mechanisms attacked us, determined not to let us get away.

And so, without reaching the exit, we were completely wiped out, and afterwards, our comrades who came for investigation met the same fate as us.

After several failed investigations, our comrades finally realized that this fortress had somehow regained its functionality, and they gave up further investigation and abandoned the fortress. But for us who were already dead, it was a decision that came too late.