-The Mountain Goat Demons
It seemed we would have to move to the middle floors of the Magic Tower after all.
We needed to confirm whether Samir was there and see what he was plotting, and we also had to check the structure and security around the center of the Magic Tower.
The problem was that all the mountain goat demons were currently going in there.
I knew very little about mountain goat demons.
I knew they had an outstanding ability to climb cliffs, but I had no idea how strong their demonic power was or how developed their senses were. We needed information.
On top of that, the number of mountain goat demons was no joke.
‘Of all times, the demons had to come up right when we came in to investigate the Magic Tower.’
Perhaps now was not a good time to investigate the inside of the Magic Tower.
But looking at it another way, it was fortunate that the mountain goat demons had come up from the Demon Realm while we were here.
At the very least, we had learned that Samir had called in the mountain goat demons.
As I wondered what to do, I looked up toward the upper part of the Magic Tower.
On the middle floors, people were gathered along the edges of the precipice, looking down.
They seemed to be Samir’s underlings who lived in the Magic Tower.
However, the higher up it went, the less I sensed any human presence at all in the upper levels of the Magic Tower.
Suddenly, I wondered what the buildings in the upper levels were used for.
The Magic Tower soared up to a dizzying height, but for some reason, its upper levels only appeared hazy.
I had thought it only looked that way from the outside, but it was the same even after I entered and extended detection magic.
“Strange. I can’t see the upper levels clearly, can I? Usually, the officers stay on the upper levels, don’t they? But there’s no trace of people.”
I must have been heard muttering to myself.
Yantu turned to look at me, tilted his head askew, and answered.
“You didn’t know, Mage? The upper levels are fake.”
“Fake?”
“They’re false. The buildings near the top aren’t real. They just made them look plausible.”
“Is that so?”
After hearing Yantu’s words, I extended my detection magic again in greater detail. Sure enough, I couldn’t detect any mana at all from the upper levels.
Not only were there no traces of people, I couldn’t even pick up anything nonliving.
Just as Yantu had said, the upper levels of the Magic Tower were fake. Only the shape of buildings had been projected like a hologram; they were not spaces that actually existed.
The actual space extended only about three floors above the area where the center of the Magic Tower was located.
“You’re right. I didn’t realize when I saw it from the outside.”
“I didn’t know when I saw it from outside either. But once I came in and ran this detection equipment in detail, that’s what I found.”
“That’s good. It means the space we have to investigate has shrunk.”
“Is that all? It also means there are that many fewer bastards living in the Magic Tower, so that’s a relief.”
Yantu was right.
It seemed there were fewer dark mages and underlings in the Magic Tower than I had thought.
While Yantu and I were looking at each other and nodding, Thor suddenly cut in and said,
“What good does that do? There are that many demons coming up.”
Thor was right too.
In a way, the number of underlings was not that important. Unless they were dark mages, humans were not particularly powerful.
All the more so when compared to demons.
“That’s true. So what characteristics do the mountain goat demons have?”
I asked Thor and Yantu.
The two of them had spoken as if they already knew about mountain goat demons. We had to gather even a little information.
“As you just saw, their biggest trait is that they move incredibly fast. On top of that, their demonic power is fairly strong, and their destructive power is no joke. They smash everything with their hooves.”
“Mountain goat demons are bastards who can go anywhere. They’re probably the only ones who can get around caves better than dwarves. Whether it’s between rocks, underground, or on tall buildings, they run around just fine. They roam all over the place.”
Seeing both Thor and Yantu shake their heads, it was clear that they were not easy opponents.
“Besides, they’re demons. They don’t hesitate to kill humans.”
“Not just humans. They kill other races without hesitation too. They probably kill each other if they don’t like something. Anyway, they’re bastards who know nothing of fear or guilt.”
They had no morality and were cruel. Since they were demons, that was only natural.
I asked about the point I was curious about.
“What about their senses? Are they exceptional?”
“Hmm……? I didn’t get any particular impression of that.”
“They can probably smell humans well, but their senses won’t be as sharp as a mage’s detection. I used to avoid them without any problem.”
If so, that was a relief.
For now, we were not planning to fight the mountain goat demons head-on immediately, but only to hide and investigate.
That was enough. I nodded to the two of them, then turned and spoke to all the mages.
“Let’s move now. The middle floor where the dark mages just led the mountain goat demons is the center of the Magic Tower. It’s also the place where I saw Samir before. Let’s go there.”
“Are we taking that elevator from here?”
Balder asked, pointing at the lift.
“If we take the elevator, we won’t be able to hide the fact that we’re going. Let’s go up the stairs.”
“Ah, that’s true. All the trouble we took to conceal ourselves would be exposed.”
“The stairs are right, but, whew…… How many floors is that?”
“We can’t use propulsion magic either, can we? Today’s a full-on physical training day.”
Everyone knew very well that we had to restrict magic for the sake of concealment. As the mages headed toward the stairs, they already looked as if their legs hurt.
Even though it was called the middle level, it was about the height of the fifteenth floor of an ordinary building.
With Heimdall at the lead, everyone entered the stairwell.
“I wish we could run around like those mountain goat demons too.”
“But those bastards didn’t just climb ten or so floors, did they? They must have come up from the Demon Realm, so their legs have to be aching too.”
“Is that so? Well, true. No matter how much they’re mountain goat demons, they must have limits.”
“The problem is that the limits of the human body are much lower.”
There was no sign of people at all on the lower levels, so the mages even chatted as they climbed the stairs.
But the higher we climbed, the quieter they became.
There was a window on every landing, and whenever one appeared, everyone looked outside.
The scenery changed with each floor we climbed. The people in the buildings across the pit began to look closer and closer.
Each of the mages spread out detection, checked the security, and investigated.
Once we entered the middle levels, people occasionally came into the stairwell. Most would use the elevator, but these were people who had chosen the stairs because they were only moving one floor.
When someone appeared, all of us lined up against the wall, held our breath, and stayed still.
The other party did not notice our presence at all.
Our concealment magic and barriers were perfect.
“I think we’re almost at the center now. From here on, I’ll check the corridors on each floor as we go.”
Heimdall, who was in charge of scouting, said quietly.
Indeed, I could now sense people moving in the corridor beyond the wall, and I could hear their murmuring voices as well.
The mana felt even denser.
“Good. Then let’s go out into the corridor and take a look. We’ll split up and investigate both sides.”
I said, looking back at the group.
Everyone nodded and prepared to investigate according to their assigned roles.
On the next floor, Heimdall opened the stairwell door slightly and looked outside. Then he soon signaled that it was all right to come out.
We quickly followed Heimdall into the corridor.
“Close the door quickly. People are coming from that side. Mountain goat demons are moving around too, so be careful.”
Heimdall said quietly.
“Both sides.”
At my signal, we split into two teams and began moving carefully.
Han Dosu and Thor’s group moved to the left, and the rest of us headed right with me.
On the left, two people who looked like underlings were approaching while carrying some heavy load.
There was no one on the right at first, but soon the mountain goat demons appeared, making strange noises.
“Geh! Geigigeh!”
“Giaia. Geh! Geigigeh! Gegehgeh!”
Their voices were like coal soot.
Since it was the language of demons, naturally I could not understand it. They did not have language chips installed like the races that had migrated to Earth.
“Hmm…… They say something is coming?”
Yantu muttered.
Surprised, I turned to him and asked,
“You understand the demons’ language?”
“A little. In the dimension I lived in before migrating to Earth, I lived alongside demons.”
“I see. So what’s coming?”
“I’m not sure. In any case, they seem happy. If something those bastards like is coming, it’s definitely not good for us.”
I looked at the mountain goat demons making all that noise.
They were gathered at the end of the corridor.
On both sides of the corridor on the floor we had come out onto, small rooms were lined up one after another. Identical doors continued in a row, and they were all closed.
This floor did not seem to be the center where Samir stayed. I could not see the balcony I had seen when detecting from outside, nor the wide hall I had glimpsed beyond it.
It seemed we still had a few more floors to climb before reaching the center.
The far end of the corridor where the mountain goat demons were had a hole in it. It was the point where the wall had been torn away when the pit was formed.
The mountain goat demons were looking outside from there.
“Let’s get closer.”
I said to the group and took the lead.
We moved smoothly down the corridor like water seeping through.
“Geh! Geh!”
“Geh! Geigigeh! Gegehgeh!”
The mountain goat demons shouted again as they looked outside.
We had approached almost directly behind them, but the mountain goat demons did not notice us at all. It seemed even more so because their attention was focused elsewhere.
I became very curious about what was coming, and what they were looking at.
But the mountain goat demons were completely blocking the front. We could not see outside without pushing them aside.
“Wait here for a moment.”
I said to the group, then carefully activated propulsion magic.
If I activated magic, there was a risk the mountain goat demons would notice me, but in order to examine the outside, I had no choice but to fly up over their heads.
I decided to trust Yantu’s words that the mountain goat demons’ senses were not particularly sharp.
I rose gently into the air. Quietly, I floated above the mountain goat demons’ heads.
The mountain goat demons still had not noticed my presence. Their attention was entirely fixed outside.
I examined the outside.
Across the pit as well, people had gathered near the edge of the precipice and were looking outward.
Everyone’s gaze was directed upward.
I looked upward too.
Earlier, blue sky had been visible through the opened hole, but now there was a black roof there.
‘What is it? Did they use spatial magic to build something in the meantime?’
But when I looked closely, the black roof was moving.
It was not a roof. It was the body of an enormous, pitch-black grotesque creature.