Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

Ryuji led the group, with Simon to his right and Erika to his left. Yumiko seemed to linger around the middle with Alicia, the two of them sometimes bickering.

"Stay away from Ryuji!" Yumiko's voice carried a hint of irritation. Her eyes narrowed at Alicia as she cracked the ice, the power of her tail creating small dents with each blow.

"Hehe, are you a jealous little fox?"

Alicia danced with elegance, avoiding any slips with her Elven grace.

From the moment they stepped onto the icy cold path, it became cramped and freezing. A series of sharp and crooked ice shards form a narrow passage filled with glistening blue and turquoise shards.

The temperature and slippery floor caused Ryuji and Paul to struggle with their footing.

"Y-Yumiko, I know you can't do this without me," said Alicia. "Ryuji likes us both. We should both try to be friendly!"

"Tsk! Don't breath, your breath stinks!"

Ryuji turned to stop them from arguing because his danger senses told him that enemies were around, close or distant. He couldn't tell because of the strange twists and turns of the narrowed path.

"Erika," he called to the blonde, who was next to Simon, "Don't get too far from the group."

Erika stumbled over the slippery ice floor, almost falling if not for Ryuji, who slid forward and held her arm. "I-I'm fine!" she cried in embarrassment. "The damn cold is messing with my balance."

—Click

"That sound..." Paul's bald head seemed to shine before he tossed seven of his wooden runes into the air, forming a brilliant purple barrier of arcane energy. "TRAPS!"

Suddenly, Erika's foot released the button under her foot before hundreds of arrows shot out of hidden slits.

The small, narrow path filled with ice and frost was actually an ice-themed death trap. Paul's purple barrier protected the group from the arrows, but the trap had only just begun. The dense ice, cramped space, and slippery floor made it difficult for the group to advance further despite their excellent battle strength.

"Hurry! Hold on to my back; I will take the damage, Shiela Paul. I'm counting on you!" Ryuji shouted, his arms grabbing Simon and Erika before wrapping them and pulling them both behind his body—the next moment, hundreds of arrows with jagged blue tips shot towards him.

Ryuji's eyes narrowed, and a flash of black flashed in his pupils as he felt the movement of the traps. Yet his demonic eyes of battle couldn't slow them down as they pelted Paul's arcane barrier.

Deng! Deng! Deng! Deng...

Suddenly, Ryuji could feel the sensation of danger; his eyes noticed tiny cracks in the barrier-forming rapidly. Paul's barrier could not block all the attacks. With the clap of his hands, he chanted the spell, trying to reinforce the barrier with his magic.

However, this caused him to become a target.

"Hurry!" Slide like your body is a sledge! Ryuji shouted once more, taking out his axe to use the sharp tip of the counterbalance on the tip to guide his direction; the rush of arrows continued—the tunnel became a huge slide swirling down, and a single trap created this death slide.

If Paul and Ryuji fell, then the rest of the party would be helpless as well.

"Ryuji!" Slide! Yumiko slid quickly; her fox tail hit the ground, breaking the ice in all directions as she tried to reach him.

—Click

The movement of Ryuji's feet tripped another trap, causing his eyes to narrow, a feeling of dread in his chest before spikes started stabbing from the ceiling, causing the entire party to lie flat.

"Down!"

"Fuck, this is too crazy. It's only Rank-C!" Paul's expression was solemn as he pushed Ryuji and Simon's shoulders with his palms, a circle of arcane energy revolving around them.

The damage to his barrier was so severe that cracks formed as soon as he started casting the spell or repaired it, sharp spear tips poking and slicing his cheeks as he tossed another of his runes, which cracked and formed a flat barrier under their feet.

"This will stop us from triggering the traps, but be careful! We must stay close, Argh!"

'As I thought, Paul is so fucking awesome!'

"Huh, since when did Paul have such an ability, Shiela?" Simon asked, amazed by the defensive skills displayed by Paul. "He wasn't such a 'God of Runes' in the past."

"He claims Ryuji inspired him, and thus, he cut out parts of the magic used to form his runes. Though it made them more unstable, it also allowed him to make more flexible runes and more of them."

Simon was impressed.

"But I can't hold on for long. Go!" Blood covered Paul's face as a flat area of land appeared. It seemed they had almost escaped the slide trap.

The layer of arcane energy below their feet was like a piece of glass, small spiderwebs forming each time their bodies flicked in the air from the slight lift of the ice, like a ramp.

—Click

The sound of another trap button being triggered echoed.

"Aaah!"

"THE FLOOR!"

Ryuji felt a sense of excitement. The very edge of the spiral staircase they had travelled through vanished, leaving a two-metre gap between the safe land and their current position. Wind and frozen arrows continued raining down on them, and Paul almost collapsed.

"You go first!" Ryuji kicked Simon with his boots.

"Arooo!" Simon howled with anger, his eyes filled with tears. The boy kicked him with an ogre's strength, sending his body flying over the empty void. His scream echoed between the ice shards in this beautiful underground lair. "Aaaah!!!"

"..." Ryuji could only watch Simon fly away, his expression awkward.

"Save me!" Alicia waved her hand, and Ryuji grabbed her waist, using the extra weight to help propel his body and tossed her along with Sheila, their bodies floating with a better arc, while Paul directed one of his broken shields to support them.

—Click!

"Tsk!" The floor below the remaining people in the group continued to vanish.

With his rapid reactions, Ryuji grabbed Paul and Erika before tossing them both over the vast chasm. Both of them smashed into an icy bolder, with the purple barriers shattering. Arrows and spears began slicing and cutting through Ryuji, who protected Yumiko.

It was now just Ryuji and Yumiko left on the last floating shield.

"Ryuji..." Yumiko looked up at him, her eyes red and fearful, her lips blue from the cold.

Ryuji put his arms around Yumiko's waist and threw her across the chasm.

Yumiko let out a soft cry. Her hands outstretched in a familiar position as she rolled on the ice, her body sliding several metres before she slowed down and came to a stop with only bruises and cuts.

"Ryuji..." She called his name one last time and rolled to a stop.

"I'm fine, Yumiko," Ryuji grunted in pain as more arrows and spears broke the skin on his back and legs. He bit down on his teeth, a wild smile on his lips. "Paul, catch!"

"W-What!?!?!?"

The next moment, Paul's face became pale as Ryuji's muscular figure lunged towards him like a meteor from space. "Oh, goddess, please protect this little lamb!"

"PAUL YOU ARE NOT A PRIEST!" Sheila cried out, forming the thinnest barrier possible to save him from imminent death.

—Crack

Paul's barrier shattered under Ryuji's weight before Ryuji hit the ground like a meteor. The ice splintered and shattered, the last floating piece of land now gone, leaving them with no return, turning the danger zone into a deep crater with Paul's pale face.

"ARRGGGH!" Ryuji's bones creaked under his weight. The shock of hitting the ground on his back created a flow of pain.

He spat out blood and pushed himself to his feet with his axe, feeling a hot burning in his back from the wounds and arrows crushed and torn from his body, only for his momentum to make him roll, his axe returning to its necklace form.

"It seems the final trap was Ryuji himself..." Simon whispered looking at the state of Ryuji and Paul on the ground twitching.

"Th-There are no more traps," Sheila muttered as she cast a few spells to pull out the arrows stuck on Ryuji's back and repair Paul's broken barrier.

"There are no traps, huh? Is that so, Simon?" Erika pointed at the side where she pretended to search, knowing it was her fault the first trap triggered.

Simon could only sigh. "Everyone, we should take a moment to camp. Let's have Paul restore his runes and Ryuji recover from that porcupine form he has now."

"..."