Chapter 45: Ambushed

-with Elmenhilde and Modeus-

"I think we went the wrong way, Modeus"

Elmenhilde says as she stared at the dozens of goblins surrounding their location while a young lean man with long dark blue hair covering his right eye and a horn located at his forehead was looking down on them, standing on top of a tall tree.

"Tch... If I haven't sworn to myself that I'll never use seduction magic again... This would have been much easier"

Modeus clicked her tongue in irritation while holding a large sledge hammer in her right arm with ease.

"State your business, trespassers"

The young man asked in a deep and heavy tone as several thin threads surrounded both Modeus and Elmenhilde's bodies.

"Is this suppose to immobilise us?"

Elmenhilde said before spreading crimson ice on the ground, quickly making its way towards the goblin, freezing them solid in a large block of ice.

"Crimson Ice? When did acquire that ability?"

Modeus asked with an intrigued expression on her face as the only beings that knows how to control such dangerous ice is Lucias.

"Uh... I... got it when I... drank Lucias' blood"

Elmenhilde shyly says with a slight tinge of red on her cheeks from remembering her intimate sessions with Lucias when she asked him for his blood.

"Hmm... Were you horny?"

Modeus asked with a nasty grin on her face, completely ignoring the the figures who were all waiting for them answer the man's question.

"Y-Ye- I mean no! w-what are you asking me Modeus!?"

"What? I was just curious"

"Woman, state your business or we might let you go"

The young man asked once more in a calm tone, observing their every actions to see if they have any ill intentions or not.

"Jeez, no need to be so impatient, maybe that's why you're still a virgin" (Modeus)

"Why am I paired with you?" 

Elmenhilde helplessly sighed as she turned her head to look at the malicious pervert standing behind her.

"It's because I'm powerful"

Modeus confidently said while puffing out her chest, causing the thread close to her body to snap from the sheer toughness of her skin.

"Personality wise..."

"Deal with it"

Modeus says as she placed her gaze on the young man standing on top of the tree.

"We got lost?" (Modeus)

"Is that a question?" (Elmenhilde)

"I can't help it..." (Modeus)

She shrugged her shoulders before spinning her giant sledge hammer in the air, snapping the threads surrounding both of their body before blowing away the weaker goblins due to the wind pressure produced by her swing.

"If you don't want to answer... then I'll make the final verdict myself, capture them"

The young man ordered causing the goblins around him to enter their shadows before diving out of both of their shadows with their daggers aimed at the vital spot on her back to paralyze their body.

"Assassin? They're quite experienced aren't they!"

Modeus shouted before slamming her sledge hammer to one of the goblins, crushing all of his bones before sending him crashing to the tall trees of the forest.

She then spun her hammer around, blocking the swords around her before smashing all of them to the ground.

"I wonder how long can you survive against me?"

Modeus grinned as she slammed the sledgehammer on the ground, creating a massive crater below her, producing a massive earthquake around their area causing the goblins and nearby trees falling to the ground.

"[Freeze]"

Elmenhilde casted as blood red ice devoured the goblins who fell from Modeus' attack, freezing them solid to the ground as the others immediately dodge her attack by diving into their shadows.

"They're bad news, Souei-sama"

"Keep your ground and target the pale girl first... This Ice isn't something we can handle"

Souei warned while observing the terrifying amount of malice and mana that was contained within the ice.

"Understood Souei-sama"

All the remaining goblins said before diving into their shadows and appearing on top of Elmenhilde, causing Modeus to use the opportunity to charge at the young man on top of the tree.l

"Let's have some fun shall we?"

Modeus smashed her giant hammer on the tree without holding back, causing the branch that he was standing on along with the tree to shatter into pieces as the wind pressure from her swing destroyed a large area on the ground below them.

Souei dodged her hammer as quickly as he can before appearing on top of a branch on a nearby tree.

"Tch"

He clicked his tongue in irritation before covering the entire area with fortified threads to try and immobilise her movement.

"Modeus, stop playing around"

Elmenhilde shouted as she launched a large wave of Frost Fire above her, knocking out all of the goblins who attacked her before aiming her palm at Souei's direction, firing several needles of crimson ice causing Souei to reflexively dodge her attack which froze some of the threads in the process.

"You're always so serious, Elmenhilde"

Modeus said with a pout before cutting off the threads around her with her sledge hammer.

"I should've learned other demonic magic from Lucifer"

"What magic did you learn again?"

"Hehehe~ I only know seduction magic"

Modeus scratched the back of her head while swinging the hammer towards Souei to stop his escape.

"Tch"

He clicked his tongue as he unsheathed the swords on his back, pointing the tip of the blade at Modeus with a cautious expression on his face.

"What do you want to do with him?"

Elmenhilde asked as she arrived by her side, freezing the ground below her in the process.

"Can you control that?"

"No... Lucias' crimson ice is too powerful, so... I can't fully control it even if I want to"

"Wait... doesn't that mean that you basically froze them for all eternity?"

Modeus asked as she pointed at the goblins who were frozen inside a large block of crimson ice.

"No, what I'm saying is that I can't control how it unconsciously freezes my surroundings"

"... Don't get close to me"

Modeus moved away far from her, remembering how Azazel was frozen inside one for millions of years in the past before Lucias found them.

"... You don't have to be that afraid of me, I can unfreeze you if ever you get stuck in on- wait, where is he?"

Elmenhilde looked around their surroundings in a panick, trying to look for the figure of the young man that they cornered before.

"We won't... get in trouble for this right?"

She nervously asked Modeus, remembering that they're entire group is just part of a larger one.

"Don't worry, I can just pummel them if ever they attack us"

Modeus confidently said with her hammer placed on her shoulders.

"We don't even know how powerful the beings are of this dimension... Should we run away?"

Elmenhilde held her chin as she contemplated about their next course of actions.

"Running away? That's not really my forte, I either knock them out or steal the love of their life as my slave"

"Can you please remove the latter?"

"What? It's the truth"

"I didn't need to know that"

Elmenhilde said with a exhausted tone as she tiredly stared at her partner's direction but froze when she saw a massive wave of black flames moving towards them in great speed, causing her to erect a wall of crimson ice in front of them to block the flames.

"They're quick"

Modeus commented as she stared at the small figure with long light blue hair wearing a black overcoat with a mask covering her facial features.

"A girl?"

Elmenhilde muttered as she observed the physical features of the figure in front of them while her flames danced around his location.

"No... I am quite sensitive to hormones released by both sexes but... this... uh... person doesn't have any of those in its body"

"So... it's genderless?"

"You can say that... but I'm pretty sure that this being is part demon"

Modeus says before swinging her giant hammer around her body to prepare herself for a possible fight but what she didn't expect was that the figure, rather than fighting them, raised both of its arms up in the air as she removed the mask on her face, revealing a feminine facial feature that can easily be mistaken for a girl.

"I don't want to fight, can we just talk this out?"

"Huh?"

Elmenhilde muttered with a dumbfounded expression on her face from what she the little girl's words.

"Did I just hear that correctly?" (Elmenhilde)

"Yeah..." (Modeus)

"Is this a trap?"

Elmenhilde muttered causing Modeus to shake her head from side to side, denying her assumptions.

"I don't think so... she's genuinely meant it" (Modeus)

"But we just severely injured her allies" (Elmenhilde)

"... I know... maybe it is a trap? Then that means that she's as powerful as Ophis to avoid the detection of my skill [Mind's Eye]" (Modeus)

"... I don't think she's THAT powerful... I can see that she achieved a certain amount of strength... but at most she's currently as powerful as me or... a bit more powerful than me" (Elmenhilde)

Elmenhilde says as she observed the powerful aura of a Satan-Class getting released from her body as soon as she removed the mask.

"Wait... when did you become a Satan-Class?"

"It is expected when I drank the blood of all the spirits..."

"Were you horn-"

"Please don't ask me that"

Elmenhilde immediately cut off her next words before looking at the young girl's direction with a serious expression on her face.

"Then that means... she's either extremely smart to try and negotiate with us instead of fighting or..." 

She muttered, completely changing the topic from before.

"She's just naive"

Modeus continued her words before hiding the giant sledge hammer inside her personal inventory while Elmenhilde retracted all of the crimson ice around her, releasing the goblins from their frozen state. Showing that they have no intention to continue fighting causing the young girl to brightly smile as she ran closer to the two of them.

"I'm sorry that my subordinates suddenly attacked you but please understand that they're only doing it to protect the safety of the federation"

"... Federation?"

Elmenhilde unconsciously asked as she looked at her directly in the eye.

"Eh? You don't know? Then what are you doing inside this forest?"

She asked in a confused tone as she stopped just in front of them.

"... We're lost, actually" (Elmenhilde)

"We're lost?" (Modeus)

"Of course we're lost"

Elmenhilde pinched her waist to make her agree while realising frost fire to injure her adamantine like skin.

"You're lost? Then why didn't you say so from the start, we could've guided you towards your destination" 

"Hahaha... Sorry about that" (Elmenhilde)

Elmenhilde awkwardly laughed while scratching the back of her head from embarrassment as they didn't listened to the young man from before.

"No it's ok, we're at fault as well for immediately attacking you... If you want I can guide you out of the forest to your destination"

"Uh... It's a long and unbelievable story... It's really hard to explain"

"What do you mean?"

The girl asked in confusion as she tilted her head while looking at both of them.

"Should we tell her?"

Elmenhilde whispered at Modeus who was fixedly staring the little girl in front of them.

"... The problem is... will she believe us?"

"So you're saying we can tell her?"

"Yeah, she seems... trustable... looking at her reactions... she seems a bit... too naive actually. I kind of find it hard to believe that she's the leader considering the she called them her subordinates"

"Let's see, maybe she can help us with our quest"

Both of them whispered to one another while occasionally stealing glances at the little girl standing behind them.

"It's a long story so... care to lend us some of your time?"

Elmenhilde asked as soon as both of them separated from each other with a harmless smile.

"Sure, let's continue this back at my place... as long as you don't cause trouble to the people of my city"

"Don't worry we won't" (Elmenhilde)

"We won't?" (Modeus)

"Of course we won't" 

Elmenhilde says in a heavy tone as she punched her back with her frost fire covered fist to make her nod her head in agreement.

"Yes, yes we won't cause trouble"

"Great! Then follow me I'm sure you'll like it there"

The girl says with a large smile on her face before walking towards the area where she came from while occasionally looking back at the two of them.

"Thank you uh..."

"Rimuru Tempest, that's my name"