Published at 21st of June 2023 6:06 pm

Chapter 396 – The Ones with Power

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

He transformed into a warrior’s outfit with his armor having a conspicuous pigmented coating.

Seeing how he’s released his combat stance, I guess I’ll go with a safe greeting for the time being.

“Yo, good evening.”

“Kidnapping us…what kind of organization do you belong to? A state agency? The imperial special forces? EFSB? NCIA? MI6? Or maybe you’re one of the Anti-12-Global-Sorcerers?”

Kidnapping, huh…?

State agency and imperial special forces are both terms close to the ones used in the Japan I know of. That Anti-12-something is about the “12 Monkeys”? No, I guess it’s got to be something else.

“No, I don’t belong to any of those. But, I do have interest in the situation in your world. MI6 was Britain’s secret service, wasn’t it? I guess the NCIA should be some US-based information agency. Maybe the topography is different or some such on a different Earth.”

At this rate, it’s likely a terrible parallel-Japan after a nuclear fallout or something like that.

“…So you don’t plan to tell us the truth. Going by the climate…are we in Papua New Guinea?”

Okay, so it’s going to play out like this after all, huh? I guess it’ll be pointless even if I try to be polite. Oh well, I’ll at least give them a rough explanation.

“You’re lucky that someone like me, who can speak Japanese, is here, you know? I’ll tell you the plain truth, so listen closely. This here is a “different world” and not Japan. Because the plane you people were riding suddenly appeared in the sky, I moved to rescue you. If not for my deeply-trusted friends over here, you’d probably died then and there.”

“Eh?”

“The place’s name is Sea of Trees. You’re currently deep inside it. Since the terrain over here is complicated, you’ll find it tough to get a grasp if you don’t overlook the area from above, but Benrack Village is to the left. Pelneet is also to the left. To the right you’ll find Fortress City Hekatrail and nearby, Quiche’s village,” I rattled down, believing they wouldn’t be able to understand anyway.

Going by my first impression, the girl with the nice black, straight hair got to be a rich lady. She seems to be quick on the uptake, too. Although I call her a girl, she might be a female high-school student.

“…When I spotted your passenger plane loitering in the sky, fighter jets that seemed to aim at your plane were around as well, but does that mean you were chased by them?”

“Just when I tried to give the order to drive them away as I received a report about pursuers, we were basked in an intense light.”

I see. The pilots, who should have worn HMDs, must have also been startled by the flash of light.

“Those fighter jets crashed into monsters and went up in flames. The airframe of what seems to be a business jet was saved by my friend Eva. It’s the black-haired girl over there who’s currently helping your people with setting up a camp around the lake. And my partner Rollodeen, whom you can see there, carried the top part of the airplane. The rear part, where you had been, has already turned into small fragments.”

“Huh? Does that mean you can fly?”

“That’s the logical conclusion. Back then, I entered the plane through the open ramp and rescued the girl sleeping next to the ongoing-battle between Demi-Goddess Golgonshura and the semi-transparent warrior. Afterwards, I jumped out of the plane and rescued you who was on the verge of dying. That’s why I’m no kidnapper. Do you understand?”

“…Umm…yep.”

“Nngh～ Huh? This place…” The glasses girl woke up and immediately raised her voice into a scream.

“Good evening.”

“A-Ah, good evening,” she faithfully bowed her head.

“Thanks. I introduced myself to you already, but I’ll do it once more. My name is Shuuya Kagari. I guess you’d call me Kagari Shuuya in Japan. By the way, I know I’m repeating myself, but this isn’t your world――” While looking at Rollodeen at that moment, “I think you’ll understand if you take a look at my partner.”

“N, nya.” Having listened to our conversation, Rollodeen reacted by twitching her long ears. And then she turned her head in my direction and rushed over, “Nn, nyaa～”

Her running over with her burly limbs moving naturally caused a stir in the vicinity. I think the tentacles around her neck gave it the deciding punch in addition to her flexibility of a black panther, her beauty of a black horse, and her majesty of a black lion.

“Nn, nyaaaa～” She moved next to me while making the tips of two tentacles rotate.

“Hiii.”

“Matabeee!”

The two girls got startled. The long-haired girl adopted a combat stance while calling the name of her warrior. Matabe immediately reverted into being semi-transparent, and rotated the cross spear in his hand sideways.

You like this story? Then support the translator by reading the translation on his blog at infinite nove1 transl4tion!

He took several steps forward in order to protect the girl. While tilting his body, he readied the spearhead so that it’d be easy to stab from below. His employer raised the hand with the bracelet.

“Nya?”

“Rollo, they’re surprised after seeing you.”

“Nn.”

With a low purr, she directed her eyes at the warrior. The four or five sharp claws, which extended from her front paws, scratched a rotten root on the ground. Smashed wood chips flew up into the air.

Looking at the two female high-school students, I said, “You two, we haven’t attacked you so far, have we? Can’t you understand at least this much from the course of events so far?”

“…”

The two are going to stay silent, huh? I suppose Rollo’s appearance as a divine beast must look threatening to them.

“Rollo, you can go take a look at the bonfire on the other side.”

“Nyaa～”

“Rollo-chan, come here. I’ll take out some meat from my item box,” Eva called.

I think Rollodeen is going to nap on Eva’s lap after treating herself to some meat. Or maybe Eva is going to sleep while using Rollodeen’s fluffy head as a pillow.

After imagining the appearance of my partner of Eva in such situations, I looked at the two I rescued.

“Now then, was I able to clear the misunderstanding?”

“…”

“U-Umm, I remember how I was saved by you, Shuuya-san. Ah, my name is Hina. You’re the one who saved my life, so thank you very much.”

The glasses girl is Hina-san, huh?

“Hina-san, I’m glad that I was able to rescue you. I’m also pleased to make your acquaintance. The same applies to the distrustful young lady over there. And, you’re free to have that Matabe go on a rampage, but if he makes a move on my friends or partner――”

I extended a <Chain> toward the wary warrior. He reacted as quickly as I’d expected, repelling the approaching chain’s tip to the right side with his spear. The chain headed towards an outer trajectory while winding like a flying snake. Forcing the deflected chain to the side, I manipulated it to approach the warrior from the back as if to encircle him. And then I had the chain coil itself around him alongside the root of a tree.

He was extremely strong in dealing with attacks from the front, but he appeared to have difficulty in dealing with chained weapons from the side. It’s inevitable based on his nature as guardian, but it allowed me to exploit this trait as a weak point.

“…As you can see, I won’t show any mercy. So choose your actions wisely after making up your own resolve.”

“Eh? Something like this is…a claw and fangs servant. To handle Guardian Matabe so easily…”

“Then――”

I didn’t have the slightest intent to keep him restrained, so I canceled <Chain>. Turning around, I headed to join the crude meat party prepared by Rollodeen.

◇◆◇◆

“Sana-sama…”

“Hina, do you believe his words?”

“Yes. The reality is what it is…looking at our current situation. The silver coffin, which you recovered by paying a lot of money, is lying over there as well…”

“……You’re right. No matter how I think about it, this place is…,” Sana sighed, “I’ll store Guardian-sama away now.”

Sana dismissed Matabe who had been on his toes. Just as the pipe fox design on her wrist released a faint glow alongside a whirr, the nails of all her fingers started to blink. Her nail design was unique to the Twelve Families.

Matabe turned into mist which then got sucked into Sana’s nail. Hina watched that spectacle with a pang of jealousy.

“Okay. It is an environment reminiscent of an unexplored, secluded region. The wreck of our plane, the people who saved us…the huge divine beast…all of that shows that we are definitely not in eastern Japan.”

“Maybe the Ogasawara Islands erupted and a new continent…”

“Somewhere in the Pacific? No, that is highly unlikely,” retorted Hina with a sharp look pinned through her glasses on Sana while holding the frame.

Her forehead was small. But, she was a lovely girl with bobbed hair that suited her.

After looking at each other and smiling, Sana and Hina looked up into the night sky.

“There are two moons. Moreover, for one to be remains of a moon…haha!”

The interwoven moonlight originating from the moon remains and the small moon was pretty. But, the night sky of planet Sela, which consisted of stars and two moons, caused Sana to feel fear instead.

Reality slowly sank in on her. A world, which she couldn’t regard as fiction, had destroyed the world known to Sana.

“Sana-sama, are you alright…?”

Hina guessed Sana’s fear from her expression. Because they had been sticking together for many, many years, Hina could sense even the slightest changes in her friend.

“….You sure are strong, Hina. This is a different world just as he described just now, isn’t it? The Twelve Families don’t exist here. No military drills either… Ah, maybe no wars either? Maybe no assassin family McFadden?”

Sana continued to speak, trying to find some hope, but Hina added, “You’re right. Father and mother neither…”

The instant Sana heard that quiet whisper accompanied by a gloomy expression, she blurted out, “Ah…,” looking as if she had suddenly realized what she lost.

The Twelve Families. The parents only existed as simple instructors to give the children a harsh training regimen, but Sana had a gentle family member in her older brother.

“I-I’m sorry, Hina…”

“I will be fine. You are with me, Sana-sama.”

“If I imagine a situation with no one I know under these circumstances, I would also… That’s why I feel really happy to have you by my side, Hina.”

‘It’s set in stone that I’d be at a total loss if Hina wasn’t here…’ Those were Sana’s true feelings as she talked with her friend.

“Thank you very much.”

“At this point, the Twelve Families don’t matter anymore. The fetter of considering the good of the family lineage is gone as well. Be my friend just like in the past.”

“Yes. Ah…oki.”

“Hehe!”

Sana and Hina gazed at the bonfire, where everyone had assembled, while cuddling close together. Watching Shuuya explain the situation to all the people, who should be strangers to him, without leaving out anyone…the two thought that he didn’t seem to be a bad man.

And then, several hours later, “Ah, a black kitty.”

Yep, Rollodeen had appeared in front of the two. In her black cat form while holding a grilled fish in her muzzle.

At that moment, Shuuya, who had grown a beard, turned up while scratching his chin. Maybe having been influenced by Kaldo, he felt like trying to focus on dandyism for the first time in a long while.

◇◆◇◆

“Yo, young ladies, did you calm down a bit?”

“N, nyaa～”

“Rollo seems to be worried about you as well since you haven’t eaten anything. For a change, she’s holding food in her mouth.”

Having said that, a cat is a cat. She dropped the grilled fish on the ground. Then she picked it up with her mouth again, but since she didn’t carry it over to the girls, it was kind of unclear what she wanted to do with the fish.

“T-Thanks. But, my stomach――”

At that moment, her stomach growled loudly.

“Haha, your stomach is honest, isn’t it?”

“Both of you, it’s fine to come over here. Come on――”

I extended a hand towards them. Hina and the other girl nodded at my gesture.

“I’m late with my introductions. My name is Sana. Nice to meet you, Mr. Lifesaver.”

“Thanks.”

I grabbed Hina and Sana’s girly hands. Pulling their slender arms, I gentlemanly led them to the bonfire where Eva was treating everyone to some food.

Everyone fell asleep as the bonfire crackled.

I guess I’ll go sleep as well. Talking has exhausted me more than fighting, hahaha. My battle mania has reached an extreme, but that’s just me being me.

“Nya,” meowed Rollo from behind me.

“Nn, Rollo-chan. Very skilled at catching the fish in the lake.”

Eva, in her wheelchair, was next to the black panther Rollo. A blanket covered her legs. It reminded me of our first meeting in the labyrinth.

Heading over to the two, I sat down on a root.

“Oh right, thanks for cooking, Eva,” I said to her while massaging the back of Rollo’s paw.

“Did you like it?”

“Well, of course I wouldn’t be able to call it disgusting, right?”

“Nn…”

I pulled her leg a bit.

“Haha, it was just a joke. It was really great. The steamed dish of crispy meat with its spicy taste was delicious.”

“Oki. It was easy to do since I stored roasted meat in my item box beforehands.”

“Ah, the one from the Great Prairie?”

Rollodeen pulled back the paw I had been massaging, and washed her own head.

“Yep, Stone-Kicking Bird. Since it’s tender on top of allowing for great potions, it’s become a very popular dish at Dee’s restaurant. However, Dee said it’s no match for high-class meat dishes like the ones using Big Hellzeyk Birds.”

“I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”

“They’re regarded as standard dishes during dinner parties, so maybe that’s where you encountered it.”

Hee, noble purveyors? Oh, I remember. Speaking of dinner parties, the marquess explained all kinds of things to me, didn’t she?

“You were right. I recall Chardonnay had introduced that dish to me.”

“Nn…”

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“I also remembered. I haven’t sucked your blood, Shuuya.”

“Haha, that’s the issue? Here, go for it!”

I focused on <Blood Path – Open First Gate>. Releasing blood from my wrist, I held it out to Eva’s mouth.

“Thanks――”

Eva opened her small lips with an “Ahh” while blushing.

How cute.

While bringing my wrist close to her lips, I manipulated my blood, making it enter Eva’s mouth. The instant it entered her mouth, it somehow felt lewd.

“…”

Eva’s eyes dyed crimson. She revealed a vampiric expression with veins popping out around her eyes.

“Nn, puuaahh!”

I drew my hand back after Eva had sucked quite a bit of my blood.

“I feel like the speed of your sucking has gone up.”

“Really? I did my best with the juggling practice, so maybe it’s grown.”

Sergilon’s Steel Orbs, huh? If I remember correctly, they should boost the efficiency of mana manipulation. I expect that it also boosts other attributes as a side effect.

“Alright, I’ll take a little break before you suck up all my body fluids, Eva.”

“Hehe, I feel like Rebecca would have commented on that if she was here.”

“Ahaha, no doubt.”

While laughing, I left Eva and Rollo’s resting place, walking along the lake shore. The lake’s surface was so calm that you wouldn’t think that a fierce battle had taken place here several hours ago.

『――Your Excellency, what are you going to do with Golgonshura’s egg stone?』

Helme asked while acting like she was swimming in my visual field. Of course, she was using her tiny version as always.

『That’s a secret. Rather than that, the wind stream in the upper sky is odd』

『Oh, you’re right. It was so pleasant in you, so I didn’t pay any attention to the outside』

『I noticed it only now as well. Don’t worry about it…』

I looked up into the night sky. The firmament was already covered by stars.

The stinging feeling…definitely doesn’t come from me having eaten too much ice. A pain from my neck… An enemy from above? It’s not like Varmina is showing me a nightmare. Did she actually come to Sela through our apostle-like relationship?

For the time being I think I should also watch the forest in the back of where everyone’s sleeping.

『Eva, I’m going to take a look at the sky. Please take care of the ground with Rollo』

『Roger』

I immediately grasped the cause for the strange air flow. Hoffmann was floating up there with half his body being darkness.

A big coffin was on his right. The highly artistic design on the coffin remained unchanged from before. It projected three knight-like figures.

A huge, dark red head was floating nearby. And on the left was a snake monster with its upper body having multiple ax arms and its lower body being that of a mysterious fish man.

“Yo, do you want something from me?” I asked, but I anticipated that it was likely about the Death Butterfly women.

“Just when I thought Demi-Goddess Golgonshura, the creator of the Death Butterfly women, had revived, she suddenly vanished. So I wanted to personally greet the spearmaster who had easily accomplished that feat――”

Suddenly, a shining ring caught Hoffmann’s torso and cut it in half. But it looked like that was meaningless since the severed part connected to the darkness half in an instant.

“High-rank Vampire, target for annihilation. Divine Warrior Jenga Buu, here I come!”

“Protect Hoffmann-sama――”

All of a sudden, a melee between the group of odd creatures and a group of ring people started. There were other divine warriors present as well. After each introduced themselves with Deltabard Buu and something-Buu, they attacked the monsters.

Warriors of the Divine Domain with golden rings on their heads, huh? I didn’t see my acquaintance Arbagudrobe Buu among them, though. But, all of them had a pair of large, black wings on their backs, just like him. The strangeness of their faces with their hole in the middle was the same as well…

Only the names differ, huh?

“――Our target has changed to divine warriors! We shall fight as vanguard of Lugnad!”

Suddenly a knight on a black horse, whom I’ve never seen before, appeared. He held a magic spear, although it was different from the magic destruction lance.

Moreover, “Hee, that’s the spearmaster?”

“Wait, godslayer! Carefreely making contact is…”

“Oh my, Spirit World Knight Shuhelia-san? Did you forget the order of our lord?”

Somehow, it’s getting very lively up here…now it’s powerful folks with magic swords and spears in their hands. Are they Spirit World Knights? No idea, to be honest.

“This is why I hated this. What should I tell Vaa-chan now?”

Ah, I know this gigantic, black rabbit. Is he the reason for my mark to react?

Additionally, some grim caterpillar demon was present as well. Or rather, has this become a gathering spot for a part of the darkness forces?

“What, isn’t this quite fun here――”

Oh, isn’t that the Time Tapir!? All over the place were people I know, but then a battle against monsters with centipede caps on their head started.

『Oh! Pew-pew from the big nose!』

Just when I considered whether to ask Adombraly about this situation, I found myself above Rebecca’s place. The Wave Gourd was still with my friends as well.

I guess I’ll summon the Burning Knights during the melee. In such a case, Rollo got to deploy as well. Though it’ll result in only Eva and the semi-transparent warrior remaining on the ground with the people…

Well, at present, I don’t sense any magic source responses below. If only the Burning Knights could fly…oh well, no helping it.

“Shuuya-dono, you have it tough as well, don’t you?”

A tall, old skeleton dude suddenly addressed me. No, a mage wearing a black mantle and holding a skull wand. I met this guy at Shiki’s place.

“Yes indeed, by the way, you are?”

“Ahh, sorry I guess I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hazes. I don’t have anything to do with the Church of Darkness Hades, so don’t mix me up with them,” the mage explained while swinging his wand to pulverize an approaching rock pellet.

I think it’d be better for me to call Rollodeen over at this rate.

『――Eva, would you mind for Rollo to come up here?』

『It’s alright. Rather than that, how about me coming up as well?』

『No, I’d feel uneasy that something might happen to all the people down there』

『Okay』

“Hazes-san, you’re a bit out of place here.”

“Is that so? …I have a message from my master, though.”

That’s impossible under the current circumstances.

“Rollo, come!”

“Nyaagoaaaa～”

Rollodeen charged my way at an explosive rate while spiraling. The Spirit World-like female and male knights stayed away. I suppose they’re a group different from Hoffmann. They don’t look like they’re going to participate in the battle against the divine domain’s forces.

『Your Excellency, should I split off here?』

『I’m not quite sure yet…let’s watch the situation for a bit longer』

Even while thinking so, I had a hunch that it’d eventually result in us splitting up and fighting…I think it’s the perfect time for my new sage art skill’s turn. Let’s make some fireworks out of white flames.

Well…it’s my trump card, so yeah.

I got ready for <Saraten’s Secret Art> with <Chain> as basic. With those plans, I leaped on Rollodeen’s back.

“Nn――”

Rollodeen smashed apart a bat-shaped monster by swinging a huge tentacle bone sword. I grasped the overall situation while she circled in the sky. The battle between the divine domain forces and a part of the Spirit World forces was intense.

No, can you actually call them Spirit World forces in this case?

“――I’ll turn all of you divine domain forces, which do not understand faith, into nourishment for me! <Walpurgis’s Night> is absolute and invincible!”

The clash between Hoffman’s side and the divine domain troops had become even more violent. Other Spirit World dwellers started to fight amongst each other, too.

Things are a total mess here.

Share