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The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich/The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich - Chapter 101-200/The-Experimental-Log-of-the-Crazy-Lich-Chapter-101-200-[Gravity-Tales][Hasseno]/Section0146.txt
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Chapter 146: War Breaks Out
【Top Student's Glasses: These are ordinary silver-rimmed glasses and wearing them will make you seem slightly smarter. Yeah, just slightly. Let me tell you, these are obviously ordinary glasses that the top students use to blind their competitors!】
【Top Student's Decayed Teeth: "Yes, it's these teeth. Wuuuuu, it's this one! It almost killed me!"】
【Top Student's Dentures: "My dentures are actually poisonous teeth filled with venom! Don't force me to bite you. Lick… AHHHHHH, it's poisonous!"】
【When you gather the full set "Top Student's Glasses," "Top Student's Decayed Teeth," and "Top Student's Dentures," you will gain the special effect "Dunce Masquerading as the Top Student". Your retorting abilities will be increased by 30%, integrity score will be lowered by 30% while your Cuteness Might will be increased by 30%—System hasn't eaten my medicine yet, but I still feel cute!】
"Where should I start retorting from? Should I start from how the three top students' equipment would turn one into a dunce? Or should I start from how I can equip those two teeth? Furthermore, if I put those poisonous teeth into my mouth, I would probably die! Further, what's with those additional abilities? What the heck is Cuteness Might? Do I need better retorting ability or a decreased integrity score? My integrity already has no lower limits, alright! I have already long given up on treatment, alright! There are too many points to retort about this, there is no way I can retort on them all, alright!"
Everytime I see those Gachapon rewards which were filled with numerous retort points, my desire to retort would skyrocket. At this moment, after a whole series of ripostes, I panted heavily with the System interface before me, my gaze fixated on it.
"I will kill you with my glare, glower you to death!"
Alright, I knew that I looked foolish like that. However, what could I do to an existence I couldn't reach but kept doing me in? Nothing, except killing them with my glare.
Perhaps I had spent too many Fate Points reconstructing my body; the recent Gachapon reward was getting worse and worse. The items that I had obtained were mostly objects that left people speechless.
【The Wordless Book of Heaven: The unparalleled Way of Heaven is contained within it.】
Alright, I didn't know what the Book of Heavens was about, but if a book had no words, how could one comprehend it?
【Balala the Fairies Transformation Wand: I ate a lot of medicine today and feel cute! If you sing "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you" and dance while transforming, there will be bonus enhancement to your stats! Furthermore, it is pink!】
Alright, I don't think that I need to go any further than that. After managing to get this non-mainstream magical wand, I immediately walked over to my window, opened it and threw it out.
"Who would say such embarrassing words! Farewell!"
【Sacred Sword: Togashi Must Die—The new member of the "One Shot One Kill (Must Die)" sword series, the product of the resentment of readers and editors. The One Shot One Kill (Wrecking Their Ass) effects apply to those who submit their manuscripts late and tour in the name of finding inspiration for their work. Also, it would be an incredible sight if you use it along with the one above.】
Alright, putting aside those obviously ill-humored, bizarre objects, the System did give some "good items" as well.
【DF-41 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile: Don't say that the System didn't give you anything good. As long as you are able to use it and dare to use it, this object is definitely formidable.】
When I saw the object, I was shocked. However, when I saw the user manual that came along with it, I knew that I have been duped.
"It requires specialized equipment for the launch of the missile? I can still find a way to solve that, but what do you mean by the missile will be locked if the password entered is incorrect? Where can I find the password required for the missile launch? Do I have to rip it apart to examine it? However, if it explodes on me, will you pay me? Furthermore, how can there be an intercontinental missile in a world revolving around magic? I dare you give me something normal, like the incantation of a powerful Forbidden Spell!"
And the System really did it. In the next draw, I got a powerful, otherworldly spell incantation.
【Dragon Slave: Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the stream of time is where your power grows...】
When that incantation from my childhood appeared before me, my entire body started trembling in anticipation.
"Ohhhhh! As long as I chant the incantation, I will be able to borrow strength from the otherworldly Demon Lord to cast this ultimate-level Forbidden Spell? Without using much mana, I will be able to use this highly destructive Forbidden Spell? Awesome!"
Thus, I looked for a remote location to experiment it myself.
Did I fail? Was there a problem with the incantation? No, the items from the System were all authentic. I succeeded and the incantation was the official one and it worked. I managed to connect with the otherworldly Demon Lord.
"Welcome to the Otherworldly Demon Lord Summoning System…. The Demon Lord whom you are calling is currently unavailable, please try again later. Dududu, I thank you for your support of the Incantation System."
Alright, the Demon Lord was busy and he was unavailable.… I could understand that the Incantation System was the exclusive privilege of a certain other world and it was normal for me to be unable to get into contact with him, but what was with the reply afterward!
"After which, please rate our services. Are you satisfied, or are you very satisfied? Of course, it is also alright for you to choose the completely satisfied option!"
Of this "Dear customer, I am father. If you don't want to use my services, feel free to leave" customer service, what can I do? I hung up and stared speechlessly at the blue sky.
Actually, this wasn't the worst. Once I managed to draw a bunch of legendary treasures. Looking at those orange-colored artifacts, I almost died from delight.
"Hah, One-Star Ball, Two-Star Ball… Seven-Star Ball. If I gather all seven, can I really realize my wish?"
Back then, I hadn't been duped by the System too badly yet. After drawing 6 Dragon Balls straight and receiving confirmation from the System about the effects of the Seven Dragon Balls, I waited expectantly for the final Dragon Ball to fall into my hands. In fact, I even started to plan on how I should make use of my wish and how I should achieve the greatest benefits through it. I even filled an entire journal with my plans.
However, in the dozen or so Gachapon draws in the next year, I never received the final Dragon Ball. Eventually, I could only howl helplessly in anger.
"From the very start, you were trying to scam me, right? Is this the darned game lottery system that our country came up with? There is no prize at all, right!"
"...Due to the karmic effects regarding the Four-Star Dragon Ball being too great, I can only arrange a mission for you. If you are able to triumph over its guardian, it will be yours."
I had watched the Dragon Ball manga back then. Who was the owner of the Four-Star Dragon Ball? Wasn't it the protagonist of the manga, Son Goku?
Challenge Son Goku? Recalling those ridiculous experts in the manga who destroyed planets as they pleased, I shuddered.
However, I soon remembered how the manga was when it first started, when the plot was still normal. Back then, the Seven Dragon Balls had already appeared and perhaps, the one to appear before me wouldn't be such a ridiculous existence. There was still a chance for success.
"It is the young Goku from the start, right? It can't be that it is the Super Saiyan who destroyed planets with a single strike in the later part of the manga.… Why aren't you answering? It can't be that it is the even more ridiculous Super Saiyan 3?"
"Don't worry, it's not 3, it's 33. Super Saiyan 33!"
"Don't try to fool me, I read the manga! There is no Super Saiyan 33 in that world!"
"Cough, it is a parallel universe that we live in. Due to the overwhelming popularity of Dragon Ball in the world, the editor didn't allow the manga to end. As such, the show dragged on from Super Saiyan 3 to Super Saiyan 33. Sigh, you don't know how ludicrous the power system became in the end. At the very start, they destroyed worlds and planets, but eventually they went on to destroy galaxies and universes."
"Furthermore, since you already know that it was taken from that real parallel universe, given the plot the Dragon Ball world was going at, how they were breaking their limits here and there, do you think that it was possible for even more powerful antagonists to not appear later on? If I were to say, not just Super Saiyan 33, as long as that world doesn't get destroyed, even Super Saiyan 333 is possible!"
Alright, there's no need for me to say anything. Even the normal Super Saiyan transformation was able to kill me in an instant; if Super Saiyan 33 came, wouldn't the heavens, earth, and even the air be destroyed with a single flick? I didn't wish to die that pathetically yet, thus I rejected the "goodwill" of the System.
As time went by (and the number of times I got scammed increased), I roughly comprehended a general rule.
It wasn't that the System had dedicated its soul fully to pranking others, but its abilities were limited. Distorting the future required one to bear its karmic effects. The laws governing equivalent exchange still needed to be obeyed.
Thus, my dream of obtaining powerful treasures by drawing with minimal Fate Points was shattered.
For a period of time, I dedicated my soul to drawing "mystical secret manuals." "Godly equipment" and "unique and rare treasures" were struck from my list of options.
"If I obtain strength from the 'otherworldly knowledge' and change the future, it would be my own doing rather than the doing of the System. Thus, the System only need to bear minimal karmic effects. This was like a conspicuous loophole left behind by the System. If I don't choose you, who else will I choose?"
Thus, even though I drew numerous objects that left one speechless through the "mystical secret manuals" choice, such as the "Wordless Book of Heaven" and "Dragon Slave Incantation Manual" and other books which were in the wrong universe, as well as the "Art of Nine Negations," "Sunflower Manual," "Manual to Cross Dressing as a Beautiful Lady," and "Photoshop: Manual to Creating a Beauty." They were all authentic, but it was completely inconceivable to me what they could be used for.… Alright, let's forget all of those. At the very least, those research notes of the otherworldly Mages were indeed good stuff. They were much more useful than those unreliable otherworldly treasures and I had benefitted greatly through them.
The reason why I used my Gachapon draws recently to get unique and rare treasures was to draw a Spring of Drowned Man for the unfortunate Krose as compensation. However, it was a pity that the entire roulette was filled with the Top Student series's objects and there was no sign of the Spring of Drowned Man appearing at all.
"Forget it, timing is important in Gachapon. If one's complexion, hand, and luck are bad, one shouldn't treat himself as the protagonist of the world. I should try giving it a change and drawing mystical secret manuals instead."
As Fate Points were pumped in, the rapidly spinning roulette stopped. Looking at the "secret manual" which popped out, I couldn't help gasping in shock.
It was a game walkthrough. On its cover, roaring Beastmen armies and countless Beastmen heroes could be seen.
【Ding! Congratulations on obtaining 《Highland Beastmen Invasion Game Walkthrough—The Hundred Powerful Tribes Information Guide》. System Notice: Not only does it list the unique troops of each and every tribe and their fighting prowess, it even tells you about the personal preferences of each Chieftain and heroic figures. If you still fail to achieve victory in the war, carry your head to meet me.】
"System! Can you not be so obvious when cheating? However, you did well this time, I like it! I give you thirty-two likes!"
"Prince Roland in the East Mist Communal Country is a fake. He isn't some awakened returning Heroic Spirit, but propaganda East Mist uses to calm the hearts of their citizens!"
When I heard the report Sleuweir Kingdom sent to the other countries and churches, I wasn't surprised at all. This was within expectations. Even so, I was still enraged by their actions.
"Feimer Carson, is it? Since you were willing to send assassins to get rid of me for the sake of holding onto your authority, then what could coming up with lies to deny the existence of your ancestors count as?"
I could understand that they were denying my identity to maintain the integrity and legitimacy of their sovereignty, but they were clearly trying to stab themselves in their own foot by the latter part of the report.
"The Kamo's Tear Fortress is still completely calm. I have just signed a peace treaty with the numerous Beastmen Tribes. Yet that fake Roland spread rumors about an impending Beastmen invasion. This shows that he has bad intentions in mind! He hopes to tear apart our amiable relationship with our Beastmen allies!"
From a certain sense, Sleuweir could be considered as the successor of the Mist Country's legacy. However, they denied the traditions and values of the Mist Country. They chose to employ goodwill diplomacy, siding with the other larger kingdoms on most occasions, even willing to resort to bribing the Beastmen Tribe whom they bordered.
One must say, from a certain perspective, they truly did well. In human society, Sleuweir Kingdom's reputation was much better than East Mist Communal Country and Mist Country.
Considering how difficult it was to capture Kamo's Tear Fortress, the Chieftains who had received large amounts of bribes would also direct their attention to the other human territories. They had enjoyed more than two decades of peace and they had not been embroiled in most major historical wars.
For the Beastmen Tribes, as long as it was en route to their ancient homeland, it was the same no matter whom they invaded. The current situation was different from the past Mist Country and the Beastmen bordered with more than one human country. Since Sleuweir had decided to employ the carrot and the stick, it was much wiser for them to choose an easier target to work on.
Of this method of diverting the catastrophe to the other countries, the Karsomi Communal Country which faced greater pressure from the Beastmen's assault was full of complaints. Even so, it didn't affect Sleuweir's diplomatic strategies in any way, so they had no choice but to tolerate it.
It was true that the Karsomi Communal Country was a nail stuck there to deal with the pressure from the Beastmen. After East Country's fall, they had borne the brunt of the impact from most of the brutal Human-Beastman wars.
The motive for the Beastmen's invasion southward was simple. In the short-term, their goal was likely to annex some land so they could hunt for food and resources. As for the long-term, they probably only had one ultimate aim—to recapture the original land of the Beastmen, the Blanluya Plains.
Currently, the Blanluya Plains weren't part of the Beastmen's territory. It belonged to a powerful human empire, Saint Antonio, and it served as its granary. The Karsomi Communal Country was a vassal state of Saint Antonio Empire.
It was said that the emperor of the Karsomi Communal Country was a high noble of the Saint Antonio Empire, and most of the powerful troops of the country originated from Saint Antonio. Every year, young generals would suddenly appear in their ranks and display their talents; most of these talents were Saint Antonian.
There was even a tale about how they crushed their own foot with the boulder they lifted.
The Beastmen army had never given up on their dreams to return back to their homeland. Back then, when the Beastmen had occupied the previous territory of the Mist Country, due to their powerful reproductive abilities, they were able to engage in numerous large-scale and small-scale battles. This made those countries who were pestered by them start to miss that "smelly and tough country of barbarians," which they destroyed with their own hands.
"Thirty to forty Wolf Knights may not mean anything much in a frontal assault, but if they snuck into our territories, they can cause countless civilian deaths. Those cockroach-like Beastmen who reproduce at an insane rate can't be completely killed no matter what we do. We need a barrier against them!"
As such, under the combined efforts of countless empires, the Karsomi Communal Country was formed.
To date, this newly established country only had two hundred years of history behind it. After its founding, it nailed itself firmly at the entrance of the Beastmen territory. Large amounts of resources and talent were continuously supplied there from the core of human society, thus forcefully blocking the Beastmen off at the highlands.
Karsomi Communal Country's Haulus Fortress and Sleuweir Kingdom's Kamo's Tear Fortress became important fortresses of the human society in hindering the army of the Beastmen Tribes after the fall of the Mist Country.
With the Fortress Cities' natural terrain advantage and the support from countless human countries behind them, in the past two hundred years, they had managed to drive the Beastmen army back to their lands. The Kamo's Tear Fortress was named after the previous Great Chieftain Kamo who died there.
However, the situation was different this time.
"Urgent news! War has broken out! The Beastmen army has invaded Sleuweir. It has circumvented Kamo's Fortress and four midsize cities have been massacred! Sleuweir has currently been placed on full alert!"
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Chapter 147: Overture
In the view of most humans, the Highland Beastmen were deprived of spellcasters. However, to the armies guarding the Northern Lands, such a saying was obviously far from the truth. The Shamans and Witch Doctors of the Beastmen were spellcasters which left people with headaches.
The former were skilled with connecting with the Elemental Spirits to induce all kinds of natural phenomenon to attack their enemies or to support their comrades. Not only was the consumption rate for their spells low, the effects of their spells were also apparent. Their offensive abilities were in no way inferior to Mages, and their support ability was comparable to Priests and Holy Knights.
Even more so, the Shamans were skilled at working with one another, and as such, they had a natural advantage in creating strategic-level magic spells. Their Earthquake Spell was an incredible weapon for raiding cities.
On the other hand, as a highly threatening spellcaster job which had few means of protecting themselves, if a powerful close combatant were to get into proximity with the Shamans….
"We can give him ten seconds to plead for Mother Earth's blessing, five seconds to draw his weapon, three seconds to do meaningless retaliation or to chant an incantation, and the final second to end him."
"Every minute, there are fourteen Shamans who are being killed! Please do not slaughter Shamans and support the law allowing Shamans to instant-cast Earth Drifting Spell (Teleportation Spell)! Support the cancellation of the Shamans as a job! —Shaman Self-Help Fund."
Putting aside their individual prowess and their obvious flaws, the reason why Shamans were often prioritized as a target in battle said much about their powerful support and long-distance offensive ability. This happened to be what the Beastmen, who specialized in physical brawls, lacked.
If the Shamans were the ideal combination with Beastman Warriors, then Witch Doctors were the best backup. They specialized in concocting poisons and antidotes alike, casting all kinds of curses and witchcraft, as well as dispelling curses and healing the wounded.
Even though their treatment methods were a little ridiculous—they used bloodletting to treat all ailments, after all, regardless of whether it was a common cold or a migraine. Even though they didn't know what went into the medicine that they concoct (there were lizard droppings, pitch-black grass, and many unexplainable ingredients in it), it was a fact that they had saved many lives in the Highlands which lacked doctors and medicine. (Naturally, the ones whose treatment failed had died and the dead were unable to complain.)
Spellcasters were always lacking, and that fact rang even louder for Beastmen Tribes.
For the Beastmen who were skilled at physical brawling, it was difficult to find a clan member who had a good head. Furthermore, the person had to have talent in spellcasting as well. In each tribe, these two spellcasting jobs were severely lacking and highly valued. Shamans and Witch Doctors possessed high standing in all of the Beastmen Tribes and many of them even became Chieftains.
However, at this very moment, the precious Shamans and Witch Doctors became menial laborers. They were walking up and down the altar to check on it while the furious onlookers were frustrated to the point that they started using whips to lash them.
"Dammit! We were already so careful! How could a problem still occur?"
The Blood Axe Tribe's Eron Bloodaxe wore a grim expression. The tribute ritual had been conducted by his own tribe and most of his tribe's elite Shamans and Witch Doctors had been devoted to it. The amount of tributes used for it was massive, yet it ended up like this. How could they not feel disappointed?
Was it a failure? No, that's not it. At the very least, the warm flames in the surroundings lighted by the red-orange light bore testimony to that.
Was a success? That was clearly not the case. The tightknit eyebrows and frustrated expressions on the Chieftains explained it all. At the very least, the results were not as they initially hoped for.
"Lord, the results are out. The blessing was a success and it had the effect of warding off the cold, but…"
Even though the old Shaman reported as such, nobody's expression relaxed because of it. That was because during the crucial period, that brilliant flame was suddenly cut off and the Demon Lord's furious howl echoed in everyone's ears.
"You hope to earn my blessings despite giving tribute to me with such filthy objects? To dare to place fake souls upon my altar! This is blasphemy! You all are challenging my dignity! I curse you all, I curse that you all will face destruction! To think that you all would dare deceive a Demon Lord…"
Upon realizing that there was a problem with the tributes presented to her, the furious Demon Marquess sent the flames of her wrath over. The massive flames morphed into a giant golem with a spear in its hands and it started to wreak havoc in the base. Furthermore, the opened Demon Doors meant that the Demon army was about to arrive at their base.
Fortunately, the old Shaman, who was heading the ritual, closed the connection with the Chaos Abyss in time, making the inferno avatar of the Marquess return back to the Elements and closing the Dimensional Gate. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be a matter of the failure of the blessings. If things went badly, the entire camp might have even been destroyed by the furious Demon Marquess.
Given such circumstances, for the ritual to not be a failure, the various Chieftains were surprised.
"Huh? The blessing didn't fail?"
Eron was astonished. He knew how difficult it was to deal with Elisa and he had prepared himself for failure.
"The effects of the blessing aren't complete and they can only ward off the cold temporarily. Also, based on the rate the Element is dissipating at, the blessing will cease to be in thirty days."
Hearing those words, the Chieftains heaved a sigh of relief. When the ritual failed, everyone was prepared for the worst. Even though the original three months of blessing was cut to less than a month, this was much better than the worst case scenario they had prepared themselves for.
"Have you checked on the issue with the tributes? Which tribe was the one that used an imitation at such a crucial period? I want the Chieftain's head to be staked on a flagpole!"
Eron was furious. They almost passed by this hard to come by opportunity, even offending a Demon Lord at that. There would be trouble awaiting them in the future.
The Demon Lords were well-known for being difficult. It would already be a blessing for people if they did not cause any trouble of their own accord. If someone wanted their assistance, aside from waiting on them properly, the summoner had to pay the expensive "appearance fee" as well.
The most stable currency in use in the Lower Realm was the souls of the Upper Realm. In order to please the Inferno Marquess, the tributes used this time were top-quality slaves from each and every tribe.
It was impossible for the ritual to fail for no reason. The Demon Lords were known for being fickle-minded, but they were even more reputed to care to speak the truth (If they were displeased with someone, they would immediately make a move. If there was a treasure in sight that they wanted, they would immediately snatch it.). Since the Demon Lord roared at them because she was unsatisfied with the tributes, it was very likely for there to be a problem with the tributes.
"This…" The old Shaman of the Tortoise Tribe slightly hesitated. However, upon seeing the confused gazes the Chieftains were shooting him with, he knew that he had no choice but to say it. As such, he gritted his teeth and spoke.
"The tributes have been all expended, but the blessing was incomplete. Given that there was a loss in power in the ritual, the souls used in the ritual must not be enough. However, it was impossible to check on it since the tributes are no longer here. However, based on the timing when Lord Elisa became enraged… It matches with the timing when the Blood Axe Tribe's tribute was being presented!"
Instantaneously, the furious Eron who was still interrogating others became speechless. To think that his tribe would be the cause of the trouble?
Hostility appeared in the eyes of the surrounding Chieftains. They also seemed to recall that the inferno statue's howl was directed toward the Blood Axe Tribe's camp. Even so, Eron was so determinedly pointing the blame to other tribes, wasn't this a case of a thief calling another a thief?
Unknowingly, the seed of discord had been planted. One still required prestige to head the other tribes, and the consecutive failures had struck a blow to Eron's prestige. In the eyes of some others, Eron losing his ability to rally all of the others tribes could mean that they might be able to replace him as the Great Chieftain.
Putting aside those seemingly peaceful but discordant Chieftains, when the short ritual was terminated abruptly, the will of a certain someone had already descended onto this world. The person had taken some of the tributes for her personal use.
Currently, the altar was a mess. In the midst of the tributes, a fiery red apparition was slowly becoming corporeal.
Breathing the cold air that was finally without the smell of sulfur, a smile appeared on the familiar, beautiful face. Similar to the avatar of the Goddess of Storm in the City of Rain, the silver-haired Demoness had secretly sent an avatar to the mortal realm.
"Master, do you miss me? Have you made preparations to welcome me? I did say that I would conduct sudden inspections."
When large-scale aerial battles had yet to become a possibility, terrain remained an important aspect of surface battles.
Kamo's Tear, rebuilt from the remains of the Mist Country's original Steel Fortress, was surrounded by sharp cliffs. The heavy city walls had been plated with the expensive enchanted alloy. What flowed in the moat of the fortress was a type of unfreezable oil made of alchemy. Once lit, the flames would burn furiously for two months straight before the fuel ran out.
A third of Sleuweir's military strength and forty percent of the country's spellcasters were gathered in the city. A total of nine large-scale Mage Tower and thirty midscale Mage Tower faced the ravine near the Beastmen's territory. Furthermore, the fire ballistae placed throughout the wall were so dense it made goosebumps rise by looking at it from afar. Two hundred years of painstaking effort and investment had turned it into one of the few impregnable fortresses on the continent.
As an infallible fortress, it had locked the Beastmen out from the human society for two hundred years. It was said that its establishment was heavily supported by the countries of the Northern Lands and the several powerful empires of the continent.
Ever since its establishment, those city walls which even Giants were unable to climb over became one of the greatest obstructions to the dreams of the Highland Beastmen. Lacking siege weapons, they found themselves helpless against it. Conquering a fortress of such size with the few aerial tribes and troops they had was a mere dream. Even the previous Great Chieftain of the Beastmen Tribes had died beneath the walls of the fortress.
But if I had to speak, it was all a mistake from the very start.
"Does an impregnable fortress really exist in the world? You may be able to defend yourself against a regular army, but are you able to guard yourself against assassinations and Forbidden Spells? Placing all of their eggs into a single basket was the wrong strategy. Even if the fortress was truly impregnable, the enemy could choose to circumvent the fortress. Even if there is no plausible route at the moment, it is possible for the enemies to simply pave one themselves."
The Maginot Line of Earth had already proven that only establishing a fixed defensive line against an enemy was a foolish decision. However, the generals and military officials of this world viewed fortresses as an important and classic defense strategy. Sleuweir was also a country that believed in the importance of fortresses and had benefited for centuries due to the existence of the fortress. After this painful lesson, all of the military schools would probably research the causes of failure of this war and use it as a case study—a negative role model for why being overly obsessed with fortresses was a foolish decision.
The trade and communication agreement which Sleuweir had just signed with the Beastmen was instantaneously torn apart. Without any forewarning, the Beastmen had infiltrated into deep into their lands, ferociously tearing apart every single human they could see.
The Earth Elemental God Emordilorcan was definitely much more low profile than his colleague. With a single high-intensity earthquake, he changed the geographical structure of the Northern Lands, causing another narrow ravine leading from the highlands to the Northern Lands to appear, thus making that impregnable fortress-like the eyes of a cave-dweller—ornamental.
The Beastmen army had charged directly to the core of the Sleuweir Kingdom before spreading all around to assault and take down the various cities. Of which, half of the entire Blood Axe Tribe headed straight for Sleuweir's capital, Antuen.
In order to create even more chaos and keep the military of the various fief lords under control, more than a hundred hunting squads consisting mainly of Wolf Knights conducted guerilla attacks on the various armies. Given how they themselves were in a precarious situation, the fief lords chose to utilize the army for their own needs. As such, in less than a single month since the outbreak of war, Antuen was already in an emergency situation. Sleuweir's downfall came even faster than anyone had expected.
At this moment, I am helpless.
It was not that I didn't want to do anything, but the first round of snow had struck before I could return to the East Mist Communal Country. Even though its arrival was within expectations, it was still unwelcomed. There were too many things that I needed to attend to and the snow truly fell at an inopportune time.
The winter of the Northern Lands was exceptionally brutal. The white snow had already covered all of Diffindor. Snow half a meter deep piled up on the streets. There were barely any pedestrians in sight on the streets.
Such weather was a disaster. The horses would sink into the snow if they tried to traverse this weather. The weather would cause their body temperature to fall rapidly and precious war horses would simply die for naught.
Given the underlying rule that had gradually come into place in the Northern Lands in these few years, when a country had been invaded by the Beastmen or other foreign race, the other countries had to provide them a certain level of aid or send their troops to reinforce them. Back then, the one to enjoy such aid was often Karsomi Communal Country.
However, it was a pity that the snow that affected most of the countries in the Northern Land had changed it all.
The resources were unable to arrive on time and the reinforcement was stuck on the way. On the other hand, the Beastmen were still persisting in their attacks to capture the capital of Sleuweir. This was a hopeless situation.
The cruel natural world was equal for all. Traditionally, there would be a ceasefire when the snow was sufficiently heavy to lock down the mountains. After all, to the warriors, dying on the battlefield was a kind of dream. No matter what, it was somewhat a shame to freeze to death on the battlefield; the family members of the soldier would often be tempted to curse at the military officers if their family member had died so meaninglessly on the battlefield.
Fortunately, as the effect of the Fire God's Blessing faded, the Beastmen gradually started to limit their sphere of operations and used the cities they had taken down as their base.
Truthfully, even without Elisa's Fire God's Blessing, the war would have still broken out early.
On another aspect, while Elisa's name had been cursed at by the higher echelons of the Beastmen, Eron and his Blood Axe Tribe—due to the accumulation of rage and resentment against them—started to be isolated within the Alliance army while their reputation plummeted.
Although the Beastmen Alliance army being split into four had strategic considerations, it also showed that Eron, who had meager prestige, was unable to hold onto his leadership position.
At this moment, the other three Chieftains also had tribes that supported them. The next Beastman Sovereign would be determined by the results of this battle.
Everyone knew they could not delay this war to spring of next year; the human kingdoms would not watch idly as Antuen fell and Sleuweir was destroyed. The moment the snow halted and the army was able to move, it would spell the outbreak of war.
Furthermore, given that the war would be conducted in the midst of winter, it would determine the survival of the various races within the lands. The war was bound to be exceptionally cruel. Even the non-combat forces would find their numbers dwindle significantly.
At present, I was busy dealing with military affairs as well.
"Has news from Hoyle arrived? What is the progress with the mines?"
Every single Gray Dwarf was a natural miner. They possessed the Race Talents: Rock Treading and Ore Perception. Of which, the sensitivity that the Blacksmith Master Gray Dwarf Hoyle held toward ores was not something his peers could compete with.
Regardless of whether it was for trade or military purposes, the East Mist required endless amounts of ore. At present, given how many newly created divisions were still using wooden training weapons, the military was in dire need of weapons to grow stronger. And the manufacturing of weapons had to begin from the mines.
This was the lifeline of the East Mist. Even when war had already broken out, I still regarded it as our priority.
While I returned to Diffindor in advance due to the outbreak of war, I left Hoyle and the other Gray Dwarves at the Barbarians' territory to hunt for mines. If even they were unable to find any ore, it would be impossible for the human miners to find any.
"Good news. The mountainous range is indeed a mine deposit. We have already found two superior metal mines, one magic metal mine, and two jewel mines. However, it will take a period of time before we can develop it. Lord Hoyle's applied for the assistance of machines and spellcasters and he had specifically listed the Beyar Brothers to assist him in his work."
"Exploding the mines? Seems like it is the only viable solution to achieve results in the short run. Fine, send the Beyar Brothers to help him. However, remember to warn him to take note of their safety. Do not come into conflict with the Barbarians. They are inflexible people; offending them once means offending them for life."
"Yes, Your Highness. We will convey your words to him. Then, the next matter is regarding the names of the newly created divisions and their flags…"
The various assistants came to and fro my desk, the military documents that had accumulated in my period of absence crushed the desk. Innumerable problems came rushing at me all at once.
While I did not intend to interfere with the governance of the country, just the military affairs themselves were enough to give me a splitting headache.
At such a moment, I couldn't help but miss Elisa. After all, while others could only serve as assistant, Elisa, who I had brought up personally, had working abilities that were in no way inferior to mine, and I could dump all of my troubles on her so as to slack off.
Alright, Elisa was still in the Chaos Abyss and thinking about all these was meaningless. I should devote my attention to the problems before me first.
"The situation in Antuen isn't going well. It is possible for the city to fall at any moment now…"
No matter what, we were both offspring from the same origin. Even though we were filled with discontentment and resentment against that country, upon seeing it on the verge of destruction, these young assistants felt uneasy.
I nodded my head, indicating to the other party that I had received his words. After which, I fell into deep contemplation.
No doubt, we had to save them. Even though I was extremely unsatisfied with their royalty, I couldn't watch as the Mist citizens in those countries were slaughtered. Furthermore, the moment Sleuweir fell completely, East Mist would be embroiled in the war and the current East Mist was not well-equipped for war yet.
While we had to save them, the important aspect to consider was how we should go about doing it. We had to build a reputation for ourselves to gain the initiative in our foreign diplomacy in the Northern Lands while not going too far to rattle the foundations of the already weak East Mist.
After a long time, I finally made my decision.
"Send a letter to Antuen and say that the neutral East Mist requires a sufficient reason to interfere in the war, so they have to request for help publicly. Right, have them send a request to the various Churches as well. Yes, a request for us to send our troops to help them ward off the invaders. Only this way will Lord Wumianzhe recognize the necessity and justice of the war, and we will be able to send our troops to aid them.
"Didn't you say that I was an imitation not too long ago, claiming that the East Mist was deceiving the world, even sending a report to the various kingdoms and Churches. Now, I will see how you will settle with the aftermath yourselves. Yeah, spread the former part of the message publicly, let the other countries understand the new system East Mist operates by. As for the latter, dump it on the 'Emperor' Feimer Carson."
If you want me to save you, lower your heads and reflect on your actions! Swallow everything that you had spouted previously!
I was not worried that Feimer wouldn't lower his head. After all, the situation in Antuen wasn't going well and when there was a tangible threat to their lives, so many people would become much more obedient.
"Hmph, it is truly such an irony. Right after claiming that I am an imitation, they immediately turn around to request assistance from the imitation. Furthermore, the one who will come to their aid will most likely be the 'demonic army' they spoke of."
After pondering the matter for a while, under the current circumstances, the most suitable reinforcements to send them was still my Undead army, who didn't fear the cold. In the previous report, that fellow termed my army as the "demonic army," not hiding his contempt and frustration at all.
"How can I miss out on such an ideal opportunity to conduct a Winter Hunt? It is also an ideal opportunity to train our troops. Have every Knight bring along two squires with them! Have those little fellows prepare themselves. We will head out as soon as the snow stops!"
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Chapter 148: Hunting And Being Hunted
Anwen Village was famous for its delicacy Smoked Silver Fish. There were countless numbers of said village in the entirety of Sleuweir. At this current moment, snow was gradually falling and the peaceful village was no longer as peaceful as it was.
The fences used to keep out the wild beasts could not hinder the true beasts. Under the concealment of night, the gray Wolf Knights entered their lands and a feast of bloodshed began in the little village.
The guards and watchmen of the village were slaughtered immediately. Under the sudden raid of the trained Wolf Knights, the guards of the village, who only had the experience of challenging Ogres at most, didn't even have the opportunity to sound the alarm.
At 2 AM, thirty Wolf Knights entered the village. At 2:15, the militia captain, village head, and other leaders were dragged out from their beds and their headless corpses were used to feed the wolves. At the same time, their heads were used to drain the survivor's will of retaliating against them.
By 2:40, all 500 people of the village were dragged to the little square near the entrance of the village. After the women and children had been dragged to one corner, the slaughter began. Perhaps not even a single young man of the village was spared.
There were people who tried to fight back, but against true warriors, the retaliation of the civilians was completely meaningless. Furthermore, the Wolf Knights were already elites of the combative Beastmen.
At 3, the efficient executions had ended and the Wolf Knights had left. Before leaving, they casually set the entire village afire, the paws of the wolves leaving bloodied pawprints in the snow. The Wolf Knights splashed with blood were silent, but the burning remains of the village and the heart-rending cries would be in their nightmares for years to come.
They may have been hesitant at the very start, but it was already the fourth village they had destroyed in this week. They took less than an hour from their entry to their departure to purge the entire village. Their conscience was already numb to the slaughter.
This is war. It is neither sacred nor justified. The only thing that needed to be considered was how to win.
The mission entrusted to these packs of Wolf Knights was to roam about the Human Kingdoms and cause panic and chaos in order to divert the strength and attention of the other factions. Even though their means were vile, it was effective.
The Beastmen were not immoral beasts. Every single expert in their midst felt contempt for their actions of slaughtering civilians. People respected the fearless Knights who dared to charge towards the massive Dragons, but they would not respect a butcher who derived pleasure from slaughtering civilians.
"Father, how did you fare in the war with the humans? How many human generals did you kill?"
"None, I only slaughtered a few thousand civilians."
Upon thinking about the question his children would ask him upon his return, even though the captain of the Wolf Knight section, Akerli, was famous for his bravery in his tribe, he didn't know how he should reply to this question.
At this moment, he still smelled the stench of blood all over the place with his sensitive nose. His child's questioning of his doings had become his greatest nightmare and his soul felt worn out.
For the Beastmen, challenging a powerful adversary and dying in battle in the midst of it was an unparalleled honor. On the other hand, slaughtering the weak meant that the person did not possess mental fortitude. Such a Warrior would be viewed with contempt by his tribe and be rejected at the doors of the War God upon death.
"This is an order from our superior. This is for our race's dream of returning to our homeland, this is for our justice!"
Justice, a name used to conceal uncountable vile actions! Under the grand flags often lay the bloodied hands of an executioner.
He knew that he was just deceiving himself. However, it was only with this excuse could he deceive his conscience and continue to slaughter.
"The team is getting more and more silent. Looks like I'll have to look for a way to boost their morale."
Only the most depraved villain would brag about their "results" in slaughtering civilians. From the stiff expression on these Knights, it was clear that they had not reached such a point yet.
Even so, they did it without complaint. After all, this was war, the evil war, the wonderful war, a war that could conceal all evil with a cloak of divinity.
"AWOO AWOO AWOO!"
The howling of the wolves echoed in the distance. That was a report from the Eagle Tribe Beastmen, who were serving as scouts. Three consecutive howls meant that there were enemies in their path, but they weren't strong and the team could simply charge on through.
Soon, they crossed a mountainous jungle and the "enemy" appeared before them. It was a golden-haired young man whose hair was covered with snow. He looked young, but the two-handed swords in both of his hands were extremely striking.
"Sigh, yet another young man who had pursued us by himself. Courageous, but naive. He is around the age of my Equar…"
Looking at the young Swordsman who was around the age of his own child, Akerli paused for a moment. Then, he drew his thumb across his throat. It was a command to slaughter all enemies on sight.
"There were more young men of Equar's age in the previous village. For Equar's beautiful future, you should go and accompany them…. That's weird, the sword looks familiar. I seem to have seen it somewhere before."
There was no need for superfluous thoughts. Since there was only a single adversary, the Wolf Knights used the Wave Charge Formation which they were the most adept in.
The several Wolf Knights whose mounts were the strongest were in charge of engaging the enemy head-on whereas the strongest, Akerli, would be leading a team behind to assault the enemy whenever an opportunity arose. Behind them, spears and nets were prepared to be thrown.
Even the powerful Griffin Knights could be killed in an instant facing the Wolf Knights. In the eyes of the Knights, the fearless young man was already a dead person.
Facing the deadly assault of the Wolf Knights, the young man simply chuckled and a hint of brutality could be sensed from his smile. That familiar smile reminded Akerli of where he saw the sword.
"Oh! Isn't he the human sculpture from the village? Sword Ki? He is a Sword Saint! ...That sword? Could that be Roland Sacred Sword? Holy Knight Roland?"
These were the final thoughts that flashed through Akerli's mind. The snow-white sword flashed across the snow and the flying Sword Ki started to reap the lives of others. A cold sensation on the necks and the Wolf Knight Captain felt his vision starting to slant as his head fell onto the snowy ground.
The final sight burned into his eyes was the silver chainmail Sword Saint moving the swords in both of his hands, a single Wolf Knight dying with every single movement of his sword.
At this moment, the Wolf Knights were devoid of the strength to resist the enemy. They were like frail chicks who had met a butcher, and what they did half an hour ago in front of that sculpture was occurring to them at this instant.
"The murderer is often murdered. Such an irony…"
At the first face-off, the Knights of the Kara Tribe lost their head. As a mindless murderer, he no longer had to worry about how he should explain his actions to his own child.
"Repay blood with blood. Die!"
Someone shouted these words and very soon, the snowy lands returned to its previous tranquility. It was just that there were additional headless corpses on the lands.
Yes, the blood debt must be paid with blood. However, who was the first debtor? Do we start counting from this war, the war twenty years ago, or the war three hundred years? This might be something no one could ever rationalize out.
After killing the final Wolf Knights, I felt fatigued. So I stabbed the swords into the snow and rested on the battlefield.
While waiting, Irene finished cleaning up the escapees. I recalled some things that I could do.
From the embrace of the Wolf Knight, I retrieved a goatskin pouch. As I expected, besides supplies, there was a map of the nearby villages. Those marked with a red cross meant that the Wolf Knights had already been there, and there was no need for me to head there anymore.
All that was in my field of vision were corpses and blood, but somehow, I felt thirsty. So I opened the water pouch the other force left behind and drank from it. It was an absurdly sweet, inferior horse milk wine. Somehow, I spat all of it out.
"Pui, bitter and rough, just like back then."
While I complained, Harloys had already completed interpreted the Wolf Knights' patrol routes. Thus, my next location had been confirmed.
"Blue Lake Village? Hope that we can make it in time. I do not wish to see ruins again."
Thinking of the horrendous state Anwen Village was in, I quickened my pace. After cleaning up the battlefield and double checking that there was no intelligence I had left behind, I hopped onto Erebella's saddle and headed to my next target.
This was already the twelfth Wolf Knight section I had cleared. Compared to my other companions, I, who was operating as an individual, could be considered to have accomplished the least. Even so, the effects of our results on the entire battlefield was meager.
Everyone knew about the theory of huddling together to ward off the cold. Once Sleuweir was destroyed, the other Northern countries would be next. So the moment the snow started to lighten, the reinforcements of the other countries quickly headed over to aid it.
We were the fastest to arrive, but also the least in quantity. A hundred Undead Knights with three hundred rookie Knights. On the main battlefield where divisions counted by ten thousands, we were probably unable to contribute much.
Considering the East Mist's current situation and the beast packs that would assault the country in winter, it was already very surprising that the East Mist was able to send reinforcements. Given how the one leading the army was me, all sorts of excessive gossip and criticisms on the East Mist was silenced. Yeah, at the very least, they were silenced when facing me.
Of course, while we had limited quantity, the same could not be said about quality. My Undead Knights were reliable fighters and those rookie Knights were the elites picked out from the newly established divisions; all they lacked was experience.
As for me, I wasn't really interested in the main battlefield at Antuen. The reinforcements of the other countries headed straight for the main fighting force of the Beastmen while on the other hand, I focused on those roaming troops.
The guerilla tactics of the Beastmen were effective. In order to clear the roaming troops on their lands, the fief lords of Sleuweir Kingdom ignored the orders to provide reinforcements to the capital. As for the other, stronger fief lords, they had been engaged by the other three Beastmen army.
Light cavalry (consisting of more than Wolf Knights) hunting in enemy territory wasn't a rare battle tactic, but it was extremely useful when complemented with the elite troops of the Beastmen. It was an extremely effective strategy, as well as a brutal one.
For an ordinary village, it didn't matter whether the one attacking them was a Sword Saint or a group of Bronze-ranked Wolf Knights. In any case, the village would be purged.
Killing these roaming cavalries was a difficult and ineffective task. Given their mobility, it was difficult to catch up with them. Furthermore, even if one successfully caught up to them, given their top-class individual abilities, it was hard to tell who would win.
Before the main army of the Beastmen was destroyed, the other countries did not have the power to care about the small villages of another country. Yet I decided to interfere in the affair.
"Who cares about those nobility. Since we're already here and we have the capability to help them, let's just do it."
I did not have many people under me, but the Undead Knights were capable fighters. They could easily face a section of Wolf Knights by themselves. At the same time, the rookie Knights could also accumulate some fighting experience.
Thus, I scattered the group and had an Undead Knight lead three rookie Knights in a team to hunt down the roaming light cavalries.
Logically but unexpectedly, this kind of operation won the hearts of the people. After all, the fief lords and the royalty who should have been protecting them neglected their jobs, and my Undead Knights were the best insignia of our identity.
"Our ancestor Roland had led his army to save the Mist citizens. That fake emperor Feimer had ignored Emperor Roland's warnings, as well as the plight of the citizens, caring only for his own authority and safety and holed himself up in the capital."
From a certain perspective, the official declaration the Sleuweir royalty made beforehand displayed clearly the meaning of foolishness and suicide. I, who "magnanimously" forgave them, continued with my hunt. My prestige was growing to greater heights every single day. The Undead Knights began to be welcomed passionately by the villagers and they felt even more motivated in their jobs.
Then, something shocking happened.
Feimer, upon seeing such a situation, despite Antuen still being in a desperate situation, warned the civilians through the church that I was making use of this calamity to win the hearts of the people and reaffirmed that I wasn't their ancestor Roland, just an imitation who was trying to deceive them.
Clearly, in the eyes of this "emperor," the Beastmen army was an external threat which was going to be expelled sooner or later. On the other hand, my Knights and I were the true "threat."
Hearing that, I almost turned around and left. However, thinking about the matter again, I decided to go all out.
"Fine, since you said that I'm here to win their hearts, I will win their hearts then. Knights, don our insignia and hoist our flags. We are here reinforce them. Why should we conceal our identities?"
The citizens are the citizens while the royalty are the royalty. Should I just watch these villagers die just because of that fool in Antuen?
When word spread, the prestige of the Sleuweir royalty fell even further. Every day, countless refugees chose to escape to East Mist, a location they would never have chosen to move to in the past.
According of my sources, after Feimer heard that news, he smashed a century-old family heirloom, a Rainbow Jade Wine Cup. After which, he felt intense regret over his moment of folly. After hearing this news, in order to console him, I sent him a message through the church.
"Rainbow Jade Wine Cup? Isn't that the unintentional product I made from creating glass back then? Don't worry, even though it looks beautiful, it is just normal stained glass so it isn't worth much. Actually, it isn't a wine cup either. It is actually a failed spittoon which I accidentally burnt too much. I even placed crickets in it before…. There should be a signature to indicate that it was made by Roland on the back of it. If it isn't too fragmented, you can try looking for it."
Alright, based on the rumors, he actually put the cup back together. However, this time, what was shattered wasn't just a wine cup.
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Chapter 149: Reunion
"I wish to become a Knight. Even if I am just a wild Knight without a family coat of arms, even if I serve as a squire for others for life, even if I am unable to become an official Knight for my entire life, it will be fine as long as I can become a Knight."
For Cohen Asta, becoming a true Knight had always been his wish.
However, it was unfortunate that he wasn't a child of nobility, so it was impossible for him to be sent to an elite Knight to learn under him as a squire. He also wasn't a talented warrior who would send teachers into a frenzy fighting over him. He was just an ordinary farmer's child. Needless to say studying at a Knight Academy, he wasn't even able to read. Thus, he was never able to take the first step in accomplishing his dream.
Thus, he decided to lower his goal and set out to become an ordinary warrior as his goal. However, the result was even more disappointing.
"Regardless of what close-combat class it is, you won't be able to meet the standards if you don't even have basic strength. It would be best for you to return."
Unable to even carry the sandbags used for training; unable to carry the wooden spear; exhausted after swinging the wooden sword a few times; it was no wonder that no one was willing to accept him.
His physique still remained his fatal flaw among his fellow peers. Even though his conspicuous golden hair and exquisite features made him a popular figure among the young, his weak limbs still made him unsure of himself.
Little Cohen felt despair at the fact that even ordinary militias were unwilling to accept him. Even so, he didn't plan to give up.
"Since I lack talent, I will make up for it with hard work."
Thus, Cohen's neighbors would always see him awake early in the morning, running by the river and carrying sandbags.
Every day, after he finished his daily duties, he headed to the various stores to help others move their goods. Part of the reason was to earn money, but more than that, he hoped to train himself through such a method to build up his strength.
Even though training was extremely tiring, it was effective. At the very least, his pale limbs became slightly more muscular and tanned. Going by the words of the neighbor Big Sister Lisa, he finally looked masculine.
However, his changes were more like evolving from a hamster into a squirrel, fighting prowess increasing from five to six and not panting the moment he started running. However, what he was unable to carry before, he was still unable to carry. For the time being, it was still impossible for him to swing metal swords.
Thus, even though he felt self-satisfaction at his improvement, he was still eliminated from the first round of the selection process for the divisions. After all, the East Mist wasn't wealthy and it couldn't afford to sustain a large army while the civilians were extremely passionate about joining the army. As such, the registration numbers far surpassed the required personnel in the divisions and this caused the standards to be heightened. Cohen had been too far from the starting line from the very start, and it was impossible for him to become a warrior at all.
Even so, he was unwilling to give up. As long as he worked hard to train himself up, the accumulation of his hard work would soon result in a qualitative change for him.
However, it was a pity that what awaited him was a series of failure.
"It is impossible for you to become a Knight, give up. No, I'm not talking about your birthright. The Mist Country has always operated by meritocracy and there are quite a few farmers who became Knights and fief lords. I am speaking about your abilities. if you're unable to even wield a two-handed sword, how can you get on the battlefield? Since you aren't even able to get on the battlefield, how can you be titled a Knight?"
A Lord Knight who was touched by his efforts intended to accept him as his page, but after conducting some tests, he gave up on the idea.
"Aiyo, isn't this our future Lord Knight? Hehe, nice to meet you, Lord. Lord, have you just returned from your patrol? Did you achieve anything? Did you defeat a Demon or a Beastman? Or did you just triumph over an evil dragon? Ah, how incredible, Cohen. He is our future Dragon Slaying Hero. Hahaha!"
While his usual physical training had received the approval of a few, there were also a few youngsters who found him an eyesore and took this opportunity to mock him.
Even so, he persisted. At this point, he probably could no longer remember why he chose to embark on this thorny path from the very start.
Was it because he was saved by a group of Knights when he was attacked by wild beasts when he was younger? Or was he moved by the stories of his ancestors which he had heard since his childhood? Was it when he saw the victorious homecoming march of the Knights? Or was it when he swore to use his both hands to protect his family and friends?
There was no path of return, and he did not intend to back out either. Thus, he could only continue persisting….
"Trust yourself, you can do it. I was also extremely thin and weak when I was younger, but look at how far I came. Right, Prince Roland seems to be intending to create a division. Do you want to give it a try?"
There were a few who bore expectations from him. Every time Big Brother Cloone returned and saw how hard Cohen worked, he would try to encourage him.
Right, to Cohen and the others, Cloone, who came from the same village as them, was an impressive figure. He was the pride and hope of Darr Village. Even though he was young, he was already serving as a part of the Royal Knights. Even though he wasn't an official Knight yet, in the eyes of the villagers, it was just a matter of time.
It was only that he had recently adopted a cute little girl called Ailee. Despite his tough life, he had somehow just become an unwedded father. This made many young girls cry.
Under Big Brother Cloone's encouragement, Cohen was even more motivated and worked even harder. However, what came his way was just failure after failure.
Until one day when he met a black cat. A black cat that, bizarrely, was capable of speaking the human language. There, he met the turning point of his life.
"Meow, I've found a treasure. To think that he would be an Elemental Son! Sign a contract with me and become a magical girl… magical boy!"
Cohen was first taken aback. Initially, he thought that it was just a joke from one of the spellcasters. In the end, under the verification of Big Brother Cloone, he realized that this black cat was actually an incredible figure. She was the beloved pet of Prince Roland, a cat who was capable of casting magic.
She actually said that he had outstanding talents in magic and she wanted to groom him to become a Mage. Without a doubt, that was an occupation that held even greater potential than a Knight and logically speaking, he should have leapt at the opportunity.
But...
"Lord, I thank you for your appreciation. However, my goal is to become a Knight. Perhaps, the route of a spellcaster just isn't one for me."
Alright, a bizarre expression immediately appeared on the black cat's face. That look of incomprehension and shock made Cohen worry if he had accidentally offended her.
After a brief moment of silence, that black cat continued speaking.
"Alright, if you want to be a Knight, so be it. Let me introduce you to someone. He will hoodwink… guide you. From the perspective of a Knight, he should be an incredible figure. Yeah, even though he is a complete idiot when it comes to magic. However, I think that he should be a suitable teacher for you."
"Roland, I found your brother."
When I heard those words, I was taken aback. Isn't my brother, Karwenz, still in the Chaos Abyss? How could this darned cat meet him?
"You possess incredible swordsmanship talent, and you are obviously a godsent Warrior. Yet, you chose to become a Mage. On the other hand, he, as the Elemental Son, a person born with incredible talents in magic, chose to become an iron can (Knight). Given how awkward you two are, what else can you two be other than brothers?"
Alright, that darned cat sure didn't mince her words. Naturally, I took good care of her for that.
However, I had confidence in her choice of people. Thus, my interest toward this little friend known as Cohen was piqued and I arranged for a meeting with him.
"Pri… Prince Roland! Lord Harloys said that you can make me a Knight…"
That fellow was so agitated that he kept trembling before me. Stuttering, he accidentally bit his tongue. Through the System Interface, my interest in him deepened.
【Cohen Asta Class: NoneStrength: 5Agility: 7Stamina: 7Intelligence: 14Will: 11Charm: 10Race Talent: Elemental SonSystem Evaluation: For a person with such terrible strength and talent for magic to refuse to become a Mage and insisting on becoming a Knight instead, he is truly your brother.】
【Race Talent Elemental Son: Do you find the lengthy incantations hard to remember? The complicated magic formulas hard to comprehend? This isn't a problem for the Elemental Son. They are born with the ability to manipulate elements and their commands can be used to replace the ineffective magic incantations. They are the favored ones of the world, the illegitimate son of Magic and Elements, destined to be a great Mage.】
Soon, after some interaction, I roughly understood what was going on.
It was no wonder that Harloys said that he was my brother. He wanted to become a melee fighter when he only possessed 5 Strength. His talent as a Mage had hindered his path as a Knight; it was truly rare to see a person with such an awkward personality.
After a short moment of interacting with him, I started to grow fond of this slightly shy boy. After all, these days, more and more youngsters were more obsessed with "making a fortune," and the number of "idiots" who persisted for their dreams was lessening. Those who persisted despite seeing no rewards on sight was even rarer.
In a certain sense, I am the same awkward "obstinate buffalo" as he is. Thus, I accepted him in as my third page.
"Cough, since that's the case, I'll teach some of the necessary lessons for a Knight. First, you have to learn how to connect with the world and control your magic power…. This isn't a necessary lesson for a Knight, but a lesson for a Mage? Young man, there's no need to be so anxious. You have to remain humble and learn patiently. Have you never heard of Mage Knight? This is a necessary lesson for an outstanding Knight. Ordinary Knights wouldn't even get an opportunity to learn such advanced lessons. Right, I have a few close combat classes that are suitable for you. Do you want to give them a try?"
Putting aside how I managed to guide (hoodwink) this young man afterwards, I am quite contented with the decision I made. After all, given how unqualified the other two pages of mine were, this young man was truly of great help.
Even though the help he had provided me was on another aspect...
"Big Brother Roland, I have accidentally overcooked the meat. It is a little charred, but my intuition tells me that it will be delicious. Why don't you give it a try? Perhaps this might turn out to be a new taste that is to your liking."
No, it was impossible for it to be delicious. After all, one side was charred while the other side was raw. It was a problem of whether it was safe for me to eat it. Besides, your intuition had never been accurate.
"That's weird. I had strictly followed the proportions using the Alchemic recipe. Ten grams of salt, one gram of sugar, so how could it taste that bad…. Ah, I missed that decimal point and added ten times more salt (Ah, I mixed up sugar and salt as well)... Why don't you just make do with it?"
Should I say, as expected of an Alchemist? To think that you would actually bring the entire Alchemy set for outdoor camping. The lunch you made bore the scent of chemistry with it. But how was it that the product you made would be so fearsome? What is with that oily green substance? Are you sure that I can make do with it? How about you try it for yourself before passing it to me? I finally understand how you managed to remain a third-rate Alchemist even after so many years. Can't you just happen to get it right for once?
Typically speaking, a Knight's page was the personal assistant of the Knight. Going by the traditions, a page was responsible for the logistics their master required. If the master was unhappy with their work, regardless of how powerful that page was, he was unlikely to ever become an official Knight.
Before becoming a Knight, they were in a teacher-apprentice relationship, as well as a master-servant relationship. Some of them even regarded it as a father-son relationship. However, it was clear that the two pages I had chosen beforehand weren't really reliable. Most of the time, it was me, the master, who was taking care of them. Their passion toward their training was also unseemly.
As a princess, Reyne had totally no concept of outdoor survival. On the other hand, Kathleen was born from a prestigious family of Knights. Even though her family had fallen from grace, it was understandable why she was lacking practical skills.
If not for Cohen producing some edible meat stew, I, who was already tired from the long journey, would have to make some food myself. It was truly a wonder who the servant was now.
Based on the predetermined grouping, I should have been a single group with my three pages. However, Reyne said that she had already reached Gold-rank, and with the Roland Sacred Sword in her hands, she could stand on her own and deal with the enemies by herself, no longer requiring my guidance.
Fine, I'll accept that. After all, it was impossible for one to grow without experiencing practical fights. I'll let you try it for yourself then. In fact, afraid that you might have insufficient manpower, I sent my other two pages to follow you, so show me some results.
However, one's power rank did not represent one's actual fighting power. In terms of actual power, a tenacious Bronze-rank was able to frighten this Gold-rank, who had yet to see blood. On the battlefield, a moment's hesitation could easily mean death.
In the end, it went exactly as I expected. If not for the Blood Tribe Assassin I sent interjecting at a timely moment, this East Mist princess might have to consider converting into an Undead.
"Lass, it's still too early for you to leave my apprenticeship."
Thus, we converged together and operated as a team afterwards. With the assistance of my pages, I felt even more fatigued. Not only did I have to hunt those roaming cavalries, I had to spend time to take care of these rookies. I felt like I was playing the role of a teacher and a parent simultaneously.
Fortunately, the farmer-born lad, Cohen, wielded a certain level of survival skills. He could build temporary shelters and settle some of the daily necessities. In a way, he was truly a great help.
Helpless, I even called out Reyne's secret bodyguard, Susanna, and had her find a way to teach these rookies some basic outdoor survival skills. At the very least, they should know how to make the basic barbecued meat, meat stew, and such.
After all, it was impossible for one to bring sufficient dry rations for a prolonged wilderness campaign. Meat stew and barbecued meat were two of the most basic dishes, but just depending on these two would cause one to suffer from imbalanced nutrition and this would eventually lower fighting prowess.
As such, mature adventuring teams were often skilled in outdoor survival techniques. The renowned Master of Survival Bear Grylls had once said, "The wilderness is my life. The wilderness is the most natural outdoor food trove. Anything can be eaten once beheaded!"
After completing my hunt, I returned to my camp and caught the whiff of a familiar meat stew. Instantly, my appetite was whetted.
"Hm? How fragrant. There seems to be wild herbs and vegetables as well? Susanna sure did well. You all learned fast, to think that your cooking skills would reach such a level so quickly…"
I was unable to speak further. What entered my vision upon reaching the campsite was a young lady dressed in a maid costume busying about. That was a familiar figure that should have never appeared here.
【Ding! A wandering wild maid has appeared. Thank the maid from saving you from the mysterious mixture hell. Otherwise, what would have been waiting for you would be a mixture created from Reyne and Kathleen's hard work—Green Slime Cooking! Er, as someone who was aware of the matter beforehand, I...】
Ignoring the nonsense the System came up with, that familiar figure made me feel like I was in a dream.
That familiar bow, that familiar gleam of her spectacles… and that unfamiliar passion and temperature. While I was still in a daze, that wild maid had already given me a hug.
"Welcome back, master. Do you want to bathe first, eat your breakfast first… or eat me?"
Alright, I don't know whether I can really eat you, but that dagger-like cold glare of yours felt like it was ready to eat me.
"Elisa!?"
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Chapter 150: Secret
"Big Brother Roland really treats me well. He often tells me bedtime stories and we would spend the night with just each other."
"As expected of an undeveloped little girl. To think that you're still interested in listening to bedtime stories. Let Big Sister teach you a life lesson. All of those bedtime stories are lies. Princesses are all flower vases who are unable to withstand pressure and princes were all perverts with fetishes. In fact, there are many such examples around us."
"Y-you, you are slandering me!"
"However, it is no wonder you are so naïve. After all, children have the right to remain ignorant. When I was younger, I often listened to master's stories as well. I have heard them for around a century now. Oh, should I call him honey now? It does feel a little embarrassing to call him that."
There wasn't the slightest bit of embarrassment on Elisa, who was chuckling behind her hands. With just a few words, she managed to infuriate Reyne. However, it seemed like I was somehow attacked by her venomous mouth as well.
"Looks like Elisa must have met Karwenz. It is true that he is a pervert. It isn't bizarre for her to come to such a conclusion. Yeah, she definitely isn't referring to me."
Shaking my head, I ignored the discussion over there and turned my attention to the feast before me. For numerous reasons, this seemed to be the first time I was eating food made by Elisa personally.
After several experiments the last few days, I had no choice but to take my ladle myself. However, I had long since gotten sick of the food I cooked myself. Cohen's cooking skills were also very average. I had been craving for good food recently, and as long as Elisa's food was not bad, I would be extremely satisfied.
She had made common meat stew. The meat was cut thinly and there were bits of wild grasses floating on top. An indescribable herb had added to the allure of the stew, and the green onion-like aroma whetted my appetite.
"Delicious!"
Even though I had guessed that the cooking skills of the veteran maid Elisa wouldn't be bad, I was still pleasantly surprised by the taste of the meat stew.
The stew was thick but smooth, and its aroma tackled my nose as I gulped down the soup. In fact, even after swallowing it, the aftertaste lingered in my mouth, enticing me to take another mouthful. There was also barbecued meat by the side glazed with wild honey and herbs. My stomach immediately grumbled in protest.
"What kind of herb is this? It must be extremely expensive! Yeah, delicious!"
I immediately started to dig in. On the other end, Kathleen and Cohen exchanged gazes before digging in as well.
From how ravenously they were devouring the food, it seemed like I wasn't the only one tortured by the lack of good food.
The most delicious feast I remembered was the one I had before my Ascension. However, due to time restraints, Elisa didn't get to make it herself. It was truly to pleasant surprise to taste her handicraft now.
"Hey, if you don't dig in, we'll be finishing all of it."
"I have no appetite," Reyne said obstinately. However, the moment she said such words, her stomach immediately rumbled. Her face immediately flushed.
"Hehe, the most important thing in life is to be happy, and to do so, a satisfied stomach is a priority. Roland, take your time and don't choke. Are you still hungry? If there isn't enough food, I can make a bowl of noodles for you."
Thus, I nodded my head in sheer delight. After regaining a physical body, my greatest hobby was eating. As a result, I never turned down anyone with superior cooking skills. How could I possibly turn my head away from such an event?
But that very afternoon, I realized there were some things which one should never put into their mouths, especially when it came from a Demon who had accumulated a bucketful of resentment behind her cheerful smile.
"AHHH! My stomach hurts. My head is also spinning. This is the fourth time my stomach has been acting up today! Elisa, what exactly did you put into the food!"
"The Cursed Herb, Black Mandala Grass. Just as you said, it is an extremely expensive herb, almost equivalent to consuming gold. Right, there's also the Little Fanged Dragon meat that I had just procured. This is an extremely nutritious tonic. Aiyo, Lord, could it be that your body isn't well-nourished? It isn't good to leave your body in such a state. I shall cook another bowl of noodles to stock up on your nutrients."
To think that she would use the Black Mandala Grass which was used to create poison as green onion… The Little Fanged Dragon, otherwise known as Little Green Dragon, was also poisonous. Should I be thankful that I only suffered a stomach ache from the mixture of the two poisonous substance?
"Something's not right! Why are they alright!"
"Actually, I cleared away the poison in the meat and herbs before using them as ingredients. It must be that there is some kind of stimulant in the noodles which happened to trigger the poison in them. I'm truly sorry, master."
That impassive explanation and emotionless apology sounded like monotonous reciting. Only now did I realize that perhaps, all along, Elisa had been infuriated….
"I'm sorry, it's my fault.
Alright, a true hero knows when to back down. I understood the vindictive nature of this little lass. This likely wouldn't be the end of her vengeance. For the sake of delicious lunch in the future, I apologized immediately even though I didn't know my mistake. Was it because I had been too busy to communicate with her recently?
"It's all your fault. But since you have apologized, I will accept it then."
Elisa finally flashed a sincere smile. Afterward, she threw me a bottle, which after consuming, I felt the chaos in my stomach calming down slightly.
There was also another reason why I liked Elisa's personality. Even though she often threw tantrums, as long as I apologized, she would immediately forgive me. If she seemed to be angry in any way, it would definitely be no mistake to take the initiative to apologize in advance.
"…I am finally feeling slightly better. I am a living man; I will really die from that! Please don't come up with those kinds of jokes in the future. Right, why are you here? What's with this physical body of yours?"
It was truly an unexpected surprise for Elisa to be here. Soon, I managed to grasp what was going on.
It turned out that Elisa's physical body was an avatar created using the tributes of the Beastmen. She was barely able to come over through eating a portion of the tributes, so this avatar did not wield much strength.
While she had no problems whatsoever with operating day-to-day chores, it was impossible for her to join the battles.
"Enough. It's already great that you can come."
It's not that my M nature is working up. Rather, I had felt the agony of not having a handy assistant by my side these few days. Now that Elisa was here, I could finally dump all of my work on her.
The moment I said those words, the cold-faced Elisa smiled in satisfaction. Then, she came closer and stared at me face-to-face.
"…I know what you're thinking of. Nevertheless, your words still make me happy. This is your reward."
In a certain sense, the Demonified Elisa had become braver in expressing her emotions and pursuing her desires.
That beautiful face slowly approached mine and the frosty expression that she usually wore disappeared. Below that ice mountain was passion as fiery as the flames of hell. A bright red blush appeared on Elisa's cheeks and her seductive red cheeks were exuding incredible allure and warmth. I had nowhere to back away to.
"You… What are you all doing!!"
It was a pity that I wasn't the only one here. Putting aside the other two who were trying their best to pretend to be statues, Reyne did not intend to sit on the sidelines and watch this scene unfold before her. She immediately charged between us to tear us apart.
"Pity? I actually found it a pity?"
While I was conflicted over my own emotions, a verbal argument had broken out between Elisa and Reyne once more.
"I finally understand why master hates rascals now. Shouldn't you pretend to be oblivious when you see your parents getting intimate with one another?"
"Parents… Who are you saying are my parents? Furthermore, I am not a rascal! I am fourteen years old! I am already of marriageable age!"
"Fourteen years old? How incredible! I thought you were only ten. Annie seemed to have surpassed you when she was only ten."
Alright, even though her words were without context, based on her downward glance, it was clear what she was referring to.
"That… Elisa, won't you take damage from your words as well?"
Alright, seeing her twisted lips and twitching eyebrows, that venomous flat-chested young lady was currently sacrificing herself to deal damage to the other party. Her heart was probably bleeding at the moment.
Just like before, in just a few words, Elisa had managed to destroy Reyne. That ineloquent Reyne could only march off to a corner and sulk.
Even though Elisa was in the midst of angering Reyne, her words suddenly echoed through the ring.
"Master, I have already investigated the source of the bloodline of the new Mist Royal Family. I'm afraid that this matter is more complicated than we expected. Using your words, it is an incredibly huge scheme, to the extent that I would only be reassured if I came over to say it myself. I have already set up the barrier. Just listen to my words and do not overreact."
A formless barrier blocked all curious gazes. I was still squatting by the side and enjoying the glow of the sun whereas Elisa was busy packing the bowls and chopsticks. Unbeknownst to the others, we were currently conversing.
"First, she is indeed of the Mist Bloodline. However, she is not your descendant. Just like you have expected, you are still an old virgin, a powerful elder of the FFF cult, a Forbidden Spell-level Archmage, and the spiritual leader of the Torch Festival. The moment I think about the fact that I am the first love of a thousand-year-old virgin, I can't help but feel agitated. After which, I can't help but instinctively feel slightly disgusted and threatened. It is said that those who restrain themselves for too long become slightly perverted. After thirty years of holding themselves back, they can do anything. As for three hundred years…"
While having salt rubbed in my wound by that venomous tongue, a shocking secret was gradually revealed right before me. I couldn't help but put aside the resentment of the demon.
This time, I was truly shocked. It was no wonder that Elisa sent her avatar down despite the costs. It wasn't sufficiently safe for her to use any other means to inform me about the matter unless it was face to face.
After a long time, Elisa was done revealing everything. Even though the wind outside was piercingly cold, cold sweat was still flowing down my back.
"If I remained ignorant of the matter all along, I would have been done for. Looks like I really mustn't underestimate my opponents."
While I couldn't help but shudder upon thinking of the possible consequences that could have occurred if Elisa had failed to find out the matter and inform me of it, I still chuckled. Schemes and traps were only fearsome when they were unnoticed. Since I had learnt of them, I could come up with plans of my own to counteract them.
"Thank you, Elisa. Your presence is truly assuring. Looks like I owe you another one. I really can't imagine what I would do without you."
"Hmph, seems like you are getting mushier and mushier. If you are truly sincere about your words, you should stop getting involved with other girls."
Even though she said so, judging from that sweet smile on the corners of her lips, it seemed like my words weren't completely useless.
While we smiling to one another, the pages behind me who were oblivious to our telepathic communication started to quietly discuss me.
"To suddenly smile lecherously when nothing has happened…. Cohen, could it be that there is still some poison lingering in the body of our teacher? He looks a little foolish and bewitched."
"... I heard from the neighboring Big Brother Cloone that men who hold it in for too long will tend to act slightly strange. Seems like Lord Elisa's appearance has delighted His Highness so greatly that he was unable to uphold his etiquette."
"Seems like you would really become a pervert after holding it in for too long. But from the looks of it, it seems like there is completely no hope for Princess Reyne."
"That... Senior Kathleen, Princess Reyne is behind you and it seems like she is infuriated."
"AHH, Your Highness, I'm sorry. Umm… Surely you won't reduce the amount we have agreed upon. I still need that money to buy a new set of Alchemy tools. Um… Even though the opponent is powerful, there is still hope for you. At the very least, there are some aspects where you two are on the same level…. Pu, I really wasn't thinking of that. Anyway, I will try my best to speak well of you before the prince!"
The apprentices seemed to have gotten into a dispute. On the other hand, I needed to reconsider my future moves.
"The Revival of the Mist? This is truly a massive and troublesome trap. Looks like I have to quickly end this war. Then, I think I should head to Antuen next."
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Chapter 151: Entering The City
"My Lord, I have some ideas. The Elemental sword seal was a spectacular discovery, but we have been too crude in utilizing it. Its current development is highly inefficient. We can start from the construction of its spell, making it more unrestrained, more seamless. After the construction of the basic sword seal, we can use the basic sword seal to reconstruct the elemental sword seal."
Every time Cohen suggested something to me, a bunch of jargon that I can't comprehend will start to crawl into my ears. Then I will start sighing, wondering who was the mentor and who was the apprentice.
"Prodigious wizard who works hard to become a knight, while learning alchemy and magic at the same time. She is Kathleen Solia from the Gentlemen's Alliance. My knight squires are a bunch of weirdos." In a sense, those three people were not considered brilliant. It also seemed like they were steering further from the path of becoming knights, especially the little Cohen who is standing in front of him. However, he has fully showcased his talents without me taking notice.
Incantations? The formula to construct a spell? I can do all these instinctively, without putting much thought in it. To a son of elements, magic was just a manifestation of will. Usage of general spells was only a process to that prove the formulation that has already been generalized, just like a mathematician who casually comes up with new formulae, the son of elements can casually create unlimited numbers of new magic.
Now, I could finally understand why Harloys wanted me to deceive this little Cohen. The humans' son of elements, the dwarves' son of lightning, and the elves' son of moon were considered God given children. The son of lightning is good at fighting and smithing. The son of moon is a prodigy in theurgy. Both them are astonishing prodigies in their own fields. In a way, they are actually very similar. It would be a shame if all these talents went to waste. My ideas on four elemental swordcasting were general and simple. An ordinary soldier could handle a certain level of the strain of using the power of elements by skipping the knowledge of basic theory. Naturally, they will be able understand all those magical theories when they become skilled elemental casters.
"The first step is always the hardest. There are a lot of people with the potential to become powerful, but most of the time, they lack talent. They cannot even make the very first step." To Cohen, this was a brand-new world.
It was true that my arms were weak, but I had the sword that did the heavy lifting in place of my arms.
It was true that I cannot run fast and jump far, but I have my mark of wind that becomes my wings.
It was true that my sword cannot penetrate the scale of dragons, thus I will have my mark of lightning summoning to serve as my sword edge. The dream of becoming a knight motivated and kept Cohen moving forward. On the other hand, Harloys became the contributor of an uncountable number of theories. There were new results and advancements every single day. Based on what I observed, this kid, Cohen's level was increasing at a lightning speed. Yesterday, he was a level fifteen, four elemental Mage Knight. Today, he is a level seventeen Mage Knight. It is safe to say that in two more days, he will become a level twenty Mage Knight. His dedication had brought out the best in this brand-new class, the four elemental Mage Knight.
"Sword seal of black tortoise—The coiling of the glacial serpent" The magical power of ice will spread through the ground without being seen and it would surprise its opponent by appearing under their feet, freezing them to the ground. "The most important thing about the properties was that ice can freeze, lightning can paralyze, and flames can burn. If we only treat it as temporary enchantments to increase the effectiveness of our attacks, it will be a total waste. We can fully utilize their natural properties to come up with completely different magical sword skills."
"As you know, the magical power of ice spreads rather slowly. Even if we tried to enhance our swords to freeze our opponents, it would still take a longer time to achieve its goal. Due to its ability to stay hidden, we can totally take our time, battling against our opponents."
Still, there was a limit to Cohen's ability. Also, he had not come up with any new sword skills. But, by changing his method of battling, by utilizing the right elements, the total combat effectiveness of this brand-new class has been increased by three times. It was imperative that Cohen gains the ability to hear the whispers of the elements. It would actually allow him to discover a new way for this class to improve and develop other elemental sword skills.
[Congratulations Master, for acquiring new magical sword skill, The Sword Seal of Black Tortoise – The Coil of Glacial Serpent. This skill will be automatically included in the class system of the four elemental Mage Knight. System notification: Looking for the reward of inventing new skill? How dare you ask for a reward? What did you feel when your own apprentice taught you this new skill? Don't you feel ashamed? How long do you think you can deceive him from the rate of his improvement?]
Unsurprisingly, the system mocked me. In order to protect my master's dignity, I will put more effort into the research. There is a saying, humans perform better under pressure. Harloys was very impressed by me when I combined the power of frost and death to form a Deathly Frost sword seal. The sword seal possessed the magical powers of corrosion and freezing, and it was highly lethal against mortal. The only drawback of this sword seal was that it took a lot out of its user. In some inexplicable way, using this sword seal became my privilege.
Of course, the straightforward way of naming this sword seal without any sense of technicality was definitely not my work. I sulked for quite some time when the name, Sleeping Tortoise sword seal was rejected by them. "The magic power of death is from Sluggish Sword Seal and the magic power of ice is from Black Tortoise Sword Seal, when the two are combined together it became Sluggish Black Tortoise. Did it actually mean sleeping Black Tortoise? The way you name your sword seal is way too cool. In consideration of other apprentices' future, please leave this place and entertain yourself at your own home.
What was with all the bullshit? But, when I saw everyone around me nodding their heads and agreeing with comment on my sword seal's name, I had to accept this bitter fact. "Actually, I thought of a name for your sword seal..."Elisa said. Soon enough, Elisa, who held the dominant power in this small group had also invented her own personal sword seal. Her sword seal was the combination of demonic force and the force of flaming sea. It was extremely powerful and evil. It was pretty obvious that no one else could use it.
"Let me guess. According to your unique naming sense and poor choice of words, you will think that demon represents anger; and the flame represents phoenix. So, the result will be Angry Phoenix?"
"No, it should be Angry Bird. And the sword seal of yours with the combination of fire and ice should be named as, The Song of Fire and Ice! Too bad, I still have a few other names that I have not used. The combination of wind and earth, Azure Dragon and White Tiger can be named as The Fighting of Dragon and Tiger! The combination of ice and wind, Black Tortoise and Azure Dragon should be called The Romance of Dragon and Serpent!" I said it with pride and joy. The apprentices around me did not say anything. They just nodded and left the place one by one. Nobody else asked my opinion in naming sword seals anymore.
Maple City, it was a small and less-known city in Sleuweir Kingdom. Yet, it had a special place in my heart. Back in those days, I had a war against the armies of beastmen. If I recall correctly, this city used to be a temporary command center. The war left behind quite a number of historical marks. There was a war museum somewhere in this town. Now, this city had become the focus of every northern countries. This was due to the fact that this city was near the capital city of Sleuweir Kingdom, Antoin. The area in front of Maple City had become the territory of the beastmen. Naturally, this city became the gathering ground of reinforcements coming in from different countries.
I got in the city before dawn, and the gate of the cities were still shut. The guards were trying to stop me from going in. In some way, on this ground, my face was the best gate pass. The soldiers were stunned for a moment when they saw me. They saluted excitedly and then the door was opened wide for me to go in.
"Open the door! Here comes the Lord." I nodded my head politely and stepped on the ground that had not yet been completely frozen. There were squeaky sounds as I walked on the ground. I became silent when I saw a beastman's head hanging on the wall. I am not a good person, and neither do I have a compassionate or sentimental heart as well. On the contrary, when I saw this phenomenon, I was actually happy and relieved. Well, there were similar sceneries at the villages that were being attacked by the beastman. Some human heads were left hanging as well. According to their culture, they intended to build a tower of human heads. There were mutilated young ladies' corpses and mangled toddlers who had been thrown to their deaths. That made me even more silent.
This is war, and I hated war, because war was the ugliest thing on this earth. War legalized every single criminal activity and also turned humans into cold-blooded animals.
This was war, my favorite war, I used to think that the only way of protecting my race was through war. The only way to destroy war was through war. Along the way, I was called hero, devil, butcher. There were mountains of bodies behind my back and I'm afraid that the so called "butcher" among the beastmen will never catch up to number of living souls that I had reaped.
When I was known as a hero, I had slaughtered an uncountable number of living souls. I was the hero among human being, but among beastmen, I was known as the butcher and the devil. I was used to scare the beastmen's kids if they didn't stop crying. The reason? Well, I guess I was the first one to actually carry out their culture of building a tower of heads with the help of ground and aerial units.
This was war between countries. The racial war between humankind and beastman. I had no idea how much grudge both sides have retained. When the war began, even the worst crimes will be seen as sacred and heroic. Was I a hero? A butcher? A devil? I'm afraid, I'm all of the above. I had never considered myself as a saint, but before all those who constantly stir up war are put to rest for good, it was necessary for people like me to continue existing in this world.
Small time war criminals like me will not be willing to sleep alone when the real villains sit atop the temple, being worshipped by the people. Sinners have to be judged. The least I can do was drag them to hell with me. "Walk faster! Bastard beastman!" The soldiers yelled. A group of beastman were being chased out by the soldiers. Judging by their human-made attire, they should be the permanent residents and businessmen of this place.
In some way, Sleuweir Kingdom's open and peaceful strategy was working. There was a few decades of trading history between humankind and the beastman. With the constant trading between two races, there were a number of permanent residents staying in the city, along with traders who dropped by regularly. Well, obviously the war happened without any prior notice, so the humans who were staying in the beastman's kingdom and vice-versa had no chance of returning to their own kingdoms. They became the first victims of the war and also the punching bags of their opposing races. I'm afraid that the heads of those beastmen that were being hung on walls, belonged to spies who tried to scout this place and spy on the permanent resident here.
"Are they spies or scouts?" After a moment of doubt, I decided to stick my nose into this matter. I could care less if they were soldiers, but even then, I will never slaughter civilian, even during my craziest moments. "You….You are Lord Roland." The young soldier spoke out my name excitedly. However, the beastman were paralyzed when they heard my name and the children were already starting to cry. It seemed like my name still held some power after so long. If that was the case, the rest should be quite easy to handle. After some clarification, I got to know that they were actually permanent residents who had resided in this country for a few decades. Now, they were being sold to the slave market. Perhaps, I will just spend some money to buy their freedom.
Of course, the children were crying louder than before. I was probably the worst possible idea that can exist in their minds. They were probably thinking that I had bought them to make some soup and barbecue their meat. "Elisa." Roland said.
"You are still a hypocrite at some random places but this is what I like about you. Your wish is my command. I will check out the chamber of commerce here. I can't guarantee the chances of surviving, but it's still better than becoming a slave. If they are sold as slaves, even the kids will become the retainers of those rich kids."Elisa said.
I did not speak much after nodding my head, Elisa was better than me when it came to this kind of matter. If she was ever incapable of doing something, I would have even lesser success. Hypocrite? I cannot refute this fact. I know that I'm a hypocrite for saving a few beastmen, and yet here I am now, thinking about killing more beastmen. "Where is the joint command center? Where are the nobles? Why has the war not started? Are they planning to witness Antoin's destruction?"
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Chapter 152: Notebook
"Word has already spread far and wide that every beastman has set off for war. There are over two hundred and seventy known tribes. Although they declared that they have an army the size of eight hundred thousand, in reality, we know very well that they can barely muster up two hundred thousand. If we take their thirty thousand non-military personnel out of consideration, they would still be left with around an army of a hundred and seventy thousand. And they have all split up into four different directions. Clearly, they have already committed military suicide."
The long-neglected opera that had stood for over six hundred years in Maple city had now found itself occupied once again. It was now a temporary meeting hall. The middle-aged, but still handsome man dress in a military uniform was running his mouth off, on the stage. Clearly, the audiences were not giving a shit about him talking on the stage, some were sleeping, reading, or talking.
"Although beastmen are typically stronger than us when it comes to brute strength, our allied forces total up to more than three hundred thousand. In terms of military strength, we still hold the upper hand. We can take advantage of their scattered state and annihilate them one at a time."
"Bearman Longde, the potential candidate for the next king of beastman. He has twenty tribes under his command, and around fifty-five thousand military personnel. There are several types of units within his camp, with members ranging from the weakling wererats to the strongest bearmen and elephantmen. Take note that, the bearmen who currently form the backbone the military force tend to slip into hibernation; and thus, their marching speed is the slowest. Recently, they have started to gather provisions and other necessities to go through the winter. It seems like they intend to stay within their territory until the winter is over."
"Kas the Centaur has thirty thousand of military personnel under his control. The bulk of the troops are the agile riders and similarly quick beastmen. They are the smallest echelon among them all. They do not have a base camp, but tend to partake in guerrilla warfare. Small as they are, they are giving us the most trouble at the moment. Currently, they are trying to break through the eastern defense line. It seems like they are trying cross the borders to the other countries. It will be a mess if they manage to break through the southern defense line."
"Saustero the Wolf King has forty thousand under his control - a mix of lionmen, tigermen, wolfmen, and other variations of their race mostly known for their brute strength. I have no idea what the hell is going on through his head, but he has actually turned around to attack the western defense line. Maybe they are trying to attack and invade the Kingdom of the Elves. Rumor has it that a fox man is serving as their strategist, so it's likely that there's more to that seemingly reckless maneuver."
"Eymond the Eagleman has sixty thousand military personnel under his command, with a wide variety of beastman soldiers. There are a lot of airborne forces and, flying type of beastmen fighting alongside him. According to the intel, Eymond is also the advocator of the United Army of Beastmen. Rumor has it that he owns most of the elite troops. Currently, they are invading Antoin. I don't think Antoin can last much longer.
Crosses and circles were all over the diagram, they highlighted the enemies' position and places that they were likely to attack. The military guy tried his best to continue his speech over the growing buzz of the uninterested, skeptical audience. "I don't think our military forces is really having the upper hand. More than three hundred thousand? That must be a joke. Take out all the non-military personnel, and we'll be left with two hundred thousand men at most. Moreover, those beastmen are like what, thrice as strong as we are? Technically speaking, our military force would probably match up to one third of beastman's military force. How are we going to win this war?"
"There are almost one hundred thousand troops stationed in Antoin, but with the constant attacks coming from Eymond's troops, our armies have been calling for reinforcements for quite a while, now. It seems like we'll lose Antoin. That ratio of one to three needs to be reviewed again."
"Have you heard there is a gigantic beast named The Biz? He was the one who led the bearmen in tearing down the defensive walls of Wender City. It was destroyed with little effort. That's the tenth city seized by them. Now, my only wish for them is that they get into their hibernation as soon as possible! I don't want to face those giants in battle."
"All is well if that's the case, but I heard the situation is getting even more bizarre. Somehow the beastmen are not bothered by the cold and are able to fight in the winter unhindered. This is why they've been ambushing us out of expectations. So much for hibernation. Our own troops are shivering all the time, it is obvious that there's a big gap between us and the beastman in terms of physical strength. And now we are going to fight the final war? It seems like we can't wait to meet our maker.
"The beastmen are really going to overrun us, they have already taken control so many cities, they wouldn't even have to worry about supplies. Moreover, we didn't even bring our siege engines and catapults with us. Our supply line is constantly fractured. How are we going to fight this war? Are you asking us to fight with the beastmen with empty stomachs in the freezing winter?"
"Isn't this the matter of those super empires? Why are small countries like us at the northern side, fighting this war? How about the Kingdom of Kasmi? Has the Empire of San Antonio mentioned anything yet?" If the leaders of beastmen are fighting against their own King, then we humans are like platters of sand, hiding behind each other's backs, hoping that we don't become cannon fodder.
Due to the sudden attack from the beastmen, our first fallen city provided them with enough supplies and shelter. The reinforcements that came after, looked more like guests and soldiers. A huge amount of beastmen came down from the Orison mountains. Their numbers aren't much in the face of any of the super empires, but most of them are elites, and it the six northern countries couldn't possibly send out all their troops to assist us. The total number of troops from all five countries is two hundred thousand. On average, each country sent out fifty thousand troops. The final war has yet to begin. People were looking for more reinforcements but the beastmen merely fortified their positions, obviously with different purposes and goals in mind. Thus, they couldn't have been acting as one. The main focus of Eymond's troops was to take down Antoin city, so that their leader could take credit for it.
There was no conflict of war strategies between humans and beastmen. Naturally, the war had been dragged longer. Also, most of the generals from the northern countries were hoping that the war would be dragged on until next spring. It was to buy them time to carry out large scale stratagems and take the upper hand of this war; and then, they could proceed to the final war. What about the Antoin city that was currently waiting for reinforcements? Sleuweir Kingdom was going to be destroyed soon, who cares about his opinion. Of course, it is impossible to simply stand aside and witness Antoin city's destruction.
The general continued spouting empty fallacies and propaganda that fell on deaf ears. It was a total waste of time. Someone can't hold it any longer. "Enough! We are soldiers! We are not drunkards or cunning politicians." The angry middle-aged man was plain-looking, of medium height and had a long cape that was made of white fox skin draped on his shoulder. When he shouted angrily, the whole hall fell silent. "Leave the liberation of Antoin city to the Kingdom of Kasmi alone."
His voice was calm but it shook the entire hall. Every country had rejected that role because it was too risky fighting with Eymond's troops. When the middle-aged angry general spoke up, he actually decided to pick up this mission impossible. "Time is of essence and you people are wasting it. We have reinforcements and the beastmen have reinforcements as well. There are at least thousands of beastman tribe inside the Orison mountain, but not all tribes will respond to Eymond's command. Some tribes who may or may not have had good relations with us in the past will definitely see our weakened state and the lands there are just waiting to be claimed. Do you think they will just sit there and not attack us?"
"The Kingdom of Sleuweir has to be saved. If nobody initiates this rescue mission, please don't expect someone to come and save you when your country is in trouble. Let's think from a different perspective, if Sleuweir Kingdom is destroyed, the beastman will border up your countries. Do you have the fortress of Camo's tear? When that time comes, the beastman's wolfriders will start to hunt on your ground, killing your people, burning villages, and grabbing your women and children. Is that what you want? The general of Kasmi had gradually raised his voice into a shout.
"Fine! You can continue to hide if you want! When all of you get yourselves up on the board of sin, please don't drag me down together with you guys. I, Ainro am not a retard, I will take the mission to rescue Antoin city. If you are a soldier…no….if you are a man, buy me some time by holding back the other beastmen. Don't let them stop me from marching to the final war."
Finally, some solid talk after listening to three days worth of bullshit. I started to stir from my slumber when I heard the speech from general Ainro. "Who is he? All the missions have been debated angrily. These bunch of imbeciles has finally done something good. I wonder why all these arrogant bastards are listening to this deafening general. Is he famous?"
Of course, he was different from those imbeciles who were being manipulated for three full days. He was the big shot from the meritorious board. Also, he was not considered as the general of Kasmi for nothing. Ainro The Black Bear was quite famous in my country, San Antonio. Amelia was here earlier than me. She lived in Maple city because she did not want to travel everywhere to hunt down rangers. Naturally, she became the temporary leader of East Mist Communal Country. She did not look like she was in her best mood, with all the sarcasm dripping from her speech.
"Meritorious board? What's that? And also, what was that sinner's board he mentioned? Looks like I became a piece of antique, left out of this era."
"We have all these stuff in my era as well, maybe you didn't notice, the name is; The Notebook of Pixies.
"The work of those pixies, seems like they are free as usual." Pixies were inherently magical creatures. They were quite similar to those pure looking fairies. Their maximum height was around ten centimeters. Their height allowed them to dance on human's palm. There were different types of pixies; pixies with feathered wings, shadow pixies that lived in the shadows. They had different personalities, living habits, and living environments as well. There was one common trait that all these pixies shared; they loved to talk and gossip. Their race is all over the earth, and they are natural born neutral group, thus, they have good relationship with most of the races. Also, they had their own trading and cooking centers all over the world. In the human world, something that was made by pixies was considered to be a treasure of impeccable quality.
Usually, their trading centers also served as the best place to obtain different kinds of intel. If you can afford their intel, there were no secrets you couldn't get from them. The pixie's notebook that Harloys mentioned earlier was written by pixies. The notebook recorded all the significant points history, caused by famous people and incidents.
"The Meritorious board was created by the pixies, it recorded all the famous warriors who ever walked on earth. The ranking system was based on war records and even included your rank among your own troops. Obviously, this was an disadvantage for small countries. Actually, a Master Meritorious Board supersedes this board, also known as the Board of the War God. All the famous warriors throughout history will be included in this board. This board is pretty convincing. Basically, if your name is listed in this board, you can be considered as a valuable asset of your own country.
Historical people? Ancient warriors? Seems like I'm overthinking things now.
"But me..."
"You died too young when you were still a human. You didn't even get the chance to be listed in the meritorious board. However, you are actually listed in another leaderboard that is actually more famous. In addition to that, your ranking in it is actually quite high."
I was getting really hyped up. I couldn't believe that I was listed in a board that was even more popular than the meritorious board. Did I become such an important figure? Wasn't the point of living in this world, to leave some marks behind? Could it be that I actually left some historical marks behind without me realizing it? This was a huge surprise for me.
"What kind of leaderboard?"
"The Ultimate Apocalyptic Leaderboard. You are the Undying Roland, ranked 33."
My face turned black after hearing what he said. I knew this leaderboard. The people that were listed in this leaderboard were known as trouble makers, walking catastrophes, and plagues. If they were dangerous enough to the point that no one would even dare to lay a finger on them, they will eventually be listed in this leaderboard.
"This is bad news. No mortal being can fight against it. If you see them, just run for your life. If you run into them, well, you're just out of luck" I thought this was the essence of The Ultimate Apocalyptic Leaderboard.
"My other identity?"
If Roland could get on the board, then, the King of Eternal Night should be listed on the board as well.
"No. He was not listed in the board from the beginning. It looks like the pixies deliberately left out the person. They never explained any further. I will need to pay more if I need more intel."
"Shit! My true identity has been uncovered out."
"Isn't it normal to be found out? Did you even try to hide yourself? All you used was a piece of the Wind of War flag as the flag of the Royal Guard. Do you think you're surrounded by idiots?"
I nodded my head. The truth was, I did not even try to hide myself. When I decided to avenge others in the past, I had let the opponent know the reason why I killed them. It was totally normal for all these well-informed pixies to know my true identity. Also, they had probably sold some intel on me for a lot of money.
"Actually, I know quite a few people from the leaderboards. The one who is ranked 99 is Molly The Red Dragon. She leaves a trail of destruction behind everywhere she goes. I think you should know her. Also, the Evil Professor, Harloys The Black Magician is ranked 46. Looking at the name, it does not look like she has a lot power to bring destruction. She did produce a lot of "good" students. For example…."
"For example, you! What is your ranking?"
I sighed, remember how tough The Dragon Mother, Molly was. When she failed to bring more destruction underground, she went above ground again to create more trouble. I was so full of confidence and I asked, "If Harloys and myself are on the leaderboard, I'm pretty sure the Amelia standing in front of me is in the list as well."
"Last I checked, I was ranked 57, under the moniker; The Naughty Storm Lady. Initially, I was ranked 69. Three of my friends who ranked in front of me had kicked the baskets. I happened to have killed one of them. As a result, my ranking jumped again. All in all, my ranking has gone up by twelve."
She stated it with some pride, but I don't think she has anything to be proud of in the first place.
"Nice! That title is way cooler than mine. What the hell is Undying? It's so not cool. Can I request to change my title?"
"I'm glad that you think my title is cool. Hehe..You have good taste. Others say that my name is totally uncool. That actually makes me very angry. But, no matter how you try to compliment me, I will not give this title away to anyone."
"Shit! I can't believe you saw through me. Then, can you please contact the pixie? This title is really bad. I have to change something cooler. For example, titles like; The Invincible, The Genius, or even, The Forever Loveable Rolan."
"So, the title that you decided is, The Stupid, Selfish, Hideous Rolan. Leave it to me. I will contact the pixie for you. I can't believe the elves were actually so bound to reality. Titles like this should be easy to acquire.
They couldn't do anything about our daily arguments. Reyne and the others were compelled to listen to the arguments. The general on the stage was talking non-stop again about the so-called strategy. These two persons had totally no idea about what was going on here.
For these three days, I knew that if I continued to be a bystander, I would become one of those soldiers who will drop dead in a second thanks to stupid orders that I was stupid enough to obey. So, I stood up.
"Ainro , your setup is suicidal. I have a few suggestions and some intel. Maybe it is time for you to listen to me."
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Chapter 153: A Third Party
The Black General was known as Anynror. He had a head like a black tiger, a chiseled, stern face, body like an iron tower, with large eyes that reflected light like bronze bells, a flat nose, wide ears, and bull-like strength.
His gaze was a permanent glare that reeked of murder, and his body constantly radiated a threatening aura. This man had devoted his life to the military and was last place on the general board's rankings. He was known to all as a brave general who was always on the front lines. In battles, he broke through the enemy lines, and once, he took eighteen arrows and remained standing, as he fought on to take down the city gates. This man was never stopped, ever.
Standing opposite him was, in stark contrast, a green-eared, white-nosed youth of a General. He looked to be in his seventeens to eighteens. In an older gentleman's world of the military, he was but a baby.
He had a sacred Mithril sword in his hand, a Winged-tiger helmet on his head, an armor of steel on his body, and dragonskin army boots on his feet. His face was beautiful, and he was dressed impeccably, but if one were to look closely, he did lack an air of authority. He looked a little too effeminate, with fair skin, rosy cheeks, ruby lips and a smile was constantly plastered on his face, one would say he seemed more like a model than a general.
But if you were to underestimate him because of his appearance, then you could not be any more wrong!
The sword in his hand was none other than the famous Pale Justice, it had slaughtered many a vicious dragon, and evil monsters. Just think, if it is true that sacred swords always choose their owners, can a mere mortal wield such a sword? Can this be a normal man?
The silver-armored Great General Roland, though only the age of twenty-eight, had already spent half his life on the battlefield, was a renowned Junior General. People knew him as a chatterbox, silver-faced white dragon.
Despite his youth and delicate appearance, he was as comfortable in court as he was in the household, and that silver sword was stained with the blood of evil, tales of his battles shook the entirety of Eich. Those dragon-skin boots, that looked just like any other pair of boots, was made out of the skin of a nine-headed dragon that he had tracked through ravines to slay. A man such as this, could he be thought as a commoner?
The problem was that, both of them had massive tempers. The more famous they were, the more stubborn they got, and the less they would pay heed to any advice. It seemed that, at that moment, the two of them were having disagreements regarding the war, and naturally, being warriors, once they were met with a disagreement, they would draw out their swords in hopes for a closure on the matter. And what a match it was!
With a black and a white General, friction was bound to happen, on top of an already hostile history of unresolved bitterness. The Black Tiger against the White Dragon, this conflict will prove to be a match of the ages.
Right in the middle of the court, standing on the platform, the two of them glared at each other. The dark-faced one thought the white-faced was unreliable due to his delicateness, the white-faced one thought that the black-faced was too ugly and terrifying to the innocent. Anger and fury ignited the air, spewing a murderous aura that visibly warped the air around them.
Finally, the two of them drew closer, and met at last, nose to nose, eye to eye. Then...their lips touched! Yes! They actually touched!
"This is the spirit of victory! This is the ultimate victory of the hag's will. At this moment, Roland followed the glorious tradition of the philosophers. It was as if the spirit of Abegel (some famous homosexual man) or King Billy (an even more famous homosexual man) lived in his body! Roland alone represented the longstanding history and tradition of homosexuality in all of all Eich! At this moment, he is not alone in this fight. He is not alone!"
"Elisa. It's enough that you have been telling a story beside me, and now you are making up all these nonsense. I will send you back to the abyss where you came from! Don't think for a second that I won't do it!"
As I was fuming inside, Elisa, who was making up ridiculous passages as if she was possessed by some narrator, finally stopped talking.
Yes, the passages above were all made up by Elisa, it was all fiction! I never was a homosexual, never!
There was a silence, as I gathered up my wits to size up my opponent.
""Black Bear" Ainro Soan, a citizen of San Antonio, forty-four years old, honorable Earl in the military. He joined the army 27 years ago, slowly climbing the ranks from a common knight to a General. He always led the army, galloping towards the enemy lines. His most victorious battle was when he led his men and rode thousands of miles through the night, breaking through the encirclement of the neighboring country, and then took over the four cities that were under the rule of his opponent."
"The reviews on the honours board of famous generals: an old general rich in experience, his methods of utilizing soldiers were practiced and traditional, hated raiders, does not have any special strategies, but neither does he have any obvious flaws, has never faced any great defeat. During critical times in battles, he would fight bravely, and under extreme conditions, he would still fight his way through a path of survival, he was a brave general but not a particularly intelligent one."
I suppose Elisa's one virtue was that, although she normally had a malignant tongue and was always giving me these sort of "surprises"; when it came to important matters, there would never be any mistakes.
When I asked her to provide me information about someone, although she will add a bunch of nonsensical stuff with it, she would still be able to give me what I want.
"A practical General who was not an academic? Isn't that what people call old-fashioned? But this seems like trouble. Huh, no flaws, no virtues either? In other words that mean he is full of flaws, isn't it?"
"Well, may I ask, in your opinion, what counts as an academical military man?"
"A bookworm who only follows every military book written to the word. Just draw a hole and he will burrow into it himself, this is just too easy."
"....do you want to know your own assessment? There is a passage about your own strategizing tendencies."
"Oh, you have that? Of course, I do. I had been planning to buy it from some pixies when I get back. Good that you have it already."
"'The Undying Roland', Roland Mist, the last prince of the Mist Kingdom, also in recent times famously known as the most powerful Necromancer and Emperor Yongye . He was also the founder of the Xiluo Empire and their supreme leader, and he has had the honour of being 33rd in The Ultimate Apocalyptic Leaderboard. He is known as the Undying because he possessed the extraordinary ability to resurrect himself, and he is also the precious few who can skip over incarnation cycles to maintain his current existence. This is the one and only case of multiple resurrections."
"According to those close to him, he is extremely cunning and vindictive. If one were to have the misfortune of stepping on his tail… It has been known that he won't hesitate to use a hundred years to prepare for his revenge. And if you had really made him angry, this avenger is absolutely indestructible, bless you. Of course, one can consider the insurance package provided by us pixies (not to help you solve this problem of course, but at least we will give the insurance payments to your descendants.)"
"According to an unknown source (this year's latest report). He once transformed into "the Black Hand Baron" Roland Charname, and later "Aurora Sword Saint" Rolo Danbouer to travel the world. Due to his undying nature, even if the world is destroyed, he will remain standing. So I'll capitulate on this; do not offend him. Otherwise, in your old age, you will never know if this shameless cheater will come back and romance your granddaughter ( This were the exact words of those who were once cheated by him, a source has disclosed that it is his senior from the same school, and this report is highly credible). As you can see, this person is rather psychopathic.."
Very well, should I be glad that I have found someone who understands me? Although the description of one that can't seem to die is a little disgusting, and though it had been written with great prejudice, at least some parts were true. I glared at Amelia who was acting coy.
"A senior girl who was cheated? Amelia! It must be you! How dare you slander me. At least, at least…"
My angry glare earned the sneering of a senior girl.
"... at least give me half of the fee for tipping them off, this is free money! What makes you think you can have them all for yourself!"
"Is that really the main issue? Hey, Roland! You're getting worse than before!"
Very well. I ignored the mischievous Amelia, and turned my attention back to the main topic. Elisa was still dictating the reports about me.
"...whether as the prince of Mist Country or Emperor Yongye, or the "Black hand Baron", he always had records of leading an army to war, and his strategies were all basically the same. One of the reasons the Yongye Plunder could capture so many kingdoms was his outstanding method of utilizing his forces. He preferred to use raiders, and was unafraid of head-on battles. If he did not have absolute confidence he would never face a battle head on. That is his most significant characteristic. His most memorable battle was the battle against Soubel Elves Kingdom, where his opponent's army was three times the size of his and all of them had been equipped with the blade of light, known to be able to defeat spectres, yet they were no match against the elite cavalries he sent. The leading army was reduced to nothing, and the war dragged on for a year and a half, the undead armies obtained victory as they outlasted the enemy.
It seems like the reviews were quite spot-on, at least the war that I was most pleased had not been missed. The strategies were not new, no doubt one of the variants of guerilla tactics, but perhaps only the spectres who do not fear death can execute such suicidal attack to the end.
"When he was a human prince, he left a few pieces of writings such as 'Treaties on Guerilla tactics', 'Collecting intelligence is the most important task in a war', 'Our goal is The Sea of Stars - be a full-fledged coward before being able to win a war'. His diverse and interchangeable war strategies deeply influenced future generations.The long term decree that rewards anyone who brought the head of a Beastman, the "Beastmen Slaughtering" decree, that was mentioned in his book had received many constant criticism, but caused a great impact on the future generations. Besides that, his utilization of the elite cavalry methods to counter attack against the Beastmen tribes while cutting off their escape routes, along the evil yet ingenious idea of poisoning their water source, all these gave him a frightful reputation, especially among the Beastmen. However, in a way, the Beastmen tribes who suffered the greatest damage in history, have in recent times had the longest lasting safe haven in history. The Northlands had peace for more than fifty years, but this caused the rejuvenation of the spirits of the Beastmen tribes, leading to the largest scale of Beastmen attack on the south in a thousand years."
"As his method of strategizing his soldiers were superior, the effects on his military philosophy and thoughts on war were groundbreaking. His military successes were brilliant, and he was once listed as the number 68th on the board of the famous generals in history. However, due to the pressures from kingdoms with past connections with him and churches of the gods, he was taken down from the board. Nevertheless, his military success and strategizing ability were indeed recorded in the Board of War Gods, and due to his indestructibility, I'm afraid he will be in the top 40 on the board of recent famous generals for quite a long time.
After hearing those words, I was at a loss for words. To that end, I can only say that I was too young, and was perhaps a little too overboard in my actions.
In a way I felt a little encouraged, I definitely did not believe that the Black Faced blockhead will buy my information, but since he knew my information, no doubt would he feel a little guilty.
After all, he had just entered the recent board, and on the last place no less. While I was named a famous general in history. Since I am of a higher rank, and among peers, those who are stronger and more famous have a more powerful say in the subject, especially since I am of a higher rank than him.
At this time, as if rendered uneasy by the silence after my speech, Ainro spoke up, the content was very respectful, but his tone sounded a bit strong.
"Your majesty, Roland, I do not know if you felt that there were any mistakes in my strategy, but I would be grateful if you could point them out."
I smiled at the seriousness of Ainro's face, then it seemed that it was judgement time. The same procedure: First throw out some heavyweight bombs to scare them off.
"If it is just fighting on paper then you are not wrong, it is quite the contrary, this setup is very spot-on. If the execution is powerful, then the chances of winning are more than 80 percent…"
At this, as if he thought he had obtained my praise, Ainro touched his chin as he smiled, but I was not yet finished. These three days I spent riding on my horse and wandering around without stopping, gathering and organizing intelligence, and when there were enough intelligence and information collected, only then did I make a judgment.
"But I must say, your setup will just send all the generals and soldiers to their death. All you see are the threats on the chessboard, but you completely forgot to take into account the other chess pieces that were not in the scene!"
"The Earth Elemental God, Emordilorcan have always supported the Blood tribes, and you think that they will not interfere with such an important event as you attack Atoin. I have seen in Auland, the formation of the city of rain, the Water Elemental God and her people directly participating in the invasion of Auland Kingdom, they do not have as many restrictions. To underestimate any of these Ancient Elemental Gods is foolish. I guess when your great generals are at the brink of a decisive battle, earthquakes and the sudden appearance of the Earth Elemental God would be the best ambush."
At this point, those in attendance have already turned a deathly green. Obviously, they had long neglected the existence of those ancient Elemental Evil Gods, and even believed they would not interfere in the conflicts of the human realm.
The look on Ainro's face made me smile, since the right to speak is now in my hands, then, the next piece of explosive information would be even more shocking.
"To march without enough intelligence, I think you are just looking for death. And that wasn't all that you missed."
Ainro started as if he wanted to object, but after hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and kept quiet.
"Forgetting to include Emordilorcan is one of the reasons for your downfall, but it is not the most fatal one. I know that you have other preparations, don't argue with me, but you forgot another dangerous opponent. No, from the beginning you have not thought of seeing them as an enemy. On the contrary, in your eyes they were considered trusted comrades, after all, it has been so many years since we last went to war."
"You are saying?"
"Impossible, perhaps in the West? Perhaps the Wolf King was headed there?"
"No, no, it is completely possible. Their recent behavior has been very strange. If so, then this would explain the Wolf King's journey."
Just after the sentence was completed, the leaders and generals in attendance stood up, and the black-faced Ainlo was pale-faced with shock by this revelation. If this report is true, the whole world will be shocked.
"Yes, Eymond's power far is stronger than all of you have estimated. The Wolf King Saustero, and philosophers of the Fox race, are all his staunch supporters. They dispersed their army and went West because they are planning to open up Akysyos to let the Elf armies in. Yes, your predictions are not wrong, my most trusted long-eared comrades. This time, right from the beginning, they have decided to stand against us. They have too much accumulated grievances to settle with us."
"Elves will soon be declaring war against the humans. And the gods of the elves will soon declare godly war on the gods of humans! And our Northland, will soon become the battlefield of the gods!"
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Chapter 154: The Elves
The Elves, well-known for their beauty and longevity, lived inside the peaceful forest. They were pure, kind, and lived a simple and self-sufficient life. They typically lived in harmony with nature, but whenever this world is threatened by Evil, they would unhesitatingly rouse themselves for battle, and would fight to their last breath.
Only the children would believe such a fairy tale! If there was a race of such innocence and purity, they would have been exterminated long time ago, by any big war evolved from the stray projectiles from the crossfire.
In Eich, these long-eared folks were doing quite well. They might be beautiful, but they were definitely not kind and naively gullible as the legends suggested. As a powerful and prosperous race, some trickeries in the best interests of their race were inevitable.
"Pure and kind? Where do we find such Elves? In my perspective, the Elves are just a bunch of pretty long ears. Their beauty and longevity are undeniable, but obviously, they have nothing to do with purity and kindness. In fact, ego, brutality and belligerence are their three signature traits!"
Their ego could be justified by their historical background. As the race which had once occupied over seventy percent of the continent, and with their fellow Gods serving as the strongest divine system in the world, the Elves used to have it all. They had been treating the short-lived Humans as uncivilized vulgarians. Granted with an eternal life, well-established traditions, magic and martial arts, they treated all the other races with contempt.
Just like the Pixies, the Elves were divided into factions. The difference was, that all the Pixie members were on equal footing. In the contrary, the Elves practiced an extremely prejudicial hierarchic-cum-caste system, which was determined by their bloodline and could never be transcended.
Akin to the first generation of Humans, the High Elves once graced the earth with their golden footsteps, but they no longer exist. Nevertheless, their lineal descendants (creations), namely the Wood Elves, the Moon Elves, the Night Elves and Silver Elves became the Four Elven Aristocracies, which were superior to the common Elves. In this century, they had built their own kingdom, retaining their aristocratic status.
It was worth mentioning that Harloys, the Princess of the Ancient Elven Kingdom was actually the one who exterminated High Elves, the legendary golden Elves. Their remaining cultural heritage naturally became the treasure that all the Elven Kingdoms strived for. Besides, a lot of Elven royals were claiming themselves to be the true descendants of the Ancient Elven Kingdom.
Of course, even the Elves themselves were not convinced by their own tale. Like everyone, they would glorify their ancestors at times, but to believe such a tale would be a real stretch. It is indeed gratifying that the Simita race did not exist in this world.
Discrepancies always lie between legends and history. History tells us that the golden Elves were a paragon of virtue and perfection, but to think that Harloys was such a deplorable character, what a sickening truth! The prince was usually deviant, while the princess was either a fool or a flower vase...just like the damned cat. (Speaking to the cat) You dare to bite me? I will load you up into the Goblin's cannon and send you a thousand miles away. I mean it!
(TL Note: In Chinese, the term "flower vase - 花瓶" is used informally describe a woman who is gorgeous but a good for nothing)
Sigh, where did I stop? Alright, since we have been darkening the name of Elves, next I will talk about the Dark Elves.
Now it's really about Dark Elves ! The Dark Elves actually emerged from the bizarre hierarchical system and regulations of the Elven race.
(TL Note: In Chinese, the word "Dark - 黑" in the term "Dark Elves - 黑 精灵" means "dark" literally, and means "darkening" non-literally. The author is playing with words here, as the narrator actually spoke about the 黑 精灵 (Dark Elves) after he 黑 精灵 (darkened the name of Elves)
The Dark Elves were never in this world until the Night Elves were banished to the Underworld.
Lorci was banished by the fellow Elven Gods, while the Night Elves were banished by the other three Elven aristocracies. Why? It was said that they violated a taboo and hooked up with Chaos. I don't know what the taboo it is, but considering the unusual antecedents of the Night Elves, they had probably altered their bloodline. Aside from God himself, the truth could be told by no one.
The Four Elven Aristocracies were the Superior Elves who carried the Silver bloodline (slightly inferior bloodline). Intermarriage between them had always been forbidden. In the era of Ancient Elven Kingdom, they had even banned inter-communication and accepting jobs, aside those stipulated by the race.
The Gold Elves were born to be royalty, while the Silver Elves were born to the warriors. On the other hand, the Wood Elves served as priests who had the ability to communicate with nature, while the Moon Elves served as the pivotal force of the government. Lastly were the Night Elves, they were in charge of all sort of underground activities.
As for the rest, like the Medium Elves, the Lower Elves, and the hybrid Wild Elves who were disdained, rejected by their own race, they were no more than vassals of the Four Elven Aristocracies. A majority of the Medium Elves and the Lower Elves belonged to the Bronze faction. The hybrid Wild Elves were usually the Blackmetal faction, but a precious few of them could be mutants whose power surpassed even the Superior Elves.
Even today, there are still some old fogeys practicing the law and order enforced by the Ancient Elven Kingdom, that the Four Elven Aristocracies must serve the Golden Elves, and all the other classes of Elves must serve the Four Elven Aristocracies. Such a hierarchy system was perceived as the root of the Elven society.
If a man's fate is predetermined at the moment of his birth, the social progression is in deeper trouble. The gap between different classes would only get bigger, and the contradictions would only lurk beneath the surface, forever unresolved.
In short, the Superior Elves were always of Silver faction, whilst the common Elves belonged to either Bronze or Blackmetal. In the past, the Elves were much more powerful in contrast to Humans who had no distinction of classes. These advantages led to their contempt for the other races. The only shackle restraining them was their low fertility rate and slow growth period.
This is why a Wild Elf like Krose would feel out of place while facing a Wood Elf like Kelly. The Wood Elves were not as mighty as they were, but the formality that flows with her blood, would naturally bring out her discomfort before the Superior Elves.
A social hierarchy like this would definitely come along with a latent fatal risk. Ever since the Ancient Elven Kingdom vanished, and the Golden Elves were extinct, the Four Elven Aristocracies naturally became the top of the pyramid. For one kingdom with four rulers, the dissolution was only a matter of time!
With four Elven Gods in command, conflicts and division were inevitable. As spoken by Harloys herself who was full of resentment, the fall of Ancient Elven Kingdom and division of the Elves were closely related to the fellow Gods of Order, especially the fellow Elven gods.
I have to emphasize that they were asking for it. As one ancient species, Golden Elves could not care less for their descendant Gods, "You were once my vassal, how dare you disregard me right after turning into Gods?" With such ideology going widespread, the true Gods would disregard anyone.
Ironically, this was the how the Elves declined from their golden age, but the rise of Humans would never come without their internal strife.
Let us skip the long chapters and look into the outcome of a series of misfortunes. As the Golden Elves no longer existed, the Elven race was divided into hundreds of kingdoms, scattered all over the world.
The four Superior Elves were having a rough time as well. The Night Elves were banished from the rest altogether, turning into the Dark Elves of the Underworld. The Moon Elves and The Silver Elves might be the primary royal forces in every Elven Kingdom, but there was always bad blood between the two families.
As far as I knew, there were several Elven Kingdoms in the northwest border region, which were ruled by the Moon Elves. They belonged to one of the four Elven families, who had been declaring themselves as the true lineal descendants of the Ancient Elven Kingdom.
In the Northern land, I'm afraid there is no one who knows the Elves better than me, and that knowledge stemmed from rather nefarious intent. Your nemesis always knows you the best, and there were years of deep enmity between the Elves and myself.
One thousand seven hundred years ago, the Human's victory in the last sacred war awarded them with the richest land on the continent. However, the defeated races were in suffering. The Aqua tribe descended to the deep sea and were reduced to the Sea tribe, whilst the Beastmen were driven away to the northern iceland. As for the Protectors of Order like the Humans however, the Elves had no choice but to move their kingdoms to the remote region under the compulsion of the Humans.
"Allies? Would allies send you to the remote region and into the woods? Would they form a hunting party to catch your people and make them best-sellers in the market of slaves? Would allies disregard you after absorbing your magic and knowledge? Would they seize your resource supplies and trade petty salt for your magical craft?
Without mention any more subtexts, I will conclude that the entire race of Humans was indeed nasty. A single reason like trading their people into slavery was more than enough to tread heavily on the Elves' toes.
The crowds of royal peers loved to enslave the Elves for the sake of pride and pleasure, their filthy hands even clambering up to the Superior Elves' bodies. The charming Wood Elves, the innocent Moon Elves, and the lively Silver Elves also had the experience of being sold at auctions for an extortionate price, a price which was never seen before. Such an event had led to several wars.
The Elves were unlike the Humans who lived up to only a hundred. Unfortunately, they were also renowned for having eidetic memories,which caused them to bear a myriad of hatred and grudges over centuries. For the Elves, the grudges built up three generation ago were just like yesterday. If their enemies were dead, they would take revenge on their descendents or countrymen. If none of these existed too, their vengeance would fall on the Human race in general.
The resentment which had been simmering for too long would eventually burst out, but in a time of peace, it would not be heavily surveyed by the fellow Gods of Order. Besides, the Human Gods who were the majority of Gods of Orders would treat the matter with injustice like how they usually did.
Hence, this explosion of resentment would die out quickly. Only when the last obstacle, the fellow Elven Gods, agree to switch their side, only then would there be nothing to stop the hostility between the two races.
Betraying their own people would not be a big deal for the Elven Gods as they had even turned against their former masters. Loyalty was meaningless for someone who had a history riddled with treacheries. It merely depends on what their opponents could offer.
The discerning spectators could have speculated the facts I were telling. But, I have one more here, which emerged from my own investigation.
"Key of the Moon Plan."
Such a beautiful name with such a simple meaning, which was literally "a plan to open the door". The main target of the plan was to prepare for the sacred war, and open the gate to the Central Plains.
Three hundred years ago, the Northern gate was surrounded by a mighty kingdom. As for the Elves, it was just like yesterday...
The fall of the Mist Kingdom went according to the Elves' conspiracy, as the Cardinals who had desired to kill me got a visit from two slaves of Silver Elves. It was never the strong enemies who destroyed the Mist Kingdom, but the backstabbing of a few Humans Kingdoms, together with none other than the "pure and kind" Elven allies.
It was never a cinch to knock down that Kingdom, a lot of colluding between the insidious parties was just enough to deal minor damage, which caused a chain reaction that eventually led to the fall of Mist KIngdom.
My second incarnation was Roland Charname, the Black Handed Baron. As the surname Charname had spoken, my mission was to investigate the insider news. Unfortunately, I was murdered during the mission by the Elven Kingdom armies.
In Chinese, the word "Charname - 查内姆" is homophonic to the word "查内幕", which means "investigate the insider news")
It was not until my third incarnation, Rolo, that I finally traveled across numerous Elven Kingdoms, and gathered sufficient information from their database and libraries. Several times, I had even stepped into their palaces.
Only with all these efforts, it came the time for the mad revenge of Yongye's Army. My first target was absolutely the Elven Kingdom! At the height of madness, even the forbidden curse of destruction, which had been used on the Humans in hesitance, was cast directly on the Elves without mercy. The entire Elven Kingdom was then crushed within the curse.
Looking at their vindictive nature, I was afraid I would top their Wanted list for a perpetual period of time. Revenge against me was inevitable.
Never judge a book by its cover, I had always been wary of the Elves. On hearing the news that the Wolf King was marching to the west, I had dispatched my troopers and spies towards there. Meanwhile, my informants in the Elves had brought me sufficient information.
"I have been here for three days, waiting for my informants. The Moon Glaive Army of the Tassel Elven Kingdom have moved away from their camp, eastwards, similar to the other Elven kingdoms. Do you think the long ears are coming to our assistance?"
There must some clues to the secret activities within the Elven Kingdom. The Gods of Law had been watching over the conspiracies between the fellow Elven gods and the Gods of Chaos. Owing to the frequent notice and warning by the cathedrals, everyone was astonished by my judgment, and without even suspecting it, they started to think about the next step.
"How is this possible? The Elves and the Beastmen are bitter enemies!"
"You fool! Two enemies are allies in front of a common enemy. And what are allies? Ask those Elven slaves in your house."
"Not all the Elves wanted to fall out with the Humans. Was it a clan, or just a tribe?"
"Please validate the truth before jumping to the verdict. Your majesty, it was not a query, but could you provide more relevant information?"
I turned abruptly and walked away from the clamour.
The information I had thrown meant a lot, which will definitely keep the leaders of all countries occupied for validation, organization, and reporting. By then, their reckless march would be stopped, and my target was achieved.
In such chaos, I was not interested to carry out any discussions, as I had a lot of things in hand, I did not have the mood and time for them.
I would not count on these guys, and the Borealis was arriving soon. With these reinforcements, this time, we shall hold nothing back! The new weapons, the new tactics, and the new soldiers, will bring about a new world. Let this inevitable war be my experimental plot!
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Chapter 155: A War Without Mercy
Akysyos Fortress, was dubbed by the Elves as "Shinkerin Shinker", which means "The Sinland" in their language.
Being the Humans' Fortress closest to the Northern Elven Kingdom, it served as the major pathway to all the Elven countries. It was also the main source of supplies for the Slave Hunters. Naturally, it turned out to be the best trading market for Elven slaves in the northern region.
Amongst the Elves of all regions, the northern Elves were considered the weakest. Unfortunately, their neighbouring kingdom, the Sleuweir could do nothing to hinder the slave trade for big merchants from all countries. Hence, this "trade route" became a "disastrous" location to perform Elven slave trading.
The wired second-hand dealers were helping the peerages and the agencies of special goods to get the latest stocks. Meanwhile, the ruthless mercenaries who were awaiting orders, as well as the city guard officers and troops stood aside like nothing had happened. It was not surprising that the Elves would call that place "The Sinland".
The merchants would risk for a hundred percent profit. For a profit over three thousand percent, they would trample all the world's law without a hesitation. Regardless of whether they were ordinary, superior or even the half-Elves, the Elven children, men, and young women had all brought them an extraordinary income. Hence, the Akysyos had become their first choice for a tourism spot.
Of course, he would never answer you, as he, together with his kingdom had been sealed within the ice receptacle. Their bodies would remain fresh in the Ice Age for hundreds of years, probably until even the day they melts.
And that day, was the doomsday for the bloody Akysyos, along with all its slave dealers.
Just as the Beastmen armies invaded the castle from the rear, the Moonglaive army of the Tassel Elven Kingdom ambushed an interim camp of the merchants. They were coming to the rescue of their princess.
The imprisoned Princess of the Moon Elves, was found in the merchants' basement, with her body pathetically mangled. This had infuriated the surrounding Elves, the little ambush thus grew into a mad rampage.
Influenced by some malicious people, the Elven slaves eventually engaged in the rampage too. After wiping out the prison guards and mercenaries, they had snatched their weapons and opened the gate.
The time had finally come for an ethnic cleansing. At this moment, the arrogant Elves would gladly accept any help from the Beastmen. Resorting to violence like the Beastmen, they had developed an inclination for a sadistic pleasures besides assuaging their resentment. They even praised the Beastmen for their inhumane massacres.
A strongly worded declaration of war was very soon delivered to Antoin which was under the Beastmen's attack. Tassel Elven Kingdom and the other Elven Allies were declaring war against the Sleuweir.
The third party's interference in the war had brought astonishment to the whole world. Myriads of letters were drifting to the north like the snowflakes, and the cathedral envoys were running back and forth. Unfortunately, the communication canal had been sealed.
Meanwhile, at the protection area of Moon Glaive Army, the face of Commander Alven Newleaf was filled with grief and sympathy, as he stared at the severely injured Moon Elven girl who was deeply asleep.
"Your Majesty, are you cold-blooded? Princess Suana was still a young girl, and she was your one and only daughter."
Being an aristocrat of the Moon Elves, Alven shared a blood kinship with Atrion, the emperor of Tassel Kingdom, therefore the injured Elven princess was considered his niece.
As the executor of "Key of the Moon Plan", Alven was the one who actually knew the whole story, when the other Elves were seized by anger, lynching the slave merchants.
"Those damned old creatures were trying to kill her!"
Suana Newleaf, the Princess of Tassel Kingdom, was the only descendant of the Emperor of Elves. Nevertheless, to get the approval of war declaration and to gain support from the elders, she was sacrificed for the political exchange. The next Emperor of Elves would have to be the nephew of the chief of the council.
Aside from political interest, Suana was chosen as the sacrifice due to her role as the leader of the Peace-pursuing faction of the Elves, despite her young age. The solidarity amongst her followers were as firm as rock. Beloved and respected by all her people, in any way if she was hurt, the Elves would certainly be filled with hatred and animosity. Wrath of the people would be incessant, and the war would be unstoppable.
To fully utilize Suana, the ruthless schemer had made use of the most malevolent slave merchants, the most deplorable buyers, a well-planned engagement, and a brutal slave hunter, which finally led the honourable princess down this path.
"...Water...water."
A feeble voice pulled the surrounding female officers closer. Alven could not withstand watching the misery of princess anymore.
"Your highness, please just say the words, Alven would do anything for you"
It was obvious to all that Suana, who had suffered such tremendous physical and mental damage, would not survive. This terrible scene was more than what Alven could bear. Finally, he made a promise to himself, that this was the end of his tolerance, and he would then accomplish any wishes of the princess at any costs.
"...Re...venge…"
Hearing this, Alven was puzzled. To fall into such inexplicable misfortune, it was only natural that the little anti-war princess would harbour such resentment. It was pathetic that she had not realised the real culprit behind all of these.
With her withered lips moving slightly, it looked like Suana was trying to speak something but she was powerless to do so.
Only by moving closer, Alven was able to hear her small groan.
"Do...n't...Don't….avenge me, I….want peace, I don't want..don't want war."
Her alabaster face was filled with scars. After much struggling to deliver her last wish and making sure it was heard clearly, the most beautiful rose in Tassel lost her final colour, she had given up her life, withered and perished.
Upon learning the death of their dearest Suana, the fellow Elves had gone insane.
"Her highness is dead! Her highness is dead!"
"It was all because of the damned Humans!"
"Revenge! A blood for a blood, a tooth for a tooth, that is not even enough or these scoundrels! We need the fresh blood of their wives and daughters to pay respect to her spirit of Princess Suana in heaven!"
"Not yet, the Elves do their vengeance in ten fold! We need ten times the amount of blood as offerings!"
An uproar reverberated through the skies, as even the female officers in the palace had vowed to avenge their princess at any cost. Being the only one amongst the crowd who actually heard her last wish, Alven was sinking into silence.
He opened his mouth as his head was spinning. Trying to speak something but his thoughts were all in a muddle, he ended up saying nothing at all.
"...Forgive me, your highness. I am afraid I have to go back on my words, everyone has gone out of control. As I'm about to fight with the destroyer of our kingdom, I will probably apologize to you face to face very soon.
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Upon hearing the news of Suana's death and declaration of war by the Elves, I was not even surprised. I had to say if my speculation was right, for the Elves to deviate from the Order, Suana must not only die, but die horribly.
Reason? There was no actual reason. Every war needed one reason to start. Not to mention the Elves who had always flattered themselves as a race of upright justice and peace, they would certainly call for a strong reason.
Suana herself was a perfect sacrifice. Aside from her high reputation, she had always opposed the war, proposing harmonious coexistence with the Humans, and seeked to resolve all conflicts by communications. This had rendered her a thorn in the flesh of the War-pursuing faction and the fellows Elven gods.
How did I know about her? Were we close? I was imprisoned in the Sulphur Mountain City when she was born. We never spoke and recognised each other, but I did know about her.
"Sure enough, the real world is not dramatic, in the end, the lucky Suana failed to ascend to the Queen of Elves..."
In the dramatic "history", as the leader of the Peace-pursuing faction she had issued a mythical mission of incredible rank. With the help of both Elf players and Human players, she had finally annihilated the War-pursuing faction which included her dad and the council. She ascended the throne and even fought to be the Queen of Elves later. In the end, she successfully persuaded all the Elves to remain in the Order faction.
Ever since the Four Elemental Gods turned out not to be sealed by the "players" according to the "history plot", I had discerned a number of idiotic flaws in the strategy guide. In that "history" at least, the few significant events would be completely different from what the gamers abroad had in mind.
Reality is not a game, this mistake had given me a real lesson.
In consequence, I had cleaned up the "history"and reevaluated it by taking the real world as the benchmark. Quite a number of flaws were actually discovered.
The mysterious fall of the Four Elemental Gods, was to furnish the "players" with a greater sense of participation and achievement, and also to free the early stage in the game from unbeatable opponents. Judging from the baffling plot, however, one could easily tell that it was deduced by the game story writer using the Hand of God, as it was not based on facts.
(TL Note: Hand of God refers to a goal scored by Diego Maradona in 1986 World Cup using his hand but wasn't seen by the referee. Later in Chinese, "Hand of God - 上帝之手" is used to describe a mean to achieve something without conforming to human's law of nature)
Besides, Queen Suana who was graced as "Light of the New Moon" and "The Moon of Luck" had lived a legendary yet incredible life. For how she came to know the players' heroes in a blind alley, for how she exposed the crime of her father and the council, for how she achieved a peace agreement so the Humans and the Elves would work together to weather the storm, all these contingencies were comparable to winning a lottery. To break through such tragic circumstances, was even tougher than to slay a dragon barehanded. Therefore, this series of tide-turning legendary stories would no doubt become the best-selling novels!
"Damn, here comes another hole. It seems that the story writer was keeping all the Elf players in the Order Faction with the Hand of the God again. Of course, that was just a game, who could accept such a strange plot where all the people suddenly switched to the same camp. Being a real world, Eich had no such thing as the main protagonist of a story.
Unfortunately, Eich was not a game, and Suana was not destined to be the emperor, so she was dead, miserably so. In the end, her death had become the spark of the war she hated the most. This was indeed a perfect irony, but also a warning sign for me.
"I have only one opportunity, everything's over if I fail this. Hence, there must be no risk involved, all the bad consequences must be taken into account, as any additional preparation is always a plus."
At this moment, however, I suddenly regretted, because some of the things should have been done far more modestly.
"Aren't you guys going too far? I was only asking for several supporting equipment, what are all of these you have brought me?"
In front of me was Pier Papin (Runa's Daddy), the vice captain of Borealis. He was demonstrating the equipment requested by me.
"Sailor outfits? Fake animals' ears? You call these weapon equipment? What I want are single-soldier communication devices and enchanted armours, did you hear wrongly?"
A muscular man dressed in a skinny-fit women's sailor outfit, flaunting his muscular figure beneath the tight outfit was indeed disgusting. Besides exposing his two thick legs, this muscular man in sunglasses had even put on the cute fox ears and tail, one could hardly stand the sight of this!
"Yes, your highness. These are what you requested. Look, this pair of fake ears are installed with a call function, the magic bullet within it allows more than two hundred times of short-distant calls. Also, the wide-eared design is very intelligent, it's able to improve the data transmission rate. This skinny-fit enchanted armour may look thin, but it will harden to be as solid as metal once you activate its magic bullet as well. As it's so thin, you can even wear one of it as the underwear, then put on another one as the armour. Double protection, safe and assuring!"
"And this Fox tail is more than a decoration, it actually contains a small battery which can recharge all the body equipment for more than three times. It is estimated that a single soldier will use those equipment for more than three hours."
Unbelievably, I had tested and found these equipment to be super effective. Many theoretical limitations had been overcome and their completion was much beyond expectation.
"Who is the designer? I would like to have a serious chat with him. Has our technology advanced so rapidly? Why implement such decent technology on these strange designs? Can't he make something normal? Something just like plate armours and headsets!"
"The chief designer, Little Timmy Lade was here a moment ago. There were some who questioned him too, he answered 'The well-concealed equipment were the best to play a crucial role, not to mention, cuteness is the true justice!' That seemed to be his principle as a designer, and nobody was able to change his mind."
At this point, Pier shook his head in disappointment. He wasn't regretting how he failed to change Timmy's mind, but how Timmy had turned down his suggestions all the way, which was just to add one naval outfit in the samples.
"It appears that people with different principles could never plan something together. A little kid could never discern the romance in the large metal warship and heavy artillery. Lady warships are obviously the most gorgeous… but following your instructions, he should be marketing the lite version of the enchanted armour and communication animal's ears to the coalition army right now."
"Yes, he was impressed by the creativity you have, especially how you used your ally units as guinea pigs."
"Little Timmy?"
This had prompted me to recall the name of the little kid under my sister's guardian. Was it again the Hand of God that had assisted him? How could he instantly rise to such a great fame?
"Certainly, a lot of things had happened in the middle. He was just a little kid. Anyway, why do these designs keep reminding of one wicked man...Wait, you said that he is now promoting the lite version of the enchanted armours to the coalition army? And that includes these messy and inexplicable things?"
"Yes, here is the purchase order by Lord Olivia, she asked for your thorough review. These products are designed by Little Timmy Lade. There are twenty-seven kinds of animals ears, such as cat ears, dog ears, fox ears, etc. There are nineteen kinds of enchanted armours, in the form of swimming suits, bikinis, black and sexy lingerie, etc. There are four kinds of chargeless magic swords, and three hundreds of them for each kind. At last, there are four kinds of demonic explosive grenades, and two thousands of them for each kind. The grenades are a weakened version which is specially modified. Please send this data back to the headquarters immediately. Is there any question?"
"Big question! Can these toys be sold? How am I going face the people tomorrow?"
To think that I was peddling underwear to the generals of all countries, I really wanted to kill myself.
Perhaps the news would spread across all countries on tomorrow, and everyone would be jeering me for taking the path of a pervert, I must stop this from happening before it's too late.
"He has just left for a while, hasn't he? Alright, I just need to stop him as soon as possible. It would be great if I catch him alone, as that will only be treated as a prank of a kid."
After all, the Bear kids were notorious for their pranks, so the adults should be able to comprehend it. Yes, they should be, reluctantly. It had taken a load off my mind by thinking this way.
"Oh no! Lord Xueti had joined the party and even volunteered to be the model. The last time I saw him, he was wearing a pink swimming suit that revealed his belly, and a pair of rabbit ears… I must say, that was a total tragedy, and the researchers had vomited on sight."
"...Your expression not convincing at all. You are nothing better. Ughhh, stop him now!"
Compared to the big guy in sailor suit at the front, with a little imagination, one could figure out how disgusting is the outlook of the stupid cow in pink midriff-exposing swimming suit, it could make everyone go blind. Who would have thought that he even acted cute by putting on the rat ears! At that moment, I would rather destroy this world than to bear the imminent humiliation.
At least, I would not need to prevent that from the happening.
"Chase him! The pervert beastman is heading towards there!"
"Barf, our brothers have thrown up in disgust. Can we chase later?"
"...must catch him before more victims appear. Hunters? Keep chasing."
"Chasing is not even needed, just follow these vomiting residents as the sign! Even my baby is fainting. An army dog which has been in training for almost ten years is still unable to stomach this horrible sight."
Looking out of the window, I immediately covered my eyes and knelt down.
"You fellows know no limit, I will transfer you all to the mines for mining!"
Not to mention about the foremost Minotaur in a pink belly-exposing swimsuit, for a muscular man who was two meters tall but wearing a women's swimsuit, it was indeed a living blasphemy. Elaboration would be unnecessary, as the scene of thick belly shaking periodically below the swimsuit while running was more than enough to render the spectators blind.
Behind him, there were even more "surprises".
The goblin, Kabala was wearing the trendy white nurse costume, but with his neurotic appearance, he looked more like a psychiatric patient who needed treatment. Meanwhile, Casio was wearing a black erotic lingerie which covered the two nipples. It was almost impossible for one to stare at a Centaur with his two nipples covered!
The twin-headed Wendigo was wearing cat ears on his left head, dog ears on his right head, and a maid costume on his body. To one's surprise,he even put on lipstick on his bloody mouth… As one who was especially fond of maid costume, my eyes had gone blind right away.
For Beifeng... he was very normal, but his eyes were glaring at his comrades who were wearing the animal ears. He seemed to be thinking about hunting these people down. At this moment, I genuinely oppose the design of animal-ears communication devices! It was too dangerous in the presence of Beifeng.
"You bunch of bastards! I'd rather you all went streaking!"
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Chapter 156: Fortification
There was an ongoing debate about truth and culture in my office. I, on the other hand, was receiving a challenge from a junior.
"As a race that openly looked down on the other races has no future, those foolish long ear-ers are the most obvious examples! If you look upon the younger and different races as savages, you have as well closed the gate of advancement."
"Yes, well said! Keeping the old ways of thinking and closing up one's mind will only lead to mental rigidity, and one will, at last, be left behind times."
"That is why, we should be adept at learning the cultures of other races, perhaps today, they will be looked upon as wannabes, uneducated, uncultured, wild and unruly, but who knows, they will be looked upon by future generations as pioneers! Any artist who is more advanced than his era, has always, in the beginning, not been accepted in his own era."
"Yes indeed, there are a lot of such examples, many of the classics today are unconventional revolutionaries of the past. The non-mainstream bands of the past have, to everyone's surprise, become superstars, and those strange convoluted looking puzzles actually became some sort of impressionist's holy work. For an old-timer such as me, it is really confusing. Perhaps I will never ever begin to understand, but I will not hinder the development of new conceptions, on the contrary, I will even try to support them."
"Glad that you understand. Your majesty, we are progressing into a new era, to build a thriving new era, we must accept the cultures of other races and personal preferences. To respect and attempt to understand is the beginning of all communication, and this world is in such chaos because it is lacking sensible and wise people like you."
"Hehe, Little Timmy, you and your silver tongue, you flatter this old man's heart with your words."
"Well the, what about my designed plan?"
"Hehe, it still won't do."
Seeing Timmy Lade sputter and frustrated, I grinned cruelly, you scum humiliated me and told the world I was vengeful and petty, then I shall show you how vengeful I could be.
"You say all these just so that your cat-eared communication devices, animal-tailed battery, armoured swimsuit series can be approved? Are you serious? Or do you think I am so easily tricked by sweet words? True, I have always respected the culture of other races, but are you certain that these perverted inventions are according to normal aesthetic standards, and not just to satisfy your selfish desires? You dare to swear it on your conscience? Do you dare swear it on your sister's reputation?
Good, Timmy Lade was at a lost for words now, but I continued.
"What's more, even if it is for your selfish desires, your considerations are way too simple. Everyone says that the maid look is good, and you know that I do indeed like the maid outfit, but how would look if a 6 feet tall strong man with a three feet waistline wore this maid costume? It burned my eyes, and I had completely lost all my senses! I had to stare at Elisa the whole night to recover from that!"
"...you are way too naive, all you thought about was the youth and cuteness of young ladies in bikinis, but you had never thought about the horror of old ladies in these swimsuits. You only thought about sailor girls and young girls, but never about the old women who think they are sexy sailor girls or hot witches. And don't even get me started with those old men and their hairy legs and chest. They burned my eyes, I had nightmares that entire night!"
I was not exaggerating this time, I could vividly describe the scenes in the dream right now.
"In that nightmare, a bunch of buff strong men wearing the maid costume were marching in an orderly manner, and giving me the army's salute. They perked up their butts as they swayed as if on the catwalk, and purposely raised the little witch's wand as they shouted the war cries, some nonsense like "representing the moon to punish you", "love and bravery", and that's not all, there are other mentally polluting ones like "Niko Niko Niko", "I didn't take my medicine today, and I feel that I am so cute", what is going on!"
"There's more, I am not saying that I am that educated, but what do they think they're doing, raising one arm and shouting "Hail, the King of Gents!". Isn't that sort of plagiarism a little too obvious? I'm not some King of Gents!"
My roar could be heard from outside the walls, but that was only the beginning of my venting. Due to that strange parade, I was so shaken that I couldn't sleep after that, and was staring at Elisa with my blood-rimmed eyes for half the night, she must have thought that I had gone completely insane.
"Scoundrels are not scary, what's scary are cultured scoundrels. Perverts are not scary, what's scary are perverts with knowledge. Naughty children creating mischief are not scary, what's scary is when their mischief goes unpunished!
It has been years ever since I had it so bad. Even my reputation got dragged into this and developed towards this strangeness. How could it be possible if I didn't take my revenge.
Naughty children must be disciplined, the more twisted they were the earlier they should be corrected and reprimanded. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before they evolved into mega naughty children.
"Bam!" At the snap of my fingers, the main door was thrown wide open, a group of burly looking men glided in, they were all strongly-built, but wearing the costumes designed by Timmy Lade… Well, I won't describe them in detail as I still wanted to have lunch later, anyway, even if I managed to shut my eyes before I saw them, the sound of the flesh bumping against each other made me nauseated.
"...I think I can guess your preference since this is your own design, then you should enjoy this properly!"
"Wait a moment, your majesty, I know what I did was wrong! Argh! Get your chest off me, that is so disgusting, don't rub your oily face against mine, my Lord, help, I see that I am wrong now!"
Even though I closed my eyes before seeing the scene, the tortured screams of a naughty child still made my heart glad.
"Wrong? Play with your new friends for a few hours and think about it. Take him away."
"Little Timmy, my apologies, these are the orders of his majesty. But relax, the leader has already approved your application to join the Gentlemen Alliance, from now on we are all brothers. After he allows the remaining few of his core members down the flagpole, we can hold an initiation ceremony for you. Everyone likes your design very much, so your designs can be directly passed through internally in our team, so you need not worry about the lack of research funding."
"...wait wait, when did I ever applied to join some alliance for perverts… don't touch me, I brought honor to Mist Kingdom! I bled for his majesty! You can't do this! You can't! Your majesty, I beg of you, hang me on the flagpole too."
As I heard that he volunteered to be hanged on the flagpole, I started to discern his repentance. Timmy Lade had probably learned his lesson this time, and would think over carefully before doing anything in the future, thereby, I made a decision.
"Hehe, no way!"
A naughty child's promise? Even if he was sincere when he made the promises, but judging by the forgetfulness of naughty children, they can completely forget about their toys after two days, and if he wasn't severely punished this time, then the next time he'll most probably make the same mistake. I shall let you remember this for the rest of your life.
"Aaaaargh! Sister, princess, your majesty, save me! Idiot! Don't touch my ass! Aaargh, my first kiss. I was saving it for sister!"
Good, that tortured scream was delightful, and hearing this naughty child's scream, my mood seemed to be better.
"Oh by the way, add some spice for the guys hanging on the flagpole, let the demonic marksman use them as targets, don't let them be idle. Don't worry, target practising has never killed anyone. Don't think I do not know, these guys are experienced now that they have been hanging for so long, "What is the most energy saving pose to sleep when you are hanged upside down?". Ha! I'd like to see how you sleep while you are being shot at."
After settling all these nuisances, it was now time to put my attention on serious matters.
My Undead patrols and Aurora Air Cavalry were reputed as the highest-rank spies amongst the battlefield. With their efforts, I had a certain amount of confidence about the battlefield.
I had no idea what the allied armies were doing on their side, but there had been several military meetings where I was not even invited, most likely they were up to some schemes. Of course, I had made my own calculations on this, the information that I shared was chosen very carefully.
Putting aside their years of prejudice, Beastmen and Elves were working together closely, whereas humans were playing political games among themselves, no matter how I looked at it, the situation on our side was unfavourable.
However, since the Elves made their entry, I was no longer worried about the problem in Antoin. This was not a military problem, but a political one.
If my predictions were not wrong, the elves were raising the flag of vengeance, the war was on the horizon, and will eventually involve the mega powerful countries of Humans as well as the cathedrals. And then, since they had declared war against Sleuweir, if Antoin falls, and Sleuweir razed to the ground, should they not consider returning back home?
I was afraid this was the reason of Beastmen being inconsistent with their invasion of the city. The Antoin of Sleuweir was but a large bait in the plan. If the bait was dead before the plan could be executed, then how the plan plays out had to be reconsidered.
Considering the current situation, if the final battle was lost, killing half of the seven kingdoms in the Northlands should be enough. However, if any of the mega kingdoms interfere, for example, San Antonio with personal connections, those little elven kingdoms in the Northland would not stand a chance.
"Elisa, do you know the inside story? Have you any news?"
"None, this is not part of our responsibility, but I can smell the stench of devils in this. Their hands had played a part in this chaos, it is their favourite game to come up with all these pointless evil schemes. If the demons were leading, they would have definitely begun with the blood sacrifice to summon the demon generals. When the army arrives, they will steamroll through the whole way, these useless little tactics are so laughable."
Indeed, this also matched my understanding of the two races of Chaos faction. Demons had been known to be lurking among other races, to create disputes or to hatch evil plans, with many devilish strategies.
"No, I must go and have a look."
Sitting at home, blindly giving instructions is not my style when the situation is unclear to me, hence, I did not hesitate when I jumped onto my steed, the Frigid Nightmare, and rode to the front lines to investigate.
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The flying Frigid Nightmare suddenly transformed into its ethereal form, dodging the lightning casted by the Lightning Eagles. I transformed into War Angel forms while I was in the mist, and silently flew away from the clouds.
"Dismissed!"
At the next moment, just as the Lightning Eagle Knights had their attention shifted towards Irene, whose body just recondensed again, in that split second, the giant sword coming from up above struck them down straight away.
With the strength of Irene's legs, Antoin shouldn't be far, but these air cavalries, who kept intercepting along the way were indeed troublesome. I had already met four of these little groups on my way. Although Lightning Eagles who had Hammerburst as their only superpower, were not difficult to be dealt with, their extreme speed and outstanding eyesight certainly made them worthy opponents, one might run but might not escape, and would be at last forced to swallow all their attacks.
At this stage, even my transfiguration and Irene's invisibility which could be performed only thrice per day, had all been forcefully spent, it seemed that we had reached our limit.
Not far from here, Antoin was surrounded, but I would not take a step further as the alarm in the Beastmen's camp had rang out abruptly. Uncountable air cavalries started flying up into the air, two-legged flying dragons, Lightning Eagles, bird-bodied witches, and as if all these traditional soldiers were not enough, I even saw a young green dragon knight.
"This has completely sealed off the air route towards Antoin. Let's go home, Irene."
Just as I sent orders to back home, the black cat which was hiding from the wind in the snuck out by itself.
"Don't be hasty, circle around more, do you see what is below those stone pillars? Look closer, God forbid there will be new problems."
Very well, a word from the expert, and the officer broke his leg running. After I flew around the stone pillar twice and began playing hide-and-seek with the little green dragon for a full ten minutes, Harloys finally nodded and began speaking.
"It has been confirmed. Go back, since they have decided to act this way, I'm afraid that the final battle is before us."
"Why is that?"
I skillfully dodged the dragon's breath attack from behind, while I leisurely flicked my middle finger towards the dragon rider. This dragon did not even have a fully formed beard, I reckoned he was not yet a hundred, he might even be a livestock from a Beastman's farm. Perhaps his abilities were quite strong, but totally inferior in terms of experience on the battlefield.
After Irene transformed into a bird form and flew at full throttle, the green dragon was nowhere to be seen after mere minutes. After we managed to shake off the Beastmen air cavalries, I could finally ask Harloys on her discovery.
"All of you meat on a stick, how could you possibly understand the secrets of sorcerers… don't shake, don't shake, I'll fall! Fine, I'll tell you, the Earth elemental beings are building a city. You must have heard of the Fort of Elements, perhaps in a few days there will be another gigantic city around here. At that time, you will be invading a big city whereas they will be attacking a small city. Oh, that would be amusing."
I shook my head in disbelief.
"Don't play with me, Fort of Elements can only be summoned on the elemental plane. This is but the main plane.
"Yes, this is then the second problem, the main gate to the Earth elemental plane is opening as we speak, very soon you will be swarmed with uncountable stone men."
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Chapter 157: Plundering The Foundation
No matter how unsettled and agitated the world below was, there was always a calming peace beyond the sea of clouds.
In my eyes, clouds moved, formed, and changed shape in sync with their own slow rhythm. Just looking at them was sufficient to slow down the heartbeat and mind, the heart would be at peace, but the aggregation of the wind before the eyes was certainly out of control.
Above the throne high in the clouds, a raging cyclone aggregated into a dark vortex, from which the Lightning Fury was overflowing without a halt, and his roar was as resonant as the thunderstorm.
Yes, it was him, not it, the powerful Wind Elemental God, Camdian, the last member of the four great Elemental Gods, and also the youngest among them.
"Puny little thing, do you mean to say, that dull-witted block of stone actually planned to open the main gate towards the Earth elemental plane, on the main plane? That is absolutely impossible! Even if it is him, he would never be able to sustain such an enormous rate of consumption. Besides, this is different from the agreement we had in the beginning!"
It sounded like an interrogation, it sounded like a question, and after hearing this, I just smiled.
"Agreement? Ow, Lord Camdian, did you just come upon the stage? You actually believe in verbal agreements? Let me guess, the agreement you had must be that each of you would fight their own wars, and the lands you win would be yours to keep."
The storm continued whirling, an indistinct face remained solemn. However, this solemness was explanation enough, in a sense, this sketchy agreement is also the only agreement that could be accepted.
"Haha, speaking about honour with demons and dark gods, I applaud you for even thinking of that! Do you think, that if you were in such a position, someone would be willing to help you open the main gate towards the Wind elemental plane, the gate towards the territory of howling gales? But what about your relationship with Emordilorcan? Haha."
"Besides a few special planes, a main elemental plane must maintain its balance. Regarding the reality of the situation of Eich Continent, the great philosopher Aristotle once brought up the subject of the four elements. In his eyes, everything was made up of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, and can be separated into solid, liquid, air, and plasma states. At the same time, the four elements were also the combination of dryness, wetness, coldness, hotness, and other properties. For example, dryness and coldness produce Earth, and Water contains wetness and coldness. The ensemble of all must remain balanced, and thus between the elements, competition for the land would always persist, this is the fundamental law of the world.
"From any perspective, the properties of the elements are all different. Yet they are always in pairs. The flames that represent high temperature and the ice that represents low temperature; the land that represents solid and the storm that represents a free state, they fight each other yet achieved balance, this was decided by the basic properties of the element. When this world and the rocky caves of the Earth elemental plane are chained together, do you think there is still a place in this world for you to interfere, Wind Elemental God? Perhaps you and your race, will forever be sealed within this world."
The solemn silence continued, but from how Lightning Fury flowed over this entire gigantic body, my message was successfully delivered. As the two were old rivals, Camdian certainly knew that once the Earth Elemental plane and the main plane interlocked, it would not end well for him too.
"This time, I come to represent the Gods of Law, with the purpose of extending the hand of friendship, to a great existence such as yourself. Why should you bend your knee before the junior? There are many things we could discuss further."
"Order faction? Hehe, do you think there are any differences between them and those bastards from the Chaos faction?"
"No, I only represent the Gods of Law. Of course, there are some big-shots that I can not reveal."
He extended his arm, and within the white crystal ball was a message that could only be heard by the designated receiver, and just as the shining crystal ball finished transmitting the message, he crushed it with his large hand.
"Do you think, with a clever tongue, you can convince the mighty peak of Winds to serve you? Get out of my sight! I do not wish to look at you now."
The order of expelling guests rang out like a thunderstorm. I turned and left without a word, but with a smile on my lips.
From what I understood about this old antique being, not only did he not order his guards to attack me, but instead gave out the order that I was to leave. This meant that he was convinced, and appreciated the gesture.
There were no complete secrets in this world, the news of my rendezvous with Camdian would not be utterly airtight, a bad parting such as this was, in fact, the best ending. From my view, as long as no swords were drawn, it meant that the deal was done. If that fellow actually wanted to repudiate, he would have crushed the ball without looking at it.
"Earth Elemental God? Fort of Elements? Haha, Emordilorcan, I have found you a worthy opponent. Hmph, if you could lure the Elves from the Order faction, why I couldn't lure the Wind elements from the Chaos faction?"
Before a country, a war is the birth of politics. A war is for benefits, and behind every sudden war, there are the invisible arms and batons.
At this point, I could almost visualise the plan from the Chaos faction.
In this whole sacred war, the invasion of the elements was just the appetizer. Their core benefit was still to increase the degree of the elemental tide, to prepare for the upcoming Entree.
Perhaps it was unfair to the Beastmen and the Elves, but in a sense, their actions of war were just a form of voting, and more importantly, it was but a camouflage of the real strategy of the Chaos faction.
"The interlocking of Elemental planes? What a joke."
If the elemental tide being blown up by the four great Elemental Gods was one on the scale of 1 to 10, then the complete interlocking of an elemental plane was, fearfully, at least ten. Then, all the strategies of the Chaos faction could then be brought forward.
"If the invasion of demons and the arrival of dark Gods happens now, who can stop them! Most importantly, this is not some game where you only need to accomplish your mission, and the enemies will not come one at a time to increase your level, they will come all at once! The elemental gate must not be opened!"
To increase the elemental tide is a gradual process, countless elemental creatures on the main plane would be killed, or banished to their own elemental plane. Remaining elements would be dissipated across the whole world. The Elemental Tide would then rise because of this.
Not to mention the influence of elemental Fort of Elements and tremendous Earth elemental reinforcements towards the situation on the battlefield, just based on the strategic significance, I did not wish in any way to see the Elemental gates being opened.
But if I were to stop it, there was one problem.
I would not be able to defeat it.
Yes, I could not do it, there was no chance at all. The opening of the Earth Elemental plane will of course be done personally by the Earth Elemental God. Should one stop him from that, he would definitely fight you to the death.
Although Emordilorcan was not highly ranked among the Elemental Gods, and did not have any notable achievements, just the fact that he could survive to this day albeit his horrible relationship with the other Elemental Gods, was more than enough to prove his astounding might.
It had been said, as the oldest existence of the four Elemental Gods (if a God of Element dies, a new King of Element would be ascended to the God of Elements), he was thus reputed by all as the strongest Elemental God. I was afraid his abilities weren't below any of the Gods.
Demigods could be killed by being swarmed by a sea of soldiers. But with such an existence, unless there was an intervention from the gods, with such an opponent, sending any number of people was to no avail.
Therefore, I thought of looking for help.
The group of true Gods from the Order faction need not be considered, but the one going on a hunting trip with the Black Winged people, wasn't he Camdian, the nemesis of Emordilorcan?
Was he an enemy? Indeed, but what could be done? The Elves and the Elven Gods were still the allies of humans, every sacred war brought about a reformation of the forces across the whole continent, such events like the switching of sides and betrayals, were too common.
Therefore, after finding out that Camdian and the Black Winged people were not far from the Northland, I rushed here personally without a word, even though this "not far from here" was at least half a month's journey.
"Realising that the Earth Elemental gate is not something that could be done at once, the Chaos faction would definitely not like to see the final battle take place yet. Antoin, on the other hand, will be safe."
Regarding Camdian, it was still handled by me. These old antiques were very particular about reputation and ostentation, and if these were lacking, you were considered lucky if they just showed you the door, as normally they would just destroy you. Especially in such an important persuasion, sincerity was even more stressed upon. Obtaining the anticipated answer, I was now a little more relieved.
Stepping into the long-awaited vulture-shaped assault ship, I started my own journey home. Even with the short-noticed preparation, the signals from the front lines remained unbroken.
The drivers started preparing themselves.
"A strange peace remained on the battlefield, the Elves seemed to be reorganizing their troops, the main legions of four countries are moving, the total numbers have already exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand. Taking into consideration the adult Elves are at least Silver rank in terms of their battle strength, they could be a formidable strength."
"Of the three walls of Antoin, only the innermost one is left, but the attacks have stopped. The troops of San Antonio have set foot in the Northland, and have officially taken over the defence of Maple City. If we went back now, I'm afraid we might encounter some problems."
"The human allied forces have already started fighting with the Beastmen, both sides have wins and losses, it is just as you expected. The Beastmen from three different routes have started merging, this has been a cage from the beginning. Damn it, they dare to deceit the Demon King."
"Moreover, just as you predicted, the second snow storm came, and sealed off the mountain. Now, the troops are trapped within their own city, and the supplies consumed on a daily basis are sky high. Only the stronger soldiers will manage to survive in such a freakish weather, you need not worry about missing the year's great show."
Elisa's report carried some resentment, it seems that when she was making fun of the Beastmen Warchiefs, the Beastmen Warchiefs did not tell her their real strategy, and this made her very upset.
"And that little nonsensical stuff, like the group of bastards from the Gentlemen Alliance, they came looking for me when you were not here…"
My departure and the recent appointment had caused a lot of errands to fall onto her shoulders, but in a sense it meant that if she was not here I would not have left, feeling assured.
"Eck, didn't I have important matters to discuss? Oh yes, how is our situation here?"
"Our firearms are selling like hot cakes. The chargeless magic sword has, after experimentation, received unanimous good reviews, the order list for the demonic explosive grenade is full until the year after next, we are not able to make them all the next year. The profit of the first sale is at least four times the capital, we are earning so much!"
"How's the training situation?"
"The training of the smaller groups are going smoothly, but there had not been many chances for training our troops. The fighting matches between Elite Air Cavalries have become very frequent as of late, but obviously the youngsters will not be able to interfere in this. Your Skull Dragon Knight Timier recently assaulted that Azure Dragon Knight and Storm Dragon Knight, it was sensational, and there have been rumours that he has been named "The number one Air Cavalry of the Northland"."
"What about those little toys?"
"The first batch of war machines have arrived at their destination, the deal was just concluded two days ago with that Blackface. The first batch has three types of the seven-staged ones, specially built to fight against the Beastmen's Behemoth, and the profit for this sale is at least four hundred thousand gold coins. Nothing is more profitable than selling war machines in times of war."
Elisa stopped, but there was some hesitation in her words.
"Waiting idly for the war to escalate? Doesn't that contradict our original intention?"
Hearing this, I could only laugh bitterly. Of course, I did not wish for the war to escalate, but this was laid out by the Chaotic faction. What could I do before breaking this?
Reaching out to crush Emordilorcan? I supposed I would be the one killed.
"I too, want the war to stop, but this peace game cannot be talked out, only when enough blood has been lost, only will there be a true desire for peace, and understanding of the preciousness of peace. I only hope that after this war, the Northland will be quiet for a few years, to give us enough time. Oh yes, since there is nothing going on at home, I'm afraid I will be taking the longer route."
To stop the war? Have both sides obediently sitting on the negotiation table? Besides having a neutral position, the most important factor was that one must have the ability to make both sides set aside their differences. However, I did not fulfil both these conditions, and I absolutely knew not where I should start in order to stop the war.
"Longer route? Are there more important matters?"
"Yes. It's three more days till the winter veil festival, and that will also be the day of the appointment of the Knights in Mist City."
"Back to East Mist to celebrate a festival? You seem to be so free."
"Of course to celebrate, only not with the humans, the Appointment of the Knights, particularly the kind of knights only the Mist Kingdom have. You must have understood that by now."
"You mean...the Aurora Knights?"
"Winter Veil festival is also the day of our appointment with the Frigid Nightmares, and if we miss it, we would have to wait again until next year. Don't we have insufficient power right now? If I can bring them back here with me, maybe it would be enough."
Every year, during the Winter veil festival, the royal family and the Frigid Nightmare met to unseal the altar. And only on that day, the members of the royal family could retrieve the newborn Frigid Nightmares. If we went a year later, the formation of the Aurora Knight troops would have to be put off for a year. Since the war at the front lines was hindered by the snow as predicted, then, taking a detour to take care of a serious matter would be a rather wise choice.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, let's talk when I get back."
"Latest report, the commander of the Elven Kingdom is King Atrion of Tassel Kingdom, the target you wanted me to keep an eye on."
"...I got it."
I sighed, as expected, I knew that this ambitious man would never let pass such a good opportunity.
"Can you tell me what is your relationship with him?"
Elisa's question took me down a trip to memory lane, I thought of that brilliant, uninhibited elf.
"...just about, more or less like the relationship between me and you."
"Aaaaaa! You really do like men! Who led you astray, Adam or Krose? I will kill him right now!"
I was immediately at loss for words, she even said "really do", how long has it been, would Elisa have reckoned I was gay all this while?
"Get your mind out of the gutter, I have no interest in men! I was talking about the relationship between a teacher and his student, but the relationship was soon broken. Sigh, the teacher-student relationships in our batch seem to all be like this. Harloys, were you really cursed, why is it always such an outcome?"
"How do I know, all I know is that you cut me off, twice!"
Fine, teacher and student were joined by a life of misery, we looked at each other, our eyes filled with tears, we trembled with emotion. It seemed that we are all miserable people.
"Go to hell! Unfilial student! I do not have a follower such as you!"
"Fine, from this unappreciative gesture, I guess I was misunderstood. This damned cat only thought of the past and went crazy with rage.
I picked up the damned cat by its neck, shook it twice, wheeled it three times, and threw her into the waste paper basket prepared specially for her.
"Sigh, seems like this is indeed a tradition. Elisa, next time before you take a student, you better do some background checking."
"Don't worry, master. I don't even have the intention of getting students. Just by observing the two of you, I have to spend time nurturing them, and when they grow up, they would most likely be some naughty children who return to kill their own teachers. What is the point?"
I do not know why, but after hearing this, I felt an unexpected sadness, could it be that I brought this upon myself?
"Okay, this topic ends here. Elisa, beware of Atrion. He is, in a way, still your senior, and he is definitely not an easy opponent."
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Chapter 158: All Parties
"The snowfall is getting heavier, it seems that the provisions team will be late."
Elisa glanced at the thick, fluffy snow outside the window, and shook her head dejectedly.
This was not the first time a delay is caused by bad weather, from the dreadful anxiousness in the beginning, and the endless, helpless probing for news that never came, and now, the numb dejection and dulled expectations. I suppose in a way, this is a dejected, resigned, acceptance.
After all, this terrible weather not only affected us, and since both sides had to ceasefire, there was nothing to be nervous about.
I must say that the Beastmen chose a very delicate time to advance their attack, the heavy snow that came and went had sunk the war situation into an awkward atmosphere.
Final battle? How does one fight a war while skating and trembling in the cold? Now, just the preparing and distributing of food supplies became a great responsibility, no matter how powerful an army is, they had to learn to respect the majesty of nature.
"Damn it, if only we started half a month earlier, or perhaps, it's also fine to wait until spring next year."
It would seem that when every Beastmen had been frozen past freezing point, they would have such thoughts. Normally at this time of the year, they would be at their hibernation spots, sleeping around the fireplace.
It was just like procrastination, where initially, everything went according to plan, but as the preparations went on, due to influences from many sides, it resulted in a delay to the most unsuitable time node.
"What? Is the car stuck? Don't worry, we still have two hours to go. Hmm? Took the wrong way? That's fine, we still have one hour to go. Airport Runway under construction? No big deal, probably, hmm, half an hour to go, we won't be late. Hehe, finally we arrive, I told you it would be fine. What! Airport bag checking? At least half an hour? Hey! Hey! Stop joking! Plane, wait for me!"
Yes, it is similar to the above feeling, it was just as an example, of course, definitely not from my own experience...
Eck, back to business, truth be told, this was undoubtedly the evil plot of someone and some demon king. If the expected strategies of the Beastmen went well, there should be no chance of this happening.
However, at this moment, Elisa was not pleased, although her trick went as planned. After all, as time went by, and the warfare continued getting more critical, the burden that fell on her shoulders were becoming too heavy for her.
Yes, she lied. How could it be possible that in war everything will be fine, the Beastmen and the elves were not easy opponents. Although the general circumstances were as she described, the actual pressure was greater than expected.
"I will take care of the house. Don't worry, didn't Roland teach me all that I need to know? At least, even if that dumb lass Annie can be the Underworld autarch, how is it possible that I cannot handle all of these alone."
For some reason, Elisa always like to compete with Annie. Even if her capabilities far surpassed that of Annie, she still wanted to prove that she was the most outstanding leader.
But obviously, not everything could be taught, the confusing situation on the battlefield in front of us was way more challenging than the hostile forces in the underworld, which had mostly been cleared up already.
"The Beastmen Air Knights have come to challenge us again, this time with two Lightning Eagle teams, and that Dragon Knight. On the side of San Antonio, they need Master Timier to lead the war, but it seems that Master Timier has not yet recovered from his wounds."
"San Antonio has its own Air Knights already? Didn't they have the Griffin Knights? With the mythical Griffin Knight providing support, why can't they go themselves?"
"...they said Elsen is sick, in other words, we must use our military gains to prove our worth."
Hearing this, Elisa adjusted her glasses without any expression, no one could tell what was on her mind.
"...the mythical Griffin Knight, sick? I should have crushed those jerks! "Flash Crimson Knight" Elsen, is it? Good, I will remember you, I will wait patiently for the day you pass into the river of Styx, or perhaps, I shall send you there myself!"
Even in the human world, a super powered kingdom was, in other words, tyrannical. In their eyes, their willingness to provide aid to all of you in the seven kingdoms of the North is already a god-sent favour. How could a superpower allow a tiny country to instruct them, the right to control the alliance naturally belongs to them.
Kasmi Kingdom, which was in command, was only under the prerequisite of the San Antonio states. Since the arrival of the reinforcements, the commanding power of the allied armies was transferred to the arrogant San Antonians.
At that moment, it was obvious that the people of San Antonio were very unsatisfied with the way the East Mist were claiming the spoils of the war, especially since the reinforcements they sent were the least among the six countries in the North.
But the quality of the lowest Gold Rank East Mist Air Knights had to be taken seriously, even by San Antonio. Therefore, they summoned the East Mist Air Knight to war in the name of the Allied Commanders.
In the very beginning, the East Mist Aurora Knights and the Skull Dragon Knights never lost a match in every one-on-one battle, so much so that East Mist, which had been known to be weak for many years, gained quite a reputation.
However, the Beastmen had no plans for one-on-one battles. If one is to compare the numbers, the new generation of Aurora Knights from East Mist were not yet mature, the numbers of Undead Air Cavalry were too few, and they have other responsibilities in the war, as even Timmier had been wounded by the opponents.
"What about the other Aurora Knights? Are there any left who are capable of battling?"
Even at the height of its glory, East Mist did not have more than a hundred of Aurora Knights that were above the lowest Gold Rank. At this time, due to certain reasons, among the fifty Aurora Knights from the Undead Air Cavalry, only fifteen are situated in the Northland, and majority of them were not in Maple City.
"Two Aurora Knights have not recovered from their injuries, three are in good shape. The rest are undertaking patrol duties. His majesty Reyne, on the other hand, applied to join the war, but was heavily berated by Lord Timmier."
It is obvious that even if the three Aurora Knights were of legendary rank, they were still not enough to handle the opposition's two allied forces of nearly a hundred Air Knights. Although Aurora Knights were good in air battle, the sky was definitely not their most optimal battleground.
Hearing this, Elisa sunk into a deep silence. She was hesitating on whether or not to just destroy the seal, and squash that Dragon Knight to death, then with the same swipe crush those arrogant San Antonians. This would, however, lead to the falling apart of everything, ending with the will to return to the abyss.
"If Roland was here…"
In a sense, this is Elisa's first time carrying the burden of a national scale, so she was hardly to blame for hesitating. Even if she knew this hypothesis was completely meaningless, she still had to consider such a possibility.
"...Mistress Elisa, actually His Majesty Roland had left a letter."
After a long hesitation, the servant finally spoke up, as if the current situation has reached a predicted dilemma.
Did he have to leave a letter when he could have just contacted me directly? Elisa was stunned at the news. However, she could just shake her head reluctantly.
"This guy saw through me again?"
Indeed, Roland had from the start knew Elisa's character, and naturally he made some preparations before he left. In order to preserve her dignity, obviously the letter could not be revealed until it was absolutely necessary.
...since you are reading this letter, then, probably the situation is not pretty. Let me guess, what troubled you, yet made you hesitant to tell me is probably the internal issues within the Allied armies. There are too many external factors in this war, the stand of both my enemies are unstable, it is no surprise for them to betray each other to prioritize their forces. Regarding the other countries? It doesn't matter if we offend all of them. If they cross a line, even if they are our allies, they must also be punished. Just assume that you are in the abyss, and learn how the old demons treat their allies, you know how they handle these things better than me.
Although Roland seemed unreliable, in reality, he was extremely experienced and astute. He might trust anyone, but he does not trust anyone fully. From the beginning, he had already made many plans and contingencies.
In Roland's eyes, even if San Antonio did not come, it would still be difficult for East Mist, with its sparse members to be given the power to command the Allied armies. And once they lose the power to command, or not even having the right to speak within the allied armies, it would be very difficult for them.
This had nothing to do with one's determination. In this temporary coalition, it would seem as if it is the law, that whoever had more strength would have the say. Once the central power of command falls into the hands of another country, it is possible, or even probable, that you would become cannon fodder.
This was not Roland thinking badly of others, as he would have done the same as well.
He was firmly convinced that if he held the power to command, he would, without a doubt, sacrifice the armies of the other countries, to conserve his main strength. And reality has proven his hypothesis.
However, it appeared that there were not many of them, as in the past few days, East Mist Kingdom actually suffered the least casualties. The kingdoms that suffered the biggest losses were the Kingdom of Lothnen and Anzolo Empire. Small-scale conflicts had occurred during pauses, their infantry and knights were ordered multiple times to cover the rear and the front lines. At the moment, their war losses were three tenths, and more complaints were rising.
This was also the deviation of political factors in the battlefield. These two countries were, among the seven Northland countries, the Four Southern Countries (four countries that are leaning towards the southern powers). With Sleuweir Kingdom, the Four Southern Countries is on the verge of ruin, and the Kingdom of Kasmi being independent of everything else, and with the three Northland countries not that keen on taking orders, it was very obvious who would be used as cannon fodder.
The most unfortunate one was probably the Kingdom of Lothnen. Although politically, they leaned towards the North, as members of their Royal family were made up of Southern royalties, after many disputes, they were instead crushed by the Southern superpower San Antonio.
For the three countries in the North, apart from East Mist there were two more countries: the Kingdom of Shuya, of the Barbarian bloodlines in the Highland countries; and another one almost as ancient as Mist Kingdom, Kingdom of Phoenix's Down. They completely disregarded the ridiculous commands from the people of San Antonio.
Of course, these things could not be told as it is, but if one were to put aside all the facade and pretence to look at the results directly, the interactions between any countries are usually that brutally direct.
In reality, with Elisa's capabilities, how could she not see all these twists? It was only because the responsibility of being the substitute of Roland was a heavy role, and had made her too scrupulous. This led to her inability to make hostile decisions. Now that there is the relief from reading Roland's assurance in the letter, naturally no longer hesitated so much.
"Let's say even our Air Knights are sick, hmm, a cold and fever of forty degrees Celcius, how can they fly in the air to fight? What? Do spectres not have fever? Then diarrhoea. Hmm, yes, I plainly only want to toy with them and shame them. If they don't like it, then first ask them, how can Elsen get sick. If the negotiations do not fall through, then let Timier meet that Griffin Knight, and see if he has recovered already."
When Elisa made up her mind not to fulfil everyone's wishes, and let them have a piece of her mind, she felt a little bit more relieved.
Just when she was planning to make herself a cup of Black tea and take a break before taking care of those annoying official affairs, an obtrusive silhouette barged in.
"Oh no, latest news. Anzolo Empire suddenly switched sides before the battle, they attacked our army camps, we lost!"
"Hummph."
The seven Northland countries changed to the six Northland countries in an instant. No matter how cultured Elisa is, she still spat out the Black tea in her mouth. At this moment, she finally understood what Roland meant.
"Every holy war is the time when each country and each superpower renew their stance, the stand of both my enemies are unstable, it is common for them to betray each other to prioritize their forces, we must maintain the superiority of our strength."
------------------------------
Within the hangar of the Borealis, a group of engineers were busy working. For some unknown reason, the team of youngsters including Cohen and Timmy Lade became the leaders of the research group.
"Why does his majesty still not allow us to do trial runs on the battlefield with these? If they could perform as well as they did in theory, our situation would be much improved, then we will show the Northies what's good."
"Wisdom of ordinary people."
Ever since he started rubbing shoulders with His Majesty Roland, Timmy Lade took a liking for such contrived speech.
Nowadays, if one were to ask him anything, he will always adjust his glasses (plain lens), and intermittently added phrases like "Foolish humans", "commoner's mentality", "even monkeys are smarter than all of you".
Whether or not it made him seem wiser was another matter to be discussed another time, but it does make one want to give him a good beating.
Hmm, many of those in the Gentlemen Alliance had given him a good beating, but obviously, little Timmy had forgotten.
"...what do you mean by saying this? We are not Gods, so obviously we are ordinary people. You have not told me why can't we enter the battlefield."
Fine, facing the serious-faced Cohen, facing multiple playoffs, even Timmy Lade, who is experienced in escaping had to tone down a little.
"My foolish brother…"
It seemed like, in a way, this toning down is limited.
"I am older than you, and additionally, we are not related."
It seemed that Cohen was a stubborn guy. It is just with this character that, after receiving the command from Roland, he made Timmy Lade work over time obediently, and finally, Timmy Lade had become a little impatient.
"You blockhead, you haven't got an ounce of humour or the likes of an artist, are you really a sorcerer? You are just like those meat-on-a-stick Knights!"
"I was never a sorcerer. Am I really like a Knight? That's great! Hehe, I am not as good as you say I am."
All right, next, it was time for the delighted little Timmy to go on a rampage, but even if he was given two extra limbs, there is no chance for him to defeat Cohen. Somehow, this young, yet stubbornly old-fashioned Cohen is the natural enemy of Timmy!
"Fine, I will say it as it is, his majesty's wish is that right now, these people below are completely unreliable. They are meant to be used as our back-up, they can't be used if we are not in a critical moment."
"When is a critical moment then?"
"A lot of times, but before those critical moments, we will not use them. Only when those at the higher ranks decides that it is time to use them, then the light at the hangar will turn from green to red."
"Green light? I don't see it, am I colourblind?"
"It's just at the top, The red light means… hang on, the light is red!! It's war!"
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The Xiluo Swamp, Karda Desert, Bejya Highlands, were forbidden areas for the living, and the territory of Xiluo Empire.
Yet it had become a war zone, countless undeads were killing each other at this moment. The battlefield was filled with the screams of that shapeless Black God of Death,the ground was scattered with bones and the putrid scent of rotting flesh. The Undeads from both our side and theirs were using actual battles to exchange their own understanding of the art of death.
The civil war in Xiluo had continued for many months already. At this stage, both sides have already suffered terrible losses, and the time has arrived for the war to end.
Yet at this crucial moment, more than thirty Air Knights appeared. The black cloaks they wore hid their identity, but from the way the transparent white apparitions rode and the way they exuded the terrifying aura of death, they appeared to be Death Knights of very high ranks.
Just as they touched the ground, a silhouette was already there, waiting.
"Finally you have arrived. It must have been a tiring journey, too bad there is no time for rest."
"Ha, as if we need rest, little Lionheart. In accordance with the orders of his majesty, we have arrived. Our plans can now begin, of course, depending on how you look at it, it could also serve as the ending."
------------------------------
The once great city Antoin had suffered the worst catastrophe in history, not only did the city lose a large portion of the city wall, more dangerously, the master of the city had lost the loyalty of his people.
During the long invasion, the people and soldiers had willingly sacrificed themselves without complaint, and yet, when the supplies were depleting, not only did the royal court not open up the national coffers to distribute food, they gave out orders to retract the army's provisions, and this had incurred public anger.
From the start of the war, King Fismer Caso had never been seen. In addition to that, previously before the attack from the Beastmen, it was said that Prince Roland had sent a warning, but not only did Fismer paid it no heed, he even suspected that the Prince had other intentions.
Now evidence had proven the stupidity of his majesty, and his behaviour of hiding within the palace walls proved his cowardice, and on top of that, his hoarding of food supplies, proved his selfishness. This majesty's name had been ruined beyond repair.
In this perilous world, the people had the responsibility to provide for their leaders, but leaders have the responsibility to protect his people. This was the fundamental element of trust between the two parties. When the leader refuses to carry out the most basic of his responsibility, then how is he going to sit on his throne?
"Fismer is unworthy to be King!"
There were already such chantings amongst the people on the streets and alleys, but at this moment, the King who had just executed a concubine who advised him to show up at the city walls and fight with the people continued hiding and quaking in fear within the palace.
"All of you want me dead! All of you want me dead! All of you are assassins sent by that Roland, you want to take away my throne! I will never grant you that wish, I must live!"
In the meantime, in a household in Antoin, two illegal passengers were at a loss on what to do next.
"Margaret, I really want to kill jerks like this, must we keep him?"
"...if it annoys you, then by all means, help yourself, but don't kill him. Or else this city is finished. "Spare Antoin" Hmph, that Roland really knows how to assign tasks at leisure."
"Don't worry, he will get his retribution soon, my intuition is always accurate. It's like the commonly known...Shu...Shura?" [1]
"...Shuraba you mean? Huh, and Roland invented this weird noun, but it fell upon himself every time. But this time, it most probably won't happen in front of Elisa, I do feel that Reyne is not a threat at all, your intuition is probably wrong this time."
"Hehe, it's not entirely an intuition."
The red-haired soldier shook the scrunched up letter, that was a greeting from his hometown, and the expected visit of someone.
"And you did not tell Roland? You plan to deceive him?"
"Hehe, I really forgot this time, it was absolutely unintentional."
"If you forget every time, then it is on purpose."
------------------------------
Few people knew that the most hidden pathway in the Northland which led to the Underworld, was actually within the Elven territory.
At this moment, a group of adventurers, formed by two young ladies were wandering within.
Anya, are you sure this is the road? Why do I feel like we are on the wrong path."
"Sister Annie, believe me just this once, there is no mistake, I swear by my grandfather's name, my iron hooves are guiding me now, the way is before our eyes."
"You said that half a month ago, why not find someone to ask?"
"Can I find someone who can answer this… hey, sister witch over there, may I know where can I find the Elven territory from here?"
TL note: "Shuraba 修罗刃" is a living demonic katana from the game Bayonetta. Its unique traits include quick sweeping strikes and jabs which excel against small and agile enemies.
------------------------------
"You are my little Applet, no matter how much I love you it is not enough, your little red cheeks warms my heart, lighting up my life's fire, fire fire fire fire!!"
There are many matters waiting to be taken care by me, yet here I am in the snow mountains, drumming and singing away. Why? I guess it is the sing-alongers around me.
"Fire fire fire fire!"
"What is fire? Is it edible?"
"Definitely edible! Didn't you see that human singing until his tears almost fell, he must be drooling!"
"That's great, I also want to taste. There are only snow dregs in the snowy mountain."
Among the ones talking are yeti, snow monsters and snow ladies, in this celebration of the Winter Veil festival, they organized large-scaled entertainment activities. When they heard that I am the descendant of the legendary singer, the Mist King, of a thousand years ago, I was informed that if I did not give a good performance, I would not be allowed to take away even one Frigid Nightmare.
Yes, the legendary singer, the one the Mist King used all those years ago to take care of the Frigid Nightmares.
At this moment, how can it be that I am holding back tears because I am drooling? Humans do not even have this ability, I am actually just driven mad with anxiety.
"Encore, encore!"
"What an excellent singing! Little little applet! Marvelous! Little Apple must be the lover that you long for."
"Yes, there are more than enough cubs on the altar, the more songs you can sing, the more you can take away with you."
I finally realized why the Mist King never told anyone what he saw all those years ago. Even if history was all a cover up, but to have such lies to such an extent that must be the only one! If it had been me all those years ago, I would also have died before telling!
I wiped the tears away, with such a show of support from the audience, I could only continue.
My musical talent was extremely inadequate, the lyrics that I could remember of the song were mostly the melody that entranced me by the Demon's song all those years ago.
"The love who betrayed me forced me to leave, my tears fell as I at last found out the truth…"
Hundreds of years later, there was a legend here, when the mountain people lost his way in the snowy mountains during the Winter Veil festival, if he came back, he would become foolish and silly, and he would crazily sing the Demon's song that drives people insane. The ones who heard this music will also become foolish and silly, their whole body will know only to sing along.
"My love is as vast as the sky, the soft ground on the green mountain below my feet, the flowers are blooming…"
TL note: this is the chorus of a popular Chinese pop song.
TL note: Part of the chorus of the song above.
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The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich/The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich - Chapter 101-200/The-Experimental-Log-of-the-Crazy-Lich-Chapter-101-200-[Gravity-Tales][Hasseno]/Section0159.txt
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Chapter 159: The Great Snow Mountain
The mystery of nature knows no bound, and as the myth of God of Creation coupled with the wrath of nature, any incredible scene might be crafted, whether it's a fatal impasse, a magnificent view, or a wonderful sight.
The Great Snow Mountain of the Northland, officially graced as the Great Mountains of the Northmost Snow White, also dubbed as the "Everfrost Arctic Prison", was connected to three of the Seven Northland Countries. The area it occupied was nothing less than a small kingdom, but its inhabitants were rather unique, and the population was indeed small.
Along with the rise of sea level, one could barely see any region uncoated with snow.
The endless snow hills, the miraculous snow-sculpting rocks, the icy stalactites, the silver trees, the skyscraping snow towers, the small world beneath the elemental glacial lake, the frozen upside-down waterfall, and the various strange monsters as rare as the Ice Phoenix and Silver Unicorn, and all the unparalleled breathtaking views of the Snow Mountain had won it the reputable name of the most beautiful life-forbidden zone in the world.
Of course, it had to be a forbidden zone for mortals. It was one of the most frigid places in the world, with an average temperature of negative fifty-degree Celsius. Other than several special occasions, the mountain was always blanketed with heavy snow, and was a place of absolute despair, where no normal living creature would survive.
There were some who even treated it as a sole frost plane. From the perspective of sorcerers, this land held the characteristic of the other world, especially with the overspreading Ice elemental crystals (every elemental plane produces its own elemental crystals). If there comes a day when the Ice Elemental God is born, this would have to be his previous cradle.
This place might not have any signs of normal lives, but it was not until the point of dead silence. While the normal lives could never relish the coldness from the land, it turned out to be the playground of the elementals, spirits and extreme monsters.
The gigantic ice dragon that noticed the flattened person stuck to the sole of its foot after half a day of crawling along the mountains, the elemental wild boar that could make the mountains tremble by just walking, the super ice phoenix that stirs up blizzards by just its falling icy feathers upon its flight, these few creatures were living in this place of no man.
There were even some who were born in the same age with Ayer and possessed unfathomable strength and hidden power. Nevertheless, they had been living here across the centuries, and would never leave here even if the world had come to destruction.
"You heard of it? Two days ago, the ice boar in the north gave birth to a herd of shots, and one of them was a mutant with wings, it could be a boar king of mythical rank in the future."
"Ah I see, that is a big fortune. I'm going to prepare the gifts. How about visiting the Ice elemental lake to ask for a piece of ice crystal from the old Dragon King?"
The time was crawling pretty slowly here, as it was rather remote. Besides, this snowy land was much more peaceful compared to the outside world. Those lives which coexisted here had known among themselves for hundred years and were no different from the kind of neighbours who chat on a daily basis.
It was probably the nature of ice and snow monsters to embrace peace. This place was always silent and peaceful, but lately, something was different, they had started a new hot topic.
"You heard of it? A superstar singer visited the home of Frigid Nightmares on the birthday of the Pork King's son. She was the master of ceremony as well as the singer, and her singing was amazing."
"Was it the song "Happy birthday you pig, happy birthday you pig. Pig's head pig's brain pig's body pig's tail, but a child who is never fussy in eating. Sleeping till the noon day by day, never brushing his teeth and never fighting"? Oh, I heard it once from the neighbours, Ader (the yeti) and little Mi (ice unicorn), so this song was from there. Not bad at all, it sounded pleasant and fitted the occasion!"
"That's right, everyone calls her "Our Snow Diva". Those people swarm up to her every day?"
"It's a she? But I was told it's a boy?"
"...I met the singer once. I may not know much about the gender of the little meaty man, but how could such a cutie be a boy? Could it be that they are just like as us, genderless?"
"Who knows, anyway, the Frigid Nightmares had so much fun lately, it seems that one could only enter this place with their Soul Contract. Is this possibly the first occurrence since the past three hundred years?"
"Certainly, they could be seen singing and dancing on the square above the straits, every day, and it's that "Little Little Applet" song?"
"...I had been there once, those Frigid Nightmares were dancing and transforming themselves at the same time. In the end, it turned into a chaotic dance performance by a group of monsters."
At this moment, between the straits, before dawn, the sound of singing and dancing from the square was hurting my head again.
"The boundless mountains are my love. To sell of my love, to force me to go away. Your hearts are always too soft, your hearts are too soft. You are my little applet, little applet! little applet! Humph!"
"Damn your little applet, it's getting pretty old now, you know?"
Unfortunately, this ice cave had no doors or even windows, so I had no choice but to "enjoy" this insufferable evil sound that was penetrating my brain.
Albeit the unanimous praises from the Frigid Nightmares, I terribly regretted the performance that time, especially after some discovery later.
"A song for a Frigid Nightmare? Oh Oh Oh, that's just a joke. No matter how unreliable we could be, we will never trade our own people"
What I was feeling that time... If I couldn't beat it, I could put the lion-alike Frigid Nightmare into the Goblin cannon then fire it, or I could try to barbecue its lion head. I would abandon the fact they were any ancient creatures or even my ancestor's friends, as the lion head must be delicious...though there was still something wrong with it.
I arrived here out of a promise, regardless of the abundant tasks in hand. Was it easy for me? And yet I was fooled by these Frigid Nightmares, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry for myself.
"How could you wear a fake face here? You should meet everyone with your real face."
This lion head seemed to make a good point, in case a mighty existence was agitated by this, things were going to be problematic. With this immature young look and androgynous voice, it had brought me some little trouble too.
Snow Diva? What was that? I did not know.... Alright, I admitted. It was the fault of that talkative Irene, a black history that should be concealed in the history. Once I came out from this mountain, I would risk my life to fight anyone who dares to mention that name again!
Nevertheless, things ended in this way for a reason.
Frigid Nightmare was a kind of unique spirit creature, their bodies were phantoms of ice and snow... Akin to the Lava tribes who grew up by devouring the lava, they grew up by devouring the freezing ice energy and gem. Unlike animals with flesh, they had no appetite and desire for sex, thus they would never perceive the physical intimacies between the meaty men.
Being a phantom, yet having an authentic existence, they still had their own hobbies.
Without any sense of physical satisfaction, the spiritual satisfaction would naturally be the aspiration of these spirit creatures. As they were not able to compose music, paint, do poetry nor other cultural arts, they thus admired the brilliant aura of the other races in the outside world. For them, these were the nourishment and luxuries for cultural development.
Even so, the Frigid Nightmares did not intend to hide their interests. Rumors had it that the predecessors of Mist Kingdom had spent quite some time preparing their presents and performances just to trade for their cubs during their visits in history. This had inspired the Frigid Nightmares to start celebrating the Winter Festival, which was originally not their tradition.
On that day, the visiting contractor from far away would perform the exquisite show he had innovated or offered some seemingly valueless artworks by the craftsmen and painters. Meanwhile, the elder Frigid Nightmares which had returned from their adventure in the outside world, would tell stories about their past experiences. In the end, during the closing ceremony, the elder Frigid Nightmares would be gazing emotionally at the departure of newborn Frigid Nightmares, just like any young parent who is sending their children to school for the first time.
Over thousand years, the Winter Festival was always the day most anticipated by the tribe.
It appeared that the Mist Kingdom had not fulfilled its promise for nearly four hundred years. This was the reason which encouraged me to curb my temper and sing along with them.
Frankly speaking, my skill of singing was just like everyone, although my voice was not bad. I had always forgotten the lyrics amid singing and often went out of tune too. An innate weak sense of rhythm had multiplied the mistakes in chanting the lyrics, as the words might get tangled up, too long, or too short.
At the sight of the snowy ladies who were skilled in singing and dancing to sing, singing the off-tune song better than the composer, especially at the moment when the tune went off, I was extremely embarrassed.
Along with the melody of these "divine songs", the Frigid Nightmares were fond of the unique culture and ideologies which were not found in their world. The new and deep cultural details were indeed alluring for them.
However, I had been counting the days with my finger, as I had not much time left to be wasted here.
"...Aroyin, You are the friend of the Mist king, you are also an elder of mine. You should have been to the outside, the Mist Country is in danger now, and I have to hurry back."
I had repeated this sentence several times but had not been taken seriously by the ice-crystallite lion head, after all, he would get me to do some trivial tasks, such as singing to celebrate the newborn shoat of an ice boar staying at the mountain side, or celebrating the ten-thousand-year-old birthday of an elder phoenix.
"I could not wait any longer! If the answer is still a no, I have no choice but to go back now. I will come again next year."
This time, I was standing in the doorway of Aroyin. Seeing that I was so anxious that I would leave in any second, he finally stopped prevaricating on me.
"I know, I am aware of the news outside, and that you are in pursuit of power here. As an elder, I will not stop you, but look at yourself now, how are you going to attain power?"
"I? I am good."
An inexplicable anxiety had urged me to answer without thought, but the face of the old lion was then filled with a benevolent smile.
"Is it good? You are a caster of Freezing Force, and the Frigid Nightmares' bodies were composed of the Freezing Force as well, but have you ever seen anyone of us rushing at things?"
"It's too peaceful here! That's the cause." Just when I was about to retort, something flashed across my mind, staggering me.
Every element has its own nature and characteristics. Similar to the Fallen Magic and Holy light, which would influence the personality and mind of the casters, the elemental magics could, however, be controlled under patient and consistent training.
The elemental force might corrode its own caster. Fire magic would make one fierce and irritable, earth magic would make one moderate and steady, water magic would make one amiable and peaceful, wind magic would make one capricious and voluble. Whilst ice magic that was evolved from the water magic would make one "cold-blooded", most of the casters were unusually calm.
"The affinity for elements implicates the harmony between the elements and you. In brief, how much the elements like you. Magic is a miraculous power formed by the strong will, and a will comes from the soul, thus the soul is the origin of this miraculous power. The incantations, casting techniques, and materials are just the supplementary, the most vital part is always the soul itself."
"Many years ago, you might have been blinded by hatred and could not see the path clearly. You should have identified your path now, why are you still not opening up your heart to the elements? You closed your eyes and ears, barricaded your heart, how could you win the affection and intimacy of the ice element?"
"Since you are in pursuit of power, and the ice element is a power to be reckoned with. The elemental spirits love your singing, why did you deny their entries to your soul? My son, you are still too rash. This is a golden opportunity, look around yourself, you will probably see a new world."
Hearing this, I broke out in cold sweat.
"All the miraculous power does arise from the soul? My bad, I have forgotten this foundation and was wrong all this time."
To my surprise, I had unconsciously abandoned the imperative foundation along the path of seeking power. My Power of Law was due to my yearning for fairness, while the Holy light of God of Holy light was due to their dedication to the rules. Also, the wise practitioners had always corresponded to the nature of power by adapting their souls too, if it was power manipulating power, one would have fallen and not able to achieve the ultimate heights.
Outside the window, was an endless view of snow, along with the white sky, it happened to be the home of the ice and snow spirits, full of singing and pleasure. Albeit my presence in this snowy region, I realised that my heart remained with the secular world.
"You really thought a Soul Contract with the Frigid Nightmares was everything for Aurora Knights? Certainly not, that would be too crude for our sights, just like using a divine equipment to cut the fingers, what a waste of talents for yourself and Erebella's. Besides, the maturity of your magical sword system was rather low, and the perception and utilization of elements were even worse, that was like begging with a golden bowl."
"To keep the Winter Festival longer in full swing, please wait until you have cooled off, and we fellow elders will show you how to master the ice and snow. The Elemental Gods? Haha, before some ancient existence, they are just the juniors!"
"I may not be the strongest one amongst our tribe, but I could let you know the perception of Mist King towards the ice and snow. If my partner is still around, these younglings wouldn't dare go on a rampage like that!"
In Chinese, "beg with a golden bowl - 使用金盘子讨饭" means, waste one's talent or ability in trivial matters, while it could be used for greater things.
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Chapter 160: War of Betrayal
In this war of mythical proportions, which was known by the later generations as "The War of Betrayal without any dignity", the alliance formed by four Elven kingdoms in Northlands, unexpectedly, was the first to launch an assault, just as the snow fell.
Indeed, the first who broke the deadlock was not the most aggressive Beastmen who favoured war, nor the Humans who were protecting their homeland, but the Elves who were eager to express their stance towards a certain existence.
It was six at dawn, and without prior declaration of war, the Elves sent their greetings through their crossbow arrows and magic attacks. The Human alliance then dispatched their main forces into the battle. The Alliance of seven countries (excluding East Mist and San Antonio) had gathered more than 500,000 troops, with 400,000 of them engaged in the war.
The Elves had a total of 160,000 troops, which might sound like a tiny garrison before the mega kingdom, but their real power should not be underestimated.
Belonging to the Silver faction, the grown-ups of superior Elves would at least be of Silver-rank combat power, while the lower Elves could easily match the Silver-rank humans with the help of their splendid weapons and equipment. Also, with a greater ratio of exceptional magic craftworks and sorcerers, the real power of the Elves must not be trifled with, despite their smaller army.
"...We thought that this would just be another day of military manoeuvres, to think that the long ears could care less about the past and swipe the land immediately with their tactical magic. Our people are under heavy fire. They even used enchanted crossbows and the Elven Ancient Tree against us, they are playing for real!"
Perhaps this commander who had lost almost all his troops could explain the reason behind this debacle of a war. Not only did the proud Humans not anticipate this war, but they also had belittled the determination of the Elves.
Bearing many years of grudge, the Elves had finally come up with the resolution for a final showdown. The fellow Elven kings, as well as the keepers, had as well realised that there was no turning back once they had taken this step, but the proud people of San Antonio had probably treated it as nothing but a reckless assault on the city border.
During the ambush of the Elves, the humans were still waiting for the outcome of the cathedral and political diplomacies. There was not even the formulation of a strategy to counteract the attack of Elves on the list of priorities.
For the other countries in the Northlands, they did not worry much ever since the participation of the great San Antonio, believing that it could be the pillar which would hold up even if the sky fell. When a great calamity was at hand, however, misfortunes would usually strike the weaklings who moved the slowest.
As a consequence, when the two armies crossed swords, their differences in perception and attitudes towards the war had reduced the Human alliance to absolute rubble.
The tall War Ancient Tree was lashing at the united force of cavalries, its gigantic roots powerful enough to send a few unlucky ones flying. In contrast, the attacks of the Human cavalries proved futile to this living creature. The knights tried to execute the Surround and Net Tactic which was used against the Giants, only to be countered by the Ancient Tree, as it sprouted and grew into an incredibly huge monster.
On the other hand, the mighty Griffin Knights were facing a big challenge from the Hippogriff Archers, where the mighty sky lions had finally met their worst enemies. The Elven archers, who never miss their shots, were very skilled in mounted archery as well, they could easily shoot through the diminutive gap between the heavy helms of the Griffin Knights. Although they had an absolute advantage in close battle, being well-read by the enemies, the Griffin Knights could hardly keep the optimal distance for their fights, instead, they were regularly shot down, whether they were chasing the enemies, or being chased.
As the war had come to a stalemate, the precise and vicious magic of the Elves, like a heavy hammer, had shattered the balance of battlefield.
The strength of a sorcerer came from the accumulation of time and knowledge, thus longevity would provide an absolute advantage here. To confront the massive army of Elves, most sorceries of the Human sorcerers were subdued, because the sorceries of both sides were not at the same level.
The Human priests and holy knights might be the pinnacle of strength in chaotic battles, but they could hardly perform now due to a shortage of strong offensive sorcery.
The Humans had the least experience in fighting the Elven soldiers, whom they treated as allies. However, the Elves in Northlands had always imagined the Humans as their enemies.
At the stalemate of the first round of battle, the second attack of the Beastmen was executed, surprisingly not with their own hands.
The troops of Anzolo Empire, who were the leading force of the right wing, suddenly turned their blades against the allies, slashing them violently.
San Antonio as the central force, would never predict the sudden revolt of its ring wing. In the meantime, the assassins who were long prepared, had burst out. To be murdered by the allies within the chaotic battlefield, coupled with the assassination of the commander of San Antonio, Alan Rem who ranked 98th on the contemporary great generals ranking, the entire battlefield had sunk into an impasse.
Just after the news of betrayal and assassination of the commander spread out, which was also the crucial timing when the alliance forces of all countries were wavering, the massive army of Beastmen had made their next move. The arrival of the gigantic Bis Behemoth, along with the shaman priests who carried battle drums towards the battlefield, which implied the end for the Humans.
The Beastmen who were notorious for their brutal massacre, demonstrated to the Humans what was it to knock back an enemy with only their bodies, and what was it to charge like a beast.
Could two Human warriors possibly beat a Beastman? Wearing armour enchanted with earth elements, and going into frenzy mode upon hearing the shaman's battle hymn, even an old ordinary Beastman soldier would become a killing war-machine. Hence, even a standard small troop (12-men) was not able to take down such frenzied Beastman of multiplied attack power and defence.
In this battle, the trap set by the Chaos, under the collaboration of three parties, had finally achieved its target, as the Humans suffered a crushing defeat, in just the first battle.
Amongst the large army of 400,000 being sent to war, the defeated soldiers who retreated back to Maple city with their lives were less than half, and most of them were wounded, the Human alliance had been pushed to the defensive.
On hearing this news, Elisa was utterly astonished too.
"A Human country turning against the entire Human world? Do they still want to live?"
"In a sense, Anzolo Empire did share some similarities to the old Mist Kingdom, both of them had undergone tremendous sufferings. However, the spark of this outburst was none other than those bastards from San Antonio, for using them as the cannon fodders."
"Indeed, that was too much, I even feel sorry for Anzolo. Our small country has limited power, and this time, Anzolo had given everything it had. It could not be helped if it had to be sacrificed, but to be sacrificed as cannon fodders is seriously too much! It was no wonder they would turn against their allies."
Without any surprise, a strongly worded declaration for war, had very soon be announced.
In the announcement, the Anzolo Empire, as the country which declared war, had rallied against the evil act of the leading San Antonio to treat the soldiers of other countries as cannon fodders. Also, they swore that they had never betrayed the Order faction and the Humans society.
Of course, no matter what the explanation was, the reliable context would be taken, while the unreliable one would mean nothing. In the end, actions always speak louder than words.
"Well said, but why band together with the Beastmen, and Elves?"
In consequence with the betrayal of Anzolo Empire, Maple city was now left in chaos, there were people taking care of the residual forces and spies, there were assassins who did their killings amidst the chaos, there were even some middle-to-high rank forces in this city, who abruptly murdered some important people.
Even the city lord faced his demise on the battlefield. Just before a political turmoil would come, a chamber of commerce named Schindler Chamber had stood up as the new commander of this city. They were formed by the natives, carrying the slogan "Restoring the beautiful life of our past using our own hands!"
They were not soldiers, and were not interested towards the massive armies in the outside world. They fought for a simple reason, which was merely to quell the lawless mobs and restore the order and vitality of this city.
But only few would have known that the chamber with the history of Elven slave trade was just an association founded to keep the Beastmen civilians alive, and its chairman was a foreigner.
"The alliance army is in a turmoil, all the authorities in the city had stopped functioning, and the chamber is soon running out of capital. This, could not last any longer, please, come back Roland!"
"Waaa, that's pathetic, how could there be such cruel parent. No worries, you can now count on Anya. If he dares to appear before you again, Anya will send him flying with his four-hoofs kick. Oh, I still need one leg as the stand, so it will be a three-hoofs kick!"
In the forest located at the exit of the Underworld, three ladies from three different races were having a pleasant conversation beside the bonfire.
"You....you all are not afraid of me? I am a true Banshee."
Faced with this confused white shadow, Annie and Anya looked at each other, sniggering with their mouth covered.
"The man Annie used to love was a Lich. Yes, but he shall no longer be one. We have no prejudice against the undead. What's more, sister, you look like a natural undead, to which only an extraordinary person could transform, and it only stems from two extremes, whether she is especially kind, or extremely resentful. How would I be afraid?"
"That's right, Princess Suana, why don't you walk along with us? We are heading to a kingdom which holds no prejudice against the undead. Perhaps, you will find the answer to what you have been pursuing your entire life - Peace"
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Chapter 161: Natural Undead
It was a cinch to become a Undead, any necrolyte could help to reincarnate the dead souls (necromancy), and even preserve their consciousness during life.
The low-rank undeads may have no intellect, but if a sword saint decided to be transformed into a undead, as long as his body and soul were complete, he would not even fall below Silver rank.
Subsequent to the growth of necromancy, there came the easiest path to immortality. A strong one who had acquired considerable strength, would just need to approach the necromancer and sign a secret agreement before the end of life.
Tempted by this immortality, every year in Xiluo Kingdom, there were secret visits from countless swordsmen in black hoods and sorcerers in a grey robe, these included quite a number of names which were famous across all countries. There were even some unknown ones who emerged as new powerful undead warlords annually.
Even I, the demigod undead emperor, in conjunction with the most exquisite ingredients could not guarantee a successful transformation of dead souls every time. Nevertheless, it was not a secret when it came to the methods of maximizing the success rate of undead transformation.
The soul, all energies originated from the soul. It was the foundation of the world and was thus the key to increase the success rate of undead transformation.
The transformation between life and death might sound miraculous and magical, but in the eyes of mine, it could actually be explained with logic and knowledge.
Just like the living, the undead was also made of a body and soul, just that theirs may no longer be the original ones.
A complete living being was analogous to a personal computer. The living was manufactured by the factory, with a perfect combination of software (soul) and hardware (body), along with the capability of auto updating (growth in life).
The undead might carry the same software after reincarnation, but its original hardware was definitely not viable anymore. The new body was similar to a computer assembled by several compatible parts, its performance might be superb, but system collision and inexplicable crashes were very common with it.
It was now evident how the undead transformation would fail, whether it be a collision between hardware and software, or the data loss of software (soul).
The former could be overcome by changing another body, but the latter could not be saved. No matter how good a computer was, it was not able to read from a hard disk with a piece missing, no matter how important the contents of the hard disk was, how passionate and wild the performance of the actors was... Cough, it was just an example, get your mind out of the gutter.
Of course, the necromancer could have completed the soul by incorporating the souls of others, but that might completely change the contents of the soul. Besides, such mingled souls were susceptible to defects, as the present technology was not able to retain the vitality and memory of the souls for a long period, there was a 90% chance that a cobbled together soul might become retarded.
Hence, the fundamental and imperative factor for a successful spectre transformation was quite obvious --- Keeping the soul in its complete form.
The undead always arose from the bitter grudge. Grudges (unresolved regret) were undoubtedly the culprit of non-dissipated souls, while the strong will, a pure character, would render the soul more solid, and thus increase the success rate of a undead transformation.
And then, the conclusion was obtained.
According to my experimental theory which contradicted the general idea, the success rate of a undead transformation had nothing to do with the strength of the soul during life, but the will of one who had undergone hundreds of battles could never be weak, leading to a higher success rate of transformation.
There were no deaths without casualties, preserving more than 80% of the dead's memory was good enough. Taking the hard disc as a metaphor, if it had more than 20% of data loss, the hard disc (soul) would have 20% of unusable space.
Speaking of which, the difference between natural undeads and reincarnated undeads by necromancy was discernible now.
Theoretically, they were the same. However, the will of natural undead was incredibly firm, and their character was pure to the point of no sundries, the grudge they held before death could stir up six months of blizzards.
Their souls refused to undergo transmigration after death, and were not dissipated at all. Without requiring the guidance of necromancer, they performed the transformation from life to death on their own.
This explained why the capabilities of natural undead were so astounding. Their souls had not dissipated at all, and were almost like their previous form. Moreover, having wandered across the boundary of life and death, they had discerned the arcanum of their own soul, developing a profound understanding of the basis of strength.
Losing part of their souls, the growth rate of common undeads would be severely affected. There was an exception however, which was none other than my Seven Deadly Sins, they were not strong at the beginning, but grew rapidly later.
The common undeads had concentrated on the creation of strong undeads bodies (hardware engineers), but I spent my effort on the soul, which was the foundation (software engineers). Of course, this was due to me being natural undead too, yet I had been to the styx for several times. It was already difficult for the other necromancers to start dissecting the souls, as their level of expertise remained at the soul transformation theories on the blackboard. Therefore, they might have regarded the creation and assembly of the soul as the sole authority of the God of Creation.
And I, had created and innovated numerous souls, these included bigoted and distorted souls, flawless, newborn yet talented souls, loyal and unyielding souls, and some which were completely reinvented with the souls of others as the ingredients. In a sense, it was right for Omar and Adam to call me their father.
The perfect but bigoted souls, had formed the basis of the incredible Seven Deadly Sins. Being the culmination of my research, their souls were flawless, coupled with the specially prepared bodies, they even outmatched the normal livings in their flawlessness and bigotry. In a way, they were the artificial natural undeads.
But actually, due to some flaws in my technique, in comparison with the genuine natural undeads, their capabilities were lower by a certain level. After all, the natural spectres I had met were all super monsters, these included I myself, Harloys, and Ayer.
In mythology, the Valkyries would greet the Einherjars and bring them to Valhalla. Frankly speaking, they were not all too different compared to the necromancers. In recent times, the Einherjars below the sacred thrones had no fundamental difference with the artificial undeads as well. The disparity was merely that the Gods performing the necromancy, which preserved even more the memories and battle techniques during life, under influence of the divine force.
Everything arose from the soul, the Einherjar souls were already strengthened to its maximum. These looked good apparently, but had actually ceased the advancement of the Einherjars. The undeads were suffering the same fate. Disregarding the dazzling halos, the Einherjars and undeads had too much in common, and they were both incomparable to the natural undeads.
The natural undeads mainly existed in ancient times. In recent times, however, the resurrection rate of natural undeads was negligible, as the soul of recent men were too fragile to attempt reincarnation, not to mention resurrections with complete souls. Aside from this, the hardest condition to satisfy was the furious rage, the unbreakable will, the desire of wanting to destroy the world.
Suffering the destruction of our countries, me and Harloys were also the final royal descendants who witnessed the annihilation of our own people and kingdoms. You might say that we were undeads who remained in this world for the sake of vengeance, Ayer did not share what he had encountered, but it must not be anything good.
Even when the conditions were satisfied, a certain amount of luck was required, so the figure of success rate started to count only after the decimal point.
In consequence, in the perspective of recent men, the undeads were merely the undead reincarnated by the necromancers, transformation to natural undead was never an option, some necromancers were not even aware of the existence of natural undeads.
Hence, the reincarnation of Suana as a banshee was never known or expected by anyone, perhaps even the Elven Gods who were the brains behind all schemes, would not have thought of such a miniscule probability event.
The pure souls were most likely to transform into undeads, and thus, female Elves would be one of the races which could most easily transform into banshees. Ever since the reincarnation of Suana as a banshee, the title of Queen of Banshees was no longer exclusive to Harloys.
In a sense, there were quite a few similarities between Harloys and Suana. Not only did they come to birth as Elven princesses, they both suffered the betrayal of their most trusted people and Gods, and their demises were also equally tragic --- the sacrifice of war.
Ironically, the fellow Elven gods who were once supreme and ascendant, had created a godlike enemy like Harloys, as the undeads had more than enough time to investigate the truth, when everything was revealed under the sun it would be feared that even Suana would arise as the next godlike enemy.
Nevertheless, it had been a tradition for the Elves and Elven Gods to dig holes for themselves and jumped into them. The typical examples was none other than the golden Elves and Lorci, who had both triggered the extreme transition of the Elves from riches to rags. And this time, if the fellow Elven gods had turned into Gods of Chaos, Lorci's actions, who was notorious for being incredibly vindictive, was indeed something to be anticipated.
Back to the story, even though the Humans had been gathering up for a final, defensive stand, with Maple city as the heavily fortified core zone, it would be futile to stop the group of a legendary warrior, a golden archer, and a natural undead Elf.
"Ah. Mr. Skeleton is not here. Sister Elisa, how did you come back?"
Annie gave a sigh of evident disappointment, not only because Roland was absent, but mainly due to the return of Elisa. This false intimacy had Elisa stunned, with her eyebrows flickering. What did Annie mean, to ask about her boyfriend as soon as meeting her? Besides, was it like the previous fight they had never happened?
"I thought you would first ask about Adam and the others, they were here a couple days ago."
"For sure I know about stepfather and Sister Margaret, I am always in touch with them. By the way, didn't stepfather tell you that I'm coming?"
"Adam, a bastard as always…"
Suddenly, the picture of that man giving his big middle finger, like he always did, flashed across my mind, his face filled with the watching-for-fun smile --- "I did what I could, don't thank me"
"Alright, I certainly welcome all of you, but as you can see, I am too busy to entertain you. Pardon me for any offense."
Outwardly, Elisa said so, but her lips deliberately uttered a "soft" grumble.
"An Underworld Autarch, an Underworld Beastking, sneaking out just like this? They are both very much adults, but simply ran away from their posts without letting anyone know, don't they know the severity of that?"
Obviously, judging from her past experience, Elisa believed that these two people were not here for business, most likely, they were just annoyed of their work and ran out from their houses after shaking off their entourages.
Unexpectedly, an embarrassed expression was not seen, instead, a triumphant smile was hanging on Annie's face.
"We are coming for real business this time, by the way, still remember the manifesto "the Underworld people have the right to sunlight too"? We are coming for this!"
"So, going to war?"
This was the first response of Elisa upon hearing this sentence, the call for "the right to sunlight", wasn't this about the invasion of Underworld alliance army mentioned in the Roland's prophecy?
Considering the situation where Roland was still in East Mist, to battle against two sides was absolutely impossible, Elisa's expression immediately turned grim and unpleasant.
But luckily, Anya intervened in time to prevent the atmosphere from getting worse.
"Most of the Beastman warchiefs had requested to form an alliance for an invasion, but we are still assessing the possibility of concession."
"Concession?"
"Yes, either purchase or rent. Lands without owners are good as well. This is the will of Emperor Roland, the most imperative part of it, is to form a delegation to contact the possible buyers, and we are the frontline of the delegation."
Perhaps there was such a possibility, Suana did not talk any further after nodding her head. Nevertheless, the banshee who had been constrained since her entry, broke out of her silence.
"Roland? Are you referring to the legendary holy knight, Emperor Roland?"
"You are?"
At first, Elisa supposed she was a random banshee coming from the Sulphur Mountain City, but now it didn't seem so, as the banshee was a high-rank undead, and a natural one was even rarer, could she be the envoy from Xiluo?
"I'm Suana, Suana Newleaf."
This name was the recent headlines, and was also the fuse of the war, Elisa definitely knew about it.
She was first astounded by that, but recalling something later, she nodded her head, smiling.
"...This is indeed interesting. Perhaps the cunning Lorci would be pleased by your arrival. Oops, I was impolite for not answering the question of your highness. Yes, we were talking about Roland, the Roland who was a holy knight three hundred years ago."
"Please don't call me princess… Now I'm no longer a royal member of the Tassel Kingdom, not to mention an Elven princess."
Gazing at the dejected Suana, Elisa was about to say something, suddenly the guard outside the gate, barged in with an excited look, like he had some important news to report.
"Lord Elisa, our reinforcements have finally arrived!" (To be continued)
In Chinese, "挖坑自己跳 - Dig hole for oneself and jump into it" means asking for trouble)
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Chapter 162: Death Egg
Within the depths of the great snow mountain, the sun was hard to come by. The sunlight shone upon the snowfield, bringing out the vast expanse of white even further, dazzling the eyes.
Childhood is one's most treasured memories, and the duty of children is just to play well and grow well. From the games, they develop living abilities for the future. This is the instinct of life, and also an inevitable path to be taken by the young of all races.
At that moment, on the snowfield, the children of the Land of Snow were chasing around and playing together.
"Hey, Little Snow. Don't run."
"Only a fool won't run, come and chase me quickly!"
"Don't run, I can't move anymore…"
"Wahaha, Little Rollie has no stamina, his legs are short and runs like a tortoise, loser, loser."
Apparently, this group of naive and lively children were playing hide and seek, while the seeker could already move no more.
Yet those children who were still energetic, was running around him. Just when he put his last effort together to start chasing, they suddenly scattered and fled in a blink.
No wonder he could not catch up with them. Although they were still children, can his stamina compete with the child of snowmen, the foal of an ice unicorns? Moreover, the young of a snow dragon and snow phoenix could fly!
Watching the little friends running further and further away, the child who was the seeker started to laugh. He had chased them for the whole morning, and at that moment he was exhausted and hungry.
"Hahahaha, this is fun, my tears are coming out already….. Continue to run, naughty brats, the seeker is coming to catch you guys. Eternal glacier bringing eternal destruction, the eternal darkness has descended, finally, the Ice Aeon will arrive..."
The destructive spell brought a dreadful magic wave, a blizzard formed in time, Laughing hysterically, the seeker started the preparation of a forbidden spell to destroy everything, although the target was just a bunch of naughty brats who were impossible to catch up with.
"Hehehe, there are two types of naughty brats, one tends to move around and one doesn't, the latter one is the good kid. Soon, all the brats will no longer be able to move, this is great…"
"Personality Correction Kick!"
Following by a sudden struck of a huge fist of ice crystals, the forbidden spell Ice Aeon was interrupted by a sudden flying lion head. But the seeker who was sent flying away still manage to leave his last comment.
"What kick? This is your fist! You called your four paws legs? Do you eat with legs?"
Ok, I admit. This unlucky guy who was forced to be the seeker was me, and for these three days, I am doing the things I hated most in my life - Playing with naughty brats!
"As a grown up, but can't even compromise with children, and you dare to tell me you are going to inherit Raven Date's will, how many days only have passed? It seems like the descendants of Mist Kingdom are becoming more and more useless."
"I… I can't stand this anymore! I have played with those naughty brats for two days, I'm going nuts soon, finding inner peace you say? My heart is about to explode! Are you sure this is really useful to me, I am just getting more anxious."
It was a mistake from the beginning, to listen to the lion head's nonsense, playing with children with a smile can help in finding inner peace you say? Maybe it worked for others. But to me, this was simply suffering in a purgatory, it made me sick.
"... Already three days? Oh, then let's go to the next stage."
The lion shook his head, then he made a new decision.
"Hellcoming… are you sure that you are not fooling me around? Why do I feel like this is just something random."
Despite the giant size, this ice crystal lion had a rather eastern name, this peculiar naming sense seemed to be the hobby of the first generation King of Mist.
"Hmm, actually playing with children for meditation purposes was just a prank. The actual target was to expose you to the scent of the young ice beasts, which was already achieved yesterday."
Great. By hearing the word "prank", I started to lose my temper.
"Then why didn't you tell me! You know how hard was it, to pretend to love building snowman, have snowball fights, and hide and seek, especially with these naughty brats who were so unreasonable, purposely going for the dangerous games, simply not listening, and treating me as their little friend… I can't stop thinking of throwing all these naughty brats into the cannon and firing them!
"Ah. Everyone thought that you were playing happily with them. After all, you are a lot younger than they are, their parents were very happy to see a foreign playmate, and seeing that you guys were enjoying, therefore we decided to let them play for an extra day with you…...What are you drawing your sword for? And why are you chanting the spell for?"
And at this moment, my mind was only echoing with "enjoying, therefore we decided to let them play for an extra day with you."
"As expected all naughty brats have parents without common courtesy, if so, let all of you turn into dust, oh eternity glacier, listen to my rage…"
"Haah! Passed on by the King of Mist, Personality Correction Punch Specially For Abnormal People!"
"Arghhh!"
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Reinforcements? No doubt, this was totally out of Elisa's expectations.
The news of the defeat just spread, and San Antonio's reinforcements were still thousands of miles away. As the main force of the five northmost kingdoms were already gathered here, the second wave of mass mobilization will not appear in a short period of time, not to say any reinforcements.
"The lords are awaiting for your arrival, they hope that you can join the reinforcement welcoming ceremony."
Elisa was shocked upon hearing that, as the East Mist was not really in a good situation in the alliance, clearly they were in a marginalized situation, and also, the arrogant generals of big countries, would never be concerned for her and the Mist Kingdom.
"...The fellow generals are waiting for you. This is allegedly the request of the reinforcements, as they refused to enter the city before meeting the deputy of East Mist.."
Afterwards, tons of news reached her ears, and from there she started to understand what was really going on.
In that defeat, rumours had it that San Antonio's commanding general was severely wounded, and the command was taken over by "Black Bear" Ainro who was also a San Antonian.
Despite having lost half their forces, San Antonian was still the largest force in the alliance, and East Mist was further marginalized instead.
And now the new reinforcements clearly would not listen to them, and only took command from East Mist, and pained the alliance generals from the bottom of their hearts. But as others had sent them reinforcements, they did not have any reason to refuse.
At least they could not reveal the alliance's poor collaboration, therefore they would have to pretend, and assigned Elisa as the representative of East Mist.
"Where did the reinforcements came from? The East Mist Kingdom is already having a hard time dealing with the monster waves, seeing that these reinforcements behave obediently in front of me, could it be…"
The gaze of disbelief turned towards the two in the room, in a sense, these two were the super boss. Of course, from their smirks, one would never know how honourable they were.
"Not me, my accompanying army and the dragon guards are still waiting in the passageway, without my command they will never come out.
Great. Accompanying army? Dragon guards? In a sense, Annie was doing a lot better than her adopted father.
With the support of dragon queen Xiao Hong, in a sense, she was also a dragon princess, plus the retreat of devil forces in the underworld, Annie and the Liu Huang Mountain City became the symbol of human forces that reigned the underworld. Seemingly, Annie was getting increasingly better in being an Empress.
Elisa turned to the other, a centauress who was a kitchen destroyer and a lightning rod of misfortune, who a while ago showed a smirk on her face. Currently, she was the leader of underworld beastmen, one of the four underworld Autarchs. At least for now, she was on the same table with Annie.
"My ranger army and tribal warriors are also resting at the passageway. Together with Annie, I will be secured, and I don't want to cause any trouble, especially bringing an army that would limit my freedom."
Well, she seemed to be honest, and she also brought her own army. Speaking of how her freedom would be limited, however, it probably meant that she would be severely restricted, trying to move about while being accompanied by an army.
" You two…"
For a while, Elisa's tongue was tied. What could she say, the two of them had now become the reputed Underworld Autarchs, it would seem awkward if they came to earth without the escort of a few armies.
"You're not afraid of causing big trouble? An Underworld alliance appearing on the outside world, moreover in the war zone. If this goes by the conspiracy theory, you can write a few legendary novels. Like "The Dark Conspiracy of Underworld Autarch and Beastmen", "Two Spies in the Sacred War - The Double Agent Dark Elves". Well, if Roland was here, he would have commented something like that."
"... We never expect to see a war, that's why we left everyone in the passageway. With this chaotic situation, I wonder if they will be fine."
"Don't worry, as long as they don't come out from the underground passageway, nobody will go there. It's close to the royal tomb of the elves, even the superior elves are unable to get near to it. But actually, it was also a secret tunnel controlled by the royal family, and that is why I lingered there to hide from my people."
With Suana's explanation, everyone on spot felt relieved. But after that, a new problem came, if the reinforcements were not from the underworld alliance, then who would it be?
"There were two groups of reinforcements which happened to come across each other and ended up travelling together. One of the group is the alliance of Sharal Autonomous Region and the barbarian tribe, they are here to support Lord Roland."
Elisa nodded when she heard that, Roland did mention the secret contract between the three places, but never had high hopes on them on sending support. After all, the covenant was still in the testing stages, with a lot of uncertainties, and moreover, Sharal itself had its own problems too.
"The second wave of reinforcements is here to support Lady Reyne, they are Aulander. It is said to be sent out by King Darsos, to thank Lord Roland on fulfilling the "Key" agreement on time.
"Pfft." Listening to that, Elisa smiled, while Annie laughed straight away.
There were things that cannot be hidden from the resourceful Annie even if not being told by Ronald, but for Annie who was always in the underworld to know, it would seem to be odd.
"Father mentioned to me before, was it that weird eyed Emperor who take a fancy to Uncle Bone? Seems like he is quite faithful towards Uncle Bone. But it is understandable, as Uncle Bone looked very cute when he was alive, when he was young he looked really like a cute girl, I wanted to give him a hug."
When she heard the sign that Adam was indeed Roland's number one bad friend, and that both of them never did anything good, Elisa burst into laughter.
"Annie, don't mention this in front of Roland, or else he will cry in front of you."
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"If you force me any further, I will really cry in front of you!"
"Hatch an egg? Are you crazy or am I crazy, I may look like this, but you can only complain it to my mom, I'm actually a male… No, I'm a guy! Look, look at this! I am a guy, how can I hatch an egg."
My roar was echoing within the cave, travelling far away, the reason? The lion in front of me suggested a new training plan.
"Hatching it is your second step of training. And because of this purpose, I exposed you to the young scent of the ice beasts."
That was a black ice crystal, from that mild chilliness and the magical engravings, it should be a frigid nightmare's egg. But, wasn't the frigid nightmare's egg supposed to be white in colour?
"This is a death egg, all this time it never successfully hatched, theoretically, it should have been dead, but looking at the magic engravings and ice crystals, you will know that it's still alive."
"Isn't this one of you? Can't you just hatch it by yourselves?"
"Three hundred and seventy years ago, it did nearly hatched once, but after that, no matter what we did, it won't even budge."
I was stunned when I heard this, at this point in time, it made me think of something bad.
"Twins are the most miraculous existence on this world, they are classified into many types, and one of them is the rarest, but is the true twins amongst twins. The wavelength of their souls are the same, it is like they were originally the same person, just that it is a soul that has been torn into two..."
"Enough!" I started to roar, but then stopped, what was I angry at, what caused the bottom of my heart to be in such panic?
But the lion head seemed to hear nothing, he just continued explaining on.
"The gemini of misfortune? It should be the gemini of luck, there is always a special linkage between them, moreover, they are the best corresponding partners. Oh yeah, by the way, this egg is also Erebella's brother, or sister, who knows. And it was also sent here by a descendant of the Mist, and I don't need to mention his name."
At this moment, if there was a mirror, I was afraid of how pale my face would have been.
"I have finished what I have to say, the rest is up to you."
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Chapter 163: The Old Soldier
"Hoooooot!"
The citizens of this middle sized city showed a vacant look just as the war horns were blasted through the freezing wind.
Although the news of the alliance's defeat had spread, none had expected the beastmen to come so quickly. Moreover, they retraced the routes that the human armies had taken, just to remove their opponent from play.
Gigantic battle beasts marched from the shadows, and hill sized dragon war turtles shook the earth as they neared the city. On the massive shells stood pale battle fortresses, from within, the sound of war drums and war horns could be heard.
The gigantic war turtles were quarter dragons by bloodline, and the spread of their massive bodies was not any lower than city walls. These were the beastmen's most terrifying siege weapon.
"Doomsday Turtle! The bear king is here. It's his white-tailed battle bear army.
Not many dragon turtles exist in this world, but only the one owned by Bear King was packed with a fortress. It was named "Doomsday Turtle", and was Bear King Dunn's mount and also his moving fortress.
Behind it, the quietly approaching behemoth could not be ignored. One by one, they walked out from the shadows, transforming into an actual nightmare.
The beastmen were planning to make it a quick battle from the fact that they were sending out their trump cards from the start.
"Behemoth!! A behemoth army! We, we're finished... Everyone, run!"
The actual immediate threat was the dragon turtle, but the one bringing the greatest fear was nevertheless, the docile looking behemoth.
They were far less robust looking compared to the dragon turtle, and they did not roar like beasts due to the quiet nature. Dragging their three meter long sharp claws, they left a ditch on the earth, quietly moving forward, like a group of marching lazy boys.
Their sturdy gigantic arms, the thick hair standing straight like a gorilla, and under the thick hair, were a pair of fearsome eyes. From the looks alone, they were far less scary than the dragon turtle with horns and fangs, instead, they looked a little dimwitted. But reputation preceded all else, so nobody would ignore these fearsome giants.
Their silence was only to accumulate strength for their outburst. A true war beast does not have the habit of roaring, but only when the flesh and blood fell onto their gigantic claws, they will bask in the rush, and reveal satisfied smiles.
"These are the wildest battle beasts on earth, the number one species in land battle."
Although that number one land battle beast still had a lot of rivals, but rest assured that they lived up to their reputation as the wildest battle beast.
By only showing their presence, it had already terrified the city folks, although the army only consisted of three behemoths, it was enough to sweep the north clean.
"Clang!"
"Hoot!"
Surprisingly, the gigantic beast stepped onto the back of the dragon turtle and with a powerful stomp. Using it as a jumping ramp, it took another step and landed on top of the city walls, like agile monkeys.
Giant beasts who were not any shorter than the city walls but were as agile as apes. Just like that, the ferocious battle beasts crossed the strong walls, but by the footprints left by them, it seemed like before the strength of the behemoths, the sturdy three layered concrete city wall were not much different from mud piles.
After the gigantic behemoths entered the city, the silent beasts finally started to grin. Under that crooked face, they showed their strange teeth, each molar as tall as a man, bringing great terror.
Blooming from the centre, causing internal damage, simple but effective.
And this was also the speciality of the white-tailed battle bear army, they did not use the commonly used "adding oil tactics", instead he practised a direct breakthrough. Faced with these tough behemoth vanguard, when the gates were opened by the behemoths and the beast men entered, the individual strength difference would finish the rest. Dozens of cities had already fallen by such methods.
When one of the gold haired behemoth started to open the gates from within, the other two silver haired beast started their wave of destruction. The shivering humans could not even bring out anyone strong enough to stop the behemoths. Strong individuals no doubt dwelt in the city, but who would be foolish enough to try opposing an entire army?
The grinning beastmen could already see the future, it just like the other cities. Wherever the fearsome battle beasts went, people would scream and flee in all directions, and the mighty army would step into a city which offered no resistance.
But this time, there were some differences, some stood their ground.
An old soldier stood at the city gate, his rusty chain mail covered with dirt, and his brandy nose turned red under the freezing wind.
The old soldier did not charge towards the gigantic beast insanely, he did not even try to stop it, but only stayed where he was. And in that chaos, he still caught the eye of the behemoths.
Where he was standing happened to be the way the gold haired behemoth needed to go through.
The gigantic beast seemed to find himself challenged, and in a frenzy of rage, the beast's eyes turned blood red, charged towards the old soldier.
"Old soak, you're mad! Run now!"
He was not the general of this city, just an old soldier from the city defence army.
"Old soak" Ike, yes, this was his nickname, and was also his code name, the reason is that he loved to have a quick drink in the pub after his duty. Even while on sentry duty, he would definitely be carrying cheap wine in his arm.
"Old soak, aren't you afraid someone will have to pull your drunken corpse from a drain pipe some day?"
Every time, when someone made this joke, the old soak would pat his belly, and laugh with his mouth wide open, showing his yellowish teeth.
"Come on, as long as Old Buck gives me bottomless dry gin, I will choose to die in the drain of your house tomorrow."
At this moment, as if he did not hear the shout of his colleague, old soak Ike rubbed his nose, his blurry eyesight still staring at his own wine bottle.
"Bah, this ale is just as bad as usual, how much water did that bratty Little Buck add. Perhaps it is water mixed with a bit of ale after all. Hey, seems like he is losing his conscience, Old Buck is still more honest."
After tasting this three coppered coin pot of diluted ale, Ike narrowed his eyes, it was as if he had returned to the past, at that time, when his brother and wife were still there. Although the dry gin in Buck's bar was also bad, at least they served sufficient portions.
But during that time he was not called an old soak. "Arrow of Kashgar", Ike was a well-known elite ranger, before he was transferred to the city defence army after he took an arrow to the knee. He was a famous bad a**.
"Somehow it feels like, something has changed."
Although the weather was still as freezing, the pay was still as low, the ale from the "Old Buck's Pub" was still as bad, but at that time, his life was considered well, perhaps. It was because those old bast*rds and old sods who accompanied him were still there.
"D*mn, these good for nothing beastmen! And the useless nobles! Running away even before the war starts, Little Synden, I'll soon see your dad in hell. The things I'll say to him, he'll spank your butt when you join us, just like old times. Why, when you grow old you will start to recall these useless things."
While pondering on how to complain to his former, now deceased superior, the old soldier drew a rusty standard iron blade.
"Puff."
A spit of the ale, the wet long sword finally shone with dim light. The gigantic beast was already in front of him, but the old soak who was shaken by the earthquake set his helmet slowly.
"Old synden said, we soldiers are the face of his lord, we need to be aware of our appearance as we charge. Oh yeah, I remember it now. During this moment, we should shout that line, what was that again?"
A gigantic arm which could easily crush a bridge reached his front, and the old soldier stopped pondering, he shouted the line and started to swing his sword, with the full weight of his heart and soul. The sword that he gave all of him, bringing an arc of light, a faint blade aura appeared, this was the highest level of power Ike had achieved throughout his life.
"Slap!"
But with this absolute strength difference, it was not something that could be made up for with fighting will. The steel claw of the behemoth fell, and the only thing left was a lump of meat sauce and some blood stain.
Perhaps startled by the old soldier, or due to the fact that the old man and actually punctured the skin of the beast, the gold haired behemoth slowed down and stared. After having a good look at the corpse of the old soldier, only did it continue to hunt down other deserters.
The old soak was dead, and died in a terrible way. He did not have the power to defeat the enemy, nor did anyone witness his final, valiant act. His death did not rouse the morale, nor did it turn the tide of the battle.
This is war, there are no heroes. No miracles, only the bloody strong ones will prey on the weak ones.
But when he died, his last charging slogan still echoed in the air, carrying afar by the cold air...
"... The Spirit of Mist will never yield!"
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"You murderers! You are the beastmen's accomplices!!"
As before, it was the old theatre that acted as the conference room, but this time, it was the furious Reyne who was spluttering at the alliance generals.
After the news of the beastmen renewed attack spread, the joint conference of military officers from different countries had a meeting for the whole morning, but they merely started from blaming each other and progressed to brainstorming on how to fortify the defence of Maple City. However, they still did not have any intentions to send reinforcements to other cities which were attacked.
"Ahem, your highness, you should maintain your royal manners and keep calm. You see, now that the enemy is strong, the best strategy is to retreat, and you see, fortifying the defence and gathering troops for the final battle is the correct way for now."
"What happens to the cities and the citizens near the marching army of the beastmen? They are still waiting for our rescue. We can't leave them to die."
But her proposal did not get any response, instead, there were people mocking her on this.
"Why would you be so agitated over the matter of other countries, be careful, others might think that you have ulterior motives."
"Hmph, can't even see the situation clearly, no wonder she was marginalized. If it was not because of Lord Roland's absence, I'm afraid that she wouldn't even have the authority to attend this."
"A princess should just be an ornament, better not to command blindly in a war. Rescue? Do we even have enough troops for the final battle?"
From a tiny and weak country, plus her lack of reputation due to juvenility, she was faced with prejudice, from the start of the discussion, even the aggressive, war-pursuing factions were focusing on the defence on fortifying Maple City. Reyne's opinion had already been ignored more than once.
Her face turned red, but still she did not have any choice and finally, she left angrily.
"Being marginalized? What is happening nowadays?"
In a sense, that guy's wild guess was near to the truth, being marginalized, this indeed was Reyne's concern.
From some point, Roland purposely kept Reyne away from important matters, and this had caused the internals of East Mist to make wild assumptions.
If this had been done by others, Reyne would had suspected if they had an ulterior motive, as if they had the ambition to climb to the top. But for Roland who had no interest in power, nobody seemed to understand why he did that.
"He seems to have kept me from fulfilling any role."
Thinking of her juniors who were busy in various aspects, while she was set aside, she couldn't help to stop thinking on these.
"It started when Elisa came here, I wonder what did they discuss about. If she was only bad mouthing me, Roland wouldn't have been changed so easily. Furthermore, his attitude towards me did not change, so why did he isolate me."
After putting some in thoughts, Reyne faintly recalled something, but it was difficult to confirm it.
Then suddenly the sky turned black, leaving her no time to think, and she immediately looked for shelter to hide.
After just a few seconds, the clear sky turned into chaos, a huge flock of harpies tossed tar bombs down and retreated, driving the city fire brigade throughout the city.
And at the same time, the city air calvaries had embarked, bringing down as many of the enemy as they could.
Although unable to remove the enemy thoroughly, at least they would draw some blood in return.
"... Your highness, the generals request you to attend the discussion, now that the beastmen are gathering up, we fear that they will soon bypass the barrier and attack the city directly."
In Chinese, "添油战术 - Sending troops slowly and increase them until the enemy is defeated
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Chapter 164: The Puppet King
"What is elemental magic? The combination of sophisticated incantations and baffling rules? If it's that difficult, how do we demon beasts perform it? We have not even inherited words."
A warm voice was filling the hall, and the surrounding crowds were listening, attentively. The body was so gigantic that even its borders could not be seen. Closing its eyes, in a slow pace, the ice dragon was passing down its perspective on magic.
"The way of magic, "magic" is miraculous yet incredible, and "way" represents the rules and influence towards the reality, together, they indicated the altering of reality by utilizing some incredible means. Nowadays, a majority of the accomplished magicians are undoubtedly Human sorcerers, whose magic are derived from the Elves. Of course, compared to the Elven age which revolved around the four elements, they have very much improved, but the methods and techniques of research are passed down from their ancestors. This becomes obvious as they put emphasis on all sort of sophisticated incantations and ceremonies. But I have to say, those complicated stuffs are not needed."
A melodious voice was heard, as if it was carrying the musical notes. The ice phoenix rested above the head of the ice dragon. Being the pinnacle of the ice spirits, her mere presence had given rise to a light snowfall in the air.
"Those long ears are a bunch of paranoids. They are sensitive and bigoted, insisting that magic is a craft work which could only be explained by words, they had created all sort of confusing runes, though they had actually made up something. Sadly, they had abandoned the origin of the magic from the very beginning."
A thick voice filled with sarcasm and disdain had come in. The ice demon lion lay on the back of the ice phoenix. Although it was a giant itself, it looked like a kitten compared to the phoenix.
"The Humans are learning from the Elves, while the Elves are learning from nature....Hehe. The so-called nature, aren't they some natural magical beings and elemental beings like us? Sadly, they have not realized the foundation, and ever since the moment they adhered to research instead understanding, they were getting away from the truth, further and further."
"The will of Gods is actually divine art, while the wrath of demon lords could reform the world, even my beloved ice phoenix, Aiseia Liven, could summon a blizzard across the entire mountain with a single glare. Aren't they altering reality by utilizing some incredible power?"
"Those long ear-ers always like to complicate stuff, just to lose sight of the foundation. Only by achieving legendary status suffices to condense one's seal of will? Only by acquiring the holy-rank allows one to change the world with his or her will? Hahahaha, that's ridiculous, going a big circle just to come back to the starting point, we could have done this since the beginning."
"The warlocks carry alien bloodlines, and the unique tribes of all sort of talents, aren't their miraculous powers considered magic? The definition from the Elves is rather bigoted."
"So, all you young-uns, abandon those unnecessary complications and arcanums, they are not for you. What you need to do, is just to build up your will to change the world, something like this… liz slen nus!"
As the miraculous spell was lifted, the will of ice dragon descended, the tremendous force in the air could make one breathless, the boundless strength instilled fear in all livings on the spot, that, was the wrath coming from the ancient times.
"The might of Doom Dragon? What is that? I'm just awakening my own presence. I don't care about the fear of those insects. When I glare, all weaklings must close their eyes. When I descend, all scoundrels must bow. When I am furious, all despicable ones must kneel down. My will, also my presence, I am the Doom Dragon, Akeseusith! Beneath my ice wings, is the land where the doomsday will befall."
The gigantic dragon gave a snarl, declaring his presence, and the entire mountain answered this by trembling in fear.
"Everything originates from the soul. Listen to the voice of your soul, and you will discover your own magic, the arcanum that works best for you. That might just be magic, but when you have truly understood it, it could be any kind of magic."
As the ice phoenix fluttered its wings, the snows in the air were turning into various forms, should it be snow meteors, snowflakes, or snow blades, luckily, they all would become just some adorable snow babies upon touching the ground. To one's surprise, the snow babies were jumping around and started to build their own snowmen, they were alive!
"To go by the terms of those witless Elves, we have called this the premier magic, you may also call it as innate magic. It's not something to be attempted by the ordinary sorcerers, but is absolutely worth-trying, for one has already condensed his seal of will, and thus is able to interfere the world with his will like a monster. Roland, you get it now?"
The snarl of the rowdy lion had made the world tremble, the reverberation of the sound had shattered the ice hills. The kings of the frigid nightmares were imparting to their youth the truth of the magic.
Finally, I had known why those little devils would always run away from the lessons, and why the three elders were so delighted now. As their only audience, my face had remained thoughtful, but I was actually pondering over it.
"That, can I ask a question?"
"Ask, I know you must have a lot of doubts, as our theory of magic is totally different compared to what you were exposed to in the past."
"My son, relax your mind, we are not frightening. In a sense, we are even relatives."
"As I have spoken, the etiquette in the world of Humans mean nothing for us. Speak out."
Nodding my head after getting an affirmative answer, I decided to point out something I had been watching since the lesson begun.
"That, I am somewhat obsessive and afraid I will have a sleepless night without knowing the answer to this…"
The gaze of three highest ranked beings had rendered the air frozen, in fact, the air was actually turning to ice, and thus, I finally posted my question.
"Why must the three of you stack on top each other like the Buddhist arhats? Do you think this is cool? And that, I find this interesting out of the blue, can I stand at the highest point? I am very light."
"Is this even a main point?!"
The gigantic dragon gave a slight quiver, which had triggered an earthquake.
"You two fools, what's with this three-sages pyramid posture? And even forming a group of four heavenly kings with that old tortoise in the lake? I have said that this posture is disgusting!"
"This mentality is exactly the same as the old Mist King. A Mist descendant definitely. But...no way! No one should stand on my head."
"Lion head! Why are you standing on our heads then? Have you proposed all of this just to stand on top of us?"
With the two members at bottom retorting with the same voice, there came the joyous time of watching their silly bickering.
"Sigh, please mind your reputation before the juniors. Besides that, did you not perceive anything?"
In a twinkling, the ice phoenix flickered as a stream of light and reappeared in front of me.
"...One has to be serious in choosing a nickname, and more serious in thinking of the opening line. Puff, what's with this Doom Dragon? That's too embarrassing, "I am the Doom Dragon, beneath my wings…" Alright, my lord, please curb your dragon rage, this name is fantastic, and doesn't sound like the idea of a sophomore at all."
"Not knowing what 'sophomore' means? It is reputedly the moment when one being is so handsome that the rest could hardly bear the sight of it. Indeed, that is one's precious moment, the moment when one shines the brightest, which always brings out an excitement whenever one looks back. I suppose the nickname 'Sophomore Wings' is meant for you...You like it?! That's awesome, Lord Sophomore Wings!"
After creating the name "Lord Sophomore" out of fun, I turned to the lion head before me, smiling and waving my hand.
The invisible cold air appeared to be dispersing. There was no spectacular spark of magic, and no stirring bang, just the turquoise ice crystals whirling in my palm.
"Alright. Thanks for your enlightenment, seniors, I have found it, to think that it was always within me…"
In a sense, I had gained a lot, the three pinnacles of the ice had led me to a new path, a path which was absolutely different from the conventional elemental magic, I could not wait to try out the new abilities I had mastered.
Just when I was crowing over my new insights, the silver ring on my finger started vibrating. The arriving news very much displeased me.
"Damn brat! Unfilial son! Imbecile! I will kill him!"
---
As the vultures of war were hovering in the sky of the Northland, some changes had taken place within Antoin, amidst the army.
Under the cover of the dark night, some figures in black cloaks had snuck into the castle, they were then guided by the royal attendants into the castle, furtively. Should they be gone with smiles before the daylight, everything would be different.
"Will of Mist. Haha. Never surrender? Bah!"
The scorn of men in black cloaks could still be felt in the air, but on a nearby windowsill, a young couple was whispering, and their vision could penetrate through these buildings.
"How could this be? Haven't we pledged to protect the damn fatty?"
"Hmph, he had believed in no God, would he believe us?"
"Damn, how could this be? This has gone beyond Roland's prophecy. Should I wipe out all of them?"
"Would it help? Unless you slaughter the damn fatty on the crown, no envoy could be sent off. Not really, even you have slaughtered him, that wouldn't help. We'd better get in touch with Roland, ahh...it's meaningless now, if my prediction doesn't go wrong, very soon, this news would spread across the world and astonish all."
"How would Roland be if he heard this news? To think that the thing he had protected with his life was trodden under the feet of others, yet its head was spat on, he must feel terrible."
"What else could be done? You should ask what else the Northland could become! In a sense, Roland had been always fettered by morality and some evident rules, should he be on rampage…not only the Northland would be completely different, but the whole world will not be able to stop him either."
As predicted by Margaret, the news had shaken the world on the very next day.
[ Sleuweir Kingdom announced an unconditional surrender, indicating their willingness to be ruled by the Beastman Warchief, thus recognizing Eymond Bloodaxe. My stepfather, King Feimer Carson had even held harsh negotiations with the Humans within his territory, for their troops to be withdrawn immediately, or else it would be perceived as an act of aggression. ]
"Shameless! How could one be so shameless, those countries are coming to his rescue! Aggression?"
"Can this be possible? The people of Mist have no history of surrender over thousands of years. Despite numerous times of being on the verge of annihilation, they had survived. This news must be false, the Mist Kingdom never surrenders!"
Reinforcements from all countries were pretty much in the dark. A moment ago, they were coming to rescue of their allies, in a twinkling, they became the intruders. Should this war continue to be fought? What was the purpose of our blood and sacrifices?
The people of Sleuweir, were feeling even more devastated, when they had decided to fight until their last breath, their king had however given in. Imperceptibly, they had become the people of a subjugated nation, yet they had to banish their liberators.
That was the deepest despair. The people of Mist, who was always proud of their unyielding spirit, had never suffered such humiliation. For the first time, they fathomed betrayal, despair and disgrace, severely. "Even staining the face with mud doesn't feel so dirty!" Some people said so, while some people, had committed suicide on the second day, never would they accept such sickening truth that their country had surrendered.
Being so adamant that they would rather break their bones than bowing, they might be seemingly foolish, but that was the backbone of this race. And also, it was why they could stand up again every single time they were defeated. It was impossible for them to consider surrendering, even amidst the darkest impasse. Even though the Mist Kingdom had fallen three hundred years ago, they were able to rebuild another Mist Kingdom.
"You can kill me, but you will never make me kneel! The people of Mist knows no bowing, we won't give up and won't be slaves!"
For many years, whenever they dealt with invasion from Beastmen, Devils, Elves and other countries, whenever they reached the blind alley, this was the battle cry of the people of Mist Kingdom. They would risk their lives to fulfil their promises, and also due to this trait, they had been standing firm in the north of the continent.
This time, the pain and sufferings while battling the Beastmen were beyond endurance, but that didn't deprive the people of Mist of their resolve to fight until the very end, No matter how hopeless the circumstances had become, they always believed the final victory belongs to them, and their countries.
Being in such a blind alley, however, they could still talk about the past and the present, and chuckle "You call this a dead end? We had experienced it for countless times!" They still believed they would achieve victory, the knights would protect them, and the royals would lead them to the victory of glory and pride, once again.
"Those northern men know no despair, they are stinky and stubborn, just like the frozen stone in the Northland, there is no way they could be subdued."
The people of Mist considered this comment from the southern men as a compliment, no matter how many difficulties lay in front of them, they would never learn about despair, as they were confident that they would be victorious in the end.
The World had always presumed the people of Mist would never surrender, but a letter of surrender delivered from the king in the distance had written a new chapter of history, the very first time, the people of Mist was deprived of their desire for victory, seeing that bewilderment and disappointment in their eyes was simply heartbreaking.
Some people had chosen to commit suicide in disappointment, while some had looked upon the man above the throne with hatred.
"We won't surrender, the Mist Kingdom won't surrender, that man doesn't deserve to be our king! If the news is real, he is none other than a puppet king."
Right after that, another news had reached the ears of the entire Northland, staggering the whole world, but it had helped the people of Mist to regain their confidence and hope.
"I'm the descendant of Mist, Roland Mist. I now declare Feimer Carson as a puppet king, and all the decisions he made have no credibility. Henceforth, I will make a crusade order, a vow of crusade! We will all raise the war flags of Mist, I hope all the people of Mist will fight along with me, to crusade against the puppet king! The Spirit of Mist. Never surrender!"
Colloquially, it means:
"Damn it, what's spoken by that bastard doesn't count, Feimer, you scumbag, just wait, I will take down your head!"
The notice was short and was not properly legislated, but very soon, the people of Mist in the Sleuweir had torn down their previous national emblems and the king's portrait, and replaced with the new one.
Would they not know his facial features? His statue was in the centre of all the city square. For so many years, he was never apart from all his brothers.
Above the flag which had been risen again, it was still the same old fortress, standing firmly in the gale, but this time, the people were cheering a name.
"The Mist King Roland, our king has returned, our real king has returned, we have not surrendered! The people of Mist, never surrender!" (to be continued...)
TL Note: In Chinese, the word "sophomore - 中二" roughly means, immature but pretend to be cool and competent. Or as the japanese would call it, chuunibyou.
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Chapter 165: Feast of the Traitors
On the boundless ice field, the scenery appeared stagnant, and when the sun rose, the black horizon turned out to be an assembly of cavalry and warriors.
"The beastmen are here!"
After the simple announcement, the first wave of catapults and tactical magic started to perform their duties, the huge rocks soared through the sky, following a dreadful noise. Every time they landed, dozens of lives were taken away.
Originally, the Maple City was just a normal double layered wall city, but after countless investments from the other countries, it had been upgraded to a four layered wall fortress.
Earth wizards may not have the strength and magnificence in attacking magic compared with other elemental wizards, but in civil engineering tasks, they would show advantage that other elemental wizards cannot compare with.
One by one, high walls were rose in a blink of an eye, followed by the chanting of "Turn soil to mud" the city moat was widened by seven to eight meters, and the alchemical venom that flowed within may not be lethal, but could slow the foe down.[1]
At least the city walls were more than three times taller, on the towering high walls, it was full with ballistics and heavy artillery. Griffin cavalries were patrolling in the skies, searching for spots that might be missed.
On each platform on the city wall, countless catapults were built up, such historical siege and defence weapons, as long as there are enough scholars and craftsmans, it will bring sufficient power. What difference is a huge stone falling from the sky and the meteor spell, when it would kill anything it hits anyway.
Simple, violent, effective, low cost, were the reasons that catapults were essential in wars.
But this time, the enemy had just entered the shooting range of the largest catapult, the distance was very far, it was impossible to hit precisely and pose a threat, but mostly it was just a type of deterrent.
"On the battlefield, there is no safe spot."
Not to be outdone, the beastmen fought back. Mobile catapults had limited range, even the largest ones can barely scratch the city walls. Their projectiles raised some dust and rubble, and made the guards laughed.
Not long ago, the rocks and boulders were already being cleared, and the usable stones were stored in the city storage as ammo. To find suitable ones for themselves, the beastmen had no choice but to bring in their own ammo from afar.
And meanwhile, at the west city gate, the East Mist army was assigned there for defensive purposes, and as a temporary leader, Reyne's palms were full of sweat, this was only the second time she encountered war, but is her first time being involved as a militant.
"Hold on, hold on, Reyne. You can do it, in those years when brother Roland went to the battlefield, he was younger than you are now.""
What she did not know was that as she encouraged herself silently, a few persons were keeping their eyes on her, while some kept on searching for the mysteries of the world through her eyes.
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The road to hell is paved with good intentions, this is something common, but there is also something called doing good with bad intentions, rare as it is.
"The Coward" Feimer Carson's surrender, brought Sleuweir Kingdom great disgrace. He was the first of the descendants of Mist to surrender (Nominally). At the same time, he was labelled as the clown of history, it was a very strange but important influence on the war.
Firstly, due to the fall of the kingdom and the surrender of the royals, Sleuweir was turned into the subordinate of beastman tribe, Suddenly, the castellan and lords of other cities and towns were lost. However, the beastmen army got to bypass the city-states, directly reaching Maple City, the core of it all.
"Why fight when we have already surrendered?"
The second influence had a deeper impact, that was the declaration of war against the beastmen from the elves.
Yes, they declared war. That silent alliance only lasted for less than half a month, and suddenly changed to a hostile relation immediately.
This time, the elven king of Tassel did not show mercy, the human bast*rd chosen as the tipping point was a San Antonian, moreover, he was a noble of the Karsomi Communal Country. He was also the one pulling the strings behind and a slave trader.
Therefore, they changed their targets to Sleuweir and the Karsomi Communal Country suddenly. After that, San Antonio which was next by default, was not able to get off of this situation.
His plans were good, and as long as the war went well, he could use the tipping point and escalate it to stimulate the grievance of people, letting the war continue spreading. Since it was all for the revenge of Princess Suana who was the anti war faction, the peace faction and anti war faction could not disagree on this.
But if the targeted chief culprit Sleuweir surrendered to the beastmen, and in the end was protected by the beastmen instead, from which side should they get their revenge from?
General "Black Bear" Ainro was quite sharp at times, and also quite courageous. When he knew about "Peace Dove's Death", immediately he discovered the conspiracy. Right away, he removed the family of that bast*rd noble's name from Karsomi, captured his brothers and gave it to the elves, and added a genuine and sincere apology letter.
"... Hearing of that tragedy, at the same time we grieved, we deeply regretted. We will never let the murderer run free, as he himself had already died, we hereby present his brothers and wife as an offering, to propitiate Princess Suana's soul in the heavens…"
Well, this was actually not very appropriate, and also shameless, but in a sense, it worked for the elves who were famously stubborn, the human kings also fathomed that these elves had proud nature and do not yield to strength but can be persuaded by reason.
"We offer a few unworthy descendants of a family, and we apologize sincerely, for the Karsomi Communal Country had already done a great job. By using a sinner's wife as an offering is no different from the barbaric beastman, if the news spread, it will affect the reputation of Tassel Kingdom and the elven tribes."
When this kind of news spread out, the war-pursuing faction of Tassel Kingdom noticed that there were something wrong.
In fact, the elven kingdom was the home to the administrative system and congress system. In the eyes of the world, it represented equality, a symbol of peace, and the elven states with different regimes were regarded as the Kingdom of Freedom, but the throne was comparatively weak.
In the eyes of the emissary of the war-pursuing faction, if most of the elves had fulfilled their revenge, and wanted a truce with the "alliance", then wouldn't Suana's "sacrifice" be wasted? How could this nonsensical ending be accepted, how could they face the elven gods who wanted to intensify the contradiction.
While the elves were very particular about reputation and fame, wouldn't a war without a righteous cause make them evil invaders? How would the kind and peace loving elves become sinful invaders, we needed to be on the side of justice, our targets must be the wicked villains.
Therefore, a report with completely solid intelligence was dug out. Within it was the proof of elf trafficking of recent years, and surprisingly those elf traffickers and slavers had official backgrounds, the arch-criminals or the one behind these directly pointed fingers at Sleuweir, and their nobility and royalty.
The truth was that when slavery exists in this nation, the officials actually turned a blind eye on it, when the bloody chain of benefits exists, how can the upper strata be clean?
Well, then it would all be the fault of King Feimer, but speaking of the truth, from the fact that he kept hundreds of elven dancers in his palace. It surely seemed that he was not wronged falsely.
In the eyes of the elves, they were not invading and instead, they were exacting revenge and bringing justice, the evil Kingdom of Sleuweir must pay the price. The evil humans shall be expelled from the land of elves.
But then, the elves met some trouble. Sleuweir had surrendered. The people of Mist who were stubborn mules actually surrendered? To these longevity tribe, it was beyond imagination - as if the elves had turned cheerful and magnanimous, the dwarfs turned clean and tidy, the beasts had turned educated and reasonable.
The surrender of Sleuweir aside, the elves had to ask themselves if they wanted to continue with this idea of revenge.
If they do not exact revenge, they just cannot let it go, and it would feel like they cannot face certain existence.If they chose on revenge, wouldn't it be an act of aggression towards Feimer, which was under the dominion of beastmen? Would the beastmen willingly give up their hard earned trophy of victory?
"Dumb savage beasts, hand us Feimer and his filthy minions, we still can talk… wait, why are you holding me back. Ah!"
The elven envoys were as arrogant as usual, causing a weak negotiation attempt to end up in failure. But this was also the outcome that some elven kings needed.
"To all high priests, please inform "him" that "his" will be carried through.
Anzolo Seustad Adelband, this tediously long name that was an abbreviation of itself. A lot could be said about his life, and he had a handful of names, but there was one adjective that could describe him well - Elven God.
The Gods of Order was composed of a mixture of various divine systems, and among the god level existences, there were only seven of them, proving how formidable he was. By the way, it was he who exiled Lorci, caused the falling of dark elves, and the target list of Harloys' vow of revenge was also headed by him.
As Elven God and the guardian god of the whole elven tribe, how could the will of Anzolo be violated, and therefore the elves declared war upon the beastmen, they declared war towards the beastmen who "attempted" to protect Feimer.
"As expected, the thought patterns of elves… I'm afraid that our elf study needs to be revised again. Hmph, the more intense the battle is the better it is, it will be best if they slay each other."
As the human militarists were raising their eyebrows, they were also looking forward to the comedy, but very soon they were to find that this declaration of war was just a pretence.
When the beastmen gave up on other cities and focused on the final battle, suddenly the elves began the slaughter, but of course, in the dictionary of these arrogant elves there is no such filthy word, they prefer the term, 'purge'.
The overflowing hatred was infectious, the blood-lusting madness spread with no end, and quickly, judgement was out of control, any proof of nobles whose ancestors took part in slavery was enough for the whole family to be hanged.
"What? Your grandfather served as a mercenary before? And you weren't clear of where he made his living? I'm sorry then if you can not prove that he was innocent, that means he was guilty, and if he was guilty, you are guilty."
The elven pastors served as judges also fell into an inexplicable fever, in their discernment of guilt and in the trial of implicated offenders, rarely anyone escaped unscathed. The only merit compared to the beastmen was that they had not yet acted upon the commoners for now, or in their terms, they had not started punishing them.
How is it possible for a war to have no casualties, facing their losses, with the so-called elven gracefulness, to let the city defence soldiers choose a not too embarrassing death.
Therefore, all around the fallen city hung human heads, the commoners who survived by luck stared at these long ears with their eyes full of hatred.
"They are truly some frenzied warlords, I'm afraid that the northern elves will never return to what they once were, maybe after this havoc, elves would be no more."
But I saw sadness from the elves' frenzy. The only one who can lead the pastor's will was the gods, and since the gods did not care about dignity anymore, they themselves had already fallen into despair and madness due to the loss of their dignity.
By choosing to betray the Gods of Order, by acting as the vanguard of the War God, in an era where vanguard is almost the synonym of cannon fodder, soon the collective fall of the elven gods will come.
"This truly is the feast of traitors."
Even while saying such words, I was repeatedly reading the letter written to another betrayer, considering on whether or not to reconsider their stance that would directly affect the outcome of this war.
"Dear lady Lorci, good day, I am your loyal fan Roland Mist, you may have heard of me, I have always been intrigued by your art of interrogation, and would like to find a chance to learn from you (omitting the flattery of 5000 words)... You should have heard of the recent happenings, and here, I have a little suggestion…"
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Chapter 166: No One is Immortal
Among the snow coming down from all over the sky, there was an eerie laughter, and with lips that flapped out some peculiar and incomprehensible phrases, a visitor in silver robes was knocking on the door of the palace.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The sound of his ring pounding the door was inconceivably loud, that it could reach the ears of the citizens, reminding them of a funeral bell.
"Bang, bang bang!"
The knocking sound was reverberating, an intangible magic power could be sensed within it, which was quite vexing.
"Little Fismer, are you there? Hehe, I'm coming to play with you."
The unwelcome guest seemed to be whispering below the city walls, his voices however, was able to transmit around to every room in the palace through an uncertain medium.
King Fismer woke up abruptly from his dream, a nightmare in which he was being pursued by a fierce demon. Right after that, the reverberating voice and eerie laughter rang in his ears.
"Hehe, Little Fismer, I'm coming to play with you."
That eerie voice was just behind him, in a split second, Fismer turned his head but it was just an empty wall, there was nobody there.
"Little Fismer, I know you are home, stop hiding!"
This time, the voice came from the side, Fismer stood up violently. He pulled out his sword from beneath the pillow and swung it towards the direction of the voice, just to find it directed at his Elven slave, who was petrified.
Just when the corpulent Fismer was frightened by this spooky scene and took a deep breath, "Bang Bang Bang", the sound of knocking door sent him over the edge.
"Who!! Who dares to disturb me now?"
"I, have, found, you! Come, play, together."
That creepy and chilling voice rang up again. At this moment, Fismer suddenly recalled, that his room door was in front of him, while behind him...
"Bang Bang Bang."
The window was still making the banging sound, under the pounding of a peculiar white hand, an ash-pale grinning face stared through the window, with a pair of glowing red crescent eyes.
"Wait, for, me, little, Fis, Mer, I, am, coming, for, you!"
The more it spoke, the laughing face laughed even more gleefully. The grin got wider until it could reach the cheek, and now, it had actually turned into a scary demon face.
That was absolutely not the face of a Human!
In a twinkling, an inexplicable coldness crept up everyone's spines. The surrounding slaves were shocked into fainting on the spot, meanwhile, Fismer Caso was frightened to such an extreme that he threw down his sword, which was supposed to be his all-time life saver.
"Boom!"
The very precious elixir had triggered an explosion, and flames sprang up over all the place, half of the room was blown up to the sky.
"Sough sough sough."
Right after the curling smoke dissipated, the cold wind was drawn in, but nothing was left before the eyes.
Seeing that the remaining room had become a terrace, however, only the snow-drops could be seen coming in, and there was not a single trace of the man who uttered the voices.
The hoarse chuckle, again, rang in Fismer's ear.
"Lives forever (no one lives forever). You can run, but you cannot hide!"
In the end, he still could not get rid of the eerie voices around his ears. The cowardly Fismer was falling apart and even screamed like a woman.
"Guards! Guards! There's an assassin! Somebody wants to kill me!"
He ran naked into the hallway, the guards who hurried to the scene, looked incredulously at the most unsightly king.
After running several steps in the corpulent body, he had collapsed on the floor, gulping for air. Subsequently, the screaming Fismer pulled a sword abruptly from a guard and furiously slashed at the curtain swinging with the wind.
"What are you looking at? There's an assassin! You bunch of junks, have you been bought over too? Want to kill me? I tell you, if I'm dead, I will take you down with me, I mean it!"
Seeing this, the guards and the knights were shocked, at the same time, their faces were filled with a disgusted, yet pitiful expression towards Fismer. In their eyes, this man who had just reduced them from respectable guards to junks, had probably gone crazy.
"Why are you looking at me? You bunch of useless scum, should you be not so useless. I wouldn't have had to surrender to those filthy and worthless Beastmen! It was all your fault, it was all because of you, bunch of useless idiots!"
The enraged king violently wielded the sword in his hand, his grounding in swordsmanship left behind since young was barely acceptable. However, before the knights, this moronic way of wielding the sword was meaningless. As they dodged the attacks without a hitch, they continued to look at each other, and then at the insane king, pitying him even more.
"...ha, ha."
Very soon, Fismer who had abandoned himself to wine and women, slumped resignedly on the floor. Gulping for air strenuously, he was feeling short of breath.
Unconsciously, he tried to pull something away from his neck, but unexpectedly, what he touched was not the flesh of man.
That was a pair of ice cold arms, grabbing him deadly by the throat, and the ice cold breath had already reached behind his ears, it was still the same hoarse voices.
"I, caught, you!"
"Aaaaaaaa!"
The king screamed madly in terror, only to elevate the strange feeling of the guards, they could see nothing unusual except Fismer, who was flailing madly for no apparent reason.
In their eyes, Fismer had suddenly squeezed his own neck, while screaming, yet rolling on the floor, his tongue had been squeezed out, but he squeezed himself even harder, as if he would not die.
There were people who derived pleasure from seeing such misfortune, but most of the guards still rushed to his assistance, after all, as the bodyguards of the king, their reputation would vanish if the king whom they served loyally, died in such a ridiculous manner,
But this time, they would very soon realise that Fismer was not just going crazy.
"Roar"
The entire wall was shattered by a brute force, the head of a huge lion formed by the frigid ice had come in, its unspeakable majesty was as deadly as the pervasive freezing air. The visitor in silver rope on top of the lion, wasn't he the unwelcome guest who knocked the door just now?
"Yo, no one opened the door after so long? Well, I came up here on my own. Well, buster, I told you, you can run, but you cannot hide!"
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The guards acted as they were facing an incredible opponent, by simply swinging my hand the ghostly blue phantom had risen from Fismer, and then they revolved around me like kids who yearned for candy.
The flames at the back were rising, the gleam of magic had lighted up half of the sky. Along with the plan, it seemed that Adam and Margaret had successfully distracted the strong ones, of course, I had seized this opportunity too.
Hence, I drew my sword. As the blue phantom revolving joyously above the sacred sword of Roland, they transformed into a raging frosty sacred flame.
Obviously, the way I pulled my sword had agitated the audience, so, shaking my head, I returned the sacred sword to its scabbard.
Following the return of sacred sword to its scabbard, the blue flames finally went out, and the ghostly phantom was sent back into deep slumber, and even I had breathed a sigh of relief, as the power of this newborn creature was too unearthly, that even I felt uncomfortable with it.
"Ow, this power works so well in finding and scaring people. Unbelievable!"
Nevertheless, this moment was not the end. The Royal Guards were always the most refined warriors, and those surrounding us, was definitely the most refined ones. They stepped into a formation, protecting Fismer, who was at the centre.
The one who comes isn't kind, the one who is kind doesn't come. When I came, I had created a major turn of events. Now, they were no longer interested in merits, but only strove to avoid any mistakes, and prioritized the protection of their king before everything else.
"You… Who are you? Did that fellow send you to kill me?"
Perhaps the guards had given him courage, to my utter surprise, Fismer was yelling at me.
"You're half right, indeed I'm here to kill you, but, I work for nobody. It's just my very principle to clean up my own mess."
And thus, I took off my hood, shaking off the snow, and smiled to him.
"Aaaaaaa, Roland!"
He had, however, made a more piercing scream, which was quite impolite. Hence, I reached out my hand, and blue magic power radiated from my palm, the blue handprint had reappeared on the neck of Fismer, but this time, it directly dragged him towards me.
In a twinkling, Fismer was dragged by the ghostly hand to me, and the surrounding guards had turned pale with terror, but still tried to snatch at him.
The few royal guards, were, in fact, Gold-rank fighters, and they were charging in full throttle, murderously. However, what they were facing was not just me alone.
"Shut up you idiots!"
As one of the elder Frigid Nightmares, Hellcoming was the friend of the first-generation Mist King, he should be around 1700 years old now, his skills knew no bounds.
A single roar had sent some unlucky knights, one by one flying towards the wall.
Looking at the useless man who was overwhelmed with fear, the flames of fury were rising in my heart.
"You, a descendant of Mist? Scum like you, the Mist King?"
It was all due to his feebleness and selfishness, which led everything down the worst path. Should he have listened to the advice and prepared for the war, all of these would not have happened, never would the Beastmen armies invade the hinterland so easily, it was just like walking into an empty castle.
Owing to just a wrong thought, the blood was flowing like a river.
"Bang!"
To think of the countless lives being sacrificed, was beyond my tolerance, and thus, I threw the heaviest punch I could, right on his face.
"Believing the villain, ignoring the earnest words, sitting aside while watching the invasion of Beastmen… arrogant and ignorant, committing all manner or outrage, willful and outrageous, do you deserve to be king?"
"Bash!"
It was another punch, falling violently on the right side of his face.
This time, a few teeth had fallen, Fismer mouth was full of blood, he sobbed in tears, and started begging for mercy.
Watching him beg for mercy just enraged me even more.
In this war, I have seen countless heads hanging off trees, and I was afraid that they didn't even have a chance to beg for mercy. That aside, they wouldn't have even begged for mercy, they would go to any length to protect their families and homes, but this damned fatty before me…
"Sitting aside to watch the country falling, keeping all military forces to protect himself, not even sending a fraction of his military forces to assist the other cities… coward, selfish, foolish, non-visionary, do you think you're worthy to be king?"
"Bash"
This time, the violent punch had fallen on his stomach, it hurt so much that he had bent over like a prawn.
"...dissolute and dissipated, being promiscuous in the palace, you worthy to be king?"
Looking at the bewildered Elven slaves at the front, I couldn't help to think of how Fismer, as a king, would indulge in slavery, which had invoked so much resentment, creating such a chaotic situation.
"..., colluding eoyj the other races but bringing ruin to your own race, do you call yourself a king?"
To trade for Beastmen ladies with the Beastman Chief, he had removed the defending troops for the Beastmen to snatch away the famed Human beauties, I couldn't believe my ears, upon hearing the news, and never would one imagine that there was such a shameless king.
"...murdering his kin, usurping the throne, do you call yourself a king?"
Unlike the royal families in the past, all of Fismer's siblings had died a miserable death. Before all of these disgusting crimes, how I was stabbed was but a trifle.
More and more punches came down, I was getting more furious the more I attacked. If it wasn't because of this imbecile here, things wouldn't have come to this point. The Spirit of Mist that we had been guarding at all costs, wouldn't suffer such a humiliation.
"Just when all the people were striving to leave, how dare you surrender? How dare you surrender! How could you have the audacity to surrender! Over two thousand years of Mist Kingdom history, and you're the first King to surrender… clinging to life cravenly instead of braving death, abandoning honour and justice, and you call yourself a king? Why?!"
"Ah!"
A vicious arm, coupled with a leg, had shattered the backbone of Fismer, leaving him to lie prone on the floor, breathless.
Nevertheless, this was just the beginning.
"Losing honour as a leader, losing people as a king, losing virtue as a man." I, Roland Mist, as the last descendant of Mist, hereby impeaches Fismer Caso!
"I, the Hellcoming the Frigid Nightmare, in the name of the first-generation royal family, exempt the proposal of Fismer Caso, and propose that Roland Mist be the temporary Mist King.
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Chapter 167: History
"Losing honour as a leader, losing people as a king, losing virtue as a man". I, Roland Mist, as the last descendant of Mist, hereby impeaches Fismer Caso!
The former King's lion gestured with his hand, and with the help of the sonic wave ability, of which the Frigid Nightmares were all gifted with, my angry roar was spread to every corner of the entire city.
The mangled king laid on the floor, but, enraged as I am, stood on the dais of the palace, and announced my decision to the world.
The prepared sheep-skin paper was spread out, the crimes that were little known were being read out, one by one for all to hear. The magical prestidigitation allowed these blood-like words to float in the air, catching even more attention!
"Crime number one, in a cruel manner that lacked all compassion, the slaying of blood relatives…of kin."
...
"Crime number fourteen, uncontrollably extravagant; wastage of resources; watching the people die of hunger and yet wearing clothes of silk and feasting to his heart's content!"
"Crime number fifteen, collaborating with foreigners, bringing danger and enemies into the country…"
As one after another shocking crime was read out, the windows of every house opened, to listen to the announcement that came from the palace.
The more I read, the more furious I became, looking at the long list of remaining crimes, I did not feel like continuing any more. I just tore it apart and started berating with the rage that bubbled from the bottom of my heart.
"We will take care of all these crimes, but most importantly, I can not stand the sight of you weaklings anymore! Therefore, I demand that you get your ass off the throne as King of Mist!"
"One thousand and seven hundred or so years ago, Northland was a wasteland, with perpetual coldness. Wild beasts were everywhere, and all the bad conditions we see now, have remained unchanged since then. But at that time, this land was famous for being the land of exiles. Every country exiled their criminals here, and they usually died within three to five years. If any survived, then there were more trouble, without any survival skills, a majority of them turned into bandits."
"Natural disasters, crimes, wild beasts all at once, even if at that time Northland was not hell on earth, it was very close!"
Following Roland's description, and comparing it to the current scenario, the Mist people were starting to guess where this is heading.
"At that time, former King Raven Date, who had suffered under the hand of the bitter North, unexpectedly received the Frigid Nightmare Contract and gained strength, he was determined to build a country of his own in this barren land. He never planned to be the great man who aspired to build a safe haven for humans, he just had had enough of those precarious days, and he hoped to build a land to call home for himself and his own kind, a home that protected them from the oppression and bullying from foreign races."
As the sun rose slowly, the roars rang through the whole city. After the citizens were temporarily stunned into silence, Prince Roland's name and deep voice stopped the people in their tracks to listen attentively.
"During the beginning, everyone sneered at him for trying to bite off more than he could chew, they thought he was an idiot sleep talking. And building a country here is equivalent to building a fortress at the frontlines of the war between men and beastmen, the beastmen were certain to oppose its construction. And he, this penniless lad, who couldn't even take care of his meals, where would he find the resources and food for self-sustainability?"
"However, there is no impossibility in this world, Raven Date, no matter how many hardships he had to experience, forced the impossible to become possible, and built his home on this frozen land."
"No valuable local products or riches? He believed that where there is a will, there is a way. He found himself a group of Dwarves friends, and formed an engineering team of natives. Measuring inch by inch, digging spade by spade, they stubbornly found their own special local products in this barren land -- Magic Minerals."
"No sturdy defence against the threats of the outer world? At the border, his followers and himself dug the gully and sentry by their bare hands, and replaced guarding troops on horses with their legs, and used their flesh and blood to build the other walls to protect their own people!"
The young people preparing to go to work, the woman preparing food for the family, the old man walking, when they heard these stories about their former King that were not recorded in the history books, they stopped in their tracks.
"Praise the former King! It is you, who pioneered our homeland, and allowed us to live with dignity."
""We admit that our lives were very hard, we had nothing in our pockets. I could not guarantee that after fighting so hard with me, that there will be any change, but what I know for sure, is that if we do not do anything just because there is no guarantee, then we will never do anything. If we must die in this cold and hunger, I hope that at least, I gave all I could give until the very last moment." That was what our former King said. In the harshness of nature, there were no miracles from heaven, no mysterious hope. All there was to rely on was yourself and your companions, and this was what that was known as the Spirit of Mist. And the Northlanders that were chosen by our former King to follow him became the earliest Mist people."
"We are different from the other ancient races, a majority of us have mixed ancestry. But what identifies us as Mist race, is never our bloodline or skin colour, all Northlanders with the Spirit of Mist, are considered Mist people! These are the true words from the mouth of our former King, and the truth that we, the descendants of Mist, always believed in!"
"One thousand four hundred and twenty-three years ago, that was the first time Mist Kingdom almost faced annihilation. The Demon army, as if appearing from our very own nightmares, broke open the gates that led to the underground. Uncountable demons and devils swarmed towards the gates. Overnight, seventeen cities in Mist kingdom were taken over. In Diffindor, the capital city, a state of emergency was announced, but the Mist people did not give up their homes. To protect their homes, they sacrificed countless lives, determined to send the demons back to where they came from."
"The marks of what had happened remained to this day, and that is the Aweimar, the abyss of demons. No, the most important mark and heritage left from that time is the war flag that is still dancing in the ravaging wind. That day, the Spirit of Mist and the War flags of Mist were stained with the red colour of blood for the first time. We went on to the development path that was completely different from the Central Northland. Grit and perseverance became the most significant aspect of our culture. Unbending will and an unyielding temperament became the insignia we wore proudly."
The citizens silently watched the War flags of Mist that could be seen everywhere, a new feeling of appreciation slowly grew from within. Perhaps, what was passed down was not only blood, but a secret buried deep within, waiting to be revealed.
"One thousand one hundred and twenty-nine years ago, there was a battle that involved many races. The Beastmen who could no longer remain silent invaded the Northland. In that cruel winter, it was a war that no one expected, but it lasted for twelve long years. The Mist people lost one million three hundred and seventy thousand men in battle, and countless wounded. Most of the royal family members were lost, and as for lords who were responsible for protecting their homeland, the Mist Palace lost four kings and seven royal members. The youngest lost was only five years of age. From the day he took the throne to the day he died in battle, it had been only twelve days. From then on, princes would always be the front line generals of the army. Every young child must receive training of the sword and horse because we never know when he might need it someday. And once he goes on the battlefield, no matter his age, he had only two choices - to return to glory, or to die with dignity!"
"Another new tradition that was formed was that when the King falls, his prince will assume the throne. If the prince has fallen, the princess will take his place, and when the princess has fallen, the queen shall lead. As long as the royal family survives, the defence will not stop. Since our beginning, we of the Mist bloodline will never be taken as prisoners. Because our enemies know that taking us is pointless. After all, our ancestors have led us by examples. Surrender? Be taken as prisoners? How can we, their descendants, disappoint our founders? We would rather kill ourselves."
"Seven hundred years ago, the war that started out of a sudden, came like a dagger from behind. The sudden rise in foreign slave trade represented an endless blood stain, but it also represented endless wealth. And our Mist Kingdom stood on the path to treasure, therefore many superior weaponry fell into the hands of the Beastmen. After that war with the Beastmen, despite our torn homeland, we declared war with the many countries that were behind the war."
"Finally? Hmph, what are those weak Southerners against our Cavalry that had gone through countless battles and wars. When our riders dragged their foolish bodies, with their crowns still on their heads, to parade them through our cities, no country ever dared to look down on us Mist people again. Of course, from then on, our relationships with the human countries never recovered. And we have never regretted!"
"Time and time again, our calamitous country suffered countless ransackings and wars. Without us noticing, we became a historical "ancient kingdom", this is undoubtedly and unsurprisingly the perfect insult. The unattended wild flowers endured the bitterly cold of the Northlands and survived, yet those Southern saplings who were so well taken care of, withered one after the other."
"Three hundred years ago, in a war that I experienced myself, ferocious and bloodthirsty Beastmen, cunning and powerful demons, and those human comrades who always went back on their words, everything our ancestors faced, came all at once. That time, I failed, our defence failed, and our country was destroyed."
The low voice tinged with a sob, that soundless suffering and remorse pierced the hearts of the citizens, in the city, the Mist people would always repeat the same answer, despite their different opinions.
"No, our prince, you have done excellently, we are proud of you, please do not condemn yourself. And look, here we stand. As long as the Mist people still live, how can the Mist Kingdom not be revived?"
"Yes, we have not perished! The Spirit of Mist never perish! Even if the Mist Country has perished, our Mist race has not! Did you know, when there was news that there are Mist people forming Mist countries in the Northlands, I was so happy that I couldn't sleep. Even if it is no longer the kingdom I once knew, even if it were split to several lands, but as long as it stands tall in the Northland, I am satisfied."
"Countless of times, I couldn't sleep for days and nights when I thought of our homeland. But when the hatred for our destroyed homeland appeared in my thoughts, I made an oath. If I do not get revenge and make those murderers hiding behind the scenes pay tenfold for what we had lost, then I will not allow myself to live a peaceful life. All the people I know have died, and those who live in that homeland are no longer recognizable to me."
"Beloved prince, please do not hesitate and wonder, this will always be your homeland, we are your family, and we welcome your return!"
I smiled, surrounded by such faithful and lovely people, how can I not smile happily? But when I look at the lump of lard in front of me, my joy turned to anger, and my wrath resurfaced.
But…you, Fismer Caso, in your veins flows the Spirit of Mist, yet you did such despicable things."
I used to hope that this is an imposter, one who is unrelated to the Mist Royalty. But after seeing him in person, and cast the spell that was passed down through the generations, I was shocked to find out that he is indeed of the Mist Royal bloodline. The descendants of Mist have degenerated to such an extent?
"You, ostentatious, lustful and shameless! It is a good thing that Sleuweir knew how to be flexible, it was our inflexibility all those years ago that caused us so much pain. But being flexible does not equate to self-degradation, or getting involved with the extremely evil slave trade, or sending our people to be trampled on by Beastmen, you call yourself a protector of the people? You, are not worthy to be king!"
"You, ingrate, greedy, traitor! You allowed our homeland to suffer so much humiliation, yet you hide in your palace and surround yourself with luxury and pleasure. The warnings I sent you were treated as trash, so many who should have lived are dead because of you! And yet you happily enjoy the offerings and gifts from the people! You have the audacity to claim that you are the leader of the people, the king who has the great responsibility to protect the land and its people? You are not worthy to be king!"
"You are cowardly, despicable and dishonourable! The spirit of our ancestors have never faded, the ghosts of our ancestors are always watching us. If ghosts could materialize into our world, they would have murdered you already! How dare you surrender? The Mist Royalty has one thousand and seven hundred years of history, the ones who have perished in the battlefield are uncountable, and there was not one coward who dared to surrender! You..."
"...You, are not worthy to be King!"
"I, Ancient Frigid Nightmare Hellcoming, Aroyi, companion of Former King, the first of the royal members, hereby witness the abdication of the king, and elect Roland Mist as the temporary holder of the throne! I will personally be responsible for being the warden."
The citizens and royal guards were stunned for a moment, and then, a voice out of nowhere shouted: "Long live his Majesty Roland!". Suddenly the crowd exploded.
"Your highness Roland, no, your Majesty Roland, welcome back!"
"Your Majesty Roland, please do not hesitate, our gates are always opened for you."
Very soon, with the driving force of some faithful subjects, the cheers rang out to all corners of the land and sky. I obtained the support of the citizens so easily, in a sense, it was thanks to Fismer.
Amongst the crowd, there was a couple of people grumbling and bickering.
"...why must you force me to shout, Roland knows my voice well, he will definitely hear it, then he will laugh at it."
"You have teased him so many times, let him laugh. Oh yes, how is the wound on your right arm?"
"It's fine, that Beastman Shaman was injured worse than me. The others were just making up stories, this is no injury."
When everything of everything had been announced to the public, and the general situation has settled down, I mercilessly threw out the dying Fismer out.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Fismer's high pitched squeal shook the air, if he hit the ground, he would not survive. Some of the women and children had closed their eyes, unwilling to witness the horrific scene of smashed flesh. Yet I fixed my gaze at Fismer, still not able to relax.
"Splash!"
As expected, just as Fismer was going to crash to his death, two fleshy bat wings extended out of his back. With a strong flap of the wings, he glided from the ground and flew out of the city walls.
"Damn it! He's a cambion!"
The prediction has been proven, but it was not a good news at all. The descendant of Mist mixed with the blood of demons, no matter how I thought about it, there could only be one possibility.
"Karwenz...is this all your doing? Did you set this all up?"
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Chapter 168: The Cambions
What are cambions? Perhaps the Templar Cathedral have the most say in this matter.
"Those hybrid scums are born for destruction and conspiracies, they should all be dragged to the square and burned at the stake!"
Alright, I asked the wrong person, this generous and passionate pastor was obviously from the old-school "retro group". Until modern centuries, for some reason the Templar Cathedral had undergone an internal reform, afterwards, whenever they were seen, the cambions would just be condemned to life imprisonment, instead of getting burned to death.
The steps of improvements taken by the Templar Cathedral were nothing better, but I have to say that this move was correct in a sense.
Just as the name implied, cambions were the descendants of devils and demons. Carrying miraculous power in their blood, along with ability to manipulate peculiar supernatural power, they were natural warlocks. Allegedly, half of the existing demon warlocks were cambions of mixed parentage in the under plane.
If the recessive blood of the other race was under control, they could be natural warlocks. However, if it went out of control and manifested traits of the devil, perhaps demi-devils or demi-demons best described these beings which were not supposed to live in the main plane.
Unlike the bloodline of upper plane (angels) which people embraced and yearned for, the cambions had always been a big trouble, not only did the sucking of blood and the inclination for chaos faction was in their blood, but the bigger trouble was, the ancestors of their bloodline had committed all sort of outrages in the under plane.
The angels resorted to orders and worshipped the Gods, their wills were not that strong to interfere with the lives of their descendants, and even then they were highly restrained. But in the eyes of the devils, their hybrid descendants were living treasures split off from their blood, the blood and strength derived from them were the best mark and linkage.
The cambions might be born kind, or a brave fighter, but with their devil ancestors whispering incessantly beside their ears, they would imperceptibly lean towards the chaos faction.
In the eyes of the devils, the descendants who carried their blood were but good seedlings on the battlefield. They would call upon the innate devil of the descendants through the blood, the moment they crowed over their growing strength, was the time they lose control of their demonic impulse, and grow into demi-devils, in the end, they had no choice but to return to the under plane, serving as the new backbone of the devils.
In the abyss of endless war, the "young men" whom they influenced, were undoubtedly the best pawns and war elites.
The world had given cambions the moniker of "mongrels fated to be corrupted".
Amongst all the planes, the reputation of these half-castes had never been good as they had been mere pawns since hundred years ago. A cambion might be kind at first, and carried out good deeds for half of his previous life, he was praised by all the people. However, his soul might be manipulated when the crunch came.
Indeed, until here, the ins and outs of the matter were pretty clear now, meanwhile, Elisa brought back news from the abyss --- the Mist descendant in the North was the lineal descendant of a devil mogul.
The Mist Kingdom was divided into several pieces, with East Mist and Sleuweir being the biggest, that cambion should reside in one of them. Previously, it was unknown as to which one was it. Therefore, I had no choice but to exercise vigilance further on Reyne and suspended her from her duties.
And now, it was obviously the royal member of Sleuweir, I had breathed a sigh of relief deep in my heart, despite that the situation was still unfavourable. And then, I kept my face straight again.
"Karwenz, what do you want!"
My roar echoed to the skies, even if Fismer Caso had twelve wings, but still, he would never escape from me, right now, he was impaled by a sacred sword on the wall, clutching his chest in disbelief.
"No, no, I can't go back yet, I don't want to go back! I've yet to relish the beauty of this world, too many beautiful women and delicious food in the main plane, I don't want to go back yet! I'm not satisfied! I still want to be King, I don't want to die!"
The scales all over his body was emitting an uncanny white aura, his red pupils were gaining slight sign of pale yellow, This, was the mark of the prime devil, Fismer had unknowingly transformed from cambions to half-devil.
The prime devil could prevail upon their descendants through the bloodline and the linkage of souls.
Perhaps in those simulated nightmares brought by the devil, Fismerr had fallen to the under plane for countless times, he had even harboured an illusion that he was part of the devils.
Looking at the pale yellow pupils which were utterly demonized, I knew he could be saved no more, the corrupted soul such as him had nowhere to go than the styx.
"Devil! The king...no, the puppet king was a devil!"
The royal guards had put down their weapons under the exclamation of the people, nobody was willing to fight for Fismer anymore, after all, the name of the devil had always been the common enemy of everyone.
"Answer me, Karwenz, what do you want!"
Fismer was dead, but I was still clutching his neck to interrogate, but the target I interrogated, was the person hiding behind him.
"Haha."
Along with the familiar laughter, dark flames were being radiated from Fismer's body. Sensing the rage within me, the will of devil lord had finally descended.
Along with that eerie laughter, suddenly, the sky was overcast by dark clouds, which had blotted out the sunlight, the rising sun could be seen no more, it seemed that even the Gods were getting sick of this sight.
This was not any magic, but just the influence of the descending will of devil prince towards the world. To witness such a wrath, I was a little surprised, Karwenz was much stronger than expected.
"Just the descending will is enough to change the weather? I'm afraid this is already a God-level existence".
In my perspective, Karwenz's prowess had gone beyond imagination, and would not be inferior to any God-level people in Chaos faction.
"Roland, I never thought we would meet this soon. How dare you ask me what I want?"
Fismer's body started to burn, albeit demonized, his body still couldn't bear the tremendous power of the devil prince.
Nevertheless, Fismer's distorted face had given a familiar expression. That was a mischievous prank with innocence.
"Since you are so sincere in asking, I shall tell you benevolently…oh wait. Did you really think I'm actually benevolent? Really wanna know? You guess."
"Guess your sister!"
"Haha, isn't your sister mine too? Unfortunately, I would prefer an adorable sister to a brother...and if I answer you so easily, how disgraceful is that! And I'm a devil prince, if that is known by the rest, how could I be the leader! Let's be like always, leave the good play behind, the puzzle is meant to be solved in the very end…"
Burning vigorously in the demonic flame, the remaining body of Fismer turned to ashes, leaving a message behind.
"Roland, we will meet again very soon. Whoops, should I start calling you brother? Seems that I still can't do that in your face. Ah, the time has come...I'll forget about this time, the sacred war had just begun. We have a lot of chances to play together, slowly."
Following the dissipating ashes, Fismer's ghost could be seen. As the devil mogul who had spoken his heart lost his medium of communication, everything quieted down again, and the dark clouds started to disperse, the sunlight shined in again, the peace was restored.
"Damn it!"
Breaking the ground with my heavy fist, however, my unreasoning anger was meant to not receiving an answer.
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When the war in the north had just begun, the civil war of Xiluo had finally reached its end.
The winner? There was no winner, although the crown faction who had always been in the middle, suddenly chose to side with Omar, the situation of this war remained miserable.
Miserable, was the best word to describe it, because in this situation, if both sides continued fighting with all their power, in the end, it would be a mutual destruction, and there's certainly no winner.
No matter what was the ending, both side would suffer severe casualties, the war between undeads always went to the extent of obliterating the souls of each other. After losing myriads of its cadres, Xiluo Empire was bound to be reduced from a super kingdom to just another strong country.
Nevertheless, with the sudden arrival of a small troop of knights in the battlefield to ambush the headquarters of the Council of Dark Night, the scales were leaning towards victory.
That wasn't because of how incredible they were, but now, the rising flag of Mist now represented this man, and those red hounds were fighting as well, just for their owner --- Emperor Yongye.
At first, fellow undead warlords took them as the fake ones, as the history had indicated that the Red Hound Army had miraculously disappeared during the civil war. With the presence of the dreadful and gigantic black hounds amongst the skeleton knights however, all the doubts were now meaningless.
"The Demonic Spatial Hellhound, Bastian is back, only his lordship could ride on it!"
There were even conspiracy theorists, speaking as they had seen through everything.
"All of these was the conspiracy of that person, Omar, Lionheart, Ah DangCarnivore, Gria was once the retainers of his lordship, it must be he who urged the second senator to break the seal, and relied on his capability to stir up the civil war. The crown faction retrieved the crown when the time called for it. There's only one truth, and this must be the plot!"
Alright, not to discuss further on how these theorists could classify everything as part of the conspiracy, the emergence of the red hounds were undoubtedly a big deal, for after all, the return of Emperor Yongye had spread like wildfire, and if he really had returned, perhaps everyone should reconsider whom to side with.
The only demigod-level undead emperor in recent history, if this banner hadn't instilled enough fear, he actually carried the dazzling ring of the mightiest necromancer of the time, nothing was more concrete than this.
There was an upper limit to the power of a necromancer or lich, perhaps to compute the combat power of a necromancer, one must take account of his or her undeads warriors, the limit of the Red Hounds of Emperor Yongye was never known, as they were never defeated, in other words, nobody had known how far the power of Emperor Yongye could go.
The truth was, "the infallible Diffindor" was one of the trump cards that had been hidden by Roland. Keeping it secret deliberately, Roland had only used it twice, and the opponents who had seen it were dead.
The standard tactics of the necromancers were to use his very best undead warriors as the bodyguards as well as the vanguards in battle, diverting attention from their enemies. And then, they would cast the most powerful magic to blast the entire battlefield, seeking to end everything in one blow.
Emperor Yongye was doing likewise. With the Red Hound being the bodyguard as well as vanguard, and with "Ice Aeon" being the most powerful and victory-decisive magic, that would be unstoppable for one.
There weren't a lot of semi-god sorcerers, and the ones who could manipulate such level of destructive forbidden curses, could be counted on just five fingers, but to cast the forbidden curse was like throwing vegetables, regardless of its consequences and damage towards himself, there was none other than Emperor Yongye, even after all these years.
More than ten fallen kingdoms had witnessed the strength and slyness of this tactics. Should one not break the seal of Red Hounds before Emperor Yongye completed his forbidden-taboo casting, it was feared that even entire cities and armies would fall into an everlasting slumber.
In those years, the Yongye's army wasn't even required to attack the castle, once Emperor Yongye started to wield the curse, the fate of the war was pretty much sealed, and the aftermath of it would include dozens field operations in which the survivors attempted to launch insane attacks upon the defending undeads.
To fight an attrition war with the endless undead army, was none other than a time limited combat where death awaited… Those formidable armies with profound history had always fallen under the hands of skeleton soldiers due to exhaustion, and this cunning combination of tactics was indeed the best example.
Some cadres in the Council of Dark Night were the main forces of Yongye's army in the past, would they not know the habits of Emperor Yongye to give full consideration before making any move?
"The decisive battle should not be avoided without having more than 60% chances of victory. Victory or defeat should already be decided before the war begun, and then, the enemies would be wiped out aggrievedly."
This battle style of this emperor had always been such dreadful. The moment Red Hounds charged into the battlefield, was the time Emperor Yongye was going to harvest the victory of war with his own hands.
The fellow undead warlords had always derived pleasure from seeing how their enemies vanished, but to stand in front of the emperor, who was probably in the preparation of forbidden curse…
"I'm having a little stomachache, I must answer the call of nature now."
Hey hey, you were skeleton sorcerer, since when did you had a stomach.
"My wife is about to give birth, I've to go back now."
A death knight had said so, it was a short sentence, but carried a big hidden message, the spectators were startled.
"My lover is about to give birth too, I also want to go back."
Alright, another death knight was getting shameless too, but afterwards, the two who should fight each other had given a look of Freemasonry.
"How could you be so shameless?"
"I'm learning that from you."
Alright, the situation was clear without needing any more explanation.
In the end, feeling the heat of Emperor Yongye again, the influence which was established by the Council of Dark Night after toils and moils, was completely extinguished. When the Red Hounds had reached the headquarters, it was an empty building.
The civil war of Xiluo Empire had come to an end, the news about the second consuls, Feyman fleeing far with most of the armies from the undead plane, had very soon reached the ears of the whole world.
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Just when Roland was getting so bogged down on the chaotic scene before him, in another plane, there was somebody laughing gleefully...
"What I did? Hehe, I did nothing, I was just playing. Fismer is my descendant, of course, he's a cambion. Sigh, thought he would be a good part, to think that he would become like this after just a few rounds of game. Mortals, so fragile."
The laughing young man was rather handsome, and his laughter was natural too, but to behave like so in a situation like this, that was certainly abnormal.
"Ha, to think the expression of a brother at that time, I had no words. Guess? I myself haven't figured out the answer, how would you guess it?"
He was lying on the void, and the void had nothing at all, the only thing which caught the eyes, was the huge chess board, with all his chess (pawn) above it, that was quite a spotlight.
The chess was lives, which were all souls wailing in agony, and amongst them, with the power which could match the legends, they were probably the very heroes in the secular world.
And opposite him across the chessboard, there sat nobody, but the chess pieces were moving on their own.
"Northland? The Mist Country? Conspiracy? Nothing to do with me! I'm just looking forward to some happy games. My fellow cuties, show me what you got, don't disappoint me like Fismer. Hope so."
Perhaps, due to his willfulness, Karwenz could be promoted to his level in such a brief time.
No goods, no bads, everything was whether fun or not fun. Should the mood be good, he would put down a few chess pieces, and dispatch several cadres of his to rebuild the Mist Kingdom, should the mood be bad, he would flip the table and do nothing, in a sense, this trait of Karwenz was, in fact, the nature of Chaos.
"The flawless Chaos devil", "the blue-eyed boy of the Chaos", "the loved child of the Goddess of Chaos(whoever dared to call him so had been dead for long)", all of these were the monikers gained by the Karwenz in the under plane.
Doing things in a capricious style, yet able to smile like an innocent kid when creating disasters of which even the devils couldn't bear the sight, this son of the abyss who was completely in-character for Chaos, had made tremendous feats in just three hundred years. Stepping over countless corpses, he ascended to the highest sanctuary.
He had now earned an, even more, resound name --- the supreme ruler of the Chaos, the 14th existence of God level in Chaos faction.
Roland's prophecy was absolutely wrong, to think that even Karwenz didn't know what he would do next.
And now, Karwenz listened to the commands of no one except the Goddess of Chaos who was asleep, when the will to play surged within him, there was no one who could stop his game.
"This time, brother is playing with me, what a pleasure. Haha, defeating brother in a strategic game, this has been one of my dreams. Brother, you are a good guesser, so guess what's my next step, even I haven't thought of it." (to be continued…)
In chinese, "your sister - 你妹" is rude way of retorting one's sentence which you consider silly, done by appending sister behind the key word said by that person.
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Chapter 169: Pride
"Foolish apes, how dare you despise my existence, I am the omniscient magic mirror."
"Is that so? What's the answer for 1692321 times 768392, answer that in 3 seconds!"
"Ten trillion and three hundred billion three hundred and sixty-five million nine hundred and seventeen thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. Impressed, kid? You thought that my almighty creator will forget to equip me with a calculator?"
After hearing that, the silver-haired muscular guy was stunned, but he did not answer, he was still counting.
"... Let's assume that you are correct, let me tell you, it's not because I can't calculate it out, father taught me multiplications before."
Just from the looks, this good looking muscular guy was behaving like a living hero from a classic mythology, he was tall and fit, thickly built and had delicate features on the face… Well, this may be contradictory, but isn't there something strange known as Lee Gou Dan in this world?
"Now, the next question, besides my dad who is the most beautiful in this world."
"Of course it is you, our honourable Lord Omar, your beauty comes only after Lord Roland."
"Haha, you are really very honest, I kinda like you now. Have you eaten lunch yet? Want to have it together later?"
"Haha, although you are exceptionally handsome, seems like there is something wrong with your head. I am a mirror, how am I going to eat?"
Looking at the half naked thick built guy who was counting his fingers, while making various bodybuilding posture facing the mirror caused Lionheart to feel nauseous even though he did not possess a stomach anymore.
"... This… is just a perfect match. I'm impressed of King Roland, just a small present and he managed to tame this stubborn Omar."
That muscular body shone with an oily gloss, but then the face had the delicate features of a cute girl, furthermore, it was seventy percent alike to Roland, in a sense, Omar's existence was the dark past of Roland.
Yes, the "Lee Gou Dan" before the eyes was the Pride of Seven Deadly Sins. It couldn't be blamed that he looked like this.
Roland used the standard template of Undeads to create his own Seven Deadly Sins, Envy and Gluttony were made using sewed-up abomination as a base, while Pride from the Seven Deadly Sins was the same as Gluttony, a mutated spirit based on Banshee.
According to the initial design, he was an artificial soul who had no face, body nor gender, but as he grew, surprisingly he selected this as his appearance. Actually, it was caused by Roland who talked nonsense during his birth.
"As a man, only a muscular body is the true beauty."
Well, as a result, the muddled Pride viewed it as his gospel. And as the instinct of every life sees the mother as the most beautiful existence, without any doubt he used the face of Roland, and as everyone knew, Roland died too young, and the portraits he left was mainly from 11 to 12 years old. And in the end, this is how a child with aesthetic deviation was born.
Originally, if there were some slight misunderstandings, it was still possible to rectify, but in those years Roland was too busy (busy to start a war), Omar would not listen to others, and as a result it got worse and worse, and finally ended up being the most beautiful form of himself.
Parents understood more than the children themselves. Nobody understood Omar more than Roland, that was why by customising a flattery magic mirror, he could easily manipulate the few year old child.
Yes, only a few years old, only after a few years from birth he got sealed for rebelling, and during the sealed period he did not age. When he was released, his temper was just same as he was before sealed.
While the civil war of Xiluo ended, as the only victor, it seemed that Omar would be in control of this country very soon, and with his ability, he would bring this country and himself to greatness.
The ability of Pride, Omar? Actually, it would be very complicated to explain that, it was actually a very peculiar ability system, not only a sole ability.
"Pride" originated from different levels, based on the understanding of Roland, as a superior that dominated the life and death of the inferior, they often did not reason with the inferiors, thinking that they can look down on the inferior like ants from above, this was the root cause of how Pride became one of the Original Sins.
There were ranks for Undeads too. If so, wasn't it possible to create an innate ruler of the dead who was born with the ability to rule over the immortal Undeads?
Undoubtedly this was a queer topic, but Roland got his inspiration from the natural domination of queen bee and queen ant. They used a peculiar pheromone to build a network and used an intriguing method to take control of the whole group, causing the group to be dedicated to sacrifice themselves for their queen, even until death.
And the reason of selecting banshees as the standard template was because banshee was the few rare spirits which did not have low levels of existence, and the fact that they were composed by pure spirits was also very suitable to create a spiritual network.
In the end, the final result of the research was Omar, he was the only one who did not use any additional materials, a Undead entirely created by Roland himself, in a sense, calling Roland as father was not wrong at all.
"The supreme power of Undead network", this was what the combination ability of Omar was called. He could use the Undeads under him to construct a spiritual network to exchange information constantly, and as the supreme power of the network administrator, he could control every Undead under him.
This is the only ability of Omar, it did not sound so powerful, but it was unexpectedly powerful when used.
Low level Undeads did not have any intelligence, while he could grant them fake intelligence, in a battlefield, he was like an invisible hand of command, which could even command the Undead under him to perform minor movements, such as moving the fingers slightly. To gain consciousness, a normal Undead needed to be at least silver ranked, while he could let countless Undeads to possess fake consciousness, it could be said that under his control, the battle power of low level Undeads which was only capable to be used as cannon fodder will at least be tripled.
And this was just the beginning, Omar's powers were not that simple.
Spirit is power, the spirit of low level and high level Undeads will be connected to the Undead network, and how would someone such as him, who controls other Undead spirits, be weak?
Granting fake consciousness will not increase his burden, on the contrary, this lets him extract spiritual power to strengthen himself further.
With 300 low level Undeads under him, Omar would have around bronze rank battle power, with 3000 Undeads, Omar would be able to match Silver rank warriors, with 30000 Undeads, he could crush Gold ranked humans easily… When there is a spectral empire, his strength would be immeasurable, even for his creator Roland himself.
From this, one could tell that Omar's power was leaning towards army battles, from the beginning, "Pride" Omar was designed as the commander of Undead army, the effort Roland spent was also a few times more compared to other Seven Deadly Sins, his expected design did not fail, and the reason it had some issues was affected more by the problem of his personality.
"I was born to be the top amongst those under father, why should I be listening to you old folks? How is that dumb mutt qualified to sit in my place, and command the army which I should have controlled! I'm gonna take back my Undead army and build a nation that belongs to Undeads. This is the duty I was born for, and it is also father's expectations. We were born to be kings!"
Well, to a Undead formed from grudge, the crankier the soul the, greater the potential. But if the personality was too extreme, naturally there would be no way to discipline them, and in the end, it will end up to be the rebellion of naughty brats.
But in a sense, in those years Roland did not leave any room for manoeuvres, therefore it was still possible to communicate.
Only the Seven Deadly Sins and Roland himself understood the true power of Omar, the other Undead Lords only thought that he had very powerful undead control ability. The Xiluo civil war was meant to happen the moment Fitterland, who underestimated him, handed him the Undead army.
He could even his accept his own brother Bastian to have a higher ranking than him, for Omar who was arrogant, how could he accept an old lich above himself, hence as predicted by Roland, when Omar was released by Feyman, the second archon of Xiluo, it was as if they have set a time bomb for their own destruction.
Apparently, as the Civil War in Xiluo came to this extent, a choice was needed to be made.
So, Roland made a choice in advance, letting Omar ascend the throne, and sent Fitterland into the Undead plane.
At this moment, it was time for Omar to repay him.
"I understand father's intentions. And I loved his present. After I reorganize, I will fulfil my promise, and send armies to the northern lands to help father with the war."
Originally it was Roland who sealed Omar, Lionheart thought that this would be hard to deal with, but surprisingly it seemed to be going smoothly.
Hearing this, Lionheart hesitated instead, he was worried if Omar will plot something.
It seemed like Omar sensed Lionheart's hesitation, so he added.
"When I was sealed, I had time to think, and maybe I went too far indeed, in those years. And for father, who was all along unforgiving for betrayers to spare me, I should appreciate that."
Spare him? Didn't King Roland say that with the special ability of Omar, he could only be sealed, but cannot be killed? Lionheart was filled with doubt.
"Could only be sealed but cannot be killed? Hehe, for the almighty father there is no such thing. The Seven Deadly Sins were all created by him, he would have left something up his sleeve. At least being unable to control other Seven Deadly Sins is one of my weakness. And…"
Although speaking of his own weakness, but the smug look on face was as if he received blessings, and suddenly Le Gou Dan… Ahem, Omar turned shy.
With a big muscular body, but blushing like a girl, the pretty face showed some mysterious blush.
"... And, I also needed father's help, to create another of my kind. I just entered puberty stage this year, and I also want to fall in love!"
Furthermore, while speaking, Lee Gou Dan shook his body vigorously, twisting his huge body, with the blushing face, and started daydreaming while closing his eyes, as though he had thought of something embarrassing.
"My request is not much at all, as long as they are not short like dwarves, if they are as tall and strong and pretty like me, that would be enough, yes, they can be stronger than me by all means, but their looks mustn't fall too far, a thickly built body plus a pretty face would be lovely!"
"Pfft!"
At that moment, Lionheart was so envious of the weak humans, at least they had the ability to die from spitting blood, while he could only endure the rolling thunder before his eyes.
"Although feeling shy, but now that I'm the king, having a few more choices seem to be fair. I had dreamed of organizing the "I'm proud, I have posture," competition under the moonlight. Ahhh, to say this out makes me really shy."
For a moment, Lionheart extremely regretted his outstanding imagination, he imagined that if this request is granted, every day, there will be a bunch of pretty muscular brothers making bodybuilding postures under the moonlight, Lionheart had an urge to bang the wall to death.
"Burp!"
An understandable nausea and the colleagues behind who were starting to fall to the ground retching proved that even for Undeads, there were thresholds for disgust!
"I… I will inform the king. And, kindly stay away from me, Lord Omar!! I have no interest in muscles!"
李狗蛋 (lee gou dan) is also 哪吒 (Ne Zha) in a chinese anime, featuring a cute girl with muscular body.
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Chapter 170: The Elf Outcast
Situated in the Northland, sparse of resources, Tassel Kingdom of the Elves was nevertheless a great place, which was hard to come by.
The renovated cliff and magic-crystal wall became the artificial barrier of the capital, Santander, the endless hardy old pine trees served as the best shelter from wind, the ancient spirit of the Elves contained magical water, which flowed into streams, bringing warmth and vitality in this land, and also turning it into one rare green vitality in Northlands.
Just as Humans in the north were getting upset of the winter beasts in hunger, the Elven natural priests and hunters had tamed them into tractable livestock. Just as all countries in the north were endeavouring throughout the year to prepare the winter rations, the fruit trees under the manipulation of Elven Ancient Tree, were able to produce fruits thrice a year, producing all sorts of the sweet and delicious fruits that grew regardless of the seasons. These fruits were not exported and traded for mineral resources. In time, they would rot away.
A centipede does not topple over even when dead, the Elven kingdoms which had inherited the legacy of the Elves were contemptuous of the Humans as they had the background of nouveau riches. For them, a hundred years was just an instance due to their longevity. Having tremendous time and skills, had they not improved their living environment, those wild Elves in the Knight novels who lived above the trees, were merely an artistic ornament.
Just when the main forces of the Tassel were galloping amongst the snow land, their territory was as peaceful as ever. The young unicorns and flying horses were playing in the forest, the Elven civilians still had the leisure time to carry out their winter ceremonies, so what about the battle at the frontline? They were confident that the mighty alliance of the four Elven Kingdoms would never fall to the ordinary Humans, not to mention their very elites were going all out this time.
The truth was so, the hundred thousands of Elven armies were a small number, but due to their very high average combat power, just an elite troop of theirs could match the royal guards of the other countries, even their ground force was of formidable soldiers and should not be underestimated.
This was the foundation of the Elves, even today, the weakness of the Elven kingdom, which had inherited the ancient magic and arts, was none other than their population. It took an Elf two hundreds to reach adulthood, and this period was enough for Humans who married relatively earlier to come up with six or seven generations.
A war was fought with comprehensive country power, the population and resources were one of the important factors, as casualties were unavoidable, for even the mightiest sorcerer, would perish in combat or under friendly fire, and such a loss would take almost two to three hundred years to be regained.
The Achilles' heel of the Elves was none other than their inability to fight in a war of attrition.
And this time, if the main forces suffered tremendous casualties, the Elves would have to undergo a very long time of recuperation. It could be said that the northern Elves would go to any length as they had cast all their lots on the victory of this battle!
In the absence of their main forces, the role of city border patrol was transferred to the rangers who had formed a second class army, or an adventure squad.
A Wild Elf ranger, two to three Centaur archers, one to two Elven warriors, were the members of a typical Elven patrol squad. If it was a first class battle squad, one to two Elven Ancient Trees, natural priests and flying horse knights would be added, and the strength of those units was certainly on another level.
Even amongst the Elves, there weren't many Druids who prefer to live on trees, compared to the cities.
In any place, as long as there was the presence of intelligent beings, the trees would always be one of the most important resources. Not only they could achieve the basic functionalities of construction and furniture, they were also the basic ingredients of the artwork of the Elves. Furnished with precious forest regions which were unusual in Northlands, the exported exquisite wood produced by the Elves had earned a lot of foreign currency.
If the Druids who treated forest protection as the most sacred duty were easily amenable to reasoning, they would not be classified as terrorists by all the other countries. The Druids were bigoted, the Elves were bigoted too, it was inconceivable how bigoted the combination of both, the Elven Druids was capable of. Their extreme nature protection organisation was the origin and mentor of the other Green Terrorists, all sorts of their secret acts were even graced as the epitome to take an example from.
The moniker of "Anti-Lumbering Little Bear Alliance" would sound adorable, but it had been there for more than ten thousand years. They had been referring to the Druids Terrorists which brought the Elves much headache, they had the esoteric bear transformation arcane and beast training arcane, perhaps any grey bears within the forest could be one of them spying on you, while you hummed a song, chopping wood.
In the end, the Elves were not only the source of the Druids, but also made up most of the Druids, however, most of the Druids would still have an outward occupation which was acceptable by the world.
At this time however, within the temporary campsite, Tasia the Elven ranger who was humming her little tune while preparing dinner, was actually a hidden Druid master, and was also a member of the "Little Bear Alliance", but lately, she had not been fulfilling the sacred duties of "natural protection".
The feeds that those pets Tasia had domesticated cost money, she had thus put earning money first, sacred duties second.
To be recruited by the Elven Kingdom to carry out some not so perilous military tasks and fill the spot of Kingdom armies, was indeed a bargain. At this crucial moment, the Elven kingdom would no more be niggardly, the doubled recruitment fee during the war was alluring for countless mercenaries.
"Ha, this time we are really making money, to think that merely patrolling could make so much money, I hope the war would last longer, I still expect the cowards within the city to increase the recruitment fees. Should the war be elevated, the recruitment fee would increase threefold, or even tenfold."
Tasia spoke something uncharacteristic of the Elves, but the Centaurs amongst her troops had already gotten used to her personality, and on the contrary, they who held a lower stand in the Elven kingdom, would prefer her straightforward and amiable character, compared to the other arrogant Elven aristocracies.
"Don't speak such a thing in the city, those self-important Elves would be displeased." Centaur Boll chucked after counting his recent soaring stipends, he was in a good mood.
"In the past few years, the army on duty was not so relaxed, they had to venture into the wild across the mountains in pursuit of the slave hunting groups, it was not an easy task, in the case of running into any sword saint or senior magic automaton instructor sent by the big Human countries, the pursuer might become the prey. Also in that time, quite a number of patrol squads have gone missing."
Tasia laughed even more happily.
"Indeed, those slave hunters will bother me no more, they created so much trouble… Pitiful, Princess Suana. How pitiful, how could a good person not end well?"
Recollecting her figure which was as tender as water, even Tasia, who was sick of the Elves, had nursed a grievance.
"...About that matter, I heard a rumour. Erm, just a rumour."
Grover, the silent Elven warrior popped out, but his words had caught the attention of the comrades.
After a moment of hesitation, Grover finally spoke up.
"The rumor says, there a few doubtfulness about the kidnapping of Princess Suana, the Elven troops who were supposed to safeguard her was pulled over for military training, and the rangers had started to undergo a closed training, even the Moon Glaive royal guards was transferred to the border to take care of some disputes, all of these had given the chance for the slave merchants, who were not particularly strong, to capture the Princess Suana…"
Hearing this, members of the small squad had sunk into a peculiar silence, of course, they knew this rumour, for the past few weeks, this topic had been circulating around any restaurant or market.
The implication behind the rumour was quite evident, the demise of Princess Suana was but within the scheme of Elven King and the Council. Rather than saying that Suana was dead in the hand of Humans, in fact, she was offered by the ruthless Elven King as the sacrifice of war.
"Let's avoid words without proof, or else we would get into trouble."
To think that Tasia who had just spoken uninhibitedly, turned out to advise Grover to tread carefully, and just when her words faded, the amiable Elven warrior cracked a laughter.
"No proof? The two legendary warriors in royal guards were suddenly transferred, isn't that proof? Anrode the "Hand of Kashmir" who had an intimate relationship the princess, even created a havoc in the army because of this, he had allegedly smashed the signboard of the army."
Grevor was obviously one who supported the Peace-pursuing faction of Princess Suana. They who went through an outrage, in the beginning, had now cooled off to think about the root cause of the death of the princess, and also discovered the few dubious points.
"According to what that was spoken by the Humans, the brains behind the political schemes are always those who would benefit the most from these events, and in this event, the Humans had derived no benefit at all, the only one who benefited from this were none other than the War-pursuing faction of the Elves. That man is incredibly ruthless, Princess Suana was his daughter…"
Alright, these words were blunt enough, when it came to rebuking the Elven king directly.
In an instant, the temperature of the campsite fell drastically, and everyone became silent, after all, it was not good for the civilians to participate in such matters, the spies and scouts were not exclusive to just the Humans. To be imprisoned due to loose tongues was quite a misfortune, and all sufferings could be spoken to no one afterwards.
Not to mention, Tasia who was actually a Druid, would not be intrigued by this matter. Despite her pity for the princess, she would not go out of her way to fight for her.
And thus, she was trying hard to stop his words.
"Ah, there is a Dark Elf!"
Alright, would Dark Elves appear within the Elven Kingdom? That was obviously a bluff but had unexpectedly amused Grevor.
He laughed while shaking his head.
"Just don't talk about it if you don't want, at here, where would you find dark..."
Before he could finish his words, he had fallen on his face with his eyes rolled back, a dark green dagger was stabbed in his back.
"...Though I don't know how you discovered me, since you have, I shall not let you go back alive."
A figure wearing dark armour emerged from Grevor's shadow, the dark skin sufficed to explain everything.
"A Dark Elf is here for real? Perhaps, I should consider being a prophet."
Just as Tasia was regretting her bad mouth, the Dark Elf scout in front of them who was about Silver rank, again flashed his dagger which was coated with paralyzing poison. In her eyes, that was possible to wipe out an ordinary patrol squad, but taking account of her hidden legendary power, the scout before her was merely a trash with a combat power of 5.
"Aha, take my rolling pin"
The truth went on like the expectation, the Dark Elf who was confidently moving was struck down by Tasia's rod after just saying a hello. Never would he imagine that an Elven ranger with a crossbow possessed such marvellous skill with the rod, with this paralysing thundershock that came from that wood rod.
"Little lad, you dare to flaunt yourself in front of me. Guys, let's move, the situation doesn't look good, he might have accomplices…"
The words left were unnecessary, as a number of shadows surging out from the forest had revealed the truth, again, it had proven the prophetic talent of Tasia.
"...Tasia, please talk less."
Now, the party was running at full speed. Considering that she in the past had always spoken ill of the Elves, the centaur running in front of them all was filled with a grudge.
However, his words were not answered, turning to look back, Tasia had vanished, what remained there were some grey bears which were dozing off.
And all his comrades had fallen to the ground except the vanished Tasia.
"Law: Faint!"
Right after hearing a voice, a dark grey light flashed and he had lost his consciousness and tumbled down too.
At this moment, a Dark Elven priest riding on black-armoured War Scorpio, approached the fallen bodies. Behind her back, there were tens of Elven scouts with bewildered faces.
"Stupid males, couldn't even take care of such a weak sacrifice, should the great plan of Spider Queen be affected, I will cut you all into pieces and feed the poisonous spiders!"
Before the eyes, it was the Dark Elven priest delivering rebukes, but in far away, there were sounds of bang-bang percussion. Apparently a ranger but having a great identity, Tasia whose adventure experience was vast, knew that it was the marching sounds of a massive horde of Sceptile Riders, which could only be afforded by powerful clans. There was only one possibility of using such an amount of Sceptile Riders.
"The superior priest of Lorci and Grey Sceptile Riders? Damn it. This is certainly not the hunting troop looking for sacrifices. This, is the entire army of the Dark Elves. To attack the Elven Kingdom at this moment, is Lorci insane?"
Obviously, it wasn't the time for any laments, just as Tasia, disguised as a grey bear, was about to leave, was spotted by the female priest.
" Humph, it's not my first day mimicking an animal, I'm a professional."
But straightaway, she realised the dark grey light was being concentrated around the Nine Head Whip of the priest, she started to be panicked as if she had discovered something.
"Forgive me, sister, I will repay you in the future."
She clenched his teeth and started biting her fallen comrade, closing her eyes.
"Humph, this is exactly how my little Hooi took its food, witness my god-like acting… They should have gone away."
When she opened her eyes, however, not only had those Dark Elves remained or turned away from her, but on the contrary, they were actually staring at her.
"Puke, Wahaha, there's even a vegetarian bear! This Druid is amusing."
The lady priest was rolling with laughter on the back of the armoured War Scorpio, and now, Tasia just realised she wasn't eating the right thing, and subsequently, she looked forward and realised that Grevor had awakened and was staring at her in astonishment.
That was a close call, when Grevor had gotten rid of the effects of the paralyzing poison, dodging the big bloody mouth, Tasia had bitten off a stack of grasses and started swallowing.
Obviously, she who tried to hide her gustation wouldn't taste anything, and so she had bit off the grass twice.
"Humph, I'm just a bear who loves eating grasses, why, is there any rule restricting bears from eating grasses, take my sky flipping bear paw!"
Alright, Tasia who always came up with disgraceful acts at the critical moment had again proven that fact correct. She flew into a shameful rage.
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Chapter 171: New Mission
"Watch your back, the poison fangs of spiders may fall upon us at any time."
The Grey Elf rangers who had defected from Lorci greeted each other like so during their farewells, to remind themselves and their comrades, that the incredibly vindictive Lorci would never let go of a single grudge, and at any time, she might send her dangerous fangs to obliterate her traitors.
Despite the formation of a strong alliance, the Underworld remained as it was, the war between each other is inevitable, but due to a certain reason, the recent power of the Dark Elves who served Lorci was getting weaker.
Due to trading under an underground contract, Aruhr, the Demon Messenger in the Underworld had disappeared abruptly, and thus, the Underworld cities of his human servants had gradually surrendered themselves to the Sulfur Mountain City. As more and more Underworld cities sought refuge or alliances, Annie's autarchy status was gaining a firm foothold in the Underworld.
The three new autarchs, Ein Mezus the Dragon Queen, Annie the Fire Phoenix, and Centaur Anya the Underworld Beastman Sovereign had an intimate relationship, and their forces had always been banding together, and thus, the influence of Dark Elves had been significantly curbed.
This was just like in any market trade, if a few mega companies held above 70% of the market shares, they would possess the pricing power and would be capable of monopolizing the market, and the small businesses would easily go bankrupt. As the situation had progressed to this state, when all sorts of treaties for lowering tax on sales had been signed, many business entities would disregard the city of Dark Elves and play their own games, which would evidently lead to a fatal hit on the Dark Elves' economics.
In this situation, the Dark Elves would have made their move.
"You are not selling me anything? I will rob the headquarters, you dare to hinder the market trading? Believe it or not, I will kill your whole family! We are the Dark Elves. Not just charcoal heads with long ears!"
Nobody ever mocked the Dark Elves' threat. Being one of the few fanatic races that would embrace burglary and trickery as their virtues, the Dark Elves had always been easily offended. At times, they might not speak out, but one must still be aware of their deadly grudges and ambushes.
"The Underworld Oath of Alliance was established for the sake of the world peace, anyone who declares war will be the common enemy of all the ally members, with no exception even for the Underworld autarchs! In fact, the Underworld Autarch should abide by the peace accord even more strictly, or she would have to endure the hostility from the other autarchs."
If anyone would have shouted this sentence one year ago, everyone would take him as an imbecile. However, when it was spoken by Annie who had won the support from almost seventy percent of the forces, no one dared to take the peace accord as a joke anymore.
Besides, it was self-evident that which Underworld autarch that sentence was directed at. Meanwhile, some Grey Dwarfs who were serving the Dark Elves due to military pressure, and the Underworld Dwarf City, had realised that the Dark Elves stopped resorting to violence. Without squandering this golden opportunity, they changed their allegiance and escaped the tyranny of the Dark Elves.
With its economics, politics and military comprehensively suppressed by the other forces, the influence of the Dark Elves was diminishing. Moreover, there were Dark Elves who had embraced the other Gods and started following new leaders. The authority of Lorci was facing an extreme comprehensive challenge.
To be faced with such circumstances, would Lorci not feel miserable? After the peculiar death of her divine-descendant illegitimate daughter a while ago, before the new heir could be decided, the Dark Elves power was heavily suppressed out of a sudden, and now, even her influence and followers were diminishing. All of these were beyond what she could bear.
Following the lessening of her vast followers, her divine force was weakened, out of fury, Lorci briskly executed the Mother of several big families. In the end, the silent hostility between the multiple Dark Elf cities to compete for the Underworld autarch status grew more intense. Meanwhile, in a series of turbulences, Mother Victoria from the Morsblight City turned out to be amongst the three autarch candidates.
Aside from that, due to some historical connections, should Lorci eventually opt for coexistence with the other autarchies, Mother Victoria would become the best candidate as The High Priestess of Lorci. And now, this reason makes her a new superstar in the Dark Elf tribe.
In this situation, my letter has to be delivered to Annie through Elisa, then Annie will deliver it to Victoria by the special communication method. In this way, the letter would not be taken lightly, despite the absence of my signature and stamp.
Lorci the Spider Queen was notorious for her slyness and greed, persuading her to join other camps wouldn't be a simple task.
"... In this sacred war, if the Gods of Order are victorious in the end, all existing Gods of Elves will fall. Hence, in preparation for the future, the Elf divine system desperately needs one skilful and experienced God of Elves to lead the crowd, you are undoubtedly the best candidate!"
"Please think twice, if you insist on remaining with Chaos, would you really want to fight alongside those people who once banished you? Do you think you can rise above them single-handed? If they become the leaders, would you be banished again? Not likely, learning from the past experience, they will definitely eradicate any root of misfortune, and seek an excuse to wipe you out."
I offered Lorci to be the Prime God of the Elves, as the outcome of remaining with the Chaos would never be pleasant, whether they win or lose, that was my speculation.
I never told lies, and it was these "truths", which were able to touch the heart of the sceptical Lorci.
"Besides, I didn't expect you to raise the flag of rebellion, you see, at present, the Elven Gods still side the Order faction, they expect you to attack them, not to mention the bitter grudge between you, letting go of any grudge is certainly not your style."
"The situation now is in such turmoil, without raising a flag or taking a stand, you can always make a second choice, this is free of risk and a better opportunity for vengeance. Should you miss this, even I will feel regretful for you, this is a golden chance that appears once per thousand years, should you miss this, and wait for another thousand years?"
In Dark Elf language, betrayal is a virtue, and one could easily picture the characters of Lorci. This proposal allowed her to bend with the wind, and also be the Prime God of the Elves if things succeeded, and so it definitely touched her heart.
To added more authority, at the back of the letter, I had added the mark of the Divine force of Ayer and Lord Wumianzhe.
These two marks served as the justification by two Gods of Order, not to mention one of them was Ayer the mogul, perhaps in Lorci's eyes, the authority of this letter was significantly elevated, it had even become the official poaching of the Order camp.
Alright, this event was in fact, not known by the Gods of Order, and to ease things, Ayer had left me fully in charge of this matter.
Upon receiving the letter, Lorci gave no response, but this silence had notified me that she was touched. After some hesitation, she appointed Victoria as the highest priest, this had answered me in a different way.
As Lorci was willing to join the game, the subsequent events wouldn't be within my control.
"Humph, everything you do will come back to you sooner or later, the Dark Elves would go even further than the sins committed by Elves in Sleuweir, I don't believe the Elven army will continue to fight the Humans if they were hauled into a civil war. You should go back, and let the dogs bite the dogs."
Nevertheless, there were still a couple of problems in my hand.
"Being a black sheep to this extent, Fismer Caso was indeed an unparalleled genius!"
Not to mention the internal strife owing to the long-term of willful neglect of government affairs, the invasion of the Beastmen's main force on the Maple city, had prevented Antoin from suffering irresistible tension.
Seeing the financial report of the royal financial advisor and the military report of the army, I realised that Fismer had led Sleuweir to the verge of bankruptcy.
"Stop all the new entertainment facilities temporarily, seal the project of the imperial garden, release all slaves as the civilians, as for the concubines in the imperial harem…
"They are all mine!" I would surely like to speak such dream words of every man, but to retain a semblance of my humanity in the eyes of the world, alright, not to mention the dazzling silver ring on my finger, I could not help but to shake my head.
"Dismiss all of them, send those of wealthy families back home, appoint those of poor family as the nurses in hospitals, community service workers, tailors, etc, let them all earn their own livings. As for those who can't do anything, appoint them as the dishwashers of restaurants. Alright, give them all a sufficient dismissal fee, but tell them, the imperial can no longer take care of them."
In fact, these financial and government problems were of little trouble, they were but the awful mess left behind by Fismer, who cared nothing but drinking and heeling around, the real problem was the feudal lords of the country.
In this feudal era in which sorcery and swords intertwined, due to the harsh living environment and the presence of demonic beasts, most civilians would prefer to stay in the safer, big cities, and the inconvenient traffic system had led to communication and transportation problems between city-states, the best example was none other than Emperor Hill Height, as it was common for the imperial authority to extend only across several city-states.
Of course, the rights and obligations were always contradictory, it was never a cinch to protect the people from all sorts of threats, natural and unnatural.
In my own territory, the authority and voices of the aristocracies could be even higher than that of royalty, as this wasn't something unusual in this era, the Royals had always been compromising, but to offend the aristocracies to the extent that a few aristocracies had utterly disregarded him, and didn't have audience with him in court for ten years. There was no one but Fismer Caso. And all of these, was not a trivial matter,
"Just for a famed beauty, to think that he could send the guards to kidnap the wife of the aristocratic feudal lord, yet leaving behind evidence all the way. So fortunate of this bastard to not yet have been overthrown by any aristocrats."
Actually, if it wasn't for the sudden north invasion of the Beastmen, perhaps not even more than two years, there would be a lot of feudal lords conspiring against him.
From the perspective of this decadent king, he was but devil who escaped from the hell and would be banished back there anytime, and since the wealth of this country would not belong to him forever, would he not seize the time for enjoyment, as for how terrible the consequence would be, he would care less as those would happen after his death, why was he even worried?
The situation of the current Sleuweir was not just so, the imperials were supposed to stand out and gather all the feudal lords to form an alliance army to engage in this full-scale war, but the Beastmen had taken away that authority from the Humans, as they gave no chance for Fismer to fulfil his kingship.
But even if Fismer could fulfil his kingship, how many feudal lords would respond to his call of the expedition?
The main force of the imperial was divided into two, the main force at the border was stuck in the border fortress, meaninglessly, while the royal guard army and reserve army had suffered a big casualty just to confront the siege on Antoin.
As for the armies of feudal lords, they were mostly pinned down within their own territories due to Beastmen's strategy of a sudden invasion from all sides. Not only did the nonfeasance of the imperial shatter the loyalty of some loyal retainers, but it also prompted some people to be more cautious, if any feudal lord was willing to assist the imperial, that was equivalent to him seeking demise.
Fismer had gone too far, and even if I was the temporary king, this throne was still unstable.
Even in the times when sovereignty was dispersed across the feudal lords, rebellion was still technocratic, the legitimate kingship was always the last reason the civilians could use for toleration, and if it wasn't Fismer showing his devilish nature when his life was endangered, if it wasn't because I was a legitimate Mist descendant by law, I couldn't have taken over Antoin this easily.
However, this was still a taboo, which wouldn't satisfy the feudal lords, and this situation was unpleasant for me.
"Today, taking over the kingship of Sleuweir with such an excuse, aren't East Mist and Sharal both Mist descendants, they will probably take everything in the end. If the imperial kingship can be deprived of such, what about the rights of us feudal lords?"
Evidently, if this situation persisted, if I was accused of being an aspirant, I would definitely be categorized as taboo, if so, my blueprint would come to nothing.
Blueprint? Indeed, I had a series of proposals on the Northlands, but being a king was absolutely not part of it, as that would bring deadly harm to me and arouse caution of a lot of people against me, the losses surely outnumbered than benefits.
"A Sleuweir royal member was needed, even just as a puppet, would be more legitimate than me, to deputize the kingship."
But obviously, here came a new problem, Fismer had been very ruthless in order to climb up to the throne, amongst the three siblings, the crown prince of the old king was allegedly murdered by him, while the younger brother and his entire family had encountered "misfortune" too, they were caught in a carriage accident.
And now, I couldn't even find a candidate for the puppet I needed.
A sudden news, however, had lifted the spirit of mine.
"The old king used to have a love child, a daughter named Glina, thirteen years ago before the enthronement of Fismer, she couldn't be found during the extermination of his family, she might still be alive.
"The lamp of life?"
I suddenly recalled the dagger with two pearls, a Sleuweir royal should possess this arcane.
"Besides, the lamp of life which was always dim, has brightened up since three months ago, it seems that the princess has returned to the Northlands, if she's back for revenge, most likely she has been concealed her name and identity."
The words of imperial household had lifted my spirits, hence, I immediately made an announcement, and the patrolling knights had been running across the whole city, shouting themselves hoarse, but still, no one stood up.
" If she is really in this city, she must be taking precautions against me. Forget about that, just look for her first, any other defining descriptions?"
The old man pondered with a frown for a long time, then started speaking again.
"She was still a kid that year, what traits could she have, she is just a quiet ordinary girl. Oh right, she has two moles on her chest and one more on her left butt, these could be the traits!"
I covered my face just as I heard these words, I could easily guess what would happen next.
[ Ding Ding, congratulations master for unlocking the special mission - a spectacular welfare plot, mission target: Look for Princess Glina, don't hesitate, she is somewhere within your reach. Mission reward: Through her, you are able to take control of this country, serving as part of the restoration of Mist Kingdom, Roland's sword can perform the first stage of evolution for a divine weapon. Mission fail: the evolution reward is permanently forfeited, the spectacular welfare plot will be replaced with another spectacular but blood-and-slaughter plot.
"Bang!" I abruptly punched on the table, indeed what I feared, was what it came. To think of this reward and punishment!
"Does that mean we need to take off the clothes and dresses of all girls of fifteen to sixteen years old, and check their chests and butts? This is too wicked, this is too vulgar, this is too erot… cough, too immoral."
The old man shook his head with a wry smile.
"Considering that she would be pursued by the puppet king, she would disguise herself, whether it's her age or gender, she had probably made herself as an adorable boy."
I gaped at him, should I give the order to strip all the young girls and boys, I was afraid I would again step into history - with the name of a Lewd King which even surpassed that of Fismer.
Finally, after half a day of profound thinking, I activated the communication feature on my ring, making a clean breast of the ins and outs of my matter.
"...If you decide to give the order of stripping, I will pretend that I do not know you from now onwards. Lewd Lord, why did you even tell me all of these crap, is this your new way of sexual harassment, or did you actually plan to frisk me first?"
I shook my head.
"No, I'm just asking for your help."
"Help? How could I help you do these things… Oh, I understood, you mean her?"
I nodded my head heavily, if possible, I wouldn't look for her too.
"Indeed, we need the help of expert, but this is beyond my capabilities, please help me inform that expert."
"...I understood, but suddenly think it's better to ask everyone in the city to strip. If that guy makes his move, perhaps all of you will be hung on the pillar of humiliation in the history."
"You think likewise too? Sadly, we have no other choice, I made up my mind... help me, help me contact that man, contact Beifeng! We need the assistance of him, and his comrades! In this situation, only a true gentleman can help us!" (to be continued…)
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Chapter 172: Reinforcements
"Name?"
"Albert.Lain."
"Job?"
"Freelancer knight, unaffiliated, but I've been hanging out with the Gentlemen Alliance recently. Everyone there treats me kindly, and they call me the Flower-dicing Swordsman of the Three Swordsmen."
I was a bit shocked at the rather open and free-spirited black-haired knight in front of me. I had already prepared myself for any kind of wretched "expert" that the Gentlemen alliance would send me after I contacted them, but what was with this extroverted handsome guy?
He had a squarish face that gave off a heroic spirit. His face was also clean and clear with a hook-shaped nose and bushy eyebrows. His black-colored knight attire gave him an aura of heroic coolness, while his long hair that reached his shoulders didn't seem feminine at all. I had the mysterious urge to punch in his handsome face, cough cough, I don't have any personal grievances with him though.
Wasn't he simply the classic enemy of all men – a mega handsome guy? Why was he a member of the Gentlemen Alliance?
"…Do you know what you're here for? Was there a mistake with the orders?"
Albert smiled wryly as he shook his head.
"There was no mistake with your message. The moment your message reached us, all my companions came looking for me first, as they believed I was the most suited for the job."
I was even more shocked upon hearing this. Just the maid outside the door who kept peeping in was evidence enough that this mega handsome guy wouldn't lack women. Rather than him needing to chase after women, it was far more likely that women would chase after him.
"…It's a long story, talking about the distant past."
Albert lowered his head in a manner that indicated it was humiliating for him to recall it.
"It's all due to a mistake I made when I was young, back when I was still a child, I had a younger sister, she was my angel, my everything…"
Albert's story was a common one in this day and age. Both his parents had died young, so he supported his family by himself, with his only living relative, his younger sister, being both his angel and his mental support. But when she was three years old, she was kidnapped by human traffickers.
"And so, I singlehandedly walked the continent in search of her, and I can't remember my childhood memories anymore. The only special mark on her body is that she has a red birthmark on her waist. That's why I practiced a highly refined sword style that especially aims for people's clothing but won't harm their skin, which is why I'm also known as the Clothes-slicing Swordsman of the Three Swordsmen."
The complex expression on his face showed how pained he was by all this.
I instantly nodded while expressing my sympathy. He was clearly an ordinary person who was misunderstood as a pervert, something I empathized with completely.
"You've had it rough. Relax, after you're done with my affairs, I'll use my power to help you find your younger sister."
"Really? Thanks so much then, I really want to hurry up and carry out your mission now, please give me the specifics, and I'll begin immediately!"
Albert was so excited that he stood up immediately and bowed to me. I was also joyed, since this was much better than I expected. There was actually someone normal in the Gentlemen Alliance? It seemed like that Gentlemen Aura wasn't too difficult to deal with, so I was filled with anticipation at the upcoming magnificent future.
"Hm, she's probably about 14 to 18 years old today, with blonde hair… no, hair color can be changed with dye, so don't let any girls of this age group slip under your radar, and since she might be disguised as a boy, don't let any cute boys past either!"
"My lord, rest assured, I'm an expert! Not a single female can escape my eyes or my sword!"
His rapier sliced an arc through midair with the killing intent in his eyes appearing and disappearing instantly. This moment, I discovered that the person in front of me was actually a top-level fighter halfway to a legend's level.
I immediately became overjoyed now, was I actually getting lucky? Not only was he a normal person who had morals and common sense, he was also a top-level fighter?
"So reliable!! Too reliable! …"
"Brother, I bought a Beast Fang sword pommel for you, you'll definitely love it!"
A lively girl suddenly opened the door and jumped inside.
Wait, what did she call him? Brother? Since she obviously wasn't addressing me, she could only be calling out to Albert, but wasn't his younger sister still missing?
Right then and there, my smile froze solid. Thanks to my many years of experience in being fooled, I was already beginning to detect what would happen after.
"Lina? Why are you here? Weren't you supposed to be at the mercenary headquarters?"
Albert obviously seemed surprised to see the ponytailed girl here.
"Big brother Beifeng told me to follow you here, since he said he didn't know what you would get up to if I wasn't around. He's such a good person, he was worried that Brother wouldn't be able to finish the mission, so he had many companions come over together to help. Brother, what's this really important mission? That even you had to come here for."
Ok, why was I fooling myself, I should have guessed long ago that the Gentlemen Alliance wouldn't have a single normal person, but he actually managed to fool me by acting all sincere, which meant he was skilled in his own way.
"Brat, how brave of you…"
"No, no, Milord, listen to me explain, everything I just said was the truth! I really was searching for my sister all this time, which was why I received my nickname."
Suddenly, the black-haired girl interrupted him angrily.
"Brother! Did you slice off some girl's clothes again!? There's already so many girls waiting for you at home, yet you're still doing such things. Forget about the reason why you began doing such things; even though you found me three years ago already, you're still using the excuse about my story to pick up girls, so how am I supposed to face everyone? I'm the younger sister of the Clothes-slicing Playboy? That's so humiliating, how am I supposed to get married?"
Playboy? Many girls waiting at home? Pick up girls? Every term I heard caused my eyebrows to twitch, but as a veteran of the FFF group, I knew what I should do.
"Young lady, I'm currently having a serious discussion with your brother, so would you mind waiting outside for us? Oh right, please close the door for us as well."
That girl nodded energetically as she seemed to understand I was an important personage.
"Okay, Brother, I'll be waiting outside for you."
What a nice sister she was, so understanding. Compared to my completely lawless younger brother, as well as all those rebellious kids at home, I was almost about to cry! Thinking about how I've been single for more than three hundred years already, while he had a harem when he was only in his twenties, plus the fact that he was still hunting for more girls to add to his harem, it truly made me want to cry.
"My finger is currently burning up with power, you winner in life that deserves to die, harem-collecting man, taste my Personality Fixing Heaven Crushing Fist! Take this!"
"Milord, listen to me explain! It definitely isn't what you think it is!"
Explain? Yes, of course I'd listen to him, but only after an enjoyable beating did I finally stop hitting him and allow him to explain.
"Pfft, your greed knows no bounds, scum!"
"Wahh, it's not like that, I don't want to either, truly."
It seemed that my condescension touched a weak spot in him, and he actually started crying. Such a manly-seeming young fellow began crying like he was still a child.
Well, his painful sobs sounded real this time, so I temporarily held back my desire to rub salt into his wounds.
"I don't want to either, it's just that I got so used to shredding the clothes of women in that age group that I'll keep doing it instinctually. And, all I'm doing is looking at their waists for birthmarks, why do I have to take responsibility for all of them? Harem? Have you seen harem members with hippopotamus bodies and monkey faces? All those that want me to take responsibility have such appearances. Even the few good-looking girls that wanted to be with me were chased away by them."
"How luxurious your worries are; are you bragging to someone who's been eternally single (and a virgin)?"
"No, no, milord, you don't know at all, the moment I leave, they'll be fighting with each other either openly or secretly, it's so chaotic, they'll use any underhanded plots or techniques. Last month, I was poisoned by my food five times in a row, I kept finding poisonous needles in my shoes, and glue all the time in my clothes, I can't take it anymore! Women are so scary! I'm already at the point where I begin shivering every time I see a woman! If I think about them, it scares me out of my mind!"
He actually did begin shivering as he said so with his teeth chattering as if he had gotten rabies. Judging by his sudden drop in body temperature and pale white face, he was actually telling the truth.
"You have gynophobia? You're a harem character with gynophobia? That sounds like a cliché manga setting."
Fine then, since Albert was currently at the extent of foaming at his mouth, I finally had some sympathy for the young brat.
"Two people come here and help to call for a priest."
But the moment I opened the door, some familiar faces came in.
"Boss, Brother Beifeng asked us to come over and help out."
Those that entered were all familiar faces from the Gentlemen Alliance: Beyar, Jinya, Casio, and… wait, why was Xueti here as well, just casually coming over here, you're supposed to be the highest-level priest.
"Lily is here."
The question I showed in my eyes received the answer I was waiting for. I understood immediately. With the Undead's announcement and as a member of the Blood Tribe, of course Lily could become more active in the East Mist Communal Country. And if Lily who was so skilled at internal logistics took over all the work, this dumb ox would indeed become rather idle and have the free time to just do things as he pleased.
"That guy Beifeng was actually being quite considerate, where is he? Did he not come?"
"No, he came."
Beyar nodded but his smile was rather vulgar as he made a gesture with his hands that any man would understand.
"He saw a huge lion's head, so he went off first by himself, and asked us to report in to you."
I instantly understood, but this wasn't exactly a good thing!
"A huge lion's head? What the hell, that guy's trying to kill himself!"
Simultaneously, a sky-splitting roar came from outside the window.
"Unbelievable! There's actually such a twisted soul in this world! And it even dares to set its sights on me, take my soul-correcting kick!"
Fine, that person outside the window on the clouds happened to be the vice-captain of a certain Gentlemen Alliance. From a certain angle, he really was unbeatable, as that lion's head was more than two thousand years old, and even I wouldn't dare to provoke it.
"Ah, it's big bro."
Apart from Casio's sounds of panicking, everyone else in the room seemed calm about it all.
"Relax, the good die young while calamities can live for thousands of years, so it's quite a simple matter for Beifeng to live for millions of years."
Everyone nodded at this remark.
"I always feel like even if the entire world was destroyed, he'd still be fine."
The uniquely low and thick voice belonging to that man who descended from the sky right after only proved the truth of that statement.
"Ah, I almost died… Don't be embarrassed, let's chat a bit…"
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"My sharp sword can slice through anything!"
With cool words and a shining trail through the air, the invisible wind emanating from his sword turned into a cold wind that passed by.
"Clang!"
As the handsome swordsman stood up straight with a steely face and returned his longsword to its scabbard, that's when the swishing sounds of clothes ripping and falling to the ground finally happened.
"Ahhh, there's a pervert!"
This was the moment with that noble daughter finally discovered that her clothes were completely shredded, while Albert merely scanned her over quickly but only chuckled coldly before continuing onwards by herself.
"Hmph, I cut something useless again!"
Right then and there, that girl went into a crying fit at the incomprehensible act that had just occurred, and her guards hadn't even had a chance to take action yet.
Another tall figure suddenly appeared beside the girl as he covered her with his cape.
"…We're currently in the midst of pursuing the criminal who intentionally shreds girls' clothes, but we don't know where he's escaped to."
From a certain viewpoint, it could be said that Clint who was wearing heavy armor indeed seemed rather dignified, and as for him being the one who gets to act like a good individual, it's doubtlessly because he's also a human, so he wouldn't attract too much attention.
"Progress is too slow."
On the platform to the side, I was unsatisfied with our current rate of progress. This morning we've only managed to check 40-ish girls, how long would it take to finish at this rate?
"…This is already pretty quick. Fortunately for us, the Lantern of Life's reaction narrowed down our targets for us, we only need to check those that recently returned to the Northlands in the past three or four months, otherwise this really would take forever."
The Lantern of Life's functions were limited. It discovered a reaction a bit over three months ago, which only told us that Princess Glina returned to the Northlands at that time, but as for her specific location? If it was capable of following even her specific location, how would the royalty ever have any privacy?
Its area was so wide, if only it was more exact, Kelly would have discovered me much sooner as well, at the very most it was only evidence whether or not a royalty member was authentic as well as still living.
"Milord, how about making everyone in this city naked?"
"…It's winter right now, people will freeze to death, besides, how will we possibly deal with the aftermath?"
I felt helpless about dealing with Albert who was currently wielding his sword eagerly at a distance from me. Why was this gynophobic swordsman so enchanted with clothes-slicing swordsmanship?
"It must be hard for him, since he has gynophobia."
"Heeheehee, hahaha."
Just as I stated that, everyone around me started guffawing as if I had said something wrong.
"Is his gynophobia just an act as well? This brat's acting skills are really that amazing?"
"No, he's not acting about this, but, take a look, the way his expression changes after slicing some girl's clothes."
I focused on Albert, who sheathed his sword as he stated he sliced something useless again, but there seemed to be a sliver of joy in his mouth, and his expression was filled with delight, as if he was enjoying the process.
"He's… enjoying this?"
"Yes, he does fear women to the point of death, and any woman touching him will cause him to scream, but precisely because of this, he especially enjoys the screams of women, which is why he's unable to stop himself from acting as the 'Clothes-slicing Demon,' doubtlessly because this is the greatest joy in his life."
"Sigh, for such a young man to turn out like this, with his sword techniques, what a pity."
"That's not quite so, Adam said before that Albert's typical sword techniques are only ordinary, only when Albert's in the midst of slicing clothes will he be at the level approaching that of a Sword Saint's."
I was momentarily stunned at hearing this. Sword Saints are extremely rare, and require both incredible talent and an extended period of time to polish their skills. They definitely have the ability to take on intense challenges.
But analyzing things more closely, I found that this didn't seem right.
"After his unsheathing slice, he'll slice 100 times before returning his sword to scabbard, normally he'll emit zero killing intent, but when he unsheathes his sword, his sword energy is so imposing that it can kill people formlessly, how is this approaching that of a Sword Saint's level, he's clearly already at a Sword Saint's level, this guy is actually a Sword Saint!?"
"No, he can only reach that level when his target is a woman that he's slicing the clothes off of, which is why Adam said he's only approaching the level of a Sword Saint."
"As expected, there's not a single normal person in the Gentlemen Alliance. Are the other two members of the Three Swordsmen similar to him?"
"Three Swordsmen? That's what they call themselves, everyone calls them the Three Vulgar Swordsmen."
I shook my head while feeling rather helpless, but at this moment, someone spoke up from behind me.
"I found the Princess's milkmaid from her younger days, there's new information!"
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The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich/The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich - Chapter 101-200/The-Experimental-Log-of-the-Crazy-Lich-Chapter-101-200-[Gravity-Tales][Hasseno]/Section0173.txt
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Chapter 173: The Weight of a Sword
[Roland Sacred Sword: with this regal sword having to bear more and more weight, it is now closer to evolving and becoming a true God Equipment. When it awakens, you shall receive your first true God Equipment.]
[Kingdom-Class Treasure's Effect: As long as the East Mist Communal Country exists, this sword shall be indestructible. If the country perishes, this sword shall self-destruct. Feel free to exchange blows with any weapons using this sword, as even Ayer's Reaper's Scythe will fail to leave even a single scratch on this sword.]
[System Reminder: For Master who's in dire straits currently and becoming more and more unseemly every day, this Sacred Sword is crying out… it's already been crying. I said it many times already, it's a Sacred Sword, not a barbeque rack! Just try seeing what happens if you take advantage of its indestructibility to bake some sweet potatoes one more time! Also, as for cooking food, you should use a kitchen knife, don't you know how to value and respect such Sacred Equipment? No matter what, it's an artifact left behind by your grandfather's generation.]
The Legendary Quest regarding the Revival of Mist that descended upon the Roland Sacred Sword has been with me for quite a while, but ever since I entered the northlands, the Sacred Sword has entered an abnormal hibernation period.
Its original extravagant to the point of opulence characteristics had completely disappeared, and the only explanation about it remaining was that mysterious Kingdom-Class Treasure's Effect. According to the system, the Sacred Sword seemed to currently be storing energy in order to truly transform into a God Equipment.
Perhaps when I finished the Revival of Mist quest, this Sacred Sword would truly awaken as a God Equipment. Well, as for the system's comments on how I had used the sword as a barbeque rack and to bake sweet potatoes, I was merely making the best use of its newfound trait.
Now that it was indestructible, it didn't even require maintenance anymore. Not even dust would adhere to it, for it to be so handy, of course I would try finding some extra uses for it.
Yep, it was quite normal for me to do so, I definitely respected the sword, at the very least, I didn't use it to hang clothes on.
[Additional System Reminder: You did do so, you bastard! The only problem was that any clothes you hung on it were automatically sliced in half by its keen edge.]
Okay, let us ignore this system that's getting more annoying these days, and return to the main topic.
"God Equipment? I've actually never used God Equipment before, and I don't know just how strong they are."
It seemed inaccurate, but I was telling the truth.
Just like the name, God Equipment meant equipment that was godly in power, typical with a god's soul or power within, so they would definitely be rare and precious. I came into contact with some false God Equipment before that merely had the title, but it was certain that they still couldn't match up to true God Equipment.
As for the original form of my Sacred Sword, it only began its transformation into God Equipment after I ascended to godhood and received power from the Law Gods, it still needed time in order to accumulate the divine power injected by real gods in order to truly transform, but unfortunately, I don't have any more chances to do that currently, and as for that other so-called God Equipment – the Scepter of Eternal Night, yep, everyone knows about what that is already.
In this aspect, I was quite envious of Harloys. She personally came into contact with God Equipment before, and understood just how strong they were. I also asked her in the past just how much of a difference my items were from true God Equipment.
"Below True Gods are the SemiGods, and you know the difference between them as well. Beneath God Equipment are those with partial God powers known as SemiGod Equipment, but those random assortments of abilities SemiGod Equipment possess aren't actually all that different from Legendary or Epic Equipment, apart from the number of abilities. God Equipment however is on a completely different scale; perhaps they might not have as many abilities as SemiGod Equipment, and some might even have zero attack power, but they'll definitely have various unique abilities that are the overwhelmingly best in their fields, at the top of their class."
After I came into contact with the Ancient Sea God's Bottle, I was faintly able to detect the true uniqueness of God Equipment. Even if it was an insignificant-seeming ability like returning a water source to its original form, even if the God Equipment itself was completely tattered, even against a True God's curse, it was still able to use its ability as normal.
I'll skip over the obvious ones such as how Fire Gods' Equipment would have something to do with flames, or how War Gods' Equipment would have enormous effects in battle. These days, I've been considering just how the Roland Sacred Sword would end up when it finished its evolution.
Based off of my understanding of the system, due to the limitations of karma, it never gave me any rewards that materialized out of thin air, instead, it would give me what I would have received anyways. Its biggest use was to skip over the needlessly detailed or complex parts for me, and use already twisted karma to twist karma even further, rather than creating miracles out of nothing.
The system's rewards almost always had a relation to the cause and effect as well as karma of the mission as well, for instance, that one Epic Quest rewarding me in the end with points based on my influence to "history," and when I defeated the Hydra in the Epic Challenge, I was also rewarded with something from the Hydra itself.
That's why I deduced that since this quest was for me to revive the Mist Kingdom, and the reward was the Roland Sacred Sword's evolution to a God Equipment, and also taking into consideration that this Sacred Sword was the representation of the Royal Seal of the Mist, then the final strength of this Sacred Sword most likely depended on how well I completed the quest to revive the Mist Kingdom.
The higher-quality the end result, the stronger that the newborn Mist Kingdom was, the stronger that the Roland Sacred Sword would become.
And with many events simultaneously developing, I also constantly adjusted my plans. With our combined efforts, a brand-new Mist Kingdom was gradually beginning to form.
Perhaps it was still currently rather fresh and tender, but it was currently growing through battle. Perhaps it was currently still weak and small, and in the midst of danger, but when it finally matured as the king among wolves in the north, it would definitely shock the world.
Just as how I would have definitely regretted it if I only fulfilled the most basic requirement of the Epic Quest, I had no intention this time of merely stopping at fulfilling the basic requirement this time either.
"A country's power will always be limited, perhaps an alliance with the same goal will be more suited for pursuing my long-cherished desire."
The East Mist Alliance was the name I secretly wanted to call it. With the East Mist Communal Country at its heart, plus the Sleuweir Kingdom, the Shawen Free States, the Barbarian tribes, and so on, they would worship the Law Gods as their religion, and have "non-aggression" as their basic tenet, they shall come to each other's defenses and fight strong enemies while united, and gradually form into a simultaneously loose yet tight alliance through difficult holy battles.
This Alliance would perhaps become the foundational block for me to overturn everything.
In the past, I believed that I was sufficient by myself to take care of everything, and that friends and companions would only make me soft and show weaknesses, but numerous defeats woke me up to reality.
Personal strength was meaningless in front of the waves of history, which was why this time I had trustworthy companions and friends at my side, whose strengths and intelligence were more than enough to make up for what I lacked, and of course, there were also my allies in the heavens.
In the past, I believed that battle would wipe out battle, but endless amounts of death and screaming woke me up to cruel reality again – any battle without benevolence, justice, and limitations would only bring death and destruction.
Warriors without beliefs would become nothing more than butchers sooner or later, which was why this time, I decided to use the various complex teachings of the Law Gods in order to limit our actions. Even if it seemed rather inconvenient due to having to adhere to so many rules, it was actually a path we must take in order to receive even more support down the road, as well as a yoke upon ourselves for us to not fall to limitless insanity.
In the past, I believed that a terrifying autocratic government was the sharpest sword available to me, but reality proved that this was nothing more than a shortcut to craziness.
Allies that fought for the same purpose would give you unexpected assistance, while subordinates that merely followed your orders would only think about how to replace you and take over your position. That's why I no longer considered making an authoritarian Empire, a loose alliance would be sufficient, while the young leaders and kings could lead their own countries by themselves as the vanguard, and fight together under the same banner, with me silently and secretly making the plans behind the scenes, taking hidden actions, and doing the dirty work.
"Love and justice? Of course not, that wouldn't fool anyone in this generation, but based on consideration and logical deduction, while something to believe in and a mutual goal to strive for seem rather empty, it's actually quite important. The larger the gathered forces, the greater the chances to overturn the twisted fate, which was why I chose to do this."
Reality proved that my choice was correct. The Gentlemen Alliance, the Underground powers, the Church of Law, the East Mist Communal Country and all the other powers, while they definitely had many connections with my previous self, but technically speaking, they didn't have formal subordinate connections to me, but not only did they still follow my orders, even if I wasn't present, they would still be able to operate on their own, and support and help each other, creating a cooperative power that wasn't ignorable.
"In order to deal with the future, I have limitless expectations for our allies and their support, even if they only hope to be carried by us, even if they want to personally benefit, that's acceptable as well."
By now, it was obvious that this Epic Quest recognized the New Mist Alliance that I created, and the Roland Sacred Sword's hibernation and newfound indestructability were doubtless evidence that it received enough power from the gradual growth of the newborn Mist Kingdom.
But the system suddenly gave me a quest to find a specific person, which would give me the reward of evolving the Roland Sacred Sword even earlier. Perhaps this meant that it was almost time to use this sword, or in other words, there was a difficult obstacle ahead of me that I would be unable to surpass without using the Sacred Sword. This was definitely terrible news.
But the next piece of information I received sunk me into confusion as I faintly felt like that damned system had gotten me good yet again.
"Glina.Caso, she vanished several years ago, and she was supposedly last seen near the entrance to the Underground cities…"
[She's right by your side…] I recalled the system's notification for me, causing me to think of a certain person, who just happened to fulfill the requirement of having returned to the Northlands approximately three months ago.
"Clint, take off your armor! Immediately! Damn it, you dare to run!? Catch him for me!"
Nobody expected that even if the Holy Battle was to involve even the gods, that the first God Battle in this Holy Battle would come so quickly and ferociously. Not only that, it was even due to an internal conflict between what should have been the neutral Elves.
Until the black magical mist enchanted by the Spider Queen dissipated, the sun would no longer be able to act as a threat anymore to the Dark Elves.
And under the protection of various guardian gods, the Elf Forest under this black mist was now a chaotic battlefield, with Elves and Dark Elves fighting everywhere.
"Impossible, how did they possibly pass by the border guards? Wasn't the underground tunnel being guarded?"
"They didn't come through that tunnel, they came through the imperial mausoleum, there must be a new tunnel inside there!"
There was no way that the Elf Kingdom wouldn't be on guard against its mortal enemy, having every entranceway heavily fortified was already a longstanding habit of all the Elf countries. But this time, the Dark Elves' attack was too sudeen.
The Tassel Elf Kingdom's imperial mausoleum's underground tunnels weren't a natural occurrence, they were the secret escape tunnels as a last resort for the royal family, an artificially constructed passageway that could help them escape to the main portion of the Underground world.
From a certain perspective, Annie and Anya were favored by fortune, not only did they manage to reach that critical intersection when they were lost, even more luckily for them, they met Suana who had escaped into the tunnels in order to protect herself, which was how they coincidentally managed to learn about this shortcut reaching to the Tassel Elf Kingdom.
When Annie and her army learned about this passageway, they didn't think too much about it, they were merely pleased to learn that there was a shortcut available for them to take, but when her army camped nearby this passageway, the secret naturally spread through certain channels to Roshe, causing this completely unexpected ambush.
Perhaps it was the Elves' fate to meet with such a disaster. If you looked at it from a certain way, if it wasn't for the fact that certain people forced Suana to her death, the Banshee would never have met up with the Underground Lord, nor would Roshe ever have learned about this secret passageway, so this ambush wouldn't have happened. Perhaps this was all fated by karma.
The guards at the imperial mausoleum were novices that had never experienced combat before. The guards were in the midst of yawning and complaining about how it wasn't time for the next shift to take over; they never anticipated that the shadows behind them had begun to twist in form as life-rending green daggers stabbed towards their backs.
All the imperial mausoleum guards were slaughtered in just a few minutes by the Dark Elves' elite scout forces without even a chance to raise the alarm. When the main Dark Elf forces poured out from the underground tunnel, even they didn't expect just how loose the elves' defenses were in this area, and how easy it was for them to go through this path.
Of course, Dark Elves didn't care one whit about the concept known as politeness. After a brief momentary period of shock, they obviously took advantage of the surprising situation and proactiveness to make their ambush as brutal as possible.
The Dark Elves used the highly mobile Lizard Cavalry as their vanguard. Perhaps this high-tier troop type wouldn't have been as useful in a direct confrontation on the battlefield, but the Lizard Cavalry were outstanding in chaotic battles. While the Elves were busy defending against the Dark Elf Knights' poisonous arrows and long spears, the Gray Lizards' bites and claws were actually even deadlier.
In small contained battlefields, Lizard Cavalry became a nightmare for the Elves that lacked close-combat capabilities. Even against strong mages, they were able to use extraordinarily strong leaping abilities and flexibility to pass over the mages' cannon fodder summoned creatures and tear the mages to pieces.
With these cold-blooded Dark Elf Knights' and Lizard Cavalries' arrival, the Elves that weren't prepared suffered enormous losses. Many villages and cities were instantly lost, and the cold-blooded knights that had satisfied their bloodlust hadn't even had time to dedicate their sacrifices to the Spider Queen when the anxious Priest Roshe wielded her Hydra Whip to indicate the next town for them to attack.
Due to the ambush, those small scout squads in the backlines suffered losses of over 90%. For someone like Tasia to have lived and even counterattacked was something that was less than 1%, which made the other Elves even suspect that she turned traitor.
Just like the Elf Army freely roaming around the Sleuweir Kingdom previously, the Dark Elves' army entered the Elf Kingdom and opened holes in its defenses everywhere, and the Tassel Kingdom that didn't have most of its soldiers sunk into a huge disadvantage of only being to passively react.
If this was an ordinary war, perhaps the Tassel Kingdom wouldn't even survive until its main forces returned, but this was the prelude to the Holy Battle involving the personal benefits of True Gods on both sides. While the order forbidding True Gods from directly intervening in lower species' wars still had some effect, there were still actions taken that were in the gray areas and barely touching upon the boundaries of that rule.
"My children, awaken."
When nature's low roar of anger emerged together with High Priest Prescott's angry shouting, ancient trees that were thousands or even tens of thousands years old transformed into tall Dendroid Warriors, the combat situation began tilting once more.
"Forest Guardian Clareladin! Do you really think that attempting to hide behind a SemiGod descendant playing at using Gods' powers, I wouldn't be able to detect the scent of your rotten wood God Power? Since you were the ones to break the rules first, then you won't be able to complain about me! Descend, my children! Tear down these rotten branches, and bring me the head of that High Priest descended from SemiGods."
Just as the Elf Warriors were getting all excited over the Dendroid Warriors joining their side, the Spider Queen's screeching threw them into the depths of despair again. Before nature's angry roars even stopped echoing on the battlefield, a large portal leading from the lower dimension suddenly appeared.
Dozens of huge black spiders that were more than ten meters tall crawled out of the portal, and easily tore through the ancient Dendroids' branches with their spider limbs that were thicker than steel pillars. Even the strongest warriors took deep breaths of worry at this scene.
And so, while the ordinary Elves were fighting amongst themselves, the far more powerful Gods began their conflict as well.
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Chapter 174: Queen Glina
From the very start, my search had been doomed to failure. This was because I had misconceptions about my target's outer appearance and characteristics.
Glina.Caso, descendant of the Mist, and the future Queen of Sleuweir. She was currently fifteen years old, but if you went by her physical appearance, she didn't seem that old at all.
She was about 1.4 meters tall, and her short golden hair was combed into a simple bobbed haircut. Her skinny limbs weren't suitable for wielding swords or other weapons at all. From a first impression, it was easy to think that she was still only ten years old.
As for why her real age and perceived age were so different? It was due to that dark yellow demonic pupil under her right eyepatch. Thirteen years ago, when she had almost reached the point of death thanks to her enemies' pursuit, the demonic blood in her awoke. Even though it saved her, she also became no longer completely human from that point on. The most obvious result of this was the fact that her rate of growth ended up slowing down.
Unlike Fimor.Caso who was unable to resist the bloodline, Glina who lived in the Underground World saw many fallen demonic descendants, so naturally she knew that there were no free lunches in this world. Using demonic power usually cost one's soul as the price, so before such a tragedy befell her, she resolved herself to seal away her own demonic power.
"Magical Seal Armor Clint #1."
That was the name of the magical armor mechanism that "Clint" never took off. While it appeared like a shabby piece of heavy armor on the outside, it was actually an exquisitely created magical mechanism shaped like a piece of armor, and the real Glina had always been hiding inside this armor while controlling the mechanism.
Not only was the armor a weapon, it even had various anti-magic items and chains inside that chained her up quite tightly. Not only was it impossible for her demonic powers to leak outside, even moving her body was extremely difficult. She had used both physical and magical seals on herself in order to completely suppress her own demonic powers.
And since she had decided to seal away her powers, Glina who was an expert engineer gave up on her past close-combat fighting style, and chose instead to use explosives, gunpowder, and Dwarven Firearms as her main weapons, causing the rise of the famously terrifying Clint the Explosive Demon.
As for her abnormally high sense of caution, not only was it a result of living in an environment of endless battles, even more of it came from her uncle's assassins and spies sent out to find her.
Even now she was unable to completely accept that the person she trusted the most was actually someone out to assassinate her, and after she matured, the bother of her demonic power caused her to go into self-imposed exile.
This girl used her own method to put up a barrier between her heart and the world, and hid her soft real body within a rotten metal can. She used small openings and sensors in place of her eyes and ears; she used cold steel in place of the warmth of human contact. Perhaps she was still interacting with humans, but her soul was in self-imposed exile.
"As long as I don't have any feelings for others, I won't be hurt. As long as I don't trust anyone, I won't be betrayed. I've had enough already."
I'm not the type to comment on other people's way of life, but this eyepatch-wearing girl had clearly been through a lot.
Even now, looking at the girl who remained expressionless and silent despite being tied up so tightly, I didn't even know how to deal with her.
"Since you came back here together with me, you must have had your own plans, don't you plan on saying anything? Even though you knew that we were searching for you, why didn't you come out and tell us?"
"I'm not Glina…"
"Hm?"
"I'm Clint, not Glina."
Her single eye was filled with self-belief as she said so. She truly believed in this.
"…You reject your royal heritage so much? Do you feel that people will treat you differently due to your identity?"
"They're already behaving differently."
Turning around, I saw that the gentlemen behind me had their eyes popping out as they were all staring at her. The fact that Clint was actually a girl probably shocked the members of the Gentlemen Alliance she hung out with more than anyone else.
"Impossible, how could Clint be a little girl! Just yesterday we talked about so many male topics, he said he was one of the staunchest members of the blonde beautiful girls faction! How could he possibly be a flat-chested loli!"
"Yeah, we even showered together with no problems… By the way, has nobody ever stopped him from wearing armor in the shower?"
"Everyone got used to it, isn't there a sentence saying that armor is a man's true body!"
Upon hearing this sentence, the fact that every one of them nodded rendered me speechless… Even though I believed it as well, but it was still embarrassing to say it out loud.
"Yep, I even saw him wearing some large bear-print pajamas on top on his armor, I thought it was rather normal."
"Yeah, and I even witnessed him drinking alcohol straight out of the barrel."
Alright, Glina was beginning to chuckle proudly at the gentlemen's shock.
"Ahaha, I'm a combat expert, a master of disguise, I've undergone assassin and anti-assassin training, and I'm an expert in male psychology; I even know how to make perverted jokes in sixteen different languages. My Clint #1 armor is absolutely perfect, not only can it imitate how normal people eat and drink, it can even enter showers, absorb water, and wash my body. I can hide inside it for more than one year without ever needing to come out. As for what I shouldn't see, do you really think I want to see a bunch of stupid foolish men flashing off their muscles? I always turn off my sensors when faced with such blinding sights."
This cold-faced loli's laughs made me speechless, she was truly so proud of herself at her skills in concealing her identity, was there indeed a problem with the Mist bloondline after all? Just what was with everyone from this family?
But there was obviously no time to waste, so I went with the direct approach with her.
"Glina… Okay, I know that you don't like that name, so I'll keep calling you Clint. You're also familiar with the current situation; I need your assistance. Your uncle should have been your mortal enemy, and now that he's dead, it sort of counts as me having helped take revenge for you. Now, I'd like to request for your aid in stabilizing the situation, is that alright?"
"No."
"…Why not, at least tell me the reason."
"That guy has nothing to do with me. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't even return."
Glina had no intention of taking revenge in the first place. Having left home at two years old, and experiencing countless betrayals and impacts from her demonic blood awakening, the current her didn't have any memories of her homeland anymore, nor did she have any memories about her parents.
Perhaps the deepest part related to her homeland in Glina's memories were those of the shiny edges of assassins' daggers. If a person had nothing but negative memories of her own homeland, it was only natural that she wouldn't desire to return.
Perhaps the only person she viewed as a relative was the Lord of Iron City that raised her as his own son. After experiencing so much slaughter in battle and all those betrayals, she had no interest whatsoever in obtaining power.
But, even if Glina was the type that seemed like she had no desires, she still wasn't difficult to deal with for me. Perhaps Glina was indeed difficult to deal with, but the Clint that I was familiar with was a piece of cake.
"Cough, I have the newest explosive formulas here that I deceived the Auland Empire into revealing, are you interested? They're actually quite skilled in alchemy and engineering, it can be said that this formula doesn't follow common sense at all, they actually thought of the method of using high pressure in place of high temperatures… Darn it, this explosive formula's so complex, are there any experts that can help me research it?"
Hearing this, her ears and lips seemed to tremble slightly. She was slightly moved at this, but considering all the troubles that would come with promising to help me, she fell silent again.
"…While your Clint Armor isn't bad at all, it's still technology from several years ago. Don't you want some engineers to help you upgrade and improve it? Such a tattered piece of armor is so unseemly, girls' clothes should at the very least be clean if not pretty. Regardless of anything else, Sulfur Mountain City and Iron City are solid allies now, and your adopted father even has a seat at the alliance's conference. We've treated you kindly, don't you agree?"
This time, I definitely noticed how moved she was by the expression in her single eye.
"Every day you only need to appear for half a day, and act your part. You can do whatever you like during the rest of your time. If you promise to work with me, you can also have first dibs on using any new equipment, and you can also have the new alchemy explosive formula that Olivy researched."
"…Does this include the Roland line of titan robots and Timlet's new toys?"
I immediately nodded as I was overjoyed inside. I wasn't afraid of any request she would make, I was worried that she wouldn't have any requests. I was afraid that she wouldn't speak up at all, but since she said something, that meant that she was definitely considering it.
"Sure, if you're willing, you can become the test pilot at any time. Since you can control such a tiny armor mecha and make it seem like such a real person, I believe that there's few out there who are above your piloting skills."
"No, there's nobody out there at all who can surpass me, I'm an expert!"
Her green eye was filled with confidence. Thanks to her countless accumulated experience, Glina would never believe that anybody out there had more experience piloting mechas than her.
"It's a deal."
When my large hand shook her small hand, there was a sudden notification from my system.
[*Ding!* Congratulations to my master for finding the final Mist descendant. The Roland Sacred Sword has now completed the first step in its evolution ahead of time. Please continue working hard for it to become stronger. System reminder: bastard, do you dare to tell Elisa that you always shower together with Clint?]
I broke out into a cold sweat upon hearing this. As one of the very few normal people (well, people I could talk to) in the Gentlemen Alliance, and also considering the professor's juniors, I definitely used to always chat with or make Clint work for me, and seeing how he was trustworthy and strong, I always had him help me wash my back. If word of this got out, it would be quite troublesome for me.
"Um, since from a certain standpoint, we're also related by blood, are you willing to become my adopted daughter? Relax, it won't have anything to deal with your father, it's just in name for political purposes."
Alright, I lied here. While it was also for political purposes, I had more personal motivations. If it was an adoptive father washing together with his adopted daughter, that wouldn't seem as bad for me.
"If you give me spending money at fixed periods, okay."
Alright, judging by how her left eye was sparkling, she wasn't talking about a small amount, but it was worth it!
"Deal."
In the public square, the young princess put on the golden-purple crown, and the new Queen of the Sleuweir Kingdom was thus born. When she received the golden staff that represented royal power, her first proclamation already shocked the world.
"I, Glina the First, declare in my name as the Queen of Sleuweir Kingdom that the Sleuweir Kingdom shall be a solid ally of the East Mist Communal Country, and rebuild the former Mist Kingdom together. We shall also worship the Law Gods as our national church, and from now on, the Sleuweir Kingdom shall obey the tenet of 'non-aggression,' and never start any wars ourselves, however…"
The Queen that had just taken up her position lifted her golden royal staff and slammed it back down against the ground, with the echoing metallic sound filled with her thunderous anger.
"Our lands are currently being pillaged by the fires of war, our citizens are being slaughtered; the current situation isn't one that we chose for ourselves, if we don't want our country and our citizens to die off, then we have to battle!"
Glina paused here as her fair complexion revealed a sign of discomfort.
"In over two thousand years of history, the Mist family had never lowered its head to anyone. But, my uncle Fimor.Caso did such a vulgar, unsightly action for his own life's safety and for the sake of power. How saddening. But I already investigated the cause for his rotten depravity, which all came from the demons' machinations, the Evil Gods of Chaos and the Great Demons corrupted his resolute will that used to be so noble, turning a heroic prince on the battlefield into such an evil bastard that would stoop to anything."
All the citizens in the public square were murmuring to themselves at this. The news about Fimor revealing his demonic form had already spread throughout all of Antuen, and his crimes were all being exposed in broad daylight for everyone to see, which was why I was able to take the reins of power so quickly.
"Everything was the demons' plots! My Mist family has never ever surrendered to any invaders in the past, there have never been any precedents, nor shall there ever be any precedents! In my name as the Queen of Sleuweir, I declare Fimor's surrender to be ineffective, and we are still currently at war! We are grateful to the neighboring countries' support, but we ourselves are still the main forces that will resist invasion, we must evict the invaders from our own lands!"
This proclamation seemed quite normal, but it was actually quite important. Due to Fimor's previous declaration of surrender, it basically turned the invaders into the new masters here, and the supporting armies became the new invaders. If we didn't turn around this twisted relationship, then the political messiness would cause endless new dangers for us.
"Our Mist Family has never enjoyed battle, but we won't shy from battle either! Since they chose to attack us, and perhaps we're still currently as a disadvantage, but just like the past thousands of years, we shall be the final ones to stand victorious!"
Glina paused as she lifted her royal staff and spoke a proclamation that had been repeated endlessly throughout the ages.
"The will of the Mist shall never surrender!"
"The flag of the Mist shall never fall!"
The citizens below her in the public square all lifted up their fists, with their suppressed passion finally reigniting after a Mist descendant waved that familiar battle flag in front of them once more.
"The citizens of Mist shall never be slaves! We have not been defeated yet, our country has yet to perish! As long as that flag still hasn't fallen, we shall rise again!"
At this moment, I was merely standing there silently on the platform. When Glina rose up her golden royal staff, I also lifted the Roland Sacred Sword, which was currently shining with a bright silver sheen.
"Wuuuu!"
With the battle horn sounding for the counterattack, the ancient Sacred Sword from epic stories transformed into a pillar of light that reached the skies.
Under its might, all the clouds in the sky were torn apart as the light revealed what was hidden behind the clouds.
A floating castle, and floating platoon were gliding among the clouds, and what stood out the most of all, was a tremendous Tornado Wind Elemental. At this time, the Tornado Lord had finally come through on his promise, and had the members of his tribe begin their attack on his mortal enemy.
"Knights, our reinforcements have finally arrived, and it's time to take back our land that should rightfully be ours! Open the door, and charge after me!"
The Queen proceeded right away after jumping onto the Ice Lion King, and right behind her were the knight squads that were already prepared for this beforehand. Countless battle flags were unraveled as threatening cold steely lights emanated from their sharp pikes and spears.
Today was the inauguration ceremony for Glina the First, as well as the formal declaration of battle by Sleuweir.
"It's finally time to take back everything that belongs to us."
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Chapter 175: Start of Battle
Every Holy War would reset the balance of power between the various races. Not only would the power balance be reset among mortals, it almost always included the True Gods as well.
Nobody was truly immortal. Not only humans, even beings as powerful as the True Gods had their own mortal enemies and insurmountable obstacles. They were fated to fall one day as well, although they would take many lives with them when they fell.
With the fires of the Holy War stoked, order almost completely collapsed, and the suppressed feelings of anger and revenge finally exploded. There were those that hoped to benefit from the war, or those that cursed their enemies and swore revenge. When these "divine" existences began encouraging their own forces, it was only natural that chaos would reign.
The Wind Elemental God Camdian was one of them. He was currently rather frustrated. Even if the Four Ancient Elemental Gods weren't the main Gods of Chaos, they were the direct subordinates of the Chaos Goddess and weren't far from being the main Gods themselves.
"Your mission is to cooperate with the Blackwing Tribe and create chaos, understand?"
He was finally released from his seal, and not even mentioning the fact that people were different from how they were, those insignificant ones that should have been below him were actually above him! This was unacceptable for someone as prideful and arrogant as he was.
As the most ambitious of the Four Ancient Elemental Gods, he was highly unsatisfied with his current situation.
"Damn it, that damned Bodwin, even a mere Centaur guardian dares to be so disrespectful! I, Camdian, am the highest existence, how dare these insignificant existences give me orders."
Even after being unsealed, the position of the Elemental Gods was still rather precarious. As the direct subordinates of the Chaos Goddess, they should have been on the level of the Main Gods, but that was nowhere close to the truth, as even the guardian of such a weak race didn't respect them.
Unlike the other Elemental Gods that simply became allied to the mortal residents of the land, the powerful Camdian used some tricks and caused the Winged Tribes that had lost their ability to fly to completely subordinate themselves to him. With the ancient floating airship and floating castle within his possession, Camdian had his own ambitions. When he gradually discovered the lack of respect given to his own position, he began having his own ideas about the situation.
"Giving someone as divine as me the order to be the leader of some bandits? If I actually do that, I'll make enemies out of every country along our path, and as the war drags on, I'll become nothing more than cannon fodder sooner or later in this Holy War."
When the hooded stranger came to visit him and gave him an opportunity, his cautious personality made him continue to observe the situation. Roshe's message was what finally gave him his determination.
"I've already received Ayer and Wumianzhe's promises. Perhaps there will be a new system of Gods born in the Northlands, that's all I have to say, do as you see fit. But no matter what, the Northlands' elves belong to me, don't you dare touch them!"
This twisted and confusing short message still managed to help the Wind Elemental God understand the conflicting feelings in his fellow ancient God that was also experiencing dejection.
"Even if I fail, at the very most I'll just be sealed and have a nap again, which won't be any worse than currently. But if I succeed, I can have my revenge on that disgustingly big piece of dirt, and also help the Winged Tribes obtain some territory, which will also help me on the path to becoming a Guardian, gathering belief that can help me raise my rank to a True God, such a great deal… I'll gamble on it!"
And with the Thunder Lord's ferocious anger, the ancient battle between elementals restarted in the modern age. The earth elementals that had been in the midst of constructing the dimensional bridge met with their old opponents once more. The thunder and tornadoes that descended from the sky intended to rip apart the earth.
"Boom! Boom!"
The first to open fire was actually the wind elementals' subordinate Winged Tribes. Cannon fire from the black floating airship set fire to everything before it, and the floating castle in the sky became the Wind Tribe's fortress and center of command.
While the castle descended, countless black-winged "angels" flew out from within and slid down together with an armada of floating ships as they followed their hunting instincts and joyously roared as they attacked. They chucked their thunder-infused spears that transformed into countless bolts of deadly thunder.
The Wind Tribe's first attack didn't have much of a result, as the highly durable earth elemental army emerged from within the ground's cracks and fought back with their giant stone hammers.
When both sides' elemental warriors exchanged blows, the battlefield sunk into utter chaos. Countless numbers of earth and wind elementals began close-combat fighting, with tall rock giants grappling against whirlwind tornado giants, and the gigantic children of earth tossing huge stones at the children of the sky in response to the thunder that kept crashing down even though there were no clouds in the sky.
Just at the combat was reaching its apex, a horrendous scream was heard by everything living as they all instinctively looked to the northern sky where a humongous fiery meteor was slowly falling.
"A God has died! A True God has died!"
All the living creatures instinctively knew that the death of a True God had occurred. As for the northern Elf Kingdom, the Elf Warriors who were still battling with their utmost looked on in shock at the sight before them, as they couldn't believe how the Forest Guardian Clareladin that they believed in was actually defeated by the Evil God Roshe.
There was nothing but scorched earth remaining now at the places where the battling was the fiercest. Nothing mortal could possibly withstand such a destructive battle.
But at this location, people saw gigantic black spiders that would later give them nightmares. These spiders were feeding together with their children, and they were devouring a rainbow-colored half human and half deer Semigod. Judging by the remnants of the trees being devoured by them, even the SemiGod descendant accompanied the fall of the Semigod.
And so, the Forest Guardian Clareladin became the first True God to fall in this Holy War, and Roshe used her successful battle achievement to send out a convincing blood invitation to various existences.
"Coo coo!"
One of the strongest-appearing spiders absorbed enough energy as it transformed into a dark shadow that covered the skies while laughing abnormally, before finally transforming into a human-shaped figure that turned out to be a male Dark Elf.
"Heavens! It absorbed the Dendroid God's divine power and right to be a God!"
Right in front of the unbelieving Elves' eyes, the Dark Elves' new Poison God Felix was born, and the northern Elf Kingdom was about to face their destined nightmare.
From a certain standpoint, even though they were both Queens of their own countries in the Northlands, Glina and Reyne were complete opposites.
Reyne was supremely self-aware of her own status as a Mist descendant. She took her job and responsibilities quite seriously, and always worked her hardest. However, she was limited by her natural talent and abilities, and her growth never reached the goals she set for herself, so sometimes she worked herself way too hard and tried too much, which also gave difficulties to the people around her and made them worry.
And the fact that Glina was a master engineer at such a young age already made many things rather clear. This job was no golden combat job, a non-combat oriented job like engineer needed knowledge and wisdom instead, which doubtlessly meant that her talent and ability were both top-notch.
Also, judging by Clint's occasional shocking ideas before, Glina was even talented in combat strategy and plotting which Reyne was a complete loss at.
But the current Glina still gave me an odd feeling. Even though I didn't have too much contact with her every day, she never said anything unless she had to, and when she didn't have to do anything, her personality would naturally curl up into a ball. It always reminded me of hikkikomoris that were afraid to see the sunlight.
"Ah, the sun is so blinding! Ahh, there's too many people, it's really annoying! Ahhh, I'll be defeated if I go to work! Let me go back into hiding, just ten minutes will be enough!"
"You'll come back out after ten minutes?"
"Nope, I'll fall asleep within ten minutes, and lock the door. No matter how you shout for me, I won't be coming outside. Don't even think about making me work."
Fine then, after hearing such a sentence in this game world, I began to suspect if she was another transmigrator from my world who happened to be a complete worthless NEET and otaku.
Even though she was talented to the point where she could memorize her lines after looking them over just one time, the fact that she put no effort into anything whatsoever still took up a large amount of my time and energy.
And currently, right after she finished her performance, it was obvious that she had no motivation or self-awareness whatsoever as a queen, with her old problematic habits acting up again.
"Hey, I already completed your request, hurry up and let me go back into hiding!"
Right after the speech and as the battle horn was being blown, Glina was already requesting to go hide back in her shell.
"Hey hey, you're going overboard. All the citizens are still watching you. Even if you're just acting, you're still the person that they trust in and swear loyalty to, so just bear with it a little."
The main forces were about to depart, and according to the original plan, Queen Glina was supposed to visit and surveil the new armies, so how could I possibly allow her to escape at this time? I'm going to drag this deadbeat NEET under the sun to work!
"I can't do it anymore! I've already been outside for too long; hurry up and allow me to return to Clint #1 already."
She seemed like she was trying to suppress something, and her pale-white face was beginning to turn suspiciously red.
"Are you really that uncomfortable? Will you die if you're in the sunlight? Are you a member of the Blood Tribe? Just what are you supposed to be?"
Just as I was hesitating, she kneeled down while clutching onto her right eye. There was a dark yellow glow leaking out from her eyepatch.
I noticed that something was wrong, and tore off her eyepatch. That familiar dark yellow glow instantly helped me to understand what was going on, so I immediately put the eyepatch back on her.
"Call for some priests and doctors… no, don't call for priests, go find some alchemists and apothecaries, and might as well call for the guy who doesn't want his soul anymore as well. Yep, I'm talking about that idiot Beifeng."
Before long, people would be here to help treat Glina. Even though there was no final report ready yet, I already had an inkling of what had happened.
"Karwenz, you bastard! Making more trouble for me at such a time."
While holding on to Glina's petite body, I could detect that her demon's blood was boiling, which obviously wasn't a normal situation. There was only one explanation – the Demon Prince Karwenz was summoning his descendants!
However, the struggling girl stopped me from calling for any medical personnel to come treat her. While pulling on my hand, she requested me with a begging look in her eyes.
"Just put me in my armor; there's mechanisms inside that can help suppress my demonic blood from acting up."
"What a mess… sigh."
Well, there weren't any better ideas. There was no way that the public could be allowed to find out that Glina was a demonic descendant, so while feeling helpless about it, I opened up her Clint armor. Inside its finely crafted interior was a space that was just right for placing a petite child within.
Apart from the half-finished instant noodles and cookies inside it, what caught my attention the most were all the anti-magic chains and magic-sealing talismans on the driver's seat.
Just as I placed Glina inside, the armor's metallic shell automatically closed. This was followed by various clinks and clangs as she was locked up tightly, while the black heavy armor's eyes showed a steady late accompanied by a large amount of steam coming out of the armor's back. Finally, the metallic giant that was over two meters tall stood back up again.
"You even have a steam exhaust valve, which is such an obvious sign that Clint is actually a mecha. Why didn't anyone ever discover the truth?"
"I witnessed it once before, but I thought it was just brought on by bad digestion… It's something that most people would be embarrassed to ask about."
"What about the light for the eyes? It's clearly unnatural, they're red light bulbs, right?"
"There's more than one person with scary eyes in our team. Who knew what bloodline he came from? Since Clint always met people directly, it seemed normal that he was a halfblood. Sigh, not being a Blood Tribe or a Werewolf though caused me to lose so much money."
"Oh, you also placed a bet? I bet on Half-Dwarf, and also lost all my money. Damn it, just who is this GL001, that actually bet on a blonde-haired loli and won all our money last night when the gamble concluded, my poor money."
"GL001? Isn't that Clint himself? Damn it, that guy cheated all of us by betting on himself!"
Fine then, let us ignore these unimportant mysterious ramblings. No matter what the fact that Clint had now revived before us was a good thing… probably.
"Clint #1, revived! Ahhhhh, I'm finally comfortable now, let's have a blast to celebrate!"
The revived Clint instantly pulled out several Dwarven guns and shot an array of bullets into the sky as the Gentlemen Alliance members behind us commented.
"Ahaha, how could one round of blasts be enough, go for several thousand."
The armor began transforming quickly as a swiveling gatling gun was assembled. In some regards, a human identity had always been a limiter on Clint's true abilities.
"Pop pop pop!"
Together with the joyous sounds that Clint made while shooting everywhere, he began dancing a dance that nobody understood. And after he finished using up his bullets, he began cackling maniacally while using spare parts to assemble a new weapon.
"So scary, his entire personality has changed."
"The armor must be the true body after all. Something like a quiet little girl? Just a hallucination."
Unlike those guys who were merely enjoying the show, I knew that Glina was still resisting the summoning of her demonic blood. Thinking about how the inwardly resolute girl was currently tossing and turning in her pilot's seat caused me to have a mysterious pain in my heart.
'Had she always been tying herself up like that? At the same time as controlling that mecha, she even locked herself up with chains and injected herself with various magic-sealing needles. This isn't even at the level of painful anymore, it's basically torture.'
Not to mention, I knew that this wasn't a good plan for the long-term. A crack in her defenses would appear someday no matter how much she denied her own demon blood, as human willpower was limited, while the demon's summoning would never cease. Forcefully blocking it out would cause a problem sooner or later.
"…The only method is probably that one then."
Beifeng who hurried over here as well, probably to check the situation, exchanged knowing glances with me that we must have arrived at the same conclusion.
"Is that really the only method left to us? Its success rate is quite low. But with how strong Glina's willpower is, she should be able to endure it."
Just as we were concerning ourselves with how to cure her, a familiar and nostalgic abnormally stimulating scent entered our nostrils.
"…Gunpowder?"
"Adopted father, what do you think of my new fireworks! I created this using the new formula you gave me, and I call it the 'High-pressure Goblin Mine."
The clinging and clanging sounds finally ended as a large High-pressure Goblin Mine with a lead wire coming from it appeared. Feeling the fearsome amount of energy emanating from underneath that iron shell, I started breaking out into a cold sweat.
"Hey there, are you planning on killing your own father already? I already said that it didn't need to be for real, don't take it so seriously."
I thought that she was going to use it on me, but after witnessing her rubbing Clint's iron face against that explosive's outer shell, I knew that I had been mistaken. Rather than wanting to explode it on me, she was clearly bragging about her new invention.
"You've barely recovered slightly and you're already so eager to make a new explosive? As expected of the Explosive Demon Clint."
"Guru guru."
A small black rolled over and crashed against my feet. I was no longer able to remain calm after I picked it up and saw what it was.
"…This seems like a safety pin."
"That's right! Ah, without this, it'll explode immediately…"
"Boom."
No need for any more details. I could only sigh as I watched Clint spiraling away through the air while also secretly being amazed at how strong the Clint armor's anti-explosive properties were.
"As expected, this is just like Clint."
Just as I finished my statement, everyone was already nodding in agreement.
"The armor is the true body, and the sound of explosives is only the accompaniment. A true man never turns around to watch his explosion. The legendary man that leaves together with the sound of his explosives is simply that cool and confident."
Alright then, a certain idiot's wistful comment received everyone's praise once again, but I was rather astonished.
"Weren't you occupied with battling that lion's head? You gave up? That's really not like you."
"Sigh, don't mention that, I truly lost this time, I give up, I admit defeat!"
There was actually an existence in this world that Beifeng was unable to conquer? I was no longer the only one shocked now, as everyone was looking at him with surprise written all over their faces. They were all unable to imagine that he would actually give up, since he was always using "true love would never be defeated" as his trademark phrase.
"It doesn't matter how strong they are, or the age difference, since true love doesn't have too much to do with outer appearances, but, but, he actually…"
Beifeng with tears in his eyes? This was my first time seeing such a sight; was a failure in love that depressing for him?
"…He actually turned into a Snow Girl, and even a humanoid, a humanoid. How are you supposed to have love with humanoids! This is the greatest failure and regret in Beifeng.Herault's life! I actually fell in love with a humanoid! My love isn't pure anymore!"
I clutched my head as I deeply regretted wasting my time on this bastard for the umpteenth time. If he could feel sadness at a normal type of failure in love, then he wouldn't be the extraordinary gentleman known as Beifeng, with the sin known as "Sad Wind."
"Well, we should have made him into the experimental test subject for that Goblin Mine. It's not too late yet, let's have a cannoneer, we have a brave warrior who's volunteering to go out and scout the enemy's situation."
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Chapter 177: Crazed Stones
From the very start, I wasn't worried about the Maple defense line's battlefield, as I had made plenty of preparations there.
An organized squadron for the Four Elemental Swordcasters, the Borealis and its supporting new era battleships, and the various new inventions by our engineers for defending the castle. Imperceptibly, I had already acquired so much strength, and I left them all at Maple Castle. With them there, I believed that it would be quite difficult to break past the Maple defense line.
Okay, apart from the above, I also prepared plenty of other things, as the more trump cards one had, the better. The side that was able to keep his trump cards until the final moment would always have a much greater chance of victory.
'The Maple Castle defense line isn't allowed to fail.' That was something I absolutely wouldn't allow.
After all, that was the most critical location of this entire battle. If they failed, that meant that order and balance of power itself would collapse in the north, which could only result in the humans retreating towards the south and giving up the Northlands. In that case, even if we won here, it would still be an overall defeat where we could only struggle to survive and wait for the enemy to encircle us and defeat us at their leisure.
Of course, if there was some sort of unexpected sudden situation, such as some Evil God of Chaos risking his own demise to personally descend upon the mortal realm (the current Elemental Tide wouldn't allow True Gods to descend, so any that dared to personally descend basically wouldn't be able to return,) which would make it impossible to defend the Maple defense line.
If that type of situation occurred, I also gave them instructions to simply board the Borealis and escape as quickly as possible. If a veteran God of Chaos personally came out, then it would take another veteran God of Order to deal with him. If the Chaos side was willing to make such a sacrifice, the True Gods of Order would surely send out one or two cannon fodders to play the game of dying together in unison.
At the current moment, with the combat situation still unclear, the most difficult part was left up to us.
The Antuen defense army's elimination of the remaining Beastmen squads was rather successful, as we easily recovered the enemy's temporary battle camps outside the castle with our advantage in numbers and the Winged Tribes' ambushes as protection. But right after that, we met with an obstacle – the Earth Elemental God Emordilorcan.
As the most ancient of the Four Elemental Gods, I knew that the Earth Elemental God Emordilorcan would be a ridiculous one, but I never expected how truly ridiculous he was.
As the lord of all earth elementals, his body wasn't as large as I expected, nor did he have their strange features. He merely resembled an enormous stone giant, and he even appeared slightly smaller than the Wind Elemental God. But when he truly began fighting, he proved the old adage about how "fighting isn't about how big you are, but how hard your fists are."
As the Earth Elemental God roared, just one light swing of his fist would be able to crush a huge wind elemental. When a thundering Wind Elemental Lord came over to assist, he easily smashed it between his fingers, and when a floating battleship attacked him with its cannons while being covered by support fire from the floating castle, he jumped up and turned the floating castle into nothing but dust with a triple kick.
Anything below the power of an Elemental Lord, he could deal with using a single kick. As for the annoying Winged Tribes and tiny battleships, just the blast from his roar's soundwaves were enough to crush them to pieces.
"Monk? This bastard's actually a top-level Monk! How outrageous."
Yep, Emordilorcan was doubtlessly an expert barehanded combat Master Monk. There were no rules saying that elementals weren't able to practice martial arts, but rather the opposite, for the Earth Elemental God whose body was far harder than steel, his physical characteristics only vastly improved the explosiveness of those martial techniques. Just one shoulder press would easily crush many mountains, and if he tried to transmit his force through a mountain to a cow, I don't know how the cow will end up, but the mountain would surely be eradicated.
Emordilorcan's steps were steady and agile, and it was quite easy for him to make Camdian dizzy before suddenly ambushing the Wind Elemental God Camdian with a heavy blow.
Compared to the dexterous Emordilorcan, the gigantic Camdian actually seemed like a slow fatty that could only take blows without even a chance to get in any of his own. Camdian was a typical mage-type Elemental Lord, but the thunder he gathered was unable to lock on to any target, since he wasn't even able to see his enemy Emordilorcan clearly, so how could he possibly hit him?
The ancient battle between elementals repeated itself in the modern day, but unfortunately, Camdian learned to his despair that while his own strength had indeed increased greatly, Emordilorcan had already changed his entire battling style, and Camdian was not even able to get a single hit in. This strange style caused the gap between Camdian and Emordilorcan to widen even further.
"Hurry, we don't have much time left."
Just by seeing the situation, I knew that it was impossible for Camdian to win, and even how long he could last was a problem. For such an old fox like Camdian, it was all too normal for him to run away if he couldn't win, there was zero possibility at all of Camdian fighting to his death.
After hesitating for a moment, I still decided to send him a message.
"Hang in there, we're currently closing the Earth Elemental Door, after it's closed, Emordilorcan's power will be reduced greatly, so that you can grab your chance to take your revenge. If you miss this opportunity, you'll never defeat Emordilorcan for the rest of your life."
In order for him to not retreat when he hadn't been truly defeated yet, I could only give Camdian a strong motivation, and just as I expected, Camdian who had begun to cower worked up his courage again at hearing there was still a chance.
At this moment, under the cover of the chaotic battle, our knights were riding in the snow. Now, we had already entered the Earth Elementals' Labyrinth, and our target was of course the currently opening dimensional door.
Our combat strategy had been clear from the start. The Wind Elementals and Winged Tribes and even the brave warriors (cannon fodder) that were rushing as the vanguard were merely a smokescreen to disguise our true motive.
Antuen's defense army had been through too many long bitter battles, so it was heavily fatigued and injured with severe losses to their elite troops. Having them participate in this high-level battle between elementals would basically be akin to having them suicide, which was why I gave them the task of cleaning up the remaining roaming Beastmen squads, while I took the elites and rushed for the Earth Elemental dimensional door under cover of the battle between elementals to destroy the most critical strategic target.
If the Earth Elemental dimensional door was allowed to completely open, no matter what happened next in the combat situation, the side of Chaos would most likely have obtained enough strength to win overwhelmingly, and everything else that we did would be nothing more than mending the fence after losing the sheep, with irreversible damage having been done already.
"Hah!"
I shouted in a low voice and defeated the enemy in front of me with a single blow. This small earth elemental was barely worth mentioning, and didn't even require my sword.
But the deeper we went into the Earth Elemental Labyrinth, the more tiny earth elementals that appeared. They were nothing more than token creatures generated by the Earth Elemental dimensional door, and they didn't even have self-awareness, so spending time on them was pointless.
"Just how long are we going to have to kill these for?"
There were so many walls before us, and we kept hitting dead ends. Doubtlessly, the earth elementals had constructed this into an intricate maze during the interval between fighting with nothing else to do. Our target was naturally located in the deepest part of the labyrinth, and all the guardians that we passed on our way was evidence that my inference was correct.
"Underhanded mortals, my master has long since anticipated your plot. I'm the guardian of this door, the Earth Elemental Lord Alidos, don't… Ahh!"
With Adam as the vanguard, everything was easy. This Alidos fellow didn't even finish giving his speech before he instantly bit the dust. Alidos was the twelfth guardian that we met already; this was just like a dungeon-exploring game, with the mini-bosses coming at us one at a time. It was a pity that we received no experience from this, though.
Since Emordilorcan could return here at any moment, time was of the essence. That's why I looked questioningly over towards Margaret. If my memory served me correctly, this Great Saint was the most skilled in time and space magic, so perhaps she would have some method to help us.
"Teleporting everyone to the central location of the labyrinth? Impossible, there's not a single mage that can teleport people to an unknown location, and this type of irregular structure is the worst for teleportation. If there's even the smallest miscalculation with the distance, we'd be teleported into the walls…"
Then could we only continue onwards one level at a time? We still had to listen to those large rocks and stone giants give their boring speeches? This was evidently not a good idea.
"Hah, I'm the Worm King Kasolai, don't even imagine that you can pass the door that I guard…"
Okay, fine, I actually did want to hear this guy's speech, since a large worm that was over a dozen meters long was quite a rare sight. But the SemiGod mage who seemed quite anxious evidently didn't have the patience for that, since right after the self-styled Worm King crawled out of the dirt, he was sliced into seventeen pieces.
The Earth Elemental Door still hadn't opened fully, so the only earth elementals and other earth attribute creatures that were able to come to this dimension were limited in power, but this definitely wasn't their upper limits. We could take care of these guys easily, but just recalling back to that megaton rock who was currently beating up the Wind Elemental God while playing at triple kicks in midair, I knew that I definitely had zero chance of victory against the Earth Elemental God.
This was a race against time. If the Wind Elemental God decided to run off on his own, I didn't have the ability to fool such a useful cannon fodder anymore.
"Glina…"
"It's Clint!"
"Okay, Clint, it's up to you now, we're the demolition crew! You understand, right?"
From long ago, when I was stuck in an irritating maze in some video game, I had always imagined that if I met an underground labyrinth in real life, I would definitely use a different method to go through the maze.
"Goblin Engineers have an old saying: 'Explosions are an art form,' so allow me to witness your artistry. Come, give me a good explosion! Everyone get back, Clint, explode everything for me! We're not going to take the door, we're taking the window!"
Yep, I should have done this much earlier, the exit was right before us with only a thin wall in between, why did I need to circle around all over again instead of using a hammer to crash through the wall?
"I'm tired of these damned mazes, as well as all those maze designers with nothing better to do, why do I have to play such a slow pathfinding game with you? If there's no path, just open one up through the wall, if there's no staircase, I'll just go right through the floor. Just watch, even if this maze has 999 floors, I'll pierce through all of them with this one explosion!"
Clint's comments just now as he gave me a huge thumbs-up and viciously pressed down on his explosives button were indicative that he agreed with my attitude, as expected of my relative.
"Boom!"
The rest was simple, as the Elemental Tide would show us the way. The closer we got to the Dimensional Door, the thicker the elements became, all we had to do was follow the trail.
"Boom!"
Yet another hole appeared in the wall before us. Using such a high-speed tactic to conquer the maze, all we had to do was continuously sweep away the broken stones, then jump down to the next floor. We were rapidly approaching the center of the maze. Judging by Margaret's crystal ball that was aiding our pathfinding, we were close to our target.
"Tsk, let me do it, I promise we can go through three or four floors at once, it'll be much quicker."
The Goblin Engineer Jinya.Beyar saw how cool Clint was acting, and seemed to get jealous. He wanted to help out as well, but we prevented him from doing so.
"So you want all of us to be buried alive?"
At this, Jinya fell speechless.
After all, having Clint using explosives in the first place rather than Jinya who had even more powerful bombs at his disposal was doubtlessly because Clint was far more adept at precision. Clint wouldn't bury us while opening up the path to the next floor.
Clint became more and more practiced with each explosion, causing less unnecessary broken rocks to be exploded with each one, so our progress kept increasing in pace.
"I've never thought you were so reliable before, good job!"
Just as I gave Clint a big thumbs-up as well, the entire ground began shaking violently.
"Boom!" "Boom!"
Continuous exploding sounds came from all around us as the ceiling began to drop dirt pieces, with one large piece almost hitting my face.
"I really can't praise you… oh, it wasn't you? Then who was it?"
"Roland, I'll refrain from asking what these strange hand gestures mean, there's a reaction of Godly energy right above us, let's prepare."
Margaret's words immediately solved the puzzle for us. For a SemiGod mage like her, the Elemental Gods' energy waves were just like bright lights in the darkness that were impossible to ignore.
At this moment, Camdian's message suddenly arrived.
"Flesh allies of mine, my apologies… I hope that we still have a chance to work together again in the future."
Should I say that guy was supposed to be nice after all? At the very least, he still passed along a message, but even though Emordilorcan and Camdian were both Ancient Elemental Gods that had just awakened from being sealed, Camdian wasn't even able to last twenty minutes, how incredibly weak.
"It's not that I'm weak, Emordilorcan's just too strong."
Okay then, this guy even remembered to add one more sentence to give himself an excuse."
"Pound!"
The current booming sounds and trembles coming from above us told us that this was no time to be blaming Camdian, as the Earth Elemental God Emordilorcan was probably right above us already. Just recalling that figure who was brutally beating up the Wind Elemental God from earlier gave me a headache.
But we were already in the enemy's home territory, and it was quite possible that Emordilorcan had abilities like "move through the earth" or "walk through walls," so attempting to escape now would be impossible.
"Damn it, Adam!"
"Margaret, take everyone with you, your knowledge is needed there."
It was great to be working with old partners. Margaret knew that this wasn't the time for words, so she merely waved her staff and cast a few buffs on us as she nodded and took everyone on to the next floor beneath us.
Meanwhile, Adam and I drew our swords and prepared for that guy to come find us.
"Hey, how's your strength these days, don't be a dead weight here."
"Hmph, do you see this sword in my hands? The Roland Sacred Sword, forged 14 times, enhanced to +7, with power that almost matches the 13 Godly Artifacts. Heh heh heh, take a good look at that rusty metal in your hands, it looks like it's only Superior quality, with no enhancements. I'm your granddaddy, and the difference between us is like that of a pay-to-win player and a starving refugee player, who cares if your level is high, can you one-hit-KO everything in sight, if you can't take it then come PK with me, your granddaddy will instantly defeat you."
Adam didn't even know how to respond to this. Every time they met a similar situation, Roland would always enter his crazed state and say all these incomprehensible things.
But since Adam also knew long beforehand that they would meet such a strong enemy, of course he would be prepared. So, he silently put away his cheap Superior quality sword, and shook out a shortsword from his sleeve, then suddenly infused it with the power of thunder and caused a one-meter long Lightsword to appear.
"A rechargeable Lightsword? That's at least a legendary weapon, it must be famous in history, this Elven-style carving on it, is it Xiler's Banshee's Sword? So you were a pay-to-win player as well, why didn't you bring this out earlier? Were you planning on using the trope of 'I am not left-handed'?"
Adam lightly touched his sword's tip, causing that clear crystal sword to seemingly become far more intimidating after it was infused with the fury of the wind. He felt quite fortunate that he was able to find a weapon which matched his characteristics.
"I gave the Sentiment of the Wind sword to Annie, but since I still needed to be on the battlefield, of course I would go find another sword. I don't know this sword's name, but it seems to fit me quite well. However, I 'borrowed' it from the Cloud Tower, which was an unseemly action, so it would be best to not let Margaret see this sword."
Not only was it unseemly, in a certain personal mage tower in the Cloud Tower, the original owner was already howling in despair. And far before Adam even left, complaints about him had already filled the Truth Research Society's desk. If it wasn't for his connection to Margaret, Adam would have been blacklisted forever by the mages long ago.
"Oh, you as well, actually I profited quite a lot from Auland last time. That strong human kingdom truly accumulated so much after so many prosperous years, it would have been a waste to not take something from them."
"Yep, yep, it's just that even though they're so rich, they're really stingy, the last time I placed my sword on someone's neck…"
Okay then, just as the two of them began focusing on exchanging stories about how they stole from others, the tardy guest of honor finally arrived.
"Boom!"
What came first was the violent shaking of the ground, followed by countless sharp stone spears that suddenly pierced through the earth.
"It's here!"
The gigantic stone spears pierced through the floors with such force that the entire labyrinth shook from the impact, as that stone giant finally reached where we were.
And when the stone pillars from above were retracted, huge eyes filled with killing intent blocked the holes that the pillars made. That's when we discovered that those "stone spears" had actually been part of his finger.
"Hmph, you're actually using such a cliché scene from a horror movie? You think your granddaddy is afraid? No matter how strong the boss, aren't they all just to drop equipment for the players? Come, have fun fighting with your granddaddy!"
At the same time, the silver Sacred Sword was currently letting off an abnormal silvery glow. With the silvery glow becoming tangible, the God Equipment Roland Sacred Sword was about to face its first enemy since its birth.
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Chapter 178: Royal Protection
Elemental life is typically formed by the gathering of basic elements that lack consciousness. While they appear to be the same as other living creatures, there's actually a big difference, as low-level elementals don't have any feelings or consciousness. However, top-level elementals are the same as other living beings, as not only do they have emotions and wisdom, they even have humanoid forms and the ability to reproduce.
But due to the differing structures of their bodies, their deaths will simply scatter their basic element. These elementals are typically able to return to the elemental plane and reform themselves, which was why it was so difficult to truly kill them outside of the elemental plane. Still, losing their elemental power that they could use at will also made them unable to use their true strength.
It was both a talent and an attempt to mitigate this weakness that the higher-level elemental lifeforms were always skilled at modifying their surrounding environments. Huge whirlpools deep in the ocean, maelstroms high in the sky, magma hells in the midst of volcanos, and stone labyrinths deep underground were their favorite environments. They had the ability to change these locations into a different artificial world entirely without anyone knowing, so that they could wield a power similar to what they had in the elemental plane.
Currently, this underground labyrinth was far above the level of a simple artificially constructed microcosm. Thanks to its successful connection to the Earth Elemental Plane, this labyrinth was gradually becoming part of the elemental plane itself. Those minor earth elementals that suddenly awakened their own senses of self were the best evidence that this location was gradually turning into the earth elementals' home turf.
"Never battle with the Undead in the Death Plane, never battle with demons in the Hell Plane, never battle with elementals in the Elemental Plane, they'll be ten times more difficult to deal with!"
But, I had a different opinion.
"Home territory? Foolish earth clods, this was never your home territory! Right? Roland Sacred Sword."
With my soft words, the silver Sacred Sword began glimmering even brighter than before. I could detect that it was currently the same as me: feeling rage at all the scum that had come over to our land without being invited.
"You unwelcome guests that just do whatever you want, you really believe this to be your dusty, filthy world? Dust to dust, earth to earth, go back to where you came from!"
The Sacred Sword's brilliance was at the point where entire the pitch-dark floor was being lit up. With a mighty shout, I viciously stuck the silver longsword into the ground as the silver king answered my summons and his soul began materializing.
The Roland Sacred Sword was a royal sword that's existed for eons. At first, it was the personal sword of the first King of Mist. It's already experienced more history than can be recounted, and in this kingdom that's experienced many disasters and wars, numerous kings throughout the generations have cut down various obstacles as they led their knights to fight for their country's land.
Royal sword, guardian sword, hereditary sword, were all new names that this sword acquired over the years with the sacrifices of various past Kings of Mist and their loyal knights, despite the fact that it didn't have any traits apart from being sturdy. This Sacred Sword was gradually bearing more and more responsibilities.
As it evolved from a normal weapon into a guardian Sacred Sword, it accumulated the power of a soul – the ancestral kings' understanding of what royalty was. Royalty was the guardian, guardian of the people, the country, the home, the family.
The Mist clan that would never surrender forged this unbreakable Sacred Sword of Mist, and now that it's finally accumulated enough power within my hands, it finally began its next stage of transformation.
In the past, I wondered about what characteristics it would have after evolving into a God Equipment. But truthfully, this didn't require any consideration at all, as its power was only one from the very start – protecting.
"The royalty are the guardians. We're born here, and never leave this place, and will be buried here. And even if we transform into decayed bones or nothing but a spirit, we will still protect this land. Isn't that right? My inflexible, archaic ancestors."
"You actually need this old fellow to come out, what a useless and unfilial descendant."
The hazy figure materialized in a silver flash. The summoned king returned to the physical world from being a soul while complaining about how useless his descendant was, but answered the call of his bloodline without hesitation while riding a bull as his steed and holding his war spear at the ready for charging into battle.
Atwood.Saint.Mist, nicknamed the Eagle of Glaso, lived from AD 234 to AD 298, dying in the prime of his life. Almost his entire life was peaceful. He was viewed as mediocre in his early years, and derided as senile when he passed fifty years of age. He was always smiling and never seemed to anger, but when he was sixty-four, the northern barbarians happened to invade. Atwood fought a bloody battle with them for seventeen consecutive days at the Glaso Plains, slaying several hundred enemy leaders.
"If only I was born thirty years earlier. This old warrior wasn't did yet, but my hair turned white already, and my body was so weak and tired, even though the enemy leaders were still alive with tens of thousands of enemies invading, and my people being affronted by them, if I can't return home with a coffin filled with enemy heads, I won't be able to reconcile myself with the idea of dying like this!"
The ancient king Atwood was riding his heavily armored bull, and behind him were several shadowy figures of old soldiers carrying a coffin that had a big "Death" written on it that stood out and drew attention.
In that year, this "senile" king that people looked down upon went to battle exactly in this fashion. He even had a coffin prepared for himself and brought out in front of his relatives that tried to convince him against personally entering battle. In the end, this old eagle that hadn't shown his mettle in more than ten years filled this coffin with the enemy leaders' heads, winning the glorious title of the Eagle of Glaso.
He narrowed his eyes and seemed to be waiting for something when he suddenly lifted his dark black spear and chucked it forcefully.
*Boom!*
At that exact moment, the gigantic Earth Elemental God had reached his head down here, with his round gem eyes filled with vicious killing intent. But before he was able to take any actions, a dark black spear silently flew and embedded itself in his jeweled eye.
*Boom!*
This unpredictable attack was completely impossible to defend against. Only after the sharp spear stuck itself in his eye did Emordilorcan discover that he was under attack. Immediately following after, the spear's sudden explosion turned his gem eye into nothing but broken shards. Only a single attack caused the powerful Emordilorcan to go blind!
"Ahhh! It hurts! Stupid insect that deserves to die! Who, who dares to harm the mighty Emordilorcan!"
"Oh my. Hey big guy, this isn't a place for bastards like you to be building a nest, take another spear from this old fellow!"
The squinting elderly warrior finally opened his ferocious eyes as his killing intent spilled out everywhere together with his charge.
Giant bulls were a rare species to begin with. Its dragonskin, thick armoring, and weight were all astonishing. It was about four meters tall, and its charge resembled that of a wingless SemiDragon, with a terrifying momentum.
Its horns were already reaching the roof of this floor in the labyrinth, and the ground shook with every step it took. Borrowing his steed's momentum, its elderly rider didn't hesitate to rush Emordilorcan as his long dragonspear pierced through the Earth Elemental God's freshly injured eye once more.
The dark black dragonhorn battlespear pierced deep into Emordilorcan's head, causing him to panic as he had never experienced such pain before.
"Ahhhh!"
The Earth Elemental God's shouting of agony reverberated through the entire floor we were battling on. This entire area above us began quaking mightily, also causing all living creatures aboveground to panic at the anger of the earth.
The narrowness of this labyrinth limited his highly agile body, and his ridiculously high defense that he was so proud of wasn't worth a thing in front of this ancient king. He had never experienced such humiliation in thousands of years.
The older a creature was, the more it valued its own life. After finding out that this location wasn't the best for him to fight at his full abilities, Emordilorcan escaped in a manner unbefitting that of an Elemental God.
"Phew, what a ferocious old guy."
Adam whistled in amazement. He never expected that this elderly warrior would be so strong, without even giving him a chance to go out and do battle.
"Hmph, such a glib-tongued junior."
The Eagle of Glaso disappeared into a shadow once more after completing his role that the Roland Sacred Sword had summoned him for, returning to his slumber.
As for me, I was sweating all over and half-kneeling on the ground. Just summoning this ancient king for that one attack had drained much of my energy.
"Hey hey hey, it couldn't be that you're already about to collapse? Just looking at the way that huge rock was glaring at us, he'll definitely be returning."
"What garbage, I'm afraid that he won't come back."
Adam was surprised for a moment, but his intelligence was quite high when it regarded a battle. He quickly realized what I meant.
"You're saying he's going to go around us, and chase after Margaret?"
"That's what I would do in his place. Is there any point in wasting time with the warriors like us behind the main objective? The obvious thing to do is go straight for the Dimensional Door, and once that place is secured, all he has to do is trap us here and capture us at his leisure. I think that rockhead's intelligence is much higher than yours."
There was a rare sign of worry that flashed on Adam's face upon hearing my words. Master Monks were already reputed to be the perfect counter to Mages, so even Margaret would likely find it difficult to deal with this monster's explosive ambush.
Earth Elementals were thick-skinned and had astonishing endurance to begin with, and any injured wild animal would go berserk. Emordilorcan was certain to be far more dangerous than earlier.
"Then what should we do? I can detect his presence, but I don't have Clint's control. If I break through the walls to chase after him, there's a ninety-nine percent chance that the walls will collapse on us. Oh, by the way, I noticed that you're insulting me by saying I'm worse than a rockhead."
"Tsk, only being perceptive at such a time. Relax, I have a method, just go in the general direction. Glina, I leave breaking through the walls up to you."
"Isn't Glina together with Margaret? Are you finally going senile in your old age…"
"It's Clint, not Glina!"
His insult was only half finished when it was interrupted. There was no mistaking that familiar voice, but when he looked over to see where it was coming from, there was only an immaterial floating silver armor in midair.
"…Even this awkwardness was completely copied. Okay, Glina, hurry up and blast through the walls."
"It's not Glina, it's Clint!"
"I know you're called Clint, hurry up and begin, Glina."
"It's not Glina!"
"Okay, Glina."
"Glina!"
"Yep, Clint… damn it, I'm losing track of what I'm saying. So you weren't naturally a ditz, you were naturally black-bellied."
Adam standing beside me was already stunned in amazement, but Glina was already filled with self-satisfaction as she began blasting through the walls. I also gave Adam an explanation as we rushed on our way.
[God Equipment: Roland Sacred Sword]
[Type: Two-handed longsword, attack power: 100-100, indestructible, usable only by descendants of the Mist.]
[Unique characteristic: Eternal royal protection. The royal ancient spirits have never left this land. While you are in the northlands, as their successor and descendant, you can summon them to battle for your cause.]
[There are two types of summons. The first is to summon a king from the past to give a single full-strength attack, and the second is to summon a cloned spirit of someone currently living. Both types of summons are limited to Mist royalty members only.]
"In the past two thousand years of history, even the Gods have come and gone so frequently, and the newly born Mist Kingdom is already an ancient country, with countless epic battle campaigns. There were so many powerful kings in the past, that no matter which one you randomly summoned, none of them would be too weak. The only part is that the ten minute cooldown and limited usage of three times a day is really annoying. I hope that the next step of the Sacred Sword's evolution can upgrade this. As for the second type of summons, if the royalty is abundant and powerful it should be quite the ability, but there are too few options right now, so it's only an ordinary skill. However, it just happens to be useful right now."
The Clint in front of us was basically exactly the same, and his speed in setting up explosives was quick, decisive, and precise. Our overall speed was quite fast. According to Adam's senses, we were almost about to pass in front of Emordilorcan.
We stopped in a spacious cave. This was a wide enough place that it was perfect for battle.
I nodded at Glina and her clone spirit immediately disappeared and returned to the Sacred Sword.
"As for me, I also discovered an incredibly cheat method of summoning."
I purposefully sounded as mysterious as possible with my raucous laughter. This type of rule-breaking summoning definitely surpassed my expectations for the God Equipment's main ability.
"Take a good look, and don't blink… Fight for me, twin stars, awaken, Roland, Karwenz!"
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Chapter 179: Chaotic Situation
"A True God has died; the Forest Guardian Clareladin has died. The SemiGod Prescott has also died in battle!"
The Guardian God of the northern Elf Kingdom was the Forest God. This True God's death made all the elves feel as if the sky was falling down on them.
"This is impossible! Gods are indestructible, how could they possibly die! How could the victim be the mighty Forest Guardian Clareladin!"
This was the feeling that all the northern elves had right after the news spread to everyone. For the past thousand years, the True God of Elves had been protecting them, causing them to become distant from the main events of the Northlands – the cruel competition for survival.
The warm environment and peace that was the stark opposite of the battlefield caused them to get accustomed to life under the protection of a God. They viewed it as a maxim similar to how the sun rose from the east. Now that the sun was no longer rising, it was only natural that they would panic to the extreme.
"We're finished, the northern Elf Kingdoms are all finished."
Those that lost all sense of reason and spread rumors out of fear were directly suppressed by the Elf Warriors, but fear and unrest were already spreading throughout the entire Elf population in the north. While rumors could be denied, some things were indisputable.
Due to the Forest Guardian God's death, the utopia-like Elf Kingdom was now re-entering reality after no longer having its God's protection. After returning to the circle of life, nature started showing off its cruelty that treated everyone equally!
Currently, the streams in the forest were beginning to freeze over, and large amounts of trees began wilting. The forests that didn't belong in the Northlands were heading for death, and the outermost protective forest transformed in just a few minutes in a process that would normally take decades, losing all their leaves almost instantly. The anti-decaying protection from the True God had expired, leaving nothing but wilting death for the trees.
Without the Forest Guardian's forest barrier to protect them, the Elf Kingdom's average temperature was now a stark contrast with the Northlands' average temperature, causing nature's natural balancing to forcefully recoil against it.
According to the Elves' poetic description of what happened, the explosive northern words transformed itself into a brutal Seasonal God, and crushed the isolated Elven paradise into a place resembling the rest of the cruel Northlands with just a single turn of its body.
When frigid winds injected themselves into the Elven lands that used to be spring in all four seasons, the shivering Elves finally learned that it was finally winter. The brutal winter especially made for the Elves by the ferocious forces of nature was particularly unpleasant.
Just as the Elves were sinking deeper into panic, their "relatives" were in the midst of a mysterious frenzy. Becoming fiercer after each battle wasn't an adequate description of their fervor anymore. In the midst of their major blood festival, the newly born Dark Elf Poison God had added a green poisonous snake emblem next to the Spider Goddess's spider emblem. The Dark Elf Gods were no longer Lorci all by herself, and the ambitious Lorci was already considering the ranking of newly born Dark Elf Gods in the future.
The Dark Elf armies were gathering under the flag of the black eight-clawed spider. The Elven armies defending their homeland had lost most of their main forces and were no match for the Dark Elves at all. All the Elves could do was watch as the invaders constructed endless bases and siege weapons in the Elven territory. The Dark Elves weren't even trying to conceal the fact that they intended to be here for a long time.
The Tassel Kingdom's mausoleum had been completely dug up, with all the passages leading to the Underground Kingdoms completely opened. Every day, countless eager Dark Elves would arrive from the Underground world, as if they were bloodthirsty sharks that had detected the delicious scent of fresh blood from their tasty prey.
The Dark Elves that had generations of grudges against their Elven cousins didn't begin a racial slaughter as quickly as people expected, but their casually apparent preparations for all-out war and that arrogant attitude that treated the Elves as lambs for the slaughter caused even the Elves that still believed in the possibility of victory to begin despairing.
"They're waiting, they're waiting for our campaigning armies to return. They have the assurance of definite victory, they have the protection of Lorci, and our armies have zero chance of victory without another Elf God's protection. Just what is the venerable Anslo thinking? Why did he allow the Forest Guardian to be killed off by the vicious and evil Spider Goddess! Why aren't our prayers being answered?"
The Elf Gods had no time to respond to the northern Elves' prayers, as the Human Gods had already detected their betrayal, making things difficult for them to even survive as it was.
From a certain viewpoint, it could be said that the Elves lacked someone with leadership abilities who could organize them and take charge. Compared to the major Human Kingdoms that were treating their Guardian Gods more and more like lucky mascots, the Elves relied far too much on their Gods and even viewed the Gods' protection as the most important factor in battle.
"No, they're also waiting for their own reinforcements. The Dark Elves are increasing in number every day, damn it! Just how many of those Dark Elf bitches are there?"
Just how many Dark Elves were there in total in the dark Underground world? Lorci herself likely didn't know either. She used her own power to help the Dark Elves possess fertility far beyond that of regular Elves, but Lorci was called depraved for this action and exiled to the Underground world.
"Damned Anslo! You're calling me depraved? Fine, I'll show you what depravity is, I shall allow you to witness true evil!"
It could be said that Lorci's self-destructive actions caused the entire Dark Elf tribe to fall into true depravity and darkness. Killing each other, betrayals, and scams became the entire lifestyle of this whole tribe, and even the Underground demons wouldn't dare say that they were better at scamming others in comparison with the Dark Elves. But at the very least, it was indisputable that these fallen Dark Elves were incredibly strong. After they broke free from the curse of low fertility, their true potential was far stronger than what everyone expected.
There was no race in existence that was evil from birth, as each individual's sense of good or evil was determined by his or her own experiences. Lorci's tainted dark waters didn't stain the entire tribe. The Gray Elves protected by the Moon God and the Dark Elf Rangers that lived in isolation publicly disobeyed the Underground lords summoned by Lorci. Even the Dark Elves had countless different beliefs and ways of thinking within themselves; Lorci had long lost control over the entire Dark Elf tribe.
But take a look at the current Dark Elf battle camps, the largest continuous campground indeed belonged to Lorci's flag. Symbols of the moonlight, the blood sword, the icy twin swords, and various others were scattered among as well, with all these numerous scattered camps representing the countless number of traitors to Dark Elf society. Adding them all together, they far outnumbered Lorci's forces, which was one type of evidence that this tribe contained a huge number of inner factions.
However, all of these Dark Elves that resented and killed each other while Underground had gathered here for the sake of a unified purpose.
"There's no justice in this judgement against our ancestors! Even if our ancestors were in the wrong, us descendants have the right to live under the blue sky, under the sun, together with the living! We have the freedom to roam in the comfortable open lands! We will prove that us Dark Elves are the strongest among all Elf tribes, that we're the upper-class Elves that deserve to rule!"
Under Lorci's flag, the Dark Elves that had severe differences temporarily banded together. With Lorci spending great amounts of Godly power to summon a magical dark mist, they were able to avoid being burned by the sun. The Dark Elves patiently sharpened their knives in the darkness, waiting for the fated brutal slaughter that was about to occur with their close cousins.
Since the Dark Elves had invaded earlier than the others, it was only natural that they began separating out from the other Underground forces. Their only target now was to carve out a piece of the blue sky for themselves.
"This part of the Northlands is enough for now, there's the Elven Spring here, and forests, we can rebuild a kingdom that belongs to us here; there's everything we want!"
Looking at it another way, as long as the wardrums of the Holy War sounded again, the Dark Elves and Lorci who were grinding their poisonous teeth were certain to return to the surface. Roland and Ayer's invitation letter was what ended up giving Lorci the best excuse and time to take action.
Currently, countless tents had been erected outside the Elven cities, and the Dark Elves were anticipating the joy of revenge and bloody victory. The Dark Elves whose greatest characteristic was betrayal actually managed to come together for this one goal.
As for the northern Elves that had lived here for so long, this was naturally a nightmare to them.
The Elf King Adrian that just returned to his capital city stared blankly at the scenery of despair in front of him. Was this what he had sacrificed his own daughter for? Was this the Elven strength to rule the ages that the Elven Gods had promised?
'I should have expected that the first to stand up in the Holy War would definitely become nothing but cannon fodder.'
At this time, he couldn't help but remember that person's assessment of him in his regret.
"You care too much about gains and losses, and calculate too much. You're actually only seeing small benefits, but you miss the big picture. Always calculating gains and losses every day, you'll eventually lose yourself in it as well."
"I'm not wrong! I'm definitely not wrong!"
But the current combat situation didn't permit for his wallowing in self-regret. The other three allied countries' armies had already complained so much to him, and there were plenty that wanted to dissolve the allied armies and take their own troops back to guard their home countries.
"Foolish, you're even more shortsighted than the useless humans. You think that those Dark Elf bitches will be satisfied with conquering only the Tassel Kingdom, that they won't go to the other countries? My Tassel Kingdom will hardly satisfy them, they want the entire Northlands Elf Kingdom!"
After returning, the devastation wrought upon the Tassel Kingdom had the opposite effect of making the other Elf armies want to separate from the allied armies even more. If they continued being unable to come together in unison, the Elves were quickly about to lose the war without even fighting.
"Invite two generals and Prince Kazlo to a meeting, just tell them that I have something private to tell them… Have Alwin take the Moonblade Elites and get ready for my orders."
The king clenched his teeth and made a gesture of slicing his hand across his throat to his shocked trusted retainer. The king had resolved himself to sacrifice everything in order to protect his own kingdom.
Nobody could have expected that this winter would involve so many factions at war. The Elves' battle, the Maple defense line, and the Elemental battle formed the most eye-catching opening acts of this Holy War.
All three battles affected and tangled with each other. At this point, any tilting towards one side or the other for any battle could cause a snowball effect, eventually ending in an avalanche.
The "Traitors' Battle" was the name later given to this war by history, but for those involved in the current era, the future generations' evaluations were unimportant. This frustrating situation where it was difficult to tell enemy from ally was the biggest headache for everyone.
There was so much betrayal between the two major sides of this conflict, to the point where even fooling your own tribe became a daily occurrence. Enemy today, friend tomorrow. Yesterday an ally, tomorrow a mortal enemy.
This type of fluctuation didn't even spare the venerated True Gods. When the Holy War restarted, those who tried remaining ambiguous were forced to stop sitting on the fence by the respective elder Gods of each faction and had to make their choices clearly for which side to stand on.
In a way, this was the critical time and point that allowed Ayer's letter, coming from one of the foremost Order Gods, to have such convincing power to Lorci for her to reselect the side she stood on.
Also, as one of the biggest losers in the previous Holy War, the Beastmen that didn't have any Gods to protect them were aiming to recover all their previous losses in this war. Their earlier ambushes were indeed outstanding, but they had now met with some small problems.
"Our spies have been completely eliminated? How is this possible, I remember there were 2376 different groups, with seventy percent of them being human mixed bloods that are impossible to determine from physical appearance, nor do they even know each other, how is it possible for all of them to be discovered? Some of our deeply embedded spies have been planted within the enemy for one or two hundred years over several generations, that we never activated, why were they discovered?
As the side with the advantage of being proactive on the attack, the current Beastman Chieftain Amon.Bloodaxe was currently dealing with a huge headache. From the start of war to now, the lack of a complete information network had always been one of the biggest obstacles for the Beastmen.
The most important thing in war was information. Thanks to Sleuweir Kingdom's policy of "peaceful trading," the past one hundred-plus years of interaction were more than enough for the ambitious Beastmen tribes to fill this kingdom with spies like a worm-infested apple.
But when the war truly began, not a single one of their planted "seeds" ended up sprouting.
The Tortoise Tribe Beastman making the report was sweating all over. He was the main leader of the information network, as well as a tribe leader himself, but he was currently fearing for his life instead of this group of major Beastmen leaders.
It couldn't be helped that all the leaders were so angry, as they had raised these soldiers so long to be used when the day came, with war being the most active time period for spies to be used. This was the time for spies to show their stuff, but the Tortoise Tribe Beastman basically handed in nothing but a blank test paper.
"There should be thirteen groups in Red Maple Castle, but… they were all discovered, they're the ones hanging on the eastern castle door. And, I…"
"You told us that the western castle door's female commander was nothing more than a flower vase, so we concentrated our battle power to attack the western door, and we ended up taking heavy losses. The aerial cavalry that we lost were accumulated over so many years, and you're actually telling us that you didn't know about those magic swordsmen and war machines? You're telling us that you didn't see anything as huge as a floating battleship? You're all so useless, why are we even paying for your upkeep!"
The raging Beastman King lifted up his battle axe while shouting angrily at hearing the information network's mistaken and inaccurate information yet again at this critical juncture. He intended to personally cut off these useless Beastmen's heads.
"Wait a moment, how did our spies get discovered? Setting aside those that were obviously Beastmen, as they were just decoys, how did the human spies we bribed and the mixed bloods get exposed, that's illogical, unless…"
Compared to the raging Eagle King, the Bearman Londe seemed far more composed. But judging from the jade he accidentally crushed in his hands, he wasn't as composed as he appeared on the surface. The loss of a behemoth was something irreplaceable that had already given him many sleepless nights of sorrow.
At this moment, when he spoke his final word "unless," he looked around him suspiciously at each tribe leader.
It was quite obvious what he meant between the lines. For such a deeply hidden information network to be completely discovered, the only possibility was that there was a spy, an incredibly high level one.
"…No, it's not a spy."
Even though the axe was already on top of his head and he was scared witless, the information network leader still needed to say what he should say.
"It's nothing to do with a spy, it's actually due to a problem with our logistics that caused all our spies to get revealed."
"Hm?"
What logistical problem could possibly expose all the spies at once? The tribe leaders present all had looks of disbelief.
"If we look at the root cause, I have to talk about thirty years ago. Since we have simple lifestyles, us Beastmen have difficulty making livings in the human world. For the spies that weren't adept at business to be suddenly sent to a foreign country, many spies were cheated out of their money in a short three months, and were forced back to the highlands by starvation."
Everyone nodded at this. It was public knowledge that Beastmen weren't adept at business. Not only these spies that didn't know a single written word, there were quite a few "wise" witch doctors and shaman that had the experience of losing everything through being cheated by human society.
For the Beastmen that still had the traditional bartering system in place, the human world was far too complex. Even if they didn't meet a scammer, most Beastmen would quickly use up all their traveling funds and helplessly return to their homes.
"We never knew when the day to counterattack would come. If we kept continuously sending out new spies, this would become a bottomless investment. Our tribe isn't wealthy, so we can't afford it. Finally, a coincidence helped us to obtain a legendary treasure."
"Treasure?"
"Yep, it came about out of a lucky witch doctor experiment. A witch doctor from my tribe accidentally mixed his cooking spices with his prophecy herbs, which was how he managed to coincidentally create the famous legend – Orion fried demon meat!"
All the tribe leaders swallowed their saliva in unison upon hearing this. They'd all tasted this red and delicious fried meat before as well. It was indeed savory to the point of tantalizing.
"Everyone here surely knows about it already. With that as the foundation, we opened up a series of fried meat shops using the Orion brand selling fried meat and hamburgers, causing the Orion name to become famous. Hmph, those damned humans that deserve to die actually stole our formula, and created some McD hamburger restaurant chain, competing with us everywhere, shameless to the extreme!"
"What does this have to do with our spies being discovered?" Amon was rather shocked at this sudden change of topic. Wasn't this supposed to be about the information network? How did competition between fast food restaurants have anything to do with this?
"As you know, our spies aren't skilled at business, while the Orion fast food restaurant is one of our only profitable businesses, resulting in… the result was that all the spies opened up Orion fast food restaurants! After one spy was discovered, every single spy was revealed!"
Ok, fine, since the Orion fast food restaurant was too profitable, there were even Beastmen that voluntarily became spies in order to open up restaurants in the humans' fancy world to enjoy their lives.
"Fuck! Isn't that just looking for death!"
"Foolish to such an extent! Who gave such an order! Which idiot did such a moronic thing? I'm going to hang him to death on the flagpole!"
The Beastman King Amon's angry roar reverberated through the tent, and his sharp voice caused the guards outside to shiver in fear.
The information network leader sweated even more profusely at seeing how angry Amon was.
"It was you…"
His reply was in a soft voice, but there were no ordinary people present that could not hear him. The tribe leaders were momentarily stunned at this, then the tent fell eerily silent, with Amon being the only person to clumsily continue speaking.
"What?"
"It was you. My Blackrock tribe was originally a subordinate tribe to your Bloodaxe tribe. Since information and scouting had always been the realm of the Eagle tribe that excelled in flying, and you're the master of all Eaglemen, and I've always been your loyal retainer. When you first succeeded your position, you said 'who knows when those useless spies will finally be useful, it's impossible for it to be my generation, so we might as well take the chance to earn some more money, and let our tribesmen participate in the most profitable business! We're going to fill the entire world with Orion fast food restaurants! We're going to become the fast food kings!"
Amon did his best to remember. He seemed to vaguely recall that thirty or forty years ago, when he first inherited his position, he had indeed said something similar, and even had it recorded in the tribe records as a wise saying.
As the Bloodaxe tribe chieftain, what he was most proud of wasn't his martial arts ability or prowess in combat strategy, but rather his ability to help his tribe get rich. It was precisely because of the flourishment of the Bloodaxe tribe that they were chosen as the representatives to cooperate with the Earth Elemental God.
"This can't be blamed on you, humans are just too devious. You see, we just found out that those McD hamburger restaurants were actually spies sent out by San Antonio. Our captured spies were all reported by those clowns wearing red wigs!"
That Tortoise tribe Beastman was all teary-faced as he talked about this painful memory.
"Those, those mascots that were singing blue blue road! They even hit us with their ingredients, and tossed those disgusting red wigs at us. They were underhanded to the point of putting rocks in their hamburgers, our fellow Beastmen were so pitiful. Our mascot the white-bearded old Beastman was completely unable to defeat them with the demon bone staff. The scene was unbearable to witness."
"White-bearded old Beastman? Mascot? Isn't this just looking to die?"
Some tribe leader finally pointed out another obvious flaw. This time, it was a certain Bearman tribe leader's turn to sweat profusely, as he also recalled the foolish decision he made twenty years ago when he inherited his position.
The information network leader saw this out of the corner of his eyes, but he figured that if he didn't say anything, he was certain to die. Saying it out loud might still give him a chance at living, so he ground his teeth and continued speaking.
"A certain person wanted to have a remembrance of his grandfather that passed away, and made this extra request… The white beard would represent wisdom, and the staff represented the willingness to never give up, and the white clothes and white apron represented the progress of shamanic culture. He said that it was necessary to make humans understand the beauty of the rough Beastman culture!"
Okay then. The information network leader kept staring at a certain Bearman while saying all this. His intention was obvious: let's not blame anyone here.
"Cough, I recommend, something else. We can actually fight on even without information." The Bearman tribe leader Londe pretended to remain composed as he spoke.
"Yep, I agree. We Beastmen are number one in the world at combat ability; there's no need for us to imitate the weakling humans and use spies or whatever." The Beastman King Amon relaxed slightly as he said so.
With the two strongest leaders agreeing with each other, what else could the other tribe leaders say, they could only nod.
"Notify all Beastmen, from today on, McD Hamburgers are our mortal enemies! Orion fast food is our pride! From today on, you're no longer our information network leader, we shall give you the new job of fried meat business consultant, and manage the economy of fried meat for all Beastmen!"
The information network leader was overjoyed beyond his wildest dreams at hearing this.
"Wonderful, this is my dream job! I'm the Chairman of the Board for the Orion Fried Meat Association, as well as an executive-ranked chef, this will be no problem for me. It's so much better than this annoying information network job. You're the best at picking the right person for the job!"
Apart from Chief Amon who was smiling delightedly from being sucked up to, all the other tribal leaders had strange looks on their faces.
'Something seems wrong here from the very start, this job was given to the wrong person to begin with! You're making a chef into the spymaster, so of course there would be problems! We're currently at war, is there any necessity to make some chain fast food restaurants? Didn't you make a mistake from the very beginning? Forget about using a spy as a chef, don't use chefs anymore as spies!"
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Chapter 180: Cooperative Battle
In the current generation, there were only four descendants of the Mist—Karwenz, Glina, Reyne, and myself. What I originally expected was that I would be able to summon only Glina and Reyne.
However, when I decided to try my luck, I got an incredible result.
In a way, the summoned spirits of the Roland Sacred Sword could be said to be the exact copies of the person from when they were living, but Karwenz and I were obviously special cases. You could say that we technically weren't descendants of the Mist anymore. At the very least, I've reincarnated several times, and Karwenz wasn't even a human.
But the Roland Sacred Sword still managed to summon them, and the sight of those nostalgic figures caused me to catch my breath.
The blonde-haired, young Holy Knight bowed to me with a brilliant smile on his face, but I knew that deep inside he was secretly plotting in his heart. Karwenz had an expression filled with displeasure and his eyebrows were furrowed as if he was thinking about something important, but he most likely wasn't thinking about anything more important than what to eat for lunch. Even though the two of them appeared identical, they radiated completely different auras.
It was quite obvious that the summoning of these twins must have been some type of bug caused by our special circumstances. Even though I had died in battle at fourteen years old that year, I'm still alive and kicking, which was why this Sacred Sword summoned the legendary Holy Knight Roland from the generation who had entered Armageddon together with Diffindor.
As for Karwenz, this land recorded his final moment when he had discarded his Mist Bloodline and turned into a demon. The current Karwenz in front of me was the youth from before he had abandoned his humanity.
"Roland, don't be a burden for me. Just go ahead and hide behind my back and shiver." The arrogant and strong younger brother had sharp words as usual, but this was his way of caring for his older brother who wasn't similarly skilled at fighting.
"Brat, I'm your older brother, so remember to be polite. Otherwise, the next time we have a group date, I'll tell that bearlike girl from the Dino Family that you like her. You know how persistent she can be." The brilliantly smiling Holy Knight used a malicious threat, and as expected, his younger brother revealed a shred of fear underneath his icy gaze. That was Karwenz's typical expression of surrender.
I felt like I was having a nostalgic dream as I watched the twins in front of me.
After passing through the long river of time, the twins have met once more. Their conversation made me feel as if I returned to those final days more than three hundred years ago; a difficult yet joyous period of both fortune and bitterness.
"Oh my, this guy seems quite difficult to deal with. Karwenz, it's all up to you."
"Hmph, I knew you would say that. You always run away the moment you face a direct battle—I have no idea how you became a Sword Saint."
Back in the day, we also bantered in a similar manner as we confidently walked off to our own battles. It was regretful, however, that even though we always knew of each other's existence and trusted that the other could change everything, we never met again until the final moment.
At this moment, though, the Northlands' skies were just as blue as always, while the frigid, bitter winds pierced the bones. However, some things would never return to how they were. At the very least, it was impossible for the twins to have such a peaceful meeting for their next reunion.
The next time we meet, we'll probably draw our swords upon each other…
"Roland, what are you daydreaming about? It's coming!"
Adam's angry roar snapped me back to my senses.
How foolish was I now? Becoming nostalgic on the battlefield was one of the best ways to a quick death.
Without any hesitation, Emordilorcan had begun to attack us with a furious barrage of rocks, while my two summoned spirits had already begun blocking the attack.
*Clang!*
Adam's sword of light was knocked away and he kept spinning around from the impact, while the twins blocked off Emordilorcan.
Roland from that year had barely managed to reach the realm of Legends right before dying, while the Karwenz from before who had abandoned everything had also become a Legend. In human society, this was, perhaps, an astonishing achievement as their accomplishments for their ages meant that they were super geniuses. However, for the Earth Elemental God who had experienced countless eons and even participated in ancient battles where the Gods were no better than lapdogs, ordinary Legend-rank strength was nothing more than slightly stronger cannon fodder.
Yet some people were destined to be extraordinary…Roland and Karwenz were never ordinary Legends to begin with!
"Sacred Sword Blessing! Angel's Descent!"
Holy Knight Roland casually tossed out several Divine Art support spells and pushed his younger brother to the front, while he unhesitatingly hid far behind the scene of the battle. It was obvious that he was refusing to engage in close combat.
"Haha! This is you from way back then? What a beautiful scene."
"Hmph, just how old do you think I was back then? For me, who was such a slacker with an unhealthy body, my title as a Sword Saint was partially nominal. Besides, I'm a commander, which means that hiding in the rear is the right thing to do. Physical fights are work for the barbaric."
"…You're still supposed to be a Sword Saint; how shameless can you be?"
However, the following scene managed to shut Adam up.
Holy Knight Roland lifted his longsword as a blinding light gathered on its blade. The next moment, a miniature sun that was too bright to look at appeared in midair.
"Bullet of Light!"
Just as the teenager's youthful voice sounded out, that sun-like ball of light finished its magical compression and crashed into Emordilorcan like a falling meteor. When the ball of light exploded, everyone was temporarily blinded, while the pitiful Earth Elemental God was forced to take several steps backward from the impact.
"This is Bullet of Light? The most basic spell that every single knight knows? Are you kidding me? Even Light's Judgement isn't this ridiculous."
"Heh heh, this is talent for you. How could I otherwise have become the Son of Light? My Light Magic has at least five times the power of normal Holy Knights, and with the Soul Imprint of Light further increasing my power, it's at least ten times stronger than normal!"
"Then why don't you just use a higher-rank magic? Bullet of Light's basic power is too low, and even if you multiply it by ten times, it's probably quite limited."
"…I didn't know any other spells. Back then, I only knew the most basic divine spells, and Bullet of Light was the only one I could insta-cast."
"What? What are you talking about? Weren't you a Legend-rank Holy Knight?"
"For someone who slacked off so much on practicing divine magic, how far do you think I could get? Relax, even though I only knew Bullet of Light back then, it'll be enough!"
As I expected, the battle was now in utter chaos and the blinding light of miniature suns kept materializing in midair and rushing towards Emordilorcan.
"One, two, three… fifty! Hey, hey, isn't this too much of an exaggeration?"
"Hmph, now you know about my power."
"…Indeed, but does this have any difference to your later 'gather magic, compress, and shoot' strategy? So, you were already acting as an artillery from way back then. You actually made zero progress in the past two, three hundred years."
"Nobody will think that you're mute if you don't talk." Fine, this was an eternal pain buried deep within my chest. After so many years, my only progress was probably that I was now throwing ice balls instead of bullets of light.
But currently, bullets of light were more useful than ice balls.
The original property of Holy Light was to "cleanse," and in that sense, Holy Light could be said to be the natural enemy of unnatural existences. It would deal additional damage to anything that twisted the natural order of things. Even if elemental creatures weren't as countered completely by it compared to the undead or demons, Holy Light also had the ability to reverse the unnaturalness of those elements that came alive and return them to their natural state.
"Get the hell out, evil from a different dimension!"
The furiously roaring Holy Knight Roland tossed out stronger—fine, even more Bullets of Light, causing Emordilorcan to actually be temporarily suppressed.
Emordilorcan would surely be able to ignore an ordinary Holy Knight's Bullets of Light, but this time, his enemy was incredibly difficult to deal with as the Holy Light was far too dense, and he now felt as if he was in an entirely different dimension filled with nothing but light!
"Impossible, this is almost at the level of the Light God's purest light! Son of Light? An existence favored by the Holy Light? Damn it, how could there be a descendant of the Gods here! It's not possible for you to be a descendant of the Gods!"
The earth clod's angry shouting caused everyone to pause in surprise for a moment, but now wasn't the time to be standing around—the large piece of dirt immediately came rushing at us while withstanding the endless number of light explosions.
And then it suddenly went flying sideways…
Karwenz proudly showed off to Holy Knight Roland after retracting his leg that had just performed a swift kick, only to see little Roland preparing his crystal sunglasses to prevent his own eyes from going blind. Fine, I understand him pretty well, and there was an eighty percent chance that he pretended not to see it.
"Did I see that correctly? He kicked away the Earth Elemental God with a single kick? Just how strong is that brat?"
Adam was the most shocked instead.
"At the very least, it's more than thirty? If you can't understand it in numbers, it's probably one and a half times your strength, since he's never lost in strength—not even to dragons. I've heard that he managed to defeat a behemoth as well as an Efreet Lord with one punch before."
"Is he really a human? Why are both of you so ridiculous?"
"…it should be like that, at least at that time. Oh right, since the me from that time was playing with such things, be careful… looks like I'm too late."
"Take this!"
Holy Knight Roland shouted fiercely as he lifted his longsword, and Holy Light that was dense to the point of materialization began gathering upon it—it was as if he was about to launch some sort of ultimate attack. After everyone's attention was drawn to it…
*Flash*
An eye-blinding brilliance turned everything snow-white, and everyone watching it lost their sense of vision.
"Ahhh!" This actually wasn't Emordilorcan shouting, although he probably wasn't feeling too good right now either.
The most pitiful scream came from Adam, who was completely blinded since he had been watching the combat situation. He, too, had believed that Holy Knight Roland was about to begin some ultimate attack due to his fierce shout, but he was completely blindsided.
"Relax, the Sunlight Fist doesn't last that long, nor was it a direct hit. It'll probably be a maximum of thirty seconds before it wears off."
Yep, this was the combat technique that the me from so long ago invented based on the rather blinding quality of Holy Light. If there were servants present, I would have had them hold up some mirrors, making it even easier to blind all my enemies.
Well, when I noticed little Roland preparing his crystal sunglasses, I had already guessed that he was about to use this technique.
"Ultimate technique! Your dog's eyes shall be blinded!" Little Roland finally said the technique's name so casually, but judging by how slowly he said it, he was trying to torture everyone on purpose.
Karwenz's shouting proved that this definitely wasn't the first time.
"How many times have I said it! Before you use your ultimate attack, shout the name out first! Is it fun for you to accidentally injure your allies every time? If you're a real man, then shout out your ultimate attack's name, fair and square! Aren't you just dragging everyone else down like this?"
The furious Karwenz suddenly punched out with his accumulated dark demonic energy and brute strength. The rock wall that he hit shattered into tiny pieces, and even the space behind the rock wall distorted. After witnessing the fearsome power of Karwenz's punch, even the martial arts expert Emordilorcan resolved to himself that he definitely wouldn't let this brat's fists touch him.
"Demonic descendant? Are you two truly brothers?"
Emordilorcan who recovered first was wondering in doubt, but he was destined to never receive an answer. Since he exposed his location by asking that question, the raging Karwenz found a target to vent upon and gave a vicious sword slice in Emordilorcan's direction.
Adam, who was also a victim of the flash to the extent where tears were pouring out of his eyes, nodded silently in agreement with Karwenz's reaction. In my opinion, since they were both the hot-blooded idiotic type, they would definitely find many common topics to talk about—especially the part where both of them had suffered under a black-bellied older brother repeatedly.
"Oh, sorry, it wasn't on purpose. It was all to give the enemy a sudden surprise."
It wasn't on purpose? It was definitely on purpose. I inwardly thought the truth to myself.
Even if that Roland was smiling so humbly and sincerely, and he seemed like he was honestly apologizing from the bottom of his heart about accidentally injuring his allies, I knew that he was probably laughing inside, thinking to himself, "Wonderful, I pranked those hot-blooded idiots yet again."
"Sigh, it doesn't seem like now's the time to be watching a show."
I shook my head as I took my sword and prepared for battle. Even if it was rather confusing that the twins counted as a single summoning, I had already used the maximum number of summons for today. If we weren't even able to at least make it an even match, this battle would be next to impossible.
But, before I personally took the field, there were some things I needed to try. If I were to be successful, our chances of victory would be greatly increased.
"Wind Elemental God Camdian, stop pretending that you're dead! I know you're right here! Do you really think that simply watching the show will give you an advantage? Foolish, still trying to play both sides at this time will only turn you into cannon fodder for both sides!"
My fierce shouting reverberated in the underground passageway, causing everyone to stop in stunned surprise. Emordilorcan reacted by breaking out into a fit of laughter.
"That cowardly worm, do you really believe that moron would still dare to appear before me? He has already escaped with his tail between his legs; that coward doesn't deserve to have status equaling ours!"
Emordilorcan's laughter echoed throughout the hollow labyrinth. His continuously reverberating laughter seemed to both prove the veracity of his words as well as mock the weakness and cowardice of the Wind Elemental God.
Even so, I didn't stop my own mocking words.
"Camdian, as long as we manage to hold this guy here, our people will be able to destroy the Earth Elemental Door, and Emordilorcan will be greatly weakened. Perhaps you alone won't be his match, but what if we're included? If you miss this chance that only comes once in a thousand years, no, once in ten thousand years, do you still think you'll ever truly be able to become the top of all elementals? If you still want to be a cowardly tortoise hiding inside its shell, we can just cancel our agreement right now. You know that I have this power. Are you certain that you want to face Ayer's rage by yourself?"
"Are you losing your sanity? As I expected, mortal lives are so weak, in both body and mind—"
Emordilorcan's taunts suddenly paused halfway through because a raspy voice suddenly spoke up from not far away.
"…How did you know I was here?"
I laughed aloud in delight at hearing that familiar sound.
"Perhaps wind elementals don't have the attack power of fire elementals, nor do they have the astonishing defense power of earth elementals, but wind elementals are the quickest of them all. Their innate nature to go in every crack makes them the best spies, and as long as they change their form slightly, even becoming completely invisible shouldn't be too difficult. As long as you weren't willing to accept defeat, you'd definitely follow Emordilorcan."
"That's not enough of a reason…"
"What's more, I believe that the wise Wind Elemental God isn't stupid enough to waste this excellent opportunity. Is that enough?"
A humanoid life form walked out from the shadow of a nearby corner. He didn't appear physically strong, but the glowing thunder runes on his skin, the silver hair that was flowing even in the absence of any wind, and those eyes that seemed to emit lightning all made it impossible for anyone to ignore his presence.
"Yep. I love having intelligent allies. Then, let us forget about any past small grievances we may have had, and let's work hard together to keep this foolish piece of rock here."
"Camdian!"
"Oh my, isn't this our esteemed Earth Elemental God? Why are you blind in one eye? Would you like for me, as your junior, to send you on your way?"
Emordilorcan shouted out his old acquaintance's name in surprise. Yep, this person right here was the Wind Elemental God that had tucked his tail and run away. But the current him seemed to be in top condition in both mental and physical states.
Judging by how Camdian currently seemed completely uninjured, it was quite obvious that Camdian didn't use his full abilities earlier. It was even possible that it wasn't Camdian himself that was battling earlier, but now wasn't the time to care about that.
"Of course, some people always focus on the process, but isn't a difficult process for the sake of allowing people to be satisfied with the results? In that case, only a satisfactory result is the most important thing, is it not?"
I smiled as I joyfully watched the person in front of me transform into the essence of wind itself once more. Camdian unhesitatingly faced straight off against his mortal enemy, giving us the best cannon fodder again.
I still pretended to act mysterious and composed on the surface, but I secretly heaved a sigh of relief inside.
Ha, how lucky. This guy really was around after all.
Yep, I was bluffing from the very start. I didn't have the ability to detect the presence of the Wind Elemental God who would be the best at hiding his presence, nor did I have the ability to perceive if he had truly lost or had only faked losing. However, just a single bluff had brought him out again, so of course I was quite fortunate.
What? I bluffed more than once? Well, in order to fool such a sly old fox, one had to pull out all the stops or it would all be for naught.
"Foolish one, you could have lived a few more years if you escaped. But now, even if you're added to the mix, none of you weaklings are even worth mentioning!"
The crazed rock unhesitatingly faced off against the Wind Elemental God's sudden appearance. Under his thick stone plating, Emordilorcan's single remaining eye was still filled with viciousness, and even though the numbers were overwhelmingly disadvantageous for him, he didn't even hesitate to attack first.
*Boom!*
But when the two Elemental Gods began fighting, the chain explosions coming from beneath us caused Emordilorcan's expression to change significantly, as he was no longer able to remain composed.
"Emordilorcan, today shall be the day of your death!"
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Chapter 181: The People of the Mist
It had already been almost two months since the first ambush that began the battle of this ongoing northern war. The frozen earth of the Northlands was drenched in blood that belonged to not only the human hosts but also the uninvited beastmen and elves.
"Conquer all of Sleuweir within ten days, conquer the Northlands within a month, and slaughter all the way to San Antonio within three months!"
The arrogant words that the beastmen had said after the success of their first ambush were now never to be brought up again. The tribe leaders had never expected the human resistance to be stubborn to this degree.
The abnormal success of their first ambush had pulled the wool over their eyes. The dullness of the Sleuweir Kingdom's higher-ups had given them the mistaken impression that the battle would end quickly.
To nullify the humans' resistance, the beastmen chose to completely slaughter every resident of any city that fiercely fought back against them. They had used the Wolfriders to massacre all the villages and had adopted a scorched-earth tactic, but this decision had now proven to be the most foolish tactic of all.
The massacre hadn't wiped away the humans' will to resist. On the contrary, the cries of their relatives and the vicious manner in which they were slaughtered had helped heat the Mist People's blood and rage to the boiling point.
"Can you watch your newlywed wife be tortured to death right in front of you? Your elderly father being hanged to death because the invaders wanted to save on food? Your baby being impaled on a spear by those beasts just because of crying? All of this is happening right now! Are you all still men? If you are, then take up your weapons and fight to the bitter end. What's there to be scared of? It's just death! Will that really be worse than living like this in such suffering?"
After the awful news about the slaughters in the conquered areas spread, the fires of rage hidden deep within the Mist People's hearts were finally stoked. Even without their lord and king's summons, the Mist Tribe would have gladly sacrificed their lives to protect their families and friends.
"The Mist shall never surrender" may only be a saying, but it was an indisputable fact that the People of the Mist had never been conquered by foreigners in the past thousands of years. Even in front of butcher knives dripping with blood, the Mist People were just like their ancestors who had never bowed to invaders, with their thousand-year-old bloodlines awakening instead.
The young husband Aima kissed his newlywed wife goodbye as he joined a citizens' brigade without actual combat ability or guarantee. Armed with only a dull woodcutting knife, his only reason for fighting was so that his future children wouldn't have to grow up filled with the worry and fear that they would become the enemy's "glorious" sacrifices, impaled on their spears.
The elderly soldiers held their spears as they marched towards the frontlines. Perhaps it was true that their bodies had already weakened and that they had retired for many years, but their wisdom and experience helped the newer soldiers to avoid the most dangerous traps, helping them quickly increase their skills amid the constant battling. They weren't as ridiculous as that legendary old king who took his own coffin to battle, but they had already resolved themselves that there was a chance for death on the battlefield.
"…I'll be satisfied if my experience can help a few young fellows stay alive and return. If I'm slowing everyone down, please don't hesitate to abandon me. I'll let those beast bastards know what the will of an old soldier really is!"
If the Red Maple defense line and Antuen could be considered the two lighthouses of hope, then the countless number of resistance organizations and citizen militias were the wildfires burning brightly on the plains. And when all these fires were lit, it would be next to impossible to extinguish them.
"Who's afraid? It's just death; it's f**king worse to live under such suffering." Perhaps this sentence was rather vulgar, but it was a testament to the hardiness of the northern people who were used to living in a meat grinder.
"Damnit, there's resistance organizations and guerrilla troops everywhere! Those guys are insane!"
In the cities that the beastmen had taken over, any beastmen soldiers that went out by themselves would never return. Even the strong Wolfrider teams were gradually beginning to vanish.
Those citizens who didn't have any armor or sharp weapons learned how to ambush their enemies using the terrain and lure the vicious beasts with bait through the continuous battles. Not only did the vicious slaughtering not scare the People of the Mist, but it did the opposite instead, adding fuel to the flames of the desire for revenge.
"They're literally insane! Have you ever seen a head that would still keep staring at you after you cut it off? Have you ever seen a legless beggar suddenly cling on to your leg and tell his comrades to pierce through you together with him? They're basically a bunch of crazy bastards!"
The beastmen that were so fond of battle had now become afraid. After witnessing the humans' maniacal and suicidal attacks just so that they could perish together with the beastmen, the beastmen that had viewed dying in battle as the greatest honor had now become afraid. The humans' blood-red eyes and stares even after death caused the beastmen to become frightened!
The beastmen finally realized why those weakling humans had successfully blocked their invasions for thousands of years and even forced their strong ancestors back to the northernmost plains countless of times.
"…We can't keep going on like this! We have to destroy any hope they have for resisting and hit their most critical spots with one attack."
The beastmen abandoned their original combat strategy of steadily conquering all the areas, and quickly gave up on the outer cities. Instead, they focused all their energy on destroying the two "lighthouses of hope."
And so, the Sleuweir Kingdom's capital, Antuen, met with an emergency situation, and the human's allied forces' main headquarters, the Red Maple defense line, brought up the rear. The beastmen tribe leaders knew that unless they were able to take out these two annoyances, this battle might never end.
"Antuen has surrendered; King Fismer has surrendered!"
After this astonishing news began to spread, there was disbelief at first, which was soon followed by painful howls of crying throughout the entire country.
An old soldier in the last years of his life had lost his son, grandson, and son-in-law in this battle but didn't shed a single tear. He would always feel his mustache and smile in pride when talking about his family members that died in battle.
"They're all very fine people; they didn't shame Old Philly's name. Since they're now dead, this old fellow shall continue fighting in their place, and when I'm dead, my granddaughter and daughter will continue fighting! I refuse to believe that we can't get rid of those goddamned beasts!"
But when he heard this piece of news, he ended up crying like a little child, collapsing on the floor as he pointed with a trembling finger towards the north and began spewing insults.
"My sons, what did you all die for? Such a bastard country is not worth us sacrificing our lives for. Your deaths were worthless."
This was also why Roland had been in such a rage. Even when the country's citizens hadn't given up, why was the king, who was supposed to be their protector, giving up?
At the very least, the Roland from that year long ago would have performed his duty of royal protection—even from the grave, like a skeleton or a ghost carrying a grudge from hell.
Along with their unyielding battle spirit, the story of the twin brothers helped the People of the Mist remember that their people would never give up! They only recognized kings who also never surrendered!
"False King Fismer! He doesn't deserve to be king!"
Although there were angry denunciations and doubts among the people when the news of the surrender had started to spread, the beastmen had indeed achieved their goal of landing a vicious blow to the Mist People's morale.
Right after that, there were much fewer resistance movements than before. Fismer's surrender represented the first time in history that the Mist Royalty had ever submitted, and it was as if the people's backbone had received a massive blow.
*Snap!* The backbone that represented the unyielding nature of the citizens was cracking pitifully, and it was almost to the point where it seemed to be broken. The people's spirit of bravery and resistance was almost at the breaking point as well, but luckily…
"The previous King Roland appeared and executed Fismer Caso right there on the spot, as he declared the surrender to be invalid. He then passed the kingship on to the only daughter of the previous generation's king, Princess Glina Caso! The Mist Royalty hasn't surrendered after all, nor has our flag fallen! Antuen's battle still continues, and our king is still battling!"
Fortunately, Roland's appearance re-ignited the sparks of resistance into flames that were even stronger than before. His oath also brought a new era upon the People of the Mist.
"…Our Mist Tribe never enjoys war, so we swear that we shall never start a war of our own volition!"
Old Philly also shouted that very oath as he jumped off a cliff together with an enemy. He had already learned of his daughter's and granddaughter's deaths, but this time, he did not shed a tear, and instead nodded while smacking his chest proudly.
"They did in two beasts before they died? Excellent job, as expected of Old Philly's family! Go ahead first, I'm coming soon. We promised to meet each other again in heaven!"
"…But if war comes to us, we're going to teach the invaders how sharp our swords are!"
Aima was now at only the combat level of an ordinary soldier, and he had written that sentence in a letter to his wife. After Aima's death, a fellow soldier would pack up his belongings and mail out this final letter to his wife. Aima had already carried out his promise.
"We don't like war, nor do we enjoy war, and we now declare our national church to be that of the Law God! We swear that we shall never start any war of our own volition, but if war is truly unavoidable, then we shall spend every last breath to protect our home! We swear that our tribe shall forever exist in the Northlands!"
Such a short oath carved a brand-new path for the entire People of the Mist. Not only in the Sleuweir Kingdom, but even those in the nearby East Mist Communal Country who were also descendants of the Mist Tribe were repeating this oath over and over again.
"…We shall spend every last breath to protect our home! We swear that our tribe shall forever exist in the Northlands!"
One hundred and seventy-four knights were riding on young Frigid Nightmares. Under the guidance of the senior Lion King, those young Nightmares, which had hatched prematurely, had already signed new contracts with the young knights, and the new generation of Aurora Knights had completed their final training under the flowing battle flag of the Mist. Today was the day for these young knights to head to the battlefield to assist their fellow Mist People.
Under the watchful eyes of their family members and with the guidance of the undead veterans of the Aurora Knights Order, each silver-colored battle horse had begun their long flights. Although there were still traces of naivety in the expressions of the young knights, their arms were as solid as rocks as they wielded their spears and looked towards the distant sky. In the distance, they could see their fellow Mist People bleeding fresh blood, and they all wanted to rush there as quickly as possible to end this war.
"Let them witness the strongest aerial cavalry unit on the continent! Allow them to see the pride of the Mist People!"
When they finally entered the northern battlefield, they were destined to become the new center of attention. Without a doubt, the Aurora Knights, who were the pride of the Mist, would stoke the fires even further.
And when all these oaths connected together and the oath to "never start a war of their own volition" awakened the Sacred Sword that carried the will of the Gods, the Mist People's oath finally received a response.
"I, the Law God Wumianzhe, declare that I shall protect the People of the Mist."
When holy, silver light descended from the clouds, the Mist People finally received the protection of their own True God. And with the increasing number of believers, Wumianzhe also underwent an evolution, and he received a new divine job title—the Guardian God of the Northlands.
"As long as the masters of this land obey the principle of 'never starting any wars,' I shall protect them. I bless them that they shall never be conquered, and I bless them that they shall…"
With the descent of a guiding path of light, the souls of the People of the Mist Tribe now belonged to Wumianzhe's domain. The brave warriors who had sacrificed themselves for the Mist would become heroic spirits, and not a single True God would be able to steal the Mist Tribe's souls away from Wumianzhe—not a single one!
Why was I so certain? That was because…
"Roland, that big rock's too difficult to deal with!"
"Just do the best you can; I have something more important over here! Ah, where was I? Right… I bless them that they shall walk towards the peak together with victory; I bless them that they shall enter the Hall of Valhalla after death! May a fair sky forever stand above the Northlands!"
My voice synchronized with the voice in the sky as we finally took this step after oh so many sacrifices!
"I, the Law God and Guardian God of the Northlands, Wumianzhe, swear to remove all invaders! You don't accept it? Then, let's battle!"
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Chapter 182: Willpower
The protection of a True God? Mortal battles didn't need it thanks to the fundamental laws of the world; it was impossible for True Gods to directly intervene in mundane matters.
That Forest Guardian True God of the elves? The fact that he was now dead was plenty of evidence of what would happen if one broke the rules.
But it was enough for the brave warriors who fought to protect their tribe.
The mortal Mist King Roland announced their glory while Wumianzhe from the heavens above announced that their heroic deeds would be recognized by everyone. Even if they died and their souls slept forever, it would be fine—it was fine as long as their glory existed in the hearts of the true warriors of the north.
For the beastmen, however, it was devastating. Perhaps a True God's protection seemed rather ephemeral, but it was actually supremely dangerous when they witnessed it for themselves.
"What will Wumianzhe do? Will he make the Church of Law participate in battle? Or will he personally give out divine punishment?"
This was especially so because the beastmen's original True God had already perished in the previous holy war. Due to this unbalance in power, they were now even more afraid of the intervention of a True God.
"We can't afford to hide our full power any longer. Londe, send out your best forces; Kagra, let's combine your Blue-Feathered Harpy Division with my Bloodaxe Tribe as our warriors lack the protection of air cavalry and casters. Hamar, Sostilo, stop your brave warriors from wallowing in regret. Even when they're off their steeds, they're still our most elite warriors, and our castle-scaling warriors lack the command and leadership of the elite."
All the tribal leaders who were mentioned nodded in silence. As the highest ranks of the allied forces that constituted the beastmen armies, they each had strong tribes but had been avoiding sending out the best of their troops to prevent their own tribes from becoming frontline cannon fodder. However, when it truly came down to it, they would send in everything they had.
"We must conquer Red Maple Castle within two days! Sound the battle drums; I'm going to fight personally!"
The Bloodaxe Tribe Leader viciously pounded the conference table with his fist. The crushed sandbox that represented Red Maple Castle seemed as if it was indicating its eventual fate. At this moment, this Beastman King, who previously seemed to be more like a merchant than royalty, was finally showing off his own pride as a beastman.
The snow was falling intermittently, but the temperature never once rose above zero degrees. The damned weather would freeze any skin directly exposed to the elements.
The sun had already set, but the number of beastmen surrounding the walls of Red Maple Castle didn't decrease in the least. It was the opposite; with the return of the Wolf King's troops, the beastmen army had increased once again and now included countless of hordes of the famously dexterous Wolfriders.
Several hundred large torches acted as temporary lighting and heating. After the beastmen discovered that there wasn't enough wood to burn, they tossed all the valuable books and artwork that they had pillaged into the fires as if they were worthless lumber. The humans could even hear the beastmen's unique roughshod singing and the beat of battle drums in the distant beastmen camps.
"Damned beastmen! They're looking down on us!"
To be honest, it was actually the opposite of what the furious humans were thinking. The beastmen were now treating the humans before them as warriors on an equal level to themselves. They were venerating their ancestors on the glorious battlefield to console the souls that had died in battle, and they were also conducting this ritual for the sake of prematurely honoring those of their tribe members that would die in battle.
For the beastmen who believed in the War God Holadis, dying on the glorious battlefield was easy to accept. If they could meet their deaths in an epic-level campaign, it would be considered as the blessing of the War God. This was why they kept chanting the War God's name as they bravely fought to their deaths, only hoping for a major battle that would please their ancestors' spirits.
Of course, since Holadis had already died in the previous Holy War and the current War God Kalonpis was a Human God, there was nothing that would answer the beastmen's prayers. Their prayers were more like gratitude and idolization towards their ancestors as they thanked fate for giving them a glorious battlefield where they could challenge their own fates.
"If we win, we can finally return to the Great Bianluya Plains, the place of origin of all beastmen! It's supposed to be inconceivably beautiful! After this battle, I can finally return to my ancestral home and get married!"
In their eyes, the battle was already nearing its end. As long as they got rid of those pesky humans, they would only be one step away from completing the grand mission of their ancestors.
Those beastmen that belonged to the first wave, which was acting as the vanguard, made preparations for the possibility of their deaths as they charged onto the battlefield. Since their ritual was now over, they believed that their souls would forever accompany their own tribe. They weren't afraid of any sacrifices on the battlefield.
"We admit that these northern humans are brave warriors as well. Only cowards are afraid of death! This is a grand battle where only one side will live in the end! We fight to the death!"
Battle drums and bleak horns sounded from everywhere around Red Maple Castle's walls. War songs were continuously sung as the beastmen kept up their current attack for more than ten hours.
Due to the castle walls acting as an obstacle, the siege battle became a bloody and cruel meat grinder. The warriors of both sides were only going to the frontline in limited numbers and could only become a part of the endless amount of sacrificial cannon fodder for the attacks of the mages and mage towers.
As midnight arrived, the number of combined beastmen troops totaled more than 120,000. The beastmen had Red Maple Castle surrounded so tightly that even a fly could not escape. But even though the beastmen had the advantage in numbers, as well as a higher individual combat strength for each unit, the humans made use of the castle walls for protection, and nobody could change the fact that this was a desolate meat grinder.
The castle protectors weren't having an easy time either. With the protection of the beastmen's air cavalry combined with the charge of various colossal creatures, the beastmen were succeeding in scaling the castle walls every minute. Even though they would be tossed down quickly, the sacrifices of the human armies were always several times that of the beastmen.
The outermost castle wall's defenders were already in utter chaos when faced with the unstoppable flood of beastmen who were superior in both numbers and quality. Platoons were being devastated in the blink of an eye.
The vast attacking forces of the beastmen had an inconceivably high morale. The innumerable beastmen forces swarmed the castle walls like ants, and with the major tribal leaders' elite forces that had been saved for last exploding with astonishing power, this battle quickly turned into a living nightmare for the humans.
Finally, the first layer's low-quality castle wall, created by the Earth Mages using Transform Stone to Mud and Sculpting Magic, was finally on the verge of collapse, despite the fact that the beastmen army had also lost many troops to the defending army and their defensive mechanisms.
"Die! You butchers!"
Reyne sliced through a beastman general's defenses with her silver longsword, piercing through his body and stealing away his life. She unhesitatingly kicked him down the castle wall as the beastman general's pitiful wails echoed out as he met his end.
"Your Highness Reyne!"
"Knights, clear this area and toss down all the beastmen corpses! Watch out for archers. The next attack wave will be here soon; hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Her youthful voice now contained an unmistakable regal bearing. The magical ability of battles in helping people mature was always astonishing, and after experiencing the bitter struggles of battle as well as the endless amounts of blood and sacrifice, the cruel burden and responsibilities helped the new soldier Reyne to quickly mature. The current Reyne was already an experienced battlefield leader who could take charge by herself.
"Your Highness Reyne, all the beastmen's mammoths are on the attack now. The command center's order is to abandon the first castle wall and retreat to the inner layer!"
"Retreat? You're telling me to retreat? Just look at this battle and all those brave warriors who have sacrificed themselves already! We haven't even been able to retrieve their corpses yet, and you dare to tell me to retreat?"
The messenger was also very familiar with Reyne. Even though Reyne was angrily shouting at him, he was the sub-commander of Antuen; he knew that now wasn't the time to cower to her.
"You think I want to retreat? I f**king want to fight those beastmen bastards to the end as well! Our main forces have suffered and lost so much. The Earth Mages have depleted their mana and can't keep up with the speed of repairing the walls compared the beastmen in destroying them. If this keeps up and the beastmen break through our defenses, it'll be nothing but a meaningless slaughter. There's no other way but to retreat and guard the inner castle."
"Fine, you guys retreat. I shall show you once more the pride of the People of the Mist. Dimlet, is the Train King ready yet? If it takes any longer and isn't ready for combat, I'm going to cut off your head!"
"…It's currently undergoing a full self-checkup, and it'll be ready in five minutes. But it can't be used for any longer than ten minutes, or it'll self-destruct!"
"Ok, Borealis, toss down the Titan Warriors from a long distance! Help our allies stand firm."
When the beastmen's mammoths began their next attack, the castle walls were nearly knocked over by their heavy impacts as dense amounts of beastmen scaled the castle walls. Just as all the walls were entering their largest emergency situation yet, the Princess Knight finally gave the order for the Eastern Mist Communal Country to reveal its ace secret weapon.
The gigantic battleship began operating once more as its cargo hold opened up. What flew out along with its rockets were prototype Roland Titans. As experimental subjects, these Roland Titans had already completed their tasks for history and would end the final moments of their lives explosively on the battlefield.
*Boom!*
Five titans landed directly on top of the beastmen that were in the process of scaling the castle walls. The beastmen stared in amazement at the gigantic beings before them. Even the tallest and strongest Elephantmen reached only the shins of these titans, and they were completely unable to be of any threat to the steel titans at all since they were unable to carry any heavy weaponry.
The crazed steel titans stomped with their feet and slapped with their hands. These accidental products of the Underground World finally revealed their true natures as heartless war machines!
"You beasts! This is for my son who wasn't even ten years old!"
A furious mecha smashed the beastmen in front of him to pieces.
Inside the cockpit was a furious volunteer pilot who was doing his best with the complicated controls of the mecha. Inside a pendant around his neck was his family's portrait, but he was the only one alive now. Even he himself had lost his left foot, so this was the only method by which he could take revenge for his hometown.
A red warning light within the cockpit began flashing. From the very beginning, this titan mecha was at the end of its time, and overloading it had given it astonishing battle power, but it also turned it into a super explosive that was in danger of exploding at any moment.
"Camut, hurry up and get out! It's about to explode; activate your rocket chair already!"
He ignored the Borealis' command center. He had just discovered a large centaur wielding a massive war pike while killing human soldiers. This centaur was a monster who was more than three meters tall, and each swing of his war pike would kill many human soldiers.
"Hamar! Hamar the Butcher! I finally found you!"
These easily spotted characteristics just happened to belong to the butcher who had slaughtered his entire hometown.
The furious mecha pilot smashed every beastman in his way to pieces. Even when the beastmen climbed all over the mecha in swarms and the battle axes smashed onto the cockpit's door, he didn't slow down even a little bit.
However…
"Foolish hunk of metal! The weak humans can only rely on such useless things."
Every beastman tribe leader was at least of Legend-rank strength or higher. Hamar was famed even among the tribe leaders for his combat strength, so there was no way he would be easily dealt with. When he jumped, Hamar's height was even taller than the titan.
*Slice!*
With one swing of his war pike, the gigantic golden arc brought death along with the explosion of the cockpit and half the mecha.
Hamar didn't even intend on watching the explosion behind him and was only focusing on continuing his slaughter, but he didn't expect the already fallen mecha to reach out with its only remaining hand and clutch onto him.
The prideful centaur tribe leader began roaring in anger. His frightfully powerful strength caused even the steel arm to start shaking.
"Only weaklings need to rely on these foolish objects, while we beastmen can stand on top of the world with only our bodies! We are the high-class species that deserves to be at the center of the world!"
In the demolished cockpit, the blood-covered Camut was still biting on to the control lever with his only remaining tooth. He was also smiling while the gigantic centaur made fun of him condescendingly because he could see the red warning light that indicated that the Roland Titan's engine was right at the limit of exploding.
"Really? Heh, heh, then see the weak human race's willpower for yourself… See you soon in heaven, Elsa, Nini! Your papa's taking revenge for you!"
Camut opened his mouth, which was filled with blood and broken teeth, and viciously pressed his chin against a red button. Finally, a red explosion covered everything as a mushroom cloud rose up by the castle wall.
"Impossible…"
That was the last word that the haughty centaur warrior had said. The weak human had used his own life to prove his bravery. At the very least, they both died together.
"The tribe leader Hamar has died in battle! The Centaur Tribe is beginning to flee!"
"The tribe leader Barthlo has died in battle!" The beastmen's attack on the northern castle door failed, and their siege weapons were destroyed. Their reinforcements were no longer able to press the attack.
"The tribe leader Elosion has died in battle! Both the northern and southern attacks on the castle have failed!"
"The strategist Wen has died in battle at the southern castle door!"
For the tribe leaders, who were still in the midst of patching up their own injuries, every single news of a tribe leader's death was like a lightning strike on a clear day. But what could they say? Could they blame their fellow tribe leaders and point fingers by saying they were nothing but words? Honestly, it was difficult enough for the remaining tribe leaders to survive the field of battle against the maniacally resisting humans. If one of those terrifying red mushroom clouds exploded near them… heh, wasn't the mighty Hamar a perfect example?
"Hamar, what a pity. Treat his family well."
After a long silence, Amon could only give his condolences as he shook his head and continued cleaning his weapons. Now wasn't the time for needless sympathy; who knew if he would be the next one?
"Camut, what a pity. Treat his family well… Oh, he has no more family left? Then let's put his hometown's reconstruction at the top of the list for cities to be reconstructed."
At the same time as Amon, Reyne could only sigh and give her own condolences when she learned that only two out of the five titan pilots had returned alive. Camut didn't even attempt to activate his rocket chair for an escape.
"Dimlet! Are you still not f**king ready yet? I'm going to shoot you out of a Gnome Cannon if you aren't ready!"
"It's ready! You definitely can't let the Train King overheat! Otherwise, we're the ones that will explode! Its energy source has thirty times the power of the Roland Titans! The entire castle wall will collapse from the explosion!"
The floating battleship finally landed and opened up its cargo door to allow an even more terrifying war machine to walk out. Just its appearance caused every beastman warrior to tremble in fear.
"What kind of monster is this? Those East Mist humans are insane!"
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Chapter 183: Princess Knight
The maxims of battle dictated that practical functions were the most important on the battlefield. Something like a beautiful outer appearance wasn't even worth considering.
While a humanoid mecha may seem awesome, its attack methods were actually rather simple. Since it imitated the attack patterns of a human, it was easy to predict and defend against, and since it needed to maintain its balance while walking, a great amount of development resources and parts would be spent on balancing the mecha.
This was doubtlessly a critical amount of waste, especially when the technology was still immature.
But then what type of combat mecha was the most efficient?
"It needs plenty of space for firearms, so the best way is to have many individual sections that can contain more weapons and parts!"
"Let's abandon the walking mechanism that's just a waste of resources. As long as it can kill, it's fine even if it crawls on the ground."
"I feel that it needs as many individual parts as possible so that it can even let go of broken parts, reorganize itself, and still be able to do battle. This way, our logistical ability will go up an entire other level."
"If the enemy consists of mages, then the larger the combat mechanism, the bigger the target. This absolutely can't be too big, yep, the most important part is to not be too tall."
After gathering each other's opinions, the maniacal engineers abandoned all common sense and created this fearsome combat beast—Train King, prototype zero!
The name undoubtedly came from Roland. The shape of the connections between its parts reminded Roland of a train.
And now, what currently appeared in front of everyone was such a metallic monster. This metallic monster had many parts connected to each other just like train carriages, and its metallic legs, which imitated that of insects, firmly pierced into the ground. This giant centipede-like metallic monster attracted everyone's attention the moment it appeared.
"Train? Isn't it just a centipede?" Hemet's astonishment was virtually identical to Roland's the first time he saw it. Yep, when this combat mecha was constructed in reality based on its blueprint, its original train-shaped outer appearance became more like that of a metallic insect. It was basically a metallic centipede prancing about on the battlefield!
And so, taking into consideration the possibilities on the battlefield, its designers, who had already abandoned all common sense and aesthetics, were also inspired from this. They directly abandoned the inconvenient method of using wheels and instead gave it metallic blades as feet, which would be more suitable for a wider variety of terrain types. Each "foot" was a blade that could attack by itself as the Train King's entire body was filled with weapons from head to toe.
Hemet's astonishment was soon received by a display of combat effectiveness. The centipede monster climbed past the castle wall at high speed while spraying flammable oil from pipes on both of its sides, and with a spark, all the castle walls it passed by turned into seas of fire.
Those seas of fire along its path caused the beastmen to begin shrieking in agony, but only when it reached its destination, stuck its metallic feet into the ground, and transformed into a steel barrier, did it show its true form.
All its train-carriage-resembling parts opened up to reveal the newest Gnome Cannons in each of them. As a divine artifact that belonged to the cult that believed in "as many cannons as possible," the Train King used its actions to show off what the phrase "more cannons equal more power" truly meant.
"Odd-numbered engineers! Fire your cannons!"
*Boom! Boom!*
The entire battlefield outside the western castle door transformed into a sea of fire. Countless beastmen were gifted explosions as each cannon shell landed.
But at the same time, the beastmen vanguard that was already on the castle wall was approaching the Train King. They wore vicious grins and let out angry roars as they intended to use their own fresh blood to battle with this hunk of steel. They wanted to let those weak humans know just what true and reliable strength was supposed to be.
They had the self-confidence that as long as they were able to get into close-combat range, the engineers controlling the cannons wouldn't be an adversary at all. They only needed an instant to break this expensive toy into pieces.
But since Dimlet had a reputation for demonic intelligence, how could he possibly leave in such a glaring weakness?
"Close-combat mode, activate! Blades extend!"
In an instant, all the metallic feet of the centipede rose up again, as its sharp ends transformed into sharp blades for the purpose of slaying the enemy! The sharp blades then began spinning crazily at a high speed!
That wasn't all…
"Even-numbered engineers, ignite your flamethrowers!"
This time, the train carriages opened up to reveal shocking amounts of high-powered flamethrowers operated by sweaty engineers who had been waiting for this precise moment.
"Fire! Maintain the flamethrowers for twenty seconds!"
"Ahhh!"
The flames that could shoot to a distance of several dozen meters created a corridor of despair. Although there were a few incredibly strong individual beastmen who made it past the flames, the rotating blades would unhesitatingly deliver a killing blow.
"Ahhh! Those damned humans…"
Now, the beastmen attackers were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either they could be impaled on the blades or be turned into barbequed meat.
And killing was only one of the Train King's purposes. Its mega-long mechanical body itself was one of the best barriers and makeshift castle walls, so the incredibly fatigued defending army could finally find some time to breathe and rest.
After this movable steel wall started acting as a battlefield barrier and cleaned up everything before it, it took the opportunity to send out large amounts of scalding-hot steam through its ventilation pipes.
The Train King's energy consumption was far too heavy. Just a few short minutes caused all its parts and engines to overload and overheat, with engineers tossing cold water at the overheating engines as an emergency cooling method.
The beastmen noticed this short cooling-off period. Just as they were hesitating about whether or not to charge forward again, an even scarier scene was awaiting them.
"Gun squads, fireball squads, prepare!"
The most despairing scene was now in front of them. The engineers lifted up their guns, and the magic swordsmen actually jumped on top of the Train King's carriages and started preparing their magic. The brilliantly flashing fire birds started gathering numerous fireballs that perhaps weren't all that high in level, but who would be able to dodge several hundred fireballs being fired at once?
*Pew!* *Pew!* *Boom!*
Every fireball and deadly gunshot added onto the beastmen's despair as they faced this new generation's firepower and technology. The short, approximately twenty-meter distance between them and the humans were akin to the difference between life and death, and the regret of "just one more step" accompanied them to their deaths.
The continuous explosion of each fireball drew all the attention on the battlefield as more and more areas were cleared of beastmen. As the rulers of the battlefield and with the mages gathering together, the deadly force was drastically improved.
Finally, the beastmen tribe leaders were unable to stand for this any longer.
Under the tribe leader Kagra's lead, a large number of harpies covered the castle walls, resembling the clouds. Along with them was the dragon knight who had luckily escaped last time; the green dragon Osmanya and his Wolf Tribe Dragon Knight Rider Kakaji had returned. The beastmen army had gambled everything on this battle and sent out their few remaining aerial troops.
"Shoot down that dragon knight!"
If this combat beast had any other weaknesses apart from its unresolvable lack of ability to fight for an extended period of time, they would be that it was far too focused on ground units and that it lacked anti-air capabilities.
Reyne instantly figured out the weakness of the harpies. They lacked physical strength since most of their throwing spears were made of wood. Even though they could kill humans easily enough with wood spears, they lacked the ability to threaten the steel-bodied Train King. As for aerial spells? Did they really have the focus necessary for casting spells while flapping their wings and not falling out of the sky? If they actually had such skills, they might as well be archmages to begin with.
"That dragon knight's the only threat; kill him!"
The current Princess Knight was no longer simply the commanding officer at the western castle door. Although she hadn't been promoted yet for her numerous accomplishments, battlefield achievements were far more effective than any rank or title on the battlefield. In truth, she was already the leading commander in charge of the entire Red Maple Castle defense line.
But currently, nobody was able to carry out her orders. That green dragon knight was far too cautious and flew so high in the air that no arrows or magic could reach him.
According to that dragon knight's past tactics, whenever a combat situation got tense, he would attack in an aerial ambush, with his dragon's poison mist being abnormally fatal. Perhaps his single efforts weren't critical in affecting the overall combat situation, but he would definitely give serious blows to the defending army's morale. This time, it was obvious that his target was the Train King.
It was also obvious that he intended to use the harpies as a smokescreen to create another opportunity for an ambush in the chaos.
All these days of battle had also inflicted heavy casualties upon the humans' griffin knights. Those that could still fly were already participating in battle, as after so many days of warfare, both the sides were fighting based on mostly willpower and stamina.
"Argh!"
But this time, the green dragon knight's ambush was blocked.
"Timier!"
That's right, a gigantic bone dragon suddenly flew up from the castle and shot like a cannonball right at the green dragon, causing the green dragon to lose its balance in midair.
But immediately afterwards, the bone dragon that was riddled with injuries fell right back down again. As the overall aerial commander, Timier had always fought at the front of his soldiers and both he and his bone dragon were now in bad condition. Just making such an attack had taken all their effort.
But while that beastman dragon knight was still catching his balance, death came looking for him, as the Princess Knight was now behind him.
Although she was one of the few who had an aerial steed, Reyne wasn't self-confident enough to believe that she could win a direct battle against such a strong dragon knight, but finding the right opportunity during battle for an ambush was one of her strongest skills.
"Die!"
There was no such thing as luck on the battlefield. The chaotic situation would always prove who was truly stronger or weaker. The dragon knight Kakaji didn't even have time to turn around and see who it was before Reyne's longsword came slashing down.
The head that went flying was dripping blood in midair and an expression of disbelief was frozen on its face. The powerful Kakaji died just like that with his eyes, which were glaring angrily, still filled with shock.
"Rargh!"
The young green dragon Osmanya started howling painfully as it discovered through the contract that its master had died and received its master's pain. But it didn't suffer for long, as Reyne's bloody hands pulled out the spear on her back and gathered a cyan colored aura. The Dragonslayer Spear from the Dragon Slayer Bastlar was then suddenly struck into the green dragon's head!
"Awoo!"
The green dragon howled pitifully as it helplessly flapped its wings, but its counter, the Dragonslayer Spear, kept piercing deeper into its brain, and it could only meet its unavoidable demise. With the dragon blood spraying everywhere, Reyne completed her own achievement of slaying a dragon!
"Dragon Slayer Reyne!"
"Princess Knight!"
In everyone's eyes, whenever the Northlands met with danger—just like countless times in history past—a young ruler stood up for their sakes.
The joyous cries of the human soldiers helped the young female knight completely shake off the impression of a delicate flower. Now, the Princess Knight's name was known to all as a true knight.
Reyne jumped back from the green dragon in midair and her Frozen Nightmare steed caught her. She herself could barely believe what was happening as she watched the green dragon fall out of the sky.
"Father, I did it! I'm no longer a useless flower princess; I can protect my own tribe and the Mist Country as well now."
For some inexplicable reason, Reyne suddenly thought of the man who wasn't on this battlefield at this moment.
"If he knew about this, would he praise me or lecture me on my recklessness?"
"I think that His Highness Roland would probably lecture you first, then nonchalantly find some reason to reward you. But, I doubt it's the type of reward that you want."
Her Frigid Nightmare's words caused Reyne to blush. She suddenly found how inconvenient it was for her mind to be connected to her Frigid Nightmare.
"Danger's coming! Be careful!"
There would always be inconveniences attached to being famous. Another dragon knight was attempting to ambush her, and even across all this distance, Reyne could feel the bone-piercing hatred.
But even Reyne didn't expect that her mouth would arc upwards in a smile with the danger right in front of her. She was licking her lips in anticipation and enjoying the stimulation from being on the verge of death in battle. She was enjoying this war.
But she was also filled with doubts in her heart at how she felt excited and more clearheaded for no apparent reason as the battle progressed. The beastmen's death cries would honestly make her feel pleasure in her heart, as if she was born for battle and this slaughter was helping her awaken her sleeping talent.
She enjoyed this place, she enjoyed hearing her enemies' cries, she enjoyed seeing fresh blood flow. That mysterious excitement made her feel like she was burning.
Even if all of that could be explained as the excitement of a newcomer to the battlefield, the fact that her own strength was obviously increasing could not.
"Forget it, let's stop thinking about it; it's a good thing anyways… That idiot over there—is the burning-hot oil still not ready? Toss it down to me and burn those beastmen to death!"
During the intermittent breaks between battle, the knights excitedly gossiped with each other about what they saw, admiring the fact that their princess was indeed a descendant of the Mist as she changed so much in battle. But in the eyes of a few who showed concern, there were obvious changes in Reyne that weren't so apparent on the surface.
A blood-red light kept flickering in Reyne's eyes. The souls of the dead weren't able to enter the cycle of reincarnation, and were instead sucked into Reyne's body as they wailed before death. With Reyne's continuous "feeding," huge black wings that mortal eyes couldn't perceive grew larger and larger on her back.
In this darkness, there was one pair of worried eyes that looked at her. This person's expression was filled with an obvious hesitation. Perhaps it may be unnoticeable to other people, but those black wings were more obvious than anything else in Elisa's vision.
"She's also a demonic descendant? Damn it. Roland, it's just as you expected; Reyne is a demonic descendant as well. This is the worst possible outcome. Looking at her fierceness and natural talent in consuming souls, she has to be at the very least the descendant of a Demon Overlord. It's quite obvious now; both living descendants of the Mist are the descendants of Abyssal Prince Karwenz."
"Karwenz! What have you done?"
In a distant labyrinth, I roared out in anger as I was filled with rage from hearing this news, but my summoned spirit version of Karwenz only shook his head in innocence.
"What? I didn't do anything! I'm just helping you attack people!"
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Chapter 184: The Seal of the Four Elements
The harsh climate of the Northlands was overtaking the elves' territory. The originally warm temperature that was abnormal for the season clashed with the cold front and caused a natural reaction of thunderstorms, the like of which had never been witnessed in elven territory.
The rain fell in torrents, making it impossible for people to even see themselves. It was only natural that there would be many troubles in such an area, especially in one that was used to dry and comfortable weather. It suddenly experienced such a rainstorm, but this was actually just the beginning.
When the chilly grasp of winter staked its claim on this land, the torrential downpour transformed itself into life-threatening hailstorms and blizzards. After its natural climate had been twisted for thousands of years, the entire Elf Kingdom received the cruelest retribution from nature.
Unlike the other Northland countries, the elves had no ability or experience in withstanding the cold weather. They didn't have the necessary thick clothing and firewood supplies for defending against the cold, and solely relying on magical flames would make the mages quickly run out of their already short supply of mana.
The hail and snow made this winter a hundred times more difficult for the elves and their light clothing. They were now facing the cruelest test of their abilities; if the Elf Kingdom remained chaotic and didn't change in time, it was entirely possible that less than ten percent would survive nature's test.
And currently, the leaders of the elves didn't have any time to pay attention to the preparations for the disastrous weather. On the increasingly cruel and frigid battlefield, an incredibly vicious internal battle was raging among the elves.
After imprisoning a prince and killing two generals, the king of Tassel Kingdom succeeded in grasping the commanding leadership position of the combined armies of four countries. Of course, it was impossible for him to deal with every detail of the chaotic situation, and there were still plenty who continued to plot his downfall.
"…It's meaningless to think too much. If we don't win this next battle, there won't even be anything to think about."
Resolution was fine, but reality was brutal, and this battle was most definitely not going to be easy. Bad news arrived like snowflakes in succession right at the beginning itself.
"The Moonblade Squad was ambushed by the dark elves' Bloodsword Squad and lost over half its members. It can no longer function."
"Our Pegasus Knights and Hippogryph Knights aren't a match for the enemy's black dragons at all! We need support from higher-tier aerial cavalry."
"Those accursed dark elves should have been exiled for ten thousand years! All their members are elites, damn it. We need high-ranked mages! They can just ignore our acolyte mages' spells!"
"Archmage Maladis and all his disciples died to those damned dark elf assassins, and the other three countries' royal mages all refuse to participate in battle. We're being suppressed in magic by the enemy's priests and mages. We encountered a complete one-sided loss in terms of mage strength."
"Tell those mages to stop using low-level spells; did they forget about the dark elves' magic-resistant skin?"
Morale, numbers, battle preparation, battle equipment, and high-tier combat strength. The elves couldn't match up to the dark elves in any of these aspects, and compared to the dark elf armies that were well rested, the elven allied armies were fatigued from their long travels in the field. The elves were crushed right from the beginning of the battle.
Yet greater trouble still lay ahead of them.
"The second St. Lawrence army refuses to carry out your orders. They request to see their prince."
"The SemiGod Priest Samana wishes to meet with you. It's probably about the assassination of their general. Your Majesty Adrian, would you like to meet with him or refuse?"
Adrian hadn't even finished taking care of securing his own position of power. Rumors were already spreading everywhere. If it weren't for the fact that this was an emergency situation, and that the elves were facing their mortal enemy on the battlefield, the other three countries' armies would likely have turned against his.
"Why can't you all understand? Do you think that I enjoy using these dirty methods, or that I wouldn't be heartbroken at Suana's sacrifice? She was my only precious baby daughter! Why did I sacrifice so much? I was doing it for the sake of all elves; why don't you idiots understand! Why?"
The furious Tassel Kingdom Elf King Adrian was shouting in his royal tent. He had already broken the various decorations and ornaments around the tent, but even after venting his anger, he could only watch blankly as the situation continued to worsen in front of him.
There were endless internal conflicts, a vast enemy army outside, and he was forced to the brink by both internal and external problems, but…
"I wasn't wrong; I definitely wasn't wrong! It's all those idiots' fault!"
Even now, he still believed that he hadn't made any mistakes. Suddenly, however, one of his closest retainers brought him a short message that caused his expression to change greatly. After a brief pause, he began laughing.
"If you all won't fight with honor, then I'll do the same. I'm doing everything for the sake of the elves; it's all your fault for not understanding me. Don't blame me even if we meet at the River Styx!"
...
"By the way, Roland, I recently fell in love with playing chess. That's why I'm giving you a small present that I hope you'll enjoy. — Karwenz"
I was shocked when Elisa suddenly sent me this message.
Apart from being shocked at its contents, I was more shocked at the source of the message. It was evident that Karwenz understood quite a lot about me through certain channels.
"Karwenz directly contacted your main body? He knows that you're on my side? Are you still safe over there?"
"The side of Chaos is rather disorderly. More accurately speaking, apart from a few at the top, the others don't have much interest in this Holy War. Of course, they'd be more than happy to have a go at slaughtering the upper dimension, but having them concentrate on plotting and separating allies from enemies is much too difficult for those demons with muscles for brains."
"Most of the demons are still currently preoccupied with fighting their own kin. Relax, I'm fine. Rather, since I just completed the Will of the Abyss's direct task for me, I even have the possibility of raising my rank."
As they were of Chaos to begin with, it was only natural for the side of Chaos to not have any order or organization among themselves. The norm was for each Chaos leader to have their own faction, while demons ranked Baron and above had their own territories. This was just as expected, since this was the only reason for the strange balance between the sides of Chaos and Order, despite the fact that the number of Chaos Gods outnumbered the Order Gods two to one with the Chaos side's battle power far surpassing that of the Order side.
The strong would be the leaders. This was a maxim, but since they were strong already, why should they have to obediently listen and fight a war? To the Chaos side, internal struggles for personal benefits constituted the real prize.
Since that side still hadn't come looking for Elisa yet, that meant that she was still safe—at least for the time being. Even a demon prince like Karwenz wouldn't be able to declare battle against a female demon Earl without making any preparations. Elisa's words helped reassure me, but closer consideration of the message contents made it seem all the more difficult to comprehend.
"A small present? What could it be? Since the demon prince is personally involved and is bragging with such swaggering delight, it definitely won't be small. It's probably something that will turn the tide of the battle in the enemy's favor. There is some sort of problem…"
"The elves? Red Maple Castle? Antuen? Diffindor? Somewhere inland in the human territory?"
There were too many choices and possibilities for me to think about, but someone was unable to tolerate me any longer…
"Roland! Stop dazing off; we can't hold on any longer!"
Alright, I suppose that's true. Adam finally got tired of my antics and barked at me to remind me of the fact that we were in the midst of a difficult battle.
Currently, the gigantic black stone hulk in front of us had transformed himself into a heavily armored black battle scorpion, and he had buried his massive body directly into the earth. His single, viciously glaring eye was flickering with a dark green light, and those menacing stone spears of his were still searching for victims on the ground.
"…This guy is too ridiculous. Just how many times can he transform?"
Battling with Emordilorcan was an endless nightmare. Each time we became slightly accustomed to his combat style, just as we were about to gain a slight advantage, he would immediately transform again and attack anew.
A stone giant wielding a shield and sword, a high-speed flying stone eagle, a stone Sword Saint who brandished a dozen lightning-fast weapons simultaneously, a stone guardian that was slow and strong—Emordilorcan used various different forms in succession against us. He could be said to be at the ultimate pinnacle of physical attacks.
"You tiny, short-lived creatures, I have experienced countless eras and battles, and have witnessed endless amounts of ferocious battle techniques. My special structure can imitate any combat technique imaginable, and my body will never fatigue! No matter how hard you try, you all shall still be defeated by me!"
Emordilorcan's heavy roar contained an indescribable emotion that sounded like frustration, as he was unable to defeat us even after such a long time in combat.
"Relax, my lovely mortal heroes, I can sense that the Dimensional Door is in the midst of closing and that his elemental power is beginning to weaken. He won't be able to resist for much longer! My powerful mortal allies, victory is right before us."
"At the very least, if I die, you all are coming with me!"
The two raging Elemental Gods gave me two completely contrasting depictions of their furious battle, but I knew that the truth wasn't how either of them described it. It wasn't true that Emordilorcan was about to be defeated like Camdian claimed, nor was it that Emordilorcan was truly undefeatable like he claimed.
The closing of the Elemental Door meant that Emordilorcan's investment in it had been entirely wasted, and he was indeed currently weakening, but as the strongest and oldest existence among the four Elemental Gods, he was far from being pushed to his limit. This was definitely going to be a long, drawn-out battle, where any small mistake on our part might result in our deaths.
But some things were impossible to conceal. Every time Emordilorcan changed his form or took a blow, he would lose part of the earth element that made up his body. The current him was no longer able to take elemental power from the Dimensional Door, so he was destined to only become weaker and weaker.
We had suffered significantly on our side as well. As the main tank, Adam was battered all over, and the spirit versions of Karwenz and Roland had long since disappeared. It wasn't because the time limit was up—it was because they had been defeated.
The ironic part was that the spirit Karwenz had been attempting to protect the spirit Roland when he was crushed by a gigantic boulder, which had also caused the spirit Roland to automatically be recalled, while at the current moment Roland was currently frustrated about what to do about Karwenz.
"If I'm frustrated, let me make the others get in a bad mood as well. Maybe seeing others in a bad mood will help make me feel better."
I suddenly recalled a random sentence I had heard in my past life, causing me to suddenly speak up.
"Emordilorcan, are you truly proud of the fact that you can use so many forms? The truly strong all have their own distinct style, but what's your style—just transforming all the time? Perhaps you should be called the Slime God instead of the Earth Elemental God."
"You coward that only knows how to talk a good fight! I shall definitely rip you apart!"
"Oh my, according to this reaction, I must be on the mark. Do you only know how to say these empty words? That's right, your Master Monk form was quite powerful, just which master did you imitate? I wonder if you have the confidence to defeat the real one? Could it be that you perhaps chose to imitate him because you couldn't defeat him?"
Emordilorcan's single remaining eye was emanating a bone-piercing killing intent, but judging from the fact that he didn't reply, it was apparent that I had touched a sore spot. The attacks of his stone scorpion form increased in ferocity.
"Hey, hey, stop adding oil to the fire; I'm the tank here!"
Adam was too good a tank—even Camdian was using Adam to block attacks. My "idling," though, was finally at an end as all my preparations were now in place.
"Activate, Seal of the Four Elements!"
The elements all countered each other—this was one of the fundamental maxims of this world. The most powerful seal in this world was a spell array which imitated the bodies of the elementals themselves. As long as this seal activated, and the four elements within it began circulating, it would emulate a sealed world with no exit.
Since we were already aware that we were dealing with the Elemental Gods, we would, of course, be prepared. However, when Margaret had discovered this ancient seal in an archaic, old book, we had met with some small problems.
"To seal a powerful elemental or magical creature, we need to find three Elemental Power Sources that are equal level to it? Emordilorcan's an Elemental God, so where are we supposed to find the other three Elemental Gods?"
Honestly, though, perhaps it was Emordilorcan's unfortunate fate to be doomed. Coincidentally, we had quickly discovered the three keys we lacked.
"The Flame Seal of the Flame Sea Earl!"
Elisa, who had obtained the power of the Fire Elemental God, gave the source of her power to me. While it was the only source of God-rank fire elemental power we had, it was definitely a fire elemental power source on the same level as Emordilorcan's.
"Sidunwar's Ocean Bottle!"
The power of the Ancient Sea God Sidunwar was unimaginable, as even the Water Elemental God was only his wife and follower God. Even though the divine power residing within it wasn't much anymore, it was actually even more powerful than Emordilorcan's.
But the final key was rather troublesome. The Wind Elemental's power was quite challenging to obtain, and I had initially intended to make do with Adam's Titan Thunder. Now, however, we had a better option.
"Camdian, it's all up to you now. Help us complete the Seal of the Four Elements and send Emordilorcan to his grave!"
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Chapter 185: The Earth Elemental God's Death
The numerous magical markings on the floor lit up, and the fixed tracks, which had been etched into the stone walls by the sword energy, were for its preparation. With the two elemental magical items prepared in their respective places, the entire stone cavern became flooded with light.
After hearing my proposal, Camdian's first reaction wasn't of praise or happiness. His eyes, which were flickering with streaks of lightning, stared at me with such an obvious panic that I instantly understood.
"Relax, we're allies. How could I possibly seal you? Besides, I would need God-rank Earth Elemental power in order to seal you; where would I get that from?"
Camdian turned to look at his mortal enemy. His meaning was obvious; wasn't Emordilorcan right before us a perfect source? He definitely had God-rank Earth Elemental power in him.
"Sealing two Elemental Gods at the same time? You overestimate me. If we had that level of power, we wouldn't have asked for your help. Do you think that we'd be foolish enough to ask you to seal yourself? How illogical!"
Okay, I tried everything I could and swore on every oath I could think of. After considered the fact that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, Camdian managed to nod and agree in the end. And while I was convincing him, poor Adam was being beaten up by the furious Emordilorcan.
No, it should be said that Emordilorcan was trying to escape, but our primary tank was sticking too close to him—it was as if Adam was a ghost haunting Emordilorcan and annoying him at every step. Since we'd already reached this point, though, how could we possibly let him escape?
And, to be honest, when all the magical markings in this location lit up, he had already lost the ability to escape.
When Camdian, prepared the final key for me and gave me a transformed Thunder Tear with apparent hesitation, a clear sound rang out that was rather uncomfortable to our senses. And as it rang out, the entire space began to transform into a forceful dimension.
After the three God-rank elemental items synchronized with each other, Emordilorcan was trapped in the middle of the triangle formation they formed. His Elemental Heart was currently synchronizing with the other three elemental items, creating a self-circulating elemental pocket dimension within.
According to the explanation in the ancient scroll, this seal merely borrowed the basic structure of the elemental world. For the lives of elementals, their structures were their foundations; it constituted a basic instinct just like breathing. It was completely unavoidable, unstoppable, and even irresistible for them!
That was also why Camdian had been so terrified. If we wanted to take this chance and seal him, it would definitely be possible. Needless to say, extra preparations were never wrong, and I was indeed prepared with a backup plan to seal him as well.
But, of course, there was no need to make him into our enemy now. If it weren't for his help, we wouldn't have been able to stall Emordilorcan for such an extended period of time, but scaring the Wind Elemental God would be beneficial for our future cooperation. If he wanted to betray us in the future for some personal benefits, he would, at the very least, consider the potential consequences.
Okay, I digress. All the magical markings were lighting up, and the naturally synchronizing elemental forces were creating a self-contained new world of its own. Now that it's come to this, I felt somewhat sad to lose two God-rank elemental items, and I was even more depressed at not having finished my system's missions—but it was all definitely worth it. At the very least, I was unable to think that Emordilorcan would be able to do anything else anymore.
As for any losses to Camdian? Who cared; he deserved it. It was his own fault for following us.
"Emordilorcan! Such a day has come to you as well; I've finally witnessed this day! Allow me to watch you be sealed."
However, judging from Camdian's jeers, I knew that I had overthought. As long as he could defeat Emordilorcan, no matter what price he paid, it was obvious that Camdian was willing.
It was then, however, that Emordilorcan broke out laughing.
"…You all want to seal me? Dream on! Even if I die, I won't let you off easily!"
That familiar, furious laughter caused me to recall certain existences, such as those gnomes that were forced to the limit by city officials, or those gnomes who were forced by their debts into not even caring for their lives, or those gnomes who liked to gamble money on explosive barrels.
That was why, in the very next instant, I pulled Adam in front of me and proceeded to hide behind Camdian's back.
"You intend to push me into the fire again?"
Okay, should I say that he's already gotten to me doing this to him? Even though he was complaining aloud, he didn't move at all, perfectly fulfilling his duty as a tank.
*Boom!*
Right as Emordilorcan finished speaking, a tremendous explosion occurred, caused the entire labyrinth to begin collapsing. The duststorm from the explosion made it difficult to see anything, and the massive wind and stone shards caused Adam to wail in pain!
"I knew you didn't have any good intentions; always using me as your shield!"
Cough, I ignored that guy who always habitually complained as I turned my attention to the Wind Elemental God before me.
"Is Emordilorcan dead?"
"According to how you mortals would say, his body and soul have both been destroyed, so you could say he is dead. For us Elemental Gods, he probably just returned to the Earth Elemental Plane. However, for him to have committed suicide by exploding his own physical body would take him at least one or two hundred years to return to his original power. It won't mean anything by then when he finally returns."
The cackling Camdian transformed into humanoid form, with absolute delight plastered on his face at having killed his mortal enemy. It was worth any price since he was now one step closer to being the top of all elementals.
I nodded without saying much else, while I carefully recovered the four God-rank elemental items.
Four? Yep, four; apart from the Ocean's Bottle and the Emblem of Fire, Camdian's Thunder Tear and Emordilorcan's gray-colored Earth Elemental Heart were also recovered by me.
After seeing these God-rank elemental items, Camdian seemed to want to say something, but I shook them at him and pointed to the magical markings on the ground that were beginning to dim. It was obvious what I meant.
'It'll be quite easy to use this magical seal again; would you like to try it? Or, do you intend to explode yourself just like Emordilorcan?'
Okay, I could only think that to myself, but judging by how icy Camdian's expression had turned, it was obvious that he understood my threat.
Traitors could never be trustworthy. If he could betray someone for personal benefits one time, he could betray another for even greater personal benefits a second time. From the very start, I had been prepared against Camdian.
"Alright, my lord Camdian, could you please take us out of here?"
Yet sometimes, even if you knew, in your heart, that you had a grudge against someone, it was better not to have the relationship sour out in the open. That way, you could still act as allies on the surface. In my past world, didn't the leaders of each major country, who each had legendary weapons called nukes, still smile and greet each other politely whenever they met each other in person?
"Of course, I'm never stingy towards my allies. Come ride on me, my friends."
And so, Camdian transformed into a whirlwind and effortlessly took us out of the labyrinth. Above ground, near the entrance of the labyrinth, we met with Margaret, who had been waiting for us for a long while. She breathed an obvious sigh of relief upon noticing our arrival.
"Milord, Margaret used a teleport spell to help us escape. Unfortunately, she was unable to get a lock on your coordinates, so she was unable to support you. But since you came out successfully as she said you would, that must mean you have achieved victory."
I nodded as I took out the Earth Elemental Heart, producing deafening cheers from the knights. Even if the collapsing earth elemental labyrinth could act as evidence for Emordilorcan's defeat, only actual evidence of his defeat could release the pressure from everyone's minds.
"Good job. Without you guys closing the Earth Elemental Door, we wouldn't have been able to achieve victory. I shall reward you all after we return."
However, everyone reacted strangely to my praise. They all glanced at each other awkwardly, as if they had something to say, yet nobody spoke up. It was Margaret who ended up explaining.
"It's not that easy to close an Elemental Door. If I wasn't careful enough, I could have exploded the entire labyrinth or sent us all to a different plane. We just temporarily cut Emordilorcan's connection to the Elemental Door, but that seemed to have been enough."
I was surprised to hear this, but I instantly gave a wry smile.
"Emordilorcan's death was rather pitiful. If he had remained calmer, perhaps he could have seen through us, as not even Camdian could deal with him. Forget it; it's already over. There's no need to think too much about it. Then do we need to go down there one more time to close the Earth Elemental Door?"
Margaret smiled as she shook her head.
"That won't be necessary. The Earth Elemental Door was being supplied by Emordilorcan's divine power, and since he's dead, it will collapse by itself."
I nodded and was just about to introduce Camdian to everyone when the Wind Elemental God decided that it was time to leave.
"My human allies, let's have a good chat again after everything's over."
His way of addressing us changed from 'human insects,' to 'mortals,' to 'human allies'— for the Wind Elemental God to continually change was scary in its own way.
Nevertheless, since we had been successful and had the advantage over him, I wasn't worried that he would play any tricks.
And just as I slightly relaxed and was about to heave a sigh of relief, my ring shook and brought a new battlefield message to me.
"Roland, a sudden extreme earthquake has occurred in the area, causing all of Red Maple Castle's walls to collapse. Defending it has become almost impossible; do you have any emergency ideas!"
Hearing this sudden call for help and the sounds of crying and shouting from the other side, I knew that the situation was now extremely unfavorable.
"…You guys want to seal me? Dream on! Even if I die, I won't let you off easy!"
I thought back to Emordilorcan's mysterious dying message, and I now realized that this was his true revenge.
"Margaret, you have the coordinates for Red Maple Castle, right? Could you teleport me there? You only need to teleport me."
At the same instant that Emordilorcan's physical body was destroyed, a stone shard in the Bloodaxe Tent had suddenly transformed into a shining ethereal giant.
As it walked, this ethereal giant kept decreasing in luminosity. Camdian's judgment had been correct; Emordilorcan had already been heading for death, and his current form was merely the final remnant of his soul.
From the very beginning, the Earth Elementals were Amon's Bloodaxe Tribe's allies, which was why Emordilorcan had cut off a small piece of his arm and transformed it into a stone shard for Amon to hold on to as the ace up their sleeve.
"In the final, critical moments of the battle you can summon my power, but remember, you're only allowed to summon me at the final critical moment! Otherwise, I'm going to take my anger out on you first!"
Currently, as he watched his divine power gradually diminish, Emordilorcan, who had temporarily returned to life in his last vessel, knew that he didn't have much time remaining.
"Damned humans, since I'm fated to die anyways, I'm going to pull you all down with me!"
*Boom!* *Boom!*
The incessant explosions caused substantial damages to the beastmen in the form of friendly fire, but no matter what, Emordilorcan aimed to self-destruct once more and take his final revenge.
"…Foolish humans, I, Emordilorcan, shall cause you all to tremble as you meet your deaths! Rage, oh earth, for I am your master! Pledge your loyalty to me and transform that damned castle wall to broken pieces under the fires of my rage!"
And that was how Emordilorcan finally lost his physical form once more and returned to the Earth Elemental Plane riddled with injuries, forced to hibernate there until the next Holy War. Yet his powerful final earthquake attack brought devastating destruction along with it.
Yet this was just the beginning. Countless hordes of earth elementals emerged from the ground, their target to destroy the enemy of the Earth Elemental God.
"Red Maple Castle's defense line is under enormous stress!"
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Chapter 186: Castle Defense
During the middle ages of my former world, fortresses and castle walls were considered the penultimate defenses of their time, but due to the eventual development of modern technology, they fell into disfavor and became nothing more than teardrops in history.
Aerial bombings, long-distance artillery, large-scale weapons of mass destruction, and iron tanks that could forcefully break through walls all caused these immovable barriers to become obsolete. That was why these historical places of legend, which had been so significant in wars of past, were opened to the public as scenic tourist spots in a relatively more peaceful era.
"The times will change, and with the emergence of new technology and species, the old maxims of battle will be nothing more than garbage. Even the strongest fortresses will become nothing more than scenic locations in the end."
I had always believed that. Even if the development of magic and technology caused many differences between this world and my previous one, with the people here not inventing weapons like tanks and air bombers, high-ranked air cavalry served a similar purpose. It could ignore castle walls and lob destructive weapons, and with the progress of the engineers' technology in this world, a magical mechanical monstrosity was possible already—since I had already based several magical mechanical monstrosities on the weapons from my previous world. As for weapons of mass destruction, weren't there already forbidden magic spells?
Even though few mages could use forbidden spells, and the ones that dared to use them were even fewer, with the development of magic it didn't seem impossible for strong attack magic—that could affect even wars—to become commonplace. At least, I also based several insane magical weapons on ideas from my past world as well.
For instance, undead carrying biological viruses, slimes carrying radiation, flying aerial fortresses of destruction, concealed biological poison gas weapons…
Cough, as a believer in peace, let's just seal those obviously anti-human ideas away until the next Armageddon. Now back to the main topic; according to my judgment, I came up with a conclusion that was against the norm of this world.
"In the future, wars will enter a new generation where castle walls are irrelevant."
That was why I took an entirely divergent path from the Sleuweir Kingdom, which had spent so many resources on building high-defense fortresses. No matter whether in the Underground of the past or in the East Mist Communal Country in the future, I unhesitatingly abandoned the system of castle wall defense, which takes much time and energy to build. Instead, I spent my resources on developing new technologies, soldier types, and so on for practical combat.
"Defensive battles with solid castle walls as the foundation might just become nothing more than garbage swept away in history during this Holy War."
But the time for change wasn't now.
Fortresses and castles seemed to be passive defensive structures, but in the era of limited weaponry, they were critically important. Whether it be for facing the cavalry attacks of nomadic tribes that were like the wind or defending against the beasts that would hunt prey in the darkness of the night, fortresses and castles were irreplaceable tactical centers.
Defending the castle, and attacking a castle. This was the standard of countless battles. Not only were they obstacles in real life, but they were also mental protectors. The citizens living in the castle would definitely feel safe as they looked at the tall castle walls that offered them protection.
Even if the era had already begun to change, castle walls weren't entirely outdated yet. Besides, humanity's stubborn habits were difficult to change, as most people still believed that the castle wall's destruction meant the loss of the battle.
Currently, the Red Maple defense line was being held entirely by the humans' morale. If their morale suffered a heavy blow…
"It's over! There's no hope anymore; we're all going to die!"
The person who was shouting out in such despair was no coward. It was coming from a general who had just killed dozens of beastmen in close combat, and he hadn't even had time to treat his injuries yet. But his shouts were just like that of a useless deserting soldier who didn't want to become cannon fodder.
The castle walls weren't entirely destroyed by the earthquake, but numerous large cracks in it allowed the beastmen to enter as they pleased to catch and hunt the humans. The castle walls were now meaningless.
"The castle walls are destroyed" is equal to "the battle is lost"—this was an iron maxim in the general's mind, and the subsequent mental breakdown caused this brave warrior to begin wailing in despair.
There were many warriors similar to him. Even the most resolute of warriors instantly felt that the battle was already lost.
Battle out in the open against the beastmen who had the numerical advantage? Each individual human couldn't match up to an individual beastman in strength already, and now they were also suppressed in terms of morale. This seemed suicidal.
Never underestimate the experience and wisdom of the long-lived Gods. Emordilorcan, who didn't seem to be much of a thinker, was actually a sly one. Even as a participant in the Holy War, he had not only paid attention to everything that was occurring without directly intervening, but he also had done his best to understand the combat situation.
That was why he had viciously attacked the humans at their most significant weak spot in a critical time when he was destined to die. He knew that the fall of Red Maple Castle would cause the most damage by far.
If Red Maple Castle fell, then there would be nothing else blocking the beastmen on the open fields, and it would definitely topple the balance of power between the two sides. The entire human allied army would be snowballed with continuous defeats, proceeding with the beastmen turning back, surrounding, and conquering Antuen. This would mean he would succeed in his revenge.
"Hurry up and run, the beastmen are coming!"
"I can't stand it, we've stood here and fought them to this step already!"
Luckily, not everyone had abandoned hope. Perhaps a certain princess's bravery seemed idiotic and gave many people headaches, but her personality of never surrendering until the very end was still quite popular.
The flag of the Mist had yet to fall, and the People of the Mist had experienced being pushed to the brink countless times. If even the slaughters of their cities couldn't scare them, then how could a simple castle wall's collapse scare them?
"Abandon the outer castle walls; everyone retreat to the inner city. The injured should go first, and whoever can still stand—block those bastards for me!"
Her roaring, angry voice, which still sounded quite young, sounded out from the top of the city, causing the warriors to wake up from their stupors and transmit her words. The dazed warriors soon began moving again.
"We've already endured countless bloodbaths; now's not the time to give up!"
They instantly abandoned the outer castle walls that were about to collapse. Most of the residents were in the inner city to begin with, and the most number of people that needed to be transferred were the injured. As for the defending soldiers below the collapsed castle walls, they had no spare time right now to clean up the mess of stone shards.
The more critical the situation, the higher the importance of an ace card.
Finally, the People of the Mist used their last trump card.
"Great Judgement!"
The God Equipment Book of Origins was activated, and a silver holy light instantly covered the entire city. As the beastmen were judged guilty of the crime of invasion, all the beastmen immediately felt a restriction to their freedom, and they suffered under invisible handcuffs, leg irons, weapon confiscations, and many other similar constraints.
Unfortunately, though, before Wumianzhe became the Guardian God of the Northlands, the Church of Law had no reason to interfere in this battle. The members of the Church of Law in Red Maple Castle consisted only of a few of Reyne's companions. There was minimal benefit gained from increasing their powers.
Yet even the effect of just restraining the enemy was enough. At a time like this, when every second was crucial, every minute that the beastmen were stalled would help more soldiers retreat to the inner city, where additional warriors were constructing new defensive structures.
"Notify the Borealis to attack with full firepower, we need aerial support… Overload the Train King, and give these damned beastmen a nice present!"
In this time of danger, Reyne showed her true leadership abilities. She didn't need a vast amount of wisdom or experience; as long as she could remain calm and think of ideas to deal with the situation, it would be enough to reassure everyone.
The chaos outside the western castle door was pacified under Reyne's leadership. As everyone watched regretfully, the overloaded Train King was tossed down the castle wall.
*Boom!*
Yet another mushroom cloud rose up on the battlefield.
The violent explosion sent even the entire castle door flying and vaporized those beastmen who were in the midst of crossing through it. The massive hole could even be used as a makeshift moat now, but everyone had been taken away by the floating airships to reconstruct new defensive structures in the inner city. They were now at a distance from the staggering castle walls.
Finally, the castle walls collapsed entirely, crushing a significant number of beastmen with it. At this time, Reyne was silently cursing the beastmen as she stood inside the floating airship as she gazed at the pile of rubble.
"Damned beastmen! I'm going to make sure your souls eternally struggle painfully in the River Styx… Wait, what did I just say? What is the River Styx?"
If she could look at herself in a mirror right now, Reyne would be even more shocked. The current Reyne had blood-red eyes, and the ethereal black wings on her back were beginning to materialize… Behind her, a ghostly black figure could be seen cackling maniacally.
"Haha, the seed has finally sprouted!"
...
Even though it was now late into the night, Antuen's mage guild was rather hectic.
In the field in front of the mage tower, hundreds of mages were busy etching innumerable magical runes into the ground. Large amounts of precious resources were being utilized, and dragon blood was being used for drawing the runes, which was a difficult and expensive material.
Their precious magical cup of flames was being used as lighting, and even the archmages were crouching on the ground, researching the incredibly rare magical rune arrays.
"Is it still not ready yet?"
"Do you think that mega-long-distance teleportation is supposed to be easy? Let me tell you, this precision has no difference from opening a door to another dimension. Just one small miscalculation will cause you to be tossed into another dimension. Sit there and don't move; I need to calculate your weight."
The women passing by kept covering their mouths and snickering, and even the mages seemed to be trying their best not to laugh. It was only natural because my current appearance was a fresh humiliation for me.
I kept shivering due to the cold winds as I was only wearing a piece of underwear… Wait, wait! Let me first explain that I was not infected by Xueti!
"Stop shaking; how am I supposed to measure your weight like this? Oh my, you're a bit overweight—a tad too heavy for my spell's power. You still need to lose weight!"
I was currently shivering on top of a large balance that was originally used to measure the weight of magical ingredients. Strange dragon blood runes could be seen drawn all over my body.
How else was I supposed to lose some weight? I hesitatingly reached to my final piece of clothing, but seeing as how more and more spectators were gathering around me and that those two women were covering their eyes but secretly peeking at my bottom half, I found myself unable to remove my underwear.
"You're overweight by too much; just your underwear alone won't be enough. Let's shave off all your hair and your eyebrows."
The cold Margaret adjusted her glasses as she made a pragmatic—yet fatal—decision.
I have to shave everything? For some reason, I thought of the smooth shell of an egg.
"Having a smooth round head will be cool in the summer. In winter, you can even reflect the sunlight and obtain warmth that way. How nice, you can even save money on the lighting at nighttime, and that blinding Bullet of Light technique will even have double its power."
"Adam, stop finding such stupid reasons for me to become bald! If you want to reflect the sunlight, go do it yourself!"
Adam, who was watching from the side, was already rolling on the floor with laughter. Those ridiculous words could only be said by someone like him, or perhaps I should say that only he was such a boring person.
Yet my hemming and hawing was causing Margaret's expression to become icier and icier. Her displeasure was evident.
"Is there any other method?"
"Hand."
Instantly, I felt an ache in my heart. Cutting off my hand to decrease my weight; that seemed like the only method left to me.
After some hesitation, I withdrew the Roland Sacred Sword, and measured it against my hand for quite some time… before finally chucking the sword to Adam.
"Adam, do it for me. I'm afraid of pain!"
I shut my eyes and waited for quite a while, but I only heard the sounds of giggling. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Adam and Margaret were exchanging strange looks with each other.
"Stop wasting time, we don't have much time to spare! Hurry up with the sword; I can just find a priest later to reattach my hand… wait, why are you guys laughing?"
"Hahaha!"
Hearing this, Adam began laughing to the point that he had difficulty breathing, while Margaret readjusted her glasses.
"Why are you trying to cut your hand off? It's not necessary, or were you intending to replace it with a hook and pretend to be a pirate captain?"
"Then what about the weight? Were you just having a joke on me! Can you teleport me already?"
"No, I never joke about anything related to magic." As always, Margaret wore a serious expression with that icy gaze of hers that would easily send chills through anyone's heart. She was definitely serious. "Your current weight is a bit too much, but when I said 'hand,' I was referring to the Age Ring on your hand."
I instantly understood. If the current me was overweight by just a little, the younger me definitely wouldn't be. Just removing the Age Ring would be enough.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Did you just want to see me suffer? Hey, hey, wait a moment, I still have…"
I was quite angry as I hurriedly removed my ring, but before I could even articulate my complaints, Margaret's staff swung downwards and the light of the teleportation spell enveloped me.
Now, I could only hurriedly pick up my Roland Sacred Sword and prepare myself as I helplessly accepted the fact that I had been pranked.
After I left, the field fell silent again. Adam suddenly spoke up.
"Was that fun?"
"Of course. This bastard actually forgot about me again; what a terrible friend. It's annoying to be treated like a stranger."
The oracle, who always seemed so calm, actually had such a fiery, angry side to her. Immediately afterward, though, Margaret's expression turned dark as she burst out laughing.
"Well, it's not entirely his fault, so let's just let the past be the past. And even if he forgot the past, we just have to create new memories. This should probably give him a deep impression of me."
Adam could only helplessly shake his head before turning to look southwards. The final critical battle involving the entire fate of the Northlands would take place in that direction.
"I wonder if Roland will be able to deal with things by himself. It won't be easy."
"Hmph, he won't be there by himself. Did you forget about Amelia and that cat? Why do you think they disappeared for so long? That Roland brat is ridiculously cautious; he must have left several trump cards up his sleeve that nobody knows about."
And just as she expected, right then and there, in the market district of Red Maple Castle, a certain witch had finished her final pre-combat preparations.
"Oh my, I ended up using so many resources; I should ask my junior to pay me back for all this later. My babies, it's time to wake up and eat. Relax, this time your food isn't going to be those zombies that are difficult to chew. Let's play plants versus beastmen this time!"
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Chapter 187: The Feast of Traitors
It was currently night. Everything was blanketed with heavy snowfall, making this frozen area even more difficult to withstand.
Even the strongest warrior would be unable to do anything without the sense of sight. Yet that wasn't the most critical negative aspect of this battlefield.
"It's so cold! How many can even live through such a night?"
Even the Bear Tribe Leader Londe, who seemed like an immovable ice mountain to his tribe members, was not as emotionless and made of iron as he appeared. After all, in the frigid winter of the Northlands, nighttime was more than ten degrees colder than the already chilly weather, and it was now reaching the point where one's breath would freeze immediately.
Even if the beastmen on the battlefield all had strong bodies, they were nevertheless living creatures. They still had to pay attention to the cold during the fierce battling, and it was so dark that they needed their battle horns and flags to lead them. The most difficult of all was the alleyway battles, where, in the darkness, some would treat the enemy knife-wielding assassins as their friends while slicing off their comrades' heads with their own axes…
In such a situation, according to the unwritten rules of combat in the north, both sides should have rested and come to a temporary truce to prevent the most unacceptable outcome of all—the outcome where one side won but there was nobody left to celebrate.
Now, however, time was of the essence. Time equaled life itself; with each minute of hesitation, countless lives perished. Don't even mention a temporary truce; right now, both sides wanted to hurl every last possible weapon at their enemy. Only the utter and complete destruction of the enemy would allow the existence of more survivors.
Londe could already imagine the scene—a beastman warrior would defeat an enemy with great difficulty, but his blood, pouring from his injuries, would freeze into ice. He would lose large amounts of blood as his steps would grow slower and slower before he finally froze to death beside the desolate corpse of his human opponent.
To Londe, these dark alleyways resembled the vicious beasts from the abyss with their mouths wide open, as they grinned maniacally while they waited for food to deliver themselves into their mouths.
Londe suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He had an ominous premonition. Perhaps he wouldn't live to see the next day's rising sun.
This, however, wasn't baseless at all. Londe's sharp sixth sense had helped him overcome numerous life-and-death situations, but this time, he decided not to listen to his instinct's warning.
"Don't let the other tribes look down on our tribe's sharp claw! Everyone, press forward! We definitely can't fall behind the others. Conquer this castle, and the honor of having destroyed the northern humans' pride will be ours! The War God is protecting us! His heroic spirit shall keep spots aside for our warriors, and if we're destined to die here, then let us meet each other again while feasting in the Hall of Valhalla!"
He said something he knew was impossible. Yet his warriors still answered his summons.
They silently drank some rich alcohol to help them defend against the cold, before resolutely stepping into the pitch-black battlefield, into the maw of the abyss from which there would be no return.
There was no hesitation and no cowardice. This war had no justice; there was nothing divine, nothing evil. Everyone was fighting for their own species, fighting for resources and land. They were fighting so that their own species wouldn't have to fight in this cruel Holy War.
The castle wall was now meaningless. Every moment, at every place, warriors could be seen bleeding and fighting to the death. Human lives were now worthless. Humans were all flesh-and-blood mortals, after all; even a high-ranked battlefield commander may be killed at any moment from an ordinary shovel making its way through the crack of a house.
"We've lost contact with Kazlo's tribe. Twenty minutes ago, we also lost contact with Kagra. The air cavalry is requesting to go to battle; this is their letter signed in blood!"
"Londe is requesting reinforcements; he lost contact with two squads under his command, and he's met with an obstacle. Many of his warriors have gone missing. He needs more warriors to be able to surround the enemy."
"The Wolf King has been successful in advancing to the designated location as scheduled, but he's already lost forty percent of his warriors, and he still refuses to retreat."
Each fresh dose of bad news caused Amon's eyes to twitch. Humanity's stubbornness had far surpassed their expectations, and the damned snow created an even worse meat grinder for the cruel battlefield.
"Tell the air cavalry to not stir up any trouble for me right now. If they go out now, they'll fall right back down immediately without even a hint of what hit them. Even if they die, they need to die a worthy death. Reinforcements? Let the newly created tribe go support Londe…"
The messenger hesitated for a moment and was about to question Amon when he ended up swallowing his words.
Newly created tribe? That was the tribe consisting of the tribes that had lost almost all their tribe members; all those beastmen were injured losers. They had lost their tribe leaders, their tribe names, and totems, which was why they had banded together and formed a new tribe.
Perhaps they weren't strong enough, but they were still the seeds of the future. But when even the seeds had to participate in battle, that was evidence of the dire straits the beastmen were in.
However, going against orders would be insubordination, and everybody understood that this was no time for hesitation and that the decisive would be victorious. Whoever gritted their teeth and stayed in this until the end would become the new ruler of this land, and now was the time to compete in who was willing to sacrifice more and had the stronger will.
The beastmen were enduring tremendous sacrifices, but for the humans, this war was even more difficult.
This chaotic battle with no rules was an all-around test of people's abilities. After the defending human army lost the advantage of the castle walls' defense, their losses were magnified many times, to double, triple, and even ten times their original rates.
"We have nowhere to retreat! Other than us, there are only the weaponless citizens! If we lose Red Maple Castle, there's no difference from losing the entire Northlands, and we'll become the most vilified humans in all of human history! All our ancestors will be shamed!"
The humans were unwilling to retreat even more than the beastmen. This defensive battle for them wouldn't allow them to withdraw one bit; they were guarding their homes!
The snow would eventually stop, and the sky would eventually get lighter. But at that time, who knew just how many humans could survive. The side that ended up with more survivors would definitely be the victor.
But this night wouldn't pass quickly. The Frigid Nightmares were all riled up to move in the darkness.
"Ahhh!"
In a small alleyway, a beastman soldier only gave a shout of surprise before disappearing without a single trace.
In an adjacent alleyway, the exact same thing happened to his companions. With their shouts of surprise, they were also dragged into hell by the dark hands that suddenly reached out from below the ground.
"Ahhh!"
"Shamans, destroy this entire area for me!"
Londe was no longer able to watch his subordinates disappearing in succession. Under his command, the beastmen elemental shamans no longer tried conserving their already low mana, and they communicated with the elements to summon mighty thunderbolts and waves of earthquakes to flatten all the buildings in this entire area.
Of course, this helped reveal the true identity behind the beastmen soldiers' disappearance.
"Flowers?"
Right before them was a flower; in fact, it was an incredibly rare and valuable flower in the Northlands. Luckily, Londe had learned about such a flower in the south before. The flower stem and colorful petals matched the ones in his memory, but…
"Isn't this too huge!"
That's right, a flower garden could be seen before them. It was only that the flowers within it were rather abnormal. The magic spells that even destroyed all the buildings had zero effect on them, and the most common flowers among them were sunflowers that were growing larger and larger. They were at least the height of two humans, and these otherwise ordinary-seeming flowers were already more than three times taller than they should have been.
Even though these flowers before them were so beautiful, Londe, who had experienced hundreds of battles, sucked in a breath of cold air. The incredibly strange sight caused his sixth sense feel an indescribable amount of danger; it was to the point where he felt needles pricking his back. All he wanted was to run away.
"Hey, isn't that the missing soldier Katar? Those flowers are currently eating him!"
The moment these words were spoken, all the flowers suddenly turned around in unison. Those flowers actually had huge mouths growing on them, and they were currently chewing on the beastmen's missing soldiers as their fertilizer.
Each flower only had one huge mouth filled with teeth, and even though these flowers had no eyes, the beastmen quickly realized that the flowers had locked their targets—them. That was the instinct of prey that had met its predator.
"I'll be the rear vanguard!"
The incredibly abnormal scene sent chills through everyone's hearts, and Londe instantly gave his order.
But right at the next moment, his beastmen companions began wailing in agony. The vines on the ground had transformed into snakelike creatures as they hung the beastmen upside-down. The sunflowers opened their mouths wide and began devouring the unfortunate beastmen.
"King's Heavy Assault!"
The angrily roaring Bear Tribe Leader used his full force attack, with his two thick arms slamming into the ground with enough force to crush boulders. The wind from his attack ripped through the vines, helping create a gap in the plants' attacks as his God-rank ultimate attack destroyed everything before him. Even after his ultimate attack, though, he could discern nothing but his companions' deaths and heard only their cries of death.
"It's alright. Hurry up, this place is far too abnormal. We need to leave here quickly." He was kneeling halfway to the ground and was recovering from the usage of his ultimate attack when he noticed the strong hints of despair on the faces of his tribe members. When he turned around to see what they were looking at, he finally realized the reason for his instincts to have been continuously screaming at him that something was wrong.
A small mountain, which was not that far away from them, was rapidly closing in, while the place he was standing on was sinking. When he took a closer look, he realized that that wasn't a small mountain at all! It was obviously a frighteningly large mouth!
"We had been standing in this monster's mouth all this time?"
His final sigh was now meaningless. The sky was still dark when the Piranha Plant King finally closed its mouth. With a loud "crunch," the Bear King Londe, who was only one rank below the Beastman King, perished just like that.
"Humility of the Seven Virtues! Perhaps I should call it by another name—Blood-Filled Piranha Plant Garden might be a bit more appropriate."
Since the worst possible situation had already come to pass, and the time previously agreed upon had come, the black cat, which was destined to bring misfortune, had also woken up from its deep slumber.
"Ha, what a bunch of lovely children. They just need so much blood to wake up, though. If it weren't for the availability of so much delicious blood, they definitely wouldn't have grown up this well."
Humility? Seven Virtues? The most unbelievable thing of all was that this witch, who gave everyone such a headache, could really create such a positive, auspicious object.
Humility wasn't a single plant; it was the name of an entire flower garden that consisted of uncountable piranha plants as its foundation. Its only trait, perhaps, was its incredibly high attack rating.
From the very beginning of this war, Amelia had planted a single seed under Red Maple Castle. As for how well this seed would mature depended on the amount of blood and souls it could feed on.
Roland's Pride Omar Mist was doubtlessly the strongest combat unit—he functioned at the level of an entire squad by himself. Amelia had wanted to target Omar's capabilities and had hence designed this piranha plant garden, which was also on the level of an entire squad. She had even given it a name that directly opposed that of the Seven Deadly Sins.
These piranha plants had special digestive chemicals that could easily melt through bones, and the garden also possessed Soul Grass, which could consume souls and render the undead mages' soul summoning spells useless. The amount of nutrition gained from the war would determine the final rank of the Piranha Plant King, and the humongous devourer wasn't supposed to be ready until after the end of the war.
Even without an endless amount of battles occurring, this war, without a doubt, gave Amelia's "Humility" far too much nutrition. Several humongous devourers were already activated, and the dangerous flower garden had awakened itself and was waiting for new prey to deliver itself to its doorstep. The Bear King Londe's death was just one among many.
"Oh my, it seems that after all this, you're going to go up in the Calamity Rankings."
"Hmph. No matter how high up I go, I won't surpass Roland. I'm still far from being as crazed, inhumane, and maniacal as he is."
Harloys really wanted to comment on why Amelia was filled with a regretful expression—it was as if she was sad that she couldn't surpass him in the Calamity Rankings. Did Amelia and Roland really want to compete in who was more inhumane between the two of them?
"You really like to compete with him in everything; do you like him that much?"
"Who! Who did you say likes him? I hate him to death! Just wait until I receive information on his technology; I'm going to turn him into my fertilizer!"
The moment that Roland was brought up, the sly Amelia would become just like an elementary school student that had never even talked about romance before. Harloys still wanted to tease her a bit more when Amelia, who had been angrily jumping up and down, suddenly stopped and smiled as she gazed out the window.
"What is it?"
"How unexpected! It actually caught a big fish… but that berserk behemoth is still a bit of a problem. I'm going to deploy two small devourers there. Yep, let's not kill that behemoth off; it should be an incredibly rare undead material. Roland will definitely be delighted. Perhaps he'll even invite me to dissect it while it's living together with him. Ah, I'm really getting nostalgic about the past."
Okay, now that she was imagining things, Amelia smiled rather shyly, and Harloys didn't even know where to vent her comments.
Suddenly, however, Amelia's expression changed as she made an exclamation of shock.
"Devourers Number Two and Number Four were instantly killed! This feeling is from… the withering magic of nature magic, from those elves!"
Traitors could never be trusted—this was a maxim of the battlefield. If you could betray someone once, it was highly possible that you would betray another a second time if you were paid with even greater benefits.
No matter in whichever world's history, there would always be traitors who received high positions of power in the end, even if they could never gain true trust from the eventual victor.
The present from Karwenz?
It was just another letter, just like the one to Roland. However, the letter, which was personally sent by the Abyssal Prince Karwenz, was addressed to Lorci.
Okay then, there is no need to go into the details of the letter; it was basically just something like "We already know about the ideas you're having; didn't Roland simply promise that you could be the Main God of the Elves? We can give you a better deal. Since you anyways haven't openly betrayed us, if you return to the Chaos side, we won't care about your past transgressions, and we can even make the Elven Gods your subordinates." Well, it was something like that.
Of course, there was a threat at the end as well, reminding Lorci that her domain was in the Chaos Abyss and that she should be careful of the demon nobles organizing themselves and paying her a little visit. Something along those lines.
Lorci was, of course, the founder of the dark elves, but she was also the one they all imitated. In the dark elves' language, "foolishness" and "loyalty" were the same word; it is easy to imagine Lorci's personality from this itself.
And so Lorci, who had betrayed the Chaos side once already, unhesitatingly betrayed the Order side now that she was promised an even greater prize.
Of course, this was only part of the reason. On a deeper level, Lorci wasn't satisfied with receiving the title of the Guardian God of the Northlands' Elves. She wanted to be the Guardian God of the entire Northlands, which was the title that Wumianzhe had just received.
In that case, unless she forced the humans out of the Northlands, she would be unable to become its real ruler. And so, right after achieving victory in internal conflict between the elves and the dark elves, she unhesitatingly gave the beastmen a gift when they needed it most.
Perhaps it should be said that since she already reached her goal in allying with us in the first place, and now that there was something she coveted even more right in front of her, she decided to turn on us and directly fight against us for what she wanted. Karwenz's letter was only an excuse to help her firm her resolve to betray once again.
Currently, Lorci's new pet who had her favor, the high-level nature mage who had just wiped out the two humongous devourers, was standing beside Amon, sighing, as he gazed at everything before him.
"I never expected that we would end back here again after going around."
"Hah, it's just that the last time you were my ally, you still looked presentable. Now you're my ally's pet dog; you can only lick the bones she throws to you."
Amon Bloodaxe didn't hold back at all as he taunted the elf mage in front of him. Amon truly looked down on this untrustworthy and dishonorable elf, especially since this person had even betrayed his own species, despite the fact that he was once a king.
Yep, this long-eared elf mage was indeed once King Adrian of Tassel Kingdom, but now, his skin color had become a grayish black, and he was no longer a regal moon elf. Instead, he belonged to a new species that dedicated themselves to Lorci—the fallen elves.
He used to look down on the beastmen in the past, but Adrian was now faced with Amon's jeers. He could only turn around with a steely expression.
"I wasn't wrong, I wasn't wrong, this is all for the continuation of my species! I wasn't wrong! I wasn't wrong!"
It's just that his fingernails had already begun to imperceptibly overtake his hands. He didn't even notice the blood.
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Chapter 188: Descent
"The Seal of Unlimited Courage."
It was terribly named, but this seal had left a significant mark on history, if only because it was Karwenz's Soul Imprint.
"As long as you resolutely believe you won't lose, you'll become stronger? Are you the hot-blooded main character type? Also, what's with this terrible naming sense of yours that sounds like it was plagiarized from somewhere? Should I help you come up with a new name?"
"No need; precedents indicate that if you come up with a name, it'll definitely be a forever humiliating one. I'm not that foolish."
Back then, Karwenz had answered me like that, but from a certain perspective, I wasn't wrong. This ability was indeed just like one that belonged to the main character of a legendary story.
Never giving up and becoming stronger and stronger as long as he didn't give up in his heart. When he was pushed to the brink, when fate forced him to face armies by himself—this would be the most suitable ability of all.
If this ability was possessed by an ordinary person, well, humans had limited courage and willpower so the rise in strength would be limited. But in the hands of Karwenz, who didn't know fear and difficulty, this was the mightiest Soul Imprint in the world.
"God rank? Great Demon Lord? Won't they all die if I slice off their heads? As long as they can die and feel pain, what's the difference?"
As he proclaimed such, Karwenz was maniacally laughing on the battlefield with a mountain of bloody corpses behind him. In front of that insane bringer of death, even the demons who never knew fear became afraid, even the beastmen who still had a War God protecting them became afraid, and even the human allied armies that were attacking the Mist Kingdom became afraid.
...
"Legend-rank beastmen? Behemoths? Won't they all die if I slice off their heads? As long as they bleed and feel pain, how are they any different from ordinary humans?"
The young Princess Knight's solitary figure could be seen on top of the fortification as she single-handedly blocked the beastmen's charge; her silver armor was stained entirely red with the fresh blood of her enemies. Innumerable beastmen corpses surrounded her, making it troublesome to take even a step forward.
And right now, impaled on her longsword, was the corpse of the Wolf King! Inconceivably, not far away was the body of the beheaded behemoth.
"Next!"
The furious Princess Knight stood upright as she clutched on to her sword, while the beastmen warriors in front of her were beginning to hesitate about whether to retreat. Thirty minutes ago, this seemingly weak girl had shouted "Next!" and many beastmen warriors had rushed up to fight her, only to be slaughtered.
"Next!"
Twenty minutes ago, a behemoth caused earthquakes as it roared and rushed to her by itself; it had decided to crush the tiny human before it. Yet a single slice was all it took for her to crush its throat. It died a painful death.
"Next!"
Five minutes ago, the pride of the Wolf Tribe, the strongest of them all, the Wolf King Sostilo, had charged towards her along with his personal bodyguards. He was killed with a single swing of her sword.
"Next!"
When they heard the shout of the silver-armored Princess Knight once more, the brave beastmen finally retreated. While they weren't afraid of sacrifice, the sacrifices had to, at least, be meaningful.
"Our princess! The world's greatest princess!"
"Princess Knight, may you live forever!"
Reyne's vision was currently blurry, and her blood was boiling. The cheering from behind her seemed to be distant, and only one thought was coursing through her mind.
"I need more power; I want more power!"
She was seeking more power within her soul—for her Soul Imprint.
When the light of the Incantation of Law Great Judgement lit up the entire city, the Gold-ranked Law Knight Reyne was promoted in rank by the Forbidden Spell, but this type of forced promotion shouldn't have been able to aid her in creating a Soul Imprint.
But not only did she succeed in creating a Soul Imprint, it was a Soul Imprint of unimaginable strength—the Seal of Unlimited Courage!
Yep, Reyne's Soul Imprint was exactly the same as Karwenz's, in both name and power.
Logically speaking, this was supposed to be impossible. Soul Imprints were the accumulation of a person's experience and understanding and constituted the foundation for their future growth. It was impossible for entirely identical Soul Imprints to appear unless the two people had exactly the same lives, personalities, and souls.
Yet this theoretically impossible occurrence did indeed materialize, and something even more abnormal happened right afterward. After the effects of Great Judgement receded, Reyne's power level should have returned to normal, but the current Reyne did not only not return to the Gold rank, but her strength was actually increasing further.
"This definitely isn't an ordinary Legend's strength; perhaps not even divine warriors could be her opponents. Her battle experience and power level are perfect; I had never expected Princess Reyne to hide her power to such an extent!"
Many aspects went into a person's real combat power, such as experience, strength, combat wisdom, special abilities, and basic stats. An overall balance was exceedingly rare, yet not only were Reyne's basic stats growing at an astonishing rate but her combat experience and combat insticts—abilities that could only be accumulated over time—were also improving at a staggering speed.
"Oh, so continually swinging a sword like this must be the trick to becoming a Sword Saint. Identifying the location of the enemy's sight must be what Roland meant by anticipating the enemy's moves."
This type of growth had far surpassed the limits of human knowledge—it was as if Reyne's body already known all this to begin with and she had only forgotten it all. It seemed like her memories were re-awakening.
Amid the numerous cheers, Elisa was the only one feeling doubtful. Everyone believed Reyne to be showing off her true power, but Elisa naturally knew the level that Reyne's strength was supposed to be. Instantaneous growth to this extent was unexplainable.
"The Wolf King Sostilo was a wolf tribe warrior almost at the Saint rank. He's much more difficult to deal with than a dragon or a behemoth, especially on the ground, and even he was slain in a single blow."
Elisa already had her guess as to what was happening. She was hesitating whether or not to give this body up and kill the Reyne before her, to prevent Karwenz's malicious plot from coming to fruition.
Reyne suddenly turned towards Elsia as if she had noticed Elisa's thoughts. The killing intent in Reyne's eyes caused Elisa to tremble, while her dark yellow-colored eyes could only be explained by one thing.
"…This feeling—it must be the Demon Prince!"
The black wings were materializing, and the black demon was already laughing in midair as all his preparations had finally completed.
With the descent of Karwenz's will, Reyne's own consciousness became hazier and hazier. She felt like she wanted to just have some sleep.
"…I must protect this city! This place is critical to the safety of the entire Northlands… my body is getting hotter and hotter, but I feel like I'm becoming stronger. Right, I want more power, more…"
"You want power? Do you want enough power to overcome any dire situation? Would you like strength so powerful that it can destroy everything?"
Through the haziness, Reyne heard an intimate voice from the will residing deep in her bloodline. Even though she was half-unconscious, Reyne gave her reply.
"…Can I become stronger if I obtain power? Brother Roland always calls me an idiot. Maybe I don't have the talent to become strong."
"No, don't look down on yourself. The strength of your bloodline is that of the strongest. You have the ability to become even stronger. No, it should be said that you were born with the ability to stand on top of the world! As long as you sign a contract with me, you'll have the most powerful strength in the world!"
"…No, no, forget it. Brother Roland has said before that if anyone mentions signing a contract, I should directly refuse. I shouldn't listen to any advertisers' sales pitches as they're all a bunch of scammers that want to fool you into signing a contract. And I also think my current power level is enough…"
Even though her mind was already in a daze, her half-conscious reply caused Karwenz to be struck dumb. When he spoke up again, it was apparent that he was in a rush and was beginning to get angry and panic.
"As a descendant of the Mist, can't you have more of a backbone? With power, you can have everything! You can defeat those damned beastmen, you can protect your own people, you can become the hero of the world, you can control your own fate, you can have everything you want!"
"…Can I have Roland praise me? He always says I'm stupid, but Reyne isn't stupid at all."
Karwenz was stunned speechless again. His following statement was made out of helplessness.
"Yes, Roland will praise you. I promise."
"Okay, I'll sign the contract then."
With the agreement of her will, her bloodline transformed into the most robust connection of all, forming an indescribable link between the two souls. A tremendous will then descended upon this world.
"Oh my, it's so difficult to come here."
Reyne—no—"Karwenz" made his first comment as he returned.
There is no such thing as coincidence—there is only the inevitable. Many things that seemed like coincidence were actually "well-prepared" plans.
Looking exactly like an ancestor after countless generations of genetic inheritance? How could that possibly be a coincidence?
From the very start, Reyne didn't look like Roland but resembled Karwenz instead—that familiar figure was the result of the Abyssal Prince controlling his own bloodline from another plane. From the very start, Reyne was a vessel that Karwenz had prepared for himself!
From a certain standpoint, apart from the different gender, this body was genetically identical to the body that Karwenz had possessed when he was still a human. It was basically a magic clone, which was the best possible vessel for his soul.
"This body has grown to the Legend rank? This is much nicer than that Fismer's body."
The Abyssal Prince was far too strong, and even the descent of his will was capable of distorting the world. His previous descent had only been for a few short minutes, but it had utterly destroyed Fismer's body. If Karwenz wanted to control a physical body and roam around freely in this plane, the body needed to reach certain specifications.
"With this Soul Imprint, there's no need to worry about combat strength, nor is there any need to worry about this body over-exceeding its physical capabilities and collapsing."
Having Reyne reach Legend rank in strength and awaken the exact same Soul Imprint constituted the most critical part of Karwenz's preparations. The Seal of Unlimited Courage would vastly increase the growth potential of this body, to the point where it could truly host a strong will such as his own.
In a way, Roland's efforts actually created the path for Karwenz's descent.
Reyne would not have reached the Gold rank so quickly if it weren't for that system's speed-growth mode. She consequently would not have benefited from the Incantation of Law Great Judgement to such an extent, and she wouldn't have entered the Legend rank at this point and fulfilled the requirement for Karwenz's will to descend upon her.
Right now, the black mist around "Reyne" was swallowed up, and "she" stood back up as the space around her distorted.
When "she" opened her eyes, the entire world suddenly changed. The snow stopped, and countless clouds shrouded the clear moonlight. Thunder and lightning began lashing out from the skies, and the snow mountain in the distance started trembling. The fire on its mountaintop seemed to bear witness to its transformation into a volcano.
The hyperactive ground started trembling yet again with a new round of earthquakes. An untold number of birds and beasts escaped from their habitats—it was as if they were aware of the arrival of the apocalypse and that it would be difficult to escape with their lives.
Merely his existence could change the world. Even if this was only a vessel of will, it was power at the level of a True God.
At this moment, Karwenz pulled out his sword, lifted his head, and chuckled at the assassin coming at him from above.
"Roland, I said that we would meet each other really soon, but I bet you never thought it would be this soon."
The Roland Sacred Sword produced a lustrous arc in the air as the two silver swords viciously clashed against each other. The smiling "younger brother" provided a contrast to the naked older brother who started to shout angrily.
"Reyne, I told you not to believe the salesmen! Those combo deals are never good deals—they are just scams! See, now your voice is a man's, but your body is still a woman's—how disgusting! If you want to be a man, you can tell me; I have the secret medicine from the spring of a drowned man. It's painless, harmless, has no dangerous side effects, and will take effect in just one second!"
Okay, after hearing a response that he definitely did not expect, Karwenz's smiling face changed to one of confusion.
This is a Ranma ½ (Japanese manga series) reference, not an actual location. The water from the mystical spring of a drowned man can turn anyone into a man. In Ranma ½, the main character falls into the spring of a drowned girl and turns into a girl.
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Chapter 189: Brothers and Misunderstanding
It was as if time had left no traces on them at all and the wheel of fate had completed a full turn. After three hundred and seventy-seven years, on the very soil of their homeland, the two brothers had finally reunited.
Yet, unfortunately, I had no intention of being nostalgic about the past—my longsword clearly declared my intentions.
Before my silver Roland Sacred Sword could even approach him, however, Karwenz merely waved his hand, creating a terribly strong gust that blew me far away.
"There's such a great difference between us…"
Even though I had been expecting the disparity between us to be vast, being swatted away like a fly was still rather depressing.
Even if Karwenz's vessel was only at the Legend rank, that cheat-like Soul Imprint would limitlessly increase his power—it was too ridiculous; it allowed Karwenz to utilize power far surpassing that of his vessel. With his true power level—which was above a True God's—combined with an appropriate vessel, even a True God who risked death to descend to the mortal plane might not be enough to deal with him.
As for me, I had just reached the Silver rank—and this wasn't even mentioning the fact that I had used up a significant amount of Fate Points to speedily increase my power to deal with Emordilorcan. I still needed quite some time to improve my foundation.
"Roland, have you still not realized the truth? Strength is everything. The current you is just like you in the past—pathetically weak. If I had as much power as today as in the past, I would never have ended up like that."
Karwenz was obviously proud as he bragged about his power. His attitude was exactly as it was in the past.
"…You're so old already; stop acting so immature."
But even though I was unsatisfied, I still returned the Roland Sacred Sword to its sheath. As for why? I already knew that I wouldn't be able to defeat him. Besides, I had many questions I wanted to ask him, and according to my understanding of him, he would probably respond to anything I asked.
"Is it really that fun to destroy the Mist Kingdom with the help of outsiders?"
This was just a test question, but Karwenz shrugged with a visible expression of indifference.
"Who cares? It has nothing to do with me and nor did I cause it. Did you think that I was the one behind it all? You were wrong."
Although I was rather surprised to hear this, it was still to be expected. Moreover, Karwenz was always one who looked down on lying, so if he said he wasn't the one, then he was most likely telling the truth.
"The current two living royals of the Mist are both my descendants. For a demon, blood-related descendants are treasures that are difficult to come by. Perhaps my next backup vessel will have to come from them as well, so why would I kill them off? Honestly, without my interference, the East Mist Communal Country would have been destroyed several times over already."
"How's that possible?"
"Two years ago, when the East Mist Communal Country was on the verge of destruction with enemies already invading the capital, they were still able to counterattack from the brink of destruction. Did you really think that little Reyne could accomplish that by herself?"
Karwenz rolled his eyes with a condescending expression. It appeared that he was displeased with the recent descendants of the Mist.
I was speechless after hearing this. I knew that Karwenz was referring to the previous beastmen attack.
At that time, the previous king had been killed, and Reyne had somehow managed to display exceptional talent in commanding the army, chasing the beastmen for thousands of kilometers and winning the beautiful title of Princess Knight.
I asked the soldiers who had taken part back then. While the previous Reyne was indeed incredible, she had not personally fought in combat and had only deployed expert military strategic techniques coupled with an extraordinary anticipation of the enemy's moves to send the beastmen packing.
But, unfortunately, it seemed as though her genius was all used up as the her after that was only ordinary in performance.
Of course, I had also asked Reyne herself.
"Ah, how we won? I don't really know either. I felt like my head was really clear back then, and various demonic ideas came into my head one after the other, and I just followed the ideas and won. Brother Roland, am I really talented after all? I'm a genius, right?"
"Yes, you're really talented and a genius."
Back then, I could only woodenly nod my head in confusion.
Looking back on it now, though, the truth had been unknown to everyone. In reality, through his own bloodline, Karwenz had personally guided the Mist Army towards victory, giving Reyne the chance to become famous.
Of course, the Demon Prince wouldn't do something for nothing. He probably did it for the sake of his vessel that he was now using.
"Then… what about the beastmen this time?"
"They came south by themselves to steal back their homeland. In their eyes, it's only natural—it's the will of their ancestors. It, of course, has nothing to do with me."
"…the elves?"
"That has even less to do with me. You know that I'm allergic to those long-ears who speak in such feminine voices. They went seeking death on their own; whose fault is that?"
"…Lorci?"
"About that, wasn't that just a small joke that I played on you? You wrote a letter to have her betray us, so I also wrote her a letter to have her betray you to see if I could make her betray someone again. I didn't expect that female spider to lack so much honor. Sigh, I even lost a lot of money gambling on her. Damn it; I underestimated the lack of morals of those damned dark elves."
"…The Earth Elemental Dimensional Door?"
"I admit I told my subordinates to do that in order to accomplish at least a little work for my boss. It counts as one of my future preparations. But that doesn't have anything to do with the Mist Kingdom, and it didn't matter if it succeeded or not since just the revival of the Elemental Gods met the requirements of the will of the Chaos Abyss."
I was dumbstruck after listening to all this. Karwenz was so direct that he told me everything, but he was too direct—I didn't even know what to say anymore.
"Alright, it's so difficult for us brothers to meet up. How about finding a place for a drink?"
As he said so, "Karwenz," who was smiling rather strangely, gestured as if he was downing a cup, angering me even further. We were having so much difficulty fighting this war while this bastard was acting as if he was just playing a boring game, where it didn't matter if he won or lost as long as he had fun. This comparison naturally made me furious.
"Fine, I only have one more question I want to ask you… what's with all these descendants of yours in this plane? Just what plot do you have?"
"Plot? Isn't that underhanded tactic your favorite? If I want something, I'll just take it by force. The current Elemental Tide's density is insufficient, so let's just talk about the main topic later. I'll plant some seeds, and when they sprout, I can borrow a vessel to come have some fun in the mortal plane. Besides, how could these small fights before the main battle possibly have anything to do with me? I am a veteran of the Chaos Abyss; it's below me to interfere in such a low-level battle. Relax, for the time being, I have no interest in any of the countries here. The best-tasting wine should always be saved for last. Perhaps we'll fight in the end, but definitely not now."
Karwenz's words undoubtedly infuriated me. He really was treating this like a game. The Holy War had just begun, and the truly powerful existences were unable to descend to the mortal plane. So his words did have their own logic to them, but his attitude of not caring either way made me blow a fuse.
"As for those descendants of mine; isn't it normal? You're so old already, but you're still a virgin—isn't that a little strange for a guy? Ah, I shouldn't have said that—sorry, sorry, it wasn't on purpose!"
Karwenz chuckled strangely as he gave an obviously insincere apology. He really knew how to get on my nerves.
"What's with being a virgin man! If virgin girls are pure and beautiful, then why can't there be pure and kind virgin men? This is the ugliest form of sexual discrimination, this is completely unreasonable logic! I strongly request for equality between male and female virgins! There's no fundamental difference, but why is there such a huge contrast in treatment!"
If it weren't for the fact that I was trying my best to remain serious, perhaps I would already be raging. It's been so many years now, and I thought back to how we looked exactly the same back then. I had a higher position, and I was the more handsome one, but I still had a slightly worse luck with women… fine, fine, don't slap my face, I admit that my luck was much worse! But that doesn't mean that what he said—about an almost four-hundred-year-old virgin male being strange—was true!
Karwenz shrugged. He probably understood my fits of craziness better than anyone else, and he knew that ignoring me was best.
"If it weren't for my assistance, then that Charles brat wouldn't have been able to successfully build his country. From a certain standpoint, I worked even harder than you. Our descendants can take care of themselves, and I didn't intend to meddle in their lives. But providing a vessel that can help me descend and have fun in the mortal plane is a price and duty that they must pay."
Apart from the fact that Karwenz just wanted to have fun, if there truly was a plot of some sort, it probably involved harvesting the seeds that he already planted.
"What? What daydreams are you having there? Leave Reyne's body behind, and I won't care about anything else!"
I finally found an excuse to vent my displeasure as I lifted my sword again and blocked him.
Karwenz had all sorts of reasons that made it seem like he was completely disinterested in the current world. Yet how could I possibly let the Demon Prince just roam freely?
"What, do you think you can stop me?"
Karwenz curled his lip disdainfully. He had instantly discerned my actual power level. I doubt I would be able to harm him even if he stood still and allowed me to hack at him.
"What about if you add me?"
Elisa's voice rang out from behind us. A flame dragon was twisting itself around the right arm of the Flame Sea Marchioness, while her left was covered by a patch of frost. Elisa had already partially unsealed herself when Roland had appeared and was now ready to go all out at any time.
"Marchioness Elisa? Hey, hey, don't be so serious, I really am here just for sightseeing. If you use your full force, my vessel won't be able to take the blow, and I'll have to return to the Chaos Abyss. But then it will be the end of the descendants of the Mist."
"Relax, if there are no more descendants of the Mist, then I'll do my best to give birth to a few more. My ideal family consists of one son and two daughters. My dear Roland, do you think three children are enough? If not, I can consider giving birth to a few more."
Elisa continued to unseal herself as she smiled ever so sweetly while saying such seductive words. One of her eyes was a red ruby gem while her other had transformed into a deep blue icy sapphire. Right now, she had almost completely unsealed herself, and Elisa was prepared to use a single attack to annihilate everything.
In her mind, the Demon Prince Karwenz was far too dangerous a threat to Roland. In that case, even if she destroyed her own physical body, she would give it her all and take Karwenz back to the Chaos Abyss together with her!
But I blocked her from doing so. I had a better option available to me.
"Do you see this sword? Do you know its use? If you know it, then be obedient, toss down your weapon, and surrender!"
"Heroic spirit summoning? It's limited only to Mist royalty, but even if you summon the first Mist King, I won't be afraid—wait, do you intend to summon who I think you are?"
When mentioning that king, even Karwenz, who wasn't afraid of anything or anyone, began to show signs of panic.
"Yep, I intend to summon that ancient king from four hundred years ago! He's definitely the only one who can counter you! In front of his grand power, even you, Karwenz, will be nothing more than a weak child!"
"He's also your counter! Stop it already; this is a battle with no winners! The result will be a loss for both of us!"
"Hmph, so what if I lose together with you? It's fine as long as you don't have it easy! Winners in life should die, popular men should all die! Summoning the king!"
A formless wheel began spinning in midair, and even though it was clearly supposed to be a random summoning of a heroic spirit, I could somehow sense that the king who would answer the summons to come here would definitely be a certain person.
"The descendant of the Mist, Bartholod, may perhaps not be the strongest of all the kings, and his military prowess and combat strategy may only be considered average, but Karwenz, he's definitely your greatest weakness, because…"
"I'm your father."
Yep, the middle-aged bearded man wearing the black cape was our father and the only person who could possibly rein Karwenz in.
"Karwenz! What are you doing? Why do you have a bosom and curves now—are you supposed to be male or female?"
Karwenz wore a dazed expression. This was such a familiar reaction, I suppose; it was to be expected of father and son. From the very start, they would never use their sharp observational skills to focus on the correct, important things.
Yet even as I was snickering, I became the next victim.
"Roland, where's your clothing? Since when did you start strutting around naked? How many times have I said so—as royalty, proper etiquette is more important than anything! Just look at you—you've even tattooed yourself! What's with those strange markings on your body?"
At this moment, I finally recalled that I was still naked—no wonder my lower half had felt so cold when the chilly wind had blown past!
"Roland, I told you this wouldn't be good for either of us! When this old guy begins lecturing, he won't stop for at least two hours!"
"Hmph, so what? It's fine with me."
Alright, to be honest, I was having a headache as well from listening to his nostalgic rants. But what else could I do apart from tolerating it?
The next moment, however, Karwenz vanished in a puff of smoke. Without a doubt, he had escaped.
"Honestly, it isn't fun at all anymore with that old guy coming out. I'm going to fulfill the terms of my contract with Reyne first before coming back to visit you to reminisce about the good old times."
I had shot myself in the foot yet again; I was forced to face my old father's angry ranting by myself… but from a certain perspective, my "strategy" had worked, since Karwenz had retreated in the face of our father.
Right now, on the Borealis' magic map, the symbol that represented Reyne could be seen rushing out of the city.
"Oh my, you want Roland to praise you? Just how much do I have to do to obtain his praise and fulfill this contract? What a troublesome junior!"
A woman who holds the rank of a marquess is called a marchioness .
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Chapter 190: Tassel
"The strong prey on the weak, and only the strong survive."
The main difference, perhaps, between the Order Goddess Astrya and the Chaos Goddess Cynthia was whether they agreed with this quote.
Astrya believed that personal strength was not the most important and that the weak and the strong could live together under the laws of the Gods. She believed that they would complement each other's weaknesses—this was her notion of a perfect society. Cynthia, however, believed in the competition between mortals for survival with only the strongest living on. Her notion of a perfect world was one where the best resources were provided to the mortals with the greatest potential.
The root of their enmity was this difference in their ideals, which had also made them develop their creations very differently.
The human society was an example for the side of Order. Most humans didn't have significant differences between themselves, and very few could survive without relying on society. Even the king would be unable to live without the farmer, and it was possible, perhaps, that if they actually competed in terms of strength alone, then the king, who was so widely venerated by the people, might not be able to defeat the farmer who wielded a hoe.
Humans, however, couldn't be considered the best representation of true Order—that label was given to the angels, the creatures of the top level of Order.
Their future jobs were decided from their births, and for all their lives, they would progress on predetermined paths as they continued to work for the benefit of angel society. While such a community may seem perfect, it lacked flexibility. Without questions about the future, there would be a lack of expectancy and anticipation, and even the unemotional angels had quite a few problems; otherwise, there wouldn't be existences in the lower planes that were known as the fallen angels.
The side of Chaos was completely opposite. Demons slew and devoured each other, and low-ranked demons followed the strict rule of the jungle—as long as they were powerful enough, they would receive a higher position. Everyone was always trying to climb up the ladder, and even though the bosses were not always considered to be smart, they were definitely strong.
"Weaklings should go die—the strong deserve everything. If I don't have a good life, that's because I'm not strong enough yet. It's fine as long as I'm happy; who cares about anything else."
It was possible that this was all that ran through most demons' heads. It was also why other intelligent species often ridiculed the demons as idiotic "muscleheads," but this wasn't quite the truth.
High-ranked demons typically had at least two centuries of memories, and their accumulated experience gave them plenty of knowledge; in fact, they weren't dumb at all, but they were just too lazy to use their brains. After all, they only ever needed to show brute force, and very few species were better than them at this.
"Idiot! Perhaps I can't beat you in a debate, but I can just kill you."
Whenever a person tried to use reason and logic with a demon, those demons would merely deal with it in their own way. It was likely that you would be dead and no longer able to debate them afterward.
From a certain standpoint, the always immature Karwenz was quite compatible with the side of Chaos.
Becoming fallen and demonized wasn't akin to brainwashing, so Karwenz still pretty much possessed the same personality of back then.
It was likely that he would only help his own descendants to create a country on a whim, and even the Mist Kingdom's destruction would completely follow the maxim of "only the strong surviving" that he believed in. He would probably only shrug and utter "how regrettable" before instantly forgetting about it.
As for him taking over Reyne's mind and defeating the beastmen two years ago, that was likely only because of the upcoming Holy War and because he needed to protect Reyne's body for his upcoming descent to the mortal plane.
For him to be able to take over Reyne's body now, it was probably just like he said—"the seed has sprouted," and Reyne's body could now host his will. He only came to see the sights.
I relaxed somewhat after figuring this out. After all, a person with the power level of a True God just idly roaming about would have far too much effect on the battlefield.
As long as Karwenz still cared even a little bit about our old ties, he wouldn't, at least, stand directly against us, and the old man's appearance would tie him down even more. After all, as long as he hadn't been brainwashed and controlled, not every prince was crazy enough to kill their father and destroy their own country.
In most cases, no matter how rebellious the child—even if, of course, that said child's abilities were already on par with that of a True God—he would still be instinctively afraid of his strict father from his childhood.
"Roland! Are you even listening to me? What were you even thinking going out like this? You are shaming all our ancestors! Your etiquette as a knight and royalty has all been wasted. You're also clearly the older brother; didn't I tell you to teach your younger brother well? Just how have you been teaching him? Karwenz didn't even discuss his gender change with you—why didn't you try to stop him…"
Fine then. Since Karwenz didn't care at all about leaving me behind as he escaped, the raging old man could only vent entirely at me. This lecturing that I hadn't received for over three hundred years made me feel nostalgic, yet it also made me be at a loss for how to react.
"Damn it, when the old man starts lecturing he won't listen to any explanations at all. That bastard Karwenz left me to suffer here alone!"
At the same moment that Roland was having fun while immersed in his father's "love," "Reyne" had exited the city and was considering how to fulfill the contract.
"So, what am I going to have to do to make Roland praise me?"
In a way, these vague contracts were the hardest to fulfill.
As a demon, Karwenz could easily break the terms of the contract. Countless souls had already lost everything after making deals with the lower planes, but he didn't feel it right, as Reyne's ancestor, to lie to his own descendant. Besides, Karwenz intended to stay in this body for an extended period of time, and having a good relationship with the host was quite necessary for him.
"Okay, I'll just slightly put in some effort and treat it as the rental fee for this body. I've decided that it's going to be you, Lorci! Heh, heh, this is my main task as well, to deal with those ignorant idiots. But even if I don't say it, Roland should have guessed it already."
In a way, time had left its mark on Karwenz as well. In the past, at least, Karwenz definitely wasn't as intelligent as he was now.
He didn't actually lie; he did come to the mortal plane to have a look around, but he didn't tell the complete truth either. He would accomplish some small tasks while having fun as well.
True Gods had to follow the rules of True Gods as well, such as not directly participating in mortals' battles, which had to do with this world not being able to withstand the power of the True Gods. It was to avoid the True Gods from simply destroying everything with their power, and during the Holy War, the True Gods intervening too early or even personally descending would cause the war to escalate in scale and go out of control.
In a way, if it weren't for the participation of the Earth Elemental God Emordilorcan, Lorci wouldn't have conducted her future ambush, nor would there have been the quick death of a True God. Without a doubt, that Forest God Clareladin and the Spider Queen Lorci both obviously broke the rules.
It was as if two kindergarteners were having a fight and the one who lost asked his older brother in elementary school for help. This caused the other side to be on the losing end, so that side invited his cousin in middle school, which was followed by both sides continually inviting more people to participate in the battle. The level of the sides would constantly be raised, and it would result in the two families becoming mortal enemies.
"Perhaps the final battle will come later, but it definitely won't be now. Disobedient children should be spanked."
The only way to stop this vicious cycle would be if a parent from either family discovered that their children were being unreasonable and misbehaving and decided to teach their children a lesson with a good spanking.
And the current Karwenz was the parent delivering the spanking. At least on the surface, Lorci was still on the side of Chaos, so the spanking should be administered by them rather than the Order side.
"Oh my, it seems that she's really quite angry. It looks like slapping her one time won't be enough."
If Lorci's betrayal was not quickly dealt with, there would, perhaps, be another traitor very soon. And her double-crossing not only did not gain her the forgiveness of the will of the Chaos Abyss, but it also made the Order side furious and abandon all thoughts of protecting her.
"There's plenty of fence-sitters and traitors, but a double traitor—especially at the very beginning of the war—is unprecedented. Lorci, do you really think the main Gods on both sides are blind or all dead? You attracted too much attention too early, so too bad for you. Originally, that foolish Elf God who had decided on his own to descend to the mortal plane had committed a greater crime than you, but it's too bad that he's dead already. I can only use you as an example for the rest."
Of course, Lorci was doubtlessly the current greatest threat to the Northlands and the Mist Kingdom, and it was unknown if there were any personal grudges or benefits involved in this official task that Karwenz was about to carry out.
A meteor streaked across the sky, and when this meteor crashed into the ground, the Spider Queen Goddess who was trying her best to obtain the position of the Guardian God of the Northlands from Wumianzhe was destined to meet misfortune.
"Oh, right; it's so rare that I get to come here, and I have plenty of time, so let's find a place to have some fun first. I'm already tired of playing with succubi and female half-demons, so why don't I find some new fun while I'm here? With those beautiful and slender female elves as well as the sturdy and cute half-blood female beastmen… beauties, wait for me, this old guy is coming! Cough, I made a mistake, let me try again… beauties, this lady is coming for you!"
Cough, perhaps Lorci would still be able to act as she pleased for some time before Karwenz decided to get to his main task at hand.
By the way, after a particular series of incidents, a certain princess's rumor of being a lesbian was destined to become circulated around by everyone.
...
After night descended, the beasts in the pitch-black darkness began their final evening feast. This land had already bled enough, and this battle was nearing its end.
In the snowy Northlands, even though the ground was covered with snow, there was a strange team proceeding through the ice.
Although they were all elves, they were separated into two separate processions. The dark elves walking behind were in high spirits, while the gray elves walking in front wore depressed expressions.
Grayblood elves—this was the name of this new species of gray elves. These roughly thirty thousand gray elves had blank expressions as they trudged onwards—it was as if they were daydreaming zombies.
They followed their King Adrian to work under a new master, and that master had unhesitatingly sent them right out to fight against the current masters of the Northlands.
"Are we going to have to fight the humans to the death?"
They had returned to their starting point after going a full circle. But to use Amon's words: "You were allies equal to us in the past, but now you're nothing more than dogs."
If Lorci could be said to have lost the trust of both major sides due to her two consecutive betrayals, then these gray elves could be said to not even know how many times they had betrayed others by now.
Betraying their human allies and the side of Order? Yes, they did that at the very start.
Betraying the expectations of the Elven Gods? Well, that occurred when they had abandoned the northern battlefield and had hurriedly returned to their homeland.
Betraying the elves of the entire Northlands? Their gray-black skin color was the best evidence. They could still remember the looks of shock and immense hatred of the Northland's elves when they had suddenly betrayed them and changed sides on the battlefield.
And they had now betrayed their own species yet again despite the fact that they were on the brink of a disaster, in order to participate in an utterly meaningless battle whose results didn't even matter to their race. That was the reason for their fatigued expressions and why they were visibly tormented by guilt and pain with every step.
It was no wonder they were so exhausted. A warrior who had lost his conviction and desire to protect was no different from a zombie!
Suddenly, amidst the desolate silence, dozens of voices rose in a blending of song. They were singing what would be sung at the year-end celebrations in the Tassel Kingdom and signified the end of the year and the gathering of their tribe.
"Dajh da jd, ka su odd as da…"
[Our distant relatives, where did you go, we miss you here in the homeland…]
"Fre de ld, kad…"
[Are the ancient trees at home still verdant green, that familiar spring lake always reminds me of my childhood, the sky was so blue…]
Back then, there had been continuous internal conflicts among the elves, and the legendary moon elf bard Tassel had wandered the continent in order to find a place where her tribe could live.
After experiencing countless difficulties, Tassel finally settled on a piece of land in the north, where she signed a contract with the Forest Guardian God Clareladin before joyously beginning her trip to return home.
Unfortunately, the return trip was just too long, and Tassel, who was so worn out from her travels, died before she was able to return to her previous homeland.
Luckily, her message was brought back to her tribe by her messenger pigeons, and her tribe completed the promise she had made, transforming that northern mountain into an elf paradise.
Later generations of elves used the songs that she used to sing and created this classical song about the longing for one's homeland.
And in recent years, at every year-end celebration, it would be the princess who would perform this song for everyone as a celebration of their now pleasant lives compared to the difficulties of the past.
"Dda jd ad! Dal dada aty…"
[My relatives, I finally found a dreamland for us, our new home is in the north…]
And now, as that familiar, nostalgic song echoed throughout the mountains, the grayblood elves felt more pain than ever before.
The last time they had listened to this song, they had been celebrating with their relatives and friends, but after all the recent events, there was no one who hadn't lost a loved one.
"That song—it's the same voice! Impossible!"
As the gray elves' choking turned into crying, someone among them noticed that this familiar song was being sung by a familiar voice—a voice that belonged to someone who should have been dead!
"Her Highness Suana! Ah! No, this is impossible!"
A sharp-eyed scout had already discovered the truth. A solitary figure could be seen singing in the mountains, and judging by her translucent body, she was probably a banshee like in the stories.
The gray elves' faces turned pale as they faced the indisputable truth before them. They all came to a realization at the same time.
"Kill her!"
As the gray elves were still in shock and in tears, the dark elf general's angry roar woke them all up. His order was carried out by countless dark elves' magical arrows, which were about to destroy that lonely figure in a storm of arrows.
"N—no!"
Some gray elves were no longer able to hold themselves back and started fighting with the dark elves; they were doing their utmost to halt those life-threatening enchanted silver arrows.
Yet it was too late. The expert archers within the dark elf troops had already heartlessly released a storm of arrow fire, and it appeared as if the newly-born banshee before them would die again immediately when a miraculous sight suddenly occurred.
A flaming phoenix flew through the sky burning all the arrows to dust and blocking the several magic spells aimed at her. And when the phoenix landed on the ground, it transformed into a female warrior wielding a flaming divine sword.
Numerous figures instantly appeared behind the cliff. The familiar military squadron was obviously an elite squad from the Underground.
"Um, I didn't plant this tree or cultivate this mountain, but if you want to pass by, even paying a toll wouldn't be enough to make me allow you all to pass."
The red-haired girl spoke some confusing words, but not a single dark elf dared to speak up against her. After all, she was the famous figure who was the most likely person to rule over the entire Underground—Phoenix Annie Layde!
And the other familiar voice caused the gray elves to tremble in fear. Perhaps a shocking tragedy was about to be exposed to the world.
"My fellow tribe members, you were all fooled; my death and the sudden declaration of battle was all an underhanded plot by evil, ambitious individuals…"
According to Wikipedia, a succubus (plural succubi) is a Lilin-demon in female form or supernatural entity in folklore (traced back to medieval legend) that appears in dreams and takes the form of a woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual activity.
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Chapter 191: Frigid Winter
Even the longest and darkest of nights would end, and no matter how cold the winter was, there would always be the spring, where life would be restored.
Yet sometimes, the morning following a long, dark night would bring not hope but despair. A snow-covered world wasn't always as beautiful as it sounded—it instead made the frozen corpses even more frightening to behold.
When the first rays of dawn burst through the skies, the people who had been fighting through the entire, difficult night noticed that it had finally reached a conclusion. The few that who had survived to witness the dawn were definitely lucky enough to be called "favored by fate."
With the beastmen army not caring about sacrifices and insanely sending more reinforcements, the inner city district had already been lost, and all of the defending human armies had retreated to the final third defense line, which consisted of temporary defensive structures crafted from sandbags and earthen walls. It was also the last lifeline of this city.
The catapults outside the city had already stopped firing. In front of such a long distance, the catapults wouldn't be able to maintain their accuracy, and the restoration of the light and the halting of the snow caused the beastmen's air cavalry to fly into the blue sky once more.
It seemed that the beastmen had their victory in the bag, but the current Beastmen King Amon Bloodaxe didn't have any joy at being on the edge of victory. His face, instead, was incredibly fatigued.
"…We've lost over seventy percent of our warriors, and countless are seriously injured. Only two of the major tribe leaders have returned, and they're both gravely injured as well. Among the others, Hamar lost his life in the previous castle siege, and now, Fox King Wen, Wolf King Sostilo, and Bear King Londe have all died in battle. Kagra has disappeared, most likely also…"
Each wave of bad news increased the burden on Amon, but nobody could blame him—the stump of his severed arm, which had been cut off right at the shoulder, was still bleeding. Amon was severely injured from having lost an arm.
As the leader of all the other tribe leaders, he didn't avoid the battlefield. The reason that he was able to survive, apart from his outstanding personal combat capabilities, was more reliant on luck.
No matter what generation it was, cruel guerilla warfare battles in cities were the most fatal and dangerous of all. Legend-rank warriors could die at any moment in such chaotic battles, and a single sudden surprise arrow or flying rock could kill off a Saint-ranked mage. The pitch-black night and the pounding snow all over added to the chaos and increased the likelihood of such events occurring.
"We finally made it to morning."
Amon's sigh caused all the survivors to nod in agreement. During the battle of last night, the unlucky had died before even knowing what happened while the slightly luckier had at least seen their opponents before dying under their swords.
The sly and clever Fox Tribe Leader Wen was the classic example of an unlucky person. He had been killed by a stray catapult shot from his own side, and two of his personal bodyguards had died along with him, creating a scene that was simply unbearable to look at.
Yet actually, without them realizing it, the beastmen, who had lost themselves in the fervor of battle, had broken one of the most critical maxims of castle sieges—to never force your opponent to the brink of no retreat.
Surrounding the enemy on three sides and leaving one side open as a path of escape was a tactic in this world as well. Giving the opponent a chance to escape would also mean that your own armies wouldn't be forced to the brink. Fighting against people who had given up was undesirable, as they would furiously fight to their deaths or at least take you down with them.
On that night, the blizzard and the surrounding beastmen had blocked off all avenues of escape, giving the humans nowhere to retreat. And when they had no chance of escaping with their lives, even a cornered mouse could defeat a cat—so how could those trained military soldiers possibly allow themselves to die worthlessly without fighting back?
"If we can't escape death in the end, then we have to at least die like warriors; we must take an enemy with us as we die!"
The allied human armies, who were forced to the edge, exploded with incredible combat potential as their fear of the falling of the castle walls transformed into hatred for their mortal enemies. Their spirits, which didn't fear dying together with their enemies, coupled with the terrain advantage of the city finally started changing the rate of losses on both sides, making the beastmen suffer significant casualties.
Amelia's flower garden of death named Humility was the rear support; it acted as a death trap again and again, and the sudden ambushes from human warriors within the houses succeeded in killing many beastmen. What happened to the Bear King Londe wasn't the first example, nor was it the last.
But the beastmen's rear support had already stopped arriving. When the night turned pitch-black and the combat situation became chaotic, their roughshod siege weapons turned into massive killing machines that wouldn't separate friend from foe. No matter in any generation, dying via friendly fire was one of the most unacceptable methods of death to anyone.
Large-scale hexes and combat magic? If they tried using these in a situation where they couldn't even see ten meters in front of them, then there was a fifty percent chance that they would kill their own armies.
And the most fatal was all was that life-stealing winter chill which imperceptibly crept up on them. In this damned weather where any drop of water would freeze instantly, any cut in their anti-cold weather clothing was fatal, and this wasn't even mentioning any injuries.
The freezing cold numbed the warriors' sense of pain, and although those easily unnoticed small injuries wouldn't become infected in the freezing cold, losing blood and energy because of those tiny injuries would end up being the most fatal of all. There were far too many beastmen who didn't notice their own injuries and ended up collapsing and dying due to them.
When the beastmen forced the northern human allied armies to the brink, the beastmen also thrust themselves to the edge. The long, long lists of the deceased were shocking to look at— every family had lost some members with the serious amounts of injuries and deaths, and probably over seventy percent of the tribes would need to undergo restructuring after the war.
Even their current losses were enough for the beastmen to have basically lost in their goal of returning to their original homeland. Even if they won in the end, they would need several generations to rest and recover.
But if Amon and the other beastmen were given a choice right now, even if they knew about the unacceptable number of losses beforehand, they would probably still make the same decision.
"Victory is before us! Defeat them, and we shall be the new masters of the Northlands!"
With what they viewed as victory right before them, how could the beastmen possibly give up?
But their current goal of becoming the masters of the Northlands would have been laughed at as lacking willpower and courage three months ago. After all, back then, the beastmen had fully been intending to conquer all the way back to their homeland and take the war to San Antonio.
Without them realizing it, the cruel reality had woken the beastmen up, and their current combat goal was only to conquer the entire Northlands.
The current beastmen no longer had the willpower to say that they could conquer all the human countries. Only the poor-seeming northern countries and San Antonio's reinforcements had forced them to such a degree—this caused them to lose the courage to fight against the human mega-empires.
Of course, there was still some misunderstanding here. After this battle, perhaps each country would have to re-evaluate the Northlands' combat strength, especially the astonishing performance of the East Mist Communal Country in this war. Perhaps even military analysts with the highest standards would no longer dare to call the East Mist Communal Country a weak country.
Princess Knight Reyne, the new generation of magic swordsmen and the Four Elemental Swordcasters, the large self-destructing Roland Titan mechas, the floating airship Borealis, and the cleaner of the battlefield known as Train King—all these new concepts and technologies would definitely help the Mist Kingdom rise to its former status in the Northlands.
Military might also represented diplomatic power. After their solid performance in this war, Roland's Alliance of the Mist was also pushed one step to actualization.
And on another level, when the news about the veteran Earth Elemental God Emordilorcan being killed off in his own home turf started spreading, this familiar name of Roland Mist started drawing attention after remaining unnoticed for several hundred years.
Of course, they had to first get past this obstacle before them.
"The beastmen are coming again, aren't they…"
I could see my own breath in the chilly air as I casually swung my Sacred Sword around to flick off the blood drops from it. This indestructible sword could basically clean itself.
For the northern allied armies that had been struggling all night, the sky's lightning and the snow stopping were both bad news. This would mean that the beastmen could reorganize themselves again, and those damned air cavalry and siege weapons would be usable. While the humans might be able to have a temporary reprieve, the beastmen would surely come again with a destructive force for a final battle.
The movable medium-sized catapults were slowly pushed into the city, as the bloodied elite beastmen soldiers that had survived over a hundred battles treated their own injuries and watched their surroundings with a high degree of vigilance. Even the wind blowing some old tattered curtains would cause these veteran soldiers that had survived the bloody knight to chuck their spears.
And right now, the allied armies' general commander "Black Bear" Anslo was right behind me, or perhaps I should say he was lying on the ground not far behind me.
Beastmen knew more than just to rush in head-on, but the Cat Tribe's assassins had found the general command center and had ambushed Anslo. Even though he received assistance in time and managed to luckily survive, the one-eyed general had become completely blind. After receiving three stabs to the right side of his stomach, he was seriously injured to the extent that he was no longer even able to stand.
But luckily for him, he no longer needed to give any particular commands. The only thing he needed to do was shout a single word with all his might.
"Defend!"
"Defend! We have no path of retreat! If you want to live, the only way is to kill all these barbaric beasts!"
"Defend! There's only injured soldiers, the elderly, the widows, and the young behind us!"
"Defend! If we lose this battle, our country isn't even prepared for war—they'll lose their territory! Our families will also get involved in this endless warfare."
Yep, defend. With the battle proceeding to this point, no tactics or arrangements of any kind were necessary any longer; resolute willpower was all that was needed.
"Defend!"
If a street block was lost? The next street block was already prepared with a new defense line.
A temporary defense wall was knocked over? The next wall had already been constructed.
A squad was slaughtered, and there was an opening in their defense line? The elderly and women that had been ordinary citizens just a moment ago picked up the weapons laying on the ground and filled the gap without saying a word.
"Perhaps it's the end of humanity and we will be defeated, but you barbaric beasts! You want to conquer this city and have a path to every northern country? You'll have to wring every last drop of blood out of each warrior in this city first."
The young humans with tense expressions didn't say much, but they used their actions instead to tell those proud and arrogant beastmen just what the northerners and the People of the Mist were like.
"The frigid winter is here, but us northerners have long been used to such winters! Even the coldest winter isn't that difficult for us. Just tolerate it for a little while, hug each other for warmth, and play with our doggies—won't spring come right after?"
Even though he was now blind, Anslo was making dirty jokes as always. The "doggies" in his joke earlier was actually referring to something perverted, and judging by the loud guffaws coming from the warriors, everyone understood what he meant.
When the sun finally rose slightly, the arriving sounds of footsteps and catapult wheels seemed to proclaim that the final battle was coming.
At this moment, even I had nothing else I could do. I had used every one of my cards. Antuen was too far from here to be of any help, I had used Annie's squad to block those dark elves, I couldn't control Xiluo's forces to begin with, and I had used all of my newly developed war weapons. I had no more moves I could make.
"That damned Emordilorcan! If it wasn't for him…"
Emordilorcan's final attack had indeed hit us in our weak spot. If Red Maple Castle fell, then there would be nothing I could do.
"Sigh, if only the battle could take ten extra days…"
But there were no ifs on the battlefield. Innumerable famous generals had met their demise in the past due to "what ifs," as accidents and misfortunes were the favored companions of failure. There was only a small difference between who went to heaven and hell.
I supported myself against the Roland Sacred Sword and stood up again. Ever since "Reyne" had left us unexpectedly, I had temporarily taken over her mid-level commanding position, but by now, I had already used up both the remaining summons of my Sacred Sword for today but still couldn't overturn the situation.
"My Diligence and Temperance have both died; those damned moon elves! Only they can have such a disgusting control over nature!"
The green-haired witch wasn't doing all that good either. She had used up all her mana in this battle, and two of her treasured Seven Virtues (well, she had only created three up to now) had died in battle, leaving only Humility alive. It seemed that she was at her limits as well.
Moon elves were the priest-type tribe of the Elf Kingdom to begin with, and they excelled at communicating with the Gods and even True Gods, borrowing their powers to use various high-level Divine Arts.
And since the moon elves' original Guardian God was the Forest God, the nature priests who had used the Forest God's divine magic for thousands of years naturally excelled in planting and controlling forests. It was only to be expected that eradicating unnatural plants was in the nature of their job.
That was why Amelia had met her natural counter against a nature priest like Adrian and suffered greatly.
"Senior Amelia…"
Her typically neat hair was now messy, and her eyes were filled with bloody red streaks. The witch who hadn't slept all night was now even scarier-looking than before.
"If the beastmen come up here again, go ahead and leave. I don't believe that you have no way to escape."
"I can leave any time I want, of course, but what about you? Don't tell me you intend to be like a certain idiot knight and die together with the city?"
"Me? I'm the indestructible Roland; how could I possibly die here?"
"Hmph, I'm the 'super willful witch of tempest emotions.' How could I possibly listen to your orders? I'm really feeling like giving it my all against those barbaric beasts today."
"Heh heh, you think that I'm garbage without my summoned pets? I shall allow you to witness the greatness of a melee combat grandpa mage like me!"
From this angle, Amelia with her sleeves rolled up really did seem like that hot-headed senior from long ago, but I shook my head and decided not to say anything.
"Elisa?"
"Harloys has finished her preparations, but she told me to tell you to not use it unless you absolutely have to, or else all your efforts will have been wasted."
I did prepare one final trump card. The only magic I had which could overturn the situation from the utter edge was the highest-level forbidden undead magic spell—Undead Calamity!
But if I used this mega-forbidden spell that every country on the continent had banned, all the corpses around here would transform into brainless low-level undead, which would be something completely different from when I had summoned the dead previously. Back then, the ones that answered my summons were those who were unwilling to remain silent in death, but the ones under the control of Undead Calamity would forever become brainless, bloodthirsty undead.
This was a forceful and eternal servitude that was utterly disrespectful to all warriors. Perhaps all the warriors on my side would instantly change their attitudes towards me and attack me as an evil necromancer.
The moment I used this spell, then the saying that "undead doesn't equal evil" would no longer apply to me, and perhaps my Mist Alliance plan would go kaput, and the East Mist Communal Country would then be viewed as a new hub of evil and will be isolated diplomatically.
At that time, even if we won the war, we would have lost more than we gained.
"Anything is better than completely being destroyed; if all these people die here, then there truly will be no more hope."
Hearing these words from me, Elisa merely adjusted her eyeglasses without saying anything, but judging from her downcast expression, she seemed rather displeased and spiritless.
"What's the matter?"
"Why aren't you asking me if I can escape or not? Why aren't you trying to convince me to leave?"
Okay, Elisa, who was pouting as she complained, was actually rather cute. Of course, she didn't want to escape by herself; she was merely complaining about not receiving any attention or care. At the very least, Roland was still Elisa's boyfriend in name.
I shook my head. According to my understanding of Elisa, I wouldn't have to waste time telling her about such things.
"Why are you asking? Didn't you tell me that you would follow me whether it be to the River Styx or to hell? What, are you regretting it?"
Just as I finished speaking, it was as if dark storm clouds had suddenly cleared as she smiled ever so sweetly.
"Of course not; I'll never regret it. Then, let us fight alongside each other to the death. I'll pick your corpse up from the River Styx."
The abnormal conversation sounded somewhat illogical, but it may actually happen. Perhaps the emotional relationship between the undead was just that strange after all.
Seeing her emotions turn sunny again, I secretly wiped my sweat.
But looking at how Amelia was evidently unhappy and feeling Elisa's eyes staring at my back, I suddenly realized that perhaps my luck with women was finally changing. Was I really starting to become a winner in life? But… why was it that I only started getting luckier when I was almost about to die? Was I the type of person who was fated to shout, "After this battle, I'm going to get married in my hometown" and then die right away?
Hey, hey, hey, I don't want beautiful women to only confess at my funeral as they cried and admitted that they liked me…
But the familiar footsteps from not far away interrupted my thoughts. The final battle was upon us.
The most surprising part was that the person leading the way wasn't a beastman; it was, instead, a familiar figure. That long, slender physique and light footsteps could only belong to an elf.
"Adrian!"
Yes, even though he transformed into a grayblood elf, even though the years had left their mark on his body, I would never forget his familiar face. After all, back then, this arrogant elf species lover who would never admit he was wrong was one of the ones who had given me the final blow.
But at this moment, this cheap brother of mine didn't seem so well, as two ax-wielding beastmen were holding on to him. Adrian kept muttering to himself as if he intended to do something.
"Convince us to surrender? Is that even worth their time?"
This guess seemed reasonable, but there could only be one master of the Northlands, and the grudge between us now ran so deep that it could only be washed away by fresh blood. Trying to convince us to surrender was impossible from the very start.
But I shouted out in shock when I read the beastmen's lips and noticed what Adrian was trying to do.
"Hurry; kill him!"
Yet in the sky, a dark, divine light was already descending as the forbidden ritual finished its final phase.
Those beastmen had said, "It's time to prove your worth, elf."
And Adrian had only said two words in response.
"God's Descent!"
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Chapter 192: God's Descent
What is a God? There was no way to actually answer this question since this colorful world contained too many existences known as Gods that really did reach the level of Gods in the eyes of people; however, in actual fact, Gods consisted of many varying levels.
The Elemental Gods, the True Gods of Order, the Evil Gods of Chaos, the Original Gods, and the others—they had all created their own organizations, and everything about their abilities and personalities was different. Not a single person could give an exact definition of a God, and even the veteran demons in the Chaos Abyss were able to become Gods, recruit believers, and bestow divine powers upon their followers.
And, to tell the truth, there were quite a few major demons that did this, and their believers usually hid in the shadows. Those dangerous demon worshipers were usually at the top of the most wanted lists.
As a matter of fact, there was actually more information on the Order Gods, the victors of the previous Holy War.
From a certain standpoint, since Lorci was an exiled Order God, she was still similar to a True God of Order as she had her own Divine Country and teachings, and she even protected the dark elf species.
In order to understand these undying existences, one would first need to understand the differences between the True Gods of Order and the other Gods. Most True Gods of Order had a direct connection with a particular Divine Task, and their existences were representations of certain Concepts.
First, Gods should never be treated as individuals. Yet while they were indeed high above mortals and would never naturally die, they had quite a few limitations as well.
They were on a divine plane, but their main bodies were also trapped in the divine plane. They combined with their Divine Tasks and Concepts and became incredibly powerful, but, because of this, they were partially assimilated by the Concepts and had lost their senses of self.
The side of Order was orderly, after all, and their God system was like a tree with many branches and leaves, with all the Gods being a part of the overall tree, and each Divine Obligation and God had various connections with each other.
Low Gods, Middle Gods, High Gods, Main Gods—this was only a rough separation of their ranks, but in a way, it was indeed the current situation of this world tree.
If each Main God were said to be at the top of the divine tree, then the strongest Gods would be the tree's branches, and the countless souls and their worship that could be seen down the ladder constituted the source of nutrition supporting this tree.
From a certain perspective, Lorci was still the same Elf Order God from before; she was creating her own world tree so that she could become an actual Main God of the elves, and her first step in accomplishing her goal was to construct the Dark Elf Gods, with the Poison God Felix being the first.
After they became a part of the world tree and lost a part of their self-consciousness, these Gods could be considered to no longer be individuals. The closest analogy to their existences would be a country.
Each God had their own Divine Country, which was the combination of a Concept and group benefits, and these Gods would obtain the powers of administration. However, they were also tied down by the very same administrator powers.
Leaving their own Divine Countries? That was strongly forbidden, and as long as the Gods did not leave their Divine Countries, it would be impossible for them to truly perish. If their physical bodies that they sent out were killed off, then the only thing that would happen would be some loss of divine power.
And now that the Elemental Tide wasn't very active in the current generation, the Gods' physical bodies were rather limited in power, and perhaps a SemiGod-level physical body would be able to deal with normal situations. But when faced with veteran SemiGods who had been through hundreds of battles, they would typically end up as part of their enemies' experiments on researching divine power.
Yet in order to allow their Guardian God to truly be able to assist them, the ancient Elf Kingdom—in this aspect, at least—was far more advanced than other kingdoms.
"God's Descent!"
There were certain standards to be fulfilled for a True God to perfectly accept a body as a vessel—the body needed to be customized, and their soul's wavelength needed to be adjusted in order to adhere to the True God's soul's wavelength. This way, the True God could use power close to their maximum.
If a God's Descent succeeded, and the True God's will perfectly aligned with the vessel's, then its willpower and soul would transform into strength. And if the alignment ratio was over ninety percent, then with the vessel and will combining into one, the True God's host would be able to wield power far surpassing that of a God's physical body, and their combat strength would be almost at the level of a True God.
It was worth mentioning, however, that God's Descent was a double-edged sword. This soul contained much of the God's power, and if this vessel, which contained pure willpower and force, ended up being killed, then the True God's divine power would take a huge blow. It that God was only a weak God to begin with, then there was a high chance of the God directly perishing.
The Forest Guardian God Clareladin had personally descended with his SemiGod descendant as his vessel and had indeed managed to draw out tremendous power. He had even managed to force Lorci into descending into her main physical body, but it was precisely because of this that Clareladin had met his end when his vessel SemiGod Prescott died.
These requirements were incredibly high, especially regarding the willpower of the original vessel. And, of course, the closer the person was to the God, the better. If there was a bloodline relation or a synchronized soul wavelength, then it would be all the better. In a way, Karwenz's descent was the Chaos Abyss' version of a God's descent, and it worked almost exactly the same as that of True Gods of Order.
But there were also professionals at summoning the Gods into themselves, and the human witches in the far west, the soul shamans of the beastmen, and the moon elves' soul priests all had bodies specialized for Gods' descents. Among these groups, the moon elves had the oldest traditions.
The moon elves had always been the tribe of priests, which was an important role in the Elf Kingdom. Throughout the great history of the Elf Kingdom, the greatest priests would always come from the moon elf tribe.
Their innate body structures were the most suitable for communicating directly with the Gods, and their high-level Divine Arts that borrowed divine power aligned with their racial talent to begin with.
And after Adrian had joined Lorci, the Spider Queen had unhesitatingly designated him as a future vessel for the Poison God Felix. Amelia had also been countered all the way up until now because she had been facing against Adrian, who had been borrowing the Poison God's divine power that naturally countered her plants.
"God's Descent!"
With Adrian's muttering, a dark-black light fell down from the skies, and a mysterious black mist wrapped itself around Adrian.
Abnormal magical runes appeared on Adrian's skin and caused him to moan in pain as he knelt to the ground, but all the human spears and arrows tossed in his direction were blocked by an invisible barrier.
"Poison God Felix!"
The already corroding ground around him was evidence of the identity of the descending God. It was the lucky God who had recently just ascended.
Felix, who had been born as a dark elf, had long since reached the pinnacle of a SemiGod. When Lorci had helped him steal the Forest Guardian God's divinity, a change had occurred in his Divine Obligation of planting and guarding forests, which then combined with the poison assassin Felix's original body's specialties and transformed the Obligation into that of the Poison God.
Yet I didn't even need the sight before me to confirm my opponent because my system wouldn't possibly remain idle at such a critical time.
[Epic Quest: Slaying a God.]
[Quest Description: Kill the Poison God Felix, and make the foolish Lorci taste the feeling of losing her children again. Let her know the consequences of a double betrayal.]
[Reward: Depends on your performance, but a minimum of 50,000 Fate Points.]
[Punishment for failure: Believe me, if you fail, you won't even need a punishment. Felix is such a weak God. You wouldn't actually fail, would you?]
"Slaying a God? What an overestimation of my capabilities. Even if Felix is a super-weak God who just rose up to the level of a True God, I'm still not certain of being able to defeat him."
The Adrian before me was no longer in a humanoid form. The True God's power had begun changing him, and with the distorted boundaries of reality, he soon transformed into a gigantic black spider.
He was more hideous than a demon lord from one's worst nightmare and was fiercer than a colossal dragon. The eight eyes of this gigantic black spider were filled with looks of greed as its disgustingly large mouth was already spewing digestive fluids that corroded the ground in front of it, and poison kept leaking out of its tail. The ground where it stepped with its poison-needle-studded feet would transform into a poisonous swamp.
Divine power gave him powers far above the norm. Just its stare would cause people to feel despair, and just looking upon him would cause the weak-willed to go insane.
But…
"Fight him to the death! We have nowhere to retreat! At least we shouldn't die like cowards!"
Yes, this wasn't the time to be wasting words repetitively. We had long since had nowhere to retreat to.
"Hmph! Lorci, I'm definitely going to remember this!"
I spat some blood as I lifted my Roland Sacred Sword again and led the charge. I was prepared to finish my Epic Quest.
With a descended God as our opponent, the battle pushed us to the brink right at the very start.
The gigantic spider was incredibly dexterous despite its size, and its enormous legs resembled an exquisitely well-controlled mecha as it moved. It easily tore through our defensive structures over the entire defense line.
Under the Poison God's control, a black mist surrounded its body, which directly destroyed all magic spells and arrows before they could even reach him.
But the biggest headache of all was the poisonous mist he was emanating, as anyone who so much as touched it died on the spot—there was not even a single survivor.
"I've analyzed the divine power; it's not just a simple poison. It's the Concept of Corrosion and Withering! He's distorting life into death! Definitely don't touch that!"
Just as Harloys finished speaking, one of Felix's gigantic eyes fixated on her as he spat a black gob of poison in her direction.
Felix was no mindless beast. He had senses far surpassing that of others, so even if Harloys only had the physical appearance of a black cat, he immediately classified her as the number one threat since she could point out his divine power's nature.
And while the battle was raging on ferociously, not far away on an observation tower's deck the beastmen tribe leaders were watching this scene with cold eyes.
"…Shouldn't we send our forces to help out? Isn't that our ally?"
The Boar Tribe Leader seemed somewhat confused. He believed that they were supposed to be the main characters on the battlefield, so why were they simply watching their ally fight while watching from behind? This wasn't how beastmen would typically act.
"Help? Hmph, after that spider kills off the humans, if it doesn't turn around and kill us next then I'll thank the War God for protecting me."
"Ally? Even though our ally has such strong combat capabilities, she watched us lose so many after last night's battle and only now she sends Felix to fight? Isn't this just trying to steal the battlefield achievements?"
Beastmen preferred using their fists instead of their brains, but that didn't mean they were idiots. Lorci's intentions were so obvious that even they could see them.
Amon reached out with his single remaining arm and collected a few snowflakes in his hand. They began to melt due to his body heat.
*Crack!*
Amon clenched his fist tightly as a ferocious light emanated from his eyes. The current him was the unmistakable Beastman King. "Everyone, prepare for battle. We must reorganize our squads before the snow gets heavier. In this battle, nobody—no species—is worthy of our trust. Warriors, prepare to die in battle. For our honor and for our ancestors' land, even if we're destined to be buried here, we must let this cruel world understand the courage of the beastmen!"
Suddenly, an ancient horn sounded out from far away—a summons from a true ally of theirs.
"They're finally here!"
All the beastmen tribe leaders had joyous looks, and when I received my scout's report, I was shocked.
"How are there still more beastmen? Haven't they already used all their main forces?"
But the direction the beastmen reinforcements were coming from, as well as the tribal flag that the air cavalry scout described to me, instantly helped me understand the situation.
"The beastmen of the plains? That damned Emordilorcan!"
Since the plateau's beastmen could directly reach the human territories through the Earth Elemental God's tunnels, then the beastmen from the plains could surely do the same thing. Perhaps this was Emordilorcan's true final trump card!
But right now, I was unable to do anything, because the highly venomous spider before us was already difficult enough to deal with!
"Harloys, make your preparations! If we must die here, we need to at least take these bastards with us!"
Yet, suddenly, another combat drum's sound rang out in a familiar elven song, which actually made that huge spider reveal an excited and happy expression like a human.
However, when I listened to it carefully as well, I, too, smiled.
"It's finally here!"
The Divine Obligation refers to a God's area of specialty/Concept—like how Wumianzhe's is Law, Felix's is Poison/Withering, and Clareladin's is the Forest.
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Chapter 193: Silver Dignity
Iron Bloodline, Bronze Body, Silver Dignity, and Golden Will were the separate ranks the humans had created for each power level, and each rank contained endless amounts of hard work, blood, and tears.
The Silver and Gold species didn't have any need to classify ranks in such a manner as they were innately born above the so-called Silver and Gold. In their eyes, possessing such low-ranked power classifications was no different from giving their children power classifications, something which was deemed entirely unnecessary.
Yet, for humans, each rank represented a foundational change in the warrior's power level.
Iron Bloodline and Bronze Body—these names were already self-explanatory. Human mages at these levels could create mana circuits within their bodies, while warriors could utilize their bodies' potential. "Bronze Body" was synonymous with "perfect body."
Of course, this didn't mean their bodies were actually perfect—it meant that after reaching this level, ordinary humans would no longer be able to drag any more power out of their bodies.
On the contrary, the definition of Silver Dignity was worth wondering about.
After all, it was entirely distinct from the other ranks; the description of "dignity" for a power level was incomprehensible.
"Incomprehensible? After reaching this level, humans can finally have some dignity in front of other species; only this level can help humans be comparable to them."
"If you only look at the power level, then Bronze and Silver have very little different from each other, but some things can actually be felt when you're at a certain level. The difference between Bronze and Silver is the difference between the highest level that an ordinary person can achieve and the beginning of an extraordinary person's path. While the difference doesn't seem big, they're actually as far apart as the sky and the ground."
While this was all rather a vague description, but for the truly strong in Silver, this was as natural as breathing or eating.
Think about asking a person how to breathe or how to use more strength and if there were any techniques to it. Perhaps everyone knew how to breathe, but nobody could say how they knew it or why.
"After reaching the Silver rank, you won't have to worry about incomprehensible deaths."
For the strong of the Silver rank, life force and mental spirit were both actual foundational strengths, and they could generate the Qi of a martial artist or the magic ring of a mage to create formless barriers.
They had different effects, but all of them could block outside impacts. The strong of the Silver rank had bodies that were their own domain and could resist against outside forces.
"At the very least, if you can know how you die, then it's enough to be at a cannon fodder's level. You can die with some pride."
"On a true, major battlefield, without being at the Silver rank, it's not even enough to be cannon fodder. Under major spells cast by Legends, ultimate sword techniques, or a Divine Domain, people would be just like an inanimate rock or a tree with zero power to resist. Just one thought or one look from these high-ranked existences could kill you—and there would be a zero chance of survival. How could I even win?"
In the generation where many species chaotically fought with each other, a young Silver-ranked genius of his tribe had said that helplessly and sardonically about himself.
"And if the enemy is a God, even if it's only a Low God who just ascended…"
I shouted loudly as I turned my will into a formless barrier to keep out the purple-gray Divine Domain of Withering.
"…If you aren't even at the Silver rank, with Divine Domains most likely soon to be everywhere, you probably wouldn't even see your enemy before you die without realizing what's going on."
And when I knew that I was about to face God-ranked opponents of Karwenz's level in the future, I unhesitatingly used all my saved Fate Points, so that at the very least I wouldn't die without knowing what happened against opponents who possessed their own Divine Domains.
And now, Karwenz had left, but Felix doubtlessly possessed his own, true Divine Domain as well.
From the moment of Felix's descent, a formless yet still-present Domain already enveloped half the city, and if anyone used any prophecy or detection-related abilities, then they would notice gray-purple smoke present everywhere.
And it wasn't the doing of Felix's conscious efforts; it was the side effect of his Obligation as the Poison God, but just this "side effect" was more than enough to kill off the weak.
"Cough—cough!"
The injured behind us were coughing unstoppably, and this was followed by vast amounts of people spitting up blood. The fact that their blood was blackened was evidence of their worsening injuries.
"Mom, I feel so terrible! I can't breathe."
In a shelter, a yellow-faced girl with lips turning pale-green was requesting her mother for help, but she wasn't the only one.
Most of the commoners taking refuge from the war were coughing in the shelters, and the sick were becoming sicker while the healthy suddenly fell ill. The infectious diseases were spreading as they pleased; the Poison God's Divine Domain of Withering was herding them towards death.
This was also one of the reasons why True Gods were forbidden to descend. True Gods that embodied a concept were always frightening; if they walked about on the mortal plane, they would naturally distort their surroundings.
For example, if the Tempest God descended, then waves as high as the sky would cause destruction in all directions; if the Sun God descended, a terrifying heat would transform the mortal plane into hell—even the descent of the Law God would probably create a strange Divine Domain where any crime would be immediately punished.
Felix was a half-spider, half-elf Poison God, and his new divine job included "the ending of nature (withering poison)," so within his Divine Domain, all living creatures would become distorted, and the chances of acquiring a disease would be vastly increased. Even the healthiest person would become deathly ill if they stayed within Felix's divine domain for too long.
It wasn't that all the Gods wanted to cause wanton destruction; it was simply unavoidable for them.
So, no matter if it were the Order Gods or the Chaos Gods, they would try, as much as possible, to avoid descending either in a vessel or with their true bodies. But since Lorci had already descended in her true body, the rules had long since been broken, so it didn't matter if Felix, who was under her command, broke the rules again.
"…If we don't defeat him quickly, all of us will die."
Perhaps this newly-born rule-breaking Poison God would eventually be punished by the other Gods, but if we weren't able to take care of this God-ranked enemy right before us, we wouldn't live to see that anyways.
The only part worth celebrating was the fact that the gigantic spider God before us was not very skilled at controlling his Divine Domain; it only spread out naturally from him, weakening the effects to the point where the warriors facing Felix wouldn't instantly perish just from his Divine Domain.
"Everyone that's below the Silver rank, retreat together with the citizens, and get as far away as possible from his Divine Domain! It doesn't matter what your overall rank is, your body has to be at least of the Silver rank."
Yet even the strong ones of the Silver rank were nothing more than cannon fodder that could last a few seconds. Just being stared at for a few seconds by this gigantic spider would cause many to spit blood and die, but what surprised even me was that my condition was surprisingly good. It seemed that Felix's Divine Domain had no effect on me, which was something not even a Legend rank could claim to be able to pull off.
The domain of my physical body seemed to have completely cut me off from the Divine Domain's influence. It didn't seem to be some simple coincidence; rather, it was the special ability of my bloodline.
[Host's willpower is over 20; Host is at the Silver rank. Now that you are under the suppression of a Divine Domain, I would like to congratulate the host. You have awakened your racial talent: Chaos Barrier.]
[Chaos Barrier: Protect your mind from being suppressed by divine or mental realms. Reduce the effects of anything that attempts to reduce your willpower or vision.]
Although the explanation was rather vague and straightforward, it was doubtlessly one of the most practical abilities suitable for my current situation. At the very least, with its assistance, I was able to calmly assess the circumstances, make adjustments, and take command.
What? Go fight in melee combat? With the current me, unless I used some forbidden techniques, I doubt I would cause any damage to Felix. I would prefer to not be suicidal.
"Borealis! Cover us with cannon fire!"
In this long, snow-filled, and back-and-forth battle, the Borealis was pretty much useless during the night when it had no way of seeing anything. However, it still had plenty of remaining ammunition and energy, and as I gave the command, Envy, who was rearing for battle, instantly turned on all the cannons.
*Boom!* *Boom!*
Numerous explosions popped up like fireworks all over Felix's body, as the mage towers didn't rest with their continuous thunderbolts and fireballs. When combined with the sound of explosions, it was truly a grand scene.
Unfortunately, in front of the astonishing defense of a True God who had descended into a vessel, these mortal technologies and spells couldn't even break through its defenses.
However…
"This is enough for a smokescreen—Amelia!"
"Hah!"
With a shout, the green-haired witch flew up into the air like a meteor, and when she suddenly changed direction downwards, she was coming down at a far greater and more frightening speed than an actual meteor.
For the gigantic Felix, that was only an ignorable human the size of a grain of rice, but Amelia's sudden, tremendous punch made him cry out in pain as he shook all over.
Judging from the dark-green poisonous liquid spurting out from his wound, this punch had pierced through his heart.
Amelia had used her strength to demonstrate that experience trumped power. Even if her ability was naturally countered by Felix, she was a veteran SemiGod; she still had her way of battling.
When the elite warriors of the allied armies rushed over to the spider's side, they all stopped suddenly.
"There are sticky substances on the ground! Be careful; there are also invisible webs!"
That was, unfortunately, their final words. Felix, who had just received such a heavy impact, angrily activated his Divine Domain at full force, causing a gray-black poisonous mist to spread everywhere. The closest warriors to him were the first to fall victim to it with strange rashes appearing all over their bodies. And just like that, they fell over while still staring in angry disbelief.
Seeing the way those warriors had died so pitifully, the warriors behind them began hesitating. Since it had come to this, none of them were afraid of sacrifice, but the sacrifice had to have meaning.
What was most fortunate, however, was that the interference of a God was sure to bring another God's intervention to balance things out. When Felix descended into Adrian, some existences could finally have an excuse to interfere; our reinforcements eventually arrived.
A familiar, brilliant silver light descended. Wumianzhe's will had always been watching this battlefield, and when the enemy's True Gods ignored the rules and did as they pleased, it was time for him to interfere as well.
When that light dissipated, an entire military squad appeared before us. Those various flags were rather nostalgic, and the familiar faces caused several shouts of surprise.
"Dragonslayer Bastlar! That's a Legend-rank hero's spirit!"
"Isn't that General Lololer? She died just two days ago on the battlefield, and General Bastlar is dead as well! How are they alive?"
"Idiot, they're heroic spirits now; didn't the True God make a declaration earlier? Any warrior that died for the sake of defending this land would be able to become a true heroic spirit."
This cruel war had caused countless brave Northland warriors to die on this piece of land, but it also allowed the newly born Guardian God of the Northlands to open up his own Hall of Valhalla for heroic spirits. And, right now, under Bastlar's leadership, this newly born heroic spirit squad re-entered the mortal plane.
Each thrown spear transformed into a bolt of lightning as the sword-wielding heroic spirits began slicing the spiderweb. They now had the advantage, and Felix was forced to retreat, but a fierce look gleamed from his eight eyes as he once again sent more power into his death-inducing Divine Domain.
This time, however, the effect was minimal. The heroic spirit squad before him actually ignored the threat of his Divine Domain and even took the opportunity to unleash a fresh round of attacks on him.
Just a little thinking helped me understand the reason for Felix's pitifulness.
Heroic spirits were of the undead to begin with, and they were only souls, without physical bodies like living creatures. Of course they wouldn't become distorted from Felix's life-altering Divine Domain, and it was obviously impossible for them to become poisoned. This was the natural counter to Felix's powers.
Perhaps the most attention-grabbing person on the battlefield was Dragonslayer Bastlar. Innumerable sharp weapons appeared in midair as precious mystical weapons rained down upon Felix like a storm, with ancient elven magical rune scrolls spreading across the entire area. From the very start, Bastlar was going all-out.
During the dragon-slaying battle, he had temporarily reached the boundary of a True God's level through the help of the power boost provided by the Great Judgement. Now that he understood this power, which was as unstoppable at the ocean, and with the Elf God's Divine Obligation and Divine Authority right before him, he would, of course, give it his all. The master he had sworn loyalty to had obviously indicated that Bastlar could proceed in increasing his rank.
Huge spears kept piercing into Felix's body, the cannon fire kept raining down from the Borealis without a break, and the witch's ambushes were deadly with every punch. The Poison God found that he was actually forced to the brink as the injuries on his body kept increasing.
But even so, just the heroic spirit squad's combat power by itself was insufficient to deal with a God.
"Spider's Gray Forest!"
For Felix, the opponents before him were a bit difficult to deal with, so he was forced to use his power—the power that he had just barely learned how to use. The Concepts of Nature, Elves, Corrosion, and Withering all melded together as the Spider Prince Felix transformed nightmares into reality.
In his Divine Domain, countless strange plants suddenly sprouted; those plants were twisted and ugly, and these stinky trees were growing at a tremendous pace before soon transforming into a bizarre, thick forest. In the darkness of this forest, there were many massive magical beasts with eight legs and multiple eyes, and these nightmares then came to life and entered the battlefield.
Everything before us was now a scene of utter chaos. It didn't seem to be a many-against-one battle at all; it had now transformed into something resembling a battle between two armies.
But this wasn't the only chaotic battle at the Red Maple defense line. At a place not far from here, two real armies were testing each other's mettle.
On one side, it was the beastmen of the plains that had come through Emordilorcan's tunnels. At the very beginning, the Earth Elemental God had come to an agreement with Amon Bloodaxe to not complete the tunnels, as they didn't want the beastmen of the plains to take away their combat achievements.
But when the battle reached a stalemate, Amon and Emordilorcan finally resolved themselves to summon new reinforcements.
As for the forces fighting against them, apart from the diverse species of Underground "demons," there were even more elves.
But Felix's delight was destined to go unanswered, as those elves weren't his reinforcements.
Apart from the quiet Underground allied armies, there were also thirty thousand elves of a new species. Their gray-black skin was very similar to the skin of the dark elves, and they had also accepted Lorci The Fallen Goddess' power at one time. Now, however, these elves had a slightly lighter skin tone, and under the leadership of a banshee princess, they had broken free from Lorci's control and stood against the dark elves.
The Underground armies combined with the grayblood elves were on guard against the beastmen from the plains that had arrived after traveling a great distance. Both armies remained vigilant against each other, but neither army seemed to have the resolve to bring it to direct combat.
And in the military camp, as Suana gazed at the gigantic spider in the distance, which was the size of a small mountain, she had an expression filled with worry. After all, she knew that that was her father—the person she used to trust the most, the person she used to respect as a perfect king.
"Humans, who are innately such a weak species, are fighting to protect their home, but our elf tribe is still suffering from disasters. Our entire army and tribe have turned into fallen elves, and even our king has transformed into a monster. Perhaps nothing can save us now that it's come to this. Father, is this what you wanted? Is this your so-called pride as royalty?"
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Chapter 194: Unwelcome Reinforcements
The unnatural amount of divine corrosive power was beginning to infect the world. As a True God, Felix had already stayed in the mortal plane for too long, and his divine power had started to rewrite the natural laws of this world. The space itself was transforming into his Divine Country.
Grayish-purple clouds began gathering in the air, and the snowflakes that fell from them were actually dark purple. The fierce winds had a faintly sweet smell to them, but anyone that accidentally inhaled this air would feel dizzy in their heads.
With Felix as the center, a large area was now devoid of all plant life; all the plants in a circle had withered to death. As for small animals, if they hadn't died already, they would have become distorted and transformed into frightening magical beasts that preyed on humans.
The battle between the humans and the True God continued. Even against the True God's descent into a vessel, the defending army still didn't give up, and they kept adding more members to make up for the ones that had fallen. Perhaps it should be said that they were stalling for time and surviving the best they could...
This was a battle where victory couldn't be seen, or if I described it more directly, then this was a suppressive slaughter.
In the increasingly distorted world, the poison had already infected the very air itself; every moment someone would suddenly fall over and die.
And the brave warriors of the vanguard fighting against this humongous spider were dying even quicker in front of Felix's sharp claws and God-level poison.
If it weren't for the heroic spirit squad that didn't care about sacrifices or Felix's poison and the Borealis' constant aerial bombardments providing enough of a bother to Felix, perhaps this battle would have been over already.
Yet merely stalling like this wasn't a good idea at all. Even if the heroic spirit squad was dealing with the brunt of Felix's wrath, for the northern countries' strongest warriors to simply die like this, without even a chance for a direct battle—it was only a chance for them to be sent to Wumianzhe's Hall of Valhalla together with the heroic spirits that fell again.
"Is this the power of a True God? How despairing—if such an existence appeared in Auland..."
Hemet, who had an expression of worry, could only shake his head as he watched the battle through his binoculars from a distant observation tower.
At first, the Auland Empire had sent him and a White Wolf Squad as only the in-name reinforcement guest army. Their goal was to collect information on the north—Darsos' ambition had always been burning—while also transporting goods, but nobody expected that yet another beastman assault to occur just like so many times in the past, transforming the place into a cruel battlefield.
"Is this a Holy War? Everyone has become red-eyed with bloodlust, and even those rarely seen Legend-rank heroes and True Gods have come out. Every country's most treasured Silver and Gold-ranked warriors have actually become nothing more than cannon fodder on the battlefield—oh? Another dozen or so have just died. It takes us a minimum of ten years to train a strong Silver warrior that doesn't rely on equipment."
Hemet sighed in his heart. Not a single person had expected the battle to escalate to such an extent.
Up until now in this battle, the northern humans, elves, and beastmen had given their all in order to obtain greater benefits and land for their own species.
In the short period of just two months, many undying existences had already perished. Not just the Elemental Gods but even a True God had died previously. Merely the ascension of the new True God Felix was major news that would shock the entire world.
And apart from the war fought out in the open, the Elemental Gods and the citizens of the Underground were also getting secretly involved. Countless new weapons of war were changing this generation, and now even the True Gods weren't caring about their appearances and participated directly in battle. There now wasn't a single person who would dare say that the battle in the north was just a small affair.
"If all Holy Wars are battles to such an extent, then even a mega-empire probably wouldn't be able to survive for long. It seems that I really need to have a good discussion with His Majesty and Her Majesty when I return. Heh—I need to be lucky enough to survive past this, however."
Hemet shook his head and got rid of his idle thoughts. He then proceeded to hand over a magic crystal that had recorded large amounts of information to a griffin knight who had been waiting for his orders for quite some time.
"Hand this over to His Majesty Darsos."
"What about you? Do you intend to stay here? I recommend that you leave together with me."
It was quite natural for the griffin knight to be worried about Hemet. If Red Maple Castle was lost, then the beastmen and the Poison God wouldn't spare Hemet just because he was from Auland. Hemet, however, shook his head at the griffin knight.
"I intend to watch his battle to the very end. It is worthy of me exchanging my life for firsthand information. And... I still believe that humanity can win!"
The griffin knight took off into the air and flew southward. Just as a feather from the griffin fell on Hemet's hand, heavy footsteps sounded out from behind him.
Hemet already knew who they belonged to.
"You guys want me to approve sending you out to battle? You saw it for yourselves; you are equivalent to nothing more than cannon fodder in a battle of this level."
Everyone behind him was silent and didn't respond, but this was evidence of the White Wolf Imperial Knights' determination. Even if they were merely a guest army, watching the deaths of other humans and the slaughter of ordinary citizens without doing anything was something they couldn't stand as knights.
They could only be cannon fodder? These knights were no greenhorns to the battlefield, so of course they knew the difference in level. Yet even though they were aware that they were walking a thorny path, the knights still had expressions of resolution and steadily held on to their weapons. From the start of battle until now, their desire to fight had been continually burning, and their blood had always been boiling.
"Knights fight for justice! We swear to sacrifice our blood in order to resist the injustice and evil."
"Knights fight in order to protect! We treat the weak with kindness, but when butcher knives are aimed at the innocent, weak, elderly, and ill, we shall transform into the most solid walls of flesh and blood."
"Knights fight for the royalty! We protect our homes and swear loyalty to our lords, but justice is what we listen to above all. If there's a conflict between justice and our lords, we shall choose according to our hearts."
At this moment, the ancient spirit of chivalry seemed to be in full effect. The silence was the choice that all these knights made even with their oaths of loyalty towards the Auland Empire.
Hemet shook his head; he had expected this outcome.
"...It seems that I said something unnecessary. It would only bring humiliation upon the White Wolf Knights to have you guys retreat; it would make these northern hick countries look down on the Auland Empire. Go and perform well, and don't let the northerners look down on Auland! Make the Auland White Wolf Knights proud!"
"White Wolves..."
"...victory!"
That was the angry roar of the White Wolf Knights. They all left with such a short battle cry, fully intending to not return. Hemet shook his head again as the knights left and returned to paying attention to the combat situation.
Knights had a knight's duty, while a tactician had a tactician's duty. The most important thing for Hemet to do right now was to obtain as much combat information as possible. Some information could be worth lives. Every minute was precious, and he wouldn't allow himself to relax and miss anything.
But, the next thing he saw through his binoculars confused him.
"That Roland; why did he stop? Hmm? Are they trying to dodge something?"
Karodian, the temporary leader of the Tiger Tribe, had been chosen by all the beastmen of the plains. He was also the one who summoned all his fellow beastmen for this attack.
In a way, he was also familiar with Reyne. Last time, during their previous invasion two years ago, he was among the beastmen that had been defeated.
Karodian was known throughout the entire beastmen society for being a tremendously aggressive war hawker. Every year, in the tribe leaders' conference, he would always shout "we should demolish the East Mist Communal Country and fight our way to San Antonio." Yet the beastman, who was always so decisive, now had an expression filled with hesitation; he seemed to have some regret.
"Fighting here with the elves for no apparent reason? This seems absolutely pointless."
Battle was the product of politics. Nobody would want to fight a battle in which there were no benefits. Amon had promised the beastmen of the plains that they would cooperate in attacking the humans and splitting the humans' territory.
Of course, if they won in the end, how much Amon's side and Karodian's side could obtain still depended on their strength after the war. If Karodian used up some of his precious military strength for no apparent reason against this enemy that he felt like he had no reason to fight, it wouldn't be worth it at all.
"Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a dragon knight! It's Superman—wait, no, it's just a naked muscular man wearing nothing but underpants! Pfft! So disgusting!"
Soon, however, Karodian didn't have to hesitate anymore, as the huge figure that descended from the sky happened to land right between the two armies.
*Boom!*
When that person fell to the ground, he instantly moved himself into what he considered a dignified thinking pose. And when he realized that everyone was looking at him, he suddenly lifted his arms, flexed his muscles, and placed his fists against each other in a pose that was obviously to show off his muscles. Then, he smiled.
"Love and peace! Please stop; this world is so beautiful—we shouldn't fight! We should all love each other! Make love, not war!"
With his white teeth reflecting the sunlight, this muscular man was smiling like the sun. His words kept increasing in volume, and by the end, he was even singing the last few words.
But the most discomforting part of all was that even though he was obviously a ridiculously muscular fellow, he had a handsome and pretty face that seemed like it belonged in a shoujo manga. He even appeared to have an expression of embarrassment, and this tremendous contrast seemed to add to his ridiculousness.
"Kill that pervert for me!"
Okay, then, Karodian unhesitatingly shouted out what so many people were thinking, and his subordinates instantly attempted to carry out his order.
It wasn't only the beastmen who acted impulsively; at the exact same time, even Annie and Suana had ordered their soldiers to fire arrows.
Unfortunately, before any arrows could reach that man, they all fell to the ground as if there was an invisible barrier around him.
"Oh my, what disobedient children. Then, allow me, Omar, to teach you what is love!"
Omar flexed his frontal muscles, his back muscles, and his six-pack in a series of exercise fitness routines that made people feel like throwing up in disgust. He glowed brilliantly, and in the next instant, countless amounts of undead armies suddenly materialized out of thin air.
"My heart contains all my citizens, and as a king, wherever I stand is where my country is. My undead are beloved to me, and they love me as well. Come, this is my ultimate love!"
He gave an extravagant kiss towards those skeletons and wiggled his eyes seductively. The brainless skeletons under his control actually made embarrassed reactions in unison, and as for those poor undead that still retained their intelligence...
Annie learned, for the first time, that even the undead were capable of being disgusted to the point of kneeling on the ground and throwing up.
But strength was, by far, the most effective method to get people to listen to you. Even though Omar was obviously a pervert, the hordes of undead caused the beastmen who had been so furious to begin retreating.
"Is it Lord Omar? Those bones—er—Roland probably can't last much longer; please hurry and support him."
"Oh, are you the red-haired Annie girl? Small Lionheart told me about you; you're just like what I heard! So cute—have you ever considered joining me and becoming a star idol? I recently created many new beautiful poses and dances, and if we team up as a dance team, we'd surely shock the entire world."
"I think it would scare the entire world instead."
Okay, Annie at least knew that the person before her was definitely quite strong, so she merely retorted and complained in a tiny voice only she could hear.
"Why is he even more ridiculous than what I heard? I didn't hear that he had all these problems..."
However, in the next instant, Omar's response helped everyone understand.
"Relax, reinforcements have already been sent to help Father. That guy's such an interesting person; he helped me learn so much about love, and I definitely can't match up to him."
...
When I noticed the black dot in the distance that kept increasing in size, I inwardly realized the truth and couldn't stop my eyebrows from twitching. It was definitely good that I had reinforcements, but if my reinforcements were that person—well, let's just say I would have preferred to fight without his help.
"Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a dragon knight! It's Superman—whoops, no, it's a Beifeng! Ahh! Hide!"
The black dot kept growing larger in my vision before it suddenly crashed into the ground, knocked over a small building, and created a small crater.
"What? Is he dead?"
The sounds of shock must have been from people who didn't know him; since, after all...
"No, no. Even if all of Eich is destroyed, that guy won't die."
Those who knew him were, of course, aware of this undying gentleman.
"Ah! I almost died."
As I expected, in the very next instant, that guy's head poked out from the building's rubble with an expression as if he had just barely survived a calamity. However, I knew that he deserved whatever he got.
"You bastard half-dragon! If you decide to tug off my scales one more time and touch wherever you please, I'm going to toss you into a volcano!"
From above the clouds was the sound of an angry roar. With a powerful gale, a purple magic dragon descended from the clouds. After landing, it transformed into a human that glared at the Legend-rank hunter who was attempting to look everywhere but at the dragon.
"Thunderspeed Dragon? This is your animal companion?"
I had heard that Beifeng had used his own dragon blood to ally himself and contract a contract with a Thunderspeed Dragon. The Thunderspeed Dragon was known as the swiftest among all dragons, and only it could have brought Beifeng from Antuen to here in just a single night.
"Well, it's not bad that you could come, but you won't be all that useful here. You might as well have let Adam come instead."
I wasn't looking down on him; our opponent was the Poison God Felix. A Legend-ranked hunter and a young dragon wouldn't help balance the scales by all that much so it would have been better if the dragon had brought Adam here.
But, right then, I heard a familiar foolish laugh.
"Heh heh, I didn't expect you to believe in me so much."
I turned around and looked behind me—wasn't that Adam, the most useful tank? The current him was completely naked except for his underwear and the magical runes that were scribbled all over him.
It turned out that right when the Thunderspeed Dragon had landed, it had unfurled the giant magical carpet it had been carrying—the carpet which had pre-prepared magical runes and spell formations on it. When this simplified spell formation synchronized with the larger, more complex one in Antuen, Margaret had been able to use her remaining magical ingredients to cast another teleportation spell. And of course, Adam, who was currently laughing like a fool, was the person who had been teleported.
"That's wonderful!"
I laughed raucously in delight as I kicked Adam away.
"Go be my meat shield; I need fifteen minutes of absolute safety!"
Okay then, I'm not going to talk any more about how that naked man went to battle with a face filled with displeasure. With such a top-level meat shield around, it instantly reduced the pressure on the other warriors immensely, and it also opened up the possibility for me to accomplish something else.
When Harloys pointed out Felix's characteristics, it immediately attracted his attention and enmity. Perhaps there was nothing that could be hidden from Felix in his own Divine Domain, and I would be unable to do anything significant without sufficient protection. However, now that the tank was here, I could activate a new type of trump card.
Cast a Forbidden Spell such as Ice Aeon? First of all, it's a major spell that would require more than one or two hours to finish chanting, not to mention that even if I gave up my life, I wouldn't be able to cast such a high-level Forbidden Spell. Moreover, even without considering the severe side effects to the environment that such a spell would cause, I felt that such a large-scale Forbidden Spell would probably be unable to defeat Felix.
I also felt that the moment I started chanting such a high-level spell, the tremendous surges in the waves of mana it would generate would undoubtedly make Felix ignore everything else and attempt to kill me at all costs. In the past, I had the protection of the armies of undead, but that was no longer the case.
If my opponent had been an innumerable amount of beastmen, then I wouldn't have had any way to deal with them, but if my opponent was something like a True God, then I really did have an ace card up my sleeve—well, it wasn't exactly an ace card since it was a trump card that definitely broke the rules. It would surely cause me endless amounts of trouble, but I had still prepared it for this type of circumstance.
And it was also the existence of this ace card that gave me the courage to face Karwenz by myself. After all, with the passage of so many years, it was quite possible for Karwenz to suddenly turn on me, so I wouldn't possibly appear in front of him if I, at least, couldn't protect myself.
Karwenz was nice enough to only chat with me, so I still had this ace card to use right now.
And since my opponent had totally disregarded the rules, this ace card of mine, which was definitely on the borderline of the gray area, wouldn't cause any trouble for me either.
As I had thought, just the beginning of my casting attracted a large amount of sky-covering poisonous spit to be spat in my direction.
However, I didn't even glance at it, and I continued to focus on my preparations. I had full belief that someone would block that troublesome poisonous spit for me.
"Ahh—my underpants! It's over! I'm so humiliated!"
As I expected, Adam blocked the poisonous spit for me, but the corrosive, poisonous mist ended up destroying his only remaining article of clothing—he was now utterly naked.
"Time out! Wait for me to put on some pants! Hey, I even said time out; why aren't you obeying the rules? This lady over here, could you please loan your skirt to me? Hey—hey—don't run away, I'm not really a pervert! I just saw that you weren't wearing much to begin with, and it seemed easy to take off!"
"Pervert!"
Okay then, let us ignore this person who actually tried to borrow clothing from a female mage and ended up getting slapped—the fact was, however, that his presence gave me enough time to safely cast the ace card spell that I was determined to use here.
"God's Descent!"
Shoujo manga (少女漫画 shōjo manga) is manga aimed at a teenage female readership.
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Chapter 195: Judgement
The battle before us was already difficult to the point of despair. Even though the warriors weren't afraid of sacrifices, the enemy was immune to ordinary weapons, and it was nigh impossible to scratch his defenses—any battle that was impossible to win would naturally lower the warriors' morale.
"In front of True Gods, all are nothing but ants." — Main True God of The Elves, Anslo Shusta Alderban.
Although I didn't approve of such arrogant words, I couldn't help but admit that these existences known as Gods were the most annoying types of entities, and it was all due to their undying natures and broad Divine Domains.
This, right now, was the perfect example. No matter how hard the mortals worked, they were unable to cause any life-threatening harm to Felix, and even if they somehow managed to injure him, Felix only needed to spend some divine power and would recover in the next second.
"What ants? Humph—it's just that divine power is too powerful and disables the mortals from landing fatal blows... but, it's not impossible to deal with."
"God's Descent!"
Yes, my method was God's Descent as well. This was the ace card I had left for myself when I had ascended to a God; it was my safeguard against any powerful beings that may come looking for trouble later.
True Gods couldn't be defeated? Even if this was treated as a maxim in this world, I had never believed it. However, I had to admit that the special concept known as divine power was incredibly difficult to deal with.
Since I wanted to reach my goal in this Holy War, I knew that I would be facing True Gods sooner or later, and the simplest method to deal with them was to also possess divine power. This was also why I had spent so much effort on creating a True God that was worthy of having believers.
What was the condition for a God's Descent? It was that the souls should be similar and the bodies should be compatible. And there was nobody else who would be more compatible with Wumianzhe—we were the same to begin with, after all, and we could skip all the rituals.
The moon elves were able to achieve a God's Descent with a synchronization ratio of about 60%. Karwenz had specially prepared Reyne's body so that he could synchronize with her at about 80%. However, between Wumianzhe and me, our synchronization was 100% from the very start. Moon elves needed to change their soul wavelengths in order to begin the ritual for a God's Descent, but for me, all I needed to do was make a connection with my other self in the heavens.
Of course, an overly high synchronization wasn't necessarily good either, as two entirely identical souls would create another problem. But now wasn't the time to be worrying about that.
With the two identical wills and souls connecting, a blinding, silver light descended as a lustrous balance appeared in midair. The judge's silver mask materialized together with a similarly silver Divine Domain that began clashing with the grayish-purple Divine Domain.
Through my body, the Law God and Guardian God of the North, Wumianzhe, had descended!
"Heh, is this the feeling of a God?"
My awareness was crystal-clear; I could clearly notice Hemet's shocked expression in the far-off observation tower as he dropped his binoculars. Falsity did not exist in a God's eyes; a God could see truth and souls for what they were.
I could sense the enormous amount of faith transforming into strength as it rushed to my Divine Domain through the pillars of heaven. Most of the chains of faith in the Northlands were related to me as I was the Guardian God of the Northlands. These many believers helped augment my strength.
"...Increasing my strength right now isn't a good thing. I don't have much time; I should hurry."
One body could only possess one soul. When two souls shared the same body for too long, they would instinctively begin trying to suppress and devour each other even if special methods were used to make one soul subordinate to the other. However, this wasn't a problem for me.
Wumianzhe was just an automated version of myself to begin with, and our souls were identical. It was just like two file folders that contained identical documents; no matter how much you overlapped them, they would still be the same.
That wasn't my problem.
"Damn it, we have already started combining..."
Yes, my problem wasn't about the God's Descent in itself; instead, it was about how I would separate from Wumianzhe after I was finished.
Let me make an analogy. A normal God's Descent was akin to the mixing of oil and water; they would have to work on making two completely different existences come together and synchronize to raise the compatibility rate. On the other hand, my God's Descent was like the mixing of water and water; the biggest problem was how to separate the two afterward.
Right now, I had already achieved a strategic goal, as vast amounts of knowledge and secrets poured into my mind and a tremendous amount of divine power filled my body. Even though I took a circuitous route, I was finally able to steal the knowledge and wisdom of the True Gods!
"The secrets of the right to become a God, the structure of the power of faith, reincarnation, the Hall of Valhalla—this was all worth it!"
Some things could only be seen upon reaching a certain level. I had been awaiting these divine secrets for quite a while, and now that I possessed them, the next step of my plan could finally be realized. My future personal development now became much clearer.
"I finally made progress. With this, I can focus entirely on increasing my personal combat strength..."
Yet now wasn't the time to rejoice, as my consciousness was already becoming blurry. Wumianzhe was like a vast ocean absorbing a small river—me. If this combination continued, perhaps we would never be able to be separated again.
"No matter if Wumianzhe is pulled down here or if I'm pulled up to the heavens, neither is an acceptable end. That would mean everything I've worked for and waited for was all wasted!"
All these thoughts flashed through my mind in a short instant. The bystanders only saw Roland floating in midair as a silver judge's cap materialized on his head and his divine power transformed into a Divine Domain.
The silver and grayish-purple Divine Domains clashed against and invaded each other; each tried to force itself above the other Divine Domain. The two descended Gods clashed against each other in an instant, using the most barbaric method of all to prove their strength.
Perhaps Roland as a host was far stronger than Adrian, perhaps Wumianzhe was simply stronger than Felix since Wumianzhe had two Divine Obligations, or perhaps Felix was still far too weak as he had just recently ascended to the position of a True God because it was obvious who the victor was at first glance.
The silver Divine Domain won overwhelmingly!
"A battle between Gods!"
The battle which would determine the master of the Northlands rose to the final level, as even the Gods began directly interfering in the fight. Although the current me seemed rather majestic, I actually had a severe headache, with my consciousness becoming hazy. I only wanted to go to sleep.
But I knew that if I slept now, I might never wake up again.
"Shadow!"
With a low roar, a hallucinatory shadow came to life and attached itself to my body as it greedily devoured divine power and grew.
This was the strength that I had obtained from that great snowy mountain. That Frigid Nightmare that just couldn't hatch had finally transformed—but it had transformed into a piece of ice named Shadow. Currently, it was just a newborn that severely lacked nutrition, and divine power from the same source was the best nutrition of all.
What did I mean by "same source?" Wumianzhe's divine power was from the same source as me, and this Frigid Nightmare was my companion and was also from the same source as me. As a result, the Frigid Nightmare and Wumianzhe had the same source of power.
Frigid Nightmares would grow together with their hosts and would absorb their host's emotions in order to evolve. As for this newly-born Frigid Nightmare named Shadow, it had already absorbed more than three hundred years of negative emotions from me. Perhaps growing up in such a crazed and twisted environment created its frightening power.
Even when it had just hatched, it could already easily toy with and kill Fismer. If it could absorb enough divine power in order to make up for its shortcomings of being unable to hatch for so long, its growth potential was unimaginable. I was greatly looking forward to witnessing his growth.
After being succored by the silver divine power, Shadow, who was formerly black, began changing in color, and its hallucinatory form also began to materialize. Thanks to the power of luck and coincidence, a brand-new divine creature was being born.
From far away, Shadow seemed only like a pair of wings of light belonging to Wumianzhe, as it was actually shining brilliantly and beautifully.
Lustrous wings kept spreading out as a silvery-white hooded cape blocked Wumianzhe's face, and Wumianzhe's silver mask materialized in the mortal plane along with numerous one-eyed emblems. He was watching everywhere, judging the entire world.
To tell the truth, all this customized equipment was the form that Shadow chose to take. As it was a part of me, Shadow was currently helping me bear part of Wumianzhe's divine power, and finally helped ease my burden so that I could spare enough attention to manipulate this unimaginably strong divine power.
"Target locked on Felix. Divine Art: Great Judgement!"
A silver light covered the entire world as the God of Law, with wings of light, reached his arms out to the sky and summoned a nameless massive Book of Law in front of him.
"Judgement!"
A silver-white gavel generated endless waves in the air as the masked and robed judge began judging the sinner before him. In the Law God's Divine Domain, there wasn't a single crime that would be able to escape his eyes.
Currently, under the Eyes of Justice, an untold number of crimes appeared as the Book of Law kept turning to the page with the punishments for crimes. In front of the Law God and the Original Book of Law, there wasn't a single existence that would be spared—not even a God!
"You are all judged to be guilty!"
The silver-colored Divine Domain began spreading. Since the beastmen were here as well, how could I possibly just let them go? They were still waiting at the scene of the crime to split their spoils, so I was going to judge them together as well!
*Hiss!*
Unfortunately, the Spider God Felix's high-pitched screaming tore through my spreading Divine Domain, and dealing with its struggling took up much of my concentration, causing me to lose the chance to deal with all the troublesome beastmen in one go.
"Silence!"
I reduced the size of my Divine Domain and used silver chains to bind that gigantic Spider God. I had always believed in the maxim "better safe than sorry," so I used all of my divine power and concentration on the opponent before me.
"Divine Law, The Primary Sin of the Thirteen Sins: Those who purposefully take away others' lives shall be severely judged by the Law God; they shall suffer from impaling and fire torture even after death!"
The Divine Laws didn't have a limit on their targets to begin with. They were the laws created by the Law God, as well as his teachings and the meaning for the Law God's existence.
Yep, from the very start, I had never set targets for what the Divine Laws could and couldn't judge. It had always been my intention to judge the Gods!
"Judge the Gods? Are you crazy?" Ayer was shocked at the time.
"No, this world is the one that's crazy!" was my response.
"Just let someone as crazy as me to make you idiots high above us, you bastards who treat the lives of human—hard-working humans—as nothing more than toys! I shall teach you what the pride of the mortals is. If I don't pull you bastards in front of me to be judged, then how could I ever end this damned battle!"
"Divine Law, Execution!"
The silver chains binding Felix began materializing and dragged the Spider God into the mortal plane as Felix's purple divine soul started entering his body. This judgment was to take effect directly against the True God's actual body.
A silver rack transformed into sharp knives and the Incantation of Law turned into a viciously boiling sea of magma. The Spider God was currently tortured in both this world and the other plane.
But, this was only the beginning...
"Divine Law, The Seventh Sin of the Thirteen Sins: Those who fulfill their personal desires yet forget their original Divine Obligations, break the laws, act greedily, and play around shall be stripped of all their jobs and demoted to mortal status!"
"Felix, you willfully descended and created a bloodbath, caused a battle, and killed countless lives. Many grudge-bearing souls in the River Styx are because of you..."
Even though he was currently being tortured by knives and fire, the furious spider was still trying his utmost to struggle and escape from his restraints; he had a premonition that this was about to be his end.
"...You no longer deserve to be a God. I declare right here and now that I demote the Poison God Felix to become mortal!"
The complete suppression of Felix's Divine Domain helped the Incantation of Law Great Judgement be effective. At this very moment, Felix lost his Divine Domain, and now, no matter how much strength he had remaining, he was nothing more than a giant spider instead of a venerated True God.
I knew that after my Divine Domain dissipated, Felix would recover his status as a True God. I was still far from possessing the power to truly judge the Gods, and this type of power suppression wouldn't be able to last long.
But it was enough...
Something white viciously struck Felix's head and caused him to scream in agony. As my oldest and most trusted partner, Adam would never let such an opportunity slip past him.
The massive injury on Felix's head didn't heal instantly like before. Without his Divine Domain, and without his divine defense and undying attribute, Felix was now no longer anything more than a slightly larger-than-usual and more robust normal beast.
"Hurry! Don't waste this opportunity that Lord Wumianzhe has created for us!"
"White Wolves! Victory!"
"Silver Cross, charge! Don't let those southern hicks steal away the achievement of Slaying a God; this belongs to us!"
"Blackeye Squad, grit your teeth for me and hang in there!"
"Is there anyone else left from the Rhodes Imperial Guard? Damn it, even if I'm the only one left, I'm going to charge! I won't let anyone look down on me!"
The cannons on the Borealis had been overheating to the extent where they were almost unusable but were reignited once more as the heavily injured knights began their final charge. Amongst all the fatigued armies, the Four Elemental Swordcasters who could replenish their sources of power stood out most of all.
The other warriors had already used up all of their mana in this long, drawn-out battle, but as a product born in this new generation type of battle, the Swordcasters had already recharged their mana through the Borealis. They were currently tossing out Fireballs and Thunder Arrows, using the most basic elemental spells to deal irrecoverable damage to the former True God; Felix was on the brink of death.
"This isn't enough! We won't make it in time!"
I could sense that this wasn't enough. Felix had yet to receive a fatal injury, but I was almost unable to maintain this for any longer.
I was already beginning to lose my mind as chaos and confusion filled my head, and I felt dizzier and dizzier and wanted to sleep, but...
"...Is there really nothing else I can do? It was so difficult to make it to this step; was everything but a waste? I can't accept this!"
My soul and Wumianzhe's soul were on the verge of complete synchronization, and if I didn't cancel the God's Descent soon, I probably would never be able to do so. I wanted to grit my teeth and hold on, but my consciousness was becoming hazier, making holding on any longer seem meaningless.
"I just want to sleep; why do I have to hold on—no, this is no good!"
"Then, let me cancel the God's Descent; my soul is beginning to combine—I definitely can't do that!"
"Who—who am I? Wumianzhe? Roland? Blackhand? Rolo?"
Alluring words were trying to steal my consciousness away, and Felix's divine power was still struggling against mine and increasing the speed of the fading of my consciousness. My chaotic memories were affecting my mental stability, and I was almost unable to hold on for any longer, but...
"We Aurora Knights have returned!"
"Let these invaders taste the fury of the Mist!"
"May the Will of the Mist remain unbroken forever! We have returned!"
Their familiar battle cries snapped me back to my senses. Weren't those in the sky our imperial knights? They finally made it just in time.
"The Imperial Knights of the Mist Kingdom, all fifty-four members of the Aurora Knights have arrived, and we pay our respects to Your Highness Roland! Your Highness, we have returned!"
Ah, my knights, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me! After all, no matter if it was 378 years ago, 252 years ago, 132 years ago, or 1 year ago, you never disappointed me!
"The Aurora Knights of the Eastern Mist Communal Country; all one hundred and seventy-four members of the Aurora Knights have arrived! We pay our respects to Your Highness Roland! Your Highness, leave the rest to us!"
These new generation youngsters flew a circle around me with their teachers before putting on their iron helmets. They then began laughing maniacally as they charged towards the humongous spider who was still flailing around.
"Nice job, young one!"
The Lion King Frigid Nightmare who belonged to the first Mist King gave me his rare praise as he transformed into a colossal Lion King and pounced towards Felix.
But, he came up empty.
"Ah Dang is here! I shall beat up anyone who dares to bully my father!"
If it weren't for that familiar voice, perhaps not a single person would be able to connect that gigantic furious titan with Gluttony. The giant, who suddenly landed, directly smashed Felix to the ground, as a huge bone dragon, which suddenly descended from the skies, shrieked and emanated death with every breath.
This was a rarely seen scene. Undead Knights and Holy Knights had allied with each other and were charging together, dragon knights and bone dragons were actually on the same side, and the corpse-eating king was actually using a human holy sword. Imperceptibly, I felt as if I was getting closer to the utopia I dreamed of...
I was already losing control of my hazy consciousness, but I held firmly onto the chains of the beast that was in my cage.
"Felix! You want to escape? Stop dreaming! Pay some interest for the amount of blood that you've caused to spill on this land! Later, I'll go looking for Lorci to collect the principal!"
1. According to Wiktionary, principal —not to be confused with principle —refers to the money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.
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Chapter 196: Slaying a God
An ancient epic was re-enacted at this moment; an undying True God had managed to fall.
The chains that represented divine punishment had pulled Felix down from his status as a True God. And without that status, he no longer had the divine power that could regenerate himself from his injuries, so he finally began panicking.
After receiving the honor of becoming a God, he would never have been able to imagine that he would one day fall in battle. To him, battles were just games, and mortals were just the chess pieces on the chessboard. Yet this game had now turned fatal for him.
Panic and helplessness finally appeared in his eight eyes as he was now experiencing fear and despair for the first time, emotions which he had been giving to the mortals all this time.
He truly wanted to escape.
But it was already too late.
The Seven Deadly Sins had arrived...
"Damned Gods, have we People of the Mist offended you? What's with all this? Is it so hard to just live peacefully?"
The furious Ah Bas of Wrath ripped off one of Felix's long legs in a single movement, causing dark-purple poisonous blood to spray everywhere. The enormous three-headed hellhound had already become larger than the gigantic spider, and two of Bastian's heads kept injuring Felix while the other head angrily roared and spat death.
Without a doubt, he was venting his anger, but there was nothing wrong with him doing so—many warriors were also shouting at the ugly spider.
"Why us! Why can't we just live peacefully in this land?"
The northern people had already suffered so much, and they, too, wanted to ask why war had to occur in their homeland again! Was it too much to ask for to want to live in peace?
Yet Felix didn't answer, nor was he able to answer.
"Ah Dang, Ah Dang hates spiders!"
The huge titan, which was speaking in a low and muffled voice, had transformed into an enormous octopus, with its flexible yet robust tentacles curling around the vicious spider. Ah Dang used suppression techniques that no human could use to seal Felix's efforts at resistance, and his thickest tentacle had turned into a round hammer that continually smashed Felix's head.
To Ah Dang, values such as truth and justice were never of importance. The concept of peace that humans believed in was also meaningless, but there was one point he absolutely couldn't tolerate—if anyone dared to harm his family, then Ah Dang would go all out and viciously beat that person.
"Lock on to Felix's limbs! Fire half of all our remaining ammunition!"
This time, cannon fire and smoke covered the skies. Even though Felix's still outstanding defense helped him ignore these cannon shells, Envy's Borealis spun Felix around like a dragon before proceeding to brutally sink its horn into his forehead.
That was a cursed horn belonging to a SemiGod Single-Horned Whale. This strike, which contained some partial divine power, wasn't an attack that Felix, who had lost his divine power, was able to ignore.
"Hiss! Ahh!"
Felix's sharp wails sounded just like the cruelest type of curse magic, but unfortunately, he was being suppressed by two undead even larger than himself—he was utterly incapable of movement. Felix could only obediently remain as our living target.
But this was only the beginning. The newcomer to the Seven Deadly Sins wanted to show off its ability in front of its older siblings.
"Mine! All mine! I'm envious of your eight divine eyes! I'm going to take them for myself!"
With a dark glow enveloping Envy, Felix lost four of his eyes, and at this very instant, four dark green eyes appeared on the front half of the Borealis.
And Felix, who had lost half of his eyes, was worse off than having been blind, as the chaotic situation for him turned into twisted scenery. He soon lost his balance under the suppression of the enormous undead that had been causing him to continually shake.
"Ah, my younger siblings, your older brother has arrived."
That familiar magnanimous-sounding voice caused the two colossal undead beasts to pause simultaneously in surprise. This manner of addressing them would only be used by that fellow who causes everyone to feel discomfort when simply looking at him.
But after his light-sounding words came a thunderstorm.
"Million-undead armies!"
Countless undead armies suddenly appeared, and they furiously poured forth as if they had just erupted from a volcano. The low-level undead climbed over the gigantic spider—it was a magical version of a scene of ants swarming an elephant.
Yet this still wasn't over.
"Ah, my fist is beauty and justice! My justice is the will of my kingdom!"
The man in form-fitting clothes made a sliding movement while being surrounded by innumerable thin threads that were, in fact, soul connections, which gave this man that nobody could stand looking at an endless amount of power. His ridiculously exaggerated flying kick pierced through the humongous spider's stomach, causing large amounts of divine blood to pour out from Felix's wound and distort any plants that it touched. The Spider Prince had received a heavy injury.
Omar's attack definitely attracted everyone's attention, but what greeted him were his allies' complaints.
"What's with calling yourself the older brother? You're the youngest!"
"Ah Dang is the oldest brother!"
The arrival of four of the Seven Deadly Sins along with strong reinforcements from the fresh new undead army that didn't know the meaning of fatigue finally helped the defending warriors relax. Meanwhile, the true guardians of this land, the ace knight squadron that had the reputation of being undefeatable whenever they numbered over one hundred, had arrived once again in the present day.
Those beautiful silver-white arcs in the sky were, shockingly, strong warriors. The veteran knights among them were in no hurry, and they acted like a wolf pack surrounding its prey as they searched for their enemy's weak point.
And, at that moment, Felix, who was on the verge of collapsing, had already revealed his weak point.
"Everyone, prepare to charge! Use the 'death slide' tactic!"
The Aurora Knights that never numbered over one hundred actually had nearly three hundred knights now. This famous #1 ranked knight squadron in the Northlands had now revived itself from the ashes of the Mist Kingdom, and its classical combat strategy was now revisiting the stages of history.
The seemingly shining Aurora became beautiful silver meteors as they streaked through the sky. Their thrown spears and ice arrows froze Felix's critical areas and joints as the Frigid Nightmare steeds beneath them created paths of ice in the sky.
When the crystal-clear path in the sky was finally completed, the sleeping white dragon had transformed into a fatally sharp blade.
"Everyone, charge!"
At the beginning of the icy path in midair, the veteran knights were taking the lead as the newer knights loosened their grips on their reins and allowed the legendary Frigid Nightmares to carry them on this charge.
"Vanguard, ice blades! All invaders shall perish!"
As the Aurora Knights slid on the ice path, the accumulated power of the ice helped sharpen their icy blades as they kept enlarging and increasing in speed. By the time the Aurora Knights reached the ice path's end, their ice blades had transformed into fatal blades at soaring speeds.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Countless huge blades pierced into Felix's body at light speed, and when most of the ice blades had pierced into his body, the Aurora Knights themselves mixed in with their ice blades and used their own bodies as blades; they transformed into rainbows of colors as they tore Felix's body apart once more.
"Rear guard, reorganize for the second charge!"
After exhausting their ice blades, the knights flew back up to the beginning of the ice path to begin a new round of construction of the ice blades. Unless all the Aurora Knights' Frigid Nightmares used up every last drop of their mana, this ice blade attack would never end. This was the 'death slide' tactic that the Aurora Knights specially used for destroying mega-sized targets.
The largest 'death slide' tactic in history used thirty-six Aurora Knights, and they had managed to slay an Ancient White Dragon. But this time, their number was more than that by ten times! The endless ice blades were at the top of physical attacks, and they even contained magical attack power from death and ice magic. Except for Ah Dang, who couldn't feel pain at all, everyone—even Bastian and Omar—had to step backwards.
This time, it was the Frigid Nightmare Lion King's turn to transform into a huge beast and suppress Felix, as he was immune to his fellow Frigid Nightmares' ice magic. The Lion King, however, quickly discovered that this was completely unnecessary, as Felix had now lost all energy and was injured to the point where he couldn't even move.
*Roar!*
The blind spider that had lost its leg pitifully roared in pain. It was no longer a threat; the Poison God, the harbinger of so much death, had its body pierced all over repeatedly before it finally collapsed with the ice blades still stuck into its body. Ah Dang transformed into a huge-mawed devourer and chomped the spider's head in a single bite, delivering the final, fatal blow.
When the gigantic spider finally lost its head and collapsed, I received a message from my System. [Congratulations to Host. You have completed the 'Slaying a God' quest, and your reward is a God Equipment...]. And it was only then that I finally relaxed my incredibly tense mind and immediately canceled the God's Descent.
"Finally..."
I was fully satisfied from the feeling of victory, and as I watched Wumianzhe's soul return to the heavens above, I gave up any resistance and sunk into a deep slumber.
...
"Congratulations; you did it."
After waking up, the first sentence I heard was rather surprising.
The next moment, however, all my fatigue instantly vanished, because I recognized the identity of the young-seeming person before me.
"Ayer."
The person learning against the window and gazing outside was precisely the Death God Ayer. It was only that this time, he wasn't wearing his signature black robe; the long white robe he was currently donning actually made him resemble a bookish scholar.
"What did I do?"
I was still suffering from the backlash of using God's Descent. My memories were still a chaotic swirl in my mind, and I had no idea what had happened after I had fallen asleep.
Ayer was surprised at my question, but then he chuckled.
"Felix died. Although it was with the participation of another God, he's still perhaps the first True God to die by a mortal's hand in more than two thousand years."
My memories gradually returned, and I recalled how the Poison God was finally surrounded and slain. It was very likely that the entire world was shocked—a True God was slain immediately after ascending. Lorci would definitely be infuriated…
"Right, did Lorci do anything? How did she react?"
"Lorci is dead."
Ayer casually tossed such a tremendous bomb at me.
"Dead? How did she die?"
Unlike Felix, Lorci had descended to the mortal plane using her true body. Although she wouldn't be able to return to her Divine Country for the time being, a True God in her complete form would definitely possess frightening strength—a completely different level from Felix, who was a fresh new God that had descended into a host's body. Lorci was a veteran True God with far greater strength than Felix. Who in the mortal plane could possibly kill her?
"It was the Abyssal Prince Karwenz. Not even Lorci's corpse remained."
"Karwenz!?"
"Yep. It is highly probable that her double betrayal angered the big shots of both sides. The leaders of Chaos wanted to kill her, and nobody on the Order side was willing to protect her, so she ended up dying. Hmph. This will scare those who are still undecided and sitting on the fence."
Ayer described it so casually, but with a little deduction on my part, I was aware that the death of the two dark elf Gods would cause a huge wave.
"Right, how's the battlefield in the Northlands? What happened to those beastmen in the end?"
"Ask her; she's probably anxious to see you."
At this moment, the door suddenly opened, and Elisa entered; upon seeing me awake, she had an obviously relieved expression.
"You're finally awake—you've been sleeping for six days already. If you didn't wake up soon, I wouldn't have known what to do."
Six days? My chaotic memories must have clouded my mind, as I felt like it was less than a day.
Following Elisa was a vast mob of noisy people. And they all had something in common...
"Your Highness, Her Highness Reyne is still missing, and our military reorganization needs you to take charge."
"The other countries' generals and leaders are requesting that you attend conferences for dealing with the aftermath of the battle, drawing of new borders, the division of the victory loot—all these require your presence. Our Eastern Mist Communal Country stands to profit greatly this time, but without your presence, we're unable to control the situation."
"The undead army is currently stationed outside the castle. Thanks to their performance during that battle, they haven't caused a panic, but we need an effective way to communicate with them..."
"The Rhodes Kingdom has mentioned the possibility of them accepting the Church of Law, and their highest-ranked priest Xueti is requesting a personal meeting with you to discuss the specifics."
"The man with the undead army actually started a contest to see who is the strongest and handsomest. He and Lord Xueti are currently competing in the finals. Their clothes have all exploded—that scene is too beautiful that I don't even dare to describe it! My lord, you're the only one who can stop them! Before they destroy this entire city, please do something to stop them!"
Before I could even react, countless chaotic affairs were dumped upon my head, and when I turned around to request for help, I discovered that Ayer had completely vanished.
After that, I was instantly overrun by the chatting babble before me, and my sickbed was piled to the top with tasks requiring my immediate attention and various official documents.
"That's right—Elisa! You guys can go find her; she has my full authority as my representative."
Where else was I supposed to find such a good assistant scapegoat? Yet before I could even look in Elisa's direction, that former Demon Marchioness, who had anticipated that I would push everything onto her, had also already vanished somewhere.
"Hey—hey, don't be so heartless! I just woke up, and you want me to do so much already?"
I wanted to escape, but the attendants and officials around me had already placed their own swords to their necks—a threat that they would kill themselves if I just ignored them.
I could only helplessly sigh and take a document as I begun the busywork that would make anyone feel powerless.
"If only that little brat were here; just where did Reyne end up? Karwenz should have returned to the Chaos Abyss by now, so why hasn't Reyne returned? Is it really true that girls won't return to the nest when they grow up and not care about their fathers anymore!?"
At the exact same time, Reyne was exclaiming out loud in shock as well!
"Where is this?! Why am I here; am I not in the Northlands anymore?"
In the center of human territory was the Bardi Empire. And on the biggest red-light district street in a certain city of this empire, in the most expensive facility named "Elven Night," Reyne suddenly woke up while being hugged by many women. She immediately discovered that it was quite crowded around her.
"Why are there so many women! Achoo! The perfume is too heavy in here!"
In such a small room, there were a dozen girls that seemed like flowers looking at her, and those women were all looking at her with romantic interest. Some were trying to press their bodies against her while some were even in the midst of removing their clothes.
"Milord, why did you stop singing? I was waiting for your song."
The golden-haired young lady's face was turning red as she said so, and her red face and the look in her eyes revealed the fact that she was seriously in love with Reyne—she was looking at Reyne as if Reyne was her first love. The large snow-white mounds on the blonde girl's chest were even more blinding, and she suddenly wrapped her arms around Reyne. Even though they were of the same gender, Reyne didn't have much experience in this matter, so her face instantly turned red. Next, however, the women surrounding her said something even more shocking.
"Milord, do you want more? Let my fellow sisters rest a bit; quite a few of us collapsed last night..."
While she was refusing on the surface, all the women's red faces and efforts at disrobing revealed their true feelings. Reyne was unable to take this any longer.
"Wait, wait, don't take off your clothes! Hey—hey—hey, why are you all taking off your clothes? I'm a girl as well!"
"Hehe, Milord just loves to play these games of pretending to refuse. Of course, we already know that Milord is a woman, but Milord is far better at this than those useless men. Hehe, none of us sisters can be without you anymore, and every one of us is waiting for you to purchase our debts."
This time, Reyne realized she had met with a huge disaster as she looked at those hungry, desire-filled eyes and the pile of snow-white bodies in front of her.
And one week later, a report was placed in front of me.
"What? Reyne had fun in the Bardi Empire's most luxurious red-light district street for half a month, won countless beauties' favor, received the wondrous title of 'King of Ten Thousand Flowers,' and even agreed to innumerable requests to purchase the women's debts, but in the end, she was penniless, and the red-light district has imprisoned her? And now they're requesting us to pay her debts and bail her out?"
After hesitating a moment, I ended up replying to the Bardi Empire messenger like this:
"You probably got it wrong! We don't have a man named Reyne here. Yep, definitely not! What? She's a woman? Then that's even more impossible since all of us Mist Royalty are normal people. Definitely no perverts at all! Yep, definitely not! I never lie."
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Chapter 197: Mist Alliance
"O that blossoming wild lily flower, how charismatic she was! How beautiful she sung! How she danced extravagantly like a butterfly; she was the female emperor of the red-light district! The dream lover of all men and women..."
I intentionally hired several bards to sing Reyne's recent "praises" to her for our reunion.
Surprisingly, however, Reyne had no reaction at all. With bloodshot eyes, she seemed to be in a daze, and the instant after she saw me, her legs gave out and she almost collapsed on the spot.
*Zzz!*
She instantly fell asleep in my arms, and she actually started snoring!
"This is...?"
All those punishments I had readied for her were wasted. It seemed Reyne must have had a tough time—while physical fatigue wouldn't be much for a Gold-ranked Law Knight to cope with, the mental pressure she had been dealing with must have been significant. After all, since she was a girl, her all-important chastity was now ruined, and it would be difficult for her to get married in the future.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy and some regret at the punishments I had arranged; after all, this was all Karwenz's fault.
Otherwise, I could have still tried to explain myself. But now, this already existed: ["Legendary Lily Flower Princess Knight Dragon Slaying Chronicles" and "She and Her Eighteen Flowers" published as novels, book reviews, and plays, with a 12% discount for buying in a bundle! Buy three at once and you will even receive a free oil painting poster!]
"I'm so sorry… we old guys really overdid it..."
Thinking of all I had done, I felt even more regret.
"...Brother Roland, Rey-rey doesn't blame you…"
Hearing the gentle words coming from her as she laid in my arms, I was rather touched, but...
"…so, stop licking my feet, please. Rey-rey knows you like me, but acting like a dog out of love is no good, and also... don't take off your clothes—you're such a pervert. You actually want to wear my clothes? Fine then. If it's Rol-rol, it's fine… Stop sniffing! I'm so embarrassed… Stop licking... Are pantie-pants that wonderful? Directly licking there..."
My face turned white with anger right then and there. What was with all this!?
"Um, Your Highness, please don't be angry. Her Highness Reyne is under the effects of a Sweet Dream Curse from a succubus. These days, she's been pulled into strange dreams, which was why she didn't sleep on her way back at all. It wasn't easy for her to stay awake all this time."
A Sweet Dream Curse? What the heck was that?
"Inferno succubi have the natural talent to magnify a person's innermost desires. With a person's weakness, a succubus can cause their victims to sink into their desires and slowly fall into depravity; for example, a person in love with money would dream about taking a bath in a mountain of gold, a perverted person would dream about having countless beauties at his service, and as for Reyne... cough, Karwenz most likely left the curse behind so that she would have a tendency to follow her desires more often. This would cause her to fall more towards the Chaos side, and it would make his next descent more convenient."
Ok, fine then, as a demon noble, Elisa would naturally know plenty about the Chaos Abyss. When I heard all this, I laughed out loud with a look of delight on my face.
"That means Reyne's innermost desires are those types of things? That's what she secretly wants the most? My dark history of wearing female clothing? Treating me as some type of pervert with several strange fetishes? Hehehehehehehehehe! It seems that she definitely needs some correcting! No, just the Personality-Correcting Fist of Justice won't be enough—let's just brainwash her entirely and reconstruct her personality! At the very least, that dark history definitely can't be left behind!"
I was filled with smiles as I picked Reyne up and walked towards my room. It seemed that I would be rather busy today making preparations for the brainwashing forbidden spell...
"Her Highness Reyne is so pitiful; His Highness Roland must be so furious."
"His Highness Roland has turned into a darker version of himself; his smile is so scary..."
I suddenly recalled something as I turned around, flashing a smile at those officials.
"You guys didn't hear anything today, right? Or should I help you all forget?"
The both of them shook their heads nonstop in panic.
"I didn't hear anything!"
"I definitely didn't hear anything!"
Seeing those two young guys continuously shake their heads, I nodded in satisfaction. Compliance meant that they were obedient children; naughty children needed to be punished.
I chuckled as I glanced at Reyne, who was still in my arms.
"Where should I start from—oh right, I haven't played mud-wrestling or bungee jumping in so long, and the little dark room seems pretty good as well..."
However, a familiar sound of heavy footsteps along with the roaring of the wind caused me to react by helplessly closing my eyes.
*Boom!*
The wall that had just been fixed now had a huge hole in it, and by the side of this huge hole were another three newly-added human-shaped holes.
*Boom!*
Fine, I knew that these guys never knew how to use doors to begin with.
"Haha! You guys, come and catch me!"
"Stop running! Ah Dang is the oldest brother!"
This scene of siblings play-fighting before me was rather nostalgic. However, for the older brother dwarf wielding a stone pillar weighing a ton, smashing large holes everywhere, and the younger brother muscleman opening holes in the wall as he pleased—it was something I felt helpless about.
From a certain standpoint, they both possessed a very young mental age, and I could understand this type of "play" behavior, but if they involved me...
"No matter if it's Omar's brute strength or Ah Dang's huge stone pillar, I'd probably die instantly. Dying because of playing hide and seek with naughty children? That's just too scary to even imagine."
And so, I did my best to hide my presence with the full intention of leaving the scene secretly. But that was when I noticed that something was wrong.
"Wait a moment—where did Ah Dang get that stone pillar from? Why does it look so familiar, like I just saw it a moment ago?"
But when I recalled it in the next instant, it was already too late.
"Ahhh! Damned Ah Dang—that's the main pillar of this room!"
Okay then, the ceiling that was rapidly getting lower and the room that collapsed with a boom had already given me my answer.
"The Beastman King Amon Bloodaxe has died?"
In a way, this result was completely within my expectations. Before I lost consciousness, the situation had turned around and the beastmen from the high plains were once again forced into a dire situation.
They had acted as the other beastmen's reinforcements yet were completely blocked off by the Underground and undead armies, and when they discovered that even a True God was about to perish and that the human reinforcements were getting stronger and stronger, the beastmen from the plains, who had suffered a bitter defeat one year earlier, wisely chose to retreat.
When the Plains Beastmen Leader Karodian retreated together with all the beastmen tribes of the plains, the fortunate survivors among the plateau beastmen from that long bloody night discovered, to their astonishment, that they had actually lost all of their allies, while, unbeknownst to them, their opponents' strength had multiplied by several folds.
"We definitely can't allow Felix to die here! Otherwise, we'll all die!"
Even the seemingly undefeatable True God was now in such peril after descending, so the remaining beastmen were all forced back to the battlefield. They knew that the deep grudges held against them by the other species could never be paid back except in blood. When faced with the humans of the Northlands, the Xiluo undead, the grayblood elves, and the allied Underground armies, they had zero chance of victory.
They were trying to avoid unnecessary losses since the very start, and they had retreated to the outside of Felix's Divine Domain. When they finally started moving to help save Felix, they first had to deal with the interference of the allied armies of the Underground the undead.
Moreover, the reinforcements of Xiluo and the Underground were all fresh armies that were well prepared for battle—it was only natural that the beastmen's attempts at helping Felix were blocked. And when Felix had finally been pushed to the brink and had perished, part of the beastmen had chosen to put down their weapons and surrender, while Amon Bloodaxe and the few remaining beastmen tribe leaders had unhesitatingly chose to fight to the death.
They were aware of the fact that as the perpetrators of this invasion and the primary warmongers behind it all, they would definitely be executed if they failed in battle. In that case, they preferred to "gloriously" die in battle rather than be humiliatingly hung in public.
And that was how Amon's head became the trophy of some young soldier, and the beastmen army, which had been in such a fervor, finally ended up annihilated, with all the remaining beastmen either dead or having surrendered.
With Amon Bloodaxe's huge tribal flag finally fallen, the largest southern beastmen invasion in more than two hundred years had finally officially failed. Even if the humans didn't go exterminate the plateau beastmen completely, they would need at least one or two hundred years to recover their strength. Perhaps they had zero hope left in this Holy War, since without a Guardian God, they would only grow weaker.
And to tell the truth, the beastmen weren't the only species that suffered massive losses, nor were they the ones who lost the most.
The biggest losers were the dark elves that basically had no relations originally to the beastmen.
For the past several thousand years, Lorci had been leading the dark elves in surviving in the Underground, and their worldview, which used to be the same as the upper-ranked elves of the elven empire, had long since been distorted beyond recognition. Everything in the dark elves' society, from their culture, and religion to their social structure and atmosphere had been branded with Lorci's personal influence. It could be said that most dark elves were basically the personal property of Lorci.
Just like how the humans aboveground couldn't imagine life without the sun, the dark elves were utterly unable to imagine life without Lorci.
However, now that Lorci was dead, Lorci's priests and matriarchs that were at the top of dark elf society all suffered heavily in a single night. They either simply died on the spot or went insane, with the best result being a loss of all their power.
In the cruel dark elf world, weakness was the greatest sin, and since the weakest were those Lorci priests and matriarchs who were originally at the top, there was nothing but an even more pitiful end waiting for them.
In a single night, when Lorci's death was proven by the loss of power of all her priests, 90% of the underground cities within Lorci's domain fell into riots; the entire dark elf society sunk into chaos.
And the most dangerous part of it all wasn't simply the rioting society. Lorci had always been the highest and most venerated existence for the majority of dark elves, and her will was what this entire species strove to imitate and follow as law—families would slaughter each other all for the Spider Queen's favor. The entire dark elf species had been living for Lorci's personal benefit.
Yet now she ended up perishing. For the dark elves that viewed her as all-important, this was no different than the collapsing of the sky. The empty hole left by their former belief system's break down was the true trouble for them.
The collapse of their belief system gave rise to fearless criminals, while others chose to commit suicide. Most of them, however, instinctively went searching for a new existence to replace Lorci. In a single night, countless new belief systems of Gods, false Gods, and Evil Gods alike appeared, and several existences that had the potential to ascend to Godhood all locked their eyes on targeting the Divine Obligation that Lorci left behind.
Cough, actually, the Law God Wumianzhe moved rather quickly, and the silver-masked enforcers of justice were efficiently recovering order in each underground elven city at high speed. Of course, there was plenty of military might from Sulfur Mountain City involved. At the very least, the Red Hunting Hounds that had left the Underground were very effective at this.
If the current situation had been allowed to develop, before a new dark elf True God could be born, the entire species would probably collapse on itself and be swallowed by various factions. Of course, the one who would get the greatest slice would definitely be the most powerful person of the Underground—Annie. At the very least, the Church of Law that helped recover order in each city and bring judgement upon criminals and rioters was already becoming more and more welcomed by the dark elves. Perhaps, before long, the new order in the dark elf society would astonish the world.
It wasn't that the other True Gods didn't want to interfere, but this had been a battle between the dark elf Gods and the Law God in a way, and now the victor Wumianzhe was claiming the spoils of victory. Of course the other True Gods were unable to interfere.
In just half a month, not only did Wumianzhe recover the divine power he had used for the God's Descent, but due to the rapid expansion of his believer base and the Law God's area of influence, Wumianzhe even began the path of promoting in rank. If, through all this, he could successfully overtake Lorci's entire territory, then he might even end up as a Middle God like Lorci.
In fact, Wumianzhe was even beginning to consider setting up a follower God just like Lorci had done with Felix, in order to take over the Divine Obligation of Guardian God of the Dark Elves.
If this were a peaceful era, the path from a potential God to a Low God to a Middle God would be an incredibly difficult path.
A True God would typically require several thousand years of accumulated guardianship to increase in rank, but this was the time of the Holy War, which was a great opportunity for the True Gods. In every Holy War, there would be countless new Gods arising and old Gods dying. It no longer mattered who was doing good; the one who could laugh in the end would be the true victor.
I gave all the mundane tasks of the Church of Law over to Xueti and Lilith with the intention of doing zero management of it myself, but since "Roland" had successfully pulled off a God's Descent—and didn't even die because of it—I was now solidly viewed as a divine messenger, and all the members of the Church of Law now viewed me with fervor in their eyes, causing me to recall the past from Wumianzhe's generation.
But right now, I didn't have time to pay attention to any of these things, as a bigger trouble was already in front of me.
"Cough—today, the main point of our discussion is about saving the northern elves. Right now, they're suffering from continuous natural calamities, with constant hailstorms and blizzards, and I heard they even had an ice hurricane a few days ago. Not to mention that they lack food and clothing for winter, and there's even a few crazed dark elves rioting there. If we just sit on our hands and ignore the situation, then the northern elves will likely go extinct."
However, nothing but silence greeted my words.
It was obvious that every country's leaders and generals significantly lacked interest in this topic. After all, each country had suffered many losses in this battle, and the elves were constantly changing sides—they were on the enemies' side for most of the time. Many people here had grudges against them. It was only natural that they wouldn't be willing to help save the elves now.
I chuckled at seeing this situation.
"Alright, if you guys won't help them, I will."
Hearing this, the leaders all had expressions of surprise. This time, the Sleuweir Kingdom should have the biggest grudge against the elves out of anyone, which meant my People of the Mist. Even though, I had a good reputation on the surface, everyone knew that in truth I was depicted just like an Armageddon-bringing demon king. I definitely didn't seem the type who would have no personal considerations and repay evil with kindness.
"Yep, I've had my eyes on Tassel City for a long time now. Their library, which has been maintained for over ten thousand years, has countless elven empire magical tomes and priceless artwork that shouldn't be lost to this calamity."
My explanation caused everyone to instantly understand. I wasn't going there to save the elves—I was basically going there to steal the elves' belongings, just like a looter.
However, many were thinking that I could have done all this in secret—why did I tell them about it? Just what was this living legend thinking and planning on doing? And why did he bring this topic up right here and now?
There was a moment of silence in the conference room. The only sound was the tapping of my index finger.
"The Holy War has already begun, and the entire continent will soon be dragged into it. There were many fortunate factors involved in us managing to deal with the first battle, but the next time may not involve a True God's descent. We need many external reinforcements to help us, so to deal with the ongoing Holy War, I intend to create an alliance in the Northlands—the Mist Alliance."
"First, the Mist Alliance will follow the principles of non-aggression. We will never be the first to declare war or start a battle with the intention of invading others' territory, and we will follow the Church of Law and Wumianzhe, the Guardian God of the Northlands. Nobody here needs to worry that this Mist Alliance will be a threat to any of your countries. Under the conditions of the alliance, each country has their own independent rights and won't be allowed to interfere in other countries' internal politics—this shall be the foundation."
"Also, as per Wumianzhe's Church of Law, unless someone commits a crime, each race in and of itself is guiltless and non-evil, which is why this Mist Alliance won't limit the races and countries that can enter. As far as I know, some remnants from Xiluo, some Underground residents that prefer the sun, the half-beastmen from the Shawen Free States, the Barbarian Tribes Alliance, the Eastern Mist Communal Country, and the Sleuweir Kingdom have all already applied to join the Mist Alliance."
Hearing this, all those present were incredibly shocked. This was not even at the level of out-of-the-ordinary anymore—to hook up with so many non-human species, it wouldn't surprise any of them if the Gods descend and call for the following battle of the Holy War on the very next day.
But if this Mist Alliance could truly be built...
Each of them couldn't help but shiver when they imagined it. Perhaps, if it really could happen, with so many powerful factions allying together, the entire Northlands would be under their solid grasp. Wumianzhe would truly become the Guardian God of the Northlands.
Without a doubt, the Mist Alliance was a military and political megaton bomb for them, and each of them felt they had to seriously consider the effects of its creation.
From a certain perspective, this Holy War had also acted as a melting pot, with many races that bore grudges against each other finally having communication and learning more about each other. It helped this gigantic alliance begin its path to realization.
"This doesn't seem appropriate—what about the Holy Church..."
"Hehe." I chuckled when I heard this, before I continued my explanation with a serious expression.
"Marquess Ash of the Rhodes Kingdom, have you still not recognized the situation? It's already the time of the Holy War, and we 'northern barbarians' can't rely on anyone else. If we don't help warm each other, then how else will we survive this bitter winter?"
Marquess Ash still seemed like he wanted to say something, but I shook my head.
"I know what you want to say. Relax. Soon, when the fires of battle appear across the lands, the Holy Church won't even be able to deal with their own affairs. Besides, this is also the will of Wumianzhe. As a True God on the Order side, do you really think that he would do anything heretical? We're only pitiful people trying to help each other stay warm, and the Mist Alliance will definitely never invade anyone else first. But are we northerners supposed to not even have the right to survive in peace?"
After some hesitation, Marquess Ash finally decided to not say anything, but, for me, this was just the beginning.
"The only legal successor of the Tassel Kingdom, Princess Suana, has also applied to join the Mist Alliance. After we help save the elves, perhaps the northern elves will also become part of the Mist Alliance."
All the generals sitting here in the conference room were shocked at my words. I said it quite frankly that it was obvious I intended to take over the entire elven species, and they were astonished at my ambition.
"Which is why I hope each country present here can consider joining this Mist Alliance and help save the elves. I shall open up channels to share technology among all the member countries of the Mist Alliance, including the magic swordcasters and floating airships from the last battle. This time, each elven kingdom suffered calamitous damage, and all their main military forces were annihilated, so perhaps there might not even be a northern elf kingdom in the future. It's not that bad of an idea for the elves to simply live as citizens of various countries, is it?"
Benefits were the most practical method of political discussions between countries. The allure of the Mist Kingdom's newest technology coupled with the generations-old esoteric elven secrets proved to be exceedingly difficult to withstand. There would be no second chance for them if they missed this opportunity. Without a doubt, this invitation was the most effective type of bait. I turned around to leave right after saying this.
I had already finished what I had to say, and if I didn't do a good job in helping save the elves, Suana would haunt me again in the middle of the night.
And, as my most trusted right-hand sub-commander, Elisa was already patiently waiting at the door for me.
"Aren't you afraid that you're forcing them too much, and that they'll struggle with all their might?"
"Relax, nobody here is an idiot. With the Holy War having begun, those mega-level empires won't have any time to pay attention to this area. If small countries want to survive, now's the golden time for them to be carried on someone else's back. And this time, the back that I showed them looks so comforting and reliable—once they think through this situation, they'll be jumping on me in droves."
"Sexual harassment..." Elisa adjusted her glasses and changed the topic in a rather strange direction.
But a servant suddenly walked past me and handed me a slip of paper with a note written on it.
"In two hours, I hope to have a private meeting with you. — Ash Jundor."
"Haha, see, the first person that wants to be carried by me is already here."
1. For those that read Asian novels and still don't know yet, "lily" is a reference to girl x girl love in Asian culture.
2. We're going to be using Lilith instead of Lily (the Lily from Sulphur Mountain City, for those who don't remember!).
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Chapter 198: The Continuation of Sleeping Beauty
Actually, I had been thinking about creating the Mist Alliance for a long time already.
It would be an alliance with a mutual goal, and each country would worship the Law God. Each state would have a similar legal system and would obey the premise of non-aggression to create a relatively peaceful area in the Northlands.
Yes, it would only be an alliance, not some legendary kingdom and definitely not an empire. I had no intention of reigning over others and declaring myself emperor in the borderlands or anything like that. In fact, I didn't even intend to be the leader of any faction.
"I want to reduce the scale of this Holy War and the death it will cause as much as possible. I want to gather more power and be able to survive this dangerous war."
My primary goal had never changed, and after all this perseverance, I seemed to have begun getting results.
First, one of the most important members of the foundation, Wumianzhe, increased in strength.
While this may not seem like a big deal, in my plan to break the cycle of reincarnation, unless Wumianzhe reached the level of a Main God of Order, the rest of my plans would be nothing but empty words. Only making this "boss behind my back" become stronger could help me survive at least a single blow from any veteran God who decided they didn't like me.
In a way, Wumianzhe was the true victor of this battle. He obtained his own Hall of Valhalla and Cycle of Reincarnation, as well as the Northlands. From now on, he had his own territory, and he was no longer considered to be among the ranks of the third-rate Gods, false Gods, and Evil Gods.
Currently, Wumianzhe was leveling up from a Low God to a Middle God. His Divine Obligation included Law, Contracts, and the Guardianship of the Northlands, but he still hadn't yet obtained a complete Divine Obligation. The Concepts of Law and Contracts were both new to this world, and contracts had only begun to popularize themselves in Auland. Although I felt that Contracts had endless potential, there were too few users and believers, so Wumianzhe hadn't received enough power from this source yet. It was still merely a potential source of power in the future.
And while the power of the law had even greater potential, Sulfur Mountain City was still the place where it was most popular. About the entire city was filled with believers, and this was only the result of me working hard for more than a century. While there were now quite a few believers in the Underground, as well as the small Eastern Mist Communal Country, the time had still been too short. Most believers were rather shallow in their beliefs and only understood the surface of the concept of law, so they couldn't provide much faith power to Wumianzhe.
But the Guardian God of the Northlands was something else entirely. As long as the Guardian God protected this species and this area, even non-believers would be protected by him.
Those various prayers mixed with gratitude could also give Wumianzhe a large amount of faith power, and this time, Wumianzhe even personally performed a God's Descent. This divine miracle that everyone could see was far more convincing than anything else. Perhaps the miracle of the Northlands' Guardian God's descent would soon be known by everyone in the entire Northlands, and the other northern countries would support the Church of Law and provide additional faith for Wumianzhe in two different Divine Obligation areas—Guardianship and Law).
To almost reach the rank of a Middle God in less than two years after becoming a God was unbelievable. This sides of both Order and Chaos were probably paying attention to Wumianzhe now.
But...
"Being at the center of attention means either becoming cannon fodder or getting slapped to death in a single strike—it's obviously not a good thing. It seems that it's time to lay low for the time being."
I definitely wasn't hoping for the appreciation of the veteran Order Gods, with their "praise" like "with great power comes great responsibilities"—I would be sent to the front lines as mere cannon fodder. And nor did I wish for the Chaos side to treat me as a thorn in their side to be removed early on.
"Since the battling here has stopped already, then we should be able to have a few days of peace. Heh, it's time to let loose and relax a little."
Thinking about this, I couldn't help but smile. All this tiring fighting was in order to have a peaceful, flourishing place where everyone could live happily after all. However, thinking about what I was worried about earlier changed my smile of satisfaction into a helpless wry smile.
"...I'm developing too fast. Even if Ayer is protecting me, I still need to be careful. It's easy for a Main God to protect a Low God who doesn't even have his own territory since there basically won't be any clash of personal interests, but now, Wumianzhe intends to take over the entire Northlands, which basically means becoming independent."
"Speedy development without a solid foundation will definitely make others red-eyed with jealousy. Those True Gods of Order may not be all that powerful in a direct confrontation, but they're experts at underhanded plots and backstabbing. After all, they just had over two thousand years of internal conflict, and quite a few of their veterans died without even knowing what hit them."
"...But the non-aggression principle is an excellent excuse. Since we will never be the first to declare battle against anyone, it's, of course, impossible for us to become cannon fodder. Then, unless an enemy comes to us... Yep, right now, we should focus on improving our defense, and we shouldn't blindly focus on increasing our territory, which will give the other True Gods and major countries an excuse—at least until the arrival of the Undead Calamity. The Mist Alliance countries will be limited only to the Northlands countries; this should at least make the mega-level human empires less concerned."
Of course, I knew that it was impossible to make a tiger change its diet and become a vegetarian. I knew that, at the very least, Auland and San Antonio had had their eyes on the Northlands long since, but as long as I succeeded in stalling them for a few years, they would probably no longer have the time to think about us anymore.
"So, the next catastrophe will be the Undead Calamity? I wonder if it will happen earlier or later."
The internal strife of the Xiluo Empire had never resolved their foundational problem. The Undead Lords that had escaped to the Undead Plane would definitely affect the Undead Emperors there. As long as the Undead Emperors still wanted to return to the mortal plane, with the increase in the Elemental Tide, the Undead Plane's invasion was likely inevitable.
The only part where I could relax a little about was that the Undead Calamity was unlikely to focus on the Northlands since the land here was wide with the people sparse. It definitely wouldn't be as attractive to the Undead Emperors as the densely populated human centers in the middle of the continent. If I was the commander of the undead army, my first target would be to ambush the San Antonio Empire and the Bardi Empire, and I would conquer the cities that had the highest populations immediately in order to cast Undead Calamity and Death Plague—cough—cough—I accidentally got carried away; problem of occupation.
But I was confident of my own expert-level prediction since I had been an Undead Emperor in the past as well, and my prediction was the same as past undead invasions in history. If the undead army wanted to become stronger, it was necessary to snowball their source of undead soldiers as much as possible, which meant that they had to first conquer those major countries with long histories and resurrect their graveyards' strongest legendary heroes as the undead army's main forces. They would have to use the commoners' skeletons as cannon fodder and create countless amounts of new soldiers from battles—whoops, I accidentally got too excited again.
"When the undead truly begins their invasion, probably the undead under my command will be viewed in a different light as well. Perhaps I should create a preemptive mood and change their brand, giving them a new name and a new organization so that at least people know they aren't those crazed, bloodthirsty undead."
Imperceptibly, the undead under my command kept increasing, with the remnants from Xiluo that Omar had brought back, my Red Hunting Hounds squad, and the undead originally present in Sulfur Mountain City.
"Anubis Squad? It seems that this world doesn't have a dog-headed God by this name, although it's regrettable for dog-head lovers, I'm going to have to reject this name."
"The Forgotten? This sounds plagiarized, and I'll probably have to constantly explain what was forgotten. Rejected."
"Undead Rock and Roll? Something strange seems to have gotten mixed up in here. Rejected."
"Guards of Hell? This sounds pretty nice, although it does seem a bit ostentatious. I still feel like it's lacking something. How about I combine it with my previous idea—Dog-Headed Guards of Hell, yep, this sounds harmonious and interesting! And we can use Bastian's face as the emblem, and even give him a dog-head helmet! Ahh, I like it more and more already—I'm a genius at naming!"
I was getting delighted and was talking to myself with a constantly increasing volume.
"My lord, please don't, otherwise Bastian and everyone will cry..."
The familiar confused voice belonged to the silver-masked Lilith Milan who appeared before me. Earlier, she had been in charge of work at Diffindor, but after the battle, she had returned here as well.
Just like how a certain naked tauren had exposed his own identity in the Shawen Free States where no other tauren lived, my identity was known by the people who knew me originally. Of course, some things were better left unsaid, with no need to directly ask, but I figured that the Four Heavenly Kings of Law probably knew my identity already as well.
Currently, however, Lilith wasn't in the mood to reminisce about the past. It was, of course, a joyous occasion for an old friend to meet an old boss, but hearing such words right from the start, which might end up with all the future Northlands undead having the nickname of "dog-heads," was something not joyous at all.
And according to her understanding of Roland, if this "dog-head" title was finalized, it would probably be incredibly difficult to get it changed.
Yet just voicing her opposition wasn't enough, so Lilith could only rack her brains and try to come up with a better name.
"...How about 'The Guiltless.' It indicates their foundational differences from normal undead as well as represents how they choose to stand under the protection of the Law God and that they're guiltless citizens who choose to obey the law."
I was hesitating whether or not to accept her idea.
Yep, I was just "simply" considering the advantages and disadvantages of these names from a "logical" standpoint. It definitely wasn't because I felt that a dog-head emblem seemed really cool, and nor was it because I thought that seeing an undead army all wearing dog-head helmets would be really funny—I definitely wasn't biased at all!
Lilith seemed to discover I was hesitating and mulled it over before apparently coming to an epiphany as she added another few sentences.
"Even if you call them The Guiltless, they can still use a dog-head emblem and the dog-head helmets. We can even make Bastian into their entire species' mascot! As the leader of the Red Hunting Hounds squad, he should be delighted."
"Okay, nice idea! That's what it'll be then!"
Lilith mentally apologized to Bastian who was about to become a mascot as she inwardly heaving a sigh of relief. After all, in a way, she herself would also be a member of The Guiltless. As a female who loved beauty, it would be too difficult for her to be called something like a dog-head.
But right when she was starting to relax, she heard a nostalgic name.
"Fina!? Isn't this my cute little Fina?"
Amelia actually ran over here with an expression filled with surprise and joy, waving her hand as she rushed to us. It was quite rare to see her so happy, as her typical expression was grim and dark.
However, Lilith's expression rapidly flickered between surprise, disbelief, anger, and helplessness. After having known her for so long, this was the first time I discovered that she had such acting talent with the many different expressions she could pull off.
"You guys know each other? Fina? Lilith, is this your real name?"
I recalled that Lilith had come to Sulfur Mountain City by herself. Every Blood Tribe member with no family would likely have some unpleasant memories, so abandoning her original name would be perfectly normal.
"My lord, there's no Fina Milan here, only Lilith Milan."
All of Lilith's emotions finally quieted down as she spoke with only a calm expression, while Amelia still retained her expression of surprise and delight as she hugged Lilith.
"Fina, just where did you run off to? I've been looking for you all this time."
"Aunt Amelia, please don't call me Fina anymore. I am Lilith. Lilith Milan. Fina Milan disappeared from this world a long time ago."
"Stop being so silly! No matter what, you used to be the female emperor of the Bardi Empire, my cutest and youngest niece..."
I discovered for the first time that actually both of them had the surname of Milan, and they actually resembled each other in physical appearance. It seemed they were relatives. And so, I pulled over a chair, sat down, did my best to erase my presence, and prepared to watch a good show.
And through their words of astonishment, I rapidly figured out the incredibly tangled relationship between the two of them. Well, it was tangled because of how Lilith viewed Amelia—Amelia was simply happy to see her youngest niece who she hadn't seen in so many years.
And the story of their past was truly extraordinary.
"That ridiculous Sleeping Beauty story actually has a continuation in this world?"
Yes, Amelia was the evil witch in the story, and the Lilith Milan before me was the female lead of that very Sleeping Beauty story that ruined my childhood, Fina Milan!
"Fi—okay, Lilith. Relax, your aunt has already championed your cause. I tossed that ungrateful fickle man into a special plant garden, and he probably turned into fertilizer long ago. Sigh, I thought that since the corpse-loving prince wouldn't be interested in normal women, he definitely wouldn't be a playboy or a liar and at least be a good person. It's all your aunt's fault for not seeing through him. Hmph, Lilith, now you'll believe me, won't you? Your aunt is absolutely correct! There's not a single good man in this world!"
Fine, she even viciously glared at me while saying this for no apparent reason. I'm innocent! I swear!
At the very least, I was able to get a clear view of the picture through their discussion.
So, the true story of Sleeping Beauty wasn't all that romantic at all. The prince from another country, who was actually a necrophile, woke up the Sleeping Beauty, and the willful witch's curse was broken. However, the following developments weren't like a fairy tale at all.
When Lilith's father, the king, saw his daughter wake up, he was incredibly overjoyed, and he even believed this to be something like a legendary "kiss of true love." He delightedly deluded himself into believing that his daughter had discovered her true love, so he betrothed Lilith, who was still confused and didn't know what was going on, to that prince. Since that prince from another country wasn't in the line to directly inherit the throne in his country, he unhesitatingly agreed to marry the Bardi Emperor's only daughter, who would be the future empress herself.
The following was where the story completely derailed from the usual plot of a fairy tale. The prince, who had a rather unique personality, had no interest whatsoever in his newlywed wife, and instead spent all his time in the graveyards, until finally the prince, who had studied undead magic before, decided to turn his wife into what he loved the most. And so, he used the curse of the Blood Tribe on her, turning Lilith into a living corpse, and he also tried to use evil necromancy magic to enslave her.
But he didn't expect that Princess Lilith was also an excellent swordswoman, which coincidentally helped her to transform into a Blood Tribe noble who maintained her intelligence.
And so, in the royal palace, the two of them had a fierce battle, until the Bardi Empire's Holy Knights and priests arrived in time and exorcised the "evil queen emperor who bathed herself in evil magic in order to remain forever young." In the end, the scandal was hushed up, and that prince became the emperor.
But, according to Amelia's story, he didn't get to be emperor for very long, because the furious witch discovered this plot when she returned to visit her relatives and finally transformed the prince into fertilizer for her garden. Evil was punished and justice was served; it was a classic fairy tale with a happy ending. Congratulations, my condolences, congratulations...
"To hell with your congratulations! No matter how you look at it, this is all your fault, Roland!"
"What!?"
I took yet another unexpected blow. I obviously had no connection to this story whatsoever; back then during the time it took place, I was busy searching the world for clues for my revenge. How could I possibly have anything to do with it?
"If it weren't for your betrayal, causing me to lose trust in men, how could I possibly set such a strict test in order to assess Lilith's future husband? And in the end, such a pervert was the one who passed, harming Lilith to be befallen with such a terrible fate! In the end, all of this is your fault!"
I was instantly rendered speechless. It wasn't that I was unable to retort; I was angered to the point of not knowing what to say.
"Even this can be counted as my fault? Then I might as well be the root of all evil!"
"Aunt Amelia, there's no need to blame Lord Roland. I just had a tough life. Heh, I'm over it now; men are all ugly and untrustworthy. I only like women now. The me from that time was so foolish."
Okay then, so the legendary rumor that some people could change their sexual orientation after meeting with a huge romantic setback is true after all!
But when Amelia heard her niece declare that she was now a lesbian, she took two steps back, and her face paled. It seemed that she must have been a lot purer on the inside than what she appeared on the outside.
But I immediately discovered that I was wrong in my understanding, as Amelia actually started bawling out loudly.
"Waahhh! My poor little Fina, it's all your aunt's fault. Even if that bastard is dead already, your aunt will definitely find that bastard's undead teacher for you—waahhh—it's all that bastard teacher's fault, saying something like 'Don't mind what others think of you, and work your hardest at seeking true love. If the one you love doesn't meet your standards, you can try using your own way to change her and accept her.' That undead mage teacher, who didn't take any responsibility for teaching as he pleased, is the true culprit!"
Hearing her angry roar, I instantly dropped all the snacks I was eating onto the ground. Why did this phrase sound so modern and so familiar? It sounded exactly like a sentence I read in a Chicken Soup for the Soul on Earth. Could it be that it was popular in this world as well?
"A prince? Back then, in order to obtain more information for my revenge, I did take in several disciples from powerful families, including Suana's father, and I think there was a person from Som. Could he have been..."
"Eh? Roland told me this exact phrase before as well; he was encouraging me to follow my heart and seek true love, which was how I worked up my courage and determination and started discarding my bias in order to find my new happiness. Is this a popular phrase? Was it said by someone famous?"
Lilith's expression was filled with surprise, but Amelia had her head lowered as she mumbled, "I knew it, I knew it, only he—" She suddenly turned around and started laughing insanely at me.
"Heh! It was indeed 'said by someone famous,' but soon, it'll become the 'crazed words of a dead man!' As expected, you're the only person who could possibly be the culprit behind it all!"
There was a bestial look in her blood-red eyes, and her green hair was growing at a furious pace. Her killing intent and anger were exploding to the point where even the ground was trembling from her frightening power.
"I knew those so-called logical seeming Chicken Soup for the Soul books were completely unreliable! Following its advice can only lead to problems! Ahh! Amelia, don't hit my face! I still have to go to a conference in a bit!"
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The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich/The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich - Chapter 101-200/The-Experimental-Log-of-the-Crazy-Lich-Chapter-101-200-[Gravity-Tales][Hasseno]/Section0199.txt
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Chapter 199: Descendant
The Mist Alliance. With the birth of this new faction, some things needed to be settled.
And this was designating tactical combat areas and dividing the land of the Mist Alliance into several districts. If this wasn't drawn up immediately, there would probably be endless internal squabbles about it.
The first to be decided was the location of the headquarters, or perhaps I should call it the capital.
There were quite a few choices. Diffindor and Antuen were both excellent candidates.
The former was the Law God Wumianzhe's holy ground, the Crimeless Capital. It was also very appropriate for the Law God's special characteristics, and it could definitely serve as the new capital. At the very least, if it was chosen as the capital, I wouldn't have to worry about the citizens' popular support or how to defend the place.
"Just try attacking the Law God's holy ground. There will be ability users in Law classes awaiting you with powers magnified by several folds, and perhaps even Wumianzhe himself will descend to the mortal plane and deal with you."
If Diffindor was the capital, it would be almost impossible for others to attack it, which was quite attractive. Especially from a personal standpoint—I also hoped that Diffindor would be able to rapidly rebuild itself with the Mist Alliance's resources and become the glorious northern city it was in the past, but obviously Diffindor wasn't the best choice for a capital.
As for the latter choice, Antuen—it was the largest city in the entire Northlands. Business and engineering were both highly developed here, and thanks to a certain person's surrender, this city was mostly spared from the fires of war. Relatively little investment would help this city flourish again.
With our rise in political status, this long-famed business capital would surely improve, using its already well-oiled merchant and business trade systems. Add the no-tariff policy between the Mist Alliance member countries and Antuen would likely become a business metropolis in the future.
Even though there were many advantages to these two locations, in the end, I could only helplessly abandon both cities as options for becoming the capital of the Mist Alliance. I ended up choosing Red Maple City.
Yep, I chose this ruined city that was nothing but devastated rubbish. This was originally only a second-tier city in the Sleuweir Kingdom to begin with, with its most famous site being the Battle History Museum. After this battle, perhaps the Battle History Museum would vastly improve its collection.
After over two months of fighting plus the cruel guerilla warfare that had taken place within the city itself, with even two Gods descending upon this place, calling this city devastated rubbish was already praising it. Making this location into the capital was basically no different to creating a capital on empty land, but in the end, I still chose Red Maple City.
Why? This was the only appropriate location.
Even though the Mist Alliance would, of course, have the People of the Mist at the center, its final goal was to create a non-aggression alliance involving numerous species and many countries. If I chose Antuen or Diffindor as the capital, which was either the Eastern Mist Communal Country's or Sleuweir Kingdom's capital to begin with, it would seem too politically biased.
This would only result in the other countries having reservations about joining the Mist Alliance, and it wouldn't be helpful for the People of the Mist and the other species to live among each other with equality. And so, I could only abandon these two oh-so-tempting choices as a capital city.
Politically speaking, choosing this main battlefield location in the Northlands, where various races and various countries allied together to resist against the invaders, would at least give those who participated in battle a sense of intimacy about the place.
Perhaps it would even give the other countries the impression that the Mist Alliance would exist as a separate entity, and that there wouldn't be too much backlash against joining the Mist Alliance. Accomplishing that would be my greatest political victory.
Of course, since Sleuweir Kingdom and Eastern Mist Communal Country with the People of the Mist constituted the foundation of the Mist Alliance, it was, of course, impossible for the other countries to gain a complete independence, but at the very least it had to appear so on the surface.
However, even if I set Red Maple City as the capital, I wouldn't abandon Antuen and Diffindor. Diffindor, which was almost impossible to attack, may be relatively out of the way and poorer, but it could definitely become a logistical as well as military and technology center. And, its special status as the Crimeless City would help it become the headquarters of the Church of Law as well as act like Sulfur Mountain City in the past and create an example of a place where many races could live together in peace, attracting more believers to the Church of Law.
As for Sleuweir's Antuen, just letting it continue to develop as a business center was plenty. Of course, I still had a series of plans, but I'll talk about those some other time.
From the current development of Diffindor in the south, Red Maple City in the center, and Antuen in the north, I could already expect that they would become three major cities of the lifeline of the Mist Alliance. In fact, I was even beginning to consider creating scheduled floating airship transports between each city, since these three locations would be the first to become the People of the Mist's dreamland. The already destroyed Mist Kingdom was beginning to revive itself in this way.
Of course, ideas were beautiful but reality was always cruel. My plan was for ten years later, and the current Red Maple City before me was nothing but a pile of rubble.
Today, while the entire city was still bathed in the afterglow of joy from victory, in a certain three-story building that remained standing in Red Maple City, there were guards and hidden sentries posted everywhere. They were only three to five steps away from each other, and this building was heavily guarded.
This used to be a place that Red Maple City had given the Eastern Mist People to live, but now, it was given over to Olive, Dimlet, Amelia, and the other skilled technicians as a logistical and research base.
Intermittent explosions and sounds of agony kept sounding out from this place along with even the occasional large fire or mushroom cloud, and this why most citizens treated this place like the plague and didn't dare approach it, even though it was relatively peaceful now after the battle.
There was a reason for the current heavy guard on this place. An incredibly significant surgery was occurring, and all the characters involved were very important. No accidents would be permitted.
And since Amelia was the surgeon, it wouldn't be wrong to describe this as an experiment, either.
The large and spacious room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
There were no unnecessary people in this empty room. Even if this surgery's difficulty level was rather high, Amelia still trusted her own trained tentacle vine assistants rather than newbie assistants that would make many mistakes.
This was a classic witch's room, with voodoo dolls, scarecrows, live lizards in glass jars, various strange drawings that made people think of vicious magical curses, and of course, it had a huge medicinal cauldron, which was basically the hallmark of a witch.
Strange magical runes were etched onto that pitch-black cauldron, and the thick black liquid within it emanated a revolting stench that was almost impossible to withstand.
The things floating on top were even more disgusting; there were dead cats, some dark-green herbs, a strange assortment of gems, and living plants that were still shrieking in agony. Perhaps not a single person in this world would want to drink a single sip of this broth.
At the current moment, Amelia, who was all raring to go, wasn't using her typical tools. She was instead using a precision saw to saw away at some mysterious unidentifiable green creature.
"Hah! I finally finished it."
Amelia breathed a sigh of relief as she put down the precision saw; she had finally managed to slice off a bloody hunk of light-green flesh. She then immediately proceeded to toss that piece of flesh, which was still bleeding green blood, straight into the cauldron, causing a green mist to arise. A potted plant sitting close by the cauldron instantly withered to death.
"Hey, this isn't right. Isn't this clearly some toxic poison? Hey, Amelia, just what are you intending to do? Didn't I ask you for a surgery—what are you doing here creating a toxic poison?"
As the person currently undergoing this surgery, I felt endlessly regret for my decision. However, I had been injected with a large amount of numbing medicine and had a paralysis spell, with the strength to paralyze even a winter wolf, cast on me. I couldn't feel anything at all below my neck.
That was why even though I felt that something was off about Amelia's actions, I could only lie on the bed and not move even an inch. I was only able to shout at the top of my lungs, full of regret.
"I should have gone to find Margaret. Damn it, where did they run off to now? Hey, Amelia, how could these things possibly have anything to do with the surgery I requested? You surely don't intend to take revenge on me with this opportunity, do you?"
When I saw how the witch was foolishly grinning as she used that saw to stir the contents of the cauldron, my suspicions were stoked even further. After all, I seriously infuriated Amelia and Lily not too long ago.
After the matter, I had immediately apologized as sincerely as I could, and I even wrote a three-hundred-page essay on why that perverted prince's actions had no connection to me whatsoever, but sometimes women wouldn't see anything in their rage and would only look at the result they desired. At times like these, talking reason would actually be illogical.
But I was still in a better situation than someone else, since, at the very least, I could move my head after being numbed and paralyzed. The other person to receive this surgery was laying by my side, and she couldn't even move her head.
Clint (Glina) was chained and tied up tightly. Her always fearless eyes were now filled with terror, and sounds of whining could be heard from her tightly gagged mouth. Even though she was struggling, I knew that she definitely wouldn't be able to break free. Why did I know? Because I was the one who tied her up...
Cough, I did it at the time just to prevent her from escaping, which was why I used special tying techniques and an especially strong rope. Who knew that I would soon be in the same situation? By the way, even though this method of tying was supposed to be the best way to accentuate the breasts, she was still just as flat as always.
"Uuuu!"
Her face was filled with rage as she seemed to detect the regret and pity in my eyes, but right after that she suddenly began to blink rapidly. Judging from how she pointed her gaze somewhere down on her body, she seemed to want me to look there as well, but just a single look startled me greatly.
"You want me to look below your waist? Hmm? What are you lifting up? A red wire—you actually put explosives there! You're not afraid of exploding yourself to death?"
As expected of a natural-born explosives maniac. Under her long lace skirt, an array of yellow explosives was actually tied to her snow-white legs. A veritable armory of dangerous explosives lay under her skirt.
As the queen of a country, Glina was rather outlandish in her own way. She still spent most of her energy in her favorite hobby—creating new explosives.
However, the maids and officials in the palace wouldn't allow the queen to play with explosives every day, but she would never listen to reason as she lacked a feeling of safety without explosives. This was why she decided to simply hide the explosives in an obvious location; nobody would, of course, dare touch her.
"You mean I should pull the wire and activate the small bomb? Explode through the ropes?"
Glina nodded continuously. She was trying her utmost to lift her skirt, and she kept staring at the smallest explosive tied to her body, which was the explosive with only a tiny amount of power—perfect for this situation.
"Three mandrake grasses, two cursed demons, and these precious mushrooms. Hehe! This will be delicious."
And so, I could only prop myself on my chin and slowly move my head towards Glina's thigh. Why does this description sound so perverted? Okay, let's try again. I did my best to put my mouth against a certain place on a little girl's thigh... fine, this sounds even more perverted. I might as well not say anything.
When her snowy-white thigh appeared right before my eyes, I was dazed for a moment; I felt like I now had an entirely new dark history. But since I had come to this point, this was no time to hesitate.
If the action of me sticking my head up Glina's skirt just happened to be discovered by someone, and this action that appeared like me licking Glina's thighs was publicized, my reputation would be ruined.
"Roland! What are you doing!?"
I was instantly shocked to hear this. Wasn't this Elisa's voice? I brought my head out of Glina's skirt, only to see that it was my demon girlfriend indeed, but her countenance was filled with rage.
"I thought something terrible happened to you. I was always wondering why you suddenly took in an adopted daughter! So it turned out you were planning on committing incest with her!"
*Boom!*
Okay, this sound wasn't caused by someone hitting me. Since Elisa was the one who saw me, I knew that I would at least live, but this was just far too humiliating. I didn't know how to explain my actions, so I decided to just smash my head against the wall and knock myself unconscious.
When I dazedly woke up from my deep sleep, I heard Elisa and Amelia having a discussion.
"...You think I'm making some magic medicine? Hehehe! Take a look, this is my recipe for magical cooking that I invented myself! See, isn't it really convenient? You don't need all sorts of complicated steps; all you have to do is add the ingredients, cook, and eat. This surgery will take a minimum of ten hours, and I can't stop in the middle, so I need to first prepare my dinner and midnight snacks."
"What's that green object? It looks really disgusting."
"Green dragon meat, of course. Although the meat's a little tough, it's still pretty good."
"...Is it actually delicious?"
"Incredibly so! As long as you cook it a little, its aroma will even overflow. Would you like a taste?"
"Poison Detection!"
Elisa mercilessly used a Poison Detection spell, and to the surprise of nobody, the spell's color turned pitch-black, indicating the highest, most toxic level of poison.
"Oh my, sorry about that. I forgot that you probably can't eat poison. To me, eating is just a habit now; only the most poisonous ingredients seem like delicacies to me. Heh heh, I can live just by photosynthesis alone if I want to, and poisons are completely unable to enter my system. This soup is excellent for the skin and complexion, but I temporarily forgot that you're a fragile living creature, and I almost poisoned you to death. Sorry about that!"
Even though Amelia was apologizing, judging from her expression that seemed to portray that this was all was only natural, she was completely insincere in her apology. Right after this, however, Elisa was unwilling to show weakness as she took a bowl of that pitch-black soup and downed it in one go.
"Ick! Disgusting! With such cooking skills, I think I know why you haven't been able to get married."
"Disgusting? You dare insult my cooking skills!? Hmph. It's obviously so nutritious and delicious; there must be something wrong with your taste buds."
"How about we find a third party to judge the taste then? What about that bastard lolicon who just poked his head under a little girl's skirt, or that pervert who obviously woke up but is pretending to be unconscious so he can eavesdrop? What about that bastard pervert who adopted a daughter only so he could molest her?"
If looks could kill, I would have died a thousand times. Judging from Amelia's expression, which obviously indicated she wanted me to try her soup, I was likely to be forced to chug this "nutritious and delicious" soup that was good for the skin and complexion. I didn't have the abilities of these two to not fear any poison, and although I would probably survive in the end, who would want to undergo a full intestinal cleaning like that?
*Smack!*
And so, without any hesitation, I whacked myself in the head again, not holding back at all. At the very least, I didn't intend to wake up again until the surgery was completed.
"Would you like to become my adopted daughter?"
For someone like me who was used to taking action only after making careful plans, how could I possibly say something so casually? To be honest, I really did have some reasons for taking Glina as my adopted daughter.
"I definitely can't let Glina and Reyne become Karwenz's vessels anymore. I need to cut off any information leaks from them to Karwenz immediately."
Even though Karwenz ended up helping us this time, his main goal was to punish Lorci, who had broken too many rules. I had no way of knowing which side he would stand on next time.
And both descendants of the Mist were obviously important. If either of them were drawn into the Chaos Abyss, it would be an irrecoverable loss. Dealing with the problem of them both being demonic descendants was an urgent matter; otherwise, there would be a constant information leakage through them, and the success of any of my plans would then likely depend on Karwenz's mood.
"Powerful demons view their direct descendants as their personal property, and in a way this description is accurate. The summons of the bloodline is impossible to resist against, and Karwenz has a huge difference in power compared to Reyne and Glina, which can neutralize any efforts of resistance to begin with. But, that doesn't mean there isn't a way."
There were quite a few demonic descendants in the mortal plane, and mages had studied them extensively. There really was a rather clever method that could cancel out an ancestor demon's control over his own descendants.
"For demonic descendants, there's a Soul Rope tied to their soul that can't be untied unless they die. And even if they die, the soul will probably be tugged into hell by this Soul Rope. But, we can change the person holding on to the Soul Rope. As long as we use a source of demonic power that's equal or greater, then there's a way to overtake the original individual controlling the Soul Rope."
"For instance, a Flame Demon's descendant can be injected with a Demon Lord's blood, and this blood transfusion can turn this person into a double demonic descendant. After that, the stronger Demon Lord bloodline will naturally suppress the Flame Demon's bloodline, which is the same thing as canceling out the Flame Demon's control over his descendant. After that, as long as the Demon Lord is killed off as well, there will be nothing to worry about anymore."
I had to say, the mage who came up with this idea was a genius. This person perfectly used the nature of demonic blood where the strong would suppress the weak, but there was just a small hitch for us.
"I can't find any demons higher-ranking than Karwenz as he's the Abyssal Prince. From a theoretical standpoint, only the Chaos Abyss itself is higher ranked than him. Even if we find a demon stronger than Karwenz, it probably still won't work. Besides, we can't deal with demons stronger than Karwenz, either."
But, in a way, we still managed to discover a method that couldn't really be called a method.
"If we can't suppress it by force, then we can try using a roundabout method to trick the Soul Rope."
Karwenz and I had incredibly similar soul wavelengths. If I transformed into a demon, my demonic blood should be very similar to his, and if you only looked at our ranks, my Original Sin Demon form wouldn't be lower than the Abyssal Prince at all. And since my demonic blood was the same source as Karwenz's, it could possibly even fool the Soul Rope into believing I was the master. After locking on to the Soul Rope, I would never let go again, and Glina could be changed to become my descendant. Perhaps this would manage to cut off her connection to Karwenz.
This all sounded rather complicated, and there were many theoretical problems involved, but it was actually quite simple to accomplish. I just had to activate my Original Sin Demon form, transform into a demon of the Chaos side, and then supply my blood for a blood transfusion. If everything was successful, then this special magical ritual would change Glina from Karwenz's descendant into Roland's descendant.
Of course, since the two of us were twins, genetically speaking, there was no difference.
In a way, when my blood would be coursing through Glina's body, it would truly make us have a blood relationship.
This was also why I abandoned all my worries and suggested that Glina become my adopted daughter.
I couldn't help but faintly smile as I watched Glina, who was in a deep sleep beside me.
"Without realizing it, I suddenly have a descendant. Is this the feeling of family… Wait a moment, this scenario doesn't seem right. Why am I happy? I'm clearly still single, and I'm suddenly going to have a blood-related daughter out of nowhere, as well as a bunch of naughty children!"
*Pop*
A bottle was suddenly placed right next to me against my ear. The black sticky liquid within it was rather familiar—wasn't it the 'good for skin and complexion' soup from earlier?
"Amelia worked so hard to cook this. Please don't waste her efforts and drink it while it's hot."
*Pop*
There was nothing else after the pop. Before I could even knock myself out, I was already prevented from doing so. It seemed it would no longer be possible to play the same trick three times in a row.
Chef Amelia's face had already been stained black by the soup as well, but she was all smiles and seemed to be quite proud of her own handiwork.
"Um, no need to hurry. Drink up slowly; there's plenty more in the cauldron. Um, does it taste good? This thick soup that tastes like a dragon and tiger fighting is something I prepared specially for you."
Right at this moment, the cauldron happened to begin bubbling. A distorted skull floated up to the surface, and adding the black liquid before me, it created a scene that was disgusting to behold to the extreme.
"Master, the preparations for your intestinal cleaning have already been completed. Please don't make Miss Amelia wait any longer. Rest assured, after you die, I shall go ask you how it was at the River Styx."
"...Are you already assuming that I'm going to die? I'm so unlucky!"
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The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich/The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich - Chapter 101-200/The-Experimental-Log-of-the-Crazy-Lich-Chapter-101-200-[Gravity-Tales][Hasseno]/Section0200.txt
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Chapter 200: Felix's Hatred
"I've been single for all my life, and now I finally have a daughter to take care of me in my old age. Congratulations! Congratulations!"
*Boom!* *Boom!*
I really wanted to say that to myself. However, I was currently standing on a street that had transformed into a sea of fire, and sounds of explosions would ring out continuously. I figured I might as well not.
"So much for congratulating myself! She's getting too excited and going way overboard!"
Should it be said that it was to be expected since Karwenz and I were twin brothers? Our bloodlines didn't clash even one bit, and under Amelia's guidance, the blood transfusion was an absolute success. None of the negative reactions we were expecting occurred—not even the normal non-magical ones like the rejection of a foreign substance common to mundane blood transfusions.
A full one-third of the blood in Glina's body had now been replaced with my blood.
And when I faintly began sensing that subtly wondrous bloodline connection, I used my willpower to directly cancel my demon form and gave Glina her freedom. After being bound by the fear of turning into a demon for so many years, Glina unhesitatingly removed her eyepatch and walked out of her armor that chained herself within.
Of course, it was impossible to remove the previously demonized parts, but the heterochromia girl didn't care about the way other people looked at her. As long as the demonic eye no long beckoned to her from the Abyss, trying to tug her soul into Chaos, she was quite willing to take off the eyepatch and show off her youth and vitality under the sun.
"...You're overly hyperactive. I just asked you to clean up all this rubble, not flatten everything in sight."
A new city, new streets, and new plans. Since I intended on rebuilding Red Maple City into a major city, the remaining piles of rubble left behind from the battle needed to be cleared away.
Originally, I had intended to invite some engineer specialists to slowly take care of this matter, but Glina, who still didn't want to return to Antuen, volunteered for this task of her own volition. When I thought about how this could save me some money, of course I wouldn't refuse.
I also took into consideration her past history, and expected that she would go overboard. But since everything was already rubble to begin with, I figured that going a little overboard wouldn't be a big deal, and it would even help her to vent her energy that's been rather excessive lately. But apparently, I had still managed to underestimate her.
All the broken mechas from the battlefield became materials for Glina's explosives. Using her status as the queen of Sleuweir, she even managed to obtain the engines from the broken Roland Titans and created several explosives of frightening power, placing them into a tightly created net of explosives. And then...
*BOOM!*
After she pressed the red button, half of the city vanished entirely. The tremendous explosion broke every single glass window in Red Maple City. What would have taken the engineers two months to clear away was finished by Glina in just a single day. In a way, I had underestimated, once again, how maniacally passionate Glina was about her explosives.
Fine, I admit defeat. It was better for her to vent on some rubble rather than on me.
From a certain viewpoint, the surgery's success basically gave us the most solid blood connection of all. I didn't know how to deal with my "adopted daughter" that I now suddenly had, and Glina probably didn't know how to deal with her new "father," either.
Back in Antuen, she would occasionally call me "father" once in a while, but mostly just as a joke, and now she hadn't called me that at all. She probably didn't even know what she should call me now.
"...Maybe your way of expressing your feelings is rather unique, but even if you don't want to use normal hugs and act spoiled, don't you think it's a bit much to wake me up with an explosives alarm clock every morning? Waking up every morning is a race for my life, and I'll die if I'm just a little bit slow, brat."
By the way, ever since the successful surgery, I received a "blessing" from my system just like always.
[A girl not directly related to you is calling you "father," but you're still an old virgin. All the conditions have been met… Congratulations for receiving the achievement "Enjoys Being a Daddy" and the glorious title "King of All Backup Boyfriends." If you equip this title, it will be easier for you to receive females' sympathy and male "friendship."]
This was already pitiful enough, but the system was swift as always in pouring salt on my wounds.
[Actually, you can consider the next step in this achievement—gathering seven girls as your daughters who aren't blood-related to you and raising the beautiful girls well, while you still remain an old virgin. According to how well you raise them, you can receive, in order: "Really Loves Being a Daddy," "Legendary Daddy King," and "Veteran Mr. Mom." These three are the three major epic achievements that will reward you with the epic title "You Truly Are a Nice Person." This title will aid you massively in obtaining female friendship (and at the same time make it massively more difficult in obtaining their love). Of course, if you decide to take the incest route, there's no need to hesitate. I also have titles befitting any perverted father, and I promise that they're strong.]
"...Wahh! I'm no 'King of Backup Boyfriends!' I don't want to become a Daddy God!"
Even though I was mostly immune to my system's provocations after all these years, I couldn't help but helplessly kneel to the ground and have tears in my manly eyes.
[To add insult to injury: Actually, you've already completed more than half of this achievement. Reyne, Glina, Elisa, Annie, plus when you take into the consideration that your physical body won't mature anytime soon... don't struggle, you can't resist fate. Look at it from a different angle, becoming a Legend Daddy God is quite ferocious as well. At least, at least—okay, the system can't find any benefits, and can't make this up anymore, so I shall simply express my sympathies and condolences to you. You have so many naughty children, it's tough being you, Daddy God.]
I didn't even know where to start commenting from anymore—from the fact that the system itself admitted it was intentionally adding insult to injury, or from it calling me a Legend Daddy, or the fact that I was now so pitiful that even the system couldn't take it anymore and started expressing its sympathy?
By the way, I received yet another achievement that day...
[You ate something highly poisonous and didn't die. Congratulations to my host for receiving the "Hungry Enough to Eat Literally Anything" achievement. Equipping this will double the amount of food you're capable of eating, and you'll receive a minor increase to your resistance against poison and disgusting foods. This series of achievements is followed by "Food God—Nothing Is Off Limits," "We Eat Everything with Four Legs Besides Tables and Chairs," and "The Sky Seems So Delicious." After that is the epic achievement "He Who Stands On Top of the Food Chain," and the Legend title "Devourer of the Void." Actually, with Amelia by your side, you can finish this series of achievements quite quickly.]
"There's even more? Hehe, if I eat any more of those things... I really did see the River Styx last time. Those bastards even asked me 'You're back again? How long do you intend to stay this time?' The next time I eat something from her, I really will be staying there forever!"
Okay, let's just forget about the past. The most important thing now was to find a certain someone for her reckoning.
"You've given me so much trouble!"
Half of the city disappeared, and as the person responsible for the project, I finally finished dealing with all those complaints, bills, and accidents caused by people frightened by the explosions. I furiously went to find Glina for her reckoning, but in the end, before I could even complain to her, I saw an unexpected battle.
In an empty area, Reyne and Glina were currently dueling. Sword energy was flying everywhere causing constant explosions. Judging from their actions and expressions, both of them were being serious about it.
Unlike with his previous useless vessel, the Abyssal Prince had given Reyne quite the gifts. The highest quality abyssal transformation had given Reyne so much power. Karwenz had been worried that his vessel would randomly die off, so he directly shoved a huge amount of combat experience shoved into Reyne's instinct, and that cheat-like Soul Imprint of hers also improved her stats all-around. The current Reyne would be at the top of the top even among the strongest veteran legends.
Even though the Roland Sacred Sword was unable to simply emit sword energy everywhere, it could still slice through the air like a silver dragon. Each swing seemed like it could collapse the heavens, and the pressure from the sword combined with Reyne's imposing manner allowed her to suppress her opponent's movements.
To be honest, even in practice battles such as these, her Seal of Unlimited Courage was activated and was constantly increasing her strength.
After the trial of that bloody battle on the snowy night, the current Princess Knight seemed to have earned the Sacred Sword's recognition.
"She already has her own unique fighting style? It seems that she's not far from becoming someone who can take care of herself."
I personally taught Reyne. Although Karwenz was somewhat involved as well, her growth was only to be expected. However, Glina, who was facing off against Reyne, was truly incomprehensible.
The shocking part for me was that although on the surface it seemed like Reyne, who possessed the Sacred Sword, was controlling the situation and that Glina had less and less room to move about and dodge, Glina was actually the one who had control of the tempo of the battle.
After Glina took off her heavy armor, she may have been petite and dexterous, but she still had natural-born ridiculous strength. She wielded a weapon in each hand, a pike that flowed like the wind and a longsword that struck like lightning. Her two weapons didn't interfere with each other and even had cooperative techniques—it was almost as if two weapons masters were working together.
"Is she still just a Gold rank? But..."
Suddenly, a round Gnome Mine dropped out from under Glina's skirt, and its lit fuse had almost reached the end. Reyne was surprised for a moment, and then she hurriedly jumped backwards, but when the fuse reached its end, nothing happened at all.
*Pop!*
The smoke coming from it was Glina's special explosive that had only a miniscule amount of power. After she succeeded in gaining distance between them, Glina unhesitatingly tossed down her heavy melee weapons. Now was the time for her real firepower, her guns and engineered explosives.
I suddenly discovered that while Glina may have been stuck at the Gold rank, she was definitely no ordinary Gold rank. Her skill in both long and short weapons had already reached Master level (for a Gold rank), and her engineering ability was above that of a Master's. Her combined overall power was far above even a Legend's. Not only that, she was also an excellent mecha pilot; she was one of the rare generalist types, good at everything.
Most importantly of all, she had extraordinary combat experience. For someone like her who had been through hundreds of battles, Reyne was nothing more than a fresh newbie. She could predict Reyne's every move and manipulate Reyne accordingly so that she could suppress her.
Reyne's method of attacking was far too simple and direct, while Glina's tricks were numerous to the point where she wouldn't need to repeat a single attack during a battle. After Glina fully understood her opponent's capabilities, she started using her true ability and instantly changed the combat situation.
"Under a normal situation, Glina would definitely win, but Reyne has that… in the end, Reyne will still be the winner—there's no doubt about that!"
Maybe she noticed that I was here now or perhaps she was suppressed to the point where she couldn't take it anymore, but as I expected, Reyne finally ended up raising the Sacred Sword.
"Come here, ancient kings!"
Alright, I won't bother describing anything else. Some ancient kings' spirits descended upon this place and Glina was instantly knocked away by three waves of sword energy. The duel was over, Reyne won, and Glina was left alone, sulking.
Yep, three waves, not one. After that battle, the Roland Sacred Sword finished its God Equipment's evolution. There weren't any major changes, but the limitation on summoning only one ancient king, three times a day, was modified.
"It can summon four times a day, at most three kings at once, and if you want to go all-out, it can even summon twelve ancient kings' spirits in one go—it's a little ridiculously unfair."
Reyne unsummoned the ancient spirits, and Glina instantly ran to my side. Before I could even complain to her, she first reached her hand out to me.
"For me."
I didn't know whether I should cry or laugh at this. Glina was quite displeased at losing the duel, and felt that it was unfair how I gave the Sacred Sword to Reyne, so now she was looking for something from me in exchange.
"Heh, how impatient. Blaming it on the weapon if you can't win."
"In that case, Reyne, leave that Sacred Sword on the ground. Let's have a rematch!"
"Hmph, why wouldn't I use a God Equipment when I have one? If you're unsatisfied, then go ask Roland for another God Equipment..."
Saying so, Reyne laughed at her own comeback. She knew that the God Equipment were incredibly rare, and she didn't believe that Roland would have another one.
"I do have one more, and I was planning on giving it to you, Glina."
This reply surprised the both of them as I gave a black dagger to Glina.
"I give you this God Equipment to protect yourself, but remember to never let anyone else find out about it. And never use it to injure a friend, or else you'll regret it."
[Felix's Hatred, Dagger, God Equipment.]
[Attack: 1-3, every attack is imbued with a random special effect from the following four effects. The dagger's blade will change color according to the effect's properties.]
[Divine Authority, Ending of Nature: When this effect is active, those struck will be injected with withering poison. No matter if it's an animal or a plant—even if it's just a rock, it will soon meet the end of its life. (Green colored.)]
[Divine Authority, Distortion of Life: When this effect is active, those struck will have a mysterious hormone injected into them, and will undergo a rapid transformation within a short period of time, changing their shape and species. There is a 10% chance for a beneficial transformation which will increase the original target's power, and a 30% chance for a harmful transformation which will weaken the original target's power. There is a 60% chance for a meaningless, non-important transformation. (Red colored.)]
[Divine Authority - Poison God's Hatred: When this effect is active, anyone struck will be injected with a poison that has no antidote and will be sent into an eternal sleep. (Black colored.)]
[Divine Authority - Felix's Salvation: When this effect is active, an antidote will be applied on the target struck which can cancel any of the above three effects. This effect will not appear unless all three of the above effects have currently been activated.]
[There's a row of small yellow words carved into the dagger's back: My dagger has been coated with fatal poison! Lick—ah, it's toxic!]
It was a dagger of black iron that appeared perfectly ordinary on the surface, normal to the extent where even the poorest of thieves probably wouldn't give it even a second look, but it was indeed a God Equipment.
Felix had devoured the Forest Guardian God's divine power and then had perished almost immediately, and the divine power that he left behind was transformed by my system into this toxic dagger, which was the biggest prize from this battle.
I already experimented with it numerous times. When the green effect of ending nature was activated, all plants would die instantly. Any animal struck by it would immediately age to middle age if it was young, and two strikes would age it to old age, whereas three strikes would kill it of old age.
And the red effect of distortion was even more vicious. The random chances it had of transformation were transformations that entirely changed the species. I personally witnessed a transformed white rabbit gulp down a wild boar in a single bite.
The black effect was actually the simplest. Just one strike caused eternal sleep.
And the only antidote to all three of these effects, the White Salvation, required at least three sacrifices first before it would appear, meaning it would take three lives to save one.
"As expected of a God Equipment, but... what's with this attack power that's not even at the level of a fruit knife? It needs to at least be able to break the skin to inject poison into someone, so how can such a blunt knife break through anyone's defense?"
I tried using this dagger to gently trace across my arm, but I felt nothing at all. My titan's body directly made me immune to this insignificant damage. And if this dagger couldn't cause anyone to bleed, this God Equipment would be no different from an actual fruit knife.
Typically speaking, strong SemiGod and God Equipment would all have very bothersome side effects. Perhaps this dull blade was a type of limitation in and of itself, which was why its effects could be so powerful.
But its bluntness, which wouldn't even be able to pierce through the simplest of leather armors, greatly limited the times and places where it could be used.
"This is useless for direct combat, but it's excellent for underhanded tactics. If it's Glina, I believe you can make the best use of it."
Glina nodded continuously as she received the God Equipment dagger, and her icy little expression finally showed a hint of a smile. That momentary smile was especially cute, but in the next moment, she started showing off to Reyne, as if she had won something important.
But now wasn't the time to be idling relaxing and wasting time, as I had something more important to do.
"Let's make our preparations. The disaster relief squad has already gathered. We're going to the elves!"
Heterochromia is a difference in coloration, usually of the iris of the eye, but it can also be of hair or skin.
A backup boyfriend, in Asian culture, is when a girl has a boyfriend but keeps ambiguous relationships with other men, "just in case."
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A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesnt Exist:Volume1 OpeningOpening: For Whom are Public Morals Upheld?
What am I supposed to do about this?
I had long dreamed of attending Tokioka Academy and here I was taking the high school entrance exam. Failure was not an option here and I had hit a roadblock. My intense studying had paid off and I felt I had done a pretty good job on the five main subjects, but my pencil ground to a halt once I reached the general education section, which was worth the most points.
Most of the general education section was made up of essay questions with only a few fill-in-the-blank questions at the very top. Speaking of the fill-in-the-blank questions…
1. The following chronology is related to the policies that rapidly improved modern Japan's public morals. Fill in the proper year in each blank.
A. _________ The government provided every single citizen with a miniature data terminal known as a Peacemaker (PM).
B. _________ With the enactment of the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law, all unwholesome expressions and activities were banned. Also, a monitoring system was included in the PMs.
C. _________ A provision was added to the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law to require all citizens to wear their PM.
That was a basic problem taught in any elementary school these days. The PMs had been introduced twenty-five years ago, the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law sixteen years ago, and the requirement to wear the PM ten years ago. Each answer easily came to mind. It was such an easy problem I doubted I could push my score above anyone else's here. The next problem asked me to explain the pros and cons of the policies described in A., B., and C.. That too was more or less common knowledge.
A. was a little tricky since it involved some economic issues, but I would be fine as long as I said it had a rapid spread to ubiquity. B. required talking about the people arrested by the ban of sexual expression and the increase in terrorists who intended to disturb public morals. For C., I gave the template answer about the rapid decline in those obscene criminals.
I answered all of that almost nonstop.
It was the next question that made me squeeze my pencil and freeze up. To calm myself, I toyed with the PM wrapped around my neck and wrist.
2. Explain each of the following: nocturnal emission, menstruation, how to make a baby.
Really, what am I supposed to do? Do I give the answer in the textbooks or do I give the truth?
Moving only my eyes, I checked how everyone else was acting and saw them all writing away without any problem. I was the only one who had stopped. They were probably all giving the textbook answer.
An example of that would be "A nocturnal emission is a biological process that begins once one enters puberty. Due to problems in the production of urine, the waste builds up until it is involuntarily ejected." But this question was entirely unexpected for the entrance exam of the school with the highest public morals record, so I grew extremely nervous, started wondering if there was a trick to it, and wondered if I should actually be writing the truth while being very careful about the terminology I used. After all, I knew the answers not given in the textbooks.
"Oh, to hell with it."
The pressure of the ticking clock and the scratching pencils around me caused me to start writing away.
Over a decade or so has passed since Japan banned all sexual expression in both public and private life.
The establishment of persistent legislation and a monitoring system has transformed Japan into a pure nation with the world's most wholesome public morals. The concept of dirty jokes does not even exist. With all filthy things eliminated, the children grow up healthy and happy as they carry a bright future on their shoulders.
Or that's the story anyway.
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A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesnt Exist:Volume1 Chapter 1Chapter 1: The Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist
"Ugh."
I, Okuma Tanukichi, groaned as I was jostled around by middle-aged office workers in a packed train.
Oh, no. I need to look presentable.
I straightened my back, but the hair and clothes I had spent so long getting just right this morning were still a mess and a gloomy mood escaped my lips.
I was finally on my way to Tokioka Academy's high school entrance ceremony.
Looking like this, there was no way I could look Anna-senpai in the eye when I saw her again after so long.
I had worked so hard to wipe clean my infamous past and make myself a wholesome person both inside and out, but this could easily ruin it all with the first impression I gave.
"Hm?"
As I consciously swallowed yet another sigh before it escaped, I felt someone's eyes on me.
I turned in that direction.
"…"
A large man a head taller than everyone else was glaring at me. He must have noticed me looking because he quickly looked away, but as soon as I faced forward again, his sweaty face turned back my way.
What is with him? That's just creepy.
A closer look showed the man was wearing the same Tokioka Academy uniform I was.
Someone with that huge and gorilla-like a face is a student? I wondered, while also thinking this was unusual.
The area I lived in was composed mostly of single-person apartments for office workers living away from their family and the residential district and student dorms were located in the opposite direction. I hadn't expected to run across any other students on the train to school, so I began to wonder if this was some grown man in a costume.
But my mocking thoughts were cut off by the train's announcement.
"Next stop, Shimada Station…Shimada Station."
To get to Tokioka Academy, I had to get off at the station after Shimada, so I began preparing myself to leave.
"Hey, you!"
A thick female voice filled the train.
"You've been touching my rear end this entire time! I'll hand you over to the Guidance Department! Step off with at Shimada Station!"
"Eh? Eh?"
The individual whose arm was lifted high and who seemed utterly baffled by this turn of events was the large man who had been leering at me.
The passengers around me started accusing him.
"Wow, guys like that are the worst."
"It's all over for him."
"Hey, isn't that moles-…whoops, that was close. Isn't that guy a Tokioka student? Would someone from there really do that?"
"Are you stupid? You really hadn't heard? Those students have started doing weird things a lot lately. This is probably part of that. Look, I don't think he knows what he did was wrong. They really don't get that it's a crime to touch a woman's body."
"But everyone knows that. It's not like they have to teach it to you."
The train had entirely decided that guy was a molester.
"Ahh, ahh. Honestly."
But I knew the truth.
That guy hadn't been looking at that woman because he'd spent the whole time eyeing me. And I don't mean that in a weird way.
At any rate, I could say pretty confidently the woman had completely made up the entire molestation thing.
There was only one thing to do at a time like this.
I pressed a hand to my forehead and gave a heavy sigh. It was by far the heaviest yet.
At any rate, I made up my mind by telling myself Anna-senpai would surely feel the need to help someone in need.
Since he had no idea what molestation meant, that large boy apparently really was a Tokioka student, so I could get him to buy me a drink or something when I saw him safe and sound later on.
I removed the brand new school uniform with a lily emblem on it and stuffed it in my bag. (It was already all wrinkled anyway.) After removing my dress shirt, I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and wrapped it around my face like a bandanna to complete my disguise.
I forcibly twisted around to operate my PM bracelet. A small computer screen was projected onto the back of the middle-aged man in front of me and I accessed the internet to search for a map of Shimada Station. After finding an escape route, I was done.
I slipped through the crowd and moved up next to the large boy and the suit-wearing woman.
I swept aside the large boy's hand and had the woman grab my hand instead.
"Huh? What do you think you're doing? Hey!"
"I'm sorry!" I shouted to drown out the woman's voice. "I was the one touching you! I'm sorry! I didn't know groping your rear end was wrong! Looking at it directly would be the right thing to do, wouldn't it!? I've seen the error of my ways, so please forgive me!"
"You have not seen the error of your ways! And let go! I have business with that student."
If I feigned ignorance that much, it was sure to make my confession more believable.
As soon as everyone's eyes focused on me, the train came to a stop and the doors opened.
I used the flow of people to help drag the woman onto the platform.
The large boy stared at me in blank surprise until the door closed and the train began to move.
He seemed to come back to his senses and yelled something at me, but I simply waved goodbye, muttered "now then", and turned to face the woman.
Her face was still twisted to the point I thought she was going to bite at me.
"You don't get kids from that rich school on this line often, you know? You have guts to get in my way. …Attendant, this man is a criminal! He was touching my rear end!"
So she really was bluffing. Honestly.
As expected, she tried to get revenge by shrieking that I had molested her. The station attendant that heard her called someone using his PM necklace.
A member of the Guidance Department, specialists in cracking down on all sexual crimes, would likely be sent in from the closest police station.
Avoiding a false molestation accusation was incredibly difficult and I had already given my insane "confession". If I was arrested here, this story would have an early ending.
"Ah, wait!"
I glanced back at the several station attendants pursuing me as I raced full speed along the station platform.
I already knew my escape route and my legs were in top form after the training I'd gone through back home.
I ran down the stairs as if to say "catch me if you can". To pass through the ticket gate smoothly, I adjusted the position of the bracelet containing my electronic money and passenger data.
Shimada Station's platform was on the second story, so escaping would be difficult if I couldn't break through here.
But I didn't see the attendants catching up, so it looked like I would be fine.
But then…
"Geh!?"
I rapidly threw on the brakes.
After climbing over the ticket gate, some men in pure white uniforms ran up the stairs.
Guidance Officers!? Why!? That was way too fast!
This was bad. I had underestimated the strict control of this pure city that had censored sexuality in every way possible.
By cutting through the wave of people to quickly return to the platform, I somehow managed to avoid being caught between the attendants and the Guidance Officers.
But what was I supposed to do now?
I had already checked and there was only the one stairway down from the second story platform. There were no footholds on the tall fence, so it would be difficult to climb.
I was chased across the platform by the attendants, but I reached a dead end before long.
…Huh? Am I screwed?
Wait, wait, wait, wait! What do I do!?
Simply muttering "penis" could get you arrested these days, so being charged with molestation would kill my social standing overnight.
If that was my fate, I considered ending my life by groping a nearby beautiful woman's tailbone, but then…
"Gah!?"
Someone grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to the ground.
I was confused since the attendants and Guidance Officers shouldn't have been that close yet and I saw someone leaning over me and peering down at my face.
Based on the pleasant sensation of black hair falling down on my face, this seemed to be a girl.
The backlight kept me from seeing her face or clothing.
"Honestly, what do you think you're doing?"
She sounded exasperated and she pointed in the opposite direction of my escape plan.
"There's a rope hanging down from the other end of the platform. I'll draw their attention, so you slip past them and escape."
"What? Who are you?"
"Hurry!"
She easily lifted me to my feet and charged toward the Guidance Officers without a word more.
Only then did I get a good view of her, even if only from behind.
She had a towel wrapped around her like a Teru-Teru Bouzu and she had some kind of white cloth hiding her head.
I completely forgot to run and instead watched that bizarrely-dressed person.
"W-waaaah!?"
"Eh?"
As I stood in confusion, I heard the Guidance Officers screaming in obvious disturbance.
"Attention users of this station! Please escape immediately! Blue Snowfield has appeared!"
Blue Snowfield? What the hell is going on here?
Still, this did give me an opening. I began to run on reflex and slipped past the girl with a towel wrapped around her.
That was when it happened.
"Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenis!"
I fell flat on my face.
"What!?"
This girl in a towel just used a banned word! She didn't even use a euphemism or anything! She straight up said it! Goddamn, I'm jealo-…no, no, no, no! Calm down.
Wondering who this girl was, I looked up only to shout in surprise when faced with another shocking fact. The cloth hiding the towel girl's face was a pair of pure white panties. The two holes usually used to pass one's thighs through contained eyes filled with an insane amount of energy and smoldering with a bright light.
There has to be a better way to hide your face! (I'll trade you for my handkerchief!)
I wasn't the only confused one. The Guidance Officers were hectically shouting into their PM necklaces.
"Everyone! Hurry downstairs! Stop and you will be caught in this terrorist attack! Hurry down!"
"HQ, please respond! Blue Snowfield has appeared on the Shimada Station platform! Please send reinforcements ASAP!"
"Penis penis in pussy! Penis penis in pussy! Ahhh hah hah hah hah! How refreshing it is to shout dirty words in public!"
"Silence her immediately! Dammit! Today we'll finally capture her!"
"Why does her PM never detect the banned words!?"
The platform was instantly thrown into so much chaos you would've thought a tornado had hit.
Everyone had completely forgotten about me as the mysterious panties girl made her intense presence known and reigned supreme.
Guidance Officers completely surrounded her and slowly closed in on her.
A ton of bystanders waited outside that circle, their eyes glittering with anticipation, so it looked physically impossible for the girl to escape.
But…
"Stay back!"
The panties girl warned the Guidance Officers with a loud, energetic voice that carried through all the noise.
"Do you know why I'm wearing the towel?"
She asked an odd question.
She had saved me, but I could only think she was completely insane.
"Because I am not wearing a single thing underneath!" she proudly announced. "The instant you roughly try to restrain me, I'll be stripped bare!"
"Gh…"
The station attendants groaned and shrank back.
"I'm glad to see you understand. Just to be clear, my announcement of nudity has bene recorded by my PM! Anyone who restrains me will have their life ruined by the crime of stripping a girl in public!"
Had anyone ever before tried to escape such a hopeless situation with such a vulgar threat?
Whether they had or not, it was super effective.
The panties girl's bold attitude had given her complete control of the situation. The Guidance Officers were eager to capture this person disturbing public morals, but they all fell silent.
"Now, I think I'll be leaving."
She began rummaging around below her towel.
"Give us liberation from sexual oppression! Give the people a right to dirty jokes! Well, I'd breast be going now. Bye!"
With that final shout, she raised her hands toward the sky and scattered something through the air.
It looked like confetti.
Hundreds of colorful cards the size of playing cards fluttered through the air and rained down on the Guidance Officers and bystanders.
"Ohhhhhh!?"
An earth-shaking cheer rose from the bystanders.
The people crawled around picking up the cards, so the crowd moved about erratically. The Guidance Officers shouted angrily, trying to put a stop to it, but that only made the chaos worse.
The panties girl slipped through the gaps in the panicked crowd and ran off with a satisfied grin large enough to see through the panties. She was trying to escape on the same route she had suggested to me.
"Ah…"
One of the cards she had scattered rode the wind over to my feet.
Curious what was printed on it, I picked it up.
"Gwah!?"
I screamed and threw the card away.
The card depicted a girl bashfully exposing her beautiful body and ample breasts with a look of ecstasy on her face. The back of a naked man could be seen approaching her. My butt clenched tightly when I saw it.
My left hand twitched and reached for the card like a snake freed from the chains of rational thought.
"Kh!"
But I somehow managed to restrain myself.
Possession of sexual depictions was not a crime, but if I picked this up here, I would become an unwholesome and impure human being who could never look Anna-senpai in the eye. Sweat poured from my body as I told myself I could not pick up that card and that any desire for that erotic illustration simply did not exist.
But that aside, what was going on?
Just like the use of banned words, the creation of sexual illustrations was monitored by the PMs. Unlike using the words, it was difficult for a computer to automatically detect the creation of illustrations, so the crime was not established the instant they were drawn. Still, the weight of the crime when you were arrested was no joking matter. Usage of banned words only resulted in a fine or forced labor, but creating illustrations almost guaranteed imprisonment. These erotic illustrations were strictly banned, so scattering them around in public was like asking to be arrested.
That panties girl had also shouted banned words at the top of her lungs, so it was possible she had a way of not being caught by the automatic functions of her PM. Otherwise, she could never act so recklessly.
But at the same time, that seemed impossible.
If there was some convenient way of avoiding it, my dad wouldn't have been caught so easily.
"Are you still here?"
The panties girl gave another exasperated comment from behind her panties. This closer look made it clear she was my age and her eyes turned to my twitching left arm.
"Oh? There's no need to resist. These are copies of my treasured porn magazine collection, so you can take as many as you want."
"Por-…unwholesome magazines!?"
She had just said yet another unbelievable thing.
"Why are you so surprised? Making drawings is risky and everyone capable of making such high-quality erotic drawings has already had their PMs marked by the Guidance Department, so I can't openly work with them. Making hard-to-track copies of porn is standard fare for a perorist."
What in the hell is a perorist!?
The panties girl grabbed my twitching left hand and began running with tremendous speed. Dumbfounded, I could only follow as she pulled on my arm.
Making copies of porn is standard fare? You've got to be kidding me.
Barely any porn still existed in modern Japan.
The government's PM diffusion policy that began twenty-five years ago had created a high-level ubiquitous computing society where every single citizen wore high-powered data terminals at all times and the safety and convenience of online shopping improved dramatically. As a result, all varieties of porn had been converted to electronic data and were distributed online. The market for physical porn had quickly vanished since the risk of your family finding them was high and you couldn't store that many. Before long, no more were being produced. And the few porn magazines officially preserved by the publishers had almost all been disposed of to enforce the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law sixteen years ago.
With the requirement to wear your PM at all times ten years ago, it became impossible to anonymously distribute pornographic material online and the porn data saved to personal PMs had all been formatted and erased.
At the end of it all, the very few remaining porn magazines were known as "ancient treasures" and sold at exorbitant prices on the black market.
And yet this girl was calling copies of those treasures "standard fare".
Could you be any more ridiculous? (I want the originals. I want them so bad.)
"Hurry up!"
The next thing I knew, the girl stood proudly at the top of the tall fence with her towel fluttering in the wind. Her heroic appearance would have looked pretty cool if not for the panties over her face.
It suddenly occurred to me that I was on the run too, so I hurriedly grabbed the rope and began climbing the fence.
As I looked down on a portion of the beautifully laid-out city with a pure designation, I heard several shrill sirens in the distance. The vehicles carrying more Guidance Officers were about to arrive.
"I'll hold off the reinforcements, so you hurry on to school! Don't be late to the entrance ceremony."
"Eh? Wait! How did you know!?"
Without answering me, the panties girl slid down the rope hanging down the outside of the fence and reached the ground. She ran into the morning rush hour traffic with the speed of a bullet and her conspicuous form blended into the crowd after only a few seconds. Just how athletic was she?
"Hey, you! Get down from there!"
"Oh, crap."
I dropped down fast enough to get rope burn on my palms and whipped my stinging legs forward to begin running as quick as I could.
Um, I'll get there eventually if I follow the train tracks, right!?
I completely forgot to activate my PM's navigation system as I ran with all my might.
The panties girl must have stopped them because the Guidance Officers didn't pursue me. Of course, it wasn't surprising someone as strange as that would draw their attention.
I arrived out of breath at Tokioka Academy with 5MtS (5 minutes to spare) before the entrance ceremony, so the PE teacher in charge of public morals scolded me as I slipped in at the last second.
Most of the students had attended the academy for middle school as well, so not many had tested in for high school like I had. I really felt like an outsider.
I stepped into the orderly atmosphere after everyone else had arrived, so the eyes stabbing into me included a strange, sticky emotion.
What is this stirring in my loins?
This school was said to have the nation's top public morals record, so they may have had relatively strict management of normal behavior in addition to sexual matters. What kind of school psychically stimulated your crotch if you were late?
"Hey, is that him?"
"You mean the one coming from the school with the absolute worst public morals record?"
As I fixed my clothes and ignored the curious looks I had expected, the ceremony began.
As the board chairman politely and formally gave us some welcome instructions, I had to resist the effects of the sleeping spell Rarihoma his words cast on me. After that, it was finally time for the student council president's speech.
I had caught my breath and straightened out my clothes, so I straightened my posture and looked up to the stage.
I had also listened to the board chairman's worthless speech. Or at least pretended to.
"As the high school student representative, Student Council President Anna Nishikinomiya will now greet the student body."
"Yes, sir."
A calm and beautiful voice filled the gym in response to the call.
With each perfectly regulated footstep, silver hair seemingly spun from jewels swayed and gave a glimpse of a face with doll-like perfection. I could sense the large gym's atmosphere growing crystal clear.
That was just how refined this beauty and elegance was.
Anna-senpai's appearance on the stage took everyone's breath away, stole their hearts, and brought silence.
"Everyone, congratulations on entering our academy. I am Anna Nishikinomiya."
Her beautiful voice was amplified by her PM's necklace as her greeting began.
It was a perfectly harmless speech, but I could instinctually tell her calm demeanor and magical charm had complete control of this space.
"She really is amazing."
A very, very quiet voice naturally escaped my lips.
I had devoted myself from the moment I had fallen in love at first sight and I had worked to make myself refined, wholesome, and excellent on the inside and outside, but it still wasn't nearly enough. I hadn't reached her level at all.
When I had gotten into Tokioka Academy, the best of the best in public morals, after attending the middle school that ranked rock bottom in that category, I had been so overjoyed that I had sobbed that it was a miracle, run full speed through the streets late at night, and ultimately been taken into custody by the police. I had been so busy dreaming of entering the student council and working alongside Anna-senpai, that I had been grinning like an idiot until just before my mom came to get me.
Still, reality was cruel. I didn't see any chance of Anna-senpai and I getting along together.
I was overwhelmed by her flowing speech, but it also set my fighting spirit ablaze.
The higher the ideal, the more it was worth attaining.
Once her speech ended, a veritable explosion of applause filled the gym.
I didn't hold back and clapped until my hands hurt. I was filled with a desire to become the kind of guy who could stand next to her and receive this kind of praise.
"Hm?"
That was when I noticed there was something in my pocket.
I peeked inside and saw one of the erotic illustrations that the panties girl had been scattering on the station platform.
Eh? What am I supposed to do with this nuke?
"…"
There was nothing I could do as the entrance ceremony ended and I sat in my designated seat in my allotted classroom.
I wanted to dispose of the obscene drawing as soon as possible, but it wasn't something I could dispose of carelessly. My old middle school would have been one thing, but this was the great Tokioka Academy.
Sixteen years had passed since the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law had banned all sexual expression. The textbooks categorized periods and wet dreams along with your voice dropping and growing pains, so all sexual knowledge was omitted in this day and age.
If someone saw me throwing out the illustration, I could easily be accused of terrorism. And since I came from the school with the worst public morals record, the head of the PTA had personally spoken with me, insisting they would never forgive me if I spread sexual knowledge here.
I didn't have the guts to casually walk around with that nuke hidden on my person, so I could only sit still and wait for time to pass.
During the downtime before our homeroom teacher arrived, my new classmates were chatting with each other to deepen their friendship.
It seemed everyone but me in Year 1 Class 1 had attended Tokioka for middle school too, so they all split into their various predetermined groups to enjoy each other's company.
I soon noticed an odd atmosphere mixed into that lively chatting.
I felt the return of the mysterious stare attack from the entrance ceremony that brought a funny feeling to my crotch. That was now the default and the whispered conversations I could hear were strange indeed.
"Hey, go talk to him already."
"Eh? But we still don't know. He might be a spy."
"Isn't it too late to be worrying about that? It doesn't matter as long as the 'substitute words' aren't found out."
"Oh, that's right! If we hesitate here, we'll never know anything. It seems Blue is having difficulty doing anything lately, so we need to start doing something too."
They probably thought I couldn't hear them, but they were too naïve. Boys could naturally pick up a girl's hushed voice even if they weren't saying anything lewd.
But since they were talking amongst themselves, I had a hard time figuring out what they meant. What did they mean by a spy or by Blue?
It wasn't an unpleasant feeling and they actually seemed to be welcoming me, but I just couldn't relax. A lowly guy like me ending up in a school with the nation's best public morals record was such an extreme turn of events that I had prepared myself for some persecution, so this caught me off guard and filled me with a fear of the unknown.
One girl quietly pushed back her seat and stood up.
The unique commotion of a new school year quieted down like someone had thrown cold water on it.
This girl had seaweed-like wavy hair and she walked unsteadily toward me.
She stopped right in front of my desk and stared down at me with an expressionless look void of all emotion.
She had nice facial features, but the horrible bags below her eyes seemed to ruin it somewhat. The mechanical design of her silver PM suited her lifelessness.
"Um, do you need something?"
I squeezed my hand around the erotic drawing in my pocket.
I knew there was no way she would know it was there, but nervous sweat still soaked my armpits, my palms, and my crotch.
"Sorry for not saying so sooner, but I am Fuwa Hyouka. It is nice to meet you."
"Sure. I'm Okuma Tanukichi. Nice to meet you too."
The girl named Fuwa Hyouka sounded entirely indifferent as she introduced herself.
Her eyes stared at me without wavering in the slightest. They seemed incredibly inhuman and – as much as I hated to say it – uncomfortable.
"This may be sudden, but there is something I would like to ask you, Tanukichi-san. May I?"
"Sure. That's fine by me."
What could she possibly have wanted to ask someone she had only just met?
She mechanically thanked me and then got to her question.
"Could you tell me how babies are made?"
Her voice remained entirely flat.
"What?"
I assumed I was tired from the incident that morning. I had to be hearing things.
I focused more closely and smiled.
"Could you say that again?"
"Could you tell me how babies are made?"
"Once more."
"Could you tell me how babies are made? …Am I not getting through to you? It would seem hoping for a decent oral explanation from you would be inefficient. So could you use a more hands-on method to teach me in precise detail how babies are made?"
Someone call a translator. Or a codebreaker.
I used my PM to display a computer screen in empty air and activated the navigation system. Was I really in Tokioka Academy?
"Is something the matter, Okuma-san?"
I was overcome by intense heart palpitations, but I worked to calm myself and slowly opened my mouth.
If I panicked and rushed my answer, who could say what would come out of my mouth.
"Don't the textbooks say how babies are made? Y'know, 'when a man and a women love each other very much, a baby is naturally born'."
"You are full of lies and so is this society."
Fuwa-san completely cut me off.
"All living creatures will die eventually. There are many causes of death, but we can accurately control and observe why and how that death occurs. Humans are no exception and countless people die every single day. Nevertheless, the population keeps increasing. There are enough births to exceed the inevitability of death, so I can't imagine it can be described with something as vague and difficult-to-define as 'love'. There must be a mechanism as clearly defined as death to place a baby inside us women. I want to uncover that secret."
There's no secret to it. Just start going at it and before long… Wait, are you serious?
Are Tokioka students really this ignorant about sex?
"Just the year before last, I had no clues whatsoever toward discovering the cause of pregnancy and I was forced to spend my days visiting the ob/gyn office by the train station and asking the pregnant women what I had to do to get pregnant, but they only ever gave me the same answer you just did. I was finally forbidden from returning and was on the verge of being expelled from school for a time, but that process gave me a thought. Pregnancy must hide some great secret that the government wants to hide enough to invest untold sums of money into the PMs and other programs."
Someone help me. This girl is crazy.
"But last year, a glimmer of hope reached my research. Blue's terrorist acts confirmed my suspicions that the concept of 'obscene' regulated by the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law is closely linked to pregnancy. The embarrassed looks I received from the pregnant women I asked for information were exactly the same as the ones on the teachers when they saw the terrorist acts. And most importantly, the intuition of my gray brain cells and of my lower abdomen was shouting to me that there is a link between obscenity and pregnancy. Science is so often progressed by intuition."
What is with her!? I have no idea how I'm supposed to handle this!
When the head of the PTA had insisted that I don't bring any sexual knowledge with me, I had laughed it off and said I was never planning to do that, but I had been too naïve. I had never imagined that a Tokioka student would come to me for the information.
I remained silent, so Fuwa-san continued her monotone speech.
"I pursued Blue's actions. I thought I could solve the mystery of pregnancy if I followed her, but the influence of the Guidance Department was too powerful and Blue has been appearing less frequently. I am having difficulty gathering information. And even when I do gather some, I have no way of confirming its veracity. But then you transferred in from the middle school with the absolute worst public morals record."
She startled me by moving her face in far too close.
"According to the earlier explanation concerning your parents, you have never triggered your PM. Still, you must have gained some knowledge in such an obscene environment. You know how women get pregnant, don't you? Now, please tell me how to get pregnant. They say curiosity killed the cat, but as an unimportant scientist, I would like nothing better than to be killed by curiosity if such a thing is possible."
Her expressionless face moved closer and closer.
"Wh-why are you so obsessed with this?"
As I trembled in fear, she tilted her head which was close enough that our noses were about to touch.
"Why wouldn't I be? We can have a human being grow inside us. How could anyone be indifferent about such an important phenomenon? Also, pregnancy must hide a secret great enough that the government is willing to invest untold sums of money in the PMs and other programs. What could be more exciting than revealing something like that?"
I looked around the room, hoping to find someone who would stop this crazy girl.
"…"
But even though everyone was staring at me with glittering looks of anticipation, none of them did anything to help.
Instead, they seemed to be waiting for me to talk about pregnancy.
What is going on here!? Isn't this school supposed to be the pinnacle of public morals!?
Why am I being forced to tell my class what causes pregnancy!?
And won't I be expelled if I tell them!? …Ah! Don't tell me I'm being bullied!
I exercised my right to remain silent and endured the wordless pressure of Fuwa-san's staring eyes.
Then the classroom door flew open. Despite the noisy entrance, the intruder herself cut boldly across the classroom without even giving an introduction. She seemed to be heading toward…me?
Unlike when Fuwa-san had stood up, a tense silence enveloped the classroom.
The girl gave off a heavy pressure, pushed Fuwa-san out of the way to stand in front of me, and spoke.
"I assume you're Okuma Tanukichi-kun."
The girl's braids and glasses gave her an unfashionable look and her displeased aura forced me to shrink down and reply only with "yes".
"Nice to meet you. I am Kajou Ayame. I am a second year in Tokioka Academy's high school and I serve as the student council vice president."
"Student council…vice president!?"
That's the position I want to serve Anna-senpai directly!
Why had she come to me out of the blue like this?
"Kajou-senpai, the exit is over there."
Fuwa-san casually pointed to the window. By the way, the classroom was on the third floor.
"How very kind of you. As thanks, I will ask the board of directors to designate your name as a banned word."
Kajou-senpai made it very clear that she had no business with Fuwa-san and turned her dull eyes back toward me.
"Okuma Tanukichi-kun, the student council has recommended you for a trial position as director of general affairs on the student council. I will come to take you there afterschool, so be ready."
"Eh?"
That was all she said in her irritated tone of voice and she left the classroom with a sullen look.
"So they beat me to the punch."
Fuwa-san's comment seemed to speak for the strange sense of resignation filling the classroom.
Our homeroom teacher entered as Kajou-senpai left. I had yet to grasp just what had happened as a perfectly normal homeroom class began.
After an orientation going over the schedule for the coming week and a time for introductions, school was out for the day.
It was still too early for lunch, so my classmates excitedly prepared to head home.
Once the teacher left the classroom, Fuwa-san's emotionless face slithered up from below my desk as if she had been waiting for this moment.
"To continue from before…"
She's persistent. I'll give her that!
"I don't know anything else about pregnancy."
"No, not that. I was referring to your invitation to the student council."
"Eh? Oh, that?"
"Please be careful. Depending on how you conduct yourself, you could quickly lose any place for yourself in the academy."
And yet she had nearly gotten me expelled by asking me about pregnancy.
"Thanks for the warning, but this is all so sudden I have no idea what to make of it."
My thoughts were a mess after being pressed to explain pregnancy and receiving an invitation from the student council I had longed to join. There was no way I could make sense of an abstract warning like that.
"I would like to explain for you, but look."
Fuwa-san pointed toward the classroom's front door just as it violently opened and Kajou-senpai walked quickly over with the same displeased look as in the morning.
"Please make it through today alive. We can speak after that. Oh, and can I ask one last thing?"
"What might that be?"
"Personally, I think the peni-…oops, that was close. To put it another way, I think mushrooms are the key to pregnancy, but are they really? A simple yes or no answer would help my research immensely."
"Sorry, but I have to go."
I suppose they are the key to opening a certain chamber.
I very nearly said that out loud, so I grabbed my bag and got out of there.
"Let's get going, Okuma-kun."
Other than that comment, Kajou-senpai remained entirely silent as I left the classroom.
"Excuse us."
Kajou-senpai knocked and opened the student council door to reveal a room filled with light.
I of course mean that as a simple description, but…
"Welcome, Okuma Tanukichi-kun. I have been looking forward to your arrival. I am Anna Nishikinomiya of the second year. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I serve as this academy's student council president."
…Ah.
I just about passed out. It felt like my body was turning to stone.
That was just how beautiful and adorable Anna-senpai's smile and bow were.
Seeing her again confirmed just how worthy of the phrase "peerless beauty" she was.
She had the facial features of a fairy and barely looked Japanese. Her smooth silver hair looked like high-quality silk. She was five centimeters taller than my one hundred seventy and she struck a nice balance between her slender limbs and her ample bust that were both apparent even below her clothes (and especially apparent to my eyes). She seemed to glow with a light that removed her from reality.
And she had more than her looks.
All she had to do was stand there and her aura was enough to permeate and calm you. Her gentle smile had the power to heal the heart of anyone who saw it. The elegance surrounding her every movement kindly overwhelmed everyone in the vicinity and gently convinced them to do her bidding.
She also maintained the top grades in Tokioka which was known to have the highest scores in the nation and she had conquered many a tournament as a black belt in judo. She had also earned excellent scores in piano competitions, so her specs went far beyond the norm.
Most importantly, she ruled the student council as the governor of Tokioka's public morals, so she was the symbol of wholesomeness.
From her parents' perspective, she had to contain every ideal one would want in a daughter.
I was charmed into a stupor by her.
"I have not been looking forward to it."
After my ears delighted in Anna-senpai's lovely voice, a deep voice violated them.
Ready to kill whoever it was, I turned toward the voice and saw a large boy who looked a lot like a gorilla.
"What the hell are you doing-…gah!?"
"Speak more politely to your upperclassmen. I am Gouriki Raiki of the third year. I am the treasurer and secretary."
Gouriki-senpai was the large boy falsely accused on the train and my vision flashed in and out after he swung his solid fist down on my head.
"Gouriki-senpai, don't be so naughty. Okuma-kun, please take a seat."
Anna-senpai puffed out her cheeks and scolded Gouriki-senpai…who I decided to just call Gori-senpai.
I thanked her before sitting in a soft seat. Kajou-senpai had been silently watching it all, but she settled down in the seat behind a plate saying "Vice President" after seeing Anna-senpai sit down.
"Now, I am going to go ahead and give you a brief explanation of what we want."
Anna-senpai smiled my way and I thought the throbbing of my heart was going to kill me.
"Okuma-kun, will you join the student council and protect this academy's public morals with us?"
"I will! I will do everything I can! Please give me this chance!"
"That was fast," whispered Kajou-senpai with a glare my way.
That was when I came to my senses.
"Um, why me so suddenly? I'm a newcomer from the school with the worst public morals record, so isn't it too soon to think I can protect the great Tokioka Academy's morals?"
I felt bad for thinking it, but something smelled fishy.
Anna-senpai's eyebrows cutely pressed together in a troubled look and she gave a worried sigh.
"That is exactly why we want you. Tokioka Academy has encountered some unprecedented trouble."
Unprecedented trouble?
"Can I ask you not to repeat anything I am about to tell you?"
When she pressed her index finger against her plump limps and gave me a mischievous smile, I had no choice but to nod.
"Starting a few months ago, this very first city to be designated pure has been experiencing obscene terrorist acts by a mysterious individual going by the name Blue Snowfield. We fear a rapid deterioration in public morals. The Guidance Department has even raised the alert level in response to the situation, but they seem to be having trouble arresting this extremely special terrorist who seems able to speak banned words without detection by her PM."
…Hm?
I had a feeling I'd seen that individual that very morning.
"But the real problem is that the odds are very high that this terrorist is a student in Tokioka Academy's high school."
"Ehh!?"
That pervert's a student here? You're kidding.
Anna-senpai must have sensed my doubt because she began explaining.
"Blue Snowfield first appeared in this school. And while the teachers and parents have been doing their best to keep this information from getting out, most of her terrorist activity has occurred within the school. …If she was not someone within the school, she would have a hard time even entering the building. Okuma-kun, have you already spoken with your classmates?"
"U-um…yes, I suppose."
It had been more of an interrogation than a conversation, though.
"Then I assume you have noticed. I do not understand it myself, but it seems the students have already been contaminated by the acts of obscene terrorism. Some students are even looking forward to Blue Snowfield's next appearance. To preserve the school's reputation, we must quickly capture Blue Snowfield and restore the public morals as soon as possible. But…"
A bashful look came over her.
"I am embarrassed to admit it, but those of us on the student council don't understand what is and isn't obscene. I even walked past Blue Snowfield as she wore a girl's lower underwear on her head without realizing it was obscene. …Our countermeasures are always a step behind."
Eh? Is she an idio-… No, no. That just shows how pure her heart is.
"The teachers can do a better job because they understand the concept of obscenity, but their efforts are inefficient because they are very busy and the mental contamination of the terrorism is targeted at us students. And at the end of last year, the students decided we needed someone who understands obscenity yet is prepared to fight obscenity."
When I saw Anna-senpai's meaningful smile, it all finally clicked for me.
Oh, so that's why I was accepted. That's the trick behind the miracle of someone from a school with low morals transferring to a school with high morals.
"Okuma-kun, while you attended a school with such poor public morals, you maintained enough wholesomeness to never once trigger an alert from your PM. You have the record needed to help us arrest the obscene terrorist. And yet if we look into your personal history…"
"You are the son of a terrorist who brought chaos to society."
Gori-senpai forced his way in to finish Anna-senpai's sentence.
"It's clear you have an excessive knowledge of the obscene. Your father filled your head with it, didn't he? I just can't trust you. Who knows what you're secretly plotting."
"I'm surprised you can you look down on him like that after you announced you'd tail him to reveal who he really is but then pathetically needed him to rescue you," whispered Kajou-senpai.
"And I reported back how he rescued me!" he angrily replied.
"And that's what gave the final push to invite him. Just accept it already."
Kajou-senpai was having none of it and their argument gradually heated up.
That was when I noticed Anna-senpai's eyes on me.
"…"
She seemed to be asking if I had anything to say, so I opened my mouth.
"It is true I'm the son of the terrorist Okuma Zenjuurou."
Kajou-senpai and Gori-senpai stopped arguing and gave me searching looks.
Yes. My father was a famous terrorist.
He had fiercely opposed the establishment of the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law sixteen years ago and had become a wanted man for committing acts of obscene terrorism all over the place. Even after the requirement to wear one's PM ten years before had made terrorism much more difficult, he had stood on the front lines of disturbing public morals. The moron had finally been arrested scattering condoms in the National Diet Building.
"I have an abundance of that sort of knowledge due to my father's influence. When I was young, I said and did all sorts of obscene things so the PM wouldn't detect it."
Anna-senpai, Kajou-senpai, and Gori-senpai all watched wide-eyed as I made my honest confession.
"But I have changed. I am not who I used to be."
I no longer grabbed my testicles in my hands, stretched them apart, placed my penis on top, and called it a banana on a plate.
Nor was I still childish enough for my friends to give me the nickname "The Nipple Pincher" because of the supposedly lewd way I used my fingertips to open drink bottles.
I had long since gotten over climbing under the covers and squirming around "pretending to be an adult".
I had redone every part of my life that had led my friends to say "I think this is talking about you" every time we passed a sign warning of a suspicious person.
"I changed after I met you in elementary school, Anna-senpai."
"Eh? Met me?"
She looked shocked. But we hadn't actually given each other our names, so it wasn't surprising she didn't remember.
I smiled bitterly in my heart and continued.
"You were my idol, so I completely reformed myself. I have worked all this time to become even the slightest bit more like you and to become a person I can be proud of. So I will never betray the student council. I will never betray you, Anna-senpai!"
"I see."
She nodded with a satisfied smile and turned her smile toward Gori-senpai.
"What do you think, Gouriki-senpai? Are you still going to complain that he is not worthy of our trust?"
Her question was a gentle one and he sulkily groaned that he would wait and see for the time being.
She clapped her hands and gave a beaming smile.
"That settles it. I look forward to working with you from now on, Okuma Tanukichi-kun. Let's do everything we can to protect the school's morals and capture Blue Snowfield."
"O-of course!"
I enthusiastically replied because this felt like a dream come true.
It was only my first day and I already had an important position where I would uphold public morals alongside Anna-senpai.
The fact that they had chosen me for my sexual knowledge was the polar opposite of what I had been hoping for, but this was no time to be picky. I needed to work myself to the bone for Anna-senpai!
"That will be the end of our meeting today. Thank you very much."
…Huh?
"Um, Anna-senpai? If you don't mind me asking, our meeting is already over? I assumed we would get down to work right away, discussing anti-terrorist methods and arranging patrols."
"Oh, that's right…"
The way she placed a hand on her chin was so cute.
"After this, I must report that you are now a member of the student council and Gouriki-senpai seems to have karate practice. I was thinking we would wait until a later date to explain what exactly we want you to do, but… Oh, I know!"
She clapped her hands as if she had just had a great idea.
"Ayame-san, you're free today, aren't you? To make up for what he missed from being late to the entrance ceremony, could you show Okuma-kun around the area and explain anything he needs to know? Deepening the interaction between council members is a part of our job, after all."
"…"
I nervously looked next to me.
The glasses girl with braided hair had a sullen look.
"Yes, with pleasure," she agreed, looking anything but pleased.
Wait, wait, wait, wait! This arrangement isn't going to make anyone happy!
"And with that, the meeting really is over. Please gather here again afterschool tomorrow."
With that final word, I headed out into the streets with Kajou-senpai.
There was definitely something wrong with this.
It proved to be treacherous journey.
"…"
"…"
From the moment we left the student council room to the moment we entered a restaurant in a back alley by the train station, Kajou-senpai and I did not have a single proper conversation.
I asked a few harmless questions like "Is the student council work tough?" or "What exactly am I supposed to do to maintain order?", but she only ever gave monosyllabic answers and the conversation was dead on arrival.
To think I would find someone even harder to speak with than Fuwa-san. And on the same day no less.
The restaurant I entered on Kajou-senpai's silent invitation was a café with a surprising amount of space for a privately run establishment. We had a lot of choice when it came to selecting a private room. The elderly owner and Kajou-senpai seemed friendly, so after exchanging just a few words, we were given the private room in the very back.
"We have had very few guests today, so feel free to talk about whatever you wish."
The elderly gentleman left us with wet towels, ice water, and that strange comment.
Um, what am I supposed to do?
An odd sweat soaked my entire body as I feared the previous silence would continue, but Kajou-senpai proved that fear unfounded by opening her mouth.
"That was a nice act, Okuma-kun!"
"………Eh?"
Time briefly ground to a halt inside my mind. Either that or it felt like being thrown into another world.
Kajou-senpai's displeased expression transformed into a full-face smile. No hint remained of the uncontained disagreeableness. The only things I could find were a face filled with burning energy and a comfortably clear tone of voice.
This strength felt somehow familiar.
Despite my confusion, she began speaking so fast her previous silence seemed like a lie.
"When you were almost caught by the Guidance Officers this morning, I was disappointed and thought you'd be an unreliable ally, but that speech in the student council room was great! Even Gouriki-senpai had to admit it. Just as I had hoped, you're a really capable guy with some real balls! And I bet you've got a capable asshole to match! You're probably easily capable of taking a daikon radish up there! I bet you're so capable in that regard that your sphincter doesn't work at all anymore. Ah ha ha ha! Should I buy you some diapers to celebrate getting into the school!?"
"…!? …!?"
Wh-what the hell is this!?
First she starts talking and now she's making terrible dirty jokes and laughing her ass off!?
Is this really Kajou-senpai!? Did someone else take her place on the way here?
But wait. This powerful voice, those burning eyes, and these awful jokes.
"D-don't tell me…"
I pointed a trembling finger at "Kajou-senpai".
The burning energy in her eyes seemed to grab ahold of me.
"Oh, right. I was really, really late to introduce myself. Let's get that taken care of."
She showed off her white teeth with a cruel smile, removed her glasses, undid her braids, pulled some panties from somewhere, and placed them on her head.
"I am Kajou Ayame, the obscene terrorist known as Blue Snowfield! Nice to meat you! Let's work together to give that ridiculous campaign a good screwing!"
"Hello, police? There's a terrorist in-…gh!?"
"Wait, wait! All I did was introduce myself, so what gives, Okuma-kun? Feeling emotionally unstable?"
I had tried to call the police with my PM, but she hit the cancel button with superhuman speed. She leaned over the table and grabbed my hands, so I couldn't move.
"Y-you have to ask?"
Not only did you suddenly confess you're an obscene terrorist, but you didn't think I would report you!? And after you saw me swear loyalty to Anna-senpai!?
This is wrong. Something about this is definitely wrong. No, it's all wrong.
Question marks floated above both our heads and we said nothing, but then the café owner calmly entered our room.
"Are you ready to order?"
That's hardly my biggest priority right now!
"I'll have coffee. What'll you have, Okuma-kun? How about some roasted green tea to help you calm down?"
Eh? What? I'm the weird one?
"Um, sir."
"Yes?'
"This girl is apparently a terrorist."
"I am well aware. Now, what would you like?"
Oh, so I'm the weird one here. Okey-dokey. I read you loud and clear. Unfortunately.
"Um, then I'll have the roasted green tea."
"Very good."
We stayed frozen in place for several minutes after the owner left for the kitchen. Kajou-senpai kept her head tilted curiously and her eyes suddenly opened wide in realization and her face grew visibly pale.
With dry lips, she looked away from me and hesitantly spoke up.
"Don't tell me you…you actually came to Tokioka Academy because you look up to Anna."
"That's what I've been saying!"
She slowly released my hands and violently held her head in her own hands.
"Eh? That can't be. Eh? But when the Okuma Zenjuurou's son arrived now of all times, I just assumed you were here to help me. Plus you gave off an aura of loving dirty jokes. …Eh? Am I in trouble? Did I jump the gun here? But that can't be… Eh? Am I seriously in trouble?"
She started mumbling to herself and closing herself in a shell.
It decided to make a run for it because I had to inform Anna-senpai.
I sat up and silently opened the private room's door, but then she grabbed my wrist.
"Gwah!"
I was knocked onto the table and kept from moving at all.
With panties on her head, Kajou-senpai leaned over me as if to press her sweaty body onto me.
"Honestly, now. Calm down, Okuma-kun. Calm down, calm down, calm down, me."
She seemed truly disturbed and muttered to herself as if in prayer, but then she fell silent.
The very next moment, she regained the confident look from before.
"H-heh heh. Ha ha ha ha ha! Now that you have discovered my identity, I can't exactly let you leave!"
"You did that to yourself!"
"But you can't fool my eyes. You're oozing with the scent of a guy that loves dirty jokes! You've got the same aura as me! You changed after meeting Anna!? Haven't you heard that no one can truly change!?"
I tensed up at that.
"You leave me with no choice. Let's have a nice long chat about all sorts of lewd things until you'll admit you love dirty jokes!"
"N-no! Someone help!"
"Your drinks are ready."
Not what I wanted!
"Heh…heh heh heh heh heh heh heh. Now, it's time to say goodbye to this wholesome and boring world with no concept of dirty jokes, Okuma-kun. From here on out, everything's going to be more exciting!"
My collar was squeezed tight and I passed out right there.
"Ah! I have to tell Anna-senpai! The enemy is one of us! …Wait, what?"
When I came to, I was tied up in what looked like a dimly-lit storeroom.
There were a bunch of cardboard boxes, shelves of small objects that must not have fit into the boxes, and a single lightbulb as the sorry excuse for a light source. Looking entirely out of place in the old-fashioned atmosphere of the room, a business printer was sitting in one corner.
In the center of the room, someone was sipping coffee on a stool in front of a round wooden table.
"Kajou…-senpai."
"So you've come to. Are you prepared to become an obscene terrorist with me?"
She looked down on me with her braids and glasses removed.
"Like hell I am! Release me, dammit. I swore to protect the public morals with Anna-senpai!"
I struggled, but my arms were tied to a column and they felt like they were going to break. It didn't look like I could escape.
"You're not a female cat in the middle of some baby-making, so calm down. This is that café's storeroom, you know? You're going to cause trouble for the place."
She slipped the erotic illustration from my pocket and held it in front of my face.
"Ghah!"
I did as I was told.
"Here's your roasted green tea. It's gone cold, but it should still help calm you down."
She crouched down next to me and gave me a sip at a time.
Meanwhile, I tried to see if I could operate my bracelet and contact someone, but the bracelet was covered in some kind of padding and I couldn't start it up properly.
"Now, then. It's time I invited you again."
Kajou-senpai sat back in her seat and stared at me with energy to spare on her face.
"Work with me as we establish an obscene terrorist organization named SOX and destroy public morals."
"Do you really think I'll give in to your demands!?" I immediately snapped back. "Why would you do something so stupid and filthy!? What's the point of it all!?"
I was thankful she had saved me back at the station, but it only looked like she was enjoying herself disturbing the public morals by shouting banned words in public and scattering those attractive – no! – those horrid illustrations. I knew I would rather die than help the despicable criminal who directly opposed the noble goals Anne-senpai and I held.
"Sigh. I can't believe this."
Kajou-senpai frowned and gave a forced sigh.
"Okuma Zenjuurou was your father, but I guess he only gave you sexual knowledge. Well, it is like him to not imprint you with his ideology. But he could have at least taught you that obscene terrorism – that is, spreading sexual knowledge – is a necessary evil. And it's ironic he gave you a name as wonderful as Tanukichi yet raised you to be tamed by the modern world."
"What does my name have to do with this?"
"Oh, you don't know?"
She looked surprised, pulled a rectangular object from her pocket, and started pressing buttons. I was pretty sure it was a cellphone, a technology that had not been produced for over a decade. I couldn't figure out why she would be using an antique like that.
"To explain how wonderful your name is, I must first discuss how Japan views testicles."
"Why!?"
"There are many words for testicles around the world, but Japan is the only place that uses gorgeous words like 'golden' or 'jewels' to refer to them. The Japanese have special feelings about balls. And the tanuki is a unique Japanese creature with enlarged balls. Nowhere else in the world can you find an obscene character like that! Viewing sexuality with simple humor and tolerance is part of the good, old spiritual culture of Japan and that idea was placed inside your name! You can hold your head high."
"Like hell I will!"
"You're right. You're probably better at holding the head in your pants high."
"You don't have to shove dirty jokes into everything! And besides."
I asked the question I been wondering about for a while.
"How can you use banned words without issue?"
In this conversation alone, she had used a great array of banned words like "balls" and "testicles". Normally, the PM would detect the usage of those words and immediately report it to the Guidance Department. For minors, that meant a lecture and forced labor. For an adult, it meant at least a fine. On top of that, Kajou-senpai was a Tokioka student, so she would be immediately expelled.
"Oh, that's thanks to this cellphone."
She pressed a few more buttons on the rectangular device and put it back in her pocket.
"While I'm calling a certain number on this phone, I can escape detection by my PM for a maximum of three minutes a day. I can only talk freely for fifty more seconds today."
"Is this Ultraman!? And what the hell is that? That's too convenient to be real!"
If that existed, the world would be overflowing with far more obscenity and sexual terrorism.
"It's not convenient at all."
Kajou-senpai immediately and easily brushed aside my doubts.
"This is the one and only loophole my father, Endou Masashi, left me, using everything he built up fighting the Public Morality and Wholesome Upbringing Law as a politician. By the way, Ultraman Cosmos is my personal favorite."
"I didn't ask! And Endou Masashi? That sounds familiar."
"Of course it does. He used to be a big-name politician, but he's in prison now after falling into disgrace ten years ago when he was accused of hiring a high school prostitute. It was big news at the time. …But he didn't actually do that. The politicians planning sexual oppression with the PMs framed him."
"You must trust him a lot."
"Of course. After all, he was more into older women."
He lost to his political rivals, was thrown in prison, and his daughter knows his fetishes? I certainly don't envy him.
"So did you become a terrorist to take revenge against the society that framed your father?"
"What are you talking about? Why would anyone become an obscene terrorist for a stupid reason like that? This is entirely what I want to do. Do you want to know what my father said to me when he gave me this phone? He said, 'Your love of dirty jokes is abnormal. I'll give you this, so let off some steam for three minutes each day.' "
"What kind of childhood did you have!?"
Not that I'm one to talk.
"Simply put, I said 'penis' about once a sentence, I was a little girl, and the second thing I'd say to you was 'Why aren't you humping yet?' "
I take that back. I do have the right to criticize her childhood.
"To get back on topic, you asked if I was out for revenge, Tanukichi. Let me repeat myself: not a chance. If anything, I resent my father."
A sharp light filled her eyes and a chill ran down my spine. What had happened between her and her father?
"All I can do is say things and only for three minutes a day? In what world is that enough!? I'm being smothered over here! Couldn't that imbecile have been generous enough to completely deactivate my PM!?"
"How can you say that about a man who sacrificed himself for his daughter's future!?"
"I might have enjoyed my life more if I was completely hidden away from the world. I can blend into society now, but I can't stand how restrictive it is. People always say I have a sour look, but how am I supposed to smile in a world where I can't even shout 'pussy' at the top of my lungs?"
"And that's where the obscene terrorism comes in?"
"That's right. It was impossible to change myself, so I decided to change the world."
That was almost refreshingly selfish logic, but she showed no shame in her dignified announcement.
"Well, there are plenty of other reasons, but they can wait since they might be too much for you at the moment."
She whispered something else, but I couldn't quite make it out.
"So let me ask again. Do you have any intention of establish an obscene terrorist organization named SOX with me?"
"None at all."
"Eh? What don't you like about it? The name? Is it the name?"
"After all this, you think that might be the issue!?"
"I put a lot of thought into that name. The 'O' looks like a censorship symbol, so the whole things looks nice and obscene, right?"
"Yes, I suppose so!"
She then pulled out her cellphone.
"Also, SOX is short for 'Sex occurs most Often on Xmas'! The streets are overflowing with couples and the women's crotches are overflowing with semen. Xmas was an old holiday on which obscene acts were legally encouraged!"
"I'm starting to get tired of dealing with this conversation!"
"Oh, I just realized. You know the idea of a White Christmas? That makes the earth a giant ovum and the falling snow sperm, doesn't it? While the humans are inseminating each other like crazy on the microscopic scale, even the earth itself is being inseminated! Truly a miracle of the universe."
"Die!"
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Kajou-senpai burst out laughing and I hung my head.
What came over her all of a sudden?
"Heh heh heh. Hah hah. I might have made the right decision choosing you as my first official partner. Dirty jokes are so much more worthwhile with someone to react to them.
"Wha-?"
Don't tell me I'm encouraging her dirty jokes.
"And wait! I never said I'd be your partner! Give it a rest already! …!?"
At some point, the look in her eyes had changed. She gave a long sigh of resignation and narrowed her eyes. I couldn't help but flinch back from the pressure of her fearless expression.
"I'll respect your independence just once more. Do you have any intention of helping me?"
Now that I thought about it, she no longer looked as concerned as she had in the café. She had been confidently toying with me the entire time. That wasn't the attitude of someone whose secret was out.
"I will never help you."
Cautious of what might happen, I plainly rejected her offer.
"I see. That's too bad."
She accepted my words surprisingly easily.
However, there was no way this was over.
"Then I have no choice but to turn you into the Guidance Department as a criminal who was messing with a girl's lower body."
"What!?"
My mind went blank at this entirely unexpected turn of events.
"Wait a second. You're the one that can't let the Guidance Department find out about this! Besides, even if you're a Tokioka student, they won't believe you that easily."
"The rope we used to escape should still be at the station."
My heart skipped a beat.
"I grabbed it through the towel and that towel has already been disposed of. Meanwhile, you grabbed the rope directly. If I have them examine it, they should find plenty of your skin."
"W-wait! You still can't turn me into the police! I know who you are! I can let everyone know the truth no matter where I end up!"
Pushing at that fact was my only way of resisting this.
If she had a way of defeating that argument…well…
She giggled as if teasing me.
"It's true I'd be found out and thrown behind bars if you did that. And even if I did escape punishment, the Guidance Department would have me marked and I wouldn't be able to do anything anymore. I want to avoid that. But this still isn't a problem. After all, you have a shocking two whole reasons why you can't reveal my identity. That's as many as you have balls."
Enough about balls. And don't pull out your cellphone just to say that one word.
"First, if it's found out the obscene terrorism is being done by a member of Tokioka's student council, the council will be accused of inadequate oversight. That would be quite a problem for Student Council President Anna."
"What? That's completely unfair."
"Heh heh heh. We've known for sixteen years now we live in an unfair society."
She spat out the words as if asking why I would bring it up now.
"And second, I'm Anna's best friend. It may sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but Anna can only bear the intense duties of the student council because I help give her some relief. That is part of where her talent comes from in the first place. So what if I were expelled as Blue Snowfield? She would be devastated to learn her best friend had betrayed her, the school and society would place the blame on her, she would be crushed under the student council's duties, and she would no longer have me to provide some relief. What do you think would happen then?"
"Don't you dare say that with the same mouth that just called her your best friend!"
"You'd rather I used my lower mouth?"
"You only have one!"
Wait, this is no time to be penetrating her-…crap, I'm letting her influence me. This is no time to be skewering her with a nice retort.
"Then I only have to support Anna-senpai after you're arrested."
"How do you plan to do that after you're thrown in jail as a molester?"
Oh, right!
"As you can see, it wouldn't harm me to falsely accuse you."
She stood up and grabbed my head.
"If you don't want to be thrown to the Guidance Department, then work with me. Don't worry. I won't treat you badly. I know you won't obey me if all I do is threaten to punish you, so I do have a reward prepared, too."
…A reward?
"Didn't I just say Anna and I are best friends? I stand in the perfect position to fully support your love."
"Wha- No, no, no! This isn't love! I just admire her and don't have any impure feelings whatsoev-…"
"If that speech and your attitude in the student council room weren't an act and weren't love, then what were they? Just so you know, feelings of love for another person and the desire to have your way with their body are the two most pure and wholesome feelings there are. Well, you don't have to admit it right away. If you help me as one of SOX's founding members, I promise to do everything I can to bring you and Anna closer together. Heh heh heh. So how about it? You have a reason not to reject this and a reason to agree to it, don't you? You know what to do, don't you? This is an ultimatum: Let's work together to create a wonderful world that allows dirty jokes."
Kajou-senpai gave a ferocious smile as if to challenge me.
On that long-awaited day, I became a student of Tokioka Academy.
On the one hand, I was selected to join the glorious Tokioka Academy student council. On the other hand, I became a founding member of SOX, the antisocial terrorist organization led by the extraordinarily strange Blue Snowfield.
This is wrong…
This is wrong on so many levels!!
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_1.txt
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Only I Am Not Attacked In A World Overflowing With Zombies
Zombie no Afureta Sekai de Ore Dake ga Osowarenai
ゾンビのあふれた世界で俺だけが襲われない
Status : 55 Chapters (Hiatus/Dropped)
Synopsis :
In the today's society which is destroyed by zombies, there is only one man that is not attacked by a zombie, and this story follows a man`s selfishly lifestyle.
Info :
http://www.novelupdates.com/series/only-i-am-not-attacked-in-a-world-overflowing-with-zombies/
Online Book :
http://nox-novels.jp/bibliography/20151228-3/
Raws :
http://novel18.syosetu.com/n3271bm/
Translator :
https://reantoanna.wordpress.com/
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_10.txt
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Chapter 06, "Only I'm not attacked."
First thing Yuusuke did as he woke up was take a shower.
While wiping his body up, he thought about the recent events.
Zombies attack people…
It was a known fact.
However, Yuusuke was an exception.
In other words, he's special.
He glanced at the wound on his arm.
He peeled the scab that covered his newly regenerated skin. It showed the mark of a bite from the man.
The virus had a 100% fatality rate. I can prove this due to the events that happened. I was infected with the virus, but I didn't die.
There's also the possibility that I may be dead already.
The thought of it makes me uneasy, but I could feel my heart beating. I could also feel the warmth of my heart.
Why didn't I die?
Did I take a vaccine that weakened the infection?
Perhaps the vaccine created antibodies to fight off the disease.
"I just don't understand…"
It's hard to reflect on what's happening since the news did not have anything regarding an immunity to the virus.
This must be an extremely rare case.
If I were to report myself to a hospital, I may be the key to the cure for the virus.
"But I can't do that…"
I would be considered as a test subject.
With the society in chaos, human principles might not even be considered.
He was not fond of the idea of sacrificing himself for others. Humanity's fate could be on the palms of Yuusuke's hands.
"I must be lucky…"
I should have been dead alongside with the mother and her child.
"I apologize sincerely for giving you up to them… Please, forgive me."
He put his hands together and mourned for their death.
It was unfortunate that they had to go through such events, resulting in their death.
They trapped themselves in their room and they would've starved to death. The outcome was inevitable. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't have been able to run away either.
Honestly, death by starvation would've been better than being eaten alive.
He stopped thinking about what was already over.
"I have confirmed it."
Zombies do not attack me.
。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。
'The next day'
With the same equipment, Yuusuke made his way outside of his apartment building.
I took a walk outside of the apartment building.
I walked past a zombie and remembered yesterday's scene. I immediately went on guard, but as expected, no reactions came out of any of the zombies I passed by.
I saw the zombie from the attack of yesterday, but no reaction came from it either.
I rode my motorcycle to a parking lot, parked my motorcycle, and went into the underground parking. There was only a black videotape recorder.
The road was blocked by abandoned cars. There was barely any space to advance. The intersection was blocked too. If I were in a car, I would be having extreme difficulty maneuvering around.
Yuusuke moved slowly, careful not to bump into any cars. There were times where he would drive onto the sidewalk.
"There seems to be no zombies being attracted to the sound of my motorcycle either… Maybe they're just attracted to the smell of humans?"
Or maybe it's the smell of fresh blood.
As I was thinking, I recalled the scene with the mother and her child from yesterday. It was when the zombies gathered in the neighborhood.
"Is that a child?"
There was a young boy who looked around 5 years old. He was crouching beside a car.
When I went closer to him, he was biting skin off of something that looked like an arm. You could also see parts of white, probably showing the bone. It looked as if he was bitten by something.
"Gross…"
I immediately left in a hurry.
Although it may not have attacked me here, it still could be a possibility. My heart began to beat faster as I thought about it.
I arrived at another convenience store.
There were two zombies wandering around the interior of the store, but the shelves were not damaged. I quickly grabbed myself a plastic water bottle, some canned food and a ready-to-eat meal.
"It's a good thing I didn't stop by the supermarket. The food there is most likely rotten by now."
In the meantime, I chose my food carefully. Choosing foods that would be efficient for my situation.
Yuusuke enjoyed the feeling of choosing freely of whatever he wanted without the need to pay. He may be a thief, but society had already collapsed.
"Hehehehe~"
I ate an ice pop and returned to my motorcycle with a bag filled with items picked from the store. I attached the bag behind my seat and I readied myself to return home.
On the way home, he felt very happy.
He then arrived safely. He refrigerated his food, leaving the ones he wanted to eat while he surfed the net.
Though the internet provided information about what is currently happening to the society, it did not supply the information about the refuge that the woman had told him about. I searched for the town website, but whenever I would try to view it, the website would fail to load.
Though the city hall website was accessible, anything inside wouldn't load. Inside of the website, there would be no information about the zombie virus.
"Seems like it's unavailable…"
He lost hope in the website and closed the tab.
"The radio seems to be working fine, but it looks like it won't connect to any radio stations…"
Broadcasts from the channels of the disaster control network were not heard, but they should be working. This was my only hope.
"Maybe I should check the city hall later…"
The server was working. Perhaps the equipment there would work too.
I headed to my bookmarks folder and clicked on the pornographic site.
However, the page wouldn't load. It seems that this disaster might have destroyed the servers that connected me to them. Yuusuke stooped his head down in disappointment.
I felt a shock hit my mind.
"I think I just realized something…"
I sighed, turning off the PC.
"Maybe I should play a game…"
I stood up from my chair and glanced at the ceiling. I remember I had a neighbor. I thought about the room, 3 rooms over from mines.
I thought about the room of Kurose.
–Chapter 6 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_11.txt
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Chapter 07, "Tokiko Kurose"
When I arrived in Kurose room, I went to check in the bathroom. There she was, unmoved and waiting in idle.
(TL: I think I did a translation error in chapter 3… silly me.)
Even if I were to examine her closely, she would give no response. I carefully looked at her from bottom to top, but she would just still be staring at the ground.
============================================
This part will begin to have some mild sexual content.
============================================
As a zombie, Kurose was still beautiful. She was wearing a black knit sweater, you could see her breasts pushing out.
Yuusuke gulped as he slowly extended his left hand towards her chest.
Gently I touched her chest. The feeling of her hard bra could be felt. Even when I massaged her breasts, Kurose was still looking at the ground giving no reaction at all.
"Amazing…"
I locked the door to the front, so I don't have to worry about being interrupted.
Pulling Kurose's arm, she gave little resistance, but I eventually lead her to the bedroom.
When I was ready, I pushed her onto the bed.
I bind her hands together with a towel before tying it on the bed, restraining her hand movements.
I pulled her belt out of her waist as I opened her mouth and tie it around her mouth, to the point where she was biting the belt. Kurose was giving no reaction to any of this, giving me nothing to worry about as I continued.
After restraining her upper body, I stood up and looked at my finished work.
"This is like a porn video…"
Kurose looks up at me with a blank expression. Occasionally she would try to move up; however, she was unsuccessful because I have binded most of her body by now.
Then I unbuttoned her jeans, bringing it down to her knees.
Underneath her sweater was her underwear that was embroidered with lace, topped off with a ribbon. Her white thighs peered out from below.
I became aroused at the scene. I stroked her inner thigh and gave a light squeeze. Her skin was really smooth. In excitement, I jumped onto the bed.
I laid on top of Kurose, her chest against mine's. I snaked my arms around her back, hugging her affectionately.
"Haaa~ I need to calm down…"
It didn't feel like hugging a corpse or doll. She was more like a life-sized pillow that occasionally stirred. But it was still Kurose, and she continued to stare at the ceiling, giving no response to the actions of Yuusuke.
I put my hand in her sweater and grasped her bra as I looked at her face. I began to unhook her bra. It was similar to her panties. After taking them off, I tossed them on the bed, as it was not my main interest.
I kneaded her raw breasts from underneath her sweater. It was an erotic sight. I raised her sweater, enough to expose only one of her breasts.
"Ah… Pink…"
I lifted her nipple with the tip of my finger. The texture was soft, but it didn't stiffen while being stimulated. It was understandable because she was already dead.
Her breasts kept their shape even after death. They held their beautiful shape, not collapsing. Her breasts were beautiful, it looked like a D cup.
===============================
The mild sexual content ends here.
===============================
Yuusuke then stood up, separating himself from Kurose.
"I regret going out of control…"
I was trying to restrain myself at first; however, I wasn't able to stand against her erotic appearance.
"At first it was just a house search."
Yuusuke started to go through Kurose's baggage. I intended to know what kind of a person Kurose was.
"Why wasn't she able to escape…?"
I pulled out a small document on her shelf and took a look at the contents inside.
Tokiko Kurose, 23 years old, she was working for the Matsuda factory during the springtime.
She was a new employee, who's role was to moderate the company's business.
"She had such a high role, it must've been hard for her…"
She had such a fierce job, but she looked so gentle. Her occupation was a hard one, even I wouldn't be suitable to do her job.
"Did she live alone? It seemed like her family lived in Hiroshima. She had a younger sister… I wonder if her sister looked beautiful too?"
I looked at the bed. The sight of Kurose naked with only panties on can be seen staring at the ceiling.
She didn't show any eye contact or make a fuss about it.
I returned the documents to its original spot and booted up the laptop.
After the Windows start up screen, the desktop showed a picture of a kitten playing around.
I started the web browser and checked the browser history. The most recent site was quite some time ago.
A bookmark caught my eye. It was about a sexual harassment consultation office.
"What is this? Blackmail, legal affairs… was she sexually harassed? That's outrageous!"
I searched for the most recent file that was used. It was a word document named "Record".
It was a record about harassment and it said something about Kurose dating a Mr. Yamamoto.
It was written by Kurose. The contents said that her thigh was touched in a taxi, her waist was pushed when she was using a photocopy/fax machine, and she was extorted by a client.
The record went on for a while until recently. I skimmed through it and closed the file when I was finished looking through it.
"Was Mr. Yamamoto her senior in the company?"
Somehow, I pictured a middle-aged man with a good figure and a ruddy face.
"But to have this happen nowadays… I would beat him up at once if it were me. How was Tokiko-chan was able to keep quiet about this?"
There were traces of consultation with the boss too, but there wasn't much of a change as I read through the document.
"Sexual harassment really damaged her reputation… it's good that you don't have to go back to that company anymore. Sleep well, Tokiko."
I called out to Kurose when she was still on the bed, but there was still no reaction.
"She doesn't seem to have a private diary."
There wasn't a bookmark for one either. I loaded the email software, but there were no traces of it being used.
There was only a notebook in her bag. It had a date, a person's name, and a phone number written in it. There wasn't any personal information of any sort. I found a plain pink cell phone and turned it on. Then I checked her email. There was an email from ten days ago that was sent from her younger sister. Was it an email to confirm their safety? The last email was on the 5th. There was also no signal for the phone because it was 'out of range'. Was it different for a smartphone? Yuusuke wasn't an expert on phones. There was a second phone that seemed to be for her job. Most of the emails were related to work and not anything of interest.
"Only family members? Not even a friend?"
Yuusuke didn't have a person to talk to either. It was always quiet when he was in his room. His parents didn't live with him, and his grandfather died in a traffic accident two years ago. I collected the information that I had gathered and returned the room back to it's normal state. Kurose seemed to have no problems living by herself for long periods of time. She probably had a few family problems. I've never seen any acquaintance of Kurose visit her home either.
"I guess a zombie visited and bit her."
The zombies who attacked the mother and the child were reasonably quick. It's not slower than a human. It was a bit unbalanced, but they rushed towards them like an animal.
It doesn't stop moving if there are injuries anywhere other than the head.
It would be considerably hard to have one as a partner since it wanders around everywhere.
At least I can enjoy myself for a while because they won't interrupt me.
–Chapter 7 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_12.txt
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Chapter 8: "Necrophilia" ◆
"For the time being…"
I sat down on the bed while looking at Kurose. Even though I've already inspected her body, a double check should be done.
Suddenly, Kurose began to look at me. Her mouth still restrained with a belt.
While waving my hands in front of her eyes, she showed a reaction. She seems to become aware of something.
"Even though I already took off half of her clothes, should I undress the rest?"
While saying my thoughts a loud, I undress her jeans. Taking off her socks, a white thigh bare to the ankle could be seen.
I bring her socks to my nose, deeply inhaling her scent.
"I'm such a pervert…"
With Kurose being dead, there wasn't any smell. This was as expected. When you die, your body stops producing odor. Even if Kurose had little body odor, her body should've stopped producing odor from when she died.
I raise each leg, carefully expecting her thigh, but there was no bite wound to be found.
"Hmm.."
Sitting on top her, I remove her sweater exposing her upper body. Her sides, collarbone and white breasts were all visible. Under her shoulders were newly grown hair. Everywhere was perfectly fit, it was beautiful.
I examine her arms, pulling her sweater off in the process. There were still no wounds.
Returning her sweater, I make way towards her panties. Compared to her sweater, the panties were much lighter. While pulling it down, her pubic hair could be seen.
"Mind if I stick my finger in? …. Oh, it's okay? Well thank you."
I move her pubic hair aside and stick the tip of my finger inside her vagina; however, it was dry inside. Even if I push my finger in deeper, Kurose would just stare at me with no reaction. Bringing my finger to my nose, there was no scent at all. She may have taken a shower before she died.
"Could she be patient zero of the pandemic? Because there seems to be no bite marks on her body."
On the internet, the cause of the epidemic was said to be uncertain.
At the time when Kurose became infected, Yuusuke was happily playing his game.
Kurose was infected, but I wasn't. Even when we were both living on the same floor.
The cause of her infection may come from her workplace, or maybe somewhere else. It's quite hard to understand how quick the zombie virus would spread.
"The source of the disease is a mystery… It may have come from a bomb, or space radiation."
This reminds me. About a month ago, news got out that an asteroid had crashed into the earth, but as X days passed, no incidents of infection broke out. (TL: These few lines confused us a lot! There was also another line that we didn't add because it was too hard to translate. Please forgive us! It wasn't really related to the chapter anyways.)
"Maybe I should put a condom on…"
I took out some condoms and lubricant from the convenient store bag.
The only confirmed information about the infection is that if you were bitten by a zombie, you would be infected; however, there is nothing about violating the undead. I started to undress until I was naked.
"Tokiko, I'm going to open your crotch."
I spread her thighs forcibly and tried to enter her; however, it didn't fully go in, with only the tip of my erect dick inside of her. It went to the point where I had previously tried to stick my finger in.
"I think she needs some lube~"
I squeezed out the lubricant from the bottle, and coated her insides with my finger. The lubricant got caught on her pubic hairs in the process.
I then slipped the condom on my erected dick before squeezing the remaining amount of lube onto the condom.
"Hey… this is basically sexual harassment…"
I lifted up her sweater and kneaded both her breasts, altering its shape with my palms. My breathing became more tense along with my penis. It looks like Mr. Yamamoto had lots of fun with her breasts. The records show she was later going to provide evidence.
"Do you mind if I were to sexually harass you for moment? I'm just going to stick my penis inside of you."
Kurose stared at Yuusuke's stomach, giving him no response.
Yuusuke pressed forward as his penis entered her vagina. He was able to do this from the lubricant that he had spread on Kurose. He felt something break open inside of her.
"Was Kurose a virgin?"
I began to move slowly, in and out. Slowly, her insides began to loosen, the more I entered her, the more easy it was to move back and forth.
Feeling a women after a long time, Yuusuke felt happy. Her breasts would move each time he pounded inside of her. His movement roughen, ignoring the thoughts about the opposite party.
"This is like a Onahole.."
(TL: If you don't know what that is.. feel free to look it up or click on the word.)
The more I moved my waist, the more pleasurable it felt. Each time I moved inwards, the tip of my penis would harden. It was on the verge of squeezing out the sperm that has been built up inside of me.
"I always wanted to have sexual intercourse with a younger woman. What a beauty… You wouldn't understand my feelings of why I am doing this… It's a good thing I'm wearing a condom right now just in case I catch the virus."
The thought of dying scared me. In a society that had already collapsed, there would be no use if I lived on. It was an extremely pessimistic thought. I couldn't embrace the corpse of a woman and hold my sanity.
I took off the condom soon after. My penis was wrapped in the pleasant feeling when I thrust it back into her.
"It was an unfortunate life for you… Sorry, Kurose-chan. I'll write about it later. It would be sexual harassment even if I did the pull-out method."
I moved back and forth with the wild idea of penetrating a younger female office worker. I held both of her legs and continued. I felt like I was raping her. Kurose's vagina pleasurably sandwiched his genitalia covered by a thin layer of skin. I hit a limit as she squeezed my tender limb.
"I'm coming!"
I ejaculate inside her, releasing the cloudy fluid into her uterus.
The timid female office worker's womb was violated by my ejaculation. The sensation was very satisfying.
The white liquid slowly ran down her thigh and onto the bed.
Kurose gazed at me as I tilted her face up, her hands still bound.
"Ahhh~"
He panted heavily and fell next to Kurose. Yuusuke stopped thinking as he buried his face into her chest before drifting off to sleep.
–Chapter 8 End–
—Volume 1 End—
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_13.txt
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VOLUME 2: Chapter 9: "S.O.S."
As he arrived at the gate of Nanba Elementary School; the one that he had found on the map. Yuusuke got off his motorcycle.
I looked up at the school building and sighed.
"There's no use…"
Zombies were already roaming along the school grounds.
I searched inside the building, but there seemed to be no traces of any survivors.
The desks and chairs were pushed to one side of the classroom with cardboard and paper scattered across the floor. Bags were everywhere.
There were signs that many people were here, but most of them have probably turned by now. Boys and girls of all ages, some may have just been refugees.
The classroom was stained dark red from here and there, but the condition of the shattered windows caused some confusion.
"If only there was a beautiful girl around here…"
In the hallway, half of the zombies that passed were either injured or missing a limb. Then again, other than patient zero who spread this mysterious disease, any other zombie should have some sort of injury or wound to contract the infection.
Upon turning into a zombie, most would try to resist, so I imagine there aren't many able-bodied zombies.
(TL: By that he means zombies who haven't lost a limb.
Zombie with 2 arms > zombie with 1 arm)
While sauntering around by myself, I became accustomed to the grotesque figures of the undead. The ones here don't seem to be that dangerous, in this way I was comfortable.
I found a girl who appeared to be a university student, walking with a swaying broken neck. I slipped my hands into her shirt and rubbed her chest.
Her hair was cut in a bob and dyed. Her breasts were nice, but the face was alright. She wasn't as beautiful as Kurose. Although, I just might have taken her home if she was.
I examined the girl closely and noticed a thin film on the section that was gnawed off her right hand.
They act like an animal despite being dead, so, there may be some sort of imitative life activity. Yuusuke thought, continuing to rub her breasts.
He resumed looking for more survivors. When he confirmed there to be none, Yuusuke returned to the third floor.
He searched for any baggage left from refugees in each classroom.
"A bank book and a stamp… I get why you would have this, but this is just useless to me…"
I threw items that were useless into pile. There weren't a lot of food or tools. Thankfully I found a battery and a pen. There was also a portable radio, however it couldn't connect anywhere.
I could get plenty of tools at a nearby home improvement store. It could be a long walk from here, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
As I straightened myself out and stretched, something strange near the window caught my eye.
On the wall of a distant building was a white cloth, softly fluttering.
"What is that?"
I leaned out the window and focused my vision.
Although it was blurred, you could make out "SOS".
。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。
I arrived at building, which was a 3-story supermarket with a large parking lot. From the rooftop, there hangs the SOS cloth requesting rescue.
"Survivors…?"
Yuusuke stayed seated on his motorcycle on the parking lot, hesitatant.
The reason why I went to the Nanba elementary school refuge was for information. Although you're free to eat whatever you like, how can you get information on what's going around in the neighborhood when you're staying indoors?
It would be useful if a large group of people contacted the other smaller groups.
When there are a small group of people, they might have been attacked. A pandemic happened within a period of two weeks, and the food was becoming scarce.
Because I was slowly approaching them with my motorcycle, I don't think they have noticed me yet.
"Wait and see first. Zombies are currently my only allies."
If all goes wrong, then I'll run into a crowd of zombies.
Yuusuke got off his motorcycle. I put the helmet on my motorcycle and took the bag from the back of my vehicle and went to the entrance of the supermarket.
On the first floor, there was food. On the second floor, a sign said there were daily necessities.
I passed through zombies walking unsteadily between the aisles and looked at the situation.
At the corner of the fresh food, there was a bit of a stench. The vegetables were withered and discolored. Maggots would begin to eat the meat and fish if it were left alone.
"Hope nobody touches the food while I go explore the other shops nearby."
Ready to eat foods and canned foods of this small supermarket would be able to provide enough for Yuusuke for a year. If I walked a bit further in, then I'm almost sure that there would be infinite amounts of food. Because I have been taking good care of myself, I want to avoid causing a disruption to the environment.
"Have the meat and fish been out for a while? The vegetables may be nourishing, but they don't provide enough nutrients."
Some groups may have established a safe shelter. Would they be practicing agriculture and hunting? If they do, then I may be able to negotiate with them using the supplies that I take with me.
Yuusuke was left with infinite supplies from the collapsed human society.
"Wandering merchant, Yuusuke Takemura"
I had a very happy look on my face.
"Or, can you recover from your situation? ….Human race."
It may be sometime before they can find a way to deal with the virus, and to exterminate all of the zombies. In five years or ten years, it might not even go back to it's normal civilization level as it was before.
Yuusuke's dream was to have the zombies take over the entire world and wipe out the entire human race because he was unaffected by the virus.
Originally, Yuusuke hated his lifestyle. He didn't want to return to how it was before.
"Tokiko-chan too."
The zombies did not seem to decay or anything and could last for a long time if I didn't act rashly.
"A fishing rod would be good for later. Fish is good."
I went up the second floor while humming.
When he reached the second floor, he met eyes with a middle-aged female zombie sitting on a sofa.
–Chapter 9 End–
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Chapter 10 "Survivor"
The daily necessities section on the second floor seemed to be untouched. There was only a zombie wandering about.
The problem must be on the third floor.
I saw something fall down the staircase of the emergency exit.
I pressed my ear against the door and listened, but all that was heard was silence.
I stepped back.
"Hey! Is somebody there?" I exclaimed.
"…."
I waited several minutes for an answer, but to no avail.
I called out some more while knocking on the door, but there appeared to be no sign of anyone there.
The emergency exit door was locked.
"Did the people inside starve to death?"
I didn't want to waste my time searching for a key, so I decided to take the elevator I found a while ago. The door opened immediately; I guess the power supply is still on.
Getting on the elevator to go up to the third floor, I notice that the "3F" button was closed off with a seal. I tried to push it, but nothing happened.
"So, that's why…"
The third floor didn't sell anything, which is why it was restricted from customers.
At the other end of the second floor was a door that led to a back room.
The placed looked to be an entirely different department that I had no interest in whatsoever. It was just furniture.
As I went deeper down the aisle, I found two other elevators. Entering, I noticed this one had a B1F button. This time when I pressed the 3F, the elevator rose.
The door opens as I reach the third floor. In front of the doorway was a barricade of steel desks and chairs.
It wasn't anything that I couldn't climb over. Piece of cake, you know?
After I got through, I surveyed the area. This place couldn't be any more than three meters wide as well as no signs of life.
On the wall was an A4 sized piece of paper held up by tape. It seemed to be a floor plan made by one of the employees. It may be an office, locker room, or warehouse.
I scanned through the plan and I could confirm it's the last floor. It was locked, so there's probably no one in it.
I continued roaming around and found a monitor room. One of the cameras was focused on some part of the store, with nothing but a zombie prowling around.
"Does the basement have a delivery room? I mean there is a machinery room for the trucks here.."
There seemed to be a freezer and a warehouse from the monitor, and I confirmed it with a map nearby.
There was an underground parking area that was shown in a monitor and a truck was seen near a delivery entrance. There were no zombies to be seen and looking carefully at the monitor, there was no signs of people in here. I continued on with the next room.
There was an office next door that had desks lined up like a normal office. Some computers were on and were displaying the weather forecast for the week. There was a meeting room inside that had frosted glass, but nobody was there.
However, the problem is… There were signs that someone lived here.
The inside had a semi-transparent garbage bag which had multiple teacups, a kettle and instant noodle containers.
There was a room in the depths of the office that looked like the boss office. A carpet could be seen inside of the room from the opened doorway which had a one way screen blocking the view of the room.
Suddenly, Yuusuke stopped his movements.
My eyes met with a boy who looked to be in elementary school.
"……"
"……"
I stared at him silently
He was dirty and roughed up, but looked docile. His hair was raven black.
The boy left me in silence, running to the back.
"Ah… Hey!"
I called out before chasing after him. He ran over to a couch with someone who slept upon it, waking them up, panicked.
It was girl who was probably in high school, being shaken awake. She stirred. She wore a beige cardigan with a white shirt underneath, legs hugged by black jeans. She could have been an honor student. Her long hair matched the younger boy's, frayed and loss of luster.
Next to her lay a small boy of the same age as the other, sleeping peacefully and covered with a thin sheet, barely enough to be called a blanket.
The girl's eyes fluttered open, looking at the latter. She slowly turned towards me before widening her eyes.
"………..!"
The room was suddenly filled with screams and I raised my arms. I tried to speak as friendly as possible, not to show hostility.
"H-hi! Sorry for intruding. I swear, I'm not dangerous!"
"O-oh…"
She looked at me, bewildered.
I dropped my bag on the floor.
"Did you eat yet?"
— Chapter 10 End —
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_15.txt
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Chapter 11: "Fujino Mizuki"
Other than the sound of water, there didn't seem to be any other noise for a while.
Food was taken out of the bag. There were three teenagers who had their eyes glued to the food. Including a boy who stood up to get it.
At first, I handed out an energy bar, and the three of them shared it. Then I took out some canned food and a plastic bottle.
I took out a bottle of tea and opened the canned mackerel simmered in miso, teriyaki chicken, and canned tuna.
The three of them started to stare at the canned food intensely while biting on their bar. The three of them finished it as I broke my chopsticks and wolfed down the food.
Yuusuke looked at his food with the feeling of a starving stray cat asking for food. After he finished the first can of food, the girl from the group of three hesitated to eat from the second can of food. The other two were already almost finished eating the second can of food with no sense of guilt. The girl finally began to eat in peace after I took out a heap of canned food from the bag.
The girl picked up a piece of food that one of the boys dropped. Although they were hungry, I ate while watching the girl take care of the boys.
When we finished our meal, we all sighed in relief.
While Yuusuke beated the bag lightly, he says,
"Was that enough? How was it?"
"Yes, it was good. Thank you for the meal!"
The girl sat straight and lowered her head. I was tempted to do the same when the boys beside me also lowered their heads. They seemed to be well-disciplined.
"Is there any chance that the S.O.S. outside was yours'?"
"Oh.. no. But it seemed like it was right?"
I was about to answer when suddenly they started to tell their stories..
Their group of people were attacked by a group of zombies on their way to the refuge and escaped into this supermarket. At that time, they were separated from their parents.
At the beginning, they were holding out in the supermarket, but as the food supply decreased, people went out to look for food. Nobody ever came back. Since the girl had two younger brothers, she was not able to go anywhere.
Yuusuke continued to listen silently as she explained her story.
Her statements were very logical. She was also a pretty girl. She seemed like the class representative of an honor class. She was an impressive girl.
When she finished talking,
"I see.. it must have been very hard."
Yuusuke said with a serious tone.
"Umm…. Yeah.."
I remembered that I didn't tell the girl my name.
"I forgot to mention, I am Yuusuke Takemura, and you are?"
"Oh.. thank you. My name is Mitsuki Fujino. This is the second eldest out of the family, my brother Takashi.
"Thank you. My best regards to you."
It seemed like a very well disciplined family to exchange names with. When Yuusuke bowed, the two brothers did the same. Mizuki let out a smile. When the introductions were over, Mizuki was a feeling a little shy.
"Is Mr. Takemura here to help..?"
They asked Yuusuke who seemed like an ordinary person to make sure, but he shook his head,
"I'm just passing by."
"…Is that right..? Is the outside safe now? We haven't seen the outside for a while."
"Well.. not really."
Yuusuke didn't know what to say. I did not intend to tell them that the zombies did not attack me.
"You might be able to go outside, but it's still dangerous, as they're still wandering around down there."
"..Really? Can you take us along?"
"That's impossible, having more people makes it more dangerous."
It was something I said on the spot from my bad habits. Nobody understood the behavior patterns of a zombie. Mizuki stood still and spoke,
"The only place safe for my brothers are.."
"Impossible. There is no such place. There is no safe place and even the refuge was full of zombies."
Even if I let them live in the apartment next to mine and bring food to them regularly, it would be too much work. If only it was just the pretty girl. It was different with some elementary students though. It required a lot of effort to keep them all safe. They had some essential information, but it was not enough to hold up a fort.
"I only took food and escaped because I was trying to avoid these things. I can't afford to stay with you."
"Really…"
Mizuki's face darkened.
The younger brothers overheard and became silent. My expression is nearly the same as before.
They were being too disciplined. When I held out against them, it was different than how they did it. They were afraid.
Even Mizuki was afraid. Food was becoming more rare in the supermarket. They would start having thoughts of escaping reality.
Although the girl looked smart, the situation was still driving her into a corner.
"Oh, I'll get more food. I'm going to be gone for a while. If I find a human that can help, then I'll tell them to come here. Is that okay with you??"
Mizuki blinked and stared at Yuusuke's face.
She lowered her head deeply and said,
"….Thank you very much. I am very sorry for being so selfish."
"It's okay. Help will come soon. Keep holding out."
Yuusuke stared at Mizuki as she lifted her head up…
While he thought of never coming back.
–Chapter 11 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_16.txt
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Chapter 12: "Cleaning" ◆
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This part will begin to have some sexual content.
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"Mizuki was pretty, and her chest wasn't that bad too."
Yuusuke remembered as he continued to pound Kurose from the back. She was a beautiful girl who gave off a good impression.
Kurose was moved to the kitchen table as he pushed her down. Her chest was against the table, flattened, as he removed her jeans. Her hands were tied behind her back, securing her movements as she stared at the side walls.
It was a good thing that her face wasn't seen, as his thoughts were driven crazy, making his movements faster. Thinking about Mizuki, he pounded her from behind. Growing tired each time he pushed his dick inside of her, with each thrust he would slam his thighs against her white buttocks. Her insides were hot and slimy, driving Yuusuke to pleasure. He closed his eyes, ready to ejaculate.
"Uuuu…."
He moved his waist back, not separating the tip of his penis from her vagina. Hitting his limit, he ejaculated his sperm inside of her. His sperm was released so that it wouldn't reach the depths of her vagina, but near the entrance.
"Ahh~"
Yuusuke released his final bits of sperm as he pulled his penis out of her, separating himself from Kurose. Wiping his mess with a towel, he slid his pants back on. After clearing the mess from the outside, he opened the front of her vagina, confirming the sperm that was left in the inside.
Washing his hands, he went to the fridge and grabbed a energy drink and drank it.
Because I was often at Kurose's place, I stuffed her fridge with various foods.
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The sexual content ends here.
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"It's easy to be with a zombie."
Any zombie that had a pretty face can be brought inside this room and be played with like a doll.
However, if it's a human, it may not be that easy. It's also hard to navigate them through the supermarket into here. He'll have to hide from zombies, going through a lot of obstacles with little to no reward, and if the zombies manage to figure it out, they'll gather. Not only will it affect them, but Yuusuke as well. And with the little brothers around, it makes the problem greater.
And even if I were to infect Mizuki with the virus, she might be fully eaten away. I thought about only getting her finger tip bit, but the thought of it became ridiculous. It's too much trouble for just one girl, and it isn't humane.
"But I do like the elder sister… For her age, she does have a good face, but her body is alright…"
While talking to himself, Yuusuke was preparing to go outside.
It was dim outside, but the voices of crows could still be heard.
—————————————————————————————————————–
I woke up next day and took a shower.
Last night I was planning on heading outside, but it was already dark so I cancelled plans.
Usually in the morning I would do my morning routine with Kurose, but today I have plans.
(TL: If you don't know.. don't ask what he means by that… I don't think that you wanna know. :P)
My destination today was the supermarket, the distance wasn't that far from my apartment, so I walked there because I wanted to also save gas.
On the way there, the air was polluted with the smell of rotting. I grabbed a large garbage bag, and laid it on top a cart near the supermarket.
I picked up the meat and fish that were rotting away and placed it inside of the bag. It was a painful process as the smell was horrifying and the meats were losing their color. The leaf plants seem to be withered, but the root vegetables were still okay.
I leave cleaning in the bread aisle for later, as I check the refrigerators. Removing the rotting dairy products, I cleaned the inside to make it moderately clean.
"Should I just stay inside and work, or should I explore around the store? Oh… wait is that a freezer?"
When I opened the door, I was blasted with cold air. The interior had pork hanging on the ceiling. I was shaking because it was quite cold inside.
"Has the freezer been on for awhile? Because if it hasn't, the precious frozen meats inside would've already spoiled."
Almost finished with cleaning, I finished filling up my fifth bag.
"Well…."
With all of the stack garbage bags laying on top of each other, I was worried. These bags were useless to me.
"It's a shame.. I would've eaten all this spoiled food.."
There should be a lot of corpses laying around in the streets, but I am thankful for the zombies. I wonder, do they become zombies when bitten? Or do they just fully get devoured before they turn…
Then an idea hit me.
"Well if I were to throw these around in a place with humans… The food is about to rot, but at least they can eat something.. This can be a pleasing solution.."
I say as I flex up.
I could treat humans like trash, like they are garbage processing machines.
What I just said wasn't humane at all.
"No… no, its no good… it is not.. I need to think.. I'll throw it away on a mountain."
An animal would come for fish if I left it at a mountain. Maggots were doing the role of the animal in my case.
If there was a dump site downtown, it would probably go unnoticed, but it would stink. It didn't need to be in town though.
On the outer east side of the town, there's a small mountain range, so I can throw it there.
"Is there a pickup truck?"
When I searched the outsides of the supermarket, there was a strange sight.
There was a crowd on a train station platform.
They were swinging around like a zombie, but they were staying there with a reason.
When I looked at my watch, it was 8AM. This time was the rush hour.
"Are they possibly waiting for a train?"
Most of them seems to just give up and walk away. Their behavior might be the similar to their old life, but that's quite vague.
"But there's so few of them."
It's not an emergency, but it would be a good idea to check the behavior pattern of a zombie soon. I'll do it soon after I fix the environment.
I cleaned the supermarket and piled up the garbage. I didn't find a pickup truck, so I used a white van with the key already in it.
The sun had already set. Because the zombies were in the way, the driving took a while. I threw the garbage on the mountain and went back to my apartment.
I took off the rope that bounded Kurose on the table and went to the bathroom together.
"A restraining device… but not something in the downtown area."
I suddenly then thought of something.
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This part will begin to have some sexual content.
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"Handcuffs could work. A toy store… No, is there a police station near here? If I caught a person, then it would be useful. I don't know if it's still in fashion though."
I striped Kurose's clothes and tied her hands behind her. I took off my clothes and entered the bathroom with her.
I let Kurose sit on the floor while keeping an eye on the bath and spread her legs. Kurose remained obediently.
I put my finger into her crotch and pushed it inside where it was wet, and pulled it back out. I stared at my finger.
"It's all absorbed?"
I looked inside. Those I did not let it out outside, the sperm inside was all gone.
I thought that it was bad when I ejaculated inside her because I would have to wash it out. Generally it seemed like it was absorbed in half a day.
It was like the incident at the train station. There are still many things that I don't know about zombies.
"…Is that good?"
It seemed convenient.
I let Kurose sit in the bathtub and filled it with hot water and sat in the tub with her. Because both of her hands were tied, her chest is emphasized and reflects the bathroom light. My thing was hard down there and it slipped inside. Kurose bends her head back and stares at the ceiling light. I move my waist in the hot water and bit down on her neck. I hit a pleasant feeling that accumulated in Kurose and she didn't resist. I was warmed by the hot water and embraced her.
"Fuu.."
Yuusuke let out a sigh of relief as he hugged Kurose. Yuusuke didn't notice Kurose's thigh relax as he embraced her.
–Chapter 12 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_17.txt
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Chapter 13 "Request"
The next day, Yuusuke runs around town cleaning three supermarkets and a small shop.
The minivan didn't have enough room, so I transferred to a medium-sized dump truck I found at the small factory. It was a white Isuzu.
"Uwaa… So many switches that I've never seen before. I don't know if this is safe…"
Then I messed around with the air conditioner, confirming that it works. It hit the end, but it didn't get stuck. Phew.
I had a few problems with the vehicle; I wasn't used to the cars clutch. I read the manual, but eventually I managed to start up the truck. The drivers seat was pretty impressive, as you are seated higher than normal cars. There were curtains in the car along with accessories like a sleeping bag.
When I got used to the feel, I turned off the engine. Exiting out of the truck, I begin loading garbage bags into the truck.
Today I feel like a Janitor.
(TL: Originally it said cleaning merchant… but Janitor sounds more… better :P)
When I finished loading the bags, I make my way to the mountain.
Because there were many obstacles blocking paths on the road, I had to go through detours to avoid them. Occasionally there would be zombies that would block my path and I would just run them over.
"Is it this way?"
I turn right to the entrance of the mountain, using a navigational device to help me.
Over the guardrail of the mountain, I was able to view the whole town. Because there would be no active cars on the road, my only problem would be the idle cars on the road. On low speed, I would turn to view the town.
"Huh? Who is that.."
On the other side of the town, a black figure was spotted moving.
Looking closely, it was a helicopter flying. I immediately lost sight of it after it hid itself in the clouds.
"……?"
Because it was far and moving so quickly, I couldn't quite tell what their goals were.
Yuusuke looked back onto the road, thinking about what had just happened.
On the way up, I unexpectedly found something.
It was an outdoor activity center. Looking at the sign, it was surprisingly wide. It was was a log cabin on camp grounds with a dining room and a bathroom next to the gym.
"Was there such a place…"
Though it was in the city, I didn't know such a place existed. Because I had no reason to go to the mountain, it was expected.
If the gas runs out, then I can bring some charcoal near the brook. There's a generator in the mountain hut too. It would be best if there were solar powered generators to power up the city. I hope that there's a water filter that still works, but that might be asking for too much. I passed through the center and go deeper into the mountain. There was a cliff, so I decided to throw the garbage off the cliff side. I pulled the lever and the garbage bags start to fall out.
"This is quite interesting…"
After emptying the contents in the truck, Yuusuke made a U-turn.
"That sure was tiring… community service work seems to be quite fun."
In the town, Yuusuke is able to do anything he wants. He is able to drive any cars without the need of a license, and there are no problems if he were to break them.
"This is a real SimCity. Maybe I could find a tow truck and clean the roads too, but the question is.. can I drive them?"
For the time being, the problem with the rotting in the supermarket is solved, food shouldn't be a problem. It's possible to supply my resources whenever I want. Before it gets late, I can try to smoke some meat too.
"Time to move more food. I have to make more room for the food…oh."
I then realized that I have forgotten Mizuki.
It's been 5 days since we last encountered each other.
As expected, their food supply would've already been out.
Yuusuke then drove back to town in a hurry.
The truck was parked near the apartment, as I switch into a motorcycle.
Then I grabbed items in the supermarket; food from the first floor and a blanket from the second. I brought a blanket with me because I remembered the thin blanket they were using. It was also nearing winter, and the nights will be cold.
I go into the elevator, moving towards the third floor. When the door opens, I see three people, huddling in front of the barricade, sitting.
"Ahh…"
Mizuki staggers her way upward, using the wall as guidance.
"I'm sorry I came at a late time."
(TL:Original line said something else… but I think this sounds better.)
I move to the meeting room, displaying canned food and ready to eat meals from my bag. Because they had a microwave, they were able to warm the food. Improvising, I put curry and rice in a tupper ware. Mizuki and the others were sitting down, watching me.
When I handed them the food, the boys happily ate. In addition, I warmed up some rice and opened some more canned food. I prepared it in advance in case they were hungry for more. They continued to eat, satisfied with their meal.
"Thank you for the meal."
Mizuki and the other two, joined their hands together.
"Thank you very much… the curry was delicious."
One of the smaller boys muttered the same.
I forgot which boy was who and it didn't help that it was the first time I had heard his voice.
Mizuki then lowers her head.
"Thank you, the meal was delicious."
Contrary to her words, it looked like she wanted to say something.
Going through his bag, Yuusuke takes out a cake and a toy.
"For you, these are souvenirs."
Their eyes brightened the moment I showed them their gifts. Mizuki motions me to go outside of the room.
I moved to the corner of the room and Mizuki was quiet for a while. She then began speaking timidly.
"Um… We want to express your gratitude… but there is something more…"
In her tone of voice, Yuusuke somehow understood what she said.
"I can endure this, but my younger brothers…"
Mizuki told Yuusuke to bring more food frequently. That reminds me, Mizuki hasn't really touched her meal. For the time when Yuusuke was away, the food was reserved. Yuusuke thought. Even if the bag was fully packed with food, it wouldn't last a week with three people. I have no choice but to bring a large quantity of food here once every week.
"……"
This was going to be a problem.
–Chapter 13 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_18.txt
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Chapter 14: "Give and Take" ◆
"Umm… I'll think about it."
Yuusuke turned around.
Originally, there was no reason to help these people. At first, it was for information. But after I regularly gave them supplies, they started to talk about different topics.
Because I brought food to them once, I can't break the promise that I've made. It was becoming troublesome for Yuusuke.
Yuusuke didn't benefit from helping them. He didn't want to do it.
"Um, …hey!"
Mizuki ran after Yuusuke and the atmosphere changed.
"I'm sorry, excuse me, I'm sorry that you've helped me so much."
"It's okay. . you are probably hungry."
Contrary to his words, Yuusuke backed away from her.
"There's a blanket here. You can use it because it will be cold soon. It should help when winter comes."
I arrived in front of the elevator and a hand yanked my shirt from behind.
I turned around, and Mizuki was clinging on me.
"Please help Mr. Takemura! Please…"
Her face is so beautiful. So fragile. It aroused Yuusuke. She makes you want to wear the best clothing when you are around her.
No man could refuse a face like that. Yuusuke wanted to help her, even though he didn't.
"Have you seen anyone that has been attacked by a zombie?"
"…….."
Mizuki lightly nodded.
"I risk my life to get food. Do you know that?"
"Yes…"
The fact that he had come into a girl with such fragile emotions, he couldn't help but think of tormenting the beautiful girl feelings.
"What good is it to share food between you? What do I gain? The amount of food I give you each week is enough to feed me for a month, I was doing better off before. You'll need to give me something in return now, the next food run may only be my share. Do you not understand?"
Mizuki bows down and stares at the floor. With the present situation, it was understandable that food was awfully expensive. With no comeback, Mizuki was lost. Yuusuke dropped his voice and stopped.
"Well, I can do it because I have to. On the other hand, you have to do something too. In this situation, it doesn't matter if it's a child or an adult. It's give and take.
"Mizuki raised her head slowly.
Her expression was stuck,
"Something..?
"I want you to arouse 'it'."
(TL: By that he means his penis.)
"…."
Mizuki stepped back while holding her chest.
Her eyes changed into a contempt look.
"Men are always so.. Do you always think of us like that?"
"What can you do? Trying to persuade me"
"But I can't allow this!"
Yuusuke stared at the enraged Mizuki and watched as she cooled down.
(Oh dear, it might not be possible for her to do it.)
Until now, Mizuki had been demanding to go with me. I know her values well. Pride doesn't take no as an answer. It's life or death. But to see Mizuki still standing there, Yuusuke,
"…Please hold on."
As I was about to turn around,
"Wait…. I can do something else"
"Say so, so I can hear it."
"I can provide Mr. Takemura with a safe place here. I will watch it when you are absent."
"I don't need it. Where do you think I sleep? I could kick you out and take over it."
"Then, then what do you need? Should we not help each other in a time like this!? There's even a child here too!?"
"I don't know. I usually don't help anyone. Do you see my selfishness coming out? Do I finish with a thank you? Because you are a woman, and you have a minority with you, do you think that I have to help you?"
"Such a thing.."
"In this matter, try to reconsider the word 'help'. I am no rescue team or volunteer. I have to go through zombies in order to get food."
"……"
Mizuki bit her lips and looked down.
Mizuki didn't know that Yuusuke wasn't targeted by zombies. In other words, it made sense that he gets food for them. Yuusuke was annoyed that Mizuki needed food and what he got in return was a simple thanks.
Mizuki said without power in her voice,
"Money… if I can go home, all my savings…"
"Don't talk"
Mizuki remained silent after the conclusion.
"Is it really useless.. can you really not help me?"
"It is useless. When you have to survive, you must sacrifice something"
"………."
Mizuki muttered in a small voice.
"…With my hand…"
"What?"
"I'll do it by hand… I can do it"
I moved to a stall in the men's room and closed the door.
It's a shoulder's length away when two people enter it.
Yuusuke sat down on the toilet seat and looked at Mizuki while she stood. Mizuki's voice was quiet.
"Umm.. how…"
"… you kneel and I pull it out"
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This part will begin to have some sexual content.
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Mizuki kneels down onto the tiles, putting her hand between Yuusuke legs and onto his groin. Her hands were trembling, trying to remove his belt. She was unsuccessful even after several attempts.
Finally the button was removed, all that was left was the zipper. Mizuki was reluctant; looking up, she showed him her facial expression, but Yuusuke answered her silently.
Mizuki giving up her last bits of pride, gave up. She proceeded by unzipping his zipper, revealing his undergarments. A tear could be seen dropping down from her pupils. I wiped it away with my sleeve, but she didn't stop crying.
For food, forcing prostitution on the outskirts of town was considered humiliating; however, Yuusuke didn't say anything.
Mizuki kept turning away as she slowly removed his underwear.
"…..Next….is…?"
"You hold it and stroke it up and down."
She fearfully picked it up by her fingertip. Able to hold a grip, she lightly stroked his penis.
"Like this"
Yuusuke then forcibly grabbed Mizuki's hand, making her grip his hard penis. Thin white fingers were entangling his dick. Then he moved her hand, roughly stroking his dick. Mizuki at mercy, stiffened her body.
"Do you understand?"
"……"
Mizuki nodded as she moved her hand slowly. His dick was being rubbed by Mizuki. Being stroked by her, Yuusuke was being stimulated by the pleasure. Still, his penis grew bigger while she was holding onto it. His penis was tightening as it grew, it was hard for Mizuki to continue stroking his penis, as it was not smooth and needed lubricant.
"Put some saliva on it."
"What?"
"Spit on it."
Mizuki's face blued, as she understood what I have just said.
"It's impossible.."
"…… Maybe put it in your mouth?"
Mizuki shakes her head to the words.
When she turned to look at Yuusuke, he was seen staring silently. As if given a command, she took her left hand and brought it to her lips. After opening her mouth, saliva was dropped. Dropping onto his penis, she continued to stroke it.
"….. Is this good?"
"Stroke it with both hands, I'm almost done"
"……………"
Mizuki was unfamiliar that Yuusuke was a sensitive man. She moved her hand timidly as I told her. Creating a circle with both hands, she continued to stroke him. Her thumb was rubbing onto his penis, and her palms were felt coated with saliva, giving a pleasant feeling.
However good it felt, it was still unskilled.
"…… Do you feel good?"
"Eh…… It's not bad, give me a minute"
Yuusuke thinks a little,
"Please wait a moment, continue moving your hand"
"Yes?"
(TL: Imagine her expression like ._.)
Mizuki was kneeling in front of him. Long black hair was flowing onto his eyes. I extended my hand, brushing her hair aside to cope a feel from her breasts.
"Eh…..?"
I don't pay attention to her reaction, as I unbuttoned her shirt.
"……..What, what"
"It's because you're giving me poor service, that I am doing this."
"……..Stop….."
"Don't separate your hands from me"
When I finished unbuttoning her, I remove her shirt, and her chest was seen bare. Her bra with a black dot handle was covering her breasts. Against her will, I slide my hands underneath her bra, where I touched her breasts, their size was like a C-cup. Groping them, I rubbed her pink nipples.
"…..Eh!"
"If you want this to end quickly, do your best and endure it for now."
Hearing his words, Mizuki resumes stroking with her hand. Her tainted hand increases it's movement, where her soft palm, wet with saliva surrounds the stem of his penis, and her fingers entangle themselves around his tip where pre cum was spewing out.
The appearance of Mizuki got Yuusuke excited, she was wearing a cardigan with a white shirt underneath and black jeans. Underneath her white shirt was the soft breasts that he was coping a feel from. Mizuki then tastes the service that shes giving me, while I continue to knead her breasts.
"……Uu….."
Fiddling with her nipples, Mizuki leaks out a small voice. Still, he didn't stop, Yuusuke felt muddy things gathering in the depths of his waists. His breath became rough, as he wanted to move his waist. Yuusuke endured it as Mizuki continue to provide him with service that dragged a pleasant feeling to him.
Being teased by Mizuki, the tip of his penis begins to build up with pressure. His fingertips that were fiddling with her soft nipple became hard the more he played with her. When I rubbed her hard nipples, her hands surrounding my penis squeezed me. At the moment, the sperm building in the depths of his waists couldn't endure for any longer, as it exploded and landed onto the hands of Mizuki.
"Eh….!"
The sperm was shot with such force that it struck Mizuki's mouth and belly.
–SPUSH SPUSH–
It was never ending, the sperm continued gushing out of the tip. Meanwhile, Mizuki was left startled at the sudden suprise, that her body stiffened.
"…..Ahhh~….."
Yuusuke breathes heavily,
Mizuki then removes her hands from his penis, and stared at the sperm with utter amazement.
After, they wiped their body from the mess that has been created and left the private room.
Yuusuke who was about to leave, glanced back into the room where Mizuki was in. She was seen looking down in dishonor, washing thoroughly.
–Chapter 14 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_19.txt
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Chapter 15: "Police station"
By the time Yuusuke reached the apartment, dusk had already fallen.
I carried the bag of alcohol and snacks that I picked up at a shop on the way. Taking the elevator, I made my way over to Kurose's room.
"I'm back."
I was stricken by light as I entered. As I took off my shoes, I looked up, linking gazes with Kurose.
"Eh…?"
My eyes were directly fixed onto her, stiffening up.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock… after several long seconds, our eyes broke contact. I glanced over at the table, not moving an inch. There she sat obediently, both hands bound to the chair.
Yuusuke swiftly moved to the kitchen before letting out the breath he had been holding. His muscles relaxed.
"I'm freaked out…"
This was the first time Kurose had looked at him. At a close range, it was as if her eyes chased his. Other zombies hadn't' even looked at him directly. She clearly recognized him.
"…What the… If I call out to her, maybe I'd be able to bring her out of her vegetative state… Tokiko-chan… Tokiko-chan… Kurose-san…"
Kurose doesn't react, piercing her gaze onto the table.
"…Ridiculous. Tokiko-chan, take the chair."
Of course, there was no answer. I dragged a chair over to the porch and sat the bag of alcohol and snacks there. I took out a can of beer and pulled the tab, leaning against the handrail.
It was chilly outside, but it would only more and more colder from here on.
The darkness seemed to have covered any traces of the mayhem. It didn't look much different from before the previous life. The streetlights softly lit the dark streets. No zombies could be seen.
Needless to say, it was still definitely different.
Only about 20% of houses provided light. The rest of the city was buried in darkness.
Said houses that gave off illumination could merely just be houses with their light switches left on. It's difficult tell whether or not there would actually be survivors there. Although if I didn't find any, then what? Do I once again become the food supplier? Nope. Not having it.
Just as he takes a sip from his beer, screeches of a car tires broke the night silence.
A car sped through the main street right before crashing into another. The collision and glass shattering could be clearly heard.
Zombies began to gather around the accident, springing out of the darkness. Despite the family's effort to struggle out of their seat belts, they had already been completely surrounded. A man and a woman, who I assume are the parents, were dragged out from the door. The daughter, who looked to be the same age as Mizuki, had her arm bitten off as she was thrown and dragged on the ground. More zombies crowded the area.
I heard distant screams before it was back to silence.
"………."
Yuusuke silently felt for the bag. He pulled out some jerky and took a bite.
The next morning, I prepared some equipment like usual before heading to a police station that I found on a map. I needed some handcuffs for Kurose, as well as some weapons. It was nearby Nanba Elementary school, which I had visited earlier on.
The police station was a plain grey building, standing at 3 stories high. Several police cars were parked in the lot. The entrance had a barricade, but it was half broken.
There might be the person who escaped from the school here. Although, judging by the entrance, who knows if he's still here.
"The police station should be a pretty common place…"
The place was quite similar to a city hall. There were signs for a local section and the police affairs section. In addition, there were also counters and a lobby for waiting with chairs formed in a straight line. No zombies were in sight as well.
I had a more exaggerated image of the police station, so I was kind of let down.
The citizens correspondence was on the first floor. I tried to look for a back office, but I couldn't find one. Upon giving up, I made my way to the second floor.
On the second floor, the first thing I'm met with is a detective section. There was a cell in a secluded area. The annex was a room for interviews.
"Man, I imagined the cell to be in the basement."
The door wasn't locked. Out of curiosity, I peeked inside. There were 4 tatami mats formed in a line on one side of the room. Folded bedding was placed in the corner. Although most of the room was unoccupied, there was one person.
"Ew…"
There was a corpse of a man with a pierced head lying again 3 iron-bars that had fall down. Splattered blood and fluid from his brain stained one of the tatami mats. It had already dried and turned black.
It's… not a man… Did you become a zombie on the inside?
There were 2 of 3 people who had taken a bite from the arm and foot. One person probably developed the symptoms and the others got infected.
Idiot should have had a weapon…
Even if a police officer shot it to death, there's no being sure that it would actually be dead.
But I can't have these zombies dead. Zombies were my human detector and a tool of defense. Although zombies wont harm be, there's still a possibility of a human being attacking me.
I was ready to negotiate with food if I ever saw a person. If they were a pervert, then I would do it more leisurely.
Is there someone else…?
After hearing a noise from the stairway, I hesitated. I hid myself behind a door and observed.
From the top of the stairs, someone could be heard. The footsteps were irregular. A policewoman appeared with a uniform drenched in blood, swinging side to side.
"Is that a zombie…?"
Yuusuke sighed in relief. From a far distance, it was tough distinguishing a someone as human or zombie.
Yuusuke cautiously headed to the third floor.
–Chapter 15 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_20.txt
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Chapter 16: "Obtaining a handgun"
"Oh….."
There were about 10 zombies crowding around the entrance to the third floor. All of them were covered in blood and lacerations. Among them, were those who had bullet holes. Some of them had their chins blown off, exposing only their upper jaw. The crowd mostly consisted citizens, but there was some police officers mixed in too. The zombies were crowding around the door which displayed "main conference room". They were somehow attracted to that area. There was also a foul stench drifting around the air.
"I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen…"
The zombies were quiet. If there was a survivor inside, they might be the reason why they're sticking to the door.
From the waist of one of the nearby zombie police officers, something was seen hanging. It was a pouch with a black wire connecting to a revolver. Shaking on the ground as the officer moved.Having trouble due to the moving zombie, I carefully removed the cord that was attached to the belt and tried to pick it up.
The revolver had a rotary, and was light like a toy gun. It was easy to hold the black grip, and maintaining it seemed to be easy. As for ammunition, inside of the cylinder contained two bullets remaining. The police officer seemed to be new from the Southern area, but Yusuke didn't know whether the gun was too. For the time being, it was likely that this handgun was a restraint to the current officer, so for the meantime, I'll look after it.
(TL: Original line said something else, but I expanded it and improvised it)
(ED: Once again the Machine goes from 3rd person to 1st person…)
I clutched the grip, not putting my finger onto the trigger, but having my index finger extended and ready to pull the trigger while approaching the room.
There was some uncertainties in front of me, and I wanted to crush what was in there.
I lean on the side of the wall, not standing in front of the door.
Yusuke made up his mind, and called out to 'it'.
"Is someone there–?"
There was no response.
"He–llo?"
I didn't hear any sounds at all.
The doorknob turned with no resistance. It probably wasn't locked at all.
When I pushed it open, the door hit the table and the barricade, immediately falling over. With some force, I pushed the door even more, expanding the opening.
Barely opening the door, a strong putrid smell leaks out. I look inside, enduring the nausea that is slowly building up inside me.
A pool of blood was seen on the floor within the room, with a policeman lying down as if he shot himself to the head. His pupils, white, staring in the air.
In addition, his body was loosely extended. There seems to be no one alive in the room.
"Woah…."
His feelings were mixed, half of which was feeling relieved, and the other was feeling depressed. When he was about to close the door, the surrounding zombies used this chance to rush themselves into the room. In panic, Yusuke runs away from the door.
Zombies were throwing themselves onto the door, pushing and expanding the opening to the room. The humid smell seems to attract the zombies like a trap.
The weight of the zombies finally succeeded, and the sounds of the barricade collapsing could be heard.
The smell became unbearable, and at the same time, Yusuke left the scene. It was regrettable the he couldn't retrieve the officers handcuffs and clubs, but he couldn't stand the smell and it wasn't his hobby to watch zombies eating their meal.
"If I were to shut myself in… food will gradually disappear; eventually I'll rot and smell like that. "
(TL: This was a little weird for us.. we kind of.. improvised it.)
In the town, the man was besieged in that room. He slowly ran out of food, and had no way to access any, leading to his death.
Yusuke with mixed feelings, started to search around the third floor.
After awhile, his goals were set.
There was an open door with an electronic lock. Peering inside, it had a stopper, and what looked like to be a storage. Lockers were lined up, side by side, on both sides, and in the middle there was a shelf. Some lockers were opened, and others looked like they were damaged.
"Was the person in a hurry while taking stuff out?"
After a thorough inspection, there was a bunch of clothing, and handcuffs that were inside of a case.
"Oh, how lucky-"
Inside of the package, there were keys too. Because there were just six of them, I put them in my bag. In addition, a helmet, spare uniform, bullet proof vest, holster, a whistle, and various items were taken too. Anything useful was added into my bag. I put the holster on my belt, and put the handgun which I was holding, inside of it. It gave off a pleasant feeling.
"Well then……. Huh, I look kind of cool. Sort of like a military soldier."
Because there were unused combat shoes, I took a pair that fit my size. Afterwards I continued on scavenging. I found a small locker in the division 2, detective and security room, but it was locked. Walking along, there was a locker that kept confiscated goods and had a electronic lock that required a code. I look at my gun with an idea, but realized it might be impossible to use it that way. Besides, there was only two bullets.
"It is a handgun after all…. Wait, the storage for weapons and ammunition should be somewhere around here."
I re-examine the floor, and do a quick search around the second floor, but it doesn't seem like there is such a place. Returning onto the first floor, Yusuke sees the map sign, but stands in folded arms. Only half of the building was drawn onto the sign. If there was a storage room, it would be hidden. My expectations were right, as there were stairs to the basement in the police section. Advancing underground, there was the gun rental receptionist at front, and the storage at the back. The iron door blocking the guns was opened and several firearms inside were taken.
"Huh….. Oh, is that so…."
(TL: This line really confused me..)
While feeling disappointed, I check the shelf with the licensed firearms, fortunately it wasn't empty. There was two revolvers, similar to the type that I had, but were different in shape and grip. Also there was the automatic pistol that was seen in t.v shows, and several other pistols were there. Adding them to my belt, in total there was 5.
"There's a little too much here."
I already felt safe with just a handgun and an automatic weapon, but I took spares just in case the firearms were to break down, I had no idea on how to repair them anyways. I found bullets too, every box I saw was added into my bag. It became heavy after adding everything necessary into the bag and because I took out the bullets in the spare guns that I have added in the bag, I don't have to worry about a accidental discharge.
"Alright! I think I'm done."
I return back to the first floor, catching my breath at the waiting seats.
Yusuke takes out a gun out of the holster,the barrel was short and it looked suitable, but he couldn't really say if it was. However, it looked good when he would cover it, the size wasn't that big as it could almost fit inside of his pocket.
"There is a manual for using the weapons….. But I'd rather learn from the police academy."
I return it into the holster.
Taking out a revolver with no bullets from the bag, I play a round with it. As expected, I don't have the courage to mess around with it, if it were to have any bullets inside. The safety cap was removed, and remembering a movie I saw, I imitate the gun movements.
"Does the cylinder come off if I were to push over here?"
I push the cylinder off to the left, and saw the barrel. I took out any left out bullets from the barrel and push it back in. When it returned, it made a sschick sound, like it was locked.
"Do I need to push the cocking device up?"
When I began to pull the trigger down slowly, the cocking device raised up and the barrel begins to turn. Pulling the trigger downwards, the cocking device fell with a click sounding like it was ready to fire. The magazine turned as I pulled the trigger, preparing the bullet to fire out. As I pull the trigger lightly, the cocking device falls down and the gun was fired immediately. When I want to shoot the gun instantly, the gun will be ready, as there did not seem to be the safety attached.
(TL: I'm not very good at explaining guns, sorry if it sounded weird.)
"Hm……"
It was a simple gun, and there seems to be no problems when I shot it. Yusuke wanted to test his aim. I take the gun, already loaded out of the holster. I looked for something that looked reasonably good to shoot from my distance. My target is the police woman who I saw before. The distance was around 10 meters. I didn't recognized her at first, but using this chance, I line my sight.
"……….."
The tip is aimed precisely, and the gun was ready to fire. I take a stance with my right hand supporting my left hand which was holding the trigger and grip. The target was perfectly a lined with the top part of the gun. The police woman wore a absent minded face.
I aim at my target while gathering my last breath.
For a few seconds his sight was following his target, eventually he exhaled his breath as the pressure was building in his lungs.
"……Fu-"
I adjust my aim, targeting in the middle of her forehead. Then at once, the trigger is pulled.
An explosive sound could be heard echoing the room.
His hand moved back reacting to the recoil, and the tip was moved upwards.
The smell of smoke drifted through the air.
"This could be difficult….."
He mutters while staring at the handgun.
There wasn't that much recoil, but the muzzle moves upwards when firing. Additional practice was needed to suppress and control the gun.
I quickly realized that there was an object of destruction against the palms of my hands.
–Chapter 16 End–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_21.txt
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Chapter 17: "Mizuki's madness" ◆
It's been a week after obtaining supplies from the police station.
Yusuke marked a note on his map that was laid onto the table. On the map it displayed the name of each building, house and address.
Circled in red, the supermarkets, grocery stores, electronic shops, tool shops and home centers were marked.
「 It's uninhabited around from here to there…… 」
With a blue marker, he drew a slanted line in front of the shopping district.
There weren't many places surrounding his apartment that were marked such as the refugee and the supermarket which were seen at a distance.
The residential area that he previously checked had a large road nearby, the areas beyond it have yet to be worked on.
The roads that his car couldn't pass through were marked with an 'X'. Though there weren't too many impassable roads, it would be used as reference to provide information for detours.
「 However, this town is considerably wide.… 」
If he ever begins working on the city, he could never do it alone. It could take several years to finish with a single person.
Again, the PC starts up and loads in. Plugging a GPS logger collected from a zombie to a USB port, inside data of the geographical features could be viewed with a map software.
Consecutive positions of data were plotted onto the map.
The route that was shown was mostly straight from his house and on the way, there was apparently a train station platform that he could stop by to.
「 Is this really on the way back from home? This couldn't be a coincidence. 」
Checking the logger for the tag number, he records the date of the day taken from the data.
The GPS supplied information of the route inside the building, although it wasn't too descriptive since the route was similar to the outdoor one.
The train station platform was the home for the zombies. Because of it, he was interested in the subject and every morning he began collecting data related to it.
Comparing data, Yusuke confirmed that the routes were all connected.
All of the routes were similar in comparison. Though the routes were all different, their stopping point was the same. At the morning they leave the station, by evening they wander off to their business, and by night they all return home to their station.
(TL: I think that he's collecting data from zombies and monitoring their movement patterns. )
「 Commuting to work even after death. Such passion …… 」
It seems to be that there are zombies that are acting like their everyday human previous lives. However, there are not many of these kind of unique zombies. All of the zombies do not have a similar pattern.
It's hard to understand how they are so different.
Ages and sex seem to vary with their patterns, even the original infected have patterns. Therefore linking them like this doesn't seem to be possible.
「 Hm…… 」
He leans back against his chair stretching his body in the process.
Switching windows the view of the network camera takes the screen. The appearance of the apartment building was shown in three screens. In several areas, well camouflaged and positioned wireless cameras were placed.
The power goes straight through an extension cord to the power supply. For security, he thought of surrounding an area with police cordon and installing an alarm, however, if a zombie triggers it, all of his efforts would be put in vain.
He confirmed that there were no survivors in the building, though, the cameras were installed just to be sure.
Flipping through cameras, there wasn't anything strange from any of them. Only zombies wandering around in the building.
Confirming through the cameras, he closes the window.
Looking at the date, it's been 3 days since he went to Mizuki place.
「 I don't think I should use the others…… 」
Yusuke thought that he should use Mizuki and the others as manpower.
Although women and children shouldn't be used for heavy labor, it is said that there is little chance of resistance. If you think about it, free resources isn't bad. Even if they're a child, they could just do watering.
It's possible to build a garden on the rooftop. If correct tools were brought in. Smoked food could be done, wireless interception too.
Yusuke was busy with his time, so he could use others to look after his equipment and devices. For the cost of food, anything could be done. Until their given a job and could stay on track of doing work, he could have them pay with their bodies.
After his long thinking, Yusuke left and headed off for Mizuki's.
=======================================================================
Beyond this point is 18+
(Use Control + F : 'End' To skip this section)
You have been warned.
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Although the second time was awkward, by the time it was the third time, Mizuki accepted the fact of what she was doing by hand.
In the same men's room, Mizuki lowers her eyes as she lets her hand adjust to Yusuke's penis. Viscous liquid leaks out, dirtying her white finger.
She teases him by tickling the tip while her palm is holding his erect hard rod. She stimulates him by wrapping her left hand around his pole, doing so allowed him to feel the muscles of her fingers.
Yusuke mutters in pleasure as he breathes out.
「 You're very obedient…… 」
Mizuki moves her hand absent mindlessly but after acknowledging Yusuke's words, she looks up.
「 ……Because I have a younger brother, I have to change his diapers. 」
Puzzled by what she said, Yusuke drifted into thought, suspicious of her words as Mizuki turned her glance back down.
「 If you think about that separately, I believe that would be some sort of nursing…… 」
If that was the case, you could say that it would be some sort of indirect assistance in the pleasure she's bringing him.
"Is it really…… nursing?"
Because he'd already experienced replacing diapers filled with shit, he wanted to say that it wasn't anything of the sort. However, putting himself into her shoes he thought that this was her only way of rebuilding her already distorted pride.
(What a high pride……)
(TL: Okay, I'm pretty sure that I've misinterpreted this whole paragraph. How the hell did we get from handjobs into nursing? ._____. halp)
Mizuki refocuses as she entwines her fingers around Yusukes stickily liquids.
「 …………Please cum soon 」
Yusuke silently embraced Mizuki. Suppressing her to a wall, her body stuck to it like glue. He slowly unbuttoned her jeans, bringing it down to her knees. Exposed, her white thighs and polka dot panties were seen.
Mizuki started trembling, but she didn't run away. Yusuke grasps the front of her thighs with both of his hands, moving them to the back of her ass. He then presses his penis inside her panties.
「 ………… 」
Mizuki closed her eyes as she resumed stroking with her hands. She used her ten fingers to stimulate Yusuke to the point where it began to feel slimy at the root of the tip, she wanted him to cum on her thighs.
He continued rubbing onto her thighs while embracing Mizuki. He was reaching his limit.
Pushing it to the most soft part of the thigh, his penis began to spit out a muddy liquid.
*Splurt Splurt*
Mizuki's white skin was contaminated.
Finished, Yusuke slowly raised his body, pulling his erect penis that was slowly becoming restful.
「 ………… 」
Mizuki muttered something, but he couldn't catch what she said. She used toilet paper and wiped the dirt on her thighs while not giving a single glance at Yusuke.
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You have reached the 'End' of the ero ero scenes.
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After he was done, he left Mizuki alone to get dressed. Then he lazily returned to a room where he nearly bumped into one of her brothers. There was small toy car with sweets lined against each other, it seemed like the little brother was playing with them.
When the boy saw Yusuke, he panicked and tried to put away the toy car.
「 It's fine, it's fine. It's good to have fun. 」
Trying to walk over his play things, the sound of the little boys stomach grumbling could be heard.
Hearing this, Yusuke was puzzled.
「Could it be… That you're Takashi?」
He gave a small nod.
「 I thought I brought in a lot of food? What happened to it? 」
Shaking his head in rejection, Takashi was trembling.
「 Since food is valuable, I tried to save it. 」
「 Huh……. Did your older sister tell you to do that? 」
Takashi nodded in agreement.
「 Well……Saving is a good thing. 」
To gather food, one must risk their life for it. So its reasonable that he would listen to his sisters words. Or probably he's just considering trying to lower the amount that Yusuke charges them. Well if you think about it, that would be normal.
Yusuke sat on the sofa as he watched Takashi playing with his toy car.
While he was looking at the child who was playing with his toy alone with an empty stomach, Yusuke was struck with deja vu.
He was reminded of an image of a small child. The child was eagerly awaiting for his grandfather to return from the Silver Center as he played with his cheap toys amongst the sunset.
Yusuke indistinctly moved his eyes to the child in front of him.
Takashi, who has been playing with the toy car suddenly looked at him.
Mizuki entered the room, her eyes filled with strange emptiness.
After taking a glance at the sudden appearance, he quickly shifted his gaze back to Takashi.
「 Ma-kun? 」
「 Err… He's over there. 」
He pointed towards the conference room.
「 Now then, shall we rest? 」
The two of them held their hands together peacefully as they both left the room.
Left behind, Yusuke laid the back of his head onto the sofa as he gave out a small sigh.
Without any reason to remain, Yusuke left the place immediately.
He withdrew to the first floor, on his way out of the entrance he stopped.
「 Ah I forgot my bag……. 」
He returned to the backyard, and went towards the elevator. Near the passageway, the scene took his eyes.
The elevator door was opening slowly.
「 …… Huh? 」
Instinctively, he stopped moving.
Inside of the elevator, Mizuki appeared. She held her own bag, and on her shoulder she was carrying Yusuke's bag aswell.
Behind her, the two younger brothers were there too. Both of them had a rucksack on their backs. Neither of them had any sort of weapon on them, their appearance looked like they were heading off for a picnic.
「 Hey, What're you doing? 」
Hearing the voice from Yusuke, Mizuki turned around.
Beginning to recognize the source of the voice, she hastily ran towards the opposite direction. Her brothers dumbfounded by the situation were dragged along by Mizuki.
「 Where are you going! It's dangerous!」
In reply to what he said, with a harsh tone she replied;
「 I'm going back home! 」
— Chapter 17 End —
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Chapter 18: Day Zero
It was after 7:00 p.m. Her brothers had already had their bath and Mizuki was drying their hair.
"Wait, it's still not dry yet, hora hora"
With loud cheers, her brothers were scuffling. They appeared to be having fun. With a wry smile, Mizuki wipes away the moisture. They put on their pajamas and she takes them to the living room.
She gets milk from the kitchen and fills three glasses. At that time, her father's voice could be heard from the living room.
"Riot….?"
"Eh?"
"No, on the news…."
Her father said with a dubious voice as he watched the news. She peeked at the T.V. from the back, and a banner was flowing across the screen reading "Urgent News". A news caster read the report in a monotone voice. At a station near the Tokyo metropolitan area, there was a large scale riot taking place. There were even reports of a few casualties.
"Mom, come here. Looks like there's a riot. It's urgent news."
"…..ara? Really?"
Her mother poked her head out of the kitchen. As the three of them were watching, reports came one after another. It wasn't just limited to the Tokyo metropolitan area, riots were happening all over the city. The cause was unknown. The number of casualties was also unknown.
"For there to be riots in Japan…."
Her mother muttered in a worried voice. As the news continued, the name of a familiar place came up. That place was just five stations from their neighborhood. Her father spoke with a dumbfounded expression,
"Isn't it getting close……"
At that time, discomforting sirens could be heard outside their house. It was from the speakers which came on every night at 5 o'clock to play children's songs. As the city speakers normally only came on to play these muffled and difficult to hear songs, they were something you tuned out; but now, the three of them listened intently. They turned off the T.V., stood still, and kept quiet. A broadcast started, and with intermittent speech, it told them to evacuate to a certain area immediately.
(TL: The way the author wrote this paragraph was confusing, redundant, and unorganized. I took the liberty of reconstructing it so that it makes more sense.)
"………….."
The living room was wrapped in silence.
Mizuki's father stood up,
"Kaa-san, prepare rucksacks for everyone. Mizuki, take care of your brothers."
(TL: The father refers to the mother as mother. IDK if I should write wife, honey, mother, or what… so I just left it as kaa-san.)
"Y, yes."
In a hurry, her mother stood and left the room. Mizuki, with an anxious feeling thought,
'Isn't evacuation a bit over-kill?'
It wasn't disaster-level news, and even if there were riots, they were still far away. She didn't think they would come out this far. Mizuki took her brothers to their room and they changed from pajamas to outdoor clothes. The brothers looked up at Mizuki and spoke.
"What is 'Riot'?"
"Eh? U—um….. when a bunch of people go on a rampage. It's a big fight, I guess?"
"They're fighting?"
"That's right. And fighting is bad, okay? Now then, you two get your bags ready, we are leaving now."
"Okay."
They packed a change of clothes and a towel in their backpacks, Mizuki also packed her own things. With their bags over their shoulders, they went downstairs. There, their father was preparing the car in the garage. Plugging in the car engine, the headlights lit up the dark driveway.
(TL: I think it is an electric car. I have no idea how they work, so I did my best.)
Seeing that, Mizuki was surprised. The shelter was nearby the elementary school, it wasn't so far away that you would need a car. Even if you walked, it would only take about 10 minutes.
"We're taking the car? I think walking would be….."
"I have a bad feeling. It is better to get there quickly."
Suddenly, down the driveway in the light, a man with an anxious look on his face could be seen. It was Takasaki-san, the husband of the house next door. Mizuki's father stepped away from the car and talked about something with Takasaki-san.
"Mizuki!"
Turning towards the voice, a tall boy with black hair could be seen standing there. He was the only son of the Takasaki house and Mizuki's childhood friend.
"A-kun….."
"You're evacuating too? I wonder what's going on, with the riots."
"Yeah…. I'm not sure but, my dad says we should evacuate just in case."
At that time, her mother finished closing up the house, and came to the garage. She was carrying biscuits, canned food, and other emergency food, along with bottled water.
"Ara, Atsushi-kun, good evening. Something troubling has happened huh. Mizuki, please pack these in your bag."
Just as she's told, she packs the goods in hers and her brother's bags. Her brothers were designated to carry the bottled water.
"Well then, I'm going back. See you later."
"Yeah."
Mizuki smiled and waved her hand. 'Because we live next to each other, we should see each other at the shelter right?' She feels her anxiety fade a bit.
Suddenly she remembers that she left the hair dryer behind. Mizuki wondered if she should go back and get it. It would be troublesome if people saw her bedhead – she thought. As she thought this, her father finished his conversation, and returned to the car.
"It looks like we'll be evacuating with Takasaki-san. We're leaving now."
Mizuki gave up on the dryer, and together with her brothers, climbed into the back seat of the car. Continuing after them, her mother sat in the passenger seat. After her father checked his seatbelt, he started the car.
About half way to the elementary school, we could no longer travel by car. There was insane traffic. There were cars lined up down the street as far as the eye could see. Honking and yelling could be heard everywhere. You couldn't move forward at all.
There were strange lines mixed into the noise. Apparently there were fires just out of sight.
"……..It's impossible huh. Let's get out here."
Mizuki's father cut over to the side of the road and parked in front of a shop. From there, the five of them got out of the car. Noticing the keys were seemingly left in the car, Mizuki spoke up,
"Dad, the key?"
"It's fine to leave them! People would be troubled if they couldn't move it."
"O, okay….."
Though she was worried whether the car would be stolen or not, Mizuki stayed quiet and nodded. That it took until now to realize that they should abandon the car to evacuate to the nearby elementary school, she didn't understand.
There, someone's figure was running up to them. It was Atsushi.
"Mizuki! Is your car okay?"
"Yeah, it's because we are in a hurry."
Her father noticed Atsushi,
"Atsushi-kun, you're by yourself? Where are your parents?"
"They are taking the car to the house and coming back as it seems we won't be able to get there with it. It was decided that I would go on ahead by myself. Can I accompany you guys?"
"Is that so…. Alright, we'll go together."
When the Takasaki family's car U-turned into the opposite lane, several people jumped out in front of them. A dull thud resounded as their car crashed into them. One after another they fell as the car ran over their collapsed bodies, until it came to a stop.
"They've done it…."
Mizuki's father mutters, dumbfounded. A puddle of blood spreads from under the car.
"Eh….."
His mind coming to understand the situation, Atsushi's voice leaks. In front of his eyes, his parents ran over people.
"Let's go! We have to help them!"
To her father's voice, Mizuki comes to her senses. Even if she is told to hurry, the earlier spectacle left her frozen. The car door opens, and as the flustered Takasaki couple is standing in front of the bodies, men running from the side road jump out at them. The husband and wife are dragged to the ground and scream. With crazed motions, the men slam the couple's arms to the ground, press into them, and bite their face.
"Wa….."
Without thinking, Mizuki's father stops in his tracks.
"Wa, what the……?"
Dumbfounded, his voice leaks out. Within his line of sight, several more shaking figures appear. Some are drenched in blood, other's limbs are broken. The atmosphere was completely abnormal. Right then, beside him, a girl's scream was heard.
He looks back, and not even five meters away, from the shadow of the side road, a mass of people were pouring out. They all had similar hollow eyes, staggering as if they were sick. In the next moment, as if their earlier slowness was a lie, the mass of people began to move. They haphazardly attacked the people in the line of traffic.
Mizuki rigidly stared at the middle age woman approaching her. It was a normal old lady, one you would pass by on the sidewalk without even noticing. With her hands hanging loosely at her sides as if on a brisk walk, she came closer. Both her hands and her mouth were dyed red, and her eyes were hollow. Right when her hands were about to reach Mizuki,
"Run away!"
Her father crashed into the woman's body. The woman is slammed into a car, and while staggering, gets back up. Screams arise from their surroundings, as if they were a herd attacked by a predator, and people scattered.
Mizuki instinctively searched through the surrounding crowd of people, and found her brothers standing between two cars. She grabbed their hands, squeezing them tightly; and while pressing through the crowd, ran away.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_23.txt
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Chapter 19: Confined Group
She awoke from the cold. At both her sides, her brothers were sleeping while clinging to her. Feeling that body temperature, Mizuki looks at her surroundings; and with a puzzled expression, discovers that she is in an unfamiliar room. In the corner of this room lined with desks, three people sat crowded in a corner. Underneath them lay numerous cushions.
(Ah, that's right….)
Fragmented images surfaced in her mind. The dark streets, her grabbing the hands of her brothers, running a great distance to get away… She just ran after the backs of the people in front of her, not thinking about where she was going. They escaped to a place that seemed to be a huge parking lot. As if evicted, people came from the surroundings, seeking shelter inside the Supermarket.
A number of employees were on the first floor. Outside were many dallying shoppers, looking as if they wanted to seek refuge inside. Strange looks were coming from the people who flocked there. Angrily, a security guard approached them,
"Hold it! What are you guys doing?!"
In the middle of his words, he directed his attention to somewhere else. He seemed to have noticed the shaking appearances that were gathered outside of the automatic garage door. Once the door had opened, the figures which were pushing and shoving up against the glass, plunge forward, knocking and shoving each other as they poured inside. In a hurried voice, the security guard spoke,
"Oi! Close the shutters! Close—!"
(TL: For those who are confused—The humans are in the supermarket, standing around. A security guard approaches them, telling them to get out. At that time, the figures (zombies) which were running into the glass, finally opened the automatic doors and rushed in. Panicked, the guard tells the employees to close the shutters in order to stop them from getting in.)
Hearing that voice at her back, Mizuki left the group of people, and ran upstairs. She had to find somewhere else that was safe. She heard screams resound from behind her at a distance. They climbed to the 3rd floor, which had a sign next to it reading 'Employees Only'. In the back, there appeared to be a lone old man monitoring the state of the store through the security cameras. The old man, with a green face, welcomed them into the room, shutting the fire door behind them.
With the people following behind, seven people entered the room. Mizuki and her brothers, a young couple, a lean man who appeared to be in his 30's, and a middle aged old lady. With the old man (employee) they met, there were eight people in total.
(I wonder if dad and the rest are alright….)
She took out her cell phone, redialing her parents; and just like yesterday, it rang and rang without answer. While quietly musing over this, she vaguely hears a far away sound. There was also the sound of someone's voice.
In a way so that she wouldn't wake her brothers, she gently separated from them. Walking down the corridor, she headed towards the noise. Something was banging on the fire door from outside, and the old man employee raises his voice from in front of the door.
"Please calm down! What happened? Calm down! If you would like to enter, then please say so!"
There was no reply to his words, only a dull banging sound could be heard from the other side.
"U, umm….." (TL: "A, ano….")
Noticing Mizuki, the old man turns around.
"Ahh….this, this has been going on since last night. Because there is no reply, I didn't let them in but…."
"P, please don't let them in! They are not normal, definitely."
"Alright….." (TL: "umu….")
He lets out a breath with his arms folded.
"Have the children woken up? We have a stockpile of food, so if you don't have anything to eat, please tell me. We have enough to feed 10 people for three days."
"Thank you very much. I will take care so that the preserved food doesn't run out."
Mizuki bows her head.
"Right, this will all be settled shortly. Let's be patient until the police get here."
But, in three days, rescue never came.
The banging on the fire door subsided a bit but, there were still signs of something wriggling behind it. The old man employee tried to contact various places but, there were either interruptions or complications, and he wasn't ever able to get a decent connection.
The portable T.V., which was set in the corner, reported news of a new type of rabies. Because the people infected become violent, the infection was thought to be the cause of the riots. An aerial shot from a helicopter projected a scene of violent mobs spread throughout the city. On the screen, the word 'zombie' was dancing.
During commercial breaks, the screen just became fuzzy. It wasn't normal.
(TL: Fuzzy = Black and white sandstorm.)
In the office, a cooped-up feeling was in the air. Everyone was silent, staring at the T.V. The couple was snuggled in a corner, the middle aged woman was clasping her cell phone in her hand, the lean man took some distance and kept quiet.
Over those three days, the people shut in together never spoke to each other; and had spent the time separated from one another. Even the old man employee deliberately refused to take leadership, only passing out food when asked. When the news said that provisional government's quick response self-defense force had taken action, the old man stood and spoke.
"I think we should go outside and call the rescue team."
There was no reaction to his words. In silence, everyone searched each other's faces.
"I've left an S.O.S. cloth hanging from the rooftop, so rest assured that the police will come if they pass by."
To the old man who said that while leaving, no one seemed to be calling out to him.
"Ano.." (TL: Calling out to him)
He turned around to Mizuki's voice.
"Will it be alright….? It's dangerous…."
The old man replied with a troubled expression,
"…..my family, I haven't been able to contact them….. I'm worried."
To those words, Mizuki couldn't say anything.
The old man never returned. With no hint of rescue coming, on the 5th day, the T.V. no longer received a signal. Without reason to watch the T.V., everyone stopped gathering in the office. Continuing to redial her parents, Mizuki's cell phone ran out of battery, and she didn't have a charger.
She cut the food they brought from their house in half, and determined that eating any more than that would be dangerous. She peeked into the locker in the corner, which held the stockpiled food. The cup noodles which were stored there had been reduced to 1/3 the original amount. She took two servings worth, and split it equally between her and her brothers.
When entering the hot water supply room to get some drinks, there was someone already there. It was the girl of the couple.
"Ah…… can I borrow some, for the cup noodles?"
"…………"
The girl never answered. She just drank hot water from the pot in silence.
"Ano…."
"You can get some without permission you know? It's not mine."
Saying that, the girl turned and left. Mizuki stood there in silence for a bit, but with a breath, she bent down and took out the cup noodles.
The feeling of time disappeared. The only sense of time was how much longer they could survive on the vanishing food.
Her brother Masaru woke up at midnight, needing to go to the bathroom; and Mizuki accompanied him to the restroom. So that they don't get turned around, she turned on the light, lighting up the corridor. Waiting on her brother at the entrance to the bathroom, she heard a faint voice. She tilted her head, trying to hear it more clearly.
The voice was coming from inside the locker room in the back. Stepping closer, a girls gasps could be heard. The sound of something hitting against something echoed.
( ! )
Mizuki held in her voice and stepped back.
The couple from before was inside. As it was a locker room, she locked the door. With her face turning red, Mizuki returned to the men's restroom. It sounded as if someone was just leaving so she lets out her voice,
"Maaku, n….?"
(TL: Thinking it is her brother –Maa-kun– , she calls out to him, but breaks 'kun' into 'ku' and 'n'.)
The person that came out wasn't her brother, but the lean older male. He looked at her with sunken eyes.
"Ah… I'm sorry…."
"………………"
The man rudely stared at Mizuki's body. At those eyes which seemed to crawl up and down her body, Mizuki was covered in goosebumps.
"……………."
The man left in silence. While holding her chest, she felt a sense of impending crisis.
Eventually, Mizuki began to realize rescue was not coming. The office's food had run out. The small amount of food they had brought could no longer feed three people. Thanks to the hot water, they were still feeding themselves off of powdered milk and sugar, but sooner or later, they would reach their limit.
The danger of them running out of food had happened.
At midnight, while they were sleeping, Mizuki feels something strange and wakes up. Drowsily, she sits up and hears footsteps nearby. She directs her attention towards them and sees the back of a man leaving the room. Like that, he goes outside.
Mizuki understood the meaning of the scene that happened before her, and thinking about it made her back crawl. The man had been beside her, and when he saw her wake up, left.
(TL: Night molestation :D)
(What was going to happen to me? What was going to happen if I didn't wake up? It's dangerous to remain here.)
She would have to take her brothers along, she doesn't have the courage to go outside alone. When approaching the fire door, even now you could hear something hitting against it from the other side. Mizuki didn't want to think about what was behind it.
Just like the T.V. in the office, the phone had no connection. Even optimistically, she couldn't think it was safe outside. She decides to tag along when the old lady or the couple decide to leave.
She makes that decision and sleeps the rest of the day until the next morning.
When she woke up, it felt like there were less people on the floor. In fact, the only person left was the lean looking male. Everyone else was gone. Although her mind had not yet understood what was going on, Mizuki asked,
"Ano… where is everyone….?"
"…..Ah. They left."
"Eh……"
"This morning. The three of them. Using the elevator."
Mizuki was silent.
(Perhaps they thought two children were a nuisance…)
But, more than the shock of being left behind,
(Why did this person stay behind….?)
A chill hit Mizuki. The man was leaning back in a chair with his feet on a desk, staring at her with hazy eyes. He had a strange presence. Until then, the atmosphere of him sitting by himself in the corner wasn't strange. As if he was the husband of this place, he sat there in the chair with a relaxed look.
(TL: Japanese say husband or wife of a household, basically she is saying as if it was his house.)
That day, I felt the gaze of the man stick to me many times. When I turn to look, he adverts his gaze, but it's obvious he was looking at me. An alarm sounded in the back of my mind.
(Scary, scary, scary)
(I want to go outside. I want to go home. But, I don't have the courage. Those who left hadn't come back.)
That day, Mizuki never left her brothers. At night, they moved to the locker room; and locking the door, they slept on the hard floor. At the sound of something rattling, she woke up.
Emerging from her dim consciousness, the sight of the door knob turning back and forth countless times entered her vision.
"!!!"
Mizuki became stiff with fear. Squeezing out a voice, she called out.
"W, what is it…..?"
"………………"
After some silence, the man's voice could be heard from the other side,
"I found some food, so I thought I'd share it with you."
(At this time of night?)
Thinking that, Mizuki speaks out,
"T, thank you, very much. Tomorrow, we'll have some tomorrow."
"………………"
With a rattling noise, the doorknob is once again turned back and forth.
Mizuki swallows a scream, and hugs her body. Having woken up, her brothers saw her appearance. Without raising their voice, they clung to her. After a few minutes, the doorknob finally stopped rattling.
With a bang, the door was kicked. The man's footsteps slowly became further away.
"……………..haaa, haaa, haaa"
Letting out her held breath, Mizuki wipes a stray tear from her eyes. Her brothers look up at her with worried eyes.
"S, sorry. Onee-chan's okay……" (TL: Onee-chan is big sister.)
Concealing her fear, she wraps her brothers in her arms. Taking in that warmth, she mutters,
"Dad….. A-kun….. help….." (TL: tasukete)
Tomorrow came and they spent half the day without leaving the locker room. However, the need to use the bathroom, and their thirst, became unbearable. Gingerly, they check outside.
There was no sound, nor was there any evidence that anyone was there. Steeling themselves, they check each room, finding nobody. Only Mizuki and her brothers were left on the floor.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_24.txt
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Chapter 20: Wishful Thinking
With the powdered milk and sugar gone from the hot water supply room, Mizuki and her brothers stayed in the innermost room of the floor, eating the candy they found in desks. Splitting the very last of the food between her brothers, Mizuki lost energy to the point where even waking up was troublesome.
Shaking her, her brother has a hard time waking her up. With hazy eyes, she looks at Takashi. Moving her gaze in the direction he was pointing, she saw a man standing there. Reflexively she starts to scream, but as if to cut her off, the man holds up his hands and opens his mouth; saying he isn't anyone suspicious.
To those words, Mizuki stuttered. If she looked closely at his face, he wasn't someone she remembered. He was someone else. He had black hair, and on his face, which lacked characteristics, there were a pair of sharp eyes. As if observing something, a strange look surfaced in his eyes. While placing his bag on the floor, the man asked, "Want to eat?".
After that, the situation constantly changed. With food no longer a problem, they were left with nothing but free time. During this time, Mizuki's heart becomes disturbed. Resting her body on the couch, hazily looking at her brothers, her spirit seemed to be fading.
In order to get food, she has to 'comfort' that guy's 'thing'. Whether that fact is reality or not, she doesn't know.
If they were to be abandoned now, they would certainly starve. With that imminent fate weighing on her mind, she decided to handle his 'thing' in exchange for food. However, her heart couldn't agree with her decision.
(Why……)
The first time, she ended it quickly out of desperation. The second time, as if watching it all happen on a film, she lost her sense of reality.
(Why am I doing this sort of thing?)
In the men's restroom, with her fingers wrapped around his hard 'thing', Mizuki is consumed by this thought.
(Even if I was the one who suggested it…..)
In order to get food, she had no choice but to do it. If she had rejected him, he could easily have abandoned them. Looking at him, she understood. He wasn't very obsessed with Mizuki. She didn't feel his gaze stick to her like the other's did.
If it was a man's gaze, it was something she had felt on a daily basis. The gazes of her flattering juniors, or of her childhood friend, Mizuki instinctively knew how to dodge them.
(TL: Poor A-kun, that friend zone, my opinion of Mizuki has somewhat fallen.)
However, that gaze which looked at her as if she were worthless……
If faced by that lean man's vicious eyes and asked whether to starve or please him, she would have probably refused. She would have been overcome with fear and ran away instinctively.
(That kind of…..)
Approached with that cold and cruel deal, what had been wounded was her pride. However, in order to keep her and her brothers alive, she couldn't refuse it. There was no fear. There was only the anger of having no choice but to receive the help.
Suddenly a question popped into her head.
(Was it really not safe outside?)
That thought had sprouted in a corner of her mind, and gradually spread.
(Why can that person so easily come and go? Even though it's said to be dangerous, how is he able to gather that much food?)
In the first place, the atmosphere was strange. Everyone that had been shut up in this office were nervous about the situation. Anxious, in despair, stir crazy; she couldn't feel these from him at all.
(Haven't the mobs already disappeared?)
(Wasn't he just hiding that fact, and tricking me into doing this for him?)
The memory of that hectic night had dimmed. (TL: The night with all the traffic.)
(But it's weird. For there to be zombies…… What if everything has calmed down……. And dad and mom are at the house, waiting for us to return……..? If they are worried, calling around……. Waiting for us to come home………)
Deep in thought, Mizuki's pupils slowly spread out.
(What am I even doing here…..?)
As it spun around and around in her head, that thought grew.
After making sure Yusuke had gone down in the elevator, Mizuki returned to the room. After finding a field bag, she picks it up. She packs the food hidden at the bottom of the locker, and throws the bag over her shoulder. She looks back at her brothers, also holding their bags. They had almost finished preparing.
(It'll be fine….. Even that person was able to leave so easily…..)
"…..Well, shall we return?"
To Mizuki's words, Masaru looks up with a worried expression.
"We're finally going back?"
"Yep. Mom's waiting for us you know. Probably."
Mizuki nods. Her brothers smile; which was something she hadn't seen them do in a while. They climb over the barricade and face the elevator. She presses a button, calling the elevator back up; and watches the overhead display as it counts up from the first floor to the third.
(It'll be okay……… It'll definitely…….. be okay………)
The elevator doors open and the three of them get in.
She presses the button for floor one, and the elevator begins its decent. Feeling the floating feeling, characteristic of all elevators, she watches the display.
3F, 2F, 1F.
Gradually, her vision narrows, and her surroundings begin to darken to the point where all she can see are the floor numbers.
(Why did I bring food? If it was safe outside, I shouldn't need something like that. I should be able to safely walk home, take a shower, eat a meal, and with that it would all be over.)
(Had I thought that something would happen outside?)
Her breathing became ragged. Her whole body felt as if it had been covered in goosebumps.
Mistake.
It felt like she was making a grave mistake. Right now, she could still turn back….. As if imagining a scene where she was dragged into the depths of hell, Mizuki prayed.
(That's wrong….. It has to be safe………… please…….)
The doors to the first floor open.
Nothing was there. There was only the backyard isle spread before them.
(TL: I guess it is similar to an isle in Walmart that sells outdoor stuff?)
Cautiously, they stepped outside. There was nobody around, the place was uninhabited. Mizuki let out a sigh of relief, and adjusted the bag on her shoulders.
(See, it's just as I predicted. There isn't something like zombies…….)
"Oi, what are you doing?"
Surprised at the voice, Mizuki turns towards it. When she turns, she sees Yusuke standing there. He looks at them questioningly.
He was returning to get his bag that he left. She found someone she shouldn't have found. Taking her brothers along with her, she turns and runs in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going!? It's dangerous!"
(There's no way it's dangerous!)
Suppressing the urge to shout this, Mizuki responds by yelling,
"We're going home!"
"Ta-kun, Ma-kun, let's go home!"
In response to that joyful voice, her brothers make strange faces, but quietly follow along. They open the double swinging doors at the back of the backyard section.
There, Mizuki froze.
She saw three people standing by the fruit corner. All three of them looked in her direction. It was the same atmosphere as that night. (TL: Day zero night)
Their gaze was full of malice. They had the look of predators. She felt their gaze pierce through her body.
"Ah….."
Before she could say anything, a man approached from between two shelves.
"Old, Old man….." (TL: "Oji, san…." It's the old man employee)
She muttered while dumbfounded.
It was the employee that was the first to leave. Half of his scalp was peeled back, exposing the skull underneath. The hair and skin were hanging beside his ear. His eyes were hollow and he had dried blood coating his chest and stomach.
No matter how you looked at it, he was dead.
Her brain stopped thinking all together.
"What are you doing?!"
Yusuke's voice overlapped with the man coming to attack. Mizuki trips over her legs and falls. Missing her, the man's attack digs into the luggage on her back, knocking it to the floor with a loud sound.
The other zombies began to move.
Feeling something pulling on her arm, Mizuki looks and sees Masaru tugging on her. With a face that looks like he's about to cry, he frantically tries to drag her to the elevator.
"What the hell are you doing?! Hurry up and get the kids back out of the way!"
Yusuke runs over. He throws himself into the zombie that is trying to attack Takashi, and together, they fall over. Mizuki tries to stand, but her legs won't support her. As if all her strength had left her, she tumbles to the ground. With no other option, she crawls towards the elevator.
"Don't act violently!"
Behind her, she could hear Yusuke's angry voice and fierce fighting.
Finally, the three of them made it inside the elevator. While shaking and trembling, Mizuki uses the wall as support to rise to her feet. She looks at Yusuke, who is entangled with the zombies,
"Ah…… Takemura-san, h, hurry up…."
"Shut the door already you dimwit! Go! Go!"
(TL: He calls her "bokenasu" which literally means "dumb eggplant" xD)
While jumping, Takashi presses the button to the 3rd floor. Slowly, the doors shut. In the narrow gap of the closing doors, Yusuke struggles to hold back the zombies. He loses to the power of the rushing zombies, and falls to the ground. Cutting off the spectacle, the doors finally shut.
The elevator rises.
After what felt like an eternity, the elevator dings. Having left everything behind, they arrived at the 3rd floor.
With a sick feeling, Mizuki pulls her brothers out of the elevator. Slowly, they climb over the barricade and sit against the wall on the other side.
For a while, no one said anything. The elevator showed no movement. It remained at the 3rd floor the entire time. With a blank expression, she sat there with her brothers, staring at it for nearly an hour.
The elevator didn't move at all. It was never called back down.
"Big bro, died." (TL: Onii-chan)
With a soft voice, Masaru mutters such.
At those words, it felt like her hardened body was softening. Something was building up in the back of her throat. (TL: Feeling when you're about to cry)
"Guu…….uu……….."
(We can't return. We are all going to die.)
(I killed us.)
"……….uu………uuu……….gu……….."
(Even though I knew it wasn't safe)
"Fuue……….uu……uu……."
Mizuki sat there like, sobbing as if she were a child.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_25.txt
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Chapter 21: The Dim Cityscape
Watching the zombies crowd around the elevator doors, Yusuke gets up.
"Ouch–…………, damn, their feet even left marks."
He lightly dusts off his clothes.
"Seriously, what were they doing?"
(They suddenly come down the elevator, get attacked by zombies, then run back…)
Yusuke couldn't understand their reasoning at all.
"Anyway, I have to do something about these guys huh…."
Three zombies were scratching at the elevator door. Because Mizuki and her brothers had moved far away, the zombie's aggression had died down.
"Right….." (TL: "U—n…..")
He put his hand on his holster. He was scared of using the gun before, but now, if he shot the head of the zombies, they would die.
However, with Mizuki and her brothers already safe, there is no need for him to go that far. The floor would get dirty, cleaning up the corpses would be a hassle, and it would shrink the defense personnel. If he reduced the number of zombies too much, in the off chance that humans come across this place, the food would be in danger. If possible, he wanted to keep as many zombies here as he could.
"Hey, come here for a second. Oi, I told you there's no longer anyone there!"
(TL: he says "feed" in place of "Anyone".)
He tries pulling on their bodies, but the zombies are more persistent than expected. Hooked on the lingering sent of humans, the zombies refuse to leave the elevator doors.
"Shit….."
Fed up, he looks around and notices food scattered all over the floor. Both his bag, and Mizuki's bag were lying there.
"She brought the food while trying to escape….? Meaning she wasn't suicidal… Did she think she could escape?"
Yusuke tilted his head.
If Mizuki's willfulness ever caused her to pull something like this again, he decided he would abandon her. Even if they are prospects for a labor force, he has no need for a madman.
"Well, whatever. First I need to move these guys."
If he left them as they were, they would leisurely stand there for about a week. He could use the stairs to come and go, but climbing them every time would be troublesome. Borrowing several ropes from the 2nd floor misc. goods corner, he ties one end to one of the zombie's torso, and connects the other end to his bike parked at the rear entrance. He puts the engine in low gear, and while leaving a skid mark on the ground, slowly pulls it away from the door.
So that it wouldn't be able to leave the area out in front of the automatic doors, he ties it to a nearby fence with the rope. Repeating this process, he drags the other two zombies out as well.
This way, if anyone intrudes, the zombies will attack them. If the zombies remained in good condition, that entrance would be safe.
"I say it as if it's a sure thing…"
Looking at the zombies tethered to the fence near the automatic doors, Yusuke nods in satisfaction.
"Speaking of which….."
Prowling around the road by the parking garage, were 10 or so zombies; and there were another three… no, four zombies in the department on the first floor. Like the previous ones, they were wandering monsters.
If a decent number of people were to cut through, they would need to be well armed. It was like that all around the supermarket, and thinking this, most of his worries are put to rest.
"Actually, exactly how much is the combat potential of the zombies?"
If they were the slow moving zombies, you could easily end them with a single blow to the head using an axe or something; but when they speed up….
Even equipped with a handgun, it would be hard for Yusuke to slay one of them, coming at him from a distance. He isn't experienced enough to hit their moving heads, and even if he hit their torso, they don't stop moving. Therefore, they have to be hit with something first, to stop their movements, then shot in the head.
(But wouldn't it be fine if I used the gun as a melee weapon?)
"Also, I haven't been able to find a sharp weapon."
Hatchets, machetes, or knifes. If a time ever came where he had to quickly dispose of the zombies, they would be convenient.
With that thought, he completed his work. At that time, the sun was starting to set, and the sky became red.
Yusuke returns to the elevator, picks up the bags lying on the floor, and presses the button calling it down.
The first to notice Yusuke enter the room were Mizuki's brothers. Their eyes became wide, and started sparkling. When he asked them about her, they pointed to the desk in the back. When he peeked at the Mizuki underneath the desk, she was rolled up, sitting with her face buried in her knees.
"What the hell are you doing….?"
At that spectacle, Yusuke felt himself become weak. Mizuki raises her face, and seeing Yusuke holding the bags, stiffened with a dumbfounded expression. As if she had been crying, her eyes were swollen red.
"Ah…..eh…..wh, why……?"
Mizuki leaks out a voice.
"What do you mean why? What were you doi…."
There, he noticed the gazes of her two brothers. Setting the bags in front of the two brothers, he speaks to them.
"You two haven't eaten yet right? You don't have to worry about saving any, so eat your fill. You know how to open it right?
The two nod their heads.
"Good. Your sister and I have something important to discuss, so don't get in the way, alright?"
Feeling their gaze on his back, Yusuke left the room with Mizuki trailing behind him while looking as if she had lost her strength. Leaving the office and entering the hallway, the two face each other.
"So? Why did you do such a thing?"
"…………."
Mizuki held her gaze to the floor without answering.
"Say something. You guys were going to die you know?"
"…..n't…..I…..thought….."
"Speak up."
"I thought….. outside…… was safe……."
"What?"
"Dad….. mom, they were waiting for us…… to return….."
"………….."
Yusuke was silent.
Mizuki also kept her mouth shut, and like that, the neither of them said a word.
After a while, Yusuke slowly opens his mouth.
"Did you check if the phone connected? The office has a phone right?"
"…………."
Mizuki shook her head.
"Did you not think of going down by yourself first to check the situation? Why did you take the kids with you?"
"………….."
Mizuki hangs her head in silence. Yusuke draws a deep breath and scratches his head.
"…..but!"
Mizuki shouts with a distraught voice.
"For there to be zombies! Something like that……. They don't exis…….."
Her last word is caught in her throat, and she starts to cry.
"……you, come here for a sec."
Even though Yusuke grabs her by the hand, she does not resist.
The place he takes her, is the roof of the supermarket. After climbing the private stairwell, scattered around the rooftop before them were various tanks and equipment. Pushing past the obstructions, they near the edge of the roof.
"…………."
At that wide open scenery, Mizuki said nothing.
All around the parking garage of the supermarket, there were numerous figures. The surrounding roads were littered with crashed cars and wandering people who used to be human.
"You understand, don't you?"
Mizuki didn't answer those words.
Clasping the railing firmly with her hands, she stares at the scene. Gradually, the day turned to night, and the surroundings grew dark. Even then, no lights came on. It was as if all the houses in sight were dead asleep. The windows of the apartment buildings remained dark, and were silent, as if there was no longer anyone living there.
"There are no lights because there are no survivors. If something turns on, it just because a switch happened to be flipped."
"………….."
For roughly 30 minutes, they stared at the scene. Finally, Mizuki opens her mouth to speak.
"……everyone's disappeared, haven't they…"
"Aa" (TL: Confirming what she said.)
"……do you think my mother and father are safe?"
"I wonder. People who are lucky like you guys, there's only about one in 100 remaining. But, the only survivors I've seen are you guys."
Hearing those words, Mizuki lets out a small breath, and leans against the fence. With a small voice, she mutters.
"…….why is Takemura-san able to remain so composed?"
"Hmm?"
"The city has ended up like this… aren't you scared? Also, before….. how were you, how did you survive against those kind of opponents? I, I thought Takemura-san had… died…….."
Mizuki looked at Yusuke with questioning eyes.
(This is bad. I haven't thought of an excuse.)
Yusuke silently turns his head. Certainly it would be impossible for an ordinary human to survive in a situation like that. After a moment of deliberation, he pulls back his coat and takes the pistol out of his revealed holster.
"I took this guy off of a cop's body."
Mizuki stares at it for a while, but when she realizes what it is, she swallows her breath.
"……..it isn't, a toy huh?"
"It's the real thing. I cleared away the guys before with it."
In that chaotic situation, Mizuki was also thrown into chaos, so she didn't notice the details. But, to be able to successfully escape from that situation where he couldn't even move by just using a gun, would be impossible.
"Ahh, also, those guys are sensitive to people's presence. When zombies sense fear, they come in groups. If you keep your heart calm, zen, and centered; and you don't get too close, you'll be safe."
Finding a suitable explanation, these words are spouted from Yusuke.
He is aware of the aura he gives off, but in his apartment building, when he came face to face with a zombie, and even grabbed its hips. In that state, the zombie didn't attack, but that was just because he is special.
(TL: Talking about the female zombie, about how he is able to get close to them, which goes against his rules he made up.)
With that said, it would be hard for a human to not fear zombies. Even if they are suspicious of it, they are not likely to confirm whether it's true or not.
However, Mizuki wasn't really listening to the excuses. She was completely focused on the gun the entire time. Eventually, she quietly spoke.
"….if you threatened me with that, you could have freely done anything you wanted to me."
In other words, if she refused the deal for food, he would have just forced her anyway with the gun.
Yusuke raises an eyebrow,
"Don't be conceited. I did have an interest in your body…… but I just thought it sucked to give food for nothing"
"…………"
Mizuki takes her sight off the pistol, and looks out at the city.
The sun had sunk, and the town was wrapped in darkness. Within that darkness, were countless moving shadows. That getting food meant risking your life, Mizuki finally feels the weight of that truth.
As if recalling past memories, her blank gaze wanders in the darkness. Breaking away from the darkness, she speaks earnestly.
"……that's, that's right isn't it….. I'm……"
With that kind of fragile atmosphere, Yusuke becomes nervous. If she were to jump from here, his investments would be lost.
"……..well, in any case, it's not like Japan has been wiped out. I don't know when rescue might come, but you have to hold out until then. Because you can rely on borrowing lots from me."
Seemingly bottling various feelings, Mizuki looks at her hands gripping the rail. After a while, she swallows hard and nods.
With that their conversation ends.
Yusuke turns on his heel and walks back while Mizuki obediently follows. In front of the door leading inside, he is stopped by Mizuki.
"Ano." (TL: It's kind of like "Hey." Or "Um.")
"What is it?"
"If it's okay with you, after my brothers are asleep….. is it alright?"
"Ah? Yeah."
"…….if it's in the locker room, we can lock the door."
"Right, got it." (TL: "Un? Wakatta.")
Just once, Mizuki looked back at the rooftop. Within the darkness, everything became vague. As if getting rid of any lingering regret, she lets out a short breath, and proceeds down the stairs after Yusuke had already descended.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_26.txt
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Chapter 22: Mizuki's Night ◆
To kill time until Mizuki's little brothers fell asleep, Yusuke began rifling through the documents in the monitoring room; searching for something on how to operate the PC which controlled the air conditioner and lighting in the building. Unable to find an official manual, he continues to look for any kind of information on how to use the computer.
(If this place also has a heater, then the nights will be more comfortable.)
Yusuke was thinking about using this as a temporary base for a while. Until now, Mizuki and his relationship wasn't that great, and so he kept her at a distance. However, with the current state Mizuki is in, he felt he could sleep safely around her, though he would still exercise some caution.
(TL: "Not get killed in his sleep" was the literal xD)
There's also the infrastructure. He never thought about it that deeply, but were they in the middle of winter, or was it about to end? Also, if they were ever in a pinch, they would have to have a plan to move to the outdoors center in the mountains.
However without the protection of the zombies, they would be defenseless against attacks from wild animals and humans. Thinking this far, Yusuke decides it's too soon to move now without properly preparing first.
So that Mizuki and her brothers will be able to help with gathering, agriculture, self-defense, and production through the winter; they will have to collect various survival goods and guide books for reference. They would also need a generator as well as gasoline to fuel it.
(Even with a 3 person labor force, there is still a lot to be done to get an operation up and running.)
Fortunately there is a water tank on the roof of the supermarket. If the infrastructure fails, they will still have running water due to the water pressure of the tank on the roof. If they have a stove, then even if the electricity stopped working, they wouldn't be troubled.
Thinking about various things while flipping through the pages, Yusuke hears a knock on the door. Mizuki's face appears from the crack. Her hair is wet and hanging to one side. With a somewhat anxious expression, she opens her mouth.
"Ano…. I'm going ahead." (TL: Ahead of him to the locker room.)
"Ou. I'll be there soon." (TL: "Ou" is equivalent to "alright")
Mizuki's figure soon vanished. Once Yusuke finished flipping through the notes, he stands and leaves.
In the center of the locker room, Mizuki had taken off her shoes and was now sitting in seiza. (TL: Sitting on your heels)
Blankets were spread beneath her. Her moist black hair was held together behind her back, exposing the white skin on the nape of her neck.
With that appearance, Yusuke understood that Mizuki had stilled her heart, and was prepared for this. It was a bit sudden to Yusuke, but if Mizuki wanted to open up her body to him, he saw no reason to refuse her advance.
There were lockers lined up on both sides of the room, and in the back were a mirror, some chairs, and a dresser. It was a small room with no atmosphere. With a nervous expression, Mizuki looked up at him.
"Ano….. the lights, could you turn them off?"
"…….no, this room would become pitch black you know?"
"B, because I have this.."
In Mizuki's hand, she held a flashlight. She flips the switch and points it toward the wall. Once Yusuke turns off the lights, the room is lit by the soft glow of the light reflecting off the wall.
"…..well, it's fine."
Yusuke closes the door, locks it, and walks closer to her. As he approaches, Mizuki's body stiffens.
"Just one."
"huh?"
"I have only one favor to ask…."
"What is it?"
"If you could…… if there was a baby, it would be troubling……"
"Ahh….. you're right….."
Becoming pregnant is definitely something one would be scared of in this kind of environment. Being a guy, Yusuke could only imagine, but with Mizuki's expression as if she were prepared for death, it appeared he no longer had to worry about the issue of extortion.
"I don't have a condom….. I'll release it outside, so bear with it for today."
Mizuki silently nods. With Yusuke not refusing her request, she was able to relax a little.
(Cumming inside her would be terrible to Tokiko-chan anyway)
He didn't really have much desire to conquer her in the first place. Her body was fit and suitable for enjoyment, that was all. He sits down in front of her cross-legged.
"Do you have experience? Like a boyfriend or something?"
Mizuki shakes her head.
Sitting in front of Yusuke, Mizuki's rigid body couldn't stay still. With that kind of tension, it was obvious she was inexperienced.
(Having fun with her would be…. impossible huh….. Should I just do as I please?)
"Anyway, lie down."
At those words, Mizuki timidly moves her hands, and changes her posture until she is lying on her back atop the blankets. Her eyes are shut tight, and both of her hands are clasped over her stomach. Straddling her hips, Yusuke places his hands beside her and assumes a posture as if covering her with his body.
(Somehow there's no atmosphere….)
Placing his hand on her breasts, he is able to feel the softness just beneath her thin shirt. The firmness of a bra was not present, and Yusuke's fingers sink into the softness as he grabs her. Mizuki's body becomes stiff as a board.
As if she feels she needs an excuse, Mizuki opens her mouth,
"……I wash my clothes and underwear, but they still get dirty…."
(In other words, if she had to show me her dirty underwear, she would rather not wear them at all huh)
"Fuuun……" (TL: sighing)
Even without a bra, Mizuki's breasts were well shaped, and pressing up through the thin shirt. While fondling those soft mounds through the shirt and hearing Mizuki's quiet sighs, Yusuke became hard.
Like a spear, Yusuke's hand shoots towards Mizuki's jeans, unbuttons them, and pulls down the zipper. As expected, she was not wearing anything underneath her jeans as well, and as the zipper descends, her bush peeks out.
"Ah…."
Mizuki let's out a small voice and stretches out her hands to cover herself. Her eyes are shut tight and her face is dyed a deep red.
Yusuke wove his middle finger through hers, coming in contact with the flesh of her groin. She was dry. With nothing protruding, he only felt two clean and plump lips. Gently rubbing that area, he watches Mizuki tremble slightly.
"……"
Yusuke raises his body,
"Take off your shirt"
"…………."
Mizuki stays silent for a while, then slowly removes one of her hands. Still keeping herself hidden with her other hand, she clumsily takes off her shirt while Yusuke patiently waits.
"I took it off…."
Below the white shirt was Mizuki's naked body, though her hands were hiding an important part of it. At that kind of vulgar appearance, Yusuke became excited. He stripped himself, exposing the lower half of his body. While turning her face away, Mizuki glanced at him from the side.
Again Yusuke covers Mizuki's body with his own, pressing his hardness against her crotch. Forcing her hands aside, Yusuke traces his length up and down Mizuki's labia. Slowly, the folds protecting Mizuki's important place tense up.
Using both hands, Mizuki spreads open her entrance, and speaks in a trembling voice,
"Ano….. if possible, go slow…… I'm scared….."
"It's not like I would go in when your not wet….. It would hurt for me as well."
(I should have brought some lotion…)
This was the first woman he had to force to get wet, it was quite troublesome. It felt good to rub against it, but that place remained dry. He parted the thin hair on the top of her mound with his finger, and felt around. While feeling around with his fingertips, he rubs her hips and watches her expression for any kind of reaction.
"!…."
Mizuki displayed a faint reaction.
Her stiffness weakened, and with a tickling motion, he traces around that area. Under a thin layer of skin, he felt it swelling. Mizkuki faintly lets out a breath.
"How do you usually do it when you are by yourself? Do you like it when this is done?"
"…….I don't-"
"Fuuun" (TL: once again, it's a sigh)
(Maybe she never displayed any reaction to being touched, because she has never been touched directly?)
Yusuke continues to rub her swollen bead with his fingertip, while occasionally grazing the surroundings with the rest of his hand.
"….nnn-"
While watching Mizuki's various reactions, Yusuke gradually becomes more focused. She was reacting to it well, but she was still not wet. It was her first time and she was being embraced by a guy she didn't like. This much was to be expected.
If he were to massage and caress her entire body, she might warm up a little to him but….
(Right…. with this, it's like I'm entertaining her right?)
If he were to make a girl he liked feel good, it would excite him too, but he didn't have that kind of relationship with Mizuki. Yusuke became troubled, and stopped caressing her.
"You, get on top"
"…….?"
Using her elbows to prop herself up, Mizuki raises her upper body and looks up at Yusuke.
"I'll lie beside you, and you get on top of me."
"Eh….."
"You don't have to insert it, just mounting me is fine."
Without saying anything further, Yusuke lies down at Mizuki's side. Using his hands as a pillow, he props his head up and urges her with his line of sight.
"……etto" (TL: because "etto" is cute af, I left it Japanese. It means "um")
Timidly, Mizuki sits down on his thighs. She sits on him as if she were a girl riding on a bike.
(TL: legs off to the side.)
"No, not like that. Straddle me as if you were riding a horse."
At those words, Mizuki looks at him with a puzzled expression. Slowly, her face a deep crimson, she opens her right leg, bringing it to the other side of his thighs. Using both her hands, Mizuki hides her wide open groin.
"It, It's embar….. rassing, doing….. this……."
"And? Come closer."
"………."
With a face dyed in embarrassment, Mizuki uses both legs to slowly slide up Yusuke's thighs until she reaches his hips. Just under Mizuki's floating hips was Yusuke's half risen thing.
"Just like that, sit down and rub it with your hips."
With a red face, Mizuki sent a look of protest toward him.
"It's more scary if I move right? Try making yourself feel good. It'll be painful if you don't get wet after all…"
Mizuki hesitates for a while, but then begins to fearfully lower her hips. Her soft butt distorts and squishes as it comes into contact with Yusuke's thighs. It was an amazing feeling of soft pressure. Mizuki's lower lips hit his thing.
Mizuki speaks in a tearful voice,
"…….It's embarrassing……"
She leaks out a small voice.
With Yusuke's silent gaze on her, Mizuki soon gets the message and begins moving. With the sound of dry flesh rubbing against each other, Mizuki's soft hips shake against him.
Rather than a rubbing/stroking motion, it was more up and down; her lips pressing against him repeatedly. It felt like she was using the corner of a desk to get off. Yusuke's hardness, which was currently substituting the corner of a desk, is being compressed by her labia. At this kind of loose movement, a pleasant feeling was slowly building in the hips.
Stretching out his hand, he unbuttons Mizuki's shirt from the bottom up. The bulges which spilled out settled in the palm of his hand. Yusuke uses both of his hands to scoop and massage these beautiful breasts.
(TL: So I'm guessing she just pulled her shirt up around her neck when she said she stripped, and didn't actually take it off.)
"It's okay if you close your eyes. Think about a guy you like."
"……………."
Mizuki bites her lip, and placing her hand on Yusuke's stomach, she moves faster. For a while there were no changes, but eventually, a moistness could be felt between their rubbing parts. She begins to rub herself up and down the belly of his shaft. A pleasant feeling began to crawl up her back.
Mizuki's nipples, which he was rubbing with his fingertips, began to harden and stand up.
"…….uu……..aa……nnnn….."
Mizuki lets out ragged breaths as she wiggles her hips against his.
With time, the movement became more complex, and Yusuke's shaft became wet as well. His veins bulged and throbbed each time Mizuki stroked him.
Before long, both of them were covered in Mizuki's love juice. Mizuki's hands lose strength and she almost collapses on top of Yusuke. Even in that state, she did not stop moving her hips, rubbing her clit into his girth, her small body trembling as she pleasures herself. It was the act of a girl experienced with masturbation.
"…..you, have you masturbated before?"
"I….Ha, ven't……"
Mizuki answers in a slender voice. (TL: Idk wtf a slender voice sounds like)
Thinking that this was good enough, Yusuke sits up.
"Ah…..?"
Mizuki, who let out her voice, was pushed down onto the blankets. With her lying on her back in missionary position, Yusuke presses his hardness against her crotch.
"……! No–………"
"Relax yourself."
Probing her entrance with his tip, he slowly forces his way inside. Her wet and swollen lips are forced to part, allowing him to enter.
"It…….hurts……."
Mizuki furrows her brows in an attempt to withstand the pain.
Once the tip forced its way through, he couldn't push any further. Mizuki had her legs pressed against Yusuke's hips stopping him from going any deeper.
"……….Spread your legs."
"……It, it……. hurts…….. really …….."
Mizuki was red all the way to her neck, and her forehead was sweating profusely. Yusuke halted his movement, and moved his hands up her thighs. They were stiff with tension and pain.
Mizuki spoke with an expression as if she were pleading with him,
"A, ano, next time, I'll try harder, so, if we could….."
"That's no good."
Yusuke lifts up both of Mizuki's legs, and folds them over his upper body.
"You're the one who suggested this."
"Uu…..uuuuuu……."
Resigned, Mizuki grabs her legs and spreads them apart, assuming a position ready to accept a man.
Fondling her breast with one hand, and placing the other on her hip, Yusuke proceeds to push himself into her. Pushing through her tight virgin walls, he makes his way into her wet interior.
Mizuki tightens her grip on her thighs, enduring the pain of the intrusion.
"……..mph……"
Pushing himself all the way inside her, Yusuke lets out a breath. Mizuki's hot and narrow passage was wrapped around him to the root. Their crotches were pressed up against each others, and his pubic hair was entangled in the thin grass atop her mound. (TL: not even kidding)
"Bear with it a little longer."
Slowly he moves his hips back and forth. As he pulled back, threads of mucus were strung from her lips as they began to loosen. It was a torturously slow movement, but Mizuki's face was still contorted in pain.
Yusuke focused on the nerves in his shaft. Pushing into and tasting the depths of Mizuki's virgin insides, Yusuke's pleasure increases. Forcing open the entrance of a high school girl stimulated his male part.
While thrusting in and out of her, Yusuke lays down on top of Mizuki, embracing her. He rubs his chest against her breasts and pointed nipples. The smell of the soap in her hair graced his nostrils. With her eyes closed, Mizuki turns her head to the side and lies still.
The suction he felt every time he moved in and out permeated through his body. Pulling out to the entrance and shallowly probing with his tip, the feeling of her softness pushed him to his limit.
A pleasant feeling shot from the back of his waist, up his shaft. He jerked and pierced through all the way to the back of Mizuki's entrance.
"Nnn……!"
Mizuki contorted her body. With her inner walls convulsing as if teasing his cock, Yusuke quickly pulls back. Holding himself with one hand, he rubs his tip into her clit until the pleasure builds to the verge of bursting.
Mizuki's body trembles in shock. The pleasure finally escapes from his hips. Squeezing his shaft with his hand, he lets out a cloudy liquid while rubbing himself against her entrance. His white liquid stains the crack between her legs.
(TL: He knows that you can still get pregnant that way right?)
"……haa—, haaa……"
Having relieved himself, Yusuke takes a breath. He can hear his heart beating violently. He had gotten more excited than he thought.
"………."
After a few minutes of silence, Mizuki sits up and looks at him. With her legs no longer supported, her thighs fall and overlap with Yusuke's, transmitting a soft weight.
"It's, over right…….?"
"Yeah….."
Yusuke answers in a voice without feeling.
"……..You said you would release it outside."
"Ah……."
Mizuki drops her gaze to see her groin covered in his cloudy fluid. She stares at herself with a complicated expression.
"……..that's"
After biting his tongue,
"Thank you, very much."
"? For what?"
"You came outside for me.."
"……Well I did promise. But, this won't substitute for contraception. You understand right?"
"That's…. I do. Next time, will you wear a condom? If you would….."
"Ah….. it's fine."
"……Thank goodness." (TL: Yokatta)
Mizuki shifts her hips, and bending her knees, she sits in front of Yusuke. She takes a towel she had previously prepared from beside her and begins cleaning her groin.
"But, it was painful."
"That wasn't my fault you know. I went as slowly as I could."
"Well, that's true but…. I didn't think you would spread open my crotch."
"Haaa?"
"It would've been better if I were more flexible huh….."
Mizuki says this with a vague expression.
(Somehow the tension is weird, this person…..)
With Mizuki's spaced out atmosphere, Yusuke was puzzled. With the various emotions she had experienced from recent events overflowing, she is probably escaping reality.
"Wa–"
Trying to stand up, Mizuki falls over.
"Watch out."
Supported by Yusuke, Mizuki shakily stands to her feet.
"My crotch hurts……"
"Ah….. is that so…."
Feeling it would be weird to apologize, but still feeling troubled, Yusuke replied as such.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_27.txt
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Chapter 23: Opening Of The 2nd Floor
"Hekksho–" (TL: sneezing)
Yusuke wakes up sneezing. His naked body wound in blankets, he vaguely looks around. The room was pitch black and he couldn't see anything.
(……ah–, I had fallen asleep like this huh..)
Last night, Mizuki had left right after. Fatigued as well, Yusuke locked the door and slept in the locker room.
Using the flashlight, he finds the light switch. While quickly getting dressed, there is a knock on the door.
"………are you awake?"
"Yeah."
"If you would like to eat breakfast, I can prepare it…"
"I'll eat."
"It'll take about 10min to prepare."
"Alright." (TL: "Aiyo" Shortened form of "Aa, ii yo")
Stepping out of the locker room, the hallway is dimly lit by the morning sun. The corridors stretching to the left and right of the elevator, were lined with glass windows; and behind them, various plants and flowers had been placed. Countless towels had been thrown over the tops of the foliage in place of a clothesline.
While yawning, Yusuke took in the scenery outside. As always, the parking lot was a field of zombies.
"Good weather na~~~"
While humming a tune, Yusuke turns towards the men's restroom. Breakfast was bleak as always. Countless Tupperware and canned foods adorned the dinner table. They were washing and reusing disposable chopsticks and the hot water in the tea cups was only warm.
When Yusuke shows his face, Mizuki displays a slightly awkward attitude, but he silently ignores it. The four face the table, everyone eating in silence.
(I want to eat rice…. Maybe I should bring a small rice cooker…)
While Yusuke was thinking as such, Mizuki lets out a small cough. Pressing her hand against her face and turning away, she continues coughing.
"A cold huh? Don't spread it."
To those words, Mizuki slightly raises her brows as if asking "who's fault do you think this is?".
"……because yesterday, I did something slightly unreasonable."
"Is that right? Don't spread it."
'Mu~' Mizuki gives a sour look.
Ignoring that, when the three finished their meals, Yusuke opens his mouth.
"Sate….to. You guys."
(TL: "Sate-to" is something you say when you are moving onto a new task. It's like "Alright…" or "It's about time…")
At those words Mizuki and her brothers stop moving. Like that, they wait patiently for his next words.
"I'll speak while omitting troublesome things. I saved your lives. Therefore I'll have you return the favor accordingly. Is anyone unsatisfied?"
"…..No."
(TL: The literal would have been "Does everyone recognize this?" "….Yes.", but I felt like that was awkward.)
Mizuki answers in a small voice. After locking eyes for a moment, Mizkui's brothers nod in agreement. Yusuke continues speaking.
"Then, what do you guys do all day?"
"All day…..?"
Mizuki tilts her head.
"While I'm out looking for food, what are you guys doing back here?"
"Nothing…. in particular" (TL: "Tokuni…. nanimo")
At those words, Yusuke became silent.
With an unpleasant look on her face, Mizuki and her brother sat there with an atmosphere like they had given up. After a short interval, Yusuke once again opens his mouth.
"……is that so. Well, it's fine. Anyway, today you will be searching the rooms on this floor. I'd like to close the shutters at the loading entrance, but I haven't been able to find the key. Search for it. Other supplies and equipment as well. A floor plan, operating manuals, notes or memos for machinery, anything is fine."
"Haa…..etto, so we should look for a key and documents?" (TL: "Haa…etto" = "Ye(s)….umm")
"That's right, all three of you will."
"Understood."
He could only hope that a supermarket employee hadn't taken the key and gotten turned into a zombie. Even if they are unsuccessful at finding the key, the work provides them with something to do to keep their minds off of meaningless things.
Even the two brothers quietly nod as if an important task had been left to them.
"I have stuff to do. I'll be back by evening…. probably."
"Okay. Please be careful."
Mizuki says in a tone like she is worried about their meals disappearing.
Descending to the 2nd floor, Yusuke folds his arms in thought.
"Well then….. the problem, is how stupid they will turn out to be."
The monitor in the security guards room, which normally reflected the inside of the supermarket, was turned off. The process of operating it is fairly complicated, so Mizuki shouldn't be able to restore it. During this time, Yusuke planned to clean the zombies off the 2nd floor.
On the 2nd floor, from the daily goods corner, to the drug store and women's clothing shop, including the 100 yen discount uniforms, how many tenants were in them?
(TL: In case anyone is confused, these are all shops, and by tenants he means zombies.)
If he could open this floor to Mizuki and her brothers, the labor of bringing back food should decrease a bit. Afterwards, it would be fine if he let them upgrade their base as they wished.
The only problem is that Mizuki would likely wonder how he managed to clear all the zombies out.
Even now she must be skeptical of how he survived the earlier encounter with the three zombies. Because of that, he's not sure if he should open the first floor as well. Yusuke planned to keep the 1st floor closed for now.
If Mizuki and her brothers could freely cook meals, there would no longer be a reason for them to follow him. But if he were to bring bigger amounts for long-term provisions, Mizuki could try to run away again. If he could open the floor, it would create a way he could profit from them without the use of food.
"……since there are only a few zombies on the 2nd floor, I might can do something. There were so many on the first floor, it was unreasonable. Well then, let's get started."
Normally if a person were to slay a zombie using a gun, the noise would attract more zombies, and they would be done in. In her ignorance, Mizuki never thought that far. (TL: During the 3 zombie incident explanation.)
Deciding on a plan of attack, Yusuke starts moving.
Searching every corner of the 2nd floor, from the girls bathroom to the backyard lounge, he finds six zombies. An old man, a lady in her 40's, and a man that looked about 20. There was also a young woman but, she didn't have a good face and her stomach was torn open from being eaten.
"Yes, that way, that way. Move, move."
Pushing and pulling, he guides them to the 1st floor. Pushed from the back, they staggered back and fourth as they walked. Rather than crushing their heads and carrying out their corpses, making them walk out was much easier.
Once he had moved everyone out of the 2nd floor, he closes the door to the fire escape.
As this was the entrance to the staircase and the floor, he tied carts together on the staircase, effectively creating a blockade.
"Next would be the escalators huh?"
Returning to the 2nd floor, he faces the center of the room. The escalators which had once been operational, were now stopped. First, he had to walk down to the first floor and observed the situation.
A switch box was embedded in a nearby pillar. Unlocking it with the key he brought with him, he opens the switch box and sees these buttons in a line 『 ▲ 』 『 ■ 』 『 ▼ 』. He presses 『▼』 and the shutters descend.
"Yosh." (TL: "Alright." What one says to either psyche themselves up, or when they have completed a task.)
After closing the switch box, he returns to the 2nd floor. With the same process, he closes the shutters on both sides of the 2nd floor as well, completely blocking it off. Thus, the only way to travel between the 3rd and 2nd floor was the elevator.
The chances that the zombies on the first floor would be able to call the elevator and press the 2F or 3F buttons were slim. The zombies were definitely capable of movement, but nothing that complex. Even at the train station, the flap doors were broken from the zombies forcing their way through the ticket gates.
"That's about it huh….. There's still time."
Checking his watch, Yusuke confirms that it is still before noon. He goes down to the first floor and gets on his bike, heading out to get more goods.
It was 7:00p.m. and the sky had become completely dark. Yusuke was at the back door of the supermarket, unloading a minivan. He unloaded a home center he got from an electronics store, and some documents he scavenged from the library, as well as other things. Using a dolly, he loads them into the elevator.
After unloading the luggage on the 3rd floor, he is setting up a rice cooker in the hot water supply room when Mizuki shows her face. She was still coughing lightly.
"Takemura-san, what's that?"
"A rice cooker. I want to eat rice."
"Rice….."
Mizuki's face was shining with anticipation.
"Just canned food isn't enough. There are two bags of rice in the hallway, use them."
"……..ah, but, without tableware, it'll be troublesome. Perhaps I should make onigiri? It'd be good if we had seaweed or salt."
"Ah–, that's right. Wait a moment. I've opened the 2nd floor, so let's get some tableware from there."
"?"
At Yusuke's words, Mizuki tilts her head with a strange expression.
When the fire door to the 3rd floor opened, Mizuki became frightened. Even while they were walking around the 2nd floor, Mizuki hid behind his back, skittishly looking around. (TL: wtf, didn't he just say the only way was to take the elevator?)
Soon, after no zombies appeared and she finally realized it was safe; Mizuki's expression became bright. Pushing a basket, she looked through the shelves as if she were having fun. Yusuke felt that reaction was somewhat anticlimactic.
He thought she would ask questions like "How did you clear out the zombies?" or "Why have you not done this until now?", but it didn't look like she was going to ask anything. All she said was "Amazing.", as the goods she had been deprived of were spread before her eyes.
(She should be doubtful of how I profit from this right? Certainly there was a chance you would miss out if you were always suspicious… maybe that's the reason she is reluctant to say anything to me? Though I may be over thinking it….)
Ahead of Yusuke, Mizuki had stuffed the cart full of supplies. This floor had clothes, daily necessities, Pharmaceutical products, and cosmetic. Surely sanitary items were a matter of life and death for Mizuki. Yusuke opening the 2nd floor was big. These were important items for a high school girl which were hard to replenish.
Casting a side glance at the misfortunate Mizuki, Yusuke turns towards the elevator.
"We are working upstairs, so just grab the necessities for now."
"Hai! Ah, that's right. Takemura-san, we found the key."
"Huh, really?"
"We went through the office desks together and gathered everything useful. We tagged everything, so I think you'll be able to understand quickly. We found lot's of documents."
"Hee~. Although I wasn't expecting anything, you did good."
At those words, Mizuki smiled slightly.
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_28.txt
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Chapter 24: A Cold
The next morning, when Yusuke showed his face in the conference room where they usually ate, Mizuki was collapsed on the table. It appeared as if she passed out in the middle of preparing breakfast; the tableware and tea cups were already set. The canned food remained unopened.
"Oi, what happened?"
There was no reaction to his words. Grabbing her by the shoulders and lifting her head, Mizuki slightly opens her eyes and looks around as if spacing out. Her bangs are stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her face was pale.
Mizuki speaks while coughing,
"I'm….. sorry. My… head hurt so…."
"……..a fever huh? That's aggravating…"
Yusuke responds while clicking his tongue. You could tell Mizuki's condition just by looking at her.
(There is no work that is really pressing at the moment, so it would be better to let her rest for today.)
"Wait a moment."
Leaving the conference room, he walks towards the office in the back. Glancing at Mizuki's brothers, who were asleep and wrapped in blankets, he approaches the reception area.
Moving the glass table, he connects two sofas in the center of the room. He then spreads blankets over the top of them, making a make-shift bed.
Once he is finished, he turns towards the sleeping brothers,
"YOU THERE! WAKE UP!" (He uses "Omaera okiro!". Omaera is an unpolite way of saying "You guys".)
"!!!"
Takeshi jolts awake while Yuu sits up, rubbing his eyes. With sleepy faces, they both look up at Yusuke. While not caring about their sleepy state, he speaks.
"You guys' nee-chan has caught a cold. She will be sleeping on this sofa for today, so you guys nurse her back to health."
Leaving them with those words, Yusuke returns to the conference room and hoists Mizuki on his back. Her unconscious body was heavy. He carries her to the sofa and covers her with the blankets.
(With this, it's fine to just let her sleep right?)
Her brothers, who had just woken up, were close by and looking at her limp body with worried expressions.
"……Onee-chan, is she alright?"
"She caught a cold you know? She'll get better if she sleeps."
While answering the anxious Takashi,
(No, wait…..)
Yusuke thought of something.
Mizuki's condition is most likely due to the other night… Her body was weak from being deflowered, and she had been laying half naked in the locker room for a while. Up till now, this is why he thought she had caught a cold.
Having a fever, collapsing, if you think about it, there could be another reason. Becoming a zombie.
(……)
In Yusuke's mind, a dreadful thought emerged.
(…..Am I a carrier?)
He had been bitten by a zombie and collapsed once. After that he had miraculously recovered but, what if the virus was still left inside him? There was the possibility that he transferred it to Mizuki through sex. (TL: Zombie virus is an STD :O)
(But was coughing a symptom of the virus…..?)
He remembers the information he acquired from online. A fever and collapsing where what all of the incidents had in common, but that didn't mean there were no exceptions.
Bleeding, swelling, numbness, various symptoms were flooding the internet. A considerable amount of information had to be rumors and misunderstandings. Whether a cough was mixed in with the symptoms or not, Yusuke couldn't remember.
(Is it just a normal cold….?)
The possibility of him being a carrier and spreading the virus was not an entertaining thought. It was as if a time bomb were ticking away inside him. Just thinking that the virus might be inside his body made him tremble.
However, Yusuke was conscious of the fact he was an irregular existence. And Mizuki had lots of contact with him. It wouldn't be strange for something to happen.
(…….If she did contract the virus, she'll be dead within 24 hours.)
This was also the largest estimated time. There had been reports of death within just a few hours.
(……..)
Staring at Mizuki's pained sleeping face, Yusuke turns and talks to her brothers beside her.
"You guys, forget what I said before. Do not enter this room today. Play somewhere else."
The air conditioning for each room on the 3rd floor was managed by on computer in the monitoring room. Using the employee memos, Yusuke operates the computer and turns the heat on for all the rooms. Once he's finished, he returns to make breakfast.
He takes the rice he had started preparing earlier from the rice cooker, and places it in a bowl. The remainder he puts in a Tupperware container. He starts to walk away with the rice in tow, but pauses.
After a moment of deliberation, he returns to the rice cooker. Scooping out a hand full of rice and washing it thoroughly; he puts it in the metal pot of the rice cooker, adds plenty of water, and sets it to porridge. I didn't take long for the water to acclimate, but it wasn't that methodical of a process. (TL: I have no idea what the author is trying to say with this sentence.)
Her brothers were sitting in their seats, worrying about their sister, but when Yusuke sets the rice down in front of them, they start eating it single-mindedly. (TL: Their love for their sister couldn't win over their love of rice. xD)
Before long, even the portion in the Tupperware had been devoured. Watching the meal, Yusuke began thinking. He had brought a smoking device and documents on it with him when he came back with the intention of passing them to Mizuki as a test to see if she was capable of handling learning how to operate it, but she was already down with the fever.
(TL: A device to smoke food http://blog-imgs-30.fc2.com/c/o/u/countryblog/P9090023.jpg)
He set it up by himself and lit a fire so that her brothers could watch the flame, but they weren't interested. If Mizuki does become a zombie, it would change a lot of things.
(Should I just take it easy today?)
Yusuke silently listened to the brothers talk about what foods they would like to eat.
Carrying a tray, Yusuke enters the room Mizuki is sleeping in and approaches her.
"I'll leave some porridge here, so eat it if you're hungry."
At Yusuke's words, Mizuki stirs and opens her eyes. On a small table nearby she sees a bowl and a glass of water.
"Sumimasen….." (TL: "Excuse me")
She breaks off coughing.
"Ano….. can i request that you….. feed my brothers…….?"
"I already did. Open up."
Mizuki opens her mouth and he places a thermometer inside. She quietly closes her mouth over the tip of it. After a while, it started to beep. It displayed a temperature of 38.4℃.
(TL: For Americans like me who were forced to learn a fucked up system of measurement, it's 101.12 degrees)
(Not too bad….)
It's definitely a fever, but it's a normal temperature for a cold. The severity of the fever caused by the zombie virus had not been specified on the internet. Yusuke couldn't make a decision with the current situation.
(For now, should I record the body temperature and symptoms? The plan to acquire a labor force will go back to square one, but it was originally only me to begin with…)
He didn't really have any uses for the two brothers. If they lost their older sister, they would become distraught and be useless as a labor force. They had been staying with each other for a little bit, and he would feel sorry for them, but that's about it.
He might open the first floor for them so they could feed themselves with the groceries for a while, but no more than that. Whether they run out of food before help arrived would be left to chance. He had no intention of staying behind and keeping them around.
Yusuke lets out a breath,
(If she ends up dying, a lot of this will have been for nothing…..)
If he was able to get together a labor force, it would help him speed up his plans.
Right now he was reading a guide on emergency evacuation during a power outage. Apparently the automatic doors would be able to be opened by hand, and there were instructions on how to open the shutters by hand. There were also locations for batteries for emergency use. However, if Mizuki were to die, then this would become pointless, long-winded dialogue. (TL: This entire paragraph was one long sentence in the web novel.)
Thinking this, the information he was reading didn't stick.
(Well, it can't be helped. I was careless.)
This was the result of him not thinking about the possibility of him carrying the virus. It wouldn't change anything worrying about it now.
(However, I have to worry about being injured.)
If Yusuke were to be injured and unable to move, he would have no one to come save him. If a doctor or other medical personnel had survived, he would want to know their location. There was definitely a possibility that someone would turn against him, but it would be easy to escape within the city.
Right now he had found a community he could control and he wanted to hang onto it.
(Right…. from the beginning I should have been moving to secure protection from other people. But the situation wasn't right for that….. The labor required to help someone is big after all.)
While thinking about other things, the characters on the page had blurred together.
The room was quiet. Only the sounds of the air conditioner, Mizuki sometimes waking to cough, and Yusuke flipping pages could be heard.
In that dull atmosphere, time quietly passes.
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_29.txt
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Chapter 25: Dream
It was early morning.
The sun was only starting to rise when Mizuki woke up. She had seen a horribly nostalgic dream. It was a dream about when she was young, and still had her family.
She had stayed home from kindergarten with a fever, and had snuggled up next to her mother. She had been coughing and looking up at her mother as she gently stroked her forehead with a cool hand.
Her mother's face was vague, as if it had been hidden by a shadow. But even still, her mother gazing at her wrapped her in a sense of security. Clinging to that warmth, she had resisted waking up.
However, her consciousness was mercilessly dragged back to reality. The fragmented images of her dreams began to melt away as the appearance of her younger self faded from her mind. With her efforts to remain asleep in vain, and left with a sense of loss, Mizuki slowly starts to regain her sense of self.
She opens her eyes. In her eyes, an inorganic white ceiling is reflected. She was in a room on the 3rd floor of the supermarket. Mizuki stiffens, takes the blankets off of her, and sets them beside the sofa.
(……Ah.)
The tears which had built up in her eyes, spilled out of the side. The reality of where she was had just now fully come back to her. Reeling from the gap between her current situation and her dream, Mizuki sits there for a while.
"……..Haa"
Letting out a sigh, she wipes the tear trickling down her face. As she was lifting her body,
"Kushu–" (TL: Sneeze)
As she sneezes, snot drips from her nose.
"Uwaa…."
The wet towel on her forehead also came crashing down. She looks around for a tissue, but is unable to find one. Hesitating a bit, she blows her nose into the wet towel. She folds it and puts it on the table.
She notices the glass of water on the table and gulps it down. She feels the water spread through her body.
"Fuu……."
She had removed the blankets, but the heater appeared to be on as she didn't feel cold. While sneezing again, Mizuki's head starts to ache. Beside the glass on the table was a bowl of rice porridge. Yesterday she didn't have an appetite, so she had only eaten one bite of it. Because of that, her belly was completely empty.
She could reheat the porridge on the stove in the hot water supply room. Carrying the dirty towel and bowl with her, she leaves the room.
In the sink in the hot water supply room, tableware for three people were sitting, filled with water. While she warmed up her porridge on the stove, she rinsed off the dishes in the sink. There were no grease stains, so just rinsing them with water was fine. As she finishes rinsing off the dishes, she stacks them one by one on a nearby dish towel.
After she was done, her hands had become cold from the cold water.
"Hekushu–"
Once again snot dripped out. She uses face wash to clean her face. The face-washing lotion she had brought from downstairs. She dries herself with a nearby towel and lets out a small breath.
"……"
She spaces out, recalling the fragments of her dream, trying to make them clearer.
Worried about her brothers, she snaps out of it, and goes to look for them, and finds them wrapped up in blankets asleep in the corner of the office. They probably didn't sleep in the same room as not to catch a cold. Several big books were lying next to them. They were typical over-sized full color picture books.
She flips through a couple of them and sees pictures of mountains and seasons. There were also animals and insects. The photos helped kids understand the difficult to read kanji in the text.
Yusuke most likely gave it to them to kill time. Her brothers liked these kinds of picture books. There has hardly been any entertainment in their lives lately, so they must have been overjoyed.
(…………)
Making a some what complicated expression, Mizuki gently closes the picture book.
(Takemura-san is kind towards kids huh……)
'Though he is cold towards me', Mizuki takes a breath. Even after she had surrendered her body to him, his attitude did not change.
It's not like she particularly liked Yusuke, but until now she hadn't been treated so coldly by very many people. Yusuke's overly impolite attitude caught her off guard.
She sets down the picture book, and returns to the hot water supply room.
Grabbing the porridge and heading to her room, she notices Yusuke asleep in a chair. Leaning on the backrest, his neck bent back as he slept. It looked as if his neck was in pain. He had wrapped himself in blankets, but with the heater on, it wasn't cold in the room.
Mizuki approaches the sofa she had been sleeping on, and folds the disheveled blankets, setting them down next to her. Sitting down on the sofa, she begins her meal. Using a spoon, she scoops the rice and blows on it before placing it in her mouth. Her stomach had been aching in hunger, so the seven minute porridge was delicious.
(……..)
Mizuki indulged herself in the feeling of the porridge slowly warming her belly.
(……….)
She thought about the porridge and the towel –which had been placed on her forehead– in front of her. The fact that Yusuke had been so accommodating for something like a cold was surprising.
Mizuki viewed Yusuke as someone who was selfish and rational. When she caught a cold, she thought he would just toss some blankets to her and that would be it. That he would display this kind of gallant behavior, Mizuki would have never imagined it.
Only, her pride was too wounded to openheartedly accept this random kindness. Mizuki and Yusuke were complete strangers. Up until recently they hadn't even had a friendly relationship. This act of kindness, as if becoming family, it was completely out of the blue.
Spacing out, staring at Yusuke as he slept in the chair across from her, and thinking about various things; Mizuki inadvertently recalls something.
(……..Ah that's right, Takemura-san, was all alone.)
He had said that there were no survivors other than her and her brothers. Unlike her and her brothers, he had been living in this world all this time by himself. At that realization, Mizuki once again tries to correct her way of thinking.
If she had been in that kind of position, what would she have done? The sight of her brother's troubled faces have forced her to go on until now, but what if she had been alone? It wouldn't be strange if she fell into danger at anytime.
Without her parents or friends, all alone at night with those monsters that eat humans roaming the streets; she would be so afraid she couldn't bear it. Mizuki wasn't that strong. Her entire world ended that day.
When it happened, she started to find comfort in death, but the presence of her brother had kept her together. She was their guardian, but they were the ones protecting her. For her brothers sake, she had to forget about her broken self and look after them.
If they hadn't been there, if she had lost her family and had been forced to live alone in this new cruel world…
(That…. would be lonely, and difficult……)
Surely Yusuke's wasn't as weak as Mizuki. Even so, there must be times were he can't remain calm. If you think about it, compared to what Yusuke had given him, it was as if she hadn't returned the favor at all. He even saved her life. She never thought about how much that meant in this world which reeked of death.
Yusuke could be acting cold as a cry for help.
(He got involved with us because he was lonely….. Something like that…..?)
Somehow she felt as if she had touched a brittle part of Takemura-san. (TL: Laughing pretty hard right now)
Asleep in that chair, he looked as if he was overcome with resignation and fatigue.
Of course, she could just be overthinking things. If your body is weak, so is your heart. She could just be conveniently interpreting one of his whims. However, she couldn't deny that, as if she had found something human in his strong outer presence, had become interested in him.
This could be the first time she looked at him as a peer. As a fellow human struggling to survive at the end of the world.
(…….Un. I'll work harder to be less depended as well.)
Finishing her meal, Mizuki carries the tableware out of the room.
Once she washed the dishes off in the hot water supply room and returned, Yusuke was sitting up in the chair while stretching. It seemed he just woke up. Noticing her presence, he lets out a surprised voice.
"Ah?"
Yusuke stops moving and stares at her. It was a gaze as if looking at an enemy. Without understanding the meaning behind that strong gaze, Mizuki began to worry if she had done something wrong.
"Ano….?"
At Mizuki's voice, Yusuke's rigidity melts away and he sits back in the chair.
"Ah……"
He shifts his line of sight to the clock and reads the time. 6:00 A.M.
After that, as if he had lost his spirit, he speaks.
"It was just a normal cold after all….."
At those words which sounded like he had given up, Mizuki's eyes sparkled.
(Could it be he was worried about me?)
With a wry smile, Mizuki bows her head.
"I'm sorry to have made you worry."
"No, to say I was worried….. well, it's fine."
Yusuke waves his hand.
"Have you recovered?"
"I do have a little bit of a strange feeling, but overall I feel a lot better."
"…..Fuun." (TL: sighing)
Thinking about Mizuki's words, Yusuke has a premonition. Remaining silent, he gets a bad feeling about her strangely warm and cozy behavior. What kind of attitude should he take in response to this overly youthful girl? He was suddenly at a loss.
"…..Etto, thank you, for preparing food for my brothers yesterday."
"Ou. Be sure to wear a mask. Don't go sneezing all over the food." (TL: "Ou." is like "No problem.")
At those rough words, Mizuki only smiles wryly. Her uneasiness had already disappeared.
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_30.txt
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Chapter 26: Mating ◆
It had already become the middle of December and the temperature was consistently low. It was always windy on the roof of the building, so even if you wore a coat, you could feel the chilling wind whipping through.
Drying the laundry on the taunt rope pulled between two pieces of machinery, Mizuki looks up at the sky. The sun shone brightly and there wasn't a cloud in sight. With that weather, the clothes should be dry by night.
This is the 4th day since Yusuke had shown his presence. He had said that he would return in about 3 days; but yesterday, when Mizuki prepared an extra meal for him, he did not show up.
Mizuki became worried that something might have happened to him along the way.
(……He's fine right?) (TL: Daijoubu da yo ne)
All this time, the supermarket had been empty. Today as well, it had the same appearance. (TL: of being empty)
Unable to calm herself, Mizuki leaves the drying area. White smoke was faintly rising from the smoking device near the stair case heading inside the building. Approaching it, she looks at the thermometer attached, confirming that the interior is being kept at around 30℃. (TL: 86 degrees)
Cooked for a long time at a low temperature as to make the meat tender, the food inside was now suitable to eat. Opening the smoker, the food was resting on the mesh at the top, surrounded by the smoke coming off the wood at the bottom.
Currently un-marinated sausage and cheese were being cooked. After learning how to correctly adjust the temperature, she planned to attempt the smoke other things.
Yusuke had tasked her with reading manuals on the device and learning through trial and error. There were other tasks asked of her as well. Anyway, a lot had to be done. Firing herself up, Mizuki turns to head downstairs.
After she had finished everything on the list and finished the laundry as well, it was night time, and Yusuke still had not returned.
"I wonder if he'll return tomorrow…."
Walking between the display shelves, she mutters this to herself. While looking at her notepad which she had filled out with the things they will need for their work in the mountains, she places the items on the list in her basket as she locates them.
Inadvertently, she stumbles into the women's clothing section.
"……."
After a brief hesitation, Mizuki places her basket on the floor with her note inside. She slowly walked through the isles of autumn and winter clothing. She could freely take them and try them on as she pleased. Mizuki became a little excited.
"Ah, this is cute….."
She couldn't wear one everyday because of work, but Mizuki liked skirts. The 2nd floor was air conditioned, but even so, it was a little chilly when wearing a skirt. Taking some thick stockings from the leggings corner, she makes her way to a dressing room to try them on.
Watching herself in the mirror, she tries on a knee-length checkered skirt, a loose flared skirt, and a skirt with frills on it. After picking out an A line one-piece and a tunic with laces, she finds a blue blazer in a corner in the back. On a whim, she picks it up to try on.
"How nostalgic….."
With the under shirt and tie, it was just like a school uniform. For a moment, it felt like she was back in time, before the outbreak.
"…………."
For a while she watched the nostalgic appearance in the mirror, but suddenly, she notices footsteps behind her. Turning around, she can see Yusuke at a distance. It appeared he came down from the elevator. He approaches her.
"Takemura-san!"
At Mizuki's voice, Yusuke slightly raises his hand.
"Ou. I'm late."
"Welcome back! Are you okay?"
"Ah…, there are no problems. I got my hands on something I wanted. It's piled in the car downstairs."
As he was talking, Mizuki noticed Yusuke's expression become cloudy.
"…..Something you were interested in?"
"The zombies outside became less."
"Eh?"
"Their numbers didn't decrease. It seems the ones indoors have dove underground."
"That's…."
"Though it would be convenient to go to the mountains … If their numbers go down a bit more, then even you guys could safely move around down there."
Even as he said this, Yusuke's expression was not bright. It was as if something was concerning him, but he wouldn't say it aloud. Yusuke speaks as if shaking off a grudge,
"Ma, with some electricity, we could stay here. There's really no need to rush. How was it over here?"
"Etto, everything you asked has been finished. I've also tried gathering everything we need to be self-sufficient in the mountains that was written on the note."
Taking the notepad out of the basket, she hands it to Yusuke. As he read the note intently, Mizuki began her story.
"A vynil house is impossible, but digging out a rut and covering it is a possibility. If we plant crops that are resistant to the cold, then if the conditions are right, we may be able to grow certain things even in the middle of winter. Anything else, we will have to wait at least three months until winter ends to grow them, but with the mountains soil, we should be able to naturally cultivate almost anything. Chemical fertilizer, weed killer; if you don't mind the condition of the crops, I feel we don't really need them. I've been reading a lot of different books but pottery looks pretty interesting." (TL: I know her report seems all over the place, but this is what was written.)
While listening to Mizuki, Yusuke flipped through the notebook.
The time it takes to sow the crops and even the correct time to harvest them, the right characteristics of the soil, ways to analyze certain types of weeds, how to add compost to soil along with the method of making it, all of the important material from the agriculture books he had brought had been extracted and written down with illustrations so it was easy to understand.
Easy to grow and quick to harvest produce including potatoes were picked up on. Each page of information was detailed as if someone experienced had written it. Reading through page after page, Yusuke was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
"……Could it be, you're actually really smart?"
"Eh? Saa…… I don't really….." (TL: "Saa" is like "Idk"… In this instance anyway.)
"Like what was your grade in school?"
"Etto….."
She hesitates for a bit,
"One time, I finished a test within the top 5."
"In your class?"
"In my year….."
"………….."
Yusuke became silent.
"……..I, I've never been higher than the middle of my class."
"Is, is that so?"
"This feels like the notes of a smart person, seriously."
"Etto….. sumimasen" (TL: apologizing)
"? Why are you apologizing? It's so easy to understand, it's better to leave book work to you from now on."
(TL: he says work that requires thought.)
Being praised by Yusuke, a smile spreads across Mizuki's face. Even more so than when she took a top place on her test, why did she feel so happy?
Taking one more look at the notebook, Yusuke closes it and looks at Mizuki.
"Well then…. what's with that appearance?"
Eyeing her top to bottom, he looks at her clothes. Yusuke's eyes locked onto her thinly spread pink lip gloss. Fidgeting, Mizuki awkwardly adverts her gaze.
"That's…. when I finished everything you said to do, I thought maybe a change of pace…… I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine but…."
Yusuke cut's off his words and slowly moves behind her. Mizuki uneasily chases him with her gaze, but he was already embracing her from the back.
"Let's do it while you wear that."
"Hee-?" (TL: surprised gasp)
Pulled along to the dressing room, Mizuki understands the meaning of his words and speaks in a hurry.
"Ah……eh…….that's, I smell soap. What happened?"
"Ah, I took a shower at my house."
"…….Takemura-san's house?"
"Ou."
"That's great! There isn't even a bath here."
"If you get a large plastic bag, and line a cardboard box with it, then fill it with water from the hot water supply room; it'll become a bath right?"
"Ah, is that so? That's right! Let's try making it now." (TL: souka? soudesune!)
"……you, even though you're smart, you're missing something."
(TL: I'm not sure if he is saying you are missing the joke, as in he wasn't serious, or she is lacking in brain power in some areas because she didn't think about it earlier.)
"I'm sorry……"
"…..and stop trying to divert the conversation."
As he grabs her breasts over her shirt from behind her and starts to massage them, Mizuki hastily speaks up.
"Ano…. at night, if we can wait till night time! Right here is a bit……"
"You have no rights to refuse~~. Spread your legs." (TL: damn)
Having that whispered in her ear, it felt has if her hips would crumble. While trembling, she slowly spread the legs under her skirt which were wrapped in stockings. She had been embraced by Yusuke many times, but this was the first time while wearing clothes. She hadn't yet prepared her heart either. With a furious sense of shame, her face turns a deep red.
"Take off your top, and place your hands on the mirror."
Obeying his command, she takes off her blazer and only wearing a thin shirt, places her hands against the mirror. Watching herself stick her ass out towards him, she felt like her cheeks were on fire.
His hand entered her skirt and she trembled in surprise. Peeling her tights back down her thighs, her white butt is exposed. Slowly he undoes the laces on her shorts. (TL: I'm not entirely sure wtf she is wearing under her skirt)
"……!"
As his finger comes underneath the shorts and traces her entrance, Mizuki's voice leaks. She couldn't see what was happening under her drooping skirt through the mirror. When she thinks that Yusuke is able to see it, she becomes shy and wants to run away.
He teases her opening over her panties. Has his finger brushes over her sensitive parts, spreading open her folds and rubbing them, it becomes harder and harder for her to hold in her voice. Her breathing becomes rough and she loses strength in her arms. As the moisture builds up in her shorts, there is a squishing sound as he rubs the sticky material.
After a while he hooks his finger on her panties and pulls them down.
(Ah…..ah…..)
She imagined the scene of the disgusting threads of her juices being pulled between her and her panties as they came down. She hears the sound of a belt being removed behind her, and feels something hot press against her ass. At that, Mizuki returns to herself.
"A, ano….. condom…… we don't have one right now……"
"I have one, put it on for me."
"………."
Mizuki is handed a small package with a condom inside.
Pressing his body against hers, he stands her up straight. Lifting her on her toes, he spreads her legs and pushes his hardness between her legs in front of her. At the lewd appearance shown to her in the mirror, Mizuki's face becomes redder.
"Ah…. eto……"
"Open it and put it on. Give it a shot."
"Ha, hai….."
She breaks open the package and holds his shaft with her hand. Slowly, she covers Yusuke's thing between her legs with the condom. Stretching it from the tip to the root, she carefully grips his thing in her hand as it pulses.
"Yosh. You did good. Let me borrow your ass."
"Th, that kind of expression….!
Ignoring her protest, Yusuke pushes her body down. Mizuki once again braces herself with both hands on the mirror and her ass sticking out at him. Anticipating insertion, Mizuki braced herself for the pain.
The rough hands of the man behind her grabs her waist. The impending penetration was getting closer.
The hardness pressed inside Mizuki's wetness.
There was no pain.
As she accepted him all the way to the back of her entrance, Mizuki furrowed her brows in confusion. Letting out ragged breath, she becomes perplexed by a building feeling.
(Are…. why……?) (TL: "Are" is like "huh?")
He began thrusting full-scale. With a slapping noise, Yusuke's hips banged against her soft butt. As he rubbed her insides back and forth, an itchy feeling began to crawl up from her hips. Expecting the pleasant feeling from before, she became frustrated.
(Today, quickly….. come……!)
Being thrust into without restraint, her head started to get dazed. Consumed by a pink haze, her reason melts away.
As if crazed, Mizuki sucks on Yusuke's finger which he had used to tease her before. In doing so, she avoids the kiss which had been approaching. It could have been that he respected her last resistance of keeping her lips off limits. While keeping that thought in her heart, she entwines her tongue around his finger, thoroughly licking the joints. As if it were a penis, she runs her lips up and down it, rolling her tongue around it in her mouth while sucking.
With drool messily dripping out of her mouth, what was reflected to her in the mirror was the appearance of her being fucked from both sides.
(H, how obscene….. I'm obscene…..)
It was not the romantic fantasy she had once dreamed about. A fantasy where she met someone she liked, and slowly they both explored each other with care, feeling good together. There was no love. As if they were two wild animals in the back of a cave, licking each others wounds; it was that kind of mating.
(Ah….., ……ah!)
The itchy feeling became numbness, and without being able to escape, became bigger as it knocked on the back of her womb. It was a feeling she hadn't experience until now. As her thoughts are shaken, the feeling becomes better and better. As if breaking through a wall, the feeling of pleasure began to spike and Mizuki became frightened.
"I……I'm scared……, Takemura-san, this, it's scary…..!"
At that urgent shout, Yusuke moved. With a quick movement, he pulls out of her, leaving her gaping and empty. Without giving her time to raise her voice, he pushes her to the floor of the dressing room and rolls her on her back.
With both hands, Mizuki turns and hugs Yusuke as he comes down on her from above. Without worrying about her disgraceful appearance, her crotch is spread wide as if ready to accept a male. Responding to that begging posture, he once again inserts his hardness. With that pleasant feeling gone, she was on fire, wanting it to return again.
(Ah…. his abs, they're hard…..)
With her thoughts melting away, she runs her hands up and down Yusuke's body. Her brain went numb thinking about the hard muscles underneath his clothing.
(So firm…. amazing….!)
With Yusuke hammering into her, she shakes her hips. The pleasant feeling runs through her like electricity and she can no longer think. Loneliness, pain, worry, and pain; she forgets everything and becomes a girl wallowing in pleasure. (TL: it says pain twice)
Unexpectedly, her pleasure reaches it's peak.
"Ah…. AAAAAHHHHHH!!"
As if anchoring her floating body, she desperately grabs onto Yusuke's back, clinging to him. With violent shivers, she presses her crotch into him, feeling his hardness pressing against her womb. Even if there was pain, it turned to pleasure as she continued to press hard into him.
At that time, Mizuki felt his hardness throb inside of her and even more strongly drove it inside herself. With her back twitching, she clenches tightly around him, pulsating.
With the inside of her body completely filled by him, she rides out her wave of pleasure until her consciousness becomes white.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_31.txt
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Chapter 27: Blackout ◆
Nothing in particular had happened during the rest of December, and then, a certain day came.
Yusuke was below ground, unloading cardboard boxes at the loading area. The boxes contained the smoked meat Mizuki and her brothers had processed. The meat was packed in sealed bags using the vacuum packer they he had found on the first floor. The plastic bags containing the meat were separated by newspaper they used as buffering.
The meet consisted of the pork and beef they had kept in the freezer, but they had kept raw meat in the fridge to cook on the stove on the 3rd floor. Because they had a working stove to cook meat with, they had been eating it a lot recently.
Mizuki had been trying a bunch of dishes from the cook book Yusuke had brought her, and as such, there was always a wide variety of food on the table.
"She's pretty useful huh?"
Yusuke mutters.
"Her body is also lewd. I wonder if she is getting used to it?"
Since that time, they had been going at it countless times, and not once had she acted like she didn't want it. She still blushed from time to time, but when he starts thrusting hard, she protests, and instead pushes harder into him. Yusuke was satisfied with the now obedient Mizuki.
Yusuke raises the loading platform and secures the luggage with a rope. The gas, tools, and equipment they had prepared, he had already taken to the mountain. All that was left to take was the food and water.
The loading platform begins slowly raising with Yusuke standing on top of it. The road curves and continues underground, but because he had to keep the shutters closed, it was dimly lit. On the ceiling were exposed ducts and wiring, as well as small florescent lights, which barely lit the surroundings.
Near the loading zone was the elevator for transporting goods directly to the 1st and 2nd floors. Because he could also go directly to the 3rd floor, he never really entered the machine room or the electric room, only giving them a quick look-over. (TL: I'm not really sure what he is trying to say with this last sentence)
Walking by, he hears footsteps coming from inside and stops.
Mizuki was on the 3rd floor, so there shouldn't be anyone in there.
Withdrawing his handgun from the holster on his waist, he approaches the door without a sound.
Turning his head, he presses his ear against the door.
He hears dull footsteps backing away from the door.
Flinging the door open, he sees the back of the middle aged women.
The one with the injured right arm.
A zombie.
(TL: He has each of these sentences as separate paragraphs.)
"So that's what it was….." (TL: "ndayo." Short for "Nandayo.")
Holstering his weapon, he walks inside.
Nearby was a staircase leading to the 1st floor. It appeared that she climbed down from there.
As the zombie walked towards the back of the room, Yusuke drags and guides it up the stairs. Arriving at the top of the stairs, he forces her out the fire door, closing it behind her so that no other zombies could get in.
Zombies don't actively move to destroy things, but there was always the possibility one could inadvertently break something. He didn't want one hanging around the equipment.
Suddenly, a horrible smell entered his nose.
"……it stinks…"
There may be a corpse lying in the back. It must have been attracted here by the smell.
Just then, a voice was heard from the transceiver on his waist.
"Takemura-san, Takemura-san, can you hear me? This is the 3rd floor."
Yusuke takes the transceiver from his waist,
"I can hear you. The repeater seems to be smooth. Did something happen?" (TL: I think he means the connection is good.)
"Ano, could you come here? A girls voice came in over the radio asking for help but….. is it okay to answer them?"
"I'm on my way. Wait a bit."
It's been a while since there was contact with a survivor.
Yusuke hurried to the 3rd floor.
"Help…… help me….. anybody….."
Yusuke heard the same thing repeated over and over through the headphones attached to the radio. The voice also flowed through the external speakers. Mizuki looks at Yusuke with a worried expression, as if asking him something. (TL: Has a rival appeared?!)
The radio on the desk was about the size of a confection box. It was connected to the antenna on the roof through a coax cable and so the range was quite large.
They had heard things come through the radio before, but it was encrypted noises and signals. This was the first time a survivor had come through.
The girl's tearful voice had been coming through for a few minutes, then cut off.
She had most likely been speaking for a few minutes, then changing the frequency before speaking again. With a quick scan, they were able to hear her again.
While listening to her, Yusuke speaks to Mizuki.
"Try answering her."
"M, me?"
"She will be more at ease hearing a girls response right? Don't tell her about this place. Ask her about her whereabouts. Can you do it?"
"Y, yes."
Mizuki takes the mic in her hand, and presses the transmission button.
After hesitating a bit, she opens her mouth.
"Ano….. hello."
As soon as she lets go of the button, the girls voice comes through.
"Help me! Where are you?!"
Mizuki was about to respond, but the reception light was still on. The other side was still sending the transmission.
When the light finally went out, Mizuki spoke.
"Calm down! Please remain calm. We can not speak at the same time over the radio. Once you are finished speaking, please release the transmission button. Where are you?"
After a short pause, the girl's voice once again comes through.
"I don't know! Help me! Where should I go? Nee!"
The sound of a switch.
"…..Ano, calm down, please listen. Where are you holed-up at? Is anyone with you?"
A small interval.
"…….Why are you asking me that?! Are you not going to help?! No, noo, no more….. tell me where you are…."
"Ano….."
"I want to come over…. so please tell me…. nee….."
Yusuke extends his arm and cuts off the radio, interrupting the girl's voice.
Mizuki looks at him with a puzzled expression, but he waves his hand,
"That's enough."
"B, but."
Yusuke speaks while removing the headphones,
"I heard the footsteps of someone else behind her. The pauses in her speech were also strange. Someone else was working on the radio. The girl was a decoy."
"Eh…."
"What she was saying was inconstant, and she was trying to find our whereabouts right? Everyone is thinking the same thing."
"……but……that person, if she was acting……"
"It is possible she was being threatened into it. But, it's just as likely she wasn't. There is no merit to putting ourselves in danger to try to save her."
"………….."
Mizuki was downcast.
Looking at her, Yusuke scratches his face,
"If you tell them about this place, I'm not responsible for what comes. Right now, the herd of zombies outside has thinned. Don't get any weird ideas."
"That's…………"
Mizuki lifts her head and lets out a lonely laugh.
"I won't. Everything Takemura-san has said has turned out to be correct. I will follow what Takemura-san says. Please do not worry."
"Well that's fine, but…."
"……….etto, I'll go get the laundry."
Mizuki stands from the desk and walks into the hallway.
At that small back, Yusuke lets out a sigh.
(What a troublesome person…..)
Yusuke faces the desk again and flips the switch on the radio. Holding the manual in one hand, he awkwardly fiddles with the spectrum scope with his other hand, ascertaining that there are no other signals.
(There are too many buttons…. this thing.)
He could figure out how to operate the recorder and timer, but as far as decryption, he couldn't figure it out.
Returning to the configuration of the radio, he takes a breather.
The calendar on the tabletop next to him enters his view.
In the box for today's date, there was an event written at the bottom.
"Th…. no, that's today huh…… It came quickly."
Yusuke threw the manual on the desk.
Taking his jacket off the coat rack at the entrance of the room, he heads towards the back entrance where he parked his bike.
That night.
After dinner in the conference room.
"Fuuu….."
When movie ended with a scene of the heroine being embraced by the main character, Mizuki took a short breath.
The ending credits had begun flowing down the large monitor in the conference room.
Cracking his neck, Yusuke frankly gives his impressions of the movie.
"Was alright."
"It was huh…." (TL: "Soudesune.")
A retired information analysis officer was fighting a terrorist, it was a movie with a lot of action.
It wasn't like nothing interesting happened, but there was nothing amazing, or anything that stood out.
"It got pretty good reviews, so I was expecting a bit but…"
"Yeah….."
Once the end credits had finished, a preview came on for another movie. As the promotional videos played one by one, the pictures were flowing and changing.
"Ah, this! We should watch this one next. I haven't seen it yet, but it looks interesting."
"Heee…… it's about animals?"
A federal investigator who could speak to animals used his power to catch criminals. It was a comedy. It was quite popular and had three movies in the series.
"Well, it'll at least be better than the one we just watched….."
They had put a portable player and a sofa in the conference room, turning it into a home theater. Around the edges of the table, various pastries, snacks, and PET bottles were stacked. The lights were turned off in the conference room, and the monitor faintly lit the surroundings.
The clock showed that it was 1:00 in the morning.
It was Christmas.
Stockpiling food and collecting hand tools had been proceeding smoothly, and so today they would relax. The first movie they watched was a Disney movie about Charles Dickens. He had read the story a long time ago. He had thought that the kids would like it and picked it out.
After the kids had gone to bed, Mizuki and Yusuke continued watching movies together. As a gag, he had put in a zombie movie, but as expected, it wasn't received well.
In the relaxed atmosphere, Yusuke grabs his coffee off of the side table and brings it to his mouth. It had become cold, and when he contorts his face,
"Ah, I'll fill it up again."
While taking the cup, Mizuki heads towards the hot water supply room.
While watching her back,
(……….Lately she's been quite honest huh) (TL: He says "sunao". It means true to your feelings, transparent, etc.)
Yusuke thinks such while spacing out.
It's like her attitude at first was a lie.
Mizuki returns shortly with a cup on a tray.
Setting down the trey, she holds the hem of her skirt while sitting next to Yusuke. She sat close to him, and he felt the sofa sinking beneath them.
"Here you go. Though it's instant…"
"Ou." (TL: "yeah")
While sipping his coffee, he stares at Mizuki. While holding it with both hands, she is warily drinking her coffee. (TL: Being careful of the heat.)
On a whim, he begun rubbing her waist with his hand. The moment his hand touched her, she looked at him, but it wasn't a look of rejection.
The look she gave him wasn't unlike the look of a lover, but Yusuke knew that wasn't the case. If you think about it, that behavior was natural, as she was trying to sell herself to him.
(…..Well, that's fine.)
He stopped his train of thought, and slips his hand under her skirt.
"Ah….."
Mizuki cut off her words, and the strength left her body. With trembling hands, she places her cup on the table and holds onto her skirt, gripping it with what little strength was left.
Having slipped his hand half way up her thigh, the feeling of cloth ended and he could feel Mizuki's soft skin. Folding up her checkered skirt, her white panties were exposed. Today she was wearing knee socks instead of tights. It would require little effort to strip her.
"So you had prepared for this~"
"It….. it wasn't like that……"
Mizuki says this with bated breaths.
Yusuke slowly presses his finger between her thighs. He knew she liked to be teased through her panties. He draws circles around her clit with his index finger while tracing behind with his middle finger.
"……uuu……nn….."
Mizuki's breathing becomes ragged. As he continues, he feels the area around her entrance become wet through her panties.
"…………."
Feeling something, he lowers his gaze to find Mizuki rubbing his bulge. Gently wrapping her hand around it, she massages it. With that itchy feeling, he becomes harder in her hand.
"Ah….."
Miyuki's voice becomes louder and she stops moving her hand. Gripping his zipper with her hand, she slowly begins to pull it down. She slips her slender fingers through the crack.
She begins stroking him through his thin underwear with her fingertips. She traces his shaft from the root to the tip with her index finger.
It was a slightly ticklish feeling. At that feeling he was unaccustomed to, blood began to gather.
"…………."
Without saying anything, Mizuki drops her line of sight. Yusuke slightly slips his now wet finger inside of her panties. Parting her wet pubic hair, he draws closer and closer to her entrance.
At that teasing movement, Mizuki's breathing became even rougher. Her body became stiff as she waited for the pleasure that was to come.
As Yusuke's finger wiggled further down, it brushed past her sensitive bulge.
"Aahhh!!"
Mizuki arches her body, writhing while embracing Yusuke's arm. Gently rubbing that part, covered in her thick love juice,
"Ah……nnnn…..! Ya…….da………" (TL: "Yada" short for "iyada" as in "no don't")
As if escaping from the pleasure, she clings tightly to him.
After teasing that spot until his hand became soaked, Yusuke spoke.
"Get on top."
"……..ah…….okay…………."
With a dazed expression, Mizuki nods her head and raises her wobbling body. She straddles him and begins removing his belt.
After taking out his stiff thing, she removes a condom from the pocket of her skirt and covers him.
Yusuke slides down the backrest, pressing his hips forward and making it easier to penetrate her. It was a posture where he was looking up at Mizuki.
Mizuki spoke in a voice as if she were in heat,
"I'm putting….. it in, ne……."
Holding his member with her left hand, she presses it against her wet mound and slowly lowers her hips.
"Ah…..aa……"
With his shaft disappearing under her skirt, he felt himself wrapped up in a soft, wet warmness. The contracting walls were tightening around him, stimulating his hardness.
Mizuki pressed the bulges in her white blouse against his face. While hugging his head with both arms, she moves her waist.
"……Ah! ……..Nnn!"
As she moves up and down on top of him, she lets out her voice.
He grabs her waist with both hands, and thrusts, matching her rhythm.
Occasionally as her waist bounces up and down, Mizuki lets out a loud voice. With a slapping sound, her soft ass hits against his waist. A pressure begins to build and accumulate at the tip of his shaft.
While watching Mizuki's lewd movements,
"Looks like you've become perverted as well…"
"Who's, fault….., do you, think it is……."
Slightly raising her body, Mizuki glares at him.
Looking at her face, Yusuke moves his hips forward and back.
While her insides are gouged and stimulated,
"Don't…….!"
Mizuki squats down further while clinging to him. Feeling her hot breath against his neck, he moves to further gouge the walls of her pussy.
"How's this?"
"……I don't….. know……."
Her voice is interrupted by the sighs she lets out from the pleasure.
Mizuki's breasts are swaying under her blouse right in front of his eyes. Placing his hand on a button on her blouse, Mizuki looks at him with wet eyes.
One by one, he undoes three buttons on her blouse from the top down. Her thin white bra was so moist with sweat, that her bare breasts beneath were exposed.
Lifting his hands, he plays with her soft breasts. The light pink buds had already become hard and were poking out.
While scooping the soft flesh in his hands,
"It's lewder while you are wearing something after all."
"Is…. that so…..?"
With her cheeks dying red from having her breasts rubbed, Mizuki speaks.
"It's romantic, romantic." (TL: "Romandayo, roman")
"Now that you mention it…… you are harder when I wear clothes resembling a school uniform….."
"………I'm not really a lolicon."
"……no, though that's okay….."
Mizuki giggles.
Stay silent, Yusuke covers the pink tip of her breast with his mouth. Sucking it into his mouth, he flicks it with the tip of his tongue while pinching it with his lips.
"!! Uaahh! That…..!"
Curling her body, she embraces his head.
Moving his hips, he presses all the way to the back of her, raising her up. While having her breast sucked, Mizuki moves her hips against him, rubbing her clit against his waist.
At Mizuki's movement, Yusuke parts his lips,
"You seem to be having fun huh. You haven't forgotten your position have you?"
"But that's……! Lately…… you've been treating me gently….. that's why……"
Mizuki tightened her embrace of him.
"Ah……ahh!"
As if overcome with emotion, Mizuki's body trembles. As her soft breasts and ass shack, she presses into Yusuke. Being embraced wholeheartedly by a girl, and surrounded by her wetness, Yusuke feels a pleasant feeling grow.
Pressing against her womb, Yusuke approaches his limit. Sucking and licking her breasts, he can no longer hold on.
"……….!"
Pressing against the back of her insides, Yusuke blows his load while wrapped in Mizuki's warmness.
At that rhythm,
"Ah….."
While embracing him, Mizuki lets out a satisfied sigh.
At his ejaculation, they both simultaneously relax their bodies.
Feeling the soft weight of the relaxed Mizuki, Yusuke lets out a breath.
Late at night, a chill in the air woke him up.
It was plenty warm under the blankets with Mizuki, but a bit of cold air had entered from a gap in the covers.
The heater had stopped.
Realizing this, he pulled the covers off of himself and began quickly dressing himself with the scattered clothes on the floor.
"Takemura-san?"
Also waking up, Mizuki sits up with a dazed expression as the covers slide off her naked body.
"The heater stopped. I'm going to check it out."
At those words, Mizuki opens her eyes wide.
The long anticipated thing had finally come. (TL: running out of power.)
From the rooftop, the city was shrouded in darkness as far as the eye could see.
While holding the fence in the strong wind, the two watched the city.
It was a large scale power outage.
The supermarket's emergency power had come on and emergency equipment as well as the elevator was still operational, but it wouldn't be for long.
With fuel, they could prolong the time the emergency power would stay on, but it would be the wrong choice long term. With their ability, they couldn't provided electricity through any other means.
As to not get stuck in the elevator, it would have to be for emergency use only.
The pump on the water tank located on the rooftop had also stopped working, so they would no longer have running water.
However, their eyes were glued to one particular corner of the town.
A few kilometers away, a part of the city was still lit up. If you looked closely, you could see smoke rising from the light.
They couldn't see the origin because of the buildings, but it had to be a fire. It was in the middle of the route to the mountains.
While looking at that scene, Yusuke speaks.
"You guys, be prepared to leave at any time."
At those words, Mizuki looked up at him.
"What about Takemura-san…..?"
"I'll go check it out….. if it is dangerous, we will escape quickly. Wake up your brothers."
Lately the zombies had been quiet, as if the entire city was dead, but now they were on the move. It was the foreshadowing of a fight.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_32.txt
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Chapter 28: Skull Man
The site of the fire was located on a university campus.
Stopping across the street from the campus, Yusuke stops his bike, lifts his visor, and looks at the campus questioningly.
The surroundings were lit by moonlight, but were still dim.
Facing the front gate, there stood a five story building, shrouded in darkness. Across the avenue, there is an enormous tree engulfed in flames. They flames had stripped the leaves off of it, leaving it nothing but burning branches, illuminating the darkened ground beneath it.
(…..Was the fire accidental? It would be great if there was no trouble, but…..)
When heading to the mountains, cutting through here would be the quickest route. For that reason, Yusuke wanted to confirm the area was safe.
It would take a considerable detour to avoid this area. It would be fine if it was just him, but he had Mizuki and her brothers with him as well. Because of that, he wanted to avoid a long journey.
In the vicinity, Yusuke could see zombies here and there. They were draw to the university, but the main gate was closed, blocking their entrance.
Suddenly, the sound of an engine resounded from the back of the campus.
(….What's that?)
Gripping the handles of his bike so that he could escape at a moment's notice, he looked toward the direction of the sound.
What had appeared was a silver mini-van. With something riding on the top of it, it charges at the main gate. Noticing the closed gate, the mini-van tries to come to a stop, but it didn't make it in time. With the high pitched screech of the tires against the ground, the mini-van plunges into the stone pillar at the side of the gate. The front of the van took heavy damage as the sound of the metal frame ripping open resounded through the darkness of the night.
The thing riding on top of the mini-van was thrown over the gate, and rolled to a stop on the road. Stretching it's limbs, the thing gets it's feet under itself and stands up.
The thing that had been riding on top of the van was a man in a black coat.
Ignoring Yusuke who had braced himself to escape, the man turns and sprints towards the van. Jumping over the gate with nimble movements, he comes up to the window of the van and bashes it with a rod he removed from his waist. The window shatters in an explosion of glass, and a women inside lets out a high-pitched scream. The man thrusts his arm into the window, and drags out the screaming woman.
With a savage hostility radiating off his entire body, the man slams the crying woman into the iron bars of the main gate countless times. The zombies gathered on the other side became excited by the spurts of blood flying through the bars, and reached their hands through.
After a while, the woman became quiet, and the man releases his grip on her. Her body collapses on the ground.
The man then takes a hatchet out of a sheath on his waist, and swings it down on the woman's neck. Her head separates, and rolls on the floor. Picking up the severed head by the hair, the man lifts it in front of his face as if admiring the expression of agony left on it. The blood spurting from the severed neck began pooling on the floor.
After a while, as if the man was now satisfied, he tosses the head aside and begins opening the main gate.
The gathered zombies rushed through the gate and flocked to the woman's corpse.
Observing that scene, Yusuke's finally reacted.
"Oioioi….."
Unintentionally, his voice leaked.
"…….Is it a….. zombie?"
His movements were too good to be a zombie.
However, it didn't appear as if the zombies around him were going to attack him. He is standing leisurely, turning to leave.
Staring at his back, Yusuke becomes troubled for a moment.
He wants to know everything about him.
But he doesn't know how much risk was involved.
However, Yusuke quickly prepares himself, and makes a decision. Even if he was attacked, he could get away on his bike. If he let's him leave without learning anything about him, it would be dangerous.
Yusuke revs his bike, letting the engine roar.
The man in the black coat turns around at that noise. The surrounding zombies don't react, and continue their meal.
The man's entire body seemed to be covered in scars and various wounds. The black coat had several rips and tears.
However, what drew his attention more than anything, was the man's face. His nose had been broken off and you could see the nasal cavity bone. (TL: Not sure what to call it.) His cheeks were gouged out, exposing his bare gums beneath. His eyes were sunken deep into their sockets, creating a ghostly appearance. The only parts undamaged, were his eyes themselves, his forehead, and his short black hair.
They stood there staring at each other as if glaring.
There was intelligence in the eyes that were staring at Yusuke.
In spite of that, no life could be felt from him.
(So it's a zombie after all…)
Besides spirit, there was no hostility or anything that could be felt from the man.
Inadvertently, looking at the black coated man, he sees clothing near the cuff of the coat and is reminded of something. It was a familiar navy blue uniform.
Hanging on his waist next to the sheathed hatchet was a baton. (TL: nightstick)
(A cop….?)
A zombie's power was relative to the body while it was living. If a child were to become a zombie, they wouldn't exhibit super human strength, but if a large male were to be turned, he would be a threat.
Unexpectedly, the man turned and ran away.
(Shit-) (TL: Yabe)
Yusuke put his bike in gear.
That man was obviously not a normal zombie.
Fortunately, it didn't look like it would attack him. What he hand to do now was capture it. He needed to know more about the irregular zombie.
Besides, that skull man was dangerous. If that kind of zombie was around, troublesome things were sure to follow. If Mizuki and her brothers were attacked by it, there's no way he could protect them.
Tracking him down, he would look for a chance to trap him.
Deciding on that plan, Yusuke twists the grip on his bike, and follows after the zombie.
There was almost no one on the campus. The smoke rising from the fire site near the main gate had blackened the surroundings. There were no lights on in any of the buildings, shrouding them in darkness.
With Yusuke trailing behind, skull man runs up onto the sidewalk, and disappears inside of a research building. Yusuke left his bike and followed him inside, but arriving in the first floor control room, there was no sign of him anywhere.
Readying his handgun, Yusuke quiets his footsteps while climbing the stairs.
Inside the building was dark. The only source of light was from the moon shining through the windows. He had a flashlight, but he didn't want to give off his location until he had to.
(This is kind of bad huh…..)
It was bad that he lost skull man, but that wasn't all that bothered him.
It would be fine if it's a zombie, but he wanted to avoid encountering other survivors in close quarters at all costs. The person he meets could end up being unfriendly.
There was no sign of skull man in the labs on the 2nd floor, and just as he was thinking he should head back, he hears a sound.
Silencing his breathing, he explores in the direction of the noise.
It was coming from a room close by. He silently approaches the door to the room and presses his ear against it. Something was moving around inside.
Readying his handgun and hesitating briefly, Yusuke calls out in a small voice.
"Is anyone there?"
There was no reaction to his voice.
The noise continues inside, unaffected.
(Is there no one inside….?)
Yusuke breathed deeply to calm himself.
Blood had gone to his head a little. (TL: Not sure what expression to use, so I did the literal.)
His adrenaline was going and his heart was pumping wildly. He turned the doorknob slowly, and pushed the door open with his foot. Immediately pressing against the wall, he waited for movement inside the room.
The sound kept coming, unaffected.
Keeping his pistol out in front of him ready to fire, he slowly leans his upper body into the doorway, peeking into the room.
In the darkness at the back of the room, something about waist height was moving. Holding the pistol with his right hand, he reaches his left hand into his and pulls out a flashlight. Only shining the light on it for an instant, he understood what it was.
It was a female zombie without limbs.
With her neck strapped to a pipe on the wall, she was moving her stumps like a crocodile. (TL: wtf)
Her mouth was filled with a thick rope she had bitten into.
Yusuke entered the room, closing the door behind him.
Turning on the flashlight again, he observes the woman.
She was a burnette woman with her hair died red in a bobcut. She looked like a college student. Her mid section between her cut off limbs was covered in a thin film. (TL: I'm pretty sure it's semen.)
With a spaced out look in her eyes, she looked up at him.
Her naked body had dried dirt caked on here and there. With the nasty smell drifting off of her, it was evident that she had been used.
Her voluptuous white breasts standing atop her chest, had several long nails driven into them. Her thighs were littered with numerous cuts. She was probably played around with as a toy for fun.
"How barbaric….."
He unintentionally let out his voice.
Yusuke also treated zombies like things, but as expected, this kind of treatment made him raise his eyebrows. He had no interest in hurting things which resembled humans.
"This is the end of the world huh…. seriously…."
He pulled out a knife and cut the rope sealing the zombie's mouth. The zombie looked up at him with a blank look in its eyes. Her mouth looked strange, and upon closer inspection, he could see that all of her teeth had been pulled out.
(……I'm not one to lecture others, but as expected, this is……)
Thinking this, he cuts the rope around her neck.
Suddenly, he heard the door behind him open.
Following that was the sound of something clicking into place.
Feeling a great chilled down his back, Yusuke immediately rolled on the floor.
The next moment, the sound of air escaping and a metallic bang range throughout the room. (TL: The author uses *Pashu* so it is either a silenced weapon, or not even a gun. Crossbow?)
Scrambling to his feet, Yusuke escapes through an open door. While he is doing this, he catches a glimpse of a figure standing at the entrance. With a big build and a wide stance, the person was facing him. It seemed he had some sort of shooting device.
The place he fled appeared to be the documentation room. There were cabinets and steel desks, but there was no exit.
(Shit.)
Kneeling behind a desk in a shooting position, he calls out to the next room.
"Oi! I'm human! You've made a mistake!"
The response was more shots fired. The door sways as it is hit by long nails, making dents and hitting the floor.
It appears to be a nail gun. The safety device had been removed and it was gas powered.
(It can't be helped, I guess I'll startle him a bit.)
Yusuke pulls back the hammer on the revolver and points it toward the door.
His intention is to get the man to expose himself, not to kill him. There was a lot of risk and he didn't want a battle here. It was better to intimidate him, and use that chance to escape.
Listening to the casually approaching footsteps of his opponent, Yusuke times his shot.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he hears the man screaming in despair.
He can hear the sound of something being kneaded, along with the repeated shots of the nail gun. The nails hit the walls of the room and ricocheted everywhere.
Getting up and peeking through the door, at the bottom of the dark figure was the female zombie from earlier. She seems to have freed herself from the rope around her mouth that he had started to cut before the man appeared. With a low growling sound, she was wriggling her limbless body while biting into the mans legs.
She had no teeth so there were no mortal wounds, but the man seemed to have panicked after being attacked by a zombie. Waving his nail gun around, he shoots nails all over the place.
(Abune-) (TL: Dangerous, or look out. He says it to himself.)
Yusuke ducks his head as a nail ricochets nearby.
The sounds of scuffling went on for a while, but then quieted down. In panicked footsteps, the man leaves the room.
(TL: For those who are confused, I think he had moved from the desk to the door way, then after peaking, he stayed on his side of the door while listening to the fight.)
Cautiously peeking into the room, he sees the female zombie lying in the floor with countless nails sticking out of her.
Her eyes, which were faced toward the ceiling, had lost all light. Her forehead had been punctured by several long nails.
Slowly, Yusuke steps inside the room.
There was no sign of the man close by. It seemed he fled.
Only the tragic corpse of the limbless zombie was left.
"…………"
Offering a prayer with one hand in silence while keeping a look out on the corridor, Yusuke leaves the room. As expected, he didn't feel the need to search anymore.
As he reached the stairs, down another corridor, he heard the cries of the man from earlier resounding.
Looking down it, at the end of the corridor, the man from earlier was backpedaling while rapidly firing his nail gun.
Ahead of him was a figure that looked like a raptor ready to pounce on it's prey.
It was skull man. After a moment, the nail gun stopped firing, and the man was hit in the face. With a loud crack, he flew into the air, into the wall of the corridor.
Keeled over and groaning, the man is grabbed by the neck. Like that, he is dragged to the back of the corridor.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Yusuke hesitated, wondering what he should do.
"……Fuck."
Raising his handgun in front of him again, Yusuke chases after the back of skull man.
Even though he was dragging that violent person in tow, skull man's pace was fast. While following them with some effort, Yusuke goes through a corridor and arrives at another building.
Looking around, the skull man is no where to be found.
Suddenly he sees a light.
It is leaking from the center of nearby double doors. As if invited by the light, Yusuke steps inside.
Inside was a wide open area.
It was a concert hall with an open 2nd floor.
Right now he was at the 2nd floor entrance, and below him was a stage with a staircase connected to it on both sides. As if surrounding the entire hall, there were aisles going down both sides. Along the railing of the 2nd floor balcony, lighting equipment had been placed. Along the aisles were a number of doors.
The hall was not lit up by the lights, but from the smoldering pile of charred wood and burnt chairs near the stage. It would appear that this was the site of the fire.
Standing there, he could smell a putrid burn smell come up from below.
With that smell filling his nose, he fought to hold back his vomit.
"What is this place…"
He mutters this while covering his mouth with his hand.
If he looked closely, he could see that human bones had been scattered around. Unknown meat was hanging from seats here and there, with dried blood scattered everywhere. It was like a scene at a slaughterhouse.
Abruptly and without notice, two figures rose from their seats on the first floor.
They were girls.
With half eaten bodies and disheveled clothing, it was obvious the two were zombies. In the thin darkness, faintly illuminated by the glare of a flames by the stage, they gave off a mysterious appearance.
While standing, the two zombies stared up at him.
They had the same inorganic look as skull man.
Yusuke took a step back without thinking.
They weren't attacking, but there was pressure in the stares the zombies directed at him. Normal zombies don't even recognize Yusuke's presence.
"What is this….."
It wasn't just skull man.
There were multiple irregular zombies here.
At that time, from the aisle to his right, a man's screams rose. Looking in that direction, he sees something strange.
A diving board-like structure extends from on of the aisle out a few meters over the hall below.
In a doorway near the aisle, skull man appears. He is dragging the nail gun guy from earlier behind him. The man which was illuminated by the flames was young and around the age of a college student. With a sobbing voice, he screams.
"No! Hiiii…….. don't!!! Stop…….. forgive me……."
Without paying attention to the struggling man, skull man climbs the platform, and drives the man down the plank. Unable to keep his balance, the man stumbles and it appeared as if he would fall.
Barely catching the board as he falls, he hangs from the board with both hands in mid air.
"Hiiii…… Hiiii…..!" (TL: high pitched screams.)
The man looks up at skull man looming over him as he gasps for breath.
As if looking down on him, skull man watches the man from above.
Skull man slowly opens his mouth, stretching his bare cheeks, and revealing a heinous smile.
In the next moment, Skull man brings down his hatchet towards the mans hands.
With blood splattering into the air, the mans fingers were cut off, and he screams as he falls into the hole.
Yusuke unintentionally raises his voice.
"That guy!" (TL: Aitsu)
After confirming that the man had dropped down the hole, Skull man loses interest and disappears back through the double doors.
Re-gripping his handgun, Yusuke follows him.
Going through the doors, he finds himself in a pitch black room.
Taking the flashlight out of his pocket with his left hand, he turns it on. It looked like it was the control room for the concert hall as there was various equipment lined up along the walls.
There was no sign of Skull man.
Carefully, Yusuke shines the light around the room. There were things everywhere. Cords rose up from behind the equipment in complicated patterns.
Confirming that there were no hiding spots in the room, he discovers a door in the back.
It was open with moonlight shining through it, leading outside. It appeared he had left the building.
Peeking through the door, he looked left and right down the hallway, but was unable to see Skull man.
"…..Shit."
Sighing, Yusuke lowers his gun.
(I shouldn't follow any further than this.)
Leaving the room, he returns to the concert hall.
Below the aisle, the female zombies were eating the man from earlier.
The man was foaming and spurting blood from his mouth while convulsing. It wouldn't be long now. It couldn't be helped that Yusuke didn't watch any further.
Tearing his line of sight away from the man, Yusuke looks at the surroundings.
The board that the man had been pushed off was connected to a platform with a staircase that had been built in the aisle, looking increasingly like a diving board. All around it were pools of dried blood.
(…..no, is it really a diving board…..?)
One word came to mind.
(Execution platform….)
It was something built by humans.
(…………)
Yusuke returns to the control room. On top of a desk, he found strange items that he hadn't noticed when he previously inspected the room.
It was a compact video camera and a bundle of mini tapes. Shining the light on the tapes, he sees that dates are written on them as well as names. If the man's name was there, then so were the girl's.
He felt a strange sense of uneasiness.
"………."
He stared at the tapes for a while, but finally grabbed one and put it in the camera. He turns on the power and the screen on the side opens up. It still had some battery.
Just in case, he blockaded the entrance to the room with machinery. After making sure there would be no hindrances, Yusuke presses the playback button.
It was the scene of a human executing a human. Bound and crying, a young man is hauled to the execution platform. The camera was diligently taping his appearance. Off screen, stupid laughter is heard along with people screaming for the person to jump.
As the young man desperately tries to resist, he is prodded by a handmade spear, made by attaching a knife to a long rod. Stabbed with the spear, the man becomes bloodied and soon loses his footing on the board, falling down into the hall.
Cheers arose from the surroundings.
The camera turns and changes locations before fixing itself again. It showed the view from the handrail at the top of the hall, looking down.
The young man was crawling along the floor, dragging his body as he flees to a corner. Chasing after him are two zombies. One of the zombies climbed over a seat and began eating the man. The camera zoomed in while shaking, capturing the figure of the predator. As the person holding the camera made elated sounds for excitement from the seen they were capturing, Yusuke began to feel sick.
The two zombies below had flocked to the man that was pushed down. With his screams coming to a stop, the man stopped moving.
"………….."
Yusuke stopped the video.
"…………..Fuu."
Letting out a breath and leaning back in his chair, he looks at the dark ceiling.
(………..)
(A lynching? Entertainment?)
It could have been that they were trying to overcome their fear of the zombies by keeping them like cattle. Like keeping a tiger or lion in a cage.
There were still more tapes.
Opening the video camera, he puts in the tape with the latest date. Fast forwarding it, he skims through the tape.
The content was similar.
The man from the first tape had become a zombie. Every victim that was pushed down, had added one more zombie to the hall below.
He interchanged the tapes while looking through them. When the 3rd tape showed a certain man, Yusuke paused it.
It was only a small hunch, but he thought the man wearing the coat in the video was that cop. His face was swollen and it looked like it had been beaten. Both of his hands were tied behind his back. His pants had a large tear in them around his thighs, and the leg beneath was bloodied.
He fast forwarded through the tape, so he couldn't understand the conversation. However, he could see the cop's uncompromising attitude through his actions. Up until the last moments it seemed he was trying to persuade them, but he was stabbed deep in the stomach with a spear and fell down to the hall below.
"………….."
Yusuke silently changed the tape.
After the zombies below had reached 10, their numbers stopped increasing. Before the person could turn into a zombie, they were completely eaten.
The cop was among those that flock to the victims when they fall. His face had been gouged out when he was turned into a zombie.
He had the same appearance as Skull man.
"This is bad…."
Yusuke mutters to himself.
As he went through the tapes, he noticed the zombie's behavior slowly change. They started out like wild beasts, but every time they ate a human, their movements became slightly more human-like.
Even Skull man's movements had been the same as a normal zombie in the beginning.
However, in the 2nd half of the tapes, he had a look of hatred in his eyes. As if looking for an opportunity to attack.
A shiver similar to fear ran up Yusuke's spine.
(While filming this…. those guys, why did they not notice this strange behavior?)
Right now, in his mind, Yusuke doubted that they were even zombies.
The zombies which acted like commuters at the station next to his home, and the zombies at the supermarket whom prowled around as if shopping.
Here and there in the city there were zombies moving as if repeating the lives they had.
As the masses of zombies wandered around aimlessly, Yusuke had always wondered why a few of them had these patterns.
Within his mind, one hypothesis emerged.
(Once the zombie feeds on a human, only then do they gain knowledge…..) (TL: Holy shit, Tokiko was feasting on his sperm, that is why her behavior changed. We may see her again yet.)
If he thinks about the small amount of zombies following a pattern, it would seem that only a small amount of them change. For instance, even if they were to eat a bunch of humans, at best the would be able to remember some parts of life as a living being.
However, in regards to regaining knowledge if you eat humans………
He remembers Skull man's figure.
How he took the man to the execution platform and pushed him off, and that heinous smile.
It was a pure hatred for humans.
Looking at the video, there were 10 zombies at the bottom of the concert hall. They had nearly been released.
The fed zombies had regained intelligence like Skull man, and were now dangerous.
"………Shit!!"
Yusuke slams the video camera into the floor.
(Shit shit shit shit, for those pieces of trash to do something unnecessary like this! Once the zombies become a threat, then what did they intend to do! Fucking idiots!)
Breathing roughly, Yusuke stands up.
"………….."
He thinks carefully.
(……….We have to detour around this area, it's too dangerous.)
Deciding this, there was no longer a reason to follow Skull man. He should check to make sure the detour route is safe, but he decides to return to the supermarket first.
It is also dangerous to stay in the city. If the zombies in the city regain their intelligence, then grouping up with a lot of humans would be even more dangerous. It would be safest in the mountains.
Deciding on a plan, Yusuke removes the blockade and exits the room.
Walking out of the entrance to the concert hall and continuing down the corridor, Yusuke stops.
A few meters ahead of him was a young girl dressed in rags.
In her right hand was a severed head, with its hair entangled in her hand.
It was the head of a man, his face contorted in a painful expression.
In her other hand was a spear, wet with blood.
"………….."
Yusuke and the young girl stared at each other.
She looked like she was in high school. Looking at her, she had a crying mole under her right eye. She was pretty, but she had a big bite marks all down her collarbone.
(TL: I looked up crying mole or "Nakibukuro", it's just a mole under their eye, which supposedly is there due to them crying)
She was a zombie.
The young girl spaces out, looking at him with a blank expression.
She had long black hair and her feet were bare. (TL: Sadako?!)
Naked except for the rags on her body, she had the appearance of a savage young tribe girl.
Suddenly the girl looked out of the window. Following her gaze, he also looked out of the window and saw a mass of things folding over each other.
With it faded into the darkness, Yusuke couldn't make out what it was. Focusing his vision, he tried to make it out in the moonlight.
After a while, he sees them,
(…….Humans……?)
Yusuke swallows a breath.
It was a mountain of corpses.
Hearing footsteps in the corridor, Yusuke returns his line of sight. The young girl had turned around and was leaving. The severed head in her hand swayed as she walked.
At that time, off in the distance, he could hear the screams of a girl.
Yusuke realized it.
This campus was their hunting grounds.
Watching the receding back of the young girl, Yusuke stood still.
When her back finally disappeared in the darkness, Yusuke let out a big breath.
"…………Haa…………..damn."
He stops thinking and heads towards the stairs.
There was nothing he could do here.
As if dispelling the cold feeling within him, he quickened his footsteps.
(TL: Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a time lapse between when Yusuke was attacked by a zombie, and when he came back out of his apartment? And he was a zombie and eating people the whole time, enough to regain all of his intellect and memories, thus thinking that he isn't zombie, but he really is. Though I'm sure there are some things that already disprove this theory, it would be a cool Fight Club-esque plot twist. xD)
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_33.txt
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Chapter 29: An Oversight
By the time he returned to the super market, it was dawn. It was still dark, but there were traces of the sun light rising up over the horizon.
After making sure there were no zombies around, Yusuke opens the shutters to the loading entrance. Once he was inside, he operated the switch box, closing the shutters again.
With no lights in the place, the ground sloped towards the back, shrouded in darkness. There were emergency lights here and there along the way, but they were only bright enough to illuminate their immediate surroundings. Yusuke turns on his flashlight, and proceeds underground.
He planned to prepare the car, then call Mizuki and her brothers and immediately set off. Approaching the loading zone with his flashlight, Yusuke unlocks the truck parked there with the remote on his key chain. He climbs in the drivers seat, and turning on the headlights, the concrete floor in front of him is lit up. Confirming there is enough fuel remaining in the truck, Yusuke leaves the lights on, and exits the vehicle.
At that moment he stopped. He had started to notice it earlier, but a strange smell was drifting from further down.
(…..What is it? This smell…..)
The smell was caught in his nose. It smelled like waste.
(Was there a sewage problem……?)
Following the smell with the help of the headlights, he comes across a slightly opened door. It was the door he had closed when he took the wandering zombie back upstairs. It was a door leading inside.
"……………"
Yusuke pulls out his handgun while remaining silent.
It didn't feel like there was anyone nearby.
Stepping inside the door, he checks the surroundings. There was a passageway in the front of the room, which extended to the right. The fire door next to the staircase leading to the front floor was barricaded.
(Was it a zombie……? There's no way Mizuki would come here…..)
It could have been a zombie that was left inside the room leaving. If that was the case, there was something he had to do before calling down the three from upstairs.
However, he wanted to know the source of the odor. Since he entered the room, the smell had gotten stronger. It appeared as if it was coming from a passageway nearby.
Yusuke wondered what it might be, while drawing closer, looking for the source. The passage he was walking through shouldn't be connected to the boiler room or the electrical room. (TL: Idk of a better term for electrical room.)
Relying on the dim emergency lights on his left, he heads down the corridor. He passed by several rooms, but they were all shut and locked.
At the very end of the corridor, he finds a set of double doors left slightly open. The smell was coming from inside.
(This place…. was left open?)
With questions raised in his mind, he opens the doors to find a room full of trash.
Sticking down from the ceiling were trash shutes which were connected to the first floor. Beneath them were giant piles of trash. The numerous cargo bins were overflowing. The trash was deteriorating into compost with countless bugs and bacteria growing from it, the smell of the fermenting waste filled the room.
Remembering something he read on the 3rd floor of the supermarket, Yusuke takes in the sight using the flashlight in his hand. The hardly visible concrete floor was stained by the aging trash. A bottle of detergent was lying on a rack nearby.
(It was the smell of trash? No, something inside the trash……)
There was definitely the smell of rotten garbage coming from the pile, but he could still smell the distinct scent of sewage.
While keeping the floor in front of him lit up, he continues towards the back of the room.
Within his light appeared a compost bin. With an outline of one meter high and two meters wide, it was made of stainless steel. Thinking nothing of it, he flashes his light next to it and comes to a stop.
Lying up against the side of the bin was a dirty blanket. There were pieces of cardboard holding the blanket up like walls. It was a homeless hut. (TL: If you can think of a better term…)
Hurrying over to it, Yusuke removes the blanket. Even though it was cold, he could feel residual heat coming from the manure. The compost had begun to give off heat while fermenting.
Bursting with frustration, he shines the light all around the room.
Scattered next to the hut were vegetable scraps. It might have just been trash, but they were over eaten, only the skin and the sprouts remained. If you looked closely, you could see other signs of scavenging through the heaps of garbage. Debris had rolled to the floor and rotten juice was splattered here and there.
Turning his head, he could see a faucet with a rubber hose attached to it for a wash station. Along the wall, a drainage ditch had been dug to catch the water, draining it into a container in one corner of the room. The stench was coming from there. Walking over to it, he removes the square lid and is assaulted by a foul odor. The inside of the container was packed with feces.
It was evidence of human life.
(…………………)
Yusuke turns off his flashlight and perks his ears.
There were no signs of anyone nearby.
If this was an ambush, he would already have been attacked. In the darkness, Yusuke's light should have stood out like a beacon.
In that dark room, his thoughts spun.
(It's not an intruder…….. it's someone who has been here from the beginning. Was it an employee who was late escaping?)
Zombies were prowling around outside, so it should be impossible for an intruder to get in. That meant that he had been living here since before Yusuke had ever come.
(No….. if it was an employee, they would have gone to the 3rd floor. They would have tried to make contact. Normally, they wouldn't think to live in a place like this…..)
He suddenly remembers Mizuki's words.
When the zombie's attacked, people all around the supermarket sought shelter inside. With food becoming scarce, and frustration building, the people who went to check outside had increased. And nobody had returned.
(Nobody had returned……)
He hadn't confirmed that all of them had died.
Hearing about their faces, he could have searched for them using the security cameras in the monitor room. The first and 2nd floor were riddled with zombies, so he should have known it would be impossible for anyone to escape through there. If they had, they would have become a zombie.
That only left underground…..
When he had first come to the supermarket, there were no zombies below ground. A person in the monitor room, looking at the underground cameras, would realize it was the best place to escape to.
However, there were zombies all around the parking garage. It would be difficult to go outside through the drive way leading above ground.
In trying to, there would be no other choice but to go back indoors. If it was this trash deposit area, it had food, water, and heat. The zombies that had come downstairs were probably moving because of this person. With zombies in the boiler room and the electrical room connecting to this place, this person had barricaded themselves in here for more that a month.
That was until the power outage.
The lights had gone out. Starving in the cold without light or water; a normal person wouldn't be able to bear it.
That's when they went outside.
Thinking up to here, Yusuke cuts off his flashlight and hurries back to the platform.
Because he had the key for the shutters, they could not be opened by anyone else. His destination was just ahead.
Looking at the elevator, he could see it was stopped on the 3rd floor.
(Shit)
It was still operating on emergency power. Rapidly pressing the up button on the elevator, Yusuke impatiently calls it down.
Yusuke remembers the transceiver and retrieves it from the truck. The range on it was short, and so he had left it in the drivers seat when he went out.
Taking it in his hand, he contacts Mizuki.
"Oi, can you hear me? It's Takemura. There might be a survivor heading your way. Stay quiet and wait for me."
There was no reply.
Putting the transceiver on his waist, he waits for the slow moving elevator while thinking.
(Just because it's a survivor doesn't mean they will be hostile…. it should be okay as long as they share food with them.)
Gripping his flashlight in his hand, he looks around and his eyes fall on the truck on the loading platform. One of the boxes had fallen on its side and the smoked meat was scattered. The packaging had been ripped open, and a number of them had been eaten. There were also empty water bottles.
"………….."
With a ding, the elevator arrives.
Yusuke steps inside and punches the 3F button with his fist.
(TL: As one who hates Mizuki, allow me to be the first to say; all of you who like Mizuki, get shreked.)
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_34.txt
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Chapter 30: Assassin
After Yusuke had left to investigate the fire…
On the 3rd floor of the super market, Mizuki and her brothers were preparing to leave.
Mizuki makes her brothers wear jumpers to ward off the cold. Placing a battery powered lantern on the desk, they quickly gather everything necessary for their departure.
She had divided food and clothing up and placed them in her brothers ruk-sacks, along with bottled water. With this it would raised the likeliness of them surviving if they every got separated.
They could grab another one along the way, so Mizuki didn't pack the rice cooker. Besides, the generator couldn't run very many appliances at once. Yusuke had found some solar powered equipment, but was unsuccessful in installing it and it was left untouched. In any case, they would have little power.
Mizuki packs various documents and self-made notes in a bag, as well as tightly wrapped food into a cardboard box.
The bulkiest items were clothing. So that their luggage wouldn't become cluttered, they just brought their winter clothes (snow suits) and underwear. Mizuki packed what her brothers couldn't carry with their rucksacks in her bag. She also used the field backpack Yusuke had left behind to pack towels and other cleaning supplies.
(It's like I'm preparing to travel.) (TL: She means go on a trip/vacation)
This thought runs across Mizuki's mind.
About to leave the now familiar office, she felt uneasy.
However, she was looking forward to leaving this cooped up environment. She had expectations for her life in the mountains.
Mizuki was absorbed in learning about agriculture as instructed by Yusuke.
She wasn't all that familiar with potteries, but the thought of growing something lit a fire in her chest.
It was hope.
Right now, Mizuki and her brothers were just survivors of a broken civilization.
However, growing the food they needed in order to survive through the soil and her own power; with that action befitting humans, it would feel like things were getting back on track.
Living as a human, she felt it was something to be proud of.
(Anyway… if I follow Takemura-san, it'll all work out, no matter where we go.)
Mizuki was smiling happily.
It was a strange sense of trust.
She carries the stuffed bag into the hall.
Rays of sunlight shine through the windows along the wall in the corridor, signalling the breaking of dawn.
At that moment, she notices the elevator display flash. The elevator was raising to her floor.
(I wonder if the fire was nothing?)
Thinking that he arrived quicker than she expected, she stops her movements.
She sets down her bags and waits for the elevator to open.
With a ding, the elevator arrives, and the doors slowly open.
"Eh….."
Mizuki steps back.
What appeared in the elevator doors was not Yusuke.
It was a ragged, dirty, grimy, thin homeless looking person. (TL: Laughing so hard.)
Thick beard hair was growing out of his jaw, extending all the way to his shoulders. Scraps of vegetable waste were tangled the man's hair. His clothes looked like something that was thrown away. Stains were scattered all over them. A terrible stench escaped into the hallway.
She remembers seeing him before somewhere.
The man looks at her and slightly opens his eyes.
The man places his hand on the door to keep it from shutting, and with his feet trailing behind, he walks out of the elevator.
As if pushed, Mizuki takes another step back.
"A…..no……" (TL: Searching for something to say.)
Leaking out a puzzled voice, the man's right hand enters Mizuki's line of sight.
In his hand was a dirty hammer. (TL: Have you come to fix the generator?)
"………….."
Remaining silent, she slowly steps backwards towards the office.
She has the feeling she has seen this man before.
However, she is unable to recall when they have met.
Suppressing the shaking in her voice, she speaks,
"Are you a…… survivor? If it's food, we have some. We have a bunch, so help yourself……"
She removes some food from her bag and places it on the floor. While the man's attention is drawn to the food, Mizuki quietly falls back.
The man approaches the food and crouches down in front of it. At that moment, Mizuki turns and flees to the office, shutting the door behind her.
She would need a barricade as there was no lock on the door to the office.
If she had fled to the locker room, she would have been able to lock herself inside; but she escaped to the office thinking of her brothers.
Then, she remembers the identity of the man.
(……It was him……)
It was the lean looking man that was the last to leave the 3rd floor.
The man who's gaze stuck to her, and who had banged on the locker room door late at night, trying to get her to open it.
Why was he still alive?
Where had he been until now?
At first Mizuki had been confused with his sudden appearance, but he was not the kind of opponent you could take a friendly approach with.
"Tak-kun, Ma-kun! Get to the back of the office!"
She yells at her brothers in the office. Surprised by her strong (threatening) attitude, they take their rucksacks and run to the back room of the office.
(If I can't protect them…..!)
Thinking she could use a desk as a barricade, she goes to move it, but is unable to with her strength. It was the same with a nearby cabinet. During this time, the man could enter at any moment. Unable to compose herself, she panics.
With a confused face, she thinks,
(This won't work! What should I…… How can I……)
A weapon.
The hot water supply room was outside across the hallway, so she couldn't get the kitchen knife. However, there should be unused knives packed away in the office. So that her brothers couldn't get to them, she had packed them in a locked cabinet along with other tools.
Pulling open the desk drawer and searching inside using the dim light from the lantern, she was finally able to find the key.
Unlocking the cabinet with trembling hands, she shoots a look at the door to the office, confirming that the man has yet to enter.
What was inside the cabinet consisted of a gas torch, a portable stove, and cutlery. Taking out the package containing the knives, she tears it open and grabs one.
At that moment, the door to the office opened.
Slowly, the mans face appears from the crack. He is still holding a hammer in his right hand.
The man silently observes Mizuki as if appraising her.
With trembling breaths, she stands from the cabinet and grips the knife in both of her hands.
She was surprised at her own killing intent.
"Don't come any closer than that."
"…………."
The man remained silent.
"If you're looking for food, I can give you everything we have. Once you have received everything, go back to where ever you were before. We will not be here tomorrow. You can come back then and use this place as you wish."
If the man was listening to her, he didn't show any signs of it. He just silently looked around the office.
(Is it no good?)
Mizuki bites her lip.
The previous time she was attacked, she could do nothing but tremble at the situation.
However, this time is different.
The current her had a goal, a purpose. The four of them would build a life together in the mountains. Someday, they would be living their days quietly in the mountains.
It was her reason to live.
Seeing the man take a step forward, Mizuki points her knife at him.
"…..I'm not… bluffing."
"……………"
The man stops.
Dropping his gaze to the hammer in his right hand, he pats it with his left hand, then looks back up.
"Ah……"
He begins coughing.
"……….I understand."
While saying this, his hand loosens on the hammer and it falls.
Careful not to let her guard down, Mizuki keeps her stance and waits for the man to speak.
"……..And?"
The man opens his mouth.
"……..Are the only other people here those two?"
At those words, Mizuki unintentionally looked back. Her brothers were peeking out from a door within the office, looking at them with worried expressions.
"Don't! Go bac….."
With a body crashing into something, Mizuki's words were interrupted. A desk had been pushed over and pens, scissors, and other office supplies were scattered all over the floor. At the center of the mess was the man rushing towards her while holding a hammer.
Twisting her body, she swings the knife blindly. She feels the knife cut through something, and at the same time, feels a dull pain in her side.
"Kafu….."
Falling to the floor, she grips herself in pain.
While holding her side, she crawls away from the man, trying to put distance between them. Her transceiver had been knocked from her neck and was lying on the ground nearby.
She could feel something wet with her right hand holding the knife. The lantern was far away and she couldn't see very well in the darkness, but it seemed to be blood.
If she looked intently, she could see the man holding his arm, staring at them. There was a lot of liquid dripping down from were he was holding. With that amount of blood, the cut appeared to be deep.
The man's eyes were lit with anger.
"…………!"
Gripping his hammer, the man drew close with great strides.
Still gripping her side, Mizuki gets on her feet and turns to yell at her brothers.
"Close the door! It's dangerous to come out!"
Saying what she needed, as if leaving the room her brothers were in behind, she presses forward into the desk's surroundings.
Her forehead was wet with sweat, and the pain in her side was getting worse. The hammer seemed to have hit her in the ribs. Holding her side with her left hand, she grips the knife tightly with her right.
She was afraid.
However, she was dominated by an anger even stronger than her fear.
(By this kind of person…..!)
A despicable kind of person that preys on the weak.
Were they just toys to him?
Waiting for the right moment to strike, they glare at each other.
"…….hear…. me? ……………there………."
Suddenly something could be heard at the man's feet. It was the receiving sound of the transceiver. Surprised, the man comes to a stop and drops his gaze.
Not letting that opening pass, Mizuki runs towards the entrance.
(Takemura-san!)
Yusuke would be there soon.
With that encouragement, she is able to run through the mess of supplies around the desk despite her clumsy footing. Just when she was about to enter the hallway, an intense pain ran through her calf. Her posture breaks and she crashes into the cabinets next to her, collapsing on the floor.
"It….. hurts….."
Gripping her shoulder that hit the cabinet, she sits up from lying on her back.
The hammer was lying next to her. It had been thrown, and hit her leg.
She had let go of her knife at some point during the fall and it had disappeared.
Suddenly she feels a presence at her back and before she is able to turn around, she is kicked.
With the wind knocked out of her, Mizuki twists her body in pain. Writhing in pain on the floor, her thoughts start to scatter. She is unable to think straight.
Grabbed by her hair, she is pulled up from the floor.
Above her was the man, breathing like a beast. The stench of his breath hit her in the face. Assaulted by the smell of rot, the black silhouette of the man comes over her.
"N…….no…….!"
Mortified, tears begin forming in her eyes.
The man's hand stretches out and hits her in the face. Her mind goes blank for a moment, and then she sees the man's silhouette standing over her, holding the hammer.
"Onee-chan!"
Yuu's crying voice called out. A small figure rushed over and crashes into the man's back. The man staggers, but doesn't fall; and directs his attention towards the younger brother. Behind him, Takeshi could be seen as well. While frightened, they had jumped out to help their sister. The man shakes them off with one arm and swings his hammer.
"Damee!!" (TL: "Don't!!")
Mizuki grabs onto the man's legs, but is unable to stop his movements. The weapon swings, and blood flies through the air.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_35.txt
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Chapter 31: Retaliate And Purify
Arriving at the 3rd floor, Yusuke could already hear signs of an engagement. Pulling the hammer back and placing his finger on the trigger, he quickly walks towards the office.
In the office, faintly lit by a lantern, Yusuke can see a man looming over Mizuki's body. He points the pistol in the air and fires.
Hearing the gunshot, everyone stops moving.
The sound of the gunshot echos through the room, slowly fading.
While crying hysterically, Mizuki is stretching out to her collapsed brothers. The man had been straddling her back, trying to remove her clothes. With a surprised expression, the man looked at him.
Quickly approaching the man, Yusuke pulls back the hammer on the pistol. The cylinder spun, loading the next bullet.
Yusuke points his pistol between the man's eyes and the man's body becomes rigid. Yusuke then kicks him in the face. As he was wearing steel toed combat boots, the man's nose was crushed and he let out a scream like a pig, falling to the floor.
"……….."
While the man is holding his bleeding face, cringing in pain; Yusuke points the barrel of the gun at the back of his head.
Holding his nose, the man begins crawling away as if to escape. Watching him crawl until he nears the wall, Yusuke then opens his mouth.
"Stop."
At that cold voice, the man stops.
"Put these on your legs."
While saying this, Yusuke takes out a pair of handcuffs from a leather pouch on his waist.
"Secure one end to your leg, and the other to the leg of the desk."
The man looks firmly at the pair of handcuffs thrown in front of him.
The gun is once again fired.
With the bullet flying into the cabinet next to him, the man screams.
"Do it quickly….."
Hearing that voice which sounded like he was tired of waiting, the man hurriedly picks up the handcuffs and, fumbling through the darkness, secures his right leg to the desk.
With this, he is unable to move. There was nothing within his reach that could be used as a weapon. Yusuke finally lowers the gun.
"Oi, you okay?"
He calls out to Mizuki, but there is no response.
When he turns around, he sees Mizuki holding Yuu's body in her lap and not moving.
"Ah……..ah…….."
Something that was neither a cry or a sigh was coming from her.
"…….Oi."
"Yuu is……"
Walking over to her, he looks down at Yuu from above.
His neck had been broken.
His eyes were hollow and lifeless.
"………."
Yusuke closes his eyes and suppresses something welling up within him.
Forcing himself to swallow his anger, he opens his eyes and looks around. The collapsed Takashi enters his vision. His body is rolled up and trembling.
"You okay?"
Yusuke walks over to him and crouches down. His leg is swollen below his pant legs, and was smeared with blood. His leg was most likely broken. And with him holding his stomach in pain, it would appear he took damage to his intestines. Yusuke wasn't sure if the boy's life was in danger, but it was clear he received serious injuries.
(Shit.)
Even if it was a small wound, it would turn serious if left untreated. That is the limit of the strength of a child's body.
(I should take him to the hospital….. no, the it's littered with zombies. Can I somehow make due with a improvised treatment? If only there was a doctor…. but where would we find one…)
While Yusuke was lost in thought, his right hand was grabbed by something. Looking up, Mizuki was trying to take the handgun from him.
"I told you it's dangerous!"
Afraid of accidentally firing it, Yusuke tried to shake her off, but she wouldn't let go. Her hands were firmly gripped around it, unwilling to let go. Reluctantly, Yusuke releases the gun.
As soon as she got the revolver in her hands, Mizuki stands in front of the man in handcuffs; and holds the gun in front of her with both hands, preparing to fire.
"Hiiii!"
The man screams and tries to fall back, but is unable to with his leg handcuffed to the desk. He holds both of his arms in front of himself, blocking his face in fear.
Looking at him, it was a pathetic appearance. His cheeks were sunken and his nose was broken with blood running down his face. His clothes were stained with the blood from a cut on his arm. He looked like a homeless person that was a victim of vagrant hunting.
(TL: I guess some Japanese like to hunt homeless people and beat them up.)
"How dare..!"
Mizuki calls out in a shaking voice. Ever since she grabbed the handgun, her hands that held it were trembling. With just a squeeze of the trigger, the bullet would be shot.
"H, help me……" (TL: "Ta, tasukete kure….")
At the man's words, Mizuki's anger grew.
"How dare you, something like that..!"
"I was wrong! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"
"How can you say that! Yuu was, Yuu was..! To do something so terrible..!"
(TL: Her words are really broken and unfinished. Sorry if it sounds incoherent.)
"I had no intention of killing him! It somehow happened! I was trapped by myself for so long, I became messed up!"
"I, I don't care! What does that matter! You coward! Are you scared of being killed!?"
(TL: She says this like "Are you yourself scared of being killed". Relating to the death of Yuu.)
"Forgive me! Please, don't do it……"
He cowers on the ground while covering his face.
Looking at the man, Mizuki tightens her finger on the trigger.
"I won't forgive you….."
"I'm sorry…. please, I don't want to die….."
At that begging. (TL: This was an incomplete sentence in the raw)
No matter how much she wanted to, Mizuki couldn't pull the trigger.
She put strength in her finger, trying to pull the trigger many times, but the gun did not fire.
Eventually.
"Why……"
Mizuki lets out a hopeless voice.
Her arms were trembling.
If it were in the midst of a fight, she may have been able to do it, but she was unable to ruthlessly take the life of a cowering human.
"Why are you begging for your life….? Why can't you just shut up and let me kill you……"
Listening to her talk as if she was broken, the man became frightened.
Seeing Mizuki like that, Yusuke walks over and stretches out his hand from beside her. He pulls back the hammer on the pistol in her hands. The gun was still clasped tightly in her hands.
"Mizuki."
Surprised by Yusuke's voice, she looks up at him.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had called her by her name.
The strength leaves her body, she loosens her grip, and releases the gun to Yusuke.
With her face cast down bearing a ghostly expression, she looks at him.
"My brothers….."
Mizuki spoke.
"They thought of Takemura-san as a hero…. they spoke about you so many times after you first came to help us….. they said they wanted to be like you when they grew up, so I thought it was dangerous and tried to escape with them."
Hatred was floating within her eyes.
"Why….. why didn't you protect us?"
Yusuke looks at the pistol in the palm of his hand and remains silent.
Eventually, he speaks.
"Sorry." (TL: He uses "Suman." which is more like "My bad." xD)
At Yusuke's words, Mizuki acts as if she had just woken up,
"Ah, ahh….. what am I saying. I'm sorry, my head suddenly stopped working….. did I perhaps say something rude? I'm sorry, even though it was my fault…. ahh, what should I do….. are you mad…..?"
"It's fine. Look over Takashi's injuries."
"Okay….."
With uneasy steps, Mizuki wanders towards Takashi. (TL: Takashi, RUN!!)
"Fuu……"
Yusuke turns towards the desk and lets out a sigh.
With his elbows rested on his knees, and his hands folded to support his chin, he glares at the man while thinking of what to do next.
The sounds of fighting had disappeared, and there was a painful silence spread over the room.
Mizuki was by Takashi's side, staring with a blank expression. The man was trembling in the corner of the room.
Time flowed slowly.
Everything had been ruined.
The cause of it lie with himself.
Yusuke understood that fact.
(It's my fault huh…..)
He didn't think he would be able to do everything perfectly, and he knew various setbacks would come up.
But…. the problems just keep getting worse and worse.
If he had left Mizuki with the hand gun, this situation wouldn't have happened. (TL: Butt hurt gun law fags rant in 3…2…)
He had a spare gun.
Even without fighting the opponent, she could have threatened and restrained them. There aren't many people who would approach despite a gun pointed at them.
Then, if he were to say why he never left a gun with Mizuki…
It's that.
(……I couldn't trust her.)
If he handed over such a powerful weapon, there would be fear of rebellion.
He never thought this place would be attacked, and so never thought to arm Mizuki.
(TL: I guess he means the zombie guards were supposed stop the intruders.)
However, now that it had become like this, there were no excuses.
With regards to this incident, Yusuke's suspicions of Mizuki are what caused it.
"Ah…Ahh….."
Yusuke looked up at the ceiling.
"What to do….." (TL: Takashi is just dying in the background)
An uncomfortable silence dominated the room.
(We have no choice but to go the the mountains…. but what do we do if Takashi's condition worsens. Can we treat him good enough ourselves? Does he need a blood transfusion? What kind of medicine does he need? Would it be fine with just antibiotics? Damn it, if only we had a doctor….)
At that moment, a siren sounded from far away.
Yusuke stopped moving and listened closely.
It was a discomforting sound he hadn't heard until now.
The wall separating him from the outside made it difficult to hear, but it was definitely the disaster prevention sirens.
He stood up and started to head into the corridor, but stopped, worrying about leaving Mizuki in the room with the intruder.
Had she not acknowledged the siren yet? She sat there with glazed over eyes, staring at the space in front of her.
If an announcement were to be made over the broadcast, he wouldn't be able to hear it from inside the room. It would be best for him to head to the roof, but he didn't want to take his eyes off the man.
(Tha…. no, with the radio…..)
Picking up the lantern, he approaches the desk with the radio. Flipping the switch, there was no reaction. It was obvious it wouldn't work due to the power outage.
Clicking his tongue, Yusuke goes under the desk and switches the radio's plug from the outlet, to the battery box next to it. There was power. Coming out from under the desk, he starts up the radio.
The disaster prevention radio frequency had to be among the default set of channels. He operates the key pad, searching through the channels. The siren suddenly stops, and is replaced by a muffled sound.
A voice began to flow through the speakers.
It was the stammering voice of a young woman.
"…..gawa. …..if possible choose wide roads and move silently. I repeat. …..this is Oono City Hall. We are currently providing shelter for over 100 survivors. Three days from now, a rescue helicopter will arrive. For those able to move, please head towards Oono City Hall. Located at the intersection of route 33 and Hidakagawa. …..if possible choose wide roads and move silently. This message will broadcast every hour on the hour for five minutes, 24 hours a day until the battery dies. To all survivors that can hear this voice, head towards Oono City Hall. Whatever you do don't give up! I repeat. This is Oono City Hall….."
It was a hard voice, not accustomed to broadcasting.
With a puzzled look, Mizuki stares at Yusuke.
(There were still that many survivors huh…..)
Yusuke covers his face with his hand. What he had just heard jumbled his thoughts.
(….100, 100 people huh? They seem to have the place under control enough to broadcast…. maybe they have medical personnel there, but even if they don't, when the helicopter comes, we can get medical treatment for Takashi then. I was worried about those dangerous guys at the university but…… city hall is pretty far away. Can we make it in three days…..?)
Thinking it over, Yusuke opens his mouth.
"Mizuki, Takashi will be in your care. Use a blanket or something to wrap him up. I'll…… I'll take Yuu. We will be leaving soon."
"Y, yes."
Mizuki hurries to the back to get a blanket.
While Yusuke was also preparing to depart,
"Ah! H….hey….."
With a voice calling to him, Yusuke turns.
The intruder's line of sight was directed at him.
"…………."
Yusuke and the man's gazes meet.
"…..P, please….."
At the man's pleading voice, Yusuke slowly drops his gaze. What entered his vision was the hand gun, tightly held in his hand.
An impatient look was spread across the man's face.
Yusuke lets out a sigh,
"You want to go too?"
"! Ah, ahh! Please!"
Yusuke flings the key from his hip,
"Bind both of your hands with the handcuffs. When you are finished, throw the key back to me. If you make any strange movements, I'll shoot you in the head."
"I, I understand!"
The man desperately unlocks the handcuffs around his ankle, and uses it to bind his arms; showing a flattering smile. He was probably thinking that compared to Mizuki's earlier actions, Yusuke showed no intent to kill.
"Takemura-san?!"
Mizuki, who had returned, let out a surprised voice.
"Why would let that kind of person..!"
"It's fine so be quiet."
"But…!"
"Shut up."
Furrowing her brows, Mizuki wraps Takashi in a blanket while glaring at the man with eyes full of hatred.
With the handgun, Yusuke urges the man forward.
"We'll go outside first."
With a willingness to follow their orders, the man walks along the wall, heading toward the exit. Yusuke follows behind him.
Entering the hallway, the man heads in a direction when Yusuke calls out to him.
"Wrong. Go right. Before we escape, I want to see what the condition is outside."
At those words, the man stops and turns right, heading towards the end of the hallway. It appeared to be morning, and sunlight was shining through the windows along the corridor. The green leaves of the plants along the windows were soaking in the morning sun. Beyond them was the parking lot.
Yusuke speaks up.
"How is it outside, are there any zombies?"
"N, no….."
"Is that right."
Surprised at the voice so close to him, the man turns around.
Less than a meter away, the hand gun was pointed at him at waist height.
The sound of a gunshot is heard.
The man falls back and slams against the glass. Cracks spread across the surface. Leaning against the glass, the man stares blankly at the hole in his stomach.
"Did you think would quietly let you come with us?"
The hammer is pulled back. A bullet is shot through the man's right leg, and his body jolt with the impact. The cracks in the window at his back get larger.
Once again the hammer is pulled back.
A bullet is shot at the man's left leg.
With the 3rd shot, the glass shattered. The man's body falls through the window among the tiny fragments of glass.
His body slams into the concrete, and his arms are bent at absurd angles like some kind of toy. Blood gushes from his wounds, and a puddle begins to slowly spread beneath him.
Yusuke looks down at him with hard eyes.
He was still alive. He turns over and tries to crawl with his distorted arms and legs.
"……….."
He felt the presence of someone standing next to him.
It was Mizuki. (TL: Takashi is seriously going to die in their hands.)
She watched the man in silence. While the two were staring down at him, zombies started to appear. There were attracted by the stench of blood. There was about a dozen of them. They slowly approach the man.
The man tries to flee, but it is impossible with the condition of his arms and legs.
One of them bites into the man's arm. The man screams as his flesh is torn. With that, the zombies begin forming a group around him one by one. With blood splattering everywhere, the mans screams echo in the air.
It was a feast of blood and flesh.
Unexpectedly, he has a flashback of the video he found on that campus.
"…..While he is distracting the surrounding zombies, we'll escape from underground."
He turns away from the man.
There, Yusuke comes to a stop.
Mizuki was staring intently at him. At her intense stare, Yusuke shuts his mouth.
It felt like she was looking deep within the depths of his heart.
As if she could see everything within him like he was transparent.
"……Let's go."
"Hai."
Mizuki answers quietly.
With the screams from below echoing behind them, the two slowly departed.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_36.txt
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Chapter 32: Goodbye
The city was quiet.
Heading east on the highway, there wasn't a person in sight. Not a single zombie either.
While avoiding the abandoned cars on the road, they slowly headed east in the truck.
As they moved towards City Hall, Mizuki was silent. While embracing Takashi in her lap, she wasn't wearing a seat belt. Behind the seats lay Yuu, wrapped up in a blanket.
Where City Hall was located resembled a sand bank at the point where a river splits in two. It was sitting in between a river to the east and west.
(So that's how it is…..)
Yusuke thought this while taking in the approaching scenery across the bridge.
North of the sand bar was a commerce block with buildings including banks and hotels lined up.
In front of the buildings, across a large road, stood City Hall. Behind it was a large park. It had a parking lot and sidewalk paths winding through it, creating a nice backdrop for the building.
Perhaps because the zombies couldn't swim, there weren't many trying to approach from the water side. If it was this place, which was almost completely surrounded with rivers, they could prevent zombie intrusions. All they needed to do was be cautious of attacks from the north, and across the east and west bridges.
He had visited the place many times before the pandemic, but looking at it now, it was built in a good location. With the help of this kind of terrain, over 100 people were able to survive.
Crossing the bridge, they saw people ahead. They appeared to be 2 male sentries standing on the sidewalk, waving their hands. Both of them were holding iron pipes about a meter in length.
Mizuki's body tensed beside him.
Looking at his handgun, confirming it was ready to be used at a moment's notice; he opens the driver side window a little and drops the speed of the truck.
He slowly brings the truck to a stop in front of the men.
The man wearing a hunting hat raise one hand and opened his mouth.
"Hey!"
"Hello."
Yusuke's short reply was followed by silence.
The atmosphere was like they were both trying to find something to say.
Thinking about it, it had been a long time since he had a conversation with anyone other than Mizuki.
Yusuke takes the initiative,
"Ah…… are you from City Hall?"
"Y, yes! Did you hear the broadcast? You did well in staying safe."
"Thanks. Though there's three of us, can you take us in?"
"It'll be fine. We'll guide you underground so follow us. Slowly if possible."
Saying that, the men started walking. Yusuke followed them slowly in the truck. Looking at the side mirror, there was another one behind a car. There was nothing overly suspicious about their movements.
Turning his gaze ahead, he can see people walking out from behind a barricade in front of City Hall. They were a young man and woman, coming toward the bridge; both holding an iron pipe in their hands. It seemed they had come to guide them further inside in place of the sentries.
It didn't appear as if the male sentries had contacted anyone, so they must have decided to place the two by the barricade upon seeing the vehicle.
(This could turn bad…..)
They were more organized than he thought.
Countless people were looking down at them from the windows in the top floor of City Hall. People of different age and gender were looking at them with faces filled with worry as well as curiosity. They were refugees.
Yusuke slowly lets out a breath. They seemed legitimate. The man he first spoke to had also appeared to be honestly happy that they survived.
Returning his gaze, he brings the truck down the slope to the dark underground parking.
......
He had been expecting them to seize the goods in the truck once he reached the loading platform, but surprisingly, no one said anything. Since rescue would be coming in a few days, it wasn't a situation where they needed to desperately secure rations.
In place of that, they were told to hand over everything that could be used as a weapon for the sake of improving security.
Yusuke hesitated a bit, but it didn't look like he would be able to keep anything hidden, so he did as requested. He also handed over the pistol, wanting to avoid any needless trouble. He had a spare gun, and if he removed the bullets, there wouldn't be much danger in handing it over. When he gave the gun which had lost its weight to the sentry, he received it firmly. Confirming there were no bullets in it, the sentry seemed relieved.
Fortunately, there was a doctor among the survivors.
It was a young female doctor in her mid twenties with dark circles under her eyes. Her wavy black hair was tied up behind her, with frayed bristles covering her face down to her cheeks. She looked tired, as if she pulled an all-nighter.
While feeling around Takashi's belly,
"Has he vomited?"
Yusuke shakes his head.
One of the rooms in City Hall had been renovated to serve as a doctors office. The lights were working, so they must've had a generator. He could also here the faint sound of the refrigerator running.
Takashi was resting on top of a simple bed. He was scared of being treated. Mizuki had walked over and held his hand.
The female doctor cuts the hems of his pants, exposing the affected areas. His leg is swollen with cuts here and there. From there, the doctor speaks to what appears to be her assistant,
"Bring me a 30 centimeter ruler from the office. If you can't find one, search for something similar, it's fine if it's longer than 30 centimeters."
After she finishes speaking, her assistant disappears into the corridor.
The doctor takes a bandage from the numerous first aid kits on top of her desk, and wraps the wounded area as she speaks.
"We don't have an x-ray here, so I can't be certain if there is a fracture or not. But just in case, we should keep the leg in a fixed position while we monitor it."
Mizuki watched with worry on her face.
When she is finished wrapping the leg, the doctor asks him,
"Takashi-kun, does your stomach hurt?"
Takashi shakes his head.
"Is that so. Well, if it becomes painful, speak up and don't just try to bear with it alright?"
He gives a small nod.
She presses her stethoscope against his chest,
"Please take deep breaths for a moment."
Takashi's chest slowly begins to rise.
"Does it hurt breathing in?"
Takashi replies "Just a little.".
"Okay. Thanks. Don't cry, you did well."
The female doctor spoke gently.
The female assistant returned holding two thirty centimeter rulers.
Receiving the rulers, the doctor sterilizes them in boiling hot water on the stove in the room. Removing them from the water and allowing them to cool, she places them on both sides of his leg, pinching the affected area. Together with her assistant, they tied them to his leg with a towel.
"You'll have to stay off your leg and rest for a while. Also, if you see blood in your urine, please contact me." (TL: I think that goes without saying..)
Mizuki, who had been watching the treatment, speaks anxiously.
"Ano…. will he be alright?"
"He hasn't shown any severe symptoms yet, so at this time there is no reason to worry. Because he is still growing, it would be better to not use painkillers. If the pain becomes intense, please let me know."
"Okay. Thank you very much."
Relieved, Mizuki bows her head deeply.
The doctor stares blankly at her for a bit, then opens her mouth.
"….Whether or not you two have been injured, let's confirm it now. Fujino-san, come here. Takemura-san, please follow that Tamiya-san's instructions."
Saying that, she takes Mizuki and disappears into the next room.
A man standing in the entrance taps Yusuke's shoulder and brings him behind a partition wall. (TL: One of those screen walls.)
Behind the wall, Yusuke does as instructed and removes his clothing to show that there are no wounds on his body. They were wary of him being infected. Roughly checking Yusuke's body, the man let out an "Ok.".
Yusuke returns to the bed, and after a while, so did Mizuki and the doctor.
When the inspections were over, the man Tamiya called over spoke.
"Sensei, may I continue the procedure?"
"Yeah…. that's right. The evacuee's card. Please have them fill it out here. I do not what to pointlessly move the child."
"Roger."
After a while, a refugee form similar to a residence form was brought out in front of Yusuke. It asked his age, sex, street address, whether he had any diseases, skills/qualifications, and a checkbox for if he owned a car. A single sheet was given to him for a single household.
Yusuke wrote his name first as the representative, then passing the sheet along, Mizuki and Takashi write their names as well.
In this kind of confusing situation, they group people who have been traveling together in the same household. Rations would be distributed to the representative of the household, and the representative would in turn distribute them among their group.
After the rules were explained, they were guided to their sleeping quarters.
Along the way evacuees were sitting on chairs and benches in the corridors, chatting peacefully. Because there was no heater, everyone was overdressed. There were many women and elderly. Work had been assigned to the workers. (TL: Workers as in Men I guess.)
It was most likely because rescue was on its way, but everyone had bright expressions. As Yusuke's party passed through, curious gazes were directed towards them.
(They don't really look like they've been cornered…. They must be doing well.)
As he was thinking such things, they arrived at their destination.
The destination was a room on the second floor, across the hallway, in the west branch of the government building. The room was about half the size of a classroom, and had a partition wall set up in the corner. It had a nameplate on it that read "Urban Development Bureau, housing unit.". A stove had been placed at the center of the room.
Inside the room were five people. Cardboard and sheets were spread on top of the tile and carpet floor. Everyone had improvised their own beds to sleep in. Everyone had dirty and exhausted appearances. Nobody lifted their face to look at them as they entered.
It was completely different from the lively appearances of the people they past along the way. These were probably the people who had shown up after hearing the broadcast.
The man that guided them walks over to the wall,
"Have that child use this. His level of exhaustion must be much greater."
He spreads out a disaster stockpile mattress beside the wall. Takashi lays on top of it and covers himself with a blanket. His expression becomes calmer.
Yusuke lets his field bag down from his shoulder,
"Thanks for everything. You saved us."
"No, it's good the kid is okay. If anything happens, call the people outside. We distribute meals every morning, but do you guys need anything now?"
"No….. more than that."
He increased their distance from Mizuki and Takashi a little.
"There's the corpse of another child in the truck. We'd like to make a grave for him, will that be okay?"
The man's face becomes stiff.
"…….Was he bitten?"
"No. He was killed by a human."
"Ah….. is that so….."
The man's face relaxes,
"A child huh….. What a coincidence."
He shakes his head,
"We had an old man die this morning, it was a disease….. Tomorrow we are going to bury him in the park out back. Is it fine if we do it together at that time? It'll be easier with more help."
"We'll be in your care. Thanks."
"Well, rescue will be here soon. Don't lose your spirit."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Finishing the conversation and returning, Takashi was already asleep. He had been exhausting the strength in his body the entire time they traveled there. He had reached his limit.
Mizuki stayed by Takashi's side, watching him sleep. The doctor had given them two bins of water to wash and replace his bandages with.
Yusuke sits beside her,
"It was good there was a doctor here huh."
"Yeah….."
Mizuki nods slightly.
Takashi's injuries were definitely cause for worry, but it didn't look like his condition was going to change anytime soon.
"You haven't slept either right? I'll monitor him, so you get some sleep first."
"…….."
Handing Mizuki a blanket, she takes off her jacket and drapes the blanket over herself. Though there was a stove at the center, it was still cold in the large room.
She lies on the floor next to the wall, curling up with her knees in her chest. She looks similar to a cat, balled up with gentle breathing as she sleeps.
"………."
Yusuke sits there in silence, thinking about various things.
Rescue would come in three days. How many people would survive until the rescue comes? How many safe places are left?
(What's going to happen now…..)
While they rested their bodies, the people around them increases little by little.
It was morning when they had arrived at city hall but during that day, other survivors began to arrive. Because they were all piled in the same room, the once wide open space became cramped and crowded.
Every time someone came and went, Mizuki woke up. She would look at Yusuke and her brother from under her blanket, and confirming that nothing had changed, she would go back to sleep. Though after repeatedly waking up, it would be a shallow sleep.
While nursing Takashi, switching out with each other to sleep, it became night. In the corner of the room dimly lit by the hanging LED lantern at the doorway; Yusuke, Mizuki, and her brother eat dinner.
The number of people in the room had increased to 30. They stayed in groups of two or three people. There wasn't really anyone that was by themselves.
What stood out in the center of the room was a group of 10 people. They were mainly well-built middle aged men, but there were a few girls mixed in. Because they had brought a light with them to eat, as everyone ate, it was only well-lit around that group. They weren't keeping their voices down, and were talking actively among themselves. It was the same atmosphere as a campsite.
On the lantern above the doorway, there was a note attached. The writing could be read from inside the room, and was informing readers to call for help should anything happen, like the toilet going out of order.
Outside in the corridor, a group of men with armbands were chatting peacefully. Yusuke leaves the room and one of the men asks him where he is going. Saying he is going to the bathroom, the man tells him not to go anywhere dangerous or anywhere he has no business going.
On his way to the bathroom, he sees two sentries guarding a connecting corridor.
They seemed to be gatekeepers, keeping the people of the west wing out of the rest of the government building.
Yusuke suddenly thought of something.
(……Are we being isolated?)
If you thought about it, it was a stable environment accepting newcomers. They didn't know what all kinds of people would be arriving. It was also possible someone could be infected. It wasn't strange for them to be cautious.
With rescue on their way, they broadcast the information and accepted people in out of goodwill. That the people who were accepted were slightly inconvenienced couldn't be helped.
Using the bathroom as an excuse, Yusuke stretched his legs. Most likely to save power, one in five florescent lights had been removed from the ceiling, spreading the lights further apart. Everywhere except the corridors were pitch black.
The stalls external tank had been attached and could be used to replenish the water in the toilet. It was unexpectedly well prepared.
(TL: Not entirely sure about this one. Just think of it like refilling the tank manually on a normal toilet.)
The power outage had just happened yesterday. It did not appear to be addressed in a hurry, so they must have made meticulous preparations in advance, anticipating the power going out.
He had felt it ever sense they arrived at City Hall, but they were extremely well prepared. The people giving out orders must be competent.
After he inspected the other doorways and closed fire exits, Yusuke returns to the room.
Upon seeing him enter the room, Mizuki's face blatantly revealed her relief.
◇
The following morning, Yusuke awakes feeling a chill in the air.
"Ah, I'm sorry……"
"Yes……..?"
He rubs his eyes, half asleep.
The morning sun shines through the windows, illuminating the sleeping evacuees, cramped up together on the floor of the room. Yusuke was lying in the corner of the room, wrapped up in a blanket. Takashi was sleeping right beside him.
Cold air rushed in through the gaps in the blanket as Mizuki dove under the covers with them. Body heat could be felt coming through from the other side of her cold clothes. It appeared as if she left to use the bathroom.
Bringing her face close to Yusuke's ear, she whispers to him.
"It's okay if you keep sleeping. I'll get up."
"I've already woken up….. I'll get up in a minute."
"Okay."
With that, the two fell silent.
Together under the same blanket, time quietly passed.
"Takemura-san."
"Nn?"
"……Thank you very much."
"For what?"
"……For everything." (TL: "Iroiroto" means various things though I think everything sounds better.)
Muttering softly, Mizuki rests her cheek on Yusuke's chest. It was as if she were a small animal.
As the sun rose, the evacuees began waking up. There were people going to the bathroom, people talking to each other around the stove, and people asking about when the meal would be distributed. The room was filled with a crowded atmosphere.
Right when Yusuke was thinking it was about time to get up, a man's voice resounded.
"Mizuki!"
The lift their face.
Coming toward them, weaving through the crowd, was a tall young man with black hair that looked to be in high school.
"A-kun……"
Mizuki replies in a daze.
"Thank god you're alright! I couldn't find your name on the roster. I've been worried."
Calling her, he came closer; and seeing them both under the same blanket, his face became tense.
The young man's words seemed to be caught in his throat as he stood there staring at the two of them. Eventually he looks away,
"……..Mizuki, I'd like to talk to you for a bit. Is it alright?"
"Y, yeah……"
After that, she looks at Yusuke as if to ask if it's okay.
"Sure, go."
"…….Okay."
With Yusuke's consent, she leaves the blanket.
Prompted by the young man, Mizuki is guided out into the corridor. Watching them leave,
(I have a feeling he will become troublesome…..)
While watching Takashi sleeping beside him, he thinks.
(It felt like he could have been a boyfriend. If that's the case, there will be a fight……)
If you saw your lover huddled under the same blanket with another guy, you wouldn't be able to remain calm right? Though it would be good if it didn't turning into something big.
It was only about 10 minutes.
The young man returned by himself. He lightly bows his head to Yusuke and speaks.
"Thank you for everything you've done for Mizuki until now."
"…… You're welcome. What's she doing?"
At those words, the young man slowly raises his head.
Contrary to his earlier words of thanks, his face was expressionless.
"From here on, I will protect her. She'll no longer be a problem for you."
"…..Ah, is that right."
Meaning he should no longer associate himself with Mizuki.
At those blatant words, Yusuke's mouth twitches.
The young man responds as if irritated,
"Thanks for protecting her, but now her relatives will assume that responsibility. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Nah, not really. Are you her boyfriend?"
The young man answers with an expressionless face,
"That's right. We're dating."
"Sigh….." (TL: "Fuuun…..")
Yusuke responds apathetically,
"But you know, will you really be able to take care of her properly? That child is injured. Do you have enough food?"
Those words seemed to sour the young man's mood. He raises his eyebrow,
"…..It seems you don't get it."
"? Get what?"
"The one who runs this place is Makiura sensei. If I ask, I can get various accommodations."
Hearing that, he was referring to that female doctor. So the young man is close to the doctor, who is the top in command at City Hall.
"Until rescue comes, we've been having all the new people stay in the west wing of the building. But if I were to ask my relatives, I can move her to the main building. The doctors office will be close, and Takashi could easily be moved. It is definitely a better place than here."
"……..heee. That sounds great."
Somehow his line of sight moved to the sleeping Takashi.
This room was overly crowded, and staying warm was a problem. It was certainly not a very good environment.
"Then…."
Something bitter floated in the young man's eyes.
"I've already expressed my gratitude. Why is Yuu not here? I got along well with him. Also Takashi received these kinds of injuries……. Who is responsible for this?"
"………."
Yusuke was silent.
If Yusuke hadn't intervened, the three of them would certainly have starved to death. If he were to put the blame on Mizuki…
In any case, the man in front of him didn't deserve a proper answer.
However, Yusuke didn't refute him.
(….well…… it's fine right? If the relatives take care of those two then……)
Yusuke lets out a small sigh,
"……..I get it. I'll leave the rest to you. Where should I take him?"
Standing up and attempting to lift Takashi, the young man interrupted.
"I'll take Takashi. It's our responsibility to get his name in the roster. Feel free to use the left over blankets."
"…….Thanks."
Suddenly looking, Mizuki could be seen standing in the doorway. She was looking at them with a panicked expression, not knowing what was going on.
When Yusuke approaches her, the young man vigilantly notices it. He waves back at her letting her know nothing is going on.
Passing through the entrance, Yusuke turns to Mizuki who was looking up at them and speaks.
"Sorry for everything. You'll be in his care from now on."
"Yeah…."
Mizuki answered in a daze.
"See ya."
Yusuke walked away with the young man talking to Mizuki at his back.
◇
The burial began that morning.
Under the clear sky, several men were assisting in digging holes. Since they couldn't afford to cremate them, the would be buried wrapped in sheets. In the park, there were countless gravestones made of sticks from the trees.
Yusuke waves his arm, innocently intermingling with the men digging the graves.
Once the grave reached one and a half meters deep, a body wrapped in a sheet would be carried to it on a stretcher. There were no coffins. Once the body is passed to the men inside the hole and they lower it to the bottom. The hole is then back-filled.
A middle aged woman and her daughter were watching with vacant expressions. They appeared to be the family of the deceased.
When the old man's burial was finished, the men dug a hole for Yuu beside the previous one. Their arms had tired from digging the first hole, so they began switching out with each other. Little by little, the hole was dug further down.
Yuu's sheet wrapped body was light, and Yusuke was able to lower it to the bottom of the hole by himself. Each time they shoveled dirt into the hole, his body slowly disappeared.
When everything was over, the grave diggers patted him on the back. Friendly comforting him. After giving his thanks, Yusuke was the only one remaining.
Crossing his legs and sitting in front of the grave, he began musing to himself.
Thinking about it, Yuu's burial should have been left to Mizuki and that young man. They had a much closer relationship than the one between her and Yusuke who she just met.
However, he couldn't pass up participating.
(I wonder if I've become a stubborn person…..)
Yusuke takes a breath,
"Looks like your luck's ran out too huh….."
Gently patting Yuu's resting place, Yusuke stands.
(Well then….. before rescue comes, I should release Tokiko-chan huh)
(TL: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS)
Without Yusuke around, there would be no one visiting the first floor of the apartment. He couldn't bear to leave her all alone there forever. It was just his opinion but it was better to let her roam the city freely.
In order to find a point he could leave City Hall without anyone noticing, Yusuke walked around the park.
Ahead on the walkway was a small bridge. There was a sturdy barricade built half way across the bridge. At the base of the bridge were two men holding pipes, talking to each other. They were monitoring the bridge.
Looking at the far ends of the park, Yusuke thinks to himself.
(I'll probably be able to get out at night….)
Due to the active security, it wouldn't be easy to escape.
At that time, a large choking sound was heard.
Turning around, a woman was sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree.
She wasn't wearing a white coat, so he didn't recognizer for a moment, but it was definitely the female doctor Makiura. With her head dropped down, he had severe dark circles around her eyes. She was wearing a long black skirt and a white shirt with a cardigan over it. Her web of black hair flowed naturally.
Just looking at her, she had the appearance of an elegant language teacher liked by all the boys.
She takes a drag on her cigarette and begins coughing. Seemingly noticing Yusuke, she puts her hand up towards him in a 'please wait a moment' gesture.
After a moment, she calmed down.
She slightly lowers her head,
"…….Excuse me."
"Ah, no it's okay……"
Yusuke was puzzled at their chance meeting.
Not caring about Yusuke's presence, she fiddles with the cigarette in her hand in silence, but then looks at him,
"Do you smoke?"
At those words, Yusuke responds slightly embarrassed,
"No, I don't smoke much…… these days."
"That's good. It isn't very good for you."
To Yusuke who looked as if he were going to say "Then why are you smoking?", she tilts her head,
"I thought I needed a change of pace. There were a lot of people around me who smoked so… Halfheartedly, I gave it a shot but…… it doesn't taste that great."
"Well…. if you're not used to it, it's not something that's very fun."
Speaking to a doctor, he should use honorifics, but somehow he found it hard to do so.
When the pandemic hit, life became about survival. In this kind of situation, worrying about social status and changing your speech to match felt awkward.
Makiura speaks indifferently,
"It's fine to speak however you want. In this kind of world. We also look around the same age."
"No, your the leader around here….. right? Makiura sensei."
"Who told you that?"
"A guy mentioned it to me…. he looked to be in high school."
Makiura mutters something under her breath.
"…….My position is the vice president, but I'm in charge of treatment and counseling, I'm not the top. The chairman, Mizuhashi-san who teaches high school is much more qualified than me in age and experience."
"Everyone takes their orders from you, or so I was told."
"That's, not a good thing…"
"Is… that so."
A doctor should dedicate themselves to the role of a doctor, anything else would be a waste of time.
Wanting to change the topic, Makiura opens her mouth.
"I watched the burial. Thanks for your help."
Yusuke shakes his head,
"You dug a grave for us as well. You really helped us."
"……Was he your little brother?"
"No. He was the brother of…… the kid you were treating in your office before, whether he was the older or younger brother…… I don't know."
"Is that so….."
They fall silent.
Right when Yusuke was thinking it was about time to walk away, Makiura suddenly opens her mouth.
"Today, we buried a man named Shinozaki-san…….."
Makiura cuts off her words, looking around with vacant eyes.
"The cause of death was unknown. I had various ideas of what it could be, but the equipment here sub standard. I couldn't treat.. couldn't do anything….. I thought that at least I'd be present at the burial, but I didn't have the courage to look at the family."
Slowly the words flowed out as if she were whimpering.
He didn't understand why she would tell him something like this in spite of this being their first time speaking to each other, and kept his mouth shut.
Perhaps realizing this, Makiura lowers her head,
"I'm sorry……. However, about that boy. There were no signs of danger. But, I'm not confident. There weren't any signs of Shinozaki's life being in danger either. If possible, I'd like to keep an eye on him."
"Ah…… so that's it." (TL: "Aa….. naruhodo")
Yusuke scratches his face,
"However, we've already separated…."
"? Did something happen?"
"That kids sister….. she met and joined up with her boyfriend. He said that he would take her and her brother to stay in the main building."
Makiura furrowed her brows in silence.
Without saying anything, she thinks about Yusuke's words.
After a while, she nods slightly.
"I understand. I'll take responsibility for the matter of looking after him."
"Thanks for the help."
"No problem."
(TL: Couldn't really think of a good way to translate the two lines above. Original is: "Tanomimasu" "Ie")
Makiura spoke while standing.
"It's about time to get back. Sorry to have kept you."
She leaves while waving. While watching her go, Yusuke lets out a breath.
Across the river stood the quiet cityscape. A nice breeze was blowing and the sky was blue without a cloud in sight.
"Well, with that…… Time to get back to roaming freely."
With a crack, he stretches his body.
With this, he didn't have anymore ties.
He was free to move as he pleased.
It wasn't as if he didn't have any worries leaving the two in the man's hands, but he felt Makiura could be trusted.
As long as he could grasp the location of the Self-defense forces, he didn't need to wait for the helicopter. He was able to achieve the goal of making contact with a structured civilization. (TL: not 100% on this.)
The zombies on the college campus did make him uneasy, but City Hall's defenses were strong, and even if they couldn't hold off an attack, rescue was coming in just three days. (TL: It says around 3 days. Though in my opinion it should be 2 days since one has passed.)
"When night comes, I'll once again return to the city."
Grasping the positions of the security, Yusuke returns to City Hall.
Author Note :
(TL: The author says this at the end of the chapter.)
It's superficial but Mizuki-san was not NTR'd.
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LNWNCentral
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_37.txt
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Chapter 33: Tokiko's Change
Tl Notes :
I know it sounded like he was leaving City Hall for good last chapter, but he was just saying that he didn't have to wait for the helicopter at City Hall, not that he didn't have to wait for it at all.
When the sun set, Yusuke slipped out of City Hall.
Riding a bicycle he picked up along the way, it was late at night when he arrived at the apartment complex.
"It feels somewhat nostalgic…"
Entering his own room, he looks around. The power was out, so he had to rely on the dim moonlight.
The inside of the room smelled dusty… anyway, he began looking through the place for items to bring with him.
"First, what should I do with this…."
Inside his closet was the other firearm he got from the police station. There were also boxes of bullets.
He could secretly bring them, but if he were found out, then it would be troublesome.
"I could hide them somewhere close by City Hall…… and use them when I'm in trouble. The best place would be in the car huh."
It would be fine if he left one in a gun case with a padlock behind the drivers seat. If rescue came as scheduled, then it would become useless, but it was good to be prepared in case something went wrong.
He places the firearm in his field bag, and moved onto other things.
When the pandemic started, he collected items that could be useful from retail stores. Within those items, he finds a hand-crank radio and throws it in his bag. If there was a USB terminal, it could charge mp3 players. Picking up other items that looked like they could be used, he closes his bag.
Among his personal belongings, there was nothing he especially wanted to bring. He had enough clothes.
He didn't have any mementos either, and at the time of his employment, he had stored away things from his past. It was a room with no individuality. It was fine if he just had his keys and ID.
After searching the place, Yusuke lets out a breath and opens the fridge. He takes a beer from inside and popping the tab, he takes a drink. Because the power was out, it was lukewarm.
The nostalgic alcohol wet his dry throat.
Letting the can back down, he once again searches the fridge. There was one can left.
"There's liquor in Tokiko-chan's room….. oh that's right, Tokiko-chan."
He remembers his original objective. With his half finished beer in his hand, he heads toward Tokiko's room.
Opening the door and taking off his shoes, he enters the dining room.
There he saw the collapsed figure of Tokiko on the floor.
(TL: ……………)
"What…..?"
In the faint light, her loosely braided black hair was spread across the floor. Her lower body was clothed in nothing but white panties, peeking out from beneath her thin pink pajamas. She was laying on her side with a stone-cold appearance, her legs spread out.
The handcuffs that bound her hands behind her were Yusuke's. More than that, she had been tied to a chair with a towel and should have been detained.
However, those restraints were now undone.
"Did you remove them yourself….?"
As he slowly approaches her, there is no reaction.
"Ooooi….. Tokiko-san…….?"
Grabbing her shoulder and shaking her, there was no reaction. Her eyes were closed as if she returned to being a corpse.
"Is it hibernation? …….. there's no way.."
Yusuke tilts his head.
Zombies that were cold to the touch, that moved inside, the wandered underground; he had seen them before, but this was his first time seeing a zombie stop moving completely.
Sipping his beer, he rocks Tokiko. He strokes her smooth thighs, and entering the hem of her thin pajamas, his hand reaches up to massage her breasts. She wasn't wearing a bra, and a soft texture could be felt in the palm of his hand.
"As always, she has nice breasts."
He plays with her breasts in search of a reaction, but as expected, there was none.
"Well, it's fine."
Anyways, by leaving the door open, Yusuke had allowed Tokiko to roam on her own. If she started moving again, she could leave on her own.
Opening the fridge, he removes a large amount of beer cans. Removing the jerky from inside the cupboard, he heads to the back of the apartment.
Opening the curtains in the bedroom, moonlight lights the room.
Taking off his jacket and sitting on top of the bed, Yusuke begins drinking.
Since the rescue helicopter would be arriving the day after tomorrow, he planned on returning to City Hall tomorrow night. Because he wouldn't be there to answer role call, they would notice him missing if he were gone for more than a day. Tomorrow he planned to explore the city.
For that reason, he wanted to get some rest, but because of recent stressful events, he couldn't calm his nerves. He was forcefully calming himself with alcohol.
With the added alcohol, he would be able to numb his brain and his chaotic thoughts would fade.
(You were drinking here too huh….)
Certainly, it was after his second time meeting Mizuki.
He had asked for her body in return for providing food.
After he said that, she looked at him as if she wanted to kill him.
With the start of that horrible relationship, through many twists and turns, they came to live together.
However, that eventually collapsed,
(And so we come back to the beginning huh….)
"Ridiculous."
He opens another beer. Beer after beer, his thoughts are swept away as he drinks.
◇
As he slept, wrapped in the futon, the night went on.
With a creek in the floor, Yusuke's consciousness slowly faded back into reality.
It took him a while to focus his vision.
What entered his vision was Tokiko standing right next to the bed.
Her expressionless face was watching him, dimly lit by the moonlight. With her braided hair dripping over her shoulder, and her hands bound behind her, it emphasized her breasts under her pajamas.
(What the…..?)
Unable to distinguish dream from reality in his current state, Yusuke blankly stares at her.
Suddenly she moves.
Leaning over from beside him, she bites his neck.
(…..!? She's!)
He instantly becomes fully awake.
He let his guard down.
To fall asleep next to a zombie…
Throwing off the futon, he pushes Tokiko away. Losing her footing, she falls onto the bed.
Glancing sideways at her, he reaches up to where he was bitten in search of a wound.
There he noticed something discomforting.
The place he was bitten didn't hurt, but instead felt wet. Lit by the moonlight, the only thing on his hand was saliva. (TL: bit frisky are we)
(……it wasn't a bite?)
With her hands bound behind her back, Tokiko was struggling to get on top of him. In a hurry, Yusuke grabs her shoulders, suppressing her.
Tokiko looked at him with clear eyes, as if looking at prey.
(TL: Even in death, a woman's lust for D can not be slated.)
However, unlike when a zombie attacked humans, there was no hostility or malicious intent that could be felt. There was no strength or momentum, to the point where he could suppress her with one hand.
"D, don't get violent!"
Because it looked like his right hand would be bitten, he drew it back in a hurry.
Her intention wasn't clear. Pushing her down on the bed, he straddles her stomach, sealing her movement. With both of her hands bound behind her back, she could no longer do anything.
While Tokiko blankly stares up at him, he looks at her, confirming the situation. Her small tongue was peeking out of her loosely opened lips.
(What happened….)
With Tokiko restrained, the sat there for several minutes.
Finally, he realized what she was trying to do.
It was certain that she was after him as her prey, but what she was after wasn't blood and flesh.
Yusuke tries holding out his hand, and she comes to bite it. Her teeth were gently nibbling on him as her small tongue wet his fingers.
Her tongue wraps around his fingers, licking them as if they were ice. Once one finger becomes clean, she moves to the next.
It was a fondling gesture, but more than that, it felt matter-of-fact.
(She's eating the dirt…..)
Without breaking the skin, she just licks the dirt from the surface.
It was like a dog licking a bone.
(So I'm the bone huh……)
With the alcohol in his system, he begins to fall back into his hazy state.
The standing hypothesis was that there had been some kind of change in Tokiko, and Yusuke was included as her prey.
However, Yusuke has a body that zombies will not attack.
He was her prey, but she couldn't attack him. As a compromise, she eats the waste off of him.
Most likely she would prefer flesh and blood, but she couldn't act in a way that would hurt him.
(I over reacted…..)
Being attacked by Tokiko was startling. Yusuke lets out a relieved breath.
Tokiko was still continuing her meal.
Looking at it, a beauty was sucking his fingertips.
Watching that scene, Yusuke began heating up.
There was the urge to push her down and have his way with her, but since it had been so long since he'd seen her, he let her do as she pleased.
Lying his head down on a pillow beside the bed, he pulls Tokiko on top of himself. Her soft breasts are pressed into him through her pajamas.
Her tongue moves from his fingertips to his elbows. Her lips stuck to his skin. It tickled as her tongue spread saliva over his arm. With a sound similar to a kitten lapping up milk, her tongue licks and traces across his skin.
Finally reaching his armpit, Tokiko begins awkwardly moving her body.
Tokiko's smooth bare feet comes into contact with his feet. With her chest that was pressed into him shifting lower, it became right over his waist, burying his hardening bulge.
Because he had stripped off his pants when he had gotten into the futon, he could feel her soft breasts through the thin fabric of his boxers. With her firmly pressing her breasts into him, the soft feeling of pleasure made him want to thrust forward and he had to stifle the urge.
He shirt had been pulled up from her movements, and he could now feel the wetness of her tongue on the exposed skin.
(……the mood has become strange…..)
Clinging onto his waist, her lips moved across his skin.
From his ribs to his abs. She left a trail of saliva while tracing the lines of his muscles. But her lips never went as far as to pleasure him, only leaving a frustrating and tantalizing feeling.
As her tongue neared his belly button, his body tensed. Her lips had covered his entire stomach in sticky saliva.
(……..)
Feeling the warm liquid on him, Yusuke lie there spacing out.
Finally, Tokiko's lips went down to his waist.
Slowly, blow his belly button, to his lower abdomen, until he could feel the hot and muffled air at that place.
After a few seconds, her soft lips brushed against the taut band of his boxers. At the pleasant feeling that ran through him, Yusuke lets out a small breath.
Her lips go further, and her small tongue licks him through his boxers.
It was difficult to keep his voice in, but it didn't last. She soon moved to his inner thigh.
"……Haaa, haaaaa…….."
She wasn't really caressing him. She was just having a meal, and Yusuke was selfishly deriving pleasure from it. It was an immoral feeling.
Tokiko's tongue slowly crept up his inner thigh, working its way under the hem of his underwear, nearing his shaft.
(Tha… no…… I haven't bathed lately s……)
Recently it's been rough. Because it is winter, it didn't stink, but it could not be called clean. In contrast, it became for food for Tokiko.
As her tongue reached his balls, his body trembled. As if finding what she was after, she began licking and sucking more fiercely.
Her tongue licked his sack top and bottom. Her slimy lips suck the wrinkles in, thoroughly cleaning it before sucking in a different spot.
Each time her tongue moves, pleasure swirls in his waist, leading up to ejaculation. It builds to the limit and his hardness presses against his underwear, poking out of the top of the hem. Precum leaks onto his abdomen, and a single touch could send him over the edge.
Once she has licked his sack clean, she trails up the bulge in the underwear, nearing the part that is exposed. It requires all of his concentration not to release the built up stuff as pleasure assaults him.
As her lips reach the top, she traces up the exposed shaft, taking the soft head in her mouth.
He could feel her soft lips wrapping around his shaft.
The itchiness that he had felt as she trailed up his bulge had turned to pleasure. She traces the shape of his member with the tip of her tongue, and rubs it with her lips. Sliding back and forth to scrape off the grime, her tongue hits a sensitive part of the scrotum.
Not being able to suppress the urge to ejaculate any longer, Yusuke grabs her head and thrusts into her mouth as far as he can.
With her hands bound behind her back with handcuffs, her braided hair surrounding her expressionless face and dropping down on the bed, her white breasts peaking through her pajamas, and her thighs spread out across the bed, in the moonlight, her appearance exuded an inhuman lewdness. (TL: the run on is strong)
Thrusting his manhood all the way into the back of her throat would normally have made the person throw up, but that didn't happen as his partner was dead.
As he stretches to the back of her throat, he embraces her head.
Yusuke feels a sucking sensation as Tokiko's throat begins moving in an attempt to swallow what had been lodged there.
"…….!"
At that moment, with her throat sucking and rubbing him, the pleasure explodes and he releases his load.
While Yusuke's body was shaking at the pleasure and the release, Tokiko was completely opposite. Her throat just continued to swallow the semen without effort as his member pulsed in her mouth, as if squeezing out the remaining juice, licking the base of his shaft with her tongue.
Yusuke keeps his waist pressed against her until the last of it has been released.
When his is finished, he finally releases Tokiko's head,
"Haaa….."
Breathing roughly, he falls back onto the bed.
He is enveloped by a pleasant fatigue.
Although he had released that much, he was still energetic.
As if she was obsessed with it, Tokiko quickly licks up the remnants of semen left on his abdomen.
At the sight of that,
(Ah……. this huh……) (TL: "ah…. kore ka……")
In his clouded consciousness, a thought dawns on him.
Previously when he had shot semen inside her, it had disappeared after about half a day. He didn't think anything about it at that time other than it was convenient.
What would be the result of her absorbing it?
When they eat human flesh, the become smarter. It wouldn't be strange if there was a similar effect with semen.
When he thinks about it, when he came to embrace Tokiko, though it was only small, but she would react.
The signs were there.
(…… I guess I had been the prey since the beginning…..)
He recalls the zombies at the university campus.
However, the atmosphere with her was different from them.
The zombies at the campus would observe you from afar, like predators, but such a feeling could not be felt from Tokiko.
Though it was surprising when he was suddenly attacked, it was more of a playful behavior.
Thinking about it, Yusuke was the only human Tokiko could feed off of. If the stuff the zombie is ingesting is different, then the zombie will be different. There was the possibility of there being additional effects that will occur in the campus zombies as well.
(With that…… there isn't really any meaning in experimenting with Tokiko-chan…)
He thought of using her to find out the strong points and weak points of intellectual zombies as well as behaviors, but as of now, the difference was only this much. At best she could serve as a reference.
(It's about time to say goodbye…)
Thinking that, he finds it regrettable.
Pulling back his waist, he pulls himself from Tokiko's mouth. He was covered in saliva and long strings were stretched between her lips and his shaft.
Resisting the urge to thrust into her once again, he lays her on the bed. Her pajamas had been pulled up, her white belly was exposed. Her lower body was dressed in only white laced panties, and spreading her soft ass, Yusuke enters with his waist.
(TL: This sounds a little strange, basically he is spreading her legs around his waist, not sure why the author says ass….)
Tokiko, both hands bound behind her, looks up at him with empty eyes.
Lifting her thigh with his right hand, the panties are shifted, revealing her opening beneath a thin bush. He slowly enters with his tip.
Covered in saliva, he slowly wet her dry interior as he pushes inside. Every time he pulls back to start again at the entrance, his head hangs up on her walls. Pushing on to the back, the friction creates a tingling sense of pleasure. The flesh of her vagina clings to him as he thrusts into her.
Pushing in to the root, there was a strong tension grabbing him.
He rolls her pajamas up to her neck, exposing her breasts. He buries his fingers in the beautiful mounds that don't even sag from gravity. He lays on top of her, pressing against her soft body while slowly moving his waist.
Soon he feels her licking his ear. Her wet tongue starts at his earlobe, and moves up, tracing the contours of his ear.
It was a strange feeling, and before long, the pleasure builds until he can't bear it. Holding her slim body, he thrusts into her pushing up against the entrance of her uterus,
"……..!
He releases inside her.
As he ejaculates, his waist convulses two, three times; spurting his accumulated liquid.
After letting everything out, he falls asleep with the sensation of Tokiko licking his ear.
◇
"It's no longer evening….."
Yusuke looks up at the red sky in dismay.
The sun had already fallen. The transition from evening to night had cast a red light over the city.
The plan was to get up in the morning and search/explore the city. However, in the end, he had spent the entire time with Tokiko.
Maybe his stress had built up without him noticing. Due to the backlash, he mated like a monkey. (TL: not 100% on this. "saru no youni moritte shimata")
Having expelled all of the poison within himself, he now felt much better; like he did when he first started freely exploring the city.
The rescue helicopter would be coming tomorrow. He had to return to City Hall tonight.
Tokiko stood behind him as he left the entrance of the apartments.
She wore a knit sweater over thin outerwear, a long black skirt with some flare, black leggings, and lace up boots. They were articles he found in her closet.
Because her outfit looked weak to rain, he also took a moss green camouflage raincoat with a hood and put it on her. As this was a men's item, it was a little big. Her over all appearance, with her black hair, solidified her grown-up beauty and made her look pretty cool.
With this, she wouldn't be wandering the city with a disgraceful appearance.
It's not like he didn't have any worries about releasing the semi-intelligent Tokiko to roam the city, but there wasn't anyone in this area.
Everyone in this part of the city was gathered at City Hall, and rescue would be coming for them tomorrow. He had various attachments to her, and couldn't just leave her confined.
"Thank you Tokiko-chan. Take care."
He waved to her, but of course there was no reaction. Remaining silent, her gaze drops to his feet.
Without minding it, Yusuke grips his field bag and walks while pushing his bike.
"Now then…"
Walking along side his bike for a bit, he murmurs.
"How long is she going to follow me…."
Tokiko was quietly following behind him. Not hurrying to catch up and not falling behind, she casually walks behind him.
It's been this way ever since he left her room at the apartments.
After releasing inside her so many times, it was like she was asking for food, but didn't look like she would attack him; it was more like a baby duck following its mother.
Past the station and into downtown, she never parted with him. As expected, he couldn't just let her follow him to City Hall. Speeding up and taking distance, Tokiko seemed to finally give up when he got far away and came to a stop.
Watching her, she turned and went down the stairs of a nearby subway.
"……stay well." (TL: not sure how to translate this, just parting words.)
Waving his hand loosely, Yusuke turns and leaves.
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_6.txt
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Yuusuke pressed the doorbell to the suite besides his own and looked around the area.
If there were other people, he would have known. He intended to look for other residents for information. There was the web, but the information there wasn't reliable . Most doors to the neighboring suites were locked too.
(TL: This line was a bit weird ._.)
Most people seem to have left the building.
The room that was three suites over was opened.
"Excuse me"
There was no answer.
It seemed to be empty.
The inside of the room was pitch black and a pair of woman's shoes were put at the front door.
I recall the appearance of the person who lived here.
If I was wasn't mistaken, it was a female office worker called Kurose.
She was a woman with a gloomy face with her black hair loosely braided, she also wore glasses.
We hardly spoke with each other. We would only greet each other when we pass by.
After hesitating a bit, I closed the door and took off my shoes and went through the doorway.
I turn on the lights and the room illuminates. As expected, there is nobody here.
Yuusuke felt like he was trespassing, but he went in anyways.
The layout of the room was exactly the same as Yuusuke's room. One bedroom with a dining room and kitchen.
The top of the dining table was clean, and seasonings and appliances are carefully displayed in the kitchen.
There was a sliding door leading to another room in the kitchen and inside was a bed.
I inspected the room.
There were dim pink curtains inside the room.
The interior of the room had a laptop on a side table, a closet, and a dresser.
A stuffed cat was on the bed making the room feel more girly.
Yuusuke felt guilty for stepping into a girl's bedroom.
At that moment, I heard a slight noise.
"……!?"
I turned around quickly, and a woman with raven-black hair was standing at the doorway of the bedroom.
I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't tell what was happening.
It was the female office worker Kurose from this suite. She was wearing a black sweater and jeans.
"I-I-I'm sorry! There was no answer to the doorbell, so-"
I then noticed that Kurose was acting strange.
The room was dim, so I couldn't see a lot, but she was shaking.
"Ummm.."
Kurose turned around slowly and made her way to the front door.
Yuusuke stood still for a while, but then started to go after her.
The next thing that happened was Kurose was staring at the ground in front of the entrance.
"Kurose……san?"
Scratch, scratch. The scratching noise fills the room.
Kurose scratched near the doorknob with her fingernails.
"What are you doing?"
Kurose didn't even react to me when I asked her.
Perhaps she was too concentrated on thinking about something.
Some of her hair was loosened, but she was a beautiful lady. People say that putting on glasses transformed the way you looked, but I didn't believe it until now. It was a little bit dark in the room, but the atmosphere became more serious.
Her face was not a natural color, but Yuusuke couldn't say that her face was gray either.
Kurose's eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the doorknob.
She began to scratch the door more roughly which caused tiny layers of paint from the door to come off.
I've scratched things with my fingernail many times before; however, this was a bit different than those times when I did it.
"Kurose-san?"
I cautiously tapped her shoulder as I called her name out.
The texture of her sweater was soft.
It felt soft like a girl.
She was wearing clothing, but her body temperature was really abnormal.
I put my hand up to her forehead to feel her temperature, but it was cold and there was no reaction.
Her body had extremely poor blood circulation and she was as cold as a mannequin.
I checked Kurose's carotid artery to look for a pulse as she continued to scratch the door.
There was no pulse.
"Are you serious….?"
Yuusuke couldn't believe that Kurose was dead because she looked alive and was still scratching.
I confirmed that she was not breathing. I put my hand against her chest with a bit of hesitation, but there was also no heartbeat.
She was dead.
I realized that she was like a grotesque figure in a zombie movie.
However, Kurose only looked like a normal human being with a few problems regarding her mental state.
As a matter of fact, Yuusuke didn't even notice, for a while, that she was only a moving corpse.
— Chapter 2 End —
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_7.txt
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Chapter 3: "Zombie"
Yuusuke returned to his room to gather information from the internet.
"Technically, are they still the same person that was living……?"
Even when they were infected with the zombie virus, their appearance doesn't seem to change.
No different between ordinary humans; beautiful zombies don't seem unusual.
That said, it is believed that this overall expands the amount of damage that happens to victims.
(TL: I believe the above 3 lines are implying that the beauty of the zombie can fool victims, or the appearance of the infected doesn't seem to differentiate from humans meaning you could be easily fooled by the look of the infected.)
"However their atmosphere doesn't seem like that of a corpse."
At a funeral, looking at a corpse was motionless and lifeless but in this case, it felt like something alive.
"But…"
Questioning himself, he had his doubts.
"If they were zombies, why wasn't I attacked?"
It was written in the news site that zombies would attack people willingly.
There were no distinctions between the young and the old, it would just attack any human nearby regardless of their sex or appearance.
With the exception of animals, there were no cases where a man hadn't been attacked by zombies.
"Well… this is the internet." He told himself as he recalled the events with Kurose.
He has yet to be attacked by Kurose.
Thinking about that situation he then believed that there were zombies who wouldn't attack humans.
"Ahh… All this thinking is making me hungry…"
Because he spent most of his time inside, he was running low on food.
With the convenience store being nearby, Yuusuke hasn't gained the courage to step outside of his apartment.
He then headed to Kurose's room to grab something.
As soon as Yuusuke opened her door, he quickly turned around. He 'sensed' someone behind him.
"KEK– !?"
Right behind him was a middle aged man with clothes that were torn apart and a bloody wound could be seen on his neck.
Yuusuke was unable to stand up because of the sudden surprise and quickly sank down to the floor.
However the man gave no response to Yuusuke as he continued to look down on him waiting patiently.
After a thorough inspection from the man, he then seperated himself from Yuusuke.
The sound of his heart could be heard beating as he slowly recovered from the sudden surprise. He then glanced to the direction of where the man left.
"Was he a zombie too?"
Yuusuke then stood up and proceeded to chase after the man.
The pace of which the man was moving at was quite slow, so Yuusuke was able to catch up to the man.
"Excuse me!"
The words of Yuusuke didn't seem to give a reaction to the man.
Glancing at the mans wound, it looked as if a piece of his neck was bit off.
If you were to examine closely, you could see several injuries apart from his neck.
He looked seriously wounded..
Still, Yuusuke extended his hand and touched the man by the scruff of his neck.
It was ice cold.
"………."
Yuusuke then walked away silently, abandoning the man.
After returning to the front of Kurose's room, he sighed heavily.
"Seriously…."
It was doubtful to think about it at first, but this world was overrun by zombies.
His feelings were mixed, and then he moved towards Kurose's room.
He took off his shoes and searched the refrigerator for food.
After he had scavenged the refrigerator, he brought out some yogurt, mineral water, and an egg. He then boiled the egg with a nearby pot.
Finding some bread, he toasted it as well as scraped a layer of butter on it. Eating this quick meal, he enjoyed it happily.
Though he was clearly stealing from Kurose, it would be clear to say that she was already dead.
It was also wasteful to leave food to rot..
He thought to himself, If I remember correctly, Kurose was locked inside of the washroom.
(TL: Somehow she was in the bathroom… Don't question it.)
I was surprised that she managed to get out of there while I was busy.
(TL: Okay from here on out, I am officially confused. If anyone knows the true translation of this, feel free to comment it below as I have no idea what the hell is happening right now)
I then walked inside of the bathroom.
"It's quite unpleasant that the electric gas doesn't work, but luckily the internet does."
It seemed that Japan's infrastructure hasn't been completely destroyed; as electricity was working as well as the internet.
Yuusuke felt replenished as he fully fed himself full to the stomach.
Where Kurose went was a mystery to Yuusuke, fortunately there was no signs of danger towards her health; as obviously, she was already dead.
Although one question remained in Yuusuke's mind.
Why hadn't the zombies attack him?
It was hard to understand; however, there was one thing he knew.
"For the time being.. No exploration for today."
–CHAPTER 3 END–
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Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies/Only I Am Not Attacked in a World With Zombies - WN Chapter 01-33/Only-I-Am-Not-Attacked-in-a-World-With-Zombies-WN-Chapter-01-33-[Unknown][Unknown]/mnk_4_8.txt
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Chapter 4: The mother and the child
Today, I'm about to do another neighborhood search, but this time outside.
Extra layers of clothes were worn. I had a leather jacket on the outside of my outfit to ensure that if I were to be bitten outside, the extra clothes would somewhat protect my skin.
I also wore some gloves and held a motorcycle helmet around my arms.
On my belt, I had a kitchen knife. It may be inefficient, but having a knife nearby brings comfort to myself.
In the middle of heading down the stairs of the apartment building, I also grabbed my motorcycle keys.
In the third floor, A sudden noise came from the end of the hallway.
When I went to check to see what had happened, three men could be seen clustered together in front of a door.
Just like with Kurose, door scratching sounds could be heard from them.
"What are they doing…?"
The clothes of the men were tattered and dirtied, they also gave off a strange atmosphere.
Still, Yuusuke turned towards them and spoke to them from afar.
"Excuse me, is everything alright?"
They gave no response to Yuusukes question.
Wondering if they were zombies, he questioned why they were surrounding such a door.
Suddenly, the movement of the men hastened. As one of them began to loudly smack the door.
Then, the faint scream of a woman could be heard in the inside of the room.
"Hello? Is there anyone in there?" Yuusuke cried out towards the direction of scream from the girl.
"Hey is anyone there? Are you guys alright? I'm speaking to you from the other side of the door."
A reply could be heard from the other end.
"Help!! We can't get out of here, please don't leave us!"
"Yes! Just hang on, I'll try something" Yuusuke said in excitement as this was the first human he had come into contact with.
Yuusuke then readily guarded himself, as he proceeded to rescue the woman.
He readily put his helmet on, equipping his knife for safety.
Yuusuke cautioned himself as these zombies may be the type to attacks humans. They didn't react to Yuusuke's voice, but he had to ensure safety.
"Is that what I think it is?"
What caught Yuusuke's attention was a fire extinguisher on the wall.
He opened the container that was concealing the fire extinguisher. As he pulled it out, he realized that it was heavier than what he expected.
He put his finger on the trigger of the extinguisher, and wondered, Would they eat the foam too? If they were humans, they wouldn't be able to consume it.
Ignoring his idiotic thoughts, he then decided that he would throw it as a distraction. It was also used as a test dummy to see if the zombies would counter attack.
He then proceeded with his plan. He also made sure he was near the stairs, in case he needed to retreat.
The extinguisher was heavy to throw, but it successfully hit the zombies. The zombies tumbled from the attack and began a domino effect.
Yuusuke watched patiently at the reaction, the zombies slowly recovered their footing and continued to bash the door.
After judging their responses, he decided that the zombies wouldn't attack him at all.
"I wonder if it's really safe.."
He questioned himself as he walked towards the zombies.
Ignoring Yuusuke, the zombies continued to pound onto the door.
He then came to his previous conclusion of whether they would attack humans. He finalized his thoughts and believe that these zombies were neutral.
His mind was filled with questions.
"Do they want to enter the room?"
"To whoever is inside, I am doing alright, just wait patiently as I remove the problem."
I called out loud as I continued on.
I sheathed my blade and then grabbed onto one of the zombie's backs.
It was quite difficult to forcefully move a full grown man. Thus I gave up, I then leaned against the railings on the stairs.
Using what I learned online, if the head of a zombie were crushed, their movement would be neutralized.
However, I can't confirm this theory. Even I wouldn't try it on a fish. Despite the difference, a human head can be tough to cut through with a knife.
Fortunately, being near the stairs, the handrail's height seems to be only as tall as my waist.
The zombies busy with their door, doesn't seem to mind Yuusuke at all. Using this as a advantage, he then begun to pull the zombies to the handrail, then proceeded to push them off, having them fall to their doom.
BAM! The sound of something hard hitting against the ground could be heard.
Looking at the results, a body crushed by the impact of gravity could be seen distorted with a pool of blood underneath; however, the body parts seem to move just fine even after falling from such a distance.
I felt guilty, but I proceeded with the next two.
After disposing the other two, I quickly called out to the woman's door.
"Hey! You can now relax! I quickly disposed of the three zombies."
There was no reaction from the other end. I was curious and I began to open the door slowly.
Pushing the door, it was chain locked from the other side. Unable to open it any further, the face of a 30 year old woman could be seen looking in my direction. The moment she saw me, she screamed.
"Eek-….!"
Yuusuke then remembered that he had his helmet on, and quickly removed it. If It were me on the other end, I probably would've reacted the same way as she did.
"It's alright… you don't have to be scared. I already took care of the zombies."
After showing her my face, she began to be more relaxed and moved towards the door.
Her sanity seems to be recovering after seeing the face of another human. She then unlocked the chains.
"I'm sorry for suddenly screaming… and thank you for rescuing me. I wasn't able to escape when this epidemic began."
"It was no big deal for me."
He said happily and carelessly.
I understood her circumstances, if there was someone on the opposite side right now, there would have been no way to escape.
Though it was mysterious how the zombies surrounded only this room, it may have just been bad luck.
As she opened the door, she looked uneasy as she surveyed the hallway.
"Is it safe around the hallway now?"
"For now it should be safe, but there were times when cruel events had happened."
Yuusuke answered her questions by remembering the information from the internet. Because of how the zombies ignored him , he did not have a lot of fear for them.
The woman felt relieved from the words of Yuusuke. She bowed many times out of appreciation.
"Really, thank you so much for your help! Miki-Chan! Come, let's go meet daddy."
A faint sound of footsteps were heard from behind the woman. A little girl who looked like a grade schooler was seen wearing an elementary school backpack while looking up at Yuusuke.
The woman then went inside of the room and came back with a bag and some luggage.
While putting her shoes on, the woman asked,
"I failed to escape with the evacuation group, would you mind joining us in finding the refuge?"
"Refuge? Such a place exists!?"
"Mhm, it's located in the school where my child was enrolled in, Nanba Elementary."
"Well, I don't really know the direction of this place… mind guiding me there?"
"Well of course, shall we get going then?"
The woman had a happy expression on her face to know that there was someone else to accompany her and her daughter.
–Chapter 4 End–
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Chapter 05, "A surprise attack"
While walking down the stairs of the apartment building…
"Do you hear that?"
The woman's face paled as she heard the moans of the zombies.
Other than the woman, Yuusuke was calm during the whole situation.
"I don't intend to to start a fight , but I do want to stick around the zombies."
The woman had a skeptical look on her face.
Yuusuke replied to her from his spot.
"I was okay even when I approached it. There were several guys at the door, but I don't know what they were doing. Have you seen the zombies attacking the place?"
"No……"
The woman shook her head disapprovingly .
I remembered that I had never saw an infected person on the news in TV. They just didn't look real…
I've shut myself inside for too long.
"Just come along with me for the time being.
While I walked down the stairs, I arrived on the first floor. There was the door for entry and a table.
The mother and the child were holding each other's hand. They looked frightened.
Yuusuke walked to the street and thought that he couldn't use his motorcycle because there were three of them.
All three of them froze when five or six zombies glared at them.
"Eeeek…!"
The woman let out a scream.
Yuusuke felt goose bumps all over him.
(We'll be eaten!)
"R-R-RUN!!"
I hurry back to them and push them away as the zombies approached them from their backside.
"Quick!"
The three of them went back to the stairs and started to climb up. Yuusuke looked back to the mother and child and hurried them up.
Yuusuke screamed at them as a figure approached their behind.
"Why aren't the zombies slow!?"
The running speed was no different from a normal human's. The lower body leans forward with every step, but their hands don't wave around. It's even more scarier because it's the undead.
"Go up! Go back to the room!"
I leapt up the stairs, skipping two steps every time.
On the third floor, something broke open on the side of the room. Yuusuke was hit by it and hurdled into a wall.
Yuusuke tried to stand up when he realized what had just happened.
Each time I looked up, there was a light pain on my shoulder.
"Hey…!"
There was a strange noise from the hallway.
Yuusuke saw a group of crows gathering around the garbage that he threw out earlier that day.
Or was it a group of paramedics gathered around a person who fell down?
But,
"Ughh…Maybe.."
Splat! Crunch!, I saw a swarm of zombies crowding something and jumping up and down.
"Aghh…"
The dull cries were the last noises of the mother and child.
There were nearly ten zombies, but they never even glanced at Yuusuke. They were all surrounding the mother and child.
How long has it been?
Zombies filled up the area. A bunch of them were there, and one of them near Yuusuke was sitting down. They ignored Yuusuke as they continued crowding around the woman and her child.
The sun was going down.
One by one, they started to leave.
When Yuusuke pulled himself together, the area was already cleared. The concrete was wet with red liquid and scraps of clothing. There were brown chunks on the spot where the mother and child used to be.
"Huh?"
Yuusuke stared at the scene gravely without knowing what had just happened…
— Chapter 5 end —
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 56
Chapter 56: Domain Inspection (Part 1)
It was 3 days after that when Irudo and Sedam's party got back.
Though it was one day later than schedule, I didn't particularly go out to greet them. Since it's them, I had faith that they'd be fine.
…… It's a secret that I got a little worried and used [Fly] to look for them up in the sky, alright?
♥♦♣♠
According to Irudo's report, he successfully managed to get the dwarves to agree to deploy personnel to design both the trade route from Jiiteias Castle to Senpu Village and also the collapsed mountain road.
"The architects who will be involved with repairing the mountain road — members of the Daroun clan — have already begun work. They've gone to make living arrangements at Yuule, which they plan on making their base."
"Ou, though small, you have a pretty nice castle, doncha! You Margils, the lord here? Well, let's get along from here on!"
From beside Irudo, who came to diligently give his report, a short, brawny person — a dwarf — pops out.
"Indeed, I am the wizard Margils. You are……?"
"Pardon my lateness. This is……"
"Hey, sorry, sorry! I'm one of the architects, Valbo Daroun! With that degree of collapse, we can fix it up bright and shiny within 5 days!"
Apparently, each dwarven clan is in charge of a specific type of industry. The Daroun are the architects.
The fact that dwarves excel at construction and smithing hold true in this world as well. I've heard good things about them so far, so I feel that I'm in good hands.
"I wish to build a lasting friendship with you dwarves. Eventually, I plan on paying Senpu Village a visit."
"Ahh, come, come! You're the hero who crushed those Shadow Demons, right? We'll welcome you anytime!"
Then Valbo returns to the construction site while laughing heartily.
With that, one of my burdens has been resolved.
Eventually, I also want to hire him to work on expansion work on the castle. Especially in regards to the baths.
♥♦♣♠
Two days later, I set off for the villages within my domain.
The members of my delegation are, aside from myself, Irudo, Leiha, Torad, Jiruk, Ted, and Fijika.
Claura and the 4 dark elf sisters will be in charge of protecting the castle in my absence.
When I think of how we would have to split up like this every time there is work to be done away from the castle, I can see how important it is to hire some soldiers.
"The three villages within your domain are called Village of the Pool, Village of Medicine, and Inner Village."
Irudo is briefing me as we are proceeding along the barely visible trail cutting through the dense forest.
Village of the Pool is the largest amongst the three, but its population is still under 200. Almost all of the inhabitants are woodcutters. They make their living by delivering the timber they cut down to Yuule and selling there.
Village of Medicine is, as can be guessed from its name, located close to several locations where medicinal plants grow in abundance. There are generations of experienced herbalists living here, and this is the only village that travelling merchants actually visit.
The last one, Inner Village, is literally the village located deepest within the forest. Most of the residents of that village make their living from hunting.
"Every single village is like a different character, it seems."
"Sorry?"
"No, it was nothing."
Fijika has already gone ahead to inform all of the villages that there's a new feudal lord, but I wonder how this is going to turn out.
Up until recently, this entire area was technically under the rule of bandits. I hope I don't get chased out with responses like "we've been doing fine by ourselves so far, we don't need no feudal lord".…..
♥♦♣♠
It was right before twilight when we arrived at the village closest to Jiiteias Castle, Village of the Pool.
True to its name, the village is backed by a huge pond and surrounded by a crude wooden fence. The buildings are all made of wood, and it looks seedy even when compared to Yuule.
".….. So late."
Fijika, who is wearing leather armor, was waiting for us by the entrance.
A sun-tanned man in the prime of his life is together with her. He must be the Village Head.
"All of us swear allegiance to our new feudal lord."
Without any prompting, the Village Head easily comes before me, kneels down, then swears his loyalty. But on his face, there is no relief nor hope — only fear and unease.
"Ahh, I will do my utmost to answer to your loyalty. Did my letter get delivered properly?"
The first half was directed to the Village Head, and the second half to Fijika. If the Village Head had read the letter written by Irudo, then I don't understand why he looks so scared.
"I delivered, properly."
"Y-, yes mi'lord. We have read it fully. For not, not collecting tax at present…… every single inhabitant of the village, we all express our deepest thanks!"
"Umu……"
Perhaps they're suspicious because it sounds too good to be true?
Well, no helping it. They'll get used to it eventually.
♥♦♣♠
"Magi-.….. Wizard-sama."
"Feudal lord-sama."
"We swear our allegiance."
The villagers are all gathered in the square. Upon seeing me, all of them fall prostrate.
It's great that they're obedient, but all of them look as scared as the Village Head, so it doesn't make me feel good at all.
"As I had wrote in my letter to your Village Head, I plan on developing this village alongside Jiiteias Castle. Firstly, I will soon be starting on building a road connecting this village to the castle and the highway. I wish to ask all of you for your help."
" "As you command, mi'lord." "
After that, the welcome feast began. But just like the villagers' moods, the tension at the feast remained quite low the entire time.
Both the wine and food being served paled in comparison to what Mora prepares at Jiiteias Castle. I understand that the village itself is poor, so I manage to keep a smile on my face while eating.
For what it's worth, I did hand the Village Head several tens of gold coins to cover the costs of our visit, but even then, there was a lot more misgiving than gratitude on his face.
♥♦♣♠
That night, I stayed at the Village Head's house.
Though I say Village Head's house, it only had 3 rooms, and the smaller room almost seemed to be growing fur. There was no way to fit 7 people inside, so I was given the entirety of the living room, The Village Head and his family slept in the next room, which looked like it was being used as a storehouse.
Irudo and the rest put up tents in the village square. Of course, I originally also suggested sleeping together with them, but the Village Head got upset saying that he couldn't allow the feudal lord to sleep outside. I had no choice but to take up his offer.
But still, I feel way too apologetic about this. The next village on, let's set up camp outside the village.
In fact, that would probably be even more comfortable than this bed of straw.
♥♦♣♠
".….. Let's just sleep."
The house is immediately encircled by livestock. I close my eyes, hoping to fall asleep as fast as I can and wake up to tomorrow.
(.….. Still, I'm the feudal lord now, so I have the responsibility to improve these villagers' quality of life from now on, don't I……?)
"My lord."
"!"
While half awake and half asleep, pondering on my responsibilities as a newly installed feudal lord, I was jolted awake by a sweet, husky voice whispering in my ear.
Within the darkness, I could vaguely make out the body line of a mature lady. I panicked for a brief instant, but judging by the voice and the situation, I understood that it must be Leiha.
"Wh-, what's going on, Leiha?"
"I've captured an assailant."
"A what?"
With sleepiness still on my eyelids, I throw on my robe and step out the house with lighting the tip of my Wizardry Staff with a spell.
In the square in front of the Village Head's house, there are three youngsters thoroughly bound up and rolling around, as well as a young girl prostrating herself.
".….. I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! It was all my fault!"
" "Nn—! Nnnn——!" "
For some reason that I am failing to comprehend, the young girl — now that I take a better look, isn't she the Village Head's daughter? — is bowing repeatedly with tears streaming down her face, while the gagged youngsters are glaring daggers at me while struggling violently.
Irudo and the others who were camping at the same square have already fully woken up and are looking on with amazement.
"What happened here?"
"WHA-, WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED HERE?!"
Flying out of his house later than me by a bit, the Village Head shouts the exact same question as me. Aren't we getting along just fine.
"These three tried to slip into my lord's sleeping quarters while holding weapons in their hands, so I captured them. Your daughter was following along behind the 3 of them."
"WHAT ON EARTH?! KINA! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
"But, but, Dad! I…… didn't want to…… so Kelue and the others, they……"
At Leiha's explanation, the Village Head grabs his daughter's collar and yells at her. While listening to her reply……
In summary, the Village Head wanted to win favor with me, so he ordered his daughter to 'visit' me in the night. His daughter didn't want to do it, so she went to her 3 childhood friends to ask for advice, and they recklessly decided to just kill me. I think that's about the jist of it?
"Ki-, killing is a bit……"
"We only planned on th-, threatening you to give up on Kina……"
"In, in the first place, you're that bad magician called Jyagul, aren't you! Like we'd trust you just because you say a few good words!"
A nostalgic name came out from the mouth of one of the young boys that we ungagged.
I can see how isolated from information this village is, being inside the forest and all. They might have heard rumors about me, but I can't really fault them for confusing me with Jyagul, the previous owner of the castle.
"How do you wish to handle this, Margils-sama?"
".….. Could it be that my decision here would take the place of a trial?"
"This is Margil-sama's domain, so of course, yes. By the way, for the crime of attempted assassination of the feudal lord, the punishment is of course execution."
"My lord. As soon as I receive your permission, I will grant them enough pain to make even demons of darkness cry in apology, then execute them."
Irudo's common view and Leiha's extreme view are different in vector, but presenting me the same dilemma.
".….. Kerue, and Sakko, and…… Rai, is it? For the sake of your childhood friend Kina, you wanted to fight against 'the bad magician,' right? …… But did you not consider the possibility that you yourselves might get killed?"
".….. Y-, yes we did…… but……"
"Jyagul and the bandits already killed a few of my friends and guys from the village! As long as I can carry out revenge for them, I don't care if I die……!"
"Ki-, Kina is my important fr-, friend, so……"
"I'm the one in the wrong! Pl-, please ex-, execute me instead……"
The three youngsters and girl are desperately conveying different things, all while the Village Head is merely opening and closing his mouth with an ashen face.
I mildly raise my staff to quiet them all, then turn towards Leiha.
"Leiha."
"Yes, my lord."
".….. I entrusted the judgment of your crimes to the courts at Lelis. This time too, I will try them by the law."
".….. It shall be as you say."
…… But with that said, me = the law? That's way too heavy.
Forcefully suppressing my desire to moan out loud, I spin my mind as fast as I can. Emotionally speaking, I don't feel like punishing them at all.
However, it is true that they tried to assault the feudal lord (depending on the point of view, it could be seen as an attempted assassination even), so I can't let them off scot free.
In the first place, even if they had no intention to murder, the very fact that violence was the first thing that came to their mind is not good.
".….."
If I myself am to be the law, then I must at least come up with a sentence that everyone can accept.
"You three are being charged with the crime of 'attempted assault.' With consideration that I also neglected to resolve the misunderstanding of my identity…… I sentence you three to forced labor at Jiiteias Castle. The period will be 3 years. Your duties will be the harshest position at the castle: being soldiers. Mentally prepare yourselves."
"We'll be so-, soldiers at the castle?!"
".….. I'll do it. Anything aside from being executed, I'll do it."
"Th-, thank you so very much……"
They must have interpreted it as forced conscription purely as a punishment. Their expressions are by no means bright, although there is indeed a slight tinge of relief at not having been executed.
The daughter clung to all three while cry-laughing, so I suppose they're satisfied with that.
The Village Head and other villagers are also patting down their own chests with relief. I personally want to give the Village Head a sentence too, but I suppose I'll have to be satisfied with watching him later get scolded by Irudo at length.
"I think it was a good decision. Since we do need soldiers familiar with the inside of this forest."
So whispered Irudo to me. Oh, right, there was that too.
Since our castle is a place that has a real likelihood of fighting against Shadow Demons, I might have inadvertently shortened these three boys' lives.
When I think about it like that, my heart feels heavy. But I've already decided to be the feudal lord, and I know this is part of that.
♥♦♣♠
"Rather than that, there are still 2 more villages, huh. I hope I can at least get a proper night's sleep in the next one……"
"We have no way of knowing. However, it is the duty of the feudal lord to resolve the problems presented by the population living in his domain."
So replied Irudo seriously in response to my fed up face.
"Irregardless of who that resolution is for, that is."
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 57
Chapter 57: Domain Inspection (Part 2)
Finished with the inspection of Village of the Pond, we moved on to Village of Medicine.
The Village Head of Village of Medicine turned out to be an old granny who was the herbalist for the previous generation. She is both popular with the residents and also quite sharp.
Having learned from last time, I sent Irudo ahead first to fully explain the situation before I arrived, so the negotiations with the Village Head went quite smoothly.
"Though our village is this small, we've also been frequently harassed by bandits. If you will protect us from them going here forward, then we would gladly accept your rule."
"Indeed, let's both do our parts well."
The population of Village of Medicine is around 130, so their lifestyle is also pretty tight. Just like with Village of the Pond, I promised them safety and improvement in living standards, then also told them that I won't be collecting tax for the near while.
Of course, the Village Head and villagers were all overjoyed.
"I'm really sorry, but we actually have one more thing to ask of you……"
What the small-statured grandma pleaded while shrinking her body was 'subjugation of the undead.'
♥♦♣♠
Apparently, recently the dead bodies of soldiers have suddenly started to wander about the forest at night. There have been no casualties of yet, due in part to the location being quite a distance from the village, and also because they do not actively seek out and attack people. However, the place where they appear is right beside a precious medicinal herb gathering spot, so it is causing the village some trouble on the financial end.
"We have nowhere near enough money to hire adventurers…… and neither are we paying taxes to the city or Carbanera Knight Order, so……"
So well, after saying that much, of course it falls to me, the feudal lord, to take care of this.
♥♦♣♠
For someone used to a modern Japanese city, nighttime in the forest is almost frightening merely in how dark it gets.
However, I can still dimly see my surroundings. Part of the reason is due to the white moonlight filtering through the gaps in the foliage above. Also, our targets are also glowing faintly from phosphorescence.
There are about 20 of 'them' picking their way through the woods with uncertain strides. The fact that they are grouped into 2 loose columns only increases the creepiness of the sight.
They're 'wights.'
According to the Warrior Priest Torad, the yellow phosphorescence covering the bodies of the dead are the actual main bodies of the wights.
They're equipped with ragged armor, shield, and sword or spear. With their mummy-like dried up bodies, vacant stares, and intermittent moans, they are truly the walking dead.
"Oh army of the departed! This land is the territory of the living!"
Torad stands square in the path of the marching wights, then raises the holy symbol of the goddess he serves.
After he finishes chanting a passage from scripture, a dazzling light descends upon the group of undead.
"In the name of the Goddess of Winter, Ashuginea, begone, you wights!"
"Ga, a……"
".….. Fushuu…… Uguruu……"
"Ooo, it's Turn Undead."
Sedam, Jiruk, and I stand ready to support him at a moment's notice. At the sight, my voice involuntarily slips out.
Bathed in the divine light, the yellow phosphorescence clothing the wights' bodies seem to evaporate, growing ever thinner until eventually disappearing. Having lost their phosphorescence, the bodies crumple one by one as they return to being mere corpses again.
".….. I have finished confirming. All undead in this area have been wiped out."
Without a moment's delay, Leiha activated an area search for enemies, then reported to me.
I am a bit over-excited from seeing the power of a Warrior Priest for the first time, patting Torad on his burly shoulder several times.
"Well done indeed. With this, the misgivings of the inhabitants of Village of Medicine should be allayed."
"Thank you. But well, it's just that……"
The Warrior Priest looks tired but also slightly sad at the same time.
When he uses Turn Undead, it apparently causes him to come into contact with the memories and souls of the targeted undead.
"They were soldiers gathered 10 years ago to fight against Shadow Demons. It seems that the appearance of the nest several days ago was what caused them to reawaken."
…… Even undeads think of Shadow Demons as enemies, is that how it is?
It's true that if I compare these wights to Shadow Demons, I feel a lot more hatred towards the living from the latter than the former.
The answer to the question of "what exactly are Shadow Demons?" seems to have grown even farther away after tonight.
♥♦♣♠
The next day.
"Fuu, fuuu……"
"S-, so tired……"
"Ze ze…… ze……"
"You guys' paces have become uneven! Irregardless of the speed, you can't do that! One breath per step! Also, don't change the distance of each step!"
We are going through a shortcut that leads to our final destination, Inner Village.
The three youngsters who were suddenly conscripted from Village of the Pond are currently being instructed by Jiruk while walking.
This isn't really punishment or harassment. According to Jiruk, it's the basics of marching practice.
He had apparently been in an army for a while, so for now, I've made him their commanding officer and entrusted their education to him.
"80% of a soldier's job is to walk. However, if the entire army cannot walk the same distance in the same amount of time, then it becomes useless! Starting now, I'm going to pound this into your bodies!"
When I hear 'a soldier's training,' images of assaulting something with swords and spears come to my mind. The real thing turns out to be quite different.
At this rate, even if we increase the number of soldiers to around 50, I think Jiruk can still handle them,
♥♦♣♠
Fortunately, we reached Inner Village before the three new recruits fell over from exhaustion.
This being the smallest village with a population of 120, and added to the fact that it is the most isolated among the three, I had expected it to be quite poor.
In actual fact, the houses here look to be mere dugouts, but the people here have significantly healthier faces and bodies.
According to the Village Head, all of the hunters in this village are quite skilled, so nobody is troubled for meat and pelts.
"Conversely, we are short on vegetables and fruits…… and medicine as well……"
"I see. I'll give it some thought. For now, just by building a proper road connecting this village to the castle, there should be some improvement."
"Ohh, thank you very much.'
The Village Head is a black-haired buff man, as if to emphasize how pro of a hunter he is. Just like with Village of Medicine, I sent Irudo ahead to explain everything, so there were no misunderstandings here and the talks went smoothly.
"Eventually, after the road is finished and the village begins to have a bit of financial leeway, we will bring a portion of our hunted game to the castle as tax."
"We would be thankful for that. Oh, also…… if there are any who wishes for it, we are looking to hire soldiers to work at the castle. Do you have any youngsters who might be interested?"
It's not that I gained the taste for it after the incident at Village of the Pond. I'm asking because I'm sure that skilled hunters would definitely be of great help from here on.
"So this is not a forced conscription? I'll call out to them…… but I think you probably shouldn't get your hopes up too high."
"Is that so. Well, this is not compulsory, so don't take it to heart."
Guess people in this village are living relatively satisfied lives. Though a side of me is relieved, thinking about how I now have the responsibility of protecting them makes my stomach feel heavy.
♥♦♣♠
Having learned our lesson from the trouble at the start, we decided to not stay at the village.
To that end, I quickly ended my negotiations with the Village Head and we immediately departed for the castle.
Right before we left the village, however, one young man rolled out in front of me, causing me to stop in my tracks.
".….."
"M-, my lord!"
"Speak."
After gesturing for Leiha to step back from the position in front of me that she had wordlessly assumed, I called out to the young man who is prostrating on the ground.
"Thank you for your permission! I am called Nocks, and I live in this village! Please hire me at the castle!"
"Nocks…… is that so."
When I take a better look, his skin is pale and he looks much skinnier than most of the others in this village. He is bowing repeatedly with a desperate expression on his face.
I look sideways towards the Village Head, as this was different from what he'd said, and I see him nodding as if he'd understood something.
According to the Village Head, this young man had sought shelter in this village ten years ago during the night, together with his merchant father. As the merchant had done a fair amount of trading with the village, they couldn't decline his request out of hand and so agreed to shelter the two of them. However, the father soon died of illness, and the son has continued living in the village as somewhat of a freeloader.
"I tried to learn to hunt, but I don't have the needed physical stamina. I'm currently helping the village out with miscellaneous tasks, but…… I don't want to cause them trouble any further."
".….. Well then, what can you do?
"Umm, I can read and write and…… do a little bit of math."
"Alright, you're hired!"
Yay.
♥♦♣♠
"I, I'm very sorry. To stand in the way of my feudal lord Margils-sama himself……"
"Hmm, don't worry about it. It's true that I'd felt bad about how much work there was that only Irudo could handle. I've made up my mind to hire you."
"Thank you very much! I'll work as hard as I can!"
Currently, Irudo is handling the negotiations with the dwarves on top of management of the castle and calculation of everybody's wages, so his share of the work has been quite severe. Having an assistant who is a local should help lighten his load to some degree or another.
After all, even the Village Head also gave his guarantee, saying that "Nocks is absolutely hopeless at hunting and manual labor, but he is quite clever, so I'm sure he'll be of use to you."
♥♦♣♠
And with that, even the third village became mine both on paper and in actuality.
Though its size doesn't give me much expectations in the way of tax return, well, I suppose that would depend on how well I manage it from now on.
For now, I've gained 3 soldier candidates and 1 assistant for Irudo, which was a happy miscalculation.
As for Irudo himself, he had immediately headed towards Lelis with young Nocks in tow. It's for hiring soldiers to protect the castle, and also for procuring the equipment for said soldiers.
…… That guy really is quick on the uptake.
♥♦♣♠
On our way back, our steps have grown a lot lighter. But suddenly, we see a black shape approaching from the front.
The shape turns out to be the youngest of the 4 dark elf sisters that I had tasked with the protection of the castle, Sasara.
"My lord! Leiha-nee! …… Re-, I have a report!"
"What happened?"
This is bad news for sure. As I'd lost my voice from an overwhelming sense of foreboding, Leiha replies in my stead.
"At the moment, the castle is being blockaded by an unidentified military force. They number around 30. They called themselves wa-, 'War Tribe'!"
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 58
Chapter 58: Unexpected Encounter with the War Tribe
(3rd Person)
Jiiteias Castle, about 6 days after Gio and the rest had left on that domain inspection tour.
This happened several hours before Sasara reached Gio's group in the forest.
Claura Andel was enjoying a cup of tea in her own room in the castle. The eldest of the 4 dark elf sisters, Aruga, was reverently waiting on her.
".….. But still, to restore that amount of collapse in that short period of time. It truly illustrates how frightening the dwarves' abilities are……"
It was yesterday that the 20 members of the Daroun clan had completed the task of restoring the mountain road that had been destroyed by a [Meteor].
Acting as the proxy of the castle lord, Gio, Claura had already cleared all the paperwork with Valbo and paid all costs in full.
However, letting them go back just like that would reflect badly on the castle's reputation, so she also hosted a banquet for them at night.
It was quite a challenge entertaining 20 dwarves with enormous appetites for both wine and food, but she somehow managed to overcome it with the help of Mora and all the servants and dark elf sisters. Claura herself also successfully carried out her role as a hostess without any problems.
"Indeed. But Okugata-sama, I was more surprised at their voracious appetites."
As usual, the dark elves are still calling Claura 'Okugata-sama.' Though Gio had given up and Claura never did proactively reject the title, it is clear for all to see that she and Gio are not in a marriage, both in the legal sense as well as the emotional sense. The dark elves are aware of this. However, they simply could not think of any other title more appropriate to express their reverence for this woman who can confidently speak on the same level with, and also represent, their lord Oluri, he whose very existence they can do nothing but bow down to.
"Okugata-sama!"
A voice that approached a shriek heralded the end of this refined moment.
The youngest of the dark elves, Sasara, flew into the room.
"What is it that has happened?"
"I was on watch! Then I saw a large group of armed people coming our way!"
" ".…..?!" "
Gio's authority over this castle and its surrounding land was acknowledged by both of the 2 representative forces in the area, the Carbanera Knight Order and the city of Lelis. The fact that an unknown group the scale of a troop is approaching such a castle without any prior communication is clearly unnatural. They could very well be coming here to assault the castle.
The elegant smile of a noble disappeared from Claura's face, immediately replaced with the cool-headed eyes of a magician.
"Give me more details."
"N-, they number around 30, and were carrying a flag with a bird that I'd never seen before as a crest. Also, they will reach us in about 30 minutes!"
The most childish of the 4 sisters is Sasara. However, she is a dark elf, and thus is capable of delivering a succinct report that covers only the most important facts.
Claura mentally confirmed all the forces present in the castle.
Mora. Sam and Anna. Zek the carpenter. The four dark elf sisters. The three former magic soldier trainee young boys and girl.
".….. Aruga, call everyone to gather in the central courtyard. Sasara, take Rashil and continue keeping an eye on them…… you've done well, but I'm entrusting you with this also, alright?"
" "Understood, Okugata-sama!" "
♥♦♣♠
"We still do not know who they are. There is still a possibility that they are a friendly force. However, in anticipation of the worst case, Mora, take the dwarves and everyone else and standby inside the main tower."
Claura rapidly gave out instructions to everyone who was gathered in the central courtyard.
"I will personally speak with them to confirm their intention. Gilma, stay with me as protection."
"Roger."
The dark elf sisters reverently accepted those instructions, but there were some present who were dissatisfied.
"I, I'm sure I can help in some way!" (Mora)
"We can also fight!" (Log)
"We'd be more than happy to assist you!" (Valbo)
Mora, the former magic soldier trainee Log, and the dwarf Valbo all spoke up. However, Claura shook her head.
"The other side is a group of 30 fully armored soldiers. But with that said, it doesn't look like they have any siege weapons, so they can't easily infiltrate either. First of all, I will negotiate with them. After that, if we really have to fight…… I will need to borrow everyone's strength."
".….. U-, understood."
"To think that the road we'd restored would bring such calamity……"
The young man and dwarf nod, then began moving towards the hall in the tower.
Claura then turned towards the defense tower above the main gate, with Gilma following behind. But at that moment……
".….. Claura-san."
"Y-, yes?"
Her hand was strongly grabbed from behind. It was Mora.
She knew that the female magician's hand was shaking. As if hoping to quell that shaking, she clasps Claura's hands with both of her own and brings it to her own chest.
"It, it's going to be fine! There was surely just some misunderstanding…… And even if they are bad people…… Gio-san is surely going to return very soon!"
".….. You're right, of course."
So said Claura gently while placing her free hand on top of Mora's head.
♥♦♣♠
"Okugata-sama! They're almost here!"
Having returned from scouting, Sasara went straight to the defense tower, where Claura was keeping watch.
".….. What bad taste these people have……"
".….. I'm of the same mind."
Jiiteias Castle is located on a mountain. To prevent any enemies from sneaking up, the road up had been cleared of all trees and reduced to a narrow, open path.
On that path, heavily armored individuals wielding a large variety of weapons were gradually coming into view.
Their armor truly looked heavy. But instead of the usual plates of metal, their equipment had been painted with garish colors in a red theme, and were outfitted with sharp spikes and blades here and there. Even their helmets and faceguards were decorated with demon-like characteristics.
As a noble of Lelis accustomed to delicate and refreshing art, this esthetic sense was something that Claura absolutely could not approve of. Even Gilma, the dark elf at her side who rarely ever spoke, could not help but to agree.
"Exactly which family is this?"
While maintaining two columns, the group ascended the mountain path until they reached the open area in front of the castle gates, whereupon they formed ranks. At their head was a crimson standard.
On the standard was a large bird with wings outstretched in intimidation, drawn with vivid colors. As someone belonging to the family of a Count, Claura was familiar with the crests of all noble families and knight orders in both the Liuus Union and the Kingdom of Shulendal. But this one? This one she……
"Wait, a bird in flight? And also those vivid wings and tail…… Ah!"
A scene flashed inside Claura's mind.
Ten years ago.
Upon the walls of Lelis, which was bearing the assaults of waves of Shadow Demons. Standing proudly among the standards of other knight orders and military forces, this one……
"That is the crest of the 'War Tribe'!"
♥♦♣♠
'War Tribe.'
The first Bleed, which took place 500 years ago and has almost become legend, was purported to have been overcome in large part thanks to a superhuman that people called 'hero.'
However, afterwards the 'hero' disappeared, no one knowing where to.
Among the nakama that were left behind was one who had received the title 'Warrior of Darkness.' Somehow, his descendants became bound with the eternal mission of fighting against Shadow Demons. They are the ones that call themselves 'War Tribe.'
No one even knows their origin story anymore, but it is a fact that they are still fighting against Shadow Demons to this very day. Ten years ago, Claura had witnessed them firsthand fighting against the Shadow Demons that were assaulting Lelis.
But that aside, due to their worries about Demonists or for some other reason, they never show themselves unless if Shadow Demons are directly involved, and they never divulge their birthplace. As such, it is nigh impossible to come into contact with them any other time.
".….. And that is all I know about the War Tribe."
"U—n, then we should be able to get along really well, shouldn't we?"
"It's still too early to tell."
Claura was explaining to the two dark elves while looking down upon the lone warrior who was making his way to the castle gates with their standard bearer in tow.
When Sasara breathed a sigh of relief, it was Gilma who cautioned her. Claura nodded in agreement.
As the three looked on, the warrior and standard bearer stopped 10m away from the gate.
".….. Hya, he's huge!"
"Isn't he a Shadow Demon?"
Sasara could not be faulted for her surprise, as the man's body was over 2m in height. Even through the countless number of spikes and blades covering his armor, his large, muscular body was still extremely obvious.
Due to the face mask carved in the form of a demon, his face could not be identified.
"I'm Leid. Head Warrior of the War Tribe. I'm here to see your castle lord, Gio Margils."
The warrior's grave voice rang out heavily.
"Leid? As in, the Shadow Demon Killer……?"
"Though we don't know for sure if he is that Leid……"
Ignoring the dark elf sisters who were exchanging glances, Claura stepped towards the edge of the outlook platform.
"I am the chamberlain of this Jiiteias Castle, Claura Andel. Warriors of the War Tribe, know that this unannounced visit is the very epitome of rudeness! First withdraw your troops, then send an emissary. And then, and only then, can we converse like civilized people!"
So replied Claura with her magician's staff in hand. At that, the ranks behind the warrior grew slightly astir.
"We offer our apologies for our rudeness. However, we also have circumstances of our own."
"Exactly what manner of circumstance would that be?"
"We have suspicion that the castle lord Gio Margils may be a Demonist, or perhaps even a Shadow Demon himself. We wish to meet him to ascertain the validity of this suspicion."
Claura shapely eyebrows shot up to the very limit of how high they could go.
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 59
Chapter 59: Omen
(3rd & 1st Person)
"This is too outrageous even for a misunderstanding! The castle lord Margils is the hero who destroyed a Shadow Demon nest on this very land and eliminated all Demonists from the city of Lelis!"
The voice of Claura, who was glaring at the War Tribe warriors from the lookout, surged out with almost enough heat to set the air on fire.
The sharpness was such that it made even the 2 dark elves by her side quiver briefly, but the hulk that was the target of her voice — Head Warrior Leid — did not even flinch.
"It might very well be a misunderstanding. However, by meeting him directly, we will be able to determine whether or not he is a Shadow Demon or Demonist. If he is innocent as you claim, then we wish for him to comply."
"You cretin! Is that the attitude of someone requesting something?! But if you really must, first have that ill-mannered mob behind you stand down!"
In the face of Claura's {Fire Arrow}-like sharp tongue, Leid merely stood in place, letting the tirade wash over him as if he was a rock.
After a period of prolonged silence, Claura gestured towards Sasara with an almost imperceptible motion.
".….. Understood, Okugata-sama. I will hurry to inform my lord."
♥♦♣♠
After the young girl with tanned skin slipped out of the castle with the help of invisibility magic that allowed her to almost melt into shadows, there was also movement among the War Tribe members standing by behind Leid.
Behind the man with the most eye-catching armor, there appeared several warriors wearing strange equipment.
"There was movement?"
"One dark elf, heading west. My partner is tailing her."
"Good. Most likely, that's where Margils is. If he heads back here, don't do anything. If he flees, report back immediately. Don't lose him!"
"Yes, sir."
The lightly armored warrior who bowed to the warrior with the eye-catching armor was wearing a face mask that was strangely enlarged around the eye area. He, and the few others with him, were War Tribe spies called 'Ear-Eye's.
Whereas normal men would have difficulty even seeing a dark elf in action, these men were capable of not only seeing, but also tailing said dark elf.
"Call the Head Warrior back. We'll all rest until the next report comes."
"Yes, sir."
The warrior with eye-catching armor — both of his shoulder guards were decorated with a figure made up of 6 eyes, and there were bird tail feathers attached to his back — also gave instructions to a few other warriors.
He was the one who had the highest authority among those present, War General Kanbelis.
♥♦♣♠
In Sedia, naughty children are often threatened with "bad children will get eaten by Shadow Demons~!" The phrase said with the next highest frequency is "children that stay up late will be hunted down by the War Tribe~!"
Despite the absence of any large scale Shadow Demon attacks and overt Demonist activity in the past ten years in the areas around Lake Liuus, this was one thing that had not changed.
No one knew the location of their base, nor their exact number.
What was well known, however, was not only that every single one of them was the equal of a thousand men, but that they possessed unique skills that enabled them to track and hunt down Shadow Demons and Demonists with great efficiency. If that was all, then they would have been esteemed as the guardians of humanity by one and by all. But no, they were also famed for their ruthlessness. When they discover a Demonist, they would expose him, with zero regard to how well the Demonist had integrated into society, before mercilessly cutting them down. Even for those dreaming of a world without Shadow Demons, the War Tribe was an evil omen of fear.
This was the price that they had to pay for growing to look down on the humans that they had been tasked to protect, as they had come to place supreme priority on "crushing all Shadow Demons and everything else linked to Shadow Demons." But most of them had yet to realize this.
♥♦♣♠
"Has there been any reaction from the 'Sight Demon'?"
"None, as of yet."
After informing the chamberlain lady of a temporary suspension of conversation, Leid had come back. Ignoring Kanbelis, he went straight towards another War Tribe member.
His target was the only person among the group who was wearing a robe instead of armor. In his hand rested a crystal ball the size of a child's fist. His name was Kyuil, and he was a War Tribe Diviner.
If one took a better look, they would have seen that there is a dark red mass sealed within the crystal ball. This was a secret War Tribe magic item called a 'Sight Demon' that possesses the ability to recognize Shadow Demons and those who've been affected by Shadow Demons. The mass sealed inside the crystal ball was actually Shadow Demon blood.
"Head Warrior. Shadow Demons and nests aside, in order for the Sight Demon to distinguish a Demonist, direct contact is necessary."
".….. Which at least means that there are no Shadow Demons nor nests in the vicinity, then."
"Leid! That conclusion is for me to make."
"I get it."
In contrast to Kyuil, whose voice was dispassionate and matter-of-fact, Kanbelis' was cautionary. Leid turned towards the War General who was only about as tall as his chest and bowed slightly.
"Considering that the Miko had imparted a prophecy about this, we must be doubly and triply cautious. If Margils is a mere braggart, or if he — though I find this unlikely — truly is a 'Great Wizard,' either way he would be of no concern to us. However, in the one in a million chance that the Sight Demon shows any reaction whatsoever……"
(T/N: Miko: shrine maiden or priestess)
Hidden underneath heavy armor and thick plating, his throat rang loudly.
"Then it would confirm that he will be the focal point of the next Bleed. Even if we all lose our lives in the process, we must eliminate him here and now."
♥♦♣♠
After hearing about the state of affairs from Sasara, I pressed on towards Jiiteias Castle with both impatience and anger.
Of course, we did not go in straight from the front like fools. Having heard from Sasara that she had been tailed here, I activated the [Move Outer Plane] spell, then led everyone through the alternate plane.
The negotiation — or whatever that was — had apparently been frozen temporarily, but above anything else, I was just relieved to see that nobody was hurt.
"Rather than that, we should now be thinking about what kind of response to make."
".….. Yes, let's."
While feeling both gratitude and respect towards Claura, who is pale-faced but still level-headed, I went straight to the Command Room.
The people that I brought in with me were Sedam, Claura, Torad, Jiruk, and the 5 dark elves.
"When the War Tribe has their eye on you, things get troublesome. Even if we successfully drive them away this time, if word of this gets out, our reputation would take a nosedive."
"More like, hasn't it been 10 years since the War Tribe's shown up in that large a group? All I'm feeling is foreboding from this."
"In the first place, what is their basis for claiming that Margils-dono is a Shadow Demon?"
"I don't know the full details, but they apparently have some special technique or tool that can make the distinction."
While listening to the conversation between the adventurers, I somehow try to calm my flustered mind.
I drained the cup of Shil tea that Mora had poured for me with a face close to crying in a single gulp. However, I still feel rage boiling deep at the bottom of my stomach.
".….. If that's the case, then all I need to do is have them use that technique or whatever it is they have to establish that I'm not a Shadow Demon. That's only if that technique is real, of course."
"It would indeed be best if everything would be resolved with that. What if they're just finding something to fault you for in order to remove you from the position of castle lord?"
"If that is truly what they are aiming for, then it would make everything so much simpler. I can just kindly allow them to choose whether they'd prefer being a stone statue or a pig or whatever else."
".….."
Everyone's eyes gather on me, colored with surprise from hearing me express an anger-affected opinion.
"When you stop being calm, things can get out of control, fast. I understand how you feel, but will you please calm down?"
".….. Though in actual fact, we will need to exact some form of reparation for this."
In response to Sedam's worried words, Claura shot her own opinion out.
When I take a better look, I realize that the veins on her forehead are clearly bulging. I can tell that she is also currently suppressing a lot of anger inside.
"But with that in mind, I also advise that we aim to build a cordial relationship with them."
".….."
Everyone silently nodded agreement to her extremely calm counsel.
She is right, of course. The War Tribe is a group of seasoned warriors who've been fighting the Shadow Demons for generations. Considering what my own goal is, they should be people that I would be willing to go to great lengths to acquire.
If they had offered a friendly hand at the very start, I would have taken that hand with nothing but joy in my heart.
Techniques to discover Shadow Demons and Demonists. The know-how regarding how to fight them. There are very few existences who would be more reliable as collaborators in the cause that we share.
"Only if we manage to first clear this misunderstanding, that is."
"Her earlier point was also quite valid. After having done this much to us, how can we let them go home just like that?"
Reparation, huh.
No matter how strong they might be, it is easy for me to turn them into rocks or pigs. It would be even easier to exterminate them. But well, however full of anger I might be, I'm not actually considering the extermination option.
Of course, I will indeed exact some form of 'reparation' for having frightened everyone at the castle. Since, as the castle lord, working on our public image is also part of my duties……
"Whichever way, it seems that we all agree I must at least first meet with them face to face."
Everyone exchanged uneasy looks at my conclusion. Oh don't worry, I won't suddenly call down a meteor with no warning.
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 60
Chapter 60: Focal Point
".….. I feel strong magical power from them."
So says Claura irritatedly while glaring at the War Tribe through an observation window.
Magical power, is it? Though I only see one magician-like person among their group.
The fact that the Magician's Guild's magic soldier project was considered a breakthrough idea tells me how foreign the idea of a 'magic warrior' that uses both magic and weapon is to this world.
"I've also seen the War Tribe fight firsthand, though from a distance, but I didn't see them using anything like magic."
According to Sedam's memory, what sets them apart is not magic, but physical abilities beyond normal human limits and the unique equipment that they wear.
".….. Indeed, they are warriors definitely not to be underestimated."
When I evaluate them with [Sense of Adept], I draw the same conclusion as Sedam's.
The following is the data that I got from the skill. The Head Warrior, which is the huge guy called 'Leid,' is [Human / Male / 28 Years Old / Level 21 Warrior]. The warrior with the most eye-catching get-up is [Human / Male / 48 Years Old / Level 14 Warrior]. The single person wearing a robe is [Human / Male / 40 Years Old / Level 10 Priest]. In short, in comparison to the adventurers and knights that I'd met so far, these people are very significantly different.
The Leid guy is clearly an outlier, but the others are all mostly at least level 8 to 10.
Sedam's level 9 is the highest among all adventurers belonging to the Lelis Adventurer's Guild. As for the Carbanera Knight Order, it is Lioria's level 10. When put into this perspective, I understand how the War Tribe is able to fight Shadow Demons.
However, I find it curious how the words 'Warrior' and 'Human' that I see in the displays are slightly distorted. It is the exact same way how the word 'Thief' in Sedam's display is slightly distorted as my spell forcibly tries to interpret his Ranger profession into D&B form. The profession I can understand. I wonder what it means that this distortion can be seen from their race even.
"And to think they could have forced their way into the castle……"
The castle gates can't be broken down that easily. But I find it hard to believe that a group of that size came all the way here without thinking things through. I should expect them to have prepared some method. Mora and Claura, the young children…… when I think again about how much danger they all were in, the anger within me bubbles even fiercer.
".….. Please, please pardon my forwardness, my lord. Anger dulls judgment. I beg of you to suppress your heart."
From her position behind me comes Leiha's whispered word of caution.
Leiha almost never opposes my opinion. When I look at her face and see how apologetic she looks, I breathe out a huge sigh.
"Fuu……"
She's right. The people who led mental health talks back at my company had also said the same thing, that "anger is the root of all trouble."
As someone standing above others, I must control my negative emotions.
".….. You're right, Leiha. My head has cooled down slightly. You have my thanks."
"I am unworthy of such words. If there is still some remaining anger, please feel free to take it out on myself."
".….….… I think I'm fine, thanks."
♥♦♣♠
[Protection], [Mana Shield], [Detect Enemy], [Invisible Demon], [Perfect Resistance], [Mind Wall], [Emergency], [Invisible]. And lastly, [Project Illusion].
I cast every single defense spell that I currently have charged. It is a pity that [Physical Boost] is not on the list.
The more recent TRPGs with well-done systems ban consecutive spell casting, but D&B is old school, and thus doesn't have an annoying rule like that.
"Ue……"
"Wait a-, come on, get ahold of yourself."
Though no more than 2 minutes of actual time had passed, my Inner World self had descended and ascended that circular staircase 9 times without stopping, so I am understandably feeling a bit fatigued. Claura grabs my arm and supports me when I accidentally stumble.
"Sorry about that. I'm always relying on you so much."
".….. That's……"
"Well then, I'll be off. I'm leaving the rest to you all."
I direct my voice towards Claura, Sedam, and Leiha, then go out through the side door in the castle gate.
At first, everyone had insisted on accompanying me, but I managed to convince them out of it by saying that I can flee much easier by myself if it really comes down to it.
♥♦♣♠
"I am the castle lord of Jiiteias Castle, the wizard Gio Margils. Oh ill-mannered members of the War Tribe. If you wish to converse, then send forth your representative!"
Despite the 30m separating us, the other party is a group of seasoned warriors wearing strangely shaped armor.
My body is almost about to shiver in the face of a different kind of pressure from facing down an army of Shadow Demons. While suppressing that shiver, I slam the butt of my Wizardry Staff against the ground with great force.
"O-, Oh wizard…… I shall be the one to speak with you."
I had totally expected Leid to come up, but apparently the person in charge is the one in the eye-catching armor.
He boldly walks forward to stand right in front of me, then removes his helmet and face mask.
"I am the War General Kanbelis."
The man wearing the flashy armor turns out to be a man in the prime of his life with close-cropped black hair. He is completely lit up by [Detect Enemy] in my eyes.
"Very well. I shall hear what you have to say."
I look straight into his black pupils. I secretly activate the ESP Medal that I'm gripping inside. But to my surprise, he manages to Resist the effects of the item.
Judging by the lack of reaction on his face, I surmise that he hasn't realized my attempt to use the item. Is he perhaps in possession of some sort of item that increases his resistance against wizardry?
Either way, this is merely one more reason why I cannot let down my guard.
".…..Yo-.….. You are under suspicion of being a Shadow Demon or a Demonist. It is as we have already told your chamberlain. If you wish to prove your innocence, we will have you assent to participating in a 'trial' of ours."
(T/N: Kanbelis was about to use omae, which is a coarse way to say 'you' (coarse to the point of possibly being disrespectful), then caught himself and switched to kiden, which is a much more formal one, used for equals or superiors.)
"I am aware of the fact that the War Tribe is an entire clan who dedicate their all towards fighting against Shadow Demons. However, I hope you weren't thinking that would suffice as justification for all this. In the first place, what is your reason for thinking me a Shadow Demon?"
If their technique to determine Shadow Demons or Demonists is indeed real, then I would very much like to learn it. But if that technique identifies me as a Shadow Demon, then doesn't it mean that it's just a hoax?
"Then we shall explain. In the first place, we War Tribe are the descendants of the 'Warrior of Darkness,' who was the 'Hero's nakama……"
He begins explaining with much more willingness than I had expected. I can almost hear a note of pride mixed into his voice.
♥♦♣♠
It was a telling with a lot of embellishment and detours, but the gist of it was as follows.
The techniques that the War Tribe use to fight against Shadow Demons were passed down from the 'Hero' and 'Warrior of Darkness.'
According to the knowledge passed down from the 'Hero,' Bleeds emanate from a focal point.
'Focal points' are thought to be some sort of passage that exists in the depths of a Shadow Demon nest.
Not long ago, the War Tribe's Miko received two prophecies from their guardian god. The prophecies said "the focal point shall appear at Mount Foresight" and "the focal point will be a human, going by the name of Margils."
♥♦♣♠
"I see."
A silly thought like "How kind and thorough this guardian god is to even name me specifically." flits across my mind as I slowly mull over the meaning of the information that I'd just been told.
Incidentally, Mount Foresight is what the War Tribe calls this mountain that Jiiteias Castle is on.
But well, 'focal point,' huh.
There is a very high chance that the passage within the depths of a Shadow Demon nest is referring to that Door of Wizardry lookalike that I saw that time.
…… Which would give rise to the equation "focal point = passage within the depths of a Shadow Demon nest = Door of Wizardry = me".
Was I actually a Shadow Demon all along?
In the first place, this body was created by The Overlooker based on my requests. At the very least, it is most likely not wholly human.
On the contrary, if the War Tribe's knowledge or whatever is indeed true, then the next Bleed will occur from me.
I feel the anger that I'd been keeping suppressed inside my stomach dissipating.
This is no time to be angry.
"We have told you everything there is to tell. So, will you assent to our 'trial,' or will you not?"
Exasperated with my silence, Kanbelis presses me for an answer.
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 61
Chapter 61: Outcome of the Trial
Now that I'm giving the idea some consideration, a few things do come to mind.
First of all, after The Overlooker 'prepared' my body for this world and transferred me over, why did a Shadow Demon nest spring up so close by?
Why was there something in the Shadow Demon nest similar to the Door of Wizardry, which used to be merely an imaginary construct made up by my long ago friend and me?
Facts that I'd merely written off as coincidence and thrown to the back of my mind now seem to make sense.
A sudden wave of dizziness strikes me, causing me to strengthen my grip on my Wizardry Staff in a fluster to support myself. The red-hot anger that had filled my stomach up till now is all gone, replaced by ice-cold despair.
That is how shocking War General Kanbelis' words are to me.
The Door of Wizardry, though it exists only inside my heart, is a door that connects chaos to this world. If the other side of the Door is actually connected to the Shadow Demons' world……
Is this world really a black SF, like I had thought at the very start?
If, if I really am this focal point, an existence that will be the trigger for the next Bleed……
…… Then I need to be eliminated by these guys.
It is a bit surprising how easily I came to accept my own death.
In contrast to Japan, where I had no wife, no kids, and no more living family members, here I have Mora, Claura, Irudo, Sedam, Leiha, and all my other nakama at Jiiteias Castle.
I see, so that's how it is…… I've come to love this world.
Rather than letting them be trampled by Shadow Demons, I would rather……
"It's about time I hear your answer."
".…..!"
Right as I was about to step into a delusion of tragedy, a rough male voice jerks me back to reality.
Coming to a start, I raise my face to see War General Kanbelis staring at me. I had expected him to be angry, but instead he has his eyes open wide in startlement.
".….. Oh, pardon me."
I hurriedly wipe the corner of my eyes with the sleeves of my robe. It seems that I had embarrassingly shed a few tears.
Now that is quite shameful indeed.
However, due to a different emotion entering my heart, which had been completely painted over with despair, my head begins to move again.
If it ever comes down to it, I might truly assent to being killed. But I can't just let go without first doing everything that I can.
"Ah—, in the first place, that Miko of yours. How trustworthy are her prophecies? Are you people not just saying it?"
"A past Miko prophesied the 2nd Bleed before it began 150 years ago. The current generation has also accurately prophesied the locations of powerful Demonists and small-scale Shadow Demon nests several times already. I myself had also followed her prophecies and successfully hunted down a Demonist within Shulendal."
".…..Muu……"
That, too, could just be him saying it. However, it is true that the War Tribe has produced actual results throughout the decades……
"Well then, how about that 'trial'? Shadow Demons aside, can it seriously tell apart even Demonists?"
"The trial will be conducted with a tool called a 'Sight Demon.' It is a special crystal ball that has Shadow Demon blood sealed inside, and it will definitely react towards Shadow Demons or individuals affected by Shadow Demons."
In other words, it should respond to those who had been brainwashed or possessed by Shadow Demons, like Leiha and Baron Koval had been.
Isn't this totally foolproof? If these people actually become my allies……
"Just now, you mentioned prophecies about small-scale Shadow Demon nests. Was there a prophecy about the nest that had appeared in this land about 2 months ago? Furthermore, it seems that there had been Demonists in Lelis for more than 10 years already, so what about that?"
".….. Not all Demonists and nests are prophesied about. If it was possible to determine them all through prophecies, then we would have completely wiped them out ages ago."
".….….…"
…… No good, I can't find any contradictions or inconsistences in what he is saying.
Guess I have no more recourse but to entrust myself to the results of this trial of theirs.
If I am really judged to be a Shadow Demon…… dammit, I don't want to die.
".….. I understand. I assent to participating in that trial."
"Is that so. Excellent."
"I only have one request. If I truly turn out to be a Shadow Demon or under the influence of a Shadow Demon, I am planning on obediently allowing you guys to kill me. However, before that, may I have just a little bit of time to say farewell to my nakama?"
"Very well, you may. But before we start, I have a question of my own."
To be honest, I still haven't made up my mind whether I should obediently let myself get killed, or whether I should struggle to survive, even if it means deceiving the War Tribe.
Kanbelis continues after staring at my face for a short while longer.
"We heard from sources in Lelis that you are currently gathering allies at this castle for the sake of fighting against Shadow Demons, and that you eventually plan on forming an alliance with various countries. Is that true?"
I don't know what brought him to ask that question, but thanks to it, my mind is now completely calm.
"That's not quite right. I'm not gathering allies for the sake of fighting against Shadow Demons."
"Then what are you gathering allies for?"
"I, and my allies, will fight Shadow Demons for the sake of protecting people from all over."
That's right, I have a goal.
…… There's no way I can accept dying here.
♥♦♣♠
"As of now, we shall begin the War Tribe's 'trial.' The judge shall be Diviner Kyuil. The enforcer shall be Head Warrior Leid. And I, War General Kanbelis, shall be the witness."
At the open area in front of the main gate.
From among the War Tribe group that is standing by, the man wearing a robe and the conspicuously huge warrior step forward and surround me.
I feel the presence of several people inside the castle spooked by the strange atmosphere and about to dash out, but I wave an arm to stop them.
"Margils-dono, please hold out your right hand, palm upwards."
Obediently following the expressionless Diviner's instructions, I stick out my hand. He then places a crystal ball on top of it.
Inside the slightly warm, transparent orb is a dark red mass. That must be the Shadow Demon blood that Kanbelis had mentioned.
".….….…"
Which reminds me, I didn't ask how the blood is supposed to react if I'm guilty.
Kanbelis at my left swallows his saliva, while Leid at my right readjusts his grip on the handle of the large sword on his back.
".….…… So, how is it……?"
"This is……"
Unable to bear the silence anymore after several tens of seconds, I speak out to the Diviner, who is peering intensely into the Sight Demon.
At that moment.
The clump of blood, which is about the size of the tip of a thumb, twitches.
At first, the movement is slight. However, it quickly grows violent. Up, down, left, right, the clump starts rampaging randomly within the crystal ball like pinwheel firework.
The slight warmth that I had been feeling in my hand is quickly replaced by coolness, and a faint film of condensation is beginning to form on the surface of the crystal ball.
".….. What does this mean?"
"I do not know. I have never seen this kind of reaction before."
At Kanbelis' alarmed question, Kyuil replies with excitement.
"Margils-dono, are you feeling anything?"
".….. Muu?"
Kyuil seems to be gauging something as he has his eyes half-closed while asking me his question. I'm still unsure of exactly what is going on, but as I focus on the rampaging Shadow Demon blood and what I feel through my palm……
".….. Unease…… and fear, perhaps? …… I feel this 'blood's…… repulsion and fear towards myself."
I have no other way to explain it than 'instinct,' but I honestly describe what I feel. Kyuil nods, then takes the Sight Demon back from me and stores it away in a breast pocket.
"What does that mean? Is he Shadow Demon or not?"
Leid presses Kyuil with irritation in his voice. Kyuil looks towards Kanbelis in a daze.
"If he had been affected in any way by a Shadow Demon, then the Shadow Demon blood would have accepted him as brethren and thus spread out in an attempt to assimilate with him…… in other words, the Sight Demon would have become dyed completely red. However, this reaction…… it has never been heard of before. The only answer that I can present is that 'I don't know.'"
I think over the meaning of Kyuil's answer for a while, but…… um, so what does it mean?
So he can't say for sure that I'm not a Shadow Demon?
"In that case, then we can't lay a hand on him."
"War General, do you intend on defying the Miko's orders?!"
"It is not the Miko who gives us orders, but the Council of Elders. Also, the Miko was acting a little strange."
For some reason, Leid and Kanbelis begins quarreling.
Leid is insisting that regardless of my true identity, I should be dispatched immediately, solely because of the Miko's prophecy. Kanbelis is retorting that they cannot do that so long as there is no solid proof that I am a Shadow Demon.
To be honest, it's all quite complicated…… should I simply be happy that I wasn't judged to be a Shadow Demon?
"Sorry for the wait. We shall now announce the verdict of the trial."
After leaving me alone for a while as they argued back and forth, finally Kanbelis comes back over.
"In regards to whether or not Gio Margils is a Shadow Demon or a Demonist, the trial shall continue due to a lack of evidence."
".….. 'Continue'?"
"Now, we will head straight back to the War Tribe's 'Inn' — what we call our base — and report the current situation. When we receive new instructions from the Council of Elders or the Miko, then we will be back."
".….. That sounds like quite a leisurely process. Are you sure it's alright like this?"
They are leaving the verdict unresolved due to the inexplicable reaction of the Sight Demon, but I myself know about a pretty incriminating piece of evidence — the Door of Wizardry.
Having been convinced of my impending death, frankly speaking, I want to tell them about it. But well, yea, let's not.
"Of course, we are aware of the possibility of you suddenly transforming into a Shadow Demon due to some stimulus. As such, we will be garrisoning this Head Warrior Leid and 10 of our warriors here at your castle."
"To monitor me?"
"That's right. If anything does happen, know that Leid will immediately behead you without hesitation."
".….. Exactly how I'd like it."
Would it be strange if I said that this actually makes me feel reassured? With his level, he could probably kill me with a single blow if I wasn't using any defense spells. But of course, this is only if it ever comes to that.
Oh right, there's also the reparations that Claura mentioned.
".….….…"
I can't do it. I don't have the audacity to demand an apology or reparations while still feeling guilty.
"Also, if you ever come across a different lot of Shadow Demons or Demonists…… at your discretion, you may use the warriors however you wish for the sake of protecting people."
"OI!"
"A-, are you sure?"
Leid is surprised, but I'm surprised too.
While putting his absolutely distasteful helmet back on, Kanbelis smirks.
"Personally speaking, I can't imagine a crybaby like you being connected to any Shadow Demons. Think of it as payment for your trouble."
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 62
Chapter 62: Letter to the North
War General Kanbelis, as well as the men under his command, left Jiiteias Castle with the War Tribe standard fluttering proudly ahead.
After seeing them off, I returned to the castle together with Head Warrior Leid and the 10 warriors left behind to monitor me.
I first calmed down everyone who looked confused as to what had happened, then apologized earnestly to the dwarves.
The War Tribe warriors insisted on setting up their own camp, so I lent them a portion of the central courtyard.
When everything had somehow settled down somewhat, I gathered my nakama in my own room.
♥♦♣♠
"I'm sorry for having made you guys worried. Please listen to what I have to say."
I look into Claura's, Sedam's, and Leiha's faces in turn. Unfortunately, it will be quite a while before Irudo gets back.
All of them are looking apprehensive. However, I must tell them the details of the conversation I had with the War Tribe.
As well as what I didn't tell the War Tribe — the connection between my Door of Wizardry and focal points.
".….. Which is why, in order to ask for the decision of their Council of Elders and Miko, the War Tribe returned to their 'Inn.'"
I don't really get the War Tribe's sense, calling their base an inn. But for now, as it takes about one or two months to make a round trip from Jiietais Castle to their Inn (Kanbelis wouldn't tell me its exact location when I asked), I've earned a bit of a postponement.
"Focal point, and prophecy, huh. Both sound quite troublesome."
"Goodness, such thoroughly unpleasant fellows they were, to the very end."
Of course, I've explained that I myself might be a focal point that calls forth Shadow Demons, but Sedam's and Claura's first responses are just that. As usual, Leiha refrains from proactively speaking up, but when I look towards her, she says this in a noncommittal tone.
"If you order me to, I can eliminate them any time you want."
Thank you. But that answer's a bit off, okay?
"I'm very sorry about having kept quiet about the connection between my Door of Wizardry and the Shadow Demon nest. According to the War Tribe, I might possibly be an existence that calls forth a Bleed…… so……"
Those who wishes to leave may leave. Though my Reason insists that I should say that, I shut that part of myself up. For I am the worst of the worst, a selfish person who understands that these people would not leave even if I tell them to leave, and thus intends to take advantage of this goodwill of theirs.
And I am also a terrible coward who, when they get hurt because of this, wishes to hide behind the excuse "well this is what they chose."
The problem of the Shadow Demons has ceased to be a problem of this world, and has become my personal problem.
From here on, instead of me helping them, I'm going to need them to help me.
Which means I need to shoulder the responsibility for whatever it is that is going to happen.
In the end, I have no choice but to be the 'Great Wizard.'
".….. so I am going to need all of your help to resolve this problem. I leave myself in your capable hands."
"We got it, no problem."
"And that's the way it should be."
"As Oluri commands, this Shi shall carry out."
Sedam casually winks. Claura throws her chest out in her usual prideful manner. Leiha places one hand on her chest and bows deeply.
It is the way they say things like this as if it's nothing that makes me love these guys so much.
……
Oh no, I think I briefly teared up again. It's problematic how tear ducts get looser when the human body ages.
♥♦♣♠
"But still, that story sounds more and more suspicious each time I think about it again."
When we turned our focus back to this topic, Sedam spoke up first.
"Does it? I was thinking it kind of made some sense……"
I had been unable to spot any inconsistencies even after shooting various questions at Kanbelis, so now I'm just tilting my head in puzzlement.
"You must be quite a religious person then. Do you really think prophecies are real? Those guys have soldiers capable of tailing a dark elf. With that ability to gather information, they are more than capable of finding Shadow Demon nests or Demonists by themselves."
"In other words, the difference is between prophecy and investigation?"
"It sounds like you were quite surprised at your own name coming up, but do you know how widely known your name has become in the Liuus Union within the past two months? It should be no surprise whatsoever for them to know your name."
"It is as Sedam-dono says."
Sedam's hypothesis was immediately given a stamp of agreement from Leiha the intelligence gathering pro. Hmm, I guess they have a point.
"The thing about having prophesied about the second Bleed also sounds dubious. If they knew about it beforehand, then why couldn't they have prevented it?"
".…..Muu……"
Claura's point, now that it's been given voice, also sounds about right. Why didn't it come to my mind when I was talking with Kanbelis.
Though I can think of a few possible answers, such as the focal point was running all around the place, or if it was too strong.
"Well, it is true that the War Tribe are experts on Shadow Demons. That's what happens when you fight in someone else's arena."
"If we also start doubting that Sight Demon item, then there would be no end, but…… at the very least, there is no need to completely swallow their whole story this point in time."
I see. Guess we need to look into the War Tribe's real intentions or hidden circumstances. And also about Shadow Demons, and the new keyword 'focal point.'
But when I said this aloud, Sedam and Claura made difficult faces.
"Looking into the War Tribe would be quite difficult……"
"Since they have almost zero interaction with other people."
Though I've researched about Shadow Demons several times by now, I've only ever heard the War Tribe's name, and nothing else about them. At the moment I have Leid, the 'War Tribe of War Tribe' right here beside me (down in the courtyard), but I doubt he'd give me information so readily.
But then a thought occurs to me.
"Then what about the 'Hero'?"
The War Tribe is descended from the nakama of the Hero, and Kanbelis said that it was the Hero who taught them about the focal point. Though not to the degree of 'War Tribe,' 'Hero' is also a word that does not come up frequently. It might be equally difficult…… is what I had thought.
"Doesn't the descendent of the Hero hold peerage or something like that in the Kingdom of Shulendal?"
".….. That he does."
Sedam got to display his knowledge again.
Oh wow, so there's an actual Hero.
When I open my eyes wide in astonishment, Claura comes into my line of sight. For some reason, her eyes are totally swimming all over the place.
"So, how is it? You have relatives in Shulendal, don't you? Do you know anything about it?"
".….. That's, um…… yeeesss……"
Claura has a very unusual expression on her face. Upon Sedam's pursuit, she reluctantly tells us.
".….. elder second cousin."
"Sorry?"
"My great-aunt's grandson. In other words, my elder cousin is the current generation Hero, Aizel Yuzuki Kamil……"
I had heard previously that Claura has connections to the nobility in Shulendal, but to think that it was straight to the Hero.
Supposedly, she got to meet 'Hero Aizel' just once when she was young. Her own memory is apparently quite fuzzy, but it seems that he should still currently be somewhere in Shulendal. It's generally a problem for the whereabouts of a noble holding peerage to be unknown, but as the direct descendant of the 'Hero' he's supposedly going around helping people and subjugating Shadow Demons.
I was totally convinced that this world didn't have such a game-like character……
In the end, as the Hero's current whereabouts are unknown, Claura is going to send a letter to her great-aunt requesting her cooperation. Her great-aunt is well-known within Shulendal as an intellectual due to her efforts training up scholars and magicians, so we might even receive some helpful advice from her.
Of course, once the Hero has been located, I intend to go to Shulendal in person.
Furthermore, I also decide to put in a request with the Adventurer's Guild and Magician's Guild to research about focal points and the War Tribe.
♥♦♣♠
After wrapping up that topic, we even discussed about hiring the dwarves for the construction of the trade route to Senpu Village and about the education of the former magic soldier trainees.
The thing about the focal point is a headache indeed, but for now let's consolidate our position one thing at a time.
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 63
Chapter 63: The Castle's Guests
In order to send that letter to her great-aunt, Claura immediately set off for Lelis.
Her cooperation would indeed be a grateful thing to have, but because of this I am going to be without the human resource that is Claura for the 8+ days the round trip would require.
Claura will be hiring an adventurer to deliver the letter, but it will be probably be months before we receive a reply.
"Without Claura here, it's going to be hard to do a lot of things…… or wait, not really?"
She is extremely important in that she becomes the person in charge when Irudo and I are both gone, but normally she doesn't really have any duties around here.
In the first place, she's here as a research student from the Magician's Guild, so her main duty is supposed to be learning golem creation techniques alongside the former magic soldier trainees……
In terms of the actual running of the castle, Mora is far more indispensable than Claura.
Jiiteias Castle's cleaning, food, laundry, and maintenance of everyday goods. Every single one of these tasks are so important that the castle would fall apart if they are not performed, and she is directing them all.
I think that this volume of work is too heavy for a 14 year old girl, but every time I spot her, she is happily swinging a mop or kitchen knife, making entries into the account book, or giving out instructions to the servants. In actual fact, due to her efforts we are indeed living very comfortably.
With her and Irudo present, everyone in the General Affairs department of my company would have been without a job…… is what I'm thinking with a chuckle as I step out into the central courtyard.
Several ropes had been set up between the main tower and the residential hall, on which are numerous freshly-washed sheets and tablecloths and the like. Up to a while ago, I had been hearing Mora and the others' voices while in my personal room in the tower, so I'd come down. However, it seems like the work has already been finished.
When I look around, I spot Mora sitting on a bench placed against the wall of the residential hall.
"She's asleep, it seems."
The young girl is leaning against the wall and sleeping peacefully.
It is almost certain that this is from overwork. With no intention of waking her up, I simply sit next to her without making a sound.
Her official position is Head Maid, but the only maids are the dark elf sisters, who are also concurrently tasked with the castle's inner and outer security. In substance, the servant couple Sam and Anna and the young carpenter Zek are the ones who are actually carrying out the castle's inner tasks.
When Irudo returns, he's going to be together with the soldiers that he's hired. When it comes to that, the load will definitely become too much for her. After the soldiers are here, I'm going to need to immediately discuss with him about increasing the number of servants and maids.
…… And such is the current situation. But though it pains me, I have one more thing I need to ask her to do.
As I look around while sitting on this bench, the War Tribe members working hard at making camp comes into my line of sight.
In consideration of the length of its walls, Jiieteias Castle has very few buildings inside, which means that its central courtyard is quite spacious. It seems that they've staked out 20% of that space as their own territory.
They've all taken off their grotesque horn– and blade-decorated armor, which allows me to see that all of them are tattooed with strange designs.
"Though it really does pain me……"
I unconsciously murmur to myself while my eyes follow the largest one among them — Head Warrior Leid — as they go about their work.
"Nn…… Umm, is there something you need me to do?"
It seems that Mora had heard me. After letting out a small yawn, she corrects her posture.
"Indeed. I'm sorry to trouble you, but I want those guys, the War Tribe members, to be served the same food as us. Also, their water and change of clothes and everyday goods supplies as well."
"Hai, no problem! Immediately beginning with tonight's dinner, we'll make portions for all those people too."
These people have been garrisoned here under the pretext of monitoring me. Despite War General Kanbelis' words, I'm sure their hostility and mistrust would not be dispelled so easily. On the other hand, the first impression from Claura and the others' side was also the worst.
However, I don't have the leisure care about such things. If I am to continue fighting Shadow Demons, it is an absolute necessity for me to build a cooperative relationship with them.
I had expected to need to lay all this out in order to convince her to help me, but Mora simply nods without any hesitation whatsoever. She is shining so brightly that I can't help but to avert my gaze.
"I'm sure it will be hard, but please keep at it for a while longer. I'm going to hire more servants and maids as soon as I can."
"This much alone is not hard at all! Gio-san is working so hard on so much bigger things, like the world and the Shadow Demons."
"Is that so…… Thank you."
She is also, in her own way, doing everything in her power for my sake. At the moment, I have no choice but to depend heavily on her like this, but one day, I will definitely make her happy.
…… I feel sorry towards Irudo, but perhaps this is what it feels like to have a daughter.
♥♦♣♠
"As long as I'm in the castle, all of you will not be inconvenienced."
"You won't win us over with something like that. But well, you have our thanks."
So I declared while looking up at Leid, the currently half-naked man who towers far above me.
Not that I care, but the bridge of his nose is straight, and the area around his eyes is crisp. He's handsomer than I'd expected. Not that I care though.
Leid still looks very wary, and the other War Tribe members are exchanging glances after hearing my offer. I am fully aware that there is still a huge gulf between us.
"The food at my castle is delicious, alright? Look forward to it."
After lightly tapping Leid's arm, which is literally as thick as a log, I leave their camp.
Next is to negotiate with the dwarves.
♥♦♣♠
"To think that the War Tribe would have their eye on you, what a misfortune it is!"
So said Valbo, the clan head of the Daroun clan, as we sat together in the castle hall.
Their attitude is that without being properly judged to be a Shadow Demon, merely being suspected is of no import.
"I apologize for having even caused trouble for you all. At the very least, please allow me to add a little extra to your payment for this job."
"Oh, don't worry about it! Or at least, that's what I want to say, but if someone's giving us gold, we'd never turn it down!"
It seems that they are in good spirits.
"Speaking of which, we heard from Irudo that you're thinking of some outrageous job, aren't you?"
"Yes, I want to open a trade route from this castle to Senpu Village. Will you lend me your help?"
"You can bet on it! It's been a long while since we've had a job worth doing, our hands are just itching to get started! …… But."
"But?"
Valbo lifts his moustache-covered face and looks at me as if testing me. In contrast to the time with Leid, I'm now looking downwards, but I'd heard that it's insulting to crouch in front of a dwarf, so I merely prompt him to finish his thought.
"It should be obvious, but it will require a stupidly crazy amount of capital and time. Irudo mentioned it briefly, but…… you have something in mind for that?"
"Indeed I do. Allow me to show you now."
♥♦♣♠
"As I am unlearned in these matters, correct me if I'm wrong, but the greatest cost in terms of labor and time for this job would be the felling of the trees in the forest, is that right?"
"You got that right. Next highest costs, as we'll be laying out a road in these mountains, will be the clearing of the land and the transporting of construction material."
I am currently outside the gates of Jiiteias Castle together with the dwarves.
After hearing Valbo's reply, I nod, then begin chanting a spell.
".….. So you're the one……"
My Inner World self is currently staring intently at the black door right in front…… this Door of Wizardry.
Up to now, I had thought of this as the source of Gio Margils' power. It used to be the most reliable thing ever, but now it reflects in my eyes as a symbol of ill omen.
"No, that's not right…… What happens could very well be up to me. This is not a focal point that calls forth Shadow Demons, but my Door of Wizardry."
Placing my hand over the door and tracing its characteristic engravings, I murmur out loud as if to convince myself.
Despite that, I still feel slightly nervous as I descend the spiral staircase and head for the archive on the 7th Floor. As I release the power of chaos sealed within one of the books there, my real world self finishes chanting.
"By means of this spell, may 3 Forest Giants be created and be under my control for 1 hour. [Create Monster]"
"Nn? Nnn?"
The air in front of us distorts, and from that area gigantic figures ooze into view. During that time, the dwarves' originally narrowed eyes grow wide enough to seemingly be in danger of having their eyeballs fall out.
"Uo…… UOOOOOO……!"
"Gi-, gi– gia-.….."
"Magic? Is this illusionary magic?!"
"I must have drunk too much……"
"WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT?!"
In representation of all the stunned dwarves, Valbo grabs the hem of my robe and pulls it.
In front of us, there are now 3 men — Forest Giants — more than 8m tall wearing leather armor and standing at ease.
"These are Forest Giants. They are existences that I created just now with a spell. They would listen to anything I order them to do, which means I can order them to carry out your instructions."
"Wha-, what a…… You mean to say that we can use these to work on the construction?!"
"Indeed. If needed, I can make 6 more right now. Tomorrow and onwards, I can prepare 27 of them. But I actually want to leave some room to use other spells, so I would appreciate it very much if you guys can make do with only 9 every day."
The Level 7 spell [Create Monster] is, exactly as its name says, a spell that creates monsters into the caster's employ.
However, only normal monsters can be summoned — no undead, no demons, and no races that possess unique abilities.
The number and level of monsters that can be summoned through one usage of the spell cannot be higher than the caster's level. In my case, I'm Level 36, so I can summon 36 x Level 1, 3 x Level 12, 1 x Level 10 and 2 x Level 13, etc. The combination can be freely adjusted.
Forest Giants are Level 12, so it's just perfect.
".….. By means of this spell, may the effects of the spell [Create Monster] be extended. [Infinity]"
I then applied the effects of the Level 8 spell [Infinity].
[Create Monster] is an incredibly useful spell, but its maximum duration is only 1 hour. However, [Infinity] is able to prolong the effects of another specified spell.
If it is a low level spell, then it could cause it to practically last forever. For high level spells, it increases the 'unit' of its time duration.
In other words, if the unit of the duration was in 'seconds,' then it becomes 'minutes.' 'Hours' turns to 'days.'
With this, these Forest Giants will continue to exist and be useable for an entire day.
Almost as if these Forest Giants are already aware of their mission, what they are carrying over their shoulders are not any normal weapons.
Even this part can be customized by the caster, so this spell is seriously really useful.
"Since the aim is to clear the forest and level the ground, I've equipped them with axe, pickaxe, and hoe, as you can see. If anything else is needed, just say the word. I can change it starting tomorrow. So…… how is it?"
"Oh wa wa…… u, o, ooOOOHHHAH!"
Upon seeing the three Forest Giants respectfully kneeling before us, Valbo's utterances of astonishment gradually turn into resounding laughter.
"Uhahaha! Gahaha! How unconventional! Borrowing the strength of giants to do construction work, this is the very pinnacle of unconventionality! But you know what!"
His eyes are glittering so brightly with ambition that I can almost feel his gaze boring into me.
"With them holding such huge-ass tools, we can't very do well a normal construction job. The ancestors of our Daroun clan will never allow it, and neither will I!"
Seeing that some of the other dwarves are still looking daunted, Valbo pumps his fist into the air in fierce encouragement.
"We're gonna do it! The best construction job ever! At the fastest speed! With the highest quality! At the lowest cost! A shiny road stretching from this castle to Senpu Village, and even connecting it to the Road of Law! DAROUN!"
"OOHHH!"
"Chief! Count me in!"
"DAROUN! DAROUN!"
I had merely thought "oh hey, this would be great if it would work," but it seems that I have totally set their hearts as architects on fire.
With them like this, I think I can also eventually get them to help expand the castle and install a proper bath.
While grinning broadly at the memory of an enjoyable Japanese-style bathtub, I cheerfully wave my hand at everyone who had rushed to the castle walls and lookouts at the dwarves' shouts.
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The Wizard Raised Through TRPG/The Wizard Raised Through TRPG - WN Chapter 056-069/The-Chronicles-of-a-Lost-Man-in-His-Forties-WN-Chapter-056-069-[Tenshi-Translations][Trollo]/64.txt
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 64
Chapter 64: The Wizard's and Dwarf's City Planning
Starting the next day, the dwarves of the Daroun clan began work with tremendous fervor.
But with that said, it's not like they immediately went straight to construction.
Some were tasked with surveying and confirming the exact topography between Jiiteias Castle and Senpu Village. Some began planning and listing the needed raw materials and tools, as well as drafting a plan for the transportation of said materials to the work site. And of course, then there were those drawing the actual architectural blueprints.
The dwarves proved to be far, far more sophisticated than humans in terms of civil engineering and metallurgy techniques. And they had overflowing passion, attacking even the boring foundational preparations with seemingly bottomless energy.
When they showed me the list of tools that they were going to prepare, I even saw human-powered cranes and elevators that used pulleys and cogwheels.
Dwarves are freaking amazing.
♥♦♣♠
Even while the foundational preparation was going on, the Forest Giants were being utilized effectively.
In order to secure the necessary open space for the safekeeping and transporting of raw materials, they were first tasked with clearing all of the nearby trees.
Huge trees wide enough to need several adults to encircle lasted no more than 3 minutes against these 8m tall giants and their gigantic axes. After the tree falls, it gets picked up by another Forest Giant, who quickly removes all the branches and turns it into a log. The more than 3m long roots left inside the ground are get mercilessly attacked with a pickaxe, following which a hoe immediately smooths over the gaping hole and makes the ground all even.
The logs and branches were naturally stocked up, to be used later as the castle's fuel source and also to build temporary lodgings for the workers.
I can just imagine how much flak we would get in modern Japan for this amount of environmental destruction.
Incidentally, what I originally had in mind was just a plain, unpaved road. But due to the Forest Giants' incredible work efficiency and the dwarves' sudden increase in motivation, the plans were upgraded to an extravagant, two lane wide road with stone paving and even outfitted with drainage. It wasn't me who said to do this, they just up and changed it on their own initiative.
♥♦♣♠
"Oooi, Margils! Wizard! Take a look at this!"
Amongst all that, the dwarves brought a suggestion to me as the castle lord.
Apparently not satisfied with only building the road for the trade route, what they brought to me was a blueprint for a massive scale reclamation of the area around Jiiteias Castle and the design of a surrounding town.
"This is quite grand indeed……"
I am mulling over the blueprints that the Daroun Clan Chief Valbo had laid in front of me with his face beaming with confidence.
According to these diagrams, a large area around the castle would be leveled, and on that ground would be built inns, residential homes, storehouses, and many other facilities. Of course, the entire area would be surrounded by a castle wall, and the castle itself would also be expanded by about 30%. The entirety of Mount Foresight would become a single fortress city about 10 times the current size of Jiiteias Castle.
According to the penned in numbers, the population capacity of this city would be 1,000 plus 500 visitors. The castle itself would be able to hold 500 soldiers.
"Uhaha! With those Giants as reinforcement, being unable to do this degree of work would get me beaten to a pulp by my ancestors!"
"I think it looks fine, but…… this project, how long and how much money is it going to cost?"
"The time would be greatly reduced…… It's good timing that the entirety of the Daroun clan isn't handling any large jobs at the moment. No more than 3 years! But the cost wouldn't get changed much, since we'd still need the same amount of stone and iron. Hmm, it'll be about this much."
So saying, he spreads his thick, tough hand all the way open.
"500,000 gold coins?"
"Nah, 5 million."
Umm…… this doesn't mean much, but if I were to convert it into yen, then it'd be 50 billion yen. Not that you can build a city in Japan with only 50 billion in Japan though.
But fact is, even I don't have that much money on hand in my Infinity Bag.
I cross my arms and wrack my brain about how this 5 million gold coins job can be achieved.
It's not really that I want to live in a huge castle, but the desire to develop my domain has already taken seed inside me.
"If would be great if a good stone quarry just conveniently happened to be found nearby, but……"
".….. Stone?"
A lightbulb went off inside my head at the dwarf's mutter.
Though it's another rule-breaking idea that any castle lord who built his castle in the proper way would shout abuse at me for.
♥♦♣♠
"By means of this spell, may there be a firm wall of stone before me of thickness 60cm, width 15m, and height 5m. [Wall of Stone]"
"Uoh!?"
Just like before, we are in the open area outside the castle. After my chant, a seamless wall made of pure stone appears before us.
Valbo is taken back for a second, but immediately dashes over to the stone wall and begins touching and slapping it.
"Ooh, this is good! It's a bit too hard, but there is no fault at all! Though it takes the fun out of it, the processing time would be greatly shortened, and there will also be no problems in regards to durability! Oi, how many stone walls like this can you create?!"
"I can't produce it infinitely, unfortunately."
"Y-, yea I guess so…… But with only this amount, it wouldn't affect the overall—"
"Only 9 times everyday. With the same dimensions, I can also make 9 iron walls everyday."
"IRON TOO?!"
[Wall of Stone] and [Wall of Iron] are Level 5 and 6 spells, respectively, so the maximum charges I can prepare for each of them are 9 per day.
Since there's no fighting going on, there should be no problem if I just continue to mass produce stone and iron while these peaceful days last. But if I think about having to do this everyday for the next 3 years until the completion of the project, I do feel slightly overwhelmed.
"For now, the construction of the city area can be done with wood. There is also no need to rebuild the main tower of the castle……"
"Well, the houses can be built later as the number of residents grows……"
And in this matter, Valbo and I considered and discussed various ways to lower the cost of this project. In the end……
"Period will be 1 year. Total cost, 3.5 million coin coins."
The amount is slightly beyond my current capital, but I'm sure selling one or two magic items would be enough to cover the remainder.
This timeline was not calculated with the assumption that I'd be devoted to generating resources everyday without rest. We would easily be able to meet the deadline even if I make a few business trips now and then.
In terms of priority, the road building is top, but it seems that we'll be able to get started on this new project a few months later.
♥♦♣♠
Of course, I don't have the heart to decide something like this at my own discretion.
After Irudo and Claura came back from their respective trips, I gathered everyone and consulted with them, at which they all indicated their approval. According to Irudo, "With that quality of a road, we will be able to grasp all of the trade flowing to Senpu Village. It is going to generate a very significant amount of revenue."
As the castle grows, the number of things that I have to protect also grows, but well…… that's for me to work hard at, yep.
♥♦♣♠
"Uhahahah. I can't wait to start……!"
"Ahh, sorry. There's something else that I also want to ask you for."
When I told Valbo that we are officially undertaking this huge project that is much larger in scale than anything they had done recently, his mood ascended beyond 'high spirits' and into the realm of 'creepily high tension."
I shared with him what had also been on my mind.
In other words, it's about the installation of a bath, and a way to lower the amount of labor for Mora and the rest.
"Hou, despite being a human, you understand the wonderfulness of baths?"
People in this world do have a custom of bathing, but it is not regarded as importantly as it is in modern Japan. Most everyone just swim in cold water or wipe themselves down with hot water, so there is not much of soaking in a bathtub.
I had spotted two public bathhouses in Lelis, but the nuance was that those places were mainly for sickly or elderly people.
In contrast, as the dwarves do a lot of work underground, they get quite dirty everyday, and they also have a lot more opportunity to come into contact with hotsprings, so they've come to highly regard the custom of bathing.
"Very much so. Baths are important."
I shook hands with Valbo with much more passion than when deciding about the city planning.
"If that's the case, then we can make one or even two baths for you as a service. Fortunately, we have plenty of wood and stone. Are you fine with using coal as the heat source?"
"Yes please."
To my surprise, they had already developed an early version of a boiler than runs on coal. Furthermore, they're also using the "heavy fire water" that spouts from the ground for lighting and as fuel.
…… At this pace, they might already be close to steam engines and muskets.
"And aside from that…… water drawing and laundry both seem to be quite heavy labor, can something be done about it?"
There is a well inside the castle, but it's a simple bucket design, and I remember seeing Mora struggling quite a bit with it.
"If that's the case, we can install a pump for you. This one we'd have to charge you for, though. After that, well…… if there's a water source somewhere on that mountain, then we can make a water wheel or aqueduct. Oh, and we can also build a windmill, though it would be a bit expensive."
If money can make everyone's work easier, then whatever the price is, it'll still be cheap.
But seriously…… dwarves are incredibly freaking amazing.
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 65
Chapter 65: Mora's Fight (3rd Person)
This happened the day after the War Tribe came.
The mornings of Mora and the other behind-the-scenes workers of Jiiteias Castle begin very early.
Today also she slipped out of her bed right before dawn.
After quickly washing her face and changing, she headed first towards the kitchen. As Head Maid, it is her responsibility to light up the hearth, which can be said to be the heart of the kitchen.
By the time she had finished the preparations for breakfast together with Anna and the former magic soldier trainee boys, the sun had already peeked over the horizon.
Next, Mora brought a bucket filled with newly boiled water and a towel to the main tower.
It is rare for the castle lord Gio to get up by himself. The job of waking him up and helping him get ready is something that Mora never leaves to anyone else.
The stew and bread left over from last night would be their breakfast for today.
On days with nice weather, the servants and soldiers bring tables and benches out to the central courtyard and eat there. The adventurers ard castle lord take it in the hall of the main tower.
Mora and the four dark elf sisters eat only after servicing the castle lord until he finishes his.
At the beginning, Gio was troubled about the treatment at mealtime that he wasn't used to, but after the girls put their foot down and refused to budge, now he's used to it.
After breakfast got cleaned up, then it was time for laundry, cleaning of the interior of the castle, and maintenance.
Laundry is mainly left to the former magic soldier trainees, Log, Teru, and Daya.
Sheets, tablecloths, towels, underclothes, and the like are gathered from all around the castle and thrown into a huge laundry bucket, which is then filled with detergent made of lye and then either stomped or struck with a laundry stick.
Though it is the dry season, the water from the well still proved to be quite cold, causing the young boys' hands to turn red.
"How long do we have to keep doing this kind of thing anyways?"
"I know, right."
"Ehh? But I think we're being treated really, really well though……"
The vigorous leader Log grumbled out loud, at which Daya, the young girl burning with hatred against Shadow Demons expressed her agreement. Then the timid Teru chided them both, completing the pattern that had been repeating quite often recently.
"But I mean, we left the Training Facility to come here to learn how to make golems, right?"
"It's already been 2 weeks, and all we've been doing is just chores……"
"It, it can't be helped. Margils-sama looks to be really busy too……"
"That's right! Gio-san is very busy!"
Mora roughly musses up Log's black hair, as his hand that was brandishing the laundry stick had gone still.
"Wa-, stop it please!"
"We've only just moved into the castle, so everyone's still busy, alright?"
"Uu……"
With a red face, Log tried to protest, but he was no match for Mora, who was admonishing him like an older sister. In actuality, he is 12, and she is 14, so they're only 2 years apart.
"But don't worry, all of you are still very much on Gio-san's mind. Before, he said to me that "I feel very sorry that I can't seem to make the time to look over those kids." He hasn't forgotten about you all."
"Is, is that so……"
"And compared to the Training Facility, this place is way better!"
"That's right! So move your hands! Once the laundry has been hung up, you all can take a break until lunch preparations!"
♥♦♣♠
Lunch for today turned out to be bread, bean potage, sausage, and boiled egg.
With a practiced hand, Anna smeared plenty of butter on the bread, and Mora distributeed the potage into bowls. A few of the dark elf sisters came back and helped the young boys with the setting.
"Mm? Ojou-sama, isn't the amount today more than usual?"
"It's already been like this starting from yesterday's dinner."
As the eldest sister Aruga wasn't informed, Mora filled her in.
Per the castle lord's instructions, Leid and the War Tribe members that have been garrisoned in the castle since yesterday were also going to be given food same as everyone else. Which meant 11 more portions for every meal.
"Ehhh, we're going to give food to those people also?"
To Aruga, these people who accused her Oluri of being a Shadow Demon were practically enemies. She puffed her cheeks in displeasure.
"Yes we will. Because if we don't get along with the War Tribe people…… with everybody in the world, then we can't win against the Shadow Demons!"
"Uu…… I understand, Mora ojou-sama."
With a smile on her face, Mora continued heaping bread and sausages onto a large plate. The dark elves of course knew their Oluri's goal, so Aruga also help out, despite still feeling reluctant.
♥♦♣♠
War Tribe members do not often get to stay in proper cities or inns.
They are frequently chasing Shadow Demons through the wilderness, or cornering Demonists who have burrowed into society.
Therefore, their camping and cooking skills are as well-developed as their fighting techniques. Their equipment is also fully assorted.
The tents that were set up in a corner of the courtyard inside Jiiteias Castle were made by first erecting a light, durable wooden frame, which was then covered by large pieces of leather that had been painted over with unique animal fat. With this set up, they are firm, have great insulation, and are also quite spacious inside.
But that's from the point of view of the War Tribe members with normal body sizes.
The large-bodied Head Warrior Leid who is more than 2m in height is looking extremely cramped as he folds his body to exit the tent.
".….. What a weird feeling."
He mutters to himself while looking around the courtyard that seems so empty beside the long, sturdy castle walls.
In the middle of the courtyard illuminated by warm sunlight, there are young boys and girls hanging up white sheets and clothes. Bright, high-pitched voices belonging to children reverberate in the air.
When he looks towards the castle gates, he just happens to see the three youngsters who were recently conscripted returning from their marching training.
Even while being lectured by a middle-aged warrior about something or other, they make their way to the well, where they upend water over their heads and let out satisfied shouts. None of the things that come to his mind when he thinks about soldiers or warriors can be seen here — no harsh shouting, no disparagement, no tension, nothing to be tenacious against, and most of all, no anger.
For him, 'fighting' is solely a means to destroy Shadow Demons, and training means constant enduring while vomiting blood and burning with rage. And whatever else it is, it is not the scene in front of him.
Nearby, the other War Tribe members are earnestly going about their daily tasks, such as maintaining their weapons, but it feels like they are the ones who are out of place here.
The lord of this castle had also publicly declared that he would fight against Shadow Demons, but Leid cannot see any indication of that intention in this place.
"Head Warrior, all of us have completed our inspection."
"Mm……"
A warrior who had long been in his service had come to report to him, but he only nodded vaguely in acknowledgement. Their 'target' is right there in front of their eyes, but whether he should really be eliminated or not…… having the Trial turn out the way it did was a first even for Leid.
"Should we do some practising? Or perhaps we should go procure food supplies……"
"No practising, and no procuring. Consider our current situation as being in the middle of battle. That guy might reveal his identity at any moment."
".….. Yes, sir!"
Constantly be prepared to fight at any given moment. For the War Tribe, that state is almost a default.
At that moment.
"Good morning~!"
They are addressed by a bright, young voice.
The owner of the voice is a young girl wearing a maid uniform, accompanied by two dark elves and a pair of middle-aged man and woman pushing a service cart fully loaded with freshly-baked bread and soup.
"Ohh……"
"What a nice smell."
He heard a faint commotion from the warriors that had been silently standing by. The warriors who are capable of standing literally stock still for an entire day if ordered to.
"Today's bread was made with plenty of white wheat, so it's sweet and very delicious~ The potage is also filled with lots of spices~"
She speedily gives orders to the dark elves, even while personally walking around and passing out bread and soup to the warriors. Though a bit stiff, the dark elves and servants are also going about setting things up.
Ever since last night's dinner, the castle lord has arranged for them to be provided with food, so this was not unexpected.
"Here you go, Leid-san. I think everyone's waiting for you to start, right?"
".….. Ahh."
The young, brown-haired girl stops in front of him and hands him his portion while tilting her head.
The thick, fragrant smell of wheat and butter tickles his nose, causing him to reflexively accept the bread.
No matter how prepared they may be, even the War Tribe do not carry bread ovens around.
Freshly-baked bread is something that he can eat only either while staying at the Inn, or when infiltrating human society under the guise of a fake identity. But of course, while in the middle of a chase, he has no leisure to enjoy the taste of his food.
".….."
Without looking at the girl, he takes a bite out of the bread in his hand. The taste of butter spreads throughout his entire mouth.
".….. This is delicious."
"That's only because you can't make something this complicated while camping."
"Ah, please give me one more piece of bread!"
After seeing their Head Warrior take the first bite, the others shove their own portions into their mouths and bite into sausages with great zest. They had even been given honey to go with the bread, so voices asking for seconds shoot up one after the other.
"It's like I'm dreaming……"
The embarrassed voice of one of his younger warriors reaches Leid's ears.
This situation of having females bravely serving them even while knowing their real identities is indeed almost like a dream.
For they are those who lurk in the shadows of human society hunting Demonists.
The way normal humans look at it, the neighbor that they had been close with could be dead the next morning, having been branded a Demonist. Though they understand the causal relationship with their head, the appearance of a War Tribe member is often tied to Shadow Demons somehow, so he understands how the humans feel towards them.
In Sedia, people in power do not lift their hands against the War Tribe. Rather, they even guarantee the Tribe's right to speak directly to anyone from guard to feudal lord. But despite that, the eyes that are directed towards them are only ever filled with fear and hatred.
The words that Leid's superior had once said to him are still fresh in his mind.
"There is no place where it is fine for a War Tribe person to be. As a War Tribe member, the only place to be is the place where duty bounds you to."
"You…… are you fine?"
Leid unconsciously calls out to Mora, who is rushing by here and there in front of him.
"Sorry?"
"Aren't you scared of us?"
Though it hasn't even been a full day, he's already understood how much this young girl and the dark elves adore this castle's lord. They must be reluctantly obeying his command, doing all this even though they don't want to. Or rather, in Leid's mind, that is the only way things can be.
"Not at all!"
".…..!"
The girl immediately replies strongly and assertively. Her voice isn't just bright like from before.
It is the voice of someone with the resolve of pouring everything they have into realizing a goal.
"My mom was also killed by Shadow Demons. That's why I'll do anything if it's for the sake of Gio-san's……Margils-sama's goal."
The young girl with a dignified face gradually reddens from having gathered the attention of all the nearby warriors and servants.
"Ahaha…… sorry about saying something weird. But well, I heard that the War Tribe warriors are also working hard at fighting against the Shadow Demons…… and since we're in the castle together anyways, so we might as well get along well — is what I think……"
".….."
The words of a young girl who doesn't even reach his chest caused the strongest warrior of the War Tribe to be frozen stock still.
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tenshitranslations | MayoJou Vol 3 Ch 66
Chapter 66: Goddess of Winter
Several days after the dwarves began work on the highway construction.
According to Valbo's request, every morning I have been casting 9 [Create Monster], [Infinity], [Wall of Stone], and [Wall of Iron].
In other words, everyday there have been 27 Forest Giants fiercely cutting down trees and digging away at the mountain. The thunderous noise from this was in no way inferior to that of construction sites in modern Japan.
The original timeline that had been drafted with the Giants' work pace already incorporated was shortened even further. Everything is proceeding smoothly.
It's just that…… after coming to this world, I had gotten used to the overwhelming lack of human-made noise, so…… well, in short, it's really noisy.
♥♦♣♠
"I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to get to you guys until now."
"Ah, um, it's fine……"
In the midst of the ongoing noisiness, I am now with all of the former magic soldier trainees.
We are in the hall of the main tower, which is a significantly quieter place.
Although I had heard from Mora that they had been getting a bit impatient, I still couldn't help but to prioritize other things ahead of them, so the first thing I do is properly apologize to them.
"Even we see how hard you are working for the others, so we understand that there's no helping putting us off for a little while."
"We're totally fine."
To my relief, it's not only the normally obedient Teru, but even Log and Daya are displaying surprisingly acceptive attitudes. I suspect Mora must have helped put in a word or two on my behalf.
More like, when I give it a more serious consideration, I realize that these three are literally the youngest in the castle. I really ought to give them more attention.
"From now on, I am going to teaching you three the techniques needed to make golems. But of course, I'm not going to cram it all into one session. This will be a long process, during which you will also have to help out around the castle…… is that fine with you all?"
"Compared to the Training Facility, this is so much easier, so we're fine."
"Good answer. Then first of all, I'll give this to you guys. I'm sorry that there's only one copy, you guys will have to take turns reading it."
I hand a book to Log.
It is The Primer for Alchemists, from the Alchemist Tool Set.
The contents are as the cover says. It was written by me and my Game Master friend long ago based on the D&B rulebook, meant to be a pretend alchemist manual.
Thanks to The Overlooker, it has already been 'translated' to this world's written language, which was thoughtful of him.
But seriously, Overlooker, dude. If you're going to do it thoughtfully anyways, then I would have really appreciated you thoughtfully removing the depressing and thorny elements too.
"Ummm….."
While I'm absorbed with such thoughts, Teru calls out to me reservedly. For some reason, Log and Daya are looking downwards.
"Yes, what is it?"
"We can't read it."
"Nn?"
It was Log who brusquely replied in place of the troubled-looking Teru.
"None of us knows how to read, so……"
Daya also looks depressed. Which reminds me, I haven't given thought to this world's literacy rate. Mora can handle not only reading and writing but also basic arithmetic, so I ended up letting my guard.
"Wait, but…… didn't they teach you at the Training Facility?"
"No they didn't……"
It sounded like the program needed smarter applicants, so you could have at least taught them how to read and write, Heldol…… Or maybe he thought to dedicate even that time to strengthening their magic?
".….. We, um, are we not needed anymore……?"
As I was feeling righteously indignant about the Magician's Guild's sloppy educational policy, Log hesitantly questions me. Oh no, looks like I've made them worried.
"That's silly, no way that'd be true."
"But…… since we can't study……"
Log and Daya are hanging their heads, while Teru is looking anxious.
"In that case, then let's start with having you three learn how to read and write. Let me think……"
I can comprehend this world's language, but since I'm lacking in the common sense here, I'm not suitable to teach them. In the first place, I can't even free up that much time. Sedam and Irudo both seem like they could teach, but I need them to focus on their current duties. And of course, I cannot burden Mora even more than she already is.
For a second, Claura's face floats up in my mind, but to be safe let's just go with Torad for this.
"That's……"
"Yes, what is it? If it's about Torad, I'm sure he'll teach you kindly, so there's no need to worry."
"Tha-, that's not it. Um, why are you being so nice to us……?"
So asks Log in a quiet voice. What I see in his black eyes is suspicion more than unease.
Up to now, they have continuously been dragged around at the convenience of adults, so I suppose that reaction is only natural.
I had acknowledged his strong will to fight against Shadow Demons. This arrangement was also due to my negotiations with the Magician's Guild. These are proper reasons that I don't think a bad idea to tell him straight. But.
"What do you think I am? A Great Wizard would never abandon a child."
♥♦♣♠
"I see, I understand. Those kids have also been on my mind a bit."
When I went to consult with Torad about this new duty that I had decided on my own, he very quickly accepted it.
"I will bring them up to be devout followers of Ashuginea for you to see."
"Oi."
"Hahaha, I was joking."
Thinking about it, the priests in this world draw their power from the various gods, so those gods probably do exist.
I reflexively retorted like how I would in Japan, but I should probably fix my habit of thinking that religion = questionable.
"Speaking of which, Ashuginea is the Goddess of Winter, right?"
"Yes, she is. What about it?"
"I can't seem to match the element of 'winter' to being the guardian goddess who offers protection against Shadow Demons. Is there some story behind it?"
As my view on religion is still that of a Japanese person, I had intended to not really get into this world's mythologies.
However, now I want absolutely whatever information I can find about focal points. If the goddess Ashuginea is somehow tied to the Shadow Demons, then perhaps I might be able to find a hint. Furthermore, I might also learn something about The Overlooker.
"Hmm, well, Ashuginea being a guardian goddess actually doesn't really have much to do with Shadow Demons."
Oi, it doesn't?
"What it is more connected to is…… Margils-dono, do you know about the 'dragon people'?"
"Nope, not a thing. So they exist in Sedia?"
Did a really amazing keyword pop up all of a sudden?
I kind of want to hear about it, kind of don't want to hear about it……
But the gentle Torad kindly gives me an explanation.
"It seems that they are in an empire that exists on another continent south of Sedia. They are a race that possesses intelligence equal to, or perhaps even higher than that of humans. 200 years ago, that 'Dragon Empire' arrived at the southern tip of Sedia and began setting up a colony. At the time, that area was land belonging to Ran Bolt [Southern Country of the God of War]."
Oh man, isn't that totally an outbreak of war flag?
"At first, the Dragon Empire paid Ran Bolt tribute and also started trading, so Ran Balt gradually ceded them land. But 50 years ago, the Dragon Empire started to invade."
See?
I think the Shadow Demons alone are enough to fill my quota of such people. More like, why haven't I heard about this earlier?
(It was only quite a while after this that I learned there is also a country of giants far in the north……)
"At first, Ran Balt was losing very badly and kept losing large pieces of land. However, the Empire's advance suddenly faltered."
"Hou?"
"It turns out that the dragon people are weak against the cold. After coming north, they learned that they couldn't stand 'winter.' No matter how hard they fought in the summer, they would inevitably become unable to move and get pushed back during wintertime. After this repeated for several years, finally they asked for a ceasefire."
"I see. So that's how the idea that 'winter protects' came to be."
Which reminds me, I think I'd previously heard from someone that there are massive mountain ranges down south that cause sharp climate changes.
"Exactly. It is also said that during winter, the Shadow Demons also don't move about as actively. And this is why Ashuginea is fervently worshipped as the wife of the God of War, Rangah, who is the chief god of Ran Balt, the country whose name means 'Southern Country of the God of War'."
"Fuumu."
While looking at Torad's proud face, only one thought came to my mind.
"Hey, Torad."
"Yes?"
"Is that ceasefire still going on right now? On the off chance, it's not that they are actually gearing up for some massive scale invasion, right?"
"Hahaha. The ceasefire has already been in place for almost 50 years. By the name of Ashuginea, the Goddess of Winter, I assure you there's no way."
Are you sure?
I'm counting on you, Goddess of Winter-sama……
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