Chapter [NaN] |
In response, Daon yelled, "Men――Wolf Half Flight! Adopt Twin Moon - Style Five――――"
It was the name of a tactic characteristic of the ancient wolfmen. Leaving Daon behind as vanguard, the other wolfmen gathered around Higlia.
Daon's armor changed in an instant, from a light version fitting his body to a massive-looking armor. It definitely looked different in style compared to Higlia's. And just as their captain, the other wolfmen also clad their bodies in claw armors, each of them having their own perks.
After changing into armor, they extended further claws, forming straight swords. Those swords looked almost as if they stood for a royal guard protecting their princess.
Only the swords of Daon and Ryokline were different. His claws had changed into a broad bastard sword while she was wielding a rapier with three overlapping blades. Ryokline's rapier slightly resembled the Blade of the Sword of Rendil in my item box.
Higlia handed out further accurate instructions, before looking at me full of affection and telling me, "――Shuuya, the rest is in your hands."
And while sweeping away flies and fallen leaves with her own silver claw swords, she retreated.
"Sure," I replied while still seated on Rollodeen.
Captain Daon was on my right while Jody was on my left. Jody swung her scythe sideways, pruning the branches, leaves, and buzzing flies which would be in her flight's path.
She had apparently sensed the magic sources of people other than the three people facing us in front. At the same time it meant she possessed a skill similar to Grasping Perception. But then again, that's only natural, seeing how she used to be a Death Butterfly woman.
She continued scowling in the direction of the hidden humans. Meanwhile I stopped watching her, and decided to greet the three people in Japanese jackets. While treating my left palm like a gun scope, I extended it towards those three. It's not like I was aiming to launch a surprise attack as Saraten had demanded earlier, but I was still wary of those three.
I was also bothered by the movements of the other magic sources, but I won't summon Baldok in my right hand yet.
Saraten contacted me telepathically, making her excitement obvious.
『……I won't shoot you yet』
『Baaaahh』
『Don't be so upset about it. Who do you take me for?』
『Humph! Thou are mine approved "whimsical vessel"』
『That's how it is』
After finishing the short intermezzo with Saraten, I focused on the three in front once more.
Including the woman with the long-handled weapon in front, all of them wore the same jackets. The color was mostly black.
In addition, the black-haired woman in the center clearly had big boobs. The necklace and broach clinging to her cleavage stood out as well. Some characters or numbers were carved on them as decoration. The other two also had matching, square decorations.
Maybe those necklaces are similar to dog tags.
Focusing on smiling, I said, "…Good day. My name is Shuuya. I'm a B-Rank adventurer. Who might you people be? Are you members of the Skill Search Party?"
I thought it might be okay for me to introduce myself as an adventurer, but…
"Adventurer, you say?"
The black-haired woman raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Using my adventurer occupation as an excuse didn't work. Rather, it apparently made her more wary of me.
A white magic crest surfaced on her black pupils. At the same time, I felt like I could hear a solemn, religious hymn…
Both her eyes were special Demonic Eyes. She used these to glare at us.
"Shady," she muttered.
Maybe her eyes allow her to appraise others?
She stared at Rollodeen and me. And after scrutinizing my outfit, she gazed at my two wrists. Probably because my right wrist got the item box, in addition to the chain factor marks.
I can fully understand why she'd be so alert, but she immediately averted her eyes.
"A Death Butterfly woman, eh…?"
She observed Jody. She didn't pay much attention to Rollodeen and me, and on top of that she seemed to be more bothered about Jody than the wolfmen.
The woman changed the angle of her metallic weapon with its tip having the shape of a wrench. Getting hit by that on the head will definitely crack your skull. Just imagining it makes me already feel the pain.
Next she whirled the weapon around in front of her, and then instructed her friends through eye signals, before ultimately focusing back on us again.
She adopted a stance as if she was going to adjust her outfit while slowly walking sideways.
"…Death Butterfly woman, a legendary being inside the Sea of Trees…," she commented while walking on as if to gauge the distance to us. "Including the ancient wolfmen, it looks like the man over there obeys the Death Butterfly woman as well."
It's understandable for her to believe that I obey Jody, but she's mistaken. It caused me to reflexively smile wryly.
"What's so funny…?" She muttered while lowering one of her eyebrows.
She seemed to feel ashamed and worried by my attitude. Her face was clearly communicating that she was unhappy with this.
That woman pointed the top part of her long-handled weapon at me. And immediately following, her mana was stimulated. She kept pumping mana into her weapon through both hands. Within milliseconds, the handle emitted a faint mana light.
That mana light also occurred for an instant at the wrench-shaped tip, causing the two metallic spears to brightly shine.
The instant the ancient characters on her abundant chest gleamed as well, mana converged in the space between the two wrench arms, causing a flash of light. At the same time of that flash, a round mana cluster manifested.
A cluster of energy? Its intensity was similar to that of a small sun.
"…Obey? Are the humans over there slow on the uptake?" Jody asked while tilting her head and rotating her scythe.
She apparently interpreted the woman's words as an insult towards me. However, it's only normal for humans to feel unrest if they see a Death Butterfly person.
"Jody, stay put for the time being."
"Okay."
Thereupon, the light-brown-haired woman behind the black-haired one spoke up.
"…What bad luck. For us to encounter one of the legendary Death Butterfly people in this huge Sea of Trees of all things…it seems to be unrelated to the guild's secret writings of mysteries, but…it sure is a problem."
She engendered a gloomy mood as if her heart was filled with darkness. I could immediately tell that she was a magician. She had eyes as black as the night. A polished and attractive woman.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you there, but Jody isn't a Death Butterfly woman anymore. She's my subordinate now."
"Your subordinate, you say?"
"As if anyone would believe such silly blathering!" The tall man yelled while emitting a tense atmosphere.
Well, I guess it's logical. We're in the Sea of Trees here, a place thriving with all sorts of forces besides demons.
"It's the truth, you know? If possible, I'd like to know the name of your organization," I asked politely.
The man revealed an irritated expression. The black-haired woman admonished him by calling his name. Her voice was clearly indicating that he should behave for now.
He sensed the will and silently nodded. She nodded in satisfaction, and after instructing him with a jerk of her chin, she looked at me.
"…We belong to 【Guilty Crown】 of the Holy Guild Alliance."
I've heard the name of that alliance she just told me. But, it's my first time hearing about a Guilty Crown. I exchanged a few glances with Daon, Higlia, and Jody, but neither of them seemed to know these guys's guild.
Seeing us being puzzled by those names, the man commented, "Looks like they haven't heard of us, eh?"
He exchanged looks with his teammates while phrasing it in a way that he hadn't expected anything else. The women's looks took on sharp glints, and the both nodded at the same time as if having arranged it in advance.
Seeing me ogle the two women in his party, the man asked, "…Are you really a B-Rank adventurer? For you to not know of our existence…"
Things I don't know, I simply don't know. I recall that I heard from the receptionist during the creation of my adventurer card and also what Naromivas told me, but a Guilty Crown didn't come up in either conversation.
"I only know that you're related to the God of Order Orimeal…I got an adventurer card, though," I answered honestly and took out my adventurer card for the first time in a long time.
But, even after seeing my card, the man obstinately said, "…We keep the order by judging evil adventurers――"
Then he formed a symbol with his hand, resulting in that hand glowing bluely. Seeing that, the black-haired woman nodded and said to the other woman, "We will perform an official hunt as Holy Seal Busters. Lynn, you get ready as well."
At that moment, ancient characters lit up on the chest of the guy called Dogal. He lifted his bluely glowing hand and grabbed the hilt of his sword that had been peeking out beyond his shoulder. And then he drew the sword while leaning his body forward.
———- End of Part 1 ———-
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The light-brown-haired woman saw the magic sword with its conspicuous blue blade and said to Dogal, "…Dogal. You're sure pumped about this. But, the black-haired adventurer isn't on our list, you know? He looks like a beast tamer adventurer who's completely unrelated to our bounty…are you going to work for no pay?"
"We don't have any time to bother with the monetary values of our enemies. Death Butterfly people, demons, the black-haired noble youth, the Demonic Tree Necromancer of the Tree King's army, the monsters under White Lady, the forces of the underground gods, Sebdola's raid troops, ancient wolfmen and many more; all of them are enemies of mankind. Eradicating evil remains the same for all of them."
Going by Dogal's words, he was regarding me as evil, and he wasn't wrong about it either. Light Demon Lucival didn't stand on the side of justice. We are evil just as we are light.
Lynn apparently wasn't entirely convinced by her comrade's words and warily scrutinized me.
"But…what are you going to do about the bounties of the clan 【Travelers of Death】 who betrayed countless adventurers during the subjugation request against White Lady?"
Higlia had mentioned that we need to be careful of the "White Lady" as well, so it looks like she's been causing havoc among the humans as well.
Also, it appears they're chasing after some shady bounties. And going by the numbers they're investing in that pursuit, their adversaries might be a bigger group of humans who are trying to get a foothold in the Sea of Trees.
We're a distance away from Cydale, but still, this place seems to be teeming with all sorts of hostile beings, too.
"We will go after Efoo, Kematen, and their gang later on…"
Are those the members of Travelers of Death?
"Lynn, don't waver. Bounties are wreaking havoc in the entire Sea of Trees area sprawling north of the town of Alze," the black-haired woman said.
"It's just as Azol says. Either way, Azol's sealing barrier got triggered, so we'll regard them as hostile. ――<Seal - Azure Dragon Sword>."
"――No choice, I guess. Invocation of the seal, huh? I'm also one of the seal busters of the Holy Guild Alliance. We will exterminate the wolves alongside the pitiful human adventurer whose mind is being manipulated by the Death Butterfly woman," said the light-brown-haired woman called Lynn to the Azol, the black-haired woman, in front of her.
『Your Excellency, the humans seem to take action that justify their death. Should I punish them?』
『It looks like it'll lead to battle even if I show them my light cross symbol. They might be quite confident because of all the magic sources around us. Oh well, this time Rollo and I will take care of them quickly』
『Okay』
『I…』
『I have no intention to use you, Saraten. I might use that guy though』
『Gnah, ignoring me…how cheeky』
『I don't care』
As I was telepathically talking with Helme and Saraten, Lynn pulled her arms from behind. She was holding a short, its tip adorned with a golden-shining gem in the center of a small ring. Small metallic loops were installed around the gem.
"…Lynn, even if you're a spirit user, don't be careless. Our opponent is one of the legendary Death Butterfly people…," Azol, who seemed to be their leader, cautioned Lynn.
Lynn nodded, "Okay. Pikumil, Ooh, you're up."
Cladding herself in mana, Lynn swung her wand, and in the next instant semi-transparent monster, an earthworm or slug or something like that, suddenly appeared behind her. It was taller than her. And looked quite disgusting. Moreover, several semi-transparent swords manifested as well.
『Helme, are those spirits?』
『It does seem so. At least I think so…』
I guess they're different from Helme.
『…They might be spirits, but there exist all kinds of type. It simply means that you're special, Helme』
『Yes, I'm Your Excellency's water!』, the tiny Helme on the edge of my left visual field looked very happy.
『Let me tell you in advance, this time I won't need <Spirit Ball Conception>. I got some other plans』
『Very well』
Azol declared, "Dogal, be careful. Our comrades around us will soon notice the battle as well. I guess we'll have a little "hunt" as Holy Guild Alliance."
Hunt me? They sure are looking down on me.
She nimbly lifted up her wrench weapon with one arm, pointing its tip upwards, and then shot the cluster of mana, which had been accumulating between the two wrench hands, into the sky. Up there it burst like a firework.
"Roger, leave the vanguard to me then," Dogal growled while readying his magic sword.
At that moment, the slug spirit next to Lynn shot several liquid arrows at us from its mouth.
"――Rollo, let's go for it."
"Nya!"
I let go of the two reins in my hands. But just as usual, their flat tips remained pressed to my neck, allowing me to share senses with Rollodeen.
Divine Beast Rollodeen understood my will right away. She dashed forward at high speed. Meanwhile I clad my body in Magic Combat Style within milliseconds. Next I summoned Baldok in my right hand and Ganghis in my left.
Swinging both spears in all directions, I took down the liquid arrows approaching me. Rollodeen had also timed it well, shooting several of her tentacles out from her torso.
Following that, another cluster of mana was released from Azol's magic wrench. The cluster changed its shape into a bullet form as it flew towards us.
I used my connection with Rollo to tell her to use the trees around us. She skillfully leaped from tree to tree, all the time chased by that magic bullet and a group of liquid arrows.
Well, seeing how they were following us around, I decided that I'd just need to get rid of them directly and cut them apart with my spears, supported by Rollodeen's tentacle.
"Humans! How dare you attack my precious duel partner! You shall not be forgiven, you ungrateful vermin!" Higlia's angry roar reached my ears.
"Shuuya-sama, the enemies in the vicinity are closing in on us," Jody announced.
"Jody, Higlia, you guys take care of the surrounding――"
As I said so, I saw how Lynn had shown a little opening. The instant she switched to remote attacking with her semi-transparent sword, I exploited it, and changed the angle of my spears.
Rollodeen immediately knew what I was planning and shifted from evasive maneuvers to a sudden roll-over. Using her hindlegs to kick off a tree, she explosively closed the distance to the three human adversaries.
At the same time, I concentrated on <Spring of Spirit Blood> and <Call of the Water Goddess>.
"――The Crest Tree of the Lucival!"
"Somehow it looks like a goddess and a shining, blood-dripping wand are visible above Shuuya and Divine Beast-sama?"
I heard from behind me. I don't know whether the effect of <Scepter of the Light Demon> is at play here.
Afterwards, I activated <Water Grace - Demonic Chain Drill> on my two spears. Lynn and Dogal looked shocked, but their response was too slow. The chain attacks of <Water Drills> destroyed the point of the magic sword and the semi-transparent swords.
On top of that, the momentum of Rollodeen and I was unstoppable.
"――Garurururu"
"――Nuoraaaaa"
My and Rollodeen's bodies were clad in a magic wind pregnant with blood, changing the regular charge into a fierce lance charge.
My spears pierced through Lynn's slug spirit, the weird swords were flicked away, and her small wand was crushed with a thick sound. Dogal's magic sword also shattered. And in the end, the spearheads of both my spears simultaneously drilled into their chests.
Their blood sprayed into the vicinity while their bodies got blown away. Of course, I gratefully accepted the blood and sucked it up with <Blood Path - Open Second Gate>.
At that moment, I perceived how Azol's magic wrench was swung down at me from the side. I quickly jumped off Rollodeen while Rollodeen herself evaded by jumping to the right.
After a somersault to the left, I stabbed Ganghis into the ground. And as I landed by killing the force through a rotation, I erased Ganghis and Baldok.
Just when I had quickly dodged Azol's quick attack, a sound rang in my head and the red letters of me having acquired skills floated up in front of my eyes.
※Piiing※ <Blood Drill> skill acquired ※
※Piiing※ <Demonic Chain - Divine Beast Soaring Spear Drill> skill acquired ※
At the same time I focused on Hal'Konk and sent mana into my upper arms. My sleeves immediately emitted a light.
"A smoke screen!?"
Azol distanced herself from me while pointing her wrench in my direction. Then, after lowering her weapon diagonally, she threw something similar to healing potions towards the two others who got blown away.
I checked my surroundings. My friends were fighting against folks who appeared to be members of that alliance.
After making sure of their safety, I deployed my ring-shaped armament that I got from Buu. A cylindrical arm protector consisting of loops extended from my upper arms down to the wrists.
Moreover, just when Azol poured further mana into her wrench, I focused on the acupuncture technique I learned from Kisara, re-activating the Magic Combat Style in one go. Then I touched the Ruby Loop on my finger, and pumped mana into it while imagining how my whole arm would be covered and telling the ring to lend me its strength.
Just as always, the surface of the Ruby Loop puffed up.
"Milord!" Adombraly yelled as he came into existence.
And just as I deployed Armed Demonic Spirit Adombraly, I crossed my hands and glared at Azol through the Ruby Loop.
Suddenly dark flames burst out of the Ruby Loop on my finger. The instant those flames surged forth, the Ruby Loop transformed into a dragon head of dark flames.
"Miloooord!! I'm able to cast illusions going far beyond Illusionary Demon Raizen!"
※Piiing※ <Thime's Darkness Flames> skill acquired ※
"Ooohh――"
『Amazing…』
『I…am…gnah』
I reflexively raised my voice in surprise while Helme admired the new skill and Saraten groaned.
The head of Greater Demonic Dragon Thime, formed by the dark flames, clad both my fists. Adombraly apparently hadn't lied with his words of being able to exceed Raizen.
And then the dark flames on both my arms started to climb upwards across my arms.
Meanwhile Azol was looking for an opportunity to attack. Her eyes were fixed on my flam-clad arms. She was clearly confused.
"…You're…no human, I guess…"
She was sweating on her forehead in panic. But now it was too late. I didn't answer her remark. Capitalizing on my stimulated Magic Combat Style even further, I invoked <Blood Path - Open First Gate>. I fused my thick mana and the blood of <Scepter of the Light Demon>, resulting in the skin beneath my neck being covered by something akin to a corrosion of blood mana.
At the same time, I activated <Beginning Dusk> and <Blood Chain Banquet>. Darkness immediately encroached from underneath my feet. The world of darkness spread. But I made sure to not encompass the ancient wolfmen within.
And then small blood chains crawled upwards, from my neck across my jaw, covering my whole head in the process. Just as I had imagined it, the small chains then transformed into a brilliant protector. Yep, they had become a Blood Visor of the Light Demon.
I could also feel some pain. Apparently I could make fun of Solobo either. Probably because I had imagined the mold in full detail, it has become too stiff. It felt as though many spider legs with sharp tips were stabbing through my skin right into my brain.
This is also very vampiric, so whatever!
※Piiing※ <Spirit Blood Clothing - Lucival> skill acquired ※
Another skill, but I ignored it.
"…Hiii," Azol screamed lightly at my transformation.
Apparently it had a terror effect. Though it might also stem from the mental erosion by <Beginning Dusk>.
Or rather, everyone who had seen me, backed away.
"S-Shuuya-sama…the black wings on you back…"
Even Jody was scared.
But without minding that, I decided that it was time for me to partake in Azol's precious blood. I stepped forward with my left leg, stopping down.
While suppressing my raging blood thirst, I focused on using the step work of the Wind Spear Style 『Half Broken Stick』.
I closed the distance to Azol in an instant. She thrust her magic wrench forward while looking frightened. But, such an attack wouldn't work on me.
Parrying it with my left hand, which was clad in black flames, I let the wrench veer off to side. And right afterwards, I unleashed a barrage of punches with my flame-clad right fist against her whole body.
"Guueeaa!" Azol vomited blood.
Just as she was about to fall over, I grabbed the edge of her jacket, clamped down on her shoulder, and forced her body around with the power of Lucival. While pulling her towards in front of me, I positioned myself so that I was standing right behind her.
And while canceling <Beginning Dusk>, I exclaimed with my visor still on, "Listen up! Azol is still alive! If you don't want your leader to lose her head, stop fighting and moving! Right now, all of you!"
The movements of the Holy Guild Alliance members became a bit duller, but they kept on fighting.
While holding onto Azol, I used <Magic Hand guided by Thought> to jump. And after heading to the side of the battlefield, I unleashed <Thousand Palms of Darkness>. The huge palms of darkness pulverized tree roots and imprinted hand prints on the ground, finally causing the battlefield to quiet down.
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