Sousetsuka

8





They're taking it easy the next day as well.

Lecan threw a question at Arios while they were having their late breakfast.

"Arios. What's a shaman."

"A shaman? Do you mean a mage that specializes in incantations?"

"What's incantations."

"Eh? Is this some sort of test?"

"No. I'm asking because I don't know."

"Eh? You're not being serious right, Master. Err let's see, incantations are a method to put curses on weapons or accessories by using up specific catalysts and mana."

"What are those catalysts."

"I believe they're specific parts from specific magic beasts. I heard the dungeon here hosts many magic beasts whose parts are usable in incantations."

"So the catalysts differ depending on the curse huh."

"I think you need multiple catalysts for each curse. The effects should change depending on things like their combination, mixture and the amount of mana poured as well as the process."

"Are there ways to defend against incantations."

"There might be. I'm not too well versed in the topic myself. Usually you'd have to obtain a Grace item that can counter the specific effects an incantation curse gives off, I believe."

"Can incantations be directly cast on someone someplace away from the caster."

"Eeh... Hmm. I wonder about that. I have never heard about such a thing myself."

"Can a shaman put an incantation on their opponent in a direct confrontation. In other word, are incantations usable in a battle."

"That's... I'm not so sure myself, but I don't think that's possible. I have never heard of shamans getting deployed in wars or combats. The job of a shaman is to put curses on weapons and to hone their skill. Shamans that are capable of putting powerful curses are rare. There is no point in them risking their lives on the front lines."

(This guy's trains of thought are more like of a noble or a soldier than an adventurer.)

In his former world, Lecan had never encountered cursed tools with such immediate and highly potent effects like the ones in this world.

But in exchange, spellcasters that could cast curses from a remote location existed. There were no instant death curses, but the more terrible ones could result in death after several days.

This world doesn't seem to be familiar with the concept of remote curses, but it appears to have ways to enchant things with powerful curses.

Lecan needs to compare and adjust the differences in common sense such as this little by little as he goes.

"Arios-kun. Lecan, you see, could sometimes be super ignorant of the world like this."

"Oh, is that right."

"Un. And I don't think that was a test or anything like that, he really was just clueless."

"Eda."

"Yes?"

"Why do you call this guy Arios-kun."

"I mean, that's cute isn't it."

"No. This guy may look young, but he's undoubtedly older than you."

"No, Lecan-dono. Eda-san is my senpai apprentice. A senior. I'd like if she could call me without honorifics even."

"No no I can't do that. Arios-kun is Arios-kun, the end."

"Okay, well, as long as both of you are okay with it."

Lecan had the <Dagger of Stra> in his Storage. It's a dungeon item with the Graces <Null Curse Resistance> and <Null Poison Resistance>, the dagger wielded by Dovor the assassin to assault Lecan. It had the string of Spotted Spider (Hadrin) attached to it which Lecan removed. According to Shira, the venom of Five-headed Serpent (Zalgoztera) coated on its blade would not lose its effect for some time, thus Lecan has left it on the blade of the sheathed dagger.

Lecan found out that both <Dagger of Stra> and Hadrin's string came from Dungeon Ninae from appraisal.

This dungeon is the kind that drops such weapons.

Since he plans to use <Guardian Jewel of Zana> only as a last resort, he's got to keep <Dagger of Harut> on him all the time.




<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
9





The three of them are strolling the town.

They found a shop selling <Box (Ruuf)> and went inside.

Right now Lecan has his money, equipment, daily necessities, food, all of his possessions inside his <Storage>. It's a skill he acquired in a dungeon, a mechanism entirely different from <Box>. Lecan's <Storage> is incomparably better than this world's <Box>.

That's fine and all, but Lecan has no idea how much money he's got left.

Trying to keep his <Storage> hidden from others whenever he goes shopping is also a pain.

Thus, he's thinking of buying a small <Box> exclusively for keeping his money.

It's called <Box> but it's mostly bags that get the function, and this shop mostly deals in bag-shaped ones. Or more like, they're bags that have been enchanted with <Box> functions.

It's also possible to have <Box> function be put on bags, jars and boxes the customers bring themselves. So long as that particular shop accepts such service, that is. But doing that costs far more than simply buying one outright, thus most people don't do that.

<Box> capacities could go from only tens to fifties times larger depending on how one is made. Anything larger than that is a special order. Apparently some extremely rare mages are capable of expanding the object of <Box> to hundreds times its capacity.

The sturdiness of a bag with <Box> function is proportional to its original sturdiness. Once the <Box> function has been enchanted on a bag, it won't get torn from the inside anymore, and the outer part also becomes sturdier.

That said, a bag is ultimately a bag. A cut will tear it apart, wear will break it. If it gets torn apart, everything inside will spill out.

It's the reason why merchants tend to avoid using <Box> for transporting goods except for specific items. Foodstuff is an exception, but even that only uses a big bag that's been expanded five times its original capacity. For anything larger, the cost of buying a new one, maintenance and replacements will eat into their profit, and it's not easy to cope with incidents involving such <Box>.

Chaney taught Lecan all this stuff. After all Chaney doesn't have the knowledge about how adventurers use <Box> inside a dungeon, neither does Lecan.

Adventurers Lecan spotted in town were carrying two three medium-sized bags on their back, but those won't be enough to put dungeon materials in. Because <Box> cannot store an item bigger than the bag itself.

Lecan bought a fist-sized <Box> and two largish bags that lack <Box>. Also a leather sack to wrap the <Box> in. This is because <Box> is made of cloth, thus by wrapping the outside with a leather sack, it can help reduce tear and wear of the <Box> inside.

Eda bought an accessory case.

Arios was gazing at many kinds of <Box> curiously, but he didn't buy any in the end. Arios already has got at least three <Boxes>. More than enough surely.

They left the store and walked somewhere with a few foot traffic.

Lecan stopped walking, turned around and called out to a woman walking behind them.

"So, what's your business with me?"






Previous Chapter

7





That night, Lecan's group went to <Jade's Restaurant>.

The door that was broken yesterday has been replaced with a new one.

There's a lot of customers merrily making noise inside.

Which means, <Vega> isn't here today. Thought Lecan, but it turns out they're drinking around two joined round tables like they were yesterday.

Lecan looked around inside the restaurant while finding this situation unexpected, he couldn't find an open seat so he turned around to leave the establishment.

"Lecan!"

Lecan turned back and saw Cozwolth standing up while grandly waving at him.

"Oy! <Willard>'s made their entrance! Open up some seats for these three!"

Other guests jammed themselves together and freed one round table.

"C'mere! C'mere! Lecan! Come over here!"

As Lecan walked toward the seats, he lightly bowed at the guests who crammed together for those seats before sitting on one. This restaurant's chairs are all large. Probably because it's got a lot of big customers, this fact alone is most pleasing to Lecan who finds all other restaurants have small chairs.

"OOY, waiter! Brink these three their drinks! Two glasses of ale and tea. My treat!"

"Sorry for the trouble, Cozwolth."

"That's my line, Lecan. We got way too worked up having fun yesterday, musta been a bother to you."

"Nah. Fights make for a good side dish for your drink."

"UWAHAHAHAHAHA. You got that right!"

"That's this restaurant. They even fixed up the door and chairs in no time at all."

"Got the cheap ones tho'."

"Exactly what makes it all the easier to fool around. Most importantly, they can serve good food for their customers tonight thanks to the speedy fix. That's the best."

"Damn straight. Tell me 'bout it."

The two laughed together.

"I'm shocked, I thought Lecan didn't like talking to others with how curt he usually is."

"Master hits it off really well with these types, doesn't he."

Eda and Arios next to him were talking about something.

"Tonight's a nice night! Alright, waiter! I'm treatin' the whole bunch here a glass of ale each!"

The entire restaurant cheered loudly with Cozwolth's declaration.

"Add another glass from me after that. Guys, as a newcomer here, I offer you my best regards!"

An even louder cheer resounded with Lecan's announcement.

Afterward, it was simply one real huge uproar.

All adventurers inside the restaurant walked up to Lecan one after another, treating and getting treated themselves endlessly.

By the time Lecan dealt with everyone, he had drunk dozens of glasses.

Eda and Arios sneakily went to the waiter and ordered every recommended dish on the menu. Most of it went into Lecan's stomach, but Eda and Arios got their shares as well.

Just as the crowd around Lecan receded, the slender swordsman of <Vega> walked up and took a seat next to him.

"Heya, Lecan."

"You're, <Vega>'s swordsman right."

"Call me Beck. Pleased to meetcha'."

"Same here."

The two shared a toast.

"Pheeew. That was quite a show you did at noon."

"The onlookers were saying something about those old men belonging to Shaman Association or something."

"They are. And that shitty old man is the association's head honcho. Been one since a long time ago."

"Humm."

"That shield y'see"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Hum?"

"I said! That shield!"

"Oh, sorry. It's so loud here couldn't catch you for a sec there."

"They've been dangling that shield as bait to lure unwitting participants in."

"Really."

"But that miserable tournament is finally no more."

"What's so miserable about it."

"The winner gets to take that shield. That person then gets cursed. They lose the strength to even stand or lift the shield. And yet the shield won't come off them."

"It's got that kind of curse huh."

"That's when the Shaman Association's leader comes in, he'll tell them he's got just the right spell to undo the curse. But it also just so happens to require a special catalyst."

"Hou. Must be expensive."

"They ask for one <Shield of Wolkan> and two gold coins for it. The association will force the victim to go fetch magic beast mats they want if the victim can't pay."

"That's shitty."

"Right. It's shitty."

"Can you get a cursed shield from a treasure chest?"

"Nah. Never heard of that."

Meaning that curse was put on the shield by the Shaman Association themselves.

Lecan suddenly found it funny and laughed out loud.

Beck the swordsman laughed together with him.

"Beck-san."

Arios called out to Beck.

"Ou. What's up?"

"A party conquered the dungeon here yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, they did."

"Are they not holding a celebration?"

"Pretty sure the town lord invited them in and gave them congratulatory cash reward. Originally they would have dropped by here and partied hard, but probs not this time around."

"Did something happen?"

"One of their party members kicked the bucket. A guy called Doren, a healer. Was quite a tough one, that guy."

"Oh, I had no idea."

"A party with a healer works with the assumption of having one readily available since that's what they're used to. <Jaira>'s probably gonna written out of the top groups now. Well, those guys' got some nice houses in this town, and also lotsa fortune too I'm sure. Might be a good time for 'em to retire from adventuring business."

"What does an adventurer do after they retire?"

"You can find plenty of work here in this town if yer' an ex-adventurer. Or rather, excluding women and the really weak bunch, the vast majority of peeps working here in this town are former adventurers. The guys who found their calling in other line of work would skedaddle out of this town after all."

"Come to think of it, every one of the people behind counters at Adventurer Association seemed very strong."

"No one's dumb enough to go wild there. Place's crawling with former top class adventurers."

"This restaurant's owner seems to be quite skilled himself."

"Ya mean Jade? That one's a real deal, he's a monster. Even now in his retirement. Guy himself looks like some goody two shoes you could find everywhere at a glance, you must be pretty good yerself' if you could see through it."

"Not at all. It was just a hunch of mine."

Meaning it's not uncommon for adventurers to stay in this town long enough until retirement.

That's quite curious.

Thought Lecan as he listened to the two talking.





Previous Chapter

Chapter 340 Strongest Sage, Identity Seen Through

 

"You cannot be the only man who has ever managed to kill me... Gaias the Mage...?"

"I'm not Gaias... In the same sense the current you not being Zadokilgias."

Gaias was the name of my previous life.
I am now Mathias Hildesheimr, not Gaias.

In a similar sense, the demon in front of me may have inherited Zadokilgias's soul and memories, however it's a different demon in the strictest sense.
This demon probably has its own name... But it doesn't really matter either way.

Zadokilgias will die here regardless.
Utterly and completely for sure this time.

"My defeat comes from your hands yet again... I considered myself triumphant in term of techniques back then... But I have no excuses this time."

Most of Zadokilgias's body has crumbled down into sands.
Zadokilgias turned to face me with a vexed look on its face.

My current mana is less than 30% of Zadokilgias's.
Physical strength wise, I'm far below demons.
Yet I won, thanks to the gap in our skills and support from my comrades.

In our previous fight, I was magically stronger than Zadokilgias but less in term of skills.
The situation is reversed this time. I'm weaker than Zadokilgias in magical prowess, but my skills exceed the demon.
For a demon who prides itself on its skills, it must have been a disgrace.

"...I'll come out victorious next time."

Zadokilgias disappeared into sands, leaving those words behind.
Only a pair of horns that grew out of its heads remained.

However, I know that there will never be [next time].
There is simply no way to reincarnate oneself once their soul has completely fallen apart.
...That's just how it is with souls.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
◇

"Now then... How to proceed from here."

A while later.
All of us have gathered, surveying the area where we fought Zadokilgias.

"I broke so many things... Will it be okay?"

Iris, back in her human form, asked me.

"It's fine. The town might be seriously damaged... But this is the least egregious method. If you hadn't fought, Iris, the entire town would have perished."

What I said is true.
This town would have been lost for sure if we didn't kill Zadokilgias.

With Zadokilgias, the buildings themselves would probably be intact... but not the people.
After all, towns targeted by Zadokilgias in the past had tragic outcomes.

That demon was more efficient than your average demon... For example, after killing its suppression party, it would likely go on to spread poisonous gas where the refugees took shelter at, killing them.
People in the past wouldn't have regarded Zadokiligias as a risk if it was the kind of demon who would only attack back its suppression parties.
Demons are creatures that relish in killing humans no matter the means.

There were structural damages in the aftermath of this fight... and zero casualties.
It's undoubtedly all thanks to Iris.

"That said... Putting these back together would be daunting."

Since Iris had to physically launch her attacks inside the town, the collateral damage was extensive.
At any rate, we probably have to rely on the kingdom's support to help with this town's restoration.
I guess I should first report what happened to the king and then ask him to send goods and manpower here.

I sensed mana reaction of a lone man coming here from afar while I was thinking.

"Someone's coming."

...It's probably not a commoner.
No commoner would come back to this town right after the dragon vanished post a battle with a demon.
I observed the mana reaction while slightly upping my wariness.

Then... The man showed up from a street corner.

"It looks like... Someone from the Knights."

"Ah, I've seen that person somewhere before, I think!"

Ruli and Alma said that when they saw the man.
Looks like it's a knight.

However... I've never seen his uniform and unit badge before.
Knights wear slightly different uniforms and badges depending on the unit they belong to.
Like say, you could tell which unit a knight belongs to by whether or not they're wearing a full plate armor, and their badge.

But Alma is right, the man's face looks familiar.
I can't recall his name, but he's probably someone affiliated with the royal capital's knights.





Previous Chapter

17-51. Guardians of the World (1)

 

Satou here. All kinds of deities exist in all part of the world, but I feel like there's a trend where the creator deity--the deity who created the world would then entrust the rest to the children or subordinate deities.
So nice how you can just create then forget the rest, as an unneeded programmer stuck to debugging, I kinda yearn for it.



◇



"--You beat her."

Arisa murmured.

"You could tell?"
"Un, somehow. How master has ceased to be human was transmitted to me after all."

Looks like she found out through Familiar Link that I've attained godhood.

"Master's level has returned too."
"Come to think of it--."

The Skill and Title systems have been restored before I realized.

However, I don't see revived Kagura around.
If I'm not mistaken, she was saying 『--I'll get revived on my own. The signal for that will be when your last Unique Skill gets activated, Ichirou.』, but since she didn't say 'Right away', I guess I could only wait now.

She might even be planning the best timing for her entrance right about now.

"Gogogogogo~?"

Right after Tama said that, the Netherworld began to crumble down even faster.
The me now can sense it. It's heading toward a total collapse after losing its master.

I retrieved the Divine Sword and Godreaping Scythe god Parion used, along with my two broken rainbow swords into Storage and escaped to the human world together with the small spaceship.



◇



A small spaceship is floating quietly above human world's sky.

"We're back to our world."

Lulu muttered that word vividly as she looked up at the sky, everyone breathed out a sigh of relief all at once. I reported to my beloved Aze-san waiting at the Solitary Island Palace that we had settled the matter with Demon God. I was tempted to propose to her right there and then, but I held myself back. Gotta hold on until we're face to face.

I saw Tama's ears twitching in the corner of my vision.

"Nyu~"
"Satou."

I followed Tama's and Mia's line of sight to be greeted with Sera clad in emerald light.

"..."

She's looking at me with a deeply sorrowful look on her face.

"Tenion-sama, right?"
"...Pillars."

God Tenion spoke through Sera's body.

"This world will fall into ruin now that it has lost its pillars."

Well now, if that doesn't sound ominous.

"F-fall into ruin?"

Lady Karina shouted in shock to hear god Tenion.

"Oh no~?"
"Pochi doesn't really get it, but it must be really bad nanodesu!"
"Liza, know~?"
"It means the world will disappear."
"Oh gee~sass~"
"Emergen nanodesu!"

Tama and Pochi are moving about restlessly.

The other girls seemed to be greatly shocked by god Tenion's revelation.

"It'll be alright."

Gotta clear up the misunderstandings.

"What do you mean all right! With you and me being the only gods left, this world won't hold up! Even if we could, it wouldn't last longer than 100 years at most. If we could at least get Dragon God-sama to help it could turn out differently, but that person has no interest in maintaining the world."

Yup, I know.

Kagura is just that kind of girl.

But there's no need to worry.

"In other words, everything will be fine so long as we have all seven gods right?"
"That can't be done, it's why--"
"Oh it sure can."

I called Demon Lord Shizuka here with Unit Arrangement.

"Sorry for calling you without warning. Mind lending me a hand?"
"Eh? No, I don't really mind?"

After getting Shizuka's OK, I took [God's Fragments] out of four girls--Liza, Nana, Mia, Zena-san.
Green, vermilion, indigo and orange colored lights are floating around me.
Unlike [Demon God's Fragments], they're all very quiet.

"Hikaru, are you alright with it?"
"Un, of course I am."

The Unique Skill Hikaru received during her hero summoning, [Friendship (Get along with everyone)], dissolved into particles of blue light.

"Do you intend to revive gods from their fragments?"
"Yes, that's the plan."
"How many thousands of years would that take! You and I can wait, but not the world. It's going to take 100 years at the latest no matter how hard we try!"

It's rare to see god Tenion this hysterical.

"Oh it won't take that long--<<Storage>>."

I put away the fragments in my Storage.
My Storage wasn't able to store living beings originally, but now that my Authority as Administrator has been liberated, it can be done no problem.

"Next up--Unit Creation 『Heraruon』."

A boy clad in an orange-colored light emerged in front of me.
He's a bit young, but this much is the limit with only fragments.

It seems his Authorities have been severely weakened as well, but he should have enough Divinity to maintain the barrier.

"Unit Creation 『Garleon』 『Urion』 『Zaikuon』 『Karion』."

Boys and girls clad in their own respective colored lights manifested.
Since I didn't have a fragment of god Zaikuon I tried making him out of his Sacred Treasure [Zaikukan] I had in my storage, turned out fine. Sacred Treasures must have been created using a tiny amount of fragments.

And lastly--.

"--Unit Creation 『Parion』."

A little girl clad in blue light appeared.
Her absentminded face surveyed the surroundings and then turned and nodded at me after she saw the five boys and girls-turned gods.

"Do you know who you are?"
"""YES, CREATOR GOD-SAMA."""

Who the heck's creator god.

Their egos appear to have been reset, but I'm sure they'll grow up to their former selves eventually.

"Your missions are to help god Tenion support this world and watch over the people here. Please give them your aid before or after a great disaster that's out of their hands befall them."
"""YES, CREATOR GOD-SAMA."""

I mean, letting everything be taken care of by gods would stunt humanity's growth.

"This should be fine, right Tenion-sama?"
"Y-yes. There is no problem, Creator God-sama."

Like I'm saying, who the heck's creator god.

I see that god Tenion must be tired.

"...Geez."

I look at the girls, asking for help.

Everyone is looking at me their own way.
Among them, Tama who was flopping down on a rug at her own pace had her ears twitched.

"Nyu~?"

Her eyes are turned beyond the void sky.

--ＡＬＥＲＴ.

All the small spaceship's monitors turned red along with that warning.

『Satou! I've got a call from Saze of Beriunan, their early warning satellites have detected Bizarre Creatures approaching fast!!』

A flustered Aze-san reported in from Solitary Island Palace.

It appears those Bizarre Creatures have made their way in when the barrier that was concealing our planet went down when many gods died.

"I-it's those Endless... Forget 100 years, the world is ending today."

God Tenion was being pessimistic, but I've got more pressing matters to attend than caring for her right now.

『Thanks for the report. We have detected them as well. Commencing extermination.』
『Thank you, Satou. Please don't get hurt--』
"You can exterminate them?!"

God Tenion shouted, interrupting my beloved Aze-san's voice.

"Yes, of course."

The old me aside, it's a piece of cake to me now.


<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
◇



"Let's do this, girls."

I Unit Arranged the small spaceship into satellite orbit.

Since this ship is rather lacking, I recreated the large spaceship sunk in Netherworld using Unit Creation and put everyone on board.

『Satou, the early warning satellites have all been obliterated. We have lost contact with not only the outermost first line, but the second and third lines as well.』

Saze-san of Beriunan Clan contacted us.

『Satou, [Burgtom Eye] set in the third line have all been destroyed. The enemy ranks consist of not only Jellyfish and Dark Grey. Visuals aren't clear because they're too far away, but we have detected Silver and Black Spheres as well.』

This time it's Keze-san of Burainan Clan.

I Unit Arranged our spaceship to the relay point located between the third line and the planet.

"Waarning~?"
"There's enemy nearby nanodesu!"
"Lulu, take a defensive maneuver. Tina, support her."

They shot down the dark grey monsters that came close with pulse laser cannons.

Judging from what I've seen on my Map, there's quite a heavy number of these monsters all around us.
There's innumerable Silver and Dark Grey monsters, there's even a few of the Black Octopus that gave me trouble outside the planetary orbit.

"T-this is gonna be a tough nut to crack."
"We're outnumbered, so I report."
"It'll be fine. We've got reinforcements."
"Reinforcements?"

Light dots got displayed on the bridge's radar dome behind Arisa who was tilting her head in confusion.

"Here comes reinforcements~?"
"Light Ships."

Mia put up the images caught in ship's telescopes on the main monitor.
It's a formation of Light Ships with the elves riding on them.

A light ship leading the way docks on our space ship, Aze-san who's riding that ship is coming here through the tube connecting the ships.

"Jules Verne is there too!"

Looks like lady Ringrande and Saga Empire's heroes have come running as well.

"Over here too!"

Zena-san pointed at figures of dragons cruising in space.

"That's Heiron person nanodesu!"
"And he's together with Ten-chan and aunty Ancient Dragon."
"Heiron and the gang are here too huh--that's reassuring."
"'Too', are you saying those dragons aren't the reinforcements you were talking about, Master?"
"Yeah, the one I'm referring to is--"

Unit Creation--Dragon God Akon Kagura.

A rainbow-colored gigantic object manifested next to our space ship.

I got fascinated by the beautiful figure for a while when the rainbow dragon howled once as if to remind me.

"Was I being too hasty?"
"Not at all. I had expected this outcome."

A little girl with rainbow-colored hair--Kagura showed up on the ship.
She exists at the same time as the Dragon God floating outside.

"W-who?"
"Daughter of Tachibana. Do you not recognize me?"

Kagura called Arisa by her former name before reincarnating.

She's speaking in a theatrical tone somehow.

"Who--wait, are you Mi-chan?"
"Indeed. Patron Deity of the shrine you lived at during your early years--"
"--Ame-no-Mizuhana-Hime-sama!"

Hikaru hugged Kagura's small body.

『Umu, Miko of Takatsuki, you appear to be in good health too.』

Kagura received Hikaru's charge without flinching and gently brushed her hair.

"Why would my lady be here?"
『That is the form I take in this world.』

Kagura turned her line of sight at the rainbow dragon outside the window.

"--Dragon God Akon Kagura-sama."
"Indeed, o daughter of dragon worshiping clan. I am Akon Kagura. I shall grant you who serves upon Ichirou the honor of calling me Kagura."
"I'm unworthy of such honor."

Liza proudly fell prostrate at Kagura's word.

"Kagura~?"
"That's such pretty rainbow-colored hair nanodesu!"
"Umu, you two have nice fur yourselves."
"Nihehe~?"
"Feel free to pet Pochi's fur more nodesuyo?"

Tama and Pochi are completely unaffected.

"Dragon God-sama, we are currently under invasion from Outsiders."
"Tenion huh. Worry not. Leave this spot to me."
"Very well, then I shall protect the land along with other gods."
"Umu."

Kagura looks at me.
I could guess what she was going to do, thus I nodded to give her my consent.

Kagura bloomed into smile, she looked somewhat similar to Arisa.

『Come forth, my familiars!』

As Kagura commanded with both her arms wide open, rainbow colored lights filled the void sky, dragons of many colors began to materialize one after another.

Platinum, golden, silver heavenly dragons.

Crimson, jasper, ocean blue, earthen yellow ancient dragons.

White, blue, red, green, blue--colorful-looking true dragons.

All the dragons my Meteor Shower annihilated at Dragon's Valley had showed up, they happily flew all around to greet Dragon God (Akon Kagura) before forming orderly lines.

The sight of thousands of dragons systematically forming into one united formation was quite spectacular to behold.

"Let's do this, Ichirou."

Kagura held out her hand to me.

I took her hand and Unit Arranged on to the rainbow dragon's head.

『We're not gonna lose ourselves!』
『Yes Arisa.』

After attaining godhood, I can move around in space like it's normal, and I can also watch and listen to Arisa and the girls.

I see--gods are omnipresent huh.



◇



"Here's a greeting."

Kagura spoke, then a rainbow colored flame shot out of Dragon God Akon Kagura's mouth.
A moment later, space-shaking laser-like torrents of flames burned down the army of bizarre creatures with a flash, creating a kilometers-wide hole right in the middle of enemy ranks.
The destructive power is no joke, but it fits well with the image of this strongest girl.

『...So this is a breath of Dragon God-sama.』
『It's like I'm looking at Colony Beam or Wave Motion Gun.』

As always, Arisa spoke of references from some old classic anime masterpiece.

『Enemy, incoming~?』
『Satou-san, the enemy is invading from outside Dragon God-sama's attack range.』

Tama murmured followed by Zena-san's report.
A swarm of fast-moving Silver Creatures assaulted us as we advanced.

"Go! My familiars!"

As Kagura swung her arm, the dragons following her flapped their wings and went off to intercept those creatures.
Apparently the dragons are using ether flowing in space as replacement for winds.

『Alright, we're heading out too!』

With Arisa's command, Lulu and princess Sistina shoot out short range lasers.
Sera is in charge of regulating defensive barriers and engines, Nana is handling the side ships. Core Two is inside the sub-control compartment as a co-pilot.

『Dog Hero Pochi, Dragon Steed Lyuryu, capatult launch nanodesu!』

--ＬＹＵＲＹＵＲＹＵＵＵ.

Pochi riding the white dragon sortied out of the large spaceship's catapult.

Pochi and her Exosuit on top of her golden armor aside, this battlefield is a bit too much for the lesser dragon Lyuryu.
There's one thing I could do to help, however--.

"You should just follow your whims, Ichirou."
"--I got it."

I had my reservations, but with Kagura pushing my back, I put it into action.

Administrator Authority--Racial Evolution: Lesser Dragon => True Dragon.

Lyuryu's body got wrapped in rainbow light before it doubled in size.
Since my Map's info showed its race as [True Dragon], that evolution went without a hitch.

--And here's an extra.

Lyuryu's body shined, then an exosuit matching Pochi's clad its body.
Since Lyuryu was wearing golden armor for dragon already, this much was no big deal.

Pochi and Lyuryu clashed with the silver bizarre creatures that was drawing near at near one percent of speed of light.
Pochi unleashed her finishers while shouting out "Nanodesu!"

『[Black Spear] Liza, to arms!』
『And Tama too~?』

Following after Pochi, Liza wearing her large exosuit, and Tama who had taken a seat on Liza's shoulder also launched out of the catapult.
Black Dragon Heiron came flying from beyond, letting Liza and Tama ride his back before heading off to assist Pochi.

『Pochi's group defeated their second Dark Grey. Dark Grey--2 sunk, 7 serious damage.』
『Silver--1 sunk, 3 minor damage. Liza has killed one Silver, so I report.』
『That's our Liza-san!』

Those girls appear to have seized sure fire means to victory at the end of their hectic offense and defense.

As for me, I have spread divinity strings across the space riding on ether flows in order to defeat my match.
I've been using [All Map Exploration] every time the strings reach a new unexplored region, but I still haven't caught even a shadow of the [Boss].
Kagura would probably tell me if I asked, but I don't want to rely on her for everything so I'm gonna look with my own power.

『--Large bizarre creature ahead. It's an unknown type!』
『Glittering sprinkles, caution.』
『Aircraft carrier is it! Mia, unleash your void sky spirits!』
『Nn.』
『Arisa, I shall deploy my void sky golems.』
『The legless golems big-wigs just don't get huh, righto!』

Princess Sistina launched Full Vernier-type golems through the space ship's catapult one after another.
Then Mia's exclusive destroyer-class sized Nautilus IV went on with the golems to obliterate the small bizarre creatures deployed by the carrier-type creature.

『We're here to help, Satou!』
『My void sky spirits ain't gonna lose!』

High elves riding laser-shooting Light Ships and Nautilus β, which had been modified to be easier to manage, also helped destroying the smaller creatures.
Since it's dangerous, I ask the light ships to join our spaceship to form a fleet and help shooting down the enemy from afar.

『We have the upper hands fighting off the small fry--oh no. Arisa-chan, a group of Dark Grey is rushing here to crush our interceptor unit.』
『That's bad. Mia's spirits won't be enough--can we ask Liza-san's group for help??』

『Arisa-chan, we will sortie out too!』
『Yes, just leave the small fry to us desuwa!』

A large fighter craft launched out of catapult.
Raka who's interfacing directly with the craft assists with the craft's anti-gravity movements.

The fighter craft joined Nautilus series to annihilate the dark grey creatures that were hunting down golems while routing all smaller creatures it came across in its acrobatic courses.
Large creatures that have breached the line manage to encircle the craft since it was focusing too much on the dark grey creatures.

『Watch out, Zena-tan!』
『It's okay--』

The spell-assist functions installed on the craft invoked Zena-san's wind magic in the void sky.

『--Tempest.』

With the craft in the center, ether flowing in the void sky turned into a storm that also brought forth tornado and electrical discharge phenomenon, exterminating the smaller creatures all at once.
Only the carrier type remained in the wake of destruction caused by Tempest.

『--We've got a clear visual on enemy!』
『Karina-dono, now's our chance!』
『Yes, Raka-san!』

The cockpit's canopy of the fighter craft opens up as it moves at full speed.

『Full Throttle Boost! Ultra Great Spinning Karina KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII---』

This unfortunate naming sense must have been Arisa.
Lady Karina flew out perpendicularly toward the carrier type at super high speed while rotating like a drill.

『Astral Thrust.』

Zena-san's wind magic accelerated Lady Karina even further.

『--IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!』

Lady Karina's pierced through the carrier-type deck at speed far faster than sound.

Intense sparks were flying everywhere as the carrier's deck got instantly pulverized when lady Karina vanished inside it before breaking through the other side of the creature after a slight pause.
The carrier type creature broke into two while wailing loudly, perishing.

Right before lady Karina got swallowed in the flash and explosion, Zena-san came flying and collected lady Karina into the fighter craft.

We're about done dealing with the small fry.

The real big bad is about to make its entrance.

『--Incoming Black Octopus class ahead!』




※ Next update is planned for 3/1




Previous Chapter

6





"You, name?"

"Lecan."

The umpire was going to hand over a club to Lecan, but he declined.

"No need."

"What?"

The umpire glared at Lecan for a second before walking off to his opponent and handed the man his club.

"To the east, Lecan! To the west, Hugled! Match, start."

Once the match kicked off, Lecan's opponent, Hugled swiftly took a stance. His shield is rectangular. Not too thick though. He hovers his shield in front of his body vigilantly while carefully watching ahead behind the shield's cover.

Lecan slightly lowers his waist, completely covering his entire body behind his giant shield.

Jeers and boos coming from the spectators were the loudest so far.

"Oy oy! How're ya gonna see ahead!"

"Can you even move that shield?!"

Of course Lecan can see ahead of him. And the back. Everywhere. Directions and obstructions mean nothing to <3D Perception>. Lecan has a complete grasp on the action his opponent makes beyond his shield.

The man appears to be bewildered. The club in his right hand is swaying randomly, reflecting the state of its holder's mind.

Lecan suddenly grabbed his shield horizontally with both his hands and mowed it upward over the ring.

Lecan was trying to knock his opponent out of the ring with the attack, but his opponent's shield got caught on Lecan's shield due to the way it was set, launching Hugled high up into the air.

He flew high up in the air before crashing on the tent.

The shafts supporting the tent fell out, the tent ended up falling over the three elderly men.

The place was wrapped in silence for a moment before erupting out.

"Nice goin'. Big dude!"

"That was awesome. Raw powah!"

"Did ya see that, the look on those shitty Shaman Association's old men was priceless!"

Lecan looked at the umpire.

"T-that's it! Lecan won!"

Lecan took a seat on the winner's hangout.

More matches progressed on, and the first round was finally over.

Eleven people remained in the winner's hangout.

"And now we will commence! The second round! We're not accepting bets anymoreee. Watch and see if your bet win the tourneyyyyyy!"

The audience cheered, then the umpire named the contestants who would lead the opening to the second round.

"You and you, get up."

He called Gonza to the east side.

"What's yer name?"

"Gonza."

The umpire apparently can't be bothered to memorize contestants' names.

Then a match between Gonza and Cless begun.

Gonza was kept on the defensive, patiently observing his opponent's ability.

Cless pressed hard on Gonza with relentless assaults, and looked like he had the upper hands at a glance, but he'd most likely get done in by a hard counter.

Just as Lecan predicted, Gonza was the winner.

Gonza stole a glance at Lecan when he was going back to his seat after taking in the cheering.

"Next up, Lecan, get up. And, you."

The umpire who seemingly couldn't bother to memorize contestants' name appeared to remember Lecan's.

"To the east, Lecan! To the west, Paltio! Match, start!"

Paltio is a bearer of the next biggest shield after Lecan among the participants.

It's a square shaped flat shield with a smooth surface. Lecan saw through his caliber as an experienced adventurer. Paltio also declined his club. Must be pretty confident in his shield skill.

Lecan took a step forward, and just like in his first match, grabbed his shield horizontally and swung it upward.

Paltio quickly crouched, set his shield's lower part on ground, leaned the upper half backward and hid himself behind it. The execution was flawless without any hesitation.

With that stance, Lecan's attacks would be repelled away no matter how strong they are. Lecan himself would likely lose his balance. That is if he simply swings his shield.

Lecan changed the trajectory of his shield, and when he had it over his head, he adjusted the angle and struck down using the shield's lower part.

At this point, Lecan's shield is situated perpendicularly against Paltio's, robbing him means to parry it away or force his way out of it.

Paltio's shield is set on ground. Meaning he cannot move.

In a state where he couldn't move an inch, Paltio's shield took a direct blow from a full swing down of Lecan's shield with his entire weight behind it.

CLANK, with a tremendous sound, Paltio's shield got bent and cracked.

Paltio himself has suffered a grievous injury, he's got no strength left to fight back.

Lecan immediately stopped moving and waited for the umpire.

However, the umpire wouldn't budge or speak.

Lecan raised his shield.

Paltio would die if he launched another attack.

But it can't be helped.

The umpire finally spoke at the exact moment Lecan was about to swing down his shield.

"T-that's it. Lecan won!"

Lecan relaxed and dropped down his shield.

The umpire ran up to Paltio and removed his shield.

Paltio's left leg was bent to an impossible angle.

The upper half and lower half of his body are off base and bent, blood is gushing out of his mouth. His spine is broken, his entrails appear to have taken enormous damage.

"Red potion! Hurry up!"

With the umpire's order, the MC man grabbed a large red potion from the basket and rushed back.

The umpire skilfully put that inside Paltio's mouth, restoring his off-base body back, straightening up his leg and stopping the bleeding.

Lecan sat back in the winner's hangout.

Eventually, Paltio walked down the ring while borrowing the MC's shoulder, the umpire cleaned up Paltio's shield and surveyed the remaining contestants to pick for the next match.

Someone stood up.

It's Gonza.

"I'm abstaining."

He immediately walked off just like that without waiting for a reply.

"Me too."

"I too will excuse myself."

"I'm outta here. Like hell Imma up against that."

Other contestants left, leaving only Lecan behind.

Lecan stood up in the emptied winner's hangout.

"Guess it's my victory then."

The umpire sent a glance behind Lecan.

With his <3D Perception>, Lecan sensed how the eldest man among the three elderly, the one with a necklace on him nodded.

"Victor, Lecan!"

A huge cheer resounded.

Followed by jeers as loud as the cheers.

Lecan ignored all the spectators who called out to him and briskly walked to the desk.

<Shield of Wolkan> is put on top of the desk.

The necklaced old man stood up and turned to face Lecan.

"Congratulations on your victory. You have gained the right for this <Shield of Wolkan>. Come, do place your hand on your prize."

"<Appraisal>"

"What?"

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >



<Name: Shield of Wolkan>

<Type: Shield>

<Endurance: Flawless>

<Graces: Anti-Magic Defense, Anti-Physical Defense, Contract (Pirua) Expand (Pashoot)>

※ Expand must be commanded by the one who does Contract.

<State: Cursed>

※ Those who hold this shield will have their muscles atrophied to near death state

※ Those who hold this shield cannot remove it

※ This curse ignores Curse Resistance





"Fumu."

Lecan put down the great shield on his right hand to the ground, drew the <Dagger of Harut> on his waist and scratch the surface of <Shield of Wolkan> with it.

"T-that's, that dagger, n-no, it can't be."

<Dagger of Harut> would suck away any curse afflicting someone if you scratch them with it, thus it should do the same to a cursed item.

"<Appraisal>."

The curse has been lifted.

Lecan held the shield on his left hand.

"<Contract>."

The shield transformed into a gauntlet that fit right on Lecan's left hand.

"Fumu. I'm keeping this."

"H-hold it right there!"

"Is there a problem?"

"T-that <Shield of Wolkan>."

"A prize for the winner."

"N-no. I mean no, that's"

"What's wrong with this shield?"

"It's a valuable item, the only one Shaman Association has."

"I see. So it is valuable. You have my thanks. Well then."

The necklaced old man kept prattling on and on behind him, but Lecan gave him no crap.

He picked up his great shield and walked to the spot Eda and Arios were waiting.

"Thanks for waiting, let's go."

"Lecan, congratulations on winning."

"That was amazing. In more ways than one."

Someone called out to him.

"O-oy, you."

The one calling him was a middle-aged adventurer carrying a shield full of scratches.

"What is it."

"Are you really all right, what about the curse?"

"Curses don't work on me. I have means to lift them off."

"What?"

The place fell into silence, everyone who was present there heard what Lecan said.

When Lecan's group was about to depart, a round of applause resounded before turning into a huge cheering.

"Well done!"

"That felt great!"

"Tournament of Misers is finally over now!"

"You're awesome, Wall Man!"

"Wall Man!"

"Wall Man!"

With sounds of cheering in the background, Lecan murmured.

"Wall Man?"

"Isn't it because you were swinging around a wall-like shield?"

"Or maybe the way you fought unwaveringly was reminiscent of walls."

In any case, that nickname doesn't sit right.

But it doesn't really matter to Lecan.

(Can't wait to check out this new shield.)

Lecan is in a good mood.





Previous Chapter

5





This town is several times larger than Golbul.

Lots of stores of all kinds are open for business around the dungeon's entrance.

It's evident so many of those stores are selling shields and bows.

Lecan has heard this dungeon tends to drop bows, perhaps it's true for shields as well.

Lots of armor and combat gear stores as well.

Same with weapon stores naturally, but most specialize in spears for some reason.

Many stores have <Curse Granting> signs put up.

At first Lecan thought the town would be sleepy since the dungeon had gone dormant, but that wasn't the case at all.

In fact, you could find street performers doing their things everywhere.

If you think about it, all the adventurers who would usually be in the dungeon are on standby outside for the next five days, so of course there's a lot of customers around. Meaning to these stores, it's the best time to profit big. Lots of street stalls around too.

Besides, entertaining adventurers and making sure they don't get bored ultimately contribute to this town's prosperity.

Hence, this period of dungeon lull has turned into some sort of mini festival.

"Will no one else take on this challenge! You won't get this chance ever again! We have none other than <Shield of Wolkan> as the prize! Such an extraordinary shield as your reward! Come, get it if you dare!"

<Shield of Wolkan> was that shield Jinga had which boasted resistances against both magic and physical attacks and even got an ability to contract and expand itself.

Lecan approached the shouting man. Eda and Arios followed behind him.

"Oy."

"Ooh? Fancy a challenge, big dude?"

"A challenge in what."

"A shield match!"

"Shield match?"

"Yep yep. Lookie there's the ring."

The man pointed at a raised platform supported in eight directions.

"You're gonna fight equipped with a club and a shield."

"What constitutes a win?"

"The umpire's gonna decide the winner. You'd lose if you fall off the ring."

"What shield can you use."

"You hafta bring your own shield! We're gonna provide the club."

"There's no restriction in how you use the shield right?"

"Of course! Ya think anyone's gonna complain when an adventurer fought off a magic beast with a shield or somethin'?"

"What if you die?"

"You're weak you die, that's it. In a dungeon, it's your own fault for being weak!"

"Is anyone free to enter then."

"What are you, a dingus?! 'Course not! You gotta offer one large red potion. We're gonna use that potion on you if you're hurt bad in the match tho'. 'Course you lose that match."

Lecan raised his overcoat's collar, took out a large red potion and handed it over to the man.

The man's eyes opened wide for a bit before laughing out loud and held the red potion high up.

"We've got a new challenger----! Give a round of applause to this black dude here----!"

The peanut gallery encircling the ring cheered loudly. Followed by jeers.

"So dude, what's your name?"

"Lecan."

Looking closer there's a temporary tent set up with a long desk inside. Three elderly men are sitting on the opposite side of the long desk. A shield and a basket are put on the long desk. That shield looks identical to the <Shield of Wolkan> Lecan saw once.

Most of the peanut gallery appear to be adventurers. Lecan caught sight a familiar man in the front row.

It's the slender man of <Vega>.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
He didn't carry a weapon yesterday, unlike today. A sword.

The swordsman was looking at Lecan with a huge grin on his face, but the moment their eyes met, he laughed like he found something super interesting.

"Come now dude, bring your shield and take a seat over there!"

After saying that, the man went to the tent and put Lecan's large red potion in the basket. The three elderly men smiled faintly as they watched. One of the elderly men was relatively younger than the rest with a good build. Another was quite at an advanced age, thin and small, with a necklace and a wand as his equipment. The wand is of an intermediate size between thin and fat wands, first time Lecan has ever seen the type.

Lecan was led to a spot next to the square-shaped ring. Men carrying shields with them are sitting there, waiting for their turn.

Lecan went behind a cover and took out a giant shield.

The shield is tall enough to cover Lecan from his neck down and wide enough to completely hide his body. It's rectangular shaped yet the surface is not flat, but curved naturally. It's like if you cut a cylinder in half.

In his former world, there was a floor where he had to traverse through a valley where countless rocks were flying at him to reach the boss area. The stuff he procured then would see occasional use later on. This shield is made to be very sturdy and thick. Its surface is full of scratches, proof of many fierce clashes it had gone through.

This shield barely passes Lecan's <Storage> upper size limit. He got experiences using bigger shields than this in the past, but he had sold them all since they were unwieldy.

When Lecan brought that shield with him to the waiting spot, other participants were shocked.

The spectators booed at him.

"Big dude! How're ya gonna move with that huge piece of junk!"

"Yep, he's dead meat."

"Bigger shields don't mean yer' not gonna get hurt. Ya big oaf!"

"You're gonna hafta use both hands to carry that shield! How're ya gonna fight then!"

Loud laughters could also be heard here and there.

"Come now, is there really no other taker?! This is your last chance! For real! Aaand, it's closed! Everyone, thanks for your patience! It's finally time to start this maaatch!"

Loud cheers resounded.

A man who appeared to be the umpire went up the ring.

"You and you, get to the ring."

That person pointed at two participants. Looks like they're going to pick players at random.

The umpire asked the two participants' names and handed them their clubs.

It's short clubs.

The grip part is thin, the striking part is thick. The tip has been rounded off, barely usable as a stabbing instrument.

"To the east, Gazef!"

The peanut gallery cheered when the umpire stated the man's name.

"To the west, Gonza!"

Another cheer.

"Match, start!"

The match begun.

Gazef had a thick round shield, Gonza carried a patterned kite shield.

The two held their shields slanted forward, stooping slightly while slowly moving to the left and right, looking for a chance to strike.

"Hyaaa!"

Gonza attacked with his club.

Gazef blocked.

CLANK, the sound echoed.

Gazef thrust out his club.

Gonza swiftly leaped backward to dodge that and struck his left shield horizontally at Gazef's arm.

"Guh!"

Gazef's club flew off his hand, falling outside the ring.

"That's it! Gonza won!"

A huge cheer erupted.

(I see.)

(No wonder those clubs are made short.)

(You've got to go in hard to attack.)

(To enliven the match.)

If they provided weapons with a long reach, the match would turn into a long boring stand off from outside the range. This tournament is a performance intended to entertain their spectators.

"Gonza, you sit over there. Gazef, you can bugger off."

Gonza went to a spot next to the temporary tent. That seems to be the victor's seats. Lecan is gonna fight everyone who goes there from second bout onward.

Still, this town is quite different from Golbul.

Golbul was full of young adventurers, but you could barely find any here. As a result the mood of this town feels mellowed out, or more like, colored.

The majority of adventurers he saw here look like they have settled down in this town.

There's also a lot of powerful adventurers around. Not an insignificant number of spectators who have been booing at the match are quite capable themselves. Lots of people with strong mana as well.

What surprised Lecan was the fact that many people are carrying weapons with a long reach.

Dungeons normally have both spacious and cramped areas. You can't really brandish around long weapons in cramped spots. And yet long weapons can't be put in <Storage>. Meaning, you've got to carry them around with you everywhere.

Therefore, one employs long reaching weapons only on a specific floor against a specific enemy, such was a dungeon common sense in Lecan's former world.

And yet, many adventurers are carrying around long reaching weapons in this town.

Spears in all kinds of forms.

Halberds, glaives, three-pronged spears, cross spears, and even pike-like super long spears.

The dungeon here must consist of chains of spacious areas.

People carrying around spears without covering the sharp tips in cloth and without getting called out by the guard is an everyday scene in a dungeon town.

Just watching those makes Lecan so excited to enter the dungeon.

That's good and all, but something's been bothering Lecan regarding the tournament he's in right now.

The participants are all skilled shield users. Which means, they are those who are used to fighting with a shield.

However, there are powerful adventurers carrying shields among the spectators as well, and they're all watching the match with awfully repulsive looks in their eyes.

(I thought <Shield of Wolkan> was valued highly.)

(Are they just not interested in one?)

Lecan is also bothered by the relatively low number of participants. Perhaps, this prize item is pretty common in this town.

After several matches, the umpire finally turned his line of sight toward Lecan.

"You're up next."

He's been named. It's finally Lecan's turn.

When he stood up, Eda cheered for him from the front row.

"Lecan, give it your best shot!"

Lecan went up the ring after taking a quick glance at Eda and Arios.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 339 Strongest Sage, Reminds the Past

 

"I can move no problem. Doesn't seem to be a jamming type magic... Just what'd you do?"

Zadokilgias asked while taking a stance with its restored arms.
However--I just kept swinging my sword wordlessly.

"...No response huh. Fine, I'll have those women responsible for the magic stones spit it out once you're dead."

Zadokilgias blocked my sword while saying that.
I didn't deploy [Resonant Sword].

Zadokilgias didn't use [Reflective Strike] either. Or more like, it couldn't.
I have some spare rooms, magically speaking, due to not using [Resonant Sword].
Using [Reflective Strike] in that situation would only get it blocked by me.

A sound judgement.
However, this match is my [Checkmate] already.
Doesn't matter what kind of plan Zadokilgias is cooking, its death is certain.

I poured specific mana into my sword the moment our swords clashed.

"...What the heck is this?"

Zadokilgias let that out right as our swords crossed.
And a second later--Zadokilgias's fingertips began to crumble down like they were dissolving.

Seeing that, I pulled back my sword and fell back.
However, Zadokilgias's fingertips won't stop crumbling away.

The crumble even gradually expands to its whole body.
Zadokilgias's limbs are crumbling down into sands that get blown off by wind.

"What have you done?"

Zadokilgias sounded perplexed as it watched its body turning into sands.

"It can't be stopped even if you get the answer to that."

Thus I replied.
In fact, the crumble wouldn't stop even if I wished for it.
No matter what anyone does now, the only fate awaits Zadokilgias is death--no, annihilation.

"...It can't be, my soul?"

Zadokilgias murmured as its decay progressed.
...It realized huh.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Zadokilgias's soul always had a deep wound to begin with.
It's because the magic it used to reincarnate itself wasn't flawless.

I saw through that fact from its mana reaction mixed in Dragon Veins.
Thus, once the altered mana was in, I sent specific mana into Zadokilgias when we crossed swords, stimulating the altered mana in one dash.

The stimulated altered mana wrenched open the damage on Zadokilgias's soul.
And this is the result of that.

"Yea. Told you didn't I? Nothing can stop it."

Magic that can manipulate souls are all complex.
And reincarnation spell is among the hardest even compared to the rest of that type.
Such that even the past me which specialized in production type magic needed several hours to construct a personal-use magic circle.

Perfectly constructing magic of that scale is a daunting task even for a race that excels in magic like demons.
Even Zadokilgias is unlikely capable of such feat.

And that's not all.
In order to perfect my reincarnation, I built the spell formula to off myself and chose death on my own volition.
Dying by my own magic was the reason I could pull the perfect death for reincarnation.

On the other hand, Zadokilgias had set up a reincarnation spell that would activate upon its demise.
And then it eventually got bested by me, and died.

Back then, I defeated Zadokilgias by firing off a high-powered spell that utterly annihilated it without leaving a trace after destroying its arms with [Resonant Sword].
And there's simply no way to reincarnate a complete soul in an environment polluted with so much noise from that high-powered magic I fired.

As a result, Zadokilgias got reincarnated with a damaged soul.
Well, I suppose you could say it was lucky enough to even reincarnate.

"...Looks like it."

Zadokilgias invoked multiple recovery spells in an attempt to heal its body.
But none of the spell showed any effect.

Your body naturally breaks down when your soul suffers a fatal wound.
Especially since demons possess a proportionally larger amount of mana in their body, the breakdown manifests this way.

"Answer me this at least. Just who in the world are you? I know none who possesses such level of magical skills."

"Oh really? It might very well be a familiar name to you."

Zadokilgias knew the past young me.
There's a chance it might have forgotten about me... But I doubt it would forget the human who killed it.

"Familiar? ...I wouldn't have let someone this monstrous alive had I known--."

Zadokilgias's eyes opened wide midway.
Then it threw a question while agape.
Even with lives of hundreds magic combatants and thousands of civilians on its hands, Zadokilgias must have remembered the very enemy who killed it.






Previous Chapter

3





The Longbodied Pork roast was truly superb.

It's crisp yet soft yet also chewy in part.

Its sweet and sour flavor goes really well with ale. The slightly charred sections brings about a surprising aroma to it, forming a perfect harmony with its taste, a true gem of culinary.

The sensation of biting off a piece of meat and then gulping down ale is unlike anything.

The food in this restaurant is the best.

It's reasonably priced too. They would pay every time a plate comes out, but each only costs three or five silver coins. Yet the food worths more than the asking prices.

The first two plates ordered weren't enough at all, he ordered six more.

It's quite lively at <Vega>'s table.

"Oh man, <Vega> is such an awesome name."

"Eda. Do you know what <Vega> means?"

"Eh? It's that right, look. The underworld's? The hound that guards the gate of hell."

"Hou."

Then <Vega> must mean the <Hellhound>.

Just as Lecan was switching his drink from ale to liquor, a man opened the restaurant's door violently.

"Magic beasts have vanished! Someone's beaten the boss!"

The restaurant immediately fell into silence.

"Which party did her in?"

A woman dressed in mage-like attires, a member of <Vega> asked.

"Well you guys are here, and <Dark Constellation (Alcariz)> just got out of the dungeon this morning, so."

"<Sharp Rocks (Jaira)> then! How many times would this be?"

"D-dunno."

"I believe this is their third time conquering."

A bald-headed man of <Vega> said that.

Cozwolth laughed out loud.

"WAHAHAHAHAHA. They're really goin' at it eh. Guess they got some request for the Queen's venom or somethin'? Anyway, this calls for."

He drank down the inside of his mug and continued.

"Party time! We're drinkin' ourselves dead tonight! Gimme another cup!"

"Coming right in!"

The waiter positively responded.

"Oy, Lecan!"

Lecan turned around at Cozwolth.

"What is it."

"Ya heard that 'rite! The dungeon's closed up! And you just got here, too bad! The next five days belong to this guy."

He spoke while waving an empty jug around.

Meaning, this dungeon's dormant period is five days after its boss is killed. Its magic beasts will spawn back in five days time.

Then they don't have enough time to go back to Vouka.



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

4





<Vega>'s bunch drink a lot and clamor a lot like nothing holding them back.

A sense of nostalgia wrapped Lecan.

Returning from life of constant danger inside a dungeon, he'd drink and make a lot of noise.

That's adventurers.

It's the one thing that never changes no matter the world.

Before long, <Vega> members started fighting among themselves.

Plates, jugs, stuff are flying everywhere.

However, Lecan keeps on drinking without minding.

It's really been a long time since he could relax and enjoy himself like this.

The fight in the back has grown more intense.

Arios and Eda looked pretty shocked at first, but after watching Lecan's looking so composed, they decided to keep enjoying the superb meals.

An ale jug came flying.

The food on Lecan's table would go to waste if it were left on, thus he caught the flying jug with his left hand without looking back.

A little bit of booze inside the jug sprinkled down a plate in front of Lecan.

Lecan grinned.

He's all for additional seasoning on his food.

His <3D Perception> caught a slender man looking at him, thus Lecan threw the jug back at him.

The slender man nicely caught the jug, waved at Lecan's back, and whacked that jug at Cozwolth's head. Splashing booze everywhere.

A man in thief clothing hit the slender man who was laughing hard from the side.

"You look like you're having so much fun, Lecan."

"Hum? Really?"

"I was wondering why was such a good restaurant so devoid of other guests, but I think I get it now."

"Hou? Why?"

"Do you even need to ask. Can anyone have a peaceful meal with that bunch on the side?"

Arios continued his speech after dodging a flying plate.

"Or rather, it would be life threatening to ordinary men."

They're quarrellings among themselves tonight, but someone else may end up picking a fight with them. That someone could wound up dead.

"It doesn't seem like this restaurant's staff is going to stop them either."

"Arios."

"Yes."

"Dungeon-diving adventurers earn their keep by putting their life on the line."

"Yes."

"Times out of dungeon alive are times they cut loose for a bit."

"I see."

"This restaurant is built in a fine building, yet the door and tables are cheap no?"

"Now that you mention it."

"Them breaking is part of the business."

"Haha. So that's just how it works."

Lecan himself made a lot of rackets whenever he came out of dungeons with Boudo back then. He'd get in a fistfight with Boudo, destroy an entire shop, destroy an entire building and have everything he made in a dungeon taken away.

(That was fun.)

Lecan gulped down his liquor while grinning.

Perhaps adventurers go in dungeons in order to feel alive.

After life of constant flirting with death, the times when they drink booze outside of dungeon are when they feel most alive.

The food he'd eat then.

The booze, are all oh so good.

Lecan drank up the liquor before him while imagining the taste of liquor he would get to drink several days later.

"Another bottle of this liquor."

Lecan asked for seconds while hitting down flying debris of broken tables with his sheathed sword.

Right as his order came, the slender man and the bald man kicked Cozwolth out of the restaurant, breaking the door along the way. Immediately after, Cozwolth tore off the remaining wreckage of the door before rushing back into the restaurant.

Lecan drank his booze directly from the bottle.

The rich mellow flavor stimulated his nostril, burning his throat.

The breeze coming in from the now door-less entrance felt good.

"What a nice night."







Previous Chapter

1





Lecan's party arrived at Ninae on the 24th of the fifth month.

Even though distance-wise it was as long as Vouka-Kogurus, arriving in four days is still quite speedy even if they took care not to take a detour.

Arios and Eda were completely exhausted as a result though.

It was evening by the time they got there, Lecan's group paid the town entry tax and headed for Adventurer Association.

According to Shira, Ninae has a large-scale Adventurer Association, and they have rules that oblige you to sell magic stones and potions obtained in the dungeon there. This association hosts an abundance of information regarding the dungeon. Lecan was thinking of purchasing maps and info about magic beasts there.

Ninae's Adventurer Association is in a huge building with a great number of adventurers crowding inside.

Lecan passed by counters that had <Magic Stones>, <Potions>, <Gathering Quests> signs put up, proceeding toward a counter with <Dungeon's Information> sign.

Just right when there's no queue.

"I want dungeon maps and information about magic beasts that spawn inside."

"They're split for every ten floors. Which one's ya want?"

"All of them."

"All of 'eeem?"

The man behind the counter said that with a raised eyebrow.

He should be past 40, almost an elderly, but the aura emanating from him carries a significant pressure.

His bearings leave no opening. This elderly man is most likely an ex-adventurer. A skilled one at that.

The elderly man curtly declared the price after taking a piercing glance at Lecan.

"Two gold coins."

Eeh, Eda let out a small yelp behind.

Lecan fetched two gold coins and handed them over.

The elderly man put a bundle of parchments on the counter.

Lecan took and unfolded them.

"These are some awfully simple maps."

"Those are good enough for the dungeon here. White dots are up stairways, black dots are down ones, X marks are spots where giant variants often spawn. With some slight variations. A friendly reminder, only hunt giant variants if you need to get the <Marks>. Also, stay in the corner if you're camping on ground floor."

"I don't see anything about magic beasts on floor 45. The maps also only go down to floor 44."

"Information about dungeon boss is undisclosed."

"What are these <First Rank> and <Second Rank> about?"

"Sorry, but ya should take that to porters."

"Porters?"

"Those guys gotta eat too. Detailed information 'bout magic beasts and stuff have always been a source of income to porters."

"Got it. Know a place that serves good food?"

"That'd be <Jade's Restaurant>. About 200 steps to the right down this street. You'll know the restaurant by piles of ale barrels in the front."

"Tell me a cheap inn for a night rest. One that's around 2000 steps away from the dungeon."

Lecan left Adventurer Association once the elderly man told him the inn.

"Oy, Tott-san. Isn't <Vega> at <Jade's Restaurant> right now?"

"Eh they'd be fine."

That conversation could be heard from the direction of the counters.




<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
2





Despite being a solidly built old-fashioned building, the front door of <Jade's Restaurant> alone looks strangely newly built and cheaply made. Marks of a restaurant for adventurers.

Lecan went into the restaurant. Eda and Arios followed after him.

The inside is relatively spacious.

There's a group of guests already.

Two round tables have been adjoined, with dishes covering the entire top of the tables, five men and one woman sit around those. All six are enjoying their drink lively.

They're the only group of people inside the spacious restaurant. No one else is sitting on any other table.

Lecan took a seat in the back.

"This Longbodied Pork (Kashisa) Roast is the best! Bring me 'nuther three!"

A big bearded man with a conspicuously good build asked for seconds.

Lecan spoke to a waiter who had come to take his order.

"Two cups of ale and one cup of tea. Also, that Longbodied Pork Roast for two, four plates of other stuff and one set of today's special."

The waiter quickly brought their ale and tea.

Then the clamoring big bearded man stood and walked up to Lecan's table.

"Yer' a new face here?"

The big man boasts a stature that surpasses Lecan, with a far bigger width. An owner of a burly body.

However, his lacks a bit of tightness compared to Lecan's buddy, Boudou's. Boudou was not only huge, he also had folded steel-like muscles, possessing an intense pressure that would not lose to even an Overking Bear.

Still on his seat, Lecan turned his face right and looked up at the big man's face.

"Yea. Just got to this town today."

"You did eh. Oy, put those drinks on my tab."

Said the man to the waiter bringing Lecan group's drinks.

"And bring me my ale."

The big man turned at Lecan.

"Name?"

"I'm Lecan. My party's would be <Rainbow Pebbles (Willard)>."

"Yeah? The name's Cozwolth. Of party <Vega>."

Cozwolth raised a big mug the waiter brought high up in the air.

"Here's for triumph to <Willard>."

Lecan responds.

"Here's for glory to <Vega>."

"Cheers (Jo Joud)."

"Cheers."

"Cheers."

Cozwolth, Lecan, Eda and Arios raised their mugs high.

Four people sitting on the table apart also raised their mugs, thus Lecan also raised his to match theirs.

Both Cozwolth and Lecan drank down their ale in no time flat. Swayed by the moment, Lecan told the waiter.

"One glassful to everybody here. On me."

At first he was going to let Cozwolth treat them, being newcomers and all, but Lecan ended up blurting that out.

Cozwolth laughed heartily when he heard him.

"UHAHAHAHA. Yer' quite an alright dude. Dunno where ya been dungeoneering out there, but this is one nice town. Go have a blast!"

"Thanks. I'll make sure I do."

"WAAAHAHAHAHAHA."

Cozwolth laughed all the way back to his table.





Previous Chapter

18





The next day, Lecan spoke of the stuff he discussed with the vice head temple when he arrived at Norma's medical center.

"I had no idea. That reminds me though, I've been seeing something weird going on lately here as well."

"Hou."

"New patients from faraway places have been coming to this medical center lately."

"Fumu?"

"I've also been getting requests for house calls at some really distant locations. Mostly to places where the wealthy lives."

"Sounds like you've got a reason for not looking pleased with the booming business."

"That I have. Some of those patients were supposed to be under other physicians' care, see. No, I probably just didn't notice that we had snatched quite a lot of patients from other medical centers already."

"Patients have rights to choose their physicians."

"Lecan. Do you know how many physicians are in this town right now?"

"No clue."

"Excluding the temple's clinic, there are eight. Every one of those only has one or two stand by physicians at most. They're small in scale. We're talking about <Recovery> users who failed to get hired by noble houses."

"Oh really."

"Okay now, how many physicians do you think this town need?"

"No clue at all."

"I believe around 20 all at the same level of what we have would be appropriate."

"Hou."

"But I think more people should go visit medical centers. Infants especially. If we include them, we would require 50 medical centers. It's only a rough estimate, but that's what I believe."

"Think that's way too many."

"If medical centers could get close to people, both physically and physiologically, and if they would consult to a physician whenever they don't feel too well, we would see a huge decrease in sick people."

"I see. I get your line of thinking."

"If this medical center becomes the only one left standing in this town, there's simply no way we can handle all the cases in this town even if Lecan and Eda exclusively work here, not to mention those coming from elsewhere. I won't have time for my research or tea time too. Give me a break on that."

Lecan realized something.

Vice temple head told Lecan about how Bazrig was bad-mouthing the temple.

Among those who found out about the slanders directed at the temple, some might develop animosity toward Norma. Worse, some might even believe she's infringed upon their wellbeing.

Lecan doesn't think physicians who were robbed of their patients would resort to unscrupulous means, but ill wills will accumulate. Those ill wills would eventually join up together and swallow up Norma.

It might come in the form of violence or something more devious and threatening. In any case, Lecan can't possibly take all the steps needed to deal with that.

"But really, the temple sure has got quite the network of information. I mean, it's only been two days since we started this stuff. It's also so kind of them to inform us. Lecan, make sure to thank them."

"Got it. So what do now."

"Let's stop offering your <Recovery> service. However, we've got four house calls we have to take care of no matter what tomorrow, let's make those the last. I'll tell those who request <Recovery> that the users have departed this town. I'll also tell them that even though these users haven't decided to resume their service, each treatment would cost one gold coin if they ever did."

"20 times price hike huh."

"No. It's true that both your and Eda's <Recovery> are way too cheap at five silver coins. To the point that people misunderstand we put that price up to steal their patients."

"Really. Tomorrow will be the last then."

"You and Eda have been such a great help. I can't thank you enough. I've got my hands on some good data as well. And also. Feel free to drop by again and ask me anything you need anytime."

"Same here, it's been a good learning experience. The stuff you taught us will see its use, no doubt."

There probably will come times when the things they learned here would save Lecan and Eda's lives, or perhaps somebody else's. However, more than anything, it will definitely help him kill his foes more effectively.

Lecan wondered if this wise researcher was even aware that he was harboring such thoughts.




<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
19





The next day, Lecan made house calls together with Norma. There were only four, but all of them were far apart, thus it took some time.

All four wanted to make an appointment for the next session of <Recovery>. However, Norma declined, told them that there would be no next time, and even if there were, each session would cost one gold coin. Every one of them reacted negatively at her declaration. But that's fine.

They returned to the medical center, then Lecan studied about many ways to use <Recovery> from Norma.

When they were done and Lecan was about to head back, Norma seemed hesitant as she was trying to say something to him.

"Lecan. About Zepus, you see."

"Hum?"

Lecan thought, Zepus who? for a second.

Zepus was a grandchild of Prado Goncourt, Norma's cousin.

And the person whose head parted from his body by Lecan's hand a few days ago.

"I personally had no good recollections of that person myself. However."

Norma's face warped sorrowfully as she spoke.

"He did love his grandfather, Prado-san, in his on way. He was truly concerned of Prado-san, cared for him."

That doesn't give him the right to abduct Eda and try to make her his slave though.

And yet Lecan isn't going to deny Norma's feelings of wanting cover Zepus.

"I got it."

Both Norma and Jinga saw Lecan off as he left the medical center.

Afterward, he went to Shira's house and managed to deploy <Lightning> around his body.

He was told to hone the spell in real life for the rest and to come up with his own way to use it.

The day after and the next day after, Lecan went to the orphanage successively.

He was completely worn out by the second day.

Finishing him off was the vice temple head telling the children that it was Lecan's last day visiting, so they all clung to him in tears.

He almost ended up making promise to come by again, almost.

Anyway, his nine day service finally ended. Ended for real.

The next day, he slept through the whole day besides for meals.

The day after, Arios said this to Lecan.

"Eda-san has learned three kinds of defensive stance. She is yet to master them, however from this point on, she should polish her skill in real combat."

Afternoon of the same day, Shira spoke.

"Eda-chan can now send out <Sleep> pretty well. This is one really versatile spell if she can master it. Now, all she needs is a real life practice."

The day after, they did some shopping and had some rest, then on the 20th of fifth month, Lecan, Eda and Arios departed to Dungeon Ninae. With Shira telling them to come back on the 30th of sixth month at the latest.




[Episode 14 Unsolicited Pupil] End/ Next Time [Episode 15 Knightess Heles]





Previous Chapter

Chapter 338 Strongest Sage, Let Heal

 

The ray of light accelerated to several hundreds kilometer per hour and caught up to Zadokilgias a moment later, penetrating the demon--and proceeded to evaporate clouds few kilometers in the sky above.
It's a spell cast by absorbing about 10% of the enormous mana the [Dragon Breath] carried. This much power is only to be expected.

"Did that without rehearsal... but that went well huh."

I cut off my connection to Dragon Veins as I murmured.
Short as it might, establishing a connection to Dragon Veins stirred by the vast mana of [Dragon's Breath] took quite a toll on my magic circuits.
The end result was worth it though.

"Down you go."

Zadokilgias who ate a direct hit of the ray fell off the sky.
It's lost both its arms, one of its wing is burning, its side has been greatly gouged out.
It doesn't have the power left to fly--but it survived.

Not dying from an attack that blew even clouds apart, quite something indeed.
It must have changed its posture during the less than 0.01 second it took for the ray to be invoked and avoided direct hit on vital parts.
As I was thinking that--Zadokilgias invoked a spell.

--[Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type]
Amongst all recovery magic there is, it's the spell most suited to heal severe wounds.

Unlike ordinary recovery spells, this magic strengthens the rate of recovery by taking in mana in the surroundings as a component
Since the area around here is filled with a vast amount of mana, vestiges of Iris's [Dragon Breath], the spell's recovery power is also many times more potent.
How it managed to make a split second decision to pick the optimal magic even in its terrible state, this demon is really adept at fighting.

But of course I'm not going to stay silent as Zadokilgias is healing itself.
Since Zadokilgias flew vertically straight above and then fell, its landing spot is right next to me.
I was going to head to that spot as I stepped on barrier magic.

However...
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"...Still got that much power left huh..."

I murmured as I stared at the scene unfolding before me.
Countless magical barrier have been deployed in all possible directions I could take to get close.

It's a ploy to buy time no matter how you look at it.
Those barriers themselves aren't that sturdy--but proceeding through them would take time.
Zadokilgias would have finished restoring its body in the meantime.

Iris's [Dragon Breath] is our trump card.
This fight will get a lot harder if it manages to overcome this situation.
And... Zadokilgias intends to cut its way through this situation.

Zadokilgias is currently deploying multiple barrier magic in addition to [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type]. A difficult feat even in its normal state.
It's obvious why Zadokilgias deployed this degree of magic even after taking that much damage.

It had anticipated this situation the moment I cast my magic and took extra care so the body parts needed to cast magic were left unharmed.
It must have sacrificed its right arm with the intention to restore it back later.

I broke through the magical barriers picking the shortest route toward Zadokilgias while thinking that.
However Zadokilgias would deploy additional barriers every time I destroyed one.

And while I was occupied in that--Zadokilgias's recovery rate saw a sudden rapid increase.
It's reached the spot with a thick concentration of [Dragon Breath]'s mana.

The wound on its side gets restored in the blink of an eye, its lost arms are gradually forming back.
And then--Zadokilgias suddenly stopped the invocation of [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

"...Hum?"

As Zadokilgias blurted in puzzlement, it turned its line of sight at its recovering right arm.
Looks like it had noticed something wrong as the recovery spell worked its magic.

Afterward, Zadokilgias surveyed the surrounding area--its eyes found broken magic stones on top of faraway roofs.
There are broken pieces of magic stones on top of roofs all over the place here.
Broken arrows could be found near those magic stones.

(Figured it would notice.)

The oddness Zadokilgias sensed is no mere imagination.
Zadokilgias has absorbed mana infused with a trick due to [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

『How is it going?』

Ruli contacted me through comm magic.

That's right.
Those broken magic stones on roofs were made by Ruli delivered there on arrows Alma shot.
The magic stones put on those arrows had been augmented with a specific magic that would break the magic stones once the arrows landed and disperse altered mana in the surroundings.

Alma and Ruli hadn't directly participated in this fight not because I didn't count them.
It was done on purpose so Zadokilgias wouldn't notice them, all for the sake of this point.

『Perfect! You did great!』

I proceeded through the barriers as I responded to Alma.

Zadokilgias has indeed realized the girls' trick.
But it's far too late.

The distance between me and Zadokilgias is virtually nil now.
Those barriers would buy at most 10 seconds of time.

Even Zadokilgias can't deal with me with both its arms missing.
Its moves are limited with its arms gone, only death awaits this demon as it can't block my magic and sword.

And--Zadokilgias only has one option left to restore its arms.
[Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

Even if there's something wrong with it, even if it knows that it's a trap, Zadokilgias has no other choice but to use that.
The demon itself appears to be fully aware of that.
Zadokilgias invoked [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type] it once suspended at maximum output, and took in a huge amount of mana to fully restore its arms.







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