Kaguya prepared a spell in an instant, but Seere mocked her in return.
“Feel free to fire. I’ll just teleport away, and you can destroy this magnificent castle to your heart’s content…”
The thing that interrupted Kaguya’s brief hesitation was the screams of the Explorers.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
“Dammit! Why here!?”
“Mana… I’m… out…”
“Haah… haah… AAAAAAAHHH!”
Battered and bruised. Surrounded on all sides.
There were no better words to describe their situation.
“Haah… haah… whew.”
Desperately trying to steady her ragged breathing, Linfa Neville turned to face the Beast Curse.
Behind her was a trail of blood that had dripped from her own body.
“Le-Leader…!”
Fan’s attempt to stop her didn’t reach her ears.
[OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!]
Another roar.
The wind surrounding the shadow blew without limit, its output only rising.
Speed, physical strength, frequency of magic… everything was gradually increasing.
In the Beast Curse’s mouth, magic began to charge for the umpteenth time.
The charging speed was also increasing. Without a moment’s delay, that magic was surely about to be fired at the Sleepless City.
“Haah… haah—HAAAAAAAAAAH!! [Enchant: Flame]…!!”
“Leader!! Don’t!!”
Wreathing her right arm in her soul’s flame, Linfa Neville sprinted at maximum speed toward the charging storm.
If I neutralize this, my right arm is finished. She understood that instinctively.
“But… I am Koka!”
However, her pride as a Lv. 8 Explorer wouldn’t allow her to back down here.
She had been granted a Color Name. As the one who bore the admiration of all Explorers, the Crimson Flower could not wither; she had to continue blooming brilliantly and vividly until the moment she died.
Even as she charged into the storm with nothing but her own body, there was no color of fear in Linfa’s eyes.
Not just the massive shadow towering before her. The Mid-Tier Demons that had suddenly appeared… all of them… all of them.
“I have to… defeat them!!”
And yet.
One more step. Right in front of her, the Beast Curse opened its mouth, about to unleash its magic.
But—the flames vanished.
“Leader!”
“Lin-chan!”
“Linfa-chan…!”
Blood sprayed from her legs, and her knees buckled.
It was the result of overexertion. Linfa Neville’s face crumpled into a faint, helpless smile.
[Koka! Run! Get out of there!]
Faced with the desperate shouts of numerous Explorers, she laughed.
“Sorry… I lost.”
The last thing Linfa Neville saw was the sight of the maw opening wide to spit out the storm—and the morning sun brightly illuminating the Sleepless City.
—The morning sun?
The Sleepless City was covered by a dome; no outside light should have been able to enter. And yet, the morning sun shone.
A pure white line was drawn straight through the mana that separated the Sleepless City from the outside world.
It grew larger and larger. It gradually expanded like an opening mouth.
“So pretty…”
“Beautiful,” Linfa Neville whispered unconsciously.
—Zap!
A sound rang out right by Linfa’s ear.
—A lightning strike scorched the Beast Curse.
■
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“I didn’t even have to look for it. It’s right there.”
“That wind… I knew it. Okay, Nifl, follow my lead.”
“Yes. Goetia Vault, No.—”
“Thirty-four.”
Without a hint of shame, Nifl lifted her clothes and offered herself to me.
This time, I didn’t hesitate to thrust my right arm in—and pull it out.
The pure white long-spear gripped in my right hand began to spark with electricity the moment it touched the air, reacting to the mana.
Bluish-white lightning crackled as the spear was pulled completely from Nifl’s vault.
“Gurba, watch closely. This is your power.”
“Ghahaha! Modest as always. I shall witness it with my own eyes. My long-held wish, fulfilled after so long.”
With zero wasted movement, I leveled the spear—and threw it with every ounce of my strength.
My target, of course—was that big thing conveniently holding its mouth wide open.
“34th Lightning Spear: [Lance of Furfur].”
I fired. The spear, becoming a streak of light, cut through the air at divine speed and struck the four-legged shadow with pinpoint accuracy.
“Now, just like the plan. Garm, hold on.”
“Mm!”
I took Garm’s hand and took a single step forward.
And—with that one step, Garm and I were standing right in front of the big guy.
34th Lightning Spear: [Lance of Furfur]. Lightning attribute. It grants an extreme boost to agility.
And it’s very easy to use.
When I let go of the Lightning Spear, I gain two rights.
“Return the Lightning Spear to my hand,” or “Move myself to the location of the Lightning Spear.”
I chose the latter. That’s why the four-legged shadow that was howling away was now right in front of my eyes.
“…Hi… Hizaki…?”
“Linfa, are you—sorry.”
Looking absolutely battered, Linfa was sitting in a pool of her own blood.
“…Hizaki, who… who are you, really…?”
Linfa, who usually had such a strong, energetic image, smiled weakly like a frail, tragic heroine. I couldn’t tell if it was from a sense of relief or because she was genuinely at her limit.
Well, since she’s the same rank as those Imperial Explorers I met after fighting Ose, it’s probably for the best if I tell her.
If I’m really going to spread the name of Helheim, I need to leave a good impression on influential people.
Besides… looking at how that big guy is wreathed in wind, there’s a theory that this is indirectly my fault.
If that’s the case, I can’t keep too many secrets.
“—It’s Helheim. We’re the real ones.”
“Hel… eh?”
“—Leader!”
While Linfa was staring up at me, seemingly dazed or still processing my words, the girl with glasses rushed over.
Leader… a party member?
“Please move her to a safe place.”
“!! Y-Yes! Thank you so much!”
Making a quick judgment without wasting time on idle talk, the glasses-girl took Linfa on her back and left.
She’s the Nifl type. Definitely the kind of talent I’d want as a subordinate.
I switched my focus and worked on grasping the situation. The sounds of combat and screams were echoing non-stop from the surroundings.
“Garm, Nidhogg, take care of this big one.”
“Got it!”
“Leave it to me!”
Nidhogg, who had leaped out from my coat, wrapped cloth around her body and transformed into her human form.
Turning around, I gripped the Lightning Spear—and accelerated all at once.
Zap! My feet pushed off the ground with a loud crackle, and I began a high-speed dash.
I leaped into the air with that momentum and confirmed my targets. The targets were the Mid-Tier Demons surrounding the area.
“Nifl! Five seconds!”
“[Accelerate].”
For five seconds, I was granted an acceleration that transcended the laws of the world.
[I run, I run, I run, I run.
Throw, retrieve. Discharge, three thrusts, flash-step. Against the armored types, I slam the butt of the spear to create a crack, then wedge the tip inside.
I don’t need to kill them all. I only kill the ones that are an immediate threat with absolute certainty.
Run. Not enough distance. Whenever I think that, I twist my upper body to throw, then move to the spear’s location the moment it hits. I pull the spear out of the demon’s remains.
And with that, five seconds.]
It was, quite literally, an instantaneous massacre.
“Hah… hah… haah, haah…”
“Corpse King, exactly five seconds. Good work.”
“How… how was it…?”
Supporting me as I gasped for breath, Nifl gave a firm nod.
“The Corpse King eliminated eleven. The others seem to be handled by the Explorers. I believe there is no longer any immediate danger.”
“Okay.”
Now then. As I turned back to the big guy…
[—GYUOOOOOOOOOOOHH!?]
A sound like a horse neighing, a cat having its tail stepped on, and the death throes of a sheep all at once shook the sky of the Sleepless City.
It was floating. It had been launched.
Its massive body was in an unstable posture, as if it had been swatted away by some kind of impact. It was an awkward sight, clearly showing it hadn’t jumped on its own.
Had it been punched up? Or kicked up?
The shadow of the giant four-legged beast had been launched into the air.
However, one thing was clear.
“My kids are the strongest.”
It was a perfect target, as if it were asking me to do whatever I wanted with it.
I poured mana into the Lightning Spear, and with every bit of strength I had…
“—Hup!!”
I hurled it!
Like a laser beam. The Lightning Spear, flying in a straight line at the speed of light, pierced through the shadow with underwhelming ease.
Then, the shadow vanished like mist, evaporating—and once again formed the silhouette of the four-legged beast on the ground.
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