Chapter 99
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Darkness that Swallows Gods☆ (2)
To be honest, I expected the [Twin Priests] to show up.
There were three Priests left…
But considering the twins were practically a single unit, that meant only two executives of remained.
And of those two, the Prophet was bound to bring the [Twin Priests].
That's because the other one, the [Priest of Phantasm], was the weakest boss, having dumped all her stats into a single special ability.
The silver-haired female Priest, the [Priest of Phantasm].
The weakest… practically the very first boss.
All she could do was hide in some pathetic dungeon with a few trash mobs. Her direct combat ability was practically nonexistent.
‘And yet her character model was gorgeous, so she became a popular meme character…’
A villainous female executive with silver hair and a slender figure.
On top of that, her ability was to trap opponents in lame illusions.
It was basically a declaration that she was there to charm the players with her looks. But she was also an openly weak boss who got cut down in an instant.
‘That very weakness, ironically, made her even more popular.’
Anyway.
In the original story, the troublemaking mantis—Ófnir, the [Priest of Conflict]—would appear early on as an ‘unbeatable boss’ to mess with the protagonist's party. Then, the [Priest of Phantasm] would show up to serve as the first boss.
That was the first boss battle.
The second to appear were the [Twin Priests], the first true ‘Priest-level’ bosses. From them on, they were treated as raid bosses that required Awakened characters with [Unique Aether] or higher.
Those clingy, brown-haired twins with a suspiciously incestuous meme following were also early-game bosses. But at least they were stronger than the [Priest of Phantasm], who had no combat ability to speak of.
‘Enough to earn the title of noob-slayer, at least.’
That was the second boss battle.
You cut down the two weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings,
then officially challenged the [Priest of Conflict].
That fair and square power creep was the flow of the main story.
I thought that's how it would go at the beginning of the semester.
Before that damn Jinsu-kun messed everything up.
‘But things are so twisted now that I’m taking them down in reverse order of strength, starting with the strongest.’
In short, compared to the Priests I'd defeated so far, that dragonfly bastard had pathetic combat power.
I tried to gauge if the dragonfly had undergone some secret power-up.
The distance made it difficult,
but I stubbornly extended my Aether to measure the ‘gap’.
“…”
Góinn, the male half of the [Twin Priests].
The aura emanating from his true body wasn't particularly threatening. In fact, compared to my previous enemies, it was rather dull.
‘What else would you expect from an underdeveloped, brown-haired shota.’
I had a feeling that if I could just land an attack,
I could take him down without much risk.
I was confident I could mince him starting from the head and turn him into a Central Prism Academy special: omakase dragonfly tartare bibimbap.
Because I'm a pink-haired girl who's also a good cook and a perfect wife.
“…”
But he was too far.
Even if I threw something, he was far enough to easily dodge it.
I roared, filled with that frustration. The mountains and trees of the entire neighborhood trembled at the pink-haired girl's cry.
“Waaah—☆ You coward!! Get down here right now!!”
My frustration reached the horned dragonfly.
Góinn of the [Twin Priests] muttered in the voice of a middle schooler whose voice hadn't finished breaking. It was hoarse, as he was in the middle of vomiting up mucus-covered chaos beasts.
[Tsk, I can't understand what these inferior species are saying. They must have low intelligence.]
With that, he flung a crap-like chaos beast in my direction.
*Swoosh—!*
Huh, did that punk just throw crap at me?
This little brat needs a grown-up to teach him a lesson.
I'll make him regret it, crying under his blanket after a good spanking on the butt with a bat.
“Hmph—☆”
Before it could even hit the ground, I picked up a nearby boulder the size of my torso and hurled it.
*Craaash—!*
The chaos beast exploded as the rock, which had sliced through the air in an instant, struck it. Hearing the sound, the dragonfly that had been spewing chaos beasts glanced back in my direction.
[Such brutish strength… Just like a monkey, this inferior species.]
"Is there any inferior species as cute as me?☆"
[I can't understand what the inferior species is saying.]
I shouted back at him, as provocatively as I could.
“I cawn’t undewstand whut the infewiow species is saying~☆ Yup♪ You’re dead meat, buddy—☆”
[Hmph, inferior species… If you think you can anger me, you are sorely mistaken.]
I did it hoping he'd get pissed off and come down,
but my brilliant stratagem failed.
Then, dozens of larva-stage chaos beasts that didn't know their place came crawling toward me.
Dozens of big—caterpillars, rushing at me like a pack of dogs. The clicking of the pincers on their mouths was disgusting.
*Shaaaaat—!!*
So, without even looking, I casually swung my greatsword. A pink Aether explosion erupted in time with the slash.
*KABOOOOM—!!*
The dozens of larva-stage chaos beasts couldn't resist the pure physical force rushing toward them. They could only squirm and scream, like a pack of dogs on a frozen sheet of ice.
*Kieeeek—!!*
Even if the chaos beasts could be infinitely duplicated,
it made no difference whether there were 200 or 300 of them before a one-woman army.
With a single touch, they flail around, going ‘O-go-gok!’
“That’s right, kids—☆”
I turned to look behind me.
As expected, the sight I was hoping for was there.
My juniors, who had been flustered at first, had regained their composure and were calmly unleashing havoc. Each of them was handling a force that would overwhelm even the club presidents of most other schools.
Lotha skipped the incantation entirely,
and made her fists into cat paws.
“Nyan!”
Each time she meowed, her summoned orange cat would charge forward and explode like a claymore mine.
*Meooow—!*
With the explosion, countless daggers burst from the cat’s mouth, devastating the surroundings. It looked ridiculous, but the destructive power was brutal.
*Kuuung—!!*
A scene revealed through the settling dust.
Dozens of them were blown apart with each explosion. What remained were the remnants of the chaos beasts, turned into a pulpy, fresh fruit juice.
Of course, they revived shortly after,
but the attack was enough to hold them back.
In the midst of it, Kara’s [Revolutionary Comrades] drew aggro and lashed out with their slender mechanical arms.
Trying to escape the pain, the chaos beasts became entangled, tripping over each other in confusion.
“…”
I felt a sense of pride that the three of us were holding back hundreds of them… but I was still trying to figure out how to face the real enemy, not these trash mobs.
[*Kuweeeek—!*]
The dragonfly, pulling chaos beasts from its mouth.
If only there was a way to get to him…
…
If only he would come down…
…
He’s not coming down—
At this rate, am I going to turn into a grandma?
…
‘Come down, you incestuous sister-complex dragonfly bastard.’
But he refused to come down.
From far away, the giant brown dragonfly endlessly vomited up chaos beasts covered in black slime. He scattered them like a bomber.
[*Kuweeeeek—! Take this!*]
“Kuweeeeek~☆ Take this~☆”
[…]
“Boo, throwing things from far away… so unmanly…☆ Why don’t you just cut it off and be the little sister instead?”
[…]
Góinn threw another chaos beast at me.
*Splat!*
It hit the ground like an egg cracked by gravity. Then, it quickly regenerated, got back up, and charged.
“Hoo—☆ This is getting hopeless~☆”
Another wave piled on.
It truly was an appallingly unmanly tactic.
[*Take this, you inferior species—!*]
“Take this, you infewiow species~★”
[*This damn inferior bitch, since before…! …Grk.*]
“Oh?”
Oh.
I got to him.
My pink-haired girl instincts sensed he was triggered. But he regained control of his emotions and flew further away.
*Shaaaaat—!!*
Dozens more chaos beasts from the overlapping waves charged again.
At first, there were about twenty or thirty, but now there were too many to count. If this were a video game, it would be enough to cause frame drops even on the latest graphics cards.
“But before me, they’re just practice dummies—☆”
I ground up the regenerating chaos beasts in front of me.
If they charged, I smashed their heads.
If they fled, I stabbed their butts with my spear.
The ones that had been turned to bloody paste would slowly regenerate and come back to life, but…
Who am I?
The pink-haired girl of Academy City.
‘No one escapes the mayhem of a pink-haired girl.’
I lifted my leg high,
and stomped down hard on the ground.
“Hi-yah—☆ Have a taste of a maiden’s ball—☆”
At the same time, the earth trembled and vibrated in a fifty-meter radius. The vibrations spread through the dirt ground as if someone had pulled out a tablecloth in one swift motion.
*Kuuuung—!!*
Boulders overturned.
Clumps of dirt floated up.
A great darkness rose from the shockwave.
A tidal wave of dust and dirt swept over the chaos beasts.
*Kugugung—!!*
“Whoa?!”
“Uh-oh…?!”
Seeing this, my juniors quickly hopped onto their respective summons to avoid the impact. I make them jump rope often, so they recognize the signal well.
*Kuuuung—!!*
The wave of earth crashed down upon them. The chaos beasts were swallowed up by the suddenly formed shadow.
*Shaaaaat—!!*
The half-regenerated creatures.
They staggered from the pseudo-earthquake,
and became entangled while still half-mashed into bloody paste.
The awkwardly regenerated ones fell and collided with each other. Nevertheless, their regeneration continued forcibly.
*Kueeeek—!!*
Their wounded parts fused together, twisting them into bizarre shapes. Now grotesque lumps of flesh, they flapped and rolled around on the spot.
Watching the scene, I tilted my head. I couldn't understand why he was dragging this out.
‘Judging by how he has full aggro on us, it seems his target really is …’
What more could he be aiming for…?
Just then.
A clear voice called out from the distance.
It was Anna, [The Verdant Greatbow], the one we'd been waiting for.
“Thanks, Clara!! Everyone—!!”
And then, a giant arrow flew toward us.
It was imbued with a deep green… a verdant Aether.
It overflowed with the vitality of plant life.
*Shwoooosh—!!*
As the green arrow struck the ravaged earth, countless vines and trees sprouted. It was an illusion made of faintly glowing verdant Aether… but it clearly possessed physical force.
The massive plant fences that appeared in an instant isolated the chaos beasts.
*Kyaaaaak—!!*
Anna called out to us.
“Good work! I’m not too late, am I?”
“Ooh, you’re right on time—☆”
Heh…
This girl knows how to make an entrance.
I’ll give you three Pink-Haired Girl Points.
“That guy over there is the boss, right?”
“Yup~☆ And for your information, he gets triggered if you mimic him—☆”
“Huh? Triggered? How?”
“In his feelings—☆”
“…”
Anna came up beside me and patted my shoulder. She was dressed like a farmer as usual, but she was a radiant girl.
Following her, the martial artist elf students secured the massive plant barricade and shouted.
“Everyone, this way!”
“We’ll help you—!”
“Sisters—!! Pray now!!”
Lotha and Kara looked at each other and nodded. Then they looked at me, their eyes sending a message.
-*We can win this, right?*
-*We can win this, can’t we?*
I sent a wink back at them.
*Wink—☆*
The answer, of course, was yes.
Anna aimed her bowstring at Góinn and murmured quietly.
“…What could his objective be?”
“Who knows—☆ He’s just been throwing dirty things at us girls! Such a bad boy—☆”
“…Clara, if I use an Aether skill to make some temporary footholds, can you leap into the air?”
“Oh my—☆ You think I can’t~?”
“Heh, right.”
Anna fired an arrow just like that. Then, she activated an Aether skill that made plants grow.
“[Víðarr]—!!”
*Paaaat—!!*
Then, following its trajectory, yew trees began to sprout from the ground.
The trees shot up from the ground in an instant,
becoming thin pillars that looked to be twenty meters tall.
‘If I step on those one by one and climb up…!’
A staircase to the sky, stretching toward the distant air.
A way to seize the aerial domain, if only for a moment.
Gripping the greatsword and spear in my hands, I ran toward it. And beside me, Anna followed, holding her large bow.
*Tap, tap!*
At this rate,
we would definitely reach him.
“…”
But that bastard still showed no intention of coming down from the sky.