Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Great Demon and the Cat Goddess (2)
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In the underground chamber, black mages clad in gray robes were chanting ominous spells.
There were about a dozen of them.
"Muahahaha! Too late, you rat bastards!"
The black mage leader standing atop the altar looked down at us and burst into maniacal laughter.
"The ritual is already in its final stage!"
"Those crazy bastards!"
Mace and the White Skull adventurers drew their weapons and charged.
But a squad of heavily armed hobgoblins immediately blocked their path.
"Groooar!"
"Foolish idiots! You won't stop us!"
A man covered in facial scars stepped forward, spreading his arms wide as he shouted.
"The Great Demon Dragosius is powerful, but vulnerable to holy power. However! We will first awaken the forgotten legend, the Black Cat Goddess, and subjugate her!"
The man who seemed to be the black mage leader pointed to the black cat-shaped urn at the center of the altar.
"By fusing the goddess's holy power with the demon, we will birth a perfect demon god impervious even to the Pantheon Temple's might! This is our flawless plan. What do you think?"
The idea of mixing a god and a demon? Even I, who knew nothing of magic or theology, could tell that success would spell disaster.
"Fusion? Are you out of your minds?"
Camilla, advancing her skeletons, shot back with a look of utter disbelief. The black mage leader chuckled.
"We're perfectly sane, you dogs of the Pantheon! Clever of you to fool us by pretending to be adventurers, but you can't stop us."
The mage pointed dramatically at the magic circle.
"Isn't it strange? Why would I, like some third-rate play's villain, blab our Dark Cross Society's plan right in front of you?"
"...?"
"Because the ritual was already complete long ago! Hahaha!"
Ritual activation initiated!
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the magic circle shuddered unnaturally, light surging upward. At the same moment, all the nearby monsters charged at us. Were we too late? Was the summoning imminent?
"I don't know! We have to stop it!"
Sena immediately aimed her bowgun and fired. Mani began assembling the ballista she'd dragged along. The White Skull party and skeletons clashed head-on with the hobgoblin squad.
Boom! Clang! The sounds of battle echoed through the cavern.
"Damn, they just keep coming!"
I pulled the trigger of my Rapid Bowgun repeatedly, felling the lead monsters.
One toppled like a felled log, but a black wave of enemies surged in behind it. My hands reloaded mechanically, but my nerves were fixed on the magic circle at the altar's center.
'There has to be something. A weak spot to shatter!'
A shiver ran down my spine, my tail trembling uncontrollably.
My instincts screamed a warning. If we didn't stop that ominous blood-red vortex, it was really over!
"That magic circle! Weak point! Any weak points?!"
I bellowed. The White Skull mage mid-chant and Camilla both extended their hands and shouted.
"It's the control stone! On that pillar!"
"Destroy it, Reti!... Lightning!"
Boom!
Mid-sentence, Camilla unleashed a bolt that shattered a cluster of stonemen. With monsters pressing like watchdogs, even her skeleton squad was being pushed back, gaps forming.
I scanned the spot Camilla indicated.
Sure enough, atop the complex magic circle's flanking pillars gleamed small stones shining brighter than the rest. Hubs of mana flow. Breaking them would disrupt the ritual.
I shouted to the rear.
"Mani!"
Mani's assembled ballista swung into position.
A horned rat had nimbly climbed atop it.
"Ready, fire like hell!"
"Chit!"
Thwang! The massive bolt arced over the monsters' heads!
It tore through even the barrier around the ritual circle.
'Got it!'
But just before impact, the ballista bolt collided with a black sphere in midair and ricocheted away.
"Huh?"
"You rat bastards! Using that suspicious divine power, eh? Think we didn't prepare?"
One black mage crowed triumphantly.
"Just intercept it before it hits!"
Despair seeped in at their ready solutions.
What now?
I scanned around desperately. Mani, realizing the ballista wouldn't work, had switched back to her bowgun for support fire.
The plaza was vast and empty.
Hobgoblins and stonemen swarmed, but they were bigger and slower than me.
'The monsters and black mages see White Skull and skeletons as the biggest threats. So...'
I whispered quietly to Sena, who was nocking arrows.
"Sena, you have that stuff from the cathedral, right?"
Sena met my eyes, understood instantly, and quickly pulled the holy oil vial from her bosom and handed it over.
I turned to Rodentia.
Alright. Time to go myself.
"Lady Rodentia! Blessing!"
Endless Sprint (Blessing of Rodentia)
Golden dust envelops you. Power surges stronger than ever!
Golden dust enveloped my body. I felt stronger than usual.
Seizing the chaos of battle, I dashed low to the ground.
Yeah, I was a rat. Small and insignificant.
But faster and better at evasion than anyone!
"Chit!"
While the black mages' eyes were fixed on Mace and Camilla up front, I burrowed between the monsters' legs.
Whoosh!
"Grrr!"
I slid into the shadows at the altar's side.
Thirty meters. Zigzagging between pillars. Run! Sprint!
I fired my bowgun repeatedly as I ran.
Downed three goblins. Switched targets. Buried an arrow in a hobgoblin's knee.
As it buckled, I leaped onto its shoulder.
"Grrrng!"
A hobgoblin swung its axe down.
I threw myself flat and slid.
"Chit!"
Slash!
The axe blade grazed my fur. Sliding under the monster, I kept running.
"W-what the hell is that rat?!"
I barreled through the monsters near the ritual circle at a speed that surprised even me.
I'd dropped my bowgun, but it didn't matter.
"Eat this!"
I hurled the holy oil vial from my bosom.
The vial struck the barrier atop the pillar totem and shattered.
Crash! Holy oil poured onto the totem.
Whoosh! Detecting profane power, the oil ignited spontaneously.
The gem cracked with a snap.
"Ah! The rat hit the control stone!"
The black mage leader spotted me and sneered.
"But I told you! Too late. Emerge! Ancient darkness!"
He completed the final incantation and slammed his staff down.
Vmmm! The black cat urn cracked and shattered.
Jet-black smoke erupted like an explosion from within.
I despaired.
"Ooo... Ooooo!"
The black mages cheered. The smoke coalesced, slowly forming a shape.
A sleek, elegant silhouette. A woman in a dress blending black and white, studded with stars like the night sky.
"Nyahaang...!"
Twitching cat ears atop her head, a long tail swishing behind.
The woman spoke dreamily in a languid voice.
"How long has it been? Free at last... Free!"
That was the Black Cat Goddess.
"I, the noblest and cutest Felicia... have returned to this world!"
Her overwhelming divinity silenced the entire space. Even Mace and the adventurers halted mid-battle.
The monsters panted, lowering their weapons.
"Success! We did it!"
The black mage leader knelt in rapture and cried out.
"Cat Goddess! By contract, obey my command!"
The being called the Cat Goddess slowly opened her eyes. Vertical golden pupils gazed down at the black mage.
She yawned lazily, then approached him.
"Good, you understand. Right now..."
Then, as if he were a nuisance, she swatted him casually with the back of her hand.
"Shut up."
Splat!
"Guek?!"
It looked like a light gesture, but the leader flew like a cannonball and smashed into the wall.
Crash!
Everyone—black mages and us alike—gaped in stunned silence.
The Cat Goddess blew on her claws, muttering irritably.
"A mere butler daring to order his mistress?"
"...Huh?"
Camilla muttered blankly.
"What...? Is there a god like that? Doesn't seem evil..."
The goddess glanced at the dumbfounded black mages, then turned to us and brazenly extended her hand.
"What are you lot? Hurry up and offer tribute!"
"Tr... tribute...?"
Mace muttered in bewilderment.
Somehow, she felt less like an evil god and more like a grumpy cat.
Felicia ignored the wall-smashed mage and looked around.
"Anyway, where is this? Smells awful... Huh?"
Her gaze stopped. Precisely on Rodentia's phantom cowering and trembling behind my back.
Instantly, Felicia's eyes sparkled like gems, her expression as if she'd spotted it.
Her tail puffed up explosively, and in a blink, she was before me.
"Kyaaaaah!!"
A scream that pierced eardrums.
"Who do we have here? My adorable plaything! It's Rodentia?!"
Rodentia's face paled.
"You were here? No wonder! I kept smelling you! I missed you so much! Come here! Big sis will lick you!"
Felicia licked her lips and reached out, eyes gleaming like a beast eyeing a new toy.
Rodentia screamed and tried to flee, but was caught instantly.
Grabbed by the Cat Goddess's hand, Rodentia's divinity shone brightly.
"What is that?! That golden ratkin?"
"...Why was she muttering to herself in the carriage? A spirit?"
Perhaps due to the goddess's influence, Mace and Camilla could now see Rodentia flailing about.
Rodentia cried out desperately.
The situation was spiraling into utter weirdness.