EP.23 One Night -4
EP.23 One Night -4
As befitted a snowfield village at the northwesternmost tip, the LPG gas consumption here was staggering.
With every gas cylinder in such a village gathered into one spot and blown up, the firepower was immense.
It had blasted away not only the vampires but every wooden structure in the vicinity, enough to earn the verdict of truly spectacular.
"Grrrk...!!"
"Its body is tiny, but as expected of a Divine Beast, it's ridiculously tough."
With all the vampires reduced to ash, a single surviving vampire bat remained.
Its body was charred black from being caught in the explosion, but it didn't seem to hinder its movement at all.
If animals like that could be killed by a mere explosion, humans would never have struggled against Divine Beasts, after all.
"You wretched human scum...! I'll personally grind your blood and drink it down!"
Ruthven's fury and fighting spirit came through in his voice.
A roar so powerful it would have made an ordinary person shudder just hearing it.
But to me and the Divine Beasts, it felt like nothing more than a victim's complaint.
"How exactly? The vampires you were so proud of are gone now."
"You fool! Those were only a fraction of them!"
"What, there are more?"
"Did you think my slaves amounted to only this many? Naturally, I enslaved many animals while traveling here!"
"That's a bit annoying..."
Ruthven's slave animals began gathering again in the place the explosion had swept through.
Their fangs were bared sharp, as if they could easily pierce our skin.
And whereas the vampires we'd dealt with earlier numbered in the hundreds, this time they numbered in the thousands.
Not just the ground, but even the sky was filled to bursting with birds and bats, so if this counted as a crisis, it was indeed a crisis situation.
Because every single one of them was stronger than a human, and they were bloodsuckers to boot.
"How is it? How does it feel to be surrounded by such overwhelming numbers?"
"Hmm... I guess it really hits home that a Divine Beast is a Divine Beast."
"Any other impressions?"
"Not really. You guys have any thoughts?"
"I don't have any particular thoughts either, same as you, Seon-juuu..."
"Ditto."
"Are you incapable of even recognizing your own crisis?"
"Would you call this a crisis...?"
Honestly, being surrounded by vampires like this was several times less frightening to me than being surrounded by Divine Beasts who'd entered heat.
Fear was something you only felt when death drew near.
In a situation like this, as long as I performed well and worked hard, there was at least a possibility or hope of survival.
But before getting mobbed by my companion Divine Beasts? That was an inevitable fate and death sentence no matter what I did.
"Your act of looking so composed is about to end! Once Akult arrives, it's completely over for you!"
"By Akult, do you mean this mutt bastard?"
"Huh...?"
—Thud!
A massive object flew in from the direction of a familiar voice and dropped before us.
On closer inspection, it was a huge skull mixing the skin of a killer whale with the shape of a wolf's head.
The large head, cleanly severed at the neck—I could tell at once that this belonged to Akult.
"Ah, Akult...? How did...?!"
"It was somewhat troublesome to deal with, but in the end, a fool who faces the two of us alone. There was no way we could lose."
"Impossible...!! Akult's ability was supposed to make him invincible on snow!"
"So I wiped out every bit of snow in the entire area. Using my power."
"Then if he had only fled to where there was snow again..."
"I used the wind to trap the whale-wolf so he couldn't run away!"
"That...!"
"A mere beast who is only a little physically strong once its ability is negated. That head is proof that we promptly sliced its neck off."
My fox and dragon companions had splendidly confronted a Divine Beast and claimed victory.
They were, as expected, so reliable that I didn't even need to worry separately.
Meanwhile, Ruthven, shaken by the news that Akult had been defeated, couldn't hide his dismay.
Just like me, a comrade he had trusted had fallen, so he must have been frightened that the same might happen to him.
"Yuu~!"
"Oh, good work, Tia!"
"I did good?"
"Yeah, you did really, really good."
"Then~!"
"You want pats, right?"
"Yeah! Hehe!!"
I caught Tia as she leaped into my arms and vigorously ruffled her head.
I put a bit of force into it, but Tia seemed to like it and didn't stop her bright, cheerful laughter.
"Husband, I'm back."
"You worked hard too, Miho."
"Not at all. This much is nothing, you know?"
"Really? That's a relief!"
"It really was a relief! Not only did I defeat my husband's enemy, but I also obtained some wonderful ingredients, so it was very nice!"
"Wonderful ingredients...?"
"Yes! That whale head right there—I've heard whale meat is excellent for stamina!"
"I-is that so...?"
"Whale meat is something you normally can't get unless you go south! But it luckily rolled right in! And at such perfect timing, at that...!"
"Aah..."
Miho licked her lips once with her tongue, then stared at me with a suggestive and lewd gaze.
At that single act alone, as if I were Pavlov's dog, my body automatically started trembling.
Yes, this was true terror...
"It doesn't matter...! Even if Akult has fallen, it's fine! All I have to do is bring down just one of you!"
"Now that I think about it, I've been curious. Why did you, who lived in the west, come after me?"
"Do you think I have any obligation to tell you that?"
"If you don't want to tell me, I don't really care. I was only curious. Whether you came to punish me for breaking the rules, or whether you came at someone else's instigation."
"Tch!"
Watching him groan at the last part of my words, I became certain.
That there was a separate Divine Beast who had ordered him to attack me and my companion Divine Beasts, and that whoever it was wasn't of the nicest disposition.
To think they'd send another Divine Beast to attack instead of coming in person...
If it was a being capable of commanding other Divine Beasts, it had to inevitably be a Great Divine Beast.
I couldn't know who exactly, but it was a troublesome opponent in many ways.
"Let me issue an ultimatum from this side as well. You know it too—you no longer have any chance of winning, nor even a chance of surviving."
"Grrk...!!"
"So right now, reveal the name and identity of the Great Divine Beast who instigated you. If you do, I'll at least spare your life and let you go."
"Do you think I'll obediently tell you their identity...?"
"Won't you regret it?"
"Yes. Even if I survive here, I'll be killed by them anyway. If so, I'd rather die fighting corrupted wretches who broke the Divine Beast Rules—that would be the honorable way!"
"Fine. Then I have no choice but to kill you."
"You arrogant human bastard...!"
Through my conversation with Ruthven, I'd secured the information that the opponent was a Great Divine Beast, so that was enough.
The rest of the information, I could just ask Yata and be done with it.
That meant I hadn't had the slightest intention of sparing him even if he told me everything here.
Call me vicious if you like—either way, death was the end.
"Even if I can't win, I'll bite your throat out no matter what!"
"My throat...?"
"Yes, even if not me, my slaves will surely tear into your blood...!"
"Ah, so that's it."
The vampires howled, staring solely at me.
They paid no attention to my companion Divine Beasts, so every last one of them had designated me as the target.
All with the single-minded determination to wound me at all costs.
"Miho, get that ready."
"Yes!"
—Thud! Thump!
Heavy masses began stacking up neatly in front of us.
Each time one piled up, a weighty sound rang out.
"Wh-what is that?"
"This? Bombs."
"Bombs...?"
"Yeah. One of these can probably wipe out about half this village in one go."
"What...?!"
"Husband, shall I add more?"
"Good idea. Add more."
Mass production of bombs using Miho's Materialization ability.
We were about to use the final operation we'd planned before we started, right here and now.
"Shall we stop here?"
"Don't even ask—double down and go!"
"Yes!"
Every time the Materialization ability was used, ten bombs were replicated.
A total of forty had piled up, and I also added ten more using my own Materialization ability, bringing the total to exactly fifty.
And so, a tower of bombs was created.
Coming after the gas cylinder tower Alice had made, my heart couldn't help but swell with awe.
"Y-you mad bastards...!! Surely you don't intend to detonate that...?"
"Haha, of course. Kor? Light it."
"Yeeees~"
"S-stop! If you do that, you'll all...!"
"We'll what?"
A small, adorable girl nestled in my arms.
The girl, wrapped around my neck with her slender arms, looked as if her limbs might snap with just a little more force.
But in reality, she was a being destined to become sturdier than anyone else here.
And the girl's ability was simple yet powerful.
To a degree the likes of me couldn't even compare to.
"You saw earlier, didn't you? If it hits, only you get hit."
"Dammit...! Dammit...! Dammit!!"
"Coming to your senses now?"
"You vicious human...! You're even madder than the Evil Dragon Azhi Dahaka!!"
Ruthven, who had kept on cursing me repeatedly after that, tried to flee the spot quickly.
But Alice, who had already leaped to where he was, seized his body and hurled him toward the bombs.
And the rabbit returned to where we were even faster than the bat she had thrown.
The bombs' ignition finished at the very moment the rabbit returned, and the spectacular flames that erupted began to engulf the entire village.
The most beautiful fireworks display of my life.
Fireworks viewed in the night amid a snowfield felt even more beautiful, I thought.
***
"It's finally over."
"Yes, it seems this incident was resolved well too!"
"Though the price was high..."
Looking at the results, one beautiful village had been completely blown away.
But the village had already been annihilated by Ruthven, so it was probably fine even if it disappeared.
If anything, the villagers who'd suffered at Ruthven's hands would be grateful that we avenged them.
"Agent Seon-ju...? What are you doing there?"
"Huh...? Director?! You're safe?"
"Ah, I evacuated to a nearby village after the avalanche struck."
"I see. I'm really relieved you're safe!"
"I appreciate the concern, but I'd rather you answer my previous question first."
"About that. I just finished dealing with the Divine Beast and the vampires that attacked this village!"
"Hmm...? Divine Beast? Vampires? What on earth are you talking about?"
"Huh...? Didn't you evacuate because Divine Beasts and vampires attacked this village?"
Something was off.
The conversation was strangely disjointed—if I had to compare it to gears, it felt like they weren't turning because some foreign object was stuck between the teeth.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but my reason for evacuating was that a second avalanche hit the village."
"A second avalanche?"
"Yes, after the first avalanche, an even larger avalanche struck, paralyzing all of Suobi Village's functions. So I took the villagers and agents and evacuated to the next village over."
"Th-then it wasn't because of a vampire attack...?"
"I don't know what these vampires you're talking about are, but I can assert that was not the reason. And the reason I returned here was that two unexplained massive explosions occurred on the Suobi Village side. Twice, no less."
"Ah...! Aaah...!"
Looking back, I hadn't seen the shopkeeper from the first day turn into a vampire either.
Nor had I seen the changed forms of any other memorable people I'd encountered in the village.
I hadn't given it much thought, but to think they had all been alive and well...!
And I, without even knowing that, had taken their home, filled with their memories...
"Since you were here, you must know full well what happened, yes? Go on, tell me. Why is Suobi Village gone, with nothing left but debris?"
"I-it was a mistake...!!"
I had destroyed it.