Chapter 78
Chapter 78
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Lost Demon Girl (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
That’s not bad for a light warm-up.
“Keeek!”
The green goblin let out a shrill cry as it glared at me.
Goblins were basically the hyenas of the fantasy world.
They moved in packs, ambushing injured adventurers or monsters to make them their prey.
And among them, the females were the type to force themselves on humans, elves, dwarves—even monsters—as long as they could bear young.
I had no idea why the library had records like that, but apparently they even used female orcs as hosts.
But that’s weird.
Honestly, at this point, I had to wonder why they’d even evolved that way.
Wouldn’t it be more efficient just to produce their own females and use those as hosts, without needing other races?
Whatever. Doesn’t matter.
Anyway, the mounts they were riding were skeleton horses—undead monsters known for their incredible speed.
With no flesh, just bones, they were faster than regular horses, but their weakness was their lack of power, so they couldn’t handle terrain like hills.
They weren’t really suitable for carrying people, but they could handle the weight of goblins, apparently.
“Not bad for a warm-up. Time to get a feel for this body with some basic taijutsu—”
-Thud!
I leaped from the train using flight magic. The train and those skeleton horses were fast, sure, but flight magic could exceed the speed of sound depending on the user.
So catching up should’ve been a breeze—
-Thump!
“Ugh?”
“Kik?”
The flight magic suddenly failed, and I ended up tumbling across the ground after falling from the train.
It must’ve looked ridiculous, because even the goblins chasing the train stopped their mounts and surrounded me.
They tilted their heads, then slowly approached me as I lay sprawled on the ground.
Ah, screw the warm-up. Should I just smash them all?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A moment later.
“Kyaak?!”
A goblin fell from its horse, screaming.
Its exhausted skeleton mount had run out of energy and stopped moving entirely, leaving the goblin with only its limping legs.
“Kek! Kyaaak!”
At least it still had those.
The other comrades had their heads lopped off in an instant or were slammed into the ground like saplings being planted.
This one had gotten off easy, relatively speaking.
The goblin scrambled backward, trying to flee from the approaching figure, but no matter how desperately it ran, the death cries of its comrades didn’t stop.
Those final screams kept coming endlessly. They weren’t getting farther away—they were drawing closer—
-Crack!
“Guh—”
In the end, that goblin’s neck snapped too.
Cyan had chased down the fleeing goblin and twisted its neck before it even noticed.
“Tch. Finally caught the last one.”
The pursuit had dragged on for quite a while.
Goblins, by their nature, only sent out a few for hunting.
Depending on the prey’s type or size, they might send more—or even just one—but the group from earlier was only a fraction of the horde.
That’s why Cyan had tracked it all the way here and killed it. If she hadn’t, hundreds of goblins would’ve swarmed in.
It hadn’t been a bad call.
Regardless of how strong the goblins were, if they blocked or severed the tracks, things would get messy.
“Anyway, that’s the end of it……”
Cyan looked around.
But she hadn’t anticipated this problem.
She wasn’t particularly injured, and she hadn’t run into any monster too powerful for her.
“……Where the hell am I?”
Chasing the goblin had led her deep into the forest.
In short, she was lost.
All around were nothing but trees—no sign of the tracks or the train anywhere.
“Haa.”
And to top it off, the debuff from that drug made flight magic and teleportation impossible right now.
Cyan figured hundreds of goblins would’ve been preferable.
At least she could’ve handled those. But her notoriously terrible sense of direction? No fixing that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
Louis, can you hear me?
This was a problem I genuinely hadn’t seen coming.
Goblins aren’t smart, but they’re clever enough.
They mimic humans: digging traps for big game, luring them into valleys to drop boulders, that sort of coordinated attack.
So I’d gone out ahead to nip it in the bud before it delayed the train. Who could’ve predicted I’d get lost?
Louis? Louis?
And worst of all, telepathy with Louis wasn’t connecting.
Normally, contractors could reach each other across continents, unless divided by world barriers. But in my case, things were different.
When I made the contract with Louis, I was my fully grown self. Not anymore.
I was still the same person, of course.
The contract itself held, but its perks—like telepathy—were inaccessible.
Probably because my mana had regressed to childlike levels. A creature’s mana signature doesn’t change with growth, but its purity and wavelength do.
That’s why telepathy failed.
In this situation where I couldn’t use flight or teleport either.
“Damn it.”
-Crunch!
I vented by stomping a rock to dust.
But I couldn’t just dispel the drug’s debuff either.
Forcing it off built tolerance over time, weakening its duration. Blow it prematurely, and it’d be useless when it mattered most.
If it wore off mid-fight with that bastard, I’d have to level mountains just to keep up……
“Why isn’t teleport working?”
-Flash!
Teleport just wasn’t activating.
Well, technically it was—but it just teleported me to the same spot.
Tch. Pointless.
Literal standing in place. Meaning my fastest movement now was good old walking.
“Shouldn’t have bothered chasing that one goblin……”
-Crack!
First things first: figure out where I was.
Couldn’t fly, but leg strength and power let me jump high enough.
-Rustle!
“There we go. I can see now.”
I used a rock as a launchpad and leaped into the sky.
My physical stats were way down, but I could still grab onto an airship like this.
East and west are all forest. South has a lake, north a mountain range.
Saw the lake from the train earlier, so south seems right.
If the sun were up, I might spot the train’s smoke, but it was pitch black now. Even demonic eyesight couldn’t pick out a distant, departed train.
“Hm?”
But in the middle of the forest… a light.
Not a village or anything. Smoke rising, so probably a campfire.
This area was goblin territory, but goblins didn’t bother with separate fires like that.
So, people……
Wonder if they can give directions.
If not adventurers, could be bandits.
Bandits would be perfect—they usually knew the terrain better than questing adventurers.
-Thud.
Decision made: head to them and ask.
If they guide nicely, great. If not, stomp ‘em a bit and threaten.
-Crack!
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Heavenly Demon Footwork – Shrinking Ground ※ Attribute: Physical / Range: None / Max Targets: 1
>▶ A special foot technique that folds space to move, equivalent to physically performing magical blink.
It wasn’t all downsides just because of the debuff. The Heavenly Demon techniques no longer broke my transform like before.
Good, almost there.
Whether due to weakened power or taking the drug in high elf form, I couldn’t say……
Eh, no harm in it.
“?”
But as I approached the light, a familiar presence prickled.
Three presences: one male, two female.
Two of them were fading.
That was either deliberate suppression… or dying.
Adventurers, then.
……Smells like poisoned blood.
-Rustle!
I sped up toward the light.
《 ~Neutral Stage~ Forest Near Grandel 》 “Who’s there?!”
I burst through the underbrush, and a familiar brown-haired swordsman drew his blade at me.
“Rain…… Cough! Cough! If it’s a m-monster…… just leave me and run……”
And a weak woman’s voice……?
Wait, Rain?
And those two women lying behind him—they looked familiar too.
One was barely clinging to consciousness with ragged breaths; the other was unconscious, hanging on by a thread.
“……Aria, stay right behind me with Thomas. Don’t stray, no matter what.”
Hah, running into these guys again, huh.
In a situation just like our first meeting, no less.
“Hey, no need to be so on guard. Didn’t expect to meet again like this…… but looks like we’re tangled up anyway.”
-Swish
I pulled back the robe covering my face.
“Y-You’re……”?
The swordsman’s shocked face was priceless.