Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The Land Forsaken by Stars (4)
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“KOSHIROOO!!!”
An explosive roar swept through the area.
“Yes! Oyabun!!”
“KOSHIROOOO!!”
“Yes!! Oyabuuuuun!!”
“KOSHIROOOOOOOOO!!!”
“OYABUUUUUUUUUN!!!”
What the hell are these guys doing?
“Good! Sounds like you’re full of spirit after that rest!”
“It’s all thanks to you, Oyabun!”
Koshiro replied, snapping to attention.
“Khahahaha! Are the preparations complete?”
“Of course, Oyabun! All our family have grabbed their tools and completely surrounded the ward so those bastards can’t escape!!”
“That’s our action leader for you!”
*Paaaaang!*
Sakaki slapped Koshiro on the back, and his body shot out like a cannonball.
He must have hit him with incredible force, because the nearby wall Koshiro crashed into cracked and crumbled.
Ha-eun let out a dry laugh as she looked down at Koshiro, who was twitching under the collapsed wall.
It was like watching some cheesy B-list comedy.
“Isn’t he dead?”
“Looks like it.”
More importantly, Koshiro’s title was action leader?
*CRASH!*
Koshiro, who had been buried under the wall, shot to his feet.
His clothes were a bit torn and he was covered in dust, but surprisingly, there were no visible injuries.
“A real man doesn’t get sent flying that easily!”
“My apologies, Oyabun!”
“It’s your core! Your core! I always tell you, Koshiro, you lack core strength! How are you going to protect your little sister like that?”
“I’ll put my back into it from now on!”
“Khahahaha! Right! That’s how you meet a good woman, too! Isn’t your sister nagging you to get married?”
“Haha…”
Sakaki let out a hearty laugh and patted Koshiro’s shoulder.
While Sakaki was generally informal with his subordinates, Koshiro was the only one he treated with this level of familiarity.
It felt less like a boss and his subordinate and more like an uncle and his nephew.
“How did you two meet?”
“It’s been a long time with this one. He came to me back when I was leading a vigilante corps and fighting monsters. Do you know what this kid did back then?”
“O-Oyabun! That story…”
Koshiro fidgeted with an embarrassed look on his face.
Sakaki grinned and clapped Koshiro on the shoulder.
“Just a kid, not even an Awakened, suddenly declared he wanted to become a man and protect his little sister. He knelt in front of the vigilante base and held out for days!”
“Oyabun!”
“Hahaha! I still laugh just thinking about it!”
Koshiro’s face turned bright red.
Oh-jin watched Koshiro with interest and continued the conversation.
“So, Koshiro, you applied to the vigilante corps even though you weren’t an Awakened?”
Even in Japan, where Awakened were scarce, it was difficult to involve non-Awakened in battles against monsters.
After all, attacks without the power of a Stigma were almost completely ineffective against them.
“That’s right. I turned him away several times, saying we couldn’t accept non-Awakened, but he stubbornly kept pestering me to let him in.”
Sakaki patted Koshiro’s back with a pleased expression.
“Well, it seems even the heavens couldn’t break his stubbornness, because not long after, he became an Awakened of the Scutum constellation.”
“Ugh. Please stop, Oyabun.”
Koshiro shook his head with a pleading look.
‘The Scutum constellation.’
A Stigma known to be unrivaled in terms of defensive power.
So that’s why he was fine even after being slammed into a wall hard enough for it to collapse.
“Alright! Now that we’re ready, let’s go catch those Heukseonghoe bastards!”
Sakaki took the lead, striding forward.
Led by Koshiro, the members of the Kurōshi followed him.
“Let’s go, Oh-jin.”
“Yeah.”
Oh-jin and Ha-eun followed the Kurōshi members toward the abandoned hospital ward where the Heukseonghoe was said to be hiding.
Oh-jin activated the Stigma of Canes Venatici and surveyed the area around the abandoned ward.
There were no scouts, not even a single common sentry.
‘What’s this?’
Could the information have been wrong?
That thought lasted only a moment.
As if they had arranged to meet, about fifty people started walking out from inside the abandoned ward.
They weren’t wearing suspicious black robes like the Owl faction, but seeing them emerge in a group from an empty hospital ward made it easy to guess their identity.
“Who the hell are these guys?”
A woman with piercings on her lips, nose, and even eyebrows frowned as she looked at the Kurōshi members surrounding the ward.
“M-Mika, aren’t those guys from the Kurōshi?”
“What?”
The woman called Mika’s eyes widened.
“It really is Sakaki Ryo.”
A man with delicate features standing next to Mika bit his lip.
“How did they find this place…!”
Mika stared at the Kurōshi members, unable to comprehend, then shouted at the Heukseonghoe members who seemed to be her subordinates.
“What are you spacing out for, you bastards! Get ready for battle!”
“Y-Yes!”
The Awakened who had come out of the abandoned ward hastily drew their weapons at Mika’s command.
Contrary to their ragtag appearance, the dark mana emanating from them was so powerful that the entire ward area momentarily trembled.
There was no longer any doubt that they were Awakened of the Hippocampus constellation.
“Alright, boys! Are you ready?”
“Yes, Oyabun!!”
*Thud!*
He stomped his foot roughly and drew a katana from the scabbard on his back.
Though it was a katana, it wasn't the typical thin and sleek type. It was so monstrously large and thick that one wondered if it could even be lifted and swung.
“What did I say a man is?”
At Sakaki’s command, the Kurōshi members drew their weapons.
“One who fights to protect his crew!”
“To protect his family!”
“And dies to protect his country!”
“That’s right!!”
What is this bullshit now?
“Oh-jin, are these guys on something, or are they off their meds?”
“I’ve never heard of a drug with these symptoms, so I’m guessing the latter.”
“Right?”
It seemed Oh-jin and Ha-eun weren't the only ones who thought so. Mika, who had been staring at Sakaki with a tense expression, let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Let’s go, booooys!!!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
The Kurōshi members let out a war cry and charged forward.
“Uraaaaghh!!!”
Sakaki, at the forefront, swung his massive katana horizontally.
An invisible shockwave that followed the path of his sword swept over the Heukseonghoe members.
“Keuk!!”
“Aaargh!!”
The Heukseonghoe members hit by the intense shockwave, strong enough to create a gust of wind, were sent flying back like pebbles.
“Sakaki Ryo! Target Sakaki Ryo only!!”
One of the Heukseonghoe members spread his hand and placed it on the ground.
The Hippocampus Stigma engraved on his left chest blazed with a black light.
*Swoooosh!*
A massive torrent of water erupted from his hand, spreading out like a net.
The stream of water, mixed with dirt to become thick mud, wrapped around Sakaki’s body.
“You dare!”
Sakaki twisted his body violently, and the mud binding him burst apart.
“Rise!!!”
As Sakaki was shaking off the mud wrapped around his body.
Five Heukseonghoe members chanted an incantation and aimed their weapons at him.
*Kwaarrrrrr!!*
Like water blasting from a fire hose, enormous streams of water shot toward Sakaki.
“Oyabun!”
Koshiro stepped in front of Sakaki and crossed his arms in an X-shape.
A three-meter-tall blue shield materialized, deflecting the fiercely pouring streams of water.
“Ugh!”
“Keuk! Huk!”
Swept away by the very streams of water they had unleashed, the Heukseonghoe members flailed and tumbled to the ground.
“Don’t do pointless things, Koshiro!”
Sakaki instead yelled at Koshiro for blocking the water cannons and looked around at his men engaged in fierce battles everywhere.
Although the Heukseonghoe members were far fewer in number, they were continuously unleashing attacks fueled by a seemingly endless supply of mana, as if they had drunk some kind of elixir, preventing the Kurōshi from easily approaching.
“Go help them over there!”
“B-But.”
“A real man doesn’t talk back!”
“Ugh…”
After a moment’s hesitation, Koshiro ran toward where his fellow members were fighting.
*Kwaarrrrrr!!*
As Koshiro moved aside, powerful streams of water slammed into Sakaki’s body.
“Kugh!”
It felt less like being hit by water and more like being struck by a hammer, a heavy pain spreading throughout his body.
“With an attack like this…”
*Crack! Craaack!*
Sakaki’s muscles swelled all over his body, his yukata stretching as if it would burst.
The eight strokes engraved on his left chest emitted a brilliant light.
“You think you can stop a reeeal maaaan!!!”
Sakaki endured the fierce streams of water with his body and charged ferociously toward the Heukseonghoe members.
“Th-This crazy bastard!”
“Stop him! Stop him!”
“M-Mika! This guy is too strong!”
*KWAAANG!!*
The Heukseonghoe members, who were desperately calling for someone, collided with Sakaki’s body and were sent flying far away.
Although they had clearly collided with a person, their flying bodies were horrifically mangled as if they had been hit by a dump truck.
“Khahahaha!! I heard everyone was trembling in fear of the Hippocampus bastards, but you’re nothing special!”
Sakaki let out a hearty laugh and began to wipe out the Hippocampus Awakened like a wolf among a flock of sheep.
“M-Mika. I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Damn it! Can’t you contact Lord Sosuke?!”
“He’s not picking up!”
The man with delicate features shook a communication orb with an anxious expression.
“Damn it… Why is that crazy bull bastard here…!”
Frustrated by the unanswered question, Mika hysterically ground her teeth and turned her head to survey her surroundings.
Her gaze fell upon a man and a woman standing slightly apart, watching the battle as if they were spectators.
“Shiranui. You see those two over there?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“Those bastards aren’t with the Kurōshi.”
“Then?”
“I don’t know that far.”
Mika’s eyes narrowed.
They weren’t with the Kurōshi, yet they were with them.
This fact was important.
‘Those guys are all about their stupid codes of honor and loyalty.’
If they were the ‘informants’ who had told Sakaki their location.
Knowing Sakaki’s personality, he would undoubtedly try to protect the people who had helped him.
“Let’s take those bastards hostage.”
“Okay.”
Shiranui turned and exchanged a look with Mika.
“I’ll take the woman. You take the man, Mika.”
“Don’t tell me you’re getting hot for that bitch in a situation like this?”
Mika glared at Shiranui.
She knew this wasn’t the time to be bickering, but the woman with the eyepatch over her left eye was so beautiful that even Mika couldn't help but be impressed, and the words just slipped out.
“Is this really the time for that?”
“Grr. Fine.”
Mika and Shiranui kicked off the ground at the same time.
*Splash! Splash!*
Puddles of water formed under their feet as they moved, accelerating their bodies at an explosive speed.
“Hut…!”
Sakaki chased after Mika and Shiranui with a panicked expression, but.
“Whoa there, stay put, Mr. Crazy Bull.”
Mika, who had reached Oh-jin in an instant, wrapped her arms around him from behind in a back hug.
She held a sharp blade made of water to Oh-jin’s neck and glared at Sakaki.
Sakaki, who had been rushing over, came to a dead stop.
“Hmph. Looks like my guess was spot on.”
Seeing the panic on Sakaki’s face, she felt that taking the two of them hostage had been an excellent choice.
“If you take one more step, I’ll cut this guy’s head off.”
“Kgh!”
Sakaki let out a groan and clenched his fists.
“Hehe. Good, good. Just stay still like that.”
“…”
Oh-jin turned his head with a nonchalant expression to look at the woman holding him from behind with a blade to his neck.
“What, too scared to even speak?”
Mika looked at Oh-jin and smirked.
“You’re pretty cute up close, you know?”
*You’re kinda my type,* she muttered, sticking out her long tongue.
The skull piercing in the center of her tongue glistened.
“If you listen to your big sis, you won’t get hurt, so be a good boy, okay?”
Mika let out a seductive laugh and licked Oh-jin’s cheek.