Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Thousand Kills Star Has No Thoughts
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The Thousand Kills Star had no thoughts.
Enoch, who had been sleeping like the dead, blankly opened his eyes.
"You're awake?"
Leone, lying beside him, beamed a bright smile.
Even after waking up, she looked effortlessly perfect—not a hair out of place—and he couldn't help but admire her.
"Yeah."
Enoch nodded and toddled off to wash up. In the meantime, Leone deftly set the table.
Once Enoch returned from washing, it was mealtime.
The food on the table vanished in an instant, and Enoch patted his full belly as he stepped out into the courtyard.
"Here we go."
Leone stood straight, ready for the lesson.
But today, unusually, Enoch spoke first.
"Leone."
"Yeah?"
"Can you do spirit fusion?"
Leone blinked.
Her gaze naturally drifted to the fox atop Enoch's head.
Had Undine told him?
"Yeah, of course. Why?"
"I wanna see."
"Oh?"
No big deal.
Leone readily extended her hand.
"Undine."
[This isn't a skill meant for show, you know.]
Undine grumbled but still descended onto Leone's palm.
And then,
Poof—!
With a burst of blue light, Undine's form scattered.
Blue particles seeped into Leone's body. She opened her slightly closed eyes and exhaled.
"Hoo...."
At the same time, the tips of Leone's golden hair began to dye blue.
A deep blue, rippling like water.
Along with that mystical sight, orbs of water floated around her, circulating smoothly.
"There, that's spirit fusion."
Leone smiled, and Enoch clapped enthusiastically.
Perhaps due to the faint blue glow in her eyes, she looked utterly otherworldly.
"But it's not just the appearance—you want to see the power too, right?"
Leone grinned and spread her hand.
A longsword flew into her grasp from somewhere, and she twisted her waist slightly.
"Watch closely, Enoch. You'll pass through this stage someday."
With that, Leone's arm moved.
The sword traced a simple straight line.
Swinging toward the sky, it connected point to point.
"Mm."
Leone nodded in satisfaction,
And whoosh—!
All the clouds drifting in the sky vanished at once.
"......?"
Enoch, who hadn't understood a thing, tilted his head.
What had she done?
He hadn't sensed anything, but the clouds were gone.
And soon,
Rumble─────
A sudden downpour poured from the clear sky.
All the wrung-out clouds had fallen as rain.
Thanks to Leone's power, not a single hair on Enoch was wet, but he was too chilled to notice.
"Ah...."
Rain over an area matching most of the forest.
Leone wasn't doing anything now, but if even a sliver of her will had infused that rain?
The entire area would be her attack range.
If she willed it, a whole city would be swept away.
No survivors—not as a figure of speech, but literally.
Enoch's body shivered.
At the same time, a warm sensation enveloped him.
"As expected of our Enoch. I didn't think you'd actually sense something here."
[Look at him, with all that talent.]
Undine, having undone the fusion and popped out, cackled.
Enoch flinched when their eyes met, but his fear quickly faded amid a surge of defiant emotion.
"Shut it, gnat."
[Wh-what...?]
Hugging Enoch close, Leone watched as he snatched the fox from atop his head.
"Kiiing?"
The drowsy fox rolled its half-lidded eyes and met Enoch's gaze.
"Fusion."
[?]
The fox tilted its head.
"Won't work?"
Enoch glared at Undine.
You said it would work since it's a familiar spirit or whatever.
[No way it'd work right off the bat, that's just common sense. Even then, you need some kind of bond first.]
Stung by her condescending tone, Enoch pouted and placed the fox back on his head.
The fox sprawled lazily atop Enoch's head.
[Name it first, at least. I've been waiting for you to do it, but looks like you weren't even gonna bother.]
A name.
Enoch's eyes turned to Leone.
Her eyes crinkled happily as their gazes met.
Enoch decided.
"Eri."
'E'noch, 'Ri'one—Leone.
A simple naming, and Undine caught on immediately, letting out a hollow chuckle.
[...Insane elf-loving Thousand Kills Star.]
Leone, however, beamed ear to ear.
"Oh my, so is Eri our kid then? Daughter, since it's Eri?"
"......!!"
Lightning struck his mind!
Shock! Thrill! Ecstasy!
Enoch, already planning grandkids, opened his mouth...
"Hehe, just kidding."
The fall from such heights was indescribable.
Enoch froze with his mouth agape as warm hands gently ruffled his hair.
"Still, I'm happy. Thanks?"
"......"
"Enoch?"
"...Yeah."
Undine watched the dejected Enoch, her lips quivering.
[...Is that kid gonna get stabbed like that?]
*
After Undine got her comeuppance for her old maid jabs, Leone sat Enoch on her lap atop her sword and soared into the sky.
"We're going somewhere different today."
"...Yeah."
Enoch, still reeling from the damage, nodded weakly.
Lost in a daze, trying to redirect his thoughts, a sudden realization hit him.
Eri, spirits, dungeon, golems.
Following the stream of consciousness, it led to: 'What's the connection between spirits and golems anyway?'
Now that he thought about it, yeah.
Why would a dungeon full of golems suddenly spit out a spirit?
There had to be some link.
When he asked Leone, she answered kindly.
"No real connection. Dungeons are just like that."
Don't expect dungeons to make sense!
That was Leone's advice.
"Dungeons usually form when mana flows clump and tangle beyond reason, so they defy common logic in tons of ways."
The one Enoch had entered was tame by comparison.
Golems could turn into goblins out of nowhere, or the dungeon could spawn elves or humans.
Or maybe an endless abyss.
"Ah...."
Enoch nodded, while Eri yawned lazily atop his head.
"Hehe, at least I get why Eri's a fox now."
"Huh?"
"This? I'll keep it secret. You'll figure it out when you meet them later."
Meet who?
Enoch tilted his head, and Leone hugged him tighter.
"This pace might be too slow, so hold on—gonna speed up a bit?"
With that,
Roooar─────!
The sword tore through the air's barrier, slicing across the sky.
Eri nearly tumbling off in fright was a minor issue.
*
As the sky began to tint red, Leone pulled an ore from her bosom.
"Enoch, know what this is?"
"What?"
"Mithril. Rare metal. Since it came from a natural dungeon, the quality's probably way better than usual."
Mithril belonged to the rare metals commonly called rare metals.
Far superior mana conductivity to normal metals made it prized for magic reagents and weapons, but its scarcity drove prices sky-high.
"Well, it's not insanely valuable or anything. Still, it'll make a pretty decent weapon."
In this world, where raw power mattered most, mithril was a metal no superhuman couldn't obtain if they tried—just that level.
Valuable, but not 'oh my god' levels—kinda middling?
That suited Leone just fine.
If she'd made a weapon from some ultra-rare metal, Enoch might run into thugs with brute strength overwhelming him once he ventured out.
"Weapon? I don't use weapons."
"Weapons come in more varieties than you think, Enoch. Beyond swords and spears, there's claws and such."
For someone like Enoch who used barehanded techniques, claw gauntlets would be handy.
"Anyway, we're here."
The altitude dropped in a flash.
Enoch looked around and let out an awed breath.
"Whoa...."
Hot air brushed his cheeks.
A sea of fire—that's what the crimson landscape called for.
Lava rivers snaked around towering mountains, steam rising to blur the view.
Even falling from above, sweat beaded up. People lived here?
As Enoch gawked around in wonder, Leone landed with him in her arms.
"Enoch, one thing to say."
"Yeah?"
"Hmm... How to put it. The person we're meeting is like... my fri—acqu—something like that."
Unlike Leone, she hemmed and hawed, so Enoch blinked.
"Not super close, but I need a favor anyway... and... I know you won't, but no badmouthing her, okay?"
Of course.
Enoch wasn't thoughtless; he wouldn't badmouth Leone's friend...
"What're you doing here?"
Enoch's gaze snapped toward the voice.
And he blurted out on reflex.
"Shortstack dwarf?"
Leone gasped in shock.
Enoch glanced at her and corrected himself.
"Ah, ore thief? Bitch?"
"...You little shit?"
Her friend was a dwarf.