Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Crush - 1
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A few minutes earlier.
Maide ascended into the air for his meeting with Idria.
Neril watched as Maide shrank to a mere speck, then lowered her gaze.
She addressed the group.
“Everyone, listen up. I have a plan.”
Serein asked,
“Uh... don’t we lack time for a strategy meeting? That giant stag beetle-looking monster is right in front of us.”
“Sharp observation for you.”
“Too chatty.”
“Let’s bind it first.”
Neril pulled Erenica’s heirloom grimoire from her bosom.
She formed hand seals, then slammed the book down.
Whoosh.
The pages flipped through the air before halting at one spot.
Next, she gripped the Withering Jewel and shouted,
“Arc Seal!”
Normally, even Neril wouldn’t attempt such a spell lightly, but converting the jewel’s primal energy into mana activated it effortlessly.
“Quite the spectacle.”
As Offense said, it was spectacular.
Hundreds of magic circles materialized around Hellheim, the giant stag beetle.
Iron chains erupted from them in unison.
-Grraaaaaah.
Hellheim thrashed wildly, but the hundreds of chains wrapping its entire body left it immobile.
Jenia said admiringly,
“That’s the binding spell you used on the Martial King. An evolved version?”
“This is the original spell that bound the Martial King. Back then, without the book’s aid, I could only manage a few chains. It’s one of the Erenica family’s spells.”
Jenia tilted her head.
She didn’t voice it, but Neril knew what puzzled her.
How did the one who exterminated the Erenica family know their magic so well?
“Actually...”
Neril changed what she was about to say.
“Never mind. Maide doesn’t know yet, so I can’t tell you first.”
“Wow. Such blatant favoritism.”
“Anyway, we’ve bound it, but this isn’t an attack spell. I’ll explain the plan in the meantime.”
“Why not just beat it while it’s tied up?”
Neril smirked.
“That might work if it were just the giant beetle. But you forgot—plenty of the territory’s residents already have beetles inside them?”
“Oh.”
“We need to save them all. It’ll boost Maide’s reputation.”
Neril pointed to Jenia’s bosom.
“You’re keeping the Branches of Corruption safe?”
“Of course. Nine left.”
“We’ve got plenty, so use one more. Handle the purification with Serein, just like in Hasfil territory.”
“Ah, yes! Purification will cleanly resolve everything.”
“Yeah. But one thing to watch.”
Neril continued gravely.
“The purifying light mustn’t touch Ophelia.”
“Ah... Ophelia’s body is a fake created by Idria. It’d be dangerous if it hit.”
“Exactly. And adjust so it doesn’t reach Maide either.”
“Why Maide?”
“He carries the hero’s sword, which Idria made too. It’d be a problem if it vanished mid-battle.”
No one had considered that, so they nodded with impressed expressions.
Jenia thought Neril truly wise.
Though she wouldn’t say it aloud.
“Got it. Alone, it’d be tough, but with Serein’s help, we can fine-tune the targets.”
“Good.”
“Give us five minutes.”
“Hm. My spell won’t hold that long.”
At her words, the group looked at Hellheim.
-Grrooooaaar.
Crack. Snap.
Nearly half the chains were already broken.
Jenia said urgently,
“Serein!”
“Yes. Let’s begin.”
The two clasped hands and began to pray.
“O heavenly god...”
“Beings that defy your divine will are here.”
Neril thought for a moment, then turned to the remaining party members.
“Purification won’t speed up no matter how we rush. Assume it takes five minutes, like in Hasfil territory.”
“Hm.”
“No choice. We’ll take down the giant stag beetle ourselves.”
She explained quickly.
“Fundamentally, my Decomposition magic will kill it.”
“The one that obliterated the black sun?”
“Yeah. But maintaining Arc Seal and casting Decomposition simultaneously is tough.”
“So our job is to pin its legs until you can unleash Decomposition.”
“Can you manage?”
Offense pondered, then pulled something from his bosom.
A small vial.
He drew a dagger and coated it with the vial’s contents.
“I’ve wanted to test this.”
“Poison?”
“Neurotoxin—one drop paralyzes twenty grown men. Should work on monsters too. But from what I see, its shell’s too hard. Need a spot where the dagger can penetrate.”
Adwin pointed at Hellheim and spoke.
“There.”
Near Hellheim’s head, a tiny eye twitched—barely noticeable compared to its massive size.
It blinked anxiously, darting in every direction.
Likely searching for targets to kill once freed.
Offense clicked his tongue.
“Target’s too small. Not sure my throw will hit.”
“I’ll support your soul a bit, uncle. I’ll max out your focus—it’ll work.”
“Even if it hits... that bug-eyed freak probably has eyelids.”
Risel said reassuringly,
“I’ll pry the eye open. With a wind spirit.”
“Ah. Much obliged.”
“No problem. Neril, this should work, right?”
Neril had felt a tickle in her chest for a while.
Party members figuring out their roles without step-by-step orders.
‘Did Maide feel like this watching us?’
She suppressed a smile and said,
“Good. Let’s do it. No mistakes.”
“Yeah. And from now on, when Maide’s absent, you take command.”
“...?”
“You’ve got a knack for it. You resembled him a lot just now, issuing orders.”
Neril couldn’t hide her smile in the end.
My movements in the air felt almost identical to on the ground.
Neril’s flight magic was that exceptional.
Thanks to it...
‘Quick Dash!’
I closed in on Ophelia at my usual speed.
“Urk.”
Ophelia assumed a seemingly reckless defensive stance.
Just crossing her arms to block my sword.
Normally, that would slice through arms and torso alike, but...
-Clang!
My sword rebounded as if striking solid metal.
Ophelia said,
“Ahh. It hurts, it hurts.”
“Sorry. I lack finesse.”
“Owwwww!”
Whoosh.
Suddenly, millions of bugs surged from the ground, clustering together.
Many had already burrowed into residents, so far fewer than the initial landslide.
Yet as they piled up, it felt like a mountain rising.
Whirr. Whirrr.
The bugs climbed over each other, eventually reaching our altitude.
They concealed Ophelia in their midst, forming a colossal giant.
[Bug giant, huh.]
‘Troublesome. Every single one of those bugs is a bomb.’
Swoosh.
The giant—easily ten times Agril’s size—raised a hand toward me.
Something like light shot from it.
The giant was hurling its own constituent bugs at me.
‘Tremendous Slash!’
I unleashed the skill on what seemed like thousands of bugs.
Swoosh. Sizzle.
-Kieeeek!
-Grreee.
Their cries doubled as sonic attacks.
My eardrums rattled, balance faltered briefly, but a bigger issue arose.
-Kaboom!
Each bug I slashed exploded.
I hastily altered my sword path to minimize blast exposure, but by skill’s end, my sword lay in shards.
“Sheesh.”
I discarded the hilt and drew the fake hero’s sword.
“This one can take some rough handling!”
I charged the giant.
And chained the skill repeatedly.
‘Tremendous Slash!’
Consecutive Tremendous Slashes.
Normally a burdensome technique requiring breath recovery after one use.
Yet as I’d felt before Emperor, spamming this monstrous skill posed no issue.
‘It’s even speeding up?’
[You’re one weird guy.]
‘Misspoke “excellent.”’
[Still, even with more power and speed, cleaving all those bugs one by one is impossible. You’d need three days straight.]
‘Yeah. Time to settle it.’
I gradually narrowed the distance to the giant.
Earlier, it had hidden Ophelia near its heart.
Mindful of altitude and range.
-Keeeek.
“Quiet. Focusing.”
I pressed on with Tremendous Slash, inching toward the giant’s heart—Ophelia.
Finally, I reached the spot I deemed sufficient.
Sensing the threat to its weak point, the giant clasped its hands into a hammer shape.
It swung that hammer down on my head.
At least five times the bugs of prior attacks.
[Danger!]
I could tell. Damn.
‘No way Tremendous Slash handles that.’
That’s when it happened.
[Maide, you’ve become quite superhuman in my absence.]
‘Repia?’
[I was waiting to offer advice, but looks like you don’t need it.]
‘No, I do. My skill can’t destroy that hammer.’
[Hmm... You mean that sword veil technique?]
Tremendous Slash.
[You tend to overthink sometimes, Maide.]
‘What?’
[Try unleashing that skill “simultaneously” multiple times.]
‘You think I haven’t because I didn’t know? The strain’s insane.’
[No. The current you can handle it.]
Repia’s assurance—the sword incarnate and second hero’s—filled me with unshakable confidence.
Boom.
The hammer was nearly upon me.
No time to think!
‘No choice.’
Imagine using Tremendous Slash multiple times simultaneously.
Not addition.
Multiplication.
No—squared.
If I had to name it...
‘True Tremendous Slash!’
-Hummmm.
An unbelievable wind roared from my sword.
My arm swung so fast, skin seemed to burn from air friction.
I gritted my teeth and pulverized the giant’s hammer.
-Kreeeeek!
Shocked by its severed hand, the giant staggered.
Noting its limbs wobbling, I took a deep breath.
Then Repia muttered in astonishment.
[No way, it actually worked?]
“...Huh?”
[Uh, ahem. Anyway, now’s your chance, Maide.]
Plenty I wanted to say, but later.
The giant was retreating.
I aimed my sword at its heart.
‘Desired Slash!’
My blade targeted not the bugs, but Ophelia hidden behind—flying blade-flat to strike her nape.
Right before impact.
“Ugh. No!”
Ophelia’s voice suddenly rang out.
Instinct told me it was genuine, so I halted the skill reflexively.
“Halting mid-skill brings nasty backlash.”
“Maide. Hero.”
“Have you come to?”
“No. If I faint... no.”
Swoosh.
The giant’s chest parted.
Ophelia clutched her head inside.
A faint light returned to her eyes.
“Urk. If I faint... the residents.”
“What?”
“Residents... explode.”
Just fragments of words, but I grasped the meaning.
‘Some residents already infested!’
[Not just some—tons. Fainting triggers the bugs to explode?]
‘Then this giant would too.’
Jenia or Serein might block the giant’s blast somehow.
But no divine shield stops explosions inside human bodies.
I felt deeply troubled.
‘Damn. Hunt down every resident one by one? No telling when that ends.’
Then Ophelia spoke.
“Ki... kill...”
“Huh?”
“Kill me.”
“You said fainting explodes the residents. Won’t killing you cause a massive blast?”
“If I die, demon king’s power... severs, bugs... vanish...”
Ah.
I see.
Even if Ophelia faints, the demon king’s power persists.
Alerted bugs would then explode.
‘But if Ophelia dies outright.’
Power from Idria cuts off.
Bugs sustained by that power would vanish like morning dew.
Even ‘explosions’ require the power link.
[What now?]
[Yeah, what to do?]
[Quiet! Let Maide focus.]
[Hey, I was here first...]
Sorry, but no ideas.
I bit my lip.
That’s when it happened.
“Huh?”
The sky split open.
Not metaphorically—the heavens literally parted.
Dazzling light poured from the rift.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
Grand Purification Ritual!
They’d thought of it and cast it without my orders?
“My party members are truly the best.”