Chapter 111
“I see, so that’s how things were.”
At this moment in time, Libra and the others who were at Derby’s house finished exchanging information and somehow managed to understand each other’s situation.
And the conclusion they reached was that Sagittarius’s betrayal was really not of his own will.
He probably had no option but to follow Leon after he took the centaur village hostage.
However, it was not as if Sagittarius submissively followed Leon. He advertised his intention to become an enemy to Libra, which served as a warning that led them to come to Tyrfing.
Because he understood that he would not be able to defeat Leon by himself, he invited a fighting force that would be able to do so. He probably had such a train of thought, but unfortunately, he had made a slight miscalculation.
Originally, his true aim would have been to utilise Ruphas’s overwhelming power to take Leon down.
However, due to Benetnash’s interference, Ruphas was unable to come to where he was, thus only the Twelve Heavenly Stars ended up coming over.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, even if it was just the Twelve Heavenly Stars, it would have been possible to defeat Leon. Nevertheless, even that was not what the current situation was.
Due to a needless intervention from the G.o.ddess, Leon’s fighting prowess had increased, making him become something beyond what they could handle.
Even Karkinos, who was a perfect match to counter Leon, became unable to do anything.
Currently, on their side, there were four individuals who possessed monstrous fighting prowess: Libra, Scorpius, Aigokeros and Karkinos.
In addition, if they were to add Sagittarius and Castor, it would become six versus one… nevertheless, everyone in that place understood that it would still be very tough.
Normal conditions aside, the current Leon’s strength was abnormal.
After all, Leon, who was already the strongest individual amongst the Twelve Heavenly Stars, turned wild after being released from Ruphas’s control and regained his real strength. On top of that, he was further empowered by the G.o.ddess’s buffs.
No doubt, there would only be three individuals who would be able to fight against a stupidly overpowered existence like that head-on and come out victorious: Ruphas, the Vampire Princess and the Demon King.
“In any event, he will probably arrive here very soon. Irrespective of whether we choose to stay or not, he will come for the purpose of ma.s.sacring every centaur.”
Castor looked at the centaurs and spoke in a grave and serious tone, followed by Sagittarius who nodded to concur.
Now that he had taken action to save the Twelve Stars, any explanation that he might attempt to make became useless.
Without a shred of doubt, Leon would, with absolute certainty, come attacking this village as a reprisal against Sagittarius.
Sagittarius, who knew of this very well, came to the village to try and protect it.
“I’m sure you’re right. That thing is a petty, short-tempered man. He’ll definitely come and destroy this village as a way to teach me a lesson. That’s why, on the surface until now, I had to be obedient to him. …….. Though, something like that wouldn’t really be a good enough excuse.”
“Of course, that’s a given. Betraying Ruphas-sama is an action deserving of death.”
While Sagittarius was mocking himself, Scorpius cornered him further with her harsh and spiteful words.
However, even though she was reprimanding him with her mouth, there was no follow-up action.
“Well, right now, we also need your power, so I’ll let you go for now. It p.i.s.ses me off, but it’s better to have more fighting power against the current Leon.”
“I appreciate it.”
It was not as if there was no anger towards Sagittarius.
However, his sentence could be left to Ruphas.
Before all of that, right now, the important thing was to consider how to defeat Leon, and Sagittarius was a valuable source of fighting prowess that they should take into consideration.
As such, rather than quarrelling with each other, it would be preferable for them to work with each other.
Scorpius was calm and collected enough to be able to think as such.
As long as she was not in a hysterical fit and Ruphas was not involved in the matter, she was also able to properly a.s.sess and think through things quite normally.
“In our battle against Leon, we will be using Karkinos as the central figure. We will have him stand in front of Leon whilst Virgo and Castor will then continue to provide a.s.sistance. Sagittarius and I will provide long-ranged support. Aigokeros is to distract Leon using illusions, and Scorpius, please keep inflicting him with your poison if you see any opening to do so.”
Libra ordered and explained everyone’s role in their impending fight against Leon as they listened to what she said with a grim expression.
They were essentially ganging up on a single person with many people. However, they had no room for hesitation.
After all, their opponent was that very Leon. If they were to hold anything back, they would be the ones who would be defeated.
After they decided how they would fight against him, as if it was waiting for this moment, the forest shook.
Earthquake…. – there was no individual who would be stupid enough to say such a thing in that location.
Libra and the group all dashed out of the small hut and faced towards the outside of the village.
And what was reflected in their eyes was the appearance of a giant lion which was nearing their location whilst crushing the trees below him with every step.
In response to its majestic but imposing figure, the Hero’s group froze up in a daze and Gants dropped the battleaxe that was in his hands.
Huge – just, unnecessarily, way, too, big!
In the past, Gants had seen the figure of Aries when he attacked Svalinn. However, even compared to that, Leon’s figure would be considered abnormal in size.
Sei was currently unconscious. However, it would probably be fortunate for him to continue sleeping.
And as if learning from Sei, the tiger rolled onto the ground and tried to pretend that he was dead.
On the other hand, Kaineko’s fur was standing straight. Jean, the only individual in that place who could not understand the difference in their abilities, charged in to attack. However, because he was so small in comparison, he could not even get anyone to notice that he had moved in.
“So he’s arrived… let’s go, Sagittarius!”
“Yeah, I know!”
Libra commenced a full-powered indiscriminate attack with all that she had, including Astraea, and Sagittarius matched her by firing an arrow towards the sky.
The destructive lights fired by Libra landed directly on the giant lion and countless arrows of light rained down upon and pierced into Leon’s body.
However, the punctures were only on the surface. Indeed, they were nothing more than small p.r.i.c.ks on the surface of his skin and Leon’s expression did not even change in the slightest.
On the other hand, Jean, who had finally arrived at the foot of Leon, was blown away by the shockwave of a single arrow landing near him.
“You really love to play these small tricks, don’t cha? Looks like you still haven’t understood… that a small attack like this, doesn’t, work on the current me!”
Leon opened his mouth wide and sucked in a large amount of air.
The attack that followed was nothing particularly special. It was neither a special ability nor would it inflict some detrimental debuff.
In other words, it was nothing more than a simple roar – it was nothing more than an act of exhaling air combined with the mana which was in the body.
If one were to speak in terms of cla.s.sification, it was a skill that even a low-tiered monster could use. It was not wrong to think of the move as a basic level ability that qualified as a low-tiered skill.
However, even with such a skill, if Leon were the one to use it, it would easily turn into an ability of ma.s.s destruction that could wipe out a kingdom.
It might seem like a crazy exaggeration that a single living creature’s roar could have power surpa.s.sing what would be required to uproot a single kingdom. Such a description was just on so grand a scale that even calling it nonsensical was too sensible of an action.
However, in this world, this was what it meant to be cla.s.sified as one of the strongest individuals. To be a monster which was able to destroy a world on a whim – that was the minimum threshold of what it meant to be cla.s.sified as one of the strongest in the world.
Ruphas, Benetnash and the Demon King all individually possessed transcendent-like battle prowess such that they would easily be able to turn the whole of Midgard into nothing more than s.p.a.ce dust should they really get serious.
The ability to destroy a country or two was nothing more than child’s play and being able to erase a continent or two was nothing more than a given. Thus they were the powerful. Thus they were the strongest.
The exhaled air would easily dust away the centaur village… no, the forest itself which served as the demi-humanoids’ settlement.
There was no doubt the attack would ma.s.sacre many of the demi-humans and extinguish Jean who was unfortunate enough to be in the direct line of attack. Even the Twelve Stars would no doubt suffer heavy damage from the attack.
Furthermore, there was nothing that could be done to prevent the attack by those on the Twelve Stars’ side.
Even if they possessed the means, Leon’s attack power was on too grand a scale that they would not be able to completely offset his attack.
In hopes of at least mitigating the impact, Karkinos jumped in front. Fully prepared to take significant damage, he turned into his giant form.
Right at that moment –
A rainbow-coloured shooting star flew right in, kicking Leon’s jaws upwards and forcibly closing his mouth.
“—gha!?”
A small-framed silhouette enveloped by a rainbow-coloured flame once again slammed into the closed jaws.
When it did, as if everything was a joke, Leon’s large body lifted into the air. At the same time, flames fired out from the silhouette’s hands and it accelerated. It moved above Leon and this time, it kicked Leon downwards.
Leon immediately also tried to counterattack… however, the attack did not connect. The target was too small.
Being large equated to strength.
When something was big, its attacks would naturally have more weight. Furthermore, because any damage it received from the enemy was spread out across a large surface area, the damage it suffered was also distributed accordingly.
What looked to be a giant boulder to a human would seem like nothing more than a grain of sand to Leon. When the Twelve Stars gigantified, the change in oppressiveness due to the change in appearance was a given. However, there was more to it than the number which was displayed on the status.
Nevertheless, small things had their own merit for being small.
And that was this. It was a small and insignificant matter, but because they were small, attacks could not hit them.
Additionally, this rainbow-coloured flame inflicted damage based on the enemy’s vitality, thus it was perfect for killing high-cla.s.s enemies. The damage of this attack was not affected by the size of its body.
That small and insignificant existence – Aries landed in front of Libra and the others, turning to face them with an expression as if he was being flattened by the guilt of the sin he had committed.
“Umm… everyone, I’m sorry. I got delayed a little.”
“No, it was good timing, Aries. We were waiting for you.”
Leon’s strength was beyond what one might call common sense by now. Since it had gotten to a point where not even a full-powered attack from Libra worked properly, there were only limited ways to deal with Leon’s defence.
Because Leon’s defence at the moment surpa.s.sed even Karkinos whose only selling point was that he was the toughest of the Twelve Stars, the poor Crab-san did not even have a position to stand on.
However, Aries alone was an exception. His flames alone could penetrate any form of defence.
When used against Leon’s needlessly high vitality, it would not be wrong to call it a Brachium which could be repeatedly fired.[2] Although it was a skill which was significantly affected by the enemy’s strength, limited to the current place and time, Aries’s flame could outdo even his own master, Ruphas.
In other words, since Ruphas was not here… Aries was the only individual who had the possibility to take Leon down.
Nevertheless, in a one-on-one fight, it would not even be a battle in the first place. Thus, the cooperation of Libra and the others was required to give Aries the chance to win.
“A small frryy….! Trash like you, to this me!”
Leon, in his anger, stared daggers at Aries, who in turn looked straight back at him, though slightly timidly.
The Lion King Leon – the strongest of the magical beasts.
For Aries, that was the object of his admiration. He had always wanted to become like that. He always envied that position and wondered what he could have done if he was that strong.
It was because Leon had always been strong, as if he existed in a world different from that of Aries’s.
However, the feeling that he had towards the current Leon was not that of envy, respect or admiration. It was pity and disappointment.
The current Leon, who was nothing more than a doll controlled by the G.o.ddess, looked too comical to Aries. It didn’t suit him at all, and that… made Aries feel disappointed from the bottom of his heart.
“Mesarthim Version 1.”[3]
Aries’s whole body was enveloped in a rainbow-coloured flame and his hair fluttered.
If Ruphas saw his current appearance, she would have said, “That’s why I’ve been saying, Mesarthim isn’t a skill that’s supposed to be used like tha… oh wait, never mind, it’s that kind of skill.”
Aries was not going to use his original giant sheep appearance.
Just this time alone, he wanted to challenge Leon using the appearance of a human which had been bestowed upon him by Ruphas. At this very moment, that was what he felt.
As if responding to that intention, Scorpius and Aigokeros gigantified at the same time.
The centrepiece of the attack this time was Aries. Therefore, any attacks towards him had to be prevented as much as possible.
Thus gigantification. Thus the increase in the number of enemies.
The two of them immediately decided to become a wall for Aries for the sake of victory.
“Ooooooooooooooooooo!!”
“Shyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
Aigokeros and Scorpius both jumped towards Leon and tried to hold his body in place.
Following all of this, Karkinos also charged in as if he was saying that he would not fall behind. As such, there were four giant magical beasts who were locked together and grappling with one another.
In irritation, Leon bared his fangs. However, Karkinos forcibly shoved his scissors (pincers) into the mouth that was opened wide.
Additionally, the counter skill Acubens was triggered, causing Leon to start bleeding.
Nevertheless, Karkinos also did not get away scot-free. One of his scissors was shattered by the bite and he himself was sent flying after being head-b.u.t.ted by Leon.
But cutting in at that moment was Aries who released a kick, cracking Leon’s fangs and sending his large body flying in return.
Furthermore, Aries fired flames out from his palms and flew, charging in towards Leon who was blown away.
Matching that action, Leon opened his mouth wide. However, black tentacles which suddenly appeared from the ground tangled with his body, causing him to become slightly delayed.
He managed to immediately become unconstrained, nevertheless, the roar that he released was already too late.
Aries directed the flame towards the ground and ascended vertically. He then redirected the flames towards the sky and suddenly descended, smashing his fist right into Leon’s head.
This one attack caused the ground to shake and buried Leon’s head.
However, as expected, the Lion King’s stamina was leagues above normal. He had already received five hits from Aries which meant that he had already received close to 500 000 damage in numerical value, but he still stood back up and opened his mouth.
A moment before Leon managed to release his roar – due to the mana rifle fired by Suzuki which closed in towards his eyeball, he instinctively closed his eyes, causing the attack to miss Aries by a hair’s breadth.
Notwithstanding that Aries was not hit directly, the attack that merely scratched him ever so slightly sent his slender body flying.
Nevertheless, even before Leon could conduct a follow-up attack, Aigokeros jumped into action, picking Leon up from the bottom and throwing him away.
“Gu….. u…..”
“Aries! Are you alright?”
“Y, yeah. I can still fight… I’m fine.”
Just a single hit. Furthermore, it was an attack that merely scratched him. Nevertheless, just that alone had caused Aries’s body to be covered in wounds.
His clothes were in tatters such that the current condition was only fine because he was a guy. If he was a girl, he would have had to quickly fall back.
Even his white skin was now engraved by wounds, making him appear like a fragile and hurt maiden to an onlooker and causing them to feel affectionate.[4]
However, his will to fight which resided in his eyes had not been extinguished in the slightest as he once again enveloped himself with the rainbow-coloured flames.
If he had not received the defensive buff cast upon him by Dina, he might very well have been finished from that single attack that he had just suffered.
Even whilst he was thinking such a thing, Aigokeros, Karkinos and Scorpius continued to be engaged in a hard battle while Sagittarius and Castor provided supporting fire from the back. Similarly, Suzuki continued to fire its rifle, however, it only aimed at Leon’s eyes after determining that it would not do any damage even if it hit.[5]
On the other hand, Virgo immediately flew towards Aries and applied recovery divine magic to heal him, whereas Libra, who found a gap in this situation, showered Leon with everything that she had.
And… due to all of this noise, the poor and pitiful Sei and Sarjes both opened their eyes, only for them to pop out at the same time as they shouted aloud:
“Mo…. Monster War!?”[6]
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(Author Note)
Leon: 160m[7]
Scorpius: 110m
Karkinos: 105m
Aigokeros: 105m
Suzuki: Approximately 20m
Sei: “………….umm…………. you know……… at this rate, rather than me, maybe it would have been better to summon the Ultr__man or something?[8] Isn’t this a joke? You know… I was…. summoned for the sake of fighting all of this….”
Their master is a monster that conducts super-fast speed combat like the ones you see in Dragon__ll.[9] Their subordinates are giant monsters (kaiju). The maid is a war machine that ignores the fantasy genre. Their mode of transportation is a camping car. I can’t really say much since I wrote it myself but… I wonder what is up with this mishmash bunch of a meaningless group.
The G.o.ddess: “Stop being unreasonable already! This is a fantasy world, you know!?”
* As a note, the reason Aries’s attacks have been managing to hit properly unlike before is because his agility has been increased.
As expected, buffs are quite unfair.
Dina: Oh no…..
(Author note end)
__
[1] “”.
[2] Recall that in the world of Midgard, the system limits the maximum damage one can do/receive as 99,999. Brachium is 99,999 damage, however, it cannot be fired repeatedly. Aries’s flame does percentage damage, but because most individuals in Midgard don’t even have 100,000 HP, the numerical damage would usually do less than the maximum possible value set by the system. Nevertheless, if the HP is large enough, like that of Leon’s, the numerical value of percentage damage could be 100,000 or higher. In such a case, the system will cap the damage at 99,999. Furthermore, whereas Brachium is limited to a single shot, Aries’s flame is continuous damage over time as long as the flame is in contact with the enemy.
[3] [メサルティムVer.1]
[4] Sometimes, I question the author’s…
[5] Vecna: “Why though? Did Virgo call Leon a chikan this time?”
Tp: :’) – Vecna’s 10/10 comment (during the edit) that I had to include again haha.
[6] 怪獣大決戦 – Kaijyuu Daikessen – Literally translated as “monster big battle”. Did a quick google because I thought it was some reference, and it seems like it’s a G.o.dzilla game from 1994? It seems to be one of those games that’s quite similar to Tekken, Street Fighter or Guilty Gear. And this phrase also seems to have some link with Ultraman, hence the mention of Ultraman in the author’s note.
“”.
[7] Height in metres.
[8] Ultraman. “”.
[9] Dragon Ball “”.