Chapter 150: 150
Chapter 150 – City-eating Monster
After talking with Eris, I felt wide awake . I didn’t feel like returning back to sleep anymore, so I decided to head back to the desert, leaving Roxy and Mimir at the mansion
I promised that we would go clean up the darknesses together . Sorry for breaking the promise .
But more than being wide awake, the sense of loss after fighting the sacred beast was what spurred me the most .
In short, I wanted to vent .
Eris pretty much felt the same thing . Being unable to show your mettle in battle can be frustrating .
And that’s why, right now I was standing in the middle of the desert together with Eris .
[Alright, let’s do our best!]
[So we are really going to do this…]
[Because it’ll be faster this way . ]
I hung my face back smugly . The reason was simple .
Eris’ Mortal Sin skill――l.u.s.t can be used to attract the darknesses in .
But using the skill on full power can be problematic .
She told me, at full power she’ll end up pulling all the monsters dwelling in the desert .
And not just the darknesses and regular monsters… even a crown tier might appear .
Those’re exactly what rushed toward us right about now .
[Alright then, let’s go . Devour those darknesses and monsters charging toward us . That’s the highlight of Gluttony skill after all . ]
[Let me prepare my heart first, please wait . ]
I took a deep breath to calm myself .
But before I did, my attention was directed to the wall of dust that became apparent in the horizon .
[Eris… you really did it this time, didn’t you?]
[Un! Come on now, you said it yourself that we should do our best! I will give you generous supporting fire this time . ]
Eris wanted to regain her battle sense that was rendered rusty after a long period of disuse . This large amount of monsters was meant to achieve that goal .
The monsters were surrounding us from all sides . This number, it’s already comparable to monster stampede on Gallia .
Greed who had been watching silently, seemingly became excited . Vibrating intensely in my hand .
『It has been a while since we fought this many . Don’t you disappoint me now, Fate!』
[You only get to say that because you aren’t the one who’ll fight them . ]
『Hahaha, this Me is nothing but a weapon after all . Be careful, don’t overeat』
[I know already . ]
Eris took the initiative . She shot consecutively, killing monsters while building up charges for Envy .
[I’ll buff you up with Vanishing bullet, go wild . ]
A magic bullet was expended in an instance .
I started running at the same time . Slaying darknesses and monsters one after another .
As usual, an inorganic voice in my head informed me of my stat growth and skill acquiring . The now familiar voice rang repeatedly, reporting almost endlessly .
I activated the《Wind Blade Magic》I just acquired .
Perhaps it’s because I’m already at Area E, but my magic tended to have an improved effect nowadays .
When used by the darknesses, the magic produced a small scythe-like attack . But in my case, it invoked a tornado .
Any monsters or darknesses that got swallowed by the tornado were chopped down by the swirling wind blades, dying in but a blink of an eye .
[That’s much more efficient]
『Good if you have fun, but what about the gluttony skill？』
[No need to worry, Greed . There is no Area E among them so far, I can still go on . ]
『If that so…go ahead』
Somehow, despite this being a continuous battle right after the sacred beast fight, I felt as if I’m in good shape .
And that even when I had to repress the gluttony skill influence . If worse comes to worst, I could still ask Mimir to suck my blood, offsetting the effect further…
In fact, I hadn’t felt this well in a very long time . Perhaps Luna was hard at work suppressing the Gluttony skill inside . I should thank her later tonight when I entered the dream world .
Being able to fight all I want, my tension gradually rose up .
To bystander it probably looks like an unparalleled warrior mowing down the enemy soldiers heroically, but for me this felt more like bullying the weak actually . However, they’re still monsters that endanger humans’ life .
There will be nothing good about it if we let them free .
With that thought, I plunged into the horde of darknesses and monsters . Meanwhile, another supportive magic bullet hit me at the back once more .
At first I thought it might be a phalanx bullet . But our current opponents weren’t even Area E . Their attack wouldn’t even scratch me normally .
I kept cutting the darknesses while wondering why Eris fired the magic bullet .
[Wha!? This is!!]
Not just the enemies before me, I also ended up swathing the darknesses behind them .
[Attack power and range have been improved!?]
[Fufufu, that is Raging Bullet’s effect] (TL note: feels old when I actually remember this name as a toy name from the 90s…)
Looking back, I saw Eris, standing atop a mountainous pile of darkness’ corpses with a proud face .
[Through repeated use of the support bullet, I’ve unlocked another one of Envy’s supportive bullets . ]
[Then, please keep doing that . ]
[Fine . You see, I’m a woman who can do-it-all after all . ]
Was that last part supposed to be a muttering? But to me, that’s indeed how Eris was .
She seemed to have recovered from the fight against the sacred beast as well .
This Raging Bullet was really a good support bullet . What if I combine it with Spirit Unity? And what if I added in Gluttony skill starvation… . Just imagining it already made me excited with the possibility .
But as expected, I didn’t see a lot of improvement on myself from this battle .
Having the effect of Raging Bullet was already enough to wreak havoc .
I could cut down any monsters and darknesses almost as easily as cutting b.u.t.ter with a hot knife .
By the time I stopped moving, all the monsters that were pulled by l.u.s.t skill were gone . This way, the area should be safe from monsters for a while . Of course, with the existence of the Door to His Land, any of them killed by Eris might have a chance to revive . But the larger portion that I killed wouldn’t be revived due to their soul being devoured by Gluttony skill .
The prison of souls that was the gluttony skill will keep all the devoured souls caged forever . Therefore, the Door to His Land’s power couldn’t reach them . It’s something that Greed taught me in the past .
The blood of darknesses and monsters had made the surrounding sand into a muddy area . Eris had become more active in fighting during the last half of the fight to regain her battle sense . She’s pretty much in the same condition as myself .
Drenched in blood and guts .
[It became quiet, didn’t it?]
Eris let out a small chuckle, somehow finding the whole thing as funny . Behind her, the sun slowly rose on the horizon .
That scene, it was hauntingly beautiful . Don’t tell me… it’s the effect of l.u.s.t skill?
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Her ragged and bloodied look may clashed with her relaxed expression, but I found it ephemeral .
Eris, like Myne, had lived for a very long time .
I’m just a kid compared to them, but there will be a time when I can finally stand side by side with them . Until then, I just have to be satisfied with being able to see another side of Eris which I previously didn’t know .
[Yosh, mission complete! Fate, let’s head back . ]
Eris then hugged me .
[Uaaa, the blood on your clothes got in my eyes!]
[Who cares, who cares . ]
And she returned to her usual self already, the troublesome self . But I suppose, compared to that side I saw for a moment just now, this one is also fun to have in a way .
While I was thinking all that inwardly, Eris suddenly looked up to me and said .
[Oya oya, Fate-kun . Your heart is beating fast, I wonder why?]
[That is, that is because I was fighting just now . ]
[Really? Is that also why your face is beet red?]
[Kuh . ]
[Aaaa, could it be?]
I tried turning my face away from her . But Eris had squeezed herself tight to me that it won’t do anything to hide my face from her .
Her grinning face annoyed me a little .
[I see, I see . Un un . ]
[What?]
In response, Eris simply smiled, looking so happy all of a sudden .
Just do as you like…
Then I realized that the sand stuck to the blood on our clothes . If this keeps up, we’ll end up like a sandman, fully covered in sand .
So we decided to quickly return to the town before that happened . Eris was awfully chipper along the way .
[This is the first time we go on a monster subjugation with only the two of us . It’s exhausting for me, and now I’m completely caked in desert sand like a sandman . But thanks to that, I got to obtain new support bullets . Feels good!]
[Ey! Are you saying you acquired another new bullet aside from the Raging Bullet? What is it?]
[That… is a secret! But I’ll consider it if you ask nicely . ]
I wish she could stop playing coy and just tell me already . But nevermind that .
Eris will eventually use it . Which bullet she uses mostly depends on the situation after all .
In both the battle against the sacred beast and the earlier horde of darknesses and monsters, Eris had firmly supported me . I can’t really complain about her fighting style, so I’ll just believe her as a party member .
[Hey, Fate . ]
[What is it?]
[I think I want to become stronger as well . At least as strong as I was in my prime . Then, I’ll settle things with him . ]
Eris wanted to settle her grudge with the Sacred Beastkin Libra .
It’s not a separate thing from me . As Dad also seems to have something to do with that Libra .
When I met Libra back at Tetra, he treated me with a friendly att.i.tude . But, for an unknown reason, he also seemed to share our goal . Which is to prevent the Door to His Land from opening .
Even so, once that one matter is resolved, Libra may end up attacking us, the owner of the Mortal Sin skill .
[When that time comes, I’ll help you out for sure . ]
[Thank you, Fate . ]
By the time we arrived back at Lishua’s mansion, we were pretty much covered in sand .
The soldiers at the gate actually mistook us for sandmen . We could only laugh at that, but I decided to keep it as a secret from Roxy .
We returned to the mansion, took a refreshing bath, and then headed to where the magic bikes were parked .
Both me and Eris were scolded a bit for leaving out Roxy and Mimir . But since the townspeople were saved as a result, we were forgiven .
And of course, the current town lord, Lishua was overjoyed since the sacred beast has been gotten rid of from her territory . She even told me that she’ll repay this favor one day .
I politely declined . But to be honest, I wasn’t really sure whether she listened to me or not .
We rode the magic bike all the way to the south . My magic bike in particular had to be used as a three seater due to the addition of Snow .
Snow sat in front of me, with Roxy staying behind me . With my arms on her left and right, Snow was able to remain calm on her possibly first ride on the magic bike . She hadn’t been able to warm up to Roxy just yet, on which Roxy could only droop her shoulders in response .
As we proceeded with our magic bikes running in parallel side by side, with Mimir driving the other one, we eventually came upon a carriage with a lot of luggage .
[Fai, what is that?]
[Doesn’t seem normal to me too . ]
It’s because there weren’t only five or so wagons going north . It’s dozens of them .
We stopped by, and asked one of the coach drivers .
The man turned sullen right away .
[We used to live in the oasis up ahead… but a man suddenly appeared and turned the entire town and oasis into a big crater . ]
The man that the coach driver was talking about must be someone powerful, being able to dry up an entire oasis by sinking it deep into the ground . On the other hand, the desert is a harsh place where people couldn’t live without water .
That’s most likely why these people went up north, to find a new livelihood .
[Eris, what do you think about sending them to Lishua’s territory?]
[Right . It’s the closest settlement . With the monsters gotten rid of, logistics will soon recover as well . Isn’t that good?]
Eris then extracted a paper from her cleavage window, then gave that piece of paper to the coach driver .
[You can hand this over to the towns lord later on . And we’ll also escort you for a short while, to keep you all safe . ]
[Thank you very much! Holy Knights-sama . ]
[Umu, I’m not one actually, but whatever . It’s simpler that way . ]
She WAS the queen . One wrong sentence, and you might lose your head .
But as Eris said, it’s better to keep it simple . Better than making them misunderstand .
While escorting the wagons, we also planned a detour to see the oasis town .
Greed and Eris both agreed that there’s still time until the Door to His Land is opening .
As for Roxy and Mimir, they wished to help people in need . And when I heard the name of the man who dried down the oasis, I couldn’t stay put either .
Libra… a person from Eris’ past, and a sacred beastkin just like Snow .
I need to know why he did such a thing .
Suddenly, I was reminded of something about the oasis that I heard while I was travelling to Gallia . However, due to circ.u.mstances I wasn’t able to visit the place .
I heard that a city-eating monster lurked there .