We were heading towards the stone core located in Paravata City, right now we were walking along this corridor that led to the transference device. Both the width and height of this pa.s.sageway was around 5~6 metres, there was these strange and slippery black stones that spread across the pa.s.sageway.
I suspect that this pa.s.sageway has been furnished by the remaining ancient technologies from the demon king warring period…….. However, I didn’t really have much spare time to put my mind in that kind of direction.
「Hey heyy Cla.s.s prez, that outfit you’re wearing, isn’t it super cute? It totally looks like a Princess Knight, it suits you so much~!」
「Umm, ehh, ahh….I mean, thank you Tachibana-san」
「It’s fine, just call me Riruna! Right now we are working together in the same party so you don’t have to be so formal~」
Kirika was getting fl.u.s.tered and unable to form a coherent response. The girl hero known as Riruna was this very unexpected guest and she just continued chatting in this energetic manner which was inherent to her personality.
The Princess Knight’s hidden gigantic b.r.e.a.s.t.s were equally ample, and it was bouncing up and down from inside of her blouse making an introduction every time she walked.
「If you are going to say that then I will also say that I am no longer the Cla.s.s Committee Chairwoman so you don’t really have to call me by that t.i.tle……」
「Ah, you’re right. Then what about your other preferred names? Hime-chi, Kiri-chan, Kiri kiri……..Ah, cause your first name is Kirika, what about if I call you Rika-chan?」
「Eh…..D-do I have to choose from the one’s you just named? do I have to choose one?」
Kirika was looking towards me with a troubled expression and I knew that she wanted to be saved from the situation. I’m also not great at dealing with her so let’s just give her a vague smile to dodge the responsibility.
(Both of my previous world’s cla.s.s idols were actually meeting together in this new world…… I don’t think any of my cla.s.smates could have ever imagined a scenario like this)
Moreover, who would have ever expected that the helper sent out by the Deputy Mayor would be her of all people…… Just this morning I confirmed her location with the trace emblem I placed beforehand and she was supposed to be at her inn, however, I didn’t expect that she would actually leave her inn and travel to meet up in the same place as I went to.
Be that as it may, I can’t really stop this search right now. If I did, I would definitely become suspicious and be doubted by her.
「Even so, I am really surprised that Tooru-chi has been able to form a party. Or more like, why didn’t you tell me about it the last time we met?」
「Ahh……. Well that’s because I wanted to surprise you the next time we met」
「I see, a surprise! You are right I was certainly very surprised~! Not only that, all your members are filled with these super cute girls? Tooru-chi aren’t you unexpectedly quite good at this?」
「Wha…. O, Oi I’m not really particularly cute….!」
「Celesta, are you being shy…….?」
Pon, Riruna clapped her hands together as if she understood something, and the Woman Knight walking behind her was starting to blush red. Without really minding about me as the only guy, they girls were just talking to each other in this kind of carefree manner.
Well it seems to me that Riruna herself thinks that this situation is all just a coincidence and doesn’t seem to doubt me….. but the problem is with the sheath of the sword that was shouldered on her back, the magical living thing with a self-consciousness, “Oruto”.
〈…………〉
It’s been silent since a while ago but, I am sure that it’s been quietly observing me and doubting me.
In her explanation Riruna told me that Oruto was found from an ancient ruin that she went to before, and it had a very comprehensive knowledge about this world and its ability to perceive traps is also excellent. Thanks to that the Deputy Mayor scouted out these two duo’s, and to me they are thoroughly troublesome existences right now.
However, now that it’s already come to this, I can only use positive thinking. I’ll think of this as a chance for me to act together in close proximity so that I can find out what her other abilities are and perhaps I can also find a method to breakthrough her magical reflection skill.
That’s right…. I should probably perform a preliminary test first.
「Hey, Tachibana-san. Our party member Nina over here is really good at reinforcement magic, because we don’t really know when a fight will break out, do you want her to give you any buffs?」
「Ah, Yes. Judging from your looks, I would guess that you were a vanguard type character but do you perhaps need some kind of defence power increasing enchantment?」
The Maid Magician lowered her head giving a polite bow. However, Riruna put her hands together apologetically.
「Ah~ actually I have this special job trait? Well it’s something like that and because of it I actually can’t be affected by magic and things like that~. Or more like, it will get rebounded off me. So I’ll just be grateful for the thoughts, Maid-san」
Just like that, she blurted out such a terrifying cheat ability without even trying to hide it.
I thought that Oruto would actually interject her in order to stop her from leaking such information……. but he just watched her without saying anything, I guess it just means that letting other people know this much isn’t a big deal to them.
「In other words, you are saying that this power is always in an active state and that there is no on-and-off switch? But if that were the case Riruna-dono then even healing magic will not work on you, isn’t it inconvenient?」
Celesta just asked her a question that I was also interested in knowing. Certainly if that were to be the case, then even though her Magical Reflect ability was powerful, the demerit of not being able to be healed with magic was just too high.
「Mnn, in regards to that——」
「…………! Be careful an enemy is……… coming!」
Sierra had sharp senses and she issued a warning to the group and nocked an arrow. At that moment, a huge shadow like creature dashes out from the corner of the pa.s.sageway.
「It’s come out already, the Shadow Beast! Mast…….I mean, To-Tooru, please go behind my s.h.i.+eld!」
So that my job cla.s.s as a Slavemancer is not revealed, Amelia calls me by my first name, before taking on her battle stance.
Although it was just a lone enemy, it was different from the wolf-type or even the giant-type Shadow Beast that we faced before. It’s lower portion of the body was like a horse as it had four legs and its upper body resembled a human.
It was standing at 3 metres tall and in some circ.u.mstances you would call this creature a Centaur, but in this case, it was also covered in crystals.
Moreover, the right arm has turned into something like a very long spear, it wielded the sharp point towards us and began its fierce charge!
「……It’s fast! Tooru-kun, instructions!」
Kirika draws her resplendent sword the other magical slaves were also looking towards me and I gave them directions with my gaze. Luckily Riruna wasn’t waiting for us before she promptly jumped into the midst of battle by herself.
「Leave it to me! I think that I can probably handle it myself!」
Yeah, this is convenient as I can see how she fights. I can begin to a.n.a.lyse her fighting power, tactics and methods of attacking. As of yet I haven’t been able to ascertain what her hidden specifications are.
「Tachibana-san!? If you go from the front like that, it’s really dangerous….!」
Without listening to Kirika’s advice, The Gal Yuusha thrust herself straight into the Centuar as her mini-skirt and side-tail hair fluttered in the wind.
Now then…… Let me see it, Riruna, your fighting style that is…
Is she going to just pull Oruto out of the scabbard and directly oppose that crystal spear?
Although Oruto has the outward appearance of a sword, what type of characteristics does the weapon have?
「Haaaaa………! Haah!!」
——In the next moment.
Our eyes opened wide with surprise.
「Wha……..!?」
The centaur who was around 2 and a half metres tall was vigorously rus.h.i.+ng towards Riruna with his spear and for a second, there was an optical illusion of the spear……. going through her body.
However, what happened is that tip of the spear was firmly caught between her crossed forearms.
That’s impossible, no matter how you think about it, how is she able to block it with her bare unarmoured body, is this some kind of a trick!?
「H-have a look! There is a rainbow coloured glow!」
「Wha….. isn’t that the Demonic Armour capable of dimension dislocation, the Dislocation Armour!?」
The tip of the crystal spear was trembling, and the girl with no visible muscles was using her white arms to block the spear, there was this prismatic colour s.h.i.+ning out of her forearms.
Previously we had fought the Demonic Knight Groom and it was the fearsome effects of the absolute defence armour that caused us so much trouble. This was something I would not forget.
「Heave-ho~…..Seii!!」
Immediately following her carefree cheer, a dry crus.h.i.+ng sound echoed.
Indeed, the tough looking crystal spear was very easily broken right in the middle with merely the power of her forearms.
The balance of the Centaur was destroyed from the resulting impact and taking this opening as an opportunity, Riruna stepped forwards.
「Toooou! I’m sorry, I’m gonna use you as a stepping tool!」
Declaring her intentions without any nervousness, The Gal Yuusha used the enemies knee as a foothold in order to launch herself into the air.
It almost seemed like a gymnastics jump, her proportionate figure was rotating through the air with beautiful form. Her fluttering mini-skirt revealed a slight peek of white fabric underneath…… No wait, this is not the time for me to be captivated by that aspect.
「Hero Style Ability! Learnt by imitation, s.h.i.+ning Wizard!!」
Bangyannnn!! A thunderous sound of hundreds of pieces of gla.s.s being shattered at the same time could be heard in our surroundings.
Her beautiful legs launched a powerful knee kick straight towards the head of the Shadow Beast.
In a single strike, the chest of the creature all the way to it’s head was crushed into little pieces before flying off it’s body.
「Oi oi, what kind of ridiculous power is that?! Is that some kind of hand-to-hand combat grappling move? Or is that some kind of martial arts from a Buddhist Monk!?」
「No that’s not it. I dare say that it is due to the strength of the dimensional dislocation armour, her body is protected by a layer of it and she is using it to strike!」
「To think that this was possible?! When it was Groom, he was only capable of using it as a defence mechanism, moreover this version seems to be several times more powerful!」
Not only did she possess a Magical Reflection skill, she also had an overwhelming defence technique; the dimensional barrier, which she could actually convert into such a destructive force.
Indeed, if she possessed these abilities, it would be unnecessary for her to have reinforcement magic or healing magic and she would be able to journey alone without any party members.
「Light Magic: s.h.i.+ning Wizard….. Does that mean that it is a unique magic that only the Hero is capable of using!?」
「No Celesta, I don’t think that’s quite right. But because it’s too troublesome, I won’t explain it」
「Heheh~! Did you see it; did you see me Tooru-chi! I’m pretty good, aren’t I?」
Landing gracefully on to the ground, Riruna comes over towards me and gives me a triumphant V-sign for victory. Tayunn, her huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s were jiggling…
No no no, it’s not something I should be focusing on right now…
Back to the main point, as it were, she had an unrivalled defence and offence……… Her war potential was nothing but a nightmare to face against. It’s so terrifying that I even want to sympathize with the demons that has encountered her thus far.
Naturally, with Kirika’s Resplendent Sword the Alkanshel, it is likely that she will able to tear up the dimensional barrier just like she did in the fight against Groom.
However, my intentions are not to kill her. If by some chance I accidently kill her because of this then I wouldn’t be able to use my Enslavement Magic or do any s.h.i.+t for that matter, and if I fail she will definitely become hostile towards me.
Well, what should I do……. How the h.e.l.l am I supposed to be able to subject this formidable girl to my Enslavement Magic!?
「Muu~! It’s so boring to just stay at homee~! 」
Inside of the Magical Flying s.h.i.+p Cabin. [1]
The Demoness dressed in a kimono was just tossing and turning as she rolled around the bed.
Her soft looking cheeks were cutely puffed up as she had this expression of dissatisfaction for being left to take care of the house.
「It can’t be helped, after all our combat style revolves around using large area destructive spells to obliterate our enemies. Consequently, we are unsuited for the current mission……. Didn’t you hear Tooru’s explanation?」
「Don’t think that I am a fool Paru, even I am capable of understanding that much mon. But you know, being unable to be useful towards Oniisan is so…. Mortifying jyan…..」[2]
Flamia was sitting barefooted as she plopped herself on the bed and she had this rare depressed look.
「My life was saved by Oniisan and the others. Even Nana protected me and became broken because of me……. Therefore, I really want to repay them」
「Flamia… you….」
This was the first time she had ever seen such a serious expression on Flamia’s face and Palmyra could not help but to be surprised.
「My powers are after all something that everyone is afraid of and despises…….. Even Oneesan was just using me and then threw me away. And this is the first time I have ever realized that I could use my power to help others….. but I’m stuck here!」
(Fumu, this is really surprising….. I thought that she had an att.i.tude of always wanting to play around. But this girl, it seems that she felt really indebted when Nana saved her)
Closing the book, she was reading, Palmyra buoyantly floated in the air as she moved next to Flamia.
Kufufu, showing her protruding fangs, Palmyra gave Flamia a meaningful smile.
「Very well. If that is the case, How about I lend you a helping hand as your magical senpai slave!」
After that, our travels towards the transference device went smoothly as speaking frankly, Riruna was just peerless against these monsters. Any Shadow Beasts that we encountered were all taken care of by Riruna with ease.
Even if she was surrounded by a swarm of monsters, almost like a large human bullet her invincible body just turns into a weapon as she just destroys her foes. In just a mere 10 seconds, she would turn all the monsters into mincemeat and scatter their crystal fragments across the floor.
As for when the bird type monsters appeared, she would use the walls as footing to soar into the skies and perform a flying kick against them.
When a giant type monster appeared, she would lock down their joints and arms by capturing them with a judo technique and then after throwing them into the floor, she would pulverize their skull with a single punch.
There was also instances where the monsters casted magic on her, but she just charges at them from the front bouncing back their spells against themselves and then proceed to crush them.
Purely from her rote memorization of watching pro-wrestlers and hand-to-hand combat scenes in the past she was able to replicate some simple movements.
However, due to her abnormal physical strength (which is probably the result of her Hero cla.s.s) and in combination with her dimensional dislocate armour, she was a cheat-like existence and the Shadow beasts were powerless against her fierce attacks.
Both me and my magical slaves didn’t have to do much and it was like we were taking on a supporting role of shooting down the weaklings that got through while she did the rest.
Well, to be honest, the fact that I don’t have to do much in my role as a Magician is actually really lucky for me as she won’t start suspecting my job cla.s.s in this scenario.
「Fuu~….. It feels like this floor has been taken care of as well? If every level was this easy, then I can just freely beat them down~」
Cheerfully smiling, Riruna wiped her forehead and took a breather.
Her thighs and abundant b.r.e.a.s.t.s were slightly glistening with sweat, but this only added an amorous s.e.x appeal to her look.
「She’s amazing isn’t she….. As expected, is that really the legendary cla.s.s that was able to defeat the previous Demon King?」
Kirika started to talk to her in a whisper so that only I could hear her voice. Indeed, Kirika was not able to hide her surprise at Riruna’s strength.
However, my impression of her was actually quite the opposite.
「…… No. I don’t think that she is on par with the “Hero of the Legends” 」
「Eh?」
Riruna was definitely strong. However, if you were to compare her to the current high-ranking demons of the eight great family, there was definitely a certain something that she was lacking in.
The thing she was lacking was offensive power.
Even though it may be sufficient power for her to smash a Shadow Beast, comparing this offensive ability to Kirika or Flamia, it was at least several times lower in raw destructiveness.
Moreover, judging by how she had been fighting thus far, she has only been using grappling moves and engaging in close quarters combat, in other words she can only attack her enemies if she is within zero distance of each other. Right now the monsters she’s fighting against doesn’t really have much intelligence, and because she is able to destroy them without giving them time to run away or recuperate she is doing well.
「Perhaps her level as the Hero is still low….. Or maybe she is still hiding her trump cards」
「Do you mean, she might have an instant kill ability like my holy sword technique?」
「That might be the case, or it might be something entirely different」
In relation to my worries, it was obviously due to the wildcard existence attached to her back “Oruto”.
That magical living being, I have a premonition that it isn’t merely useful just for giving some simple advice or information, I have a strong feeling that it can do much more than that.
To begin with, is that thing really a weapon?
What if it was actually some special artifact with other unknown abilities….?
〈——It seems that we have arrived at the final destination of this floor. Please have a look at that〉
The one who interrupted my thoughts was precisely Oruto.
We have just finished exterminating the Shadow Beasts. This floor was like a small dome-shaped gymnasium. In the end of the wall there was this metallic pillar shaped object that expanded from the floor to the ceiling.
「That is definitely the transference device that is described in the Deputy Mayor’s report」
「Oh, then is our objective complete? That was much easier than I thought it would be~」
Stretching her body without a care, her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s were arched upwards defencelessly for all to see.
Be that as it may, I can’t really let things end here for various reasons. In the floor very close to this location, the Deputy Mayor’s plans showed an image of what seemed to very closely resemble Nana’s armoured golem body buried within the ground.
「I’m really sorry about this, but Tachibana-san, do you think that you can accompany us a little while longer for personal reasons? The truth is——」
I explained to Riruna that in order to revive our magical living companion Nana, we actually came here in order to collect a body that could potentially act as a spare body for Nana’s soul.
Naturally, I didn’t tell her too much or that this was something that Princess Sistina was able to prophesize.
「Hehehe, is that how it is! Then even if it may take more time, I don’t really mind helping out! Let’s investigate it carefully. That girl called Nana, it would be really cool if we can return her to how she was before!」
「Ah….yeah. Thank you, Tachibana-san」
Firmly grabbing on to my hands with her soft fingers, she was in high spirits as she bounced up and down. Seeing her beautiful smile, I could not help but to be instinctively dumbfounded.
Seriously this girl….. I’ve been thinking this more and more but, she truly is a soft-hearted soul.
As expected, proceeding onwards should I utilize this aspect of her sweet personality to capture her heart? Thinking about these kinds of things, I proceeded onwards to the nearby floor to search for the body part.
However, when we reached the supposed location of the armour, the results were not favourable.
Indeed, we did discover the same type of body armour as the one Nana used, however, perhaps it’s automatic repair mechanism was damaged or something but it was apparent that its current condition was awful and deteriorated. In Nina’s evaluation, it was impossible for Nana to use this degraded body as a spare part.
An air of disappointment surrounded the party. Nevertheless, it is still too early for me to give up at this juncture.
「……Umm, is it correct to say that after going through the transference device into the floor which holds the city core —— it is actually the deepest portion of the ruins within Paravata city?」
「Hey that’s true, so even though we may have run into a dead end at this location…… we can still entrust our hopes in the next floor…」
「That’s exactly right. Nina, do you think that you will be able to activate the teleportation device?」
「Y-yes. Although it may take me a little bit of time——」
Suddenly an unexpected voice interrupted her.
〈You don’t need to worry about that——as for this type of transference device, I have already seen it once before in a different location. I will be able to activate it in no time at all〉
「Ohhh, Oruto you’re so reliable! Nn in that case, let’s go do it quickly~!」
Before I could utter a single word, Riruna already took Oruto into her hands and approached the teleportation device, it was like she was trying to insert some type of IC-Card into a computer device or something.
Perhaps it was magic or something, but Oruto started to s.h.i.+ne with this dim light.
「Wow, Yuusha-san’s partner has that sort of function as well?」
「That’s right, soldier-san. Whenever I go into the dungeons and see a magical lock like the arcane lock, I can just hold Oruto against the object and it would release any sort of locking mechanism, thanks to that I’ve had it really easy!」
「What a convenient thing…..」
Whilst feeling admiration, I also had a bad premonition within my chest. Oruto should have been suspicious of me but it was now being strangely cooperative, so I truly felt quite uneasy.
Nonetheless…. In the next moment.
〈 !? This is——！〉
Oruto spoke with it’s inhuman sounding tone of voice as it seemed unusually confused.
Suddenly, a hemisphere of light spread out from within the transference device.
Both Riruna and Oruto who was right next to the machine, and I, who was standing behind her along with Kirika who was by my side was instantly sucked into the interior of the device.
「Wha, Master!?」
「My Lord!?」
Forgetting to change the way they called his name, the three girls were panicking as they were not enveloped in the light and was left outside, the girls approached the machine in order to sneak into the light but they were a little too late and the dim torrent of while light had already expired its luminesce.
「You’re kidding me——」
「D-don’t tell me this is?!」
「Metastasis Teleportation!?」
〈…………！〉
The three of us including Oruto was…. forcibly teleported into an unexpected place by the activated device——！
In the centre of the blazing seas which continued to burn for all eternity, an ominous silhouette could be seen gazing over Iblis’s Red Keep, also known as the Haze Castle.
A strange groan could be heard throughout the blood red castle.
『Ohhhhhhhhh…….. UguuuuuuohhhhhhhhHH!!』
The powerful physic waves that was coming out of the magical globe was quite different from the detached voice of a woman that we were used to hearing.
The lion-masked demon n.o.ble Strahl had never heard such an unprecedented scream from his Master before, and he was alerted by the noise as he rushed into the throne room.
「I-Ibilis-sama!? W….What’s the matter!?」
immediately following his question, the huge magical globe which was at least 3 metres in diameter and which was storing the body of the master of this castle let out a shrill noise before it shattered.
A crimson coloured magic liquid flows out of the glove dyeing the floor with the colour of violence.
「What……!?」
『Ku, kukuku…… Is that so? is this it……? Is this the true power of the “Divine Corpse”?!!』
A diminutive shadow of a person slowly began to stand up.
「Th-that form!」
Appearing in the nude, was a body that was completely identical to Flamia. Her scanty body looked so thin that it seemed like her limbs could easily break off.
However, her wet naked body which was covered in her long hair was completely white in colour, this was totally opposite to the black colour of her little sister’s hair. Her eyes were just like the magical globe which just shattered, it was a bright red colour.
Conversely, what surprised Strahl the most wasn’t the fact that her beautiful and bewitching albino body was bare for him to see. It was that the surface of her right arm was covered in this strange crystal, it was a very grotesque looking transformation.
『Do not worry, Strahl. This “Corpse” is under my full control』
(What?! Has she been able to merge the Divine Corpse fragment into her own body?)
Hey face which was still slightly dyed in the red magical liquid, slowly looked right above.
Her thin lips, formed a cruel smile.
『And I’ve figured it out…… One part of truth to what this Demon King’s corpse is capable of』
「Yes….!?」
『Call Cruz over. Henceforth I need more Divine Corpses fragments in my possession. Those meddlesome elders Mikura and Vladoveri, I will make them taste the true power of the Divine Corpse and they will see how powerless they are against me……. I will be the one to revive the dream that has been forgotten by this world………!!』
Even a veteran demonic swordsman like Strahl, was shuddering with fear at the cold tone of voice his Master spoke in. It was almost like hearing a haunting song. A psychic wave that was filled with more coercion than ever before spread throughout the throne room.
『That’s right —— Instead of the Demon King, This time around, I Iblis will not fail to devour the heavens!』
[1] (TL: I should just change this to Devil s.h.i.+p or something cooler, saying Magical Flying s.h.i.+p all the time is kinda lame haha 魔気船 that’s the kanji for anyone interest, as usual I am bad at naming things so Einon-dono tasukete!!)
[2] (TL: Paru is the way Flamia casually calls out Palmyra’s name)