Chapter 80
80 – Connect
Dochaa!
Gushaa!
The Five Dragon Warriors and the dragons they were mounting began crashing down on the ground .
[Giiguueeehhh—…!?]
The dying dragons cried out .
All of the dragons were stained in blood .
It may be because blood had spouted out of their body for some time while they were trying to keep flying .
If anyone were to try forcibly moving while they’re paralyzed, blood would violently spout out of their body .
[As expected of the dragon that the man who was called the world’s strongest knight himself was riding…]
I’m trying to talk with Civit .
All of the dragons were slouching as they’re trying to glare at me .
Killing intent were oozing out of their glares .
[You must really want to kill me that it’s getting unbearable, right?]
The dragons were extremely dissatisfied even when the Five Dragon Warriors were about to leave this place .
I started giving out instructions .
[Pigimaru . ]
[Pigii . ]
[Get ready for that . ]
[Pii~!]
I tried calling out towards Seras who was still dumbfounded .
And…
[What… did you do!? Touka!?]
Civit’s voice rang out as he tumbled on the ground .
He’s trying to raise his body .
He’s still out of range of my …
It would be too risky for me to get close to him .
[I’ve already told you . ]
I answered after taking some distance .
[My power is quite special . ]
Holding out one of my arms .
[]
If I’m facing against the Five Dragon Warriors, I must be prepared for the worst .
This is no time for me to use the non-lethal poison and letting him live for a while .
I will kill him now by setting my poison into lethal .
[Nuu!? Guuaahhhh…!?]
Schweiz groaned in pain .
Oban continues .
[Aaaggguauaahhh!? No way, isn’t that…? Abnormal State Skill’s Paralysis…!? Abnormal State System… Technique!? Impossible! You were able to use it to all of us consecutively… That shouldn’t be possible! Guuaaahhh!?]
Bushuuu!
Blood spouted out from the bandaged man’s body .
[—Gunnnnggghhh!?]
The bandages that used to be white were now being dyed with blood .
It seems that he tried to forcibly move .
All of the members of the Five Dragon Warriors were now lying on the ground .
It is still unknown how long will it take for them to die .
…Should I go towards the combination when I found out that they’ve been thoroughly weakened?
I must be certain when I put them to sleep .
[Touka…!]
I could hear the sound of the lance crashing down into the ground .
[…As expected, your reputation as “The Humanity’s Strongest” is not just for show . ]
Civit stands up .
The other three people doesn’t show any sign of moving anymore .
It seems that they’ve given up .
But it’s just as I though, Civit was extraordinary compared to the others .
His whole body was repeatedly trembling .
He’s only supporting his body with his spear, and firmly braced his legs in order to prevent himself from tumbling down into the ground .
And in the process of standing up, Civit’s body had bled out a lot .
[Pffuuhaa…!]
Civit spat out the blood clot in his mouth .
Bichhaaaa .
The clot of blood that Civit had spat out fell on the ground and scattered about .
Blood was tearing up even from his eyes .
The Soul Eater tried to move but it was still impossible for him .
However, Civit was able to forcibly move .
Civit brandished his spear .
I’m going to wait and see… How much could he forcibly move his body?
What would happen if he were to use all of his strength?
Bushuu!
Even when his right arm is severely bleeding, Civit still vehemently held his spear .
Even if blood were spouting, Civit started preparing to throw his spear .
[——–]
That was dangerous .
If I had approached him a while ago, my heart may have been pierced by now .
[…………]
Win or lose, I guess I should still be taking this gamble .
Should I approach and try using ?
It’s still not time for Pigimaru to use “that” .
I started breaking into a run .
Zaannn!
However, a figure slipped into the path where I’m dashing towards to .
[Seras…?]
[If Civit were to throw his spear in this kind of situation, it might be possible for me to repel it away… Even if I can’t, it should still be possible for my body to act as your shield . ]
[Seras, I know you’ve received quite the damage to your heart but it’s fine—]
[We’ve already talked about this before . ]
Seras interrupted any further queries from me .
[I am now currently Touka-dono’s guard . ]
[…Sorry . ]
[It’s still too early, Touka-dono . ]
[Hmm?]
[I still haven’t thanked you for making us this path of survival after all—]
Bushuu!
[Guuuhhh…!?]
More blood began spouted out of Civit’s body .
In the end, Civit’s counterattack has—
[Gguuwaaahhh…—!?]
My needless anxiety has ended .
He wasn’t able to throw his spear .
“The Humanity’s Strongest” dropped down to his knees and completely stopped .
The blood that flowed under Civit’s eyes began forming a small puddle .
And that small puddle was slowly acc.u.mulating blood out from his face .
I can’t help but be amazed by him .
[There’s no one who has been able to receive my paralysis and poison combo in the past, and were able to move that far . ]
In other words, Civit’s strength was that powerful to that extent .
[If I had simply fought him just like I do towards the others, I don’t think I would have been able to win . ]
As I thought, my decision of holding back the use of and only using it when I’m certain that my could perform to its maximum .
Rustle, rustle—
Crawling from the back of my neck and along my temple, I could feel a “root” encroaching out .
I mustn’t be negligent .
Preparedness is a must until I made sure that the enemies have died .
I started waiting for the death of my enemies who have been poisoned .
This is a battle using my .
This isn’t some kind of battle where you would defeat them with your finishing blow .
[Guuuu… . Guuugggaahhh—unngghhh—…]
The first one to fall is the bandaged man .
What accelerated his death was when he tried to forcibly move his body .
Hmm?
[What’s that…?]
Suddenly, the body of the bandaged man began emitting an intense light .
Immediate after that…
Bashuuu!
A thick beam of light shot up towards the sky as if it’s trying to pierce through the skies .
However, the thick beam of light disappeared in an instant .
Seras looks puzzled as she muttered .
[What in the world… is that just now?]
I spoke out my guess .
[It’s probably a signal . ]
[S- Signal?]
For example, it may be possibly be a signal that’s telling someone about his death .
It may also be a signal that shows the position of the enemy who killed him .
Underneath those bandages…
There may be an automatically-triggered seal that was drawn underneath them?
Just like that time when we found that black egg wrapped in a cloth inside the ruins…
A signal that could indicate the position of the enemy at the time of his death .
Is it originally used so that Civit would come running towards them when they died?
Civit wouldn’t let an enemy who could kill the Five Dragon Warriors “get away” .
[So, who would come rushing in for this case…?]
I could hear a roar coming from the distant sky .
Several roars were approaching this place .
Dragon roars .
Several— No, there should be at least 20 dragons in that flock .
Perhaps, there may be even more where they came from .
There may be another unit of the Black Dragon Knights that was waiting on standby someplace else .
I can easily imagine the reason why they were stationed in another place .
I think Civit may have placed them around the area so that he could significantly reduce the area where his stage would be set .
[……… . . ]
That pillar of light just now acted as their beacon huh…
[Touka-dono, w- what should we do? How about we flee into the forest and hide in there…?]
Creak… Rip—
[If the Five Dragon Warriors were to die, it’s possible that they wouldn’t just simply draw near this place…]
I want to avoid leaving this place in this kind of situation .
For example, what if they could use recovery magic or a technique that works like that?
It would be quite troubling if these approaching dragon knights were able to rescue Civit and the others .
[I should at least stay here and make sure that the remaining Five Dragon Warriors will die . ]
It’s still dangerous to approach Civit .
A rat is most dangerous when cornered .
I remembered that time when I was back in the Disposal Ruins .
When someone was truly driven down into the corner, they may suddenly manifest some kind of unbelievable power .
If Seras could use her Spiritual Garment right now, I could have asked her to stop them but…
[Seras, you should run away . And also, I’m sorry that I didn’t explain anything before—]
[I will also stay here . ]
Filled with resolution in her voice, Seras said .
After she said that though, Seras said in jest .
[In exchange, I will be expecting that I would get that Azure Dragon Stone as my reward, okay?]
It seems that she unexpectedly held quite a lot of courage .
Moreover, is she the type that recovers faster than I think?
[I understand . You can be sure that you will be getting that reward . ]
A black dragon has finally arrived .
[Schweiz-sama!?]
The leading black dragon stopped in the sky .
[How in the world did this happen?]
The dragon knight loudly called out .
He is still outside of my range…
He won’t just carelessly come down huh…
However, the one that he called for, Schweiz can’t reply .
[Aslan…!]
Instead, it was Civit’s voice that called out to him .
The dragon knight that was called out looked pretty baffled .
[Wha~!? C- Civit-sama…!? Eh!? No way!? A- Are you injured!?]
It seems that seeing Civit injured is an unbelievable event for his subordinate .
While spitting out blood from his mouth, Civit shouted out towards the skies .
[It might be difficult for you but… Guahaaa!? Kill them while in the skies! Don’t carelessly approach here…! Just keep your distance and kill them—!]
He already can’t move anymore .
However, he still has some remaining strength to shout huh…
[Whatever you do! Kill those two…!]
If you were to move even when you’re paralyzed, you were trying to approach death .
Is there any chance for him to die before the gauge runs out?
There was still time before the paralysis gauge runs out…
—Rustle—
[Pii!]
Pigimaru’s signal .
I can see that there were multiple “roots” around my eyes .
The true ident.i.ty of this “root” is that this is a body part of Pigimaru .
Alright…
It’s already been connected .
There were two problems regarding this ability .
One of them is that it takes time to get into this state .
The second one is that it’s sucking up an absurd amount of my MP while it’s activated .
The part where the “root” has encroached over my face would also raise the vigilance of my enemy who had noticed the changes .
Therefore, I couldn’t use this during my conversation with Civit .
I could see that my MP is visibly decreasing .
That’s why it would be impossible for me to activate it before I had that conversation with him .
Worst of all, it may be possible that my MP would run out during my conversation with Civit and suddenly faint .
In short, it can be said that this “power” that Pigimaru obtained through the Monster Enhancer is something for really short-term battles .
Coming across her line of sight, Seras enquired .
[Touka-dono, y- your appearance…?]
[Don’t worry . I was just borrowing the power of Pigimaru . That’s why, you don’t have to worry . ]
The following black dragons began gathering in the sky .
I snorted .
[Funnn… It appears that your company were becoming quite restless…]
The first dragon knight who arrived has been frantically trying to explain the situation towards them .
Seeing the people that they thought were the strongest, the Five Dragon Knights lying on the ground further spurred their confusion .
Well, it’s no wonder .
Civit Gartland is kneeling in a pool of his own blood, so it seems that they’re seeing something that’s too unexpected .
[What are you… looking at…? Kill… them…]
It seems that Civit is already weak enough that he can’t even shout anymore .
He had been moving around so much even while he’s paralyzed .
He finally became exhausted .
Civit’s voice could no longer reach the dragon knights in the sky .
As far as I could see, they haven’t responded to what he said .
[…………]
Now then—
[Let’s make them fall, Pigimaru . ]
[Pigii!]
[Seras . ]
[Y- Yes . ]
[If something were to be thrown down from the sky, I want you to cut it down . Could I also ask you to remain vigilant while these Five Dragon Warriors are still alive?]
[Yes!]
Looking up towards the sky, Seras prepared her sword .
[Please leave it to me . ]
Nyururiii~
Many protrusions began appearing from the back of my neck, one after another .
——–Nyuruu, nyurruuu, nyorruuu——-
If someone else were to look at me now, would it look like I have grown wings from my back?
I look towards the reinforcements of the Black Dragon Knights that have been gathering in the sky .
[Well then—]
Supplying with my magic energy…
[I guess it’s time for the perfect conclusion . ]
Start .