Chapter 315 - Arriving at the checkpoint
Translator - Agni
The chapters are getting longer. Chapter 313 was at 1650 words while this one is at 2255.
While Hiiro and party mutually decided upon the opponents to fight, at the【Bridge of Dohas】, the commander of the
≪Miracle Allied Forces≫, Crouch, was crossing over the bridge and trespa.s.sing into the Human world.
Slaughtering the zombie army that kept appearing in droves, even crus.h.i.+ng the black-clad Nigg, as they were able to capture the bridge, the morale of the troops rose.
Like this, they will gradually keep conquering the Human lands but as they crossed the bridge, strangely, the expected enemies were nowhere to be seen. The enemy should have had formed a line of defence barring their advance, but a disappointing sight spread before them.
「There is no one nya?」
Even if the bridge had been captured, it is inevitable that they should form a defence so as not to allow any further incursion. Anyone would think that. And yet, there was not a single existence in sight.
「This is suspicious. What should we do, Crouch-dono?」
The captain of the Halvrid (ハーブリーズ) Corps, Halvrid knitted his eyebrows at the bizarre situation before them as he grew vigilant.
[TN - "Herbreed" is a closer p.r.o.nunciation of ハーブリーズ above but "Halvrid" sounds cooler, what to do guys?]
「Even if it is a trap, we have no choice but to move forward, nya! Proceed! Demons!」
Crouch concluded that since there was no Nigg, any demons he let out were in no peril of being controlled. So, from underneath his feet, he expanded his shadow forward and several zombified demons appeared from inside of it.
「We will destroy the checkpoint nya!」
As she said, the demons galloped the earth and carried out their a.s.sault. Their movements were not that big but, even if one of these monsters with their big frames came hurling itself, the checkpoint will crumble.
When the demons were approximately midway through to the checkpoint, suddenly, several bubbles started to float in front of their eyes. Looking at the bubbles, Crouch inclined her head.
[TN - I would not incline my neck, more like fast retreat]
「N? What nya?」
And since the zombified demons had not received any orders to halt, they charged in and the moment the vanguard leading the a.s.sault came in contact with the bubble,
Dododododogaahhh!
Like several discharges of explosives in a moment"s time, the surroundings reverberated. Terrific explosion a.s.sailed the demons.
Crouch and the others bent over to the incoming shock wave of the explosion and frowned. The vanguard demons were blown away into pieces. Tiny pieces of meat scattered all over the place.
The demons that still did not stop moving charged into the bubble and kept getting blown away one by one.
「Kuh! Crouch-dono! Please call back the demons at once. If this continues, we will lose our battle power in futility. 」
「I understand nya!」
Adopting Halvrid"s proposal, Crouch was going to call back his forces but what unfolded before him had him startled.
Unnoticed, the demons were surrounded by innumerable bubbles.
「Crouch-dono! How about pulling them back into your shadow?」
「Th, that is right nya!」
He extended his shadow and wanted to pull them back into it but this time, the bubbles did not go off when they came in touch with the demons. Instead, they transformed into a big enough size to wrap around the entire body of the demons and the next moment, the bubbles ascended the skies.
「Wh!?」
Even Halvrid, who had been coming up with different solutions had a firm expression. Demons in large soap bubbles floating in the sky. It was a strange sight to behold.
Like that, the demons soared into the sky. For a moment there, it looked like the bubbles shone with a light and then,
Dogaaaaaaaaann!
The bubbles exploded with ear-deafening sounds. The demons inside were blown away into pieces as the sky rained blood and flesh.
It was that moment when S ranked demons disappeared in the blink of an eye.
「Crouch-dono! You still have demons in your depository, right?」
「I, I do nya, but……」
「In that case, don"t let them out now. Those bubbles are a menace to large builds. 」
As Halvrid says, for those zombified monsters deprived of their ability to think for themselves and considering their large builds, they don"t possess the technique to avoid countless of those small bubbles.
Since Halvrid"s advice hit the mark, Crouch decided to acknowledge the same.
「Over there……」
The other captain, Ionis pointed at a part. There were two people standing on top of the checkpoint and looking down on the miracle allied army. Halvrid also directed his gaze towards there and muttered.
「Black-clothes, is it……?」
That is right, those two were clad in black. Which meant different from the ordinary soldiers, they were uncommon.
「I don"t know if it is the guy clad in patterned black, but the bubbles earlier must have been their magic or something」
「What should we do?」
「This is what!」
As Halvrid concentrates his magic power in his right hand, a single sword manifested. Then he threw the sword towards the black-clad duo.
But before it could reach them, the bubbles re-appeared and at the moment of contact, the sword exploded.
「……as expected, it is like magic. Probably a magic that is capable of remote operation and that blows up things that come in contact. Also, it looks like it can affix a target to a bubble and make it carry out attacks」
Towards Halvrid"s a.n.a.lysis, Crouch was impressed as she went「O~」. Her eyes glittered.
「I don"t know what the scope of the attack is but judging from the fact that the bubbles have not come wrecking all the way till here, I am guessing the range is just about 20 menolu (メノル) from the checkpoint.
[TN – メノルtranslates as "menoru" or "menolu". Went with "menolu" since it sounds better]
20 menolu was approximately 20 metres.
「What a bother. Remote operation from that kind of distance and that power. I can"t think of it as ordinary magic. 」
「Aa, it is as Ionis says, it is probably a unique magic.」
「What to do nya? Even after crus.h.i.+ng the army, it looks like we are in for a similar experience like the demons nya」
It was as Crouch said, it would be better to stop that first, right? No matter by what margin they had won, it won"t do them any good if they moved without any strategy. The conclusion would inevitably be a wholesale arrest at the hands of those bubbles.
[TN - basically "wholesale arrest" is referring to the entire army getting caught at one go. Not a term I have made up]
「Anyhow, we cannot advance carelessly. But we cannot be impeded here. With great pains, we were able to invade the human realm like this. It would be unbearable if we were to get forced back from here」
He says so but the【Bridge of Dohas】was a long distance to cover. They won"t get pushed back immediately but in his unspoken words, to retreat after having come so far would be unacceptable.
「Ionis, will you magic work on those bubbles?」
「Impossible nano. Io"s magic will not work on magic itself」
[TN - the j.a.panese "nano" needed to be said to express the different pattern of her speech. It is not appending anything new to the word before
And yes, she is addressing herself as "Io"]
「……it was like that, wasn"t it? Sorry. Then, can we evade the bubbles and get near them?」
「It is not impossible nano. But it is tough for one person」
「That is right, isn"t it? We don"t know which one of the two cast the magic. If the other one does something, it will be better to not charge in alone」
The three were discussing, trying to find a loophole but, one black-cloth was coldly looking down on them.
[TN - I am writing "black-cloth" instead of black-clad men since the j.a.panese version says so.
It is a very Hiiro way of narration, isn"t it?]
「Looks like s.h.i.+thead"s magic is working」
「Ahhaha! Naturally! My beautiful ≪Bubbling Magic≫ is a fleeting transient that scatters in a moment! A splendid magic! A~it is so beautiful it is making me dizzy……」
Boasted the black-cloth Bejohnny while wriggling his body. Kainavi looked at him exasperatedly and let out a sigh.
「Anyhow, since the seeds have been sowed, I am leaving the rest to you. I am returning to His Majesty"s side」
「Okkay~! Here on out, the spotlight will s.h.i.+ne only on me. Now then, I shall show you the unrivalled territory of this beautiful Bejohnny!」
Bejohhny gloated in self-satisfaction as he took off his black cloth in an exaggerated fas.h.i.+on. Like a star idol clad in dazzling costume, he started to rotate his body at that spot.
Even after Kainavi had left, it looked like he could go on forever.
[TN - that sounds insane]
Crouch and party, who were in the middle of discussions spectated the departure of one of the black-clad men, while the other one had taken off his black clothes. They could conclude it was a man.
While people were taken aback at the sight of the man who started spinning his body like a spinning top, it was essential that they confirmed whether he was the originator of those bubbles.
Halvrid thought of throwing another sword and the moment he materialized the weapon, the earth started to shake.
「Earthquake nya!?」
The allied forces planted their feet firmly on the ground to withstand the considerable shake. And then the next moment, crevices ran in the ground due to the earlier quake, and when they thought something had come out, the earth split and a large object made its appearance.
In a few words, it is a gigantic flower. Although called gigantic, its body length was more than 10 metres, a monster flower. Moreover, it had poisonous purple-coloured petals from which an unidentifiable liquid trickled. An eerie existence.
「What is that? Do, don"t tell me that is the magic of that man?」
「Magic that creates flowers nano? Which means that oddball is a unique magic user too?」
「Maybe so. The two of you, please be careful!」
Towards Halvrid"s words, Crouch and Ionis lightly pulled their chins in. But from behind, groans could be heard. It was the soldiers of the miracle allied army. They held their heads and their faces pale as they grimaced in pain.
This spectacle spread rapidly like an infection.
「Th, this is……?」
Since Halvrid could not comprehend the situation either, he was bewildered at the unfathomable event that had entered his field of vision. But he shook his head and then tried to confirm as to what was happening there.
Then, what obviously piqued his interest was the flower that had suddenly appeared. Especially, what was worth noting was the liquid that kept tricking down the petals. The liquid would vaporize the moment it touched the ground.
「Vaporize……? It can"t be!?」
「Ahhaha! Have you noticed? You unsightly ma.s.ses~!」
There was the man who had taken off his black-clothes. Who knows when had he gotten near to them. Unlike around him, he was as if quarantined in isolation by those bubbles.
「Everyone, please hold your breath and get away from here!」
「What happened nya?」
Not only Crouch, but Ionis too is looking blankly.
「Probably, the liquid born from that flower is the reason. That gas which vaporized immediately must be wafting in the surrounding area. I am not confident but, that gas is probably the most likely cause of the current situation of the soldiers!」
Anyways, judging it won"t do them good if they did not leave that place, Halvrid and party wanted to make the army retreat towards the direction of the bridge, but,
「Ahhaha! I won"t let my customers escape you know!」
Suddenly, the usual bubbles appeared on top of the bridge and started to obstruct their way back.
「Nyaa!? Don"t tell me that bubble magic is his nya?」
Crouch"s astonishment was reasonable. Even when they had thought that the flower-creating magic was that man"s, but a horrifying thought swept over everyone, that he was the user of the fiendish bubble magic.
「Yaayaayaa! The heaven blames, the earth blames, the people blame! The entire world deplores the most beautiful person. That is right! Surely, I am that most beautiful person!」
The man widened his chest as he splendidly combed his hair upwards. Continuing like that he lowered his waist slowly and while putting a strand of hair between his lips, he directed a flirtatious glance and spoke.
「N~, one of ≪Mater Deus≫, the beautiful Beautyjohnny, is what people call me」
An unprecedented self-introduction had come the way of the miracle allied army.