Manowa

Chapter 201 - Let"s Fly to the Dragon Village

The definition of a devil in this world was an Astral Body that absorbed the souls of other creatures . There were many different reasons one would come into existence; they could be a ma.s.s of human grudge or a nature spirit enthralled by evil, but the common point to all of them was that they were a colony of souls that absorbed the souls of other living creatures to grow .

But while they had the ability to absorb souls, if an eaten soul was a higher rank the controlling structure would be flipped around and the absorber would be eaten instead, with the higher ranking soul"s mind, personality, etc . rising to the surface .  

Speaking plainly, the existence called a devil was a gathered community of souls, like a country, and the highest ranking soul could be called the king of that country . Therefore, if a stronger soul entered the country, the king"s throne would be usurped . The current king would not want their throne to be deprived, so the Contract was born to eliminate that problem . By binding a soul with a contract, the devil could subordinate the soul before absorbing it and thus safely eat human souls .

Devils were such beings, but one coming into existence was accidental, with no parent giving birth to a child . Consequently, they had no feelings of fellowship . On the contrary, it could be said they considered other devils food, since they were similar colonies of souls .  

But there was also a capacity problem . There was a limit to the number of souls they could absorb . Thoughtlessly absorbing could lead to a runaway process that would cause a devil to turn into a Hiruko .  

Also, devils basically had infinite lifespans as long as they had energy . So there was no need for them to be impatient with their own growth, and there was an unspoken agreement between fellow devils that they would basically ignore each other beyond mutually acknowledging each others" existence so they wouldn"t trespa.s.s on another devil"s turf .  

That was common sense for those knowledgeable about devils, and that was actually also common sense for devils .

So they hardly ever organized and acted together . They might join forces depending on the situation, and one might become a Devil King and try to rule over the entire world, but there were no stories about a community of devils, and the highest ranking devils conspiring together was something that had never been publicly known .

Because of such a.s.sumptions, when Kazane and the others heard that『Benzel』had captured the『devil』in Deidona City, they thought the case was closed, which was extremely natural according to that world"s common sense .

◎ Deidona City, Adventurer"s Guild Office, 2nd Floor

「It looks like a considerably high-ranking devil, but it seems this was helpful . 」

Louise placed the item on the table with a thud . It was a dagger made completely out of Magic Ore that was wrapped in a charm .  

「Truly, it was dangerous . As you"d expect, even I was in a cold sweat . 」

The bandaged Benzel replied . The interior of the room was also in a terrible state . Various things were scattered around, bookshelves were destroyed, and torn books were strewn about .

「This place"s branch head will probably scream later . 」

Benzel bitterly smiled after Louise’s words . This city"s branch head had tried to flee at the very beginning with the feudal lord . He was no longer in this world .

「So this guy is the devil that caused this attack?」

Kazane had come with Louise, and her gaze was directed at the dagger that the devil was sealed in .  

「Yes, I was able to safely capture him . With this sealing formula he shouldn"t be able to escape . 」

Benzel answered Kazane"s question . According to Benzel, the devil appeared and asked『Where is the heart?』when he was putting doc.u.ments in order . Naturally, Benzel smiled and thrust out his arm as he told them he had replied with his fists .

The Dragon Knight Benzel was a Boxer whose weapon was his fists . It seemed his attacks were strong enough to be a threat even to Jinrai, especially when he used Dragonoidization .

「Many of our guild staff members were also originally adventurers . They rushed here when the uproar started and it became an all-out war, so we were somehow able to repulse him . Well, that was also due to having this dagger . 」

The dagger placed on the table was a powerful sealing tool that could be called Louise"s trump card . Benzel had few skills to protect himself from a devil, so she had lent it to him just in case, and apparently it had been useful .  

「Well, in any case, if it"s over with this then there’s no problem . Thanks for the hard work, Benzel-san . 」

Benzel smiled after Kazane ’s words .

「That"s right . Though I"d prefer to avoid another troublesome incident, so shall we hurry?」

However, the one who spoke after Kazane was a white-haired woman . She was a Humanized adult dragon name Byaku . Kazane had heard she was one of the guardians of the East Dragon Village Zegan .

「Yeah . Understood . 」

Kazane, Benzel, and Louise nodded . Their companions were already ready and waiting outside .

The original plan was to go through Drums City at the foot of the Konron Mountains on their way to the East Dragon Village . But after the dragon mount Raiel left Benzel and the others in Deidona City, he had flown to the Konron Mountains at full speed to call for help from the dragons . Fortunately or unfortunately, the battle was mostly settled by the time the dragons arrived, and it was decided that they would incidentally carry Kazane and the others on their return trip .  

Then Kazane and the others immediately mounted the dragons to head for the East Dragon Village Zegan in the Konron Mountains, and the people of Deidona City saw them off with smiling faces . While also reluctant to part from their heroes .

In fact, the people of Deidona City were simply rolled up in the devil"s scheme, but naturally, they didn"t know that fact . And they would probably never know . Kazane and the others were inwardly distressed by that, but it was also true that expressing their minds would bewilder the people and would only be for their own self-satisfaction .  

From the beginning, this was a request from the West Dragon Village, and the countries Minshiana and Hyvern were also involved . A devil pursuing them wasn"t a.s.sumed in the quest"s difficulty level, and it was true that not being able to detect that in advance was the requester"s error .

On the political side, it was reputationally bad that the feudal lord and Adventurers Guild branch head fled at the very beginning . Fortunately, few of the residents were harmed, but problems were piled up . While it was only slightly, Kazane and her companions were relieved when they heard from Benzel that there should be some kind of a.s.sistance from the country for Deidona City .

Also, Iria was napping due to lack of Magic Power and didn"t know about Naoki and his companions leaving until after she woke up, and she looked toward the Konron Mountains the dragons had headed towards with a disappointed expression . Ruinz was honestly relieved by that situation . Iria was obviously highly strung when she woke up, and he knew she was likely considering telling Naoki her feelings .

Then Ruinz also looked toward the Konron Mountains and thought . Please don"t come back . That thought was the manifestation of the mentality of a dejected loser who sorrowfully lamented his nonexistent odds of victory .

◎ Hyvern Dukedom, The Skies Near Konron Mountains

「Oooh, it"s beautiful . 」

Kazane raised her voice in admiration on the adult dragon Byaku"s back .

「No, how are you in such high spirits?」

「I"ll die . No, seriously, I"m going to die . 」

Lyle and Emily behind Kazane were trembling . As a matter of fact, Byaku wasn"t a western lizard-like type of dragon, but was a more snake-like oriental type dragon instead .   The siblings weren"t used to her elongated body and were fearfully riding .

The two had experienced riding dragons several times, but they had never flown at an alt.i.tude higher than mountains, nor had they ever ridden an unstable oriental type dragon .

「Anyway, don’t look down . If you only look at the scenery to the sides it"s not scary . 」

Kazane said; she had her experience from sneaking into the Dragon Boat, after all . Although truthfully, the corners of Kazane"s mouth were also slightly trembling .

(I might be less anxious if I used Dragonization and flew beside them)

That seemed like a very good idea, but Kazane"s Magic Power currently hadn"t recovered very much . And she thought she should probably hold back even when her own Magic Power recovered so she could replenish the Crimson Saint Coffin and Acc.u.mulator .

(Even so, there being no contact from Yuuko-nee is unchanged)

That was also a concern . It seemed it was true that Ogres attacked Royal Capital Shubain, and apparently it was also true that they were repelled . But the problem was what came after that . According to the information that the dragons had obtained, it seemed there was a battle at the royal castle after the Ogre subjugation . And after a tremendous magical power explosion, information from Shubain stopped flowing . They said information was probably being controlled .

Something important that must be hidden is happening . . . Kazane thought that might be related to why Yuuko-nee couldn"t get in touch, but she wasn"t dead . The Window showed that Yuuko-nee was still alive . Besides, it didn"t seem like the devil Benzel had captured would be able to do anything against Yuuko-nee .

Yuuko-nee"s Artifact『Horus Eye Circlet』meant that surprise attacks were almost impossible . If she wasn"t hit by a surprise attack, it was unimaginable that even Diablo would be able to win against Yuuko-nee .

(Would it be better to think that the emails are being blocked through some method?)

Although no conclusion would appear even if she groaned about it here . Kazane reluctantly decided to go back to enjoying the scenery like before .

Hyvern had mountain ranges and several active volcanoes . And when she was riding a dragon like this she could see the floating island in the distance .

It seemed it was called Elsta Floating Kingdom, but it was probably the birdman tribes" floating island『Alkus』that was also in Zexiaharts . She didn"t know why the island that should be further north had drifted down here, but Kazane remembered that she had promised Jinrai they would stop by on their return journey to Minshiana .

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 32

Health: 124

Magic Power: 235+420

Strength: 55+10

Agility: 50+4

Endurance: 32

Wisdom : 62

Dexterity : 39

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』

Yumika:「Next time, a shocking development!」

Kazane:「Ah, Yumika"s springiness being Byaku-san"s preference, right?」

Yumika:「No, not that!」