Chapter 50
SPEAR MASTER AND THE BLACK CAT CHAPTER 50
Fiftieth Episode~ Pleasure of Cooperation
“Again! Everyone, get ready!”
“”Roger!””
All of crimson tiger responds to Sarah’s commanding voice .
Everyone attacks the drake together .
Their movements are unified as well as their words .
As expected of the B rank clan, 【Tempest of Crimson Tiger】
Rollo and I watch their cooperative movements and act carefully .
We contribute attacks that do not interfere .
After defeating the drakes for several hours, the sun has already set .
As you would expect, all the members of crimson tiger are beginning to show signs of fatigue .
However, there is another magic essence reaction there .
Moreover, there are multiple .
“Again?”
Sarah’s forehead creases and she has a loathing expression .
“It looks like it . ”
In the direction Lush.e.l.l points, a swarm of long-armed ants appear .
Moreover, small two headed dragons appear soon after .
“Ants and dragons? It can’t be helped . Everyone, go all out . ”
“Butch, you’re tired so take a pill . ”
“I’m fine . As for the captain, if you’re tired why don’t you drink a stamina restoration potion?”
“Haha, you’re saying that? I’m all right . ”
She who has been fighting for a long time does not disrupt her confident behavior .
It seems they will be okay for a while longer .
While I admire them, I turn my attention to the main monster .
I look at an ant with long arms .
This is my first time seeing the small dragon .
The two heads of the dragon are extending from slim necks . Its scales are pale .
When I observe it, the small dragon and the swarm of ants begin to fight .
They are like cats and dogs, the fight between the monsters is strange .
For a long time…I follow the fight between the dragons and ants .
The ants and dragons that wander away from the war target us .
There are five ants and two small dragons .
“Here they come . There are five long armed ants, and two small sonic bang dragons . ”
Sarah points her long curved swords in the direction of the monsters .
The name of the two-headed dragon seems to be sonic bang .
“Well then, I will-”
Belize raises her bow, nocks an arrow, and fires .
The arrow whistles through the air, piercing the ant’s eyes one after another, and striking the thin necks of the dragons .
Amazing…she is more than a pair of t.i.ts .
I can tell that the Elf Belize’s archery is at a considerable level .
However, melon-san’s big b.r.e.a.s.t.s seem obstructive when using a bow and arrow . [ED: Holy… Author you need to get laid or something… . ]
The b.r.e.a.s.t.s behind the red leather armor…
“Still, we have a long way to go . It’s our turn now . ”
Lush.e.l.l talks casually .
As an example of her composure, Belize winks while she fires her bow and arrow .
Lush.e.l.l being a magic user holds out a long staff in front of her chest .
She raises the big staff in one hand and closes one eye .
Her other hand moves to grasp the large staff as support .
I confirm with magic observing eye .
Lush.e.l.l is manipulating mana .
I can see mana is being transmitted into the staff from both of her arms .
She does not seem to be using an aria .
When the blue jewel at the end of the staff starts to s.h.i.+ne, the wooden claw like branches shrink back so the blue jewel may be grasped . Countless blue particles come from the jewel and expand, the particles gather right above and form a big pointed icicle .
“Be smashed by ice . ”
The pointed icicles are produced continuously and they fly at the ants .
One by one, the glistening icicles, wider than five centimeters, pierce through the abdomens of the ants .
The ants pierced by the sharp icicles stop moving .
The ants, which continue receiving the ice magic, become frozen white ice statues in no time .
The icicles also hit the other two ants, dulling their movements .
The heads of the slowed ants are pierced through by arrows and they stop moving .
The long armed ants are wiped out by Lush.e.l.l’s magic and Belize’s bow .
However, the small dragons are still there .
“The dragons seem to be resistant . ”
Like Lush.e.l.l said, the icicles. .h.i.t the small two headed dragons but are being deflected by their pale scales .
The ice system does not seem to work on those blue scales .
On the other hand, a lot of arrows are stuck in them .
“Let’s kill each dragon . ”
Sarah declares her instruction with those few words .
She is already running towards the sonic bangs with a bent forward posture and her two swords . (TL: So, like that one kid on the playground who watched too much Naruto and thought running like that would be cool . )
“Roger!”
The members of Tempest of Crimson Tiger all obey Sarah’s command .
Butch follows up on Sarah’s attack and delivers a blow to the body of the sonic bang . Belize fires arrows from her bow as well .
Lush.e.l.l also releases sharp icicles from her large staff .
However, the ice magic does not work on the blue scales .
Lush.e.l.l stops attacking with her large staff .
I partic.i.p.ate as well, undaunted . I aim for the small legs .
Timing my attack in cooperation with Sarah and Butch, I extend the black spear and drill into the spot already injured by the sword and ax .
Once one leg is cut off, and the sonic bang loses its balance . At that moment, Rollo sticks her bone sword into it’s small neck .
Piercing through the head, one of the necks hangs loose, unmoving .
However, the sonic bang dragon has a second head which raises a sound similar to a scream .
It can make an awfully high-pitched sound despite it being small .
The roaring reverberates as Rollo retracts her feeler and sneaks around the back of the sonic bang, preparing for the next attack .
However, despite having its leg destroyed and losing its balance, the small dragon seems fine . Turning its remaining head around, it turns its body around quickly .
The sonic bang opens its mouth towards Rollo and roars, a shock wave is thrown out .
Rollo receives the shock wave and rolls back once .
She collapses with her stomach exposed .
“Rollo!”
I shout her name, but she is okay .
Rollo extended her feels as she fell to absorb the shock .
The sonic bang opens its mouth again .
“Show me your back will you, good-bye-”
The moment Sarah says good-bye, mana circulates in her arms . Her long swords warp and red hair grows out from her arms . The muscles of each arm swell and they become gigantic .
Her hair is bushy too .
Using both arms the “Attack skill” called “Quadruped Strike” is delivered, blowing away the small dragon’s skull . [ED: @TL Changed text and raw removed . ]
It is amazing no matter how many times I see it .
Seeing it up-close, her arms and long-swords become larger .
Is the sword special too? Everything has already returned to it’s original size .
Her gigantic arms were covered in red hair and her agility seemed to increase as well .
So much so that her arms became blurred .
The four-sword slash of the curved long swords .
The wound is terrible because it is caused by four simultaneous sword slashes .
The slas.h.i.+ng attack that blew away the drake’s head seems to be a technique from a similar skill system .
On the other hand, Butch attacks the remaining sonic bang on his own .
The simultaneous attacks of the two heads are deflected by the large ax . He used the broadax like a s.h.i.+eld to defend against the shockwaves from the sonic bang’s mouths .
As though responding there, Belize hits the eyes of the small dragon with arrows .
There are two heads, so a total of four arrows find their marks .
Her bow skills are amazing . The dragon can no longer pick a target so it releases shock waves and roars in random directions .
Then, a magic that looks like thunder magic smashes into the small dragon .
Two thin yellow flashes of light, three, they all land direct hits on the sonic bang-
The sonic bang seems to have become weakened, trembling, but still alive .
However, its movements are noticeably slowed .
Butch makes use of his strength and delivers an attack with his broadax, easily cutting through the pale scales into the flesh beneath .
His movements are like a baseball player striking a home run .
Seeing the attack with the broadax, I am reminded of Raguren .
Still, I never heard an aria but Lush.e.l.l made lightning fall from the sky .
Even if I think such a thing, it started with Sarah’s three-stranded slas.h.i.+ng attack .
Butch’s attacks continue to happen .
Butch jumps- swinging his broadax from the sky .
A helm splitting type skill .
The thin wings are completely shattered and twisted by the fierce blow of the ax skill and seem to be torn off .
Following up on Butch’s broadax skill, Lush.e.l.l continues dropping down lightning magic . The scales are blown off and its flesh roasted, causing a smell to rise .
The small dragon’s entire body is trembling, seeming to be caused by the numbness .
I see . That lightning magic was a scroll .
There is a sheet of paper attached to a belt over Lush.e.l.l’s head .
The paper is thick . It looks like a bound book and there is a lot of paper .
A piece of paper is ripped from the magic book . After being thrown, the paper becomes a thunderbolt .
Then Belize fires am arrow from a tightly-strung bow which pierces through the scales into two sections of burning dragon flesh .
The sonic bang has survived until now…
It looks pitiful under everyone’s concentrated attacks .
The blind sonic bang is full of openings .
Late to the party, Rollo also attacks the small dragon and extends a feeler bone sword .
The bone sword splits an arrow in half driving even deeper past the eye into the head of the dragon .
I attack as well . My foot firmly on the ground, power flows through my twisting waist, and I throw out my arm in a .
The twisting black spear drills into the small dragon, penetrating deep .
Again, everyone continues to attack .
The small dragon is unable to run away, and it cannot even scream .
In an instant, it becomes sc.r.a.ps of flesh .
Complete overkill .
The dragons and ants fighting seem to have stopped and there are no signs of dragons or ants in the immediate area .
First team game . This is considerably easy .
The surroundings are open as well . Cooperation is fun .
Rollo’s cooperation is interesting too, still a different kind of fun .
“Yosh . I don’t see any more enemies in the area . Were all the ants and dragons springing up around here cleared up… Strip them of their materials but leave them here, we can collect them later . ”
“That’s right . Like the captain said, there are no more “signs” coming from the left side . There seem to still be wyverns in the sky though…”
Lush.e.l.l seems to have a presence detection skill, or can use search magic .
“As one would expect, if it’s that distance, I don’t know if even my bow could reach…”
“Anywhere is fine as long as I can swing my ax around, I trust the captain’s judgement . ”
“Yeah…”
Then, waiting for my opinion, Sarah turns her eyes to me .
Making eye contact, I nod lightly .
It is true, I can only feel magic essence signs from the sky .
Same for pheromone touch .
Everyone’s faces are weary with fatigue .
So, should we take a break?
I try to suggest it .
“…seeing everyone’s faces, how about you take a break?”
“Yeah . Let’s take a break for a little . Lush.e.l.l, takes mana restoration potion with a high concentration . Everyone including me, let’s take stamina restoration pills and potions . ”
Everyone nods to Sarah’s words, and medicine is removed from each person’s waist belt, brought to their mouths and drank .
I do not take a potion, but I eat jerky since I feel hungry .
I give Rollo some too .
“Now, there are no monsters in this area, so we can take a quick break here before returning to the metastasis formation . The day has also become dark . I am worried about the battle between the wyverns and imperial guard ants . They are both ‘powerful enemies . "”
“”Roger . ””
I reply as well .
“Understood . ”
“Nya . ”
“Fufu, Rollo-chan is too cute . Are you answering me?”
“N, Nyaa . ”
After calling out to say 『Let’s gyo back fast, nya』 Rollo jumps to my shoulder and claps my shoulder with a *pap*
“Maa, surprising . You come to a ‘serious decision’ despite being so cute . This child has a good head . ”
“Surely that’s…my familiar is well-informed, but this is my first time seeing a superior and cute ‘familiar’ like Rollo . ”
“Rollo-chan wants to hurry too . Let’s go . ”
Like this, we return to the metastasis formation together .
I can see the bright metastasis formation .
There are magic lights floating in many places and the ground is lit up by the magic formation carved into it .
It is slightly dazzling .
It shows the state of the adventurers fighting the long-armed ants in such dazzling light .
Oh, the fight seems to be over .
However, the center of the protective wall is gone .
It seems to have been caught up in the war between the wyverns and imperial ants, crushed and broken without leaving a trace .
The center is almost completely empty without a place to hide .
Then, the adventurers that have finished fighting the longed armed ants return .
“Tempest of Crimson Tiger . You’re returning?”
“As one would expect, they seem to have finished dealing with the drakes . ”
The adventurers have expressions of admirations as they whisper to one another .
Then, the commander woman with the large staff on her back approaches .
“You killed those drakes? As expected, you all should be the next called A rank . Tempest of Crimson Tiger-san…n? With are you together with that D rank…”
While the commander woman is in the middle of talking, she notices I am with the Tempest of Crimson Tiger and acts doubtful .
“N? It was precisely because of Shuya’s help that we were able to wipe out the drakes, sonic bangs, and ants so quickly?”
Sarah speaks out in my defense .
“Really? Why are you asking with that face? Shuya is an expert . ”
Belize-san’s eyes sharpen and she becomes angry .
“Surely . His physical ability was greater than most beastmen . What was most surprising, without communicating with us, he was able to join our cooperation flawlessly . Without ranking or confirming tactics . Something like that isn’t so easy to do . ”
Butch-san raises his voice and praises me .
It is nice to be recognized as an adventurer .
“Eeh, that’s right . Eris has a bad habit of judging people by their ranks . 【Crimson Tiger’s Tempest】 establishes claim on Shuya-san first, no, we give our approval that he is an extremelytalented individual . The black cat is cute too . ”
“Lush.e.l.l…is that so . I was impolite . ”
In response to the unexpected support from each member of crimson tiger, Eris has a surprised look, and lowers her head meekly .
“What do you say, Shuya-san? I am Eris Fafunade . B ranked Mage . Leader of the adventurer clan 【Eight Maidens】 . I work as staff in the adventurer’s guild with my father’s connections . I apologize for earlier . I am sorry . ”
The strong-willed pony-tail woman is named Eris .
She is an acquaintance of Lush.e.l.l . Our eyes meet .
I am not particularly angry, so I will be polite .
“…Yes . Eris-san . Everything is fine . I am Shuya Kagari . Either Shuya of Kagari, however you want to call me is fine . ”
“…Good . All of 【Crimson Tiger’s Tempest】 recognizes you, Shuya-san must be a remarkable spearman . ”
Eris looks at the black spear in my hand and says so . (TL: I’m not sure if author meant to write Lush.e.l.l here . ) [ED: Makes more sense as Eris, Changed . ]
“No, I’m just confident in my spear ability . ”
“If that’s the case, thank you for fighting in the future . The remainder of the middle-!?”
The shuffling footsteps of ants comes from inside .
There are multiple magic essence reactions too-
Eris looks back to the right, surprised by this sound .
Everyone notices belatedly .
“Ants again . ”
There is a swarm of soldier ants and armored commander ants coming from the right side .
“Soldiers and commanders, everyone, prepare to intercept-”
“Oou!”
“Let’s do this s.h.i.+t!”
“Here it goes!”
Eris shouts out instructions to the adventurers .
-As expected her commands are fast .
The adventurers who receive instructions are to vanguard, middle guard, rear guard, each respective clan groups together and confronts the swarm of soldier ants and armored commander ants .
Their movements let you feel their agility .
The adventurers seem to be clans with experience as well .
“Eris-san, the crimson tigers will act as a mobile unit . ”
“Yeah, there is no protective wall, crush them as you please . ”
Lush.e.l.l runs to Eris’s side .
“Eris, work hard . ”
“Lush.e.l.l too . ”
Lush.e.l.l and Eris remove the large staves from their backs, slap them together in encouragement before walking away .
The members of crimson tiger confront the ants with Sarah in the lead .
Immediately, they aim for the soldier ants in the area and attack .
Now then, this situation-
Even if I work together with crimson tiger, it can’t be helped .
The place with the lowest rate of extermination…
What is the weakest point?
While thinking so, I look around the battlefield-
Over there it seems there needs to be some reinforcements . There are two armored commander ants going on a rampage .
The commander ants are utilizing their large sh.e.l.ls and rus.h.i.+ng the adventurers bulldozers, throwing them around .
I signal Rollo with my eyes .
When we make eye contact and nod, we start running .
Rollo’s limbs expand and she takes on her panther form .
The adventurers are split in half because of the armored commander ants, so I aim for the one breaking through on the left .
The armored commander ant starts to turn .
Recalling the other day, I aim for its weak points .
I thrust the black spear into the bundle of muscle in its joins, cutting a hole through the muscle . Several long legs fly into the air .
The armored commander ant is knocked to the ground, unable to withstand the sudden impact, and exposes the lower part of its neck . Maintaining my momentum to the exposed neck .
Waiting for this moment, Rollo repeatedly stabs her bone sword into the neck joint of the armored commander ant .
The neck is stabbed through so many times that it nearly breaks off .
And, when dark red liquid spurts out of the necks with a tearing sound, the head of the armored commander ant explodes off like a cannon directly into the sh.e.l.l of the other commander ant .
The armored commander ant notices the impact and quickly turns this way with it’s red haired legs moving fast .
Glaring at us, it raises a shout in our direction .
Rollo extends her feelers into the distance and quickly retracts them, pulling her entire body . She avoids the charge of the armored commander ant .
I activate .
-With my increased speed, I move to the side of the charging commander ant .
Aiming for the legs at this point, I aim for the same soft spots as before and send several severed legs flying .
I harvest the armored commander ant’s legs until timer runs out .
The armored commander ant cannot support itself with all the legs on one side of its body gone . It crashes to the ground, rolling over soldier ants before coming to a stop on its back .
It receives a concentrated attack from the surrounding adventurers .
The overturned armored ant looks like a turtle .
It is a little cute, but I will leave finis.h.i.+ng it off to those people .
Once more, I turn my eyes to look over the battlefield .
The crimson tiger group is fighting different armored commander ants .
Their movements are restricted with magic, and each ant is killed .
-It is all right there .
I turn my eyes to the adventurer group around Eris next .
I can see Eris gathering the attention of the armored commander ants and running away .
A member of Eris’s clan is easily wiping out dozens of soldier ants, she is using herself as a decoy .
Doing it like that may be dangerous for Eris .
Should I kill the armored commander ants chasing her?
She is a beautiful woman, I guess I will help her . (TL&ED: G.o.d d.a.m.nit . )
Eris is throwing fireb.a.l.l.s at the armored commander ants, but they do not seem to be enough .
The red hair on their legs is burnt . The armored commander ant that has its hair burned raises a battle cry and changes course .
Its legs rustle and it turns its heavy looking body .
A chance . I approach the armored commander ant while it is turning with fighting moji enhanced legs and cut off a leg with the black spear . The armored commander ant stumbles, defenseless .
As usual, I release at the armored commander ant’s neck .
The black spear penetrates deep into the neck .
That moment, the disconnected head is sent flying by the pressure of its blood like a ping-pong ball .
The flying head soars to the soldier ants fighting the adventurers crus.h.i.+ng one’s chest .
Hou, it’s good the head did not hit an adventurer .
When the armored commander ants that were giving them a hard time decrease, the situation tilts in favor of the adventurers .
With the advantage, the adventurers kill the remaining soldier ants .
The soldier ants are quickly wiped out .
The sudden swarm of ants has been immediately wiped out .
“Oooh!”
“OOOOooooh!”
“Huzzah!”
The adventurers that wiped out the ants, they all raise their voices together .
“We were able to defeat them really fast, we beat the ants . ”
“-Yahoo!”
“”-OOOooh!””
The adventurers raise their victory cries from various places .
The black cat seems surprised by the sudden shouting and quickly returns to my shoulder .
“-Everyone, it is too early to celebrate! Collect the dead’s belongings, and then would the wounded each get a potion . A portion will report those who died to their respective leaders . Magic users with the water attribute and who can use healing magic, those with light attribute and priests please use healing magic on those who cannot take a potion . I can use light healing too, so recover . Afterwards we can all celebrate!”
As expected, Eris seems to be a commander .
An aura of recovery magic hangs over those who were injured earlier, healing them .
Everyone, the adventurers here seem to have a lot of experience, there are only two dead . Most people only need to swallow a potion and healing magic is only needed for three severely injured .
Once treatment is finished, Eris talks .
“Shuya-san . Thank you for earlier . You defeated the officer we were facing . ”
Her pony tail has slipped because of the intense movements and becomes something strange, but it might be rude to point it out so I do not mention it .
“No, no, it is because Eris-san attracted the attention of the armored commander ant that I was able to aim so easily . ”
“Is that so? You’re a person who doesn’t bring attention to themselves . Fufu, a-”
Then, Eris seems to notice that her red pony tail has slipped .
She uses both of her hands to fix it .
Eris’s bashful face is good, now, the smile she showed for a moment is good too . The expression created a gap with her usual unyielding and intellectual behavior .
“Yo, Shuya seems to have killed several commanders as well . ”
Butch-san’s voice appears there .
The crimson tiger group is approaching .
“Aah, their charging is difficult . ”
When I say so, Belize reacts .
“Shuya-kun, you appear young but you are unexpectedly collected . I thought you would fight the ants and commander ants with us…”
“As Belize says . You were able to understand the movements in the chaotic fight, able to act in the weakest links . ”
Sarah says such a thing as well .
For some reason, I feel uneasy when I am praised .
“…It was a coincidence . It was obvious things would become easy if the commanders were killed . ”
“…Shuya-san is modest-san . ”
With big s.h.i.+ning eyes, Lush.e.l.l says such a thing too .
“Haha, we’ll keep praising you to death . Besides, I might still kill you?”
Saying so, I look to the middle .
“It’s just like that . Defeating those wyvern and imperial guard ants won’t be such an easy task . It will be a fierce battle if it comes to that . So, we will hold a strategy meeting . I will gather the leaders of the clans here, so wait a minute . ”
“Roger . ”
“Understood . ”
Eris is going to gather everyone and is running out to the scattered adventurers .
Sarah mutters while watching Eris summon everyone .
“Strategy, it’s already night, can’t it wait till morning?”