Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu
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TL Notes:
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Chapter 333
Shortly after sunrise, Nea returned to my subordinates.
From here on, she would take on the role of creating a diversion and directing their movements to a certain extent.
... Well, in exchange for getting her to agree to my request, I ended up promising to listen to some of what she says as well.
As for me, I still had to carry out the mission the Demon King entrusted to me, so I took out the luggage I had packed.
"I’ll store them in the cloak."
"Thanks, Keira."
Even after a night had passed, Keira’s resolve had not changed, and she ended up accompanying me on my mission.
If possible, I didn't want to take her to a dangerous place, but... ignoring her wishes wouldn't be a good idea either.
In that case, all I had to do was protect her with everything I had.
"Koga, if I don’t come back..."
"Yeah. We cancel the exercise. Me, Nea, and Ururu will go check."
"And then I report it to the Demon King-sama, right? Yes, yes, I know already."
Hanna-san spoke carelessly, making no attempt to hide her bad mood from having just woken up.
Maybe she had low blood pressure, because somehow her eyes seemed half-lidded and unfocused.
"Well, when it comes to you, I can’t even imagine a worst-case scenario happening in the first place. Frankly, it’s questionable whether you can even die."
"Th-that's a pretty harsh thing to say... I get into dangerous situations too, you know...?"
"He~e, tell me who you were up against when you found yourself in that situation."
...
"An Evil Dragon, Samarial’s curse, a berserk Dragonewt, Koga, the Commander, Nero-san, Nagi-san, Amira-san, and the Demon King"
"Eh, excuse me. That’s honestly kind of horrifying..."
"Usato-kun fought every Corps Commander one after another in the last battle, after all..."
"He really does end up in dangerous situations. It’s just that the opponents are absurd."
Eei, Koga, don't forget you're in that category too...!!
Even looking back on it, I was forced to realize that I’d fought nothing but utterly outrageous people.
"To begin with, I’m the kind of person who depends on support from my allies, so there’s only so much I can do alone."
"..."
"Could you please stop giving me that 'What is this guy talking about?' look?"
They were seriously looking at me like I was some unbelievable creature.
"T-This time, I’ll be the one supporting you, Usato-san, s-so leave it to me!!"
"Yeah, I’m counting on you. But don’t push yourself too hard, okay."
"Yes...!!"
... Will she be okay?
Her abilities are incredible, but I had to make sure not to rely on her too much.
Keira created a cloak out of dark magic and wrapped it around me, then she herself slipped inside it. After that, I stuffed my bag into the cloak as well and finished preparing to depart.
"Be careful, Usato-kun."
"Yes. Ururu-san, please try not to leave Koga and Hanna-san’s side if possible. Blurin, I’m counting on you to look after Ururu-san too, okay?"
"Gruaaa!"
Blurin let out a cry that sounded almost like a confirmation.
As always, unless there was a reason, Blurin still wouldn’t let Senpai or Ururu-san touch its body, but when it mattered, this guy always did his job properly.
"Alright, let’s go, Keira."
『Yes!』
"Have a good trip!"
Waving back at Ururu-san as she enthusiastically waved both hands at us, I took to the sky and left the area behind.
『Is our destination far away?』
"No, it's not that far."
At the very least, it was close enough to affect the training grounds.
Originally, I had planned to travel by running, but being able to check the location from the air made this much easier.
"If we travel through the air, there’s no chance of losing our direction, and we’ll arrive quickly."
『It’s a place overflowing with poison, right?』
"More precisely, it seems to be a toxic magical energy. That's why my healing magic is necessary... but I'll have to confirm the details on-site."
I flew over the forest, wrapped in the cloak.
When running, it feels like moving my body directly, but this is more like moving according to my will alone.
And if I wanted to, I could even leave the aerial movement entirely to Keira.
"It looks like you’re managing to face your magic properly."
『Yes! At first, I hated this magic… but after what happened at that ruin, I was able to change how I see it. This magic is me, after all.』
Dark magic is like a mirror.
The user's emotions are reflected in the ability, and those emotions become the source of the power.
『That’s why I think it was good that Usato-san lied to me back then.』
"I didn't really want to lie, though..."
『Ehehe.』
Keira smiled happily, and I naturally ended up smiling as well.
...Oops.
"I can see it now."
『Eh...』
The scenery below changed from forest to wasteland.
The lush greenery had turned into decayed, barren land, and in its place, purple smoke was rising from the ground.
『Is that our destination?』
"...A little further ahead. The poison is still thin here."
Fortunately, the poison hadn’t reached the sky yet... but the ground was already no place where people could live.
If someone were to inhale that poison for long, it would likely become life-threatening.
『There's an eerie feeling about this.』
"Yeah. Let's finish our business quickly and get away from here."
After flying a little farther, the poisonous smoke rising from the ground gradually grew denser.
It spread across the land like a thick fog, and once the view below disappeared, I stopped in midair.
"From the sky, it’s going to be impossible to search. Keira."
『We’re going to descend, right?』
"If you start feeling unwell, tell me immediately."
『Yes!』
... Alright.
I slowly descended toward the ground while wrapping myself in healing magic whose concentration had been diluted through system degradation.
The poisonous mist was neutralized by the healing magic’s mana... and there were no abnormalities in my body either.
It seems this healing magic can also neutralize poison.
"Keira, are you okay?"
『No abnormalities at all! Ah, but the healing magic’s effect is reaching me inside here too, so I actually feel better!』
"I-I see. Then we’ll keep going as we are."
『Yes!』
Is it blocking harmful substances while allowing healing magic to pass through?
Dark magic is really amazing...
For now, it didn’t seem to affect our activity, so I continued the exploration while wrapped in the cloak across the poisoned land.
"Demon King said there’s a possibility it’s located where the poison concentration is especially high..."
『Then it would be best to head toward the densest fog. If we get lost, we can just fly back up again.』
"Right"
Thanks to Keira, things seemed to be progressing smoothly.
Across the decayed land where not a single blade of grass grew, the ground itself was a toxic color.
As I moved forward while surveying the area, which felt like the end of the world, I spoke to Keira.
"The reason I came here is to recover fragments of power taken from the Demon King by the previous hero."
『Fragments of power?』
"Mm. That power is too strong, and it has a negative effect on the land. That’s why this area has become a dangerous zone filled with poison."
We’d come this far, so I figured I should explain things to Keira as well.
I trusted her, and more importantly, it would be better if she understood what we were about to retrieve.
『I didn’t know there was a place like this in the Demon King’s territory.』
"It’s apparently a place where people almost never go."
"...Could it be that the reason the Demon Lord's territory went awry is..."
"...Just as you imagined."
The previous hero’s purpose was a trial for the future.
As part of that, he buried the power he had taken from the Demon King into the Demon King’s territory in order to weaken the Demon King’s overwhelming power and the military strength of the demons.
...I couldn’t help thinking there must have been a better way to do it, but I wasn’t in a position to say anything about him at the time.
The suffering and pain he went through were surely far beyond anything I could imagine.
"!"
『What’s wrong, Usato-san?』
At that moment, from somewhere not too far away, I heard the sound of metal clashing against metal.
Battle sounds? In a place like this filled with poisonous mist?
I instinctively used my magic sensing ability, releasing magical energy radially, and ran towards the scene.
"Keira! Prepare for combat!!"
『Yes!!』
I created a healing magic projectile in my deployed gauntlet and threw it forward.
The healing magic struck the ground far ahead through the dense fog, scattering particles across the area———and revealed four shadows.
"...Four people!? Three of them are attacking one person!?"
Moreover, one of the three has something resembling wings.
I recognized the shape of those wings!!
"A devil?!"
Oh no, the person being attacked is on their knees and coughing!?
Is it the effects of the poison!? I have to treat them quickly, or they'll die!!
I infused my legs with magic that granted elasticity, combined it with Healing Acceleration Fist, and launched myself forward like a rocket...!!
"You've given me a lot of trouble!!"
"Gaha, geho... uwh..."
"I'll finish you off!!"
What came into view was a rough-looking devil, and two emotionless-eyed demons.
And in front of them, kneeling and coughing up blood was a “girl” with red and black hair———Shia!?
She was supposed to be in Mialak, so why is she here?!
No, more importantly!!
"I won't let you!!"
"Guhaa!?"
For now, I punched away the devil, trying to deliver the finishing blow with a wavy-shaped sword using a Healing Elasticity Fist.
The two female demons who had been fighting alongside him immediately tried to move, but one of them was blown away by Keira’s extended cloak.
『Usato-san!!』
"Thank you, Keira!!"
Without even glancing at her blown-away companion, the female demon swung a knife at me, and I deflected her attack.
...These people are just like Auru-san and the others...!!
"You bastards!! How many more human lives do you have to toy with before you're satisfied!!!"
Magical energy gathers in the palm that is extended towards me.
The moment I recognized the black, shadow-like magic, I overlapped my left hand———and released an equal amount of mana to cancel it out.
"!!!?"
"...Dark magic, huh?"
A demon with black mana... dark magic user.
If they were someone forcibly revived like Auru-san and the others, holding back would be meaningless.
I grabbed her palm again, preventing her from escaping with sheer strength, and infused mana into my free right arm.
"Healing Instant Strike Fist!!"
I struck her with a palm strike at the same time as sending a shockwave of healing magic into her.
Hit by the two impacts at once, the female demon was blown back into the depths of the thick fog, dragging the other one, who was trying to get up, along with her.
『Usato-san, that person...』
"...A dark magic user."
Another forcibly revived dark magic user, like Auru-san and the others.
Looking closely, they looked almost identical, so perhaps they were twins or something?
If so, the other one might also be a dark magic user... but first, I had to prioritize Shia, who was suffering from the poison.
"Ah, uwh..."
"Don't talk! I’ll help you now!!"
She was injured...
She was coughing up blood from the poison, but I could heal that with healing magic right away.
"!"
I lifted Shia in my arms and took off from the spot.
The next instant, the devil’s sword slammed down where we had just been.
"Why are you here, healing mage?!"
"That's what I should be asking you. Why is the devil here?"
In response to my question, the rough-looking devil glared at me, growling.
I wanted to ask why Shia was here, but first I needed to deal with this devil.
I lifted Shea while wrapping her in the cloak, applied healing magic to her, and freed both of my hands.
"Suu..."
If I moved too violently, it would put strain on Shia.
I circulated mana through my body, steadied my breathing, and slowly raised my fists———then released healing perception refined through system degradation.
"Come. I'll take you on."
"You mere healing mage...!!"
I confirmed that the two controlled demons had moved to surround me from three directions, and I braced myself.
Fighting while protecting the injured.
Nea and the others who always support me aren’t here either.
Keira is still inexperienced in combat, so I can't push her too hard.
It’s far from an ideal situation, but even so, if there are injured people I must protect, I have to get through this situation no matter what...!
——— read on seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———
Author's Notes:
The battle against the devil begins abruptly.
And it becomes a reunion with the mysterious girl he met in Mialak, Shia Garmio.
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