Chapter 344: The Sound of Battle

Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

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Today's the 20th of June, and I had just finished up a sparring session against Shin. He kinda hates me, like a lot, but I'm the only one in the Rustlands who can really make him struggle while he's fully serious, so every now and then, he grudgingly asks me to spar with him. Well, okay, there's also Belia, but the guy hates her way more than he hates me, so yeah. 

I figured it'd be beneficial to me as well, so I went with it and agreed to spar with him. He sure has changed though...when Belia first summoned him into this world, he was an annoyingly-typical and cheesy-ass hero type, but now, I can feel it, there's a slight venomous, spiteful vibe about him that wasn't there before.

The other two remaining summons, on the other hand, had been kinda deflated ever since Belia revealed that she'd been playing them the whole time. They acted relatively normally for the most part and do continue to train, but there's just something lifeless about them these days. 

Three of their friends dead, and then finding out that the person they died for was manipulating them the whole time for the sake of her own amusement, not to mention that they've helped kill a ton of innocent people while fighting alongside narrow-minded religious fanatics...yeah, it's no wonder that they've taken it all pretty hard. 

Anyway, having finished up sparring against Shin, I was now headed back to the apartment I was staying in...which, incidentally, is Kuro's old apartment. I mean, it was the place where I first came into existence in the living world, so it's pretty fitting. And besides, it's not like he's living here anymore, so why not? 

I headed into the building and made my way up to my apartment room, entering and shutting the door behind me as I did. Guess I'll grab a shower and relax for the rest of the day, I haven't got anything in particular to do. 

I took a quick shower, got changed and flopped down onto the bed with a sigh, taking out a joint and lighting it up. Fortunately, the weed cove is within the massive protective barriers that Elina created and cast over the Rustlands, though just barely. 

Also, on that note, the other races had built fortresses outside of the boundaries of the barriers, plenty within sight from the edges of the barriers...they've basically got us surrounded, if they find a way to counter all the barriers, then we're screwed. 

I'm not sure exactly how many barriers shield the Rustlands, but they cover just about everything...there's a physical barrier, another that prevents teleportation, one that counters intangibility, not to mention the one that kills any who step within the boundaries if their Mana signatures aren't registered with the barrier. 

So even if all the other barriers are bypassed somehow, that particular barrier will kill any and all intruders that it doesn't recognize...well, unless they have the anti-infliction-spell enchantment cast on them. 

I doubt the other races know about that spell, since it was one that was invented recently by Elina upon Kuro's suggestion...but that probably means that people from Abyss won't be affected by the insta-kill barrier, assuming they've got that enchantment activated on them. 

Anyway, as I halfway finished the joint I was smoking, I heard someone knocking on my door, much to my surprise...who the heck would visit me? Can't be Belia, she'd just pop out of a portal instead...I stood up and headed for the door, opening it as whoever was outside knocked again. 

"Hey, whatcha upto?" Greeted a familiar face with a smile. 

"Oh, Minise, it's you...what's up?" I responded, feeling kinda stoned

. 

"Nothing much, it's just...I was hoping you could help me with my new powers? I think I've gotten the hang of most of them, but I've still got a lot of room for improvement, and-...wait, are you high right now, dude?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow, as she stared at my eyes. 

"...no," I responded, averting my gaze as I sobered myself up using my Healing Factor, "And actually, I just got back from training with someone else, so maybe later."

"Huh, weird, why do I feel like I'm being two-timed?" She remarked jokingly, lightly hitting my shoulder, "Well, if I can't train, I don't really have anything else to do today, so...mind if I hang out here? It's been a while since I got stoned, and you can't fool me...I don't know how you cleared the redness in your eyes like that, but my sense of smell has improved by, like, a lot! I guess one of the monsters under the Undead King must have had a strong sense of smell."

Wait, what? She wants to hang out here? I'm, uh...not sure how to feel about that... 

"I mean, I guess I don't mind...but how come you can't train, just because I'm not up for it?" I inquired curiously. 

"Well, it's like this, until I've got a proper grasp on my new powers, I don't want to reveal it to anyone else...I mean, yeah, everyone knows that the Undead King's life force is now in me, but they don't know what kind of a boost I've gotten because of it, only you and Belia do. And Belia makes me kinda uneasy with how volatile and impulsive she is," She explained with a grin. 

"Ah, so you picked me to help you by default? Not sure how I feel about being the option to settle on," I responded with a teasing smirk.

Ever since she got the Undead King's powers, she's been around me fairly often...it was a little strange for me at first, but now, I have to admit, I enjoy her company. There aren't many people I can let my guard down against and be myself-...huh, actually, now that I think about it, she might be the only one. 

Yeah, I guess you could say that I'm myself around Belia too, but there are times where, subconsciously, my guard is up when I'm around her, it's easy to forget who she actually is at times, but that doesn't change the fact that she's one of the most powerful beings to ever exist. 

"Got any booze, Shiro?" Asked Minise, as she skipped in through the doorway. 

"Yeah, I think I've got a few beers," I replied, walking over and opening my mini-fridge. 

Oh, and by that, I mean a metal box with a Cooling Crystal inside it. If I remember right, it was invented shortly before I came into existence and everyone's memories were altered...yeah, after Kuro infiltrated The Valaque Empire and then revealed the truth about reincarnation. 

Following that, a lot of inventions inspired by items from other worlds were made, though they were pretty expensive, and a lot of them were failures. And once the memory alteration happened, innovative inventions inspired by items from other worlds all but ceased, since people completely stopped talking about them. 

I then sat on the couch and gestured for Minise to take a seat as well, which she obliged, but to my surprise...she sat down right next to me, instead of across me as I thought she would. I placed the beer on the coffee table and headed into my room to get some weed, her eyes lighting up as I returned with a couple of joints in hand. 

"Sweet, too bad TV doesn't exist in this-...wait, what was I talking about?" She blanked out, a confused look on your face. 

"You were just saying how you want all my booze and weed for yourself, and that I should just watch while you consume it all," I replied with a smirk, "Talk about greedy."

"Wha-...hey, there's no way I said that! I guess I blanked out, which means I said something that I shouldn't have...ughhh, I hate this blanking out crap, it's so annoying," She frowned, as I opened and handed her a bottle of beer. 

I don't know what it is, but when it comes to drinks that are both canned and bottled, like sodas or beer, they just taste way better in a glass bottle than a metal can for some reason. Is that just me? 

"Well, there's nothing that we can do about it, so just forget about it...here, get drunk and high, and just relax."

"Yeah....yeah, you're totally right, dude, no point fretting over something that I can't change," She sighed before taking a big gulp and nearly gagging, "Holy-...! This is some strong shit!" 

"Well, yeah, I find these beers too weak, so I added some hard liquor to give it some extra kick," I replied sheepishly, as I lit up a joint after taking a swig of the beer. 

"Huh...cool. That explains the taste," She responded with a laugh, before taking another swig, her face scrunching up a bit as she did. 

The next hour or so was...pleasant. And not to sound dramatic or anything, but it might be the most pleasant hour I've ever experienced. This is...nice. Just spending some casual, relaxing time with another person, it's really nice. 

Belia was wrong, I don't think I'm in love with Minise or anything like that...yeah, I was probably just confused because this is the closest I've ever gotten to having a real friendship with another person. And the reason I saved her from those Ghouls was in order to preserve that perceived friendship...yeah, that has to be it, I-... 

Suddenly, as Minise stood up and began to head towards the bathroom, her knees buckled and she began to fall down with an alarmed cry. 

I quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist, trying to stabilize her with a pull...but my judgement was a bit off thanks to being inebriated, so I kinda ended up pulling too hard, and she ended up landing on top of me, her forehead bumping onto mine. 

"Ow...sorry, my bad, I-...," She began, before trailing off as she met my gaze, her face barely a couple of inches away from mine. 

Huh? What-...it feels like my heart rate is rising. She smells really nice...I don't think I noticed that before. And I already knew that she's cute and all, but up close like this-...wait, no, what am I thinking, I need to snap out of it. 

I should probably help her stand up and get off me, her right hand is near where my heart is, so if my heart rate increases much further, she'll be able to tell for sure. 

And then, right as I began to help her up, her right hand slightly clutched my shirt above the left side of my chest, and as her cheeks turned a slight pink...she closed her eyes. Is this...? Yeah, it obviously is, but...why do I feel so hesitant? 

No, it's more like I feel guilty...what should I-...before I could sort out my thoughts, a huge explosion burst out from outside, rattling the windows and shaking the ground, bits of dust raining down from the ceiling. 

Huh? What the hell-...that sounded huge. And it came from a distance...the noise itself was relatively muffled, what we heard and felt was more like an aftershock from an explosion, one that wasn't too nearby...

"What was that!?" Exclaimed Minise in alarm, hurriedly springing off me, her face red. 

"I don't know, but it sounded like it came from near the south gates, and whatever it was, must have been a massive explos-...," I began, before trailing off as I opened the windows to get a better look. 

A huge plume of smoke was rising up in the distance, from the south gate, just as I'd surmised. It was clearly visible even though we were dozens of kilometers away from the south gates...but that wasn't what stunned me. 

No, it was the sight above...the protective barriers, they were all gone. And in their place, was a gigantic, transparent black barrier, as screams and the sound of battle began echoing out all around us... 

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