Chapter 82

[Translator – Bob ]

[Proofreader – ilafy ]

Chapter 82

Step, step.

Seiji had arrived at the location Sakura had called him to, but he couldn’t see her anywhere, let alone help her with her injuries.

“Sakura? Where are you?”

He spun his head, checking his surroundings.

Woosh!!

Right then, an arrow flew through the air, aiming for his head

“Urk!!”

Wsh!

Seiji quickly ducked, dodging the projectile. The arrow had only just barely skimmed the top of his skull—what would have happened if he hadn’t dodged was obvious.

He looked in the direction the arrow had come from. He saw Sakura, face expressionless.

“You’re… S-Sakura?”

Seiji’s voice shook at the unexpected development. Sakura herself, however, wasn’t concerned with what had just passed. She notched another arrow into her bow.

Twaaang!!

The arrow pierced through the air at incredible speed, boosted by the power of wind. 

Sakura stared at the arrow. 

“Scatter,” she murmured, voice small.

It began to glow with a green light, then split into several dozen projectiles. It was impossible to simply swat all of them out of the way. 

However, her opponent was the winner of the Representative Selections, Seiji.

“Sakura! Why?!”

Seiji cried out a question, stomping the ground with his foot at the same time. A wall of shadows burst from the floor.

Rrrumble!

Countless wind arrows lodged themselves into the shadow wall.

Sakura kept repeating the same words over and over again like an emotionless doll.

“I will kill… the intruders. I need to kill you… for the sake of my master. No matter what, with my own two hands…”

She gathered mana into her hand.

Woosh!!

A storm began to gather around her. Sakura’s cherry blossom-colored hair whipped around beautifully in the wind, her school uniform flapping violently around her.

“Zephyros.”

Only when she mumbled that did Seiji finally realize what was going on.

‘She’s definitely… being controlled! Is it hypnosis? Or maybe she’s under an illusion?!’

Zephyros was a Skill with the highest amount of lethality among all of Sakura’s Skills. She always called it her last resort and kept it close to her chest, so she never used Zephyros unless her life was in danger.

But the current Sakura was using this Skill on Seiji.

Howl! Woooosh!!

The deadly storm brewed with her at the center. The winds shredded every object in her surroundings like a blender. The soundwaves emitted by the wind were strong enough to make one’s head spin.

Seiji cocooned himself within his own shadows.

‘If I also fall…’

He clenched his fist. His party member, Sakura, was being controlled. If he was also taken down, the chances to finish the raid would exponentially decrease. In the worst-case scenario, neither Seiji nor Sakura’s safety would be guaranteed.

[Only!No.1!: help]

He frantically sent a message using his Pocket, its contents nothing more than a short cry for help. He couldn’t write anything more extensive due to the winds of Zephyros trying to break through.

Whoooosh!!

Seiji’s shadows were slowly being torn apart by Sakura’s winds.

‘A-at this rate…’

He bit his lips and endured the assault. His body pushed back in reaction to the immense amount of mana he was drawing out of it, but it wasn’t like he could just relax.

Wshh!

Sakura’s storm gradually began to die down, then stopped.

“…That was really dangerous, Sakura.”

Seiji stepped out from his shadows, exhausted and trying to catch his breath. 

In lieu of a response, Sakura aimed her bow at him.

Twang!

Her arrows boasted a speed that couldn’t be followed with the naked eye, all due to the power of wind infused into her attacks.

However, Seiji managed to catch one of those arrows with his shadows.

“Take a break for a moment.”

He stretched his hand out. As he did so, shadows flew up from the ground and restrained Sakura’s arms and legs.

“Rgh! Khhhk! Let go of me!”

The girl began resisting violently, even baring her teeth in desperation. As Seiji thought, she was very different from her usual self.

‘…Is this the succubus’ little trick?’

He worried for his party member, even after being in a position where he had been attacked by her.

‘What can I do to get Sakura back to normal?’

The girl in question was snapping at the shadows restraining her like a wild dog. 

Seiji began feeling guilty as he watched her struggle helplessly against her binds.

‘Was a rank 5 dungeon… just too much for us?’

Now that things had come to that point, however, all they could do to escape this situation was to kill the succubus. Knowing this, Seiji rekindled his determination—acting as someone befitting of the passionate personality he had.

‘I’m sure a path to a solution will open when the Korean team gets here!’

But their opponent was a rank 5 boss with intelligence. She did not sit back and wait for Seiji’s plan to come to fruition.

“…Tie her up? Fufu, how complacent.”

Whoosh–!

The boss monster appeared behind Seiji and swung her scythe at him. 

If the boy had released Sakura, he could have recalled his shadows back to him. However, he hadn’t done so. The indolent choice he made had cost him his victory.

Sliiiice!

Blood erupted from Seiji’s back like a fountain.

“Keuk–!”

He belatedly backed off from the succubus. 

Sakura had also been freed from her binds in the process. It was a dire situation.

Translator – Bob

“…So you can’t hurt your comrades, no matter what?”

The succubus laughed, delighted, as she watched Seiji bleed.

“How foolish. Fufufu! Don’t worry. You’ll turn into an adorable doll, just like that girl…”

She spun the scythe in her hand once. As she did so, it transformed into a whip. She then swung the whip at Seiji, an easygoing smile on her lips.

“Very soon!”

Crack!

The whip’s target was Seiji’s wrist. Her aim was to restrict his movement using her weapon. As soon as she succeeded, Sakura’s arrows would do the rest of the work.

Squeeze!

“Keuk!”

It landed exactly where she’d aimed. Seiji felt like his hand was going to snap off from the pressure.

The real problem was what happened next, however. The boss monster began using Mana Drain through her whip, and his mana flowed through the whip into the succubus.

She bit her lip as a blissful expression crept up onto her face.

“Ah, haaa… I can feel it, your mana… Huhu, I see. I understand. So you’re the sort of child who is… virtuous… and honest, hmm?”

A pair of wings grew from her waist, showing that she was in peak condition.

On the other hand, Seiji was in his worst condition now that his mana had been drained.

“…Sakura!”

No matter how many times he called her name, Sakura stared at him with an emotionless expression on her face.

The succubus slowly alternated her gaze between the two children.

“Controlling her was so easy. Those who act tough on the outside are the ones who are the most fragile on the inside. Even the tiniest shake will… fufu, you understand, yes?”

“…None of my party members are weak,” Seiji mumbled. Even in that despairing situation, there was a glint of light shining in his irises.

He stared at the boss monster, eyes wide open.

“Even if we’re shaken,” he shouted, “and even if we fall down, we stand back up again until the end! That’s the resolution we, as hunters, hold in our hearts!”

“Don’t worry about that,” she replied, coldly mocking the boy’s words. “There is no need to put so much effort into shouting these things out loud anymore. I will easily, effortlessly… taint your virtuous personality.”

With a signal from the succubus’ pointer finger, Sakura notched another arrow into the string of her bow. 

Seiji’s arm was tied up and his mana had been stolen—not even he could dodge the attack in that situation.

Twaang!!

The projectile, overflowing with the power of wind, flew until it reached right up to his nose.

A single moment before death…

Right then, a black flash of light shot forward from the entranceway of the room and swallowed the arrow up.

“You are…!”

The succubus creased her dainty forehead and glared at her new opponent.

At the end of her stare was YuSung, wearing the Black Dragon’s Hide. Black-colored mana was pouring out from him.

“Shin YuSung!” Seiji yelled desperately, “Sakura’s being controlled right now!”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Ssst!

YuSung pumped black-tinged aura in every direction from his body before disappearing in an instant.

Tap!

In the next instant, he appeared behind the succubus.

Boom!

With a dull thud, the boss monster was blown back.

“Kyaah!” she screamed, her body making an impact with the wall. ”M-my pawn! Hurry! Shoot an arrow! Hurry!”

Sakura, eyes dull, tried to adjust her aim towards YuSung, but right when she was about to, Seiji stood in front of her.

“Stop it! Sakura!”

He grabbed her right hand. In response, the girl growled, baring her teeth.

“Let go!!”

But he kept holding onto her hand.

The thought of not being able to follow the succubus’ orders made Sakura scream.

“Let gooooo!!”

She howled like a lunatic, grabbing an arrow with her left hand and swinging it towards Seiji, but the boy grabbed it mid-swing with his bare hands.

Driiiip.

Blood poured from his hand, and he was feeling woozy from the lack of mana in his body, but Seiji remained steadfast.

“I won’t, Sakura! No matter what you do, I’ll never let you go!”

Hearing that, Sakura stopped struggling ever so briefly. 

Seeing her reaction, Seiji grinned, carefree.

“Even if you forget who I am. Even if you attack me. Even if you betray me. You and Isshin will always be my fellow party members.”

Sakura remained frozen as Seiji continued to talk. Perhaps the girl might have been fighting the succubus’ mind control the entire time.

“L-let go of me… I…”

“Nope, I’ve already decided to stay with you guys. Together we’ll blow past Japan and become the top of the world.”

He laughed like an idiot at the declaration, only continuing to speak after he properly locked his eyes with the girl in front of him.

“So that’s why I won’t let go of this hand, no matter what happens.”

Sakura had completely stopped moving at his words.

YuSung took that opportunity to finish the succubus off one and for all.

Ssst!

“…This is the end.”

The black aura that had been restlessly stirring inside YuSung’s body gathered into his hand. With one, concise movement, YuSung stretched his palm out.

Battle God Style – Black Dragon’s Boulder Crushing Palm

There was a moment of deep silence as the energy of the black dragon consumed everything in its vicinity, even sound.

Booooom!!

The explosion of sound that appeared right after rang throughout the Castle of Phantasms.