Volume 2 - CH 15.4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Chapter 15: Let’s Destroy the Immortal Hero, Part 4

「Where am I?」

The face was that of Zana, the voice is that of Zana, the body is that of Zana. However, as the tone of her voice was different, it was quite clear that she was not in control of her body now.

「That is indeed what I asked of you.」

The awkwardness of her smile and the look in her eyes is not that of Zana.

「Well … I guess you did.」

The volcanic god Sakuya resides in the mountains of fire. Sophia, the god of the Dungeon, is in the Dungeon. Even the free-spirited sea goddess Tatsuki will stay in the ocean in peacetime and will only rise on land during the time of meals.

If so, you do not need to think about where the original goddess Marina of the moon is supposed to be residing whenever she was not borrowing Zana’s body.

「Yes, I am on the surface of the moon.」

The moon goddess Marina replied.

「In other words, it would be a good assumption to say that the Sun God resides on the sun, correct?」

Aur knew that the sun was not as close as it looked. It is said that Star Core, the source of Melizand’s power was floating above the sky at a height of a thousand miles, but the sun was still even farther than that. It was a place unreachable even with Yunis’ teleportation skills.

「If that is the case, then is there some way to nullify the power of his protection?」

「You want to cancel it …?」

Marina looks more than a little troubled at Aur’s question.

「Yes, I want to knew if it’s possible to nullify the gift of protection bestowed upon someone by the Sun God.」

He was so adamant and insistent about that one peculiar matter that there was no way that this wasn’t his intention.

Eve lost the protection of the Sun God by losing her purity, but that can’t be the general rule, and something more akin to personal preference. After all, It is not that Gods can lend their power only to virgins. Hoseli wasn’t a virgin anymore, and she still received it.

「And if you cannot do that? What are you going to do?」

「I will escape and never come back.」

Aur sighed, hearing the answer that just irritated him. Marina’s power was knowing the best possible outcome and the way to achieve it, that’s why he decided to seek her advice. Of course, the best possible outcome was for him to tuck tail and run away from this continent. However, he didn’t know what would happen to Sofia if he did that.

「any other options than those two?」

「I do not know, my strength is the ability to know the best possible outcome, not seeing all of the possibilities… …」

「I understand.」

So fundamentally speaking, her ability was different from Tena’s prediction. Tena’s worked on principle that once you know what the result will be, the future will change from there. So without knowing the process, only results remained. The power of the

goddess Marina is, in other words, that kind of thing.

「Now I know everything that I wanted to know, thank you for your assistance.」

「… … Since you came here already, why don’t you stay for a bit?」

Marina caught Aur, who stood up from the chair and turned on his heels.

「If we’re talking about the resurrection ability granted by the Sun God, then it will probably be tied to sunrise, and we still have some time before that, so why not take things slowly and relax here for a bit with me?」

「No, I am sorry, but there is a lot that I have to think about, and time is our biggest enemy here … and besides…」

Aur says, stroking her head with a stubborn smile.

「I want to hear Zana, not Marina, as she screams in pleasure.」

As soon as he spoke that cheesy line, Zana’s white skin was dyed crimson red.

「We’re here, just as you wanted, Aur.」

Aur was awaiting sunrise together with Melizand. She is a saint who lived since the time of the Sorcerer King and can control magic and Laws even more skillfully than Mari. For example, Mari could only borrow Gaius’ power to see for a thousand miles for herself, while Melizand could reflect and pass on everything that she saw onto others.

On the east side of the forest dungeon spreading around the volcano of Sakuya, on the stone altar piled near the foot of the Yaegaki mountain range, Hoseli raises her body. After all there was not any scratch on her, and even clothing and protective gear returned to its original state.

「Well we’re here and all, but she’s supposed to be invulnerable to physical attacks. What are we going to do about that?」

「Please leave it to me.」

Before Aur could speak, Hoderi spoke his mind first.

「.. … You think you’ll be able to do it?」

「I’m sure I’ll think of something.」

As far as Aur knows, Hodder is the best swordsman without an equal … and nothing else than that. It is just an ordinary man who just has outstanding sword skills. On the other hand, the opponent is someone who became invulnerable to blades. It seems like there is no way for him to compete with her now.

「Stopping her just once might not be enough you know?」

「So it would seem … … can you hold her back three times?」

Aur opened his eyes wide at the sight of the kneeling Hoderi. Hoseli was probably becoming stronger with each sunrise. And the means they used to fight her off once will not work twice for sure. Stopping her that many times seemed like an impossible feat to achieve, but on the other hand he was not someone who would joke about matter as serious as this.

「… Okay. … I will make sure to stop her as many times as necessary, even if it kills me.」

Hodel bowed deeply to Aur and thanked him from the bottom of his heart.

「Thank you for honoring this foolish man’s request.」

「Well … I’m sorry, but I’ll be your opponent today as well.」

Holding the single-edged sword with both hands, Hodder opposes Hoseli for the third time now. For that to be possible, he asked Aur to regenerate his arm that was lost during the battle with Orochi.

Regardless of the original arm remaining, it is impossible for Aur to regenerate the limbs that have been completely lost. Aside from bones, meat, and skin, restoring the nerves to their original shape was almost impossible even with magic.

That is why the thing that grew out of Hoderi’s left shoulder, unlike the right arm which is firmly holding its fingers on the hilt of the sword, is just a clunk of unclear meat. Even when Aur regenerated it, it would never work as well as the original. But even so, Hoderi has decided to rely on it.

Moving faster than the naked eye could see, Hoseli was swinging her sword at her brother relentlessly. It was different than during their previous battles. Obviously, Hoseli was getting stronger.

Hoderi tries to dodge, but he does not make it in time, and a sword stabs in his chest. The iron mass penetrated the space between his heart and lung. Blood is blown out of it, but it is not a fatal injury.

Hoseli reflexively tried to pull her sword out, but it is too late. In the span of a single breath Hoderi swung his sword. Both of Hoseli’s hands are cut off without a sound, and she falls to the ground. When he tried to breathe out, a chunk of blood gushed out of his mouth.

「You … you’re surprisingly calm for someone who seemingly achieved the impossible.」

Aur shows up next to him bearing an expression of amazement and marvel.

When he held his hand over Hoderi’s wound, blood stopped and the wound closed up in no time.

「To tell you the truth, I’m just happy to be alive now.」

Hoderi said so lightly as he spat the excess blood from his mouth. Aur thought that Hoderi was certainly amazing, willingly accepting a wound like that just to defeat his opponent. He was probably even crazier than Spina, who could exercise every kind of extreme tactics without worrying about being injured at all.

「So how exactly did you managed bypass her sword resistance?」

While paying attention to counterattacks, Aur treats wounds of both hands and feet of Hoseli so as not to cause blood loss. She does not move and only groans incoherently, but she is still alive. If she died, she might have just disappeared like yesterday.

「Ah, that. Well, her skin is probably still resistant to sword attacks.」

Hoderi nods, swings the sword and puts it in the sheath. There was not a drop of blood left on it now.

「So my aim was to cut not the hardened flesh, but the gaps between it.」

「Gaps?」

Hoderi nods at Aur who repeats what he just heard.

「There are gaps in everything, not only human body, but everything in this world, no matter how small or insignificant it might be. Gaps between the smallest units that make everything.」

The smallest units that make things. It is an imaginary existence called magicians called atoms. Aur also thought that they existed, but he had no way to prove it.

「That way, you can be harmed, regardless of how hard or sturdy your skin is.」

Aur thinks that what he says is certainly true. But this is …

「So what you’re saying is that there is nothing that you cannot cut?」

「No, no, of course there are. I still have a long way to go as a swordsman after all.」

While scratching his head, Hoderi points his line of sight upwards.

「Unfortunately, the sky is still outside of my sword’s reach.」

The people of Yamato are a bunch of absolute madman. Every last one of them.

Aur’s belief in that statement only strengthened.