[LN] Volume 4: Chapter 5.3

Volume 4 Chapter 5.3

Acceleration to Collapse Part 3

Translator : PolterGlast

[I can't let you do that~~]

"You're......!?"

"Ken's contracted spirit, huh......?"

Camilla's eyes widen upon hearing the voice of the lesser water spirit called Mefi. Nozomu stood back to back with Camilla and scanned his surroundings.

(I can't see her. Is she thoroughly concealing her appearance?)

When she possessed the Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede and fought Nozomu, she received a severe blow from him, so it seemed that she was only sending out her voice from afar.

[A-aa~. Is this how it's going to be after all? I knew it would end up like this. I wonder if Lisa will be sad to hear that she was betrayed by even her own family?]

"You sure know how to talk ......!"

While Camilla spat out Mefi's provoking line, Nozomu kept searching for the presence of the lesser spirit that might be hiding in the depths of the darkness. The other party was one of the spirits who could manipulate supernatural powers. Nozomu has learned firsthand how troublesome these powers can be.

However, he could not detect the slightest sign of the spirit. When he looked closely, he could see that a thin mist of source element enveloped his surroundings, and the bustle of the city, which should have been audible in the distance, was gone.Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Perhaps it is the spirit's technique of concealing its presence and separating itself from its surroundings.

The silence was accompanied by a growing tension. The cold evening breeze ruffled the branches and leaves of the trees, and the shadows that had been stretching out were already beginning to assimilate with the darkness. Suddenly, multiple small shadows leaped out from the bushes in front of them.

"~, Camilla, get down!"

While forcing Camilla beside him to get down, Nozomu reflexively parried the object that flew toward him with his sheathed katana.

It was a throwing dagger painted black. Immediately after, figures wearing black cloaks jumped out.

There were three of them. They drew black-painted daggers from their pockets and attacked Nozomu and Camilla at once.

Three black figures run toward Nozomu. They aimed at his right thigh, right neck, and left flank. Perhaps already enchanted with reinforcement magic, they came at him like a gust of wind.

Coupled with the black-painted blades, it was a blow that would be impossible for an ordinary person to even see.

"Fuh~!"

Nozomu slashed all of those blows away with a single, sudden slash. In a split second, the blade, which had been carefully polished, drew a smooth curve, and the blade, strengthened by magic power, cut through oncoming blades as if slicing through dry branches.

Following this, Nozomu lowered his stance and sent his Qi into both hands to compress them. He simultaneously thrust his arms out and then released them.

[Qi-jutsu・Shock Cannon]

A powerful shockwave was released, blowing away all three Starlights at once. The three assailants immediately reacted and stood up, but the hoods of two of the three were pulled off, exposing the faces of rough-looking men.

"Are these guys Starlights? But why did they attack us? Since that spirit is around, I'm sure that Ken bastard is up to something....... Camilla, are you okay on your side?"

"Yeah, I'm fine ....... ~, Nozomu, stand back!"

The still hooded starlight held up its right hand and produced a fireball in its palm.

Immediately after, the magic, which had instantly grown huge to the height of a person, was unleashed on Nozomu and Camilla.

"Guu......!"

Camilla, too, is talented enough to belong to the first class. Her quickly spun chanting deployed a magic barrier to block the fireball. However, Camilla let out a cry of anguish at the unexpected power, and the magic barrier dissipated in the form of being counterbalanced by the fireball. Clearly, this was not the power of magic released in a few verses of chanting. If classified by rank, this hooded figure definitely belongs to the A rank. And probably the other two are equally as powerful.

Even for members of an organization that governs secrecy, they were unusually powerful.

(Considerable skill, but what's with those vacant eyes......)

However, what made Nozomu and Camilla's hearts grow cold was the empty eyes peering out from behind their hoods.

The Starlights they faced showed no human-like emotions, such as murderous intent, fighting spirit, fear, or nervousness.

It was as if they had forgotten their hearts somewhere or were in a state of total apathy from the very beginning. In a sense, this is the perfect image of someone who lurks in the shadows, but it is just too lifeless.

"I see, are you erasing their consciousness and turning them into pawns to be used at your disposal? What a truly despicable spirit......!"

[A~~ that's awful~~. But whatever. I don't give a damn what happens to people I don't know. In the first place, you are even worse. You tried to kill your ex-girlfriend out of selfish anger.]

A mocking voice echoed through the wooded area. It seemed that this spirit really likes to get on people's nerves.

"What about you? You are just a coward and a pain in the ass just like your contractor, and what's more, you've got a big mouth on your head. Even when you possessed an extraordinarily powerful being like the [The Six Bad Omens], you run away after receiving just one blow."

[......Damn you!]

On the contrary, Nozomu provoked her back, and Mefi again sent forth the three Starlights that she manipulated.

Nozomu glanced at Camilla and, with his whole body on full alert, intercepted the approaching Starlights.

The Starlights controlled by Mefi, perhaps wary of being cut in half at close range, switched their tactics to attacking from afar.

While irregularly firing fireballs and magic bullets, the Starlights blended into the shadows and threw their throwing daggers from the blind spots as if weaving through the gaps between one's awareness.

"Fuh~, ~!"

[H-How.......]

Nozomu accurately repelled them.

"Even if those daggers blend with the flames, if I strengthen my hearing with Qi, I will be able to distinguish the whistling sound of the wind behind the blasts."

Against an opponent of a certain level of strength, using a weapon that generates sound might put one at a disadvantage.

The direction, volume, and quality of the sound can be read to determine the trajectory of the weapon. If one can determine the trajectory from those factors, it is possible to handle it. However, there are very few people who can do this.

It is a level of skill that one would have to be immersed in the martial arts for more than a few decades to finally catch a glimpse of it.

[Kuh......!]

"Fuh~!"

Mefi's agitation transmitted to the puppets, slowing their movements for a moment. Using this opportunity, Nozomu closed the gap to one of the Starlights at once and struck him with [Mumei]'s ridge.

"Gah!?"

*Crack*!

With a sound of bones cracking, one of the Starlights collapsed to the ground. Two people remaining.

[Wha!?]

"~!"

Unable to cope with the sudden transition from offense to defense, another Starlight was knocked down by Nozomu.

The Starlights themselves might be capable as puppets, but it would be meaningless if their puppeteers could not exhibit their powers.

Only one left. The last Starlight is the one who fired powerful fireballs earlier.

Perhaps affected by Mefi's manipulation, the inorganic twin eyes peeking out from the shade of the hood showed a mixture of strong agitation and anger.

The Starlight took out two curved swords from its cloak and held them up. Like the throwing knives, the twin black swords seemed to assimilate with the darkness.

At the same time, magic power erupted from the Starlight's body and enveloped it. Magic of physical reinforcement. It is a very advanced and powerful magic.

The reinforcement magic extended to his weapon as well, and the dense magic power enveloped the black swords.

The Starlight stepped forward. Its speed exceeded even that of Irisdina.

[~!]

The twin blades were unleashed at a ferocious pace. The sword strikes were filled with dense magic power, and they swept over Nozomu like a whirlpool of flame.

"Hmph, ~!"

Nozomu intercepted the storm of twin swords with a single sword called [Mumei].

[Mikagura-style・Willow Blade].

This is a Mikagura-style technique that simultaneously defends and attacks with a single sword.

Nozomu's superior swordsmanship deflected the opponent's first sword strike and forced the second sword strike into a defensive stance.

Amidst his anguish, Mefi manipulated Lisa's body, picked up the curved sword that had fallen at her feet, and snapped her fingers. The next moment, Mefi's source element, which had covered the surrounding wooded area, dissipated.

The distant hustle and bustle of the city returned. Mixed amongst it, a grating metallic clatter could be heard.

"Oi, over here! There's someone here!"

"Move ahead! We'll be right behind you!"

"W-What happened!?"

[See you later, you annoyingly disgusting toy!]

Multiple human cries could be heard mixed in amongst the multiple metallic clattering noises.

As Nozomu was puzzled, Mefi sneered and boosted her power. The source element of water erupted from Lisa's body, which Mefi assimilated with, enveloping her body like a mist.

"~, Wait......!"

Nozomu ran toward Mefi and Lisa, who was trying to escape, shouting and reaching out his hand.

But Nozomu's hand caught empty air, and the mist of the source element dissipated. There was not even a trace of their shadows.

They had completely escaped.

"Damn it!"

Nozomu cursed in frustration, but he quickly regained his composure and rushed to Camilla.

"Camilla, hang in there!"

"Ugh....... I see. I've been played for a fool. From the beginning, they used me as bait......"

Nozomu held the wound with both hands, but the blood did not stop flowing, and the ground, where the blood was spreading, turned even redder. The stabbing wound from behind penetrated through the torso and was obviously a life-threatening wound.

Nozomu hurriedly poured a potion from his waist pouch over it, but the wound was too deep and the bleeding would not stop. He had to get her to a place where she could be treated quickly.

"Go after Lisa, now. Save her....... Quick, before it's too late......"

"What are you talking about!? You're seriously injured, you know!?"

"Those guys, must have known all this from the beginning. If this continues, Lisa's heart will be broken by those two, and they will abuse her as they please. Please, before it's too late......"

While pleading, Camilla pulled out a blood-soaked piece of paper from her pocket. On it was written [Residential District Main Canal 3rd Tunnel].

"This is......."

"Ken's hideout...... hurry......"

Camilla then lost consciousness.

Just as Nozomu was about to put the paper in his pocket and proceed with the treatment, several guards jumped out from the shadows of the wooded area with their rattling armor.

They were carrying spears and rods in their hands and long swords at their waists. They had obviously been dispatched in response to a report of some kind.

"T-This is......."

The guards' eyes caught sight of Nozomu and the fallen Camilla.

Soon after, they surrounded Nozomu and shoved their weapons at him.

"He's the murderer, get him!"

"Freeze! Drop your weapon!"

"H-Hold on a-......"

Before Nozomu had time to explain himself, the guards pinned him down, pulled him away from Camilla, and detained him.

"Ugh, it wasn't me! No, more importantly, please treat her!"

"Silence!"

One of the guards looking down at the restrained Nozomu slammed the butt of his spear into the side of his head.

A strong shock struck him in the head. The guards rushed to Camilla, who fell to the ground unconscious.

"This is bad...... Oi, bring me some medicines!"

"You sure did a terrible deed."

Camilla was carried away while being given first aid by the guards.

Under hostility from the guards, the restrained Nozomu was deprived of his weapons and taken away by force.

†

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