CH 100.2

Chapter 100 – A Monster That Eats Away at Fragile Hopes [Part-2]

“Marie, please take care of Erika… Marie?”

“……”

Marie, who had arrived one step behind Celestia and was standing diagonally behind her, did not respond to her master’s voice.

Her complexion was as pallid as Mob’s, her gaze fixed on a point in the distance.

“….Marie. Don’t look too much that way. Nothing good comes from facing reality. Let it be. Let it be.“

“Yes, yes, yes….”

Marie replied with trepidation to the Demon King’s concerned words.

Marie has been in the military for a long time and was somewhat familiar with the strength of the exterior walls.

That is why she had never thought of such a possibility.

She had never thought that the outer wall was something that could be broken (・・・・・).

“Well, then, I’ll take care of Erika-sama…“

“Uh… What did Marie look at–?“

Celestia, who was a little confused, tried to look in the direction of Marie’s gaze.

Chrono, with a serious look on his face, put his hand on Celestia’s beautiful face and blocked her movement.

“Huh?“

Then, eye to eye, he told her,

“You’re a bad girl.”

“Listen, don’t look at that. This is not the time. We’ll get to that later.”

“Hmh…“

A breath away.

The only thing that could be seen was the other’s face, just the two of them.

“It’s like a dream…” She muttered subconsciously.

“It really is. How I wish it were a dream…“

Celestia’s heart rate sped up at Chrono’s unexpectedly aggressive statement.

Her face was flushed, and she twisted her thighs together in a seductive manner.

“But Celestia knows what the most important thing is right now, doesn’t she?”

“…hmh… it’s Chrono-sama….”

She replied immediately with a look of ecstasy.

“Yes…. Well, not exactly, but you’re not far off the mark!”

“……”

Released, Celestia stumbled back a few steps.

“Hmmm….”

She clamped down at her beautiful, full breasts and desperately suppressed her heartbeat.

“…By the way, why are you here, Celestia? Did you want something from me?“

“Yes… it seems that the orcs and the ringleaders of the incident have appeared, so we came to inform you….”

Celestia writhed in agony as she made her report, and the demon king couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Report it quickly!“

“That’s the first thing you should have told me….. You should have told me when we first met. You were sulking with such an important report in your hand? This was one of the best wastes of time I’ve seen recently.“

At any rate, this report would determine the fate of the royal capital.

“……”

“What’s with this girl…? She’s starting to sulk again.”

Her manner of protest was cute and innocent, but even the dainty charm she exhibited that could captivate anyone was not enough to get through to the impatient Demon King.

“I’ll… hear your side of the story later. For now, let’s just… see what happened.”

He quickly pulled five gold coins from his pocket and put them down to pay for the repair of the roof, which would break soon.

“…If they came out here, I’ll have to stop them as soon as possible.”

Chrono’s whole body was enveloped by eerie black mana.

“Ggh!“

“Nghh!”

Celestia and the others groaned in anguish as they were engulfed in an unnervingly dense vortex of mana.

It subsided in an instant, and the roof cracked as Chrono settled back on his feet.

Then…. a knight in shining armor appeared.

“It’s time to lower the curtain.“

The Black Knight was now on his way to the monster.

However…

♢♢♢♢

The Kuralt Bridge, where the fiercest battle in the royal capital was currently being fought.

There was a huge shadow on the stone bridge used to cross the great river.

“–Kuh! Get the knights back! Send them to evacuate the surrounding people!“

“Huh! Civilians, get back! They’ll die for nothing!”

Kelvin shouted.

“–”

A blue flame ran through the air, and a series of hard blows were delivered while dodging the Orc’s great axe.

“Gaaaarr!“

“–!”

The orc’s abdomen was instantly regenerated, even though a barrage of blows burned through it.

Moreover, its mana was gradually increasing, as if it was getting more and more familiar with it.

Furthermore, there was a problem with this orc.

“Daye! –Dee!“

Lernoa (1), who had been monitoring Shock to prevent him from escaping, joined the fray, and struck with her war club, but…. was lightly blocked by the orc with the back of its hand.

No matter how high the quality of the armor, there was no way that it could have withstood Lernoa’s blow.

“…I didn’t know that it had its whole body covered in magical gear.”

Not only did this orc had an increased amount of power, but all of the equipment he wore was high quality magical gear.

Armor that could withstand most attacks, and….

“Get back! It’s coming!“

“–Bruaaaah!“

As soon as Lernoa’s warning was over, a great axe filled with mana was swung by the orc.

“Nguagua!“

“Guooooo!”

A storm was created, and the knights soared high into the air and were blown away.

A magical weapon of exceptionally high quality.

The skin of an orc was difficult to wound in the first place, but now that it could regenerate instantly, it was even more so difficult to wound it.

“Hey, hey! Come quicker!“

Even Lernoa could barely survive on her own.

“….At once. Okay?”

“……”

Souryu (2) nodded at Alto’s command as he lowered his head.

“Soo….”

He took a deep breath…..

Aiming for the Black Knight’s swing.

The greatest swing ever made by a sword.

That was the end goal a swordsman had to reach.

A single, hard-hitting swing that would decide victory or defeat. The perfect system of battle.

“……”

The muscles in his body rose and fall, and the mana flowed through his body… to his greatsword….

It was impossible for the current Alto to achieve the unimaginable excellence of the Black Knight.

Combining the excessive amount of mana and his arm strength at once…. and following the form he had once hated… the power of a single blow was raised to a new level.

“–!“

“Goh?!”

He stepped forward forcefully, his thick thighs bulging out, and with all his weight he struck the back of the orc’s hand with a powerful swing.

The orange residue of mana that had been contained in the sword splattered upon impact.

“Hmph!“

With his current strength, he couldn’t win with a single blow.

Twice, thrice… He continued to strike the strongest swings he could muster at the moment.

“Kk!“

Blood flew from Alto’s wounds and body due to his forced usage of mana and the rapid accumulation of fatigue.

However, the great sword struck the orc like wildfire, and soon exceeded its limits.

“–Oh!“

“Buggghhh!”

Deciding to make a last stand, Alto swung down with all his might.

He sliced down his arms while cracking the armor of his hand and even cracked the armor of his chest.

The shattered pieces of fine armor.

Blowing them away with the heat of his flames, Souryu flew instantly towards the orc’s chest.

“……!“

His hair, which was of the same color as the flames in his hand, swayed with the heat.

The blue beastman, his instincts heightened by the martial art skills he had cultivated, unleashed one of his special techniques, which was worthy of being known as a special killing move.

“–!“

“[Devouring Wolf]!“

He drove his blue flaming fist into the monster’s abdomen–

“Ah!“

–and struck it through its belly, chest, and jaw, burning it.

The blue flame burned with the momentum of his fist, leaping up to form a pillar of flames.

“Goh…”

The monster was stripped of its armor, leaving only its head and great axe, and fell to the ground, consumed by the flames.

Alto, of course, spun around and landed on his feet, while elated at Souryu’s ability that lived up to the rumors.

“I’m tired…. But… I think I can manage.”

Lernoa, who was carrying a club, exhaled, and the knights cheered.

The armor, the nasty shock-absorber was defeated.

Now that the armor that hindered them, that protected its weakness had been shattered, they were one step closer to victory.

All that remained was the core, the dragon crystal.

All that remained was to break the crystal buried deep in its thick skin and muscle, beneath its left collarbone.

But….

The monster regenerated and jumped up, swinging its axe recklessly in frustration.

Unlike before, no one, including Alto and the others, could see the axe’s trajectory, let alone its swinging arm.

It was a storm of slashes that cut through hope.

“……”

“……”

After the thunderous sound, the area fell silent as if frozen.

The river was cut in two by a slash of wind from the great axe.

Two walls of water was created, with a straight path in between, stretching far out into the distance. A sight that made one wonder if they were really in reality.

A blow unlike any orc had ever struck.

The power of this blow was incomparably greater than anything they had ever seen before.

“–”

The time had come.

A fearful and terrifying mutation.

The buds that had been smoldering because of their inferiority to humans in intelligence finally revealed themselves.

Wings of endless mana burst out from the orc’s back like an explosion.

“–Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The screams of the Orc that had transformed and gained a temperament reminiscent of a real dragon, echoed through the capital.

With a single cry, ripples were created in the great river centered on the bridge, shaking the buildings in the entertainment district and other areas.

A tornado of mana curled up from the center of the Kuralt Bridge.

A true monster was born.

Like the [Black Demon King], it was a life form of a different dimension from that of man.

The ‘Gospel’ has raised the orc beyond the level of a living creature, and had made it a messenger of judgment.

Everyone were rendered helpless by the monster’s intimidating presence, and they stood there stupefied as if their souls had been shattered by its screams.

Everyone who heard the scream saw ‘him’ in their mind’s eye and thought of ‘him’, wishing that ‘he’ would just appear.

The great feat of destroying the mansion, the divine skill of defending the king by throwing a sword, the swordsmanship that cut down Alto’s great sword…

Despite all these feats, upon witnessing this monstrosity, they couldn’t help but think, ‘Even that mighty knight in black armor may not be able to resist this storm-clad heavenly sentinel which had come to the tiny tribe of men in the mortal world, even for just a few moments….’

Translator’s Note:

(1) – Lernoa: [TLN: Previously translated as Lulu Noah.]

A bewitching dark elf with pale golden hair. A famous mercenary who wields a war club. A part of the Mercenary Team, [The Bonds Of The Three Fairies].

(2) – Commander of the Second Division of the [Order of the Bannerless Knights]

And with this, Chapter 100 has ended.