CH 85

This time, there are some depictions that may give the impression of sexuality, along with a warning against grotesqueness.

You are warned to be careful if you do not like it.

“Chirito. Do you have any information on the intruder?”

“Yes. On the second level, there are 6 intruders with an average level of 7. A tanker, physical attacker, scout, healer, auxiliary, and magic attacker make up their composition, with the magic user specializing in wind. In terms of competence, they have defeated a squad of eight Mud Soldiers. Their present location is right on the border of the first and second levels.”

Following Chirito’s report, I ponder how I should deal with them.

“I get it. Then I’ll personally step into battle. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a combat role.”

“I understand.”

And I move to the first level.

“So you’re the intruders.”

While showing myself knee-deep in the swamp on the first level, I address the intruders.

“Who… are you?” the invading party’s leader, a heavy warrior with a mace, shield, and full plate armor, poses a question.

However, I wonder how he can move through the swamp in that gear. Ah, perhaps he is assisted by a rearguard or a magical user.

Forget it, I should answer his question.

“Me? I am the ‘King of the Devouring Black Fog’. The ruler of the ‘White Fog and the Black Swamp Forest’.”

As I say this, I exhibit the appearance of a Demon King.

The tension level of the intruder party heightens drastically in my words.

“You are the Demon King… I see, then here’s where I’ll defeat you!”

“≪Agility Enhancement≫, ≪Muscular Strength Enhancement≫!”

“≪Swing Down≫!!”

One of the invaders, a man with a massive sword, receives an auxiliary’s enhancement skill and lunges at me aggressively, severing me in half from the head.

“Wait!? That guy isn’t the real one!”

“What!?”

However, as the scout mentions, the severed me isn’t the actual one. It is a phony created by ≪Bewitching Fog≫.

Now, I’ll return the favor for surging at me with insouciance.

“≪Sharp Aqua Pillar≫.”

“This is bad! ≪Pull In≫!”

“Gah!!”

When I cast ≪Sharp Aqua Pillar≫, it thrust up from under the man’s feet vigorously in an attempt to split the man with the giant sword in half. However, the magical user in the rear guard utilizes his skill to draw the man with the giant sword to their side right before it strikes him, thereby escaping a direct hit. In spite of this, his right arm has been completely torn off.

“I’ll heal you! ≪Heal≫!”

“Ggh… ugh…”

“Wow. What resilience you have.”

The member in charge of recovery applies ≪Heal≫ to the man with the giant sword’s dismembered right arm, causing the bleeding to instantaneously cease. Even his lost vitality seems to have been restored somewhat.

“Where is the main body of the enemy!”

“I don’t know! I’ve been trying to detect it since a while ago, but it’s being obstructed by some strange force!”

The heavy warrior inquires about my whereabouts with the scout, to which the latter replies that they have no clue. That’s not unexpected at all. After all, I’m in the state of fog right now, and the party of intruders is enclosed from all directions.

“Tsk, then, ‘get over here’!”

The heavy warrior man employs a skill against me that is probably a provocative technique. But that’s naive. Before my spirit, provocation by a human being is worthless.

Now, shall I assault you with all my gusto?

“Your skill won’t have any effect. Here it comes.≪Mist Plosion≫.”

[[[!!?]]]

I discharge ≪Mist Plosion≫ to the center of the party. While simultaneously invoking ≪Bewitching Fog≫ without chanting, I call certain people to me.

“What is this!?” “Ah… ugh…” “Are you okay!?”

“Damn! He got us!” “What the hell is this!?”

“Hold still, all of you! The number of those with magical powers has practically doubled!!”

By utilizing ≪Bewitching Fog≫, I randomly superimpose the figures of Mud Puppets, Mud Soldiers, and Mud Magicians on the invading party. At the same time, I bring in the real Mud Puppet Unit to make it uncertain as to who is who.

Under this circumstance, the infiltrator’s party is unable to advance even a single step.

Well, the worst that can happen is a friendly fire.

“Hahaha. Are you sure it is okay to not move? ≪Sharp Aqua Pillar≫.”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

From under the cowering man with the giant sword, I initiate ≪Sharp Aqua Pillar≫ to stop him.

“Damn youuuuuuuuu!!”

The heavy warrior starts running towards the direction where he hears my voice. Well, since the voice is coming from that direction, he obviously assumes that I’m there. In fact, I can actually be found over there.

However,

“Ma… gufu…” “Ah…?”

My head is crushed by the heavy warrior’s mace.

My figure vanishes into the void after a brief delay, only to be replaced by the corpse of a dead magician with a mace impaled in his skull. And it is at this stage that the heavy warrior registers what he has done.

“Ah… a-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

A shriek is sent forth by the heavy warrior. One of the Mud Soldiers seizes the opportunity and drives a dagger through a gap in the heavy warrior’s armor thus exterminating him.

With this, there are only three people remaining: the scout, the recovery, and the auxiliary.

Two of them are already cowering and immobilized. The scout is frantically trying to locate me as if seeking a reversal of fortune.

Now, why did I leave these three behind? Well, the reason is simple. These three are girls. That means they are for ○○ purposes. But since I’m not planning on converting them into Kirijin, I’ll put them to good use.

Therefore,

“Well, it appears that the outcome has been determined.”

Although I command the Mud Soldiers to restrain the three of them, the auxiliary and recovery members are so terror-struck that they cannot budge their bodies and are captured, while the scout exerts a strenuous antagonism and endeavors to flee.

“Hmm. Good luck to you.”

“Of course! I have no desire to die here!”

You have no desire to die huh. Then let’s play a little more.

Incidentally, the two people I have apprehended are utterly constrained with The Iron Shackles of the Sealing Art Ⅰ throughout this period. They’ve been carried to the punishment cell. Since they are more or less out of control, I have also gagged them to prevent them from committing suicide.

“Then, I will let you out if you can escape from now on.”

“Eh?”

I materialize only my hand behind the scout.

“‘From the land of illusion arises the black water of death. That freezes and revolves, and revolves and freezes’.”

The scout’s body is overcome by the vast amount of magical power released by me, rendering her incapable of articulation and causing her to tremble.

“‘The form to serve is the sword. What is severed is reality. Behold, hear, and feel. The moment when the illusion is replaced by reality. Outer Skill ・ Kurokirinodachi.”

In my palm, I conjure an ice sword that is far wider than the scout’s body. Unlike the Kurokirinoko, the blade is not uneven, and the blade is comprised of black ice, with black water circulating within it at high speed. Therefore, the sword’s outward look can be defined as appealing in general.

Nonetheless, this sword contains the power to freeze and shatter everything it comes into contact with, and its power will only be perceived as despair by human beings. In fact, the scout’s body has even quit shivering.

“Let’s go, then.”

I swing down my Kurokirinodachi.

The girl scout, perhaps seeking to escape the impending death, leaps forward into the swamp with the utmost effort, and the Kurokirinodachi slightly damages the tip of her right thumb.

“Haahaahhhh… Escap… ahhhhhh!!?”

Yet in the face of Kurokirinodachi’s force, even that small fraction is lethal, as parts of the girl’s right and left foot freeze and shatter in the blink of an eye.

“Ga… hi… agghhhh…”

The girl’s body is wincing from the pain and cold radiating from the spot where her right foot used to be. Should things be neglected as they are, she won’t be able to sustain it for long, nor will it be possible for her to get out in the first place with this wound.

“Hmm. Excuse me. I was convinced I could kill you in one blow, but as one would expect of a high-ranking adventurer these days.”

“Hii… ah…”

I grasp the girl by the neck and lift her up. Her overall body is coated in mud, and her face is contorted with trepidation, as is fitting. To tell the truth, it seems to me that she would be better off living peacefully in the countryside somewhere, instead of venturing into a dungeon.

“Now, according to my promise, I would release you outside if you could escape from my current attack, but in fact, you couldn’t escape completely. Even if I let you leave, I doubt you’ll last long with those wounds.”

“Ugh… ggh…”

“If so, it would be proper to treat you to the extent that your life can be spared here, and let you out after you have paid for the treatment with your own body.”

“Ah… ah…”

I speak to her with a sickening smile plastered on my face. And whether the girl has an inkling of what it means to pay with her body, she is conspicuously more appalled than she was a moment earlier.

“Don’t worry. I’ll spare your life only.”

With that, I depart, dragging the girl with me who could no longer scream.

A couple of weeks after a certain party ventured into the “White Fog and Black Swamp Forest”.

One of the party members had been discovered near the old entrance (the former entrance of the first level).

When she was found, the girl had suffered the loss of all of her right leg and a portion of her left leg, yet her life turned out to be in stable condition. However, it is unclear what transpired inside the dungeon, for the girl could not articulate coherently and displayed an abnormally acute dread of the clouds and fog.

It is unknown what became of the girl after that.