Volume 6 - CH 20

The northern wall was apparently in a difficult situation, as its strength had been greatly reduced for a time, but it was now picking up thanks to Silas’ quick reinforcements.

However, another crisis was approaching again.

I moved to the top of the ramparts and called out to Amiyu, who was just nearby.

“Amiyu!”

“Se, Seika!　Stop showing up out of nowhere!”

Amiyu looked back at me in surprise, wiped the sweat from her forehead and said,

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be here?　Don’t you have something to do?　You also said in a loud voice that reinforcements were coming. ……”

“Between you and me, reinforcements are a lie. Silas wouldn’t deny it, but he’s just keeping his mouth shut to avoid any confusion.”

“…… I knew it.”

“I don’t need anything like that. I just helped out on the eastern and southern ramparts, which were getting pushed down a little while ago. The western side seems to have few monsters because there weren’t any dungeons to begin with, so the rest is here.”

“That’s right… just now, something that seemed troublesome came out.”

“I know”

At the end of Amiyu’s line of sight — was a full body armor like a giant.

Living mail, I guess. Regardless of the size, if the hollow armor is moving, it’s natural to think so.

However, it was also strange.

Movement is more awkward than normal living mail. Every time it took a step, the movable parts of the iron shoes and knee joints distorted, and the tacks popped off. Clearly, it looked like it couldn’t support its own weight.

The flow of power is also unnatural.

That’s probably a distorted monster created by the Dragon Vein’s rampage.

The gigantic Living Mail was approaching the castle wall one step at a time.

Amiyu said with a grim expression.

“He’s got a …… battle mace.”

What the armor holds in its right hand is a mace with a combined edge, just as Amu said.

Sure, that weapon is bad.

While I was saying that, the living mail was approaching right next to me.

With an uneasy movement, he raised his mace — and slammed it into the middle of the castle wall.

A tremor-like vibration occurred at my feet.

Many of the adventurers are stepping on the ramparts and pointing at the living mail.

Looking at it, it seems that part of the castle wall has crumbled slightly.

However, the attacker is not safe.

His arm was distorted, and several of the mace’s rims were crushed.

Once again, the mace was slammed. The ramparts crumbled further, and many of the tacks on the armor popped off.

Looking at the scene, I mutter.

“It looks like it’s going to break if we leave it alone.”

“Is it the armor?　Or do you mean the …… walls?”

Amiyu looks anxious.

There is always a ‘just in case’.

However

“That looks hard.”

Whether you use magic or youkai, it seems troublesome.

I was a little hesitant… and decided to call him out.

《Calling――――Black Deer Kuroshi Douji》

What appeared from the distortion of the space was…a large black figure wearing a hat and holding a large sword in his hand.

It’s not a person.

Its claws are thick and sharp, and it has fangs that do not fit in its mouth.

Suddenly the black figure flung the blade from his scabbard.

The lightning-fast white blade, however, stops in front of me, blocked by a barrier.

“Well, that’s quite a greeting, Kuroshishi Douji.”

“Haruyoshi ……, are you Haruyoshi or ……?”

The black deer Kuroshi Douji draws a sword.

From the cracks in his fangs, he exhales like steam.

“What is that figure… what is this world? Why, why is this body… unsealed?”

“There are circumstances. More than that, rejoice, Kuroshishi. I’ll grant your wish.”

“what”

“Look, it’s a battlefield . It’s a soldier. It’s an enemy worthy of your sword.”

I point to the bottom of the castle wall. Just as the mace was swung, vibrations were transmitted to my feet.

Kuroshika Doji glanced at the living mail titan and threw up.

“No, no, no!.”

“Don’t be so gloomy. The army may be inferior to that of the demon-slaying warriors, but it is far superior to the army of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.”

“Hmph…Yeah. Let’s take comfort from the long idleness. I’ll pay off your dew, Haruyoshi… Humans, I don’t think you’ve fulfilled the promise you made to me during the 100 demon night parade.. …Forget about the next battlefield.”

“I will keep my promise. I’ll give you a drink of this world to celebrate your return to the battlefield. You can look forward to it.”

“I’ll be back at ……. That’s a promise, too. Don’t make a mistake.”

With that, the—- black figure flipped itself under the ramparts.

He fell into a swarm of monsters wriggling right below.

Amiyu leans forward in surprise.

“Huh!? That person fell down!?”

“Not human”

At that time.

From below, I heard a faint, cool sound of a sword being drawn.

The living mail’s right arm fell off.

The left arm, the body armor, and both legs were cut off next. With a flash of, sharp cutting surfaces were made on the parts that had been cut off.

Even after the living mail was dismembered in the blink of an eye, every time the blade flashed, the crowd of monsters was cut off, and a cloud of blood danced around the running black figure. At that rate, the monsters to the north would soon be exterminated.

I muttered to myself in the midst of the stunned adventurers.

“Oni”

Kuroshika Doji.

He is a oni swordsman who calls himself by his own unique name.

He dwells in the deep mountains of Tamba, seeking those who challenge him, and has buried many powerful warriors.

He is not, however, a dragon-slayer.

The good thing about him is that he is not very big, so he doesn’t stand out. It is just right for use now.

“Is Oni the name of your …… monster?　Is that your monster, too, ……?”

“Something like that.”

“So you were talking to a monster earlier. ……?　What were you talking about?　Did you just speak the language of monsters?”

I smile at Amiyu, who looks at me curiously.

“No,……, it’s a language from a faraway country. Well, that’s not important.”

I looked beyond the walls.

Not yet, huh?

I turn my attention back to the teleportation hitogata.

“I’m going to go back…… and help out on the eastern ramparts. I’ll leave the rest to you. ……”

At that time.

“The earth shook.”

“…!”

“What!?”

The surrounding adventurers are also buzzing about what’s going on.

On the other hand… I muttered while staring far beyond the castle walls.

“Will you come out?”

The ground erupted in a grand way. The dust that fluttered too high was blown here by the wind.

A black shadow floats in the hazy brown scenery.

“What the hell is that?

“That’s the biggest …… I’ve ever seen. ……”

“Hey, is that a…… worm?”

The adventurers start to make noise.

A long body, an eyeless face, and a large jaw that occupied most of the head.

The creature that was writhing around with its head out of the ground appeared to be a worm, a subterranean dragon that lives in the earth.

However, its size was unusual.

Judging from the thickness of its head, most of its body is probably still hidden under the ground.

However, the visible part alone was many times larger than that of a normal worm.

It was unable to get out of the ground, and its clumsily slumped figure seemed to be unable to free its body.

A distorted monster, overgrown by the influence of the dragon’s veins.

I muttered to myself.

“Hey, ……, what the hell is that?”

“It’s the boss of this dungeon.”

When I replied the stunned Amiyu, she turned, a puzzled look on her face.

“Boss?　What do you mean?”

“Lakana is now one big dungeon.”

With all the dungeons gone, the dragon vein flow, having lost its way, sought a way out.

It was like the boss monster of the past, a monster that could capture the power of the dragon vein.

Unfortunately, all the flow must have been concentrated on a single worm that was the closest to the dragon vein because it lived underground and happened to be skilled at capturing its power.

In an instant, the worm gained tremendous power and, in accordance with the laws of this world, became a nucleus, forming a different world.

It swallowed Lakana and transformed the area around here into a huge monster-infested dungeon.

“So that’s the boss. In other words, if you defeat him, the stampede will end.”

As much as possible, it was necessary to wait until it appeared on the ground.

I’ve never seen it in person, and it doesn’t have a true name or an intermediary, so I can’t use curses. If i try to defeat it while it is underground, it will inevitably mess up the terrain. It is the same as a disaster.

“B-but… who’s going to beat that thing?”

“I will.”

After answering with a straight face, Amiyu froze for a moment and then let out a big sigh.

“…I wonder how strong the hero in fairy tales was. Did he manage to do something like that? 　If you were the demon king, could the hero have saved the human country?”

“That’s… of course, it’s decided. After all, he’s a legendary hero.”

When I said something suitable with a smile, Amiyu made a confused face.

“I don’t think I can beat you no matter what I do. ……”

“I’ll die when I have to. I’m only human.”

“Don’t you …… die.”

“Haha.”

I laughed at Amiyu, who said with a face full of mixed emotions,

“I can’t die like that.”

Then I switched my position with the god of ceremony who was watching the battlefield.

I shifted into the midst of a crowd of monsters. Orcs and skeletons noticed and tried to attack me, but I shifted further.

After a moment, I landed right in front of a huge worm.

I look at the flailing hulk and mutter to myself, 

“Pathetic incarnation.”

At that moment, the worm opened its mouth.

Once again, a huge number of monsters were spewed out.

I stopped my spell casting …… to get rid of the oncoming monsters.

In my field of vision, many sword lines flashed.

“Yeah, let’s go. Haruyoshi.”

From the head, from the torso.

All the monsters that had filled my field of vision were cut in half and crumbled down.

Behind me, the crisp sound of sheathing his sword resounds.

“Hurry up.”

“I’ll count on you, Kuroshishi.”

I point the floating hitogata at the worm.

Recite the mantra and make a small mark.

A steel wall created with the energy of gold takes shape in front of me.

It spreads to such a size that even the jaws of a giant worm cannot swallow it.

The worm writhed and shook his head, trying to spit the monster out again.

I mutter.

“What, it will be over soon”

《Aspects of wood, fire, earth and metal――――The art of tremors》

A huge amount of gunpowder exploded on the other side of the wall.

A deafening explosion roared, and the atmosphere rippled with tremendous impact.

The sound disappears from the world in an instant, but soon after, as if the inner ear has healed due to age, the noise returns to the surroundings.

While the area was filled with white smoke, I fired a dispelling spell and returned the steel wall to the phase.

When I saw the worm’s body again… the head was completely missing.

The innumerable flak released by the Shocking Fire power scraped it all off.

When gunpowder spread thinly on a flat surface explodes, if one side is in contact with heavy rocks or metals, most of the blast will be emitted toward the other side.

《Shintenkyoka》utilized this, placing the gunpowder so that it sticks thinly to the steel wall, directing the explosion forward and concentrating its power strongly.

It was a skill I learnt from a Song dynasty engineer who handled gunpowder.

This tremendous power has nothing to do with spells. It’s just a lot of gunpowder and knowledge-based ingenuity.

The humans of this world may one day be able to defeat dragons with weapons.

“….”

The worm’s carcass was quickly drying up, like a dead beast in the desert.

Looking back, I could see the end of the stampede.

Gargoyles and chimeras flying in the sky fall. Skeletons and living mail crumbled, and orcs and goblins crawled on the ground as if they were old and decrepit. Some monsters who could barely move were fleeing back to the forest.

“If the core is lost, the dungeon will disappear.”

The monsters that relied on that power will also follow the same fate.

Nearby, I heard the murmuring of the oni.

“Yo, it was a deadly, boring fight.” 

“Don’t say that. Rejoice, Kuroshishi. We won.”

I let out a small sigh and say with a smile.

“Even if it’s an easy victory…if you’re not happy with it, it’s rude to them.”

“I don’t know, but …… who are they? Are they human beings or …… animate beings?”

I won’t answer the demon’s question.

Cheers could be heard in the distance from the castle walls.

※Shintenka no Jutsu

A technique that generates directional explosions. When a flat, thinly spread explosive explodes, the blast, which should normally spread evenly in all directions, is small in the front, rear, left, and right directions and strong in the vertical direction. At this time, if one side is covered with a substance with a high specific gravity, most of the energy of the explosion has the property of being emitted toward the other side. This is called the Misnay-Shardin effect, and is currently used in claymore mines and self-forging bullets.