novelDetermination
| ← Ch.094 | Ch.096 → |
Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations
Just as expected, I awoke in the labyrinth's corridor.
The Demon Lord must not have known I'm "Immortal". If he did know, he probably would have brought me along as take-out.
When I thought back on that moment, the chills I got down my spine were like ice.
So there are, in fact, people who can be physiologically repulsing. That was a problem for me already though, of course.
Upon looking and taking in the surroundings, it looked like Haster's bodily regeneration was finished.
Although there wasn't much else to do about it, I do feel guilty about smashing his body.
I hold his body, and start by searching the area with [Sonar].
An hour should have passed since the battle, so the Demon Lord's group is already long gone.
The only things left on site were the two lycanthrope corpses and the debris of the living mail.
Alec threw Sentinel, but that's not here either. Did they run off with it?
"So those are... Our enemies..."
I wouldn't be able to carry him back on my own, so I'll have to camp out here until he opens his eyes.
Alec and Miss Levy might just come back for us anyway; it would probably be best to stay put for now.
Even so, my clothes are a mess. All the luggage I had was burnt away by the [Fireball] too. Thankfully the Sealing Magic Mirror and my collar are fine, thanks to having [Toughness] on them.
A big thanks to Haster for reworking them so they wouldn't break. I think I would have preferred if the collar's gift sealing broke though...
As a camping ground, I made walls from [Water Wall] and [Freeze] used together to keep invaders out.
He didn't have any clothes left on him at all, so I placed my magic-filled mantle over him.
Now that I've got a moment to breathe, let's look back on the battle we just had.
"Enough strength to destroy Cleaver from "Strong Arm", and "Full Guard" to repel magic. They're truly simple... And ridiculously strong gifts."
Guess he didn't hold back in his requests to God. The strongest weapon and armor. His lack of "Immortality" is a relief I suppose.
The standard strategy in this situation would be to have him attack himself, but...
"The fact that it's not an actual weapon or armor makes that a lot more difficult."
I have a feeling getting him to clock himself with his fists mid-battle is going to be practically impossible.
Plus... There's that lich he's got along escorting him. And then the vampire playing interference.
They both seemed pretty seasoned. I could acutely feel their familiarity with battle.
"It's a good thing we took out the lycanthropes and the living mail, but they're still going to be a problem."
If we just put up a good fight with some strategy... Is what I had thought, but it feels like we were totally trampled.
Thinking about competing with that is enough to make me sigh.
Just then, having estimated the time, Alec and Miss Levy returned.
~*~
"Master, I'm sorry."
"I'm the one who told you to run. You've got nothing to apologize for."
Apparently he feels burdened by the thought that he left his Master, and the person who's like an older sister to him, and ran.
But that's not the actual problem.
"The real problem is actually that you didn't run when he said to. Unlike us, you can't regenerate, remember?"
"I know that, but..."
"Well, I get how you feel. Just make sure you listen to your orders next time."
"Yes, Master."
Your tone may be majestic, but that dignity just goes to shit when you're cheerfully putting on your pants at the same time, Haster.
He's borrowing Alec's change of clothes right now.
Mine were in tatters too, so I borrowed Miss Levy's spare outfit.
The length of the shirt was like a dress on me, and there was too much chest space; it was at the level where you could peep by looking from above, but anyway...
"Lounging around here is probably dangerous, but... I have a feeling holding a meeting at the house is dangerous too, so why don't we talk a bit here?"
"How'd that be any kinda dangerous?"
"Levy, Marielle's at our house right now, see? Do you think she's going to sit quietly if she hears us holding a Demon Lord strategy meeting?"
"Guess not."
"There are other people we don't want hearing us either. Like a certain noble whose son was killed."
"Can't be holdin' a meetin' at the house, can't be holdin' one outside of it either, huh. Ain't no other choice I guess."
And so we held our Demon Lord countermeasures meeting inside an ice house, in the labyrinth's corridor.
~*~
"Yuuri, what are his gifts?"
"He has three of them; "Strong Arm, " "Full Guard, " and "Magic Talent". Thankfully he's gone for good if we kill him. Except that's exactly why he's climbing this place."
I conveyed the details of those gifts while I was at it.
"Enough superhuman strength to crush Cleaver... Unbelievable."
"He didn't get a single scratch when I was slashing him with my sword either."
"My rain of [Light Arrows] didn't even leave a char mark on him."
"Ain't nothin' we can hit him with!"
God sure did give out something outrageous. And to a guy with the worst character too.
"Personality-wise... The guy's a brat. And an undisciplined one at that."
"Agreed. There might not even be any malice to it. He's just the type who tramples anyone who gets in his way, even if they're his allies."
"He even friggin' ran off with my Sentinel..."
The theft of Sentinel and destruction of Cleaver mean our fighting power just got majorly downgraded.
But those armaments can be made again.
On the other end, the Demon Lord lost two lycanthropes, and the living mail was destroyed.
I'm thinking the lich is going to regenerate the living mail, but... That should have given them a downgrade in their fighting power too.
"I really would have like to take the vampire down I suppose."
"Sorry."
"No, it's not your fault Yuuri. Actually, you did a great job acting as Alec's support, the lich's opponent, and a decoy for the vampire in that situation."
He reached his hand out to my head, and pulled me in close to his chest.
"Well if you put it that way..."
"If I only coulda taken care o' that beast faster, though."
"On that point, I didn't do anything decent on my end."
"In any case, we have gathered the minimum information we needed, so we'll call it all good. Knowing the details of his gifts is big. And his personality too."
With that personality of his, any simple provocation seems likely to pull him in.
If we just lay a trap using that, we might be able to manage... something?
"Also... It turns out only having four people really is leaving us shorthanded."
Six person parties are standard in this labyrinth.
Four people is just turning out to be too few in here.
The biggest burden being laid on me was also because we were lacking in numbers.
"In that case... Do you plan on inviting Marielle?"
"When it comes to her intentions I'm reluctant, but there's nothing to criticize when it comes to her abilities. As she is now though, she'll probably go berserk the moment we meet them..."
"So are you saying we should walk around trying not to meet them? I'm pretty reluctant myself to be sneaking around the whole time."
Alec looks dissatisfied as he interjects with his own opinion.
But if we were to add Marielle to our group, we would have to wander around trying not to meet them, or it would turn into a repeat of today's scuffle the moment we saw their faces.
"That's not something we can do much about either. We lost against them, after all. And besides..."
"Besides?"
"... It would be best endure this humiliation and, without forgetting it, leave it at that."
He loudly ground his teeth together.
Looks like he's thinking carefully on this past matter.
"We'll have our clash with them in five years; until then, we'll endure this disgrace. As long as we win at the very end, it's fine."
He spoke as if squeezing out every word.
We were deprived of our weapons, broken and defeated, the confidence in our strength crushed.
Marle was hurt, and all Alec could do was abandon his Master.
I was insulted, and Haster couldn't even retaliate.
Haster was killed, and I couldn't even repay it with a single arrow.
We were weak; that's the bitter pill we were forced to swallow.
Even if our main goal was to gauge the enemy, we didn't have the slightest intention of losing.
Our progress up until now was simply by going with the flow, but thanks to them we have some motivation behind us.
Nabbing the sprout of the World Tree and running away... Would be unthinkable.
This anger isn't going to settle down until we beat them down directly.
"We need... To get stronger."
"Yeah, way stronger."
With renewed determination, we left the labyrinth.
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Author's Note: This ends the 4th act. Next time we'll have a time skip and start back up five years later.
Translator's Note: But first we have an interlude chapter!
| ← Ch. 094 | Ch. 096 → |