CH 14

A Wagon-less Route IV [I shouldn’t speak carelessly!]

{General POV}

Dust flew up on the highway.

There were two in this place facing each other.

Were they going to fight?

The group of 4 had decided not to interfere. It was because they were in a situation where a young girl had yet to regain consciousness, the other girl was devoted her magic to “protection from the darkness,” and the remaining two guys could not move.[1]

This was Crane’s party. In front of them stood the Ninetails. She was positioned to protect them from the torrent of magic, and in accordance with her kin’s wishes.

And now, the true spotlight is not the party but the others. That is, those readying to fight.

On this road which became a battlefield, there were 2 vs 2.

2 who want to try and kill Crane and his friends, and 2 who were trying to stop them. So many of the world’s top fighters had met together and were about to begin a dance of violence.

Strangely, each side was made up of one magician and one warrior. Otherwise the composition was not so straightforward, as there were the two humanoid demons part of the Demon King’s Army, with a human and an Oni opposing them.

“That…is Shuten sticking to that one?…I am a little jealous.” (Veloce)

“It has nothing to do with sticking or whatever, it’s because I am going to kill Braument. If you can understand, can’t you just leave me alone?” (Shuten)

“How unpleasant. I will definitely destroy that Oni.” (Braument)

“Shall I kill that one first? It will be a simple thing.” (Yatano)

A girl with a lacy parasol and in gothic lolita fashion, and a man with a top hat and tailcoat.

A girl who wore a black coat on top of her kimono, and a young man with two twisted black horns.

The cards are drawn.

The words of the girl with the umbrella and kimono were the trigger to start.

“I don’t like that obnoxious attitude of the Demon King’s Army…!” (Yatano)

Opening her frilly parasol, the “Imperator” Veloce Vie Atmosphere leapt upward. There was no trace of light now in her sleepy eyes.

“Let’s skip the rest. Please keep in mind that Shuten is the only one going to be left as an exception from this spell~” (Veloce)

“It’s going to get messy!”

She took graceful steps in the air. It was almost like a dance.

— [Ancient Spell – Quiet Ghost Road] — [2]

Veloce’s voice suddenly began to echo, accompanied by a sigh.

“Imperator, that is…!” (Braument)

“How noisy~ If you don’t want to die then I guess I can pardon you as well.” (Veloce)

Looking at the situation, Shuten also felt a sense of danger and reacted.

Only the Third Seat of the elite Magic Librarians stayed where she was, observing Veloce calmly.

Then, many pale and transparent spirits floated out of the ground surrounding them. As if searching for a living creature, they flew towards Yatano and the group behind them.

“The Quiet Ghost Road – As soon as you are touched your soul is drawn in and assimilated. In this way, humans and monsters are the same…” (Veloce)

“Oi oi oi! This attack is no joke!” (Shuten)

“If you have enough magic then you should be able to resist it Shuten.” (Veloce)

“O-oh, this is seriously unexpected Yatano-chan.” (Shuten)

“This technique, isn’t this just something that works on weaklings…

Shouldn’t it not forbidden?” Yatano’s voice sounded somewhat disappointed. Then, changing her tone to be more frivolous, she drew her paper umbrella. “This will be the first time I show off to Shuten…will you also show off your power to me?”

A large amount of energy filled their surroundings, and since it came from Yatano it was difficult to stand near her. Yatano turned towards Shuten and smiled a little. However, the smile was staggeringly more intimidating than her normal smile,  and even for Shuten it was overpowering enough that he gulped nervously.

Her eyes were not laughing.

“Are you prepared to  be hospitalized?” (Yatano)

“Is that supposed to be a joke…?” Veloce sighed in amazed resignation.

In front of Veloce who let out such a voice, it was followed by the chanting of Yatano.

— Divine Phenomenon Phase Skill [Illuminating Providence of Heaven’s Harmony] — [3]

Something exploded out of the umbrella.

That much was apparent to everyone. But that was it. After all of it escaped from the umbrella, it became transparent and colorless, before scattering like fog. No rather than fog, it was like light – like sunshine that brightened everything in their surroundings.

Then, the spirits began to disappear into the sky as if they were called to heaven. In a moment, the previous spell had been countered.

“A little…It’s too late…In that case”

As soon as she understood what happened, Veloce floated down to the ground. She kicked the path with her heel a little bit. This was followed by her next move.

— [Ancient Spell – Cry of Moving Earth] —

The ground cracked outward towards Yatano, and expanded into a sharp ravine became an attack.

“How many ancient spells do you have? Doesn’t it take a long time to comprehend ancient spells like this?” (Shuten)

“I possess two, the Imperator possesses 36. Therefore, it is more the property of one of the leaders of the Demon King’s Army.” (Veloce)

“Uhh, Okay.”

Shuten had asked her out of curiosity, and had gotten a friendly response, although both weapons and bloodthirst were made bare, and it was one step before a collision. There was a need to care about the world war that is currently being carried out.

However.

“As soon as I took out my umbrella -” There was a light sigh by a smooth feminine voice. “-know that was when you had no chance for victory.” (Yatano)

The turbulence of the approaching ravine cracked, uplifted, and collapsed the surrounding soil. However, as soon as it drew near to Yatano, it calmed down and stopped as if it had been a lie.

“So it’s not going to work that easily…hah…how bothersome…!”

Shuten remembered a fragment of info from earlier. [Imperial Academy Book Division, Magic Librarian Third Seat Yatano Fuso ArcLight. If you face her as an opponent then you will turn the world itself into an enemy.] [4]

A young girl with a powerful Divine Phenomenon who had a declaration about the world becoming the enemy of her opponents. Rather than those on the world, it is the world itself.

There was a loud ringing noise. And suddenly the ground alongside the highway collapsed.

At the moment Yatano’s eyes flickered, a large rain of stones flew towards Veloce in an attack. When Yatano looked up at the sky, suddenly black clouds appeared and lightning struck down, aiming at Veloce. With only a glance, wind was tossed up into spirals around Veloce.

“Are you serious…!! This is to the degree that it is unbelievable…!” (Veloce)

“Just kidding…is something I only say to fun people.” (Yatano)

“Why you…!!!” (Veloce)

Veloce immediately began to counterattack, unleashing her ancient spells. She somehow survived against the instant-death Divine Phenomenon released by Yatano’s natural disaster power.

“Well…Isn’t that enough, Yatano-chan?” (Shuten)

“She has not been caught, so I have nothing to say.” (Yatano)

“No, that’s no the issue?” (Shuten)

Every place in which Veloce stood for a moment is destroyed, demolished, and disappeared. That was the magic of Yatano, her Divine Phenomenon [Illuminating Providence of Heaven’s Harmony]

Because she was there, a lightning strike occurred by chance.

Because she was there, an avalanche happened.

Because she was there, a ravine suddenly appeared.

Because she was there, by coincidence it became a Power Zone[5].

Because she was there, there was a sudden vacuum of wind.

Because she was there, a natural disaster occurred..

Therefore –

Therefore, Yatano Fuso ArcLight won. She had won over and over again. By her power to cause “natural disasters” by scattering her magic. The Divine Phenomenon of Yatano is [Illuminating Providence of Heaven’s Harmony]

It could be considered a combination of phenomena. Nature, that people across time often worshiped as divine, she freely manipulated as if it were here own limbs. That was Yatano Fuso ArcLight. Imperial Academy Book Division, the Magic Librarian Third Seat.

“You are already a bird caught in a cage…die quietly…for humanity.” (Yatano)

“That is…something that I cannot accept~” (Veloce)

While repeating numerous chants one after the other, while dodging the attacks of Yatano, Veloce laughed. While using her extraordinary magical powers, she managed to protect herself from the raging “natural” disasters. Yet she was not able to break away.

“Do you or do you not want to die?” (Yatano)

“…!?” (Veloce)

“Then please use all of the magic that you own in the next moment.” (Yatano)

“How difficult~ all of my magic power?” (Veloce)

Suddenly, Veloce’s eyes widened, as Yatano instantly disappeared. In her place, was a stone protruded from the ground like a memorial. Yatano’s influence was still filling the area.

Moreover, when Veloce tried to use large-scale magic, “somehow” the surrounding magic was immediately scattered. As such she was not able to retreat easily.

Of course, it was not impossible, it was just that the remaining methods would leave her vulnerable from exhaustion.

The conclusion Veloce came to was… to use “Reason.”

“- Do your job well, or I will kill you.” (Veloce)

“……Haha.” (Braument)

“Good boy~” (Veloce)

Braument released all of his magical power.

At that moment, Yatano shouted out. “Shuten, crush that top-hat!!”

“Eh!? But Veloce is right next to him!! You want me to kill him even with everything going on over there!?” (Shuten)

“Yep!” (Yatano)

“Ugh…!! I guess I’ll take my chances with the lightning area!!” (Shuten)

Through lightning, avalanches, and the cracking earth, Shuten ran to kill Braument.

While conversing with Yatano, he did not slow down at all from the full sprint while his aura completely leaked out.

However, it seemed that he still didn’t make it in time.

— [Ancient Spell – Avoidance Connection] —

Immediately Braument and Veloce became translucent. Just after, lightning struck through the body of Veloce. However, it had no effect.

“Oh…This was a chance to crush the Child of the God of Light, but I guess it cannot be helped.” (Veloce)

“…!” (Yatano)

“Veloce…?” (Shuten)

“Oh, Shuten. I seem to be at a disadvantage this time, but I will not give up. In the meantime we need to deal with the Capital city Eden…that’s right. At that time I will snatch you from that brat’s side. I’ll let you prepare yourself for that to happen.” (Veloce)

Hearing her words, Yatano’s face twitched in anger, and she moved swiftly. However, Veloce quickly began to to fade as if she was never there to begin with.

“This magic was originally a spell used to edit reality, along the lines of ‘we were never here in the first place.’ Since it has a high magic consumption, I haven’t used it for a while~” (Veloce)

She began to fully disappear with Braument who was suffering from the recoil of having all his magical power being drained all at once.

“Will I be treated like this when I become one of the Four Heavenly Demon Lords?” (Shuten)

“No way~” (Veloce)

Slightly surprised, Veloce turned a friendly gaze towards Shuten. Then with a refreshing laugh she said, “If it’s you, something good will surely happen~…Sorry, I don’t have any more time. Please excuse me.”

“Oh, uh…” (Shuten)

Leaving with those words, Veloce neatly disappeared from their surroundings. Only her words remained. While chewing over the words, Shuten felt someone tap his shoulders.

Beside him, there was girl who was fuming.

“What do you mean ‘when you become one of the Four Heavenly Demon Lords?’ That better not mean what I think it means…you will explain, won’t you?” (Yatano)

Oh, I’m in trouble. Shuten realized.

With a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, Yatano punched Shuten in the mouth.

Translator Notes

未だ目をさまさない一人の少女と、”闇の魔力にあてられた”らしく身動きの取れない一人の少年が居ることで、撤退には踏み切れない状況にあったからだ。幽人霊路 “Quiet Ghost Road” – this combination of characters is a mix of “human/person” and “Road” but also “spirit” and “peaceful/quiet.” I also updated her previous of use of this spell to this translation【天照らす摂理の調和】This is first said in Volume 2 Chapter 2 when Shuten remembers who Yatano is in the game.Reiiki 霊域と化した