Chapter 20: The Strongest Onmyoji Defeats the Boss Again
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 Silasâ 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.
âAmiyu!â
âSe, Seika!ăStop showing up out of nowhere!â
Amiyu looked back at me in surprise, wiped the sweat from her forehead and said,
âAre you sure itâs okay for you to be here?ăDonât you have something to do?ăYou also said in a loud voice that reinforcements were coming. âŚâŚâ
âBetween you and me, reinforcements are a lie. Silas wouldnât deny it, but heâs just keeping his mouth shut to avoid any confusion.â
ââŚâŚ I knew it.â
âI donât 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 werenât any dungeons to begin with, so the rest is here.â
âThatâs right⌠just now, something that seemed troublesome came out.â
âI knowâ
At the end of Amiyuâs line of sight â was a full body armor like a giant.
Living mail, I guess. Regardless of the size, if the hollow armor is moving, itâs 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 couldnât support its own weight.
The flow of power is also unnatural.
Thatâs probably a distorted monster created by the Dragon Veinâs rampage.
The gigantic Living Mail was approaching the castle wall one step at a time.
Amiyu said with a grim expression.
âHeâs got a âŚâŚ battle mace.â
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 â 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 maceâs 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.
âIt looks like itâs going to break if we leave it alone.â
âIs it the armor?ăOr do you mean the âŚâŚ walls?â
Amiyu looks anxious.
There is always a âjust in caseâ.
However
âThat looks hard.â
Whether you use magic or youkai, it seems troublesome.
I was a little hesitant⌠and decided to call him out.
ăCallingââââBlack Deer Kuroshi Doujiă
What appeared from the distortion of the space wasâŚa large black figure wearing a hat and holding a large sword in his hand.
Itâs 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.
âWell, thatâs quite a greeting, Kuroshishi Douji.â
âHaruyoshi âŚâŚ, are you Haruyoshi or âŚâŚ?â
The black deer Kuroshi Douji draws a sword.
From the cracks in his fangs, he exhales like steam.
âWhat is that figure⌠what is this world? Why, why is this body⌠unsealed?â
âThere are circumstances. More than that, rejoice, Kuroshishi. Iâll grant your wish.â
âwhatâ
âLook, itâs a battlefield . Itâs a soldier. Itâs an enemy worthy of your sword.â
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.
âNo, no, no!.â
âDonât 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.â
âHmphâŚYeah. Letâs take comfort from the long idleness. Iâll pay off your dew, Haruyoshi⌠Humans, I donât think youâve fulfilled the promise you made to me during the 100 demon night parade.. âŚForget about the next battlefield.â
âI will keep my promise. Iâll give you a drink of this world to celebrate your return to the battlefield. You can look forward to it.â
âIâll be back at âŚâŚ. Thatâs a promise, too. Donât make a mistake.â
With that, theâ- black figure flipped itself under the ramparts.
He fell into a swarm of monsters wriggling right below.
Amiyu leans forward in surprise.
âHuh!? That person fell down!?â
âNot humanâ
At that time.
From below, I heard a faint, cool sound of a sword being drawn.
The living mailâs 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.
âOniâ
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 doesnât stand out. It is just right for use now.
âIs Oni the name of your âŚâŚ monster?ăIs that your monster, too, âŚâŚ?â
âSomething like that.â
âSo you were talking to a monster earlier. âŚâŚ?ăWhat were you talking about?ăDid you just speak the language of monsters?â
I smile at Amiyu, who looks at me curiously.
âNo,âŚâŚ, itâs a language from a faraway country. Well, thatâs not important.â
I looked beyond the walls.
Not yet, huh?
I turn my attention back to the teleportation hitogata.
âIâm going to go backâŚâŚ and help out on the eastern ramparts. Iâll leave the rest to you. âŚâŚâ
At that time.
âThe earth shook.â
ââŚ!â
âWhat!?â
The surrounding adventurers are also buzzing about whatâs going on.
On the other hand⌠I muttered while staring far beyond the castle walls.
âWill you come out?â
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.
âWhat the hell is that?
âThatâs the biggest âŚâŚ Iâve ever seen. âŚâŚâ
âHey, is that aâŚâŚ worm?â
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 dragonâs veins.
I muttered to myself.
âHey, âŚâŚ, what the hell is that?â
âItâs the boss of this dungeon.â
When I replied the stunned Amiyu, she turned, a puzzled look on her face.
âBoss?ăWhat do you mean?â
âLakana is now one big dungeon.â
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.
âSo thatâs the boss. In other words, if you defeat him, the stampede will end.â
As much as possible, it was necessary to wait until it appeared on the ground.
Iâve never seen it in person, and it doesnât have a true name or an intermediary, so I canât 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.
âB-but⌠whoâs going to beat that thing?â
âI will.â
After answering with a straight face, Amiyu froze for a moment and then let out a big sigh.
ââŚI wonder how strong the hero in fairy tales was. Did he manage to do something like that? ăIf you were the demon king, could the hero have saved the human country?â
âThatâs⌠of course, itâs decided. After all, heâs a legendary hero.â
When I said something suitable with a smile, Amiyu made a confused face.
âI donât think I can beat you no matter what I do. âŚâŚâ
âIâll die when I have to. Iâm only human.â
âDonât you âŚâŚ die.â
âHaha.â
I laughed at Amiyu, who said with a face full of mixed emotions,
âI canât die like that.â
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,
âPathetic incarnation.â
At that moment, the worm opened its mouth.
Once again, a huge number of monsters were spewed out.
I stopped my spell casting âŚâŚ to get rid of the oncoming monsters.
In my field of vision, many sword lines flashed.
âYeah, letâs go. Haruyoshi.â
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.
âHurry up.â
âIâll count on you, Kuroshishi.â
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.
âWhat, it will be over soonâ
ăAspects of wood, fire, earth and metalââââThe art of tremorsă
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 wormâs 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.
ăShintenkyokaăutilized 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. Itâs just a lot of gunpowder and knowledge-based ingenuity.
The humans of this world may one day be able to defeat dragons with weapons.
ââŚ.â
The wormâs 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.
âIf the core is lost, the dungeon will disappear.â
The monsters that relied on that power will also follow the same fate.
Nearby, I heard the murmuring of the oni.
âYo, it was a deadly, boring fight.â
âDonât say that. Rejoice, Kuroshishi. We won.â
I let out a small sigh and say with a smile.
âEven if itâs an easy victoryâŚif youâre not happy with it, itâs rude to them.â
âI donât know, but âŚâŚ who are they? Are they human beings or âŚâŚ animate beings?â
I wonât answer the demonâs question.
Cheers could be heard in the distance from the castle walls.
âťShintenka 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.