Chapter 26: The Devil’s annoucement.

Translator: Soafp

　The severed hand flies through the air and falls, staining the ground with blood.

The physical strength of Geryuon, who used incarnation released by metamorphosis, is so high that even with the [Sword of Life], it is difficult to cut off both thick arms with the bones.

　Therefore, the wrist, which is the thinnest part of the arm, was severed by precisely aiming at the joint of the bone on it.

　Since the length of the arm would not be so short, it would still be in the way, but the threat of the claw would have been halved with the loss of one hand.

Holding the severed arm, Geryuon retreated, screaming in anger.

“W-wai aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!”

“[Sword of decapitation]”

Three fireballs, probably from the magic that was about to be unleashed on Kurage and others, were launched at point-blank range toward them.

I could only slice one magic with [Sword of Bane]. If I wanted to cut again, I would have to reactivate my skill.

　Therefore, I was moving forward while activating my skills….

The most important thing to keep in mind is that there is no need to be afraid of the “new” magic.

　But if I go forward, I will only have to deal with one of them. That is why I leaped forward without hesitation.

　The fireball comes from the front, and I intercept it with a flash from my side stance.

Way of decapitation—–Hard form, the bell tower.

　A divine-speed slash up, kicked up by a small hand, cuts off one of the flying fireballs.

　The remaining two fireballs slipped past my side and exploded into flames behind me.

And with my raised blade, I was charging toward Geryuon.

“—-[Sword of Life]!”

“Wha—-?!”

Way of decapitation—-rigid form, bell tower・fallen.

　The blade is brought down.

　The flash, which leaves a golden trail in the air, bites into the arm that Geryuon raised as quickly as he could —- cutting halfway through, but stopping there.

It was probably because both arms were prevented from crossing each other. Even one of them was tough, but there was no way to cut through two of them at the same time.

“Chi ……!”

The problem was that I could not pull the blade out of his arm as quickly as I wanted to.

Geryuon was frozen in pain from the cut on his arm and did not immediately counterattack, but if he had just folded his hands, the result would have been the same.

With a click of my tongue, I removed my hand from my sword and drew my small dagger as I made my way toward Geryuon.

The small dagger drawn with the left hand is held against the vicinity of the dove tail, and the right hand is placed on the hilt.

Way of decapitation —-Gentle form, archery.

　And with a rotational movement of my whole body starting from my legs, I was launching my right hand.

　The small dagger, the tip of which had been set, was thrust out with the same blow received at the butt of the hilt, and pierced Geryuon’s flesh.

　The trajectory aimed at the heart from under the ribs, I struck the blow without missing the target, and the blade of the small dagger was diving into Geryuon’s body.

　Of course, I was not thinking so optimistically as to be relieved that I was able to defeat him with just that. The opponent was an unforeseen being such as a mutated demon. It wouldn’t hurt to take all the possible moves.

Battle stance—-pillar strike.

Rolling and contracting my body, I launch a kicking blow like a pillar that extends in a straight line from the ground.

With that blow, I kicked the hilt of the small sword through which it was thrust.

The small dagger, which went even deeper into the body, went berserk on impact from the impact of the kick and gouged out Geryuon’s body.

“Go, ga ……!?”

　The impact echoed with a thud, and the foot of the left leg that stomped on the ground cracked and wound up.

　If he were human, he would have died instantly. However, as a demon, even this is not enough to cut off Geryon’s lifeblood.

　However, the damage from the blow must have been significant. Immediately after I kicked and retreated from the spot, Geryuon was crouching on the spot, clutching his stomach.

　At that moment, the sword, which was still lodged in his arm, collided with the ground from the hilt, and the impact caused it to fall out of his arm and roll on the ground.

　When he lifted it up and brushed off the blood-soaked object, green blood was spreading in an arc on the ground.

“You’ve given me a lot of trouble”

“….S-sto”

　He is still conscious, but I guess he can’t move.

　I’m rather surprised he’s conscious after all that. If it had been a human opponent, his lungs and heart would have been completely damaged.

However, Geryuon was unable to breathe and was just crouching there and moaning.

　The demon, blood dripping from his mouth, looks up at me with a mixture of fear and pleading.

　But there is no reason for me to accept his plea for forgiveness.

“It’s over–[Sword of Life.]”

“A-AAAAAH….!”

　A resounding voice of despair. But I was not in the least bit moved by it, and I swung my blade down from the very top.

Drawing a golden trajectory, my sword slashes the neck of Geryuon, who is hanging down his head as if offering it to me.

　I stopped the blade before it touched the ground, cleanly cutting off the neck – a moment later, green blood was spurting vigorously from the rolled section of the neck.

　I finally released my tension as I stomped down on the rolled head as well, just to make sure that this demon didn’t move any further.

“Fuu, …… you were a pain in the *ss”

“Oooooooooooooooooooo! Yey! You did it, Quon-san!　You have taken the boss down!”

“Hahahaha!　Amazing!　Onii-san is super strong!”

Geryuon falls, Kurage and Kuu cheer in unison.

To be honest, if it weren’t for the interference, he wouldn’t have been such a strong opponent, although he was troublesome.

　Well, there was a troublesome nature, but …… probably would not have been impossible to win even if I had challenged him alone.

“What’s wrong, Reno?　What’s on your mind?”

“Huh, Azami too?”

“….. Quon-san. If you defeated the boss, there should be an info stream related to it. But the fact that it doesn’t–“

Her words widened my eyes, and I looked around me.

　Geryuon, who had lost his head, was naturally not moving, and the undead knights had been completely killed by the group

　There is no other enemy in sight, and no sign of anything attacking us. Is there someone or something lurking somewhere–?

“—-?!”

　A moment later, a chill ran down my spine, and I intuitively prepared myself to look overhead.

　In the sky above me, a figure was floating in the air in a landscape shrouded in black clouds.

　A woman wearing a shiny black robe like leather. The contrast of her white skin peeking out from her wide-open bosom was very striking.

　But even more impressive were her fiery red hair and eyes of the same color.

　What I felt from her eyes was hostility and malice that could be described as indiscriminate. I catch her gaze and understand.

“A new demon ……!”

“……funn.”

　The red-headed demon takes her gaze away from me, stares at Geryuon’s corpse, and spits out a sneer.

　Apparently, they are related. But it doesn’t seem to be one of us.

However, a troublesome opponent. If she was flying above us, there was nothing I could do.

I could at least throw a sword at her, but at that height, she would probably evade me before it reached her.

While I was pondering how I was going to attack her, the red-haired devil turned her gaze toward me once again.

“I am the third rank of the count class, Rompelia.”

“Count class!”

　Kurage raises a voice almost halfway to a scream.

　It is no wonder. Geryuon, who had just been fighting, was a baronet, and was ranked quite low among them.

　On the other hand, Romperia was two ranks above him, and even his rank was quite high.

　In other words, she was a far superior opponent to Geryuon.

But strangely enough, I didn’t feel threatened by Romperia.

“I thought he was stalling there…..but this is just the baronet level………. “

“Fumu, So, you demon of a title with your face smeared all over it, what the hell do you want?”

“Watch your mouth, worm. I hope you’re not getting carried away with your victory over Geryuon?

“Now, if you had been able to do anything about it, you would have taken appropriate action.”

　Romperia looked away from me, uninterested in what I had just said.

　Such a somewhat human reaction convinced me that I was right.

　It seemed that Romperia was in no condition to attack us.

Somehow, it has a weak presence. It is not thin due to the fact that she is killing the presence, but the presence itself is thin.

　It is as if it were a fake image —no that is the correct answer.

“I was wondering what the hell you were doing showing up with a phantom?”

“Hmmm……… I see. You are a little different from the other bugs.”

Saying that out loud —- Romperia was smiling.

　A fierce, yet lustrous smile with a woman’s coloring.

　At the same time she was smiling, there was a change in the will that was radiating from Romperia.

　What I had felt earlier was hostility toward all of us. But now, it is a murderous intent against me alone.

　It seemed that this far superior demon had recognized me as a definite enemy.

“If I come to see who is the one who defeated Geryuon,……, you certainly deserve to be my enemy.”

“Hoo?　It would be an honor …… then what are you doing to do?”

“Don’t be distracted. I will crush you for sure —- Look forward to it.”an look forward to it.”

Romperia tells one side and disappears with a movement to turn on her heel.

　With that, all the enemies were gone – the battle was over.

[Your level has increased. Please assign status points.]

[Sword skill level has increased.]

[Enhancement Magic skill level increased.]

[New magic has been learned.]

[The skill level of “Death Point Shot” has been increased.]

[The skill level of Automatic MP Recovery has been increased.]

Identify skill level has been increased.]

[The skill level of the Sword of Life has been increased.]

[The skill level of the Sword of Bane has been increased.]

[The level of Lumina, the tamed monster, has increased.]

[Successfully defeated the field boss!　The area will be open to traffic.]

[The field boss, Geryuon the Demon, has been defeated for the first time. Bonus drops will be distributed.]

“……everything came at once”

　I raise my eyebrows at the information ringing in my ears.

　But, well, the battle is finally over.

　I exhale deeply and sheathe my sword. I look at Geryuon’s corpse to retrieve the small sword as well, and see that his huge body is dissipating in a black smoke.

　Apparently, when a demon dies, it disappears like that.

　I retrieved the small sword that was lying on the spot where it had disappeared and finally calmed down. I had handled it very roughly, and I would have to take it back to Fino later.

“Uwa, I’m getting all sorts of awesome skills. ……”

“Thank you for your hard work, Quon-san. But that provocation did shorten my lifespan a bit.”

“Well, I knew that was phantom-ish.”

If that was real, it would be strange if I didn’t feel more threatened than Geryuon.

If it was real, it must have felt more of a threat than Geryuon, which means that it either has no hostile intent toward us, or else it is a threat that we can’t even deal with.

　Well, that Romperia was neither of those things.

If I were to fight the real thing, I would be too weak at this point.

　Well, I don’t think the stones will come out that quickly.

“Hmm?”

“What’s the matter, Kuu-chan?”

“No, I don’t see anything that looks like a demon drop. ……”

“Fumu?”

　I tilted my head at the girls’ conversation and fished through the list of drop items.

　As I recall, I was told that for bosses, items are distributed according to contribution levels.

　In this case, I would definitely have the highest contribution.

　If anything, it would be at my place—.

“…… this?”

■Skill Orb《Magic of the Dead》: Consumption, Skill Orb

　An orb containing the art of necromancy, a subspecies of conjuration and summoning.

　By using this orb, “Necromancy” will be added to the available skills.

　After use, this item will disappear.

　Apparently, it is an item that can learn new skills.

　To be honest, I don’t need this item at all.

　I wondered what to do with it, but when I showed it to the group of four, they stared at the item with surprised expressions on their faces.

“Uwa, I’ve never seen a skill orb in person before.”

“Is it really that rare?”

“So far, only a very small number of useful skills have been confirmed to appear in the dungeons in the east.”

　So, skill orbs for magic skills are extremely valuable.

　Moreover, this is a new kind of magic that has not been confirmed before. I would say its value is immeasurable.

　Well —- even so, this skill is not necessary for me.

　While I was raising my eyebrows and wondering what to do, I noticed that there was a gaze staring back at me.

“………….”

“….You want it?”

“Nuh-uh …… yes, I want it.”

Staring at me with eyes peeking out from behind a deep hat was Azami, the magic attacker of the quartet.

　Certainly, if anyone could make effective use of this skill, it would be only her.

　After a moment of silent contemplation, I placed this orb of flickering black light on her hand with a snap.

“Yes!?　Hey, Quon-san!?　Are you sure?!”

“Well, I won’t use it, and …… Lumina won’t need this magic either, right?”

I asked Lumina, who was back on top of my head, and this little guy shook her head.

　Well, it’s not too far-fetched to say that a fairy is not suited for deadly magic. In addition, the magic she is using is of the light attribute, which is highly effective against the undead.

　Even I can tell that the combination is not a good fit.

　So, I have no objection to giving up this skill orb—–.

“No matter how much I want it, I can’t get it for free!”

“…… Kirara, I’ll give you all my drop items.”

“No matter how you look at it, that’s just not enough!?　You can only assume it’s a rare drop from the boss!　Please take all of mine too!”

“No, wait. Calm down.”

　Chuckling at the outburst of the party leader, I think of a place to drop it.

　It is true that the item is valuable, but exchanging it for all the other items is a bit much.

　It’s against my principles to take things back from these little girls, no matter how much I want to.

“If you force everything on me, I will not be able to handle it. I’ll take only what I need.”

“If that’s the case, please take something of mine and Kuu-chan as well.”

“Azami’s enhancements are for the whole party!”

　Chuckling at the thought that I should just take what I can get, I take back the items, which are mainly material items.

　There were a lot of undead bones and stuff like that, but if I took them to Eleanor, she would probably process them somehow.

　The rest of the drops were my own, which I hadn’t really checked properly…

“On?”

“—-?”

　Lumina, tilting her head, peeks at my hand, which has stopped moving.

　There, details of a strange item were displayed.

■Sword of Remembrance: special/event item

　A sword used by Knight Captain Schrade before his death.

　It is a weapon employed by the Knights of the Kingdom of Alphatia, and has a stable quality while striking a few.

　The sword of Schrade, who holds the rank of captain, is engraved with a crest indicating that it belongs to him.

■Sanctified seal of remembrance: special and event item

　The holy seal that Knight Captain Schrade wore before his death.

　It is made in a cathedral west of Ribrum in the Kingdom of Alphatia.

　It has the power to protect the soul of its bearer.

　Reading the details, I let out a small breath.

　It reminds me of the last words of the undead knight.

　This is…

I guess that means there’s more to the story.

　Well, I didn’t mean to make a difference with those words —– but it looks like it’s going to be more important than I thought.

　I had a small smile on my face, wondering what would happen.