23 – Rumble in the jungle
Inside a forest on Luvelia continent, a single corpse was sprawled along the ground.
At a single glance, it looked like a burnt corpse but everything above the eyes had been completely blown away so it was difficult to tell whether the cause of death was the fire or due to the head being blown off.
And except the one who did this, nobody else knew the actual answer.
“Wow, that thing really was killed in such a flashy manner. For someone to do something like this, it shows great skill.”
Or so it was supposed to be.
A figure looked over the corpse that once belonged to a weird grasshopper style monster.
“That human looks cute but totally lacks the screws in her head. What's more, it's not a human. It's a demon using a camouflage spell. She might fool others, but not my eyes. It looks like an act done by an Executor of the inquisition, right?”
White hair twintails and a slender waist. Both the armour on her body and the weapon on her back were meagre ones. She was the girl who only looked like a newbie adventurer, Mina.
Even in front of the cruelly slaughtered corpse, Mina kept on smiling and talked to the black cat beside her.
“She had used a low level fire intentionally to slowly and carefully grill him. On top of it, she also had [Pain Increaser] activated as well. Not to mention that she had also used heal magic so that he didn’t die too quickly. I guess it’s normal for the corpse to turn out like this. Well, in this case he simply reaped what he sowed, divine retribution, something like that. Still, for a human to travel together with a demon… it's foul.”
Mina gave her thoughts about the torture show that had continued for around 20mins but the cat only gave a *nyaan* sleepily.
But without minding her cat, she continued talking.
"Fufu, then let’s stop for now with this play here, and I should go and greet them—-“
Mina touched the silver bracelet on her hand that was the most valuable looking equipment in her possession.
“—–Seal Unlock.”
Along with her words, the silver bracelet broke off and was removed from her slender wrist.
That instant, her normal looking atmosphere instantly changed.
If a third party was here at this moment, he would have felt as if the air or the scenery had changed.
She who was suddenly releasing an immense amount of presence finally showed a change that could be visibly seen.
Sparkling, hazy silver aura rose from Mina’s body.
------
"Okay, stop already Lu-chan. It's dead. You kinda overkilled it."
"Sorry, Yufi, but I just wanted to display my power for you. I want you to know that you can rely on my strength."
True enough, after one week of sailing, the boat dropped us off on Luvelia. It didn't stay long, because the crew only left some supplies for some people and rushed back home. Getting back wasn't an issue with Lu-chan's skill.
According to the instructions we had to walk this road for a good portion. And of course, a very large monster similar with a grasshopper popped up. I wanted to see what Lu-chan was capable of, so I let her fight it. Of course, I was ready to jump in at any moment, but it wasn't necessary. Lu-chan is powerful.
"Everything is ok now. Shall we keep going now or…"
"GET DOWN, NOW!! [Greatsword Shield]!"
I shouted from the top of my lungs and slammed Aetherius in the ground. 3 giant ice greatswords emerged forming a great shield wall in front of us.
That’s because spears of light came down raining on us from the sky, no they should be called pillars of light.
What the hell is that? Were there still enemies hiding here? Rather than that, I just hope they don't explode!
"[Terra Wall]."
From behind me, a high speed chant was heard. Even faster than I realized that, a defensive magic much better than mine appeared as the earth rose like an intermediate level wide range defensive magic. Lu-chan, you're amazing!
With tremors like a small earthquake, a cliff rose right in front of me.
It’s not an actual cliff but it was big enough to feel like that. Its width was enough to perfectly cover us.
The moment that a much larger than normal [Terra Wall] was completed, the pillars of light seemed to be contained.
*GAGAGAGAGA——–*
The row of light pillars struck the cliff’s surface from above.
The Terra Wall was made of stiff and sturdy rocks but the pillars of light stabbed through it as if ignoring the wall.
The pillars of light seemed as if they would completely pulverise the wall but contrary to expectations, they stuck on the wall like the steel frame on a concrete block.
“…….they won’t explode right?”
The moment I said that, as if remembering it, a rumbling sound came as the cliff began to crumble.
A large amount of rocks scattered on the highway and only the pillars of light stuck on the ground remained.
Just because it was over I can't let my guard down. They might explode the next moment. Or maybe these were meant to stop us and now attack magic would come flying towards us.
“Ah, sorry, you don’t have to be so alert, you know?”
Suddenly, the nonchalant voice of a girl came.
The tone of the voice was like it was meant to spoil our vigilance and alertness.
“……Who is it?”
Since the voice came from beyond the shield, she must be standing in front of me.
If I were to believe her words, it seems the enemy doesn’t intend to attack me instantly.
Resolving myself, I removed my shield and looked at the enemy in front of me.
“Nice to meetcha, I’m Mina!”
On the other side of the grid made by the light pillars, a single girl was standing.
Her shining white twintails gave her a slightly childish look but they really suited her round sparkling eyes and cute face.
Her armor included a simple leather breastplate, boots and gloves and beneath it was a thin shirt and a miniskirt. It really didn’t look like it had any magical enchantments or effects.
She really looked like a newbie adventurer from every angle but from her small body.
“No, no way……”
I can never forget it. Phantasy Reverie Online had 4 NPC's called the Divine Generals. According to lore they are meant to be the strongest. They all had a silver aura just like this girl. But… I don't recognize her.
A Divine General was once used in an event raid. Apparently when the players managed to shave off one HP bar from the raid boss that had 5 bars in total, a Divine General appeared and handled the rest. They were stronger than any player.
But this girl was definitely not in the game. I would recognize her design.
But still to have that aura means, can it mean...?
“…….a Divine General?”
The girl, with a wide smile that might make one remember of a sunflower, answered.
“Yup. I’m the 5th Divine General Mina!”
She named herself as if it was a light joke.
But that’s impossible, it can’t be, such words of refusal didn’t hold any meaning in front of that silver aura.
Right, I should just accept it that the impossible has now become possible. The worst case where a Divine General has appeared. Something like this… she might be stronger than Olivia herself.
“Now then, ladies, I've got many questions that need to be answered. What's a human doing with a demon?"
"She can see through me? Yufi, this might be bad."
Thanks for stating the obvious.
"Miss Mina, would you kindly let us pass? We don't want any trouble."
"Hmm… you two are a big mystery. I can't just let you go. For now I need to judge you, so wouldn’t you keep me company for a while?”
And thus, the 5th Divine General stood in our way. Crap. This is going to be harsh, but we got no choice but to fight. She's not listening to reason.