First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 115
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
This is the Dragon Sovereign’s side.
————–
(Third person POV)
While Kurokiri and the others were fending off the Octopus King’s monsters with the individual valor, the Fox Princess’ group testing out the new technology, and the Snow Sage’s party strategizing, this was what was happening at the “Sakurajima Direct Crater” dungeon of the “Dragon Sovereign of the Caged Cherry Blossom Flame”.
“Are you certain about this?”
“Yes. Please do.”
The first level of “Sakurajima Direct Crater” had an entrance within the Sakurajima crater, rendering it inaccessible to ordinary humans, but the second level was designed to allow a portion of the structure to be opened for Dragon Sovereign to create her kin.
And as of now, the Dragon Sovereign of the Caged Cherry Blossom Flame as well as the Sakurahijin accompanied by a dozen or so human beings were on the second level of the structure.
Nevertheless, despite the impatience and fury in their atmosphere, there was no sense of antagonism.
You were wondering the reason for this?
“I understand. The circumstances in the port city are getting worse by the minute.”
To begin with, “Dragon Sovereign of the Caged Cherry Blossom Flame” was a Demon King who lacked the characteristics of a Demon King, and her typical behavior was to slumber in the dungeon while creating monsters as she saw fit. The only other thing she did besides that was to transform humans into her kin when they came to the second level, which she created for the purpose of creating kin, and she did not release monsters outside to attack the settlements.
Right. The Dragon Sovereign was a Demon King who had never taken the initiative to harm any human being.
On top of that, her kin, the Sakurahijin, possessed the ability to heal the injured with their unique skill ?Cherry Blossom Rain? and the bulk of them customarily wandered around the community to heal the wounded and were highly reputed.
Therefore, the Dragon Sovereign and her kin, the Sakurahijin, were favorably accepted by the people in the surrounding areas, unlike other Demon Kings and their kin.
“We are aware of that. That is why we ask for your power, Dragon Sovereign-sama.”
In the midst of this, the monsters of the “Crawling Octopus King of Chaos” had abruptly stormed the port city, causing the humans and the Sakurahijin in the port city to suffer an uphill battle. The Dragon Sovereign and her team had to urgently maintain their strength and send in reinforcements.
“Then I won’t stop you anymore. ?Monster Create?.”
For this reason, the Dragon Sovereign had gathered the group of humans who had made up their minds to resign from the human race and be her kin. So that they can protect what they desired to protect.
With the activation of Dragon Sovereign’s skill, the hair color of the assembled humans turned into an alluring cherry blossom color, which was followed by cherry blossom-colored fire sparks that rained down on the area as if celebrating the birth of new kin.
“I am counting on you.”
“Yes!”
And the batch of new kin headed off to the battlefield of their own accord.
————–
The conflict was still tense, despite the cooperation of humans, Sakurahijin, and Dragon Sovereign’s monsters, as well as the additional kin dispatched by the Dragon Sovereign.
What was the reason behind this?
Indeed, the ?Cherry Blossom Rain? was a formidable skill that can both attack and heal at the same time, and if multiple Sakurahijin exercised it synchronously, most wounds can be healed instantaneously and the opponents can be inflicted with a certain extent of damage.
Regardless, the primary effect of ?Cherry Blossom Rain? was recovery rather than offense. Many of Dragon Sovereign’s monsters also had recovery abilities, and since Dragon Sovereign was a Demon King who did not strike humans, the humans themselves had scarcely any experience in battle.
Hence, the situation that occurred was…
“Damn it! We’re outnumbered!”
“Concentrate all your firepower in one place!”
“As if we can pull that off!”
There was a critical shortage of firepower.
As a result, the Dragon Sovereign’s side was now awaiting reinforcements from other Demon Kings, who may or may not arrive, and was gradually retreating to withstand the enemies’ aggression.
Now, a question might be posed here. You may wonder, even if they lacked offensive capabilities, given their resilience, was it possible to maintain the war front even if it was impossible to push back the enemy?
The current predicament, nevertheless, was not such a simple one.
Recovery, by definition, only applied to those who are still alive; not to those who perish with a single blow or damage to equipment, such as shields and spears.
“It’s coming! Retreat!!”
Yes. For instance, the giant octopus, whose physical strength was sufficient to crush a human being with a shield, was their natural antagonist.
“Damn it! Fall back! Fall backkkkkk!!”
“Reinforcements are not yet… gyaaaaa!!”
The humans on Dragon Sovereign’s side fled while swearing, and the Octopus King’s monsters pounced on their vulnerable backs, snatching their lives away.
————–
“Damn it… If only we could do something about that giant octopus…”
These humans, who managed to escape to the outer part of the city and put up a fighting appearance, involuntarily murmured to themselves.
In their eyes, they can catch sight of the monsters of the Octopus King who were progressively advancing towards them from the city… that loathsome giant octopus.
Should that giant octopus reach this point, they would be hopelessly devastated. That was what the humans were thinking, with some weeping and quivering, and others in despair.
Yet, the time they had accumulated over the many sacrifices they had exerted up to this point will save them.
“???!!”
All of a sudden, the exclamation of the giant octopus pierced the area.
They looked up to check what was going on. There, they witnessed the giant octopus that had tormented them for so long being slain in one blow by a girl.
“You did your best. Please leave the rest to me.”
Although she seemed to be far away, the girl’s voice sounded mysteriously familiar.
That girl was clad entirely in black, with a metal gauntlet covering her left arm and a double-edged blade in her right hand.
Ichiko was the name of the young woman. She carried the alias of “Blade Princess of the Undefined Sword” and was running around this country hunting monsters of the Octopus King under the command of Kurokiri.
Her arrival at the scene drastically altered the course of events.
That strength of hers could only be described as overwhelming.
The giant octopus with which they had struggled so viciously was slashed to death in a heartbeat, while other monsters with threatening abilities succumbed after being hit in the vital parts with pinpoint accuracy. Even those who were able to retaliate were struck down by excruciating counterattacks without a single blow landed on her.
In response to this spectacle, other humans, who until now had been on the defensive, also went on the offensive.
As if their lack of firepower up to this stage were a falsehood, the humans were so vigorous that they were vanquishing the monsters of the Octopus King.
Even the enemies’ occasional attacks were immediately cured by ?Cherry Blossom Rain? that poured down all over the vicinity. The speed of the healing was such that even a critically wounded man can regain his fighting strength within mere seconds.
After that, reinforcements equipped with the latest equipment from the Fox Princess also arrived at the battlefield, and before long, the monsters of the Octopus King were unilaterally reduced in number, thus ending the battle with a victory for Dragon Sovereign and her team.
————–
T/N:
It kind of slipped my mind sometimes that this is set in the real world. This is what Sakurajima (the crater) looks like in real life.
As for the Fox Princess, well, the past chapters only mentioned it is an ancient city but I guess it is something like Edo era place like this (presumably Kyoto):
As for the other Demon Kings, I think all readers can get what their places look like