First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 126
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Kurokiri POV)
Two hours after the report that the Octopus King had attacked, at the “White Mist and Black Swamp Forest”.
“It’s awfully freezing cold indeed.”
Following the scale of the attack, I was on top of a massive pagoda that was hastily constructed.
The pagoda, which reached around 1,000 meters tall, was erected at the top of the fourth level. Since the dungeon’s structure was indestructible, the view from the top of the exposed platform was breathtaking.
“For someone who says so, you don’t seem to be feeling cold,” Ichiko, who served as my escort and occasionally repelled monsters from beyond the sky, remarked as she slashed down a monster that had launched a suicide attack.
“Well, I can withstand the chill myself, and this time I’ve got this, too.”
While saying this, I pulled on the robe I was donning.
This robe was made from the fur of the Giant Mist Wolf, to which I had applied a skill through a combination of my analysis and the technology of the Fox Princess and a prototype. The name of the skill endowed was “Mist Magic Proficiency Ⅰ”.
Right. As the name implied, it was a skill that augmented the mist attribute skills I used, such as ≪Mist Plosion≫. It was a piece of equipment I was able to make owing to the analytical powers of my “Eye of Law Analysis,” which allowed me to analyze the structure of passive skills whose effects weren’t evident at first glance.
Although even without the skill applied, this robe was not made by me in my customary fashion, but by a craftsman, therefore providing a high level of protection against the cold and offering excellent protection performance.
On top of this robe, I had also prepared a special wand made from the bones of my right arm and the scales of Dragon Sovereign, which I earned as a reward in the sham battle.
Since this wand was also a prototype, there was no specific name for it, but its performance was remarkable due to the fact that it was composed of materials from two Demon Kings.
“Even so, the numbers are tremendous. I can see their shadows even from here,” Ryo said while observing the distant horizon through a telescope.
Yeah, that was right. The onslaught of the Octopus King was what prompted the construction of this pagoda. However, if the present threat was of the same extent as the previous one, I would not have built this pagoda and instead delegated the duty to my subordinates. So, why was this pagoda established in the first place? Wasn’t it self-evident?
“According to the report from the kin I had dispatched to the port city, I never imagined it would happen, yet it turned out to be true that the Octopus King’s army would storm with a force triple the size of the previous one.”
This was because the scope of the invasion this time was unprecedented.
But there were countermeasures for this.
“So can you truly deal with the situation?”
“My calculations are flawless. Besides, even if it is a bit reckless of me, I have already sent the main forces of my territory to support other areas. We have no choice but to do this.”
“You can rest assured that as an escort, I’ll do my best to protect you.”
“Ah, I’ll be counting on you.”
For the past two years, I had been analyzing not only teleportation skills but also various skills which at first sight seemed irrelevant to teleportation skills in creating the Ultra-long-distance Transportation Formation.
These skills were analyzed in order to grasp the knowledge demanded as a prerequisite for their creation and to eliminate the syntax of the analysis results that came in as noise, but thanks to this, both my knowledge of skills and the types of original skills, aka “magic,” that I had assembled based on this knowledge had significantly improved.
“Then I’ll begin the chanting, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Yes.” “I understand.”
And this time I will use one of these.
「『Self is black mist king to spoil. (我は蝕む黒の霧王。)my asking 10,000 enemys were killed power. (我が求めるは万の敵討ち払いし力。)』」[i]
“‘I am the King of the Devouring Black Mist. What I seek is the power to dispel 10,000 adversaries’.”
A gigantic magic circle arose around me as soon as the chanting began, accompanied by a tri-colored, massive magic source device.
「『It is a dreamy mist. (それは夢幻の霧。)Sweet fantasy. (甘美なる幻想。)』」
“‘That is the mist of fantasy. A luscious illusion’.”
With each chant assembling, the brilliance of the magic circle grew in intensity.
「『It is carried out and there is no truth in there, (されど、そこに真実は無く、)It is an evil spirit of the deep deep abyss which also merely catches and binds a soul and it invites to cold eternal sleep that it is. (あるのはただ魂をも捉え、縛り、永遠の冷たき眠りへと誘う深き深き深淵の悪魔)』」
“‘Yet therein verily lies no truth, but merely a deep, profound abyssal evil spirit that seizes and binds even the soul and lures them into an everlasting, frozen slumber’.”
The wand was cracking and the robe began fraying at the edges as if it can’t sustain the increasing power that was being exerted.
「『An evil spirit of the deep deep abyss. (さあ、悪魔よ。)As long as self allows, thou is given, it carries out and sacrifice is tasted fully, but it is good. (我が許す限り汝に与えられし贄を存分に味わうがいい。)』」
“‘Come, O Evil Spirit. Savor to thy heart’s content the sacrifice that I have offered thee’.”
Even the magic source device that surrounded me was starting to crumble. Apparently, the power contained within was starting to exhaust itself.
「『thirteen of a strange evil spirit ・ It carries out by being opened and is a mouth of mist demon (未知なる魔の十三・開かれし霧魔の口)!』」
“‘Thirteen unknown demons・ Opening of the mouth of the Mist Demon!’”
With the completion of the chanting, the wand, robe, and magic source device all shot off vigorously, and a magic circle was deployed over the surrounding area, along with a dense mist that seemed to extend beyond an inch to the location where the Octopus King’s troops were thought to be, which can be faintly glimpsed in the distance on the horizon.
“Was it successful?”
“I wonder. At the moment, I am awaiting word from the observation team.”
Speaking of the devil, a communication came in from the Kirijin, who had been hiding in the port city.
[Mist King-sama. Although the Octopus King’s men were approaching the port city, their movements ceased immediately upon being engulfed by the mist, and they eventually collapsed as if they were asleep. This is the result of ≪Life Detection≫ probe, and it appeared that all of them have their biological activities stopped.]
Looks like the outcome worked out as envisioned. What a breath of fresh air.
“Okay. Continue to be on alert and retrieve what you can when the mist clears.”
[Copy that.]
With that, I disconnected the transmission.
“Everything’s going smoothly.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Shall we head back inside for now?”
After receiving the information, I entered the pagoda with Ryo and Ichiko, whose expressions reflected a sense of relief. At the same time, I sealed off the entrance to the rooftop.
Papa-la-pappa!
And for the first time in a long time, the sound of the level up hit my ears.
————–
“But then again, the range and potency of that skill are astounding.”
“I concur.”
This was the first thing Ryo and Ichiko muttered when they heard the war report.
Well, I can relate to how you feel.
“Opening of the mouth of the Mist Demon[ii] “. Among the sorcery I now owned, this had the broadest scope and the greatest range. As long as I can manage to use it within the range of my recognition, it was a sorcery that can be shot anywhere provided that I can manage to consume it at a rate that intensified with the increase in distance and range. Its effect was to generate a mist that encased the living thing’s psyche in an illusory space and prevented the body’s biological activities. The key to breaking this illusion was how quickly one can deny the illusion of happiness and return to reality.
Well, to put it simply, it is a long-range, wide-area annihilation sorcery. In a sense, it is similar to the missiles of the former world.
Yeah, that’s very majestic.
“But the consumption is still a problem. I didn’t expect all three of my HP, MP and SP to blow up as well as my wand and robe. My own strength seemed to have been drained too.”
“Does that mean it can’t be fired in rapid succession?”
“It’s not like I am going to fire off a series of shots in the first place, though.”
The two of them followed me in amazement as I said.
I should move on to the level-up process now that the mess had been resolved.
————–
T/N:
[i] All of the English text along with Japanese text in this chapter is written by the author. The below one is the more accurate version of it
[ii] The author accidentally typed Nightmare 夢魔 here instead of Mist Demon 霧魔
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