First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 132
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Kurokiri POV)
“What!? Demon King transformation!?”
The abrupt message that initiated the Demon King transformation involuntarily drew a startled exclamation from me, to which Ichiko and Ryo responded.
“What do you mean by Demon King transformation!?”
“What exactly happened?”
The two of them were crowding me.
With their lack of knowledge and breadth of thought, concealing information from them was worthless in any case.
“Izumi’s transition into a Demon King has begun, according to a message that just flashed into my head.”
“Can you get in touch with Izumi?”
I tried to establish a communication channel with Izumi, as suggested by Ryo, but something appeared to be blocking me, and I was unable to communicate with her.
“No… it doesn’t work. It’s not that the God of Calamity is interfering, but rather that I can’t connect because she’s in a dungeon.”
Although this was difficult to explain since it depended heavily on my personal feeling, and there was no proof, I had a hunch that my failure to communicate with Izumi was due to her being in a dungeon rather than the God of Calamity blocking me. Therefore, I didn’t think the God of Calamity was behind it this time.
“Did that message, as you call it, transmit to you when I was being converted into a half-Demon King?”
“No, there was none during your time.”
And unlike Ichiko’s time, the fact that the message was transmitted to me suggested that the God of Calamity may not have any part in this.
Well, as for the story behind her metamorphosis… I can’t even figure it out because it’s out of my control.
[I’ll list the conditions that have been met.]
“And now the next message is starting to come through. Please listen as I recite it.”
I tried to convey the message that is playing in my mind to them as well.
[You have been confirmed to have reached level 10.
Skills ?Unbloody?, ?Strength Enhancement?, ?Self-Regeneration (Weak)?, ?Bio Weapon Creation?Axe?, ?Axe Proficiency ??, ?Energy Recovery (Weak)?, ?Self-Regeneration (Medium)?, ?Bio Weapon Enhancement?Blood?, ?Human and Cavalry As One?, and ?Bio Weapon Enhancement?Flesh? have been confirmed.
More than 1,000 hours of riding on a specific mounted beast have been verified.
Trust level with a specific mounted beast has been confirmed.
More than 1000 kills of hostile entities have been confirmed.
Confirmed experience of contact with ???Su=?????.
Confirmed experience intruding into the “???World?”.
Confirmed experience with “?Fountain??”…]
The messages kept coming in one after another. Even though some of the words were obscured, it was likely that it would be ill-omened if I understood them now.
Then, after all the messages were over, Ichiko said to me, “Kurokiri. What do you think will happen to our memories?”
“I have no idea. If our memories remain, it means that the God of Calamity is to blame for the loss of memories and that the transformation itself is not responsible for the loss of memories.”
My answer elicited a “now that you mention it” look from Ryo, while Ichiko adopted a solemn demeanor.
We won’t find out what will actually happen until it was over, but these outcomes were crucial.
“Is there any way to get in touch with her, including through the skills you’re developing?”
“No, I don’t have anything like that. The Ultra-long-distance Transportation Formation is still under development, and while Ichiko and I can use a variety of teleportation magic methods, the link with Izumi does not allow for such extensive use. The same goes for communication skills.”
“I see.”
Ryo responded to my expression of doubt by implying that there was nothing we can do about it.
“All we can do now is to simply wait…”
“That’s frustrating…”
“Yeah…”
We naturally prayed for Izumi’s safety.
————–
(Izumi POV)
“I’ve finally got you cornered.”
“Squeak~! I didn’t expect you to make it this far… but that’s as far as you go!”
Even after Moyasuke evolved into the Mist Demon Wolf, we continued to engage in battles in the “Giant Tree that Threatens Heaven and Earth”. At times, the monsters would be defeated head-on. Other times, we would intervene in confrontations between other invaders and monsters in order to take advantage of opportunistic play. While launching a surprise attack on other intruders, we would progress to the deepest part of the site.
And there, at the innermost depths, lay the squirrel who was rarely seen along the way, and who had been a constant source of havoc for my team. That was the “War-Mongering Multitude Squirrel”.
The “War-Mongering Multitude Squirrel” was a colony-type Demon King with many squirrel-shaped entities, each of which was weak in power but excelled in disrupting the members of the group. His main tactic was to eliminate the individuals one by one while disorienting the team.
The one in front of us right now, however, was the main body, not the sub-body.
Each time a sub-body was merged into the main body of the “War-Mongering Multitude Squirrel,” which resembled a huge squirrel of human proportions, the main body grew larger and larger. The number of sub-bodies absorbed into the main body was presumably in proportion to the size of the main body.
If all of the sub-bodies were integrated into the main body, the main body would almost likely be larger than Moyasuke.
The Multitude Squirrel’s primary body had now absorbed all of the remaining bodies.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak. Here I go!”
The Multitude Squirrel was charging at us.
I, on the other hand, had no desire to confront him head-on, and neither did the Multitude Squirrel intend to face me head-on. The Multitude Squirrel was not the sort of Demon King who engaged in head-on combat, as we both knew. Therefore, I commanded Moyasuke to put up a barrier of mist.
The Multitude Squirrel split into hundreds of tiny bodies of the same size just before hitting the barrier, attempting to slip into our bosom. Despite this, Moyasuke’s barrier prevented them from entering, and one of them got crushed by my poleaxe, followed by another being bitten to death by Moyasuke’s fangs.
“Argh!? But…”
The Multitude Squirrel was astonished to see two of its members crushed but strived to regroup again.
“You’re naive. Everyone!”
However, now that they had been weakened by the division, it was time to purge them all at once. Hence, I gave instructions to the Thin Mist Wolves that were lurking nearby and directed them to storm towards the nearest fraction of the group.
The ability of the Multitude Squirrel was nevertheless an illusion-type one. So even if I issued them to assail, they will probably start attacking their allies within a few seconds. That was why, when they surged into the target, I issued a command, “Charge. And after three seconds have passed from the assault, attack all opponents you see. Continue in this manner until you die”.
“That’s an absurd command…!”
“Let’s go, Moyasuke!”
“Woof!”
With the astounded Multitude Squirrel shooting a scornful sneer in my direction, I cut him down with my enhanced poleaxe, regardless of anything that came within a certain distance.
“No way I’m getting killed in a place like this!”
Then, when the blood of the Thin Mist Wolves and the Multitude Squirrel sub-bodies stained the entire area scarlet, a lone squirrel sought to depart the battlefield. That squirrel was larger than the others in the area, and his presence was more dominating than that of other squirrels.
It may be a decoy deliberately designed that way, but irrespective of whether it was the main body or the sub-body, I was not going to let him get away.
“Moyasuke!” “Woof!”
I deployed ?Mist Cloak? and made it assimilate with the mist that Moyasuke wore by means of ?Human and Cavalry As One?, and at the same time, Moyasuke transformed the mist into a barrier.
Subsequently, after increasing the number of poleaxe to two, ?Bio Weapon Enhancement?Blood? and ?Strength Enhancement? were superimposed on the poleaxe.
The attack was then executed.
“Hieeeee!”
As I sped along, annihilating everyone in my path, friend or foe alike, I instantly caught up with the squirrel that was endeavoring to escape and severed him with a single blow.
After defeating the Multitude Squirrel, the remaining bodies showed no sign of transformation. This was, apparently, a decoy. And because of chasing the decoy, I had strayed from the center of the battlefield.
Therefore, I took the following step to ensure striking the main body:
“?Bio Weapon Generation?Axe? Custom ‘War Cleave,’ ?Bio Weapon Enhancement?Blood?.”
When confronted with a mass of opponents, the best line of action was to reap them.
In this state, I made Moyasuke turn around on the spot and plunged into the front line with an axe with a long edge of nearly 10 meters in my right hand, after fortifying it. Then, seizing the opportunity to hit the squirrels, I spun around at great speed and mowed them down, each and every one of them.
Since there was an opponent who was slightly more responsive, that was probably the main body of the Multitude Squirrel.
Papa-la-pappa!
An announcement surfaced once my level had risen to 10 and I had acquired ?Bio Weapon Enhancement?Flesh?.
[From now on, based on the conditions that have been met, Kokoro Izumi will be transformed into a Demon King.]