First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 22
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Ichiko POV)
It was no exaggeration to describe my predicament as a calamity.
There were now more than a hundred goblins and ogres encircling me and guarding their Demon King, which was led by the “Ogre King of Dominating Herculean Strength,” himself. It was an unexpected act on my part for them to discover me this morning, and I never dreamed that the Demon King would be running around the fort at full speed to patrol the area.
Thus the marathon of death commenced from there.
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!”
With a club in its hand, a solitary goblin charged towards me.
“Buuuuuuwee!” “Kakaka!” “Hiwo!” “Hijo!”
Simultaneously, another goblin struck from the rear, and from further behind, a goblin archer and a goblin mage were about to unleash their skills on me.
“Hmph!”
My immediate reaction was to lunge towards the goblins who were closing up on her from behind. This rendered the goblins in front of me unable to react to my erratic movement, propelling them to a momentary standstill. I then grasped the goblin’s head with my left hand and twisted it in a jerking motion while slashing the throats of the waiting goblins nearby with the Fang Blade of Disarray Dragonfly in my right hand, taking advantage of their brief delay.
Whoosh! Hyuh!
Both of the rear goblins unleashed their skills at me at that instant, followed by the aeolian sound. Against them, I repelled the arrows and evaded the magic by leaping away.
“Gyah!” “Gah!”
Apparently, because they were too densely clustered, the attack I deflected and dodged ended up striking another goblin who happened to be nearby. I attempted to extricate myself from the vicinity as soon as I had landed by cutting down several goblins using my recently acquired skills, ?Long Edge? and ?Keen Edge?.
However, unfazed by the prospect of trampling over their dead comrades, they imperturbably re-modified their formation to encircle me.
The battle had been dragging on for a few hours at this stage. Despite the fact that I was a solitary opponent who had massacred dozens of their comrades, I noticed an absence of terror and dread in their eyes during the struggle. In fact, I can hear them groaning and bellowing, yet I could not sense their will itself. Perhaps this was attributed to the skill of their Demon King.
And their Demon King’s policy was simple and clear: he never allowed me to take a break but continuously pressed the offense indifferently, endeavoring to prevent me from escaping. That was all there was to it. He was most likely planning to take his time repaying me for all of the favors I had done for him.
“Fine then. I shall struggle to escape my adverse situation. Even for the sake of Lady Ryo.”
I regulated my breathing, re-adjusted my weapon, and assessed my condition.
Although I had not sustained any major wounds yet, there were numerous minor wounds on my body. My garments had become ragged and heavier from soaking up too much of the blood of the goblins. Furthermore, my weapon, the Fang Blade of Disarray Dragonfly, was beginning to slightly chip, and if I was able to survive this dilemma, it will most certainly have to be re-made.
And then, the Demon King, who had only been directing instructions in the background until now, delivered his speech.
“Daaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Quit fiddling with your little tricks! You f*cking knucklehead! You should have just gone and got yourself killed while begging for my forgiveness!”
As expected, or rather, unlike Kurokiri, who was also a Demon King, this Demon King here seemed to be quite short-tempered and acerbic. To be honest, I would rather not engage in a confrontation with a Demon King at my current level, but…
“Enough! You guys stay back! I will finish her off in person!”
…it seemed impossible. Apparently, the only way for me to proceed was to be prepared so I was about to brace myself with my weapon. But…
Boom!
“Gah!?”
When I realized that my body was slammed against the wall of the dungeon, I could hear what sounded like an explosion in my ears. And then, an acute pain ravaged my entire body. In all likelihood, I would have not only sustained fractured bones but even my internal organs would have been impacted.
Yet even more egregious than that was the fact that neither could I see nor hear anything.
It was only after a series of motions that I finally grasped the reality of what had transpired to me.
“Agghh…”
“Heh, even though I cut a few corners to leave your corpse for exhibition, you’re still breathing after taking a blow from me. Do you possess some kind of enigmatic skill? Or is it thanks to the level you’ve raised by obliterating a bunch of my goblins?”
The Demon King approached me as I collapsed. And if he was really intending to go all the way, that would mean not even an intact body will be left of me.
“Well, whatever.”
In contrast to earlier, the Demon King did the pre-motion of the strike as if to demonstrate to me while saying so. And the power concentrated in his fist was evidently greater than the previous one.
“Either way, it’s game over for you here!”
Then the Demon King’s fist was unleashed towards me, and I shut my eyes, contemplating the outcome of my own fate.
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Check out other Outer World Story series in order: Outer World Story: The Black Mist that Devours (First series), Outer World Story: Pumpkin Sorcerer (Third series), Outer World Story: Basilisk of Ice Sculpture (Fourth series)