First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 33
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
All hell’s breaking loose.
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(Kurokiri POV)
“Oh well, I spoke too much.”
[You think the only thing you did was rambling on too much! Everywhere is in an uproar!]
Ryo’s indignant voice boomed in my head after a certain council member’s (the one who was a kin of the Fox Princess) resignation press conference overnight. By the way, Ryo’s father was not made accountable since he was human and had thwarted the likelihood of the country being ruled by a Demon King before the country would even realize it apparently.
However, at the same time, he was also accused of being involved with the Demon King, the “King of the Devouring Black Mist”.
Afterwards, Houki and Chirito went blue in the face as they realized that Kurokiri = the Mist King. Well, they have calmed down now though.
“Hey, it’s my bad. So, how are the reactions of the people?”
[Since Japan operates on the principle that we should keep quiet about current events, and there is no telling what might happen if someone messes with another Demon King’s kin, there hasn’t arisen much of a crisis. With the exception of the councilor himself, it has not been made evident who the kin are.]
Hmm. Is that how things have developed?
[However, in other countries, there are reports that this has almost triggered a downfall of the country, and certain religious communities are advocating the search for and extermination of all kin. On the contrary, there are countries and organizations that wish to transform all the human beings to the same affiliation with the Demon Kings as their kin with the Demon King as the head.]
“Things aren’t looking peaceful. By the way, how’s your neighborhood?”
[I’ve been noticing what seems to be guards and monitoring crews. Though I’m the only one following them.]
I see.
Even so, aside from the first two points, I don’t understand the third one… Truthfully speaking, it makes no sense to accomplish such a feat, and it would consume an unbelievable amount of time and effort.
“Incidentally, did they discover the new entrance to my dungeon?”
[It looks like they have found it, but it’s recognized as a new labyrinth. It has already been verified in other countries that other similar dungeons are being created in the vicinity of the existing ones, so it seems that they have judged it to be identical to the existing ones. Well, in fact, those dungeons may be linked internally to the original dungeon, and the master may be the same.]
“I suppose that’s true,” I replied somewhat dismayed.
Buuuuuuuuuuuu!
“And, it looks like it’s been a while since we’ve had an intruder, so I’m disconnecting. Call in if there’s a problem.”
[I understand.]
And then the communication broke off.
“The location is… yes. The third level.”
My heart skipped a beat in anticipation of the first invader in a long time.
————–
“Hmm. So here they are.”
On the screen in front of me, the military men were shown crawling out of the dungeon.
This time, I had spent nearly half a day defeating half of them and allowing the other half to flee, just as I had planned. Although it had been ascertained that several of the people I defeated will not survive with ordinary medical treatment, they were still breathing.
Incidentally, the battle scene was…
“Hostiles attacking!”
“There are sniper shots coming from somewhere!”
“Argh!”
“Pull yourself together, the wound is… ugh!”
“Watch out! This bullet’s a living thing!”
“Damn it! They’re devouring me from the inside… how gross!”
It was something along those lines. Anyway, whoever called it gross, I agreed with you, but I have memorized your face since you said it to me face to face. I had let you go this time, but there will be no next time.
Now, here was the main subject of today’s Super?Experiment Time.
Therefore, I headed to the third level where the wounded were. Don’t underestimate the agility of the Demon King.
————–
“Kill me…”
“If this doesn’t go well. ?Monster Create?.”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
A magic circle emerged at the feet of the mortally wounded soldier, forcing an expression of anguish to surface on the soldier’s face… but that was all there was to it. Neither the soldier’s wounds were healed nor did he transform into a kin. Moreover, my magic power had hardly dwindled at all.
“Hmm. No good. Then, as you wish, ?Mist Plosion?.”
I put an end to the dying soldier.
“Then, off to the next one.”
I then proceeded to the next soldier and repeated the process.
I had already attempted this on two other soldiers, including the prior one, and failed both times. There were only two more soldiers left.
————–
And here was the conclusion.
Apparently, utilizing ?Monster Create? on a dying individual proved ineffective because they had been brought to the brink of death by ?Devouring Black Mist? in terms of HP and other regulations.
Therefore, it may be crucial not to harbor the will to resist, as Izumi did. Or to put it another way, the other party may need to be willing to devote themselves to the Demon King.
If that was the case, then a critically ill patient or a person who would be dying in an accident might be a potential target. Aside from congenital diseases, given that Izumi was able to recover from her condition, it would definitely work on people with diseases or injuries that are developed later on.
Alternatively, it could be a certain alien-like approach, “Make a contract with me and become a Kirijin.” The only price was quitting the human race and collecting intelligence on a periodic basis but who comply with that?
Hmm. Then, I suppose I should request Ichiko to perform another assignment. She’s basically a conscientious person, so I’m sure she’ll be willing to undertake the task even if she’s reluctant to do so.
With light steps, I returned to the first level.
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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)