First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 72
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Third person POV)
It was the third morning since the villagers abandoned their village to evacuate from the Demon King.
“Tch! There are a lot more of them than we anticipated!”
“They most likely assailed wild creatures along the way and turned them into zombies!”
The men of the village and some mercenaries continued to put up a strenuous resistance.
The reason was simple: they were on the verge of reaching their destination when the enemy gained on them, and they were trying to help those who cannot fight, including children and the elderly, to beat a hasty retreat.
However, despite the efforts of each of them, they were clearly outnumbered and overwhelmed, and the majority of them were carrying wounds of one kind or another.
“?Fire Swirl?!” “…!” “?Cut Off?!”
But Mugi’s ?Fire Swirl? emerged on the cliff and seared away a group of enemies, while Izumi’s axe blasted away several enemies at the same time as it approached the flank of the enemy group. Houki suddenly appeared (seemingly) in the midst of a group of enemies, and with her ?Cut Off?, she sheared off the enemy’s legs and deprived them of maneuverability.
“Oh! You guys showed up!”
While slashing down the adversary with a huge sword in his hand, one of the mercenaries addressed Mugi and the others.
“Sorry! We had a bit of trouble dealing with the other team! We’ll get rid of these guys here now!”
Mugi responded while releasing ?Firebolt? at the nearest Jiangshi.
Mugi and her team had delayed until now because another group was closing in on them from a different path from the one they were presently opposing. Since the average level of that group was evidently higher than the villagers, Mugi and company, who were at a higher level, had no choice but to head for the other group.
Nevertheless, Mugi and her group eliminated the detached force, and the crisis appeared to be resolved when the girls joined the main group.
“That… can’t be…”
When Mugi caught sight of it, a gasp broke out in her throat.
What Mugi spotted… was a group of more than 1,000 Jiangshi, a group of immortal demons.
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“Damn it! All the villagers must withdraw swiftly!”
Mugi hastily instructed all the villagers present.
“But if we evacuate here!”
“Shut up! Our numbers aren’t even adequate to stop them! If you have time to be complaining, hurry up and join the non-combatants and run away with them!”
Refutations were of course raised, but these were suppressed by force. Any hesitancy at this stage could be disastrous.
After all of the villagers had fled, the remaining mercenaries employed their wide-area offensive skills to wipe out the group of adversaries they had been combating.
“Now… does anyone have a strategy to counteract that?”
“I can’t conceive of any ideas.”
“Seeing it in this state reminds me that there is strength in numbers.”
“But we have no option but to do it. That’s our work.”
“Well, we have to at least stall them, right?”
Mugi and the mercenaries were prepared and poised to engage in battle at any moment.
When Ryo and Une arrived from the non-combat group in the front to join Mugi and the others, things began to change abruptly.
“This is strange…”
Ryo was the first one to recognize it.
Following her words, the other mercenaries also began to perceive the abnormality of the other party.
“Ga… gu… ga…”
Right. With each step, the bodies of the Jiangshi that were pressing in on them were collapsing. The speed of this was daunting, and within the blink of an eye, the number of the Jiangshi was dwindling, and by the time they had reached the scope of Ryo and her companions’ attack, their numbers had been reduced to less than one-tenth of what they were.
Ryo came to her senses just as they were within the attack range.
“All of you. Unleash as many long-range attacks as you can! We will exterminate the enemies!”
With this command to the mercenaries, the battle ensued.
The battle raged on. Although the number of enemies had been scaled down to one-tenth, there were still more than a hundred of them, which meant that even Ryo and her high-level comrades can only take on a limited number at a time.
Notwithstanding, as the battle dragged on, the adversaries’ numbers were conspicuously shrinking rapidly at an alarming rate, even faster than Ryo and her team were dispatching them.
And before long, every last one of the Jiangshi had been returned to the ground.
“Somehow… it all worked out…”
Ryo’s monologue can be heard throughout the area.
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(Ryo POV)
After joining the villagers, we had come to ascertain why the Jiangshi had unexpectedly begun to crumble away.
Apparently, it was due to a group of humans that our reconnaissance had detected two days earlier. Since they had vanquished the Demon King of that dungeon, the effect of the Demon King’s skill had lost its protective effect on the Jiangshi, who had been able to operate without problems under the sunlight, and that seemed to be the consequence of that.
As for the humans who defeated the Demon King… well, if they were still alive, they will be back here in a few days.
“At any rate, it seems that we have survived, right?”
“Yes, that’s true. But even if they were weakened, we lost 2 of our own given their numbers.”
Houki and I had a proper meal while reviewing the income and expenditure for this job.
The village chief had paid us handsomely. However, it seemed that the depletion of equipment and personnel still had its proportionate toll. The particularly galling part was the fact that deaths have occurred.
“Is that so…”
I silently mourned the passing of the two people who perished.
The demise of someone you were acquainted with was a bitter blow. Nonetheless, I supposed I will have to familiarize myself with it should I continue to operate as a mercenary, advance my level, and live for a long time to come.
However, regardless of how much I adapt to it, I must make sure that my feelings do not become numb. If I become so accustomed to death that nothing can shake my emotions, there would mean that something is amiss with me as a person…
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Ryo and her team have acquired the title ?Mercenary of the Mist?.