First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 76
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Ryo POV)
6 years before the present.
“I found you! ?Commander of the Mercenary Order of the Mist?, Nasu Ryo!”
While I was having lunch by myself in the city, a man wearing Western-style armor with a hood and carrying a sword called out to me.
His homicidal intention was evident in his eyes.
“I am in the middle of a meal, what business do you have with me?”
I checked the dagger at my waist and gripped it as if ready to draw it at any moment.
“Business? Isn’t that obvious…”
The man pulled out his sword.
His sword was etched with strange characters and was ornamented with skeletons. Furthermore, irrespective of whether it was composed of unique demonic material or not, it was enveloped in a mysterious air. This sword was apparently one of the so-called “demon swords”.
“All demons shall perish! Those who betray humanity shall perish! That is the teaching of Church of the Righteousness!”
The man was slashing at me vigorously. It seemed that this man was one of the extremists of Church of the Righteousness.
He was, nevertheless, not only an extremist, but also a competent individual, and his sword was directed straight at my head.
Well,
Clash!
I intercepted the man’s sword with my dagger while inwardly thinking, “If you’re going to target me anyway, don’t call out and aim for an assassination instead”.
“You… blocked it!?”
“Seriously. I am being underestimated.”
While leaping off the chair I was seated on, I deflected the enemy’s sword back.
And as I did so, I checked the opponent’s face.
“Ah, your face is familiar to me from somewhere.”
The identity of the man who was attacking me is the same guy who was one of the individuals that defeated the Demon King, “Taoist Curse of the Enshrouded Spirit” three years ago and was hailed as a hero for his achievement. At that time, before the two of us could encounter each other, I found out that the people I had defeated were from Church of the Righteousness, so I only registered their faces and swiftly escaped.
“Hmm. So you are aware of me?”
“Yes. But you seem to be pretty hard-headed for taking no consideration regarding the inconvenience to the people around you as well as messing with the kin who are on the side of the humans.”
The surrounding humans had already fled at the same time we were drawing our respective weapons, and the commotion had already spread.
If anyone listened attentively, they can perceive a similar uproar developing elsewhere, so it was likely that Houki and the others were being entangled with this hero’s companions.
“Shut up! All demons will be slain by me with my ‘Spiritual Sword’ made from the bones of the ‘Taoist Curse of the Enshrouded Spirit’!”
There was a peculiar light in the man’s eyes and sword. It was as if the man’s eyes have been “made to believe” that everything he was carrying out was right.
How should I put it? His sword was made from Demon King material. If my memory served me right, the “Taoist Curse of the Enshrouded Spirit” was an undead type Demon King, so it hds the attribute of darkness. Moreover, it probably harbored the grudge of the “Taoist Curse of the Enshrouded Spirit”. A vendetta that strived to impose destruction on all living beings.
“Ah. So, the sword has possessed you, and combined with the doctrine you believe in, this is what you’ve ended up to be?”
“What are you… sAYYYYiiiiinnnnggg…?”
Oh, he’s out of luck. I don’t think he can be saved from this anymore. He’s been utterly enslaved. Even his eyes are out of focus.
“aNyWaY… DieeeeEEEEeeeee!!”
With his sword lifted, the man came at me with great force. It would be risky to defend myself with a dagger this time as I had done previously. Therefore, I stepped to the right to evade the man’s sword.
And the moment the man’s sword passed by me and hit the ground, the ground rotted away at once, starting where the sword had made contact with it. And that was not all; the rotting ground progressively changed shape, eventually assuming a humanoid appearance.
You could call them as instant zombies. They would return to their prior state after being exposed to sunlight, therefore their existence would be meaningless the instant they emerged from the ground.
However, the prospect of being struck by one of those entities was harrowing. Even the slightest scratch would likely result in death from the decomposition of the whole body.
“yOu… evadeeedd… mEE huh… then next is ha ha…?Double Slash?!”
…! Even in this state, you can still exercise your skill?
As soon as the man turned around to look at me, he swung his sword and activated his skill at me.
?Double Slash?. It was a two consecutive attacks whose power and speed was heightened by skill correction. Although it may not sound spectacular, it was actually considered to be one of the excellent skills due to its small gap and high applicability.
When the first blow of the man’s ?Double Slash? was swung from right to left, I dodged it by crouching down.
This was where the dreaded ?Double Slash? came into play. The guy had at least six viable assaults from this point on. To be specific, there were up, upper left, left, lower left, lower left, and another right after one rotation, and any of them will follow shortly.
And the man chose to swing down from the top, probably to ensure that it will strike me, who was crouching down. However, crouching meant bending the knees. In other words…
“Hmph!”
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!?”
…I can leap forward, simultaneously avoiding the attack and inflicting a wound on my foe through the gap in his armor.
When I landed on the ground, I looked back to where I had been, but the ground had corroded and something resembling a hand had sprouted there. As I thought, it appeared to be perilous to make direct contact with “Spiritual Sword”.
“Kill Kill Kill Kill Killlllllllll…”
As the man looked back at me, his mouth was foaming. There was no trace of sanity to be detected in his eyes.
“Ending his life promptly now would be salvation for him.”
While I muttered this and readied my weapon, the man also raised his sword and prepared it.
“Aha… ?Twin Slash? yiiiiiiiii!!”
“Not good!? ?Mist Cloak?, ?Mantle of Mist?!”
With the power of ?Twin Slash?, the man lunged at me at a blinding speed. ?Twin Slash? was a skill that, in exchange for discarding its power, greatly enhanced the user’s speed to deliver an almost inevitable attack, but for the man’s “Spiritual Sword”, whether the attack power was high or low was of no concern. If there was even a scratch on my body, it was possible for my entire body to be decomposed from there.
That was why I fully deployed my ?Mist Cloak? and then proceeded with ?Mantle of Mist?. After elevating my own evasive ability to the utmost limit, I jumped to the side as if to hurl myself out of the way.
The tip of the man’s blade can be seen passing by where my head had been only a second earlier. The guy had already switched to the posture for his next skill, ?Double Slash? and had begun to perform a side-cutting attack on me.
To counteract this, I leaped up relying only on the strength of my right arm, whirled around in mid-air, and released ?Mist Slap? against the man’s sword, who was shifting into a stance to raise his sword to deliver the second blow, and sent “Spiritual Sword” flying out of his hand.
And then, I thrust the dagger into the neck of the man who was momentarily dazed.
“Gu… ga…”
Despite the man’s grunts, after landing on the ground, I twisted the dagger and swung it to the side to make sure his breath ceases.
“Seriously… This is the worst lunch time I’ve ever experienced.”
After wiping off the blood on the dagger, I drew closer to the “Spiritual Sword” that I had flung aside.
Houki and the others are also rushing towards me. Considering their wounds are visible in various places, it seems that they were assaulted as well. As for Izumi, she is almost completely naked… completely naked…? Completely naked…!!
I wonder what on earth happened to her… I shall inquire about it later.
“Now, as for this, I suppose it’s only appropriate to destroy it.”
In a hurry, I pulled my thoughts back to reality and glanced at “Spiritual Sword”.
Following that, I thrust the dagger into the center of the “Spiritual Sword,” shattering it. From the “Spiritual Sword,” something black and evil can be seen rising up to the sky. Everything should be fine now.
I retrieved the remains of “Spiritual Sword” and left the place, softly praying to the man who had assailed me.