First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 86

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

(Ryo POV)

Several months before the present.

“Hah… Why do we need to put ourselves into this mess?”

“We are broke, Lady Ryo.”

Right now, we were at the riverside of the Ganges River.

The dungeon, “Mourning Bone Pagoda” was created by the Demon King, “Sand Accumulation Marrow of Ganges” in the middle of the river. And on the opposite side of the bank, the opponents of this occasion can be seen, albeit faintly.

“What did the Mist King tell you to do with Marrow?”

“He said he’s disinterested in a Demon King who is tamed and will be killed by humans. They are not our enemies this time either,” I replied to Mugi’s words indifferently.

Right. This time, the adversaries of us, the “Mercenary of the Mist,” are not the Demon King and their subordinates. Our enemy for this time is…

Humans.

“Are you serious…?”

“I’m dead serious.”

Since Izumi was asking me with a perplexed countenance, I responded with an earnest look.

Now, why did we have to face the humans this time? The reason was simple.

We were mercenaries. Mercenaries were fighters. And as long as we engaged in battle, various necessities, including equipment, were demanded of a mercenary. And when supplies were required, money was essential to the acquisition of those goods.

In short, due to a lack of funds, we had been hired by the organization that governed the area near the “Mourning Bone Pagoda”.

At this juncture, you may be wondering, “Why would an organization hire humans to wage war against humans?”

Well, to simplify the story, they were facing a shortage of resources -> they can recover what they need from the dungeon -> that dungeon was on the border between two settlements… -> they can’t let the other party take it away from them!!

And so the story went. Even at a time like this, humans were at each other’s throats, creating the ugliest kind of conflict. Though I may be the self-same in that aspect since I cooperated with them.

Incidentally, the demons in the “Mourning Bone Pagoda” were weaker than those in other dungeons, which meant that a level 1 human can enter the dungeon solo as long as they have had a reasonable amount of training.

Consequently, the dungeon had been aggressively conquered, and now almost all of the levels apart from the Demon King’s room had been conquered. In other words, the Demon King was being kept in captivity.

However, since there were a few deaths every year, unless they cut the death toll sooner or later, they were going to suffer a reprisal in an unexpected way.

“Well, if you agree with it, it’s fine with us. What about the strategy?”

“As a mercenary, I’ll follow the strategy that the higher-ups have devised. But if things go awry, we’ll retreat at that stage. Since we have been paid in advance, we will simply cross over to the other side of the river from another location.”

[[[Understood.]]]

All of the mercenaries expressed their approval of my instructions. I was glad to find that there was no opposition.

Eh? You say that as mercenaries, what would it mean if we ran away in the midst of the battle? If the situation turned adverse, it was perfectly fine if you escaped halfway through. That was what the contract was originally signed for. For a mercenary, the most essential part was not to triumph, but to survive.

“Miss. The enemy has begun to advance.”

“I understand. Then we will be on our way too.”

Thus, we each boarded the boat and headed off to battle.

————–

“Concentrate firepower at 11 o’clock! Sink them before they get too close!”

“Be sure to use your skills to save anyone who falls! Never reach for the wrong guy!”

We were now in the Ganges River, which had developed into a battlefield.

According to the strategy that the higher-ups conceived, the plan consisted of simply separating the opposition at a single point and then destroying them individually, but it seemed to have worked this time and the battle was progressing favorably.

But since the fight was on the river, both sides were lightly armed in case they fall, and the attackers were exchanging bow and arrow shots with marksmanship and origin-specific skills. Although some of them employed guns, which must be reasonably valuable nowadays, there were also those who directly climb aboard enemy vessels, but these people were very few in number.

“At three o’clock! Here comes a grand move!”

“Izumi! ?Agility Enhancement?!”

“Mun…”

Of course, in relation to the “Mourning Bone Pagoda” located nearby, there existed a multitude of fish-type demons in the Ganges River. Hence, when it came to saving a person who had fallen into the river, it was imperative to pull them up in a haste, but if you tried to reach out and pull them up with a simple brute force approach, you will be assailed by the demons in the river en masse. Therefore, as Mugi instructed earlier, it was necessitated to use skill to pull them up in one go.

By the way, the exterior of the boat was constructed with demonic material that inhabited the “Mourning Bone Pagoda” which prevented the boat from being perceived as hostile.

“?Fire Swirl?!” “?Wind Javelin?!”

And because of that, sinking the ship is the most effective tactic in this battle. It’s simple, right?

Well, that was why, in the absence of a kin with underwater aptitude, both we and our opponents will be launching spectacular moves, as a matter of course.

However, in our case, since those who possessed perception abilities excelled in this area, once Izumi sensed a major skill, she will throw her bone axe at full force in no time to finish off the practitioner, and as a counterattack, the entire ship will be sunk by Mugi and other members with long-range abilities with their powerful skills, allowing us to have the upper hand in the battle.

“?Wide-area Barrier?!”

And provided that it was not a very powerful technique, a thinner barrier to shield the whole ship was more than enough to prevent the ship from being sunk.

The number of enemy ships was decreasing remarkably. As I recalled, if the operation continued smoothly, the plan would be to reach the opposite shore and occupy the settlement on the other side of the river. We will not be taking part in the operation to seize the other side of the river though.

Well then, it’s time for the final blow.

“Mugi. Let’s deliver the coup de grace to the enemy’s flagship.”

“Yes! Let’s do this, you guys! ?Flame Javelin?!”

“?Wind Javelin?! “?Windline?!” “?Fire Aimed Shot?!”

As Mugi cast ?Flame Javelin?, the other members of the group also unleashed their skills in response. Thanks to the synergistic effect of the skills, these skills were converged into a massive blazing javelin, which was directed towards the flagship of the adversary.

Under the impact, the enemy flagship was sunk with a deafening boom.

“Phew. Shall we embark on the other side of the river after the allied occupation is concluded?”

“Right.”

While watching the sinking ship, we opted to wait for a while.

————–

And a few months later. The story once more returned to the present-day of Izumi and her friends.