The Spearmaster and the Black Cat

Chapter 418

I had the Burning Knights head back to the Spirit World, and then I used <Magic Hand guided by Thought> as a foothold to quickly leap up high into the air.

While maintaining a high altitude, I moved around in order to get a good grasp of the battlefield. Soon I arrived next to Kisara.

As I looked down, I spotted Helme first. She was standing on top of an ice building that seemed to combine a pyramid and palace. But why did she build something like a palace? Though it seems like she created it on top of a mountain of daruma corpses…

The palace itself had tiers in its center, and on top of the highest level stood a chair made out of ice. Helme was standing next to that chair while striking one of her weird poses.

Next to her was a daruma monster with its body immobilized by Helme's <Lapis Lazuli Flower>, She had apparently captured that daruma. And now she was standing in a way that the daruma‘s butt was facing her way…

She's apparently checking whether those daruma monsters got butts in the first place. Well, I'll interpret that as her way of joking around…so is she trying to make the monster submit to me? I think I could turn it into my subordinate with <Spirit Curse Net Chain> if it's got enough intelligence to warrant it.

Still, why did she create something like an ice palace? And is she telling me to sit on that huge chair on top?

Tearing my eyes off that structure, I looked for Rollo's Squad. They should have been wreaking havoc around here until just a little while ago…

Surveying the area, I saw that the right side of Gol's former prison had been turned into a big wasteland. Originally all sorts of fruit trees and other plants had grown there, but those had been brutally knocked over. It looked like a tornado or a swarm of bulldozers had passed through…

In addition, countless daruma corpses littered the ground. The places where those corpses were bunched together looked like mountains of straw. One of those corpse mountains had become higher than Gol's previous prison.

And on the right side of that, I spotted Rollo's Squad fighting. There were still quite a few daruma left.Several of the monsters surrounded Rollo's Squad from the front and back, facing off against Rollo who was chewing on meat.

The intelligent daruma used the claws of their multi-legs to cover for each other's gaps. I guess they were restraining Rollodeen. Or rather, they couldn't do much more than restrain her.

Although they were the ones attacking, they had now been cornered instead. But, without knowing any of that, Rollodeen tossed a thick chunk of daruma meat to Alray and Hueremy as if to provide them with snacks. Has she chosen the meat for its high nutritional value? It sure looks like she's quite particular about the food she gives the other two. Read this great series on the translator's site at infinite novel translations.

At that point, I telepathically told Saraten in my left hand, 『Saraten, it's your turn』

『Finally, huh!? Vessel! Let me give you a deep kiss later on!』

Of course I ignored her blathering. In the end she was just planning to suck my blood anyway.

And then I focused on <Saraten's Secret Art>. There were still some daruma left on the right side of Rollo's Squad, so I shot Saraten at them from my left hand.

Holy Sword Saraten raced through the air at a tremendous speed. A cute, small girl was riding on Saraten's blade. Saraten used its crazy speed to pierce through a daruma, just to immediately turn in the air. In the blink of an eye, it pierced through the daruma‘s fleshy body once more. Then it turned again, and penetrated the monster once more. Repeating this process several times, Saraten turned that monster's body into a holey mess. Even its huge claws were shattered into small pieces.

The destructive power of Saraten was terrifying. After sucking up all the blood spraying out of the monster's body, Saraten charged for the next enemy.

Soon after, she headed to a patch of forest slightly away from Rollo's Squad. Saraten seemed very happy because she was able to suck up lots of blood. While creating a mana trail in the air, her blade slid apart in three blades. And the number of tiny girls riding the blades also increased to three. The three Saraten girls seemed to have a blast as they surfed through the air.

They charged into the rear of several daruma monsters, which had been hiding inside the forest, and slaughtered them all. You could see monster entrails flying all over. At the same time, all three Saraten girls got showered by huge quantities of blood. Since them absorbing the blood looked like they were playing in a swimming pool, it was quite terrifying.

But, the spectacle of them obliterating the monsters was a masterpiece. I think this sort of spectacle fits the fallen holy sword said to have injured Fate God Ashura.

And then I concentrated on a bid to control Saraten. But, it didn't work out well. She was going berserk once again…

『Fuhahahaha』

I could hear Saraten laughing while getting carried away. The number of daruma, formerly a big swarm, had decreased sharply near the site of Saraten's devastation. Me not being able to control her likely stemmed from her being engrossed with her pursuit of blood, but…for the enemies it must be a pure nightmare.

At this rate, I guess Rollo's Squad and Saraten will handle things until everyone gets here. Still, there's still quite a few enemies around. I think I should hurry up and join the extermination. (T/N: At this point, the author writes a huge tangent about Shuuya blood messaging with Quiche to talk about the situation in Cydale. Total nonsense in the flow of the story and absolutely pointless, so cutting it out altogether)

I deliberately released lots of mana from my body to force my telepathic force in order to get Saraten to listen to me. I had a mana almost as thick as the one I used during sage art head for Saraten.

Engulfed by my mana, Saraten twitched and writhed.

『Saraten! You had your fun, now get back here!』

『Ahn! I-I got it!』

Her telepathic message was weird, but I guess it's just my imagination.

I headed over to Rollodeen.

"Rollo!"

"Nya~"

Rollodeen stood atop a hill of many daruma corpses. I suppose she'd be lifting her head and roaring her victory as usual.

As soon as she saw me approaching from the sky, Rollodeen changed into her black horse mode. And immediately following, a black tentacle extended from her chest, headed straight for me, and coiled itself around my waist.

Rollodeen then transported my body by reeling the tentacle back in towards her chest while guiding me onto her back. Smiling, I thanked her as I straddled her back and grabbed her tentacle rein to unify senses with her.

Following that, I gently stroked her flank with the feeling of thanking her for the great work on eradicating the daruma. Rollodeen purred throatily as my feelings had apparently gone through to her.

"Rollo, there are still some daruma monsters left, so we will exterminate all of them so as to not have any future troubles with them."

"Nyaooo~"

She dashed down the corpse hill. I could hear her hooves cracking stuff below. It was awfully loud, so I looked down below, just to find Rollodeen's claws tearing through the remains of the big claws and corpses of the daruma.

I see. I guess we'll pick up the claws later on. Maybe they can be sold for a good amount of money. I'll discuss it with the others afterwards.

When we reached flat ground, Alray and Hueremy ran up to us while chewing meat.

"Nyaa――"

"Nyao――"

"――Yo, did you eat your fill?"

"Nyaa."

"Nyaooo."

The two tigers answered while running. However, they couldn't keep up with Rollodeen's acceleration. And Rollodeen didn't wait for them either. After all, we're still on a battlefield. Besides, Rollodeen seems to be in a good mood with me on her back.

She raced towards the daruma in a straight line. I held out Arost in front of me, pointing its cross-shaped spearhead at the monsters.

At that moment, I witnessed the scene of Saraten continuing to charge while deforesting the woodlands and devouring everything in her way, be it bugs, birds, or fruits, obviously having gotten cocky. But, then she suddenly stopped after stabbing into a hard rock. I heard some pathetic whimpering from her, but ignored it.

I returned my focus to the daruma monsters ahead of me. One of them noticed our approach. Logically, seeing how Rollodeen was dashing at such a terrifying speed.

It raised its multi-legs as if to protect its two heads while making the claws rotate. It apparently intended to bisect my partner and me by using those helicopter-like, fierce, blades claws. But, there was no way that something like this would be able to hit Rollodeen and me.

Rollodeen easily jumped over the rotating blades and I extended my right arm with Arost diagonally down below. Holy Spear Arost had a long handle just like it'd be used by a holy knight. The stab of the cross spearhead hit the daruma‘s thick torso, I could tell from the feedback.

But, its flesh was tough. I instantly realized that these monsters had a high defense. As such, I jumped off Rollodeen's back while holding onto Arost which remained stabbed inside the monster's body.

In midair, I put more strength into the spear's handle, and swung Arost sideways in one go while using my waist. Naturally, the spearhead tore through the monster's torso and I rotated sideways alongside the spear.

"Gugyaaaa!"

I landed with both feet on a corpse while hearing a scream behind me. At the same time, I continued Arost's rotation while switching its hold from my right hand into my left hand. Using the rotational force, I unleashed a backwards roundhouse-kick, delivering a heavy blow against the daruma‘s abdomen, blowing it away in the process.

At the same time, I had Arost head for the corpse below me, stabbing its cross-shaped head into the cadaver. While feeling Arost's handle tremble in my hand, I stopped my movements as well.

Immediately after, I stored Arost away and glanced at the still remaining daruma monster. I guess I'll test out some hand-to-hand combat.

Touching the Ruby Loop, I carved an A letter while pouring mana into the loop.

"Milord!"

"Adombrally, lend me your assistance. I'm going to bring this battle to a close by killing that daruma."

Adrombally had appeared while clad in flames. My fists got enveloped in magic flames.

"I know, I know! My Cosmos is burning!"

While listening to Adombrally quickly rattling this down, I kicked off the ground with MAgic Combat Step, charging in a forward-bent posture. Meanwhile, Adombrally returned into being a loop again.

While running, I focused on using the palm techniques I was learning from Kisara. I enveloped my whole body in a Magic Combat Style aura, and jumped so as to avoid the huge claws of a daruma. In the air, I brandished my magically burning right arm at the head with the daruma‘s eyeball.

My palm blew its head away to the side, and blood sprayed out of its neck alongside a dull thud. The messily rotating head was heavily dented thanks to the impact of my palm heel.

Next, I enveloped my left fist with several layers of <Chain>. Then I swung that instantly-created steel knuckle down on the other head of the daruma. The head got crushed with a squishy smack, getting completely destroyed in the process.

With both its heads gone, the daruma monster fell silent. The huge claws at its multi-legs stopped rotating and the monster crashed into its own claws as it feebly pitched forward. Cynically it collapsed after having been shredded by its own claws.

As I thought, the weakpoint of those daruma lies in their two heads.

After erasing the <Chain> around my left hand, I surveyed the area. I had Catiza hold onto Murasame's hilt as a third arm, but it was an unnecessary precaution.

The only daruma left alive was Helme's prisoner. The magic flames on my right hand converged into the Ruby Loop. After watching that happen, I hurried over to the rock where Saraten was stuck.

"Get back inside me after I pull you out."

『Vessel, thank you』

I firmly grasped her hilt and pulled her out of the rock. At once, Saraten went back into the gaping hole on my left palm.

Still, a rock that can stop Holy Sword Saraten…is this possibly… The hue in the center where it got stabbed…doesn't look normal after all. Is it something like diamond or extremely compressed amber? The rock seemed like several small, intermingled and fossilized Bonchichi dolls had been densely stuffed into a place with exceedingly tiny crystal fragments and ink-black fibers on top of multiple, thin 卍-shaped layers.

No wonder this thing managed to even stop a holy sword…

Does it have a high, archaeological value? Though it might be more of a gem than a rock.

As I was gazing at the rock, everyone ran up to me after confirming that all enemies were defeated. The demi-god couple was among them, too.

"Your Excellency, the seat over here has been left free for you."

"Sure, but I won't use it."

I suppose I'll head over after picking up this rock. Eva, Mysty, or Zaga & Bon might be interested in it. I poured mana into Murasame's blade. The beam saber extended from the hilt with a buzz.

The turquoise beam blade was extremely loud as it penetrated the rock diagonally after I used <Waterwheel Slash>. It was ridiculously hard. I had to shift to a two-handed hold while cladding my entire body in Magic Combat Style as if to force out all my Lucival power. This allowed me to slowly cut through the rock in an arc.

I made sure to not hit upon the place where Saraten got stuck. Instead, I simply cut the rock around it, before picking it up.

『It might be the remains of a god…』

『Hoh…』

With Saraten's telepathic message filling my head, I headed towards Helme's small ice palace.

◇◇◇◇

———- End of Part 1 ———-

After helping my <Head Servant Leaders> with the looting of the claws and meat of the monsters while speculating whether they could be used for cooking and such, I lit up a magic cigarette. It helped me to recover my mana and allowed me to mess around with Helme by blowing smoke at her.

A little while later, we moved to the top of the ice palace. I didn't sit down on the throne-like chair up there, though.

When everyone had gathered, Kizeleg and Gol addressed me.

"Spearmaster…you have my gratitude."

"…Tha…nks."

"Earlier I mentioned a debt, but that was the flow of the battle. Don't dwell on the past. I don't particularly mind either way. Rather than that, Ciel's matter has more urgency. Where do I need to go to pick up the magic gems she needs to get healed?"

"Almandins don't exist in this region. You can find them in the east."

"Magic gems of the butterfly race exist in various volcanic areas. Ciel's almandin can be found in the eastern forests."

"East means? Do butterfly people live over there?"

"Indeed. At least they did back in the era when we lived on the surface. Far east from here exists the two huge mountains Mt. Folunium and Mt. Folonium which extend to the Mahaheim Mountains. A forest called Phsyga sprawls at their huge bases."

"East, huh? That's not a place where I could simply head over right away while leaving everyone behind."

If we're talking about volcanoes, I know of Devil's Mountain in the underground and I also recall Master Achilles and Raglen talking about a crater in the northeast of the Mahaheim Mountains. Which reminds me, the hometowns of Mamani's group were located in the east as well, weren't they? Or is it possibly even further east?

"…"

"…I did this while they were on my side…," Gol said while staring at Ciel who was present together with Jody and Eva.

Her expression was colored by a tinge of misery. Did she change after having recovered Kizeleg?

"What has brought on that change?"

"Mad Spear God, Ciel formed a covenant with you, but originally she's been my kin, you know? Besides…," she explained while restlessly fidgeting around.

And then she revealed an embarrassed look and flapped her small, transparent wings.

"…You protected Kizeleg and me while risking your life…I want to thank you for that."

"That's true. It looks like I'm indebted to you, but…I will take responsibility and protect Ciel and Golgonshura."

Hearing Gol's words, Kizeleg dropped a manly line. Those were the words as you'd expect them from a handsome man, but then again he was one anyway. Though I deliberately ignored the part about him being indebted to me.

I was happy about his feelings on the matter, but still objected, "But, I'm the one who formed a covenant with her…"

"Mad Spear God, you possess a truly praiseworthy mindset. You are a gentle, mad spear god who's different from the gods of the other worlds.

"Mad Spear God――"

Kizeleg and Gold tried to boy their heads.

"Wait, Kizeleg, Gol. Don't call me mad god on your own accord. I'll interpret it as an insult, you know? Just call me Shuuya." I said while adding a bit of mana to the end of my words.

"G-Got it, Mad…err, Shuuya-dono."

"I shall also abide, Shuuya. But, even I have my dignity as a demi-goddess. Acting brazen and smug after getting rescued would go against my nature. I'll swear on my <Father Time>! As proof of that, I shall entrust this precious part of me to you, Shuuya…"

Immediately following, Gol thrust a hand into her own chest.

"Golgonshura!"

Kizeleg tried to stop her in surprise, but to no avail. Gol held out her other hand towards him as if to tell him that it'd be okay. Soon after, she pulled out her hand, turned it around, and showed me a speck-sized, shining stone on her small palm.

"Golgonshura-sama…is serious," Jody muttered while allowing her white moths to scatter off into the vicinity.

While holding that shining stone, Gol bowed in Jody's direction. And after raising her head, she declared, apparently in regret, "Jody, I'm sorry. You must hate me who sucked out your power…"

It was an attitude and words you wouldn't expect of someone who had previously called Jody a disposable tool. I'd like to believe that Kizeleg's existence has changed her. Maybe she simply went mad over her feelings of love…? At least it might have been a somewhat similar feeling she experienced after getting released from her prison…

"…No, I do not hate you anymore. Right now I am a member of the Lucival and a <Butterfly Soldier of the Light Demon> who's receiving Shuuya-sama's love. I do not harbor any lingering affections."

"I-I see. Hearing that makes me slightly sad as well. But, you obtained a mighty and gentle "real lord" you can actually touch and relate to."

"Nyaoo~"

"O-Oh, right. You also have a divine beast as a lord."

Gol got startled by Rollodeen. Rollodeen, on the other hand, tried to prank Gol with her long tail, but I stopped that by grabbing her tail. It earned me some cat punches against my knee. Rollodeen used her soft pads to hit me, but her paw still packed a punch, resulting in me staggering upon her hit against my knee.

Our surroundings burst into laughter upon watching that scene.

After getting back up, "…So, that's the stone in your hand?"

"It's a fractional crystallization of <Father Time>."

"I don't understand the meaning of <Father Time>."

"I think you could call it the power of time. It's the source of my power. It allows you to interfere with the boundaries of time, albeit only a bit."

"Hoh, and you say you're going to entrust something so important to me?"

I guess Jody was right about Gol being serious here.

"That's correct. It also bears the meaning that it's safer for you to hold onto it than me in my current state. Anyway, you're the only guy drawing my interest besides Kizeleg, Shuuya. Please think of me leaving something cherished in your care."

"…Is that so?"

"Kizeleg, you silly idiot, I'm happy about you being jealous, but now is not the time for you to get angry."

At that point, the demi-god couple started to flirt. A bit later I received the shining stone from Gol, but it was pretty tiny. As it'd be bad for me to lose it, I put it into my item box.

"Okay, we're going back then."

"Please wait. Is it okay for us to stay here?" Gol asked.

"As long as you promise that you won't pick any fights or hurt anyone related to us, which also includes the villagers of Cydale, I don't mind."

"On top of having revived us, you forgive us after I-I did all that?"

"Sure. We're friends if you're not hostile to me. I don't mind an alliance either. Either way, I'd like to be on good terms with you if there's no reason to fight."

"I understand! Gol was happily bobbing up and down on the spot while flapping her wings.

Seeing that, Kizeleg smiled joyfully.

"Aye, but one of my precious <Head Servant Leaders> called Quiche is in the middle of expanding the village of Cydale. The number of humans and other races visiting the Sea of Trees might increase from now on. They'll be what you call mortals. For this reason, it's also possible that they'll cause various problems."

"What, we're already "friends", aren't we? A friend's frown is better than a fool's smile."

Kizeleg spoke figuratively in an English-like language while smiling. Still, demi-gods as friends? That makes me somehow happy.

"Yeah, you're right," I agreed.

"Then we won't mind. We'll cooperate with you, Shuuya-dono."

I'll believe in Kizeleg's words.

"But, Kizeleg…" Gol addressed him while worried.

She must be anxious about the future. Seeing how she lost most of her powers, she won't even be able to fight properly.

"…Let's cooperate with Shuuya-dono. From the start, we've been the same as well…My feelings haven't changed the slightest ever since then."

"Kizeleg?"

"Golgonshura, you didn't lie when you said that we should make kin and build a butterfly paradise, did you?"

"…Aahh…" Golgonshura choked as she started to cry.

She might have remembered the pain and suffering of being locked up in her prison for a long time. Seeing her weep like that, I reflexively became emotional myself.

"Your Excellency, as I thought, building a blood paradise empire over here…" Helme said while dragging an enemy daruma, which was bound by her <Lapis Lazuli Flower> at my feet.

The daruma Helme had dragged over was still conscious. It stared at me while its two eyeball heads clearly showed that it was scared.

The numbness caused by the <Lapis Lazuli Flower> seemed to have various strengths in addition to the smell it released. Naturally, the level of paralyzing was weaker for the daruma than Shuhelia, who used to be a dangerous Spirit World Knight.

"Kuuh, for us to get annihilated by magul forces…," the daruma soldier said in the tongue of the underground.

He looked kind of like a slightly gigantified Adombrally. Those daruma had used tactical movements beforehands, and although small, they did possess two heads. Since their intelligence seemed to be fairly high, seeing how it talked normally just now, I think <Spirit Curse Chain Net> won't work on it.

"Daruma-san, it's fine to regard you as a soldier of the sixth army under Underground Goddess Rolga, correct?"

"…My species is called Homzn."

Without being perturbed about me talking its language, the daruma soldier told me the name of its race.

"Homzn, huh? Anyway, answer my question."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Rolga-sama is one of the great underground gods. We're simple soldiers of the Demonoid Empire. I serve under General Naz On who commands the sixth army of the Independent City Alliance Foehn."

The demonoid empire which opposes Amu and the gnomes, huh?"

"General Naz On is a monster with eight arms and many mouths?"

"…Indeed. That means, you defeated him…? For a general with that much power…"

"I did."

"…"

Homzn-kun turned his two eyeballs around and closed his eyelids partially, appearing to be somewhat sad. But, without minding that, I continued my questioning.

"Assuming that Foehn alliance to worship Rolga, are you also worshiping other underground gods or do the underground gods fight amongst each other?"

"…You don't know about such obvious things? Magul…sure are ignorant. Anyway, what do you intend to do with us…?"

It's everywhere the same, isn't it? Sounds like there's swarms of other gods and factions besides Rolga.

"I'd like to say that I do not plan to do anything in particular with you, but you don't think that you'll be able to go back to the underground just like that, do you?"

"Nn, Shuuya, want me to question him too?"

"No need. I doubt he's in any position to lie to us right now."

Just as I answered Eva, Kizeleg offered, "I'll take care of him."

"Sure. But, there's something I still want to ask first. Hey, what was the reason for you invading this area?"

Naz On mentioned it as well, but well, let's ask him just in case.

"It's because the domain of the demi-goddess vanished. The sixth army under Naz On-sama targeted this part of the Sea of Trees for a long time. However, the domain of the demi-goddess's kin, the Death Butterfly people, acted like a barrier, and on top of that, the Death Butterfly people, who attacked us whenever we approached the area just a bit, were powerful…," explained Daruma-san while staring at Jody in fright.

"I see. Jody, do you remember having seen the daruma?"

"Not really. Countless demons and monsters with similar appearances exist underground. And we didn't show any mercy to anyone approaching our domain either."

Okay, I guess it makes sense for her to not remember each and every single low-ranking soldier. I thought I might use him as a guide when we'll travle the golden soul path, but he'll become a burden, so it's best to leave him in Kizeleg's care.

"Very well, I'll leave Ciel in your hands. We're going back to Cydale. All of you, you're okay with that as well, aren't you?"

"Yes, Ciel…Shuuya-sama, would it be fine for me to stay back here as well?"

Jody's feelings on this were only reasonable. Ciel is her precious friend after all.

"Of course. I won't tie you down, so spend your life as you please."

"How very typical of you, Shuuya. Anyway, Rollo-chan, let's go back."

"Nyao."

Rollodeen immediately grew in size. We could go back through a mirror, but oh well, Rebecca has already jumped on Rollodeen.

"…Your Majesty, you were a former inhabitant of the demonoid empire?"

"No need to pull such an unhappy face. Shuuya comes from another world."

"Nn, I was taught that he possesses the space-time attribute thanks to that."

"Eh!? Really?"

As the girls had such a talk, the two cats Alray and Hueremy climbed on my shoulder.

"Okay! I will occasionally come back to your side, Shuuya-sama," answered Jody, before grasping Ciel's hand and moving next to Kizeleg.

Gol also tried to come close, Ciel immediately started to scream.

"…Gladly."

I lifted an arm, bidding my farewell from Jody and the demi gods. The two cats on my shoulders imitated me. Afterwards, all of us got on Rollodeen while Helme returned into my left eye.

Kisara had been guarding the area by circling on her witch spear high up in the sky.

"Alright, see you."

"Sure, Spearmaster Shuuya-dono. Would it be fine for us to visit your village as well, just as Jody mentioned earlier?"

"We're friends, right? I don't mind."

"Thanks."

◇◇◇◇

After we got back to the village, Rollodeen coiled a tentacle around Shuhelia's and my waist and started to run off while shrinking to a horse's size.

"Shuuya! Aaahhh," Higlia, who had been waiting for my return, suffered a heavy shock.

Eva and Rebecca were left behind as well. That was quite unusual for Rollo.

I asked Helme where Rollo was heading, but she didn't have a clue either. However, she was clearly headed towards the western forest.

If I remember correctly, that's the area where Eboue works. I wonder what Rollo is up to…

After descending the cliff, climbing a hill, she halted at a place with a flowing river. Eboue was just about to swing down his magic ax over there. The tree he was working on seemed like it'd fall quite soon.

Hmm? I didn't notice until now, but he's got a mark on his chest. A black panther…is it? Eboue is quite muscular, so I guess he's not just some ordinary lumberjack.

"Oh, hero-sama…the new bloodkin-sama, and black queen…-sama."

Eboue looked clearly shaken when he spotted Rollodeen. But, black queen?

His ax fell to the ground. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with a hand, but…is he flustered?

Hueremy and Alray greeted him while showing their fangs.

"Oh my, Eboue-sama, hello," Shuhelia greeted him politely.

"Adding -sama to my name is…"

Just when Eboue answered so while scratching his head, Rollodeen roared, "Nyagooo!"

She was scolding Eboue while being angry for a change?